Today is a rest day from running for marathon training, so I spent some time with my old friend Jillian doing some 30 day shred cross training. Yesterday Barry and I celebrated one year in our house. And by celebrate I mean we acknowledged it… no party or anything 🙂

We closed on our house around Memorial Day last year and moved the weekend of June 30 to July 1. Some of you may remember this weekend as The Derecho Event. That’s right- we moved during a line of severe thunderstorms that came in one right after the other. The power went out the first night. We had moved all of our large furniture, but were still making back and forth trips from our old house moving all of the other stuff, with the help of my mom. We actually had a hard time getting back to our old house due to downed trees on the two lane roads around our house. Trees also came down at our new house.

The worst part: our old house still had power, but the new one didn’t. However, the new house was where our bed and the majority of our stuff was. It was quite an experience. The power stayed out for the next 6-7 days and it reached 100 degrees on most of those days. Barry’s parents brought us their generator on the second night without power, so we were able to save our chest freezer and fridge full of food. We were also able to run a window AC unit and charge our cell phones.

Luckily we didn’t intend to use this satellite dish. It was left by the previous owners. We also had a branch from the tree in our front yard come down, and to this day it still has a gaping hole in the middle.

Once we got through that first week, we focused on settling in to our new house. We bought new living room furniture and I learned how to put together many things, including a DVD cabinet, a hall tree, and rocking chairs. I put all three of those together with little to no help from Barry. A proud moment for me (after the frustration passed).

Over this past year we have done many projects. Prior to moving in we painted the entire main level, had a heat pump installed, and Barry and his friend installed a chain link fence around the backyard to keep the dogs in.

My Dad built us a landing and steps off of our deck that would go into the fenced in yard. Previously the deck only had a rickety stairway that went into the driveway.

Thanksgiving was spent installing four new windows across the front of the house with the help of my Dad. He came back in April and helped us do the other two that were left (the previous owners had done the other 3 on the main level already).

We kept losing shingles from our roof anytime we had strong winds, so this spring we decided to have a new roof installed. We went with a metal roof, which will hold up better to the weather and the way the wind comes in. It seems like we’ve done so much in the course of a year, but I’ve learned that the projects never stop with home ownership.

In the future we are hoping to replace our garage door, paint the porch, and build some steps to connect the driveway to the porch. Barry is going to get some good use out of that leather tool belt I got him for our anniversary!

How long have you lived where you currently live?

What do you live in? House? Apartment? Yurt?

Do you rent or own?

Today is an exciting day because it is day one of my 20 week marathon training plan, with all roads leading to the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon . I know what you’re thinking… calm down, it’s day 1 and you have a long ways to go. And I know I do. However, I cannot help but smile when I think about the path I’m starting down. There will be good days, great days, and terrible ones, but in the end I expect to be toeing the line (figuratively… we all know I’m not starting at the front of any race) on Saturday, November 16 ready and raring to go.

Day 1 of training had me doing a 3 mile run. I ran on the roads around our house and aside from it being hot and getting chased by three dogs, it was uneventful. Actually that’s all that’s on my schedule this week: four 3 mile runs. I’m not a big fan of only doing 12 miles total for the week, so I think I will bump up my long run to 6 miles or so. I plan to do that until my current mileage blends in with the training plan (around week 5), instead of dropping all the way down to a lower weekly mileage.

For the first 4 weeks my plan has me running four days per week, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. This is very different from my usual Tuesday-Thursday and then Saturday. After the first four weeks I will start running five days per week, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with my long run being on Saturdays. I am looking forward to this change in pace, as my previously mentioned “usual” way of running is the only format I have ever used when training for a race.

Yesterday I celebrated my last day of freedom from a training plan with an 8 mile long run with my running buddy, Kim. We met up for a run at my all time favorite trail, the Huckleberry Trail. I snapped this picture when we were halfway through our run. It was overcast, but really humid as you can probably tell.

Our turn around point was right at a section of the trail that I refer to as the bacon strip. It has several very small rolling hills, and it looks like every picture of bacon I have ever seen. Kim pointed out yesterday that when you cook bacon at home it never actually looks like this, though. Or maybe yours does… ours always come out flat.

I made it extra large because it’s already kind of difficult to see, but there are three hills in this picture. The last one is at the far end. For anyone who is familiar with the Huckleberry Trail (I know there are at least three of you) the bacon strip is the area right after the mile 2 marker, when you are heading towards the mall in Christiansburg.

I plan to do some of my long runs at the Huckleberry Trail during marathon training. I love running on this trail, I know it like the back of my hand, and there’s always so many people out and about to say ‘good morning’ to. For now I’ve got my marathon training plan in hand (yes, I printed it out…that way I can cross off each day as I go), so don’t ask me to do anything that’s not on it. I may move runs to different days during the week if needed, but that is it.

This training plan will be the longest one I have ever followed. To help cope with the monotony that comes with a long training cycle, I have a few races planned that match up well (if not exactly) with my long runs. They’re over on the left sidebar if you want to check them out. I have found in the past that this really helps. Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon or bust!

P.S. Sorry if some of you saw a bit of this post yesterday. I was working on pre-writing a bit. I always go back in and add the details before posting, but having the outline/shell of the post written helps during a busy week.

What’s the longest training plan you have ever followed?

How do you deal with the monotony of training?

What are you currently training for?

Have you been dealing with humid weather lately, too?

No new revelations to report in the world of chickens this week. Instead I thought I’d share about the special treats (aka: table scraps) you can feed chickens. I’ve talked about it here and there during this series, but I thought actually doing a post on the do’s and don’ts of chicken treats would be good.

I did a lot of research beforehand on what types of table scraps are okay to feed chickens before I started giving them anything other than their feed. I found a lot of good information on a website called BackYard Chickens. The general rule of thumb is that you don’t want to give them too much of anything. It’s still important for them to mainly be eating their feed, which is specially formulated with the nutrients they need. Just like giving your dog a treat or eating dessert.

So what do my chickens love?

Mainly fruit. They love strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, blueberries, and pineapple.

I buy whole cantaloupe and honeydew once every two weeks, and I give the chickens the extra flesh and seeds that I scoop out. I also give them the tops of strawberries and as the fruit starts to get soft I will give them scraps if we aren’t going to finish all of it.

You can feed chickens vegetables, too, but mine aren’t too keen on those. The only veggie I’ve tried is sugar snap peas and all they did was spread them around everywhere.

I have also given them Rye bread that was going stale, and they really seemed to like it.

It was a great use for stale bread, but it’s also important to make sure you feed starches in moderation. So far it looks like the chickens’ favorite food is strawberries. They go nuts when I put strawberries in the bowl for them.

You can give them all sorts of other table scraps as well. They supposedly love cabbage and lettuce, so I will have to give that a try (I usually do not share my lettuce :). You can also give them cooked pasta. It would be funny to watch them eat spaghetti. Come Halloween time they will definitely be getting the innards from my Jack-o-lanterns. I have also read that you can feed them yogurt, which is good for their intestinal health. It’s best to feed them plain yogurt.

They can also be fed scratch grains as a treat, which is just tossed out onto the ground in their chicken run area. They love to literally scratch at it and peck at it. Usually it consists of cracked corn and/or mixed grains. This is something you should wait to feed your chickens until they are adults, though. Always read the label and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

There are some food items which you should not feed your chickens, however. First of all, I have read that it’s not really a good idea to feed them eggs. Some websites say it’s okay to feed them cooked eggs, but others warn that eggs of any kind may lead them to start eating their own eggs.

Also on the no-no list are raw green potato peels, anything really salty, dry beans, avocado skin and pit, and anything sugary such as candy. Most of these foods are not good for the chickens because their bodies are too small to process them (such as salty or sugary foods). Other foods, including the potato skins and avocado, actually contain toxins that will kill the chickens. The dried beans also have a toxin in them, but additionally they pose a choking threat for the chickens.

You can find a full list of all of the foods that are good and bad for chickens, as well as their reasons, on the Chicken Treat Chart over at BackYard Chickens. You can try out all sorts of foods for your chickens and find what they like best. It’s a great use for table scraps that may have otherwise just been thrown in the trash. Just make sure to stay away from the foods on the “no-no” list and never count on your chickens knowing what’s best for them. They will eat almost anything.

My chickens have come to look forward to their treats. When they see me coming with a bag of food they run over to their blue bowl to wait for me to fill it. Sometimes with a little bit too much gusto.

This morning I went for an easy 3 mile run on the roads around our house. It was overcast and it felt pretty cool outside, but once I was running I realized how humid it was. Even though it was a short run, I felt very fatigued at the end. I didn’t eat anything beforehand and I feel like that definitely affected my run. I felt low on energy and the hills felt tougher than they usually do.

In addition to not eating before my run, I only had a few sips of water. It probably would have been best to have a bit more. I was only out there for about 30 minutes, but it was humid and I was sweating like crazy.

A little of this would have been a good idea

I don’t think it’s necessary to eat before an easy 3 mile run. My body shouldn’t need the extra carbohydrates to fuel the run. I think it’s really only necessary to eat before a run that has a higher glycogen demand, such as a long run or a race/hard effort run. That being said, I feel better on any type of run if I eat first.

Speaking of fatigue, my legs still feel tired from my track workout, particularly my hamstrings. After last Saturday’s 5K I was a bit sore, but I got up the next morning and met up with my running buddy for a 6 mile run. After that my legs felt pretty good and I wasn’t sore at all on Monday. Then I had my track workout on Tuesday, but wasn’t able to run Wednesday due to working late and going out to dinner for our anniversary. I think not being able to do an easy, recovery run the day after a hard workout definitely affected how long it took me to recover from the hard workout.
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Did anyone see where one of the team buses got stuck under the finish bridge at the Tour de France?

The driver covering his/her face cracks me up

I have exciting plans for my long run tomorrow! It’s nothing earth shattering, but I am looking forward to meeting up with my running buddy, Kim! 🙂

How do you recover from a tough workout or race?

Morning exercisers: do you eat before you work out? Do you see a noticeable difference when you do eat versus when you don’t?

Attached.

Laura.

Pie! I love Apple Pie and Key Lime Pie!!

Saturday! A day for racing and college football 🙂

Burt’s Bees chapstick. ❤

Purple!! (today… ask me tomorrow and it could change)

Gummy bears.

Fairfax, VA.

Throwback high school flag with mascot “Johnny Reb”

Strawberry ice cream.

July because it’s when my birthday is and it’s summer time! It’s too cold in January and I’m usually sad because Christmas is over.

Eventually. For now, we have dogs.

Running, duh. And I guess my husband, too 😉

June 26.

One younger sister and a sister-in-law.

Apples! Unless it’s halftime at a soccer game, and then Oranges!

The dark and people jumping out at me. They kind of go hand in hand.

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” -T.S. Eliot

Duck Dynasty.

Sweet summertime!

I thought we were playing A to Z, not tag? Plus I prefer duck, duck, goose.

I’ve only had this blog for 5 months, and I can’t remember what I have shared and what I haven’t. That probably means I have shared too much. Here’s an unknown fact: I had two hamsters as pets while I was in college. Hokie and Houdini. I bet you can guess which one got out all of the time and forced me to use twist ties to keep the cage door closed.

Oh and I got gas for $3.08/gallon last week. Although that doesn’t seem so great now that I saw it for $2.98/gallon today.

Baby carrots.

Probably spending too much time on the Internet.

Seriously? You couldn’t come up with a better X question?

Fruit.

Cancer. I think it fits me pretty well. Especially tenacious, devoted, self-reliant (I’m really bad about asking for help), home loving, and of course nicer than everyone else 😉

If you made it to the end, congratulations! Thank goodness there are only 26 letters in the alphabet.

Choose a few or all of the A to Z questions to answer in the comments!