Just another Tuesday.

After work I had every intention of immediately heading to Crown Hill Park with the family; Jeff and I would do mile repeats while Mom and Dad walked the Rats.  Then Jay decided to have a senior moment.  Well not really a senior moment, more like a “I think I can keep up with my younger sister” moment that ended terribly. 

We were all excited about the 70 degree sunny weather (again) and about heading to the park.  The dogs were going nuts and I opened the door to the garage while chatting with my mom.  Elle jumped from the top stairs to the garage floor; Jay tried to follow, tripped, stumbled and landed on his poor little head!  The loudest most horrible cry erupted from the poor old dog and he immediately starts seizing.  Oh lord, it was awful. 
I scooped the poor seizing little Jay off the garage floor and tried to comfort him.  He was still screaming and violently seizing!  He wouldn’t stop so Jeff and I rushed him to the closest vet.  Right as we are pulling into the parking lot, he stops seizing…. we then go into the vet office and he starts walking around like nothing was wrong!  That vet must have some miracle healing powers!!  We go back home (the vet didn’t even charge us for the mystery healing) and he is fine, WOO HOO! 
We leave Jay to take it easy at home (all that screaming and seizing takes a lot out of you) and the rest of us continued to the park according to plans.  All that stress of the incident left Jeff and I mentally drained, so we decided against mile repeats and just ran around the park aimlessly.  I got in 6 miles (and 1 lap around the lake with Elle) at a 7:30 pace. 
We got back home and little Jay was asleep in his bed and still fine (thank goodness).  We grilled our dinner and tried some beer; tonight we had Boulevard Chocolate Ale and some Breckenridge Vanilla Porter. 
The Chocolate Ale wasn’t near as chocolaty as I was expecting.  But interestingly, my mom and I did taste more chocolate in it after drinking the Vanilla Porter.  Those two beers went well together.  While we were eating Jay admired his reflection (he does this frequently, this is not a post-seizure symptom).

It was just another Tuesday……

Another Classic Safety Tip Blunder

Take a look at another safety tip that was sent out to my entire company (a coworker forwarded this as I missed it the first time, I need to pay careful attention because this stuff is hilarious!):

It appears to be another boring safety tip, but then there is the second to last bullet on how to help protect yourself and your family in five minutes or less.  Not a big deal to some people, but certain groups of people would be offended.  I think this is another case of copying and pasting something from the internet and not fully reading what you are sending to the ENTIRE company.  Or not fully thinking about how different people view certain topics.  Either way it is another classic safety tip blunder that made me laugh.

Last night Jeff and I ran 5 miles at a 7:47 pace.  My legs were stiff and tired so I was not in the mood to run.  But once I got out there in the sunny 60 degree weather it was worth it.

My parents also arrived last night for the week.  They have picked a wonderful week and hope to explore via bike or walking.  My mom and I might also go skiing!  Excited!

“We’re off like a dirty shirt!!!”

**To make things more interesting on this internet blog thing, Jeff has kindly offered to write a post today!  Enjoy!**

This is the phrase that my uncle Tom O’Brien used to say quite often.  I always remember it because I think it’s a pretty cool and unique saying.  He had many many little sayings that he used all the time and will stay with me forever.  If Barb would be so kind to allow me to “guest blog” in the future, I will share some more.

Tom O’Brien was an avid marathon runner.  He lived in Sheboygan, WI with his wife (Aunt Pat).   Aunt Pat recently moved to St. Louis to be closer to family and resides there still today.  Tom passed away too early, but will forever be remembered by his family and closest friends.  He once told me, regarding running, every time I turn a corner, I think of someone else.  For example, he’d be running down a road, thinking of his wife, he’d turn left on another road and he would think of his mother.  He would then make another turn, and think of one of his foster children. 

Tom loved to run.  He ran several marathons, I’m positive it’s upward of 30, but I need to verify that number.  He would also create his own marathon course, around his house.  He would get up super early, around 3:30am, and begin his 26.2 miles.  He would place Coke cans along the route to help fuel him along the way.  He ran these marathons alone; not for the glory, not to impress someone, not just to say he did it, but he for himself.  He loved to run long distances, he loved to think, and he loved his family.  

So today Barb was telling me about this blog she follows, called “Shut Up and Run.”   It’s a pretty cool saying because there are times when I want to be lazy and just sit around and watch tv or not run.  It helps to motivate me to just shut up and run.  Anyway, it made me think of Tom and his positive outlook on life, and running.  So, next time your getting ready to go somewhere, try out his phrase, it can be fun to use, and contagious. 
With that being said, goodbye Barb’s blog for now, “I’m off like a dirty shirt!” - Jeff

Saturday Long Run followed by Soccer!

Jeff and I got in our long run Saturday morning, 10 miles at a 7:43 pace.  We ran the first 6 miles at an 7:55 pace and the last 4 miles at a 7:15 pace (just a bit slower than my goal half marathon pace).  Slowly we are building our mileage base and will get up to 20 miles by June.  Gotta love the long progression of training for the marathon!  The marathon itself is not hard compared to the commitment of training for the 26.2 miles.

Oh I wanted to share my love of Lululemon running shorts.  That place is ridiculously expensive and way over-priced so I try not to go there often, but I found the Lululemon outlet north of Seattle and allowed myself a splurge now and again.  Their running shorts have the most practical pockets on the front inseams perfect for GU.  I wish ALL running shorts had this function!

It was a beautiful day in Denver and we had sunny 50 degree weather.  I enjoyed every mile of the run and felt pretty good.  When we got back from the run we immediately showered and got ready because we were going to the Colorado Rapids game!  Our friend invited us to meet at a soccer pub where you catch a bus to the soccer stadium.  It was actually the Bulldog Supporters Group bus and they were practicing the songs the whole ride there. 
It was pretty funny hearing a bunch of adults sing out of tune songs about soccer.  It was sort of fun, I have to admit.  We got to the stadium which was east of downtown Denver and had some beers and food at the Bulldog supporters group tailgate.  They had a Cajun theme and their gumbo was pretty good.  They had cool beer on tap and even a few Jell-O shots.
It was a fun group of people!  We got to our GA seats at the north end of the stadium and watched the Rapids beat the Columbus Crew 2-0 in their home opener.
The Rapids game was really fun and we got meet some great new people.  We will definitely be doing this again.

I do have to admit, we will really miss the Seattle Sounders games.  Seattle is way more into soccer and the Rapids atmosphere was way different than at Sounders games.  It was still a great time but when Seattle is in town, we will wear our Sounders jerseys proudly.

I bucked up and bought a gym membership

I feel like a gym membership is a waste of money.  Especially for me because I spend most of my time running outside.  Against my better (cheap) judgment, I bucked up and bought a gym membership. 

Jeff and I tried the punch card thing ($75 for 20 visits) and liked the concept of not being locked into a membership.  Except we used up the 20 visits in under a month and we were even “conserving” our visits.  The monthly fee at the city rec center is $47 for both of us; so the monthly membership is a much better deal. I also think it is safe to say we will get good use out of the rec center because we really enjoy going there and it has a lot to offer (and our money is going to our city, not to corporate thieves like LA Fitness- I hate LA Fitness….).

Soon I will be bench pressing more than just the bar and will be able to complete 2 consecutive pull ups.  Watch out world, I’m gonna turn my strength from wet noodles to arms of steel.  At this point I would insert some picture with “Strong is the New Skinny” or other motivational poster.  But some of those things make me throw up a little in my mouth.  Instead, I share with you:

Do you have a gym membership?  How often do you use it?

Jeff and I just finished an amazing dinner, tilapia with mango salsa and a side of Caribbean black beans with mango salsa over brown rice.  Um, it was soooo good and so different than anything we have ever made!  It’s really fun trying to make new things.  Hopefully it will be good fuel for our 10 miler tomorrow (maybe the black beans will give us extra acceleration powers?).
KU just lost in the Big 12 Semi Finals, no more KU vs Mizzou :(  Looking forward to March Madness, I have a good feeling that KU will do well this year.

Thursday Tempo Run

Jeff and I got in a Tempo Run tonight.  We went up to Crown Hill Park that has various running paths; a 1.2 mile inner loop and a 2.15 mile outer loop. 
We started by warming up on the outer loop (2 mi), then did mile repeats (3X), and a cool down.  Here is what the workout looked like via the Garmin:
I felt pretty good today and it was good to get in a pseudo speedy run.  It will be fun to do this workout again (probably 4 repeats and progressively add more on as it gets close to June) and track my progress.  We also got to see a pretty sunset.

I like Tempo Runs because they make me feel fast.  I saw this (below) on another blog I follow, Awkward Engineer, and I totally have sprinted past a radar sign to see how high I could get the number.  In case you were wondering, I could not get the numbers that high. 

(source)

Do you like to push yourself in workouts?  Have you ever ran as fast as you could by a radar sign?

Science Says: “Drink Cheap Wine”

Well maybe the NPR article didn’t really say to “Drink Cheap Wine,” but it talks about a new study by Penn State.  This study finds that the “normal” person can’t fully appreciate the subtleties of wine or has the ability to identify it’s nuances like the wine experts can.  So why spend $50 on wine with a great review when you probably can’t tell the difference between that expensive wine and the $6 bottle from the grocery store?  This just reinforces my stand on saving money by drinking cheap wine.

Which brings me to my wine review of the week:

Ruffino, Fonte Al Sole Toscana Red Wine, 2009

$7.99 (Costco), Twist Off, Italy

The back of the bottle says:
“Fonte al Sole is produced from grapes grown in the beautiful Tuscany region.  This medium bodied, ruby red wine reveals both structure and grace with a fragrant bouquet of plums and spicy hints and a soft, well balanced taste of ripe fruit.”


This definitely sounds like one of those super-taster wine expects wrote the description, and that they are very classy.  They must think the wine is also very classy.

Which made me feel uber classy while drinking it.  I held the glass with my pinky finger sticking out and spoke in a very sophisticated accent all night.  I even wore my eye glasses and read a book by the fire.  It was just great.

I thought this wine was very solid, for the “expensive” price of $7.99.  I was going to save this wine for a special occasion, but I got home the other night and Chef Jeff was using it in one of his recipes.  This gave me an excuse to have a glass.  Yum.  I thought this red blend was a great change to the typical Merlot or Cab Sav (I think I could tell a difference…. but I’m no expert).  I *think* I can identify the spicy hints but yet I can taste the bold fruit more easily.  This is a winner and it makes me feel nice and warm inside.  Or is that the fire I was sitting next to?

What is your favorite type of wine?  How much are you willing to spend?