A Beautiful Day for a Run

It's 6:45 am. I'm washing my face, getting ready for the 4 mile Grandview Gallop this morning.

Thunder strikes outside. Crap. Downpour begins.
Joel and I load up Annie, and go, hoping the rain lets up soon. (Annie likes to watch me run in races! Well, she probably has no idea what's going on. She just loves all the people!)

7:30 am
Joel drops me off in the rain. I warm up a little, run around the park a bit, go to the restroom. I come out of the equally soggy port-a-potty, and see everyone walking back into the park. We have to take cover under a pavillion until the storm subsides.
A lot of people leave at this point, and I'm thinking they might have the right idea.

8:50
After about an hour of lightning, rain, and thunder, they decide to start the race (50 minutes late). So out we go into the still-pretty-heavy rain.

Joel snapped these pictures of us....I couldn't keep my eyes open in the rain! That bothered me more than the wet clothes.

Me, Eric, and his brother, Aaron....already soaked and we haven't even begun yet!

Poor Annie...
She loves the people, but HATES rain! If she had her way, she would be hiding under the bed at home right now!
What a good girl though! Out in the storm, supporting her mommy!

Just took off....I'm next to the guy in red (Eric), waving at Joel. What a gorgeous day, huh?!

In the park, after the race. Man, I look gross after a big run!

Eric and I, almost to the finish line


Here is my quick play-by-play of the race:

Mile 1: Feeling good, the rain actually feels kind of good, especially on my gross sunburnt skin!
Mile 2: Yuck. Seems to take forever to get through this mile. I feel like I am carrying an extra 10 water-logged pounds. Squishy shoes. Annoyed by girls in way better shape than me, who keep walking/sprinting. In my head: "If I can (slowly) run this whole thing, so can you, in your matching sports bra and running skirt!" What can I say, I was bitter and soggy!
Miles 3-4: Feeling much better. Kind of down hill (for a pretty flat course). I pick up the pace here. Caught poor Eric and his bad knees. Finished strong. Seeing Joel and Annie rooting for me helps!

Goals I had set for myself prior to the race:
Run the whole thing.
Try to finish in around 45-50 minutes.
Check and Check.
(48:59 final time)

Despite the pouring rain and lack of preparation (ran twice in the last 2 weeks), it was actually kind of a cool race!

My Weekend In Photos

This post has nothing to do with running or biking or exercising...but it was just a great, relaxing, domestic-y weekend and I wanted to share!

First up....We had dinner Friday at a great little restaurant 3 blocks from our house. It closed a while ago, and just reopened as a cafe/diner-y place. Very good food, cheap prices, but best of all.....I discovered that I now have access to PIE 3 blocks from my house!!! Oh man. This is bad.

I did not actually get pie that night, because Joel surprised me with a fantastic suggestion...my favorite ice cream store on the other end of town that he never wants to go to! (I should note that we also have a Dairy Queen 3 blocks from us!) But this place....oh man...homemade ice cream. Delicious. And it brings back so many childhood memories, because we used to live across the street from this great little shop. As I write this, I realize I have a lifelong habit of living within walking distance of some very dangerous places!! Hmmm....

Red Box-ed The Informant...Joel fell asleep 20 minutes in....decent movie, but not as good as I expected!

Saturday

Cleaned the house....

Joel recently pulled up the ugly carpet on our back porch, on a whim, and discovered beautiful hardwood! So he spent a week sanding and staining the floor. It looks great but now we have to re-do the walls! So we went on the search for mis-tints, the best kept secret of paint stores! We got 2 gallons of beautiful paint at Sherwin Williams for a grand total of $8.46!
I saw this pillow at Target and fell in love with the color and design. This was my "inspiration piece!" The color is off in this picture, but you get the idea! Our paint is a pretty colonial blue-ish.

Grocery shopping on Saturday instead of Sunday night is MUCH better! And Joel loves his samples!

Bought a pizza from the Hy-Vee Pizza Italian place...1/2 Tomato Margherita, 1/2 Spinach and Artichoke and then grilled it! Oh my gosh....we should always grill pizza!! So good! The next step is making homemade grilled pizza!

Grill Master

Annie wants some pizza too!

Meanwhile, I was making homemade hummus with my new food processor Joel's parents got me for Christmas. It's a lot easier than trying to make it with an old blender!
I LOVE hummus, but the organic stuff I like is expensive. The non-organic stuff has so many preservatives. Solution: Make my own! And it is delicious!

After supper...nice long walk with Annie!

If we ask her "Want to go for a walk?" she begins to whine and "sing!" This is her outside the door singing at us..."Come on, you teases! Let's go!" We like to torture her for a few minutes for our pure enjoyment!

I love the blurry puppy feet and Joel feet!

Stopping to smell the tulips!

I'm obsessed with the beautiful flowering trees that are blooming so early this spring! This one is a pear tree, according to the master!

Sunday

I worked on all of my lesson plans for the week, while soaking up the sun outside! After a long winter with extreme cabin fever, I just want to be outdoors all the time!
This Natalee Dee cartoon is right on! I should print it and hang it in my classroom, so the kids will be inspired to come out of their video game comas and play outside!

Reading my favorite "teacher book" to brush up on reading strategies for this week's lessons!

For dinner, I attempted a new Artichoke Pasta recipe and it turned out great! We ate outside, of course!

The funniest way to tease Annie....hang spaghetti over her nose. Her lips and whiskers twitch like crazy and she looks.........

.....EVIL!!!

Ahhhhh....the simple joys in life!! Take time to appreciate all the things in your life that make you smile!!

Springtime Inspirations! And Exclamation Marks!!

I have not posted in so long, but when real life calls, I guess I have to answer! Lesson planning has doubled now that I am also teaching a Gifted Writers Program in the afternoons. Up until now, I taught Reading in the mornings only. I have also had the excruciatingly heavy weight of my future weighing on me....which means resumes and cover letters galore! It's amazing how two pieces of paper can take up so much of your time, and be such a deciding factor for your future!
In the mean time, this Lazy Girl has actually been somewhat un-lazy (non-lazy??)!
Somehow, I have inspired a few of my friends to start running! I find myself thinking "what kind of messed up world are we living in, if I am an inspiration?!" I don't know if it's because of the blog, or my recent completion of an 8K. Maybe those friends could comment here...what on earth made me inspire you to run???

My St. Patrick's Day 8K was an unexpected turning point for me. It took me 57:10 to complete, but I ran the whole thing. My only goals were to run most of it and in under an hour. I nearly cried at the end, when I saw the beautiful McDonald's sign that told me I was almost done! I thought about a year ago, when I could not have run a mile, let alone 5 miles! Ever since this race, something changed. I actually kind of want to run! (Sometimes!) What is this?? Who am I??

Last week, I went out and ran 45 minutes by myself!! Over 3 miles! With no one forcing me!
My friend Beth started running with me. We are doing Couch to 5K and she has completed Week 1...now I have to get her moving onto Week 2! My friend Crystal also went running with me. It is so strange being the one people hate! I'm used to being the hater/gasper/dying girl at the end of the invisible leash. The boyfriend, Joel, and I went out for our first big bike ride in preparation for RAGBRAI and I had to walk the bike up three hills! More to come on this goal later!!! We've been taking the doggie for nightly walks, which she loves! I ran an impromptu Easter 5K this weekend with Joel's family. It consisted of some very brutal hills but I conquered them!
It's a good life! Spring makes me so happy! I'm like a big bear, coming out of hibernation! We'll see how long it lasts, before the bear just wants to crawl back in the cave!

Annie, the other Lazy Girl in our house!

Hmmm...big life decisions...
A walk with Annie or...

A nap with Annie?!