I'm silly- and the pickle recipe!

So today, after trying my hardest to talk myself out of running, I finally laced up my shoes and went out to run. I left my jogging stroller in J's car and he took it to work, so I sucked it up and just took my regular stroller *gasp*. (Turns out it was easier to push because the jogging stroller desperately needs air in the tires.)

Okay, let me back track a little. Last week J ran with me the 4 days that I went to run. I LOVE when he comes with me, not only because he pushes the stroller-- but he also "pushes" me to do my best. He is a great motivator. Well last week I was feeling great and we were right on track with the Couch to 10K program that I've been doubling. And we even ran 6 miles on Friday! We were on a roll and burning a ton of calories all while having fun!

Well today he has something to go to after work so I decided to go on without him (like i did before last week). I forced down my half of a PB&J for breakfast and H and I went out to run! I was supposed to run 20 minutes without stopping to walk. Last week we were running 8 minutes and walking 5 minutes- so it was a big jump but I was feeling great last week and thought I could do it! Well at minute 11 my heart rate was getting dangerously high and I couldn't catch my breath, so I had to stop and walk. I was devastated. I am the type of person who does things 100%, when I'm supposed to run 8 minutes, I run the entire 8 minutes, NO stopping till the timer goes off. I knew for my health *and H's* that I needed to slow my heart rate down before I passed out or something, but dang it, I really didn't want to stop! Maybe it would have been easier if I wasn't pushing her, or if it wasn't so humid, or if I had eaten more this morning. I don't know- there were a number of factors that could have prevented me from running the full 20 minutes.

Anyway, after my run I was feeling really down about myself.

"What is wrong with me?" "Why couldn't I run the full time when I "should" be able to because that's whats on the program?"

Those were the questions going through my head. But then I started thinking- 3 weeks ago I was struggling to run for a minute and a half, the next week I was REALLY struggling to run for 3 and 5 minutes without stopping to walk. The next week, I thought 8 minutes was impossible. I've accomplished ALL of those things. And look how far I've come. I can run 11 minutes (while pushing a 45 pound stroller) in the heat and humidity. I think that's pretty stinkin' good considering 3 weeks ago a minute and a half nearly killed me. So instead of being negative and thinking about what I can't do (yet), I'm going to focus on how quickly my body has changed, how much father and faster I can run, and how exciting its going to be when I can run 20 minutes without stopping. I may not be there today but I'm better than I was yesterday.


Also, in addition to running, J started doing 100 push-ups throughout the day and since I have zero upper body strength I decided I wanted to do it to (girl style). I just have to brag on my husband because his arm, chest and back muscles are getting really big and defined! I'm still working on it and haven't done it consistently like he does but I'm going to do it every day this week! I've already doing 50 today so I'm well on my way :). I'm looking forward to having definition on my arms and back!

Also, last week Mom and I went pickle crazy! We pickled cucumbers, carrots, banana peppers, Brussels sprouts, and bell peppers. Well, today for lunch I tried them and they were SO GOOD. Salty, vinegary and definitely dilly! Seriously, the perfect pickle. So I'm going to share the recipe!

I used this recipe, but I tweaked it a bit. Last time I did this it was too sweet for me so instead of 1/2 cup of sugar I used 1/4 and put a little bit more than 1/3 cup of salt. We also added fresh dill (along with the dill seed) and fresh garlic.

They are so good and I will never buy store pickles again!

Until Next Time
Mrs. K Scott