And, it's off!!

** Warning: this is kind of gross!


So, for those of you who have been following me for awhile, you probably remember when my toe looked like this:

If you don't remember, you can read all about it [HERE].  :)

Well, after one big toe stubbing encounter with my office chair, it finally came off!  Three months later!!          **Yes, I know my toes are gross looking and I really need to take that polish off, but whatever!! 

The coolest thing though is that it revealed a brand new toenail growing in its' place.  Aww...it feels so much better to have that off!  I should have listened to all of your advice and took it off myself 3 months ago! :)

S.I.C.K.

*Warning: whining ahead! 
So, I got a prescription for bronchitis on Christmas Eve (yay me!) and have since then developed yet another cold on top of it!  For some reason, my body is just having a really hard time fighting whatever virus I have.  I have a theory though that because my kids were sick, and now they aren't, that somehow my body has absorbed all of their sickness so that they could be better.  That's what moms are for right?!
S is for sleep

What sleep???  All the snot and coughing is making it really hard to sleep.  Thankfully, with my concoction of Theraflu and Delsym I'm able to get some sleep, but not nearly enough to get better!  Ugh!

I is for irritated

source

My nose looks like Rudolph's nose.  It is soooo not attractive right now!  I have been spreading on the Aquaphor like crazy trying to keep the redness at bay.

C is for coughing

I just can't seem to stop coughing!  It seriously sounds like a barking dog when I cough.  It's bad enough that whenever I cough in a public place I get really bad glares from the people around me.  

K is for Kleenex

Seriously, this is ridiculous!  I had to make a special trip to Target yesterday to get more Kleenex.  Ugh!

*My plans for the marathon in 3 weeks are slowly changing.  I haven't been able to run since that 19 miler over a week ago.  I've tried, but I just ended up coughing up a lung!  It was not pleasant!!  Honestly, I don't know what I'm going to do.  I am just frustrated, tired, and DONE with being sick!  

O-kay, I'm done whining!  

I really hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  My family and I had a great time (besides me being sick) and my boys were super excited to see what Santa brought them.  :) 

Holiday Randomness

There were just some random thoughts going through my head, so I thought I'd post some of them!

1. Baking and decorating Christmas cookies is always fun, no matter how old you are!   

2.  Every year we make a special treat for our neighbors.  This year, we made pumpkin bread!  My boys help me make it, then we walk around and deliver it to our neighbors.  It always ends up being a fun and rewarding experience!

3.  One of our Christmas traditions is a time capsule.  I have the boys answer some questions about their favorite things, and then draw/paint a picture.  Then, we put them in a "time capsule."  Every Christmas, we get out the time capsule papers and drawings, read what was written, and talk about how much has changed. My boys love it and they always get a kick out of reading what they liked the previous years!

It's supposed to be a picture of a train on tracks that are on a bridge over grass! :) 

4.  Every year, the Denver Botanical Gardens transforms the gardens into a beautiful light display.  They use thousands and thousands of trees and it is spectacular!  We go every year, regardless of the weather!  Monday night, we took the boys armed with extra warm clothes and mugs full of hot chocolate. 

 5.  If you have kids, you HAVE to go to The Portable North Pole [HERE] and make an email message to your kids from Santa.  It is AWESOME!  My boys, 3 and 5, were in awe and were totally captivated by seeing Santa talking to them on the computer!  

6.  Have you seen the movie, "Santa Buddies" yet?  Seriously, I watched it with my boys the other day and got teary eyed!  When that little dog sings in the pound...wow...tear jerker!  It makes me want to go to the pound and adopt every dot that's there!

Source

7.  I think this will be the first year in a long time that we won't have a "white Christmas."  It makes me kind of sad because although I've enjoyed the warmer temperatures, I have always loved having snow on Christmas. However, I know the snow is coming and when it does, I'll be wishing for these warm, dry temperatures again! 


Happy Holidays everyone! Thank you for being such wonderful blogger friends!  :)

My Almost 20 Mile Run

So, this past weekend, I decided I was going to try and do my 20 mile run.  Originally, I was going to do it Saturday  morning, but my husband and I had so many errands to run, that I decided to push it back to the afternoon.  The temperature outside was cold, in the low 30s, but there wasn't a lot of wind.  Now, I am a wuss in cold weather, but I needed to get my run in, and I thought that if I bundled up I would be o-kay.  Here is my outfit:

Look at all of that reflective material!
Let's see how many different brands I'm wearing.  Nike jacket, Sugoi long sleeve shirt, Saucony tights, Saucony gloves, and Under Armour hat.  Oh, and of course I wore my Brooks Racer ST 4s!!

And, I know it's all black, but these things are all perfect for cold weather running.  Plus, black is slimming...right?? :)


Before I get to my run, I just have to say that my Saucony gloves ROCKED!!  All of the features were AWESOME!  My Hammer gels may have been a little frozen, but my fingers never were!  The wind actually picked up while on my run and the wind mitts were a godsend!  I honestly cannot say enough good things about these gloves.  I have been looking for gloves like these for a long time, and I am so happy I found them!!  Seriously, if you are in need of some cold weather running gloves, run, don't walk, and buy these for yourself!  OR, if you know someone who needs some awesome gloves, these would make a great stocking stuffer!

Enough rambling!  So, I headed out around 1:45 and my legs felt great!  I saw a couple of other people on the trail, but I think the cold kept most people in their homes.  Around mile 5, my stomach started grumbling a little bit.  Thankfully, right around that time I came upon a parking lot with a port-a-potty.  Phew!  Thank god!  I did my business, hoped that was the last of that, and headed back out.  I was still feeling good and staying warm for the most part.  The wind had picked up a little bit and it started getting a little colder.  I really had to stop myself from picking up the pace just to be done sooner!

Around the 8 mile mark, my stomach started grumbling again.  UH OH!  I knew, from my last 20 mile run, that there was a port-a-potty around the 9 1/2 mile mark.  But, that was still 1 1/2 miles away!  I did some praying and kept on running.  The next 1 1/2 miles were not fun!!  Finally, I made it to the port-a-potty and did my thing once again.  This is probably too much information, but I was in there for a long time!!  I just did not feel good!  My stomach was really upset and all I could think about was how I still had 10 more miles to run.  Plus, the more I stayed in there, the colder I got.  By the time I was done, I was FREEZING!!

 I debated calling my husband to come and get me, but I knew it would take him at least 30 min. to get to where I was.  So, I started running again, hoping that I could make it back to my car.  I actually felt a little better, so I just kept going.

Source  Do you see that menacing look?? 

I started getting really tired around the 14 mile mark.  By this time it was getting close to 4pm and the sun was starting to go down.  I had forgotten when I ventured out at 1:45, that the sun goes down around 4:30 now.  And, when the sun goes down, the temperature drops soooo fast!  It started getting really cold and I just wanted to be done.  It also didn't help that I saw a big coyote cross the path and head into the trees.  It stopped and just stood there watching me.  Around the same time, I heard a shuffling sound behind me and in my mind I imagined a pack of coyotes chasing me.  There have been several accounts of coyotes attacking runners on this trail, and I got a little freaked out.  Just then, some guy and his dog passed me and I swear I jumped like 10 feet into the air.  The guy asked if I was alright and I told him, I had just seen a coyote and he just scared me.  It was kind of funny actually!

When I reached the 15 mile mark, I stopped and walked quickly while I ate my last gel.  I was done...mentally and physically.  This point in the trail is also the worst because you can look across a meadow and see the trail a mile or so ahead of you.  I looked out over to the other side of the trail and just felt completely defeated.  It seemed like it was so far!  But, I also  knew that I only had 4 more miles until I reached the car.  I knew I could do it, but it was so tough.  My face hurt because it was so cold and I just wanted to be warm.  I managed to HTFU just long enough to  make it to my car.  I made it 19 miles and was done.  I figured that was close enough to 20!

I called my husband and told him I was on my way home.  I cranked the heat as high as I could and drove home.  When I got home, I was still shivering uncontrollably and just could not warm up.  To my surprise, my husband had made me some hot chocolate with milk for a recovery drink and to help warm me up!  I took some sips then quickly got out of my running clothes.  I was surprised to find that they were drenched and my hair was soaked!  I sweat so much when I run, even in the cold.  No wonder I started freezing when the sun went down.  I took the longest hot shower, put on my recovery tights, my cozy sweatshirt, then wrapped up in some blankets to drink the rest of my hot chocolate!

This wasn't exactly how I wanted this run to go, but I guess considering I've been sick and haven't done a long run in several weeks, I should have known better.  I probably overdid it a little bit, but I think that if my stomach hadn't revolted and I hadn't have gotten so cold, it would have gone much better.  Hopefully next weekend's long run will be better!

I hope you are all having a great week!  I cannot believe Christmas is on Saturday!!  I'm not sure if I'll post again before Christmas, so I want to wish all of you and your families a very merry Holiday!!  :)

A week in review and other things too!

Training:
*  I've been taking it pretty easy this week with my runs, which has been nice.  However, I am really looking forward to doing a long run this weekend!  It was been too long since I've gone long and I'm itching to get out there!  It's going to be cold, but I got some new winter stuff that I think will help me get over my "cold wussiness!"

Check out these awesome Saucony gloves I found!  They are the Ulti-Mitt II [HERE].
**Note:  I bought these gloves myself and this review is based on my own opinions.  I was  not paid by Saucony to review these gloves (Although, Saucony, if you want to send me free stuff to review...I'd be happy to test out your awesome products!) :)   

At first glance, they look like ordinary gloves, right?  But, what happens if the wind starts picking up and it gets really cold?  Usually, my fingers still end up going numb, even with gloves on.  But, these gloves have a secret weapon.

Hidden wind mitts!!  They tuck into this little pouch when you don't need them.  But, when the wind comes out...voila!  You have the ultimate protection!  I LOVE these gloves.  And, do you notice the little black cloth area??  Perfect for wiping dripping snot from your nose.  You know it happens, and you know you do it too!!  :)
Oh, but that's not all they have!

They also have these nifty little holes, that you can take your thumb and index finger out to easily tear open a gel, gu, sport beans, or whatever!  How awesome is that?
AND, do you see that little light by my wrist?  It comes with a little mini clip on light that you can put wherever you want to be more visible.  It  has a solid and flashing option.
Again, these gloves ROCK!  They are a little pricey, but for me, it was totally worth it to be comfortable in the cold and wind.

*  Long run help!!!  I'm still trying to figure out how I want to do my long runs from now until my marathon.  I basically have 4 weekends of long runs left (the marathon is on Jan. 16th).  So, I'm thinking of doing 20, 18, 16, then 10.  I know a 20 miler this weekend is probably not the best idea since I haven't run long in awhile.  But, I kind of feel like I need to do it-ya know?  What do you all think?  What would you do?  How would you do your long runs from this point on?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Other Things Too:
*  Jill at Run With Jill set up an amazing holiday blogger gift exchange this year!  Thanks again Jill...you ROCK!  I was so excited when I opened my mail box yesterday and saw a shiny red envelope addressed to me!!

I opened it right away, and this is what I found:

Jason at Life Of An Aspiring Triathlete sent me such fun things!  Two cute little books, and an awesome Christmas ornament, which I put on my tree right away!  Thanks Jason!!! :)







*  KONA is on tomorrow!  Who else is going to be glued to their TVs tomorrow??  I will be on my couch with a box of Kleenex by my side.  I don't know what it is about watching that race, but I am always in tears pretty much throughout the entire program!

*  I cannot believe this is only 1 week left until Christmas!!  I am sooo glad that I have all of my Christmas shopping done!  I've been out running errands and everywhere I go, it is a complete zoo!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  :)

Back at it (kind of) and Advice Needed

So, after eating lots of this:

Veggie Tofu Pho (Pronounced Fuh.  For the longest time I thought it was Fo, like no...yes, I'm lame).  This stuff is so good and is the perfect warm, comfort food when you're sick.  Yum!

And drinking a magic concoction of this:

This concoction rocks!  My husband made me a mix of Delsym and Walgreen's version of Theraflu every night before bed.  Let's just say that stuff works!  It actually let me sleep instead of coughing up some disgusting green/brown stuff all night long.  And, when you're sick, getting enough sleep is key to getting better.

I was able to do this:

source

The temperature was 64 degrees today!  Yes, you heard that right.  It was 64 degrees in Denver today on December 14th!  What is with the weather this year?  Don't get me wrong, I am LOVING it, but it's just weird for it to be in the mid 60s in the middle of December.

I have not been running for almost two weeks and I was slowly losing my mind.  I really don't know how Beth at SUAR is doing it....you amaze me Beth!  Anyways, the weather was just too beautiful today not to take advantage of it.  So, I put on some shorts and a t-shirt (in December!!) and went for a run around Wash Park.  I was a little worried about my cough, but it was AWESOME!  I felt so good and my legs felt even better.  My body was feeling a little worn out before I got sick, so maybe I needed to get sick to give my body a break from marathon training.  I ran and ran and ran and loved every  minute of it.  I didn't know how long I wanted to run, but I didn't care.  I was outside running and it felt great.  However, around the 4 1/2 mile mark, I started to feel it a little in my throat and started coughing a little bit.  Uh-oh.  I decided to stop at 5miles.  Once I stopped, I coughed a little bit, but it never turned into a huge coughing fit!  Hooray!  So, I guess I'm "back at it," but I'm definitely going to take it slow!

Happy and NOT coughing after my run! :)

Advice Needed:

Boxerjock  by Under Armour

This is for the guys.  So, now that my husband is running more miles, he has started to realize that wearing cotton underwear on his runs is NOT a good idea.  Let's just say he's getting some chaffing in some not so fun places.  At first I thought, "You wear underwear under your running shorts?"  because girls don't need to do that if there is a liner in the shorts.  But, then I realized that he's got parts hanging around that I don't have...ha ha!  I got  him a pair of Under Armour's mesh underwear, which he likes.  But, my question is, what do you guys wear on your runs?  What brands/styles have you worn that you really like?  Any input/advice would be greatly appreciated!!  :)

RoadID Winner!!

There were 83 comments for the RoadID giveaway!  Based on Random.org, the winner of the RoadID gift certificate is.......

Big Daddy Diesel !!!

Yay for BDD!  I know the RoadID will get tons of use when you start your IM training!  Woohoo!  

Send me an email and I'll get you the info. for the gift certificate!

I hope you all have a great weekend!  :)

Blahness and being sick!

So, I think I figured out why I was feeling so "blah" last week.  I'm pretty sure it was my body's way of preparing me for what was to come this week.  It started with a fuzzy feeling in my head, then quickly progressed to a pretty nasty head cold.  I was praying that it would stop there, but no, it has now traveled down into my chest.  I am miserable.  I hate being sick.  So, running is out again this week.  Starting my winter tri maintenance plan this week is out too.  Ugh!
 I'm hunkered down surrounded by this (I think I've gone through 2 boxes already!):

 
















And drinking this:

While eating these: "Feeling sorry for myself healthy brownies"  [HERE]


What?  Doesn't eating brownies help with chest colds?  :)  It's interesting that when I originally posted the recipe for those brownies, it was January, and I had bronchitis, which started as a head cold!  So, I am praying that I do not get bronchitis again!!  I basically have 5 1/2weeks until the PF Chang's marathon and I do not want to be sidelined for weeks!  I'm already freaking out about what I'm going to do training wise when this cold goes away!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my RoadID giveaway!  The contest ends tomorrow!!!  

RoadID Giveaway!

RoadID Giveaway!!
Do you like my Christmas color theme?  Yes, I'm a dork! :)

For those of you that read my last post, you know that I won an awesome Outside PR gift bucket from Tall Mom on the Run!  One of the items in the bucket was a RoadID gift certificate.  My husband and I took advantage of the sale RoadID was having at the beginning of the month and we both ended up getting a wrist ID.  Since we don't really need two IDs, I contacted Scott at Outside PR and asked him if I could "pay it forward" and give the RoadID gift certificate away!  Needless to say, he said, "Yes!"  So, one lucky reader will be able to get a RoadID for themselves, or give one as an awesome Christmas gift!  :)

Because the last day to order a RoadID and get it by Christmas is Dec. 14th, this will be a fast giveaway.  The contest will end on Thursday, Dec. 9th, and I will announce the winner Friday.

Here's how to win!  
Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry! :)


1.  Be a follower of my blog, or if you already are let me know! :)

2.  Go to RoadID [HERE] and tell me what you would get if you won.

4.  Enter RoadID's Holiday Giveaway [HERE] by following on Facebook or twitter.

FOR AN EXTRA ENTRY!!
5.  Donate $5 (or more) to a RoadID supported charity [HERE] and let me know what charity you donated to.

Good luck everyone!!!  :)

A week in review and other things too

Training:
*  Training for this week can pretty much be summed up by one word: BLAH!  Ever since my 18miler turned 14miler last weekend, I have just been in a weird funk.  I don't know what it is, but it needs to stop NOW!  I guess it didn't help that my husband was sick with a 24hr. stomach bug and my youngest is having night terrors.  The lack of sleep is definitely playing a toll.

*  I missed my yoga class this week too...:(

*  I downloaded a winter tri maintenance plan from beginnertriathlete.com and am thinking about starting it up in the next 2 weeks.  This might sound crazy, but I think my blahness (not a real word, but it should be!) is because I'm tired of JUST running.  I miss riding my bike and swimming.  It may sound crazy, but I actually like looking at my calendar and seeing a nice mix of swims, bike rides, and runs to do!  I'm not sure how it will play into my marathon training, but I guess I'll find out pretty soon.  

Other things too:

*Trish at My Path to Travel left me a comment directing me to this site and I thought I'd pass it along:  http://ironbandmusic.com/emails/120110.htm.  I'm sure you all know the story of Jon "Blazeman" Blias.  Well, music and triathlon recently came together to raise more money for the Blazeman Foundation to fight the war on ALS.  All you have to do is go to iTunes, buy the tunes, and 100% of the proceeds will go to help fight ALS.  Pretty cool huh?
Here are links from iTunes:
*Blazeman Band - Ironman Blazeman [HERE]
*Ironband - Please, Please, Santa [HERE]

You can also check out this video [HERE] of the "Iron Blazeman" song video featuring some great musicians and pros.  I have to admit it was pretty crazy to see Chrissy Wellington and Matty Reed singing. :)

*  I won an Outside PR bucket full of goodies from Tall Mom on the Run and it came in the mail today!  All I can say is WOW!  There were so many cool things in the bucket!  Check out all the goodies!

I am so excited to try these things out!
Oh, and I have some good news!  One of the items you see in the picture will be featured in a special giveaway!  Details coming soon!  Woohoo! :)

*  So, Hammer nutrition [HERE] is having an awesome sale right now.  All of their fuel and supplements are 20% off from now until Dec. 17th.  My husband and I love Hammer gel, so we decided to take advantage of their awesome prices and stock up.  Well, our order arrived today and I was shocked to find tons of extra things inside!
Hammer rocks!  The boxes and big gel container is what we ordered, everything else were free goodies!  I have been reading a lot of great things about Perpetuem and Heed, so I am really excited about trying them out in my training.  Plus, now that IMAZ is right around the corner (well, really 11 months away..he he), I need to figure out what my nutrition will be come race day (yes, I am already stressing about it!).

source

*  Is it really already Dec. 3rd???  That is crazy!  That means we only have 22 days until Christmas!  Wow!  I think we're going to get our Christmas tree this weekend.  Yay!

I hope you all have a great weekend!  :)

Humpastry Day - Cranberry Muffins

Cranberry Muffins

I had half a bag of fresh cranberries left over from Thanksgiving just starring at me every time I opened the refrigerator.  I hate waisting food, so I thought about making more of my cranberry sauce extraordinaire that I made for Thanksgiving, but then I realized that I could probably use them in some type of Humpastry day recipe!  Now, I'm not a huge fan of fresh cranberries because they always seem to be a little too bitter to me, but I wanted to try them out in muffins.  I wasn't sure how this recipe would end up, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised!  Although the cranberries were still a little bitter, the rest of the ingredients complemented them nicely and made for a pretty good muffin!

Ingredients:
This batter made a lot of muffins!  I filled up my 12 big muffin tins, but still had tons of batter left over, so I made 20 mini muffins.  I figured my boys would get a kick out of the mini muffins! :)

*  1/2C unsweetened applesauce
*  1/2C white sugar
*  1/2C brown sugar
*  2 flax eggs (2Tbl. ground flax mixed with 6Tbl. warm water)
*  1tsp. vanilla extract
*  1C vanilla yogurt (you can also use sour cream or plan yogurt)
*  1/4C orange juice
*  1C all-purpose flour
*  1C whole wheat flour
*  1tsp. baking powder
*  1/2tsp. baking soda
*  1/2tsp. cinnamon
*  1/4tsp. nutmeg
*  1/4tsp. salt
* 1 1/2C chopped fresh or frozen cranberries (I just cut the cranberries in half)

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a muffin tin **Note:  I used muffin liners and the muffins totally stuck to the paper! Ugh...total FAIL!  So, for this recipe, I would suggest lightly greasing the tin.  
2.  Prepare flax eggs and set aside
3.  In a mixing bowl, mix together the sugar and applesauce.
4.  Add the vanilla extract and flax eggs and mix well.
5.  Fold in the yogurt.
6.  In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Gradually add the mixture into the wet mixture until just combined.
7.  Fold in the cranberries.
8.  Fill the muffin tins 2/3rds full of batter.
9.  Bake in the oven for 15-20minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
10.  Let cool in the muffin tins for a couple of minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
11.  Enjoy!