Payback for a late night......

Yawn....

I think my late night last night has caught up with me.  I'm tired!

Hope y'all had a good day. 

On my way home at lunch time I thought I'd snap a few pictures of one of the places my crew plants & maintains downtown. 

This is an old fountain that leaks, so we put plants in it!

Yay!  Pretty mums, also I'm happy that some of my summer plantings are still going strong at the lower level.  I really need to split those monstrous hostas sometime. 

Once home I made myself some lunch.....

LUNCH

-sandwich thin w/ turkey, provolone, hummus and greens

-side of roasted sweet potatoes & brussel sprouts

While I was home I responded to some more post race emails and caught up on tweets & facebook updates.  I feel so far behind, my iphone has no service at work..... as I'm not really suppose to use my work computer for that stuff.  :(

Back at work I had a mid afternoon snack of yogurt.

TJ's Mocha.... interesting flavor, I think I like it.  Needed some granola mixed in though!

After work I was a woman on a mission.... had to get my run in!

So I suited up and was off on a 6 mile run, I didn't wear a watch though, it was suppose to be a relaxing run..... although I felt great a few times during my run and pushed the pace a bit.  On my way home I swung by my in-law's to pick up Reggie.  Reggie & I walked home from there. 

The hubby wanted to go for a walk too, so we headed out again for about a 2 mile walk through town.  I was STARVING by the time we got back. 

DINNER

-baked haddock w/ panko crumbs, lemeon juice and some seafood seasoning

-left over roasted sweet potatoes and brussle sprouts

-TJ's frozen Soycutash (corn, red pepper & soybeans), I added a little feta to it

-Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale.... YUM!

The haddock was from a local fish seller that promotes locally harvested seafood.  I love that the CSA idea is being translated into the fisheries, you can actually buy a share of seafood during a particular season.... we haven't done this yet but I'm tempted.

Well.... I wanted to do some volunteer oportunity hunting.... but my eyes are getting heavy.  I think an early bed time is needed, especially with 6am kettlebell in the morning!

Do you have a tv in your bedroom? We do, although sometimes I think it would be better if we didn't, too easy to get caught up in shows and not get sleep!

Goodnight!

Britt

Dirty stay up.....

I was bad and stayed up way too late last night..... I got home from school board around 9:30 and then I decided to get caught up on a couple shows on Tivo and read a few blogs, something I haven't done in AGES!

So my run today will have to wait till later. 

I have my breakfast packed for work, it looks so yummy!

BREAKFAST

-oats made w/ .5 c almond milk, .5c water

-mix-ins: apple, maple granola, ground flax, chopped walnuts and almond butter

On tap for today's run is 6 miles.  It will be a leisurely six, since I did my 20+ mile run on Sunday.  I decided to take yesterday morning off from Kettlebell and sleep in, but since the rest of my day was jam packed I couldn't find any time for it.  

I decided not to run for school board again, so my term will be up the end of the year!  I have other areas of my life that I want to focus on, including what I want to do professionally.  Taking a step back and figuring out how best to focus my volunteer efforts to achieve my ultimate goal seems to make the most sense to me right now.  

Have you ever made a career change?  Do you want to make a career change?  How did you approach going about it?

Have a great day!!!

Britt

Sniffle sniffle

Sorry my nose is all stuffy still.......  blah.

In happier news.....Look at me, I'm blogging.... TWICE in one day.  Ahhh feels nice. 

I managed to escape work at lunch time for my 5 mile run, I felt pretty good despite the runny nose.  It is so nice to escape for a bit during the work day and get away from it all.  

Lunch time runs rock!

After lunch I enjoyed my lovely packed lunch.  

Plugged on through the work day and eventually enjoyed this beauty. 

It wasn't what I expected, but it was still pretty tasty!  

The new Kashi dark chocolate & coconut bar. It was kind of fudgy chocolate, hit the spot as a mid afternoon snack.

After work I hit the grocery store to grab some ingredients for dinner.  Then it was off to do some weeding downtown.  I love gardening, it feels great to do some manual labor and see a difference after just an hour. 

After weeding I headed home to make dinner for the hubby, my dad and myself.  :-)

DINNER

-baked salmon: 400 degrees, 15 minutes, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic and dill

-Jerusalem artichokes: sauteed w/ olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper (they are a tuber from the sunflower family and were delicious! got them from our CSA)

-pesto quinoa- just added some homemade pesto to the quinoa

-sliced tomato

(not the greatest picture.... I was hungry apparently LOL)

Thank you for the well wishes on the race and for finding time for myself.  I'm feeling a bit less stressed.   I'm looking forward to a ladies night at a friend's house tomorrow night, its apple themed..... 

Do you have any great recipes involving apples?  Anything but a main course.... dessert, appetizer, etc. 

Have a fabulous night!!  I'm hopefully getting to bed early so I'll be on time for Kettlebell at 6am tomorrow (lately I've been showing up a few minutes late.... oops).  Just hoping I don't need the Nyquil again, although my nose is so stuffed up!

Britt

Sweet dreams.....

Last night I had to do it, had to take some Nyquil.

The night before I tossed and turned with an achy shoulder (from what I do not know) and a stuffy head/nose. I needed sleep and I needed something to dry my head out….enter Nyquil. Ahhh….. finally sleep.

I enjoyed my sleep so much I kept hitting the snooze button so today’s run will be during my lunch break. Try to get in a quick 5 miles. Thank goodness we have a locker room here with showers.

I am on it this morning and got my breakfast and lunch packed for the day, plus a couple snacks.

BREAKFAST
-oats w/ 2/3 c almond milk and 1/3 c water
-mix-ins: walnuts, dried cranberries, almond butter and ground flax

LUNCH
-sandwich thin w/ turkey, provolone and pesto
-toppings to add later tomato & artichokes

SNACKS
-TJ’s pomegranate greek yogurt
-Kashi’s coconut dark chocolate granola bar (just found these, cannot wait to try it!

After work its off to do some weeding downtown and get things spruced up for the festival & race this weekend!

Do you have any fall festivals where you live? Does it include a road race?

Have a great day!

Britt

Reach the Beach!

First off, I highly recommend a relay race with friends. 

Its a great bonding activity, you never know what is going to happen. 

It can be a lot of work to organize, especially if it is a 24 hour race but it is definitely worth it!

There are all kinds of relays now but Reach the Beach and Hood to Coast are a couple of the original 24+ hour relays.  My running crew is talking about maybe doing one in Florida put on by Ragnar Relays, although I also found one that goes from Key Largo to Key West.... its a little shorter too and we could have a smaller team.  

Any how back to Reach the Beach.  

THURSDAY

We headed up to northern NH.  Luckily one of our crew has a good hook up, so we had a free place to stay.  I hit the hay relatively early, as I knew I wouldn't get much sleep Friday night. 

FRIDAY

I was up before 7am, showering and packing up. We had to be at the start close to 8am to get registered.  I was our team captain so I had to do all of our check-in, I also was our first runner too! 

My first run was about 8 miles so I had to fuel up for my run.

BREAKFAST

-poppyseed bagel w/ PB

We of course had to take a few team pictures........

And decorate our vans...

Although this year was a bit sad compared to past years.  We just didn't have much time to decorate or the motivation. 

But at least we had me & Tito.  ;-)

And then we were off!

Beautiful scenery along the way of course. 

This was one of the transition areas. 

If you don't remember my explanation.  There are 12 of us on a team, you can have less too but no more than 12.  If you have 6 or less you are considered an "ultra" team. 

We each ran 3 legs, the legs are split up by the race directors, you have specific transition areas.  Once you pick an order you have to stay in that order.  I was our 1st runner so I ran legs 1, 13 and 25.  

The total mileage of the race is just over 200 miles.  Each runner has a combined total of miles ranging from about 14 to just over 22.  I was the lucky person with just over 22 miles.  :)

While it may sound great that most of the first few legs have a lot of downhill.... you quads pay the price.  The start of the race, you are full of energy...... you are excited.... you are.... well stupid..... you go out too fast and later on when you have to run up hill during your later legs.... it. really. hurts. 

But despite all this talk, I was able to recruit a newbie from my blog.....

Mrs. Our Life is Delicious donated her husband to the cause.  :)  

Or well he donated himself I guess. 

Yay Artie!!!  He even sported his "No Meat Athlete" shirt. 

A little action shot.... Artie jetting off on his first leg after the hand off. 

Soon it started to get dark..... and that meant dressing up in such fashionable items as

-reflective vest

-2 blinky lights... one front, one back

-head lamp

This is my sexy night runner pose.

I swear it did get dark on my run.

This was a leg or two  later when it was really dark out. 

My teammate Tom was getting ready to head out on his run.  It was one heck of a hilly run too... he started going straight up a hill that lasted at least 1/3 of a mile, went down for a bit and then right back up.  

So I have to admit, my eating was not all that spectacular.  For lunch I had a turkey, swiss, baby spinach and mustard sandwich.  It was camera shy.  Also had some trailmix and a chocolate chip cookie 

But after my 2nd run of the day, I got snacky and we had lots of snacks. 

Twizzlers......... evil.

Cheez-Its....... even more evil. 

But when you are living in a mess like this...... it kinda fits I guess. 

My van was lucky and we finished up our 2nd leg by midnight.  We headed to the next team transition area for some sleep.  Most of us slept in the van.... on seats, on the floor, outside in a tent... where ever we could find a place. 

SATURDAY

At 4:50am we got a call from the other van.  Their last runner was on course for her 7 mile run and I was on deck. 

I started my run just around 6am. 

 It was dark, but soon I could see a beautiful sunrise in the works.....

My team stopped by to give me some support..... 

It was my longest run, about 9.5 miles and the first half was pretty much all uphill.

This is at about the top of the hill section, right before I hit the downhill.

As you can see I was happy to see them and the downhill!!!

Me finishing up my final run and passing off our reflective slap bracelet "batton" to Mia

So my team thought it was odd that in my purchase of food for the van I got baby spinach.  I figured.... who wants just a meat & cheese sandwich, spinach is an easy addition and its like lettuce but even better for you. 

Well it became a running joke. 

At one point we showered one of our teammates with spinach during his run.

Here we are posing with our mascot vegetable....

Pretty much the answer to any problem involved....... baby spinach.... and sometimes hummus or baba ghanoush (which we didn't have any of but its fun to say).

Then we finally REACHED the beach!

This is the crew after we ran through the finish line together and got our medals. 

Our Stats

Overall Time: 28:48:42

Average Pace: 8:20/ mile

Runners: 6 guys, 6 girls.... ranging in age from 29-47

Overall an absolute blast!  :)

Let me know if you have any questions, its hard to fit it all in.  But hopefully that gives you an idea of how it all went.  

Britt

Ready to Run... just not THAT early

So this morning when my alarm went off at 5:20.....  

I didn't get out of bed. 

Instead I hit snooze. 

Stupid me. 

BUT........

I did finally get out for my run by 6:15!

It had to be a bit shorter than planned unfortunately though.  I did just over 4 miles in about 32 minutes, warming up the first mile at about a 9 minute pace. 

Even with my run cut short I was running a bit behind, so I quickly showered and got ready for work.  Had to breakfast at my desk, fortunately the cafe has oats. 

BREAKFAST

-oats

-mix-ins: little brown sugar, dried cranberries, ground flax and a little coconut flakes

Plugging through the workday, I hadn't packed a lunch.... so I am home right now eating that.

LUNCH

-crop share lettuce, tomato & cukes

-feta

-kalamata olives

-veggie burger

-little balsamic dressing

I have WAY too much on my plate, I think that is part of my issue with getting my runs in.  

Last night I had school board, got home from that and worked on some job application stuff.

My "To Do" List Today

• Let my Reach the Beach team know I'm alive and send out final details, since I'm captain and all
• Put together my "to do" list for the 5K race I'm directing, nail down the # of volunteers I need and where they are all assigned, figure out what tasks I need to full unload on key volunteers, also need to follow up on age group prizes
• Meet my team of weeders after work to do some weeding & prep for some fall plantings downtown next week.
• Get my job application out to my dream job!

Um I think that is it for now.... I have little notes to myself all over the place... not good. 

Hope your day is a little less chaotic than mine. 

What type of organization system works best for you, do you do everything on your computer?  Do you write it down?  Do you do both (that seems to be what I'm doing lately)?

Have a great day!!

Britt

My big news & another beach run!

Hello!  Hope you are having a great Sunday!

I could be out biking with the hubby on his birthday ride, but I ran this morning and have stuff to take care of this afternoon.... so I let him go ride with the boys.  He's all excited to ride his new bike!  (a new one was required as his frame on his old one cracked!)

We had a fabulous time last night, but unfortunately my pictures came out awful..... it was so dark in the restaurant (and I didn't want to use my flash).  So after I skipped my 5 mile race in the rain, yes I'm a wimp, I took the hubby out for his birthday dinner (well the fancy one).  

We went to one of my FAVORITE places ever in Kittery, Maine called Anneka Jans.  If you are ever in the area I HIGHLY recommend this place.  So. Good.

What we ate......

Bangs Island Mussels, Bacon, Shallots, White Wine, Cream

Organic Greens, Sweet & Sour Golden Raisins, Toasted Pine Nuts, Champagne Vinaigrette

Halibut pan seared w/ peas, lobster cream sauce, spring onions and potatoes (what I could remember, they don't have it on the website)

Seared Duck Breast, Wild Rice Pancake, Grilled Asparagus, Blueberry Glaze (the birthday boy's meal)

We shared a yummy bottle of Pinot Noir.  After dinner we met up with some friends for cocktails.  

I took it easy though and didn't finish my drink at two places we went.  I had to be ready for my run this morning!

Today

I didn't get the earliest start, but that is ok at least I got going.  :)

I ate breakfast in the car, as I needed a little ocean for inspiration again.  

BREAKFAST

-Clif Kid Twisted Fruit 

(super sweet)

-Kashi Granola Bar
Then I was off.  See why I go to the coastal route to run.
In some parts there is even a nice little trail, but primarily nice WIDE bike lanes most of the way.  

I brought 3 Gu's with me.  I took one about every 40-45 minutes.  This was at about the half way point.  Me and lots of surfers.  :)

I didn't do all 20 miles though.  The first half of the run I was dragging, the second half I got some energy but I could feel a little aching in my right foot's arch.  I ended up doing 16 miles in about 2 hours and 15 minutes, so around an 8:30 pace.  

I grabbed some stuff from the car and hit the beach.  

I figured some nice cool ocean water would be good for my feet.  

Aaaahhh.......
I did some stretching on the beach and enjoyed some food and drink. 

-Cashew Larabar
-Peach & Mandarin 10 Calorie Vitamin Water

(I was craving something other than just water, which I drank a good amount of on my run... thanks to my fuel belt)
I couldn't stay too long though, I had to run some errands and get home.  On my way home I picked up the hubby's b-day cake for dinner to night with the family. 

I was HUNGRY so I whipped up a quick lunch....

LUNCH

-canned salmon & chickpeas w/ little olive oil mayo and herbs

-peas

-left over potato salad

It was actually pretty darn tasty, I also have some leftovers for tomorrows lunch too!  Yay!

Ok, so my big news.....

.......

..............

....................

Nope not pregnant.  LOL

I got my own website.  :)  

Figured if I was going to do this blogging thing I should go a little more all out. 

I'm not transitioning quite yet, but you can do a quick preview if you want.  

www.runnerbelle.com 

I welcome any suggestions too.  :)

Enjoy the rest of the day!!

Britt

What time is it..... ack crap

That was me this morning. Blah!

I set my alarm but forgot to turn it on. I woke up just in time to see that I was missing the start of the 6am kettlebell class. Gggrrrr......

Now I have to do some serious cramming of activities in after work.

4:30 Kettlebell (sneak out of work early)

6:15 Yoga

At least its a relaxing yoga class, it will be interesting to pair the two back to back..... especially as I got a sneak peak at today's Kettlebell class and it looks like a doozie.

Reggie and I got our walk in and then it was time for some breakfast.

BREAKFAST

-1/2 c oats

-3/4 c water

-toppings: sprinkle of maple flax granola, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, ground flax

-drowned it a bit in about a 1/4 c of milk

I remembered my fun new water bottle today.....bring on the water! Its cute, its green and it has a flippy up straw.

In just an hour or so registration opens for the mother of all races.....

THE BOSTON MARATHON!!!

Not sure if I'll sign up today, need to see what the entry fee is first. But I'll definitely be signing up as my mom will be running it as well. I am so happy I was able to qualify at Boston this year, it takes so much pressure off my fall marathon..... and thus why I have the tendancy to slack a bit in the fall.

If you haven't noticed I have posted my marathon history over on the right..... I find it amusing to look back and see how I have progressed. As well as see the difference between spring and fall races.

How far ahead do you plan races? (if you run) Marathons I definitely plan ahead a bit more for, other races not so much.

My current racing calendar looks like this

Sept. 12, 5 M race

Sept. 18-19, Reach the Beach Relay, total mileage for me 21.3M

Nov. 1, NYC Marathon

Nov. 8, might do an all womens 1/2 Marathon

Nov. 26th might do a Turkey Day 5K

Then its pretty much on to 2010, last year I started off with a 10K on New Years Day in the snow..... See if I am crazy enough to do that again!

Have a great day!

Britt

Beachin it.....

I was rather excited for today's run when I got up.  I could not wait to get down to the beach and enjoy my run. 

Before heading out the door,

I ate a slice of ww bread and a smear of almond butter. 

Along the way I swung by my mom's.  She is my Gu supplier. 

Then me & Henrietta (the hula dancer) headed to the beach with the Gu.  :)  I was driving the hubby's truck as he had asked to borrow mine.  

I had one Gu before heading out....  then I geared up

-fuel belt w/ water

-3 Gu's

-iPhone w/ some tunes playing

It was GORGEOUS out!  Lots of surfers, bikers, motorcycle riders, walkers, etc. out and about. 

Of course by this picture you couldn't tell many people were out!

I enjoyed the scenery and a few of the oh so little houses along the way..... 
Its was a relatively flat out and back route, but there were a few areas with a bit of an incline. 
More of those vacation "cottages.....

It did feel very good to be DONE!  I felt awesome about half way through but by the end I was definitely DRAGGING......

Miles: 18

Time: about 2.5 hours, I was having watch issues

Pace: averages out to about an 8:20 pace

I want a Garmin..... I'm tempted now that the 405 is out the 305 is a tad cheaper. 

Anyhow, since I was at the beach I did my post run stretch and cool down on the beach.

Little coconut water. 

This was my first try.  It was SO YUMMY!!!  

Hey if this is better for me than Gatorade, I'll take it!

BEACH....
My Feet & BEACH
On my way back to the truck I pulled out a sandwich I had made

-ww bread

-almond butter

-few chopped walnuts

-few dried cranberries

Once home I showered up and gave in to my craving.....

GREEN MONSTER.... this one truly was a monster about 1.5 glasses worth

-2 large handfuls spinach

-ice

-1/2 frozen banana

1/2 cup blueberries

-1 c milk

-1 T ground flax

-1 T almond butter

-1 small scoop soy protein powder

Now I need to prep & pack stuff for the in-laws party.  

Already hit the liquor store for wine 

(and Home Depot for primer...if I'm lucky I get to prime later, oh yay... blah).  

Hope you are having a fabulous Sunday!!

What is your favorite post run or post work out meal?

Britt