Couch to 5K week run, run one

I did it and it went well.

I am sure the running and walking I’ve been doing the past month helped.  I am not sure that this is for a true couch potato, though.  If you have never been active in your life, this could be a major  challenge for you.  If it were me, I would want to work up to 30 minutes of brisk walking before taking this program on.  Also, a trip to the doctor to make sure you are good to go wouldn’t hurt either. 

Here is the link again for Couch to 5K and for some reason I always mess up typing it so from here on out it will be C25K on my blog.

On that link you will find C25K podcasts.  I listened to Robert Ullrey’s MP3 Podcasts and it was a huge help.  The podcast lets you know when to walk, when to run, etc.   The guy talking is very encouraging and the music has a good beat to move to.   

You are supposed to rest a day, do it again, rinse and repeat.  The following weeks, I will be doing that.  This week, however, I won’t for a couple reasons. 

1. I know I can do week one without much challenge so I am comfortable mixing it up one day. 
2. the running class I took all through June has it’s last class on Monday.  (This class was supposed to be for beginners, but I guess maybe I was below beginner status? kidding, it just happens that all but 2 or 3 of the people have ran long distances before or are current runners.)  I don’t want to miss the last class, though, as I committed to finishing it and am determined to do so.  I will tailor our run for the day as best I can to the C25K-wk1 as I can. 

The class as a whole is running a 5K on the Friday the 10th in a small festival the next town over.  I want to finish strong in that race, even if that is finishing last.   So after Monday, I will move on to week two of C25K on Wednesday and might even listen to my podcast and follow the plan during my race on Friday.  One week from my first ever race and I am excited to start and then cross that finish line!

Lavender Lemonade

I am doing my first C25K today, not yesterday…not sure what I was thinking as we had a cookout with friends last night and I don’t think running with all four girls would be very productive when trying to follow a program.  I will post my torture reportprogress post-run.

A food post!  Yes, a real food post…with a recipe! I still am cooking and baking, but I guess feeling un-inspired.  I am going to try harder in the weeks to come to get back to posting more about what we eat and more frequently.  So running and food.  I guess it’ll balance out, right?

We had a cookout with friends last night and while I didn’t try too hard to find healthy foods (a hot dog just sounded so very good), I did the best I could while satisfying my family’s cravings for smore’s and dogs.  I am going to try to get my friend D~ to share her recipe for this layered salad thingy she makes with cornbread in it.  Fresh veggies, a sour cream and mayo dressing, cheese, and crumbled cornbread,  It is so very good.

She also made bacon bread…oh my goodness was it good.  I am not sure it can be made nourishing, but it is one of those things that really, why try.  It isn’t somthing you would eat everyday, but it tasted so good that you could.  It was a savory answer t Monkey Bread’s sweetness.  I’m hooked!

Rather than buy chip dip, I usually mix my own (somehow rationalizing this in my head that it makes the chips healthier to be eating them with a fresh dip instead of the ones at the store with ingredient lists a mile long.)  Next time I will pay closer attention to what I put in it, but it usually includes: dill (lots of dill), garlic, finely minced onion, and salt all mixed in sour cream.  You can add some mayo to make it thicker, but I really like it better in just the sour cream.

Fresh fruit is always a good idea, I managed to forget mine at home in the fridge.

Then my favorite, Lavender Lemonade.  Here is the honey version, and this is my old recipe for the sugar version:  

1. Heat 3 3/4 cup of water to dissolve 1 1/4 cup sugar over medium heat.
2. Steep 1 1/2 TBSP of driend lavender for 20 minutes in this mixture.
3. Juice lemons to get 1 1/2 cups of juice.  Place juiced halves in sugar water to extract a bit more of the tart juice.
4. Strain both into a half gallon jar, adding water to fill jar, Cool.
5. Serve iced with a sprig of fresh lavender as a garnish (would be nice to have lavender blossoms frozen in the ice cubes as well.)

We made a great evening of it.  Went geocaching and found all three we targeted.  It sprinkled just a bit while we set up the fire.  It was cool, so the fire felt great, the food tasted wonderful (and filling.)  Best of all, the company of good friends is priceless.  Their older twins (teenagers now!) ran my girls to bits…or was it the other way around.  We set off a few fireworks, burned sparklers, and pretty much just watched the evening go by.

Happy 4th of July to everyone.  What an amazing country we call home.

resolution #2

Time to chime in on this New Year’s Resolution.  It may be tooting my horn, but it doesn’t feel like it.  In fact, it feels a bit like good news/bad news

2. To shape up physically.  I’ve never been petite and won’t pretend to be.  I am 6 ft tall, big boned, and have put on weight on top of that.  I am as clumsy as they come and want to run and hide when a ball starts flying around.  Yeah, I’m a sissy when it comes to sports.  I did start Yoga, though, and plan to continue it a minimum 2 times every week.  I also would like be on a bike for 30 minutes minimum each week.  I have no idea if this will get me into shape, but I have to start somewhere and it certainly can’t hurt.  The Y is less than 2 blocks from our home and we are members…shame on me for wasting the resources available to me.  They even have a child-watch center that is free!  This (like all of my goals, now that I think of it) is not just for me, but for my children.  I want to model a healthy lifestyle and want to be able to romp on the floor with grand-kids in the very far off, distant future.  Nothing like planning ahead, right?

Good News: I have lost and more importantly, kept off 15 pounds.  Hooray!  Bad news: My ideal body weight is still 20lbs away.   I please but want to lose more,  knowing it will take work to take off more weight.

Good News: Thanks to Yoga, I can now not only touch my toes, but can place my palms flat on the floor (no bending the knees!)  I am also much more stable and feel more sure footed.  Bad News: I am still a klutz…some things are just not fixable.

Good News:  I can do 30 minutes on the bike no problem  Bad News: I got the notion to run instead.  Wait, is that bad news…depends if you ask me on a day I ran.

Let’s stop there for a minute.  I want to preface the rest of this by saying I am stubborn.  I get it from my dad (hi dad, just kidding, I get it from both of you!)  I also want to say that I have not one single bit of athletic experience in me prior to this year, and it shows.  Marching band was as close as I got to exercise growing up (and it wasn’t at all intense.)  The most exercise  I would have gotten the last couple years would be waiting on tables or chasing kids.   It’s not that I am lazy, just not athletic.  I hate sports that involve a ball coming at me and I do not like to sweat. 

I want to run.

I can’t quite explain it, but I want to be a runner in a very stubborn sort of way.  So stubborn that I think if it took 5 years to get there, I would still be wanting to do it.  Stubborn enough, that the only thing stopping it is a doctor saying I can’t and even then I’d likely not pay good attention.   Perhaps it is a quest for time that is just mine.  I know body shape and weight has something to do with it.  I also know instilling healthy habits in my kids is part of the desire.  It is a very stubborn feeling though.  Similar to my feelings on the way we eat.  It just is what it is.  I want to be able to run a 5K (3.1 miles), no walking…run.

Some would say I already am a runner, but I don’t feel like it.  In four weeks time, I have myself up to about a half mile running before my body screams for mercy.  It sounds so pathetic to say, there are people running marathons for goodness sake!  I keep reminding myself that it is a half mile more than many could or would run, but it isn’t good enough for me.  I mainly walk/run… I can do that for 3 miles.  I want to be able to run those 3 miles, though.

Why do I get stubborn about the oddest things?  Why can’t I get stubborn about cleaning the house, weeding, or losing another 10lbs? 

So here is the thing.  Next Friday I am signed up for a local 5K.  I know that I won’t be running the entire thing and I am good with that.  My husband is running with me to support my new habit.  Bless his heart, I don’t think he realizes how frequently he will be walking and have given him my blessing to keep on running.  I will see him at the finish line regardless.  I am determined to run more than half of it, though.   He has been athletic in the past and has ran in the past.  I will likely finish last and that is okay, so long as I finish.

I am starting in on a program to help me with distance (okay, distance for me) running.  It’s called the Couch to 5K …any of you heard of it or done it?  Everywhere I look it is recommended so I figure what have I got to lose.   I don’t want to injure or damage myself, though, so I am taking days of rest as recommended.  Taking care of this household with an injury would not be fun.

So, anyone want to join in with me on the Couch to 5K?  

The program is 9 weeks, running 3 times a week, working up to being able to run a full 30 minutes.  I would love to have a bit of support and would like to be able to talk about it with others.  Regardless, I plan on starting tomorrow with the hopes of finishing up by Labor Day.  I will update after each run as a type of log.   I hope to not whine so much, but feel like I need some place to keep myself accountable.  I have people I know in real life that read, so putting it here will keep me at it. 

Don’t everyone comment all at once, there is no limit to the number or people who can join me on this!

colored days

I love to read My Many Colored Days to my girls.  Dr. Suess can get anoying to read (over and over like kids love), but this one does not bother me.  I like Go, Dog, Go, but not again and again.  One Fish, Two Fish is fun, but not again and again.  My Many Colored Days, though, I can read that one every night and be just as happy as they are. 

And this is the type of post you get, dear readers, when my life is just so crazy that I have trouble putting it into words.  Yard sale was a bust, parents’ last days as owners of their business, feeling the need to deep clean the house, want to make bread, need to re-invent the budget, weeds are taking over, and oh the laundry and cleaning I should do…really, it just is muddled around up in my head as a bit of a fog.  I feel stuck in a sense so I leave you with this:

grey day, everything is grey…I watch and nothing moves today

back to regularly scheduled food, family, and fun soon

crazy busy

I think every single post could be titled “crazy busy”.  How is that for creativity?

We’ve been: cooking, baking more bread, two family reunions, yard sale this weekend, spring cleaning (yeah, a season late on that one), theatre camp, helping my Mother-In-Law get her place ready to sell, and cleaning my parent’s business out.  I’ve also been running 4-5 times a week trying to get in shape for a July 10th 5K.  I feel tired looking at the list knowing there is still the daily to-do going on as well.  The big thing on my mind is my parent’s business.

This is the last week my parent’s own their restaurant.  It’s sold, signed, and July 1st is no longer theirs.  I can not tell you how awkward this is.  Most, if not all, of my 30 years have been spent in a restaurant…this one since 1985.  It was past time, though, and I am proud of my parents for knowing when to say they just can’t do it anymore.  The way you make money in a small business is by doing the work yourself.  When it gets to the point that you have to hire out more help, your profit margin falls and you have to stop and question if it is worth it anymore.  Combine in the stress and then you really have to ask yourself again.

The building is so old, on the town square, and full of stuff.  Familyphotos adorn the walls (yes you can go have lunch and see photos of me as a child as well as photos of my children…imagine that.)  There are family heirlooms on shelves, and thirty years of “stuff” stashed here and there.  Yes, it is like a second home to them, but where they work all the time.  Anyone remember the old Intellivision game systems with games like Asteroid and Burger Time…we found our old one in the back of a cupboard.  How about the engine and parts to an old VW Bug, it’s up in the top of the place, the body apparently wouldn’t fit through the door and is stored elsewhere. 

Business paperwork for 25-30 years worth of business, check. 

Furniture that used to be in their home, check.

One of my great-great-uncle’s dulcimer that he crafted when nearly blind, check.

Dad’s hole-in-one trophy, check.

Toys for my children, check.

Books from my childhood, check.

So this last week or two has been a bit like moving for them, again.  If you remember they moved last fall into a house half the size of what they had.  Hopefully they find room for the treasures and are able to let go of the rest. 

Plus do you know how odd it will be to not just stop in there on Sat. morning after the farmer’s market to visit with dad?  Or to time my errands so we can stop and visit with mom during the slow time from 2-4.  Not that they are going anywhere, I’ll still be able to stop at their HOME and visit them.  In many ways this feels stranger than them moving out of their house…they were only there ten years.  This place has been around since I was five.

I will be cooking at least one or two more meals a week.  At least once a week we were asked to stop up for a meal, and on occasion  we would stop up anyways.  Oh, and the leftovers we would take home.  It will be awhile until I miss the chicken, it has gotten kind of old, really.  I will miss the slaw, some of the sandwiches, and the fish.  I guess we can always go up there and have a meal though.

I will miss the place.  The new owners are great, though.  Very nice people, keeping it pretty much the same, especially to start out with.  I wish them well, and I know we will be in and out for a meal here and there.  Small towns hate change, I hope the community treats them as well or better than they have my parents.  It’s a labor of love running your own place and having a community that appreciates your services and what you bring to the table (ha, get it…bring to the table) helps immensely!

temptation

This is destroying my diet.  All the running I am doing has been counteracted by crusty sourdough with homemade apple butter.  I’ve been working with cheap white flour until I get used to how it is supposed to work, then I will start grinding my own whole wheat and start all over experimenting again.  Why is it, again, that I feel the need to perfect a crusty sourdough boule?

does it matter?

I find myself getting a bit ticked off this afternoon, combing mashed potatoes out of the dog’s hair.  I went to the bathroom during lunch, should have known better. 

“Why can’t food stay on the plate, or least the table?”  I asked my girls this over and over.  How is it that a mother can turn her back for a couple minutes and a mess like that break out.

But, really, does it matter. 

This morning I was on the way to the farm when we came upon someone struggling to climb out of their car.  I take back roads there, as in county and township roads where you do not pass anyone for miles.  It’s a beautiful and peaceful drive most mornings.  This morning, though, started out quite a bit differently.  We had headed out of town, around the curve, and over the bridge when I saw him.  My first thought was that he was having a seizure or something.  The car was upright on the proper side of the road, he was shaky and having a hard time, but trying very hard to stay upright.   I pulled over behind his car to warn oncoming traffic and told the kids not to move.  When I got out, I could see the skid marks and grass all over his car.  He had lost control and visited a couple fields…thankfully between poles and signs.

I ran back to the car to get the towels I had been pestering the girls to bring into the house for a couple days. I  threatened them to stay put while dialing 911.  Poor guy was going into a bit of shock, but no blood.  We talked a bit, got him warm under the bright hooded towels, and he had me call his girlfriend and grandfather.  Just graduated high school, positions he played on the football team, where he was going to college, what his major was.  It seemed like forever (5 minutes in all reality) until another car came up and drove right on by.  The next was the dog warden who stopped and put his lights on, soon after that the ambulance and fire department. 

Poor kid had no clue how it happened, he just lost control.  His arm and shoulder hurt pretty bad, though, and he was still very shaky and acting like he wanted to sleep.  Such a future, though, and how quickly things can change.  The road we were on has lots of ditches, curves, little bridges, and many signs and poles.   This poor guy managed to miss them all and will be okay.  I really hope his injuries aren’t so bad that he can’t play football anymore as I imagine he is on scholarship.

When I was in high school we lost a classmate in a similar manner.  It was prom night, he was my girlfriend’s date, I had taken lessons at the same time slot he had for years, we had worked all week hanging decorations for that night together.  He fell asleep at the wheel on the way home.  Great kid, no alcohol or drugs, had just dropped his date off and was heading home.  Our graduating class was just over 100, so we all knew each other pretty well.  A year later at graduation it still hurt.

So I as I finish picking the mashed potatoes out of the comb, I ask myself: why get so bent out of shape about mashed potatoes in the dog’s hair? 

Sometimes I really need to just chill-out on the little things.

raindrops keep falling

at the zoo.  It seems that anytime I think I will bring the kids to the zoo, it rains.  Our zoo is over an hour away, thankfully there are other indoor things to do in the area. 

This last time, we waited it out and went in the afternoon after the rain blew through.   We had arrived in town early to see the baby elephant before the crowds, tell you more about that on down the post. So we hit a mall to let the girls get out some energy and do some Father’s Day shopping.  Then we went to see Up.  Loved that movie and can’t wait to see it again.  I missed the short at the beginning for a potty-run so I cannot comment on it.  The movie itself , however, made me cry in spots and laugh in others.  Such a sweet, human story told well to many levels.  The twins watched the whole movie and only talked to ask me why I was crying, quite loudly too.  The older two understood the sad parts for the most part, but absolutely love the movie regardless.  Having been a part of the adoption community they have been exposed to issues such as these a bit.  Did I mention I would really like to see it again?

Squirrel…… 

Once we got to the zoo, it ended up being a nice trip.  There weren’t the usual crowds because of the weather.  The downfall was that the whole reason we have been trying to get there is to see the baby elephant…who is only on display certain hours that we missed.  They really should put those things up on their website. 

the twins wanted to wash their hands, stand on the rocks, but they did NOT want to touch

Regardless we had fun.  There is a wonderful aquarium there, lots of animals out sunning themselves after all the rain, a carousal that the twins loved, and a nice playground built for all ages.  We also managed to be there when zoo keepers were at different stations answering questions and telling stories about the animals they care for.  We were able to talk with them at the Elephants, Rhinoceros, Pheasants, and Sun Cat.  The older girls had very intelligent questions for the workers and were able to answer some of their questions quiet well considering we haven’t gotten much into animal science yet.

my big girls, disappointed about not seeing the baby elephant, but making the best of it

roses

In the summer, you will often find this on my kitchen table:

Growing roses is a family tradition on my side that my husband picked up as a hobby.  It makes me smile to see and smell them every day.  It makes him happy to be able to bring in beautiful bouquet for me.   The small pink roses in that bouquet are from a couple bushes called “Simplicity.”   They are transplants from my grandparent’s garden.

My dad’s parents were very good at raising roses.  Their last home had over 200 rose bushes.  In the summer, you could spend a couple hours browsing through them, noticing all the scents and colors.  It was a lovely place that I miss.  Why didn’t I take photos before Grandma moved?  Grandma moved in with my parents soon after Liz was born nearly 8 years ago.  They kept maybe a dozen roses at that location.  Their new house, though, doesn’t have any.   

“Touch of Class”  was one of my grandfather’s favorites.  We do not have the bush from their yard, but purchased one of our own after we put the addition onto our home.  It is a bit easier to care for and rewards you with beautiful, fragrant blooms like this:

My husband proposed to me, under grandma and grandpa’s climing rose arbor in the moonlight nearly 12 years ago.  Perhaps that is why he works so hard to keep the traditional alive.  It is a fair bit of work to keep roses disease and bug free.  I’m sure he questions if it is worth it or not.  Thank you dear for all the beautiful flowers you put in our home!

real food

Jenny over at the Nourished Kitchen recently cited me as one of her top ten under-appreciated real food bloggers.  (blush)  Me?  I really just started with an adoption blog and fell in love with the flavors of real food along the way.  Then the real foods started making us feel better and healthier so I write about what I am learning…and I am learning.  She called my girls lovely and wiley while saying other nice things.  Considering how I really like her blog it feels a bit like an award or something.

Then I had a kid down here when they should be in bed complaining because her eye is swollen shut from a mosquito bite on her eyelid.  Then another one started fighting with another…the fourth girl managed to stay in her bed quiet.  Too late, though, I was distracted and the moment lost.   And what is it with mosquitoes targeting the twins.  We spray them, you can’t spray their eyes, for goodness sakes!  Those nasty little bugs love the twins, but the twins swell up and form welts and bruises from their bites.  My best friend mentioned that she looks as if she has been boxing…and she is right.   I would post a picture, but would feel cruel doing so.

There I go getting side-tracked.

The family and I were away for the weekend and are so glad to be home.  We went into Appalachia for a family re-union.  To break-up the long drive we stopped at Hocking Hill’s State Park to see Old Man’s Cave and Ash Cave.  Forest and I went camping here with my best friend and her husband last year and loved it.  We knew the girls would like it, but I was nervous about the four little girls, a big gorge, and warnings every so many feet about the cliffs.   They did great though and I only got a bit freaked out one time. 

I had to laugh at myself, though. The first things I did when I got home (after petting Ilean) were glance at the lettuce and herbs growing out the back door, check my kefir, and put my sourdough starter out to warm up a bit while wishing I hadn’t missed our local market this weekend. Real food has become so much a part of my days, that in less than 48 hours I find myself wondering how all of my cultures and seedlings are doing. It has become so common place to us that we don’t miss it until we are with family and somewhat out of control of our own meals. Then we all are anxious to get home for a garden fresh salad.

It’s just food, really, sustinence.  However, we are used to eating it in what the older two often say is it’s “real” form.  Examples:  “Mom, is this real corn or from a can?”  “Can we have some real cheese instead of the plastic kind?” (wrapped singles.)  “Is this fake wheat bread or real whole wheat bread?”

Treats for them are fresh, in season fruits, smoothies with fruits frozen from season’s past, and  homemade bread/cookies/whatever with a glass of raw milk from a farm we visit weekly.   They enjoy knowing where food comes from.  They understand now how “fake” food makes them feel “yuck” inside (their terms.)  Going to the market on Saturday morning is something they look forward to.  They find joy in growing herbs and pinching them to decide which ones to use on our fish or in our sausage.  Twinkies tastes awful to them.  In fact, Liz is so interested in food prep and sources that it wouldn’t surprise me if she is a chef one day.  She enjoys watching cooking programs on TV and is excited when they use lots of real foods.

And now that we are all home from a weekend away something so simple as oatmeal sounds good for breakfast.  We were without means to bring or keep real foods fresh aside from our dried fruits after the fresh fruits were eaten up.  We all are feeling kind of “blah” and I know I am looking forward to a big salad for lunch.  I think I will go out back and cut some Romain and Buttercrunch, pull a couple green onions, use the Oregano in the dressing with a farm fresh egg yolk, and add some crumbled cheese from a farm down south of us.  Then we’ll grill a couple steaks from our local beef in the freezer and serve them up with a bit of tasty herbed butter on top.  For dessert, it is strawberry season…need I say more?

What real foods are you eating?