three years :)

Go Cubs!

Today I was lucky enough to be able to take the afternoon off from work, and instead spend it basking in the sunlight on a rooftop overlooking Wrigley Field. For three hours, my only cares in the world were 1) the Cubs winning and 2) not getting sunburned. Both were accomplished!

Recipe: Mama's Rice Pudding

My mom made rice pudding a lot when I was growing up ... usually whenever we had leftover rice. Well, she's rubbed off on me, because now whenever we order Chinese, we never touch the white rice, and the payoff is rice pudding.

Here is her recipe:

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 t cinnamon and nutmug (I assume this meant each ...)
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup raisins (I substitued choc chips ...)
Optional: chopped nuts (I omit bc Rob doesn't like)

Combine. Bake 1 hr at 250; then 1/2 hour at 300 (or until there is no liquid left when you tip a little).

Ugh. Long Run Fail. But on the bright side, I did run 8 miles.

Today, my goal was to run 11 miles. Just one more mile than last week. It didn't go quite as well as I hoped.

Today is one of the nicest days we've had in awhile, and the temperature got into the 70s. Which is fine ... but when you're running on a unshaded trail, and there are no clouds, it feels warmer.

Also, I think I overhydrated during a run a few weeks ago, and I wanted to avoid that this time, but I think I underhydrated. And about halfway in, I started feeling dehydrated. Unfortunately, I was 5.5 miles from my water supply. I kept going, but didn't pass any water fountains or anything. Finally around mile 8, I started walking and broke down and called The Sailor and asked him to meet me around mile 9, since that was an easy-to-find spot not far from home.

He of course had the same reaction I would have. (Why didn't you bring water? Or some money to run off course to a store to buy some?) I was debating having him drive me back to my car, but I wanted to finish 11 miles even if I didn't run them, so I walked the last two miles, although that was no picnic either, even with water.

So, I need to invest in one of those attractive water fanny packs. Which really isn't a big deal because I already run with a little fanny pack, because all of my running shorts/cropped pants don't have pockets.

Also, I need to plan better so I can do my runs earlier in the day, when the sun isn't much of a factor.

I'm not going to let today get me down. During the run, among all the "I'm so freaking thirsty ... would it be really wrong to drink some of the water in a puddle on the side of the trail?" (I did not break down and do that, although if The Sailor wasn't available, maybe I would have.) I was also having thoughts of "can I really do this half marathon?" I guess I need to remember that today was a bad day ... they aren't all bad days. And the problems I had today are solved easily enough by going out earlier and getting a water fanny pack.

half marathon training update

The half marathon is 29 days away! But, I'm improving! Stats from my recent runs:

March 9: 3.15mi, 31:25, 6.03mph
March 15: 3.16mi, 30:53, 6.1mph
March 17: 3.12mi, 30:07, 6.2mph
March 22: 3.13mi, 30:59, 6.1mph
March 24: 2mi, 18:44, 6.4mph
March 27: 9mi, 1:44:40, 5.2mph
April 1: 3.12mi, 30:32, 6.14mph
April 3: 10.05mi, 1:46:27, 5.7mph

I'm so proud of myself. For one thing, I have never run 10 miles at once! And to improve my pace by 0.5mph in one week is pretty great, considering I ran a mile longer.

So hopefully I can keep this momentum going. Maybe I can run the half-marathon (13.1 miles) in 2:24:00. That would be a pace of about 5.5 mph, right?