After lunch, I went over to a friend's house to hang out for the afternoon with her and her little baby! Since they don't have air conditioning in their apartment and it was over 90 degrees, we went for a walk to a small local grocery store about a half mile from their house. It was nicer to be moving around outside than it was to be in the apartment where the hot air was trapped.
The store was cute and had a lot of local produce. We each got a bakery item from a local vegan bakery. My friend likes their stuff because she has a mild dairy allergy and typically gets sick to her stomach when she eats much dairy. I got a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing, called a seriously good chocolate cupcake, and it was really good! They call their cupcakes "Texas-sized", which confirms the idea that everything is bigger in Texas, and that sizing seemed accurate. They were rather large and I probably shouldn't have eaten the whole thing, but I did! I would not have known it was a vegan cupcake if I hadn't seen the wrapper. It was probably had more crumb (the technical term for how much the cupcake falls apart when you bite into it) than a typical cupcake, but it was very good and moist and I really enjoyed it.
Around 3:30 I headed home and on the way home I decided to drive and check out a possible long run route. There is a Tim Horton's about 4 miles away from here and I wanted to see if there was a way I could get there that didn't involve a street without good shoulders to run on, even if it took a little longer. I think the way I looked at today might work and there is another street that I think is less busy and so might be even better. Unfortunately that street is under construction so I couldn't easily head down it to check it out. I will keep my eyes peeled and check it out as soon as I can. Ending a long run at a bakery and having my husband come pick me up sounds like an enjoyable way to motivate myself to run double digit miles!
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| Yummy cupcake! (not my best ever picture) |
For dinner we had an "italian" pot roast that I put into the crockpot this morning with corn on the cob. Basically, I seasoned the meat with salt, pepper and italian seasoning, cook it in pasta sauce and then top it with mozzarella cheese when it comes out of the crockpot. It turned out pretty well I think. I used the cooking juices to make a pasta sauce that we will use sometime later this week.
After dinner, we hung out and relaxed for the evening. My husband studied for a quiz he has tomorrow and I messed around on the computer.
After dinner, we hung out and relaxed for the evening. My husband studied for a quiz he has tomorrow and I messed around on the computer.
I unfortunately had to delete a comment from a reader due to some information I am trying to keep private that she mentioned. It is totally my fault, not hers, so I wanted to put her comment back up here and answer it.
ReplyDeletebrista July 17, 2013 at 11:23 AM
Hi! I found your blog when you were on a "motivational Monday" post on another blog. I also live in (she mentioned the city) . I'm trying to start running but it's sooo hard to keep on it. How do you make running NOT suck? I can only jog for about a minute or so before I have to slow down again. :(
I love that bakery (she mentioned the bakery's which I have now deleted from my post)! Their cupcakes are definitely big enough to split and still be happy. My only complaint is that everything I've had from there is super-de-duper incredibly sweet -- dessert is supposed to be sweet, but I'm guessing they add even more sugar than non-vegan recipes!
Here is the reply I sent her.
DeleteRunning did rather suck at first. So much so that the first time I tried to start running, about 4 years ago, I did it like 3 times and quit. Part of my problem then was that I was sprinting each time and not running slowly. It sounds like you have something figured out that I didn't then.
Something I did this time around, which helped keep me motivated to run, was to register for a race. If I spent money on something, I wouldn't want the race to be a complete disaster, so I would train for it.
Something else that I hadn't gotten to do until recently was to run with someone. I get to run twice a week with a friend of mine. Our paces ar drastically different (I am about 2-3 minutes per mile slower) but just having someone to run with makes it more enjoyable.
Eventually I stopped dreading every time I went to run and then I eventually started to look forward to those days. It was a gradual shift and I am not sure I would even say when exactly it happened.
Hi! I'm sorry, didn't mean to post too much info. I posted another comment a few minutes ago before reading this so if it has too much info, definitely edit and I'll be more aware from now on. :)
DeleteI'm registered for a 5k at the end of August and another one in the fall, so hopefully that'll help. I downloaded a couch-to-5k type app and if I actually follow the plan, I should be mostly running by the first 5k and totally running by the second. I can get people to sign up for 5ks with me, but when it comes to training, I'm kind of embarrassed to ask someone to go with me. Everyone I know who would WANT to run is already fit and fast and I don't really have any friends who want to get fit.
No worries about it! It was my own fault.
DeleteI understand about asking people to train with me. I always feel concerned about asking people faster than me (I don't want to slow them down) and my friend who is slower than me doesn't want to slow me down. I have no problem with running with someone slower than me, but I don't want to make her feel guilty the whole time. I don't know how fast you are, but I would be more than willing to run with you on occasions if we could work it out.