Just a friendly neighborhood jog...

4+ miles - We met near my house tonight for a jog around the neighborhood. 4 of us joined up and I met a new person that is training for her first Triathlon. Sam also joined us, we figured out we are neighbors (block and half away!) and should be running together more often. The longer I'm in Beaverdale the more cool people I meet. Love that! So we used my little fancy iphone app (another plug for the fact that it cost a mere $4.99... fabulous!) that tracked our mileage and we headed out in 80 degree weather. That's right 80 degrees in Iowa in March. We so earned that after this ridiculous winter! I also am getting excited for the first downtown DSM farmers market... May 1... mark your calendars. Mark 'em and look forward to fresh eats, veggies, flowers, happy people, dogs, strollers and general happy chaos... and the promise of sunshine. In celebration of the warming weather, I picked up some asparagus and cherry tomatoes and fresh garlic and broiled it in the oven for a bit. Garlic is the best smelling ever... unless it's on someone else's breath. Weird how that works, eh? :-)~

Toenails

0 miles - So i'm having a bit of trouble with the toes. Any of you that have run long distances, done Hood to Coast in Portland and had a downhill leg, or trained for a running event, can probably feel my pain... literally! After my long run on Sunday, I now have about 3 toenails that are about ready to bite the dust. Not a good way for a girl to enter the spring/summer flip flop season. ah! I dread painting faux toenails on my feet so that I can wear sandals with pride. You've all seen feet with the faux toenail and let's face it, it's never good. So, even though it was way nice out today, I mean upper 70's... I think I brought Tucson home with me! I didn't run in an effort to take off the bandaids for a day and let the feet breath. 1 blood blister and two regular blisters later, my toes aren't exactly throbbing anymore (thank goodness I work from home in slippers!) so I'm gearing up for a group run on Wed night. Hopefully the bandaids will at least contain the bleeding. ew. Seriously... gross. Here's a pic of the newly painted, cut, bandaided, trimmed toes. Poor things. I did a pretty good job, I wouldn't dare show you the before pic's. They are looking a bit swollen like Flintstone feet right now but hey... they get the job done! :)

Spring in Iowa

3 miles - It's spring in Iowa! Just did a quick jog before running to a group meeting and realized how wonderful it was to see spring popping up everywhere. People were outside, birds were singing and I thought... ahhh, this has what I've been dreaming about all winter. Thank God it's here!

w00t! w00t!

16 miles - That's right party people... 16 whopping miles over 3 hours time. Jonna was kind enough to wait for me instead of running it Saturday morning as that was when I was flying back. We got a mid morning start and wrapped it up with a steady pace. It felt good, really good! The wind was crazy though as we headed out to Waukee... I have a friend that lives all the way out there (won't name names, Sara Richards) and we always tease her about how far out she lives and about how she has to "road trip" to come into Des Moines. Well, let me tell you, it feels a lot longer on foot! Ha. Heading out was kinda crazy cause we didn't really have a gauge for how far we would be headed and we just had my iphone app tracking distance to keep us "up to speed", no pun intended. So, as with anything and especially road trips as a kid... the trip back felt SOOO much better and much quicker, not to mention we weren't against the wind as much. I was TOTALLY ready to be done at mile 14 but we stuck with it and finished strong. w00t! w00t! 16 miles... check that off the list yo! Crazy enough after resting for a couple hours on the couch, I spent the afternoon doing yard work. Had to uncover some of those pretty crocuses! Then it was finishing laundry and doing some much needed grocery shopping. I have NO IDEA where all that energy came from other than my list was long and the days are light longer which is WAY inspiring!

Back to Iowa!

0 miles - back to Iowa today! Upon returning, I went wedding dress shopping with my friend Staci who had gotten engaged while I was gone. Congrats Staci & Eric! A summer wedding is being planned and who doesn't love a little wedding dress shopping? :-) and then I tried to unpack, laundry and recuperate! Tomorrow = 16 miles. yikes!!!

Meeting Terri

3 miles - Quick run in today, but that was definitely not the highlight of the day! While in "the Ville" I decided to do a couple things that I always enjoy while there... catching up with old Red Bull buddies and getting a lunch in at my favoriate Louisville restaurant... Ramsi's! Way yummy food, here's a picture but it doesn't do it justice... AND Drew slept through the whole lunch... fabulous! I also got the chance to meet Jenn OC's sister who is fighting lymphoma as well. I worked with Jenn at Red Bull and she is just good people. :) Terri, her sister, had just celebrated her 30th b'day and just gotten the news that she was cancer free. She was still cautious about it and had radiation to go through for a few weeks. She looked great and was the best looking bald girl I've seen in a long time! :-) Yay Terri! We had a good time and also got to meet up with Mary Cecil, another past Red Bull peep that I'd met over the years while there. We did a Trolley Hop at a couple shops with wine and sister Emmy joined us after one of the kids went to bed. :-) Good times. Only bad event of the day??? UNI Panthers lost thus ending their journey to the Final Four. I'm a sad Panther but it was way cool that they beat Kansas. Sorry Carley and Joel up in Alaska... bye bye Kansas! ;-)

The "Ville"

5 miles - I decided to get my bum in gear and get a run in. It was exciting to have the new budding trees and trees decorated with Easter eggs. A bit rainy in "the Ville" this week but still mild and easy to run in. My sis has a park near her so I ran down to it and did 3 loops and headed back making it 5 miles. Extra inspiring today was a young girl on her bike with training wheels, pink bike of course, in a sweat suit with a tutu over it, again... pink of course. Remember when exercise felt like that? A ballerina/cyclist just cause you wanted to "play" that day? ha. Regardless, the run felt great, imagine that after resting for that many days. hee. hee. On the eating front we having been feasting on ice cream and homemade brownies. ooops! :-)

+1

3 mile walk - It's true, this baby stuff is madness. :-) No entries from the 22nd - 24th, cause I didn't run! I've been working from Louisville hanging with my sister Emmy and her new +1, Drew! She doesn't sleep much, which means between the two of us, it's a bit tiring. We marvel how she is not tired, yet we are. ha. ha. She is the sweetest thing and Reese, at age 2, is such a big boy now, he doesn't have much time for Auntie Abbey when there are things like videos to be watched, books to be read and dinner to be enjoyed. ;-) I ended up taking a few days off of running but Emmy, Drew and I did get a good 3 mile walk in. Here are the cutie faces that I've been seeing all week:

Last day of retirement

0 miles - I opted for a last game of pickle ball in lieu of a run this morning as my time in Tucson wrapped up. I cannot express how wonderful this week was and how grateful I am to Tiffany and the Trojanowski's for the glimpse into spring and summer sun. Incidentally I talked to my parents back in Iowa and they received a hefty 6 inches of snow today. ew. Ready for daffodils upon my return to Iowa in another week, that is for sure. That snow better be gone!! Today, I fly out to Louisville for a week to meet my sisters new +1!

10 in the Tucson sun

10 miles - had a good run today despite the "breeze" nearly blowing my baseball cap off my head for about 1/2 the run. ha. However, I was still so stoked to have sunshine, warmth and this amazing time in Tucson to be bothered that much. We promptly scheduled pickle ball later in the day after some time reading at the pool. Yep. I'm ready for retirement!

New smoothie

7 miles - Did a morning run and made it a bit longer as there were clouds in the sky for the first time since I got to Tucson. It was a refreshing run and I once again was tracked on the speedometer gauge for traffic. Do not underestimate the skillset involved in taking this photo while maintaining a 6 mph pace. hee. hee. Upon my return, Tiff's mom had made an awesome smoothie with a bunch of fruit, some coconut water and a handful of spinach, it was amazing. I'll be repeating that recipe! Here's a pic of the yumminess. Also included is a pic of the best hostesses ever from the night of the St. Pat's party. So much fun, I'm a lucky girl!

Go Panthers!

0 miles - we did an hour walk in the morning but no run today. Here is pic of the flowers that are so gorgeous on the cactus here. Very cool. There was a bit of excitement as I've entered a pool for the Final Four. And as my alma mater, UNI, made it to the dance this year, it's extra exciting. Although I originally took them to the final four, i had to change my pics when Tiffany reminded me that a number 9 seat would probably not take the whole tourney. hee. hee. Nonetheless, Go Pantehers! They won their first one today. Best part of day? The hot tub at night overlooking an amazing sky full of stars. I *heart* Tucson!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

4 miles - Happy St. Patrick's Day! What a fun holiday with corned beef and cabbage and all the trimmings of Irish soda bread and Irish coffees. Tiffany's family knows how to do it up right (her mom is a red head. hee. hee.). Had a great morning walk around the golf courses here with Tiff at the crack of dawn and then worked all day from my "patio office". Rounded out with a spin around the 4 mile loop. Let me just say there is zero shade the whole loop and zero clouds the whole way with constant gradual incline and decline. I was hot. But I was happy. :-) The weather, view and lifestyle here is amazing. It's a great challenge to be at different elevations and weather as well as work on some hill running. My bum is a bit sore from the pickle ball action earlier in the week. Incidentally there was a speed tracking device to get cars to slow down on the loop. Apparently it even tracks pedestrian's as I was a consistent 6 miles per hour as I headed toward it. I giggled.

elevation or wine?

4 miles - It totally felt like summer break when you were a kid today. I got up early for a walk on the golf course with Tiff and her mom Nancy. Then got to work on my "office" patio. We had a pickle ball appointment at 4pm and then after that I went for a 4 mile run. We had a great dinner of pasta a la vodka. One of Tiff's signature dishes that is amazing and pairs nicely with red wine. ;-) At the end of the day I was exhausted and slept well! The run was hard as I'm not used to the sun & heat, elevation and hills (or was it the wine?)! But a good run regardless and it is hilarious to run in a community where you see as many golf carts on the roads as you do cars. Onward with my "summer" spring break! I'm loving it and having a ball. :-) *sidenote: i'm thinking I need to start a pickle ball league in Iowa. That just may be my next project. fun. fun. fun!

PickleBall

0 miles - I'm in Tucson now and it is amazing. I'm loving it and having a ball. I'll be working from here all week, a picture of my Tucson "office" is to the left. :-) We are staying in the gorgeous home of my best friend from Boise's parents. They are so gracious and fun! We also have Tiffany's step daughter and niece with us (all of 10 and 8 respectively). Our day yesterday consisted of a great start with smoothies and tea/coffee and the morning at a horse ranch while the cowgirls *please note their get-ups in the pic* learned how to handle and trot with "Cotton" their horse, zipping around on the golf cart looking at cactus flowers in the retirement neighborhood, a fierce game of pickle ball (that's right, I had no idea either), cocktails and a dinner of amazing salmon and fresh salads and a late night ride in the golf cart looking for havelina's and other wildlife on the golf course, a sort of wild pig that lives in this area of the world. We settled for 2 deer and a lot of bunnies and getting caught when the sprinklers clicked on! So needless to say, the run today didn't happen, but I think the pickle ball will improve my agility on my next run for sure.

Box of Chocolates

4 miles - Quick neighborhood jog today with sunshine and warmer. Fabulous. I leave for Tucson for a week later today to visit my Boise bestie Tiffany at her parents place. Needless to say, I'm sooooOoooo excited and am anxious to feel warm and do some runs in a new place. I'm meeting up with the TNT team there. Yay for spring break! Then I'm off to Louisville for a week to visit my new niece Drew and big bro Reese. Touching base with the Louisville TNT team as well. So this girl is about to go all Forrest Gump and do some running across the country! You know what they say, life is like a box of chocolates... (although I'm pretty sure what I'll get when I eat them... more time on the treadmill. ;-) Here's a pic of my latest yummy treat that doesn't require extra time on the treadmill... edamame. Sauteed in a wok and then drizzled with soy sauce. I had this at Star Bar on Ingersoll and asked them how they made it so I could do it at home. Costco has some great individual 2 serving packs that come in a larger bag. It's kinda addictive like popcorn though. Beware! :-)

It's Here!

10 miles - Rough start to my day as I got in my car at 6:40am on a Saturday (a miracle in itself) and my car battery was dead. No warnings, no malfunctions, just no nothing. Ahhh, that'll wake you up. So after some chaos ensued, I finally got there albeit a bit late. Jonna was so great and waited for me. And alas, we got the final thing that we hadn't been dealing with weather-wise yet... flooding and wind. We are truly super troopers. It was so windy you could see it blowing the water across the sidewalk. We were out in WDSM because our usual spot at Grey's Lake was flooding as the rivers crest from all of the melting snow. However, we did it! 10 miles this week and despite the yucko weather... I saw something very exciting. Spring! That's right, my first robin sighting of the year, this little guy was cheering us on at about mile 6. Way exciting. :-) As usual, I had a busy Saturday and once I got my car jumped by my awesome neighbors (sidenote: same ones that helped me when I locked myself out of my car) not to mention they have the cutest little Libby ever. She's 1. Then I headed home to nephew Sami's 9th bday party and to my parents for an Irish dinner in honor of the holiday this week. Please note: we are neither Irish nor have we ever celebrated St. Pat's really. However, this year it was a corned beef and cabbage with green beer kinda meal. It was fun and they did a good job mixing it up! Here's a pic.

Effort = Weak this week

0 miles - I've had an unmotivated week! oye! The only thing I was motivated to make happen today was getting some ice cream since I've been craving some this week. Thank goodness, now maybe I can quit obsessing over getting some. :-)~ Running effort has been "weak this week". I'm gonna call is spring fever. or #fail

Drizzle

4.25 miles - Afternoon team runs are always a good thing mid week. It gets me outside and always has a variety of weather conditions for your running pleasure. :-) This week it was drizzling on us by the time we finished. Instead of carefully stepping around frozen areas of ice covered pathway, we just plowed through puddles. It was awesome! Wet, but awesome. I had forgotten my ipod in the car so had some time running by myself where I had to actually listen to my feet pounding and my own breathing. It's kinda humbling. And not elegant or graceful by any means. I had a Pat Benetar song in my head (we are young! heartache to heartache we stand!) that kept playing in my head over and over. Do not ask me why or how it entered my head but it would not leave. Next time around I'm taking my ipod.

struggle

6.5 - so it was a struggle to get myself motivated today. Could be the rain, could be the fact that I took a couple days off. You'd think that would be renewing, but not so. However, with the help of my fav show Biggest Loser (Mamma Cheryl got voted off) and my treadmill (cause the rain was a falling)... I knocked out 6.5 miles. Nothing too exciting. You know what is exciting though? It's raining and not snowing! That means we've had temp's in the 40's. Feels absolutely balmy outside. Love it. I've also realized how wide the roads and my driveway feel now that the snowbanks are melting off of them. Nice 'lil perk. :-)

The Continental

0 miles - I opted for appetizers and drinks at the Continental with friends tonight after our Jr League meeting. I couldn't help it! I've vowed for a good long run tomorrow to compensate. But the guilt is still there. Me = -2 points. But I didn't get a drink and had water. Me = +1. But I ate some really yummy hummus & pita chips and a fabulous cheese plate while there. Me = -1. So, yeah... Me = -2.

The "chair"

0 miles - a bit over-ambitious with my Saturday... I was super sore on Sunday. Not from my run, but from my volunteering! We hauled boxes and tons of other stuff as we "refreshed" for spring at the Bargain Basket store. I actually had to forego a run and do a round (or two) in my massage chair. Which, by the way, is THE best chair ever! Here is a quick pic. It looks kinda fancy and not very powerful, but looks are deceiving with this bad boy. It really gets in there so that your muscles can heal, although it totally hurts while the chair is working it's magic. Beats a $150 massage and you don't have to strip down to your skivvies to enjoy it. This chair is so amazing that when I first bought it back in Boise, I had a blind date that night and could not wait to end it so I could go sit in the chair. Two reasons: guy was a total downer and chair was so awesome. SO... it was a round in the massage chair and then heading "home" to Reinbeck for my oldest nephew's 10th Birthday party. As with anything... seems like yesterday that I got the call that he was born. Yet, I can't remember what it was like without him. Such a bizarre and completely ironic kinda feeling (which incidentally is an old favorite song of mine as well...). Seems to happen to me all the time lately though. What's that all about?

Lucky 14

14 miles - So one of my favorite restaurants is Lucky 13 in Boise. I haven't been there in 3 years but you can bet it is on my list for the next Boise reunion (along with many others like La Cafe de Paris chocolate almond croissant, Guido's tomato basil NY style pizza). If I was there right now I'd order either a pizza & beer or the Belle of Brumback sandwich... it's way yummy! Click on the link and check it out. So, yeah... apparently I am hungry right now and totally over the Oatmeal/yogurt that I had as my "recovery meal" this am... and on a memory lane trip. I digress. So back to Lucky 13 and what my lucky number for the day was... 14! We essentially hit 1/2 marathon status and ran another mile. w00t, w00t! :-) Yay! I was so excited I called Mom on the way home just to tell her. Have I ever mentioned that we run 2 mile circles around Des Moines' Gray's Lake? Click on the name for a map and you can imagine how it is one of two things 1) comfortable cause you know what a lap feels like, especially when you do 7 laps or 2) dizzying. Ha. This afternoon I'm headed to the Jr League Bargain Basket Thrift Store to volunteer for an afternoon shift. Who knows maybe I'll find some new running gear. ;) . Come down and say Hi!

Brilliant

3 miles - It was a quick 3 miles, fast paced run between conference and client calls today. I upped the pace and continued watching "About a Boy". I love how those British always use the word "brilliant". Which reminds me... that was a New Years Resolution of mine: to use that word more. :-) Love it. Tomorrow we are starting early at 6:30AM cause we are going to do 14 miles... and it might take us a while. Brilliant!

Several Meals - No running

0 miles - I decided to take a day off and spent the night at a birthday dinner from a friend at one of my local favorites, Flying Mango. I got the Dixie Chicken sandwich and chipotle mashed potatoes... goes well with red wine!;-) Then went to my church, Lutheran Church of Hope to volunteer for Meals from the Heartland. We had a great group for the packaging and they had it so well set up that we got through 3 full boxes and packaged around 100 meals in the time we were there. It's pretty amazing the assembly line and measuring that they have set up. All the meals go to Haiti as they are still in need. What a cool thing to be a part of, even if I didn't get my run in! :-)

Tools of the trade

4+miles - We had a great outdoor run, with the exception of some "refreeze" on the trail where the balmy 32+ degree sun had warmed it, we had a clear path. And best of all? It is light out most of the run! A real treat. :-) Jonna, Kristin, Ken and I did the quick two mile out and back. Nothing too exciting to tell on this one. So, I'll include a couple photos of two essentials that have been getting me through my days recently. My reusable water bottle that NEVER spills and I haul it everywhere with me (got this at Costco... I have a love/hate relationship with Costco. My parents have a love only relationship with Costco and my Costco card). Also in the pic; my night time reading and inspiration, Shape Magazine. Sidenote: I love reading about the exercises but never do them. I know, lame. Favorite part: the 2 before/after stories they always feature each month. Love those. Who doesn't like a success story? Least favorite: the "skinny "shape readers profile on the back. Seriously? Not inspirational. And the second Pic to the right is the breakfast tea from Harrod's in London that a colleague, Paula, brought when visiting us in NYC recently from the UK. Splash of milk and a splenda packet = Yummy!

Memory Lane

5 miles - Did I mention how easy it is to run these 5 while watching Biggest Loser? I'm not sure easy is the best word I guess, but definitely keeps my mind (and eyes) off of the mileage tracker. I messed around a bit and I mean a tiny itty bitty bit with incline and speed today, just to "spice it up" and I thought if the overweight peeps on BL could do it, I should at least give it a shot. I'm sorta obsessed with the thought of having my own Bob or Jillian, I think how amazing the results would be if someone was there beside me making me do faster runs and maybe even a push up or two after the runs. And then I think, seriously? I have to have someone make me do this to get this done? And, when I really think about it, I hate it when people make me do stuff.. makes me not wanta (problem from childhood, only person that has this syndrome worse than me is a friend from Portland... you know who you are! ;) So, as a result of obsessing about having a Bob or Jillian, I've really been thinking about the "drills" of high school sports lately. Let me just say that although my high school track coach, OJ, was no Bob (and I mean really not) and cross country coach, Clare,was no Jillian (ditto on this one); I think it would be fun to do interval training (although we despised it at the time). Or as we used to have done to us in cross country.... get dropped off on a country road about 4 miles out of town and have to run back. Yep, I'm from a small, small town in Iowa and believe it or not, we had a blast on those country road runs. Nothing says team building like trying to cut through field and stream for a shorter route than the gravel. I miss that. However, the TNT crew is slowly evolving as a group/team and that is fun to see on Saturdays. But I'm pretty sure we won't be doing any interval training soon. Probably a good thing, now that I'm fully into memory lane and remembering how it felt like. Interval training really sucked!

P.S. Breakfast favorite for the week: Kashi Oatmeal, Activia Vanilla Yogurt and slivered almonds. Micro the oatmeal, cool a bit, throw in the yogurt & throw on the almonds . Voila! Way yummy. Totally digging on this this week.

Morning runs rule

5 miles - Rock'n the Monday morning run. woohoo. I had a decent run. Nothing to write home about, although I'm blogging about it here apparently. Jumped on the treadmill and wrapped it up with a RB smoothie before jumping on the phone for my work - phone marathon today. Not 26.2 miles but 26.2 minutes x like 4 today. I started watching "About a boy" while on the tread today. Because against my will, I'm a Hugh Grant fan. I know, he's always awkward and there was that whole prostitute scandal thing in the 90's, but I like him. Now that the Olympics are over, oh, sad day for the Men's US Hockey team yesterday, I also have to admit to a not-so-secret crush on Apolo Ohno. Let me just say, Wow. I was thinking maybe we could do some marathon training together.

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