Gourmet Runner

Don't quote me on that title. I'm sure in reality, faster running = chia seeds and great genetics. Whatever. Apparently if you take a rest day AND eat a family sized bag of conversation hearts in the same day (15 servings my ass) you'll have lots of energy to tackle a run the next day. It's basic science. An extra thousand calorie in pure sugar is bound to have an impact on your run. Exhibit A: One bag of candy, eaten in 24 hours- Turns into 7 miles which are pretty speedy (for me) - Was I happy after the run? In a word: I also got an awesome package and now the mailman thinks I'm a super runner. A while back I missed out on running the Rock N' Roll Miami Half, but Amanda managed to find someone to run with my bib. And by someone, I mean some speed demon who managed to get 3rd place in the 18-24 age group.   My favorite part is that it has the award title right on the front of the box, so everyone at the post office now thinks I'm really f...

Blah, blah, blah...here's my weekly recap. I don't know any new ways to segue into talking about it. I basically do this to keep accountable to MYSELF. When I'm relaxing on the couch and consider taking an unscheduled rest day, I remind myself that I will have to put "was a lazy bum" on the recap and that motivates me. Whatever works, you know? Monday : Ran 4 Miles Tuesday : Rest - Sick! Wednesday : Rest- Sick! Thursday: Ran 5 Miles Friday : Ran 8 Miles Saturday : 30 minutes of spinning, 25 minutes of abs, push-ups, planks, dips, etc. Sunday : 15.5 Mile Run Total Weekly Mileage = 32.5 Miles. I definitely want to be topping 40 miles each week soon, so I am going to try to slowly build to that over the next couple of weeks. The lovely Ralcony asked me yesterday how I had any energy after a long run. The short answer? I don't have any. At all. Ever. After yesterday's 15.5 mile long run I barely managed the 40 minute drive from home, showered, ...

Yesterday was the birthday party of a friend of mine, but her husband sent a text to my hubby about it and for some reason it seemed cryptic. Yes, I'm paranoid, but I kind of thought maybe it was a surprise party and I would ruin it by calling her up and asking what to bring to the barbecue. That's definitely something I would do. Anyway - nothing cryptic. He's a man of few words and it was just a number we didn't have. But still, I figured I better bring a bunch of stuff to the party just to be on the safe side. P.S. I'm just letting everyone know how awesome of a party guest I am so more people invite me to parties. I bake brownies! I bring beer! I bring bottles of wine as a gift! I made two massive batches of homemade brownies to take along. Ugh, fine. I mixed up the batter from two boxes. But I put it into the oven all my myself. Hubby helped a little with cleanup: If by cleanup you mean licking the spoon and then asking for a "refill...

Want to see my run today in number? I knew you did! So convenient. 8 - Number of miles managed today for my run. 3 - Immodium needed to make that run possible. 1 - Number of stops I still needed to make halfway through. Dang generic brand. 2 - Friends I got to run with.  17 - Times I regretted running on the treadmill so much. Running outside is a billion times better. 19 & 30 - Ages of my running partners. How awesome is it that a college student, a stay at home mom and little ole me can all have so much in common? Running! 16 - Miles we are planning to run on Sunday morning.  5 - Time I will have to wake up on Sunday morning for said run. 1 - Sushi date planned during the run. 11 - How happy I was, on a scale of 1-10,  to have hubby make me an awesome dinner tonight. Thanks! I would add up all those number and do something cool with it but I'm fresh out of ideas. You can have this random photo outtake gem instead of thought provokin...

So...here's the thing. I've been sick lately. And I don't mean, " pass me the Kleenex " sick, I mean " don't make me walk more than 4 feet from the toilet " sick. I really should not have to add more to that description, I'm sure you all know what I mean. So working out is...a challenge. Never before have I more appreciated that treadmill. If you follow me on Daily Mile, you'll know my Monday night run took a little longer than it should have. Mostly because I ran about 2.5 miles, and then added in a sprint interval to the bathroom. Speedwork! Oddly enough, I actually felt like hopping back on the treadmill to finish up 4 miles. After that, my life has been mostly this: Ok, fine - and some of this too: Crazy cat lady style! Yesterday my diet of plain potatoes (no skin) and saltine crackers was not doing it. Rest day was mandatory. Today I'm feeling better, maybe because now I'm including honey. Perhaps this is just because I...

I've been a little sick the last couple of days, which meant I couldn't do anything to celebrate Chinese New Year! It's been almost exactly one year since Tim and I left Hong Kong, and technically this is our second Chinese New Year to miss out on. I'll be honest and say that even though I lived in Hong Kong (and ergo, China) I did very little to actually celebrate. Well, that's not true. I generally celebrated by going to a bar and getting drunk, but that's not really a special cultural experience so let's ignore that, shall we? To be completely honest, Chinese New Year to me was a chance to get time off work and get red envelopes full of money given to me by parents and people I worked for. All in all, a very good holiday. A+, Chinese New Year. But I guess now that I don't have the opportunity to celebrate, I miss it. Go figure. So allow me one post to lament what I miss about Hong Kong, will you? I'll pretend it's because I want to celebra...

Don't lie - all you care about is more information on the nude racing. Usually when you hear of risque running, it's more like this: "Naked running, tee-hee!" = Didn't wear a Garmin. So naughy. "I ran TOPLESS! OMG!" =  Just wore a bra. Inside. On the treadmill. In the basement. So when I say nude racing, I mean it. But I'm making you wait for it. Sorry. First up, weekly recap: Monday : Rest. Always a good start to the week, right? Tuesday : Ran 6 miles on TM. Wednesday : Ran 6 miles outside. Thursday : 6 x 1 minute @10MPH running, circuits of planks, push-ups, jumping jacks, walking lunges Friday : Walked 2 miles, 10 minutes of Yoga Saturday : 30 minutes of spin Sunday : Ran 15 Miles outside That's right...I ran outside twice this week and loved it. Even though I have to drive over an hour (round-trip) to get to a safe place to run, it's really worth it. Plus, since I'm running a marathon in Atlanta I need to get VERY com...

Last night was spent refreshing Weather.com constantly in the hopes that the weather somehow magically transformed to awesome. I kept checking Facebook to see if my two running buddies for this morning were going to follow through even it was pouring with rain. I figured I would get wet and deal with it for 15 or 16 miles. When I woke up, I saw this for our scheduled run time:   Call me a baby, but in a thunderstorm with chances of a tornado? Thanks, I'm staying home. We are rescheduled for tomorrow morning at 7. So all of a sudden I had the morning free and plenty of rain. Hooray. I spent the day working so I was justified in registering for some upcoming races. That evens out, right? I also focused on eating foods to pretend I was NOT in a thunderstorm and actually in a tropical paradise. First up: Chobani pineapple Greek yogurt. Not kidding, the stuff is like a pina colada . Next time I'm sticking it straight in the blender with ice and rum, thanks every much.  Also...

I have to preface this by saying - I know at least a little of me is narcissistic. I have a blog. I regularly post pictures of myself on said blog. I feel like what I have to say is interesting enough to force others to read. Ergo, narcissistic. Obviously I appreciate a little validation. Blogs = attention. You don't have to be a rocket scientist. With that said... ...have you ever gotten a compliment from someone and then immediately apologized afterwards? Or tried to downplay it as much as possible? I'm so guilty of this and it's so unnecessary. Especially genuine, kind compliments from people. Examples: "Wow, you ran a marathon? That's amazing - you must be a great runner!" "Oh, no, it's not that hard. And I ran really slowly. I'm definitely not a serious runner!" " Vanessa, you look great in that outfit! Cute dress!" "Ugh! Not at all. I look like a mess. I got it on sale. I don't know how to put on makeup." ...

Lately I've been keeping all of my runs on the treadmill to avoid a flare-up of what seems to be an injury that is (knock on wood) no longer too much of a problem. So when I got an invite to run a hilly course today with a friend, I was so ready to get outside. But then it was 31 degrees as I started running and super windy. Let's remember for a second that 1) This is Georgia, and 2) I'm a wuss. 31 degrees to run is COLD to me. But it was a great 6 mile run and went by quickly thanks to good conversation.  Stretching on the floor after I got home quickly turned into a Cuddle Fest 3000 with the cats and their favorite toy of all time, a ribbon.   I swear that every 3 or 4 weeks we buy them some new awesome catnip filled toy that is supposed to be the best thing ever, and then they go crazy for a plastic bag and a ribbon. I give up . After my run I had one of the last Purefit bars I got sent last week. I got sent 10, so you can guess that they're not terrible ...

So the last video Tim and I did was so much fun I wanted to try another one. I got him to say a grand total of three words, people : "Hi, I'm Tim." So proud. One day you guys have got to see these outtakes. Truly hysterical. Let's say there are lots of muscles and plenty of fist pumps. Seriously, don't ask. It took us a lot longer than it should have but was hilarious for every second. If you can't see the video, it talks about the advantages (ok, and disadvantages) of dating or being married to a blogger.  I'm curious - if you are a blogger, what do your friends/family/spouse think about it? Overall, Tim is definitely supportive. I think it makes him happy to see me happy, so everyone wins! And whatever he says in the video, he really does think it's awesome. Promise. Anyone else put up a vlog before? I hosted mine on Youtube, any alternative suggestions? If you haven't tried one yet - what's stopping you? I love to hear blogger...

Almost exactly one year ago Tim and I moved to Georgia to build our own house. When we arrived, the land we purchased looked like this: Now, it looks just like this: Not bad, right? Although Tim and I both had very little experience with building a home (and by very little, I do mean NONE). I thought it might be interesting to see the various steps we went through over the last 12 months to build our dream home. Keep in mind that this post doesn't even BEGIN to cover it all. If you are super interested in this kind of thing, check out Tim's blog for more details. First up - excavating the house site, getting rid of the brush and creating the house pad where we wanted to build.   Next, we plotted out the area for the foundation base on hubby's design for the house. It rained right before we laid the concrete, which meant an emergency shoveling session to clear out the space. The next day the cement was put down.    Once the foundation was set, we got...