It’s a Phase

July 13th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (6 Comments)

I go through breakfast phases.  Phases where I pretty much eat the same thing day after day after day for weeks on end until one day I wake up in the mood for something different.  This is how it always goes.  I eventually grow tired of the same old, same old, get some new breakfast idea and the cycle starts all over again.

Right now I am in a cold oatmeal phase.  I have been here before and will be here again I’m sure.  This means that my husband and children are also in a cold oatmeal phase.  As the primary meal preparer in this house, they are pretty much at the mercy of whatever breakfast phase I’m in.  Alternate breakfast requests are usually honored provided I have enough notice.

Born to Read This Book

July 8th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Good Reads - (8 Comments)

Born to Run This week I finished reading a book that has earned itself the well-deserved honor as my new favorite:

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

Born to Run is one of those books that has left me feeling sad that it’s over. It’s also one of those books that is going to prevent me from picking up any new book for quite some time here. I am going to need a little time to recover from its awesomeness and allow a little space between now and whatever I pick up to read next. Any new book right now is quite simply going to suck in comparison.

Foot Notes

June 17th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (11 Comments)

At the end of last year I saw this hippie barefoot runner dude in the November issue of Runner’s World in their “What it Takes…” column.

Runner's World Ken Bob Saxton

What it Takes to Run Barefoot

Some where in the span of the last half year – give or take a couple weeks – life went from sickly sweet and seemingly picture perfect to oh-so-insanely soap opera-ish that even Susan Lucci would have to change the channel because she can’t keep up.

Yes, once upon a time I used to watch All My Children.  So sue me.

A Girl’s Best Friend

January 26th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Good Reads - (25 Comments)

I’m officially stocked up on things to blog about!

First things first! On Sunday I took my camera along with me on an overcast and very-mild-for-January morning run.

I took a punk along with me too.

Shawn

Who wants to come along on a 5 mile run through my new neighborhood? Well, you don’t have a choice. Get your sneakers on. It’s time to go.

Our first landmark would be what is currently my most favorite thing to run over in the whole wide world. A pedestrian bridge that crosses the river that divides the city in half.

Life Goes On

January 21st, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Motivation - (14 Comments)

If I could sum up in one word what I’ve learned over the course of the last couple of weeks here, that word would be:

Balance.

Let There Be Light

January 8th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (19 Comments)

So for the most part, I have been thoroughly enjoying my 6 AM runs with my new running group. It feels great to get my run in so early and have exercise checked off my list first thing. I enjoy the company and conversation as well as the easy pace of the group.

I do have to be honest about one thing though, and that is that these runs in the dark are starting to wear on me a little. I miss the sun! I miraculously managed to get a run in by myself during the daylight hours on Wednesday. Even though it was an overcast day, it was still nice to be out when the sun was on our side of the earth for a little while. Stingy southern hemisphere.

Mediocre New Years Race

January 2nd, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (22 Comments)

2010 started an awful lot like 2009 started: with a 7.5 mile road race first thing on New Years Day. Except unlike last year, I waited until the very last minute to decide whether or not to run this race.

The decision was made at about 8 AM on 1/1/2010 when my running friend Shawn called to first yell at me for still being asleep and then to continue our debate from the day before on why we should or should not run. He was just getting over a cold. I had just run 5 miles the day before. The weather was ok and the park where the race was held was a nice place to run. Pros and cons, hems and haws, we eventually decided to go for it.

New House Perks

December 28th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (19 Comments)

One of the nicest perks of our new house would be the regular running group that came built right in to our neighborhood. They run Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings and as luck would have it, today is Monday!

I found out about the group from a friend who lives in this neighborhood. He’s been running with them for a while and invited me to join them on a Saturday morning run back in October. I accepted the invite and by the end of the run I was already contemplating what it might take to get our closing date bumped up to that very afternoon.

Last Dance, Last Chance

December 24th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (13 Comments)

This post is a figment of your imagination. Or is it?

I didn’t expect to have a chance to run or post this morning. But here I am, having unexpectedly run and now unexpectedly posting. How unexpected.

When an opportunity to run this morning presented itself, I jumped at it. Zak worked from home, the kids slept late, so off I went for a healthy dose of endorphins and some fresh air and sunshine. The real reason I went was to wax nostalgic because unless I get to sneak out tomorrow morning (Merry Christmas to me?) this will be my last run through these neighborhood streets as well as my last chance to avoid running into Mr. Miyagi.