Whirl wind week

So, we made our big adult decision. We're buying a home! It's been a crazy, long process but we're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It's definitely a starter home, but that's exactly what hubs and I wanted as we're looking to learn how to remodel and make the home our own. So, stay tuned for lot of before and after photos. We're hoping to close at the end of the month - I think it's a bit ambitious but since it's a bank-owned home they want to get it off their books. We shall see!

I've been pinning like crazy all the ideas for remodeling and decor. I can't wait to get the house ready so I can actually put all my ideas to work. The best part about the house is the sun porch which I'm planning to turn into my studio. I cannot wait! Check out my "For the Home" pinboard on Pinterest.com.

I'm also planning to redo my blog name / design. I'm just not a fan of this name or the look. So, yes, this blog is a work in progress!

Time to skedaddle

Holy Toledo! It definitely felt like a Monday today. Work was well WORK. I did get a decent amount accomplished, so that's always a plus, but by the time 5 o'clock rolled around I was ready to skedaddle. 

I headed home to run with the Crew at the ever healthy Dunkin' Donuts meet up spot. My friend and I put in a nice 4.5 mile run / walk over a rather hilly course. It was HOT. We ran through the sprinklers like 5 year olds and chatted about life's ups & downs. Running is truly my therapy and my runner friends are very dear to my heart.

I almost broke down thinking about how very lucky I am to call such women my friends. They're inspiring and seem to know just how to cheer me up. Either with a smile or a dirty joke (HA). We laugh & we run - it's the best balance of staying fit mentally and physically. I highly recommend it.

Aside from all the hubbub that is a Monday, Mr. & I have a lot of decision making to do over the next few days. We both decided to sleep on it and discuss everything further tomorrow. Ahh, Life, I just never know what you're going to throw my way.

Today's motivational quote: 

"God's plan for your life, far exceeds the circumstances of your day." Louie Giglio

I'm dedicating this quote to my hubs as he had a REALLY rough day today. I'm hoping tomorrow is better for him.

Peace, love & snail tails! (I know, snails don't have tails but it rhymed & I'm tired.)

Early morning run

I crawled (literally) out of bed at 6:15AM this morning. I've had a really hard time getting up before 6:45AM and purposely set my alarm for 5:45 and 6:00.  I failed to turn on the ringer, so who knows what actually woke me up at 6:15. Well, anyway, I got myself up and headed out the door for a 5 mile run (2 mile warm up, 2 miles at tempo and a 1 mile cool down). It's been in the 90s all week and this morning it was a balmy 75ish. I was sweating after about 5 minutes. Wee. Morning runs are my favorite possibly because I'm still sleeping (sleep running?). Here are a few things I noticed this AM:

1. Watch out for cobwebs. I panicked for a minute when I walked out the door into a web thinking that a spider might be in my hair. Ick!
2. Be aware that folks set their sprinkler systems to randomly turn on before 7AM. I got a tad wet.
3. Geese are cranky creatures 24-7!
4. People running / walking before 7AM are usually very friendly. One lady said my shoes were "especially cheery" this morning. Thanks Saucony for the sweet neon yellow kicks!
5. The golf course close to my home has a Border Collie to chase off cranky geese on the course. Hooray!
6. Drivers avoid stop signs before 7AM. Noticed a fellow blow right on through a stop sign. Remember to run defensively! Yikes.

Since I woke up so late, I had to rush around to get ready for work this morning, so I didn't get to properly cool down or stretch. I'm feeling it now. 

Weight of Nation

So, Nick and I started watching the HBO series “The Weight of the Nation.” If you know us personally, you know we get a kick out of this stuff.  We’ve watched Junk Food Nation, Food Inc. and Nick’s read almost every book under the sun by Michael Pollan and various other authors toting healthy eating ideas. (I start the books, but never seem to finish them. Nick usually fills me in, but I’m bound and determined to read one book to completion – I’m more of a fiction kind of girl.)

Back to the topic, we watched the first two episodes in the series and the numbers the researchers are throwing out are astounding. I believe they said 68.8% of adults in the US are overweight or obese. Serioulsy, 68.85%?! That’s a BIG number (no pun-intended), how did we get to this ridiculous number? Processed foods.  High dependence on “fast-food.”  Lack of exercise. What’s even scarier is the percentage of CHILDREN that are overweight or obese. Researchers are predicting that today’s children will not live as long as their parents. That’s just sad.

I don’t have children, yet, but I plan to be that picky parent who won’t let their kids eat just anything. Yes, I understand they will get treats at school and their friends’ houses, but under my roof I plan to be pretty stringent with their eating habits. There just seems to be no control. (And now I’m off my soapbox.)

Fortunately, programs like HBO’s series are great ways to get people to start to pay attention to what they are putting in their mouths as well as their children’s.  I’m looking forward to wrapping up the series.

I’m also focusing more on my eating habits. I know I get lazy and rely on boxed meals (aka pizza) at least once a week, and I really need to nip that tendency in the bud.  I’m planning to start a food diary for the month of June and really analyze what I eat.  I’m planning to post it too!

I'm working to revamp this blog...so stay tuned!

A new month, a new theme

So, wow lots to catch up on here since I haven't written for the past month. Life kind of escaped me these past few weeks.

Brief rundown:
August 6 - I claimed 1st in my age group at the The Legend 10-Mile Trail Run at Sleepy Hollow State Park.
August 19-20 - My friends and I took over Chicago for my best friend's bachelorette party.
August 26-28 - I headed up to the Manistee National Forest for the North Country Trail run and came home with a 3rd place age group finish, bottle of wine, and a husband with a broken foot. He was 43 miles in to his Ultra when he hit a root just the wrong way and broke his 2nd metarsal. Six weeks in a giant boot with crutches and no pressure on it. Weee!

So this past week was a bit rough with Nick's injury and then we were welcomed to the neighborhood by a friendly car thief who broke into my hubby's car. Awesome. Needless to say, that was the stick that broke the camel's back (or whatever that saying is) that prompted us to give a 30-day notice to our wretched apartment complex. We're now moving across town to a much safer, nicer place. Yay. I will be doing all of the packing since Nick's out of commission for the next few weeks.

It's been a bit of a whirl-wind month, wrapping up on a few bad notes but I'm looking forward to a fresh start at the new place.

I'm also planning to revamp my workout schedule and take some time away from running this fall.

On a fun note, I'm almost done with the 4th Harry Potter book. Hoping to finish the series in October!

August already?

Wow, I can hardly believe how fast this summer has zoomed by. It seems like every weekend is packed with something to do or somewhere to go. Time sure flies when you're having fun.

This reminds me of my favorite quote "The days are long, but the years are short." I picked it up in a book I highly recommend: "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. My days at work tend to be long and boring and this quote puts into perspective for me just how fast time goes by.  Reading Gretchen's blog and reminding myself daily of this quote helps me jump back on track to making each day count.

So, let me catch up on the past month. I didn't complete my goal of Insanity. Crap. BUT I did have a wonderful, relaxing vacation with my husband and got in some good, long runs. I came with 2 minutes of my PR time at a destination half-marathon in Erie, PA. I finished in 2:07-something. It was hot & humid and pretty miserable for the last 3 miles, but the first half was awesome. I was under 10 minute miles from the beginning until about the 9.5 mile mark. Yee haw. The rest of our vacation I spent vegging on the boat or dock, drinking delicious adult beverages, kayaking, reading and basically laying around like a cat. It was glorious.

Last week I put in a nice workout routine. Monday was a trail run of 8 miles, Tuesday a 16-mile bike ride, Wednesday Hip Hop class, Friday 4 mile run/walk and Saturday a hot & steamy 16-mile run up in Plainwell. So far this week, I have been a slug hiding out from the humid, high temperatures.

Tomorrow I will change that with a run in the evening and dance class. Thursday is up in the air and Friday I will take off for home for the weekend. I'm planning to run The Legend 10-miler on Saturday morning and then hopefully put in 5-6 easy miles on Sunday morning in O-town.

Whew that was a lot of catching up. My goal for this month is write EVERYDAY, even if it's just a sentence or two. I'm gearing up for a larger challenge I plan to pursue in November. But that's for another post.