Gazelles On Crack Rotating Header Image

photos

BLERGH! And also, BLECH!

Mar 14th, 2009
by gazelle.
14 comments

I do not feel well today. I have an issue that I will not discuss with you all, however, it is an issue that caused me to cancel my swim date with the Cheetah this morning. :(

Thursday after work, the Ambitious One & I headed to FitRight for some shoe shopping – since running shoes are the only ones I’m buying lately (*sob*) I really enjoyed myself! She got a new pair of shoes that should hopefully not make her toes fall off. I picked up a pair of New Balance trail runners.

Aren’t they pretty? I tried them out yesterday (on our GORGEOUS Friday) for a 5-mile trail run. They were pretty fantastic. They are so light & comfy! I broke them in by running through a few mud puddles. The run yesterday was terrific – I started out with the Cheetah, but eventually I had to fall back (even when she’s running slow for me, I can’t keep up for very long). I took a bunch of trails I’d never run on before (not something I would recommend if you weren’t really familiar with the area) and ran through a Sequoia grove. There were many violets & crocuses blooming – and so many birds flitting about – it was just GORGEOUS.

After my run, I lounged about at home for a while, talked to my parents, and then got all prettied up for a date with the architect. We went to Alameda Brewhouse. I hadn’t been there in a couple of years, but they have a decent happy hour (3-6) with $3 pints & 1/2 off all appetizers.

However, I was not overly impressed with their selection. They had a porter & a stout, a pale & a golden, and the only middle ground was an IPA. They were out of their winter seasonal, but still didn’t have a spring seasonal. No reds or ambers…..I drank the IPA, which isn’t my favorite, but it was alright. The food was fine, but nothing to write home about.  Overall, we spent $27 on 4 pints of beer & 3 appetizers, so it was a pretty good deal.

Maybe I should do an alphabetical review of all the breweries in Portland – next up, Amnesia (mmmm….Desolation IPA).

And now, for the photos from the drive the architect & I took a couple of weeks ago. We drove up through the eastern side of the coast range in February, and although there are no pictures of my handsome husband (he wouldn’t let me take any) there are a couple of me.

It was a fun trip, although the curvy roads always make me a wee bit nauseated.

Tomorrow is the Shamrock 15K – and I sincerely hope that I am feeling a little bit more like being active then. And that my body will cooperate and allow me to leave the vicinity of the bathroom.

And, now, to take your mind off what I just said = some gratuitous cute:

Long Run Report – 11 Miles, Bitches!

Feb 22nd, 2009
by gazelle.
30 comments

My Garmin & I are having a small disagreement. A four-minute  disagreement, in fact. However, when I imported my workout into SportTrack, it was nicer, so it is my new best friend.

I met up with the Ambitious One & Mr. Pi this morning for our long run. Mr. Pi was running 14  miles (and finished when I had about 3/4 of a mile to go, I think). A & I were running 11. But not just any 11 mile run. We were running up Terwilliger.

We ran three miles on the track at the bottom of the hill to warm up, and then started on our way.

The elevation climb, according to SportTrack, was a total of 1,000-ish feet.  According to my Garmin (who is a big liar, and never gets elevation right), it was about 500 feet, but at one point, we were 500 feet BELOW sea level (big liar). According to Map My Run, it was about 500 feet. I have decided to go with 500 roughly :)

We ran about 3.5 miles to Barbur, and then turned around & ran back (mostly) down, and finished with a 1-mile cool down on the track.

According to Garmin, I ran 11 miles in 2:07:36; which is 11:36 minute miles.

According to SportTrack, I ran 11.63 miles in the same time, which is a 10:58 pace.

Guess which one I prefer?

I actually think it may have been somewhere between the two. I know that I didn’t run mile 4 in 17:06 as the Garmin said – SportTrack says I ran it in about 13 minutes, which makes WAAAY more sense to me, especially as A’s Garmin said 14 minutes for the same stretch, and I was a bit ahead of her at that point. However I’m not sure I actually ran .6 miles more than I thought (although I would’ve believed anything between 11 & 11.5 miles).

I don’t know why I even really care! (I’ve decided to claim 11.5 miles & an 11:04 pace, obviously I do care.) It was an awesome run. I feel that I’m ready for Shamrock & that I have my hill-running legs back. I have loved hill running ever since The Cheetah schooled me good on some Washington Park runs (she always said, “it doesn’t matter if you’re running slower than you can walk, just keep running; and definitely just keep moving”).

The big mistake I think I made was not bringing a Gu (we’re out) for the run.  When I got home, I ate a banana w/ PB & then took my ice bath (could’ve used more ice; but it wasn’t as bad as I expected). After the bath, I was so hungry that I couldn’t see straight & felt like passing out.

I ate some emergency quesadillas (corn tortillas, chopped tomato, frozen corn, shredded cheese – microwave for 2.5 minutes, eat like you haven’t seen food in a year) and drank, in this order: 1 large glass of water; 1 large glass of gatorade; 1 beer.

I feel much better now, but pleasantly tired. My knee feels good.  The arches on both feet ache terribly, though – I feel like I pulled a muscle in my feet. It’s so weird!

Later today I will use the foam roller & do some more stretching (I stretched about 10 minutes before & after my run – go me!).

In the meantime, I wanted to share some pics of today’s run that The Ambitious One took today.

I’m not sure if I mentioned that I’m on vacation for the next week, but I am planning on having a delightful week off, with much running and other pleasant activities. Like sleeping.

Happy runday!

Monday Photo Essay

Jan 26th, 2009
by gazelle.
22 comments

I don’t actually have a lot of photos for my essay today – but I did have two that I wanted to share with you.

The first is the long-awaited (at least by me) photo of the winter party dress.

Those shoes are NOT the shoes I intended to wear (they are, however, my wedding shoes AND the most expensive pair of shoes I’vew ever purchased – they cost twice as much as my wedding dress).  That’s also kind of a strange angle, since we couldn’t find the tripod, so the camera is resting on the kitche counter.  Aren’t we sharp? I do wish, though, that I had a more straight-on photo. My necklace is pretty! :)

The next photo is from the blogging runner get together last Wednesday.

From left to right: The Ambitious One, me, Rocket-Shoes, his wife Running Stories, Junk Miles & our out-of-town guest: I *heart* running. Not picture (because he was our photographer) is Mr. Pi.

Our monthly get-togethers are quite fun! On our run yesterday, Junk Miles & I were talking about get togethers & potlucks,  and determined that we might need to have a runner potluck. I think we might have to, at that.   Something to consider for February!

I know that this is not going to get me any sympathy, but DAMN! it’s hard to go to work on a Monday.

Busy busy busy

Jan 12th, 2009
by gazelle.
15 comments

Even though I am not at the job that gives me a bi-weekly check, I am busy this morning. I researched & wrote my Wednesday shoe porn post (that is SUCH hard work). I wrote tomorrow’s product review/contest post – I need one more product test tomorrow morning before hitting ‘publish’ on that one. I am writing THIS post! I tell you, the work never ends.

I love my Monday project days. Today is when I don’t do ANY housework. I work on blog stuff. I work on other writing stuff. I hit the library. I Bikram. I finally remember to pick up my damn boots already!

This week, I didn’t lose any weight – which is a little sad, although not if you think about the eleventy-million beers I had last night (to wash down the eleventy-million cups of coffee I had at brunch).

I still have a headache (which I believe to be completely unrelated to either the beer or the coffee). I am a bit concerned about the inversions at Bikram – I hope my head doesn’t fall off & roll away like it did when I was doing yoga at home on Saturday – that could be awkward!

I also wanted to share some of the wonderful things that have come my way over the last few weeks. I’ve had an incredibly lucky couple of months – between winning some cool stuff & getting a totally unexpected but awesomely cool gift & finishing some awesome home improvement projects. So, after a 3 month hiatus, here is the return of the Monday photo essay.

I have won so many things in the last few weeks – it’s been super awesome.

From Mizfit - I got 5 coupons for free Blue Bunny ice cream!
From ABDPBT - I got the awesome $100 gift card (and totally spent it on Target stuff & a night out with a friend – woot!)
From Back in Skinny Jeans – I won the Sephora/OPI nail polish – the color? Skinny Jeans, of course!
From Leslie at Never Say Diet – I won the edible arrangements – see what was inside!

Saturday, I got the most awesome package in the mail! My awesomest friend Margaret (she of the rum, and the scrabble, and the Prada shoes (which were the very first shoe porn shoes) sent me this beautiful hand-woven rug. From Pakistan, I’m guessing, since that’s where she lives now.

Isn’t that gorgeous? It totally puts our machine woven rug to shame! So beautiful. Isn’t Margaret the best? Shouldn’t she move to Portland?

Other things that got done – my beautimous new shelves that will soon be host to a variety of green & growing things:

And, finally, the rainbarrels are DONE, bitches! Done & full. I think I might need 50 rainbarrels to effectively harvest Portland’s rain. That is two 55-gallon drums completely full since Tuesday. Anyone need rain water? It’s great for houseplants (I think now I need a watering can!).

I am trying really hard to stay positive. Between the still-present headache, the work stress & the still-absent sun, it’s turning out to be a hard month. I know that on February 24, the sun will rise before 7 AM for the first time (incidentally, that’s my birthday), and that it’s all uphill from here, but January SUCKS, people. This year seems much harder than last year – which I am completely attributing to the fact that I’m not outside running during my lunch hour 3 times a week. I really can’t make that work at my new job – the one thing that I really miss about the last job. BUT – as soon as it’s light until 6ish or so, I’m hitting the trails near my current work at least twice a week AFTER work. And I can’t wait!

Happy Cajun Christmas!

Dec 25th, 2008
by gazelle.
8 comments

Today was a nice day. The architect & I slept late, then got up & had coffee & opened gifties. He got me a flashlight for running, and I, who had intended to do some shopping last weekend, got him a copy of Goonies at the supermarket yesterday. I selected Goonies because, well, the selection sucked. BUT also because we spent our honeymoon in Astoria where Goonies was filmed.

Anyhoo – after coffee & presents, Cajun Christmas began – with homemade biegnets.

We had those with mimosas. Delicious! (And, if anyone wants to come over for a brunch sometimes, I have more biegnet dough in the freezer, so we can have a delicious brunch.)

After taking a breakfast break, it was back to the salt mines. I got started by putting the turkey in the oven and then starting work on the pie.

I made the pie crust from scratch (of course).

Then, it got crazy dark. I knew I hadn’t cooked into the night, yet, so I looked out the window. You’ll never guess what I saw. Go ahead. Guess.

If you guessed snow, you’d be correct!

Our pretty holly tree has been the refuge for a large flock of robins (like 3 dozen, maybe) during this snow storm – much to the delight of the cats.

After yelling a bit (which didn’t seem to help), I finished the pie.

The pecans redistributed themselves during the baking – and those dark spots are not burned spots, just the darker pecan layer. I haven’t sampled yet, but will definitely update you with a PFR.

Once the pie was in the oven, I made the cranberries & cornbread.

I chopped the veggies (onions, garlic, peppers) and shredded the cheese.

I took the turkey out of the oven to cool.

Then, I browned the (turkey) bacon, and started the black-eyed peas. They were FANTASTIC! (Recipe tomorrow on the You Are What You Eat page.)

Once the black-eyed peas were merrily cooking (they looked merry), I started the roux for the turkey etouffee.  The architect made some rice.

Finally, just before two, I removed the slightly chilled wine from the fridge & decanted it and set the table.

I don’t know if cranberry sauce is Cajun or not, but I really like cranberry sauce, had some cranberries, and DIDN’T get any for Thanksgiving, so I decided they needed to be included.

Doesn’t that look delicious? It was all pretty damn good, but the best, by general consensus, was the black-eyed peas. Yum!

After dinner, I went to relax (I’d been standing for aboout 4 hours), and then, like magic, the sun came out. The house was filled with light – the first time in about 2 weeks that we didn’t need lights on to read!

Then, I took a nap.

Next? Pie.

Tomorrow? I should be able to get to work.

Now if only we had New Year’s Eve plans……

Newer Posts →