Falling for a great run.....

Hello! Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

Sorry didn't get to blog yesterday, was a busy bee.

Quick Recap though....

BREAKFAST

-pumpkin oats

LUNCH

-met my wonderful mom for lunch at our favorite spot

Turkey Rubini, basically a turkey ruben. Yum. With their crunch cole slaw kinda salad.

Also had some Pumpkin Cream tea.

After work I met up with the hubby and my sister-in-law for a drink.

Then the hubby and I headed home to make dinner. A friend of ours was on his way home for the weekend so we invited him over for dinner.

DINNER

We had some CSA brussel sprouts, roasted.....

And some CSA turnips & turnip greens...

TJ's Mahi Mahi

All in the oven....

Um and then I forgot to take a picture of my dinner... gah!

I was a little tired.

BUT I had leftovers after my run today.....

LONG RUN

this morning after a quick breakfast of oats, I was off for a 13 mile run.

It was a little chilly out, around 40 degrees with a breeze. But the sun was shining and the fall foliage was putting on a great show.

Of course I still needed to go buy some water..... :-)

Good run. Did 13.25 miles. Didn't wear a watch though, but I know my pace picked up a few times and I felt great. Actually had a driver give me the thumbs up and then when I caught him at a stop sign he asked if I was training for NYC. I told him it was a good guess and that I was. :-)

Alright I need to get some relaxing in.... we have a surprise party tonight. I've been doing laundry, switching clothes over from summer to winter and cleaning up the garden & deck planters. So if I don't relax soon, I'll be fading fast tonight!

Do you ever feel like you need to compensate for time "lost" while working out? While I was off running the hubby was mowing the lawn and cleaning up leaves..... so I felt like I had to do something product around the house too. But then that means I never really get around to the resting part. :(

Have a great night!!

Britt

A very veggie day....

I hate when I have a plethora of veggies and feel overwhelmed of what to do with all of them.  I guess there are worse problems to have though.  ;-)

I tried to make the best use though of what I had..... 

LUNCH

a throw it all together salad

-lettuce, tomato, leftover soycutash, walnuts, feta and some TJ's balsamic vinagrette

It was delish!  Definitely need to get more of that soycutash from TJ's. 

Lunch time also involved a walk with Reggie.  Then it was back to work. At work I had a camera shy Kashi granola bar for a snack, plus lots of green tea.  

After work I hit the gym, I hate the treadmill but its so hard for me to gauge my pace.  Someday I'll get a Garmin.  

Tonight's Workout

- 1 mile warm up, 8:30 pace

-4.5 miles, 7:20 pace

-1 mile cool down, 8:30 pace for 1/2 mile and then 9 

My foot was bothering me a bit during the last part of my tempo pace, so I cut it back by a half mile.  Luckily I have an appointment with the podiatrist tomorrow.  Although I am worried she is going to recommend rest..... as I have a 20 miler planned this weekend.  Doesn't really jive. 

After the gym, Reggie and I went for a walk and then I threw together a stir-fry for dinner. 

-multigrain tempeh, turnips, collard greens, baby bok choy, garlic, olive oil and a little soy sauce

Another delicious meal.  I've come to the conclusion pretty much any leafy green tastes great sauteed with garlic and olive oil. 

So as I said earlier I finally have a podiatrist appointment.  I think I have plantars fasciitis in both my feet, especially my right foot, and I think something is up with both my big toes.  When I ran the Boston Marathon in April this year, (squimish people might not like this.... warning!!) 

I got blood blisters under both my toenails, so that raised the toenail up and ultimately I lost them both.  The issue now is that my nails have grown back in a little funny, so I want them to get checked out. 

So my suggestion for your marathon shoes.... go up a full size, not just a half a size.  At least for me that is what I need to do.  My feet just swell too much!  

Now a question on the subject of food again.... I want to try and make more vegetarian dinners.  What is your favorite vegetarian dinner? or you top 3 if you cannot decide....

Have a great night!

Britt

Namaste

Yay for yoga!!

A couple of friends were headed to a class downtown and I had the feeling it was just what I needed!  

Of course like most things in my life it involved a bit of running around first..... get my yoga mat back from my sister-in-law and get money from the ATM.  Decided all this while walking Reggie about a half hour before class.  :)

It was definitely worth the running around though.  

The class was very relaxing and thoughtful, much different than the ashtanga I did regularly a few years back.

This is the description from the studio's website...

 rasamaya translates as “fluid”; and is a method of movement that focuses on weaving one of the nine major rasas, or major emotions that sustain our life, through an entire flowing class. Rasamaya classes always begin with intention setting and yogic philosophy and may weave discussion, chanting, breathwork and meditation into movement flows that are grounded in the chakra system (or subtle energetic system). The classes are designed to be light hearted, students often remark that these often laughter filled classes are complete in nature and leave the body expanded and the mind grounded. Rasamaya I is perfect for the practitioner looking for a gentle flowing yoga class. After opening the mind, the body is invited to journey into the same expansion as we find our way into a soft asana flow, moving from spine and hip warming exercises, into gentle sun salutes blended with some additional asanas that benefit our body and open our chakras (energy centers). Class will finish with yin posture work and a seated meditation before moving into deep relaxation and savasana. Appropriate for all practitioners, especially those seeking a gentler practice.

Loved it!  

I left feeling so refreshed.  It was also nice to go with friends.  :)

I'm thinking I really need to add some yoga into my weekly schedule.  Might balance out my workouts a bit and get me to stretch more!

Food....

I was a green tea drinking machine today. 

I just kept letting the bags multiple as I kept refilling with hot water......

I did have a very small piece of yummy birthday cake at work.  My team loves to celebrate a birthday.  :)  Todays was vanilla cake with a light vanilla frosting drizzled with caramel.  Yum. 

It was a nice light cake.....  taste wise at least.  

After work I ran some errands, picked up some grocery items that I was running low on and to complete some recipes. 

Reggie and I went for a nice long walk, then I was off to yoga.  Aaahhhh.....

Then I headed home to make dinner. 

DINNER

-baked haddock w/ panko breadcrumbs, little parmesan, garlic, drizzle of olive oil and seafood seasoning

-steamed green beans

-tomato basil salad w/ olive oil and balsamic vinegar

After dinner I finally cut up my delicious cantaloupe from our CSA, so good!  

I snacked on a bit as I chopped.  

Look how cute it is....
Yum!

I also snacked on another piece of Silken Vanilla Cake... really probably didn't need it after the b-day cake earlier today....  but its hard to go without something sweet at night.  

Curious how my legs are going to feel tomorrow on my run, after doing 200 squats this morning...... eeks.    I think I may run at lunch time, actually running home to walk Reggie and then running back.  Although that involves me getting my lunch made in the morning........  

When do you pack your lunch, the night before or the morning of?  How do you avoid smooshy bread, do you separately pack all your sandwich fixin's?

Have a great night!

Britt

Planter good, plantar bad.....

Pretty sure I have plantar fasciitis.  :(

And in both feet, but more so my right foot.  For now I'm trying to follow most of the recommendations.... well except for all out rest, who does that?!  ;)   I think new shoes were really what was needed though, but I've also started wearing some inserts in my shoes that are suppose to help.... thank you Dr. Scholls.  

Its not bothering me when I run, its mainly first thing when I get up in the morning and after sitting for awhile.  

So this is what I'm doing

-towel stretch

-calf stretch

-foot flexes (definitely do this before getting out of bed)

-trying to sleep with my feet not confined under the sheets (avoiding pointing my feet)

-rolling a tennis ball or golf ball under the arch of my foot at my desk

From what I have read and seen from other runners I just need to keep up these exercise and stretches.  Also will add in some of these as well. 

On to the good stuff..... FOOD.

SNACK

Larabar  :)

I really should probably work more on listening to my hunger cues to see if my afternoon snacks are always needed.  But noon to about 7pm is a long stretch, so I'm thinking they are needed.... but maybe trying something a little lighter than a Larabar?  I also need to get back to my afternoon big cup of green tea. 

Today was fabulous crop share pickup day!!!  The only bad part was that the college kids are back, so that made navigating there a bit more difficult.  But it was SO worth it. 

Look at this spread!!!

Kale, tronchuda cabbage, peppers, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, baby superstar onions, cantaloupe and lots of green beans.  

Good thing we share our crop share with another couple, otherwise I wouldn't know what to do with all of this!  Dinner party?!  ;)  Nah... instead we divvied it up and road our bikes over to our friend's house to deliver their portion. 

Once home it was time to cook!  With all this beautiful kale what do think you I did..... 

Kale chips!

DINNER

-turkey burgers w/ some spices and grated parmesan cheese served on a sandwich thin

-kale chips w/ ketchup

-tomatoes w/ fresh basil, little olive oil and balsamic vinegar

-grilled baby superstar onions.... these are tasty little buggers

If you haven't figured it out by now, I highly recommend checking out a local farm about a crop share.  I have been so incredibly happy with ours!

Off to stretch my plantar fascia.  

Have a great night!!

Britt

The Vegetable Fairy......

She visited my house while I was out for my run this morning.

See.....

As I was running down my street this morning, I saw our friend Aviva walking to my house with a bag o' veggies for me from our shared Crop Share. What great service! ;) I see a hugh jass salad in my future for lunch!

I almost missed her though as I did NOT want to get out of bed this morning. Its getting too dark at 5:30 in the morning. :( When I see no sun I just want to stay in bed. Any one have any suggestions on how to get my butt out of bed when the alarm goes off when its still dark out..... this is going to be an issue come fall and winter.

Once I was out for my run, it was great! It was a nice cool morning, still a bit humid but I'll take it! So nice to have some refreshing weather in the morning.

When I got home I watered the plants on the deck and then fixed up my overnight oats.

BREAKFAST

-this is how my oats looked last night
-1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup plain greek Oikos Greek Yogurt

-this is how it looked this morning.

-then after I added the fixin's

- blueberries

strawberries

almond butter

1 scoop of protein powder

sprinkle of ground flax

YUM! Good breakfast, I liked the cold oats after my run.

It was perfect with a huge glass of water.

Today is another busy one.... work, heading home at lunch to walk Reggie and after work I have my volunteer group of weeders for Weed & Wine. I promised the crew that we would actually go out for a glass of wine tonight after weeding downtown, we haven't really gotten a chance to do that lately.

Have a great day!!

Britt

Veggie Love.....

Good Morning!!

Its a muggy one here today.  While out for my run it was a bit eerie the way the mist was hovering over a field.  All I could see when I looked out over the field was mist and the sun trying to come through.  I love that I can run by a farm just a little over a mile from my house, meanwhile I basically live downtown.  I said hi to the cows and horses and headed home, completing just under 5 miles.  

I made sure to water my poor plants this morning.... the heat & humidity has definitely made them all a little wilty.  My tomatoes seem to be hanging in there though. 

Breakfast this morning was oats again, no nut butter jar to put them in though. 

• 1/2 cup oats
  
• 3/4 cup water
  
• 1/4 cup milk
  
• blueberries & strawberries
  
• few walnuts
  
• 1 t ground flax
  
• 1 T almond butter

As promised last night.... crop share veggie photos.  Gotta love the veggie photos!  

Buying a crop share this year was the BEST thing!  I am loving the variety and how FRESH everything is.  Definitely look into one near you if you haven't already.  Plus it just feels good to help support a local farm.  

Check out how HUGE this basil is and this is only 1/2 of what we got (since we split our crop share with friends).  I will be a pesto making machine tonight!!

Have a fabulous day!!!

Britt

No weeding and no wine... for now....

We had some good thunderstorms coming moving through tonight and actually this morning too.  It put a glitch in my plans to Weed & Wine.... bummer.  Its a group of volunteers I organize to weed a few sites downtown for a non-profit that takes care of some municipal plantings.  By adding in the wine aspect I got more interest, imagine that!  But no weeding tonight, eventually I may wine. 

I need to drop my car of for the last repair EVER that I will make to it, we are selling it Friday!  It will be a tad bittersweet.... when it ran well it really was a great car.  I'm a tad bummed though because the used car I wanted and we went to put an offer in on today has been sold.  They did get a similar car just in, one year older and a few more miles though...... we will see, I need to test drive it first.  But hopefully this weekend I'll have new wheels.  :)

Today was a bit hectic at work, seems as I'm finally making progress on a couple projects an emergency crops up..... so then I get distracted and caught up in that.  Ugh. 

So to keep me pushing through my morning, I had an iced coffee & a plum, yum. 

At lunch I was determined to get my 5 mile run in, the skies looked a bit gloomy so I opted for the gym.... the dreaded treadmill.  Actually it worked out well in some ways as at mile 3 I had to scoot to the bathroom, damn dairy at breakfast.  So after a pit stop it was back on the mill to finish the last 2 miles.  

I ran about an 8 minute pace, although I did go faster for awhile to get the overall time down to equal 8 min/mile pace....since my warm up was at that pace.  Yes, it annoys me to be have that stupid computer making me look slower, so I run faster than an 8 pace to have my overall time equal an 8 minute pace.  Call me crazy, but in the end it gets me to push my pace.  

I stretched a bit, took a quick shower and then quickly got back to work.... where I dined at my desk again. 

-spinach flat out, 1 slice turkey, 1 slice provolone, sprouts, peppers, tomato, Wickles and lil mayo

-side of extra chopped green peppers (no they aren't hot ones, they are just pale peppers from our CSA)

I had to get another fruity snack in, a deliciously juicy nectarine, love them!!!!

Apparently I had the munchies today, when I got home from work I had to have some cantaloupe!  So good right now!

I had hoped the storm would pass so that I could still go weeding, but unfortunately it did not.  So I ventured back out to pick up the pooch, Reggie, from the grand dog parents..... my in-laws help us out and dog sit a few times a week.   They are so good to us!

Then it was home to finally make dinner.  Unfortunately the hubby was home for just a short bit before heading out to a night time meeting :(   Hopefully it doesn't go too long.  Between our two busy schedules we are lucky if we see each other for an hour a day at times, thus why I LOVE the weekends cause then we get to hang out more!

DINNER

Since it was raining I opted not to grill, which is how I usually cook baby turnips.  

Instead I sauteed them with olive oil & a little garlic.

I guess I just love turnips as these came out so good and juicy, grilled or sauteed, they rock!

The turnips joined some baked haddock & corn on the cob. 

I dipped the haddock in milk, rolled it in panko crumbs, sprinkled on some Blue Crab Bay Co. Herbs for Seafood, lemon juice and some olive oil.  Baked in a 500 degree pre-heated over for 15 minutes, probably could have gone a minute or two less. 

Yum good dinner.  Well hubby still isn't home, but my wonderful father-in-law just called to offer to help me drop my car off at the garage!  

Have a great night!  I am so looking forward to going to bed EARLY tonight, have 6am Kettlebell tomorrow!

Bell-erific Monday

So tonight's Kettlebell class was a good one, but must do a recap of the day first.

Started out with my usual breakfast, however it was at work instead of home as I was running late.

-kashi heart to heart, berries, greek yogurt, ground flax, almond butter

-iced coffee (switched to skim milk & sugar in the raw... better than splenda, right?)

Delish midmorning snack of nectarine!

Trudged through the day to lunch. Ate at my desk since I had to leave on time.

-flat out, left over grilled chicken, tomato, lettuce & little mayo

-left over cole slaw

Had the mid-afternoon munchies. Chugged a bunch of water but still hungry and out of food.... so I hit the cafe.... not sure how "smart" Smartfood is, but it filled me up.

After work I swung by the Farmers' Market to big up our crop share.... forgot to take a pic, but it included.... string beans, onions, baby turnips, tomatoes, green peppers, potatoes and beets. Yum!

I headed home to unload and change for Kettlebell. The hubby was suppose to come with me, but he got tied up at work.... as usual.

Tonight's class...

After a short warm up.

Suitcase lunges

Static Rows

See-Saw Press

Alternating Cleans

Double Chest Press

Side Planks

Did each for 40 seconds, 20 second break, repeat 5 times. I pushed myself tonight and did the "green bells" they are 26lbs each. The See-Saw presses & alternating cleans killed though, so eventually I had to go down in weight a bit to 20lb bells. It was an AWESOME class though. I felt so strong pressing those 26 pounders!!!

After class I was STARVING but had to still make dinner, so the most appealing quick snack was a big class of cold milk. :) That helped get me through the dinner prep process.

Nothing fancy and once again our timing was off....

Veggies were already.... But the turkey burgers were not. But we dug in anyways.

-Left over grilled turnips, carrots & zucchini.

-Tomato & basil salad (just tomatoes & basil tossed with some olive oil & balsamic vinegar)

Turkey Burger

- flat out, ground turkey with Montreal Chicken spices, tomato, baby bell light cheese and some ketchup. plus a glass of cab.
It was so tasty I had most of a second one. I was hungry after class!!!

Tomorrow is going to be a long one so I should hit the hay, need to pack some snacks first though. We are going to be up and out before 4am to get to the funeral. Its a 7-8 hour drive and we are going to attempt to go round trip in a day. Wish us luck!

Britt

Slacker weekend.... blogging that is....

So I had great intentions to blog Friday night but I was computer-less. We are down to one laptop and my hubby uses it a lot for work. He was working late and had the computer with him, so no blogging possible.... I haven't been able to find any great Apps for my iPhone yet to do what I want. BUT the good news is we finally ordered me a new computer, hopefully my new MacBook will be in the mail soon. Yay!!

Back to Friday.

I had a great lunch with my mom, I met her during my lunch hour at the Portsmouth Tea Company. They have fabulous teas of course but also some yummy sandwiches, soups, salads, etc. I opted for half a sandwich and soup, as one of the soups was a chilled carrot ginger... YUM! I had the soup with half of a chicken salad sandwich on multi-grain, their chicken salad is delish done panini style with dried cranberries, almonds & sage. I had to get my favorite tea too, iced of course for summer.... the Geisha Green Tea.... so good! Its a tropical kind of green tea with coconut and pineapple flavor.

My mom is headed to a beach house they rent for the week, so we yapped about her plans for vacation. I'm hoping to get up there some time this up coming week, might take a day off to hang at the beach and get a run in.

So after lunch it was back to work. My late afternoon snack was a Larabar.

That Larabar was suppose to help fuel my 5 mile run after work, but the heavy downpour when I left work killed any motivation I had. So I caught up on some Tivo and snacked on some cheese, crackers & wine.... great substitute for a run, huh? Oh well. (oh and I had a few more crackers than the ones shown here)

At 7 I was off to the concert my hubby was working on, unfortunately it was suppose to have been out side... but the rain moved it in. It was a great show despite the change in venue. It didn't end till after 9:30 so the cheese & crackers earlier were a good idea. Afterwards I came home and had some camera shy leftovers.... whole wheat tortilla, chicken & cheese... relaxed and waiting for my hubby. We decided not to go out and instead chill and head to bed early.

Satuday morning we did our normal breakfast with my in-laws at a local place. I forgot to get a picture of my breakfast, but I did a breakfast sandwich.... english muffin, egg, american cheese and canadian bacon w/ a side of homefries.... my splurge breakfast of the week. :)

Then it was home to work on some projects around the house. Oh how do I HATE oil based paint.... it seems to get every where and is so hard to clean up! Once done though I headed out to do some errands and grabbed myself a Geisha Green Tea to go from Portsmouth Tea Company. Yum.
I grabbed a quick left over slice of cheeze pizza for lunch, as we had no food in the house and my wonderful father-in-law dropped off a left over pizza from Friday night's concert band food.

We walked into to town for a Pet Parade. Reggie had to join in on the action.

It was fun to see all the pooches and the few brave cats the showed up, as well as a lizard of some sort and a bunny.

It was a beautiful night so we decided to chill at home on our deck.

We grilled up some mesquite seasoned pork, string beans and I made a cole slaw from some carrots and cabbage from our CSA. I accidentally used more mayo than I wanted to in the cole slaw but it was yummy. I just used olive oil mayo and some white wine vinegar.
Yum!

I started off this morning with a 10 mile run, I love that I can go just a few miles from my house in town to this.....
I had a handful of Kashi Heart to Heart before I left and then when I got back had this.......
And some cold pizza. The breakfast of champions. I desperately need to grocery shop obviously!!!!!

So finally I got the the grocery store, but opted to hang on the deck after a bike ride to see some friends. Needed some munchy food so tortilla chips and fresh salsa...
And don't forget the wine... its a white table wine from a local vineyard.

Alright time to think about dinner!!!