Niki's Neverending Adventure

Hello my lovely blog friends!! I want to thank y’all so much for your thoughts on my dilemma and on which half I should do! Well, I have finally made my decision… and it wasn’t either of the options I presented to y’all! Woops!! After posting my options for you this morning, I found a third option that just seemed perfect!!

I found out that I could sign up for the St. Jude Half Marathon if I signed up as a St. Jude Hero! The requirements for being a St. Jude Hero are that I have to fundraise $500 for St. Jude. I definitely think I can do this and I have officially signed up as a Hero :) When I read about this option, I just KNEW that’s what I was supposed to do! So, I’ve made my commitment and I’m sticking to it! $500 or bust! Haha!

I am not a big fundraiser, I have never been into fundraisers, but I’ve worked with these kids, I’ve taken care of these kids, and I have a huge place in my heart for St. Jude kiddos! For those of you who don’t know, before I started CRNA school last year, I worked as a RN in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at LeBonheur, and we work closely with St. Jude and take care of many of their patients after surgery and when they are critically ill. So really y’all, I know how tough it is emotionally, physically, and financially on these kids and their families and I am happy to work to raise money for them!! I am super excited about this and I know that it will make this race so much more meaningful for me!!

If you haven’t noticed yet, I have an awesome new button on the right hand side of my blog that links directly to my donation page! You can also visit my donation page by going here.

I would love for y’all to donate to me if you feel led to! Remember, anything counts! $1 is better than nothing right!! Also, please spread the word for me!! Thanks friends!!

Posted in: on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at at 5:49 PM 2 comments    

Good morning friends! I have a dilemma that I need your opinions on! Last night, I went to go sign up for the St. Jude Half Marathon on Dec. 4th only to find out that the half is officially SOLD OUT. I was so upset, like literally in tears! I ran this half last year and loved it and I really wanted to run it again! Plus, I have a lot of friends running it. I can’t believe it is sold out. I checked a few days ago and it wasn’t. So now I don’t know what to do! I have 2 options that I need your opinion on. What would you do?

Option 1

Pay to run the full St. Jude Marathon but only run the half. The pro is I obviously get to run the race! But there are a few cons… First, it’s more expensive by $25. It’s not a ton, but remember, I am a poor grad student!! And the second con is that I will not have an official time because I didn’t finish the race I signed up for. Not to mention, I will be the girl with the marathon bib coming into the finish of the half marathon looking like I just couldn’t do the race I signed up for.

Option 2

Run the Bass Pro Shop Half Marathon in Springfield, Mo on Nov. 7th. The pros of this are it’s a cheaper race, my grandparents live there so I will have somewhere to stay and get to visit them, and I’ve never run this one before and it’s always fun to run new races!! Plus, I will get an official time! And now the cons… First, it’s a whole month earlier than St. Jude so my training plan would only be 10 weeks long starting yesterday! I think I will be ready for it but the extra month of training for St. Jude may improve my race time. Second,  it is out of town, about 5-6 hours from me, so I will have to travel there, but my mom did already say she would go with me.

So, you see the dilemma? What do I do? What would you do?

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Our Women Run Memphis group run went well last night. For the second week in a row, no tummy troubles!! I am attributing this to eating waffles for lunch. Did it the last 2 weeks and had no issues!! We started out with a mile warm-up then proceeded to do a negative split workout. We ran for 12 minutes in one direction, then the coaches blew the whistle. We turned around and had to run back to the start faster than 12 minutes to achieve our negative split. I definitely got a negative split! I ran 12 minutes the first direction than 11:14 the second direction, cutting 46 seconds off my time! I liked that one! Then we did a cool-down giving me a total of 4.2 miles for the entire run. I am so sad we only have 1 more group run left!

Well friends, I’m off to start my day. Please give me your thoughts on my half marathon issue!! Thanks!!

Posted in: on at at 7:32 AM 9 comments    

I’ve received some fun stuff the past couple weeks that I have gotten to try and review!! First up, the people from the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program sent me some Arnold Sandwich Thins to try out!!

 

Now, this wasn’t the first time I’ve had these before, but they are super yummy so of course I said I would do a review of them!! So far we have used them to make some awesome sandwiches, garlic bread, and as buns for turkey burgers and hamburgers!! These sandwich thins are VERY versatile!! And they don’t take away from the actual flavors of the sandwich or burger! You know how sometimes all you taste is bread? Well these sandwich thins eliminate that problem! They’ve got great nutrition info too!!

And onto my next item… The kind people at Thermos contacted me to see if I would like to test out one of their water bottles, the Intak vacuum insulated hydration bottle! Of course!! I am seriously, water bottle obsessed and this is the best one I have used to date!!

Love the design on the outside and the fact that the straw/sippy thing is hidden so no germies get on it! It holds 18oz and is made of stainless steel.

It is supposed to keep water cold for 12 hours!! Well, I haven’t left water in their for 12 hours straight yet, but I have for about 6 hours and this bottle definitely kept it cold!! Plus, it doesn’t sweat so no water drippings or rings on your tables!!

And of course it’s BPA free!! This is the straw/sippy thing. All you do is push the little button on the front of the bottle and the top flips up and there is your straw for you to sip away on!! Seriously, love, love, love this bottle! You must go get one!!

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Now onto my long run from early this morning… It probably wasn’t the best idea to do my long run after racing the Forrest Spence 5k yesterday (recap here). But I decided to anyway since my long run right now is only 6 miles. I got up super early so I could drive out to where my parents live and run out there before church. I needed a change of scenery since I run the same routes by my house all the time!! I’ve run the 6 mile route that I ran this morning many times and it has a good mix of hills and flats. The temp felt pretty warm this morning and definitely humid. I was drenched by the time I finished!!

I started off my run and immediately my legs felt tired and my PF was killing me! I knew if I just made it through the first mile, my legs would wake up and the PF would disappear. And it did. The first couple miles have some good hills and I was definitely feeling it. I thought I might have to take a few breaks but I tossed that thought away, did some positive self talk, and kept pushing on! Mile 3 came and went and I knew I was halfway done and could definitely finish this run! I stopped and took a quick sip from the water fountain around mile 4.5 and then went on to finish the 6 miles! Another reason I love running out by my parent’s house is that there are some many other runners out all the time! Where I live, I think I am seriously the ONLY runner! I have never seen anyone else run!! I was tired at the end but felt pretty good! Gotta love that!! Here are my splits:

6 miles in 1:02:50

Mile 1: 11:01 (Super slow because of my PF)

Mile 2: 10:22 (Feet feeling much better!!)

Mile 3: 10:24

Mile 4: 10:30

Mile 5: 10:33

Mile 6: 10:11

Avg Pace: 10:29

I’ll take that!! Pace isn’t too bad for a long run pace. Hopefully I will be able to knock that down soon!! Overall, definitely a good run!

I discovered the BEST post-run refuel: Chocolate Milk!! Yummy!!

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And last but not least… My professional wedding pictures are FINALLY online!! If y’all would like to look at the go here. Click on Nikki and Al and the password is douglas. Let me know what you think! I am beyond happy and can’t wait to get my album!!

Have a fabulous night!!

Posted in: on Sunday, August 29, 2010 at at 6:57 PM 1 comments    

Hello! Hope this nice Saturday is treating you well!! I had a great 5k race this morning! Like I said, I decided to kick off my racing season with the Forrest Spence 5K!! The weather was really nice this morning, pretty cool for the most part, I believe it was in the 70’s. It did get a little hot during the race, but luckily a lot of the course was shaded!!

My mom went with me this morning as my paparazzi and support crew!! This race was larger than the usual 5k’s we have so there was a lot going on when we got there!! Finally it was time to line up at the start!!

I really didn’t have too many goals for this race since it is the start of this racing season, I was just hoping for under 30 minutes (which I totally knew I could pull off!) My 5k PR is 26:55 from last spring so I am hoping to get back there at some point!!

It wasn’t too crowded as we started off, everyone was kind of spaced out. I hate the feeling of being smashed in between people and not being able to run the pace I want to! This didn’t happen the whole race! Love that!! Some how my camera got turned onto video so I don’t have any more pictures to share :(

Mile 1 came pretty quickly. According to Garmie, I hit mile 1 at 9:07. I felt pretty good about this. Didn’t feel to tired at this point so I kept on. Mile 2 came pretty quickly too! I had never run this route before so it was kinda nice to keep guessing what was coming next!! I hit mile 2 at 18:16 (9:10 pace). Still felt good so I was going to keep pushing at this pace. Right after mile 2 I saw my mom and some friends I used to work with at LeBonehur! I love seeing people I know when I’m racing!! Towards the end of mile 3 I started to feel tired but I knew I had to keep pushing!! I hit mile 3 at 27:26 (9:10 pace). Garmie was a bit off (or the course a bit long) so I ended up completing 3.17 in 28:45 with my last .17 at a 7:50 pace! I was booking it!! My average pace for the race was 9:05!!

I was definitely super happy with my time! I think that’s a great place for me to start out this race season!!

After the race, my mom and I hung around for the awards and then went to get some breakfast at Panera!! I got the Cinnamon Crunch Bagel and it was AMAZING!! I will definitely be getting that again!!

Well friends, I must get back to studying :( Have a fabulous day!! Anyone else race this weekend? How did you do?

 

Posted in: on Saturday, August 28, 2010 at at 4:16 PM 2 comments    

I had to do a quick little post to tell y’all how awesome my run was this morning! It’s one of those runs that reminds you why you run and train so hard! What can be better than that??

I woke up this morning around 6am planning on doing my long run for the week. But when I woke up, my head hurt, my nose was stuffy, and I just felt blah. I definitely didn’t want to get up and do a long run. So I quickly thought about what other day I could do my long run, rolled over, and went back to sleep for another hour. I finally pulled myself out of bed and knew I had to do some kind of run today, especially since the temp was right at 70 and that’s cooler than it’s been in a LONG time!! After I got up and stretched out a bit, I felt a little better. My sinuses are just going a little crazy! I decided 4 miles at and easy pace would be doable, and I headed out.

At the beginning of my run, my PF was killing me!! But I know once I hit the 1/2 mile mark, it usually goes away. But it was killer this morning! I felt really good by the first mile and decided to pick up my pace a bit. The second mile came and went really quickly and I picked up my pace a bit more! After seeing my mile split for my 2nd mile, I knew I could really push it and have my fastest 4 miler in a LONG time! So I did!! Each mile I pushed it a little more and I felt AMAZING!! Sinus and PF troubles were out the window by mile 1 and I just couldn’t hold my legs back!! Plus, the beautiful weather was helping so much!! I finished with a huge smile on my face and after looking at my time, yelled “YES!!”. People in my neighborhood probably think I’m crazy, but I just couldn’t hold my excitement in!! So here’s my stats:

4 miles in 38:23

Mile 1:10:17

Mile 2: 9:48

Mile 3: 9:22

Mile 4: 8:58 (!! Who knew I had that in me!!)

Avg Pace: 9:36

Holy cow people, my speed is returning to me!! Thank goodness! Speed, oh how I’ve missed you :) This run has really pumped me up for the Forrest Spence 5k on Saturday!! I think all the hills and speed work we have been doing in my running group on Monday nights have really helped bring my speed back!! So yes, I’m pumped about this and just wanted to share!!

Have you ever had a run that you though was going to be awful, and turned out wonderful?? What do you think it the most important way to get speedier?

Posted in: on Thursday, August 26, 2010 at at 11:05 AM 4 comments    

Today was a rest day for me, but that’s not going to stop me from telling you about my last 2 days of workouts!!

Lets back up to Monday…Monday’s are my evening group runs with the Women Run Memphis group. They always evil things planned for us (hills, speed work, etc) and this past Monday was no exception! And when I say “evil”, I’m being sarcastic! It’s the kind of workouts that are super tough that only someone else can push you and make you do because you aren’t about to give up if everyone else is doing it! Know what I’m talking about?! Ha! On tap for us was 400 repeats, not on flat ground people, but on hills!! It was tough! The downhill part was very nice but the speedy uphills were killer! We did a little over a mile warm-up, 6X400 repeats, and another mile cool down for a total of 4 miles. It was great in a I don’t think I could run another step kinda way!! And the best part was that my stomach behaved the entire time! No cramping, gurgling, or side stitches. It was amazing. I really look forward to running on Monday nights with this group! I’m usually a solo runner, so it’s nice to mix it up a bit. I’m going to be sad when it’s over.

And on to Tuesday… My legs were super sore from the speed work we did Monday night so I knew a run was not going to happen. So I did the next best thing…bike!! The weather was actually pretty nice, except for the breeze that made the ride tough and messed up all my downhill’s! All in all it was a good, hilly ride that made my legs even more sore, again in a good way :) Here’s my stats:

10 miles in 40:35

Avg Speed 14.7 mph

And like I said, today is a rest day. My legs were begging for it!! I am doing my long run tomorrow since I decided to go ahead and run a 5k on Saturday!! I will be doing the Forrest Spence 5K. Forrest Spence was a little baby who passed away in our unit a few years ago and his parent’s set up a foundation in his name to help assist the non-medical needs of critically or chronically ill children and their families throughout the Midsouth. So it’s a GREAT cause and I have actually never run that race route before! So it will be a new course for me! And I hear it’s not very hilly :) Will anyone else be joining me on Saturday at this race?!?

Well friends, gotta get back to studying for my HUGE drug test that’s less than 2 weeks away! Yikes!

Posted in: on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at at 4:43 PM 2 comments    

Hello friends! Happy Monday to ya!! Hope the beginning of the week is treating you well :)

I had a really nice run on Saturday. I set out to do my long run of 5 miles (I know, not really LONG but it is for me at this point in training). It was hot, I let myself sleep in a bit, but luckily there was a lot of shade for the first half of my run. I did my hilly route, which most all my runs are done on. It felt hard, but in a good way! I was pretty happy with my time too!

5 miles in 51:39

Mile 1: 10:47

Mile 2: 10:16

Mile 3: 10:11

Mile 4: 10:24

Mile 5: 10:03

Avg Pace: 10:20

It’s a good start. I would like to be a bit faster but I know it will take a bit more time for my speed to come back. I am looking forward to my LONG runs getting longer and longer!!

I’m debating kicking off my race season this weekend with a 5k. I was going to wait a few more weeks because I’m super competitive and want to do really well and I don’t feel like I’m there yet. But, I really want to do this race!! Thoughts?!? I need to register tonight if I’m going to do it because the price goes up tomorrow!

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I made a super yummy dish the other night!! It was a Quinoa Mix! I’ve never made Quinoa before and I just kinda threw a bunch of stuff together and it turned out great!! Hubby loved it as well!

Cooking the Quinoa. It has a texture between rice and pasta.

Then, I cooked up some onion, garlic, grape tomatoes, spinach and shrimp in the skillet in EVOO.

Mix it all together and top with some feta cheese! Yummy!! Have you ever made Quinoa??

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Well guys, that’s it for now! Have a great Monday! How many of you are into Bachelor Pad? I can’t stop watching all the drama! Ha!

Posted in: on Monday, August 23, 2010 at at 3:56 PM 3 comments    

TGIF!! I have a lot to talk about today! Let’s start with some yummy food talk first!! I got the recipe for Red Lobster Garlic Cheese Biscuits from my friend Brandi the other day, and they are AMAZING!! I have made them twice in 3 days! Haha. I know a few of you on Twitter have asked me for this recipe, so here it is!! But beware, they are so addicting!!

Red Lobster Garlic Cheese Biscuits

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

2 cups Bisquick

2/3 cup milk (I used nonfat)

2 TBSP melted butter

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp parsley flakes

Heat over to 400 degrees. Mix cheese and Bisquick. Add milk, stir until combined and moist. Drop onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Melt butter, add garlic salt and parsley to melted butter. Brush over biscuits. Enjoy!! 

Like I said, fabulous! They reheat well too. Just stick them in the oven for a few minutes to heat up and they turn out perfect!!

In other food related news… I tried out another kind of cereal I received from the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program.

Kelloggs Fiber Plus Antioxidants Cinnamon Oat Crunch. It was pretty cinnamony, so if you like cinnamon then this is a cereal for you! Unfortunately I am not a huge cinnamon fan, so I just thought it was ok. Plus, it didn’t pack enough punch to keep me full for long. But, the nutrition stats are really good and if you think it’s something you would like, check it out!!

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Let’s get on to some training talk!! I’ve had some good, and not so good workouts since we talked last! Let’s start with the not so good…

On Wednesday, I had planned to get my butt up at 5:30am to run before class. Yea, didn’t happen. I just wanted to sleep more than I wanted to run. It happens. So when I got home from class, around 3pm, I knew I needed to get that run in. To the treadmill it was since at 3pm around here, the heat index is usually 110-115! I started out feeling good but about 5 minutes into my run, my stomach just went crazy. Cramps galore! Note to self… a veggie sandwich for lunch is not a good idea when you plan to run a few hours later. For some reason, veggies just don’t seem to agree with my stomach very well lately, causing tummy pains and cramps. Take this and multiply it by 1000, and that’s what it felt like running. I kept stopping and trying to stretch out my stomach, but nothing worked. I finally called it quits after a slow and painful 2 miles. Oh well, you win some you lose some, right?!?

So on Thursday, I decided to go check out my school’s indoor pool since it is free after all. It took me a bit to find it, it’s pretty hidden, but it was great! It is a 25 meter pool with 5 lanes and NO ONE else was there! I had the whole pool to myself! I hope it’s like that all the time! I swam a total of 1000 meters in about 30 minutes. Here’s how I did my swim: 400 meter freestyle, followed by alternating 100 meters of breast stroke and freestyle. My goal that I’m working towards is to increase my initial freestyle swim to 1 mile (1600 meters). I was definitely tired after the first 400 and that’s why I started alternating with breast stroke, I find it a lot easier. I am completely clueless on drills and such for the pool so as of right now, I’m just trying to get my distance up! If you have any suggestions, feel free to share!!

And then this morning, I had a great run! I set out to do 3.3 miles (to even out my 3.7 miles from Monday, yes I’m crazy like that) around 6:30am. It was nice to sleep in a bit. My PF was really hurting the first 0.5 mile or so, as it always does, although now it’s bilateral instead of in just one foot. But after the 1st mile it was fine. I pushed it a bit at the end and it felt good to run hard. I wasn’t trying to push myself too hard though because I’m going to do a longer run tomorrow. Here are my stats:

3.3 miles in 32:14

Mile 1: 10:19

Mile 2: 9:45

Mile 3: 9:29

Mile 3-3.3: 2:41 (9:02 pace)

Avg Pace: 9:46

I’m just glad to be picking up my speed bit by bit! And happy for my average pace to be below 10:00!! There is definitely something to be said about consistency!!

As for races and training, I’m kinda just keeping up and building my base before I start half marathon training the beginning of September!! I am still planning to swim and ride at least once a week because I want to continue to improve on those for my Triathlon’s next season! And yes, I realize that’s a long time from now, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared!!

Well friends, that’s all for now. I think I may go get into some cupcake baking :) Have a great day!!

Posted in: on Friday, August 20, 2010 at at 3:36 PM 2 comments    

Hello friends!! Happy Tuesday!! The weather has been really quite nice today, as in heat index below 100! Hopes it stays like that!!

Thanks to a sweet blog reader, Courtney, I now have my official race results from Tri Oxford! So here they are…

Swim: 8:49

T1: 1:06

Bike: 53:27

T2: 1:21

Run: 33:36

Total: 1:38:18

I have got to work on my transition times! My brother tells me they are too slow, haha. I thought I was going fast! But what do I know, right?! LOL.

They also got a nice picture of me on the bike. Click here to check it out. What do you think? I look like I’m concentrating pretty hard!! Haha.

I decided to take Sunday off from running since I did the Tri Oxford the day before, but it didn’t stop me from getting a nice swim workout in!! Memphis folks: I am in need of an indoor swimming pool for the fall/ winter so I can keep up my swimming. Do y’all have a favorite gym that has a indoor pool? I probably will be leaning towards the cheaper ones since all I really need from a gym is the indoor pool. Help a girl out!!

Last night was my Women Run Memphis group. The weather was so much nicer than the last couple weeks and I didn’t feel like I would die from heat stoke, just from exhaustion! Haha, they really know how to work us! I love it :)  We did 6X400 with a 1 mile warm-up and cool-down. That gave me a total of 3.7 miles in 34:37! It was tough but I love doing 400’s! Probably my favorite speed work distance. Something about running hard for a short distance is a nice change!!

And I was definitely sore this morning! So biking it was!! I rode 12 miles in 49:29 with and average speed of 14.6. It was pretty windy so that made it hard going one way, which of course was on the way back!! I’m hoping my legs are less sore tomorrow for my morning run! I think some stretching is in order tonight!!

And last but not least… look what I picked up today:

Triathlete Magazine!! Can’t wait to read it tonight!! I hope y’all have a fabulous night!!

Posted in: on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at at 5:18 PM 1 comments    

Hello everyone! Hope y’all have had a good weekend! I sure have!! The most exciting thing I did this weekend was race the TRI Oxford triathlon!! It was a great race!!

My mom went down to Oxford with me on Friday and we had a fun girl’s night that consisted of eating dinner at Old Venice on the Oxford Square and coming back to our hotel room and eating Hampton Inn cookies while watching TV in bed! Have y’all ever had the Hampton Inn cookies?? OMG, so good! I will stay at the Hampton Inn from now on just for those cookies! Haha :) We turned in early since we had a 5am wake up call to head to the race!!

I woke up easily to my alarm and tried to eat a bagel and PB, but only made it through half. I was too nervous and it was definitely too early to eat!! We got to the transition area pretty early and I was able to get an end spot for my bike. Makes it a lot easier to find it during the transitions if its on the end! So I was happy about that. We had about 45 minutes until race time, so I went and got my chip and got marked with my number, and then we just hung out and talked about all the awesome bikes there!! Makes me want a brand new bike! They are so pretty! I’ll have to post a picture of my bike, Buck, soon!

The swim portion was in a pool, which I was a little nervous about. The course was set up in a “serpentine” manner, where we swim up one lane, go under the rope, swim down the next lane, go under the rope, swim back up the next lane, and so on for 300 meters. Let me just say this… it was CHAOS!! I will take an open water swim any day over this pool swim! People were everywhere!! The bad thing was that the 30ish male age group started one person behind me so they ended up swimming over us from the beginning, not fun!! But, it was nice to be in a pool where I could see the bottom! I did like that aspect. I don’t have my official breakdown times, only my official total time so I really don’t know how long it took me to do this! Not very long because I was swimming (fighting) as fast as I could to get out of there! Haha :)

Here I am jumping into the pool. They wouldn’t let us dive because it was too shallow. See those tall guys behind me waiting to go? Yea, they were the ones whole swam right over top of me and the girl behind me in the very first lane! Guess they wanted us out of their way, ha!

That’s me swimming in the yellow swim cap in the very far lane. At this point I was still swimming all alone… too bad it didn’t last!

There I am swimming again (yellow swim cap), in the middle lane.

Finally done and running out of the water!! I was so ready to get on my bike!!

Not sure of my transition time, I can’t find the breakdown of times anywhere on the internet. I wasn’t superfast, but I wasn’t slow either. I was pretty nervous about this ride because my mom and I drove it the day before and it was literally ALL HILLS!!

It was a tough 13 miles but I survived and actually got up to 30mph on one of the downhill's!! I am getting a lot better at using my gears so that made the hills a tiny bit better. My legs were definitely spent by the end of this ride!

Almost to the transition area!!

Yes, they made us ride up this steep hill to get up to the transition area! Haha. My bike time according to my Garmin was 52:xx. Faster than I thought I would go on all those hills! I was definitely happy with that!

Again, no transition time but this one was even quicker. All I had to do was thrown on my shirt, hat, and grab my Garmin off my bike, and then I was off for a 5k!

My mom told me she knew I was still feeling ok at this point because I was smiling and waving at the camera! Haha. I did feel ok, better than my last Tri. And I am totally attributing that to me drinking a half Gatorade/half water mix on the bike instead of just water. Definitely makes a difference!!

The run portion was tough too! There were so many hills, and some that were super steep too! I definitely had to walk some but was happy with my time! I chit chatted with this older man for a bit, so that was nice!! Other than it being super hot and hilly, I don’t remember very much! It seemed to go by really fast!! I was happy they had water stops at mile 1 and 2! Seriously y’all, it was so hot! It was only like 9am but I swear it was 90+ degrees! I felt pretty good the entire time and ended my run with a smile on my face!

My run time from my Garmin was 33:xx, so definitely not my fastest 5k, but given the circumstances (swimming and biking prior, and the heat) I felt good about that!! I was definitely happy to be finished!!

I finished my 2nd Tri! Yay!! My official time was 1:38:18… which ended up giving me FIRST PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP!! Holy cow! I definitely never expected to win anything on my 2nd Tri!!

This is me and the girl who won 2nd place in our age group!! They gave out cash prizes, which was nice!!

And here’s the nice certificate I got!!

I am so loving Triathlon’s!! I can’t wait to do more! I am definitely addicted and am so pumped about it! And a big thanks for my mom for being my crowd support and paparazzi this weekend!!

If anyone knows of any awesome Triathlete blogs or magazines, please let me know!!

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In other news…. my running shoes died this weekend, so I had to get another pair!! I was so happy with my Nike Vomero’s last time, that I knew I wanted them again!

Look how new and pretty and white they are! Won’t stay that way long! Haha.

I got some new orthotics put in that hopefully will help with my plantar fascitis. Can’t wait to run in them tomorrow night at my Women Run Memphis group!

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And last but not least… I made some awesome Mocha Brownie Cups yesterday that I got from Lizzy’s blog! Yum, yum, yum! Go there and get the recipe! These are fabulous!!

Have a great night!

Posted in: on Sunday, August 15, 2010 at at 5:56 PM 3 comments    

TGIT!! Thank goodness it’s Thursday! Why? Because Thursday is my Friday this week and I am heading to Oxford tomorrow for Tri Oxford on Saturday!! It’s gonna be an exciting weekend for me!!

Yesterday, I did another BRICK that was awesome!! I actually was totally not feeling it when I finally rolled out of the bed, after sleeping 1 hour longer than I planned. But I talked myself into it and ended up having an awesome workout. Don’t you love it when that happens?! My BRICK consisted of a 10 mile bike followed by a 2 mile run and boy was it hot! I didn’t start until 7am and the sun was blazing! The Weather Channel said it “felt like 92 degrees” already! That sure didn’t stop me though :)

Bike: 10 miles

Time: 39:15

Avg. Speed: 15.4 mph (my bike times are definitely getting faster!)

The bike was nice. I did my usual hilly route and I am perfecting drinking while riding! It’s a skill I tell ya! First time I did it, I almost crashed! Haha. I finished the bike and did a quick transition, then I was off on the run. I didn’t want to kill myself since I have my race this weekend, so I decided 2 miles would be sufficient if I pushed it. And pushed it I did, with an average pace of 9:16! That’s pretty fast for me! Especially coming right off of a 10 mile ride! Now, if I can just do this on Saturday…

Run: 2 miles

Time: 18:30

Mile 1:9:14

Mile 2: 9:19

Avg Pace: 9:16

This tri on Saturday is the first race that I’ve actually traveled too! I get to stay in a hotel room the night before and everything! I am so happy my mom is able to go with me and my brother will be there too, working the tri!! Plus, I got a free room with the Hilton points I’ve accumulated! Doesn’t get better than that!!

I was going to attempt a treadmill run today after I got back from preop clinical, but as I started to run, my Plantar Fascitis was really bothering me. It’s in both feet now :( So I decided it would be better to not run and give my feet a break. I did end up walking 3 miles though, because that doesn’t seem to bother them. I think they are getting really aggravated right now because I desperately need new shoes! I promise I will be getting them soon!!

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In other news… we are having a little work done to our house, so Sadie had to go over to my parents house to stay for a few days and I miss her so much! Funny how empty our house is without our little Beagle. But I did get some cute pictures yesterday, before I took her to my parents. You can see just how lazy my girl is!!

She thinks she’s human and has to have a pillow to lay her head on! Haha!

Close up! Doesn’t she just looked so thrilled to be having her picture taken?! Haha :) I love my sweet pup!

Posted in: on Thursday, August 12, 2010 at at 7:30 PM 3 comments    

Hey everyone! I created a fabulous dinner tonight that I thought I would share. My hubby loves frozen pizza rolls so I decided to create a semi-healthier home made version, and they turned out pretty great!!

First, I sautéed some onions, garlic, and spinach in a little bit of EVOO.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, I mixed together some cream cheese, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and chopped turkey pepperoni.

Then, I mixed the sautéed things in with the cream cheese mixture.

I then took crescent rolls and put a spoonful or 2 of cream cheese mixture in the middle and wrapped them up like so. I found it worked better and you could get more stuffing in if you left 2 crescent rolls attached together.

I brushed each with a little melted butter, then sprinkled then with parmesan cheese.

I baked them at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes, until golden brown.

OMG, these were fabulous! Dip them in some extra marinara sauce, this is key! Love the flakey outside and the gooey cheesy inside!! I am definitely keeping these on my go to list. Hubby even said, “these are definitely Hubby approved!!” Lol

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In other news… I had my Women Run Memphis group run last night and it was a tough one! We did mile repeats with hills! Yuck! We did a total of 4 miles, including warm-up and cool-down and I was dying by the cool-down. It was so freaking hot!! I love this group because I always come home EXHAUSTED!! Love hard workouts!! Speaking of hard workouts, I have one last BRICK workout tomorrow before Tri Oxford on Saturday! I am so pumped!!

Well, have a great night!!

Posted in: on Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at at 8:42 PM 4 comments    

Hey peeps!! How’s your Sunday been treating ya? My morning was fabulous, afternoon not so hot since I’ve been studying! Haha!!

I’ve noticed a new obsession recently in the blog world: Self Serve Fro-yo! Memphis has been a bit slow on the uptake and has not had a self serve fro-yo place available, until this week that is!! I have seriously been DYING to go to a self serve place since I love, love, love me some frozen yogurt!! So, I was ecstatic when Erin informed me of one that opened earlier this past week in our area!!

Knowing my mom is a lover of fro-yo also, I thought she would be the best taste tester buddy to bring along!! So after church, we went out to lunch at the Silver Caboose and then headed to YoLo in the Collierville Town Square.

It was such a cute little place inside, a lot bigger than it looked from the outside!! They had 8 different flavors to try, although I decided 3 was enough for one visit. Gives me a reason to keep going back, right?!

This was the instruction board: Get a cup, fill it with whatever and however much fro-yo you want, top with whatever toppings you would like, and pay by the ounce!! Super easy!!

Here’s my mom, loading up her cup :)

Check out this topping bar!! Anything you could think of was on that topping bar! And come to find out, all the toppings are from local farms and bakeries! How much more fabulous could this place be?!

I loaded up my cup with Blueberry Tart, Birthday Cake, and Pomegranate Energy Fro-yo. Toppings included a variety of local grown fruits, heath bar chips, and some brownie chunks. OMG! Best fro-yo I’ve ever had!! It was so rich and creamy and bursting with flavor!! And the toppings were so fresh!! 2 thumbs up!

And here’s my mom’s bowl. She went with Espresso, Birthday Cake, and Chocolate fro-yo with some chocolate chips, pecans, and local candied pecans. She gave it 2 thumbs up also!!

This place is seriously fabulous and I will definitely be hitting it up all the time! I highly recommend YoLo to anyone in the Memphis and surrounding area and they are supposed to be opening one in the East Memphis area also!!

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On to RUNNING!!! I made myself get up at the crack of dawn this morning (5:30 am) so I could get a 5 miler in before church. 5 miles is the longest distance I’ve run in a long time, so I wanted to take it slow! My first 2 miles were probably a bit too slow, but I kept telling myself to slow down so I didn’t get too tired! But after the 1st 2 miles, I picked up my pace a bit and felt good the entire run!! Lots of hills on this run also!!

Time: 53:54 (might seriously be my slowest 5 miler ever, ha!)

Mile 1: 11:19 (way to slow)

Mile 2: 11:04 (still way to slow, must pick up pace)

Mile 3: 10:43 (better)

Mile 4: 10:47 (ok, getting a bit tired)

Mile 5: 10:03 ( got a little burst of energy at the end!)

Avg Pace: 10:47

So, not my best time of course, but my goal was to be able to finish without feeling the need to stop or walk. This was a success!! I know my pace will pick back up to normal once the temp gets a bit cooler (since we are still rocking the excessive heat warnings everyday), as I increase my distance, and as I continue to run more consistently, since Tri season is almost over :(    So, all in all, a good run and a good running week! 18 miles total!

I have officially decided to run the St. Jude Half Marathon again this year, so training for that will start at the beginning of September!! Perfect timing to start training, since my last Tri is this coming Saturday. Looking forward to it!! I really enjoyed that race last year! What is your favorite marathon/half marathon?

Well friends, that’s all I got! Looking forward to another drama filled episode of Big Brother tonight! Have a great rest of your Sunday!!

Posted in: on Sunday, August 8, 2010 at at 5:51 PM 7 comments    

Happy Saturday everyone!! Boy have I been busy studying today! Finally around 4pm I decided that a trip to the grocery store was in order. The only problem was, I couldn’t think of what I wanted to make for dinners this coming week! Nothing sounded good. So I decided to wing it and I think I did ok. I was really trying to keep my bill under $100 and I managed to do that :) Do you make a detailed list and stick to it or do you like to wing it at the grocery store?

Thanks for all your comments about the doggie we want to get!! When I got up this morning, hubby had cut out a classified ad page from the paper with all the Yorkie’s for sale and left it on the counter for me. So, I guess we know which dog he wants! Haha. I am definitely leaning towards a little Yorkie too. They are just too cute!!

This morning, I had planned on running a 5 miler, which would have been one of the longer runs I have done in a while! But, my legs had other plans. My calves were so tight and screaming and just never loosened up! So, I decided to cut it short at 3 miles and I will do the 5 miles tomorrow morning. I don’t know what was up with my legs! Is it possible to be sore from stretching and light yoga? Cuz that’s all I did yesterday!! Quite strange if you ask me!! And of course, the 3 miles were at a slower pace than the 3 miles I did on my BRICK. Guess I need to warm-up with 13 miles on the bike before every run! Haha.

For dinner tonight, we are having one of my favorite meals EVER! BBQ Chicken Pizza!! It’s one of the best and easiest GO TO meals. I can’t wait to dig in!! I love pizza in any shape, flavor, and form but this one is especially delish!! Do you like pizza? What’s your favorite kind?

I think we are going to have a low-key kinda night tonight. I’m looking forward to relaxing and watching some TV tonight after non-stop studying today!!

I have a fun little outing planned tomorrow after church. Nothing big, but it may involve a new Fro-yo place I heard about :) Have a GREAT night y’all!!

Posted in: on Saturday, August 7, 2010 at at 6:16 PM 2 comments    

TGIF to everyone! Except for me that is…. I have to spend ALL WEEKEND studying for a test on Monday. So sad! Good thing it’s as hot as Hades outside! Makes me happy to stay inside all day! Plus, I have a wonderful study buddy:

And definitely a lazy one at that!! Speaking of doggies, have y’all read this months Runner’s World magazine yet? They have a huge segment on dogs as running buddies!! As I’ve said on here recently, the hubs and I are seriously considering getting another dog! We had decided on a small dog, a Yorkie, but after reading that article and talking about it a bit, we are now torn!! I want a running buddy! I guess we will just have to really think about it for the next couple of months so we don’t make a rash decision! What would y’all get? A tiny pup that’s so stinkin cute, that you can dress up (hehe) or a bigger dog that is a house protector and could be your running buddy?

I decided to take a rest day off from training today since I did my big BRICK workout yesterday. My legs were kinda feeling it this morning! I like “active” rest days so I walked about 3.5 miles and did some yoga/stretching. It was nice. Do you prefer “active” rest days or days of complete rest during training?

I'm still having major issues with plantar fascitis on my right foot so I’m trying to be extra good about stretching/icing in hopes that it will go away someday. Anyone else suffer or have suffered from PF? Any hints, tips, or tricks to make it go away?

I really don’t have much else to talk about today, seeing as I have literally been stuck inside reading about OB anesthesia. I know all of y’all find that SUPER exciting! Haha.

I hope y’all have a fabulous Friday night! I am looking forward to Chicken Quesadillas and homemade Guacamole with my hubby tonight!!

Posted in: on Friday, August 6, 2010 at at 3:52 PM 4 comments    

We are getting closer and closer to Friday!! Yay! I finally found some of the professional races pictures from the Annie Oakley Sprint Tri I did last weekend! Check them out! Go here to this website and put in my bib number 272. Then you can see all my pics! I think there are some good ones! My face on the last run one is priceless! It just screams EXHAUSTED! Haha :) Tell me what y’all think!

This morning was another BRICK workout for me! I seriously love these workouts because they are HARD and I really feel like I push myself!! Plus, they are super fun!! The TRI Oxford that I am doing in about a week has a little longer bike and run than the Annie Oakley Sprint TRI did, so I wanted to make sure and do that distance on my BRICK today. I have a nice new water bottle holder on my bike which really comes in handy! I made sure to bring my favorite, 3/4 Gatorade 1/4 water combo with me on the bike, so I could stay hydrated. It is just miserably hot and humid at all times of the day here so I must stay hydrated!!

The bike portion went really well! I felt super strong on the hills today and my average speed reflected it!!

Bike total- 13.45 miles

Time- 51:40

Avg. Speed- 15.6 mph

That’s really pretty fast for me! My average speed usually stays around 14 mph so I was really impressed with myself today!!

After a quick transition, I was off for a 3 mile run. My legs felt pretty jello-y at first, but then it got a bit better. I’m not going to tell y’all this run was easy, because it wasn’t. I was hot, it was hilly, and my legs were tired! But, my pace was pretty impressive with all those factors! This was my fastest 3 miler in a long time! Crazy right?! How can I run FASTER after riding for 13.45 miles than I can when I just go out and only run 3 miles? Craziness I tell ya! But I’ll take it! Now, I just have to do this one race day!

Run total- 3 miles

Time- 29:27

Mile 1- 9:38

Mile 2- 10:08

Mile 3- 9:43

Avg Pace- 9:50/mile

Great pace for me, and this even included 2 mini walk breaks! Nice! I’m happy my faster pace is starting to show itself again :) There’s just something about these BRICK workouts that make me happy! I highly suggest trying one, even if you don’t plan on doing a TRI! But let me warn you, you just may become interested in doing one! They are so fun!!

After my BRICK, I was pretty hungry and out of my favorite cereal! So I decided to make some waffles!! Perfect post hard workout meal, right?! I love making a big batch of waffles and then freezing the rest for quick morning breakfasts. Just pop them in the toaster and they are ready to go within minutes! Fabulous I tell ya!

Am I making your mouth water?! These were just as delicious as they look, maybe even more!!

I hope y’all have a wonderful Thursday, gotta get back to school work!

Posted in: on Thursday, August 5, 2010 at at 12:01 PM 3 comments    

Hey y’all! Happy Hump Day!! I can’t believe it’s just Wednesday… I have done so much this week. Unfortunately my weeks just keep getting busier and busier until after my BIG drug test at the beginning of September. It’s a comprehensive test over about 100+ drugs! And we have to pass this to start clinical on September 13! Talk about stressful! And on top of trying to study for that, we are taking a full load of classes (one of which is ridiculous with the amount of work we have to do…) So I will be one busy girl for another month or so! Phew, makes me tired and stressed just thinking about it.

Onto more fun topics… I received a free coupon for some Buitoni Riserva Pasta from the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program! We love pasta at our house so hubby and I were really looking forward to trying these!

 

We decided to try the Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti! These little pasta shells were stuffed with 4 different kind of cheeses and garlic! Fabulous I tell ya!!

I loved how big and full these were!

Topped with our favorite Marinara sauce! Yummy! These come highly recommended by me!!

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Let’s move on to my favorite topic… RUNNING!! I’ve had some really great runs the past couple days!! On Monday, running group was cancelled due to an excessive heat warning. Believe me people, when it “feels like 123 degrees” no one should be out running! This heat is getting a bit ridiculous!! So I opted for a treadmill run and did my favorite Fartleck 5-4-3-2-1 for a total of 3 miles. It was good, not too hard, not too easy.

This morning I had a fabulous 4 miler!! My times are slowly getting closer to my normal pace. I’m still a little slower than I was back in the winter and early spring. I’m blaming it on the heat :) Here’s my stats:

Time:41:00

Mile 1: 10:39

Mile 2: 10:14

Mile 3: 10:17

Mile 4: 9:53

Avg. Pace: 10:16

Not too shabby! Even though I headed out around 6:30am for this run, it was already hot and super humid! When I finished I was drenched! I don’t think there was a dry spot on my shirt! Gross, I know!!

Tomorrow I have a BRICK workout on the schedule since I have another TRI in less than 2 weeks! I can’t wait, I am totally loving TRI’s!! Well friends, that’s all for now. Gotta go get dinner started!

Posted in: on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at at 6:29 PM 0 comments    

Hi friends!! I’ve had one busy and hectic weekend! But it was definitely a blast!!

On Saturday morning, I did the Annie Oakley Sprint Tri. It was my very first Tri, EVER, and I loved it!! The race was fabulous! Let’s start from the beginning…

My friend Jaime and I got to the race location around 6:30am. I was definitely nervous! I was unsure of where to go and what to do with all my stuff but everyone was really nice and directed me towards all the places I needed to go. After I got all my gear in place in the transition area, and all marked up, it was time for the guys to start their race. It was so nice to have them go first so I could figure out the course and how to maneuver through my transitions! My brother was working the race so it was nice to have a familiar face there too! My parents showed up just as the boys were starting their swim.

I was definitely less nervous after the guys went and I was ready to go!!

Standing by the transition area.

Finally it was almost time for the girls to start the swim! I put on my bright yellow swim cap and posed for some pics!

My parents and I.

Me and Jaime.

Getting in line to go!

The swim started off on a dock and they had us jumping in every 5 seconds. It was nice because you didn’t have a ton of people swimming on top of you at the beginning.

Me swimming at the start.

The swim wasn’t bad! I never got kicked and I felt good the entire time! I was even able to pull myself onto the dock after I finished. My brother said that only me and one other girl were able to pull themselves out of the water onto the dock!!

Swim time: 11:00

Then it was on to the 1st transition! I decided to just bike in my sports bra and shorts to save on some time. I was pretty quick on the transition time.

T1 time: 1:32

Then I was off on the bike!

The bike was pretty tough! My brother told me it was a flat course, but boy was he lying!! It was a SUPER hilly 11 miles!! To the point that a lot of people were walking their bikes up hills! I wasn’t about to get off my bike though and just powered through it!!

Bike time: 45:45

MPH: 14.4

Then I was back and heading to transition 2. This was another quick one. All I did was throw on my shirt and hat, get a quick sip of water, and grab my Garmin, and I was off again!

T2 time: 1:21

At the start of the run. The run was tough. It was a 2 mile trail run and I have NEVER run on trails! Definitely different than the pavement!! My calves were killing me until I got some Gatorade at the first water stop, then they felt a bit better after that. Think I was lacking some Potassium big time!! We heading into heavy woods after the first 0.5 mile or so and I was all alone. I thought I was lost at one point because there was no one in sight, so I stopped and waited until I saw someone to keep going! I wasn’t about to be lost in the woods! Lol. There were some pretty steep inclines that I basically could only walk up and some really steep downhill parts too, that I had to go really slow down. So all that made for a really slow run, but I had a blast in those woods! I just kept thinking about the Twilight movies and those vampires running through the woods! Haha!! I really felt good towards the end of my run but was definitely exhausted and ready to cross that finish line!!

Here I come! Down the home stretch!! I love how they call your name as you cross the finish line! Technology is so great!

Wohoo! I’m a Triathlete!!

Run time: 26:06

Total Tri time: 1:25:42

Age group: 9/17

I am super happy with my time!! My secret goal was 1:30 and I totally smashed that!! I couldn’t stop smiling after this race! I think I am officially in love with Triathlons! And a bit addicted to them! I found another one that I am planning on doing in 2 weeks!! It’s part of the Oxford Endurance Weekend and is called Tri Oxford! This one is a little different: 300 meter pool swim, 13 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I can’t wait! But, I’m kinda sad the season is about over, just when I find my true racing love! Haha :)

Hope y’all enjoyed my recap!! Have a great night!!

Posted in: on Monday, August 2, 2010 at at 5:37 PM 9 comments