Today is a good day! First because of this:

Do you SEE THAT?! It’s PAVEMENT!!!! No snow, slush or ice to truck through. Pure shoe to pavement that sounds like music to a runners ear.

Today I had an AWESOME run!!! It was -11 when I left the house this morning so it was chilly but the sunshine made up for it. The weather Gods were out today! It was a nice change to run on some clear roads rather than snowy country roads like these. To be honest, I was a little nervous after Coach B told us the route we were running. Remember when I had that really bad run? Well we ran that route. The difference between then and now is that I loved it and I felt great today.

I ran about 12.5km in 1:06. My running buddy and I were just cruising along through great conversation. I love when that happens… don’t you? I was on a high after my run and felt so positive and motivated.

I feel so thankful to have my health and be able to run like I do (I mean it would be cool to be a bit faster, but hey.. just say’n :) ). I feel positive with how my training is going and have faith that I will complete Around the Bay with a smile on my face (and probably a few.. ok, a lot of tears). I am so thankful to be part of such an amazing running group and to have such a dedicated and awesome coach. Thanks Coach B for everything! Running with such a supportive group of people does wonders and makes you feel good at the same time.

For those of you who are scared to join a group, whether it be a gym, a running group, or a choir, I encourage you to take the step and just do it. I think everyone may feel a little nervous or maybe even scared to try something new and step outside of their ‘box’ but you know what? It is totally worth it! I remember how nervous I was to join Runners’ Edge running group and when I think about it now it’s just crazy. I had nothing to be scared of!!

Do you prefer to run/workout alone or with a group?

I tried a new recipe last night that I got from Mama Pea. If you want to learn lots about healthy eating and have a good read, go and check out her blog now! She is so funny… go and see for yourself! I would love to spend a day in the kitchen with this woman and learn all of her secrets.

I made her Quinoa stuffed peppers and they were DELISH! (you can read more about quinoa here.  Honestly, they were so easy to make, super tasty AND healthy! These babies will be at the top of my recipe book.. or should I say added to my pile of loose papers, since I don’t have an actual recipe book. GMan loved them too so I was happy about that. Rather than using big bell peppers I had a bag of mini peppers from Costco to use up, so that’s what I did.

OK, have any of you heard of cactus pears? Well they look like this:

I just want to warn you that it is called cactus pear for a reason. They have SPINES. Sharp spines.. so BE CAREFUL. This fruit is probably near the top of my favorites list. The only way I can describe it to you is that the texture is a mix between a watermelon and a cantaloupe. It has little seeds that are edible. It’s GOOD! I promise.

The first time we bought them (well it was a first for me, not for GMan) I went to grab one and GMan frantically told me to leave it. Obviously, I didn’t listen and grabbed it anyway and that’s when I found out that cactus pears do in fact have spines (their sneaky because you can’t actually see them they’re so fine). I found out for a second time last night. I was being inpatient and tried to cut one myself and BAM, I got a spine in my hand. They hurt. a lot. I think the grocery stores should have a warning: Pricks found here. Don’t you?

The moral of the story is, try a cactus pear, they are REALLY good but be careful!!  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.