USAT Level 1 Coaching Clinic

Last weekend I had the awesome experience of attending the USAT Level 1 Coaching Clinic with Mrs.Vicki Boivin, to obtain my USAT Coaching Certification.

It. Was. AWESOME!


I still have to take the test, but I have high hopes. Even doing the multiple choice portion, which I did last night was fun.


I had the great fortune to have 3 amazing speakers and a (mostly) cool class. (We had one guy in our class who decided to ignore the directive of 'not talking about yourself' and 'ensuring if you were asking a question, it ended in a question mark'. There is always one, right?) It was fun that the Tour was happening this weekend too, so we all had something to watch in the bar together and discuss (well, Vicki could discuss it - I could pretend like I understood what was happening!) or run together and discuss, or sit on the plane and discuss...... 


Jesse Kropelnicki spoke on exercise physiology, nutrition and strength training, and had a ton of really awesome ideas. I really enjoyed his approach to questions, his knowledge and all of his presentations. His nutrition plan was something that I have recently been trying, with Vicki's assistance - so I felt GREAT. ;)


Coach Ian Murray spoke on periodization, swim and bike skills and workouts. He is married to Alexandra Paul, who was on Baywatch for 5 years but now, according to him 'does mostly lifetime movies' (like thats a BAD thing). This, of course, came out at the airport, where the poor guy was routed through Seattle from Boise before flying home to LA. He had an AMAZING amount of patience, and I really appreciated his honesty and his frank discussions regarding money, Ironman, and the nature of creating training plans. 


And, we got to see the great Bobby McGee, who actually name drops Olympians without meaning to. He's just that good of a running coach. He was a great speaker - and his discussions on running workouts, and form, and drills was mind blowing. He is not just a great coach due to the athletes he's coached, but his dedication to the sport. He also had some amazing ideas on walk/running and positive self-talk - which will be really interesting to play with :) 


Everyone who spoke really loves what they do - and loves triathlon, and the sports individually. THIS really hit home. I talk about triathlon like I would love it, if I didn't have to bike, but the truth is, I enjoy biking. If I stopped putting myself down about it, and actually focused on what I have accomplished and the gains I have made... I would be even happier! It would seem like play, which, after all, is what it really is. :) 

Another list - things I'm excited about...

I know, enough with the lists!

But here's another one. :)
I am excited about:

• Alyssa's baby shower - and baby! 
• The Rock N Roll half, and seeing how my trainees and training buddies do!
• CDA - and how my teammates do!
• Amy's bachelorette weekend in Palm Springs (SO MUCH!) 
• Amy's wedding
• My tasks related to the above, and getting my dress! 
• Having HBO
• The USAT Level I Clinic - I am excited to learn more about triathlon, and hopefully help people! Plus, then I will have both my RRCA Certification AND USAT Certification :) 
• Getting more serious about eating/acting/training like an athlete. I've loved some of the changes I've made to my diet, and I can't wait to see if they have performance benefits as well! 
• Going to cheer at Lake Stevens
• Going to cheer at Canada - and hopefully cheer on Ms Vicki!
• Ragnar - and all the fun we'll have in our awesome van (although I am bummed I can't be in BOTH vans!) I love our team!

That didn't go quite as planned - or my Oliver 70.3 race report

Last weekend I competed in the Oliver half Ironman. Going into it, I had the best support crew a girl could ask for, Ms. Vicki Boivin - who should have been racing, but was sidelined due to injury. That girl smiled, organized, cooked, cleaned, hugged, cheered and forced the rest of us to focus and relax. Can you say 'best sherpa ever?!'

my hero :) 

Saturday, after tracking our speedy teammates online, we did a little swim/bike/run to prep. Everything went smoothly, except the insane check in line! Back at the condo, we relaxed, ate, and ate more. Vicki made an amazing dinner, and Derek and Joe, who was also racing joined us. 

joe and I enjoying Vicki's cooking!

Dave arrived around 7 (I was right - everyone else thought it would be another hour!) and headed out for a run, and then settled in to drink our beer and rest up his cheering muscles.;) 

Sunday morning we were up up up at 4am! We left the condo around 5 to head over to body marking. If the check in fiasco was any indication, we didn't want to be too late to race! 

Me at body marking - brrrrrrr!

After that, it was over to the swim start. I was FREEZING, but got in to warm up. As long as I was moving, I was fine. The swim was a 3 wave start - and I was in the second wave. This initially made me nervous, because I was concerned about crowding. Luckily, there was plenty of room - and it was easy to get out there and find an opening! I felt good - I had a good clip, and was chasing some speedy ladies. Turns out the course was a bit long... The timing mats were also after the wesuit stripping and another 100 yard run, so my time was slower than the actual swim. Oh, well, it was all part of the race, right?! (Oh, and the wetsuit strippers and I were equally novice, so it took an inordinately long time.)

Swim time: 40:03

T1: Another half mile jog barefoot to the transition area - shoes on, glasses and helmet on, and out! Someone tried to ask me a question, but I think I had my race face on!

T1 time: 4:32

Bike: The bike. What can I say? I had trouble settling in at the beginning but after a while felt good, and was cruising along in what, for me, was a decent pace! Went through the first loop feeling good - positive, happy, and pushing a little... And then... two flats. I won't go into a ton of detail here, except that I got a flat front tire, then a flat back tire. It wasn't my favorite moment or bike ride.  The good news is that in Canada, the bike barn peeps will change it for you. They came upon me during my first catastrophe, tears and all, and then I found them the second time. Time to reset expectations. It wasn't going to be my best day, but I was going to get through it, and goddamn it, I was going to be smiling! What other choice did I have? My friend and my husband had come all this way (and I had done all these crappy transition runs) to finish this, and it was time to just do it.

I will say this: fueling went great. I took a Gu every 30 minutes on the bike, and drank Perform. A lot of sweetness, but it got me through. (At the end of the race, I had all kinds of Gu running stuck to my leg from storing my empties in my pants hem, but oh, well!)

Bike time: 3:32:37

T2: I had to pee. Like seriously. And I was OVER IT. But, I love running, and even though I wasn't feeling super confident in my run, I was ready to be off my mofo bike. So, time to giddyup. 

T2 time: 2:52

Run: I was happy to be running and out there. The first loop went GREAT. I was passing people, encouraging them (why not?!) and having a good time. Around mile 10, I was ready to be done. Right before I saw Ann Sloan, close to mile 12.5ish, I talked to Dave - he had taken a spectator to the hospital after she ran face first into a pole running out to cheer on her friend! Crazy! She needed 7 stitches! So glad he was there to help! He ran with me for a few steps, and then ran to the finish to cheer me on. Ann was having a great race, but declined my invitation to run the rest of the way with me - after her soul crushing announcement that the run course was a half mile long. Yeeeech! Oh well. Nothing to do but press on, and stick to my personal resolution that I would NOT WALK unless I was at an aid station drinking water. I took 2.5 gus on the run. 45 min, an hour 15 and mile 10 I decided to sip on one a bit.

Run time: 2:03:17

Final time: 6:23: 19

All in all not my best day. I have a few thoughts - the bike issues were devastating mentally. I was proud of myself for recalibrating my expectations and managing to stay fairly positive - but it was tough, and I think my run suffered. Also, if I am going to be brutally honest - I feel like I haven't been as consistent as I needed to be in my workouts - particularly in my running. I think this was a mental issue from the beginning. I really like doing more running, which hasn't been possible with my recent focus on the bike. However, I learned a lot from this race, and it was probably the toughest one of my life. Nothing went according to plan, and I still finished. Not quite what I had hoped, but I did it - and I am proud of myself. I was so excited for all my teammates in Oliver (Mac, Paul and Derek) and Honu (countless) for awesome, awe-inspiring performances to aspire to. I know I'll do better next time, and in the meantime, I am still happy and thankful I made it through this race, and that is something to smile about!

Rest in peace, sweet cousin

Last Friday night, the 20th, my sweet older cousin passed away. She was 33.

That's why this past Friday night found me on a plane to Spokane with Dave to be there for her service yesterday. My wonderful husband decided we should fly, in spite of the outrageous expense. I am so happy we did, and that I was there. I knew it was going to be a hard day, but it was beyond what I expected. It was so sad, and so hard to remember how difficult Theresa's life was. It was great to have the opportunity to be with the family, and say goodbye to our first lost family member together.

Theresa had pretty severe mental and physical disabilities. She was mentally retarded and had some emotional problems as well. She always had some mobility problems, but in the past year and a half, she had to live without a hip. They botched her hip surgery three times - well, I'm not sure the hospital should be blamed, but the end result was that sweet girl had to live without a hip.

At the funeral yesterday, Theresa's family shared some special things about her, including how positive she was about life. When I think about her life, I think it was brutally hard - and how unfair it was that she had so many bad breaks. I think she knew how much everyone loved her though, and she was so full of love for everyone. In spite of all the bad things that had happened to her, she was so certain that everyone was good, and rejoiced in the little things. While she may not have been able to live life to same fullness that many of us get to, she was able to enjoy her world.

I hope her heaven is full of hugs, angels, and all things beautiful and delicious. She deserves it.

Mt Si Relay

Last Sunday, I participated in the Mt Si Relay on team Dae Han. Here are some things I learned:

• Watch Best of the Best, just do it.
• Running while on antibiotics BLOWS, and I would still consider myself sick that day
• There are more than 13 versions of the song "Wuthering Heights" and the Houck brothers consider that pump up music. It's not. 
• It is possible to listen to the same song, in 13 different versions ALL DAY and mostly stay sane
• The Houck's consider vomiting at the handoff the only indication that you have worked hard enough
• Being in first place when you take the handoff and subsequently losing that placement really sucky
• Everything with the Houcks is a contest, including chugging Guinness
• I am a better beer drinker than Brian

We came in second place overall, but first place in the mixed team division!

Happy, tired and sore!

It was a super fun day, and I hope I am invited back on the team next year! The event isn't just a relay - there are people who do a 50K or a 50 miler. They are insane!

The order was:

Total	min/mile
Scott	06:32.0
Brady	06:47.4
Elizabeth	07:17.9
Brian	06:23.8
Heidi	07:41.0

(I was super pleased I was a lot faster the girl who I replaced. She ran an 8:05 pace last year. You always want to be an upgrade ;))

I think I could run a lot faster if I wasn't still sick and on antibiotics. I averaged 7:17 pace over my two legs - 5.7 and 4.1. The first leg was almost pancake flat, and we were in first when at the handoff. That changed about a mile into my leg - when we moved to 2nd. At about mile 5, we moved to third. Both those other teams were all male, so not in our division, but still. The one Husky Runner kid was mad fast. I threw up at mile 2, and at the end. In spite of my regimen of pre-race immodium, my stomach was completely ick. (When I texted Dave to tell him how we were doing, and the vomiting, he responded that he was making breakfast. He loves me.)

The Houck's brought us back into first, and then Heidi unfortunately got passed by one of the Husky runners as well. (I was so excited to meet Heidi - she's super fun, nice and a great runner!)

We were in first by 4 minutes when I started my second leg, which was 2 miles up the Iron horse trail and 2 miles back down. Ouch. I am not the world's best hill runner, and my hip and hammy were acting up after my first leg. I was passed by that fast mo-fo at mile 2.25, and he put 2.5 minutes on me by the time I handed off. (That other team that had passed us during my first leg had imploded, and were no longer a concern.) Brian managed to pass the husky team's next runner, but not by much, and we ended up in second place overall by only 86 seconds. We were the first place mixed team, though, so we got award mugs!

Winner mugs and beers to go in them!

Thats when the beer drinking started. The Houcks were chugging Guinnesses, so of course I joined them! how could I not? That results in some ride home shenanigans which may or may not have included public urination. I mean, don't these guys look like trouble?

In spite of his expression, Scott is not a serial killer.

Best of the Best - and Brownies on a Saturday Morning

After a week of being sick - a solid week at this point - I am OVER IT. I haven't gotten to run all week, this cough is making me crazy, and as much as I complained last week about never being home, I am now sick of being home. (Careful what you wish for!) It would be different if I had the energy to do stuff like redecorate or whatever, but I don't. And I have races looming - it's freaking me out! I was really hoping to PR at the Cinco de Mayo, but my fitness isn't where I want it to be, and a lost week of training isn't helping my confidence. Also, I NEED to get out on my bike before Oliver, and the weather's been totally beautiful.

Also, why do I have to feel so gross about myself while being sick? TOTALLY UNFAIR.

Whats looming even bigger though, is the Mt. Si Relay. I was recruited by Brian and Brady Houck, who are nuts. They seem to think I'll be some big asset to the team, but with my aforementioned lack of running fitness, I am concerned. It's next weekend, and I am still hacking up a lung. That's not why they are nuts. They just are. And also, they are obsessed with this 'Best of the Best' movie, which was produced in 1989, and is actually horrible. (It's some kind of world championship MMA movie, but the only two countries competing are USA and Korea. Where are the rest of the teams? Were they eliminated in some other competition? And if so, why isn't the US using the same fighters they previously used, rather than this rag tag bunch of misfits?) It's a beautiful Saturday morning, and I am watching the movie for the second time. Tagline: 'A Team is not a Team if they don't give a damn about each other'. It is AMAZINGLY bad. I foresee many bad quotes in the van next weekend at the relay, and since Dave's seen it now, in our Ragnar van.

Since I haven't had an appetite all week, it's time to make brownies, because why not? :) Maybe I'll feel up to running later?! I hope so!

I really thought I'd be better at this...

I'm not kidding. In the past 3ish weeks, I have so many fun things happen to blog about but haven't!

Let's see...

I went to the Trophy Cupcake Easter decorating class with my sister and Ms Harmony. We got to decorate cupcakes with the wonderful and kind Jennifer Shea, owner and founder of Trophy Cupcakes. It was AWESOME. We got to decorate cupcakes, have snacks and  champagne and hear the story of the beginning of Trophy. We learned some awesome secrets that I can't wait to try in other seasons. For example, they cookie-scoop (yes, I just turned that into a verb) icing onto a cupcake, and then, for those that are covered in sprinkles, coconut, or other awesomeness, they just turn the cupcake over and press the frosting down using the sprinkles. It really is GENIUS! The high-hat cupcakes, which are their special Easter tradition, are the tall, chocolate dipped ones. Although it was scary to dip the frosted cupcakes in the chocolate, no one lost their meringue in the chocolate. ;)

IT SNOWED on March 31st when I went to the team run on Cougar mountain... SNOWED. It was almost April! It was nevertheless a fun run with fun peeps, but still. SNOW. (Which was better than the rain when we got done.) Check it out!

My shoes are still on the porch. I hate throwing them out, but they are older, and COMPLETELY caked in mud!

I also turned 32. I have been celebrating all week - my Birthday was last Wednesday, and Dave and I celebrated by going out to dinner. He got me some really nice presents (a Kinect YAY for dancing!!, and a super fun summery Valentino purse - can you say spoiled?!), and it was fun to have a night out together! The previous Sunday, my sweet friends and training buddies, Vicki and Teresa, took me to dinner at Black Bottle (YUM!) and then Vicki took me to the Hunger Games :D On my Birthday day, Teresa took me to get our nails done, which is always fun, and my team made me drinks and snacks at work. My sister had even sent me flowers, so everyone knew it was my birthday! :D

They even remembered my love of peeps! Champagne cocktails AND peeps?! What more could a girl want?

On Friday, Nicole took me to Happy Hour to celebrate, and then Dave set up the Kinect and we Dance battled - after applying the trophy decorating skills to some Easter Cupcakes Jessica brought over!. :) Saturday night was more dancing fun, and after a long run on Alki on Saturday morning (in absolutely beautiful weather - such a difference from the prior week!! - and a team swim on Saturday, I was done in! More dancing ensued on Saturday night, and the Easter bunny brought me a head cold on Sunday. :o/

Easter was a lot of fun, anyways though! Although I did miss my long bike ride and t-run due to feeling like death, I did get a lot of fun family time! We had brunch with the extended Martin clan on at Caroline's house - and she always throws a mean party. The attention to detail is always FANTASTIC! down to little fresh flowers, and decorated eggs forming the table runner. I made Monkey Bread and Bacon in the oven from Allrecipes... And neither turned out all that great, which is always a disappointment. I had tried to save time by cutting the buscuits and rolling them in cinnamon sugar the day before (so I could complete aforementioned long bike ride).

Next, it was off to the Ullstrom's for more Easter fun - we had 'Easter Happy Hour' which was a great idea! My family is all about the snacks anyways. :) No one ever goes hungry chez Ullstrom. I like to say we 'love with food' and I think it really is true. There was also an egg toss, where Dave was sorely disappointed in my lack of 'soft hands' (we were the first ones out!). My family also bought me a Soda Stream (which I am already in love with - we drink so much sparkling water!!) and some gorgeous brown pearls.

Here's our Easter spread:

You can see the cupcakes we tried our Trophy skills on, and  my mom's lemon lamb cake! No one went hungry, that's for sure! 

And here's my necklace from mom and dad: 

Did I mention how beautiful it was this weekend? I got a little pink from sitting in the sun on my parents deck! It was the best :)

So... I'll try and be better at this, but I'm not making any promises... And since I think Rachel is the only one who reads this bad boy, she and I can just talk ;)

Really, Lululemon?? Not cool!

So I bought some pants...These pants, to be exact. Of course, I am a little too tall for the regular, and a little too short for the tall. Lululemon offers free hemming when you buy their pants - which is a point in their favor. I bought these pants on Thursday. They called me Monday to pick them up post hemming, however, due to my crazy work schedule (and sheer laziness - it's two blocks away, but I can't make it over there?) I didn't go pick them up until today.

One of the things I like to do when I go in there - for any reason, is check their sale rack. Sure, a $148 jacket is only marked down to $109, but still - it makes me feel better for buying it. Today, guess what I found on the sale rack? My pants. Same size, even in the hemmable 'tall' length. LESS THAN A WEEK LATER!

So, I took that pair of pants to the register with me - and asked them what the story was... Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Hi, I am here to pick up some pants.

Girl: Sure, what's your name?

Me: Name... Oh, and I found these same pants on the sale rack back there.

Girl: Oh, when did you come in?

Me: Late last week.

Girl: Yeah... we only mark things down when the merchandise gets to a certain level in the store? So we don't do price adjustments?

Sidebar: It totally sounded like she was asking me a question.

Me: Seriously?

Girl: Yeah... I'm so sorry?

Me: Well, can I return this pair and buy this pair on sale?

Girl: Um, no, because they have been hemmed, they are final sale?

Me: Fine.

And with my overpriced (but super comfy pants that I will probably wear enough to make up for the $19 that I would have received had they done the goddamn price adjustment) I stormed out.

In retrospect, I should have been nicer to the girl. Likely, it wasn't her fault, and I've been there. However, with the amount of money that I spend there, I am irritated on principle. As Amy says: "Crap like that makes me love Nordstrom even more". So, I will be looking for another place to buy athletic wear that makes me feel cute while sweating... But honestly, I'll probably be back. Maybe I'll only buy what's on sale though. Yeah, that's what I'll do...

*Sigh*

Mercer Island 10K

So, every year I say I'll never do the Mercer Island 10K again, but inevitably end up doing it. This year, I won't say that. I will say, though, the amount of dread I had going into it served me well - in that, at no point during the race was I surprised by how much it hurt. ;)

I'm not going to lie - even going into it with that attitude, I was a little disappointed by my time (48:12, 7:46 pace). I know that this race is HARD. Hilly, with a camber to the road that makes it harder on your legs than just the hills.

Going into it, on race morning, I decided that it was just going to be a good tempo run. Teresa and I ran for about 35 minutes before the race (she had to get in like an hour 40, and I just like to run with her whenever I can :)) I almost chickened out, and decided to just run the half marathon as a long run, or run the 10K with a friend, but instead, decided to do the 10K as hard as I could in that moment.

I went out with T, and ran the first few miles in under 7:30. I felt good. When she decided to pick it up after mile 3, I knew I wasn't going to be able to stick with her, so I stuck to my plan. When I got to mile 4.5, I knew I was in trouble. I hit a long hill that just went up up up, and my legs just didn't have it.

I know exactly what was wrong, though - and it's two things: 1.) Consistency. I have been less than consistent with my workouts since I ran the marathon in January. I know every workout counts, and FINALLY that's hit home! 2.) Not enough sleep, too much alcohol. No excuses, just not taking care of myself the way I should! I know better. :)

As much as the MI 10K hurts every year, and I dread it, I think it's always a good experience for me to show me exactly where I am at in my training. Last year I was only slightly faster - 47:48... but now I know I need to stay on it to PR on Cinco de Mayo at the half! The countdown begins...

So, enough about me. I got to see some amazing performances out there! Super Vicki PR'd on the half at under an hour and 29 minutes - AMAZING! Teresa killed it - after dropping me, she ended up finishing with an overall pace of 7:14! My friends Brian and Brady, who I am racing with in a few weeks at the Mt. Si Relay, both did awesome - coming in at 7:29 and 7:25, respectively! And last, but most impressively, my amazing friend Nicole dropped 8 minutes on her half marathon time. She has been working so hard, and fought hard out there! I am so proud of all of my friends for reaching their goals and working so hard! You all inspire me, and I can't wait to race with you all again soon!

You would never know those two raced - they look so pretty!

Saying Goodbye at Work

So, three coworkers are leaving, two this week and one next. I don't handle these goodbyes well. I am not sure why it's so hard, except that if you assume you have 168 hours in a week, and spend 49-56 of them sleeping, then more than 1/3 of your waking life is spent with coworkers. (This is also why liking my job is so important to me.) I find it incredibly difficult when people I like and respect, and who have been a part of my work life for years decide to move on. So, if I don't come to your Goodbye 'party', it isn't because I don't like and respect you - it's because I am struggling to keep it together. Seriously, it's like a waterfall over here.

Amazing Anniversary/and some running

Dave and I were married on St. Patrick's Day in Cancun in 2008. This year we had a fabulous day-long celebration. We started with the St. Patrick's Day Dash - Dave actually ran it hard, but I had a longer, tempo run to do so I met up with Jessica, Eliza and Kirk on the Aurora Bridge. I didn't expect the race to start on time (and it was snowing/rain mix), so I missed seeing Dave at the turnaround. :( But I did get there in time to catch the Martins, and it was a lot of fun to see the costumes and all the peeps out there with all their green on (without simultaneously wanting to throw up, which is how I would have felt if I'd been racing ;)). We crossed the finish line at around 31 minutes - I was super proud of my sisters in law and Kirk!

(Yes, I wore my Garmin for the 2 miles I ran with them - what can I say?)

Post race, we made our normal trek to Fado - where it was IMPOSSIBLE to get a server's attention, much less food or drinks. And we were all still freezing, so it was time to get some Irish coffee! Turns out even people who aren't celebrating the end of a race start drinking at 9AM on St. Patrick's Day. So we went downstairs to the Owl and Thistle, where we paid cover, but got to sit down and order. Had some Colcannon, which was actually really yummy, and some Irish coffee, but also got to catch up with our friends and celebrate St. Patrick's Day the way everyone else does.

Home to nap, then get my tempo run on! I have not been feeling super great about my run fitness lately, so it felt really good to get in 1:45 with the last 30 min at half marathon pace. After marathon training, 1:45 still doesn't feel like that long - and I never want that feeling to go away! It was lonely by myself, (Teresa and I have been doing a lot of our runs together lately) but it was actually sunny in the afternoon, and I surprised myself with my tempo pace!! Feeling much better about running and life in general, time to get ready for our anniversary dinner.

We went to Elemental, which is right by gasworks park. The wine bar next door called E.N.D. (Elemental Next Door, appropriately) had a sign that said 'Same food, Less attitude'. Their website kind of says it all. I was glad we had known people who went there and had read reviews. Here are some survivor tips: DO NOT admit any food allergies/dislikes/would rather not haves. You will just piss them off. (If you know me, you know I don't eat: red meat, shellfish or blue cheese. Thankfully, blue cheese only made an appearance during the cheese course, and Dave ate all of that so I wouldn't have to have any.) Also, under NO circumstances drink everything they put in front of you. You just sit down and go with the flow. The food and drinks will start coming! We followed these simple rules and had an amazing night and dinner (and still ended up a wee bit hung over)! They serve wine with every course (at least one glass) and many MANY courses. Corned beef ravioli, beef stew, tuna, salad - everything was amazing! It even seemed slightly Irish themed - and the wine pairings (and Port with dessert!) complimented the food perfectly! I highly recommend Elemental for celebratory evenings and an amazing meal. It was the perfect event meal for our anniversary dinner!

My sister rocks

St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow and here is what Miss Rachel had to say about it. Is she not the funniest?

Oni the pony

Jacob's Great Dane has her own bed, but REALLY likes Pickles and Saffy's tiny bed the best. :)

Here are two of the loves of my life, Saffy and Pickes. :) Aren't they cute?

Hello, world!

I've wanted to start a blog for a long time - I just needed a name! I chose two of my favorite things, running and baking as inspiration for the title. :) (But my favorite things are numerous - and include my family and friends, doggies, swimming, reading, guilty pleasure tv, etc!) I'm excited to hopefully share my thoughts with my friends and family, and maybe use my blog for inspiration to take more photos - something I am abysmal at thus far!