Why watching le Tour de France is bad for my checking account

Just bought my husband a ridiculously expensive bike. Because he's decided to ride a century race. That has a trail run component.

Great.

Now we are one of those couples. You know, those outdoorsy couples who like do stuff together.

Since when are Princesses outdoorsy? (y'all should have seen me in the bike shop--wildly hilarious)

Let's hope the bike is an actual investment and the novelty doesn't wear off after the race.

He's out riding right now.

Like a damn little kid on Christmas morning.

Currently, I'm trying not to eat myself out of house and home--after all, I did finish a 15k race today. Let's not talk about all the food I've managed to plow through today. Why am I always so damn hungry after a silly little race? Hmmm...

Happy weekend y'all!

PS. I should note that my darling husband is a cyclist--this is not some on the whim thing, we have been discussing it for a long time, but, the Princess usually puts the kibosh on these things. Until today. Just so we're clear.

Closure

Literally and figuratively.

We closed the sale on my mom's house yesterday.

For weeks (months, years) I've been babbling something along the lines of this crap: "No, sell it, let's just sell it and be done with it. We can close that door and move on. I'm not waiting another 2-3 years before the market picks back up". Because, clearly, I am delusional.

It all became very, very real last night when I had to sign and fax the very last piece of paper for the closing and the house was no longer mine.

I may have wilted into a crying mess in my kitchen dramatically clutching a bag of tortilla chips (and there were only crumbs left--a serious crime at casa de SP--don't worry, I'm going to Central Market to pick up more in about 30 minutes--no joke).

And I swear, if one more person tells me "If you could talk to your mom, she'd say that it's OK, that you can sell the house and move on"--or something along those lines, I swear on my chocolate and peanut butter stash (yes, I have one) I will wallop on them. I don't care. I don't freaking care what my mother might say--it's not worth it. I just want her back (this isn't rocket science).

Anyways, between that and my bum leg, I've been a real peach the last 24 hours. Plus, I've gained some weight back (why am I so freaking involved with the scale, I mean really?).

I'm not very motivated today. I have a to-do list a mile long and haven't done a damn thing.

This is where working from home would rock (if only I could quit my job and write full time....)

Sorry to be such a debbie downer.

I fully intend to rectify this depressing post with some outlandish facts you probably never wanted to know about SP--if nothing else, you'll laugh. Which is always good.

In the meantime, I'll be not working and counting down the hours (err, minutes?) until Burn Notice comes on (Adventures in Newlywed, I know you're with me on this one!). And am fully intending to have waffles for breakfast tomorrow to fuel me for my race. Ahh, waffles. Brilliance.

Thanks for listening--y'all are fab.

Run = Fail

Ef.

Ef.

Ef.

Ef. Ef. Ef. (etc, etc, etc)

So, doing a hill workout on Monday morning because you feel like a badass? Yeah. Repeat with me kids: bad idea. Apparently, hill and speed workouts are what aggravate my IT band. Umm, wtf.

Even with my beloved foam roller, popping Advil like candy, yoga and countless time stretching, my IT band is still so flippin' sore I can hardly walk.

I had scheduled 8 miles for today and forced myself to complete 5.5 at lunch (too tired to run this AM--bad, SP!). And then hobbled out of the gym like a little old lady. Master plan? Get in 3 miles after work.

Ha. Funny story. Not.Going.To.Happen.

And I'm pissed as heck because I have a race this weekend. And it's kind of a big deal.

So frustrating!

I know I need to listen to my body and take care of it so that I don't massively fail come race day, but, I am seriously depressed about this. I've been trying to hard to run safe and this just throws me for a loop.

I felt great all last week even with long mileage in there.

Let's hope I'll feel better tomorrow and can get in my 8 miles then.

This sucks.

Until tomorrow, I will be drowning my sorrows of not running off calories by drinking endless amounts of Diet Coke.

What? It's my happiness.

I wish The Office was on.

SP's Celebrity Day in Austin

During my lovely time off, we took a quickie trip to Austin (literally, it was almost a drive by, we had a sick puppy at home to get back to).

Said trip began with a 4 mile run plus 50 minutes of yoga. The sick puppy wanted to yoga with me--very cute.

We took off and headed south!

We dubbed this Celebrity Day (you'll see why in a second). Fabulous.

Rolling into town around lunchtime, we took a nudge from Rachael Ray's latest newest magazine, we decided to plop our hungry little selves at Sandra Bullock's Bess Bistro on Pecan.

Holy yum. Sandra, you sure do know your stuff! It was a sweet, lovely restaurant with a delicious menu. The husband got the Bess Burger (I had a bite and ohmygosh best burger I've had in ages) and I got the Hippie Salad and devoured the whole damn thing.

Austin folk, get thee to Bess Bistro now! You won't be disappointed.

It's a perfectly cozy and beautiful place to dine and restaurants such as Bess Bistro really make me miss California!

After stuffing ourselves silly, it was onward for our celebrity day.

Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop, owned by none other than Lance Armstrong. I haven't really yapped much about my undying and unwavering love for Lance Armstrong on the blog, but, let it be known that I puffy heart Lance. Even with a bastard child and you know, not marrying Sheryl Crow. I still heart him. I admire him on so many levels and would die, flat out die if I ever met him (random fact: husband and I may ride the LiveStrong Challenge in Austin this year).

My yellow shoes to go with the yellow jersey that I know Lance will be wearing. I dressed for the day.

We were there the day before the Tour started, and let me just tell you, aside from being a kid in a candy store with all kinds of electrolyte gels and chews, I was seriously starstruck.

I've been around my share of celebrities, one of the perks of growing up in an area where many a Hollywood A-listers like to have weekend homes (ex: post Brad Pitt break up, Jennifer Aniston looked at buying my dad's neighbors house; Minnie Driver came to a HS fundraiser; Diane Lane cut in front of me in a sandwich shop), but holy moly, being in Lance's shop and seeing his jerseys (and bike!) I was a lil weak in the knees. Starstruck.

It's crap like this that really makes me re-think my decision to live in Dallas. Too bad my house and you know, job are here.

I heart Austin.

Musings & Monday

Good morning, y'all! Let's get this show on the road, shall we?

1. Had an amazing run on Saturday. Dare I say, the best run ever? I dare. 'Twas fabulous.

2. Really did enjoy my first run with the marathon group, although, it's probably safe to say that I'll have to move up a pace group or two. When you're happily gabbing away and ready to out pace the pace leader after 10 miles, that says somethin'. I'm hoping the girl I was running with will move up with me--we had so much fun together.

3. I did manage to eat it and face plant at one point because being the genius that I am, the we could only run 2 by 2 on the running path and at this point I was annoyed because I just kept passing people, and that gets tricky on a narrow running path, so I had the brilliant idea to run off the path in the dirt, i.e., you know, prep for an actual trail run. Ha. Funny. I tripped. Lesson: SP is not ready for that. Yet. Maybe next week.

4. When it's too hot to lay out, that tells you something. Gr! I just want a tan! (thank goodness for sunless tanners, that's all I'm sayin')

5. I almost, almost conquered my fear of my bike last night--but, it was too hot. So, I did a pilates ab workout instead.

6. No tighty whitie man on my run this AM! In fact, it was all very tame. I'm rather disappointed. Although, I did get chased (?) by a Pomeranian at one point. Yes, I realize it's a 2lb dog, but, it was snarling and very angry at me for something I did! (apparently I angered it by running near its house)

7. I spent Friday night hanging out with my foam roller. OhmygoshIlovethisthing. Hurts like mad, but, it made my sore IT band feel sooooo much better. Seriously, anyone who works out and gets sore should buy one--they are amazing! Totally worth the money. Hell, the damn thing could have cost $1,000 and be worth it to me!

8. Note to self: don't try an at home manicure at 10PM when you're exhausted but feel that you really need to fix those cuticles. It will not be successful. Trust this.

9. I was supposed to bake a cake for a birthday at church yesterday. I was too sleepy on Saturday to bake (and, we didn't have eggs)--but, I had the great idea that if I could muster up the strength to go to the grocery store and buy eggs and sugar, etc, that I would make a Cookies and Cream cake (doesn't that sound fab?). Imagine my delight when a late night Target run for chlorine (so serious) resulted in a fabulously decorated pre-made Cookies and Cream cake. It's like the bakery department read my mind.... Oh, and, it was totally yummy. Get thee to a SuperTarget now!

10. It's supposed to be 103 today. Yikes.

Well, I better get goin'--it's going to be a long and busy day around here (ugh!).

xoxo,

SP

7-11 (er, 12?)

Tomorrow (7-11), is my SIL's birthday. She's in Hawaii. I am not. And, also, for the record, I'm not jealous or anything. Like at all. (the fact that she had to take the bus to the airport actually makes up for any jealous I may or may not have--not that I am or was jealous, obvs).

What will I be doing to celebrate her big 22? (besides harassing phone calls reminding her to bring back goodies--macadamia nut chocolate not excluded)

Running a 12 miler. Because sometimes, occasionally, I'm a badass (don't get me wrong, it's not often). Which also means getting up at yet another un Godly hour to be done with 6 miles before running with my marathon group at 7. Yikes.

So, clearly, tomorrow is my first run with them, but, based on the training plan I have, it seems like "Running for Beginners" or something--I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm a "beginning marathoner" but, it just seems really low. I don't want to burn out or get hurt, so, I'm trying to taper back and bit and follow a little more closely to this plan, but, I mean, come on--I can totally run more than this--and I want to! Any runners have any advice for me? I don't want to overwork, but, I know I can safely do more.

Happy Friday everyone!

Realizations & A Recipe

(accountability = today's workout = ran 6.42 miles in hilly neighborhood plus 12 minutes lower body strength)

Ohmygosh, lovelies! I had no idea there would be such a response for enchiladas--no wonder I adore you all--you love Mexican food as much as I do. That's what friendships are made of, I tell ya!

(stick with me, and you'll get my half a**ed attempt at a recipe--I don't measure things, so, um, this will be interesting--but, with enchiladas, it's really up to your taste, I think)

Last night was my first meeting for my marathon training group. Holy overwhelming number of people, Batman! Like 500. I was totally overwhelmed. I don't do crowds. This should be interesting. We got our training plans, and I was really surprised to see that the number of miles they have us running is really low. I tried to follow it this AM, but, I was already out and running so, I just kept going. So sue me, training program! Also, this AM I discovered my next door neighbors steals (borrows?) everyone's newspapers. Maybe he doesn't like us because we don't get the newspaper? Interesting....

Also, whilst standing in a room full of runners, I was really struck with the notion that I'm a runner. For the first time since college (I was an NCAA athlete for a year) I felt like an athlete again, and it's an awesome feeling. I was practically skipping to my car to go call my dad and brag (but he didn't answer--these are the times I really miss my mom!).

It also reminded me that not so long ago, I was really considering becoming a nutritionist and yoga instructor. Of course, life (or paying the bills) got in the way, and I stuck to the major I had already invested a year of my life into and love my job all the same, but, it really hit me last night that I think I would love that more.... So, there may be a bit of SP revisiting those youthful ideas and getting certified--who knows!

And the husband convinced me to run the Catalina Marathon for OperationJack. We sat huddled around the computer last night trying to find "the perfect marathon" for this (after all, there are 60 to choose from!)--since I am picky about these types of things and we clicked on the Catalina Marathon link and the decision was made. From what I understand, the course is semi/mostly trail, and of course, Catalina is a very hilly island (I love Catalina!), so, this will be tres interesting. However, to quote my husband "That would be the ultimate end to a year of running and training", citing that I will have completed a two half marathons, a marathon, and a 15 mile trail run at that point that Catalina would be the perfect finale to 12 months of running and racing. And he's right. Plus, our families could come!

Annnd this means that I will sped the Christmas holiday running the back country at my in laws house getting prepped. Holy yikes. But I couldn't be more excited. If you even have a thought to complete a half, a 5k or a full next year, seriously consider running in one of the OperationJack races.

OK, you still with me? You really wanted that recipe didn't you? It's not exact, but, I'm sure we'll manage.

Green Chile Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

You'll need:

1 white onion
1 package of chicken breasts (I ended up using 2 thin sliced chicken breast and 3 chicken breast tenders because that's all we had)
1 package of spinach (not frozen)
2 cans of Ortega brand (well, any brand) green enchilada sauce
1 can of Ortega chopped (diced?) green chiles
1 container of light sour cream
1 bag of reduced fat shredded Mexican (or cheddar--I prefer the white blends to cheddar for this, but, it's your call) cheese
1-2 packages of Mission yellow corn supersize tortillas (there are ten to a package--when we made these, we ended up with 8 enchiladas, so, it's your call!)
1 can of black beans (optional)

To make:
Heat over to 400. Prepare a 13x9 or two 8x8 (what I use) pans by spraying with non stick cooking spray

-Take about 1/2-3/4 of the bag of spinach, wash and then coarsely chop or tear the spinach. Throw into a large skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly wilted but not mushy.
-Remove spinach to a plate to cool
-Dice half of your onion and throw it into the skillet and cook for about 5-10 minutes until translucent but not too soft.
-Add the chicken and about 2-3 tbs of water, 2 tbs of sour cream, 1 tbsp of the green chiles, about 1/8 cup of the enchilada sauce and simmer, simmer, simmer. (you can also toss in some cumin, chilli powder, garlic salt, cayenne--whatever your preference--I also usually add a splash of lime to the chicken as well)
-As the chicken simmer, use a fork and knife to shred the chicken as it cooks (about 10-15 minutes)
-Once the chicken is cooked, turn up the heat to absorb most of the liquid.
-Add about 3-4 tbs sour cream, another 1/8 cup of the sauce, 2 tbs of the green chiles and simmer again, until most of the sauces are absorbed.
-In a separate bowl, combine the remaining green chile sauce, about 1/4 cup of the sour cream, the remaining green chiles and any of the seasonings you want
-Add spinach to chicken and sauce mixture, blend well
-Heat tortillas in microwave for about 1 minute so they are soft and pliable
-Spoon mixture into center of tortilla, roll up and place seam side down in pan (you can also add a little bit of the black beans to each enchilada at this point by spooning it over top the chicken mixture)
-Continue this process until the chicken is used and or the pans are full
-Pour sauce that was placed in the separate bowl evenly over the enchiladas
-Sprinkle (or cover, if you're me) the cheese over the top
-Pop in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the enchiladas are hot. I usually broil them for a few minutes at the end to get a nice crusty cheese goin'
-Allow to cool for a few minutes out of the oven
-Enjoy!

No, go back some yummy food and consider running (even a 5 k!) for OperationJack (warning: I'm probably not going to shut up about this anytime soon).

If you really don't want to cook, I have leftovers at mi casa. Just sayin'.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blogging

Because I'm nearly jumping out of my very pasty pale skin over here!!! (yes, I realize that these things are only exciting to me, but, clearly, I don't care)

4 Things that have my jumping for joy this AM (even though I have a very scary conference call in like an hour and a half. Bleh!):

1. My marathon/running sensei is moving to my town next month! YAY!! So excited. I fully intend to stalk him and run with him. Although, it will probably be him jogging leisurely and SP huffing and puffing to keep up. LOVELY. Plus, his house is by a trail--and thus begins my foray into trail running. Gulp.

2. I get to meet my marathon training group tonight! Yipee! I'm so excited to get "officially" started with this group--although the marathon I'm running is 4 weeks before the one they train for, it's a good thing I've been running high mileage lately so that I can skip ahead on the schedule. Yay for other crazy runners!

3. ChicRunner blogged about OperationJack-- a father's pledge to run 60 marathons in 2010 with Train4Autism to raise funds and awareness about Autism in honor of his 6 year old Autistic son. Now, this is very special to me because I taught Sunday school to an Autistic boy for 4 years and although is was the most challenging and difficult thing in my life (um, mind you I was going to school, working 2 jobs and maintaining a home at this time), it was also the greatest. I love him dearly and am still very close with his family. I'm really excited to join a team for OperationJack and run a marathon in 2010 for Autism! Only problem? Choosing which marathon to run!

4. I made sour cream and green chile chicken and spinach enchiladas last night. Holy yum. And, also, tee hee--I've lost a few pounds since last week. Chicken enchiladas and all.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I cannot bask in the glory of the my own awesomeness (but you can), I need to go prep for the conference call (bleh!--wish me luck--today's going to be rough).

Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Oklahoma! *

(* name that movie)

For the first day of my lovely vacation, we ventured to Oklahoma for the day--complete with puppies at daycare (Ella Mae wasn't really sure what to think at first)--which meant, sleep, glorious sleep that night. Alright, enough about that.

Anyways, we drove up to beautiful Beaver's Bend, Oklahoma and explored the beautiful lake and mountains.

I heart Oklahoma, I really do. It's one of my favorite places. Which is probably why I'm running a marathon there.

We had so much fun.

Look! We saw Bambi (well, not really, but, you get the idea)

And gorgeous trees--this was by the swimming beach area of the lake--I was really tempted to just park myself there and tan--but, see those clouds? Yeah, they aren't white and puffy.
But those are... It's very misleading!
Self portrait pros. Although my hair is being all sorts of wonky thanks to the wind.
On the flip side of the dam. Isn't is so pretty?!
Walking down to the lake.
And this is where I realized I need to get myself to my hairstylist and quick--eek!
Look at how big the lake is! I mean seriously! I never could get my bearings it was so big. I looooved all the islands and the mountains, so pretty!
Aren't we cute? I almost wore a white tee shirt that day. It's really good that I changed my mind at the last minute....
Please ignore the power lines in my photo. I never claimed to rock PhotoShop (also, these are un-edited--I know!)
After a lovely afternoon in Oklahoma, we headed home--complete with a stop at a Gap outlet where SP may or may not have dropped $96 in about 10 minutes. It's possible.

The husband has been up to that part of OK many times to go fishing, but it was a first for me. I'm really excited to go back--we're tentatively planning a camping trip with some friends. Or, you know, they have cabins. I'm excited for trail running up there (ambitious much?)! How gorgeous!

So, there you have it. Day 1 of SP's vacation. Marvelous.

Musings & Monday

Is it Monday already? I've missed you all! I feel like I've been gone for ages--which made it that much harder to get into the office this AM. Boo. But, ce le vie--I've got a busy day, which, I actually enjoy because it goes by quicker--obvs. Hope everyone had a fabulous 4th!

1. Went running around my neighborhood this AM instead of the gym because I can't mentally handle the thought of long distances on the treadmill. Frightening things I saw this AM that reminded me that "well, the treadmill isn't so bad": a) two possibly transient teens/young adults um, "doing it" at the playground along the trail, b) and older gentleman who found it necessary to stand in his doorway in his tighty whities just watching traffic, runners and cyclists go by his house. Yikes. Interesting morning to saw the least!

2. Racing when it's already 85 degrees and increases to damn near 100 by the time you're finished? Not a good idea. Holy moly, that 4th of July race nearly killed me. Officially not looking forward to my race in 2 weeks. Ick.

3. It was a time trial, and, not my best work (gr!). But, it was fun to be nerdy and joke about how cool it was that I was time trialing and so were the cyclists in the Tour. That makes me awesome by association.

4. I actually slept in for two days last week--it was glorious. But, weird thing, could I have slept too much (and by "sleeping in", I mean um 7:30 AM)? Because I was freaking exhausted those two days!

5. We were rebels and went and saw a movie on a weeknight--mwahah! We saw the new Transformers movie. Now listed kids, I'm not going to sit here and say it was the best movie ever, but, I'm also not going to bash it because it wasn't a "deep movie". For me, I go to the movies to be entertained and to enjoy myself--it did it's job! It was entertaining and actually had a rather good script. Not going to complain. Plus, if Megan Fox isn't motivation to hit the gym, I don't know what is!

6. We purchased pool floaties so that I could be really irresponsible and halfway submerge myself in the pool whilst trying to get tan--hilarity has ensued as Ella Mae is waging a full on war against the floaties. I'm a little worried she's going to try to jump on one of them!

7. I have a mosquito bite on the middle of my middle finger. How?! It freaking hurts.

8. We need more 3 day weekends. Just a thought.

Hope you all have a lovely Monday!

xoxo,
SP

Happy 4th y'all!

Just taking a quick moment to thank all our servicemen and women for everything that they do for us.

We are so lucky to live in such a wonderful nation and we are indebted to those that have, that do and that will serve.

I extend my heartfelt thanks, love and support to all our men and women in uniform, their families and their friends for their sacrifice(s) for us.

Enjoy your 4th of July! And thank our military.

THANK YOU!!

I heart sleep

I've been a very bad runner.

I didn't follow my training plan yesterday, or today for that matter.

Oh well, I'm on vacation, right?

I'm trying to not let the guilt set in. I'm just so tired and sleeping in has been magical....And then it's too hot to run once the sun is up (gr! I love me the summer, but, dang--it's so hot already).

Hopefully I can get a short run in tomorrow to loosen me up before my race. I think I'm still a little sore from my body sculpt class on Tuesday--good, but not so good for the runner in me.

This is the laziest I've been in months (years?)--and it's fabulous.

I highly recommend vacations.