Does Anybody Else Do This? My Next Race!

Another rest day in the books and I’m pretty positive I walked less than 500 steps total for the day.  We fit in a nap, a lot of delicious food and a lot of time on the couch which means I’m more than ready for another week of marathon training.

Knox insisted on his favorite clip-on tie from when he was 4:)

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Skye kept us very busy at church and while I taught a lesson to the 12/13 year old girls in my ward (<— what we call our church groups), Andrew and Skye got in a nice walk together.

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The kids really enjoy getting Skye dressed.

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The best eats from yesterday:

*French toast first thing in the morning with berries and bananas and pb&j sandwiches for lunch.

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*Another batch of Superhero Muffins!  In the comments a few weeks ago somebody mentioned that they use half almond flour and half whole wheat flour because almond flour is so expensive.  We tried out that combo yesterday and it was delicious.

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PS Skye scraped up her little nose on Saturday with cousins…

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*I’m making more meals this week from Cook Once, Eat All Week.  Last night we had the Chicken Burrito Bowls.  We used ground turkey instead of ground chicken because I have had a lot of turkey in the freezer and it was delicious.  I’m also happy because the kids ate it with zero complaints (no red onions for them) and we made a bigger batch so we have leftovers for lunch today.

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I have a new race on the plan for this month!  I thought after my last 10k that it was going to be my last 10k (because they HURT) for a while but my coach has different plans for us;). I’ll be doing the Desert News 10k on 7/24 this month.  I really hope I get a chance to see Jared Ward and Sarah Sellers while I am there.  This is the oldest road race in Utah and it is held on Utah’s Pioneer Day which is a huge holiday here.  It’s going to be fun to ‘travel’ (aka 45 minutes north;) for a race and see an entirely new course.

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Random topic of the day:

These are my feet below (in the beautiful hot pink/black Hyperion).

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For as long as I have seen pictures of me running (aka when I started blogging:), I have noticed that my back foot in each stride will always be angled out rather than looking like the picture below where her foot is coming back straight.  Her toe is pointed down towards the ground and at that point in my stride my toes are angled out and away from my body.

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I’m a big believer in the idea that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it but I wonder why my foot angles out as I am pulling it back up.  I’m not getting injured (my string of injuries years ago was from under eating, not my form) so it must be working for me BUT I do want to fix things that are not efficient (like my arm swing… they are all over the place ha).

Does anyone else have their feet angle out when they are running like mine do?  Anything with your form you are working on or has your running form ever caused you any injuries?

What meals are you planning on making this week?

When is your next race?  Would you rather race a 5k or race a 10k?

What baked good do you make the most at home?

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47 comments

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That’s interesting; I don’t know what my feet do when I run, but now i want to know! I had horrible pain on the inside of my calves this fall/winter, and my PT said one of the problems was I was running with my feet too close together, instead of them landing hip width. I still have to think about that when I run, but I can actually run now!

Made Shalane’s recovery quinoa salad and planning a batch of superhero muffins today or tomorrow! Those are my most-made foods, for sure.

I have a 10k coming up this fall! Never raced a 10k before. :-)

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That is really interesting about how your calves were hurting from running with your feet so close together. Sounds like you have an awesome PT and I’m so happy he could help you with that. Oh that salad is the best. Keep me updated with your 10k training… I’m cheering for you!

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I feel like we are in a rotate through every type of sandwich dinner because this summer has been HOT.
Most baked thing is chocolate chip cookies. Second is definitely banana chocolate chip muffins.

As always wish we were playdating to the pool today.

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That sounds like heaven today. Ummm I might need that muffin recipe. Sandwiches are perfect for summer. Have a beautiful day with Hope today!

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I have the Beach to Beacon in August…I finished the Tri for a Cure yesterday, easily one of the hardest things I’ve done…and I’ve done a couple marathons and the Trek Across Maine. This was so different than anything I’ve done. After all the training, it’s hard to think it’s over in such a short time.

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WAY TO GO YESTERDAY MEGHAN! You are hardcore! Beach to Beacon sounds amazing… Joan Benoit Samuelson is the race founder?! WOW. I want to come join you. Have a wonderful day Meghan and congrats.

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Thank you!!! Yes she is the founder & she ran a the relay leg in the tri yesterday, she’s amazing to see, watch & talk with. You should definitely come!!! Thank you so much…I love your posts & blog! You inspire me to be better.

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My next race isn’t until September and it’s a 5k.

I make cookies a lot. That’s definitely my most made baked good.

I have been injured so many times. One a year all through high school and then twice last year. Form wise now I’ve been working on engaging my glutes and getting my foot to land under my hip.

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Which 5k is it Jenny?! I’m cheering for you! I think those things will definitely help out with future injury problems. What PT have you been seeing for your last injury (I know a bunch of them around here:). I hope you have a wonderful day with your cute kiddos today! We need to run into each other somewhere asap!

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It’s the run to walk 5k. I do it every year. My bishop and his wife own a little business for kids who need occupational therapy and the money goes towards those patients.

My physical therapist is Scott Christiansen. I’ve know him as long as I can remember! He’s in highland now.

We do! My kids best friend is moving this week …maybe our kids would get along ;)

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Hiii! Happy Monday! Hope you and the gang have a great day.

I think my form is contributing to my current shin/foot issue. From lack of glute activation, my whole left side form is off. So I tend to heel strike which pulls the tendons in my shin and foot! So I’m working on form in this season but its super hard. When you had a string of injuries from undereating, was it just bone issues or did you have tendon issues as well?

I meal prepped some turkey meatballs for dinners to go with pasta and sauce. & I meal prepped salads for lunch with kale, quinoa, red bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, sunflower seeds + apple cider vinaigrette.

I won’t be racing for a while for 2 reasons. One I live in FL and its too hot to race here now, but also I’m really trying to get my shin and foot fully healed. It was doing super well till I ran peach tree for the 4th of July (didn’t mean to push it as much as I did without recent speed training but a race environment will do that). Sooo, I’m hoping not to race until November and just build a solid base and get this injury gone for good! Plus I’m getting married in October so it’ll be nice to just stay in shape but not have any race pressure:)

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Eleanor, I am so sorry about what is happening with your left side being off! Keep up the hard work on this and I hope that you are able to get back to yourself 100% asap. I think the under-eating portion contributed to my bone issues but running fast every day and rarely (if ever) taking a rest day is what caused a lot of the other problems (like plantar/ITB etc) because now I don’t have anything popping up. Way to go on your meal prep! I am just like you and it is really hard to not push myself in a race in that atmosphere. You are being so smart to wait and I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOUR WEDDING!!

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My right ankle does the exact same thing! I’ve never gotten an injury from my form just over training. I can’t wait to see what everyone else says because I’ve wanted to fix it!

This week I am making turkey lettuce wraps – ground turkey, chopped peppers and onions, peanuts and homemade fried rice…YUM!

I just started training for a half marathon in September so I have a 5k in a few weeks. Happy Monday!

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And now I want to copy your dinner idea! Thanks Ally:) Super excited for your half training and please keep me updated with how it is all going. Hopefully we get some answers for our feet! Have a great day.

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I’ve gotten on kicks making those superhero muffins a ton, also the zucchini double chocolate muffins from Sallys Baking Addiction blog. The recipe is for bread but I like it as muffins so they are easy to grab and go. And both recipes freeze well, although with your big family I’m not sure you’d ever have enough to freeze ;)

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Thank you for telling me about her double chocolate muffins, I’m going to try those next! Hahaha yeah, we probably won’t freeze them because we gobble them up so fast. I hope you have a great day Michelle and thanks for sharing.

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I’ve never noticed if my feet do anything weird, but now I’m really curious! I will have to look at some of my race pics. I do know that I used to have an awful hip drop, which I have been working to fix. This has been the main cause of my past ITB woes.
Btw: have you ever had any Achilles issues? I never have before, but some soreness suddenly came on yesterday at the end of my run. I am pretty sure it’s b/c I haven’t been doing my calf raises – and my ankles are also inflexible. Need to work on those things. I am just wondering – do you know of anything else I can do for the soreness? I have already decided I am not running a step until it’s gone!

I have been DYING to do a race! I am definitely not yet ready for a half or full yet, as I’ve only built back up to 10 miles at this point. So I’m thinking about a 5k or 10k next month!!

I don’t bake very often, but for the past few months I’ve been making my own granola and granola bars. I’m pretty proud of sticking with it! I am also at a point where I have really individualized the recipes (after a TON of experimenting). I need to make those superhero muffins though, they look so good!

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Oh I’ve struggled with the hip drop big time too… especially when I am tired. I have never had Achilles problems, I am SO sorry that it showed up yesterday. You are SO smart to wait to run on it. Can anyone help Annemarie out on this (I wish I had advice for you!).

I’m cheering for you to do a 5k or 10k next month wahoo. That is awesome that you are making your own granola and granola bars. If you ever share the recipes you’ve come up with, let me know! Have a great day and I hope you are back to running again soon!

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ANNMARIE,
I had Achilles problems years ago and the sports doc i saw recommended I stretch on a home-made platform. Do not do the stretch off the back of a stair that you may read about. – that is an uncontrolled stretch and you could do more harm than good.

This youtube video shows a platform similar to mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geHsrYk7ies

My plafform is bigger/steeper, 8″ tall and 16 1/2″ long instead of 5 1/2″ x 13″. I also tacked a piece of carpet on mine so I don’t slide off. I stretch on it for several minutes after I run and again while I brush my teeth in the evening.

I would recommend to hold off on the calf raises until the Achilles pain dissipates, and then slowly add them back in to your routine.

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Thank you so much!

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I’ve made the superhero muffins a few times and I always use all whole wheat flour instead of almond flour because I like the taste! Seems to work out ok.

I do the same thing with my foot when I run, I think it’s a weakness in the external rotators of the hips. Maybe have a PT evaluate it? I should do that myself haha.

Also that pic you have is of Lucy Charles and she is amazing.

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AHHHH I completely forgot to link to her and meant to last night. She really is… she makes me want to get into triathlons and then I remember the swimming part ha. We liked the taste with the whole wheat flour too. Let me know if you figure out what the foot turn thing is… but we aren’t getting injured so maybe it isn’t wrong, right? Have a fabulous day Victoria!

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My biggest issue with form has always been my arms. In high school, I was really bad to keep my elbows out and really look like a chicken honestly! During college I really worked on my form but noticed I would still get chicken arms when I got tired during races. It’s something I still have to focus on but it’s improved a lot throughout the years! I can really tell a difference in how it makes me feel. Have a great day!!

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I DO THAT TOO SLOAN! It is so so hard to fix it and it wastes so much energy but you are right, it makes a huge difference. Have a wonderful day Sloan!

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I will have to email you a picture of my left foot angled out parallel , as it is in EVERY running picture! Ha. Except I think it is when it is coming forward.. I’ll check for your amusement :) My theory is that it has NOT caused injuries but who is to know? I’ve had so many injuries and can rarely pinpoint the cause :)

Great posts this weekend/today! Love seeing all your church pics and family outings. And I enjoy hearing about the running outings with your friends and races in the plan.

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I just saw your email! That is very interesting Amanda! I hear you on that… we aren’t getting injured so I wonder if we tried to fix these ankle swinging problems if we would get injured?! I always love hearing from you Amanda! Thanks so much and I hope you have a great Monday!

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Right! I have no inclination to change my form :)

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Is it just me or are you becoming faster and stronger with more rest days throughout the week? And again with your good …. gahhh …. looks so tasty!
I tend run with a really stiff upper body. I feel relaxed fine enough but when I see pics taken of me from behind it looks painful! And the more tired I get the more my toes drift inward and I start kicking the inside of legs. I’m surprised I haven’t tripped myself up more! My PT has suggested leaning more into hills when I run them to ward off injuries and tightness but somehow I see to forget and all I try to do is just survive! Ha!
I’m trying out a new recipe I found on Pinterest; “Loaded Greek Grain Bowl”. It has red bell peppers, red onion, spinach, cucumber, farro and a homemade tzatziki sauce. I’m also having my tried and true BBQ pinto bean tacos w/ pineapple cilantro salsa. Soooo good! I’m also getting a hankering to bake cookie bars so I think that’ll happen sometime soon. I’m addicted!
My next race is a trail half marathon which is more like 14 miles and has about 4100 ft gain! It’s been fun callusing up my muscles and building scar tissue in my legs to prepare me! Ha! I don’t know what I like better – 5 or 10k. Both hurt but I feel like the 5k hurts more so maybe 10k!
Have a great day!

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I am not sure what my feet do when I run, but I know my form has led to a lot of injuries. For a LONG time I wasn’t engaging my glutes or hamstrings when I ran and it all caught up to me at once, sidelining me for YEARS. I finally admitted defeat and went to see someone, who essentially saved my running. I was putting SO MUCH pressure on my hip flexors and I did a lot of damage. It took about a year but I was finally feeling strong again and I had a terrible fall off a horse in May, and I didn’t realize how badly I bruised/strained my quad, but now I am finally recovering from that and thinking I might just start building mileage again! Fingers crossed I can keep myself out of trouble haha. My next race is August 9-10th – Peak to Brew Relay. It is 220 miles covered by teams of 12 runners. It starts a the top of the highest mountain in New York and ends at a brewery. I don’t know anyone else on my team, which is way outside my comfort zone but I am looking forward to it nonetheless.
I definitely prefer 10k. I am fairly slow and it takes me almost 3 miles to warm up so I always do better with longer distances.
Lastly – I just found this amazing recipe for Oatmeal Creme pies…if you like the Little Debbie version, these are 100x better:
https://pin.it/iv5f37nkutvewx
Have a great Monday!

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Usually, that type of gait pattern can indicate hip “tightness” (typically hip flexors and external rotators. BUT, it can be for so many reasons, often it’s just how we are shaped anatomically. Do you pronate? That sets you up for a pattern like this. BUT, if it ain’t broke, no you don’t have to fix it. We’re all different. As long as you’re “efficient” and not wasting too much energy from poor form, but that isn’t your issue :)

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Hey! I love following you and have been motivated by you to accomplish a running goal I set this year to run a HM in sub-90min. I just did it a couple weekends ago at the Heber Half (1:25:56)! Thanks for your positivity and the great content you post here.

My feet angle out on the draw-back EXACTLY like yours. I agree that everyone’s form will look a little different, so like you, I don’t tend to panic about things like this if I’m injury-free and improving my times. But I also agree that it’s worth looking into for efficiency’s sake. I’ve started to do more butt kick drills (can do them over cones, etc). I’ve found that focusing on drawing the heels up toward the butt in those drills straightens out my leg in the “correct” way. That hasn’t translated into perfect form when I am running yet, but I think that tweaking form is a really gradual process that takes awhile of retraining muscles to work slightly differently until it becomes second nature.

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Oh I love the Deseret News races! They are so fun at the end running along the parade route and tons of people are cheering and some are spraying you with water which feels really nice :) I think it’s my favorite race in Utah. Have fun!

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It looks to me like you have an external tibial torsion. It is when the tibial slightly rotates to the side during development. It doesn’t necessarily predispose you to injury, it’s just the way the leg is. Do you notice when you are sitting on a chair lift with skis on that your skis point excessively out to the sides compared to others? That can be one way to tell, but without doing a full assessment, I am just speculating.

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Thank you so much Melissa for sharing this with me. I do notice that when I have skis on and Andrew actually said something about that last time we skied. Thanks for the help and I can’t wait to learn more about this:)

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First of all – I WILL BE MAKING THOSE SUPERHERO MUFFINS! Maybe it is just because I am hungry right now – but I could eat them off the screen! We make a lot of banana chocolate chip muffins at home! Seems to be my kids fav!

Dinners this week – last night were turkey burgers with guac, tonight is whatever because we have baseball, tomorrow is TACO TUESDAY!!, Wednesday is brats/hot dogs or ribs (depends on the motivation), and Thursday is grilled cheese! Kinda a random week of meals and not the MOST healthy, but it gets food in our tummies!

Love keeping up on your daily happenings!

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I might run the Deseret news 10 K just so I can see you!!!!! I ran it last year and it was amazing. Many high school cross country teams run this race. It is incredible to see the high school teams and how fast those kids can run.

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AHHHH DO IT!! I would love to meet you! I can’t wait to see those high schoolers cruise by me:) I hope you are having a great day!

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About running form, it is funny how certain things about running form give people problems, and others can have an odd form and still be really successful. Different things work for different people. Having watched a lot of the Tour de France this past week, I noticed the commentators are always talking about the riders unique cycling form. The other day, Peter Sagan (3x world champion and 6x TdF green jersey winner) was the one being critiqued on his form. Often times, the people who look really odd on the bike are winners. Chris Froome’s elbows stick out, his knees bow out, his head is always hunched down, and he has won the Tour de France 4 times. This article pretty much says that the odd style is the best style for his body, which is very interesting. “Froome is far from graceful. Nevertheless, there is no arguing how effective he has been on a bike” https://www.velonews.com/2018/07/bikes-and-tech/why-does-chris-froome-look-so-bad-on-a-bike_473417

I don’t know if you can completely translate cycling to running, but it is a fascinating perspective that everyone has a different body, and how you use your body to run/cycle will look different.

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Ghost reader here! Finally feeling brave enough to comment (new runner finding my feet). YES! I did competitive dance/ballet for 15 years, and to this day I still walk/run with a little bit of a turn-out. It’s something I’m making a conscious effort to fix, but it’s more cosmetic for me than anything (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it ;) haha our family has been trying (key word TRYING*) to eat as whole and healthy as possible – I have about a 5k a month coming up these next three months, and he has the police academy. My end goal is to run 5Ks this year, 10Ks next year, half marathons the next, and then a marathon by 30. BUT, with that being said, you can always find either cornbread (that qualifies as a baked good in our home) or lemon bars on the weekend! The man has a sweet tooth! LOL

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KATE!! I love hearing from Ghost readers:) . This makes me happy to chat! So interesting that dance/ballet has caused the turn-out for you! I love your goals and I really hope you keep me updated on them all! Cheering for you Kate and your husband. You just reminded me how much I love cornbread:) . I hope you have a great night!

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I feel like you’ve gotten great advice from everyone so far about form–better than I could probably give actually. The only thing I would add is to have yourself videotaped while running and then have someone analyze your actual running gait. Assuming you’ve never had that done before. ;) It’s really difficult to tell everything from just pictures. I had this done years and years ago when I was having some PT done when a stress fracture (two actually) were misdiagnosed because the radiologist didn’t bother to read all the views of a bone scan (long story and I’m still SUPER bitter about it, but whatevs, lol). Anyway, I was going through all of this really painful PT for shin splints because, duh, I actually had two fractures and we were treating the wrong thing. But the best thing the PT did for me was to just take me out into the parking lot and videotape me while I ran. Well, his assistants did. Then they took me inside and broke down my form and showed me everything in slow motion from how I held my head all the way to how I would swing my leg wide and around, rather than just pull up my knee, and how that could cause different injuries. It was probably the only helpful thing I got out of that six weeks of painful torture, lol.

BUT, like so many others have said, a lot of times our body adapts to what works for our physiology, so then going in and messing with things can actually bring on injuries. In the long run it might be best to tweak and adjust form, but it also might be best to do that in the off season, a little at a time, too. It’s only going to help preserve your body over the decades. Start doing that stuff now, during training, and it might blow something up, especially if things are clicking along okay as-is. Just my two Abe Lincolns. :D

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My one foot does that weird pointing outward thing too. When I did the run/gait test for a shoes fitting the guy noticed it and asked if I had a bad ankle injury when I was growing. Sure enough I did! He suspected the ankle area just healed weird but no pain or issues so nothing to worry about!?‍♀️

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We are having steaks, tater tot casserole, brats, waffles and pizza out on our busy night and tomato soup/grilled cheese. Nothing too exciting. Fajitas are sounding good though. The thing we’ve baked most recently is peanut butter cookies and m&m cookies. For my daughter to sell at my neighbors garage sale. We made 23 dozens cookies and she sold over $100 worth !!! lol The neighbor said she’s in the wrong business.

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I’m 23 weeks pregnant and going to PT for SI pain. She had me walk on a treadmill in front of a mirror and it’s the first thing she commented on was my right foot swings out with each step. I’m assuming it does when running. She said it had to do with my weak hips and my leg trying to compensate for it. It’s worth asking your chiropractor about. It was really hard for me to not swing my leg. I almost felt like I was walking pigeon toed or side ways.

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I am obsessed with that cookbook. Last night we made the chicken/sweet potato/collard greens casserole. So yummy!! Also make the sheet pan philly cheesesteak.

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It think it’s fun to try different types of races. I got to meet Jared Ward the day before the Boston marathon this year. His wife is lovely and their baby is adorable! I’m excited for you and to watch you progress in your running goals. I’m always cheering for you. :)

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One of my feet angle out too when I run! It happens to be the leg that I have knee pain in every now and then, so I’m actually working on trying to fix it and see if that helps… we’ll see! It’s hard to change the way I’ve been running all my life!

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