Where did the long weekend go?

We are right back to where did that weekend go? I didn't exactly have three days off since I worked an hour on Saturday but having Monday off, it still went by far too fast. 

What can I say about the last few days? On a positive note, it was nice having good weather on Monday. We took the kayaks out again on the Mississippi river. This time Logan joined us and we ate a picnic lunch by the river. 

We all needed a little quiet time out paddling around. A perfect day to do just that. 

I got rained on my last 1.5 miles of my six mile run this morning. I have to say, the rain felt really good. I was soaking wet from head to toe but it felt good to just finish my run. I'm going to just do six miles every day this week and not try and do a long 10 mile run. I'll save that for either next week or maybe just run more miles on Sunday. Guess we will see how I feel. 

Back from that TOUGH RUN

That was hard, really hard running this Monday. I waited too long to get out and I did not beat the heat. 

I'm am happy that I finished my 6 trail miles. I had mostly shade to run in since my path takes me into the woods and around the lakes. 

This was just one of those tough mornings to run and stay running. It never got easy but I did run past a old guy who I see running a lot. We said Hi and he asked how many miles? Runners, we are a friendly bunch. I kept running and yelled back 6, then said how about you? He said I think I'm done at six too. Just that conversation kept me from quitting at mile 4.  I didn't want to have just lied and not finished six miles like I said I was running. 

Every once in a while, I get the random person telling me how I'm an inspiration. Its usually women who see me running our neighborhood all the time, in all kinds of weather. I do appreciate the kind words and hearing that makes me not want to disappoint. So, I keep running. It would be tougher to not run then to keep running knowing that they are looking for me to be out there running. Or at least I think this and anything I can use to keep going out every day and run especially on the tough running days well, it just helps. 

One more

One more day of the Weekend. I'm ready to run!

There is so much that occurred on Saturday that I just am not ready to write it all out or even attempt.  Long story short.. I'm running today to reflect. We had an emotional roller coaster last week and it all ended Saturday or at least I hope. Starting the week off with a funeral and life in between... that pretty much sums up the why I need time to reflect and move on. 

There are always highs and lows in life.. just got to keep moving forward. 

Steve and I  got on the bikes on Saturday morning for a quick 40 minute ride. We had plans to go eat breakfast and didn't have more time. This was a perfect way to get in some blood pumping cardio workout ASAP. 

It was then time to wait for breakfast at the Neighborhood Cafe in St. Paul. The on line reviews were really good so I had high hopes. I didn't order right.. sure the hash browns were delicious but my french toast was so so.. I could have made better myself. Everyone else seemed to like their meals. After we walked across the street to the new Whole Foods Market. Why oh why don't we have a grocery store like this close to home? We all kind of got lost in the store.. I liked the idea of apartments above the store and across the street plenty of restaurants, coffee shops and shopping stores in the area.  Something to think about for future down-size living. 

I liked this plant pot idea with the birch branches sticking out to add character. Might have to do this copy cat idea with my planting today. 

I should probably get out the door and run. Time is ticking.... 

Kicking off the Holiday weekend

I'm starting off with the best part of the weekend with the best dessert I've had when out in a long, long time. This was amazingly good. A mini lemon curd dessert, similar to a meringue pie but with whipped cream instead of meringue. 

I could probably make this myself at home and I might just have to try. It had a really nice lemon taste, which I love. 

Steve and I with three others went to the Red Cow last night for dinner. It was Burger day. Steve and I both got a different burger and then shared so we could have a half of each. After eating half of my burger I could eat any more. I should have ate a forth of each. 

We were out so long last night (till 11:30) that I missed this puppy. Zoey was already sleeping on the floor in her corner when we got home. Zoey just stayed down stairs so I missed her even more all last night when she didn't sleep with me on the bed. 

I slept in a bit and now I'm trying to figure out if I should run or bike. It's a little chilly out and I'm thinking running would warm me up more then going to bike. 

Go Faster.. Why not good job?

Okay Fitbit, I just ran 8 miles at a 10 something minute mile and you are telling me I need to go "faster" after my run. I am just going to ignore that message. I would have liked a good job, now go take a break. 

A break is exactly what I'm going to do! Sit and relax until I decide to go to work this Saturday. I have an hour of work to do before Monday at noon. I figure, why think about it all weekend, when I can just get it done and be DONE, instead of thinking about working for the next two days. 

Cycle #2 of my 1/2 marathon training plan. It's my own plan, nothing special just making sure I do at least one longer run a week this is Week #1, back to the low 8 miles then increase my long run the following weeks by two more miles. The longest run I'm planning to do is going to be 12 miles. No need to do 13.2 until race day in August. 

Zoey was more then happy to sit outside with me after my run. We took her to the vet last week and she now weights 31 pounds. 

On Friday I talked to a 70 year old woman that was going to be running her first marathon in October in DC. Of course when I meet another runner, I have a million questions for them all about running. We mostly talked about running shoes and feet issues. That's why I can not run a full marathon my feet start killing me after mile 10. She did suggest I get new running shoes and tie them tight at the top but keep the laces not so tight every where else. Plus, prop my foot up to make sure the heal is all the way down before tying my laces. I suppose she is right, after all she is 70 and has been running for years. I need to listen and first things first, get new running shoes. Back to what use to work the best, Brooks Glycerin and then start tying my laces tight with the heal of my foot way back to prevent foot/toe friction while I run. 

Yes, our grass is getting crazy long. Don't worry, its on my todo list. We've been without a mower since our new electric mower's battery decided to quit working. We are getting a new battery and should be up and running the mower the first week of June. I'm not sure we can wait that much longer to mow so we are borrowing a lawn mower to use this weekend. 
We are staying in town due to all the rain and cooler temperatures. No need to go to the lake, if we can't enjoy the water. 

I don't want to fit any more into my morning scheule

I love my mornings, but morning where I can do my own schedule and not have any thing interfere with that plan.  I don't want to have to do anything other then what I want. It's a problem some days where the kids need something or they miss the bus, or I have to start work earlier and the weather doesn't turn out as planned. I don't want to do anything other then what I want because it's me time. Is that so wrong? 

It takes a lot of effort to keep working out and I have to stay no to a lot in the mornings to get this accomplished. It's my me time and that's just as or more important and everything else can wait. I have to take care of me, before I can take care of you. A happy me is a nice productive me. Don't get mad because you know that my plan every morning is the same. 

I switched up my workout schedule a bit this morning. Running before doing my daily exercises. The weather is getting warmer in the mornings and I want to beat the heat of the day. Since I'm slow going at my morning exercises, I am doing those after I run. Another change but a good one for summer. 

Happy Friday and long Holiday weekend. I have big plans this weekend to get a lot done. 1. My long run, 2. plant flowers 3. organize the house 4. bike ride 5. have fun. 6. be safe

Music Theme

Celina had yet another band concert last night. This was the best one yet. It was all around StarWars and Star-trek. Each band played a song where they turned off the lights and used a projector for some of the movie clips to go with the music. I have to stay the StarWars theme song was by far my favorite of the night. 

 Celina playing flute 2nd row in the middle. 

I did a lot of sitting last night and not a lot of moving.

 We have the AC cranked up. It's going to be another hot day 80+. I'm going to have to start running earlier to beat the heat of the day. 

My six sweaty miles felt super hard today. I sat down on our front lawn chair at mile 4.5 and thought about quitting. Then I talked myself into just finishing up another loop 1.4 miles. I'm glad I just finished my 6 miles and didn't give up. I thought about how I give up on my diet of losing weight each day. I don't give up on exercise even if I take a few rest days. I won't give that up. It just makes me feel really good after a run. It's pretty much the best part of the day where I feel the best about me. Who wants to give that up? Not me! It might be tough but it's a lot tougher to feel crappy all day long. 

This is my go to lunch lately. It's low cal and fills me up. Veggie soup at 120 calories with a banana. I've decided that I have to leave the junk foods at the store and not buy them. If I want a treat I can buy fruit even if its' $5 or more for just a small container. It's by far a better value then eating a bag of chips or a pint of ice cream for the same price. One more small change that will help me make healthy choices to be fit and stay fit. 

Speaking of fit. I've got to work on getting those ab muscles to show. Back to not just trying to lose weight but doing it. I can not have belly rolls. I have to lose the fat for summer and I can't keep putting off losing weight. It will be tough just like running but the pay off is that I  will feel so much better and not just in the morning but all day long. 

A lot of Thunder with my morning run

It's not what I want to hear (Thunder) and I definitely do not want to see lightening while I'm out running. I never did see any lightening but Steve called the second I ran inside to let me know he did see lightening on his way to work. I heard constant thunder on my 3rd loop around the neighborhood. At first it sounded like an airplane but it just never quit.
Oh well, 4.33 miles done, which is better then nothing. I'm pretty sure I would have been done running 6 miles if Logan had not missed the bus and I didn't have to drive him to school.  

After two days of not running, I wanted to run at least six miles. I'm not going to the gym to finish up two miles. I'm hoping after working an hour today, the weather will have cleared up and I can run those two miles or I'll just bike. 

I have a lot of catching up to do around the house. There is organizing to do, laundry waiting and the kids rooms to straighten up and the list goes on of all I neglect to do. 

Tuesday morning we had a funeral to attend. Steve and I hardly dress up so we figured better take a photo since I attempted to curl my hair and I did a center part to mix things up once again. 

I had no idea of what to wear so I just pulled something out of my closet from a few years ago. Good thing it still fits! 

Since Steve and I had the rest of the day off from working. I convinced him that it would be more fun to go jet skiing on the St. Croix river then to go for a motorcycle ride. I was right! Perfect 85+F and the water was around 78*F and felt wonderful. 

Of course I only dipped my toes into the water and that was good enough. 

We both wanted to do a little fishing. A few years ago we started fishing in this very spot and caught a bunch of crappies. After we had a beer batter fish fry and I remember it being the best tasting fish. I wanted to do that again so I was hoping we'd catch something. Steve caught two small, small mouth bass. He let the first one go thinking I was not serious about eating fish for dinner. I caught a pretty good size striped bass and then he caught one more. Good enough for a small dinner for Celina and I. She wanted baked fish so I used butter, garlic, onion with salt and pepper. Pretty tasty! I suppose it would have been nice to take a photo of the fish. Next time when I make them beer battered. 

We had a really nice and quiet time out on the river. It's best during the week when not many boaters are out there. This Island is usually jam packed on the weekend. 

It's defiantly the start of Summer 2016! We've already checked off a lot from our want to do this summer list. 
Kayak on the Mississippi river (done)
Jet ski on the St. Croix river (done)
Picnic (done)
Camping 
Duluth
Grand Marais
Colorado (Maybe ?)
South Dakota (Maybe ?)
Mountain biking through the woods (done)
Hike, Run, bike, soccer etc.. (done)
Brainard, Gull lake
Running races, 1/2 marathon
ETC... 

I think Zoey is trying to say sorry.. 

for this...

I have to give her a pass, because this is the first thing she has ever chewed up. The cord to my lamp. Probably my fault because it was unplugged and she might have thought it was a stick or something like that. 

I have to save the relaxing for later, I have to get to work. Have a super Wednesday!