45 Goals for 45 years

I did this a couple of years and made a list of things that I wanted to do over the year. I do this on my birthday and make as many goals as I am years old. The last time I did this I didn't achieve all of my goals, but I do feel like I did many things that I would not have done otherwise. So I think it's time to do it again! Some of these may have been on my last list, and may be on my next one too, but it gives me some things to work toward!

1. Volunteer for something, anything.

2. Olympic distance Tri

3. Get rid of some of this weight, I would be happy to see 175 (still heavy but a feel good weight for me.)

4. Read at least 4 "self help" books, about any subject. Money, fitness, weight loss.....

5. Go to a spinning class.

6. Spend more time with friends, keep in better contact.

7. Go on a date. :)

8. Work on becoming a positive person again. Try to get rid of the negative.

9. Hiking-do it this summer!

10. Get a new bike.

11. Do bike across Nebraska if Jen does.

12. Denver 1/2 marathon

13. Do some kind of "race" every month of the year.

14. Drag the boys out and do something more often

15. Have Mom and Dad over for dinner more.

16. Cook more this year, try some new recipes.

17. Increase my mileage in all sports, running, biking and swiming.

18. Scrapbook 5 times this year
19. Seriously think and look for new job as economy gets better.

20. Pay down my credit cards-alot! All though I don't have much debt, it's more then I'm comfortable with.

21. D0 not use credit cards unless it's an emergency! That new bike is not an emergency. :(

22. Do something with this hair! Certainly a cut and maybe a color.

23. Get out! Stop sitting at home so much.

24. Cut out "fake" sugar

25. Be better about cards this year! Send some b-day cards to friends and *gasp* maybe some Christmas cards!

26. Become more organized as far as my paperwork goes.

27. Clean out closet.

28. Paint the kitchen.

29. Tear out that darn deck out front that I have hated for 18 years!

30. Try a new exercise class.

31. Go camping this year at least once.

32. Take the boys somewhere in Colorado that we haven't been.

33. Clean out china hutch.
34. Paint the boys rooms.

35. Take a cooking class.

36. Plan a girls night out.

37. Run faster (35 minute 5k? What can I say...I'm really slow now. :) )

38. Do a Stroke and Stride this summe
39. Do an organized Bike ride (beside or including BRAN)

40. Swimming...get in that pool!

41. Get new glasses!

42. Be a nicer person....I know you can do it Julie!

43. Go to a museum.

44. Take more pictures this year

45.....Be happy

Happy birthday to me. :)

Truer words are rarely spoken!

Feeling good!

I'm starting to feel much much better about things. Not working out as hard as preseason/season training, but have certainly been getting in some decent workouts. It helps that my oldest son keeps dragging me to the rec center since he has become interested in working out. Yea!!! My running while still very slow and not to many miles feels strong and even some what easy.

I finally got to watch Spirit of the Marathon too! I've been wanting to see it since it came out and I finally happened upon it on line. It was so inspirational! It almost made me want to try for a full marathon...almost. :) It did make me want to do another 1/2. I really do think I will plan for the Denver 1/2 Marathon next year. It will be a Rock and Roll series this year too which makes the idea even more appealing

I've become addicted to the food blogs as well as the tri blogs...scary really, but it has made me realize that I really need to get back to making good food to eat. I was in so much of a rut in what I ate that I felt deprived and was eating all kinds of junk, then of course came the weight gain. I've manage to lose about 6 pounds over the last few weeks, while that's not a lot it is certainly a step in the right direction. And the good news is I don't feel like I'm on a diet. Because of that I had some fantastic food this weekend. Nothing special, nothing even that hard to make, but different things then I've been eating and sooooo goood. I had some stuffed acorn squash, some fantastic oatmeal (this mornings was like eating dessert and healthy too!) Green chili, a yummy tortilla pizza and a gorgeous salad with pear, feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette....Oh man it was good...must go and find some more things to make!

Running and Recipe

Although my running mileage the last few months has been pathetic, this morning I had a run that reminded me just why I used to enjoy running. The weather was perfect, perfect I say! About 50 degrees the sun was shinning and it was a beautiful fall day. I felt good and hope that there will be plenty more perfect Colorado days to run in the near future! Hoping to go for a ride tomorrow as it's suppose to be nice then too.

And now for the recipe...I said that I loved cranberries and the other day I decided to combine them with butternut squash and apple...can you say killer!!!! I'm drooling just thinking about it!



1 large butternut squash
4 granny smith apples (pealed/cored chopped) I only used 1 1/2 and I had on hand a Honeycrisp (which I love by the way)
1/2 c. sugar (I used splenda)
2 c cranberries
1/2 c. butter ( didn't use that much)

Cut squash in 1/2 and cook at 350 deg. for about an hour. (mine ended up a little over cooked, or at least I think i would have liked it a little firmer) Cut in chunks.

Combine apple and 1/4c. sugar over medium heat, cook until juices evaporate. About 12 minutes.

Combine cranberries and 1/4 c sugar cook until juices evaporate about 4 minutes. (I just combined the apples and cranberries and cooked them)

Combine in 12 x 9 pan and pour butter over it. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Yummy!!!!

One week off

No it wasn't intentional. I just didn't get anything done. Between 1 1/2 feet of snow this week and just being plain lazy the only day I worked out was today. It was a good day though. My oldest son went with me to the rec center and we both did about 30 minutes on the spin bike followed up by an easy 2 mile run and some strength training. I can already feel the upper body strength training. I'm so weak. I haven't swam in like 2 weeks and really need to get my self to the pool on a regular basis.

Things have been uneventful. Doesn't look like Julie is getting what she wanted but she sure appreciates all good wishes that I would. Sometimes you just have to figure that if it was meant to be it will.

I'm sure I've said it before but....November is going to be a better month workout and food wise!

Cranberries are back!!!

I can not tell you how much I love cranberries! They have become a real favorite in the last few years and I get so excited the first time I see them in the stores for the year. I stock up knowing that they will soon be gone for another season. It is beyond me why they don't sell them frozen! They freeze fantastically. This morning I am having my first bowl of oatmeal with cranberries, yogurt and walnuts in it...oh my god...it's heaven....

Woke up to a call at 5:30 saying that schools were closed due to snow....I look out side...hmmm there isn't any out there to speak of....lets see if the weathermen get it right and we end up with a bunch, right now I'm not sure it's even snowing....it's going to be a long ass winter at this rate.

Oh and did anyone watch Biggest Loser last night? I am in awe of Abby. She is an amazing and inspirational woman. I loved her speech at the end. You can choose to change. You can choose differently.

2010? What will it be

So I've been looking at my totals for the year and comparing them to last year...they are just not looking so good. I'm not surprised though. Last year (2008) was just a really good year for me. I trained really hard for my first tri, because well I had no idea that I could actually do it. This year I knew I could I do it and thus just really didn't try that hard. Plus I just didn't do the riding with friends this year that I did last year. My swim totals are more which is great, that would be because of the swimming I did with the team. So the question I'm facing here is what to do for the next year. In the back of my mind is still the Bike Across Nebraska. I think that could be a fantastic experience. I know I will do some sprint tri's and I still would like to accomplish an oly. I'm fairly certain that is the longest distance I will do....and then there is the 1/2 marathon...part of me would like to give that another try. 2007 I started running and did my first race, 2008 my first tri and 2009 my first 1/2 marathon....2010?
Run
2009 309.5 Mi
2008 500.1 Mi
2007 83.1 Mi
Bike
2009 470.9 Mi
2008 770.5 Mi
Swim
2009 30.3 Mi
2008 20.9 Mi