Caturday 5/30/2020

This is a story of a little kitty girl who likes to sit on my lap. She smushes herself so close to me and purrs so loudly in my ear. She is my girl. 

Fitness Friday 5/29/2020

It’s Friday!!!!!!!!! This week flew by but I’m ready for the weekend. 

Saturday: a good solid 6 mile run. 

Sunday: rest

Monday: PILATES!!!! I was so excited to go I forgot to take a pic! Melanie and I had a good time. 

Tuesday: speedwork.  It was a descending ladder. It was fun by I was sore. 

Wednesday: 

Back to Opti! I did some weights and rode the bike for a bit. Just an active recovery day.  

Thursday: I slept in due to rain

Friday: it’s my rest day! 

Reading Time: 5 Second Rule

I read this book last month. It’s really good. It’s hard to change habits but I have been working on changing my negative loop thoughts and doing things that scare me. I feel like I’ve been the battle of negative thoughts more lately. Mel Robbins definitely brings the words to hit home and help you be successful in your life. 

What’s Up Wednesday

Well, the school year is over! Lauryn is officially a sophomore! Jeff has to clean up the YB but is on the home stretch. Last weekend was a holiday weekend but it didn’t really feel like a holiday. We didn’t do much which was fine. We did have a fire and ate s’mores with our friend, Kurt. We left smelling like a campfire. I slept so good! 

Time To Cook! PB Dessert

Friends! This dessert created by my friend Stefanie is delicious!! I have it stored in the freezer and it easily thaws out in an hour. And it’s healthy!  

Running with friends

While COVID squelches a lot of our fun, hands down, I wouldn’t have started running so many years ago without my running friends. They keep me accountable. I know there would be many days I would just blow a run off because sleeping in is so nice! But I’m glad I get up to meet them and run. Some times we run together, some times we do our own thing. And I still enjoy seeing them. They inspire me to push harder. 

Taken in May 2019

Caturday Week 21

The girls. So special and funny! 

No Scully. Iced coffee is bad for you! 

Fancy paw 9/10

AJ loves her basket also. 

So tired! 

Technically a dog and cat pic but super funny! 

Fitness Friday! 5/22/2020

This week went fast! School finished up. It rained a lot. I still got some runs in.  Here we go! 

Saturday: 

8 Miles. Longest I’ve run in awhile. It was good and hard. I found my mental toughness muscles! 

Tuesday I got a good run in. Yo yo fartleks. They were hard. Mentally I was struggling. 

Thursday: this run was more walk but enjoyable as we got to chase sunrises! 

Time to Read! Every Note Played

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova was released in March 2018. I read it the instant it came out. And still, two years later, I think about this book often. 

Here’s a description (remember, I stink at book reports):

I sobbed at times during this book. ALS is a devastating disease with no cure. Genova did a wonderful job at portraying the disease and still leaving Richard with dignity. Now go read it! 

What’s Up Today?

For L, school is out for the summer!!!! She finished this semester with all A’s. She is so proud of herself! I think she’s ready for a break (and to get to do stuff. But we can’t have everything). 

Jeff is done teaching but he still needs to finish the YB. I think he’s really done with this school year. 

My practice is a little more busy. I’m really trying to embrace life. I struggled this weekend because 1) L only has three years of HS left), 2) I can’t control much in the big picture and 3) life is not returning to “normal” as fast as I would like. And I can’t fix it. I’m trying to stay present.  

The girls are thrilled that everyone is home. Lucy was a little under the weather this weekend but has bounced back and Oreo is the same. 

Have a great day my friends! 

Grandma Rosie’s tacos

Tonight we had what we affectionately Grandma Rosie's tacos. Jeff’s grandma would fry her taco shells. They made a delicious taco base! Our taco fillings include ground beef, refried beans, cheese, salsa, lettuce and sour cream. Easy peasy! 

Monday Running review

Now that I’m caught up on runs, I thought I’d chat about some of my favorite things. 

I run in the dark most mornings. It’s when I can get it done. I’ve tried so many things but the Night runner 270 are my favorite lights.  They are rechargeable and provide a great amount of light while showing others I’m out there. Safety is a top priority! They usually last a weeks worth of runs before I need to charge them. Well worth the $60.  

Caturday 5.16.2020

The girls really enjoy having everyone home. They love L so much and it’s been nice that she’s home.  

They spent one of the rare mornings this week getting their Vitamin D in. 

They also helped me craft! 

Today, Scully was very interested in my coffee. Umm, no ma’am! 

Fitness Friday! 5/15/2020

It rained so much this week! One of my runs got rained out. I’m not complaining. The sleep was nice! 

Saturday: a beautiful 6 mile run. I felt fantastic! 

Monday: I was a little tired. Got out for about 3.5 

Thursday: was supposed to run 4.  Got 3.6 miles in.  I ran out of CoQ10 earlier this week and was feeling stiff. I guess the stuff works! 

What I Am Reading-The Dutch House

I really enjoyed this book a lot. I listened to it via Audible. Tom Hanks narrates this book. It’s about two siblings, Danny and Maeve, and their lives from childhood to adulthood. Their mother leaves when they are young and they discuss their whole lives. It is set in the 1960’s (I think). Danny has learned a lot of lessons in his life. His older sister is always looking out for him. Tom Hanks makes it so enjoyable. 

*sidenote, I’m not good at book reports. I’ll be working on that. 

What’s up with Us? 5/13/2020

Well, we aren’t venturing many places. Same stores to get food. So much food since I’m cooking almost daily. I’m leaving work at 3:30-4. It’s so weird. 

Our state is opening up some. Restaurants can open if they have less than 50% capacity. We aren’t that brave yet. I will go get my toes done when they open up. I need it so bad! 

Lucy needs to go for a checkup at the vet tomorrow but I can’t go with her. Also mind blowing. I get it but she’s my baby. Oh well. I will weather that just fine. 

Time to Cook Tuesday!

It has turned chilly in Wichita. Like, turn the heater back on cold. This weekend I made one of my favorites-lasagna in the crockpot. It’s so easy and takes a couple hours and I don’t have to worry about burning it. 

Enjoy! 

My Thoughts on No Spring Races

COVID has canceled lots of stuff in life. Races are included in that. In 2019, I had a blast! I got to run a 50k officially making myself an ultramarathoner. In October, I ran the Chicago marathon which was a bucket race. Man, that was fun! And I got to run in a Hot Chocolate 15k. While that might not have been the most fun, I do like the idea (they donate to children’s miracle network) and the swag is cool! 

And after all of that running, I got burnt out. I was on pace to hit 1200 miles in a year. But after Thanksgiving, I just didn’t care. Running wasn’t as much fun. I had lost my running streak in June. So I told my coach, I just want to have fun. And he created workouts to do just that. I joined Pilates which I LOVE!! 

So in 2020, I had no plans to run a race in the spring. Just the thought of a race made me anxious. I would like to run the Good Life Halfsy. It’s Nov 1 (so my birthday weekend) and I hear it’s a lot of fun. But they haven’t opened it up and I’m not sure if it will happen. But that’s okay-2021 would also be fun. 

I’m not fearful of getting sick and dying but I am trying my best to stay healthy and limit my exposure. I’m not sure I’m ready to run a race with lots of people. I go out with a couple friends during the week days but we are all limiting exposure and it’s 0530-not a fantastic time for a woman to be running alone. It’s a compromise. But 20,000 runners in Chicago this October? I’m not sure I can do that. 

Caturday 5/9/2020

The girls are perfecting their lounge positions.  They are pretty good at it. 

We have the snuggle with mom position. 

The exhausted position. 

And the I’ll hang out with you anywhere position. 

(Temporary Backup) Caturday 5/9/2020

The girls are perfecting their lounge positions.  They are pretty good at it. 

We have the snuggle with mom position. 

The exhausted position. 

And the I’ll hang out with you anywhere position. 

Fitness Friday 5/8/2020

This week has been meh.  I didn’t feel well last weekend, GI issues. It’s taken me a few days to get back into the swing of things. So here’s my short week. 

Saturday: ran a little over 4. It was nice weather. I ran a little over three and then walked the rest. 

Sunday I rested 

Monday: I walked three. My back was bothering me a lot and making my right foot grumpy. 

Tuesday and Wednesday I rested. 

Thursday: I went out for a 5k. Felt a little better. The sunrise was beautiful! 

I’ve been stretching more and am starting to feel better. Here’s to a better week. 

Running With Sherman

This week’s book. It was a cute story about a donkey who was loved but his owner was a hoarder so he went to live with Chris McDougall and his family. They quickly determined he had drive and spirit and they set off on a journey to run a burro race. It was a really sweet story and a fast read. 

What’s Up a With Us Wednesday

We aren’t doing much. Staying home, watching movies. This night we went out for a ride on the motorcycle to get some ice cream. 

(Temporary Backup) Time to Eat! Cheeseburger macaroni

If you tell them you’ll make anything cheeseburger and add some pasta, they will agree to eat it! This recipe comes from Six Sisters meal plan. It’s a fantastic service where you get six dinner recipes, a side dish and dessert recipe for $5 per month! And a grocery list! 

Here’s the recipe:

Chicago Marathon 2019

I’m FINALLY getting around to posting about my sixth marathon. This time, I ran Chicago. This was my first time running Chicago and the first time I ran a marathon where everyone ran a marathon. Most of the time, it’s linked with a half marathon. So it was different when everyone ran the full. 

We left Thursday before the marathon

Our flight was delayed due to weather but we still made it! 

The airport lit up at night! 

On a Friday, we headed to the expo. It was huge!!! And there were so many people.  But it was lots of fun! We shopped a lot! 

Saturday, I ran a 5k which I have recapped earlier. 

Sunday, we got up and took an Uber down to our walk in area. It took a bit to get through things, but we finally got through.  I was on the Molex running team so we got a covered tent which had places to store our things, change, food and drinks and a massage area. It was wonderful! 

The race.  I had mentally chunked the race into sections. This helps me not get so overwhelmed when thinking about 26 miles of running. The Chicago marathon is so different because the whole city shuts down to come watch. I think there might have been 5 blocks in the entire 26 miles where there were not people. It was freaking amazing! The weather was gorgeous. At mile 8, biofreeze had a cheering screen. Here was mine! 

This race was so much fun! In the entire 26.2 miles, I didn’t feel like quitting. It was so enjoyable. Molex fed us after the race which was delightful! 

We had supper a few hours later, got some sleep and headed home on Monday. It was a great trip! Lots of good memories were made. 6:21: 40 was my unofficial time.