So……….I’m a dork

I am not the most detailed person in the world………I can be really anal about some things – following a training plan, running past my house till I hit the mile marker on my Garmin – those types of things. In other areas – well not so much!  Case in point – my class (yes, the one that I’m SO excited about) did not start on Monday as I thought.  It starts tomorrow…….. When I registered it said September 24th but I just assumed it was a Monday and didn’t pay much attention to the date outside of “September 20-somthing”.  I went to log on Monday and it said i had “no available classes at this time”.  I freaked out for a minute then pulled up my receipt to confirm I had in fact actually registered (I had).  Then I looked at the date…..oopsie…… Oh well, better early then late I guess.  So tomorrow I will be getting started.  For real this time.  I really, truly mean it.  Really!

In other news my older daughter is excited to do a triathlon with me – yippee!  Goal is Steelhead 70.3 next summer (she will be 18 then).  We will do other races prior to then to get her ready.  I am so thrilled that she has this interest and is actually open to working out (and racing) with me!  Tony and I had decided to do a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving this year and I had asked the girls if they wanted to do the 5k while we did the 10K.  Lexy opted for the 10K and Athena opted for sleeping in that day.  Monica over at Run, Eat, Repeat had posted a 10K training plan for a Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot so I printed that off for Lexy and she started it this week.

Workouts are back on plan!  As previously posted I took off Saturday but did the scheduled 8 mile run Sunday.  Yesterday called for “Strength and Stretching” which I did and then today was an easy 4 miles and I did that on the treadmill while Lexy did her 3 miles.  I’m feeling much better and SO glad I took Saturday off!  Tomorrow is a tempo run so I’m prepared to go a little harder and, believe it or not,  I’m actually looking forward to it.

Food has been really yummy.  We have a lot of produce in the fridge so I’ve been making some pretty big salads and I also made some butternut squash soup.  Technically it’s “Butternut Squash / Onion / Sweet Potato / Carrot” soup and it’s super yummy – especially with a tablespoon of Hemp Hearts sprinkled over top!

Butternut Squash Soup

Please excuse that cell phone shadow in the picture.  I must work on my photography skills!

The soup is super simple to make.  I cut up an onion and saute it (in a tiny bit of water) in a soup pot.  Once it browns up a bit I put 6-8 cups of water (or veggie broth if you have it – I’ve done it both ways)  in along with a cubed butter nut squash, a peeled and cubed sweet potato, a couple carrots and 2-3 bay leaves.  I also toss in about a tsp of sea salt and a bit of pepper.  You can season it however you want.  I’ve done it with cinnamon and cloves before too.  Cook on medium/high for about 30 minutes.  Once everything is soft (poke with fork to make sure pieces are tender) let the mixture cool.  Remove bay leaves and puree in batches and return to the pot to warm up.  Sometimes I also add some rice at this point (already cooked) or a bit of dry cracked wheat which I allow to cook in the soup.  This just thickens it even more and gives it another taste.  The soup was soup-er awesome with this salad:

Oh – I also found some zucchini in the fridge that Tony had bought when I was in Michigan.  I had to use those babies up as they were not going to last much longer.  A quick Google Search resulted in me finding this recipe for Zucchini Bread.   Gotta love Angela at Oh She Glows – I always find great recipes there.  Soooo I kind of followed it but kinda not.  I left out the nuts, raisins and didn’t do the topping.  I also didn’t use spelt flour cuz I didn’t have any.  BUT it still turned out really good!

Mix wet and dry ingredients separately before mixing them together

Put in loaf pan which I greased with coconut oil

One hour later – ready to eat!

It’s been a fun few days in the kitchen for sure.

Time for bed – but first a couple random cat pictures!  I had to take the little one in for shots today – he was SO good!  The Vet Tech said Nugget was a “perfect cat” – awwww – love the little dude!

Seriously – could he be any cuter?

And, not to be out done, Chester had to be cute today too by playing with my mouse.  Makes it difficult to work but it’s worth it!

Cat and Mouse – get it?

See – told you I’m a dork – cat pictures and all!