Indoor and Outdoor Slushies

Since it has been freezing, what better thing to do than make slushies?  But not just any slushies, WINE slushies!  I have a few packages of wine slushie mix and we are on a big "use up everything in the apartment" kick (I can explain that too), so we decided to make one.  Basically, you mix a bottle of wine, equal parts water, and this slushie mix (we used the peach mango flavor) and let it freeze for 3 hours.  Lauren, Maggie, and I enjoyed these while watching The Awakening.

And then I decided to run outside yesterday which was a big slushy mess.

I was debating between going to the gym to the treadmill again or to try running outside.  When I checked the weather, it was a whole 9 degrees!  That's like a 40+ degree improvement over what it was  the previous 2 days.  Usually I set 20 degrees as my minimum for running outside, but I decided to go for it.

At first, my face started to feel numb, as did my hands.  I was wearing gloves and all the other necessities, but sometimes they just aren't enough.  I knew I would warm up eventually though.  Less than half mile into the route I was planning to take, I ran into a sidewalk that was not cleared in the slightest.  I thought most had been by this point, but I guess not.  So I turned a different way instead.  About a mile in, my toes were getting cold, but not anything to make me stop.  The terrain was still not the greatest.  I stayed on the sidewalks and some part were clear or at least clear enough, but other parts were miserable and I felt like I was going to fall or roll an ankle the whole time.

So I headed back to my apartment and finished at 2 miles. Splits were 8:44 and 9:13, which normall I wouldn't be too happy with but this was like running through sand at parts and the effort was all there as much as it could be for 2 miles I guess. I got home and did my ab work and foam rolled.  My legs and butt are definitely feeling Tuesday's squats and lunges!

Today's run isn't going to happen until later...or might turn into spinning instead.  So more on that tomorrow.  In the mean time, I need to tell you what I meant by Lauren and I trying to use up everything in the apartment.

We did a major apartment cleaning for the new year and tried to do a lot of organization of cabinets and such.  We (mostly me) have a lot of food items that haven't been used.  I tend to buy freezer food and then forget I have it and it never gets eaten, or have jars of pasta sauce that I never use.  So we went through everything and got rid of anything expired, brought home to our parents houses' anything that we didn't want that they might use, and resolved to eat everything else we have before going grocery shopping again and starting completely anew.  So far it's going pretty well...I do have 3 boxes of pasta and a box of oatmeal that I'll need to eat up, so some days might be a little carb-heavy, but that's OK with me.

We've also been doing the same with beauty products.  We found we have a TON of free sample or travel size items - shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, mouth wash, etc. and are going to use up a lot of that before buying regular sized items again.  I'll keep some of my travel size items of course - like for my trip to Phoenix next week :)

Do you have a lot of food or beauty items that you never use?

What is your temperature minimum for running outside?

Elf 4 Health Challenge!

Happy Hump Day!  For the next 2 weeks (actually 1.5 weeks now) I will be participating in Elle & Lindsey's Elf 4 Health Challenge!   It is a 4 week challenge over the holidays, and I missed phase 1 (the first 2 weeks) but after seeing all the fun on social media, I decided to join in for phase 2 (these current 2 weeks).

The basic premise is that each participant gets assigned an elf buddy.  Every day, there is a new challenge for all us elves to complete/work into our day.  My elf buddy and I are supposed to hold each other accountable to the challenges and just be someone to chat with about each one and give each other ideas.

My elf buddy is Shianna, who eagerly emailed me right away with so many great ideas for the whole week!  Shianna and I have been emailing for the past few days and I am so glad I have such a wonderful Elf 4 Health to chat with about this week's challenges and how we have been doing!

Here are this week's challenges so far and how we have been doing:

Monday - Do a circuit workout.

I went to the work gym at lunchtime and did my usual weight circuit.  Here's what I've been doing:

3 minutes rowing machine as a warm-up

stretching/foam rolling

2 x arm weight circuit of 3 exercises

Core circuit

2 x arm weight circuit of 3 exercises

stretching

That night after work, I went back down to the gym so I could get in an extra circuit to make sure I was fully doing the challenge and not just doing what I would've done anyways if I wasn't involved in Elf 4 Health.  I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and then did the whole core circuit again plus a few 45 second - one minute planks (regular and side).  I knew the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was on Tuesday night so that was my core workout motivation for the night.

And as an added note on the weight training, I just did it again at lunchtime today and increased my weights!  I was doing my 3 exercises at 5, 8, and 12 pound weights, but just increased them today to 8, 10, and 12 pound weights.  However, I was doing 10 reps of each, and with the increase in weight I brought it down to 8 reps and will eventually feel strong enough to get up to 10 at these weights hopefully.

Tuesday - Pay it forward.

I think Shianna and I both had a little trouble with this one.  Maybe because we are such naturally kind people that doing nice things doesn't seem out of the ordinary?  I thought my giveaway would be a good idea to "pay it forward."  If you haven't entered yet, see my last post here to win a sample of ENERGYbits!  All you have to do for an entry is comment on that post (by 11:59pm tonight!).  But then you can get a few bonus entries as well!  We thought buying coffee for the person in line behind us at a coffee shop would be a good idea, but I didn't have the chance to get coffee and Shianna is in college and she said everyone uses their meal plan to get all their food/drinks!

Wednesday - Pack a healthy snack.

I didn't exactly pack a healthy snack, but I ate one...so hopefully that counts.  My office always has fruit, pretzels, and string cheese available for the taking, so take some I did today.  But in the interest of full disclosure, I had some unhealthy snacks too.  There is a surplus of candy in the office because of the holidays, and sometimes I just can't say no.

Have you done any of these challenges this week?

What do you usually pack as snacks?

Friday Five - 12/6

Happy Friday!  In case you missed last week, you can check out my very first ever Friday Five post here.  So let's get right into this week because I have some great things to share!

Five Tweets:

My cousin Erin will be tweeting a different Christmas movie quote every day of December and this is one of my favorites from Christmas Vacation.  It doesn't quite give the voice inflection of this quote credit though, so I hope you're saying it correctly in your head.

Dayton is ranked #25 and that means that Siri is a huge Dayton fan! (For the time being at least...until we move up in the rankings.)

I am too, Shannon.  I don't think I'll ever know.  Except blogging, I like blogging.  And running.

My brother lives in Ohio now, so he is proud to call himself an OSU fan.

And now take a minute to read just a few of DiGiorno Pizza's tweets during last night's The Sound of Music Live with Carrie Underwood:

Five Articles

Philadelphia Marathon On Cheating - Who Cares

10 Personal Finance Tips From Hip Hop Lyrics

The Dumbest Things That Happened This Year 

Why ING Broke Up With The Marathon

Holiday-Themed Workout Playlist

Five Things I Ate This Week:

Gingerbread Latte - I guess I didn't "eat" this, but it has calories and tastes awesome, so it counts for my list.

Sushi - I hadn't had sushi in quite awhile but, Mac and I needed to catch up on life since now we don't run together anymore.  I suppose we could, but it's cold, sooooo that doesn't happen quite as much.

SweetTarts - I moved desks at work this week and now where I sit in unbelievably close to a HUGE bag of SweetTarts.  I was able to avoid them easily at my old desk, but now at this new one, I find myself grabbing a bit each time I get up!

Pesto Pizza - The extended Smith family had a Christmas trolley ride last Saturday and afterwards we ordered pizza.  I realized that after the half marathon earlier that morning (full recap coming tomorrow!), I really didn't eat much the whole day except for a few snacks.  So by the time that pizza came, I went to town on the pesto pizza.  Pesto has become one of my favorite things and ever ytime I have it on pizza, I am in LOVE.  And truthfully, the only other time I had a pesto pizza was last St. Patrick's Day when I was also mildly under the influence.  I can guarantee it'd be good sober too though.

Ham - I usually have turkey on my super awesome salad that I've been taking to work for lunch most days.  But this week I decided to switch things up a little and go with ham in my salad.  I figured I was eating turkey every day in either a sandwich or a salad and then ate a lot of turkey on Thanksgiving, so it was time for a change.  Back to turkey next week though.

Five Quotes from Pinterest:

And I'll leave you with some words of inspiration/fun:

So I guess I picked all the super-girly Pinterest quotes for this week.  I really like glitter and champagne.  Therefore, I wish people always acted like it's New Year's Eve.  Wouldn't that be a good idea?

Don't forget to be awesome today :)

November Goals - How Did I Do?

Remember when I made some goals back at the beginning of November?

Well, here's how I did on them:

Starbucks - I only had Starbucks a few times, and most were for good reason.  Once while I was visiting Anne in Denver and hung out in the Starbucks near her house for a few hours while she was at work.  And again when I met up with Katie from Peace, Love & Oats.  Besides that, I think I had Starbucks 2 other times - one Friday night when I went to Starbucks to hang out and read, and only once during the work week all month!  Woo for easily saving money!

Eating out for lunch during the workweek - Boom, saving even more money.  I didn't eat out at all for lunch at work except for the last workday of the month - this past Wednesday.  I couldn't help it.  I didn't grocery shop for the week since it was a short week and I just didn't have enough food to get me through all 3 days.  And in case you're wondering what I had - Sopraffina's.  People from work go there a lot but I never had, mainly because it is right across from Potbelly's and Potbelly's is always a winner.  But I'm glad i tried something new because the panini I had was really good - ham and Swiss on a pretzel bun :)

170 Twitter followers -I was at 167 followers at the end of the month, so not bad.  My ultimate goal is 200 by the end of the year, so I think I'm on track.

100 Facebook page followers - My blog's Facebook page is up to 119 likes on Facebook!

500 unique visitors to my blog this month - I feel a little short on this - 468 unique visitors during the month, but I'm still pretty happy with that!  I've had a lot of new traffic, so I can't really complain.  And I know to if I am patient and write good content, the readers will come.  But I'm happy for all the readers I already have :)  That's way more than I expected to have when I started the blog!

Run 150 miles - I fell more than a little short on the running goal.  November ended with a total of 69 miles...less than half of my goal.  It was very hard to motivate myself most of the month given the cold temperatures and post-marathon laziness.

Weight training - I haven't been specifically tracking my weight training, but I've been keeping it up pretty well!  And I've have started working in the planking too.

I think my November goals went pretty well.  As far as the running/weight training, I'm gonna call November a rebuilding month.  It's hard to get going again now that the Chicago Marathon is over.  I did a really good job on not eating out/getting Starbucks during the week and am continuously increasing the blog traffic!  I hope my new design changes have helped :)

I've been working on the December goals and will have those up soon!  Let's just say running more consistently is at the top of my list.

How was your November?

Denver - Hot Chocolate, Hot Tub, Cold Hike, Cold Beer

I am back down to a normal elevation.  Get ready for a lot of pictures from Denver!

Friday evening we went downtown to explore 16th street, which is an outdoor pedestrian mall, blocked off to all traffic except free buses and pedicabs.  Chicago would be a much greater place if Michigan Ave was for solely for pedestrians and FREE buses.  We went in a few cliche souvenir shops, but unfortunately did not buy anything.

We had dinner reservations at a Mexican restaurant called Rio Grande, known for their margaritas.  Anne and I got frozen mixed strawberry and mango - on the receipt that comes up as "Manberry."

For my meal, I had tequila shrimp tacos, which were good, but a little too spicy for me.  We were super tired and had big plans for the rest of the weekend, so we called it a night after 2 margaritas and A LOT of chips and salsa.

First up for Saturday was the Celestial Seasonings tea factory.  We didn't take the tour, but we took advantage of all the free tea samples.  I think I tried 4 different kinds, and then we bought a few boxes from the gift shop.

The main event on Saturday though was our hike!!

Anne and I met up with her friend Darja (who also went to UD!) and set out to climb Bear Peak in Boulder.  The beginning was a little bit of both up and down as we made our way up and around the mountain.

Then it started to get steeper the further we got and was more like climbing than just hiking along a trail.  It also got a lot colder the higher we went!  At one point we made quick conversation with a couple on their way down and they warned us of the cold and wind that we would be approaching soon.  I didn't really believe that it could be such a drastic change in conditions, but it was!  I couldn't take any more pictures because my fingers were numb.  But 2.5 hours after starting, we finally made it to the top!

We quickly turned to head back down since it was so cold up there.  One of my favorite signs along the route warned hikers about bears and mountain lions and one tip said, "If attacked, fight back."

The return trip only took 1.5 hours, which was good since we were all a little cold by this point and darkness was approaching.  We headed to a pizza place in Boulder and then to a coffee shop for a toasty cup of hot chocolate.

 

Despite being so cold, we talked an awful lot about ice cream and made a fro yo trip in the evening.  But before the fro yo, we sat in the hot tub outside for awhile, which was perfect on a cold night, until it started raining a little.

My flight home was not until Sunday evening (luckily, or else I probably wouldn't have made it back to Chicago until super late due to the bad storms yesterday), which meant we had another full day of activity on the schedule.

First up was a trail run!  Anne, her friend Jodie, and I set out on our run and I really didn't know what to expect or how far we were going to g.

It was still hard to breathe in the higher altitude and after just a little while I was really hurting going up, up, up.  But they were powering through so I just followed along!  We made it to the top in about 35 minutes, and then back downhill (not the same way, it was a loop), for a total time of 59 minutes.  It was super hard, but surprisingly went by really fast.  Running for an hour here in Chicago seems like forever, probably because I am usually alone and bored, and Anne said it goeso by faster when you're concentrating on where to put your foot next, going up or down hill, making sure you don't fall, etc.  I wish I could do runs like this all the time, but I sure am sore today!

To re-fuel after the run, we went to a restaurant in Golden, CO that had an awesome salad and pizza buffet.  I had to take a picture of my salad (one of them, you can't have just one when it's a buffet), because it had the very secret ingredient that makes all salads a million times better.

GOLDFISH!!  There's also some pepperoni in there, I wasn't a huge fan of that.  Save the pepperoni for the pizza.  I think the only other place that has had goldfish at a salad bar has been my beloved Pennellwood.

After salad and pizza, it was time for beer!  (Actually, Justin and I each had a beer with lunch too.)  We headed to the Coors Brewery and learned all sorts of great stuff about how the beer was made.  Adolf Coors started the brewery when he was 26 years old...makes me think I need to do something more meaningful/awesome with my life.

The end of the tour meant it was time for sampling.  I had a Blue Moon and a Colorado Native.  Hoppy, hoppy, hoppy.  I learned what hops are, not that I needed to go to a brewery to do so in our age of Wikipedia.  Anne and Justin had been on this tour multiple times, so I'm glad they were willing to go again with me!

I would like to go back to Denver soon, but I'll at least wait until winter is over because now they are going to start getting snow!  I do not like winter.

What is your favorite type of margarita?  Favorite type of beer? 

How long was your longest hike?

Two Really Great Sandwiches

I wrote a post awhile ago about the most delicious turkey sandwich ever.

That was by far the best sandwich I ever made myself.  I'm fairly new to sandwich making, actually.  I used to be an extremely picky eater, so the extent of my sandwiches was peanut butter on toast.  Occasionally I'd get a turkey sub from Subway.  But basically, I never brought a sandwich to lunch when I was in school.  I couldn't have peanut butter on toast because I couldn't toast bread at school and I didn't like regular peanut butter sandwiches - they are a weird texture.  And I just wasn't a huge fan of lunch meat, and again, the bread would just get soggy and gross.

As I've mentioned before, my eating habits expanded in college.  I had my first grilled cheese as a sophomore in college and now I really really love grilled cheese.

So anyways, the point of this post is that I had one really great sandwich this past weekend (from a restaurant) and one that I made for lunch yesterday that I feel like I need to tell you about so you can try it.  I also had a grilled cheese from Panera and that was really sub-par, so I will not say anything more about that one; this post is only for really good sandwiches.

Dresell's Public House Farm Egg Sandwich

House back bacon, blue & cheddar cheese, tomato jam, house chips

This is hands down the best breakfast sandwich to grace the Earth.  I was thinking though...it's main competition previously in my mind is the McDonald's Egg McMuffin.  I'm not sure I've had many other breakfast sandwiches.  I don't even know where to start by talking about this heavenly creation, but I'll break it down.

Farm egg - A deliciously running over easy egg.  I think it had pepper on it too.  They even made Erin's with just the egg white.  They were reluctant to at first, but since she had just ran her first half marathon and was wearing her medal, they complied with her request.

Sandwich - Brioche bread, so soft and fluffy

House back bacon - Not normal bacon; it was more like Canadian bacon/ham

Blue & cheddar cheese - I love cheese

Tomato jam - I do not like jam, so I ordered my sandwich sans jam.

House chips - These were perfect chips.  Little slices of potato-y heaven.

Homemade Salami Sandwich

Toast w/ butter, lettuce, salami, tortilla chips

Sounds simple, right?  Well the secret ingredient is the butter.  I really don't know if this is a common thing, maybe it is?  In August, when I was in WI with my family, my cousin Katie and I were making salami sandwiches one afternoon for lunch.  And she buttered the bread of her sandwich.  This was wild to me, but she swore by it so I tried it.  And it was wonderful.  So I did that again when I made a salami sandwich for lunch on Monday.  Other than that, it was actually just a basic sandwich.  I probably should have added cheese, but oh well, I'll make it even better next time.  And of course, a side of tortilla chips.

So the moral of the story is: If you live within 1,000 miles of St. Louis, go to Dressel's and eat that sandwich.

What is your favorite sandwich from a restaurant or that you make yourself?

Chicago Marathon Celebration & Recovery

I think this will be my last of my Chicago Marathon series of posts.  (You can read about the expo and pasta party, RACE RECAP, my playlist, and my fans.)

The post-marathon celebration started pretty much as soon as I crossed the finish line.  As I'm pretty sure I mentioned in my playlist post, putting on Teenage Dream was my first order of business after finishing.  Then I just wanted to dance because I was happy, but I thought these other fatigued strangers would think I'm weird and I guess the movement I considered dancing after 26.2 miles was a bit funky because a few of the finish line workers asked if I was OK.

I made it though most of the chute area, collecting my free beverages (water, Gatorade protein shake, beer) and found Mac.  We briefed each other on our races and tried to spot Angela, but we must have missed her because we when finally got hold of her, she was already at gear check.  I pretty much "ran" there to meet her.  It was obviously more of a shuffle, but I was cruising compared to everyone else because I wanted to be reunited with her after separating around mile 15.

After reuniting with all our fans and hanging out in the park for awhile, it was time to head home for a necessary shower.  I was surprisingly mobile and not having as hard of a time getting to the car parked really far away as I did last time I ran Chicago.

I went straight to my bed after showering, but I couldn't fall asleep.  "Exercise gives you endorphins; Endorphins make you happy." (Legally Blonde)  A few phone calls later and I was at Nookie's with the Conlons for a 4pm champagne brunch.

Yup, that's the cheap stuff.  After the brunch dinner, I was tired but we had more celebrating to do.  Mac, Drew, Michael, and Angela came over and we sat around, ate, drank a little, talked about the marathon, etc.  Then we went to meet up with the Conlons again at Benchmark.  We did do a shot there to celebrate, but other than that I think we were all pretty much wiped out and just sat at the table and ate tots with ranch...probably one of the most amazing combos ever.

After making it out of bed successfully without falling over on Monday, I started the day off with Angela at Starbucks, or should I say "Asha."

Then we headed to Fleet Feet.  I actually don't remember why we went to Fleet Feet - I think we just had some time to kill - and found they had a bunch of the official Chicago Marathon gear, so we each bought a post-marathon gift for ourselves.

Angela had to head back to St. Louis, but Michael and Drew were still in town, so we met up and went to Moe's for a Mexican lunch and did a lot of walking.  Fleet Feet had free medal engraving so we dropped our medals off there and then sat very lethargically in Starbucks for awhile.  After they left that afternoon, I lounged for awhile and ordered myself a small Lou's pizza (and no, I didn't eat all of it; I had leftovers for lunch and dinner the next day!)

And for the recovery.....

I was SORE until Wednesday.  I considered going to a spinning class on Thursday, but decided I was going to take full advantage of the "I just ran a marathon and need time off" excuse to not work out while I could.

I did short runs of 3 miles each on Saturday and Sunday mornings...and had a fun full day of tailgating and football at Notre Dame with Catherine & friends.

Even though I love UD and the Flyers, it was fun to tailgate for a real college football team.

The Day Before - Expo & Pasta Party

This past Saturday, the day before the Chicago Marathon, was filled with a lot of fun, excitement, and nervousness.  Angela, Olivia, and I headed downtown to meet Michael, Drew, Patrick, and Josh to take the free shuttle bus to the Expo at McCormick Place.  Right when we got inside, we ran into Carly and took a group picture!

After getting our bib numbers and t-shirts, we all spent some time exploring, grabbing free samples, shopping, signing the #OWNCHICAGO wall.  We also met up briefly with Mac, Kevin, and Jason.  AND some fellow UDXC alum, Kelly and Allie were working the Sweaty Bands booth, so we got to pause for a picture with them.  I'm glad I have so many running friends  :)

There were about a million gazillion people at the Expo, so it was hard to move and keep track of everyone that we came with.  But eventually, we all met up and made our way back home on the shuttle.

Some of the free stuff I got included: a cowbell, a poster, sunglasses, samples of various energy chews and drinks, and a water bottle.  Angela and I also teamed up and bought 2 pairs of running socks each because they were buy 3, get 1 free.

By about 3pm however, I was nowhere near as excited and energetic as I was a few hour earlier.  I think all the noise and chaos of the Expo got to me and gave me a killer headache.  I got back to my apartment and had about an hour before people would be over for the pasta party.  I needed to clean up a little more and get ready, but instead I just sat in the dark and tried to make the headache go away.  I tried to eat some peanut butter on toast, but threw that up within 15 minutes and then threw up again right after my parents arrived to help set up.

My mom thinks I just made myself really nervous and worked up over the whole event, which is probably true.  But people started to arrive, so I kept taking Tylenol and tried to help set up and mingle.  I couldn't eat much of the pasta, but bread seemed to be good.  And I had made a pumpkin cake (pumpkin bread, but baked in a cake pan and covered in chocolate frosting) that I was able to eat.

So that is the reason I was so hungry by the time I got to the starting line and needed to eat half of a bagel during the marathon.  I did eat a bowl of Smart Start and half pack of GU Chomps the morning of the race, but that wasn't doing the job.

I was glad so many friends were able to come - work friends, running friends, Dayton friends.  And especially thanks to my parents for buying/bringing all the food!...even though my dad was not having fun hanging out with a bunch of 20-somethings.

Other attendees not pictured: Mom and Dad, Mac, his parents, Rachelle, and Christopher

So it was a busy, nerve-wrecking day.  I was sure I was going to wake up Sunday with the same horrible headache and not be able to run well because of it.  But I kept downing the Tylenol, was able to get to sleep around 9pm or so, and woke up in the morning feeling great!

It's Chicago Marathon Weekend!

It's finally Chicago Marathon weekend!!

I've been spotting these signs around the city:

Angela and I talked last night about everything marathon-related.  We went through exactly what we have packed (or what she has packed and I have set aside in my bedroom), our pacing strategy, when we will take GU, etc.

I did really easy 3-4 mile runs on Wednesday and Thursday (and I had done 4.5 on the treadmill on Monday).  I was downtown for my run yesterday because I decided to run straight from the office after work, so I ran over to Grant Park to look at some of the marathon preparation already going on.  I decided to take some tourist photos.

After the run, I quickly showered back at work and walked to Old St. Pat's Church for the Crossroads Runners pasta party!

The food was awesome, so I had to have 2 plates.  Luckily, pasta and bread are my 2 favorite foods.  And tomorrow night I'm hosting a pasta/sign-making party for my friends and family that will be running or coming out to cheer us on!


Today is a rest day and tomorrow I'll do a super easy 2 mile shake-out run right when I wake up.  And then go to the EXPO!  That's one of my favorite parts of races.  Hopefully I won't spend too much money there...

The weather forecast for Sunday is looking really good for marathon running!!  High of 65 during the day, so probably around mid-50s at the start.  And NO RAIN...if the weather people are correct, which isn't always the case.

I'll be pretty busy all weekend, but I'm sure I'll be posting on Facebook and Twitter!  And tomorrow, I'll have a guest post from Mac with his thoughts on training for the Chicago Marathon.

Happy Friday!!

I Made It 20 Miles, My Technology Didn't

Two 20 miles runs in one week!  That's probably not recommended, but it happened.  So now I've done 3 runs of about 20 miles in this marathon training cycle.  You can read about the other two here and here.

Overall, yesterday's 20 miler felt physically better than Monday's but mentally harder.  If I was not running with Mac, I definitely don't think I would have finished it on my own.  It's Saturday evening as I write this, and as of now I don't think I'll be nearly as sore as I was on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, especially because of the foam rolling I did right afterwards.

I met the Old St. Pat's Crossroads Runners/Coach Brendan Running group at the Running Away Multisport store.  Coach Brendan's plan for today was:

20 Miles - 8 "uncomfortably easy" + 10 at goal marathon pace + 2 cool-down

I ran the first 8 miles with Mac and another guy, Greg, hitting these paces:

8:25, 8:26, 8:27, 8:08, 8:20, 8:08, 8:05, 7:53

Greg left us to run faster for the "goal marathon pace" segment, but Mac and I successfully picked up our pace after stopping at one of the Fleet Feet aid stations to take our Gu gel.  OF COURSE, the Garmin lost reception during our first mile of faster running.  But we guessed about 7:25.  At some point, the Garmin finally kept reception for an entire mile, somewhere around 12-13 miles into the run and said 7:35.  I think we still held on to that pace a little longer, but slowed back down to 8 minute pace around mile 14-15.

Also, I had my iPod during this run which allowed for the following things:

• I got to listen to music
• I made Mac and Greg play a game called Guess What Song I'm Listening to Right Now
• I could take a few pictures along the way for your enjoyment

However, I think I jinxed myself when I wrote a few weeks ago about how surprised I am that my iPod is still functional given how much I've ran with it and has been sweated on.  At some point during the run, it just stopped playing music, but was still on.  When I got home, it would not start, even when plugged it.  Sooo that's an issue I'll need to deal with.  For now, no pictures :(

Oh and technology failed me another way yesterday.  I tried to download the new iPhone software but my phone is being silly.  It does seem to be downloading on my iPad though.

Mac and I went to Nookie's for breakfast, which was delicious as breakfast always is.  And then the madre came downtown and we went out to eat at Vapiano in Lincoln Park in the mid-afternoon.  And here's what we ate (and brought home for dad since obviously this was way too much food for just us)...I couldn't not take pictures, the presentation was so high qual.

Since I finished Desperate Housewives on Netflix a few weeks ago, I have been trying to figure out a new show to watch.  Andddd I just found out that SVU is on Netflix.  This is a bad idea, Colleen.  Why?  Because it's scary and makes me think I'm going to be raped...just as we are hitting winter and it's dark out when I have to run if I want to run outside.  It's just so good though.  Dun dun.

The Most Delicious Turkey Sandwich

It's TWIN DAY!!  I don't think I've mentioned enough how much I love matching outfits - for running or for real life.  The workday is going to be a million times better knowing Grace is sitting at her desk in DC wearing the exact same outfit as me.  Today is a pretty exact match Twin Day since we have the same top from The Limited.  But sometimes we have Twin Days where we just say wear a khaki pencil skirt, a blue top, and a white cardigan.  I think we need to get even more people to join in on Twin Days.  Oh and on Wednesdays, we wear pink.

I had big plans for last night.  I was going to leave work, go to Walgreens, run 6-8 miles, get ready really fast, and meet Mariel and Steph for dinner.

Around 4pm, the sky started to look dark so I decided running wasn't going to happen.  I was still sore from Monday's long run and I could use the extra time to go to the grocery store.  I planned to take either today or tomorrow as a rest day, so I figured I'd just switch it up.  Here's what actually happened last night:

(This is called "The Colleen Tracker" - as named by Rachelle.  I have a habit of telling people really minuscule details of my day that really don't matter to anyone and doing so in the most long-winded fashion possible...which is why I like having this blog)

Walgreens - I needed a prescription and picked up some household items so that Lauren and I can live like real people in our apartment.  Normally, we don't buy things like toilet paper, paper towels, sponges, etc.  We go "shopping" at our parents houses when either of us goes home on the weekend.  Our moms have Costco memberships so why should we buy things for ourselves when they can buy it in bulk for us?  Anyways, I forgot to "shop" while I was home on Saturday and we desperately needed a few things.

Treasure Island - This is such a wildly overpriced grocery store.  But the man at the deli who sliced my turkey was very pleasant even though they were out of the first two types of turkey I asked for.  And the man in the produce section was very kind as well.  I was about to grab gala apples and he stopped me and told me to take them from a box he had just brought out straight from the cooler.  I don't think having nice workers is worth me paying a bit more for groceries though.

Here's where things get fun:

Dinner - After my errands, I got home and got ready to go out for dinner.  But then it started pouring and thundering and lightening and nobody wants to go walk around in that.  We decided to reschedule and I was OK with that since now I could use some of my new groceries for dinner.  I didn't feel like really "cooking" (see my definition of cooking below), so I settled on making a turkey sandwich, but this was better than any average turkey sandwich I've made!

wheat bread slightly toasted

basil pesto hummus

cucumbers

turkey

So basically it's just your average turkey sandwich, but I used cucumbers instead of lettuce and put the basil pesto hummus on the bread.  That was probably one of the best ideas I have had in awhile.  Usually I buy garlic hummus, but the basil pesto flavor called out to me and I'm glad it did.  My eating habits are very elementary so putting hummus on a turkey sandwich was new and wild to me.

I meant to only use the turkey for weekday lunch sandwiches, but it really did the job tonight when I wasn't intending to cook in the first place.  And to me, cooking means making buttered pasta.  Sometimes I get gourmet and add feta cheese.  We can add cooking to a list of things I should probably learn soon.  I was just going to say that I am good at baking though.  But that's actually not true.  I am a boss at making brownie mix out of a box, but that's about as far as it goes.  And that brings me to my next point.

Cookies - Pumpkin cookies from a box mix.  They came out amazing.  And I made them even more amazing by using Lotus Biscoff Spread as frosting (basically cookie butter).  You can't add quite as much as regular frosting because it's much thicker - almost like a peanut butter consistency.  I was going to add chocolate chips to the mix, but forgot to buy those which means I'll have to make these again soon.  This box wouldn't have expired until May of 2014, so I can go stock up on quite a few boxes to get my fill of pumpkin things throughout the year, and not just right now in the fall.

Marathon Signs - Catherine's marathon is this Sunday!!  So I had to make some signs :)  I do not want to show any pictures though because they have to be a surprise while she is running.

What do you do on a rainy night?

What is the best food idea you've had lately?