Sunday, January 31, 2016

Runner's World October 1983 - A Trip Down Memory Lane

 

I don't know why I still have this particular magazine. The fact that I still have it in my possession means it's traveled with me from my home in Indianapolis, to my college house in Bloomington, then on to my apartment in Columbus, IN, an apartment back in Indianapolis, a house in Kalamazoo, MI, then back to my current home in Greenwood, IN.

I am continuing the process of decluttering and cleaning out my house. It's down to the hard stuff now. Boxes and boxes of memorabilia and sentimental things. I've come to the conclusion that scrapbookers are horrible declutterers because we keep EVERYTHING!

I found this in a box of running related papers. One magazine by itself. Why did I keep it? Was there an article I wanted to read? Of course I had to thumb through it...

The ads were the best. Cotton was still "in."


Who remembers Alberto Salazaar looking like this?


He and Mary Decker were my heros.

                                                                   ...or Marty Liquori


It was their 9th Annual Shoe Review issue. These were the top 5 Women's shoes.


...and this is why I think all running shoes should be blue or white.
Because they WERE!!
 
This is how much shoes typically cost...
 
I wore the Tigress. Asics was called Tiger back then.
 
...but if you couldn't afford new running shoes you could get them resoled.
 
 
There were multiple ads for inversion boots and hand held weights. No medal racks or fuel belts. The best though was... wait for it... OMG, OMG...
 
 
Mind you, this was also the pre-running tight era.
 
There was an article about getting tickets to the 1984 Los Angles Olympics to be held the following year.
 
Another article was about the first ever women's Olympic marathon trials, to be held in Olympia, WA on May 13, 1984. It still did not have a sponsor at that time. The qualifying time back then was 2:51:16.
 
Other articles talked about what it was like to run on an aircraft carrier, training alone, and a behind-the-scenes look at the medical tent of the New York City Marathon.
 
There was "Tips for the First-Time Marathoner - Bringing marathon training into the '80's." Here is a training chart from that article.
 
There were the usual advice columns. The questions over the years have remained the same but the answers in 1983 were surprisingly different. There was a question posed by a 28-year old man who had not raced since high school but was jogging 20 miles a week who wanted to know how much time it would take him to work up to training for a marathon. Jeff Galloway's answer to him, in summary, was 12-18 months.
 
Back then, many running books differentiated between running and jogging. Most said that you were not running unless you were going faster than 8-9 minutes a mile. Only runners ran marathons. That's probably why the First-Marathon Training table maxed out at a 4 hour run.
 
Fast forward now to yesterday when I received my latest issue of Runner's World. On page 12 of David Willey's Editor's Letter he talks about preparing for their 50th anniversary and introduces one of their "lifers" who says...
 
 
There are SO many races now. You can pretty much race every weekend if you wanted but people "race" for fun and socialization. I remember the days when I gave up inside during 10K's when I heard my 2 mile split at over 15:00 and felt like my race was over. Then, in 2011, I ran my first road race of this century and was shocked to find myself leading the women's race at the 1 mile mark (it was a 5K) and even more shocked that were was no one standing there with a stopwatch calling out splits (silly me, I guess every other person in the race was wearing their own watch except me!)
 
Now back to 1983...
 
Some of my Sole Sisters remember we were following Kesha online at the Houston Marathon and the tracker was posting everything in kilometers and kilometers per hour. I finally posted for someone to please translate what mile marker she was at! Apparently the venerable Dr. George Sheehan agrees with me!
 
 
Another source of controversy. Fred Lebow did not want any wheelchair racers in the New York City Marathon but was allowing some under duress.
 
 
 
The magazine was 188 pages. THE runner's bible back then. So why did I keep this? I still have no idea. Maybe it was all the articles about marathon running. I entertained the thought of running my first marathon while I was in high school. Back then though, there was NO WAY I was going to run a marathon unless I was "in shape" to do it under 4 hours. I couldn't even imagine running for more than 4 hours.
 
Times change. Life goes on. I finally decided at 40 that I wasn't getting any faster so I might as well run a marathon sooner than later if I was going to run one. My first took over 5 hours... but then I got faster.
 
Hope you had fun with my reminiscing. Now it's back to decluttering!
 





Saturday, January 30, 2016

B2B Training Week 7 of 18

This was my drop down week and that is exactly what I did. Rested my legs and added in a wee bit of speed and PT exercises.

Sunday (1/24) - Zero miles. Spent most of the day with G downtown as she had an audition for the School of American Ballet's summer course. I want my kids to dream big too. The School of American Ballet is the feeder school to the New York City Ballet. They take 200 kids worldwide between the ages of 12 and 18 for their summer course by holding auditions in cities throughout the US. Even if she doesn't get in, I'm happy she is thinking large enough to try out.

Monday (1/25) - 3 miles. I hit the hamster track as soon as the kids left for school since I had a dentist appointment at 11 am and a pretty full day planned over all. I felt sluggish and heavy the minute I hit the track and it didn't get any better so I called it a day at 3. I figure this is what a drop down week is for!

Tuesday (1/26) - 7 miles. Did it on the treadmill at the Y while G was at dance and it actually felt pretty good.

Wednesday (1/27) - Zero miles. I thought about getting a run in before work but then decided I had too much other stuff to do and I didn't want to feel rushed so no run today. Worked on decluttering the house some more.

Thursday (1/28) - 5 miles. More treadmill work. I finally figured out how to program the stupid treadmill so I warmed up with a 9:31 mile, did 3 miles at 8:57 pace, was going to do another 9:31 cool down mile but got bored so I ended up increasing the pace again. Then, I got all ambitious and actually did my PT exercises.

NOTE TO SELF: 6.7 mph equals 8:57 pace. 7.0 mph equals 8:34 pace.

Friday (1/29) - 5 miles. More treadmill work. Thursday's run was not a problem so I decided to do all 5 at 8:57 pace and it was just fine. Heart rate after I was done was 165. I spent a moment marveling at how easy it felt. I remember the first time I held a 9 minute pace for 5 miles on a treadmill. It was at LA Fitness less than 3 years ago. I was just hanging on and hanging on until it was over and then I felt like I had conquered the world! Today felt like a piece of cake in comparison. Did my PT exercises again when I was done.

Saturday (1/30) - 5 miles. I thought I was going to the Y again as I thought I had to drive G to dance. We were about to leave the house when the girl I hired to drive her pulled up in out driveway. I didn't have her on the schedule for today but it was SO worth it to pay her and have the morning to myself. It was a beautiful sunny day but I was already dressed to run indoors so I drove myself to the fitness center instead and hit the hamster track for some easy miles.

Week 7 - 25 miles

I'm starting to feel a little tug in my left hamstring again but I also have the itch to increase my speed a little bit too. It's been a long time since I actually felt like running faster so it's a welcome feeling. Just hoping my body will cooperate with my brain!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Spinning My Wheels

Ever spend the whole day eating just because food tastes good? You're not hungry. In fact, you might actually be a little full, but, oh it tastes good. All those guilty say "Aye." AYE.

That pretty much sums up my day today. I felt like I was spinning my wheels getting nowhere. Walking (never mind running) around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Today was my day off. I decided last night to indulge in some Pinterest pins. I went grocery shopping for ingredients while G was at dance and found what I needed plus more.


Olive bruschetta. OMG. It was wonderful. I ate half the jar last night and the rest for lunch today. Wonderful on toasted Italian bread.

First on my "to make" list was Spicy Black Bean and Lime Quinoa Salad. It was pinned so I had to open Pinterest to get to it. Oh no! Shield your eyes! I couldn't get past that opening page that shows you the gazillion other things that you might like and ended up HERE looking at Winter Bliss Bowls...


Winter Bliss Bowl
 
... and ended up making my own falafel.
 
Falafel, recipe HERE

So, last night I had to make and sample my newly baked falafel and half the jar of olive bruschetta at, oh, midnight-ish. Made the Spicy Black Bean and Lime Quinoa Salad too.

This morning I went back to bed as soon as I saw J's taillights disappear down the driveway on the way to school... and woke up at 10 am. Crap. Well, at least I was well rested.

I started in on making the Lemon Pepper Chicken as it has to bake in the crockpot for 4 hours. Next up was the pie crust for the Earl Grey Pie. Dabbled some more online while stuff baked... Ate lunch...
Made the filling for the pie.

Kids came home and I fixed a piece of chicken for G to eat before dance, promising that the pie would be done when she got home. She'd finish eating everything else when she got home. She's my foodie child. No one else was hungry at 3:30 pm so cooking was put on hold.

Dabbled in cleaning my office some more. It's still a work in progress but I can see the floor and my desktop now. Went to the fitness center and got 7 miles in. Finally, at 7 pm I decided it was time to eat.

Lemon Pepper Chicken recipe HERE.
Spicy Black Bean and Lime Quinoa Salad HERE.
 

Earl Grey Pie recipe HERE.

Now I'm stuffed to the gills and watching the Hoosiers play some basketball.
So there you have it. I made dinner and ate really well all day. Not much else.

Cheers!

Friday, January 22, 2016

B2B Training Week 6 of 18 - Quieting the Voices

So here's what I've discovered on the running front this week...

1. I am embracing my fair weather running. Winter running basically sucks. I own all the crap to go out and battle the elements but decided I'd rather run around the hamster track or treadmill in my comfy T-shirt and shorts. I'm no less of a runner for running indoors and I can go head to head with any woman my age in time or distance. So there!

My driveway today


2. My friend Trena's secret to running forever. I seriously think the girl can run forever, and, she listens to podcasts. I finally figured out how to download them off the internet and get them on an MP3 player (I'm the girl that can barely operate my cell phone so this is HUGE). I started listening to them while I run on the hamster track or treadmill.

3. I can now run on the treadmill without worrying about falling off AND operate my MP3 player at the same time.

4. I'm in shape to run two marathons in 6 days. I'm not writing out a training plan. I'm going to continue running by feel.

Sunday (1/17) - Zero miles. Rest day from the 20 I ran the day before. It was the rare day this month that I had white space on my calendar. No work. No kid's stuff. No running. The green line is for my husband being out of town. I did my deal shopping and laid around the house.

embracing the white space
 
as compared to this...
 


Monday (1/18) - 7 miles. Kid's were out of school for Martin Luther King Day and it was 6 degrees outside when I tried to start my car at 9 am to go out for brunch. Car finally started and we drove downtown to eat. After rolling myself home I did 7 easy miles on the hamster track before taking G to dance.

I had to go run this (and more) off!

Tuesday (1/19) - Zero miles. Not what I had planned. I got up at 4:30 am to go to work. Have I ever told you that I'm NOT A MORNING PERSON! Work took off with a screaming start. My scribe told me that I saw 10 patients the first hour I was there and that the doc she had worked with the day before had seen 16 all day. Yup. Crap magnet like day as usual. I stayed an hour over and was so tired I could barely drive home. I finally finally got home and went straight to bed. Plan had been to run 3 miles but forget it! Hubs woke me up at 7 pm to watch the IU basketball game. I stayed up long enough to see IU thump Illinois 103 - 69 and watch former team manager/walk-on Jackson Tharp get into the game before falling back asleep.

Wednesday (1/20) - 7 miles. Got my run in on the hamster track in the morning then went to work in the afternoon.

Thursday (1/21) - 7 miles. Spent the day cleaning my office/craft room (which is still a work in progress) then ran on the treadmill at the Y while G was in dance class.

Lord help me cause this is just the tip of the iceberg!


Friday (1/22) - 17 miles. I had four podcasts loaded on my MP3 player and was ready to go 20. My issue with running lately has been the time suck. I've discovered that an hour a day isn't bad but any longer, then I'm worrying about all the other things I need to get done that day or other things that I could be doing. Or, I just get BORED. Then I start listening to all the voices in my head that tell me "you need to do this, and this, and this today still..." and I can't get into my run anymore and feel the need to do something else. There have been so many times I wished there was something else to do while I was running so I could multi-task - like checking my email. Past an hour I can't seem to enjoy the run for what it is. The voices take over. Then I discovered podcasts. Now I can do something else while I run and listen to some pretty interesting stuff, and the time and miles fly by. Just listen to the podcast and push the other voices out of my head. Admittedly I've had to give some of the voices a pretty hard shove from time to time but now I'm thinking "listen to the podcast, listen to the podcast." (Can that be a mantra?) It has worked wonderfully this week for the base miles that I'm currently logging. Miles where pace doesn't matter and I'm simply putting down the distance.

Anyhoos, I was mentally set to do 20 today. I felt well rested. Maybe I just wanted to say that I ran another 20 six days after my last 20. Then, at mile 17 I felt a little niggle of fatigue start acting up in my left hamstring. That was enough to let common sense take over and stop. I know that no coach in their right mind would have their recreational marathoner run a long run of 20 in Week 5 AND Week 6 of their training plan. (Ok, so maybe that's why I don't have or want a coach.) I realized at that moment though that I was capable of running another 3 miles but it wasn't necessary. So I stopped. I'm in shape to run two marathons in 6 days. Now it's a matter of staying healthy and fine tuning things... and I have 12 more weeks to do it.

Saturday (1/23) - Zero miles. I have to get up at 4 freakin' 30 again to go to work so it will be another "rest" day from running.

Week 6 - 38 miles
Pretty happy with how things went down.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Another Awesome Week at CVS

I am such a Diet Coke addict it's not even funny. I know it pickles your brain and makes you fat but I can't help it. I just have to have it. I even stopped drinking it, and everything caffeinated, for several weeks last year when I was on my caffeine fast for the Napa Marathon but I had to have some as soon as it was over. Granted, I've cut back... some. I'm trying. But I'm still buying it.

So... I'm enrolled in My Coke Rewards. It's the rewards program run by the Coca-Cola company where you punch in their cap codes and package codes to accumulate points for stuff from their rewards catalog. Every December several items go on sale in the rewards catalog. In previous years I have spent my points on gift cards as well as free 12-pack coupons. This year they really did not offer any great gift cards so, instead, I got a bunch of free 12-pack coupons at a huge discount. They were 30 points a piece. To put things in perspective, they are normally 275 points. A cap code is worth 3 points. The code from a 12-pack is worth 10 points.

Anyhoos, CVS has a deal this week where if you spend $30 on select products, including Diet Coke 12-packs, you earn a $10 ECB. 12-packs are on sale 3/$10. I had 6 free 12-pack coupons plus my $5 and $2 ECBs from last week.

As far as free item coupons, the retailer (cashier) usually has the choice of either punching in the maximum allowed for the coupon, which for the free Coke 12-packs is $4.99, or the actual selling price if it is less. You can only use 4 of the free 12-pack coupons at a time (as stated on the coupon) so I had to break it up into two trips. This is how it played out...


Trip #1
4 Lady Speedstick deodorants @ $3.00 each (sale price)
3 12-packs Diet Coke @ 3/$10 sale price
Total $22.00
Used 2 (buy 1 get 1 free Speedstick coupons), 3 (free 12-pack Coke product coupons), $5 ECB from last week's Angel Soft deal
Paid $1.03 + $1.54 tax = $2.57
Got back a $6 ECB for the Speedstick

The cashier initially put in $4.99 for the free coupons which brought my total down to $2.xx without using the $5 ECB. I had my credit card IN the reader when she suddenly got nervous about completing the transaction and wanted the manager to OK the use of the free coupons. Her manager told her it was OK but that she should put in the sale price of $3.33 instead of $4.99 so we re-rang the transaction and I threw in the $5 ECB at the end since re-ringing the free coupons at a lower price brought my pre-tax total to over $5.

Trip #2
6 12-packs Diet Coke @ 3/$10 sale price
Total $20.00
Used 3 (free 12-pack Coke product coupons), $2 ECB from last week's Kotex deal, $6 ECB from Speedstick
Paid $0.35 + $1.40 tax = $1.75

This was at the CVS down the street. I fully expected the cashier to put in $3.33 for my free coupons and then I'd use the $8 in ECBs. However, this cashier decided to enter $4.99 for the first coupon. If she rang them all that way my pre-tax total would be too low to use all my ECBs and I didn't want to be hanging on to all these ECBs because they expire a month from printing and I don't see anymore huge deals coming up in the next few weeks so I wanted to spend them now! I told her, "I think you need to put in $3.33 for that." (And I can't believe that actually came out of my mouth but it did.) She studied the coupon. Then she said she'd leave the first one as is but rang the other two as $3.33. Cha-ching!! That couldn't have worked out any better if I had planned it. Pre-tax total was $8.35 so I spent all my ECBs and was out the door for $1.75.

Paid $4.32 for everything in the photo
Have $10 in ECBs to use in the next month
 
So there you have it. Stocked up for the next few weeks and deal shopping is done this week. Now to focus on my runs and continue cleaning!


Saturday, January 16, 2016

B2B Training Week 5 of 18

This week I had the luxury of only working one day. I tried to make the most of it. However, instead of focusing on my running I ended up focusing on my house.

Yes, the house. My seemingly eternally cluttered house. I SO SO want a clean peaceful place to retire to everyday. I've made a lot of headway since last year but there always seems to be so much more to shovel out!

This week...

Sunday (1/10) - Zero miles. We got our first substantial snowfall of the season on Saturday night and woke to a winter wonderland. I was scheduled to cover Assembly Hall for the IU vs. Ohio State men's basketball game. Game time was 1:30 pm and I'm suppose to be in my seat by 1 pm. My husband and I left our house at 11 am. Due to road conditions and construction traffic I barely made it into my seat by tipoff. The game was a wonderful game for Hoosier Nation. The Hoosiers were "ON". They could do no wrong. The score at halftime was 48-18! The Buckeyes did not come out of the locker room until about 2 minutes left in half time. I think they were there in the locker room trying to get their heads together. It's like when things go right, everything magically falls into place but when things go wrong, everything falls apart. Final score was 85-60. It took us another 2.5 hours to drive home. It was a good day but an exhausting day on the road.

Monday (1/11) - 3 miles. Hit the hamster track with thoughts of a long run but I had too much on my mind. Then I thought I'd run 7 but my feet started slapping the track right away, my legs were heavy, and my shins hurt. 7 quickly got cut to 5, and then I decided 3 was enough. Better than nothing, right? I went deal shopping. That was what I really wanted to do. Deets HERE.

Tuesday (1/12) - 5 miles. I spent the morning and afternoon cleaning out my master bathroom and ended up throwing out 6 garbage bags of trash. Of course this left no time to run during the day so I ended up at the Jordan YMCA while my daughter was dancing and hit their treadmill. I ended up running 5 miles. Other than a mishap at the beginning where I couldn't figure out the machine and almost threw myself off the belt because it kept going faster and faster (I had to hit the Emergency Stop button after I was almost down to 7 minute mile pace with no slowing in site - granted I started looking for the stupid button in panic when I spied I was at 7:44 pace and still speeding up!) I ran in peace - like I felt completely at peace knowing my bathroom cabinets were clean and organized. Is that crazy or what?

Wednesday (1/13) - Zero miles. I worked 7 am - 7 pm in Martinsville. Thankfully an uneventful day.

Thursday (1/14) - 7 miles. Thought about doing a long run again but ended up doing more house cleaning during the day. I ended up filling the entire back of my SUV with items to donate to Goodwill and actually dropped all the stuff off too. I cleaned out all my kitchen cabinets and my pantry. I pitched several garbage bags of stuff including candy I had saved for gingerbread houses. I used to compete in gingerbread house competitions but I don't think I've made a gingerbread house in about 5 years. Once again I ended up on the treadmill at the Jordan YMCA while my daughter danced in the evening. It was a good run. I did the whole thing at 9:31 pace - except the treadmill shuts off after 60 minutes so I had to restart it to run my last 0.75 miles. I despise treadmills but I can't really lollygag on them either once I set my pace and, surprising (and thankfully), I haven't felt like I've had to work very hard at this pace. Once again I felt totally at peace during my run with no "to do's" hanging over my head.

Friday (1/15) - 5 miles. Put off my long run once again. Today I simply did not get out of bed early enough to do a long run. It was gray and raining and I went back to bed after the kids went to school (unlike the other days this week when I actually got stuff done). I woke up at 10 am. Ooops! I had planned on trying 20 miles this week. I have to allow myself a 4 hour window to do this. Waking up at 10 am didn't give me enough time to do this before the kids got home from school. I ended up running 5 on the hamster track. I couldn't do the Y in the evening because G and I had tickets to see the ballet Giselle in the evening after her dance class.

Saturday (1/16) - 20 miles. No more excuses today. G had prearranged transportation to dance so I was free for the morning. It was wet and gross so I ended up hamster tracking it but it got done. I've been incredibly pleased so far that I haven't had any of the horrible leg pain that has plagued all my other training cycles. I opted for ice bags rather than the ice bath after my run today. Now it's a couple hours of down time before I'm off to watch J cheer. Center Grove made it to the Johnson County Basketball Tournament Championship game tonight.

Week 5 - 40 miles

I'm really happy with how the week went.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

My Drugstore Deals This Week

I got my deal shopping done early this week. I didn't have much to buy but I was worried about finding the items later in the week at CVS. So, starting with CVS...

Trip #1
3 12-packs of Angel Soft toilet paper @ 3/$15 (sale price)
Used my $10 ECB from last week and 3 ($0.45 coupons)
Paid $3.65 + $1.05 tax = $4.70
Received another $5 ECB for the Angel Soft
Plus, I got $5 deposited into my SavingStar account

Trip #2
2 18-ct U by Kotex tampons @ $5.79, buy 1 get 1 50% off sale
2 Nivea Soft Moisture Cream @ $1.19 regular price
Total $11.06
Used 2 ($2 Kotex coupons) and $5 ECB from the Angel Soft
Paid $2.06 + $0.77 tax = $2.83
Received $2 ECB for the Kotex and $5 ECB for the Nivea

The Nivea was what I was worried about finding. It was the obvious money maker this week since you only paid (with tax) $2.55 for the product but you got a $5 ECB back. I wanted to get the Kotex with my $5 ECB from the Angel Soft but I had to buy something else cause I was going to be $0.32 short of $5 with just Kotex. Now I have $7 in ECB for next week (when I'm planning to stock up on Diet Coke).

Here's the Nivea that works for the $5 ECB.
Only the white plastic containers work. The small blue tins will not work.
It's perfect to carry in your purse.
 
Paid $7.53 for everything in the photo.
Have $7 in ECBs for next week and $5 deposited into SavingStar.
 
 
Next up was Walgreens.
 
Trip #1
3 6-packs of Scott Naturals paper towels @ $3.99 each (sale price)
Used 3($0.75) coupons
Paid $9.72 + $0.84 tax = $10.56
Received a $3 Register Reward (RR) for my next shopping trip
 
Scott has a national catalina out. Buy 2, Get a $2 coupon. Buy 3, Get a $3 coupon.
 
I am down to my last jug of laundry detergent.  For most items I am not brand loyal. However, as far as laundry detergent goes, I HAVE to get Arm & Hammer because it's the only detergent that won't make my husband's skin fall off. I am still looking for a great Arm & Hammer deal. Perhaps I am spoiled because I used to get it for $1 a jug at Meijer in the days of double and triple coupons. At one point I think I even had a 2-year supply of laundry detergent. But alas, now I'm down to my last jug so I have to take what I can find and this is the best I could find this week...
 
Trip #2
2 50-oz jugs Arm & Hammer laundry detergent @ $6.99, Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale
Used the $3 RR from the Scott
Paid $6.99 - $3 = $3.99 + $0.49 tax = $4.48
 
Paid $15.04 for everything in the photo.
Not the best deal, but I needed all those items right now and God forbid I pay full price!
 
Shopping will likely slow down a bit again after this week as I've done some major stock up the last 2 weeks on:
toilet paper
paper towels
cereal
coffee
cheese
dishwasher detergent
tampons and liners
shampoo and conditioner
 
Still looking for an Arm & Hammer deal and could use some more paper towels but I'll be OK for a couple weeks now. My family seems to blow through paper products at an alarming rate.
 
Next up this week is cleaning out the house!


Monday, January 11, 2016

B2B Training Week 4 of 18

This was a back to business week. My work schedule is heavier early on this month so this was the busy week at work. I have been working earlier in the day, like at 6:30 am or 9 am, because I've got kid commitments in the evenings and it works out better for my family that way. However, as we all know, I am NOT a morning person. I've discovered that I'm pretty much trashed after working all day and there is simply not enough time or energy left to get a run in AFTER work. Therefore, my solution of sorts has been to have my work days as my non-run days if at all possible.

So...

Sunday (1/3) - zero miles. Worked all day.

Monday (1/4) - zero miles. Worked all day.

Tuesday (1/5) - 5 miles in the morning. Watched my daughter cheer in the evening.

Wednesday (1/6) - 10 miles. I didn't have to leave for work until 1:30 pm. I told myself there were days in the past that I ran 20 miles before going into work so I made myself get to the fitness center early and get the 10 done. I felt fine while I was running but not so good afterwards. My legs were fine but I felt hot and nauseous and couldn't eat. I was fine at work though.

Thursday (1/7) - 5 miles, then did a bunch of grocery shopping before taking G to dance in the evening.

Friday (1/8) - 10 miles. This was suppose to be my long run. I had planned on 17 or 18. I blew up a lap short of 10 and ended up walking it in. Again, my legs felt fine but I was lightheaded and dizzy. Pretty frustrated by the whole thing because I felt like I was well rested and it was my day off with plenty of time to get the run in.

Saturday (1/9) - zero miles. Worked all day.

Week 4 - 30 miles

Not as many miles as I had hoped but double what I ran in Week 3. I am also thankful that I haven't had any leg pain (yet?) this time around. I'm not running anything fast right now so that may be what's sparing my legs. I'm still playing it by ear week to week but I think the overall plan will be to keep building some mileage for a couple more weeks before I start doing any speed work or anything else. I know I should be doing more PT exercises, weights, and cross-training but it's all I can do to get the runs in at this time.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Deals Galore This Week!

A horrible thing happened to me over the Holidays...

I had to pay full price for toilet paper. We were down to our last roll at home. I went to Walgreens where it was a crazy deal. They were sold out. I didn't have time to go hunt for it. I ended up pulling into the Walmart next door and paying full rip retail. A tragedy.

I know, I know. My husband thinks I'm a nut job too. He tells me I have a six figure income and shouldn't obsess over the price of toilet paper but I do. That's why we've been together for 29 years and still have separate bank accounts.

Anyhoos... all the stores have crazy deals going on this week. I started the week by investing $6.25 for six weekend newspapers. The inserts this week had EXCELLENT coupons!

The shopping started at CVS on Tuesday with $3 in Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) to spend.

4 boxes of 20ct Finish dishwasher tabs. On sale for $4. Bought 4, used 4 $2 coupons, and $3 in ECBs, earned another $5 ECB.
4($4) = $16 - 4($2) - $3 = $5 + $1.12 tax = $6.12

3 bottles of Suave shampoo and 2 bottles of Suave conditioner. On sale for $3 each. Used $1.50 coupon on each, the $5 ECB from the Finish, and earned another $5 ECB.
5($3) = $15 - 5($1.50) - $5 = $2.50 + $1.05 tax = $3.55

4 18-roll packs of Scott toilet paper on sale for $6.99 each and 1 bottle of Palmolive dish soap on sale for $2.49. Used 4 $0.75 coupons for the Scott and 1 $0.50 coupon for the Palmolive and the $5 ECB from the Suave, earned another $10 ECB.
4($6.99) + $2.49 = $30.45 - 4($0.75) - $0.50 - $5 = $21.95 + $2.13 tax = $24.08

$33.75 for everything in the photo
Plus I have a $10 ECB to use on another purchase
 

Next up was Kroger where there is a Mega Sale going on. Buy 5 Mega Sale items, get $5 off automatically at checkout. You have to buy your stuff in multiples of 5.

In addition to the Mega Sale, Post cereals has another catalina coupon deal going on where if you Buy 2 cereals, you get a coupon for $1 off your next order (OYNO), Buy 3, Get $2 OYNO, or Buy 4, Get $3 OYNO. The catalina machine is the thing next to the register that spits out coupons when you check out.

Guess what!!! Post cereals are included in the Mega sale. Mega sale price $1.49. There are printable coupons at www.coupons.com for $0.75 off Post Great Grains and $0.75 off Post Honey Bunches of Oats. You can get two prints per computer.

So... buy 4 Post cereals as part of your Mega sale items and here's the math:
4($1.49) = $5.96 - 4($0.75 coupons) = $2.96, get a $3 coupon for your next order. That's $3 off ANYTHING.

This is what I got last night:
4 Post cereal @ $1.49 each (Mega Sale price)
4 54-ct Carefree panty liners @ $1.49 each (Mega Sale price)
2 Green Giant Fire Roasted frozen vegetable bag @ $1.99 each (Mega Sale price)
2 boxes of Wholly Guacamole @ $2.50 each sale price
1 10-ct flour tortillas @ $1.19
Total: $22.09 + $0.42 tax = $22.51

Used: 4($0.75) Post cereal coupons, 2 ($2/2 Carefree coupons), 2 ($1 Green Giant coupons) and 2($1.50 Wholly Guacamole coupons)
$22.51 - $12 = $10.51, plus a $3 OYNO coupon

$10.51 for everything in the photo
 
Kroger shopping today (after printing more coupons on my second laptop) ...
 
Trip #1
4 Post cereal @ $1.49 each (Mega Sale price)
1 2-pack Mr. Clean Extra Power Eraser @ $1.99 (Mega Sale price)
1 box Wholly Guacamole $2.50 sale price
Total: $10.45 + $0.14 tax = $10.59
 
Used: 4($0.75 Post coupons), $1 Mr. Clean coupon, $1.50 Wholly Guacamole coupon
$10.59 - $5.50 = $5.09, plus a $3 OYNO coupon
 
$5.09 for everything in the photo
 
Trip #2

6 Stouffer's frozen entrees @ $1.68 each sale price
1 gallon milk @ $1.88 sale price
2 boxes of Wholly Guacamole @ $2.50 each sale price
Total: $16.96
 
Used: 2($1.50/3 Stouffers coupons), 2($1.50 Wholly Guacamole coupons), 2($3 OYNO coupons)
$16.96 - $12 = $4.96
 



$4.96 for everything in the photo
 
I was pretty much done with Kroger after that except... Playtex Gentle Glide tampons were a Mega Sale item at $2.99 and I had coupons for $4 off 2, making then $0.99 a box. Any woman out there can tell you that $0.99 for a 20-ct box of tampons is a STEAL. I had looked for them at two different Kroger stores and the shelves were bare. I took my daughter to her dance class in Carmel tonight and decided to run by the store there... and I found 4 boxes.
 
Trip #3
4 20-ct Playtex Gentle Glide tampons @ $2.99 each (Mega Sale price)
1 2-ct Mr. Clean Extra Power Eraser @ $1.99 (Mega Sale price)

Total: $13.95 + $0.98 tax = $14.93

Used: 2($4/2 Playtex), $1 Mr. Clean
$14.93 - $9 = $5.93

$5.93 for everything in the photo
 
Last but not least, I hit Meijer today too. Their big attraction was that they were running a Buy 8 Get $8 off deal and cans of Maxwell House coffee were included.
 
There is also a Kraft Cheese catalina coupon deal going on for Kraft and Cracker Barrel Chunk and Shredded cheese where you Buy 3, Get $1.50 OYNO, Buy 4, Get $2 ONYO, Buy 5+, Get $2.50 OYNO. Unlike the Post catalina, the value of the OYNO coupon stayed the same for the number of items you bought and I didn't have time to sort through a bunch more coupons so I just got 3.
 
I did two transactions at the self checkout, one after the other.
 
Transaction #1
3 bags of Kraft shredded cheese @ $2 each sale price
Total: $6 - $1.50/3 coupon = $4.50 and got the $1.50 OYNO coupon
 
Transaction #2
8 cans of Maxwell House coffee @ 1.99 each (Buy 8 price)
1 20-ct Finish dishwasher tabs @ $3.49 sale price
2 28-oz cans of crushed tomatoes @ $1.25 each sale price
1 box Laughing Cow cheese @ $3.00 sale price
Total: $24.91 + $0.24 tax = $25.15
 
Used: 4(1.50/2 Maxwell House coupon), $2 Finish coupon, $0.75 Laughing Cow coupon, $1.50 OYNO coupon
$25.15 - $10.25 = $14.90
 
$19.40 for everything in the photo
 
So there you have it. I invested $6.25 for newspaper coupons this week. Not counting the instant discounts, I used $82.25 in coupons and spent a total of $79.64 for everything pictured in this post. I didn't buy any "junk" or "fillers" to get my deals and I feel like I bought a reasonable amount of a variety of items. I have $10 in CVS ECBs for next week where they are having another toilet paper deal.
 
I will probably end up a Meijer some more for some more "Buy 8" deals and also get more cheese. If I can find more Playtex at Kroger I'm snapping that up too cause I still have coupons. All these deals go through next Wednesday January 12, 2016 so jump in if you want!


Wednesday, January 6, 2016

B2B Training Weeks 2 and 3 and more...

Amazing what I can get done when I can haul my butt out of bed early in the day.

The kids went back to school today so I crawled out of bed at 6 am as a show of support (OK, I admit I crawled out of bed and laid down on the living room couch...) Anyhoos, as soon as they left at 7 am I decided to be productive.

Had my oatmeal and coffee.
Went grocery shopping and hit the Kroger Mega sale (more details tomorrow).
Did a load of laundry.
Ran 10 miles.
Made chicken enchiladas for my family to heat up for dinner tonight while I'm at work.


And now I'm going to attempt to catch up on my blogging... all before I have to go to work.
I figure my hour drive today will be my downtime.

SO different from what I've been doing the last 2 weeks while the kids have been on Christmas Break. Here's the catch up...

Week of December 20th
Sunday - zero miles
Monday - 5 miles
Tuesday - 17 miles
Wednesday - rest day (well heck, I ran 17 miles as my week 2 long run)
Thursday (Christmas Eve) - 5 miles. Really proud of myself for getting the run in before heading down to my in-laws in Columbus for their Christmas Eve supper then driving back to Greenwood for the Candlelight church service at 11 pm.
Friday (Christmas) - 5 miles. Had a nice run mid-morning before heading out to my parent's house for the family gathering for my side of the family.
Saturday - zero miles. Worked all day

Week 2 - 32 miles

Week of December 27th
Sunday - zero miles. Worked all day
Monday - zero miles. Worked all day. Came home to find out I got a custom sweater order request on Etsy!
Tuesday - 10 miles. Then went in to work from 7 pm to 7 am.
Wednesday - 5 miles. Really all I want to do is work on this sweater.
Thursday (New Year's Eve) - zero miles. I had planned on running 10 miles at the fitness center in the morning before they closed at noon but couldn't get motivated enough to leave the house. Stayed home and crocheted.
Friday (New Year's Day) - zero miles. Ugh. This was suppose to be a "down" week but it went really down. Original plan was to do 10 on Thursday and 5 on Friday for 30 miles for the week but that just didn't happen. There were also several races I could have done on New Year's Day but, again, I just didn't want to leave the house. I spent the whole day cooking and crocheting.
Saturday - zero miles. Worked all day.

Week 3 - 15 miles

But hey, my sweater is done!


Mailed it off yesterday. I hope the buyer is happy.

Goals this week are to haul my butt out of bed with the kids in the morning and be more productive. Lots of grocery deals are going on. I want to get my runs in earlier in the day. And I am working on de-crapifying my house. I already took a carload of stuff to Goodwill yesterday. I'm going to see if I can blog a little everyday this week. Now it's off to work.

Friday, January 1, 2016

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I'm trying to stay more present this year. DOING rather than trying to perfect. I've spent the day cooking and crocheting.

I got my first custom order through my Etsy store on December 29th and I am thrilled. I had planned on working on finishing some personal projects on my days off but made a baby cardigan instead and loved doing it.

I'm working the next 3 days but the rest of my family will be home. The kids pointed out yesterday that we had no food at home. So, today was spent cooking for the next couple days. I made a blueberry pie, followed by chipotle beef that I served over roasted butternut squash for dinner. Also cooked chicken breasts for chicken enchiladas, thawed out a chuck roast for a crockpot meal tomorrow, made a batch of crab cakes for lunch tomorrow, and cut up a whole honeydew and cantaloupe for fruit salad. Hopefully that will tie the family over for a couple days!

No running today. I decided I'd rather cook and crochet because that's what I wanted to do.