Green Beans & Cake

God save the quiche!

Saturday started off as a great day. I made a successful (well, almost) chocolate souffle, got a little exercise, and had a chance to clean up the house. Life was good. I even ate my vegetables.

And then?

A 40-50 foot tall tree landed on the side of our house. Somehow, we didn't notice this until about 8.30 last night. Matt called the city and before we knew it there was a crew of city workers in our yard standing around the tree. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. 

I was wrong.

The weight of the tree pulled the power cord down and it was exposed at our house's meter. The exposed hot wires posed a major fire hazard. The utility company needed to shut the power off immediately because there was a strong possibility that our house would burn down at any moment. 

So, at about 9.30 pm the city workers turned off our power. The temperature outside? A very humid 87 degrees.

What happened next?

We shipped the dogs off to my MIL's house (sorry about Gravy, MIL...), and then we went back into a steamy house and grabbed our things.

Our "things" included:

• Gravy's kennel (which is large enough for a German Shepard...he's only 38 pounds). Moving his kennel took some major elbow grease. I wasn't a fan of that.
• Biscuit's stinky pillow (arrggg...I was about to wash the thing too...)
• Clothes (but forgot my toothbrush and toothpaste...ewww)

Last but not least we stuffed half of the contents of our refrigerator in ice-packed suitcases (for some reason we don't own a cooler). What went into these ice cold suitcases?

• The chocolate souffle I had made that afternoon
• Frozen steaks (probably 100s of dollars worth of steaks...Matt won a bunch of steaks for a work promo not too long ago)
• Butter
• A bunch of other stuff
• My chocolate transfer sheets (which are really expensive and have to be refrigerated or they will melt.)
• My chocolate (and I'm not a normal person when it comes to chocolate. I have POUNDS and POUNDS of very expensive chocolate in my pantry. I use it to make chocolates in the fall and winter to sell at a local coffee shop)
• A bunch of other stuff (but not the ratatouille)
• And, of course, the quiche

Then the real fun began. I had to figure out a way to tame my crazy puppy. He howled. He wined. He cried. He howled some more. He was muzzled. He finally fell asleep. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit here, but you get my point.

I had planned to make an apple tart today. Those plans are on hold. Is it kind of insane to be worrying about apple tarts when exiled from my house? (And exiled with my naughty dog?)

Maybe.

What a life.

God save the quiche!

Brain fog

Ughh...it's too hot. Brain fog has set in.

110 w/ the heat index!! Hotter than Phoenix. Still baffled at how that's possible.

 Side note: So glad that I'm not training for a marathon this year. I don't know how I made it last summer!

  

Do I live in the desert?

Whoa - the heat is getting to me. Where do I live again?

Compare.

Oklahoma: The new desert

Oklahoma: A little slice of hell

(like my new state slogans?)

 

Summer is here

Ugh -- it's 6.00 pm CST and 101 degrees outside. (w/ the humidity and heat index)

Gross.

I'm ready for October.

Running Burnout?

Maybe it's the heat. The temperature in my area has been over 100 degrees for several days -- 108 yesterday. Do you ever just get burned out with your training program? I don't know if I'm physically burned out...perhaps it's all in my mind.

To be honest, I haven't been cross training. Not really, anyway. I walk my dog daily and I occasionally stretch. I don't think it's enough. Instead of running 4 miles today, I am going to take a yoga or strength training class. Perhaps if I mix up my routine a bit I won't feel so mentally exhausted.

Mental discipline, in my opinion, is one of the most important factors of success in marathon training. I've gotta keep my brain in shape too. hehe

Hitting the wall

You know it's going to be a challenging run when it feels hot before 7 a.m. I did manage to get in my 13 mile run today, but it was tough. The first 8 miles were fine. I ran at a steady pace - no problems with the heat. However, the last 5 miles were a killer. I had to make it past the highly unpleasant "runner's wall." Midway through my ninth mile, my legs felt like they running in a swimming pool. I didn't feel that way for too long, though. The tenth mile was hard, but not excruciating. The last 3 miles were brutal. The sun was out in full force - no clouds. Even though I reapplied SPF 50 sunscreen (that was supposed to be sweat proof) at least 4 times, I still got a little burned. I'm now happy that I have the rest of the weekend to relax and recover.

 

Too bloody hot

I can sum up the current weather conditions in my area in 3 words: It's too hot. The peak heat index in my area was 110 degrees. I don't even live in the desert...just in the middle of the country. I tell ya what...when I moved to Oklahoma 4 years ago, my husband described the summers here as, "a slice of hell." True, true.

I'm a little concerned about doing my 13 mile long run tomorrow. I checked weather.com and it looks like it will be in the 70's from 6 am - 8 am. As much as I dislike getting up before 7 a.m., I'm definitely waking up early tomorrow. I plan to be up and running (hehe) by 6-6.15 a.m.

Here's a link to an article from Runner's World that has some helpful "beat the heat" tips.

Beat the heat