The Pros and Cons of a Running Partner

So I have been running three times a week for 4 months now and so days I run by myself and some days I run along side some one else. For me, my personal preference is to run as part of a group but alone. Here are the pros and cons of this relationship for me:

Pros:

• Someone to talk to
• Someone to pace yourself with
• Someone to complain about "why are you running, how much running sucks and how damn hot it is" (sorry for the language, but those are the things we say)
• A great way to learn about someone (for some reason you share a lot intimate info while running)
• A feeling of safety (you don't worry about that noise in the woods or the creepy guy walking the other direction when someone else is with you)

Cons:

• You feel obligated to keep pace (no matter what your strength, pain, comfort level is that day, you feel obligated to keep up)
• You feel obligated to slow down (our partner needs to walk, stop for water, use the port-a-potty, etc you feel like you should wait for them

Now although the pros far outweigh the cons, the two cons are so big. For example, last weekend (and I know it was really hot) I ran with a partner. Some who I've run with before and always enjoy running with. Well, last week neither of us were motivated to run, so we both walked more than we should and finished 18 miles in 4 hours (today I did 16 in 3:17 - much more realistic). Today though, he decided to run solo (fine with me). He started out way faster than I feel comfortable with (I usually start out very slow as to sustain my energy) an of course by mile 12 or 13 he was walking. He finished at least 15-20 min after me (I had already completed my stretches).

But there were many times today that if someone had said to me, lets walk I would have. Instead I ran all 16 miles without stopping for water, the bathroom, the water stops (I bring it with me) or the need to walk. I sure had a desire, but I knew that I could make it all 16 miles and that it was all in my head to get over the mental hurdle and run the whole thing. In the end, I am very glad that I did and proud of yet another run under my belt! Next Sunday is the long 20 mile race - the peak of my training schedule. I'll have to admit, I am a bit scared and nervous for next week. Lets just hope for cool temps and cloudy skies!

My GRAS comes to an end...

So Labor day always ends my ...gras. It's a family thing. J definitely tried to make up for forgetting my birthday last year. Friday nigh we had my favorite dinner - steak, baked potato, and creamed spinach (although I made the spinach) and of course - birthday cake! Which J made by himself! Very impressed. His first time since we've been together. I was very proud of him.

Saturday I ran 8 miles and then we drank with our neighbors and went to Little Bar with them. Where I saw some running friends and had fun. We then went to Bodega with other friends and home to nap. J left to "walk the dog" but I found him asleep on the couch when I got home 15 minutes later, dog not walked. We stayed in the rest of the night - a good call.

Sunday we had a great brunch at Sage and then did some shopping for our dinner at Weilands. Dinner was cheese and wine at Schiller Park for a play in the park. We saw Cyrano and J said, "I am surprised by how many people are here. I thought it would be us and like 7 other people." Clearly he didn't think other people liked culture or that the plays in the park have been going on for 27 years and thus it must be well attended. He also commented on how the average age of the audience was close to our age and not our parents and that led to the comment - "We must be getting old." You man are old, me I am still in my 20's! Young and youthful.

Finally, today we went to the annual Greek Fest - very uneventful and disappointing. I'm glad we didn't pay to get in. Then we relaxed at home while I read my book, sat n the sun while I could still take the heat and then went to a simple dinner at The Rossi. Now we are getting ready to watch 21, Tivo the Prison Break primere and get to bed around 11. It is my first day at my new job tomorrow and I need to be up at 6:30 to walk the dog.

All in all, a nice last weekend of summer!

The Ohio State Fair

So the Ohio State Fair was everything is was supposed to be.
Pig races....


Butter sculptures....

Cows...And awards given to prize cows...The Budweiser Clydesdales and other animals....
Fun rides like the barrels of fun...and the monkey rides. J's favorite!The Batcopter - we didn't ride it but we saw it flying...The giant Ferris wheel and the views from above...
And of course the food - this was the bulk candy shop (we didn't get any)Ice cream from the dairy house - J got a chocolate shakeand I got a mint chocolate cone - this was a small

J got Lemonade and I got unsweetened iced teaThese were our lunch of loaded ribbon fries - cheese, ranch dressing and bacon bits - awesome but I will never do it again!Our deep fried snickers barJ really liked this, but we only got one to share (good idea)
J wanted to buy a Hot Dog from the Fort National Bank of Hot Dogs, but we didn't - they even had a ACM - Automatic Condiment Machine

In the end we enjoyed the Skyglider
and our experience at the Ohio State Fair! a once and ONLY experience!

Dinner with my grandma's cousin

So tonight we went out to Granville and had dinner with my Grandma's cousin Nancy (AKA Kate). She took us on a tour of Granville, a very cute town that we walked through, then through the Dennison University Campus and finally into Newark to see the main street and the courthouse.

Back at her house her hubby grilled steak and salmon which she made a salad with a beautiful heirloom tomato, and corn. She also put out a goat cheese that she poured some mango chutney on and then melted in the microwave for 15 seconds. Very simple but very tasty. Finally for dessert we had vanilla custard with homemade Cherry Jubilee. VERY TASTY!!!

Finally we sat and did a lot of chit chatting about family. It was nice to finally meet her... maybe next time we will do tea...

Stay tuned, tomorrow we are going to the Ohio State Fair so look for pics of butter sculptures, swine races and J and I stuffing ourselves in fried fair food and loving it!

Memorial Day Weekend Wrap Up

Saturday was GREAT! Sunday was pretty darn good also. Monday though had its ups and downs. J slept in (the only day all weekend I let him) and I played around on Facebook and talked to my mom and sis. Once he awoke we decided that we needed to tackle the ever growing number of dishes in the sink (both sinks were full and we were being lazy). We opened the dishwasher to find it never drained. We emptied the dishwasher and began to try to siphon the water out to diagnose the problem. We found a broken wine glass and thought that the shards of glass were the cause of the problem. Running and re-running the dishwasher proved fruitless. The dishwasher wasn't draining and J and I had both sucked in too much nasty water through the drain tube to continue. We did successfully wash all the dishes because although it doesn't drain, it still washes.

During one of the attempts to get the dishes clean, J and I took a ride up to The Hills Market because of a post from Sopressata. We bought a ton of stuff. J was most excited to find real bagels - honest to goodness looked like bagels from home - bagels. We also got some Walleye fillets, mussels, cheese, wine, beer, liquor and a small amount of morels. Yes, I know a little of everything. We then stopped to get movies b/c tonight was a free redbox rental night and went home to continue to tackle the dishwasher.

After deeming the dishwasher needed a professional (I will call about it tomorrow - until a repairman can come out I think I will be filling it, running it and then siphoning the leftover water because I just can't bear to wash dishes by hand.

We then made the morels. I have read about them on the many blogs I read. I know that it is coming to an end of morel season, so I had to try them. Here is what we did. Just a simple recipe. First we melted some butter and olive oil in a cast-iron skillet:

Then added the morels:Kept stirring them:

until they were good and sauteed:

then plated them with some salt and pepper:

We both agreed they had a great earthy taste that would be great in a soup (albeit a very expensive soup). I have about as much that I haven't yet cooked so I will think of a new way to cook them later this week.

For dinner, we weren't totally hungry so we took out the cheeses that we bought and had one of my favorite dinners - a wine and cheese dinner. This is something that has taken J a few years to appreciate. But now he sure love a good stinky cheese, a creamy goat cheese and some fig compote for dinner, accompanied by a nice bottle of wine. I know this was the second time we had cheese this weekend, but its a holiday and two of the cheeses we had were leftovers, so its all good....

We watched Sweeny Todd - J didn't want to watch it and felt even more duped when he realized it was a musical. Although it was rather dark, it was a good story with some great actors. Glad I watched it, but I won't watch it again. J also rented and is going to watch National Treasure 2, but until then, he's happily playing Guitar Hero.

J's going to AC for a golf tourney from Thursday night to Sunday night, so if you have any movie recommendations for me, they are more than welcome. I'm thinking - No Reservations, PS I Love You...any others?

Memorial Day Weekend - Day 2 - Hocking Hills

So today we went to Hocking Hills. The hour drive takes you through the farm country of Ohio. You see silos, cows, horses, etc. Once there though, we were in the middle of forests. There aren't tons of words to describe this place but beautiful. I am sure these pictures don't describe the place, but we'll give them a try:

And that ends the day. J just came in from playing cornhole with our neighbors, its 9:30 and we will figure out what to do for dinner or if we are doing dinner at all?

The best day in CBUS yet

So Memorial Day weekend always sneaks up on me. Its not that I don't know its coming, as a teacher, it is always the reminder that report cards are due soon and the kids are officially checked out after this last vacation day. Its that I always have a good time and I never have any wild and crazy plans.

This Memorial Day weekend started off that same way. After walking the dog and returning an only OK movie ("...Before the Devil Knows You're Dead") I came home to a great surprise. My BFF Marci had driven down from Cleveland to surprise me. She only stayed for a few hours so we didn't do much, but it was so nice to have a face from home in our home.

We went to Target - her idea, not mine. Then had lunch at the North Market, so Marci could get some Vietnamese and her BF could get something not Vietnamese. Then we walked to Jeni's for some ice cream and ate it on the back patio.

Then Marci and her BF were back to Cleveland and it was only 2PM. So what do you do at 2PM on an absolutely beautiful day? You pack up the lawn chairs, throw on a tank top, and get Bear ready for some park time.

J, Bear and I enjoyed some much needed sun and fun. I got to read some People magazines, J played with the dog and then we played some catch. It was a fabulous way to spend 3 hours on a Saturday. J loves catch, more than he loves beer (see he is growing up) and now that we have a "chuck-it" I can satisfy his catch desires as only Figa used to be able to. I also got to satisfy some of my barefoot desires.

Bear happily enjoyed being the "monkey-pants" in the middle during our game of catch.

J said it was his favorite way to spend a Saturday. A combination of finishing a book he loved, playing catch, and even reliving some childhood mischief with the Pop-Its. He never did get to the NY Times, but that was his choice, not the lack of time.

You'd think that was all, but no! We then went to a great gourmet market we had both heard good things about - Weiland's, bought some beer, cheese, wine and pre-made burgers.

We had a great night cooking them up on the grill. See it was a fabulous day filled with no real fireworks, but total satisfaction!Tomorrow we will venture off for a hike in Hocking Hills. I have to remember to charge my camera for that adventure! Can't wait! We were also invited to a BBQ at a our next door to our next door neighbors. We really do live here.