Crappy Runs (the exercise not the shits)

My run this morning was ROUGH.. it was only 4 miles (with 2 miles as a tempo- 8:30) I paused the treadmill at least 5 times. My legs felt like lead and my head just wasn’t really in it. 

Whatever, I got it done and over with. 

But lets backtrack a little.

Yesterday I did the second workout of the BBB- though my gym doesn’t have Bosu balls so I had to modify some of the exercises. I rocked my newish bright pants

 Later I did some grocery shopping. James came home from work and we took the dogs for a hike

(Yup.. I’m still wearing the same clothes.. lol)

 We found this old fireplace in the middle of nowhere 

 Crossed a scary dam- which I almost fell into 3 times

 And thoroughly exhausted the dogs.. (And ourselves- we were STARVED)  Tuna was totally zoned out in the car ride back

We covered 4.5 miles. 

While driving home, we devised a plan for dinner.. Divide and conquer! James took care of the ground lamb making it into burgers- seasoned with rosemary and feta cheese. I popped the sweet potatoes in the microwave (fastest way!) and started to steam the kale. Dinner was ready in 15 minutes flat..

I kind of inhaled the kale before I cared about taking a picture.. oh and ground lamb is amazing BTW.. holy moly! 

So yeah.. Back to today.. 

Crappy run, Check. 

I was supposed to give a massage- but that got canceled. Instead I’m having a second cup of coffee before cleaning and then heading out to my Tattoo Consultation appointment! The rest of the night will be time with clients. 

Who’s doing Best Body Bootcamp out there?? 

Have you ever had lamb? What’s your favorite way to prepare/eat it?

Been on any crappy runs lately? How about great hikes?

Making space + Best Body Bootcamp

April 

 Where is the time going? I’m having trouble keeping track of what day it is at this point.

BUT

Monday marked the first day of Best Body Bootcamp!

I am pretty excited about the next 8 weeks- I have been really slack-a-lackin with my strength WOs since I’ve been running more- and when I do get around to hitting the weight room, I’m kind of stuck in a rut with the same old exercises- and after making workouts for others, I start to lose my inspiration for keeping things exciting for myself.. Going by rave reviews of previous participants BBB is exactly the perfect fit! 

Since I didn’t have a chance to get the fit test done this past weekend, I started my workout with it Monday at home- and then headed out to the gym to complete the first workout. Honestly Tina’s workout was sneaky.. While I was completing it, it didn’t seem all that tough- I was wrong. Later Monday night I also taught class- and I knew then that I was going to be in trouble Tuesday morning because I was already sore! (And Hungry)

Luckily, I have the best husband- and he had dinner ready and waiting for me

New to us method of cooking Cod fish- Broiled with lemon zest/juice and walnuts with some spices. Seriously fantastic! (Loosely adapted from Practical Paleo) Along with Roasted asparagus and potato. 

We closed the night with a little Redbox movie. Chasing Mavericks- based on a true story and was a really good movie. You should check it out! 

Tuesday I woke up, had some coffee and a little breakie

Fage 2%, banana, chia seeds, walnuts and coconut flakes. 

While eating breakfast I snapped a picture of the boys

 Tuna has a very expressive face- it kills me. 

As it turns out, I was right about being sore.. my legs were like lead, but thankfully even though my training plan has me increasing to 4 runs a week instead of 3 (This week- and for the remainder) , I only had 2 miles scheduled for this day. It was super sunny out, and had been really mild the day before so I thought it would be a perfect time to get used to running outside. 

Ok.. it was a bit colder than I had anticipated! But I was done in 18 minutes, so it really didn’t matter much. 

I headed out to work at the restaurant- and put in my two weeks notice toward the end of the day. I’ve done the whole “Stay at a job you hate because you need money and its the responsible thing to do- and then hate your life each time you have to work” thing… I did it at Denny’s for years.. and I just can’t do it to myself again- life is just too short.. so this was the right thing to do. 

I felt so much better :)

Sometimes, you have to make space in your life for positive things by getting rid of things that are not serving you.. or letting go of things or people that have a hold on you. 

I’m open for new opportunities! 

HAPPY EASTER!!

Hope your face deep in a basket full of candy and enjoying a peep show with your closest family and friends

HAPPY EASTER!!! 

More eggs from our dye session

Photos of awesomeness (from the last couple days)

Hey Friday! 

I thought I’d keep this short and sweet tonight with a few snapshots of the last couple of days.. you know.. all the awesome stuff I can be grateful for or just think is pretty cool. 

I’m getting a whole lot better at this whole gel-eyeliner-girly-winged-kindofthing

 I dig it :)

I found the perfect frame to showcase my little Hydro-face’s paw print at T.J.Maxx that also happens to go perfectly on the very in-progress wall collage 

 It was only $6 and was supposed to just be a table-top frame, but I finagled it to hang on the wall.

(P.S.- I made a consult appointment with my tattoo artist for next week to chat about my Hydro tattoo and I’m super PUMPED about it!) 

There was awesome coffee hangout time with Paula at Felicia’s coffee (that cookie must weigh in a pound at least.. High fiber chocolate chip cookies for the win! I didn’t have any of it.. but it looked so yum!)

Tuna is super serious- and I whipped out the flippy-floppys for real.. Hello Spring!

While hanging out with Paula we went to Target.. I found two tanks for under $3 each and a pair of pants for $7- Score! This tank is my favorite.. because it’s covered in hott pink stars.. DUH

Even though my hip hurt like a Mofo, I still managed to get my training run pounded out

I convinced myself that it would all be worth it because it was massage day! This session was supposed to be Thai massage, but Jess forgot to wear yoga clothes, and you can’t do Thai massage in jeans.. but it all worked out for the best because she kicked my ass with an hour and 45 minutes of super intense, deep tissue work- which I so desperately needed. 

I woke up this morning feeling completely (muscle) pain free- there are definitely a couple of sore spots where she really dug in- but my hip hasn’t felt this good in weeks! I felt so great when I woke up this morning I texted her.. JUST to thank her.. I don’t know how I got so lucky to find someone to barter massages.. but I’m and so grateful.. And I’m sure my body is too! 

I taught a very unstructured yoga class later in the evening.. It was one of those classes where you just can’t focus the students (or yourself- I’m probably the worst teacher in the world- lol).. or wrangle them even a little to get some good yoga work in.. so instead to ended early and went to share some sangria.. 

I love my students.. 

After a decent nights sleep (which was awesome because I slept about 2 hours broken sleep the night before) I made an awesome paleo breakfast

 With a honking big cup of coffee of course.. 

I followed it up with some attempted yoga.. Tuna still doesn’t get the concept of mom working out.. 

 So yoga quickly turned into photo-session

 These dogs are too much! 

I think I managed about 15 minutes of Tuna-interupted yoga before hitting the shower and taking the pup for a training walk.. playing Red Light.. Green light.. Good news is he still remembered the game (even though it had been close to a week since last we played) We managed 2-3 blocks around the neighborhood! 

Afterwards I took Tuna along for a ride to Wholefoods- (Sammy kind of hates the car so he only really goes in it when we are taking him to the woods for a hike) it is the only store around here that I can buy grass fed cows milk.. and I NEED it for my coffee.. I also bought some more Fage yogurt too :) 

I used some of the yogurt, a big spoonful of almond butter and some cinnamon to make a dip for my work lunch

Lunch was awesome.. Work was not.. The oven caught fire- and shit got real.. I realized I would be a terrible person in an emergency.. I freaked out a bit. Thankfully no one got hurt and it was more shocking than serious.. but I left early (which is always awesome in my eyes) and walked with $14 in my pocket.. Tomorrow’s workday is sure to be interesting! 

Running distance + return of old favorites + fuel

There are a ton of people out in the world that love running.. like REALLY love it- and they are good at it to boot. 

I am NOT one of those people.. 

Sure I enjoy an occasional pounding of the pavement- but the day in, day out training.. kind of blows. 

It really isn’t something I’m passionate about. 

So you might be wondering why I’m training for a half marathon in May.

Yeah, You and Me both, Hah. 

In reality, I don’t really think our bodies are designed to run long distances all the time (Or maybe at all).. it is super stressful to our systems and is kind of unnatural. (That being said, I have always been envious of folks that run half and full marathons and wanted to be part of the club- because I think they and it’s awesome!) Speaking for myself, I have always been a sprinter- during my swimming years I never really raced anything over 200 meters- and most of the time 50’s and 100’s.

But honestly, this is all about the challenge. I already KNOW I can do stuff for speed..  

I really just want to prove to myself that I can “go the distance” .. and that includes following through and checking off each of my training runs- no matter how much I want to stay under the covers or have multiple cups of coffee and waste time on Facebook. 

Hey, if your not challenging yourself, your not changing yourself.. right?

Tuesday was another 5 mile “easy" run. But first there was a return of an old favorite for breakfast

2% Fage plain yogurt, banana, Almond butter.. Oh yogurt, I’ve missed you so!

 Paula joined me on the neighboring treadmill and kept me company.. which was awesome and made the run go by fairly quickly. I felt really good after this run, and I even foam rolled afterwards. I may have even discovered why people like running long distances

Haribo gummy bears and coconut water, making 7AM 5 mile runs awesome and worth it! 

  Unfortunately, my body didn’t appreciate any of it… My right hip is very angry.. so is my left knee. 

 I went to work with something a little new in my lunch box

Plantains pan fried in coconut oil. Oh my… they are amazing. 

Plantains are super cheap (3 for $1 at my local grocery) full of good, healthy carbs and double the vitamins of bananas. Plus they are yummy :)

1st Days of Spring

Holy Crickets.. Nothing like skipping out for the whole week, eh? 

First of all- I want to wish you a Happy First Day of Spring!

Apparently RI didn’t get the memo.. and we woke up to “First Day of Spring” Snow.. 

Which was really a bummer because two days before I was brushing off the stuff too

Fingers crossed Spring really does decide to head on over.. we are WAITING!

You know you wanna ;)

 In the meantime, I’m working on getting more protein in my diet.. and more balanced meals over all. One of my lunches 

A can of tuna with salt, pepper, onion and hot sauce with cucumber slices for easy transport into my belly.. and carrots of course. 

This last week I was a snack monster. I couldn’t get enough food- maybe it was because of my period.. but I also think I’ve been lacking balance in my meals. Since I started cutting back on dairy- my breakfasts have been lacking protein and substance.. but I really hadn’t been replacing that void. This week I’m keeping better tabs on things and also focusing on water intake, adequate sleep, and actually sitting down at meal times (instead of eating standing up at the kitchen counter on the run).

It really is a challenge to fuel yourself properly when your a fitness instructor. Add in waitressing (where you have no breaks and have to inhale food when your hungry- most  of the time standing up) and you have a dangerous combo.. Not only do I eat quickly, but I’m constantly eating on the run, having snacks to hold me over (because I can’t teach/workout with a full or empty tummy) until mealtimes, and then eating super late and going right to bed.. It is a mess!

It’s time to find the balance!

On Friday James and I played hooky.. and had some much needed time together- we started off with an amazing lunch at a little italian deli James has been wanting to take me to.. And while we had an amazing spread- my phone had a fit and wouldn’t let me take any pictures.. BOO.. It was amazing home cooked food.. YUM.. 

Followed by a little dessert

 Cappuccino Crunch and Raspberry Gelato 

Tuna’s first off-leash hike!

We made some spicy italian sausage (as per my family- and now James’s tradition)

We closed out the night with a little movie action

Saturday, James and I both had to work, though he was out of the house much earlier than I was (somewhere around 5AM)

I still got up around 7 and headed out for my “long” run of the week before heading to work

(WOW my legs were exhausted for the rest of the weekend)

I had a pretty awful day at work (Quite the pattern.. I’m in the market for a new one)

But James and I had dinner and headed out for a little drinky, drink.

(Yes it’s the same ginger martini.. I’m in love)

For the first time ever, I made bar friends! James and I had the best conversation with two gentleman, both named Richard. I’m pretty sure we are all besties forever now.  

(I possibly had a bit too much to drink.. since our BFFs insisted on buying us a few.. )

I don’t have a single picture of Sunday- We did some mundane things.. like clean the entire refrigerator, vacuum and clean my car, bought Tuna some new dog food (we suspect that he has some food allergies- to chicken and eggs so far) So far, so good- no face itching or “digestive upset” Woohoo!. Went out to breakfast (I most definitely had some bites of James blueberry pancakes).. Had a real Sunday dinner (Leg of lamb in the crockpot with steamed brussels sprouts and salad) and got some rest on the couch with a couple of movies.

       

The perfect ending to a busy week!

Today

Started out with a monster cup of coffee, two eggs and a banana. Followed by a little workout- courtesy of ZWOW 61.

Then there was a frenzy of cleaning and errands- crossing off an entire page full of “To-do’s” There was a little break for lunch

Leftovers on salad- simple and awesome.

While eating lunch, I continued to read 

The book FINALLY made it to the library (I ordered it at least a month ago) and even though I’m only partially through the book- I love it.. I may have to purchase my own copy!