A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

It seems like more time lapses between posts than I would like. I always have good intentions of at least writing two blog posts each week, but my weekends and week nights disappear before I have time to compose anything.
By the time I do my second workout of the day, repack my lunch, check my email/Fb, and get ready for bed, it is time for me to go to bed. I am the queen of trying to do too many things in too small of a time frame, so I am trying not to over commit myself, which means one of the first things to go are my blog posts. But such is life, and I am now giving you an update on life.
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First of all, let’s do an update on my training. This was week number three with my coach, and things are going well. She pushes me out of my comfort zone, but I need that. I actually think I am pretty good at pushing myself, but there is something to be said for someone else to push you that extra little bit.
I did two hard workouts this week. The first one was done on the treadmill at the gym. I did an interval workout and watched HGTV to help pass the time. When I have an interval workout to do on the treadmill, the time doesn’t drag by nearly as slowly. It was a good workout, and I hit my tempo pace of 7:15 or fast for each interval.
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The second speed workout was done on the indoor track. I am very thankful to be within running distance (1.5 miles) of a 400 meter indoor track. It is a perfect distance because that often is the length I am supposed to run for my warm-up. I would go to this track more often, but it costs $7.50 a pop to use it, and I try to be conscience about how much I spend on my hobby. During the workout on Monday morning, my legs felt like Jell-O the last two 400 meter repeats. I was happy that all of my splits were between 1:27 and 1:32 though.
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Other updates. . . . . .
I was profiled on Nichole’s (my coach) blog as part of the TNC Endurance team.
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Craig and I are getting ready for Maui. I am working on getting our rental car and planning our excursions. In high type A fashion, the itinerary is already completed.
I want to find this running trail while I am there.
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I finally picked out curtains for our living room. I had put them on my Christmas wish list after Sadie kept barking and waking us up in the middle of the night when a car would drive by. I purchased about four different ones at Target before settling on these in shell.
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Unfortunately blocking out Sadie’s view of the road did not stop her from barking in the middle of the night. (I told her she didn’t need to train us for kids.) We couldn’t figure out why she never barked when we first got her, but then Craig, the smart one, determined that with the snow on the roads in the winter, the car makes more noise driving down our road. In the summer and fall, the roads were dry and she didn’t hear the car. Craig decided to run the fan at night to drown out the noise, which worked! She hasn’t barked since we started using it.
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I haven’t been trying a lot of new foods. I’ve been sticking to the same old-same old, but I did try:
Pioneer Women’s Pizza Crust, which was awesome! But then again, what isn’t amazing that she makes.
I also made a Tofu and Farro salad for a potluck at work, and it was a major hit. When people ask you for the recipe, you know it is a good one. (I subbed tofu for the turkey.)
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On Sunday, when we go over to our friend’s to watch The Walking Dead, I am going to bring Happiness Pie, which was a tradition on our cross-country team in college. I will have to share the recipe because it is to die for!
Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

Hi, I'm Michelle

I love running around the lakes of Minnesota, running after my two boys, and racing anything from the 5K to the marathon. I have been blogging here since 2010 when I ran my first marathon. I finally secured my sub-3 hour marathon after trying for 8 years.

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8 Comments

  1. 2.21.14
    Heather said:

    On Maui there is a nice place to run (or walk) upcountry. It’s in Kula. If you start at Grandma’s Coffee House you can walk to Thompson Road and keep walking (or running). It’s only about two miles each way but it’s usually a quiet road with little traffic as Oprah owns most of the surrounding property. You could also make it over to Sun Yat Sen park which is a nice excursion to an interesting little piece of history. Anyway, the views to the ocean are stunning from Thompson Road! Look it up on a map, I really enjoyed it. That was a nice “local’s” travel tip from our hosts in Paia when we visited last May.
    I’m jealous, I wish I could escape Anchorage but I am anchored down by school until the end of April. I told my husband that I have May free, he is off work and it’s my birthday so I would like to go somewhere warm…. hint, HINT, Hawaii! We will see.
    Enjoy your trip!
    P.S. White noise also has worked for keeping our toddler asleep in her room. Before she would come out at every noise to see us in the evening which sucked because that is our time to relax with each other.

    • 2.22.14
      Michelle said:

      Awesome! Thanks so much for this tip; I definitely want to check it out!!

      I hope you can make it to Hawaii this year as well!

  2. 2.22.14
    Tina@GottaRunNow said:

    I’ve been to Hawaii for the Kona marathon, but not to Maui. That will be a nice change from your snowy days for you. What a great vacation you’ll have!

  3. 2.22.14
    Bonnie said:

    I have been reading your post, thank you for sharing. I liked the new curtains. I want to visit Alaska one day, I use to run years ago, back in my 30’s and loved it. Nothing like you do but I found it inexpensive to do in my single days when I could not afford anything. Well years have gone by and I do nothing and have gained weight. Your post have helped me get back to the gym and I wanted to let you know that. I thank you, my journey back will be a long one but hey, if you can get up everyday and do it in Alaska, I sure can do it in Florida! What do you eat for breakfast every day?
    Bonnie

    • 2.22.14
      Michelle said:

      Thanks so much for your post, Bonnie! It is always encouraging to hear I’ve helped other people make healthy choices. Encouraging people to do these things is definitely my passion in life.

      Lately I have been having a kale/spinach smoothie or green monster smoothie (sounds gross, but it is awesome!) and an English muffin with peanut butter for breakfast.

  4. 2.22.14
    catoak said:

    I agree with interval work on the treadmill. As much as I dislike the treadmill, The Alaska Club at least has child care for me, and intervals almost make it (gasp!) fun.

    I’ve seen a couple of Trader Joe’s photos…are you ordering them online? Or having family send it up? That’s the main thing I miss about the Lower 48!

    • 2.22.14
      Michelle said:

      My sister has sent me a couple of care packages with Trader Joe’s items, and I picked up some items when I went to MN in November. Definitely one disadvantage to living up here.

  5. 2.22.14
    Sarah said:

    if i have to run on the treadmill, i definitely like doing interval or fartlek style runs. even if i don’t have a plan, planning to alter the speed and grade helps SO much with the boredom. hgtv is also a good choice 🙂