Lil Runner

LIL RUNNER IS MOVING!

2011-12-04T13:58:00.001-05:00

Please update your URL to http://lilrunner.wordpress.com.

moving to Word Press?

2011-12-03T12:19:00.001-05:00

I have done the bare minimum to switch my blog over to Word Press by importing my posts. I am going to try it out but I think very soon I will be making the full switch and leaving this blog in the dust! I have a few things to figure out first. If you have any tips on getting the hang of everything, please direct me!

http://lilrunner.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/making-the-switch/

Would you visit my site and post over there and leave a comment? I'm trying to get the hang of it :) Is the only way to get fun fonts to purchase the custom fonts thing?

18 weeks and favorite holiday recipes

2011-11-30T21:35:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I hit 18 weeks. For the first time 2 days ago, I felt the fluttering. With the first 2, it wasn't until 22 weeks so it's early for me! It's so weird and I'm still in major denial that this is happening and have major anxiety that I will be able to handle 3 children and give them each their time. I have a strong feeling that it is a boy, but last night I had a dream that a girl was born! We will be surprised - that is my favorite thing! Other than emotionally, physically I have been feeling fine. Some days depending on the position of the baby, I cramp up when I'm running, but otherwise everything is good and I can't complain one bit. I've been able to eat pretty well and have not had too many aversions or major cravings so I'm lucky! I was MAJORLY sore yesterday from the TRX class on Tuesday. I am still sore - everywhere. Every muscle in my body. Probably worse than the marathon soreness? I'm considering doing it once a week, it was a great workout!!

17 weeks:

I'm so excited to for the holiday season, I love it!! Share your favorite holiday recipe link - I love trying new recipes. Here are a couple that I want to try but I'm definitely looking for already modified tasty somewhat healthy recipes.

gingerbread cookies (vegan)

Italian Christmas cookies

Mickey Peppermint Cookies

Here is a nice start to the day with a Sugar cookie smoothie!
SUGAR COOKIE SMOOTHIE - adapted from MAMA PEA

2 Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Tea Bags
1 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used trader Joe's hemp protein)
2 T. old fashioned oats
1 frozen banana
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. xanthan gum (optional, for thickening)
1-2 c spinach

Mama Pea boiled the milk, then steeped the 2 tea bags overnight in the fridge. I couldn't wait when I saw the recipe so I cut the tea bags open and just dumped the herbs directly into my milk. Then last night I tried the overnight steep but honestly didn't find a difference. So go ahead and dump the tea bags in!

Next - I added spinach and the frozen banana! With the green color, it's not as pretty but you can't taste it :) I added in a cup or 2 of fresh spinach and used a frozen banana instead of ice cubes. Didn't have the xantham gum so it wasn't as thick as the picture but still yummy, the kids ate it up! ! Great recipe Mama Pea!

New Clif Shot Blok Flavor: Citrus

2011-11-29T16:24:00.001-05:00

I had the opportunity to get a free sample of the Clif Citrus Shot Bloks - their newest flavor. I thought it was somewhat repetitive since they have lemon-lime. Isn't that what citrus is? I thought they tasted similar to the lemon-lime but maybe more subtle? So if you think the lemon lime is strong, try the citrus flavor! What flavor would you like to see?

From Clif:

CLIF SHOT BLOKS come in eight flavors, including three with green tea extract as a natural source of caffeine, which studies have found improves endurance capacity.

In addition to Citrus, CLIF SHOT BLOKS are available in Black Cherry (50 mg caffeine), Cran-Razz®, Margarita (with 3X the sodium), Mountain Berry, Orange (25 mg caffeine), Strawberry and Tropical Punch (25 mg caffeine).

Back into the routine!

2011-11-29T15:58:00.001-05:00

Whew! Happy Thankgiving!! Hope that everyone had a really nice break and thankful holiday. We were away from Thursday to Monday, but it felt like a month. We went to my inlaws house in Connecticut. I didn't cook anything. Next year it looks like I'll be cooking and we won't be traveling. I would love to have a veggie Thanksgiving - but I don't think anyone would want to attend that! :-) What was your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

I am usually a really good eater at the inlaws and work out too, but this time I got sick the day after the marathon with a pretty bad headcold, and it intensified by the weekend after Thanksgiving. I was able to do my first run back after the marathon on Friday (5 days later!) on the local track but couldn't subject myself to the treadmill in the early mornings any of the other days. I slept in and enjoyed the help from my mother-in-law & cousin-in-law! Being pregnant and sick is the worst! You can't take what you want to take so it seems to linger on. The neti-pot was a huge help this weekend.

I had signed up for a free TRX class at the new gym that I joined this morning. It was just 3 of us so great 1 on 1 attention. I think I'll be sore tomorrow and that it was just what my body needed - change! I felt extremely slow on Friday running, but I think I'll get back into it this week and next week. I think that the rest was good for my legs and they will be fresh when it's time to get going again. If not, I'll switch it up and do other things. Have you done TRX? Do you do cardio before/after? It seems like I would put it in the place of lifting. It was one hour long but it would be good for 30 min of TRX and 30 min of cardio.

winner

2011-11-23T07:38:00.001-05:00

The healthy baking giveaway winner was schmidty - please email me your info - tosha25italia at yahoo.

16 weeks and more marathon thoughts

2011-11-21T20:59:00.001-05:00

So today I'm pretty sore. My right knee started hurting around mile 23 yesterday and it's the kneecap - my knee is sore, and also I have shin splints and my quads are sore. I love being sore though, do you? I used to always record what shoes I was wearing and the mileage and I stopped doing it when I had kids. I am positive that my shoes need replacing and probably are to blame for the shin splints and my knee pain. Time for some new shoes. Here are some of my favorite pics from my mom's phone:

stealing Nick's water - they ran out of cups

at mile 22

hugs at the finish!

Yesterday:
Breakfast was a scoop of peanut butter with coconut oil and amazing grass and 1/2 a clif Z bar. I had 3 chocolate clif gels and 1 razz clif gel along the way. I think the first was around 7/8 miles, maybe even 10 miles, then 15, 20, 23/24. I had zero plan and just took them when I felt like I needed them. I also had a bag of sport jelly beans along the way. I really like those things! Post race I was hungry! I ate a power bar, pretzels, a chocolate milk, a coconut water, and then veggie quesadillas at the diner we stopped at post-race. It was fun having the kids there and able to function. We got home and they napped so it was perfect!

Check out the comparison of times:

Marine Corps 10/30

Philly 11/20

Half for Marine Corps was 2:13:57, 30K 3:15:19...

About 100 yds to the finish, I should have taken Nick with me!

15/16 weeks were kind of a milestone - i feel like my stomach popped out, my boobs started hurting and got bigger, my regular sweaters aren't flattering anymore...
I don't look obviously pregnant to the general public but probably obvious to people who know me. Every week I feel like I have a different craving. Last week I was eating alot of Fritos and the past month York Peppermint Patties! I'm kind of just eating whatever I want but I get full quickly!

Philly Marathon '11 report

2011-11-20T18:08:00.001-05:00

I lined up at the start this morning not knowing if I would be running half or the full marathon. I was leaning towards the half as of yesterday because I didn't feel like spending 5 hours running today...here was my thought process around miles 10 until I saw the divider - TO THE HALF MARATHON FINISH (go right) or FULL MARATHON this way.- I'm running pretty well, faster than MCM -maybe I'll beat my time?
- Can I handle a slow half marathon time?
- I'm starting to cramp up a bit, should I just stop?
- I can stop and watch the finishers come in, and do media coverage (for examiner)
- I will stop and enjoy myself and get a massage and take my time getting home!
- Maybe I should just go for the whole thing, I have a streak going and this year I'm supposed to do the full
- Should I really do this?
- I signed up for the full, will they give me a medal if I stop at the half? Can I handle no medal?

And that was it my friends. I wanted a medal and to follow through on what I signed up for. And so it was. And at mile 14, I was like, WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING? Should I turn around NOW? Or go to mile 15 and turn around? Can I just show up at the finish and ask for a medal and somehow pretend I finished without crossing the line? Maybe I should just do this thing. Am I really going to do this?

I felt like I was being total irrational and somewhat crazy to even consider going all the way out to Manayunk but I just kept running and I was in good spirits. My poor parents, Bill and the kids were awaiting what I was going to do and my mom kept texting me "do we have a decision?" they were coming for the second half of the race. I got to see them at mile 22 which was awesome, and then again right before the finish. By that point, I was barely running, it was like a speed walk/jog. I got pathetic and it all went downhill pretty quickly around mile 14. It probably would have been good to stop at 13, but I don't regret finishing. I kind of like the no-stress marathon, but man, it would be nice to run a fast marathon and not spend so much of your day on your feet, wouldn't it? And the pride too!

I finished in over 5 hours - my first over 5 hour marathon 5:10. The last 2 miles I was pretty much hurting and trying to keep moving, and from mile 18 on, I loved cheering on other people (LOVE the names on the bibs, stellar!) It was really fun, I think 20 miles would have been a good ending distance. :)

I got to see Abby at the start, the first 100 yards! She did awesome and PR'ed! And Run to the Finish was out smiling in Manayunk - got to see her too!

Got my medal, and my pride, and #7 complete.

The pictures:

Pooped out from watching

had a great time watching

#1 fan

eating all my post race snacks to stay happy

future marathoner

and she's awake as we're ready to leave!

Healthy baking (giveaway)

2011-11-17T14:21:00.001-05:00

Whenever I see a *normal* recipe that looks good, I try to tweak it to be more healthy. Sometimes it turns out, and other times, not so much! Thanks to blogs like Peas and Thank You, A Healthy Passion, Heather Eats Almond Butter & Oh She Glows, I've had guidance on what products to use and how to properly tweak recipes.

FLOUR
I used to see a recipe, replace the white flour with whole wheat flour, and then wonder why it just didn't taste the same. I've learned that whole wheat pastry flour is a lighter flour to use that works much better for baked goods and recipes, and that it is nice to throw in some ground oatmeal (oat flour) or toasted ground quinoa when you can too!

SNEAKING IN VEGGIES, FRUITS AND BEANS
Other than changing up the flours, I usually try to find a way to add in something good for you, whether it be flaxseed, squash, applesauce, beans, avocado ... here are some of those recipes that were tasty for sure:

Avocado Brownies
Brownies made with white beans
Butternut Squash Doughnuts

Now sometimes I do just make straight up full fat, bad for you recipes, but most of the time, it is for other people! SO what are your tricks? Where do you find your recipes?

GIVEAWAY
Hodgson Mill® is offering one lucky reader a $25 gift certificate to the Hodgson Mill online store. Here you can find flours of all kinds, corn meal, baking mixes, pancake mixes, bread mixes, couscous, pastas... the possibilities are endless! Just leave a comment below telling me one of the following:

a) what are your tricks for healthier baking?
b) what are you looking forward to baking this holiday season?

A winner will be selected at random on Tuesday, November 22nd.

Hodgson Mill is also giving away 50 giftpacks ($85 value) of their products.

Click here to enter!

Review of Margaritaville sunglasses

2011-11-16T09:04:00.001-05:00

I was given the opportunity to review a pair of Margaritaville sunglasses. This is a new line of polarized sunglasses.

I picked the Calypso model:

I have never spent more than $15 on a pair of sunglasses because usually a) I lose them b) I sit on them or c) I break them. It is nice to have a very nice pair of sunglasses, and the best part is that they come with a box to store them in, a bag to protect them, and a "leash" to go around your neck. That helps not to lose them and not to destroy them! Here are the details from the website:

MPT (Margaritaville® Polarized Technology) nylon lenses
100% UV A/B Protection
Heat Sculpted Polymer frame
SunGrip rubber nose pads
SunGrip rubber temple tip insert
Spring hinges
Integrated Margaritaville® Leash System
Island Style details
Ships with custom Margaritaville® Case and microfiber cleaning bag

Also from the website:

MPT® Polarization Technology

Polarized lenses act like slatted window blinds—when light hits a reflective surface it bounces and scatters, reducing contrast and clarity. The “blinds” in MPT ® lenses block scattered light rays but let in the “corrected” light with virtually no glare, allowing you to see clearly and fight eye fatigue.
All Margaritaville® polarized sunglasses feature premium fused polarization Technology. MPT® Fused lenses diffuse glare through the use of an integrated, pre-formed polarizing filter, layered within the injected lens, allowing incredible clarity even in the harshest conditions. MPT® fused lenses are the highest quality available and filter out 99.9 % of blinding glare.

How did they fit? The fit is great and they are super comfortable. I noticed that they make things look much darker than they are which can be a positive and negative depending on your needs. They provide great protection from the sun and stay on during running too! I like the palm tree logo that is on them - if my glasses are ever on a table and I'm not sure which ones are mine, they are easy to spot. I love that they have the "leash" that I can keep them around my neck. And I store them in my car in the box because right now I'm usually wearing glasses when I'm driving, or out at the park.

If you are willing to spend money for a nice pair of glasses, I would highly recommend these!

Right now, you can get a great deal - all eyewear is 50% off! Check them out here.

Like Margaritaville on Facebook!

How much do you normally pay for sunglasses? How often to you buy a new pair?

Acts of Kindness

2011-11-16T08:34:00.001-05:00

A MONTH OF GIVING THANKS
I forgot to share this when I saw it last week: There are great ideas for random acts of kindness that you can do yourself or with your kids.

I love some of the ideas, and here is another great blog too! Inspired last week, I picked up a leaf from the YMCA to donate 2 jars of gravy for Thanksgiving. It just helped me to think that it's nice to help others, even if in a small way.

What random acts of kindness do you take part in?

PHILLY MARATHON WEEK
It's marathon week, and I'm back and forth on whether I'm actually fit to run this thing. The weather forecast - now calling for 60s - looks like it's on my side. Just knowing what I'm getting into (by knowing the course and such) is not on my side. After having the great long run on Saturday I felt like my body was hurting Sunday and Monday. I had a good run yesterday. My plan is to line up to attempt the full and depending on how I feel, I can always stop half way (which I think is a detriment about the course!) I'm starting to rationalize and feel like I'm sort of crazy for even thinking about doing another marathon 3 weeks after the first only because I'm pregnant. We'll see what happens!

BIRTHDAY PARTIES
I'm a big birthday party planner. I love birthdays and like planning themed out parties for the kids. Last year was trains, the year before was airplanes and I've been thinking about fire trucks for this year since his last birthday, ha! Well, most of my friends are doing parties during the week within playgroup so I am questioning spending the money to have a firehouse tour and safety demonstration for less than 10 3-year olds. I'm trying to find a happy medium. Do any stations have free tours? That's what I'm thinking - I feel like the fire station would be pretty awesome. We're in limbo since we're renting and I would like to have the party elsewhere, so...that's where I am in party planning right now!

Share your eats Saturday

2011-11-12T19:13:00.001-05:00

I had an amazing long run this morning! It was the best I've ran since the Philly Distance run 2 months ago. I had only peanut butter before I ran and didn't feel like I wanted to eat anything during the run, and then I really wasn't that hungry after. It was weird.

This was my week of improvement:
Last week/recovery week- average pace for first run back 10min/mile. Long run 10:24

This week:
Run #1: inside:7 miles- 10:13 min/mile
Run #2: inside: 5.1 miles - 9:49 min/mile
Run #3: inside:4.2 miles 9:32 min/mile
Run #4: LONG RUN outside: 12 miles 9:38 min/mile

Did my training this week get my body ready to run faster? I couldn't believe I was on my way to being done 12 miles in that last mile! It flew by and felt great. My goal once I hit 5 miles was to keep each mile under 10 min pace. It wasn't too challenging to do that but after 5 miles I did think I was starting to fade. Mile 6 was the slowest then I got it back together. I tried to give whatever I had the last 1/2 mile and was able to get it below 9:30. All in all, I wish I could run like this everyday!

I did pay for this run the rest of the day - exhaustion, sore lower ab area - maybe that means I pushed too hard. I remember running the Baltimore 1/2 marathon when I was 5 months pregnant with Nick and it hurt to cough. It was like that today when I was done. Either way, it gave me great confidence for next weekend! If I do run the full, I think I can beat the MCM time?

Moving on, here are my recipes to share from this week! What do you have to share?

Nutrigrain Bars - great for kids

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes
inspired by Mama Pea's Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

2/3 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1 T maple syrup
3/4 c. almond milk
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. pumpkin
1 T ground flaxseed
mini chocolate chips to your liking

Combine it all in a bowl. Let's get real here - I don't have time for steps. Cook them on the skillet till set. Enjoy!

Creme de Menthe Brownies and Creme de PEANUT BUTTER Brownies

I followed this recipe for the Creme de Menthe for Nick's nursery school bake sale and then a colleague from work needed a dinner after her pet died this past weekend and I knew she loves the pb/chocolate combo so I made half mint and half pb. Why didn't anyone think of those Peanut Butter layered bars? Or maybe I missed it!

For the creme de menthe, they were WAY sweet!! For my second go-around I took out 1/2 the sugar. I actually tried a vegan version but they did not compare, so I don't recommend it. I would just cut out some of the sugar in the brownie bottom, because you will be getting sugar in the middle and top. For the peanut butter version,

Creme de Peanut Butter variation - I swapped in Trader Joe's creamy (pretty liquidy) peanut butter for the creme de menthe. It was easy to spread.

winner of the SILK giveaway

2011-11-09T17:42:00.001-05:00

VALLEY WRITER!
Send me your info :)

OWW - Opinions Wanted Wednesday

2011-11-09T16:23:00.002-05:00

It's that time again - Christmas cards! I've had three photo shoots with the kiddies so far and I am a perfectionist. I never get the picture that I want. I'm learning that I don't have time to get exactly what I want anymore, and I feel like 3 photo shoots is all I have in me right now. Getting them dressed into their Christmas attire and attempting to have them sit for me - partially impossible! I have a feeling I will try one more time but I'm going to try to hold myself back. None of these are perfect but let me know which picture you like the best for a main photo!

#1 Nick isn't smiling :(

#2 I wish Kara wasn't laying down

Nick has a death grip on Kara here

These were some of my favorite photos from today - non-edited:

#6 thanks for the smile Nick

#9 Now look at Mommy!

#10

You can tell me if you like any of these more too!
You're probably thinking, wow, it's November 9th and you're taking Christmas pictures? I love taking photos of the kids, and last week I wanted to run away so I decided to have a focus and this has made life easier :)

I forgot to put my due date in the last post - May 3.

1st trimester

2011-11-08T15:07:00.000-05:00

I think the decline of my running came the week after the Philly Distance Run. We held under 9 min pace for that race and I felt comfortable for it. Then my hamstring flared up and I could not run the entire week after. When I came back from that, it was slowly and I had to go get my hamstring worked on every week. Now I'm dealing with discomfort after every run that lasts the entire rest of the day but I can run comfortably for the most part. The pain is the worst when I'm driving or sitting still (which I don't do much!). I feel like I can't get back to a faster pace and I'm working against myself since my body is going the other way (decline,slowing) but it would be real nice to run a better time in Philly than MCM?

I was able to run 7 miles this morning on the treadmill and it felt really good! But so slow! I could run 7 miles in an hour at one point, and it took me over an hour and 10 minutes :( Kind of frustrating. I made a friend at the gym. Do you talk to people at the gym? I need to socialize in the morning. At the Y, it was the same early morning crew so I knew people and knew the instructors. I joined a new gym for the days I'm not swimming since they were running a special for the rest of the year (and hopefully after that I can cancel it!) I don't know anyone, but this morning the guy next to me asked me a question about signing up for the machines - you have to do that to "reserve" the time you are on it. Then we became running buddies, haha. Too bad he was traveling for business. Older guy, recreational runner. I'm starving for interaction, even when I'm running, so it made the time go by quicker. But all in all it felt good anyway! It was definitely frustrating since he started after me and was done before me - and we both did 7 miles, but what can you do? 7 miles felt really good!

So the first 12 weeks were different this time. Since I was in top shape and training for the triathlon and marathon, this wasn't in my original plan, and I did cry when I found out. For the full story, I thought I was in the clear, then realized I wasn't and that I ovulate super late. I took the Plan B pill but this baby pulled through. I think I feel overwhelmed enough with Nick(will be 3 in Feb) - low key and sweet, and Kara( will be 1.5 in January) - demanding, mama's girl, but sweet! so it has been hard to swallow but I know babies bring so much joy and it will be great for the kids to be close in age (17 months between Nick and Kara, 22 months between Kara and the new sibling:) ) As far as my well being?? We'll see how that goes! I wish that I could share my fertility because I know so many people who want to be pregnant and jump through a million hoops to get there or just can't get pregnant. I can't even imagine.

Anyway, as far as the first trimester... I had some nausea this time around, I was napping in the afternoons very often, I couldn't keep my eyes open! I didn't really have aversions, just foods that I saw and wanted right away! With Nick and Kara, I wanted butter, cheese, and toast/english muffins, and I could not look at veggies the first trimester. I'm going strong on my veggies and was really into cheese the first few weeks, and cheese hoagies too! Peanut butter was take it or leave it for a couple of weeks there, and I was eating my Amazing Grass Chocolate with coconut oil every day! Now, I have weekly/monthly cravings - the chocolate and mint is a strong one, mexican food - black beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole. Starting at Halloween with the candy, I feel like I have been shoving my face and not stopping when I'm full. I feel like I am now obviously pregnant (at least at swimming). I need to chill out a bit!

I feel like I've been pregnant for the last 3 years straight and everytime things start getting easier, bam! I'm pregnant again. I guess they'll all be close in age and have a good time. I'm questioning how you give enough time to each child, because I've always wanted 4 kids and I feel like giving two the attention they need is a challenge! I guess I'll see after 3.

Some ultrasounds pics! Due date May 3. I'm around 15 weeks, I think. I'm not really keeping track!

Recovery week stats and granola recipe

2011-11-07T15:11:00.003-05:00

This is Kate's great granola recipe that was gone from my house extremely quickly!

High Protein Granola

adapted from Kate at A Healthy Passion

Ingredients:

4 tbsp brown rice syrup

2 tbsp sunflower seed butter

3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 3/4 c oats

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 scoop vanilla hemp protein powder

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions: Combine the brown rice syrup, oil, sunflower seed butter and vanilla in a large bowl until well mixed, fold in the oats and add the rest of the ingredients stirring to coat. Once mixture is well combined pour onto a lined baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees stirring once. Let cool and enjoy!

I didn't need all that much recovery after the marathon and my week rounded out pretty well. Here's what it looked like:

Monday - off
Tuesday - easy short swim, bike 4.5 miles and stretching
Wednesday - swim easy 3300 yards
Thursday - run easy 4 miles!
Friday - spin class - challenging 17 miles
Saturday - run 7 miles outside
Sunday - Spin class - 16 miles

This weekend I'm hoping to run about 2 hours, and then I might just run Philly for some 5 hours of fun in 2 weekends!

Marathon history

2011-11-04T21:51:00.001-04:00

Marlene had posted all of her marathons and times and like it's supposed to be, they improved with each one down to a BQ! So inspiring! Unfortunately my friends, that is the opposite case with me, which leads me to believe that I've never given my all into marathon training and that I'm probably not cut out to be a BQ'er. Here is a recap of my marathon running history.

#1! my first marathon - Steamtown, October 2004, 4:14:19* PR
I was teaching and coaching, single but engaged and followed plan to train for this one. My friend Nicole got me into the marathons after college. Too bad there was no facebook back then - I have no pictures to share.

#2 New York City, November 2006 4:43:40
I had stomach issues pretty early on and ended up walking and using port-a-pottys and my sister held my hand through most of the latter miles of this one! It was killer! I'd like to return to NYC someday and have a better experience but not at the price they are asking - and I hear they have fast standards now too.

#3 Philadelphia Marathon, November 2007, 4:26:24
I trained pretty well for this one, and around mile 18 I hit the wall. Miles 20-26 I was barely moving. My cousin finished the last 6 miles with me. I've never had a strong 10k at the end.

#4 Boston Marathon, April 2009, 4:21:03
10 weeks after Nick was born! I was so excited to be running in this race. My sister hopped in and ran the last 10k with me. I'm pretty sure I slowed down but I was just so happy to be there.

#5 Philadelphia Marathon, November 2009, 4:39:36
(7ish weeks pregnant)
I was totally burnt out for this race, since I never really took a break after Nick was born. I had just found out I was pregnant with Kara 5 days before and I had no air to spare. I distinctly remember around mile 19 being completely out of breath. My sis ran the final miles of this one with me too!

#6 Marine Corps Marathon, October 2011, 4:54:03
(14ish weeks pregnant)
Slowest one yet! Started with my sister, but all my training runs were super slow, and I just got slower as I reached the teen miles. I really didn't care about my time but when you are done you always wish you went faster!

#7??? Philly #3? Should I do it?

So I've ran 2 Philly fulls and 2 Philly halves and here is my comparison of Philly to the others:

Steamtown - small-town marathon, the whole town is out cheering and the fans are amazing! There were definitely quiet spots, and there was also room to run along the course. When we got off the bus at the start - a high school, students presented us with ribbons to wear on our shirts. It was a hometown feel, hilly at the end, and a great experience! I'd go back

New York - I remember getting up at like 4am, boarding buses and sitting around for a long time. The village was cool - where you wait to start. A guy in the starting corrals peed right in front of me. Going over the bridge was so weird, it was shaking! I liked seeing all the parts of New York and all the fans that were out. The finish in Central Park was amazing.

Boston - what can I say, I was so happy/excited to be there, the whole thing was amazing. Fans everywhere, great things to give out - gus, etc, great crowd support and amazing atmosphere. Similar to New York I think I had to get up at 4 am, even though the race didn't begin till 10am. Long day!

MCM - the first 10 miles were annoying, and the start was anti-climatic. It was a long way to get to the start (walking) and to get home because the metros were so crazy. I liked how we didn't have to wait around in a village and we basically walked up to the start, starting running and were off! The crowd support was amazing, lots of fuel stops - donuts, oranges, gels. I would have liked more water stops, it was weird there weren't clocks at each mile but instead marines yelling out the clock time... busy race, great atmosphere, very fun. The shirts were lame, I would probably never wear it - mock cotton turtleneck. What?

Philly - Since I know Philly, whenever I run it, I get bored and say I'm never doing it again. The first part is through the downtown and head to Penns Landing. The start is lined with fans but they dwindle quickly. Kelly Drive is fun, there is room to run for the most part and the crowd support is decent but not as good as NYC, Boston or MCM. Manayunk is my favorite part - where the streets are LINED and people are giving out beer. Knowing you have to run all the way back down Kelly Drive and to the art museum is kind of daunting - it's basically an out and back which I don't like all that much. It's a pretty fast, flat course and they do a great job with the corrals and the start. It's super organized and they started putting your names on the bibs, and the shirts are pretty awesome year after year, and the medals! If I was choosing between MCM and Philly, it would be a toss up. I'd choose whichever city I didn't know as well. Hope that helps you out Frank!

What's left in my future? I hope to do Chicago, and some fun destination like Hawaii! Which marathons do you want to do?

Marathon Pics & recovery

2011-11-03T14:28:00.001-04:00

I recovered pretty easily from my slow paced (for me) marathon!On Sunday I wasn't walking well after the marathon, and my calves and knees were KILLING me. My feet were too, right after. I slept in and took off on Monday. On Tuesday I swam briefly and then did alot of stretching. Wednesday I swam again and was able to swim pretty hard, but my legs were tired. Today I was planning to do a spin class but then I realized there wasn't one so I ended up running 4 miles slow and steady. It felt fine, and I stretched afterwards. I feel like I recovered pretty quickly and I think it is because of my pace!

In my head, I'm actually considering running Philly (in 2 weeks) for another 5 hours of fun, but I'm not even sure how I'd structure the next 2 weeks. I don't feel like doing a long run this weekend so maybe I could skip that and just run for 2 hours next weekend? What do you think? I want my legs to be more fresh before I run long so soon.

Here are my pictures. I like the first one because I think my form looks good - except that right foot - supposed to land on my forefoot there. I'm glad I look upright and my shoulders back, but for the most part my strides look so short that it looks like I'm speed-walking in almost every picture!

good form?

power walking?

I love this expression and the dude to the right looks funny too!

determined to finish

I look tall

confused

very short strides - like the thumbs up from the dude to my right

run run run let's not walk

happy with my buddy Nicole

smiling at the Capitol!

confused

major fake smile

good spirits

I like these pics! :)

Drink SILK with your cereal! (giveaway)

2011-11-01T21:11:00.000-04:00

I stopped drinking regular milk a while ago! My top choice for milk has been almond milk for almost everything, including with my cereal. I was contacted by Silk to try having Silk with my cereal and they sent me complimentary coupons to try it out.

Silk sells 3 different varieties but 17 choices (chocolate, unsweetened, vanilla, etc) including the ones that I picked, PureAlmond (original) and PureCoconut (original). I tried both and PureAlmond was the winner but I would use both over milk. The almond is very subtle - the coconut definitely has a clear coconut flavor! I would describe both as creamy and light. I really like them!

I used this fun bowl that you can transport your cereal and Silk in. You put the Silk in the blue part and it stays cool. The white part goes underneath with your cereal, a lid goes on the blue part, there's a spoon with it too and voila! You can bring cereal and Silk to work or wherever you are going!

Want to try it out? Take the 10 day challenge! On the website there are ideas for 10 days of using Silk! I would start with your cereal but all of the ideas are great!

FYI:
* Silk contains more calcium than typical dairy milk.
* Most people prefer the taste of Silk Vanilla to typical dairy milk
on their cereal.

I've heard the dark chocolate silk is amazing - have you tried it?
Check out their website where you can print a coupon and see all their varieties!

You can also like them on Facebook! and follow them on twitter!

Now for the giveaway! One lucky random (US only) winner will get a Silk cereal bowl, 2 Silk coupons, and a Silk ChicoBag. Do you want to win?

Mandatory entry -
Leave a comment with what you currently eat your cereal with. Skim milk, almond milk, etc.

Extra bonus entries - leave a comment
(+1) Like Silk on Facebook and/or Twitter

A winner will be selected at random on Tuesday, November 8th.

Part 2 of my MCM experience

2011-11-01T14:56:00.006-04:00

I'm sorry for the wait! Coming home to Halloween was a good move, lots of walking and lots of candy! First the picture version:

metros were PACKED!

great view on our one mile + walk to the starting area

around mile 22ish? Thanks Nicole!

another shot with a smile here by Nicole :)

never thought I'd make it! :) haha

SWEET VICTORY LIES AHEAD!

finished!!

super cute shirts my sister made

Bill who was at 18,22 and the finish, great spots!!

pretty cool map of all where we ran

So to recap, miles 1-10 were pretty brutal with crowds and I was in a very negative state of mind. I ran 1-5 with my sister but when she started weaving, I didn't have the energy to follow anymore. One day we'll finish a sub 4 marathon together. Mile 11 my buddy Nicole who lives down there joined me and ran with me until mile 24! Mile 12 they gave out Clif gels - and my plan was the snickers and milky ways but I wasn't feeling them so luckily, Nicole grabbed me some gels! chocolate flavor too. I was digging them at the time and they were delicious! I had a snickers at mile 7, chocolate gel at 12, another gel around 18, some beans and clif bloks from there to the finish and a chocolate munchkin at mile 24 :) There was a hill to the finish and at that point I was laughing picturing what I looked like. I wish I had a video of that. It was hilarious!

I loved all the stuff they were handing out, and the only thing I'd ask for is more water stops! So here were my splits:

I'm not sure why I'm running like garbage right now, I do have an announcement that another baby is on the way, but seriously, these paces are ridiculous regardless. I wasn't looking at my watch and didn't really care at the time but it makes me mad looking at this now (and kind of not care). I had way too much going on leading up to this which made my training stink. First I found out I was pregnant in August. My running took a toll for the worse pretty quickly because I was out of breath. Then our house sold so the whole moving process drained me for sure. And overall just attempting to train with the 2 kids - I wasn't into it. So here is marathon #6 in the books under 5 hours at 4:56 and my worst marathon time ever. My sister ran a 4:09 which would have been a PR for me too, so I'm bummed that I wasn't in shape to run that 4:09 with her. It was a good time (not clock time) and I'm glad I finished it and someday I will run a marathon under 4 hours. Probably not for another 12 years or so.

I did sign up for the Philly full marathon back in the spring when it opened and they were running a deal, so there's a chance I may run another 5 hour marathon. I do think it's cool how much ground you cover and maybe I'm just not a real marathoner that PRs, just a leisurely one that can run for 5 hours just to get it done and enjoy the weather and sites. We'll make this one a game time decision. I can't believe I am even considering it!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

piglet and sir topem hat

My thoughts on MCM - Marathon #6 (ultra) - part 1

2011-10-30T21:53:00.001-04:00

The expo –

The expo was decent. Nothing too special but nothinglacking. It was not only raining/sleeting/snowing but also freezing cold around30+ degrees. Me & my sis werepraying that the weather was going to change for Sunday – and it was supposed to.

The night before meal –

We went to an amazing Italian restaurant for dinner and hadloads of bread and a pasta with mushrooms. It was delicious. I definitely atetoo much – so hard not to do when out to eat where there is amazing food! Our dinner was at 5:15 so we stocked up withpretzels and halloween candy to nosh on later. I had a lot of chocolate andsome pretzels later in the night and peaced out around 9:30 (normal bed time!)

The morning of –

I didn’t have to get up till 6am so that was amazing. It’slike sleeping in still to me. During theweek, I’m up just before 5 usually. I woke up and got my things in order – Ihad to totally revamp my outfit because of the sudden arrival of winter.Luckily my sister made us fun bright pink shirts to wear and it went nicelywith my black capris. I ate peanutbutter and bread and a mini snickers bar because I forgot my normal Z barbreakfast! I drank some water and headedto the lobby to meet my sister. She picked me up and drove to a metro stop topark and we headed on the metro to the start. The metros became insane aboutone stop away from the start. Standing room only – and we were packed likesardines in there. Getting off the metro and trying to get up to the exit ofthe building and out to the start was ridiculous. They were still making peopleenter their metro card (individually) and going through the turnstiles. At one point they just started lettingeveryone go through but I think it took us 20-30 minutes to get out of there.THEN we had to walk to the start. I swear the walk was at least a mile, maybeeven longer. It was insane! And it was freezing. I was gripping my sis forwarmth! We stopped at the port-a-potty line and it was already 7:55 (race start8am). We heard the start and headed towards it. The race had already officiallystarted – we started 10 minutes late and it was anti-climatic – we basicallyclimbed a barrier and started walking up to the start line with tons of otherpeople, crossed the line and started running. It took me a while to realizethat I was actually starting the marathon – very weird.

The first 5 miles I was able to run with my sister. Theamount of people on the course was way too much. There was weaving and no space for at least10 miles. It was super frustrating. I lost my sister with the crowds andweaving and just kept on going but I was definitely getting worked up about thelack of space. Someone would just stop and start walking right in front ofme or someone going super slow would notmove to the side to run. Aghh… veryannoying.

At mile 11, my friend Nicole started running with me and she ran with me untilmile 24! Who has a friend that is in shape to just hop in and run a halfmarathon? How awesome was that?? She was my snack holder – grabbing fuel for meat the stations, tour guide – telling me where we were and where we were headedand random historical stories. She wasentertaining for sure. My words were usually one word responses, like “cool” or“fun” haha and at one point I said that I didn’t want to know about mileage ordistance left. It was super helpful but you know when you just get to a certainpoint and you just want the other person to stop talking? And when 6-4 or even3 miles sounds like a ridiculous amount to go? I ran most of the Disney marathonwith my sister and I’m pretty sure she told me to “shut the f up” or at leastafter the fact she told me she wanted to say that to me. You get real moody at some point in amarathon, right?? Haha. Nicole was a great running buddy - she only left me with 2 miles to do alonewhich was amazing!! And she kept passing me fuel and took action shots of me. What a great friend - thanks Nicole!

I felt like the entire race I was totally out of it in someother zone where I was hardly paying attention to what I was running by or takingit all in – at all. I was focused on my form, trying not to think about howslow I was running or how much my body hurt, and excited to get to the finish line. I was smiling, and for the mostpart happy, but also thinking that I never want to do this again and that we’reall crazy.

smiles

The crowd support along the course was fantastic. There wereeven fan-made water stops and people handing out candy and treats along theway. The crowds were great. As far as along the course, it was tough to getinto a groove the first half of the race – way too crowded. I wouldn’t run this one again, because it wasfrustrating. And if I was actually going for a PR, I’d be super pissed! I thought they did a nice job with the aidstations and had lots of food to give out – oranges, gels (around mile 12),jelly beans (mile 19) and my favorite –dunkin donuts munchkins(mile 24) !!

I felt like I was looking for water so that they could havehad more water stops – they were lacking.

big sis at 23 miles, lil sis was finished already :)

The final 0.2 to the finish was a little hill in which I wascracking up at myself because I couldhardly pick up my feet at this point. I wonder what I looked like. It makes melaugh thinking about it. At the finish,they said my name and city which was so fun! Then it was a massive back up to get a heat sheet and your medal. Thefun part about the medal was that a marine shakes your hand and puts it on yourneck. Those marines are so cute! Then itwas chaos getting to meet up with Bill and my sister (who ran an awesome timetoday, and would have done even better if it wasn’t for the crowded-ness). I was cursing by now. I think we had to walkabout another MILE to the finish tents.A little crazy! They gave us water,bananas, & a little box full of funtreats (trail mix, pears, pretzels, dark chocolate, dried edamame). I met upwith Bill and Kristen and then we walked another mile to get a taxi inGeorgetown. The metros were crazy with massive crowds.

Overall – I was trying to enjoy the day and tell myself thiswas my last one for a while and try to stay positive. I was super negative thefirst 10 miles and angry! The crowdsdefinitely helped and running with Nicole. It feels nice to finish! That was marathon #6. Maybe I’ll do Phillyfor fun?? Haha, these things are addicting but I don’t think so. More with my splits & fueling coming next.

In the end, besides the mile to the start, 2 miles after the finish - my garmin clocked 26.6 miles. Almost 30 miles today, ha! Ultra-marathoner right here :)

3 - 3 - 3 - 3

2011-10-28T07:55:00.000-04:00

Here are 3 things that I'm into right now:

Toffee Chip Power Bars. What is the obsession? Totally processed sugary power bars. I love these things. I have maybe 1/2 before working out and the rest post workout. Then I eat a bowl of cereal an hour later for breakfast. They have mini chocolate chips on top and they are so good. I don't recommend them though, they're addictive and have a big list of ingredients.

PHILLY CREAM CHEESE
I can't get enough of this stuff. Bagels, Potatoes, pasta...with a spoon. I don't know where I came up with this one!

CHOCOLATE AND MINT
I want these now!!
I remember my mom making these all the time growing up. They're all the rage!

I made the thin mints. I told you they would never look like the picture but all that really matters is the taste, right?

---------------------------------------
Now let's talk about some less sugary ideas - COOKING

I also learned that I like to eat salmon, but I can't cook it then eat it. I'm just starting to eat fish and that is the only one I will try because of its nutritional powerhouse nature. I followed this recipe and tried some of it and it was delicious, but then mentally I couldn't eat it anymore knowing that I cooked it and it was fish. Ha.

This was a great recipe that my friend Lauren shared.

what the heck is on those potatoes?? Is that cream cheese?? :)

On the recipe board for this week:
Some kind of pumpkin cranberry bread? Care to share a recipe??

Oatmeal Scones that look great!

Pumpkin Ginger Cookies

Nutri-Grain Bars

What's on your list?

Winner of the Compression Shorts - Aspaeris

2011-10-26T19:14:00.001-04:00

Jessica! You are the winner of the awesome Aspaeris compression pivot shorts. Lucky girl!
Please email me your info! tosha25italia at yahoo.

Everyone else thanks for entering!!

To run or not to run

2011-10-26T14:45:00.001-04:00

RUN OR REST???
Here is my schedule this week so far:
Monday - swim - that seems like it was 2 weeks ago! (moving day!)
Tuesday - 5+ miles - easy
Wednesday - spin and lift
Thursday - easy run? abs? elliptical? something else? OFF?
Friday - swim
Saturday- maybe nothing
Sunday - 26.2!

I just realized that if I do a couple miles on Saturday there will be no off day this week. I want my legs to be rested, so what is my best bet here??

CAKE CONTEST!
There's a cool Cake Boss contest going on and Chari made a sweet 4th of July cake (seriously, so talented). Check it out and "like" her cake! That counts as a vote. I really think she did a great job with it!

BAKING
We're settling in to the new place and I really want to make some thin mints. I can't find any of our extracts, ugh!! I might just have to make the batter.

MOMS
For stay at home moms - how do you deal with feeling lonely? Do you feel lonely?
I feel like I need to meet up with a friend almost every day to have someone to talk to. How do you plan our your week?

JACKETS to DONATE?
In addition, I saw this on Peas and Thank you! Do you have any warm coats that you don't use anymore? Donate them! Check out this site.

Help make a difference with CamelBak

2011-10-26T14:35:00.003-04:00

Do you use CamelBak products? When I think of CamelBak, I think of the bag that goes on your back for long runs to hydrate you. I never got into them, but I have gone from the CamelBak Groove - which has the built in filter, to the CamelBak Chill which is great for biking and is what I now carry around. CamelBak is really trying to reduce the need for single use water bottles and they have also teamed with Water.org to provide drinking water to those who do not have it.

The website has been updated and has some cool features worth checking out, including a tag reader when scanned by a smartphone that will direct consumers to detailed product information, "The Lab" which includes behind-the-scenes video of CamelBak products hydrating NASA astronauts, as well as research, development and testing videos of its most recent product innovations, a detailed search capability that directs people to the hydration option best suited for them based on activity, capacity, look and season, and more.

For the holidays, CamelBak^® and Water.org™ will be teaming up for the 2nd year to help all those who lack access to safe water. With the purchase of a limited-edition Water.org reusable water bottle, $10 will go directly to support Water.org’s mission of providing clean, safe water to those in need.

Water.org was co-founded by Matt Damon and has provided access to clean water in Africa, South Asia and Central America.

Water.org and CamelBak have created a limited time custom design for the CamelBak Groove™.The artwork evokes the ripple effect of water droplets and is available in BPA-free Tritan plastic for $25 or insulated stainless steel for $35. These would make a great holiday gift! They are available at Amazon or http://gift.Water.org.

Like CamelBak on Facebook to spread the word. When 100,000 fans are reached on the facebook page, they will have raised $50,000 for water.org.

Back to some sort of normalcy

2011-10-25T16:53:00.002-04:00

Alright! We sold our house and we moved yesterday. We are entering a time of normalcy where I can look around at a mess and not have to worry about it after months and months of our house being on the market and then having to pack everything up. The last 6 months were probably the most stressful in my life. It goes head to head with when I taught middle school for one year. I'm not sure which time period takes the cake. I'm just excited to enjoy what is left of the fall now without a million worries and things to do!

We moved into my Aunt Mary's house - a 3 BR duplex- she passed away in April and my mom had bought her house about a year ago and was looking for renters. It worked out well and we're lucky to be able to have the opportunity while we look for houses. It's a relief that our house sold and I'm finally now feeling that way. We moved a few towns over (about 15 minutes away) and the Y that I belong to was 15 minutes in the other direction so I had to find a new gym temporarily. I went this morning to check it out! They had a 1 week free pass and it will do. I needed to know I'd have a routine. This gym is about 3 minutes away so it's nice. The kids have a yard to play in, Kara has a legit room (not an office with built in desk/cabinets, etc) and Nick gets a big boy bed! I was excited about the bed for probably 3 months. I bought the bedding when it was on sale months ago and couldn't wait to put it on the bed!

With everything going on, holy moly, it's MARATHON WEEK?? I feel like I haven't even thought about it AT ALL! I'm excited for it. The marathon is on Sunday when we'll head to DC for the weekend most likely without the kids. I'm not sure what I'm more excited for - the race or the sans kids part. Ha ha. The kids adapted well to our stepping stone house right now and tonight will be their first night sleeping here. Hopefully it will go ok! Here are the kids at the house:

sharing a crisp fall apple

At the orchard this past weekend

I haven't even come up with a plan of tapering this week. I ran 5 today, swam yesterday and plan to spin tomorrow, run Thursday and take Fri and Sat easy. Easy run, easy swim. What do you do the week of the marathon?

I picked up some of this to celebrate: Have you tried it? I couldn't decide between mint chocolate or the nog. I'll try the mint next!

Creativity wanted

2011-10-20T08:24:00.002-04:00

I'm trying to think of a name for a math tutoring website that is somewhat creative and would come up in search engines for "math tutoring" or "high school math tutoring" or "SAT math tutoring." Anyone creative out there have an idea? Lil runner is my blog name so as you can see, I'm at a loss.

Before I head for a nervous breakdown any minute from the packing, moving, kids, lack of job, marathon training and more kids, I figured I'd try to focus on something. So who is creative out there?

Here are some recipes that I want to make:

Thin Mints
mine will never look like this, I assure you

Homemade Goldfish Crackers

Again, Mine will never come out looking so cute.

What did you make this week? What do you want to make?

Review & Giveaway: Aspaeris Compression Shorts

2011-10-19T13:46:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to review a pair of Aspaeris compression shorts. I have been waiting for a good pair of compression shorts to come out for a while, thinking how tired my legs can become while running, especially during long runs. I have only used compression socks before and I had not seen any that shorts jumped out at me until I saw Abby's review of these shorts. As soon as I saw they were designed for women and read about the pivoting concept, I knew that I wanted to try them out.

Aspaeris designs apparel specifically for females, most especially the developing female as hips develop and muscle mass decreases. The shorts were developed inspired by the number of ACL injuries in the US suffered by women every year. From the website:

Aspaeris Pivot Shorts™ are actually two pairs of shorts bonded together. The Outer Short is a high performance compression short designed to support your muscles. The Inner Short features our breakthrough, Dual Sensory Compression Bands™. These cross-knit bands guide your muscles into the proper position, thereby improving your pivot performance, which helps prevent ACL and hip injuries. Aspaeris is meant to keep your body aligned properly and improve performance. Research has shown that athletes wearing Aspaeris shorts showed reduced Valgus Collapse, better balance, faster sprint times and reduced variability between dominant and non dominant legs.

As you may know, I am currently suffering from an upper hamstring injury and could not wait to try these out for my long runs. They came in the mail hours after I finished my 20-miler a couple of weekends ago and I put them on and wore them around for a couple of hours while we were packing. I felt like they were helpful in recovery and was barely sore the next day. I wore them for 2 short runs the next week and felt great on my runs! My legs felt lighter and really like they were being engaged. You know how they tell you to picture the muscles working as you lift a weight to engage them? I was doing that for my run and felt like I could feel my muscles working to run. Next I wore them for my long run this past weekend and I just felt like they were holding everything together for me. My knees nor hamstring were not bothering me, I was focusing on my form and I believe they helped me to go a little faster than the long run the week before. I really love these shorts and would recommend them to you.

At first, I didn't feel comfortable wearing them alone - but here they are under my running skirt! I actually think they are quite flattering if you wear them alone so go right ahead! The odor shield also works nicely!

front

side view

Check out Aspaeris on Facebook and Twitter.

I was provided with a complimentary pair of shorts to review. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

DO YOU WANT TO WIN A PAIR FOR YOURSELF?

In order to do so, you need to:
1) MANDATORY ENTRY Visit the website and leave a comment about something that you learned.

bonus entries: (leave one comment per entry)
* Like Aspaeris on Facebook
* Like Aspaeris on Twitter
* Post about this giveaway on your blog and let me know that you did.

giveaway will end on Wednesday October 26 and winner selected at random.

Squash and Bean Soup

2011-10-18T14:58:00.003-04:00

Check out this awesome fall soup!

Roasted Squash and White Bean Soup ala Mama Pea

Ingredients

1 medium onion, cut in half
2 c. roasted winter squash (acorn, butternut, pumpkin, etc.)
3 c. organic vegetable broth
One 15 oz. can white beans (Cannelini, Great Northern, I used sauteed chick peas), drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare onion and squash for roasting by cutting and seeding squash and peeling onion and placing it cut side down on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
Roast for 40-50 minutes, until onion is starting to brown and squash is starting to caramelize.
Scrape the squash into a blender, along with the onion and remaining ingredients.
Blend until smooth.
Transfer soup to a large pot and heat through over medium high heat.

MMM! Great for fall and delicious!

Here's how we are handling packing:

Where are you, runner moms?

2011-10-16T20:53:00.003-04:00

My last long run = done

2 weeks from today is Marine Corps! Once again, I have not put in the time for training which should tell me something, and I think I've got it this time, but we'll see. My thoughts while running the long run yesterday: won't be doing another marathon till I'm 45 (last week it was 40). Yesterday I did 15 miles. I was aiming for 18, and usually I do 12 two weeks out and ended up in the middle. It was another SLOW long distance. Last weekend was 20, the weekend before was 16. The 20 went well, the 16 was awful, and this one was partially awful and partially decent. I am going so slowly (averaging 10:30/11 min miles) that it's kind of crazy. Maybe it's a mind block? During the week, I am more in the 8:45-9:15 min range and feel strong.

Here was my outfit and soon I will have a review for you of the compression shorts. I think this will be my marathon outfit - I can't come up with any costumes and it's doubtful I'll actually be able to run w/ my sister anyway if we could think of something fun :(

While I've been out there running with the group, I feel like I can't find people to run with (understandably because who is running at the pace I am - not many people) but in general, I feel like it would be nice to run with moms with small kids and chat. I'm starting to wonder if the moms are at home making pancakes and enjoying their Saturday morning with the family? When I wake up, I usually dread it, but when I'm out there, I have mixed feelings - I have the morning off and I wish I was doing something else, and/or it's beautiful out. Depends on how the run is going. Right now, not so good. Just have to get to the finish for this one!

I did make THE pancakes I wrote about on Friday. They were delicious but a lot of work. I don't know if I'd make them again honestly but would love it if someone could make them for me! They were REALLY rich!! As delicious as they were, I don't even feel good if I eat much this type of thing anymore. The pancakes without the cinnamon and topping would have been good enough!

Kara enjoyed them with her Poppi.

I also decided that I'd rather give birth than pack up a house and move. Anyone agree?

weekend treat

2011-10-14T16:45:00.003-04:00

Here's what you need to make this weekend!!!

Well, I came across this recipe on Kate's blog and I think that you might need to have pancake Sunday this weekend. I plan to bring back Pancake Sunday. Mmmm! I might just have to decrease some of that butter and sugar though, we'll see.

Packing is completely overwhelming. I have felt like an awful mom over the past couple of weeks as I'm trying to spend the spare moments packing and getting frustrated very easily. We are renting until we find a house and I'm hoping that we'll be settled soon enough. We move in 10 days. The whole process = very stressful and not knowing how long we will be renting is KILLING me. It's not in the same town which means early morning workouts are not going to be convenient and that is my ONLY sanity! I know I will figure out a routine - including making those pancakes every Sunday? - but the lack of control is very hard for me to handle.

What's your favorite Sunday breakfast?

recipes & packing

2011-10-12T21:24:00.000-04:00

We're moving in less than 2 weeks so my life has become packing! Over the weekend though, I made this awesome recipe that I want to share!! And a great lunch too.

Lunch was a wrap that was created from a picture that Kate posted on her blog that I had to replicate! It was a tofu wrap with cashew sauce that I created. The sauce was cashews, water, olive oil, lemon juice and nutritional yeast & spices. I really liked it!

tofu cooking!

cashew sauce

greens, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, mmmm

first time using a rice wrap

And then, the Stacked Enchiladas - oh man. I am definitely making this again! I followed the recipe as it was posted.

I have been using compression shorts the last 2 days and my runs have been great! Also, I keep focusing on my form and it really makes a difference!

What's your favorite current EASY dinner??

20 - done!

2011-10-08T12:12:00.000-04:00

Whew! So relieved that I had a better long run this week. Last week I was a complete MESS! I think that I ran SUPER SUPER slow today, but I don't really care. I felt good at the end and throughout most of it. I was thinking about my form whenever I lost interest or had negative thoughts. I also was smarter about hydrating and fueling.
6 miles- milky way (fun size)
11 miles - snickers fun size
15 miles - milky way fun size

for drinking, about every 2 miles, I sipped a water/zico coconut water combo. I wasn't a fan of the taste of the coconut water while running, I just wanted plain water, but I think it really helped. Anyone else use the coconut during long runs?

Well, I'm glad that is in the books! Probably my longest (time-wise) long run ever, but the longest run I've done in over 2 years!

Afterwards, I had a power bar immediately - packed with protein. I stretched and took a wimp version of an ice bath when I got home. We didn't have much ice and I started with warm water in the tub so it melted most of the ice. I feel so much better than I did last week when I felt like I couldn't move from the couch the rest of the day. (I must have gone really really really slow!)

Running form and Clif winner

2011-10-07T13:19:00.000-04:00

I have been trying to work on my form while I'm running and focus on it. I was talking to some people that I swim with and they recommended this video below, which I found helpful. Check it out here - the first video on the page. Does anyone use the Newton shoes? I hadn't heard of them until this morning!

Also, 2 articles to share:
Cross Training Exercises

and

Fluid and Carb Recommendations for Marathoners

Wish me luck with my Milky Way run tomorrow. I'm trying to get myself excited by focusing on form and thinking about Milky Ways. We'll see how long that lasts :-)

A recipe to share from this week:

Crockpot Chili - I added in Boca's veggie crumbles and this was tasty! It would go well with cornbread but I never got around to that.

The winner of the Clif Bars is Jaime
Please send me your info! tosha25italia at yahoo.

Recovery & Clif Bars (Giveaway)

2011-10-05T14:41:00.003-04:00

On Saturday after that long run, I was passed out by 8:30 and slept until 7am. That whole day I was totally shot - useless. On Sunday my legs hurt like I had ran a marathon on Saturday. It was a bad scene! My hamstrings are actually still sore from Saturday's run. I don't know why?! I feel like they are weak and whenever I do lunges, they hurt for days. I'm not sure how to strengthen those babies! I'm planning to run 20 on Saturday and play it by ear. I am using Milky Ways as my fuel for this one and seeing how that works but my concern is how to carry them and being messy. Tips on that? Maybe I will freeze them and shove them in a pocket or fuel belt? We'll see how it goes! I was also wondering if compression shorts would help my legs - does anyone have a recommendation for them?

We sold our house and we're moving in less than 3 weeks! They wanted a quick settlement and we just got through the inspection and appraisal. We'll have to rent until we find our future house for now which I'm totally bummed about, but so happy we sold and can move on. That process was extremely stressful!

I have some seasonal flavors of the CLIF bars to giveaway - to enter, leave a comment with your favorite Clif product! I'll pick a winner randomly on Friday, October 7th.

I don't know if I can do this!

2011-10-01T15:27:00.001-04:00

Today was my make or break 16 mile attempt. I was focusing too much on the triathlon training and the longest runs that I have finished for marathon training (in 4 weeks) - 13 miles. I was doing 11-12 milers on the treadmill and my first outside long run was the Rock n' Roll Philly. I am so behind and my heart was never really in it, but I really want to do it. I signed up, I'm running with my sister and I've never done this race. Here is how my long run went :

I'll start with the hours of midnight on. My kids are great sleepers and have slept through the night since 8-10 weeks old. Here and there when they are sick, teething, they are up in the night, but not often. It was around 1:30 when Kara started crying. I went in and rocked her, put her down and she seemed ok. 5 minutes later she was crying again. We took turns until probably 3am when I gave her tylenol, milk and a mini clif bar and finally she cried a little bit but cried herself to sleep by 3:30. Maybe she was hungry? thirsty? teething? I never know what to do in the middle of the night, especially when it lasts more than 15 minutes so I was trying to cover all bases. Back to sleep. 4:30 Nick is crying. I go in there and he had fallen out of his bed. Are you kidding? He went right back to sleep easily. I got up at 6:15 to do this run and had a bad attitude about it. I didn't feel like doing it! I ate a 1/2 of one of the butternut squash doughnuts that I made, and had a scoop of peanut butter and sips of tea. Headed out the door to meet up with the Fast Tracks group at Valley Forge at 7am.

Even though I've been running with them on and off since last October, I still don't know that many people, and I was hoping to meet some moms but I feel like no one there is my age or in my situation, so usually I feel kind of out of place : ( I recognized a guy that I had run with back in the late winter while training for the Caesar Rodney and we started running together - then I remembered I was running 8:30s for the long runs back then. He was gone quickly but I linked up with another girl, Michelle, who was doing 16 and we stuck together for the most part for the 16 miles. For the first couple of miles, I thought we were definitely running 8:30-8:45 and I look at my watch to see 9:15. Crap! I told Michelle that I didn't know if I was going to make it. She was training for Denver and just wanted to finish the miles so we stuck together. Around 5 miles, another guy joined us and I was lagging behind this guy and my new friend. I felt like I was doing ok though, and had a positive attitude. We were heading out for 8 miles and then heading back. We were on parts of the trail out to Collegeville that I'd never been on before, so this helped with my attitude towards the run and finishing.

There were water stops from the running group at 3 miles, 5 miles and around 6 and 8 miles. Around 7 miles, I was running alone and a new member to the group was running behind me and joined me. He is training for his first marathon - NYC - for his 30th birthday. He was entertaining me and then Michelle turned around at 8 miles, and we both did also so the 3 of us were running together but once again, I lagged behind. My legs were tired by 9 miles. 7 miles to go, ah. The gels & shot blocks have been messing with my stomach lately so I waited until I felt like I needed one to have a gel - mile 10 - probably a mistake. I had that thing on and off for about 10 minutes.

Heading to the final stretch - the last 3.5 miles on the river trail, I tried so hard to keep up with my running buddies and other group members who were just ahead and just could not keep up! I was so frustrated. I wanted to cry. The last 2 miles I was running and then walking on and off. I was going so slow, I felt light-headed and my legs were just heavy and I wanted to give up. I couldn't wait to just be done. I was proud of myself for finishing, but all that I could think was - there's no WAY I can do another 10 miles. Absolutely no way! I walked the last half mile to the table with the food and drinks and felt totally disoriented. I ran into a guy that I used to work with and just felt messed up! I needed food in my system. I screwed up on the nutrition. It's been so long since I ran longer than a half, I guess I just did not prepare - and I am not in condition for this right now! See my splits:

Next week I was planning to attempt 20. I think that I still will, but I don't know what to do. Obviously I am not trained properly - the long bike rides and all the cross training were not beneficial to me? and my endurance is not there.

Although I feel better about this run hours later, that I finished it, it was so slow, I feel like I have no business running a marathon in 4 weeks, and I don't know what to do :( Looks like I can handle a 10 miler and that's about it. Do I bag it? Try the 20 and see how it goes? I know that if I do this marathon, it will be my last marathon for a LONG time. Maybe for my 40th birthday I will do another.

Running & Blueberry Cheesecake Bites

2011-09-30T08:15:00.004-04:00

This week I was able to run all week - no speedwork but it's not too painful and it's going well. Here's what the week looked like:

Monday: Swim 3600 yd and run about 4 miles
Tuesday: strength training and spin class 13 miles
Wednesday: Run 6ish miles
Thursday: Run 1 mile, bike 10 miles, abs, run 2 miles
Today: swim 3300 yds
Saturday plan - attempt 16 miles

The running mileage is on the low side - I can tell because I have so much cross training in there. It builds up over the next 3 weeks leading up to the marathon. We'll see how it goes!

Thanks for the tips on the toddler eating. We had a good day yesterday - The kids had smoothies with banana, spinach, blackstrap molasses and almond milk for breakfast with breakfast pizzert: snuck in some squash & blueberries with whole wheat flour, cornmeal, cinnamon and almond milk. I put some 10x on top. They liked it! When they start hounding the cupboard around 5pm, I gave Kara cut up grape tomatoes - she LOVED them! and Nick broccoli with ranch dressing - ate it up! I felt so much better about it. Nick is really into the broccoli, even plain, and Kara into tomatoes. Neither of them will eat carrots (well, Nick can be bribed). Do you give your toddler raw carrots? I cooked them since they are so hard.

I had seen this recipe on WEELICIOUS but then when I clicked the link I couldn't get to the page, but this is blueberry cheesecake bites:

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE BITES adapted from WEELICIOUS
Oat Crust:
1 Cup oat flour (blend your oats to make flour)
~~1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour~~ - I used about 10 ginger o's crushed
~~1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar~~ did not use because of the sweetness from the cookies
6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, chilled (I melted it and this was

Filling:
4 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
~~1 Large Egg, at room temperature~~ 1 T. ground flax
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
~~1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar~~ scant 2 T white sugar
1 Cup Fresh Blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. Melt the butter (maybe?) and mix the oats and ground cookies to make the crust. Add more as needed.
3. Press the crust on the bottom of muffin tins or an 8 x8 pan and bake 10 min or till set.
4. Lower the oven temperature to 250 F.
5. To make the filling, place the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and beat to combine.
6. Fold in the blueberries.
7. Pour the batter on top of the crust and bake for 1 hour.
8. Cool and then chill until ready to serve.

Eating habits

2011-09-27T21:36:00.000-04:00

Do you eat the same thing for breakfast every day, or lunch, or dinner, and get into a routine of eating the same thing over and over again, or do you switch it up? Is there a food that you have to have every day? I love trying new things but tend to stick with the same thing over and over and over again.

In college, I loved marinated mushrooms from Costco. I ate them everyday for many, many days. And then one day, I couldn't look at them anymore. I still can't eat those things, the thought of it makes me want to gag. For the most part, I'm a fad/routine eater. I will buy the same thing over and over again and eat the same thing over and over again until I'm absolutely sick of it. Then I move on to something else. I wish I had more variety in my eating habits!

The same thing happens for lunch with the kids - I'm always looking for ideas. Kara is the most picky eater and throws her food on the floor. Nick isn't too far behind but at Kara's age, he was eating ANYTHING! Today I made tofu dippers as a dinner plan with nacho mmmm sauce from Peas and Thank You. Neither of them would take a bite. Maybe they are just too young for crazy food like this? I didn't even think it was crazy, but maybe it is. What ended up happening - grilled cheeses. So frustrating! Usually I don't provide another option but I felt like maybe I was offering something out of their league.

Tofu dippers with Nacho MMM sauce (right)

half attacked sandwich, 1/2 the chickpeas on the floor...

I need some ideas for kid's dinners. I feel like even mac + cheese has to be rich and creamy like at a restaurant for them to even want it. I'm very frustrated! They are 1 and 2 and I think I want them to eat like non-picky eaters. Good luck to me :)

Butternut Squash Quinoa Doughnuts

2011-09-27T08:37:00.001-04:00

I wanted to make something fun for breakfast today, and it's always nice to have it made ahead of time and ready to go. Donuts are always fun because to the kids, it's a treat. Instead of icing, I opted for cinnamon sugar. I'm ready for fall! Bring on the fall weather.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH QUINOA DOUGHNUTS
This was adapted from the banana quinoa muffins.

2/3 c quinoa flour (toasted ground quinoa)
1/2 c oatmeal
1 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 to 3/4 c butternut squash
2 T maple syrup (might want to add more)
2 T coconut oil
1 T flaxseed (ground)
1/2 to 3/4 c almond milk
1 tsp vanilla

Topping
1-2 T Coconut oil
1-2 T Cinnamon
1-2 T Sugar

Mix the flours, oatmeal, powder, soda and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, add the squash, maple syrup, coconut oil, flax, almond milk (start with 1/2 c) and vanilla. Microwave 20-30 seconds and let sit about 5 minutes. Add the wet to the dry. If the mixture is too dry, add more milk and/or squash. Bake at 325 for 13-15 minutes till set.

Dip one side into coconut oil then cinnamon sugar. Let cool. These aren't too sweet so the topping makes them!

Sunday catch up

2011-09-25T15:54:00.001-04:00

I ran today for the first time since last weekend's half marathon. I was going to try to attempt 16 miles until I got in touch with my coach and he suggested I run about an hour. I ended up running 8 miles. This was made possible by visiting my friend Kelli, the chiropractor yesterday. She worked on my hamstring and I could actually run with minimal pain today. It's not feeling so good now but I made it through the run without feeling awful! I'm hoping it improves with more visits and following through - I wasn't smart about stretching and here we are.

We're in the marathon crunch time. There's 5 weeks until the marathon, and I need to fit in some long runs. My longest run has been 13 miles. My goal is to be able to run with my sister for most of the miles but I need to get my a** in gear to do so. Next week I'm planning 16, then 20, then 12 and 8. I hope my hamstring cooperates.

There was one picture of me and my sister of 13.1 miles last weekend and some girl is smack in the middle. Bad job taking pictures last weekend pros!!

My sis was educating me about my running form that I'm bringing my arms across my body and shoulders are not back. Also you can see how I'm running and it doesn't look pretty. What do you think? Any tips?
I'm not an efficient runner.

The foods I am loving right now are potatoes and cream cheese. They are really good together. Add in some black beans and it's a nice protein rich meal. I had dismissed potatoes in the past but here are some of the good things about this carb rich food:

More POTASSIUM than a banana!
High in Vitamin C (45% of DV)
Also contains some B vitamins, and minimal niacin and folate.
The skin is a great source of fiber

As far as the cream cheese.... I've got nothing to say about that!

Clif Bar Seasonal Flavors & College Incentive

2011-09-24T14:59:00.004-04:00

The other day, I posted about the new Clif Z bar flavor - Full Moon Brownie (available Oct 1) - brownie with white chocolate, mmmmm. Last year they had seasonal flavors - Cranberry Orange, Spiced Pumpkin Pie and Iced Gingerbread, and this year they swapped out the Cranberry Orange for Peppermint Stick.

There are 16 year round flavors of CLIF Bars - what is your favorite? I like the Peanut Toffee Buzz for pre-workouts. It contains caffeine which I like for pre-workout but not for everyday. Each flavor is made with organic, natural ingredientssuch as oats, fruit, and nuts. CLIF BARs also serve as a good source of protein and fiber, which help the body digest carbohydrates slowly to deliver sustained energy. They are good for long activities!

CLIF will be donating 1% of net sales from the seasonal flavors to Winter Wildlands Alliance, the first and only national organization that works on behalf of skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers, winter hikers and other outdoor adventurers to address national issues that impact our winter wildlands.

CLIF also has an incentive going on for college students this semester so that they get outside and be active! Students who follow @ClifBar on Twitter and post their active #StudyBreak will be eligible to receive a CLIF BAR Energy Pack, containing great-tasting CLIF BARs for sustained energy, plus a selection of items designed to make outdoor activity more fun.

A few fun facts from CLIF:

Exposure to parks and other green spaces has been shown to improve the ability to focus and concentrate.Environment & Behavior, 2001

Evidence suggests that physical activity improves self-image, social skills and cognitive functioning, all while reducing symptoms of anxiety. Public Health Report, 1985

Compared with exercising indoors, exercising in natural environments amps up feelings of revitalization, increases energy, helps you relate better with others and is a serious stress-buster.Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, February 2011

The part of your brain that controls long-term and spatial memory actually gets bigger with exercise, and, when it comes to the hippocampus, bigger is definitely better. In one study, physically fit people were found to have larger hippocampi and performed 40 percent better on memory tests.University of Illinois, University of Pittsburgh, 2011.

Stay tuned for a giveaway on some seasonal flavors!

Seasonal Flavors

2011-09-22T15:49:00.000-04:00

I love fall! The leaves changing, beautiful weather with open windows throughout the day and especially at night. Waking up chilly and going for walks, pumpkin picking, pumpkin bread and flavors, now apple picking... it's my favorite season!

I love that companies have started doing seasonal flavors. Here are a few below to check out.

I received 2 bags of Godiva Coffee to try and review from the Food Buzz Tastemaker Program.

Godiva Coffee- Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark
Godiva came out with Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark for the Season.
The pumpkin has a pumpkin flavor with a hint of nutmeg. I love it on the cool mornings!

The Caramel Pecan Bark takes like butterscotch to me - one of my favorite things. You can't get much better than this with a coffee flavor!

I made a pumpkin spice latte:

Brew the pumpkin spice coffee as normal. Fill another mug with about 1/2 cup milk and 1 T. Pumpkin puree. Microwave 30 seconds and stir. If you have a frother, froth away! Add to the coffee and add cinnamon on top too! Delicious!!

CLIF Z BARS in FULL MOON BROWNIE
This pairs so nicely with the coffee!! This is a brownie with white chocolate chips and white chocolate icing!! It's a seasonal flavor and the kids love the Halloween characters on the packaging. It is similar to the Chocolate Brownie flavor but I love the twist of the White Chocolate. Great flavor!!

What is your favorite seasonal flavor?

I've been suffering since the 1/2 with my hamstring/butt injury that flared up again and haven't ran all week. I have been cross training and doing some lifting after taking Monday easy. Hope to be back at it quickly!

winner of the Chick Bands

2011-09-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

Congrats to the following randomly selected winners! #1, #13 and #24

Chari
Marlene
Sweet and Savory by Sarah

Please send me an email with your address! tosha25italia at yahoo

Catching up with Kara Goucher

2011-09-19T16:35:00.001-04:00

Today was race day! My sister came home to run with me and ran under my brother's gf Miranda's bib #. We arrived down in Philly around 6:30 - left the house around 6 and parked behind the Art Museum. We had some time to kill and used the port-a-potties by Kelly Drive. We walked up to the starting area, went to the bathroom again, and then dropped off baggage at the UPS trucks. We were just hanging out doing some exercises by the start when Kara Goucher walked by. I did a double take and got giddy. Here is my account:

Oh my god! That was totally Kara Goucher!! She just walked by! What should I do??? I started to get nervous and crazy. Should I go up to her?
My sis: You should totally go up to her, you can get a picture!

(Ok, ok. I'm pacing a little and think I can do it.)
I run up - she's pushing little Colt in the stroller - already walked past us.
Me: Kara?
Kara: YES?
KARA GOUCHER?
(HAHAHAHHH.)
Kara: yes?
me: Oh my gosh!! Can I give you a hug?
Kara: sure! (what a creeper!)
me: I named my daughter after you! I'm a big fan! Is this Colt? He is adorable! How old is he? ( I knew the answer but didn't want to seem like a total stalker)
Kara: almost a year!
Me: My daughter is 14 months. I'm just a big fan! So you're husband is running today right? Was he ready?
Kara: Yeah, I'm nervous for him.
Me: Can I get a picture with you?
Kara: sure!
Me: Thank you so much!
Kara: Sure, good luck today!!
She was so nice and down to earth. The hug part cracks me up- I was totally star struck and shaking and did not know what to say or do.

I was semi shaking for this picture and then my mind was going bonkers for a good 10 minutes after that and I was laughing at how I acted. Oh man! But it was awesome!! I wish Kara had been with me for the picture!

As for the race, my sister and I started and finished together. I didn't have big expectations and knew that my pace wasn't going to be near the 1:47 in March, I just haven't been speed training enough and most of my runs have been in the 8:35-8:55 range. I was fine with it, wanted to enjoy the day and finish and I did! This was my sister and I's first successful start and finish together. There have been many races we planned to do together or wanted to do together and never did, a couple we started together and didn't finish together and one that ended up in the ER but this was it! A beautiful day and 1:55 finish. I was happy with it and thrilled I got to meet my running idol! Oh and my garmin had me running 13.5 miles! That happen to anyone else?

finished! check out my chick band headband!

Rocky statue

awesome medal!

gotta love the support crew

fun waiting for us to meet up

Oh I am pretty darn sore today! My hamstring injury /muscle that I haven't heard from in awhile is back and my quads are extremely sore. Sad for not even "racing" it. Comfortable pace until mile 11/12 where I just wanted to finish - stomach issues with the Cytomax!! What is your recovery week training schedule? My coach had me running 6 miles today - not happening.

Cake Pops with Ghiradelli INTENSE Dark Chocolate

2011-09-16T22:04:00.001-04:00

A couple weeks ago, I saw this recipe for cake pops on Peas and Thank You. I knew I had to make them! And the day it was posted was my sister's birthday so I wanted to make them for her. This week, I was sent a treat from Foodbuzz- Ghiradelli Intense Dark Chocolate samples to try and review!
I received 3 different kinds:
Twilight Delight 72% Cocoa
Midnight Reverie 86% Cocoa
Sea Salt Soiree

My favorite one to eat was the Sea Salt Soiree - hint of sea salt with almonds folded into the chocolate. I used the other two for my cake pops! They are definitely INTENSE.

CAKE POPS a recipe from Peas and Thank You
First off, you need a styrofome circle to place the pops on to cool (I had this from Nick's first birthday), candy/baking sticks (had them for the same occasion), and wax paper helps.

Cake:

1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. organic sugar
1 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. water
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 T. vinegar (white or apple cider)
1 t. vanilla extract

Frosting:

1/2 c. butter
2 T. coconut flour
1 1/2 c. organic powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract

Coating:

1 1/2 c. Ghiradelli INTENSE dark chocolate
1 1/2 T. coconut oil
sprinkles, sea salt, etc.

Preheat oven to 350.
For the cake, take a large bowl and combine flours, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, water, applesauce, vinegar and vanilla.
Spread batter into an 8×8 pan that has been lightly spritzed with oil or cooking spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm.
Allow cake to cool completely.

Make the frosting by beating together butter, coconut flour, powdered sugar and vanilla. The frosting may seem a bit dry: the thicker the frosting is, the better your cake pops will hold together.

I had a little helper for my baking adventure. First I made the cake. Then it was time for the icing. That icing was ridiculous - so delicious. Kara happened to wake up right when I was making that.

hmmm is that edible?

let me just check

taste test

you've been totally holding out on me Mommy!

Add the cake into the frosting mix. I used the beater for this and it worked nicely, cleaning the sides of the bowl. When the frosting is completely incorporated into the cake, roll cake into balls and set them on waxed paper. Put in the freezer for 30 min. This helped keep them set. Make your frosting. When they come out, stick in the sticks. Then dip in the frosting. Place them on the circle to dry and in the fridge till set. Make sure you let the chocolate drip off before you place on the styrofome (so that it isn't a complete mess). Then add on your sprinkles, sea salt, or whatever pretty topping you want! The sea salt was a great touch!

With the cake mixed in - going back for seconds.
We won't tell Aunt Kimp about this.

I want one of them Mommy!

Had to explain to the kids that they had to go in the fridge to set. Regardless - a 2 and 1 year old don't understand that. Nick started crying on the floor in front of the refrigerator that he wanted "one of those." You have to love the 2 year old behavior.

How did they taste? Fantastic! The inside was soft and chewy, the dark chocolate shell was delicious! I think I would do these again with a vanilla base, or even pumpkin/pecan for the fall.

What's for Dinner: Broccoli Cheddar Soup

2011-09-15T20:46:00.000-04:00

Last night I made this soup for dinner, subbing in veggie broth and almond milk for the chicken broth and half and half. It was kind of thick which I didn't like, but tasty and the kids used it as a dip with croutons and broccoli. Nick eats broccoli straight up - only veggie he really digs - so weird!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Chickbands review and giveaway

2011-09-15T20:11:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, Kara, originally from this Philly area, and the creator of Chickbands contacted me to do a review and giveaway. Deja' vu that her name is Kara! I don't know many Karas.

The bands are ribbon that shows out and velvet - so soft - on the back - the side that goes on your hair. They are sewed very professionally and then have elastic along the bottom half. I like that they have the velvet- it makes them very comfortable and pretty looking too. Kara sent me two bands - a thick and thin one. Pictured here is the thin one is sparkly blue. I wore it to pick pears to keep those weird pieces that hang down back. It stays put and doesn't slide back and it's stylish! I love the sparkly blue. I have to look into a sparkly pink - I like girly colors! For running, I wore the thicker band but didn't take a picture. It had flowers on it and was multicolored. It stayed put nicely and kept the sweat out of my face. There are many different prints and she does custom orders for different logos - they are so cute! The bands go for $7 and $8 each - check out Chick Bands on Facebook and Etsy!

GIVEAWAY!

Kara is graciously offering 3 lucky readers a headband. To enter,

MANDATORY
Please leave a comment below with your current favorite headband.
Extra entries (optional)- leave a comment for each one:

1- Like Chick Bands on Facebook and let me know that you did.

2- Visit the Chickband Etsy shop and let me know your favorite print.

Contest will end on September 20th at midnight and winner announced September 21.

Family planning & coaching

2011-09-14T11:02:00.000-04:00

How many kids do you want? I remember when I found out that I was pregnant with Kara, I felt horrible for Nick - like he wouldn't get his time 1 on 1 and he was getting shafted. Sometimes I still feel that way - there are so many fun things to do for his age, but we're stuck when Kara has to nap or is fussy and makes things less fun. I think how easy it was with just 1 and how easy it would be with one 2.5 year old! But Kara adds so much to his life - built in friend and playmate. He isn't there yet that he sees this - instead I think he sees her as his enemy and constantly knocks her down, steals toys and tries to head butt her, but think when they are a bit older - I hope they'll be the best of friends!

With Kara, many people have told me something like, the first one gets everything, the baby book is complete, etc, and the second one everything just goes by the wayside. I have tried so hard to not let that happen and feel like I've done a good job making sure we celebrated every milestone, kept her baby book in order (maybe even better than Nick's) and tried to do everything as much as I did for Nick. Her scrapbook doesn't have as many pictures as Nick's does but it has very many pictures - Nick's has a ridiculous amount of pictures. Also with Kara, I have always kept birth order in mind. I am the oldest, then my brother then sister. My brother always complains that he got the shaft (only boy, middle child) and that I always pushed him down when he was learning to walk. I was hoping Nick would not do that (push Kara down) but he does it - I think it's just nature and some kids just end up doing that? He's in time out often. Since Kara will most likely be a middle child, I worry about her getting her time. Have you thought about this? What things do you do to make sure your kids get enough attention one on one and feel loved equally?

Since I am thinking of having 1 or 2 more children, I'm very aware about the birth order but concerned about attention growing up. If I have 4 children, will they all get enough of my love and attention one on one? Is 4 too many? I grew up with 3 and think we all got our time in the spotlight and plenty of love and attention. But how many is too many where you just can't give each child the attention he/she needs? I've been thinking about this alot since I feel overburdened with 2 a lot of the time!

TOO MANY!! HOW MANY IS TOO MANY?

And I wanted to briefly mention coaching. All of my training is loaded by my coach into training peaks - an online website. I go in and enter what I do each day. I don't really get any feedback. I was supposed to have a big race this weekend and heard nothing from my coach. I thought it would be nice to have a good luck email or something?? Also I haven't entered anything in since mid last week and - haven't heard anything. I'm kind of disappointed by the lack of any feedback, but I guess this is what I paid for? Just to have a plan to follow? Now I know that I would really like feedback, at least a weekly check in email - I think it would be more effective for me. If you've had a coach, what was your experience?

Nick's first day of pre-school & running

2011-09-13T15:59:00.001-04:00

Today was Nick's first day of pre-school! He was so excited it was hard to feel sad in any way. I just felt sick to my stomach. He had a great time - it was only an hour and a half and this morning before it was time to go he was ready to leave. He was barely interested in giving us kisses goodbye before he walked in the door and gave his teacher a big hug and ran in to play. And when I picked him up, he didn't want to leave. Nick had a blast! I can't believe how fast they grow up :( Since today was only 1.5 hours (instead of 3) to adjust them gradually, it was probably an easy adjustment for him and for me, wasn't much of a break or down time, but I think 3 hours might seem like an eternity. I'm not sure, since today seemed like 10 minutes, or at most 1/2 hour. I think he's going to love it though.

ready to go!

w/ mom and dad

w/ Kara

hanging his book bag and ready to go in

He goes again on Monday and Tuesday for 3 hours. I think I'll be more nervous/sad for that than for today!

I downloaded my times from my own triathlon on Sunday and here they were:

1650 yd pool swim - 24:00 (did 21s when I was in high school)
33.4 mile bike ride (accidentally because we missed a turn) 2:31
10k run - 1:00:00 (the run was awful and I couldn't motivate)

For Monday, I wanted to get back into some core work and little cardio, so I did some lifting and used the erg machine (rowing) at the gym for 15 minutes. Probably haven't used that thing since erg tests in college! I did about 3000 meters. Thinking about what to do today, I didn't feel like doing anything - not feeling swimming, running is sluggish and I like the spin class on Thursdays and Saturdays so I couldn't motivate to go today. I decided I needed to be kicked in the butt so I went to the track session for speedwork. I haven't done this in a while and it shows. We did 6 x 1000 with 200 recovery. I didn't go all out. It felt like 70% was all I was willing to give since it's been so long and I am running the half marathon this weekend (I think). I am really glad I went and my abs are feeling it - and legs too! I have to make that a part of my week again.

I will probably force myself through the half marathon on Sunday but I'm not feeling it. I haven't missed this race in a long time and love the medals so maybe that will get me through - or my sis running with me? Trying to convince her. I might run under the name "Miranda" - who signed up and isn't running it, so that no one can look up my time : ) Expectations are low. I feel like I dropped the ball on running and have not done enough outside running and it has majorly suffered. Something has gone wrong!

Follow your heart

2011-09-11T16:16:00.000-04:00

I think one of the lessons of 9/11 is to hold your loved ones tight, always tell them how much you love them and to follow your heart and be happy. What I remember of the morning of September 11, 10 years ago, was heading to my morning education class - I was in senior year of college near Philadelphia. It was in an old building and a TV was on in the lobby area and people were watching it. I had no idea what was going on. I sat down in the classroom and our teacher was visibly distressed, told us what had happened and that he could not hold class that day. We all left and went to look at the TV. I went back to my dorm room - I was an RA at the time and I remember watching the TV with Bill in my dorm room and wondering if my afternoon class would be cancelled. For all of those who have suffered a loss from 9/11, my thoughts are with you on this 10th anniversary.

Today was to be my 2nd Olympic Distance Triathlon, in Washington D.C. My sister works for the company that puts on the race and got me a free entry to it after it was already sold out, after the Philly tri. Over a month ago, I saw a special on the History Channel about what a bomb would do to DC on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. After seeing that, it stuck in my head. I was nervous about the date and venue, but really wanted to go and do it. I think it was on Thursday or Wednesday when they brought up the terror threats in either DC or NYC and I still thought I would be ok. As Saturday approached, I still planned on going but was getting more and more nervous and being dramatic and looking at the kids and thinking, will this be the last time that I see you? Is this going to be the last Friday that I spend with you? Will I be dead and not be able to take Nick to his first day of pre-school? I was having total anxiety.

Saturday around lunchtime I said goodbye to Bill and the kids and thought I was going to have a breakdown. I held it together and my mom hopped in the car for our ride to DC. I was expressing my fears and concerns and in partial tears talking about bombs as we decided what to do. I think my mom thought I was a total nutjob - which is probably very accurate. I really wanted to go see my sister, hang out, and do the race. She had a suite to share with us at the host hotel, everything was perfect and the weather finally cleared up for the weekend. My mom said we could always drive to outlets on the way and decide then. I decided that I just wanted to go. We made it to DC in 2.5 hours. About 30 minutes away, I started to have an anxiety attack again. Any small kids that I saw I started to feel like I was going to puke. I was hoping going into the expo would make me feel excited and stop feeling like I was. But instead I felt worse. I thought, why am I here?? There isn't a swim so it isn't a full triathlon, I might die and never see my kids again, and I was picturing myself on my bike or running tomorrow and just scared for my life and wondering if a bomb was going to blow everyone up. It was awful, I was a complete mess. We saw my sister and told her how I was feeling and she thought I was being crazy (I was). My mom wasn't saying too much and just asked me what I wanted to do. I knew my heart wasn't in it. I just didn't care enough about the race and felt like I was risking my life to do it. So we stayed in DC for 2 hours and drove home. I felt comfortable with this decision but kept questioning it - but it was too late, we were headed home. I wish that the race was another weekend where I could have had a great time hanging out with my mom and sis, but I couldn't swallow it. So I was a DNF today. If I had no kids, I know I would have been fine. All I kept thinking of was the kids.

All of the bike training - for no reason, but part of me doesn't even care. This morning I did my own triathlon - swam a mile in the pool, then went for a benefit bike ride at our Y for 33 miles and then ran a 10k. I tried to do all this at race pace and did well until it was time to run. I'll have to compare my times. I guess this is my race report on the race that did not happen. I wonder how I'll feel about this in a couple days or weeks.

Spinning improvements and duathlon

2011-09-08T16:14:00.000-04:00

When I was training for the sprint triathlon in April, I started taking spin classes. Little did I know all classes were different and I was taking a pretty bad class that wasn't making me work hard enough. At my first spin class, which I really did not like, I biked 11.9 miles in 42 minutes - about 17 mph pace. Leading up to the Philly tri, I think I was on my bike about 3 times. Yikes! Training for this one focusing more on the bike, I've been out 1 or 2 times a week on my bike and to one spin class. It was toned down in early August to one outside bike and one spin class a week, but I'm still way more prepared than I was for June. Now I can bike 21mph in spin class, yipee! I wish I could do that on the road - I'm still around a 14/15 mph pace. I'm hoping I see some good improvement on the bike course!

I found out today that due to the insane rain we have been having and crazy flooding my race on Sunday is now bike 40k, run 10k. Kind of disappointing when you do all that training and want to compare your times, but what can you do? The swim portion, even though it's a strong one for me, still gave me a partial heart attack at my first open water swim triathlon in June.

bad idea!

2011-09-07T17:32:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, I swam alone since I missed a swim on Monday. It was so boring. I was dragging myself through each lap. Swimming alone is so not fun! The time flies by when I swim with the group! After that I really wanted to do some abs or core work so I got out of the pool earlier than planned and when I got home I put on Jillian's 6 week 6 pack workout - level 2. I don't think I've ever done that one and it didn't seem all that bad while I was doing it. I was sweating a lot but it didn't seem super hard. Well today I feel like I ran a marathon 2 days ago. Every muscle in my lower body is sore. I am walking up and down the steps like I did run a marathon! And the sitting on the toilet too, you know how it's hard when you squat down??? Enough said. The thing is, my abs don't even hurt and that was the point! This confirms a few things for me - I have not been putting in the time with the corework. I was doing so well with it until I got into the intense triathlon training in July. I cannot believe my core is so out of shape. Also, I feel like all of my muscles are stronger when I have the corework. My stomach was doing so well and over the past 2 months it became a dough ball. I'm excited to end this 3 sport training in some ways and fill in some core work.

The race I've been training for is just a few days away - Sunday- and I'm having second thoughts aka freaking out about the venue & date. I mentioned this before that the race is on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in DC. About a month ago there was a special on the history channel that I was watching while running (somehow it caught my interest) about a bomb in DC on 9/11 would be the plan. I haven't heard anything this week but I'm starting to think what my state of mind is going to be while racing. Will I be thinking of my times or bombs? Am I being crazy?

Marathon training is kind of a bust so far. All of my "long runs" - longest I've done is 11 miles have been on the treadmill mid week so that I can do a long bike on the weekend. Starting next week maybe I'll get back into the Saturday long runs but I'm not sure how motivated I even am for that.

Today's smoothie was a basic spinach/ banana/strawberry/blueberry/protein powder/ amazing grass. I need more ideas!

Crunchmaster Gluten Free Cracker Review

2011-09-06T14:58:00.001-04:00

Through Mom Select, I had the opportunity to try CrunchMaster Gluten Free crackers. I was sent a sample of the Original Multi Seed Crackers.

The ingredients for these crackers are listed above. I like the ingredient list and found the crackers to be tasty. They remind me of rice crackers that I've had before (hence the first ingredient - brown rice flour) - they are crunchy and full of taste. They aren't crackers that are going to be gone within a week at my house, but I eat a handful here and there with lunch. They are good by themself because of the different tastes. I think they would also be good with cheese. They make a good snack or lunch paired with cheese and fruit!

Have you tried these? Did you like them? If these are a product that you like and you are a coupon cutter, please contact me and I'll send you a coupon!

Sabra Hummus

2011-09-06T14:48:00.000-04:00

My favorite hummus used to be any kind of all natural, plain hummus. As a result of being all natural, if you didn't eat it within a few days, it would spoil (a good and bad thing). When Sabra came out, it was my new favorite and continues to be. It's creamy and tasty. I love how it has the little "toppings" and oil on top. I use hummus + nutritional yeast and water almost everyday as a topping for fresh veggies or a veggie burger or pizza sauce. Sabra is the only hummus that I prefer for the "humnut" sauce! I made my own hummus for a brief stint but still would rather buy my Sabra Roasted Pine Nut. What's your favorite brand and flavor of hummus?

photo from gfwithpizazz.blogspot.com

Other things I use hummus with
* dip for veggies
* with cheese in a quesadilla/wrap

I received a free coupon to try a Sabra product from Foodbuzz. The opinions expressed above are my own!

cake batter smoothie, green bean casserole

2011-09-05T21:07:00.000-04:00

I gave this to Nick for breakfast: The cake batter smoothie with spinach. Wow it looks so much better on Katie's blog but it was super tasty! Ice cream for breakfast? What??

Spinach Cake Batter Smoothie -
1 to 1.5 cups spinach
1 frozen banana
1/2 to 2/3 c almond milk
1 T cashews
1 tsp coconut oil melted
whip cream and jimmies!

I tried this Green Bean Casserole to go with dinner from Peas and Thank you. It was tasty and easy!

I need some more smoothie ideas! what's your favorite?

September is smoothie month

2011-09-04T10:49:00.000-04:00

I'm going to have a smoothie challenge for this month, one smoothie to try every day. Anyone want to join me? I was getting bored of the same smoothies day after day - bananas, strawberries or blueberries, spinach and milk. Blahhh. So I've been doing some research to find some more exciting ones. What is your favorite smoothie recipe? Please share. I always add spinach because you can't even taste it.

Today's smoothie was:

Chocolate Cake Batter Smoothie
I added spinach and it was green
Ingredients:

1 cup almond milk
1/3 cups oats
1 frozen banana
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp cashews

Yesterday's smoothie was Gingerbread.
This one was more like a meal. I drank this around 11am and didn't eat lunch did 4pm yesterday. It was filling.
Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 frozen banana
1 tbsp chia seeds

Next up: Healthy Cake Batter Smoothie

I mean, just from the names, who wouldn't want one of these??

My training this week was weird because our gym was closed for the annual week of maintenance. On Monday, I ran on the treadmill. Tuesday I used my dad's espresso bike. I went so slow on that thing. It was a hard workout. Wednesday morning we got to swim in the outdoor pool for masters. It was FREEZING! but I love swimming outside, it was great! I took the kids for a stroller run and warmed up quickly once I got home. Thursday was my long run (on the treadmill) and Friday outside swimming again. Yesterday I did a good but short swim set outside and today was my long bike ride.

One week until race day! This week's stats for the bike were low without the spin class! I think spinning adds on the miles but isn't accurate for me. I can spin 21 miles/hour but outside my average speed is probably 12-14. I'm looking forward to seeing what my bike speed is in the race since I've really been training more on my bike!

Run 23.9 miles
Bike 28 miles
Swim 5.9 miles

pre-school activities, fall muffins & Crab cakes

2011-09-02T15:14:00.000-04:00

And now after a little diversion of repeating myself for the 100th time which happens once a month despite vitamins, I bring you some fall muffins, pre-school activities and crab cakes. I ultimately decided to send Nick to pre-school for 2 days a week/3 hours a day this fall coming up. I'm excited for it, although it was a really hard decision for me and I will probably throw up the entire week before I have to drop him off, and also cry the day I drop him off. I think he will do GREAT though!! Here are there I find some fantastic ideas and try to do them with Nick. Here are 2 I think are worth sharing.

I call this one MONEY MAKER:
You can find it on this activity tray post - tons of great ideas. You trace all a bunch of coins on a piece of paper and color in the ones that are the same (quarters, dimes, etc). Then you give your pre-schooler a bowl of all the coins or just pile them up and have him/her match the coins to the right circle. It was fun and I was also teaching him all the names of the coins. I love doing stuff like this!

The second one that I found is matching up lowercase and uppercase letters. This is fun because you can make it seasonal if you want. I used orange and if I have time I'll draw pumpkins around them. The blog writer used hearts for Valentines which was cute. Nick wasn't totally ready for this and I think putting all 26 letters out at once was probably overwhelming. I think I'll start with the easier ones - o, c, s, u, etc -and just 5-7 at a time.

PUMPKIN MUFFINS! Fall is just around the corner, my favorite time of the year, I can't wait! With fall brings everything pumpkin. I took Baby's First Muffins and turned them into Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins adapted from Simply Pure Vegan + Baby
1/2c oatmeal
2/3 cup oatmeal flour or quinoa flour
2-3 T whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1T ground flax or chia + 3T water
2T coconut oil
2 T maple syrup
1/4 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup/ 1 handful chocolate chip muffins (no need to measure here!)

Mix the pumpkin, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, flax and water in a small bowl and microwave 20 seconds. Let sit. Meanwhile mix dry ingredients except chocolate chips. After the wet ingredients gel up (about 5 minutes) add wet to dry. Stir to mix, add in chocolate chips. I used mini muffin tins - bake at 350 for about 10-12 min or till set.

Crab-free cakes?? Check out Atlanta Running Mom's Post with this recipe which is where I saw it. I followed her recipe except I don't do mayo and I skipped the sauce because I ~~got lazy~~ didn't have some of the ingredients.

I bought Veganaise to make this recipe and I couldn't open it. I was afraid so I brought it back. Mayo really grosses me out! Has anyone tried the veganaise??

TEMPEH CRAB CAKES
• 8 oz tempeh
1 C water
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp crushed Bay Leaf
• 3 T sour cream
• 1 T spicy brown mustard
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 T red wine vinegar ( I used white)
• 1 large mild jalapeno- finely chopped - I didn't have this
• 1/4 C finely chopped onion
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped celery - didn't have
• 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tsp fresh ginger
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp celery salt
• fresh black pepper
• 2/3 C whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1/4 C olive oil (for pan frying)

Break up the tempeh into a small pot. Add the water, soy sauce, oil and crushed bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, let boil for 10-12 mins, stirring once, until most of the water evaporates.

Place steamed tempeh into a large mixing bowl. Using a fork, mask until about 50% smooth. Let cool for about 15 mins, until tempeh is lukewarm. Mix dry spices in a separate, small bowl to evenly combine. Add the s. cream, mustard, chili sauce, vinegar, bell pepper, lemon, and ginger and stir together. Add the spices and mix well. If you are making ahead, cover and place in refrigerator.

Before frying, add half of the panko to the tempeh mixture. Stir until just combined.

Preheat a thin layer of oil in a heavy bottomed non-stick skillet over medium heat (I tried just using non-stick cooking spray at first...you really need a little oil!)

Pour a remaining 1/3 C of panko onto a plate. Scoop a heaping 2 T of the tempeh batter into your hands and form into a ball. Gently flatten balls between your palms and then dip them into the panko to lightly coat – just a bit for some crunch.

Fry cakes for 4 mins on one side, flipping when dark golden brown. Fry for ~2 mins on the other side and transfer to a crumpled paper towel to drain (crumpling the towel better allows the oil to drain).

Makes 8 cakes (~3-4 servings). Serve cakes in a warm pita pocket with fresh arugula and remoulade sauce.

Remoulade:

• 4 T Light Mayo
• 1 T whole grain mustard
• 1 T chili garlic sauce
• 4 tsp capers
• pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine. Can be made ahead.

Balance, negativity and complaining

2011-09-02T10:38:00.000-04:00

A while ago I read a post on Hangry Pants about complaining and what's the point of complaining when you can't change things? I feel like I complain all the time and I'm starting to see myself as a negative person. It's affecting my life. I have good weeks and bad weeks with the kids and in the bad weeks, all I can think is that a) I'm a horrible mom and b) I need a part time job. I can't just do this (staying at home) anymore. I feel like there are 50% weeks of feeling this way and 50% weeks of feeling like everything is going well and I'm happy and a good mom. I don't think 50% good is a good number.

Here's what has been going on:

**Our house has been on the market since April. Every time there is a showing I put alot of effort and work into it. It's stressful and I end up yelling at the kids and my heart rate is through the roof. I really want a heart rate monitor. One weekend we had 5 showings then a couple of people come back, and nothing came of it. I've really just had it completely and want a house with a yard and to be done with this process.

**Nick is at a fun age (2 1/2). Sometimes I feel like Kara (at 13 months) is a total pain and makes things that are fun less fun by her whining and crying, flinging her head back, etc. She's so high maintenance in my view and wants what she wants. I feel bad thinking sometimes that it would be nice to leave her at home and do fun things with Nick, but sometimes I do feel that way. I feel like I have to leave the house every day or I'm going to go completely insane.

**Nick doesn't share with Kara and is sneaky - pushing her down, shoving her and head butting her like an ox. She fights back by hitting him and trying to bite him. I'm nervous what she is going to be like around other kids!

**Bill leaves the house around 7 and gets home close to 7. Many days by the end of the day, I've absolutely had it. I want to run out of the house. On the days that I get to tutor, I cannot wait. I feel like I am being paid to get out of the house and bedtime. It is the best thing ever. I need more of that. When Bill gets home and sees that I'm in a horrible mood or have had it, he doesn't want to hear about it. I feel like I complain too much and he doesn't love his job and doesn't want to hear it. That makes things even worse for me and I just get angry, feel like a horrible mom and person and don't know what my life is. I feel like I'm a bad communicator and instead of just sucking it up and moving on from the day, welcoming Bill home and appreciating some help, I'm just in a bad mood so he feels like I'm taking out a hard day on him. Usually I'm just frustrated and like I said, want to run out of the house, but I guess I need to be a better communicator and figure out a better way or better balance.

**During the harder weeks I really want a part time job. I say this all the time and never follow through with it because really there isn't anything around for teaching part-time. Most districts are laying off, not hiring. I don't know what my future holds in the job front, but I feel like I keep telling myself it's important to be home with my kids now, I'll regret it later, and that I can teach in the future when they are in school. I don't know what the best thing for me is.

**Right now I feel like there's just a lot going on and I want to be settled with a house and neighbors that I can hang out with and have playgroup with. We live in a community where I'd rather just stay inside (lots of older people, divorcees, etc) and have no yard. I'm trying to be positive about everything and feel like I'm just a huge complainer and not a positive person.

Here are some questions for you:

How do you keep yourself positive?
What are your best techniques for effective communication?
Do you thrive on structure or going with the flow?

How things have changed; make your own breadcrumb mix

2011-08-31T16:02:00.001-04:00

Well, I hit 99.3 miles for the month of August and the former me would be on the treadmill pounding out the 0.7 miles to get to 100 miles, but the current me just does not care. When I'm done, I'm done. I used to be very OCD about all my runs, especially long runs, making it to the exact next mile, or 1/2 mile and now if it's 10.33 miles, I don't think twice about stopping. Where do you fall?

The spinach ~~cookies~~ ball recipe that my mother in law makes and we all love calls for stuffing mix and if you look at the ingredients on most, it's a long list of them. And many of them have chicken stock in them. I found this recipe and made my own and made my best batch of spinach balls yet. I call them spinach cookies because it is not a healthy recipe except for the spinach - butter, parmesan cheese, frozen spinach, stuffing mix and egg. The best thing about making your own stuffing/breadcrumbs is that you can pick the bread - Ezekial works too!

Here is the recipe from About.com- I scaled it down about 1/4.

30 slices firm bread
3 Tbsp. instant minced onion
2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. seasoned pepper
1/3 cup cooking oil
3 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
3/4 tsp. ground sage

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cut bread slices into 1/2" cubes and place in two 13x9" baking pans. Toast bread cubes at 300 degrees for 45 minutes, or until toasted, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and cool slightly. In large bowl, mix together onion, garlic salt, seasoned pepper, oil, parsley flakes, and sage. Lightly toss bread cubes with seasonings to coat cubes. Place in a large airtight container and label "Herbed Stuffing Mix". Store in the refrigerator and use within 2 months. You can freeze the mix up to 6 months. Use in any recipe calling for stuffing mix. Makes about 12 cups.

fruit leather success, mileage and week 7?

2011-08-30T15:15:00.000-04:00

The second batch of fruit leather turned out really well! Instead of 3 or 4 hours at 225, I did about 4 hours at 175 and kept checking it. I also left the oven door open for most of the dehydrating process. It was pretty cool! It doesn't look much like the kind they sell, but it tastes really good. I'd try it again.

The recipe was from here and mine NEVER looks like the picture. Ever.

Peach Fruit Leather
4 Ripe Peaches (skin on)
1/2 - 1 Tbsp Agave Nectar

1. Preheat oven to 200 F degrees.
2. Rinse and remove seeds from peaches.
3. Place the peaches and agave in a blender and puree until smooth.
4. Pour the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet and spread with the back of a spoon or spatula in a large rectangle (my rectangle was 11 x 15 inches) making sure that the thickness is completely even.
5. Bake for 3-4 hours or until dry and not sticky to the touch. Remember, cooking times will vary depending on how thick you spread your mixture and how much water (juice) is naturally in the fruit.**
6. Set aside and cool at room temperature; it takes several hours for the fruit to soften up. Note that when you first take the fruit leather out of the oven, the edges will be a bit dry and crispy, but if you allow it to sit out for several hours it softens up nicely.
7. Cut with a knife, pizza cutter or scissors into strips, keeping the paper on if desired, then roll the leather into “roll ups”.
8. Serve.

Last week was my 7th week of training and I had 23.2 miles running, 56.3 biking and 5.5 miles swimming. I have been recording everything on Runner's World even though I had switched to Daily Mile because that is where all of my history is! And I like the summaries. I just took a look at my running miles this summer and they are so low compared to the past.

June 72.6 miles
July 98 miles
August so far 94 miles (I think I need to run 6 miles to get to 100).

I was consistently doing around 140 miles a month before triathlon training and burn out. I don't miss it all that much! What's your monthly mileage?

Happy Birthday to my sister today! Kara is wearing little flip flops in your honor Kimp! How cute are those little feet!

Review of Tommie Copper Calf Compression Sleeve

2011-08-28T13:40:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to try out a complimentary pair of calf compression sleeves from Tommie Copper to review. The sleeves are copper infused and were designed to be comfortable enough to wear all day. When I started reading about them, I realized that these products are not just for athletes, but for anyone with joint problems or inflammation. The opinions expressed below are my own.

Since I started riding, I've found that my calves were cramping a bit and sometimes sore during the ride. When the company contacted me, I thought I would try out the sleeves and compare them to the compression socks that I have. I have been wearing them during and after long runs and long rides and have found that they really do help with how my calves feel while I'm training. Similar to the compression socks, I feel like they keep my circulation going and hold everything together in my legs! They are comfortable, very easy to get on & off and super lightweight. Compared to compression socks, they feel just as tight, helping with circulation but they are much easier to get on and off and not as heavy. I wouldn't use the compression socks in the summer - they are super hot when you have them on and feel like they are made of wool, but these are breathable and I've worn them comfortably on hot days.

From the website:
The sleeves:
* reduce muscle inflammation in the calf
* relieve calf and shin pain
* stimulate circulation
* are comfortable enough to wear all day
* are machine washable

Why copper?
From the website:

Copper is necessary for the growth, development, and maintenance of bone, connective tissue, brain, heart, and many other body organs. It is involved in the formation of red blood cells, the absorption and utilization of iron, and the synthesis and release of life-sustaining proteins and enzymes. These enzymes in turn produce cellular energy and regulate nerve transmission, blood clotting, and oxygen transport.
Copper stimulates the immune system to fight infections, repair injured tissues, and promote healing. Copper also helps to neutralize "free-radicals" which can cause severe damage to cells.
Symptoms of copper deficiency include osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

The sleeves seem like they are very durable and would last a long time. I fell on the bike a couple of weeks ago and they saved my calves and shins from getting cut. Thank you sleeves! I like them and would recommend them. They are reasonable at $24.50. Check them out on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter .

Botched experiments

2011-08-27T14:22:00.000-04:00

Last night I tried fruit leather for the first time, and followed this recipe. I cooked it a bit too long - 3 hours at 225 degrees and it was cracking :( It smelled so good and tasted good too! We're in for another round on this rainy day. All that I did was pureed around 5 peaches and spread them on a cookie sheet with cooking spray. (First I had it on plastic wrap but thought that seemed weird so opted for cooking spray).

After about 3 hours-

A bit overcooked.

Broken into pieces. Edible but wrong consistency.

I'll update you on round 2.

Then there were dough balls - I just wanted to try chocolate chip, not PB chocolate chip. These were really good COOKIES but not dough balls.

And this here was my 10 minute pizza dough! This one worked out!

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white flour
1 T rosemary
1-2 T butter, melted/olive oil
1 T chia seeds
1/4 to 3/4 c almond milk ( I was just dumping it in the food processor until it all stuck together)

Put all dry ingredients in the food processor then add in the butter/olive oil and almond milk until the dough isn't too dry. Roll it out and cook on a greased cookie sheet. Add your toppings and cook at 400 for about 10-15 minutes till browned!

It was really tasty!!

Commenting, Nutrition and Training Plans

2011-08-26T20:59:00.000-04:00

First off, if the comment form is embedded right below the blog post, I can't comment on it! I don't know how to fix this? Has anyone had this problem and fixed it??

Nutrition:
I found this information helpful from CLIF bar and wanted to share it.

This is from an interview with Adam Korzun, sports dietician for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association:

“I’ve been hearing conflicting information about sodium. Am I taking in too much? Not enough?”

Outside the athletic world, sodium gets a bad rap, but athletes and coaches know electrolytes are necessary for peak performance. The CLIF BAR panel suggests athletes determine their electrolyte needs and create a personalized plan before race day by experimenting with electrolyte replacement during training.

“Sodium not only helps with fluid intake, but also with carbohydrate uptake,” said Adam Korzun, sports dietitian for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. “I generally recommend at least 100 milligrams of sodium per 8 ounces of fluid—more if you are a high salt sweater or training in extreme environments.”

Should you eat energy food (bars, gels, chews) right before an event start?
The greater the time between your last meal and the event, the more you may want to throw back a couple of chews, gels or a piece of a bar. For instance, if you have breakfast 2 hours before your event, a couple of chews will be the perfect, quickly-absorbed fuel to start the event.

And from endurance coach, Joe Friel:

“What should I be eating after a hard training day or event?”

Consuming a recovery meal or snack within 30 minutes of finishing a strenuous activity is imperative, according to the panelists. “The goal is to replenish muscle glycogen and branch chain amino acid stores,” said Joe Friel, endurance coach, author and co-founder of TrainingBible.com. “Doing so in this 10-30 minute window after activity will promote a quick and full recovery and give you the ability to perform at a high level in the next workout or event.” Muscle glycogen is the fuel that powers endurance activity, and branch chain amino acids aid in muscle repair. Eating for recovery is just as important as your pre-race and race day nutrition plan.

What are your post workout meals, or recovery plans?

In addition, any first timers out there? Here is a site for free first time training plans.

Food as bribery

2011-08-26T19:27:00.000-04:00

With Nick at the age that he is (2 1/2) I find myself carrying snacks in my bag everywhere we go, and using it to get him out of places. Today we went to the hardware store like everyone else - and bought a flashlight. Well, I made the mistake of going upstairs where there is a toy store and let Nick play for about 10 minutes at the train table. Then it was time to go and he threw himself on the floor and started screaming. Luckily, only the older woman working was upstairs but EVERYone downstairs - and it was very crowded with this storm coming our way - could hear the little boy making a scene. I was pulling him out of the store. Fast forward to the afternoon and we were in Babies R Us and he was playing with yet another train table. What made him leave there without a fight? Some Annie's bunnies in a cup. I feel like all I have to do is show him a Z bar or the bunnies and he drops what he is doing and follows me.Yikes, do you think that is bad? What are your favorite snacks for kids on the go?

Ours right now are:

Clif Z bars
Clif Twisted Fruit
Annie's Chocolate or Honey Bunnies
Annie's Cheese Bunnies
Kettle Valley Fruit Leather

I think this is the overall favorite right now:

September is around the corner!

2011-08-25T14:41:00.000-04:00

The weather this week (up until today) has been awesome! We have been able to have our windows open and the mornings have just been beautiful! On Tuesday I did a bike ride outside and yesterday I did part of my long run outside. It was the first time in a while that I ran outside (without the stroller) for more than a couple of miles. I was doing pretty well for the first 3 miles and keeping my pace in line and then after some hills I kind of faded and couldn't keep my pace under 9 minute miles. I'm supposed to aim for 8:35-8:55 for the beginning of the run then 8:15-8:35 for 20 minutes in the middle and back to the 8:35-8:55. I only had time to do an hour outside, and then came home, the kids were still asleep, Bill left for work and I finish the last 35 minutes. That has been my long runs so far - only 10 or 11 miles. I'm really NOT looking forward to running any longer than that, so I'm a little nervous of how the rest of marathon training and marathon are even going to go. Luckily my sister is kind of on the same page so maybe we'll just be able to chat for 4 hours and enjoy the course?

The triathlon training is going well. My training got scaled back a couple of weeks ago once I told the coaches that I was feeling pretty tired. It went from 3 bike rides to 2, 4 runs to 3 and stayed with 3-4 swims. I feel like I should be getting out on the bike twice a week and spin class once since that is my weakness and I might try to do another bike ride this week weather permitting, or hit spin class. I am getting stronger and feel like I'm fine in the pool. I think my running is suffering even with the cross training so we will see!

Yesterday when I was doing my long run, I was thinking how you could have a free pregnancy test attempting to do a race or keep a set pace on a pretty flat course. That's how I found out I was pregnant with Kara back in November '09 when I was doing a race and felt like I was putting in tons of effort but my pace was super slow! Have you ever tried that?

On Tuesday the kids and I went peach picking. It was so fun, I would do it everyday if the weather was as beautiful! Now I'm looking for some good peach recipes. I found this one for peach fruit leather and might have to try it!

don't think about touching my peaches!

teamwork

having a blast

peaches!

Best of both worlds

2011-08-22T21:03:00.000-04:00

I slept in this morning, after going to bed around 9, until 6:30. I was just going to take an off day because I'm so tired lately (house, kids, training) and the bike ride yesterday just killed me. The kids didn't even get up till 7:30 - go figure. While Nick was napping, Kara was awake so I put her in the stroller and did laps around our complex for a while. So I got to sleep in and work out during "nap time." My pace was so slow, I don't even know how people run normal pace or fast with the joggers. I am so slow with it. I feel like I could have gone for hours and hours to clear my head. She fell asleep for 30 minutes so that was good. I used the double jogger because it has the swivel wheel. I want to sell my ironman and get a single revolution on craigs list! That thing annoys me that it won't make turns easily.

Nick is getting into fighting bed time. What kills me is that he has been a great routine/ bedtime kid on his own all this time (he just turned 2 1/2). We would do bath, read books and say goodnight and he'd go to sleep on his own. I don't know what happened but he wants us to lay with him and rub his back. Now the storms last week didn't help too much but it shouldn't be just that. It's 9pm and he's still awake and this has been going on for probably 3-4 nights now. I can't help but blame my mom because I feel like she always lays with him and goes to sleep with him and leaves the light on when he asks. And I know that's cruel because it's sweet for grandma to do that, but it totally screws us up and takes away any spouse time that we have. Is this a phase? Did it happen to you?

This isn't your time

2011-08-21T12:40:00.000-04:00

Well first here's my training of the last 2 weeks:

Recovery week: Run 13.1 miles (LOW!), bike 46.5 miles, swim 5.1 miles
Week 5: run 22.4 miles, bike 55.4 miles, swim 5.7 miles

This week I am focusing on running. I plan to do the long run with the group - I haven't ran outside for a long run in a LONG time and feel like it's crucial.

This morning I did a longer than anticipated bike ride. And there was alot of guilt associated with it. Usually we leave at 6:30 and we're back by 9. Today it was just my swimming friend Rose and I and we were going to meet at 7. As I was getting in the car, she called and had woke up late so we met a little bit later but I still planned to get back to our meeting spot by 9. She's the leader - I have no idea where we are going, and I realized it was getting close to 9 and we were no where near home. I started to get nervous and a little annoyed too! I wanted to get back for Sunday family time and my friend Nicole was coming to visit on her way back to DC. So we started 20 minutes late, then rode 35 minutes longer than I wanted to! I wasn't too happy a camper but in the end, it was my longest bike ride ever! It was 33.1 miles - 2 hours and 15 minutes. Still pretty slow but getting faster! I was kind of upset that I missed most of the morning - I feel like Sunday morning is family morning. Yesterday I just needed to sleep in and we had a handful of house showings so it just happened to work out that way that we rode today. I think my new plan is get a moderate ride in during the week (just stinks because it will be alone), get back into the long runs on Saturday and pancake Sunday on Sundays!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This past week my mother in law was here helping out. One thing she said is stuck with me. I don't even know how the conversation started or what the point of it was, now looking back, but she was telling me about a woman at her yoga class who was all about herself when her kids were young and how she (my mil) didn't make any time for herself but that she wouldn't change a thing. Personally, I think that I need the time to myself and to have my own goals, but she made me rethink and wonder if I'm being selfish in making the time to train hard for things and questioning my going back to work.
I don't think that she was trying to make me feel that way but I'm not really sure what the whole conversation was about! What do you think? Should this be a time where I'm just working out to stay fit but not going crazy training for things and taking up weekend time and time in the mornings for myself? Sometimes I feel bad that I'm always out of bed at 5am and when Nick wakes up I'm not there. And there's no cuddle time with Bill in the morning because by the time I get back, he is about to leave for work. Should I be concentrating on the kids (more) and the little time Bill and I have together instead of doing my own thing 6 days a week? I think it starts the day off fresh for me, but sometimes I do feel guilty and like maybe I need to tone it down a bit.

Last, I'm debating on the pre-school thing for Nick in a few weeks. He's 2.5. Either I want to start him now or next fall at 3.5. I think it's a good thing but feel like I'm not ready!! I don't know what to do.

Friday pizza & Long run cheating

2011-08-20T14:08:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we had a playdate with Nick's longest friend, Olivia, who was born just 2 1/2 weeks after Nick. Lauren and I were due within 3 days of each other, then I was 2 weeks early and Olivia was 8 days late. Ever since Lauren stopped working we get together often and it's really fun! Both of us have 2 kids now and are trying to sell our houses. Our husbands went to graduate school together and then worked together for a few years - that's how we met. We also happened to go to the same college and be the same class year, but never knew each other. I like having a family friend where both the husbands and the wives get along and the kids are about the same age. It will be fun going forward hanging out. I do miss the guys working together though!

Anyway, yesterday Nick and Olivia made their own pizzas. I adapted the pizza dough recipe from Peas and Thank You: the cookbook.

Ingredients (1 crust)

3/4 c. warm water
1/2 a packet of yeast (I used pizza dough yeast)
1 t rosemary or your favorite spice
1/2 t sucanat
1 T. olive oil
1 t. salt
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c white flour

Instructions

Mix water, yeast, and sucanat - let it sit for 10 minutes till foamy
Put flour and salt in food processor and pulse to combine. Change to a kneading dough blade.
Add in the liquid mixture while the food processor is still moving and allow it to gather up all of the flour and make a big ball.
Take out the ball and knead on a floured surface until smooth (a couple of minutes).
Place the ball into an oiled bowl covered with a damp towel. I put this in the oven which I preheated to 350 and then turned off. Let rise for one hour.
Roll out the dough with more flour and place on a greased cookie sheet.
Load with favorite toppings and bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes or until browned.

I saw that piece of pizza had that for kids and thought it was cute so we did it for lunch yesterday. Nick immediately started eating the cheese whereas Olivia was very neatly putting on the tomato sauce. We had mushrooms, chicken nuggets and eggplant for toppings. Nick loaded his with chicken nuggets but then wasn't into it when it came out of the oven. Olivia had a nice blend of mushrooms and chicken nuggets. Here are some pictures:

enjoying their pizza - Kara was in on the action

And the long run. Since I've been doing long bike rides on the weekend, my long runs have been during the week on the treadmill. I feel like the treadmill for a long run just isn't the real thing. I am telling myself I'm getting out with the group for a long run next weekend. Biking just seems so much more appealing!! I think my running is suffering though and my goal to run a 1:45 1/2 marathon this fall might not be happening. I haven't been training at the pace that I need to for that but maybe all the cross training will help. I have a few weeks so I'll try to get my pace back to where I need it to be.

And last I've been freaking out about the race (olympic tri) in DC on Sept 11 - just since it's the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. This is what I've been training for. As a mom, things like this scare me. I wouldn't have thought about it before. Hmmm.. what do you think?

Recipes to share and new flavors from CLIF

2011-08-19T15:58:00.001-04:00

Here are some recipes that you should check out!
Tempeh Tamale Pie by Mama Pea

5 minute cheeze sauce on mac and cheese by OSG

Peanut butter Dough Balls by Mama Pea

Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs from Peas and Thank You got a good consistency and taste rating from Bill and he said they could even pass as the real thing with the sauce and provolone cheese in a sub roll. Niceeee.

8 ounces lentils, precooked
1/3 cup oatmeal
1 tsp minced garlic
1 T vegan Worchestershire sauce
1 T reduced sodium soy sauce
1/4 c fresh basil
1/4 c onion, chopped
1 tsp Dijon mustard
I omitted olives and sundried tomatoes

Put all that in the food processor, shape into 12 golf balls and bake for 20 minutes at 375 on a sprayed cookie sheet - believe me, they stick! Flip once throughout the cooking. I should have taken a picture of the meatball sub but I didn't. Here's a picture with the meatballs as pizza topping. More on the pizza coming up :)

And let's talk about the CLIF new flavors.

CLIF BAR: Coconut Chocolate Chip
new recipes for Apricot and Peanut Toffee Buzz

CLIF CRUNCH: Blueberry Crisp and Chocolate Peanut Butter

CLIF MOJO: Chocolate Almond Coconut, White Chocolate Macadamia, Dipped S'mores (Oh baby!)
CLIF MOJO, a delicious trail mix bar made with 70 percent organic ingredients, has introduced three new flavors that deliver a mouthwatering array of chocolate, nuts and coconut for a crispy, crunchy texture in bars that taste both sweet and salty.

from Clif:

CLIF MOJO Chocolate Almond Coconut blends toasted coconut, chunks of indulgent chocolate and deliciously salty whole roasted almonds. CLIF MOJO White Chocolate Macadamia combines freshly roasted macadamia nuts with richly flavored soy white chocolate chips. Not to be outdone, CLIF MOJO Dipped S’Mores is a healthy take on a classic campfire favorite, featuring crunchy graham cookies, creamy soy white chocolate and organic chocolate chunks. The new CLIF MOJO flavors (SRP: $1.39) are also on shelves now.

The Mojo are my favorite right now. Chocolate Dipped S'mores?? Ahhhh. Melt in my mouth. The Chocolate Almond Coconut has big chocolate chunks in it, with the taste of toasted almonds and coconut. It's grande!

As for the Clif Bars, the coconut chocolate chip is a great combo. I love the attention coconut is getting these days. The Apricot is tasty though not one of my favorites and the Peanut Toffee Buzz contains 50mg caffeine and is delicious so a great pre-workout boost for you. Loving it!

Clif Crunch: I love that they created a fruit flavor - the blueberry is great with vanilla yogurt. And chocolate + peanut butter - is there anyone who doesn't love that combo??

Check them all out at your local store. Love that I can eat a different type of Clif product for basically every part of my day :)

Here are Nick and Kara checking out the care package and thrilled to see the twisted fruit. Love!

the new mojo flavors

enjoying some twisted fruit

"when I'm done with this one, I'm going to take yours Kara"

Catching up

2011-08-17T15:36:00.002-04:00

I hope that I still have readers out there. I haven't been on google reader in a while and haven't even had a chance to post. Hopefully I will be back!

Last week we were at the shore and we returned on Sunday. We had a great time with the exception of the sleeping situation. It wasn't horrendous but could have been much better. It was the first time that we had to sleep with a kid in our room. The first 2 nights, Kara was in our room and was up in the middle of the night for hours both nights. She was laughing hysterically the second night and trying to crawl away. It was pretty funny but not at 2 in the morning. Then we moved her to her own room and Nick into our room. Nick didn't wake up in the middle of the night, he just woke up at 6am instead of 7am. My parents and sister were also down. My sister felt like she got ousted from the house so she didn't really hang out with us at all. And I felt like I had to shhhh! everyone when the kids were napping. It really wasn't that fun during the times we were inside the house, and I learned that next time we'll rent our own place. I'm too schedule oriented with naptimes and need my own space. Overall, the beach was fun, the kids had fun. I did take them back to the house to nap, so I felt like I was on the beach from 11-1 and then 5-7. It wasn't a lot of beach time, but I preferred nap time to having to deal with 2 cranky kids. Do you have your kids nap while away on a "vacation?"

Here were some of my favorite pictures:

profile

beach boy

Kara started walking 1.5 weeks ago and now she's a pro

she's a dancing queen

and in the past month has developed a "LOOK"

This week I had to work 2 half days, and my mother in law was down to help out. It was great having her help, and I was able to get a taste of the working mom world. Well, I don't know how you all do it. I feel like I have had zero time to myself. And this was two half days of work. I was teaching an online course and the final was this week. I do not know how full time working moms find time to work out either. I gained an appreciation for being at home, but at the same time enjoyed it while I was working.

We're currently in the 4th month of trying to sell our house and I'm going to lose my mind soon. I can't do it anymore. Nothing is perfect and I'm OCD at many things and feel like there's just not enough time in the day to get it all right. I'm starting to want to move so badly that the showings just stress me out big time.

Last week was a recovery week and what happened due to the lack of sleep down the beach was shortened or missed workouts. I skipped my long run last week so I only ran twice. This week I'm getting back into it but it's the bad week in my cycle so I'm unmotivated and tired. The coach working with me says with the triathlon and marathon within weeks of each other, he thinks I am trying to do too many things and have too much on my plate. I agree but I guess I don't really even care about the marathon too much, I just want to get the runs in and have a good time.

I have some good recipes to share and new CLIF flavors, have you seen them? As well as a review on some calf compression sleeves.

SEMI Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-10T21:22:00.000-04:00

have you tried it yet????

like: that leg muscle dislike: beer gut. WTH!

Vitamix disaster

Good morning Kara!

My body is a temple

2011-08-08T20:57:00.000-04:00

When local standout swimmer Fran Crippen passed away in the open water swim last fall, I remember reading in one of the articles that he turned down chocolate, telling his sister that "my body is a temple" - I don't put chocolate in it. I think about that sometimes when I consider what I am eating. The yoga class I just started going to - the instructor was talking today about getting the impurities out that we might have eaten today - white bread, white sugar, etc etc. Very interesting.

What do you put in your body?

With the training pretty hard core right now, I kind of want some guidance as to what calories I should be eating, what amount of protein, etc. I feel like I have a blubber stomach despite the training and I'd really like a 6-pack! I'm not really fitting in any core work - except now the yoga, does that count? Do you think I can get one if I do that? I'd love to figure out some daily menus that support the training and would help my body recover quickly and help with being tired.

This week is a recovery week which kind of means I'm doing what I feel like! I told the coach that I'm working with that I'm tired and he basically took out double workouts except for maybe 2 days. I'm going to the beach this week anyway for the 2nd part of the week and plan to kind of slack off a bit :)
I'll get back into it next week but think a recovery week is in order for week 4! Do you take recovery weeks or recovery days? Do you feel refreshed after? What do you do during a "recovery week?"

Clif & Co Company News!

2011-08-07T21:05:00.000-04:00

Looking for a job?

Clif Bar and Company has been recognized for the 4th year running as one of Outside Magazine’s “Best Places to Work.” Outside Magazine is America ’s leading active lifestyle magazine, with over two million readers a month.

The award is focused on the company's aspiration to support the community, and highlights the In Good Company program which partners Clif employees with 11 community-minded companies to make a difference in their communities through hands-on action and the 2 Mile Challenge, which encourages people from across the country to log miles travelled during short bike trips to compete for a $35,000 donation to a favorite charity.

Additionally, check out these other fun programs that are included in the company:

“Cool Commute” Program:

- The nation’s first-ever biodiesel incentive program provides employees with a $6,500 taxable cash incentive towards the purchase of a vehicle that runs on B100 for at least six months of the year

- Incentives towards the purchase of a natural gas-fueled or high mileage hybrid

- $500 incentive towards the purchase of a commuter bike or to make commuter modifications to an existing bike

- Additional incentives for walking, carpooling or taking public transportation

“Cool Home” Program

- Up to $1000 annually for eco-home improvements such as replacing primary appliances with Energy Star appliances, installing solar panels or switching to energy-efficient windows

Project 2080

- Nearly ten years ago, Clif employees set out to donate 2080 man hours per year to charitable work—the equivalent of one full-time employee’s hours. In 2010, the company donated over 5,200 hours. Clif people choose the charities that resonate with their own interests- like the Breast Cancer Fund, Mom and Pop Green and Meals on Wheels

They are hiring, check it out!

Falling off the bike

2011-08-07T20:37:00.000-04:00

Is there a graceful way to do it?

My first fall was the first time I used my bike shoes. I could not get them off of the pedals and just toppled over in my driveway at the end of my ride. This left me with a jammed pointer finger but I walked away unscathed.

Today my Sunday ride group decided it was too wet out to meet up to bike, but I wanted to get in some mileage and didn't see myself riding well inside, so I went outside locally. It was a great ride except for my fall and seat moving due to my fall. It was wet on the ground and I had to make a stop quickly and ended up falling over - the tires skidded and were too wet. This fall left me with a bruised and sore knee, bruised arm, elbow and palm :( And my seat moved so that it was pointing the wrong way and not too comfortable. I made it through the ride because I ride around and look at houses, ha! Keeps me entertained. So is there a way to help break your fall when you are on the bike? I've ended up just giving in to the fall and down I go!

Here were my week 4 stats -I took it easier towards the end of the week pacing wise and needed a day off!

WEEK 4
Swim 4.7 miles, Bike 61.9 miles, Run 28 miles

Monday run 3 miles, swim 3200 yds
Tuesday easy 3 mile run, bike 13 miles outside
Wednesday long run 9.1 miles
Thursday spin 16 miles, run 3.35 miles
Friday - super long workout day swim 4000 yds, bike 5 miles (inside), run 6.5 miles, swim 1000 yds (FUN!!) Swimming felt very strong. I had the morning to myself and that was how I spent it! :)

Saturday OFF!
Sunday Run 1 mile, bike 27.88 miles and run 2 miles

I missed a day in the pool this week due to timing conflicts for childcare and deciding to take Saturday off. I love swimming and it has been feeling really good lately. There was definitely one day where I felt like a brick with arms and legs, I think it was on Monday!

Tired! week 3 of training

2011-08-04T09:21:00.000-04:00

This was last week, week 3 of training

Monday: Swim 3350 yds, Run split up 5.76 miles (1/2 in the morning and 1/2 afternoon)
Tuesday: Long run 10 miles
Wednesday: 3900 yds
Thursday: Run @ 7 miles tempo, bike @15 miles with interval training
Friday: Bike 24 miles, run 2.75 miles
Saturday: swim 3500 yards
Sunday: Bike 32 miles, run 3 miles

SWIM 6.1 miles BIKE 72.8 miles RUN 28.3 miles

I made the mistake of not taking an off day. It's hard logistically to fit in all the swims and biking so doubling up on another day sometimes isn't realistic. I chose to swim last Saturday morning and should have slept in and taken off. My body is tired this week. I think I stayed up late a couple of nights over the weekend and early in the week and it set me on this schedule of getting up after 5 instead of 4:30ish, and I haven't been able to fit everything in this week. I'm TIRED! ANd I think most especially, my legs are really tired. Add the workouts to getting the house ready for showings and being on my feet most of the day in that case and my body wants to be in a horizontal position.

So this week I'm kind of failing on the workouts but taking it as an easier week. I've been really enjoying the training so I don't want to get burnt out - probably a good idea to lessen the load a bit. I talked to the coach about it and he took out a run. I was only running 4-5 times a week as it was so I'm a little nervous I won't be marathon ready, but I'm more excited about the triathlon. And I wish I could afford the pocono half ironman but it's not in the cards right now :(

Do you take a day OFF? Where does it fall in your week? How is your week of workouts structured (easy/long/hard)?

On the bike

2011-08-02T16:38:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I did my longest bike ride to date - 32 miles :) I can't really even tell that I'm doing extra miles except my crotch is ready to stop, but I find it really enjoyable!

I was using Abby's bike that she doesn't use anymore and one of my swimming friends just upgraded her bike and wanted me to check out hers - we're the same height and just about the same build. It has the pedals where you need the shoes to ride it, whereas I was using the cages with my running shoes. My last straw was when my shoe laces got all caught up in the chain. There is a noticeable difference on the 2nd bike - better fit, smoother ride - and with the shoes. I feel stronger.

When we started this endeavour - I had a helmet and an old triathlon top and shorts from my sister (whew, lifesaver on that!). Now, I have bike shoes, bikes shorts, and a brand new bike rack on our car. I know how to change gears,(recall that I had no clue how to do that in my first triathlon!) and I even know how to use the aero bars! I feel like I'm making strides! I had done about 5 outside rides total (of about 8-10 miles) leading up to my first Olympic triathlon and now I'm outside 2-3 times a week riding 60-70 miles a week. My next race is the Nation's Triathlon, compliments of my sis on Sept 11. I'm a little freaked out lately that it is on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and in DC. Should I be?? Yikes.
I'd love to do a half ironman - there's one Oct 2 (4 weeks out from marathon), but decided I don't need to spend $300 to see that I can do that and do it well! Maybe when I'm back to work? I can't afford that right now!

I am really good on the bike in groups and trying to keep up but seem to slack off and don't work hard enough when I ride alone. One thing is for sure - I've definitely improved and have more of a smooth ride! I really like the bike now! How things have changed :)

Godiva Coffee Review

2011-08-01T10:17:00.000-04:00

This post is part of a Foodbuzz Tastemaker program with Godiva Coffee.

Before I got pregnant with Kara, I never drank coffee. I have always loved the smell but yuck - never liked the taste. Towards the middle or end of the pregnancy, I had a craving for coffee. It was so weird! I had some decaf watered down with milk.

After Kara was born and I started getting back into the early morning workout routine, there were days where I just NEEDED something and had a taste for coffee. I remember one morning, I was probably up in the middle of the night with Kara and I drank 1/2 a cup of coffee and went swimming, and whoa!! I was flying. I was leading the lane and felt awesome!! After that I realized the effect it can have on your workouts so here and there I'll drink it when I need a boost. Lately I've just been more tired and getting by on about 6 hours of sleep and drink it about 2 times a week. I was lucky enough to be selected to try some Godiva, complimentary from Food Buzz to review on my site.

I was mailed 2 flavors - chocolate truffle and hazelnut creme. The picture on the chocolate truffle makes you want to eat the bag - it's a spoon with chocolate mousse on it. MMM. It has a great taste with the subtle taste of chocolate. I have not discovered a love for plain coffee just yet and like the different flavors. It smells delectable and my only request would be to be able to get the beans instead of ground coffee.

It being summer, and HOT HOT HOT during these heatwaves, I decided to make a Chocolate Truffle iced coffee after coming home from a long bike ride last week.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE ICED COFFEE
8 oz Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee
4 oz almond or your choice of milk
about 15 ice cubes
1 tsp guar gum (optional - makes it creamy)

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend away!

Very refreshing and delicious!

Banana Quinoa Muffins

2011-07-30T21:51:00.004-04:00

Adapted from Peas and Thank you Banana Chocolate Chip Millet Muffins.

Sometimes I want something cake-like in the morning and most of the muffins that I make are too dense or fall apart easily. Bring in these muffins which are very moist and fluffy, low in sugar, decent in protein & fiber, and delicious! The calories were more than I would have thought - here is for the whole recipe. I think it made about 18 mini ones.

1 Mini Muffin
Calories - 90(HIGH!), Fat - 2.3g, Saturated Fat - 1.4, Sodium - 5mg, Carb - 15g, Fiber - 2g, Protein - 3g

I switched quinoa in for millet, reduced the sugar and used coconut oil instead of canola oil. I also did a version of peanut butter chocolate chip so check out the substitutions for that version too!

BANANA QUINOA MUFFINS or PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

2/3 c quinoa flour (toasted ground quinoa)
1/2 c oat flour (ground oatmeal)
1 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 bananas, mashed
2 T maple syrup
2 T coconut oil (replace with 2 T peanut butter for pb muffins)
1 T flaxseed
1/2 c almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
blueberries - optional (replace with chocolate chips)

In a large bowl, mix together flours, baking powder, soda and cinnamon. In a small bowl, add the maple syrup, coconut oil, flaxseed and vanilla. Microwave 30 seconds and let sit. Mash the bananas and add to the maple syrup mixture. With the almond milk, add the wet to the dry. Stir to combine. Put in sprayed muffin tins. I used a mini muffin tin and donut pan and cooked for 12-15 min. Just check on them and make sure they are a little browned and set. These rose so nicely and were delicious!!

I learned from Sarah's book that if you use frozen blueberries you have to just drop them into the mixture. You cannot mix them or the muffins will turn gray. It's happened to me before!

Tugging

2011-07-29T16:20:00.001-04:00

I have this tugging...

And it's not one of my kids grabbing onto me. I walked in the door from an early bike ride this morning and within 5 seconds Kara was holding on to my leg and crying for me. I'm so lucky to have my dad come over one day a week so I can do a longer workout day. As soon as I open that door, I have to be ready to be back in mom mode. I think my shower was about 30 seconds long with Kara trying to pull herself up on the glass and whining at me. But back to the tugging.

Over the past few months, I have been feeling like I have to get into something else. Being a mom is amazing! but I miss my identity as a teacher, team player, and hard worker. The 1-3 hours a day that I get to myself are just not enough for me, and I feel like I need to pursue another path. Walking out the door with food all over my shirt, my hair never done and feeling like I look like crap 90% of the time is kind of dehumanizing. Add to that reasoning with a 2-year old why it is time to leave. I don't have the energy. I want more. I need my own thing- my own success. Athletic training - training for running and triathlons now- is my outlet and I love it - but it's not enough. Tutoring on the side is great - but I don't do it enough. The nights that I get to tutor and get out of bedtime - I feel totally refreshed! I love using my brain and I even get paid for getting out of bedtime, it is a great feeling! I just have had 1-2 kids over the past few school years and need to somehow spread the word and get more kids.

I love how some of the blogs I read have created their own business. I thought about doing that for a while with some kind of baked product but let's be realistic - I'll never follow through. And where do these people find the time? I seriously have a guaranteed 2 hours to myself throughout the day (not including 5-7am because let's face it, that's when people sleep and that is my workout time. So maybe 4 hours, but I don't count that). When I was home with just Nick, I looked into pursuing my PhD. However, again, with 2 small kids now, that is not happening. I always wanted the option to teach at the college level. Unfortunately, I recently found out that I need a Masters in Math, not Education, in order to teach any college level courses in math. My latest thinking is to go get that Masters in Math - but on whose dime? It's not cheap. It was stupid to get a masters in Education/ Curriculum &Instruction- what the heck am I going to do with it? At the time, I just wanted to move along on the pay scale (for teachers) and it was easy to do and convenient (classes about 5 min from my home). But now that I know I can't teach (only education courses which are impossible to find jobs in) math, I wish I had gone another route - had I only known.

I've been thinking about going back to work more in the past 6 months than in the past 1.5 years. I had a similar thing going on with Nick, but having 2 kids with their age difference, is a real challenge for me I guess? Nick's 2 year old state combined with Kara's dependence on me for everything and demand for attention 24/7 is tiring me out. However, I know that a 5 day teaching week with work that I'd be bringing home would land me in the loony bin (head spinning) or miserable very quickly. Part of me wants to try it out and quit if it doesn't work out, but the other part of me knows myself well enough to know that I will be feeling absolutely guilty and missing my kids and like a subpar teacher and mom. Also, I want to raise my kids. Not someone else. Each time I have gone for a part-day of work on a few things I still have going on at school, I've missed the kids and felt sick driving there, but totally become immersed in the work to the point that it felt good. But - I've never done consecutive days or a full day of teaching. Next April I will have to decide if I return in September '12. Another thing is that I want 2 more kids. I can't even handle 2 kids well, haha! So I might have to rethink this, but I think the first years are tough and I have always wanted 4 kids.

I am just so confused at what direction I want my life to go in at this point besides that I know that I want to raise my kids myself in the short time that they are at home with me before they go off to school then college and leave forever... but I am missing something and not feeling 100% happy being home everyday all day. I need something else.

So big regrets -

I was 4 months away from my 3rd year in the same school and public school system - so tenure when I went out on maternity with Nick. I wish that I had planned out having Nick after I had the tenure (which maybe really doesn't even matter, but I'd like to be tenured). I can go back to work to get this, but only at the same position.

Had I known, I would have obtained my Masters in Math and established myself already with a part-time college position that I could continue into motherhood.

Looking ahead thoughts-

My happy medium/ideal - I think would be to teach 1-2 classes either at a college or local school. My job is 30 minutes away. I think I would enjoy going back to private school - I still keep in touch with my students from my first 3 years at a private all girls school- great experience but the pay sucks and there are expectations for extra time - after school meetings, night meetings, etc - without pay. I don't even think I'd care about the pay, it's just finding a part-time teaching job right now- not easy.

I would love to hear from other moms!

Things I want to know and I've learned about ironman

2011-07-28T21:09:00.000-04:00

Learned:

* You can't just sign up for an ironman like a few months beforehand. Ha. What is the plan for that, a year ahead of time?

* Um - they cost ALOT of money!! Wait can I pay to swim, bike and run for 1/2 of a day??

* I want to be an ironman and I think I will do one eventually. But since I'm planning on having more kids?? I don't know if this is going to happen in the very near future.

Want to know:

How long does it take to train? How many hours a week do you train?

Where did you find assistance to know how to train?

How can you get sponsored for one of these things? Can someone pay your entry? Ha!

Yum

2011-07-27T20:53:00.000-04:00

Mmm.. if you want a good start to the day, try these pancakes. I pureed the topping and omitted the oatmeal/granola.

Also for dinner I tried this recipe for meatloaf muffins. I used a small muffin pan and a normal size one. They are cute - and tasty!

I looked into the half IM distance and saw the price... now I'm not so sure! I might have to get a job to support the triathlon habit!

Training, Recipes and IM

2011-07-26T14:43:00.000-04:00

My second week of training saw some more running mileage and after doing 20 or less miles a week for many weeks, I was back up to 27 this past week. It's definitely becoming more challenging to fit everything in, but way more exciting to have the variety than just running. Here's what the training looked like:

WEEK 2 of training
Monday: Swim 4200 yd
Tuesday: Easy Run 5.2 miles, Easy Bike 12.9 miles
Wednesday: Easy Run 5 miles, Swim 3550 yd
Thursday: Long 8.8 miles
Friday: Run 4.6 miles, Bike 20 miles outside
Saturday: Swim 3000 yd, spin class 23 miles, run 3.5 miles (my own mini triathlon)
Sunday: OFF

Run 27.1 miles, Swim 6.1 miles, Bike 55.9 miles

I've been enjoying the outside bike rides and hope that I'm improving! I was thinking about signing up for another triathlon in between now and Nation's Tri in September but decided to just work hard leading up to the race instead. However, I now feel like I'm doing alot of training and don't think I'd have to add too much more into it except biking to train for a half iron. I'm swimming more than I need to, building up to marathon training and would just need to do longer bike rides - I think? So I'm toying with the idea of doing a half iron before the marathon. I'm not sure how good of an idea that is, it would be about 3-4 weeks before. Any thoughts?

I've come across some recipes lately and have been trying to meal plan each week. This weekend I made Kate's strawberry rhubarb bars. I'll have to make them again to give you my recipe but it turned out great! Here are my estimations below.

Ingredients:

for the jam:

12 oz organic strawberries

1-3 stalks rhubarb ( I only had one)

1 T raw cane sugar

1 T chia seeds

for the bars:

2 c oats

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 c maple syrup

1 T chia or flax + 4 tbsp warm water

2 T c coconut oil, melted

1/2 c almond milk

Directions: Add strawberries and rhubarb to a saucepan over medium heat with 1 T sugar, bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken, stir in 1 T chia seeds and simmer a few more minutes, remove from heat and set aside. In a small bowl combine 1 T chia seed with water to form an “egg” set aside stirring every few minutes to thicken. In a large bowl combine oats, flour, maple syrup and baking soda. In another bowl combine coconut oil with almond milk, and maple syrup, add wet to dry and stir until just combined. Using 3/4 of the mixture press into a greased baking dish (8 x 8 seemed too big and didn't fill it), top with the cooled jam mixture and sprinkle the remaining topping. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes and then cool another 30-60 minutes before slicing!

And this was Bill's birthday cake. I think I will call it Peanut Butter Dough Ball Chocolate BOMB Ice Cream Cake. Death by Chocolate Peanut Butter!

So it's Trader Joe's Joe O's with melted butter and coconut oil (didn't measure) to form the crust. I froze the crust for hours to let it set then added in some Breyers Chocolate Ice cream and Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream and chunks of the dough balls - raw ones. YUMMMMMM.

New Balance Running Shoes Review

2011-07-24T21:02:00.002-04:00

I had the opportunity to get a new pair of New Balance running shoes to review from Online Shoes. These babies came just in time as my other running shoes were getting old. I choose these because they were a neutral shoe and I love the silver/lavender combination.

I used to run in New Balance a long time ago. I found them to be reasonable, loved that they have WIDE shoes, and am a big fan of the "N" on the shoe since it's the first letter of my name. For the WR1080LS (Lavendar), it is a neutral shoe. There is good padding and support and for a wide shoe there is a nice amount of space in the toe box. I like the look of the shoe with the silver and lavendar and find them to be lightweight and sleek. Overall, a nice shoe with good style and support.

What shoe do you run in? What has been your experience with New Balance? I also have used online shoes before. I won a gift certificate and ordered shoes a while back. They came in the wrong size and it was really easy to send them back and get the right size. Highly recommend!

New Balance is also launching the MINIMUS as they break into the world of barefoot running. Barefoot runner? Check out the reviews!

Enter to win a $500 New Balance shopping spree - Like ONLINE SHOES on FACEBOOK !

Training, Coaching and Eating

2011-07-20T18:22:00.000-04:00

I am really enjoying the training for triathlons. Even though I'm sort of training for a marathon too, I'm just starting to build up the mileage so it's still manageable (the running portion). Here were my stats from last week:

Run 20 miles
Swim 6.2 miles
Bike 60 miles

So the running is on the low side, this week adds 5 more miles and I haven't looked too much further ahead. One thing is that I feel like I could do the training for a Half Ironman pretty easily but the IM distance is probably not in my immediate future! I don't know how I'd find the time right now but it's something I'd like to accomplish. I'm inspired by all of you that do them - and multiple #s of them in that!

I have a coach that I'm working with and when I signed up for it, it was for running. He was kind enough to add in the triathlon work. I'm working with his intern and I have to say, it's not so much what I expected. The day I wanted to start the training, my schedule wasn't posted yet. He was aware of my start date for a while - I was holding off to start the training because of my motivation. After the first week, I filled in all my workouts and I didn't hear anything back. Isn't that kind of weird? I emailed him and let him know that doing "endurance pace" workouts 3 times a week is pretty repetitive and boring and that the same exact bike and swim key workout every week is also pretty boring. Can ya change it up a little bit? His response was to stick with the schedule and it will get harder. I'm not sure I believe that. I feel like the time wasn't really spent creating variety. I mean, it's great to have someone creating my workouts, but to me, giving and getting feedback is really the most important component. Are you a coach? What do you focus on? Do you have a coach? What is your experience?

Last but not least, eating for training. Do you have a website that you like to calculate how many calories you need to eat for your training? I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm working out more, starving most of the time and have gained weight that I can't get off. It's in the worst places - lower back and stomach. I hate it! And it's summer time. I feel like I should have a 6-pack with the hours of training I put in?? What should I be eating to get one of those? : ) Oh and are there any tricks to getting bigger boobs?