Tuesday, July 30, 2013

"What are we gonna go today?"

This is the question I get asked on a daily basis by my two kids who are home for summer vacation.  Every single day..... so imagine their surprise when the answer today was "hike a mountain!".  I am not sure surprise is a very good word for it. With a backpack packed for each of us off we went to hike up Mount Uncanoonuc in nearby Goffstown, NH (a little under half hour drive).
I won't bore you with all the details...we did have a tough time finding the parking for the trail, but once we got there we had a great time.  I found I needed to remind my kids many times that we had all day to complete this hike and that we did not have to rush at all.  I knew the entire hike was not going to be very long so I knew I was safe telling them that.  We had to stop a few times to rest which was fine with me...some of the trail was pretty steep!!  Each of them had a camera to take pictures of what ever they wanted to...I had given them a photo scavenger hunt to do but they did not really seem to interested in that. 
Once we reached the summit of the mountain we were treated to this pretty view:


BUT, we actually missed the view we had wanted to see....all because of one trail we decided not to go up.  Oh well....maybe next time!
Of course what does anyone do after they finish hiking?  Get ice cream of course!!
Oh and note to self...maybe a three mile run the same day as a hike up a mountain is not such a great idea.  Boy are my legs sore....but it was worth it.
So until next time, go hike a mountain or a trail, get outside with your kids (or someone else's kids), don't forget the ice cream and stay strong!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

A tasty treat

Hey!  Yes I am posting twice in one week!  Yay me! 
I just had to share this tasty little treat I discovered today on facebook.  I don't know if it has an official name but we can call it chocolate peanut butter bites.  All you do is take bananas and slice into slices and sandwich peanut butter between them (I would imagine you could use almond butter instead), freeze them, melt chocolate...I used a large special dark chocolate bar...dip the banana sandwiches in the chocolate and freeze again!  That easy....and soooo good.  They can't really be all that bad for you, right?  I mean think about it...there is protein in peanut butter, potassium in the banana, and dark chocolate is a health food, right?
Here's the finished product:

Looks Yummy, right?!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Let the training begin!

Yes, folks, for those of you have been following my blog for a while now, half marathon training has once again begun!  I am going into my second week and it seems to be going well, so far.  I am getting ready for the Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon in October and really hoping it does not rain all day again.  This time around I have a lot of people who are training for this race too so it will be nice to have people to talk to about training and people to meet up with at the race!
Oh, and I survived the Foamfest 5K and had a blast!   It was a very hot day which created some challenges but I managed.  Just wish some of the pools of water we had to go through were colder!
Remember the big slide I was dreading?  Well it turns out they had three of them in the beginning of the weekend and were down to one slide by the time I got there and the wait for the slide was over an hour...so we skipped it.   Needless to say I wasn't really too disappointed.
I am still waiting for the official pictures to be ready, but here are some shots we did manage to get on our own.


Had a blast, I can check this off my "bucket list"!
So until next time, stay clean, or run dirty if you want, stay strong, and keep running!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

I must be crazy!

Tomorrow I am doing the Foamfest 5K!!  I am thinking I must have been out of my mind when I signed up for this!!  Am I really going to go down this 40 foot high inflatable slide called the "Death Drop"?
 
Am I really going to crawl through the mud?  I hate mud!  Am I going to be able to climb up and over a 8 foot wall?  I am not afraid of the foam part of the race so that part I am looking forward to.  Like a giant bubble bath!!  One thing for sure is this race is going to be a challenge...a mental challenge that I am really hoping I can conquer and walk away from without breaking anything. 
So until next time, stay clean, stay strong and keep running!


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

New Shoes For Old Feet

Hey, guess what?!  I turned 40 and survived!!!  I am not saying I like it, but I am still here.
I completed my last race in my 30s on July 3 and am proud to say that I finished the race in less time then I did last year!!  I finished in 31:20 which ended up being about in the middle of my age group.  This was not an easy race since it was extremely hot and humid.   I went into this race with a stomach ache and feeling like I would be happy to just finish and ended up running much faster then I wanted to....I felt like crap through most of the race which sucked because the final mile is downhill and I had nothing left in me.  But hey, my race photo made it look like I was happy!

Anyways...on to the actual topic of this post and that is new shoes!  Every year for my birthday I get money and this year I decided to spend some of my money on a second pair of sneakers!!
Aren't they pretty?!  Ok so I tried to get a little fancy with the picture collage but I think you can still see them.    These are Brooks Pureflow 2 and are part of Brooks PureProject line of shoes...or minimalist.  I have only worn them on one 2 mile run so far and I felt the run went well, but I also felt as though I was a little more winded then usual.  My plan is to use these on lower mileage runs so that my other pair of sneakers can be worn on longer runs and last me longer.    I am really hoping this works!!
So wish me luck with the new sneakers, and  the new decade.... keep running and stay strong!








Tuesday, July 2, 2013

TWO. MORE. DAYS!!

Today, this is a bit how I feel....two more days till I turn the big 4-0.
Yes, I do realize that it happens to people all the time and they survive...and I am sure I will too.  I don't really know why it is bothering me....I have a feeling that the day will come, I will have some cake, some beverages, some gifts, lots of people saying Happy Birthday and then life will go on.  
Tomorrow will be my last race in my 30s.....looking forward to this race!  The last mile of the race is downhill!!  Originally I had it in my head that I wanted to do very well in this race, but judging by the weather we have had lately I am changing my game plan...in this heat and humidity I will just do my best :)
So until next time, stay hydrated, stay forever young, keep running and stay strong!!