The Happiest 5k | April Race

A quick guide on how to run with color:

Plan to wear shoes that you don’t mind turning rainbow. And bring a a plastic bag for your phone – this is crucial because pictures are a MUST!

Arrive early because tons of other people love the Color Run. After checking in apply fun tattoos / color accessories (I had a rainbow tutu) and take plenty of before pics!

Don’t take your running too seriously. This race attracts more newbies and walkers then you can imagine.

Enter each color on the side (where color sprayers are waiting). Lift your arms in the air. Turn around at each person, and don’t miss a sprayer. Commemorate every color with a picture!

At the end grab your bonus bags, take your completion photo and get ready to dance!

Pile in to the stage crowd. Dance your heart out! When the DJ calls for a color throw, grab your bag. On the count of three join the masses and throw your color. Get ready to hold your breathe, jump and enjoy the color, glitter madness.

Once you pry yourself away and get home be prepared to have lingering colors and glitter for days. But in the end it’s always worth it!

 

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Next race – May the 4th Miler Be With You in Piedmont Park

How to Eat Fried Chicken

I interrupt my regular post style for this delicious message —

I come from the state of Chick-fil-A and Zaxbys. I’m talking about chicken biscuits, chicken sandwiches and chicken strips that you can hardly believe are fast food readily available.

I also come from a state where a household dinner item is homemade fried chicken. Fried chicken served at weddings is a thing here! Stuffed animal cows being thrown into football stadiums encouraging people to “Eat Mor Chikin” is a thing here!

But even with my fried chicken upbringing, I can still get schooled every once and a while. Recently my schooling came from a local breakfast hot spot – Buttermilk Kitchen. Ever so often they serve a Fried Chicken Dinner, and recently I had an opportunity to go. Since my words can hardly do it justice, below are a few terrible iPhone pictures (You’ll notice photo first – bite later is not a policy that I abide by). Be prepared to drool.

Just in case you are wondering my two favorites part of this dinner surprisingly aren’t the mouth-watering honk of chicken. The chicken was paired with grits that were topped with a BACON flavored mushroom. And the strawberry shortcake had grilled pound cake!!

Nom nom nom

St. Patty’s Day 5k | March Race

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

This past weekend the luck of the Irish was with me in my March race and Peachtree Road Race qualifier in Piedmont Park. This was my first race with spring weather, and Atlanta’s Downtown skyline in the background didn’t hurt either!

Since it was my third race this year and my first one on pavement, I was ready to kick my pace up a notch. I also really wanted a fast time to submit in the Peachtree lottery. After all the hard work, I couldn’t be happier with my results! I had a PR of 27:36.

Time for an Irish cheers!

“May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more and nothing but happiness come through your door!”

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Next race is none other than the Happiest 5k on Earth — the Color Run on April 4. If you’re looking for a team in Atlanta, let me know, and I can send you an invite to Tickle Me Pink!

Hike like a Mountain Goat

For me hiking has always been more of a leisure activity that results in beautiful scenic views, an epic camp site or some eno hammock chill time. But this past week, I got my first taste of what it will take to briskly go up and down a mountain 500 ft above ground.

I went hiking with a climber who specializes in bouldering – my awesome co-worker Sarah. She is the mountain goat in this story (even if she hates the analogy). She usually hikes as more of a means to an end. The end being a day’s worth of climbing.

On this hike we went up High Hampton Inn‘s Chimney Top with 360 degree views including a lookout over 500 ft cliffs. It was a rainy, foggy Thursday morning in the Western North Carolina Mountains. We set forth lacking in supplies with two breakfast bars and one bottle of water.

As we approached the base, a sign read 1.6 mi to the top. Expect a 4.5 hour hike. 

Sarah laughed saying we could do it in an hour. Have you ever seen a mountain goat on tv or in person? If you have you would know that she wasn’t kidding.

She hopped from rock to rock stopping to pull me up the slippery surfaces and watch to make sure I kept my balance. I looked in amazement apologizing for my mediocre skills.

Once we arrived at the top, she peered over the edges while I kept a safe distance. As we watched the fog continuously roll through, we had beautiful glimpses of our view below followed by an eerie feeling looking into the abyss of that white sheet.

Most of the time I hike for the view. But even with our ultimate goal masked to us by the impeding weather, I still had a great sense of accomplishment. This time I hiked to reach the top! This time I hiked with a mountain goat. 😉

That experience has encouraged me to continue testing the limits on my quest to the top. I want to hike more quickly and more often! (I also want to go back to Chimney Top on a clear day.)

This week I am compiling a bucket list of hikes to complete this year! Do you have any near Atlanta you would recommend? Or any tips to hike like a pro mountain goat?

Don’t Fear Leftovers

Leftovers can be challenging especially when it comes to game meat. But if you cook for one or two, leftovers are hard to avoid. Occasionally I can get creative!

Here’s how I recycled grilled duck (original dinner pictured below) that my boyfriend made for me and some friends:

Luckily, I had an extra pheasant breast that we had thawed out. With the pheasant and duck I had just enough meat to cook for the two of us.

I had fried rice on the brain and was determined to make it work. I soaked the previously grilled duck and the pheasant separately with teriyaki and Mojo sauce.

Then I boiled some rice and put it in the fridge to cool. Once the rice was cool I fried it in a pan with 2-3 cap fulls of peanut oil. I added in salt, pepper, garlic powder and soy sauce.

While the rice cooked, I cooked the pheasant until it was white on both sides in another saucepan with butter. Then I added in chopped carrots, green beans and the duck. I let that cook covered for about 10 minutes.

I added two eggs to the fried rice. Lastly, I chopped up an avocado to add on top. Trust me avocado is amazing with any fried rice type dish.

I served my leftover creation with the fried rice on the bottom, the pheasant/duck stir fry and some extra juice above that and a few chunks of avocado to top it off!

My boyfriend went for seconds – always a good sign!

Do you have any tips for spicing up leftovers?

Time for New Shoes

Last week I visited my first ever specialty running store in Town Brookhaven – The Big Peach Running Company!

They were amazing and really took the time to figure out what shoes would be best for me. I was even taped running on a treadmill. I’ll admit watching that footage was a bit embarrassing.

In the end I went for a pair of Sauconys! Here’s a picture when my dog, Merlin, and I tested them out on Sunday.

The shoes are great, but the best part of my visit was learning about group runs! They host group runs where you can join in for free! If you’re looking to get started running I highly recommend visiting a store like this near you and finding out what your options are.

Cheers and happy trails!

The P.I.G. | February Race

This past Saturday RT and I completed my February race – an obstacle 5k called The P.I.G race. It stands for perseverance, integrity and grit.

Turns out we used all three of these things plus a good sense of humor. The race was small around 30 runners. They said people dropped out because of the cold.

The trail was poorly marked. We even ended up running a big loop in the course twice. A volunteer had to come guide the pack.

Once we were back on track, RT and I wound up leading the race. We passed a few runners who hadn’t gone the wrong way putting us firmly in first, which was a really cool feeling!

The obstacles included crawling through chicken coops, going through ropes, stepping around hula hoops, jumping over barricades and climbing over barriers. But the hardest obstacle was avoiding tripping on gum balls and horse poop – hence the good sense of humor.

We had a few running companions like the guy pictured above in blue and his friend, our photographer. In the end we finished first. It felt great! I had a few guys congratulate me after. They were impressed by our pace – ha never thought someone would tell me that.

Sadly I don’t know our exact time or distance. But the win inspired me to push myself a little harder on the next race.

Finishing always feels like a win, but now a medal (or gold pig) feels possible!

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Next up:

Annual St. Patrick’s Day 5k in Piedmont Park | Sunday, March 15

(My knee is a little strained after my Sunday run. I should have rested a day because of all the strain that trail run put on my knee. So here’s hoping my knee improves quickly! Time for a few days of R.I.C.E)

Love the Things You Do!

This Valentine’s Day do something you love! Whether the you is double, solo or a fun group – get out side, stay indoors, cook in, eat out, go shopping or donate clothes – just do something that warms your heart!

Here are a few options of things I love:

Go somewhere you have never been –

Arabia Mountain (last weekend):

Snuggle:

My favorite Valentines always – Stella and Merlin!

Go on a run:

Haven’t found a way to take a picture of me running, so here is my upcoming race. The P.I.G Race! 

Eat delicious food:

My favorite dinner this week was Monkfish at Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham! I highly recommend it by the way!

What are you doing this Valentine’s Day Weekend?

Stampede in the Park | January Race

Kicking off my one race a month resolution, RT and I did Stampede in the Park Saturday, January 31 at Yellow River Park.

It was beautiful! A 5k trail run with two creek crossings, water views and one horrible hill! The only thing worse than that hill was the 28 degree weather!

I set our pace. RT finished 9th in his age bracket, and I finished 8th! This was our first trail run, so I was very happy! There’s us below at the finish line:

Lessons from the run: 

• Be careful where you step!
• Dress appropriately. I recommend running in similar temperatures to see what works for you.
• Invest in more smart wool socks.
• Trails are much more fun and better for you than pavement.
• Goal for next time: No stopping on hills (not even just for a minute).

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NEXT UP: 

The P.I.G. Race | Saturday, February 21

Cook with What You Have

This year I am trying to cook more often and with more creativity. My boyfriend’s a hunter, which means a bunch of fun game meat to cook with!

Recently I was craving tacos and had some pheasant thawed out! The problem is most recipes require at least 12 hours in a crockpot. Here’s how I improvised:

Four pheasant breasts (be sure to remove any extra pellets). Homemade taco seasoning:

Heat three cups of water in a large sauce then add some butter and half of a chopped red onion:

Boil some rice then set out to the side. Mix two tablespoons of the taco seasoning in the pan and rub one tablespoon on the pheasant sliced:

Add the pheasant in the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Then add in the rice and any additional yummy veggies you have (even frozen). Let cook covered for 10 min:

Cut a bigger piece of pheasant in half to be sure it’s cooked. You can serve in tacos, pita bread over salad or plain. I had mine over spinach with ranch and then in pita for lunch the next day:

If you have any good recipes and want to share them, I’d love to test them out!