Tag Archives: morning run

Return of Overnight Oats

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, , ,

Hey party people! I hope you’ve had an awesome Wednesday Hump Day. Mine’s been busy busy busy, and I’m thankful to have tonight off from teaching to rest and clean my messy house!

But before we get into the fun stuff, I must share something with you.

photo(50)Sneezing dog!! I found this on BuzzFeed yesterday and almost immediately peed my pants. If I ever caught a photo of Mac like this, I’m pretty sure I would have to get it framed. Classic.

Morning Run + Return of Overnight Oats

I started out my day with a 6+ mile run that happens every Wednesday on my half-marathon training schedule. It was 50 degrees and HUMIDDD when I took off, and I was not loving it. My body has really grown accustomed to running in cold, dry air, so it’s hard for me to feel my best in anything warmer than 40 degrees. I never thought I would say that in a million years.

I made it to 6.6 miles in a little under 57 minutes. I wanted to push to 1 hour and/or 7 miles, but I was just done by around the 5 mile mark. Still better than nothing though, and I’ve been sore all day. Must’ve done some good! My calves and shins have been particularly sore lately, so I’m spending this evening in my awesome calf compression sleeves. I love these babies.

image(7)After my run, I quickly got ready for my day and grabbed my breakfast out of the fridge to bring along to the office.

photo(33)Doesn’t this look gross?! I made overnight oats last night with some frozen mixed berries, and it was basically terrible. I’m in desperate need of fresh groceries, but until that happens this weekend, I’ll be depending on some frozen fruit to get in my daily serving of healthy food. Ugh.

Diva Dash & Family Photos

Late this afternoon I started thinking about everything we have going on this weekend. It is going to be a busy one! But I’m okay with it – at least I get to sleep in my own bed and don’t have to travel. 🙂

Saturday morning is going to start with a long run of 11 miles before I head downtown to run a 5K with my girlfriends! Me and two of my gal pals are running in the Diva Dash in downtown Springfield. Neither of them are crazy/intense runners, so I’m hoping it will just be an easy and relaxed race. I may be totally wrong in doing my long run before the 5K, but I have afternoon plans and can’t shift my schedule around. So here’s to hoping I can keep up with my girlfriends!

Then later on Saturday, Nick, Mac, and I are having professional photos taken at a local park. I bought a Livingsocial deal for an hour-long photoshoot + photo holiday cards with Caradee Photography. The best photos that Nick and I have together look about like this…

photo(52)So we are in desperate need of some nice photos after 2 1/2 years together! It’s going to be freezing and possibly snowy, so I’m struggling to decide what we should wear. Such a hard decision!

I hope you all have fun weekends planned too. Springfield is forecasted to have lots of snow and ice starting tomorrow, so it’s quite possible that my plans will change. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t get too yucky!

Stay safe in the winter weather, and I will see you all tomorrow!

Ready for Thanksgiving, Round 2

Recipes, Running, , , , ,

Good morning, folks! Sorry I never checked in yesterday. It was a hectic day to say the least, and I taught my normal double-header last night. By the time I made it home at 8 pm, I had enough time to shower and clean up my kitchen (because who wants to leave for vacation with a sink full of dirty dishes?!) before I had to hit the sack. My body basically collapsed into a slight coma as soon as I laid down. But I slept hard, and woke up early to get in my normal Wednesday morning run.

Morning Run

I’ve said this before, and I’m hoping I won’t say it many more times, but this morning’s run was my coldest yet!

photo(2)My other weather app (KY3 weather app) told me it was also 16 degrees, but that the ‘Feels Like’ temp was 6 degrees. Umm BRRRRRR!! I bundled myself up in two bottom layers, a long sleeve cold-weather compression top, my running puffer vest, and my usual ear warmer and gloves. I’m pretty sure I looked about like the Michelin Man this morning running around my neighborhood.

michelin_manYup, that was me. When I stepped out of my front door, it definitely felt like 6 degrees, and it didn’t matter what I was wearing. I was going to be frozen no matter what! Or so I thought. About 3 miles down the road, I started getting too warm and had to take off my gloves. Yup, that is how warm I get when I run. It’s still crazy to me!

I tried to make it to 7 miles in an hour, but I just couldn’t make it today. My legs were too cold, and I made it to 6.93 at the hour mark. Oh well, I almost made it! And more than anything, I was thankful to get this run out of the way before we head off to St. Louis this evening.

And speaking of heading off to STL, my turkey hat is in my suitcase and ready to trot tomorrow morning!

image(10)That’s your sneak peek. 🙂  I’ll have Nick take some wonderful pics of me tomorrow before the race. I’m hoping I can get it to stay on my head!

We’re heading out after work this evening and should be at Nick’s parents house around 8 tonight. Then I’m hoping to get a good night’s rest before our 5K. Sometimes Mac has some issues with getting a full 8 hours of sleep when we travel, but mommy is hoping he will cooperate and sleep in past 5:30!

Cauliflower Salad

And now for a quick and easy salad recipe! As requested by Dede, here is my mom’s cauliflower salad. Just be warned that for a salad, it is nowhere near healthy, and all the measurements aren’t exact. She doesn’t measure one thing when she makes this, so I’m mostly guessing!

photo(33)This is the salad she made for our Thanksgiving dinner last weekend. It’s always a hit around our dinner table, and it’s super convenient to take to parties/gatherings.

You’ll need:

  • 2 bags of romaine lettuce (or enough to almost fill a large serving bowl!)
  • 1 head of cauliflower,  cleaned & chopped into bitesize pieces
  • 1 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing (use Light if you prefer)
  • 1.5 cups of crispy cooked bacon, crumbled
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

This salad is put together in the bowl you will serve it in. It’s also assembled in layers, and all you have to do is toss it right before serving!

Begin with the lettuce as your base, and layer the cauliflower evenly across the top of it. Next will be your Miracle Whip. Using a flat spatula, spoon the salad dressing over the top of the cauliflower and spread it out evenly to form a flat layer over the cauliflower. You may need more dressing to get a nice thick layer over the top depending on the size of the bowl you’re using. If you feel like you’re using too much, don’t worry. This salad can turn out too dry if you don’t use enough Miracle Whip!

Next, sprinkle on the bacon evenly, followed by the sugar, and lastly, the paremesan cheese. Since all the ingredient servings are approximate, feel free to use more or less to make it work for you! You can toss the salad immediately to serve, or you can cover it tightly and keep it in the fridge. My mom has kept this salad premade in the fridge for up to 2 days and it was fine. Beyond that, I’m not sure how it will hold up. 🙂

Easy peasy! Enjoy your cooking/traveling/eating these next couple of days. I’ll be right there with you dealing with crazy traffic, stuffed bellies, and too much family time. But remember the real reason for the holiday and everything we have to be thankful for. And maybe, just maybe, these positive thoughts will help us deal with the stress of too many family members in one house. 🙂

Have a great Thanksgiving! I’ll check in as soon as I can – see you then!

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!