Is it ever really black or white?

No. And I need to be more flexible. And less hard on myself.

Baking has taken a back seat to life these days, but last week Matthew and I found a way to fit it into our overly busy schedule. I should mention that our baking project was impromptu. We should have been at the gym. Oh, the irony!

What gym, you say? Well, three weeks ago, Jennifer gave me a 3-month gym pass. Her kids' school was selling them as a fundraiser and she got one for me as part of my birthday present. She joined too and so far together we've gone to a spinning class, a yoga class, and an ab and arm workout out on floor. It's fun to have someone to workout with, but our schedules don't always gel so we just try to get there when we can.

I'm still running 4 days a week using Hal Higdon's spring training plan. I'm on (and have been stuck on) Week 3 because I had a 5K this past Saturday and, you know, I didn't want to get too tired or be too sore for my big 5K race. It has nothing to do with the fact that anything over 3.5 miles intimidates me because 3.5 miles is already far for me to run. Okay maybe it does. But next week will be Week 4 and I'm going to have to run 4 miles and I'll be so glad after I have. It's always fun to reach a new distance goal.

The running was going pretty well there for a while. I amazingly felt so good one day that I completed a 5K in 30:21. I thought I was awesome. I thought I was finally an athlete. Then the next day, I went out for my 1.5 mile run and there was this lady I've never seen before (and hope I never see again) seemingly running for her life. I mean, she was really running fast. I had just started my run and she called Good morning! from the other side of the street. I think I grumbled. Then I ran into her again (almost literally) when she turned the corner I was approaching. She said hello again and I said something cliche like Where's the fire? But only because I wanted to show her I could talk, I think. Yep. Back to my reality of slow and steady.

The 5K two days ago didn't go as I had planned and my time was nowhere near 30:21. (Maybe that time was a fluke or maybe it just so happened that my training, rest, and nutrition were perfectly aligned. Wish I could remember what I did before that run.) Anyway, the official results are still not available online, but my time is going to be a little over 34 minutes, I think. Still better than my 37 minute first 5K, but not the 31 minute 5K I was trying to get. My excuse? Oh, I have plenty. Let's start with the heat. It was hot at 8:10 am on May 29th in Arizona. Of course it was! That's why I usually run at 6 am. Second, there were no water stations at the start. I arrived at 7:00 (after I pinched my finger in a city park barricade because I was blocked in--and my finger would not stop bleeding for anything) and the race didn't start for another hour. I left my reusable water bottle in my car so I didn't have anything to drink for an hour before I started running. Third, the PTO board margarita night was the evening before. Dates for this get-together had been tossed around for weeks because it's hard to get 5 busy women together to have fun. I couldn't say, Well I have a race in the morning.... So the two margaritas may have added to my dehydration issues. In any case, I finished (even with some walking) the first annual Steven L. Pearson Leukemia Foundation Fight for Life 5K and finally registered as a bone marrow donor so at least I can be proud of that. Here's Carrie and me after our race.

So yes, I'm still running. I'm trying to use the gym as the place to work on my arms and abs but something's always getting in the way like meetings at school, making copies, Matthew having a runny nose. I still haven't learned that I can't make a schedule for myself that isn't flexible. I can't say I'm going to go to the gym on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and expect to have each Tuesday and Thursday morning free to do that. I must learn to go with the flow a little better. I'm working on it.

So back to the baking. Just in case you who enjoy the baking portion of this blog are still with me here. Matthew and I tried these black and white cookies from Cooking Light. At first I thought they were just okay, but they seem to get better with age. Which is really strange for a cookie. And I have no idea why mine are so puffy.

They might have been better if I hadn't decided to use soy milk for the frosting. The recipe calls for 2% so I figured my skim milk wouldn't have worked. The light soy has about as much fat as 2% so I gave it a shot. So the cookies taste a little more earthy than they probably should. But that's okay. I won't be so tempted to eat the cookies. Then I won't feel so bad about not being able to make it to the gym.

Please Share the Road

Two nights ago, I participated in the Ride of Silence. It's a worldwide memorial ride honoring cyclists who've been killed or injured while riding their bikes. It's been a year and half since a mom in my MOMS Club lost her husband while he was training for a 600 mile charity ride. I think about her often and can't imagine how much pain this loss has caused her, her two children, their entire family, and all their friends. Their family isn't the only family that has had to go through something like this, either. There were over 100 people at the Mesa Ride of Silence honoring several different cyclists.

Whether you're a driver or a cyclist, we all need to pay attention and share the road. The law states that you must give a cyclist at least 3 feet, but that's a yardstick. Give them more room. Move over into the next lane if you can. Slow down when you pass them. Don't honk your horn at them. And if you're a cyclist, be sure to follow the rules of the road, signal, and ride defensively.

"Same roads. Same rules. Same rights."

Triple Crown Dreams

I enjoy horse racing. I try not to think about how inhumane the sport of kings can be to race horses. But in my defense, I am a horse racing fan for all of about 3 hours a year. I love to watch the Triple Crown Races, and for the past ten years I've been anxious for a horse to win the Triple Crown. I was two when Affirmed won in 1978, so I obviously wasn't too excited about it then. And from the way the Preakness went today, I'm going to have to wait at least another year.

The Kentucky Derby is my favorite race, and watching it live is on my bucket list. Whitewashed Churchill Downs looks like a paradise with its stately spires, brick and green paddock area, and spring flowers blooming all over. I want to be there. I must be specific, though; I do not want to watch from the infield. For just one day, I want to live like the people at whom I roll my eyes while watching the human- (and horse-) interest stories build before the big race. What must it be like to spend millions of dollars on a horse and watch it race to the finish on one of the country's most iconic tracks? What's it like to wear those hats while drinking mint juleps all afternoon? What's it like to be called Muffy and to call your father Daddy when you're 40? I want to know. (Well, maybe not the last one.)

Someday. Someday I'll get there. In the meantime, do you want to know what I did the day of this year's Kentucky Derby? I took the kids over to downtown Chandler for a little racing. It was the city's annual Cinco de Mayo festival and the three of us enjoyed a little less classy kind of racing.

That's right. We watched the chihuahua races. You'd be surprised how excited people get about these races. And there are some serious chihuahua fans out there. Check out the ink on the older woman sitting next to me.

And that's not just any chihuahua. It's her beloved dog who is "very prissy." So much so, that the woman didn't want to bring her to the event because of all the "ugly dog diseases" she might catch. She even showed me photos of her angel, who I must say looks like every other blonde chihuahua I've ever seen. Whatever. At least she's taking care of her dog and not abusing her.

Yes, this was definitely no Kentucky Derby. Instead of big hats, there were impossibly short shorts and chihuahua in outfits of all kinds. Uh-huh. High class. I long for the day I spend the first Saturday of May in Louisville.

Week 1 of Spring Training

Why yes I do have a calendar, thank you very much.

As I mentioned, I started Hal Higdon's Spring Training running program last week because I needed a plan. And he seems to know what he's talking about so I trust him. So I just finished Week 1, and I kept to my schedule for the most part. I ran a total of 9 miles--1.5 m, 3 m, 1.5 m, 3 m. Running four times a week wasn't as hard as it sounded to me. In fact, the short runs were something I looked forward to. Didn't see that one coming, for sure. Now if I can just commit to doing those ab and arm exercises on my rest days....

UPDATE: After comparing my eating habits today to my eating habits on days when I run, I've come to the conclusion that my diet is much better when I work out. I think it has something to do with my disdain for waste. I don't want to cancel out a running session by eating cookies all afternoon. But since I didn't run this morning, I will. And I did. So I now resolve to wake up every weekday at 6:00. On Mondays and Fridays I will tone my abs and arms and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays I will run. This is very exciting! Why? Because it's well past 6 am on Monday so I don't have to do arm and ab exercises until Friday!

My New Plan

Have you heard of Hal Higdon? He's a Runner's World writer and runner himself. If you go to his website, he has a running (or walking) plan for everyone. Jennifer shared his spring training plan with me, and I'm up for it. And if there is any doubt, I'm doing the novice one.

Today was Day 1 of Week 1. I was looking forward to this run because it's just a mile and a half. I've been doing at least 2 or 2.5 miles each time out, so 1.5 sounded pretty good. I decided to try to push myself during these shorter runs to see if I can improve my pace. I kept my pace just under 10 minute miles this morning, but I was definitely feeling it. Tomorrow's 3 mile run will most certainly be run at a slower pace, but I'm going to try to keep it as close to 11 minute miles as I can.

Right now I'm not training for anything in particular. This is foreign territory for me because the only thing that has gotten me out there is the goal of completing an event. I guess being able to run farther and faster is a goal, but it's so much easier to measure my progress if there's an event to train for. Looking at my new training schedule, I see the very last run is 6 miles. I think I'll add .2 miles to that run and call it my first 10K. Now that's a goal.

Cilantro, anyone?

So my garden is growing. Well, at least the cilantro is. I made enchiladas last week and we garnished them with some of our fresh herbs. Herb. Because the cilantro is the only thing ready for harvest at the moment.

Here's a look at the whole garden:There's some growth in the carrot and onion squares, but they're pretty hard to see. The basil sprouted right away, but it hasn't really done anything else. Maybe it just takes off all of a sudden. Here's hoping. We do have two green strawberries and one teeny, tiny little tomato.

We're on our way to delicious salsa. Come on tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Grow!

What Now?

I don't have another event in the near future so I don't have a training plan to follow. And if there's one thing I've learned in the past two years, it's that I need to have a plan. Right now, I'm a bit lost. I was thinking that I'd run for 30 minutes three times a week, do some ab and arm strength training twice a week, and a bike ride once a week. But I don't know how much I'm supposed to be running. Do I just keep doing it to go faster and farther in 30 minutes? Or will that wear me out and maybe even cause an injury? Do I just run for comfort, meaning if I feel good go for it and if it's a bad day just take it easy? Is it really as simple as just listening to my body? Then how do I improve if I don't push myself? I'm so confused!

Right now I'm on the MWF running schedule. I felt great on Monday so I did a 5K in my best time yet--33:24. But today I didn't feel as good and my pace was a little over 11 minute miles so I ran only 2 miles. Tomorrow I'll do my arm and abs exercises and we'll see what kind of run Friday brings.