If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...

I had a pretty humorous running experience today that I just have to share. I chalk it up to being a Friday, I guess. All in all it was a great run, 3 miles/28:53. I set another personal best in the mile - 9:36 - more on this later...

The typical ironic things didn't happen today - the things that sometimes go wrong for me on running days...forgotten towel, dead ipod, freakish man staring at me. No, this time it was all new stuff. First, my "friend" (read: professor who compliments me all the time, but is also creepy) was there and commented that I "still don't look my age". I think he was trying to say more things to me, but I couldn't hear him over my music, luckily. Then, the walkers were there. Now I am a firm believer in just being active - no matter what fitness level you are at, but sometimes the walkers can irk the runners- especially if they get in the way. This happens at LifeCenter all the time. Some woman was on the phone there once, walking on the track! Seriously? Anyways, I digress. These particular walkers are great; they know all the etiquette to follow when someone is passing, etc. But today, I noticed that the man was carrying a man-bag of sorts that just looked out of place. I recently saw, "The Hangover" and all I could think of was "its not a man-bag, its a satchel" and I was cracking up. Turns out the walkers got the last laugh today, however. As I was passing them for what felt like the 85th time I stepped on a duck (you know what I mean). And I'm not talking about a cute little duckling. I'm talking about an all out, large, adult QUACK!!!! I could hear it through my ipod. I sped up and chuckled a bit to myself. Hey, it happens to everyone right. The walkers did not seem phased so maybe my duck remained my secret. We may never know.

So there is the story of my humorous run today. Oh, and by the way, who was the celebrity on my ipod who congratulated me on my personal best today? Tiger Woods. Go figure.

Back in the saddle

Well, after 4 days "off" I ran again today. Finally! In other words the last time I ran was Friday and today is Wednesday. I usually run every other day so this was definitely off my schedule. Why? Well, I had a heckofa cold or something at first, then wasn't sleeping because of the coughing and did have the energy to run. Well, I'm back baby! I ran my regular workout of 3 miles and I actually got a personal best for my mile - 9:49! I was pretty surprised and happy about that. The run was kinda rough at first, but by the halfway point I was in the groove. I told myself at the beginning of the run that I might stop after 2 miles, but all of a sudden it was 2 1/2 so I pushed through and it felt great - especially after the little lady in my ipod informed me of my new personal best. Good day. See - it is true what they say at Weight Watchers - it is not about what you do when you fall off the wagon, but it is all about what you do next. So, saddle up your workout, partner, and get going!!!

A dog with selective hearing??!!

Tonight I made one of our faves - fish and chips. It is actually tilapia that I marinated in a hawaiian marinade by Lowery's I think. To make the chips I sliced two Idaho potatoes very thin, lay them on a sprayed cookie sheet and sprinkle them with salt and some "essence". I bake them in a 350-400 oven for like 20 minutes and then flip them. They get really crunchy and have a kick that we all like. We usually have green beans with this meal, but I decided to switch it up tonight with asparagus - yummy!

Did I mention that this meal is usually our fave in the summertime? - when we can grill it? Cooking fish in the winter has meant using the broiler which for our family has proven to be problematic. Somehow I always seem to set off the smoke alarm when I use the broiler. Now, I have to stop here and assure you that this is NOT because I have burned said meal. At least, not usually. For some reason the smoke detector is extremely sensitive to any type of smoke (go figure) and tonight, as per usual it went off intermittently for like 15 minutes. Here is the humor in the story. We have an older dog who is quite deaf - except when it comes to the dreaded smoke detector. As soon as that thing goes off and before I can even grab the nearest magazine to make it stop, he is panting like it is his job and looking for shelter. Tonight he jumped in Mike's lap and was trembling. Give me a break. Finally, he headed downstairs to the basement for cover and has not reappeared since (dinner was an hour ago). So, spring can come quickly for the Ramsey homestead so we can bust out the grill again. Or maybe just get the dog (or me) a script for prozac.

Pretty good for a "non-techy"!

Wow! This is pretty easy! Welcome to my blog! I'm not a techy at all and I'm kinda impressed that I figured out how to do this myself - thought my husband would have to do it for me - ha, ha! Not sure where to begin - only that I hope this blog is a win-win. I hope it helps me stay on track for the next year and keep this weight off for good and I also hope it can help someone else. Perhaps there is a little "nugget" that I can share that can inspire you or give you a new idea to try or a little extra motivation to begin your own weight loss journey.

This blog will probably be a combination of cooking adventures with new recipes that actually work, are healthy and taste good, and my running experiences...stories about both...but we'll just see how it goes. I'm to how the spirit moves me. Let's get moving, shall we!!