Tough Thursday? I am not sure...

Our bubble at work popped last week. My company had to lay off 7 people and I was one of the "unlucky" ones. Shocked COMPLETELY. Less than four weeks ago we were told everything was OK, no more unnecessary spending, and then had an ice cream social...hmmm. BUT, am I upset, not totally, its summer and I am on "summer vacation". I have no debt, I am in a good position to be unemployed. Gonna take the summer off from work and enjoy myself.

I am also going to take this opportunity to get things done around the house that I have been wanting to do since we moved in 2 years ago. I am going to really look for a job that I love. Will it be in marketing/advertising, I don't know. Could be, but maybe for a non-profit. Something more fulfilling. For now, I may already have a part time summer job, doing something I LOVE, coaching swimming. I noticed that whenever something in my life is not going right, or something bad happens, swimming is ALWAYS there for me. Its very comforting.

Stay tuned for before and after pictures of all of my house projects. Painting starts tomorrow.

Until then, I will enjoy some wine.

13.1...Complete!

I finished my 1/2 this past weekend in 2 hours and 1 minute. My goal was to finish between 2 hours and 2:05, so my goal was accomplished. At one point I thought I might make it in under 2 hours, but that didn't happen. Oh well. Here is a little run down of the day.

We got to the START line around 7.45am. J did the first half, so he was at the starting line. Shortly after the start it began to rain..and then rain harder. I headed to the bus to take it to the half way mark where J would hand off to me. You can only do a half at the VCM if you get a 2-person relay slot. At the half way mark, the first person hands off the timing chip and you are on your way! Once J got to the hand off it had pretty much stopped raining. He finished in 1 hour and 46 minutes. It was a little drizzly when I started, but by the end there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining.

Here are some stats:
OVERALL out of ALL relays (2-person and 3-5 person): 431st out of 1,250 teams (819 teams were behind us
OVERALL out of all 2-person relays: 217th out of 622 teams (405 teams behind us)
OVERALL out of MIXED (Gal and Guy) relays:76th out of 239 teams (163 teams behind us)




J ran an average of 8 minute 9 second miles, I was on a 9 minute 16 second pace. Which was right on target for me. My first mile was a sun 8 minute mile (7:55), NOT GOOD (especially with hard break hill coming up...a 6 block hill climb...KILLER)! When I looked at my watch I knew I had to slow down...a lot, or else I would not make it to the end.

Afterward, we had a big picnic at the house with all of my running buddies and a bunch of family and friends. A great way to kick off the summer!


the start


There goes J


Heartbreak Hill


Around the bend, mom in sight (that's who I am high 5'ing) and the finish line!


Here I come to the finish


Running past dad


Crossing the finish line


Party time


Hanging by the pool


Perfect day for a party.

GO TIME!

Start is in less than 2 hours. I am up and ready to eat some breakfast.
BUT...there is no sun right now :(

The big day is almost here!

Sunday...day after tomorrow...I will be running my first 1/2 marathon.
I am pretty excited to run, but also excited for it to be over too. I mean, I like the running part, but the stress of having to do long 10-12 mile runs on the weekends gets old quick. Although, it has been fun to run in the mornings with the girls.

One exciting piece of news, the VCM (Vermont City Marathon...aka Burlington because we only have one city!), is that it was just rated one of the top 10 Marathons to run in the USA by USA Today! CLICK HERE for the article.

The weather should be perfect conditions. In the high 60's low 70's.
Chilly in the morning and beautiful afterward for the picnic :)

T MINUS 5 DAYS!

The 1/2 is in 5 days. Weather forecast is good. Sunny and in the 70's. Which means it should be cool in the morning.

My new Ice Cream Flavor

Vanilla Ice cream, with almonds and waffle cone pieces and cookie dough swirl.
YUMMY!

To buy or not to buy.

The half-marathon is a week from Sunday. Afterwards we are celebrating at the house. The girls I train with and their families are coming over as well as a bunch of friends. I found this door mat in Real Simple. I really want to get it. I thought it would be fun to have in front of the door when everyone gets there, BUT...Do I really need this?!?!?

Longest run yet

I ran 12 miles today and it felt great. I never thought I would be able to run that long. I bought a fuel belt yesterday and filled 2 bottles with Gatorade and 2 with water. I also brought along a GU and a few glucose tablets. Used half a tab and one Gatorade and one water. It wasn't too hot out. We started early, 8.45am and finished about 10.35, right before the rain started. Finished it off with a cremee...YUMMO! (for those of you that don't live in VT, a cremee is soft serve ice cream).

Have a great weekend!

Lunch workout today...

A quick one, but a good one. Got the heart rate up pretty quickly.

I started with the 400 as a build up, slow to faster. The 200 IM I sprinted.
I took 10 seconds rest between the fly 25's. I took 10 seconds between the backstroke 25's, did the breast straight through and 5 seconds between the free 25's.

Jon and Kate

I really hope these are not true, or at least there is an explanation for them.
I feel bad for that family...

Guess who I saw...

I was leaving the gym today, and guess who I saw...

Captain Richard Phillips.
He is a member at the same gym I am a member of.
I felt like I was running into a celebrity.

Smart Shopping

VS.
So, I went to the grocery store to buy cream cheese the other day, and in my efforts to cut down on plastic I decided to buy the block of Philadelphia cream cheese instead of the little tub. Surprisingly, I also saved $1.50. The cheese that is in the block in the paper box is .99 cents, the cheese in the PLASTIC tub is $1.50. So you are paying extra money for plastic and convenience.

tip of the day: buy cream cheese in a block

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I baked YUMMY cupcakes today.
Margarita cupcakes with Key Lime frosting.
They were super easy to make and are very light and refreshing. Its like summer baked into a cupcake.

(one with a strawberry on top and one without).

Here are the recipes if you are interested.
Margarita Cupcakes
Key Lime Frosting

ENJOY!