The Little Things
October 19, 2012

Happy Friday! This week has flown by for me, partly because I’ve felt a bit behind and off this week  because of my trip to Spain. I’ve definitely had jet lag, and I’m looking forward to finally catching up on sleep and feeling back to normal. This weekend is also Homecoming for the college I went to, so I’ll be busy hanging out with friends! I told you October was busy! I haven’t been reading online nearly as much this week due to my schedule, so I don’t have as many links to share, but I did want to pass a few along:

How To Stay Active While Traveling: Some great trips for increasing your success of continuing a fitness routine while traveling!

How Does Sleep Affect Mental Wellness? Another great article on the connection between sleep and mental health. Sleep is a component of health that is easy to overlook!

Getting Pumped Up To Work Out: This post includes some great tips to get more excited and motivated to exercise. Sometimes we all need a little kick to get moving.

10 Reasons I’m Excited To Run The New York City Marathon: I love reading about the NYCM- so much excitement, so many emotions. Join in the fun:)

The Life You Think You’ve Lost: A great read, seriously. Melissa talks about how she handled things when the life she imagined she would have wasn’t happening.

2012 Chicago Marathon: This was Bri’s 2nd time running the Chicago marathon, and I’m impressed with her endurance even when things were tough. Want some inspiration or motivation? Check this post out!

Now it’s your turn to share! What’re you excited about for the weekend? Want to share your own post for someone to read? Just link it up below:)

October 18, 2012

Happy Thursday, a day to focus on what we’re thankful for in our lives! Last night was a little frustrating. I picked up a friend from the bus station downtown, and on my way down there I ended up sitting in standstill traffic for over an hour. FRUSTRATING! Traffic was so slow, and it ended up taking 4 hours, which was my whole night. I obviously got less sleep than usual because of this, so I could use a bit of a mental shift this morning. Here are some things I’m thankful for right now!

I’m thankful I got to go to Spain! I’m planning to do a post (or 2) about my trip, but I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to travel to a new country and experience their culture!

Nutella Crepes in the Old City, Valencia, Spain

I’m thankful that I survived food poisoning and I’m feeling better. Food poisoning in a hotel overseas is really pretty nasty, and it was a bummer to lose some tourist time because of that. I’m happy to say that I feel back to normal, and was so thankful to be able to run again after being sick!

I’m thankful for pumpkin! Not only does pumpkin look cute as a decoration, but it’s really tasty as well! In October and November I find myself putting pumpkin in lots of food, and it’s delicious! (Pumpkin Grilled Cheese Sandwich & Pumpkin French Toast are some examples)

I’m thankful for the Broadway Showtunes station on Pandora. My brother just told me about it last week and suggested that I would like it. Ok- I love it! It’s so fun! I obviously can’t listen to music while talking to clients, but I listen to it while doing paperwork. It’s so happy. Check it out:)

I’m thankful for apples in the fall! That delicious tasting bite that crunches when you bite into an apple- it’s fantastic! My favorite fall apple is Honeycrisp- yum!!!

Pretty- and equally as delicious!

Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today? What do you do when you get stuck in standstill traffic?

October 17, 2012

A run that involves something having to do with cupcakes? Sign me up! Run with Jess is hosting a 5k virtual run this week, and I was eager to sign up. This isn’t the first virtual race I’ve done. This summer I did the Welcome To Summer 4 miler on the beach, and had a blast! While virtual races don’t have the same level of excitement as an official race, I do find that virtual runs, even when I do them by myself, are much more fun than a normal training run. Knowing that there are lots of other people out there doing this same run is exciting and motivates me to push a little harder than usual.

I set out for my run after work today. I hadn’t gone running since my trip to Spain and the food poisoning I got at the end of my trip. I’ve spent a few days recovering, but knew I was still feeling a little tired and off. This definitely wasn’t the fastest 5k that I’ve run, but for a first run back after food poisoning, I thought that it was great! I definitely went out too quickly, and there was no negative splits in this run (oops).

If you ever have the chance to do a virtual run, I’d encourage you to take it! It adds some fun to a normal fitness routine, and you often have the chance to win some great prizes. The sparkle skirt I’ve worn in my half marathon and throughout lots of training I won after a virtual run in January!

I wore my Sweat Pink tank top on the run and it was so comfortable! Maybe my sweaty pink face matches my shirt a bit? 🙂

Close up of the race bib. Running with the word cupcake on me definitely made it a little more fun!

My time ended up being 34:44- about 4 minutes slower than my 5k PR. I hoped I’d run a little faster, but for a first run back from traveling and food poisoning, this was better than I thought I’d end up with.

Morale of the story- sign up for 5k races. They’re fun and motivating.

Now it’s your turn to share! Have you ever done a virtual race before? Do you get red or pink when you work out? 

October 16, 2012

I really love meals that take very little preparation or cook time. When I made this meal the other week, it not only took very little time to prepare, but also was delicious and filling!

Ingredients

Here’s what I did:

I cooked the couscous in a pan on the stove per the instructions on the box. I tried this type of couscous and it was delicious:

While this was sitting on the stove, I warmed up the skillet & began cooking the peppers. I put 1/2 a teaspoon on each half of the red pepper and put it in the frying pan to cook. Cook time depends on how crunchy you’d like it to be.

Then it was on to cooking the chicken. I put half the BBQ sauce and all of the lemon juice in the pan, and threw the chicken into the pan. Half way through I tossed on the black pepper and the rest of the BBQ sauce and flipped the chicken.

YUM! This mixture for the sauce was surprisingly delicious! I warmed up a third of a can of black beans to add some extra protein to the meal, and it was complete!

The final product! Healthy, easy, and incredibly delicious! Of course you can eat this with whatever sides you’d like, but I thought I’d include what I ate since I like to know what others pair with the foods they post too.

Now it’s your turn to share! Have you ever tried couscous? What’s your favorite way to add an extra bit of protein to your meal? 

October 15, 2012

Well, some weeks things pop up that we just can’t control. And then we adjust our schedules to them. This seems to be the theme of this training cycle. It hasn’t been fantastic (and I talked about having to be flexible in my post last week). This past Wednesday morning (EARLY) I flew to Spain. From Wednesday-Friday my workouts simply included walking around the city. Friday night I got food poisoning, so I’m still not back to working out today. Things happen. It’s ok. Here’s what the week looked like:

Yeah. It was a great start to the week. I’m not sure how i’ll get a long run in this week, and it’s almost time to start tapering for the race. We’ll see how it goes.

Now it’s your turn to share! What was something that stood out to you that happened last week? If you’ve ever had food poisoning- how long did you wait before working out again? 

October 12, 2012

Happy Friday! I missed last Friday so I have some links from the last two weeks to share! Last Friday I was enjoying some family time (especially with my brother who is in the military and was lucky to get a long weekend to fly up to see my family), and disconnected from social media to really engage with them. I can’t get enough time with them:) That being said, here are some interesting blog posts and articles I’ve read recently:

Snoozing ‘Til Noon? It could be a sleep disorder. This article was really interesting. Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder is something that is interesting to me, and when I read it I could definitely identify with some aspects of that- especially in teenagers! This article has some practical steps of how to handle this. Definitely worth skimming through.

How Stress Affects The Body. This link includes a great infographic on the various body parts that may be affected by stress. I think this is great information for each of us to know!

Activity Programs Fail to Get Kids Moving, study says. Interesting article on some of the attempts out there to get kids to move, and the result of these attempts. What do you feel is an important aspect of getting kids to move and engage in physical activity?

What You Need to Be A Caretaker . Being a caretaker is hard, exhausting work. These article discusses what you need to survive being a caretaker.

Internet Use Disorder. This is becoming an increasingly discussed topic. Yes, you can be addicted to the internet.

A 5k is my Mt. Everest. I love Callie’s post about conquering things in our lives!

Now it’s your turn to share! What are you looking forward to this weekend? If you have kids, how do you try to get them moving? What does stress look like for you?

October 11, 2012

I have a lot to be thankful for today. Of course I don’t say that to mean that everything in my life is perfect, but to say that regardless of anything negative, I’m still aware of all the positives. Here are a few of the things I’m feeling thankful for this week:

I’m thankful for great family time. My entire family was together this weekend, and it was wonderful! It was a wonderful mix of walking, laughter, eating, watching sports, watching The Big Bang Theory, and doing my long run with my brother. I loved every minute of it, but it flew by far too quickly.

I’m thankful for my grandma. She died a year ago on the 10th of this month, and I can’t believe she’s been gone for a year. I love the memories I have with her, and I love and appreciate all the things she taught to my mom (who then passed them along to me).

I’m thankful for fall. It’s been a beautiful week of fall weather this week, and I’ve loved it. Seriously- fall is fantastic, isn’t it? I love all things apple, pumpkin, crisp weather, and beautiful changing colors.

I’m thankful for umbrellas. They make life so much more comfortable sometimes, don’t they? This past weekend I stood out at a game in 40 degree weather in the pouring rain. It would’ve been really uncomfortable being drenched when it was that cold, so I was definitely thankful for the umbrella I had with me!

I’m thankful for quinoa. I know- this is sort of a funny one to put on a list, but really I am! Quinoa has become a big part of my life since I started actively training for races. I love how it easily and quickly bulks up dishes while adding protein! I posted a new quinoa recipe here this week!

I’m thankful for my job. I love it. It challenges me and I have success at what I do, which I think is a perfect mix:) I’m happy I ended up getting this job!

I’m thankful for twitter chats! I’ve participated in twitter chats for awhile, and I love getting to meet new people and talking about a topic so many of us are passionate about! I think these chats are a great place to ask questions and learn new things about the identified topic!

Now it’s your turn to share! Tell me what things you’re feeling thankful for today! 

October 10, 2012

I finished my first triathlon at the end of August, and the more I look back on it the more I realize how everything about it (from training to racing) was so much fun! At least once a week I look through pictures of the race, and I’m just so thankful I had to do this triathlon (and do it for free)! A few weeks ago, because of a number of search terms that had landed people on my blog, I posted a packing list for my triathlon. Another search term I’ve noticed multiple times each week is the following question: What to wear for my first triathlon? While I certainly don’t claim to have the perfect answer, I thought I’d post some details about what I wore. It worked well for me, and I’d certainly wear the same outfit again.

I didn’t want to purchase an entire tri suit because I didn’t know how I’d enjoy racing. Because of that, the items I did buy can also be used for other activities (I tried to make smart decisions).

While swimming I wore a Nike Dri-Fit Sports Bra and “Specialized” brand tri shorts. These were both comfortable and worked well for each leg of the race.

When I got into T1 I dried off quickly and threw on an Adidas tank top. Because it is quick drying, I dried off quickly during the bike portion.

In terms of eye wear, I wore Speedo goggles and sunglasses during the bike and swim portions. Both were very comfortable and stayed put during their respective legs.

In terms of footwear, I wore my running shoes for both the running and biking portions.  For socks I wore some Adidas socks that are specifically made for exercising. They’re light, breathe well, and wick sweat efficiently!

So there you have it! This is what I wore during my triathlon, and it worked really well for me! And just so you can see it in action:

Like I said, I would definitely wear this outfit again in another triathlon, so I guess that means it worked well for me!

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s your “must have” item during a race? 

October 9, 2012

I’m a huge fan of quinoa, and am always looking for new things to mix with it for meals. I’m also a huge fan of cooking on Sunday evening and making enough to last through most of the week. It makes week nights much less stressful, and I can ensure that I’ll still get a great meal. While wandering around the grocery store, I started grabbing some vegetables and decided to throw them all together with some quinoa for the week.  This is really easy, took almost no time to prepare, and will be great to bring for lunches all week!

Here’s what I included:

Here’s what I did:

Like I said, this took almost no time to cook, and is delicious! I love the mixture of quinoa, beans, and veggies, and I love the healthiness of this dish!

Now it’s your turn to share! Are you a fan of quinoa? Do you enjoy mess meals where everything is thrown together? I love how easy they are! 

© 2012

October 8, 2012

This weekend I had the opportunity to do my training run with my brother! (This is the brother I ran on the beach with in June and who helped get me back on my bike in July). He’s in the military and in GREAT shape, so I always feel bad when we work out together because I feel like I hold him back. He’s fantastic though and is great at encouraging me and pushing me a bit too, and is more than willing to slow his pace down so he can run with me. He was even ok with me running and walking using the Galloway Method. This weekend I had an 8 mile run on the schedule, so we headed out on Sunday after our breakfast had time to digest!

The first two miles felt tough. I was talking a lot and that messed up my breathing, leading to a nasty side cramp. NO FUN. I’ve mentioned this before but I feel like it takes about 2 miles to really get in the grove of things. Miles 3-6 were MUCH easier than miles 1 and 2. The first three miles we ran on a cross country course, which not only helps with the pounding force on my body, but it’s also beautiful! Once we hit the road my breathing was much more under control, and I felt pretty good!

We stopped at mile 5.25 to grab a drink and I ate two shot blocks, and we kept going. We ended up going a little longer then planned, and ended up with a 8.50 mile run. My knee ached a bit while running, but otherwise it felt great!

When I’m out running I often feel like I haven’t gotten any better. I’m still a newbie runner, and because of having POTS exercise is a struggle. Sometimes, like today, I get a bit of perspective. Last April when I did my 10 mile training run for my half marathon my average minute/mile pace was 13:07. Almost 6 months later, I’ve improved my minute/mile pace quite a bit. Here’s what today looked like:

11:28 minute per mile pace! I’m so happy:) I have never been able to hold that kind of pace for such an extended amount of time! It definitely helped to have my brother next to me the whole way pushing me. I just wish he lived closer so we could run together more often!

I’m pretty happy with how my long runs have gone this training round. The only complaint I have is that around mile 6 or 7 my right knee starts to hurt a bit on the outside where my IT band attaches. I’m foam rolling, stretching, and icing, so hopefully it won’t become a big issue. Overall, yesterday was a pretty great run! And thanks to my brother for pushing me through all 8.5 miles.

Now it’s your turn to share! Do you ever workout with your siblings? If you have a fall race coming up, how’s your training going?