Eating, Drinking, and Being Married

I've moved

2011-03-05T15:55:00.002-06:00

Well, I made the official jump to a new blog: Go Teresa Go I dont' have much content up yet, but a couple posts including the recap on my latest marathon.

I won't be posting on this blog anymore, but I would love it if everyone came over to the new blog!

Anyone still there?

2010-10-11T15:08:00.002-05:00

If you haven't already completely written me off as a blogger, I would just like to say thank you. Since my last post life has been..... well, life. I don't like talking about my job online for obvious reasons, but it has kept me EXTREMELY busy, which is actually pretty great because not many people have been able to say that for a long time. Besides that, I have really amped up my running/training. Physical activity has become an even bigger part of my life and I am a better person for it. The last few weeks I've hit some major milestones, and they are because a year and a half ago I decided to start running.

Which leads me to the future of this blog. Honestly, I had such a blast creating it, but the content of it is not what I want to share anymore. I've put myself "out there" quite a bit and while I only regret a few things I have posted, I do feel like I need to be a little more private about more of my personal life in the future. I know what most of you are thinking, but no, nothing happened to me to make me feel this way, but I know other people that have been burned by putting themselves out there online and I don't want that to happen to me.

But more than all of that, life is really just very different now and I no longer want to write about recipes, my dogs, and random weekends (although all those things are still awesome). All I honestly want to write about is running, races, tri stuff, etc. and I kind of pledged that I wouldn't turn this blog into completely running, so I'm thinking starting a new blog is in order. It will still share a lot of personal stuff but all related to my journey of trying to become an athlete. I feel like while I still have a ways to go with my personal goals, I have picked up quite a bit of knowledge that I should be sharing.

I'll keep you all updated.

Unfinished business

2010-07-19T19:23:00.003-05:00

While I feel like my last post about the New Town tri was a great account of the race, by the time I got finished writing it I just felt drained. It took FOREVER to upload all the photos, recall all the details, etc. But when I got finished writing it I just felt like it really lacked a lot as far as how I was feeling afterwards.

As I said, while I feel like it is impossible to put into words exactly what I was feeling, I really want to try my best to express it. The sense of accomplishment after the tri was overwhelming. I was (and still am) to a point in awe of what I had just done. Now, I know I didn't break any major records or anything, but the tri was a really big deal for me.

I had a fear of biking which I put aside to complete the tri. I had never had swim lessons or swam a lap before May and I managed to finish the swim portion with what I consider to be a very respectable time on a somewhat intimidating open water course. I dedicated myself to working out 5 days a week doing 6-7 workouts for 6 weeks.

But even more than all that, I had a lot to overcome mentally. I made a mention of this in the last post, but after the marathon going far from how I had planned it, I felt like part of my heart was, just, well....dead, for a lack of a better term. Yes, I know finishing the marathon was a big deal, but I didn't finish it the way I wanted to finish it and it has weighed on me ever since.

While I know that I know enjoy triathlons way more than just running, I can't help but feel like I have unfinished business in the marathon department and I need to resolve it so that I can move on. So I have a winter marathon picked (and hotel booked!) and have started easing into training. I will spend the fall running with swimming and biking for fun, and plan on going strong into triathlons next year.

I think my biggest challenge will be more mental than physical and I've already been very aware of that. I know it's not going to be easy this time around, but this is just something I NEED to do for me.

As always, the support from everyone on this blog and in my life has been amazing. I appreciate everyone sticking around even as my posts become less frequent and consumed by running and triathlons.

New Town Triathlon!

2010-07-18T14:38:00.019-05:00

It's hard for me to believe that the triathlon is over. I don't mind spoiling the ending of this blog post for you. IT. WAS. AMAZING!!! I really can't even describe how amazing it was, but I'm going to try in this blog post which I'm sure is going to quickly change into a novel. I want to apologize about the length, but it was such an amazing experience that I really want to have this post to look back and remember all the details. So this post in particular is more for me than all of you.

The day before the triathlon I drove solo to New Town to pick up my packet and check out the swim course one more time. One of the many awesome things about the race was that the organizers marked all three legs of the course the day before so that any participant that wanted to could preview the course. I didn't want to over do it the day before but I also didn't want to miss the opportunity to swim open water one more time before the race. For those of you that don't know, swimming in a pool (which I do 99% of the time) and swimming in a lake are two TOTALLY different animals.

I was so proud of myself for remembering my old watch so I could actual see how long it would take me to do the swim. I had swam the same course once before during a sponsored open water swim but I hadn't timed myself that day, so I really had no clue how long it took me. Once I arrived in New Town I pretty much just jumped out of the car, set down my towel, and jumped in setting my watch as I went. There were a few other people in the water, but no lifeguards or really anyone watching. At about 200 yards I thought to myself, "Wow this is kind of bad ass" No one knew I was in the water so really if I had any kind of problems or freaked out I was on my own. At that moment it kind of struck me as crazy, but also kind of awesome. At this point, I glanced at my watch and realized it had stopped. I guess it wasn't water proof after all!

I finished the swim feeling good and went to pick up my packet. At this point, I ran into a volunteer that I had met when I swam the course originally. I never caught her name, but she was a very sweet person that encouraged me to sign up for the tri (I was still on the fence at the first swim). I was happy and a little surprised she recognized me, but seeing her was great. She wished me luck and I headed towards home.

The rest of the day I hung out around the house, ate pasta, and tried not to get too nervous. I got everything together that I needed using a mega checklist that included everything I needed. The list even had "bike" on it.

I surprisingly got a lot of sleep that night and when I woke up the next day I felt ready to go! Well, kind of......

My half peanut butter sandwich that I ate in the car tasted awful (breakfast always does on race day), but I choked it down as I drove to the tri. As I pulled into New Town it was a few minutes before 7. Nathan had left a few minutes after me with my bike. Unfortunately, he couldn't stay to see me cross the finish because of a work commitment so we had to drive separately. We unloaded the bike, did a final tire check and I headed to get my timing chip and go into transition.

It was only a few minutes after 7, but volunteers and the guy on the loud speaker made me feel like I was super late even though I had a good 30 minutes before the transition area was closed and I had to line up to swim. I was instructed to go drop off my bike and gear and then get my timing chip. I quickly went into transition and tried to double check that I had everything I needed but I felt super rushed and was nervous I was forgetting something. I got a little frustrated, but decided that I should just step away and go get my timing chip.

Nathan walked over with me, we got the chip and then I decided I should go back into transition and double check my stuff. Nathan said, "Um, don't you need to get marked?" Me, "YES!!! OMG, I almost forgot!!" He grabbed a volunteer with a marker, and they wrote my race number on one arm and my age on the back of my leg. At this point, I realized I had forgotten to do something in transition which was to put water in the bucket I had brought. I opted not to worry about it though, because it was just to wash off my feet. I double checked everything and went towards the start.

I lined up with my numbers and stood there for a good 15 minutes, but it was a good chance for me to calm down and realize that I didn't need to rush around anymore. I was where I needed to be. I also got a chance to chat with some of the people around me who were super nice and we all exchanged a few tips. As the first set of swimmers started entering the water, I heard my mom call out to me. She and Nathan were practically standing on the dock where I was starting.

As I got closer to the officials I realized it was game time. When they told me to go I would have 5 seconds to run onto the dock and jump in before they released the person behind me so I was going to book it.

(I was so focused on quickly getting in I don't even remember that person sitting on the dock)

Once I was in the water, I just went. The lake was choppy, but I expected it to be worse. I didn't feel too crowded either, which I was fully expecting. After the first turn I did get bumped into by a few swimmers passing me, but no kicks in the face or anything. I didn't really feel like I was going super fast, but I was passing a few other swimmers as I made the second turn.

I was in the last 50 yards and saw swimmers getting help out of the water. At this point there were a few hardcore people coming in as well, so I slowed down a bit so they could easily pass me and get out first. After all, I was just doing this for fun, on reason to screw up someone that was trying to place.

At this point, a "lifeguard" on the sidelines called out to me with someone along the lines of, "You can came to the shore for a minute if you need to". Um, what!? I had less than 50 yards to go and you think I should come to the shore?? I had a few choice words in mind, but instead I just politely yelled back, "No, that's ok! I'm just slow!"

Once I got closer to the swim out I realized that the sweet volunteer was there! She saw me, smiled and said, "You got this!"

(Sweet volunteer is the one in the middle, coaching me in.)

I replied, "You are my guardian angel on this tri!"

As I exited the water I heard Nathan yell out, "30 minutes!" I kind of shrugged it off though, because no way I did that in 30 minutes, it was probably 32 or longer and he was just saying that to be nice.

I made my way into transition and started drying off, drinking water and pulling on my shoes. My mom, friends, and Nathan cheered the entire time.

After jamming some sport beans in my mouth, I was off.

Not even a mile in I realized I had forgotten my iPhone. There were no headphone rules, but I had planned on getting around them by just playing the music through the little speaker on the phone, and I also wanted to have it just in case something happened with the bike and I needed rescue. But at that point, there was nothing I could do but just keep going.

The first 10 miles were great, I was pushing hard and maintaining speeds that I usually didn't maintain even on short rides. I was moving at a great pace, passed about a half a dozen people, and even though I went slow going around turns I was having a great ride. At mile 11 I hit killer wind that really slowed me down. I got the chance to chat with some of the other riders as they were passing me everyone was so nice and encouraging, it made the ride really enjoyable. I was still pushing hard, but had definitely started backing off a bit.

I felt good as I finished up the last couple of miles and by my bike computer I could tell the ride had taken me about an hour and twenty minutes. And as I got closer to the transition area I could hear my friends and mother cheering me on. While I was getting off the bike and drinking some more water I heard them ask how I was doing and I said, "Good! I got this!"

I left transition with my bike water bottle and my iPhone this time and felt a sting of pain in my upper thigh.

I realized that the pain was from the bike seat. I had probably been sitting slightly off center and my thigh had been pushing down on it resulting in the pain. It wasn't unbearable but definitely uncomfortable. In the midst of thinking about the pain I had forgotten to start my garmin, so I was already a good quarter of a mile in.

I ran a little ways, but ended up walking a decent amount of the first two mile loop.

At mile 2 I came around the corner and got some much needed water and was happy to see my friends and Mom cheering me on. I tossed them my now empty water bottle and continued on.

I continued to alternate running and walking in no set pattern. I was starting to get hot and was really missing having my water bottle. (I always run with water and I drink it constantly) I got to the mile 3 aid station and couldn't wait to get my hands on some cold water...of course, they were out and only had this awful sports drink. I normally love sports drink, but whatever was in that cup was GROSS.

A few residents of New Town had sprinklers up and I paused at each one trying to cool off and get a little water in my mouth. When I realized I had about a half a mile left I jogged a steady pace to the finish. My mom jumped in within the last couple of moments.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I was greeted yet again by the sweet volunteer aka "my guardian angel"! I was soaking wet and extremely gross but I grabbed her and hugged her anyway. It was just so nice to getting to see her one last time.

As I got out of the finish corral and found my mom and my friends I was out of breathe and so thirsty. I can't even begin to tell you how much I needed water.

The day before I had asked one of my friends to bring me a big (cold!) lemon lime Gatorade to the finish and thank God she did because I really needed it.

At this point, besides being tired and thirsty, I was just in awe and trying to wrap my mind around what just happened. I was so happy to see my mom and friends, but I had such a combination of exhaustion and awe, that I didn't speak for a good few minutes.

When I did finally start to form complete sentences and felt ok my mom and I grabbed a quick Kodak moment.

After a few more big gulps of Gatorade I walked over to the Results booth. The timing company there (Ultramax) gave you instant results. As I waited in line I was preparing myself to be a tad disappointed in my finish time. I had originally said that I would be happy with anything under 3.5 hours, but I really wanted to be right at 3. With all the walking I had to do during the run, I figured there was no way I was going to hit 3 hours. When the official handed me my print out I screamed.

I had finished in 2:48:33!!! I screamed ran over to my friends and jumped up and down a couple times with excitement.

Once I calmed down we snapped a few more pictures.....

Of course, we had to get a group shot of my amazing support team!

(Ali, Lauren, my mom, Jamie, Me, Sarah, some random dude, Kristal, and Ikey Joe)

I'm so happy that I decided to do the New Town Triathlon. My 6 weeks of intense training really paid off. I officially love the sport and wish I would have discovered it sooner. At this point, I don't have another triathlon set in stone, but I can't wait to do another one. I wish I could put into words the feeling I have after completing this one, but it's impossible. I do have a lot of work to do though, because I have to learn how to bike on hills (the New Town tri had a very flat bike course) because I've never done that before.

This past week I have been on a roller coaster of emotion. I was on cloud 9 for awhile, then got a tad depressed that it was all over. I also have spent a lot of time this past week thinking about the marathon. It's hard to describe but after the marathon I felt like part of my heart was just dead. It's no real mystery that I was disappointed in my results. After the tri, I feel like part of me is back. I'm still upset about the marathon, but doing well at the tri gave me confidence that I can be happy doing distance races again. I may write more about this later, but I'm just having trouble coming up with the words at the moment.

Also, I plan on writing another post in the near future with triathlon tips that really helped me but I need to wrap this up as it has taken me almost all day to upload all the photos and write it.

Thank you to all of you that cheered me on during the process!

Another ambitous decision

2010-06-27T09:14:00.004-05:00

If you keep up with my DailyMile page you may have noticed that I've been quite busy lately running, swimming, and even doing a little biking. Well, right after the mini tri didn't go so well, I was a little bummed. Sure, not completing it had a lot to do with my brake issue, but another part of me felt like maybe I let the fear/under training on the bike get the best of me.

Only a few days after the mini tri, I decided that I NEEDED to do another tri and one that would help me get over my fear of the bike and push me to get better at swimming. I spent some time looking at tris in Missouri, and decided that the one I really wanted to do was the New Town Triathlon. The distance of New Town was a little further than I was looking for (over double the mini, and more than a traditional sprint) but what really appealed to me was the flatness of the bike course and that it was pretty close to home.

The catch? It was the end of May and New Town was July 11. That meant that I had about 6 weeks to train. I looked over lots of free training plans, but ultimately ended up making one of my own because I hated all of the ones that I had found. So since June 1st I have secretly been training for New Town doing a 2x a week plan for each area, making a grand total of 6 workouts a week.

I didn't sign up until last night because I wanted to see if I could handle the training. Four weeks of training, one open water swim of the course, and a ride of almost the exact bike route, I feel pretty good about it. I still have reservations of course, but not enough to make me not want to attempt it.

So in a mere two weeks I will be doing a .62 mile swim, 20 mile bike, and a 4 mile run. I'm scared and excited, but mostly excited. I will hopefully have time and energy to write another blog between now and then, but regardless of what good, bad, or amazing things happen during the triathlon, I will be sure to write about it afterwards.

I am one proud lady. :)

2010-05-26T19:37:00.003-05:00

The day after my big ole' failed tri, I accompanied my fabulous husband, Nathan, to my hometown to watch him compete in a 35 mile bike ride. I was certainly more nervous than he was, especially after seeing what he was up against.

Before we arrived, we both knew that most of the cyclists would be on some kind of team, but when we showed up 98% of the participants were on teams and looked super serious. The combination of that and the race disorganization completely added to my nerves. When Nathan finally started (5o minutes later!) it was HOT. Nathan had never trained in this kind of heat, and I was practically dripping with sweat just standing waiting for him to start.

About 8 miles into the 35, he called me. He was super discouraged because he was riding by himself at that point. The group he started with had taken off and the group that started after him had passed him as well. I told him that it was really up to him what he wanted to do, but he should just think of it as a nice bike ride by himself and try and enjoy it.

At this point, I was pretty sure he would be turning around shortly and going back. I mean, getting wayyyy behind that early in the race is pretty discouraging. Personally, I don't think I would have kept going knowing I was pretty out of my league.

I didn't hear from him for another hour, and I was going a little nuts. About two hours after he started I tried calling him and got no answer. A lot of the cyclists were starting to return, and I just hoped that he hadn't gotten too hot or dehydrated.

30 minutes later Nathan called me and the convo went something like this:

Me: (no hello) You ok!?!?

Nathan: I'm close to finishing.

Me: Finishing!?!? Like you did it?

Nathan: Yeah, I did it!

Me: HONEY!!!! You want so fast! It hasn't even been 2 and a half hours!

Nathan: I know. Bye!

Just a few minutes later, Nathan flew by!

(Thanks, sis, for the great pic!)

At this point, I had tears in my eyes. He had done it. He trained for this race while working 6 days a week, braved the heat, and didn't let being last get him down. He did amazing, and I could not be more happy and proud.

Unfortunately, Nathan doesn't think he is going to do another bike race. A big part of that is because he said he didn't feel welcomed at all by the other race participants. I think he and I were both expecting the atmosphere of the race to be one similar to those that we are used to with running.

In general, I've always dealt with runners that have been very welcoming and encouraging. The runners I've been around have always cheered me on, offered support, etc. And Nathan accompanies me to many of my races so he saw this too. The participants at this race were QUITE different. Nathan said that when he put his number on wrong, a group of bikers proceeded to make fun of him for it. And then they continued on by talking about his bike and how it wouldn't make it on the course. All in all, they were pretty much pricks.

And while I could write PARAGRAPHS on how terribly disorganized and poorly run this race was, I won't because obviously I'm not an expert on bike races, but seriously, you don't have water at the start or finish? And three bathrooms for hundreds? I don't think so.

Luckily, Nathan plans on doing some fun rides and helping me getting over my bike fear. I'm just so proud of him so I had to share!

First tri FAIL!

2010-05-22T17:34:00.002-05:00

While training for my first tri in 12 days was fun, it ultimately ended up with me getting a DNF (did not finish). I had a GREAT swim and I was a smiling, happy person as I got out of the pool. The bike portion was a different story though. About two miles in I felt like something was wrong. I didn't know if it was just because I was going up hills, but I felt like the bike wasn't moving the way it should.

I got off the bike and shortly after a race official came up and asked me if I was having problems. I told him yes and he offered to look at the bike. He said it looked like the front brake wasn't releasing from the wheel completely. The course was hilly so I felt super scared to continue on not knowing if my front brakes were ok. Because of that, I decided to pull myself out of the race.

Obviously, this race did NOT help my fear of the bike. It's clear to me that I don't know enough about my bike or how to troubleshoot problems. But even with that, I'm not going to write off doing a triathlon in the future. I feel like the bike won today, and I don't like that. Plus, I REALLY enjoy swimming and I really want to keep doing it.

Getting a DNF for any reason sucks, but I keep telling myself that in my active life, races aren't always going to be awesome, but the benefits of doing these races are worth it regardless of the results.

Day 7 of I'm Running my First Tri in 12 days and I feel a little "out there"

2010-05-16T18:21:00.003-05:00

When I got out of bed today I slowly started getting ready to go to the pool to get a swim in. "Slowly" being a key word in that sentence. Yesterday I had done a 20 mile walk with a friend and was certainly feeling it. But I knew ultimately doing some laps in the pool would make my legs feel better. And hello!! the tri is less than a week away, it's time to get in some major activity!

I get to the pool about 15 minutes after it opens and two of the three lanes are already occupied. I start my laps in the empty lane and it's tough today, maybe even tougher than the first day. I push really hard one lap and stop at the end of the lap to catch my breathe. The guy using the lane next to me is doing the same, and I'm debating about striking up a conversation with him. You know, since I'm a swimming newbie and can use all the help I can get. I kind of glance his way and he has kind of a strange look on his face as he glances my direction. I decide maybe he isn't a talker and I adjust my goggles, catch my breathe, etc.

He starts swimming again and just as he does I glance down to see that my boobs have almost completely came out of my swimsuit. I mean, we are talking nipples and all.

I bought a new swimsuit a few hours later.

I'm Running my First Triathlon in 12 days.

2010-05-12T17:53:00.004-05:00

Does anyone recall a mention in my last post about eventually wanting to start triathlon training? Well, that desire hasn't really left me, in fact it only has gotten stronger in the weeks since the marathon.

Even before the marathon, I had thought about signing up for this Mini Triathlon my sister had told me about. Deep down I really wanted to do it, but between the training burn out and not knowing anything about swimming I had kind of talked myself out of it. That all changed this past weekend. A short phone conversation with a friend that decided to do it got me thinking that yes in fact I should go ahead and sign up. Only thing was, the Triathlon was a mere 12 days away. But I didn't doubt that I could do it. After training for the marathon I do feel like anything is possible. And I did really want to start Triathlon training. The main thing holding me back to jumping into is the cost. I don't have access to a free pool, some of the tri equipment can get expensive, etc. But at this point I thought I could just get by with just buying some goggles and paying some admission charges at a local pool.

So "I'm Running my First Triathlon in 12 days" was on. Day 1 of 12 was in the pool. I had never same a lap in my life, so I really didn't know what to expect out of my first swim. I decided to start with the distance of the actual race of the swim which was 200 yards. I ended up doing 250 yards and my biggest problem was breathing. I felt like I couldn't catch my breathe at all after the first 25 yards. I feel like this will get better though as I just get used to being in the pool. Right after I decided to run the race distance of 2 miles on the indoor track. I pushed hard, and ended up being really happy with my run post swim.

Day 2 of 12 wasn't so positive. I decided to try and bike the race distance of 9 miles on Grants Trail. As you may recall, I had just bought my first bike last month. And if you follow me on DailyMile, you know I had been putting in some good miles on my bike trainer. I was REALLY enjoying the bike trainer and it was good because I was getting used to the bike. I hadn't ridden a bike of any kind in 10 years and I had never ridden a bike with gears. I know that's crazy, but when I did ride a bike as a kid it was always a simple bike that just had pedal brakes.

I was nervous on the bike due to my inexperience, but I really thought it wouldn't be too bad because I was super comfortable on the bike trainer. Oh, was I wrong. I jumped on Grants Trail and was instantly terrified. I felt COMPLETELY out of control. I was on a slight incline and felt completely unsteady and like I could fall off any minute. About a half mile in I had to stop at an intersection and almost fell off the bike because I hit the brakes too hard. YIKES.

I spent the next 4 or so miles terrified. If I went over 13 miles an hour I was completely freaked. I was squeezing the handle bars so hard that my hands were in pain. I did end up riding 10 miles, but I was bummed when I realized I was doing half the speed that I did on the trainer. I thought the bike portion of the tri would be fairly easy, but yesterday made it obvious that is not the case. I am really hoping that a few more rides will get me more comfortable with the bike. ::Fingers crossed:: Tomorrow I'm going to give the bike ride another go and hopefully more swimming on Friday.

The next 10 days are going to be a real test of my physical and mental capabilities but I feel ready for the challenge. I'm excited to push myself a little more! I'll keep you all posted as to how it goes.

The Marathon

2010-04-13T15:50:00.011-05:00

Settle in, this is going to be a long one.

The race started late and it took forever to get across the start line. I was already anxious about the 6 hour time cutoff so taking so long to get across the start was nerve racking.

Once I finally did cross the next few miles went by quickly I was going fast, but figured it was okay because the first several miles of the course were pretty flat and I should make good time where I could. My heart rate was also pretty high but I was still feeling good. I was having a great race, I had put a ton of time between myself and the 6 hour marathon pacer. At mile 5.5 I was joined by my friend Sarah, and it was so great to see her. I was enjoying myself, we were chatting up a storm, and just enjoying ourselves. Not to shortly after another friend, Jamie, jumped out of nowhere. I was shocked. Jamie was supposed to meet me around mile 20 or so, and her she was at mile 6.5!

The three of us continued on. I was so distracted by the two of them that I didn't noticed I had skipped a couple of my walking intervals. My heart rate was still high, but I still felt good, so I wasn't too concerned. In the back of my mind I thought, "Well, maybe I should be pacing myself better, but you know it's probably okay." I also ended up seeing my awesome husband Nathan on his bike and my good friend Emma at this point.

Sarah had to leave at about mile 8.5 and Jamie continued on with me until about mile 9.

Right before mile 10 the marathoners and the half marathoners separated. I felt adrenaline at this point because I knew that it was about to get serious and to a no turning back point. As I'm following the arrows to continue on the course and not turn back towards the finish an official abruptly stops myself and another marathoner and informs us that we didn't make the time cutoff and we have to complete the half marathon course.

I was livid. And the conversation went something like this:

Me- "NO!!!! NO!!!!!You can't do that!! The race started late! I'm MINUTES ahead of the 6 hour pacer."

Race official- "I'm sorry, I can't let you continue."

Me- "NO!!! NO! You !&*#$ ?%7*?!?^!? !?$$&&7!? ! How can you do that!?! I'm ahead of the pacer!?!?! I'm going, please let me go!!!"

Race official- sighs "OK, I didn't see you....go."

Now, I have to digress her for a second. In my 27 years on earth I have never really screamed at someone. Harsh words, possible elevating tone, but not like a full out scream. All that changed on Sunday. I REALLY ripped into that Race Official, and I honestly felt bad about it later. He was just trying to do his job, and I screamed at him and said things that were, um..... pretty freaking bad.

But anyway, I kept going but I was totally on edge after that. I was worried I was going to end up getting pulled from the course now because I screamed at the official (because yeah, it was bad). But I was also angry, that it was completely unfair. Then I quickly thought that for some reason Nathan and my friends that were supposed to meet up with me at later points in the race would hear that they started turning runners around at the 10 mile and would assume that I got turned around too. I grabbed my phone and called Jamie because I knew she probably had her headset in and would hear the phone. I quickly told her they tried to turn me around, but I kept going and to let Nathan know to continue.

The race quickly got very, very lonely. This particular event had 12,500 half marathon runners, 3,000 marathon runners, and 400 marathon relay teams, so once I broke away from the half marathon runners the course was pretty empty. At this point, I was running through Forest Park. I was still making incredible time and realized that I was close to hitting the halfway point and that I was going to easily going to beat my last half marathon time by a couple minutes.

Right before mile 14 things started going downhill though. I was starting to feel the heat that I wasn't used to running in and then I started feeling nauseous. At this point Nathan was with me and I told him I was feeling rough. I then started to panic a bit. I was drinking water but by now what was in my bottle and what was at the aid stations was warm. Nathan offered to ride ahead of me and go to a gas station to buy cold water, but I told him I didn't want him to leave me.

At mile 15 I was so relieved to see, Jordan, another friend that offered to run with me. I told him things were going kind of rough. Jordan told me I looked like I was doing good. The next few miles were all kind of a blur. We hit lots of hills. LOTS.

I couldn't run up most of them, so while I tried to stick to my planned walking breaks, it didn't always happen. I tried to get some speed on the downhills as much as I could, but it was tough. I was still nauseous and hot. At some point in the next few miles, the 6 hour pacer caught up to us. I tried to stay with him but it just wasn't happening. My legs were getting cramped and I was pretty sure I had a toe bleeding because my feet were in pain.

At this point, I felt pretty defeated. The cutoff team was ahead of me and even with Jordan doing awesome to keep me going I knew I couldn't catch them and maintain that pace for the rest of the race. We were hitting more and more hills and they just didn't' seem to end. The "sag" wagon pulled up beside us and asked me if I planned on completing the race. I thought, Oh God, this is it, they are pulling me off the course. I said, "Yeah, I want to complete it if that is OK." Yeah, I don't know where that girl was that screamed at that race official two hours earlier, cause at this point I was a totally different person. Sag wagon nodded and proceeded to hang out behind us for about a half a mile more. He then pulled up and told me he had a few runners that he needed to drop off and he would come find me in about 30 minutes in case I couldn't continue.

Even with the defeated feeling lingering, I was still in a pretty good head space. I had ran an amazing 13+ miles and was so happy about how I had done thus far. At around mile 20 Jamie met up with us again and I was still nauseous, hot, and cramped but by now the cramping was happening from my shoulders to my feet. My heart rate was still high considering how much I had been walking. I really wanted to throw up and thought I was going to a couple times but it wasn't happening.

Another van pulled up and Race Director/Official (Mike) jumped out I because I had read the rules 1000 times I know exactly what he was going to say. He told me that I could finish the race but I wasn't going to get a medal, finish time, and I would have to take a detour because they had to open back up Forest Park Parkway and their weren't sidewalks I could go on. When he said the part about not getting the medal my heart hurt just a little. It sucked to go through everything I was going through and not get a medal. But I told him that I was aware of the rules and I did want to continue. I thanked Jordan for everything (he had already been with me a lot longer than we had planned) and he went ahead and left since Jamie and Nathan were both with me. Jamie ran to get me a bagel thinking it may help the nauseous feeling and Nathan continued on with me. The bagel did help with the nausea, but the cramps were still there and getting worse.

The last few miles were the worst, my whole body was tense and the heat was just awful at this point. Nathan left Jamie and I at around 24 to ride ahead and let the people waiting at the finish line know that yes, in fact, I was still coming. When Jamie and I finally got to the last block and we could see the finish line, Jamie convinced me to run the last part in. As I was getting a few hundred yards away Race Official Mike pulled up in his van and told me he was happy that I finished. I thanked him best I could and continued on over the finish line as my mom ran up to greet me.

(Even though it's super shaky....Nathan apologizes, he told me he was excited....here is the finish line video. That white van on the right is Race Official Mike)

I tried to get happy and excited, but I was soooo exhausted. (as you can see from the video) It was so good to see my mom though. She was just beaming with pride and was very happy to give me (drumroll please) A FINISHER MEDAL!!!

From what my mother told me, she had been waiting at the finish for me and the volunteers had thought the last runner had finished so they were going to start packing up. When she informed them that I was still out there and I WOULD be finishing. Not only did a volunteer offer her a medal to give me, but the guy doing the timing left the mat up, and the volunteers said they were happy to leave the finish line up. An EMT even stuck around to make sure I wasn't dehydrated or collapsing. I was shocked and so happy about this, and it certainly made my day.

Also cheering me on at the finish and taking pictures were Kristal, Chad, and baby Isaac, who had been patiently waiting awhile for me to finish. Kristal managed to get this picture of my mom and I and even though I have total ugly cry face, it's still one of those amazing moments I am really glad was captured.
My Garmin time was 6:40:14..... yep, way past my goal time of 6 hours because of all the walking I had to do. At this point, I'm going to get brutally honest with you about how I feel about the marathon. I am so proud of myself for completing it. I truly did give this race everything that I had, but it still didn't turn out the way I wanted it to and I see three major reasons why this is the case:

1. The heat. I don't care what anyone says, with the combination of full sun and the temp it was HOT on Sunday. And because none of my training had ever been done in that kind of weather, it killed me.
2. The hills. If you are a long time reader of this blog you know that hills scare me. For the first 14 miles of the course I feel like I rocked the hills. I was especially proud of myself for not giving up on the ever scary Forest Park hills. But when I hit Clayton and the hills just kept coming and coming and coming, it killed me. I knew hills would be a challenge, but I wasn't at all prepared for the challenge of this course... I admit it.
3. I had really been burnt out on running for a good month. Don't get me wrong, I do love running, but it became painfully obvious that I wasn't in love with marathon training. Even when I switched to what I thought would be a better plan for me, it still seems like I lost a lot of my running love. I think mentally I wasn't prepared for the race and a lot of it had to due with the burn out. But that isn't to say if #1 and 2 didn't happen that this would have been my demise, but I think the combination of the 3 really hurt me.

What it all comes down to though, is that I did complete it. Again, being brutally honest, part of me feels like I was a bit of a let down (to others, not really myself) for walking so much at the end, and I know I am not beaming with pride and calling myself a marathoner because of this, but I still feel like a completed an honest race and I didn't have much more or anything left of myself to give. I am just going to have to learn to deal with the fact that to the running community may not think my marathon was as much of an accomplishment because I walked so much. But, I just need to get over that. In 18 weeks I accomplished great things, and I need to focus on that and not what others have accomplished.

So many people have asked me if I would do another marathon. At this point, I can't really imagine going through the training again, but I'm still in a place of being really burnt out. The plan now is just to get my running love back, because at this point, it's gone. I'm going back to basics and going to try and get out of run/walk intervals and into more running with a fluent pace. I'm planning on a couple half marathons in the Fall and then I'll just go from there. I also REALLY want to start triathlon training, but it's an expensive sport and I know jumping into it too quick will just cause more burnout. However, I did just purchase a nice bike and plan on doing more cycling.

Now, I know this post is already a novel, but there is no way I could have made it through today without some amazing people helping me, so I'm gonna take this chance to say thank you.

I have some great dailymile friends that have been not only helpful but inspiring in my training. All of them are awesome, but a special thank you to Ann B., Christopher B., Doug M., Ali W., Samantha, and Jason E. You guys have all at one point or another kept me going.

To all my friends that recorded messages for during the race. I laughed, cried, and enjoyed them during race and I still am. They were all so awesome, thank you for recording them.

To Sarah, you have been such a good friend the last few weeks and you truly helped me keep my sanity and I was overjoyed that you were able to run with me on some of my "good" miles. I can't wait to do the 20 mile walk with you. And of course, Sunday couldn't have worked without your amazing husband. :)

To Lauren, if I ever had any doubts about myself or my abilities I just had to think that you were one of my biggest fans. It kept me going more than you know, and I can't wait to be at the starting line with you of a half marathon, because you are doing one! :)

To Kristal, thanks for doing Couch to 5k, because if you hadn't I probably never would have started. You have made me feel like I could do anything, your confidence in me has been a blessing.

To Ali, you are the greatest cheerleader a runner could ever ask for. I could always depend on you to give amazing running advice and do whatever I needed to feel confident in my abilities. I'll never forget the first time I ran outside was with you in South City (that was only 11 months ago, that's CRAZY!!!), you were a huge help then and a huge help now. Thanks for calming me down and keeping me sane.

To Jordan, thank you for your company, stories, and laughter as you ran beside me on Sunday. I would of had a very scary several miles had you not been there, and I truly mean that I have no idea how I can ever repay you for the support that you gave me for those 5 miles.

To Jamie, I don't even know where to begin.....in the last year of marathon training you have truly seen me at my best and my worst. Sunday you were the most patient friend anyone could ever ask for. Thanks for getting me a bagel, putting up with that annoying chick, and keeping me calm those last few miles. I have no idea where I would be without your friendship and support.

And finally to my amazing husband, Nathan. You probably won't read this, but I love you so much and after Sunday, you definitely get husband of the year. I would have been lost without you and certainly would have died of thirst. I'm sorry you only got two hours of sleep on Saturday night, but if you hadn't been there Sunday, I don't think I would have finished the race. I can't wait to cheer you on in your bike race next month.

If you are still with me at this point, thanks for reading and the support. :)

Quick update from a Marathon finisher!

2010-04-12T09:28:00.002-05:00

I plan on writing a much bigger, longer post with pics and perhaps some video. But here's the quick cliff notes version I posted on my dailymile page:

I COMPLETED THE MARATHON!!! Wow, what a race. I did amazing the first half (went too fast though), PRing by a couple minutes, but around mile 15 I started declining quickly. It was wayyy hotter than I had trained in which kept making me feel like I was going to vomit. And I wasn't prepared for all the hills in Clayton and U city. By mile 20 my entire body from my feet to my shoulders were cramped, but I was determined to finish even if I had to crawl across the finish.

Because Go! has a 13:44 per mile time cutoff, I had to move to the sidewalks at mile 20 and take a detour off the course at one point (because of not being able to get on FP parkway), but I have to give huge props to the race director that coached me back to the finish line. He was so supportive and met up with me at least 6 different times on the course. Right before I finished he pulled up in his van and told me he was really happy that I stuck it out.

I crossed the finish line with a great group of people waiting for me. I don't know how she did it, but my mom managed to talk the crew into keeping up the finish line and saving out a medal for me.

Even though I didn't finish when I wanted to or how I wanted to, I still finished. Do I wish the race had gone better? Of course. But am I still proud of what I accomplished? Absolutely.

Time to get a little more positive!

2010-04-07T20:21:00.002-05:00

You know what instantly makes me feel better? Surrounding myself with friends that love and believe in me. Genius, right?

Last night I was fortunate enough to have a bunch of really great people in my house for dinner and to help me with a small "project". Near the beginning of my training, my awesome husband, Nathan, came up with the idea to record my family and friends saying messages that he would convert into mp3s and put on my iPod for during the race. I LOVED the idea. So last night I cooked a massive amount of lasagna and a bunch of my really good friends came over to help me carb load and do some recording.

I am not listening to any of the messages before Sunday, but everyone got super creative and really into the whole thing. I had a friend bring a banjo, one wrote out a speech and another recorded a message that was well over 6 minutes long. I am so excited to hear them and I think it will be a great distraction and awesome motivation for the race.

Even though I didn't hear the messages, everyone that was in my home was just so encouraging. I lost count on the number of times I heard them say they were proud of me, they thought it was awesome, etc. I cannot even begin to express how much I needed last night. I have always had an amazing support system in my friends and family, but last night just opened my eyes to how many people are behind me completing the race. Am I still nervous? Absolutely. But I feel so, so good about the race now and I know I wouldn't have gotten that attitude change without last night.

So if you were at my house last night. Thank you...you all are the greatest and I feel so much better about the race.

The Marathon is Sunday

2010-04-05T21:41:00.003-05:00

I expected to write this post later in the week, but what the heck, no time like the present. I apologize as I know it is going to be a little all over the place, but that is kind of how my mind is working right now.

If you couldn't tell from my last post, I am pretty burnt out on running. In all honesty, I have been for the last few weeks and it's finally hitting me super hard. Not much of me is excited for this Marathon on Sunday and that really upsets me. I really want my running joy back. Even getting personal bests on my short routes doesn't excite me, and that used to make my day (or week).

In order to get in a better head space I have been trying to remind myself of why I decided to do the Marathon in the first place. More than anything I wanted to do the Marathon because I thought if I could do it, then I could do anything. After running a Marathon it seemed like nothing would be impossible for me.

This Marathon isn't impossible. Just because the last few weeks haven't been great doesn't mean that I can't do it. I just need to keep reminding myself of that and beat it into my brain. I need to think over and over that 15 months ago that running 3 minutes seemed impossible and that I kept going. I need to think about those completely humbling times that someone told me I was an inspiration to them.

The last week has been a roller coaster of emotion. I have completely flipped out and considered unofficially dropping down to the half Marathon because of the last few weeks. But if I do that, I know I would never forgive myself for not at least trying. For my sanity, I need to give everything I have on Sunday, and if for some reason it isn't good enough, I just need to know that I gave everything I could and I can move on with no regrets. In fact, I think No Regrets is the new motto for my Marathon. I may write it on my arm or pin something on the back of my shirt that says, "Please cheer at me and say, No Regrets!" so that random Marathon watchers can remind me of my pledge.

Thank you to all of you for sticking around during this crazy time in my life. Those of you that have taken the time out to say something encouraging have meant the world to me. I certainly I hope I make you proud and cross the finish line fist pumping and having ran with No Regrets.

I don't care what you say...Marathon training SUCKS!

2010-03-14T14:33:00.001-05:00

Seriously.

Sure, I'm confident that once I make it to the finish line I will have an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, but right now all I can think about is the fact that I have one more week and a 20 mile run to make it to when I start to taper.

THANK GOD.

Yesterday I ran 18 miles in the park. That was over four hours in the wind, rain, and cold. (Ok... it wasn't that cold...but cold for March!) The first 10 miles I felt great. Then around 13 my mind started taking over. My legs started to hurt and my ever present foot pain started making itself more apparent. Yesterday would have been one of those great days to curl up with a blanket, watch a movie, and maybe even take a nap. But instead I was outside being super sweaty and battling a headache in the midst of running. Fun times right??

Now, in fairness to Mr. Marathon, I can't be all negative. Training for the marathon has been a great way to get in shape. Even though not many people have noticed (or at least not said anything) I am totally getting smaller. I can see my stomach shrinking and seeing lines I never thought I would see. And I've gotten little victories here and there that have helped my self-esteem.

I think it is going to be nice to get a little free time back. Even with switching to a lower intensity training plan, I still spent a good 8 or more hours a week running or doing cross training. Not to mention the hours upon hours agonizing about where I am going to run, the weather, my foot pain, and what I am eating. Does anyone know how many rules there are for eating while in training for a marathon!? I mean it's insane. I can't even begin to tell you how confusing meal planning has been. And after this marathon I don't think I will want to see any sport beans for a very, very long time.

I am pretty confident that after April 11th I won't be doing any more full marathons for a long time. I really enjoy doing half marathons, so I think I may stick to those for awhile and try and get some of my sanity back.

I haven't given up yet....

2010-02-21T18:58:00.002-06:00

I haven't given up on the fact that one day I will have the time and energy to get back into a regular blogging schedule. I also haven't given up on the marathon.

I've had some ups and downs with training, and have definitely missed a few of my runs during the week. I've even had serious thoughts of stopping training completely, but I haven't. Last week I made the decision to change training plans to one that was specifically made for runners that are doing planned run/walk intervals. The plan is by Coach Jenny Hadfield and strangely enough when I was training for the half with one of Hal Higdon's plans (as I am now) I ended up switching to one by Coach Jenny as well. For the rest of this training, I will be following a plan similar to this one. I will be using the intervals I use currently (which are longer), switching up some days, and probably cutting out one of the days of cross training. It is a lot lower in intensity and mileage during the week, which make me a little nervous about being fully prepared for the marathon, but at this point, I'm willing to take the risk for what seems like a training plan that fits me a lot better.

The first week of the new training plan has gone great! I had a disaster 15 mile run a week ago, so I spent a good part of the week psyching myself up for my 16 mile run on Saturday and trying to find a new route to run that would help me not be so bored. Because doing anything for 3+ hours can get pretty boring, and I really think that was most of the reason my 15 mile run was a diaster. Nathan suggested we travel across the river to Grafton, IL and utilize the bike trail that runs along the Great River Road. What started out as a casual idea turned into a small weekend getaway for us, which proved to be just what we both needed.

Even though I wasn't as fast as I would have liked, the 16 mile run went great. I had great weather and an awesome husband that met up with me on his bike and filled up my water bottle. A woman stopped me at mile 15.5 and told me she saw me 3 hours ago and wondered how long I had been running. When I told her I was marathon training she told me she thought it was just awesome. It was a quick moment, but made me feel great.

I spent the remainder of the weekend eating, drinking, and being marry with my fabulous husband. I got to eat at one of my favorite restaurants and soak in a jacuzzi tub while drinking wine. Not a bad way to top off a great run!

The next few weeks are going to be a challenge, but I keep telling myself that if I can do 16 miles then I can do 18. And if I can do 18 I can do 20, and according to all the experts, if you can run 20 miles at the end of training you can run 26.2.

Mish Mash

2010-01-24T19:11:00.002-06:00

Oh, lots to update....

I ran my second half marathon yesterday. For some reason, I was super nervous. Even more nervous than when I ran my first half. I think the main reason was because I went into this one with pretty high expectations. I felt like I had to beat my previous time. Correction.... I felt like I had to smash my last time of 3:01:20. Well, I don't quite feel like I smashed it, but I am happy with my 2:54:31. The hills on the course were INSANE, and I had no idea they would be that bad. Good practice for the full marathon for sure, since I have always been concerned about the hills.

The last couple of weeks, I had been having some foot and leg pain. The side of my foot had been on and off uncomfortable ever since my 10 mile run on the treadmill. And my legs had felt tired and heavy for a week. I was really worried that I was in the midst of a something serious. But I was equally as nervous to back off of training to try and take care of the issue. Luckily neither were an issue this weekend. My legs are a bit sore today, but my foot pain is almost nonexistent.

I also didn't feel like I was mentally prepared for this one. I have talked before about how I don't like to talk about work on my blog, but now it seems almost unavoidable. I found out this week that my position is going to be eliminated in somewhere between 45 to 90 days. While I am upset about the news, having the heads up is a big relief. Also, my company is going to be looking for a different place to put me (of course, no guarantees), but they were kind enough to let me know that if I wanted to start pursuing other positions outside the company they understood.

So I am now actively looking for a new job in what is probably one of the worst times to be looking for one. I am a tad freaked, but again the heads up is nice. I am just going to take it one day at a time and stay positive.

Just so I don't end this on a sad note, I had the absolute best Sunday. Slept in, did some major cleaning, and enjoyed a couple beers and a Sybergs Famous Salad. I sat back and realized I ran another half marathon yesterday. How cool is that!?!

Another week done!

2010-01-10T19:13:00.002-06:00

I am so happy to report that another week of Marathon training is done! This week was definitely the hardest thus far with my total mileage being 21 miles! 21!!!

I can easily say this week had the most difficult long run I've ever done. Because of a negative wind chill on Saturday I chose to do my long run at the gym on the treadmill. I can deal with the treadmill for short runs or kinda long runs of 5-6 miles, but 10 miles is a completely different story. Besides, from Tuesday on I wasn't feeling 100% and I was feeling really nauseous on my runs. Not an ideal combo for sure.

I started the run and managed to keep the first 5 miles at my goal long run pace (13 minute mile) I didn't break intervals once...after that I started feeling not so fab. The gym was on the warm side and I was having some cold sweats while I was burning up. Miles 6 and 7 were a tad slower, but after mile 7 I felt like a train wreck. I had to break intervals and slow my pace, which is a bad combo. I picked up a bit towards the end and did a few sprints like I always try to do, but I didn't have near the energy I normally do.

(This next paragraph is a tad TMI...skip on if needed)

I got off the treadmill and I was soaked. Easily more soaked then when I ran the Half Marathon outside in mid September, and I was wearing the exact same outfit! I had so much sweat dripping down my legs it looked like I had peed all over myself. This has totally happened to me before but I don't think it has ever been so heavy.

But I was done...THANK GOD. I was devastated at my performance. I met up with Nathan just as he was completing his 26 miles on the bike (go Nathan!!!) and I started explaining to him my run. I went from a not devastated place to a mixed feeling place which I am still experiencing.

Here's the deal, for some reason, in my mind I feel like I need to do the marathon in as close to a 13 minute mile pace that I possibly can. Now, I know what all you runners are going to say, that the goal of the first Marathon is to finish. Yes, I get that. But unfortunately, when the race you are running has a 13:45 cut off pace, you have to be concerned about when you are going to finish. Plus, I think that regardless, 99% of Marathon runners give themselves a time goal. I came up with mine because doing a 13 minute mile has enough of a buffer that if something does go wrong like a side stitch or something, I have enough time to pace through it. So if I can't manage the 13 minute mile pace for a 10 mile run, I see a problem. Plus, I didn't even run any hills!

Of course, I do always try to focus on the positive and I certainly see the upside. 10 miles on the treadmill is some tough stuff. And not every run is going to be perfect, so I need to cut myself some freaking slack. My average pace was about 13:30, so I guess you could say it wasn't terrible considering I felt "off" all week.

I guess the jury is still out on this one....

How could I forget?

2010-01-03T19:01:00.002-06:00

I can't believe that in my Week 4 summary I so carelessly brushed over one very important event. While running my midweek "kinda long" run I was doing some wardrobe adjusting and then, "BAM!" I fell on the treadmill. Luckily I had been walking an interval at the time and was able to catch myself before doing a full out body slam on the belt. The gym wasn't very crowded but I am sure at least a couple people noticed. I just kind of shook it off and did my final 1.25 miles.

When I was done I walked up to Nathan on the other side of the gym and told him what had happened. He was quite concerned and said, "Are you okay?"
Me: "Yeah, I'm fine, I caught myself...
Nathan: "Did anyone see you?"
Me: "Well, yeah, I'm sure someone did, but no one ran up to me or anything."
Nathan: "Oh, honey, I'm sorry, you must have been so embarrassed!"
Me: (without skipping a beat) "Embarrassed no, but I'm pissed because I was doing a fast pace and the treadmill reset when I fell!"
Nathan: (laughs) "Only you wouldn't get upset about public humiliation like that and be more concerned about your time."

Hmmm....maybe that's dedication?

Week 4 is done!

2010-01-02T20:17:00.004-06:00

I am so happy to write the title of this post. I knew this week would be a bit of a challenge, particularly with the 9 mile long run.

I pretty much stalk the weather forecast now and all week it seemed like Saturday was going to be pretty cold. As in a high of 20 and a low of 7. Those temperatures scared the bejesus out of me, but I knew that doing 9 miles on the treadmill was doing to be really tough and I knew deep down I needed to get outside and start braving the cold.

All day Friday I was psyching myself up for the run. Nathan was helping and convincing me that it really wouldn't be THAT bad and he would be experiencing it right there with me. Remember in a previous post I mentioned that Nathan was doing a training activity? Well, Nathan decided to take up cycling. When he told me that he was thinking about it I was overjoyed. We have a few friends that love cycling, so I figured that would be one good motivation to continue. The only downside, bikes are EXPENSIVE. My frugal self died a little inside when Nathan went with one of our friends to look at bikes and the one he loved was $500. Of course, I couldn't in good conscience I couldn't object to him getting it. Not only have I easily spent that much on my running habit, but Nathan is working as a DJ so he was been contributing more to our finances lately.

Anyway, after a quick stop to get some cold weather accessories, we set out to put in our mileage. I was running 9 and Nathan planned on biking 25. As I started I was cold, but not miserable. The only part of me that was really freezing was my lips and nose. After a couple of miles I was cold, but managed to stay comfortable. The only really tough part is that for the entire run my legs felt heavy due to the cold. I did my full 9 miles, and Nathan made it 15 (25 was a little ambitious IMO).

Yesterday was definitely a challenge, but I feel really good about the run overall. My average pace was 12:48, which is great because I try to keep my long runs at about 13 minutes per mile. And I ran 19 miles this week, which is exciting in itself.

Week 5 is two 3 mile runs, a 5 mile run, a 10 mile run, and cross training. Like Week 4 I am a bit scared (and sore!) going into it, but I am ready. BRING IT ON WEEK 5!!!

Remember 29 in 09?

2010-01-01T19:35:00.003-06:00

Last year I came up with the idea of 29 in 09. A list of things I wanted to do in 2009. I didn't pass with flying colors....let's review shall we?

1. Make/start at least 4 cheeses besides mozzarella.
I tried to start batches of cream cheese and goat cheese but neither was successful. Cheese making is pretty time consuming and I just never found enough downtime to do as much as I wanted to do with it.

2. Plant a veggie garden.
DONE!

3. Host at least one gathering a month can be big or small just must involve good friends.
DONE! I am pretty sure we surpassed the once a month rule. ;)

4. Develop an accurate budget tracking system.
Yep, I did this, but I don't keep up with it, so I don't really count it as an accomplishment.

5. Workout at least 3 days a week at the gym or doing some kind of physical activity.
BIG TIME DONE! When I made these I had no idea I would start running, doing 3 days a week became very easy once I started half marathon training.

6. Start taking classes either towards my Masters or to learn something new.
I didn't really get to take any classes of any kind in 09 :(

7. Install a fence.
DONE! It's great and the dogs love it!

8. Get another dog.
DONE! Lila has been a great addition to our lives.

9. Teach a friend how to cook.
DONE! I gave a few lessons including bread and cheese. I think my friends enjoyed them.

10. Reorganize and deep clean the kitchen.
DONE! By now it needs another good clean, but the reorganization has been working out great!

11. Write at least 3 blogs a week.
Ah, FAIL!

12. Organize all closets.
Another fail...although Nathan is working on this project because he had some vacation time at the end of the year.

13. Buy a digital camera.
DONE! A friend gave me an old one and then my in laws bought my husband and I a great little Nikon for Christmas this year.

14. Cancel our cable.
FAIL! I don't see this one happening in the near future like I had hoped.

15. Visit family more.
I did better this year, but not near what I was hoping for when I wrote this post originally, FAIL!

16. Use more natural cleaning methods.
DONE!

17. Make homemade produce bags.
FAIL!

18. Do a blog makeover.
FAIL!

19. Get more then just a basic knowledge of Excel.
FAIL, it's better but still not where it should be.

20. Start composting.
DONE!

21. Finish the Twilight series.
DONE!

22. Find a good church and actually go.
FAIL!

23. Try at least one new wine a month.
DONE!

24. Organize recipes into binder.
DONE!

25. Go camping at least 4 times this year.
FAIL!

26. Take a long weekend trip with Nathan besides camping.
FAIL!

27. Comment more on blogs
FAIL!

28. Keep my home office more organized.
At one point it was awesome, but now it is a disaster again.

29. Make a successful sourdough bread and stop buying sandwich bread from the store
FAIL!

That final score ends up being 13 completed with the rest being complete failures or partial failures. Yikes....

I will say that regardless this year was fabulous. I don't love admitting defeat on these things, but my year changed dramatically and my priorities changed on many things. When I look back on 2009 I smile and feel very lucky to have some many good people and things in my life.

What does 2010 hold? It's just hard to say. If this past year has proved anything to me it's that how I think the year will go in January is rarely the case. I hope that my year is filled with my personal triumphs and continued blessings.

Happy New Year!!!

Week 3 of Marathon training is done!!!

2009-12-28T12:04:00.002-06:00

I can't believe that 3 weeks of marathon training are already done!!! I feel awesome so far....I skipped one short run in week 2, but other than that I have managed to do stick to the schedule with just doing some minor day shifting. I even managed to stick to my plan over Christmas, which makes me very proud.

Unfortunately, I've been a big wimp and have been running mostly on the treadmill, but this Saturday I am forcing myself to go outside on a 20 degree day and do my long run. I know it is going to be a challenge, but I know I can do it.

I am trying my best to stay focused week by week so I don't get overwhelmed. So far that strategy has been working really well, I just need to continue to remind myself that even though scary high mileage runs between 14-20 miles are in my future, I will be working up to those and I just need to think about my 9 mile run this week. 9 miles is certainly scary, but not unheard of since I just ran 7 miles last week.

That's it for now....I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and was able to have some great days with family and friends!

I'm back with some updates

2009-12-19T18:33:00.007-06:00

Before I even start, thanks if you kept faith and didn't delete me off your Google Reader or completely give up on me ever blogging again. The reasons for my absence have been multiple. I'm quite busy with my job. Like usual, I'm following my own rule and not going into it on this blog, but it's certainly be keeping me busy.

Another big reason is my own writing "hang-ups". I have written several posts in the past few weeks and either never completed them or re-read them and felt they were boring or just rambled on. I haven't had much exciting or extraordinary happening in my life, so that doesn't make for the best post material.

And, of course, running is keeping me busy. I have been running more frequently and longer the past few weeks. I have also tried to stay consistent with doing weights and cross training. I am really liking pushing myself a little more and I can feel myself improving with every week that I am putting forth an effort.

Which leads me to a small announcement.....I have decided to train for the Go! St. Louis FULL Marathon. It wasn't an easy decision by any means, but I know without a doubt, that it is deep down something that I really want to do. I do have some fears though.

Fear #1- The hills. Go! St. Louis is not a flat race. I primarily run flat races, so this makes me nervous. I am trying to view it as a small challenge that I can overcome, but it is still a fear regardless.

Fear #2- The time cut off. Go! isn't a very walker friendly course. It has a time cutoff of 13:45 and it shuts down progressively according to the time cut off. I ran the half in September at right about 13:45, so I need to improve my pace to make sure I wouldn't get kicked off the course.

Fear #3- Training will be too intense and I won't be able to handle it. Many experts would advise someone to have been running for a longer length of time before starting Marathon training. While I have this fear, honestly I think if I can just get myself to continue to dig deep I will be able to handle the training.

Now unto some positives:

Positive #1- I have the time to dedicate to training. One major perk of my job is that I work early in the morning and I am finished usually in the early to mid afternoon. Even though I have to go to bed fairly early, I still have a good chunk of the day to train after work. Who knows what the future could hold and how long I will have such a great schedule for training so I should take advantage of it while I can.

Positive #2- I have an amazing support system that are willing to cheer me on during my training. I have already told some family and friends I am Marathon training and they are beyond supportive. Most importantly, Nathan is completely on board. He has even started his own (non running) training activity, but that deserves a separate post in the future. :)

Positive #3- My pace is getting better. It is a slow improvement for sure, but when I look back on my dailymile page and see my run progress, my pace is steadily improving. It not only is a great sense of accomplishment, but also an indication to me that I the effort I am putting in is paying off.

Positive #4- I work better with a training plan and a race set in the future. In between races when I am not on a official training plan I have noticed that I don't run with the same intensity and desire. Just committing to the marathon and working on a set training plan with an end in mind keeps me motivated and on track.

Positive #5- This one isn't the easiest to put in print, but I think many women find times in their life they aren't 100% satisfied with their bodies. I've been in that category for the majority of my life. Obviously, training for a marathon is going to stretch me to physical limits and even if my weight on the scale doesn't change too much, I know my body will change even more that it already is now.

Even though the fears are in my mind, they do not outweigh the positives. In fact, they don't even come close. I know that big obstacles will hit me at various points. I may get injured and have to stop training or I may make it all the way to the race and not finish before the time cut off. I am taking these and many other things in, but I am accepting that I can't deal with the problems until they arise.

Now that the news is "out" I really hope that posts start coming easier. To be honest, I've know for awhile now that I was going to train for the full in April, but I was apprehensive to post about my decision for various reasons. But at this point, I feel like I need the support and encouragement from my blog readers that I have come to love.

Stay tuned for what I am sure will be a very interesting trip to 26.2!

Overkill

2009-11-24T15:58:00.007-06:00

Since my last post was not at all running related, I figured today was acceptable to go back to what this blog has slowly turned into..Teresa's running diary. And just so you know, I have been working on this post since Monday, but I've had very little free time....that's why it is coming to you on this fabulous Thanksgiving.

If I were to describe the past weekend in one word that word would be overkill. For over a month I knew I was going to be running a Marathon Relay on Sunday. The way the relay worked was a team of four ran two 3.25 laps. For some reason, I felt like running 6.5 miles in one day wasn't really running a long run because it was split up by roughly an hour and a half. And since I always do a long run on the weekends as part of my training, I felt like I needed to do a my normal long run besides the relay.

Originally I had planned on doing my long run on Friday afternoon, but a work project and laziness got the best of me, and I decided the best plan would be to run late morning on Saturday. I knew it may not have been the best idea because of the race the next day, but I was still convinced I needed to get a long run in. I realized on my way to my destination that I forgot my heart rate watch. I was a little bummed because ever since the half I have really relied on the watch to keep me going, but I just shruged it off because I wasn't planning on pushing too hard anyway.

I did my warm up and set out to do my 5 miles. I felt great the whole time and I really had no concept as to my pace because I was just keeping my intervals as normal. At the end of the run, I looked at the timer on my phone and I was shocked. Usually if I stay around a 13 minute mile for a long run I am happy, but upon glancing at my time I realized I did closer to a 12 minute mile. It was a 12:12 to be exact.

Unknowningly pushing myself on Saturday led to a difficult race on Sunday. As soon as the gun went off I realized that I was completely out of my league. Within a minute every runner in the pack was a hundred yards in front of me. At first I was a tad embarassed, especially because the first quarter of mile passed back over the start line and all the other teams saw that I was way behind everyone else. I tried to shake it off though, because I am now pretty good at not comparing myself to other runners.The first lap I had a 12:23 pace, which I would have probably been overjoyed with had it not been for my Saturday pace.

I did a short cool down walk but didn't stretch, which was a bad idea since, again, I had about an hour and a half between laps. I started lap 2 fairly strong, but at the end of the first mile my legs were VERY tired. The last mile or so ended up being close to misery. I was completely discouraged when I finished and realized I ran a 13:04 pace.

Thinking back to Sunday I really shouldn't have been displeased with running a 13 minute mile. Sure, it wasn't even close to my best time, but it is a big jump in progress. And I am blown away that I ran 11.5 miles in one weekend. Many times I don't even run that in a week!

I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving weekend. :)

A great week ahead

2009-11-23T15:30:00.002-06:00

Of course I expect every week of my life to be fabulous or at least pretty close to it, but this week has a special place in my heart. Not only are we only days away from the Thanksgiving (yay for food and family!), but this week also is my 4th wedding anniversary.

I have gotten asked quite a few times in the last several days if we are doing anything special to celebrate. While we aren't going out to a fancy dinner or having a weekend getaway, we will be celebrating in our own little way by putting up our Christmas tree and ornaments.

If you are a long time reader of this blog you may remember this post. The third paragraph is about how our guest "book" at our wedding was assorted ornaments that our guests signed with little messages. Now when we put up our tree we sort of revisit the fabulous day we got married. Last year, Nathan and I recalled so many memories that it proved to be an evening mixed with romance and laughter. I am really looking forward to doing that this weekend.

I am also hoping that I will get a little bit of relaxation time during the long weekend. We are crazy busy with family events, but I am still hopeful to get in sometime for some reading and possibly movie/DVR watching.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope your holiday is filled with lots of good food and love. :)

Just a day, just an ordinary day....

2009-11-09T19:18:00.004-06:00

All too often I have used the phrase, "My life would be perfect if it wasn't for..." and whatever would complete the sentence would be whatever was getting me down that week. Many, many times it was work, other times it was money, and on the most rare occasions it was a crazy doggie. :)

In previous posts on this blog I have written that I was striving to have a more positive attitude. Sometimes I strayed from this line of thinking, but in the last few weeks of my life I have really been doing some soul searching and have expanded on my thinking.

I know people say this all the time, but life has no guarantees. So many things can happen that turn your life upside down from one day to the next. And yes, you have probably read that phrase 100 times in your life, but do you really get it? I'm sure some of you won't...unfortunately, I don't think most people do.

For the record, it doesn't matter how I came to this line of thinking. I could tell you some of the reasons and others I don't even know myself. But before anyone goes jumping to some crazy conclusions...no, I don't have any kind of disease or medical condition.

There are certain things in my life that suck. Plain and simple, some things suck. Regardless of the suckage, my life is still happening today. Therefore, I either have to deal with it and move on or I can spend today dwelling on it. I really don't see the point in the latter.

The past two weeks several people in my life have been taken a back by my sudden need to just tell them what I am feeling. Sometimes it was through email and was just a simple, "Hey, you did this, I noticed, and you are awesome." I also made an effort to tell someone very special in my life just how much they meant to me because I hadn't said it lately and I didn't know if I would be there the next day to say it. I plan on reminding myself to do this more, and even if someone else doesn't give me the same sentiment or even understand what I am saying, it doesn't really matter.

Have a great day, I hope you live it for all it is worth.

Local Pumpkin beers

2009-10-29T11:30:00.000-05:00

I have been"brewing" an idea for a future blog. I am really wanting to do a local (St. Louis and surrounding) pumpkin beer taste off. So far I have this list of contenders:

Schlafly
O'Fallon
Highlands
Trailhead
Charelville

Anyone else know of any other local places with pumpkin brew? Last I checked with Square One no one really knew if they were doing pumpkin this year.

Clearly, we are idiots

2009-10-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

My husband recently created a Facebook page last week to promote himself as a DJ. He has been checking it on and off on my laptop, but to near the degree that I check mine.

He also feels the need to tell me every time he goes on to Facebook, like I'm going to be proud or something. Last night I was hanging out on the couch and he plops down with my laptop and says, "Going on Facebook..." I don't pay much attention until he goes to his requests page and starts naming off all the applications and requests that have been waiting for him the past few days.

Then he starts not recognizing names. I recognize them, because many of them are internet friends or high school friends he has never met. Nathan is ranting about having to keep hitting ignore and getting some many requests in such a little time and I kept thinking, "Why did these people send Nathan this stuff...they aren't friends and he has never met them. I didn't even know you could send people those stupid things without being their friends in the first place!"

Two minutes later Nathan abruptly stops his rant and gets that look on his face. Those of you that are married know EXACTLY the look I am talking about. The, "I just did something really stupid and I am going to have to admit it to my wife."

"Uh, honey, I was signed in as you......so, um, I hope I didn't screw up your page....."

Clearly, we are idiots.

Roxie and Lila

2009-10-27T15:57:00.005-05:00

I really try hard to not play favorites with the dogs, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't tough. Roxie is technically Nathan's dog, and Lila is my dog. Technically being the key word. Because I am pretty partial to Roxie right now. Lila is still in the midst of her crazy puppy behaviors while Roxie really only has one major downfall. Anyone that has ever met Roxie knows this downfall. She jumps all over everyone and wants nothing more than to lick everyone to death. I would like to think she is getting better, but she still has a long way to go. But I digress.....

Anyway, Roxie is also a little more photogenic. While I do think Lila is cute, ever since Lila's ears have stayed up she looks like an alien dog. Case and point:

Total alien dog right? Yes, she's cute and totally lady like with her legs crossed (takes after her mother, obviously. But the crazy little face makes her look non-canine for sure.

But now we have Roxie. One of the cutest sleeping dogs ever! And if you have been reading the blog awhile you have seen some great Roxie pics of her smiling and cute in addition to sleeping.

So much weird cuteness I can barely stand it!!

I really do enjoy blogging, I swear!

2009-10-15T14:42:00.005-05:00

I have written at least half a dozen posts in the last 3 weeks and haven't completed a single one. I pretty much hated all of them, and just felt like I was rambling on and on and not being very entertaining therefore none of them were finished.

In simple terms, life is good. I've had a busy few weeks that have included lots of family and friends so that has been great. However, I am exhausted and realizing more and more that I am the type of person that needs to have more "free" days that include nothing more than doing a few things around the house, maybe an errand or two, and possibly going for a run.

Speaking of running, it is completely taking over my life. While you may think that is an exaggeration, it isn't far from the truth. I think about running all the time. I talk about running to friends, family, strangers I meet, really anyone that will listen. I don't know exactly how to put it into words, but I think running is becoming my new food.

I know that may sound confusing but if you know me in real life or have been reading this blog from its early beginnings, you know I am a self proclaimed foodie. I would think, read, and talk about food all the time. I enjoyed it, I obsessed over perfect recipes and I would get a ton of a rush from a perfected dish or a compliment on one of my dishes. While I still love to cook and still love a good recipe and a compliment I haven't really "thought" about food even half as much as I did a few months ago.

I don't foresee this change going away anytime soon, so I have been debating about starting a separate blog about my experiences running including some upcoming races. I personally never thought doing two blogs would be for me, but my running experiences are pretty far from what Eating, Drinking, and Being Married was originally supposed to be about. Then again, I think one of them getting neglected is a big possibility.

I'm completely torn so I would love anyone with thoughts on the matter to leave them in the comment section. Thanks!

It's the little things #3

2009-09-21T05:00:00.000-05:00

26. Lazy days that do not require getting out of pajamas
27. Finding a favorite red wine in a box (don't judge)
28. Perfecting a monthly budget
29. Doggie play dates that exhaust the puppies for days
30. Roku players/ the watch instantly on your TV options from Netflix

Questions answered

2009-09-20T11:41:00.003-05:00

Lauren asked a few questions in the comments section of my Lewis and Clark post.

First, more about the intervals. When I first started training I was using Hal Higdon's plan and following the distance, but was doing a mix of walking and running. For instance, if I needed to run 4 miles I would run 2 miles, walk 1 mile, then run another mile. As long as I was running over half the miles I was satisfied but I felt like I was really "running". The first week of August I decided to switch to a training plan that was designed specifically for people that were planning on Run/Walking the entire time. I used something similar to this plan by Coach Jenny Hadfield, but found that the run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute was still a little tough. Ultimately, during the half I ended up running 3 minutes, walking 2, running 4, walking 2. Personally, doing this type of program was a great mental help for me. I could push myself to run knowing that in less than a few minutes, I would be able to ease off and walk. Overall, doing intervals lead me to completing a faster time than doing a mile to mile mix of running and walking.

It also worked great for me due to the usage of the Routine Timer iPhone app. I just started my music and then opened the app and let it run continuously. I customized my program by picking sounds when I was supposed to change from running to walking and the routine would repeat for as many times as I needed it to. It could also be paused if I had to change my music or do something else on my iPhone. I also used the C25K app when I first started running and it was also helpful, working very similar to the routine timer.

My new goal is start transitioning out of intervals, but honestly, the intervals really saved me during the half and were the many reason I was able to go from never running to completing a half marathon in 8 months.

I hope that answers your question Lauren. :) I think it is awesome you are doing C25k! If anyone else has any questions feel free to ask.

The Lewis and Clark Half Marathon

2009-09-15T15:31:00.006-05:00

I feel like I have to start off by saying that Sunday was one of the greatest days of my life. Not kidding, folks. I would venture to say it is in the top 5. The half was AMAZING. I am not to modest to say that I kicked so much ass that more ass reinforcements had to be called in.

The day started off with me slightly nervous. Not terrible, and once I saw some familiar faces and listened to the annoying warm up DJ, most of the nervous feelings were gone.

After what seemed like a lot of waiting, the race finally began. I was in one of the last groups to get to the start so I was able to watch the huge crowd of runners going out of the parking lot, up a slight incline. It was such an incredible sight seeing the thousands of runners get onto the Earth City Expressway. I got chills, but quickly turned my focus to going through the start line myself.

It didn't take long for me to find a good open spot where I wouldn't bother anyone doing my run/walk intervals. There were a ton of people around but it wasn't so crowded I couldn't have my own space. The first few miles went by quite quickly. At mile 3, the course came to an intersection of a street where we had to loop around and come back about 2 miles. At this point, many of the runners in the 7 minute mile and higher were making their way back off the street. It was great to see the looks on the runners faces, the determination, and the cheers as they were coming opposite of us not so fast runners. :)

At mile 5 I looked down at my last minute gift from my husband (a watch/heart rate monitor) and realized I had completed 5 miles in 1 hr and 5 min. I was shocked. I had done my intervals the entire time and was still managing to maintain a 13 minute mile. I was over-freaking-joyed. While to some of you seasoned runners this will seem like a slow time, for me it is freaking awesome to maintain a 13 minute mile pace for 5 miles. I also got a little nervous that perhaps I was going to burn off all my energy quickly, but I felt good and was staying hydrated, so I decided to continue as I planned but figured it was inevitable that I would start going a bit slower as I grew more tired.

At mile 7 I came upon the few hills that were on the course. I continued to press on but really wasn't paying much attention to my time at this point, and just checking my heart rate every so often. Between mile 8 and 10 all the details are blurry. I remember focusing on some of the new music on my iPhone and the scenery because my legs were starting to feel really tired. I made conversation with another runner that looked friendly for a few minutes, but other than that I just attempted to not think about how much my legs hurt.

At mile 10 I checked my watch and almost screamed in shock. If I completed the last three miles in about 43ish minutes I would be at 3 hours. I kept thinking, "No way, that can't be right...I crossed the start 10 minute after the gun, so 7:15 + 10 min= 7:25 and it's now, blah, blah, blah......" I seriously did the math about 3 times because I figured the fatigue was just getting the best of me. But sure enough, if I could do 3 miles in a little under 45 minutes I would be at 3 hours.

Now I have to break into the story and share a little past info. A few weeks ago I wrote this post. What I didn't include in the post is that when I did the 13 miles it took me slightly over 3.5 hours. I wasn't super happy with it, and honestly wanted to finish in more like 3 hours, but realized that goal was REALLY not obtainable because knocking off a full half hour was very unrealistic.

But there I was at mile 10, seeing that my 3 hour goal was incredibly realistic. Yes, my legs were tired, I had enough sweat on me to water an entire garden, but I only had 3 miles left and nearly 45 minutes to do it in. At mile 11 I had been on the course for 2.5 hours. I again, doubted myself, did the math 3 times, and couldn't believe what was happening.

At mile 12 I was so filled with emotion I honestly didn't know what to do. I mean, I told my family not to show up before 10:30 because there was no way I was going to finish before that based on my run 3 weeks ago. I decided to call Nathan and tell him. Because really doesn't every runner in a half call their husband at the last mile? I decided that they did and put my iPhone up to my sweaty face.

Nathan of course, didn't answer. In a panic I called my friend (personal cheerleader) Ali and the convo went something like this,
Ali: "Um, hello?"
Me: (panting from the excitement and you know, the running) "Ali, Ali, I'm on the last mile!"
Ali: "It hasn't even been 3 hours yet!!!"
Me: "I know, but I'm gonna be there soon."
Ali: "Well, get off the phone and run."
Me: "I know!!!"

Nathan than called me back and I quickly explained to him that I was going to be at the finish in about 10 minutes. His response, "Well, your family is coming over here now."

I kept on and tried to continue intervals, but with all the phone calls I had turned off my app that helped me keep my intervals so my last half mile became very sporadic. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally started to see spectators near a finish line. When I saw my family my heart skipped a beat and I did my best to pick up my pace. My sister and nephew surprised me and ran out to join me, which you see in the video below. Unfortunately the video cuts off just before my sister starts waving her arms and yelling "THIS IS MY SISTER!! THIS IS MY SISTER!!!!" as were are getting closer to the finish line. I turned right and saw my amazing friends and they are cheering me on just as hard.

I look at the unofficial time at it says 3:10 something. I get my medal, meet up with my family and friends and I receive some wonderful greetings. I excitedly tell them that even though the clock says 3:10 I actually did the whole thing in 3 because it took me 10 minutes to get to the start and I shaved off a whole half hour. I keep repeating the 3 hour/shaving off a half hour part because I think they don't believe me.

But really, they believe me, I just don't believe me. In fact, that part of completing in 3 hours (my official finish was 3:01:20) I still don't think has fully hit me. It's hard to describe, but the whole experience just seems so surreal right now. My mind just can't fully wrap around the fact that in June I struggled to run a 5k and 3 months later I completed a half marathon. I was hoping that as I am writing this post I would fully grasp the experience, but I am not all the way there yet.

Amazingly, I didn't cry like I thought I would. Although I did tear up when some of the spectators and volunteers saw my name on my race number and would yell, "You can do it Teresa!!" or "Teresa you are doing great!" It was truly wonderful to have complete strangers want me to do my best. People can be so fabulous. If any of you readers ever cheered on a complete stranger I would like to tell you thank you. If whoever you cheered on was anything like me your cheer made an incredibly positive impact on them.

For those of you that are wondering if I will be doing another half the answer is ab-so-freaking-lutely. I truly feel like I have so much more to accomplish with running and I possibly have a lot of potential to become quite the athlete. The only unfortunate thing about sticking with running is that my toying with the idea of trying out for the local roller derby is put on hold. I feel good about that decision and will continue to skate for cross training, but trying to train for both would just be unrealistic.

I have a lot to look forward to including a 10k in late October that I am very excited about. I hope to use the next several weeks getting out of running intervals and more into a steady pace for the 10k. It is going to be a challenge but the number one thing I have learned from this experience is that I should never doubt my abilities ever again. (Number two would be that the guy holding that sign near the finish line that says "cold beer" isn't joking :). )

Half Marathon Video

2009-09-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

A more detailed blog (with pictures!) to follow, but here is a little teaser...

Here it is....the mega Half Marathon post

2009-09-10T21:14:00.002-05:00

Today was a big day in my half marathon quest. I picked up my race packet. A little exciting, right? I mean, I got a number, with my name on it! Exciting stuff for sure.

So there I am at Fleet Feet, double checking the information on the back of my number, examining the chip, and then the friendly volunteer hands me my bag. I grabbed it and started to browse around at a few shirts that I had been thinking about buying with my recently acquired gift card.

Then I remember in my bag there is a race shirt. Curious as to what it looks like (I heard they were awesome looking) I glance in my bag and see the half marathon race logo.

All of the sudden I was completely overcome with emotion. I bolted out of the store and as I settled into my car I started to cry. Yep, I cried after looking at my freaking free T-shirt. And while, yes in face the shirt is awesome, it certainly was not the reason for the tears.

My mind went back to February when I couldn't run a pair of 3 minute intervals in 30 minutes. I told friends that I would never, ever be able to run. Eight months later and I am doing a half marathon.

I never thought I would make it this far in training. I figured I could probably make it through about 75% of the training before it either got too hard or I got injured.

Am I a fast runner? No. Will I end up walking a decent part of the race? Absolutely. But those things are really starting to be less and less important as the reality of what I have accomplished in 8 months is hitting me.

As cheesy as it sounds, this whole experience has taught me that I can do anything if I want it bad enough. I never had that confidence before, and I feel like a completely different person.

Even though I am the one most responsible for my success, a very special thanks to my own personal cheerleader who has helped me in many aspects of training. I had the privilege of doing a short run with her tonight and another rockstar runner with lots of words of wisdom. You both rock!

Any good thoughts, vibes, prayers, and what not for myself and the other runners would be much appreciated on Sunday morning.

Best ever Caramel Sauce

2009-09-09T19:13:00.002-05:00

Here is something I haven't done in awhile...a recipe! I can't take credit for this one, though. It is from one of my favorite desserts. Trust me though, this caramel sauce can go on just about anything sweet. Nathan swears it would be fabulous on a doughnut. Yes, it is REALLY bad for you, but so worth it.

1 lb butter
1 lb Dark Brown Sugar
a couple splashes of vanilla
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Melt butter in medium saucepan, stir in brown sugar and vanilla until well incorporated. Slowly whisk in heavy whipping cream.

So easy!

It's the little things #2

2009-09-07T11:59:00.002-05:00

21. 3 day weekends that actually feel like 3 day weekends.
22. Sticky Toffee Pudding
23. Leftover shrimp fajita nachos
24. Spending a lazy day with my husband and napping puppies
25. Homemade iced coffee

It's the little things #1

2009-09-04T11:48:00.000-05:00

The 20 that started it all....

1.) Weather cool enough to leave the windows open for weeks at a time.
2.) My adorable puppies taking naps
3.) Good deals on delicous red wine
4.) All things Pumpkin (including a good pumpkin beer)
5.) Crown Valley's Sleighbell Spiced Ale
6.) Winery trips
7.) A clean and organized desk
8.) Using my laptop while reclining on the Mauve Monster9
.) Work days that fly by
10.) Firepits with comfy chairs around them
11.) Napping in the afternoon
12.) Leaving work before 2 pm
13.) Short work weeks
14.) Happy clients
15.) Cherry coke zero
16.) Fresh baked bread
17.) the feeling of accomplishment after running 13 miles on Grants Trail
18.) Grocery shopping
19.) Winning Ebay auctions
20.) My awesome new roller skates

What a fabulous idea....

2009-09-03T17:58:00.002-05:00

I have been such a Debbie Downer lately. I have done my best not to project my negative attitude on others, but it is tough. A smart little lady on my local message board started a post today that completely turned my attitude around. The title of the post was simply, "what makes you happy?"

I started writing and felt a huge wave of calmness come over me. The more I wrote, the better I felt and I had to make myself stop at 20 just so I didn't turn my post into a novel. The rest of my day was great. I caught up on work, organized my desk, and cleaned out my inbox which for me is a fabulous feeling.

In between all of this happy productiveness and reading other responses, I was reminded of a series I saw on another blog (which of course I can't remember) called "Grace in Small Things". Almost daily the blogger posted 5 things that were little bits of happiness for them. Everytime I read the 5 things I instantly felt better.

In honor of this, I am going to start my own little series called "It's the little things....". While I doubt I will blog these things daily, you can expect to see it fairly often from now on. If anyone else would like to do the series as well, feel free to join in...either in the comments or in your own blog. It's great therapy!

Running, skating, oh my!

2009-08-31T19:59:00.003-05:00

The last few days I feel like a total bad ass. Saturday I did the 13 miles, and then today I grabbed my skates and headed outdoors for a nice afternoon skate. A nice 4.5 mile skate!!!

I am not sore from Saturday, which is freaking amazing considering last Monday after my 10 miler I could barely do a 45 min power walk/jog.

I totally survived the whole skate, only ahhh gently *cough* falling twice in two busy intersections *cough*.

I was even told my skates were "so cool". Um, yeah, all black pleather skates that have teal laces and say "Cobra" on the side in hot pink are definitely "so cool."

13 miles!!!

2009-08-30T10:10:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I kicked ass. I did 13 miles. 13!!! And it was outside!!! I had my own personal half marathon and no one else on that trail even knew it.

At mile 11ish the reality of what was going on really sunk in, and I was all, "WTF!?! I am in double freaking digits!!"

I was actually making pretty decent time too, until the last few miles when my legs were so incredibly sore, it was ridiculous. So, I didn't love my time but like always I am trying to see past that and focus on the major accomplishment.

Not to mention that this week's 13 miles went 5x better than last week's 10. She does that perhaps mean by the time I get to the half marathon in two weeks I will be even better? I can only hope.

I also got my kick ass roller skates Friday and already have a date to use them on Monday.

Ahhh, my active life is good, now if I could just get everything else sorted out life would be perfect.

Ebay victory!!!!!

2009-08-25T17:40:00.002-05:00

I stalked, I emailed, I won!!!!!!!! I know I am a nerd but it really is the little things in life. :)

ohhhh, Ebay....

2009-08-25T14:30:00.000-05:00

In college I had a serious addiction to Ebay. I loved the hunt of going through 100s of items looking for the lowest price, finding a fabulous deal, and then stalking the item. I would schedule myself to be home when the auction ended so that 2 minutes before I could attempt to outbid the highest bidder. My competitive and frugal self would have a small victory party that was often more enjoyable then the actual ownership of the item I was buying.
Post college I really started watching my spending and paying back student loans/saving for my wedding so I cut myself off from Ebay. I still loved a good deal, but most of the stuff I was buying off of Ebay was things that could put on my wedding registry. Years later, Ebay was almost erased from my memory. Almost is the key word here.
In the last couple of weeks running outside I have been reminded of my love of roller skating. I have been running past skaters on Grants Trail and have thought, “Ohhh I want to skate again.” I had also been thinking about trying out for the local roller derby for quite some time, so finding a pair of cheap skates to start skating again is becoming a little bit of an obsession.
Right now I am stalking three different pairs that will have auctions ending in a matter of hours. The thrill of Ebay is back…gulp….

The good, the bad, and the ugly of today's 10 mile run

2009-08-23T19:57:00.002-05:00

The good:
I completed 9.5 miles today
I did these miles outside on Grants Trail, which is challenging for me because I would much rather run on the treadmill.
I found what the clothes that I planned on wearing for the half marathon will work just fine, except maybe a different pair of pants.
I have 3 weeks to go and I can do another run of this length (and longer) before the actual race.

The bad:
I barely ran today. I walked well over half of the run today.
My strap water bottle didn't hold nearly enough, and I just assumed Grants Trail would have more than oh, 2 water fountains in the entire 8 mile course that I would be able to fill up my bottle. The result was me being miserable for most of my "run". I just kept telling myself I would run more once I filled up my bottle, but I didn't get to the second water fountain until about mile 7.
Part of the trail was completely closed off, resulting in my 10 mile run being 9.5 miles due to where it was closed. And thanks Grants Trail, for putting that info on your website...oh wait you didn't so I was completely unprepared.
I ONLY have 3 weeks until the race and I have little time to make a vast improvement in my performance.

The ugly:
The port o potty on the trail....that is all about that though.

I am trying to focus on the positives of today and use this run as a learning experience, but it's tough. I was trying not to set time goals for myself, but I have decided that if on race day I walk as much as I did, I will feel like I failed a little. Unfortunately, the feelings of doubt have turned most of my excitement into nerves.

And while I know that my half marathon shouldn't be on the top of everyone's priority list, it is looking like some of the family that I was really looking forward to seeing me complete the race, may not be there because of something else that is going on that weekend.

Regardless of all this though, I have to give my fabulous husband major props. He scheduled his day around my run, dropping me off, picking me up, and making dinner since I was freaking exhausted. If he read this blog he would probably appreciate the shout out. :)

Fall is right around the corner...really...

2009-08-17T17:18:00.005-05:00

I normally don't like to wish away time, but I have to be honest...I am so ready for Fall. I know there are at least a few blog readers out there that share my love for the wonderful season.

Believe it or not, Fall really is just right around the corner. You don't even have to look at a calendar to know it, all you have to do is start noticing your surroundings.

I bring you the evidence that Fall will be here before we know it:

Although O'Fallon doesn't have my favorite pumpkin brew, it is refreshing to see O'Fallon Pumpkin beer has already made it to select shelves this week. I have a serious love of all things pumpkin, (anyone remember this post from wayyyy back in the day??) and I don't usually need it be the right season to indulge my pumpkin addiction (notice the February date on the last post), but when others start finding it socially acceptable to starting bringing the pumpkin back, I know that Fall is coming.

I can't wait for cooler evenings with the windows open, evenings around the firepit with friends, and everything pumpkin. Fall, bring it on!!

The conclusion you have been waiting for....

2009-08-12T17:43:00.002-05:00

A few hours later I went to the gym and........

could tell right away that my shoes had been the problem. I was able to get out my long run doing my usual run/walk routine and even kept around my same time. Since the shoe replacement, I've had very little knee pain. I got a bit off schedule with my vacation thrown in there, but this week I am full speed ahead.

Even though I hated the knee pain, I am really glad that it happened because it made me realize how much I really do want to do this half marathon. I am still nervous and feel like I have a ton to do before it gets here, but it is all such an amazing journey.

Of, and side note.....between the time I accidentally put up my last post and now I decided to change my training plan. If you recall, I was using one of Hal Hidgon's plans. And while I think it is a great plan, I don't think it was right for me. Mostly because I know going in I will be doing a run/walk, and his plan is more for runners. I switched to a plan similar to this one by Jenny Hadfield.

Even though I was hesitant to switch training plans so close to the race I think the new plan will serve me much, much better. Only one month to go!!!!

Back on track!

2009-08-03T19:14:00.006-05:00

My knee pain got much worse after my run on Friday. I only ran .5 of my 4 miles on the schedule and walked the rest. On Sunday I decided to go into Fleet Feet and through the help of one salesperson later, I found out that yes, in fact, my shoes needed to be replaced. I also got some really nice inserts for my high arch. Of course, I didn't love spending that riduculous amount of money, but it was apparent that the shoes were over their prime.

A few hours later, I went to the gym and

Another post about running

2009-07-30T14:27:00.002-05:00

I am at a bit of a crossroads with this whole training thing.I haven't run since my long run on Sunday. EEEEEKKKKKK!!! In my training this seems like about the worst thing ever.

90% of the reason is my knee. I have been having knee pain for almost two weeks. It's not unbearable, but totally there. I made the decision to lay off after reading a few things and talking to a couple other runners. I was actually going to squeeze in a quick run today right after work, but I forgot my shoes and didn't have time to go home to grab them and squeeze in a run before all the other stuff I have to do tonight.

If I were to be totally honest with myself though, the 10% is pure laziness. I took some "me" time this week, and it has really made a big difference in my sanity.

I don't think it is going to be hard to get back on track, but I am a little scared about my knee. I am going to continue on, and I really hope I won't be getting off the schedule again between now and the race.

Just so no one is thinking the worst

2009-07-25T19:07:00.003-05:00

I'm ok. Nathan and I are ok. The last few days have been really tough for me, but life is slowly starting to return to normal. We are starting to get on the same page, it's just a slow process.

Lots of things are going on with me and I think that the amount of stress I am under is ridiculous. It has been effecting every part of my life and I think that it did nothing but make the situation worse this week. I am not oblivious to the fact that I am one of the world's worst stress handlers.

The new few weeks are jammed packed with appointments, meetings, half marathon training, etc. but I am really going to make an attempt to slow down and start appreciating the little things that I am so lucky to have. Life is short and can end at anytime so I really need to get out of my constant, stressful, funk.

Thanks for the comments, emails, and phone calls this week. I am lucky to have such wonderful people in my life.

Just a hard day......

2009-07-22T18:48:00.002-05:00

Did you ever have one of those days that just out of nowhere it becomes completely unbearable? I had one of those days today. And unfortunately, it was because of a fairly large fight I had with my husband.

I am happy to say in the almost 4 years that Nathan and I have been married we've had a handful of what I would consider serious fights. Actually, I can only think of 2 off the top of my head. But less than 24 hours ago we had one of "those" fights. Every other time we have been able to resolve the issue within a few hours but last night was different. I went to bed upset, Nathan didn't sleep. We both went to work saying not much to each other.

I didn't know where we stood, and I was so concerned about what had happened and where we stood, that I actually glanced at some apartment websites, thinking I should have some information ready in case I had to move out of our home fairly quickly.

Tonight we talked more and now things are better, but to say that everything is great would be far from the truth. I'm not going to go into what happened, because I don't think it is really fair to Nathan and I know that everyone will have opinions (and frankly I don't want to hear them right now) But I did want to just blog something because well, it makes me feel better. And because I don't feel like anyone should ever be embarrassed when things in a relationship aren't just perfect all the time.

As silly as it may sound to some, I used to be ashamed if Nathan and I would have a fight and someone heard about it. I guess I figured that really happy couples didn't have big fights. I wish I could erase the events of last night, but obviously, I can't. I can only move forward and work towards a good situation remembering that I still love my husband more than anything else in this world.

How I got started running

2009-07-19T20:03:00.008-05:00

A reader (Kelli) posted in my comments a few questions about how I got started running. Rather than make a HUGE response in the comments, I thought I would just write a post about it. Kelli, this is maybe be more information than you want to know, but I would rather give to much information than not enough. Also, this is just my experience, I am by far an expert about running.

To start, I never in a million years ever thought I would start running. I have always felt like I had major physical limitations that would prevent me from running. Specifically, my weight. I have never been comfortable with my size, and I felt that because of that, their were many activities I just would never be able to do, especially running.

Last summer, I joined a gym wanting to start working out regularly, which I had never really done, at least not consistently. I started going two to three days a week mostly just getting on the elliptical. I liked the gym but it was because of the combination of doing the elliptical, people watching, and having my own personal TV. I began to set goals for myself on the elliptical. I would keep trying to speed up and go longer distances everytime.

I am not sure what made me feel like I should start running (besides continuing to try to lose weight). I had friends that were starting to run, so I think maybe I just decided that it would be something good to try. I knew that I just couldn't start running without a plan though, so I did some searching online, and ultimately started using a plan that a few friends were using... Couch to 5k. The first weeks I sailed through and I was really enjoying myself. At Week 3 I hit a real hurdle. I was having problems running for 3 minutes straight. I lowered my speed and ended up making myself a kind of week 2.5. I continued with the program, making adjustments as I needed them and also frequently repeating weeks. It's a 9 week program, and I thinking it took me well over 4 months to even get to week 8 of the program. Right around that time was the Race for the Cure, which I had my heart set on running. I completed the race, but didn't run the entire time. Even with C25k training, I still wasn't running 3 miles without at least walking part of it.

However, I was feeling a big sense of accomplishment so I decided to stick with the running. With C25k training pretty much over, I felt like I needed a new plan to follow. And even though I wasn't super happy with my first 5k, I felt like I could start a bigger challenge. It was also very convenient that there was a half marathon that was roughly 12 weeks away which was a pretty reasonable timeline to start half marathon training. Currently, I am in week 5 of Hal Higdon Half Marathon training.

As of right now, I am very happy with the way training is going. I follow the schedule as best I can, but I often cut out a cross training day if I am sore or just can't dedicate time that day. I also do a lot of walking during my runs. This bothered me before, but I am getting over it. For this plan, you are supposed to be able to run 3 miles easily before you start it, but that wasn't the case for me. Therefore, I am realistic about my performance. If I am able to make it to the half marathon without injury, I know I won't run the entire 13 miles. I am hoping to run the majority at a comfortable pace, but there will also being a decent amount of walking during the race.

This realization leads to my biggest piece of advice for anyone beginning running: Your training is about you and no one else. As I said before, I have several friends that run. They all run a lot faster than me. The fact that I can't do what they do (at this point) used to discourage to no end. I had to keep telling myself that my accomplishments have zero to do with them or anyone else. I have gone from struggling to run 3 minutes straight to now running 30 without having to change my pace. I am proud of that. So just know, it doesn't matter if you run a 10 minute mile or a 13 minute mile (or even slower) the important thing is that you are making the effort.

A book that has really helped me is Running for Mortals. I am only in the first few chapters and it is already a great resource with great beginner information. I wish I had found this book months ago.

I hope this is all helpful, like I said I'm not an expert, this is just my experience. I will be happy to answer any questions.

Let's talk about half marathon training

2009-07-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

The other day I had someone close to me ask if I was going to continue to talk about half marathon training excessively until it is over....the answer is yes. :)

I am Week 3 of Half Marathon training and surprisingly, I am feeling good. I am running my 3 days, doing a day of strength/stretch, and 1 to 2 days of cross training every week. It's a very busy schedule but I am really enjoying the structure and feelings of accomplishment that are coming with the training. The runs are tough and I always end up doing at least a little walking during them, but I am still completely the distances that are on my training.

The training doesn't come without it's challenges though. I am having a little foot pain on one side of my right foot. At rest it feels good, but I had a pretty rough pain in my foot today during my run. I am also having problems with my pace. Because of this, the majority of my runs have been inside on a treadmill. I know I need to change that soon, but right now I am just more focused on getting used to running at a consistent pace.

By far the biggest challenge of my training is mental. I am really having problems with getting my head in a good space during this training. I have this awful, terrible habit of comparing myself to runners. I have to keep telling myself it is ok if I run slower than them and if I walk during my runs. I am really trying to focus on my accomplishments, but it is really hard. I want to get excited that I ran 2 miles without taking a walking break, but it just seems so minor compared to what others that are training for the half marathon can do.

I desperately need to get over all that, but it is really, really hard. I mean, I am slow. In fact, I don't even know if my pace is considered running or jogging. I guess it doesn't really matter, but in the back of my mind I always have those kinds of thoughts.

Anyway, if anyone has any words of wisdom or advice for me (especially on the foot issue) I am all ears. I've gotten some awesome advice from a good friend that has totally helped, so lay it on me!

A blog update!!!

2009-07-08T17:53:00.003-05:00

If you have noticed I have been pretty MIA from the blogging world. While I have been reading many blog posts, I can't remember the last time I commented on anyone's blogs before today. And I seriously hadn't written a post of my own in a month? (I don't think a Blueberry Lemonade recipe counts) Wow. I blame two major factors: Twitter and my iPhone.

Yes, I joined Twitter. It has filled my random blogging fix for a little while, but now I am a little over it. I mean, I will continue to check and probably update, but I was really expecting more interaction through other uh...Twitters (?) But whatever.

And It has been so convenient for me to lay on the lay on the couch and page through Google Reader on the iPhone. Problem is it isn't easy to post a comment. So I just pretty much stopped.

I expect most of this to change though because I am now the proud owner of my very own (first) laptop! It was an early birthday gift from my ever so lovely husband, that got a killer deal on a Toshiba. It is pretty basic, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

So now I am reclining in the living room, watching the dogs nap, tuning out the crappy movie Nathan is watching, and blogging. I am very comfortable and totally happy that I am not secluded it our tiny office in an uncomfortable chair.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that you can expect another post or two in the near future. I am hoping I didn't lose too many of you dear readers in my blog hiatus. Feel free to say hi!

Raspberry Blueberry Lemonade!

2009-07-01T08:07:00.002-05:00

I've had a few requests to share this recipe, it is completely refreshing and fabulous for a gathering in the summer.

Raspberry Blueberry Lemonade
Blueberry syrup:
2.5 c. Blueberries (or 1 bag frozen)
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
splash lemon juice
Simmer all ingredients together for 12 minutes. You can puree it when finished but it isn't really necessary. You will have extra, but it is a great topping for pancakes!

Then Mix:
4c. Lemon Juice
4 c. Sugar
Stir until dissolved

Add:
1 bottle Raspberry Rum (I use Bacardi Razz)
1 bottle Blueberry Vodka (I use Smirnoff)
about half of slightly cooled Blueberry syrup
about 10 c. of Water (add this last and just do it to taste, you can add more or less depending on how strong you want it)

That's it!

Running update

2009-06-09T12:30:00.001-05:00

It’s been awhile since I blogged about running. For those of you that don’t see my Facebook updates or talk to me IRL, I would bet you think I got off my running kick. Well, you would be wrong! I am happy to report that I am still working on running. I somewhat stopped doing Couch to 5K though, so I could transition to running outside. It’s been really tough, but not impossible. I have a really great coach/motivator/amazing friend (Ali) who has really helped with everything that involves going from running on a treadmill to running outside. Without Ali I would be totally lost and frustrated. I owe her some major thanks!

Another big motivator has been the overwhelming support I have gotten from friends and family. Of course, I knew my friends would be a great rock to lean on, but I was shocked at the overwhelming support from my extended family. Once they heard I was running a 5k they were so supportive. The encouraging words and excitement from them has been awesome. They also have been the providers of almost all of my donations for Race for the Cure.

The Race for the Cure is Saturday, and even though it isn’t a timed race, I am still looking forward to completing it. My goal is to stay at a steady pace as much as possible, and not have to walk more than 5 minutes of the whole race. I may end up doing more walking than that, and that is ok in my book.

So what happens with running after the 5k is over? I have been asking myself that very question a lot the past few weeks. While I don’t think running is the greatest thing ever, I have enjoyed my personal accomplishments and getting such a killer workout. Plus, I have enjoyed having a schedule/plan through Couch to 5k.

I have also considered how lucky I am to be able to run. So many people would love to run but can’t because of injury, time, whatever. And who knows, in a year I may not have the option. With all this to consider, I have decided to start half marathon training.

Yep, you read that right. I, Teresa, am going to start the 12 week training plan for a half marathon. Now, I may not actually run a half, even though one conveniently is scheduled about 13 weeks from now, but I want to at least try the training. Unfortunately, Couch to 5k took me so long that I am thinking that a normal 12 week half marathon training will take me more like 24 weeks. But, hey, I figure it is at least worth a shot!

Crazy idea? Maybe. But will this crazy idea have awesome health and mental benefits? Absolutely!!!!

Ahhhhh.....

2009-06-04T11:56:00.002-05:00

I am seriously having a good last two days. Nothing all that wonderful or amazing has happened, but for me it is always the little things in life that really put me in a good place.
My little things:
*Going to Starbucks and getting a hot tea I actually like. I am really trying to like tea, and I am slowly transitioning from Chai to other tea lattes. While my Vanilla Roobos was a little strange at first, it was super yummy. For those of you that have drank the Roobos, was it just me or did you get a little bit of an apple taste?
*Booking a Trash the Dress session with a photographer I adore. I have debated forever about doing Trash the Dress pictures. I mean, I have been married almost four years! But my poor dress is already stained and really just needs a good send off. Plus, I am working with Pamela, who is not only a good friend, but a very artistic up and coming local photographer. The work that she has done is such a short time is truly art and I am so excited that she has agreed to take the pictures.
*A few friends came over for a super informal dinner. We ate, laughed, watched dogs play, and screamed with joy. No cared that I overcooked the oven fries or that a few of us were in yoga pants, it was simply just a great evening.
*I have gotten the most rejuvenating sleep ever the last two nights. My days have been so much better because of this.
I hope everyone is having a fabulous week…..if you have any little things that have made you happy this week, share them in the comments or write your own blog post.

The weight of work

2009-06-02T15:26:00.002-05:00

I'm quite sure you think this is going to be a post talking about how crazy stressed I am with work. Ha! It actually isn't! I have been working a crazy amount already this week, and I can't believe it is only Tuesday; however, today as I was digging through my purse I had a realization. I have a TON of stuff that I carry around for my job. I thought some of you may be amused by the randomness of it all, so I snapped a picture with my handy iPhone:

What is this stuff you ask? Don't worry I am going to tell you.

Starting with the top left, a box like device called a magazine. It attaches to the inside of the vending machine and collects any dollars that go into the vending machine.

Next up is my mini tool kit. This little baby is easily the best $4 I ever spent at the wonder that is Walgreens. Pliers, screwdrivers, etc. are all in this mini fold out bag. It has saved me from calling a service guy out to a machine just to make a simple adjustment. If you are in need of such a convenient little bag I believe Walgreens still sells them.

Next row is two scan/key cards. One is to my new expanded account and another is to my office. Wearing two scan cards at once makes me look like a totally nerd as someone pointed out to me today.

Then onto my set of everyday work keys on my pink phonecord style keychain. It is hard to tell but that is 14 keys in total, most of them I use daily.

Thermometers for refrigerated machines and my small stack of business cards is pretty self explanatory.

Then a huge file folder of paperwork and spare keys which I normally have in my office, but somehow managed to wander into my overly heavy purse this week.

Of course, my phone is also essential to everyday work functions since some weeks I only spend a few hours in my office.

So there you have it...Teresa's work stuff all ready to be put to use. Kind of cool, right? :)

The Roxie scare

2009-05-26T12:32:00.001-05:00

I had a little bit of a scare with Roxie this past weekend resulting in Roxie staying at an Emergency Clinic for almost two full days. Roxie had pancreatitis which could only be treated by continuous IVs. My vet isn’t exactly sure how she got it, but it is developed after eating something very high in fat or something spicy. The result is a lot of vomiting and diarrhea anytime Roxie ate or even smelled food.
Roxie is doing great now. She is on prescription dog food and some medicine for the next week, but is back to her normal self. I am still planning on continuing to make her homemade dog food, but making a few adjustments after talking over the diet again with my vet.
The whole experience has really taught me a lot. First, I have a gained trust for my vet and his staff. I always trusted them before, but Roxie has never had anything out of the ordinary happen to her, so I had never really seen them take emergency actions before. They far exceed my expectations, even when she had to be transferred out of their facility to a 24 hour clinic. My vet still considered Roxie his responsibility, and was in constant contact with the clinic. Second, when it comes to my dogs, I am not a tightwad. For those of you that know me personally, you know that I am quite frugal. When it came to Roxie, I even surprised myself at how much money was no object. I didn’t care what a 48 hour stay at an Emergency clinic cost, or how much an x-ray was going to run me. I signed those authorizations so quick, the ink of the pen got warm. Third, Roxie is such a lover, which I knew before, but was reminded of constantly when I called to check on her at the clinic. I love the fact that even though she is an excitable dog, people can still see that she has such a good heart and really just wants to be loved.
And last, I am an emotional wreck with stuff like this. I managed to keep it together Saturday during all of my Aunt’s wedding festivities, but Friday afternoon after I check Roxie into the hospital, I was in a terrible panic. I didn’t cry in front of anyone, but you better believe I lost it in the car on the way home. It was all just so scary, and I really hope I don’t have to go through that again anytime soon.
Everyone go home and hug your animals a little tighter tonight.

My Aunt's wedding

2009-05-25T08:56:00.003-05:00

On Saturday, I had the privilege of helping to cater my Aunt's wedding reception. I was excited about it, because even though I love to cater events I rarely do it anymore. I was so glad that my sister snapped a few pictures so I could share them with you.

Here I am concentrating hard on kiwi placement. Don't you love my cayenne apron? It used to be the apron I would wear almost everyday in my Mom's restaurant.

The full table not quite finished. The empty trays represented where dollar roll sandwiches would be. There are also some gaps for large bowls of salads but it is hard to tell in this picture.

Here is the most difficult part of the fruit cascade...the part that actually has to stand up.

All in all, everyone was blown away by the set up. As I was finishing up, my Dad said, "I hope people know they can eat the stuff. You know, Teresa, the small town folk aren't used to this fancy stuff, they may not get it isn't all decoration." Funny, but true. Later I heard a guest say to another guest, "No you are supposed to eat all that!"

And I couldn't conclude this blog without giving major credit to my sister for her help on this part of the set up. I gave her some instruction on how to make the cascade effect, and then she practically did an entire half of the table.

Giveaway (with a few strings attached!)

2009-05-19T15:39:00.002-05:00

Some of you know that completing Couch to 5k is a goal that I have set for myself. It has been very tough, but here I am at Week 7 thinking I may actually reach my goal. What better way to celebrate then actually run a 5k, right? And what better 5k to run then one for a great cause like the Komen Race for the Cure.

By now you probably figured out what the strings attached are....I am asking for donations to this amazing charity. BUT.....I wanted to give my blog readers a little incentive. Which ever (local) blog reader donates the most money will be receiving a gift basket full of Teresa made goodies to include fresh mozzerella, assorted breads, flavored olive oil, marinara with home grown tomatoes, pizza dough, almond biscotti, and anything else I can come up with. LOTS of gourment goodies for you!!! But those out of town, I have something for you too!! Since I can't ship this stuff, anyone not in/around STL will have to settle for a $25 Amazon gift card if they win.

Deadline to donate and be considered for the prize is Friday, June 5th. I will annouce the winner on this blog and then we communicate via email the details of claiming the prize. I reserve the right to alter the giveaway at anytime, but I highly doubt that will be necessary.

Any donation will be loved even if it is just $10. And it won't really give you an extra chance or anything, but reposting this on your blog would be a greatly appreciated since this is such a good cause. Thanks in advance for supporting my own personal big accomplishment and contributing to charity!

My donation page

Geez...grammar much?

2009-05-15T07:20:00.003-05:00

I swear I read my last post before I published it, but as it just popped up in GR I caught some grammar mistakes.

I seriously HATE when I don't catch them. I sincerely apologize to the grammar enthusiasts for the bruises that I have caused when you start banging your head on the desk.

Crown Valley Brewery review

2009-05-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

As part of Nathan's birthday celebration, we visited Crown Valley Brewery. I was so anxious to see the brewery that I think that I may have gotten a bigger kick out of the visit then Nathan did.

Crown Valley had beer making in the works for awhile. In fact, this time last year we visited another CV site and one of the Crown employees said that the Brewery was actually originally set to have it's grand opening July 4th, 2008. Hmmmm....only 10 months late.

But let me just tell you, so worth the wait. Overall I was very impressed with the nine beers they offered. And since I figured the experience may turn into a blog worthy post, I took the time to rate the beers on a scale of 1 to 10 and asked Nathan to do the same.

In order of the way the brewery suggests tasting them:

Barwood Blonde Ale
This beer was described by our waitress is close to a mainstream beer like Budweiser. I found this statement to be pretty accurate. It is very smooth and a beer that would be good for consuming multiples of while watching a game.
My rating: 8, Nathan's rating: 7.5

Antique Amber Ale
I don't remember much about exact tastes of the beer because I didn't enjoy it that much. I was surprised too, because I usually like Amber beers.
My rating and Nathan's: 6

Old School Pilsner
90% of the time I love Pilsners and now was no exception. The Pilsner had a nice touch of bitterness to it, not quite as much as say, a Heinkein, but just enough to balance out the lightness of it.
My rating: 8.5, Nathan's rating: 7

Horseshoe Pale Ale
If I would have been drunk, I would have sworn this was Schafly's Pale Ale. In fact, I am still not convinced that the brewery didn't run out of pale ale and go buy some Schafly Pale Ale to substitute in. Of course, this meant the beer was yummy.
My rating: 7.5, Nathan's rating: 6

Worktruct Wheat
Typical Hefeweizen. I felt like it was lighter than others I enjoy, but still very good.
My rating: 8, Nathan's rating: 5

Raspberry Wheat
I am really picky about fruit beers, and while I didn't mind this one, there are about 5 others I would drink before I would drink this one. Nathan was being super critical the entire tasting, but he seemed to enjoy this one.
My rating: 7.5, Nathan's rating: 8

Sleighbell Spiced Ale (Limited Edition)
I have to take a breath before I write this....OMG. BEST. BEER. EVER (ok, almost). I am so in love with this beer my mouth is salivating just thinking about it. It is basically Pumpkin beer without the pumpkin flavor, but still the flavors of cinnamon, ginger, and orange. To me, this beer equalled happiness. In fact, during my post tasting glass of this ale, I made the statement three or four times, "I am so happy drinking this beer, I can't stand it." I just totally ignore the fact that it is a Christmas beer being served in May and go with it.
My rating: 9.5, Nathan's rating: 9.5

Plowboy Porter
This Porter is very Guiness like. I really don't mind Guiness on occasion, but this was no of my least favorite of the line up. The description said barley and chocolate malt, but I didn't taste those.
My rating: 6.5, Nathan's rating: 6

Big Bison Ale
So if I can't have my Sleighbell Spiced Ale, I'll take the Big Bison. A quite yummy Belgian style Dubbel (according to the description). And also the beer that with our combined scores, Nathan and I liked the best.
My rating: 8.5, Nathan's rating 8

A little more about the Brewery itself....

I loved the set-up. Instead of crowding around a tasting bar you could grab a table, look at a list of descriptions, and have a waitress bring your selections. Very different then what Crown has done at their wineries and wayyy more relaxing. And even though I love a free tasting, the brewery actually has a very good deal. For $7 you get 8- 3 oz beers plus a tour. Not bad at all considering Nathan and I recently went with some friends to a local, very popular, new beer bar and a 7 beer taste that came from a clueless waitress was $14. But I digress....

Some of the beers are bottled and in addition they have a bottled cider. It wasn't available for tasting, but Nathan ordered one and enjoyed it. Another option for taking the beer home is getting a growler, which is a little bit of an initial investment, but has discounted refills when you bring it back.

Now the not so good stuff, no hot food served. Now come on Crown.....if I am drinking beer I don't want a cold turkey sandwich or cheese and crackers, I want a burger or some onion rings, or even a frozen pizza that is reheated and marked up at a ridiculous amount because it is at a brewery in the middle of nowhere. With their wineries it doesn't bother me that they don't have a lot of food options because I always enjoy packing a picnic basket, but wine drinking and beer drinking are two totally different worlds.

Another down side which doesn't really affect me is no other alcoholic beverage is offered but beer. While this doesn't really bother me, a non beer drinker was with Nathan and I and only halved enjoyed the cider, so therefore it bothered them. However, there is a bright shinning light for those non beer drinkers out there. If you have read anything about the brewery you may have noticed the official title is Crown Valley Brewing and Distilling Company. Well, the Distilling part is in the works and will include Crown Valley's very own vodka and bourbon. No telling how long it will be before those are complete though.

As I said before, I was very impressed. I agree with STL Hops that it appears that no expense was spared in the brewery. If you are thinking about heading down to Ste. Genevieve for a visit, do it!!

Finally, a little more to say.

2009-05-13T16:37:00.003-05:00

Things have been quite busy in Teresaland. In the week since my last blog I've had a killer cold and a bladder infection. It was also Nathan's birthday, and luckily most of the celebrations feel in between the two. One celebrate included a trip to the new Crown Valley Brewery, so stay tuned for a review.

Work is looking up. One of my accounts is expanding their vending, adding an element that I have never worked with before, so on Monday I am off to Indianapolis for a little bit of a learning trip. Unfortunately, with this expansion I don't anticipate much relief on my stress level...at least not for awhile. Of course, this will be an exciting, good amount of stress.

With my sickness I have gotten off track with 5k training, so I am really in need of some focus considering I am registering for a 5k in June!

In other news, Nathan took a part time/side job with a local DJ company. He has done a few weddings and a prom already and he absolutely loves it! I am slightly bummed that I don't get to see him as much on the weekends, but since he is back on day shift during the week, I haven't been missing him too much.

Everyone have a great week!!

Hello everyone

2009-05-05T19:48:00.003-05:00

If you are an avid reader of this blog, you may have noticed a pretty big absence from myself the past few weeks, because really, who are we kidding? A random dog pic shouldn't count as a blog (even though I know some of you love the pics).

I could give you a million reasons why I haven't been posting as much, but mostly it comes down to one simple fact. I haven't had much good to say. And while I love using this blog as an outlet, even I get bored reading some of the stuff I post when I don't really have anything good to say.

I am hoping the next few weeks bring back some of the "good" to blog about. Because one of the only things I have right now is this:

Those little green babies are from my cherry tomato plant. Which means I haven't killed them yet and there is still hope I may not!!

Have a great night!

To be fair....

2009-04-28T08:43:00.003-05:00

...and because Julia loves when I post pictures, my new favorite picture of Roxie. Everytime I see it I smile.

How can you not love that face!?!?

Sometimes Lila has "incidents"

2009-04-27T07:54:00.003-05:00

This weekend I made something I had been craving forever. BBQ Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Onions. I am very picky about chicken on my pizza, but this one turned out yummy.

I know you want a picture, but the pizza wasn't looking to pretty after I had to keep it warm for an hour because my in laws were late for dinner. I do forever have this picture from the experience:

Lila was standing by my feet as I was making pizza dough and we had an unfortunate "incident" involving flour falling on her head. Also note the ear happenings... one is now down. Which means in the last month Lila has gone from having floppy ears to one ear up, then both ears up, and now we are back to one up again. Strange right?

And for those of you that think Lila kind of looks like an alien I totally agree.

My present

2009-04-16T07:29:00.002-05:00

Nathan earned some major husband points yesterday. I walked into the house to find this:

Nathan has been so great in this especially stressful time I’ve had with work. I haven’t really blogged about it much but the short version is that I am in the middle of a very stressful commercial vehicle audit that isn’t going well and I have an account (which has over 20% of my sales) that has not been operational for 6 weeks because of the most ridiculous reason ever. I can’t get into to it, but it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the economy.
I told Nathan earlier in the week that I have only been sleeping about 4-5 hours a night because of all the stress and missing him, so he knew my favorite under $10 wine was exactly what I needed.
I don’t want to be Ms. Bring-down, but any good vibes would really be appreciated. I never knew that work could stress me out this much and it looks like it is very possible this stress is going to continue for at least a few weeks.

Roxie and Lila

2009-04-13T12:39:00.004-05:00

I get a lot of questions about if Roxie and Lila are getting along ok. I'll just let this pic that Nathan just sent me speak for itself....

Cute pic of the day!

2009-04-07T11:33:00.003-05:00

Everytime I see this picture my heart melts a little. Don't you just want to curl up in a ball next to her?

S'mores bars!

2009-04-07T08:57:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I just get the urge to make something sweet. Not so much to eat it, but I love making the occasional sweet treat for Nathan. Yesterday I got that urge.

Sitting at my desk I mentally went through what could be used up in the pantry at home. For some reason, I get a kick out of being able to make new dishes with what is already on hand at my house. I know, I am a nerd, but surely someone else gets the satisfaction of coming up with a dish using stuff that is just lying around? Anyone?

Anyway, I immediately thought of all the leftover s’mores fix-ins that we left over from a gathering. After a few minutes of getting ideas from allrecipes.com, I came up with a very simple dessert that took about 10 minutes to prep and 20 to bake.

S’mores bars
2 sticks margarine, melted
20 Graham crackers crushed
4-5 Hershey bars
Half a bag on Marshmallows, (the mini would work best but I only had the big ones)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Combine graham cracker crumbs and margarine. Press mixture into bottom of the pan until bottom is covered. You will have about 1/3-1/2 of the mixture left.
3. Break apart chocolate bar, place over graham cracker crust.
4. If using large marshmallows, tear apart and place on top of chocolate. Add remaining graham cracker crumbs.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the marshmallows are golden brown or to desired. Cool completely in the refrigerator before cutting. They are delicious after microwaving for a few seconds but you can’t cut them warm or they will fall apart.

Enjoy!

Random Thursday

2009-04-02T06:49:00.001-05:00

*The fence is up therefore life is good. I know you want to see pics, but we are still trying to clear out some brush and other stuff so I don’t really consider the backyard pic worthy.

*I thought I wasn’t sick anymore, but now I have a terrible dry cough.

*After an entire week off, I’ve had two good workouts at the gym this week. Because of my week off, getting back into C25K has been difficult, but not impossible.

*Nathan is back on night shift for a month. I am bummed I will only be seeing him 8 days for the next month, but trying to make the best of the situation.

I know I have more random stuff, but work has been so crazy stressful that my mind is mush. I hope everyone is having a great week!

April resolutions

2009-03-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

Ah, April…I can’t believe you are almost here. I am very excited to be moving into Spring. I love the warm but not to warm weather, having the windows open, pretty blooms, and all the other lovely elements that come with the month.
Even with the crappy weather, the last few months have been great. Nathan and I have been so fortunate to spend a ton of time with friends and family and eat some great meals and discover new wines. As much as I have loved every moment of it, I am exhausted. Plus, our bank account is feeling the pressure.
Because of all this, Nathan and I are really making a conscious effort in April to focus a little less on going out and more on taking care of some much needed house projects. Some of them will cost a little money and others won’t, but most of them are long overdue. Besides that I have a lot that I need to do on my 29 in 09, I want to start dedicating more time to the cookbook, my veggie garden, and the gym.
Now to all of my local friends out there, this doesn’t mean we are crawling under a rock and won’t see you in the entire month of April. Nathan and I want to do at least one BBQ to unveil the new fence that is being installed as we speak!!!! YAY!
Although April isn’t looking to be overly exciting, I am looking forward to some time at home and possibly accomplishing some blog worthy projects!

Sick day soup

2009-03-23T07:33:00.003-05:00

I am officially going to say I am sick with something flu like. Saturday I woke up feeling bad, but figured it was more due to one too many drinks on Friday night, but on Saturday at 10 pm when I still felt crappy, it clued me in to may be something else was up.

I will be the first to admit that I am the biggest wimp about being sick. I still function, but I move slow and sleep more than one person should. Part of my functioning though, usually has to do with making a huge batch of soup to eat in the next few days. Yesterday I found myself looking through the cupboard trying to find enough ingredients to whip together an easy soup. I quickly remembered that my sister had emailed me a recipe for a vegetarian soup that I had been wanting to try forever. I knew I didn't have all the ingredients, but decided to give it a try anyway.

Here's the recipe, with my notes and what I omitted. I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, but I omitted a lot of them and it still turned out fabulous. This isn't an attractive looking soup by any means, but still very yummy (and healthy).

*Side note: I never kept fresh ginger in the house because I didn't use it that often, but you can freeze it and then just cut off what you need, so go out and buy some!!

Moroccan-style Lentil and Chickpea Soup
Cook time: 8 hours
Crockpot setting: low
Serves: 6
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped (I didn't have any, so I added in a zucchini instead)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
½ teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (omitted)
½ cup dried lentils, picked over and rinsed (omitted)
One 14.5-ounce can plum tomatoes, drained and chopped (I just used canned diced tomatoes)
One 15.5-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed ( used a little more than one can)
6 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons harissa sauce, to taste, plus more to serve (recipe follows)
salt and black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and garlic, cover, and cook until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, and cardamom, stirring to coat the vegetables.
2. Transfer the onion mixture to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, add the lentils, tomatoes, chickpeas, and stock, cover, and cook on Low for 8 hours.
3. About 10 minutes before serving, add the lemon juice and harissa, and season with salt and pepper. A small bowl of harissa may be placed on the table for those who wish to add more.

Harissa Sauce
Makes about 1/2 cup
4 dried red chiles, stemmed and seeded (I used a couple tsps red pepper flakes and omitted step 1)
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
¾ teaspoon ground caraway seeds (omitted)
¾ teaspoon ground coriander (omitted)
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water

1. Break the chiles into pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Add enough boiling water to cover and let soak for 5 minutes.
2. Drain the chiles and place them in a food processor. (I didn't use my food processor, just chopped everything really fine) Add the garlic, oil, caraway, coriander, and salt, and process until pureed. Add the water and process until smooth. Transfer the sauce to a tightly covered contained and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Properly stored, it will keep for several weeks.

Enjoy!!!

Random Thursday

2009-03-19T19:44:00.002-05:00

Yet another addition of Random Thursday!!

*Thanks everyone that took the time to put some words of encouragement in the last post. Today I completed Week 3 day 1 of C25K and even though I went a little slower than I would have liked (ran 5.2 instead of 5.4) I made it through it.

*Nathan and I found out today that our fence is being installed on the 30th!! I am so happy because it is happening a lot sooner than we thought, but that means we have to spend almost the entire weekend and next week clearing out some of the brush and crap that still remains in the backyard. We already pulled out the fire pit and started burning what we have cleared but we still have a lot to go!

*My oldest sister is moving in less than two weeks!!!! I am so excited that we can start making plans with her for summer outings and holidays!!

*My mom and I got to talk a little this week about the food we are catering for my aunts wedding in May. I am soooo excited about it. She is wanting me to do some fruit and veggie displays as well as a display incorporating a her chocolate fountain. I am already sketching ideas and thinking of design elements. Oh, and did I mention we are also doing the mini heart cakes like I had for my wedding? It is going to be a lot of work, but so much fun! And don't worry I will probably take about 100 pics of all of it, because I am sure it is going to be really cool!

In case you can't tell, I'm having a better, less frustrating week. :)

Frustration

2009-03-16T20:25:00.002-05:00

Most of the time I use the gym to work out frustration, but for the past week the gym has not been helping me with my bad mood mentioned in the last post. In fact I think it has actually made my mood worse.

As some of you know, I started week 3 of Couch to 5k. Up until week 3 I was really enjoying the program and actually looked forward to starting a new week. Well, not anymore. I flat out failed at week 3. Failed! I could barely run for 2 minutes let alone do two 3 minute runs! I was so down on myself I almost lost it at the gym. I am sure my work frustration didn't help, but I could not just wrap my head around why week 3 was so difficult. week 2 was a walk in the park compared to week 3. That was just under a week ago. The last few gym visits I have been doing what would probably be considered week 2.5 if there was one.

Now I'm not looking for anyone to feel sorry for me, really I am not. But I am firm believer that it is important that people ask for help and not shy away from it because of embarrassment. So, I need help. I don't want to quit. Let me say that again....I don't want to quit. But I am incredibly frustrated. At this rate the 9 week Couch to 5k will take me 4 months.

Any words of wisdom or encouragement would be appreciated. Like I said, I don't want anyone to think I want pity, but I think without support my frustration is just going to elevate and get worse.

Yep, it's been a week

2009-03-16T06:24:00.002-05:00

It's been a week since my last blog post. With the frequent posting I was doing, it seems like a week is a long time to go without posting.

But I have a good reason. The last week I was seriously in the worst mood ever. I don't consider it to have been a funk because I know exactly what was causing it..freaking work. I was pretty sure I have done enough posts in recent times to not have yet another one about work just yet. Plus, at this point everything would have been very vague and hence a boring blog post.

However, the last part of the week and the weekend brought a few things that make me a lot happier. The first is that we signed with a company to install fencing. For those of you that have gone from having dogs without a fence to having dogs with a fence, you know what a HUGE deal it is to be putting one up. It is going to be awesome. We decided to fence in a little more of the yard then we had originally planned and went with a very nice wood and design. Of course, Nathan got super nervous about the expense, but he underestimated my ability to negotiate. The fence is still a huge expense, but so worth it.

Second, Nathan and I built my raised garden bed. It was surprisingly easy and not incredibly time consuming. Nathan also built me a compost box/bin to sit right beside the garden, so I can stop composting where the garden bed was placed. Yay! I may be the only one on earth to get excited about a compost box. I took pictures of both and will get a blog post up in the near future.

Besides that, I had another relaxing weekend, but managed to be incredibly productive.

For the house:
Built the garden bed
Went grocery shopping
Did a light cleaning
Built the garden bed
Built the compost bin and added more veggie scraps saved from work
Researched more about vegetable gardening

For the pantry and freezer:
Baked honey wheat buns
Made another batch of marinara (we used almost all the sauce I made last week)
Made enough of Roxie's food for almost three weeks
Baked Oatmeal Banana Choc Chip cookies

For me:
Went to the gym
Saw Taken (it was so good!!!)
Tried some new beers
Spent time with friends and family
Indulged in junk food including fish and chips, Starburst jelly beans, and the best ever BBQ chicken pizza
Laughed until my sides hurt (thank you drunk, quote-worthy, Chad)
Got a great haircut

I am working shorter days all this week, so I plan on keeping up with my productivity and great mood, as well as some blog posts.

Happy Monday everyone!!

An award I forgot about

2009-03-09T12:58:00.002-05:00

I love getting blog awards, so it is incredibly shocking to me that I forgot that I was awarded this one. My apoligies, Sarah, I certainly appreciated it, I just forgot about it in all my life craziness.

Here is the premise for the award:“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Thanks, again, that is too sweet of you!

The weekend

2009-03-09T12:00:00.002-05:00

My productive Friday lead to a very unproductive weekend unfortunately.

What I should have done:
Made tomato sauces to freeze.
Made cheese for stuffed meatballs and a variation of a pasta dish I am making this week.
Finalize at least one recipe for the cookbook.

What I actually did:
Watch movies.
Lie on our super comfy, “new to us” mattress with Roxie and Lila.
Went out and drank a few glasses of wine and a few martinis.
Fell slightly short on the first workout of Week 3 of C25K.
Went to Fleet Feet and spent $120 dollars on new running shoes and socks.
Put a ton of apps and workout songs on my Iphone.
Made a big batch of homemade dog food for Roxie.

I shouldn’t complain because I am sure that deep down I needed a super lazy weekend and I think it has revived me to get a few things done this week. I am hoping to convince Nathan to help me buy the materials for our raised veggie garden bed this weekend. I want to build it myself but I know I am going to need his help with some of the materials. Then my biggest problem will just be figuring out what to plant besides the virtually no fail tomatoes. I see a library trip for many gardening books in my near future.

Crazy Friday

2009-03-06T16:12:00.002-06:00

This post serves absolutely no purpose except to tell you of the event filled day I've had.

1. By myself I made 125 wraps today and stuffed them in lunch bags in 2 hours. T

2. I went to the gym and did Couch to 5k, weights, and signed Nathan up for personal training sessions.

3. I received my Iphone in the mail.

4. As we speak I am completing a recipe for the cookbook! I need other opinions but I think this one is a slam dunk. Sorry I can't get into to many details because it is a really original idea that I dont' want leaked on the Internet.

And it's not even 5 yet! Who knows what else I could have accomplished by the end of the day...maybe I will repaint the entire house or something!

I am such a hypocrite

2009-03-03T21:06:00.003-06:00

I am sure you are reading the title of this post thinking, "Yeah, right this is just a tease to get us to read your post, Teresa." Well, it's not, I blogger Teresa, am a hypocrite.

Tonight I bought something that I have sworn I wouldn't buy. I have even gone so far as to attempt to persuade others out of buying this product.

I am sure I am never going to hear the end of this....but after much comparison and discount code applying, I will now be the owner of the Iphone.

Here is the backstory: I was anti Iphone not so much because of the price of the phone but because of the ridiculous cost of the monthly plan. Therefore even though I always thought the Iphone was cool, no way was I going to double my budget for phone service.

However I was in the market for a new phone because my AT&T Tilt that I used to love had an unfortunate incident with a tile floor a few weeks ago, making the touch screen (and most functions) not usable. Today I was able to upgrade my phone and all the ones I liked were all Pantech (who makes great phones) and were over $100. Then I stumbled upon a Refurbed (which I always buy and never had issues) 8G Iphone that with Nathan's awesome discounts through work was only $99. I still wasn't convinced because of the plan. But Nathan did some work and applied his hefty discount and we discovered that it was only going to cost $10 more dollars a month for me to have the Iphone!!!

Now here I am admitting that I am a total hypocrite, but still very excited!

Cookbook failures

2009-03-03T12:20:00.002-06:00

I'm very early on in the process of writing the cookbook and I am already seeing my fair share of failures. What is really disappointing is that these failures are ones that should be easily avoided.

Why you ask? Well, a few nights ago I was throwing together a soup that I have made 100 times easily, so it should have been a piece of cake, right? It wasn't. I never got the flavor I normally do, even after playing with the seasoning and tasting it every five minutes. I think the beer I was using was too dark. (I am trying to incorporate a variety) Nathan and I ate it anyway, but it wasn't the same yummy soup that I usually drool over.

So what I am I learning from this whole cookbook process?
1. My never measuring and just throwing stuff in a pot is coming back to bite me in the ass.
2. I usually bake/cook to relax, and while working on the cookbook is fun, it is not relaxing. My meticulous attention to detail is preventing me from relaxing and I don't foresee that changing.
3. I've had a couple successes and it is killing me not to post the recipes. I rarely post recipes on the blog due to reason #1, and when now that I finally have some that are easy to follow all I want to do is share them with the world. I guess if I continue at my current rate, I won't have enough recipes for a book and I will just end up posting them here anyway.
4. People from the "Internet" world are often more supportive of big dreams then people in the "Real" world.
5. It is going to be forever until this thing is completed.

*Sigh*

Workout wish list

2009-02-27T12:06:00.004-06:00

Ah, working out...how I used to hate the idea of you, but now you are a friend rather than a foe (most days). Anyway, I am enjoying my workouts lately and it is starting to pay off for me. I don't want to get all mushy, and go into all my struggles/issues in the past, but I have decided that once I complete another goal I am going to totally splurge on something cool to aid in my workouts. I rarely splurge on myself. Wait, unless you consider the $5 Target slippers I bought the other day? :)

Here are some ideas:

An Ipod

I have a generic, no frills mp3 player. It is the third one I have acquired via gift or hand-me-down in the last year. Why the 3rd? Because the other two crapped out. I have bad luck with mp3's but would love to have an Ipod. And seriously, aren't I the last person on the earth that doesn't have one?

A Garmin or Garmin type thing:

I would love to be able to track my progress better and I think the Garmin would help. Plus, I just started Couch to 5k and hope to continue running. It's something I never thought I would be able to do but now I want to go for it!

A really good pair of shoes:

I actually need these regardless so maybe this option shouldn't count. My current shoes aren't going to make the cut very shortly. I am also going to have to get a few more workout clothing items because not only are my 6 year old sweats falling apart they are starting to get big.

So what does everybody think? Anything I missed that a die hard gym go-er should have?

The cookbook

2009-02-26T12:01:00.003-06:00

In passing I kind of mentioned that I was working on a cookbook. Since a few people asked about it, I thought I would do a little Q and A:

*What is the cookbook about?

The cookbook is based upon cooking all kinds of different dishes with beer. If you have followed my blog for awhile you know I LOVE cooking with beer. It adds a ton of flavor that can be a great compliment for many dishes. Hopefully the cookbook will have over 30 recipes ranging from soup to dessert, all utilizing beer.

*Are you going to try and get it published, really?

Yes, I am really going to try and get it published, but it is going to be a lonnnggg process. I am imaging that if I have enough successful recipes that it will be at least a year until they can all be tried and up to my standards.

*Are you trying to be Rachael Ray or some other celebrity chef?

No, I am not trying to become famous. I would love to have local attention so that I can sell the book and potentially cook for some cool people, but in no way, shape, or form would I want to leave St. Louis and move to NYC or LA to have a cooking show. Besides, I don't see myself endorsing Triscuts or donuts.

*Then why are you writing it exactly?

I am writing it because I think it would be awesome to be published. For most of my life I have wanted to be a writer but never seemed to find my place in the writing world. I know that it is going to be a challenge and I may fail, but that isn't a big deal to me. I have failed before at things and I am still surviving just fine.

Well, I guess that about wraps it up! Anyone have any more questions?

P.S. Only 3 people asked to be interviewed...so if you are still interested let me know!

Interview me

2009-02-24T12:30:00.002-06:00

I love this new tag that is going around called Interview me. When I saw Rhonda had offered to send out questions...I jumped at the chance. I knew they would be great, thought provoking questions. I was right.

1. High school or college? Which was more fun and why?
That is kind of tough actually, I am am very fortunate to have great experiences from both. Ultimately though, I would have to say college. I learned more about life and even though I was living off campus and working constantly, I still managed to make a lot of time to see friends and just relax. In high school I loved performing and participating in clubs, but I always had a lot of people that didn't like me. I dressed differently and loved it. Actually what I wore back then (very 60s and 70s) would make me totally cool now.

2. We know you love to cook. Why are you passionate about food?
As crazy as it sounds I have never really thought about the why behind it. At 14 I was working at my Mom's restaurant/catering business and I always really enjoyed myself. In college I started cooking for friends and applying what I was taught by my mom. It was fun, I was good at it so it made sense to keep it up. I sharped my skills further after quitting a restaurant management job and taking an assistant chef position. I just think food is fun and it is something everyone has in common, so why not try and be good at it. Everyone has to eat right?

3. When did you know you first loved the man that is now your husband?
I didn't have a defining moment where the sunlight crowned upon Nathan's face and I knew he was "the one." Nathan is like a fungus, he just grows on you.

4. Who would you most like to make dinner for and what would you make them?
I would love to make someones last meal, but that is a freaking lot of pressure. I think I would cook for Julie Powell. She spend a year cooking like Julia Child and I think she would understand if I messed up. I would make her soup and homemade bread because those are the two most comforting foods in the world.

5. What is your dream job?
I really have a ton of dream jobs. I would love to utilize my presentation skills as an Admissions rep (for a community college), public speaker or doing food demos. If I could figure out something non food to sell on Etsy that could allow me to work at home I would die of happiness. Or if I could build a sustainable kitchen on our side lot I would totally do an online gourmet food business. Working from home is really a dream of mine....I would just love to not have to drive to work (I hate driving) and be able to have all the conveniences of home one a daily basis, plus cute doggies to keep me company!

Thanks for the questions Rhonda!!

Now it's your turn! If you would like me to interview you, just post it on the comment section or email me at teresacooks @ gmail dot com

I'm refreshing like lemonade!

2009-02-24T10:58:00.002-06:00

Pamela at My Life Through a Lens gave me the lemonade award. Thanks for thinking I am refreshing, Pamela.

But I am a huge wimp and worry about passing along the award and making someone feel left out. Sorry, I know I am no fun.

Random Thursday

2009-02-19T12:24:00.002-06:00

It looks like Random Thursday is becoming a semi-regular feature!

*I've had the craziest, most messed up days EVER at work. I will spare you the details (seriously, you don't want to know), but rest assured that all 3 bosses can never, EVER question my dedication to this company. I also managed to get them to agree to me having a half day tomorrow (for mental angiush) and expensing a bottle of red wine and new pair of yoga pants. Ok, so I probably won't take them up on the latter, but still.

*I ordered some new clothes from NY&CO that came last night....I wear their career clothes all the time, but had never tired their jeans. I got a clearance pair for $15 and I am really happy with them. Best part? I had to get them because all of my jeans were too big. They are a size smaller!! Woohoo!

*I get to spend the whole weekend with family and I am pumped. I get to see my sister who lives out of state and spend sometime with my family.

*I am working on posts about the cookbook and my cool tag/award....stay tuned.

*Anyone else watching Real Housewives of New York? I am already loving this season, after a disappointing end of the OC.

Everyone have a great day!!!!

I'm officially behind...

2009-02-18T07:22:00.003-06:00

I hate being behind on things so I rarely let it happen, but as it stands I have a tag, requests for a blog post with more info about the cookbook, and lots of blogs to catch up on via GR. In addition to what I REALLY hate to be behind on which is replying to emails. For those of you that are waiting for a reply from me, I hope to do some serious inbox cleaning out today!!

My miracle diet

2009-02-17T11:55:00.002-06:00

I have found a super secret effective diet...keep busy all morning with work during which time you eat a handful of golden grams and drink 3 tall black coffees. Then, get some really good work related news that distracts you from anything relating to food, even the tasty Philly cheesesteak sandwiches that the grill cook is making.

I maybe shaking all day from the coffee, but oh well! :)

29 in 09 check in

2009-02-16T13:07:00.002-06:00

We are almost 2 months into 09, so I thought I would check in with my 29 in 09.

Here is what I can marked checked:

8. Get another dog.
Well, I wasn't planning on this one happening so quick, but now we have Lila!!

9. Teach a friend how to cook.
Tonight I am giving a combined bread/cheese lesson so I consider this one accomplished. But anyone else needing a lesson let me know.

10. Reorganize and deep clean the kitchen.
I will need to deep clean again in a few months, but the reorganization is complete! I have a great new system for organization for all my bread and cheese supplies, as well as just general cooking. I even now have a cabinet for my most used cookbooks!

13. Buy a digital camera.
I am thankful I didn't even have to buy one! A friend gave me her old one. :) It isn't super fancy, but I just wanted a basic one to use for blog pics anyway.

20. Start composting.
I am so happy I am doing this. I am not using a traditional composting method, but it has really helped us cut back on our trash.

21. Finish the Twilight series.
I finally finished the series. Not my favorite books of all time, but I am still glad I read them.

That makes 6 so far...not to bad considering it is the end of February!! Only 23 more to go!

Open letter

2009-02-12T13:20:00.002-06:00

Dear Chef,
Why, oh why did you have to make corn fritters and hush puppies today? They are both my weakness. I greatly enjoy them, but my waistline is a different story.

Dear person with a crap attitude,
GET OVER IT. You aren't perfect either, sir.

Dear Metro bus driver,
Last time I checked you aren't driving a Pinto, you are driving a huge ass bus. So maybe when you are making a hard right turn you should get off your cell phone and concentrate a little more on not hitting any cars.

Dear college students (yes, multiple!) that got arrested today,
You are idiots. After someone makes the statement, "I'm calling campus police." That is when you stop yelling at someone, harassing them, or doing stupid shit that is deserving of calling campus police, and you run.

Dear account that usually doesn't make any money,
THANK YOU for making money this month!!!! Can we maybe keep this up and try it in March too?

Dear husband,
Thank you for taking advantage of the nice weather and starting to clear off our eye sore of a hill in the back yard. I will reward you for that.

Dear Lila,
Please, dear, pee outside. That's really all I want.

Dear gym patrons,
I am all for everyone getting exercise, but if you are REALLY going to keep this New Year's resolution, please learn how to use the elliptical correctly. Going 2 miles an hour while talking on your cell phone isn't going to help you.

Dear spinning instructor,
I am a spinning virgin. On Saturday, please be kind.

I need some motivation to finish Breaking Dawn

2009-02-11T16:49:00.003-06:00

No, that isn't a typo. I have roughly two hundred pages of Breaking Dawn left and I am struggling to finish it. If you haven't read the series this is where you need to stop reading this post......

don't say I didn't warn you.....

........

Today should have been the perfect day for me to finish the book, it is all rainy, I had a delicious cup of coffee, and I wasn't going to the gym. But I really am a little bored at this point. Ok, so if you aren't crazy familiar with the book, here is where I left off..... Bella saw Irina and now she is preparing to leave for Italy/South America.

Someone please tell me there are a couple more big surprises coming or something!?! While I have enjoyed this book, I am overall a little upset. I don't think I am going to say why out of respect for the hard core fans of the series that read my blog.....I am also scared that you all may form a mob and kill me.

On the other hand, my opinion could completely change in these last 200 pages....if I can get myself to read them.

Please tell me I am not the only one that finds this funny.

2009-02-10T11:25:00.003-06:00

Maybe it's just because I am in the industry, but I loved the passive agressive notes post today:

if you’ve ever bought twizzlers from a vending machine, you probably know that there’s a good one-in-three chance that one tiny corner of the plastic packaging is gonna get stuck, and then (bang on the glass all you want) only yielding after an extra 75 cents is inserted. some folks, however, aren’t willing to condone that kind of stubbornness in their packaged sweets.

Junk food without all the junk

2009-02-06T12:30:00.002-06:00

Nathan claims he can't cook, but I beg to differ. When Nathan puts his mind to it, he can totally hold his own in the kitchen. This week he proved this point even further. He whipped up a baked chicken tender that was very yummy.

I am a huge fan of baked chips versus most tradition fried ones, especially the BBQ Baked Lays. So Nathan took a handful or two and crushed them in a bag. He then took some IQF chicken tenders I had bought, dunked them in a little egg wash, and coated them with the crushed chips. he then baked them in a 350 degree oven while my healthy homemade fries baked.

Verdict? Not a gourmet meal, but for a chicken tender junkie like myself, a nice, much healthier alternative.

I really get interactive on this blog, but if anyone has any fun "Junk food without the Junk" recipes they feel like sharing, please post them in the comments.

25 things

2009-02-05T13:25:00.002-06:00

I was tagged on the lovely Facebook to post 25 random things about myself. Since I am too lazy to follow directions on how to repost, and I really don’t like tagging people, I just decided to post here on my oh so lovely blog.

25 Random things about me:
1. While I wish I was more fashionable, I don’t really want to put in the energy or money to make myself that way.
2. If I could look like any celebrity it would be Katy Perry, I love her cute pin up girl style.
3. I make an effort to tell people when it looks they have lost weight because it bugs me when I shed a few pounds that I see obviously and no one says anything.
4. My aunt is getting married in May and my mother and I are catering the dinner and baking mini heart wedding cakes. I think catering her wedding is going to be one of the highlights of my summer.
5. I often take my extended family for granted, which is terrible because I seriously have the greatest family ever.
6. It makes me very happy when people subscribe to my blog and leave comments.
7. I am kind of a hypocrite because I rarely leave others blog comments, but I am trying to get better.
8. I could drink iced coffee all day even when it is freezing outside.
9. Waiting for Nathan to get home so we can go to the gym together is seriously what makes me lose my motivation.
10. I hate it when the gym is crowded.
11. I can always tell when I am stressed because I start inverting numbers.
12. I am not feeling the effects of the recession much at all. I know I am lucky for this.
13. My perfect day would be drinking wine with friends (and Nathan) on a porch with a gorgeous view and nice weather.
14. If I never had to drive my car ever again I wouldn’t be upset because I hate driving.
15. I eat yogurt and veggie burgers almost daily.
16. While baking bread relaxes me, making cheese tends to stress me out.
17. I like drinking apple juice and sweet vermouth. It sounds gross but don’t knock it until you try it!
18. I almost never use chap stick.
19. My office is always cold.
20. I love to cook for friends.
21. I am going on a girl’s trip this summer to a beach and I am so freaking excited.
22. I eat hot sauce on so much stuff I probably have destroyed all my insides.
23. I really need to do a blog makeover but am wondering if I have the patience for such a task.
24. I am more OCD then I let on.
25. I think I am slowly becoming a hippie.

Post #200 and 1 year blog anniversary!

2009-02-04T11:34:00.003-06:00

Just like the title says, not only is this post 200 for me, it is also exactly one year since I started this blog! Yeah, I totally planned it this way. ;)

I know this isn't a big deal or anything but hitting the one year mark gave me a good excuse to look back at the last year and see everything that happened. The year was really packed with a ton of up and down moments for me, but the up moments surpassed the down moments by far. I think I have changed for the better because of the blog, because it has really caused me to do a lot of self reflection.

If you had told me last February that in one year I would be making cheese, seriously thinking about writing a cookbook (ah, you didn't know about that did you??), becoming a big advocate of sustainability, and writing to 100 GR subscribers I would have told you there is NO WAY. But here I am, in just that scenario.

So to you all of you that read the blog, thanks for sticking around. I have no idea what the next year will bring, but I can't wait to find out!!

Swoon!!

2009-01-31T18:30:00.004-06:00

If you don't like dog pics, you may as well skip this post. The first is one I took earlier in the week just to show how tiny Lila is, in fact as of today she is 2.9 lbs! The rest are just random awww worthy pics of both of our "kids".

Have a great weekend everyone!

My tastebuds (and waistline!) are in love.

2009-01-30T12:38:00.004-06:00

This year our cafeteria has really got some good products. Besides the addition of the iced coffee machine, we also got some bottle Starbucks products (I love my double shots!) and some yummy indivdual servings of Silk soy milk.

But my favorite addition by far is not one of our great new beverages. It's is the Morning Star Veggie Burgers. Specifically, the Spicy Black Bean.

Now let me just say, a few years ago I hated everything Morning Star. I religiously flocked to the Boca Burger and a couple months ago vowed to start making my own homemade veggie burgers, but after having one of these recently I am in love!! I don't know if the ones we get commercially are exactly the same in store, but the ingredients are incredibly similar.

And upon looking at the ingredients I was overjoyed to see that my burger has a mere 130 calories. I usually wrap it in lettuce with some onions, hot sauce, and a small amount of reduced calorie ranch easily making this sandwich under 200 calories, and I seriously CRAVE them. I have been eating one almost every work day for over a week.

So now I am wondering if this treat of a lunch is what is really helping my weight loss. I started losing more than weeks prior, and I haven't even been to the gym because of the snow and Lila.

Either way, I'll take it. Bring it on Morning Star!!

More on Lila...

2009-01-26T12:11:00.003-06:00

I was hoping to include a few more pics, but both dogs weren't being overly cooperative. Hopefully I can get a few more tonight to post later.

So here's the story on Lila: Nathan has a co-worker that doesn't believe in spaying/neutering that just had a few puppies. Yeah, don't get me started on that. Believe me, Nathan lectures accordingly, and he told me he thinks he may have made more impact this time. Woohoo to that!!

But, anyway, Nathan had been playing on adopting Lila since early December because he thinks she will be the perfect dog for me. I wanted a second, very active/playful dog for Roxie; however, I really wanted a dog under 30 lbs because Roxie is such a freaking horse at 60+ pounds. Well, he kind of took the smaller dog thing to the extreme, because Lila is a Chihuahua/Pomerania mix that will probably weigh in at about 10 lbs at full growth. I would say she is probably no more than 2 lbs right now!

She is so, so squeezable and for 2 months old I already consider her to be pretty well behaved. She had some issues sleeping last night because she had never been crated before, so we may try something different tonight like having Roxie sleep in the crate with her. She also has a long way to go on potty training, but I am sure she will get there.

Drum roll please....

2009-01-25T15:37:00.002-06:00

Meet Lila:

More details about her to follow, but I know some of you were very anxious to hear what the surprise was....

This is tough....

2009-01-23T07:57:00.002-06:00

I have good news. News that I want to scream from the roof tops and type in all caps, but I can't....*sigh*.

You never know who is reading, and that is why I can't say.

But readers, just be assured it is great news that has made me very, very happy.

And I hate having to include this statement; however it always seems necessary... no, I am not pregnant.

It's a surprise!

2009-01-21T12:33:00.003-06:00

Totally random, but Nathan has some kind of surprise planned for me. Apparently, it is for V Day but I am getting it early.....as in this Sunday. I am going nuts. Unfortunately for Nathan, I am usually pretty good about figuring out surprises...it is really hard for him to keep secrets from me. I have a gift, what can I say?

This time though...it's tough. He hasn't taken money out of any of the accounts, so at first I figured we would take a day trip to one of my favorite winery towns. When he told me I was getting the surprise on Sunday, I reminded him I would probably be "slightly" hungover from the Food and Wine Experience, because really, who am I kidding? Free wine for six hours is going to result in some pain on Sunday. But he said a hangover wouldn't matter.

So then I thought maybe he got me a second dog. Specifically, a puggle. This makes sense because it would be from a rescue or a dog he found that needed a home (he would never buy from a breeder) and chances are he wouldn't need to pay for that up front. He claims he has been setting money aside, but I don't buy that. I track all of our expenses and I don't know how he would of pulled that past me.

After a lot of badgering last night he told me it was a kitchen table. I think this was just to shut me up...but I guess this is also a possibility. When I asked more questions he said it was exactly what we had been looking for, he got it from someone at work, and we would have to buy chairs this lovely new-to-us table.

Anyone have any theories? Jenn will you give us a hint?