Marathon Monday

I've had some ups and downs this week. And I'm talking ups and downs in the same run. I mentioned last Marathon Monday that we had the day off because we got about 7 inches of snow. That meant that miles were out for both Monday and Tuesday due to snow removal problems. One of my major concerns at the beginning of training for this half marathon was that the bulk of the training would be during the winter, but then I thought to myself at least its "Virginia winter." Apparently not. This is the most ridiculous winter I have seen in my eight years in Virginia. Not normal. Of course it would be the winter I need decent weather. Anyways, Wednesday I thought I might be able to do a couple of miles at Girls on the Run, but it was awful rain all day so we resorted to doing Just Dance and relay races.

Then came Thursday. I knew I had to do something. I thought maybe I could go do two or three miles after school, but I was so tired. I made myself go out and start. I also stupidly did major hills the first 2 miles. I really felt like there were concrete blocks tied to my feet. I also almost cried twice it was so hard. Then there was a downhill stretch and I felt like I might make it. Then after a second downhill I was feeling really good and convinced myself to do 5 miles because then I would feel really accomplished for the day.

Saturday was beautiful weather. I wanted to only do a 5k because I was planning to do my long run on Sunday. I was really excited because my pace was good and the three miles seemed to go by quickly. My high didn't last long. Sunday came.

Sunday's plan was to do my eight miles with a friend. I was nervous, but I was excited. My friend woke up sick. My motivation went down quickly, really quickly. I wanted to go back to bed. Matt tried everything in his power to get me to do miles, including reciting quotes and proverbs, showing JoePa giving inspirational speeches on YouTube, and offering dinner at Katerina's if I did eight miles. I was having none of it. I told him I didn't even care, I wasn't doing any miles. Then he offered to go with me. I negotiated a bike ride. Then I thought that might be too much so I suggested a leisurely walk. That's what we left the house planning to do.

We started the miles the way I always start my miles when I'm in my neighborhood. And I just decided to follow the interval training the way I had been doing it, but told myself that for the rest of the time I would just run when I felt like it and walk if I felt like it if I didn't feel like doing the miles anymore. We got to about 3.5 miles and I decided I was going to complete the 8 that I had planned. Matt decided to go back home, so we parted ways. That's when I realized I didn't have my headphones. I was worried about how it would go with no one to talk to and music to listen to for 4.5 miles. It was a very quiet run. There was hardly anyone outside. It was weird, but a nice change of pace. Thank God for Matt forcing me to do something. It's most of the battle just to get started.

Lastly I leave you with some of my running buddies from today. I completed my weekly miles with some laps today at Girls on the Run. We talked about gratitude. This week I am grateful for Matthew, mental toughness, and my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade runners :) I'm also thankful for 17.48 miles and 40 days until Pittsburgh!

Two of the most grateful runners I have ever experienced...they were seriously non-stop with their gratitude today!

Marathon Monday

Guess what?! I ran almost everyday this week! Today hardly counts since there was yet another snowstorm in the Northern Virginia area. The only other day I didn't make it out was Friday. I thought about it, but decided it should be a rest day to get ready for the weekend and I was so, so tired after my trip to Charlottesville. Tuesday was the most beautiful day outside, and because it was still light out after work (yay spring forward) I took advantage of the spectacular conditions and did a quick run around my neighborhood. Wednesday I did a couple laps at GOTR before a torrential downpour and my drive to Charlottesville.

Thursday I was really excited for some new scenery. After our time sitting all day at our conference my running friend and I took a little run around UVA and some residential streets nearby. It was quite an interesting few miles. It started out as what we referred to as "the Rocky run" because all we did for the first mile was navigate and run up stairs. I was terrified the whole time I was going to fall. It was also difficult to figure out where to go when you are unfamiliar with the area. It all worked out though, and after all those stairs we had a nice downhill at the end.

Run around the Rotunda...happy for a change of scenery.

This weekend, Saturday was beautiful weather again so I changed up my usual medium run around my neighborhood to try to keep things interesting. Sometimes the miles are getting a little boring. I think I need new songs on my playlist...any suggestions are welcome. Finally on Sunday I did my long run of the week around Manassas to finish out 18.91 miles for the week. In case you are wondering...it's hilly like my neighborhood. Good thing because I've hear Pittsburgh has some hills too. Only 47 days!

Marathon Monday

I took my own advice this week and went out Thursday after work for a run. Thank goodness. After last weekend's disaster, Thursday was a much needed step in the right direction. It was cold outside, but the 3.25 miles went well and I was very happy to have done them. Saturday morning I completed another 4 miles. It was a beautiful day and there were lots of people out and about. My favorite person that I came across was a very physically fit gentleman, probably about my age, running toward me. He was at the top of a hill coming down. I was going up the hill, walking (it was one of my walking intervals...I swear). I could tell the guy was saying something to me so I took out my ear phone. Apparently he was trying to be my personal trainer...the first thing I hear is, "push it!" Followed by, "let's go!" and "give me five!" At least he provided some entertainment.

Sunday I had planned to go 7+ miles with a friend for my longest run yet. I kinda felt like it was a good idea, but at the same time I felt like maybe it wouldn't really happen. I had done 4 miles on Saturday so I thought I might be tired, and just feel like going for a leisurely walk. Thank goodness for miles with friends to keep you motivated. I planned the route and knew it was going to be hilly, but didn't really take into account just how uphill the first three or four miles were. It was a little brutal. Every time I am out alone doing miles I swear that all I do is run uphill. At least on Sunday I got some outsider validation that I am, in fact, doing a lot of uphill running. On a positive note it made for negative splits :) We finished with 8.3 miles total Sunday afternoon, and I was tired. I was super excited for my longest miles ever, though. I feel like the laps I did around Wegmans shortly after should really count as mileage, though, because all I wanted to do was sit on my couch.

Add all these miles to a walk I went on with Matt Saturday afternoon, and a few laps around the track at Girls on the Run this Marathon Monday and I logged 18.27 miles this week! Good thing because it's only 54 days until Pittsburgh!

Friday Love

{ONE}

New Blog. Obviously there have been some changes around here. I think how it is formatted right now is mostly the way it is going to stay. The last thing that will change is my blog's name. I am adding a poll to the right side of this page. There are 5 options: Life By the Bowlful, What's Cooking on Lednock, Life: One Plate at a Time, and Now Serving..., and What's On Our Menu. Please vote for what you think is best! I'm really looking forward to the results :)

{TWO}

Starbucks Holiday Drinks. I just love when the Starbucks red cups come out! And strangely enough for someone who doesn't like sweet coffee drinks...I love the gingerbread lattes. I wish I could buy one everyday!

{THREE}

Bows. How cute are these hair bows? Cute, as in tacky-cute! My talented friend made them for all of our Girls on the Run this season. They are made out of duct tape. I shamelessly sported the one below all day on Monday at school.

{FOUR}

Night the Cat. This is a little bit of a long story, I'm going to cut it short. Another friend and I share a silly student. She's in first grade and she's obsessed with lip gloss, cats, and cupcakes. She's always getting her lip glosses confiscated at school. Well one day this cat (who has a long backstory of his own) showed up in the classroom with her lip gloss and a cupcake nose. He's taken on an elf on the shelf role. The kids named him Night and wrote him letters. Night will be writing them back this weekend. I'm so excited about my new pen pal project!

{FIVE}

Salt & Vinegar Chips. This is possibly one of my most favorite foods. The problem is I never really get to eat them. If there is a bag near me I will consume the entire thing. Well, actually, I will consume enough to make my mouth hurt so bad I have to take a break and come back as soon as I have feeling back in my tongue. Therefore, these are not allowed to be in our house. I sometimes text Matt and tell him he should buy them for me on the way home. He never does.

Friday Love

{ONE}

No-School-November! This might be a horrible {love} to broadcast, but I love the school month of November because it goes by so quickly. We have a teacher work day, conference day, Veteran's Day, and Thanksgiving break. I will say it's chaotic, but there's no days off from the beginning of the year until Veteran's Day so I am always happy to see November come!

{TWO}

Halloween in the suburbs. Remember when I had my mini-meltdowns over moving to the suburbs? Most of the time I'm over it. I do have an occasional pang of sadness when I think about our first house together, our old neighborhood, and our more adventurous lifestyle, but suburbia has grown on me. Thursday we actually got to have the suburban Halloween experience. I was strangely looking forward to this. I was somewhat disappointed at our turnout. I was expecting a million kids, but we really didn't get that many. I'm chalking it up to a little bit of rain and my lame neighbors not participating. Seriously, I have never seen so many dark houses.

{THREE}

{FOUR}

{FIVE}

Google Chrome. Everyday when I go to work and have to use my HP laptop (that takes an eternity to start up and half the time after it's started up I have to restart it because my novell applications won't open) I miss my Apple. But what's worse is we are still living it up in the dark ages with internet explorer to boot. I just really wish that every time I want to google something I could just have the luxury of typing it in the spacebar. Google Chrome...thank you for being efficient.

Friday Love

It has been such a busy week. I have a lot of catching up to do over the weekend...mostly cleaning, life organizing, and some blog posts. For now, though, I'm so happy it's Friday. Enjoy some love, and have a great weekend.

{ONE}

Pillows. You never really, truly know the importance of a pillow until you spend a weekend without one. This past weekend at Penn State we stayed in a cabin (I'm going to make this a shorter story than it could be. Just accept we stayed in a cabin.) Matt and my bedroom consisted of two sets of bunk beds. I remembered to pack linens and towels, but we forgot our pillows. Let me add the bedroom of our cabin contained no heat. After doing some creative arranging of the bedding provided, things were looking up, but I can tell you my quality of sleep would have drastically increased with the addition of a pillow. I have never been so happy to sleep in my own bed on Sunday night. I still wish we took a picture of that sleeping situation.

{TWO}

This article has to be one of the funniest things I have read in a while. I love facebook as much as the next person, and am guilty of some of the behaviors described, but I'm sure you can identify with all of the facebook personalities listed there. Seriously read it, or skim it, for yourself. I guarantee you will be laughing thinking of all your facebook friends. My favorite is "The Cryptic Cliffhanger."

{THREE}

Sparkly armpits. One of the great things about being an elementary school counselor is the great deodorant talk I find myself give a couple times a year. Well I found myself giving one of my best speeches yet Wednesday afternoon. Some of our lovely girls on the run were in need, who was I to say 'no.' Somewhere between me talking about working hard and running and trying to give them a free deodorant sample, I found myself preaching about sparkly armpits (mostly because these weird little samples they give my pubescent friends are now glittery). I don't know where it came from, but I think it made an impact. Everyone was leaving that day talking to their moms and even their dads about their sparkly armpits!

{FOUR}

Squash. Yes, I'm serious. Squash. I love vegetables, but we were always eating the same ones. Mostly broccoli and asparagus, and the occasional brussel sprout. Well this summer I started with zucchinis and yellow squash and found a new love for them. Last week I went into the spaghetti squash realm...and am trying to like it, but it's not as easy. And yes, I'm still trying to like pumpkin flavored items.

{FIVE}

I always am talking about how much I LOVE Katerina's, and how it's the only place worth eating in the suburbs. Well a few weeks ago Matt made us go somewhere else. We tried Nora in Gainesville. It was very good. I would definitely go back. It reminded me of making Lebanese grape leaves with my freshman year roommate. So good.

Friday Love

In this first edition of {Friday Love} I am all over the place. Maybe we could call it a Friday of old loves and new loves. I hope to become more focused and planned as the Fridays go on, but for now enjoy the first ever Friday Love.

{ONE - AN OLD RECIPE}

This past week I made Eggplant Parmesan. It's time consuming, but so worth it. When I went back through my blog to find my post about it it was 2 years to the day I was looking it up (also my sister's birthday). Must be the time of year that gets me thinking about it! It's funny to see my old plates and countertops too! I've heard a lot of people say that writing a blog is self-centered, or egotistical, and maybe it kind of is, but I think it's really cool to be able to look back over the last 3 years and see what I was doing during a certain period in my life...even if it's just remember what our countertops and plates looked like.

{TWO - A NEW TEAM}

Yes, friends, my love-hate relationship with Girls on the Run is back in session. Our team started on Monday. We have our smallest team ever thanks to "strategic advertising." I am pretty excited about our small team. I think it makes the most difference for the girls and definitely keeps me sane.

{THREE - AN OLD GIFT}

Last Christmas my sister gave me a subscription to Birchbox. I had never heard of it. The concept is pretty simple. You receive a small box every month of different beauty products. It can be anything really...skincare, nail polish, make-up, small accessories, etc. Then you can review the products and accumulate points. The points add up to money you can use to buy products on the site. I am not huge into beauty products, but I did enjoy getting my box every month. My favorites were the nail polish and hair products.

{FOUR - NEW GIRL}

At the end of the summer, when I was finished babysitting and had some free time, I became addicted to the show New Girl. I saw that it was recently added to Netflix and watch the whole first season. I had tried to watch a few episodes on TV prior to this, but never really got what was going on. It was so nice to just be able to watch the entire season at my leisure. Then I was faced with a problem: Season two was not yet added to Netflix, but season three was starting to air. The night season three began, season two was added to Netflix. I was so happy. I watched the second season in a week and am so excited I can now just watch the new episodes on Fox with the rest of Jess' fans...true story. I'm torn between being proud and ashamed of watching all of season two that fast. First world problems. There's just so many good episodes. My current favorites being "Menzies," "Pepperwood," and "Eggs."

{FIVE - MY OLD CITY}

How exciting is it that the Pirates have made the playoffs? Can I tell you that the last time this happened I was beginning 3rd grade in 1992...this is also the last time they had a winning season. Twenty-one years. This is serious. I grew up going to a plethora of Pirates games. I remember watching Three Rivers Stadium implode in 2001 when I was a junior in high school and the opening of PNC Park when I was a senior. I love PNC Park. It's one of my favorite stadiums...definitely in the top 2 with Beaver Stadium at PSU. I'm sure the sheer fact that I'm blogging about them will bring them nothing but bad luck.

Girls on the Run (in pictures)!

Most of our dear sweet team, Spring 13

GOTR 5K

I haven't blogged a whole lot about Girls on the Run this season, but I can assure you it's nothing you haven't heard about good old GOTR before. This picture is from our 5K last Sunday. This is pre 5K. It was FREEZING. Can you tell from looking at the picture? I think everyone was entirely too frozen to smile or even look amused. Grown-ups included.

We're Back!

It's Girls on the Run Season once again at BES! We have an overwhelming number of participants this season. A whopping 36 third through fifth graders. I could not believe my eyes when I got the roster. I was worried. That's a lot of people, especially when they are all females and it's springtime. DRAMA and chatterbox central! Knock on wood as you read this next part. So far they have been AMAZING. It's really unbelievable to me how good they are. Let's hope it continues.

Girls on the Run, Fall Season Wrap-up

A while ago I mentioned that I was having a really hard time enjoying my GOTR experience this fall. My dear friends above were a little rambunctious and required a little bit too much maintenance for a volunteer activity. Well things shaped up very shortly after I wrote that post. Maybe they had heard a little too much of my complaining about their behavior. 

This is the end of our season. Each girl completed a 5K the weekend before Thanksgiving. Don't we look fabulous in our green this season?!?! I loved it and I think they did too. We will see you back in the Spring :)

It's Been FOR-EV-ER!

I haven't blogged in 10 days. TEN! I'm not sure that's ever happened. It has been a very busy week. Girls on the run, Matt's family visiting, a baking extravaganza, and a wedding. All this combined with regular life commitments leaves very little time for blogging. So just a few thoughts as I sit here and watch College Gameday (the best part of Saturday mornings in the fall).

1. Why is it that the first time you do something...it's typically the best time? The reason I pose this question...Girls on the Run. Last Spring was fabulous. Everyone behaved, the kids all enjoyed themselves, life was great, it was like the perfect combination of everything. This season is much more challenging. Does this make sense to anyone else?

2. Today I am going to a wedding. This is the tenth wedding I have been invited to, and the seventh I've been able to go to, in the last 17 months. I'm a little wedding-ed out. This one is in Alexandria bringing the total of Virginia weddings I have been to all the way up to one. As far as I can tell right now, I'm getting a break until next August.

3. I completed two pumpkin recipes soon to make their debut on this blog. They got good reviews and even I like one of them.

4. Tomorrow there will be a showdown in the 709. Patriots vs. Steelers. Which side are you on?

Ok I'm going to cut myself off now and promise some more quality blogging in the future. Have a good weekend!

Girls on the Run

Most of our team waiting for the 5K to begin

I would like to begin this post with a disclaimer. I am not a runner. In fact, I hate running. So when I was approached by a parent (now a co-worker) from school to start a Girls on the Run team I pretty much wanted to do anything to get out of it. It was one more thing to do and something I didn't even like. All this being said...I am beyond thankful that this is something I was talked in to. Bennett started it's first GOTR team this spring and it has been one of the things that makes me happy to go to work (even if I had to be at practice at 7:30 on Tuesday mornings for the last 10 weeks). It helps that I couldn't have asked for 20 better third through fifth graders to work with.

For those of you who haven't heard of GOTR, it's a running program for 3rd through 5th grade girls that incorporates lessons about friendship, self-esteem, bullying, and leadership with training for a 5K that the girls run together at the end of the season. We had a great group at the beginning and I can't believe how much the girls have enjoyed it. I feel like I'm rambling, but I really can't say enough good things about this program.

These are some pictures from our 5K at GMU last weekend. Every girl finished and we were definitely the  best dressed team. Today we finished with a celebration. We will continue in the fall with two Bennett teams (so 40 girls) because of the success and amazing feedback from parents. I'm really excited! Can you tell?