Inaugural Arches Resolution 5K recap

After I'd already decided to do the 3 Kings 3 Miler on January 4th, I found out about this new race being put on by Temple Parks & Rec.  Even though the description had me a little nervous, I signed up and figured I'd just go with it and not worry about speed.  The description:  The course will take you through the rolling neighborhoods surrounding the park.

So Gus and I woke up early and headed to Lions Park to pick up our packet.  I had a friend who was also planning to participate, but she had a death in her family so I picked up her packet too.  Because this was the first Resolution 5K, they had fewer people than for the Turkey Trot or the Jingle Bun Run, which is actually kind of nice.  Starting to see familiar faces though.  And I know people recognize us, because they come over to pet Gus or to see what tie he is wearing.  (side note:  my order for new bowties for Gus got cancelled by the seller --- sad face.)

After we got everything situated, we walked around the park to warm up (and then to stay warm) until the start of the race.  I still didn't know where we were going at that point and was praying we would not have to go up the HuGe hill that is part of the walking path around the park that I dread but always feel a sense of accomplishment when I reach the top.  As it turned out, we came down the hill after we toured the neighborhood.  Hills were definitely the theme for these first 2 5Ks of the year ---- guess I'm training for the DC Days 5K in July???

Official time: 44:33.6 (14:22 min/mile)
Garmin time:  44:39.35 (14:25 min/mile) 
Garmin Moving time: 42:55  (13:50 min/mile)

Either way - yay for a sub-45 minute finish!  Especially considering the hills!

After the race, I came home, medicated Gus (my poor old dog and his arthritis), showered and packed a few things to head to Houston to visit my best college friend and her fam.  I got to hang out with my initial-sake --- haha - her first initials are the same as mine.  She's nearly a year old - hard to believe it's been that long since I sat in the hospital with her mom, waiting for her to arrive!



The B.A.s

It was a quick, spur-of-the-moment trip --- part of my Have More Fun resolution.  I know I'll be headed back for B's birthday party in a month or so, but wanted to see them before then!  I was there fewer than 24 hours but we had fun!

I left before lunch to head back.  I found a great Legends of Country radio station in Houston that I could listen to until I got to College Station. 

I need to do better with my food, so I did some basic meal planning for the week.  That made my shopping list and trip a little easier to plan.  I did some prep work by roasting some sweet potatoes and white potatoes tonight.  Tomorrow night, I'll put together the stuffed bell pepper filling that I'm going to eat for supper this week. I won't actually make stuffed peppers, but the filling is yummy (the bell pepper makes its way into the filling)!  For breakfast, I have stuff for smoothies or apples.  Lunch will be an omelet, chili or leftovers. For snacks, I have cheese sticks, applesauce, sweet potatoes and a few other options that can be weighed and measured.  It's my first foray into meal planning but I hope that putting it on paper and figuring out ways to be more creative, I'll do better at tracking my food and save money!

Travel Day

I had 2 meetings today - in different parts of the region - so I made a triangle-shaped trip around central Texas today.  I drove 250 miles so that meant lots of hours in the car, listening to Texas country.

It had stopped raining by the time I got home and I was in charge of both dogs this evening, so I took them out for a nice long walk!  I was actually impressed with how well they walked together, which is why we kept going farther than I'd originally intended. 

Short post tonight.  tomorrow is Friday!!!

Wednesday Weigh-In: January 8, 2014

December 4, 2013 - 244.8
January 8, 2014 - 245.6

So not a loss, but not bad considering that I have not done a great job been terrible with my food for the last month.

I moved more stuff from my old office to my new office today.  One of these days, I'll get everything moved and figure out what I need to keep and what needs to get archived and what needs to go to the dumpster.  I am liking the bigger space and the window!

The Rogue had to go get an oil change and new brakes today.  Still love that vehicle!  Fun to drive, cute, sporty, lots more space than the old car, etc.

Today was yucky outside - 40s, drizzly with occasional rain.  So.... that meant no walk for me and Gus after work.  I was totally tempted to come home and sit on the couch all evening.  But I came home and changed like a good kid to go to the gym.  Once I got there, I decided I may as well get some miles in.  So I set the time on the dreadmill for 55 minutes and did intervals for nearly an hour.  I did spend most of the time walking, but got some jogging in. 

Here's hoping tomorrow evening is nicer!

Resolutions and Relaxation

Tonight was the Resolutions and Relaxation event at our apartment complex.  We didn't have many people, but we also didn't expect many since we just put up the announcements last night.  But for those of us who were there, we talked about our 2014 resolutions.  I included most of those that I already listed.

We then did the beginning yoga DVD that I bought last week.  I never did get a chance to try it again after last Thursday's session; therefore, I had not improved between then and now.  I was able to do more tonight than I was the other night... and I now own a yoga DVD so I'll keep working at it.  I think it would help with my flexibility. 

My roommate and I did do some brainstorming last night for future events, as we have to turn in the February events this week.  I think we came up with some fun ideas, which I will write more about as they get closer!

Lazy Sunday

Pretty boring day today.  Sometimes you just need a slow day with no schedule, you know what I mean? 

I dyed my hair this morning.  The color was called French Toast - it was supposed to be a warm medium brown to bring out the golden highlights.  However, it appears to have brought out some of the red.  Oh well, as long as most of the grays are covered!  Still need to get a photo someday when my hair is done. 

While waiting for my hair color to do its thing, I soaked my feet in a pinterest mixture of Listerine, vinegar and warm water.  And I took a pumice stone to my feet to work on the horrible callouses that I have this winter.  They do feel slightly softer tonight.

Gus got a bath today too!  He's all shiny and soft.  And snoring on my bed as I type this.  :)

I put the Christmas lights away - I took them down yesterday but I just piled them in living room to deal with later.  I figured I better get them organized and in the garage before my roommate came back with her puppy today.  I managed to get them all to fit back in the plastic containers that I'd gotten them out of. 

I'm expecting a busy day at work tomorrow, so I better get some rest.

3 Kings 3 Miler Recap

Gus and I woke up really early this morning to drive to Salado for the 3 Kings 3 Miler.

The race was scheduled to begin at 7:30 and they had packet pick-up scheduled from 6-7 so I needed to get there before 7 even though I had registered online.  The temperature was ~40 degrees so I wore the same exact outfit that I wore last month for the Jingle Bun Run.  The drive to Salado takes 15ish minutes.  As we were exiting off I35, we had to share the underpass with several deer who were walking through to get into town.  You have to love small town central Texas.  Those same deer definitely had Gus' attention when we got out of the car, as they were making their way down to Salado Creek through the church property where we were parked.  Lots of deer "statues" and Gus whining for a few minutes. 

It was the first year for this race so it wasn't very big.  It was kind of nice not to have to worry how far back to start to not slow others down and to not get stuck in traffic.  They actually shut down Main Street for the race (again, have to love small towns)!  We started off at a pretty brisk pace - we didn't break any personal jogging distance records, but we moved along pretty fast (except when Gus decided to take a big ol' poo and the first bag I tried to open tore so I had to get another bag, then I had to detour to the trash can at the park).  The route took us down Main Street, then a loop around the park by Salado Creek, a little more Main Street, another loop around a neighborhood and back up Main Street.  I certainly need to do some more exploring of Salado - lots of cute unique looking shops, several Bed & Breakfasts, and fun cafes.  There were a couple pretty decent hills - probably similar to the ones in Dodge City but seemed not too overwhelming this morning.  (maybe that's a good indication for the next time I do the DC Days 5K!)

I was just following the pack and I'm thinking that there was a place during the park loop where we cut off 0.1-0.2 miles that we should have done because when I got to the "finish" line, my Garmin only said 2.9 miles.  I kept going another 0.2 so that I could record a 5K on my Garmin.  Either way, my official time from the timing chip was 43:09.5 (pace - 14:23/mile), calculated for a 3 mile run.  But like I said, I hadn't gone 3 miles at the time I passed the finish line, so I'm not trusting that number.

According to my Garmin, my time for 3.1 miles was 45:20 (pace 14:38/mile).  Moving time was 43:07 with an average moving pace of 13:55 (which is AwEsOmE for me!).  My legs felt good.  I was a little worried about my left calf that's been giving me fits, but while I felt it, it wasn't painful. 

There were only 3 dogs.  People loved Gus' bow tie.  (I ordered him a couple more - they were on sale 1/2 price this week!).  I imagine if they do it again next year that there will be more four-legged participants. 

After we finished, we were watching the awards ceremony and my work cell phone rang.  (I'm on call this weekend.)  And it was something that required I go into the office to take care of.  I wound up spending 3 hours at the office.  This afternoon, I needed to take down my outdoor Christmas lights before the cold front comes through tomorrow.  And I had a few other errands to run so no nap like I'd planned on. 

Sams Club for supper

So I really wanted pizza for supper, and frozen pizza just wasn't going to cut it.  But I also didn't want to order a whole pizza because you know that I would have eaten the whole pizza over the course of the weekend.  I opted to go to Sams and get a piece of pizza from the little food area.  So good - and only $2. 

While I was there, I bought a case of bottled water and an industrial-sized box of trash bags.  (They were on sale - $3 off.)  120 trash bags - the sad part is that I will go through those bags faster than I should.  There is something about the convenience of having the dumpster just a few hundred feet from my front door.  When I lived in Virginia, I had to drive my trash to a county "convenience center" that was almost all the way to town - about 10 miles from my house.  I don't remember having nearly as much trash as I seem to produce now.  However, I was also able to compost food scraps and separate my recyclables to drop at the convenience center.  I still do some recycling as much as I can here, but I still have to drive it across town to the recycling place.  Random thoughts for today.

Five (more) Random Thoughts for this Friday:

1. Still need to get a smart phone.  I know that I'll like it, but it's such a commitment. :)  I am looking forward to instagram!
2. Rejoined the Soldiers' Angels Letter Writing Team.  I only signed up for one name a week - I am required to send one card or letter to the soldier whose name I receive.  At one point, I was sending 6/week.  I took a "break" when my sister got married and finally feel like I can make the time to write - but don't want to get overwhelmed.  So one LWT letter per week in addition to the cards/letters I send to my adopted soldier.
3. I packed up most of my pictures in my office today.  My walls and file cabinet look really bare.  I will find a place for everything in my new office over the next few weeks.
4. Planning to take down the outdoor Christmas lights tomorrow.  When the cold front went through the other night and the wind shifted, it knocked down a few of my decorations.  I still have not found the Styrofoam ball covered in blue bling.  Not sure where it rolled off to.
5. Loving my new purse.  I have been looking for a purse for a while, but last weekend, I went on a mission to find a purse with my 15% coupon at Kohls because I knew they'd also be having their after Christmas sale.  I actually got 2 purses - one was 40% off, the other was 90% off - and with the additional 15%, I got them both for less than $30! 

Now, I've got to get my clothes, shoes, and gadgets ready for my first 5K of 2014.  It has a crazy early start - 7:30 - and it is a 20-30 minute drive.  So Gus and I will have an early morning.

Yoga Newbie

I recently became the events coordinator for my apartment complex - it means a discount off my rent and the responsibility of hosting 2 community events each month.  One is a social event and one is a life skills event.  The social events aren't too hard to plan, but the life skills events will be a little more difficult.  Any ideas would be appreciated.  Some past examples are basic CPR, budgeting, crafty things, and fire and personal safety.

For January, we had to decide on the events quickly.  We wanted something to do with resolutions and since lots of people pick health and stress-related resolutions, we decided to use that for our theme:  Resolutions and Relaxation.  We figured we could have people share their resolutions and ideas for how to stick to them.  Then, we'll do a beginner yoga routine for those who are interested.  I don't expect a big turnout, but it was what we could come up with given a really short deadline. 

So, I bought a beginner yoga DVD at Target yesterday.  After our walk tonight, I put it in the DVD player and got out my never-used-for-yoga-before yoga mat.  Even before the DVD got started, this is what I had to contend with:

Gus decided the yoga mat was uber comfy. 

anyway - I tried to make it through the beginner yoga workout.  Some of those poses are crazy hard and I am definitely not that flexible.  So I didn't make it all the way through.  But I have several more nights to try it again before the event, so I'm sure I'll improve at least some before then.   

Happy New Year!

Happy 2014! 

I started out the new year with a hair cut and eyebrow wax today.  My appointment was at noon.  By 1 pm, I had WAY shorter hair than I planned on and cleaned up eyebrows.  Even though it's shorter than planned, it still all goes into a ponytail!  And that's the most important part!  I did have to laugh at the fact that the stylist seemed to think that 3 squirts of mousse was going to hold my curls.  My really big Texas hair was in a ponytail as soon as I left the mall, so a photo will have to wait for another day.

I have a weird thing going on with my left calf this week.  It's sore like I had a cramp in it while I was sleeping (although I don't remember having one).  I first noticed it Sunday or Monday, but figured it would work itself out through the day on Monday.  It was still a little sore when I got to step aerobics so I made sure that I really warmed up and stretched my left leg.  But it just got worse.  Makes me wonder if I pulled a muscle or something.  I had to stop several times during step aerobics to stretch - even the instructor asked afterward if I was ok because I took so many breaks.  Weird.  So I picked up some IcyHot patches at HEB  (I also got some bananas in case my potassium is low).  Wearing the patch overnight seemed to help, but I still wore comfy shoes and rested on Tuesday.  Today, it was still sore but not so bad. 

So Gus and I took a walk this afternoon.  We went down to the park and made the loop (and managed to avoid the flying Frisbees at the disc golf course).  My leg loosened up but I didn't push it too much.  I could still feel the tightness/soreness when pushing off of my left foot, especially if there was any sort of incline.  I made sure I stretched really well when we got home.  I will IcyHot patch it again tonight and see how it goes. 

I get a kick out of Gus' shadow when we walk in the afternoons.  His ears flop and his tail wags!  And I even look like a long, tall Texan in this photo.  :)  Yay for late afternoon shadows!

Completely unrelated note -- I caved and turned on my heat today.  I managed to make it all through last winter without turning on the heat (it is central Texas after all).  My apartment averaged about 65 degrees last week though, so I decided I'd turn it on today so I could open windows if needed.  The dust on the coils did cause the smoke alarms to go off for a couple minutes, but not nearly as bad as I worried it might be.  Anyway, so now my apartment is a warm and toasty 68 degrees. 

Welcome to 2014.