Category: Eat!

Almost Turkey Time!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!!!

Anyone racing tomorrow? Have to rationalize the calories someway right?

A puppy is tiring and she isn’t even mine. Just playing with her is exhausting. She passed her first vet check with flying colors. What is it about the vets office that makes all animals want to cuddle? She didn’t even have a frame of reference, but she was not happy. She also finally has a name. Meet Zoey–

Vacation brain has somewhat set in but I was able to get in a 5 mile run on Tuesday. It started out really sluggish but all in all it was a pretty good run. I never quite got up to speed but I felt good at the end. This run also put me within 1.1 miles of my Pile on the Miles goal! Woo hoo! I may succeed at a challenge!

Tomorrow’s Turkey Trot will be the final push needed to meet my goal. It should be a smaller race, there’s only race day registration available. But it’s also fairly cheap and it benefits the local high school wrestling team as well as the food bank. I am planning on meeting C and her husband there tomorrow morning. It’s close, so I can pretty much roll out of bed and head over there. (See- Slacker!!!!) I would not say that I am super prepared for this so my goal is just have fun. It will be more for the camaraderie than the pace. I say that now, we’ll see if I follow through or bolt at the starting line 🙂

I thought by this point of vacation, I would be going a little stir crazy. But, nope, just slacking it big time. I should be Christmas shopping, I have an advertising plan that I am woefully behind on. Actually forget Christmas, both my parents birthdays are next week. I need to register for classes, etc etc. I did manage to get my car to the dealer to fix the door locks and made it through a dentist appointment with flying colors. 🙂 I also met some friends for a yummy lunch today. We couldn’t decide where to go, so we hit the Irish pub. I had never been there before. Pretty sad considering it’s 2 blocks for where I used to work…for 5 years. We ate some of the largest salads I have ever seen. M’s made me laugh, it was called the “Man Salad”. It looked amazing though. We may have gone over their lunch a bit, oops.

Now its time to get some rest for tomorrows race and family fun to follow. Plus puppy time!

I hope anyone who’s traveling has safe journeys.

Anyone else running a “trot” tomorrow? Good luck!

Spooner’s Cove 5 mile- Race Recap

Thursday and Friday were crazy days at work. I don’t know why, but I think they made me stupid. By the end of Thursday, I could barely speak without stuttering. It was ridiculous, but my co-workers thought it was hilarious.

I packed my running gear of Friday, thinking optimistically that I would try to run on my lunch. Then I got a call inviting me out after work. One of my coworkers from my old location was moving and Friday was her last day, and they were going out to dinner to say goodbye. For some reason being slightly run worn at work was ok but being funky for going out- not so much. There was no time to get home and change in between work and dinner. So no run for me. The dinner was fun though, it was sad to see her go. Quite a few people went for drinks after but I had a race in the morning! I headed home like a good girl.

This morning was the Spooner’s Cove Trail Run. They offer a 5 mile, 7 mile, 25K and 50K. The races are small, only about 160 people overall. Which is good, because the majority of the race route is single track.

This was also my mother’s very first race. She could have chosen an easy one like the HOB 5K, but she chose a trail race. She’s crazy like that. 🙂 Sign in and shirt pick up was organized and super easy. No goody bag, but who needs random flyers anyway? All races started at the same time and on time. And we were off!

First 100 yards was uphill (woo hoo), on a paved road, and then it was trail bound. The first 2 miles weaved along the bluff and it was the widest part of the trail. I said that this race would be run at my mom’s pace and that is what we did. We ran when she wanted and walked when she wanted. And, like I said before, she walks fast! As the trail narrowed into single track, it was amusing how frustrated she got when we got stuck behind someone who had slowed down. We eventually got passed her and we were running again.

We were heading into the real climb part of the trail when I felt something stab me in my shin. I was momentarily confused, the trail had widened and there weren’t any bushes with branches on the side. I tried to ignore but it just seemed sharper. So I looked down at my shin and there was a giant wasp/ yellow jacket on my sock. I had been stung by a freakin’ bee! I had to flick it off; luckily it seemed my knee socks took the worst of it. However it stung for the next couple of hours. For the next ½ mile, I was trying not to turn into a hypochondriac. I was just out of breath because of the incline, I was not allergic!

Miles 2-4 were pretty much all uphill. There was no running just walking, hard to feel bad though, most everyone else was walking too. We tried to pick up the pace on every slight downhill when switching hills but it was harder than we thought.

The area has had very little rain. The last time I did Valencia Peak, the mountain path was hard packed. Not so much this time. The sand was very loose; we were either sinking in it or sliding on it. That did not help our time. We finally hit the split, the 7 miles, 25k and 50K runners continue up the mountain another mile, and the 5 milers headed back down. At this point, we had about a mile to go.

We ran down as fast as we felt we could, at one point being overtaken by the speedy 50K’ers. They were hauling. We hit the road and walked for about 30 seconds. Another 50K’er ran passed and told us were so close. They had 23 miles to go and they were cheering us on.

We ran down the hill, and across the finish line. We crossed at 1:06:??. My phone was in my jacket pocket and by that time it was tied in knot around my jacket. I couldn’t get it to stop it, so I am unsure of what the exact time was. My mom is a bad ass and finished her very first race ahead of me. And it was a hard one. She just kept pushing. We got our medals and were stretching by the cove when she asked when the next one was!

It was a good race and I am proud of our time. We followed it up with a good lunch from Woodstock’s, a great salad and a slice of pizza. Now it’s time for bed for me, my legs are kind of sore!

Playing with apps :) — Playing with apps 🙂

Anyone running Las Vegas this weekend?

Good luck to those bloggers (everyone else too!) running half-marathons, marathons and ultra’s this weekend.

Creepy Running

I did make it to the track like planned on Sunday. Headed out around 10:00 hoping to avoid the heat. My legs felt tired before I even started so I set Mr. Nike for a timed run of 45 minutes. Figured that sounded like a good amount of time for the day and I would just do as many laps as I could at a steady pace. By the end of my 45 minutes I had done a little over 4.5 miles. I maintained pace and by mile 3, my legs felt a little better. So I walked a short cool down and stretched out. I have no idea what the football players use this thing for, but I love stretching with it-

After my run, I headed home for a lazy day of eating way too much. Seriously, I ran a half marathon not Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim. But I still gave myself license to eat way too much last week. The amount of times I ate pizza was just ridiculous. Amazingly tasty but ridiculous. Plus for work, we are having a candy crush October. I have most of the treats for the crew in my drawer and have been snacking on them way too much. Bad!!! They are not for me!!! Plus my skin has decided to tell me that it is not happy with the unending string of junk food either. Ugh.

Yesterday I was pumped to get in a run after work at the lake. I figured with the looming time change, this would be one of my last chances. Getting out of work was a little delayed due a waiting for a big announcement that was supposed to come down the pipeline. There’s always a moment when your stomach sinks hearing that but no need, it’s all good. We’re expanding!! That was a good thing to hear! But it did put me a little behind schedule. I changed and started the drive towards the lake path. The sun was behind the hill a little more than I planned when I got there but I still set out for a good run.

What was not cool was the creepy guy walking two dogs that was totally weirding me out. Granted it could have been the border collie he was walking that was giving me the willies. I love all dogs but not border collies, sketchy devils. But the way he kept looking back and staring, not cool. It may have even been someone behind that he was staring at but, ew. I passed him quickly and tried to settle into a decent pace. My legs did not like me so much last night. I felt like I was mincing my steps. I kept looking down at my form and it felt ok, but my legs were off. I just felt funky. Clocked mile 1 at 10:25, ok then. The sun was even lower but I pushed on for another lap. My legs still felt funny. 😦

Coming through the park section of the path again, I swear I saw creepy guy sitting on a bench staring at the path. But without the dogs… ummm what?! I wasn’t sure if I was more skeeved out by him or the fact that there may be a border collie on the loose. They’re the reason I carry pepper spray. Yeah I was done. I finished the lap coming in at just under 2.5 miles. I stretched really quick and jumped in my car to leave. Best way to get a negative split? Run from something creepy.

The bottom of my left foot felt funny today. Not painful, just kind of odd. I had no problems at volleyball though, so who knows. We won!!!!! Well, 1 of the 2 matches, but woo hoo! Both matches went to 3 games and now I feel a little bruised but it was fun. Could have done without the second team of the night deciding to intentionally aim everything at me but I said bring it 🙂 Not sure what I did to them but oh well, women can be so bitchy. (myself included). They were pretty vocal about it too. Maybe the fact that we took the first game spooked them, there are the first place team right now.

Now I am relaxing in the Comfy Chair, watching The Biggest Loser and eating potato chips. Wait, what? Oops. Why does this show make me want to snack? 😦

Anyone else have any sketchy encounters while running?

Sun and scarecrows

I managed to get in a run on Thursday before heading to school for my exam. Oops, sorry mixer!!! I’ll go next month- it’ll be too dark to run then 😦

I wanted to take it a little easy, so I set Mr. Nike for a 3 mile run. I love the distance mode. He comes on and tells you at the halfway point, great way when to know to turn around. Otherwise I get distracted and just keep running. Which if it wasn’t my first run after my half or if I didn’t have an exam that I should have been studying for, that wouldn’t have been a bad thing. 🙂

The halfway point is just inside the state park, I barely get to breathe in the Eucalyptus before I had to head back. I take a slight detour on the way back just to see this-

Bonus, the weather was amazing! 70 and shining sun! Usually by this time of evening the marine layer rolls in and it’s just gray. All in all, finished a nice 5k when I made it back to my car. And I averaged a 9:46 pace, fine by me.

Since I work 3 of the upcoming 4 Saturdays, I admit to a little whining. But I have an awesome boss, so I got a few extra hours to sleep in on Friday. I have been so tired; I just wanted some time with a few less alarms. Yeah, I set 5 daily. Usually sleep through the first 2 and snooze the rest repeatedly. While a better person may have snuck in a Friday morning run, I am a Slacker. I chose to sleep. It was so nice. Then I headed into work, picking up a birthday cake along the way for the afore mentioned awesome boss. I really need to stop eating junk. This has been a very indulgent week.

This morning’s commute actually wasn’t that foggy! As I drove into town, I tried to take a few pictures. This town has an annual Scarecrow festival that I never knew about. Last time I worked there, the fog was so heavy and zombie like, then creatures were just popping out the mist. WTF? The first 2 scared the crap out of me before I figured it out. This time, I was prepared and snapped a few pictures along the way. Yes, I should have gotten out of the car, but I am lazy.

I really did plan to run today but the Slacker in me finally beat out the twitchy feet. After work and lunch and errands, I was tired and lazy. No lies, I was just a Slacker. Tomorrow, I get back on track. Literally- track Sunday!!!!! Woo hoo!!!! I love the track. It’s supposed to be over 90, but hey, soon I will be complaining that it will too cold, so I may as well enjoy it while it lasts.

Today wasn’t totally running free, I did finish my scrapbook page for my City to the Sea bib. Yes, I keep a scrapbook of all my bibs. Cheesy but I love it. Wish they made better embellishments though.

To anyone who ran or raced today, you’re awesome!!!!

Anyone’s towns have any interesting Harvest traditions?

And another one…

A little email alert told me that City to the Sea photos were ready. Yikes!!! I was really hoping for a good one this time 😦 Below is the least scary one, well, they were all pretty bad. And what is with my damn ponytail?! It is bouncing around like a dang cheerleader in every picture.

This morning, when I checked Facebook, I saw a familiar sight. Run The Edge had posted the following picture-

Photo: No political agenda here. Just a funny sign and a shout out to all those runners who still believe that they are slow or "no good." You guys are running and that is all that matters!Poster seen on From Fat To Finish Line - the documentary

That’s my race! That is the same girl and the poster I was talking about during the race. That was the halfway point, leading up to the overpass, the bridge in the background. Not sure how it got to their attention, but woo hoo for a little local shout out! And if you have never checked out their site, you should! I am currently reading their book, too.

Didn’t get in a run today 😦 but enjoyed lots of yummy homemade Beef Stroganoff and birthday cake with the family. Happy birthday brother! Have to figure out how to run that off tomorrow!!