Incommunicado.....

Sorry about my blogging absence.  

Yes I'm alive.  I've just been kinda.... blah... and busy.

This week went WAY downhill Thursday morning, since then its mildly improved due to good things happening with friends..... but for me personally its been a bit of a struggle.  I won't get into too much but I'm just not in a happy place professionally right now and I'm not really sure how to get out of the rut I'm currently in.  Of course this isn't the best job market to make a change, but for mental sanity it may be required.  

Enough of that. 

On Thursday to save my sanity and get a task completed I went to the greenhouse after work.  It was excellent therapy, running around acres of greenhouse. 

I was picking out plants for some planters & barrels downtown.  Lots of mums, kale and cabbage (not sure if its edible.... kale chips anyone?)

I do have good things happening to people around me......

So since my Thursday was just all around bad, it was nice to have something to celebrate Thursday night!  One of my good friends who graduated with his phd this past spring finally got a teaching job.  Yay! 

Then Friday another friend accepted a job working for my hubby!  Yay!

Kettlebelled in the morning. 

It was annother one of those... only two exercises classes that I'm not a fan of....

WORKOUT

3 minutes, as many rounds of 

-3 deadlifts

-7 burpees w/ a push up

Done 5 times.  1 minute rest between 3 minute intervals.

The cool thing though was that I graced the gyms website for the day....

That is me on Wednesday, showing off doing double ropes... 

too bad I'm faceless,

although that may be a good thing, I was probably making a scary "I'm working hard" face. 

I also treated myself to a lunch I haven't had in awhile....

Chicken Salad w/ lots of Veggies on Ciabatta Bread

(spinach, carrots, cucumbers, red onion and tomato... YUM)

Friday night, last night,  we went to a friend's CD release party and had lots of fun catching up. 

Right this moment I should be getting ready for the 5 mile race I'm signed up for.... but the pouring rain outside is not really inspiring me.  Ugh.  

I'm kind of in slack mode today.... although I was productive and painted the laundry room!

Obviously it still has a ways to go, need to epoxy the floor, do cabinets, install the sink, etc.  But its a start.  Plus look at that beautiful new washer & dryer combo.....

Alright... well I'll report later on if I made it to the race.  

We are heading out later to celebrate the hubby's b-day!!  (which is actually tomorrow)

I'm taking him to one of our FAVORITE restaurants and then meeting up with friends afterwards for drinks.  :)  

Have you ever been in a career funk?  Or changed your mind about what you want to be when you grow up?  How did you approach it?

Britt

Doublin' up....

Two classes tonight..... very different workouts!

First up Kettlebell (since I slept in by accident)

Warm Up

-run 200m

-5 pushups

-7 situps

-9 air squats

4 times through

Workout

20 seconds of each exercise 20 second rest, repeat 8 times at each station

-Pull ups (with a jump) / push ups

-Double bell squat / Plank

-snatches left and then right

-battling ropes/ box jumps

That was a doozie!!  I took my sweaty self home, took Reggie for a walk while downing some milk & soy protein powder.  

Showered up and then was off to yoga. 

This was just want I needed.... nice and relaxing.  

Tonight we focused on anger, which apparently is kept in your hips....

A lot of the poses/moves were focused on opening up your hips.  

It felt wonderful.  Of course there were a few poses that weren't "easy" but it felt awesome by the end.  Yay yoga!!!!

After class I headed home to make dinner. 

While cooking I had this times.... 3 maybe

-bread & hummus

DINNER

-baked haddock: 350 for about 20 minutes

                              dipped fish in milk, rolled in panko

                              little garlic

                              seafood seasoning

                              lemon zest and lemon juice

                              sprayed cookie sheet w/ canola oil

-baked kale chips: tossed in olive oil, ground pepper & little salt
Debating on if I should do my speed work tomorrow or just consider the 5M race on Saturday my speedwork..... what to do.  Guess I'll see how I feel tomorrow.  :)

Do you count races as speedwork? (for you runners out there) Or would you still do speedwork 2 days before a race......  I think I may have answered my own question.  ;)

Have a great night!

Britt

Big news a coming.....

But, you will have to wait.

But I took a big step today.

And it wasn't just signing up for the 2010 Boston Marathon. :)

Maybe I'll share tonight but at the latest Friday.

I tried to be a bit more creative today with lunch......

LUNCH
-1 leftover ear of corn, cut from cobb
-1 c TJ's Cuban Style Black Beans
-1 c Broccoli
-1 small cucumber
-about 10 cherry tomatoes
-1 T hummus
-sprinkle of mexican cheese
-1 piece of bakery bread

It was pretty good. Interesting mix of flavors but it was tastey.

Plus I am crazy full now from those beans.

But since I have kettlebell & yoga planned for after work I packed a Oikos & granola for a snack a little later.

Alright back to work.

It is so beautiful out I hate to go back. :(

Hope y'all had a great lunch too!

Britt

What time is it..... ack crap

That was me this morning. Blah!

I set my alarm but forgot to turn it on. I woke up just in time to see that I was missing the start of the 6am kettlebell class. Gggrrrr......

Now I have to do some serious cramming of activities in after work.

4:30 Kettlebell (sneak out of work early)

6:15 Yoga

At least its a relaxing yoga class, it will be interesting to pair the two back to back..... especially as I got a sneak peak at today's Kettlebell class and it looks like a doozie.

Reggie and I got our walk in and then it was time for some breakfast.

BREAKFAST

-1/2 c oats

-3/4 c water

-toppings: sprinkle of maple flax granola, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, ground flax

-drowned it a bit in about a 1/4 c of milk

I remembered my fun new water bottle today.....bring on the water! Its cute, its green and it has a flippy up straw.

In just an hour or so registration opens for the mother of all races.....

THE BOSTON MARATHON!!!

Not sure if I'll sign up today, need to see what the entry fee is first. But I'll definitely be signing up as my mom will be running it as well. I am so happy I was able to qualify at Boston this year, it takes so much pressure off my fall marathon..... and thus why I have the tendancy to slack a bit in the fall.

If you haven't noticed I have posted my marathon history over on the right..... I find it amusing to look back and see how I have progressed. As well as see the difference between spring and fall races.

How far ahead do you plan races? (if you run) Marathons I definitely plan ahead a bit more for, other races not so much.

My current racing calendar looks like this

Sept. 12, 5 M race

Sept. 18-19, Reach the Beach Relay, total mileage for me 21.3M

Nov. 1, NYC Marathon

Nov. 8, might do an all womens 1/2 Marathon

Nov. 26th might do a Turkey Day 5K

Then its pretty much on to 2010, last year I started off with a 10K on New Years Day in the snow..... See if I am crazy enough to do that again!

Have a great day!

Britt

Weeding & Wine......

The location this week was the local visitors center. 

It wasn't in too bad of shape so we made quick work.  (that is me looking up)

Afterwards it was time for some wine.  :)
And maybe a little bit of spinach and artichoke dip.  Yummy!

I think I OD'd on white bread. 

I left early to come home and whip up a quick dinner.  I swear I fall back on sandwiches way too often when I don't know what to do.  I need to stop that. 

DINNER

-garden burger, veggie medley

-sandwich thin

-hummus & spinach

-side of celery w/ yogurt ranch dressing

I'm pooped.  Definitely need to hit the hay early tonight. 

I'm very excited to go to Kettlebell tomorrow morning, they are in their new location, it has to be almost 3 times the size of their original location!  I drove by tonight and could see people working out inside.  Yay!! So excited!

Hope your week is off to a good start. 

How good are you at drinking enough water?  I'm feeling a bit dry tonight, don't think I drank enough water today.  What are you tips/tricks to drinking more?

Goodnight!!

Britt

Lunch Interrupted.....

I had just finished my yummy sandwich and had started on my carrots & hummus when the alarm went off........

Yep, the stupid fire alarm interrupted my lunch. :(

So I took my carrots & hummus with me and dined outside. :)

Prior to lunch I went for a wonderful 4 mile run.

Little warmer than I expected and a little stinky too.....
trash day got moved back a day due to the holiday..... p.u.

I have so many random thoughts on my runs. I was debating what interesting thing to blog about.... sometimes I think I have so many ideas that when I sit down to write I just get overwhelmed and blog about nothing..... well the basic nothings.

One (of many) thought in my head today was sunscreen & ways I try to protect myself from the sun. But there has also been a lot of debate lately about if we are preventing ourselves from getting enough vitamin D with all this sunblock/sun protection.

I wear SPF 30 on my face every day, its in the moisturizer I use. I had a basal cell spot removed from my forehead last year, so I'm very cautious. Plus my mom has a history of skin cancer as well... basal and squamous cell.

When I do my lunch time runs, they only last 30-40 minutes, so I don't usually put sunscreen on the rest of me. For my long runs where I am out for an hour and half or more, I do use a sports sunblock all over of at least SPF 30.

But after hearing about Deena Kastor and her recent injury it made me wonder if I'm getting enough vitamin D. I'm going to keep wearing my sunscreen, especially on my longer runs, but at my next physical I might ask my doctor about getting my vitamin D level checked.

Do you wear sunscreen ever day? Have you had your vitamin D level checked ever?

Britt

Monday in disguise.....

I had great intentions to get up and make 6am kettlebell this morning.... but 5:30 came too quickly and the snooze button got used.  :)

It felt good to sleep in though. Definitely feeling like a Monday.  But I guess the bonus is that Friday will come that faster!

I'm hopeful that my noon time run will work out, since I could not motivate this morning.  

After walking Reggie I was thinking oats for breakfast, but then found an almost empty tub of greek yogurt and decided to make use of it.

BREAKFAST

-greek yogurt

-handful blueberries

-1/2 c Kashi H2H

-1/4 c Caribbean granola

-1 T almond butter

I also had my act together enough to make some lunch.

LUNCH

-spinach flat out, turkey, laughing cow light garlic & herb cheese, spinach

-carrots w/ hummus

May also grab a larabar or some greek yogurt for a snack too. 

What helps you get out of bed for early morning exercise?  Especially when the alarm seems to go off way too early!

Have a great day!

Britt

Attack of the giant mud bugs.....

Well that came later in the day.....

But first it started off civilized.  After putting annoying fliers on cars at a local 5K for the 5K I'm planning.... we headed to breakfast. 

Florentine Benedict.....

Hollandaise on the side.  Thank you.

After hanging out downtown, listening to some great street performers it was off to the ocean.

The hubby wanted to skip some rocks.
Then enjoy the calm.....
But eventually we headed home to sand & prime the new laundry area

After that I headed off to pick up our CSA for the week....

lots o' stuff

-purple basil, peppers, squash, cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes, beans, garlic, potatoes, etc.
We had our lovely friends over that we share our CSA with.... Glenn & Aviva. 

Before prepping the rest of dinner I made a tomato basil salad for later. 
First course of dinner was mussels and steamers.  YUM!!!

Mussels- garlic, onion, tomatoes, white wine, parsley and olive oil
Oh and some bread for all that yummy mussel broth.
First course.....
Remains of the first course.....
One of the best parts... the mussel broth
After a nice hiatus... it was time for the giant mud bugs... aka lobsters.  

(yes I lived down south for a bit)
Hello Mr. Lobster (with cookies in the background)
We had a lovely dinner on the deck.
Digging in.
The remains of the day.....
What is that.... my husband is cleaning!!!??

We need to have friends over more often.

Then after a bit of clean up, it was time for dessert. 

Those lovely cookies and some dark chocolate covered almonds. 

Good day.  Between the walking after breakfast and the priming I figured that was my exercise for the day.  A holiday requires rest right?  Plus after my 18 miles yesterday I was feeling the need for a day off, but not exactly one sitting on the sofa.  I don't do well with those, especially when it is nice out. 

Hope you had a great Labor Day!!!

What do you do on rest day??

Britt

Beachin it.....

I was rather excited for today's run when I got up.  I could not wait to get down to the beach and enjoy my run. 

Before heading out the door,

I ate a slice of ww bread and a smear of almond butter. 

Along the way I swung by my mom's.  She is my Gu supplier. 

Then me & Henrietta (the hula dancer) headed to the beach with the Gu.  :)  I was driving the hubby's truck as he had asked to borrow mine.  

I had one Gu before heading out....  then I geared up

-fuel belt w/ water

-3 Gu's

-iPhone w/ some tunes playing

It was GORGEOUS out!  Lots of surfers, bikers, motorcycle riders, walkers, etc. out and about. 

Of course by this picture you couldn't tell many people were out!

I enjoyed the scenery and a few of the oh so little houses along the way..... 
Its was a relatively flat out and back route, but there were a few areas with a bit of an incline. 
More of those vacation "cottages.....

It did feel very good to be DONE!  I felt awesome about half way through but by the end I was definitely DRAGGING......

Miles: 18

Time: about 2.5 hours, I was having watch issues

Pace: averages out to about an 8:20 pace

I want a Garmin..... I'm tempted now that the 405 is out the 305 is a tad cheaper. 

Anyhow, since I was at the beach I did my post run stretch and cool down on the beach.

Little coconut water. 

This was my first try.  It was SO YUMMY!!!  

Hey if this is better for me than Gatorade, I'll take it!

BEACH....
My Feet & BEACH
On my way back to the truck I pulled out a sandwich I had made

-ww bread

-almond butter

-few chopped walnuts

-few dried cranberries

Once home I showered up and gave in to my craving.....

GREEN MONSTER.... this one truly was a monster about 1.5 glasses worth

-2 large handfuls spinach

-ice

-1/2 frozen banana

1/2 cup blueberries

-1 c milk

-1 T ground flax

-1 T almond butter

-1 small scoop soy protein powder

Now I need to prep & pack stuff for the in-laws party.  

Already hit the liquor store for wine 

(and Home Depot for primer...if I'm lucky I get to prime later, oh yay... blah).  

Hope you are having a fabulous Sunday!!

What is your favorite post run or post work out meal?

Britt