Good luck!

Good luck to all of the ladies running the Maine Coast Half Marathon tomorrow!! I will be thinking of you all and wishing I was there with you! Enjoy every second. This is what you have worked for.  Could you have asked for better weather??

Source

I am going to keep training so I will be able to run with you next year!

I’m off to Texas in the a.m. but will have plenty of time to blog during the week so expect updates!

I’m baaack

So I have been going back and forth with myself whether or not I wanted to continue blogging. Honestly, before it was becoming a little time consuming commenting on every blog I read and trying to keep up with the training schedule and eating habits of other bloggers.  I started this blog for me not to become a professional blogger or this super hero who never has a “bad” day.  I’m not going to compete – I’m just going to enjoy. 

So a quick update…

I went to the orthopedics for my leg and I did infact have a tear in one of the tendons in my leg (my calf to be exact). They gave me a HUGE velcro boot to wear. I honestly haven’t been wearing it all the time because that’s not the way I wanted to start my new job. I have been gentle with my leg and am feeling a lot better. I even did the elliptical pain free last night for 30 minutes.

I’m settling into my new job and routine and it should allow me more time to workout, blog, cook, clean my house, and anything else I want to squeeze in. 

I’m heart broken that I won’t be running the half marathon on Sunday but I will actually be leaving for a business trip that day to Dallas.  I guess when one door closes, another does open.

My company launched a well being website called Well Then… I joined today. It’s kinda like Facebook/Twitter for healthy lifestyle changes and stuff. It’s pretty awesome and I love to work for a company that promotes well being…

I have a ton of new ideas and recipes to post about so I hope you are still out there reading!

I’ve been avoiding you…

and I’m so sorry! I’ve been avoiding blogging for a few reasons. 

First, my life had gotten incredibly busy at work. I have been going in early and working late to get everything I need to done before I leave. It makes the day fly by but I am exhausted when I get home. My work/life balance is way out of balance this week. I promise to get back on track ASAP.

The main reason I have been avoiding blogging was because I have been avoiding an announcement that I had a feeling would in inevitable… I’ve decided not to run my half marathon… This has been weighing on me the last week or so and it’s been killing me. It breaks my heart to think I won’t be there. I have invested a lot both physically and emotionally.

I had another appointment with my primary care doctors office today to look at my leg.  They told me to stay off of it until I can follow up with orthopedics. I thought I would be fine once I recovered from the flu but it honestly hasn’t gotten any better at all. It is swollen, tender, and I can pinpoint the spot where it hurts and by the end of the day my everyday activities are too much to handle. It radiates throughout my leg and I realized this is what is stopping me from falling asleep at night. (Thank you for your suggestion though! I tried quiet a few of them)

This has been a hard decision for me because I feel like a complete failure. Not just to everyone in my life but most importantly myself. I wanted to prove to myself how strong I am and how I can accomplish anything I work at. I have always doubted myself and I wanted to prove myself wrong. In making this decision, I’ve decided I still will prove this to myself it just won’t happen on November 8th.

How will I do it next time?

• I will make sure I have good base mileage before jumping into a training plan. If I can’t run a mile, how should I expect my body to run three?
• I will incorporate my strength training to make sure my body is strong enough
• I am seriously considering joining a running club in my area. Being a beginner I feel like I could use the guidance and support!
• I will cross train to give my body (legs!) a rest and prevent injury.
• I will do a 5k and a 10k as part of my training for my next half marathon because there will be one!

Thank you for cutting me a break lately… I know I have been bad at updating but I honestly have just been avoiding this… As a blogger, you sometimes feel a tremendous amount of pressure to keep up with everyone else.  I need to listen to my body (and my doctors!) on this one. I have to keep telling myself that I am just beginning this journey to try to live a healthier life. I will slip up, face injuries, and get sick. I am human. I’m not striving for perfection, I am striving for a healthier, more balanced life.

I’m off to do a little
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Thanks for letting me vent!

I know this has been asked time and time again but indulge me a bit! I need to know if other people feel the same way…Do you feel pressure from other bloggers, friends, family, co-workers to keep up with their lifestyle?  How does it effect you?

Night out

This weekend Garrett and I went out to celebrate my new job. We ended up going to Joe’s Bar and Grill. It was just the two of us and a random bust of Harry Truman that sat with us at our table.

I forgot my camera so I had to take the pictures with my phone so sorry for the quality! I started dinner with a glass of Pinot grigio. It hit the spot – nice and crisp but not too sweet. I wish I remember who made it!

I ordered the special for dinner. Baked haddock with shrimp that came with a side of vegetables (asparagus) and rice. It was $21.95 and not worth it at all! The fish was good but kinda of plain. The rice was basically white rice with butter and they gave me ONE spear of asparagus for my vegetable! I left the rice and ate the rest. Garrett wasn’t impressed with his meal either.

I don’t think we will be going back. It was over priced and the service was bad. It was a weekend so they were a bit busy but I feel like that is no excuse!

News!

Thank goodness it’s Thursday! I’m so happy for it to be Friday tomorrow!  I feel like the first couple of days of this week dragged and the past couple of days flew by! It should be a quiet weekend because it is supposed to rain until Sunday afternoon.

Okay… enough with the suspense… This week I was offered a new job! This is a big step for me because it is an actual career – not just a job. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my job now and I have learned a ton but it was time to move on! I will still be in the same company but will be doing the staffing, helping to design and implement new policies and procedures, and do some data analysis to make sure the department is running smoothly. I am very excited! An added bonus of the job? It is about 1/3 mile from my house! My commute will go from one hour to about 3 minutes!

I wanted to make sure everything was official before I got too excited but I finalized my start date yesterday. My last day at my current job will  be October 16th  and I will start the new position October 21st. I cannot tell you how excited I am!! There will be a bit of a transition period trying to figure out a new schedule and routine but it will be great!

This morning was the same routine. I started my morning off with a mini fritatta

I made this with:

• 1 egg, 2 egg whites
• zucchini
• summer squash
• chopped onions
• chopped red bell pepper
• spinach
• 1/4 cup brown rice
• 2 tbsp shredded cheese

I sautéed the vegetables for a few minutes, then added the rice. I mixed everything and then put the eggs on top. Once the was cooked, I sprinkled the cheese on top and put under the broiler to brown the top.

This held me over almost all the way until lunch. I had a banana around 11 because I was going into a meeting and didn’t want to be left hungry in the meeting.

I wasn’t that hungry for lunch so I had a cup of soup left over from when I was sick last week.

It was pretty good for pre-made soup!  I was honestly surprised. The ingredient list wasn’t bad and it was filled with veggies.

I would buy this again if I needed a quick lunch.

Around 4:00 I got pretty hungry. I knew I was going to run when I got home so I wanted a more substantial snack. I had a yogurt planned

but I wanted something to go with it so I bought a granola bar from the vending machine to crush up and add to it.

I am so happy I added the granola bar because I did not like this yogurt at all. It was peach flavored but really sour. They tried to mask it with added sugar but it didn’t work. I will not buy this flavor again!

For dinner I bailed and made the rest of my spinach and cheese raviolis. I ran and had a couple of errands to run so I wanted something quick.

Don’t worry – this is the last of them so you won’t see them again!

Today I went on my first run since I was diagnosed with a pulled Achilles tendon. I did an easy two miles. I felt great for the first 3/4 miles and then my leg got a little sore. I am putting heat on it now and hopefully it will feel better tomorrow. I have either a bike ride or a run planned for tomorrow after work depending on how my leg feels. The doctor made it clear that I am not supposed to run if it hurts at all so I am going to listen to my body!

The half marathon is 5 weeks from Sunday. If this injury persists I’m going to head back to the doctors next week to reassess the treatment plan.  I have my heart set on running this race and I do not want this to stop me!! Tina has some good tips about working out after an injury. I think I will use some of those to make this happen.

. The next couple of weeks are going to be busy at work finishing things up so a good nights sleep will be important so I can stay healthy and keep training. I’ve had some trouble falling asleep lately because my mind won’t stop!

Do  you have any tips that help you fall asleep??

Off to watch The Office – have a good night everyone!

Taking..

the night off to celebrate with

I’ll be back with details tomorrow – I promise! Sorry for the teases!!

Fingers Crossed

Happy Tuesday Everyone!  I got some very promising news today that I can’t share just yet but soon! Keep your fingers crossed for me. I’m going to make this short and sweet so I can relax and celebrate a little.

For breakfast this morning I made myself a breakfast burrito.

This morning I used

• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 an avocado
• 1/2 cup spinach
• 2 tbsp shredded cheese

These keep me full for hours! Love them.

For snack I had a banana

I had leftovers from last night for lunch but I didn’t have a sausage in it – just veggies and rice. Right after I received my news I treated myself to a 2 pump pumpkin spice misto from Starbucks.

For dinner I made spinach and cheese raviolis and topped them with spinach, a chicken sausage, and marinara sauce.

This was a great combo!

I let work a little late and had some errands to run so I took today off of my workout.  I am planning on running tomorrow so I decided to rest today so I will be in my best shape tomorrow for my run. I’ve been crashing towards the end of the day the past couple of days so I think this is the best idea right now.  I  have my fingers crossed for a good run tomorrow!!

Update – I didn’t do any cardio but I did core and arms while watching the Biggest Loser. I needed to do something. I did:

• 50 regular crunches
• 50 bicycle crunches
• 25 crunches to the right
• 25 to the left
• 50 with legs straight out
• 30 arm curls with 10lb weights on each side
• 30 tricep extensions on each arm with 10lbs weights
• 30 dumbell side bends on each side with 10lb weights

Feel good I did it and gave me a bit more confidence for my run tomorrow. I definitely feel my strength coming back!

Confession – I need something sweet after dinner. Does anyone have any healthy dessert ideas?? I’m willing to try anything!