Halloween throwbacks

Happy Halloween or as I like to say "Happy Halloweenie!!!!

Are you dressing up today? I am not because I am pretty sure my work would frown upon it, but I have had fun dressing up in the past. Here is a little Halloween throwback edition:

2008

  

2009

2011

What has been your favorite Halloween costume that you have worn?????

--Tasha

Pumpkin Pacer 5K

I ran the Pumpkin Pacer 5K on Saturday. I went into this race with no expectations, but I hoped to run faster than I had ran my 5K last month (recap here). I still have had no speed work since the end of March. Just banking some easy miles and still running 15 miles or less a week. I have never participated in a costume run before so I was excited to dress up. I wanted to wear something that was still "runnable" but cute at the same time. I am not very creative, but a sparkly pirate is cool...right?

My pirate costume (minus the eye patch, earrings & bandanna)

I was able to find an eye patch, but when I put it on it made me dizzy just being able to see out of one eye. Considering I have a track record of running into fences, mailboxes, light posts, etc while out running I figured that it was best that I didn't wear the eye patch. 

Sparkled up and ready to run!

I woke up around 6:45 am and immediately started to kick myself in the butt for running my timed mile all out the night before in Farmgirlfit. My legs were also not feeling very light from deadlifts. Not the best way to wake up on race morning!

The race started at 10:00 am and was about 30-45 minutes away from where I lived. I decided to leave a little after 8:30 since I still had to get my race bib and it would allow me time to warm up. I got a nice little warm up in and felt pretty good. Since it was so cold (in the 30 degree range) I opted to not run in my bandanna an instead opted for my NIKE fleece headband to keep my ears warm. I was thankful that the church where the race took place was open because I was able to go inside and go through all of of my stretches.

Not really much to say about the actually race. It was a good course, a bit more challenging than the 5K from last month. There were some "ups" & "downs" along the course, but nothing too awful. They had pumpkins with arrows and balloons marking the course and as mile markers. It was a cute touch. 

I started feeling a bit tired with about a 1/2 mile to go, but I had just passed two guys and I was not going to let them beat me. I am not a competitive creature at all! Ended up finishing in 21:58. Still not close to my PR, but it was faster than last month's 5K and I did successfully run without a cramp in my left arch. I am more excited about not getting a cramp than I was about beating my 5K time from last month.

Post race

I was happy to be able to celebrate this race with some good friends who have recently gotten bit by the running bug. They each ran a great race and had fun. It has been excited for me to watch their progress over the last couple of months. I am so proud of them!

Excited to be done

Questions for you:

Did you race over the weekend?

Have you ever been more happy with the way that you raced versus your time? 

--Tasha

Breakthrough!

Over the last month I keep noticing that I routinely get a bad cramp in left arch. Usually I have to stop and regroup for about 5 seconds before I can resume running. Nothing serious, but it has been annoying/frustrating. I finally figured out that I think my issue and culprit of the cramping in my arch is that I am running too much on my toes on my left foot. I feel like my left heel never touches the ground when I am running. I have been slightly discouraged that I still haven't firmly grasped the concept of forefoot running. I feel like I am almost there, but it hasn't quite settled in.

On Tuesday my 5 mile continuous run was a mini breakthrough for me in terms of having a relative "cramp free" workout. I really focused on where my left foot was hitting the ground. As soon as I would feel a cramp coming on I would slow down, regroup and then would gradually increase my speed. I made note when I did feel a cramp appearing I was running more on my toes. I texted Matt and told him that I felt like I had a "breakthrough" and explained to him the changes I had made when I was running. He seemed to think that it made sense, but would know more after he met with me later in the week.

On Thursday Matt & I met up so that he could film me running and do a quick analysis on my progress. I brought my old running shoes (the ones I trained for Eugene in) so that he could compare the wear marks on them to the shoes that I have been wearing since July. He was very excited to see that the wear pattern on my  new shoes reflects a midfoot strike. He showed me the comparison to my old shoes where it was obvious that I was heel striking. He did notice on my new shoes that there is wear around my left toes which is probably the reason for my arch cramping so badly. I didn't have any wear marks around my toes on my right shoe.

He had me run how I had been running previous to Tuesday and then he had me run how I ran on Tuesday. He was able to do a side by side comparison of my stride to confirm that I was running too much on left toes. There was about a 4 degree difference, but enough that it is something that I really need to continue working on. He seems to think that the cramping in my arch is just because I need to have more of a midfoot strike on my left foot. I am fairly confident that I am getting close to resolving that annoyance so that I can run pain free all of the time.

For the first time since I started "running" again at the end of June I feel like I am making huge headway. Things are finally starting to fall into place. Matt even talked about starting to add in some long (er) runs. Right now it is just about banking the miles so that come spring time I can really get down to business.

Pumpkin Pacer 5K Recap is in the works!


Questions for you:

What has been your biggest running breakthrough?
If you have transitioned into forefoot/midfoot running what was your biggest obstacle in learning the new technique?

--Tasha

Friday Favorites: Costume Halloweenie Races

I may or may not be running a 5K costume run this weekend. I am still undecided; however, I have a race outfit costume picked out. That is the most important part, right?

Ahoy mates! Surrender yer booty!

I really wanted a red pirate tank top, but they are hard to come by. I did several Google searches that yielded nothing. This tank from Café Press was the best I could find.  It wasn't too expensive because I found a promo code that got me 20% off.

I was going to go with a red skirt sparkle skirt, however, I broke the needle on my sewing machine and I am too cheap lazy to go buy another one. At least the black sparkle skirt goes with the white tank top. I still think that a red skirt would look even better. Oh well. Every race costume is made perfect by a Team Sparkle skirt so it is a win win.

I thought that the socks were pretty neat. They were what sparked my enthusiasm in being a pirate. I got them at Fred Meyer for a couple of $$$. The best part about the socks is that they were made to look tattered on the top- very pirate like. Money well spent.

I still need to find an eye patch and a bandana. My mom suggested I skip out on the eye patch because I have a reputation for running into things when I am not paying attention. Like the time I was running and ran into a brick lamp post and jammed my finger....that was awesome.

Even if I am a “no show” to said race, the Lantern Tap House Run Club is having a costume themed run on Tuesday 10/30. Worst case I only wear my costume to Run Club. J

Questions for you:

Have you ever run in a costume themed race before? If so, what was your costume???

What is the best costume you ever seen participate in a race?

--Tasha

Truckin' along

Running.

It has been going. Not the greatest, but I am still making some progress every week. That is something to be thankful for! I am still under the strict direction of Matt and following his training plan to the “T”. The previous two weeks were the most significant increase in my mileage. My new plan calls for an even bigger mileage increase AND a pace increase. When I say mileage increase, think conservative. I am still running less than 20 miles per week. 

Here is an example of what my running plan looks like:

Friday: 4 x 1 miles at 8:00-8:30 pace (7.5-7.0 mph) with 1 min breaks between

Sunday: 8 x 800m intervals (9 mph for 3:20 w/ 3:20 rest between)

Tuesday: 5 mile continuous run at  8:00-8:30 pace (7.5-7.0 mph)

Each week my 800s increase, but everything else stays the same. By the end of this particular plan I will be up to 10 x 800 repeats.  Each week also follows the same type of workout format. Nothing crazy.

I have a follow up appointment to meet with Matt this Thursday. It is hard for me to see my progress, but thankfully he always does. I am excited to show him how much I think that I have improved since our last meeting over a month ago. I am going to meet him at his office so that he can create a video analysis of my stride. I am still concerned that I haven’t fully grasped the concept of forefoot running. I don’t know how many more YouTube videos I can watch, it just hasn’t come together yet. Almost, but not quite.

The super frustrating thing is that I still get an occasional foot cramp in the arch of my left foot. This comes and goes. I find that I am more likely to get the cramping if my stride is too long or if I don’t allow myself ample recovery time in between workouts. Still nobody seems to be overly concerned with it so I will just keep truckin’  along. 

In my cross training world, I officially joined Farmgirlfit last night. For at least the 1st month I opted for the unlimited package ($139 per month) so I can go as often as I like and to any class. I am hoping that this will hold me accountable and get me back on track which I so desperately need. Mr. Healthy Diva wasn't thrilled that I went with the expensive package so I had to mention that we haven't had a gym membership in 10 months and that when he did his big career change recently I made some major sacrifices for him. Sorry honey, but your wifey is going to be selfish for once. I need this for me and trust me I will make use of that unlimited pass. Trust me. 

--Tasha

Farmgirlfit

I finally did it. I broke down and tried Farmgirlfit on Saturday. I have been wanting to check out the gym for months now and I have been saying for months that I need to make some positive changes. I emailed them on Friday to see if it would be possible to try one of their Saturday morning classes and thankfully they said yes. I was nervous to go and really wished that I had a friend to go with, but I bucked up and went. I almost talked myself out of going, but I need to stop making excuses and get myself back into shape. I am so incredibly glad that I went!

What is Farmgirlfit? It is a non traditional women's only gym that offers personalized training in a group setting. It is a lot like what I used to do when I was doing Skinny Jeans at the Spokane Club last year. The workouts (they call them the Grind) you complete are very similar to cross fit. You do a certain number of rounds with a short break in between each. Each round has a certain number of sets to complete and you count all of your reps. At the end of the round you right the number of reps you completed on a whiteboard next to your name.

The first 10 minutes of class you can use to do your own stretches/warm up. I liked this because I can still do my prehab/rehab stretching. The next 10 minutes is a group warm up and then after a brief explanation of what the Grind is for the day the workout starts.

This is what the warm up and the Grind was yesterday that I completed:

Warm up:
2 rounds, each move is 30 seconds
Jumping Jacks
Mountain Climbers
High Knees
Plank

Then we split in 1/2 and while one group was running line sprints the other group were doing burpees.

The Grind:
3 Rounds, 1 minute each move
Battle Ropes
Kettle Bell Swings
Wall Balls
Pull ups
Weight pushes
1:00 minute break

After the grind you can do some "extra" sets of additional lifts or you can just stretch and go home.

My first round I did a terrible job counting and had 91 reps. My second round was 116 and my last round I killed it with 130. I got the most reps out of the battle ropes because we used those every day in Skinny Jeans. I had close to 75 reps on my last round of battle ropes.

I left the gym and my arms and legs were shaking. It was such a great workout and I loved the atmosphere and the friendly self competition to get more reps on each round. The Grind is set up in different levels so everyone's skill set is accommodated for. I was fortunate enough to know how to do all of the moves since I use kettle bells at home and I had used the battle ropes previously.

I am looking forward to working out at FGF more. The membership prices aren't that expensive. It costs the same amount as I was paying at the Spokane Club for Skinny Jeans. They have different levels of membership options that range from $79 to $139. They also require that you take a foundations class that teaches you all of the lifts. The price for that class is $65. Once you join you also get access to a member's only section on their website that lists what each daily Grind is and nutrition and exercise tips from the trainers. Classes are offered in the morning and evening Monday-Saturday. The workouts on Saturday and Monday are different, but classes on Tues/Wed & Thurs/Fri are the same. Unfortunately with my work schedule the only time I could probably attend class during the week would be at 6:30 pm. Ideally I would like to workout at FGF at least 3 times a week. I am trying to decide which membership option I would like to choose. I might email them tomorrow and ask them some questions before I make a final decision.

Today my arms are pretty sore, but it is a great feeling. I definitely got a booty kicking yesterday! I am glad that I finally decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I had a great workout and a fun time while doing it.

--Tasha

Friday Favorites: Treadmill Running

I have a confession.

 I love my treadmill.

Call me crazy, but I really do love running on my TM. I know, some people call it the “dreadmill” and want to scratch their eyeballs out after only a couple of miles, but there are some great advantages too!

My TM!

Convenience

I am busy and wished that I had a couple more hours in the day to accomplish everything on my “to do” list. Thankfully my TM is in our sunroom. That leaves me with ZERO excuses. I don’t even have to drive to the gym to use it!

It’s safe

Unfortunately I have to go to this thing every day that people call a J-O-B.  I have to be there early which means if I need to run in the morning it is still dark outside. Me being the total scaredy cat will not run when it is dark outside. Who knows what creepers are lurking in the bushes?! Enter the TM.

Consistent pacing

I completed a lot of my hard workouts for CIM and Eugene on my TM. I completed all of my long runs outside and 99% of my tempo runs outside too. A lot of my track workouts (200, 400 & 800 repeats) were completed on my TM.

True.

You can simulate race courses

Technically I could do this on my TM, but I haven’t broke down and bought the iFit card….yet. It is definitely something I want to get because I can download a course from Google Maps and it will transfer to my TM. Someday I can say that I ran 5 miles in Central Park while living in another state.

Don’t have to worry about the weather

I live in Spokane where the winters can be a little sketch. We get snow, ice & freezing rain from October-March (sometimes April). I am generally pretty tough and will run in most conditions, but when there are 6 + inches of snow on the ground I really don’t want to be hoofing through it. Enter my beloved TM.

Great for injury rehabilitation

When I first started to resume running after being diagnosed with Compartment Syndrome running on the road caused me pain. However, I could run on the TM and adjust the……..and could run with less pain.

Learning how to "run" again

Questions for you:

Are you fan of the TM?

Do you feel like you are racing the person next to you on the TM at the gym?

What is the longest TM run/workout you have completed?

--Tasha

Time

I applaud all of you ladies out there who can keep up on this blogging business. I don’t know how you can stay on top of reading & commenting on blogs. During the work week I usually dedicate some “blogging” time first thing in the morning and sometimes later at night. I am always so busy on the weekends that I rarely have a free moment to sit at my computer. I think that I got caught up on blogs tonight- this includes blogs that I missed reading over the weekend. Sorry, I feel like I am being a bad blogger. 

How do you keep on top of everything? Do you dedicate a certain time everyday where you read blogs and write your own? Do you pre write some of your posts? 

--Tasha

Winning Weekend

My weekend was really busy. My husband and I drove over 697.8 miles in two days. YIKES. Poor Allie the Acura- she needs a vacation.

Friday night we attended the grand opening celebration at Spokane’s Fleet Feet store. It was a fun opportunity to show our support and also meet some new people in the running community. I am truly excited about what Fleet Feet has done for our community so far. They are a great store and great people too. I am looking forward to watching them grow as a business and inspire people to get out there and RUN.

During the day on Saturday I spent most of my time cramming all of my weekend errands into a couple of hours. I managed a quick TM workout, but it was nothing spectacular. I am currently in the pitfalls of foot pain again. I am going to take it easy this week and see if that helps.

 Later that night we drove about an hour north of Spokane to Usk, WA to watch Mr. Healthy Diva’s high school friend in an MMA fight. Talk about sitting with an interesting crowd. I definitely felt out of place! His friend is an amazing fighter and has good chance of making it to the UFC . Seriously, the guy is ripped. I have never seen so many muscles on a single person before. The guy doesn’t have a 6 pack- it’s more like a 24 pack! Dave’s fight was the main event so we had to sit and watch 12 fights before it was his turn. His fight seemed to last only 30 seconds, but it was actully 52 seconds with a knock out to his opponent. Dave used his knee to knock the guy in the forehead- OUCH. The crowd went crazy…and so did Mr. Healthy Diva. J

Why anyone would want to get locked in a ring and fight someone else until "surrendering" or knocking the other person out is beyond me. Seriously.

We made pretty good time driving home which I was thankful for since we were planning to leave at 3 am the next morning to drive to Seattle for the Seahawks game. We got home a little before 10:30 pm only to realize that we had locked ourselves out of our house!!!!!! We drove the truck to Usk so I left my car keys on the kitchen counter while Mr. Healthy Diva had given his father the house key off of his key chain so he could come and take care of the girls while we were in Seattle. Total EPIC FAIL.  Thankfully his father answered his cell phone and was just at the casino so we drove out there to meet him for our key. By the time we got home I was in bed by 11:30. Not ideal.

We were slow moving the next morning due to lack of sleep and did not make out the door until 5 am. We made one pit stop in North Bend to get some brats for grilling and then we were off to scout out a tailgating place. Mr. Healthy Diva always parks in the same spot so thankfully he knew right where to go. Because we left Spokane later than we had anticipated we got one of the last parking spots in the lot. At $40 I can hardly consider it “lucky”, but I guess all of the parking downtown Seattle is ridiculous. That is another reason why I like living in Spokane!

My first ever Seahawks game!

Mr. Healthy Diva being a goof- GO Cougs EAGS!

We tailgated for a couple of hours and made some new friends before we headed over to meet his uncle who had our tickets. It was starting to rain a little when we headed into the game, but thankfully our seats where covered so we stayed dry during the game.

The game? WOW. What an awesome performance by the Seahawks! Talk about a nail biter at the end! The crowd was absolutely insane. My ears were buzzing- I could hardly hear myself think. I am definitely glad that we were able to go, such a fun day. Exhausting, but fun.

View from our COVERED seats :-)

New Christmas card????

We made it back to Spokane a little before 9:45, had the car unloaded, girls let out…and my head hit the pillow at 9:57. J

PS- The Eastern Washington Eagles also won their football game against Montana State on Saturday so it truly was a WINNING weekend! Now that EWU won, they are currently ranked #1 in the FCS poll. GO EAGS!!!!!!!

Questions for you:

Did you do anything fun over the weekend?

Did you watch the Seahawks game?

--Tasha

My guest post

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I have a guest post today at Crazy Running Girl. Lora is one of my favorite running bloggers and we are both Sweat Pink Ambassadors. She asked me to do a guest post for her while she is in Jamaica and then off to Spain for her honeymoon.

I promise to get caught up on blogs etc today. I had a jam packed weekend and my hearing still might not be recovered from being at the Seahawks game yesterday. Talk about an awesome game to see in person!

--Tasha

Friday Favorites: Cross Training

Cross training. You know you love it! I know it isn't as much fun as running, but you need to include it as part of your training program. It gives your body time to recover in between your running sessions and also helps you to work different muscle groups and gain strength. I know that there are days when I dread having to lift, but I love the feeling after. I love feeling myself getting stronger and improving every month.

I switch up my routine quite a bit, but normally lift three days a week. I usually dedicate one of those days to kettle bells. Kettle bells are the total body workout!

This is one of my favorite workouts that I do a couple times a month:



It is an awesome workout- you really feel it at the end!

I am hoping that we get a gym membership soon because I really need to start adding some pilates or yoga to my weekly routine. It would also be nice to do an actualy spin class and not spin at home while watching hulu every week :-)

I hope that everyone had a fantastic week and that all of the marathoners are recovering from their awesome performances.

I will leave you with this little gem....TGIF

This is what I will be doing today while praying that the day goes by fast

Questions for you:
Any fun weekend plans?
Did you have a rough week like me?
How many days do you cross train a week?
Like using kettle bells?

--Tasha

Hacked Pork

I love when a recipe turns out, but it is always a double bonus when it tastes even better the next day. This recipe was nothing short of amazing! Mr. Healthy Diva even commented that this was one of the best dinners I have cooked in a while. He is a pretty picky eater so when he loves something then I know it was a huge success.  I often cook dinner for myself while he opts for a $1 microwaveable pizza. We are definitely as opposite as it gets when it comes to health & fitness!

This meal was enough for dinner Monday & Tuesday night. On Wednesday I made a wrap for lunch out of it and then Mr. Healthy Diva had the last portion for his dinner. It is another bonus when you can get several meals out of one recipe. I am pretty busy during the week so taking another 30-45 minutes out of my evening to create a delicious dinner is sometimes too time consuming.

I also have made this recipe for tailgating and it was a HUGE success. We ate it like pulled pork on hamburger buns and it was awesome. This recipe is pretty versatile. Today I am having the leftovers for lunch with some cheese sprinkled on top. Yum!

I owe this recipe’s credit to Pinterest. Check it out here.

This is what it looks like

SOURCE

You can also check out my cookbook board on Pinterest and try some recipes that I have pinned recently.

Let me know what you think!

PS- I was going to take a picture of it (I have only made it twice now!), but I was always so excited to chow down that I forgot. Blogger FAIL. J

--Tasha

Happy Birthday Sweet Tia

My sweet Tia is 5 years old today. It just seems like yesterday when my boyfriend (now Mr. Healthy Diva) and I drove over to Seattle to pick her up. I had never had a dog before and I was petrified I would do something to ruin her. The instant I saw her sweet little face, my heart just melted.

Tia has brought so much joy and happiness to our family. She is the smartest and sweetest little girl- always happy with a smile on her face. I can't imagine not having her in our lives. Love her snuggles (even though she steals my pillow every freaking night) and I love her sweet little kisses. She is also the best big sister to Maisy- patient, kind, & caring. I couldn't have asked for a better little girl.

Mommy & Daddy LOVE YOU TIA!!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

When I first got her home

Tia's first bath

Her first snow

Puppy school graduate!

Tia's first 4th of July in Manzanita, OR

Watching the parade with mommy & daddy

On the way back to Spokane at Multnomah Falls

Love her to pieces

Her 1st birthday- the day I also tried to burn our house down. OOPS.

Mommy's little lady bug!

At the beach during Thanksgiving break

Tia didn't want much to do with her Grandpa's barn and the baby calves

Little Miss Santa Claus

Summer at the beach

Matching Halloweenie costumes!

Go Ducks (thanks Auntie Cassie!)

My beautiful baby

Sweet Tia and Mommy

--Tasha

Friday Favorites: A Tale of 2 Pictures

A tale of two pictures

I used to have good form. I swear. Over the years it had gotten pretty bad, but mostly when I started running again in January of 2011. It was at its worst between CIM and the Eugene Marathon.  I tried to find a better example of what my terrible form looked like, but this was the best I could come up with (bad form picture on the left).

Bad form VS Improved form

The picture on the left is from the 5K that I ran the last February (click here for race recap). It just so happens to be my 5K PR at 20:21. As you can see from the picture my shoulders are very hunched. What you can’t see is how much upper body movement I had going on. You can ask Matt- it was pretty bad! You should be able to cross your arms like you are hugging yourself and run in a straight line. I couldn't do that and almost fell off the TM in my physical therapist’s office when he tried to make a point to how bad my form was.

The picture on the right is from this last week. My form still has a long ways to go in terms of improvement, but it is already looking a million times better. You can tell how much more relaxed my upper body is. My face looks funny because I was yelling at Mr. Healthy Diva to go away and stop taking pictures of me running. Haha. 

I am proof that even an awful heel striker can become a forefoot runner. It takes a lot of work & dedication, but it can be done. I think that I might have the most patient coach in the world to endure the last 5 months with me. Thanks Matt!!!!!

Ouch! Look at that heel strike!!!! Also notice the "swinging" arms? This was from the Girlfriends 1/2 marathon in October 2011 where I was 8th female overall, 1st place AG. (Click here for race recap).

How did I improve my form and start forefoot running VS the heel striking? It was a lot of hard work, but consisted of physical therapy (2-3 times per week) and drills that Matt created for me. I am thankful that Matt not only is the best coach in the world, but he is also an exercise physiologist so he knows his stuff. He is so smart that he is an exercise physiology professor at Whitworth University in Spokane. How did I get so lucky?!

Here are links to all of my drills in case you are curious......

Prehab/Rehab Drills: WARM UP #1

Prehab/Rehab Drills: RUNNING DRILLS #2

Prehab/Rehab Drills: STRETCHING #3

Even to this day I still do everything listed in those previous blog posts. These are drills and stretches that I will probably continue forever because they have helped me a lot. Matt said that he even still does most of them. He finds that he gets injured when he does't do the warm up and stretching portions. For someone who has run a marathon faster than me and competes in IM competitions, I will trust his word. 

--Tasha

Being at peace with myself

I thought that this week would be an emotional one for me.

I should be in full swing of taper tantrums.

I should be an emotional wreck.

I should have at least three race outfit options laid out on my kitchen table.

I should be nagging Matt at every waking moment about race strategy and mile splits.

I should be dreaming about course maps and elevation charts.

This Saturday I should by toeing the starting line of what was to be my 5^th marathon- the St. George.

But I am not.

You wanna know what? I am at peace with that. I had lofty goals for this race back in May. I was going to train hard all summer and I was going to run a FAST marathon; at least fast by my standards. I had an “a” goal of a sub 3:10 and a “b” goal of sub 3:15. This was going to by MY RACE. This was the race that was going to help me DREAM BIG for a sub 3:00 marathon and prepare me to kill it in Boston in April.

I am at peace because I am in a good spot both physically and mentally for the first time since last year.

I can run pain free.

I can run happy.

I have all my toenails (you are supposed to laugh here).

More importantly I have learned so much about myself and just how strong I really am.

There will be other races and plenty of marathons in my future if that is what I choose.

Instead of feeling sorry for myself I am going to be thankful for how much I have GAINED in the last 5 months. There is so much to be thankful for.

I have an AMAZING support system and an AMAZING coach. I have people that have stuck by my side through the days where I hated everyone and everything. The days where I never thought I would run again and wanted to punch a wall my friends always said the most encouraging and inspiring things. That encouragement and inspiration helped heal me just as much as my medical team did.

I am going to continue to DREAM BIG no matter what happens. I have so much to look forward too!

--Tasha

...and the EAGS are AWESOME

This last weekend was a lot of fun! Saturday I went for a 3 mile continuous run and it was glorious. I actually thought I got to run 5 continuous miles and was bummed when I only had 3, but it was still great. I did a lot of abs and yesterday I lifted. Yesterday I also played my first softball game since high school. Yep, I played a double header softball game and I survived AND it was a lot of fun! I was a replacement since they were missing a player so I am not permanent on the team. I think I need to brush up on my softball skills before I become perm anyways. I am a much better runner.

Saturday was also a very EPIC day on all fronts. The Eastern Washington Eagles STOMPED the Montana Grizzlies in their home opener. It was AWESOME!!!! Mr. Healthy Diva and I went out to tailgate with our friends a good 5 hours before the game started. I got to see a bunch of people that I hadn't seen in years. Tailgating in Cheney is always a good time. Eastern got their brand new digital score board put together just before the big game- it is pretty cool! The players even had new matte black helmets which I loved. When they went out on the field they had their red helmets, but just before the game started to switched to the new matte black ones. Very cool!

EWU ended up playing an awesome game and beat Montana 32-26. Montana is definitely EWU's biggest rival and is usually the biggest game of the season. I have a slight hunch that this will be an awesome year for Eagle football. It is always a great day to be an Eagle, but it is even great with a win over Montana!!!!!

I got my EWU jersey out the night before

The guys

Some of my favorite tailgating ladies

More of my favorite ladies

Mr. Healthy Diva & I

On the field in the Inferno at Roos Field

EWU had sweet new matte black helmets

Sold out game

Brand new digital score board

Questions for you:

Do anything fun over the weekend?

Ever play in an IM league (softball, volleyball, basketball)?

What is your favorite tailgating food?

--Tasha