I Finished!!

Today I ran my first 10k and it was awesome!!  I ran faster than I thought I would on a pretty hilly course.  I finished in 56.24 with a 9.06 pace. 

I started out the morning with a lite breakfast:

I had a peice of great harvest dakota toast with peanut butter and apple butter, a banana and some coconut water.  I woke up about 2 hours before the race started to make sure that my breakfast was digested.  I went outside to take Champ for a walk and realized that it was FREEZING!! Not quite what I had expected, but I layered up!  I had underarmor on every part of my body. Before I left the house I made sure to have a dose of my race buddy

Thank God for this stuff. Saves me every time.

The temerature 30 minutes before race time.

The race started right on time.  This is definitely the biggest race I've ran so far. There were hundreds of people.  I was super nervous before we started as usual.  I got there kind of late so I didn't have time for a final pit stop or to even take my tshirt back to my car (I hope the kid that picked it up out of the parking lot is enjoying it).  Here's how the race went:

Mile 1: OMG IT'S COLD!! This is pretty much all that was running through my head. My feet were numb for the first two miles.

Mile 2: I finished mile 1 in 9.30 so I picked up the pace a little and stated getting some feeling back in my toes.

Mile 3: Wow the first three miles went by fast! Oh hey there are my parents and Matt with Champ!!

Mile 4: This is when we started the second loop around.  I knew what I was in for at this point and I was starting to dread the two big hills that I knew were on the way.

Mile 5: Ok big hills are done.  I can do this.  Just try and keep this pace

Mile 6: SPRINT!!! I can see the finish!! CRAMP! OUCH! SPRINT!!

All in all a pretty great race.  I was really happy that I had done some interval training with hills in the gym and I had tied in some weight training for my legs.  As bad as I thought the hills would be, this is actually where I ended up passing a good number of people. And now for some blurry photos via my fiance's old decrepid camera (love you!!)

That's me in the black and pink finishing the first 5k going around for number 2!

Right before the finish!!

Overall I finished 125th out of 246 people.  I got 11th in my age group. Not bad.  I would love to do a half marathon next year! I wish that winter wasn't on its way so that I could run more outside, but I guess that will have to wait.  I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Saturday. There's a glass of wine with my name on it.



Race Goals

Hey everyone! Well it's the day before my 10k and I've been sitting here thinking about what I want to get out of my race. 

• Mainly I want to finish the race without stopping.  The only reason I every stop in a race is because of a cramp and the only way for me to avoid them is to drink a lot of water/coconut water and to try to keep my breathing even.  For some reason I am very prone to side cramps.
• I want to finish under 1 hour! I have done this during practice a few times so I know it's possible.
• Work on my pre-race nerves so that my stomach doesn't freak out on me.  Since I have an unpredictable stomach, I usually take Imodium on race days. I totally sound like an old lady saying this but it really helps me. 
• Have fun. I really want to enjoy my first 10k and I hope that finishing will give me the drive to train for a half marathon for next year.

Well I am at work, so I better keep this short.  Today is our Thanksgiving lunch at work and I cannot wait! Then I'm off to meet with a graduate advisor at the university to discuss classes.  And then....I'm off to TWILIGHT!!!  I will leave you with an adorable picture of the cutest puppy ever.  Mine of course:

What I Ate Wednesday

I saw this on a couple other blogs.  People just take pictures of what they eat on Wednesday. Thought I would give it a go.  I really need to get better at keeping my camera handy. Half of these pictures were taken with my phone so forgive me for the poor quality!

I started out with pumpkin pie overnight oats.  YUM. I added some applesauce this time

For lunch I used some leftover pork from last night to make a wrap.  First I spread some goat cheese on a whole what wrap.

Then I added some spinach leaves, pork, chopped carrots and sliced green peppers.  I had an apple on the side and a small peice of dark chocolate afterwards.

Dinner was....quick.  I got home from the gym a little late because of an accidant and I just put something together because I was starving. I cooked a salmon filet on the stovetop with some salt and pepper.  I heated up some leftover brown rice and black beans and had some pineapple with it. 

Man I can't wait until we get more attractive plates for our wedding haha. The 70's has made it's return.

Can't believe this time next week it will almost be thanksgiving!! This year is flying by!







Busy Bee

Sorry I've been MIA lately.  The little puppy is keeping me quite busy.  He is the cutest thing ever, but he's a non-stop mover.  Yesterday I took him for a 45 minute walk around the neighborhood to attempt to tire him out, but I think quite the oposite happened. He wore me out!! lol. He's has been so good with being in his cage during the day though.  So proud!

Cutest little man. I tried to take a picture with the flash and he was all squinty eyed, so this is a little blury

Today I went to work for a half day and came home to hang with Champ (tomorrow will be his first full work day alone in the cage).  I grabbed lunch and hung out with him for a bit and then headed over to the gym for a much needed workout.  I got in about 35 minutes of weights and 45 minutes of cardio.  While I was working out I was for some reason thinking about my favorite things to do in the gym.  I realized that I couldn't go a day at the gym without doing a few things:

1. Squats and lunges: no better feeling then a sore butt the day after a hard workout!
2. The Assited Pull Up Machine. I love this machine. It's fun and works a lot of muscles.

3. Sweating. I love the sweat and if I'm not drenched by the time I leave I don't feel like it was a good workout.
4. At least 10 minutes of stretching after cardio.  I'll do anything to prevent getting injured.

After the gym it was time to make some dinner! Tonight we had pork chops on the menu.  I created some sort of dry rub and it actually turned out pretty well.  Here is what I used for two pork chops:

Pork Chop Rub (2 servings)

1 1/4 tsp Paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp dark brown sugar

I put the rub on both sides of the chop and cooked them on the stovetop

I served mine with a half sweet potatoe, some all natural apple sauce and veggies.  And of course I dipped the pork chop in the apple sauce...a Vitale family must.

Hope everyone had a good day! Tomorrow's hump day!

WE HAVE A PUPPY!!!

Today was one of the best days I can remember! Matt and I adopted a dog! His name is Champ. He's a 2 1/2 year old puggle. He is fulll of energy and currently he is exploring our house.

He is adorable and is already attached to both Matt and I and won't let us out of his site.  He caught a glimpse of one of our cats and didn't seem to care about them which is perfect.  The cats are hiding at the moment but I'm sure they'll get over it soon.  Matt is taking the day off from work tomorrow to keep Champ company and I'm planning on coming home right after work to take him for a run.  I'm so happy to have  little running buddy!

Speaking of running, I started off my day with an hour long run.  I have no clue how far I actually went but the weather was perfect and I was enjoying myself.

It was one of those perfect fall days to be outside.  I saw some interesting things along the way.  I saw a dead squirrel on the sidewalk....now how does that actually happen? Hit by a bike?  And I saw some weave outside our house hahha

Must have blown over from one of the local high schools hahah.  I felt really good for my run until around 50 minutes I started tightening up a bit.  But all in all I feel ready for the race next week.

Happy to be done my hour run!

I had such a fun weekend I'm sad it has to come to an end.  I'll be counting down the days until next weekend when I get to go see Twilight with my BFF Stef and run my 10k race!!