Beautiful Weather!!

Hope everyone had a nice Easter!
We had a great weekend, beautiful weather and a lot of friend and family time. I got to see most of my family except for one of my sisters who had to work so that was a bit of a bummer but other than that it was really fun.

The Fort-to-Fort race Saturday morning went great. I was nervous about being recovered enough and ready to run but I was fine. It was a fast and flat course and great weather - sunny and almost 70! So warm for April here. Anyway, like I said it was a 10k and it was an out and back. Slightly downhill at the beginning so of course I went out fast...7:18 pace for the first mile. I didn't keep that pace up but I was able to hold on pretty well though - even after the turn around when there was a slight head wind on the way back. I barely noticed the incline at the end since I've been doing so many long hilly runs. I ended up with a time of 46:49 - about a 7:33 pace I think, well under my goal of finishing under 48 minutes!! I was so happy. I wasn't sure I was capable of running that fast/strong in a race. This was my first 10K and I really liked the distance. I had been trading places with another girl back and forth and she passed me right at the end to finish a second ahead of me. I finished 3rd overall for females and 1st in my age group!! Woo-hoo!! My first time with a first place win and first overall place finish ever. It's nice to see that the hard training/speed workouts I've been doing paid off. Also nice to see I can be this fast without running a million miles a week. haha, now to pick it up a little and be a little more consistent with the training.

I've been celebrating by eating way too much chocolate!! I should work on that!!

Race Day!!

I haven't been updating my blog. It's not that I'm too lazy really, it's more that I don't think anyone is reading it. If you have read it at all post a comment and I'll start updating more frequently again!! haha.

Now, onto more exciting news. I'm doing a race this morning!! That's why I'm wide awake on a Saturday at 6:30am.
I'm doing my first 10K. I've done longer, I've done shorter but never this distance. Fingers crossed it goes okay and I run well!
And Happy Easter everyone!!

Goat cheese!!

Ah, let's see. Highlight of dinner right here:

Baby Beet and Goat Cheese salad with walnuts, spring mix, snap peas, onions and pomegranate craisins.



















Just had it with a little balsamic and olive oil. Delicious. I bought these baby beets steamed and ready to serve in the produce section. I've never actually prepared beets at home myself but it's definitely on my to-do list.

Best goat cheese ever, Lively Run - from the Lively Run Goat Dairy in Interlaken, NY.



Bonus pic: Some of the awesome pottery and Raku Meerkat I got in South Africa!

No workout today. I seem to have tweaked my knee somehow. Maybe runner's knee? Maybe I did it trying to channel my inner yogi Tuesday night? Either way I went from Yogi to Boo Boo. Tuesday night. I did 45 mins bike trainer, then some strength training moves (push-ups, dips, yoga positions, abs) for about an hour.

Yesterday I did speed work which probably made me knee worse - started to really bother me after a walk yesterday. About 5 miles total distance, 2 800s, 3 400s and 1 more 800 with 400 recoveries in between. I forgot my watch AGAIN so no time stats. Bummer. Oh well. It was awesome to use the outdoor track since it's been so beautiful outside. It's also a 1/4 mile track vs. the 1/8 mile indoor one we were using for our speed workouts.

I'll probably take tomorrow off as well to nurse my knee and then planning a long and hilly (but most likely slower) run Saturday morning. Hopefully my knee is okay. If anyone has any tips on dealing with it let me know!

Nice run

It is starting to get nice outside!!

Workout was a 7.1 mile run (7:55) average pace. Woo-hoo. Good for me. Actually, might be slightly faster than that, I forgot to turn my watch off again. :) 7 miles in 55:22. I'm pretty happy with that.

Ideally I would have done 8 miles but only had time for 7 because I had to get to the skating rink for class. Also did some abs when I got home but not too thorough about it.

Had pork tenderloin, asparagus and grilled squash for dinner.

#1 Seed

Woo-hoo!! Syracuse gets a #1 seed in the tourney! And great showing by all the big east teams. Feel a little bad for the teams that got left out and should have gotten in (cough cough, ahem Virginia Tech, cough cough) but we've been there too.

Anyway, been a little crazy with the updates again since my Mom has been in town.

Yesterday did 3.69 (windy and crunched for time) with some hill repeats. I did a .15 hill 3 times + another hill. I should work on improving that but it was good enough for yesterday. Still trying to fit a long run in my schedule (8-9 miles) this week. We'll see if I manage. Not too eventful in the food area this weekend. I'll try and focus more on getting things going on the blog this week!!

quick post

Dinner = chicken + salad, not to be confused with chicken salad.
Workout was a mixed bag, 1 mile walk with the boy, then bowflex 15-20 mins, pilates ab work + some push ups, followed by 15 mins easy on the bike trainer.
Really going to make an effort to do my speedwork tomorrow. It's going to be a busy day but I know I'll be disappointed if I don't fit it in.

Hopefully have a more interesting post up soon.

Behind!

Okay, sorry I got behind. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend last week in South Africa!! Let me just say running is extremely difficult at an altitude of more than 5000 feet! But who cares when you get to see:

More pictures to come!!

Anyhoo, I got back Saturday, started Sunday with an early 6.2 mile run (8:10 average pace) and dinner Sunday was this:

Lemon, Mushroom and Leek Risotto with Grilled Scallops. I made the risotto and G grilled the scallops and plated it came out looking like this! My first risotto, I'm proud. :)

Yesterday was 10-15 strength training with the bowflex, followed by 30 mins on the bike trainer and another 10-15 abs and yoga moves. It ended up being a hard workout.

Today was a 4 mile run at lunch that was supposed to be easy but ended up being pretty fast...maybe just under 8 min/mile. Hey! That's fast for me :)

Possibly speed work tomorrow if we can get on a track, otherwise I'll postpone it a day for more recovery.

So, I'll try and get more about my trip up here, but wanted to at least check in for now!