Slow Down

It’s ok to slow down.

It’s ok to slow down, especially when you’re feeling off. Hormone shifts can do that. So can lack of sleep. Or maybe you just didn’t eat enough.

You don’t necessarily feel bad- just not great.

It’s ok to slow down. We’re runners and that tends to be hard. But it’s ok to slow down.

So today I made peace with the treadmill. I want to start logging more miles but I’m still feeling off. So slow and easy – very easy.

Slowing it down can be helpful. It helps you make sure you’re breathing. Gives you time to feel every inch of your body. Check in with yourself about how it’s really feeling. Allows you to focus on form. All of these things lead to being a stronger less injury prone runner.

So again I repeat : it’s ok to slow down

Don’t compare your slow. My slow may be different than your slow. That’s ok. Focus on your own slow. Also know that today’s slow may be different than tomorrow’s. Again that’s ok.

Want some ‘sciency’ reasons to run slow. Check out The Happy Runner by David and Megan Roche.

Biryani aka Yummy Indian Goodness

Since y’all asked here’s my recipe real fancy style 😂

Recipe:

Sauté veggies (chopped small) of choice – I used zucchini, yellow squash, carrot, onion, and orange bell pepper this time – and nuts (cashews or peanuts 1/4 cup to every 2 cups veggies) and raisins (1/4 cup to every 2 cups veggies) in olive oil with curry (2 tbs oil and at least 2 tbs curry per every 2 cups veggies)

Separately cook white rice to sticky (basmati rice works great but any white will work) 2 cups per every 2 cups veggies

Separately cook meat of choice (optional) here I have 1.5 lbs chicken thighs to about 8 cups veggies

Mix all up and eat

Can drizzle plain yogurt on top if desired

Geese Icing

Recently in Colorado it’s been on a pattern of snow 1x/week the be in the 40-50s. It’s gorgeous.

It also makes for some funny running stories

It was 2 days after a good heavy wet snow. About 45 out when I went to start a run. The thought was that the track was probably melted after a day and half in the sun so it would be fine to go run with the stroller and dogs.

Well I was wrong. It was almost completely covered still. At first it didn’t seem too bad. Stroller rolls quite smoothly through snow. But there’s a flock of geese that have been hanging out and their footprints cover about half the track. Each one being a spot that’s melted and refrozen. So a whole bunch of geese foot sized ice pits. Pushing a stroller through this is not only extremely difficult (as is pushing 1/3 of my body weight wasn’t enough) but feels like rolling over a washboard. Needless to say little man wasn’t happy and it wasn’t exactly runnable.

So pause and try again. Half the track is smooth snow without footprints. “I’ll just run U’s,” was my thought. Ok great the first few times but now the stroller tracks are turning into ice grooves. Once again little man not happy.

I decided to head home. Leave the dogs there, pee, grab a drink and try again on the paved trail. Honestly this wasn’t much better. Some areas were dry but about half was ice and slush pits.

Let’s just say it ended up being a painful it at all fun run. And bonus the little man o lay slept for a short bit and was awake before we were home, so no real nap.

Have a funny winter running story?? Share below!!

Summer Full of Mountain Climbs

And we return to mountain conversation:

Our family has a rather huge summer planned! It’s exciting…and overwhelming

I’m back to racing this year! Woot woot!!!

So June 1 is race #1 back for me. These means so much to me (I’ll talk more specifically about this later)

Hint hint I’m running here!!

Then the man made it to Western States this year!! We’re all heading out to CA for the race and some family time.

When we get back the kitchen is getting remodeled. Yay!! But this means the house will be a disaster for a bit and not exactly a safe place for an almost 2 year old. SOOOOO LittleD and I are going backpacking (stay tuned for updates on the process of getting ready and how it goes). I’m super excited about this. It’s going to be so much fun. But I have to pretty much have everything ready before we go to CA for Western States. So we’ll be gone for a while then home for maybe 2-3 days then out in the mountains!

Layout from before my last big backpacking trip

Talk about getting a little crazy!

Then it’s LittleD’s 2nd birthday (already?!) and hopefully family is coming out again.

And then end of September brings my big race!!

And in between all of this will be lots of hiking and running and as much mountain shenanigans as we can fit in.

BONUS: I’m super excited to announce that I’ve been invited to share our backpacking trip and some other adventures on the AllWomenAllTrails.com new upcoming blog collaboration. You can check them out there when the post or look for “Originally posted on allawomenalltrails.com” posts!!

(PS they run awesome Facebook groups ladies!!)

Stand Still

Sometimes you just have to stand still

Forget the heaviness in your legs

Forget the growls of the hungry stomach

Forget the burn in the lungs

Sometimes you just have to stand still

Spread your arms out wide

Feel the warmth of the sun on your bare skin

Feel the cool breeze cover your body with goose bumps

Sometimes you just have to stand still

Take in the cool crisp air

Admire the snow capped mountains

Sometimes you just have to stand still

To become one with the trail

Mac’n’Cheese

In honor of my website working again I decided to share about Mac’n’Cheese!!

Oh yea that’s right. Cheesy delicious goodness.

I haven’t been able to eat dairy for over a year. After having recently weaned (more to come on that later) I celebrated by making Mac’n’Cheese from scratch…

Bye bye boxed stuff – the pressure cooker wins again!

Ok seriously this is the best Mac’n’Cheese I’ve ever had

And super easy

Toss into pressure cooker:

1lb medium pasta shells or small elbow noodles

2 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp ground mustard seed

8 oz chopped mushrooms (optional)

Just shy of 4 cups water

Cook on high pressure for 4 min

Let decompress on own

Then mix in:

1 cup milk

4 oz cream cheese until it’s melted

Then:

12-16 oz cheese blend (I chose a Mexican cheddar blend) by handfuls as it melts

Top with or mix in:

Green onion to taste

A cooked meat of choice (optional bacon or chicken are great choices)

Enjoy!!

And ditch the boxed stuff…