My first 5k: Juicy details included.

I like running.  A lot.

But I never sign up for any races.  I hate failure and I really didn't want to be the last person to cross the finish line. 

There.

I said it.

Anyways.  About a month ago, my girlfriends convinced me to do a 5k with them.  I trained jogged 11 times in preparation for the 5k.  I wasn't expecting anything great, but I wanted to finish under 30 minutes.  Or I wasn't going to do the race at all.   That was my goal.  

What I got instead, was an amazing morning, with some of my best friends, great competition, comradery, laughs and the best sense of accomplishment. 

I was pretty nervous the two days before the race.  I DID NOT WANT TO FAIL. Period.  As I listened to my ipod the night before, and blasted Eminem (don't judge, best tunes to get you jacked), I had two thoughts.

One, This is your first 5k. Many people walk their first 5k, so it's OK if you have to walk as well.

Then, the second thought, Go out there and kick some booty!  You have no excuse. Rock this tomorrow. DO IT!

I listened to the latter thought, thankfully.  Maybe if I was listening to Michael Bolton I would've entertained the first thought a little longer.  But nope, Em had my head bobbing, my foot tapping, my mind envisioning, my adrenaline lifting, my face smiling and my head ready.

The 5k participants - Dressed up in our Rosie the Riveter garb

Running the route

Just crossed the finish line! I did it!

My baby was waiting for me.  Even though she had no idea what had just happened, I was so happy to hold her, sweat and all!

The three 5k runners.  We're all nursing mamas and we joked about how many sports bras we were wearing! ;)

I'm content.  I wish I would've pushed it a little more, especially to get out of the slow clump of people at the very beginning, but I just chalk it up as a learning experience.

Finish: 27:51, 104th place out of 452 overall, 40th place out of 311 women, and amazingly I made it into the top 10 of women ages 20-29!

New goal: 26:something??? :)

I can't wait for the next one!

Do you exercise at all?  In what way?  Have you ever run in a race?

Pantry Purge: Days 9-15

Oh my, what a week and a half it has been.  The last ten days have been so busy, I didn't even have time to get out a Wordless Wednesday post, typically the easiest blog post of all time!

Between a retreat, confirmation, Mother's Day, trying to get my garden in, preparing for a recital for my piano and voice students, trying to run regularly (did I mention I'm doing a 5k, and I signed up for it really late in the game and I haven't been exercising AT ALL for the last 7 months?), Blogger being down, internet lost on my computer, Dallas working like crazy and then, a sick, sad, teething, little girl, I feel like I haven't even had time to breath, let alone blog!

Enough excuses!  Here's a Pantry Purge update!

You can read about the Pantry Purge here, read about days 1-4 here and days 5-8 here.

Day 9: I honestly can hardly remember this day....Dallas had a can of soup from the pantry when he got home from work at 9, so I consider that a success.

Day 10: I made a venison sausage soup with barley, cajun seasoning, onions, garlic and yellow peppers.  We have yet to eat it because Dallas ended up not being home that night (I made it for him because I don't eat venison) and I had a girls night out. I still consider it a success because I did use up stuff from my pantry, and it will soon be gobbled up by my husband. 

Day 11: Church day.  Dallas doesn't get home until after 11pm, and he eats out with the kids.  I can't even remember if or what I ate because India was a whiny fusspot all day.

Day 12: My poor baby was SO sick this day!  I went running in the morning at the gym, and Dallas watched her, and he said she sat on the floor and cried "Mama, Maaammmmaa"!   She was very effective at breaking me down - I held her all day long, and she still screamed and cried all day.  I couldn't do anything because the more I moved, the angrier she got, so Dallas got me my favorite splurge food: a McDouble with medium fries.  I didn't care how unhealthy it was, I was starving!  I lost 3 pounds through India's sickness; I wasn't joking, I couldn't even get up to eat without her crying.  She even had to sleep on me for the most part.

Finally, asleep around midnight!

Day 13: Dallas worked late again officiating, India was still a screaming mess, I don't even know what I ate.  LONG day, again.

Day 14: India was doing better, but still very clingy.  I did manage to use up some chicken sausage and some frozen tortillas and made scrambled eggs for brunch!  Yum!  And we ate the venison soup.  Yes, we.   It was actually pretty good!

Day 15:  Brunch at church, Dallas had a lunch meeting, I was too busy working in my garden to eat a big lunch, so I had lots of lactation cookies to help boost my supply after 3 days of India not nursing more than twice a day.  We snacked on leftovers at Dallas' mom's house supper.

On the horizon:  Tilapia!!! I've been waiting to make this forever! 

Meals from the pantry this week (not including leftovers): 3

How about you?  Are you cleaning out your pantry?  Have you come across any great recipes that you want to add to your rotation?