Hills Strengthen Me

Workout:  4.65 miles in 47:23 with Copper and iPod.

....Or at least that is what I keep telling myself.  I was kicking myself for not taking my camera so that I could get some pictures.  Today's loop is a beautiful run but quite hilly.  I did good for the first 1.25 but then had to walk a good portion of the first hill.  I would walk some, run some, walk some.  Then came the downhill which is one of the steepest downhills I've ever run.  My knee usually screams at me part way down that, so I walked the steepest part.

This run has great views but also has lots of dead animals (today at least), a big ol' crazy steer with horns as wide as I am tall, a VERY loud Donkey, and three other dogs that like to run after us and scare me.  Copper though is a great protector and always gets between me and the other dog. It is always an adventure.

It is gorgeous out.  A little muggy but only 61 degrees and the sun is shining.  It finally feels like summer and I finally feel like I am starting to relax and realize that its time to slow down, breathe and take it all in.  I do a lot of reflecting on runs like today with just the sound of the quiet music in my ears, my feet hitting the ground, the jingle of Copper's bell and his little panting breathes.  It really makes me appreciate everything the Lord has given me.  I am so thankful that I am happy, healthy and can enjoy these quiet mornings to get out there run here in the beautiful country side. 

Great Giveaways

Another exhausting day but oh so productive.  I have some time tonight to do some blog stalking and was checking back on a few giveaways.  If you haven't already head on over to Julia's - Pain, Pride and Perservance blog for a sweet giveaway.  She is celebrating finishing her first marathon with a giveaway include a hat, glass, Hammer Nutrition Gels and a $50 giftcard to  ActiveBands.

There are some great patterns for the Active Bands.  You should go check them out.  I love the Red Bandana one and the Black Paisley.  I might just have to place and order and use the sweet discount that Julia mentioned in her blog.

Yoghi Bear is having a great giveaway too.  Although I am having trouble leaving comments on her blog.  I hope I can figure out why that is happening sometime tomorrow.  But for now, it is time to call it a night.

That's what I needed.

Workout:  4.10 run with Copper and iPod in 37:18

I did not make it out for my run yesterday.  I just couldn't get motivated.  I don't know why - but for me it is harder to run in the afternoons, especially if I don't have anyone to run with.  But if I can roll out of bed and go first thing I don't have as much trouble getting moving.

So, I made that my priority this morning.  After wake up kisses from my beagles, we snuggled back in bed for another 30 minutes before I got up.  Copper and I got all ready to go and took off on our first morning summer run.  We did our little four mile out and back run.  It was suppose to be five miles today, but I didn't want to kill poor Copper (that's my excuse for now!). 

Now that I have all kinds of energy it is time to get some things taken care of in this house.  Like - showering, since I haven't done that in two days and laundry and cleaning.  This house is a mess!  So today, should be a much more productive day than yesterday.

Monday and Tuesday's Recap

Well the first day of summer vacation zoomed on by.  It was a rough one though.  I had the root canal first thing in the morning and then had to run quite a few errands.  On my last stop by car started acting up and the check engine light came on.  That is never a good thing but I won't know until later this week what is wrong with it.

I got home and got to work on my first task.  Yesterday's goal was to get my herb garden set up and planted.  I ended up working on that most of the afternoon (after a 1 1/2 hour nap on the porch with my puppies).  Here's what it is shaping up to be:

I have lots of basil, oregano, chives, dill, rosemary, parsley, marjoram, and cilantro planted in the herb garden.  I decided to plant them separately from the rest of my garden so that I can keep up with them a little better and they hopefully won't get lost in the weeds. 

I didn't get my yoga in but I did do a 2 mile hike with Cowboy and the coon dogs last night when we went to chase some raccoon around. 

This was taken a while ago, not last night.

This morning the beagles and I headed to the Beagle Club to chase rabbits around.  It was a wet and dreary morning when we got started.  About an hour into our hike though it cleared up and turned out quite nice. 

When I got home I finished up my herb garden, planted more tomato plants in the big garden and painted the gate for our fence.    I still need to get in a 4-5 mile run and will hopefully head out for that soon if it stops raining.  In the meantime, as soon as I post this I am going to go do some Yoga Meltdown since I missed it yesterday.

Hopefully this little set up will protect my herbs from the rabbits and the wayward dogs.

Doesn't look like much other than rocks in the garden - but there are plants growing.

We got a late start to our garden due to all the rain and Cowboy being gone for 3 weeks.

One half of the gate is done, still working on the other half.

Even though I'm not teaching it still feels like I'm working a full time job!  I'm always on the go.  Have a great afternoon - I'm off to get my workout in now that the sun is shining.

QOTD - What kind of projects do you get into on your days off? 

The Training Begins

Well tomorrow is Week 1, Day 1 of my 15 week Half Marathon training plan.  Here's the snapshot:

Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day, but I think on those rest days I will be focusing on Yoga, Pilates and of course stretching.  I also am starting out my first weekday of summer vacation with a glorious and oh so fun root canal!  I won't even be able to sleep in.  Up at normal time and in town for the root canal fun before running a gazillion errrands and then home.  I am hoping to be home by lunch time, get in my 30 mins of Yoga and then do some outside work. I am looking forward to running with Copper on Tuesday.  I've missed running with my four legged running buddy.  I have to get him in shape for his 2nd 5k race in August.

Now that I will be home a lot more than usual, I am setting a goal of posting on the blog at least 5 days a week.  I really want to keep track of my training and some of my summer accomplishments.  I am also going to strive to do better at taking pictures throughout my day as well.  So tomorrow I am planning on working on my little herb garden and will hopefully have some pictures to share.  Ok....onto the next random thought poppin up in my head....

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I have been really struggling at fueling properly before and have races.  I have heard quite a few good things about Hammer Nutrition and have begun to look into their products.  Has anyone tried any Hammer Nurtrition products?  Any recommendations?  I can't decide on what to try first.  One of my friends suggested I call and see if they will ship some samples before I buy, so I think I might see if they are able to do that.  I want to focus on fuel before and during the run as well as some recovery products to help rebuild my muscles, especially after those longs runs.

Well this post took longer than expected due to technical difficulties, so I am calling it a night. 

QOTD:  What products do you use to fuel before or during a run and for recovery after a run?

Hello Summer Vacation

YAY!  I made it!  I survived my sixth year of teaching!  (Three years at a previous school and three years at this one.) 

Yesterday was a busy day.  I had school until 11:30, graduation practice, and then a nice lunch with my beautiful lil sis, Amanda.  After lunch I went to the Beagle Club to work for a few hours to get the club house and grounds straightened before their Beagle Show tomorrow.  After sweating in the muggy sunshine I met up with my baby sis and stole my neice for a few hours.  We went back to Aunt Mandwe's house to play before I had to get cleaned up for graduation.  I attended the graduation and then finally made it back home by 10:45.  Long Day!

That leads me to this morning.  Up-and-at-em by 6:45 so that I could get ready for the 5k Race. I met up with Dad, Manda, Rob, Adam, Mom and Ella beans at the race and spent time lovin on the neice till start time.  It was just a small local 5k with a really good turnout.  My mom cheered us on while we all raced.  Even the little Ella Beaners raced in her Bob (running stroller) with her GrandBob pushing her. 

I felt pretty good during the race considering I hadn't run at all in 8 days.  I started out a little fast but was able to tuck it back in for a bit until the turn around where I slowly picked up speed.  When we took off I knew their was some good competition and was happily surprised at the turn around when I realized I was 8th girl overall.  I still had my sights on two girls ahead of me that I was pretty sure I could pass.  Shortly after the halfway mark I did just that.  I knew there would be a very very small chance that I could catch girl #4 and #5 that were right ahead of me. 

I started to struggle a bit at 2.75.  The sun was really cookin' things up by then.  I was hot, tired and out of fuel (probably because I didn't eat dinner the night before and only a granola bar for breakfast.) One of these days I'll learn to eat better before a race).  I finshed 6th girl overall, 2nd in my age group, in 23:49.  My dad was 2nd in his age group, Robyn and Manda were 2nd and 3rd in their age group. 

One thing I have to say about this race is that the course flat and easy.  It goes by quick and I like being able to do an out and back race every now and then so that you can see everyone in the race.  Another thing is this race has awesome raffle prizes.  They did a fantastic job of getting donations.  4 out of the 5 of us got gift certificates.  All together the value of those gift certificates was over $295.00! 

After the race it was home to mow grass, work on my herb garden and tackle 5 loads of laundry!  A very successful day!  Congratulations to Julia on her first marathon!  Go check out her race recap and congratulate her on an awesome marathon!

Dreams Do Come True

Back in 2001 - 10 years ago- I used to lay in bed and look at this picture hanging across my room.

I used to stare at this picture and dream of the day where I could would own my own home with this in my yard.  Well this weekend, my dream came true.  Cowboy and I worked all weekend to recreate this photograph in our own yard.

With six dogs we wanted to build a fence that would deter them from heading towards the road.  Cowboy originally wanted to do a picket fence, but I didn't think that would look right out here in the country with our remodeled 1900 farmhouse.  So I convinced him to go with a farm fence.  We shopped around and got a good deal on all the supplies.  $500.00 less than the original picket fence plan. 

Here's a few before and after pictures:



This was from when we bought the house in 2008.

And today:




Before




After



It was a very busy and exhausting weekend.  We are so glad to have the fence up and painted.  I still have another coat or two of paint to put on it and we still need to build the gate to go across our parking area.  I didn't get a minute to spare and work in the garden so that is what I will be doing every night after school this week.  It is the last week THANKGOODNESS! 

Lots more to share from my weeklong absences from the blogging world including a race recap but this girly is tuckered out so I am closing things down here on my computer and heading to be early.  Hope you all had a great weekend.