Dress up time...

Phil unlike most dogs like to dress up a bit.  The exception is if it doesn't fit properly.  Then he gets a bit embarrassed and gives the death look.  This past week I found some super cute new handkerchiefs and he dressed up when the ladies came over for bachelorette watching.

He loves his decor, but still doesn't like getting his pic taken so he looked away.  Here are a few other pup dress up days...

He recently has grown out of his "buns" so can no longer be a hotdog for Halloween. :( (He's gained a bit of weight, poor pup)  

He's a fun little buddy to have around since he's always up for an adventure.  

Goetta and other weekend adventures...

Goetta....what is it?  That's what Jonah asked when I told him I was making it for breakfast this weekend.  (I had the same reaction when I heard about it.) Then I simply explained it's a german food made of steel cut oats and sausage, which didn't help my case.  So I fried up a few patties and we both enjoyed this Cincinnati cuisine for breakfast on Sunday.  (It's much better than it sounds.)

Little Phil got a bath and then pouted for some time in his chair.  You can see how miserable he looks.  This was of course after he ran around our apartment like a crazy dog trying to air dry himself.  I wanted him to be clean for the bachelorette viewing party tonight.  He also has a special handkerchief to wear.



Jonah helped me assemble a photo frame so i can finally hang the Audrey Hepburn poster he got me for christmas.  He had a little fun with the wire for the back of the frame.  On the right is my new desk area with the photo hung and a new cloth over my desk for a little pizazz.

8 days with no running...

All last week I refrained from running since I had cramp in my leg that just wouldn't go away.  I think it has to do with a touch of tendonitis along my lower leg.  (I've been doing a lot of reading on the internet about it.) What I learned from the week is that:

-I enjoy cycling but i was starting to get bored of it after 8 days 

-I was beginning to envy the people who could get out and run

-I missed the way I could clear my head during a run

I've been able to run two times this week and both times felt great (a little tight at the beginning but found my stride and really enjoyed every step).  I need to really embrace cross training days and days off.  I had been running as many days as possible recently since the mornings had been perfect weather.  

I'm back to running and hopefully I'll be smarter about it to prevent any injury flare ups in the near future.  I'm using the stick, foam roller, stretching, ice, and heat to help my muscles stay nice and limber.  

Funcie Muncie weekend...

As the wedding season continues we travel to scenic Muncie, IN for the celebration Lisa and Patrick's wedding.  Jonah and I spent a lot of time in Muncie at Ball State and made great friends.  This weekend we got to spend time with some of those friends!  It always feels so comfortable being around people you know well.  It also helps that our hosts for the weekend made amazing food for breakfast! mmmm...cinnamon rolls. The wedding was beautiful and we all danced ourselves silly after filling up on an amazing dinner.  Also, Phil got to play with the mini-yorkie dash.  They were never out of each others sight.

This year seems to be the wedding year for many of the people we know, including us.  We'll just call this the year of celebration!

Best science vendor fair freebie

Every year the fisher scientific company holds a vendor fair with a rep from pretty much every specialty science product they carry.  Most years our freebies are candy and everyone gets a T-shirt.

This year in addition to the T-shirt we also got "bee" vine serum, HONEY (for the non-scientists...we use bovine serum to help cell grow in culture)!!

As a sweets lover I adore honey and as a scientist I appreciate play with words and concepts.

I may just try some "bee"vine serum on my oatmeal in the morning to get some nutrients for the day :)

Twitter...

I've officially joined the rest of the world.....and I joined Twitter.  I'm sure it will contribute to some procrastination, but that's alright.

here's my twitter name is you'd like to follow:
maryplee23

Red legs 10K in review...

Saturday morning we got up early and trekked out in the rain to run 10K through downtown Cincinnati, OH and in Newport, KY.  Jonah was reluctant to get moving out the door since it was basically intermittently dumping buckets outside.  We got our selves out the door and to the starting line and ran the 10K.

I gave up a little prayer before the race for the rain to end between 7am (the start) and 8am (the latest I thought I would finish).  Apparently, God functions on central standard time instead of eastern standard time because the rained stopped right at about 8 am and the rest of the day was beautiful.  Our race, however, was rainy and wet.  Since this was the first year for the 10K it wasn't too packed, but you weren't alone on the course.  I think the bridges were a bit of a surprise for some people since they are essentially a long hill.  Unfortunately, no metal but we did get a wonderful nike dry fit T-shirt (Jonah is wearing his in the pics.)

Since Jonah is not usually a runner, I was the rabbit for the race and paced him for the first 6.19 of the 6.2 miles.  At the very end he sprinted a head to finish about a second or two in front of me.  After I cross he turned and says "I WIN!"

Overall, it was a fun race and very family friendly.  We got to go into the Reds dugout and the post race snacks were great (ice cream, hot dogs, pizza, bananas, coupons for free food from subway and noodles and company).

HOT weather running gear...

1. Hat- A hat performs several duties during hot weather running.  The bill adds shade for your face.  Using a running hat with wicking properties will keep some of the buckets of sweat off of your face.

2. Moisture wicking clothes- Heat and humidity can produce TONS of sweating, so keeping it off your body will aide in cooling your body.  Also, make sure that your clothes are designed or fit so you don't get chaffing.

3. Moisture wicking socks- A lot of us don't give much thought to our socks, but they are basically the underwear for our feet.  They need to provide adequate support and keep your feet happy on those long runs.  A blister on my foot is possibly one of the sure fire things that will make me cut a run short. My favorite socks are from lululemon and target.

4. Sunblock.  Runners are so exposed to the sun so protect yourself.  I've completely embraced my inner casper and I'm proud to be pale.  Remember your skin gets more brown from the sun because of sun damage and, to get super geeky, it puts kinks in your DNA which causes mutations which = cancer.  You can see from the pic I use SPF 70, and it's waterproof so I can't sweat it off.  Hopefully, I made the point- protect your skin!

Runner's world has some great information on running in the heat. Remember, humidity can make you sweat so much more and you have to think about that when rehydrating.  I love coconut water flavored with mango or pineapple for some natural hydration/electrolyte supplementation (or yummy fruit smoothie....see previous post) after a hot run.

As a fun note....this is my 100th post...hooray for milestones!

post hot workout treat....yum

I'm sure most of you are in the same boat as me right now....it's super hot and humid outside even in the morning.  So, I've been making a nice healthy cool smoothie post morning runs or after a long walk in the evening with the pup. This is the perfect time of year for fruit smoothies since so many fruits are coming into season and are so much tastier! Here's what goes into it:

1 banana
3 strawberries
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 ice cubes

blend it all together

Tada, it's a refreshing treat.  You can mix in all types of fruit.  I chose these because bananas are naturally really sweet when they are ripe, and when blended add a creamy effect to the smoothie.

Saturday lounging pics...

 Lounging on the couch and munching delish cherries from whole foods.  

 Phil is also lounging on the couch...he's doing some serious sleeping today.  

Me being sad while lounging because my tooth hurts.  It has a bit of an infection and I'm on antibiotics in anticipation of a root canal next week....yikes.

New fun songs for my running playlist....

I like to run to upbeat songs, mostly pop some hip hop a little rock.  Generally, the playlist is anywhere from 3-4 hours worth of songs.  That being said, I still get tired of the same songs within a few months.  I've added a few new songs that made my run this morning super fun:

1 Journey-Don't stop believin' (Can't believe it wasn't already on the playlist!)
2 Lady Gaga-Beautiful, dirty rich
3 Lenka-shock me into love
4 Far east movement- don't look now
5 Journey-Any way you want it
6 Britney Spears-How I roll

Just a little playlist face lift!

Had a great holiday in Canada, eh?

Memorial day weekend for Jonah and I included a long road trip to Canada with Philip in tow to visit with friends and celebrate the wedding of two other friends.  

Of course, shortly after crossing the boarder into Canada we had to stop at Tim Horton's for some Canadian pastries.  Shown here is Jonah with his apple fritter timbits and tiny small coffee (as you can tell, Philip was also interested in the timbits).

Liz and I took on an adventure Saturday morning, which entailed running a 10K trail race.  It had been raining for about 3 days before the race so the trail was a bit muddy (which is a bit of an understatement).   The top pic is on my leg after the race...lots of mud...I ended up having it up to my bum.  The middle pic is of both of our shoes.  Wish I would have taken a before pic, but our shoes were much cleaner when we started.  

Phil-dog made himself at home by laying in our friend's dog's bed.  

The reason for our trip.....a lovely wedding of Nick and Alana.  It was on Lake Ontario and beautiful.  Jonah was the emcee and nailed it!  In all, it was a great night and weekend with old friends.