welcome to my blog!

Hello blogging world!  My name is Sara.  I'm going to be blogging to you about mainly two topics: running and cooking.

I've just recently started to get into running.  Throughout my life, I have been a yo-yo exerciser.  I've also had a history of some problems with plantar fasciitis, which hindered me from running the past.  But, with new shoes to help correct my overpronation, a list of great stretches, and a new running buddy, I've determined that I'm going to work my way towards becoming a runner!  My running partner (I'll call her M) and I went on our first run/walk about 4 weeks ago.  We are going twice a week (which gives me plenty of days off in between to avoid injury) for about 45 minutes.  Our most recent run (which was earlier today, woohoo!) consistent of 2 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking.  It's hard to know what pace we are going since we are both walking and running, but over the entire 45 minutes we went about 3.77 miles (guesstimated from my favorite website, USATF) and our pace was just under 12 minutes today, so I think we are running around 10 minute miles.

Both of us are relatively new to running, and our overarching long term goals are just to be in good shape and enjoy exercising!  In terms of running, we have a goal of running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in Washington, DC (where I grew up) in April 2011.  So, we've got about 1 year to train between now and then, and we are hoping to do 2 shorter races (probably a 5k and a 10k) between now and then.  So, a large part of this blog will be devoted to me tracking my running progress over the next year.  I should also mention at this point that part of my inspiration to run AND to blog about running comes from my college roommate Susan.  She has a blog where she talks mostly about running, but also about life in general.  Recently, Susan ran the BOSTON MARATHON, and I had the opportunity to fly up to Boston and cheer her on!  Watching the marathoners was a huge inspiration to me, and it got me thinking about whether or not I would ever like to run a marathon.  I think it would be really cool to run a marathon before I turned 30 (I have about 5 years), but I'm not going to make any decisions about that until after I complete the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.

The second half of this blog is going to be about learning to cook.  I would say I'm OK at cooking right now.  I have confidence in my ability to throw a meal together or follow a recipe, but I'm certainly not a pro.  I really enjoy cooking, especially for friends and family, and it's a constant goal of mine to learn to control my portions and eat healthier.  After watching the movie Julie & Julia, I decided, hey, I can do that!  French cooking doesn't interest me all that much, so I went on a the hunt for a cookbook of healthy recipes to cook my way through.  I have decided on Betty Crocker's 300 Calorie Cookbook: 300 Tasty Meals for Eating Healthy Every Day, which I recently purchased online and should be getting in the mail within the next week!

Since there are 300 recipes in my cookbook, and the 10 mile race is just under a year away, I figure I should be able to get through my cookbook by the day of the race.  (Note: Race day for 2011 hasn't been announced yet, but based on cherry blossom season and prior years, I am estimating that it will be Sunday, April 10, 2011).  So, I think that would be 349 days from today.  I'll have to look into getting a counter or something!  I think that's all for my first post, but I am excited to share my cooking and running endeavors with you, as well as other random things along the way!