Running in the Rain

Food for Thought, Running, , ,

Happy Wednesday! We’ve made it through half the week. Woo! I also saw on Facebook (via Dede!) that it is National Peanut Butter Fudge Day!  Is anyone celebrating? I would love to participate in this random holiday!

Rainy Morning Run

I hope your morning started off a little better than mine did. I didn’t sleep very well, and when my alarm went off at 5 AM, I drug my tired body out of bed to get my running gear on.

When I had checked the forecast last night, there was no rain in site for my morning run. Fantastic! or so I thought…. I even mentioned at Jazzercise last night (2x!) that I was so excited to run in the morning without a chance of rain finally. Well I should’ve kept my mouth shut! When I pulled up my weather app  this morning, there were green blobs all over Springfield. Boo. So I stuck my head out the front door to make a decision. It was still dry as a bone, so I got dressed and headed out anyways.

Less than 5 minutes down the road, and it started raining on me…yuck! It was 40 degrees and windy. This made the light rain pretty unpleasant. I wanted to turn around and go home so bad, but I knew I’d be frustrated if I didn’t try to just stick it out. So I just stayed on my route, and luckily the rain completely stopped by the time I got home. I’m so glad I didn’t turn around! I made it to 7 miles in just under an hour, making the rain seem not so bad. 🙂

photo(32)And with this run out of the way, I’ll be free tonight to get some things done! Laundry first off, a dark walk with Mac, and then lots of other odds and ends as the next few weekends will be spent away from my house.

I may also try to experiment with the massive Sam’s Club-sized bag of fresh cranberries that I bought this weekend. I have about 4 pounds of fresh cranberries ready to be used…somehow.

cranberry-sauce-001This isn’t my picture, but imagine all these small bags being combined into one huge one. And that’s what I have to use up. But luckily they say they freeze well!

I found a recipe for a yummy-sounding Crustless Cranberry pie on allrecipes.com.

photo(33)It looks amazing and is really simple, so I’ll be making this for Thanksgiving at my parent’s house this weekend. But tonight I would love to maybe just experiment with some cookies or bread. There are tons of awesome holiday recipes out there on Pinterest right now, so hopefully one will strike my fancy this evening! Plus after my run this morning, I think a warm cranberry cookie is well deserved.

Have a great evening everyone! See you all tomorrow!

Calf Compression Sleeves

Food for Thought, Running, , ,

So I know I keep saying over and over….running is a learning experience for me. And training for my first half marathon has really kept me on my toes. I’m not even halfway through my training plan, and I feel like I’ve already learned SO much!

About 4 weeks into my life as a ‘real’ runner, I found some calf compression sleeves on Groupon goods. I thought I should give them a try! Well they finally arrived over the weekend, and I’m in LOVE!

image(7)I spent $20 on these babies, and they are worth every penny. It feels amazing to wear these things post-long run. Mac is still unsure about them though.

photo(129)I swear Nick thinks I’m turning into some crazy, psycho runner. But I’m really not. I just know what feels good after I’ve run 10 miles on a Saturday morning!

But I must confess, I bought something else. It was kinda premature, but it was on sale and I couldn’t resist.

photo(2)Isn’t it cute?! I’m hoping it doesn’t ship super fast. I don’t want to be tempted to wear it before my race in January. At this point in my training, I know I’m going to kill my first half, but I want to wait until I’ve officially crossed that finish line to start gloating by wearing things like this. 🙂

Lunch

So my lunch yesterday and today has been the same thing: a salad the size of my head.

photo(32)I put some romaine + spinach + carrots + broccoli + cauliflower + radishes into this large tupperware container. Then I poured in some balsamic dressing, put the lid on, and shook it all up. It was easiest and yummiest tossed salad I’ve had in a while. Plus, it was so much food that I wasn’t craving anything else. Win!

I usually eat more than this for my midday meal (more protein, etc), but I feel like I just haven’t been eating very clean/healthy lately. So I’m trying to stuff my belly full of fresh fruit and veggies this week before my 2 weekends of Thanksgiving meals begins! Plus, I know I just feel better if I don’t overeat. Eating too much before sitting at my desk all afternoon puts me in a food coma for the rest of the day. So just a little note while we are on this subject of healthy eating…

eat-like-crapI need to print this and put it up all over my kitchen!

Well this evening will consist of 2 Jazzercise classes right after work. Then tomorrow morning I will squeeze in my mid-week run of 6+ miles before work. I’ve already told myself that I will just run for an hour and see how far that gets me! If I can run at the pace I’ve been hitting lately, around 8:20-8:40/mile, I’ll be close to 7 miles by the time I hit the 1 hour mark. Fingers crossed for good weather. 🙂  Have a great night!

Christmas Decorating, Part II

Daily Life!, Workouts, , ,

Happy Monday morning! I’m perkier than normal this morning. I think it’s all the coffee I’ve had + the good workout I had at the gym.

Workout

Monday mornings are when I teach at 5:40 am, but today I switched with the 6:45 pm teacher because of another event she needed to attend this evening. A normal person would’ve taken this opportunity to sleep in, but my body likes routine.  I was up at 5 am like normal, and I headed off to the gym (running outside did not sound like fun to me at all!).

I ran 3.1 on the treadmill – gotta get ready for the Turkey Trot! On that note, can you believe Thanksgiving is next week already?! Holy cow. I just doesn’t seem possible. But I digress. After my run, I was sweatin’ like a fool, so I did some upper torso strength training focusing on my triceps. Seated dips are my favorite right now! I finished with about 5 minutes on the Elliptical to help me cool down before I headed home to get ready for work!

Christmas Decorating, Part II

Yesterday, I finished up my decorating after Nick got home from deer hunting. He got home sooner than I was anticipating! He didn’t get a deer, but one of his buddies got his first buck! That seemed to make the weekend trip worthwhile. 🙂

I got our fancy wreath put up on the front door (compliments of Nick’s wonderful mother).

photo(134)And then I prettied up our little dining room table with some decor that was also provided by Nick’s mom.

image(14)Yay! The table is so festive – love it!

I also put some snowmen and reindeer above the fireplace, but since I don’t have a stocking for Mac or Nick yet, I didn’t want to show our fireplace with only one lonely stocking! Just a few more finishing touches, and the house should be ready to go for the holidays.

Mac’s New Clothes

My mom bought Mac a couple new outfits while we were shopping on Saturday. I finally got Mac to settle down enough for a couple photos yesterday!

First off is the blue sweater with matching scarf.

photo(137)Yes, he’s standing in the window. He was obsessed with all the leaves blowing around in the crazy wind this weekend.

photo(136)Who knew that doggies could look so good in scarves, too?!

His second outfit was some new PJs!

image(13)I party with Santa! haha The booty flap is my favorite part. He was pretty thrilled with them.

photo(132)Awkward face while he’s chewing on a dentabone…or maybe he’s just grinning. Either way,  Mac loves Christmas. 🙂

image(8)Well anyways, happy early holidays! I hope you have a great week. It’s our last full week before Thanksgiving gives us a few days off. Woohoo!

See you all later!