This morning I ran the St. Leo's 10K and set a new PR! 50:34 (8:09 pace) and we had perfect NC weather. I was second in my age group but was so upset that first place was only 10 seconds ahead of me. I will sprint harder next time!

My dad ran the 5k (and won his age group) and then ran the 10k with me. And he even let me beat him by a few seconds. He's awesome. Thanks to my wonderful fiance for always being at the finish line & always taking pictures for me!

Okay, so I have a really funny story about this race. You know how when you're racing and you pick out someone in front of you that you absolutely have to beat? Well, for this race it was the Chick-fil-a cow. Someone in the Chick-fil-a cow suit ran the entire 10k and was about 200 yards in front of me the whole time. I was getting so upset that the person in the cow suit was beating me, so I really picked up the pace the last quarter mile or so to beat him. When we were just feet from the finish line I thought I wasn't going to catch him, but he took a tumble. Luckily my fiance was able to catch the whole thing on camera.. Poor cow.

I spent the rest of the day with my adorable nephew at the Farmer's Market where I ate my weight in boiled peanuts. MMMMmm

My sister in law and I are obsessed with these wine slushies that we found in a little wine shop in the town where I grew up. So naturally we had to go get some today (they are amazing). They were left over from St. Patrick's Day so they were green.. and so were our mouths.

Did anyone else race today?? How did you do?

1. This little girl. She just always has to be number one.. I took her to my parent's house before work so she could play with her cousin & bff Snuffleupagus - my brother's black lab/pit bull mix (pictures to come).

2. These jeans that I got in my Stitch Fix this month. Who doesn't love polka dots?? And yes that is a golf ball under my desk at work that I use to roll out my feet during the day. Plantar fasciitis prevention!

3. It's rest day. I get to race tomorrow! So today I'm resting and drinking lots of water. And eating lots of carbs, which is always fun. I came across this quote on Pinterest. I always get a little nervous/anxious before a race, and I'm always hard on myself if I don't set a new PR every time. But running is not ALL about racing.. and I just thought this was so fitting for the way I feel today:

What is your favorite running quote or mantra? 

Do you have any pre race rituals??

Dixie was soooo excited to run today since I didn't take her yesterday. Then, we opened the front door and her poor little dreams were crushed.

Rain. If you can't tell by the fact that my dog is wearing a raincoat or how she is standing at a safe distance from the water line in order to stay dry, she does not enjoy the rain. 

I love to run in the rain but it was way too cold today so I was off to another treadmill workout for the evening. 3 miles @ 8:35 pace. Felt really easy and comfortable, even when my Hulu episode of Nashville made me cry during mile 2. 

For dinner I wanted to try some delicious looking bread balls stuffed with cheese that I've been seeing all over pinterest. 

The recipe is here: http://www.spendwithpennies.com/garlic-cheese-bombs/ 

I didn't really follow the recipe exactly but I just knew I want mine to include butter, cheese and bread. I stuffed cheese cubes into biscuit dough, rolled them up and covered them in melted butter and garlic powder. 

Okay so that's the only picture I have because when they came out of the oven we ate them so fast there was no time to take a picture. SO yummy and cheesy.

Don't worry, that was just our appetizer. We also had grilled chicken, broccoli and baked potatoes. And I only put cheese on two of those three things. 

Do you ever run in the rain?? When is it too cold to run in the rain for you?

What's your favorite food reward after a workout? Sweets? Soda? Beer? Mine is obviously cheese. 

Today was a pace workout so I went to the treadmill. Dixie was very sad about this, but it's impossible to do a full 4 miles with her at a steady pace. We made up for it with playtime and lots of snuggles:

4 miles @ 8:24 overall pace (33:38). I ran at 8:27 (7.1 on the treadmill) most of the time and threw in two 1 minute pick ups at 7:30 pace during miles 3 and 4. These are really convenient during Hulu commercials when I get super bored.... and they also help with improving your race pace, especially if you do more than 2 but I got sucked into American Crime again and forgot to go fast.

Dinner took 3 minutes to make at 8:00 this morning. Another crock pot favorite.. shredded italian beef that we use to make french dip sandwiches (I cover mine in cheese obviously). YUMMM. I should start eating off of real plates so my meals look more appetizing but I really hate doing dishes.

All you do is add a london broil, gravy packet, packet of italian seasoning and 1 cup of water to the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours (mine cooked for 9 and it was fine). 

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2 months until my first half marathon! I feel excited now, but I know I’ll being getting veryyyyy anxious as the date gets closer. I have 8.5 weeks until my half marathon and 6.5 weeks left in my training. I did that on purpose.. that’s just a personal preference so I don’t get too stressed about the schedule. If I can run 12 miles two weeks before my half, then I’ll feel a lot more confident on race day that I’ll be able to finish strong and on pace. Dixie and I did 3 miles today at 8:10 pace. She was very distracted in mile 1 by squirrels, smells, etc so our splits were 8:24, 8:17 and 7:58. Now, on to the important stuff.... dinner :) :) I first discovered this recipe on Pinterest (of course), pinned from www.damndelicious.net. I made my own adjustments and I’ve eaten it twice in the past week because it’s SO good and SO easy. If you are afraid of cooking, don’t worry, you absolutely cannot mess this up. Also, investing in hoisin sauce will make your fridge so much more exciting (available in the asian food section at the grocery store). Dixie was licking her lips

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps (just like PF Changs)

·         1 tablespoon olive oil

·         1 pound ground chicken

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         ½ onion, diced

·         ¼ cup hoisin sauce

·         2 tablespoons soy sauce

·         1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

·         1 tablespoon sesame oil

·         1 (8 oz) can whole water chestnuts, drained and diced (I use half a can)

·         Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

·         1 head butter lettuce Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground chicken, garlic and onions. Be sure to crumble the chicken with a wooden spoon or spatula as it cooks and drain any excess liquid after it is done (about 6-8 minutes). Stir in the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil and cook an additional 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the chicken into lettuce wraps and eat them like tacos! 

The first time I made this I used a regular head of lettuce, which was a big mistake. It fell apart and I couldn’t get it to work as a wrap so we basically ended up eating a salad with the chicken filling on top, which tasted good, but looked terrible. Butter lettuce (aka "Boston lettuce" at food lion?) works much better.

If you have easy go-to recipes that you love to eat all the time, share them with me!! I’d love to feature some on my blog with your permission of course : ) Comment below or you can email them to me: dixieruns@gmail.com

Goodnight from Dixie in one of her favorite spots