Amazing Dinner!

I actually cooked tonight...and it was amazing!

Salmon fillet sprinkled with lime juice & cajun seasoning, baked on top of yellow squash and asparagus.  The veggies were sprinkled with garlic & pepper.

The other side is a barley salad.  I can't take any credit for this as I got the idea from an online friend.
Cook barley as directed on package.  I used quick cooking barley.  Sweat some chopped onion in a little olive oil over low to medium heat.  Add minced garlic and fresh oregano, and saute a little more.  Add some chopped tomato and allow to cook for a couple of minutes to release the juice from the tomatoes.  Add the barley to the tomato mixture and heat for a couple of minutes.  Add the juice from a lemon and greens of your choice.  My friend used spinach, but since I didn't have any I used torn up romaine lettuce.  Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese before serving.

Nom nom nom nom!  So good!  I wish I could say that the hubster enjoyed it as well, but, alas, he wasn't home for dinner tonight (he's not a big fish fan, anyway).

Race Report

Here it is, the long awaited race report...

I am pleased to announce that I am now a half marathoner!  I guess I wasn't half baked after all.  I have to say that I had a lot of fun on this journey, even when I doubted whether I could reach this goal.

The hubster and I went up to the resort where the race was held the night before the race.  Actually, we made a weekend of it and had a great time!  Although I had to work that Friday, it was only a half day, so we got up to the resort before the expo was over.  I picked up a couple of new t-shirts and a picture frame for my race photo.  And we registered DH for the 5K!  It was spur of the moment, and he was planning on running that day anyway, so we killed two birds with one stone.  Yay!

The half started at 7:30, and the 5K started 5 minutes later.  I was a little nervous about the whole thing, but it sure didn't keep me from sleeping on Friday night.  Of course, there isn't much that keeps me from sleeping.  I had a cup or two of coffee but didn't eat anything until right before we left the room for the race.  Tummy was a little rumbly...

This was shortly before the race started.

And they're off!  Over the hills, and through the woods, to the finish line we go!


We left the resort property when we started the race and ran on a county road up to the state highway.  We then ran along the highway for a few hundred yards and re-entered the resort property through the front entrance.  I tried to get a picture of the sign at the entrance, but you can't see it because of where the sun was located.  But the picture has a cool effect, so I include it here for you.  The picture right below it is also of the resort entrance.

 

The entrance road to the resort is very hilly.  There are two schools of thought on hills; you either run up them or you walk up them.  I did a little of both.  I ran the downhills, letting gravity carry me along (but always controlled), which allowed me to run most or all the way up the next hill.  We ran a couple of miles on the entrance road and then cut back over to the county road to cover miles 6-10.

It's Bluebonnet season in our part of Texas.  If you're not from here, trust me, it's a really big deal here!  The blue flowers are the bluebonnets; the orange ones in the background are Indian Paintbrush.  You almost always see the two flowers together.  I had to stop and take a picture, of course.

We have other wildflowers in bloom, too.  I'm don't know the names of the others though, except for the lantana.  Below is a picture of a whole field of yellow lantana.  Sorry the color didn't come through too well.  Cell phone picture...and by the time I took this the sun had burned off most of the clouds so it washes out most of the color.

On the home stretch!

As you can see, I'm not the only one who stopped to take a picture of this mile marker!

At mile 10, we  again re-entered the resort property.  Miles 10-12 were routed past the hotel and through the golf course.  Have you ever been on a golf course?  I hadn't until that day.  I didn't realize that golf course paths are full of small inclines and declines.  It was harder to run that than the bigger hills!  Yeesh!

After leaving the golf course paths, we ran past the hotel again towards the finish line.  DH was sitting on our little patio watching the race and was able to get a picture of me as I passed.

He tried to make it over to the finish line before me so he could take another picture, but I was running faster than he thought.  So he missed me...oh well, I got the official finish picture.

Official photos:
During the half

Finish line photo!

Instead of the traditional bling/medal, we received custom jewelry from Satya Jewelry.  Really pretty!

 

My official stats:

Time - 3:01:59

Overall - 981/1,098

Females - 921/1,036

Female Masters - 320/378

F45-49 - 67/86

I met up with the hubster within about 10-15 minutes after I had finished.  This is just a sample of the festivities.  There were other areas as well that I didn't take pictures of.

I had a great time doing this event.  We're even talking about doing it again next year, and DH might even do the half with me next time.  We might even talk a couple of my girlfriends into doing it as well!  WooHoo!



Before I leave you this evening, I wanted to share some other images I captured over the weekend.  The first few are from mile 8 of the race.

I thought this farm was really pretty.  Loved the decoration on the side of the stable.  Then I found out what the farm was... 

The rest of these are from the resort.  The Colorado River flows behind the hotel.

The hillside across from our room...covered in bluebonnets.

I hope you've enjoyed my journey.  It's been fun having your company!

Tomorrow is the day!

Well, here we are.  It's the night before my first half.  Am I nervous?  YES!  Am I going to finish tomorrow?

HELL YES!!!

The resort is lovely, the food and service is great.  I'm staying here until Sunday so I'll get to enjoy the resort and get some down time after the race.

I gotta say...the entrance road to the resort is twisty-turny, and up and down hill!  We don't have hills like that at home.  So yeah, that scares me a little.  But...I'm going to run the race and have a great time doing it!

I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Ta-ta for now!

5 Mile Run...With a Friend!

Those of you who read my blogs with any regularity know that I rarely run with people.  Usually it's just me, zoning out in my own little world.  But yesterday, the friend I went to OKC with called me to ask if I was running this morning and if she could join me.  She's doing the same 10K that I am doing in April and wanted a running partner.  Of course I said yes.

Let me tell you, Susie is a better runner than I am.  She runs faster, doesn't smoke, has more endurance, etc.  But I've found that it's good to push myself every so often.  I'm pretty proud of my performance today.  Susie ended up finishing a bit ahead of me, but only because she ran straight through the last half mile, and I continued with my run/walk intervals.

Today was the first time I can remember actually chatting with a running partner through most of the run.  That means my endurance and lung capacity has definitely improved!  I know this because we didn't really back off the pace much.  I had to take a couple extra walk breaks but only a couple.

I didn't take very many pictures this time.  We ran in a park that I've only been to once before (with Susie, of course).  We met at Susie's house and drove over since it's close to her house.  The trail was blacktop, like most of the trails in the parks around this area.  Enjoy!

Start/end point:

No, that's not my friend in the picture.  I took this after we finished.

The honeysuckle vines are blooming...smells so good!

Offshoot trail into the woods...wonder where it goes...

I really like how the picnic table and the tree are reflected in the puddle.  We've had just enough rain this week for large puddles to stick around.  Unfortunately, that also means the mosquitoes were out.  And they got me a few times!

Next Saturday is my half.  I don't know if I'll get very many pictures that day, but I'll try.  And the hubster will be with me (not running though), so maybe he'll take some pictures as well.  I hope so.

Have a great week!

Last LONG Run Before the Half...Or the 14 Miler that Wasn't

Well, it wasn't 14 miles, but it was more than the half distance.  13.34 miles with an average pace of 15:16.  Based on that, I shouldn't have any problems finishing my first half within the 3.5 hour time limit.  I even have a little extra time to play with.  Not much, mind you, but a little.

And now, faithful readers, the part you like the most about my long runs...pictures!

The last long run I did, I started from the house and ran in and around the neighborhoods.  I did the same yesterday.  Last time when I got to this point...

I turned right and followed this path across the bridge.  Yesterday, I turned left at the T.

Right before I got to the next road, there was a map.

The blue line is the trail I was following.  The star is where I was at when I took the picture.  Back to the left, at the intersection of the blue line and the black line labeled Peek Rd. is where I joined up with the trail.  Word to the wise...do NOT stand on an anthill while taking a picture.  Those little buggers will get your attention quick, fast, and in a hurry!

View of the drainage system/bayou I was running along.

Another view...on the other side of the water are two great egrets.  In between them is a blue heron, although you really can't see him.  I've seen these before but never in flight.  In flight, they are an amazing site.  They really are blue!

I did not realize how far this trail extended until I saw this sign...

Please excuse the graffiti.  Seems to be more and more of a problem these days.  This is where I crossed over into the park where I did my first long run, although this is on the south side of the road that runs through the park.  Of course, I didn't realize that at the time. 

When I saw this stretch of trail, I really started to wonder where in the heck I was!  I think this was between the 6 and 7 mile marks.  Probably closer to 7.

One of the wildflowers I saw.  The picture doesn't give you a good idea of scale, but these little flowers are smaller that the tip of my little finger.  I'm only 5'1", and I have small hands.

This is the playground at the new baseball park the county is building.  I finally realized where I was when I got here.  This park is right across the road from where I started my long run on Jan. 21.  I turned back towards home when I got to the road.

Almost stepped on this little guy!  Good thing he was green, or I probably wouldn't have seen him.  He was sitting in the middle of the sidewalk right about where the park ended and the housing subdivisions started.  His shell wasn't any bigger than a silver dollar.  I took a couple of pictures and then moved him into the grass so he wouldn't get run over by a bicycle or another runner.

I didn't take any other pictures the rest of the way home.  This was about mile 9.  I had another couple of miles to go before I even turned back onto the road that would lead home.  And another 2.5 miles after that!  I didn't realize it was that far.  Amazing how distances can be deceiving when you're driving as opposed to running/walking.

This is me, after I got home.  Sorry for the blurriness, but you can see that I worked hard on this run!

By the way, I was laying on the floor with my legs up the wall when I took this.  Helped to stretch the back of the legs.  I sure wish I had remembered to stretch my quads though.  They're starting to talk to me tonight!

I wish I could say that I didn't have any discomfort after this run.  The last 3-4 miles of this run though were VERY uncomfortable.  Yesterday afternoon and part of today, my left hip and back of my right knee were letting me know they were NOT happy!  I think I've figured out part of the problem though.  Other than this long run, I didn't run at all this last week.  Not good, I know.  I really don't have any excuses.  I just let life get in the way.  Not enough hours in the day, and all that...Lesson learned!

On the docket this week...2 short runs (30 minutes each), and a 5 miler on the weekend.

Have a great week, faithful readers!

GGGW!

What a wonderful girls weekend!  My friend, Sooz, and I drove up to OKC on Friday to spend the weekend with our good friend, Jan.  We had an absolutely stupendous time!  Really didn't do much of anything, but it's been so long since we've been able to spend time together.  And after the busy week I had, this weekend was a much needed time of relaxation & fun.

We both worked Friday morning and hit the road in the early afternoon.  OKC is a bit of a drive, but we got there around 9 or 10.  Opened the wine and got all caught up in front of the fire on the balcony.  And the view...?

Here's what it looks like during the daytime...

First activity of the day - a 4 mile run (well, almost...3.84 actually).  And the last .84 mile was actually a walk.  It's kind of hard to run when you're carrying a Starbucks coffee!  Unless, of course, you don't mind burning yourself.

Some of the sights from our run...

 See the yellow boats?  We rode one of those on the canal ride we took later in the day.

Next...off to lunch at Toby Keith's!  Yes, that is a bus in the wall.

Look, it's bumper to bumper in there!

Next up...the canal ride.

 We saw these sculptures on our run, but I was able to get some more (and better) pictures during the canal ride.  The sculptures depict the 1989 land rush in Oklahoma.  They did such a good job with this!  The artist's attention to detail makes these sculptures appear so real.

 The building in the background is the brand new Devon Energy building.  It's so new that it isn't even complete yet.  Jan likes the depiction of the old and new together.  I do, too.

After we got done here, we went to the OKC Memorial.

Across the street from the memorial is a church and another display.  As much as the memorial moved/disturbed me, I think the statue across the street moved me even more.

Then it was wine tasting time!

And appetizers and drinks at a Tapas place...

And, finally, dinner at a new sushi place....(Wish I'd taken a picture of our food.  The presentation was awesome!)

And off to home we went!  Great, FULL day of activities (and relaxing).  Sunday was spent in the car driving home, but after all the moving around on Saturday, sitting still was nice.

Yesterday it was back to the grind, but we're not as busy this week as we were last week.  Now I can take some time and learn more of what I need to know for my new position in the department.  OJT is great, but I need to learn more of the background in order to be really effective.

Have a great week, everyone!  I have my last LONG run before my half this coming weekend - 14 miles.  Wow!