May 2012
1 post
April 2012
5 posts
Ben Does Life.: The Running Journey →
bendoeslife:
I’ve talked with hundreds of other runners in the past few years. Sometimes we talk about marathons, sometimes we talk about hill workouts, and sometimes we talk about technical fabric and how it affects our nipples.
We talk about pacing, or shoes, or GPS watches.
We talk about the ups and the…
March 2012
1 post
Catching up, and moving on...
I logged on to Tumblr tonight and was stunned to find that I haven’t written anything since February 19! Holy cow!
I finished my sweater right around the first week of March. I didn’t like it much at first, but I really do like it now. I cast on the Dahlia Cardigan, which is a much more complex pattern starting out - because there is a lace pattern on the back. I’m just barely...
January 2012
4 posts
My new blog.
I created a blog that more accurately reflects where I’m at in life.
You can follow it here.
I hope you do!
Love this!
m1nd0fth3s34:
“knitting provides everything you need to do, everything you should have learned in kindergarten. It teaches you how to focus. It teaches you how to make a task and meet that goal. It teaches you how to control your anger. And we felt that all of these skills are life skills, are job skills. These are skills that, quite possibly, many people in our society are lacking.”
—
...
Ben Does Life.: Mapping out an 18-week marathon... →
bendoeslife:
It’s kind of sobering to think I’m more in beginner running shape than intermediate.
13 months ago I was in 9:24/mile marathon shape to the tune of a 4:05 Las Vegas. Now I’m thinking 4:20-4:30 again.
And here’s the funny thing. I’m actually letting it bother me.
Jeez, Louise, Ben. It’s…
November 2011
1 post
2 tags
Hot Cocoa Mix... on the dark side!
I was making a store list today and was contemplating adding hot cocoa mix to my list…
But here’s the thing. I’ve been reading a book called “The Kitchen Counter Cooking School” by Kathleen Flinn, which talks about the fact that Americans waste a lot of money buying mixes for things that aren’t that hard to make. So, in the past month or so I’ve made a...
September 2011
3 posts
Happy Endings....
Ok… so here’s the deal… I just had this whole melancholy vibe going… I had Adele playing the most beautiful, rip your heart out and kick you in the throat song that I’ve ever heard…
I was ready to jump on here and blog about my depression that I’ve been dealing with… about why I feel so sad.
And then my husband brought me this drink. It’s...
August 2011
1 post
Backyard Baby Back Ribs on the Food Network →
We made these ribs for dinner the other night. We omitted the allspice and used ground chipotle pepper instead of cayenne.
Don’t let the prep time fool you - the actual time you spend making these ribs is minimal. They would be perfect to make before a party. You can refrigerate them and then heat them on the grill and top them with the sauce.
People will weep at your feet. The pope may...
July 2011
2 posts
Who I am.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about who I am. And no, I have not been drinking.
I guess a more eloquent way of saying this is I have been reconciling who I AM with who I think I should be. In that process, I’ve also been thinking about the girl I think I should be… and why I think I should be her…
I’m starting to see a theme here.
See, here’s the deal. I...
Wow. Suddenly, it's July!
And so, the lack of posting for the past few months is pretty epic. I’ll fill you in on the broad strokes.
I did pretty well with my running for a while. Ran the Hippie Chick 1/4 marathon on Mother’s day. A quarter mile in to the race, I felt a muscle tighten up in my hip. Over the next 6 miles, that muscle got tighter. Slowing down or stopping hurt worse than just gutting it out. So...
March 2011
3 posts
Sometimes, it's not pretty
A has bronchitis and “something strange” on his x-ray. I am pretty sure this is the same “something strange” that the docs see every time they x-ray him… they all err on the side of caution, and treat him with antibiotics.
We err on the side of caution, and give them to him.
But nobody knows if it’s really pneumonia or not.
Did I mention that his Dad had a...
Portland Fit, day 1
So, as is typical for me… it’s been a while since I have posted. This is reflective of the way that life tends to get in the way of our best laid plans…
I think that when I posted last, A had gotten sick. I caught the bug from him, and now… he is sick again. Sigh.
The last few weeks have been a challenge, running wise. I did manage to get a few runs in - but they...
When things don't go as planned...
So, I set out for a run Sunday morning with two of my running buddies, K and W - at a golf course that K runs at. She said it’s great because the trail is all bark chips and it’s easy on your knees.
Got there early to find the east winds blowing with a temperature of about 40 degrees. The trail was indeed, covered in bark chips… however, there’s one part that is a pretty...
Day off
Taking a day off of running today. Yesterday ended up being a 2.5 mile run/walk instead of my planned 7.
Need to get my ass in gear tomorrow though and go to work in a better mood.
Seriously.
February 2011
5 posts
Snow Day!
Today’s a snow day for us. We got about an inch or so, which is sadly melting under sunny blue sky right now. The kids are out of school though, so they are happy.
Lifted weights with the new Bowflex Select tech weights and weight bench last night. It was very nice; a relaxing counterpoint to running… which is relaxing in a different way! :-)
I have four miles on tap for today - need...
Because I feel it's noteworthy...
Signed up for the Portland Marathon yesterday. Have no idea exactly why, but I think Garth Brooks kind of says it best…
“Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you’re standing outside the fire…”
Flame on!
More later. Must run (literally).
January 2011
7 posts
5 miles, redux
So, today was another 5 miler. We found some much better trails today.
This may have been, possibly, the best run of my life thus far. I think there were a few things that made it so:
1) I got up an hour before I ran and had a cup of coffee and a piece of peanut butter toast. (Cheers to you, Dave’s Killer Bread. I hope when I’m a badass marathoner you’ll give me some kind of...
Feeling good!
Did 3.55 tonight. It was so cold - 34 degrees. Full moon out. Took me a while to hit my stride, but when I did, it felt amazing.
Ran in my new Brooks Addictions today. They felt pretty good. Also put on my “squeezy pants” and my legs and knees feel so much better.
And what a difference adequate food and hydration makes!!!
All things to remember for my long run on Sunday!
5 miles
Headed out to do a little over one third of the distance we will need to cover for hippie chick.
Kind of nervous. My peeps are late too and my stomach is now growling
I really need to get the definitive low down on whether or not you should eat before long runs. Because the only thing I hate more than being hungry is barfing.
There you have it.
Tonight's run.... :-) →
Didn’t feel like going, but we did.
It was so freakin’ worth it! :-) Nice and cool, and we hit a nice stride where I wasn’t thinking about distance all the time.
It felt happy and free, and really made me so glad I am doing this. I especially love running at night - the streets are quiet and I don’t feel any guilt that I am taking away from the kids/family.
Making a start
I ran four times last week and signed up for Weight Watchers again today. I like the structure of the new points system so much more. I am not telling anyone I did this.
Meeting my buddy for a run at 6 am. Gonna talk about 1/2 marathons, and then after I am going to buy some WW friendly foods.
Baby steps, right?
Today's run →
For me, it kind of is all about the numbers :-)
