Fall Weather = Soup Time!

It's now the middle of September and I can feel fall in the air! To me, the cooler weather means... soup! Before I left for work this morning I put together Chicken Tortilla soup and threw it in the crock pot on low. When I got home, I put a few tortilla chips in the bottom of our bowls:

Then I scooped soup over the chips:

And last, I added a little sprinkle of cheese, fresh cilantro, and a dab of sour cream:

Ta-da! So delicious and super easy! Makes a great combination. :)

In running news - I did not go today. Wah-wah. I got home and kind of got side tracked. And the weather was perfect this evening, too! But as I've learned in past experiences, it does no good to sit around and wallow. So after bowling league tomorrow (yes, bowling...), I will jump back on the horse! Or, the treadmill if you will. :) All for now!

Creativity

So, lately I've been really hooked on HGTV. If you don't believe me, I think my hubby could attest to my new found past-time. If he has to watch one more episode of Design Star, he'll probably divorce me. :) Just kidding! He secretly loves it, too. He just hasn't admitted it yet...

Anyway, the show has really gotten me in a creative mood. And, since Hobby Lobby is not open today and our town has limited shopping for interior decorating, I found a project that I could do at home this afternoon.

Behold the Running Inspiration Board!

The combination of old scrapbooking paper and magazine pictures never cease to inspire me. :) I started with my old numbers and finisher medals:

Then I covered the board with paper I found:

After I found some inspirational pictures (I heart Ryan Renolds BIG TIME) and lettering, I topped off the board with a couple quotes:

Well, that does it for the creative side of me today. We'll see what tomorrow brings. :)

On another note, I downloaded some new music and took it with me for a five and a half mile run outside on Friday night after work. It felt great after the last weeks I've spent on the treadmill! I'm definitely ready for my workout tomorrow. :) All for now!

This Week

So much going on this week! Let's start with my Monday run. Only one word can be used to describe it: HILLS! I completely forgot that training on a treadmill omits any type of elevation changes. Another reason to hate the treadmill. I've decided to move outside at least one day a week.

Next stop: The local grocery store. My usual weekly trip involves grabbing a cart and motoring through the isles as fast as I can to grab everything on my list. This week, I decided to take a little extra time and see what the store has to offer. Check out a few things I found!

Can't wait to try it all out! :)

On Wednesday, I ended up at Whole Foods. When the doors opened, I think my jaw dropped. It was like a whole new world for me! Everything is so organized and out of everything I looked at, there were no weird ingredients. I knew what everything was in the loaf of bread and guacamole I brought home. And the best part... the store has a whole area sectioned off called, "Wine and Cheese." Delish!

After work today, I ventured over to Oakland's new Anytime Fitness gym and it was fabulous! My workout buddy, Amanda, and I were able to take go into a room and take a cycling class through video. It kicked my butt. :) But what a wonderful way to mix up a workout!

Tonight I am catching up on my TV shows, Design Star and What Not to Wear. And I will be relaxing drinking some wonderful Apple Cinnamon Tea.

That about sums up the week! Bring on the three day weekend!

Almost Monday

The weekend is drawing to a close and I'm already snuggled into bed watching a movie with the Hubby. :) Here's a short breakdown of how the weekend went:

First thing on the agenda Saturday? Coffee!

Next, we attempted the local Farmers Market here in West Point. Turns out we were both too late (we probably should have been there at about 8, but instead it was closer to 9) and we are later in the season for abundant produce. When we arrived, there was one little vehicle with a table. Not much to choose from. Not sure where I'm going to go from here.

Saturday night we stepped outside our box and went to dinner and bowling with a couple friends. It was actually really fun! Except that my right arm hurts today. :) And today we ventured to Grand Island to celebrate Cory's Grandma's 83rd birthday. It was great to see the family again!

All in all, it was a beautiful, well-rounded weekend. But tomorrow I am definitely ready to get back on the workout horse - and eating healthy. Too much junk food this weekend... yuck. With this in mind, bring on Monday!

-- Sweet Honey --

A few days ago I read an article in the September issue of Runner's World called "Honey Do." I bet you can guess what it was about: Honey! I love the sweet stuff myself. I'm even ok just eating it plain... straight out of the bottle. Yum. :)

Anyway, the article suggested using honey instead of sugar as a sweetener, so this is my new goal. It suggested swapping 3/4 cup of honey for every 1 cup of sugar required in recipes. I am going to need a lot of this natural nectar going forward...

The article also gave a quick salad dressing recipe including honey. I mixed it with my Romaine tonight and decided to add a few slivered almonds that I found in the cupboard.

Dinner is served! A homemade calzone and fresh cut watermelon completed the meal tonight.

Also, I would like to do a quick follow up on yesterday's post regarding eating orgainically. I posted on facebook that I was looking for some ideas, and I recieved quite a few! So I will be trying to shop more locally (we have a small farmer's market here on Saturday mornings), and I am going to try to stay away from boxed, high preservative food items. Also, to all of my Nebraska farming friends, I will still be eating meat! I could never give that up. :)

One last quick note here on my run today: 5 miles! I did an easy interval run which included 1 minute of a nice easy jog, and then 3 minutes at a 9:45 pace, followed by 2 minutes of recovery walking. I also squeezed in an arm workout and then headed home. Tomorrow I plan on a sprinting workout followed by a leg workout.

More updates later!

Luau + Cheese dip + Eating out = Upset stomach

This weekend was rockin... but it definitely wreaked havoc on my diet. If I have one food item that I just can not resist, it's a hamburger, nacho cheese dip. I love me some chips and cheese! My stomach, however, does not. I have spent most of the day trying to get back on track with eating fruits and veggies at every meal. And I didn't know what to do today when I actually felt hungry.

With this said, I have decided that I need to find a way to eat more organically and healthy overall. I would really like to get to Whole Foods in Omaha to just check it out. I love West Point, but neither of the small-town grocery stores carry organic foods. So I wold have to make weekly trips to Omaha or Fremont to accomplish this goals unless I get any other good ideas. I will update later on this one.

As far as 10K training is concerned, I am kind of just going with the flow. A while ago, I read an article regarding training that makes you faster. It includes different days of tempo running, sprinting intervals, an easy run, an easy interval run, and a long run. I am also including some strength training. With this combined, here's what I have so far:

- Monday: Tempo run and Ab workout
- Tuesday: Easy Interval run and Arm workout
- Wednesday or Thursday: Sprinting Intervals and Leg workout (off one day)
- Friday: An Easy Run and Ab workout
- Saturday : Off
- Sunday: Nice Long Run

Ok, this is kind of a post overload! So off to bed I go and updates later. :)

My first 10k!

Today is your typical lazy Sunday afternoon. We don't have any plans and the couch in our living room has never been more inviting. It is the perfect day for napping... or signing up for your first 10k race! As you may have guessed, my dear husband chose the former while I have chosen the latter. I was really hoping to sign up for the Omaha Half Marathon, but with my recent running "break," I was afraid I wouldn't have enough time to train. Then yesterday it hit me. I don't have to do a half, I could just do the 10k.

In the midst of completing my registration, it occurred to me that I have done quite a few half marathons, but never a 10k. Seems odd doesn't it? I always liked to run, but when it came to my first race back in 2008, I decided to jump right in with a half marathon. And that is where I have stayed; for comfort reasons I suppose.

Anyway, I'm ready to try something new! And I'm really looking forward to this! I think I have found a training schedule, but I would like to keep searching to find the best one for me. I'll be posting that later. Right now it's time to update a few things on my page here.

More later! :)