Coach Jen B

Tomorrow is my birthday.  I had dinner and drinks with the girls the other night and we then we will celebrate next weekend as a family - dinner and shopping.  Very low key.  The way I like it.   Ward has been asking me what I want for my birthday.  I’ve been thinking long and hard about it.  All I could think of was, a shopping spree at Horny Toad, Patagonia, and NorthFace. Then he showed me these babies.  They are Barefoot Pace Gloves by Merrell . I am in love.  I’ve been wanting a low profile shoe and I’ve really loved the Vibram Five fingers.    But I wasn’t sure of the feeling around my toes.  I just wish there was a Merrell shore store closer so I could try them on before I buy them. Should I just go for it?  Buy them online and hope they work?  Hopefully there is free returns if they don’t work out!  Or, should I look for some low profile racers first?  Hmmm….decisions. 

So, the Midwinter Classic has officially been cancelled.  Yuck. The girls and I had a night-before-the-big-race pasta dinner with the families at my house.  When 6:30 came (which was the time the organizers for the Midwinter Classic were going to "make the call") we huddled around my computer to find out if were running in Cape Elizabeth or running in Gardiner tomorrow.  I guess we are lucky that we don't have to drive over an hour to run.  (I think)  We have been training for this race forever!  It was originally scheduled for February 6, then postponed until the 27th. The worst part about it is that Stacy and I will not meet our goal of running 1 race/month for 2011.   I had a post ready to go about my pre-race jitters and the prepping I got through to get ready for a race.  I guess you'll all have to wait until the next race.  Which is 2 weeks away.  We are going to do the Shamrock 5K in Bath. Good night all!!!

Yesterday I tried something different with my run.  I’m not one for adding speed work into my running, unless I’m on a treadmill.  They guys went out for a lunch run yesterday to do some speed work.  I opted to not tag along because their speed work is far different than my speed work.  Try a difference of 2 min/mile pace.  That’s how different it is!  Keeping in mind that my road is hilly and I don’t really have a quarter mile stretch that is flat, I decided that I would run as fast as I could handle to mailboxes (when I got onto relatively flat areas).  I have to admit, it was pretty fun.  I was super pumped to see negative splits AND take over a minute off my time!  Here’s the details: Overall time: 29:13 minutes for 3.5 miles  Average pace:  8:22/mile Mile 1:  8:44/mile Mile 2: 8:34/mile Mile 3: 8:13/mile Last ½ mile:  7:31/mile The plan is to rest today and tomorrow.  We are also going to have a pasta dinner with the “girls” and our families tomorrow night so we can “carb up”

I know I should really paint or do something productive around the house, but I really don’t want to.   Maybe tomorrow.   Instead, I started off the day with some pumpkin scones .   Then I took the kids to the Children’s Discovery Museum in Augusta.    My plan worked because both kids fell asleep on the way home!   On the way home, I noticed the temperature was warmer than I thought it was going to be.   32 degrees AND sunny!   Almost feels like a spring day.   Almost.   My rule with the chickens is if the temperature is around 30 degrees and it’s sunny, I open the door to give them fresh air.   Sometimes they come out and walk around.   Sometimes they don’t.   Today, they did.   They actually came up to the house and were sunning on the steps.   Too cute.   So, Izzy and I threw some bread out there for them as a snack.   I asked Izzy how cute she was today.   She said “too”.   Adorable!    It reminds me of the video I have of her just before her birthday.   Today’s

First thing this morning I made some granola.    My Pumpkin Granola Recipe 4 cups of oatmeal 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 cup canned pumpkin ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup….whatever you have available!) ¼ cup flax seed 2 TBS chia seeds (or more if I'm feel like it) ½ cup sunflower seeds 2 TBS canola oil ¼ cup shredded coconut ½ cup dried cranberries or other dried fruits Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix all ingredients (except the coconut and dried fruit) in a large bowl.   Spread into a baking dish – make it a thin layer.   Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.   Personally, I’d check it at 30 minutes, stir it up, then watch closely for the remainder.   It burns quickly! Sometimes I add in the coconut near the end of baking – around 10 minutes left or sometimes I just wait until I pull it out of the oven and add it with the dried fruit and mix well.   I like to see that there is coconut in my granola.   I add the dried fruit

We have been very fortunate for a majority of this winter with our egg supply.   It appears as though our chickens are happy, egg laying girls.   We get anywhere from 5-9 eggs a day.   Which means, lots of eggs!   I love eggs.   I thoroughly enjoy scrambled eggs, egg sandwiches, omelets, “dippy” eggs.    I could eat them every day and be a happy girl.   However, my family doesn’t always feel the same way.   My challenge for February break is to make other recipes using my eggs.   Today’s venture:   quiche.   I could make so many variations of quiche and be happy.   However, I need to make something my meat-loving hubby will enjoy as well.   So, I made a sausage quiche.    Sausage Quiche Recipe: -        10 eggs -        ½ cup milk -        8 oz shredded cheddar -        salt/pepper -        refrigerated pie crust -        8 links of breakfast sausage – browned and diced Directions: -        preheat oven to 400 degrees, mix all ingredients, roll out pie crust and press into p

           In my quest for pig knowledge, I’ve noticed some super cute pig farm names here in Maine.   Here you go: Chops Ahoy Hog Heaven This Little Piggy I need some ideas.   I know we’re not an official pig farm.   We’re definitely not going that route.   But I’d like fun name to go along with the gig!   Help!  

Raising a pig is harder than it looks.  I’m exhausted already and we are months away from getting piglets!  First, you have to schedule an appointment for a slaughter date.  Really?  I have to schedule an appointment for pigs I don’t have yet?  Yes, that is right.   I stumbled upon this information, of course.  I actually only called West Gardiner Beef to inquire about pricing for processing a pig.  That’s when I was told if I was planning on processing pigs, I needed to set up an appointment and that that 1 st available one was December 27 th What?  It’s only the middle of January.  I took the date right then and there.  Now, I have to find pigs.  It shouldn’t be that hard.  Can’t I just order them from the local feed store?  Nope.  At least the nice man at the feed store gave me the name of a local farm.  Stacy suggested that I contact Keena at our CSA, Little Ridge Farm .    Keena was a  wonderful resource.  She gave me the name of a website with a list of pig farmers in Maine

Today was one of those days that if I wanted to run during the daylight, I had to get it done during my lunch.  It was a perfect day to get outside!  47 degrees!  Can you believe it?  It was totally meant to be because the first song that played on my iPod was Katrina & the Waves Walking on Sunshine .  This wasn’t my best run, but I did do my 3.73 mile BJHS loop in 30:24 (8:09 pace).  Mile 1 – 8:21 min/mile Mile 2 – 8:22 min/mile Mile 3 – 8:10 min/mile final .73 – 7:56 min/mile Have a great day!

At the start of my winter outdoor running adventure, I noticed my ankles were cold.   At first it didn’t really bother me, but then the temperatures really started to plummet. “Coach” Ward told me I should wear different running socks so I could cover my ankles, but I really wasn’t buying into wearing different running socks.   I love my ankle height Smartwool running socks.   Then I read a post by Emilie from onemominmaine.com .   She wrote about the same problem with exposed ankles and her solution was to cut off the bottom part of a high pair of socks so they went over your regular socks and covered the ankles.   How ingenius!   I immediately found a pair of socks I no longer wear, cut the bottoms off and put them on.   I’ve run with them a few times on really cold days.   What is even more awesome, is during one of our runs, Jill noticed what I had done and said “you got that idea from One Mom In Maine, didn’t you?”    I actually wore them this weekend on our long r

The girls and I ran our 11 miles yesterday.  I have to say it was our best run yet.  We started at Jill’s house, ran past my house, and ended at Jess’s house.  We had some incredible smoothies made by Jess's hubby, Joe.  Yum!  The only girl’s house we left out of the loop was Stacy’s.  Unfortunately, it will take much more than training for a half marathon to get to her house.  Perhaps when we kick up the training to marathon training, we’ll take on that challenge and run to her house!   We did the run in 1:56:57 with an average pace of 10:32.    I was a little nervous before the run because my beloved Garmin decided to have a freak out, which nearly forced me to a freak out mode.  Seriously, it kept flashing some words and beeping at me.  Jill and I tried to fix it at her house before Jess and Stacy got there, but none of the recommendations on the Garmin help site were working.  I decided I would just let the battery die, recharge it and hope for the best.  This meant I was going

Today was delicious.  Good thing the girls and I are running 11 miles tomorrow.  I have to burn those calories off somehow!  I started off the day making Starbucks Pumpkin Scones.   I wish I could say I created the recipe, but I’m not that good.  I did tweak it a little, but that’s about it.  A few weeks back I made these delicious scones and they were a hit with the hubby and the kids and they were super easy.   Here’s the recipe: Scones -   2 cups all-purpose flour -   7 tablespoons sugar -   1 tablespoon baking powder -   ½ teaspoon salt -   ½ teaspoon cinnamon -   6 tablespoons cold butter -   ½ cup canned pumpkin -   3 tablespoons half & half -   1 large egg Glaze -   ½ cup powdered sugar -   1 tablespoon soy milk or regular milk TO MAKE THE SCONES:                                       1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.                                       2.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, a

I distinctly remember thinking (in my heavier days) that I’d like to exercise but wasn’t sure how I would fit it into my schedule.   I remember telling Ward that I “just couldn’t find the time”.   The truth of the matter is it means enough to you, you find time.   I need to exercise, so I make time. I’m not going to lie.   Sometimes it’s a challenge.   It requires thinking ahead.   I find myself looking at the calendar every Sunday to plan out my running week.   Which days I do I have an IEP meeting after school?   A staff meeting?   On those days, I know I cannot squeeze in a run after school and get to Miss Karen’s in time to get Izzy.   That’s just not going to work.   When I had a particularly packed meeting week and it was looking like I wasn’t going to get my runs in, my sister-in-law suggested that I run during my lunchtime.   At first I was nervous about this and thought I was going to get in trouble. Plus, I never eat during my lunchtime anyway.   I snack throughout the day

Running at night, alone, scares me.  Honestly, I have a difficult time going down to the barn (on my own property!) in the dark.  I have been known to bring a weapon (like a golf club or bat), one of our dogs, and the big flashlight when I have to go to the barn after dark.  You can imagine that running on our very rural road would completely freak me out.  I wasn’t impressed with today’s weather forecast, so I felt the need to get in a run yesterday.  I didn’t plan ahead, so I didn’t have my clothes with me to get in the run immediately after school, so that left me with only one option, running outstide, in the dark.  It was a glorious 35 degrees. It may seem cold to you, but compared to the temperatures I’ve been running in, 35 degrees seems spring-like, especially in February!  I chose my gear carefully.  I wore my white shirt as my top layer – super reflective, and I borrowed Ward’s reflective vest and head lamp – had to make sure cars could see me! Then, just in case, I brought

This is where I tucked my gum until we got running!   The girls and I got our run in this morning.   It was a pretty slushy run. We were running on the backroads of Richmond, Litchfield, and West Gardiner, so we have to expect terrible conditions.  What I wasn’t expecting was the hills!  I also wasn’t expecting the little old ladies to speed up as to make sure they would splash us either.  Geez!  While it wasn’t exactly 10 miles, it was close enough.  The Garmin (I really think I should name her something else, any ideas?) said we ran 9.9 miles for 1 hr and 48 minutes (10:54 pace/mile).   I put Ward's big boots on for the chicken coop cleaning. He said that they look sexy.  I think he's delusional! When I got home, I immediately put on Ward's boots and went down to clean out the chicken coop.  Those girls are much happier when they have clean wood shavings.  I thought since it was 37 degrees out there, it would be a perfect time to clean it out.  Let’s hope th