Things I'm loving

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

and

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I thought in the spirit of the day, I would keep things fun, and go through a little list of things I am LOVING on this day of love.  Some of these are totally random - well they all kind of are.  But thought it would be fun to share with you guys!

*Caribou Coffee's Hot Cinnamon Spice tea

I tried this for the first time last weekend and it was love at first sip!  I have been thinking about it ever since, and stopped for a cup before work this morning and ended up buying a container of it.  It's like Christmas in a cup and perfect for the cold weather.

*Nivea Creme

I recieved this hand cream in my Christmas stocking from my mom this year and have been using it everyday since then.  My hands get SUPER dry, especially in the winter and this has been a lifesaver.  A little goes a long way and I'm not even half way through this little pot.

*My Skratch Labs Nalgene bottle

I placed an order for Skratch stuff last week, and one thing I made sure to include was this Nalgene.  In an effort to stay hydrated and drink more water, this baby is super helpful.  I'm trying to drink two of these during the work day, having this cool bottle makes it easy.

*Flowers from my Valentine 

Jake sure knows the way to my heart!  Now, I have nothing against roses, but I always prefer something different if I'm going to get flowers, and my guy came through.  Plus they just happen to be from the best flower shop in town.

*Chocolate :)

Being it is Valentine's I just had to include some chocolate.  A coworker gave one to me, and it just happend to be dark chocolate - my fav!  Don't ask my why I haven't eaten it yet, I probably should.....

So thats all for this Friday!  I'm looking forward to my date tonight (Melting Pot, yum!) and my long run tomorrow (15, yikes!)  Hope everyone has a wonderful love-filled day!

Training update, a fashion tip, and new shoes!

Hello and happy Tuesday!

How is everyone?  I'm happy 'cause it's Valentine's week and I have a hot date on Friday that I'm looking forward to :)



But instead of hot dates, let's talk about some training!  I'm a few weeks into my "official" race training and I feel like things are finally starting to come together, and slowly but surely I'm making improvements.  With about 15 weeks until my goal race, I'm starting to feel like I do have a good chance of hitting my goals.  At the beginning of the year, I wasn't so sure.  But with that, let me recap a few training things.

January was really all about getting things back on track, and getting my consistancy back.  I know it's no surprise that I struggled with motivation earlier this year, and so that first month we just worked on keeping my workouts consistant.  It helped SO much, and I feel like I'm back on the wagon!  After some talking with Nichole about how to move forward in Feb., it was decided that I should NEED to start doing some speedwork, so welcome to the world of painful 200's, 400's, and 1000m repeats, oh how quickly I forgot how much those hurt.  But, no pain no gain, and I've started to see improvements, and compared to this time last year, I'm about 10-15 seconds ahead of where I was, so that again gives me the confidence that come June 1st, I'll be ready to rock and roll.  I'm also starting to see my tempo paces come down.  I'm still only going my heart rate for those, as to not get discouraged by a "slower" pace, but I'm finding I need to speed up more and more to keep my HR in the right zone.

So with all that, here's what I'm got this week, with a total mileage of 48

Mon - 1.5 WU&CD. 10x400m (1:29-1:31) w/equal rest. 8 miles total

           Strength

Tues. - REST

Wed. - 5 miles easy

Thurs. - 2 WU&CD. 4x200, 2x400, 1x800, 2x400, 4x200 w/equal rest. 9 miles total

             Strength

Fri. - 5 miles easy

Sat. - 15 miles eay (YIKES!)

Sun. - 6 miles easy

My long run on Saturday will be my longest yet.  I might request some company for this, so if anyone wantes to join me for some it would be much appreciated. I dont care if its only for a mile, it will help :) 

I keep joking with Nichole that I think she's secretly training me for a marathon :)

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Oh, and if you ever find yourself without gym socks, no worries, just hike up your "business" socks and get to work! Trust me on this one, people will be real jealous of how cool you are....



so sexy


and one last shoe pic because it's just such a wonderful sight.  Got these beauties over the weekend at Gear Running Store up in Edina, MN. 

cute cute cute Wave Riders!

my drink of choice

I told you guys I would be back, but this time with some slightly more exciting info!

Ok, so I know there are tons of you runners, bikers, mountian climbers, ice dancers, ect. out there and one of your main concerns is probably hydration right?  I know for me personally I'm pretty particular to what I'm able to stomach before, during and after a workout.  I know a lot of you also have a preference on what you like the best, and what you hate, I know I do (I'm looking at you sugary Poweraide!).  I've tried a lot of things, and up until a year ago, would just choose plain water over other sports drinks.  Most of them are just too sweet and sugary for me, and left me craving plain water just to wash it down.  But about a year ago I discovered my perfect drink!

Enter in Skratch Labs. I disovered it when I was needing something besides water for after my workouts, and a friend of ours who owned the local bike shop had Skratch for sale.  I tried a few packets out and instantly fell in love.  It wasnt sugary-syrupy like other sports drinks, it was nice and light, almost like just a flavored water.  But you guys, the flavors of these are awesome, it tastes like ACTUAL fruit, and not something artificial.  Thats probably because there isnt anything fake in these.  Thats why I love 'em. They have ingredients I can pronounce, use only real fruit and has less calories and more electrolytes.

Now this isnt some sponsored plug for these guys, and I would rave about them anyway, but as luck would have it, last December I saw a Tweet go out from Skratch that they were looking for "Taste Agents" to represent their brand.  I thought "Hey, I love this stuff, and it cant hurt to apply", so I did.  I knew they were going to choose towards the end of January, and when I got home from my run on Saturday I had a sweet email waiting for me - I was picked to be an official Taste Agent for 2014!  I am totally surprised because I never win anything, but totally honored to help represent them.

Full disclosure though, I am NOT getting paid to write any of this, the links I provide are NOT affiliate links so I am not earning compensation from you clicking them, and I do not recieve anything from having any readers purchase their stuff.  I do however recieve select discounted items and if I ever recieve anything for free or to review I will make sure to disclose that on here.

That being said, its also Skratch Labs 2nd birthday and they are having a massive sale on their website.  So if you wanted to try their stuff, now's a good time to buy.

So there you have it, I'm super psyched and am happy to help spread the good word!

Clean Gut check in!

Good morning and happy Monday!

How was every one's weekend?  Good?  Hope so!  Mine was pretty darn nice.  It involved lots of running, hanging with friends, and relaxing, and in my opinion (not that it's worth much) those 3 things make for a pretty darn good time.

Ok, so I haven't mentioned the Clean Gut program since last time I was here, but I just started my 3rd week so I wanted to pop in and let you know how things are going. As I mentioned before I was going to try really hard to be super prepared and make these changes as easy as possible, and I have to say, a little prep and thought make all the difference.  I will share a few of my favorite recipes from the book in a later post, but I have to say that everything I've made as turned out awesome! But before that, I'll go back.  The first week wasn't too bad, but I did find that on Tuesday-Wednesday of the first and 2nd week I found myself hungrier than normal.  Nothing too bad, but it was something I noticed (wonder why those days??).  Also, due to the fact that I would rather not lock myself in my house and would like to have a life, I have kind of told myself that I will just do the best I can.  My first weekend on the program, we went up north, and while I did my best, I did end up eating gluten, dairy and sugar on Saturday night and Sunday for lunch.  Not that this is horrible, but the biggest thing I noticed was when I woke up the next day I just felt lazy, unmotivated and kind of cranky.  I didn't want to go for my run, and when I did, my stomach hated me for it! (Note - I haven't had ANY stomach issues while on this program, which is a HUGE deal for me).  I got back to normal once we got home and by the end of the 2nd week felt much better again. 

This weekend we had friends over for homemade pizza ( I made a cauliflower crust pizza for mine) and a somewhat belated birthday for me.  Jake was nice enough to get a cake and there was no way I was going to turn that down!  Life is too short!  So I made the decision to have a piece, and wouldn't you know it, I woke up on Sunday feeling crabby (could have been the result of sugar, or maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed), but I could tell there was something off.  I made it to the gym and felt better once I left.  Last night we went to a friends house to watch the Superbowl, and again, I'm not going to just hold up in my house because I might not be able to eat everything, but I just did the best I could, and was able to still enjoy myself and for the most part avoided sugar, dairy and most gluten.  Although, our friend made the BEST guacamole and I couldn't resist having some with tortilla chips, it was totally worth it cause it was awesome!  Although I do feel a little but "puffy" in my stomach today, and I'm sure my run might involve a bathroom break, but who know, maybe I'll be fine.  This is all part of this process of figuring out what foods are effecting me, and what will make me feel the best.

I have already noticed a few changes too.  Now, I don't actually think I've lost any weight, but that wasn't really the point of this, I also don't have a scale either so who knows!  But all I know is that I feel better, my stomach feels "flatter" and less bloated, my energy levels are becoming more even - I no longer am tired in the morning, and don't go through my "3:00pm slump" like I used too.  I wouldn't say I have more energy, I just feel like my levels are now consistent all day, which is really nice.  I also cant say that I'm sleeping better, but I no longer wake up 2-3 times a night, so I guess that counts for something.

All in all this is working really well for me.  I'm learning a lot each day, and really paying attention to how I feel.  I have learned to really enjoy vegetables, and am learning new ways to cook things.  So this is the last week of the "elimination" portion of the program (meaning I have cut out all gluten, dairy and sugar for 3 weeks), and next week I will start to slowly add in each of those items to find out what, if any, are effecting me.

In the book they say that your gut acts like your second brain, and it really does.  What you eat effects so much more that what you think, and how your gut functions effects so much of how you feel in daily life, its kind of amazing, and I look forward to learning more and continuing  with this process.

Wow, riveting stuff right??  If you made it to the end, congrats? Kind of boring I know, but lucky for you I'm going to be back later today with some super exciting news!!!  

Have a great morning!