Another week (or so...)

Spring is trying to make its way to northern Wisconsin, so I wasn't about to complain when I saw this as my hourly forecast this AM, knowing all too well that I had a plan to run 18 miles.

And in all actuality... the weather was quite nice!  By mile 4, the rain stopped, and it was a very comfortable temperature outside.

Really not trying or meaning to boast here... but I am amazed with my own progress and dedication to running these past couple of months!!!  In March alone, I've run just a hair short of my years 2009+2010+2012 TOGETHER.  Yes, YEARLY totals together!!!!!  ALMOST beat just in one month!!! With one more day left in March, I may just set out to make that a record.  We'll see how my legs are feeling tomorrow after today's 17.3 miles :)

The afternoon was family-time of egg coloring.  This is the first year that I used food-coloring as the egg dye, rather than those Paas kits.  Couldn't even tell the difference :)  

Recipe:  about a cup of water, a tsp of vinegar, and enough drops of food coloring to create a pleasing hue.  Easy-peasy.

Precious patience, right??!!?!??

:D

And another precious pic - Snaggle-tooth here!  Thank goodness corn-on-the-cob isn't in season yet.  Lol.  

We only had Friday off for our Easter/Spring vacation.  :(  Yeah, big sad face here.  So many of us (teachers and students alike) could really use a few days away from each other.  Patience is beginning to wear thin for everyone.  

Most days, the girls ride the bus home after school, but when they need to visit my classroom after school, they usually enjoy grabbing the colored pencils and computer paper.  They waited patiently the other day for me to finish up some tasks before we were able to 'get outta there.' :)

And just last night, I updated my iCal with my running events, so I counted the weeks until the marathon:  SEVEN!

But what made my jaw drop even more......

that means EIGHT more weeks until Graduation!

and Nine-n-half weeks until school is over for the rest of us.

Suddenly, time seems to be flying by again.

Happy Saturday.  And have a blessed Easter tomorrow.

Life is good!

Glorious sunshine today!  And very deceiving! LOL

The avg. temp during my run today: 17 degrees, with a decently strong wind on the "outs" of my out-n-back.

And I'll tell ya... I only remember one other time in my life where I have reached the "runner's flow."  TODAY was one of those days!

I really only had intentions of doing a simple, easy 3 mile loop....  

...but the legs felt GREAT, so those 3 miles tripled into NINE! :)

AND, my 9th mile was the fastest to boot.  Can't be anything but pleased today.

  

But here is the kicker of 'em all today....

So far in March alone, I've run 76.3 miles;  that's TEN MILES more than I ran last year TOTAL!!!

AND, so far this year, I've run MORE than I ran total in 2011; sitting currently at exactly 217.00 miles. My OCD is loving that number :)

I certainly hope y'all don't get sick of my running posts.  The obsessive dedication is going strong :)

Family time is also still a priority!  Last night, once again, the girls and I headed to Skate City for a couple hours of skating enjoyment :)  Caitlyn was in the top-five for the Limbo; Cassie and a friend enjoyed tormenting both little sisters, and Candace.... well... Candace just skated; and fell; and skated some more :)

AND AND AND.... THIS task just means that Spring is getting ever so much closer :D

I'll see what I can muster up now in the quilting room :)

HAPPY SUNDAY!

Double Rainbow, and Virtual Trip update

**GASP**

Yes folks... you see correctly!  It's an actual lil' bit of a quilting post :)

I made the trek downstairs yesterday to the quilting room, looked around... and grabbed my 2011 and 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.  They seem to work out nicely together.

Now... we'll see if I find time this weekend to work on them. 

I was a bit under the weather yesterday; had a Clinic visit even.  All is well;  antibiotics working their magic, but still enough to keep me draggin' butt for most of the day.

Until... after school!

The weather today was GORGEOUS!!!!  Little to no wind;  sunshine and low 40s!  What a beautiful afternoon.

So, of COURSE, the shoes got laced up for a quick, short run.

I can't remember the last time I've hit a pace under 9:00/miles.  It felt soooo good to just stretch out the stride.

AND...so far in March, almost 60 miles.  Kinda crazy to think that I ran a TOTAL of 62 miles last year.   TOTAL!  I'll be surpassing that tomorrow night most certainly.

Virtual Trip update

Kevin actually trusts me enough to share the name of his town... {{cue sinister snickering laugh}} LOL

So, I'm now leaving Amy's house, and continuing along my merry way...

474 miles will get me to Kevin's :)

Happy PI DAY TOO!

A small victory! Amy's house!!! [2013 running]

I ARRIVED AMY!!!!!

Today's 4 mile run brought me to Amy's, marking off 320 miles since I started my virtual vacation last summer.  :D

And now....so far in March alone this year, I've run 52.5 miles. 

Yeah, yeah... I could agree that I'm reaching a state of obsession that I haven't hit in my running before.

But you know what??  

I'm enjoying it.  

It's "ME" time...

and now that my fitness level has increased, running really HAS become a joy, not a burden.

Clears the thoughts...

Calms the stress and aggression...

and gives me a nice fit figure at the same time :)

EVEN on those "I don't feel like running" days!!!! So far, within my first mile on those days, my attitude has turned right around.  LOVIN' IT!

There are individuals in this "Run everyday in March" group (via Facebook) who have run everyday for the past 300 days!!!!!  Could that really be me?!?!?!   Holy yikers!

I've given some thought to my next stop, and trying to keep my path as linear as possible, 

KEVIN'S house is next!

Hey peeps...if you haven't had the opportunity to "meet" Kevin yet... what is stopping you???  In the short time he and I have commented back and forth, it is SOOO obvious that the man is a basket-bundle of laughs and has an AWESOME attitude towards life.  On top of all of that ladies.....he quilts!!!!! (LOL!)

So, until I can find out his town, I can't post the mileage.  But I don't think I'll be getting there anytime soon!   (...{{oh yes Kevin; creepin' and stalkin' on you BIG TIME here}}..) ... LOL

Hey!   Have I said "Happy Tuesday" to you guys yet?!??!!?

QUILTING you ask?????

THIS WEEKEND!  Promise!

Not quite there yet... [Running 2013]

Lordy, lordy, lordy.....

I was poooooooooopered out today.  It was a very full weekend with LOTS of driving and very little down-time;  add to that, I ran my 14 mile long run on Saturday... AND the loss of our precious precious hour...

Yeah.

Poopered out!

So, I only trekked for 1.8 miles tonight.  Amy, I'm sooooo close!  Tomorrow, for sure!

My virtual vacation - AMY'S HOUSE! [2013 Running]

LOOK -->  Over there --> at my Virtual Vacation map!!!

OH duh!  Here's a copy too...

Amy, I'm soooo close to your house!!!  3.94 miles away.
Awww heck... Girl!  You can bet I'll be at your place tomorrow after school :)  Let's celebrate with a great spaghetti dinner :D

I started my venture back here in June, 2012, passing Linda's house in no time flat since she lives about 8 miles away.  Lol.   And now that I'm getting {have gotten? <<:- i=""> serious about running again, I WILL accomplish the trip to Amy's house in less than one year.

So, who should I visit next?????????
Let's see.... Jill in Cincinnati?  Or swing down around to Kevin in MO first, then over to Jill?   Continue on over to Nancy in PA?  Then down to Bonnie?

Eventually, I want to get to Angela's house, 1570 miles away, but that mileage is calculated directly from my place.

Candace and Ann Marie are in FL too!....

Then...head West???!?!?!

 I could see Linda and Judy in TX on the way...

And Alycia in CO...

Andee and Andra---all the way over there in the Arizona & NM areas, 

Come on people... can't we all live closer to each other???!??!!?

LOL

And Amanda, sorry dear!  England is a bit too far, but.....maybe I'll get there in the next 5 years 

:D

March Challenge [2013 Running]

A group on FB put a challenge out to runners:  "Run one mile everyday in March."

NATURALLY, I needed to take up that challenge :)

After Sunday's long run of 12 miles, Monday was a nice and easy 2.00 miles...

Follow by another EZ run of 4 miles yesterday...

And yet another EZ run of 1.5 miles tonight.

Tomorrow though.........oi-vey!  Mentally psyching myself up for the first speed workout of the training season.  

School is school.  Keeping me busy and honest from 7AM to 4PM everyday (and here-n-there in the evenings)

Quilting remains quiet...for now.

Long Run Sunday - 12 miles

Yes Ma'ams and Sirs:  I dutifully ran my scheduled long run this morning, and the weather was nice enough to allow me to have some scenery instead of the boring human-hamster treadmill.  Goodness!  I don't think I could have pushed out 12 miles on the treadmill this morning!  

Today's training plan:  12 miles @ 11:23.  Yet again, I ran faster than the listed pace on my training plan via RunnersWorld.com;  I had already mentally decided on 11:00 miles;  pretty close!

The lake pictured is the reason behind my town's name:  Shell Lake.  Ideally, I had set out to run the lake loop, which is a bit more than 9 miles.  But... as I was in the midst of mile 5, my mind was starting to consider being satisfied with 9 miles.  I had to make a "mentally tough" choice at mile 5... to turn my run into an out-n-back instead of a loop.  I kinda know me by now;  had I continued around the lake, I'm pretty certain I would have seen my vehicle after circling the lake... and probably would have said..."good enough" with 9 miles, instead of finding another course to push out 3 more miles.

Therefore, once I reached my half-way point of 6 miles, I turned around. 

The mileage breakdown...

February summed up to 17 runs; 77.4 miles.  Not too bad.  17/28 days = 61% of the month.

March is off to an okay start.  I accepted a Run-a-Mile-Everyday-in-March Challenge;  sadly Friday (3/1) was booked.  Well......I COULD have run in the morning had I woke up earlier;  NO EXCUSES, right???!! :)

From here on out, I WILL run at least one mile everyday in March.

Fellow runners who are also training for one race or another are concerned about 'over training' with this challenge.  I also had that thought cross my mind, but then... it hit me!  We don't need to 'train' with that mile!  It could simply be a warmup or cooldown mile on the cross-training days.  Makes sense!

Alright.  3:00.  I have schoolwork-schmoolwork.  Not really interested in doing it, so I won't.  I'm thinking of heading downstairs for a little while.  Hmmm......

OR, I could go in research-mode for long run nutrition.  Today, I was reminded of the importance of nutrition on runs that exceed 6 miles.  My breakfast before my run consisted of a cup of coffee with a tablespoon of creamer and a teaspoon of sugar.  That's it.  Hm... not very wise, huh?   I didn't really notice any drastic depletion/energy loss during my run, but I could tell I was depleted once I came home and sat down.  My husband could tell, too.  I was a bit "snippy" -- and it wasn't until an hour after lunch that I REALLY could tell how empty I had been.  Once the AMAZING lunch nutrients hit my system, I was better;  and quite a bit less "snippy."  LOL.   Lunch?  Paul cooked up some pork with orange slices and some kitchen sink stir fry, piled over brown rice.  Really a great runner's meal! {Although, he could leave the canned peas out next time} Just sayin' :D

Happy Sunday!

Quilting, Baby shower, AND a run :)

It was ONLY 27 degrees?!?!?!?!

I'll tell you, with the sun shining brightly, and NO wind {okay, maybe only a little}, it certainly did NOT feel like it was only 27 degrees.  It was beautiful!!!

And I love it when my fastest mile happens at the end of my runs, ON a hill!

So, now... the family is getting ready to head out to the local skating rink for an evening of fun wheelin'.

Tomorrow:  12 miles (yes, even I'M a bit 'yikers' about that!) AND depending on how pooped I am.... maybe some QUILTING :)

Julie's Baby quilt - done

The confidence of finishing this quilt in time for today's baby shower wasn't sitting quite at 100%, but... a strong 85% indeed.

And sure enough;  the procrastinator's schedule almost lead to a Murphy's Law when my bobbin was acting up on the Juki quilter.  Thankfully, with a little bit of cleaning, she was back to work...

I think this is the closest I've ever been to a deadline before when the final stitch was sewn.  

On the running front...

{{hanging head in shame}}

I haven't run since Tuesday!  YIKES!!!!

So, after the shower today, I simply must hit the treadmill OR street, weather permitting.  The sunshine outside is BEAUTIFUL, but sunshine can be deceiving when sitting inside a heated Wisconsin home.  The temp this morning was -2.6 degrees.  Gah!  I'm so ready for 90 degrees and sunshine and green grass.....

:D

Happy Saturday.