From Wyoming, with love

10 Week Half Marathon Training Plan + Free Pace Calculator!

April 19, 2015 6 Comments

I’ve mentioned that we are training for a half marathon coming up in June, and our official 10 week training started 2 weeks ago now. Where does the time go?? I’ve also promised to share said training plan and my training pace calculator, so here it is!

If you’re looking for a training plan and want to know if this one could be right for you, here is why I love it:

a. It works well for someone that has at least some experience with running. First and foremost, if you are brand new to running, this plan is probably not for you. It’s not a couch to half marathon program, and it does not allow for many easy “just go out and jog a couple miles” days. However, if you have some experience running and are looking to complete your first half, or you are a seasoned runner trying to improve your time, this plan may be perfect.

b. You only have to run 3 times per week. I don’t know about you, but I just can’t fathom running 5 to 7 days a week like I used to in high school and college. It’s either that I work too many hours, that I’m slightly lazy and enjoy my free time/sleep too much, or all of the above. Being an adult is hard work.

Eats & Drinks

Thai Curry Chicken Stuffed Peppers

April 10, 2015 8 Comments

First, let me start by saying that I don’t consider myself to be an awesome cook. I mean, I have a few go-to meals that I think are delicious and require a little bit of throwing together. But if you asked me who’s the better cook between Jesse and I, I would vote for him 8 days a week. He has the patience of a saint, which I do not. He’s also watched a lot (all) of Good Eats and America’s Test Kitchen, so he knows a lot about food technique. I’m more of a Top Chef kinda gal. I watch for the entertainment and to drool over the dishes, not to actually learn how to cook.

That being said, I am SO thankful to have a husband who is creative and awesome at cooking, and I have been able to (reluctantly) step out of my comfort zone to try to come up with new ideas, and improve on dishes that we’ve done in the past. That isn’t to say that we are always successful when we try to spice something up, we’ve had our flops. Which is why sometimes, I tell Jesse “if it’s already good, don’t f*#% with it!”. So I was a taaad bit skeptical when we found a recipe for buffalo ranch stuffed peppers and decided to make it something completely different than what it was supposed to be, because we were missing about 80% of the ingredients that it called for. Whoops. I do have to give credit to Kelly at Primally Inspired for the original recipe inspiration though because…

OH. MY. GOD. Did this turn out awesome!!

Running/Fitness

March Running Recap & April Goals

April 7, 2015 7 Comments

Hey! We are officially back in action, after a minor hiatus from running. We had a couple of distractions which quickly led to a 2 week break from our running schedule. It’s amazing how fast training can get away from you. You think you’re just taking a couple of days off, or something interrupts your groove, and WHAM! Next thing you know, it’s several weeks later and you’ve been sitting around like a bum. I once tried P90X. Made it just past 30 days, was feeling pretty good, and then went on a week long trip to Cancun with my sister. And that was that. The extent of my days with Tony.

Anyway, this time we had a bit of an excuse, with Jesse’s foot being out of commission for a week – we weren’t sure at first if he had a sprain, or worse. (Ok Jesse had an excuse… I took a sympathy break). The good news is,

Personal

Some Unfortunate Events (and a Birthday)

March 31, 2015 2 Comments

Warning: this post contains some slightly gruesome content. But I have a positive message, I promise!

Well, I turned 29 yesterday. Yep, it’s one more year for me in my 20s. I’m not mad. I’m honestly happier than I’ve ever been, and feeling like it will be another awesome year. I’m actually pretty excited to have a little bit more free time this year – summer especially – to work on home projects and have some free weekends. Last summer was extremely busy, due to races, wedding preparations/celebrations, work, and of course getting married. Our weekends are pretty open for the next couple of months, and I am way OK with that.

Monday birthdays are never great, and I wasn’t expecting to make a huge deal out of my day. Unfortunately, we got some bad news

DIY

DIY Personalized Spring Tulip Wreath

March 22, 2015 6 Comments

It’s officially Spring! With the warm weather we’ve been having over the past couple of weeks, it feels like Spring came early. Especially because we typically get some freak snow storms in March or April, and sometimes even into May. I hate to say that and jinx my luck, because I’m almost sure we’re not in the clear yet. Even so, we’ve already had some beautiful days that just begged for porch sitting, sun soaking, and beer drinking – so I’m taking advantage whenever I can, even if only for a half hour after work. And look! We have tulips coming up.

This type of weather also seems to inspire things like spring cleaning. I have lots of to-dos that could fall into the spring cleaning category, but with temperatures in the 70s over the weekend, who wants to be inside cleaning?! So I found the discipline to spend about 20 minutes last week dusting the wooden blinds in our living room, and then decided to reward myself this weekend with something fun like a new wreath to brighten up the front door! Baby steps, ok?