Bum, bum, bah bum, bum....

Ah, the iconic beats and horns for the Olympic Fanfare. There is something about that song and sound that I absolutely love. Yeah, I am an Olympics-aholic. I love watching all the events and hearing all the stories about the athletes. Kevin isn't a huge fan of the events that are determined by judges, but I will watch them all. So, for the next two weeks the Olympic coverage will be all that is on TV. When track and field (or athletics) starts on August 3rd...we will be glued to the TV! 


Unfortunately, we learned today that Desiree Devila will not be able to compete in the marathon in London due to an injury. It is always great to see runners that Kevin has a connection to competing at the highest levels. We'll still be cheering on the USA runners. This year, we'll also be cheering for Reid Coolsaet from Canada in the Men's Marathon. He was one of the groomsmen, along with Kevin, in a wedding for friends of ours. Plus, Kevin did run races against him years ago.


It was week 8 of the CSA and we got one of my favorites in the box - sweet corn! We also got eggplant this week. I used that and the zukes to make a vegetable lasagna where the veggies replaces the noodles. I also made my own sauce for the lasagna. It was a whole lot of work, but incredibly good. Maybe I'll make it again if we get more...but I'd also be ok with making eggplant parmesan too. 

WEEK 8
Carmen Peppers (sweet Italian) 
Corn 
Cucumbers 
Eggplant 
Head Lettuce 
Red Onions  
Salad Mix 
Squash 
Tomatoes














It was a good week of training. My mileage is picking up with longer workouts and weekend long runs. I ended up doing my long run at the Run with the Deer Fly 15k trail run. It was an incredibly challenging run, but a lot of fun! Here is a link to the race from my Garmin. I don't think it quite does the course justice. I tacked on a little at the end to bring my daily total to 10.60 miles instead of 11. 


Day 1 (M) - 5.04 miles in 43:22, mid 3 miles @ faster 
Day 2 (T) - 3.53 miles in 31:39, plus 8 striders up my road
Day 3 (W) - 6 miles in 50:38 with negatives splits for 2 mile segments - 1st 2: 17:34, 2nd 2: 16:41, 3rd 2: 16:21
Day 4 (R) - Off day due to thunderstorms in the morning and evening
Day 5 (F) -  3.13 miles in 26:22
Day 6 (S) - Rest Day with a walk with Maddie & watching Kev/Dad win the 5K
Day 7 (S) - Run with the Deer Flies 15K in 1:35:47, plus a little extra


That brings the total this week to 28.3 miles in 4:18:50. Kevin also got in a good week. His long run yesterday consisted of running 9ish miles, winning the Homecoming 5K (and a pie!), and then running another 5 miles to finish the day at 17 miles. For the week he ended up running 53.5 miles.


Enjoy watching the Summer Olympics! We certainly will be.

Another year older

A highlight (for me anyway) of the past week was my birthday. It's hard to believe that I am 32. I had an enjoyable day, even if I had to go to work. Kevin and the kids treated me very well. It started with beautiful flowers the day before my birthday and ended with a delicious dinner of Paella (we did throw out the clams that didn't open).

We tried to go to an Altoona Curve game on Thursday, but it ended up being rained out. It's been so dry all summer and the one night we actually make plans, it rains. Figures. We'll try for another game.


It was week 7 for our CSA. We definitely have a surplus of squash and tomatoes. We grew cilantro in one of our pots at home, so I made salsa with that and the fresh local tomatoes, garlic, hot peppers, onions, and limes (not local).

Week 7

Cabbage 
Cucumbers (or as Kev referred to it, a Ucumber)
Green Peppers 
Hot Banana Peppers (yellow) 
Kale 
Onions – red and white 
Squash 
Tomatoes 
Shell Peas












This was week 2 for marathon training. My workout on Wednesday ended up getting moved to Friday due to thunderstorms. Contrary to popular belief, we aren't completely crazy when it comes to running. There are some times we won't be out or have the kids outside! The start of my long run on Saturday was tough, but I made it through. My runs/workouts for the week - 

Day 1 (M) - 5.02 miles in 43:07

Day 2 (T) - 3.06 miles in 27:10

Day 3 (W) - Off day due to thunderstorms, should have done some XT, but didn't get to it

Day 4 (R) - 3.17 miles in 32:07 with Sarah

Day 5 (F) - 6.07 miles in 51:13; 3 x 1 mile - mile 1: 7:52, mile 2: 7:37, mile 3: 7:33

Day 6 (S) - 12.11 miles in 1:49:36 - last three miles with some friends and it was a great way to end the run

Day 7 (S) - Rest day!

This gave me a total of 29.43 miles for the week in 4:23:13. Kevin finished the week with 59 miles (in 6 days), which included running 26 miles on Saturday and Sunday alone. Ok, so maybe he is crazy!


Enjoy the cooler weather while it lasts!

And it begins...

As of July 9th, Kevin and I are officially training for the Richmond Marathon. It really was something I threw out there on a Thursday evening and by Friday afternoon we were signed up! Craziness.

I decided to use a training plan from the book - Train Like A Mother. This book is the sequel (in a way) to the first book by the two authors - Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell, Run Like A Mother. The plan is for towards finishing your first marathon with training 5-6 days a week. You can tell that the plan is geared towards busy moms because one day on the "down" weeks are for fun workouts. This can be bike riding with the kids, going to the pool, shooting hoops, relay races with the kids, or maybe even an obstacle course...with the kids. The plan is actually 20 weeks, but since the marathon is 18 weeks out I have modified it a bit. I am doing week one to get back into a routine and then will jump to week 4. I have a pretty solid base from training for the 15k on July 4th, so hopefully this will work. I also moved the days around a bit to fit my schedule more (hard days on M and W, with easy days on T and R).

How was week one?

Day 1 (M) - 3.01 miles in 26:22

Day 2 (T) - 3.06 miles in 27:53

Day 3 (W) - 2 mile warm up (WU), 2 mile Tempo (mile 1 in 7:58, mile 2 in 7:50), 1.62 miles cool down (CD)

Day 4 (R) - 4.07 miles in 35:07

Day 5 (F) - Rest Day - this is usually a rest day or a cross train day, I decided to take the rest this week

Day 6 (S) - 9.34 mile Long Run (LR) in 1:21:26

Day 7 (S) - Rest day - this is always the rest day

This gives me a total of 25.10 miles in 3:38:39 for week one. For week 2, the mileage is increased to 29 miles with a long run of 12 miles. I ended up running my long run last week alone due to vacations and other running buddies with injuries. I'm hoping I can change that for the upcoming weekend and all future long runs, since they only get longer!

Kevin hasn't quite finalized his plan yet, but ended up getting in around 55 miles last week. He is lucky that 2 running friends are also doing a marathon on the same day (one is doing Richmond and one is doing another one), so they are all working together with what runs are what days to train.

This was week 6 for the CSA. New additions to the box this week were garlic, cucumbers, and green peppers. 

Week 6

Basil 
Cucumbers 
Garlic 
Green Onions 
Green Tomatoes
Red Tomatoes 
Head Lettuce 
Squash 
Sweet Peppers 
Swiss Chard

I think we may make some pesto this week with the basil, since we also planted some and it grows like weeds. I'm not sure about the green tomatoes. We may try them fried. This summer is about trying new things with veggies since we are at the mercy of the farmer for what we get.

The big event for the week was Bonnie's visit home and the release of Lazlo Athletic Brands, L.A.B. This is a line of running clothes in honor of Up-N-Running's favorite canine friend Lazlo. The shirts have some very cute designs (that aren't all dog related), so if you are in the greater Pittsburgh/Cranberry/Valencia/Saxonburg/Butler area, you should stop by and check it out!! Eventually Kevin and I will get something up on the UNR site too.

It's been a busy week and there is no slowing down from here. I'm looking forward to the upcoming week....we'll see how long I can stretch out the birthday celebration!

Happy Summer!

The Summer of Veggies

We joined the Blue Goose Farm CSA this year to get fresh local veggies. We aren't as lucky as in the Western PA/Butler area to have a Farmers Market practically on every corner. We also don't have a yard where we could plant a garden, so this seemed like a great option. The weekly deliveries were supposed to start 6/13, but due to the nice spring it started a week early. This was especially awesome, because the first box was picked up the day we got back from vacation.


What have we gotten so far?



Week 1 (didn't think to take a picture)

Garlic Scapes 
Kale 
Lettuce (Red Butter & Tropicana) 
Strawberries 
Swiss Chard

Week 2

Garlic Scapes 
Kale 
Lettuce (New Red Fire) 
Snow Peas 
Sugar Peas 
Strawberries 
Broccoli

Week 3

Bok Choy 
Garlic Scapes 
Green Onions 
Head Lettuce 
Radishes 
Snow Peas 
Sugar Peas 
Strawberries 
Summer Squash

Week 4

Basil 
Cabbage 
Head Lettuce 
Kohlrabi 
Snow Peas 
Sugar Peas 
Summer Squash 
Swiss Chard 
Tomatoes












Week 5 (didn't get to take a picture)

Dinosaur Kale 
Green Onions 
Head Lettuce 
Parsley 
Snow Peas 
Squash 
Tomatoes 
Cabbage


We have eaten so many salads and delicious things with the veggies. At one point, I opened the fridge and all I could see was dairy and produce! Not a bad thing. If you ever have an abundance of kale, make kale chips....quite tasty! 


It's been dry lately, so hopefully that doesn't impact the weeks to come.


Happy Summer!