Really looking forward to the weekend...how about you guys??

It's FRIDAY! I could not be more thrilled. Just a quick recap on my runs the past two days (without splits, of course I haven't uploaded them yet).

Wednesday I ran an easy 8 miles through downtown, it was a relatively flat run and I think my average pace for 8.3 was about 9:55. Thursday night after work, I was truly dreading going out on a run. But since I had been off the past Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, I knew I had to go. So I suited up and headed for the bridge. I made a mistake of eating some sweet treats that were left in the kitchen at work at about 4 pm, so I knew my stomach would be acting up on the run, and it definitely did! Instead of my usual 6, I cut it short to 5, and had to add in some walk breaks due to side stitches and an overall feeling of being rundown. I think the stress of this week is catching up to me! I don't know what my time was, but I would say that it was over a 10:20 per mile pace. I was definitely taking it easy!

I have it on the schedule to do a track workout tonight, or either a run with a friend depending on her schedule. If I do a track workout, I would like to step it up a bit this week and do some 1200m sprints, 800m sprints, and 400m sprints. I will let you guys know what I decide!

My long run this weekend is scheduled to be 13 miles, which I must say, I am pretty stoked about! (Versus the prospect of next weekend's 20 miler WHILE my mother is in town.) So I will keep you all updated.

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Other Items of (Somewhat) Interest:
We might be heading to Raleigh, NC tonight to hang with friends for the weekend, but we haven't exactly made our final decision, so we might be just staying here and taking it easy. Either way I will get in my long run at some point (and hopefully manage to mop the kitchen floor, I think things are starting to grow in there).

Also we are still looking to finalize our team for the Wild West Relay. If anyone is interested in joining, let me know!

The Hooray for Spring Virtual 6 Miler officially starts today! Since I have 6 on my schedule for next week, I will probably run mine on Tuesday as she is accepting times up until next Friday the 27th.

**Sorry for the boring post, I promise I will work on something more fun for this weekend! I haven't been doing too much serious cooking this week, so that is why there have been no pictures. I did make some roasted veggies last night but forgot to take a picture once they came out of the oven! Plus, they weren't that stellar :(

Beautiful Weather and Hooray Spring 6 Miler!

I could not be more thrilled that today is Friday. I woke up early, had time to make a nice breakfast and pack a good lunch, and even got to catch up on my reading! All before work. I am also excited because today was finally warm enough for me to wear a new dress I had been saving...PLUS, it looks like it may be warm enough this weekend for some beach time! Best time of year. :)

I started out this morning with some Apple Cinnamon Oats, only because after I started to make it I realized the only fruit in the house was one lonely apple.

Here's what I put in there:

• 1/3 cup quick cooking oats (do you guys all make steel cut oats? I am lazy and use the quick kind)
• 1/2 scoop Vanilla Soy Protein Powder
• NF milk
• Water
  
• almost 1 apple diced (munched on the rest of it)
• 1 packet of Splenda
• Some cinnamon
• 1 spoonful of Publix Natural Chunky PB
• 1 spoonful Dannon Lite and Fit Vanilla Yogurt

Yum! Next time I think I will add the PB and apple while cooking, it was kind of cold by the time I got around to eating it.

All mixed up:


I also started my day off with something other than coffee, which is kind of a shocker to me, a double dose of green tea!


Hooray for Spring 6 Miler!
RunningLaur over at When I get a little, run run run has been kind enough to arrange a virtual 6 miler on the first day of spring. Since I am new to the online running community, I haven't been able to take part in any of these so far! So I am pretty pumped about this one. Here's what she says about the race:

Here are the details, and keep in mind that I'm very relaxed on the 'rules':

• Date: Friday, March 20 - the first day of spring! Saturday, March 21 is the historic date of the equinox however, the tilt of the earth has changed, so the 21st is generally known as the traditional date. And well, Saturday is a lot easier to run on. I will also accept a race time from anytime during the first week of Spring (until Friday March 27) so that the celebration can last all week.
  
• Distance: 6 miles or 6 km. Like most real races, there are multiple distance corrals! Non-Americans, or those preferring lower mileage for any reason, may opt for the 6 km option. Let me know which one you did with your results. Note that this may be part of a longer training run if you like too. I'm easy.
  
• Purpose: To celebrate and enjoy Spring! Also, racers will compete for prizes (of a sort...), yay!
  
• Prizes: No real life prizes, sorry - I don't have cool sponsors like some bloggers, but I do have Microsoft Paint and the love of all things tacky and ugly. Winners, in various categories (not necessarily speed based), will be awarded wonderfully silly award logos that can be placed on your blog. Now who doesn't love pimping out their blog?!?!? All participants will receive a virtual bib, when printed, becomes a real bib.
  
• Registration: FREE!!! Comment with your name and planned distance. If you want to throw in a goal time too, go for it - this way you can race against yourself. My submission: RunningLaur, 6 miles, 66 minutes.

I have 'registered' for the 6 mile race, and I will probably do it sometime during the week since I will most likely be doing a long run on that weekend.

Running schedule for this weekend:
I asked for some opinions yesterday as to what I should run today (obviously I didn't get up and run this morning, so will be done after work) and joyRuN suggested I cross train, which honestly I hadn't even thought of. Since I don't have a gym membership yet, I haven't been able to get into too much cross training recently.

But I DO have a road bike that has basically been gathering dust since last February, and since it is such nice weather....I think I might take it out tonight.

I have my 5k tomorrow morning, and my long run on Sunday so I am trying to be as healthy as I can today and throughout this weekend. Especially since I ate Mexican last night.* I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend! Wish me luck on my race!



* I may or may not have eaten bean dip, chips and salsa, and a spinach quesadilla with guacamole and sour cream. If I DID eat all that, my experience may have been ruined due to the four screaming snot nosed kids whose baby-talking parents were letting them run throughout the entire restaurant. Note to self: stick to restaurants downtown near the college, where it is almost guaranteed you won't run into these situations.