Is the 4th post too early to talk about chaffing?

I've been reading running blogs for a while now and I hear people talk about lubing up before a race. There's some sort of body glide that people swear by that prevents chaffing. I've never had a problem with it and never thought twice about the hows and whys of it all. Science says that when 2 thing rub together really really fast they heat up, that I understand. Why you need lube before a race, I don't. Until Sunday....

The only think that I can come up with is that I finally ran fast enough for my pudgy legs to rub together. I now know that chaffing happens at around a 10.47 minute mile. Since I want to get faster, I guss I'll need to better prepare for the inevitable... and wear pants.

Today I got an e-mail at work announcing the opening of a toll road. Totally BS, but to celebrate the opening they're having a 5K on the new road. It's bad enough that we have to pay to drive on it but we should pay to run on it too?

And for something completely random,

I have no idea why this won't rotate. Just turn your head and enjoy the chickie..

Weekend recap part 2

Sunday I ran the Monster Dash 5k.

Let's back it up a little, I just started running this year, seriously, in April. I had never ran, not in my entire live, not as a kid, I cried every year when it was time for that damn Presidential Physical fitness challenge. (Thanks Regan). Never in college, ever. This year I decided that I wanted to learn how to run (yep, learn how to run) without feeling like my chest was going to explode. My brother runs marathons dammit, I can run 3.1 miles.

I bought the Couch to 5K app for my phone and started running on the treadmill. The first 5k I finished in 38 minutes (?) back in June and this last one in 32.47. That would be 10.47 minute miles thank you very much!

It was a pretty flat course, down a road and back. The best part was that this was a costume contest with categories for best sports figure, best TV character and best of all... Best Steve Prefontaine. I decided to go as Richard Simmons. Tank top, shorts, sneakers? Sounds like a good running outfit to me!

I should never have a perm, ever... What the hell was I thinking from 1983 - 1992? On the other hand, why the hell did my mother let me have a perm in the 3rd grade?

Back to the race, I definitely beat my last time, but I also got beat by a 70 year old man in Lederhosen and I almost passed a Ghostbuster. While lining up for the race Bob Ross stood next to me, 'fro paint palette and all. Happy little trees... awesome...

Kev had a good time too. There were free sandwiches and smoothies before the race began. Who eats a full sandwich before running? Probably that old dude in the Lederhosen, that's why he passed me.

I finished the races and almost immediately started coughing and sneezing. I spend the rest of the afternoon on the couch with some tissues. How do you catch a cold while running?? Seriously, how does that happen? Thankfully it cleared up by Monday morning just in time to go to work.

Rock on..

Great weekend!

We had a crazy busy weekend! Kev had a concert with his vocal jazz group Friday evening and we headed out for drinks and late dinner afterwards. I wasn't terribly hungry and decided to drink my dinner instead. Mmmm cosmo... I ordered the sushi appetizer but ended up bringing home 3/4 of it.

Saturday morning started bright and early with a Body Combat class. There isn't usually a Saturday morning class but it was launch day! Woo Hoo! I love a launch day! Let me say, the new release is HARD on the arms. The instructor said there were over 1600 jabs alone in this release and most of them came in track 8. I believe it because my arms hurt for days..

I ran home, showered and finished getting ready for a cook-IN. I'm a member of the alumnae association for my college sorority and we have several events a month. We were supposed to have the annual cook-out in September but the weather was just gross and yucky. We moved it to October to try and get a nicer day. Well, Saturday was still pretty rainy and yucky so we had a cook-in. I made a ham, cooked with brown sugar and honey mustard and an awesome crock-pot chicken recipe.

Apple Cider Chicken
6 boneless chicken breasts
1 cup apple cider (I used Trader Joe's)
1 granny smith apple chopped
1/2 cup cranberries (I used dried)
salt, pepper and cinnamon to taste

Cook 6-8 hours in the crockpot and shred the chicken when it's done. Seriously one of the easiest recipes I've ever made and one of tastiest!

We had a lot of great crock pot recipes at the cook-in. If only I had remembered to take pictures....

My name is Lara and I love stripes.

I think that pretty much sums up my bio. I love stripes and peanut butter and all trash tv. OK, for real, I used to have another blog where I documented all things crafty. I loved my blog and the community, but one day I needed a break. I put away the crafting and reevaluated where I was and what I was doing. My eating habits weren't the best and I found myself in a pretty scary place on the scale. I was bagging up and donating favorite clothes, I was out of breath just climbing the stairs. Rings no longer fit and I was able to justify all of it in my mind. I was buying increasingly larger sizes because "the manufacturers were making things smaller" or "that store runs small".

I had promised myself a long time ago that I would never see a 2 as the first number on the scale and no amount of denial could change the fact that it was there. I had to make a change before I spent all of my 30s unhappy with my body. I have a wonderfully supportive husband who encouraged me every step of the way. Over the course of a year I lost 50 pounds on Jenny Craig. (WOO HOO!) I started exercising more and more and I conquered a long time fear / mental block around running. This year I've done 2 5ks and am working on increasing my mileage for even longer races.

I wanted to chronicle my maintenance and how to balance yummy food and exercise. I hope people read this one and I hope you enjoy!

Lara