Okay, first I have to tell you about the funny not-so-great-score. Everybody’s been posting goals all over the blogosphere and so I thought maybe I should make at least one goal for the next year. I’ve been pretty impressed with my running around these hills–my ability to keep running without my legs getting too tired or getting too out of breath. But I was still very slow. ‘Its just ’cause of the hills’ I thought. ‘I bet I would be really fast on level ground.’ Which led me to muse about setting a goal to run one mile in 10 minutes.
So today after church, I decided to check it out. I found the local high school track, and THERE WAS NO ONE THERE! (Remember, I am the shy exerciser.) I had my pedometer in my pocket. That track looked SO BIG. ‘I bet once around is a mile.’ Sadly it was about a quarter mile. I will make this sad story very short. It still took me 17 minutes to run/walk one mile. I don’t think its realistic for me to set a goal of a 10 minute mile. Feel free to opinionate here.
Some people did show up while I was trudging running around the track. Maybe that’s what slowed me down. Or their cute dog running around. Or the fact that I didn’t have my exercise bra on. Yeah. That’s why I was so slow. They asked me, ‘ma’am, do you think we’d get in trouble if we set off a rocket here?’ I was kinda surprised, but I said, ‘this is the first time I’ve ever been here, but I am a big fan of the movie October Sky. Of course those kids got in trouble in the movie, but at the end they were the heros.’ I really said all that. They probably didn’t even know what the heck I was talking about. I did leave after a mile, because it did make me a little nervous that I might get bonked in the head by a rocket. I think that happened in the movie too. I did hear the rocket go off as I was walking back to the car, and I heard the little kid yelling, ‘THAT WAS AWESOME!’ I clapped for them. Fun.
On my way home, I noticed the local thrift store was open and I decided to stop in. THAT’S where I scored bigtime! I love the old revereware pans like we had growing up, but they are really hard to find. I had one little one that I found quite a few years ago, and have never found one since then. They had a big one there for $3.50! And, I got a dog bowl for Noah for 50 cents, a nice half-size casserole for $1.50, and A HOT AIR POPCORN POPPER for $1.50! I’ve really been wanting to try one of these since I gave up my microwave popcorn. Oh, and I got a nice pair of Liz Claiborne jeans on ‘half-price sale’ for $2.25. You gotta love the thrift store.
I remembered to get some PVC pipe to run my electrical cords through to keep you-know-who from gnawing on them. It would be terrible if I couldn’t get to my computer for a day because the cords had a hole in them…
ZUCCHINI FETTUCCINE – This stuff was GREAT yesterday. Fun to make and VERY QUICK, and definitely makes pasta sauce something you can enjoy more frequently.
YOGURT UPDATE – When I was visiting with Noah’s ‘mom’ she brought her yogurt in in something called a Yogotherm. Basically all it is is a styrofoam container to ‘incubate’ the yogurt and keep it at an even temperature. Which just made me think that one of those cheap styrofoam coolers might be a good thing to have around to incubate your yogurt in. They even had one at the thrift store for a dollar. For now I am doing just fine with my microwave method. But this might work well for some of you. My fresh milk (or raw milk) yogurt is quite decadent. I am probably going to have to be careful how much I eat of this. Here is a decadent, but low-cal way to use the ‘strained’ or Greek yogurt.
Mix greek yogurt with sweetener of choice. Put unsweetened cocoa powder in another dish. (Vicky recommends using a really good grade of cocoa, like Valrhona. Dip strawberries in the yogurt, then the cocoa powder, and voila!
Chocolate covered strawberries!
THE NOAH REPORT – Two nights of letting me sleep through the night–A plus plus! Only one accident in the house, which was completely my fault. But this boy is a gnawing MACHINE. You will probably hear a few posts over the next few months about ‘what Noah ate.’
debby weighs in 
ok
Im gonna tackle 🙂 the realistic goal or not part as it stuck in my mind.
FOR ME what I would do is simply keep at it.
FOR ME I would do the walkrun mile every time with the backdrop of WOULDNT IT ROCK IF I COULD GET TO A TEN MINUTE MILE? BY DOING WHAT I AM DOING IN THIS MOMENT I AM WORKING MY WAY TOWARD THAT!!!
realistic? yes. need to keep at it and chip away at the time until you are there? yes.
you can do this.
as with all things in life it will just take time and patience.
Wow, Miz! Thanks so much. That is what the secret inside me would want to do. But the old worn-down outside me said to just give it up. I’m gonna go for it!
not sure if you mean it to be, but your sidebar is now all the way at the bottom of my screen. I know because I was looking to see if you have a recipe for your white sauce – ? or are you using premade – and if so – what kind? there is a premade Ragu that is LIGHT that I use for the kids – but wondered if you had a homemade solution.
Watch It’s Me or The Dog – good chewing solutions. I used to keep pups on a leash (and in crate when they just couldn’t be with me, like to run to the store or to sleep, but I realise not everyone likes to crate). so they were with me 100% of the time and I could monitor/train them – but I realize you have to go to work. . .
Yes, I know the sidebar is down there. It drives me nuts. I need to choose another theme, or only allow one post at a time to show up on the main screen, and then the sidebar would show up as soon as you finished the current post.
I used ‘fettuccine’ to describe the shape of the noodles. I don’t even like white sauce…but what about melting one laughing cow cheese and a bit of fresh parmesan into the zucchini noodles–that sounds tasty, and REALLY low calories!
I don’at have tv, but I’ll see if they have that show on Netflix. And yes, Noah is either on leash next to me, or in the crate, or outside. I can’t really leave him loose for a minute. He seems to have a penchant for heavy cloth–bathmats, jeans, and hand-hooked rugs…
my pans are all Revere Ware – they still make it.
I know. But I wanted the ‘old ones’ like we had when I was a kid. They are quite collectible on ebay. Aren’t they good pans, though?
I don’t think your goal of a 10 minute mile is unrealistic at all. It’s just a matter of how long it will take you to get there. If you dedicate yourself, you will find your time will drop rapidly at first, then it will slow down.
Doing speed work really makes a difference. So, that means walk/jog intervals and work up to jog/run intervals and then eventually jog/sprint intervals.
I use my hot air popper to roast coffee in…
I FORGOT about the hot air popper to roast coffee in! Woo hoo!!! Double score!
Thanks for the input/encouragement about the 10 minute mile. I realize it isn’t even that big a deal for most of you runners. But I am going to keep at it with Miz’s and your encouragement. It will be a big deal for me!
I had a friend several years ago who was a runner. She ran every other day without fail, and she was tall and very lean. I remember the day she called me because she was so excited that she had run a 10-minute mile. She had been running for quite some time before she got to that speed, so I think that if you keep at it you WILL get there too!
LOVES me some thrift store shopping! 🙂
I fall a little more in love with Noah each time I see his puffy lil face!! He’s so cute I can hardly stand it!!!
I agree with everyone that the goal isn’t unrealistic at all. Just keep at it, little by little in a prudent manner so as not to strain yourself or injure anything. I’ll bet you achieve it before the end of the year…well before.
Debby, I think you and I could be running partners – we are close to the same pace, lol! Part of my problem is that I’m afraid if I run too fast I will get winded and then have to walk, and I want to keep running the entire time. Dumb, I know. Thanks for the tip about the pedometer – last time I used one you had to clip them onto a certain spot on your waistband and hope to hell you remembered to take it off before you went to the bathroom – otherwise *splash* no more pedometer! Had no idea they were so advanced and easy to use now! I really should get out more, lol!
That strawberry/yogurt/cocoa powder combination looks fantastic!
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