Sunny run OUTSIDE!

This post is a little all over the place, like my mind.

This morning was beautiful, so I pulled the crash wrap off of the window of the Jeep for my drive to drop it off at the repair shop. They're only open until noon on Saturdays, so that motivated me to actually get out the door.

Poor, sad Jeep.

My boss is completely fascinated by the weight I have lost since I started work in November - she wants a number. I don't actually know how much I have lost. I don't own a scale. But, I went from my temporary retirement/road trip to working and running all the time, so obviously there's been some change.

Out of curiosity, I put my finish photos from the Sleepy Hollow 10K in October 2013 and the Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon in March 2014 side by side.

There's definitely a difference there (not just that one photo is terribly unflattering). But then, going from a relatively sedentary lifestyle to being on my feet all the time (and running) is obviously going to make a difference.

I keep putting these back in their box, as though I haven't worn them four times.

It was beautiful out today (and warm!), so Buddy and I piled in the car to go for a run - gasp - OUTSIDE! Yes, that's right, I actually gave my treadmill a break and ventured outside.

I finally got to use my Empire Passport so I don't have to pay for parking anymore. I got it right before all the snow hit, so I never got to use it.

 There were turtles sunning themselves in the lake.

We took a few water breaks.

 Right after I took this picture, Buddy dunked himself up to his chest to cool off.

We got a little lost turned around for a bit, but found our way back to the car after a while.

It was a pretty day for a run!

 I asked Buddy to sit when we got back to the car. This is what I got:

I think he's tired - he's taken up residence between the curtain and the back door (in the sun) and hasn't moved since we got home.

What's your weather doing today? We're above 70 degrees!

Do you ever get lost when you're out running? I feel like I do every time I try to run somewhere new. But I always find my way back eventually!

Tell me something fun you're doing this weekend!

I'm an awesome chef like that.

Happy Friday!

We had a pretty relaxed day at work today (if you can ever spend a day with a bunch of two year olds and call it relaxed). There's a lot of staffing drama going on right now, but (other than my crazy hours) it doesn't really affect me, and I do my best to stay out of it.

After work, I put in a few miles on the treadmill before making dinner. I made this burger, only I used bison instead of chicken.

I set off the smoke detector a couple of times and somehow managed to burn the bun. I'm an awesome chef like that.

It doesn't photograph well, but it was delicious.

Anything with avocado is delicious. You can quote me on that.

Where do you stand on avocado? I'm of the opinion that it should be eaten as often as possible, but then, I was born in California.

What runs do you have planned for the weekend? I am planning on 4 or 5 on Saturday and a long run (probably 7 or 8) on Sunday.

My trusty sidekick

I am a little tired. Today was payday and I learned that I worked 100.75 hours in the last two weeks. Just seeing that in print makes me tired.

This is me after work, pre-run. That's my stylish after-work hair.

This is me post-run, feeling much more awake and awesome.

And here's my trusty sidekick.

Four miles, starting slow and finishing fast. There is nothing like a good run after a long day to help me relax.

My beer with dinner didn't hurt either.

Tomorrow is Friday! I have very exciting plans to go to work, run, and make something tasty for dinner.

What do you do to relax after a long day?

Any exciting Friday plans?

Mouse traps and sunshine

The morning started off great, blue skies, birds singing, and I was in a good mood. And then I snapped my fingers with a mouse trap.

Let's go back a bit. Buddy has been doing a little counter surfing and destroying things. Not anything major, and he isn't just going after food, but I've had enough of coming home to shredded things on the carpet. In come the mouse traps.

They're upside down on the counter so he can't hurt himself, he'll just scare the kibble out of himself if he sets them off. He tripped one the other day, and moved one, but since then they have all been right where I leave them. So, hopefully, that means I'm done picking up shredded cardboard after work.

I was adjusting one this morning and thought I had my hand over the bar so I wouldn't hurt myself, but I was clearly wrong. It hurt.

The rest of the day went well (if you pretend nap time didn't happen, which is what I'm doing). I have a cute new bulletin board.

And it was sunny.

And the Buddy gate came today, so no more dragging random things back and forth to block the stairs every morning.

There's no way either of us can get over that thing, it's so tall!

No run today, I was at work forever and decided I should actually eat a decent dinner tonight.

Did you run today? If you did, I'm jealous.

Have you hurt yourself in a dumb way recently? It can't just be me, right?

Fun with intervals!

I was looking forward to running all day today. So, after a typically long day at work, I headed to the basement for a little fun with intervals. I planned on doing 3 miles and wound up doing 4 because I have a problem.

Just a little sweaty at the end.

Buddy knows that when I slow down to a walk that we are almost ready to leave the basement. He always comes and stands next to the treadmill while I do my cool down.

And then shows me where he thinks we should go.

I love goldfish crackers. I pretty much always have some in the house (the pizza flavor is the best - but not the weird extreme flavor, those are gross), so when I saw this at the store this weekend I had to buy it.

Fish shaped pasta!

If it makes you feel any better, I ate some broccoli and cauliflower before my mac & cheese was ready.

What snacks do you keep in the house?

Some tasty eats

I made a super delicious smoothie last night. It might actually border on milkshake, but I'm going to go ahead and call it a smoothie. I didn't measure anything.

1 banana
Frozen blueberries
1 container of coconut greek yogurt
Milk

I just tossed it all in the blender (and added just enough milk to make it the right consistency), poured it in a cup, and I was good to go.

Buddy helped carry his towel upstairs when we did laundry yesterday.

Today wasn't too insane at work, just long - which is pretty typical. We had a really quiet nap time (one quiet kiddo didn't nap) and I managed to do a little lesson planning so I don't have ALL the squares to fill in at the end of the month. I'll be glad I did that later.

For dinner I made a mixture of Sriracha, honey and a splash of lemon juice that I poured on some roasted butternut squash. I ate that with some black beans and rice.

It was way tastier than it looks. And I have grand plans to put that sauce on some chicken one of these days. It's really good.

Happy Birthday Dad!

 Today is my dad's birthday! Happy birthday Dad - I hope you're having a great day!

Christmas a few years ago

It is sunny here today - Buddy loves sunny days.

We went for a long walk, Buddy seemed ready to come home.

Then we headed to the basement for my long run for the week. I planned on doing 7 miles to hit my 20 miles/week goal, but ended up doing 8 because I felt like it. That brings me to 21 miles for the week. Not too shabby.

I tried this out from my RunnerBox after my run today:

It was pretty tasty, sort of fudge-like - plus it has 15 grams of protein which is great for after a long run. I would eat this again, for sure.

I hope you're having a good Sunday!