Eggscellent Tea

So today has been pretty much awesome.

Started with this:

Lefty!

Kashi + Almond Milk + 1/2 naner + Berries

Filling!

Nevertheless, I am never one to turn down food. My stomach was growling again, by lunch anyway. I mean Kashi is filling, but for 4.5 hours?

So I made a salad.

 

Salad + Egg.

This was SO good. Sometimes I forget how much I love eggs. I love them a lot.

And now for the question asked by all: What is a snack with no peanut butter?

Not this one, judging by the picture. Graham crackers + White Chocolate Wonderful = winner, winner.

Speaking of the peanut butter, it came in my Bloggie Secret Santa gift I got last Thursday.

Whoever you are [as my Santa chose to remain anonymous] THANK YOU! This is filled with all the lovely things I enjoy. I would say I can’t wait to dig in, but as you can see I already did.

After work I went to yoga with Kasey at Y2 Yoga, where we met up with Emily + Amanda. It was just what I needed tonight; an hour and a half of hot yoga. I am SO TIGHT. I had the hardest time with some of the easiest poses, and I kept slipping on the balance poses. One time I even got my right and my left mixed up. So embarrassing. Alas, I survived, and shall be back! Kasey and I got the month special, so we plan to make use of it. Many more trips to Y2 Yoga in our future!

Once home, I made a quickie dinner of:

[Righty!] EGGS! [told you they were delicious today!]

Unfortunately, my eyes were bigger than my stomach so only half of this was consumed.

Along with a gulp of sparkling grape juice…

[finished the bottle!]

and a mug of hot tea!

Stacey gave me a mix of fruit teas for Christmas, and although I am not a huge tea drinker [coffee!] I do on occasion enjoy it, and this black cherry blend hit the spot!

Thanks for pointing me in a new beverage direction, Stacey! I think I just may become a tea drinker after all.

 

What’s your hot beverage of choice?

Coffee? Tea? Hot Chocolate? Cider, maybe?

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Just like her sister

Hey there, friends!

Can you believe it’s December 1st already?!?!

Not me!

I sure can’t!

Had oatmeal today though.

It was yummy.

Now that.

That’s believable. 

• 1/2 cup oats
• protein powder
• almond milk
• banana
• pb
• jam

Love me some protein oats with pb&j! My belly does too. It was full ALL MORNING! ♥ that.

Also ♥ leftovers. They make life so easy. ‘Specially when it’s flying by.

Steamed broccoli + taco soup.

My aunt Jennifer made this taco soup last night, and she so kindly gave me a portion for my lunch. I just heated it up in my breakfast bowl, and it tasted good as new!

Beans and rice!

On the side I steamed some broccoli in the microwave.

Gourmet cook, I am not.

But it was tasty.

****

Side note:

Little sis got her braces off!

MILESTONE!

Look how pretty she is.

Just like her sister[s].

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I just wanna dance…

I did it!

Today I ran 20 miles, and it felt SO AWESOME!

10 + 10 = 20! [PS: Don’t you like my free Elevation tee?]

I was up at 5:30 and fixed a banana w/ PB for breakfast.

Glory in a skin.

Then I was off to the Dowd YMCA to meet up with the other ‘marathon preview runners’ for the second half of our Thunder Road preview run. Good news Sarah + Emily! The last half is pretty much flat! It was so awesome!

The first 13 miles I ran today went through uptown, NoDa [!!!] and Midtown, some of my favorite areas of Charlotte. I’m really excited for the second half of the race now!

I lucked up on the last 7 miles. I thought I was going to have to run it alone, but I had my iPod, and I was gearing myself up for it when I got back to the Y. As I was walking to my car for more water a guy said ‘Good job!’ I noticed he was filling up his water bottles, so I inquired as to whether he was running extra. Guess what? HE WAS!

I ran the last 7 miles with David, his wife Katie and their friend Evelyn. Evelyn had a Garmin, so it made it SO EASY. [I really HAVE to invest in one of those!] They ran about the same pace I did, and it was really nice getting to know them. I hope to see them at the marathon! Maybe we can encourage each other in the race too. David was a great motivator! He certainly kept everyone’s spirits up, which I needed, especially in those last two miles.

Thanks guys, for letting me run with you! I really appreciated it!

I came home took an ice bath and fixed up some green power:

Fave cup.

Green goop.

• frozen naner
• MORE PB
• 1 scoop protein powder
• almond milk
• ice
• spinach [green power!]

Now what to do with the rest of my day? Mere is at the track, and she wants me to come watch the boys do their thang, but I just wanna dance.

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Country Girl

Hi guys!

Sorry about my lack of dinner posts lately. The CMAS were on last night and so I had to catch up on my country music peeps. You guys know how I love my country!

Speaking of which, how good does Reba look these days?

I just love her.

Today started like many others…

with oatmeal!

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• banana
• White Chocolate Wonderful

Unfortunately in my distraction of oatmeal making + eating I walked out and left my phone on the counter. I feel so naked with out it.

But I did remember my lunch!

PB&J + Carrot sticks!

Am I 10?

****

Are you a country music fan? If so, did you watch the CMAS last night? Thoughts?

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10 things

Continuing in the vein of Facts About Me:

1. I think Banana Oatmeal is the best kind. Especially with a dollop of White Chocolate Wonderful PB.

2. I like pretty bowls. Especially from Target.

3. I actually just like Target. A LOT.

4. I adore leftovers for lunch. Means I can sleep in. *yawn*

5. I like my leftover pizza cold.

6. I only ate 3/4 of what is pictured here.

7. A lot of running planned for me this weekend! Half marathon + a run with Stacey. Love.

8. The thought of running a marathon scares me.

9. The thought of running a marathon in 5 weeks TERRIFIES me.

10. All those fears will be alleviated if I do well in my race tomorrow. *fingers crossed!*

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rain, rain, go away

Ta da!

I am better!

And I owe it all to my breakfast this morning.

Green Monster, how did I forget you?

Well, never mind that. Just glad I remembered him and his healing powers.

In the VitaMix:

• 1 frozen banana
• almond milk
• 4 cups spinach
• 1 spoonful PB
• 1 scoop protein powder
• ice

Lovely.

So thanks to the power of green monster and green monster alone, I managed to make it to work this morning.

And now it’s time for lunch!

Which is a PB&J and grapes.

 

It was the easiest thing to grab at 7 am.

Speaking of 7 am.

Since I am well, I am planning to do my run tomorrow.

Yeah, it looks like I will have to be running at 7 am if that’s gonna happen.

What is gonna happen: Me going to bed at 9 pm tonight so that is even a remote possibility.

See ya before 9!

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Bowls, pt. 2

Ok, it’s gray around here again.

Yep, that means day of bowls #2!

Today’s breakfast bowl featured PB&J oatmeal, which consisted of:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup water
• mashed banana
• flax
• pb
• Je’s jam!

I went from EMPTY to FULL in about .005 seconds! Seriously, oatmeal has been keeping me SO FULL in the mornings lately. I love it.

Except, then I haven’t really been hungry at lunch.

But when you have delicious ingredients, you must use them, right?

Yes, you must.

You must use them to make delicious STIRFRY!

So that you can eat it out of a MUG!

With GRAPES!

GRAPES! are so delicious right now, no?

GRAPES! and APPLES! [now I want to go apple picking.]

****

So, as you saw my friend Amanda got married over the weekend. [Congrats to her!]

All your comments + my own thoughts got me thinking…am I going to be the last one to get married? Should I be worried that I am not even in a relationship [of any kind?] I mean, most of my friends are married. Gah, some of the even have KIDS! [Mama D. made certain of that not happening by giving birth to a little devil angel at a most opportune time in my life.]

I feel sort of behind, even though I am really happy with where I am in life.

What about you?

Are all your friends married, pregnant or in serious relationships? Do you often find yourself chilling with a cup of coffee watching Gossip Girl alone? [GG is my show of choice, insert your own here.] If you are in the same boat as me, do you find it a little strange? Like everything is happening so fast? And how did it happen?

As to not end this on a downer [not that I am down about that, as stated earlier] can I mention something I am excited about?

CharlotteONE is tonight! Yay, I get to connect!

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Done work

Breakfast awaits.

Just on the other side…

Is a steaming cup of java.

A strawberry Chobani.

Topped with granola.

 

And no, it’s no longer awaiting.

‘Tis long gone.

As for these carrots and triple layer hummus?

Gone.

PB&J?

Gone and gone.

I have done some work on some food today. Yes I have.

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So you had a bad day…

Well, more like a bad run, actually, but we shall get to that.

My day started with this:

A PACKAGE!

What was in that package, but FOOD!

I was lucky enough to win some homemade jam off the lovely Je’s blog. She is uberfunny and honestly has the cutest blog name ever, so I was super stoked. After receiving this, I knew just what I wanted for bfast.

PB&J oats.

Unfortunately the lid was stuck on the jar. I tried, and Mama D. tried, and we could not get it to budge.

So I settled for some of Mama D.’s jam.

‘Twas wonderful, I can’t complain. I just wish it was blackberry.

*Note, after church my dear soon to be bro-in-law Matt was able to get the obstinate lid off the jar. All is well.

Also after church, I skipped lunch in favor of pb toast and a run.

It was the worst run of my entire life. Including the time I called my sister to come pick me up. It was that bad.

My first mistake was running in the afternoon. I do terrible on afternoon runs, and I know this. Also for some reason Charlotte has not gotten the notice that it is FALL, and it was 80 degrees. Not hot, but not pleasant by any means.

Anyway, I had 14 miles scheduled, and like the stubborn brat I am, I was determined to do it.

The first two miles started off really well, and as far as I can figure I was clocking a 9:30 pace. It was a little warm, but nothing I could not handle.

I started slowing down around mile 3 though, and turned back toward the house so I could use the rest room. (Not trying to be gross, here those are just the facts.) Around this time I also had 1/2 a clif bar to refuel.

After my stop at the house, I had done about 4.5 miles, and figured the last 10 would be no problem.

Was I ever wrong.

Around mile 6 I started cramping in my left calf. Every time my foot hit the pavement a dull cramp would shoot up my leg. Eventually the dull pain turned into a sharp pain and I could not go on any longer.

I knew if I did I would seriously injure myself or worse. I really had no choice but to turn around and head home. I ran/walked the last four miles home for a total of 10 miles.

I immediately iced my calf and then soaked in a hot bath, but my calf still feels painfully tight.

I don’t know what to do!

I have a 5k this weekend, a half in November and a marathon in December.

As I am in the middle of training for all these, I just can’t see taking weeks off to heal, as I normally would.

I think I will go to yoga tomorrow, and see if it’s not something that will stretch out, take Tuesday off completely and then wrap my leg for a short run on Wednesday.

I seriously hope this helps, if not I am going to be in big trouble!

After my soak in the tub, I baked some tofu and had some much needed greens in my life.

• 1 head boston lettuce
• 3 slices tofu
• soy cheese
• cherry tomatoes

Between the cheese and my tofu, I probably got my allotted amount of soy today.

I also had some grapes on the side.

Despite the blinding flash due to the darkness outside, these were quite tasty and wonderful.

****
My question for you is this: Have you ever experienced injury while training for a race? If so what did you do with training? How do I continue training without further injuring myself?

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orange you glad it’s Tuesday?

Wow, the Why I Run stories are great! Keep ‘em coming!

I was also inspired by Megan’s post this morning, simply titled ‘Running’. In it she talks about the health benefits of running, as well as how she became a runner. Like many of us, when Megan began her journey of running, she couldn’t even run a mile. Her hard work and dedication paid off and Megan just finished the Susan G. Komen 5k in NYC this past Sunday, and also just signed up for her first half marathon! Way to go Megan!

****

Look what I found in the cabinet this morning.

I went from to when I realized what this meant.

Oats in a jar!

Never mind the flax. I went a little flax happy this morn.

Under the flax lies a big batch of pumpkin oats. Yum!

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

Oh.My.Goodness.

This was simply divine. There are no other words.

Lonchi ‘twas yummy as well.

Just a simple veggie wrap consisting of:

• carrot
• zucchini
• romaine
• hummus
• flat out

It was what was on the side that counted.

Sweet tater fries, it’s been too long!

Due to this being a particularly Hugh Jass tater, I was not able to finish all the goodness that was these lovelies. It’s just as well, because that’s a lot of orange.

• pumpkin
• carrot
• sweet potato

In just two meals, too!

****

Surprise baking revealed!

Some of you were right, in guessing chocolate zucchini cupcakes! These lil’ buggers raised $35.00 for breast cancer research. Now I’m off to the post office so that the lucky winner will receive them in a timely manner.

But first, a few things that are making me happy this Tuesday.

 

Like my headband? I do. 

I like even more the fact that I swiped it off my sister’s dresser. It doesn’t even belong to me.

I’m also really excited for my new bible study that starts tonight. I am hoping to make lots of new friends.

What are you excited for today/this week?

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