Turkey Trot: My First 5K

My family went to Branson, Missouri for the week of Thanksgiving. One of our planned activities was whoever wanted to could run in a Turkey Trot  in Springfield (45-60 minutes away). Since I had been aiming on running a 5K in the beginning of December (which I am no longer doing), I figured Thanksgiving wasn't that much sooner so why not.

Tuesday's run went very well. I ran for 35 minutes although not always at my regular stride as to stay with my youngest sister. There were even hills which I haven't ever run on so I was pretty proud of myself. Anyway. Tuesday was really nice. Sun. Warm enough for shorts and no winter running things. This is important because Thursday was only two days later.

Thursday was cold. Cold, cold, cold, and cold. 29 degrees when we were running, if I remember correctly. And, oh my goodness, there were so many people. The announcer said over 7000 people were registered. Everyone got t-shirts, goofy orange turkey hats (which we did not have to wear but my dad insisted on getting them for Valerie's girls who weren't present nor were their parents), and a shoe tracker. Only just over 5000 people wore their shoe trackers. Luckily, it did not rain the entire time we were running.... it started somewhere between miles 2 and 3. I personally had a goal to run it in under 40 minutes. To date I hadn't run 5K at all and since I would be in pants and a jacket ... I didn't know how I would do.

I began the run with Kimmi and Josh. I made sure they knew where we would meet up afterwards since it was likely that we wouldn't stay together. Jared and Kaelyn were waiting inside the building for us (I am told that Kaelyn got many compliments and enjoyed a doughnut). Mom and Dad started after us. I tried running without my iPod and it didn't work out for me. I got too bored. So on it went! Some interesting costumes. A pilgrim and a pumpkin and a boy with super skinny legs and a cape. I was expecting a turkey but didn't see one (not that I saw all 7000 people present). Close to the end of the race, Dad caught up with me. I walked for 30 seconds twice during the race because my nose was causing trouble (and my foot and knee were trying to cause trouble). Other than that, I ran the whole time!

Of course I wanted to know my official time but there were so many people surrounding the printouts hanging on the wall. As was our luck, some tall guys talked over our heads about how the race results were online. Bwahahaha! So we didn't wait. We got breakfast! At IHOP!!! Mom picked it out just for me. Yay! Thank you, Mom!

Here are the stats from the race because, come on, you gotta know them.
Time: 38:05 (average race time was 37:25)(fastest time was 15:25)
Place: 3124/5318
Gender place: 1459/3007
Age division place: 165/266 (ages 20-24)(fastest time in my div was 18:32 and was the 2nd fasted overall female running time)

My dad: 35:38
My mom: 41:23
(Shout out to my parents who ran the whole entire thing without stopping or walking!)
Josh: 40:00
Kimmi: 40:02

Go family!

My goal now? To beat my dad.... (Dad, DO NOT READ THIS.)

Here we are in our shirts, not right after our race but before we showered.

And I just had to show this picture to help show how Josh kept foiling our picture taking efforts.

What a fantabulously awesome day!

Everything and everyone must just adore me today. Look at me beam. Okay, never mind. My camera is out of arms reach and so is my camera cord. It's my lazy time of the day so just imagine me beaming. WARNING: Excessive use of exclamation marks (!) will be used throughout this post.

Bread
I made yummy whole wheat bread. I have never made whole wheat before. I have always done a mix of wheat/white/other random flour that I have on hand. They've never really come out good so I've been doing a little bit of reading and learning.

Lesson 1: Whole wheat is denser than white. Therefore, you must lighten whatever you are cooking. In pancakes or waffles, you would increase your baking powder. In bread, you use vital wheat gluten. I haven't done in depth reading on vital wheat gluten so I can't explain what it is or how it works exactly. I bought mine at Whole Foods in their bulk section (awesome bulk section, by the way) because Meijer's (my regular grocery store) doesn't carry it at all. Bread recipes labeled as "basic" don't usually use vital wheat gluten so I hadn't heard about it before. Or maybe I was just looking in different places. It was pricey so it's a good thing that you don't use very much.

Lesson 2: Bread machines are nice sometimes. But if you want really good bread, don't use it. I guess that is a personal preference. I have recently made rolls, cinnamon rolls, and bread without the bread machine. I think I still enjoy the dough setting on the bread machine. But I prefer to cook bread in the oven. My bread machine over cooks. Light crust really isn't light crust.

Lesson 3: Whole wheat bread makes really super yummy grilled cheese sandwiches. Really. Yummy. Yummmmmy.

Jared's assessment: "Chewy. Flavorful."
Lindey's assessment: "Yummy!" with eyes rolled towards the ceiling. I've noticed that she does that just about anything she eats something she likes and so it is not an indication of how much she likes something.

C25K W6D3
In case you don't know, I have picked up running. I choose the Couch to 5K program (C25K) because it laid everything out for me. It was measurable. I found a podcast that had music put together so I didn't have to deal with that. It told me when to run and when to walk so I didn't have to deal with that either. Each week you run intervals for approximately 30 minutes. The first week you ran for 60 seconds and walked for 90. Each week is different. You run each session 3 times except for weeks 5 and 6. W5D3 was the first time you run for longer than 10 minutes at one time. I was ecstatic to make it through 20 full minutes.

I debated on whether to rerun days 1 and 2 of week 6 because I felt like I struggled through both days. After looking at the calendar, I decided to push on. I needed to finish the program before Thanksgiving which is when my first 5K will be. So today I ran 25 minutes (!!!) straight (!!!) and only the last 2 minutes felt difficult.

The podcast pacing has me at a 13 minute mile and the aim of C25K is to have you at 10 minute miles. The pacing will pick up over the next few weeks to get me there. No more intervals in the program! I'm running 25+ minutes now! Check me out! I definitely couldn't do this when I started.

Goodwill
After picking up Lindey from her second day of work (which worked out much better than picking her up from her first day of work), we went to Goodwill which is on the way home. She needed some dress pants. I needed something to wear to youth night tomorrow. We both scored.

The dress I found is almost entirely modest and a shrug will take care of that problem. The best part? It's a size 4!! I fit a size 4!! It maybe a large size 4, but it's still a size 4.

I also got 3 shirts all of which I really like.

And. All clothing was 50% off. Apparently, Goodwill is moving locations next month. Closer to me! By a few blocks...

Oh, and they were playing Christmas music. Christmas, people! I love Christmas!

Old Time Pottery
We stopped by Old Time Pottery on the way home because it was right next door to Goodwill. Contrary to its name, I don't think I saw any pottery inside. But it landed itself on my list of favorite stores. And I didn't even buy anything.

They have large clocks which fit exactly what I've been keeping an eye out for. They have large frames for not that expensive which I have also been looking for. They have rugs. They have a clearance section. They have a super clearance section. They have home decor fabric in small yardage.

Kaelyn
She has been saying "uh oh" lately. It is quite cute even though she will drop things on purpose just to say "uh oh". This morning, as I was cooking waffles, she was trying to stand up to see herself in the lower oven. I must have left the drawer underneath open a little bit because she started saying "uh oh! uh oh!" to tell me that her fingers were smooshed in the drawer and she couldn't get them out.

Giveaway
Last of all, I just got an email saying that I won a giveaway! $20 to a cloth diaper shop called Abby's Lane. Score! I'm not sure what I'll get with it yet though... So many choices!

There's this cute Blueberry Minky One Size Pocket. Or maybe a BumGenius Organic One Size AIO. I should consider a diaper sprayer. Or just get some SuperDo inserts because I love the LoopyDos that came with my Knickernappies.

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I had a great day. :)

My dual-wielding baby

I keep showing this picture off to my family so I figured it's one that should go on my blog. Jamie asked if she was sneezing. Nope, not this baby. She made that face for the picture. Dual-wielding chicken nuggets!! She ate them both too.

Guys, I feel grown up!

Today I cooked a chicken. A whole one. And it was GOOD!!!

Okay, so. I like tender and juicy meat. Beef, turkey, chicken. Yeah. Tender. Juice. Meat. We haven't been too successful with tender and juicy roasts and steaks (beef) but Jared is getting better. This week I decided to buy a whole chicken since my confidence was boosted by a book I picked up from the library last week. Lucky for me, I stopped by the ground turkey (which I didn't buy) and saw right next to them ORGANIC whole chickens! I dunno about a price comp because I have no idea what un-organic whole chickens cost. But it was organic! Free range! Organic!

It was so easy to prep and cook. And I have plans so it's not just a one dinner chicken.

Oh, oh, oh! I did EVERYTHING. No help! I prepped, cooked, sliced, and deboned! ALL MY SELF! See? I do feel growned up.

And despite the most solid food she's eaten since Thursday's dinner was mashed potatoes and blended cheesy macaroni, Lindey ate one of the wings. I'm pretty certain her eyes rolled upwards upon first taste. I will take that as a "this is yummy!" indication as well as a "solid food!" Jared said it was good but he'd rather he were allowed to eat the breast (apparently chicken on bones is freaky). Even Kaelyn ate some.

And the worse news? I didn't take a picture.

But it was yummmmmmy! Okay, seriously. I like making good food. I just don't always feel that I succeed. And whole birds are were scary to me. Tonight not only did I cook a chicken, I also roasted potatoes and carrots (Jared had never seen a purple potato before) which came out perfect and had a simple caesar salad. We are terrible at remembering a side dish so to have three total dishes for dinner feels like a huge accomplishment!

Bottom line, people. Organic food rocks. No comparison. 

I am not a blogger. And now that that's off my chest...

Sometimes I read things I wrote years ago and wonder what I was eating at the time. Skills and knowledge really does disappear when you don't use it. Unless you are very lucky and blessed with an amazing memory. Or never have a child. Or you're just gifted with that skill.

I don't know where I was going with that. Nowhere, I think. So now that that's off my chest...

Sometimes I don't know what to write. And so I don't. For a long time. Oh, you noticed? When I read other blogs, there are tutorials or what they think about a topic. There is deep insight. There is intellect. Then I come back to mine and I draw a blank. How can I do that? Everything I do takes a long time. I don't think about topics. I like to remain non-controversial. I don't sound smart.

An exercise I have been trying elsewhere is showing me that it doesn't matter. Nothing has to be big. If I want to write something, then I should just write something. I shouldn't think about what other people do because this isn't their blog. I don't have to sound like I know something. All I need to do is share the world through my eyes.

What makes me happy and brings joy to my life.

What fills my heart and soul.

The surprises of homeownership.

Fun colors and crafts.

The food I make.

And just life in general.

I'm not fancy in any way. I have goals and dreams. I have a life. I have accomplishments and I have struggles. This is a place to share that with those who stop in from time to time.