I woke up this morning exhausted, but excited for my 2 hour bike ride scheduled with a great group of gals. I don’t consider these rides training rides since I’m the only one on a road bike (they all have hybrids or mountain bikes). However, I enjoy the people on these rides, and time seems to fly. I’m not training for anything specific right now, so why not right? The meeting point for all the ladies was about 25-30 minutes from my house on bike so I thought that I would bike over there instead of driving. I got in a great workout on the way over there, and on my way home. There are a few huge long hills on the way, and my muscles were screaming at me for the first 20 minutes of the ride while they warmed up. Plus, I had a headwind. I didn’t mind though. I was happy to be outside riding my bike and sweating. 
A pic of a couple of the riders:
Midway through the ride, we came across a zip-line in the middle of nowhere. I had to try it out! 
Wahoo!!!! I love random fun on bike rides!
This was the view right across from the zip-line. Gorgeous!!!
Some more pics of the ride…
They just have random benches around here on the trails to enjoy the view. Lovely!
After I got home, I had just enough time to take a shower and head out for Lunch with the Bazaar Committee. Then, I ran some errands on base (post office, signing up for my half marathon at the last minute- it’s tomorrow…), and arrived home hungry. This snack looked so good that I had to take a pic!! I originally wanted a whole bag of Milanos, but I decided to make it a healthy snack. I was glad that I made this choice. It was GOOD!
In preparation for my half marathon tomorrow, I have been chugging water all night. I made an extremely easy pasta dish for dinner tonight. 
Easy Chicken, Lemon, Tomato Pasta
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tsp olive oil, divided
- zest and juice of one lemon
- 3 tomatoes chopped
- 3 tablespoons of chopped basil
- 1/2 pound of penne pasta or spiral
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 2 cups of fresh spinach
- 1/3 cup of freshly grated parmesan
Start by sautéing the chicken until fully cooked and browned in a nonstick pan with 1 tsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Put chicken aside in a bowl. Start boiling the water for the pasta, and cook the pasta. Save 1 cup of the pasta water for the sauce. Meanwhile, throw the garlic into the nonstick pan with the last 1 tsp of olive oil and cook for a few minutes on low heat. Make sure that the garlic does NOT brown. Add the lemon juice and zest, chicken, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and spinach to the pan to warm through for two minutes. Add the cooked pasta, parmesan, and the basil. Toss. Enjoy!!!
I have a half marathon tomorrow!! I am excited for it, just because I actually enjoy my long runs. This is not an “A” race, and I really haven’t been training for it. It is just something that my friends and I decided on doing a couple of weeks ago as a “glorified training” run. I have to be on base by 7:15 tomorrow morning. I can’t wait!
Just a reminder: Don’t forget to enter the French Chocolate Giveaway for some FREE Chocolate! To enter, just leave a comment on Wednesday’s post telling me your favorite place to travel to and what you like doing there. I will randomly pick a winner next Wednesday 2pm EST!
Lastly, let’s all take a moment to remember what happened on this day 8 years ago. Never forget!
Morgan (lifeafterbagels) September 11, 2009 at 11:50 pm
I find zip lines quite scary – not that I’m afraid of heights, it might be the speed thing. I’ve never been on one.
Nicole September 13, 2009 at 3:02 pm
You should really try one at least once in your life! It doesn’t feel as fast as you think it is!!