RoadID- I NEED one!

When I worked in the ER- Downtown ORlando- We saw WAY to many people come in with out any ID on them. The one that I most remember was a young 20something year old male (20-22) that was in a motorcycle accident. No helmet. No ID that we were able to find immediatly. As a registration person for the ER/Trauma center we were responsible for looking for Id's when a patient comes in that is unable to talk to us... The only thing the man had was his cell phone...that kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing. He died before we ever found out what his name was. The Chaplain handles phone calls like this... the chaplain answered the man phone and told who was calling that she needed to contact the patients parents and have them call our chaplain.

I NEVER want my family to have to go through that! I was there when the coroner came and wheeled the body bag to the medical examiner. I don't want to die on a table a nameless person.

My point for this blog is that as a runner there are ways we can protect our selves from becoming a nameless body, or a nameless patient in a ER somewhere.

While I mostly run on sidewalks, or a track around the local college i can still get hit by a car. We all know that people do not pay attention when they drive. There is nothing stopping someone from driving up on the sidewalk that I am running on.

I am not a morbid person and I hate talking, or even thinking about death. I refuse to talk about it with Chris. I just can't stand the thought. But let's be real, it's always a possiblity.

RoadID is a perfect way to save ourselves from being a nameless somebody. I am entereing a give-away for a RoadID. If you are a runner/cyclist/walker....etc. You could also enter to win a RoadID.

http://thefitbride.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/roadid-review-and-giveaway/#comment-1008- enter here.

http://roadid.com/Common/default.aspx - learn more about RoadID here.

Katelyn's Black Bean Soup-

I got this recipe from my "Fix it and Forget it Cookbook".

It was a last minute thing. I was going to make something else, but realized I wasn't going to have enough time. So I started flipping through this cook book and found this delish recipe.

Katelyn's Black Bean Soup:

1/3 cup chopped onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 Tbsp. oil
(2) 15.5 oz cans of black beans undrained
(1) chicken bouillon cube
1/2 cup diced, cooked, smoked ham
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 dash, or more cayenne pepper
1-2 drops, o more, Tabasco sauce
sour cream

Instructions:

1. Saute onion and garlic in oil in sauce pan (i didn't have fresh garlic, but I did have minced garlic in the fridge so i just used some of that, it turned out fine)

2. Puree or mash contents of one can of black beans (i put the beans in my food processor and mashed them till they were in liquid form)

3. Combine all ingredients expect sour cream in slow cooker.

4. Cover. Cook on Low 6-8 hrs.

5. Add dollop of sour cream to each individual bowl before serving.

This turned out to be a really easy and yummy soup. I added light red kidney beans (drained) as well to this soup, just one can. Next time I plan on adding some turkey sausage. I think it needed some more meat.

Embracing my scardey-catness.

I went running yesterday when I got off work at 5. I started out at Lake Silver in Winter Haven and then ran down First Street. I ran down first street to Ave K, hung a right on Ave K and ran back up 6th street towards downtown. I ran the trail through downtown back to my car. When I was passing the bus station a guy on a bike started to ride next to me. Normally this would scare me, it was dark, and i was by myself. Instead I embraced the opportunity and started a conversation with the guy. Starting with the weather, and how it was perfect for a run, not to hot, not to cold once you got moving. He said he rides his bike 15-20 miles a day (i'm going to guess that he is homeless, and stays in a shelter at night somewhere). He told me he used to be in the Marines and he used to run but old age got to him- he wasn't really *that* old. It was pretty neat. --- I am not the type of person that will strike up a conversation with someone I do not know. It is an awkward experience, what do you say? The quiet when the conversation runs out is just awkward, it's just not something I do.

5k Santa Sprint.

"Let me win, but if I cannot win let me be brave in the attempt"- Special Olympics Oath

I don't know why but the Special Olympics Oath really reaches out to me, and I really like it. Today I did a Santa Sprint 5k that was put on by a local running store and the Special Olympics of our county. It was really neat.

They did the Pledge of Allegiance before the race started. I haven't said the Pledge since highschool, 6yrs ago, and even then I didn't "appreciate" the words of the Pledge of Allegiance. I got kinda teary as we were saying it.  I mean, think of all our military men & women who serve to keep our country free, so that we can fly our flag, and have our Nation UNDER GOD. I think the Pledge is important. I appreciate it.

On to the race. A cold front came through last night so it was pretty chilly this morning, 44 when I got up. Yes, I know, that is not cold if you are reading this and you are from anywhere north of Florida. I know some of you raced in snow today, or couldn't race because of the snow... I originally wore shorts & a long sleeve shirt but it was to cold for shorts. I went to the kohls next door to the running store and bought some Fila tights...not the best, but they got the job done.

I've been battling a cough for about 2 wks so I wasn't sure how I would run. I only ran twice last week, 3 miles one day, and 1 mile another day. I ran a pretty steady pace. The whole entire race i was looking ahead at all the women ahead of me thinking "how many of them are in my age group?" "Who do I need to get ahead of".. apparently i'm much more competitive then I thought.  At mile 2 a girl started to run by me, and she looked my age, so this really got my competitiveness flowing.. I sped up but then leveled back out. I finished in 25:40, which is a little faster then my previous 5k which was 26:30.

I plan to start upping my mileage and hopefully run a 10k in February.

Day 3 of 30 Day Shred.

Today was day 3. Some of the stuff is getting easier, but other aspects are not. I HATE the 1 minute ab workouts. I just feel so stupid doing them. I don't feel like i'm doing them right at all. I think i'm going to find another AB work out and not worry so much about the 30DS Abs. Other then that I really like the work outs. I sweat hardcore.....that makes me feel like i'm actually accomplishing something.

I have my 3rd 5k on Saturday. I don't feel like i'm going to do that well. I haven't been running as much as I could. Wednesday I only ran 1 mile bc i had this side pain that wouldn't give, and i thought it was going to rain. I was in downtown Winter Haven and I really don't love running in the rain... i didnt want to get stranded so I guess I gave up. stupid.

Oh well, we'll see how it goes.

30 day Shred with Jillian Michaels.

Last week I discovered that BrightHouse has exercise on-demand. I've been wanting to add something new to my excercising. Running is great, but I want more. So i decided to try out some work outs.

The first one I tried way weird. It was called back.2.bollywood. It was an Indian Lady and you did some Indian dance moves, it was fun, but not my cup of tea. I was sweating, but I didn't feel like I got to much out of.

So the next day I did Biggest Loser Cardio Max- OMG. I didn't stretch before or after- bad, bad, bad idea. I was so sore for the next 3 days I could literally barely move. I was also coming down with a sore throat and a cough, throw it all together and i was extremely miserable. Nothing helped my muscles. I took muscle relaxers, IBuprofen, and soaked in an epsom salt filled bath, nothing helped. I just had to let my muscles do their thing.

So this Sunday (Dec 13th), I decided to start Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I've read alot about it on a Health & Fitness board that I frequent. I googled results, and saw some good results. I don't want to necessarily lose alot of weight, but I want to gain strength and tone.

The workouts are based on 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of ABS. She goes through the cycle 3 times, and thats the entire workout. There are 3 different levels. From what i've read, you do each level for 10 days, and then move to the next level- hence the "30" day shred.

Tuesday I did a 3.13 mile run, and today, Wednesday, I did the 2nd day of 30 Day Shred.  Tomorrow i'll be out after work getting in another 3 miles.

I have my 3rd 5k this weekend in Lakeland. The Santa Sprint 5k. Hoping to PR, but 26:30 is a pretty good time, i'm not sure if I can beat that.

Gotta go study.

Bartow Turkey Chase!

Today I ran my second 5k ever. It was a great run!! Registration was from 630- race time. Chris didn't want to get there "to" early so we left around 6:15. I got up at 5. I ate some oatmeal, took care of the dogs and just did whatever around the house. We left at 6:15 and got to Bartow around 7ish. I was nervous, again. Not to sure why I get so nervous, I know no one really cares how i'm running or is watching me, besides Chris. It was a small race. Maybe 100 people.

My only complaint was the course was marked off in 1/2 mile increments... which is fine, but I couldn't keep track, i couldn't remember if it was the 3rd 1/2 or 4th 1/2.. it would have been better if it said 1/2, then 1 mile, 1.5, 2 miles, but no it was just 1/2 mile. Oh well.

I actually got to see Chris during this race, the last race I didn't get to see him at all. He got a few pics of me.

and my finish! I was super excited he got a picture of me with the time clock! Awesome!

1st in my age group!!! Holla!!! This was so exciting! Chris & I were standing there watching the awards and they get to my age group 20-24 (i'm 3wks from being 25)... so i was at the tippy top of my age group... They said "and in 1st place in the 20-24 with a time of 26:30  (i looked at Chris and i said "Holy Shit, thats me").... Jena H..."   WOW! I was shocked..

So I PR'd today! I was really really really excitded about it! I can't wait to run my next race. I'm going to register for a Santa run that is also in Bartow. Woohoo!!

My longest run yet...

On Saturday, Chris and I went to a new trail that I found online. It's the Auburndale Teco Trail, off of Berkley road. It was a pretty nice trail. There was quite a lot of shade for the first 1.5 miles, then after that the shade tapers off and it was just hot. They have trail markers etched into the trail- which sucks if you aren't looking for them. I didn't notice them until I got to 1 mile, then i saw the 1.5 mile .... good to know, I hate carrying that bulky Garmin. Can't wait to hopefully get a Garmin Forerunner 305 for my b-day. 

I ran a total of 3.6 miles on Saturday, which is my longest run yet. Not really impressive when I think of all the other girls I know that are running in the double digit runs... but i'll get there. I didn't run today (Monday), going to run tomorrow. This getting dark by 6 thing really threw me for a loop. I have to figure out where I am going to run, i need a place with street lights- uhm yah, no where in D-port has street lights! I have thought about wearing my fishing headlight, but that thing drives me bonkers when I fish, I can't imagine running w/ it on my head. Hm.

I am going to register for my second 5k tomorrow! The Bartow Turkey Chase. I'm excited. I decided that I can only do one 5k a month for budgeting reasons. This one is only $18, the first one I did I think was $25.  Crap! I just looked at the 5k I was going to do in DEC and that joker is $35..hmm I think i'll find another one. It was the NTC (national training center) 5k... I think i'll find a holiday one or something. Maybe even register for my first 10k... 6.2 miles. I think I should be ready for that by the end of December!

Good night- I have to get back to my homework now. Boo

My first 5k!

Today was my first 5k. Community in Pink 5k, put on by Health Central. The race was at Winter Garden Village. If I had a scanner I'd scan the map and but it on here, but I don't.

I got up at 4:40am. Shaved my legs.. LOL, i know important! I ate some toast with peanut butter. I got Chris up..with argument, of course. We left the house at 5:40.  Check-in was at 6:30. I wasn't sure how crazy it would be so I wanted to get there early enough where we wouldn't have to wait to check in...and i was just nervous. so i wanted to get there and just see everything so i could calm down.

We got there at 6:25, checked in and then walked over to the mcdonalds.. no way i'm usin a porto-potti when there is a perfectly good mcdonalds just down the parking lot!

The race started in the "middle" of the parking lot I guess. Where that pavilion thing is... I can't tell you the whole course.... We ran through WGV and into a neighborhood and back through WGV.

I felt good during the whole race. At the very beginning of the race my right calf started feeling tight; i though "Oh this is going to be a long run if this doesn't loosen up"...thankfully it went away and i ran fine. I kept up a steady pace. Not quick, just steady. It actually went by really quickly. I was jammin' out to my i-pod, focusing on my pace, and breathing (cuz that tends to be important!)... I couldn't believe how quickly we got back to WGV.

There weren't not very many spectators. There were some though, and it was really cool to hear/see them cheering for us. We ran through a neighborhood and there were some folks out in their yards clapping and what not. pretty cool!

I crossed the finish line in 31:07...according to my timer on my watch. There was no "official" time or anything like that. The race was kind of crazily put together. Everyone had a hard time hearing when the announcer guy said "GO!" , it was kinda crazy! 

Chris wasn't there to see me cross the finish line... He went to the mcdonalds and he thought he would have plenty of time to get back before i was finished. WRONG. I told him I wanted to finish in 35min or less,he didn't think i would finish in 31:07... So after i crossed I was kinda sad bc I didn't see Chris and it was like another 5 minutes before I found him. Oh well, there will be other races! I still had a really great time.

I am really proud of myself for 2 reasons. #1, because I actually finished in less time then I aimed for.

The second reason is more of a self thing... I am proud of myself for actually going out and doing the race, by myself. I had no one to run with me and I didn't let that stop me. Alot of times if I don't know anyone thats going to be someplace, or if there are large crowds I'd rather just not go. I do not like large crowds of people.  I am just proud of myself for finding the race, "training" for the race, registering for the race, and running it by myself. That is a pretty big thing for me.

I told Chris, "I think this is something i'm definently going to get into, I love it" It's just fun! It's great to be apart of something like that.  I've already been on Runnersworld.com looking for more races coming up! I can't wait to run again!

I am running.

I have started running, seriously. I have been jogging/walking/bike riding since June. But just recently I decided that I wanted to get serious about running. I don't just want to run a mile and be satisfied. I want to do some races. There are a few 5k's (3miles) coming up soon that I want to do.

1. Health Central is doing a 5k along with Winter Garden Village on OCt 24th... thinking about doing this one, not sure if i'll be ready in 2 wks.

2. Bartow Turkey Chase 5k on November 21st

3. Florida 5k Run- NTC Race On 12/19.

Yay! I'm excited! Today Stacey and I jogged 3 miles. i jogged the majority of the 3 miles. Had to do a few walking parts, but i was pretty proud of myself.

Trash the Dress!

I did two different trash the dress shoots! Both were alot of fun! The first one I did with my wedding photographer Gloria Tomblin. The second one I did was with the photography guild that Gloria is apart of. I did the second one with two other girls, Ashley & Mindy.

The first shoot with Gloria was done @ Sand Key Park in Clearwater, and Ft. Desoto south of St. Pete. Oh, we also did a few at an abandoned car wash in Clearwater down the road from our hotel. The weather was horrible. The wind was blowing 20-30mph and the waves were ferocious!!! We didn't stay at Sand Key long because it was SO rough and windy! We went down to FT. Desoto where it was still windy, but not as bad! Here are some pics from the 1st shoot!

We attracted alot of attention- a photographer, a girl in a wedding dress, and her mom.

Our second shoot was at Ponce Inlet Park near Daytona Beach! There were about 20 photographer and 3 brides, and 2 girls in prom dresses.

Excuse me: Can someone turn the rain off?

I can't handle any more rain, and neither can my poor puppy Diva. We are sick of it! We are sick of walking out side in the rain. We are sick of our hair getting wet!!!

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Today when I got home there was no standing water. Then it poured while I was cooking dinner and now we have standing water- ugh. bring on the mosquito infestation!

That water is belly deep on my puppy. She doesn't like to play in it--trust me, I know. I tried to drag her in it last week when it was also there.

I hate rain- I mean I strongly dislike it right now. I understand that we needed the rain, but this just plain ridiculous!

The power goes out every time it rains- not good when I'm trying to cook dinner. We got a half inch of rain in less then 2 hours today.

It is supposed to rain for atleast the next 3 days according to the weather channel so i guess we'll just have to deal w/ it. =(

For the love of fishing!

Chris & I got up at 430am to go fishing over in Hernando County on an inshore charter!!! (Chris looks so enthused to be taking pictures @ 5am doesn't he?---he loves me!)... So we went over to Hernando and went fishing with Capt. Joel (fishdaddycharters.com)! We went to the flats and I caught 2 catfish. No Reds! I REALLY wanted to catch a Red, but of course I know that just bc I want to doesn't mean i'm going to! If that were the case i'd have caught alot more fish in my life then I have! So after fishing the flats for a while we went out deeper to fish for sharks and whatever else would bite.

I don't know how far out we were, probably 7 miles and it was only 8 feet deep. You couldn't see land, but you could see the bottom. We caught a bunch of sharks, which you know I don't mind since I love love sharks!! They are such a fun fight! and they are cute! Did you know if you lay a shark on its back it will go to sleep? I had heard this but I wasn't sure if it was for sharks or gators?...it works for sharks, not sure if it works for gators.... We also caught some seabass, lady fish, and some trout. Chris caught a big 23.5 inch trout! we kept it, and we caught one other keeper trout. We brought them home and we had them for dinner tonight! They were delish!

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>>>Me "petting" the shark. The feel like sand paper on their head and back, and their belly is really smooth!

Chris & his trout \/

After we got done fishing in Hernando beach we came home, got a shower and watched TV...I started reading the fishing reports for Sebastian Inlet and they were bringing some big fish up outta there....Chris jumped up and got dressed and we went fishing- Again.....

We fished the west coast & east coast all in one day! 400 miles!!

We got skunked in Sebastian but we still had a good time. We got down there about 1130,fished for an hour and then slept in the truck from about 1230am-430am... Then we tried to go fish the beach but it was pretty rough. We watched the sun come up and then went to fish the point some before we came home!

(East Coast, Sebastian Inlet 6am)

The Inlet from the bridge that runs from the north side to the south side- that is the south side beach.

Me fishing the point at Sebastian Inlet!

Have you ever?

....written down some of the things you think about during the day? Or the things you dreamt about last night? I don't know why, but today I started writing down some of the random things I think about during the day.

So here is my list:

1. weird dreams: i've had alot of weird dreams lately, last night I dreamt that one of my exs was gay and that i saw him in the shower with a bunch of random guys. i mean my dream was graphic.....and this ex is so not gay-he's married....and im not saying which EX in case anyone i know reads this..and they won't know who i'm talking about bc all but one of my exes is married w/ kids!..
2. my schedule @ work. I often wonder why do I even bother wasting time making out a schedule when my office manager could care less whether or not she follows it or not ....we alternate days leaving at 5 and 4. i'll leave at 4 one day and she'll stay till 5, then the next day she leaves at 4 and i stay till 5. our dr demands that one of us be here until 5 with the receptionists.....but she never follows it and i get stuck here till 5 every damn day. and what is even more annoying is that I come in @ 730 so that I can leave @ 4, and she'll come in @ 8-815 and still leave at 4...how is this fair? .....
3. my classes @ school. I think i'm going to have to take 2 more pre-reqs before I can apply for the billing/coding program....both of whichi don't think i should have to take. One is INTRO to computers...I've taken a billion computer classes in college, and the other one is basic anatomy & physiology! But i've already taken Anatomy & phy 1 & 2...shouldn't those cancel out the basic?? Oh I sure hope so! UGH!
4. thoroughness, my ofc mgr is not thorough at all. she makes me crazy. she half ass does thing so that she can get through it quickly and then I end up cleaning up her mess later on because she didn't do it right the first time! AGH!
5. My dang dog Diva and her love for my chap stick. She has eaten 2 chapsticks and a lip gloss. WTH!

So there. That is a serious peek into my brain.

Camping at Shell Key Preserve!

So Chris & I were supposed to be in Costa Rica(for our honeymoon) from April 26th - May 2nd. But due to the economy we were unable to go. So we cancelled our trip and decided we go on our honeymoon another time. Chris granny & Papa gave us a weeks time share for our wedding gift so we will be able to use that any time up until June 2010.

So instead we decided that we would just take a long weekend and go camping. We recently discovered we enjoy camping. Well, Chris has been camping before but I haven't really. So Chris and I went down to Shell Key Preserve and camped Thursday, Friday, and came home Saturday afternoon. It was a great time! We fished all day and just hung out with each other. It was really nice & relaxing. We were the only ones in our immediate area that were camping on the island. There were some other folks camping down on the beach but where we were there was no one else. It was really nice!

We have a 14ft Jon Boat that we took from the Ft Desoto boat ramp to Shell Key Preserve. We loaded up the boat with our stuff and took off. We only had a few leaks, lol! We were taking on more water then I liked, apparently Chris thought the same thing but he didn't let me know that he was some what worried! We went to what we thought was the right island....but it just didn't look right so Chris called one of his friends and he told us which island it was. But before we left unloaded the boat and "patched" our leaks! ......our "patches" were the tails of some plastic/rubber artificial lures that Chris has. We had no other options so that was what we did!

See the little green tail! That was one of our plugs! Lol!!! So we made it to our island and then set up camp. ...Friday we went back to the boat ramp and went to the store, i forgot some stuff and there was a hardware store where Chris could get something to plug our holes. We had a few! =)

The weather was great during the day! Thursday night was nice, but really windy & cold! Friday night was absolutely miserable! It was hot, no breeze, and lots of bugs. The good thing about the breeze is that it keeps the bugs away! So Friday night was very sleepless! Saturday morning we decided that we couldn't handle another night like that so we fished all day Saturday and then packed it up and headed home Saturday afternoon. ---We didn't catch very much. Thursday night Chris went and fished off the beach and caught a couple of trout! Then I went down there with him and I caught 1 trout. Friday morning we went out fishing and caught another trout but other then that we didn't catch anything! Didn't matter, we still had a great time!!!

<--- My hubby cookin' me some trout!!!

So all in all we had a great weekend!!!