An Apple A Day.... or two or three or four.....

Good Morning!

Well I didn’t get to bed as early as I had hoped this morning, but I only got to kettlebell class like a minute late…. So I got 2 minutes of jump roping instead of 3…. No big deal.

Today’s kettlebell workout was ok, several exercises but you did lots of one then switched.

With a partner we went back and forth, working and then resting while the other worked. We did 3 sets of each. Ex. I did one windmill on each side, then my partner did one windmill on each side, then I did 2 each side, etc. Once we got to 5 we started over again and did it all two more times. So by the end of windmills I was sick of them……..

Windmills- 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 5/5 (26lb weight)
Suitcase Lunges- 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 5/5
(started with 2- 32lb weights then switched down to 2-26lb weights on my second set)
Static Presses-1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 5/5 (2- 20lb weights)
Pullups- 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 5/5 (use a rubber band to lighten the load a bit, but still was a struggle by the last set)

After class I headed home to get ready for work and packed my breakfast, lunch and snacks.

BREAKFAST
(bit of a repeat of yesterday)
- oats made with ½ c oats, ½ c water, ½ c almond milk
- toppings: walnuts, dried cranberries, ground flax and little almond butter

LUNCH
Leftovers!
- salmon from last night
- quinoa from last night
- might grab some veggies from the cafeteria at work

SNACKS

-kashi granola bar

-apple or two

After work tonight I’m hitting the grocery store (again) to get ingredients for my contribution to our ladies night dinner, which is featuring an apple theme. One of my friends has some apple trees in her yard, so they have an abundance of apples. I’m thinking of doing a side dish and maybe a dessert, we are going to prep & cook at her house.

I might keep it simple with the side dish and do this,
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/105687
Broiled Apples and Pears with Rosemary

Although I also found an apple & sweet potato recipe that sounds yummy. For a dessert I might try to find a healthy apple bread to do…. Any suggestions?

Do you do cooking nights with friends ever? We have done themes in the past, but based on a movie we are watching or an event we watching/going to.

Hope you have a great day!

Britt

Sniffle sniffle

Sorry my nose is all stuffy still.......  blah.

In happier news.....Look at me, I'm blogging.... TWICE in one day.  Ahhh feels nice. 

I managed to escape work at lunch time for my 5 mile run, I felt pretty good despite the runny nose.  It is so nice to escape for a bit during the work day and get away from it all.  

Lunch time runs rock!

After lunch I enjoyed my lovely packed lunch.  

Plugged on through the work day and eventually enjoyed this beauty. 

It wasn't what I expected, but it was still pretty tasty!  

The new Kashi dark chocolate & coconut bar. It was kind of fudgy chocolate, hit the spot as a mid afternoon snack.

After work I hit the grocery store to grab some ingredients for dinner.  Then it was off to do some weeding downtown.  I love gardening, it feels great to do some manual labor and see a difference after just an hour. 

After weeding I headed home to make dinner for the hubby, my dad and myself.  :-)

DINNER

-baked salmon: 400 degrees, 15 minutes, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic and dill

-Jerusalem artichokes: sauteed w/ olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper (they are a tuber from the sunflower family and were delicious! got them from our CSA)

-pesto quinoa- just added some homemade pesto to the quinoa

-sliced tomato

(not the greatest picture.... I was hungry apparently LOL)

Thank you for the well wishes on the race and for finding time for myself.  I'm feeling a bit less stressed.   I'm looking forward to a ladies night at a friend's house tomorrow night, its apple themed..... 

Do you have any great recipes involving apples?  Anything but a main course.... dessert, appetizer, etc. 

Have a fabulous night!!  I'm hopefully getting to bed early so I'll be on time for Kettlebell at 6am tomorrow (lately I've been showing up a few minutes late.... oops).  Just hoping I don't need the Nyquil again, although my nose is so stuffed up!

Britt

Sweet dreams.....

Last night I had to do it, had to take some Nyquil.

The night before I tossed and turned with an achy shoulder (from what I do not know) and a stuffy head/nose. I needed sleep and I needed something to dry my head out….enter Nyquil. Ahhh….. finally sleep.

I enjoyed my sleep so much I kept hitting the snooze button so today’s run will be during my lunch break. Try to get in a quick 5 miles. Thank goodness we have a locker room here with showers.

I am on it this morning and got my breakfast and lunch packed for the day, plus a couple snacks.

BREAKFAST
-oats w/ 2/3 c almond milk and 1/3 c water
-mix-ins: walnuts, dried cranberries, almond butter and ground flax

LUNCH
-sandwich thin w/ turkey, provolone and pesto
-toppings to add later tomato & artichokes

SNACKS
-TJ’s pomegranate greek yogurt
-Kashi’s coconut dark chocolate granola bar (just found these, cannot wait to try it!

After work its off to do some weeding downtown and get things spruced up for the festival & race this weekend!

Do you have any fall festivals where you live? Does it include a road race?

Have a great day!

Britt

And back to your usual programing.....

Oy!  

Its been crazy busy around here... so much so that my blogging had to take a back seat.  :(

I've also had less computer access so that hasn't helped the situation either. 

Last I blogged.....

I had just completed Reach the Beach!

Since then its been lots of work, lots of plants, lots of road race planning, celebrations with friends, my dad visiting/leaving/visiting again!  

I really hope the race goes smoothly..... if it does I think it will be HUGE next year!

I'm looking forward to having Friday off and just getting lots done in preparation for the race.  So many little details and big details like making sure we will actually have enough volunteers..... I hope we will!

Then of course I'm also training for the NYC Marathon!  It of course hasn't gotten the attention I should be giving it.  I think I'll be holding true to my norm.... my fall marathon will be slower than my spring marathon.  But in some respects I want to enjoy it and not stress about time, which I can do as I'm already qualified and signed up for Boston.  So I can enjoy NYC with no real time goal..... which is a good thing!

FOOD

BREAKFAST

-oats, dried cranberries, shreaded coconut, some camera shy granola w/ skim milk

Snacked on some more camera shy granola.......

LUNCH

-1/2 wheat wrap, chicken salad, loaded w/ veggies lettuce, carrots, tomato, pepper, onion and cucumber. 

Little more of that granola.... dangerous thing to have at my desk. 

DINNER

-turkey burger on a sandwich thin

-kale chips, baby turnips, turnip greens

Alright.... back to yapping with the dad.... well my dad yapping.......  he's a bit of a talker.  He lives in the Northern Adirondacks, all that alone time in the woods leads to a chatty cathy when he is visiting!

I promise I'll be BLOGGING again!  Also I hope after the race is over to finally be moving over to my new site, www.runnerbelle.com  :)

How do you stay sane when things get busy?  Even when it feels like there is no "me" time or down time.  

Have a fabulous 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

Reach the Beach!

First off, I highly recommend a relay race with friends. 

Its a great bonding activity, you never know what is going to happen. 

It can be a lot of work to organize, especially if it is a 24 hour race but it is definitely worth it!

There are all kinds of relays now but Reach the Beach and Hood to Coast are a couple of the original 24+ hour relays.  My running crew is talking about maybe doing one in Florida put on by Ragnar Relays, although I also found one that goes from Key Largo to Key West.... its a little shorter too and we could have a smaller team.  

Any how back to Reach the Beach.  

THURSDAY

We headed up to northern NH.  Luckily one of our crew has a good hook up, so we had a free place to stay.  I hit the hay relatively early, as I knew I wouldn't get much sleep Friday night. 

FRIDAY

I was up before 7am, showering and packing up. We had to be at the start close to 8am to get registered.  I was our team captain so I had to do all of our check-in, I also was our first runner too! 

My first run was about 8 miles so I had to fuel up for my run.

BREAKFAST

-poppyseed bagel w/ PB

We of course had to take a few team pictures........

And decorate our vans...

Although this year was a bit sad compared to past years.  We just didn't have much time to decorate or the motivation. 

But at least we had me & Tito.  ;-)

And then we were off!

Beautiful scenery along the way of course. 

This was one of the transition areas. 

If you don't remember my explanation.  There are 12 of us on a team, you can have less too but no more than 12.  If you have 6 or less you are considered an "ultra" team. 

We each ran 3 legs, the legs are split up by the race directors, you have specific transition areas.  Once you pick an order you have to stay in that order.  I was our 1st runner so I ran legs 1, 13 and 25.  

The total mileage of the race is just over 200 miles.  Each runner has a combined total of miles ranging from about 14 to just over 22.  I was the lucky person with just over 22 miles.  :)

While it may sound great that most of the first few legs have a lot of downhill.... you quads pay the price.  The start of the race, you are full of energy...... you are excited.... you are.... well stupid..... you go out too fast and later on when you have to run up hill during your later legs.... it. really. hurts. 

But despite all this talk, I was able to recruit a newbie from my blog.....

Mrs. Our Life is Delicious donated her husband to the cause.  :)  

Or well he donated himself I guess. 

Yay Artie!!!  He even sported his "No Meat Athlete" shirt. 

A little action shot.... Artie jetting off on his first leg after the hand off. 

Soon it started to get dark..... and that meant dressing up in such fashionable items as

-reflective vest

-2 blinky lights... one front, one back

-head lamp

This is my sexy night runner pose.

I swear it did get dark on my run.

This was a leg or two  later when it was really dark out. 

My teammate Tom was getting ready to head out on his run.  It was one heck of a hilly run too... he started going straight up a hill that lasted at least 1/3 of a mile, went down for a bit and then right back up.  

So I have to admit, my eating was not all that spectacular.  For lunch I had a turkey, swiss, baby spinach and mustard sandwich.  It was camera shy.  Also had some trailmix and a chocolate chip cookie 

But after my 2nd run of the day, I got snacky and we had lots of snacks. 

Twizzlers......... evil.

Cheez-Its....... even more evil. 

But when you are living in a mess like this...... it kinda fits I guess. 

My van was lucky and we finished up our 2nd leg by midnight.  We headed to the next team transition area for some sleep.  Most of us slept in the van.... on seats, on the floor, outside in a tent... where ever we could find a place. 

SATURDAY

At 4:50am we got a call from the other van.  Their last runner was on course for her 7 mile run and I was on deck. 

I started my run just around 6am. 

 It was dark, but soon I could see a beautiful sunrise in the works.....

My team stopped by to give me some support..... 

It was my longest run, about 9.5 miles and the first half was pretty much all uphill.

This is at about the top of the hill section, right before I hit the downhill.

As you can see I was happy to see them and the downhill!!!

Me finishing up my final run and passing off our reflective slap bracelet "batton" to Mia

So my team thought it was odd that in my purchase of food for the van I got baby spinach.  I figured.... who wants just a meat & cheese sandwich, spinach is an easy addition and its like lettuce but even better for you. 

Well it became a running joke. 

At one point we showered one of our teammates with spinach during his run.

Here we are posing with our mascot vegetable....

Pretty much the answer to any problem involved....... baby spinach.... and sometimes hummus or baba ghanoush (which we didn't have any of but its fun to say).

Then we finally REACHED the beach!

This is the crew after we ran through the finish line together and got our medals. 

Our Stats

Overall Time: 28:48:42

Average Pace: 8:20/ mile

Runners: 6 guys, 6 girls.... ranging in age from 29-47

Overall an absolute blast!  :)

Let me know if you have any questions, its hard to fit it all in.  But hopefully that gives you an idea of how it all went.  

Britt

And..... I'm back......

Sorry about that.  

I'm a bad blogger when my life gets crazy. 

I'm back from a fabulous racing weekend!  Reach the Beach went awesome.  I'll do a separate post shortly. 

Today was about trying to get back to my routine.....

It kinda worked. 

6am I did Kettlebell!

This mornings workout was a good one for a Monda, I think. 

1 minute of each exercise (30 seconds each side when applicable), 1 minute rest at the end

Swings, rest

Swings, presses, rest

Swings, presses, slingshot, rest

Swings, presses, slingshot, squats, rest

Swings, presses, slingshot, squats, rows, rest

Swings, presses, slingshot, squats, rows, lunges, rest

Mini set of abs

overhead weighted situp, rest

overhead weighted situp, Russian twist, rest

overhead weighted situp, Russian twist, Sicilian crunch, rest

Then it was home for some breakfast!

BREAKFAST

Green Monster- spinach, ice, milk, almond butter, little greek yogurt, frozen mango and banana

Then off to work I went!

I headed home to make a quick lunch at noon time. 

 

LUNCH

-spinach flat out, turkey, homemade pesto, tomatoes, lettuce and roasted some strange vegetable from our CSA (didn't go so I yanked them out)
Left over roasted potatoes. 

After work I grabbed our crop share veggies for the week.  I was bad and didn't take a picture.  Yummiest watermelon ever though!!!

After getting our veggies & watermelon I had to venture downtown to prep the planters for tomorrow.  I have a crew of volunteers coming down after work to help me plant mums, cabbage & kale for the fall.  I had to remove all the summer plantings, which took me longer than I had hoped but I got it done!

I finally got home to make dinner around 8pm. 

DINNER

Pesto Turkey Burgers - just mixed in some homemade pesto with the ground turkey

Sauteed Turnips w/ olive oil & garlic

Yum!

Now to work on road race planning details.  I'm very glad Reach the Beach is done, now I can totally focus on the 5K I'm coordinating.... I'm getting a bit nervous, being a newbie at this race directing thing and all... I'm worried I'm going to forget something!

But first I'll do a race recap post!

Have a great night!

Britt