Bran Bars and Brewers

Well, hello strangers!  I didn't think it would be this long until my next post, but it's been a little hectic since the half marathon.  Let's catch-up, shall we?

The race was almost two weeks ago now and it couldn't have gone much better!  We did wake up to thunderstorms and hail, but by race time we were just about good to go.  Our start time was delayed by about fifteen minutes because of some lightening, but it was worth the wait since it stayed clear and dry from then on.  I started out strong and maintained a steady pace throughout.  I cut off eight minutes from my last race and finished at 2:09, only seven minutes behind David!  I was thrilled... and very cold!  But it was such a fun day I didn't care.  Plus we got these sweet medals!

Other than that I have just been staying busy with school... tests and quizzes galore!!  I did manage to get my UW application sent in which was a huge weight off my shoulders.

Speaking of school-- Lately my mornings have been so chaotic I've been having a hard time managing to get a good breakfast in.  I'm one of those people who has to eat in the morning (although really everyone should!).  I searched the internet high and low for a good breakfast bar but nothing really grabbed me.  I've always wanted to create my own recipe so I figured this was the perfect opportunity!  I found a recipe guideline for cookies {here} and used that as my starting point.  I'm a little biased but I think what I came up with was pretty tasty.  It's nothing too crazy but I was excited that they turned out.  I might tweak them a bit, but it's definitely a good start.  I like alliteration so for now they are Banana Bran Bars.  If you want to get real crazy you could call them Banana Bran Breakfast Bars. :)

I think for breakfast tomorrow I might crumble one over some Greek yogurt... mmm.  {Here} is the recipe for those of you who are interested.  Make a batch of them and let me know what you think.  Any feedback would be great!

Happy Hump Day!

T.G.I.F.

Photo credit: Dear Musketeer

Happy Friday!  Any fun plans for the weekend?

I will be participating in my second half marathon, the Brewers Mini, on Saturday.  I'm excited, but of course nervous.  No matter how many races I do, I still get the pre-race jitters.  I'll be sure to post pics!

Enjoy the weekend everyone :)

School is in session!

I'm only a week in and I'm already exhausted!  This blog is all about balance though, so I will find a way to make everything work :)

I only have one class tomorrow so I just have one tiny piece of homework to worry about.  Which means I had time to cook!  David even got home in time to help.  It's always fun to cook together, the extra set of hands makes it seem like less of a chore.  We had extremely ripe tomatoes so we made some spaghetti with homemade meatballs and homemade sauce.  

yum. yUM.  YUM!


I had read over some old blog posts and found a cookie recipe I made back in April.  (You can find that post here.)  We have strong sweet "tooths" in this house so I decided to make them tonight for dessert.  Glad I did!  Except now they won't stop calling my name...Just say no, Ellen.  Just say no.

Earlier this week I decided to embark on a "veggie project" and so far it's going quite well.  We finally got our new batch of CSA vegetables so we're all stocked up.  In the meantime though, I had to get creative.  I've had fresh pumpkin in the freezer for almost a year now so I think it's about time that gets used up, huh?  Yesterday I had pumpkin oatmeal, which needs to be tweaked, it turned out pretty bland.  And today I made a pumpkin pie protein shake- which had a little too much flavor (I got a little cinnamon-happy).  So once I get those fixed I'll be sure to share recipes. :)

My second half marathon is coming up in just two short weeks!  I was feeling really confident up until last night when a friend and I tried an eleven mile run.  My stomach was upset and her knee was crippled.  We still made it a little over nine, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed.  Training is just so time consuming it can be hard to manage everything AND stay motivated.  That's why I have to just take one day at a time.
I realize this isn't the most exciting post, but as I've mentioned, I want to keep up with this blog.  Even if it means boring posts once in a while.  I promise, they won't always be like this.

Happy Friday Eve!

Overdue.

It's been a busy time of year obviously, since I haven't posted in a few weeks.  I thought about just forgetting about my blog but I feel like I do that with a lot of things I set out to do so I'm posting again because I want to stick with this.  So here I am :)  I just finished with finals and have started my summer.  I'd say it's already off to a great start!

Our big race day has come and gone!  Yesterday David and I ran our very first half marathon up in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  It went well for the most part, except one minor detail-- yesterday was a scorcher!!  It started at 7 AM but it quickly warmed up and I was tiring out at mile four.  That's not good when you have nine more to go!  But I pulled through and I crossed the finish line with a race time of 2 hours 17 minutes.  I'm happy with it considering the conditions we ran in.  In fact, about ten minutes after I crossed the finish line they shut the course down because it was getting too dangerous for the runners (there was also a full marathon so several runners were still out there).

Here we are, post marathon, just glistening away!

David and I had separated early on in the race, as he has much longer legs and therefore faster than I am, so afterwards I looked for him.  And looked some more.  And some more.  Until finally, I found him- about an hour afterwards.  Just what you want to do after you run 13.1 miles, wander around in a hot parking lot full of other sweaty runners in search of someone.  Not so much.  We grabbed our running bags, found some strangers to snap a victory photo and headed out.  We were tired and sore along with post-running stomachaches.  We drove back to his parents house where we stayed for the weekend, showered off and went to lunch.  He mowed down half a pizza while I devoured a burger.  We took a nice nap and headed home.

Even though we didn't run as fast as we'd have liked to, we're happy with our first half marathon experience.  Now we have times to beat!  I'm mostly proud that I set a goal, stuck with it and reached it.  And I'm happy we did it together :)  We actually signed up for another half marathon tonight coming up in September.  Hopefully we'll have some cooler weather!

Enough about running, how about food??  Lately I've been trying to work on my sugar intake. We had a container of cookies in the house a while ago and when I was home during the day I was finding it hard to control myself.  I decided to quit cold turkey.  Temporarily, that is.  This Thursday I'll have gone two weeks without added sugar (with the exception of yesterday, the race day, I treated myself to not one, but two cookies on a job well done- or should I say run?).  But now it's back to reality.  It really hasn't been as bad as I thought.  I use my fruit as dessert and have been making more smoothies as a treat.

Sugar isn't the only thing I'm trying to cut out.  I'm trying to eat less red meat (so yes, that burger yesterday was a nice treat as well!) and follow more of the "Mediterranean" diet.  I hate using the term diet though.  I just like to watch what I eat.  I like to know what my food is made of and where it comes from.  I like to know that it's nourishing my body and not just tasting good.

My goal is to eat well most of the time and indulge less of the time.  I want to enjoy treats as they are meant to be enjoyed, once in a while.  As a...wait for it... treat!

One other thing that has been occupying my time lately is the four-part documentary that aired on HBO last week, "The Weight of the Nation."  All four parts are online so PLEASE go watch!  People don't realize how much damage we really are doing to ourselves.  It's scary.

Now I'm looking forward to a relaxing rest of the week.  I'm actually flying down to Georgia on Thursday to visit one of my best friends for a mini vacay.  I'm pretty excited to be laying on the beach!  We plan on doing some baking so I will have to update again soon with some photos from our adventures.

Until next time!

Feelin' worn out.

The title says it all!  And it is making training very difficult.  I unfortunately ended up not going to Zumba last night, I just had too much homework to work on.  I was bummed about it but I knew I had a good reason to miss.  So today I did a four mile run with some weights and stretching afterwards.  I think tomorrow I will do some yoga and Friday will be my long run.  It's my weekend to work so I won't be getting in any major work outs. :(

My half is in about two and a half weeks so I'm getting down to crunch time!  Anyone have any tips and tricks to keep myself motivated??  I think right now it's mostly mental.  My body feels mostly capable, although today's run did feel a little odd.  Any runners out there ever run your routes backwards?  Try saying that five times fast!  That's a mouth full.  Anyways, I reversed my normal route and for majority of my run I just felt unbalanced or something.  I'm not sure?  It is much warmer today than it has been so maybe it's the weather.  Or me just being so tired.  Who knows, but I hope it passes.  And soon!

Another short post for today.  The homework just doesn't quit!  But first I must shower and enjoy some of my left over homemade chicken fried rice.  I must say, it turned out pretty well for just throwing a bunch of stuff together!  We had left over quinoa, some grilled up chicken breasts and spinach and mushrooms that needed to be used.  So yesterday I cooked up some eggs (like an omelette, but not folded), then sauteed the mushrooms and spinach, added the chicken, threw in the quinoa with some soy sauce and last but not least stirred in the egg.  A protein packed lunch perfect for after a run!

Happy Wednesday!

Long time, no type.

It has been a busy past few days.  This past Saturday I ran a very popular race in Madison, the annual Crazy Legs!!  It's an 8K, so 5 miles, and this year was the first year I was actually ready.  I ran it with a friend, which always helps, but unfortunately it was COLD, RAINY, and WINDY.  But once we got running I was okay and I finished just over 47 minutes-- not bad!  Afterwards we snagged our free beers and headed to lunch.

That evening I had a little girls night because David was gone.  We feasted on bacon-wrapped shrimp, turkey meatballs in a cranberry chili sauce, twice baked potatoes (made with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream), stuffed crescent rolls, veggies and dip, fruit salad, angel food cupcakes AND, the mother load of all mother loads.... Twix brownies.  Oh. My. Gosh... they were deadly, but a very nice treat after a cold race. :)  Gotta treat yourself once in a while, right?

The rest of the weekend, and yesterday, I spent helping my parents move.  After thirty years of living in the house I grew up in, they moved to Madison.  It's bittersweet for me.  I'm happy for them, but I'll miss having that as "my home."

With all the moving (and my giant to-do list lurking in the back of my head, it is the end of the semester after all) I wasn't being very careful with what I put into my mouth.  I treated myself a little bit more than once in a while, so now today I am trying to get back on track!  Starting the morning off with coffee and a smoothie to follow.  Tonight I'll go to Zumba for a cross-training session and I think tomorrow I'll run.  I am still feeling a bit sore since I didn't stretch as much as I should have after Crazy Legs.  Naughty, naughty!

Alright, enough rambling.  I have a pile of homework to work on, so I better get going!

Happy May Day!!

It's a beautiful morning!

It really is.  We've been having some chilly weather here in Wisconsin, but today looks like it actually might turn out nice.  Not the 70 degree weather I'm hoping for, but I'll take it!

I guess I haven't mentioned yet that I'm in the middle of training for a half marathon.  It's coming up in about four weeks.  David is also training for it, so that helps to keep me going.  Today will be my longest run yet, 9 miles!!  Ooh boy, my legs get tired just thinking about it.  But I just finished my pre-run breakfast of a mini bagel with some peanut butter, a small dish of applesauce with cinnamon and a small cup of coffee.  I don't always drink coffee before a run but I recently read that it might actually help with endurance.  I've never had a problem with it (stomach-wise) before running so I thought today would be a good day to enjoy some beforehand.

I've also been trying some of the "energy gels" to see which one I like best for the big day.  So far I've used Gatorade's Prime.  My biggest concern is how it affects my stomach, not necessarily how well it works because who knows, it might just be the placebo effect.  I didn't have any trouble with Prime, my only complaint is that it's such a big pouch, I felt like I was ingesting quite a bit right before my run.  With that being said, my 8 mile run went well and I felt good throughout.

Today I'm trying CLIF's version.  It's a much smaller portion so I'm excited about that.  They had two flavors (I'm sure more are available, but I just happened to see them at Wal-Mart and this is what they had), Mocha and Razz.  I went with the Razz.  Even though I like coffee, I didn't know if I'd like a mocha flavored gel shot.  For me, the fruity flavors are always a safe bet.

Now it's time to work on some math homework while breakfast digests.  I also need to get my run mapped out.  For you runners out there, if you haven't used MapMyRun, I highly recommend it.

Wish me luck on my NINE miles!!  Yikes!