My New Goal + Important Thursday Discussions + Your Accomplishments!

I love having running goals… it gets me out the door and excited to train.  The problem right now is that I probably won’t have a race until next February so I told my sister I need a new goal until then and she gave me a really good one.  The goal—>  to get her ready for a half marathon!  She has done a bunch in the past but not since she has had her two little boys and she wants to get back.  Each week we will do 2 runs together and I’ll help her build up and get back to 13.1!

I’m ridiculously excited about this because it means I get to run with her and I get to see her hit her goals each week.  Boom.

Right now she is at 4 miles and I’ll keep you updated with her progress!

I feel very lucky that we get to live by each other now.  PS I did Megan’s strength program for runners and did leg day on Tuesday. I’ll be sore for a week.

We had some great hills in there and finished with an average of 9:01.

Skye and my sister’s boys were with Andrew while we were out.  We came back and stretched while Skye showed off her standing.

I had one of the best salads I’ve ever had at home… leftover buffalo chicken from the crockpot (it was from when I made meals at Citrus Pear so I don’t have the recipe, sorry), lettuce, peppers, carrots and ranch dressing from TJ’s.  I want this salad every day.

We got to be with Knox again.  I sure missed that little smile of his.

The rest of the day involved kids, work and finishing up decorating our main area—> I’ll share the tour of how it all looks SOON!!!

Oh and I definitely had some fruit salad later on too.

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I have a few things to discuss with you today:

*Remember how I thought that pancakes were my biggest pregnancy craving?  I don’t think they really were… they are just a big life craving.  I wouldn’t hate eating them daily now too.

*Also, egg sandwiches.  I’ve been eating a lot of these lately.

*26.2 questions with Des Linden… SO SO good and real.  It also gave me goosebumps at the end so I’m not sure what is wrong with me.  PS she said that she is a big candy person too!

*These next two pictures are from Tuesday when Brooke and I went on a little park date just the two of us.

*She is growing up so fast and it’s crazy to me that we are able to have deep conversations about things now.  I love it.

*PS Skye is wearing her first hand-me-down from Brooke (I left all of Brooke’s baby stuff in California when I moved back to Utah but I did bring this jacket and hat back with me).  Luckily, I saved pretty much everything from when Brooke was one on so it will be fun to see Skye in Brooke’s old clothing:)

*When Brooke found out my parents were coming over for dinner the other night she got busy working on the table arrangements right away:

*I need more of this in my life.

My Mom’s Apple Crisp Recipe that is heavenly:

6-8 medium apples

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sifted whole wheat flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup quick oatmeal

Peel the apples and slice into a buttered baking dish.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar and cinnamon.  Combine the butter, flour, brown sugar and oatmeal.  Spread mixture on top of apples.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes until apples are soft and the top is golden brown.  Serve with vanilla ice cream

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I’m sharing your amazing accomplishments today instead of tomorrow!  A few were from last week too.  I LOVE these so much so please share yours if you would like to—>  [email protected]

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Honor!!!  Honor lost her sweet husband and ran the Chicago Marathon in memory of him.

“I knocked more than 10 minutes off my PR!!  And get this, placed second in my age group!  Second in AG in the Chicago Marathon!!  My time was 5:25:14 and I’m 77.  I tell you, I didn’t need my flight home—I simply stayed on Cloud 9 all the way!  I feel I did indeed honor my husband and had he been at the finish line he would have been so proud and delighted.  So running the race with such success went a long way to healing my sadness.  Now I’m waiting to hear if I’m accepted to run London next April for charity.  Crazy isn’t it?  My quads were still hurting when I sat down on anything low and already I was planning my next marathon!  Chicago was my 6th in 5 years”

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Betsy!!!  “My almost 13 year old daughter and I ran the 5K Donut Dash in St. Joseph, MO.  This ended up being more like 3.8 miles.  The proceeds went to the Patee House Museum, Robidoux Row Museum & Mount Mora Cemetery.  The race started at Patee House Museum which features the home that Jesse James was shot (& killed) and Mount Mora Cemetery is the resting place for some Pony Express Riders and three MO governors back in the post Civil War period.  A lot of history in St. Joseph.  The route ended at Gold N Glaze Donuts.

The donuts at the end were great but the best part was seeing my daughter run.  TO be honest I was worried she wouldn’t be able to finish but not only did she finish, she beat her old mom.  I was so proud of her.  I’m so happy we got to make that memory.  We’ve already talked about doing the 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving (& it’s her 13th birthday).”

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Jen!!!  “Yesterday, I ran the Grand Rapids Half Marathon in Grand Rapids MI.  It was my 8th half and I had my heart set on a PB.  The last month of my training cycle has felt really good and my coach encouraged me to try and get out of my comfort zone.  She said “What’s the worst that could happen?  You’ll still finish!”  Those words really stuck with me so, with my husband running at my side for a little extra support, I went for it.  I couldn’t believe it when I crossed the line… I had beat my old PB by over 3 minutes!  My new PB is 1:52:56!  So thankful!  Next time maybe sub 1:50!”

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Lauren talking about her brother!!! “I wanted to brag about my younger brother- he is 22, working on his Masters, works part time, AND decided earlier this year to run the City of Trees Half Marathon in Boise, Idaho this past weekend.  He was a varsity high school athlete, but he said that this was the hardest thing he’s ever done.  He trained for months and his goal was to get a sub-2.  He ALMOST got his goal, finishing at 2 hours and 13 minutes.  Not only is this something he’s never done before, at the starting line it was about 30 degrees!!!”

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Christina!!! “I signed up for my first 5k after a long bout with a stubborn knee injury so I was quite nervous! I reminded myself to just do the best I could, but I really wanted to finish with some kind of “place” because I have done it once before for my age group and really wanted to do it again for a sentimental reason.  My parents used to hang newspaper clippings of my tennis accomplishments on the refrigerator in high school and since this was a local race in the town they retired in, I figured it would end up in the paper.  I really wanted an age group finish and turns out I placed 3rd overall woman and 6th in the entire race.  Granted the weather was crummy (37 degrees and drizzle) I am still really proud of myself and can’t wait to see this image on the fridge in my parents cabin!”

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Cooked fruit—>  Delicious or no thank you?  Does it depend on which fruit?

-I love cooked apples but lately cooked peaches do not sound good at all.

What is your current running goal?

Would you rather do upper body or lower body strength training?

Normal hot chocolate or flavored hot chocolate (details please)?  Does anyone dislike hot chocolate?