eat.run.bake.blog

As winter and the Holidays are quickly approaching I am trying to plan a bit of a break from my running. Im sure my idea of a running break is not the same as some others. I will still run 3 or 4 times a week but I will not really be running much more then 10 miles on my long run day. I think it is important to give our bodies a rest.  I'm really hoping this will give me more time for my yoga practice. My girlfriend Faith is back from Spain and is teaching local classes again. I am so grateful. Yoga is such an awesome way to cross train and the emotional benefits I get from the practice is very similar to the emotional benefits I get from a long run. I wanted to share a few picture from our kayak tour last week. My buddy Mike was kind enough to let us all get out on the river after work last Friday. We had a great time. What our your fitness goals for the cooler seasons?

I finally broke down and bought myself a bread machine. Well let me not say myself I'm telling my husband he bought it for me since he was mad that I got it on my own. I have been having a hard time making my bread each week now that the temperature is dropping. I love having fresh baked bread in the house so the purchase needed to be made. I ordered Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Bread Maker. It makes a 2 pound loaf so I will need to make atleast 2 loaves a week. This machine is so easy to use I will makes as many loaves a week as the family needs. All I had to do was add the ingredients. Our bread machine baked this loaf in 3 hours and 40 minutes. I know that seems like a lot of time but when the only step you have to take is about 5 minutes long you will quickly appreciate the 3 hours and 40 minutes of time you can spend however you please. For nearly 10 months. I made two loaves of whole wheat bread a week. I would wake up each Sunday add the ingredients to the mixing bowl ...

October is the 10th month. Its is my Birthday month. It is the month I started dating my husband. Its is the month of Halloween. It is the month of the Perfect 10 miler by CGI. Last year I ran in the Second Annual Perfect 10 Miler and I had a blast. I signed up on Opening Day this year because I knew I wanted to run it again. the Perfect 10 is a all female 10 mile race in Mercer County Park NJ. The energy last year was amazing and empowering. This year the event was a great time once again! I did not spend the night in a hotel like I did last year. So I had to wake extra early and then take the long drive. It wasn't too bad of a drive but the whole time I was just wishing the sun would come up. The temperature was in in the mid 50s and the winds were not strong. We had some light rain but nothing major. Since I was running as a part of a team we had a tent which is always nice to hang out in pre-race and then you also have a place to stash all your gear while you race. The r...

Fall has always been my favorite time of year. The weather is amazing the leaves start to change but mostly because my birthday is in the fall and I love when its my Birthday! I am still trying to let me legs rest and recovery from the race last weekend so I knew I had to keep myself busy with baking since I'm not letting myself do much running yet. I made a list of things to bake this weekend. Must Bake List Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake Candy Corn Cookie Bark (2) Mini Cheese Cakes Cracker Toffee Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread I have made these mini cheese cakes a few times and they were a big hit. My buddy Tommy recently had 2 years clean and was feeling left out that I didn't bake anything for him so these are for him for his Anniversary, and Birthday (which also falls in October) and JoAnn's Birthday which was Wednesday! I'm killing 3 birds with one batch of Cheese Cakes haha. Monday is our office Birthday Bake day so I will be making the Pumpkin ...

Sunday was an amazing day that I will always remember! The week leading up to race was a rainy mess. We had threats of a hurricane hitting the coast and we were preparing for the worst. My biggest fear was that weather was going to cause the race to be canceled. The show went on and we had no rain on race day. The temps were cool and the sky was overcast as we pulled up to the race. The Blues Cruise 50K Trail Run accepts 400 runners, the event had nearly reached its capacity as the runners were gathering around the Day Use Pavilion at Blue Marsh anxiously awaiting the 8:30 AM start. I felt great. I was confident in my training but still a little nervous about running my longest distance to date. My goal for the day was to finish. My desired time for the race changed a number of times from when I first signed up for the event. My unrealistic expectation were dismissed while training when I realized how slow my pace got the further I was running on the trails. I was so grateful ...

Now is the time when I really need positive thoughts sent my way! I have been training for weeks for this event and it is now only 5 days away. What do you do the week before race day? Running times are short which makes me a little mental. I have started to stalk the weather and its looking like we are going to have a muddy mess of a race day. I am no newbie to mud so I will be fine with that Im just hoping that it wont be raining the whole day while we are running. Im sure the forecast will change a few times from now until Sunday so I need to stop looking at it! I have been trying to stick to a strict diet for the two weeks leading up to race say. For me diet is big part of how well I perform when I run. I feel great physically.  Mentally I'm a little nutty haha. Work hasn't been extremely busy which leaves me with too much time to think. I know I will be fine but any words of encouragement are always welcome!

I set out Saturday to do a 14 mile run. I had the course all mapped out in my head. My pack was stocked with enough water and fruit. My kids were at home with my sister. Everything was in its place. Or so I thought. Around mile 8 I started to have major stomach issues. This set a bad tone for the rest of my run. I was able to run another few miles but by mile 11 I was just done. I could not force myself to keep running. Since I thought I was running 14 miles that day I had about 3 miles to walk home. If you know me walking is not a strong point. I get really frustrated when I have to walk places because well I'd rather be running. I was thankful that time was still on my side. I had a speaker jam to set up for that day but I did not have to be there until 11. My 60 minute run the following day was great. I did not eat anything before my run. I did not bring any water I did not bring anything at all in fact and it was lovely. Not all training runs will go as planned. I keep ...