Rants, Recipes, and Running

I've got a little over 1 week until race day! Going to be honest and say I'm ready for it to be over with. Also very excited for the race....however... I'm not feeling so confident! Most marathon runners hit this point in their training, and feel confident. They take a sigh of relief during taper! They've trained hard, they've done their strenuous (and arduous long runs), and now they rest. This is the time where they feel utterly exhausted, hungry, sleepy, and ready to race. I feel none of this. I was behind about 3-4 weeks on getting my training started due to a foot injury. Then when I finally resumed my training, I was extra-cautious! I was so afraid of re-injuring that foot. Most weeks I only got 3 runs in per week. Some weeks I only ran twice. My other days were spent cross training in the gym. Long runs were ran kind of slow (which is okay, per most experts). Then I started having breathing problems. Foot was better, but couldn't take a deep breat...

This is coming out a little late, I'm a tad "out of style", here. But, it's been a crazy few weeks! So I need to play catch-up. I cannot believe we are already into the new year. 2013 went so fast. When I look back, it doesn't feel like I'm reviewing a year - but recent events that were just experienced "the other day ", as we often say. At the same time, however, so much has happened this year that at times I feel like a completely different person. I thought about doing a "Top 10" list...but I'm not sure if I can quantify levels of joy. There were so many big events in 2013, some that were big game-changers for me that deserve to make this list. So here is a list of a  few of my favorite things in 2013 . Being separated from my husband for 6 weeks, and not being able to communicate via text/phone/email.... "What?!?! Is she crazy?!", some may say. That 1st experience was so good for us. For the 1st time in our rel...