inspiration

Got to remember this once in awhile, in all aspects of life, not just running.

I went for a run on Monday morning. It was so humid, but it was a really great run. I have to keep the good runs in mind this summer with the oncoming heat. The plan this summer...get up EARLY and go! Got to tell my brain to just shut up and run.

Fit to Run, Fit to Dream 8K

A few weeks ago I was cleaning up our home office and came across my bag of stuff from the half marathon expo back in November. I started to go through it, to see what was trash and what goodies I had forgotten about, and I came across a flyer for this race, Run for the Achievable Dream. It was only about a month away and there was an 8K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. Knowing there was no way I was in shape for a half, I decided it might be fun to run the 8K since the race bug had bitten me once again. I checked it out online and saw that I would get to run through Colonial Williamsburg and get a medal. Sold!

C and I headed down Friday after work and spent the night down there even though it is a pretty quick drive from Richmond. The next morning was a little chilly but warmed up quickly and the day turned out to be gorgeous!

I LOVED my outfit for this race! I am seriously thinking about contacting LuLuLemon and asking about a sponsorship. Ha! Their clothes are super comfy and dry relatively quickly. I really love the running skirt.

Great shot with part of Colonial Williamsburg behind me, even though you mostly see trees.

The course started on the William & Mary campus, looped through Colonial Williamsburg and then came back to campus to finish on their track around the football field. I'm not sure who measured this course, but it was a bit longer than an 8K. The app I was using told me I reached 5 miles in 50 minutes, and an 8K is 4.97, and I still had a good ways to go. They should really consider taking part of the route out for next year to shorten it.

Free Beer! Always a plus...even at 9AM!

The after party was in the sunken garden on the W&M campus. It was a great spot to relax and enjoy sitting after running. They even had misters along the course and in the garden to help you cool down. Definitely a bonus!

It really was perfect weather.

 

After we finished up, we had enough time to head back to the hotel and shower and then hit the outlets and get some lunch. Williamsburg is probably one of my favorite places in Virginia and makes for great little day trips or easy weekends. C even said that he wouldn't mind coming back down for this race again. I think this one might be added to my list of races to run more than once. :-)

oranges!

I love fruit. It really is delicious. But only as a snack or with lunch and breakfast. Fruit is NOT a dessert and does NOT substitute for chocolate.

That being said, let me tell you about my friend the orange. I have always like oranges, but lately I am craving them. Summer really is the best time of the year, and I will never understand why so many people (my husband) are obsessed with winter. It's cold, it's dark, you are stuck in the house, and fruit and veggies are rather gross because they come from so far away, but in spring and summer, all that yummy goodness is fresh! I am a summer girl through and through and that will never change. Give me a beach, a palm tree, a lounge chair and a fruity beverage and I am set for the day.

So back to the orange. A few weeks back we had some friends over. One brought oranges with him to put in his Blue Moon beer. He then left an orange behind, which I ate, and it was delicious. And so began my seasonal fruit obsession. I bought a bag of oranges and scarfed them down pretty quick. Since then I have had a hard time finding another bag of those same oranges. Buying oranges like you buy apples (picking the ones you want) is just silly to me. I am going to be eating those things faster than you can blink as eye, so just give me 20 in a bag real cheap please.

As I sat here at lunch I got to thinking, what are the great benefits of the orange? So I checked it out. I mostly found interesting facts.
1. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world! Then there should be plenty of them to go around...in bags...why is this so hard for me to find?
2. There are four varieties of oranges: common, navel, blood and acidless. And there are over 50 spinoffs of those.
3. They are a great source of vitamin C! I think we all knew that though...
4. You can eat an orange peel. It has a lot of vitamin C and fiber. However, they also have a lot of pesticides unless organically grown. So steer clear.

After my research, I still don't know if this is a great running food or not but I will let you know when Runner's World tells me. As for now, I am going to keep snacking away on my giant bags of oranges since Weight Watchers says they are 0 points. Oh yes, I am doing WW as well. After my wedding last year I kind of blew up a little (fat and happy?) and after having my thyroid tested (and it came back normal of course) I decided it was time to bite the bullet and try a diet, even though I hate them. I've been doing it for about a month now and even though that first week was REAAAAAAALLY hard, I eat a lot less now and I eat healthier, which was my main goal in joining. I know I will never weigh as little as I did in high school ever again, but I can be healthy and happy. And maybe one day my thyroid issue will resolve itself.


What is your favorite go to fruit?
What is your favorite season? Why do you love it?

Reasons to Run

Found this on Pinterest tonight. Awesome!

What reasons would you add to the list?

Spring Break

One of the best things about teaching (besides inspiring children of course) is the breaks! This week has been spring break and it could not have come at a better time. I have run a little here and there, but mostly just taken it easy and enjoyed my time off. The house is getting cleaned and organized a little every day, I'm catching up on things I normally put off and I have been reading like crazy.

We started break last weekend with a trip to Urbanna, Virginia. What is in Urbanna? Well, nothing really, and that's what made it great. Last fall I purchased a Groupon for the Chesapeake Inn as C's Christmas gift. It was a 2 night stay for the price of one. You had to use by the end of March, but since so many people bought the Groupon, they were nice and let us come that first weekend in April. Urbanna is a tiny little town with about 3 restaurants and some bed and breakfasts and it is on the Rappahannock River, down near Deltaville. It is a big spot for people to go in the summer because a lot of people have river property and boats down there. There was something charming and quaint about it in the early spring though and it was just what we needed. My husband and I have not been anywhere just the two of us since the summer of 2009 when I took him to NYC for his birthday. We always seem to travel with people or travel to be with people and sometimes you just need to do something on your own and enjoy each other's company.

Aww man! I really wanted to harvest some shellfish!

We arrived in Urbanna on Friday night and hung out at the local bar around the corner. Saturday morning we got up and drove down the road just outside of town to a country store and had breakfast. We sat on milk crates and had a butcher block for a table and ate GREAT food off of styrofoam plates. The weather was gorgeous that day. We took a ride down to the marina on a bike and then headed to Williamsburg for the day. We went to Busch Gardens and then hit the outlets before heading back to Urbanna for dinner. We walked around a little and then hung out in our room for the rest of the night. The rooms were really cute and they were all different. We are a little bit hooked on Urbanna now and are thinking it might turn into our fall/spring getaway spot for when we need to be alone.

Yesterday morning I went back to Local Barre, another Groupon purchase, and had a great work out! I know I have written about it before so I won't go into too much detail, but I really enjoy those classes. They work muscles that normal I don't even know I have and don't feel until they are sore.

Break is almost over, but it has been great and just what I needed. Only 9 more weeks to go until it is officially summer time!

Monument Avenue 10K 2012

Saturday was the Monument Avenue 10K. If you live on the East Coast and have not heard of this race...well, then you must live under a rock. There were over 40,000 participants this year. YES, FORTY THOUSAND! It is quite the event in RVA. Like I have said before, this race holds a special place in my heart because it was my very first race. I have now run it 5 years in a row. It gets better every year.

 Need to pee?? You've got options.

Here I go!

 Done! And trying to make a Dasani ad apparently...

 My fave thing this year? The white house rolls! Bagels are overrated.

Love your runner! And your support team :-)

My time this year was 64 minutes. That's only one minute slower than last year, and considering I did not train like I usually do, I think that's pretty good.

Going to the expo and running this race has really sparked my interest in running again. I think it's time to start working towards checking some things off the bucket list.

So what's next? Most likely the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon! or the 5K, I haven't decided yet. Either way, it's a new race from J&A Racing this year, and I am stoked! Can't wait to run around Hampton in September!

feelin' good

I love it when I hear my Garmin beep to let me know that a mile is finished and I look down and see that I ran it in 9 minutes 37 seconds. This might seem slow to most of you, but to me, it's an accomplishment. Hopefully I can get back to keeping that pace by the time the 10K rolls around.

March is Youth Art Month and since I am an art teacher, you won't be seeing much of me this month.

Happy Running!