Tag Archives: boilermaker road race

Falling Back Into Place

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Happy Monday, All!

I can safely say that I will be glad to put as much time and space between myself and an airplane.  Our flights were smooth, just too many in a 24 hour period.

Flying is for the birds.

What a fantastic way to begin the week: waking up in your childhood-ish bedroom, drinking coffee before the sunrises, and getting in a powerful 6 mile run!

You’ll have to excuse me for a lack of photos; I’ve been taking in all the new stimuli of being back at home in Michigan.  The thought keeps running through my head, “Oh man, I should take a photo of/this belongs in my blog, but I Can’t.Be.Stopped.Must.Eat.More.Fresh.Produce.”  I’m sure you’ll forgive me as time goes by and I am uploading more pictures of mundane food items than the author of 1001 Recipes for Saltines and White Bread.  Please don’t take my cookbook idea from me.

Anyways, what I do have for you is a list of all the wonderful things I’ve been able to experience since returning to Michigan that the average person would rather shove off onto someone else’s shoulders:

  • Rode in a car that was traveling over 30mph AND for over a 5 minute period of time;
  • Answered my cell phone and responded to text messages;
  • Opened and recycled the cardboard from some packages that I received in the mail that I did NOT ship from Alaska;
(My Boilermaker Road Race training shirt arrived in the mail.  Owning the race t-shirt is half the battle of any race.)
  • Made my own coffee this morning, and drank it while watching the local news;
  • Wrote down and purchased all the items on a grocery list in quantities that should last me through the week and not the next month and a half +;
  • Flipped through some curriculum books that I ordered in the Spring:
  • Commented on the price of gas as being “cheap;”
  • Unpacked four suitcases worth of clothing and put 3.5 of the contents into “Winter Clothes” storage;
  • Scanned the isles of a bookstore (or the book section of a super store…whatevs)
  • Made plans to get a pedicure tomorrow afternoon
My thoughts exactly!

Ah, such is the life of a rebel gypsy like me.

Oh!  And since the name of this blog is Fancy OATMEAL, I thought I should share with you a great discovery that I made when looking for a quick, easy breakfast for the bonus morning we spent on the island.

It’s a new line of Quaker Oatmeal called Real Medleys.  I chose the Summer Berry Oatmeal flavor:

I was a little hesitant to purchase a pre-flavored oatmeal, but since it was only going to be one morning without my trusty traditional flare, I decided to give it a shot.  I sure am glad that I did.  It was much easier than adding in my own ingredients; you just add boiling water and in 1,2,3 you’ve got breakfast!

The taste wasn’t overly sweet, and there was no after-taste like you get with some packaged oatmeal, and the nutritional information was pretty pleasing as well:

Quaker offers three more flavors that you might enjoy:

 

I am in no way being compensated for my opinion by Quaker or any other company.  However, I am not too proud to take a free sample or two as a thank you for spreading the word.

Happy 800th to Me!

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Morning Workout: 5 miles @ 37’48″ (avg. pace = 7’32″)

Happy Thursday, Fancy Oatmeal readers!  I was notified today that I have hit the 800 mile mark, according to my registered runs on Nike Plus.  To me, this number is AMAZING!  Especially when I am huffing and puffing along on the treadmill around mile 3.8, and all I want to do is slam my hand down on the STOP button and roll over into the corner until my blood pressure resume a normal pace.

These 800 miles began on my first tracked run on May 26, 2011, and I continue to pile on the miles until I hit 620 as the calendar turned over to 2012.

So far in 2012, I have logged 180 miles, and I’m a little over halfway to my February mileage goal of 110 miles.

2012 Mileage = 180

These 800 miles have covered many different times  and accomplishments in my life:

Question of the day: What are you proud of accomplishing?

Sunday Mornings

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Sunday Morning Workout: Virtual 15K – 1:14:58

47.3/1,000 miles 2012

Sunday mornings are a precious entity in my weekly schedule; typically it is the time that I am most relaxed during the entire week because I’ve been able to sleep in, and I know that there are no high expectations on me.  In general, most people tend to leave Sundays as a day of rest and family time – for some this may be an oxymoron.  Errands tend to be run on Saturday, as some stores actually are closed on Sundays.  Heck, even breakfast is so relaxed, it’s pushed back to around 10:30 and the word is shortened to brunch.  Yes, Sunday mornings are indeed my favorite.

I love my Sunday morning routine:

I typically wake up around 6 or 7, on my own, and enjoy a few cups of coffee while I fire up the ol’ internet:

  • Read  & respond to emails
  • Check in on Facebook – the cornerstone of my long-distance friendships
  • Analyze the stats for Fancy Oatmeal on WordPress.com – AKA make sure at least one person read my blog
  • Design my dream home/complete my wardrobe/create art projects/choose photo layouts for my future baby/chuckle at witty comments about the irony of day-to-day life/get inspired to read read read/develop a workout routine – PINTEREST!!!!!

Around 8:30 ish, Dear Hubby will stumble out into the living room and our day will begin.  And when I say “our day,” I mean continuing the lounge in the living room.

During the football season, there’s a slightly higher level of intensity than usual.  Because we live in the Alaska Time Zone, the normal 1pm kickoff of an NFL game is at 9am.  Sadly, as of last night, the Fancy Oatmeal level of interest/ferocity took a nose-dive as the Detroit Lions lost their first round playoff game.  However, this household (as well as the entire state of Michigan) are extremely proud of the Lions as they turned a HUGE corner this season.

Since I signed up for the 2012 Boilermaker Road Race in July, and have made the resolution to run at least three half-marathons this summer, I will utilize this Sunday free time as my new home for the long-run of the week.  Will this make my Sunday mornings less loosey-goosey?  Heck naw!  I love a long run because it’s at a more casual pace, I get in a lot of “me” time, and I usually take a big chunk out of my current Young Adult novel.

So yea….Sunday mornings are pretty great.