Half Marathon Race Recap

September 13th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Fitness - (49 Comments)

I’m going to spoil the ending by jumping ahead and saying right at the start that today was probably one of the best runs of my entire life.

The day started at 4:55 AM when I woke up a half hour before my alarm was supposed to go off. I slept like a rock and felt great when I woke up. I called Shawn at 5:30 to make sure he was awake and moving around.

Shawn and I went over our strategy last night, but I was still feeling unsure about our approach this morning. Fast at the beginning? If so, how fast? Save it all for the end? How much do I hold back? Maintain a steady pace throughout?

Re-Runs

September 12th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Motivation - (25 Comments)

With the girls with Aunt Ellen for the day, I spent yesterday chained to my desk. A forgotten pleasure.

Friday Salad

I unlocked the chains long enough to make a big salad mess. A far-from-forgotten pleasure. A re-run I’ll happily enjoy day after day.

Before the girls came home last night I ran to the marathon expo with my running partner Shawn. Well, we didn’t really run, we drove. You never can tell so I figure I better clarify.

This year I took advantage of the sneaker recycling program they offer and brought my old sneakers to donate to this “Re-Runs” Program.

Fruit Cereal. Yummy Yummy.

September 11th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (29 Comments)

Unless you’ve watched The Wiggles before, today’s title will be a little less meaningful for you. Go ahead click that link. You can come back and curse me later when you can’t get that song out of your head.

Today is a rest day. Tomorrow will be too. I’m resting my legs in preparation for 13 big ones on Sunday and I would be lying if I said I’m not grateful for the extra time two rest days will afford me.

I would also be lying if I said today’s fruit cereal didn’t make me drop to my knees and weep tears of unabashed joy.

Tofu Cakes I Did Make

September 10th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Dinner Time - (22 Comments)

After lunch today we were off to run some errands and explored a brave new frontier. OK really it was just a playground we’d never been to before. Brave new frontier sounds much more interesting though if you ask me.

A dino? Or a rhino? You decide.

Dino?  Or Rhino?

This was my second attempt to take this picture…

Swinging Things

My first attempt was thwarted by this… this… THING!

Jerk!

Half Brained Half Marathon

September 10th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Motivation - (25 Comments)

I’ve felt so swamped this week I keep *forgetting* that the half marathon is on Sunday. Last year at this time I was gearing up to run my first full marathon and it was of course all I could think about. I began checking the weather forecast day 10 days out. I laid out my clothes and mixed and matched outfit possibilities in my mind figuring out what would work best. I checked the race website for updates multiple times a day. Re-read emails from the race director again and again, making sure I knew every last detail and didn’t miss a thing.

Identity Crisis

September 9th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (24 Comments)

I’ve got a meeting tonight and will be home late, so today’s post is going to be wrapped up into a nice little bite of afternoon delight.

I woke up too early this morning. So early that I went back to bed at 5:30 hoping to fall back to sleep but it didn’t happen, so my day officially started somewhere in the 4 o’clock hour. I waited for the sun to come up and then hopped on my bike for a 34 minute therapy session. My mind turns as fast as my wheels when I’m on the bike. No iPod – it’s just me and the road. Well, just me minus the hundreds other people in their cars. Details.

Water Snacks and Pink Shoes

September 8th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Dinner Time - (23 Comments)

We had an errand to run this morning, and fortunately it landed us very near the library, so we stopped in for a visit. First stop: the bird cages.

Checking Out the Birds

Be sure to check out Maxine’s self selected ensemble. I just got those shoes for her at a thrift shop ($2!!) and no other shoes have been worn since. I kid you not that she threw a complete fit last night when I told her she could not wear them to bed.

Maxine's Ensemble

Home from the library, I was thrilled to get the mail and find the new Runner’s World waiting for me!

She Missed the Bus

September 8th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Life - (12 Comments)

Today would have been Ava’s first day at school. Kindergarten, to be more precise. But as the saying goes, she missed the bus.

She Missed the Bus

I’m very grateful that the homeschooling seed was planted in our minds early on because it took me a while to get comfortable with the idea. I use to resist the instinct to hyperventilate at the idea of NOT schooling our kids in the traditional sense. But fortunately we have a large homeschooling community in our area and we’ve gotten to know a lot of homeschooling families and kids, including a couple of incredibly amazing grown up homeschoolers.  I know that homeschooling DOES indeed work and the pros easily out weight any cons. This confidence enables me to take a picture of a school bus driving by the house this morning and I can continue breathing in a normal fashion.

Intuitive Eating Refresher

September 7th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Dinner Time - (14 Comments)

Today has totally felt like a Saturday. Monday? Really?

My little juice prank went off without a hitch this morning you’ll be glad to know. He’s a good sport and shares my crazy sense of humor. He laughed at the lid on the juice and said that it was definitely one joke that could have gone horribly wrong, but he would have been more sad over lost juice than a messy fridge.

After juice jokes, I changed into bike riding gear and had a little kiwi for a snack before heading out.

Pre Ride Kiwi

Practical (Juice) Jokes

September 7th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Morning Craziness - (8 Comments)

Oh vegetable juice, how I’ve missed thee! It’s been two days!

Thanks to Heather I’ve been adding beets to my Green Lemonade lately, which turns the juice beet red (literally) and is now more appropriately called Magenta Juice.

Brendan Brazier recommends in Thrive adding beet greens to your salads. Well if it’s good in a salad then it’s gotta be just as good in juice!

Beet Greens

Instead of just composting these beet greens like usual, today they were added to the mix. Into the juicer went beet greens, the beet at the end said greens, romaine, lemon, ginger and cucumber. I am out of apples so I threw in a couple of carrots for good measure.