Oct 13, 2010
Posted by candice on Oct 13, 2010 in just for fun, mental notes, our life, race training | 17 comments
Hi!
Thanks for the support and encouraging comments on yesterday’s post. Honestly, after I hit publish last night I laid awake in bed for awhile feeling very unsure about my post. I really do try to always keep it real here, but being open is sometimes freaking hard!
I just don’t want to seem like a complainer, but guys…sometimes life is hard. On those days it’s kind of a challenge to find a balance between staying positive and uplifting while still being real.
And to be perfectly honest, there is nothing that drives me more crazy here in blogland than when people come across as perfect on their blogs. While I didn’t actually address this issue yesterday, it did come up in the comments. It seems that most of you feel the same way. Let’s just lay it all out there – there have been times when I’ve considered no longer reading some blogs because they just seem too perfect. And whether they are perfect or whether they’re not – it really doesn’t matter – it is a negative force in my life to read about it everyday. It’s extremely difficult to avoid the comparison trap when all you read each day is the perfection in people’s lives. I have to constantly keep myself in check with this issue – finding myself trying to measure up to someone else’s style, recipes, photos or exercise routine.
And speaking of exercise routines, this would probably be an excellent time to make known that the husband and I will no longer be running our November half marathon. You know, the one that was originally supposed to be a full marathon? After a lot of contemplating and discussion, we’ve decided to step back from racing for now.
With trying to get our own business off the ground + Jon working full-time and me almost full-time, there really isn’t enough time for training. We tried to make it work, but sleep was the main thing being sacrificed. We try every night to get in bed before 11pm, but when there are deadlines to meet sometimes it’s just not an option. And seeing as how getting adequate sleep is one of the most important parts of long distance running, it isn’t healthy or smart for us to keep pushing it.
Being the perfectionist that I am, this decision was really difficult for me at first. And to bring this full-circle, I realized that a lot of it was due to comparing myself to other bloggers. When you see countless bloggers running so many miles a week, it can make you feel like a failure if you’re not doing it too. In my quest to defeat perfectionism though, I was able to step back and realize that my life is not the same as anybody else’s…and therefore I have to make the best decision for my body and for Jon.
Besides, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but the husband designed the branding for the entire race – from the participant’s guide down to the finish banner. So, we’ll be running all over the place on race day, getting photos for our website (and cheering on all the runners!). I’m super stoked about it – I love races! Although I know I’ll be wishing we were running, I’m glad we’ll be going to support everyone and our business!
So that’s that.
Now that we’re through all the heavy stuff – let’s move on to the food!
Breakfast this morning was a green monster, per the usual. Oh, green monster, how did I ever live without you??
I spent the morning working on my yoga class for tonight and trying to get iPhoto and Flickr to be friends. The story of my life. They are currently on speaking terms, though we still have a loooong way to go.
About 10:30 I got so hungry, so I heated up one of my favorite whole wheat pitas and had a big blob of creamy hummus for dipping!
So, if you follow me on twitter, you may know that I had a major life experience this morning.
I lived through my first earthquake!
You have to understand, Oklahoma does not get earthquakes. Like, ever. I never would have dreamed that I’d ever feel one.
So, picture this. I was sitting on my couch with Olive looking up idioms for tutoring students and dealing with flickr when all of a sudden I heard a sound like the entire house rattled. I actually didn’t feel anything, but it was such a strange noise – I literally thought to myself “that sounded like how I’ve heard earthquakes described.”
I glanced at Olive to see if she heard it, and she was sitting up with her little ears perked looking around. However, here is a prime example of a downside of working from home. There are no other adults around to confirm that you’re not crazy when crazy stuff happens!
So what did I do? The only logical thing – I went on about my business and forgot about it.
About 30 minutes later, I went to check my phone and realized I had about 5 missed calls and 2 texts from the husband, and a text from my mom, wondering if I’d felt the earthquake and making sure I was okay. ha! I couldn’t believe it.
Anyway, apparently it was a 4.3 on the scale and was felt all the way from north Texas to Arkansas and everywhere in between.
With all that excitement I completely forgot about lunch, and suddenly I looked up and I had 15 minutes till I needed to leave for tutoring! Considering everything I still needed to do before leaving, I knew a lunch on the go was in order! So, I whipped up a brown rice cake sandwich with natural peanut butter and half a banana. It was delish. But somewhat messy. Have you ever tried to bite into a rice cake sandwich? Unfortunately I failed at getting a picture in all the madness. I lived through an earthquake – can you blame me?!?
By the time I got though with all my tutoring appointments and taught my yoga class I was starving for dinner. Enter leftovers of my favorite meal.
cooked spinach, vegetarian refried beans, rotel tomatoes and vegan (Daiya) cheese wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla a doused in spicy enchilada sauce. With a side of baked corn chips (corn tortillas) and homemade guacamole.
Dessert was simple.
two little oranges (only a portion is in the picture)
All in all I’d say it was a banner day – a nice way to balance out yesterday methinks:)
Oh, one last side note. I’ve told you guys how much I love meeting with international students, right? Well, I love it more and more everyday. Hanging out with them is so refreshing + I think I learn more than they do! Awhile back I mentioned one of my students, Nada, who is super sweet but also beyond talkative and a bit high maintenance. Well, she really threw me for a loop on Monday. We were chatting along just like normal when all of a sudden she said “blah, blah, blah…when the little one comes.”
Say what?!
“Little one?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah…I’m expecting. Did I not tell you that? I’m due in January.”
“Um negative on that. I would remember if you had told me that. I’ve been meeting with you for weeks – how can I not know you are pregnant?? So, is it a boy or a girl?” I asked.
“It’s a girl.”
“Aww, how sweet (beginning to get over my initial shock at this point). So what are ya going to name her?”
“Well, I have a couple of names in mind, but one I’m really leaning toward….Lupus.”
“Ahem. Excuse me?”
“Lupus. That’s what I’m going to name her.”
So, I then had to gently explain to my sweet little Egyptian student that Lupus might not be the best choice. I mean, sure it’s cute and all…but oh the pain it will cause for that poor child!
I felt bad to shoot her down, but I also felt it my duty to shelter the baby from a lifetime of humiliation.
Oh the joy of international students:) And I can say that because I was one.
Now that I’ve sufficiently talked your ears off! I’ll be signing off. I’ll see you all tomorrow!
G’night!
P.S. I can only imagine the google searches that will come forth due to this post!
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Sep 23, 2010
Posted by candice on Sep 23, 2010 in Challenges, breakfast, race training | 5 comments
Happy 2nd day of fall! I can’t believe I forgot to tell everyone Happy 1st day of fall yesterday because I am so darn excited. Last night I heard our weatherman say “a fall cool front will be moving in this week,” and I about jumped out of my skin. It sounds like I’m being really dramatic, but I really am that excited. I am in love with fall:)
Jon and I literally drug ourselves out of bed (it was one of those kind of mornings) and went for a four mile run this morning. I was feeling really strong until we hit our first hill, and then everything went downhill fast, literally and figuratively. I think I was dehydrated – it wasn’t even that hot out and there was a nice breeze, but my neck and face felt like they were on fire and my body felt like lead. Very pleasant indeed. We took a couple of short walk brakes and came in just under 42 minutes. I was feelin’ pretty blah, but still so happy that we finished. Our half marathon training is finally looking up a little bit at least, considering we’ve actually stayed committed to our training this week.
Today has been a very “work from home” kind of day, meaning I didn’t leave the house all morning. When the husband called around 11 to say he had to work through lunch I knew I had to get out of the house. Obviously I had no choice but to drive straight to the little bakery we ate at yesterday.
Instead of ordering the same sandwich, though, I just bought an entire loaf of that same bread, haha. I wasn’t kidding when I said how good it was. By the time I was driving across town to get it, I was already starving and developing a serious headache. So, naturally as soon as I got back in the car, I inhaled two pieces. It was so good. Let me say that again – it was so good!!!
Then I came home and recreated that beautiful sandwich, just with different veggies and hummus instead of pesto.
arugula, sprouts, pickles, hummus
with a red pear on the side
I have been wanting to try arugula for months now, but I never can find it! After I picked up my bread, I dropped by the grocery store to get some bananas and happened upon some organic arugula. score! Is it strange to be so excited over a leafy green?
Anyway, I’ve been so excited about my sandwich that I breezed right by breakfast.
I was out of spinach and bananas this mornings, so I had to fore-go my green monster. I opted instead for shredded wheat n bran, a sprinkle of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, frozen blueberries and soy milk. It was a nice change:) I was actually craving cereal last night before I went to bed, so this really kind of hit the spot this morning.
Anyway, I must run. I do just want to say a quick thank you to all my sweet readers for reading my blog- you all are one of the main reasons I keep writing everyday.
And that’s a wrap:) I hope you all have a lovely day – enjoy the cooler weather if you’ve got it and enjoy the last days of summer if not!
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Sep 6, 2010
Posted by candice on Sep 6, 2010 in breakfast, exercise, race training | 9 comments
There is nothing better than the feeling of accomplishment after finishing a long run.
Maybe I’m being a bit dramatic…but it really is one of the best feelings in the world. We pushed hard this morning and finished six miles in just under an hour including walk breaks.
As I’ve mentioned before, running has become increasingly difficult for me lately, and I’m not totally sure why. But it’s redeeming runs like today that keep me going and keep my love for running alive. It was painful to keep a good pace…but I just kept telling myself to dig deep and show myself what I can do. It felt so good to sprint to the finish.
We drove out the the lake path this morning, and I munched on half a banana on the way for a little bit of carby energy.
It’s kind of blurry because it was still kind of dark outside. And I couldn’t hold still in the car. The husband is a crazy driver.
When we got back I took a long, hot shower and then fixed up a protein filled breakfast.
I cooked one organic free range egg with one egg white in the microwave for 2 minutes. With about 20 seconds left, I threw some spinach on top. After the microwave stopped and toaster popped up, I sandwiched it between two Van’s Flax waffles, with a light spread of Spicy Garlic Hummus and a dash of salt and pepper.
I wasn’t sure about the addition of hummus…but I decided to go crazy and try it. It rocked. Bigtime. The combination of flavors was just perfect! Don’t you love it when that happens? The only thing I forgot was the chia seeds. Doh.
It is such a beautiful day outside – the husband and I are going to head out and see where the wind takes us. No guesses where that might be, but I’ve got high hopes!
Enjoy your Labor Day!
Love and chias:) C
Who is your favorite artist that your listening to these days? The husband and I are really loving One Republic. It’s a bit different than my usual Diane Birch and and Sara Bareilles…but has a really awesome vibe.
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Sep 2, 2010
Posted by candice on Sep 2, 2010 in Uncategorized, breakfast, dinner, lunch, race training | 16 comments
This morning Jon and I rolled out of bed just in time to head out for a run. I was absolutely determined to have a good run…which can actually be quite dangerous:)
The weather was decent this morning – in the high seventies with a very light breeze – so off we went. And praise the Lord – it went well! I have been feeling so discouraged about our training, even to the point of thinking to myself “why the heck are we doing this?” Have you ever been there? Thankfully this morning restored my faith in believing that I really can train for and run a half marathon.
Before we headed out I honestly didn’t have a clue what I was going to do to help matters, but throughout the course of our run I tried several different tactics.
What worked:
Paying extra attention to my form. Sometimes when I’m running, I find that I sort of hunch over and stoop my shoulders and back. Today I kept checking in to make certain that my back was straight and my shoulders were down away from my ears. I used a move that I do in my PiYo classes often: scrunch your shoulders up toward your ears as high as you can, and then release them down and back towards the floor, elongating the neck. This helped tremendously today!
Break up the run into smaller segments. Not rocket science right? The thing is that I usually do this with longer runs, but never with shorter runs. I go into shorter runs thinking “well, it’s short already!” But I have to say – in certain conditions, three miles can almost feel like a long run. In fact, I’d rather do a long run over a short run anyday. That’s anyday…not everyday, mind you. ha! This morning, however, I kept telling myself things like “only .4 more miles until one mile is left. You can run one mile easy!” Sounds kind of silly, but it totally helped my mindset. And Jon’s.
Frequent updates on mileage. Sometimes I try to just zone out during a run and not think about the time. Today, however, Jon and were both starting to struggle, so I was giving updates every half mile, and then every .2 miles towards the end. I was somewhat doing this for Jon, since he wasn’t wearing the Garmin, but it totally helped keep my motivation and energy up as well.
Breathe. Again, rocket science I know. But sometimes I really truly forget to breathe. I’ll realize that I’m either holding my breath or breathing very short and shallow breaths. Today I focused on getting frequent deep breaths in, and I didn’t get near as winded throughout the entire run…even at the end.
Stretch. We all know it’s important to stretch after a run, but what about during? At about the halfway point, we both agreed that our legs felt pretty much like lead. So, we stopped and stretched it out for about 30 seconds. When we took off again, I felt much lighter and faster.
I’m not saying these tactics would work for everyone, but they definitely helped change my game this morning. We finished in under 30 minutes including a short walk/stretch break. For us, this was a great improvement!
After our run, I waited awhile for breakfast because I just wasn’t that hungry for some reason. Very uncharacteristic of me. When I finally got hungry awhile later, all that sounded good was a bowl of cereal. I usually shy away from cereal for breakfast because it seems to go right through me, leaving me hungry soon after. But I decided to go for it anyway.
Kashi Heart to Heart, Peanut Butter Puffins, sliced banana and soy milk
I love cereal so much…I wish it just was a little bit more filling. A couple hours later I was already ready for lunch. Jon had to work through lunch today, so I was flying solo.
I decided to throw together a quick concoction – and stuff it in a big bell pepper!
Bell pepper first. I cut the top off, cleaned out the insides and set it on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400 degrees.
For the stuffing, I decided to start with a grain as a base, and after some inspection of the cabinets decided on bulgur. Bulgur is one of my favorite grains because it’s easy to cook and so nutty! Plus, 1/2 cup has only 75 calories but boasts 3 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber. Into the boiling water it went.
After studying the fridge for a moment, I pulled out some leftover canned corn and leftover chickpeas and dumped them in the skillet.
Protein…check!
Hmmm….I still need some greens. That’s an easy one.
Oops! Leaf overboard!
Lastly, I added 2 tbsp of homemade hummus for creaminess and flavor + 1 tsp oregano and a sprinkle of salt and ground red pepper for a little kick!
By the time this mixture was cooked through, my bell pepper was nicely browned and wrinkled. I carefully (it’s hot!) filled the pepper with the creamy bulgur mixture, stuffing it in deep to make it all fit. Then I stuck it back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so, turning on the broiler for the last couple. I just love the broiler. It soothes my impatient soul.
While I waited, I cleaned up the skillet and cutting board and said hello to this little visitor:) She’s not dead, I promise.
When the pepper appeared super brown and wrinkled, it was ready to go!
Perfect.
With a sweet and juicy peach on the side.
So, so good. Sorry dear…you totally missed out on this one;) The pepper was perfectly soft and somehow the random flavors I threw together fit like a perfect little puzzle. And I love the way the boiler makes the exposed part of the stuffing a little crispy!
After lunch I decided to book it to the coffee shop. Without some lunch company, the house gets a little too quiet. I’ve gotta get some work done and prepare for a call with an Outbox client this evening.
Hope you’re all having a great end to your week – let’s finish strong!
Random Question – what are you most looking forward to about fall?
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Sep 1, 2010
Posted by candice on Sep 1, 2010 in breakfast, race training, yoga | 9 comments
Wow.
That’s all I have to say about this evening. I have spent so much time attempting to get my computer/photo problem under control, and tonight was no different. I’ve definitely made a lot of progress at getting my photos transferred from iPhoto to Flickr, but I still have a long way to go! Come on little Macbook – you can do it!
As predicted, Jon and I headed to the gym this morning for our 3 mile run, and it was the best run I’ve had in awhile. To be perfectly honest, it was the first run in awhile during which I didn’t walk. Even though I’m a big proponent of walk breaks, I have to say it felt fabulous to kick it into gear this morning! I owned that run:)
In fact, I feel so good today that I think I’ve gained a renewed motivation to kick butt on my runs from now on…even when they get really uncomfortable…and even outside. Once you taste the feeling of success, you don’t want to let it slip away!
Anyway, once I got home and showered I was having a serious craving for some greek yogurt. I have no idea where it came from, but it came upon me suddenly and with such force that I actually drove all the way to Walmart and bought some just for breakfast. Absolutely nothing else would do. I also decided that I couldn’t live without these beautiful raspberries while I was there, so I brought them home with me too.
greek yogurt over a toasted Van’s flax waffle with raspberries and sprinkle of chia seeds
This meal was so pretty and fun that I had to break out our nice flatware. It actually might be only the second time I’ve ever used this flatware. whoa.
Lunch and dinner were easy – Pita Pit and leftovers. That’s the way it’s gotta be sometimes, ya know?
Tonight was the last yoga class I’ll go to and not be the instructor! Kind of a crazy feeling. I am loving teaching PiYo so far, and I’m super stoked to start yoga as well. It’s such a fun challenge to come up with new classes each week, and I am so excited to build on each one and see everyone improve throughout the rest of the year.
Yoga is just cool that way:)
Well, guys, I gotta cut this short and get to bed. Dealing with technology all day has completely zapped me of all energy. Hopefully tomorrow will be a less frustrating day as far as that goes!
Yay for Thursday!
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Aug 29, 2010
Posted by candice on Aug 29, 2010 in our life, race training | 11 comments
Only a few more hours left to enter the chia seed giveaway!
Yesterday I was MIA…at least here on the blog.
There was, however, a lot of action going on off the blog.
Cookies were baked (and eaten!)
Walks were taken
Delicious food was prepared and consumed
And the moon was watched.
Not sure what that other object is – it wasn’t visible except in the photo. Must have been something to do with the lense?
Yes, that’s right. I said the moon was watched.
My lovely sister sent me a text message on Friday evening tell me that at 12:30 am I would be able to see Mars and that it would appear as big as the moon. Well, I’m not one to miss out on an event this epic!
So, while Jon fell asleep by about 11pm, I burned the midnight oil, waiting for my chance to get a glimpse of the red planet. At exactly 12:28 I shook Jon awake and told him, “you have to get up! we have to go see Mars!”
He faithfully stumbles after me, down the hall and out the front door, where he sleepily plops down on the porch while I stand in the middle of the yard, camera ready.
I watch…and watch….and watch. Waiting.
And nothing. There was nothing but the trusty moon and a sprinkling of tiny stars.
So, after about 10 minutes, we traipse back inside where I immediately hop on the computer to get the lowdown. It’s at this point that I find out that we’d been duped! Apparently this email goes out every year, and it’s all a hoax designed to get fools like me to stare up at the sky, hoping to see a once in a lifetime event.
Bummer.
Luckily the husband is very sweet and forgiving of my crazy antics.
But Cristen, you better watch your back 
Onward and upward.
This morning we got up super late for our weekly long run. Because we cut back to the half marathon, our weekly long run was cut back as well. So we went out for 5 miles. I think I underestimated it. I was a little too cocky.
We’ve been running seven plus miles, so I thought we had this one in the bag. It didn’t go so well, however. By the time we got out there the sun was beating down with a vengeance, and despite the drop in temperatures as of late, it was blazing hot. With the help of a little walking, we finished it out though. Bad runs always happen, so we’re not too bummed. The walking time was actually kind of nice:) We’ll get revenge next week.
I’m off to get caught up on some work that piled up a bit while we were playing all day yesterday. I’ll be back with a recipe for the second batch of cookies later.
Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!
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Aug 23, 2010
Posted by candice on Aug 23, 2010 in dining out, giveaways | 40 comments
Jon and I woke up bright and early this morning and headed out for a three mile run. It actually wasn’t too terribly humid and hot, and therefore was almost enjoyable. I said almost
Soon after we got back, I was starving for breakfast and was wasting time on twitter while trying to decide what to have when Evan tweeted an idea for the Vega Shake and Go Smoothie mix from the HLS swag bag. It sounded too good to pass up, so I went for it!
It may not look too appetizing, but don’t knock it ’till you try it.
First, I mashed a whole banana until it was fairly smooth. I then mixed in two heaping spoonfuls of Vega powder, 1/3 cup of raw oats and a splash of almond milk. It turned out like a thick chocolate pudding! My only complaint is that it was a tiny bit grainy from the powder. Next time I think I’ll go a little easier on the powder, but otherwise it was awesome! And full of protein!
The Vega mix is completely plant based and is corn, dairy, gluten, soy, wheat and yeast free. Per serving it has:
- Two servings of veggies
- 2500 mg Omega-3-6-9
- 11 g complete protein
- Only 100 calories
- 1 billion probiotics cultures
Pretty cool, right? I have yet to find a protein powder that I like, but I’m a fan of this.
This morning I had my first meeting with a new student that I’m going to be tutoring! She’s from Korea, and I’ll be tutoring her 3 days a week now. I’m pretty excited about it – something inside me just lights up when I work with international students. 
After my meeting I had lunch with my friend Grace at Panera. I ordered a version of my favorite – Mediterranean Veggie sandwich, Garden Vegetable soup and a whole grain baguette.
And an Adora disc for dessert. Not sure what I’m gonna do when these run out – I’ve gotten kind of attached:)
Okay, now onto the good stuff. Sorry to leave you hangin’.
How about some chia seeds from ChiaSeedsDirect.com to make it up to you?
I don’t like to bombard you guys with giveaways, but I honestly just cannot pass up an opportunity to spread the chia love:)
The lovely folks at ChiaSeedsDirect have been gracious enough to offer a free 2lb. bag of chia seeds to one fabulous ChiaSeedMe reader.
There are five different ways you can enter (1 entry for each one you do):
- leave a comment on this post telling me the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done OR something adventurous you want to do in the future
- add ChiaSeedMe to your blogroll and tell me you did or if it already is tell me that
- follow me on twitter (@chiaseedme) and tweet about the giveaway using the following: @chiaseedme enter to win free chia seeds!! http://chiaseedme.com/?p=2235
- decide on one random act of kindness you will do sometime this week and tell me what it is (and you have to do it – honors system!)
- mention the giveaway in a blog post and link to it in the comments
Please make sure and tell me which of the five you did in the comments.
The giveaway will run until Sunday, August 29th at midnight.
If you’ve never used chia seeds before and need some ideas – click here for tons of ways that I love to use them. Also, make sure and check out my post on why chia seeds are so awesome.
If you haven’t checked out ChiaSeedsDirect yet, you should! They are an awesome company that offers the highest quality chia seeds at very low prices with free shipping on all U.S. orders. You can’t beat that! Also, if you are interested, feel free to download a free 16-page booklet on chia seeds, chia seed uses and chia seed recipes by using the following link: http://www.chiaseedsdirect.com/frreonchsehe.html.
**giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only. Sorry!
See you all later!
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Aug 22, 2010
Posted by candice on Aug 22, 2010 in beauty products, just for fun, our life, photography class, race training | 11 comments
Tonight we went out to this little old school house to get some photos for my homework assignment.
and then we ended up in the middle of nowhere on this dusty road.
It was fun. And hot. Very hot.
And then I came home to upload the pics, and the program wouldn’t work! I’m hoping my instructor will give me an extension…it’s crazy feeling like I’m in college again.
We also managed to get to the store and buy groceries, which I’ll be showcasing as the week goes on.
I’ve kind of strayed a bit from my straight laced eating habits, which inevitable happens to all of us from time to time. And while I don’t expect myself to be my best all the time, my body’s is not thanking me for it. So, tomorrow (my next meal) it’s back on track for me!
Also at the grocery store tonight I accomplished one of my 27 goals for my 27th year of life! At least I made a start toward it. I bought Burt’s Bees all natural facial cleanser and moisturizer. Lately I’ve been feeling more and more bothered by the fact that I put chemicals all over my face and don’t think a thing about it. I spend so much money and time on what I put in my body – what I put on my body should get the same attention and concern. This is just a first step as all my other makeup products are not all natural. But I must start somewhere! Anyway, I’ll do a full review on these products here in a couple of weeks!
Next in news tonight;) Jon and I have officially decided to drop down to the half marathon in November as opposed to the full. This actually causes me to regress on my list of 27 things:(
It has been a very hard decision, but we both feel that it is the best one. When I announced that we were going to train for the full, I mentioned that Jon’s work situation was going to make it difficult to get the training time in, but that we wanted to shoot for it anyway. Well, you’ve heard the quote – shoot for the moon and if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. I guess our stars are going to be the half marathon.
I am so competitive that this has been a very hard decision for me to swallow. But with Jon taking on his boss’ responsibilities (on top of his own) for the next 3 months plus the demands that Outbox is putting on us, it just isn’t going to be feasible or healthy for us to train for the full. We know from our first full marathon that training is a huge time and energy commitment. While it’s one that we definitely plan to make in the near future, it’s not going to be right now. It’s taken me several days to accept the decision and to get excited about training for the half. But I’m all on board now, and I’m so ready! So, we’ll run it, and we’ll have a blast running it together:)
For the record, I did consider going ahead and doing the full on my own, seeing as how I do still have more time than the husband. But after discussing it, we decided that it’s much more fun to stick together throughout training as well as the race. Like I said this morning “it’s always better when we’re together“ We’ve run all our races together so far, and there’s no good reason to stop now.
So, since we had already started our full training a few weeks ago, we’re a little bit ahead of schedule. We’re just going to press on, and either run an extra run or two in the weeks preceding the race, or have a bit of flexibility if something comes up one weekend between now and then.
So, that’s all the big news for tonight. Hope you all have had an awesome weekend – time to get geared up for the week ahead!
Do you use all natural skin care products? Is that something that you think about/is important to you? How do you go about choosing a skin care system?
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Aug 18, 2010
Posted by candice on Aug 18, 2010 in Reviews, exercise, just for fun, lunch | 12 comments
Friends, I’m in the midst of a crisis.
Since I got my Canon DSLR camera back in April, I’ve been uploading all my photos into iPhoto. Unfortunately the file sizes are huge, and they are overtaking my macbook! I’ve finally decided to start uploading to Flickr instead, but I also am going to have to move all my photos over from iPhoto as well.
This process is going to take forever. I’m just so deep in this hole. Not only is my computer moving slower than ever, but the process of transferring the photos is going to slow it down even more. Argh!
Okay, rant over. Thanks for listening;)
warning: if you aren’t a dog lover, just glaze over this next part:) and don’t think I’m crazy.
First things first – Olive wants to say Happy 1st Birthday to her cousin, Bentley!
We still love you little B, even though you chewed up 2 of my retainers this summer.
This morning has been so productive! Don’t you just love super productive days?
First, I went for a four mile run. I planned to go to the gym, but the second I stepped out onto the porch, I changed my mind. It had to have been about 80 degrees. And there was even a cool breeze. I couldn’t pass up the chance to run outside. Unfortunately my Garmin wasn’t quite as thrilled apparently and didn’t find its satellites until well in the run. I know I ended up at about 4 miles, but have no idea what my time was. O’well!
Before I went I had a piece of canteloupe, sans salt and pepper
Once I got back, it was still cloudy and breeze, and our scraggly yard was giving me the eye. I couldn’t resist the nagging and immediately changed shoes and revved up the mower!
About an hour later I finished, a sweaty, hungry mess. Seeing as how it was after 10:30, though, I opted for a little snack instead of breakfast to tide me over.
I got this herbal water in the HLS swag bag, and I am now obsessed. I must find a place to buy these. They have no added sugars or preservatives, and the water is infused with a perfectly subtle ginger lemon flavor.
These pistachios and dried pineapple are also from the swag bag, courtesy of Oh Nuts. The pistachios were great, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the pineapple. I don’t like added sugar on my dried fruit, and this definitely had some. I don’t know why companies always feel the need to add so much sugar to their dried fruit!
Anyway, I answered some emails and before I could turn around twice it was lunch time.
My sister bought me this garlic olive oil from The Olive Tap. It gives off just a nice, subtle hint of garlic. Judging from her description I really wish I could have visited the store too.
I mixed 1 tbsp+1 tsp of garlic olive oil + 1 tsp water to 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp seasoned salt and a sprinkle of ground red pepper.
I filled a gallon sized ziplock bag with sliced sweet potato rounds and asparagus, and after adding the oil and seasoning mixture, shook until I couldn’t feel my arms (it really is an exact scienceJ I then dumped it out onto a cookie sheet (don’t forget to spray it!) and roasted at 400 degrees for about half an hour. Don’t forget to stir and flip occasionally. I actually think the asparagus was a bit too soft, so you may want to take it out after 20 minutes or so.
I toasted a piece of Ezekiel bread and spread it with Earth Balance to have on the side. Plus, another piece of canteloupe with salt and pepper.
Dessert was an Adora Dark Chocolate Calcium supplement disk from the swag bag. Love these. lol. What did I eat before HLS?
I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my awesome co workers from my teaching job. I stopped by the school for a visit yesterday and loved getting to see everyone. These people are a huge reason why it was so hard to leave, and I’m going to miss them dearly!
my best friend, Teri, Bryan, and me
two of our awesome librarians!
Meghan taught in the classroom next door to me and was a fellow first year teacher. This girl is a hoot!
And again, Teri:)
Well, I’m off to get some work done! I’ll be back tonight with my fourth and final HLS recap! If you missed ‘em, here is recap 1, recap 2 and recap 3.
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Aug 8, 2010
Posted by candice on Aug 8, 2010 in exercise, race training | 6 comments
Good morning!
This time last week Jon and I were heading out for a long run. We hit the road at about 6:30 am for a seven miler…and trudged home about an hour and a half later, disappointed, yet still hopeful.
Feeling exhausted and a bit disappointed, but still proud that we at least still covered the distance
There were several key mistakes responsible for what we called our “successful failure.” Successful because we covered the seven miles and made it back in one piece. Failure because we didn’t accomplish what we set out to do.
- We didn’t go to bed early enough the night before. We were running on about 5.5 hours of sleep, which is not nearly enough. Getting adequate rest is vitally important when pushing your body.
- We hadn’t hydrated well the night before the run. It’s not only important to hydrate during physical activity; it’s also crucial to hydrate in the days before.
- We got going way too late. By the time we went out, the sun was already beginning to peek out, and the temps were in the 90s. On top of that, the humidity was extremely high.
- We didn’t have good tunes! For me, music is a serious motivator during long runs. While I did have my iPod on, I didn’t have a good playlist ready. I don’t necessarily have to have every song be super upbeat, but Adele just wasn’t doing it for me.
- We didn’t fuel before leaving, so we were still running on the fumes from dinner the night before. To make matters even worse, we didn’t take anything along to fuel while we were out.
- Lack of hydration during the run. We did wear our hydration belt, but the water heated up super fast and we ended up running completely out of water by mile five. No good!
- I had to go to the bathroom starting at about mile 3. There are few things worse as a runner than carrying on despite needing to use the restroom. Sorry if that’s TMI, but the resulting cramps and heaviness alone were enough to do me in.
So, as you can see, pretty much everything that could have gone wrong did. Plus some!
We initially started out fine, but at about mile 2 things started to go downhill when my bathroom needs presented themselves. There was nowhere to stop, and I didn’t want to go back home so we pressed on, hoping it would pass. In retrospect we should have just looped back around to the house. Throughout miles 2-5 we were just feeling spent. The lack of cold water, humidity and lack of fuel were wearing us down fast. At mile five we completely ran out of water. My mouth felt like cotton, and as I continued to press on I began to feel extremely weak and a bit lightheaded. That’s when I knew it was time to stop. The humidity was like a thick blanket around us, and the sun was beating down.
It’s always difficult to cut a workout short, and when I do I often feel as if I’ve given up or failed. I do think it’s important to push myself even when my mind is telling me to quit. Many times my body can overcome my mind and prove that I really am stronger than I think.
However, it’s a different story when my body is telling me it’s time to stop. I don’t call that quitting, I call it taking care of my body and being wise. There should never be any shame or regret in listening to your body and complying when it’s begging you to stop.
So, we walked the last 2 miles back to our house and vowed to do everything differently the next week.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Which brings me to this morning. Instead of following our training plan and dropping back down to 5 miles this week, we decided to have a re-do of the 7. Having hydrated well, fueled with half a brown rice cake and peanut butter, gotten plenty of rest, we set out at about 5:45 am with a camelback full of ice and water and a motivating playlist! The humidity truly was as bad as ever, but the things we did to prepare really came through for us.
The one thing we didn’t fully prepare was the Garmin. I put it on the charger last night, but I guess it didn’t attach well because it was dead this morning. So we free-for-all’d it! Whoop! It was kind of nice not having to worry about time or splits. We had mapped out our route the night before (using mapmyrun.com) so we knew exactly where we needed to go to get in 7 miles.
This morning was honestly one of the funnest and most enjoyable runs I’ve had in a long time. I highly recommend that every runner nix the garmin and just run at least every once in a while. It’s a very freeing experience. I really feel like the joy of running was brought back to me this morning.
At about the 2 mile mark we ran into a friend
This picture is really crazy looking because it was dark still and I was using the iPhone. This cow was so cute though! He was like “what are you crazy fools doing out here?!”
Around mile 4 – yoga to stretch out my tight legs!
waving hello to our campus stadium
and a little window shopping! I really want the top two left shirts for football season this year:)
Along with stopping for water every couple of miles, we also carted along some starburst jelly beans for a little carb kick!
We had an epic finish, and I felt so proud and happy to have redeemed ourselves this week!
So, I can basically sum up our last two weeks of runs in one lesson learned.
It’s all about preparation.
Actually, two lessons learned.
1. It’s all about preparation
2. Don’t be too hard on yourself!
Whether you’re a seasoned runner or just starting out, you can know that you will inevitable have “bad” runs. Every single run is not going to be great. Heck, you might even have an entire week of bad runs. But if you just keep at it…keep pressing on it will get better. And it’ll be worth it. There truly is nothing like crossing a finish line after lots of hard work. Whether it’s an official marathon finish line, a 5k, or your own 2 mile run at home – it’s so rewarding.
I hope you all are having a restful and fun weekend. You’re amazing!
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Aug 3, 2010
Posted by candice on Aug 3, 2010 in breakfast, dining out, dinner, exercise, race training | 3 comments
Hey!
I want to start with a shout out to Caitlin from one of my very favorite blogs, Healthy Tipping Point. I’m sure many of you are already avid readers, but if not you must stop by and check it out. Today is a very exciting day in the blog world because Caitlin’s book Operation Beautiful hit bookstores across the country!! Way to go Caitlin! Snag your very own copy at Barnes and Noble, Borders or Amazon.com.
Today has been only semi productive:( Honestly, these last few days have been sort of tough. I’ve just felt a little down in the dumps for no particular reason. And it’s definitely affected my productivity levels. I’m really hoping things start looking up soon!
Jon and I kicked off our morning with a fairly brutal 3 mile run. We got started way too late, and therefore it was way too hot! We actually ended up walking between miles 1.5 and 2. But, fortunately we did finish strong so it wasn’t a complete disappointment. Some days are just like that, ya know?
Stats
Distance - 3.o miles
Avg Pace - 10:48 (walking killed our pace obvs)
Best Pace – 7:59 (told you finished strong)
Splits
Mile 1 – 10:09
Mile 2 - 12:42
Mile 3 -9:34
After our run I was so overheated and dehydrated! I’m certain that my lack of hydration during our runs is responsible for how tough they’ve been. Today my mouth felt like cotton and it was hard to swallow I was so thirsty. It’s quite the conundrum, though, because I really don’t want to carry water for short runs. Camelback or hydration belt – neither is very comfortable, but for long runs I make it work. I guess I really don’t have another option though – I’m just going to have to start carrying water every run…at least until it cools down some. bah.
Needless to say after we got back I couldn’t even stomach the thought of a heavy breakfast, so I made up a little fruit plate
Which of course left me starving about an hour and a half later. Enter mid-morning snack of homemade Classic Garlic hummus, baby carrots and a few Back to Nature crackers.
Tonight Jon and I met up for a late dinner with our friends, Jonathan and Grace. We had such a great time catching up…aren’t friends just the best thing in the world??
We went to McAlister’s, a cute deli that we don’t really hit up that often. I used to think they didn’t have very good vegetarian/vegan options, but I have come to know better! Tonight I went with the veggie pita with honey mustard on the side. And a side of steamed veggies.
delicious!
Okay – now on to finishing up the series of posts about this crazy last week. If you missed it, here is part I, part II and part III.You would think after the chaos that had ensued since arriving at the lake, we would have high tailed it home. But oh no. We Marsh/McCoy/Fryar girls are not to be deterred when it comes to lake fun!
So after lazing around in the water for an hour or so, I decided I’d give wakeboarding a whirl. I have been skiing since I was 6 years old, at which age they had to tie my skiis together because my little legs weren’t strong enough to hold them steady:) I’ve wakeboarded a couple of times, but always struggled with it a lot more.
So, I dive in, get myself all fastened onto the board, wait for the rope to tighten up, and yell “GO!”
I don’t think at that point I really expected to get up. It had been so long since I’d done it, I expected it to take me at least a few tries. But no.
I popped right up on top of the water, wobbling like crazy and trying to maintain my balance while my mind attemtped to register what was happening. Before I had even absorbed that I was in fact on top of the water, the front of the board dipped slightly, getting caught in the wake. My body continued to propel forward, while my feet remained fastened in the boots of the wakeboard, causing me to violently slam into the water face first.
My first thought was that I was either A. going to die, B. have a concussion and/or C. black out.
Thankfully, none of the above happened. But as I floated to the surface, waiting for the boat to return, I seriously could not feel my face. The entire front side of my body felt as if it had been slammed into a concrete wall at a high rate of speed. The wind was knocked out of me and every cavity of my body was filled with water.
All I could do was moan.
After several minutes, I began to regain feeling in my body and my mom and sister hauled me out of the water and into the boat. No more extreme sports (as my husband calls it:) for Candice. We decided to call it a day and head back in.
Fifteen minutes of painful jolting later and we were back at the ramp to load up. Of course only to discover that the boat trailer tire was completely flat. Flat as a pancake.
We proceeded to spend the next hour and a half waiting, while some nice men helped us get it fixed.
I took the opportunity to get in some yoga.
And that was that. After having the tire fixed, we said thank you to the nice men and made our way back to the cabin. I packed up and headed back home, sad to be leaving such great time with my mom and sis, but exhausted after two full days of unexpected glitches. And with a slight headache.
So, you can imagine my distress the next day when Olive ate an entire bar of dark chocolate and had to be rushed to the puppy emergency room. I was this close to deciding to crawl back into bed and try again next week. lol.
I’m off to bed now, so I’ll “see” you all in the morning. Hope you had a great day!
Back to what I mentioned at the beginning -
What do you do for hydration? Do you carry water on every single run? Any brilliant ideas? Heck, any ideas at all??
Oh, yeah – and I did something kind of fun and crazy tonight…but I’ve gotta tell my mom before I spill it on the blog. lol. I’ll tell ya about it soon:)
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Jul 27, 2010
Posted by candice on Jul 27, 2010 in PiYo, breakfast, exercise, race training | 2 comments
Good morning!
Jon and I stayed up way too late last night working on stuff. Fortunately we were able to pull ourselves out of bed in time for a 3 mile run, per our marathon training plan.
I don’t like to be super rigid with a training plan, but most of the time following the plan we’ve chosen works for us. There may be weeks where we rearrange our runs a bit to accommodate our schedule, but for the most part we like taking the guesswork out of it…and just stick to the plan!
As promised, I did figure out how to calculate splits on my Garmin. It really wasn’t that hard; I’ve just never had the motivation to do it. It was fun this morning, tracking each mile and trying to pick up our pace for the next mile. We started out pretty slow, but we did manage to have negative splits!
Total time: 29:45
Average pace: 9:54
Fastest pace: 7:51
Splits
Mile 1- 10:21
Mile 2 – 10:01
Mile 3 – 9:23
After our run, I threw together 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup raw oats, blackberries and blueberries.
I inhaled about half of this and then flew out the door to PiYo!
Just like yoga, PiYo is all about a mind/body connection. And today my mind was on vacation. Somewhere tropical, I’m thinking.
I was feeling very tired from our run, and my concentration was all over the place! By the last 20 minutes or so I worked it out, though. I was pretty excited to accomplish a couple of poses I’ve been working on
not perfect, but I’m getting there!
I’ve got a busy day ahead because I have to drive back to the city again for another orthodontist appointment. This should be the last one….ever, though, so I’m excited about that! Also on the to do list for today is working on some Outbox stuff and working on PiYo.
My PiYo instructor asked me to cover her class next Friday, August 6th. That will be my first class ever!! While I’m a little freaked out, I’m super excited! I’m the type of person who will overthink things to a fault…and with this I know I just need to jump out there and DO IT!
Hope you all have a great day!
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”~Ambrose Redmoon
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Jul 25, 2010
Posted by candice on Jul 25, 2010 in Races, breakfast, exercise, fashion | 4 comments
Hey guys!
Hope you all had a great Sunday and that you’re ready for the week ahead! Thank you all for your suggestions and opinions on the dresses this morning. They were really helpful in my decision!
I’m crazy.
And a bit indecisive. Okay, a lot indecisive. But I’m working on it.
I ended up ordering the cream Modcloth dress in two different sizes, the pink and gray Modcloth dress and the black and white Modcloth. If you couldn’t tell, I really love vintage modern style, and I just decided that those three were more “me” than the black one I bought on Friday. I’ll be waiting until after the Modcloth ones arrive before returning it though, just in case none of them fit well enough.
Oh, and I’ll be returning all but ONE of the Modcloth dresses.
Really I will;)
I just ordered all of them so I’d have a high chance of getting one that fits.
Rewinding to this morning, Jon and I dragged ourselves hopped out of bed at an early 5:30am this morning to go on our first training run!
We have decided to train for and run this race on November 21st. Jonathan has been creating the design (tshirts, medals, signage etc) for this race for the past 6 months, and we’ve been leaning toward running it, but finally made the decision to go for it yesterday.
We’re planning on going for our 2nd full marathon (1st full marathon recap here). But we are recognizing that there may come a point where we have to drop to the half. As much as we want to do the full, we’re a little worried about time. Jonathan’s boss (at his 9-5 job) will be going on maternity leave starting in September, which will leave Jon to manage the entire department by himself. Add on his second job (Outbox), and that doesn’t leave much time/energy for training!
So we may end up doing the half, but we’ll see! This morning we started training as if we’re running the full by pounding out a full 6 miles. I’ve mentioned a couple of times lately how hard just 3 miles has become for me. This morning proved that it really is all about perspective. We set out to run 6 miles, and we ran 6 miles. With flying colors I might add. We felt great the entire run and out last mile was our strongest. Can’t beat that!
Here is the elevation chart for our 6 miles.
Total ascent = 138 feet (those were some serious hills!)
Total time = 1:03
Avg pace = 10:18 per mile
Fastest pace = 8:33 per mile
As long as we’ve had our Garmin, I still haven’t sat down and figured out how to get our mile splits, but I’m definitely going to figure it out before our next run.
can you tell it was hot out??
we’re pretty excited:)
I feel so excited to be embarking on training for a marathon again. There is just something so emotional for me when it comes to running long distances. Jon and I have now run a half and a full (among other smaller races), and we always train together. It’s such a great thing for us and really helps us to grow in our relationship methinks.
We always compare our marathon to our year in Thailand. There were parts where we didn’t think we’d finish, but we helped pull each other through and were much better for it in the end. I can’t wait to experience that again!!!
Now for some eats.
As soon as we got back from our run, I realized we were out of soy milk. NOOOOO!
I absolutely had to have a green monster to follow the run, so off to the store we went – sweat and all! Lucky for me the husband is sweet enough to run in for us so I didn’t have to subject all the nice Walmart people to my grossness.
Finally.
1.25 cups soymilk, 2 huge handfuls spinach, 1 scoop Amazing Grass, 1.5 tbsp chia seeds, 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp natural pb
This monster was huge! Hence the stainless steel juicer cup:)
This held me over through Sunday School and church. We got the chance to take Mohammad to church with us this morning, which was so fun! He was really interested to see what the American church is like. Of course we were happy to oblige, also praying that God would speak to his heart of course:)
After church I made up a quick black bean burger pita.
whole wheat pita, Morningstar black bean burger, spinach, broccoli slaw, hummus, guacamole and chia seeds
And then we passed out in bed. For 3.5 hours! I guess that run wore us out more than we realized! Bed seriously felt so good:)
veggie sub on 9 grain wheat – lettuce, tomato, onion, bell pepper, banana pepper, pickle with olive oil and oregano
I was in such a haze when we woke up that I just didn’t feel like pulling together anything for dinner, so we got free Subway!
Last Christmas we were in south Texas visiting Jon’s family and he found a $25 gift card for Subway in the middle of the road! Obviously we don’t go to Subway much considering we still have money on it, but it totally hit the spot tonight.
Tomorrow I’m meeting my mom and she’s going to offer her moral support and manual labor to help me clean out my classroom. I’m a little nervous because I’m thinking it’s going to be pretty emotional, but I’m ready to just get it over with and move on!
I’ll “see” you all tomorrow!
Have you ever run any races? If so, what distances? Feel free to leave a link to your race report!
For those of you who haven’t, are you interested in running races at all?
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Jun 28, 2010
Posted by candice on Jun 28, 2010 in Olive, exercise, lunch, mental notes, vegan | 6 comments
Wow, today was a hot one! I about passed out on my run this morning…literally! All’s well that ends well, though, and I pulled through. It didn’t help that I waited until about 9 am to get out there. Tomorrow’s goal: get my bootay outta bed early!
Here’s the stats:
distance - 3 miles
time – 29:54 yay!
fastest pace – 7 minute mile – I sprinted it in, hoping to finish in under 30 minutes
average pace – 9:58
Guys, I seriously wanted to quit on this run at about 2.4 miles. My legs were so tired, and I’m fairly certain I was dehydrated (it was blazing hot and so humid). I just kept thinking “pain is temporary, pride is forever.” As silly as that sounds considering this was just a random 3 mile run, it’s the little things you do that add up to big things. Next time three miles won’t be quite as daunting!
By the time I recovered from the run, I had about 20 minutes ’till I had to be at my hair appointment eek! I scurried around, guzzling my green monster on my way out the door and made it there about 7 minutes late. Check out the new ‘do
Riiiight. So, you’re thinking it looks the exact same. It’s shorter…you’ll just have to take my word for it;)
After chatting with my mom for a bit, it was time for lunch!
It’s tempeh time!
I heated slices of tempeh in a skillet for just a couple of minutes, toasting a slice of ezekiel bread and whipping up a quick batch of guacamole in the meantime. I laid a thick layer of guac on my toast, topped by a layer of spinach leaves, with tempeh to finish it all off! Simple!
If you’ve never tried tempeh, you should really give it a go. It’s a great protein source for all of my fellow non-meat eaters. It’s made out of soybeans and often has seasonings and grains, such as barley added to it. Even though it’s made from soy as well, tempeh tastes almost nothing like tofu. And unlike tofu, it has a very textured consistency and nutty flavor. You can add it to stir fries, soups, sauces or eat it on a sandwich or wrap. There really are a plethora of possibilites! It can be found in the refrigerated section of most health food stores and maybe even your local grocery store.
These cherries were on their last leg, unfortunately. I even had a to pick through them and end up throwing away several:( The one thing I hate more than throwing away precious cherries is eating soft ones! The good ones were still tasty though.
A little lunch time hangin’ out. Like mother like daughter with the crazy hair!
I spent the afternoon working on these mysterious projects I keep referring to (I promise I’ll be spilling the beans soon)! I’ve been thinking through a lot of things about my life lately. I’m currently reading a book about how we should focus on our strenghts in everything we do.
What makes you strong?
Try to think of a strength as different than what you’re used to. Instead of being something that you’re good at, a strength is something that makes you feel strong when you do it. What makes you feel alive? Those are your strengths.
Have you ever felt like somebody wanted you to do something because they thought you were good at it, but it wasn’t something you enjoyed? It was something that made you feel weak or drained afterwards? That is not a strength because it doesn’t make you feel stronger.
We should all play to and focus on our strengths as much as possible. Life is too short to focus on the things that make us feel weak. Of course we have certain responsibilities that are non-negotiables. I don’t think anyone would say that cleaning the toilet makes them feel strong and alive. I’d love to hear about it if that’s you:)
But in every situation possible, we should do everything we can to incorporate those things that make us feel strong.
What are you thoughts about this idea? Do you think it’s a bunch of hullaballoo (yes, that’s a word;)? Or do you think there’s something to it?
Also, have you ever tried tempeh and did you like it? What is your favorite protein source aside from meat?
I’m off to go read and then head to bed soon. I hope you’ve all head a great Monday!
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Apr 25, 2010
Posted by candice on Apr 25, 2010 in breakfast, exercise, our life | 2 comments
sidenote: I wrote this post Saturday afternoon, but it didn’t publish. So, I’m actually posting it Sunday night instead. Can’t let a post go to waste!! Recap of the rest of the weekend to come on Monday.
I have been having a serious itch to go biking lately. The problem is that I don’t own a bike. boo! So, I opted for the next best thing this morning and went to an 8am spin class. It was not fun dragging myself out of bed on the one morning I get to sleep in a little, but it was so worth it! I knew it would be – it always is, right? Anyway, I realy enjoyed spinning, and I’m definitely planning on hitting up another class this week. If you’ve never been before, I have to warn you – it is tough stuff! I went to my first spin class soon after we ran our marathon last year, and I thought it’d be a piece of cake. Boy, was I in for a suprise!
Speaking of our marathon, this weekend is the one year anniversary. I cannot believe it has been that long! My little cousin is running it this year, and we’re contemplating going to see him tomorrow. As you know, we have friends staying with us this weekend, though, so I’m not sure if we’ll be able to make it!
Ironically, the friends who stayed with us last night are the same friends that ran the half marathon last year. We met up with them before the race.
before the race last year
After spin this morning, we had a green monster partay!
The goods. You’ve gotta give people options! Everyone ended up going with my recommendation: cocoa bliss and frozen cherries…with the other usual staples of course. I loved getting to make gms for everyone…so fun!
Spreading the GM love totally made my day:)
Our friends, Jason and Emily, and their baby Kate are coming in this afternoon as well. We’ll be spending time with them this afternoon, and then we’re all slated to go to a friend’s wedding tonight. It’s an outdoor wedding on our university campus, so it should be fun!
I hope you all are having a great Saturday!
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