Today...

I love Mondays! They seem like a new beginning - a chance to start anew. In this vain, I've decided to make some choices.

Today, I will...

• Devote several hours to searching for a job - finding opening, submitting resumes/cover letters
• Create a menu plan.
• Begin a new exercise regimen.
• Clean my apartment.

I think that's a pretty good place to start. Hopefully I'll be successful. I need to get back on the ball. Too many things have slipped away, and I feel myself getting too comfortable.

Lazy.

It's 12 days until my 35th birthday. Here's hoping I have some good news on the job front by then. I'm hoping for a smashing birthday in Vegas, but we need to be responsible, so it needs to be contingent of me finding work first!

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Book Review: Anasazi Runner

Anasazi Runner: a novel of identity and speed by Jeff Posey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book, but there were a few things about it that really didn't jive with me.

Being a runner, it was difficult for me to imagine the paces being described in this book. Granted the author even admits it being a stretch, so I really shouldn't hold that against the book. While lofty running goals are an underlying, recurrent theme of the book, there is a lot more to the story. It's about a runner trying to find himself and his place in the world and his interactions with those closest to him - his girlfriend and running coach.

The story is told through the voice of Sean's running coach. After finishing the story, it makes sense that it is told through the voice of an outsider (that's all I'm going to say about that, so as not to spoil the ending), but it was very difficult for me to get through most of the time. The main characters, Sean and Kira, are of Native American descent, and Coach J is not. Throughout the book, there are many comments made about him being an "old, white guy." I understand that, being white, he probably doesn't understand many native traditions and ways of thinking, but references such as this really did not sit well with me. It seemed distasteful. I suppose it might not be too far from accurate, but I just didn't like it.

I also didn't like the relationship that developed between Coach J and Kira. He eventually comes to think of her as a granddaughter, but there were too many descriptions of their interactions together that made him seem more like just a creepy old man lusting after a young Navajo woman. I felt that their speech and mannerisms just got a bit too intimate for my liking.

If you can get past those few shortcomings (in my opinion), it was kind of a fascinating story. Sean sets forth a goal to win the NY Marathon, seeks the help from a former, now retired, high school track coach. Prior to setting out to accomplish this, he had always come in 11th in all his races. He didn't seem destined to be a winner, but as the story unfolds, we learn more about his journey to not only win but also to find himself.

I think this book had a lot of potential. The overall story was good with just enough complexities to keep you interested, but it could have been developed better. The stories of the characters were interesting, but I wasn't able to fully connect with them. I mostly felt frustration toward them through most of the book instead of the range of emotions you generally want to feel.

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Viva Las Vegas!

Note: I began writing this post at the end of June, when it was still fresh in my mind. I'm disappointed with how long it's been since my last post, so I wanted to publish something today when I discovered this in my drafts. Hopefully I can do the rest of the trip some justice - and get back to regular posting.

Fifteen years ago, I graduated from a small two-year college in SW Missouri. Instead of going back for the official reunion, a few of us decided to meet up for a little reunion of our own in Las Vegas.

So, in the midst of Traveling with Liberty, we made a stop in Vegas.

The fun and festivities were supposed to begin on Tuesday June 19th, and they did for my friends, but Jeff and I took a little longer than expected driving from the Portland area. I finally joined my friends by mid-morning on Wednesday.

But before I could settle into enjoying Vegas, we needed to find a place for Jeff and Sallie to stay, which meant we needed to park the van while we searched hotels.com.

Parking the van turned out to be quite an ordeal.

The parking ramp at the Cosmopolitan we didn't actually stay at the Cosmo, but the condo Katie's parents hooked us up with had shared parking in the ramp is actually quite nice. Each spot has a sensor, so when you drive in, you can see just how many spots are available on each level.

One problem: The sensors hang down so low, that the clearance of the garage is greatly decreased. When we drove into the ramp, it clearly said CLEARANCE 8'2". Liberty measures around 7'5", so we figured we were good.

Wrong.

We *may* have hit a few signs/sensors, but I'm totally blaming the Cosmopolitan. I mean, seriously, update your signs!

Once parked, we still had to find a hotel room. A BIG THANK YOU to my friends for hanging out with Sallie while we searched, booked, and noted directions.

So, I kissed Jeff good-bye and settled into my room on the Strip with the girls.

Where I enjoyed this view from our room.

After showering and primping, we hit the Strip and headed north. We found ourselves at the Fashion Show Mall, where we shopped and ate at the food court. Nothing spectacular, but it was very fun.

Once back at the hotel, one of us crashed. Hard.

So, we left her to catch up on some sleep and headed to the Hash House A Go Go. Twisted Farm Food. The portions were ridiculously huge.

Seriously. Who can eat a pancake the size of one's head? Plus scrambled eggs? Plus bacon, sausage, or potatoes? I think the three of us could have *easily* shared one order.

The next day, we took a free shuttle to the Las Vegas Outlet Mall, where we shopped and shopped and shopped some more. I tried on a gorgeous, summertime dress at Banana Republic. It fit perfectly, and was only $40 (60% reduction), and yet I still talked myself out of buying it.

After shopping our little hearts out, Kate found so many amazing deals! we rested a few hours in our hotel room before getting all dolled up to catch a show, grab some dinner, and party at a Vegas night club or two.

We went to see V The Ultimate Variety Show. It was great. Better than I expected. The MC Wally Eastwood was hilarious. Plus, there was something for everyone. Sexy acrobatic men. Sensual female magicians. Lots of comedy. If you're in Vegas, I would definitely recommend this show.

From there we ate at one of the restaurants near to the theater. I can't remember the name now. Dinner was included in the price of the tickets. Sort of. There was a special menu that we could order from or we could order off the regular menu for a discount. The food was good, but the service wasn't the best.

After finishing dinner, we headed over to the Aria. Earlier in the day, we had gotten some tickets to a few different nightclubs and had decided on going to Haze. While in the lobby of the Aria, we were approached by a nicely dressed man. He suckered us into buying tickets to Gold to enjoy that club while we waited for Haze to open. It wasn't exactly the scene for all of us, but we all went. For $20, it was all we could drink, which didn't turn out to be much. Are we getting old?

From there, we finally made it to Haze. It. Was. LOUD! Maybe we really are getting old? Again, not the scene for everyone, but I was determined to drink, dance, and have some fun. My concept of time that night is gone, but at some point, one of the girls headed back to the hotel. The rest of us stumbled back (ok, only two of us were really stumbling) around 2:30, I think. I thought it was a fun enough club - if not for being super crowded and loud.

After sleeping and lounging, we got off to a later-than-usual start Friday morning. After breakfast, one of us really wanted to head to the Cosmopolitan pool and one of us wanted to shop some more, so we split into twos and went on our way. I went with the shopper. Hindsight being what it is, I probably shouldn't have. Or I should have changed into flip flips. I ended up getting huge blisters on my feet. I didn't think I'd ever walk normally again.

I had to relax for a couple hours in the room before I could hobble my way to dinner.

For dinner, we all headed to Beso Steakhouse in Crystals at City Center. Jeff even joined us.

Up to this point, we had collectively been pretty disappointed by the level of service we'd received in Vegas. It either slow or the server wasn't very personable or both. That all changed at Beso. The service was great, but even better, the food was fabulous. So good in fact that I shared the following on twitter the next day.

Just thinking about it again makes my mouth water.

Saturday morning, we started the day off at PBR Rock Bar and Grill at the suggestion of Katie's mom. I was not disappointed! I shared a plate of breakfast potato skins with Katie, and they were very tasty!

Katie's parents picked her up shortly after breakfast. After saying our good-byes, the rest of us checked out of our room and headed back out to the strip to walk through a few other hotels/casinos. It was a low-key, relaxed way to end our trip.

Molly and Dayna hailed a cab and headed to the airport, and Jeff picked me up to take me back to where he'd spent the week.

What a great stop on our travels of course, if you follow me on FB or Twitter, you know that we now call Vegas home! It was so fun to see these lovely ladies again. We walked, we shopped, we talked, we laughed. Great fun - even if I was exhausted and could barely walk by the end of it all.

Hopefully we'll be able to get together again sometime soon!

**I didn't take hardly any pictures, so most of the pictures in this post are from what my friends posted on FB. Thanks for covering me on the picture taking and sharing, ladies!

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Biking the Strip

I know, I know. I'm way behind in blogging. I've got a few videos to share and some fun pictures, but that takes time for editing and processing. In the meantime, here's a quick update.

I have now run in ND, MT, WA, OR, and CA.

I have driven through some pretty spectacular scenery.

I have been in Las Vegas now since last Wed morning. Wed-Sat afternoon I spent reuniting with a few college roomies.

Since Sat afternoon, I've been chilling with my husband.

My favorite hotel/casino has got to be NY, NY! It made me really nostalgic of my time living there and *almost* made me want to move back.

It's the one hotel I wanted Jeff to be sure to see.

So, we strapped on our bike helmets and headed to the Strip. We're staying in a hotel off the strip about 3 miles. Jeff had already biked it a few times, so he was familiar with the route.

The route was mostly *quiet* side streets, but it would take us onto the Strip for over a mile.

I'll admit it. I was a little apprehensive about biking on the strip. I mean, it is a busy, car-packed, pedestrian-filled street.

Scary.

No, not really.

In fact, it's probably one of the easiest, high congestion roads I've ever biked on. I'd guess it was a little past 7pm when we were biking the strip. There were no horns honking, no evil stares, no cruel gestures.

I never felt in danger.

In fact, it was wonderful and very fun!
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Book Review: Never Smile at Strangers

Never Smile at Strangers by Jennifer Minar-Jaynes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It pulled me in right from the very beginning, and I read it start to finish in just three sittings. I didn't want to put it down.

I liked how the author only used the pronoun when describing the killer and yet was able to fully develop the character throughout the story. I found him to be very creepy and felt sorry for him as I learned more and more about his childhood as I moved throughout the story.

Taking place during the summer in a small Louisiana town, I could feel the heat seeping from these pages. It wasn't at all difficult to picture this little town and the difficulties the main character, Haley, was encountering. I enjoyed watching her progression and how she choose to deal with everything going on.

There was definitely some predictability in this story, but I still enjoyed taking the journey the author was describing. There was quite a bit of misdirection, and it was fun getting to the end to see which way the author was going to go.

I might have ended the book a little differently - had I been the author. I'm not sure I really like who ended up being the killer. There were still some questions left at the end of the book, but I think that's a good thing. I feel it was nicely tied up at the end, with just enough left unanswered.

There does tend to be a bit of bad language from some of the characters and there is a little sexual activity, so if that bothers you, you may not want to add this to your shelf. If that doesn't bother you, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick suspense/thriller to read. It flowed well, the characters were well developed, and there weren't very many typos.
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Crossing the Time Zone

In my last post, I shared a video of my run in ND, but I didn't do any write-up about it. I think it deserves a little more than that, so here it is again.

When looking at the map to decide where to stop in North Dakota for my run, I found that the Central/Mountain Time Zone Line would cross our path. What a great story that would make!!

Well, I knew we'd need to get off the freeway in order for me to run, and the map seemed to indicate that it would be an easy little detour. Easy-peasy.

Except it had gotten very dark by the time we got there. The road was tiny at least it was paved and we drove and drove without seeing any sign about crossing time zones. I guess the locals just know.

Finally, we decided to just pull over. I strapped on my running shoes, headlamp, and reflective vest, leashed up my girl, and ...

10-minutes later called it a run.

Running Ragnar last summer really helped prepare me for this run. I ran this mile+ like it was nothing!

Ok, it was a little scary.

Much less so with Jeff driving Liberty right behind me.

Sallie and I ran right down the middle of the lane. It was chilly, but when I got back in the van, I was surprisingly very sweaty!! It was an exhilarating run.

Kind of a fun story, right? And a great memory for me.

Turns out, we stopped for the night before leaving ND. When we awoke in the morning, I discovered there was a very nice bike trail right at the parking lot. It would have been a perfect place for a morning run before hitting the road again.

However, we were anxious to get moving - as we knew we'd have a full day of driving ahead of us.
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3 Things Thursday

1. Apparently, I'm incapable of getting dressed if I don't have work, school, or if I don't go for a run. It's 4:30pm now. Should I don those running clothes after all?

2. I finally posted my North Dakota (state #1) run to Facebook.

3. My Sallie girl is incredibly cute. She's discovered the bin of dog toys. Randomly throughout the day, she'll pounce on one of them. It makes me laugh. Every. single. time.

But she has been a very bad girl here in WA. If she isn't chasing one of the cats, she's running off all over town. She is no longer allowed outside without her leash, because if we take our eyes off her for 1/2 a second, she. is. gone. Being an inside dog all her life, she doesn't really understand the dangers of cars, so we worry.

Happy National Running Day!

If you haven't yet, I hope you're able to get out there today and go for a little run.

My runs lately have been in the 1 to 3 mile range, so today I thought I'd run a little further. I've been wanting to run out to the Chief Joseph Dam since we arrived in Bridgeport, so I figured this would be a great day to do it. I knew I'd want to take some pictures, so I put a waterproof I thought it might rain camera in my Camelback and headed out.

I ran from the city of Bridgeport across a long bridge and over to the Bridgeport State Park.

At the entrance to the dam, there was a very cool little maze with a unique legend about salmon and mourning doves.

I ran along some beautiful trails with some gorgeous viewpoints of Chief Joseph Dam.

I got a little camera-happy while running and while my run time was less than 60 min 59:31, to be exact, I was gone for over 1 1/2 hours.

In addition to these photos and more, I also shot some video and edited together. You can also view this on my Facebook page.

My Home

Last week was a busy one, and I didn't have a chance to play along with Stasha for Monday Listicles. I really loved last week's easy topic, so I'm going to that one today.

10 Words to Describe My Home

1. Liberating
2. White
3. Cozy
4. Natural light
5. Organized
6. Unorthodox
7. Loud
8. Surprisingly comfortable
9. Gas guzzling
10. Perfect!

Yep, I officially live in our van, Liberty, now! It's been 4 wonderful days.

As we're driving around, we're stopping at least once in every state for me to run for at least 10min. So far, I've run in North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. Posts and videos describing my runs coming soon...

We're in Washington now, staying with some family, but it's been rainy all day. I'm not sure I'll make it out there today, but no worries, we'll be here for a few days at least.

Being Strong and Healthy

Being strong and healthy is important to me.

I want to be stronger and healthier.

I try to take good care of my body. I try to eat well and exercise.

But, sometimes, life gets a bit crazy.

Sometimes, it’s hard to find the time.

I can’t even imagine how difficult it might be to try to be healthy while also fighting with an addiction to smoking.

I know many people out there struggle with this, and I can’t even imagine how difficult it must be to kick the habit.

There are a lot of programs out there to help. I stumbled upon www.beatingsmoking.com the other day. They are offering an opportunity to participate in a clinical research study on smoking cessation.

If you or someone you love is looking for something to help with smoking cessation, check it out.

We all know the adverse effects that result from smoking. At the very least, quitting smoking may increase your ability to live healthy.

I’m no expert, as I’ve never been a smoker and have no experience quitting, but as a runner and a cycler and a hiker, may I suggest you …

Crush that butt and get outside and kick butt!

Big Helper!

All curled up

while we're hard at work!

Questions

I found this list of questions on Simple Girl, Simple Pleasures. I thought they were really fun, and I'm trying to post more regularly, two posts in two days! Woot woot!! so here goes...

would you rather be able to dance, sing or draw?
Definitely dance. I've always dreamed of being graceful and elegant. Plus extra fun ways to exercise. :)

on pinterest, would you rather have the clothes you pinned appear in your closet, the decor you pinned show up in your house (and you can change it as you please) or have the recipes you pinned show up on your kitchen table?
I guess I'd have to go with the recipes - seeing as I have no closet and my house will soon be a van. I don't have a kitchen table either, but just having delicious food show up would be fantastic. A girl's gotta eat, y'know.

Source: thediva-dish.com via Heather on Pinterest

for the next five years, which five countries would you like to live in, changing every year (you would still work and have a life. this is not a vacation. feel free to state a city too)
In no particular order, United Arab Emirates, Belize, Denmark, Australia, China

for the next five years, which five states would you like to live in, changing every year (you would still work and have a life. this is not a vacation. feel free to state a city too)?
Again, no particular order, California, South Carolina, Maine, Kentucky, Colorado

in what event would you most like to win an Olympic gold medal?
I've not thought about this. Can't say I'm much of an Olympic-y gal.

which disney princess do you want to be?
My husband would likely say Ariel, if he had a vote, because well, she lives Under the Sea, which is where he'd like to be. all. the. time. As for me? Maybe Jasmine from Aladdin. Not sure why.

if you were hosting SNL, who would you want to be the musical guest?
I'd love for the Squirrel Nut Zippers, of course.

if you could take one class at Hogwarts, what would it be?
Don't judge, but I'm not really very familiar with Hogwarts. I do think that maybe a flying broom class would be useful, though.

would you rather have the power to see the future or fix the past?
If I have to choose, I'd rather see the future. I have no regrets of the past.

what is your favorite pop tart flavor (i'm running out of creative juices for questions and well you know, i'm a fan)?
I think I'll go with s'mores. I think that's the flavor I buy most often anyway. That, or blueberry.

What Good Are Husbands?

I haven't done a Monday Listicles is FOREVER! Yeah, yeah. I haven't done a post in FOREVER! I need to be a better blogger. I want to be a better blog. This is a good place to start, right?

Stasha well, her husband over at Northwest Mommy gave us a fun topic this week.

10 THINGS HUSBANDS SHOULD DO

(in no particular order)

1.   Husbands should be supportive and encouraging.
2.   Husbands should drive on long trips. Or anytime, really. I hate driving.
3.   Husbands should be selfless and loving (i.e. put my needs before his).
4.   Husbands should take out the trash and recycling.
5.   Husbands should be willing to try something crazy in the ... kitchen
6.   Husbands should listen patiently, even when the story isn't particularly amusing.
7.   Husbands should understand all his wife's moods.
8.   Husbands should laugh.
9.   Husbands should not be afraid to dance.
10. Husbands should love their wife with their everything.

Source: sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net via Wendy on Pinterest

Perhaps a little inappropriate, but also pretty funny.

Moving Sale

Visit Our 20 Day Apartment Sale!

At:  http://ourjunkyourtreasures.blogspot.com/

To explain, we are selling everything we own,

so we can travel around in our van.

We will be posting items on Craigslist,

but you can see everything at once on

our yard sale blog, and on May 24th and 26th

we will be having actual yard sales at:

2057 Laurel Ave, St Paul MN 55104

Everything is being sold at cheap prices,

and every price is negotiable (obo).

What doesn't sell will be donated to charity.


Here is a small sampling:

Decoration = Prices vary

4 Shelf pantry cabinet = $10

Abstract painting on stretched canvas 48" x 24" = $40

Locking hasp = $3

Running belt with water bottle = $10

Life jacket = $10

Work lights = $10

Shop broom = $15

Captain's chairs and back bench seat from Dodge van = 

Best offer

See Post

Ergonomic highly adjustable office chair = $250

Office chair = $10

Bookcase = $40

Telescope = $150

There's plenty more to see, and more posts are coming.

Come take a look:

http://ourjunkyourtreasures.blogspot.com

Exciting News!

Last week, I mentioned I had some pretty exciting news, but first some somewhat sad news.

You may have noticed that I haven't been very good about writing up recaps of my training for Grandma's marathon. Well, this is because my training has been all but halted.

No, I did not get injured.

Yes, I still love to run.

But, we've decided to embark on a different journey, and the marathon though we've already paid for it just doesn't seem to fit in the plan any longer.

I'm totally okay with it, because the new plan is just so very exciting ... and scary ... but mostly I just. can't. wait!

Here's the deal.

WE BOUGHT A VAN!

We named her Liberty, and she will be our home for the next several months or so while we travel around the U.S. and down through Mexico and maybe Central America.

We're taking our time with this and just enjoying the open road.
No deadlines.
No obligations.

We can't wait to embark on this adventure!

I'll still be blogging here about my running which I plan to keep up while on the road, my thoughts, pretty much all the things I've always blogged about here, but if you'd like, please feel free to follow our road trip extraordinaire over at Traveling with Liberty, our new blog, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

We'll be heading out in just a few weeks! Wow!! So much to do to prepare...

Where did April Go?

This past month of student teaching has really been time consuming - not to mention STRESSFUL!! I'm down to 8 days left, and I am certainly ready to be finished. :-)

I've got some very exciting news to share in the next few days, plus I really hope to get back on the blogging bandwagon soon!

In the meantime, it's supposed to be gorgeous here today. Maybe I'll even have a chance to go for a run this afternoon after school. Yay!

Wish I were spending the day somewhere like this.

Have a super Wednesday, everyone!

Training for Grandma's Week 8

This was probably one of my best training weeks! Still not perfect, but pretty good overall. I also started the Amazing Arms 'n Abs April challenge, which helped motivate me to actually do some weight and core work. Yay!

On the schedule...

Mon, 4/2 - Rest from running. I skipped the core work (no surprise there) and missed the first actual day of the arms 'n abs challenge. It was my first day back to school after Spring Break, and I think I was just exhausted and adjusting back to lesson planning after two weeks off.

Tues, 4/3 - Treadmill Hills. I chose an average level of 7, and I could have possibly done a slightly higher level. I played around a little with different speeds, too. It was a great workout, but I really need to find a good local hill to do repeats. Treadmill hills are good for working on the incline, but not so much the decline. I also did some arm work - bicep curls, triceps extensions, hammer curls, triceps kickbacks.

Wed, 4/4 - I was able to get some core work done - planks! Unfortunately, I skipped out on the cross training. :-(

Thu, 4/5 - I did nigh on to 5 miles. I think it's probably closer than DM says because I ran on the ped path, and they aren't actually on the map. I went a bit later than I'd have liked, and it was getting to be dusk. There weren't too many people out on the paths, so I let Sallie have a little more leeway on her lease. She was having such a great time. :)

Fri, 4/6 - I had a friend join me for today's 4-miler. As part of the run, I completed the 5K for the Jelly Bean Virtual Race. We really kicked this run in the you-know-what! Our time for the 5K was 27:38 and overall we did the 4 miles in 36. AWESOME! I really had to push it to keep up with my friend, but it was totally worth it. After our run, I came home and did some banana rolls. They were tough! And awkward.

Sat, 4/7 - I almost missed out on the 21K bike ride for the Jelly Bean, but I finally made it out the door around 6:30pm. I rode to Lake Nokomis, around the lake, and back home. It ended up being about 14.5 miles because of a wrong turn. At one point, I ended up on a pedestrian path. How embarrassing! Thank goodness the swarms of people on the path weren't nasty at all to me for being on the wrong path. Before and after the bike ride, I worked on some push-ups. Every hour, I would drop and do 10. I did manage to do them all on my hands and feet (as opposed to knees), but I wasn't really able to lower myself very far. Still, I figure the effort was there and eventually the strength will be there as well!

Sun, 4/8 - The final event for the Jelly Bean was a half marathon. Since I had 14miles on the schedule, I knew I'd be able to do this no problem. Since it was Easter, I wore some cute bunny ears. It was such a fun run! I did the half in 2:14:15 and finished the 14 miles in 2:22:43. My phone lost GPS signal around 5 miles, so it thinks it took me 2+ hours to go 5 miles for a pace of 29min/mi. LOL.

It was a beautiful day for a run. The sun was shining! It was a bit windy at times, though. Also, there were a couple of really killer hills. One of which I only ran up about halfway before I realized I would probably be going faster if I were walking. So walk I did. :)

Total Mileage
Running: 28 miles
Cycling: 14 miles

And now as a reward for making it through all that: Monday Listicles.

Things I learned from running in bunny ears:

1) After the 1st mile, I didn't even notice them. If I wasn't able to see my shadow, I had to randomly touch my head to make sure they hadn't blown off.

2) Bunny ears make people smile. I got a lot of comments such as: Love the ears! Nice bunny ears! Happy Easter! Great outfit! More than the comments, I got a lot of thumbs up and even more smiles.

3) Bunny ears make ME smile. Getting so much attention really made me smile. And they kind of made me push myself a little more. When crossing the Mendota Bridge, I even forced myself to smile, so all the people driving by would see the bunny ears worn by a smiling runner. Yay!

4) Of all the comments and reactions I got, almost none were from other runners. Were they just too focused on their own running? Did they see me as not as hardcore of a runner because I was wearing bunny ears?

5) I love attention! When I'm out running, I love it when other people acknowledge me with a hello, smile, wave, or nod. I try not to take it personally when people don't do something in acknowledgement. Wearing bunny ears seemed to facilitate this even more.

Guilty Pleasures

Oh, I've got them. Who doesn't? Here are my top 5.

1. General Hospital. I've watched this off and on for years. I go in phases where I watch it more frequently, but it's a soap opera, so even if I miss a day week month year, it's not at all difficult to quickly catch up. I've heard rumors that it might be going off the air after nearly 50 years. Even though I don't tune in every day, I'll be super sad if it goes away.

2. French fries. I  know they're incredibly unhealthy, but they just smell and taste so good! On my bus ride home after school today, I sat next to someone with a bag from McDonald's. Omygod I wanted some right then and there. I didn't. It's actually pretty rare that I have the opportunity to enjoy such deliciousness.

3. Good TV shows. I'm not exactly sure how to define a good TV show, but there are definitely a few besides GH that I enjoy more than I should. If a show sucks me in, I could easily be lost for hours.

4. Waterfalls. It sounds weird, I know, but if I'm out hiking or running or biking, and I hear the sound of rushing water, I almost have to find the source. There's just something about watching the rushing flow of water that I find exhilarating.

I want to visit Croatia one day just to see this!

5. Brownies, cookies, pretty much anything sweet. If it's around, I will eat it. It's almost as if they are calling my name. I'm a nibbler. If there is a plate of cookies leftover cake a pan of brownies *ahem* any of the above on the counter, I will snag just a bite. every. single. time. I. pass. them. It's definitely a weakness.

What are your guilty pleasures?

Link up with Stasha @ The good life.

Training for Grandma's Week 7

This week's training wasn't perfect, but it was at least better. Plus, it ended on a high note. All's well that ends well, right?

This week's schedule:

Mon, 3/26 - Rest Day + Core. I successfully accomplished my rest. :-) Core? Not so much. Why oh why can't I bring myself to making this a priority??

Tues, 3/27 - 4 mile speed workout. It was a little gloomy outside, so I decided to do this speedwork on the treadmill instead. I basically alternated between 6.0mph @ .5% incline and 6.5 mph, 6.7mph, and 7.0mph @ 0% incline. It was a good workout. I really had to push myself to get through it, but I DID IT!

Wed, 3/28 - It was a real struggle to get my bum out the door to do anything on Wed! Finally I headed to the gym. When I asked Jeff if I should do the elliptical, stairmaster, or stationary bike, he said, with no hesitation "Stairmaster. It's better for the butt." LOL. Per his request, I did 30min on the stairmaster. I chose the random setting, level 10. I possibly could have handled a higher level, but it was still a great workout. I finished the workout off with a 1.68 mile walk to Whole Foods. It was a nice cool-down. Still no core. Ugh!

Thu, 3/29 - I apparently couldn't win the mental battle today. :-(

Fri, 3/30 - I don't know where this day went. Oh, wait! We went downtown to watch The Hunger Games. Not sure why, but I was exhausted when we got home, so I took a nap. I wanted to meet Jeff after his shift to walk home with him, and I left for a run later than I would've liked, so I only got in a 3mile run. Sallie came with me on this one, and it was fun! Plus, I always enjoy walking home from campus with Jeff. Still no core. Booo!

Sat, 3/31 - Cross training day. I went for an 18+ mile bike ride. It was a little gloomy outside, but I still enjoyed riding a somewhat unfamiliar route. You can read more about this ride here. When I got back from the bike ride, I actually did a few core exercises. Go me!

Sun, 4/1 - If you read yesterday's post, you know that I'm starting two challenges for April. One is 30 Days of Fun. I'm definitely including today's 12mile run for my first fun thing in April. It was a little chilly for probably the first 5 miles, but then I was nicely warmed up plus the sun came out around mile 7! I was just enjoying being outside. The first 6.2 miles was dedicated to the Jelly Bean Virtual Race. This race is all week long and there are 4 different events you can do. I'm planning on doing all 4 - 5K, 10K done!, Half Marathon, 21K bike ride. Wish me luck!

Today's route

The route I took included stairs! What was I thinking? Actually they weren't as bad as I'd feared.

After running down the stairs to get to the bridge

About to run up the stairs after crossing the bridge

After finishing the 10K, I took a short break to tweet my status. Dork, I know!

After a few minutes rest, I took off again. I'd finished the 10K, so the pressure was off. I wanted to spend the rest of the run just enjoying the course. hehehe.

Between miles 8 & 9, I stopped off at Minnehaha Falls. I'm a sucker for waterfalls! So, I really couldn't help but stop.

View from the top of the falls. Aren't they pretty?

While taking a short break, I ate some Sport Beans.

Because, you know, they're kind of like Jelly Beans.

After a short respite, I took off again to finish the last 3 or so miles. By now, I could really feel the sun on my face. I was tempted to take off my LS shirt and just run in my tank, but I thought I'd probably get a bit too cold. 'Cuz I'm weird like that.

All-in-all, it was a great way to end a week of training!

Total Mileage
Running: 18.91
Cycling: 18.17
Walking: 1.68