Marathon training: less than 2 weeks to go...

Dear 30 year old body,

I understand that I have asked a lot of you this past year. I realize that I feed you crap like chocolate donuts, ice cream, crown and cokes, and pizza and then expect you to function properly... but please, please, please just hold it together until February 14th at 1 PM. That is when I have to finish running my first marathon or I will get chased from the course by the running authorities.

Knees~ please keep working with minimal pain.
Entire body~ please stay hydrated.
Hips~ please don't hurt.
Toenails~ please stay attached to my toes and retain your proper color so I can FINALLY get a pedicure.
Stomach~ please don't have any sort of problem that could be inconvenient while trying to run.
Shins~ please don't explode.

Body, I promise I will be nicer to you after the marathon. We will go for walks instead of runs, we will eat healthier, we will do some yoga and flexibility training, we will ride the bike for a change. Just please get me through the marathon.

Love,
Tasha

New shoes... again.

Let me introduce my new BFFs. The Mizuno Wave Rider 13.


I am a creature of habit... I bought the exact same shoes I already had... but in a different color. The old ones had about 380 miles on them so they were within the range for replacement. I love these! They are fluffy clouds of happiness for my feet.


I did my longest run ever on Sunday... 20 miles and I didn't die. At least my feet still looked good by the time I was finished running, I can NOT say the same for the rest of me. After more than 3 and a half hours on the treadmill, I went through 2 Gu packets, 5 bottles of water, my clothes were completely soaked, my pony tail was a matted ball of grossness, and I looked like a crazy homeless woman that had been run over by a street cleaner. Sexy, I know.

My knee started acting up around mile 14 and I could only run at 5.6 mph. Anything faster and I thought I would die. I slowed down and enjoyed the run while watching VH1 smut and listening to peppy music. Good times! My quads are still pretty sore but the knee feels fine now. I'm going for a short run tonight to loosen up the muscles.


Happy Tuesday to all!

Mission: Sell this house!

We're planning to put the house on the market in a couple of weeks so there are about a million things to do before then. We had the carpets cleaned so everything that was in 3 bedrooms ended up in our living room and dining room. Here is a very scary sample of how the house looked for the first half of the week (please excuse the quality of the cell phone pic since my camera is buried somewhere in this mess). It could be from that Hoarders TV show!!! We have lots of books... apparently.



Now, everything is almost back in place. We've started packing away unnecessary items and discarding unwanted things to declutter the house and I must admit that I LOVE getting rid of things. We're planning a garage sale in March so we can't wait to unload a bunch of junk treasures.

Here's the list of things to do in the next couple of months:
1. clean carpets
2. fix air conditioner
3. paint inside
4. paint gutters
5. power wash deck
6. new mulch and replace dead bush outside
7. fix electrical outlets
8. fix fireplace
9. garage sale!
10. train for a marathon
11. find a job in San Antonio
12. find a new house


Wow... I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed now, but everything will be fine because tonight is date night at Olive Garden and there will be a glass of wine or two for this gal tonight!

Marathon training

I'm still on the marathon training wagon and this weekend is supposed to be a 20 mile long run (the longest run ever before the marathon). EEK!!! I must admit that I am terrified. I'm in search of ANOTHER pair of running shoes before this Saturday's run. I bought new ones back in September but my shins and knees have been hurting lately so I added up my mileage on the "new" shoes. Yup, I have about 380 miles on them... getting close to the dreaded 400 mile mark. Time to replace the shoes. I guess running is still an inexpensive hobby... as far as hobbies go. Golfers shell out $50 per game for one day, so a new pair of running shoes 2 or 3 times a year isn't awful.

My pace has slowed considerably during these long runs. For 5 k runs, I hang out around the 9:00 - 9:30 mile, but the longer distances keep me around 10:30 - 11:00 miles. If I can finish the marathon before the cut off time, I will be insanely proud of myself! I'm not trying to qualify for the Boston or anything, I just want to prove to myself that I can run a marathon and put that 26.2 sticker on my car. Running a marathon is something that I never would have dreamed about a couple of years ago. In 3.5 weeks, it will be time for me to run, run, run!

What do you want to do that you think is impossible? Any dreams to share?

What have you already done that you thought was impossible?

What are you reading?

I recently finished two books that I really enjoyed... both are nonfiction so I guess I am branching out of my usual type of book.

It seems like everyone but me has read Angela's Ashes! (Now I need to see the movie). I keep hearing how great this book is so I decided to check it out... It was wonderful. It describes the author's life as a young boy who is born to Irish immigrant parents in New York during the Great Depression. They decide to return to Ireland because of the hard times in the United States. The book describes the boy's life of poverty with an alcoholic father, a mother who sacrifices her pride to beg for relief money from the government to feed her starving family, and siblings who are nearly starving. This book will make anyone thankful for their life. It is a powerful book.

(It also made me gain 3 pounds because of how much the author describes his hunger throughout his life. I felt so bad for him that I snacked way too much while reading)!

A Walk in the Woods was recommended by a coworker and it was very entertaining. It is about two middle aged, out of shape men who decide to hike the Appalachian Trail. These two guys have no hiking experience, no camping experience, and have very little in common. The trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and the descriptions of some of their experiences will make you giggle out loud. It also has a lot of information about wilderness conservation and American history. It was interesting as well as light hearted.

My next book club selection is The Help. I have just started it and I am really enjoying it so far.

Has anyone read any of these? What did you think? What are you reading right now?

Marathon training

I have barely a month to go until the insane exhilarating experience of running my first marathon! I will be doing the Birmingham Mercedes Marathon on Valentine's weekend.

I'm on track (hee hee, get it? yes, corny, I know) with my training guide and did a long run last weekend of 18.6 miles. It took me 3 hrs and 15 min. Hey, I'm a cheetah in my own mind. I'm a little worried that Hal Higdon's training guide has the longest run before the marathon at a distance of 20 miles. What about that last 6.2 miles?! I'm terrified of bonking out in that last stretch and having to crawl my way across the finish line! But I suppose I will stick with the guide and assume that Mr. Higdon knows what he is doing.

I definitely need a hydration belt before the run. I know they are the dorkiest looking things but if I get thirsty and don't have water, I won't care how I look.

Not to mention, there is nothing cute about running a marathon in February. I can only imagine the amount of snot, sweat, and tears my body will produce. Gross. Why did I sign up for this again!? I suppose I like to challenge myself from time to time. I turned 30 last year and started running a few months before that. Then I became obsessed by it. There is nothing quite like the feeling of getting off that treadmill knowing that you just ran a mile for the first time in your life...

and then 2 miles...

and then a 5 k...

and then a 10 k...

and then a half marathon!

Shoot, by that point, anything is possible! Anything = a marathon to me (I hope!)

Gonna make a pie, gonna make a pie...

Does that song from the movie The Waitress get stuck in anyone's head?

Gonna make a pie,

gonna make a pie,

gonna make a pie with a heart in the middle....

But I digress.

My mama taught me to make a pie during the holidays. Her dad taught her when she was little. He worked in a bakery, so I was excited to learn some pie making secrets.

This bad boy was made from scratch (well mostly, there was instant vanilla pudding involved but that doesn't count in my opinion). We made the crust and I actually used a rolling pin for something other than threatening my husband with a beating, so I get points for domesticity. It was coconut heaven. Yum!

Here's the coconut pie recipe for anyone who is domestically challenged like me:

Crust (for 9 inch pie plate):

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup COLD crisco

1/4 cup COLD water

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Mix gently in a bowl using your hands until the consistency is similar to cornmeal. Make a ball with the dough. Add a little flour to the outside of the dough ball and lay it on wax paper that has flour on it. Use a rolling pin (add flour to this too) to roll out the dough until it fits in the pie plate. (Lay something heavy on the sides of the wax paper or you will wrestle it to death). To transfer the dough to the pie plate, fold it in half or quarters and lay it in pie plate and unfold. Cut around the pie plate with a knife to remove excess dough. Pinch the edge of the crust with thumb and forefinger to make a decorative border. Poke some small holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork. Bake at 325 degrees F for approximately 20 minutes or until crust is slightly brown. Let pie crust cool to room temperature before adding filling.

Filling:

One package of instant vanilla pudding.

1 cup coconut

Follow directions for using pudding as pie filling. Whip pudding for 2 minutes until it thickens and mix in 1 cup shredded coconut. Transfer filling to pie crust.

Topping:

2 egg whites

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1/4 cup coconut

Whip egg whites fast with hand mixer until they turn white and fluffy and until they can make a peak when you touch them. (about 2 minutes). Once they are fluffy, mix in powdered sugar and whip for a few seconds more. Top the pie filling with this mixture.

Sprinkle with coconut. Broil for a couple of minutes until the coconut browns. Watch it closely because it browns really fast!

Pie is ready to eat! Enjoy!

Resolution time!

Happy New Year!

I have completely neglected my blog because I have been SO stinkin' busy for the past month. If I still have any readers after my prolonged absence from the blogosphere, I hope everyone (all 2 of you who may still be reading) had a lovely holiday season!

Do you have any resolutions?

Here are mine...

1. Quit cursing like a sailor when I'm in traffic. I manage to keep my mouth under control ***until*** I get in the car. I need to be better about that.

2. Eat healthy. I need to quit eating everything in sight the minute I step foot in my house in the evening. I need to be patient enough to take an extra 20 minutes to make some sort of dinner. Plus, I feel pretty guilty for making my husband survive off of Subway sandwiches.

3. Read more. My goal is to read at least one extra book per month other than what I read for book club.

4. Be a better friend. Stay in touch more often with old friends. Listen more, talk less.

5. Watch less TV. (But the Bachelor started again, and Biggest Loser is on, and Modern Family makes me laugh... ok, ok, I realize that this isn't a realistic resolution but how about shooting for 4 out of 5?!)

The Christmas spirit...

I'm definitely in the Christmas spirit. I love everything about Christmas. It seems to make Santa Clauses out of even the meanest grinches.

The "toys for tots" box at work is filled to the brim. One of my coworkers is arranging to pick up names from an angel tree so I told her to pick one for me this year. I always have such a hard time choosing one. Just one little angel. It seems like such an insignificant attempt at helping. I always want to help them all but it's just impossible. There are so many little angels on those trees and it breaks me heart.

My question is... how do you choose who to help? Where do you stop? There is so much need in the world and it always seems especially prevalent at Christmas. I was always such a lucky child at Christmas. There were always many gifts to open, a warm house where I waited for Santa Claus to visit, and a loving family surrounding me. There are so many kids out there in need.

The story of the starfish keeps coming to mind when I ask myself, "Does it really matter? I can't help them all. What can I do for those kids in need?"

The starfish story...

Once an old man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see boy going back and forth between the surf's edge and and the beach. Back and forth this little boy went. As the man approached he could see that there were thousands of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the tide.

The old man was stuck by the the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached the little boy continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf.

As he came up to the boy he said, "You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can't possibly make a difference. What you are doing doesn't matter."

The little boy looked at the man. Then he bent down and picked up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, "It sure made a difference to that one!"

Please consider making a difference to someone this Christmas.

Yankee Candle giveaway!

Hannah at The New Black is hosting a Yankee candle giveaway! Her blog is so much fun and you will like it! I promise!

Cruise over to her blog here to enter!

Everyone loves Yankee candles!