Happy Thanksgiving to All

It's 6:45 am and the intrepid runner leaves the house, spouse asleep, a couple of doggies at the door, wanting walks and wondering why they're being left behind. The fog was very thick as I drove to the race location in Frisco. I'm not familiar with the area and visibility was awful. Today, I am thankful for having a GPS in the car, even if her voice is annoying and I call her "bitch" quite frequently.

This was my first time running a Turkey Trot. I missed running one 2 years ago (when I first started to do C25K) because I rolled my ankle while running with the dogs a couple of weeks before. Little did I know it would be 6 months before I'd be able to run again at all.

The course was nice and flat and included a loop around Pizza Hut Park. I had the chance to look around the area beforehand. There are definitely some shops and restaurants that I'll want to come back and visit. The turnout was great, and I'd guess there were quite a few hundred people. Lots of people, lots of dogs, lots of babies in strollers, lots of kids running too.

The link to the results isn't working for me, but my Garmin put me at 36:35 for 3.17 miles. Any finish is a good finish!

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with your loved ones.

Weight Watchers - week 2 update

Let's hear it for tracking your points and eating a lot of fresh fruit and piling the veggies on your plate. Oh, and exercising your butt off and earning 16 activity points in a day. I'm down another 2 pounds, for a total of 6 pounds since I started Weight Watchers at the end of October. I earned my first 5 pound star sticker. I'd hoped to earn a 5k charm or 2 because I did a 10k this weekened, but the substitute leader made no mention of it when I told her I'd done a 10k. Bummer. Hopefully the regular leader will be there next weekend and I can tell her. Totally materialistic of me, but I'd really like a charm. I plan on doing a Santa Run in December, so that's another one. By the time I earn my 10% key ring I'll have a bunch of 5k charms to put on it.

This week's topic was about planning ahead for Thanksgiving. The Aussie and I aren't much into roast turkey, but I love the sides. I was a bit bummed to see that 1/2 a cup of stuffing is 5 points. I could easily use my entire 29 daily points on stuffing and gravy. I'll have to check the Pepperidge Farms bag to see what their calorie count is. I also love green bean casserole, and that can be made with fat free ingredients so it will be less than the 6 points for 1 cup that WW has listed. I bought a 2 pack of cornish game hens last week, so I'll cook those for us with the green beans, the stuffing for me and crispy roast potato for The Aussie. Fresh cranberries cooked down with a little orange or apple juice, and splenda makes a great relish. Pumpkin pie is something I like, so I'll try to make up a small crustless version to keep me happy but on track.

I'm really learning that I will have to plan ahead if I know there's a splurge day so that I don't go too far off course. And a 5k race course on Thanksgiving morning will help too!

Rematch Update

I finished! And it was a better time than the July race, so that's a plus. My time on my Garmin was 1:18:27. Garmin also told me that I ran 6.3 miles, too. I noticed that the course markings were different from my GPS by mile 2. The conditions were crazy. It was sunny, about 60 degrees, and SUPER windy. Since the trail goes along the lake for the majority of the race, there were some serious winds to run in. Shout out to New Friend who finished her first 10k in just over an hour! And big thanks to the tall bald guy with a beard who passed me around mile 4 when he was on his return loop and yelled out some encouragement to me. He also cheered me on from his car when he was leaving the park and I was about half a mile from the finish. Thank you. :)

Now, I'm going to finish me lovely omlette, help The Aussie with a few things around here, and then take my doggies on a long awaited for walk. :)

10k Rematch Playlist, Honeybadger Style

So, I picked up my race packet this afternoon for the 10k tomorrow. This should be interesting. The weather will be in the mid-50s at the start of the race, but it's also going to be really windy tomorrow. Much better than mid-90s like it was in July. I also met a really cool woman, about my age, who was picking up her packet. She's never done a 10k before, so she's excited. I look forward to meeting up with her tomorrow. I don't expect to be running with her because her 5k pace would leave me in the dust. We'll see.

Anywho, in honor of getting my butt back out on the racecourse, I have put together a new running playlist. One with Honeybadger attitude.

I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab For Cutie (extended version, warm up music)
Solar Midnight - Lupe Fiasco (old faithful)
Ready To Go - Republica
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police
Big Neon Glitter - The Cult
Don't Change - INXS
Times Like This - Foo Fighters
Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne (yes, I'm a MFing Princess..)
She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
These Days - Foo Fighters
Dog Days Are Over - Florence And The Machine
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters (Trainer Dude suggested this one)
Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns (another old faithful from last playlist)
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
What's My Scene - Hoodoo Gurus
Dear Prudence - Siousie & The Banshees

Yup, this should be interesting...

It's Soup Season

We haven't had any freak snowstorms in Texas, but it is cooler these days, and the overcast sky is making me think of soup. Luckily I didn't roast my butternut squash or kale on Sunday afternoon, when I roasted my fennel and acorn squash. I remembered I had left them in the oven at 6am on Monday. Doesn't it just figure?

Butternut Squash, Andouille and Kale Soup (serves about 12)

1 T olive oil
half an onion, diced
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 quarts of chicken or vegetable stock
1 large bunch of kale, rinsed, stemmed and chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 cup farro
1 t seasoned salt
1 package (4 links) of Aidells sausage (I used cajun andouille because that's what I had, but any of their sausages would be wonderful)

Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the oil and the diced onion. Stir and cook until the onion is softened. Add in the cubed butternut squash and the stock. Simmer about 20-30 minutes, or until the squash is slightly tender. Add in the seasoning, chopped kale, black beans, farro and sausage. Cook another 30 minutes, until the farro is cooked and the sausage is warmed through. A serving is 5 Weight Watchers plus points.

Weight Watchers - week 1 update

Yesterday was my 1 week weigh in at Weight Watchers, and I am happy to report that I am down 4 pounds. I know some of this is because it isn't TOM and I didn't have a big breakfast yesterday morning. But I also know that some of it is because I have tracked my butt off, exercised, and have eaten more apples in the last week than I have in a year!

In black and white... (pg-13)

Pardon the "F bombs" (and grammatical errors) if they offend you, but I needed to share this. I saw this in today's post by Steph. I liked it so much that I'm borrowing it (she nabbed it from Gene, who saw it on Strong Is The New Skinny...) Sometimes you need to see something in black and white for it to sink in.