Niki's Neverending Adventure

In Case You Missed It…

2010-10-11T15:34:00.001-05:00

In case you missed it… I moved!! I have a new blog that I will be blogging at from now on! I will no longer be blogging at this site.

Please come check it out: Train Happy

Come On Over To My NEW BLOG!!

2010-10-09T17:14:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all!! The time has come for me to leave this blog and move forward to my new blog: Train Happy!! I have been wanting for a long time to own my own domain and self host, and I decided a whole new blog was in order to be able to focus on races and training.

So please come on over to my new blog Train Happy. I will be blogging there from now on and will not be blogging here at NNA. So make sure to change it in your google readers and follow my new blog.

I am also changing my twitter name to @Train_Happy so if you see that, it’s me!!

Hope y’all enjoy!!

Quick Update + POM + Big News!!

2010-10-09T15:02:00.001-05:00

I know I have been MIA the past couple days… I’ve been quite busy :) To catch y’all up on my training, I did an easy 3 mile recovery run on Monday. My legs felt tired and so sore from my 9 miler the day before but I had to get some miles in! My legs loosened up around mile 2 and by then, my run was about over!! I didn’t run again until Friday (due to 12 hour clinical days) and I just did another easy 3 miler because I had a 5k the next day (this morning) and didn’t want my legs to be too tired! I didn’t even wear my Garmin for this run, it felt so weird not to have it on! But anyways, my mileage will be a bit smaller than I would like this week due to my lack of time. Oh well, as long as I get my long run in tomorrow I will be happy!

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The wonderful people over at POM Wonderful sent me a case of these cute little bottles of their pomegranate juice to try!

My husband is in love with this stuff and has been drinking them left and right! I am not a huge juice drinker, usually because of the sweetness, but this pomegranate juice has the perfect amount of sweet and tang! It’s very yummy!!

From the POM Wonderful website:

guaranteed to be 100% Pure Pomegranate Juice
contains the juice of 4 whole pomegranates per 16 oz
no added sugars, colorants or cheap filler juices
packed with powerful antioxidants
is what you should buy if you want to Get Real

This is good stuff people! I definitely recommend trying POM juice if you haven’t before!!

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And last but definitely not least, my exciting big news!! I am officially launching my new blog this afternoon, so stay tuned for the blog name, address, and first post!! I will post it here on NNA so everyone should be able to find it pretty easily. Stay tuned friends… :)

Long Run Sunday

2010-10-03T15:44:00.001-05:00

In case you missed it, I announced the St. Jude Blog Raffle Winners yesterday!!

I had a long run on the schedule for today. How long you ask? Well 9 miles, that’s long for me right now :) I made sure to have a good dinner last night and get into bed at a decent time. Who am I kidding, I’m always in bed at a decent time! I like my sleep! Anyway, the weatherman said it was going to be chilly this morning so that means I can sleep in a bit later and don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to run!!

I ended up waking up around 6:30ish. I have FINALLY figured out some pre-run fuel that sits well with my tummy. GU’s. I know it’s not much, but it’s better than nothing and has been the only thing this far that doesn’t give me tummy troubles during the run. So I took one GU before my run and one at mile 5 and carried my handheld water bottle with me. I am really digging my handheld. I definitely wouldn’t be hydrating enough if I didn’t have it with me!!

It was quite chilly this morning! My phone said 48 degrees when I was about to head out for my run. I was a little unsure of what I should wear since it seems like forever since I have run in the cold weather!! I decided to tough it out and wear capris and short sleeves. I’m glad I did because I ended up sweating by the end of my run! It was pretty windy too which made it tough when I was running directly into the wind. And of course, my very last mile was directly into the wind. I felt like I wasn’t moving at times! Haha.

I actually felt really good the entire run, until the very end when my feet were really hurting. I am very happy with my time, seeing as my average pace was a lot faster than the previous two 8 milers I did. So I feel like I am right on track for my half marathon.

My splits:

Mile 1: 10:45

Mile 2: 10:34

Mile 3: 10:39

Mile 4: 10:33

Mile 5: 10:41

Mile 6: 11:21 (walked for a minute to take my GU)

Mile 7: 10:44

Mile 8: 10:45

Mile 9: 10:26

Total:1:36:27

Avg Pace: 10:43

I am very happy with this run!! My legs and feet are sore now, so I’ve been icing my feet and stretching a lot. My plantar fasciitis is giving me lots of problems, which is more annoying than anything. I probably could have benefited from an ice bath, but I usually don’t do those until I get up to 10 miles. Yes, I realize it’s only 1 more mile but I like to “save it” until I hit the double digits. I know, I’m weird :)

I am happy with all my runs for this week. I got in all 4 with a grand total of 21 miles. Not too bad. Wish I could run 5 days per week but 12 hour clinical days kinda limit my time :) How many days a week do you run?

I think that’s it for now, going to go and relax a bit more and ice my feet again. Have a great Sunday!

St. Jude Blog Raffle WINNERS!!!

2010-10-02T16:19:00.001-05:00

Hello!! It is time for me to draw winners from my St. Jude Blog Raffle!! I definitely think this was a success!! I am only $25 away from hitting my fundraising goal for my St. Jude Heroes Fund! So thank you to everyone who donated and entered the raffle!!

I am using Random.org to draw the 3 winners. I put everyone’s entries into a spreadsheet so I could keep up with them. So without further ado…

The winner of the Zensah Compression Sleeves is: #39 Kristen Barret @ Will Run For Wine

The winner of the CEP Compression Socks is: #8 Erin Moore @ The Moore Diaries

The winner of the Nathan Quick Draw Handheld is: #28 Lauren Owens @ Go Between The Lines

Congrats y’all!! Please email me your addresses by next Saturday, October 9th.

Erin, please also include your color choice for the compression sleeves and your calf circumference at the widest part (for sizing).

Lauren, please also include your color choice for the Nathan Quick Draw Handheld.

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On the running front… I have had 12 hours clinicals the past 3 days so this morning was my first day to run since I last posted. I was so exhausted and slept in until 10am! That is unheard of for me but it was definitely needed! I am still tired from my busy week!! I just needed to do an easy run because I have my long run tomorrow. I decided 3 easy miles would be good. Well, the run went ok. It was hot, I felt tired, and I also felt really dehydrated which made this run not so easy!! I am hoping I feel much more well rested for my long run tomorrow, otherwise it’s not going to be pretty!!

I’m trying to mentally pump myself up for my 9 miler in the morning! Anyone do their long runs already this week? How did they go? Anyone running long tomorrow?

Well, that’s really all I have for now! I am still in need of $25 more dollars to hit my fundraising goal, so if anyone would like to donate please go to my St. Jude Heroes Fund webpage and do so!! Thanks y’all! Have a great day!

Blog Raffle Ends Soon!!

2010-09-30T21:14:00.001-05:00

Hello bloggies!! Just wanted to remind y’all that my St. Jude Blog Raffle ends tomorrow night!! Please enter if you haven’t all ready! I’m raffling off some great products :) I’m almost at my fundraising goal, and I know I can get there with your help!! Thanks friends :)

Awesome Morning 6 Miler

2010-09-28T14:38:00.001-05:00

Y’all, I seriously had the best run this morning! It’s been a long time since I was able to run a longer run at a fast pace (for me!). I had a 6 miler on the training plan and I really wasn’t sure how it was going to go. I slept in and really had a hard time dragging myself out of bed! I was just so comfortable!! So around 8am, I headed out to conquer this run!!

The temperatures have been awesome here! It was in the low 50’s when I started out this morning. Another great thing about cooler temps: I get to sleep in and don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn to run just to beat the heat! Love that! Anyway, back to the run… my first mile was a bit tough due to my plantar fasciitis. The first mile of ANY run always sucks because it’s painful. I hate PF and wish it would go away! But, I am happy that it really doesn’t bother me too much after the first mile.

I ran a hilly 6 mile route that I haven’t run in a long time. Probably since this time last year when I was training for a half marathon! It was nice to break away from my usual routes and get a change of scenery! Some lady did try to run me over coming out of the Sonic parking lot though. She was too busy stuffing her face with Sonic to make sure to look both directions before pulling out. Good thing I was paying attention! Geez people!

But other than almost getting run over, this run went really smoothly. Every mile I finished, my Garmin beeped with a sub-10 minute mile. And I just kept thinking, I’m going to pay for this later at the end of the run! But I never did! I just kept feeling better and better! I was really pushing myself from hill to hill and felt great!!

I think I was due for a great run because my past two 8 milers have been really tough and slow, which made me a little worried about my half marathon goal pace. But after today’s run, I feel much better :)

Stats:

6 miles in 59:04

Mile 1: 10:16

Mile 2: 9:56

Mile 3: 9:50

Mile 4: 9:51

Mile 5: 9:42

Mile 6: 9:27

Avg Pace: 9:51

I will take that!! I am super happy :)

After 4 days of running in a row, my legs are ready for a break. I have clinicals for the next 3 days so I won’t have time to run anyway, so my legs will get a nice break! Well, except the fact that I’m on my feel all day at clinical. But, at least a break from running :)

How have your runs been going this week? Are you training for something?

And don’t forget to enter my St. Jude Blog Raffle!! I’ve got some GREAT running gear to raffle off to raise money for my St. Jude Heroes Fund!! I know y’all want to enter, it ends Friday!

Toe Blister HELP!

2010-09-27T16:25:00.001-05:00

Hello, hello! Hope this fine Monday is treating y’all well! I don’t mind Mondays so much when I don’t have to go to clinical :) I go Wed-Fri this week. That’s the good thing about 12 hour shifts, you only go 3 days a week :)

Anyway… I have a few runs to share with you. Let’s back up to yesterday. I had an easy 4 miler on the schedule. I have issues with “easy” runs because I am always trying to run faster and faster. For the most part, my “easy” runs turn into progression runs where I keep trying to run each mile a bit faster. My easy pace is supposed to feel easy and well, this run felt moderate, definitely not easy. Oh well, I’m sure I am benefiting from a faster pace! Just hope it doesn’t hinder my recovery and such. This run was quite uneventful. I spent the entire run thinking, which I normally don’t do! I usually zone out but my mind was going a mile a minute! Mostly about my blog raffle and launching my new blog (more on that soon!). So the run ended up flying by, which is nice!! Plus, the weather was awesome, 58 degrees!

4 miles in 39:21

Mile 1: 10:30

Mile 2: 9:54

Mile 3: 9:44

Mile 4: 9:12

Avg Pace: 9:50

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And today I decided to do a 3 miler, supposedly easy but I ran it moderately again! It was super windy today, which reminded me of how much wind comes along with cold temps. I absolutely HATE running in the wind. But it wasn’t too bad today! Again, another uneventful run. I did see some people out running this weekend though! I have lived in my town over 2 years and have never seen another runner (besides my old running buddy), until this weekend and I saw 3! Crazy, right?!? Guess the running thing is catching on out here in the boondocks :)

3 miles in 28:56

Mile 1: 10:15

Mile 2: 9:45

Mile 3: 8:58

Avg Pace: 9:39

I was really booking it for that last mile :) Sometimes it just feels good to run fast and hard!!

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Alright, now on to the title of this post: Toe Blister Help!! All of a sudden, this past week I have started to get these blood blisters on the bottoms of my big toes. They hurt too, especially while running!! I’ve tried using body glide on my feet, doesn’t really help. I thought it might be my thin socks I wear, so I bought some new socks yesterday at the running store and am hoping those help. But do y’all have any other suggestions for blisters? They are so annoying and I am afraid they are going to mess up my long run this weekend!!

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And last but not least, have you entered my St. Jude Blog Raffle yet?!? You have until Friday and it’s for a great cause! And it’s only $5 people! I know y’all have $5 to spare!!

Have a great day :)

Hill Repeats

2010-09-25T16:24:00.001-05:00

Hello! Happy Saturday! Hope y’all are having a great weekend!! I went to bed super early last night because I was exhausted. Besides the fact that I have to get up at 4:30 am 3 times a week and go to clinicals for 12 hours, I am not sleeping well AT ALL the night before clinical. It’s just nerves, because it’s all still new, but I wish I would start sleeping better! Needless to say, I slept in until around 8am this morning, which is pretty late for me!! Luckily, the weather has cooled down a bit and wasn’t scorching for my run this morning. Plus, it was pretty cloudy for my entire run. It’s nice when there is no sun beating down on you!!

My St. Jude Half Marathon training plan said I was supposed to be doing mile repeats this morning. I hate mile repeats and was totally not feeling it, so I decided to do hill repeats instead! I have a nice, steep hill exactly 1 mile away from my house, which makes for the perfect spot to do hill repeats. The hill is exactly a 1/4 of a mile too. I started out with a faster than normal mile warm-up. I just felt like running a bit faster, so I did. Then I did 6 hill repeats, each with a cool down jog back down the hill. And I ended my run with another mile as a cool-down, for a total of 5 miles.

I enjoy doing hill repeats. I love really charging up that hill and pushing myself hard. I like to think of hill repeats as a type of speed work, because I am definitely pushing it hard and a lot faster than my normal pace. Plus, I run a lot of hills and do races that have hills, so it’s definitely an important aspect for me to incorporate in my training! Do you like hill repeats or speed work better?

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I recorded a show called The Endurance Traveler on FSN that many of you would probably like to watch (I saw an ad for it in Triathlete Magazine). It was all about the Brazil Ironman today and it was awesome to see all those people racing an Ironman and all the planning and thought that goes into a race of that distance!

I’m trying to just kind of relax today and catch up on stuff. I rented the movie Letters to Juliet to watch tonight, (although I’m sure hubby won’t be too thrilled that I rented that movie) I think it looks cute!!

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Have you entered my St. Jude Blog Raffle yet? I am raffling off some great stuff so please enter. It’s all to help me raise money for my St. Jude Heroes Fund!! There’s not very many entries yet so that means a good chance of winning!! And please spread the word!!

Have a great rest of your day!

St. Jude Heroes Blog Raffle!!

2010-09-23T11:36:00.001-05:00

Hey friends!! It’s time for my St. Jude Heroes Fund Blog Raffle!! I am very excited to be doing this and hope it helps me reach my goal for the kids of St. Jude!!

As many of you know, I am running the St. Jude Half Marathon on Dec. 4th as a St. Jude Hero and raising money for the kiddos of St. Jude along the way!! My goal is $500 and I am a little over halfway there!! I just know I can hit my goal, but I will need your help! I thought a Blog Raffle would be a fun way for y’all to win prizes and for me to raise money for St. Jude!

So, I have 3 separate running related items to raffle off and I will be drawing 3 winners! I figured that gives y’all a better chance of winning something! Let’s talk about the products I’m raffling off!!

First raffle item: Zensah Compression Leg Sleeves in Red

The awesome people at Zensah were nice enough to send me these leg sleeves for my raffle!! I have talked to lots of people who LOVE their leg sleeves!! According to the package, the leg sleeves:

cause increased performance by increasing oxygen blood flow and circulation
make for a faster recovery
help you have fresher legs

The Zensah fabric is anti-microbial, thermal regulating, moisture wicking, and ultra-breathable. I need to get me a pair! These sound fabulous!!

Second raffle item: CEP Compression Socks (you pick the color!)

I love the pink ones :) The wonderful people at sportscompression.com were nice enough to let me raffle a pair of their CEP compression socks!! They also gave me a 15% off coupon code so if you don’t happen to win these socks, then you can buy them at a discounted price!!

To use the coupon code: go to www.sportscompression.com and put in “BLOG15” in the coupon code box at checkout. (I will be putting this coupon code on my sidebar also). Easy right?!? I’m definitely getting myself a pair (pink of course!!)

Top 5 reasons to wear CEP Compression Socks:

CEP is made with over 50 years of experience by a WORLD LEADER in medical compression products, medi, with "medi Ultimate Compression Technology. (www.cepcompression.com)
Medically tuned compression designed specifically for the athlete to improve performance, recovery and overall quality of life.
Clinically proven to increase performance by 5% *
Prevent shin splints, calf cramps, achilles issues and other lower leg indication
Graduated medically tuned compression to help prevent blood clots and swelling during travel.

Third raffle item: Nathan Quickdraw Plus Handheld Bottle (you pick the color!)

I am a huge fan of this water bottle!! This is what I carry on all of my long runs now!! The little pocket in front is the perfect size to hold keys, small cell phone, or gels! From the website:

Moisture-wicking, adjustable Airmesh hand strap
22 oz. (650 mL) Hydration Bottle with Clipless Cap
Zippered pocket with Key Clip
3M Scotchlite™ reflective trim

So those are the raffle items! Hope y’all like them!! I guess I should tell y’all how to enter the raffle right?!?

Initial Mandatory Entry: $5 donation to my St. Jude Heroes Fund. For every $5 you donate, you get an additional entry into the raffle. Example: $5 = 1 entry, $10 = 2 entries, $15 = 3 entries and so on. Be sure to leave me a comment telling me how much you donated so I know how many entries to give you!!

Additional Entries: After you do the mandatory entry, you can get additional entries each day by:

posting about my raffle on your blog
tweeting about my raffle- be sure to include @nikiruns and a link to the raffle in your tweet
posting about the raffle on your facebook page

Make sure to leave me a comment each time you do an additional entry so I can give you credit!! And remember, you can do the additional entries each day!!

The Raffle starts NOW and ends Friday October 1st at midnight CST. So that gives you a little over a week to build up your entries and to spread the word!! Good luck to everyone!! And remember, we are doing it for St. Jude!!

3 & 8 milers

2010-09-23T10:41:00.001-05:00

Hello! Happy Thursday to ya! Yay for it being that much closer to the weekend :) I just wanted to write a quick post about my last 2 workouts…

On Tuesday, I had 5 miles on the schedule. Well, I slept in late, (I had to wake up at 4:30am the day before so I was tired) making it necessary to run on the treadmill inside because it was already 90+ degrees outside. My treadmill run went AWFUL! I was totally not feeling it and kept getting these annoying side stitches. So after 3 miles, I called it quits. Hate runs like that!!

But this morning’s run was much better!! I decided to knock my long run for the week out today so I could possible run another 5k this weekend :) 8 miles was on the schedule this week again for my long run. I was just hoping it felt easier than it did on Sunday! And it did!! It still was tough at the end, but I ended up running the 8 miles 5 minutes faster than I did on Sunday! So I say that’s success!! I still wish it was faster and felt easier, but I’ll take it. I did the same super hilly 8 mile route as I did Sunday. Those hills are killer and my legs are super sore right now!! I have major tummy issues if I eat anything and run within like 3-4 hours, which makes it hard to fuel before early morning long runs. I decided to try out a GU before my run to see how that worked and carry a half Gatorade/ half water mixture during the run. The GU before seemed to work out!! Gave me some extra energy and my tummy felt fine the whole time!! I like the Gatorade/water mix a lot but I honestly think I like plain water better! I just felt like the Gatorade was not quenching my thirst! So I guess I’ll play around a bit more with my fueling options :) How do you fuel before and during your long runs?

That’s about it for now!! I am starting my St. Jude Raffle today to help me raise money for my St. Jude Heroes Fund and have some really good items to raffle off! So be looking for another post shortly!!

New Blog Name + Tough 8 Miler

2010-09-19T15:02:00.001-05:00

Hello! Hope this beautiful Sunday is treating you well!

My morning started off with my long run. I had an 8 miler on my St. Jude half training plan so I made sure to be up and out the door by 6:30am to beat the heat! Immediately my legs felt like lead and I just felt tired. I knew this run wasn’t going to go well, I could just feel it. The route I had planned was hilly too, which didn’t help with my legs of lead. By mile 2 I had already had to take a walk break and was so ready to call it quits, this run was just awful! But after some major self motivation and realization that I could do this run, I continued on! I told myself to throw all time goals out the window. I didn’t care about pace, I just wanted to finish these 8 miles. I took a lot of walk breaks, my body just felt exhausted. I took a Vanilla Bean GU at mile 5 and that perked me up a bit for the last 3 miles. I liked the Vanilla Bean flavor too! Tasted like vanilla frosting :) When my Garmin beeped 8 miles, I was so happy to be done! This was probably the hardest and slowest 8 miles I’ve ever done!! I will NEVER do a long run the day after a 5k race again! My legs were just dead! I really think that’s what made it feel so tough because my last few long runs have been great! So, I’m hoping next week’s long run will be easier with fresh legs.

On another note, I carried my handheld water bottle with me for the entire 8 miles and didn’t hate it! I actually really loved having water whenever I wanted it. I’ve had this handheld since last Christmas but have only used it a few times because after I used it a few times I decided I didn’t like carrying anything. But, I think my mind is officially changed! I didn’t even really notice it!! Plus, it was nice to have somewhere to carry my GU also!!

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I’ve been talking for a while about getting a new name for my blog. I want to take my blog in a more running/training related direction and I want the name to reflect that. So, I have come up with 2 names that I really like and I want your opinions!! So here are my 2 favorite options:

1. Pounding The Pavement

2. Train Happy

What do you think? Which do you like best? Do you have any other suggestions?

I am planning to switch to wordpress, get my own domain name, and self host. I am going to try to transfer all my current blog stuff over to the new blog but who knows if that will work! So I may just end up starting fresh. Either way, I’m fine with it :) I will let y’all know when I switch over so you can still follow me, so be on the lookout for my new blog at some point in the near future! But until then, I will still be blogging here at NNA!

What features/topics/pages would you like to see in my new blog?

Women Run Memphis 5k Race Recap!!

2010-09-18T17:04:00.001-05:00

Before I start my Women Run Memphis race recap let’s back up a bit and talk about my running earlier this week… Since I now have clinicals for 12 hours, 3 days a week, I have limited days to get my running in so I have to be extra vigilant about it!! I wasn’t good about waking up for Tuesday’s run and ended up on the treadmill , so I knew Wednesday I had to get up early and get my 5 miler started before it got too hot!! My St. Jude Half training plan told me I had 5 easy miles to run at a 10:45 pace. That seemed a bit slow for me even for my easy runs but Runner’s World seems to know what they are doing so I tried to stick to that pace… didn’t work too well :)

5 miles in 52:22

Mile 1: 10:42

Mile 2: 10:29

Mile 3: 10:33

Mile 4: 10:27

Mile 5: 10:13

Avg Pace: 10:29

I’ll take that for an easy run!! My 5 mile route is not my favorite running route but it went fine. Nice and hilly! Haha. It makes such a difference when I get my butt out of bed and the majority of my runs are done before the sun is beating down on me! Although, this will change once it gets cold and I will be begging for the heat from the sun!

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And this morning was the 5k for the Women Run Memphis group that I’ve been going to on Monday nights. So sad it’s over! I had a blast running with these ladies!! The 5k went well! I took 6 seconds off my time from the Forrest Spence 5k I did a few weeks ago so I’ll take that! This run felt tough though! I was hot and probably dehydrated. Another bad thing about being at the hospital 12 hours the day before a run: no time to hydrate. I probably drank only 1 or 2 bottles of water the entire day yesterday! That always makes for a little tougher of a run! But I was happy with my time and happy that race was over! I was super tired at the end!

3 miles in 28:39

Mile 1: 9:03

Mile 2: 9:03

Mile 3: 9:32

Mile 3-3.1: 1:02 (8:56 pace)

Avg Pace: 9:12

I didn’t have my paparazzi there with me today (AKA my family) so I didn’t get any race pictures :( I did take some afterward of myself and the pretty pink medals we got though!! I think all races should give out finishers medals, I love them!!

Me and my medal in our pretty pink tech shirts we got also!!

Race bib and medal

Medal close up :)

I loved this program and definitely hope to do it again next summer!!

Well that’s all for now, I have a long run tomorrow so hopefully that goes well!! Have a great night!!

**Please donate to my St. Jude Heroes Fund!! I am almost to the halfway point! Any donation helps!! **

First Days!

2010-09-14T18:03:00.001-05:00

First days are always a little nerve wracking for me. You just never know what to expect! Yesterday was my first day of clinical (in the OR!) and the first day of my half marathon training plan!

I was so nervous for clinical that I slept awful Sunday night, which didn’t make my 4:30am wake up call vey nice. Yep, that’s right, I have to be at the hospital around 6am! But, my day was great! I was with a wonderful preceptor who actually let me do stuff! I got to start some IV’s (it’s been over a year since I’ve done one) and intubate! Made me very happy about the career path I’m heading down :)

Luckily, I have today and tomorrow off, so I got to sleep in this morning!! Felt great to sleep!! My training plan started off yesterday with a rest day. I obviously had no time to run seeing as I got up at 4:30 am and didn’t get home until 7:30ish. Plus I am always tired after 12 hour days! So today was the first run on my training plan: a 4 mile tempo run. By the time I woke up this morning, it was already hot outside and I knew I would do better on the treadmill. I started my warm-up mile and felt awful. I just knew this run wasn't gonna be easy. I was just so not into this run at all and the boring treadmill wasn’t helping. I tried to distract myself by watching Bachelor Pad I recorded last night but that wasn’t help either! So I decided to switch it up from a tempo run to a fartleck run, much more treadmill friendly! I did my favorite 5-4-3-2-1 fartleck run and stopped at 3 miles. That’s literally all my mind could take! Not the best way to start out a new training plan, but at least I ran, right?!

So here is my St. Jude Half Marathon training plan for all of you who want to know :) I will be changing up the days some according to my schedule but I am hoping to keep the mileage and types of runs the same. I made this schedule according to one I pulled out of Runner’s World a while back. I never have done specific speed training and tempo runs during training so this will be new to me! I got the paces off the Runner’s World training calculator for a 2:15 half, so I am gonna try to stick to that, even though the easy runs seems a bit slow! So, what do you think? Anything you would change?

And last but not least, please donate to my St. Jude Heroes Fund!! I am not even halfway to my goal and I need your help! Any amount of donation helps!!

1ST Day Tomorrow!!

2010-09-12T18:23:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! It’s been a few days since I posted last, I’ve been a bit busy. I have some GREAT news! I passed my comprehensive drug test so I will be starting clinical tomorrow!! I am so happy/nervous/excited!! I got the email with my first case tomorrow which makes me even more nervous… it’s a robotic case! Should be a great learning experience and very interesting!!

Anyway… back to the stuff y’all really care about, workouts!! On Friday, I had an awesome swim workout. And the longest one I’ve done to date!! I decided that since my school’s pool (read:free) is about a 40 minute drive, then my swim workout must be at least 40 minutes long to make the drive worthwhile! I found some swim workouts online and I thought I would try them out! Here’s how it went:

Warm-up: 600 meters freestyle

Drills: 50 meter kick, 100 meter pull, 200 meter breast stroke (repeat twice)

Cool-down: 300 meters freestyle

Total: 1600 meters (1 mile!)

This is the farthest I’ve ever swam before and I felt great! I am still a bit sore in my arms but it was so worth it! I loved changing it up a bit and doing the different drills. Kick is so hard for me, which is why I only did 50 meters at a time!! Definitely something I need to work on! I also practiced doing flip turns, but they make me so dizzy! Does that mean I’m doing them wrong or is it just something you get used to? Anyway, it was a great swim workout and I am looking forward to my next one!!

And then on Saturday I ran an easy 3 miles. I was planning to do a long run today (more on that in a bit) so I thought an easy 3 miles would be good for my legs. I was so dehydrated from not drinking very much water the day before, that this run felt extra tough!! I ran at a 9:57 average pace but it felt a lot harder than that! So I learned how important it is to hydrate!!

Like I said above, I had planned on doing a 7 miler this morning before church. But as I thought about how this is my last day to sleep in (I have to get up at 4:30am for clinicals) I decided I would take advantage of it and sleep in and skip my run! Plus, my half marathon training plan starts tomorrow, so I thought I better let myself get a break before I dive into training hardcore!

So, my mileage wasn’t the best this week, but like I said training starts tomorrow so I’m fine with that!!

Well, I need to get back to learning about my first case tomorrow so wish me luck on my first day!!

And if you missed my last post, I am taking ideas for a new blog name and I need help! Get those creative juices flowing and let me know what you come up with!!

And last but not least… please donate to my St. Jude Heroes Fund!! I am not even halfway to my goal and every little bit counts!! A BIG thanks to my Nana and Lauren for donating!! Y’all are great!

Blog Advice!

2010-09-09T13:15:00.001-05:00

Hello blog friends! Happy Thursday to ya! I have been doing a lot of thinking about my blog and have decided it’s time for a change!! The main reason I am thinking about changes is that I want my blog direction to be more focused on training, running, triathlons, and races (with some baking thrown in of course!) I am such a beginner with all things technical and computer so I need your help and advice!

I am thinking of closing out NNA and starting up a whole new blog with a new name! That’s where y’all come in! I am so uncreative, so I need y’all to help me to think of a good blog name! Something fun and catchy that revolves around running and triathlons. I know y’all can help!! After I find my top 3, I will let y’all vote on the best! Fun right?!

I am not the biggest fan of BlogSpot and will definitely be changing my new blog to Wordpress. So my questions to y’all are… Should I self host or just use wordpress.com? Also, should I transfer everything from NNA to the new blog or just start from scratch? I’m open to either option. Does anyone have any recommendations on people to use to transfer blogs or that do really neat blog designs? I know, full of questions, but I am so clueless on all this stuff!!

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Alright, enough of that! I had a totally sucky run this morning!! Like I said in my last post, my stomach has not been a happy camper these last few days and today is no different! But, I decided to suck it up and head out for my 5 miler anyway. My stomach was cramping from the very beginning and I just felt nauseous and gross. I made it 3 miles and called it a day. Oh well, you win some you lose some. My pace wasn’t that bad for how bad my stomach felt! 10:05 avg pace. So I’ll take it! I just hope it starts feeling better before my long run this weekend!!

Have a great day! And don’t forget to give me advice and help on my blog questions!!

The Past Couple Of Days…

2010-09-08T09:33:00.001-05:00

Good morning!! I have had a really busy and stressful past couple of days!! For those of you who don’t know, I am in CRNA (nurse anesthesia) school and I had the biggest test of my life (so far) yesterday!! It was a comprehensive pharmacology test over 100+ drugs, all case scenarios! I have been stressed to the max studying for this while still having a full load of classes! And it’s finally over!! I have to pass this to start clinicals on Monday, so hopefully I did! I should know within the next couple of days so I will keep y’all updated!! It’s such a relief that it is over, but my tummy has been paying dearly for all the stress. I have had the worst stomach ache the past 3 days and it is still with me this morning, so I decided to push back my 5 miler until tomorrow and rest. It’s such a dreary day here too, so it’s making me feel lazy :)

I did have a nice run on Monday though!! I set out just do do an easy 4 mile recovery run, since I did my long run on Sunday. My legs felt tired but not too bad. I ran my usual hilly 4 mile route and felt pretty great the entire time. I wasn’t trying to push myself at all, just trying to get some blood pumping through my tired legs!! The goal was to keep my pace around my long run pace, but I ended up going a bit faster.

4 miles in 40:51

Mile 1: 10:36

Mile 2: 10:10

Mile 3: 10:11

Mile 4: 9:56

Avg Pace: 10:13

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I am trying to put together a really awesome blog raffle to help me raise money for my St. Jude Hero fund!! I’ve been contacting companies to get some really awesome running/fitness related products so stay tuned!! And if you have any ideas or specific items you would like me to try to get for the raffle let me know!! I’m open to all ideas and suggestions!!

And last but not least…. a big THANKS to my sister in law Angie and good friend Megan for donating to my St. Jude Hero Fund!! If you would like to donate, check out my donation page!!

I hope y’all have a fabulous day!!

Awesome Weather = Awesome Runs!!

2010-09-05T17:55:00.001-05:00

We have been having the most awesome running weather the past 2 mornings!! Let’s back up to Saturday morning… I knew the weather was supposed to be cooler this weekend, but when I woke up Saturday morning and checked the temp, I was definitely not expecting to see 53 degrees!! That’s pretty chilly when it’s been 90+!! I had totally forgotten what to wear when I run in temps of the 50’s so I opted for capris and a short sleeve shirt. It worked out well, although shorts would have been fine too!! I was so pumped to run because it felt so nice!! I only had 3 miles on the schedule and my long run planned for Sunday, so I was trying not to push myself hard but it was very difficult! I just felt like running fast!! I just kept telling myself to slow down. All in all it was a great run! Here’s the stats:

3 miles in 28:54

Mile 1: 10:17

Mile 2: 9:37

Mile 3: 9:01

Avg Pace: 9:38

Obviously by the last mile I had totally stopped listening to my reminder to slow down! It really felt like a great run!!

And now on to my long run this morning… as I said on Friday, I decided to start upping my long runs a bit more quickly than I had previously thought, so I can be ready for the Bass Pro Half if I decide to run it. So 7 miles it was! I got up at 5:45 and headed out to my parent’s house so I could run out there. It’s my favorite place to do long runs. The temp was reading about 50 degrees when I started, and I could immediately tell a difference in how I felt this morning compared to my long run last week in the mid 70’s. I felt wonderful!! According to the Runner’s World Training Calculator, I should be doing my long runs around a 10:45-10:55 pace to hit my time goal for the half. This seemed a bit slow when I first read it, but they seem to know what their talking about so I am going with it. I tried really hard to keep my pace between 10:45-10:55 but other than the first mile, I failed!! I just couldn’t keep it that slow! Better faster than too slow, right?!

The 7 miles flew by and I felt great the entire run! I never really got tired and was even able to push it at the end! I love runs like this and I’ve just been on a runner’s high all day!

7 miles in 1:13:15

Mile 1: 10:49

Mile 2: 10:34

Mile 3: 10:30

Mile 4: 10:36

Mile 5: 10:30

Mile 6: 10:21

Mile 7: 9:56

Avg Pace: 10:28

So I ran about the same pace as I did my 6 miles last week but ran farther and felt much better this week! Gotta love it!! I really love long runs, it’s nice to run slow and it’s such a huge accomplishment when you finish!! What’s your favorite type of run?

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As many of you know, I am running the St. Jude Half Marathon and raising money for St. Jude!! I am trying to work on some fundraising ideas and I think it would be fun to have some sort of raffle! So my questions for y’all are:

1. What type of items would you like to see in the raffle? Fitness/running related?

2. Does anyone know of any companies that would donate items to put in a blog raffle for St. Jude?

3. Does anyone reading this want to donate items for the raffle? :)

Let me know if y’all have any other ideas for me! I gotta make it to at least $500 for St. Jude!! And if you would like to donate, please go to my donation page! Any little bit helps! Spread the word too friends!!

I hope y’all have a fabulous night and great holiday tomorrow!

Locked Out!

2010-09-03T19:02:00.001-05:00

TGIF! I know many of you have fun plans for this holiday weekend, but not me. I have the biggest test of my life thus far coming up on Tuesday so I will be a shut in this weekend doing nothing but studying! Ok, well maybe a few other things as I procrastinate studying! Haha.

I had a nice 4.8 mile run yesterday morning. I did 4.8 to balance out Monday’s 4.2 miles. Yes, I am that crazy runner girl who must have even mileage! Ha! My legs actually felt very tired on this run, which is odd since I didn’t run the day before. Maybe swimming really fatigued them?! But anyway, the run was rather uneventful. I changed up my normal running route a bit so that was nice. I’m starting to get really bored with running the same routes over and over. It’s definitely time to mix it up! So here’s my stats:

4.8 miles in 48:20

Mile 1: 10:17

Mile 2: 9:59

Mile 3: 10:03

Mile 4: 10:01

Mile 4.8: 8:01 (10:04 pace)

Avg Pace: 10:05

Overall I was happy with this run. I wish I could have been a tad bit faster to get my avg pace under 10:00 but there’s always next time right?! I was only planning on doing 6 miles as my long run again this week but I think I may step it up to 7 miles and start increasing my mileage a bit faster than I had planned. I am still considering doing the Bass Pro Half in November, so starting to increase my long runs a bit faster would ensure that I would be ready for it!

I didn’t do anything today. I was supposed to bike but was totally not feeling it so I just didn’t do it. I need to get a spare tire kit for my bike and until I do that, I’m a little nervous to go out on longer rides! I’ve already got a flat tire once when I was a long way from home! Not fun! So I used that as an excuse to skip my bike today… Must get a spare tire kit!

I did manage to lock myself and Sadie out of the house today though! Somehow when I was taking her for a walk, I forgot to bring my key with me and locked the door. I don’t know where my brain was, well actually I do, it’s overloaded with anesthesia drug knowledge! So we had to sit and wait for my mom to bring us a spare house key to get in! I was so mad! Luckily my mom was at home and only lives about 30 minutes away, but I was still so mad at myself for doing that!

Well friends, that’s about it for now! Don’t forget to check out my donation page and donate to my St. Jude Hero fund! A big thanks to Gayle and Tom and Nicole for donating!!

Swimming Stress Reliever

2010-09-01T20:09:00.001-05:00

Today was an awful day! I will spare y’all with the details of what we had to do at school today, but let’s just say it’s something I will never do again! And it made for a very uncomfortable and stressful day. And what’s a better way to relive that stress than working out?? Well chocolate and wine maybe…. but today swimming was definitely my stress reliever!!

I’m still kind of unsure of what I should be doing in the pool, so all you triathletes and swimmers, please provide me with some guidance! But for now I’m just winging it! I started out swimming 500 meters freestyle then finished up with another 500 meters alternating breast stroke and freestyle every 100 meters. So my grand total was 1000meters. Took me about 30 minutes and I felt pretty good with that. I am hoping to keep increasing my swim distance every week so this is just where I’m starting! Something about the pool is so calming. Most of the times when I’m running I think about a lot of stuff but not when I’m swimming! My mind is a completely blank canvas. It’s quite nice to not think!

Well, that’s really all I have for tonight!! Don’t forget to visit my St. Jude donation page and help me raise money for the kiddos at St. Jude!! A HUGE thank you to my first two donations: my parents and Liz from Little Bitty Bakes!! Y’all are so fabulous!! Also, if you have any good fundraising ideas, please let me know!! Have a great night!!

I’ve Made My Decision!!

2010-08-31T17:49:00.001-05:00

Hello my lovely blog friends!! I want to thank y’all so much for your thoughts on my dilemma and on which half I should do! Well, I have finally made my decision… and it wasn’t either of the options I presented to y’all! Woops!! After posting my options for you this morning, I found a third option that just seemed perfect!!

I found out that I could sign up for the St. Jude Half Marathon if I signed up as a St. Jude Hero! The requirements for being a St. Jude Hero are that I have to fundraise $500 for St. Jude. I definitely think I can do this and I have officially signed up as a Hero :) When I read about this option, I just KNEW that’s what I was supposed to do! So, I’ve made my commitment and I’m sticking to it! $500 or bust! Haha!

I am not a big fundraiser, I have never been into fundraisers, but I’ve worked with these kids, I’ve taken care of these kids, and I have a huge place in my heart for St. Jude kiddos! For those of you who don’t know, before I started CRNA school last year, I worked as a RN in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at LeBonheur, and we work closely with St. Jude and take care of many of their patients after surgery and when they are critically ill. So really y’all, I know how tough it is emotionally, physically, and financially on these kids and their families and I am happy to work to raise money for them!! I am super excited about this and I know that it will make this race so much more meaningful for me!!

If you haven’t noticed yet, I have an awesome new button on the right hand side of my blog that links directly to my donation page! You can also visit my donation page by going here.

I would love for y’all to donate to me if you feel led to! Remember, anything counts! $1 is better than nothing right!! Also, please spread the word for me!! Thanks friends!!

Opinions Wanted!!

2010-08-31T07:32:00.001-05:00

Good morning friends! I have a dilemma that I need your opinions on! Last night, I went to go sign up for the St. Jude Half Marathon on Dec. 4th only to find out that the half is officially SOLD OUT. I was so upset, like literally in tears! I ran this half last year and loved it and I really wanted to run it again! Plus, I have a lot of friends running it. I can’t believe it is sold out. I checked a few days ago and it wasn’t. So now I don’t know what to do! I have 2 options that I need your opinion on. What would you do?

Option 1

Pay to run the full St. Jude Marathon but only run the half. The pro is I obviously get to run the race! But there are a few cons… First, it’s more expensive by $25. It’s not a ton, but remember, I am a poor grad student!! And the second con is that I will not have an official time because I didn’t finish the race I signed up for. Not to mention, I will be the girl with the marathon bib coming into the finish of the half marathon looking like I just couldn’t do the race I signed up for.

Option 2

Run the Bass Pro Shop Half Marathon in Springfield, Mo on Nov. 7th. The pros of this are it’s a cheaper race, my grandparents live there so I will have somewhere to stay and get to visit them, and I’ve never run this one before and it’s always fun to run new races!! Plus, I will get an official time! And now the cons… First, it’s a whole month earlier than St. Jude so my training plan would only be 10 weeks long starting yesterday! I think I will be ready for it but the extra month of training for St. Jude may improve my race time. Second, it is out of town, about 5-6 hours from me, so I will have to travel there, but my mom did already say she would go with me.

So, you see the dilemma? What do I do? What would you do?

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Our Women Run Memphis group run went well last night. For the second week in a row, no tummy troubles!! I am attributing this to eating waffles for lunch. Did it the last 2 weeks and had no issues!! We started out with a mile warm-up then proceeded to do a negative split workout. We ran for 12 minutes in one direction, then the coaches blew the whistle. We turned around and had to run back to the start faster than 12 minutes to achieve our negative split. I definitely got a negative split! I ran 12 minutes the first direction than 11:14 the second direction, cutting 46 seconds off my time! I liked that one! Then we did a cool-down giving me a total of 4.2 miles for the entire run. I am so sad we only have 1 more group run left!

Well friends, I’m off to start my day. Please give me your thoughts on my half marathon issue!! Thanks!!

Product Reviews, Long Run, and Wedding Pictures!

2010-08-29T18:57:00.001-05:00

I’ve received some fun stuff the past couple weeks that I have gotten to try and review!! First up, the people from the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program sent me some Arnold Sandwich Thins to try out!!

Now, this wasn’t the first time I’ve had these before, but they are super yummy so of course I said I would do a review of them!! So far we have used them to make some awesome sandwiches, garlic bread, and as buns for turkey burgers and hamburgers!! These sandwich thins are VERY versatile!! And they don’t take away from the actual flavors of the sandwich or burger! You know how sometimes all you taste is bread? Well these sandwich thins eliminate that problem! They’ve got great nutrition info too!!

And onto my next item… The kind people at Thermos contacted me to see if I would like to test out one of their water bottles, the Intak vacuum insulated hydration bottle! Of course!! I am seriously, water bottle obsessed and this is the best one I have used to date!!

Love the design on the outside and the fact that the straw/sippy thing is hidden so no germies get on it! It holds 18oz and is made of stainless steel.

It is supposed to keep water cold for 12 hours!! Well, I haven’t left water in their for 12 hours straight yet, but I have for about 6 hours and this bottle definitely kept it cold!! Plus, it doesn’t sweat so no water drippings or rings on your tables!!

And of course it’s BPA free!! This is the straw/sippy thing. All you do is push the little button on the front of the bottle and the top flips up and there is your straw for you to sip away on!! Seriously, love, love, love this bottle! You must go get one!!

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Now onto my long run from early this morning… It probably wasn’t the best idea to do my long run after racing the Forrest Spence 5k yesterday (recap here). But I decided to anyway since my long run right now is only 6 miles. I got up super early so I could drive out to where my parents live and run out there before church. I needed a change of scenery since I run the same routes by my house all the time!! I’ve run the 6 mile route that I ran this morning many times and it has a good mix of hills and flats. The temp felt pretty warm this morning and definitely humid. I was drenched by the time I finished!!

I started off my run and immediately my legs felt tired and my PF was killing me! I knew if I just made it through the first mile, my legs would wake up and the PF would disappear. And it did. The first couple miles have some good hills and I was definitely feeling it. I thought I might have to take a few breaks but I tossed that thought away, did some positive self talk, and kept pushing on! Mile 3 came and went and I knew I was halfway done and could definitely finish this run! I stopped and took a quick sip from the water fountain around mile 4.5 and then went on to finish the 6 miles! Another reason I love running out by my parent’s house is that there are some many other runners out all the time! Where I live, I think I am seriously the ONLY runner! I have never seen anyone else run!! I was tired at the end but felt pretty good! Gotta love that!! Here are my splits:

6 miles in 1:02:50

Mile 1: 11:01 (Super slow because of my PF)

Mile 2: 10:22 (Feet feeling much better!!)

Mile 3: 10:24

Mile 4: 10:30

Mile 5: 10:33

Mile 6: 10:11

Avg Pace: 10:29

I’ll take that!! Pace isn’t too bad for a long run pace. Hopefully I will be able to knock that down soon!! Overall, definitely a good run!

I discovered the BEST post-run refuel: Chocolate Milk!! Yummy!!

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And last but not least… My professional wedding pictures are FINALLY online!! If y’all would like to look at the go here. Click on Nikki and Al and the password is douglas. Let me know what you think! I am beyond happy and can’t wait to get my album!!

Have a fabulous night!!

Forrest Spence 5K Race Recap

2010-08-28T16:16:00.001-05:00

Hello! Hope this nice Saturday is treating you well!! I had a great 5k race this morning! Like I said, I decided to kick off my racing season with the Forrest Spence 5K!! The weather was really nice this morning, pretty cool for the most part, I believe it was in the 70’s. It did get a little hot during the race, but luckily a lot of the course was shaded!!

My mom went with me this morning as my paparazzi and support crew!! This race was larger than the usual 5k’s we have so there was a lot going on when we got there!! Finally it was time to line up at the start!!

I really didn’t have too many goals for this race since it is the start of this racing season, I was just hoping for under 30 minutes (which I totally knew I could pull off!) My 5k PR is 26:55 from last spring so I am hoping to get back there at some point!!

It wasn’t too crowded as we started off, everyone was kind of spaced out. I hate the feeling of being smashed in between people and not being able to run the pace I want to! This didn’t happen the whole race! Love that!! Some how my camera got turned onto video so I don’t have any more pictures to share :(

Mile 1 came pretty quickly. According to Garmie, I hit mile 1 at 9:07. I felt pretty good about this. Didn’t feel to tired at this point so I kept on. Mile 2 came pretty quickly too! I had never run this route before so it was kinda nice to keep guessing what was coming next!! I hit mile 2 at 18:16 (9:10 pace). Still felt good so I was going to keep pushing at this pace. Right after mile 2 I saw my mom and some friends I used to work with at LeBonehur! I love seeing people I know when I’m racing!! Towards the end of mile 3 I started to feel tired but I knew I had to keep pushing!! I hit mile 3 at 27:26 (9:10 pace). Garmie was a bit off (or the course a bit long) so I ended up completing 3.17 in 28:45 with my last .17 at a 7:50 pace! I was booking it!! My average pace for the race was 9:05!!

I was definitely super happy with my time! I think that’s a great place for me to start out this race season!!

After the race, my mom and I hung around for the awards and then went to get some breakfast at Panera!! I got the Cinnamon Crunch Bagel and it was AMAZING!! I will definitely be getting that again!!

Well friends, I must get back to studying :( Have a fabulous day!! Anyone else race this weekend? How did you do?

When Awful Runs Turn Amazing!

2010-08-26T11:05:00.001-05:00

I had to do a quick little post to tell y’all how awesome my run was this morning! It’s one of those runs that reminds you why you run and train so hard! What can be better than that??

I woke up this morning around 6am planning on doing my long run for the week. But when I woke up, my head hurt, my nose was stuffy, and I just felt blah. I definitely didn’t want to get up and do a long run. So I quickly thought about what other day I could do my long run, rolled over, and went back to sleep for another hour. I finally pulled myself out of bed and knew I had to do some kind of run today, especially since the temp was right at 70 and that’s cooler than it’s been in a LONG time!! After I got up and stretched out a bit, I felt a little better. My sinuses are just going a little crazy! I decided 4 miles at and easy pace would be doable, and I headed out.

At the beginning of my run, my PF was killing me!! But I know once I hit the 1/2 mile mark, it usually goes away. But it was killer this morning! I felt really good by the first mile and decided to pick up my pace a bit. The second mile came and went really quickly and I picked up my pace a bit more! After seeing my mile split for my 2nd mile, I knew I could really push it and have my fastest 4 miler in a LONG time! So I did!! Each mile I pushed it a little more and I felt AMAZING!! Sinus and PF troubles were out the window by mile 1 and I just couldn’t hold my legs back!! Plus, the beautiful weather was helping so much!! I finished with a huge smile on my face and after looking at my time, yelled “YES!!”. People in my neighborhood probably think I’m crazy, but I just couldn’t hold my excitement in!! So here’s my stats:

4 miles in 38:23

Mile 1:10:17

Mile 2: 9:48

Mile 3: 9:22

Mile 4: 8:58 (!! Who knew I had that in me!!)

Avg Pace: 9:36

Holy cow people, my speed is returning to me!! Thank goodness! Speed, oh how I’ve missed you :) This run has really pumped me up for the Forrest Spence 5k on Saturday!! I think all the hills and speed work we have been doing in my running group on Monday nights have really helped bring my speed back!! So yes, I’m pumped about this and just wanted to share!!

Have you ever had a run that you though was going to be awful, and turned out wonderful?? What do you think it the most important way to get speedier?

Rest Day Wednesday

2010-08-25T16:43:00.001-05:00

Today was a rest day for me, but that’s not going to stop me from telling you about my last 2 days of workouts!!

Lets back up to Monday…Monday’s are my evening group runs with the Women Run Memphis group. They always evil things planned for us (hills, speed work, etc) and this past Monday was no exception! And when I say “evil”, I’m being sarcastic! It’s the kind of workouts that are super tough that only someone else can push you and make you do because you aren’t about to give up if everyone else is doing it! Know what I’m talking about?! Ha! On tap for us was 400 repeats, not on flat ground people, but on hills!! It was tough! The downhill part was very nice but the speedy uphills were killer! We did a little over a mile warm-up, 6X400 repeats, and another mile cool down for a total of 4 miles. It was great in a I don’t think I could run another step kinda way!! And the best part was that my stomach behaved the entire time! No cramping, gurgling, or side stitches. It was amazing. I really look forward to running on Monday nights with this group! I’m usually a solo runner, so it’s nice to mix it up a bit. I’m going to be sad when it’s over.

And on to Tuesday… My legs were super sore from the speed work we did Monday night so I knew a run was not going to happen. So I did the next best thing…bike!! The weather was actually pretty nice, except for the breeze that made the ride tough and messed up all my downhill’s! All in all it was a good, hilly ride that made my legs even more sore, again in a good way :) Here’s my stats:

10 miles in 40:35

Avg Speed 14.7 mph

And like I said, today is a rest day. My legs were begging for it!! I am doing my long run tomorrow since I decided to go ahead and run a 5k on Saturday!! I will be doing the Forrest Spence 5K. Forrest Spence was a little baby who passed away in our unit a few years ago and his parent’s set up a foundation in his name to help assist the non-medical needs of critically or chronically ill children and their families throughout the Midsouth. So it’s a GREAT cause and I have actually never run that race route before! So it will be a new course for me! And I hear it’s not very hilly :) Will anyone else be joining me on Saturday at this race?!?

Well friends, gotta get back to studying for my HUGE drug test that’s less than 2 weeks away! Yikes!

To Race Or Not To Race…

2010-08-23T15:56:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! Happy Monday to ya!! Hope the beginning of the week is treating you well :)

I had a really nice run on Saturday. I set out to do my long run of 5 miles (I know, not really LONG but it is for me at this point in training). It was hot, I let myself sleep in a bit, but luckily there was a lot of shade for the first half of my run. I did my hilly route, which most all my runs are done on. It felt hard, but in a good way! I was pretty happy with my time too!

5 miles in 51:39

Mile 1: 10:47

Mile 2: 10:16

Mile 3: 10:11

Mile 4: 10:24

Mile 5: 10:03

Avg Pace: 10:20

It’s a good start. I would like to be a bit faster but I know it will take a bit more time for my speed to come back. I am looking forward to my LONG runs getting longer and longer!!

I’m debating kicking off my race season this weekend with a 5k. I was going to wait a few more weeks because I’m super competitive and want to do really well and I don’t feel like I’m there yet. But, I really want to do this race!! Thoughts?!? I need to register tonight if I’m going to do it because the price goes up tomorrow!

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I made a super yummy dish the other night!! It was a Quinoa Mix! I’ve never made Quinoa before and I just kinda threw a bunch of stuff together and it turned out great!! Hubby loved it as well!

Cooking the Quinoa. It has a texture between rice and pasta.

Then, I cooked up some onion, garlic, grape tomatoes, spinach and shrimp in the skillet in EVOO.

Mix it all together and top with some feta cheese! Yummy!! Have you ever made Quinoa??

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Well guys, that’s it for now! Have a great Monday! How many of you are into Bachelor Pad? I can’t stop watching all the drama! Ha!

Recipes and Training

2010-08-20T15:36:00.001-05:00

TGIF!! I have a lot to talk about today! Let’s start with some yummy food talk first!! I got the recipe for Red Lobster Garlic Cheese Biscuits from my friend Brandi the other day, and they are AMAZING!! I have made them twice in 3 days! Haha. I know a few of you on Twitter have asked me for this recipe, so here it is!! But beware, they are so addicting!!

Red Lobster Garlic Cheese Biscuits

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

2 cups Bisquick

2/3 cup milk (I used nonfat)

2 TBSP melted butter

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp parsley flakes

Heat over to 400 degrees. Mix cheese and Bisquick. Add milk, stir until combined and moist. Drop onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Melt butter, add garlic salt and parsley to melted butter. Brush over biscuits. Enjoy!!

Like I said, fabulous! They reheat well too. Just stick them in the oven for a few minutes to heat up and they turn out perfect!!

In other food related news… I tried out another kind of cereal I received from the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program.

Kelloggs Fiber Plus Antioxidants Cinnamon Oat Crunch. It was pretty cinnamony, so if you like cinnamon then this is a cereal for you! Unfortunately I am not a huge cinnamon fan, so I just thought it was ok. Plus, it didn’t pack enough punch to keep me full for long. But, the nutrition stats are really good and if you think it’s something you would like, check it out!!

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Let’s get on to some training talk!! I’ve had some good, and not so good workouts since we talked last! Let’s start with the not so good…

On Wednesday, I had planned to get my butt up at 5:30am to run before class. Yea, didn’t happen. I just wanted to sleep more than I wanted to run. It happens. So when I got home from class, around 3pm, I knew I needed to get that run in. To the treadmill it was since at 3pm around here, the heat index is usually 110-115! I started out feeling good but about 5 minutes into my run, my stomach just went crazy. Cramps galore! Note to self… a veggie sandwich for lunch is not a good idea when you plan to run a few hours later. For some reason, veggies just don’t seem to agree with my stomach very well lately, causing tummy pains and cramps. Take this and multiply it by 1000, and that’s what it felt like running. I kept stopping and trying to stretch out my stomach, but nothing worked. I finally called it quits after a slow and painful 2 miles. Oh well, you win some you lose some, right?!?

So on Thursday, I decided to go check out my school’s indoor pool since it is free after all. It took me a bit to find it, it’s pretty hidden, but it was great! It is a 25 meter pool with 5 lanes and NO ONE else was there! I had the whole pool to myself! I hope it’s like that all the time! I swam a total of 1000 meters in about 30 minutes. Here’s how I did my swim: 400 meter freestyle, followed by alternating 100 meters of breast stroke and freestyle. My goal that I’m working towards is to increase my initial freestyle swim to 1 mile (1600 meters). I was definitely tired after the first 400 and that’s why I started alternating with breast stroke, I find it a lot easier. I am completely clueless on drills and such for the pool so as of right now, I’m just trying to get my distance up! If you have any suggestions, feel free to share!!

And then this morning, I had a great run! I set out to do 3.3 miles (to even out my 3.7 miles from Monday, yes I’m crazy like that) around 6:30am. It was nice to sleep in a bit. My PF was really hurting the first 0.5 mile or so, as it always does, although now it’s bilateral instead of in just one foot. But after the 1st mile it was fine. I pushed it a bit at the end and it felt good to run hard. I wasn’t trying to push myself too hard though because I’m going to do a longer run tomorrow. Here are my stats:

3.3 miles in 32:14

Mile 1: 10:19

Mile 2: 9:45

Mile 3: 9:29

Mile 3-3.3: 2:41 (9:02 pace)

Avg Pace: 9:46

I’m just glad to be picking up my speed bit by bit! And happy for my average pace to be below 10:00!! There is definitely something to be said about consistency!!

As for races and training, I’m kinda just keeping up and building my base before I start half marathon training the beginning of September!! I am still planning to swim and ride at least once a week because I want to continue to improve on those for my Triathlon’s next season! And yes, I realize that’s a long time from now, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared!!

Well friends, that’s all for now. I think I may go get into some cupcake baking :) Have a great day!!

More Tri Oxford and Workouts

2010-08-17T17:18:00.001-05:00

Hello friends!! Happy Tuesday!! The weather has been really quite nice today, as in heat index below 100! Hopes it stays like that!!

Thanks to a sweet blog reader, Courtney, I now have my official race results from Tri Oxford! So here they are…

Swim: 8:49

T1: 1:06

Bike: 53:27

T2: 1:21

Run: 33:36

Total: 1:38:18

I have got to work on my transition times! My brother tells me they are too slow, haha. I thought I was going fast! But what do I know, right?! LOL.

They also got a nice picture of me on the bike. Click here to check it out. What do you think? I look like I’m concentrating pretty hard!! Haha.

I decided to take Sunday off from running since I did the Tri Oxford the day before, but it didn’t stop me from getting a nice swim workout in!! Memphis folks: I am in need of an indoor swimming pool for the fall/ winter so I can keep up my swimming. Do y’all have a favorite gym that has a indoor pool? I probably will be leaning towards the cheaper ones since all I really need from a gym is the indoor pool. Help a girl out!!

Last night was my Women Run Memphis group. The weather was so much nicer than the last couple weeks and I didn’t feel like I would die from heat stoke, just from exhaustion! Haha, they really know how to work us! I love it :) We did 6X400 with a 1 mile warm-up and cool-down. That gave me a total of 3.7 miles in 34:37! It was tough but I love doing 400’s! Probably my favorite speed work distance. Something about running hard for a short distance is a nice change!!

And I was definitely sore this morning! So biking it was!! I rode 12 miles in 49:29 with and average speed of 14.6. It was pretty windy so that made it hard going one way, which of course was on the way back!! I’m hoping my legs are less sore tomorrow for my morning run! I think some stretching is in order tonight!!

And last but not least… look what I picked up today:

Triathlete Magazine!! Can’t wait to read it tonight!! I hope y’all have a fabulous night!!

TRI Oxford Recap

2010-08-15T17:56:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! Hope y’all have had a good weekend! I sure have!! The most exciting thing I did this weekend was race the TRI Oxford triathlon!! It was a great race!!

My mom went down to Oxford with me on Friday and we had a fun girl’s night that consisted of eating dinner at Old Venice on the Oxford Square and coming back to our hotel room and eating Hampton Inn cookies while watching TV in bed! Have y’all ever had the Hampton Inn cookies?? OMG, so good! I will stay at the Hampton Inn from now on just for those cookies! Haha :) We turned in early since we had a 5am wake up call to head to the race!!

I woke up easily to my alarm and tried to eat a bagel and PB, but only made it through half. I was too nervous and it was definitely too early to eat!! We got to the transition area pretty early and I was able to get an end spot for my bike. Makes it a lot easier to find it during the transitions if its on the end! So I was happy about that. We had about 45 minutes until race time, so I went and got my chip and got marked with my number, and then we just hung out and talked about all the awesome bikes there!! Makes me want a brand new bike! They are so pretty! I’ll have to post a picture of my bike, Buck, soon!

The swim portion was in a pool, which I was a little nervous about. The course was set up in a “serpentine” manner, where we swim up one lane, go under the rope, swim down the next lane, go under the rope, swim back up the next lane, and so on for 300 meters. Let me just say this… it was CHAOS!! I will take an open water swim any day over this pool swim! People were everywhere!! The bad thing was that the 30ish male age group started one person behind me so they ended up swimming over us from the beginning, not fun!! But, it was nice to be in a pool where I could see the bottom! I did like that aspect. I don’t have my official breakdown times, only my official total time so I really don’t know how long it took me to do this! Not very long because I was swimming (fighting) as fast as I could to get out of there! Haha :)

Here I am jumping into the pool. They wouldn’t let us dive because it was too shallow. See those tall guys behind me waiting to go? Yea, they were the ones whole swam right over top of me and the girl behind me in the very first lane! Guess they wanted us out of their way, ha!

That’s me swimming in the yellow swim cap in the very far lane. At this point I was still swimming all alone… too bad it didn’t last!

There I am swimming again (yellow swim cap), in the middle lane.

Finally done and running out of the water!! I was so ready to get on my bike!!

Not sure of my transition time, I can’t find the breakdown of times anywhere on the internet. I wasn’t superfast, but I wasn’t slow either. I was pretty nervous about this ride because my mom and I drove it the day before and it was literally ALL HILLS!!

It was a tough 13 miles but I survived and actually got up to 30mph on one of the downhill's!! I am getting a lot better at using my gears so that made the hills a tiny bit better. My legs were definitely spent by the end of this ride!

Almost to the transition area!!

Yes, they made us ride up this steep hill to get up to the transition area! Haha. My bike time according to my Garmin was 52:xx. Faster than I thought I would go on all those hills! I was definitely happy with that!

Again, no transition time but this one was even quicker. All I had to do was thrown on my shirt, hat, and grab my Garmin off my bike, and then I was off for a 5k!

My mom told me she knew I was still feeling ok at this point because I was smiling and waving at the camera! Haha. I did feel ok, better than my last Tri. And I am totally attributing that to me drinking a half Gatorade/half water mix on the bike instead of just water. Definitely makes a difference!!

The run portion was tough too! There were so many hills, and some that were super steep too! I definitely had to walk some but was happy with my time! I chit chatted with this older man for a bit, so that was nice!! Other than it being super hot and hilly, I don’t remember very much! It seemed to go by really fast!! I was happy they had water stops at mile 1 and 2! Seriously y’all, it was so hot! It was only like 9am but I swear it was 90+ degrees! I felt pretty good the entire time and ended my run with a smile on my face!

My run time from my Garmin was 33:xx, so definitely not my fastest 5k, but given the circumstances (swimming and biking prior, and the heat) I felt good about that!! I was definitely happy to be finished!!

I finished my 2nd Tri! Yay!! My official time was 1:38:18… which ended up giving me FIRST PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP!! Holy cow! I definitely never expected to win anything on my 2nd Tri!!

This is me and the girl who won 2nd place in our age group!! They gave out cash prizes, which was nice!!

And here’s the nice certificate I got!!

I am so loving Triathlon’s!! I can’t wait to do more! I am definitely addicted and am so pumped about it! And a big thanks for my mom for being my crowd support and paparazzi this weekend!!

If anyone knows of any awesome Triathlete blogs or magazines, please let me know!!

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In other news…. my running shoes died this weekend, so I had to get another pair!! I was so happy with my Nike Vomero’s last time, that I knew I wanted them again!

Look how new and pretty and white they are! Won’t stay that way long! Haha.

I got some new orthotics put in that hopefully will help with my plantar fascitis. Can’t wait to run in them tomorrow night at my Women Run Memphis group!

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And last but not least… I made some awesome Mocha Brownie Cups yesterday that I got from Lizzy’s blog! Yum, yum, yum! Go there and get the recipe! These are fabulous!!

Have a great night!

BRICKS and Pups!

2010-08-12T19:30:00.001-05:00

TGIT!! Thank goodness it’s Thursday! Why? Because Thursday is my Friday this week and I am heading to Oxford tomorrow for Tri Oxford on Saturday!! It’s gonna be an exciting weekend for me!!

Yesterday, I did another BRICK that was awesome!! I actually was totally not feeling it when I finally rolled out of the bed, after sleeping 1 hour longer than I planned. But I talked myself into it and ended up having an awesome workout. Don’t you love it when that happens?! My BRICK consisted of a 10 mile bike followed by a 2 mile run and boy was it hot! I didn’t start until 7am and the sun was blazing! The Weather Channel said it “felt like 92 degrees” already! That sure didn’t stop me though :)

Bike: 10 miles

Time: 39:15

Avg. Speed: 15.4 mph (my bike times are definitely getting faster!)

The bike was nice. I did my usual hilly route and I am perfecting drinking while riding! It’s a skill I tell ya! First time I did it, I almost crashed! Haha. I finished the bike and did a quick transition, then I was off on the run. I didn’t want to kill myself since I have my race this weekend, so I decided 2 miles would be sufficient if I pushed it. And pushed it I did, with an average pace of 9:16! That’s pretty fast for me! Especially coming right off of a 10 mile ride! Now, if I can just do this on Saturday…

Run: 2 miles

Time: 18:30

Mile 1:9:14

Mile 2: 9:19

Avg Pace: 9:16

This tri on Saturday is the first race that I’ve actually traveled too! I get to stay in a hotel room the night before and everything! I am so happy my mom is able to go with me and my brother will be there too, working the tri!! Plus, I got a free room with the Hilton points I’ve accumulated! Doesn’t get better than that!!

I was going to attempt a treadmill run today after I got back from preop clinical, but as I started to run, my Plantar Fascitis was really bothering me. It’s in both feet now :( So I decided it would be better to not run and give my feet a break. I did end up walking 3 miles though, because that doesn’t seem to bother them. I think they are getting really aggravated right now because I desperately need new shoes! I promise I will be getting them soon!!

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In other news… we are having a little work done to our house, so Sadie had to go over to my parents house to stay for a few days and I miss her so much! Funny how empty our house is without our little Beagle. But I did get some cute pictures yesterday, before I took her to my parents. You can see just how lazy my girl is!!

She thinks she’s human and has to have a pillow to lay her head on! Haha!

Close up! Doesn’t she just looked so thrilled to be having her picture taken?! Haha :) I love my sweet pup!

Home Made Pizza Rolls

2010-08-10T20:42:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone! I created a fabulous dinner tonight that I thought I would share. My hubby loves frozen pizza rolls so I decided to create a semi-healthier home made version, and they turned out pretty great!!

First, I sautéed some onions, garlic, and spinach in a little bit of EVOO.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, I mixed together some cream cheese, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and chopped turkey pepperoni.

Then, I mixed the sautéed things in with the cream cheese mixture.

I then took crescent rolls and put a spoonful or 2 of cream cheese mixture in the middle and wrapped them up like so. I found it worked better and you could get more stuffing in if you left 2 crescent rolls attached together.

I brushed each with a little melted butter, then sprinkled then with parmesan cheese.

I baked them at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes, until golden brown.

OMG, these were fabulous! Dip them in some extra marinara sauce, this is key! Love the flakey outside and the gooey cheesy inside!! I am definitely keeping these on my go to list. Hubby even said, “these are definitely Hubby approved!!” Lol

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In other news… I had my Women Run Memphis group run last night and it was a tough one! We did mile repeats with hills! Yuck! We did a total of 4 miles, including warm-up and cool-down and I was dying by the cool-down. It was so freaking hot!! I love this group because I always come home EXHAUSTED!! Love hard workouts!! Speaking of hard workouts, I have one last BRICK workout tomorrow before Tri Oxford on Saturday! I am so pumped!!

Well, have a great night!!

YoLo Frozen Yogurt

2010-08-08T17:51:00.001-05:00

Hey peeps!! How’s your Sunday been treating ya? My morning was fabulous, afternoon not so hot since I’ve been studying! Haha!!

I’ve noticed a new obsession recently in the blog world: Self Serve Fro-yo! Memphis has been a bit slow on the uptake and has not had a self serve fro-yo place available, until this week that is!! I have seriously been DYING to go to a self serve place since I love, love, love me some frozen yogurt!! So, I was ecstatic when Erin informed me of one that opened earlier this past week in our area!!

Knowing my mom is a lover of fro-yo also, I thought she would be the best taste tester buddy to bring along!! So after church, we went out to lunch at the Silver Caboose and then headed to YoLo in the Collierville Town Square.

It was such a cute little place inside, a lot bigger than it looked from the outside!! They had 8 different flavors to try, although I decided 3 was enough for one visit. Gives me a reason to keep going back, right?!

This was the instruction board: Get a cup, fill it with whatever and however much fro-yo you want, top with whatever toppings you would like, and pay by the ounce!! Super easy!!

Here’s my mom, loading up her cup :)

Check out this topping bar!! Anything you could think of was on that topping bar! And come to find out, all the toppings are from local farms and bakeries! How much more fabulous could this place be?!

I loaded up my cup with Blueberry Tart, Birthday Cake, and Pomegranate Energy Fro-yo. Toppings included a variety of local grown fruits, heath bar chips, and some brownie chunks. OMG! Best fro-yo I’ve ever had!! It was so rich and creamy and bursting with flavor!! And the toppings were so fresh!! 2 thumbs up!

And here’s my mom’s bowl. She went with Espresso, Birthday Cake, and Chocolate fro-yo with some chocolate chips, pecans, and local candied pecans. She gave it 2 thumbs up also!!

This place is seriously fabulous and I will definitely be hitting it up all the time! I highly recommend YoLo to anyone in the Memphis and surrounding area and they are supposed to be opening one in the East Memphis area also!!

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On to RUNNING!!! I made myself get up at the crack of dawn this morning (5:30 am) so I could get a 5 miler in before church. 5 miles is the longest distance I’ve run in a long time, so I wanted to take it slow! My first 2 miles were probably a bit too slow, but I kept telling myself to slow down so I didn’t get too tired! But after the 1st 2 miles, I picked up my pace a bit and felt good the entire run!! Lots of hills on this run also!!

Time: 53:54 (might seriously be my slowest 5 miler ever, ha!)

Mile 1: 11:19 (way to slow)

Mile 2: 11:04 (still way to slow, must pick up pace)

Mile 3: 10:43 (better)

Mile 4: 10:47 (ok, getting a bit tired)

Mile 5: 10:03 ( got a little burst of energy at the end!)

Avg Pace: 10:47

So, not my best time of course, but my goal was to be able to finish without feeling the need to stop or walk. This was a success!! I know my pace will pick back up to normal once the temp gets a bit cooler (since we are still rocking the excessive heat warnings everyday), as I increase my distance, and as I continue to run more consistently, since Tri season is almost over :( So, all in all, a good run and a good running week! 18 miles total!

I have officially decided to run the St. Jude Half Marathon again this year, so training for that will start at the beginning of September!! Perfect timing to start training, since my last Tri is this coming Saturday. Looking forward to it!! I really enjoyed that race last year! What is your favorite marathon/half marathon?

Well friends, that’s all I got! Looking forward to another drama filled episode of Big Brother tonight! Have a great rest of your Sunday!!

Grocery shopping + BBQ Chicken Pizza + Runs

2010-08-07T18:16:00.001-05:00

Happy Saturday everyone!! Boy have I been busy studying today! Finally around 4pm I decided that a trip to the grocery store was in order. The only problem was, I couldn’t think of what I wanted to make for dinners this coming week! Nothing sounded good. So I decided to wing it and I think I did ok. I was really trying to keep my bill under $100 and I managed to do that :) Do you make a detailed list and stick to it or do you like to wing it at the grocery store?

Thanks for all your comments about the doggie we want to get!! When I got up this morning, hubby had cut out a classified ad page from the paper with all the Yorkie’s for sale and left it on the counter for me. So, I guess we know which dog he wants! Haha. I am definitely leaning towards a little Yorkie too. They are just too cute!!

This morning, I had planned on running a 5 miler, which would have been one of the longer runs I have done in a while! But, my legs had other plans. My calves were so tight and screaming and just never loosened up! So, I decided to cut it short at 3 miles and I will do the 5 miles tomorrow morning. I don’t know what was up with my legs! Is it possible to be sore from stretching and light yoga? Cuz that’s all I did yesterday!! Quite strange if you ask me!! And of course, the 3 miles were at a slower pace than the 3 miles I did on my BRICK. Guess I need to warm-up with 13 miles on the bike before every run! Haha.

For dinner tonight, we are having one of my favorite meals EVER! BBQ Chicken Pizza!! It’s one of the best and easiest GO TO meals. I can’t wait to dig in!! I love pizza in any shape, flavor, and form but this one is especially delish!! Do you like pizza? What’s your favorite kind?

I think we are going to have a low-key kinda night tonight. I’m looking forward to relaxing and watching some TV tonight after non-stop studying today!!

I have a fun little outing planned tomorrow after church. Nothing big, but it may involve a new Fro-yo place I heard about :) Have a GREAT night y’all!!

TGIF??

2010-08-06T15:52:00.001-05:00

TGIF to everyone! Except for me that is…. I have to spend ALL WEEKEND studying for a test on Monday. So sad! Good thing it’s as hot as Hades outside! Makes me happy to stay inside all day! Plus, I have a wonderful study buddy:

And definitely a lazy one at that!! Speaking of doggies, have y’all read this months Runner’s World magazine yet? They have a huge segment on dogs as running buddies!! As I’ve said on here recently, the hubs and I are seriously considering getting another dog! We had decided on a small dog, a Yorkie, but after reading that article and talking about it a bit, we are now torn!! I want a running buddy! I guess we will just have to really think about it for the next couple of months so we don’t make a rash decision! What would y’all get? A tiny pup that’s so stinkin cute, that you can dress up (hehe) or a bigger dog that is a house protector and could be your running buddy?

I decided to take a rest day off from training today since I did my big BRICK workout yesterday. My legs were kinda feeling it this morning! I like “active” rest days so I walked about 3.5 miles and did some yoga/stretching. It was nice. Do you prefer “active” rest days or days of complete rest during training?

I'm still having major issues with plantar fascitis on my right foot so I’m trying to be extra good about stretching/icing in hopes that it will go away someday. Anyone else suffer or have suffered from PF? Any hints, tips, or tricks to make it go away?

I really don’t have much else to talk about today, seeing as I have literally been stuck inside reading about OB anesthesia. I know all of y’all find that SUPER exciting! Haha.

I hope y’all have a fabulous Friday night! I am looking forward to Chicken Quesadillas and homemade Guacamole with my hubby tonight!!

Professional TRI pics and another BRICK

2010-08-05T12:01:00.001-05:00

We are getting closer and closer to Friday!! Yay! I finally found some of the professional races pictures from the Annie Oakley Sprint Tri I did last weekend! Check them out! Go here to this website and put in my bib number 272. Then you can see all my pics! I think there are some good ones! My face on the last run one is priceless! It just screams EXHAUSTED! Haha :) Tell me what y’all think!

This morning was another BRICK workout for me! I seriously love these workouts because they are HARD and I really feel like I push myself!! Plus, they are super fun!! The TRI Oxford that I am doing in about a week has a little longer bike and run than the Annie Oakley Sprint TRI did, so I wanted to make sure and do that distance on my BRICK today. I have a nice new water bottle holder on my bike which really comes in handy! I made sure to bring my favorite, 3/4 Gatorade 1/4 water combo with me on the bike, so I could stay hydrated. It is just miserably hot and humid at all times of the day here so I must stay hydrated!!

The bike portion went really well! I felt super strong on the hills today and my average speed reflected it!!

Bike total- 13.45 miles

Time- 51:40

Avg. Speed- 15.6 mph

That’s really pretty fast for me! My average speed usually stays around 14 mph so I was really impressed with myself today!!

After a quick transition, I was off for a 3 mile run. My legs felt pretty jello-y at first, but then it got a bit better. I’m not going to tell y’all this run was easy, because it wasn’t. I was hot, it was hilly, and my legs were tired! But, my pace was pretty impressive with all those factors! This was my fastest 3 miler in a long time! Crazy right?! How can I run FASTER after riding for 13.45 miles than I can when I just go out and only run 3 miles? Craziness I tell ya! But I’ll take it! Now, I just have to do this one race day!

Run total- 3 miles

Time- 29:27

Mile 1- 9:38

Mile 2- 10:08

Mile 3- 9:43

Avg Pace- 9:50/mile

Great pace for me, and this even included 2 mini walk breaks! Nice! I’m happy my faster pace is starting to show itself again :) There’s just something about these BRICK workouts that make me happy! I highly suggest trying one, even if you don’t plan on doing a TRI! But let me warn you, you just may become interested in doing one! They are so fun!!

After my BRICK, I was pretty hungry and out of my favorite cereal! So I decided to make some waffles!! Perfect post hard workout meal, right?! I love making a big batch of waffles and then freezing the rest for quick morning breakfasts. Just pop them in the toaster and they are ready to go within minutes! Fabulous I tell ya!

Am I making your mouth water?! These were just as delicious as they look, maybe even more!!

I hope y’all have a wonderful Thursday, gotta get back to school work!

So Stinkin Busy!

2010-08-04T18:29:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all! Happy Hump Day!! I can’t believe it’s just Wednesday… I have done so much this week. Unfortunately my weeks just keep getting busier and busier until after my BIG drug test at the beginning of September. It’s a comprehensive test over about 100+ drugs! And we have to pass this to start clinical on September 13! Talk about stressful! And on top of trying to study for that, we are taking a full load of classes (one of which is ridiculous with the amount of work we have to do…) So I will be one busy girl for another month or so! Phew, makes me tired and stressed just thinking about it.

Onto more fun topics… I received a free coupon for some Buitoni Riserva Pasta from the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program! We love pasta at our house so hubby and I were really looking forward to trying these!

We decided to try the Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti! These little pasta shells were stuffed with 4 different kind of cheeses and garlic! Fabulous I tell ya!!

I loved how big and full these were!

Topped with our favorite Marinara sauce! Yummy! These come highly recommended by me!!

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Let’s move on to my favorite topic… RUNNING!! I’ve had some really great runs the past couple days!! On Monday, running group was cancelled due to an excessive heat warning. Believe me people, when it “feels like 123 degrees” no one should be out running! This heat is getting a bit ridiculous!! So I opted for a treadmill run and did my favorite Fartleck 5-4-3-2-1 for a total of 3 miles. It was good, not too hard, not too easy.

This morning I had a fabulous 4 miler!! My times are slowly getting closer to my normal pace. I’m still a little slower than I was back in the winter and early spring. I’m blaming it on the heat :) Here’s my stats:

Time:41:00

Mile 1: 10:39

Mile 2: 10:14

Mile 3: 10:17

Mile 4: 9:53

Avg. Pace: 10:16

Not too shabby! Even though I headed out around 6:30am for this run, it was already hot and super humid! When I finished I was drenched! I don’t think there was a dry spot on my shirt! Gross, I know!!

Tomorrow I have a BRICK workout on the schedule since I have another TRI in less than 2 weeks! I can’t wait, I am totally loving TRI’s!! Well friends, that’s all for now. Gotta go get dinner started!

Annie Oakley Sprint Tri Race Recap

2010-08-02T17:37:00.001-05:00

Hi friends!! I’ve had one busy and hectic weekend! But it was definitely a blast!!

On Saturday morning, I did the Annie Oakley Sprint Tri. It was my very first Tri, EVER, and I loved it!! The race was fabulous! Let’s start from the beginning…

My friend Jaime and I got to the race location around 6:30am. I was definitely nervous! I was unsure of where to go and what to do with all my stuff but everyone was really nice and directed me towards all the places I needed to go. After I got all my gear in place in the transition area, and all marked up, it was time for the guys to start their race. It was so nice to have them go first so I could figure out the course and how to maneuver through my transitions! My brother was working the race so it was nice to have a familiar face there too! My parents showed up just as the boys were starting their swim.

I was definitely less nervous after the guys went and I was ready to go!!

Standing by the transition area.

Finally it was almost time for the girls to start the swim! I put on my bright yellow swim cap and posed for some pics!

My parents and I.

Me and Jaime.

Getting in line to go!

The swim started off on a dock and they had us jumping in every 5 seconds. It was nice because you didn’t have a ton of people swimming on top of you at the beginning.

Me swimming at the start.

The swim wasn’t bad! I never got kicked and I felt good the entire time! I was even able to pull myself onto the dock after I finished. My brother said that only me and one other girl were able to pull themselves out of the water onto the dock!!

Swim time: 11:00

Then it was on to the 1st transition! I decided to just bike in my sports bra and shorts to save on some time. I was pretty quick on the transition time.

T1 time: 1:32

Then I was off on the bike!

The bike was pretty tough! My brother told me it was a flat course, but boy was he lying!! It was a SUPER hilly 11 miles!! To the point that a lot of people were walking their bikes up hills! I wasn’t about to get off my bike though and just powered through it!!

Bike time: 45:45

MPH: 14.4

Then I was back and heading to transition 2. This was another quick one. All I did was throw on my shirt and hat, get a quick sip of water, and grab my Garmin, and I was off again!

T2 time: 1:21

At the start of the run. The run was tough. It was a 2 mile trail run and I have NEVER run on trails! Definitely different than the pavement!! My calves were killing me until I got some Gatorade at the first water stop, then they felt a bit better after that. Think I was lacking some Potassium big time!! We heading into heavy woods after the first 0.5 mile or so and I was all alone. I thought I was lost at one point because there was no one in sight, so I stopped and waited until I saw someone to keep going! I wasn’t about to be lost in the woods! Lol. There were some pretty steep inclines that I basically could only walk up and some really steep downhill parts too, that I had to go really slow down. So all that made for a really slow run, but I had a blast in those woods! I just kept thinking about the Twilight movies and those vampires running through the woods! Haha!! I really felt good towards the end of my run but was definitely exhausted and ready to cross that finish line!!

Here I come! Down the home stretch!! I love how they call your name as you cross the finish line! Technology is so great!

Wohoo! I’m a Triathlete!!

Run time: 26:06

Total Tri time: 1:25:42

Age group: 9/17

I am super happy with my time!! My secret goal was 1:30 and I totally smashed that!! I couldn’t stop smiling after this race! I think I am officially in love with Triathlons! And a bit addicted to them! I found another one that I am planning on doing in 2 weeks!! It’s part of the Oxford Endurance Weekend and is called Tri Oxford! This one is a little different: 300 meter pool swim, 13 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I can’t wait! But, I’m kinda sad the season is about over, just when I find my true racing love! Haha :)

Hope y’all enjoyed my recap!! Have a great night!!

Wednesday Catch Up

2010-07-28T19:49:00.001-05:00

Hello friends!! Happy hump day! I am so ready for the weekend to be here! This has been a LONG busy week! And my weekend looks to be even busier!! At least I get to start it a day early! Tomorrow at noon starts my weekend! Wohoo!!

Let’s talk about my runs the past couple of days…. On Sunday I had a wonderful 4 miler! My pace was just a bit faster than the week before, so I’ll take that! Plus, it’s feeling easier! I’m slowly getting my mileage back up there!! Monday was my 2nd run with the Women Run Memphis group! We had hills on the schedule. I love me some hills!! We warmed up with a mile then did 4 sprint hill repeats! It was awesome! I felt like I was flying up those hills! It was so fun because we got to chase the group in front of us! Running games are so fun, y’all should try them! We finished up with a mile or so cool down. I think we did a little over 3.5 miles total. I was so sore from the hills the next day though! Good thing it was a swimming day! I practiced swimming in my race day outfit to make sure it worked right. My race is on Saturday! Today I decided to sleep in and not run because I was still a bit sore from those hills (I told y’all I was flying up those hills! I’m paying for it now…) and I’m not looking to have trashed legs for my race this weekend! I am planning on doing an easy run tomorrow then taking Friday completely off.

I got my bike back from the shop yesterday. I got a new back tire, a new water bottle holder, and my handlebars wrapped with some extra padded handle bar wrap! It’s so nice! My hands are loving it!!

Tomorrow, I get to pick my race packet up and I’m really excited about it! I’ve never been this pumped to just pick up a race packet before! But I’ve never gotten a tri race pack before! What’s gonna be in it?! I can’t wait :)

Tomorrow also starts wedding weekend for my friend Jennifer! I am a bridesmaid and my BFF Jaime is too and she’s coming tomorrow to stay with me! Yay!! I can’t wait!! We have to get our nails done tomorrow evening, then bridal luncheon and rehearsal dinner on Friday, then wedding on Saturday! Yes, the wedding is the same day as my Tri! Told y’all I’m gonna be busy this weekend!! Do y’all have any fun weekend plans??

Well guys, I got a lot to catch up on tonight so I gotta jet! Have a wonderful evening!!

BRICK Workout, Flat Tires, and Puppies!!

2010-07-23T17:28:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! TGIF!! I am very happy it’s the weekend, even though I will be studying ALL WEEKEND!!

Yesterday I had my last BRICK workout before my TRI!! It’s next Saturday! Yikes!! I had planned on riding 10 miles and running 2 miles. I rode out 5 miles and turned around to head back, and about 3 miles from home my tire went flat. Like completely flat. Since I don’t know how to change a flat and don’t have any supplies to change a flat, my only two options were to keep riding on it or walk it home. Walking seemed like it would take forever so I rode my bike slowly home on a flat tire! Haha, at least I made it! Then I quickly changed out my helmet for a hat, grabbed a sip of water and my ipod, and I was off. The 2 miles were hard. I had to keep reminding myself to slow down because I was running so fast! For some reason, my legs are just ready to run super fast after I bike! I ended up running the 2 miles at a 9:20 min/mile pace! Geez! I wish my legs acted like that on every run!! So I basically feel ready for the race. I know I’m going to be tired after the swim, so I’m trying to mentally prepare myself to keep going through exhaustion. But I’m also really excited about it!!

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I got a fun surprise waiting for me on my doorstep today from Foodbuzz!!

Kellogg's Fiber Plus Antioxidants Cereal!! I received the Berry Yogurt Crunch and Cinnamon Oat Crunch from the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program. Of course I had to bust into one and try some! I love, love, love cereal!!

I opted to try the Berry Yogurt Crunch today!

It was VERY good!! Kind of a similar taste to the Special K with Red Berries but with added yogurt globs and granola clusters! Yummy!! The nutrition info is pretty good too! No HFCS and lots of fiber!! Can’t wait to try both of these with milk!!

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On another note, hubby and I have been talking about getting another puppy so Sadie can have a buddy. We have been going back and forth between types and sizes of dogs. Last night, we finally decided we wanted a little dog. We are thinking it will be easier to train, less messes (as in size of messes, haha), and we think Sadie would like a smaller dog better. She’s not a huge player, she likes to be lazy :) So, we decided to get a Toy Yorkie!! I don’t know when exactly but sometime in the near future!! I know they can be expensive so we are going to look around and hopefully find a good price on one. It doesn’t need to have champion blood lines or anything!! Do any of y’all have yorkies? Tips on them? Any of you peeps in Memphis know any toy yorkie breeders? We are really excited!!

How cute are those yorkies!! I’ve never had a tiny dog so I’m really excited to have one soon!!

If you could get any type of dog, what would you get and why?

Pepperoni Pizza Scones

2010-07-20T19:35:00.001-05:00

2 posts in one day! I’m on a roll!! I made something really yummy for dinner tonight! I saw this recipe on Little Bitty Bakes and knew I had to make it! I love anything that has to do with pizza!! So tonight, Pepperoni Pizza Scones it was!!

They were really easy to make, but ended up a little stickier than they probably should have been. Maybe use less milk next time?? They were more like biscuit batter so I just decided to drop them onto the cookie sheet instead of cut them into 12 slices. It worked out just fine too!

I also used turkey pepperoni, it was yummy!!

Nice and golden brown.

I had some marinara sauce on the side for the full pizza effect!

These were VERY good! They were very biscuit like, which I really enjoyed! Pizza + Biscuits = Fabulous!! I definitely recommend these! Plus it makes a lot so there will be lots of leftovers!!

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Alright friends, I need your help! Tomorrow night I am going to a Thai restaurant for dinner with a friend and have no idea what to get! So what is your favorite dish to order at a Thai restaurant?

Ok, back to house hunters!! Have a great night!

1st Women Run Memphis Run

2010-07-20T13:31:00.001-05:00

Hey! How are y’all? Wonderful I hope :) All is well here, I have been productive today although I was totally lacking motivation this morning. But I picked it up and have got a lot accomplished!!

Last night I had my first run with the Women Run Memphis group. I was a little nervous to be with the advanced group, but it went well! We ran a 5k and it was definitely probably one of the hardest I’ve done!! The temp was still in the high 90’s with lots of humidity! Being a morning runner, I’m not used to these scorching temps! But I made it and even got to run with a friend I used to work with (hi Shelly!!). I was drenched in sweat and exhausted when I finished but felt good! Next week we start hill work and speed work! I’m excited for that! It’s so fun to run with groups and to have coaches encouraging you along! I wish I could have that on every run! Haha :)

Today I had planned on biking but I was totally NOT feeling it at all. I just felt physically tired. But I told myself to go out for a few minutes and see how you feel. Sometimes this works and my workout turns into a great one, and sometimes it just sucks. And today, it sucked. It was hot and sunny and windy. Not fun at all. So I just cruised around a few neighborhoods and called it a day after about 20 minutes. I came back and walked 2 miles on the treadmill while watching The Bachelorette from last night. Sometimes you just gotta listen to your body. For me, if I’m not into a work out then it’s better to leave it and try again the next day!

And speaking of The Bachelorette… craziness!! I think they try to make it more and more dramatic every season! Haha. But I think she’s ended up with 2 really great guys! I don’t know which one I like more? What do you think, Chris or Roberto?

I have another really yummy looking Little Bitty Bakes recipe to try out tonight! Can’t wait to share it with y’all!! Hint- it’s not dessert!! Have a great day!!

Baking Is My Stress Reliever!!

2010-07-18T20:20:00.001-05:00

Haha. Like my title? Baking definitely is a stress reliever, as is running of course! They kind of balance each other out :) I made some super yummy cookies today!! They are a favorite in our household. Check out the recipe on my recipe page for my All Time Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies! Best recipe ever! And I kicked them up a notch today by adding Heath bar to them also!

Like my double decker cooling rack? It’s actually triple decker if you need it to be!! Love it! Got it as a wedding gift :)

These cookies are so yum-o! Glad I have good friends I can pawn them off on (Brandi) so I won’t turn into a blimp from eating them all!! Try this recipe out and let me know what you think!

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On to my first and most important stress reliever, running. I think I might go crazy if I couldn’t run, seriously! It keeps me sane with all the craziness going on in my life (mostly school related). Today I had a 4 miler on the schedule. I didn’t set my alarm because I have a special dog who likes to wake me up at the crack of dawn. This morning, Sadie decided 5:40am was the perfect time to get me up to go running. She was actually right! It was already light out, hot, and humid. The sun was still behind the clouds, which was perfect! But, I still managed to be drenched when I finished! Crazy humidity!! I took this run nice and slow and it felt great!! I really love my 4 mile route by my house. Lots and lots of hills! Yes, I’m the crazy girl who enjoys running hills :) I’ve been having a lot of issues with my plantar fascitis, but it wasn’t too bad on this run, which is nice for a change. I’ve really been making it a point to stretch and ice everyday. Seems to be working. I wish it would just go away, but it’s been around for quite awhile and is something I think I just have to deal with. But anyway, all together great run!! And tomorrow I start my Women Run Memphis training group!! I’m excited! I decided to switch from the intermediate 2 group to the Advanced group after talking to someone who’s done the program before. Makes me nervous to be in a group called “Advanced” but I’m sure it will be fine! Can’t wait!!

Well friends, I’m trying to get some relaxing in before another hectic school week starts! Have a wonderful night and a fabulous Monday!!

Women Run Memphis

2010-07-17T16:23:00.001-05:00

Hello bloggie land!! Hope everyone is having a spectacular weekend!! I had an early clinical this morning for my Physical Diagnosis class doing school physicals at a health fair. Lets just say it wasn’t the best idea to put us in the same room as the immunizations! Needless to say, there were lots of unhappy kiddos when they got to us but luckily we were able to charm most of them with stickers and promises of no needle sticks!

I got up at 5am so I could get a quick run in before I had to go to the health fair. I only had time for a quick 2 miler and then I also walked Sadie. She liked that! Tomorrow I have plans for a 4 miler so I better make myself get up and going early to beat the heat! I can’t even explain how humid it is here! The air is just so thick, makes you not want to go outside at all!!

In other news… I decided to join the Women Run Memphis program! It’s been going on for a few years now and I’ve always wanted to do it, but have always had schedule conflicts. I totally forgot about it until Katie told me she was going to do it and surprisingly, I have no conflicts this year! It’s basically a 10 week running program with weekly running clinics on Monday evenings that ends with a 5k race in September! They open it up from beginner runners to advanced runners. Obviously, I can already run a 5k but I think it would be wonderful to meet other women runners and hopefully (fingers crossed) find some new running buddies!! Plus, it will help give some variety to my runs. I am planning on joining the intermediate 2 group. Doesn’t this sound fun?!? Anyone in Memphis want to join me? Let me know!!

I also wanted to let y’all know that the Hot Cocoa Peanut Butter Blondies were a big hit with my friends from school also!! I brought a couple of them to give to 2 of my buds and they loved them!! And I forgot to mention this yesterday, but I used cocoa powder instead of hot cocoa packets(because I didn’t have any) and they turned out wonderful! Hubby may or may not have snuck 3 of them last night!! Only 2 left for today!! Haha :) We love sweets in this house!!

On that note, I gotta run. Time to get a little studying done! I will leave you with a picture of my Sadie doing what she does best!

Fabulous Food Friday!!

2010-07-16T20:27:00.001-05:00

Hey guys!! Happy Friday Evening! I hope everyone is excited for the weekend :) For me, today has been a fabulous day of great food! Don’t worry, I’ll share :)

It all starts off with my breakfast. On the menu was Chocolate Almond Butter OIAJ. This was just as fantastic as it sounds!!

Start with an almost empty jar of Maranatha Dark Chocolate Almond Butter.

Make your banana oatmeal, pour in jar, and add toppings!!

Check out that chocolatey oatmeal swirl! That’s pure heaven for breakfast!! I mean, who doesn’t like to have chocolate for breakfast, right?!?

The next food item on our fabulous Friday food menu was Lemon Oregano Grilled Chicken. All I did was mix some EVOO, oregano, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and zest

Marinate chicken for 2 hours

And grill!

Chicken perfection!! Hubby and I both really loved this chicken! Definitely a keeper!!

We also grilled up some locally grown zucchini and yellow squash! Yummy!!

And last but not least on the fabulous Friday food menu was dessert!! I knew just the recipe I wanted to make!! I recently found an awesome blog called Little Bitty Bakes (she’s also a runner!!) and she has fabulous recipes!! So I got this recipe from Lizzie!!

Hot Cocoa Peanut Butter Blondies!!!

Delish!! These are super duper good!! OMG! I had to put them up so I wouldn’t eat them all!! So happy I have friends to bring some of these to otherwise I would end up eating them all!! Go and make these asap!

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In other news I had a really good swimming workout today. I’m starting to get a little nervous for the Tri. I officially signed up for it today!! I know I’m ready but it’s the fear of the unknown I guess!! It’s 2 weeks from tomorrow!!

Do you get nervous before races?

I usually don’t before running races but this Tri is throwing me off!! Haha. Have a great night!!

Stuffed Peppers, Waffles, and Another BRICK

2010-07-15T11:53:00.001-05:00

Hello!! I hope the week has been going well for everyone! Mine’s been busy, busy, as usual!! I’ve had some good workouts the past couple days, so lets recap!!

Tuesday: It was a rainy day and I had a run scheduled, so I hit up the treadmill for a 3 mile Fartleck run! My favorite is the 5-4-3-2-1 where you run 5 minutes hard, run 2 minutes easy, run 4 minutes hard, run 2 minutes easy, run 3 minutes hard, run 2 minutes easy, run 2 minutes hard, run 2 minutes easy, run 1 minute hard, run 2 minutes easy. I added a 0.6 mile warm-up and that ended up being 3 miles! Great run!!

Wednesday: I was too busy to get a workout in, plus I had a Brick scheduled for today, so I just took it as a rest day :)

Thursday (Today!!): BRICK!! I am totally loving my BRICK workouts. Today I did 10 miles on the bike and 1.5 miles running. It was tough but felt a lot easier than last week! I think mainly because I got up and headed out this morning at 5:45am and last week I didn’t start until 10:30am! There’s a big heat difference there!! I ran my 1.5 miles at a 9:04 pace, which totally felt like I was going a lot slower than that! I felt like my legs were barely moving, but obviously they were!!

So, I was looking at the race website for my TRI in a few weeks and just now realized that the run is a trail run! Yikes!! I’ve never run on trails!! Now granted, it says it’s a pretty open and flat trail, but still that makes me a bit MORE nervous!! So y’all, I need some trail running advice!! Anything would be helpful!!

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Ok, let’s switch gears to my other favorite topic… FOOD!! I’ve made a few yummy dinners that I want to share!! Ever since I first tried out my waffle maker a few weeks ago, I’ve been obsessed!! So hubby and I were having a movie night the other night, and I wanted something easy and quick to make! In came the WAFFLES!! Per usual, they were fab!!

The best (and only) way to eat waffles, in my opinion, is topped with yogurt, tons of fruit, and a little maple syrup!! YUM-O!! These were wonderfully delish!! I may or may no have had them again for breakfast this morning :) The great thing about waffles is that you can make them ahead of time, freeze, then take them out and pop them in the toaster and it’s like you just made them! Perfection!!

And BTW, the movies we watched were The Bounty Hunter and The Book of Eli. They were both GREAT! The Bounty Hunter was so funny and cute and The Book of Eli was more serious but with a great story line and lots of action! I recommend them both!!

Last night, I decided to try my hand at making some Stuffed Peppers!! They turned out really good!! I’m not going to post my recipe just yet because I still need to play around with it. It’s not perfect just yet :)

I used all 4 colors of bell peppers!!

I ate the orange one :) I really enjoyed making (and eating!) the Stuffed Peppers so you will be seeing them more and more as I try to perfect my recipe!!

Alright friends, gotta jet. I have to get ready for class! Have a fabulous day!!

Tri Shorts and Bike Rides

2010-07-12T18:38:00.001-05:00

Hello friends!! Whew, today has been a whirlwind day! Mostly school related! This semester is already crazy. I woke up this morning to some crazy thunderstorms and rain. Not a fun 40 minute drive into school when they are talking about flash floods all over the interstate that I’m on. But, I made it! And only a minute or two late :)

Today was a rest day from training. I’m trying to make myself take one full day off from training a week and do nothing! It’s tough! Even if I don’t have a run, bike, or swim workout scheduled I still like to strength train or walk on the treadmill. But today was my total rest day and that’s what I’ve been doing! Well, resting physically at least. Mentally I feel like I’ve been running a marathon!

So let’s talk about my bike ride yesterday. I didn’t really have a set mileage scheduled, just wanted to go at least the distance of my sprint tri bike (11 miles). Now keep in mind that the terrain right around my house is all hills. Literally, not a flat stretch in sight, which make for a tough ride in my opinion! I feel like I could ride much longer on flat stretches!! Well, after my first long hill, I was huffing and puffing, and I decided to just take it easy. There is no need to be a speed demon when you feel tired and since this was my last workout of the week, I knew my body was definitely a bit tired. So I ended up riding 12 miles at around a 12.4 mph pace which is slower than I’ve been doing my rides, but it was nice to take it a bit easier and really enjoy the ride!!

I’m debating on whether to splurge and buy some tri shorts for this race or not. I’ve been riding my 12-15 mile bike rides in just my regular spandex running shorts and have been fine, so I’m thinking of just using those for the race. What do y’all think?! Do I need the extra butt padding?

If I do decide to get some, I will probably buy these:

I’ve heard really good thing about these Pearl Izumi Tri Shorts from others, but as you can see they are a bit pricey ($55). So I have yet to decide if I need them or not. Any suggestions?

Alright y’all, gotta go get some dinner. It’s pizza night and hubby’s cooking! Love that!! Have a great night!

PS: Who is still watching The Bachelorette?! It’s so drama filled and fun! Keeps me entertained! You bet I finished up all my school work already so I can have my eyes glued to the tube tonight :)

Waffles and 4 milers

2010-07-10T11:55:00.001-05:00

Happy Saturday y’all! Hope your weekend has started out fabulous! I have already been very productive this morning! Gotta love that!! It all started with an early morning 4 mile run. It was already super humid at 6am and by the time I was finished, I was drenched!! I can’t remember the last time I ran 4 miles. Due to triathlon training, I’ve been doing smaller mileage runs since the run portion is only 2 miles and I’ve had to find time to swim and bike also! But, I’m ready to start picking back up my mileage now so I’ll be ready for some longer races in the fall/winter!! Anyway, this run was tough, mainly due to blisters on the bottom of my big toes!! I always get really bad hot spots there during the summer and today it was extremely bad! Around mile 3, I had to completely change up my gate so my toes skin didn’t feel like it was ripping off! Crazy, right?!? Any tips for this? I’ve tried all different kinds of socks and none are better than the other. I think I used Body Glide last summer and that helped a bit so I will be trying that out again soon. But, I still managed to finish it strong!

After my run I walked Sadie for about a mile and then had a yummy breakfast of leftover waffles from dinner last night (more about that later!) Then I found that MTV is playing The Hills all day today so I started watching! I love that show and am sad Tuesday is the last episode ever :( Around 9am I made myself pull away from The Hills marathon, and got down to business on my school reading. I knocked out 2 chapters and then decided it was break time! So I walked 2 miles on the treadmill while catching up on Say Yes To The Dress episodes on my DVR! My hubby thinks it’s crazy that I still love watching wedding shows, but I just can’t help it!!

Sadie and I just finished playing ball outside and now I’m blogging while she’s pooped out under my feet :)

Alright… on to my fabulous Waffle Dinner from last night!! Hubby and I received a waffle maker as a wedding gift from my friend/bridesmaid Jennifer, and we have been dying to try it out! And last night was the night!! I just used some of the low fat Bisquick for the batter!! They were so easy and quick to make! All you do is heat up the waffle maker, scoop the batter in, and 5 minutes later you’ve got waffles! Fabulous, right?!?

This waffle maker makes BIG waffles too! Love it!!

Nice and golden brown, soft with a little crunch!

My plate: 2 waffles topped with raspberries, blackberries, half of a white peach, and a tiny bit of maple syrup!

OMG friends, there are NO WORDS! This was amazing!! Fruit + waffles= perfection!! This morning I added a little Greek yogurt in the mix and that kicked it up another notch!!

Love, love, love my waffle maker and I know I will be making these all the time! They are so easy!!

That’s it for now! Enjoy your Saturday!!

My First BRICK!!

2010-07-09T12:01:00.001-05:00

TGIF!! How happy are y’all that it’s Friday?!? I’m definitely a happy camper :)

So yesterday, I had my first BRICK workout of triathlon training!! For those of you who don’t know what a BRICK is, it’s a double workout, usually bike and run, one right after the other to get your legs ready for the triathlon. So my plan was to do a 10 mile bike then a 1-2 mile run, depending on how my legs felt. The sprint tri I’m doing only has a 11 mile bike and 2 mile run so I figured this would be a good place to start!! The weather yesterday was smokin’ hot! I didn’t start my bike until around 10am, I wanted to make sure there wasn’t too much traffic on the road. And it was H-O-T! I later found our that we had a heat advisory and when I was doing my brick the temp was 100+. Not to mention there was a pretty strong breeze which made my bike even harder. Where I ride, right by my house, is literally all hills. There is NO flat so that also adds a harder element to my ride. But, I finished it pretty easily, 10 mile in about 40 minutes. I quickly ran inside, got some water, switched my iPods, and swapped my helmet out for a hat and I was off! My legs immediately felt like lead and the sun was beating directly on me. So I decided one mile would be plenty. I ran 1 mile in about 9:30, which was a lot faster than I thought I was going!!

All in all, I think my BRICK went well! When I got back from my run, all I could think about was WATER!! I was so thirsty and probably should have brought water with me on my ride. I need to get a water bottle holder to attach to my bike for next time. I ended up walking 3 more miles on the treadmill right when I got back, so I guess I wasn’t too exhausted!! I really enjoyed this type of workout and will definitely be doing a lot more!!

Do you have any experience with BRICK workouts?? Tips or suggestions??

We tried out our brand new gas grill the other night and loved it!! We made Turkey Burgers, and they are so much better on the grill than in the skillet!! Plus, the grill is so easy!! So I am definitely a big fan and I know we will be using it a lot!!

Well friends, I think that’s about it!! What are your plans for this weekend?

I’m going to have a laid back weekend full of studying and reading for school. Sounds fun, right?!? Haha :)

Oh, and one last thing!! Go check out this awesome grilling giveaway that Kristin is doing over at IGE!! Or don’t, because I really want to win!! :)

Randomness

2010-07-07T17:48:00.001-05:00

Happy Hump Day!! Today I started back to school. My summer break is officially over :( I’m sad. Looks like it’s gonna be a super busy semester too. But like hubby says, you gotta start back to finish! And December 2011 can’t come fast enough! Haha.

We are trying out our new gas grill tonight! I am very excited! We are grilling out some turkey burgers for our first attempt. I figure you can’t mess those up too bad, right?! I will let y’all know tomorrow how they are.

I set my alarm for 5:30am this morning so I could run before class, but that didn’t happen. I definitely reset it in the middle of the night! Haha. So, that meant I had to run this afternoon. I wasn’t really feeling the treadmill today, so I decided to suck it up and run outside in the 90-100 degree temps! What was I thinking?! It was so hot, and I definitely wasn’t optimally hydrated. I made it 2 miles and decided that was enough for today, so I came home and walked 3 more miles on the treadmill. I was a hot sweaty mess after that run and felt like I ran a lot more than 2 miles! The heat really takes it out of you! Tomorrow I have my first every BRICK workout (bike and run back to back) and I am very excited! Any tips??

I read in my Runners World magazine yesterday that the average woman should consume 91oz of water a day to stay hydrated. Holy cow that’s a lot of water! That’s about 6 of my 16oz water bottles!! Right now, I maybe drink 2-3 bottles a day so I really need to step that up!! I always feel so much better on my runs and just in general when I’m well hydrated.

What are your thoughts on that? How much water do you drink a day?

I have not been a big fan of Crystal Light until just recently when they came out with the Crystal Light Pure Fitness. It has no artificial sweeteners! I can’t stand the taste of the artificial sweeteners. So far I’ve tried the lemon-lime flavor and really like it! It’s a nice change from just plain water all the time!

Anyone else tried this??

Well friends, I think this is enough for this random post! Have a great day!!

Easiest and Best Cobbler Recipe Ever!

2010-07-06T11:41:00.001-05:00

Hello!! Happy Tuesday!! As promised, I have the Easiest and Best Cobbler Recipe for you!! I don’t remember where I got this, but I’ve had it for a few years now!! You can use whatever fruit you like, but blackberries are my fave!!

Blackberry Cobbler

1 cup flour

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1 TBSP lemon juice

2 6oz containers of blackberries

4-6 TBSP melted butter

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, and egg until crumbly. Set aside.

2. Place washed blackberries in a greased 8X8 pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

3. Sprinkle crumbly topping over blackberries.

4. Melt butter and drizzle over top.

5. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes.

6. Enjoy!! I like mine with a little vanilla ice cream!!

This is seriously one of my favorite summer dessert recipes!! It’s fabulous!! I have a HARD time not eating the whole pan and hubby and I fight over it! Haha :)

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I’m enjoying my last day of my summer break by being lazy!! Watching TV, catching up on blogs and magazines!! It’s nice!

My back is still super sore and stiff from wake boarding this weekend. I think I may have pulled something! Needless to say, my morning run didn’t happen. I am thinking about possible busting out a few miles on the treadmill this afternoon/evening depending on how it feels. I’ve been reading the last 2 months issues of Runners World and I have caught a serious racing bug! I can’t wait until fall race season! I haven’t decided on any races officially, but I’m sure I will soon!! Right now I’m still trying to concentrate Tri I’m doing in a few weeks!!

Are you training for anything right now? Or do you have your fall races picked out yet?

Have a fabulous day!!

Belated 4th of July!

2010-07-05T17:03:00.001-05:00

Happy (belated) 4th of July!! I’ve been at the lake, hence why this post is up a day late :) Anyway, I had a fabulous 4th of July weekend at our lake house with my family, minus the hubby. He had to work :( I did lots of tanning, swimming, and wake boarding!! I was very happy to be able to get another open water swim under my belt! I felt a lot stronger this time, which means that all the swimming I’ve been doing has really made a difference!! I also got a super hilly run in while I was there. The hills in that part of KY are massive!!

I also got in a lot of wake boarding! Here are some pics my mom got!

I love how every summer I can pick it right back up!!

This was possibly the last time I will be at the lake this summer, since school starts back this week :( I am super sad I won’t be able to go to our Family Week in a few weeks. That’s such a fun time! I love my family!!

We had some great food this weekend!! From chips and home made salsa, to turkey burgers, to blackberry cobbler, to my grandma’s famous potato salad, yum!! We ate so well!! I just didn’t get enough of the cobbler this weekend, so I am making another one tonight!! Recipe to come :) Easiest and BEST cobbler recipe you will ever try!!

Before I left for the lake this weekend, I made hubby and I some yummy Stuffed Turkey Burgers using a recipe I got over at IGE!! They were fabulous! Kristin’s really got some great recipes and ideas goin on!!

I stuffed our Turkey Burgers with shredded sharp cheddar! With the Balsamic reduction and chopped tomatoes of course!!!

Along with a mix of home made french fries and sweet potato fries!! Y’all, this burger was AMAZING!! Hubby said it was the best one I’ve made yet!! Thanks Kristin for the wonderful recipe!!

Well friends, I think that’s all I have for you right now! My new patio furniture and Runner World magazine are calling my name! Gotta relax before I start back to school Wednesday!! And on that note, I was supposed to start back tomorrow but got an email saying we won’t start back until Wednesday! Gotta love a surprise extra day of summer break!!

What is your favorite thing to do in the summer??

Mine’s definitely going to the lake!!

Tri Training, Chocolate Banana Bread, and Paninis

2010-06-27T14:15:00.001-05:00

Kind of a random title right?! Haha :) Well I hope y’all have all enjoyed my wedding and honeymoon recaps. If you happen to have missed them, check them out:

Alright… moving on to Tri Training!! I officially started training for the Annie Oakley Sprint Triathlon this week. I didn’t make out an official training plan because I have no clue what my schedule will be like when I start back to school July 5th. I do have a rough idea of how I want my training week to look like though:

Run 3 X week
Bike 2 X week
Swim 1-2 X week

I definitely achieved that this week! I ran 3 times, biked twice, and swam twice. So I feel like I’m right on track! And I plan to thrown some brick workouts in, along with hopefully another open water swim next weekend when I’m at the lake!

Any training advice for me??

I rode 10 miles yesterday and 12 today and now my butt is super sore! I will definitely be investing in some tri shorts! Any recommendations for those? I have heard the Pearl Izumi ones are great so I will probably try those out unless someone else has any better recommendations.

I am totally loving the training though!! My body is love mixing it up and I’m not getting sop burnt out! I really have come to love biking and swimming!!

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Onto the next topic… Chocolate Banana Bread!! I was in the baking mood yesterday and had some bananas getting pretty brown, so I thought to myself… I should make some banana bread! And not just any banana bread, but Chocolate Banana Bread!! I have had this recipe for a while now and have only made it one time before. But it is fabulous! I think I got it from IGE, she has some wonderfully yummy recipes y’all!!

Chocolate Banana Bread

1/2 cup toasted pecans

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 bananas mashed (I only had 2)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup dark or white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray sides of loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place nuts on a baking sheet and toast for 8-10 mins. Let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well mixed. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips. Pour into loaf pan. Bake 55-65 mins. Enjoy!!

How great does that look?!? I had a hard time waiting until after dinner to test it out because it smelled and looked so yummy!!

My nice big slice. It was fabulous!! So chocolaty with a great banana flavor! Not to mention extra sweetness from the chocolate chips!! I highly recommend this!!

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And last but not least… I wanted to share my first attempt at making a Panini with y’all! I decided I would use my new Cuisinart Griddler to make a Tuna Panini for dinner last night, and it came out fabulous!!

First, I mixed some chunk light tuna, a tiny bit of mayo, lemon juice, s&p, and cayenne pepper. I decided to try out some more of the bread that the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program sent me!

This time we tried out the Nature’s Pride Country White Deli Rolls! They worked out really well! I couldn’t tell much of a difference in these rolls and the hamburger buns we already tried. Tasted the same to me, just different shapes! Very good!!

So, I layered my tuna, spinach, and Swiss cheese and stuck it in the Cuisinart Griddler.

Ooey gooey tuna perfection!! We loved these so much that we made them again for lunch today!!

Well friends, gotta get going. Hubby and I are going to go purchase a new gas grill!! My Nana and Papa are buying it for us as a wedding gift! We can’t wait!!

What is your favorite thing to grill or grill recipe?

Neither one of us really knows how to grill so it will be fun to learn and experiment!! Have a great Sunday guys!!

Honeymoon!!

2010-06-26T17:48:00.001-05:00

Hello! Happy Saturday! Hope y’all are having a fabulous weekend! I just finished watching the US World Cup game, sniff sniff. Wish they could have pulled the win off! But anyway, I promised y’all a Honeymoon recap so here it is!!

We had a fabulous time on our Honeymoon! I could go on and on about if but for y’alls sake I will mostly keep it to pictures :)

First place we headed was to San Francisco! We had a little snafu with our plane out of Florida, apparently they overbooked it by 15 people! Nothing a little crying on my part couldn’t fix! Haha, totally serious by the way :) After 2 flights, we were finally in California!! We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in San Fran and it was awesome! We were on the 15th floor and had an awesome view of the bay!!

Those were both taken from our balcony!!

We did lots of fun things in San Fran! First up, we explored Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf!

Look what we found on Pier 39!! The famous Sea Lions! There was the cutest baby one too!

We also went to the Aquarium at Fisherman’s Wharf!

Then off to Ghirardelli Square!

We also took a freezing cold boat ride under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz.

They told some of the coolest stories about Alcatraz! Can’t believe some of the people who were locked up there!!

We ate TONS of seafood while we were there and everything was so good! I loved how the majority of the restaurants were on the water!!

Then, after a few days, we were off to Napa Valley!! On our way to Napa, we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge…

And then went to Muir Woods!!

We both LOVED seeing the giant Redwoods and hiking all around!! It was so beautiful there! Here are some pics we got:

After our adventure at Muir Woods, we made it to Napa and check into our hotel, The Napa Valley Lodge. It was super nice too! We both loved it, plus we had a balcony that overlooked the vineyards!

The next day, it was time to hit up the wineries!!

This was at V. Sattui, after we did our wine tasting and we had a picnic on the lawn.

We also visited Beringer and had a really awesome tour there!

In the underground caves at Beringer.

We went to Sterling Winery and had to ride up to the winery in a gondola! So fun!!

Beautiful views from Sterling!!

I think our absolute favorite winery and tour was at Castello di Amorosa. It was a castle!!

They even had sheep outside the castle! We learned so much on this tour!!

But, I think our VERY favorite thing was the HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE!!!

The views were incredible!!

Two balloons kissing :)

We love, love, loved the hot air balloon ride! If you ever have a chance to do it anywhere, I highly recommend it!!

Our 3 days in Napa went by so fast!! I needed like a month there! They told us there were over 200 wineries just in Napa! We did bring home a lot of wine so we have little pieces of Napa with us!!

I am so happy we decided to Honeymoon in these 2 cities! We had an awesome time and memories to last forever! Hope y’all enjoyed!!

Where did you go on your Honeymoon or where would you like to go?

Have a fabulous rest of the weekend friends!!

A Bunch of Random!!

2010-06-25T09:24:00.001-05:00

Hey friends! Hope you have been enjoying the Wedding recaps!! If you haven’t already, check out Wedding Festivities Part 1 and Part 2!! I promise to recap the honeymoon soon! But today, I have a bunch of randomness to share!!

First up… I received some Nature’s Pride hamburger/deli buns to review through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program! I stuck 2 packs in the freezer so they wouldn’t go bad, and we tried out this pack :

Nature’s Pride Country White Buns. I gave the hubby a choice and he wanted to try these first. He is a true white bread lover!! I will say though, the ingredient list on these white buns is wonderful! No HFCS or anything else I can’t pronounce!! We used these buns for all kind of things, such as for sandwiches, turkey burgers, and garlic bread. We both give these a thumbs up for taste!

Here’s one of the turkey sandwiches I made! Yummy!! I always find buns to be a bit high in calories, as this one was. It was 200 calories for 1 bun, and I usually prefer to just eat half a sandwich. But, hubby loves big sandwiches so he really enjoyed these! We are looking forward to trying out the deli rolls and whole wheat buns! I will let y’all know what we think!!

Onto another topic… we have done tons of “house” shopping with the wedding money we got! One of my favorite purchases and the thing I was most excited to get was this:

Cuisinart Griddler!!! I saw this on IGE a while back and knew we had to have one!! It is a grill, griddle, and Panini press all in one! How perfect, right?!?

One side of the plates is grill and the other side is griddle, so all you have to do to switch them is flip them around! Easy as pie!

And it also lays out flat like this! So if you had to grill (or griddle) lots of things, it works out perfectly!!

I used this for the first time 2 nights ago to make Turkey Burgers!! They turned out so yummy with perfect looking grill marks!! This is nice for us because we don’t currently own a gas grill (this will be changing very soon)!! So, I highly suggest investing in the Cuisinart Griddler if it’s something you are looking for!

Onto another topic…. I told you there was a lot of randomness to this post!! Have y’all checked out Jennifer’s new ETSY store?!? She makes awesome hand painted signs and frames and all the proceeds are going help her and her hubby adopt!! I just ordered one from her! Get on it guys!! And Lauren is hosting a giveaway for one of Jennifer’s signs on her blog, so go over and enter!

Ok, last topic… The World Cup!! So, most of you know I really like soccer. I have played basically my whole life! And I am really loving everyone in the sports world being into soccer! It seems like normally, soccer just kinda gets brushed to the backburner, but everyone seems to be into the World Cup! Maybe it’s because USA is doing well?!? Anyway, I have not been able to catch any of the games live! The first 2 were on our trip to and from our Honeymoon, and this week’s game was during an appointment I had. So finally, tomorrow, I will be able to catch the USA playing live! I recorded the last game and I’m so glad I did! What a great end, right?!? Anyone else watching the World Cup?

Well, I think that’s enough for today! Hope y’all have a fabulous Friday! I have a wedding shower to go to for my friend Jennifer tonight! Can’t wait!

Wedding Festivities Part 2

2010-06-23T15:27:00.001-05:00

Hey friends!! Make sure and check out my prior post: Wedding Festivities Part 1 before moving on :)

On to the actual wedding!! My bridesmaids and I met at The Santa Rosa Beach Club around lunch time to start getting our hair done and getting ready. The room that they normally use had a broken AC so we ended up going over to The Golf Club and using a room there. No worries though, everything was great!! They made us a fabulous lunch to eat while we got ready!!

All my bridesmaids, me, and my mom!!

My photographer was with us the entire time also and I can’t wait to see all the pictures he took! He was fabulous! If anyone needs a photographer in the Destin area, his name is Grady Carpenter.

Anyway, after we finished getting our hair done, we moved back over to The Beach Club and it was about time to start!! I wasn’t too nervous until right before I had to walk down this hug flight of stairs in front of everyone… ALL BY MYSELF!! I could just see myself tripping and rolling down those steps! But I managed :)

Coming down those scary steps!!

Coming down to meet my dad!

My dad giving me a kiss on the cheek before we start down the aisle :)

Me and Dad :)

Getting hitched!

Beautiful beach view

We’re married!!! Husband and Wife!

Ok I know this is picture overload so I will let the pictures speak for themselves :)

I hope y’all liked all the pictures!! These were all taken by friends and family! My professional photographer pictures aren’t ready yet but I will be sure to share them with y’all once I get them!!

Our wedding day was perfect! The food was great, the cake was amazing, and there was tons of dancing and laughing! It couldn’t have been better in any way!!

We are loving being newlyweds!!

Wedding Festivities Part 1

2010-06-22T12:00:00.001-05:00

Hey friends! Long time no blog, right?!? I feel like my life has been a whirlwind with the wedding and all, and I just haven’t had time to blog at all! I am hoping to be better about it now that I’m getting settled back into real life.

I’m going to break the wedding festivities and honeymoon into a couple posts because there are so many pictures!! So for this post, we will do all the pre-wedding festivities!!

We got to Santa Rosa Beach, FL the Sunday before the wedding. I had never been to that part of Florida before, and it was gorgeous! We normally stay in San Destin, which is about 10-15 minutes east of Santa Rosa, but has a totally different feel! More of a small beach town, no high rise hotels, mainly houses and condos so it wasn’t so “touristy”. I really liked that. Plus, the beaches were gorgeous! No oil anywhere!!

I spent the first couple days just relaxing and working on my tan! I worked so hard not to get burned and did a great job of it! No red on my skin!!

I love being on the beach! It was definitely hot though! At one point, we all had our chairs in the water to let the waves come up on us!

Both sets of my grandparents arrived on Tuesday and Wednesday. My mom, Nana, and I went and got out nail and toenails done on Wednesday afternoon. It was fun, but my fingernails were already chipping by the wedding. That didn’t make me very happy!!

Wednesday night was my Bachelorette party! My parents rented us a limo for the night, it’s definitely a good thing they did!!

Inside the limo.

Me! So excited for my Bachelorette Party!!

Katie doing her make-up in the limo!

We started out on a Dolphin Cruise. It was fun, the water was really rough and poor Katie started getting sea sick :(

Luckily, Jaime had her daughters seas sick bands that Katie could wear! They seemed to help!! We only saw 1 dolphin though.

View from the Dolphin Cruise.

Another view from the Dolphin Cruise.

After the cruise we went and ate at a restaurant on the water. I honestly can’t recall the name of the place! It was good though and so nice to sit on the deck overlooking the water!!

Katie and Maryl at dinner.

After dinner, we headed to Rum Runners, a dueling piano bar in Baytowne Wharf, and that’s when things start to get fuzzy! Haha :)

Jaime and Maryl at Rum Runners.

Katie and I at Rum Runners. Notice the devil horn veil I had to sport the whole night! About this time, everyone decided it would be fun to buy me tequila shots. Definitely fun at the time, not fun after. Just use your imagination :) My brother, his friend Vincent, and my cousin Jesse ended up at Rum Runners too so of course they joined in on the Bachelorette celebration. I think they were the main culprits of the tequila shots!! At one point, some random table bought me a shot and had me go onstage and take it! Again, very fun at the time! LOL.

This was the stage I ended up on TWICE! Once to take the shot and a second time I ended up sitting on top of the piano while these piano guys serenaded me. Apparently, it was a very raunchy song that had my brother cringing! Haha, don’t really recall that!!

My brother and I. Haha :) Needless to say, we all ended up going home in the limo. I’m sure the limo driver thought we were bringing some random guys home. Haha.

The next day, Thursday, was my trial hair appointment and our rehearsal / rehearsal dinner. I felt so bad that morning until it was time to get my hair done that afternoon. Luckily the nausea went away by the rehearsal dinner!!

Jennifer and I at the Rehearsal.

Sadly, I did not take any pictures at the Rehearsal Dinner! I was too busy enjoying it :) It was at a restaurant called Stinky’s Fishcamp and it was fabulous!! I think everyone had a GREAT time!!

And I will leave y’all with that for now! Up next….THE WEDDING!!!

TRI Help!!

2010-05-25T16:42:00.001-05:00

Hey friends! Yes, I am alive! I’ve been busy finishing up my semester and finalizing wedding stuff!! I am officially on summer break until July 6th! Yay, a much needed break for sure!! And only 17 more days until my wedding!! I am so excited! I’m going to be so busy until then too! I am heading to the lake this weekend and then I get back for a few days and then we head to Florida for the wedding week! It’s coming so fast! Can’t wait!!

In other news, I did my first “pre tri training” bike ride today! I rode 11 miles in 50 minutes with an average pace of 13.2 mph. Not too shabby for my first time on a bike in over a year! I will be riding my dad’s road bike from the 1980’s! Haha, it’s really in wonderful condition and it’s free so I will take what I can get! It will be perfect for my first triathlon. I’ve officially decided to do the Annie Oakley Women’s Tri on July 31st, now I just need to sign up! I went and bought some goggles today so I can start swimming! My plan is to officially start my training when I get back from my honeymoon. That will give me 5-6 weeks to train and I think that’s plenty for a sprint tri seeing as I’m in fairly good condition now! I am planning to do some training while I’m in Florida but am not scheduling anything for our honeymoon. I will bring gear in case I feel like going for a run but I’m giving myself that week off if I want it. It’s my honeymoon after all :) But once I get back, training will be on!!

So, I have a few questions for those of you who run, bike, swim, or all 3 :)

1. What’s the best race day outfit to wear so I only have to do minimal wardrobe changes?

2. Biking gloves… Can I use my weight lifting gloves or should I buy actually biking gloves? I already have a blister on my hand from my ride today!

3. Training plans… Any specific ones you really like or that have worked well?

4. What’s important to have in your transition areas?

5. What’s the best way to do your hair? Keep in mind I have really long hair and it will probably be super knotted after the swim even with a cap on. So any headbands you recommend? Obviously it will be in a ponytail, I’m most concerned with the best way to keep it off my face.

I think that’s it! Please help, I feel kinda clueless :)

Well, that’s really all I have for now! Time to relax and watch some TV! Hope you have a fabulous day!!

Oh and PS: The wedding diet is working! I’ve lost 4 pounds in a month, which is right on track with what I wanted! It’s really hard to consume less calories but still enough to fuel me for training! I will be so happy when this wedding diet is over :)

Rehearsal Dinner Dress

2010-05-16T20:56:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all! Hope you are having a fabulous weekend! I did :) And I didn’t do one thing for school! I only have one week left before my summer break and I need to get motivated to get my last take home test finished!

Yesterday I went to my friend Jennifer’s Wedding shower. I had a good time! It was nice to meet some of the bridesmaids I didn’t know and to catch up with some old friends! They got tons of nice stuff too! Looking forward to being a part of their wedding!

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I got my Rehearsal Dinner dress today!! I got it at Anthropologie, which is one of my favorite places to get dresses! They always have so many cute ones!!

I love it! I think it looks so beachy! Click here for a larger image of the dress. What do y’all think?! Like it?!

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I also bought some new make-up today that I plan on using for the wedding! I am a new Bare Minerals convert! I had them do a whole makeover on me today and I love how it all looks and feels! Great coverage but so lightweight and not greasy! Perfect for a beach wedding! I got some eye and lip colors too that will be perfect! Any Bare Minerals lovers out there?!?

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On the workout front… I ran 3 miles on the treadmill yesterday. I’ve been sticking to inside runs if I don’t get outside super early because #1 it’s hot and #2 I’m trying to get rid of my sports bra tan for my wedding dress, not make it worse! So I’ve been sucking it up and just running on the treadmill. At least it gives me a chance to catch up on my shows!! I have also been doing a lot of strength training! I am loving my free Exercise TV workouts! I did this 10 minute ab workout yesterday and I am so sore today! Mostly in my obliques, but it hurts to move, walk, even breathe! A good hurt tho!! I’m hoping to get in an outside run tomorrow morning so I hope the weather cooperates! It was raining this morning so no run for me. So I turned to my Exercise TV workouts and did a quick 20 minute total body workout before church! It was another good one!

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I’ve been doing pretty good on my wedding diet, but I have had a few treats! I just can’t deprive myself everyday! But I make sure to work them into my calorie count for the day so it all evens out :)

Well, gotta get back to the Desperate Housewives Finale! Have a great night!!

Wedding Stuff, Workouts, and Ice Cream

2010-05-14T18:02:00.001-05:00

Wow, I just realized it’s been 6 days since I posted last! Yikes, sorry y’all!! I need to get back into my blogging routine :)

I had my final wedding dress fitting this past Monday and it looks FABULOUS!! So glad everything turned out right. For those of you who don’t know, I had a slightly large wedding dress issue when I first got it!! But now, it’s perfect! I have all my jewelry and shoes to go with it too! I think everything is about done and we are just ready to head to Florida and start the wedding festivities!! Only 22 more days until we go to Florida and 28 days until the WEDDING!! I am so pumped :)

I ordered a really fun University of Memphis garter! Click on the link to check it out. Isn’t this the cutest thing?!? I thought it was perfect!

In other news, I have been doing pretty good keeping up with my workouts. I’ve been mixing it up with running and strength training. I am hoping to start adding in swimming and biking soon to get ready for the Sprint Triathlon I’m looking at doing in July!

I’ve also been doing pretty well on my wedding diet! Right now I’m just really trying to eat a clean diet- fruits, veggies, whole grains, low fat dairy, and lean protein. Minimal to no processed foods. It’s really amazing the volume of fruits and veggies you can consume for so little calories! Sadly, I’ve had to restrict my ice cream ingestion. And the worst part about it is I just found the best ice cream EVER! Blue Bell Grooms Cake!

From the Blue Bell site:

**Groom's Cake - Gold Rim
Say, "I do" to this blissful flavor. Luscious chocolate ice cream with chocolate cake pieces and chocolate coated strawberry hearts, surrounded by swirls of strawberry sauce and chocolate icing.

OMG, so good! I bet Al’s loving the wedding diet because now he doesn’t have to share that ice cream with me! If you can find it, try it! It is seriously the best ice cream I’ve ever put in my mouth! Haha :)

Well friends, that’s all I have for ya right now! I hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

Running Consistency

2010-05-08T20:42:00.001-05:00

Hey friends! It’s been a little bit since my last post, so I though I would update y’all!! I’ve had a good, yet busy week. Only a few more weeks lefts in this semester, then I will get a break! Thank goodness!!

I spent the majority of the day today studying for my Pharmacology test, although I did find lots of things to distract me! Haha!!

I have done really well with consistency in my running this week. So far I ran:

3 miles Monday (Circuit Training)
3 miles Tuesday (Outside)
2 miles Wednesday (Treadmill + Jillian Michaels)
2 miles Friday (Treadmill + Jillian Michaels + 3 miles walking)
2 miles Saturday (Treadmill + arm strength training + 4 miles walking)

So I’ve been doing pretty well with my workouts for the amount of time I have! The mileage is low compared to what I’m used to, but my body is just not feeling high mileage right now! I found a new Jillian Michaels workout on Exercise TV that I love! I think it’s called Quick No Trouble Zones. It’s only 25 minutes but it’s pretty tough! Lots of kickboxing moves!! It’s a lot of fun!

The circuit training I did Monday left me so sore for days!! I think today is the first day I wasn’t sore!! I haven’t decided for sure, but I think I’m going to do the Tri in July I talked about in my last post. I don’t want to sign up right now, because I’m not sure if school will conflict yet. But, I’m planning on starting to incorporate some swimming and biking soon! Biking before swimming probably because I have to wait for my parent’s pool to warm up!!

I’m excited for mother’s day tomorrow! Love spending time with my family, plus my dad is cooking out steaks which are his specialty! I only eat my dad’s steaks!!

Well, that’s all for now! Hope y’all have a wonderful Mother’s Day!!

Try A Tri?!?

2010-05-04T20:11:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! How’s this fine Tuesday treating you?! It’s all good here!!

I had a good 3 mile run this morning. It wasn’t great, but it was better than my runs have been, although a lot slower than I was running a few weeks ago. I’m still not sure what was causing me to feel so fatigued and out of breath a few weeks ago, but needless to say I definitely lost some of my running fitness so I feel like I’m starting over. That’s not fun :( Amazing how fast I lose my conditioning, but it’s always kinda been like that for me. I slack of for about 2-3 weeks and it’s much harder to run. I know it could be worse though! So, I am really gonna be consistent from now on and luckily, school is starting to slow down a bit! Almost summer break!! I also have my eye on a tri!! My friend Katie really wants me to do it with her and I think it sounds like a lot of fun! It’s called the Annie Oakley Sprint Triathlon. It’s a sprint, women’s only tri: 400 meter swim, 11 mile bike, 2 mile run. Short and sweet and I think it sounds great for a first tri. What do y’all think??

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I made a really yummy dinner tonight that I wanted to share!! First up, the best salad EVER!!

In the mix:

Romaine
Cucs
Tomatoes
Olives
Onion
Jalapenos
Feta
A little Ranch
A lotta Texas Pete’s hot sauce

Yum, yum, yum! The Ranch-Texas Pete’s Hot Sauce combo really kicked this salad up a notch! It was fab!

I also picked up some awesome looking tortellini!

It was Chicken and Prosciutto Tortellini! They were sooooo yummy! Topped with my favorite Bertolli Marinara sauce.

All together now!!

Sadie says “Mama, whatcha cooking?”

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Well friends, gotta get so I can watch Glee! I also have some ice cream calling my name! I bought some “Groom’s Cake” ice cream today at the store for Al but I’m breaking into it! I saved up my calories today so I can enjoy a nice BIG bowl! Yum!

Do you prefer running, biking, swimming, or all 3?? Swimming makes me so nervous but I better get used to it if I want to try a tri! Ha :)

Mish-Mash

2010-05-03T20:39:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all!! Long time no blog, right?! I have been super busy and just haven’t had time. Sorry guys! I’m gonna try to be better!! I kinda have a lot of mish-mash to talk about because a lot has happened!!

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I’m first gonna start out with a product review!! The nice people of at CheriBundi sent me some of their Cherry juices to try! I’m not a huge juice fan, but the fiancé is, and I was very intrigued by Cherry juice!!

They sent us 4 bottles to try. 2 of the regular Cherry juice, one Skinny Cherry juice, and one with Whey protein!

50 cherries in each bottle! That’s awesome!!

Love that the only ingredients are tart cherry juice, water, and apple juice as a sweetener! The verdict…. we LOVED them!! The fiancé kept saying how great they all were and in fact he drank the majority of the bottles! Haha. It tastes exactly like a cherry. I’m not kidding! I enjoyed the Skinny Cherry juice the best. I definitely recommend trying out some CheriBundi Cherry juice!! The fiancé is already asking me to buy more!!

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Moving on to my next topic, or more like the story of the flood. So, this weekend, my parents and I went to Ohio for my cousin’s wedding. The wedding was great, my cousin looked beautiful, and we had an awesome time!! But, our drive home was not so fun, not at all!! I’m sure y’all have all heard about the flooding in Memphis and Nashville by now. Well, we had to drive through Nashville to get home on Sunday. Yea, didn’t really happen. First of all, there were hurricane like rains almost the entire ride home. It was awful. It got really bad once we got into Nashville, and this is what we saw.

This is kinda hard to see since I took it from a moving car, but this is what all the exits looked like off the interstate. The roads were completely covered in water and it looked like a river.

And this is what it looked like right along the interstate. River anyone?!? The water started spilling over onto I65 at parts but we were able to make it through. Sadly, they I40 got shut down which is like the only straight shot to Memphis. Luckily, in a last minute decision, we stayed on I65 South instead of being stuck on I40 for hours or days!! We took I65 South all the way down to HWY 64, which is at the southern most part of Tennessee. We were going along well for awhile on HWY 64, until the road was completely flooded and the police weren’t letting us through. So where to next?! Alabama of course! Haha. We drove down to Florence, Alabama and were able to catch HWY 72 that we were hoping to take into Memphis. Well, thanks to my friend Brandi, who was coming home from Alabama the same way, we knew that HWY 72 was shut down in Corinth, MS for flooding. Luckily, another friend of mine who lives in Corinth was able to give Brandi directions around the flooded area and we were able to make it home!

It took us 14 hours to get home. Normally it takes around 8. It was a LONG day! Who knew to get home from Ohio we would be going from Ohio to Kentucky to Tennessee to Alabama to Mississippi and back to Tennessee! Crazy, right?! I’m just glad I made it home in one piece! And please keep all the people in Nashville in your prayers!! They are still dealing with floods everywhere.

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My last topic of the night! My workouts!! I was able to workout in Ohio, on Saturday morning. We stayed in a hotel in Cincinnati since that’s where I flew in Friday evening, and they had an awesome workout room!! My mom and I headed down there to get a nice workout in Saturday morning before heading to my Grandma’s house. I ellipticaled for 30 minutes then did some strength training. It was fun to use the elliptical since I don’t have one to use! Could definitely tell it worked some new muscles!!

Today I did a really hardcore circuit training workout for about an hour and 40 minutes. It included running intervals and arm, abs, and legs strength training. I was exhausted by the end. I am hoping to run in the morning before it gets too hot!!

Well friends, that’s all for tonight! I promise to post more regularly!! Have a great night!!

Running Rant

2010-04-26T20:19:00.001-05:00

Hey friends! I'm blogging from my phone tonight because the fiancé is being a computer hog! Haha :)

I'm going to start my running rant now... I have had the suckiest runs the past 2 days. No, scratch that, the last week! Ever since I gave blood a week ago, my runs have been awful. I took the next day off from running after giving blood. But the following day, Tuesday, I had a super tough 4 miler. Like I had to keep stopping to catch my breath. I just thought it was an off day. The next day, Wednesday, I ran/walked with Sadie and that was tough too. I was breathing so hard and I'm never like that! The next day I ran, Friday, I could barely make it 2 miles. I felt so pathetic. So, I didn't have too may goals set for my 5k race yesterday, seeing as how awful my runs had been. I sucked the 5k up, bad. Worst 5k time for me EVER! I ran it in 31:27 and the worst part wad, that I had to start walking at mile 1. At one point, I could barely run for 1 minute before I was so breathless that I had to stop and walk. I felt so defeated. I was so upset.

I was going to try to redeem myself today with a good 3 mile run, but again that didn't happen. By mile 1 I was dying. I wasn't going any faster than normal, actually a bit slower. My legs felt like lead, my heart was beating out of my chest, and I couldn't catch my breath. I decided to cut it down to 2 miles since I wad already dying at mile 1. I was so determined to not walk! At one point, I got really lightheaded but kept on. Not smart, I know. But I am super stubbon and I was so determined. I made it 2 miles, my time was 18:20 or something similar. Not too bad, but I defintely should have been able to run it much faster and I shouldn't have felt the way I did. I felt so tired, like I just finished running 10 miles. Seriously, something has to be going on. I mean, 2 weeks ago I was running 4-5 miles 5 times a week and now I can barely make it 2?! Something is definitely not right.

I did a little research on giving blood and running and I found a few sources that said it can take up to 4 weeks for your blood cells to replentish themselves. And your red blood cells are the ones that carry oxygen (if you didn't already know that).Wish I would have known that before I gave blood! I'm thinking I'm just taking an extra long time to replentish my RBC and that's why I'm so tired. But man, I can really tell a difference! I just want to be back to normal! So frustetating!!

In other news, I got to see Katie (tnbaileybunch.blogspot.com) at the 5k yesterday! We probably haven't seen eachother since high school! It was so good to see het and she defintely rocked her first 5k!! (not sure how to hyperlink from my iPhone!)

And I will leave y'all with a picture of Sadie!

I bought this toy for her, for her bday and she carries it around with her everywhere! She even likes to lay on it! Haha. Have a great night!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Quick Catch Up

2010-04-25T08:16:00.001-05:00

I feel like all my posts are titled this recently!! Sorry for being MIA this week. School has been so busy and I’ve been exhausted trying to fit everything in!! I have 1 test this coming week then I’m off to Ohio for my cousin’s wedding! It will be so fun and a much needed break!!

Running this week has been really random and sporadic. None of them have really been exciting or all that great. I was able to take Sadie running a few days ago and we increased her walk/ run ratio to 3 minutes running/ 1 minute walking for 2 miles! She did great!! I love running with my little Beagle :)

I have a 5k race today that my whole family is doing! Its the Mears on Wheels 5k and it’s to raise money for a new motorized wheelchair for the soccer coach at my old high school. It’s amazing how much those wheel chairs cost!! So all you people in Memphis, come run this one! It’s at 2pm today at Johnson Park in Collierville!!

Not sure how well I will do in this race since my running has kinda been sporadic the last few weeks. Plus it’s at an odd time so who knows how my stomach will act! The weather looks nice except for the 20mph winds! Either way it should be fun! Plus my whole family will be there and then we are going to Mellow Mushroom for pizza! Yummy!!

We had some pretty bad weather yesterday, but all the rain made everything so green! I was so lazy yesterday and spent the whole day watching The Hills reruns! I love that show and am so excited for the new (and last) season to start Tuesday! Looks like it will be really interesting! Any other Hills fans? I was so surprised at how different Heidi’s face looks now compared to it in season 1. Poor girl, was so much prettier before all the plastic surgery.

Well guys, I think that’s all for now. I’m going to late church this morning so I am currently watching more Hills reruns! Haha! Have a great Sunday!!

Funfetti!!

2010-04-17T21:07:00.001-05:00

Good Evening! Hope your weekend is going good so far! Mine is :) I slept in until 8am this morning, which is pretty late for me! I probably would have slept longer if it wasn’t for Sadie. She woke me up around 6am to feed her and then we went back to bed, but around 8am , she started bothering me again because she wanted me up! Is she spoiled or what?! Ha.

The temp was cooler today, high right around 70, so I was able to kinda relax this morning and run around lunch time. I finished a take home test for school this morning and then did some cleaning. By the time I knew it, it was 11:45 and time to run!!

I set out for a hilly (and super windy) 5 miles. At first, I wasn’t feeling the run AT ALL. I even thought about cutting it short and running longer tomorrow. But by the time the first mile rolled around, I was feeling really good and those thoughts quickly disappeared!! It was seriously windy today! I think wind is 10X harder than running hills and I would much rather run hills than run into the wind. Today I had both. I just kept telling myself, this is good for you! Think of how much easier it would feel without the wind! By the time I knew it, the 5 miles were finished!! Here are my splits:

Time: 47.49
Mile 1: 9:43
Mile 2: 9:31
Mile 3: 9:38
Mile 4: 9:39
Mile 5: 9: 18
Avg Pace: 9:34

I am very happy with my pace for this run! I definitely could have kept going for at least another mile and felt fine. Yay! After my run it was Sadie’s turn to workout and we walked our usual mile loop :)

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On a totally different note, I was in the mood to bake this afternoon! I didn’t have a lot of time to I went to the old handy dandy boxed caked mix and frosting to bust out some yummy Chocolate Cupcakes with Funfetti Frosting!

I used a Pillsbury Devil’s Food Cake Mix. Boxed cake mixes really do make yummy cake and cupcakes! Plus they are so handy, all you have to do is add eggs, water, and oil! How much easier could it be?!?

Funfetti Frosting is AMAZING!! So yummy!!

Of course I had to have one for dessert! Don’t worry, I made sure to have plenty of calories left so I could have one of these babies!!

Yum, yum, yum! So good! Definitely couldn’t tell this was a boxed cupcake mix!! While I love making baked goods from scratch, sometimes it is nice to be able to make a quick boxed dessert that tastes just as yummy!!

Are you a from the box baker or from scratch?

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I spent way too much money at the grocery store today! I just kept seeing new things I wanted to try! I will be sharing these with y’all as I test them out throughout the week!

When I was checking out at the grocery store today, they cashier told me I reminded her of Kendra, as in The Girls Next Door. I just laughed. She said it was a compliment but I’m not sure! Haha!

Well, on that note, I gotta jet! Time for some puppy cuddling time!! Goodnight!

Catch Up Friday

2010-04-16T20:17:00.001-05:00

TGIF!! I am so happy it’s Friday!!This week has been so busy and I am exhausted! Not to mention, I’ve had the worst headache for the past 2 days. It just won’t go away. I don’t really have much to talk about, since my life revolves around school and I know y’all don’t want to hear about that! But, I have been doing well keeping on track with my running so that’s what we will talk about!!

Wednesday

I had intervals on the schedule. I like to do my intervals and speed work on the treadmill since I don’t have access to a track. I did:

1 mile warm-up
6X400 with a 90 second Recovery
0.7 mile cool down
Total: 4 miles

This was tough!! I can definitely tell I haven’t done intervals or speed work in a while! I used to be able to bust out like 10-12 400m repeats and now 6 is tough. Guess I have something to work towards, right?!?

Thursday

This day was an off day since I was at school literally all day long! I did get up extra early so I could take Sadie on a nice morning walk :)

Friday

This morning I decided to get an early morning run in before class. I headed out around 5:10am and did an easy 3 miles. My Garmin’s battery was dead so I had to run without it. I haven’t had a super early morning run in a long time and I really liked it! Something nice about being the only person out at that time of the morning!

So overall, I have had some good runs so far this week. I plan on running tomorrow and Sunday so I hope they continue to be as good!!

That’s all I really have for y’all today! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Great Run and Yummy Recipe!

2010-04-13T20:26:00.001-05:00

Hey friends!! This is gonna be short and sweet because I only have 10 minutes until Glee comes on!! Any other Glee fans?? I love it :)

I have been a busy little bee the past couple of days, mostly due to studying, class, and other school work! Ugh, can’t wait until this semester is OVER!!

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I had an ok 3 miler on Sunday before church. Wasn’t too hard but didn’t feel too easy either. Yesterday I took off from running and ended up walking 4 miles, half outside with Sadie and half on the treadmill, and also did some arm strength training! I’m sore today from those weights too!! This morning, I got up and went on a 4 mile run. The weather is so nice in the mornings!! I love it and it made for a really great run! My average pace for the 4 miles was 9:36 and I had negative splits! Gotta love that :) Now I just wish my Plantar Fascitis wasn’t bothering me so much today. Gotta remember to keep stretching!!

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On to my yummy dinner recipe that I made tonight!! Chicken Pot Pie by IGE!! I know I’ve posted this recipe before and it’s just so yummy!! The nutrition info is really good too! Let me know if you would like it, I calculated it all out today since I’m counting calories.

I like to make them in individual bowls. One for me and one for the fiancé :)

Love the crescent roll topping and there are TONS of veggies underneath! This is a must try recipe!!

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On the calorie counting front, it has still been going well! I have been doing it for a total of 3 weeks now and have lost about 4 lbs! It really isn’t that hard at all!! Just wanted to give y’all an update :)

And I am off to watch Glee (and probably eat a small bowl of ice cream! Couldn’t stay away for long!) Goodnight!!

Running Frustration

2010-04-10T20:54:00.001-05:00

Happy Saturday to everyone!! I had a pretty good day considering most of it was consumed by studying. But when the weather is beautiful and you can study outside, it’s really not that bad!! Plus, I am trying to work on my sports bra tan line for my wedding! Haha :)

I did go for a run around 11:30 am and I was so pumped to go. It had been a few days since I had run and the weather was perfect! I was planning on doing 5 miles, but my run SUCKED! Big time :( It just felt hard. I even had to walk a few times and ended up cutting it short to 3 miles. All in all, my pace wasn’t too bad, 10:09 avg pace, but that fact that it felt so difficult is very frustrating to me. I know I haven’t been able to be as consistent with running as I would have liked, and my long runs have been non-existent, so I could only expect to lose some of my running fitness. But still, it makes me sad and mad! I wish I was one of those runners who can take like a month off and be able to come right back and run 8 miles, but I’m not. Time off, even a few very low mileage weeks, really throws off my running. So, instead of pouting and continuing to complain about this, I am going to work on being more consistent staring next week!! I’m not going to write out an “official” training plan since I’m not specifically training for anything, but I am planning on getting in 5 runs each week and at least 2 strength training sessions.My body and running just seems to do better when I get in 5 runs a week, so that’s why I chose that. Consistency is key for me. I know for the next couple of weeks, this may be tough because school is still in full force, but I’m just going to have to work it in. This probably means getting up super early to run/strength train, but I gotta do what I gotta do! No resetting the alarm clock! Ha! I can do it though and I WANT to do it! I miss running consistently. My body just feels “off” without it!

Have y’all ever had similar issues with losing running fitness when you have taken time off? Even a week or two? How many days a week do you run?

I did get to try out my new running shirt and shorts today! I knew I would love the top already, since this is the 3rd one I’ve bought of the same style, and the shorts were also awesome! Can’t go wrong with spandex in my opinion!!

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Let’s move on to yummy eats for today!! The only photo worthy ones were breakfast and dinner :)

Breakfast was a new Tropical Oats creation!!

In the mix:

1/3 cup oats
1/2 frozen banana
1/3 cup skim milk
2/3 cup water
1 tsp ground flaxseed
Dash of cinnamon and vanilla
Toppings: Mango, 1 TBSP NM PB, 1/2 TBSP coconut

This was a great combo!! Loved the “tropical” combo of mangoes, bananas, and coconut!! I had to use frozen bananas because I was out of fresh. And frozen bananas work perfectly in stove top oats!! I even thought they may have sweetened it a tad bit more than the fresh bananas! Try it out sometime!!

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Dinner tonight was soup and sandwich.

I made a tuna melt on yummy sourdough bread I picked up from the grocery store bakery and had Roasted Red Pepper Soup and some cantaloupe with it.

For my tuna melt, I mixed together 1 packet of Chunk Light Tuna, 1 tsp Mayo, 1 tsp lemon juice, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Spread that onto one slice of bread, top with some Swiss, and toast it up on the skillet! Yum!!

The Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup was so yummy also!! I believe the brand was Pacific.

And for dessert, the fiancé requested brownies!! I happily obliged with help from Betty Crocker :) I think brownies out of the box are fabulous!!

I love, love, love brownies!! Yummy!!

Ok guys, going to get back to watching How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days! Have a wonderful night!!

Running Clothes

2010-04-09T19:55:00.001-05:00

It’s finally Friday!! Wohoo!! I’m glad it’s the weekend, even though I will be studying ALL WEEKEND! Big test on Monday.

I haven’t been able to do any running the past couple days. Yesterday I was literally at school from 8:30am-6pm and by the time I got home, I was starving and ready for dinner and bed!! I was planning on getting a run in this morning at 5am, but that didn’t really work out! My alarm went off and I immediately reset it because I still felt exhausted. And I just ran out of time this afternoon. I had to make studying my number 1 priority today. I know my schedule will be less hectic in a few weeks so I’m trying to give myself some slack on my lack of running. It’s hard though.

I did get some new running clothes today though!! My sneaky little puppy likes to chew up my running shorts and as of yesterday, I was down to one pair. I definitely needed some new shorts!! So I stopped into Dicks Sporting Goods on my way home from class. I got these Nike shorts:

And I also picked up another one of my favorite summer running tops. They just came out with new colors!

I literally will not wear any other type of shirt for running in the summer! I love this style so much!!

What are your favorite running shirts or shorts? I am always looking for new styles!! I am pretty partial to tight fitting/spandex shorts because I don’t like movement with my clothes at all, especially shorts. Chafing is not fun! And spandex shorts take care of that problem!! Plus I don’t like constantly having to pull down or having to rearrange my shorts and these type of shorts don’t move at all! Perfect!!

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I have a few eats that I want to share with y’all! Yesterday morning I had the best bowl of Mocha Oats so far! They were AMAZING!!

In the mix:

1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup brewed Spring Blend coffee
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup skim milk
1 tsp ground flax
dash of cinnamon and vanilla
1/2 TBSP cocoa
1/2 mashed banana
Toppings: Raspberries, 1 TBSP NM PB, and 1 TBSP shredded coconut

This was the bomb!! I think the addition of skim milk to the mix really did it! Or maybe it was the Raspberries! Either way, this was a definite win!!

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Dinner tonight was also a winner!! I made my favorite Salmon recipe: Erin’s Brown Sugar Rubbed Salmon!!

The Salmon Filets with the rub on top, waiting to be cooked!!

My plate: Salmon, Sweet Potato, and Whole Grain Garlic Rice! Phenomenal!! Loved every bite!!

This is seriously the best way to make Salmon! And this whole dinner took literally less than 10 minutes to make with 1 pan to clean up! Love that!!

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Well, I know I’ve talked a lot about ice cream recently, because I love it so much, but I’m having to ban myself from ice cream for awhile! I just have NO self control around it! It’s like once I start, 1 bowl just isn’t enough! And since that’s the case, I’m just gonna steer clear of it for awhile and just use it for occasional treats and not an every day treat!

What’s one food that you have no self control around?

Well friends, that’s it for now! Gonna enjoy the evening with my fiancé!! Have a great night!!

I Love Ice Cream!

2010-04-07T20:13:00.001-05:00

Happy Hump Day! Half way to the weekend!! Yay!! My day didn’t start off so well… The test I took this morning was super tough! All my class mates thought so. I’m dreading seeing what my grade is! But, after the test, I decided to give myself a school free day!! It was so nice and I got a lot accomplished!! I cleaned, planted some flowers, balanced my checkbook, did some laundry, and caught up on my DVR and magazine reading! It was quite nice!!

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I opted to do a speed work session on the treadmill today since there were wind gusts of 30mph! I don’t know what is up with the wind lately! It’s been crazy!! My run was tough! I had planned to do 1 mile warm up and 4X800 with recovery for a total of 4 miles. Well, I only made it 3 miles before I was dying so I called it a day. You win some, you lose some right? Hopefully I will have some better runs this weekend.

After running I finished up walking 1 mile and then took Sadie on a mile walk. Later this afternoon I walked another 2 miles on the treadmill while watching 90210 reruns. Lots of walking today!!

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Let’s talk eats!!

Breakfast:

Banana Oatmeal topped with Naturally More PB, Raspberries, and Shredded Coconut. I have missed my NM PB so much!! Glad I have it back in my life :) Spring Blend coffee on the side of course, and this morning was a 2 cup kinda morning!!

Doesn’t this look good?!? I love how pretty the Raspberries make it look!

Lunch:

I had the same Turkey and Swiss Bagel Sandwich as yesterday with a yogurt parfait on the side.

Turkey, Swiss, Cucs, and Mustard on a Bagel Thin. Make sure and toast the Bagel Thin and Melt the cheese on the Turkey. Delish!

Strawberry Chobani Greek Yogurt, Cantaloupe, and 1/4 cup PB Granola. Yum, yum!! I love yogurt parfaits!! This was the last of my Cantaloupe, so sad :(

Snack:

I had a mix of cereal as my afternoon snack. 3/4 cup Oh’s and 1/2 cup Quaker Oat Squares. Erin tells me they have the Cinnamon Quaker Oat Squares again! Can’t wait to try those!!

I also had a cup of Orange-Black Tea

Dinner:

I wanted something quick and easy for dinner so I whipped up some Annie’s Mac and Cheese. I added spinach and tomatoes to it for some oomph! It was good, kind of bland tasting though. Think it was missing something but I’m not sure what else I could have added… Any ideas?

And on the side: an Orange and some Roasted Cauliflower with Ketchup for dipping! I think Roasted Cauliflower might be my favorite Roasted Veggie! I love it!!

Dessert:

I bet you can’t guess what I had! Haha, Ice Cream of course! Just can’t get enough of the Samoa Ice Cream!!

I had 3/4 cup (1.5 servings) and it was AMAZING!! I love ice cream so much and just can’t seem to cut it from my diet. That’s why I am making sure I have enough calories each night to have some! Priorities, right?!

What is your favorite ice cream? My ABSOLUTE favorite is Cake Batter from Coldstone but I haven’t had it in forever! We don’t have a Coldstone close anymore so I am not able to get it :( But don’t worry, I make up for it with other flavors!!

I am so excited to read my new Runner’s World tonight!! Do y’all get that magazine? It’s my absolute fave!!

Well, gotta get to that! Have a great night! Fingers crossed that it doesn’t storm too bad here! Good night!

All I Do Is Study….

2010-04-06T21:11:00.001-05:00

Happy Tuesday Everyone!! How was you day?

I basically spent the whole day studying! Minus the time I was in class of course! I have a HUGE test tomorrow so the study time was much needed!! I am sad to say I wasn’t able to get a run in today. I seriously had no time and had to put studying as my number 1 priority. You just gotta do what you gotta do, you know?!

I was able to squeeze in 4.5 miles of treadmill walk/study in this afternoon! I get so much great studying done while walking on the treadmill! Anyone else do this? Now, you can’t go too fast, otherwise it’s hard to read! I usually walk at about 3.0 and today I found out that my text book balances perfectly on the little book ledge thing! Nice, right?! So, at least I got some calorie burning action in!!

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Check out this huge tub of Nonfat Plain Oikos I have!!

I used the free coupon the lovely Stonyfield people sent me to get a free 16 oz tub of this stuff!! I love Plain Greek yogurt! It’s so versatile! You can make it sweet or savory. I love to top all my Mexican dishes with it as a substitute for sour cream and I also love mixing granola and fresh fruit for a nice yogurt bowl!! Another one of my favorite ways to use this yogurt is to mix 2 TBSP in my Oatmeal!! It gives the Oatmeal such a rich and creamy taste! Try it!!

So if that was any indication of what I had for breakfast….

Banana Oatmeal with 2 TBSP Oikos added in and Raspberries and hidden PB as toppings! Delish!!

Aren’t those Raspberries gorgeous?!? Very tasty too, might I add!!

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Lunch today was a recreation of yesterday. But since I forgot to snap a picture yesterday, it’s all new for y’all!!

Turkey and Swiss Melt on a Bagel Thin, topped with Cucumbers and Mustard. Honey Whole Wheat Pretzels and Cantaloupe on the side.

The Cucs gave it a wonderful CRUNCH!! And this cantaloupe I got from the store this past weekend is super sweet and juicy!! Love it!!

My afternoon snack was an unpictured hodge podge of items including: carrot chips and NM PB(I restocked my stash!!), Oh’s cereal, and more Honey Whole Wheat Pretzels.

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Dinner was left over Sloppy Joes since they are so yummy! Plus, I didn’t have time to cook anything due to studying!! Worked out perfectly :)

I had a Sloppy Joe on a Honey Whole Wheat English Muffin, leftover Roasted Broccoli with BBQ sauce for dipping, and vegetarian baked beans.

Roasted veggies have transformed me! I used to not be a big veggie fan at all until I found the method of roasting! Now, I can’t get enough!!

And dessert was ice cream (of course!)

I had 1 cup (2 servings) of the Samoa’s Ice Cream. Luckily, this is only 120 calories for 1/2 a cup and I had plenty of calories left to have 2 servings! I don’t think I would be satisfied with just a half a cup of this stuff!! Haha!!

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I’m gonna get going now, I have another early morning wake up call to go take my test! But the good news is that after the test, I am giving myself the rest of the day off from school! And I have a ton of things that need to get done! Have a great night!!

Puppy Runs, Wedding Dress, and Ice Cream

2010-04-05T21:07:00.001-05:00

Evenin’ Bloggies! How was your start to the week? Mine was pretty good, if I do say so myself! My morning started off super early, at 5:15am, since I had to be at class at 8am. I always manage to have time for a yummy, filling breakfast though!!

Cereal it was again this morning!! In the mix:

1 cup Multigrain Cheerios
1/2 cup Quaker Oat Squares
1/2 cup skim milk
Raspberries

And some yummy Spring Blend coffee! Divine!

Mmmm, I love raspberries!! Although, I think blueberries are my ALL TIME fave! How about you, what’s your favorite berry?

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I got home from class around 11:15 and was so hungry and ready for lunch! I made a Turkey Sandwich on a Bagel Thin (have y’all tried these?), some veggies and hummus, and cantaloupe. I was so ready to eat that I forgot to take a picture! Woops! I gotta get back in the food blogger mode! Haha.

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Lunch really didn’t hold me over well and by 2:30 I was starving again! So, I had some cereal. I seriously can never have enough cereal!!

3/4 cup of Oh’s with 1/2 cup Almond Milk. Yum! Filled me right up!!

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After my snack, it was time to go to my first wedding dress fitting! Now, as I’m sure most of you know, I had a wedding dress issue when I first got my wedding dress sent to me! Well, everyone thought it looked great on me today and were hesitant to let it out a tiny bit like I was wanting! Luckily, they agreed to let it out 1 inch just for my comfort :) I know wedding dresses are supposed to fit snuggly, especially if it is a fitted dress like mine, but I am not comfortable in tight things! Guess I just gotta get used to it!! I absolutely LOVE it though and can’t wait to wear it!! It was fun to try it on again and have all the bridal salon people oh and ah over me! Hehe. Plus, I got to see how my shoes looked like with my dress!! Can’t wait to try it on again after they alter it! I am also getting a French Bustle added to it :)

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When I got home, I was ready to do some form of exercise. I immediately saw Sadie’s cute little face and knew I wanted to take her running! We did our usual run/walk increments of 2 mins running and 1 minute walking for 2 miles. Our first mile was a 10:38 pace and our second mile was at a 9:36 pace!! Crazy that out mile splits were so fast even with our walking segments!!When we were running, we were booking it! We finished out our workout with another 1 mile of walking. Sadie was so pooped when we go home! I on the other hand finished up with about 8 minutes of ab work.

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After getting a shower, it was time to make dinner! On the menu tonight: Erin’s Sloppy Joes!

These are the best Sloppy Joes ever! And the fact that you know all the ingredients that went into it is so much better than eating the Manwich kind out of the can!! We ate ours on Whole Wheat English Muffins! The fiancé gave this recipe 2 thumbs up :)

On the side: Broccoli roasted with garlic salt and pepper and Country Bob’s BBQ Sauce for dipping!

And a fruit salad that contained:

Mango
Cantaloupe
Raspberries
Clementine

Such a perfect dinner!!

And for dessert… ICE CREAM!! The problem was, which kind do I choose??

Peanut Butter Cup or Samoas??

How about both? Hehe :) Luckily, I had enough calories left (I’m still counting them everyday) to enjoy some of both!!

I love, love, love ice cream!! After this bowl, I seriously wanted another one!! Good thing I ran out of calories! Ha!!

That’s all for tonight!! I have another busy day tomorrow that is starting out with an early morning run (hopefully!!)!! Good night!!

Do you prefer working out in the morning, afternoon, or evening? I like morning workouts because it’s nice to get them out of the way first thing, but it’s been harder and harder for me to get them done!! I’ve been doing a lot more afternoon and evening workouts/runs and am really enjoying them! Sometimes a little change can really help get you motivated and out of a rut!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T21:19:00.001-05:00

He Is Risen!!

Happy Easter to everyone!! I am so thankful for my Savior who died on the cross and rose again, to forgive me of all my sins!! Thank you Jesus!!

Did y’all have a fabulous day today? I sure did! I really enjoyed our church service this morning and then spent the rest of the day with my family. Doesn’t get much better than that!

My morning started out with a wonderful bowl of cereal:

In the mix:

1/2 cup Quaker Oat Squares
1 cup of Organic Cinnamon Crunch Cereal
1/2 cup skim milk
And some BEAUTIFUL raspberries

It was a VERY good bowl of cereal! Actually kept me full until lunch! I think the key to eating cold cereal is mixing a couple different kinds and making sure you have some sort of fruit in it.

With my French Press coffee of course!

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For lunch after church, we headed to Perkins for brunch. I forgot to take pics but I had a veggie omelet made with egg beaters, a side of fresh fruit, and 1/2 of a Bran Muffin. It was delish!! I loved how Perkins has a nutrition calculator online so I was able to total up all the nutritional info before we went! That way, I knew what to order that was healthy!!

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After doing some reading for school for a couple hours, it was snack time at my parents!

Mimosas!!

With some fresh raspberries dropped in :)

And some cheese and crackers and popcorn.

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Dinner was a few hours later. I am now able to eat meat since Lent is over, but really wasn’t craving it at all! I just had one slice of turkey, that’s it!

On my plate:

Honey baked Turkey
2 deviled eggs
Potato salad
Cucumber and Onion salad
Fresh fruit
Roll

It was a VERY YUMMY dinner!!

And what meal is complete without dessert?!?

Angel Food cake with home made Raspberry Sauce!!

It was divine!! Loved every bite of it!! I also snacked on way too much candy today! Back to my healthy eating tomorrow :) Everyone deserves to splurge a bit on the holidays, right?!

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I have a long week ahead of me, super busy with school. But I hope to resume normal blog posting!! Tomorrow I have my 1st wedding dress fitting with the alterations place, so I’m excited to do that! It’s been a while since I’ve tried my dress on!!

This morning, I had a really nice, early morning 3 mile run at a 9:30ish pace. I liked running just as the sun was coming up, it’s been awhile!!

Well guys, gotta get to bed! Hope you have a wonderful night and a great start to your week!!

What did you do for Easter?

I’ll Try To Be Better…

2010-04-03T18:39:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! Hope your Saturday has been fabulous!! Sorry I have been so MIA the past couple weeks. I promise I’ll try to be better about blogging starting today! I can’t promise everyday posts right now, due to school craziness, but I will still continue to keep up with yummy recipes and eats so I can show y’all when I do post! How’s that sound?!

This morning I had a really yummy bowl of Purple Oats! Can y’all believe I haven’t had oats in like a week?? I’ve been eating cold cereal for breakfast, that’s all I’ve wanted! Maybe it’s the warmer temps….

In the mix:

1/3 cup oats
1/2 banana, mashed
1/3 cup Almond Milk
2/3 cup H20
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
Dash of cinnamon and almond extract
1 tsp Flax
Toppings: 1 TBSP White Chocolate Wonderful PB (hiding under the oats) and 1 TBSP coconut.

So delicious! Oh how I have missed my morning oats!! I love how melty the PB gets UNDER the hot oats! I won’t eat it any other way now!!

With my morning Cup O’Joe!

I picked up this Spring Blend Coffee at The Fresh Market yesterday. It says it’s a creamy blend of caramel and butterscotch. And is smells so much like butterscotch, made my whole house smell yummy!! I absolutely LOVED it!

Brewing away in the French Press. BTW, I don’t think I will ever go back to my Mr.. Coffee! I love the French Press!!

Nice and frothy :)

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Yesterday, my mom and I did some major shopping! We were mainly on the hunt for dresses. One for me for the rehearsal dinner and one for her for my wedding! We had no luck with the dresses but found all kinds of other stuff!! One of my most exciting purchases were 2 headbands from Ann Taylor Loft! I love headbands!

This one is coral with flowers

And this one is beige with some beading

I’m actually wearing this one today!

Cute, right?!?

Do you like wearing headbands?

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I haven’t had much time to run this week either, but I did have a GREAT run today!! The weather was beautiful today, high 70’s and super sunny!! I got out around lunch time and did 4 miles at a 9:10 pace. It felt good to run!! After that I walked 2 more miles, 1 with Sadie and one on the treadmill watching some TV.

I decided to sit outside and do some studying, just because it was too nice to be inside!! I got a little sunburned on my shoulders and chest. Yikes! Don’t worry, I picked up some sunscreen today at the store that I will definitely be applying anytime I go outside!!

Sadly, my sports bra tan is back in full force. I think my only option to get rid of it without other tan lines showing in my wedding dress is to go to the tanning bed. I am NOT a tanning bed person. Too worried about skin cancer and wrinkles so I have no clue when or how many times I need to go to fix my sports bra tan lines for my wedding in June. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Well guys, gotta jet! I’m off to Bonefish for dinner with a friend!! Tonight is my last night of NO MEAT!! I am ready to eat some turkey tomorrow!! I will do a post soon about my thoughts on going MEATLESS and how it affected my life! Have a great night!!

Beautiful Windy Day

2010-03-31T20:07:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! Sorry I haven’t written in a few days, I have been super busy with school! We started our Skills Lab this week which means I have to spend a lot more time at school. Skills lab was so fun this week! We learned how to intubate (put a breathing tube in)! Of course we used a dummy and not a real person, but it’s just so nice to actually start doing all the things we have been learning about! I was totally in my element and it makes me super pumped for clinicals to start in September! But there is a lot to get done between now and then!

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Workouts this week have been kind of random! Monday I did a really good Circuit Training workout that had me super sore! I’m still sore today! Yesterday, I took Sadie on a long walk, and then walked on the treadmill for 4.5 miles while I practiced my presentation that I had to give today! I was finally able to get out for a run today! But, holy wind! The wind was so strong, gusts 20+ miles per hour! That made this run tough! Other than the wind, the day was beautiful and I think the high was around 80! I ran 3 miles by myself (@ a 9:20 pace) and then picked up Sadie and we run/walked 2 more miles. We did run for 2 minutes, walk for 1 minute and she seemed to do really well with that! I love running with my girl!! After we got finished with that, I walked 2.5 more miles on the treadmill while catching up on some DVR. I guess today was all about some cardio! Haha :) Between all the miles I put in today and the soreness that I still have from Monday, my body feels beat! But in a good way of course!!

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I have been using my new French Press and LOVE IT!! It’s amazing at how much better coffee tastes when made by a French Press!!

It even has it’s own little “jacket” to keep the coffee warm!

Workin’ it’s magic

Mmm, mmm, good! Love the froth!!

If you don’t have a French Press, I think it would be a very wise investment! If you like coffee of course :)

Do you prefer French Press coffee?

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I don’t really have much else to talk about, my life is seriously overwhelmed with school right now!! I get to start eating meat again on Sunday (Easter) so hopefully after that I will start actually cooking dinners and have more recipes and yummy eats for y’all! Right now I feel like all I do is throw random things together and call it a meal! Haha :)

Alright guys, gotta jet! Hope y’all are having wonderful weeks! We are halfway to the weekend! Yay!!