Daily Thanks - Digging Deep

I've been stressed out this week, so I needed the chance to dig deep and remind myself of all I have to be thankful for in my life.

 

Friday - Daily Bread

 

I've been stressed about money recently, especially given how we've not done a great job at staying within budget.  Learning to trust in God's provision is a hard one for me and I am thankful for my daily, weekly, and monthly bread.

 

Saturday - 9 easy miles

 

My friend Kelly & I are training for the Haunted Half Marathon next month and Saturday morning was our long run.  I love that I ran 9 miles without issue and no muscle soreness the next day.  I've worked long and hard to make running that far "easy."

 

Sunday - Cades Cove

 

Jay, my parents, and I headed to Cades Cove and got caught into a thunderstorm.  The storm caused a tree to fall on a car creating the damage in the picture below.  (Not our car.  None of our vehicles are that nice.)  We were all thankful no one was hurt.  Afterward we spotted a bear in a tree!  I'd hoped to devote a whole blog to it, but you know how those things go.

 

 

 

Monday - Hal Canfield Memorial Mile

 

Great race and I'm pleased with my 2nd place medal!  I have never raced this distance before, so I was unsure about pacing.  This is definitely one I hope to do every year.

 

Tuesday - Shopaholic & Sister

 

I'm a book nerd, so it didn't bother me a bit to go to bed early and ready Tuesday night when Jay decided to watch the Convention on TV.  The love of reading is a gift I am very much thankful for.

 

Wednesday - KTC Socialites

 

This is a thankful point I'm sure I will overuse, but I very much enjoy having a great group of people to share runners' 2 favorite  hobbies - running & talking about running.  (I'm sure Jay is thankful for them as well :P)

 

Thursday - Time off

 

I've very thankful my job provides me with paid leave - both sick and vacation.  Its nice to know my paycheck won't take a hit if I have to go to the doctor or want to leave work early.

Hal Canfield Memorial Mile - Race Report

The idea of a 1 mile race has always intrigued me.  Too long to be a true sprint, to short to be a real race.  Or so I thought before heading into the Hal Canfield Memorial Mile.  I had never previously done a mile race.  If I'm being honest I was only attracted to it this year because of the group discounted price of the Socialites group I've been running with.

Between signing up only 2 weeks before the race, summer triathlon training, and the transition to half marathon training, I hadn't done anything to train specifically for this race.  I knew I could do the distance (always the 1st question i ask myself before signing up), but I had no clue how to truly race it.

A few friends offered their suggestions - from "run like the wind" to "run like hell."  I can maintain a 7:30 m/m pace on the treadmill, but only for a quarter mile before needing a quarter mile recovery.  My 5K pace, however, is in the high 8 range.  Somewhere between the 2 lay my goal time, I just couldn't be certain what I am capable of.

After saying hello to a few volunteers/runners I know, I headed to the starting line.  The race was point to point and the starting line was 1 mile away from the registration tent/parking area.  I took the 1 mile jog to the line as an easy warm up.  

Yeah, it was really that dark.

You know its humid when the smell of underarm stank is present at the starting line.
You know you forgot to put on deodorant that morning when you realize its your stank.

The race was broken up into quarter mile increments.  I got passed by a lot of people in the first quarter mile, and I worried that I had started too slowly.  My pace was in the low 8s, so I felt comfortable I was going quickly enough yet would have plenty in the tank for a good sprint at the end.

By the half mile marker I had already passed a few of those people and felt like I was going strong.  I seemed to be maintaining my pace well (although my Garmin later revealed my pace was all over the place).  I tried to kick it up another notch but I remember a bit of a hill which caused me to slow down.

At the 0.75 marker, I started sprinting - really picking it up the last tenth of a mile.  My Garmin shows my last spurt was a 6:54.  Far too fast for someone who was supposed to "run like hell" for a solid mile.  No doubt I held too much back at the beginning because I recovered far too quickly from this race.  

The Knoxville Paper the next day!

I can't beat myself up too much for it though, given it was my first time racing the distance I have to allow for some margin of error.  I'm already looking forward to some speed training and a PR at the distance this time next year!!   

Garmin: 8:07

Official: 8:14

Age Group: 2/3

Overall: 79/109

Financial Friday ~ August Check-in

I haven't been budgeting as consistently as I would like.  I don't know if its the lack of weekly check-ins, or just the nature of things.  I've had a couple of weeks go by without reconciling our expenditures - something I use to do every Friday like clockwork.

Without a keen eye on things combine with paying 2 mortgages for the time being, I've felt like our budget was out of control these past few months.  Today I sat down to review things, turns out its not as bad as I had originally feared.  HOWEVER, that's no excuse to allow the pattern to continue!

Groceries

$150 budgeted ~ $161.21 actuals

I lead off with this one, because I'm proud of how well I actually stuck with the budget without much effort.  I've read reports of rising food prices, given the heat/drought this summer, so Jay and I will be discussing spending a bit more next month.  $150 is about what we need monthly to not deplete (but certainly not build up) the stockpile. 

Restaurants

$100 budgeted ~ $181.24 actuals

We never spend $100 or less on food out.  We nickel and dime it to death with trips to Taco Bell, then dinner out with friends or family pushes it over the top.  Not sure why Jay likes to set the "hopeful" bar low, when we don't stick with it.  While I hate we almost spend double our budget, I don't fault our careless spending with all the blame.

Brooke's personal spending

$100 budgeted ~ $130 actuals

I went over last month, so I decided to spend less this month.  Only someone did tell my pocketbook.  *Sigh*  Dinner out with friends, an overnight girls trip, and a couple of race registrations really did me in.  Got 2 more for next month.  I need a sponsor!!!

Have you being tracking your spending?  What's the biggest frivolous area you splurge on yourself?

Daily Thanks

 

Friday - helLO

 

Not sure how it came up in conversation, but Jay tried to imitate the way my Papaw always answers the phone: quick on the first part, emphasis on the "low" syllable.  Out of the blue it hit me how blessed I was Jay knows how my Grandfather answers the phone.

 

1) He calls my Papaw on the phone.  2) A month away from 80, my Papaw is not only still alive, but still working with his cattle on the farm.

 

Saturday - BIL

Saturday (after "failing" my race as my mother so delicately put it) I learned that my brother-in-law successfully navigated the San Fransisco Bay to complete the Escape from Alcatraz relay event.  He and a buddy flew out there to compete - he swam the frigid 1.5 miles and his buddy completed the 7 mile run. 

My sister calls our racing (and our dad's devotion to being a high school football referee) "dumb assery" but I feel blessed to have a BIL who understands my love of racing and supports me every step of the way.

 

Sunday - Napping!

I know I've used this one before, but I'm always thankful for a Sunday afternoon nap when I have the chance to get one.  This particular nap lasted for 3 1/2 hours.  I woke up at 7PM, yet was still tired enough to be in bed asleep by 11PM.  I definitely needed some extra rest!

 

Monday - Cycling Class

After Saturday's triathlon debacle, it felt nice to hop on that spin bike and power through a 400+ calorie burn.

 

Tuesday -Movie Night

Jay rarely wants to go to the movies (a waste of money he says) so I am thankful when he find a movie he deems worth of watching in the theater.  He chose The Campaign - a little on the vulgar side, but definitely had a few good chuckles.

 

Wednesday - Coffee creamer

I'm dealing with allergies or a cold and my throat is raw and sore.  A yummy coffee creamer makes even the sludge the serve at work drinkable.

 

Thursday - Hot Apple Cider

(see Wednesday)


What have you been thankful for this past week?

Celebrating Fitness

This morning I read a post by my friend Barb calling me out for insulting her.  I've been an insensitive bitch and she's tired of it.

It seems that at least once a week, and usually more often, I see someone lamenting about how slow they are biking, running, swimming, or whatever. Or how they didn’t go far enough, or saying how horrible their workout was because…wait for it…they were injured.

While her comments were NOT targeted directly at me, I've certainly been guilty of the above-mentioned crime.  Sadly enough, I've also been hurt by others doing the exact same thing.  Of all people, I should know better - making the offense far worse.

I think I've been pretty good hear lately about controlling my own negative thoughts and posts, but then again I've been happy with my pace/progress here recently.  Would I feel the same if the PRs weren't rolling in?

For the month of September (and hopefully beyond) I pledge to stand with Barb and anyone else willing to join us.

I pledge to celebrate every workout I do in September. I won’t put myself down just because my pace or distance was not what I had planned. I will celebrate the victory of that workout, which might be as simple as getting out when I really didn’t want to or as profound as a personal record. It doesn’t matter how big or small the victory seems at the time – I will celebrate it and ditch the negative. 
 

Care to join us? Also? Please feel free to make a citizen's arrest if you catch me participating in the offensive act.

Tip-sy Tuesday

Don't worry, I'm not promoting drinking first thing in the morning.  If I were going to do that, it would definitely be on a Monday!  Instead I want to talk about helpful tips as found on the Internet.  I've had a couple here lately, so I thought we could have a little chat and share with one another the best of the best.

I'm probably missing the boat by not signing up for Pinterest, but I'm afraid of adding yet another time suck to my life.  Today, will you bear with me and share links the old fashioned way - in the blog comments?

When I ran into problems cleaning the extra- large shower curtain surrounding our claw foot tub, I sought help via google search.  Thankfully I found a bunch of answers on yahoo, and scrolled through until I found the one that worked for me.

Given the set up, the curtain cannot be taken down completely to be replaced or even machine washed.  I followed one person's advice and took down as much of the curtain as possible, then filled the tub up with warm bleach water.  I let it soak for an hour or so.  No scrubbing was required yet the curtain looked practically brand new!

Thank you random Internet search answer person!!

Last year, my father had an abundance of tomatoes in his garden.  I don't like fresh tomatoes, but I do a lot of canned 'maters in my cooking.  I found a detailed tutorial on how to freeze tomatoes.  The work is easy, but it does create a mess.  I only got about 3 servings last year using this method, but got almost 10 this year.  I even cut up garden jalapenos to add in to a couple of the freezer bags for chili.

Thank you home grown blogger person!!



What great Internet tip have you tried/liked recently?

Douple Dip Sprint Tri: Race Review

Normally I do race reports for each of the races I complete.  In the case of the Double Dip, such a report isn't needed.  I completed the 300 yard swim, went through the first transition only to learn I had a flat on the bike.  I had checked the tire pressure while unloading it from my car that morning, so I must have popped a tube.  Thankfully I had only ridden a 10th of a mile, so the walk of shame back to the transition area was very short.

This makes for my first ever DNF (did not finish).  My first DNS (did not start) was also a triathlon which I was forced to pull out of for health reasons.

Instead of a race report, I want to review the race and my training leading to it in order to better myself for the next time around.  And, yes, there will be a next time.  I considered never racing in a sport which mechanical failure meant personal failure.  After some much needed sleep I decided I wasn't the kind of person to be okay with accepting failure. 

What I did well:

• Spent enough time on my bike to learn the gears
• Several long rides helped build my endurance and confidence
• Bought a tri suit to make transition easier and over all race more comfortable
• Arrived race morning in plenty of time to set everything up
• Passed 2 people on the swim (also got passed by 1)
• Have a cry, then move on!

To improve:

• Be careful of the curbs!!
  I think the incident with the tire happened on my ride in to set up my transition area before the race.  Parking was quite the trek away, so I threw my bag over my shoulder and rode in.  Unfortunately, I hit the driveway curb too fast (there was a fairly big lip).  At the time I was concerned, but it didn't immediately deflate so I went ahead with my set-up.
  In the prerace announcements the race director cautioned about the driveway exit, but I suspect at that point it was too late for me.
• Learn to change a flat
  Some more competitive people have said they wouldn't bother with changing the tube for a sprint race, but given I don't even know how the choice was made for me.  I've decided its past time to learn how, and friend's husband has volunteered to teach me.
• More bricks
  I didn't make it to the bike/run portion of the race, but I should have done more than just one brick before the big day.  This will be corrected in the next month before my next race.
• Remember: Mechanical failure is NOT personal failureThis is true even if being more cautious I could have prevented the accident.  Never live in the world of woulda-shoulda-coulda.

How do you cope when life throws you a curve ball? (Or a flat tire?)