Step, step...

Today was fantastic weather, and I couldn't resist busting out the double jogging stroller for a little run today! Maister always gets excited to ride in the jogger, and we even have "jogging stroller sweateshirts" and pants for the kids. Jay takes them out quite frequently, especially when the sun in shining. I often run really awkward when I push the stroller, but I was very conscious of that today and so far I am not feeling any bad effects. SWEET!
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I ran 3.48 miles at an 8:45 pace. I was happy with this considering I was pushing an extra 60-70 pounds! I was feeling so good, I even ran an extra 1/2 mile further than I was planning. I almost regretted that decision as I pushed them up a steep hill to start off that last 1/2 mile. But then I remembered that what comes up, must come down, so I definitely enjoyed the way down the hill as we approached our house!
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The good news:
As soon as I was on the sidewalk, my poor week of running was turned around. I thought to myself, "this is why I RUN!" It felt soo good. Plus it put Gator to sleep, and that is always a bonus.
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When we got home, Gator went down for a nap and I set up my gear to do 30 mins of step while Maister and I watched "Sid the Science Kid." She never gets to watch this, so she was psyched.
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Hear is a peak at my step gear:

Wii Balance Board, and Everlast Aerobic Step

3 pound weights...pumping some iron here people

And my most favorite cross-training shoe. Jay got me these for Christmas, and they are beyond comfortable and make me smile when I see that bright blue!

Maister was happy to hang out with me as I did my thing
Or maybe she was just happy to watch Sid, and learn about GERMS! This episode was right up my alley.
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I did 30 mins step with 15 mins of "pumping" my 3's. I did a total of 2970 steps. Done.
I promptly took a shower, and then it was time to get us all some lunch. Yes, I did not shower until 11:30am. Hey, at least I showered! Remember I had just watched the PBS show about GERMS. Made me want to wash my hands about 50 times...
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Tonight we ate the Spicey Orange Chicken Stirfry, and this recipe is definitely going on my repeat list. It tasted like take out, but was much healthier. I added several more veggies to the mix, and I think that was right decision.
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Do you ever try and make take-out at home?

-I have tried a time or two, but tonights was by far the most successful!

Orange you glad...

Did you grow up with those same knock knock jokes? You know, the ones that end with "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?" Or something like that. I used to love knock knock jokes.
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Anyways...
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You know in the movie Sleepless In Seattle, where Meg Ryan can peel an apple with the peel in one piece?? Has anyone else aspired to doing this? I have never forgotten that scene, and have secretly wished I could do the same. I feel like peeling the apple (is that considered peeling?) and an orange are pretty much in the same category. And today I peeled not only ONE tangelo in one piece, but TWO! IN A ROW nonetheless. I was thrilled! Check that off my bucket list please...

SO glad I spent the $3 on my bag of tangelos yesterday. We have already eaten a ton! These little suckers are delicious. Gator doesn't agree, and Maister only agrees about 1/2 the time. But fortunately I can gladly eat whatever they don't. If they eat the tangelo WIN, if they don't and I get to eat it, WIN! I love me a WIN WIN situation. And this truly is that!

Today I ran 5 miles at a 8 minute pace. Here was the breakdown:

Mile 1: 8:13
Mile 2: 7:41
Mile 3: 7:47
Mile 4: 7:41
Mile 5: 8:00

As I said after Monday's run, I can usually really bring it home on my last mile, but I have been feeling exhausted-to say the least!

Jay says I need to get to bed earlier, so I will work on that. Whatever it takes so I can actually ENJOY my morning runs again. I always anticipate my runs, but this week has been different. Hopefully Friday will hold a brighter day. Speaking of BRIGHTER, it was blue skies here today. I am sooo ready for Spring and wearing flip flops again!

A New Run

I went for a run this morning, unfortunately it was HARD to get up. This mornings run was unusal as it was hard the whole run. I was exhausted, and my longest mile was my last mile which is weird, for me. I only ran 4 miles which is mild for my current training, and it was just never easy. I don't know what it was, but I just felt in a funk. Hopefully my next run goes better!

So I ran 4 miles at a 7:52 pace. Not too bad. I am pleased with that. Though it isn't as good as the pace my Nike+ lied to me about for the past few weeks! Fortunatley, I think my recent calibration has fixed that problem!

It was foggy outside when I left this morning. Actually kind of creepy. I could see probably 200ish feet in front of me. Which was plenty for running, but just a little freaky looking. It was so cold that I ran the rest of the run with icicles - that is right - ICICLES on my eye lashes! Every time I blinked I could see them a little better, and I could see them out the corner of my eye. I suppose it was a good distraction from how I was feeling :)

When I got home I did about 10-15 minutes of strength training, and then took at LONG, HOT, shower.

I ended the night with 30 minutes of step, 2980 steps while I watched some Bachelor. What is it about that show that sucks you in???

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How did your Monday work out go?
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Have you ever run with icicles on your eyelashes?
I have a couple times, and it think it is cool :)

Week 5 menu

Here is what we will be cooking up at our house this week:

Monday: Chicken and Beans (frozen from a couple weeks ago) over rice
Tuesday: Two Mustard Chicken with rice and steamed broc
Wednesday: Taquitos! I can't wait.
Thursday: Spicey Orange Chicken Stirfry (didn't get to make it on Sunday as we got an invitation to sister in-laws house)
Friday: Homemade pizza - duh!
Saturday: Leftovers

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What is cooking at your house this week?

Nike+ Made Me a Liar

Friday, I had a longer run on my training schedule and I was excited! I had a really rough time getting out of bed in time to leave, but I felt so proud of myself for resisting the strong urge to hit snooze again.
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I began running and it was feeling really good. I decided to do one of my regular routes backwards, just to spice it up a little. --I don't like running the same routes over and over again.-- Anyways, when I got about a 1/4 mile from home I was feeling really good. I considered going a little further, but opted not too cause I knew the kiddos would be waking up soon, and Jay would need to leave for work. I headed home and when I stopped at my house and looked at my Nike+ sport band it read:

PERFECT! I had 8 miles on my schedule, and I ended just right. And to add to it, I had done it in a great time! My day was off to a fantastic start and I was feeling GOOD.
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But something wasn't sitting right with me. All day I kept running through my route in my head, adding up the miles and it just wasn't adding up. I have run these same streets so many times I am very familiar with the mileage involved. It is actually kind of an obsession I have.

*As I run I go over the miles, during the daydream about different routes I could take and how many miles they would be, it just might be out of control!*

OK, back to my story, I finally logged onto MapMyRun and checked it out. I had infact, only run 7 miles! AHHH. I was in total disbelief. I was so irritated. Because not only had I run 1 less mile than I thought, but that meant my time was completely off. And I didn't know how long my times had been miscalculated on previous runs. So obviously I am not as quick as my previous runs have logged. I don't think they were TOO far off but enough to change things.
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Moral of the story: Continue calibrating your Nike+ sportband.
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The End.
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Has anything like this ever happened to you?

Less than perfect day = Baking Cookies

To say the least, today was not the best one I have ever had. I just wanted to go back to bed and wake up, ready for the day to be better! Unfortunately, my attemps to take an afternoon catnap failed, and I had to trudge through the remainder of the day wollowing in my sadness. Ok, I am being dramatic, but you get the idea. I decided cookies would make it better, so I told Maister if she ate some of her asparagus at dinner I would make cookies. I figured this would give me a better excuse to make cookies, and I can get Maister to do almost anything for a promise of dessert! She ate her asparagus (can I get a WOOT WOOT!), and I began baking.

I chose my favorite "healthy" cookie recipe. Isn't that kind of an oxi-moron...healthy and cookie? Well in this case I think it almost fits! You see, about a year ago, after we moved into our house I was enjoying the new space in my kitchen a little too much. I was baking a little too much, if that is even possible. I decided that I needed a healthier dessert option that still tasted delish, and would fulfill my need for sugar at night. So I pulled a ton of ingredients out of my cupboards and just starting adding a little of this and a lot of that, and before I knew it I had these beauties sitting on my counter. And I was never more proud, don't worry it was the good kind of proud :)

I like to call them "Healthy Oatmeal Pecan Cookies"

I used a mix of extra dark chips and semisweets for tonights batch

Tonight we baked these with out the pecans as I didn't have any left...dang. I love the extra crunch of the nuts in the cookies. I love having a cookie recipe where I can enjoy eating several cookies and not worry about how I shouldn't be grabbing another one. Try them, your mind and body will thank you. And let me know what you think! I would be totally embarassed if they were awful and I have been feeding them to people. I know sometimes I can get in my own little world, and maybe my taste buds are just trying to boost my confidence by telling me they are good. Although, the chocolate smeared on my kids faces should say it all. I can trust the opinions of a 1 and 2 year old right? Right. Now that we have that settled...

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Healthy Oatmeal Pecan Cookies

makes about 3 1/2 dozen

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1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, room temperature (almost warm)

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup dried cranberries

1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips or coursely chopped chocolate

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix butter, applesauce, and sugars until combined. Add the egg, vanilla, and mix well. In a separate bowl whisk baking soda, quick oats, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Then slowly incorporate into the wet ingredients. Mix well. Add the pecans, chocolate and craisins until just combined. Drop by the tablespoon full onto greased baking sheet (I recommend pamper chef baking stone). Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, just until the edges are slightly golden. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing.

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Now if you will excuse me, I have about 30 cookies left to eat...

Wednesday HOT Run

Jay came home from work early so I could go for a run (he had an early morning meeting that prevented my morning run). I headed out this afternoon prepared for a 5 mile run. The weather was GREAT and I was excited.

I ended up running 6.6 miles at a 6:57 pace. SCORE! Obviously I ran a little further than my original training called for. But I always find myself wanting to go a little further when I see my run coming to an end. As I got about a quarter mile from my house, I realized I would have run abour 5.25 miles, and I was so close to a 10k that I may as well just finish it out right? So I did another quick little loop while I sang to Justin Beiber and Justin Derulo, and before I knew it I was done and had covered 6.6 miles. I felt GOOD when I got home. But it was HOT.

I haven't got my sweat on since last September while running outside. But when I walked in the house this afternoon, I was a glowing mess. And that made me smile. I used to hate sweating, and now I LOVE it. For me, it is a sign that I had a good work out. Oh, and that the weather just might be coming around. Sweet!

I think I will probably head out for a short one tomorrow (3m or so) just cause I always feel better when I start my day with a good run. Will keep you posted.

Oh, and I am considering running a race in 9 days. I will let you know what I decide...I don't have much time to think, so I will decide this weekend.