Today’s post is all over the place. I blame my lack of decent sleep the past few nights (fingers crossed for tonight!).

Saturday night we went out to dinner at a local place called Verona’s. I had this awesome chef salad with bleu cheese. I didn’t think it looked that big when they brought it out, but I ended up taking home about half of it.

I can’t remember ever getting a chef salad that came with banana peppers. Maybe I’ve always just gotten lame chef salads or something, but I was really surprised they were on there. I love banana peppers… I can eat them right out of the jar.

Sunday I took a rest day and we were pretty much just around the house all day. It started snowing/sleeting in the morning and that carried on through out the day. I was more than happy to stay inside and out of the weather.

It was snowing so hard you can’t even really see the mountains

I finished book 3 of the Joe Pickett series (by C.J. Box) so now it’s on to book 4, called Trophy Hunt. Lucky I thought ahead and picked it up from the library on Saturday after my long run.

This morning I did a level 1 workout from the 30 day shred. I wanted to see how it felt to go back to level 1 after having completed the 30 day shred program last week. Some of the exercises were easy (most of the ab and cardio stuff), but most of the strength stuff was still challenging, due to being able to use heavier weights, do more reps during push ups, etc.

It has been blustery and snowy all day today and I’m glad it wasn’t a running day. Tomorrow I have a 4 mile progressive run planned, and it will get done regardless of the weather/wind. For now I will leave the outside shenanigans to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (also known as Hank and Scout), who seem to really enjoy this snow, as evidenced by the thousand paw prints in our backyard.

What’s your favorite kind of salad?
I love the Mediterranean Chicken Salad with Tzatziki dressing from Quiznos. But the closest Quiznos is about 45 minutes away, so I hardly ever go.

Have you read any good books lately? What’s your favorite book/book series?

If you have any pets, do they like being out in the snow and cold?

Fly by post today since my husband’s parents are visiting for the weekend!

Yesterday was my first complete rest day in 35 days. In lieu of exercise I spent the afternoon/evening giving Hank and Scout baths, cleaning the floors, dusting, and doing laundry. At the end of the day I still felt like I had done a decent amount of work (my back said so, anyway). Before all that happened, I went and got my hair cut after work. It felt great to get some of the length off of it. Here is the before picture:

And here is the after picture:

And here’s how it looks when I haven’t had it blow dried/straightened by my hairdresser:

Works for me!

This morning I met up with my running buddy, Kim, for a long run at the trail in town. Barry came, too, but he did his own long run at a faster pace (nearly 12 miles at 8:04 pace!). I thought it was nearly 40 degrees, so I wore shorts and a long sleeve shirt, but it turns out it was closer to 32 degrees at the start. It did warm up to 40 degrees by the end of the run, though. I was a bit cold at the start, but I warmed up. Kim and I did 8 miles together, and then I headed back out for 2 more for a total of 10 miles.

As I headed out for my last 2 miles a freight train was coming through town. He was going really slow since there was an Easter egg hunt going on in the park right next to the train tracks. I tried to race him, but it turns out even a slow freight train is still pretty fast. I held my own for about 100 feet and then he passed me. Next time, freight train, next time…

We ran a few errands in town and came home and grabbed quick showers. Then we headed up to Radford with my in-laws for some lunch. After lunch we got some fro-yo. It had been entirely too long! (I think since Christmas)

I put vanilla flavored frozen yogurt topped with strawberries and pineapple and then another layer of vanilla yogurt with gummie worms, reese’s pieces, and nerds. Just as we sat we down to eat the movie “Flicka” came on TV. I tried to eat my fro-yo really slow so we could stay and watch the whole thing, but that didn’t work out.

Once we finished gallivanting around Radford, we took the scenic route home and showed my in-laws the farm my husband works at, which is down the road from our house. These are some dairy cows out in the field. I made it big so it’d be easier to see.

They also raise beef cattle. Do you see the new babies laying on the hill? They look like ants in this picture.

Do you get excited to get your hair cut? How often do you get it cut?
I get mine cut every 4-6 months. I think you’re supposed to go more frequently than that, though.

What is your long run/workout this weekend?

Have you ever seen the movie Flicka with Tim McGraw?

This morning I woke up to a blanket of white snow on the ground. I didn’t even know it was supposed to snow! All I remember is seeing 52 for the high, a picture of the sun, and 40%, which I thought meant 40% chance of rain. Somehow it never got above 31 degrees today and the wind is as bad as it was on Tuesday. It’s currently 27 degrees, but it feels like 17 degrees with the 18 mph winds.

Despite the unfavorable weather, I headed out for a 4 mile recovery run after work. I just ran on the roads around our house and ran a 9:55 average pace. I probably should have run a bit slower, because my legs felt really tired today, but it was so cold and windy and I just wanted to be done.

This is really random, but why not share the random thoughts that go through my head on a daily basis? I had a Golden Delicious apple today (they are delicious!) and I got to thinking about something. How cool would it have been to have been the person that got to name all the varieties of apples?? I am imagining a person sitting at a table with all of these types of apples in front of them, taking a bite out of each one, and writing down a name. What a fun job that would be!

It is now almost 6:15 PM and I am already showered and in my PJ’s for the night. Happy Friday Eve!

What is the weather where you are today?

Do you like apples? What’s your favorite variety?
I love honey crisp apples, but they’re so expensive! Golden delicious is my second favorite.

Guess what I didn’t do this morning? A 30 day shred workout! My first morning in 30 days not getting up and doing that workout. I really liked the three workouts (levels 1, 2, and 3) and I’d recommend them to other runners as a great form of cross training. After completing the program I feel stronger, especially in my core and upper body, and I feel like my running has improved. But honestly after you do something for 30 days in a row, it’s nice to take a break. I’m planning to do another shred workout next Monday.

This evening I went for a run with Barry. We did a 5 mile tempo run on the trail in town. It’s pretty nice outside today: 46 degrees and not nearly as windy as yesterday. The plan for today run was to do a one mile warm up, 3 miles 9:06-9:20 pace, and then one mile cool down. I figured out what my tempo pace should be using McMillan’s Running Calculator by plugging in my recent 10K race time. Here are the splits:

Mile 1 (warm up): 10:35
Mile 2: 9:04
Mile 3: 8:49
Mile 4: 8:51
Mile 5 (cool down): 10:27

Overall average pace was 9:34/mile. All three of my tempo miles were below the pace range established by the McMillan Calculator. The 10K time I used was from the only 10K race I’ve ever run (from this past weekend) and it was a hilly race, so maybe not the best indicator. Either way, a successful tempo run is in the books. It really helped me to have Barry with me tonight. He sets a great pace and I can just stick with him, although I still tend to stalk my Garmin like crazy during those middle miles.

I have one other thing to share with you today. Check out the view I had today at work:

I snapped this picture from an overlook off of a road I was driving on that goes over a mountain between two towns. I made it x-large so you could see it better. Views like that never get old and pictures just don’t do them justice.

What was your workout today?

Have you ever followed an exercise program that had you doing something everyday for a certain number of days in a row? Did you like it? Were you ready to be done with it at the end?
I just finished the 30 day shred and last winter I completed the 90 day p90x program.

This morning I did my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred level 3 workout. Guess what!? Today was day 30 which means I am all done with the 30 day program! I intend to incorporate this into my cross training, especially until it gets warm enough to ride my bike.

Biking on the state park trail

P.S. The weather man just used the words “snow” “big kahuna” and “Sunday night” in the same sentence…. oh boy.

P.P.S. The news also just reported there is a Lululemon recall on 17% of their yoga pants because they are see-through! CNN Article HERE

Did you know about the Lululemon recall??