Long Time No Post ... and Run!

Well it has been entirely too long to not post ... but a not a whole lot has been happening on the front here, so I figured I would not bore everyone with complaining about working lots and not having time to run. Pretty much most of my days have been sleep.eat.work.  I did make a couple good meals this week that all came from SkinnyTaste.Com.

Last Sunday I made the Minestrone Soup.

Then Tuesday night I prepared the Chicken Rollatini with Spinach all a Parmigiana. I made it ahead of time so that al Dan had to do on Wednesday night was put it in the oven. That worked out really well for us.  I think we could even freeze these pretty well.

Saturday morning finally came around with the nice sound of an alarm at 6:30am. I wanted to be able to run before going to work. I needed to test out my shoes one more time before needing to exchange them. After a nice 5.6 mile run on the NCR - I decided to keep the Brooks that I was indecisive about. 

After not really running more than 2 miles in the last 3 weeks, I actually had one of my best paces for a leisurely run I have ever had and didn't need to walk the entire time. 

Since the NCR Trail is near my work, after the run I kissed Dan bye and was off to work!

Saturday night was pretty relaxing - we made Filet with some spinach and scalloped potatoes.

For Christmas I received a subscription to Runner's World.  Until now I had no received any issues. I was getting super antsy but checked my mail and I had 3 months worth! 

Last but not least - today we finally got around to hanging some wedding related things (yes, yes about 7 months later!). I ordered this canvas with a Groupon and was very happy with it. The canvas was from Canvas on Demand. 

And I finally filled a invitation photo frame that I got for the wedding. 

I hope to sneak in a mid-week post and hopefully a run! 

No clear verdict on my shoes ... but new recipes!

We all know that I have issues with the treadmill - so I have not been able to assess the new shoes. I am planning to run this weekend outside so then I can make my final choice within my 2 week window to exchange them.

When I ran in them on Tuesday I had different aches then usual but who knows.

On to more exciting things. To go along with my love for Under Armour - look at this polo I scored at work. The polos are these. The good part is that I can wear it to golf also ... although I only golfed 2 times last summer since our weekends usually were taken up by our long run.

On Tuesday I made one of my best stir frys if I say so my self.  I found a new noodle and it was awesome. They are called Soba Noodles and I actually was able to find them at Wal-Mart.  They pack a good amount of protein for a noodle and the 2 oz serving actually was more filling them other things we have had stir fry over.  I marinated 1/2 a pound (for two people) of some sliced up beef in some Low Sodium Stir Fry sauce over night. I stir fried the meat  for about 3-4 minutes and then added about 1/4 cup of stir fry sauce and about 1/8 cup of soy sauce. I added 1/2 a can of water chestnuts and about a tablespoon sesame seeds and a sprinkle of some ground ginger.  I use these vegetables for stir fry and put them until they are cooked. Meanwhile the noodles cook 3 minutes and then I threw them into the pan with the meat and the sauce.  It came out very tasty and I didn't do the exact math but I know it was fairly low on the calories for such a filling/quick dinner (200 for noodles, 75 for veggies, 50 for sauce, 150 meat = 475). 

Then two days later, I followed Skinny Taste's recipe for a Crock Pot Bolognese. This also came out really good - I substituted Basil for the Parsley and I also added an 8 oz can of tomato sauce to have a saucy-er consistency. 

So, not much running but I did do some good eating and used fairly healthy recipes all week!

Back to C25K, Really?

So since trying to run on the treadmill (which I haven't done until the last couple weeks), I have developed some aches that are not typical for me.

Since I am not running any races until April (Sole of the City 10k), I figure this would be the perfect time to go to square one with my treadmill running.

Starting this week I am going to use C25K to basically ween my self into treadmill running and to avoid some of the aches and pains that I have been having.  So yup - me who ran 2 half marathons within a month of each other in October/November is going back to the basics and alternating walking and running for 20 minutes 3 times this week. Since I need to do more activity than that for calorie burn - I will probably add 20 minutes of the elliptical or arc trainer to it.

In other news, as mentioned above I signed up for Sole of the City 10k.

Come run with us at the Inaugural Sole of the City 10K in downtown Baltimore!

You want a fun, fast and scenic downtown course through Charm City? Check. 

You want food, a few drinks, and good times with friends and family after the race? Yup, got 'em, and done. You want a great race premium and bragging rights that you ran the newest event on the spring racing scene? Well-- that part is up to you-- be we've got the goods. Entry is limited to 2500 and we are well on our way. Check out the event page for registration details as well as the option to train with friends at a location near you. We can't wait to see you in the Spring!"

On the food front - I made a Bruschetta Chicken and that was delicious! A chicken breast (thin cutlet) that i lightly dredged in flour and sautéed for 3-4 minutes per side. Then I made the brushcetta topping - some tomatoes, onions, minced garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, salt, pepper and some mozzarella cheese.  I topped the chicken with this and served it with a small side of roasted garlic couscous.

A Girls Dream - New Shoes

So while this weekend has not lent it self to a lot of running, I did get new shoes! I decided to take the running day off because my feet were still bothering me some, and well I am not really training for anything right now, so I aside from wanting to lose some weight I wasn't worried about a missed run.


I have been running in Mizuno Wave Inspire 6 and was quite happy with them until within the last month I could tell it was new shoe time.

I went to Charm City Run, one of two running stores I have gotten shoes at.  These previous shoes had an even wear pattern, so they were definitely much better than the shoes I had before those.

I tried on 3 pairs of shoes. 

The first pair was the Saucony ProGrid Omni 10.

I did not like how these felt on my feet at all - they were out even before trying on two more.

The second pair of shoes I tried on were the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12.

These felt good on the feet - my feet and arch seemed well supported.

Lastly, I tried on this year's version of what I already owned, Mizuno Wave Inspire 8.

I also liked how these felt - they were what I already had.

I took the 2nd and 3rd shoe for a spin round the parking lot to see which one I liked better. I had a really hard time deciding but picked the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12. I liked how my foot felt more supported. Hopefully I made the right choice as this is only my second pair of real running shoes that I have been fitted for. If not, then at least I know for the future!

Last nights crock pot dinner came out amazing. I made the Chicken Taco Recipe from Skinny Taste. The yes thing is that it was done when I got home from work.  My husband ate it soft taco style and I had it over more of a taco salad base. Both were good. The blogger served it over rice and that would be quite tasty too.

Here is mine -

Butter and Yoga?

So on Tuesday I did intervals at the gym and my feet and ankles have felt miserable since.  The treadmill is still giving me fits and last week was actually going well and Tuesday I ran with cinder block feet again and I think that is why my feet are bothering me since they were just sort of smacking the treadmill. I opted to skip cardio/running today and took a 1 hour yoga class (best part, its at work). Our work is pretty awesome and has things like a weekly yoga class right in the building.

So on the way home, what do I smell? Butter! Now - that would be weird, except for the fact I pass McCormick on a daily basis. So it fairly regularly smells like butter and pepper in the air. That got me to thinking, hey that is pretty cool that such a large company is so local. Although, I think one could agree that spices shouldn't be $5 for a little jar.  Then, a few miles more down the road on the way home from work, I pass by Kevin Plank's (founder of Under Armour) property as I see it sit up on top of the hill with amazing land surrounding. Might as well get it out there, but I think one could say that fellow blogger Kelly (Fit for Life Wife) and I love Under Armour.

Here are some photos I found online on the Washington Post.

I tried to take my own but it never came out right .....

I think that is my favorite part of running the UA Baltimore Running Festival. To me, the event has such a great hometown presence. I love the excitement on race day, I love the people outside there homes along the course cheering you on, I love people giving you high fives along the way, and how many people actually thank the police that help facilitate the event.  Oh and I love running through Camden Yards. I look forward to it every year, and every year I complain about the hills and wonder why I do it!

I will be doing the Sole of the City 10k in April and I am pretty excited (crosses fingers for no rain). The premium is Black Under Armour Escape Lightweight Quarter Zip. Here is the description:

"You want a fun, fast and scenic downtown course through Charm City? Check. 

You want food, a few drinks, and good times with friends and family after the race? Yup, got 'em, and done. 

You want a great race premium and bragging rights that you ran the newest event on the spring racing scene? Well-- that part is up to you-- be we've got the goods. "

Now, I am sitting on the couch with my achy feet in a bath of warm Epsom salt water. That always makes them feel better.

I will be looking for new running shoes this weekend! So look for a post this weekend.

Run to Eat?

So it was an awesome day for weather here in Maryland. Around mid-day the car thermometer said 64 at one point but it wasn't that warm on our run, probably low 50's. Talk about awesomeness. I took out my new Under Armour Evo Coldgear Leggings for a spin along with a short sleeve tech tee and gloves that I got for Christmas, Agloves Sport. Since I use my iPhone with Nike+, I wanted gloves that work with touch screens and through my arm band.

The gloves worked great, and the pants were awesome.

Girls, you will appreciate this. Because of the design of the waistband, there is no unflattering muffin top.  Compression pants and capris can be the most unflattering things on anyone because of their tightness and cut. The pants have waist band that is snug on the inside, and then an extra piece that sort of goes over that so you don't get weird looking lines when your shirt clings to you.  See below.

Okay, so back to the blog post title. I wanted to run 5 miles today, and we did. It was so nice outside, and the first 2.5 miles felt awesome. Since I was on the NCR Trail and started at a point that I knew the mileage at and could run to one of the markers on the trail. I did not look at my Nike+ and my pace the entire run. It felt kind of nice, especially since my legs were sooo tired from the interval run on Thursday. I ended up running at 11:09 which isn't bad considering how bad my legs felt and I haven't run 5 miles since December 17th.

So we run some errands (Wal-Mart Super Center) and then I was starving at this point and we had coupons to Andy Nelson's Barbecue. To those that don't live locally, the BBQ is A-mazing. And the place just has such a nice local hometown feel. The restaurant was founded by former Baltimore Colts safety and Super Bowl winner Andy Nelson.  Seriously, go sometime. I had the beef brisket and that comes with two side, I had the tater wedges and redskin potato salad. 

Since we had a pretty hardy lunch, I knew I wanted to go with a lighter dinner. I made Potato and Leek Soup following the SkinnyTaste recipe. Her recipes are awesome, and I had leeks I needed to use up from the other night. 

So, what do we know about me now? I love food and I think I really run in order to be able to enjoy more food! 

Hit the treadmill with intervals agian!

2 posts in one week? You guys should be impressed after December being 2 for the whole month! H(husband) and I hit the gym after work and did a 30 minute interval workout that I found. I needed something quick and to get the calorie burn up.  We did this workout and I actually liked it and it went by quickly and I didn't have the weird pace issues that I talked about here. I think since my speed was changing every minute that I didn't have time to notice my stride feeling "off"  I found this workout on FitSugar. Distance wise it got to 2.6. Next time I will shorten the warm up and cool down to get to 3.0 miles. I skipped the incline today.

On another note - we have been eating well this week. I rediscovered Skinny Taste , an awesome blog with sooo many recipes and organized so well.

We made the Chicken with Leeks and Sundried Tomatoes and it was quite good.

I hope to get in a 5 mile run in this weekend.

As a new year starts ... my life will be dwindling....

As my time off from work comes to an end ... I get to look forward to the months of hell that end at April 15th and a few extra pounds. The months of ordering dinner at work and working weekends with minimal exercise will kill any momentum I had from running in the fall.  My goal is to not completely fall off the running track so that when I start again in April I will not be starting from square one but more like midway through a half training program.

I have already signed up for The Baltimore Running Festival to do the half, but not sure what else I want to do this year. The Annapolis Half Marathon looks like it is moving to December so that will probably be off my list since December weekends are pretty hectic and a 5k in December was just enough for me.

So any ideas what events I should do between June - September? Right now I am looking at Virginia Wine Country Half.

I went to the gym today since it was a tad cold, but more so insanely windy.  I did this workout followed by 40 minutes on the elliptical. I suck on the treadmill, so 20 minutes for me is good.  As I mentioned here ,  me and treadmills don't work but I am trying.

So during this holiday time - I did get a some fitness related items. I got a scale for Christmas from my husband. Okay... I know that sounds horrible but I wanted it. Its wifi enabled and can track and do all sorts of cool things.

I got the Withings Wifi Body Scale.

My dad got me a gift card to Dicks and I was able to get some Under Armour Evo Coldgear Compression Tights. They are much needed for our cold weekend runs. They had a bunch of clearance racks too, and for a total of $50 I got the following (each was $16.47) :

Under Armour Escape 3" Short 

Under Armour Catalyst (made from recycled materials) shirt

And my husband got the Under Armour Headgear Fitted Crew (in orange)

That is pretty much all of the fitness related things from the holidays. My husband got some running gadgets that will work with his future iPhone - but I will review those once he can actually use them in February.

On Christmas Eve we made a pretty delicious dinner -

Here are some photos from Christmas -

We rang in the new year with some good people -

Okay - that was long, Thanks for reading!!!