Highlights to my day-

          There is NOTHING more exciting to my morning than having my own home-made tea. This one has mint leaves, blueberry leaves from my garden and slices of ginger. I let it sit for about 10 minutes and then drink the entire thing, which is about 2 cups worth.  

My first crop! 3 tomatoes, not ready yet though....can't wait to have them. I also have chives, beans, kale, lettuce, strawberries, blueberries, mint, cilantro, peppers and mint growing in my garden. 

Someone in my neighborhood got rid of some crib sides and guess who got them? I created a triangle with them over my strawberries, which keep being eaten by wildlife. I need to cover them now with some thin material so that bugs and birds don't get to them. I also used some recycled some wood Nora had me buy last year for a woodworking project she was going to work on but never did to hold up my many bean plants. I am not crazy about beans but with the shady gardens I have been dealt I am willing to grow what wants to grow, and it seems like beans want to grow here. 

Updates on longer runs, running stores and new buys

Quick updates....

***I ran 11 miles this past Saturday.....I have never run that much at one time in my life....Needless to say I felt amazing. I was also happy to find that the next day I experienced very little cramping. 

***Making time to run is one of my big issues lately.  Although I am still running about 20-22 miles a week, more and more if it is being chewed up by my long runs, making the weekday runs easier and easier to miss.......In addition, the cold makes running outdoors so unappealing, despite knowing that the minute I get out there I am loving it within minutes of starting. It's the 'getting out there' that takes a high level of resolve, resolve I lack when trying to make up needed sleep.

***I found a running store a few blocks form my house. PR Running. I went in and bought Under Armor women's shorts, 2 pairs of Wright socks, and a leg compression sleeve. The man who helped me was quite friendly, even measured my calf to measure me for the right compression calf sleeve. I was happy to get a free copy of Competitor magazine, which I love. Can't wait to have a minute to go through it. Being a full time teacher with 2 young kids leaves you with very little me time....reading is quite a luxury. 

***In the next few weeks I will see how my body handles the upping of long-run miles. I know myself and only in seeing that I am handling these higher miles well will I begin to even entertain the possibility of preparing for a marathon in late 2013, or early 2014. No sense rushing this decision. In time it will become clear whether or not I can wrap my mind around this new possibility.

*** Tossing around the idea of doing a juice fast before going to my mom's next weekend. I will need the weekend to plan and buy enough vegetables and fruits to make double what I normally drink. I am curious to see if juicing more daily affects my level of performance while running. Will update you all on that as I find out.