Trying something new.

I tried something new and I liked it.. Redd's Apple Ale instead of Angry Orchard. Both are really good but when you have no other options, you must try something else. Redds is not as sweet which I liked. Plus, it's cider.. very tasty. 

Dinner at Cancun Fiesta our favorite place.  

 We pretty much always get the same thing. Chicken fajita split two or three ways since its sooo much food. 

 A must eat.. chips and salsa. unlimited which is not a good thing. I have to remind myself. less is best and more salsa the better in the ratio of chips to salsa. 

I need a little bike repair on my breaks. After 26 years of the same break pads on my mountain bike.. it might be a good idea to get some new ones. On my todo list! My bike really didn't see much use until about 2 years ago. I have a good excuse for not changing them out sooner. 

Our plan is to do a lot of biking in the next few days. 

Run... for fun.. or just run

My trail run went really good on Tuesday. I finally ran 6 miles and it's not exactly easy on trails VS 

I have to admit, I like to stop after every 2 miles. I run both lakes which is exactly 2 miles around. During my stop back at the car break I like to drink water, take a short breather then I'm on my run again till I finish three loops. I mix it up a bit, going the reverse loop on the last circle around the lakes. 

It's definitely one of my favorite places to run. I was getting sick of staying in the neighborhood so the change is very welcome. 

At least with the cooler temps its easing me into fall running thinking. This park is the best in fall. I can't say I love having to wear a jacket and feeling cold, but I still would rather run outside then be stuck in the gym. I'm going to run outside as long as I can once again this fall/winter. Rain and snow I'm ready. Lets just hope there aren't too many ice covered road days. 

 Mac and Cheese was my lunch and for dinner.. the kids wanted to cook. They did a great job and everything was soo delicious. 

Adventure.. that's all I want

My birthday is coming up and all I really want is an Outdoor adventure. Is that too much to ask? Well, the weather hasn't been cooperating, which is a huge issue. No one wants to be on a freezing cold -summer adventure. I need the heat. I've had two destinations in mind. One is far, about 9 hours and the other is closer at 5 hours away. . Both are full of outdoor adventure. As of right now.. we are going with the destination where the weather will be 90*F, not in the 60's -70's. 

I'll take sleeping outside in a tent over a hotel any summer day. Now winter.. that's another story. If I'm going to be enjoying my outdoor adventure I want to spend as much time as I can out there. Running, biking, hiking, kayaking, maybe horseback riding, swimming.. is there a zip line? Plus, seeing the sights at the local tourist traps. 

Speaking of my birthday.. I did some pre-birthday shopping. I have now ordered my gift. New running shoes. Not to worry, I can not use them till after my birthday since I had to special order them in black. 
  Brooks Pureflows.. They are light weight and feel amazing on my feet. I just hope they do the trick and my feet will love them. This is a low mileage shoe so I won't be able to run in them forever but if my feet are happy, I am happy. I'm over the pinks, blues and purple shoes. I just needed something plain that I can wear with everything. Once I retire them from running, its going to be my go to workout at the gym shoe.

Celina and I did some power back to school shopping yesterday afternoon. We had about 3 hours to find clothes for back to school. Mission accomplished! We even had time to get this good deal  on chocolates, 75 pieces for $20. Every time we visit the mall we stop in at the Lindor store for a free milk chocolate ball. I finally decided we should probably buy chocolate this time around. So delicious.. 

Keep running those trails

Trail running is 10x's harder then just running on pavement. My legs are feeling the pain.. 4 miles feels like 6. I have to give myself a miles break and call it good after 4. 

I'll keep going trail running. It will get easier and soon enough I'll have the legs to run 6 easy miles. 

I just dislike having to bundle up with a jacket in August. It's just not right! I even considered wearing gloves, it was THAT chilly. I don't like people saying this is the weather I love. Forget that! I love summer and summer heat, bring it on! 

Running slower and slower.. But I got out there. Ran 4.28 miles, got sweaty even in chilly weather and feel stronger, more sore for doing it! 

Mondays Plans.. Run, Walk around the Mall, soccer, tennis and clean/organize my house. Too exciting! 

The case of the lazy runner.

I probably should not compare myself to other runners. Runners who's goals are to run a marathon, who on an easy run, go at a 8 minute mile pace, who are thinner and more fit. Ugh... but I'm hooked on reading a few blogs daily and there you go.. Right back at comparing my case of being a lazy runner. 

Starting in September, I'm changing up my workout time. Back to Dark O'clock! Get up and go then do my hour stretch, yoga and daily exercises. I think this will help me more with my fitness doing the wake up and go run plan. Yes, it will be dark but I have head lights and body lights to stay safe. Plus, it's time to mix it up again and I'm all about variety to keep it fresh and new. 

I'm feeling a bit sore all over from trail running. This is good as I know my mixing it up running is helping get those lazy muscles working again. It's all about keeping my muscles guessing and getting more fit. Right? 

I've been failing myself at sticking to healthy eating. Downing way too much sugar every day. Wondering why I keep doing this self destruction eating to myself. Wondering why I'm so tired and thirsty all the time. Gee do you think it could be due to my poor eating habits? Time to clean it up.. Jump on the clean eating band wagon? Okay, right after I eat some french toast this morning. And I wonder why I'm not feeling 100%. 

Speaking of not feeling well, Poor Evan is sick today. I hope this little guy feels better soon. 

I'm missing him and our Monday together. 

Look who meet me on my Trail Run.

Steve met me at my running trail. He took photos of nature stuff while I ran. Trials kind of kicked my butt today. They really literally hit my butt, as I am feeling it. At least its working.. Mixing up my daily running with trail to run my buns off.  

Look who was also out on the trail again today. Mr. Snail. He was going just as slow so I stopped to take another closer photo. 

I walked back to the car and along the way took some flower photos. 

These yellow flowers grow taller then me! 

I got up so darn early, 3am. I stretched, waited till it got light then heard thunder. Instead of going out for a run, I took a detour and went to the St. Paul Farmers Market before my late morning trail run. 

 All the veggies look so good. It makes you want to cook up a storm and eat all the veggies you can. Wish they would have a few food booths where they were cooking up stir fry and all kinds of veggie dishes to sample. They do corn on the cob, and pre-baked bread, cookies, bars etc but I want more veggies to eat! 

Feeling mighty tired.. off  to power nap, then wake up for Steve's BBQ rib dinner! I might even make some brownies. 

Strong... Stronger and Strongest!

Its a work in progress to take many steps forward, go back a few, then get right back at it, to get strong, stronger and the strongest you've been. 

I've been skipping more days of running this year, then I ever have since I started running. I'm a constant work in progress, but never giving up. I just take a few detours along the way with my fitness goals. Right now, I'm kind of in the just do what you can, maintain, don't give up. Fitness is not easy, its not easy to go run every day, to lift weights to challenge yourself to change it up to keep your muscles guessing. Age, sleep, eating, stress, work, family, obligations.. and laziness are always going to add to the mix of life.  All will play a role in how and why you choose to stay fit and keep it going. Sure, I want to quit on more then a few days and I have. I never let one day of not running turn into a week, two weeks and then ?? I give myself what time I need, and then I'm right back at it, wanting to run or not. I know to stay heart healthy, I need to run. I want to stay strong well into my old age. I just read about a 90 year old still competing in triathlons. How cool is that! 

I have a few fitness goals that make me afraid. I've been stopping myself for fear of the unknown. Sometimes the unknown is the most exciting part, once you get past that, its not so scary or as exciting. I have to remember that. Just because it scares me, more the reason to just do it. I've been talking myself out of doing a triathlon. It's just a lot of unknowns with three sports to figure out, swim, bike and run. I've certainly read up on how these events are suppose to go and look like. I just have yet to take the plunge. What is stopping me? Is it really the swim in a lake?  or bike tires that could go flat? Is it simply my fear of the unknown? This is what I have to figure out and what my goal should be. I've been living by "Do something that scares you". And there you have it, I have my next goal! Now to conqueror the tri. No matter how I do in this race, (haven't trained for the swim). It will make me stronger. It will make me feel like I can accomplish anything. Get over the unknown... to be strong, stronger and the Strongest You can be! 

Snail Pace

I start off running at a snail pace, some where around a 11+minute mile for the first few steps till I get in my running mode. I'm not sure why I feel the need to check my Garmin when I clearly know I'm taking it easy until my feet and legs feel like moving a bit faster. 

I ran at the local park on the trails Friday morning. I just read an article about trail running and pace. 'Your pace is going to be slower on trials then pavement and that's just the way it goes. There's a lot of uneven surfaces, rocks, roots, twists and turns on the trail. I never try to go a certain pace, I go by how I feel and to just enjoy my surroundings. How would I ever have noticed this tiny snail on the trail if I was going too fast? I'll take my snail pace to stop and see and look around while running. 

It was a perfect weather day to be running trails. I got a late start so I stopped running after 2.5 times looping around the lakes. 

I like when there is no one on the trails. I did have to pass up a few walkers and people with their dogs. I really dislike the unleashed dogs. I think there is a rule about dogs must be on a leash? I'd like to remind those people I pass. 

I wanted to run this trail again Saturday morning but Celina had an early 8am JV Tennis Match at Hopkins H.S. No time to run.. 

A lot of tennis... 8am to noon and we thought it was going to be till 2pm! 

Runner

The Temperature is all over the place.

The temperature sure has been up and down.... We went from record heat in the 90's and very humid to 60's and rain. It's been hard staying motivated to run when I don't like the temperature outside. 

I prefer it warmer out initially when I go for my morning run. If we have a day like today, where I get rained on and its a chilly start.. I always feel good during my run. It usually means I want to run faster right away just to warm up. Those first few steps are always trouble...and I've been playing it safe all summer, staying on my winter route, close to home. I haven't been missing my longer out and back running routes. Or maybe I have and that's why I'm not loving going out for a run. I'm sticking with it.. 

It just feel a little like FOREVER.. that I've really enjoyed running for the sake of running. 

Issues... we all have them.

I had some major computer issues the past 2 days. All fixed for now at least I think so. I spent a few hours on the phone with good old Comcast. Pointless because nothing was fixed. I should have known better then to mess with my laptop in the first place but I kept seeing Windows 10, free download and drank the juice.. down load I did.. ugh! Big mistake! Long story short.. I could not connect or stay connected to the Internet. Decided to uninstall Windows 10 and go back to 7, now all is good again. 

Running is also giving me some issues. I have not been logging many mile this week. I have been stopping at 3 miles and Thursday I completely skipped running altogether. I had a big work day on Thursday and knew I'd be overly exhausted if I ran. I sure could have done some afternoon/evening running but I opted to try and fix my computer issues. It just stressed me out. I probably should have just gone for that run. I am going to try trail running this morning. It might help me enjoy running again since I've been kind of dreading it. I don't like to feel that way. I want to look forward to running and think wow that was far too quick. 

Soccer coaching has come to an end. I really enjoyed coaching these boys. They all improved so much from the first game to the last win of the soccer season. We only lost 2 games, tied 2 and won the rest of the games. I hope all these boys had a good time playing soccer. I am sad that its over, but its time to move on to what's next?

Our last game was a wet one! We had cold, 60*F, wind and rain. All the boys except 2 showed up on the last game. They all got their metals and I purchased cupcakes and juice boxes. 

What is next? I've been giving this lots of though the last week. What do I want to do with my time? I will continue running. I will add back in more weight lifting. I want to continue playing soccer. I might coach again next summer, if Logan wants to play again in-house for fun. 

I do need to take some time and get my house organized. Plus, I have home projects that need to get done. Finish painting the deck, tar the driveway, mow the yard. Add rocks to the front and get the house in order for back to school. Not anything I really want to do but needs to be done. 

Big goals? Race? Reading? Hobby? I'll figure it out.. I have time.. and when I'm ready it will come to me, what I want and need to do next!