Happy Leap Year & giveaway update

First up, if you haven't already entered the giveaway (running fuel & some fun beauty stuff from Victoria's Secret), go here. One bonus entry for anyone who mentions this on their blog - just add a comment to the post I linked to (the giveaway post) & let me know that you mentioned it.

Workouts:
Here's what I've been up to, workout wise, since Friday. I'm back on track with my training plan, & feeling good. Plan for tonight is 4 miles, with sprints interspersed, per my training plan. I'll need to run after the kids are in bed, as I have meetings all day at work.

• Saturday - 8 mile run. The weather was cold, with a snow/rain mix, so that was about as much fun as you'd expect. ;-) I did the first mile on the treadmill, decided I couldn't hack 7 more on the 'mill, and went outside. I'd rather be cold than bored out of my skull. Pace was a little slower than I'd hoped, but I'm not sore after my run. I think I could have pushed it a bit harder.
• Sunday - 60 minutes of cross training (elliptical) + arms & lots of stretching/foam rolling.
• Monday - 25 minute run (treadmill) + 20 minutes on the elliptical + legs & abs
• Tuesday - 4.5 mile hill run, outside. My lungs are still burning quite a bit when I start my runs, with that heavy feeling you get when you're not feeling 100%. I'm taking it slow & steady, hoping to be fully recovered asap! I'm also still coughing & a bit congested - fingers crossed that things are cleared up before my long run this weekend.

I am having some toe pain, so I'm not sure if I have an ingrown nail, my shoes aren't fitting properly, or if this is a leftover pain from walking A LONG way in ski boots (not the best choice) a few weeks ago. I definitely felt toe pain at the time, so I know that bruised my nail beds a bit. I'm going to try to soak my feet tonight & see if that helps.

Food:
My nutrition has been reasonably good, with the exception of yesterday. Due to the timing of my run, and work, I didn't eat until about an hour after my workout & I was famished. I ate my lunch & dinner calories in one fell swoop, and ate a ridiculous amount of gummy bears. Not exactly a super food, but pretty tasty. ;-) Win some/lose some.

Outfits:
I've been bored with the same old jeans/sweater routine, so I tried to mix things up today with a dress. Of course, after I pulled the car out of the garage this morning, I saw that it was snowing & had to change my shoes. Not sure the boots quite work with the dress, but I was running late.

Monday:

• Wine colored sweater - Loft
• Silver necklace - Macy's
• Dark wash jeans - Gap, Always Skinny
• Black boots - Anne Klein, Macy's

Tuesday:

• Coral sweater - Loft
• White  tank - Loft
• Silver necklace - c/o Michael
• Jeans - American Eagle, Skinny
• Bad hair - because I didn't want to wash it before my run. aka - total laziness.

Today:

• Black sweater (can't tell, given my amazing photography skills, but this has cute gold buttons) - Jcrew
• Turquoise dress - Forever 21. This is a summer dress, that I pulled out of the closet this morning, because I just wanted the color
• Black ribbed tights - Loft
• Black boots - Macy's

Questions for you:
What is the weather like in your area?

Have you ever had toe pain? Was it a shoe issue? Nails? Did soaking help?

I have my 15K in a little over two weeks - can't wait! Are you currently training for any events?

Five things Friday

Oh yes, it's Friday! I'm so ready for the week to be wrapping up! :-)

Here are the five things that I'm loving this Friday.

1. Free chocolate milk. My office stocks this in the cooler, and it's my new favorite post-workout snack. YUM.
2. My new Fresh Sugar Rose lip balm. It was my free birthday gift from Sephora. What's not to love about free? It's been well established that I'm a lip gloss addict, but this is not too sticky. The sticky residue left behind from my lip gloss on glasses, etc is, shall we say, a pet peeve of Michael's. ;-)

3. Taquitos. Yes, taquitos. I missed National Margarita Day earlier in the week, but I plan to remedy that this weekend. And make some homemade taquitos. Make a giant batch & then freeze them. YUM.

4. I'm starting to think (okay, perhaps a more apt description is "fantasize" - it's a little cold & rainy here in Seattle) about summer trips. Our calendar is not 100% locked down, but I do know there will be another BFF girls Las Vegas trip on the horizon in July. No trip is complete without a cabana day:

Or, a trip to the food & beverage room for FREE CHAMPAGNE! And, the good stuff. ..  my favorite. Perrier Jouet. Drool.

Now I just need to con someone into watching the kiddos for a few days, so that Michael & I can also squeeze in a Las Vegas getaway. I'm willing to ship them direct to you. They are cute & reasonably sweet, as long as you have Legos, plenty of episodes of Scooby Doo, and gold fish crackers. And, they know how to rock a hat. . .

5. My little guy (Nick) is turning 5 in three weeks. I can't believe how quickly it's going by! I remember the day he was born VIVIDLY. :-) He's a St. Patrick's Day baby, so we're having a huge family bash at my parents house on St. Patrick's Day. Nick is seriously the most hilarious (and, wildly high maintenance) person I know. A day never goes by without him saying something that cracks me up. He is so excited for his birthday, & does not let me forget that it's coming up in less than a month! ;-) Some party planning will definitely be going down this weekend!

I made Michael take my picture this morning, & I'm pretty sure that I look like a balloon, so I took my own glam bathroom shot at work. Here are our two attempts. I swear that my sweater is not too tight, as it appears in the photos.

Details:

Cream tank - Loft

Brown sweater - Loft

Pearl necklace - Jcrew

Dark wash skinny jeans - Gap, Always Skinny (or, in this picture, not so much)

Boots - Vincent Camuto

I've finally managed to bring my eating back on track, and I had a moderately painful treadmill run last night. It was 30 minutes of chest burning & mild coughing, but I survived. Today I managed 4 miles of hills & felt much better. Hopefully that means that the cold is receding, because I'm hoping for a long run tomorrow!

And with that, go enter the giveaway if you haven't already! You know you want some running fuel & fun other assorted stuff. :-)

What are you up to this weekend? Are you thinking about summer vacations yet? Anything fun planned?

Just my luck. . . and a giveaway!

Where does the time go? I've been sick with some sort of a cold/flu thing, & now I'm starting to panic about falling behind on my training plan. Luckily, I think I can add a week or two due to the race I signed up for, but I'm pretty Type A, and get all stressed out when I can't fit in my scheduled runs. Just ask Michael, who gets to suffer when I can't run.

And, speaking of not running, I had a series of unlucky events that interfered with my running last week:

• On Tuesday (Valentine's Day) - I had just enough time to get home, squeeze in a fast run, shower & make it to my son's Valentine's party at school. I was in charge of one of the "activity" stations. I got home, & discovered that my water bottle spilled in my gym bag, & my shoes were SOAKED. I only own one pair of running shoes. That clearly needs to be remedied. Anyway, workout #1 cancelled.
• On Wednesday - I went to the gym at lunch & started to run. Was feeling kind of light-headed & dicey, but pushed on. Made it to three miles, & was sweating like I just finished a marathon, & my hands were shaking. I got off the "mill", and had to sit on the ground for a few minutes to regroup. Drank a protein shake & ate a cheeseburger (I know - the combo of protein shake & cheeseburger just sounded right at the time) & it helped, but I still wasn't feeling great. Had to give myself a pep talk to change out of my running clothes. Actually contemplated returning to my office wearing my sweaty clothes, because just the idea of changing made me tired. Luckily, I did not do this.
• On Friday - all pumped up, because I had time to do an outside run. Still not feeling 100%, so I chose a run that wouldn't be too hilly. This is no small feat in my neighborhood. Got my run on, and noticed LOTS of police around, which is super unusual. Then noticed lots of closed roads. President Obama was doing a fundraiser in my neighborhood, & virtually all of the roads were closed. This ended up being no bueno for me. The park (aka my potty/water stop) was closed, which resulted in me having some bathroom challenges. And, all of the roads back to my home (save one) were closed. My run ended up being MUCH hillier and longer than planned. I did survive, but called Michael & almost had him come to pick me up. He offered, but I decided that I couldn't quite be that lame & finished up.

So, in summary, three of my workouts either sucked or were cancelled due to: water spillage, illness, & the unlikely but true presidential motorcade/secret service. Life was rough. :-)

I did get in a great run on Sunday, thanks to my sister's boyfriend. He convinced me to run & it was the only time I've ever run more than a mile or so with someone. It was nice to have someone to chat with - this reminds me that I really do need to find a running group. As a PSA - I do not recommend two cups of coffee + no water + a bunch of wine the night before as the best pre-run fuel. Yikes.

I've been eating a ridiculous amount of comfort food this week (bagels with peanut butter, grilled cheese, etc) & not a lot of nutritious food. I've also been sleeping twelve hours/day and still want to nap under my desk. This just means that next week is destined to be better, right?! I need to get on the scale, but I'm a little scared. I'm going to force myself tomorrow.

Once again, you can barely see the picture, but here goes.

Violet shirt - Loft
Purple tank - Banana Republic
Skinny jeans - American Eagle
Black wedge sandals - Tory Burch

No lunch time run today due to meetings, but I'm going to run 5 miles tonight. On the treadmill. Hope it's not as painful as I'm envisioning. :-)

With that, what is the most random thing that's interfered with your run?

Have you ever had to add weeks to your training plan? What do you do when your sick & can't run?

And, on to the giveaway!

I'm giving away 10 packs of Clif Shot Blocks (Black Cherry Flavor) + Victoria's Secret body lotion & a lip gloss. Maybe some random other treats thrown in there. All you have to do is be a follower on the blog & comment to tell me any of the above questions, or your favorite long run fuel. I'll pick a winner at random next week!

ETA: Bonus entry - mention this on your blog, & add a comment letting me know for a bonus entry!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello, there! Happy Valentine's Day to all of you lovely ladies! I hope you are enjoying chocolate and wine, or whatever your vice of choice is today. :-)

Did anyone get any fun VDay gifts? We did a combined birthday/Valentine's Day celebration last week, so today is low key. For my birthday, I got these fabulous shoes (in black), from Michael. LOVE them.

I also got a sparkly red Bic Band from Michael as my Valentine's Day present - love it! The man has great taste. :-)

Outfit:
I wore pink today, and a ruffle-y white tank, as I'm organizing the Valentine's Day party at Sam's school this afternoon.

Pink sweater - Jcrew, Jackie cardigan
White ruffle-y tank - Gap
Jeans - Rock & Republic. These really need higher heels, but I'm sort of beyond the phase where I can wear higher heels. Maybe I should have them hemmed a bit more
Shoes - hard to tell, but Jcrew black patent pumps.

Food
My nutrition has been pretty good, although there were lots of fun celebratory splurges over the past week involving Greek food, wine, cupcakes . . . all of the good things in life! :-)

Here's what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast - whole wheat english muffin w/ 1 egg scrambled with a diced yellow pepper + a bunch of sliced fruit + coffee/milk
Snack - Kind bar. Hello, the dark chocolate cherry cashew flavor is crazy amazing. Where have these been all my life?!
Lunch - small piece of leftover chicken pesto pizza + apple
Snack - handful of Pirate's Booty. This was unplanned - I was starving after my workout.
Dinner - tortellini with grated parmesan, fresh tomatoes, & yellow pepper + barbecued chicken on top. With roasted Brussels sprouts/almonds on the side. Yum!

Running:
I kicked off my training plan last week, & my had my first long run on Saturday . . . Six miles in the relative cold, wind, & drizzling. It wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but I was so proud of myself for finishing! It was an extremely hilly run, and I did 6.11 miles in 65 minutes. I could definitely feel it in my quads & hips the next day. We skied on Sunday, and my legs were protesting by the end of the day. :-)

I have to do a five mile run today before I head off to run the cookie decorating station at the Valentine's Day party at school, so I hope I'm not gnarly & sweaty in front of the other moms. Who will for sure be decked out in festive clothes, with perfect hair & makeup. Perfect, I'm definitely not. ;-)

And, for fun, please share your most awkward Valentine's Day story. Mine. . . I was very close friends with a coworker for several years. Both of us were dating other people for most of that time. One year, he decided that he was going to step up & tell me how he really felt on Valentine's Day. He sent a singing Valentine to my office, and the 5 piece band sang, 'I Just Want to be Your Teddy Bear". I was so embarrassed that I kept trying to get the band to stop singing, to no avail. The lead singer then handed me an enormous stuffed bear (3 feet tall, maybe?) and a card where my friend detailed his feelings for me (they were not reciprocated, & I thought we were strictly in the just friends camp). For the entire time I worked on that team, people made jokes, serenaded me, & relived that moment again & again. AWKWARD.

Now you! What did you get for Vday? Most awkward moment/gift/etc?

Highs & Lows

I ran 5 miles on the treadmill today, & while I was cooling down, I started crying. Like, serious crying, not just a few small tears. Let me explain. . .

We bought a new car a few weeks ago - a fabulous Audi Q7. It's sparkling & new, & I am a clumsy driver (always hitting the curb & parking too close to other cars, etc), so even though it was intended for me, I haven't driven it yet. My other car is in the shop, so today was my maiden voyage with the new car.

This morning, I walked the boys to the bus stop, and noticed that Sam brought a basketball. Of course, he's not allowed to have a basketball at school (he's in Kindergarten), so I told him to go back & put it in the garage. I stood at the end of the driveway so I could watch our youngest, who was standing at the bus stop, and keep an eye on Sam. He rolled the basketball into the garage, but it got stuck under the Audi. He went to retrieve it, and had his head & arms under the car. At that moment, I realized that Michael was in the car & was going to back it out for me to warm it up, since it's been cold in the mornings. The reverse lights came on, and I was frozen. I started shouting for Sam to move, and freaked him out, he got up & darted the other way behind the car, and at the last second, Michael stopped. The new car has a rear view camera, and when Sam moved, the car started beeping wildly.

On any other day, and Michael would have been backing out our other car (no camera in the back, no beeping if there is an obstacle behind you), and would have had no idea that Sam was behind him. I can't stop crying today. I'm at work, and the tears won't stop. I just keep thinking about how very close it was. So, my PSA for you is to double/triple check when you're pulling out of your own garage or driveway. Michael assumed we were at the bus stop, and I assumed he was in the house.

What I ate yesterday, what I'm wearing, and how I finally managed five miles for the first time in months doesn't really seem very relevant today. I went to the gym at lunch to get my mind off of everything, and it helped. The treadmill is a wonderful thing for erasing all rational thought from your head. . .

This gorgeous boy is turning six in ten days, and I'm so grateful today.