The W family Fall pictures

My love of photography tends to reignite only from October through January. Maybe it's because spring training gets started after January or I just lose interest? Not sure why, but it just seems to be that way.
Earlier this month a friend asked if I could take some Fall portraits of her family. I was planning on renting the 56mm portrait lens but when I called the camera shop they did not have it available for rent so I just used the  lenses I had. The portraits turned out nice but I still wanted to rent it & test it out.

Making progress

Last night I planned to run 3 miles but ended up running 2 because of the rain. It's been raining like crazy these past few days. I had a small window of opportunity when the rain had temporarily stopped so I decided to head out the door. The temperature was nice and cool but with the 90% humidity it was definitely harder to breathe. I realized this after 5 minutes into the run. I quit after 2 miles when it started to sprinkle.

I uploaded my workout to Garmin Connect and decided to do a comparison from July.

It seems like forever since I last ran in the 11's. It's crazy how much your body can do is just 2 months. I am so happy that I am able to run. Slowly but surely it has to get better. Just taking it one day at a time. So far, I am down 13 pounds since the beginning of August. It's not a lot but I'll take anything as long as the scale is going in a downward direction.

A race with my daughter

When I began the C25K program, I convinced my daughter (who happened to be at home from college for the summer) to come with me to the track to run. After going with me for a couple weeks something must have sparked inside her and she started to enjoy running. Unfortunately she wasn't able to participate with us at the Arlington 911 5K because she had to  go back and get ready for school so we signed up for the Clarendon Days 5k the following weekend.

While she was home, we ran during the week & on Saturday's and we biked together on the other days. She was never really "into" exercise especially running or cycling. I am so glad she stayed home over the summer and we were able to workout together.

The Clarendon 5K would be her first official running race. We got up nice and early on race morning and picked up our other running friend I'll refer to as A.

We really lucked out because we found a parking spot less than a block away from the start line. The only downside to this race was that the finish line was about 1.5 miles from the start line which meant you had a nice little walk up hill to get back to your car if you parked where we did. From what I read, they used to pass out metro rail cards at the finish line which allowed you to ride the metro rail back to the start but due to changes with metro's paper card policy they weren't handing them out like they did in years past. We didn't mind the walk, 1.5 miles more no big deal.

We took a couple pre-race selfies and a shoe shot.

After this shoe picture we got ready to run. We all run different paces so we were on our own once the gun went off. The race is primarily down hill so it's an easy race to PR (personal record). I knew there was no way on earth I'd PR so I just enjoyed the run. My daughter took off and I only saw her 1 time when she was coming back from the turn around point. I crossed the finish & saw where she was waiting for me. She finished in under 30 minutes with a pace of 9:26. She definitely set the bar high. She had so much fun and I am so happy & proud of her.

stop and take a jump picture ~this is what happens when you have to walk1.5 miles uphill to get to your car

I've already signed us up for another 5K race at her college campus in early October and I have written up a training schedule through the beginning of December in hopes of running a half marathon before the year is over.  Let's cross our fingers that I have no issues with Plantar Fasciitis or any other annoying running injuries. I need to continue this progress since I seem to have found my motivation and I am starting to lose some unwanted weight.
Until next time...

not quite 4 months

Ok so it's been close to 4 months since I last posted something. I'm gonna blame it again on 'life'. That seems to be the default excuse for my lack of writing. Actually I have been meaning to write a post for some time, I just haven't had the chance to put it all together. So here goes... 
My summer goal of losing this fat suit wasn't really going that well so to give myself a goal, I signed up to do the Nations Triathlon as part of a relay team. I've never done a triathlon so this was something new for me. I was already cycling 3 times a week so I knew the bike portion wouldn't be that hard but I felt like I needed to mix things up. A few ladies in our running group were planning to start the C25K (Couch to 5k) program in mid July. I did this program back in 2011 and figured this would be a good way for me to ease back into running without really aggravating the Plantar Fasciitis that I had been dealing with since March. To celebrate completion of C25K we all registered for the Arlington 911 5k race. After I registered for it, I realized that the triathlon was the very next morning. Oops- I was thinking oh crap, my legs are gonna really hate me!

Day 1 of C25K

We finished C25K at the end of August and ran the race on September 10th. My finish time wasn't the best but I was just happy to be able to run a race. The last running race I did was in 2014.

mile 2-3 heading around the Pentagon

pre race picture

my running buddy A

I went home after the race and hung out around the house. I got my bag ready for the next mornings race. It was a 4:30am wake up call so I went to bed early.

5 am obligatory monument picture

 I love the excitement of running/cycling events but man do I hate having to get up at the ass crack of dawn. It always amazes me that I can get up for an event without any problems but seem to have this endless war with the snooze button on any other day.
We arrived extra early because finding a parking spot in DC is a joke during events that require street closures. Luckily we were able to get a decent parking spot.

It was such a beautiful morning and the weather was so much nicer than the day before. They cancelled the swim portion due to the poor water quality of the Potomac River so since C wasn't able to do the swim she decided to do the run portion with J.

J, myself & C

We waited around for a little over an hour and before we knew it we were off. The bike ride was much easier than I expected. The only part that was "tough" was the head winds that greeted us as we were riding on I395 going over the Potomac River toward Crystal City. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take my phone with me so there are no pictures :( I was happy with my overall time on the bike.

I came into the transition area, dismounted the bike & handed the timer to J and they took off to finish the run portion of the race.

J & C running to the finish

We collected our medals and got some food & said our goodbyes. It was a fun event, bummer that the swim got cancelled but we made the best of it.
The crazy part about this is that when the results came in and we ranked 3rd in our division and 10th overall.

I have another race next weekend with my daughter. I'll update about that soon so until next time...
 

15 month blog hiatus recap

Hello blogville !! I am back, lets hope my next post isn't 15+ months later.

It's been a while since I last posted... I guess "life got in the way" so I am going to post a recap of the last 15+months. Warning this will be a LONG update post.

Since my last post, I was able to somewhat stick with my running schedule. In April, I ran my 10K portion of our marathon relay team at the Northface Endurance Challenge. It wasn't easy & that was mostly my fault for not doing all my required training runs. It was a fun race & I am glad I was able to just finish my part.

ladies from our running group

our post race beer 

After that race, I took a break from running and went with my love of biking. I added a new carbon bike to my current bike collection & signed up for the Air Force Cycling Classic ride in June.

my new ride

 I did a decent amount of cycling leading up the day of the ride & I was ready to complete at least 4 loops (each loop is about 9.3 miles) to qualify for a silver finishers medal. The ride started in Crystal City and it took you down the interstate toward Rosslyn, VA where you turned around, passed Arlington Cemetery as you headed toward the Air Force Memorial. Well on the day of the ride, it was ridiculously HOT and very humid. I ended up finishing 3 loops which qualified me for the bronze medal. I just didn't have it in me to do another loop in the 93 degree heat. Despite the awful conditions, it was such a fun event. I would have done it again this year but we had other plans on that weekend.

at the start waiting for the start gun

passing the Pentagon heading toward Rosslyn

Rosslyn, VA up ahead

I kept on biking regularly throughout the summer along with an occasional run. August was the month I kissed the pavement going about 15 mph and messed up the shifters on my new bike. I was on a group ride with other cyclists. As we were picking up speed & coming around a sharp corner to climb up a very short hill, I was met with wet leaves on the ground. My front wheels met with the leaves as I was turning and the rest is history. All I know is that my friend Stephanie who was behind me said my crash was "epic". Luckily I didn't break anything except my cracked helmet & some major road rash on my left leg. I was more mad that my "new" bike got scuffed up.

To avoid people staring at my black eye, I had to walk around wearing sunglasses for about 2-3 weeks.

August was not my month because a couple weeks later my car's transmission started to fail. It was not worth replacing since the engine had over 250K miles & knowing my luck the engine would fail after installing a new transmission. I ended up buying a new small SUV. This meant paying to have a trailer hitch installed and buying a hitch bike rack. I hate having a car payment but it sure is nice to have a new car. I really like the hitch rack for my bike too.

My biking ended around October because by the time I'd get home from work it was too dark & I am not a fan of riding at night. I started to run again but I think I over did it & ended up with shin splints and calf strains.
Thanksgiving was around the corner and so was my carefree diet which eventually led to me regaining most of the weight I had worked so hard to lose. To top things off I got laid off right before Christmas. It really sucked to be let go after 7 years with them, but I guess business is business. When the company is losing money like crazy you have to make cuts & I just happen to be one of the handful of people on the chopping block. My feelings were not too badly hurt, I got a nice lump severance check equal to 5 month of pay in addition to my 12 days of vacation pay that I had previously banked.

I took my new time off as an opportunity to go take a road trip with my daughter & spend a couple weeks in Florida visiting my brother. We had a great time. We made a stop at Daytona Beach on the way home & just enjoyed our road trip.

I made a New Years Resolution to get back to running regularly but that hasn't turned out well. The first couple runs were great then our of nowhere I was struck with dreaded Plantar Fasciitis. I took a break from running the last couple weeks of February and I tried to do a short easy interval run but it roared its ugly head. I went to see the foot doctor in March and was given a compression sleeve, a night boot and a cortisone shot to my heel. I felt great a week after getting the shot. I went on a 2 mile run and it felt so good and I had no problems. I took a rest day & went on another 2 mile run and the damn PF came back !!!!

For the week of spring break we decided to rent a cabin in Tennessee. The cabin was practically on top of the mountain with gorgeous views. We had a lot on our "to do" list & we managed to get a lot done in those 7 days. We went to a few museums, rode an Aerial Tram over the mountains, did some hiking, horseback riding, ATV riding and the usual touristy things like shopping etc..

our cabin

beautiful hike at Laruel Falls

picture from the Ariel Tram

ATV time

After our vacation, I put more of an effort into my job search and was offered a job from my friend who happens to be the VP of the company. I took up her offer and started working in April.

In May we decided to take the kids and spend the weekend in NYC. I had a free night stay from my rewards "points" with Hotels.com so I booked 1 night at the Westin in Times Square. We decided to drive there and just pay to park overnight. Not sure if I will drive into the city again. I think I drove hubby crazy when we were driving in Manhattan. Those drivers are NUTS & they are so rude. I swear I thought we were going to get into an accident.
Well the hotel is right smack in the center of everything and surprisingly our room was really quiet which was a total bonus. The last time I went to NYC I stayed at the Doubletree and you could hear so much "city" noise (honking, emergency vehicles etc..), not a recipe for a good nights sleep.

we saw Dr. Ruth in Times Square

on top of the Rockefeller Center

 Our plans were to stop at Liberty Park in Jersey City and catch the ferry to go see Ellis Island on our way home but when we got to the park we missed the last ferry by 10 minutes so we just walked around the park. It was a beautiful day to be outside plus you can also get great views of the NYC skyline.

Well that about sums it up. So until next time....:D

So I went for a run...

So I finally went to the gym last night and ran for 2 miles.  I felt like such a failure with all my huffing and puffing on the treadmill for only 2 miles. I looked like someone who's never ever run on a treadmill. I really need to get out of the mindset of "oh it's only 2 miles" because really it was 2 freaking HARD as HELL miles. It sucked but I got it done & I need to suck it up and keep on doing it. This morning my legs felt fine but my knee is a little sore which worries me because it is the primary reason that I stopped running.

I just finished writing up my training plan. I made it as easy as I could, in hopes that my knee will cooperate & allow me to finish the race.

What I made with leftover donuts

Hi peeps!

On Sunday, I was about to toss out these packages of mini powdered donuts I bought a couple weeks ago while visiting my daughter at school but before tossing them I decided to try to create a bread pudding out of them. Why not? it's bread technically. I wasn't sure if I had enough but I thought I'd give it a try. After a google search I found this recipe. It called for glazed donuts which of course I didn't have.

I had 3 packs of those mini powdered donuts sitting on my counter. I had a feeling when I bought them that they would not be eaten but little guy begged for them so with "SUCKER" written over my forehead I gave in and bought them.

After cutting up everything & placing it in a prepared baking dish, I went to look in the pantry and of course I just happen not have a single can of evaporated milk.Condensed milk, yes but evaporated milk no but thankfully I rememberd I had powdered milk from when I made some home made Chai Tea. Problem solved just mix 1cup of dry milk with a 1 1/4 cup of water and you have evaporated milk.

The recipe called for 2 eggs but I added an extra one since I like mine more "eggy". I mixed the evaporated milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmet & graded orange peel. I omitted the sugar because I figured it would be sweet enough from the powdered sugar on the donuts.

Pour mixture evenly over the cut up donuts & cranberries. I pressed down on it to help it really soak up the liquid. I found a larger pan to place the dish into and filled it up part way with water. I let it sit for about 10 minutes before putting it in the 350° oven. 

I let it bake for a little more than 45 minutes because when I checked it at 45 minutes the middle was still not set. I think I had it in there for 10 additional minutes. & everyone liked it. I am glad I didn't add the sugar because it was just right. At least for my taste buds. 

It turned out pretty good. It was light & and not too dry or sickly sweet. Everyone liked it, especially Hubby. I went into the fridge this morning to grab a piece before heading to the office only to find that the last piece was "secretly" finished it off somtime last night. Oh well I am glad it was a hit.