Category Archives: Running

Two Weeks Until Christmas!

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Isn’t that exciting/scary/overwhelming all at the same time?! I love the holidays, but this year I’m falling wayyyyy behind with the Christmas stuff. I feel like I just got my decorations up, and now the holiday is almost here! I can’t believe we are only 2 weeks away! I haven’t wrapped a single gift yet, so my tree is still completely empty.

image(10)Sad tree. It really needs some presents to keep it company. Hopefully I can get a couple done tonight and the rest on Saturday! I need to kick my holly-jolly booty into high gear with all of my Christmas stuff. The festivities begin this weekend at my girlfriend Carley’s annual Ugly Christmas Sweater party. Mac is going to come with us and wear his new sweater!

photo(123)Ohhhhhh someone is cute! He loves parties and people and attention, so he will probably have the time of his life in that tiny sweater. She’s been having this party since our college days, and it’s always a blast. I’ll be making some goodies to take along, including an awesome (and unhealthy!) ranch dip with bacon and cheddar cheese and some lighter/healthier oatmeal cookies. I have some bananas that will be overly ripe and ready for baking with by the weekend. And don’t worry, I only supply the dip, I don’t eat it. WAY too much dairy for this gal to handle.

Morning Run

So I don’t have much to report regarding my run from this morning. It was cold. It was icy. I made it to 6.5 miles. Typical stuff. 🙂  BUT….I got honked at.  😦  And not in a nice way. It was one of those, “Get out of the way, you idiot!” honks. And I’m still angry about it.

The sidewalks are covered in snow still, so I was running on the roads. I was running against traffic and dodging cars to the best of my ability. When I got honked at, I was basically in the black-ice covered ditch, and there was no oncoming traffic. They could have easily just swerved slightly like the rest of the vehicles I met. But no. She honked. And I started yelling several choice words before I even knew what was happening. I was fuming but was kinda over it by the time I made it back home.

Lesson learned: People that work at the Kraft plant I run by are pure evil (I saw the car pull into work right after they honked), and I need to avoid Bennett street until the sidewalks are melted. I’ll take a different/friendlier route tomorrow morning. 🙂

I brought a treat to work to have along with my breakfast to set me back into a good mood.

photo(51)Fiber One Peppermint Brownie!! Omg, these things are tasty. I don’t care for the regular Fiber One brownies. I think they taste like a dry, health food. But add in some peppermint chips, and they are pure heaven.

image(13)I’ve had one a day since I found them at Wal-Mart last Friday, and I think I need to go stock up on some more before the holiday season is over! Chocolate + peppermint = a happy Christine.

Tonight I’m meeting Nick right after work to go look at our photo proofs from the snowy shoot on Saturday. I’m hoping and praying they look good, and we can get some ordered right away. In an ideal world, I will have some wonderful photos in hand by Christmas to hand out to our family members. But we’ll just see how that plan goes.

Once we make it home, I’m going to put on some Christmas tunes and start on the gift wrapping process. Wish me luck!

Have a great night! And remember to be nice to pedestrians and those dedicated runners you see out and about during your daily commute.  🙂

Another Snowy Day

Daily Life!, Running, ,

Hey there! How’s your Tuesday going? Mine has been pretty good since we had about 4 more inches of snow overnight! It was that really good kind of snow too: nice and fluffy. The little snowstorm made for a peaceful evening that is perfect for sitting by the fireplace. Which is exactly what I did last night with Nick and Mac. 🙂

Morning Run

Since we only had the snow and no more ice yesterday, I decided that I would wake up early and attempt another snowy run. My running shoes have great traction on the snow, but the ice….not so much. I woke up bright and early to an additional 4 inches of the fluffy stuff. It was so pretty! It was also my coldest morning run yet.

photo(6)Yikes! The wind was calm though, making this temperature at least tolerable. And, thankfully, most of the roads around my house had been plowed at some point during the night. So I headed off down the road at a much slower pace than normal.

My first mile was a 10:15 pace. I finished my 3.6 miles with an overall pace of 9:53. For a girl that has a normal pace of 8:30 or faster, this is a little hard to stomach. But the snow covered roads are a good excuse for slowing down a bit. Better to be safe than sorry!

I also freaked out some of the MoDot crews this morning. They were out in full force at 5 a.m. with the plows before the morning commute happened. And I don’t think they were anticipating seeing many runners this morning! Several slowed wayyyyy down for me even though I moved out of the way. I just smiled and waved them on. I kept thinking…”Keep on driving. I’m okay, just a little crazy.”  🙂

I headed back home by 6 a.m. to get ready and out the door early to beat some morning traffic. Driving in the snow doesn’t freak me out – it’s the other drivers that freak me out. And it was a slow and slick commute mostly.

image(12)But I made it to work safely and even early! I had trouble focusing though for the first half of the day. It was too pretty outside my window.

image(11)The day has passed pretty quickly since lunch though, and I’m excited to head out to Jazzercise shortly. My classes have been cancelled here and there since last Thursday when the snowpocalypse first hit. So I am ready to sweat with my ladies tonight! I’m teaching my regular back-to-back classes tonight, so I’m hoping a few students brave the weather with me.

I’ve felt kinda ‘off’ all day, and I’ve decided it’s because my workout regimen has been on a hiatus for almost a week now! I’ve gotten in a couple short runs, but I’m definitely needing my Jazzercise fix. Two classes tonight will do my body good and set me back on track.

Have a great evening!!

Snowy Photos and an Icy Run

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, Running, , , ,

Happy Monday! I hope your work week is off to a great start. It’s rather gloomy here in Springfield, but the snow on the ground + my Christmas tunes are keeping my spirits high today. 🙂

Let’s back up to the snowy weekend a bit….

Since I stayed home on Friday from work due to the snowy weather, and I wasn’t feeling very well, Nick stayed home too (his office was actually closed…lucky!). We ventured out briefly to Walmart to grab a few groceries and some meds for me. And while we were out, we decided to grab some lunch. Yes, I wasn’t feeling awesome, but I also was starving and wanted some hot food in my belly. So we opted for my favorite…Mexican!

photo(123)I had this large burrito stuffed with black beans and shrimp. It was awesome! And we were lucky to get our lunch when we did because the restaurant decided to close early as soon as their lunch crowd was out the door!

Once we made it back home, I put dinner into the Crockpot and slept for the rest of the afternoon in hopes that I would feel better when I woke up. I made an old classic…. Creamy Chicken & Rice!

image(19) image(20)This has been the most visited post on the blog so far, so I thought I should revisit this hearty recipe on one of the coldest days of the year. It was delicious, and I’m so thankful for all the leftovers this week!

Family Photos

Sorry, I have no real photos to show you yet, but the main highlight of our day on Saturday was family photos with CaraDee Photography!

I usually starts my Saturdays with a long run. This week, I had 11 miles on the schedule. And that obviously couldn’t happen….ugh. So I opted to go take 2 Jazzercise classes instead to at least get some exercise in my day. I was still a little on the sicky side, but sweating and working hard really did make me feel a little bit better. And by the time I got home and cleaned up, we had to head off to our photo shoot!

image(17)Mac was so excited to go to the park and take photos. Can’t you tell??! He really loves his new Christmas sweater too. It even has a scarf attached. It was one of my Black Friday purchases!

image(18)Nick, Mac, and I put on our color-coordinated sweaters and headed off to Nathanel Greene Park for our snowy photos. We braved the cold for an hour and even laid in the snow for our lovely photographer. I’m hoping they turn out well! We have an appointment to see them on Wednesday night. I can’t wait!

We thawed out in the car on the way home. Poor Mac was so frozen he even let me blow dry him for about 10 minutes…and that never happens! Dry, warm clothes never felt so good. 🙂

Since we had stayed in the night before, I decided I wanted to eat dinner out that night. So Nick and I headed out to Cheddar’s for a quick and early meal on Saturday evening. We got seated right away, and that NEVER happens! Win!!

I started with some Chicken Tortilla soup to help warm me up.

photo(55)And then had an amazing grilled chicken and pecan salad for my entree.

image(16)We polished off our meals in no time and headed back home. I was ready for my warm blanket and the couch.

Icy Run

Sunday morning I was feeling adventurous to say the least. I wanted to run, so before I could talk myself out of it, I bundled up in my running gear and headed out. It took me a few minutes to get adjusted to the icy landscape.

image(15) photo(54)It was definitely harder than running on the typical day! I took it slow, and once I was out of my subdivision, I stayed on the roads where the salt had melted off most of the ice and snow. It was early and traffic was light thankfully, otherwise staying on the roads would’ve been a challenge.

I headed out around 7 and knew I couldn’t be out too long since I have a Jazzercise class at 8:30 am. So I opted to complete my typical 3ish mile path. My pace was about a minute slower than normal, and I’m totally okay with that. I didn’t fall or hurt myself, and I know it’s because I was extra careful.

It was also misting/sleeting very lightly while I was out running. I could feel the moisture in the air, but it was light and didn’t bother me. The front of me was pretty icy, but it wasn’t until I got home that I realized this was going on.

image(14)Ice lashes!! So, if you’re going for the snow bunny look, just go running when its below freezing and precipitating a bit!

This was definitely a first for me in my running, so I felt pretty accomplished. There’s something about running in less-than-ideal weather that makes me feel about 10x more awesome than my normal running high.

This morning I was sadly banished to the gym to run because the roads were covered in black ice at 5 am. But fingers crossed that I can brave the elements tomorrow morning for a few more miles. We’re supposed to be getting a few more inches of snow tonight, and that little dusting over the ice will actually help me with traction.

Well I think that’s about it for my snowy weekend. I know the snow can be an inconvenience (especially to someone who’s training for their first half marathon!), but it really is beautiful. It makes me extra thankful to live in an area that has so many different kinds of weather!

Enjoy your Monday – it’s already halfway through!