Everyday I’m Tapering
We are still a month away from the Farmer’s Markets opening and I’m getting impatient. We go through a few of these boxes everyday so I’m counting down the days.
My lunch this afternoon was something new - Nancy’s Cottage Cheese with fresh blueberries!
One of the best foods we ate on our trip to Russia last year, was tvarog - it has the texture of Greek yogurt (even thicker than Fage) with the bite of fresh cottage cheese.
I still can’t find cottage cheese as good in the States - everything is so salty and the consistency is off!
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{It might look like I’m resting, but this is what I call active sleeping.}
Today’s Workouts
Tapering before a marathon is always stressful for me - I need to run enough to maintain fitness but not do too much so that my legs are actually fresh come the Fargo Marathon. :D
On Monday, I went to a 60 minute C2 hot yoga class.
On Tuesday, I went to a 60 minute C2 hot yoga class and ran 3.5 miles in 35 minutes.
On Wednesday, I completed a 60 minute Hot Power Fusion Yoga class.
And today, I ran 5 miles in 49:19 and completed Rodney Yee’s Yoga for Strength routine - about 40 minutes in total!
I’m using my compression gear a lot more and trying to make sure I use the foam roller like it’s a job. Only one more week till the marathon!
I’m also cutting back on the C2 yoga classes moving forward and am running the miles a bit slower - I have to keep reminding myself I’ve done as much as I can and my body needs to rest to absorb the training.
Off to go take a hot bubble bath! Hope everyone is having a relaxing night! )
Happy Cinco De Mayo: Portabella Guacamole with Multigrain “Chips”
In honor of Cinco De Mayo, I decided to make a fun new guacamole.
{Recipe below the fold!}
I Make My Own Sunshine
My breakfast smoothie was perfect for a hot day! Make your own frozen blueberries and strawberries, Fage Greek yogurt, and almond milk.
Along with my smoothie, I give you this adorable song which will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
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Cuties!
Started the day with two of these cuties - so sweet and small.
And the usual dippy egg with tons of black pepper!
I decided to work out through lunch (my run) and powered with dates and coffee - don’t they look like giant raisins?
I ended up meeting this cutie for dinner because John’s been working late and will be doing so for the next few weeks.
My favorite Mediterranean salad with roasted veggies and a scoopful of cous-cous and hummus! The server was nice enough to give me extra veggies. :D
Since I’m still a bit peckish, I’m going to go attack some strawberries - my post-yoga blackberries were beautiful and they are making me crave more berries!
Hope everyone had a lovely Tuesday!
I Wanna Hold Your Hand…in Savasana
This was my outfit today. Because it’s freaking 40 degrees. Go away winter, you are not wanted here. I want to wear inappropriate skin-baring outfits in hot weather. :)
John came home early and we took pumpkin butt for a long walk around the neighborhood. I get sad leaving him for vacations and start compensating by buying a ton of kong toys and planning elaborate play dates.
I’m going to be an awesome mom, Toddlers and Tiaras style! :D
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I also went with John to my second workout of the day, Hot Power Fusion yoga at Core Power. It’s corny, but my favorite part of class is at the end when we assume corpse pose and I sneak my hand over and hold John’s. Heck, I say do it to that attractive someone and see where the night takes you. ;D
The class took out the kinks - yoga at home hasn’t been cutting it because I really miss the structure and heat from the class.
We are feasting on Gardein burgers, whole wheat toast, and Sriracha sauce…
and some Greek yogurt with blueberries!
So excited for Friday and this weekend - have a great night everyone!
Eat With Me!
Some days are yummy from tip to toes.
I wanted to share my food with everyone because every meal hit the spot with deliciousness. Come on over peeps! :D
My morning fuel makes me very happy because I’m an egg lover now - at least the dippy kind!
Did you see the article over at Runner’s World on the benefits of eggs for runners? Pretty darn impressive that a humble egg can fight inflammation, protect your heart, and help you maintain bone strength!
I have no will-power around grapefruit. I had big plans to save the leftover half for tomorrow’s brekkie, but it called to me and became my post-run snack!
Is there a fruit you could eat all day? Grapefruit, honey crisp apples, and berries are my weaknesses - I can’t ever save blackberries or raspberries! :D
I had a late lunch and I was glad I had packed so much food - roasted zucchini with sea salt and cumin.
And a huge plate of salad greens, mini-orange, yellow, and red bell peppers, and an ounce of raw goat cheese dressed with balsamic vinegar and black pepper.
Dinner was a little different - I was craving a bowl of “cold n’ creamy oats!”
I soaked the oats during yoga and the bowl contains oatmeal, plain Greek yogurt, almond milk, and blackberry-cherry preserves. I also ate a slice of whole toast but don’t have a picture.
I dare you to make this and not think you are eating ice cream. You will be addicted!
Veggie Tales
My day started with a breakfast salad - mixed greens, arugula, avocado, tomatoes, and Dijon-wasabi dressing.
A perfect start to a spring morning.
My snack was some roasted asparagus with sea salt!
My workouts were two hours of hot yoga, a C1.5 class and a C2 class. I worked really hard on my Bird of Paradise pose - I would love to have this pose in my practice.
After my 15 miler on Tuesday, I wanted two days off running and these challenging classes reset my body - no knee twinges!
I fueled the class with a mocha Clif caffeine shot. I love the boost the extra caffeine gives me but next time I’m getting it from a cup of coffee.
After class I powered through this Fage - I think I ate it in ten seconds flat.
John had a long day at work but we needed to stop off at Best Buy for our new laptop. Our machine crapped out on us twice - the first time costing us a ton of photos. HP, I hate you!
This time we went with a Sony Vaio - it’s smaller, with similar specs, and is supposed to be more reliable. If I don’t get two years out of this machine, I will be very ornery.
The Vaio is silver and very pretty and so far seems to be working perfectly! ;D
Dinner continued our veggie streak because I found Praeger’s Veggie Burgers at Trader Joe’s! I had them at a BBQ and they are delicious and so much tastier than my usual veggie burgers.
…A sidecar of mini bell-peppers with John…
…and roasted zucchini with cumin and sea salt.
John’s dinner was two eggs, sunny side up, hot roasted tomatoes, and a slice of Ezekiel bread. His dinner was so late, he wanted something light and eggs are great late nighter foods.
I hope you all had a sunny side-up Thursday!
A Perfect Spring Wednesday
Spring has arrived in Chicago and it led to a wonderful day!
My Trader Joe’s flowers bloomed today to greet the lovely 75 degree morning we had!
That’s the prettiest shade of pink ever.
Breakfast was on the go and provided by Starbucks…black iced coffee and my favorite Kind Bar.
And I got to put on a sundress! This put a huge skip in my step. :D Can you see the scars from my fall? They are so pronounced to me.
Yes, that would be Gun Show Wednesday. :D
I met John downtown for an awesome errand.
A few months back, John went to Balani to get a custom suit, shirt, and tie made.
Today was his official fitting and it was so fun. The suit drapes beautifully (it still needs to be taken in so I’m saving that picture for another day) and I am never letting him buy off-the-rack again.
He’s already putting in another order and I couldn’t be more excited - I’m hoping I can save up and surprise him with a shirt or two down the road!
The best part about Chicago in the spring is al fresco dining and we are in one of the many neighborhoods that give us many options for that.
Today we checked out a new place - Feast, a cute Italian eatery and wine bar.
Their outdoor space is fantastic! There’s a covered area and it was swamped with cute babies and cute couples (this pic is from their site!).
I had a delicious splurge - butternut squash ravioli with spiced walnuts (!!!!), crispy sage leaves, brown butter and goat cheese with balsamic syrup.
Even though the seasons are changing, I can’t seem to let the butternut squash go.
And John had a beet salad - but when the waiter came out he gave the salad directly to me and the pasta to John. No, it’s not just women who eat a lot of salads. :)
John had a ton of work to do so we went to a coffee-shop, took this guy for a very short walk (temps over 70 don’t work for Nigel Bear), and then took our fine selves to frozen yogurt.
Hope you had great weather in your part of the world!
Pirate’s Booty
If you can find this Lulu vest at a Lululemon near you, it’s worth it. It’s reversible and lighter (silver toned) on the inside and I wore it that way for the first part of my long run when the temps were higher and the sun was beating down. I actually felt cooler!
I like a sleeveless layer - I get hot easily but with the variable temps in Chicago it’s nice to have some cover without a bulky jacket or long sleeve.
I am rolling out the kinks from my long run and looking forward to hot yoga tomorrow!
Rewinding to this morning, breakfast was two slices of Ezekiel sesame toast with an egg and an egg white, sea salt and cumin. Not too bad, but don’t love the onslaught of egg whites yet!
And a huge mug of coffee with almond milk! :D
Lunch was a pretty pear and some Gatorade to prep for my long run.
And post-run, I enjoyed another pear and half of this orange juice. I left it on the floor and Nigel was curious about the taste, so yeah, I can’t do it.
I’ve seen people drink from water glasses that their pets licked at, and I don’t know why but that just slays me.
A falafel sammie and and I shared this lentil soup with extra lemon with John - I ate most of it though. :D
This is how we do it around here post-long run - Pirate’s Booty for my treat.
It’s a fun treat and even John enjoyed a serving - it’s made with real cheese which surprised the heck out of me. They taste like little salty balls of puff so I think it is an acquired taste.
I’ll be honest, I got it because it was called Pirate’s Booty. :)
Hope you all had a good day!
We’ll Start by Breathing
I tried to make an egg white sandwich (with ‘Zeke Sesame bread) this morning to shake up my egg eating routine! However, this had a really intense taste and it’s back to dippy eggs until I’m ready to eat eggs with the big girls.
A navel orange on the side to celebrate 68 degree mornings!
And a cup of coffee with a half cup of Trader Joe’s Vanilla Almond milk!
When I first tasted my coffee, I thought, “crap, I bet I picked up the wrong bottle and this has a ton of sugar.” The vanilla taste is stronger than any other vanilla almond milk I’ve ever tried.
I was wrong though - it was unsweetened with less than 1gram of sugar and it’s just delicious. :)
Today’s Workout
Hot yoga was better than a weekend with Henry Cavil (with historically accurate costumes!).
I took two hot yoga classes, a C1.5 and a C2. I love the C1.5 teacher because she always takes a vote before class and increases the temperature to C2 level. 100 degrees and humidity please.
Can we say head stand AND wheel pose?
Oh yes, I am the sh*t. Well, almost, I got a little help from the teachers but I am finally holding them for longer
Oh, do you want some salad as big as your head? Please come over then!
Post-yoga, I demolished this monster sized plate of mixed greens, arugula, yellow and orange mini-bell peppers, avocado, a slice of rye toast torn in croutons, lime dressing and black pepper!
I also munched on some baby carrots or as I call them, “Too cheap to pay for already peeled baby carrots so I just eat the miniatures from Fresh Picks.”
And evidence I take care of my man. :D I wasn’t hungry for dinner but John was so I prepared a plate with two eggs, a slice, of Ezekiel toast, and prepped some raw green beans.
Now he’ll have to watch The Bachelor with me ! :D
