Bye-Bye, Blogger.

After thinking this over for a really long time, I'm making the switch to Wordpress. It's been a great run, Blogger, but this blog originally began as a means for updating you all here in the US after my move to France back in 2007.

Well, since I no longer live there and am now interested in healthy food and fitness, I'm making the permanent switch. I may come back every now and then, or maybe not, but please bookmark the following website! It's where you can find me from here on out and track me as I hope to register for a half-marathon later this year:

http://www.shesgoingdistance.com

I still have a lot to learn in Wordpress, but I'm figuring it out as I go. That said, it is by NO means complete and I think will still be a work in progress for quite a bit now.

UPDATE: I'm back on Blogger again (hard to keep track, huh?!) Here is my newest site. Hopefully I'll stick with it this time...

Too lazy to post House Party photos

Oh man, it's late and I've got some MORE house cleaning/laundry to do. It never ends. It is for this reason, I will not (yet) be posting the House Party photos from my parents' Williams-Sonoma soiree this weekend. Mine, by the way, will be held on THURSDAY!

So instead, I'm going to tell you about something new I tried today. As I mentioned in my post race post, I had my first taste of Muscle Milk yesterday. This morning I tried another 1/3 of the bottle (bananas and crème) with a banana. It was a very banana-y breakfast. I think I liked it, but I'm not 100 percent sure, I guess :)

LUNCH

Then for lunch I tried two new items: POM light hibiscus green tea and Healthy Choice's Cafe Steamers, Chicken Pesto Classico. I've had TONS of POM drinks before, as evidenced by the following glass out of which I drank my lunch beverage:

I swear POM didn't pay me to write this post :) But if you work for POM, I wouldn't mind..... I don't usually buy POM since it's pretty expensive, but they were practically buy one get one free at Safeway last night. So I also got a Bossa Nova mangosteen passionfruit beverage. I've had floral drinks before and they're hit or miss. Either they're super flowery and remind me of drinking hand lotion, or they're subtle and delicious. This one was great! If it weren't so dang expensive I'd buy it again -- though I still have the other half of the bottle waiting in the fridge for another day.

Now on to the Healthy Choice frozen meal. If I don't make an abundance of dinner the night before, I'm pretty pressed for time come lunch. Enter the frozen meals. I've done a good job at cutting these down, if not out of my life entirely. But today, couldn't refuse. I think the idea of these plates is pretty neat: separated veggies and protein from a sauce, which you mix together at the end. I think this helps vegetables from turning into that nasty gloop they usually form in the microwave. Plus, it was kinda fun to assemble:

It wasn't bad, just could have used a bit more flavor. I suppose I could have added spices, but again, pressed for time. Then I threw an afternoon snack of honey Greek yogurt and cherries in my purse and headed back to the office. After someone got his lunch, of course. Only because he begged so pitifully for mine.

RUN

When I returned from work, I threw on the new outfit I bought at REI last night; this summer-like heat is getting to be intense already in the Valley. My friend Tori has been saying we should run practically all semester, so tonight we finally hit the streets. In all it was an easy 2.33 miles at a very mild pace, just to kind of unwind after yesterday's race. It felt great!

DINNER

After the run, I found J.D. hands-deep in making dinner -- for the second-straight night :) He put to work the new Calphalon grill pan I scored at the Williams-Sonoma dinner and spice-rubbed some chicken.

He had several burners going at once with quinoa and veggies tossed with garlic salt. It was at this point, I set to work on an appetizer for him, which could be called a post-run snack for moi. It was a caprese salad-inspired toast! I cut up a French baguette and then loaded it up with tomatoes, a slice of a mozzarella basil roulade and of course, olive oil and vinegar.

See the new dryfit tank top I bought!!! I love it, so cute!

I scarfed down my dinner while we watched The Next Food Network Star. Oh man, I love watching that show!! I wish I could be on a reality star show. That would be so awesome. If only I had fun talents someone would want to mold a show around.....

When that finished, I sliced an apple and dipped it in a little bit of almond butter and a little bit of dark chocolate almond spread. Then got to work French press-ing a soy latte. While owning Jeopardy!, well, if you don't count my answer on the final.

Ok, back to some more cleaning. And hopefully we'll know if we're moving or staying put tomorrow..... I'll keep you updated!

I DID IT!!!!

A personal goal I've had since I picked up running again is to get pretty close to my high school XC pace. Ok, that's not true, my first goal was to finish a 5K under 30 minutes and I kicked that goal's butt, so on to the aforementioned goal. Note: I only ran one year of varsity cross country in high school, only because a girl on my basketball team asked me since I was a fast sprinter (totally not the same thing btw). I didn't really want to, but eventually gave in. After summer-long and fall training, my fastest pace was around 22 minutes.

Today, I finished my 5K in 22:58 minutes!!! Crazy, I almost reached my goal!!! I think this means I'm definitely ready for a 10K race now, or at least am ready to kick the crap out of this current goal.

When we signed up the website advertised the top three finishers in each group would win prizes. I thought in the back of my head that I really wanted to finish in the top three of the women's 20-29 group. And guess what.... my 22:58 was THIRD OVERALL in my group!!! CRAZY :) Bring on the medal ceremony!

What I didn't know was that the top 20 finishers of each gender -- out of every age group (12 and under all the way to 60+ -- got shirts at the end of the race. I totally dismissed that idea in the back of my head, but again, though that would have been neat. Well, when I pushed through the chute, a purple sticker was placed on my bib as one of the top 20 female finishers. I'm so amazed at what I accomplished!!! In fact, I was the 12th female finisher in the ENTIRE race. Overall, I placed No. 52 out of over 400 runners. But what made this run even more special (other than the obvious fact that J.D. agreed to run with me to help motivate me), was the fact that this was my first race in over eight years. I'm so excited and ready to run in more races :)

What was INSANE about the race is how I felt during the entire time. My iPhone GPS doesn't work out in the middle of nowhere, so I had NO CLUE as to what my pace was. I knew what time we started and I knew that after 1.5 miles the course turned from pavement to dirt, so that was about the only thing I had to gauge my distance/pace. I felt like I was running about an 8-9 minute mile pace, but I ended up finishing at a 7:41-minute/mile pace!!

I felt spent at the end, because the temperature picked up to nearly 90 degrees in full sunlight. But I tried to stick with a pack of runners who seemed to be running quickly. Eventually, I passed them up and also passed about a 60 year old man who had been back and forth with me the entire way. Running back to the chute, I summoned everything I had and competed in a full-blown sprint. I saw the timer was under 23 minutes and I WANTED to make it under the tape before that mark. AND I DID! The only thing that bummed me out was that some 12 year old boy finished seconds ahead of me. I should have finished before him, haha.

The race took place at Wente Vineyards in Livermore and it was such a beautiful trail to run! The post race ceremony took place right next to the vineyards, overlooking the golf course at the foothills. This was my first time at that specific winery. I'd been to one Livermore winery before when I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding back in 2008.

Back to the post race events I guess. I went back to my car, grabbed my camera, and came back to the race in time to see this guy approach the finish line.....

I also lingered near the race for a while to await the 10K finishers and help cheer them on. It was really fun to see the top finishers in that race! I also lingered to say hello and thank you to all the firemen who volunteered and put on the race. All the money spent there went to benefit their fund for fallen firefighters -- something I was glad to contribute money to!

Post race, I also tried my first few sips of Muscle Milk. I have always been a bit wary of it, because a.) I never worked out enough to warrant consuming that high of a caloric beverage and b.) it really just scared me. But it was yummy! I drank about 1/4 of the bottle and then popped the rest in the fridge to maybe drink after another long race.

And now I leave you with a bunch of extraneous photos from this morning:

I guess I'll have to be saving my parents' dinner party post for tomorrow. Trust me, you want to see these photos! It was so awesome AND I was a good girl. I didn't stuff myself, I ate a half-sized dessert and I only sampled two wines, never had a full glass for myself. Guess it all worked out, eh?!

And as I write this, someone's making me a delicious-smelling dinner. Can't wait!

Fun with my French family

I love coming home to the Bay Area to see my family! We arrived yesterday and hit up Downtown Pleasanton to pick up our race packets at Fleet Feet, but also let little Woodstock wander around the streets for a little bit.

(Source)

When we finally made it to Alamo, my mom was just opening all of her cabinets and the fridge to assemble all the ingredients of a home-made salade niçoise!!! I know that I lived in the Nice academic region when I lived in France a few years back, but salade niçoise has been close to my heart nearly my whole life (see: my obsession with crêpes).

I love that my mom shares the same passion for French cuisine as I do.

Authentic French mustard for the vinaigrette:

Escargot for the appetizer... I really didn't mind the taste and enjoyed the pesto sauce, but I couldn't manage to get over the fact I was eating a snail. Then I started getting grossed out again. But at least I tried, right? I'm a terrible Frenchie ;)

There's nothing better than a glass of rosé on a hot summer spring night! The candlelight doesn't do much justice to the pink hue of our wine. And shhhhh, don't tell anyone that it's a bottle of SPANISH wine!

I would make a good sommelière, right?? No? Ok, I'll just stick to drinking it then.

My plate of salad topped with freshly-seared ahi tuna. Soooooo goooooooooood.

Finally for dessert, we each had tiny slices of chocolate lover's cake with blackberries. I went a little overboard with the plate decorations haha, awesome.

Then this morning we were all treated to very French breakfasts. Unfortunately, I can't handle a typical French breakfast. I think my cholesterol would skyrocket. So I cut my apple pastry in half, made a cup of blueberry Greek yogurt with granola, craisins and blackberries leftover from dessert, then washed it all down with a lowfat soy mocha latte.

J.D., my mom and I all went shopping earlier this morning to find fun things for our respective House Parties. J.D. and I scored a bunch of goodies -- can't wait for our game night -- and then my mom hit up Trader Joe's for her final groceries for tonight's Williams-Sonoma dinner party. While she was off, we stopped at Baja Fresh next door and shared a mini taco plate for a little lunch.

And now preparations for the party begin! I'm limiting myself to a half a glass of wine or less, since we'll be running 12 hours after the party kicks off. I hope to get to sleep early tonight and then away we'll go to Livermore for the 5K race!! When we get back, I'll post pictures of the party and the race if I ever bother to take any. Just don't hold your breath on that one.....

Hope everyone's enjoying their weekends! xx

Last day in Stockton!

I just have my half day (plus interview No. 3) to clock in at work today before I head back to the condo, clean up and [pack my life away]. Not really, I'm only packing for two days, but I have too much stuff in tow pretty much my whole life.

J.D. and I are leaving tonight for the East Bay. Our first stop will be at Fleet Feet to pick up our runner's packets with free goodies, then it's off the the parents' house for two days. I'm definitely bringing my new swim suit and Atonement - because I still haven't finished the book in time for our June 1st date.... ooooops. At least I've seen the movie, twice. Except, the book really meanders from the film, or vise versa, since I guess the book came first.

Ready to tackle the last big day of the week before Sunday's race (5K this weekend, 10K waiting in the wings later this summer), I started the morning off with a refreshing and cool smoothie hybrid. I'm all about the hybrids this week. Could it be due to the fact that I want a Ford Fusion Hybrid? No. I'm just super ADD and can't make up my mind, so I love mixing things together.

The leftover melon and pineapple fruit salad I froze earlier this week was the basis of a tropical smoothie that came together this morning. Last night for dessert, J.D. and I attempted to eat and orange, but it dried out in the heat pretty quickly. Luckily, we were able to salvage a cup of juice, so into the smoothie it went.

I poured a heaping glass for J.D. and then went to work on my smoothie parfait creation. In the bottom of a parfait cup I added some plain Greek yogurt and then layered Special K lowfat granola on top.

On top of that went my smoothie -- which wasn't really chunky enough to pull this off, but still tasted legit -- before I repeated about three more times. I definitely need to work on my parfait layering and textures :)

The final addition to my parfait is something I've been searching for a VERY long time now. I think I first heard about it on Kath's blog. We don't have a Whole Foods in Stockton, and Trader Joe's doesn't carry this wonderful treat. Little did I know it was under my nose this entire time!! You heard my love for Nutella, the hazelnut chocolate spread, but now feast your eyes upon dark chocolate almond spread:

And if you can spot the other hungry member of my household, you win. Rest assured he didn't wind up with any chocolate this morning. On a more serious note, I desperately need to repaint my nails!

The final product (his and hers split again to show you the different ways J.D. and I prefer to eat/drink):

DELICIOUS and a great start to the day!! I'm still getting used to almond butter, it has a very distinct, chalkier taste than peanut butter. Nonetheless, I'll use any excuse to add chocolate to my meals. Fun fact, I enjoy reading all of your blogs in the morning before I head off to work :) Thanks for the daily entertainment!

Oh yeah, did you read about my Mexican meal last night??

What can I say, I'm an international girl??

Oh my GOSH, I felt so Euro tonight. Wasn't able to get to dinner until after 9 p.m., speaking of that it's almost 11.... jesus where's my day??

Oh that's right, I SPENT FIFTY SEVEN HOURS OF MY LIFE THAT I CAN'T GET BACK AT WAL-MART. FML

Honestly, J.D. and I had a light list of items we needed for the house and seeing how Wal-Mart's the cheapest and I needed an oil change, off we went. I was initially told it would take about an hour until my car could be serviced. No biggie, we could waste an hour at Wal-Mart. We ended up browsing around for 1.5 hours and then I went to check and my car and noticed only two were left ahead of me. I figured it'd probably take about 30 more minutes then we could be on our merry way. Except, 30 minutes later, I was told it'd be another hour until my oil could be changed. At this point, it was almost 8 p.m.!!!! You've GOT to be kidding me.... so I asked them to cancel my service and we went home with several bags of things I didn't need as a result of wasting time in a super store.

Let's rewind a few hours. I got my House Party Game Night package FedEx-ed to me today!!! The Newly Wives opened my eyes to this website and I got selected to host the Game Night party! My package included a generous mix of snacks and Hasboro games for our party. I'm so stoked and ready to break into all these goodies:

Now, back to 9 p.m. After my last few French meals, my lunch at B.J.'s with our new interview candidate -- yup I'm on a hiring committee -- had me wanting to order fish tacos. Except, the nutritional facts side of the menu dissuaded me from doing so. When dinner finally rolled around, I couldn't get Mexican off my mind!

So I started by marinating some chicken in chili lime sauce and seasoning

Then I chopped up my little chicken breasts (in case you're wondering, I cooked for Mr. Fox who was on his run prepping for our 5K this weekend -- we're on different training schedules so today was my rest day)

And tossed them on a plate of natural Tostito's corn chips + Mexican blend shredded cheese. Into the broiler all of it went.

Can you tell that one of us likes cheese waaaay more than I do the other does??? While that was cookin' I got to work making myself a special treat. A Patrón pomegranate margarita on the rocks ;)

It was super hot today. I deserved a treat!

When the nachos were ready, I loaded them up with some fat free refried beans then turned it all into a taco salad-nacho hybrid!

My nachos paired well with a dallop of plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, heirloom tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, carrots and Pace salsa.

Someone else enjoyed his plain nachos with a side salad along with a side of refried beans. We agree to disagree on our food preparations haha, but when all was said and done we both had the same thing over the course of the meal.

Well, that's it for tonight. We're headed to my parents' house in the Bay Area tomorrow (after a half work day... I love Fridays over the summer) for my mom's Williams-Sonoma Dinner House Party and then SUNDAY'S vineyard 5K race.

Bonne nuit!! xx