Weekend Countdown

*Disclaimer: I straight up stole the entire concept of this post from Tina. I read hers today and fell in love with it. Here’s my spin!*

Hey hey peeps! It’s FRIDAY! 8 p.m. on Friday and I’m blogging – woo, go me.

I kid, I kid. I love blogging, duh. I also love being home on a Friday night.

What is this weekend countdown that I so lovingly stole from Tina and am now putting to my own words? Looky here and see:

Five:

Blogger friends turned in real life friends that I cannot imagine life without:

1) Jess

2) Jolene

3) Meaghan

4) Christine

5) Whitney

These girls impact my life every single day, and I am blessed and grateful that I can call them friends.

Four:

Number of days I took off of working out this week until I decided it was high time to schedule a workout. Today would’ve been that workout – but I forgot and slept in. Tomorrow I am going to 7:30 a.m. Sunrise Power Yoga. I think that is a perfect way to start the weekend!

Three:

Here’s where I completely copy Tina (can you tell I’m not feeling very original tonight?). Instagram pics of the week:

Princess Lexi

A view of Providence from the State House Steps

Wicked good snack

Two:

Glasses of wine tonight. Pinot noir. I almost exclusively drink red wine. Once glass #2 is gone (I’m working on it now) it’s back to hydration time! My sunrise power yoga just happens to be hot yoga.

One:

Quote of the day:

That is all my darlings! I hope everyone had a fantastic Friday. Enjoy the rest of your night!

Food, Food, and More Food

I’ll admit, when I set off on this “cleaner eating” mission a couple of weeks ago, I was skeptical. I mean, I really thought I ate right. These past couple of weeks have been eye opening – and now, more than ever, I crave the foods I need, rather than the foods I think I want. Here’s a sneak peak into what’s been going into my belly the past two weeks:

 

 

Honest Ade – 100 calories per bottle, 100% organic, 100 % freakin delicious.

 

 

 

Homemade Greek salad!

Balsamic chicken with lemony green beans & mushrooms (Recipe compliments of Clean Eating Magazine)

Who doesn’t love fruit salad?

Larabars are by far my favorite go to “convenience snack”

Who says Z Bars are just for kids? No high fructose corn syrup? Count me in! And it’s chocolate!

Tomato Basil Quinoa with Lemon in Salad

Apples, Almonds, and Nuun – a perfect afternoon snack!

Obviously this is all a fraction of what I’ve eaten in two weeks. I’ve also eaten a lot of oatmeal, which I’ve been CRAVING lately (Thanks Jess, Thanks Jo – I swear this is your fault).

Water, lemon water, and coconut water are my best friends, as well as Nuun. You can’t go wrong with Nuun – I hydrate during and after every workout with it.

And I did eat demolish Chinese food on Monday. Cravings. What can I say?

Oh, and wine. Less than usual, but I’m certainly not going without (I did have two glasses of Sauvignon Blanc last night – I was stressed, and had a headache).

The point of this is – I am seeing and feeling a difference. I’m glad to have finally taken the 99.9% plunge into clean eating/intuitive eating. It sure does make a difference!

I Went to Whole Foods

And only spent $18. I’m damn proud considering I wanted one of everything.

Me and my bro took a little trip this afternoon so I could look for almond milk yogurt. I wanted to buy a bunch of other stuff too but he told me, “Don’t buy anything here that you can buy at another store.” That made total sense to me, since the prices are a little high.

Here’s what I got:

Not much for $18 huh? Also, what’s with the cheese? And the macaroni and cheese? Whoops, I’m apparently still forgetting about the whole “no-dairy” thing, even though I went to Whole Foods for non-dairy yogurt.

I was told by someone that sheep’s milk is low in lactose and well…that’s wrong. I looked it up, it’s actually higher in lactose than cow milk. Goat’s milk has about the same amount. Goat cheese is up on that list of “Things I Will Never Give Up”, right along with ice cream and seafood.

Alas, I will eat the sheep cheese anyway (aka Roquefort). I bought a baguette, kalamata olives, and a bottle of Riesling to go with it, for what me and my brother have dubbed “Oh, you fancy” Happy Hour (which is about to take place). (Hope he doesn’t mind if I show up in sweats…)

I was very pleased with my first time in Whole Foods. Everyone that works there is super friendly, and was always asking if we needed help with anything (or I just looked lost?). I will definitely go there to find things like chicken sausage and almond yogurt, as well as produce my regular grocery store may not carry.

If I could afford to just shop there, I probably would. Their produce all looked gorgeous, and even the meats made me wish I ate them. According to the bro we need to go to the other Whole Foods location (closer to our house) because their cheese case is to die for (here we go with the cheese again. What is wrong with me?).

I also went to the regular grocery store today and picked up almond milk and frozen fruit for some smoothie experimentation – hopefully recipes to come soon!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for “Oh, you fancy” Happy Hour!

Hope you’re having a fantastic Saturday!

Monday, oh, Monday

Yeah, it was one of those days. Because it was, without further ado I present you with another edition of Monday Love…


1) I love my friends. Saturday night I went to Martha’s birthday party, and it was a blast. (Glad I didn’t sleep over though – yesterday’s run might not have happened otherwise…). We have been friends since we were in 9th grade, and have been celebrating our birthdays together since we were 15. We missed a few in college, and the year I lived in Iowa, but not too many (I don’t even think we’ve missed 5). Isn’t she cute: 

Check out that bicep! Finally getting some definition!

Then of course there’s Steph, who I spent 2 hours with on the phone yesterday, and it seemed like 2 minutes. She’s great! We talked about mean girls, bad habits, running, friends, husbands, you name it… I haven’t talked on the phone like that with a girlfriend in years, it was fun! Lets do it again soon! (Although I’d much rather see you in person)


And I could never, ever forget my friend Sara, who I can always count on for a ridiculously hilarious (and most likely inappropriate, and probably drunken) time. Like, when we ride the bull at Toby Keith’s Bar in Patriot Place this Saturday.


I love my friends. 


2) I love a killer workout. Tonight’s workout:

• 15 hard, fast minutes on Eli (TWSS)
• Every upper body weight machine in the gym til I maxed out the muscles
• Roman chair leg lift thingies with straight legs
• Oblique twists with medicine ball
• 15 more minutes with Eli 

I’m having a hard time holding my arms up to type this. I can only imagine how I’ll feel tomorrow.

3) I love my new organizational tools. I got both of these today. One is a super cute, pink faux crocodile skin gold leaf journal (sounds fancy schmancy doesn’t it?), and the other is a day planner.  I need them both – desperately.  As much as I embrace technology, I like to write my appointments down, and when I have thoughts or ideas, I like to write them in a book.  These two little guys could be the best purchases I’ve made in a while.

4) I love cookies and wine. The best part is the cookies weren’t baked by me, they were baked by my little bro. Dutch chocolate something or other (sorry kid, I don’t remember what you called them). Delicious. And the wine is in my favorite glass from Blenheim Vineyards in Virginia (owned by Dave Matthews – yes, that Dave Matthews. No, I didn’t get to meet him *sad face*).

5) I love that It’s birth week. HELLO DUH Of course I love this, I turn 30 on Saturday.  So far my plans include my first ever yoga class, and a fantastic night out with some of my absolute most favorite people ever (Yup it includes Sara, Martha, and Steph – and that bull).

Thirty is Pretty

6) I am loving the un-Novemberlike weather. My weekend in NYC was perfect weather. This weekend was perfect weather. Today I wore to work: a skirt, a tank top, and a light cardigan with a pair of pumps. No pantyhose, no coat, no leggings, tights, or other warm stuff. It’s PERFECT. And it’s here to stay for a few days:

Nevermind the couple 40 degree days, most are close to 60!

Phew, this could be a new record of longest time to write a short blog post ever between trying to remove red eye and twitter distraction.

I hope you guys had a great Monday!

Let’s Get Moving Into Action

Oh how I love music. Tonight’s title is courtesy of a bitchin’ Tim Armstrong song (Coachy would be so proud). It was the first thing that popped to my mind when I started thinking of my title.


And why am I talking about action? Because I am back in the game my friends! 


After my hip incident at the Amica Half I decided I was running myself ragged. 

• 7 day workweek (2 of those days involving being on my feet all day and some *gasp* physical labor)
• Moving out of my apartment
• Burn out from too many races, too much running, too much freakin disappointment.

So, I took some time off, and I’m sure you’ve noticed I haven’t talked about exercise of any variety much at all lately. 

I told myself, finish up October, get the move done, enjoy a relaxing weekend in NYC, then get home and get back to it.  And that is exactly what I did!

I got home late Monday night, so I took Tuesday off as a day to rest, recuperate, unpack, etc.  Wednesday though it was all work and no play.

Wednesday: Speed day! I have two 5k’s coming up that I’d like to PR in!

Not exact, but very VERY similar to what I did on the TM at the gym.  5.25 miles total. This is the stepdown interval that was mentioned in last Friday’s post by me and Coachy (these are my paces, the chart in that post are his paces). 

Thursday: Upper Body/Abs Day

• 10# Slimdown Extreme Upper Body (40 minutes).  This workout is badass. My arms are like Jell-O today. Sore, but it feels so good. The only thing I don’t like about these videos is that I feel they are designed for people who are only going to do the 10# Slimdown program.  There’s too much additional lower body work for me, when I’m on a day off from running, so I usually end up doing the easy modifiers without the legs. 
• Since I like my workouts to be approximately an hour I added in:
• 100 crunches
• 100 Oblique twists with 10# weight
• 30 rollups (from completely laying down to touching toes)
• A couple planks (don’t know how long I held, not long, my arms gave out)

Friday:

Almost steady state run (but I can’t do it on the treadmill, I just can’t.  I am constantly fiddling with the buttons). 6 miles @ 9:27 average, but I did the last 1/4 mile of every mile at my planned 5k pace (8mm).

I feel great, it’s awesome to be back.  

Some funnies from today:

Vanilla protein powder w/water is GROSS. I choked it down after my run because I had to, but I think I’ll mix it with oj going forward.

My parents live in multiple centuries. See:

How old is that can opener? Older than me…

I can’t wait to start baking in this baby!

 Carb Friday makes me happy. I’m planning on 10 or more miles on Sunday.  I talked about it with Coachy, and he wants me to just get the miles in. Run, enjoy, stop and pet a dog or take pics (his words, not mine), etc. So that’s what I’m going to do. Run to get the miles in and not worry about pace, conversational, and calm. 

So to celebrate carb Friday:

Leftover cleanup: mom’s homemade sauce, grilled chicken, angel hair.  Also two pieces of unpictured Italian bread toast.

I am now going to finish up my wine, on the couch.  I actually have the house to myself tonight, well except for these two jokers:

I hope everyone had a great Friday!

For your listening pleasure:

Ramblings of a Runner’s Mind

Today I went out for my final long run before Marathon #2.  I had seen on Twitter than many others were going to run 11 miles today, in memory of the lives lost on September 11, 2001.  I did the same.

I absolutely cannot believe it has been ten years. I was 19 years old, working as a temporary employee for a week (before I started my full time assignment) at a car dealership.  It was my first day, and I didn’t know any of the other employees.  I was in the back room filing (my assignment for the week) when I heard one of the other ladies say that an airplane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers.  My first reaction was “Oh my gosh, that’s unfortunate.” I didn’t know anything else. As the events of the day unfolded, I found myself sitting in the office of this car dealership surrounded by people I didn’t know, glued to the television. I think I called my mom, I don’t remember that detail.

After work that day, I went straight home, and continued to watch the coverage on TV. It got to the point where I just couldn’t watch anymore – it was so heart-wrenching: watching families scramble to find loved ones, seeing New York residents roaming the streets like something you’d only see in a horror film, people jumping out of the Twin Towers in a last ditch effort to save themselves.

I will never forget where I was or what I was doing on that tragic day.  My heart goes out to everyone who suffered a loss during that horrible day ten years ago.

********

Today was a super slow long run, so I don’t injure myself or make myself too sore for Saturday.  So while I was out running my remembrance miles, I had a funny thought, which turned into many funny thoughts.  It all started this this thought:

“Aww, what a cute chipmunk.  I wish I could put him in my pocket and take him home.”


That immediately put the idea for the title of this post in my head.  The funny, or just random, thoughts continued.

“I need to remember to add toothbrush to my list.” (Since I was going to Target today)

“Hmm, maybe I should buy some bleu cheese for my salad that I’m going to make with leftover steak.” (From tonight’s dinner)

“I really want a Mediterranean veggie sandwich from Panera.”


“I wonder if I can get the Panera pumpkin spice latte iced?”


“I hope Panera is still offering lemon chicken orzo soup – I’ve been really wanting to try that.”


“Oops, I’m running too fast again. I don’t have that problem often.”


“Sorry for interrupting your lunch Mr. Squirrel.” (Not out loud, but thought at a squirrel who was nibbling on a leaf on the path and ran away as soon as I got close to him.)

“I think I’d like some wine to go with my steak tonight.  I haven’t had any wine in a while.”


“Why do I keep thinking about food – I’m starving!”


“Am I running up the worlds longest, least steep hill ever or what?”


“Do I really have to run more than twice this distance in a few days?”


“Oh, eww, it’s alive.” (As I ran by a snake – what are those things called? garter snake? Whatever it was it was small and not scary.)

“There sure are a lot of unfriendly people in this world.” (People would go by me and either look down or stare right through me)

“Is she wearing a bra? I don’t think she’s wearing a bra.” (Fellow runner going in the opposite direction – things looked a little…loose)

“Is that guy SERIOUSLY carrying a cassette player?” (No confirmation on this one, but I really think he was.)

It’s amazing what goes through your mind while running.  Normally I’m either not awake enough to think so much, or I’m running hard and I need to concentrate on keeping my head in the game. Since today was super easy pace, it was fun to ramble these thoughts through my brain.  Even more random was how they came to me between singing along to songs on my iPod. Not really singing though, more like mouthing the words as I ran.

Some of these thoughts require answers or further explanation:

I couldn’t catch the chipmunk, he’s too darn fast.  Probably for the better, he probably would’ve become dog food.


I remembered to buy a new toothbrush. 


I didn’t buy the bleu cheese – I buy it, use it once, and forget about it in my fridge. So I nixed that idea.


I got my wine (I’m sipping on that with some post dinner peanut butter M&Ms right now).


I was running up, up, and up.

Yeah, 2x that distance plus 4.2 miles in 5 days.  Oh boy.


That woman was definitely not wearing a bra.  I confirmed it on the way back.  The girls were all over the place.  Sounds painful, doesn’t it?


And, I got my lunch from Panera.  Sadly, they didn’t have pumpkin spice coffee yet so I had an iced caramel latte instead. 

Mediterranean veggie sandwich – so delicious.

Lemon chicken orzo soup – apparently only a summer offering – get it while you can!  Delicious!

I sat out and enjoyed my second to last free weekend (my grandparents run a seasonal farm, and I’m employed there on weekends during September and October – so I work 7 days a week for about 6 weeks – I need to enjoy my weekend freedom while I can!).

While I did this:

A little work, a little food

My guard dog made sure I was safe:

Hard at work on guard dog duty

T-minus 5 days til marathon day! *Gulp*

Time for me to chill, I have a VERY busy week.  I’m going to finish off my wine while reading.  Not a bad way to end a Sunday at all.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Did you take time to remember those impacted by the events on 9/11/01? 


How was the rest of your weekend? 

Confessions and a Hurricane (Day 22)

Yesterday turned out to be nothing like I had planned.  I really hate it when that happens! I wrote yesterday how I had woke up dreaming of the elliptical.  So, naturally I made plans to go to the gym directly from work (it’s on the way home) and make that dream come true.

That didn’t happen.  I got to work and realized I had forgotten my sweat towel (not that big of a deal) and my headphones (huge deal). Okay fine, I’ll go home, get my sweat towel and headphones and go to another location, there’s another gym 8 miles from my house.

Then I got home and as I was in my backyard cleaning up after Lexi (such a glamorous life I lead), I noticed a big pile of junk on the side of my shed.  With the threat of Irene making landfall in Southern New England this weekend, and because Friday’s are garbage day, I took the time to drag all of the junk up to the curb.  Oh boy that was fun.

Then I realized it was almost 7 p.m. and I hadn’t had dinner yet.  Well hell, too late for the gym.  I called it off, ate dinner, and cleaned my kitchen and bathroom instead (more glamour).

So I missed yesterday’s workout, and I blame Irene.

This morning I woke up at 5 a.m. for my run and the first thing that crossed my mind;

I know we had thunderstorms last night, cuz they woke me up.  I hope it’s still raining.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! Apparently I’m not used to my 5 a.m. wake up call yet – I’m yawning as I write this! (It could be the beer, food, and wine…).

It wasn’t raining, so I ran, 4 not terribly glorious miles. I took it slow on purpose (10:30 avg pace) because I have to run long tomorrow (yup, also Irene’s fault – I’m beginning to really not like that beatch). When I got home I realized just how humid it was when it felt like it was raining inside my bra (sexy, right? I know…). It was like running in a sauna.  I fear tomorrow will be much of the same.  Perhaps I’ll sweat out all of this beer (and wine). 

I did take the extra 20 minutes this morning that I wasn’t running (since, ya know, I’m supposed to be running all 6 milers on my non long run days, per Coachy) and stretched super extra good.  I hope it helped, I’m honestly dreading 18 tomorrow.  I’ve missed so many long runs since returning from Marathon Sunday, and now Marathon #2 is THREE WEEKS AWAY! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I have good reason for each one…Coachy thinks I’m making excuses but I do! Just look:

• Sunday after Marathon Sunday (July 17) – Duh, not running long.
• Sunday after that (July 24) – I climbed Mt. Washington the day before.  Again I say, duh, not running long.
• And then (July 31) I had PF symptoms on what should’ve been a pre-RnR Providence 10-miler.  Yeah, not risking the price of admission for that one when I know I can run 13 miles.
• August 7 – RnR Providence Half Marathon
• August 14 – I tried to run 16 miles.  I ran 8.  It rained, then it rained some more, all the while I was running 8.  Then it started to pour.  I quit.  After running RnR in the rain, and the blisters that followed, I wasn’t playing that ugly game again.
• August 21 – Set out for 18, managed 15.  Learned that Kinvara 2’s do not make a good long run shoe.  Cut it off early with mega foot pain.
• August 28 – HURRICANE IRENE. Well, hopefully I will have a successful 18 miler tomorrow.  Keep your fingers (and toes!) crossed for me. 

See, all logical reasons. Right? Right. But, not good when you’re training for another marathon.  Now the pressure is on and I need to whip my butt into shape.

But I’m ready see:

Oh wait, that’s hurricane ready, not long run ready.

Oh well.  I’m ready, 2 beers, 2 glasses of wine, and a delicious dinner from my rents, and I’m ready for that early morning wake up call.  I better get my buns to bed! 

Before I do, some of today’s shenanigans in pictures:

Oh, it’s stretch time? Okay, I’ll join you.

Patio before – now, emptiness.  Everything’s put away and ready for Irene.

Dinner with the ‘rents: ribs, brown bread, beans, salad, and maybe there were 2 glasses of wine too.

Oh good it’s blog time!

What do you mean I can’t help you write?

Creative juice

That’s all for tonight friends.  No question for this Friday, just a message.

To all of my friends, in real life or in bloggy land, please stay safe and be careful this weekend if you are in Irene’s path.  I hear she’s a real beatch and determined to wreak some havoc.  Stay safe!!!! If it gets bad around here, I’m packing my sh!t up and heading for my ‘rents house.  I won’t be alone then, and I’ll have some hella good food to eat. 😉

Happy Monday (Spreading the Love – Day 33)

Today looked like this:

Rain, rain, go away!

All. Stinkin. Day.

So, in between bouts of actual work,  I came up with the idea to share with you  what I am loving on this Monday! Given how much I am not a fan of Monday (especially damp, dreary Monday’s like today)– I think I may make this an ongoing theme, and start the week off on the right foot!

Monday Love #1 – Rest Days

I decided to make Monday my rest day.  It used to be Friday, but working out on Friday is probably a good idea considering I tend to indulge on the weekend.  Now, it’s Monday.  Starting..well…now. Coachy was busting my chops about taking a rest day (what else are coaches for? amiright?)– but I know me, if I don’t give myself a day off then all of this working out and running will end up feeling like too much work, and I’ll get discouraged/exhausted/pissed off/etc… I don’t want that. So, one day a week off it is, because rest days keep me happy! More than likely a rest day doesn’t constitute me sitting on my butt on the couch either – tonight I cooked up a storm until 9 p.m.!

Monday Love #2 – PinkBerry

I found out today that there are 2 Pinkberry shops in RI.  One of them is less than 10 minutes from my house. Why I’m not there right now is beyond me, maybe I’ll go there when I’m done writing this.

Monday Love #3: Guilty Pleasure TV

This was a topic of conversation on last weeks Fitblog – well all guilty pleasures – but TV shows came up a lot.  The general consensus for a LOT of people was Jersey Shore…weeeeellllll reality tv doesn’t really do it for me (and Pauly D is an embarrassment to the state of Rhode Island).  Coming in close after Jersey Shore was a fave of mine, Pretty Little Liars. I love this show, it’s fun to watch to escape being a grown up for a while.  I’m also looking forward to The Lying Game, which premieres tonight! Another teeny bopper, adulthood escape show.  The book is written by the same woman who wrote Pretty Little Liars, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy it in all of its petty, gossipy, over the topness. (And am I really old? Because all I can think when I watch these shows is “I did NOT dress like that when I was in high school!”)

Monday Love #4: Trying new recipes

I made “Spaghetti with Spinach in White Wine Garlic Sauce” out of my Skinny Bitch cookbook tonight.  It was good, but, I used canned spinach because I had it on hand. I don’t know why, I don’t typically eat canned veggies, but anyway…I will be making this recipe again with fresh spinach because I know then I will be able to say it was GREAT not just good.

Gotta love cooking with wine!

Once I’m done eating my dinner I also plan to make Mama Pea’s Baked Oatmeal Squares and some blackbean hummus (thanks for the suggestion Jason!).

I love trying new food.  On tap for the rest of this week:

• ·         Pea Daddy’s Jambalaya (Only with chicken sausage, because I’m not vegan or vegetarian – I really just enjoy meat too much) (Peas and Thank you)
• ·         Greek Salad with Tzatziki Sauce (Skinny Bitch)
• ·         Masoor Daal {Split Red Lentils} (Skinny Bitch)

If I modify any of these recipes enough to make them my own, I’ll share! Don’t get your hopes up though – I save my experiments for the weekends when I have more time.

Monday Love #5: Upbeat Songs with a Positive Message

This song by Andy Grammer is perfect for when you’re feeling down, or having a bad day.  Listen, you will feel instantly better! 

Monday Love #6: Victoria’s Secret Lipgloss

You could say I’m a little in love with these lipglosses.  That is a picture taken on my kitchen counter, not an ad for Victoria’s Secret Lip Gloss.  Someone should probably take my VS credit card away (Mom, if you’re reading this – I’m not serious).

I think I may need a lipgloss intervention.

They are so shiny and delicious tasting! How can you not love that?! Some of the flavors are stronger than the others – my faves are cherry bomb (very maraschino cherry), yummyberry (just flat out fruity and delicious), and sugar high (can you say cake flavor on your lips – ALL. DAY. LONG).  I’m certain I will never use another lip gloss brand again.

Well that does it for this edition of Monday Love! 

What are you loving right now?