GOAL: Run 1/2 Marathon

It's my birthday, January 24th, 2010 and I have decided to run a 1/2 marathon. This is one of the best ideas I have ever had, I have trained and I feel great. I start the race and begin at a chill pace trying not to speed with the crowd and stick to my chill pace. Many of them that were all speedy in the beginning didn't have enough pace to get up the baby hills and ended up walking. I loved that I stayed with a crowd.... though I ran the race "bandit style", which means without registering I felt alive in it. I didn't run through the tape since I was advised not to I clocked myself in at 2 hours and 13 minutes.

Stats:

2 hr 13 min

133 mins

31 yrs old

and after I had a 1/3 lb burger

Such a great experience can't wait to do another... uh oh I think I'm hooked!

GOAL: VIDEO A YOGA CLASS FOR CERTIFICATION

Few... I did it... I conquered one of my greatest fears that developed cuz of some belief in my head that when a camera is on you have to entertain. Instead I was myself and I rocked it. I feel great about my effort. Whether or not the video is appropriate to show my mentor is another question. I could feel the pressure in the class as if all my teachers were watching me and I realized that I need to do this more often. This is an exceptional exercise to fine tune my skills under pressure.

Yay baby!

GOAL: RUN 6 MILES

I ran 6 miles all by myself well I guess just me and my iPOD which I love the jam 80's anthem songs. Such as Pat Benetar's "We Belong" or Scandal's "The Warrior." I feel like I am a warrior of my life. My friends have mentioned that I stand differently, my face looks thinner and that I appear to have more managable energy. It's true I would get really tired but for real not what I used to feel tired was an exhaustion of the redundant chores of life... now my fatigue feels like physical and as if I earned the tired feeling.

Fatigue is a reward to my knowing I gave it my all today and didn't hold back. I sometimes find myself wanting a nap or to sleep in but it only last so long I have to move or else my body just gets sore. So strange I never thought my efforts towards little goals would be perpetual and create a momentum. SO AWESOME!!!

GOAL: 9.5 MILES

This is just training for the marathon but its more than I have ever run/ jogged in my life. After a bath and self massage of my legs they are still extremely sore. Running along side my belovid I was able to complete this training task and felt pumped afterward. 3-4 hours later I felt exhausted and took a nap for 3 hours. I feel better now and thought I would actually be a lot sorer but hey I will take it. The only question I have left is should I run 3 miles tomorrow?

GOAL: 108 SUN SALUTATIONS

108 is this auspicious number in yoga... meditators use it to count their repetitions of mantra, its the 9 months we are in the womb multiplied by 12 planets. It's auspicious because yogis many years before have used this very same number. So today I lead a group of yogis through this experience and for me it was extremely easy and I think for everyone in the room it was challenging but surprisingly easier than they thought it would be.

For whatever reason we have gotten soft with our beliefs in ourselves. We can do more are more powerful than we ever thought. I approach everything with this renewed sense of determination and feel I conquer myself each time not just the goal itself.

GOAL: 108 DROPBACKS

Today I completed actually 109 dropbacks... and as soon as I finished that I felt like I could have kept going.... and going... I felt like I could lift a car actually cuz my adrenal glands were so fired... but stopping was a more balanced practice.

A dropback means you drop back from standing into a back bend and then come back up. It was delightful and meaningful to do this practice with my Yoga Teacher and a group of very gifted Yogis.

I am also interested to find out how I feel tomorrow...

GOAL: Make Quiche from Scratch

During all the excitement of Thanksgiving I invited everyone to our place for a "Farm Xmas."  We recently got some goats and have chickens one of which that lays eggs.  We call her "Elle McPherson", all of the chicken are named after super models.  Elle has red feathers and lays an egg everyday, so we have been saving to make quiches for our event.  We each made our own because we couldn't agree on what we wanted to put in it.  It's the same thing with pizza we always have to make 2 individual ones because I like things classic and simple and he likes things crazy, fusion-like and innovative.   So I made an Fresh Herb and Goat Cheese quiche it only used 3 eggs and was thing like a french quiche.  

Quiche Making Tips:

1.  Incorporate butter or butter flavor where ever possible

2.  Bake the crust before putting any filling in till it's light golden brown

3.  Poke holes throughout the bottom to ensure no bubbles

4.  If you get bubbles don't poke again just shmush it down

5.  Lightly butter pan before putting in the crust so it releases easily

6.  Be creative with your ingredients if it goes good with eggs it will be amazing in a quiche

This experience has sprouted ideas of grandeur.  We can make a quiche using what ingredients we have and make a few eggs go along way.  The french must have understood this.  You will have slices of quiche for lunch the next day or eat your quiche all day long... ;-)