Friday, March 30, 2012

March Foodie PenPal

Welcome Foodie PenPal buddies!


Today is reveal day, so feast your eyes on this awesome box that Lena sent me!

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Lena's handwritten item was awesome, because it detailed everything she put in the box and why she liked it!  Here's what she said about her items....

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"I'm passing this on to you as a lesson learned from my #foodiepenpal box last month.  The mug I got from Emily is still one of my favorites for my morning coffee." Along side the mug are some homemade sea salt caramels, which turned out great!

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"The coffee is a treat from my favorite old world spice shop and bulk coffee supply store - Polcari's.  A tiny little shop in the North End I can always count on finding something new to inspire me in the kitchen."  The coffee was one of my top two favorite items in the box (first would be the scones below)! I love coffee!! I haven't even gotten to the Q's Nuts, I keep thinking they are packaged so perfectly for a on-the-go snack and I haven't really needed to grab anything quickly on my way out the door lately.  Maybe I'll take them on my road trip this weekend (more about that later in the weekend).  Anyhow, I know I'll love them because they are my favorite nuts.

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She didn't write much about the scones... I don't know why because they were the highlight of the package! She gave me a very generous portion of caramel chip scone and chocolate caramel scones, both awesome and both loved by my boyfriend, mom and co-workers...yes I did share, it was hard to do though.  I didn't see the recipe on her recipe page, but maybe if I beg her she'll share it with me :-D

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"I'm not really a candy fan, but I make an exception for Pastilles from a neighborhood cafe/Australian meat pie shop.  They are gummy, not too sweet, and just a touch of tartness."  I think she hit the nail right on the head with her description, I can't be too sure though because my boyfriend loved them so much that I didn't see much of them haha! As far as I'm aware I there are no little shop around here that have these, but I'll forever be on the prowl for some.

And just in time for St. Patty's day, Mardi Gras beads with a mug on it....shot glass size, perfect ;)

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Dried fruit snack bags...mangoes (my absolute fav dried fruit!) and pineapple.

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"Paleo Crunch- I won a batch of this from my friend Elizabeth (@ElizabethEv) in an online bake auction, benefiting another friend and blogger who is running the Boston marathon. A great snack by itself or mixed with Greek yogurt." It tastes yummy, slightly sweet and natural.  I wasn't entirely sure what all was in it, but I'm not allergic to anything so I wasn't too worried.

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Thank you so much for the awesome box Lena!  I loved all the homemade goods in the package, I've been trying to eat more homemade snacks rather than processed snacks lately so these were great!

Be sure to head over to Carissa and Kyle's blog @ Fit2Flex and see what I put together for them!

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If you are interested in being a part of Foodie PenPal because you think it is the coolest thing ever head over to Lindsay's blog and fill out a contact form to sign up!  You do not need to have a blog to be a part of this program.  If you are wondering a little bit more about the program read below for more details...

On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treatsThe spending limit is $15The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents. 


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On another note, I just found out last night that my aunt has suddenly lost feeling in her arms for the last three days and is being tested for MS and other things at Mayo Clinic... keep her in your prayers please! 

On that note....

Today's Tip: "Everyday you have running shoes on it is a good day" - Sean Astin (daily running quote from Runner's World).   When you really think about that, it is true, if you are physically able to workout it is a great day!  If you've been mentally struggling for motivation lately, give you attitude a make over by counting your blessings.  

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Total Body Tabata Workout

Workout
6.3 miles- Trail run
1:08

Today my running pal and I hit The Wells.  Even though Eau Claire is a decent sized city, home to about 60,000 people, I have never been to or heard of The Wells.  The Wells is a highway of intertwining dirt trails, throughout a wooded area and is apparently where a lot of the local high school cross country meets are held.  We didn't think we would be able to make up 6 miles running around, but we were able to by making all sorts of loops.  Even though we may have retraced some of our steps, I didn't notice since we were surrounded by nature an it really just felt like an adventure. My legs fatigued a little quicker than normal, but my knees appreciated the softer terrain for a change.

Pre-run:
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Blueberry bagel w/strawberry cream cheese + vanilla almond milk

Post-run:  Homemade granola bar and this a hour later...
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Salad + ham, cheese, pesto quesadilla 
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Salad topped off with this delicious dressing
I cooked up some noodles so I could top it off with the same pesto I used in my quesadilla for dinner while I'm at work.  (Note: In case you're wondering I did not make my pesto, it's store bought, but awesome!)

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Total Body Tabata 


This is the workout I did yesterday at the gym with 1 minute rest between tabatas...




I devised this workout so that each tabata would have at least one lower body, one upper body and one core move.  After the first tabata, I was like, "ehh, this is going to be easy", but when I got to the third and fourth ones, my muscles were definitely starting to fatigue.  If you try this make sure you listen to your body and get a good cool down in afterwards.  

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Alright folks, I'm off to do some cleaning, stress out over my taxes because I just realized I am missing a W-2 and go to work.  Have a wonderful almost Friday :)

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Today's Tip: Mix things up by running on a different terrain than you normally do, you will physically be able to feel how your muscles are working differently.  

Monday, March 26, 2012

Monday To-Do + Fitness Plan

In case you had a life this weekend and weren't able to stay on top of blog reading, here are a couple posts you may have missed here on Wealth is Health!


Breakfast: Cinnamon & sugar oats w/banana + almond milk

I have tons of little things to do that I have been putting off or just haven't gotten around to since I wasn't around the house much last week. 

-Dishes
-Clean room
-Blog
-Watch Desperate Housewives
-Student loan papers
-GOTR volunteer application
-Return books
-Blog reading
-Shop (odds & ends)
-Workout
-Work

Fitness Plan

Monday: Cross Fit Workout + 40 min cardio
Tuesday: Run 5-7 miles
Wednesday: Cross Fit Workout + Stairs
Thursday: Run- Yasso 800s
Friday: Lift + 30 min cardio
Saturday: Long run


Today's Tip: Sneak healthy ingredients into your everyday eats!  For example, making a smoothie or oatmeal, throw some flax seed or chia seeds in the mix.  Get that extra bang for your buck!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Week Wrap Up + Granola Bar Recipe

Workout
10 miles- HILLY
1:35:33

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Today's run was out in the country and was super hilly!  I expected it to be hilly, but I did not expect to average 2 hills per mile!  Even though it was hilly, I was proud of myself for keeping my average pace under 10 minute miles, I ran up every single hill and felt good the whole way. My run this morning was a solo distance record, since I signed up for my marathon, I have a little bit more motivation on my long runs and am able to knock them out more easily on my own. Pre-run I had Greek yogurt and a scone from my foodie pen pal.  Post-run I made sure to stretch it out, and then I hit the hot tub one last time (last day of house sitting) and refueled!

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Rehydrating!
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Eggs, onions, peppers, Laughing Cow Fire Roasted Tomato Cheese

Week Wrap Up 

Since I spent my week dog/house sitting I didn't get to post much, so here are some pictures from various activities and eats from the week!

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Hot tub and relaxation

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New nail color

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Coffee and lots of it! 

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Vanilla chai tea and sweet potato pancakes

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Fish taco

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Books-A-Million date with my Kindle

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My buddy Sully

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Sneak peak at my new art project

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Taking the kids for a walk
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Love my niece and nephew!
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TRY THIS RECIPE!!
No-Bake Granola Bars

1 c almonds, finely crushed
1 c oats
4 Tbsp ground flax seed
1 Tbsp coffee grounds (optional)
1 c dried fruit (I used Craisins)

3 Tbsp coconut oil
6 Tbsp honey
Dash of cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
Dash salt

Combine all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  In a small pan on the stove, heat the coconut oil, honey, cinnamon, vanilla extract and salt until boiling.  Pour into bowl with dry ingredients and mix well so that all ingredients get covered.  Place a sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap inside a 8 x 8 inch pan.  Let cool and harden in the refrigerator for a few hours. Take out, cut into bars first, then lift the wax paper out and individually wrap bars.  Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.  

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Super easy, super delicious!  Enjoy!



Friday, March 23, 2012

HUGE News!

Just signed up for my first full marathon!!




In fact I was so excited, I found myself ordering one of these when I registered…yes I got suckered in!  
I mean come on, you don't run your first marathon everyday :)


So far I have recruited two others to do it with me including my current running partner and my old high school basketball coach, who else is with me?!!  Seriously, any bloggers want to come run the TC Marathon on Oct. 7 with me?!

 I will be posting my training plan soon if you're interested in seeing it.




Monday, March 19, 2012

New Weekly High!

In and out this morning….

Monday:  Cross Fit workout + 20-30:00 cardio
Tuesday: Cross Fit workout + cardio
Wednesday: Run 60:00
Thursday: Run 60:00
Friday: Cross Fit workout
Saturday: Off or easy cardio
Sunday: Run 2:30:00 (13-16 miles-ish)

I am trying out a few different Cross Fit workouts this week since time will be a little tighter being I am running between work, my apartment and the house I'm dog sitting at (on the opposite side of town from my apartment).

Last weeks total mileage was a new all time high for me… 28 miles!! Wahoo!




Sunday, March 18, 2012

Fake Vacation

After 13.5 miles yesterday it was vacation time!

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13.5 in  2:11


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Okay, not really.  Even though it's spring break for everyone else around here I did not go anywhere.  However, I am dog sitting for a family and it feels like I am on vacation!  Here's what my morning looked like...

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Yummy oats & Greek yogurt


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Massage chair 


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Hot tub, coffee & a magazine... aww the life :)

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Relaxing with the pup


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Sully

Yup, it's almost like being on vacation!  There won't be a tour of the house, since I don't want to totally invade their privacy, but I'll be sharing my activities over the course of the week.  Off to grill out in the gorgeous weather!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Newton Running + Other New Things

Workout

Out the door by 8 am with Brita to hit the pavement. We went out around town, hit some hills and completed 70 minutes of running all before 9:30 am :)  The weather this week is going to be absolutely fantastic, so we're going to get out again Thursday and probably Saturday morning for some more miles.  Tomorrow I will take very light or off, the run was really hard for me today even though it shouldn't have been, so I am taking that as my body's way of telling me it needs a break since I didn't take a day off last week.

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Pre-workout:

Milk + new protein powder (14 g protein, 17 g carb)

Post workout: Fruit smoothie (tropical fruit, soy milk, 1/2 serving protein powder, 1/4 c plain yogurt)


Newton Running Shoes

I was really excited when I was going through this months edition of Runners World and I found this article...


Newton Running Shoes!  The article explains the science behind the design of Newton shoes and it gives a little history on the company.  Why was I excited about this?  Because I just bought a pair a few months ago!  I haven't used them a ton yet, but enough to know that I love them!  I am saving them so I can use them for when I start training for my first marathon... I mean why not run my first marathon in style ;)



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If you are an observant person, you may have noticed my new header on my blog!


I will also be trying to feature a health or fitness related tip each day I post, so here's to tip #1....



Today's Tip: Swap the mayo in your tuna for a healthier substitute like hummus or BBQ sauce.