A Nearly Perfect Day

I know I’m late with this one, but man Saturday was a great day.  We’ve been hitting the 60s on a weekly basis here in Denver which is just in time for my longer outside training runs.  Allow me to explain my perfect day…

Solid breakfast.  Looks pretty in the picture, was stirred into a huge mess shortly after.  FYI, greek yogurt works well as a pre-run meal!

Long run in the gorgeous Colorado sunshine.

Stretch. Ice Bath. Curse and grit teeth while taking ice bath. Coconut Water.

Iced Coffee.  Nothing says springtime like my beloved iced beverage of choice!

After getting cleaned up, I went for happy hour early dinner with some friends to an amazing new-to-me restaurant called Highland Tap & Burger which I would highly recommend!!  I got the Shrooms Luva and this beauty of a beer flight:

Why pick one beer when you can taste four?

This week in training:

• M: 3 miles easy
• T: 6 miles done outside–not normal for a weekday, but it’s finally starting to stay lighter LONGER!
• W: Strength + Stretching
• Th: 3 miles (400 repeats)
• F: Off
• S: 12 miles long
• Su: Yoga + Strength

I’m looking forward to a fun day at work tomorrow followed by the Colorado Dietetics Association conference Friday and Saturday.  Next week I will be finishing up my Food Service Management rotation and then heading south to visit the boyfriend for a long weekend!!

Cheers to Thursday?

The meal I know all too well

Ahh the Saturday pre-run breakfast–a meal I know all too well.  This is Ezekial Cinnamon Raisin toast with some Smart Balance Peanut Butter and a couple of cuties (eating these by the truckload lately).

I LOVE being back to running consistently again.  As geeky as it sounds, there is nothing I would rather do on a Saturday morning.  Denver weather has been insanely “spring-ish” lately too, so of course that doesn’t hurt.

Why the return to blogging after almost a year?  Because I’m training for this.  And I miss blabbing on F&F of course! I figured there was no better time than now to be logging food and workouts so I can run the healthiest race possible.  I’m only on week 1 of my plan, but I’m feeling good about this one.  If I can figure out how to put my training schedule on here, I will!

So happy Saturday! Looking forward to being back.

Another semester down.

I can’t believe I’m 5 YEARS into my college career! It seems like only yesterday I was in high school…

I remember homecoming so well.  Such fun times!  High school was full of some of my favorite memories, mostly sports-related.  Then came college at NMU with a new group of close friends… most of these memories are slightly fuzzy, but fun nonetheless!

Apparently one degree just wasn’t enough for me so in August of last year (2 days after my brother got married), I moved to the beautiful state of Colorado to pursue my R.D. in hopes of a career in nutrition. In case you couldn’t tell, I have a pretty strong interest in food.

I can definitely proclaim that this move was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. In terms of schooling, the adventures of living with my best friend, meeting an awesome group of people, and taking advantage of all that this place has to offer, I am extremely content.

I love skiing…

I love hanging out with my crazy friends…

I love going to sporting events…

and concerts…

and I discovered my new favorite restaurant and beer. Love love LOVE this place!

He’s alright too.

It’s been such a great year and I have plenty to look forward to in the days ahead!

Regular food blogging resumes now.

Some fun FITNESS things coming up:

• NEW Boot Camp class starts on May 24th
• Boulder Boulder 10k on May 31st
• Les Mills Quarterly on June 5th

And also… I may or may not have made the best salad ever for lunch today.  I know I say this quite a bit, but seriously…best ever.

I was on my own at the grocery store this week and let’s just say it was a successful shop.  We finally have food again!

Hope you all have better weather than we have here… It’s a little cold for my liking today.  I’m headed to the city tonight for dinner so I hope to have some nice pictures for my morning post.  Location is a surprise so I don’t know details.  Is the suspense killing you as much as it is me?

I’m off to read non-school book.  Wow I love summer. Bye for now!

ACIS Fitness Nationals

Hey-o!

It’s been a few days since I last posted so I have an overflow of good food pictures coming your way…

I briefly mentioned that I was attending the ACIS Fitness Nationals in Colorado Springs this passed weekend, but I wasn’t sure exactly what it would be like.  Let me tell you—it was a GREAT experience!  I’m so glad I was given the amazing opportunity to attend this event.

Let me explain…

This event was basically an invite-only fitness competition that involved 3 events: a mini-triathalon, tug-o-war, and “Swoosh Challenge” obstacle course. Four-person teams (2 females/2 males) were flown in from all over the country to compete against each other for the ultimate title of National Champion.

I got the chance to work the event with the ACIS staff and was in charge of set-up and tear-down, plus some regulation type stuff during the actual events.  Mostly I took a bunch of pictures:-)

Not only was this a paid weekend of work, but the organization was kind enough to pay for gas, hotel and FOOD.  Good food too.  Here’s the majority of my meals from the weekend.

Friday night catering was a pasta buffet:

On Saturday, lunches were brought in from a great little sandwich shop nearby.  I took the veggie option and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of ingredients.  HOLY SPROUTS… love those things.

They also threw in some of the best chips in the world…

Saturday dinner:  BBQ catered by Bennett’s. I’ve never heard of this place before but WOW!  I was really impressed by their sauce.  It wasn’t all thick and overly sweet like most chains are… it was spicy and flavorful and the meat was SOOOO tender.  Good salad too–always a plus.

After Saturday night’s closing festivities, we were able to hit a local pub for some fun.  I was so glad we got to just chill for the evening because Friday and Saturday were both really long and tiring days.  There was live music and 2-for-1 drinks at an Irish place called Dublin House.  Fun was had:

Great weekend!!!!!  And congrats to UNC’s crew for working so hard on Saturday.  They finished 7th overall!  These 2 guys were part of the team and they both did awesome.

It was another busy, busy weekend!  Needless to say, I’ve been eating light since returning home because the weekend was a low on exercise and heavy on food and drinks.

Breakfast: Egg, avocado, tomato, cheese, hummus wrap.

Lunch: No-fail green smoothie… Extra punch in this one due to the addition of Amazing Grass.  Felt like a million bucks!

Dinner: Jambalaya!!! Recipe soon to follow—it was incredibly easy and delicious.

Also had to take a study break for some TCBY.  I can’t help that I was really hungry all night because I ran a pretty decently paced 6 miles today!!  What better way to fill the calorie deficit than with frozen yogurt?  It was delicious and worth every bite.

I really need to get to bed because my tentative plan is to wake up and hit the gym before my 8 am class in the morning.  Let’s hope I can fall asleep sometime soon even though I drank coffee all afternoon.  I’m feeling lucky!!!!

Nighty night!

New exercises?

Ever had this cereal before?

If you haven’t, you should.  It’s delicious!  This was on sale at SPROUTS last week and let’s just say it didn’t take long for me to finish it off.  I’m a really big fan of every Nature’s Path cereal I’ve had.  Hearty and delicious.  Something that will actually hold me over for a few hours.

I’m starting at some clementines too but I really don’t feel like peeling them right now so those might have to wait until later.

No coffee today, tea instead.

Love me some Tazo!  This flavor is good, but it’s no Awake.

I have a new client to train today!!! He’s a hard-worker so I’m pumped to be getting started.  Still trying to come up with a challenging workout that won’t scare him off.

I need some fresh exercises asap if anyone has any crazy new maneuver they’ve done lately.  What are your favorite resources for learning new exercises?  I use Women’s Health and Shape quite a bit but I haven’t had time to read a magazine in awhile.  Help a girl out!

The perfect pre-workout meal.

Fridaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy!!!! I had a really good day today.  Nothing super out of the ordinary happened—I just felt happy from the moment I woke from my deep sleep at 5:30am.  Started my day off with a nice little workout sesh which always seems to improve my mood by 100… ate this before I left the house:

This is pretty much the perfect pre-workout meal.  Filling, but not so much that I feel weighed down, easily digestible, good ratio of carbs fat and protein.  It’s easy to modify based on the intensity and duration of exercise too.  Example: If I’m doing a long run (6+) I eat the whole bagel instead of just half, and have a banana instead of the OJ.

And it’s also yummy.

Workout:

• 5 min treadmill warm-up
• BOSU squat and press
• Switch Lunge
• Stability ball wall squat
• Chest press, flies, push
• Step-ups
• Seated row
• Bicep curl w/pulse
• Bench hops
• Tricep dips
• Hamstring cable kickbacks
• Upright row to shoulder press
• BOSU crunches, side-to-sides, oblique twists, toe tappers
• Swimmers

Remember when I used to post workouts all of the time?  Maybe I need to start that up again…

Moving forward, Lunch was a new favorite Amy’s variety that I came across at the organic food store last week:  Lentil Vegetable.

Veggies make everything better. This was a great find.  I’ll definitely be buying it again!

The perfect pre-happy hour snack:

Not really sure why… I suppose any food is the perfect pre-happy hour snack!

Time to go beautify myself for the evening.  Have a fantastic weekend!

How-to fully enjoy a day in the mountains

Step 1: Pack a good lunch.  Include a substantial snack so your hunger doesn’t control when you have to stop for a break.  Clif Bars are great for skiing (convenient, delicious, dense)… and I give this Carrot Cake flavor that I had on Saturday an A+

(veggie wraps + fruit)

Step 2: Lay out clothes the night before. We usually leave the house between 5:30 and 6:00 am on ski days, so there’s no way I would be coherent enough to remember everything I need if I wasn’t already packed and ready to go.

Things to remember:

• Base layer (I have a slight obsession with anything Under Armour)
• Comfy pants + a Fleece
• Warm socks (these Smart Wools are my fave)
• Hat & Mittens
• Snow pants & Jacket (Remember my favorite purchase in 2009?)
• Goggles (In love with these)
• Skis, Boots, Poles
• Season Pass
• i-Pod (can’t leave home without it)
• Lunch
• Coffee for the road

That seems like a lot when it’s all listed out like that.  Kind-of is.  Told you it’s important to pack the night before!

Step 3: Stop at the Bux.  Starbucks to-go is a necessity.  The Vivanno has become a staple in this apartment for SKI DAYS, early work mornings, long work days, late-night studying, hangovers…hmmmmm so basically all of the time.  I can’t fight the power of espresso!

Step 4: Take tons of pictures.

Nothing wrong with self-portraits.

The views are impossible to capture on camera!

Step 5: Ski as far away from the main lodge as possible. Seriously, the conditions are completely different elsewhere, usually much better.  The lines are shorter too.

Step 6: Drink a beer.

Preferably a Colorado micro-brew.   Fat Tire if you want to be cliche.

Boulder Boulder Spring 1/2

I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday at 9:00am I started my first 1/2 marathon ever and I shattered my 2 hour goal by just over 6 minutes!!  I really can’t believe how fast it actually went by–mostly due to race day adrenaline I’m sure.

I had the biggest smile on my face the entire time just thinking about how much I love running.  I feel blessed that I’m able to do such a wonderful thing. I’m officially hooked on races and can’t wait to sign up for my next one!  What a rush…

My time surprised me!  My first few miles were pretty slow because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to hold on for the entire race if I started too fast.  Looking back, I know I could have gone faster if I would have just made the decision to.  Running is SO mental.  There was a point (about halfway through) when I literally said to myself, “go faster”, so I did and I held on to a solid pace for the remainder of the run.  Now that I know I’ve reached this point once, I’m absolutely positive I can do it next time as well.

Have I mentioned that the scenery was fabulous?? I kept looking around, seeing mountains, cows, the country in general… and thinking about how much I love Boulder.  What a great city!

Although it was beautiful, I will say it was also COLD.  We had heard earlier in the week that it would be mid to high 50′s.  Perfect right?  Apparently we missed the change in forecast and weren’t extremely prepared for the 35 degree weather that ended up taking over.  Thankfully, I brought a long sleeve under armour shirt just in case, and happened to have my running gloves in my purse.  My hands would have froze!!!!!

Here are the other ladies that accompanied me to the race:

It was awesome to have some other people along with me.  I loved talking about anything and everything running in the days leading up to the big event.

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Food was all over the place this weekend!  We had a birthday dinner on Saturday at the West End Tavern in Boulder.  One of my favorites!  We immediately ordered these famous sweet potato chips (served with guac) after sitting down.  They’re to-die for.

Jess is a huge fan of deviled eggs and there was an interesting choice on the menu that we decided to roll with knowing that between the 3 of us, we were splitting 2 entrees.  What better way to fill the void then with apps of course!

I’m not a huge deviled egg person, but these were really good:

For entrees, we decided to go with the Veggie Pasta, and the Veggie Burger with Fries and Caraway Slaw on the side.

The appetizers were amazing, the Veggie Burger was good, and the pasta was just so-so.  It almost tasted as if they forgot to add the sauce?  Oh well, our mission of carbo loading was accomplished.  We all left feeling pretty full.

My breakfast on the morning of was peanut butter toast and a banana.

I’ve seen a ton of bloggers stick to this for a pre-race meal and I thought it sounded appealing.  I’m glad I had this because it worked well for me.  Didn’t sit in my stomach like a rock, but held me over until I finished.

The only thing I ate during the actual run was a chocolate gu packet that a volunteer handed me (delicious and energizing, by the way!) and some Gatorade at the aid stations.  Running actually seems to suppress my appetite.  Weird I know…

Post race meal was a small pita-like thing and a mini larabar from the race (free food!!!!), chips & salsa + margarita at the RIO with friends, and finally this hummus platter from a brewery that we hung out at for a bit.

I was expecting to feel extremely sore today but I’m actually not too bad.  The knees and groin are stiff, but that was to be expected.  I feel like I could run tomorrow if I really wanted to!  Probably won’t push it though just to be safe.

Question:  Which race shall I sign up for next?  Already on the hunt…

My fave.

I. heart. sushi night.

We always pick some up when we grocery shop for the week because we never go to that side town otherwise.  Plus it’s quick and easy–perfect for nights like tonight when I really don’t feel like cooking.  Also had some grapes, just because.  Quite possibly one of the greatest fruits there is!

So I was incredibly sore from my sports extravaganza yesterday.  When I woke up this morning I felt like I had gone on a long run yesterday! Guess that means  it was a good workout at least… Needless to say, I kept today’s workout pretty easy.

I’m thinking that for the rest of this week I’ll do a few 2-3 milers to keep my legs fresh, but that’s about it.  Race day=6 days away.

Oh and lunch wasn’t too bad today either:

Turkey wrap + pineapple/strawberry mix

Summer fruit is on it’s way back!!!! Love it.

My dessert tonight will be in the form of espresso at my second home.

Goodnight!

Active Sunday anyone?

I had a HUGE bowl of oats for breakfast this morning.  Went a little overboard with the mix-ins.  I actually almost didn’t finish it–may not be eating lunch for awhile!

Chocolate covered strawberry/banana oats:

Into the pot:

• 1/2 cup oats, vanilla soy, water
• 1/2 banana
• cinnamon
• spoonful of cottage cheese stirred in at the end of cooking

On top:

• dark chocolate covered pom seeds
• pumpkin spice granola
• chopped up strawberries
• almond butter

Kind of a weird mix of flavors now that I look back at it, but good nonetheless. I’ll need the fuel because I have 3 intramural games today (ultimate frisbee, softball, dodgeball) and I’m playing racquetball too.  Sports addict! LOL kidding…  It looks like I’ll be at the gym for awhile.  Fine by me, I’d rather be there then on my couch doing homework.

Time to get my game on!