Sorry its been so long...

So for some of you that know me there are some major things going on in my life right now. One of the biggest things is that I'm PREGNANT! yay!

It has been an amazing adventure along theway. Baby A has run many races including: Providence Rock N Roll Half Marathon (9 weeks), Chicago Marathon (18 weeks), and RnR NYC 10K (20 weeks).

18 weeks in Chicago

 I am now 24 weeks pregnant and really starting to get BIGGER. However still feeling great. I was really blessed for not having any morning sickness, just some major fatigue that made training for all those races a chore.

24 weeks

 So on top of having a baby we are also building our new home. This is our new foundation that was just put in last week. Things are going to start moving fast. I sure am glad that my husband has got that part organized while I worry about the baby stuff.

 Another picture in Chicago at Navy Pier

 And the Chicago Marathon finish! It was such a great race. It got a little warm but better than freezing your butt off... which I have done before. Wally stayed with me the whole time which was awesome. Oh and by the way...he didn't train at all. Only an 8 mile run 2 weeks before. He has been working like crazy and didn't have time. We ran the Chicago Marathon for the American Liver Foundation, and he ran in place of my mom because she recently tore her ACL and was having surgery the week after. Thanks Mom!

18 weeks - Chicago Marathon Finish

So, my goal is to start blogging on a more regular basis. It was tough before, My husband was traveling all the time, the dogs needed attention, and I was so tired, which didn't leave much more energy or time for blogging.

It's almost Thanksgiving, which means that our family will find out if we are having a BOY or GIRL. I made cake balls with the color inside. I'll keep you all updated.

Leftover taco salad

Leftover taco salad

CSA goodies...turnips and garlic scrapes

Hello everyone,
Once again life seems to move very fast and time just gets away from you. As I mentioned before wednesdays are the day I pick up produce from the CSA in Concord. This weeks bunch included; lettuce, kale, radishes, turnips, garlic scrapes, tomatoes, and kohlrabi. I had to look up kohlrabi and garlic scrapes.

 Kohlrabi is a German turnip and according to wikipedia.com it has a similar taste to broccoli stems, it can be eaten cooked or raw. You can even eat the greens. I can't wait to see what fun receipes I can come up with. Unfortunately I only recieved on of these babies.

Onto dinner...
I started off with roasting white turnips; peeled, washed, and quartered.

 Coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar.
 Place on baking sheets in oven @ 450 degrees for about 30 minutes.

The garlic scrapes... similar to chives...nice garlic taste. They are the curling tops of the garlic plant.

 I decided to add these to some mashed potatoes...

 And the main course.... Venison steaks... (there were 3 of these and the dogs got to them while I was putting clothes away upstairs :(  not a happy camper)

Seasoned with Salt, Pepper, and Grill Mates Seasoning

 The final product!!

 A word about steak seasonings...
Typically for the venison we don't need much just a little S&P, maybe garlic powder. We had bought these in Oregon to try something new. Wally is NOT a fan of the Mesquite seasoning. I can't tell much of a difference and will pretty much eat anything. Sometimes I try to sneak it on when he doesn't see me cooking and he can still tell!! Oh well, I hate to waste it and throw it out.

Workout: None today. 6 miles on Sunday.
The heat has been killing me. I guess I should get used to it, probably won't get much better for a little while. I also heard that Chicago can sometimes be a HOT one.

P.S. - Wally and I ended up really liking the turnips. It is something I probably wouldn't have bought on my own.

hot and humid

Yesterday's run was supposed to be an easy 3 miles.... When I got home from work the sun wasn't out (yay!!) so I immediately leased up the dogs and headed out on our normal route down to the buffalo farm (I am NOT joking about this one) and back.

Man it was tough to breathe... It started to rain on us once we turned around which was ok by me. The rain was nice and cool but you could still feel the heat coming off the pavement.

We stopped a few times for the dogs to do their thing and I had to pee once as well. I always end up drinking a TON of water on my drive home from work (that's my excuse anyway). Even still 3 miles in about 30 minutes not too bad for being extremely tired and having a hard time breathing.

Just keep lacing up those shoes... thats my plan.

Runners World Quote of the Day
Running has given me an opportunity to reach out and be a benefit to a fellow human being.
 
Mark Goldstein on the Komen Race for the Cure, a 5-K that raises breast cancer awareness

House Update:
Still clearing land
Making an appointment with mortage consultant to get options
House plans nearly done
Get quotes from other companys for house kits and builders

Toenails

Yesterday's workout was a good one. My training plan called for 7 mile tempo run or 30 min of hills (or hill repeats). I choose the hills.

I took the little pup with me because I knew he would keep running up and down those hills with him.

This workout started with 1 mile warm up, 6 laps up and down a semi-large hill (run up, short walk 10-15 seconds, jog down easy), then 1 mile back home. I did all this in my five-fingers!!

I was one sweaty mess when I ended and got compliments on how well behaved my dog was. That was good to hear. However, he is much more well behaved when he is tired.

I am very excited to start running more in the five-fingers. About a month back my boss asked if I would train for a race in them and write about it in the newsletter. My plan is to do a marathon. I have already done a 5K, so just a few more miles right ;)

As for training woes, I came across this article today about runner's getting black toenails and having them fall off. This was something that I was just talking about with a patient of my. I have yet to experience this. He hasn't or his brother (who also runs marathons).

The article states that the most common cause is wearing shoes that are too small and that this is pretty common for marathoners and "almost a rite of passage for ultra-marathoners". If this is something that is caused by the wrong shoe size when not just get some new shoes?

Meals have not been all that exciting... egg sandwichs or smoothies for breakfast. Lunch; salad with strawberries and fish. Dinner; salad with something on top... or today was a baked sweet potato with black beans, pepper jack cheese, salsa, and a dollop of daisy.

Do you have plans for the holiday weekend? Running any races?
- I have family coming up to visit very exciting. Going to melting pot with Mom and Ashley. Maybe run in the 4K on the 4th in Concord.

Anyone need a running buddy?

Until later....

What motivates you?

With all of this rainy weather it is hard for me to get motivated to run outside and I don't have a treadmill :(

Once the rain goes away it feels as though it is 90 degrees and humid... not the most comfortable running temperature. Wally says that I should just get up and run earlier in the morning. I don't know how much earlier I can get up. I am already up at 6-ish, when I feed and walk the dogs, feed the chickens, water the garden, eat breakfast, make my lunch, and shower (whew)...

I am sitting here wondering what motivates others to get and keep moving...

I have a few things that keep me going

• Races - sign up for them. I hate to wast money so I almost always train for them.
• Runner's world quotes - I get them in my email.
• Running magazines/website - sometimes I am too cheap to actually pay $4-5 for a magazine I read in an afternoon so I just browse the website.
• Competition - when I lived near my mom, I would run with her, or just talking with her to see what she ran for the day would make me want to go out and run at least that!!

I love that my next marathon (Chicago - Oct. 9th) is going to be with both my mom and one of my best friends who now lives in Wisconsin.

My philosophy on running is, I don't dwell on it, I do it.
Joan Samuelson

The weather is finally cooperating... the rain is stopped (at least temporarily). So I decided it would be the perfect day to go Strawberry Picking. The place I went to doesn't pick on sunday and I decided to postpone my long run til tomorrow.

I did pretty well. They are sweet and juicy. I picked all of these beauties in about half and hour.



 I think it's adorable when you see little kids picking berries with their parents. It is even funnier when the parents are getting upset that the little ones are eating the berries out of the bucket that they just picked.

 And lunch....
 leftover pizza from The Common Man in Concord.
Cripsy thin crust with diced tomatoes and olives...yum...
And Mud pie for dessert (not pictured)

Workout: to be determined...

Question:

What do you do with all the berries you pick? Do you pick your own berries?

A: I do pick, usually I just freeze them, but this batch might turn into jam and/or ice cream!!

Have a great weekend!!