My July Staycation...

So since it has only been a month since my vacation, I might as well go ahead and post my pics, right? As I may have mentioned, the week I took in July was just a stay at home type deal but enjoyed it just the same. The most exciting event of the week was the Ladies Day tennis event I attended at the Atlanta Tennis Championships.

Basically you paid $30 to attend a tennis clinic and luncheon. The clinic was just OK. They had tons of ladies there so it probably the best they could do given the numbers of players. The best part was post-lunch. Most of the ladies vacated the premises but my friend and I decided to check out the practices and got to see several top players in action - very exciting!

Some pics from the day...

They had several items in a silent auction. This was one of the items, John Isner's shoe from the French Open.


A racquet made of chocolate.



We caught a few minutes of Robby Ginepri practicing as we were leaving.


We were VIPs for the day :)



Me and Leyton Hewitt.


Me and John Isner. For you non tennis types, he is the one who played that 3-day match at Wimbledon. I am not standing in a hole, he is not standing on a step. He is that tall. To give you some idea, I am 5'5". WOW.


John Isner. We got to see a lot of his practice session. THere were maybe 10 other people in the stands.


We were THAT close. My friend, Joan, is giving coaching tips to him (or not).


At the luncheon.


More of John Isner.

Buitoni and Blood Pressure...

CR and I went to the grocery store together today. Trust me, this is RARE. When we do go we always check our blood pressure. Yes, we are 85. Actually, Rick checks his because he is on medicine for blood pressure and me, well it is my chance to one up him. Guaranteed. Not only are we 85 but are blood pressure numbers are a contest. Today's results, winner by a knockout - Karen!

Rick stepped up to the cuff. A few seconds later he got a high normal, 138/81 heart rate 71. My turn. 91/59 with a heart rate of 57. To quote Rick, just one beat higher than a corpse. Lol. He is jealous... :)

While we were at Publix, we picked up the newest Buitoni frozen dinner. I was lucky enough to be given a free coupon from Buitoni to try it out. I guess if I have to eat lobster and shrimp ravioli, I will. Twist my arm...





As you would expect, it is easy to heat up. It is a stovetop prep and takes more like 10-15 minutes as opposed to the 5 minutes advertised on the bix. Still fast.... Even CR liked this and he is a red meat sauce and pasta kind of guy. This really tasted like something you would get in a restaurant which is saying a lot. The box says it serves 2 but it is really could serve 3. All in all two thumbs up.

Five Races for Friday...

Run with Jill had a post today with her Bucket List of races to do someday. The post got me to thinking about races I would like to do in the not to distant future. I quickly realized my "bucket list" is not much of a stretch. I guess I don't dream BIG. Stretch goals... not really my thing. I guess I like the idea of my dreams being within reach. LOL. My top races I would like to do at some point are all within 6 to 8 hours of my house. Truth be told, if my financial house were a little tidier I probably would have done them already.

My local bucket list...

1. 70.3 Augusta. I would be completely satisfied with a 70.3. An ironman? Not going to happen for me. Really.

2. Iron Girl 15k, Clearwater FL. The distance is far enough to be worth the drive, oh and, there is a beach.

3. Women's Running Half Marathon, St. Petersburg FL. Noticing a trend here? Same reasons as above but also like the tote bag designed for the race. I think they give crocs too. I don't even like crocs but it makes the race enticing. It is a sickness...

4. Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon. I love to eat. I love to run. It just makes sense. What is cooler than a half marathon that starts at 10:00 PM? I almost hit the registration button several times on this one before it sold out.

5. Virginia Beach Rock N Roll. Another Beach half marathon. Enough said. Next year, the RnR is coming to Savannah. I DEFINITELY will be signing up. I heart Savannah! (No offense, VA Beach!).


AND... if we are going to push the envelope, dream a little bigger and travel a little further, these would be my races:

1. London Marathon. I am obsessed with London and England in general. Sadly, I doubt that I will ever get there.

2. Marine Corps Marathon. Washington DC. It would just be cool to run past the monuments. Never been there either. Must.go.soon.

3. NYC Marathon. I would love to see NYC on foot. The crowd support, the city, all would be awesome!

4. Leading Ladies Marathon. Spearfish, South Dakota. This one just sounds cool. I have heard some great things about it and the scenery, well... awesome!

5. Big Sur Marathon. For the scenery. Breathtaking!


Someday, someday I will check these off my list! Which ones are on your list?


P.S. Don't forget to enter my CSN giveaway! Your odds are pretty good... :)

1.

Back from Vaca with a Giveaway...

I spent the week of the 19th on vacation from work. It was a staycation thing. You know, you don't go anywhere but just stay at home and enjoy being off work. Oh and did I ever enjoy it :)

I spent a lot of time playing tennis, swimming and thinking about accomplishing tasks at home. Let's just say I was much more successful at the swimming and tennis than the accomplishment of tasks. I got to lap swim outdoors in the sunshine, attend an awesome tennis clinic at an ATP tour tennis tournament and located a new running trail at a local park. All in all a pretty great week. I'll dazzle/bore you with the details some other time!

In the meantime... I have a CSN giveaway for you (queue the cheering). Who couldn't use $40 to spend in a CSN store? I have seen this giveaway on several blogs lately and honestly had no idea how many sites were under the CSN umbrella. They have a little of everything from cookware to fitness equipment. Would you believe dining room furniture as well? I am not your typical girl, I really do not enjoy shopping. AT ALL. I like to go in to a store pick up exactly what I had in mind and get on my way. I LOVE the idea of being able to find furniture I like and have it shipped to my house. let's not even talk about the cookware. HEAVEN.

Visit http://csnstores.com to see all the ways you could spend that $40 gift certificate.


To have a chance to win, it is pretty simple:
1. Either be a follower or become one and leave a comment on this post.
2. For an additional entry blog about this giveaway! Leave me a second post to let me know you linked the giveaway.


Entries will be accepted until midnight (EST) on August 15, 2010.


Good luck! I will spending the remainder of the day mentally amping myself up to run 10 miles in the crazy heat tomorrow. My first double digit run in longer than a can remember. It certainly won't be the last as the Chickamauga marathon is about 3 months away. tick, tock.... can't wait!


Disclaimer... There may be shipping charges or international fees in the case of Canadian addresses from CSN. You may resume your weekend!

Getting my swim on...

I was fortunate that I was taught to swim at a very early age. I guess I never realized how lucky I was until I started meeting friends who were learning to swim to be able to compete in triathlons. I am constantly amazed at the number of people who didn't swim as a kid. Clearly I lived in a sheltered world where EVERYONE swam.

Swimming has been my first love over the years. More than running, more than tennis. There I said it. Given that, I don't know why I go for so long without diving in and doing some laps. Maybe it is the orange tint it gives my hair or the goggle marks that stay with me all morning. Perhaps it is the dry skin. Wait, I said I loved swimming, right?

There is nothing better than cruising along the length of the pool following that black line, getting to the end and doing a little flip turn just because you can and because it is kind of fun. Seriously, swimming is the best all over workout I have found.

Oh, it can be boring if you don't have people to swim with or a masters group. If you swim on your own, I HIGHLY recommended checking out swimplan.com. The site is free and gives you workouts created to your specifications. Love it!

Today's swim:

6x100 (75 free, 25 kick)
1x800 pull
4x100 free with fins
8x25 2 of each stroke
1x100 cool down

It broke things up from a boring straight 2000 swim. The hour was up before I knew it! Check out swimplan, pick a lane and start swimming!

Location:Getting my swim on...

Half-birthdays...

It may take some time but I feel this half birthday thing WILL catch on. Granted, in my 41 years, only 2 people have jumped on the band wagon and celebrated with me. My Dad one year and then my friend Theresa who got us free ice cream and a song another year.

In honor of my half birthday, I did what anyone would do, I made the Barefoot Contessa's coconut cupcakes.




Leave it to the Contessa to make a cake mix complicated. Seriously, do the eggs HAVE to be room temperature and the water added alternately to the mix. I threw caution to the wind and threw cold eggs (gasp) in with the water and mix all at once.




Despite my rebel attitude, they turned out delicious. The only downside is that I think the Contessa must not like frosting (or maybe I like it more than normal). There wasn't quite enough for 10 cupcakes. Still delish!





Hope everyone had a great weekend! Anyone have any ideas on what to do with okra besides fry it? My farmer has given us loads of okra the last two weeks and am drawing a blank.

Peachtree Road Race

This morning I got up earlier than should be legal and made my way to my Dad's house at 5AM to catch the train to the Peachtree Road Race. An Atlanta tradition, it is the world's largest 10k with 55,000 runners. They implemented a new wave start this year and while I couldn't tell much different towards the front, I am sure it made for less congestion for the corrals in the back. What I did notice was that they started each wave individually. Instead of doing one start for the entire race, they started corral A, waited a few minutes gave corral B a start and so on. I was running from the start and didn't feel like I was dodging people as much as usual so thumbs up for the new system.

In a race with 55,000 runners I generally am surprised if I ever run into anyone I know. Today was unique in that I easily saw 10 friends before the start. Most were in my corral so I guess that narrowed my chances of bumping into friends, I suppose. A nice surprise to have friends to chat with while waiting for the start.

All in all, a great race. I wasn't really going to get a PR but just to enjoy the run. I was amazed at how quickly the miles went by I was at mile 4 before I knew it. If only my marathons could be that way. You know, "oh wow, you mean we are already at mile 22...how did that happen". One can dream.

A few sights from the day...

Dad hydrating up while we waited for his walking buddy near the start.



My view from the start.



Flyover after the singing of the star spangled banner.



My corral mates, Meg and Janice.



I bumped into a fellow Marathon sponsored athlete pre-race. Readers, meet Alexa. :)



The course is lined from start to finish with specatators. Some areas are more crowded than others. Here are a couple of sweet ladies decked out for the day.



The Chick-fil-A cows. A lot of the restaurants along the route come out in full force from hosting bands out front to pumping t-shirts out of cannons to the runners. It really is such a fun atmosphere! This is the original rock n roll race.



Uncle Sam was my pacer for a mile or two. He is cool like that. A real giver. He was flanked by two friends carrying very large flags. So I felt like I was in a parade for a bit.



Post race, everyone headed to t-shirt pick up.



Theh t-shirt deisgn is a closely guarded secret that is not revealed until race day. They have a contest prior to the race to pick the design. They narrow it down to maybe 5 designs and allow everyone to vote. It always fun when you go to pick up to see which design won.



Blogworld, meet Jason the second Marathon athlete I met today.



Pre-race as we were contemplating where to meet up post race, Dad says, "meet me by the food". Yeah right. Luckily we narrowed that down to something a little more specific. Check out the family reunion area.



You can see where someone might have a little trouble without a specific meeting point.



This year at the finish Publix was handing out peaches. A little unusual even for the PEACHtree Road Race which is held in the PEACH state.



And when the Peachtree Road Race hands you peaches, you make Peach Cobbler :)



1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup plus 3 T sugar (divided)
1 cup flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 cup milk
1 t vanilla
6 peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 t cinnamon

Heat oven to 375. Pour melted butter into 8-inch square pan. Combine 1 cup of the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk and vanilla. Pour batter into pan on top of butter. Toss the peaches with 3 T sugar and cinnamon. Layer on top of batter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.