Happy Thanksgiving and New PR!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope ya’ll are all having a wonderful day and thinking about all the things you are thankful for!! I am so blessed and am thankful for so much!! I am spending the day at my parents house and am super excited for the yummy dinner tonight!!

 

This morning, my dad went with me to the Turkey Trot 4 miler as my camera man!! This was a larger race than I normally run, I think they said there was around 2000 people!! It was pretty chilly this morning, around 40 degrees with a pretty strong wind that made it SO much colder!! It wasn’t very fun standing there freezing waiting for the race to start, but once I did I was fine! Even got a little warm at the end!!

 

The race was at Shelby Farms, which is a huge park in Memphis with tons of running trails, lakes, biking trails, etc. The race was on a paved trail that was only wide enough for 3 people across so that meant I was weaving around people the entire 4 miles! It got a little frustrating at times! The course was a little hilly but I’m used to that!! I went out fast (for me) and kept telling myself to slow down but I was just really getting into passing people! Haha! That’s ok because I still had a lot left in me at the end and was really able to push it my last mile!! My official time (chip and Garmin time were the same) was 35:44!! A new PR!! I was hoping to run around 37 minutes because I have done that recently on my training runs and was going to be really happy to beat my previous time of 36:xx from a few years ago, and I did both! I don’t think I have ever run 4 miles that fast! That means just under 9 minute miles! Wohoo! I am so pumped!! Here are some pics from the race:

 

 

Before the race, waiting to start. Luckily I was able to wear my warm jacket and hand it off to my dad right before the start!

 

That’s me in the red if you can’t tell :) This was right at mile 1. And then unfortunately, the camera died :(

 

After the race, my dad and I walked another 4.5 miles around Shelby Farms. Gotta burn all the calories I can for all the food I’m gonna eat tonight! Haha!!

 

The POTM challenge is officially over today. I am proud to say that I logged 122.5 miles from Nov 1-26th!! My goal was 100 and I definitely surpassed that!!

 

Well, gotta get back to the family! Enjoy your Turkey Day!!

Favorite Thanksgiving Food

Hey guys!! Only 2 more days until Turkey Day!! I can’t wait!!! So, what is your favorite Thanksgiving food?? Mine is by far the sweet potatoes with marshmallows that my mom makes. And, they have to be the kind out of the can, not fresh ones! Haha!! Every year she asks me if I want fresh sweet potatoes or the canned ones, and every year I say the canned ones of course!! I only eat them once a year and to me, they MAKE Thanksgiving!  Definitely looking forward to them on Thursday!

 

I had a pretty productive day today! It started off super early with a 3 mile run with Erin. We actually did our 3 miles faster than we have been, so that was nice!! I have a scheduled walk in the morning with my running buddy and then the Turkey Trot 4 miler on Thursday!

 

After our run, I immediately came home, did Whittle My Middle, and started cleaning my house. I basically cleaned every room!! Living room, kitchen, both bathrooms, and my bedroom! The guest room and office didn’t really need to be cleaned so that was nice! I can’t believe how clean my house is now! I also went ahead and started our registry at William-Sonoma! I love that store, and even before I got engaged I knew that I just HAD to register there!! It was really fun to browse through the website and pick out all the things I wanted! I hope I get a lot of that stuff! I’m also going to register at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond but Al and I are going to actually go to the store to do it. I want to use that scanner gun! Haha!

 

Tonight for dinner, I made on of my go-to recipes: BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded

BBQ sauce

Boboli pizza crust

Shredded mozzarella cheese

sliced red onion, black olives, and jalapenos

Coat chicken in BBQ sauce. Spread BBQ sauce generously over pizza crust. Top with chicken, onion, olives, jalapenos, and cheese. Bake for 10-12 mins. Enjoy!

 

Well, I have another early morning workout so I better get heading to bed! Hope ya’ll have a great night!!

Thanksgiving Break!

It’s official! I had my LAST Anatomy test this afternoon and I am now officially on Thanksgiving Break! Yes!! And what time am I waking up on my first day of my break? 5:30am to go run with Erin! Guess that means I’m addicted! Haha :)

 

I made one of Erin’s recipes tonight and it turned out really good!! Here’s the recipe:

 

Potato Sausage Casserole

• 1 lb kielbasa sausage (I used Italian turkey sausage)

• 2.5 cups red potatoes, cut into bites

• 1/2 green pepper chopped

• 1 can cream of celery

• 1/3 cup water

• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese

*I also added some chopped onion to the casserole*

Preheat oven to 350. Layer in baking pan sausage (cut into pieces), potatoes and pepper.

 

 

Cook cream of celery, cheese and water until melted together.

 

 

Pour over pan.

 

 

Bake for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.

 

 

I really enjoyed this! I think next time, I won’t use Italian sausage. Not a huge fan of that flavor. Regular turkey sausage would be much better.

 

I also have left over PB cookies and that’s not such a good thing! I just polished off three! I need Al here to eat the rest of them for me so I don’t! Haha :)

 

No running today, it was a scheduled rest day. I took Sadie on a walk and did Whittle My Middle instead. I am SOOO excited Thanksgiving is this week! Just can’t say it enough! Hope ya’ll have a wonderful night!

 

*I watched My Sister’s Keeper tonight and LOVED it!! Great movie, definitely a tear jerker!!*

Last 12 Miler!!

Happy Sunday!! I’ve had a pretty busy day and am so ready to go to bed! I started out my Sunday morning with a 12 miler since I didn’t do it yesterday. I got up at 6 and was out the door by 6:30. I ran the same route as last time but felt tired from the very beginning. Surprisingly, I ran this 12 miler a little faster than last weeks! My time was 2:10:xx with an average pace of 10:54! I did incorporate some walk breaks and surprisingly they really made me pick my pace up after them. Normally when I do walk breaks, I just want to keep walking and they make me even more tired! But not today!

 

The run was pretty uneventful. The weather was nice, 50 degrees and cloudy. This route is pretty hilly so that made me a little more tired than my other routes. I did upload some new Christmas music to my running playlist last night so that kept my mind occupied for a while!!

 

I didn’t eat anything before this run, like I did last week. There just wasn’t enough time for me to eat, digest, and then head out for the run. I did take a Powergel at mile 8. I felt about the same as last week. I started getting a side stitch around 6 miles and the walk breaks helped a little with that but it continued to the end of my run. I don’t think it matters what I do, I am gonna get a side stitch on my long runs no matter what. I have tried changing what I eat pre run, the night before, during the run, etc. and nothing makes me NOT get one. Anyone have any insight on this? I am thinking it’s just something I’m going to have to deal with and that kinda sucks because I felt great, other than that.

 

Anyway, that was my last 12 miler before my race on Dec. 5th! I think my long run next weekend is only 8 miles so that will be a nice break!!

 

After my run and ice bath, I studied some more for my Anatomy test tomorrow and then went to Al’s families Thanksgiving! It was so good! I love family events, especially when they involve food!

 

I hope everyone else had a great weekend! I am so ready for my test tomorrow to be over so I can be on Thanksgiving break!! Have a great night!

No Long Run Today!

Good morning everyone! Happy Saturday to ya’ll!! I had a hard test yesterday in my Anesthesia class, that I had been studying for literally all week. I feel like I did pretty good though! Guess we will see! Unfortunately, I have my LAST Anatomy test on Monday so I had to come home from class yesterday and immediately start studying for that. And, that’s what my WHOLE weekend will consist of, especially all day today. I want to keep an A in that class so I need to be really well prepared for this test! But, I am SOOOO sick of studying! At least after this test on Monday I am off school for a week and a half! Yay!!

 

I had planned on doing my long run, 12 miles, today, but that didn’t really go as planned! I really wasn’t into it mentally, AT ALL! I slept in, because I didn’t want to get up and run. And once I got up, I played on the computer, reading blogs to procrastinate this run even more! And then, when I finally talked myself into putting clothes on and attempting this run, my Garmin wouldn’t turn on! So I spent a good while reading the handbook trying to figure out what to do! Luckily, I just had to reset it and it started working! So, I finally pushed myself out the door and from my first footstep all I could think about was “I don’t want to do this” over and over! After about 2 miles of this, I decided this run just wasn’t going to happen today, so I decided I would attempt again tomorrow and just finish this run as a 3 miler.

 

I think this was a really good decision because if I continued on, this run would have just been awful with the attitude I had about it. So, hopefully tomorrow will be better. I’m getting up early, because I seem to do better running when I’m up super early to do it! Haha! I think I am just burnt out on training! I still love running but the “training” part I’m sick of. Does that make sense?? I’m glad my race is almost here! Dec. 5th! I think my training plan was just too long but I will critique that after the race! Does anyone else ever get like this at the end of training plans?? I signed up for a Turkey Trot 4 miler for Thanksgiving, so at least I have that to look forward to next week!

 

Tomorrow we are doing Thanksgiving with one of Al’s grandparents and that side of the family, so that on top of a 12 miler is not going to leave me with a lot of study time so I have a ton to do today! Al has requested I make those PB cookies again to bring tomorrow because they were so good! He ate most of them! He would eat like 6-8 cookies at a time! Haha! So, I will be making those again today!

 

What are ya’ll doing this weekend? Anyone else going to Thanksgiving this weekend? I think it’s kinda fun because I still have his other side of the family and my family to do on Thursday! So it’s like 3 Thanksgivings! Good thing I’m a runner! Haha :)

Google is AWESOME!!

Last night, I went over to Erin’s so she could show me just how neat Google is. I was completely clueless. The only thing I used Google for was to search. So, after the teaching on Google, we decided to do some Biggest Loser yoga. Well actually, there was a lot more laughing and talking than yoga going on! Morning exercise is so much better for us! Haha.

 

Anyway, back to Google…. Today I downloaded Google Chrome and started using Google Reader. Yes, I realize you all are saying to me “ where have you been?” Well, I have obviously not been caught up with the latest Google technology! Ha! I am totally loving both!! I have now decided to set up a Gmail account, and that’s what I need ya’lls input for! I can’t decide what my email address should be! I have 2 options, a fun one, and a more professional one. And, I don’t know which one to pick! I like the fun one because it would be easy to tell to people, but I’m thinking I may need a more professional one with my line of work and school (medical field for those of you who don’t know). What do ya’ll think? Here are my 2 options(and as of last night, they were both available):

 

1. nikiruns@gmail.com- Super cute, easy for people to spell without me having to spell it for them, same as my Twitter

 

2. nngilmer@gmail.com- This one is my initials and new last name. I know some of you may think I’m jumping the gun already trying to use my new last name, but there is no sense in me making one with my maiden name when it’s gonna change in 7 months! But, this one is more professional, easy since it’s my name, but I will constantly have to spell it for people when giving over the phone, etc.

 

Opinions?? Or, if you have any other suggestions, that would be great too! Thanks Erin for introducing me to a whole new world! Ha :)

 

I had a another good run this morning with my workout buddy! We did our usual 3 mile loop! I felt extra tired this morning for some reason. Maybe because it was my 3rd day in a row of running? Not sure. But tomorrow is a rest day and then 12 miles on Saturday! I also did day 4 of Whittle Your Middle.

 

The rest of my day consists of studying with classmates and then class this afternoon! Hope ya’ll have a fabulous day!

Best PB Cookies EVER!!

Hey friends!! I am on a quick 30 minute study break so I have to make this fast!! Last night I made the best PB cookies EVER!! Seriously, the best!! I first got the recipe off of IGE but then heard some of my friends at school talking about the recipe also! Apparently, this lady used this PB cookie recipe to win some type of Pillsbury Cookie contest in 2008. Anyway, I think she was even on Oprah!! So here’s the recipe:

 

Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies

Pillsbury 2008 Bake-Off Contest Winning Recipe by Carolyn Gurtz 

Ingredients

1/4 cup Fisher® Dry Roasted Peanuts, finely chopped

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup JIF® Creamy Peanut Butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated peanut butter cookies, well chilled

 

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix chopped peanuts, granulated sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

 

2. In another small bowl, stir peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely blended. Shape mixture into 24 (1-inch) balls.

 

 

3. Cut roll of cookie dough into 12 slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise to make 24 pieces; flatten slightly. Shape 1 cookie dough piece around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough and balls.

 

4. Roll each covered ball in peanut mixture; gently pat mixture completely onto balls. On ungreased large cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart.

 

 

5. Bake 7 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Store tightly covered.

 

 

These are soooo good!! I ate 2 right out of the oven!!

 

********************************************************************

 

On the running front… today I had an AWESOME 6 mile run!! It was one of those days when I really did not want to get out of bed. It’s freezing and cloudy outside. I just laid there and laid there until I finally made myself get up. The temp was 43 degrees with a pretty chilly wind, but halfway into my run I was sweating!! I love these cooler running temps! I did the same, super hilly, 6 mile route that I did last week. I really felt great this entire run! Like, I couldn’t believe I was feeling that good, especially on the last mile! I could tell I was running pretty fast (for me) for the entire run, and I was right!! Here’s my stats:

 

Time: 58:14

Avg pace: 9:43!! Yea!!

Mile 1: 10:16

Mile 2: 10:05

Mile 3: 9:51

Mile 4: 9:25

Mile 5: 9:30

Mile 6: 9:08

 

I am so happy with this run! It’s gonna put me in a great mood for the rest of the day!!

 

I also did Day 3 of the Whittle Your Middle Challenge! My abs are so sore! I am loving these exercises!! Tonight, I am going to Erin’s for some yoga and Google teaching sessions! I am clueless about all you can do with Google stuff!! Well, gotta get back to the books! Go make those cookies!!

Wedding Update

I know, I know… I said I would be MIA this week but I guess I just can’t stay away! Haha.. I am taking a study break right now and thought I would post on here!! So, my parents just got back from Florida on Sunday. They were there taking care of wedding details, meeting with the planner, vendors, finding a house to rent, etc. I was sad I couldn’t go :( Stupid school! Anyway, I wanted to share some stuff they got accomplished for me!!

 

First up, table decorations!! I am using Calla Lilies for my flowers, so here is how I am having the florist do our tables.

 

 

We are not having the side vases with flowers, just the center one with calla lilies. There are also votive candles and yellow and white rose petals scattered around. I thought this was gorgeous! Our table cloths are a sheer blue overlay over the white table cloth. The blue color I’m using is a cobalt or Memphis blue, if you will :) My bouquet is going to be mini and large white calla lilies mixed together and my bridesmaids are going to have large yellow calla lilies. So I’m excited about that!

 

Now for the cake…

 

 

I am having Heidi of Bake My Day do my wedding cake. I’m basically having this cake, except it will be 3 layers and the blue swirl things are going to be a darker blue. The cake itself will be a vanilla cake with a vanilla crème and citrus filling for the top and bottom layers. And the middle layer is going to be vanilla cake with raspberry filling and chocolate ganache. Sounds yummy to me! I am also having a groom’s cake for Al. It’s going to be some sort of fishing scene that says “Al and Niki, Hook, Line, and Sinker!” Cute right?? And his cake is going to be a chocolate cake with strawberry filling and chocolate ganache. He has no clue a groom’s cake even exists so it’s gonna be a fun surprise!! So I am really excited about this too!!

 

Now for the honeymoon… I have a week and a half off for Thanksgiving from school so I am planning to make all our honeymoon plans then! Book everything! So, we decided we are going to go to San Francisco, Napa Valley, and Sacramento for out honeymoon! I am SOOO excited about this!! So if you have ever been to these places, let me know if you have suggestions of where to stay or what to do!! I need some help, there’s way too many choices!!

 

Quick running update: I had another good 3 mile run with Erin this morning! It stayed dark almost the entire run because it’s so cloudy here! I also did my 2nd day of Whittle Your Middle Challenge! My abs are really feeling it! Well, I hope ya’ll have a great Tuesday! Must get back to studying!!

Running Update

Sorry guys, this is going to be short and sweet. I may be a little MIA this week because I am busy with studying for tests on Friday and next Monday! But after that, I am off for a week and a half for Thanksgiving! Yeah! Just gotta buckle down this week :)

 

On Sunday, I did a 4 mile recovery run at a 10:20 pace. It was a nice, easy run. Nothing to really write home about. I was actually really surprised at how good I felt. Not very much soreness at all! Ice baths really do work wonders!!

 

Today was a rest day. Erin and I decided to start Angela’s, at Oh She Glows, Whittle Your Middle Challenge! We are about a week late starting but we are extending it a week so we do a full month like everyone else. So far so good! I know I’m going to be sore tomorrow! Anyone else doing this?? Well, better get to bed. I have an early morning run with Erin on the schedule! Good night!!

Tremendous Twelve!!

I did it! I ran 12 miles this morning!! Overall the run was pretty good! I got up around 7:30 and was out the door around 8ish. This was this first time I did my long run in my town which makes for a lot of hills! It wasn’t bad though! The weather was nice, I almost wish it was a little cooler. My computer said it was 43 degrees when I started, so I wore capris, a short sleeve shirt, and a long sleeve light shirt but almost immediately I was ready to shed that long sleeve shirt! I stashed my water and gel on my porch so I looped back every 3-4 miles to get water. Since I had such bad side stitches last week, I opted to NOT eat anything before my run. I know some of you may think that’s crazy, but I just feel better when I am running with nothing in my stomach. This is fine when I can just get up and head out but will pose an issue on race day since I will be up about 2 hours before the start to get ready and get to the race. I am planning on mimicking race day on my 12 miler next weekend so any fueling suggestions? I need something small so it won’t bother my tummy but substantial enough so I’m not starving. I’ve tried oatmeal, toast with PB, and cliff bars. Oatmeal and toast with PB are major fails but 1/2 a cliff bar seemed to work ok most of the time. Any other ideas would be great!!

 

Ok back to the run… So the first 4ish miles were great, stopped real quick, got some water, and started again. The next 4ish miles were also not bad, more hilly than the first but still ok. No side stitches or tummy troubles at this point. I was making a point to keep a nice slow pace seeing as I really wanted to finish this run and I normally don’t do my long runs on this many hills!! I took a Green Apple Power gel around mile 8 with more water. Really like that flavor! I really am a fan of gels! Around mile 9ish, I started getting a bit of a side stitch but I managed the last 4 miles without too much difficulty. I had to take a couple walk breaks to stretch my side out when it got unbearable but I was ok with that.

 

My time was 2:12:xx for 12 miles with an average pace of 11:03. A little slower than usual but not bad considering the hills and the walk breaks I took toward the end. I am really happy with this run!!

 

I am also happy to report that the awful sick feeling that I have been experiencing after my long runs was no where to be seen today! I actually was able to eat not long after the run and took an ice bath! Ice baths are kinda fun :) I sat in the tub, shivering, drinking hot tea and listening to Christmas music! I lasted 15 mins and then got out. Hopefully I will not be too sore tomorrow so I can do a short recovery run. Overall, this tremendous 12 miler was a win in my book!

 

I also decided to do some baking today and used Megan’s recipe to make Mini Pumpkin Scones!

 

 

They turned out really good!! I made the icing a little too thin because I ran out of powdered sugar so it’s more of a glaze. But, it still tastes awesome! And you know I sampled one already :) Great recipe Megan!!

 

Tonight’s the last night that Georgia gets to stay with me because my parents are back in town tomorrow. So, we are having a girl’s night!! Yummy food, wine, and catching up on the DVR and blogs! Sounds like a great night to me!! Hope ya’ll are having a great weekend!!