Happy Friday to all of you! I hope you are having a good day whatever you may be doing.

I’m still not feeling 100% at all and think my cold changed into a minor sinus infection; my face, jaw, teeth and head all hurt. It’s trying to kick my ass but I’m not allowing it. Knowing that there was no way I would be able to run this morning,  I woke up early and hit the gym. I had a very easy workout and didn’t mind at all.. 30 minutes on the stair master, 30 minutes walking on the treadmill, and some ab exercises with a medicine ball (loving the medicine ball lately!). In all the years that I’ve gone to the gym, today I experienced a first. I read a magazine while I worked out. Yes, my first time ever! Normally if I go to the gym, I go to work hard, get my sweat on and always found it difficult to read while working out. I actually didn’t mind reading Chatelaine and it helped pass time.
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I made some of these babies the other day for the boys lunches. I didn’t make the icing though to avoid the extra sugar and they were still a hit! I really liked them and the boys came home from school asking for more. I think I’ll try the icing next time because it looks just divine and oh so good. Check it out for yourself.

I think I mentioned that there are lots of changes going on right now eh… I know, I know.. my memory is horrible. Well, one of those [great] changes is that G-Man achieved full custody of his two boys and they have been and are now living with us full time. I’m really happy for many reasons but at the same time it’s a big change for me. Being a stepmom is hard – although I do enjoy it. So, I have been trying to come up with ideas for healthy lunches and dinners so I can make some meal plans and have go-to ideas ready when I need them. Any suggestions? 
Speaking of eating, today I FINALLY fulfilled my craving and ate this delish salad. SO GOOD! I love the mix of fruits and veggies in salads and need to do it more often. ————————————–
G-Man and I made a trip to Costco today and I was SO happy to find this:
KEFIR. What is Kefir you may ask?  Kefir is a probiotic fermented milk drink made with kefir grains. It is prepared by inoculating cow, goat, or sheep’s milk with kefir grains. It is more nutritious and therapeutic than yogurt, it supplies complete protein, essential minerals, and valuable B vitamins. The naturally occurring bacteria and yeast in kefir combine symbiotically to give superior health benefits when consumed regularly. The difference between yogurt and kefir is that kefir can actually colonize the intestinal tract, a feat that yogurt cannot match. It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body. It’s active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy (SOURCE/SOURCE)I tried some of this at my sisters house and she explained the benefits and how much she liked it. My Dad got some too and I of course wanted to jump on the bandwagon. No but really, I have wanted to try something different in my morning green smoothies because the greek yogurt I’ve been using is getting to expensive… so I was very excited that I found this today!

Tomorrow morning I’m supposed to – and hoping – to run 20km so I’m out to get some rest. Here’s hoping all goes well!

Do you read while working out?

Have you ever tried kefir?

Hi Friends! It’s me.. you know, the most inconsistent blogger around. Remember?

I have been sick for the past week with the flu and a cold. Thankfully the flu part of it is over but my cold continues full force, especially at night time. I haven’t been overly active the past week because well, running while sick is just not fun and sitting on the couch eating mini-eggs seems so much more enjoyable, right? I got out for a 40 min. jaunt (with lots of walking breaks) on Tuesday morning that ended up being fairly painful but was happy I pushed myself out the door. This morning, I was determined to get a good 15km run in. The 15km’s I accomplished… the "good"… well, let’s just say it was better than Tuesdays run. There was a lot of hacking, spitting and maybe heaving but I was still really glad to get my legs moving. I’m worried because this has put me almost a week behind in my training for my race which is coming up SOON! I keep trying to tell myself that I will be fine and need to focus on strong, quality miles when I can. I hope I’m right. Oh goodness, I hope I’m right.

I can’t believe that we are already into February… where did January go? Time is FLYING by which is just another reason why we need to make every day count. Sometimes it may be hard to do whether we’re stressed out from work, things at home, or it could be a mix of many things. When I get in that "rut", I try to tell myself to suck it up, find the good in the situation and embrace it. Or, I just whine a lot and make G-Man listen. One thing is certain: that it’s always easy to remember and embrace how THANKFUL I am for my caring husband and my supportive family.

Speaking of family, last week I had a small surprise early birthday dinner for G-Man. I told him we were going to Napoli for a quiet dinner with just the two of us. He was pleasantly surprised when we arrived and family and friends were there for him. I totally thought he knew beforehand seeing as I accidently sent the invite out from his email account but he really had no idea!

Like last time we loved our time at Napoli… the ambiance, food and service was all amazing. Ohh, the food.. just thinking about it makes my mouth water.  We had a really great time and the night ended perfectly; as we were walking out of the restaurant we were able to watch the fireworks over Niagara Falls.
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Remember what mi Esposito surprised me with before my race last year? Well some of my friends and family really liked the idea and wanted shirts as well so G-Man and I thought that would be a fun Christmas present (yes, I know this is old news..). We got them printed, picked them up on our way out of town and guess what… they printed the women’s shirts WRONG. I think it looks like a defective shirt because really, who would put a logo randomly in the middle of the back? No one, I know. I was sooo upset. Actually, I was mad because we were really looking forward to gifting (is that even a word?) these.

Our family still really appreciated and liked them but I was so disappointed. I guess if we wear our hair down they could still be worn? Thankfully the men’s shirts turned out really nice though. 

What was YOUR workout today?!

Do you have any secret remedies to fight off a cold?!

So it’s Friday… a day that we all look forward to, right?  It’s snowy and freezing cold out (as in feels like -19) but hey, that’s what happens here in Canada so we might as well embrace eh. Although, I will say that I’m realllly happy that I won’t be running outside today.

ꜛ yesterdays snowfall
I feel like I’ve been a big baby when it comes to the cold this year. I’m thinking it’s because we were spoiled with nice weather for longer than usual. Please come back nice weather, pleaaase? On Wednesday, I hit the gym for a hill workout on the treadmill. I think that sounds so lame funny…  a hill workout on the treadmill? Anyways… I wore my new shoes that I had yet to break in, used my handy GymBoss and ended up having a great workout. I ran 1:30 hard – uphill with a 2:00 minute cool down, eight times – with a warm up and cool down of course. I ran a total of 6.93 miles. I really can’t handle long distances on the treadmill. I just find it soo boring… although I do appreciate having that option of running inside on days when it’s too cold or windy.
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Something that should always go hand in hand with running is safety. I highly recommend you read this post over at SR’s blog. A topic that is so important that many of us overlook at times. I would say that I am a fairly paranoid runner – or let’s call it, overly cautious. I always tell my hubby (or email my Mom) my route, leave it open on the computer just in case they need to send out a search party and I try to think ahead about what I’ll do when ‘that person’ jumps out of the bushes at me. I’m not joking either.. this topic really does scare me but unfortunately it’s reality and we can’t ignore it.
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Somehow, G-Man and I ended up on Pinterest the other day and now I’m hooked. Some of the pictures are so cute and I love the endless amount of motivational quotes and photos. Yes, I know I may be behind in this discovery but I don’t mind.

Have a HAPPY weekend!   ~ Run hard, eat well and live better ~