Happy Halloween!!

I'm veering from my training plan today, and taking a full-on rest day. Truth be told, my left quad has been bothering me for the past few weeks. I tried ignoring it and working through it, but it's not getting any better. I started icing it after my last couple of weeks, but I think it needs a little more rest.

Now, my right shin is tweaking a bit, and I think I bruised my big toe on my right foot. It hurts a LOT. I'm kind of afraid to remove the nail polish.

On top of all that, I've been having some very annoying breathing problems. It's not painful. More uncomfortable. It's nothing really new; it comes and goes. This stint has been going on for about a week or so now, but I do think it's starting to get better. Yay!

So... I think a true rest day is in order!

Enough whining.

It's Halloween!!

No big Halloween plans for us. Other than my hill-o-ween workout, which I did yesterday, I'm going to try to join Runnersluck for #HalloYogaWeen on Instagram. You should join us, too!!

Since I don't really celebrate, I thought I'd answer a few fun questions instead. Last week, Helen from What Happened Next nominated me for a Liebster Award. I was actually nominated last year as well, but these questions from Helen were fun, so here goes.

1. Which country would you choose to live if you had to leave your current home country? The obvious answer would be Belize, since that is where Jeff and I were headed when we ended up in Vegas. But if we could really choose, we'd love to live on an island in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean.
2. What habit would you like to break? I'd love to not throw my clothes on the floor. And just be neater overall.
3. What's the most physically demanding activity you've ever done? Run a marathon. Actually, train for a marathon would be more accurate. :)
4. Would you rather be in trouble with your Boss, your partner or your Mother? I'd rather be trouble with my partner. I think it would be easier to get out of that trouble. If you know what I mean. ;)
5. What's the best vacation you've ever taken? Costa Rica Jan 2011. It was beautiful and a fun adventure. I never blogged about it, but there are some Facebook albums, if you're interested: Arenal Volcano and Nosara.
6. What was the last single-item purchase over $100 you made? Honestly, I have no idea. I have so much difficulty spending money, so I usually leave the bigger purchases to Jeff. :)
7. What's your favourite comfort food? Pizza! Maybe that's not comfort food, but I do love it! And it makes me happy.
8. What intimidates you? Talking on the phone. I hate it. I mean really hate it! Even talking to my parents or my husband. The phone makes me so nervous.
9. What historical event would you most like to witness? This is a really difficult question. There are so many events I'd want to witness. Like a fly on the wall, not actually experiencing them. But all the ones that first came to mind were so heart-wrenchingly sad. I'm not sure I'd even be able to handle being a bystander. All that said, I guess I'd like to see the construction of the Egyptian Pyramids. 
10. If you had a 60-second dash, unlimited shopping spree, which store would you choose to be in?! Ooh! Definitely a clothing store. I think it would be easiest to grab a bunch of stuff in a smaller boutique type store. Maybe NY&C.

Thanks for including me, Helen! That was really fun!!!

Technically, I'm supposed to nominate some blogs for the award, but since I did that last year I have to get ready for work, feel free to consider yourself nominated! You can answer these 10 questions from Helen or share 10 random things about yourself.

What are your plans for Halloween?
Am I the only one who doesn't get into it?
Tweet

Other ways to follow Enjoying the Course:
Twitter → @EnjoytheCourse
Instagram → enjoyingthecourse
Facebook → EnjoyingtheCourse
Google+ → Enjoying the Course
Pinterest → clarindad

I'm a Top Health & Fitness Blogger!

I was so excited to receive an email saying I was nominated to be a...

Top Health & Fitness Blogger

While it was a bit of a shock to me, I quickly decided to accept the nomination. It prompted me to write a post that I'm really proud of - Busy College Student? Tips For Staying Healthy.

I decided that even if I didn't win, at least I got a great post out of it.

So, when I got an email on Tuesday saying I was actually chosen as a winner, I was completely floored!

I'm proud to officially announce that I'm a winner!!

Best Online Colleges

Lots of other great blogs were selected, too. You can view all of them here.

Have a lovely weekend!! :-)
Tweet

Liebster Blog Award! Yay!!

As you might recall, I spent this past weekend at a workshop/conference called Inspiration & Perspiration. It was a great weekend - filled with a little of both. There are a lot of amazing women out there, and I was delighted for the opportunity to meet so many at once. I'll do a full recap of the weekend later, but first Heidi from BananaBuzzbomb nominated me to receive the Liebster Blog Award. I am beyond honored to be included. Thank you, Heidi!!

1. What’s your favorite dish? Do I have a favorite dish? For being a super picky eater growing up, there are *surprisingly* so many dishes that I like now. If I had to choose, I guess I'd go with Spaghetti Pie for a few reasons. 1) It's relatively easy to make but also kind of special twist on boring old spaghetti. 2) It's super tasty, of course! How could a favorite dish be anything other than delicious? and 3) It reminds me of my mom. Awww...

2. Why did you start a blog? I started a blog waaaayyyy back in 2006 because I wanted an easy way to connect with my family who lived far away. It's evolved a lot over the years. You can read more about that in this post, "Why blog?"

3. If you changed your name, what would you change it to? I really didn't appreciate my name growing up. Teachers would stumble over pronouncing it. No one else ever had my name. I wanted something a little more common, but not necessarily ubiquitous, y'know? I also wanted to be able to shorten it to something fun. Not Clare. Or Clara. Now that I'm older, I love my name!

4. Why did you choose this name for your blog? I've blogged about this before, too. :) You can read it here, but basically I chose it as a reminder that I should just Enjoy the Course/Life/Etc. Don't worry about being fast (as a runner) or comparing myself to others. Embrace myself and my life.

5. What makes you crazy? Oh, this could take awhile. Seriously, though, not a lot makes me crazy. Probably #1 is drivers. In general, people drive too fast and too carelessly. This has really been driven (haha!) home to me lately as I've embraced bicycle commuting.

6. Which book are you reading atm? (or which magazine?) I wish I could say I was reading something fun and exciting or inspiring or ... anything. Most of my free time is spent blogging or on FB, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. Damn you, social media! J/k. One day I will read again. Need to charge my Kindle. Maybe that will motive me.

7. What inspires you? Honestly, I think I find most of my inspiration from within. Corny? Solipsistic? Maybe. Lately, I'm also inspired by the glorious mountains that surround the Vegas valley. And, of course, all of you!

8. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I always wanted to be a teacher. In fact, my younger brother and sister can attest to playing school with me where I would give them homework and pop quizzes. Yes, I was a strange child. Now that I've received my Masters in Teaching, I'm not sure I'll ever actually become a teacher.

9. What is your favorite part of blogging? Hands-down my favorite part of blogging is interacting with my readers and other bloggers. Comment Love is the best kind of love. Okay. Maybe not, but I do really enjoy getting to know others through my blog and the blogs I read.

10. What is your dream career? I'm not sure I really have a dream career. I would love something that had super flexible hours. Perhaps something with social media. Or maybe something that I could do with my husband. I actually came up with a brilliant idea (ok I stole it from someone else) that I'd really love to pursue. It would likely just be a part-time thing, at least at first. It's really just an inkling of an idea right now, but maybe within the next year or so there could be a launch of some sort. That's all I'm going to say about it right now. Stay tuned...

This literally just popped up on my FB wall, and I thought it was quite fitting.

11. If money was no object, where would you live and why? My husband would answer Gozo in the Mediterranean or an island in the Caribbean or simply on a catamaran. Me? I'd be happy living anywhere as long as we were together. And it was some place warm.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little more about ME! Now, it's my turn to pass this award onto a few other bloggers.

Ally at Just a Normal Mom
Hiker Mom at Livin the Fit Life
Rachel at How Now Brown Cow?
Suzanne at Cows and Lasers and Everything in Between
a.eye at Shouldn't Life Be More Than This?
Meyser at A cat on the windowsill
Katie at From Icecream to Marathon
Kat at Sneakers and Fingerpaints
Kate at Can I Get Another Bottle of Whine with My Morning Quiet Time?

I'm not sure how many I'm supposed to give this to, but I'm going to stop there. Go check them out! I've linked to their Twitter (if I had it) and their blogs. Please tell them I sent you, if you stop by.

To those I've nominated: I'm going to borrow some questions from Heidi and throw in a few of my own.

1. Why did you start blogging?
2. Why did you choose this name for your blog?
3. If money were no object, where would you live and why?
4. When you meet someone for the first time, what's the first thing you want to know about him/her?
5. What's the most unique thing about you?
6. What inspires you?
7. What's your favorite dish (to eat or prepare)?
8. Describe your ideal weekend.
9. What did you want to be when you grew up and how does it compare to what you do now?
10. What is your dream career?
11. What is your favorite song or who is your favorite artist to dance to?

Don't forget to pass the award along!
Tweet