Myth Busters

In regards to my running I've been forcing this half marathon.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really pumped that I signed up for the half.

I've realized though that I've been putting waaaaaaay to much pressure on myself.

I've been believing some myths and not looking to the truth of the situation.



Myth: I should be able to run this half marathon as quickly as the last one.

Truth: I haven't ran regularly since last April/May. I truthfully can't expect to run this race as well when I haven't been running regularly for the last 9 months. The past 12 weeks have been great for training, but to not have any pre-training... well it's pretty foolish to think it's the same circumstance.


Myth: My lungs should be able to handle the elevation.

Truth: I went from running at sea level (literally the yellow sea was right next to me) to running at over a mile high. That's a serious shift and I need to give my lungs a bit of grace as they try to figure out how to get air.


Myth: I should be as fast as the other girls I've met

Truth: Most of the girls I know that are out here have been here... either their entire lives or for quite a few more months than I have. And most of them have been training and running regularly for a few years or more. Yes, I know. Ridiculous to even by comparing myself against them.


So, as I've been reviewing these truths in my mind as I run, I'm releasing myself from any expectations that I've been putting on the half marathon.

I won't be running for time.
I'm not putting pressure on myself to run the entire time.
It WILL be fun! (as racing should be )

Two more weeks to go!

Life lessons from Yoga: Force

Every Friday I head to the local Lululemon shop and take a free yoga class. It's called vino and vinyasa and yes, I go to get the wine at the end... it's free! Like I'm going to pass that up!

As you remember (or probably not) last year I wrote a little somethin' somethin' about the Yoga as part of the P90X program.

I haven't done much Yoga since then, except for the past few weeks at Lululemon. Every week there is a new instructor and it's always a bit of an experience. 

The first week was great.

Fast paced, but easy enough that I could keep up and feel like I knew what was going on.

The second week was iffy.

Fast paced, but she started out with some Hinduism talk and it wasn't vibin' with me. So I prayed the whole time :) It was also a little more intense we held this pose:

(source)

for a few minutes at a time.

for someone without balance...it was a bit on the tough side.

you also have to realize that all of our mats are maybe half and inch apart... usually overlapping.

and yes, I did accidentally kick someone while doing this pose.

i. rock.

The third time around was intense.

Holy fast paced, and crampage batman!!! I of course decided to weight lift that morning and go on a light run and then do yoga... not my smartest move.

And other than an altercation with a creepy guy (thank goodness I had two good guy friends with me that stood up for me) it was good.

A man was teaching this time and he was hilarious! But he was also insanely insightful. During a particularly hard pose and vinyasa flow he stressed that we didn't have to do it.

simple as that.

who are we there to impress?

if we want to take it easy... why the heck not?

He also emphasized that we should be pushing our selves with ease and not force. 

When we try to force things in life how often do we get the results we are looking for?

When we force relationships, people, situations in life we are usually so exhausted that we can't even contribute to society how we want too.

Now, obviously this applies to Yoga... but it also applies to absolutely everything else in life as well. Why do we feel the need to force our way through life ? How absolutely exhausted are we making ourselves by doing this?

Today during my run, I was strugglin'. For some reason breathing just hasn't been happening and it's beyond frustrating. I didn't want to walk, but the more I thought about it I realized I didn't want to walk because I was forcing my run, forcing my breath, and forcing this idea that "runners' can't walk.

I then realized how utterly ridiculous this was and began to walk and suddenly felt beyond light. I was able to run the last 1.5 miles home breathing easy. I also came to some truth and realization about the 1/2 marathon coming up (which I'll cover later after my 12 miler).

Although it's been hard, and challenged me in ways I never thought possible I am actually EXCITED for yoga every week. I love that it ends my week and makes me focus on my feelings, thoughts, and stressors of the week. It helps me to release.

And now it helps to reframe how I get through life. am i forcing my way through or allowing myself to flow through life with ease.

What are you forcing in your life? How are you pushing yourself too far? And where can you maybe push yourself with ease and allow things to happen organically??

Home-made Chicken Noodle Soup

A few weeks ago I found a burst of productivity and slammed out to massive meals in one fell swoop.

Why this productivity can't hit me all the time, I'll never know... but if it did I'm pretty sure I could solve world hunger...and peace.

Yes. I'm that productive.

It all started with the whole frozen chicken we got for free from Manna (an awesome program at a local church that provides us with free food! Score!)

I first decided to make a casserole (I'll be posting that later this week) and then I found that I had  A LOT of broth, and quite a bit of chicken left over.

Which meant...

chicken noodle soup.

What you need:

Whole Chicken

Water

Carrots (as many as you can handle)

Celery (same as above)

Onion (same as above)

butter (to saute celery and onions)

2-3 Eggs

Flour (no exact amount you'll see why later)

Parsley 

Salt

 Step 1:

fill up a large stock pot with water and place the chicken in.

make sure that the chicken is pretty much covered with water.

Bring it to a boil then drop it down to a simmer and let it sit with a lid on .

It took maybe 1.5- 2hours for my chicken to be done.

The legs will literally be falling off and the skin will come off easily.

When your chicken is done take it out and let it cool.

Step 2: 

Once the chicken has cooled start ripping the meat of the bone.

If you are a vegetarian the next picture may frighten you.

Your chicken will end up looking kind of like this. This was maybe 1/2 way through the process.

(I forgot to mention... the water you boiled your chicken in has now become your broth...so please don't toss it out!)

Step 3:

Chop up your veggies and add 'em in!

Step 4:

As for the celery and onions...

sauté them in some butter before adding them into the mix.

Why?

I'm not sure... my mom told me too.

But it did add some yummy buttery flavor to the pot!

Next come the "noodles" or as my mom calls them..

rivlets.

Step 5:

Take your eggs and beat them with a fork. Add in some salt and parsley and stir it all together.

Step 6:

Now you'll want to start adding in flour.

Keep mixing until the batter is quite thick. As in it takes like 3 minutes for a glop of it to fall off the fork :)

Ok... maybe not that thick. But it definitely should NOT be runny.

Just waiting for the Rivlets to arrive

Step 7:

Put your rivlet batter into a strainer (yes, it's weird. just do it. my mom said so.)

And start smashing it through.

You want little tiny dumplings in your soup, not great big ones.

Or maybe you do want great big ones... but for the purpose of this post, you want tiny ones.

I guarantee that your arms will start to hurt from holding the strainer and trying to smash the rivlet batter through the tiny holes.

I also guarantee that you will then make your husband do it while you steal the camera and get some awesome shots of the rivlets.

And this goes without saying... but all that work will have totally been worth it when this batch of soup feeds you, your husband, and friends for the next couple of days.

Super Easy. Super Delicious.

Enjoy!

Meet Dan

I just have to start by saying we've been 100% blessed by the amazing people we've met out here.

The group of gals and guys we've been getting to know have just be great.

They share our love of God, learning, food, excellent movies (read: Tommy Boy), and the boys happen to share a passion of cooking :)

Jon has definitely been the meal maker around here before and I ALWAYS appreciate a man who can cook, no matter who he is.

Last friday a few of us ladies went to free yoga while the boys played X-box and then made us dinner.  I am all for coming home to tacos and fajitas that I didn't help prepare in any way shape or form.

Our friend Dan then volunteered himself to make us brunch the next morning

biscuits. and. gravy

I took him up on his offer, and he didn't disappoint.

Meet Dan. Dan is the Man

not to be confused with Jon who is my Mon (a little Jamaican flare for ya'll)

OH breakfast sausage... it's been WAAAAAAAY to long.

getting the gravy ready. 

you most definitely do not want to know how much butter and salt went into this

let's just say it was totally worth my stomach feeling slightly uncomfortable for the next 2 days.

The sausage has been added... magic is happening folks

crisp.golden.biscuits

yes

please

For the love...

This was inhaled in about 2 minutes, I'm still salivating thinking about them

Dan you are definitely the man, and I'm totally thinking we need to make this 

"guys cooking for the gals" a weekly habit :)

Question: Does anyone know some substitutions that would maybe make this a little healthier? Not that I don't love clogging my arteries...

Eleven

Considering I started this blog as a way to keep track of my running I haven't been recording much of that. Last week was CRAZY and running was just not happenin' during midterms. So friday I decided to head out for four miles, and it. was. awesome!

My legs were fresh, I was breathing easy, and I was FLYING!

I figured since my 4 miler was so fantastic that of course my 11-miler on Sunday would be easy peasey. Especially because my 10 miler last week was incredible.

So with my spirit high and a positive attitude I set out.

I love the S. Platte River. It's gorgeous scenery and I love that people just chill out and fish :)

This is part of the trail that I will be running along for the 1/2 I kept picturing myself here in 3 weeks, I was feeling strong, I was going to CONQUER this in the next few weeks.

I was feeling FANTASTIC.

How could I not with the mountains in the background?

I felt my energy sink at around mile 5 so I decided to try something new!

Last week I tried Clif Gu shots.

I'm attempting to find something to give me a boost during my 1/2 and I want to test it before the actual race.

The Gu shots were good... but the gel wasn't the best texture

The Shot blocks were good too, but i didn't feel like I got the same burst of energy with them

So close to home... and yet still 5 miles from being done.

This is where things started to fall apart.

Mile 6 is typically my worst mile, but in all my previous long runs around mile 7-8 I pick it up and finish strong...

Today.

not.

happening.

I couldn't breathe if my life depended on it (which i found out, it very much does)

my lungs felt like they were being crushed, and my legs were really tight (darn you yoga!)

It was looking not so fantastic, and then the wind picked up... thanks for that one.

I just kept holding on until I saw this beautiful sight ahead of me :)

my fabulous hubby and our friends dog Remy.

We're helping take care of Remy this weekend so I figured she would want to join me for part of my run.

Thank goodness for Remy!

She was literally pulling me for the last 2 miles. 

And those last two miles were ROUGH

I'm praying this whole "off" run thang is over and done with.

I don't want it showing up again for the 1/2.

I will say I was quite proud that I didn't totally lose it during the run. In the past there would have been tears, frustration, and a sense of failure.

This time around I just walked when I needed too and kept reminding myself that it's ridiculous to expect every run to be great. It just doesn't happen, and I need to be ok with that!

Let's just hope the 12 miler this weekend goes a bit better :)

prayers and advice are more than welcome!

mid terms

I apologize for the hiatus in the blogging schedule.

mid terms week is finally over.

I truly had no desire to do ANYTHING but study my butt off

and the few days after I have had no desire but to do ANYTHING but sleep my butt off

none of those are actually conducive to doing anything but adding to my butt.

I will be returning soon with some recipes, some run updates, and life updates!

hope ya'll are enjoying spring!

Lent

Today is fat tuesday... and I'm indulging in some last minute ice cream :)

Last year for Lent Jon and I started our journey with The Love Dare and really loved it, but this year I decided to sacrifice something that is very close to me. sweets. and hopefully most processed sugars.

My friend Claire and I decided we were giving it a go and keeping each other accountable. Our definition would be cakes, candy, ice cream, cookies, etc. and I'm hoping to extend that to a lot of processed sugar. I'll stick with honey for a little sweetener, but for the next 40 days I'm calling it quits!

Growing up with Lent I don't know that I fully understand the true concept of doing something for Lent, but for me, now, it means sacrificing something that is important to me. and believe me, sugar is EXTREMELY important to me...

shall we take a gander??

Clearly I have some sort of addiction

although I will say that I'm having a little bit of a struggle at the thought of giving up my frozen yogurt. While the gummy bears and fruity pebbles are obviously not an option, my frozen yogurt choices have 0g of sugar, and no HFCS or anything like that..

 (yes I looked up the nutrition facts and ingredients online)

What do you think??

Are ya'll giving up anything for Lent?

I love work

... Jon's work that is.

He now works for Denver Seminary as part of the set up crew for events... which means....

amazing leftovers.

chocolate covered strawberries and the most amazing oreo cupcake... EVER.

it reminds me of my catering days. hopefully I won't add on the 10 pounds from my catering days.

meh... I won't think about that right now. I'll just wash it all down with some milk :)

I wonder when Jon works next... maybe I can request some creme brulee?

Grocery Shopping

I have a fabulous husband.

No, seriously.

He goes grocery shopping for me us.

Every week.

Even though I actually enjoy grocery shopping, it's hard for me to fit it in during the week. Jon has Wednesdays off so he decided to take over task, and he's been rocking it.


Today he did a reeeeeaaaaaalllllly good job though :)

Why yes, he is the world's best husband :)

I absolutely LOVE fresh flowers... he knows me so well. He may have also brought me some ice cream too... although I doubt that will last as long as the flowers will.

VFF: Spring is Here!!!

The VFF/BF Adventures are back! Now that the weather has warmed up and the gravel isn't muddy anymore it is time to take the Vibrams out for a run!

And it isn't just me anymore....

Yes, that's right. I've officially converted my husband to the barefoot side :)

He's actually been running in them for a few weeks now and has reported no knee pain! woo hoo

before when he'd be running his knees would hurt so badly... thanks to the vibrams he's pain free.

and before I sound too much like an infomerical we'll move along..

His first run outside :) Doesn't he look excited!?

It's alright, I was pumped for the both of us.

I have to say, I really thought my legs would kill after just a little bit of running in the Vibrams, but we made it 2 miles and while my calves are a little sore... that's the worst of the damage.

I'm thinking I'll definitely be ready to run some races in the Vibrams come May.

If this weather keeps up, you can expect some more Vibram Adventrures comin' your way!