I'm really good at... shopping

Last night I got two exciting packages in the mail... aren't all packages that come in the mail exciting?

I think I have a problem.  I have bribed myself more than I'd like to admit to finish a long run.  If I'm struggling at about mile 10 with several more in front of me I start to try various ways to convince myself to finish.  The main one and the one that often gets me through is promises of new stuff.  One time it was a running hat, another time running shoes, more workout clothes - you get the idea. 


Well, my newest purchase wasn't actually a bribe.  This probably means I've gotten worse.  Now I'm just buying things without even making myself work for them.  Oh well, hopefully this one will make me work. 

I got a fantastic deal on this little baby:

The Garmin Forerunner 405 - $177 :)

I've heard fantastic things about it and am soooo excited to have it.  I've been using a polar heart rate monitor that wasn't made specifically for running.  I'll probably keep it and use it to track calories burned during crosstraining activities or I'll give it to Rachel who has been asking (very nicely) to have it when I get a new one. 

I just can't wait to try out the garmin and to be able to know my pace at any and all times during a run.  I think my favorite part will be not mapping all of my runs online beforehand.  It will be so freeing to just go out and run. 

Can you tell I'm pumped?

My other purchases were from forever21.  I will basically never be able to wear adult size clothing unless something crazy happens, I have the body of a 12 year old.  For now I'm taking full advantage of this fact and buying all kinds of cheap clothes from juniors stores.  Forever21 is my favorite.  Sadly, I realize that someday I will still probably fit in these clothes, I'll just be too old to wear them.  Yes, I'm talking about my addiction to headbands with bows on them.  Give it a few years and I'll just look ridiculous wearing them.

Nothing perks you up on a bad day more than some retail therapy. 

I bought several pairs of workout pants/capris for under $13 - not for all 4, each.  One was $7.50.  Seriously, how do you beat that?

Then I got several of these cardigans for $6.50 - amazing

Not so amazing: my faces... and this pose.  Pretty sure I was trying to demonstrate that this kept me warm... which really it doesn't.  I don't even know. 

Sadly, the pants didn't pass the "bend over" test.  All workout pants should stay opaque when you bend over.  Forever21 workout pants do not =/.  What a rip off.  Except not, since they are so inexpensive.  Oh well, I'll take it. 

More earrings that I will never wear.  Love earrings and hardly ever wear them, so of course I should buy 5 pairs.  All under $2.80.  They better be considering I will probably only wear them a handful of times.  I should change that.  But really, would you take me seriously if I showed up to a babysitting job wearing these? 

No, I wouldn't take anyone wearing five pairs of earrings seriously either.  How do you even do that?

Okay, so I meant just one pair.  Still, they're like baby magnets and I like my ears with holes, not rips. 

Garmin is all charged, it's a nice day out, today is a run day.  I better get this thing done!

First Homemade Green Monster

I've been drinking Odwalla for weeks now

It's delicious... and super expensive

Well, last night I started to feel super guilty about the large unopened bag of spinach that I had purchased that was on the verge of going bad.

My options were pretty limited:  A bunch of cooked spinach, a large spinach salad... or...

A GREEN MONSTER

I've heard people raving about these things and just haven't gotten around to trying one out myself so I popped a banana in the freezer last night and then this morning...

I used Angela's Classic Green Monster recipe 

Mine is nowhere near as beautiful a color green as hers.

Almond milk, ground flax seed, spinach and frozen banana

It was super creamy and kind of... well, bland

I added some Vega chocolate powder and about a tsp of stevia and that seemed to sweeten it up a bit.

I realized I'm not really a big fan of creamy, milkshake like smoothies.  I prefer a fruity, tangy flavor. 

Promise it tastes better than my face indicates

All of this happened yesterday but blogspot is dumb and wouldn't let me upload any photos so I went to bed instead.  After my semi success with the green monster yesterday I was itching to try again, this time with more fruit. 

All I had on hand were some frozen blueberries

I omitted the almond milk this time and used some vitamin water zero instead.  After I blended everything up it still tasted a little bland.  I ended up adding a splash of lemon juice - I think this will be my "secret" ingredient from now on.

I think I may be hooked... on my way home from teaching tonight I stopped at the store and picked up pineapples and peaches.  Tonight's concoction?  I call it Tropical (green) Breeze

Ahhh!  Look at the pretty green color!  Inside: The orange flavored vitamin water zero, spinach, ground flax seeds, pineapple, peaches, banana, a splash of almond milk and a splash of lemon juice.  Mmmm... soooo good.

Well, this week I have done no running whatsoever.  Last week I ran 30 miles - this week 0.  Hmm.  Perfect for the week of a race, right?  Uh, not ideal.  I got something in the mail today that might help get me running tomorrow... I'll share that tomorrow :)

Happy hump day!  Hope the rest of your week is much more productive than the first half of mine has been.  Time to kick it into gear!

I could get used to this

A sunny and clear 68 degrees.  Mmm... if you could just stay forever I would be the happiest person in the world.

Last week I may have gone a little overboard with the running.  I'm not sure why but I'm convinced that my body is able to run 10 miles a day.  Mentally, I'm so there.  My body had different ideas though and on Saturday during the last mile or two of my 14 mile run it said "heck no" and I had a nice walk home.  I'm frustrated that my knee is a problem again.  Especially since I'm running a half marathon next Sunday.  Oh foam roller - we will be good friends this week.

All that to say, I had planned to run today but decided to take it easy for a day or two so I will actually be able to run when Sunday rolls around.  I will be crying on Sunday if at mile 10 my knee stops working.  I'm not even kidding.

So what did I do instead?  P90X Legs and Back?  Uhmmm... not exactly.  Tonight maybe?

Nope, this is what I did:

I'm not really a fan of tanning, I really think it's terrible for you

But I gave in...

Trying to even out some awkward runners tan lines

My Day in Pictures

Cause really, who has time to type it all out?

Lets just say, I did not get everything (or even most) of what I planned to get done today done.  Sad.  Tomorrow and Sunday I better kick some butt to make up for my 2 very lazy days.

Started off my morning the way I always start it:  3 cups of coffee.  Okay, I'm exaggerating a little bit.  Usually 2 cups.  It's just so delicious I can't resist.

Slept in make-up from last night.  Also, shirt that I wore last night.  My mom asked this morning "Are those your pajamas?"

My answer?  Mom, the best clothes are the ones that can double as legit clothes that you wear in the daytime and as comfortable pajamas.  I stand by this answer.

But really I'm just too tired (lazy) at night to put on my actual pajamas.

Check out the mess that I sometimes call my bedside table.  This is just out of control.  On my to-do list for today was to clean my room.  Yeah... that didn't happen.  I did clean up my bedside table though.  I guess I should explain, the toilet paper was from when I was sick.  We ran out of tissues.

I started out the day on a good note, things just went down hill after 30 minutes of P90X Back and Biceps

Assisted pull ups - I can actually do a whopping 3 unassisted but these are all assisted

Stopped 30 minutes in to start getting ready to go babysit. 

My latest addiction (today's lunch): Acorn squash sliced in half and baked face down for about an hour

Mashed with a splash of almond milk, a pinch of sugar a pinch of salt and a bunch of cinnamon.  Yummy!

Smokey likes it too.  I swear, this cat was a dog in a past life.  He will eat anything.  I thought he was just going to smell it and I caught him right before he tried to take a lick.

He tried so hard to get some.  At this point I was making him do this but he was doing this before I even offered him some.

The only other semi-productive thing that I did...

I know, I look like I'm being super productive.  This was after an hour of playing outside while waiting for the realtor to come over and show the house.  We were tired.

Tomorrow I will get a run in.  This must happen.  No more planning and then not following through. 

Look, I have friends!

Happy Friday everyone!

Well, after two days of gorgeous sunshine Florida decided to go back to the drizzly mess it's been for the past week or so.

This is from yesterday.  You can't tell but it's raining...

It drizzled in the morning and then again later in the afternoon and in between in stayed pretty gloomy.

I had originally planned to run 6 miles yesterday but I just hate to run in that kind of weather.

So instead Smokey and I just lounged in bed.  I did a few other things but sadly a lot of my day was spent in bed.  Thursday is my day off so I can do that sometimes :)

I love it when he sleeps with his paw over his eyes - so cute :)

Today the sun is peeking out again and I'm looking forward to a run late this afternoon.

Last night after teaching dance class I got to spend the evening with my friend Alexis.  She cooked me a delicious dinner!

Pita bread pizza with fresh spinach and tomatoes.  On the side are some orange glazed carrots.  My favorite part was the carrots.  They were so soft and delicious.  The vegetables were all organic and came from a local farmer.  Alexis is a part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and gets fresh vegetables and fruits weekly from her CSA.  I've been interested in joining a CSA for awhile now but Alexis sold me on the idea.  The only worry I have is that I won't be able to use up all my produce in a week and I would just feel terrible letting good produce spoil.

Alexis also made some sparkling water with lemon and elderberry flower to go along with the meal.  It was delicious!  She has one of those soda stream machines.  You just take tap water (or filtered tap water) and the machine makes sparkling water.  Love this idea and am going to look into getting one.  I think I eat really healthy but one bad habit that I can't seem to break is my addiction to flavored water.  I know the ingredients are not healthy (Filtered carbonated water, citric acid, natural flavor, aspartame, potassium benzoate, potassium citrate, acesulfame potassium, phenylketonurics) and that my body needs real water but I never find myself craving plain water.  Last bad habit that I need to kick...

Alexis is working towards a sustainability minor (business major) and knows all kinds of interesting information on the topic.  We talked a lot about organic foods and buying locally, our interest in vegetarianism and reasons why we ate the way we do.  It's not often that I find someone who can talk for hours about eating healthy. 

After dinner we enjoyed some oranges and strawberries that were absolutely delicious.  We finished off the night with some decaf espresso (which I've never had before).

I meant to get a photo of Alexis and me but completely forgot.  This is from a spring formal we both attended last year.

My friend Kristen, Alexis and me

I had a great night.  I don't get out too much anymore (I know, I'm pathetic).  All of my friends from high school have moved away and now my college friends are all moving back home too.

Anyways, I hope you all have a wonderful day and a great weekend.

Any fun plans for the weekend?



Workout Wednesday

You know how I usually promise a post later in the day and never follow through? 

I like to change things up every now and again ;)

So far this week has been so great.  It's amazing how a week of feeling yuck makes you appreciate the normal when it returns.  I am so thankful for my health and that I am usually very healthy.  I have really enjoyed MOVING again this week.  With the massive amounts of rain we had last week and my cold I basically just sat in bed all day for multiple days in a row.  This is so not me - I enjoyed it for about a day and then I was itching to get out and run again.

First thing Monday morning I got out for a 3 mile run.  Not much of a run but all I could fit in before work.  It's a good thing I fit it in early too because after that the rainpocolypse started.  Sadly I cannot take credit for coining this word.  My amazing and wonderful friend Kelly came up with it:

Rainpocalypse: Noun. Weather event created by conditions similar to those that cause a snowpocalypse, but the precipitation has not quite reached freezing point. Characterized by massive flooding, copious car accidents, and a common belief that the sun no longer exists.

After dance on Monday I came home and did P90X Legs & Back.  Love working legs... always get sore

The entire backside of my legs (and mostly my butt) are still sore from this Monday workout.  Don't know why, I only missed a week...

On Tuesday the rain finally cleared up and we had the first clear and sunny day in what feels like forever.  It was so gorgeous outside!  Cool, clear and sunny.  Unfortunately I had a crazy day and couldn't get in a run.  I'm not supposed to run on Tuesdays anyways but I would have gone just so I could get some of that awesome weather.  I did do stadiums in the morning though but at that point it was still fairly overcast. 

After teaching dance Tuesday afternoon I came home and did P90X Plyo.  This is really quite a feat for me.  I always plan to workout after dance and then get home and decide that I'll catch up on another day and then by the end of the week I always have "catch up" workouts that never end up getting done.  Not only did I get a workout in, I got Plyo in.  I love plyo but doing it week after week after week... it's not exactly something I look forward to.

Pretty sure this was after plyo... I don't look sweaty at all.  I ALWAYS get sweaty during plyo.  This can only mean one thing - I took a lot of breaks.  I did, I'm not going to lie.  Mentally I wasn't all in for this workout... this is what happens when I workout in th evening

This morning I woke up early to run stadiums.  I scraped ice off of my windshield with a cd.  RIP Christie Dupree EP.  I promise when your real CD comes out I will buy it to replace the one I used to clean the windshield.  Actually, I'm pretty sure it still works fine but I felt a little guilty.  The CD had been home burned and the name was written with permanent marker.  I doubt anyone who reads my blog knows who Eisley is but if you do... Christie Dupree is their younger sister and she has an incredible voice.

This is my "It's 32 degrees out" face

Also: different gloves than Tuesday

On Tuesday I had a glove casualty.  I stopped in at the bathroom at the stadium and accidently dropped a glove in the toilet.  After toilet fishing I soaked the glove in globs of soap, drowned it in water and then wrapped it up in about 5 feet of paper towels.  I brought it with me and left it under some of the bleachers, expecting to pick it up on my way out.  Sadly, when I finished, the big wad of paper towels was nowhere to be found.  After about 5 minutes of looking all over I finally decided someone had come along and thought it was just trash and threw it away.  Thankfully this story has a happy ending - I found it right on top in the first trash can I looked in.  Toilet fishing and garbage fishing all in the same day... I have no words.

It was so gorgeous out today that I made my planned short run into a long run.  I did 10 easy miles today.  What a glorious way to enjoy a beautiful day!

Post run:  I don't know what my problem was today but I could not get this picture right.  Trust me when I say this is the best one.  The other attempts were headless of only half of my body.  You would think I've never done this before or something...

I don't know if you can tell from this picture (I see it but maybe it's just me?)

Check out my right knee (left in this picture)

See the awkward tan line from my brace?  Oops...

Check it out up close:

At first I didn't mind but now it's really getting obvious... and it's basically shorts season right now.  It was in the 70s today.  Can you belive it?  Florida is crazy - 32 degrees in the morning and 3 hours later it's 66.  What the heck, Florida?

When I came home from teaching dance today I finished up my crazy day with some time in pushup land.  My favorite :).  I'm just lying, I really don't love it.  I like pushups but not that many...

P90X Chest, Shoulders and Triceps.  I really just wanted to even out the soreness, can't wait til tomorrow =/

And that's it, all caught up.  Check out the gorgeous day we had today!  My camera is not good quality at all so it doesn't do the beautiful day justice at all... but it's all I've got :)





Oh Hey There

I'm way overdue on a blog post.  I've been meaning to post for the past several days.  I even have photos to prove it!

On Friday (and Monday) I played with Cole and his adorable little brother Will

On Saturday I played with Dylan and Alyssa

...On second thought maybe letting them jump off of the sofa isn't the best idea in the world...

On Tuesday I played with Sophia who was super grumpy after having a bad cough and fever... uh oh, I sure hope I didn't give that to her

And I got to visit with her sweet sister Ava for about an hour :)

I'm a babysitting machine!  

I'll be back later to tell you all about how good it feels to be well and not sick anymore and how great it feels to MOVE again.  Last week I literally only logged 600 calories on my heart rate monitor.  Not a big deal and worth it since I felt awful most of last week but pretty pitiful considering I usually have a week total of 3000-5000.

STILL?!

Hello world!

I am going on day 12 spent with this lovely cold.  We've certainly gotten close these past several days but we are not exactly on the best of terms.  On  Sunday I was a big sneezing mess.  I was convinced that this was the turning point and I would be waking up Monday morning feeling more like a real person again.  I was right, it was a turning point, unfortunately on Monday my cold took a turn for the worst (okay, not the worst, but definitely worse than things had been). 

I still managed to fit in stadiums on Monday and Wednesday but that is all that I've done active this week.  I haven't not moved this much in a very very long time.  My body is definitely not up to much but mentally I am just going stir crazy.  I haven't been really sick in a very long time and to have anything for this long is just completely out of the ordinary for me.  I just have no idea what to do with myself...

It's been an interesting couple of days that's for sure:

Monday I made it through 3 dance classes, Tuesday I made it through babysitting at which point I thought it would be a great idea to take a Benadryl before teaching two dance classes.  Oops... not  my brightest idea.  About half way through my first class I started to feel really fuzzy.  Well okay, I didn't start to feel fuzzy - now that would have been very strange.  My brain started to feel fuzzy.  I could not think to save my life.  Unfortunately that day we were working on the dance for the recital.  Now, when you're working with 3 year olds there is only so much they are able to do.  Even the simplest moves are very difficult to teach.  I had planned out what I was going to teach the girls but immediately after I taught it to them I realized it was just not going to work at all.  However, this was about when my brain completely abandoned me.  I could not think of a thing to do to rescue the situation.  I'm not sure what really went on for the rest of that class but somehow we got through.

They're so cute ;).  I don't allow them to sit on this bench during ballet class but by the time they all hopped on the bench I was too far gone to even care.

My second class was much worse.  They're a crazy bunch to begin with so I knew it was going to be a difficult class.  As soon as my helper arrived I warned her about my situation and told her she was going to have to help me out a lot during class.  Unfortunately she was not much help at all =/.

When I arrived home I went straight to bed.

Wednesday I could tell things were not improving at all but I still got out to do stadiums which surprisingly felt really great and then on my way home I got a last minute request to babysit.

Spent the day with this little cutie

It was a nice relaxing day :) Perfect - I would have died if I had to watch her three older brothers too

Believe it or not we did actually manage to get some chalk on the driveway ;)

Last night I decided that I probably have a secondary infection and that I should probably go get it checked out.  I haven't been to the doctor since the summer of 06 so this was a big step for me.  This morning I set up an appointment and sure enough I have sinusitis.  This is good news because it means they can give me something to make me better!  I have some antibiotics that I have to take for three days and then I better be better!  I am so looking forward to this thing being done with.  I'm ready for some running!!!