Tank Top Weather

Well, ok, so it isn't actually tank top weather yet. But compared to the weather we've been having, it felt really warm! I made it about 3 miles into my 5 miler before I took off my half-zip sweatshirt and ran the rest of the way in my tank top. Pretty exciting!

Granted, once summer rolls around I will probably be whining for cooler weather.

I had a really productive morning today, rather than my usual not-productive-at-all mornings. I did some bookkeeping for work that I've been ignoring for a few days, tackled the dishes and didn't even procrastinate on the way out the door to run. It was pretty wild.

I tracked down Buddy's other bed (he has several). He's been hanging out in the empty living room because there's sun in there in the afternoon.

Only sunshine (or food) will cause Buddy to be in a room by himself.

Tom was over at our neighbor's house for a bit before dinner. I sent him this when I started contemplating snacking on pretty much everything in the kitchen:

He came home and grilled burgers, because he's the best.

Nuun Year Dash!

We woke up to snow this morning. The weather forecast called for a dusting to an inch, but we ended up getting enough snow to cover the roads and cancel school in the area. 

Buddy made sure to warm his nose up by the fire. It's actually already noticeably warmer in the house with the new insulation, and it isn't even all in yet!

Nuun hosted a virtual race this weekend, and I signed up to run the 10k. All the official goodies arrived last week. They don't skimp on the swag!

I planned on running my race today, since we have a 5k on Sunday, so I waited for the roads to clear and hit the pavement.

I wasn't sure what kind of pace to expect since I had a cold all week (and haven't raced in a couple of months). I kept my watch on distance and just focused on running harder than I would for a regular training run. That plan seemed to work well, sometimes I get frustrated when I check my pace too often, but I felt strong and ended up being pleasantly surprised when I uploaded my run.

10k in 55:42, an 8:57 pace.

I celebrated with a double dose of watermelon Nuun with a dash of vitamin c powder, because I like it a little sour.

The insulation guys started putting up drywall today! It's hard to see because there aren't lights in the room yet, but look, walls!

The plumber is coming this weekend to get the heat hooked up in the addition, and then the rest of the drywall will get installed next week. It's exciting to see so much progress!

Under the Weather

We're kind of under the weather over here today. All those kids we work with are little germ factories, so it's kind of a wonder we're not sick all the time.

Mostly I just have a cold and no energy, it's really nothing major - but it's still no fun.

In more exciting news: Tom made an awesome dinner the other night. Ribs, mac and cheese (from scratch) and kale. I almost ate myself to a Thanksgiving level of fullness. My picture ended up really dark, but you get the idea. 

I thought the clouds looked cool when I woke up the other day.

The insulation was delivered on Tuesday. Tom gave them a little tractor assistance so they didn't have to move it all by hand.

The whole process is pretty cool, and extremely messy. They put mesh up on the walls and then blow in the cellulose insulation. There's more to it than that, but that's the general idea.

The drywall is supposed to get delivered tomorrow so they will start installing that in the next few days. Pretty soon it will look more like a a finished house and less like a construction zone!

For dinner tonight we made a previous Blue Apron recipe again. Chicken and Udon Noodle Soup. It's delicious, and super easy. The recipe calls for a dried lime and chicken demi-glace, but we just used lime zest/juice and chicken stock and it still turned out amazing.

Nuun has officially released its new and improved formula and the new Mango Orange Nuun Energy flavor!

I have to go through all our kitchen boxes to find all the Nuun tubes I have lying around so I can decide if I actually need to re-stock or if I just need to reorganize ;)

Weekend Things

Things are happening with the house again! We had the plumber and electrician out this weekend for a few little things. They needed to get finished because insulation work starts tomorrow!

We actually started talking about paint colors today - it's happening! We aren't going to live in a construction zone forever!  :)

The plumber was going to be here early on Saturday morning, so I didn't think I would be able to meet up with my running group. He ended up having a schedule change which worked out nicely for me.

I was up and out the door early on Saturday and ran just shy of 7 miles on the trails with my group. Some of our normal trails still had snow/ice on them from last weekend's storm, so we were a little limited in our route.

I came home and lounged around with the pooch and some coffee.

My post-run clashing game is only growing stronger.

I got my race packet for the Nuun Year Dash, a virtual race that's being held next weekend. I'm not usually big on virtual races, but when it's hosted by Nuun, you know I can't say no!

There's a new flavor of Nuun coming out next week - I've heard a rumor that it's orange mango. I'm not usually big on all things mango, but I'll definitely give it a try!

Today was mostly errands and chores. I took our recycling in, which we only do about once every 6 months or when it threatens to take over the kitchen. Today's haul was 215 bottles and cans, which may be a record for us. The afternoon was spent moving firewood from the wood pile to the front porch, necessary, but no fun.

Today was also the last day of Yoga Camp. I have really enjoyed yoga camp, and I'm really impressed that I did every single day. It showed me that I can always find/make time to get a little yoga/stretching in. I'm really good about getting my runs in, but I'm also really good at convincing myself I don't have time for the other stuff.

So, what's next? Well, I'm almost definitely signing up for a free trial week of Adriene's subscription site, and we'll see how things go from there.

I may have started looking at fall marathons this weekend. Maybe.

Clashing and Running

Some randomness from my day:

My car has a little spot that is just right for a container of Nuun. 

I'm not sure I could clash any more if I tried. In my defense, I don't go out looking like this.

You can't tell, but it was snowing really hard when I took this picture.

So I quite naturally changed really quickly to go for a run in the snow. It was snowing harder than I thought it was and I had snow flying in my eyes for the first half mile. It was fun though!

I can't believe that Yoga Camp is almost over! There are only two days left, and I'm very seriously considering signing up for Adriene's streaming subscription. She has tons of videos on YouTube, but there are a lot more (and longer ones) on her member site.

I haven't done any headstands in a while. I got a little in my own head after I fell out of one last year and tweaked my neck. I decided it was time to start working on them again, because I really do like doing them. After yoga camp today I managed to kick up (near a wall, but without using the wall) into a headstand. Hopefully soon I'll get back to doing them in the middle of the room.

Buddy's ready for the weekend. He's been running with Tom a lot lately, so he's even sleepier than usual. I'm sleepier than usual too, but that's mostly my own fault since I can't seem to get to bed at a reasonable hour lately.

Weekend Wrap-up

How was your weekend? Mine went too quickly! Don't they all?

All was right with my Saturday morning again, because this week I was with my people! I went back to my usual group and had a great run on the trails. 

For some reason, my legs really tightened up on the drive home

Buddy tried to get into his bed by himself. He wasn't very successful.

I did my yoga by the fire and got in Buddy's face. He always manages to look away right when I take pictures.

Yoga camp was super relaxing on Saturday - seriously, there was a pillow involved. I like having yoga camp to get in everyday - it helps me actually stretch after my runs. It doesn't matter how many books/articles I read, I still can't get myself to stretch regularly.

We had crazy amounts of rain today, absolute downpours. The last clouds brought insane winds and tons of rain, and then they were suddenly gone - leaving blue sky.

We started watching Making a Murderer on Netflix today. I'm surprised we got anything done. Have you watched it yet? It's completely insane/frustrating/maddening.

What was the best part of your weekend?

Super Photogenic

I lost my thumb ring this afternoon. I keep going to fidget with it and it isn't there. It's not like it was anything fancy, it was just a thin silver band. I think it was about $3 from the Portland Saturday Market - many years ago - but I'm used to it being there. Lame.

I started listening to Mockingjay on audiobook for my longer runs lately. I've read the book before, but I wanted something I knew I would enjoy. Only now I'm too into it and have started listening to it in the car and while doing dishes too. It's not going to last much longer.

This is Buddy's face when I ask him if he wants to go for a run. His posture is never so good as when he wants something.

We took our break at the park, and he refused to participate in my attempts at taking a picture with him. This was the best of the bunch, and my eye is closed. We're super photogenic.

And this one shows his level of interest in taking pictures.

Tomorrow is my Friday since the places I normally teach at are closed on Thursday and Friday this week. We (mostly Tom) are in charge of making cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. We can't really make anything else with our limited kitchen situation.

Are you hosting Thanksgiving? Traveling? What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish? I'm not good with favorites, I love most food. If I had to narrow it down I would say mashed potatoes and gravy...and stuffing...and pie... 

Any good audiobook recommendations? This one will not last much longer.

Running, Yoga, and Buddy in a Hat

Nothing terribly exciting around these parts lately. This week has flown by and I feel like all I've done is teach classes, do dishes, run and decide what to have for dinner.

That's pretty much life, right? Deciding what to eat for dinner every. single. day. Mom, I'm sorry for all the times you asked what we wanted for dinner and we didn't help at all.

I completed my 30 days of yoga challenge. I actually did every day and didn't skip any!

And - get this - I'm still doing yoga. I have seen noticeable improvements in my strength and flexibility, and while I'm still a long ways off from being a super bendy yogi, I'm way better than a month ago.

Please enjoy this random photo dump from the week:

I've been researching showers and bath tubs for the new bathrooms. It's not a kind of shopping I find fun.

The obligatory weekly trip to the laundromat.

My computer did this again. It happens so often now that I don't even freak out anymore. As long as it turns back on - we're good.

Buddy hates when I get in his face to take a picture.

A little post-run Nuun and my new Moov. I ran a cadence workout on Wednesday with the Moov; it was interesting. The focus was on shorter, quicker steps, and since it can tell your range of motion (you wear it on your ankle when running) it yells at informs you when you are striding out too much. The shorter steps feel odd, and a little bit like I'm shuffling, but it is allegedly a more efficient way to run once you're used to it. We'll see.

I never knew how much work wood stoves were to get them burning efficiently. I'm not good at it yet.

Wild Sockeye salmon was $7.99/lb instead of $14.99/lb the other day. I couldn't pass that up! Tom made a fancy salmon - the picture doesn't really show how pretty it was.

Just harassing the dog. As usual.

The longer I was in the store the other day, the less healthy my choices became. This was a little odd, but also pretty addicting. Luckily it's a small bag.

Buddy and I went for a run this afternoon, and then I harassed him with my Nuun hat.

I can't help myself.

How was your week? Anything fun planned for the weekend?

Marathon Training Week 15

Last week was not the best for some reason. I'm just going to go ahead and blame the taper, because I don't have any other explanation.

In more exciting news: I broke 1,000 miles for the year! Last year I hit 1,000 miles in December after running every day in November. I guess I'm going to need a new goal after this marathon business is over!

Monday: Cross training. We had a bunch of construction madness going on at the house on Monday. Buddy was freaking out over all the activity, so I took him for a walk around the neighborhood. He was pretty wiped out after 2 miles.

Tuesday: 4 miles. It was stupidly humid out so I took it easy, plus that's what taper weeks are about, right? 4 miles @ 9:44 pace

Wednesday: 5 miles. I actually have "I have no memory of this run" written in my training log because I'm getting bad about writing in a timely manner. 5.06 miles @ 9:30 pace

Thursday: 4 miles. Thursday was my birthday and I was having a great time relaxing and eating (two of my favorite things), so I ended up taking a rest day. It's my birthday and I'll do what I want to!

Friday: Rest day. It was rainy and cold out, but I wanted to get my Thursday miles in - plus I like running in the rain. My shins were oddly tight/cramping, but otherwise this was a good run. 4 miles @ 9:05 pace

Saturday: 3 miles. Tom and his friend ran a Warrior Dash race in Connecticut, so driving and spectating took up most of my day. I didn't run. I'm ok with that.

The boys had fun. :)

Sunday: 8 miles. This was one of those runs you read about that happen during the taper - it makes you question your ability to run at all, let alone an entire marathon. It was fairly miserable, but I plodded along and got my miles in. 8.01 miles @ 9:37 pace

Miles this week: 21.07

This might be my last training week recap, since next week at this time I will be in full on recovery mode.