April Race - 2011 George Washington Parkway Classic

I signed up for an April race today! 

The 2011 George Washington Parkway Classic is one of the most popular races in our area.  The course is described as having "rolling hills."  Hopefully they are little rolling hills.  And it's also a point-to-point race (different starting and ending lines) - working out those logistics will be interesting!

Le course:

Exciting!

2011 Love The Run You're With 5k Recap

Official time: 40.29 (13.02/mile average).

I really wanted to come in below the 40 minute mark, but we were close enough.  Notice that a 70 year old woman named Janet finished just 14 seconds behind us.  Go Janet, go!

Overall, I thought the race was really well organized and fun.  There was a pretty brutal hill at the beginning of the course, but after that it was flat.  And on the way back, you get to run down that same hill.  I totally need to run a 5k downhill sometime.  Weee! 

I felt really strong the first mile (we walked the hill), but at mile two I started getting a weird chest pain and/or cramp in the ribcage.  Argh.  I thought if I walked a bit, it would go away, but it kept coming back with a vengeance.  Needless to say, I walked a ton, but we still finished with a decent time and not in last place.  WIN.  Thank you to JB for cheering us on, and to everyone else for the supportive comments, texts, etc.  I RUN FOR YOU!  J/K, but I really do appreciate all the love :-)

And on a non-race related note, just wanted to say how excited I am that it's almost 60 degrees out today (heat wave!).  I'm so excited for spring.  In celebration, I made a spring-inspired spinach and fruit salad at lunch today:

That hot mess in background is turkey chili.  It paled in comparison to my salad.

Happy Monday!!!

Pre(5K)-Gaming

Doing what I normally do the night before a race...

1.  Creating a playlist.

2.  Testing said playlist.  AKA, dancing around my bedroom acting like an idiot.

3.  Laying clothes, heart rate monitor, bib, etc. out ahead of time.

Let's do this thing! :-)

Get Fit, Or Die Trying.

I'm starting to get excited for my February race on Sunday! 

I really want to finish in under 40 minutes.  The race course is right along my old running route (where I used to live), so at least I'll know the area.  And it's super flat.  Thank you, baby Jesus.

.... or at least trying.  Finger's crossed this won't be an epic fail.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Family Matters

The gay marriage topic is obvisouly a hotly debated one, so I'm not going to get on a soapbox here.  That being said, regardless of which side of the fence you're on, I encourage everyone to watch this clip and listen to Zach's story. 

It's not often that we hear from the children of gay parents, and I think it took an incredible amount of courage for him to stand up and share his perspective.  Plus, he's an amazing orator and seems like a superstar politician in the making.



The world need more Zach Wahls.

March Race - 2011 STPD8K

It's official.  Hopefully I'll stay healthy and won't get my ass handed to me as badly as last year...

Canine Commandments

Cooper is my first dog.  I never really understood why dogs were so great until I got one, but now I know they really are the most loyal and loving creatures on earth (even if they chew your favorite pair of stilettos).

This warms and breaks my heart at the same time:

I'm heading home now and snuggling the pup to pieces.  If you have a dog, give them some extra loving today.

Salsa Chicken

This salsa chicken concoction is one of my go-to dinner favorites, and it's also super satisfying and healthy.  Win!

Ingredients:

•  1 pound chicken breast

•  1 tablespoon olive oil

•  1 jar of chunky salsa

•  1 can of black beans

Cut the chicken breasts half or thirds, and boil for 7-10 minutes:

Drain and once cooled, shred the chicken with a fork:

Add chicken to a fry pan along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil for 1-2 minutes.  Add salsa (I use medium for more kick) and mix, followed by a can of black beans.

This makes about 2.5-3 cups, so it's quite a few servings.  Yay for leftovers!  I usually use it for a salad topping, or as a tortilla filling.  Tonight was a tortilla night...

I add some salad greens, 1/2 cup of the salsa chicken mix, a tablespoon of reduced-fat shredded cheese, and a teaspoon of reduced-fat sour cream.

Yum.  It's no gourmet meal, but at around 400(ish) calories, it's very satisfying!