I Need More Sleep

I debated turning off my alarm last night. We stayed up later than I intended, and the thought of waking up early so I could go run didn't sound very fun.

When it did go off this morning, I hit snooze, and tried to come up with an excuse to go back to sleep. Tom convinced me to get up, and I made the drive to meet up with my weekend running group.

Of course, I'm so glad I did.

The weather was really nice after last weekend's sub-zero temperatures. The sun was out and it was in the 40s for most of our run. And as an added bonus, I felt really good for the entire 7 miles!

My GPS lost me at some point, because it only came up with 6.5 miles. I've run those trails enough to  know that's not quite right.

I'm really good at getting less sleep on the weekends than I do during the week. I stay up later and then wake up around the same time as I usually do. It's not the best system.

Do you get more sleep during the week or on the weekend?

Any exciting plans for your Sunday?

Running Happier and Cute Christmas Cards

As much as my watch not working is a pain in the butt, it has given me a chance to worry less about my pace, and focus on enjoying myself. The cooler fall weather (and not having a race to train for) has really helped me like running again. I didn't realize how much marathon training was burning me out on running until it was over.

Lately I have either been running with Buddy, or listening to an audiobook while I run. Buddy can only do about 3 miles, so he has to stay home whenever I'm going longer than that. Apparently he was very upset that I went running without him today. Tom told me that he cried at the door for about 20 minutes after I left. I guess he's been enjoying our runs!

I chased him around the yard for a bit after I got home, so I think he forgave me. Plus he got some couch time with Tom this afternoon.

I have the cutest Christmas cards (already) this year! My friend/college roommate Kate makes some of the cutest artwork ever, and when I saw these - I had to have them. How cute is that goat?

I also got gift tags with the same adorable prints.

Kate has everything from cards and notebooks to coloring books and buttons. Check out her Etsy Shop: HERE!

My watch is getting ready to go on a trip to the repair shop. It's either going to get fixed or replaced.

Hopefully it comes home soon!

Running With Buddy and a Recipe

My GPS watch still isn't working right. I've tried all the troubleshooting fixes, and now it's looking like it may end up getting replaced. At least it waited until after the marathon to stop working.

Even though I'm mostly watch-less (I can see some of the stats after a run, but nothing during) I had a really good run on Sunday. It's the first run since the marathon that I can honestly say that about. I threw on an audiobook and went on my way - and I enjoyed myself! It was pretty great.

Buddy has been loving my new running schedule. He has two days a week penciled in where he gets to come with me. We do 2-3 miles and he gets insanely excited when he sees his running leash. He knows it's different than going for a walk. On a walk he stops every few feet to sniff things, but once we're running he's good about not making any abrupt pit stops.

I made a pretty tasty (and easy) dinner tonight. I was inspired by this recipe from PaleOMG, and made some additions. Ok, one addition and some hot sauce. Plus, butternut squash never cooks as quickly as recipes tell me it will.

I completely failed to take a picture before we ate it all, because I was busy worrying that I overcooked the eggs (I didn't).

Butternut Squash Hash

Adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced 
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 pound chorizo
• 1 bunch kale, roughly chopped
• salt, pepper and granulated garlic, to taste
• 4 eggs (or however many you want to squeeze in there)
• hot sauce

Instructions:

• Place a cast iron skillet or pan over medium heat. Add butternut squash and onion.
• Cook butternut squash and onions a few minutes (5-10) until edges are browned. Turn heat to low and cover pan, cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until squash is soft. 
• Once squash is mostly cooked, add chorizo. Break chorizo into small pieces, and cook until completely cooked through.
• While chorizo cooks, add kale, and cook until wilted. 
• Use a spoon to press in 4 little crevices. Crack eggs into the crevices. Place a lid over the pan and cook until eggs are cooked to over easy (or to preference), about 3-4 minutes.
• Serve with hot sauce! (we used Cholula, because it's good on everything)

Pace or Effort?

I'm having a debate. I'm thinking about covering my watch screen with masking tape or blue tape for the marathon.

My favorite halfs have been the ones where I ran by feel and wasn't focused on my pace the entire time. I only get one first marathon, and I really want to take it all in and enjoy it.

At the same time, I've been told that pacing at the beginning of Steamtown is key. The biggest mistake you can make on the course is going out too fast on the early downhills. If I cover my watch I can't check my pace to make sure I'm not taking off too quickly.

I had a really good run today! I feel like it's been a really long time since I said that. It was a short (4 mile) pace run, and I was shooting for 9:00 pace. I was feeling pretty good and pushed the pace. I ended up running my 4 miles at an average pace of 8:30!

Tom spent most of the day digging a trench down to the septic pipes.

Parts of this trench are waist deep!

The plumber was here the other day, and apparently the septic was starting to back up. We're hoping replacing the old pipes fixes the problem because everything else seems to be working the way it's supposed to.

How was your running this weekend?

Should I cover my watch screen for the marathon?

I'm bad at bedtimes

No matter how hard I try, I can't make it to bed on time on Fridays. 6:45 was too early again today.

I started the day off with a peanut butter English muffin and coffee.

As per usual.

It didn't feel very cold when I walked Buddy, but the start of the run was definitely pretty chilly. A few brave souls were actually in shorts today!

I had fun poring over all my stats from my TomTom when I got home. I'm not sure about the default max heartrate/heartrate zones. According to my watch, I was in my top zone for over a half hour, which I don't think is right. I'm investigating. We covered 6.5 miles with an average pace of 8:59. As an added bonus, I didn't fall today!

After some more coffee (and apple pie) I tried out another workout from Gigabody. This time I tried the Ballet Body workout. Aside from feeling terribly ungraceful, I liked it and will probably do it again.

Buddy found some sunshine.

Sunshine is his favorite. And food...and Tom...

Tom made deep dish pizza for dinner. Buddy only acted a little weird while the oven was on.

Someone is coming to look at the house tomorrow...we have a bit of cleaning to do.

Do you monitor your heart rate when running/working out? Do you trust the "zones"?

Buddy's hiding and I cleaned the oven

I cleaned the glass on the oven door today. I don't really know why (other than the fact that it was dirty, but that's never inspired me before), but it's really clean now!

It's kind of hard to tell just how dirty this was, since I didn't think to take a picture until I had already started. I made a paste out of baking soda and water and let it sit for 20 minutes. Then I scrubbed and scrubbed and SCRUBBED.

And now it looks like this:

So pretty!

I did an easy 4 miles while I watched part of a documentary about Burt of Burt's Bees (It's called Burt's Buzz). It's pretty interesting so far, I needed a break from Gilmore Girls - I've only seen every episode 10+ times.

I also spent some time playing with the resistance bands I bought Tom for Christmas. :)

Buddy has been hiding on the side of the couch because Tom has the oven on and he's sure the smoke alarm will go off at any moment.

Crazy, neurotic dog.

I'm still figuring out all the nifty features of my new gps watch. I haven't used it outside yet, so I'm looking forward to taking it out on my group run tomorrow. Now I just have to try not to stay up way too late like I do every other Friday night.

...Right.

What shows/movies have you watched WAY too many times?

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Merry Christmas!

We had a fun morning unwrapping presents and watching Buddy unwrap his presents. We should have taken a video, it was pretty cute. He gingerly ripped little pieces of wrapping paper off and spit them out. Now he has a pile of toys for us to trip over.

And that's not even all of them.

Tom got me a TomTom Runner Cardio for Christmas - he's the best :)

Naturally, I had to take it for a short run (it can be used on the treadmill!) to try it out. It's really neat, and now I have all kinds of new stats I can keep track of. :)

We spent the rest of the day with Tom's family, eating tons of good food and visiting with everyone. I also spent some time calling my family (they're all on the West coast) to wish them a Merry Christmas. It was a fun day!

I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas!

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