It's So Shiny!

First, and most importantly, Happy Birthday Mom! Hope you're enjoying all your birthday snow!

One of our more interesting adventures!

I hope you all had a great Christmas yesterday!

We had a relaxing morning drinking coffee and exchanging presents. Tom got me some new running socks, knucks lights to combat the gloomy darkness, and a replacement for my slowly dying computer (among other things)!

As I was trying to download a program to help me move my files to the new computer, the old one staged a protest.

Brat. That's why you're being replaced.

Look how pretty my new computer is!

We're an all-Mac household now. I've been doing work things on our office computer (which is a Mac), so it's not too tricky for me to make the switch. Plus if I can't figure something out, Tom knows how to fix things.

Christmas afternoon/evening was spent visiting with Tom's family and eating a lot of delicious food. It was a fun day!

I had grand plans to get out for a run today. I have new socks to take for a spin! Unfortunately, my stomach has been feeling off all day, so the only thing I really accomplished was some serious running shoe online window shopping (I've got my eye on the Brooks Launch 2) and the dishes.

Tom and Buddy went for a run instead. I was jealous.

Fingers crossed that I'll be back to normal tomorrow so I don't feel quite so lazy.

The Best Intentions

I had planned on getting back to the blog sooner. The days around the holidays just go by so quickly!

I tried to update iTunes the other day. The install failed and then I had no iTunes at all. I then spent several days trying to figure out the problem. In the end, I have no idea which of the many things I tried actually solved the problem, but at least I have access to my music and audiobooks again.

Technology is fun like that.

Buddy is the best training partner. I don't know anyone who is always this excited to go for a run.

I have been taking him with me two days a week for 2-3 miles, and he's doing great! He gets so excited when I change into my running clothes, and I always feel bad when I don't take him with me. Maybe someday we'll work up to longer runs.

I couldn't pass these up at the grocery store the other day. They're already gone.

I met up with my old running group again on Saturday. I was really tired, but it ended up being a really nice run on the trails. It was almost too hot by the time we finished. Our weather is really weird right now (way too warm for December), it doesn't feel like Christmas is almost here.

When I got home I hung out (in my running gear) with the lap dog for a while.

And I learned that there is an entire channel just hanging out, waiting for the Star Wars red carpet. Seems weird.

I had a long run on my (made up) training plan for today. I was shooting for 10, but quickly realized that was not going to happen. I don't know if it was the weather, my 7 miles on Saturday, or if I'm just tired, but every mile was a struggle today.

I pushed through and my last mile was actually my fastest least slow, so at least I rallied and finished 8 miles strong.

What's your weather doing? 

How's your running lately?

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?

My Computer is Dying

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy. 

I was all settled in to finish up a post this afternoon when my computer froze. Again. And the Blue Screen of Death popped up. Again.

That's the second time this week - definitely not a good sign.

So, I may be looking for a new computer pretty soon. Any suggestions?

In other news, Buddy can almost get into his new bed on his own. The opening is a tiny bit small for how tall he is (we probably should have bought the extra large size), and he can't quite figure it out. If we hold the top open for him he goes right in.

It was cold and rainy for my run today. I pulled out the capris, a long sleeve half zip and my super bright vest so cars wouldn't hit me. The speed limit in our neighborhood is 30, but people go way faster than that.

Tom went to his man club meeting (it's actually a rod and gun/hunting club, but I prefer to call it the man club) tonight, so I made myself a couple of little quesadillas for dinner. I was lazy and just mashed up some black beans, added some pepperjack cheese and threw them on the grill for a few minutes. Super simple, and pretty tasty!

I even managed to not burn them!

I'm completely in denial about how soon Steamtown is getting. I've been saying it's 3 weeks away for a while now, and it's actually a week from Sunday! Time to start race day weather stalking...

Hopefully my computer will behave itself this weekend so I can do a little blog catch up.

Excuses and It's My Birthday!

So, I have a nice little post in the works about my marathon training must haves that I started on Tuesday. Then my computer decided to give me a heart attack and I walked into the living room to see the Blue Screen of Death.

I spent the rest of the night backing up my hard drive.

And then I was completely exhausted on Wednesday and I just couldn't drag myself to the computer.

AND today is my birthday! So, rather than finish my post or write anything new and exciting for you, I'm going to sit here in my post-Chinese food coma and relax for the evening.

Please enjoy this photo of Buddy looking cute in lieu of quality content.

Sriracha on Everything!

I don't have anything terribly exciting for you today, so instead you're getting a bit of a photo dump. We have major house projects in the works - there are architects and kitchen layout people involved. Right now though, it's a lot of waiting. Things will get extra crazy around here soon.

Buddy is still working on being outside by himself. Sometimes he's ok with it, and sometimes he acts like we're torturing him. He's still terrible at fetch.

My computer sucks. It spent about an hour and a half like this yesterday.

One day soon it will be replaced. You hear that computer? Replaced!

Buddy is still cute. And he still sleeps in strange ways.

This new sriracha seasoning is delicious. We have been putting it on just about everything lately. A little goes a long way, but it's really good.

I had some more of what I refer to as "energy pop rocks" from my RunnerBox. I have zero idea if it did anything because I definitely didn't eat enough this afternoon and I was dragging on my run. Mostly I think they're fun. And they make me want pop rocks.

This is how I keep my shoes right now - I only have a few running shoes...and ok, that's not even all of them. But some of them are trail shoes, and some are road shoes, and some I race in...

We're still not really unpacking since we're going to start work on the house soon. No point in unpacking just to box things up again to get them out of the construction zone.

In other exciting news: Tiny (one of my very best friends) is coming to visit in 3 weeks!

The Speed Trap

Sometimes, I get caught up in the speed trap. I want to run fast, faster than last time, faster than last week. Faster.

It's not a smart way to train, in fact, it's a recipe for injury.

My training plan (which claims I will be able to PR at my next half - it hasn't seen the elevation chart!) has my easy runs starting out at 10:21 pace. While I didn't slow down that much, I did slow down. I did today's run at 9:40. And then I read a few articles to remind myself why it is important to not get caught up in the speed trap all the time.

Easy runs are extremely important to training. They help develop slow twitch muscle fibers (super necessary for distance runners!), improve aerobic capacity, bone density, muscle tendon strength and increase glycogen storage (more energy!). This article is a nice reminder that easy runs have their place, even if they are sometimes frustrating.

Buddy thinks that any time someone sits on the couch that he should be on their lap. Because he is clearly a lap dog.

Good thing he's cute.

Today's run was 3 easy miles - it felt short and slow.

It's hard to come off a 50 day run streak and switch to training mode, but I'm working on it.

Have you fallen into the speed trap? 

I've got a dinosaur on my head

The neighbors have been putting some really random things in the recycling shed lately.

I got a fun package in the mail from my aunt yesterday. It had some new music for the kiddos. They are already obsessed with the song "I've got a dinosaur on my head," or as they call it, "Dinosaur my head." We listened to it a ridiculous number of times today.

It has also been stuck in my head all evening.

She also sent me a potholder for our cast-iron skillet (shown here with my awesome orange potholders that my dad made - we're a crafty family).

I wanted to test out the "burst mode" on my phone's camera, so naturally I used Buddy as my test subject.

We started with a denta-stick.

And then

This picture makes me laugh so hard!

And a happy mutt.

Today was a rest day on my training plan, so I got caught up on dishes (didn't I just do that?) and enjoyed getting to sit down for a few minutes since I'm on my feet all day. I have mile repeats on the agenda tomorrow, I'm both nervous and excited for them!

Now I'm off to get things done so I can go to bed at a reasonable hour - I was just shy of 8 hours last night, according to my fitbit - way more sleep than I have been getting lately!

I made sure to pick my feet up

I stayed up later than I should have, so I wasn't feeling it when my alarm went off this morning at 6:45. But I managed to drag myself out the door and made it to meet up with the group.

As added motivation, I got to try out my new headband. It actually didn't move around during my run, I'm pretty impressed!

The group was mostly speedsters today, but luckily for me, one guy was super sore from the week and was moving more my speed. We ran just shy of 6 miles at 9:58 average pace. He told me I didn't need to hang back with him, but I assured him that I was not going to be moving much faster today.

We ran past the spot I fell last time (my hands are finally almost healed), I made sure to pick my feet up so we didn't have any repeat wipeouts.

Since I didn't have time for breakfast before my run, (I just had an english muffin pb&j) so when I got home, I made myself a tasty meal. An english muffin, avocado, eggs, sriracha, and some tomatoes. The eggs look ridiculous because I decided to flip them without a spatula (for some reason). I was mostly successful.

After breakfast, I headed out to (finally) get my car an oil change. Let's not talk about how overdue that was.

My phone is old. It likes to randomly turn off, won't tell me when people call, and sometimes won't let me type anything. So today I went to get myself a fancy new iPhone. It took a while, but we finally got it sorted out (and I got to keep my old number).

Naturally, I had to test out the camera.

And then I had to spend a while downloading apps and remembering my passwords to everything. I also had to find and add the 9 contacts that didn't transfer over for some reason.

Buddy is pretty cute today.

Oh, and I tried this from my RunnerBox today before my run.

Flavor-wise it was pretty good, but there was something weird about the texture. It wasn't really like a gel, but almost like pudding. Kind of odd. I like the idea, but I'll probably stick to my regular gels and shot bloks.

I was barely home today, so tomorrow I have really exciting plans to only leave the house to go to the grocery store. I'm really looking forward to it!

So Funny

The Apple TV thought it would be funny to update the whole time I was running this afternoon (I wanted to get a few more miles in since Buddy was so anti-rain).

I apparently thought it would be funny to run without drinking enough water today.

We're pretty hilarious, the Apple TV and I.

I tried this out today from the RunnerBox:

Buddy thinks anything in my hand is meant for him.

No part of this little waffle tasted like lemon. If I hadn't read the packaging there is no way I would have known that was the alleged flavor. There isn't even lemon anything listed in the ingredients. I know a lot of people really like these, but they're not really my cup of tea. It was pretty sweet and a strange texture (the only way I can describe it is if a soggy graham cracker was somehow chewy).  So, not my favorite.

I decided that 9:30 on Saturday night was an excellent time to do my grocery shopping. It was nice, very quiet, and no lines at the check out!

I have grand plans for tomorrow - making a big breakfast, finishing up lesson plans, running, and doing laundry.

What's your Sunday look like?

Technology fail

Just a short post today because I'm blogging from my phone. I somehow managed to pick up a virus that is currently gunking up my browsers. Annoying.

Buddy got to roam free after lunch today until I got home from work (about 3 1/2 hours) and the house was unharmed. Success! I'm not sure if he is ready for a full day yet, but it's a start.

Work was the usual crazy and I skipped a 2 mile run to rest my shin and went on a walk with Buddy instead. He didn't complain.