Missing the Mountains Monday

This weekend was exactly what I needed.  I will go ahead and confess that I totally skipped out of my long run, but I cross trained like a champ.  I also ran about two miles because I wanted to for the first time in a very long time.  Yay for kicking the slump in the face...finally.

I went for long walks up and down mountains every day and I have to admit that my legs on booty are still feeling it! I also rode four horses in two days.  This would not have been a big deal about 3 years ago, but now I am out of shape and don't have the same muscles I used to.

 

One of the ponies (ignore my super profesh riding with a halter abilities) and part of the driveway I walked)

Of course I refueled with awesome food.

If you go to Brevard, NC you have to go to Dolly's for ice cream and Julies for breakfast. It's a rule.  Also Pescado's (which I missed out on this time!) and Jet's Pizza (which I grabbed for the drive home and ate today for breakfast and dinner).  There are more too..so if you are going to Brevard hit me up. I will give you the very thorough list of awesome things to see and do :)

I also got to hang out with Duchess (the cat) and Luigi (the goat). They are pretty cool critters.

I even got to see one of my old campers and it almost made me cry...or maybe it did a tiny bit.

Now I'm back home and I have to confess I already miss the mountains terribly.  The weather down here stinks...and can literally make you stink! I have been sweating from the moment I walked out the door this morning. I think the heat index was around 105 today.  I got to give two campus tours and two barn tours, so I was walking around in the heat for nearly five hours. Super fun.

Now that I am back, it is time to plan for the rest of the week!

Food
Tomorrow night I have to cook a real dinner so I am thinking maybe stuffed peppers. Wednesday is work travel so that is a mystery...except I know I will be searching out a Dunkin Donuts for iced coffee because I am addicted! Friday is a picnic/BBQ at work for lunch and boyfriend is insisting on a date night.  So I didn't cook anything ahead this week. I have muesli and almond milk, turkey sandwiches in pita, and leftover pizza to get me through.

Workouts
Monday: Rest (which turned into walking about 4 miles in hot hot hot weather by the way!)
Tuesday: 3 miles, goal of 9:30 per mile
Wednesday: 5 miles, goal of 10:30 per mile
Thursday: 3 miles, goal of 10:00 per mile
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 12 miles, long and easy
Sunday: Cross training (TBD)

Saturday and Sunday will probably be switched because the dog has a lesson at 11 which means leaving the house by 8:30.

My goal is to do my run in the morning every day this week. Wednesday it is going to be necessary since I will be away until late and totally exhausted when I get home I am imagining.

Now it's off to SweetFrog to round out my nutritious pizza dinner haha.

Banishing Boring

So I've realized my life is a little bland. I live in a really small town so when I'm not traveling I am pretty much either at home or working. I run the same routes every week. I tend to eat the same foo all week.
Probably the most exciting thing to happen in the last couple days was our plumbing getting repaired last night. Never underestimate the joy of running water.
Warning, this is about to go from whiney to existential. Watch out.
Now I really just started typing this out without a clue where I was headed with it. Then I remembered my old theory that there really aren't boring things, just boring people. I realized I had let myself become boring and that I had started accepting boring. Not good y'all.
So I'm starting the 100 happy days challenge. I need to remind myself that good stuff happens every day and that I need to appreciate it instead of always chasing something bigger and better!
Tonight I'm headed to the mountains for work and play, so I should have an easy time getting started!

Ten Things Tuesday: slackers edition

I'm back! Life got a little (ok a lot) hectic and I've been running in probably a million circles while still managing to avoid my planned runs. Yikes! So today's ten things are split in half. Five things making life crazy and five things I've been doing instead of running.

1) Our WiFi router croaked in one of the bajilion thunderstorms we had. No internet is no fun.

2) Our plumbing is also not working and keeps getting worse instead of better. It started with the washing machine "draining" all over the dining room. The the kitchen sink was on the fritz. Showers have worked (albeit very slowly) until this morning. Pre-workday run was canceled when I woke up and saw this

Makes you want to jump right in right? Anyways the plumber is supposed to come today. Of course they were supposed to come Thursday as well.

3) It has been hot as all get out and humid to boot. I'm very much not a morning person, but by the time I get off work the heat index is over 100 and I'm ready to,lay in bed and do nothing.

4) On that note, I did a ton of campus tours last week and I'm going to go ahead and count all that walking in the heat as cross training lol.

5) And last for the making life crazy things is the fact that I have been mentally burnt out. I just don't want to get out the door for a run. It's been a battle but I think this will be my rebound week.

6) (aka part 2, #1) I've been traveling! The boyfriend and I went to see his dad in the Tampa, FL area for the 4th of July and had a blast. Lots of hours in the car and one the beach, but it was a great change of pace and scenery.

The run was hot but fantastic and the view was incredible. Then I went and soaked in some sun for the rest of the day!

7) I'm planning more travel! This weekend I am heading to the mountains of NC for a tiny bit of work and lots of fun time. I have already planned a running route to see of the 6 major waterfalls in the DuPont forrest...and a lake swim to finish it out! Follow me on instagram@ seejessrun711 for picture updates throughout the weekend!

8)  Hank and I had a great "mommy-doggy day" yesterday. He had a lesson then,we explored Raleigh, went to the dog park, picked out some new treats and a toy at petsmart, and met dad for dinner at Moe's.

We practiced our new "place" command and took some selfies in the car. Because we are cool like that. 

9) I'm knitting a sweater and dreaming of colder weather. Actually my roommate runs the a.c. high enough that I might need it indoors before the fall even gets here! 

It's gotten bigger since that picture but still isn't super interesting. The fun part is still to come.

10) And finally, I've been eating a ton of frozen yogurt! 

As much as I love SweetFrog here in NC, we found a place called yogurt mountain in Clearwater and it is my favorite of all the frozen yogurt places I've been to.

And that's ten! So glad I've finally made it through a post and I am hoping the success will carry over to running this evening! 

Hope you had an amazing holiday weekend!