Sweet and Savory By Sarah

Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon

2013-05-21T17:17:00.001-05:00

With finishing this half marathon, I finally feel like my body has improved over time and it shows with my ability to run two half marathons two weeks apart and still feel normal.   I remember last year, after running my first half marathon, that my legs were dead.   They didn't want to function for at least a couple of weeks after and even then, it was a slow come back.

On the morning of the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon/Half Marathon I got up nice and early at 4 am.   I wanted to shower before hand because I knew the temps were going to be warm and I wanted my hair to be damp before even starting.   I also think showering really wakes me up and makes me feel alive. At 5am Lish picked me up and we made the 45 minute drive to Green Bay.   Parking was easy and everything was smooth running.

My goals for the race was to have fun.   Like I previously posted, I had struck gold and got a bib for free from a man named Joe.   I had not planned to run this race because it was only 2 weeks after the Wisconsin half and I wasn't sure I would be up to it.   The half marathon sold out way early so that was that.   Luck would have it that I happened to see someone wanting to give their bib away at no cost on the marathon's Facebook wall.   When I met Joe at the expo to get my bib, his only request was to pay it forward :)   I plan on it!

Right before the start I had to pee...like I really did have to pee.   I lined up in the porta potty lines and waited and waited.   The line was very slow moving and they were singing the national anthem so I decided to skip the porta potties and line up.   Within a couple minutes, we were off.

I felt great at first.   With having no goals, I settled in easily and just took it all in.   I people watched a lot.   I looked at peoples shoes. Their clothes. Their strides and I just ran while observing.   I noticed right away that it was warm.   Really warm.   People were already full of sweat by two miles in. Another thing I noticed was how some people sweat a lot and some people had no sweat on them at all.

The course is pretty flat with a just a few inclines and declines.   There wasn't much wind at all.   You wind through city streets and nice tree lined neighborhoods.   The spectator support is the best I've seen yet.   There was never a time that there weren't people out there cheering you on.   Sometimes the crowd was three people deep. It was awesome.

At about 6 miles in is when I took my first walk break up an incline.   I was really hot by that point and needed a breather.   I know once I walk though, it means there will be more walk breaks but I was okay with it.   Today was for fun.   Shortly after that point I heard my name from the crowd and was surprised to see someone I work with out there spectating. It was great to see her for the quick boost.

After that I would run for about a mile or so and then walk through the water stations.   It was working and my pace was still alright even with that.   At about mile 10 I saw Matt spectating and once again got a little bit of a boost when he yelled out my name.   Miles 11-12 are pretty dang boring.   You go through a more commercial type of area with no trees and the sun was beating down on me.   I was ready to be out of the sun.    At this point I also saw a person being taken away in an ambulance.   It always makes you feel odd to keep running when others aren't able to.   I saw a total of 3 people down from the warm temps and 1 person dry heaving on the sidewalk throughout the race.   It's just a quick reminder to take it easy when we aren't quite acclimated to the warmer temperatures yet.

Before you know it, there it was. Lambeau......The finish.   YES!   I made my way through the tunnel, down into Lambeau Field and just reminded myself to be thankful for the day and for the ability to run this race.   My brain was in a happy place the whole time and I never had the feeling of "I hate this!" or "Why do I do this?!" It was wonderful.

I exited Lambeau and headed to the finish line and sprinted it in. I was done. Just like that, it was over. Time really does go quickly when you're running a race.

Official Time: 2:10:43

Not my fastest half marathon but also not my slowest. I was completely happy with it.

I would absolutely do the Green Bay half/full marathon again. Everything was well run and went smoothly. The course is great is the spectators and volunteers are amazing. If there was anything I would say to improve on is more outdoor porta potties near the start line. I had to hold my pee the entire race (could have stopped at a water stop to pee but didn't want to) because there were too many people in line before the race. Also the toilet paper ran out in every single porta potty after the race and no one was there to refill them.

What's Beautiful and I WILL

2013-05-16T21:32:00.000-05:00

This post is sponsored by Under Armour through FitFluential

In the past couple of weeks, blogs have been taken over with Under Armour's new campaign for What's Beautiful. It's all about redefining what we see as beautiful and setting our goals higher and doing everything we can to achieve them. That in its own is beautiful.

Accomplishment is beautiful. As an athlete, I know the feeling of beauty. When I cross a barrier never crossed before, it's one of the most amazing and beautiful feelings. I actually had a friend just this week ask me if I feel beautiful after running a long distance. At first I looked at her and thought "NO! I look my worst once I finish running!" But then I got to thinking about it and I realize exactly what she meant. She gets it and she isn't even a runner.

#Whatsbeautiful is feeling comfortable with who you are while still trying to improve yourself!

There is still a fine line in all of this if you ask me. While we always want to improve ourselves and be better than we were the day before, we also need to feel comfortable with who we are and love ourselves for what we are today. It took a lot of work to get to where we are today and it's an ongoing process to become something....or someone that we truly want to be but be proud of the journey. As long as you're always open to learning, you will continue to grow.

One of my favorite things about this campaign is that it's all women working together. It's not every woman for herself. You can join teams to motivate each other and to keep each other on track. There is also opportunities to win some great swag from Under Armour, including a trip to Costa Rica!

If you would like to sign up, you can do so here. You can also follow me here! I'd love to follow you as well.

My goals are to run a Sub 2 half marathon. I'm close, but just not there yet. I also need some redeption on last years marathon. I will run a sub 4:20 full marathon. I have all summer to work toward these goals and will do everything I can to do them.

What are your goals this year?

Your goals for the Under Armour campaign can be ANYTHING. They do not have to involve running. It's all about pushing your limits and going beyond anywhere you've been before. I will. Will you?

Things I'm Loving....or should I say Buying

2013-05-16T20:10:00.000-05:00

Help me. I can't seem to stop buying things. Internet shopping just makes it way too easy to buy things, especially when I've memorized my card numbers and can type it without even thinking anymore. My bank account isn't thanking me but it's like Christmas every day when I get home and there is a box on the counter waiting for me. Mike doesn't even comment on the amount of boxes coming to the house, so he must not mind. Right?

So what am I buying? It started with this:

My justification on this was that I was eying them from last year and then Mothers Day came around and Mike didn't get me anything (nor did the girls) so I bought it as my own gift to myself. I have signed up for another full marathon and because of that, I'm going to need plenty of hydration on my long runs and my fuel belt sort of hurts my hips when running with it so I'll give this a go for a while and see how I like it.

A little side note here. Mike sent flowers to my work on Tuesday. I always thought it would be really cool to have flowers sent to me at work but have never had it happen. I sort of never thought it would happen but when the florist walks up to you (you're the first person he sees) and says "I'm looking for a Sarah ____." I just about died. My face must have turned so red.

The next purchase was these beauts:

I love Pro Compression socks and once again, if I'm going to be doing more races and having longer weekend runs, I need more than the 3 pairs I have. At least that's what I'm telling myself. I hope these aren't too bright.

The marathon Yellow are their sock of the month and you can get them shipped for $30.00 with the code SOM5.

Then since I'm on a role I went ahead and bought a veggie steamer. This one to be exact:

It's the Oxo Grips Silicone Steamer.   Since we are only 1 month out from the farmers markets here in Wisconsin, I need another option than just roasting my veggies.

And then I tried ThredUp for the first time. I don't know if I would have but I had a $15.00 off coupon and I actually was able to buy a nice work blazer and cardigan for like $3.00 after the coupon. If you are interested, if you are a new customer, you can use the coupon code LADY15 and get $15.00 off of any Women's clothing purchase.

I got the two items today in the mail and they are brand new condition. One of them still had a tag on it and the other one looks like it was never once worn.   I don't know for sure if I got lucky but I am extremely pleased!

In other news, I'm 3 days out from half marathon #2 of the year (hopefully not shitty like #2 suggests). I'm at the point where I wont be running anymore until then. Yesterday I went to yoga for the first time in something like two months and I am SO SORE. I don't know what happened to me but I hurt in places I didn't think I could hurt anymore. At least I know it's doing something! Now I need this soreness to go away before Sunday.

Mothers Day and an Unplanned Race

2013-05-13T19:59:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was mothers day and honestly, it wasn't anything too special in this house. I had to work the night before until about 1am and then get up with the girls at a nice and early hour of 7 since Mike was working all weekend. Thankfully Katelyn brought me a cup of coffee in bed but by the time I was ready to drink it, it had already gone cold.

After a hot cup of Joe and some mental coaxing I finally managed to get my kids over to my moms so that I could get out and do my long run. It's never easy running after being on my feet the entire night before but Saturdays don't work right now so you do what you gotta do and get it in when you can. I ate on the way over and took mental note of how dang windy and cold it was. My self confidence was crumbling.

Once at my moms, I sat around a bit and talked.   I really did not want to run but I took most of the week off to recover from the Wisconsin Half and knew I needed to get back out there.   Finally I grabbed my balls, or whatever, and went.

The wind was bad.    The first 4 miles were straight into the wind.   My legs were a bit sore from some weighted squats I had done two nights prior but honestly, once I was warm, I felt alright.    At one point on the way out, I ran through a bunch of birds swooping all over close to the ground.   I hate birds so very much but there was no way around it so I just sort of cringed and kept running in fear that one was going to fly right into my head.

Once I was able to turn around, it was great.   The wind was to my back and I actually became too warm so the gloves came off and I contemplated taking off my light weight jacket.   I also turned on some music which always puts a spring in my step.   I tried to remember it's mothers day and to celebrate that I'm a mother and able to run and to enjoy it as much as I could.   Sometimes I need to remind myself of this.

I always love the last mile.   I have a new feeling about running in the past few months and really do enjoy it.   I am proud of myself.   I am seeing improvement and it's exciting.   Instead of being stuck at stand still with my training, I am improving but only after a lot of hard work. Go figure, hard work actually works.

After my run, I went home to shower and then headed back to my parents house again to have a yummy meal with the family. I started with a delicious beer and some Old Maid with Katelyn and my mom.

Then came the yummy food! I was hungry and ate way too much.

On top of that I had chips and dip and cake. Yum.

One other great thing happened. I managed to snag a free bib to the Cellcom Marathon/Half Marathon this weekend. I will be doing the half as a 50 year old man named Joe :) I talked to him tonight on the phone and he is actually upgrading to the full marathon so thought he'd give away his half bib to anyone that wanted it. I'm so very excited since it's only about 45 minutes away from home and I haven't done this race before. You finish running into Lambeau Field, and after the race, you get race bling and a brat and beer. It's like a repeat of the Wisconsin half, but I wont end up like this:

I'm not really sure how I stayed on the bed...

This picture is what Lish would call pay back. This is me, passed out at the hotel at like 4pm with my giant box of tampons behind me. Thanks Lish! Just so you know, I had the spins at this moment. Gross.

Have you ever ran a race as someone else? Did the feel the pressure to do well?

I looked up Joe's race history thanks to Onlineraceresults.com and he's fast.....faster than me. Poor guy gets my record and I joked to him about that and thankfully he seems A-ok with that!

2013 Wisconsin Half Marathon Recap

2013-05-07T22:13:00.001-05:00

Welp, where do I even begin?   This weekend was packed with fun, running, beer and great friends.   On Friday, we all headed down to Kenosha to get our run on at the Wisconsin Half Marathon.   The race is a Saturday race and starts at 7am so we opted to get a hotel Friday and of course Saturday too so that we could enjoy ourselves after and have ~~too many~~ drinks.

Friday we all met out for dinner and I ate too much.   Story of my life.   After dinner we all went back to our room and got ready for bed.   The alarms were set for 4:30 so that I had plenty of time to have coffee and shower before the race.   I know it seems weird to shower before a race but it wakes me up and makes me feel ready.   We got to the race and had only enough time to hit up the porta potties before the start of the race.   Sorry to anyone that may have made it to the food tent for a meet up.   Blogger Fail.

I wont do a minute by minute reply of this event but I will say the weather was perfect.   We were freezing before the start but as soon as I started running, I warmed up immediately.    The course is pretty hilly.   Not huge hills but just lots of up and downs that felt like they were never ending.   You also do a double out and back which really teases you at mile 11 when you pass by the street that takes to you the finish but you still have to run out 1 mile to turn around and run that mile all over again.   You run near the lake shore which would have been great scenery had there not been huge pot holes all over the lake front trail.   You had to keep your eyes down to avoid a broken ankle.    All in all though it was a fun race.

I started out too fast. It felt good at the time but I purposely avoided looking at my Garmin until mile 8. That's crazy for me. The first couple of miles did have a clock at them though so I knew right away I was going out fast. I tried my hardest to hold onto that speed but at mile 10, I started to lose steam and felt like I was slowing down. I was.

Forgot to turn my Garmin off right away so last lap is not right.

I was so close to the end but tried my hardest to keep strong. I have never felt like I had dead legs as much as I did in this race though so I did what I could do.

Then after thinking they completely went long on the last two miles, there it was. The finish line. It's the best sight ever.

Official Time:

2:02:24

That is a 9 minute PR!!!

After the race we went to cheer for a while and then made our way to the food/beer tent for a free beer and brat. The brat was great, the beer not so much so we made out way to a brewer and enjoyed a couple beers there. Then we went to another bar and had a few more beers there......

I'm an idiot. Please don't follow my example. I went and had a lot of craft beers and then didn't eat anything but a brat after a 13.1 mile race. Lets just put it this way. I was in bed by 4pm while everyone else went out to dinner. Some how Lish managed to get me up to go down to the boiling hot tub after they got back from dinner but I was surely not sober at that point.

After that we went to bed and I slept all the way through until 5am when I was WIDE awake and ready for coffee but Lish and Kathy already had told me that I was not allowed to get up early. Poor me. I played on my phone and laid there until 6:30 when I finally gave in and had to get moving. They were not mad with the 6:30 wake up call so I dodged a bullet there.

After having an amazing breakfast and some shopping at the outlet mall there, we headed back home.

I am not sure if I will do this race again. If all of my friends decided to do it again I might, but I do really like the idea of having one travel race a year where I can try out other races. Being a working mom, I am really limited to my away races so each year I would like to do one new away race. Maybe one of these times my body wont fail me in one way or another!

Three Things Thursday

2013-05-02T06:17:00.001-05:00

1. I had another date with the "Skinny" Mirror. If you don't have a mirror like this, you need to get one. I'm just so lucky as to have one at a local bar.

2. I am obsessed with oats again. Now that I can make a big batch in the crockpot overnight, I have been making it every 5 days (when I run out). I am even going to pack some for this weekends half marathon in a cooler so I can have my same old breakfast on race day.

3. The Wisconsin Marathon and Half Marathon is this weekend. I have a goal of PRing. As of right now, as long as injury or something weird doesn't happen, I should be able to do this. Ultimately I'd love a sub two but I'm not quite sure I've brought myself to the point of being able to do that. The real concern is this: Do I wear a Garmin or not? I had great success in not wearing it for my 5k. I also seem to have faster/better training runs without it too. That's a long time of running without much clue as to how your pace is holding up though. It's such a hard decision!

Just a reminder that there will be a blogger/non blogger meet up at the food tent prior to the race start on Saturday.

Wisconsin Marathon Blogger Meet Up

2013-04-29T17:28:00.002-05:00

It has come to my attention that there are several bloggers from near and far that will be at the Wisconsin Marathon and Half marathon this coming weekend. If you'd like to meet up with me, Rachel, Kim, Lish, Amy and more, we will be at the food tent prior to the start of the race. I'd love to meet more bloggers so let me know if you'll be there!

And if you don't want to meet us.....

She reminds me of someone...

2013-04-23T14:23:00.001-05:00

This is Katelyn and her first communion class. All of them are 2nd graders.......

#BostonStrong

This is me and a few of my favorite people.

Do you see what I see? We are giants!

Last night we ran for #BostonStrong. It was with the local Fleet Feet and the turn out was great. We ended up with around 250 runners and it was a beautiful night for a run. Here is a video that the local paper took of the event. You can spot me around the 1:10 mark with some of my running friends.

I also wanted to share a couple more pictures from Sunday. I try not to put too much on my blog about my kids but sometimes they are too darn cute...

So far I've been good with remembering to take pictures for WIAW today so I should have that for you tomorrow!

Blessings on this Sunday

2013-04-21T16:28:00.002-05:00

My first born had her First Eucharist today. It was wonderful seeing her up at the front of the church doing readings, and taking the body and blood of Christ. Time goes so quickly and I can't believe how mature and amazing this child is.

I'm officially less than two weeks out from this years first half marathon. I'm supposed to run 8 miles today but after eating at a breakfast buffet, I don't know if it will happen. I'm pretty much in a food comma at this point! Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 50's (but rainy) so I might just wait it out until tomorrow if I'm not feeling up to it.

I hope you all have had a great weekend!

Running For Boston and Bestowed Winner

2013-04-17T13:29:00.001-05:00

One of my friends put it well. She went for a run yesterday and felt more bonded with the rest of humanity. I felt the same way. I ran with Matt and Lish and I couldn't help but feel like people driving in their cars had a greater respect for me. Maybe it was just my imagination but I have a feeling it wasn't.

I don't have fancy words about what happened and how it has bothered me but I want to put it out there that I found out almost immediately, like many, and have been stuck on the new since. This person will be found. I have great confidence in that.

Today I decided to try something new and did some rowing. It's completely different than what I am used to but I couldn't help but want to be done. My ass hurt, my legs hurt, my arms hurt. I was determined to finish though and now that it is done, I decided that I will keep this in my regular rotation. The benefits are great!

Another thing....

I am the best running friend you could find.

I will attempt to embarrass you and take pictures of you blowing snot rockets.

And Finally. The Bestowed Winner.

Congratulations "Mother Runner" aka Kim. I'll be getting in contact with you!

If you didn't win, remember you can use the code 5OFFBSTOWED01 to get $5.00 off your first box.

Friday Fotos from my Fone

2013-04-12T06:30:00.000-05:00

Haha...you see what I did there? I know the "Fone" is pushing it too far, even I can agree with that.

This sweater I found on the clearance rack for $3.00! I normally wouldn't have given it a second look but then I saw the price tag and knew it was sold.

Bowling with the Inlaws....and a photo bomb attempt by Joe.

Mike actually asked to have a picture of us taken. If you know Mike at all, it's that he hates having his picture taken so I went with it. Too bad this is his "Smile"

This might look like crap but it's actually oatmeal made in the crock pot overnight. It was amazing! You can find it here: http://www.theyummylife.com/Slow_Cooker_Apple_Cinnamon_Oatmeal

Mike picking up the kids after school on Wednesday. Notice the ice all over the branches of trees. I really hate the winter we are having this spring.

While these babies might not be the most flattering, they were comfortable to run in....on the treadmill in my own home....where no one can see me.

Bestowed Review and Giveaway

2013-04-08T19:52:00.000-05:00

About a month ago I was contacted by Bestowed to see if I would be interested in reviewing their monthly box subscription. I had to look them up because I honestly wasn't sure what it was that they had in their boxes and I immediately was intrigued. Their website showed healthy eating products that I personally would love to try. Real brands too! It's not a complete surprise when you open your box because you can actually read about the companies and products they put in their subscription but I am really down for that. I have signed up for other boxes in the past only to find out it's full of stuff I wouldn't personally use and that's always disappointing.

Inside of March's box:

Hemp Hearts
Quinoa Lentil Soup
Happy Squeeze
Oloves
Coconut Butter
Fig Bar
iTrain $25.00 gift card

I loved almost everything in here.   The only thing I wasn't too thrilled about was the iTrain gift card. I went to check out their website and I just have a hard time downloading a workout and actually doing it.   Some people might really like this but it's just not my thing.

Everything else I've had has been great.   I had never had any of these items before and now I've actually gone as far as making my own coconut butter (future post) because I loved it so much.   I am going to pay to get another months worth to see what I get because I enjoyed the opportunity to try products I normally wouldn't buy.

Cost:

There are two ways to purchase Bestowed.   You can do a month subscription for $19.00 or a monthly subscription for $209.00 per year.   If you break that down it comes to about 17.42 per box.

I also was given a code for $5.00 off either a monthly subscription or yearly subscriptions so if you'd like to try Bestowed yourself, you can do so at a discounted prices. The code is 5OFFBSTOWED01

Giveaway:

Want to try Bestowed at no cost to you? They were kind enough to let one of my readers win a box of their own!

All I want you to do is leave a comment with which item in the box I received you would love to try the most.   That's all!

If you don't already follow my blog, you can do so on BlogLovin, Facebook or Twitter.   All of the bottons are on the upper left hand side of the blog.

Also, you can visit Bestowed on Facebook, Twitter and their website to learn more about the products they put into their boxes.

Last but not least, I was given the March Bestowed box in exchange for my review. All opinions expressed are my own.

April Fools 5k and the experiment to run naked

2013-04-07T19:44:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I had my first 5k of the year.   It was the OSI April Fools Day 5k that doesn't exactly take place on Aprils fools day but in some ways was a joke in its own.   Each year this race has grown but the race director hasn't taken that into consideration when planning for the event and this made for some big kinks in the race.

It takes place on a Friday night at 6pm.   It's a point to point race and because of this, they encourage you to park at the finish line and they will shuttle you to the start line a few miles away.    When Alicia and I pulled up, we noticed how long the line for the shuttle was.   It was only about 25 minutes until the start of the race at 6pm and this line was not moving.   They only had two school buses running all of these runners to the start so there was a huge delay.

While we waited in line in freezing temps, I mentioned that maybe they had not realized they would need more buses to shuttle people but then found out that they had the same issue the year before so then everyone kind of just got mad.   Time was ticking and soon it was 6pm and we still were not at the start line.   Of course they had to delay the start of the race but that also meant everyone was standing out in the cold even longer.    By the start of the race, I was uncontrollably shivering. I could not wait to get going.

I ran into one issue though. I had planned to run with my Garmin but when I turned it on, it died because I didn't charge it.   I just told Alicia that I guess I was running with her and that I wanted to test the "naked" theory and not to tell me our pace.   I also said that I was not going to talk during the race because I wanted to focus on my breathing. I'm such a joy to run with!

Finally after about a 30 minute delay they got the race going.   The temps were in the low 30's and there was some wind but I felt comfortable.   I knew I was starting fast, but I wanted to see what I could do so I went with it.   About one mile in I started to feel labored.    I just told myself "Only 2 more miles! You got this!"   Alicia did great at not telling me our pace or anything.   At one point she said "We're ahead of our plan" and I managed to say "Good" back but really just focused.   My stomach was burning, which is pretty typical for me but my legs felt good and my breathing was controlled.

When I hit mile 2 I thought "Less than 10 minutes! You can do this!" It was a little rough the last mile+ I just kept a personal count down in my head and kept focusing on my breathing. My stomach was on fire by this point. I truly had no idea of what my pace was. I knew I was pushing it but was expecting low 9 minute miles to be honest. Some things I noticed: No one was walking. All of my other 5k's I was in the 28-31 finish time range and by the end there are run/walkers. There wasn't any of that where I was in this race. Everyone was running. There wasn't a lot of passing. I didn't notice people really passing me until the last half mile when some guys caught up and sprinted on by me. Looking at this picture, I had a good amount of space behind me so that probably is why I didn't have too many people passing me.

The last .25 mile was rough. I was tired, and I could hear my breathing wasn't controlled anymore. With about .15 of a mile left, Matt ran up behind me and said "Come on Sarah" and that was just the push I needed. I turned the corner and couldn't believe what I saw. The clock actually said 25:XX. I never ever expected to see a 25 on the clock. I ran it in as fast as I could and then got worried I was going to throw up. I could feel the pit in my throat and just walked away and tried to breath. The need to puke subsided and I went to find everyone to celebrate. We had all done so awesome. It was great.

Official time is 25:31

8:14 pace

I used to always say that I really wanted to run an 8 minute mile pace on average. I was always so envious of people that could. I have been doing speed work for the past few months and I can finally see it is paying off. Thanks for putting together the "Get Fucking Fast" plan Kim and Rachel. Hard work really does pay off.

I didn't see the finish line photographer and didn't even know they had one until I saw this picture but this might possibly be the ugliest race picture of me yet. What the hell is going on with my mouth? You can also tell I am about to die.

Weekend Happenings

2013-03-31T17:55:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter, if you celebrate it. Mine was great and of course I over ate. Tomorrow is Monday though so it's back to work and back to normal life.

The weekend was a good one. It started off Saturday morning with a long run with Lish. We had both been watching the forecast and up until that day, they were saying upper 40's lower 50's, sunny and wonderful. I woke up, ready to get my run on and then I checked the weather. It was something like 32 degrees out. Even Katelyn yelled out "Come on! They said it was going to be 50!" All I could reply back was "I feel your pain child!" I sadly put on running pants, long sleeve shirt, jacket, bondi band to cover my ears and gloves. I was not happy and no longer feeling this run.

I managed to eat all of this before hand.

Oatmeal, Coconut Milk, Almond Butter, Chia Seeds, Cinnamon

When I got to the park to meet Lish, I instantly had a bad attitude and said I wasn't feeling this run at all. Thankfully she wasn't all too thrilled about it either but eventually we got on our way into the insane wind over the trestle bridge. I can tell we are both better runners this year because we are able to keep a steady pace, talk and not stop for walking breaks anymore. Today was different though. Since neither of us was all too thrilled, we stopped at 5 miles to fuel and just take a break. Then we were off again. At 8 miles my IT band issues hit. It's like clock work. From there on, I ran when I could and walked when I had to. Lish went ahead of me to keep going since she had more miles on her schedule than me for the day but planned to turn around at 10 miles and meet back up with me. Once she made her way back to me, we headed back to the park. That's when I noticed something nice and gross on Lish's shirt. I asked her what was on her and it ended up being bird shit.

She had already wiped it off at this point but you can see the residue

We finished the run and I had 12.5 miles on my Garmin. This pissed me off. I had planned to do 13.1 and I had it in my head that I was going to be doing a half marathon that day so I sort of shyly asked Lish if she would head back out on the Trestle with me again and do the last bit with me. I know how it is when you think you're done and she completely thought she was done. Good running buddies say yes though and back out we went to finish it out. Thanks Lish!

One other thing. Up until this spring, I never ran with sunglasses. Not one single time. What the hell was I thinking, or not thinking? Even if it's cloudy out, these things bring so much protection from wind, rain, and snow.

Once the run was done, all I could do was think of eating an egg. I am truly obsessed with this combination.

Slice of wheat toast, mixed greens and a soft cooked egg. It's so good!

Something sad happened this weekend though.

My 26.2 magnet is gone. I already ordered a sticker off of Amazon to ensure this doesn't happen again.

I hope everyone has had a happy Easter (if you celebrate) and a wonderful weekend!

WIAW Fail #2

2013-03-27T06:36:00.001-05:00

I failed you again. I was going to do WIAW yesterday but then I forgot and only managed these two pictures.

Protein pancake. Looks burnt but it wasn't.

Post Run Recovery Drink of Champions

So there you have it. You see the little wrappers next to the beer glass? I ate those chocolates too.

Yesterday was Fleet Feet's Easter Egg Hunt Pub Run. It was a lot of fun and for once the weather was amazing. It was about 40 degrees and no wind so it was easy to take it easy and not be freezing cold. That's exactly what we did. Once we were back in the bar, Lish and I turned into camera whores.

I'm not really sure what is up with my face in this picture. All I can come up with is "I just got back from running" but really I don't think that is going to make anyone have a facial expression like that. Lish and I were even unintentionally matchy matchy with our purple Under Armour shirts.

A little bit later we had to use the rest room and found this glorious mirror. It made you look good so of course we had to document that.

I could actually pass for having a butt in the last picture.   Maybe it's the weighted squats I have been doing. Haha no, just kidding.

Anyway the pub run was a lot of fun and Greene's Pour House did another wonderful job as the host site.   We even won freebies from the Easter Egg Hunt part of the race and I managed to get myself a free drink, a free sweat towel, free candy and a free collapsible water bottle.

One other quick thing to note.   I can finally feel myself getting better at running.   The past couple of weeks have been filled with amazing runs and I'm not sure if it's because I'm finally getting my Iron levels up (don't know if I for sure am) or that I'm just getting used to this training thing again but it feels great.    Last fall I felt depleted all the time so this is a nice welcome to the beginning of the racing season.

Home Made KIND Bars

2013-03-25T13:46:00.002-05:00

I am obsessed with KIND bars. I buy them regularly but honestly they are so expensive that I can't do it that often. Until now. The ingredients are expensive to start off but a little goes a long way with these bars and with what I purchased the first time around, I will be able to make another 1-2 batches with the ingredients. Here are the ingredients I used:

Not pictured is the pistachios and the barley syrup.

The possibilities are really endless when it comes to these and they all follow a pretty basic recipe guideline.   Here are some ideas:

Dried Fruit: Raisins, Apricots, Cranberries, Cherries, Blueberries, Pineapple, Apples, Prunes, Strawberries, etc.

Nuts: Almonds, Walnuts, Pistachios, Cashews, Peanuts, Pecans etc.

Seeds: Sunflower, Sesame, Pepitas, Chia, etc.

Add In: Shredded Coconut, Dark Chocolate, Flax Seed, Peanut Butter, Cinnamon, or other spices too!

RATIO:

1 1/4 Cup Raw or Toasted nuts. I like to toast them up a bit to give them a little more flavor.

1/2 Cup of Seeds.

1/3 Cup of chopped dry fruit. If they are small fruit, don't bother chopping them up. If they are larger, like Apricots, give them a rough cut. If you are using coconut, add it into this measurement.

1/4 Cup of Barley Syrup. You can find this in the health food aisle.

A pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In an 8x8 baking dish, line with aluminum foil. Spray the aluminum foil with cooking spray. If you don't, the bars will stick.

Give the nuts a rough chop and throw them into a mixing bowl.    Add in your seeds.   Also add in any of the seasoning you wish at this point. Give it a quick stir to mix things up a bit.

Add in the barley syrup.   This stuff is sticky, so be prepared!   Stir to combine everything and make sure all pieces are coated in the syrup.

Pour into lined and greased baking dish.   Take a piece of parchment paper or a baggy sprayed in cooking spray to press the mixture down.   You want it to be really dense so push it down hard.

Bake for 16-18 minutes.

Once out, let the bars cool partially before cutting them.   They will be too soft to cut at this point.   Give it about 15 minutes before attempting to cut.   If after 15 minutes they still are too soft, give it another 5 minutes.    You don't want to let them go to long though, otherwise they may become too hard to cut and will break instead.

Leave the aluminum foil on until they are fully cooled.

Wrap individually in plastic wrap.

Review: Cathe Xtrain DVD series

2013-03-21T06:40:00.000-05:00

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So this time for a review, I did things a bit different! My mom is the GURU of all GURUS when it comes to workout videos. When I told her I got the Cathe XTRAIN video series to try out, she was so jealous. She is always looking for a new video to try so I though to myself that maybe she should review these since she truly has tried 20 times more workout videos than me. So, here we have it!!

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I had the opportunity to trial Cathe's Xtrain workout DVD. I am an avid exerciser, but never tried any of Cathe's workouts. I was pleasantly surprised. Cathe is all business, very knowledgeable. She had excellent use of bands, and a lot of new refreshing ideas. You will feel this workouts, and she challenges you to use proper weight. I had sore muscles for weeks.

There are 9 different workouts DVDs in this kit. I liked everyone single one of them. Some workouts are so incredibly difficult to do you dread getting out of bed to attempt them, and sometimes even sleep in instead. Cathe's workouts are very effective but are not impossible for a person to do. There is some equipment involved, but there are ways of doing the workouts without them. The equipment is minor and shouldn't hold you back from purchasing the DVD set.

I would definitely recommend her DVDs. I have tried many others and X train videos and this is one I will have for many years. My daughter let me trial these DVDs and I will not be giving them back. (Sorry Sarah) .

I appreciated that Cathe was all business. Some instructors just talk too much, some tell lame jokes which when you work out avidly, you get tired of hearing. I loved her professionalism. I also like that they told you on the DVD what weights she was using, as many do not. Sarah stressed to me to also mention anything that I think could have been better about these workouts, but truthfully, I think she did a great job. I wouldn't change a thing.

Here

The End (This is Sarah)

Anyway, my mom loved these DVD's so much that I actually bought her some of Cathe's equipment that she has on her website. When I told my mom, she was so excited!

About the DVD's:

Cathe offers several different DVD sets on her website.    She has Xtrain, Low Impact, STS, Shock Cardio, Hard Core, Body Blast, Intensity, 4 day blast and CTX.

Her Xtrain videos will set you back around $130.00 which is completely comparable to any other DVD set that is similar.     You can purchase it here.

You can also find all of the equipment she uses in her videos for sale on her website, which makes it easy to find what you need.

PS. I will be getting these DVD's back.   Sorry Mom.   This time, or maybe every time, I get the last word.

Disclaimer: I was provided this DVD to review through FitFluential. All opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own or in this case my moms.

A sort of successful long run

2013-03-18T06:12:00.000-05:00

As the title suggests, I managed to get my long run in.   Because I'm a wimp, I went to the Y and headed to the treadmill to watch 4 total episodes of Rosanne while truckin' along.

I thought it would be great.   Although I was tired, I was happy to be at the gym and I often tell myself "You're awesome!" because I actually made it to the gym in the first place.   That's the hardest part!

After and hour, things were fine.   I always find it interesting when you have someone on the treadmill near you and you can see them looking at you over and over. I can only assume they are wondering when I will be done running.   Today was one of those days.    Once the treadmill hit 60 minutes, it automatically goes to cool down and you have to start the thing over to start all over again.   I took that as an opportunity to refill my water bottle and stretch out the legs.   That's when I started to get more looks, when I hopped back on the treadmill and went back at it again.

At around 7.5-8 miles in, that's when my IT band started to act up.   I can not even believe I'm going through this again like I did last year.   It's almost exactly the same time frame even.    For me, my IT band goes through phases while I run.   It hurts and then it doesn't and then it does and then it doesn't.   Eventually it will get to a point that it just simply hurts and isn't going to let up.   That happened about 10 miles in.   I tried and tried to run through it, hoping it would stop feeling like someone was taking a hammer to the side of my knee but it wouldn't give so finally I did.

I made it 11 miles.   The pace was good.   I felt good otherwise.

Totally a mood buster.

I literally hobbled back to the locker room and then foam rolled.   It made it slightly less painful to walk but I still could feel the pain.

I did what any reasonable adult does and went home to shower, get into sweats, Pro Compression socks and drink a beer.   I'm not supposed to take Nsaids so my choices are limited.

There is one good thing about all this cold weather.

2013-03-17T10:33:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I was thinking about how shitty this weather is. It's 12 degrees out right now to prove just how much it still sucks. I was thinking about how my runs outside were in beautiful weather at this time last year. I was out on trails in the sun thinking about wonderful things and how wonderful life is.

That is until I heard that familiar bird call and turn around to see this swooping at my head.

I haven't encountered one of these assholes yet but I really do not look forward to it. Now I'm really torn on if it's such a bad thing that spring is taking it's time on getting here.

In other news, I did nothing very fun for St. Patty's Day. I did have to work and when you have to work on a holiday, it's great to get a text that you are allowed to wear green to work when your dress code usually consists of black shirt and black pants.

It wasn't all that bad. I got to work with one of my favorite people in the world.

Today I have 12 miles on the schedule. Like I previously mentioned, it's 12 degrees out. I'm not sure if I should wait it out and maybe get it in later or try to knock them out on the treadmill at the 90 degree room at the gym. You just can't win.

Where is the warmth?

2013-03-15T17:06:00.001-05:00

Everyone keeps posting about warm weather, flowers, sunny days. In Wisconsin, we are still dressed like this.

That is from the Fleet Feet run that Alicia and I did on Wednesday. It's so cold and every single time I check the 10 day forecast, it continues to show temps in the 20's and 30's.

Last year at this time we were running in some 60-70 degree temps. I miss you spring.

Hot Yoga

2013-03-14T15:04:00.001-05:00

I know hot yoga is sort of "in" right now but I completely understand why.   It is such a great workout in a different way than a run will ever give you.   You sweat, a lot.   You use your arms, a lot.   You bust your ass the entire time until you get to savasana.

Around here we have hot vinyasa yoga which is a flow type of yoga where you are constantly moving from one movement to the next all while you are in a 90+ degree room with lots of humidity.   The reason for the heat is to get the sweat going along with circulation for complete detoxification.

I've taken a good amount of classes now and it continues to be hard for me.   My arms are so wimpy and you use your arms for so much that it makes me still feel like it is such a challenge. I still have to look around at other people to see what they are doing but I am proud that I keep going.   You easily forget how challenging the class can be when you sign up for another but are quickly reminded when you start your sun salutations.

Alicia and I went to a class last night and it was exactly what I needed. I left feeling refreshed, calm, and ready to take on the rest of the week. If you haven't tried yoga and are on the fence about going, I highly suggest it.

WIAW

2013-03-12T21:36:00.000-05:00

Today was full of great eats. I pretty much loved everything I ate and are pretty typical foods that I would eat every single day. Enjoy!!

Banana, Almond Butter Toast, Multi Vitamin for breakfast at work.

Best lunch Ever. Home made Chipotle Burrito Bowl with brown rice, lettuce, black beans, avocado, salsa and Greek yogurt.

I dug around in the pantry and found these hidden in a baggie and quickly ate them.

I needed an afternoon pick me up so I had some coffee.

Worst picture ever. I started eating and forgot to take a picture until I was almost done. Home made chili for dinner.

Cantaloupe

I headed to the gym and did intervals. I wore my HR monitor for the first time in forever and it made weird sweat marks.

Came home to these sitting on the counter. I had a bunch :-/

And then last I had the smallest apple in the world. My hand is just creepy looking.

Sunday Long Run

2013-03-10T21:28:00.001-05:00

As I posted yesterday, I was worried about getting my long run in because it's in the 30's here and it was supposed to rain all day today. Then I got this comment on the post and I thought...
"Huh...You're right!" I figured I would get out there anyway.

Thank you anonymous person Andrea!

Then I woke up and about an hour later, I checked out the radar and the weather gods did this.

I'm located at the number 2 (haha).   The rain is going in the direction of the arrows and the heart is the break in the rain that allowed me to run 10 miles out of the rain.   The angels were singing for me!

The miles were pretty good.   I ran straight through to mile 7 and worked on eating my fuel while running.   I always walked before so now I am sick of stopping to walk to eat my fuel of choice.   I was slightly out of breath doing it but I easily got my breathing under control once I was done eating.

Today I tried the Honey Stinger Bite things.   OMG so good!!!   My stomach loves you so much Honey Stinger.   You are the only fuel that doesn't send me running to the bathroom!!!

At mile 7 is when my IT band started to hurt again.   I am sooo sick of that crap.   It needs to get warmer out because it seems to not be affected as much in warmer weather!   Every mile from then out I had to stop and stretch to get the pain back down.

Time to get back to foam rolling all the time and do more hip strengthening.

Hoping for a better tomorrow.

2013-03-09T18:52:00.001-06:00

I'm praying for the rain to part at least for a couple hours tomorrow morning because I have 10 miles on the schedule. It's still cold here (in the 30's) and rain added to that makes for a fairly miserable run.

I could have gone today. I even got a text from Alicia inviting me to join her but I just wasn't feelin' it. I was at my daughters soccer game this morning and even though I slept well last night, I felt tired. Really tired. When we got home, I ate a light lunch and still felt pretty gross so I went up to bed. I slept, or at least tried to but the girls had a friend over and they kept running up and down the stairs so I cat napped instead.

I'm really good at giving a thumbs down.

After my nap (pictured above) I had a headache. I just felt off.

I haven't left the couch or bed today other than to make dinner and I only did that because I have to feed my kids.

So here's hoping that tomorrow I'm feeling like a million bucks and my ten miler is finished in dry weather!

My redeption on WIAW

2013-03-06T22:11:00.001-06:00

Here is what I really ate Wednesday. Since yesterday was a fail, here we go.

I started the day with two pieces of PB toast topped with chia seeds.

Chia seeds in a flash look like bugs

I headed to work and forgot to pack anything so I was forced to stop at Walgreens and pick something up. There really isn't much option other than a shit storm of process foods so I picked up these.

After work I didn't have time to eat :( I went shopping instead but managed to eat these on the way to pick the kids up from school.

Unfairly, I got barely any. My girls got in the car and stole them from me and I never saw them again.

I also picked this up....I told you guys I have a real problem.

So I came home and made dinner. It was baked fish and roasted asparagus so I throw the asparagus and fish on a tortilla along with some salsa, cabbage and tahini dressing. It was delicious!

Of course finished off by something sweet.

That was it until I took an 8:15 pm hot vinyasa yoga class. I came home starving so I had some fat free cottage cheese....which I freaken know better. My stomach instantly rumbles. Me and dairy are not good friends.

And of course.....last but not least....

Today was the first time ever that I bought a soy vanilla latte and I must say, it was great. I didn't know if the soy would change the flavor but with the way dairy is to my stomach, I was really curious to find out. I'm so happy to have found a good hot drink I love at Starbucks too.