Hello from Beijing!

I’m clearly having problems with the time difference because I woke up at midnight and I was ready to go.  Willie has no problems with it though.  It’s 5:40 am right now and he’s sound asleep.  I was praying not to get out of bed before 5AM and that was hard.

We arrived yesterday morning at 3:30 am.  Our flight was an hour and half early which was great.  Willie was ready to get off the plane.  I don’t know if he could have taken the full time.  It took us a long time to get our baggage event though the airport was empty.  We made it to our hotel but couldn’t check in because it was 6 AM.  Luckily, we already set up our cooking class.

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This is our first official picture in Beijing! Doesn’t my husband look handsome? Hands off ladies, he’s mine!

China day 1

We had a lot of time to kill before the class so we kind of just hung around at the school with another fellow marathoner Gilda! She’s from Mexico City and she’s running her first marathon. This is her eating some banana leaf thing filled with rice and dates. We didn’t have any but she said it tasted like oatmeal. Our teacher told us there wasn’t much flavor to it though.

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Our cooking class was how to make dumplings! Willie was super excited to learn this. Everyone in the group made their own batch and we all shared. We had steamed, boiled and pan fried dumplings. I made the Chinese cabbage and mushroom dumpling and Willie made fennel with pork. I was just having a great time because Willie was having a good time.

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He was showing everyone up with his superb knife skills.

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Dumpling making is pretty hard stuff. Ok, it wasn’t hard but there are a lot of steps that go into making these things. Especially when you think about how quickly you eat them. I was so happy to be finished making them so we could cook them up.

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We all shared the prize at the end.

Today we have marathon meetings to tend to because tomorrow we’ll be running the marathon on the Great Wall. The nervousness has worn off and the excitement has set in.

Don’t forget to follow my instagram and Flickr. Facebook and Twitter don’t work over here. Although when I post to instagram the posts do show to Facebook because it was previously set up there. I just can’t check FB or twitter.

I’ll try to keep the posts coming. I hope everyone had a great day. We’re about to start our Wednesday!

It can happen to you

It can happen to you

By the time most of you are reading this post we’ll be halfway to China!  We haven’t even left the airport and we’re already having an adventure.  Let’s just say some Chinese people are looking at us with envy because we have an extension cord at to charge our phone and we don’t have to huddle around the charging station. But it’s 10:35 pm on Sunday and we’re tired.  I would have been in bed already!  We still have 2.5 hours before our flight leaves.  Willie does selfie better than me. It’s Monday so I just wanted to send a…

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The China trip is upon us

The China trip is upon us

Excuse me, but I have nothing exciting to talk about except going to China.  It’s kept me really busy trying to get things together.  I’m trying to get everything together so we don’t have to buy much when we are there.  I’m looking forward to spending the time with Willie and just exploring the city of Beijing and maybe Shanghai.  I’ve allowed myself to get excited for the trip but that doesn’t mean I’m not worried about some things. I’m super worried about the language barrier I’m going to experience. The first couple of days we’ll be with race people…

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Race Recap: The Texas Independence Relay

Race Recap: The Texas Independence Relay

I’m sorry I disappeared off the face of the earth because I was too tired to function.  I think we all greatly underestimate our need to sleep.  Running + friends + no sleeping + no real food = Texas Independence Relay! I will admit my happy emotions cup runneth over and there’s no way I will ever be able to put into words how I felt this weekend.  I can’t express to you the greatness in the relationships I formed this weekend, the respect built for my team mates and the joy and misery in my heart! I’m not even…

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Travel Thursday: It’s all uphill from here

Travel Thursday: It’s all uphill from here

And I mean that literally! All the business is behind us.  On Tuesday, I went back to the consulate to see if we got approved for our visas and to pick them up!  Luckily we were approved and that was the last big hurdle for us going to China! Going to China is a very big deal and they really like to know why you’re going and what you’re doing when you get there.  It may seem like a hassle having to fill out the paper work, but at the same time it makes me feel a little safer too.…

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Race Recap: RnR Dallas

Race Recap: RnR Dallas

It’s been a super busy day!  I really wanted to post this morning, but it just wasn’t happening.  I should be sleep right now because I have to teach at 5AM but I’m sitting here writing the blog because I don’t want it to get pushed back any further.  I have other blogs I want to post this week so it’s important it comes out today! This past weekend, I spent the time running with my friends at Rock n Roll Dallas!  I’m not going to completely bash my hotel, but staying at this particular hotel was the low light…

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Happy Friday! Watch out RnR Dallas!

Happy Friday! Watch out RnR Dallas!

It’s an exciting weekend and a much deserved break, I guess.  I’m heading to Dallas to run Rock n Roll Dallas with my buddies and to represent Team Chocolate Milk! Last year, Rock n Roll Dallas was my first Rock n Roll and probably the race that awakened the running beast in me!  Also, it kind of fueled my NEED to want to be on Team Refuel (aka TEAM CHOCOLATE MILK)!  I meet so many great people and the group was so welcoming, I knew I had to be on the team.  Plus, that was really the first time I’d…

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Travel Thursday took me to the Chinese consulate

Travel Thursday took me to the Chinese consulate

It’s time for your weekly update on all things China!  Remember last week when I told you we weren’t prepared for this trip, we really aren’t!  But this week we are two steps closer.  Our passports arrived in the mail this week which meant I needed to make the trek down to the Chinese consulate.  That is why this blog post is happening so late in the day. Wondering why I had to go there? When you go to China for any reason you have to get a visa. It goes inside your passport and you’re not allowed to enter…

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Race Recap: The Little Rock Marathon – one EPIC …

Race Recap: The Little Rock Marathon – one EPIC race

There are lots of races I get for free or get a discount code for, this was not one of those races. It was worth every penny I paid for it (and it wasn’t that expensive) because of the perks that came along with it. The race directors were amazing and their staff/volunteers just the same! This was one EPIC event! Jes and I early started! She’s a 6 hour marathoner and she thought she needed to extra buffer. I needed to take it slow so I could run the Gusher close to 4:35-4:50 this Saturday. I also needed it…

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Race Recap: The Little Rock 5K and pre …

Race Recap: The Little Rock 5K and pre race activities

This should have been posted this morning but I’m sick from running around in the cold and rain.  Plus we didn’t get back until late last night and I just needed some rest.  This weekend we loaded up the car with Jes to head to Little Rock to run the marathon.  Every year the race has a new theme and this year it was all about super heroes.  Everything was supposed to be EPIC!  We got in late Friday night, but that didn’t stop me from getting up early to run the 5K! Thank you to the Little Rock Marathon…

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Little Rock Marathon Weekend

Little Rock Marathon Weekend

The next two weeks are big for me because these are the two events I’ve been waiting for since November!  This weekend I am running the Little Rock Marathon (and Capital Hat Trick (5k, 10k, plus my marathon)!  Next weekend it’s The Gusher Marathon!  So you know what that means? It’s time to hydrate and carb up! Nuun is my electrolyte drink of choice! I discovered it last year at an expo and I’ve used it ever since. Nuun is “light flavor, no sugar or carbs” and it’s good. It’s a little harder to find but I see it’s showing…

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