Niki's Neverending Adventure

Hope everyone had a good Wednesday today!! I am currently catching up on my recorded shows on the DVR. I had a nice 4 mile recovery run this afternoon. My legs felt tired but not too dead. My calves were the most sore and I even took one of Sadie’s tennis balls and massaged all the knots out this evening. Maybe I should get a foam roller?? Anyone have one or use one? I kept a pretty good pace, especially for it being a recovery run! I did 4 miles in 39:36 at a 9:54 min/ mile pace. I’m hoping my calves feel better by the morning for my speed work!!

 

Tomorrow I have to give a presentation in front of not only my class by the 2nd and 3rd year CRNA students too. I am DREADING it! I absolutely hate public speaking. I get so nervous and spacey and my voice literally shakes! Not to mention I go from shades of white to bright red. So I am not looking forward to this at all and can’t wait until tomorrow is over with! The only good thing about tomorrow is Bunco!! Looking forward to going to that after my presentation. So any good public speaking tips would be greatly appreciated, as would happy thoughts and prayers for tomorrow:)

 

I wanted to share with ya’ll this recipe I made tonight for Chicken Chili. I got the recipe off of Kristin’s blog and it was so delish!! I get so many great recipes from her! And,  I have tons of leftovers!! Here’s the recipe:

 

Chicken Chili

serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 small onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 28oz cans tomato sauce

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 small can baked beans

2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (I used my leftover Rotisserie Chicken)

2 Tablespoons chili powder

Heavy dash of cumin

Dash of cayenne pepper

Dash of red pepper flakes

2-3 Tablespoons brown sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Sauté onions in a large soup pot, in olive oil for 10 minutes on medium low until translucent. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for another 2 minutes.

2. Add tomato sauce, black beans, baked beans and shredded chicken to the pot and stir to combine. Add seasonings, stir to combine, turn heat up to medium and let simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Top with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, crackers and enjoy!

 

 

 

Ya’ll, this was so good and so easy!!

 

 

I topped it with a little Light Sour Cream and some shredded Cheddar Cheese. Yum-O!!

 

 

I made some Jiffy Cornbread Muffins to go with it! You can’t have Chili without cornbread!!

 

Seriously, try this recipe!! Well, I’m off to get my beauty rest! Goodnight!

Posted in: on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at at 9:15 PM 4 comments    

Finally we have some fall temps here!! When I woke up this morning it was a lovely 50 degrees!! Perfect long run weather! I was ecstatic. I did have to think a little bit more about what to wear, shorts or capris…tank or t-shirt?? I figured I would rather be a little chilly in the beginning so I went with shorts and a t-shirt. Ended up being PERFECT. I headed out to my usual long run place and headed out for my 9 miler. My legs felt a little more tired than usual and I figured my time would be a little slower, but it wasn’t!! At the beginning of the run I kept glancing at my pace on my Garmin to make sure I wasn’t going too slow or too fast, but by the 2 mile mark I was in my groove. I really just need to let myself run (on my long runs) and not worry about the pace at the beginning because I always get into my groove without trying!! I stuck in a bunch of hills on this run mainly because I really just love hills! Crazy, right? I would much rather run hills than run flat. Anyone else like this?? I think it’s kinda neat that when I go to do my long runs each week, I see the same runners and walkers every time! I’m getting to know their face well!!

 

My run was quite uneventful, actually really relaxing! I did see some crazy looking ORANGE mushrooms growing from the ground! Anyone ever seen orange mushrooms before! Wish I would have had a camera to take a picture!!

 

I did 9 miles in 1:35 which is a 10:34 min/ mile pace! Last week I did 10:43 pace for my 8 miler so I am super happy to have gone longer and a bit faster today!!

 

Normally after my runs my tummy is not very happy and I don’t end up eating anything for hours. However, today I was starving when I finished and could not get food into my tummy fast enough!! Here’s what I made super fast:

 

 

2 mini ww bagels, one with PB and one with cream cheese, a banana, and Awake tea! Perfect meal!!

 

Running question: At what mileage do you start incorporating gels, shot blocks, etc. during long runs? I’m at the 9 mile marker and not sure if I should be fueling during my runs. Currently I am just eating a zbar one hour before my run and taking sips of H20 every 3 miles or so and it has been ok up to this point. So I was just wondering when I should start using fuel on my runs!

Second question: At what mileage do ya’ll start taking ice baths? So not looking forward to this!!

Posted in: on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at at 10:48 AM 6 comments    

Hey ya’ll! I have had an awfully long day today:( The BIG TEST was this afternoon and it was just as bad as we all expected. No one felt good about it. I knew those chapters so well and they make the most random test questions that I wouldn’t have known even if I studied more! I hate that! Well, at least all my classmates felt the same way! They keep telling us, it doesn’t matter what your test grades are, just learn and understand the material. Well that’s all fine and good but when you have to keep a B average to stay in the program, then you have to worry about grades to some extent… Ahh, I digress. Not looking forward to finding out what grade I made.

 

On to happier things… it was SO nice to come home from such a long day to dinner already cooked! As I mentioned in my earlier post, I had a pot roast cooking away all day in my slow cooker!!

 

 

I bought these liners to try out today… anyone ever use them?? Love the idea but I felt like my meat and veggies kind of had a “plasticy” taste. Made me kind of weary to try them again!! Great idea though!

 

 

Here’s the liner in the slow cooker… simple enough!!

 

 

I then chopped up an onion, some red potatoes, and carrots and put them in the bottom of the slow cooker. I also added 1/2 cup H20 to the veggies.

 

I also browned the meat on both sides (seasoned with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper) before placing on top of the veggies. This picture lighting makes the meat look funny! I promise it looked normal! Haha.

 

 

Here’s the final product! Yummy! I cooked it on low for 10 hours and the pot roast was so moist! Looking forward to these leftovers!!

 

I may or may not have had some more ice cream after dinner ;)

 

I watched a new show called Trauma tonight and really liked it!! I am loving all the new medical shows on TV! Anyone else watch this tonight??

 

Well I am hoping for a nicer, more relaxing day tomorrow but I doubt that will happed! Goodnight!

Posted in: on Monday, September 28, 2009 at at 9:27 PM 3 comments    

Good morning friends!! Hope you are having a good start to your Monday morning!! I had my alarm set for 7 am but wouldn’t you know, Sadie had other plans. She woke me up at 6:30 and by then I was already a little awake so I just went ahead and got up. We went on a walk around the block (about a mile) and then I came home and did 20 minutes of a strength workout. I thought I would share with ya’ll my little workout area in my house.

 

 

This is technically supposed to be the dining room but I figured I would never use a formal dining room and turned it into my workout area!! It opens directly into my living room (they are basically like one big room) so my treadmill is directly in view of the TV! This is a MUST for treadmill running!! It also makes it easy to walk and watch my shows I’ve recorded to get in a little more exercise! I bought Al the weight bench for Christmas and we both use it a lot! Good investment! I also have some free weights in the corner that you can’t really see that I use a lot. Just wanted to show ya’ll my “little gym”!

 

 

So this morning I was in a cereal mood so I had:

 

1 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch (Honey Flax flavor), 1/2 cup skim milk, and a small banana. I also had a cup of Almond Amaretto coffee! It was good but lately I have just been more fond of tea! Probably would have liked that better this morning than coffee!!

 

 

I am about to head off to my study group before my “BIG TEST” and then I have lab this afternoon! I got my Pot Roast going in the slow cooker already and I am so looking forward to having dinner ready when I get home tonight! I will share my Pot Roast recipe later!

 

 

I hope ya’ll have a good start to the week and I am going to leave you with the cutest pup in the world:

 

Sadie being her lazy self!! Isn’t she precious??

Posted in: on at at 9:15 AM 4 comments    

I had a good running week this week! Due to the rain I had to shuffle some runs around, putting me running 4 days in a row again! Oh well, I managed it:) So here’s the recap:

Monday: Strength Training and Walking

Tuesday: Fartleck Run 5-4-3-2-1 (5 miles total)

Wednesday: Strength Training and Walking

Thursday: 8 miles @ 10:43 pace

Friday: 4 miles @ 9:57 pace

Saturday: 4 miles @ 9:38 pace

Sunday: 5 miles @ 10:25 pace

Total: 26 miles!!

 

Todays 5 miler was good but tough. Being that it was my 4th day of running in a row, my legs were beat. They were tired this whole run and it didn’t really help that it was a hilly 5 miles. Even though my legs felt tired, my breathing felt great! I’m sure I could have kept going at that pace for a few more miles at least! I’m glad I didn’t push it because I don’t want to over do it. Tomorrow is an off day and I am looking forward to being able to sleep in a little (only until 7am but that’s sleeping in for me!!). Tomorrow is my BIG TEST that I have been talking about all week. I am so ready to just have it over with! Ugh, so sick of studying the same thing over and over!!

 

Here’s the rest of my eats from today:

I had some Chicken Salad that I made earlier today on a bed of Romaine lettuce and a Honey crisp apple! The apple was divine and everything else was really yummy too!

With a nice glass of Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc!

And some Butterfinger Ice Cream for dessert! Note: I may have had a little more than this and am now totally regretting. Al bought this yesterday, it definitely wasn’t my doing because I have no ice cream self control!!

 

Gotta catch up on some blogs and then go to bed! I’m sleepy:) Goodnight!

Posted in: on Sunday, September 27, 2009 at at 9:52 PM 0 comments    

Kristin did a post on meal planning recently that made me interested in doing it myself!! I started off last night looking at the Kroger ad for this week and writing down everything that was on sale. That way, it might just help me think of meals using the on sale items!! Then after that, I picked out 4 meals that I wanted to make and listed all the ingredients that I didn’t have on hand. I then made a grocery list and placed everything into sections of the grocery store ( like produce, meat, dairy, etc.) so it would be really easy and quick to navigate the store. I also added the staple items that I would need for breakfast, lunches, and snacks! Simple right?? Well the planning was a little more time consuming than normal, but it was definitely easier to navigate the store! I really kinda had fun doing it this way! Haha. Here’s what I got:

Here is a lot of the miscellaneous items I got. Sugar, eggs, clif bars (they were only $1 each!), butter, yogurt, tea bags, whipped cream cheese, almond extract (I put this in my oatmeal!), milk, frozen mangoes for smoothies, mini ww bagels, Kashi Go Lean Crunch and Mountain Dew and Gatorade for Al.

Here’s the produce: Honey crisp apples, bananas, tomatoes, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, 2 onions,carrots,  kiwis, peaches, celery, and red potatoes.

This is the meat and canned goods. I got a pot roast, a rotisserie chicken, salmon filets, black beans, baked beans, jiffy cornbread mix, tomatoes, tomato sauce, alfredo sauce, and pepper.

 

Got a lot right?? Well I spent $115.88 which is less than I normally spend. Usually it’s around $125. I don’t know how some of ya’ll only spend $50 a week. I think I would starve. Please enlighten me on the money saving skills! I already use coupons and buy sale items and store brand.

 

Here are the meals for the week:

1. Pot Roast with Red Potatoes, Carrots, and Onion

2. Chicken Chili with Cornbread

3. Spicy Chicken Alfredo with a side salad

4. Brown Sugar Salmon with Brown Rice and Broccoli (this is the meal Al requested, he loves it!!)

 

I am also making Chicken Salad for just myself tonight with some of the rotisserie chicken and the rest of it will be used in the chili and pasta dish. For lunches, I will be having salads, bagels with cream cheese, and leftovers. And for breakfast, my normal, cereal or oats. So I think everything will get used up! I would love any more tips ya’ll have for meal planning and grocery shopping!!

 

Here are my eats for today so far:

For Breakfast I had 1 slice of ww toast with butter, a small piece of pumpkin bread (it’s about gone) and a chai tea latte made with skim milk.

 

For lunch I had leftover chunky tomato soup and 2 mini ww bagels with whipped cream cheese. Loving the whipped cream cheese! Have ya’ll ever tried it??

 

And for my afternoon snack/ study break, I had 4oz of blueberry oikos yogurt with 1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch.

And some Black Tea for a little pick me up!!

 

I will be back later to post dinner and my week 6 training recap (including today’s run)! Hope ya’ll are having a GREAT Sunday!!

Posted in: on at at 6:00 PM 3 comments    

I was lucky enough to get to stay and have dinner with my parents tonight! I love eating over there because they always have something good! Plus, like I said earlier today, my pantry is super bare (more on that later…) So here’s what we had:

I made a super yummy Summer Salad with mixed greens, cucumber, tomato, onion, gorgonzola cheese, and strawberries with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing!

 

We also had grilled teriyaki chicken sandwiches with pineapple. I only ate about 1/2 the bun before I discarded it.

 

With a small glass of Sauvignon Blanc!

 

Here’s it all together! It was so good and I’m stuffed!! I also had a few candy corns that my mom had in the candy dish!! Love Halloween candy!!

 

I ended up finding some new shorts today at Sports Authority. I really like running in spandex type shorts because they don’t move around very much and I wanted a pair a little longer than my others. All shorts end up rubbing my legs no matter what I do so it helps to have different lengths so they don’t all rub the same spot!! I am so ready to be able to wear my running capris and pants and not have to worry about this issue! Come on cooler weather!!

 

I decided that I am going to try meal planning and am working on that tonight! I will post more about that tomorrow! Have a great night!

Posted in: on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at at 8:01 PM 2 comments    

Finally! No rain today and the sun is even out! The only thing that could possibly make this day any better is a little cooler temp, but hey I will take it! I decided to run after class again today and it was much hotter than yesterday with that sun beating down on me!

 

I did the same hilly 4 mile route as yesterday but today I ran it in 38:22 averaging out to a 9:38 pace. That’s 19 seconds per mile faster than yesterday! And pair that with a hotter temp and the sun beating on me at noon, and it makes for a hard run! I was exhausted when I finished but so happy I was able to push myself extra hard!

 

I live in a relatively small, country town outside of Memphis. I have never seen anyone else run out here, EVER. I know Erin runs in our town too but I think we are the only ones! Haha. And the people out here act like they have never seen a person run before! I constantly have people stare at me, like stare as they pass then jerk their head around and stare more! I also get a lot of honks when I run the main road and that irritates me most of all! Don’t honk at me unless you know me. Period. And today I had a dog in a car pass that was barking at me. Geez people/dog… I’m just a runner. Get used to it:)

 

Today has been a breakfast filled day so far! One, because I love breakfast foods, and two, because my pantry is pretty bare!! Here’s my breakfast:

I had one small container of blueberry Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch, and 1 tsp. of Naturally More PB. It was super good! I need to eat this more often!!

 

I also went to Starbucks on the was to my Anatomy class and decided to try a tall nonfat Awake Tea Latte(I have been seeing these floating around the blog world and decided that I needed to try it)! The verdict?? Loved it!! I am a huge tea fan anyway so this was awesome, especially since it’s only 120 calories!!

 

And for lunch, another breakfast dish:

Oatmeal!! Mine contained 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 skim milk, 1/3 cup H2O, 1 small banana, some golden raisins (love these!!), and 1 tbsp. of Naturally More PB. I literally can’t eat my oatmeal without some kind of nut butter! I think it just really makes the dish!!

 

I don’t plan on having breakfast for dinner though, but I’m still not sure what I’m going to have!!

 

I need to run out to Sports Authority and pick up another pair of running shorts since I am down to 2 pairs (Sadie likes to eat them for some reason…) so I think I might do that and visit my parents too! Hope ya’ll are having a great weekend so far!!

Posted in: on at at 3:08 PM 3 comments    

Hey friends! Hope ya’ll are having a wonderful day!! I’ve been semi busy with school but I was able to fit a run in around lunch time. I set my alarm this morning so I could run before class, but I am finding it very difficult to make myself run in the dark. I keep freaking myself out. So needless to say, I went back to sleep after I realized it was raining and going to be dark for my entire run. I really wish I could get over this fear of the dark! It’s not that I live in a bad area at all but it’s more on the country side than city, therefore lacking in the streetlight department which makes it really dark! I really love running much better in the morning right when I wake up and this is really throwing me off on days I have class! Any tips on how to get over my fear and just run in the dark?

I did have a really good 4 mile recovery run this afternoon though! I was going back and forth on if I should do this run or not. I was feeling tired and hungry and was not really in the mood to run. But I knew once I headed out and started running I would feel great. The hardest part literally is getting yourself out the door. The entire run I was thinking about how glad I was that I decided to run today! I really just felt my love of running rekindled on this run. I just feel “RIGHT” when I’m running. Simple as that. Can’t imagine life without my “me runs”! I kept telling myself to keep the pace down, it’s a recovery run after all but I just felt like going strong! I would say my effort was medium. Not too hard but not as easy as my long run pace either. I ran 4 miles in 39:50, with a 9:57 average pace. I felt really good about this! Surprised at how sore my legs WEREN’T from my 8 miler yesterday!

 

I always run with my IPOD because I just really love listening to music. A lot of times though, I am so spaced out I don’t even know what I’m listening too! Haha. But every run I always think I need to add different songs to my playlist. I literally have been listening to the same playlist for like 6 months! I recently have been listening to KLOVE (a Christian music station) a lot more that I used to. I love worship and I feel super close to God when I’m worshiping, doesn’t matter where I am, church, car, running, etc. So I was thinking about some good songs to add to my list and I wanted to share some that I thought of.

 

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE LOVE Casting Crowns and their newest song, Until the Whole World Hears, is AMAZING and I will be adding this to my playlist for sure!!

They are actually playing a concert in Memphis on October 15th! I would LOVE to see them! Anyone want to go with me?? :)

 

Here’s another one I really like. It’s by Britt Nicole called The Lost Get Found.

They are both pretty upbeat and I know they will be perfect for my playlist!!

 

Any other great running song suggestions would be GREAT!!

 

Sadie and I are having a girls night tonight! I’m already in my PJ’s and have a bunch of shows DVR’s to watch! I love relaxing nights!!

Posted in: on Friday, September 25, 2009 at at 6:52 PM 2 comments    

I had a WONDERFUL 8 miler today!! After last week’s not so hot 8 miler I was a little nervous about this. I woke up not really in the mood to run plus it was lightly raining and dark outside. I really just wanted to hop right back into bed but I knew I had to run. The first improvement from last week is my pre run fueling. Last week the 1/2 slice ww bread with PB upset my tummy almost the entire run! So this week I decided to have this:

PB Zbar! Love these! And it worked out perfect! No upset stomach or side stitches at all! Finally found something that works!!

So I drove to my long run “spot” and headed out. I just told myself to go slow because last week I went out way too fast and was dying the last 1/2 of the run! So I tried not to look at my Garmin and just run comfortably. I thought about all kinds of stuff from school to how to make my blog more interesting! Ha! And then I zoned out. That’s the best part to me about long runs, I can totally zone for miles and then have no recollection of it! It’s relaxing in a so not relaxing way! I saw a lot of other runners which is nice to see and keeps me going. No walk breaks were needed and I actually added in a lot more hills than I normally do on my long run and I really felt great the WHOLE time! My pace was 10:43 for 8 miles which I am pretty happy with! Loved how I felt at this pace, although I would like to be a little faster for the half… but we’ll see:)

I am SUPER swamped with school and really trying hard to concentrate on that right now so I may have to cut my 5th run of the week out for a few weeks until school settles down. I hate to do this because I feel like I really do benefit from some extra mileage but I think it will be ok to have 4 solid runs and just cut out a shorter run for a few weeks then reevaluate. I’m just afraid that if I don’t do this, I am going to start to resent my runs because it takes away my much needed study time. What would ya’ll do??

I felt in the mood to post my other eats today so here they are!!

Making a Fruit Smoothie after my run this morning. I added 1 frozen banana, some frozen mango and berries, and 1 cup of skim milk.

Super yummy! It made a lot too and I definitely drank it all!

My awesome lunch included:

Scrambled egg with veggies(broccoli, red onion, and tomato) and celery with Naturally More PB! This was a wonderful lunch! Loved the egg-veggie combo! Oh, and I put ketchup on everything, including my eggs:)

And for a sweet after lunch treat:

This is an Apple Pie Fruit Roll from the apply farm in Nancy, KY where our lake house is! These things are the best! My mom brought me and my brother some home from the lake last weekend! I only have 1 more left!

Not sure what I am going to do for dinner. I may pick up a Lenny’s sub because I have been craving one! I LOVE that place! And other Lenny’s sub lovers?? Or I may just make grilled cheese and tomato soup which I have been craving also! I am so PUMPED for Grey’s tonight!! And, my huge test got moved back to Monday so I can actually watch Grey’s tonight instead of study! Yea!

Posted in: on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at at 1:17 PM 2 comments    

It’s supposed to rain again all week here in Memphis… I am so sick of the rain!! I had planned on doing my 8 miler long run today but when the alarm went off and I got up to feed Sadie, all I could hear was POURING rain! Pouring so bad that my patio was flooded and Sadie wouldn’t even go out to go potty. So needless to say, my still sleepy self took that as a sign to go back to be and do speed work on the treadmill later. Fast forward about 2 hours and I am back up getting ready to run. And now of course it’s just cloudy and not pouring rain anymore but it’s too hot and humid to attempt the 8 miler. Boo. :( So I get onto my computerized training plan, switch some stuff around and decide to do a 5 mile speed work session on the treadmill and save my 8 miler until Thursday (just like last week).

For the speed work, I did a fartleck run called 5-4-3-2-1. I know I have explained this before but basically you run hard for 5 mins then recover at a slower pace for a set amount of time (I do 2 mins) then run hard again for 4 mins, recover for 2, and so on. I did it 1 1/2 times to finish my 5 miles. I LOVE this run! It’s so fun! Definitely try it if you need a change!

The rest of the day I am cooped up inside studying for a huge test on Friday. Taking lots of study breaks and consuming a lot of caffeine! Haha! Hope ya’ll have a wonderful Tuesday and first day of fall!! I have a fun TV line up tonight consisting of The Biggest Loser, 90210, and Melrose Place!

Posted in: on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at at 12:45 PM 3 comments    

I did a lot of switching around of runs this week but ended up only coming out 1 mile short than my training schedule says. Not too shabby!! I am also considering switching up my running days a bit so I don’t run 4 days in a row because my legs are DEAD on that 4th day! Here’s the recap:

Monday: strength training

Tuesday: speed work, 8X400 with 90 sec RI- 4 miles

Wednesday: strength training

Thursday: Long run- 8 miles

Friday- 3 miles recovery

Saturday- 4 miles

Sunday- 5 miles

Total- 24 miles!!

My 5 miler today was ok. Since it was my 4th day of running in a row, my legs were super tired and felt that way the entire run. Not to mention, this run had a large amount of hills. I did 5 miles at a 10:25 pace and was actually surprised it wasn’t slower!! I think I am going to switch up my Fridays and Saturdays to give me only 3 running days in a row. I am super happy my total mileage for the week is 24!

Today I’ve been doing school work and now and heading to my parents house to visit with them and my grandparents! Yay! Love family time:)

Posted in: on Sunday, September 20, 2009 at at 2:05 PM 6 comments    

I wasn’t sure how much I was going to get done today because this dreary weather has had me feeling really lazy!! But luckily, the sun came out for a little while today and perked me right up! I got up and went to Anatomy class this morning and stopped by Starbucks on the way. I LOVE the Pumpkin Spice Lattes but they are pricey and have quite a few calories to get them all the time. So today I got a tall coffee with 2 squirts of Pumpkin Spice Syrup! It was so good! Actually a little too sweet and I think 1 squirt would be sufficient! I am so glad I tried this! I actually got the idea from Bobbi :) Keeping with the pumpkin theme, I decided to be fall-ish and make Pumpkin Bread!! I love anything that has pumpkin in it! It just screams fall! Now we just need the cooler temps!

Can’t wait to have some of this tonight!!

Look at my visitor that I’ve had all weekend!

This is Georgia! She is my family’s dog and I am babysitting her while my parents are out of town. I actually brought her home when I was a junior in high school and my parents wouldn’t let me take her when I moved out. They just fell in love with that sweet face!! She is also Sadie’s BFF!

Here are the girls on “kitty patrol” Haha!

So as for my PRODUCTIVITY today… I got home from class and did a 4 mile run. I wasn’t really excited about this because it was hot, humid, and I was sleepy from class! But I got out there anyway and ended up running 4 miles at a 9:39 pace! Yay!! It was tough at the end because the sun came out and was beating on me but I just pushed through it and I am glad I did! I then proceeded to mow the front and back yard even though my grass was still soggy! It was literally a jungle and it’s supposed to rain all week again so I thought this must be my chance! So I went for it! And after the grass, I took the girls for a nice stroll! I also vacuumed my whole house and finished up a take home test for school! Whew! I am worn out! Ready to sit on the couch and watch some shows I recorded!! Hope ya’ll are having a fabulous Saturday!!

Posted in: on Saturday, September 19, 2009 at at 7:33 PM 4 comments    

I’ve been busy the last few days with running, school, and family! Plus, I’ve been a little lazy from all this rain! Will it ever go away?? On to my runs for yesterday and today…

Yesterday was my long run, 8 miles. It sprinkled a little bit but the rain held off for most of the day. It was just around long enough to make it super humid. YUCK. My run was a little tough yesterday, I think due to 2 things.

1. I ate my normal 1/2 piece of ww bread with PB 1 hour before my long run (I did switch it up last week to a z-bar and think that worked MUCH better). Well, within like 0.2 of a mile, I had a side stitch. Great. It continued to come and go throughout my run. There were a few times where it was such a stabbing pain, that I had to stop and walk and stretch it out, so annoying!! And the PB bread just felt so heavy the entire run that I am thinking I won’t eat that pre run again!

2. I also did the first half of my run way too fast which made the second half really tough. I think mile 3 was at a 9:30ish pace! Too fast for me!

But I averaged a 10:45 pace with walk breaks and all so not too bad! I was actually pretty happy with that!!

Today was a recovery run and I ended up doing 3 miles instead of 4 because my legs were super tired and sore. I did 2 on the treadmill while it poured outside then jumped off the treadmill when I saw it was only lightly raining and went out for another 1 mile outside and made it back just in time before the lightning and thunder started! Whew! Good recovery run in my opinion!

My grandparents were in town yesterday so it was fun seeing them and spending time with my whole family. They are now with my parents up at our lake house, so I an babysitting my parent’s dog Georgia:) Sadie is totally loving it since Georgia is her best friend!! Well, off to make dinner! Hopefully I will be posting a good recipe if it turns out good!!

Posted in: on Friday, September 18, 2009 at at 6:17 PM 2 comments    

Got a lot of random stuff to blog about today!! First of all the rain continues here and it is supposed to all week! Ya’ll don’t even want to know how tall my grass is! It needs to be mowed so bad but I can’t do it until the rain stops!! So, it looks like a lot of my runs will be in the rain this week including my 8 miler tomorrow. I am fine running in the rain as long as there is no lightning:) Since the majority of you said you always take the day off before a long run, as I normally do, I had to do some switching up of my running schedule since the weatherman did some lying earlier in the week. That being said, today is a strength training day and I will be running the rest of the week to get my miles in. Should be ok as long as the lightning cooperates:)

On another running note… check out The Chic Runner’s new giveaway!! Or don’t because I totally want to win so I can buy some hot pink armwarmers!!

Last night I made an awesome Mac and Cheese recipe that I got from Kristin’s blog! It was fabulous!! It is actually a recipe from Cooking Light so you can actually feel good about eating it! Here is the recipe! Sorry I didn’t take any pics, i forgot:)

Did anyone else watch the Big Brother finale last night?? I am so happy that Jordan won!! I am super excited for all the TV shows to be starting again!! I had to miss The Biggest Loser last night because I was recording BB and the new Melrose Place but hopefully next week I can catch it! I get so motivated watching TBL!! So what shows do ya’ll watch?? I have so many, that goodness for DVR!! Here is my list:

1. Grey’s Anatomy- so ready for it to start next week!!

2. One Tree Hill

3. Private Practice

4. 90210- yes I like the new one!

5. Greek- on abc Family :)

6. The Hills- think this starts next week too!!

7. Friday Night Lights- LOVE this show! Anyone know when it starts??

8. Still contemplating the new Melrose Place… anyone else watch it??

9. Looking forward to the new show called Mercy about nurses- starts next week

That’s all I can think of right now but that’s plenty! I don’t have enough time to watch all these as it is!! Well I’m going to go heat up some left over mac and cheese for lunch! YUM! Hope ya’ll have a GREAT day!!

Posted in: on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at at 12:01 PM 4 comments    

Good morning ya’ll!! It’s an ugly rainy day here and is supposed to be all week!! So I made a decision to hold off my long run until Thursday when there is a little less chance of rain. And the plan for this morning was to do my speed work session on the treadmill since the weather man told me that it was going to rain all day today! So I slept in until 7:30 because it really doesn’t matter what time I run on the treadmill! And has it rained one drop since I’ve woken up today?? Not one! Ugh… now that I’ve rearranged my running schedule it will probably rain all day Thursday… I don’t know why I don’t like running in the rain, especially since it’s still hot here. So it’s not like I will be cold, it’s not like I don’t like to be wet because I love to swim, so not sure what the hold up is! Guess I’m just not sure what to do with my iPod shuffle when it rains! Because I need to have it with me when I run! Haha.

So my speed work today was a warm up mile and then 8X400 with 90 sec recovery for a total of 4 miles. It was good, nothing to tell really. I completed it ok but by the last repeat I was getting pretty tired! I watched the show Greek that I recorded last night. When treadmill running you MUST have a good show to watch otherwise it’s just not doable! Ha!

Question: Do you always take a rest day off before your long run?? Since I am changing up my schedule this week because of the weather, I won’t be taking a day off before my long run and am a little nervous about it! Just wondering how it affects ya’ll! Have a fabulous Tuesday!!

PS: The sun just came out for a minute.. *scowl* never listen to the weathermen!!

Posted in: on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at at 9:54 AM 3 comments    

As many of you know, from a previous post, I found some super cute save the date magnets from Vistaprint that I was going to order. Well somehow, the lovely people over at Vistaprint found that post and contacted me!! They offered me free save the dates for doing a review and of course I hopped right on board since I was going to order them anyway!! So here are the save the date magnets I ordered:

The Vistaprint site is super easy to navigate and all I had to do was fill in my info and they gave me a preview of what the magnet would look like exactly! Literally took me like 10 minutes to do! I got the 7 day shipping and they arrived exactly 7 days after my order was placed! Gotta love that! They are exactly what I wanted and everyone I’ve given them to so far has loved them!

Vistaprint offers so many different items on their site!! From all things  like invitations, magnets, logos to anything you could imagine for your business!! They also make super cute picture magnets which I have had my eye on :) Ya’ll definitely need to check out their site! They are also super easy and nice to work with. I would definitely order from them again.

Posted in: on Monday, September 14, 2009 at at 11:42 AM 7 comments    

First off, I am going to start with my running week recap. This week was just ok for running. I felt super tired and sleepy all week and had a really HARD time getting out of bed early enough to get my runs in! Hence, 2 missed morning runs. So here it is:

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 7 miler at 10:17 pace! Awesome run!
Wednesday: Skipped 3 mile recovery run, slept in:(
Thursday: 4 mile speed work, fartleck run 1 mile hard, 1 mile easy with warm-up
Friday: skipped 4 miler, slept in. Attempted afternoon make-up run and failed due to side stitches. Strength workout
Saturday: 3 miler, hard *recap below
Sunday:5 miles, great run! *Recap below
Total: 19 miles

Saturday I planned to make up my 4 miles I skipped on Friday. However, I slept through my alarm again! I don't know what's up with me! Guess I am super tired for some reason! So I attempted to make it up after class Saturday afternoon even though I have had some failed afternoon runs this week. I told myself just do 3 and I would be happy with that. So 3 miles I did and I ran super hard! It was so hot too making for an even harder run, but I got through it! I don't remember my exact pace but I remember it was pretty fast!

Today's 5 miler was really good! I was still tired when my alarm went off at 6am but I got up and headed out. I ended up doing 5 miles at a 10:13 pace. Not too shabby for me!! I am hoping to not skip any runs this week because it just screws up my whole schedule!!

Onto the part about me being fickle.... If ya'll haven't figured out by now, I am super fickle and have the hardest time making decisions!! Give me a nursing decision and I can totally make it in seconds flat but life decisions, not so much...So I am second guessing the wedding dress choice from last week. I think I just was convinced more by everyone else there with me about how "perfect" the dress was. I just think that when I find the right dress I will know it's "the one" and I just haven't felt that way about a dress! So that being said, my mom and I went to David's Bridal today to look at some more dresses. There were some really pretty ones I liked but none I loved:( Did ya'll have that feeling that you just knew it was the right dress? Luckily there is a huge wedding store in Arkansas not too far from us called Low's that I am hoping to find one at when we go look! Plus I'm having too much fun looking at wedding dresses! I don't want it to be over!

Posted in: on Sunday, September 13, 2009 at at 3:58 PM 3 comments    

I don’t know what it is about me and running anytime other than the morning…it just never works out. Today I was feeling extra tired, like I have been all week (not sure what that’s all about), so I turned my alarm off at 5:30 and slept until 7am and got ready and headed to class without doing my morning 4 miler. I planned to just make it up this afternoon. I had really good intentions too! I came home from class, ate a PB&J for lunch and planned to do some school work for a few hours before running. Well when I headed out for my 4 miler, 3 hours after lunch, my stomach felt awful! I had a killer side stitch within the 1st 0.1 of a mile. This is the same thing that ALWAYS happens with my afternoon runs. So knowing it would just continue to get worse, I turned around and got Sadie and we went on a nice walk. I then came home and did a strength workout. So at least I did SOMETHING today. I’m just mad at myself for sleeping in. So this week I will be short 3 miles (from Wednesday’s run that I also skipped by sleeping in). I will make up today’s run, tomorrow morning and it’s looking like it will be on the treadmill because I am still a little weary of running in the dark all by myself. And since I will be getting up at 5:15 so I can run before class, the sun won’t be up until after I am finished. I guess in the grand scheme of things, missing a 3 miler is definitely NOT detrimental. But still, I feel like a slacker! I am so ready for class to be over tomorrow and for my weekend to start!! Any fun plans this weekend?

Posted in: on Friday, September 11, 2009 at at 9:32 PM 2 comments    

I am so sad Jaime and her daughter had to go home yesterday. We had a blast for the 5 days she was here! It went by way too fast!! Like I had said, we went wedding dress shopping Tuesday and of course I found something I love! Here is the link to the dress that I think would be perfect for my beach wedding. What do ya’ll think?? It just looked so pretty on and I am totally loving the flower thing with feathers! Plus it is totally under my budget!! The store I found it at is having a big sale in January so they told me to come order it then so I can get 20% off! Jaime and I actually found this dress in a magazine the night before we went dress shopping! Funny, right?? I would love to see what dresses ya’ll would choose for a beach wedding! Send me pictures and/or links!!

Onto my runs… I was supposed to do a 3 mile recovery run yesterday but I slept in late and was not feeling it yesterday afternoon. I am just not good at running in the afternoon! So that means I will be running Saturday instead. I did do a quick 4 mile bike ride and a walk with Sadie so I got some cross training in!! Today I did a 4 mile speed workout on the treadmill so I could catch up on some of my DVR’d shows! I watched GREEK while running. Anyone else watch that on ABC Family?? Anyway, I did a fartleck run of 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy for a total of 4 miles with my warm-up. Didn’t do a cool down, just kept on with my intervals! It was a good workout, I was hot and sweaty by the time I was finished!

Well, gotta get back to reading/ studying. Sorry I haven’t been commenting much. I have been trying to catch up since I didn’t get much blog reading done while my BFF was in town! Who’s ready for the weekend?!? I am!!

Posted in: on Thursday, September 10, 2009 at at 1:25 PM 10 comments    

I had a WONDERFUL long run this morning! I woke up around 6, drove about 30 mins to where I was going to run and was off about 7am. I ran the same route, for the most part, that I did last week. It felt a little tougher than last week but definitely do-able. That’s why I was surprised to see that my average pace was 10:17 for 7 miles!! No wonder it was feeling harder than last time! Last week my average pace was 10:47 so I ran 30 seconds per mile faster! Wohoo!! Here are my mile splits:

Time: 1:12:00

Mile 1: 10:38

Mile 2: 10:22

Mile 3: 10:09

Mile 4:10:36

Mile 5: 10:31

Mile 6: 9:52

Mile 7: 9:51

Overall, great run in my book!

My plans for the rest of the day include Wedding Dress Shopping and eating at my favorite restaurant! Can today get any better?!?

Posted in: on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at at 10:26 AM 4 comments    

We have had a lazy Labor Day here! It’s been GREAT!! Just sitting around looking at wedding magazines and wedding stuff online anticipating wedding dress shopping tomorrow! I am so pumped! Not only is it wedding dress shopping day, but we are going to eat at my favorite restaurant with my mom tomorrow night, Cafe Piazza!!

So my wedding question for the day is where did ya’ll go on your honeymoons? Or if you’re not married, where would you like to go for a honeymoon? I need some ideas! We have been looking at the Sandals resorts and they are really nice but I am open to suggestions!

Well that’s all for tonight, we are about to watch 27 Dresses:) Hope everyone had a great Labor Day! I have a 7 miler in the morning also!! Busy day:)

Posted in: on Monday, September 7, 2009 at at 8:39 PM 5 comments    

This week has been great for running! I was nervous about the 5 day running week but so far, it has turned out fine! I had an especially awesome run today that we will get to in a minute. Here is what I ran this week:

Monday: strength training/ walking

Tuesday: 7 miles

Wednesday: 3 miles recovery

Thursday: 4 miles speed work, 4X800 plus warm-up and cool down

Friday: 3 miles

Saturday: strength training

Sunday: 4 miles

Total: 21 miles

Today’s run was really good! I was only supposed to do 3 miles but I was feeling good so I decided to change it to 4 miles instead. I ran this 4 miler faster than I have in years!! Here’s my stats:

Time: 37:39

Avg pace: 9:24 min/ mile!!

Mile 1: 9:58

Mile 2: 9:30

Mile 3: 9:24

Mile 4: 8:44 !!

Ya’ll, I can’t believe I ran this fast for 4 miles! I just really keep impressing myself with these fast runs!! I would say my training is going great!!

Jaime and I are having a great time together!! We have done a lot of shopping, eating, and girl talk! I am so glad she will be here for another 2 days!! And on Tuesday, we are going Wedding Dress shopping! I am SUPER excited! This is the thing that I have been looking forward to the most! There will be more wedding related questions coming tomorrow! Hope ya’ll have a wonderful Labor Day!

Posted in: on Sunday, September 6, 2009 at at 9:56 PM 3 comments    

Sorry I’ve been MIA for the last couple days. I’ve been super busy with school and getting ready for Jaime to come visit!! She got here today and we have been having a blast ever since! I was a little nervous how Sadie would act with her 2 year old since she has never really been around any kids, but she did great! Loved her!!

Onto my runs… Thursday I had a speed work session. I did 4X800 with warm up and cool down totaling 4 miles. It was a really good work out. Not too much to say about it!! Today I had 3 miles to do and I decided to do it on the treadmill so I could watch Big Brother from last night. Good choice on my part! It was a good episode and really great run! I did 3 miles in 29:50. Tomorrow is a rest/ strength training day.

Sorry I don’t have anything too exciting to talk about! I am exhausted. Goodnight!

Posted in: on Friday, September 4, 2009 at at 10:15 PM 1 comments    

Hey guys! I am super tired and ready for bed but thought I would do a little update! I was at school/ doing school stuff most of the day and didn’t get home until 6ish. I have been spoiled being able to be at home all the time, even if I am studying my life away! I know Sadie has really enjoyed me being in school so I can be home with her a TON more!! Before I started school, I worked 3 12 hour shifts a week and don’t think Sadie liked being home alone that often! Haha.

My run this morning was good but sad. It was dark almost my whole run so I decided to run up the main road because it’s well lit and has a sidewalk. Well I saw a cop car ahead and was wondering what was going on. Once I got up there I saw that someone had run over a dog and it was in the middle of the road! I was so sad at seeing this my eyes welled up and I was crying!! A little hard to run and cry but I am such a dog lover and any time I see a hurt dog, let alone a dead dog, I get really sad:( I was just hoping it would be gone when I passed back by there on my way back and they were gone. Luckily it was dark so no one could see me being a big baby and crying while running. Other than that, my run was really good. Legs felt a lot better than I thought they would! I ran at an even 10:00 min/ mile pace. Could have pushed harder, could have gone slower, so I think it was perfect for a recovery run. Oh yea, I did 3 miles this morning! Don’t feel like going to get my Garmin to post my mile pace’s but there was some definite negative split action going on!!

I have another busy day tomorrow full of a test, lots of reading, cleaning because Jaime is coming on Friday, class, and BUNCO tomorrow night! Yay! Hope ya’ll have a GREAT Thursday tomorrow!

Posted in: on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at at 9:45 PM 8 comments    

This has to be quick because I have been so busy with school stuff today, I haven’t gotten anything done around the house! I literally have been doing school work all day! From 10am, after my run, to 6:30 this evening. BORING DAY! Oh well, it’s what needed to be done! I am so ready for December to be here so I can have a break! Haha.

Anyway, onto my run. I had a 7 mile long run on the schedule for today. I headed out to my parents house so I could run out there. It was a really good run. Nothing to exciting to tell except I did see 2 deer right on the trail I was running on. They just stared at me as I ran by. Like 5 feet from me and didn’t move! I felt a little tired around the 4 mile marker but not long after that I felt really good! Must have got my 2nd wind! I even ran the last 0.1 mile to my car when normally I would stop right at 7 miles! Just felt like going a tad bit further I guess :) I’m gonna save you from reading my mile splits because they were all about the same give or take a few seconds. I am amazed at how well I paced myself!! My average pace was 10:47 min/ mile. I will definitely take that! A few weeks ago when I ran 7 miles my pace was 11:17 min/ mile! So, I am a whole 30 seconds faster this time! Yay, gotta love that!! I’m interested to see how my legs feel in the morning for my recovery run since my calves have been super sore. Lots of stretching in my future!!

Well that’s all for now, gotta go do some house work and spend time with Al! Hope ya’ll have a good night!

Posted in: on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at at 6:58 PM 4 comments