Post Marathon Life

First Thing First: Corgi enjoying the great outdoors

 Five days without exercise (Monday - Friday after the marathon) was enough to drive me nuts.  It was great to come home after work everyday and have cheese and crackers and wine and enjoy episodes of Real Housewives while cuddling with the corg.  Just about as good as running.

Saturday morning was beautiful and I had the chance to bike with my dad at North Park.  I biked 13 miles at the speedy mile pace of 4:42.  Haha.  It was a little hard at times because there was a walk-a-thon, so people were walking about twelve across.  I enjoyed biking and it was hard getting up the hills.  I decided I should try to do more of it this summer and drag my husband along.

Dad with nice bike

Me with the purple RoadMaster, purchased at a church flea market for $20.  Gets the job done.

The rest of Saturday I purchased flowers and shrubs for our house and planted.  I am attempting to grow lettuce, eggplant, hot peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, basil, rosemary and chives in our backyard.  If one of those plants come in I will be happy.

Our Home

That night, we went to the Pirates game with a group of friends.  It was such a pretty night, and it was really cool to walk around the area where I finished the marathon less than a week ago.

The bridge in the background is where the final 800 meters started

Sunday morning, I ran 5 easy miles around the North Allegheny Intermediate School with my dad.  It was so nice out and it felt great to  be running again.  My hamstring felt better after I ran, and as of right now, I don't have any pain.  I did some abs as well.  We got coffee at Panera afterwards and I took a shower, got dressed, and put on makeup for church in a record 8 MINUTES.  We arrived at 10:31 for 10:30 mass.  Not too bad.

This morning, I got to the gym at 6am for 30 minutes on the elliptical and some abs.  It felt great to get cardio done so early in the morning.  I did the hill setting and it did its job.

Very excited for tomorrow....I get to meet Kate at North Park for a run after school!  I am also excited because I am making salmon burgers.

Only 11 days until summer vacation/being a nanny begins!

Happy President's Day

Corgi in the snow!
I had no idea we were supposed to get a snow storm today. Usually I stalk the weather on my Iphone constantly, but somehow I did not notice the Winter Storm Warning today. Needless to say, I was not able to do my mile repeats on the track this afternoon :(.

I was a little bummed we had school today, but it was a nice, relaxing day. I started the day at Club Julian to lift and it was a great workout. What is equally impressive is how quickly I can lift, shower, put on makeup, fix my hair, and get dressed in the morning. If I get there by 6:30, I can do my lifting routine, take a very short shower, make my hair look presentable, change, and leave by 7:25. Then, of course, it's off for the usual bf at Panera.

Our attendance was much lower at school , since many of the kiddos have parents or older siblings off work and school. We talked about presidents and began working on our Honest Abe hats. The funniest thing was explaining to them that the first presidents actually wore white, fluffy wigs because they thought it made them look handsome. They thought that was great!

During dismissal, all the parents/grandparents/siblings informed me that it was starting to get icy out, and knowing that I have a fairly long commute (50 minutes), they told me I should leave sooner than later. I took their advice, taking my gym bag with me and knowing that the track workout was out of the questions. The roads weren't too covered during my drive home, but the roads were definitly a bit icy in spots. I was relieved to get home just fine, and layed down with Penny on the bed for a while to think what I should run instead of the mile repeats. I just may have fallen asleep for 20 minutes.

Penny advised me to go for a 5 or so mile easy run, and do my hard workout for the week in the morning on the treadmill, especially since there would be a good chance of a two hour delay - which means I don't have to leave the house until almost nine o'clock. I bundeled up, face mask and all, and stepped out into the winter wonderland. The roads were covered in at least two inches of snow, which fell in just the last hour!

The first four miles were just fine and I was really enjoying running in the snow, which was coming down in soft, thick flakes. With two miles left, the wind picked up and the snow turned into hard, round, icy balls. It hurt so bad to even keep my eyes open, so I tried to stare down at the ground completely hunched over - I looked stupid and it didn't even work. I honestly think the next time that happens I might wear ski goggles.

Here is a picture of the road after I finished running - look for my feet prints!
One of the nicest things about running in the snow is being DONE running in the snow - for example, coming inside and making french toast and drinking chocolate milk for dinner with your husband.

Any good french toast recipes? I just put together four eggs, vanilla and almond extract, cinnamon, and milk and dipped 8 pieces of bread into it. We loved our breakfast for dinner!

PS Two hour delay tomorrow! Yes!