"long" run

Ok....so 4 miles is my version of a long run. Ha! One of these days it'll be a real "long" run. But for now, 4 is cool.

I combined two of the new routes I've run in the past week or so. These routes are pretty. They're older, more established neighborhoods with beautiful landscaping. One backs up to a golf course! I'm mentally logging all these things husband and I need to do to our house. In order to get to both of them though, I need to run through an under-construction neighborhood. The streets aren't paved yet, just gravel. My ankles and knees aren't too thrilled with it.

Ok....I started this post 20 minutes ago. I can't think of what else to say. Good run. Want to do it again on Thursday.

Update

You probably remember when I posted about being let-go from my job a couple of weeks ago.

Today we have an update.....

I WAS REHIRED!!!!!!

Happy birthday to me! I have a job in the fall :) This will make my birthday weekend much more enjoyable.

25 on Sunday :)

(PS....sounded like a frog all day at school today. Lost my voice last night while recovering from that run)

Scary Run

I finally made it out to run this week. It was tough! Recently I have developed allergies. I've never had them before, but for the past two years, at about this time, my nose decides to run backwards and won't stop. This causes frequent nose-blows, sore throats, stomach aches, and spitty-cough. Not that you needed to know this, but I wanted to share. Since Monday I have woken up every night unable to breathe properly.

My mother suggested Claritin last year and I've been taking it since March of this year when I sensed this might start happening. Not working. I'm pretty sure my symptoms call for the big D versions of allergy medicines...and the background checks that come with it :) But sadly, I'm still taking blood pressure meds and can't take the big D. So I suffer on.

I thought that this wouldn't effect me too much on my run today. I was wrong. My usual lung issues were made 10 times worse because they were battling with excess mucus. Yuck! Around mile 3 my airway actually started to close up! I started wheezing and had to stop. I could feel my body going in to panic mode, so I sat down in the middle of the trail! I closed my eyes and forced myself to calm down. It was very zen-master-esque. Luckily Ryan was with me and that made me feel a lot better.

I was able to pull myself together enough to trot the last quarter mile.

Overall, it wasn't a terrible run. It was not what I wanted, but it's better that bonding with the couch. Plus, I have to work off the ounces because Saturday we're celebrating my 25th at a great restaurant! I'm planning on having a good time :)

Let's hope I can get out there again on Saturday morning and live through it.

PS....Check out Katye's giveaway for Ryders sunglasses. They're pretty awesome!

Tasty Tuesday

Hello again. I'm hoping to find my way back in to the world of running one of these days...

But today is Tasty Tuesday! And do I have a good one for you.

I must say, before I post the recipe, that I love Taste of Home! They haven't failed me yet. Today's selection is called Asian Chicken with Gingered Vegetables.

Asian Chicken with Gingered Vegetables.
Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 4 boneless/skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 cups fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 2 Tbsp. orange juice
• 2 Tbsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp. minced fresh gingerroot

Directions:

• Combine first five ingredients; rub over chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Broil chicken 4 inches from flame for 6-8 minutes on each side, or until juices run clear
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet coated with cooking spray, combine the remaining ingredients. Cook and stir over medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes or until veggies are tender. Serve with chicken.

• 

This was an easy and delicious recipe. I would recommend it to anyone! There is also a grill option for the chicken, but my husband wasn't home and I don't dare touch his grill :) You'll notice a lack of carrots in the picture. That's because we didn't have any. I also added the sesame seeds for a little bit of flair.

According to Weight Watcher's guidelines, this recipe was only 5 points, including the veggies.

Again, super easy and super fast. I broiled something for the first time without setting off the smoke detector. We need a new oven...bad!

More Giveaways!

Katye once again is hosting an awesome giveaway!

Ryder's sunglasses. These things are awesome!

My birthday is next week and this would be an awesome gift :)

Check out her giveaway HERE!

Back to Normal

Yesterday was a bad day. Today was much better!!!!!

School was more successful and the weather was gorgeous!

Husband and I even made it out for a run on the trail. I love how green things are starting to become! We decided we would do about 2 miles because we hadn't run since the 5K on the 3rd. My legs really didn't want to run but my mind did. It felt great to get out there again. The best thing was that when we made it back to the car, 2.23 miles didn't even seem all that far! Now I feel like a real runner :) 2.23 miles isn't that far! Ha!

I'm hoping to get in 2 more runs this week. One on Thursday and another on Friday. That might be switched to Friday and Saturday because it might rain on Thursday.

To prove that it was a really great day......I mailed in my registration for the Cinco de Mayo 5K on May 1st :)

Boy am I hungry....too bad I'm not making anything interesting enough to do a Tasty Tuesday about :( But maybe everyone needs another boring recipe to add to their files.

Remember me?

I am going insane here! Time and money are running through my fingers like water. Where is my life going?

It has been over a week since my last run. I've been "resting" my knee.....more like just being lazy. I'm glad the weather is getting nicer and I can finally squeeze in some after-work runs....assuming I can work up the motivation to do them.

I turn 25 on the 25th and I feel like I should be turning 35. Never have I felt so old. Happy golden birthday to me.

Ok...I need to lighten up here. Today was just a bad day. Hopefully next week I can look back on this post and laugh.

Another Giveaway!

I have found another giveaway that can't wait to win :)

This one is hosted by Stephanie at RandomThotsChick. You can find out more about it here.

Click on over and enter....or not :)

Arny Johnson Race Report

I can't believe the title of this post. About 1 year ago I told my husband that he was nuts for training for a half-marathon. And now I have completed my first 5K race and am planing on training for that same half-marathon I called "crazy" last year. Wow.

Ok....now for the good stuff.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this race....especially because it was raining when we woke up. We got up around 6:30 and left our home around 7:15. We had forgotten to pick up our race packet the night before and wanted to make sure we got there in time. Well...we did. It was a long hour before we had to even begin getting ready to run.

It was a very small race and the high school gym we were in was only 1/4 of the way occupied....but we were very early. I checked the race information poster board and noticed that the race would follow a bike path that I had ridden last summer. It would be an out and back thing. After we picked up our numbers, we noticed that there was a lot of information about upcoming races on another table. I spent a lot of time looking through brochures and getting excited about running more races. My husband noticed that his principal was running the race and kept talking about how he had to beat him :) (That didn't happen. That guy is fast!)

As the time got closer, the gym and hallway started to fill up and we began to stretch. My legs were tight and my knee was bothering me. It was still raining. The 10 mile race began at 8:30. It was very inspiring to watch those people get ready. At 8:32 my husband and I got into our position for our race. We jumped around and stretched some more. As the corral filled up I realized that I probably didn't want to be at the front with him. There is no way I could have kept up with him and lasted the whole race....so I kissed him good luck and moved toward the back.

When that gun went off I felt a huge rush. I knew I needed to keep my pace in check and not run, run, run. Things felt pretty comfortable and I worked my way through the crowd and kept an eye on my husband waaaaay up ahead. My knee and my shin gave me absolutely no problems!!! I steadily worked my way past the other runners.

I checked my watch at mile 1 and it said 9:46. I was stoked! As I passed the water station the leaders were already working their way back to the finish. (The female course record is 17:44!!!) I high-fived my husband at about mile 1-1/4. At the turn around I was behind one of the kids that was running the race. I couldn't believe the amount of kids that ran this race! It was great to see. I followed him for about 1/2 a mile and then passed him. I wasn't going to "lose" to a kid in my first race :)

The run back was tough. I did slow to a trot about 3 times just to catch my breath because my lungs were acting up. I grabbed a cup at the water station and didn't realize that it was Gatorade until I splashed it all over my face and down my shirt...with a little bit dribbling into my mouth. How the heck are you supposed to drink from a cup while running?!?!? With about 1/2 mile to go I ended up behind a woman with bright pink shorts. I just couldn't get my pace up enough to pass her. As we rounded the corner and could see the finish line I was passed by another woman wearing wings. I thought....awww hell no! I hadn't been passed for the entire race and it wasn't going to happen now!

The finish line was at the end of the parking lot and it was a straight shot. I kicked it up and smoked them both! My husband was waiting for me just by the finish line and was cheering me on. I felt like I was flying! It was amazing! After I crossed the line we had to wait in a line and give a tag from our bib to the timer.

My official time was 30:25. Awesome! I was 6th in my age group and thought that was pretty great. My husband took 1st in his age group with a time of 26:50. (This is the part where I don't tell you that he was the only guy in his age group :)......) He also accomplished this with a sprained ankle. He rolled his ankle about 1/2 mile in and had to hobble. But he sucked it up and made it through. (He's been icing it since we got home though.)

Overall it was a great experience. I can't wait until the next race. I don't know if my time will improve, and I don't much mind right now if it doesn't.

Today....I love running!

~*~*~Update~*~*~
Husband is doing just fine.

And I forgot to add that the iPod gods were with me during the whole race. Heard my favorite Fort Minor-Remember the Name as we hit the 1/4 mile mark. As I was hitting the last leg I heard my new favorite running song: Guru Josh Project-Infinity. It totally made me feel like a hard core runner as I kicked butt across the finish line.

Awesome!

Fence

When we bought our house last year we knew we would be putting in a fence. Our neighbor to the east already had a fence as you can see in this picture. After we brought Bentley home, we new we needed to put in a fence so that he could run.

A few weeks ago, our neighbor came over and said he and his wife were putting a fence up in their yard. If they were putting one up, we'd be fenced in on two sides. We asked who they were using and gave the guy a call. Why not just fence the rest of it and get it over with?

It has been two days since he started and I am pleased. But something has been bothering me. When our neighbor brought over this guy's information, I took note of his quote. After we were given our quote, signed our contract, and gave him our deposit, I started to think. Our quote was about $300 more than our neighbors'. If you're fencing 3 sides of a yard with 1 gate, wouldn't it cost more than only fencing 2 sides of a yard with 2 gates? This has puzzled me, even though I haven't said anything.

Today, after the fence guy ran into a problem of discovering an unmarked wire (that turned out to be nothing more than a junk wire)and was delayed in his work for over an hour, I really began to wonder. The only posts that had been dug and set were around our yard. Why didn't he use that time to go and dig the holes for the posts on the other side of our neighbor's yard? He told me that he was going to finish today but that the wire delay means he'll finish tomorrow. Again.....if you have to dig holes, set posts, and picket 100 more feet of fence, how will you be done in one day?

My husband has more tact in this situation than I do, so I sent him to ask the question. Are the neighbors only fencing one side of their yard? The side that meets our yard? The answer....yes. They we just putting up a fence on our side.

Weird, huh? Though I'm greatful that they've saved me about $1,000, I'm a little annoyed that they were fencing us out. The man is a rather controlling guy and the only thing that my husband and the fence guy could come up with is that he wanted to control what kind of fence faced his yard. So, he "got the ball rolling" on us putting up our fence by "recommending" which guy we should use.

Hmmmm......But at least he saved me about $1,000.