Irish Stew or Why I Am not A Foodie Blog

So I have been eating Paleo/Primal the last almost three weeks.  It takes a lot more planning for me, but I have been finding some fun things to try.  I made this Irish Stew with Sweet Potatoes recently.

In case you are curious..
 It called for a large onion and three stalks of celery chopped up and sauted in coconut oil for about ten minutes.  I don't like onions very much so I used about a third of one. You are also supposed to add two chopped carrots, but mine were frozen and already soft once they were thawed out so I elected to add them later.

Also I had froze these in large chunks so they were perfect for "stew"

I then started to slice up the mushrooms, but then realized it called for mushroom ketchup (wtf?!) put the mushrooms back in the fridge and decide I don't really like mushroom ketchup in my irish stew anyway so I don't bother looking up what it is.

Once the vegetables were "sweated" like the directions said I added the ground beef and ground elk.  Okay the directions didn't call for elk, but I like to add it in too sometimes since I have some in the freezer and its good and you can't really tell the difference in the final product.   Oh look at that I also sauted/sweated a parsnip in there too. (I like to improvise a lot when I cook)

While the burger is browning I chopped up a very large sweet potato.  I was also catching up on the Bachelor on my iPad, which is the red thing in the corner.

and since I was starting to get tired of cooking I poured a small glass of wine.

While the burger is still browning I get out the tomato paste... then I realize it calls for tomato puree... great.   (what kind of a recipe am I following mushroom ketchup and tomato puree?)  I look up what I can substitute, but get tired of reading and decide to use tomato sauce instead. 

I find this guy sleeping on some paper towels on the floor of the pantry.  He was a little put out I was taking pictures of him.  I think he thought the flash was a little bright.

Once the burger finally got brown I added the tomato sauce and sweet potato, also the carrots.

I shredded some saboy cabbage.  It is what the directions said to do.

Once the sweet potatoes are soft, serve it on top of the cabbage (see first picture)

What Rocky thinks of this post and me cooking in general.

Are you as bored as Rocky?  The stew was good although weird on the cabbage, I think it was better eaten alone.  I think there was also some thyme and parsley added, but I am too lazy to look up how much.

There you can see why I blog about running and not recipes.  Do you think you could make this based on my directions?

Intervals in snow and shopping!

I have to admit it not being very excited to do my 800 intervals yesterday.  All the roads were snowpacked, which of course means not very good traction which is not fun for speed work.  I considered skipping it, but I was feeling pretty good after a three mile warm up.

The sun was out and it was a balmy 32 degrees.  I was feeling really energetic.  I decided to give it a go.  The first two averaged 3:45, and the last two were closer to 3:30.  Not bad for crappy traction.  There were a few spots I would get good traction and I felt so much faster. 

 I can live with that.  I felt great.  I have to admit, I feel really good on this Primal diet.   I think my body is getting adjusted to the no grains.  I have been feeling really energetic the last couple of days.

Winter wonderland pictures from my run yesterday.
 Clearly after running in so much snow yesterday morning, I had warmer weather on my mind. I took my daughter to town to run some errands and I ended up with a halter top for $7 way marked down at the Boot Barn and a short sleeve workout shirt from Costco. 

Since it is a balmy 22 degrees out right now, I doubt I will be wearing either one of those anywhere today. 

Time to logout and go RUN!

Monday Motivation Keep Pushing!

Saturday was perfect weather.  The kind of weather you know isn't going to stick around long in Montana in January.  True to form it did not.  It started snowing Sunday around noon and by nightfall we had about 4 inches of wet heavy snow on the ground, and the roads, and everything else.

Pretty, but cold.  and I really need to get my butt out there and run today.  I was lazy yesterday.

Okay not really lazy, I did do the first workout from the ZCUT series and the Ab Bonus which was really awesomely painful.  I kept thinking I would get my butt outside for an easy run...but I was sleepy.  So I took a nap.  A big nap. 

My daughter climbed in bed with me and took a big nap too.  We slept the afternoon away.  Sometimes it is good to rest, I figured that was what my body needed after a fast tempo run Friday and an unplanned long run Saturday.

Today I have some intervals planned.  Not really my favorite, but I know they help so much and I want to be fast fast fast!

What are you doing to push yourself today?

Catching up.

 I did not get as many runs in this week as I had planned due to jury duty on Wednesday that took up way to much of my day.  I did do the elliptical and a HIIT workout instead.  Thursday was a rest day and Friday I got off work a little early so I got home and threw on my shoes and running clothes as fast as I could.  I knew if Rance and the kids got home before I got out the door I probably wouldn't get my run in. 

I did 4 miles at a 7:47 pace.  Felt pretty good.  and it was super nice out I got to run in a skirt.  Feels so good to get out of the tights! 

Saturday was perfect weather, and I do mean PERFECT.  It was a sunny, barely a breeze and in the low 40s.  My sister and I were able to get in a run together.  I really only had 6 or 7 planned and she had her long run.  I think she was shooting for 9.  It was so super nice out we ended up doing 10.5.

We did a loop we hadn't done before.  The first five miles were all gradual uphill with one very serious hill and then it was pretty easy sailing from there.

These pictures were taken at the top of the big ass hill.  We needed a breather moment, my quads and glutes were cramping from the hill.  It was a perfect photo op.  We should have done full body pics because we were very colorful.  I had on lime green compression socks and she had on bright purple shoes. 

We decided if we were holidays I was Christmas and she was Easter.

The view from the top.

ahh... heaven

I also got these in the mail on Friday. I don't really like working out to DVDs, but I really like her workouts, so I have no doubt that I will watch them, write down the moves and do it on my own. 

12 workouts, plus a bonus abs routine.  I thought it was a pretty good deal for under twenty dollars including shipping.  I am going to do the first one this morning.  I think it has a lot of burpees in it.  Hmmm. All the workouts are body weight, which I LOVE. 

I am still eating Paleo/Primal but I do admit to indulging in a piece of dark chocolate cake that was heavenly Friday night.  

Paleo-itis, drinking the Paleo juice.

It seems like I have been hearing a lot about the Paleo Diet lately.  I downloaded some podcasts to listen to about it a couple months ago and have been listening to them a little at a time. My husband did some work for a couple that eat Paleo and love it.  They had nothing but good things to say to him about it.  We talked about it on and off for a while and then I did it.  I challenged him to eat Paleo with me for awhile just to try it out.

We started last Friday night.  and I think I have ate a lot "cleaner" than he has. He has had a few sandwiches I think. I did eat some chocolate and two Skittles but better than that I have felt strong enough to turn down cake and cookies at work.  Practically unheard of! I also made my kids mac and cheese and didn't even lick the spoon.

Thoughts about it so far 12 days in.

• Requires a lot more planning
• Requires a lot more prep work
• I feel good (besides the whole cold thing I have going on right now)
• No bloating feeling after a meal
• I don't feel like I need to take a nap after lunch
• Almond flour and coconut flours are freaking pricey!
• I hate cutting out dairy entirely so I haven't I guess that makes me more Primal than Paleo.  I have used super minimal cheese and switched to full fat greek yogurt (super yum btw)
• There are an amazing amount of Paleo blogs out there.
• So far I don't miss the sugar and processed foods.
• I'm going through a lot of eggs

I have tried out some really great recipes including a ketchup one that I found on Eat, Run, Sail  (thanks Elle).  My favorites so far have been the stuffed squash and stuffed green peppers.  I guess I like to eat stuffed things.

how is it jiving with my running? 

I have had two really great runs and two runs with really lackluster energy.  I am not sure how much to blame on my cold and how much on the lower carb diet.  I have been getting in quite a few carbs in the form of sweet potatoes, squash and fruit though.  I don't think I will have a clearer picture for a another week or two.

How long do I plan to do it?

At this point I don't know.  I just know, I like how I feel (no bloating) and I have lost a pound or two.  My husband claims the same. Although I am sure he won't stick with the Paleo diet.  He claims to be bored with it already.  I am not.

Am I making my kids do it?

No.  They get to eat what I cook, but I still make them toast for breakfast and let them eat cereal etc.

Have I lost weight/am I trying to lose weight?

Hmmm, I think I have lost a pound or two and I wouldn't want to lose more than 5. I really don't focus on weight only on how my pants feel and they feel better than they did three weeks ago I know that.

Those are my thoughts on it for now.  Got any questions for me that I didn't ask or thoughts, advice etc?  Feel free to comment!

Finally a Long Run

 Yesterday was a beautiful day. I was so happy that it was also long run day.  I did 11 miles, which parts of were a bit of a struggle, but the scenery was worth it.

 Cola dog had a fun time.

I am only looking at the camera because mom is twisting my ear.

 This picture shows why parts of my run weren't very fast.  The first part of my run was on trails that looked like this. I was running over hard crusty snow, some parts were pretty drifted.

I also got my husband to do a HIIT workout with me.  My daughter participated too.  Some of her moves made it hard to workout because they were so funny!  Fun to get the family involved in a workout.  Really brings out my competitive spirit.

On another note.  My son has learned to play rummy and wants to play it all the time.  So much fun!  I played a lot of rummy with my Dad when I was growing up.

Bulu Box Review

I was sent a Bulu Box to review a couple weeks ago. Here is what I got in my box.

I think my favorite thing is the bag of 30 FRS chews.  I found them on Amazon on sale for as low as $12:46 a bag.  Since the Bulu boxes are $10, I think that makes the Bulu Box a pretty great deal.

There were 6 different samples in the box.  I think out of the 6 there are three that I would consider purchasing.  The FRS, the Crystal Essence Towelettes, and the Defend.  I think liking 50% of the box isn't too bad.  The other things weren't bad I am just not into energy pill type supplements or diet shakes.  I don't really need to lose weight and I think I usually have lots of energy.

I like that you can choose month to month subscriptions so you can cancel at anytime and resume at any time.  If you like something you sample you can find it on their website to buy for yourself.  Although I did find that most things were cheaper on Amazon most notably the FRS chews.

I think it is a great way to get to sample different things and for ten dollars a month not a bad price, especially this box with the FRS chews.

So what can you expect if you sign up for Bulu Box?

Every month, you'll get a box filled with 4 to 5 premium, curated samples from top brands. Look forward to a new mix of products for both women and men, including vitamins, weight loss, sports nutrition, protein, diet, energy, detox, digestion, sexual health, herbs, natural remedies, endurance and more.

You can check out their webpage here
connect with them on Facebook
or tweet at them on Twitter.

Have you tried a Bulu Box?  What did you think?

Running on Adrenaline

I set out on a 7 mile run yesterday with a goal of about 1 hour in mind.  I wasn't really sure how I was going to do.  I wasn't real peppy all of last week. I have been battling a cold with some chest congestion and while it is a lot better there is still some coughing happening.  So if I was slower than planned I was okay with it.

Mile 1 8:54
Mile 2 9:15 (hmm might not be an hour after all)
Mile 3  8:36 better
Mile 4  8:27
Mile 5  8:01 feeling good
Mile 6  7:45  I think I had a little adrenaline help here as this was a lot of gradual uphill
Mile 7  7:15 BAM!  I pushed pretty hard and really thought it was going to be a faster mile than that, but I guess the first quarter of that mile was uphill so I must have lost some time there.

Total time 58:17  YAY  Felt so good after having such a crappy run on Thursday.

At the start of mile 6 I discovered the people on the corner got a new dog. A very large black german shepherd type dog. I am not impressed and neither is Cola.  I actually pulled out my pepper spray.  I yelled at the dog as loudly and meanly as I could and after what seemed like forever he quit chasing Cola and backed of towards his house again.  I kept looking back over my shoulder for awhile though!

 I kind of want to shoot the animal or run it over with my car.  I know that is not nice, but I don't believe people should have pets that are so aggressive and then let them run free.  They are a menace. 

Cola also seemed to be doing better.  Thursday he had a limp and yesterday it was gone.

It is 18 degrees and dropping out there today so I guess I better get out there and run now before conditions get worse!

This week may be messed up for me as I have jury duty on Wednesday.  and that is supposed to be long run day this week.  It looks nice tomorrow so I think I will do long run tomorrow instead just to be safe. 

Three for Friday

1. I haven't felt good since...Sunday I think.  Feels like forever at this point.  I finally got the cold that my kids had over Christmas and New Years.  They are all healthy so I guess my body decided it could get sick now.  It isn't too bad really just can't get rid of the cough.  There were a couple of days where I lived on cough drops.  Made the coughing better, but didn't make my tummy very happy. 


2.  Yup, had a pretty craptastic run today.  No energy.  Maybe I should have waited a couple more days. Such a bummer since today is really beautiful out.  Sun is shining, temps are in the thirties and the wind after trying to blow us off the face of the map is pretty minimal really.  My dog was having a bad run day too as about 2.5 miles in I noticed he was limping.

I tried to hide it mom by running behind you.

 I took it as a sign and we turned around and headed for home. I guess we both need more rest.  My legs were also a little mad I think about having done a ZWOW workout before I ran.  It was too bad really.  It was such a nice day out.

3.  After hearing so much about it EVERYWHERE for the past couple of months, my husband and I decided to try a Paleo/Primal type diet.  I think it would be a lot easier to tell how it was working if we both didn't have colds right now.  I have noticed less bloating and am loving all the fresh veggies I have been piling on.  I have tried a couple of pumpkin and sweet potato pancake recipes for breakfast, nothing that I love yet.  It does take a bit more meal planning and prep. I am amazed at how many websites are devoted to Paleo.  That helps a lot!  I will let you know more on how I feel on it when this cold it gone.

Active D'Lites Winner and skipping a run.

I think I said I would do is earlier, but I forgot.  Boo.
The winner of the Active D'Lites chocolate giveaway is...

Jerilee from Mom's Gone Running.  I can't figure out how to link it on my iPad, but if you want to check her out you can at http://momsgonerunning.com.

Congrats Jerilee! Email me your info to bugs2001rn@ yahoo.com

I think I am coming down with the crud my kids had last week so I am skipping my run today and am going to take a nap instead. I think the ten degree weather outside would be a little hard on my lungs with the cough I am developing.

This little guy is keeping me company


And I have my cup of tea, as soon as its gone. I am snoozing. The kids are with my sister so the house is quiet and in prime napping condition.


Good news is that my kids are both finally fever free and and only one still has a bit of a cough. Guess it is my turn now.

Heated seats in cars are about as cool as thumb holes in running shirts

I couldn't think of a title today obviously so I made it really long.

It is officially winter out there!  4 degrees, windy and snowy.  As of Thursday night though I have heated seats to keep my bum warm if I have to drive around in it.  After 12 years of driving the same car, my husband and I traded in my '99 Oldsmobile Alero for a 2008 Subaru Outback.

I am personally excited about the all wheel drive and heated seats.  Other things that will be an ungrade from from my old car include

• having a radio I can see what station I am on
• having a radio that doesn't randomly change stations while I am rocking out to a favorite song
• all windows go up and down
• I can plug in my cell phone to charge
• I have a dome light
• completely new windshield, no cracks, pitting, chips or anything
• I can plug my iPod into it
• I key fob unlocker thingy
• rear window windshield wiper

YAY! So fun to have a new (to me) car.  I would post a picture but it is dark out as I write this and cold outside, and if you haven't seen an Outback before, start looking they are everywhere!

and a little funny.  Here is the disclaimer I had to initial for my half marathon in March

This is a winter trail run with sticks and stones, gravel trails and uneven surfaces, probably ice and snow. You will slip and slide, get muddy and maybe fall down. But then you know that because you've been training some and it would be silly, and not a good idea on your part, to attempt a winter run without adequate training, clothing and preparation. So you might get hurt, but you've decided that you want to run this winter run anyway because it's better than sitting on the couch, which is also dangerous over time. Have a good time, and be careful. Also, if you are Roman, be sure to watch for conspiring senators.

Not sure yet if I will get out to run today or not.  Conditions aren't great out there right now, so it might be an elliptical cross training kind of day.  Plus I have a weighted ball and TRX system that came in the mail yesterday from Sportline that I am excited to try out.

How is the weather where you are?

Thursdays Three

1. As of Wednesday night, both kids were still feverish with non productive coughing. Which meant that Wednesday (my day off) was another day home with both kids cooped up in the house.  AAAaack.  Rance stayed home with them on Tuesday while I went to work.  I am wondering if the kids didn't catch some strain of influenza.  Seems to be going around, nearly everyone I talk to has sick kids.

This of course also meant that my run was full of loops again.  At least it was a very awesome 45 degrees outside when I was running in my SHORTS and TSHIRT. I had intervals on the books for yesterdays run so instead of trying to do it mostly on the crazy loop thingy, I did the quarter mile intervals down to the mailbox and back. and did the recovery portions as well as the warm up and cool down on the loop.

It is supposed to dump snow starting today so I was very glad to get in another great run this week before the snow.

2. Leap Fitness' Top 100 Health and Fitness Bloggers of 2013.  I discovered a lot of other fun and informative blogs on the list as well.  Fun to make someone's list of awesome like that.  If you want you can check out their list here and vote for the ones you love.

I don't know that I deserve to win because there are some super awesome blogs on the list but a few votes would be fun. They also have a disagree button which I am not sure about, seems like more people are voting others down than just voting for people. 

Kind of seems more like a not very nice button to me. If you disagree just don't vote for them? A lot of people have more disagree votes than agree votes.  makes me want to boycott the whole thing. 

3. Last day to enter my Active D'Lites giveaway and odds are pretty good for winning right now.  Seriously if you like chocolate go enter.

What do you think about the disagree button.  Seems mean to me.  I refuse to hit it. 

Awesome run

Yesterday I wasn't sure if I would get my long run in or not.  I had ten miles on the schedule but my daughter woke up with a 102 temp and my son was 99.6. Bummer.  No nausea, vomiting or diarrhea though, just fevers and coughing.

I decided to try and get in at least a couple of miles by doing laps.  Yup, laps.  Running down the driveway and around it (it's a loop) then back to the house, past the house to the horses and loop around the bales back to the house is a .31 mile loop.  Better than than a track by .06 miles. (always an upside)

I ended up getting in my ten miles.  I did also do a couple of out and backs to the mailbox.  I checked in on the kids every mile or so. They amazingly were getting along, of course they were also in separate tents with their humidifiers watching movies. 

The best part about my run besides it being beautiful winter running weather, was that my legs felt so great.  They wanted to go fast.  They wanted to run. I didn't need any warm up time.   I had a hard time keeping my pace down.  Seemed like everytime I looked at my Garmin I would be cruising along at just under 8 min pace, especially for the first 7 miles. 

I had to force myself to slow down to at least 8:45 pace.  My average was still 8:27 pace or something similar. I think Cola thought I was a little crazy running in circles like that but he still ran the whole thing with me.

Love that dog.

It felt so good to have such an awesome run.  Feels like it has been months.

Did you enter my Active D'Lites Giveaway? Ends soon! 

Monday Motivation

Happy Monday!  Hope everyone had a great weekend. I have personally always like Mondays of course maybe it helps that I don't work on Mondays usually.

Yes, I just quoted The Duke on my running blog. I grew up with John Wayne as an icon.  My best friend in college had a life sized John Wayne in her apartment and we always quoted his "Talk low, talk slow and don't say too much" quote.  Other favorites are "If you've got them b the balls their heats and minds will follow". My son discovered John Wayne movies recently wants to watch them all the time, that and dinosaur movies.

When I saw the above quote I thought how perfect it is for running.  It can apply to not only tomorrow in general, but the next race, the next training cycle/plan,  or the next year.  If we don't learn from our past mistakes we are doomed to repeat them.

Some important things I have learned not to do are:

• eat a bag of cherries the night before a long run
• slam a glass of Emergen-C right before a run
• take the toilet paper out of my hydration belt
• eat a GU when my stomach feels upset
• start out a half marathon at 5k pace
• run with no eye protection when it is 30 below zero with the windchill

I have learned some other things about hydration, pacing, but I decided to keep it light today.  It is Monday after all.

What are some things you have learned not to do?

2013s Plan

I hadn't given my 2013 goals/resolutions a whole lot of though before January, and have to confess to still not giving them a lot of thought so I thought I better do that this morning! Time for some action on that.

source

 I am not going to set a mileage goal this year.  Last year it was to run 1500 miles and I ran over 1600.  I decided not to focus on mileage this year so I don't feel any sort of pressure to have to run when maybe my body just needs a rest or some cross training.  I still plan to track my miles on DailyMile but I don't want it to be a focus or an obsession.

So far I have two half marathons this spring on the schedule and another in the fall.  There will be no marathons this year and I am okay with that.  I will do another but 2013 is not that year.  There will also be some 5ks, 5 mile,  and 10k races thrown in. 

My Hood to Coast Team didn't get back in this year so we are looking hopefully doing a Ragnar Relay somewhere.

I want to continue doing HIIT type workouts at least three times a week, but no more than 5 times. Rest days are important! I have been a lot of ZWOWs lately or making up my own. Bodyrock.tv is no more and their new site is to crazy for me.  Simple really is best and Zuzanna keeps it simple.

Nutrition wise my plan is to minimize processed foods as much as possible.  Keep lots of fruits and veggies in the house for snacks. 

Last year I seemed to get a little over reliant on using energy gels. I had it in my head that I needed to take one before a run or a couple of miles in so that I would have lots of energy to run.  I quit doing that a couple of months ago and have done up to 10 mile runs with no energy gels.  That's right, I went cold turkey on them and have survived! 

I do still plan to use them once I start doing runs longer than 10 miles, but very sparingly!

Write down a training plan!  I have never done this, I just sort of wing it.  I think this made me a little over trained for my marathon last year and resulted in some burnout afterwards.I also think it will help me get faster and I want at least one PR this year.  (who doesn't!)

Quality over quantity for running mileage.  This relates to not setting a mileage goal for the year.

Last year I kept running clothes in the car so that I could run after work if I had the time.  I quit doing it in the summer when it got so hot and never started up again in the fall.  Part of that was listening to my body.  I started doing that again. After work runs are short and easy usually never more than 4 miles and if they are longer than I cut back the next day.

Continue to not worry about weight.  As long as my pants fit and I feel good I don't care what the scale says.   After all a pound of muscle is more dense than a pound of fat.

Take time everyday for the kids.  It can be so easy to get caught up in the day and what I need to get done that I don't always take time to play with the kids.  We are good about reading books everynight and plan to continue this for as long as they will let me :)

Active D'Lites Review and Giveaway

I was recently sent some samples from Active D'Lites. I was sent two chocolate bars. The kids and I ate the first one before I took a picture of it :)

Like I said, I shared the first one I ate with my kids and they came back for more so they are kid approved.

So what makes these chocolate bars to special?

• Sweetened with stevia and have no sugar in them.
• 7 grams of fiber
• zero net carbs
• full of Probiotics!
• only 100 calories

If you aren't a yogurt fan this is a great way to get in some probiotics to help maintain a healthy gut. Some fun things I learned from their website

• there are over 400 different types of bacteria that live in our guts
• there can be up to 3.5 pounds on bacteria in our guts at any given time (what!)
• having healthy bacteria assists digestion and enhances weight loss (yay!)

They also have shakes and ice cream. You can check it out on the Active D'Lites website.

Active D'Lites was also chosen by top natural food retailers as Best New Product of 2012.

I like to eat healthy, but I also like to indulge a little so I put the second one in my purse to eat after work.   I would like to try the caramel and peanut butter chocolate bars. I also think the shakes and ice cream sound good.  Although I doubt I will try the ice cream anytime soon as it is so cold out here right now!

Want to win 2 bars to try for yourself?

Enter by telling me your favorite thing about Active D'Lites or how you get your probiotics now.

Additional entries can be had by
1. Liking them on Facebook and and following on Twitter
2. Tweeting "I want to win chocolate bars from @ActiveDLites from @Christyruns"

Leave a comment for each you do. Contest ends January 10. Winner will be chosen 1/11.

Disclaimer
I was sent two bars free of charge for this review post by Active D'Lites.  The opinions expressed in this review are my own, I was in no other way compensated for this post.

Thursdays Three

 1. I went for a New Year's Day run with my little sister.  It was 27 degrees when I left my house but outside it was a windy bitch of a day and it was cold!  I was glad we were running from my parents house which is at a lower elevation and usually a lot less windy.

We ran 6 miles and after the first half mile I was plenty warm even with running into the wind. A great way to start a new year, running and good conversation.

2. Cola has also been getting to have a running buddy. My Dad's dog Roscoe has been coming along with Jessica and I. Him and Cola run around like crazy and I think they get in twice as many miles as we do.

 Roscoe has been a little bored lately as my Dad had to have his ankle fused and was non weight bearing for about a month at home.  They are both 5-H stockdogs with lots of energy!

3. I also did ZWOW #49 before I ran Tuesday. It was a killer. 120 total burpees!  I have to admit I am still sore from it, in the best possible way of course. I love that sore muscle feeling.

Ready or not 2013 is here!

 Happy New Year!  I haven't sat down and mapped out any new goals for the year yet, I do plan to though.   So far I have a couple of races on my schedule.  No plans for another marathon at this point. I think I am still a little traumatized from the first one.  I am thinking more along the lines of doing another in 2014.  My daughter will be in school then and I will be able to do long runs while the kids are in school.

I recieved some really great Under Amour Base 2.0 from my mother in law for Christmas and thanks to this really cold snap we have been having I have been wearing it running a lot.  Yesterday it was 14 degrees out with the wind chill making it feel like it was 5 degrees. 

I put the base gear under my running tights and wore a pullover jacket over the shirt (along with a hat, mittens, toe warmers, a neck warmer and a light vest) and was almost too hot.  The best part was my legs never got really cold.  I hate when my legs start to get cold, but I hate being bulky.This really was a great solution.  My running tights fit over these easily and the shirt is really long.

I did a long slow distance run and didn't look at my watch much as I didn't want to focus on time only getting in a good long run.  I did 9 miles at a 9:10 pace and felt pretty good until the last mile.  Then I just felt ready to be done.  I haven't run much in the last couple of weeks due to Christmas, back pain, and being sick so it just felt good to be out running with my little dog who is so full of energy and excitement again.

 

My husband and I were trying to figure out how to best organize our mudroom.  I found a great idea on Pinterest with three bookshelves side by side.  My husband thought that would cost too much so we drew up some plans and built our own thing.  I don't know if it came out cheaper or not but it was really fun to build with him. I am in love with it.

Due to the narrow space it was hard to get a good picture of it and I didn't get a before picture before he started taking everything out of there since I was out running when he started. I still need to stain the wood and varnish it.

For New Year's Eve my Dad found some fireworks in the basement at his house so we all went over for a weinie roast and fireworks.

Sparklers too of course.

 The fireworks were a big hit with the short people of course. So fun to watch with them and their child wonder and excitement.

How was your new years eve? Abig celebrating? Did you stay up until midnight?

I only made it to 10:30!