Just Shake Your Rump!

Thing s have been so crazy lately (at work & home). So many good things are happening (in my personal life). Last night when I got home, I had so much energy, I got so many things done around the house that has needed to be done for such a long time. I am so glad I went to the gym in the early morning.

When my alarm went off this morning, it felt like I only slept for a couple of hours (it was actually 6 hours), but my body was still eager to get moving.

For personal reasons, I was only able to complete 4 miles (instead of 6) today at the gym. But, I will use my "extra" time at home (before work) to get more things done that need to be (cleaning and things like that).

I was sad that only 3 miles happened, but 3 miles did happen! I will still go back tonight and maybe run 4 1/2 (instead of 4) and enjoy my 60 minute spin class. I am enjoying life and getting back into my normal routine. I have so much energy that I just want to shake my rump. Hey, maybe I'll take a Zumba class?? Has anyone every taken one? I am so not coordinated.

What are you loving right now (it could be a run, food, drinks, movies, books, etc)? I'm also loving colby jack string cheese.

The Pain is Worth It!

Getting back into things can be a very difficult thing. I took all last week off of getting up early and going to the gym. I actually didn't work out at all last week (I do count paint ball and climbing up/down the hill to the beach a small workout, though). So, I started my week off by sleeping in, going to work and then heading to the gym.

At the gym, I ran a glorious 4 miles and then headed straight to my ripped class. Man, if I keep up with this class, I will be ripped by the holidays! There were so many moves where I worked my obliques, I'm still sore. My arms are another story. My arms are so non-existent, they still feel like jello. The instructor changed up the routine, so we're not use to it (which is a good thing).

When I got home, I was starving! As soon as I set my gym bag down, I started making dinner. I made Pioneer Woman's Pasta alla marlboro man. I love her stuff!!! So good. I think this recipe may last us all week long! Instead of ground beef, I use ground turkey. And, of course, beer helps heal your muscles after a hard workout!

I feel asleep watching a show I've been trying to watch for a while now. Jason woke me up and I was in bed by 10:15 (I know, I'm an old lady). I did have an early 4 am wake up call his morning, so I did need to hit the hay.

When my alarm went off, I really wanted to hit snooze (actually to turn it off completely) and not go. But, I forced myself out of bed (and kept telling myself that I feel better after each and every early morning workout). The main thing is that I wouldn't have to go back after work (when it's over 100).

At the gym this morning, I ran my 5k tempo run in 29:14 (not too bad for still being asleep). Since my abs and arms are still dead from last night's ripped class, those were out of my workout for this morning (especially since it has only been 14 hours since I've worked them). I lifted weights with the legs for about 1/2 hour and left.

I am super glad I got up early (even though my face says different), but it felt odd to "only" be at the gym for 1 hour this morning (I'm usually there another 1/2 hour). I get to fall asleep early tonight and go back tomorrow. I know once I get back into getting up at 4, it will be easier. I remember when it wasn't a big deal to get up this early. I just have to keep telling myself that the pain is worth it (what I have on my road id). Getting up early, fatiguing my muscles and being a zombie is all worth it!

What "pain" is worth it for you?

Half Moon Bay in Photos (Mostly)

I'm back from my mini get away. We had a blast, but are sad to be back to this 100 degree weather (it was in the 50-60's there).

When we arrived in Half Moon Bay, we completely missed the small town where we were staying and ended up in Pacifica (8 miles north). We finally found our little town and needed something to eat (check in wasn't for about 3 hours). We found this little ma & pa place on the side of the street and enjoyed a slice of pizza.

On our way back to check in, we saw this cool looking place near our b&b. It seemed like it was someones everyday house.

Our room was the biggest and the only one that had a fireplace (and we needed to use it).

After tea time (which we were the only guests), we got into warmer clothes and headed out to the local brewery. It was chilly, but I wanted to eat outside, near the heat lamps).

We made a stop at Moss Beach. It was pretty clean, had a ton of surfers and it was nice.

We saw a little bumble bee doing it's job in one of the beautiful flowers.

There was the preserve near Moss Beach and we saw some sea lions and their pups hanging out on the beach. They also had a nature trail that had these trees with some sort of orange moss growing on the under parts. It looks like they are rusted.

The website to our b&b said they were only 1/2 mile from the beach, so I was planing on going for a run on Sunday morning. They are probably 1/2 air miles away, but I would have to cross highway 1 (extremely busy). So, I slept in. After breakfast, which was good but not a lot of, we packed up and headed out to explore.

After some hiking around, we were pretty hungry, so we needed lunch. Jason spotted this little pub and made a quick turn. It's the only double decker bus, where you can eat and smoke.

The pub was so cute! So many things were on the wall to look at. And a ton of little places to sneak away to eat.

There was this man across from us turning 80 and celebrating with his friends. They gave him all this airplane wear and he loved every minute of it! Right before they left, they told him his next present was to get a flight in this special airplane with some special pilot and he was so excited! It was so cute!

Here is one of the last beaches we visited (we needed to get back home to reality). This is how everyone needed to go to the beach. The only way down, unless you could skydive down. It was a blast. I (both of us) really needed to us that ropes). It was so steep, but enjoyable!

There was a ton of trash on the beach, because no one wanted to trek their trash back up that steep hill, but it was still pretty.

Because of the way you had to get to the beach, it was pretty secluded. I think there was about 20 people there.

Some of the people were watching they're dinner for that night. They caught these crab with their bare hands. We were wondering why these people were just standing knee deep in the ice cold water.

Beautiful views from the top.

It was a beautiful trip and the best birthday present I've ever had! There isn't much to do (especially when you can''t go swimming) in these towns, but it was great for the weekend!

I had my alarm set for 4 am, but my body re-set it to 6. So, no gym this morning, but I will be packing my gym bag to go after work. When you're getting up at 4, it's no big deal. But, when you haven't gotten up that early in a week, it's so difficult!

Runners Feet

Since I'm going away to a B&B this weekend, I wanted to make my toes are not so scary. I removed my bright teal nail polish and had planned on giving myself a french pedicure (I'm too embarrassed to go have this done in mid-half marathon training). When I removed the old nail polish, this is what I found. I knew I had a black toe nail, but wow! Because of this, I ended up painting my toes burgundy.

My toes still look cute, just not what I wanted. Sacrifices that runners make.

This weekend, I will not be blogging, or on Twitter, or even on Facebook. I will only have my phone on if we have an emergency. So, this is my last post until Monday. I'll tell you everything we did while away. I will be having a blast and running on the beach and relaxing. I want to wish everyone participating in Hood to Coast good luck this weekend and I can't wait to see your re-caps.

What do you spouses/loved ones/friends think of your runners feet? It freaked Jason out and he thinks I need the go to a dr.

Dinner for a Queen

After a hard day at work, Jason went through all the trouble of making me a huge dinner.

We started with some wine, fresh bread and garlic cheese spread.

The main course was fresh green beans, little red potatoes baked in the delicious sauce and bbq steak that was marinating over night.

It was a great night. I felt a little guilty relaxing while he made this great dinner. He gave me some books by my favorite author, the movie Cabin Fever (with others). And, then he surprised me with my very first stay in a B&B. It looks like so much fun and I can't wait!

Have you ever stayed at a B&B before?

Happy Birthday to Me!!

When Jason got home last night, he had picked up some things for my dinner tonight (that he's making). One thing he bought for last night, was some beer. It's a funny label...WTF, a jobless recovery ale.

Dinner was all veggies, but I did add in some bacon for Jason. This is called Italian Veggie Skillet. It did have a lot of flavor.

At 7:01 pm today, I turn 30. I am no longer in the 20's. I am proud to join the new racing age group. My first race in this age group is for my next half, on Oct. 2 (I finally registered yesterday). I am so happy to be 30 and I'm not one of those women freaking out about it!

What age group are you looking forward to racing in?

Mushrooms for Dinner

For dinner last night, I made Mushroom Strudel. It sounded pretty good, so I decided to go with it. I cooked up the mushrooms, garlic and onion. Then, I put everything together and popped it in the oven.

While I waited for it to cook (only about 15 minutes), I ate one of my favorite summer time salads with a beer.

By the time I finished the salad, dinner was out of the oven. I sliced it and plated it. It was pretty good. Just make sure that you let it cool enough before biting into it (extremely hot).

Since I am still sore from paint ball this weekend, and I don't want to risk injury, I am going to take this week off of the gym. Since I am not injured now, I don't want to be. I wasn't going to have a long run this weekend, so I'm not missing anything major. Running around (mostly sprinting) and doing squats for 5 hours was a huge workout for me.

What do you like to use mushrooms for?

Paint Balling

When we got to the paint ball field, we were the first ones there. The guys were so nice. They let us go out on the field and play each other. Jason use to play all the time. So, I was pretty scared to get shot. I've seen so many welts and bruises from his game. My very first shot was from Jason and it was in the leg. The second shot was also from Jason and it was in the mouth. It went up through the mouth guard of the mask and inside my mouth and up my nose. The hits didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought.

Here are some shots that Jason took during the last game.

Here we are.

Here I am. During one of the other games, there was the older guy (about 45), and I was hiding while he was shooting at one of my team mates. I shot him in the belly and he didn't seem very happy with me. He told me it was going to be a huge welt and bruise, but it was a nice shot. This was my proudest kill of the day. He never stopped talking about it the rest of the day.

This is how good I am (just kidding).

I was the only girl playing, so it seemed, at times, that everyone was aiming for me (which I didn't mind). It was such a fun day, and my body is so happy from that workout (running around and doing a million squats for 5 hours), that I'm taking today off. My body is still sore from my 11+ miler.

It's time to go get ready for work (I get want to stay in bed all day). Hope everyone has a great week!

What was your best birthday and what did you do?

Shooting

Yesterday, I started my day with my 11+ mile run. Yes, Jason was still sleeping when I got back. He's a night owl, and I'm a morning person. When he got up, we hung out for a while and then we headed out. I had no idea where we were going or doing. He wanted to keep it a surprise the entire time. This is what we ended up doing:

I've been wanting to go shooting for a very long time. I've shot a rifle before, but not a hand gun. I definitely like hand guns so much better than rifles.

After we relaxed and watched some movies, we fixed dinner. BLTs, as you can tell by last weekend, these are one of my favorites. We opened a bottle of wine ate dinner outside. It was a really nice night.

Jason knows me better than anyone else. I'm having a great birthday weekend (1 of 2). I have to get ready. He's taking paintballing for my first time (he use to go all the time). I can't wait!

Have you ever gone paintballing? How many welts did you get?

One of Those Runs

Ever have one of those runs? What I mean by "one of those runs" is a perfect run. The air has a chill to it with a slight breeze, other runners are out saying hi to each other with a huge smile, your muscles feel great, your fully carbed up , you have a ton of energy and you feel great the entire time? One of those runs...

I was so happy when I got home, I still can't stop smiling. Don't get me wrong, I use every ounce of energy I had and I'm drenched in sweat and I finished in a great time (for me). So, this is a start to the perfect day. I had 11 miles on the schedule, but I took a wrong turn and ended with 11.39 miles. Oh well, it was still great!

Jason should be getting up soon and then we're off for part one of a 2 part weekend (I get 2 more parts next weekend, too). I have no idea what we're doing and he has the entire weekend completely planned.

Whatever he had planned today, he changed it to tomorrow, because I need all my energy for this. I can't wait to see what we're doing!! Happy early birthday to me (it's on Wednesday).

What was your perfect run like?

It's Friday!!

When I got home from work last night, I wasn't in the mood for dinner, just yet. So, I had a yummy snack. I ate some Herr's whole grain honey wheat pretzels. They are thick and have some much flavor. They are lightly salted (especially compared to some no name brands). Five of these babies have about 100 calories. Believe me, that's enough for my snack. A glass of water (because they're pretzels) and I'm set.

A few hours later, I was ready to eat my dinner. I made a delicious salad. It had yummy greens, black beans, hard boiled egg, home grown regular tomato and baby tomatoes and cucumbers and some croutons. Perfect, cool, filling dinner after a hard, hot day at work.

I just noticed, my shirt matches my Paradice pack. I have 11 miles scheduled for the roads tomorrow. My heel is feeling better (as I expected), so I'm good to go! When I run on the roads (vs. the trails), I feel like I'm running my entire city (it's not even close). It makes me feel like I've run so much further.

Do you live in a town that is so small, you can run it in a long run (or short)? What are your plans this weekend?Jason is surprising me with an early b-day celebration. I have no idea what he has planned. In case you're wondering, my birthday is Wednesday, so feel free to email me and I'll let you know where to send your presents.

It's All About the Legs

Last night's workout was a killer. I ran 4 easy miles on the tm and headed straight to the spin room. The entire 45 minutes was a huge workout (as it usually is). He had us doing 3 huge hills and 3 huge interval sets. This is also known as a reverse brick (when you run, then bike). I love these better than the normal brick. Those tire my legs too much, but I have to get use to the idea (some time in my life a tri is there).

I always leave the gym with a huge smile on my face. I never regret a workout.

When I was running there was a slight ache in my heel. It went away about 1/2 mile into the run. I cam home and iced and took some nsaids. I didn't want to push it this morning with some sprints when I have a long run Saturday. I have 11 miles on the schedule and my heel will be in perfect shape if I keep icing and taking the nsaids.

It's been super busy at work. When it gets busy at work, I get more and more tired. My job in mental and physical. Right now, it's a lot of physical. So, it's kind of like I'm working out while I'm at work, too.

Do you ever regret a workout? Have you ever done a reverse brick before? Do you prefer a brick or a kcirb?

Snack Time

I wanted to share with you guys what my favorites snacks are, for the time being. I just bought some string cheese (colby jack). I tried to eat it like string cheese (when I was a kid) and it didn't work. So, I just took bites. It still tasted good, though.

And, I think I will always be into bananas and pb, but this time, i added a little chocolate to the mix. It was almost a banana split, minus the ice cream. I could eat this at every meal, for the rest of my life! I just have to keep telling myself that I have self control. I do, really.

These snacks really put a happy smile on my face. Especially after spending 5 hours in the gym over the last 24 hours.

This morning, I went to the gym for workout 1 of 2 today. I ran a nice and easy (and pain free) 6 miles. Once I finished, I worked on my legs. I found that if I don't cross train like a mad woman, I get injured. For the first 1/2 marathon, I had a knee injury, I corrected that with some cross training. The second 1/2, I had hip pain, once again, corrected with more cross training. And, this 1/2, I had/have heel pain, which I'm correcting with mostly stretching. All of this defiantly keeps me healthy and mostly injury-free.

What are your favorite snacks and a huge workout (beside chocolate milk)?

Getting Ripped

After work, I hit up the gym to run 3 miles. My heel was a little too sensitive to push it, so I was able to manage 1.5 miles on the tm and the rest on some weird elliptical wanna bee (much more difficult than the elliptical though). I got done about 15 minutes before my ripped class started, so I watched the group strength training class. I've always wanted to do this class, but it's always going on when I'm working.

Ripped is going to rip me in shape. That class is so difficult. I pour sweat every single class and I love it. The instructor is so hyper, it works perfect for this class. This class is a full body workout and you use ever single muscle in your body (and never want to use it again). I'm already seeing a difference in my arms.

When I got home, Jason was already making dinner (how sweet). He made Bow tie pasta with caramelized cherry tomatoes ans sausage. I t was so good. Our tomatoes are on the right and my boss's is on the left (we're still proud).

Everything he used (we drank the beer, we didn't add it to the meal).

Final product. It was very easy to make. I'm only saying that because by the time I got out of the shower, dinner (and beer) was ready for me. He did say it was pretty easy, though.

This morning was another early wake up call. My tempo run this morning was lagging. My legs didn't want to move as fast as the rest of my body. I pushed through it and finished my 5k at 29:14 (not too horrible).

After the tm, I headed over to the weights. I worked my arms (again), legs and core. I've added a new little routine (found in the men's health gym bible). You strap your leg to a machine (that's at the bottom of one of those all in one circuits) and lift your leg to the left (while standing), then turn around and lift to the right and repeat with both sides 3 times. It really is working. I haven't had any hip pain since I've started this workout.


What is you favorite "torture" workout?

I Needed This Weekend

This is what I needed up doing a lot of all weekend. I slept in both days (which I haven't done in about 5 months) and I accidentally took a nap (about 1 hour, which I never do) yesterday. I was still tired when I went to bed at 10. I guess I was behind on my sleep and my body was telling me.

Yesterday morning, I made some eggs. They only way I can eat eggs is either hard boiled or scrambled (yes, I'm 5). Since we have my bosses garden in our fridge, I added some tomatoes and green onions. The breakfast was complete with a piece of toast and some coffee.

How do you make your bacon. I put mine in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes. This requires a lot less clean up (especially with the oiled foil on the cookie sheet) and it's a lot less work for me. What did I do with the bacon?

Well, since I have those tomatoes, I made blts. I chopped mine in little quarters (easier to eat). I usually toast the bread, but I burned the roof of my mouth on some coffee the other day and it would have hurt.

Since I'm all rested up, I hit the gym early this morning (my usual time of 4:30). I ran a happy 6 miles (without any heel pain) and ended the 1 1/2 hours of the workout with some leg weights.

My heel pain is almost completely gone. I feel it every once in a while, but nothing that will stop me. I'm still icing, elevating, and taking nsaids. Another thing that has started is that I think I may loose my first toe nail. I've gotten black nails before, but they've all survived. This nail is so little (which is not normal) and of course bruised. The joys of being a runner. With all the injuries I've had and some pain I've gone through and the mental games I have to play with myself, I would never give it up. I love every moment (high or low) of running.

Have you ever lost a nail? Is it painful? Does it grow back? Do you just pain where the nail should be? How do you make your bacon?

Double Date

Last night, some friends invited us out to dinner and to a movie. We met up at 6 at CPK for dinner. I love this place. They have so much more than just pizza. I got the club sandwich and it came with a slaw (which was amazing).

Afterwards, we went next door to my favorite yogurt place ever...Big Spoon. I ate a small amount of froyo while we chatted.

We watched the movie 30 Minutes or Less. It was a cute movie (aka: just ok). We were with friends, so it made it better.

I slept in again this morning. I guess my body really needs some sleep. I wanted more, but I know that I'm getting up at 4 tomorrow, and I really need to be tired to go to sleep early tonight.

Have you seen any good movies, lately?