Tracking Wally....

I'm not used to this following from home stuff. Either I'm running the marathon as well or there to cheer someone.

I signed up for texted messages, but that doesn't seem to be working, so I'm using the Marine Corps Marathon to track Walter's progress. If you're swinging by for the first time, my step dad is running the Marine Corps Marathon today! Here is the back story on some set backs he has had, which make his run even more amazing!

All of this marathon tracking works up an appetite, so the hubby and I whipped up some breakfast.

BREAKFAST
-scramble of eggs, spinach & garlic chicken sausage, provolone
-sauteed potatoes, onions & herbs

Also enjoying some coffee with milk & agave nectar.

Wally is almost to the half way point. I'm happy to see that he is taking his time. Around a 12:30 pace. It will take him about 5 and half hours, which to be out there that long is very taxing. I know from experience from running with my mom when she had a bad marathon day.... we originally had hoped to get her qualified for Boston at that race, but it just wasn't her day.

I'm also following a friend of ours who is running his first marathon. He was rocking it up till about the half and then slowed down a bit, still he is going to finish WELL under 4 hours. Maybe under 3:40.

All of this marathon excitement has me looking forward to NYC next weekend! :-)

Since I'll be out of town next weekend we caught up with some friends last night. Our wonderful friends Glenn & Aviva. They are great people and great cooks!

We were in charge of salad, so I whipped up this lovely salad......

The salad included....
-herbed spring mix of greens
-grape tomatoes
-roasted brussel sprouts & eggplant
-gorganzola cheese
-I brought some TJ's balsamic vinaigrette to go with it

I must say it was quite tasty.

Here was a fabulous dinner.

DINNER
-pan roasted halibut
-green beans
-a fabulous fennel with cream sauce & bacon.... so good.
-some un-photographed risotto that went incredibly well with the fennel sauce
SO SO SO good. What a great dinner.
We also had some yummy wine. Happy tummy.

Alright now back to tracking Wally. :-)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!!

Britt

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

Not so small plates... small plates dinner

Last night our friend's Glenn & Aviva treated us to a wonderful dinner.  They couldn't decide what to make, so they made a whole bunch of stuff.  

Very good thing I went for my run before the dinner and not this morning.  The variety of food, plus the few glasses of wine I had would not have been good for my tummy once running!

The evening started with some cheeses & pate.  After I snapped this picture some olives appeared as well.  The round cheese was a triple cream brie...... yum!

Our first course once we sat down was a lobster bisque.  Delish. 

Next up was a margherita pizza with home made crust.  I knew I could not eat all of it, especially if I was going to participate in additional courses.  So I ate half. 

The third course.... um apparently I forgot to photograph??!!  

It was a sesame encrusted tuna w/ noodles in a peanut sauce.  So good.... I think I was drooling too much to take a picture maybe.  

Fourth course was an amazing brisket and collard greens.  It melted in your mouth, it was incredible!

Then by dessert I was stuffed but still nibbled on some baked apple with ice cream...... I nibbled but was neglectful and didn't take a picture.....  

So like I said, very good that I ran BEFORE all this food!  (and wine)

I think I ate all the calories I burned and then some.  But it tasted darn good.  Plus it was great to catch up with wonderful friends.  

Do you have friends over for dinner often?  What do you typically make?

Britt

Hi I'm 340 calories.....

would you still eat me?  I'm fat free though.....

(photo courtesy of MSNBC)

I was reading some news headlines today and came across a few articles about the new regulations in NYC regarding nutrition information.  Chain restaurants have to post calories alongside items on their menus.  You can read one of the articles here.  

Would actually seeing the calories you are about to eat stop you?  Its one thing to have it on the side of a box.... where you have to actually pick up the box and turn it to that side to read it.... in this case, its staring right back at ya..... saying hello!  Plus eating out is where many of us fall off the healthy eating wagon, often eating food we would never make at home or never prepare that way at home (ex. fried food).  

Personally I wish more places did this.  Its so hard to calculate the calories in restaurant food.  Although I rarely eat at chain restaurants, it would be nice to at least have a ballpark idea of what the calorie count is.   Although I wonder when they will start fudging and saying that what they serve you is actually 1.5 servings or 2 servings.   

What are your thoughts on this?  Good?  Bad? You are smarter than me and can figure out how many calories there are already in food when you eat out?  ;-)

----------------------------

I have to briefly revisit my road race directing glory.....  at least I'm feeling more glorious about it.  Here are a few pictures snapped by others of the start.

Look at all those fast people.......

See they are a blur once they get going.....

Even thest people are a blur.....

Yay!  So now I'm inspired to volunteer at more races too!  Figure its helpful to the race and it will be helpful for me to see how others coordinate volunteers and handle logistics.  The weekend after the NYC marathon I'll be volunteering at a local 1/2 marathon!  :)

Now on to FOOD!

Lunch time I headed home to walk the pooch.  My lunch consisted of leftovers from last night. 

LUNCH

-sandwich thin w/ leftover haddock, greens & some soft herbed cheese

-leftover soycutash w/ feta 

Then it was back to work.  Needed an afternoon snack..... 

Strawberry Chobani & granola

At work today I got my flu shot.  Regular flu shot, not a swine flu one. My arm is a little sore, but I'm glad I got it.  I usually get one and they have managed to keep me healthy through flu season, so I'm a believer!

After work I headed home.  Reggie and I went for a walk.  I started some laundry and finally got around to swapping out some of the pots on our entry stairs with hearty fall plants.  The summer ones were looking a bit scraggly and after a few more nights of frost they were going to be toast.  So I changed them to mums, kale & cabbage.  By the time I was done it was a wee bit dark so no pictures.  :(

I got caught up on So You Think You Can Dance and made some dinner.  Where was that show when I was little miss dancer back in high school, I would have tried out in a heart beat.... I was running from one class to another for awhile... ballet, tap, jazz, modern... ah those were the days. 

Anyhow.... dinner.

DINNER

-sauteed chicken with mexican seasoning

-ww tortilla

-salsa

-mexican shredded cheeses

-plain Oikos 

And a Pumpkinhead Ale.  :)

In case anyone missed it, I'm in search of vegetarian chili recipes.... got one you love and want to share???

Have a great night!

Britt

Intersection sprints......

That was my workout tonight.

But first my day in food.  :-)

BREAKFAST

jar oats!!

-oats, 3/4 c water, 1/4 c milk

-mix-ins: walnuts, dried cranberries, ground flax and of course ALMOND BUTTER!

I meant to do my run this morning, but I hit that evil snooze button.  I really should remove that from my alarm.......

So it was off to work. 

Before lunch I had a slice of ww bread w/ PB.  (it didn't like the camera)

Lunch time I had to hit the Home Depot. 

My list of needed items included....

-huge bag of potting soil 

(that was fun to try and get in my work clothes, luckily some dude helped me)

-Osmocote (aka plant food)

-Soil Moist (magic water absorbing stuff that keeps the soil moist)

-new shower curtain

LUNCH

Had to find something in the cafe at work since I did my Home Depot trip and ran out of time to pack a lunch this morning. 

(also I cheated, forgot to take a picture.... this is a re-use of an old picture)

-ww wrap w/ chicken salad and loaded with veggies, side of carrots

-few unpictured sweet potato chips

After work I went to revisit these beauties form a couple weeks ago at the greenhouse. 

It took 2 trips but we used about 2/3's of these plants tonight. 

I had a crew of about 7 volunteers help me plant 17 of the 21 barrels downtown. 
I was running around like a crazy woman and didn't snap any pictures.... but they look kinda like THIS.......
I still have 4 more barrels to plant plus a fountain that we now use as a planter.  I think I should be able to get it all finished tomorrow after work. 

So this is where my intersection sprints came in.  The barrels are on traffic islands in the center of downtown.  We did this all basically during rush hour.  But that is the only time I have to get it done..... so rush hour it is. 

We made good use of the cross walk button. 

I tried to see how many times I could sprint back and forth with plants before the light turned green again.  So they were slightly weighted sprints.

Needless to say after doing all that I was a bit exhausted and hungry..... so no run tonight.  But I did get some sprints in.... right?

Once home I showered my dirty wet stinky self. 

And while my gourmet dinner was cooking snacked on some of this.....

One gourmet dinner coming up!

DINNER

Yep, frozen pizza. 

The dinner of health gurus everywhere.  ;-)
I need to get to the store tomorrow.  I got loads of veggies but need some something to add them to.........  well at least for the hubby to eat it. 

Hope you had a great day!

Last night I was in TOTAL freak out mode about the 5K I'm directing.  

I think it was abou midnight when I bolted out of bed and started jotting things down. 

There are just so many details to straighten out.....   

how many volunteers  I need, where they all need to be, how best to instruct them all, what items I need to purchase, getting all the donated items there.... food, prizes, etc., making sure my race vendors will have everything they need to make it a succesful event...... and so on. 

You get the picture. 

People have been hugely supportive though, so I am very thankful for that!

Have you ever organized a large event?  How did you keep yourself focused and not get overwhelmed by all the details? 

 I guess in some ways its almost like a wedding.... except I get to do it again and learn from this year!

Have a great night!

Britt

Getting ready to Reach the Beach!!!!

Its crunch time, I'm scrambling to get things ready for Reach the Beach.  We don't leave till 6pm, but there are little things I kind of put off..... 

Like printing out the handbooks that we are required to have two of.

But then I realized it was way too many pages to do at home.... so I just spent almost an hour cursing at the Kinkos and Staples sites.... they were NOT cooperating!

So my day in food.....

BREAKFAST

was running late again, so I packed up my mix-ins for my at work oats

Mix-ins: blueberries, dried cranberries, walnuts, ground flax

With my oats & a little skim milk.
Yum.

Headed home for lunch and to walk the pooch.

LUNCH

-flat out & marinara sauce, broiled with roasted brussel sprouts & turnips, plus some tomato, roasted potato and feta
It was messy but good.

At work I snacked on some Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips

After work I got my butt to Kettlebell!!  (since I messed up my alarm AGAIN)

Repeated the all of the following 5 times, 

1 minute rest between each round, each exercise a minute unless otherwise noted

Round 1

-hand to hand sumo deadlift

-figure 8's

Round 2

-Get up sit ups

-Russian twist

Round 3

-Heavy press 1/1, 2/2, 3/3

-1 arm rows

Awesome workout!  I love it when there is lots of variety!

Then I ran around working on some 5K race promotion, after that it was home to walk Reggie and make dinner. 

DINNER

Chicken Parmesan 

-preheated over to 400

-dipped chicken breast in an egg, coated w/ breadcrumbs

-sprayed pan w/ canola oil

-baked for 20 minutes

-added marinara sauce and some parmesan cheese

-baked for 10 minutes more

-boiled up some pasta

(yes I like sauce)    

Time to get some packing done.... need to dig out the sleeping back and warm clothes.  

There is a FROST ADVISORY tonight where we will be running Friday night/ early Saturday morning.... eeks.  

So timeline tomorrow....

6am short run

8am work

noon leave work & finish packing

2pm leave to get huge passenger van from rental place

4pm pick up manuals & grocery shop

6pm pick up van 6 of the crew & head north

8pm dinner, check into our accomodations

My goal is to be IN BED before 11!!!

My mileage for the race....

1st leg 7.95 miles  (9:20am)

2nd leg 3.91 miles  (approx. 8:35 pm)

3rd leg 9.42 miles  (approx. 7:10 am)

Total mileage =  21.28miles

the good: no real late night or early morning running

the bad: my last leg is my longest & the hilliest

I'm going to attempt to blog on the road... not sure how successful I will be!

Have a great night!

Britt

Its all Greek to me.....

So after my Greek-esque salad today at lunch I headed back to work.....

As I made my way through the day I got a bit of a sweet tooth.....

Fruit Leather....

Then I needed to fuel up for some post work weeding.  It was my weekly volunteer weeding night!  So a larabar was my fuel. 

I tried to simplify my life and stop at the hardware store down the street from me to pick up a few yard waste bags.... 

The credit/atm card reader was down. (I don't really carry $$ on me)

So I walked across the street to the bank.  Their ATM was down.

Had to walk back across the street over to another bank down the way.  Finally $$! 

Went back to the store to get the bags.  Ugh.  

Had just enough time to run home and change then head back out. 

I always forget to take pictures before & after we weed, it makes such a huge difference.  It feels so good to make things look great in just an hour!

Afterwards I hit the grocery store.  Never got there this past weekend.  By the time I got home the hubby was there but he had already eaten at the charity golf tournament he played in, so I did leftovers. 

DINNER

had a Greek flair to it once again......

-flat out

-turkey burger

-Fix'ins: feta, kalamata olives, ketchup, lettuce and cukes

YUM!

Now I think a piece of the hubby's b-day cake is calling me.... chocolate w/ chocolate frosting....

Do you like gardening?  Do you have a green thumb??  I try... not sure if I do, but I just learn by trial and error.... I think I'm starting to kinda get the hang of it..... I think....

Have a great night!!

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

Lemon drop kick off....

Happy Labor Day Weekend!  :)

Hope your weekend is off to a great start, I know mine was yesterday after work. 

I met some friends out for cocktails, this lovely was how I started my weekend......

Its a lemon drop martini, made with fresh lemon juice.  So good.  Very summery and delicious. We hung out long enough for me to enjoy two, had to wait for the hubby to get done with work. 

Once we all had time for a drink or two we were off to the grocery store.  Luckily our friend Glenn is a great cook so he put us to work searching out items to create a yummy dinner. 

DINNER

-salad: field greens, tomato & cucumber

-soup: creamy mushroom soup, it was SO GOOD, lots of cream though, fortunately it was a small serving

-main course: chicken marsala w/ pasta

-side: kale & kidney beans w/ garlic (this was surprisingly good)

-dessert: brownie bites

We also managed to polish off a few bottles of wine over the course of the evening.  I made sure to drink plenty of water and take my time.  :)

It was SO SO SO nice to sleep in this morning!  

I really do appreciate my rest days.  Although I guess to some my rest days aren't all that restful.  

First up was a walk with Reggie and then the hubby and I met his family for breakfast.  

BREAKFAST

-blueberry, banana, walnut pancakes

-1 scrambled egg

-coffee & water

After breakfast I tended to some of the plant barrels downtown, they have been a bit neglected for awhile.  Oh how I love gardening on a median of a busy intersection, bent over, so my bum is sticking out at the world.  LOL

After about an hour I was done.  Then I walked to the library to find it CLOSED for the entire weekend.... ack!  What the heck... so not right!!  The holiday is Monday, not the entire weekend. So sad.  :(   I just returned my books in the drop box and walked back home empty handed.  

Reggie was happy to see me back, but little did he know today was bath day!  He hates baths but at least now I have a squeaky clean pooch.  

Next up a bike ride to the natural food store.... been meaning to go there for quite some time.  Seems the "natural" thing to do is to bike there.  But first I need to rotate the laundry.....

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Britt