Hey all you blogg’n babes out there!

This morning I went out of town with the Runners’ Edge crew to change up the scenery a bit.

pretty eh!

I had an AWESOME 15km run along The Beach Trail. We ran out and back and it was nice and FLAT! It was my first time there… but I liked it.

i'm all about appearance when i run... can you tell? ha yeah right!

To be quite honest, I wasn’t quite sure how my run would go but I am so happy with how it turned out though and felt great.

Mentally, I felt awesome and I was really in check with my pace (ran an average 5:30 pace/km), breathing and just really enjoying the change of scenery. There were lots of people walking, running, biking, etc. along the trail, so I obviously enjoyed people watching while I ran and a few “good mornings” and “buon giornos” here and there. Physically, I was good but my kness were throbbing and my shin splints were hurting.

WHY do I have shin splints all of a sudden, two weeks before my race? Maybe from my hill workout? I plan to ice ice ice and hope that it goes away asap. Here’s hoping!

Today was my first time running with a Garmin watch (sad, I know). Someone is lending me their old one until after my race and I’m ever greatful for their kindness. Even though the watch was eating my wrist the entire time because it’s so big, I loved it! I loved everything about it. I think knowing my exact pace and knowing how much farther I had to go really helped me, so I know when I can pick it up a bit depending on how I feel. Definitely need to put this on my list of things to get.

sorry.. i forgot to shave my arms before taking the picture.....

I feel like I have been a bit MIA around here… but… I’m back!

After mentioning the importance of recovery runs, I was sure to get mine in on Wednesday and it felt great. It was awesome to be out the door for an early run and it totally reminded me that I’m definitely a morning runner. I find it so much easier and I run so much better. It just feels right and not to mention that it’s a great way to start your day.

Guess what I did yesteday? Hills. Same place as last week too… you know, the killer of a hill. The Weather Gods were looking out for us though as it was pouring rain up until we arrived at the hill. Thank you Weather Gods. During my workout I felt so relaxed and it went by so fast. I had a good workout and was praying that I wouldn’t be as sore as last week. Thankfully, I’m not. I actually really love hill workouts and definitely hope we continue doing them.

I am getting so excited (and nervous) about my race. I can’t believe it’s only about two weeks away…crazzzy! It’s hard to believe that it will soon be here and over so quickly. Ok, not that quick, I’m no Speedy Gonzalez. I need to stop talking about it because I have butterfliies in my stomach as I write this. Yikes.

So the other day I made GMan some Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Cupcakes. Remember, he hurt himself? Well, I’m doing my job and taking good care of him. I’m happy to report that he is doing much better and is recovering well.

I’m sad to say this was my first time making cupcakes from scratch. I know, I know.. how sad. In fact, I think it was my first time ever making cupcakes. It took awhile, but it was well worth it.

Don’t they look good?  No need to worry… they are fat free and have zero calories. Obviously…

Yes, the peanut butter buttercream icing was supposed to look all clumpy and unappealing delicious. Rather than using an electric mixer to mix it, I thought I could throw it in my vitamix. Wrong! Don’t ever do that. I had a little panic attack because not only did I wreck the buttercream, I thought I broke the vitmix aswell. I almost cried. Thankfully that wasn’t the case.

I found the recipe on this awesome site. Go take a look for yourself and you will see why after reading this and making sure I had all the ingredients, I ran to the kitchen and started baking. Just don’t judge, ok?

Ok, judge all you want. Although these don’t look overly pretty, they are so yummy. Ask GMan! I got the approval and he loved them.

Happy Friday all! Any big plans for the weekend? Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a great one!! I’m off to do some high intensity intervals and some yoga meltdown.

Do you enjoy hill workouts?
~YES! I love them. An extra bonus is that it’s a great way to tone the derriere.

What’s your favorite dessert?
~Anything chocolate, obviously. Growing up, my sister and I would tear the house apart trying to find something sweet to eat after dinner… I needed my daily fix and still do.

Today is a good day. First off the sun is shining which makes everything much better. I know, I know… it may seem like I mention the weather a lot but it goes from one extreme to the other. After running in the rain  for two hours on Saturday and it pouring all day, we woke up to a bunch of snow on Sunday. Why Why why… ANYWAYS, I’m not complaining…

Today, I had a good run. I ran 13km easy run, just to get some miles in. I ran it in 1:06 so about an average 5:07 pace/km. I had to go pee the entire time so maybe that’s why I was boogy-ing. To much information? Sorry… hey, I’m sure some of you runners out there have some funny stories to tell..don’t deny it. When you got to go, you got to go.

I was so stylish... way back in the day; my first time training through winter

I have decided that I haven’t been running enough lately and I think that’s why my legs feel so heavy and slow. Before when I was running on my own, I would run about 6 days a week and Monday would be my rest day after a long run on Sunday (when training). With my training schedule that I follow now, I should be running about 5 days a week.. which isn’t a big difference, right? Right. The problem is, is that I haven’t been running 5 days a week lately. For example the day after my last couple of long runs, I haven’t been able to do my recovery runs because my knee has been so sore. So I tell myself, it’s better to take the day off rather than do more damage.. which makes sense most days.
But I feel like I need to force myself to get out there and do my recovery runs unless my knee is throbbing with pain. No wonder my ass is getting bigger and my time is getting slower. Race day is only 18 days away… this means serious business.

With that being said.. I am happy with todays run and feel GOOD!

Ok, so the other day I tried something…. and I don’t think I will be trying it for a very long time. I made carrot juice in my good ol’ vitamix. I had a bunch of baby carrots to use up from the massive bag I bought at Costco. PS: I HATE wasting food. So I decided to make carrot juice to use them up. I strained it a couple of times so the juice would be… well, juice only. I chugged drank two heaping cups of carrot juice and it was tasty okay. I was just thinking of all the nutrients and how healthy it must be… right?

I tried to pawn some off offer GMan some but he kindly refused and reminded me that the last two times he drank carrot juice it came right back up shortly thereafter.

 As I was pouring the rest (as in two more full cups) my mouth began to get really watery and my stomach not so hot… you know.. that feeling when you are about to be sick. So I want to know…. what is up with carrot juice that it makes GMan and I sick?! It’s weird if you ask me..because I can eat carrots no problem!

I’m happy to tell all of you Chobani lovers out there, (as if you’ll really care), that I finally tried a couple different flavors and I loved them! I think I liked these more than the vanilla since they had a bit of color from the fruit, they didn’t remind me so much of sour cream.

Now that I’ve just told you some random embarrassing things about me……. tell me something funny about you, so I don’t feel like such a loner!