Weekly Wrap....October 15

I hope I can claim this week as a "good week" and not the week where it all went down hill. I'll explain more as we get in to the wrap!

Sunday I did a 5 mile walk with a friend. The conversation was good but we were getting hot and sweaty so we called it quits at mile 5.

Monday was my typical rest day.

We've really had some beautiful weather to be outside!

Tuesday I wasn't really felling it. Physically I was fine but mentally I was conflicted with some issues so running wasn't exactly the heaviest thing on my mind. I did 2 miles running with my mom and then another (almost) 2 mile walk.

Wednesday it was raining when I got home from work and I was actually relieved! That was my excuse to not run. It would have been only a short run anyway as I would have had to come back and shower quickly because I was meeting a friend for dinner and shopping.  I have officially bought my first Christmas gift of the season!  The last few times I've gone out shopping I've been seeing gifts I want to buy but I kept telling myself it was too early to start shopping for Christmas. Well now that stores have Christmas decorations up, I guess it's that time.  I have a mental list in my head as to what I want to get for people so I could probably get all my shopping done in one day and be done!  That probably wont happen though!

Thursday was 4 miles with my mom at the rail trail. She now has planter fasciiates so we are taking things slower.

Funny story, after our run we went to the grocery store next to the trail and as we were getting into our car, a guy was getting out of his car with a cigarette.  Instead of putting his cigarette out, he stuck it under his side view mirror until he came back out. Isn't this just the oddest thing?  As you can probably see from the picture it was damp and starting to spritz anyway. Why did he think it would stay lit?  I should have put this on the things that make you go hmmm, post!

I've been doing a lot of meal creations on Fridays and this Friday I made a homemade Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella, and Chicken pizza.  My Pampered Chef pizza stone broke a few months ago (it actually cracked while in the oven) and I haven't bothered to replace it so I got creative and made the pizza in this Kitchen Aid pan.  I wasn't sure if I could put this pan in the oven, but I did and it turned out beautifully. I may have to make pizza in this pan more often!  Oh, and it was yummy too! 

Aren't these Day of the Dead cookies cute? We thought it was a great treat to get since it was Friday the 13th!

Afterwards we went out with some friends to Starbucks for desserts and drinks. I recommended the Maple Pecan to Scott and a Friend but of course I had to get the Pumpkin Spice. My Pumpkin Spice Frappe was not as yummy as I remembered it and had a bit of a "smokey" taste to it.  Of course I finished it though, as well as one of their pumpkin muffins!  We ended up closing the place down!

Saturday I planned to do a 7 mile run but had to stop twice during the run because of some nagging knee pain. I don't know what this is all about but I hope it gets resolved before this weekend's race.
Besides the knee pain, I'll chalk it up as a pretty good run. I felt good the entire time and it really didn't feel like it was 7 miles. There was no struggling what so ever. This run had the potential to be perfect!

After the run, I got cleaned up and Scott and I ran some errands. Afterwards, met some friends and family to do some target shooting. This was actually a lot of fun. We only used bb's but it was fun shooting at zombie targets and then lining up containers to see who could shoot the most down when it was their turn.  Yes, I am easily entertained...lol  Afterwards we went out to dinner and then came home in time to watch The Disappearance of Maura Murray, which I am hooked on (Thank you Megan)!  I admit I dozed off at some parts so I think I may have to watch it again today.

And that's a Wrap! -M

Christmas shopping now, Yay or Nay?   Have you gone target shooting? What was the best homemade thing you've made lately?

We are linking up with Tricia and Holly for their weekly wrap!

Weekly Wrap...October 8

Okay, I have a calendar, so I can't exactly say that October "snuck up" on me!  However, seeing that we've been inundated with 80 degree days I may have been in denial that it is actually fall.  Which means that in my mind I had weeks to go until the Baltimore Marathon relay that I will be doing with some friends. IN REALITY I only have one more weekend until the race. O snap!

Needless to say, I could no longer wait until the heat and humidity subsided to do those longer runs. I needed to suck it up and do them now. I'm not a morning runner so I don't have the luxury of doing cooler runs. I'm out there in late afternoon when the sun is blazing because that's when I have my free time.

Sunday I waited till evening to run at the island and it actually wasn't that bad.

Monday I had a meeting after school and then just called it a rest day. I've been wanting to spend all my time outside and savor the weather but to be honest it was so hot I didn't feel like doing anything. I laid on the couch until dinner time. I seriously just laid there. I didn't watch TV or anything.

Tuesday I did some shopping after school. I got a mini haul at Ulta Beauty (where even mini hauls add up fast), and then I bought a chair cushion at Pier One.

I had wanted to get cushions for my outdoor chairs back in the summer and they were $48 a piece! I needed 2 of them so this wasn't going to happen. I had since given up on trying to find the right outdoor cushions but knew I needed to find a new one for this wicker rocker that was bought a Pier One years ago.  There was only one cushion left in the color I wanted and it was on super clearance!

Later that evening I did a 3 mile run with my mom.  I looked for those cats again, and they were there! We've been trying to do our runs twice a week.

Wednesday I went to the rail trail to try and do a longer run.  This was actually a struggle. I don't know if it was because it was 80 degrees or if  my body would have struggled regardless of temperature because I was feeling achy in places.

Thursday was another 3 miles with my mom. By the looks of the clouds, it looked like it could storm at any moment. We were hoping to get our three miles in before that happened. Turns out, we never got a drop of rain.

Friday was a walk day with Baylee.

Saturday was my longest run of this training cycle! 7 Miles!  I was only planning 6, and then maybe 6.5 but thought I could push to do 7 and am so glad I did.  The humidity was 100% and I was totally zonked afterwards, but it felt so good to accomplish that mileage and know that I will be prepared for my leg of the relay.  -M

And that's a wrap!

What was your best clearance buy lately?

We are linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap series.

Weekly Wrap....September 10

I feel guilty rambling on about how my week went when in reality it seems so insignificant when I know my friends in Florida are worried about losing their homes. In between our activities this weekend, I would make a point to turn on the Weather Channel and keep up to date with what Hurricane Irma was doing (as I'm sure most of America was doing).  My Uncle lives in Tampa, but fortunately he is up here with us now.  I'm going to guess that things there will not be the same when he returns.

Since this post is suppose to be about the Weekly Wrap, I guess that's what I'll get into. No more talk about the weather.  If you are a regular reader, than you know that I am all about making the best of my time. I like to accomplish tasks and I hate wasting time. The week before last, I was literally sick all week! Yea, I hadn't even been back to school for 5 days and already I contracted  #AllTheGerms.  Needless to say, there was no running and no activity.  That's why there was no weekly wrap either.  I was SO glad to have Friday  and Monday off last week because I really needed the rest!

Here's a peek as to how the following week went.

It makes me sad (and actually a bit angry) when I miss out on runs when the weather is still warm out. I feel like I have to savor it while it is still here!  I missed so much good running weather last week so, I wanted to get out as much as I could this week. 

Monday was Labor Day. After not running for a week, I wanted to get out and see what I could do. I donned some patriotic apparel and went out for a Run-Walk with a friend that morning. I didn't want to full on run because I still wouldn't be up to it, but those run intervals did feel good. We did 3.1 miles.  We actually did the race course for this weekend.

Later that day I did some boating with my parents. My dad caught 4 fish and  we saw 3 deer and multiple Blue Herrings. It was a lovely day on the water although it was a bit choppy at points.

Wednesday I had an awesome run! I didn't think I would be able to run the entire time due to my chest pain, but I did!  I did the race route again and was happy to see that the fall festival decorations were up.

Friday I had a another great run!  This was a late run for me. I went to the rail trail but didn't end up even starting my run till around 6:00 pm.  This was a short run but I do have some things I want to say about it so I'll share it in another post since this one is getting too long already.

I know my teammates for the Baltimore Marathon Relay are probably thinking  "Is she ever going to run more than 3 miles?".  I assure you I will! I have a 5k on Saturday and then after that I will start increasing my mileage. Promise! -M

             Tell me about one of your runs this week? What did you do on Labor Day?

                                 Are you participating in the #EnjoyFall IG challenge?

We are linking up with Holly and Tricia and the weekly hostess for their weekly wrap.

Weekly Wrap....August 20th

This week was another week of trying to fit as much stuff in as possible before I go back to work next week.

Sunday started with some boating time at the lake with my mom and Nana.

Monday started my "official" training for my fall race which I will talk about later this week. it was only 3 miles but I wanted to keep the mileage low so it was a strong run, which it was.  Afterwards I showered and got myself a massage to see if that would help my shoulder / chest pain.

 On Tuesday I did my longest run of the summer, 6 miles. Last summer, I was in a 6 mile slump because all the further I was able to run was 6 miles (or 6.2 on some days) because of the heat.  This year I hadn't even come close to 6 miles except for this day.  Funny story, after running the 6 miles, I went to this new grocery store that is located near the end of the trail. While I was there, Scott called me to see if I wanted to meet for lunch. I told him where I was and he asked me "Are you going to run back with the groceries?". Umm No, I drove to the store.

Wednesday I Swam with Baylee and Scott.  I'm still having that pain from last week and the massage did not seem to help so I continued to stretch that side of my body by doing the back stroke.

In an effort to prepare for Saturday's race, I went down to the island on Thursday to see if I could remember the route from last year. I met a man in his 60's who was also training for the race and was hoping to place in his age group. We chatted for a bit before each going on our on way.  I admit, I was struggling bad!  My Garmin died before I finished the course and I hate to say it, but I was actually glad. I gave myself permission to walk the rest of the way.  When I finished I called my running buddy to tell him how much I was struggling. His exact words were "You're running? Meranda, it's 94 degrees, EVERYBODY is struggling".   I knew it was hot, but I guess I didn't realize it was that hot.  I went back down to the island later that night once it cooled off and walked with Scott. With my "attempted run" and my walk with Scott I know I did over 3 miles but I'm only counting it as three. I wonder if I should even count it at all since it was such a struggle?

I took Friday as a rest day.  I should have got out of the house and did something since it was my last free weekday before work but I didn't. I just took it easy, watched a TV show I dvr-ed and continued to work on sewing my curtains.

On Saturday my running buddy was not feeling well and was not going to be running so I actually decided to skip the race too.  After seeing that it was already showing 80 degrees at the start of the race I knew it was a smart decision.  I opted to go shopping instead.  There will be another race this coming weekend so we are both going to try to make that one.


Take a guess, Which race do you think I am running in the fall?  If you already know (you know who you are), you can not play along :)   I'll give you a hint. I did mention it on the blog already this year.

If you struggle on a run and have to walk, do you still count all your miles?   -M



We are linking up with Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin for their weekly wrap.

Weekly Wrap, July 30

I really do feel like I am "Wrapping things up" this week, not only for the week, but for the month.

I finally have the home improvement projects finished up. Although I paid professionals to paint the room, I personally painted the fireplace, the trim in adjoining rooms, the doors, the air vents and a shelf.  The only thing I have yet to do to make the room complete is to make my curtains. I've been looking long and hard for something that goes with my decor but in the end I felt it best to just make them myself.

So this week when everything in the house was taken care of, I felt I needed a little taken care of too. I finally did a mani, pedi, and got my hair cut. Funny story, I did not tell my hairdresser that I had been painting, but she asked. Apparently I had white paint caked in my hair! That could have been from this week or even last week! Oh gosh! Needless to say, the long locks came off!

Once I officially start training for something I will keep better documentation of my runs! 

In between the housework, I did find time to get some little runs in this week. I did sign up for two more races ( one in August and one in the fall), so my little runs must soon turn into longer runs!  Hopefully next month I'll concentrate more on that. This month was more about getting things done that I wouldn't have time to do during the school year. Now I can enjoy the rest of vacation!

What things do you concentrate on besides running or workouts? -M

We are linking up with Holly and Tricia and the guest Host.

Weekly Wrap...April 30

Welcome to another edition of the Weekly Wrap.

This is going to be a quick wrap this week! Because I am not training for anything I've rearranged my run days. I've been trying to run Tuesday's and Thursday's and walk Baylee Mondays and Wednesdays. So far it's been working out pretty well. Even on the day's I'm not running, I look forward to getting out on the trail with Baylee (did you read my Runfessions?).

I saw these two lovelies on the path but as I ran towards them they scurried into the water.

Running was not the highlight of my week though this week. We had our neighborhood yard sales this weekend so we spent most of the week preparing for that. We hadn't participated in the sales the past few years so this year we had plenty to set out.  I was so pleased to see how much stuff actually went and the little bit that we had left got donated.  I've pretty much kept every CD I've ever owned since High School and I finally decided it was time to let them go. I can't even tell you the last time I listened to a CD (I don't even have a CD player except for in my car). I sold the CD's for 50 cents a piece and every person that bought one, bought more than just one. They were a big hit!

Now that I have less "junk" in my house, I've done a major Spring Cleaning. I feel so refreshed! If my house could talk, I'm sure it's giving a sigh of relief right about now!  

I'm looking forward to redecorated a few rooms. I started in my bathroom this weekend. I have a palm tree shower curtain that I hang up in the Summer months and then a dark floral one for the winter months.

Not my photo but is the exact same curtain. Source

 However, since our winter was pretty warm, I never ended up taking down the palm tree shower curtain. I'm now tired of it so I am putting up this Tres bombshell one that I had up a few years ago. I also got a chrome shower rod with crystals, gems on the end and crystal/gem shower hooks.  I am now on the hunt for new vanity accessories and some light pink rugs. In all honesty I've been looking for the pink rugs for over a month now.  Apparently pink bathroom rugs are no longer in style. I've looked at  Target, Wal-Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Marshall's, Burlington, Boscov's, Bon-Ton, JC Penny, TJ Maxx, Ross, and Kohls, and K-mart.  I've even looked at their online store too. 

I am finding some extra time on my hands this week so I am going to continue to clean and shop for new house decor!   And that s a wrap! -M

When was the last time you listened to a CD?

Where else can I look for pink rugs?

We are linking up with Holly and Tricia for the weekly Wrap!

Something you DON'T Want to see on a Run

If you all got a chuckle out of Wednesday's post on what I though I saw, then you're gonnna love this post!

This week was my week to get back at it! I could tell my chest was still a little tight so some full out running was not going to happen (until Thursday). Instead, I dug out my fitness tracker from ifit and gave myself some new goals to work towards. I would try to get 10,000 steps in each day.  I know a lot of you do this every day, but boy it can be a challenge, especially if you are not running(or walking) at least 3 miles a day.

My sister kept me company on a 5 mile walk/run (but mostly walk) on Monday, and then again for 3.6 miles on Tuesday.  Wednesday and Friday I walked and Thursday I ran. It was a challenge but I did get 10,000 steps in each day.

Okay, now back to the Thursday's 3 mile run on the Island.  This time of year the Island Park is just swarming with visitors. Soccer is in full gear and there are always games and practices going on in the fields and kids playing at the playground. The inner paths are filled withe walkers, runners, people with dogs, kids with bikes, etc.  Us serious runners, often deviate from the inner path out to the North and South trails which are in the woods. They are clearly marked as trails and people have been using them for years. Just to be clear, there is no mistaking these are walking/running paths.

Well, I did my first mile on the inner trail (I got my pace down to a 9:12 which I thought was pretty good for me for my first run in a while) and then decided to run the South trail in the woods. The south trail runs along the water, comes to a point, and then I loop and run up the opposite side of the island.  As I was running I could see that some Spring clean up had happened. Trees were trimmed, a lot of brush was cleared out, and some trees were cut down leaving just stumps for now.

Not the exact spot but a picture from the Island Trail.

As I got half way down the other side of the island, I could see further ahead that something was blocking the path. I couldn't quite tell what it was. Maybe a stump? As I got closer I saw a turqoise color and what looked like a plumbers butt.  Had someone fallen? Was someone hurt?  OMG was someone being attacked??

This is NOT a picture from this day, but this is almost exactly where the "incident" occurred and I wanted you to see the path I was talking about.

And then I saw what was happening. Eeek! It never occurred to me to give them privacy and turn myself around. All I kept thinking in that short amount of time was how I would get around them as they were clearly RIGHT ON the path (and this is a dirt path at this point).  The most discreet thing for me to do would be to run below them, but that only gave me a narrow path that is banked into the river and at this point I was running pretty fast and didn't want to take a chance of slipping.  So I ended up running above them. Thank goodness I had my sunglasses on  cus I looked directly down and just kept running.  The man heard my feet shuffling when I ran passed and he quickly got up and I heard them both start to giggle.

I got to the end of the wooded area and turned back around to run the loop in the opposite direction.  I was not deviating my running plan because of these two.  As I ran by them again, they had put themselves together and were standing upright. As I ran by I mentioned to them that this would be my last loop running by and just smiled. They giggled and said I was just fine. Darn right I was fine!  What do they think they are doing????  I am not condoning what they were doing but geeze, they could have at least took it off the path into the grass area. There is a grassy lawn area right above the path that is still secluded with tress and no one ever walks up there, that could have been their spot! For that matter, there are many other "hidden" spots around the island they could have found to be alone.

Clearly these people where not locals or they would have known how busy these paths get (even the wooded ones). My case in point,  shortly after I passed the couple for the second time, I passed another runner coming in that direction.

So, that's my best running story for the week. Heck, it might be my best running story all season. We will see!

Anyone have a story quite like this to share? -M

We are linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap!

Weekly Wrap ....March 26

If you've been following along with us then you know the most exciting things that happened this past week happened on Sunday when Lacey ran the Shamrock Marathon and I ran the NYC Half Marathon.

We had two very different races.  You can go back and read her recap HERE.   I previously talked about how I got into the NYC half, the expo,the hotel, and the logistics of how it all worked. If you are at all interested in the NYC half, be sure to check out that post HERE.   I'll have my recap up tomorrow so I do hope you come back to read it then!

After Sunday, we both pretty much took the week off from running. The front of my quads were a little sore and I think Lacey may have caught a cold.  By Wednesday I had the itch to get out there again but because of a busy schedule, I didn't. I figured I deserved the time off so I just enjoyed it.

Saturday I got up and rode 5 miles on the bike followed by some stretches. I even attempted to do the stability ball sit ups I learned from Megan.

It was beautiful on Saturday and I wanted to take advantage of the day by getting a run in but by the time I was done with house work and company, it was after 3:00 pm and I knew I needed to go run some errands at the mall (and still be back in time to give Baylee her pills).  I was debating on just skipping my errands to take advantage of the warm weather but then my sister reminded me that nice days are not few and far between. They'll be another one right around the corner. I had to laugh because I was actually thinking the same thing!

I'm really pleased with how my training cycle for NYC went. Not only did I have perfect weather for most of my runs, I actually ended up keeping a record of most of them (except the treadmill runs). I actually had fun documenting all my runs and looking back, I can remember little details about each and every one of them like the time I tried to finish my miles before the storm came through, the time I saw 6 deer in the park, the time I ran in the pouring rain, and when I felt triumphant after my first 13.1 run of the year, etc.  I'm not quite sure why I need to remember each run, but I am a journalist by trade so I guess my need to document things comes naturally!

I'd like to start keeping a pictorial log of the rest of the races I train for this year and see how that goes. Although my next race is in 2 weekends so I'm not sure I'll have much to add to it!

Training (or at least keeping up with my runs) for Hershey starts continues, tomorrow! -M

We are linking up with the lovely Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap!