Midway Swiss Days 10k Recap

Last Saturday was my first 10k.

I was extremely nervous that I wouldn't be able to finish the race for a couple of reasons:

1. Avie (my 1 year old) dropped our ipad right on my big toe a week prior to the race and bruised the crap out of my toe.  I could hardly bend it.

2. Because of above reason I didn't run for a whole week! 

I didn't feel ready at all, and I was really nervous that my toe was going to give me lots of problems. 

My husband ran the race with me and it was actually his first ever race.  So that was exciting, even though we didn't run together, he was running it with me.  

So the race: 

On the website it describes the course and it says that the first 2.5 miles is a slight incline.  There was no slight about some of those inclines.  That was running up a hill!  I had to actually walk up one of the hills.  I also later learned that my husband also had to walk up the same hill, so then I didn't feel too bad that I couldn't run the whole way! 

By the time I got to mile three, my mind was telling me that I was done.  I was already exhausted.  I didn't know how I could possibly go another 3.2 miles.  I changed my way of thinking and just kept repeating that this was just another 5k, I could do this, I was strong enough.  

I did do it, I was strong enough, and now I am more sore than I have ever been before in my life. 

It feels so great to accomplish something you never thought possible.   My goal was to finish it in less than an hour and 15 minutes.  I did it in 1 hour 12 minutes.  Although it was the hardest physical thing I have ever done in my life, it was worth it.  :)

(My dad was there to support us as well as take our pictures, unfortunately when Brandon crossed the finish line he accidentally forgot to turn the camera on! So we didn't get any shots of him running in his race)

Here are my splits:

Here are Brandon's Splits

I'm still running....and I almost died.

I am still running. 

I haven't posted in a while because I have been busy with my new obsession. Quilting.  Out of all the hobbies in the universe, I chose a really time consuming and expensive one.  :) 

Onto my run:

I did my longest run to date on Sunday morning.  5 miles.  I almost died. 

No joke.

Not because of the run, but because a killer bird was trying to get me.

Here's the story:

I wanted to try a loop on this run since it was so long.  So I went down a new road that I have never been on. I knew the road went all the way through, so I turned on the road and about half way down the road a bird came at me.  I mean it came at me and I had to freaking duck in order for it to miss my face! I flew away and then it CAME BACK! It came back for round two.  It was aiming for my head again and so I ducked really low so it would miss me.  I almost peed my pants.  I was that scared!

I ran like hell until I felt I was safe again!  I kept looking back to make sure it wasn't coming in for round three. 

Lesson learned. 

Never run on that road again. 

The overall run was great.  I felt pretty good the entire time. The last mile was hard, I'm not going to lie.   It seemed like it was lasting forever! I got through it and wasn't completely dead after. I got home and ate an amazing breakfast that my man cooked and chilled the rest of the day. I was really sore on Monday, but today hasn't been so bad. 

The big race is a week from Saturday.  I'm feeling a little nervous, but mostly excited.  :)

2 mile run and I'm ready for fall.

My run yesterday didn't suck as much as I thought it would.  Well besides the fact that I got eaten alive by mosquitos.   When I stopped at two miles I felt something on my leg and I look down and my legs are literally covered with mosquitos.  I started to freak out.  We have a really bad mosquito problem where we live and you really can't go outside without getting eaten alive.  This morning the bumps all showed up on my legs and I counted about ten of them, just from my run yesterday. 

Other than that small detail, my run went really well.  My knees didn't give me much trouble and I didn't feel like I was going to die by the time I reached two miles.  I actually felt like I could have easily ran double that yesterday, but I didn't want to get a ahead of myself.   

Life has kind of slowed down, which has made me really happy. 

I am ready for fall.

It's my favorite time of year. 

I love summer, but there is just something about fall that I really enjoy. 

The changing leaves

Cuddling on the couch watching football with my husband

Long naps on the weekends

Taking Sunday drives with the kids to see the colorful leaves

Decorating my house with Halloween decorations (my favorite holiday to decorate for)

Making yummy fall food like soups and homemade bread

Going to the pumpkin patch with the kids

Watching television series on Netflix (need to finish up Dexter)

Wearing flannel pajamas and hooded sweatshirts

I'm pretty sure I could go on and on...

I am really going to enjoy fall this year because next fall we will be living in St. George and I know it will definitely be different there as far the seasons go.  :)

A series of arguments...

I don't know what it is, but I felt great on my run tonight.  My legs didn't feel like lead when I started and I was below a 12 minute pace.  I'm slow :)  

However, my knees do not seem to be getting better.  I have been stretching right after I run and icing my knees because they are hurting more than usual.  I hope I'm just being overly dramatic and that it's really nothing. :)

Saw this on Pinterest and thought it described how I feel when I'm running perfectly. 

{Source}

Very Berry Red Smoothie and Weekend Recap

I am always making new smoothie concoctions.  They are so yummy, and it feels like I am having a "treat" when I drink them.  I made this one up and really loved how it turned out.  To make it such a rich, red color I used grape juice for the liquid.  You could swap out grape for pomegranate juice if you don't like the grape flavor.   When I made it I was worried that the grape flavor would overpower the rest of the flavors, but it didn't.  I have a bunch of fresh peaches and so I peeled one and dumped it in.   I loved the end result, and will definitely make it again!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup frozen strawberries

1/3 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup of 100% grape juice (secret ingredient)

2-4 Ice cubes

Instructions:

Blend until smooth.  Add more ice, if you want it thicker.

Brandon had Friday off, so we had a nice three day weekend.  I love when that happens. I didn't run on Friday or Saturday.  We spent those days cleaning the house and getting ready for our yard sale, so I didn't have time to run.  I did my long run for the week on Sunday morning.  

When I woke up I decided to weigh myself before I got dressed for my run.  So I weighed myself without any clothes on and after I used the restroom.  I weighed 144.3 pounds.  When I got back from my run I thought, hey I should weigh myself again for kicks and giggles.  So before I hopped in the shower I weighed again and I was 143.4 pounds.   I lost a whole pound.  I'm pretty sure something was off, because that just isn't possible.  Is it?  

Anyways,  like always I started out pretty slow the first couple miles.  I was actually feeling pretty good during most the run.  Then I hit 3.5 miles, and I hit a wall.  I wanted to stop so badly.  I wanted to just walk the last mile home.  I was about to have a meltdown.  I really thought I was going to just burst into tears and lose it.  But I didn't.  I kept repeating in my head, "I can do this."  It was by far the hardest run so far mentally.   It's like my mind is telling me there is no way I could possibly run any further.  But I pushed through it and I made it.  

I didn't die.

I wanted to.

But I didn't.

Sunday was our 7 year anniversary.  I can't believe how time passes so quickly! 

We didn't do anything huge to celebrate, we just spent the day at home relaxing.  My husband made me  one of my favorite things for breakfast.  Breakfast burritos.  YUM.  Yes we ate on our finest china. (paper plates)  I love breakfast burritos, they are so yummy and so filling.  I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  We also baked up some cookies and had hot cookies over vanilla ice cream.  I may or may not have went back for seconds.  I have a really bad sweet tooth and would rather have dessert than dinner any day of the week.  It's my weakness.  I just can't say no to dessert. It's not possible. 

Just looking at those cookies now is really not helping my "smoothie cleanse" today.  Hopefully I survive today without killing somebody out of hunger.  I'll update how it went tomorrow. 

Running fail and baked italian chicken

I was supposed to run three miles yesterday. 

That didn't happen. 

It was stormy so I had to run on the treadmill.  I made it like 1.3 miles and then my knees started to hurt.  So I slowed it down to a brisk walk and they were still hurting.  I toughed it out and ran in intervals of running/walking so that it wouldn't be as bad.  

I finally stopped at 2.3 miles. 

I felt awful afterwards. 

Usually I feel like I can conquer the world after working out, but tonight I just felt thoroughly exhausted.

I have a couple of ideas of why I had such a hard time.

1. I didn't sleep at all the night before.

2. I am not consuming enough calories.

3. I am not quite used to treadmill running.

4. I had a bad attitude going into the run.

5. I was already really tired to begin with. 

I have never really had knee pain when running before.  I have had pain in the arches of my feet and in my heels, but never in my knees.  They just ache.  

I hope it's nothing serious. 

I took some ibuprofen and am going to try to take it easy tomorrow.  Hopefully it's just soreness and not something serious. 

I have no idea why it's so hard for me to run on my treadmill.  I feel like the pace I go outside and the pace on the treadmill are completely different.  I feel like I can't keep up on the treadmill and that even though it's the same pace I'm running outside it feels way faster.  

My other issue is how much to eat in a day.  I feel like I'm always hungry on the days I run.  I always try to have a post-run snack and I eat three meals a day plus two snacks in between, but I am still hungry.  I think I need to up my calories.  I think that's why I am feeling so tired all of a sudden.  I'm going to try to increase my calories and see what happens.  

This whole counting calories is kind of stressful and I kind of hate it.  I would really just like to eat whatever I want (in moderation of course) and not worry about going over calories.

Onto what I ate for dinner last night:

I pretty much just threw whatever I had in my fridge in this baked dish I made for dinner last night.
The chicken ended up being really moist and flavorful.  It was kind of an odds and ends meal last night.  With the chicken we had corn on the cob, green beans, and cottage cheese. I'm telling you I really need to do some major grocery shopping.  I was going to make some brown rice to go with it, but I got lazy and decided we could skip out on a starch for the meal.

Here's the recipe

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3/4 cup of Kraft Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing. (I used the Lite version)

1 red pepper sliced

1 tomato sliced thinly

2 slices of provolone cheese

Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on at the end of baking.

Preheat oven to 350* Lightly grease (I used cooking spray) an oven-safe dish.  Place chicken in dish and pour dressing over chicken and thoroughly coat the chicken. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until chicken is just about done.  Place sliced tomatoes and peppers on chicken and top with sliced cheese. Continue to bake until chicken is cooked through. (about another 10 minutes) Take out of oven and cover with tin foil and let sit for about 5 minutes.  When ready to serve, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

*You could substitute peppers with roasted red peppers and also sun dried tomatoes.

4 Miles and some randomness...

Slow and steady today.  I was scared to do 4 miles. I was really struggling the first two miles.  I don't know why, I just was tired. My legs hurt and I had a bad attitude.  At mile three I started to get into a better pace and mile four was the easiest mile.  Which is so weird.  I would think that your first mile or so would be easy, but for me it almost takes me two miles to get into a comfortable pace.  

We planted our first garden this year, since we actually are renting a home that has a yard.  It has been so much fun! I am probably a little too excited about the fact that we actually grew real vegetables, but I am stoked!  Here is what we picked the other day.  We let the zucchini get too big so it was a little tough, so I ended up grating it up and freezing it for zucchini bread.
Doesn't the pepper on the left look like an old grumpy man face?  Or am I just crazy?

Strawberries are my favorite fruit to eat in the summertime. They are so sweet and refreshing, I really can't get enough of them! When they went on sale at my local grocery store, I kind of went overboard and bought 10 pounds.  

{Yes, our countertops really are that ugly blue.  Fortunately, we are renting this house and so I don't have to live with them forever!}

I like to cut the tops off and then freeze them in quart size freezer bags.  It is WAY cheaper to do this  yourself than it is to buy frozen strawberries at the store.  I also do this with blueberries when they go on sale.  They both freeze great and last forever! 

My next order of randommess is my new favorite song that I have on my running playlist.  We went to the Goo Goo Dolls/Matchbox 20 concert in Vegas and had an awesome time.  My favorite song from the whole show was this one:

I am in love with this song and I really can't get enough of it.  It is such a cute and romantic song.  I really love the lyrics.    Here are some random pics of us at the concert:

{Me, Jess, Emily, Katie}

Monroe Milk Run Recap {2013}

Yesterday I ran in my second 5k.  I wasn't nearly as nervous for this race.  I kind of knew what to expect this time around and it was nice that there weren't thousands of runners.  There was probably only 200 people running.  The race was scheduled to start at seven, but started a little late.  

{Waiting for the race to start}

As soon as I started I pressed start on my runkeeper and started running.  About one minute into it, I must have hit my phone and it stopped tracking my run.  So I had to take my arm band off and restart it which was a pain in the butt to do while running.  I wouldn't care if I didn't track it, but I like to have it on because then I know what my pace is like and if I need to speed up or slow down so I don't get too tired. After I fixed it I began to relax.  

The first mile or more was uphill.  It wasn't too bad of a climb, but my legs were definitely feeling it.  At about mile two we ran on a dirt road and it was downhill which was so nice! Then mile three was back to the road and pretty much a flat surface to the finish line.  I felt pretty great throughout the whole race.  I really wanted to beat my previous time, so I made sure to keep a faster pace.  The last quarter of a mile I booked it to the finish line.  I could see the finish clock and wanted to try to make it under 33:00, but I was just off by a few seconds. My husband and kids were at the finish line ready to take pictures and cheer me on.  Here are some of the pictures he got:

I thought this picture was cool because neither of my feet are touching the ground! :)

You see the kid in the blue jersey?  Well turns out I was racing with my two cousins and didn't even know it! They both did awesome.  Callie who is super athletic got fourth place overall! She did an awesome job and she's only a teenager! Jaxson (the one pictured) also did an awesome job!

{My Result Card}

As soon as we got into the car to go home, I decided that I was going to make "real" pancakes for breakfast.  I made them with extra vanilla in the batter and practically fried them in oil and then smothered them in butter and sprinkled sugar on top.  That's my favorite way to have pancakes. 

 It might sound weird to sprinkle sugar on a pancake, but I swear it's so good! They kind of taste like sugared doughnuts when you make them like that. I swear they tasted like heaven.  I limited myself to two, but I could have downed like six I'm pretty sure. 

After the race we had a very busy day ahead of us! We travelled up north to go to the rodeo in Spanish Fork.  We had a great time and by the end of the day we were all thoroughly exhuasted!

{My Cowgirl Diva and Little Cowboy}

 {My hunk of  a husband!}

9:48 and Shredded Chicken and Black Beans

Last night I wanted to take it easy and only do a mile since my next race is this Wednesday.  Well, that thought didn't get very far, because I got a wild hair up my butt and decided to run it as fas as I could without passing out on the side of the road. I ran it in 9:48. My personal best.  I was so excited about it, but then I realized I could not catch my breath. So I had to calm the crap down and sit down for a while.  It was the first time I actually had to use my inhaler after running since I started running.  I really pushed myself and am actually quite proud that I ran an under ten minute mile! I killed my previous goal of 10:15.  

I got this in my email this morning from RunKeeper.  It made me laugh! :)  I thought it was pretty cool, except the time on the violation is wrong. :)

Onto what I ate last night for dinner:

I have been making this concoction for a couple of years and it is actually super healthy.  You can use this recipe for burritos, salads, or you can add in more beans and some corn to make it a Chicken Taco Soup.  It is really versatile and I always have the ingredients on hand so it's a go-to meal for my family. It's also a crockpot meal so it's something you can throw into your crockpot in the morning and it will make your house smell good all day and you don't have to worry about it until it's time to eat!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1 Can of Black Beans

1 Cup of Salsa (your favorite kind)

1 Chopped Bell Pepper (I used a mixture of green and red)

1 Tablespoon of Chopped Garlic

1 Onion Chopped

1 Packet of Taco Seasoning

Instructions:

Add everything into crockpot and turn on low for 6-8 hours.  Serve with tortillas. 

Favorite thing to eat and a not so flattering picture.....

I am stuck on this meal.  I have it almost every day and it is so filling! It's non-fat vanilla greek yogurt, fresh fruit, granola, and sliced almonds. YUM.  

I have this almost everyday for lunch.  It's only about 300 calories (depending on how much granola I want that day) and it really fills me up.  I use different fruits depending on what's on sale that week.  Lately my favorite is fresh peaches and blueberries.  

I saw this quote on pinterest the other day and laughed.  I feel like it's true!  I remember when I used to go to the gym it was more like a beauty pageant that actually seeing people workout.  I haven't been a member of a gym for a long time and so I'm not sure if it's like that now, but when I used to go I always felt like I had to "get ready" to go to the gym.  Now I just put on whatever gym clothes that I can find (that are clean) and go running.

Now here is a perfect picture that illustrates this quote perfectly! I am almost embarrassed to post this.  My makeup is smudged everywhere and it looks like I have a black eye, I am dripping in sweat, and my hair was soaking wet at the ends (gross).  This is how you are supposed to look after a hard workout! :)

I really hit it hard last night for my workout! We went out of town for the weekend and I practically binged on food.  We ate out everyday and I pretty much ate whatever I wanted.  So I figured I needed a pretty intense workout to makeup for all the junk food I consumed.  I did a 30 minute interval run.  It was so hard, but I felt great afterward.  

Longest Run of My Life.

Yesterday I thought I was feeling good enough to do my long run for the week.  I had to get it in somehow between yesterday and today because we are going out of town.  Well my goal was to do a 3.5 mile run.  I also took a new route.  I thought I needed a change of scenery for some reason.  

I felt like I was running forever.  Each mile felt like an hour long.  Apparently I wasn't feeling as well as I thought.  Because I thought I was dying by mile two when I got a really bad side ache in my right side.  I was going to stop, but somehow I talked myself to keep going.  At mile 3 my hips were SOO tight.  I never understood when people said their hips were "tight." I understand now.  I felt like I was the tin man and needed to be oiled up.  It felt so weird and was really uncomfortable.  

So by the time I finished I went inside and I started to stretch right away.  I did some yoga stretches for my hips and it helped a ton.  I really need to get into the habit of stretching before and after each run.  I also decided that I really enjoy doing my long run in the morning.  By the time my husband comes home, we eat dinner, and get kids to bed it's after eight and I am already drained.  So running longer distances that late in the day is just working for me.  I need to find a way to do them in the morning without waking up at the crack of dawn. :)

This was the sunset at the end of my run.  The picture really doesn't' do it justice.  The clouds were so pink and really beautiful.  

Speeding Up and New Shoes

One of my goals is to run a mile faster. I am slow.  The first mile I ever ran was over 13 minutes.  Last night I was on a mission to beat my personal best mile time.  I pushed myself harder than ever and ended up beating my 4 week goal time of 10:45 and almost beating my 10 week goal of 10:15.  I ran it in 10:17 seconds.  

 The weather was so nice last night.  It was the perfect temperature and it wasn't very windy.  (which is rare around where I live) The sun was setting on my run and it was really beautiful. 

While I was up north I told my husband that I wanted to check out the New Balance store in Salt Lake. I wanted to get fitted for "real" running shoes.  Before I was just wearing a cheap pair of tennis shoes.  I don't even think they were meant for running.  I knew it would be kind of pricey, but from all the research I have done everyone says it's crucial to have good running shoes.  So I went with an open mind and decided that price wasn't an issue.  

The lady at the store was really helpful and measured my feet for me.  She said I had the most narrow feet she's ever seen.  Which is probably true.  My feet are really long, skinny and flat.  She had me put on some shoes so she could see how I ran on the treadmill.  She said my feet turn in quite a bit when I run and that I have a mid-foot strike.  She found the size I needed and brought out a few pairs of shoes.  I ran in all of them and decided that I liked the first pair the best.  They offered the most support and were the most comfortable.   

She advised me to do a few short runs in my shoes before I try out a long run just in case they hurt my feet.  So far I have done three short runs and I am still getting used to them.  They aren't as light as the pair I was wearing before, but they have a ton more support.  I think I'm finally used to them and they don't hurt my feet at all.  I actually really like them, which is a good thing because they were NOT cheap.  :)

My First 5k {Freedom Festival 5k}

I just got back home from a week and a half trip up north.  It feels SOOO great to be home.  I can't wait to sleep in my OWN bed. It's been 11 days.   I need my bed like I need food.  

While I was up north I ran my first ever race.  It was the Freedom Festival 5k.  

I was getting more and more nervous as the race got closer and really had no idea what to expect for my first race.  The day before we had to pick up our packet so we were ready on race day.  The packet was just a shirt (which was actually a really nice shirt), my bib (2100) and the chip that you put on your shoes to track your race time.   

The morning of the race I had to wake up super early to make sure all the kids were ready and we were all packed up to head up to my parents house right after the race.  I didn't sleep at all that night for several reasons.  1. my kids were up all night long.

2. I was nervous 

3. I was nervous my alarm wouldn't go off

4. I was worried I was going to forget something important for the race.

5. I was nervous. :)

Everything went pretty smoothly that morning, I got to the race about 25 minutes early and realized I forgot to put some chapstick on, so I had to call my husband and have him come back to give me some chapstick.  (I have an unnatural addiction to chapstick) After that I was ready.  They had us line up according to our bib numbers.  So I was supposed to stand next to people with similar numbers to mine.   Which meant they were going to be running at a similar pace.  

At 7:00 AM the race started and I was off.  It took about 2 minutes or longer for me to even cross the start line, but once I did I was able to run at my normal pace.  

My sister was at the corner by the start line and was able to snap a picture of me running. 

I actually kind of choked up at the beginning of the race because it was so awesome running with so many people!  I was doing really well and was running faster than my normal pace.  I skipped the first water station (not on purpose) I just didn't realize that it was a water station, until I was running and seeing cups all over the ground.  I was worried I was going to trip or something over all the cups!  Mile two came and I found the water station which was good news, because I was super thirsty and the next part of the race was all uphill.  

I was really worried about this uphill part.  It looked really daunting.  I started the uphill part and it was really hard, but I pushed through it and never stopped running.  I made it all the way up the hill and saw the finish line in the distance! I then got choked up again and thought I was going to have a spastic episode of crying right there on the course.  I had to tell myself to calm the crap down or I might hyperventilate and not finish the race! So I calmed down and saw my husband and kids right there at the finish line cheering me on.  

{Me being cheesy and giving my husband the thumbs up sign}

I ended up running it way faster than I thought I would.  My goal was to just make it under 40 minutes and I ended up doing it in just over 35 minutes.  

{Me and Hannah after the race}

I never imagined that I could run.  I mean really run.  I never thought I had the strength or the motivation to complete an actual race.  I can't tell you how gratifying it felt to cross that finish line and realize that I just ran a real race!  I have never felt better.  I now know what it feels like to have a "runner's high." I felt so great after that race, I felt like I could do anything!