Ok, trying this for the umpteenth time. I'm going to focus on writing about my half marathons because what better way is there to make running boring but to go on and on about it to non-runners... Actually I take credit for converting several people to becoming runners and of course they rapidly surpass my abilities when they do start but oh well.
This past weekend I did the Portland, OR full marathon. 26.2 miles. I wanted to run about half of it but ended up walking about 3/4 of it due to not feeling very well but I did manage to get done even if it did take forever. The bad thing is that I know I can do so much better when I don't feel like I'm plodding through cement or have a rock in a stomach so I guess I need to do another one. It will be a while before I do a full but one of these days.
I do have a lot of half marathons on the calendar which I find pretty doable. There's definitely room for me to improve in those too so I'm going to focus on improving my times over the next couple of months.
I'm excited for the next one because it's in Savannah so I'll have a few people cheering me on as well as know a lot of the other runners. Will be a change from the last two big runs where I attended with just one other person.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
January in review
No new pictures to post since I really don't feel like doing the whole download right now but just an update of January activities.
I went to visit cousin Megan in Los Angeles for New Year's so I rang in 2011 with her and Dustin. We did some wine tasting, hiked in San Diego and ate a lot of good food. Some of it courtesy of Dustin, some from Megan and some at really good restaurants. A nice way to spend a long weekend although it got to be a bit complicated getting back. All's well that ends well I suppose.
I also went to Paris two weeks after that for work which was ok. I really don't get the fascination with Paris. So many other places I'd rather go but that's where the meetings were so I didn't have much choice. My coworker and I got in a day early due to the flight schedule so we were able to hang around the city some which was at least nicer than only being out by the airport.
I've done some quilting which you've seen in my last entry and I've actually even been... wait for it.... you'd better sit down... doing some cooking and baking. I did a little baking and realized that the main thing I need is an outlet and my coworkers/neighbors seem happy to oblige so I've been making things to take to work. Two friends have birthdays in February so I decided I will make them birthday cakes and when one gave me an idea of a kind he liked I figured I might need to try the recipe in advance because it seemed kind of muzukashi (complicated in Japanese). I made it this weekend and it all went at work so I guess I did alright. It was a Guinness chocolate cake. Actually not my favorite but the soon to be birthday guy seemed to like it. Erika came over to help bake and have dinner so I did an easy chicken bake which turned out tasty as well. I even had leftovers to take to work the next day which was a nice change from the norm. She was in Minneapolis this past weekend and per my request, brought back some wild rice so I'm going to try a few things with that. That's what I call Taste of Minnesota. The best thing about Erika coming was that she loves to clean. Doing dishes is one of her favorite activities. I know, crazy but when you're cooking and baking, great to have somebody like that around.
Wordy and no pics. Sorry but I'll try to do better next time.
Oh, another crazy idea or so I've been told. I just call it exciting. My friend Mandy is doing the Portland Marathon in October and asked if I wanted to join her. I was going to say yes to the half but decided to go all the way and yesterday I signed up to run the full marathon. Granted, I will be doing my walk breaks but in some fashion I will be moving myself the entire 26.2 miles. Hey, that's about the distance from my parents' to Bemidji so maybe I'll need to make that a training run if I'm in Minnesota sometime. Just kidding. Not going to happen when there's a perfectly good lake there to go around.
I went to visit cousin Megan in Los Angeles for New Year's so I rang in 2011 with her and Dustin. We did some wine tasting, hiked in San Diego and ate a lot of good food. Some of it courtesy of Dustin, some from Megan and some at really good restaurants. A nice way to spend a long weekend although it got to be a bit complicated getting back. All's well that ends well I suppose.
I also went to Paris two weeks after that for work which was ok. I really don't get the fascination with Paris. So many other places I'd rather go but that's where the meetings were so I didn't have much choice. My coworker and I got in a day early due to the flight schedule so we were able to hang around the city some which was at least nicer than only being out by the airport.
I've done some quilting which you've seen in my last entry and I've actually even been... wait for it.... you'd better sit down... doing some cooking and baking. I did a little baking and realized that the main thing I need is an outlet and my coworkers/neighbors seem happy to oblige so I've been making things to take to work. Two friends have birthdays in February so I decided I will make them birthday cakes and when one gave me an idea of a kind he liked I figured I might need to try the recipe in advance because it seemed kind of muzukashi (complicated in Japanese). I made it this weekend and it all went at work so I guess I did alright. It was a Guinness chocolate cake. Actually not my favorite but the soon to be birthday guy seemed to like it. Erika came over to help bake and have dinner so I did an easy chicken bake which turned out tasty as well. I even had leftovers to take to work the next day which was a nice change from the norm. She was in Minneapolis this past weekend and per my request, brought back some wild rice so I'm going to try a few things with that. That's what I call Taste of Minnesota. The best thing about Erika coming was that she loves to clean. Doing dishes is one of her favorite activities. I know, crazy but when you're cooking and baking, great to have somebody like that around.
Wordy and no pics. Sorry but I'll try to do better next time.
Oh, another crazy idea or so I've been told. I just call it exciting. My friend Mandy is doing the Portland Marathon in October and asked if I wanted to join her. I was going to say yes to the half but decided to go all the way and yesterday I signed up to run the full marathon. Granted, I will be doing my walk breaks but in some fashion I will be moving myself the entire 26.2 miles. Hey, that's about the distance from my parents' to Bemidji so maybe I'll need to make that a training run if I'm in Minnesota sometime. Just kidding. Not going to happen when there's a perfectly good lake there to go around.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Quilting Projects
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Maybe Annually?
Wow, so I know. It's been forever but new year so new chance? I was reading a quilting blog and have been inspired so maybe I'll post pictures of some of the projects I've done lately. I do the simplest projects imaginable but I love the fabric selection process so they end up cute regardless. I'm also pretty proud of the fact that they are tailored to who I'm making them for. I've asked my nieces and nephews for favorite colors and such. I ended up doing one with frogs and purples, greens and blues that was pretty fun and a baseball/red one as well. Now for myself I might do baseball and blues but never the combinations I did. I even use pink a lot which is a stretch for me.
On another note, I did another typical Jen move and signed up for a half marathon even though I haven't really run at all for nearly a year. I did one 18 months ago so I should be fine right? Whatever. I realized that I only have six states to cross of my list and the combination of needing to go to Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and Half was too tempting. It's an out and back from the site of the Murrah Building which is definitely the place I want to see there. May 1 so I need to get a move on. Last week I did about 9 miles total with the longest being a bit over 3 so that was a start but with the ice here this week I haven't done any. Hopefully I can still get my 4 or so in on Saturday morning so it won't be a complete loss.
I promise to have some photos next time. I've finished or nearly finished (thanks to my aunt for doing the tying and binding at times for me) 4 quilts in the past month so I have a few that I can show pics of when I'm not so lazy that I don't want to look for the cables to download them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)