Run girl, run!

After doing a little bit of this last night, I felt like today was a good day to really indulge in the "holiday eating" spirit:

I'm in disbelief at what I'm about to do....

What a way to celebrate my first minutes of freedom, huh?? All 16 of our Division I sports have wrapped up until the fall so you're now looking at a girl who DOESN'T HAVE TO WORK WEEKENDS!! I've pretty much been working games (sometimes two a day) every single weekend since August. I got three days off for Christmas break and Easter, then my boss gave me last weekend off.

About an hour after the last out had been recorded at our final baseball game, J.D. came by and we laced up our sneakers to tackle some hills! Our old football stadium is loaded with stairs and has a very hilly track around the stadium. I figured this would be the best way to prepare for this weekend's 5K race we'll be running. All of that was in anticipation of a big hilly section at the end of the race. After officially signing up today -- surprise, last day until the registration fee spiked -- I learned that the course is entirely flat!! What a waste of perfectly good energy ;) I ran about 2.5 miles of hills, then did the bleachers five times up and down, including sprints on the football field grass in between. All in all, a good effort, just not a useful way of training for this weekend's 5K.

Hellooooo, Stagg Memorial Stadium!

Given my gigantic use of energy last night, we hosted a "morning drinks party" at the condo this morning in celebration of a.) a day off from work! and b.) the first day of summer in our athletics department!!!!

So a few friends and co-workers stopped by for mimosas, tequila sunrises (my new favorite drink, btw!) and screwdrivers. Being the happy hostess that I am, I made 12 berry muffins to serve and a huge fruit platter - that no one other than yours truly sampled. Our guests brought over cinnamon rolls and oatmeal cookies while J.D. scrambled up some eggs and fried a little bacon. I ended up with a heaping plate of fruit, an egg white, piece of bacon, half a cinnamon roll and a muffin to go with my four morning drinks.... haha oops.

The brunch spread + my mimosa!

And by about 2 p.m. I conked out for an hour and a half. Great holiday if you ask me!

I didn't really eat lunch, so I don't think I went too far over my caloric intake goals. But it's ok, because I plan on timing a 5K simulation tomorrow, running three miles slowly on Wednesday and then a 1.5-2 mile run for Friday with lots of rest on Saturday the day before my race!

And now I am thoroughly exhausted. Talk to you all next time xx.

Question: How'd you spend your holiday?? Do you go crazy for special days during the year??

It was my first time!

...that's what she said. Oh wait, I really did.

That's because I tried two new products (well, sort of, I'll explain later) this week.

First if you haven't yet discovered this website, I think it's about time you take a peek on over there. Essentially, companies send you trial sizes of new products they're coming out with or reinventing. I've received a few samples already and some flat out suck (I'm talking to you, Lacoste, with your cheap "free sample" of your new perfume. I think the samples that come in magazines are larger. And it smelled horrible, btw), while some have been homeruns!

Enter the new South Beach Living bar: the Fiber Fit S'mores Bar.

Not only did they send me a free bar, but I also got a coupon for a free box at the grocery store! And, I know, I've had protein bars and fiber, cereal bars from South Beach before that either taste like cardboard or are loaded with yucky sugar alcohols. This one - as far as I can tell - fell into neither category.

For starters, it was DELICIOUS! The marshmallow coating on the top was so airy and light it made me want to smile for a ridiculously long period of time. Well, maybe not, but it was like a yummy party in my mouth. I'd definitely go and buy these again for a post-run snack (or maybe I should be eating fruit or something.....). Give them a try if you haven't already!

The other "new product" in my life as of this weekend is my Map My Run iPhone application. Yes, the one I've had a few weeks now. Turns out there's a feature on it I hadn't yet discovered. While you're running and tracking your run via GPS, you have the option of audio enhancement. You can decide how frequently a woman's voice will play over your iPod and tell you your current time, distance, speed, minutes per mile and miles per hour.

WHY HAD I NEVER PLAYED WITH THIS BEFORE?!?!?!

I am not a Garmin user (mostly, because I'm cheap and can't really afford one right now), so I've been playing with the iPhone GPS tracking to determine my pace/total distance. It's kind of like running blindly and checking my pace with fingers crossed at the end of every run.

Now that I'm in my final week of training for a 5K next Sunday, this is like a GODSEND. Every 0.5 miles, which today was about every new song that would play in my earbuds, the woman would tell me how fast or slow I was going. Kind of like a kick in the pants to pick up my pace! With this feature, I've run my fastest 5K pace since I've been back to running this year! I don't remember the exact time (so you math people can figure this out), but I finished just under a 7-minute mile!! My total run for the morning ended up being 4.56 miles which I ran in 35:09 - a 7:41-minute mile total pace!!

So I think for the next week I'll be training with this application and then I'm going to use it in Sunday's race. Wish me luck :) And happy free sample hunting!

What a pair we make

Yesterday a nasty combination of cramps, backaches and a gnarly headache sent me home from work around noon. This morning, they kept me from having any desire to get out of bed, so today I am home for what I hope to be the last time this week. However, it's not so bad since I'm at least able to get some work done from home.

Being home isn't too bad when you have good company:

Roll over, Woodstock!

He's a good listener.

However, Mr. Stinky (what a loving mommy I am for calling him that on a regular basis) woke up feeling in a funk as well. He hasn't been eating a whole lot over the past week and I arose this morning to find him with crusty puss all over his *ahem* male part. So I made an appointment to get him to the vet this evening and get him back to puppy shape! The two of us have been cuddling up on my bed and the couch all afternoon. It's nice have a puppy with whom I can commiserate.

So in the meantime, taking a break from getting my work done I gathered up a bit of an appetite. Who's hungry after hearing about puppy male parts now?!?! After living in France a few years back, I grew accustomed to quinoa meals. Remembering that, I went and purchased some at Trader Joe's the last time I was there. Today seemed like the perfect chance to dig up a recipe and use my quinoa.

Warm Quinoa + Spinach Salad Recipe with Grape Tomatoes
(taken from Gluten-Free Goddess Recipes, which has also provided the following photo)

It was a fairly simple and tasty recipe!

Basically follow the directions on the quinoa box (two cups water + 1 cup quinoa, boil, cover then simmer 10-15 minutes until all the water is gone)

When that's finished, heat up a pan of olive oil and essentially toss in whatever you'd like to go with your quinoa!

I chose to chop up asparagus stalks, heirloom grape tomatoes, walnuts/almonds and tossed in a little fig balsamic vinegar. Then dress it however your little heart desires: standard is a pinch of salt and pepper. Her recipe calls for fresh herbs, I think basil would be to die for in this. But, being the South of French girl at heart that I am, I went with my go-to seasoning: dried herbes de Provence!

For the final touches, with the burner still on, toss in 1/4 of your quinoa, mix it all together and voilà - lunch is served!

You could really take this in any direction, add meat, cheese, fruits, etc. It was so light and delicious! The perfect warm salad for a cool, spring afternoon (that feels like autumn, what's with this weather?!?!?) Desperately hoping for summer, I paired mine with Minute Maid light pomegranate tea. Mmmmmm, and I'm still pretty satisfied/full nearly an hour later.

And hey, if you haven't checked it out yet, see what I was holding out on you with my "teaser" post earlier this month! Back to work now, I suppose.

I've been sneaky!

Remember a while back when I showed you that "teaser" photo?? I was keeping that quiet because it was a photo shoot J.D. and I agreed on doing to frame and give to our mommies for Mother's Day. And seeing as how I was working every weekend, I didn't get a chance to give mine her frame until last weekend!

Thanks again to my good friend Meghan for doing this! We had fun and seriously, she's an AMAZING photographer :) I see good things in her future. So these are my favorites of the shoot. Enjoy:


Also, I decided to scrap the women's festival 5K race put on by Fleet Feet in Sacramento next weekend. Instead, I'm going to do a race a little bit closer to home with J.D.! I helped him train for it for the first time last night, capping off a 5.25 mile night for myself. We're running the Hook and Ladder Run put on by the Pleasanton-Livermore Firefighters Foundation and Wente Vineyards. We will be doing the 5K bright and early. Not only are tee-shirts provided as a thank you for running, but there's also going to be wine tasting and food for sale after the race! SO AWESOME. I can't wait :) Lately, I've been averaging an 8:30/mile pace for my 5K runs, so I'm hoping to get down to 8:00 exactly (or under???) in the next week and a half for this race!

I'm so excited. It'll be my first official race since the Oakland A's Fun Run since 2002. That race was after my cross country days (only one year and an ankle injury later), but I managed to finish 28:46 - without having trained for it. I hope to smash that this year :)

I'm back!

After a baseball weekend in Bakersfield (check back on my sports blog, I'm sure some weekend stories will pop up there soon), I'm home. Ugh, I'm so pissed too. Someone egged my car while I was gone.... I'm guessing it's due to the UC Santa Barbara Alumni plates I have and how this weekend was Pacific's graduation ceremony. Maybe you shouldn't display rival schools plates on a weekend celebrating your campus??

But I do have this weekend off! And I plan to go home and see the fam for the first time in about a month.

So how about some life updates, eh?

* Last night I finished the longest run of my life! 7.59 miles and today my legs feel GREAT. I was super sore during my workout and I also tried my very first running gel, which was a horrible first experience. My stomach was hurting the entire run and I told myself I wasn't going to do more than two miles. But it FLEW by and I figured that trying the gel around mile 3 would calm down my stomach. It did, but it tasted SOOOO nasty. I had the PowerBar Tangerine caffeine/protein gel and I literally had to choke it down. The consistency reminded me of warm, chunky toothpaste. Bleh. I won't be trying that one again.

* At work we've purchased the newest version of PhotoShop and WOW it's amazing.... it's so so so so so cool and much easier to work with than the version I had, from two generations ago.

* Purchases! I've been a buying machine. Well, not really, I'm staying within my limited budget so as to put about 1/3 of my paycheck into savings each month. But I did buy something cool I've had my eye on for a while. THE APRON!! I couldn't resist. I've never had an apron before and it's so girly and awesome.

And I promise, I'm not naked under it. I had on a tank top and shorts, just finished either running or yoga as this photo was snapped. And I apologize for the crappy iPhone quality photos. haha, but I did buy J.D. a new digi camera for his birthday last weekend, so maybe he'll let me use it for the blog ;) I also really want to buy this Champion running shirt in hot pink. It's also very feminine and cute. I'm going to hold off for a bit.... but I realllllllly want it!!!

* And finally, there is some possible relocation in my life. J.D. is interviewing for a job at Pepperdine in Malibu, California, ON THE BEEEEACH!!! If he gets it, off we go this summer :) I loooove Southern California and have been trying to get back there since graduating. And, I've been responsible and already notified my co-workers that this may be a possibility if it all works out. We'll see though. Otherwise, I'll continue my adventures in Stockton!

(Pepperdine looks a lot like my alma mater, UC Santa Barbara, no??)

* Which also reminds me..... I guess I've now officially turned down a possible life-changing offer. A while ago I applied to do some grad school at the University of Melbourne...... in AUSTRALIA. It would have been a two year program, but would have cost me waaaay more money than I'm willing to spend. Plus, I have my little doggie now :) I really would like to keep traveling and living abroad after two stints in France. But I think I'll need to work up some money first. And then, back to travels :) Sorry for keeping that a secret from y'all for so long!

Fuzzy Woodstock (ha, get it?!) seeing me off before my 7.59 mile run last night!

Enjoy the weekend everyone! xx

You CAN eat healthy on the road!!

(The Greek falafel salad and pita + hummus I had for dinner tonight)

My job requires a LOT of travel. It seems like every other weekend I'm on the road.

When traveling with teams, I'm often at the mercy of the coaching staff's discretion when selecting dining establishments. However, our baseball travel roster is nearly 30 players and with a number like that, it's difficult to find something for everyone. Let alone a place to sit with all 35 of us. So I'm often left to wandering and discovering city streets alone, allowing for me to make better eating decisions.

The last two road trips have coincided with my new push to start a healthier life that includes a great deal of running and eating healthier. So here's my list of ways to eat healthy when you're traveling.

1.) If you have to eat fast food, be smart about it!

Lots of places are wising up and adding healthier choices to their menus. For example, Subway and McDonald's among others are adding "lighter sides." If you're going to splurge on calories with a burger or a large sandwich (see if you can opt for a whole wheat bread instead of white), get a fruit on the side and a bottle of water or even low-fat milk to drink with it! You won't have a craving for junk later and you'll shave off about 600 calories by ditching the fries.

2.) Skip the taxi.

We got placed in the middle of nowhere in Bakersfield on this trip (not a pun, I'm well aware of the fact that Bakersfield is the middle of nowhere). I overheard some of my guys talking about a shopping center near the freeway and curiously began looking up where it was located. I found out on my iPhone's GPS that the center was located about a mile away from me. After working all afternoon, I decided to save the $6-10 it might have cost me to grab a taxi and I walked. It took me about 40 minutes round trip, which was awesome because I got in some added exercise. So that gave me some room to play around with dessert and still fit in under my daily caloric goals!

3.) Get sauces on the sides.

For things like salads, wraps and sensible sandwiches that seem healthy, hidden fats, calories and cholesterols lie in the sauces doused all over those bad boys. Last night for dinner I ordered a Cajun blackened chicken wrap with veggies, avocados and bacon. I saw that it came with a pesto aioli (mayo) sauce and asked for that to be put on the side. It was a good call, because I saw some of the others and they were DRENCHED in sauce. The "side sauce" they gave me rivaled my drink - seriously. I dipped my wrap in the sauce every couple of bites to moisten it up a bit, but when all was said and done I barely used 1/4 of the sauce. Same went for the salad. It takes so much fat and unwanted additives from a meal when you put the sauce on the side.

4.) Half the plate and EAT.SLOWLY.

Most portions at restaurants are ridiculous. If you're like me, you feel bad not eating something you paid for. But then again, do you really want your extra money to go towards your belly or save you from over-eating?! I'd pay $5 to rid five extra pounds.... ha. Well, no matter how hungry you may be, cut the plate in half. Eat a bit and waste time talking with friends, reading a newspaper, checking your e-mail, etc. I guarantee you'll find that if you let your stomach rest a bit, your food will catch up with your mouth and you won't want that extra half of the sandwich. A good option is to save the other half for another meal, or just toss it. You really don't need all the food that's loaded onto restaurant plates these days (unless it's a fancy, schmancy place with teeny portions, but those places are out of my wallet's league anyways).

5.) Consult the nutritional information.

Yeah, it's a drag and yes it takes a lot of fun out of ordering off a menu. But if you're on the road, dining out isn't the same special occasion as it is at home. Yes, let yourself splurge for one meal. But for the others, be smart! There's no need to ruin any diet or health goals you may have set for yourself on a few meals out. California law now requires chain restaurants to provide nutritional information at every table or on the menu. Consult the menu and see what's the smartest choice to eat, instead of what sounds the best to you. And if you don't have a calorie counting menu, there are many of websites and iPhone applications out there to help you figure it out. My personal fave is the Daily Plate iPhone application. It cost about $5, and I've been using it every day since I purchased it. It's one of the best few iPhone apps I've paid for and I love it.

Don't believe me? Here's a list of trips I've taken this year:

Hawaii

Long Beach

New York & New Jersey
Portland

Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo

Southern California x8

Bakersfield

Why does this amaze me?!

I know that this shouldn't, since I watch and do most of my yoga off of AT&T's On Demand programing, but I am AMAZED at how technology and workouts can be so seamlessly intertwined nowadays.

For example, today we pulled into our hotel in Bakersfield at about 5:30 p.m. I haven't had a whole lot of time to run lately, and I've been taking it kind of easy since my knees really hurt after that seven-mile run earlier this week. I'd done a tiny bit of yoga and lots of walking just fine, so I felt like today was a good time to get back into my running routine.

Once I checked into my room, I got dressed for a run and went to check out the workout room (since the weather in Bakersfield is mid-80s and super dry... I don't plan on running much outside here). There, I did a 5K on a treadmill in about 27:37 - which is a good mark to be at after less than three weeks of training from zero activity! I'm still pushing for that 22-minute mark goal. Still hoping I'll be able to do the 5K at the beginning of June, but if not, I'll find another one not long after.

Well, post-run, I felt ready to tackle some stretches. And then I remembered lots of people talk about how yoga is good for post-run stretching.

With that tip in mind, I whipped out my iPhone (which has been providing me music and GPS tracking on my runs, and is also helping me keep track of my calories taken in and my calories burned from workouts). I opened the Youtube application and did a search for "post-run yoga.

That's when I found, and followed, this video:

Yeah, it's a bit cheesy, but it worked! And I think I'm going to continue looking up post-run yoga stretches every time I run now. Oh yeah, I was also a good girl and iced the heck out of my knees when I came back up to my room :) Hopefully, this helps them calm down a bit more after running long distances.

Either way, I'm going to give them a break tomorrow when I've got spare time and head down to the gym for a good cycle or elliptical sesh. I'll be tweeting about it!

Why do I find it so fascinating that we have access to ALL of this technology within seconds at our fingertips?? It really is changing the way people work out!

We don't do much talking in the 209 + Post No. 500!

You knew I was going to write about it. How could I be an A's fan in Stockton and not comment on this??!?!

First of all, I think Dallas Braden is kind of an idiot. That's just my personal opinion, I'm entitled to it. He's a pugnacious kid from Stockton (and if you don't know what my city's all about, it's kind of ghetto and parts are also rural agricultural areas with lots of immigrants. It's an interesting mix of folks), and went to high school the same year as one of the girls I work with. So he's only two years older than I am. And at 25, I still feel like I have the mentality of a kid sometimes.

Apparently, so does Dallas Braden. A few weeks ago, A-Rod stormed the mound when the A's played the Yankees (ew) and it was just handled so poorly. Braden was spouting about it and venting live on tv for hours that night. Now fast forward to a few days before his start this weekend and what does he say, "We don't do much talking in the 209 [Stockton's area code]." Seriously, he's an idiot.

But that set the scene for this weekend. When Braden tossed MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL'S 19th PERFECT GAME dating back to the 1800s. As in, no hits, no runs, no errors. Nothing. That is impressive.

We get DirecTV on the bus during road trips and this weekend drove back and forth an hour north to UC Davis. Our Division I collegiate baseball team completed a three-game sweep of UC Davis, and down in Santa Barbara our women's softball team also swept UC Santa Barbara. To the point where the Gauchos never even once scored... which kills me a little inside to write, since I graduated from there and all.

So on the bus back, all the guys could not stop talking about Braden's perfect game, saying how this was a great weekend for the 209. As we drove away from the baseball field, still on the campus of UC Davis, the trees lining the road kept interfering with the DirecTV signal. So on SportsCenter when Braden's teaser aired, we essentially missed the entire thing before it cut to commercial break. And all the guys on the bus kept screaming, "NOOOOOOOOO, NOOOOOOO, NOOOOOO," with every interference from the trees. It was almost akin to a record skipping. Classic.

It's always a very entertaining ride back when we win.

In other news, my new "boyfriend" as he's been dubbed - don't worry, still dating J.D. this is only a joke - and I didn't have any interaction whatsoever this weekend! I don't know why, this is silly actually, but I'd been super nervous about making the trip to UC Davis and having him remember me. I wished he'd forgotten and I guess this weekend he did just that! So crisis averted, I live to tell about another day. Too bad though, that could have made for some more comical blog posts.

If you're curious about the incident I'm referencing which led to this "new boyfriend," so delicately labeled by my female coworkers you're going to have to read about it here, on my sports-writing blog.

And I made it to 500 posts in under three years! Thanks to everyone who's been reading my blog and encouraging me to keep writing along the way. This was only meant to serve as means of updating my friends and family across the pond when I lived in France for a year. I'm glad I kept it going!

Now, I think it's time for me to pass out...... after running SEVEN MILES in about 66 minutes. I know, impressive right?!?! I couldn't even believe it.

May Reading

Seeing as how I successfully managed to finish my last book club selection on time, I'm now going to post my initial thoughts on our newest book for the month of May: Atonement.

Shocking, since I haven't yet cracked open the book. In fact, I don't even have the book in my possession! This month, I'm leaning towards a digital read. Yup, I'm going to go ahead and purchase it online and read the book on my Sony Reader. Either that, or see if I can find a PDF of it for free online and then read it on my Sony Reader. Either way works for me :)

Without having read the book, I'm going to compare titles since I saw the movie twice now - once on the plane on my move back from France to the U.S. in 2008, and then on Netflix sometime last year.

When living in France, a book (and movie) called Reviens-Moi kept popping up everywhere and I really was interested in picking it up at a French librairie (don't be fooled, that's a book store, not a library). Unfortunately I never actually went out and purchased the book or saw the movie in French.

Oddly enough, a few weeks later I went back home and lo and behold Antonement was showing on the flight! It wasn't until I flipped through the airplane's magazine, that I noticed the movie poster was the same exact image as the French book I'd been eyeing:

Which brings us to the topic of translation. In French, the book/movie is entitled "Return to Me," while in English, we're all very familiar with the title "Atonement." I don't want to ruin it if you haven't seen/read it but I just want to discuss the subletities between the translation and the original.

The English title makes the movie seem about a wrong-doing throughout the film that eventually is confessed. Whereas the French title sounds like the movie will follow the pair of lovers, who at some point become separated, and their journey back together.

If you've seen the film or read the book, it's amazing how different each of these storylines are, and how one language chooses to make one storyline the focus of the plot instead of the other. Honestly, I don't know what to think! I'm not sure which storyline I find more predominant. I'm definitely going to have to be aware of the two while reading and hopefully come to a consensus as to which should be the title!

If you'd like to join us, go right ahead, the more the merrier (and also, more engaged the conversations can be) :)

Happy reading, everyone!

Puppy Update: Four Months

Woodstock has two major milestones in his puppy life this week:

His puppy training classes at PetSmart begin today! And he's starting to lose his razors baby teeth! I wouldn't have actually known about that, except walking around my living room barefoot yesterday, I stepped on one. I thought it was a small rock from outside that either he or we had tracked in, but when I picked it up, I realized it was the smallest tooth I've ever seen! Complete with roots and everything.

Working through the biting, I finally was able to pry open his mouth only to realize he's just got his front teeth and the molar equivalents left (don't know what kind of teeth dogs have, besides canines... har har). So I'm hoping the ridiculous biting will stop being a problem in the near future!!

This probably explains why he's been waking up so early crying in the mornings. We usually could feed him at 6 a.m. and keep him in the kitchen where he'd go back to sleep. Now, he barks and cries and cries and cries at about 6:15 and won't go back to sleep upstairs in the bed. Instead, he runs around like a maniac biting everything he can sink his little teeth into. It kind of hurts.

So the past few days I've been waking up between 5:30 and 6 a.m. to try and either occupy him, or make him sleep. So far, we've gone on several morning walks and I'm able to stretch in the mornings and make breakfast! Yesterday I made my own oatmeal with lemon curd and craisins, today I had an egg and bacon sandwich with pineapple cottage cheese on the side. Yum :)

The stretching part's a big deal because yesterday I partook in Running Tuesday, wansn't that big of a deal. I ran around my neighborhood, past a local park and down the Delta water path for a total of 4.01 miles in 38ish minutes. Like I said before though, I'm still trying to get back on the running kick, so my pace per mile will only get better with time. I'm glad my start time is under a 10 min/mile though, so that's a good place to begin.

I also did yoga for about 25 minutes last night and took Mr. Woodstock for three total walks on the day. All in hopes of him learning to go potty outside... I'd say 20 percent of the time, if I make him, he'll go out there. Otherwise, he's strictly paper trained. And I can't seem to wean him off of it. Hopefully the people at PetSmart will help with our training in the ways of his crying and lack of potty training. Wish me luck :)

Oh and, Happy Cinco de Mayo ;) Enjoy a margarita for me. I'll be too busy with the dog and house stuff tonight to go out and have anything fun.

Oh yeah....

In addition to today's earlier post (go read it if you haven't already!), I've also decided to change the look of my blog header. You know, I get bored really easily :)

Wow, 4 posts away from 500!

I don't know if I've told you guys or not, but the 3rd of every month is a special date in our little condo. I'm sure you can guess why ;)

Well, anyways J.D. and I have been trying to have a special, pre-planned date night once a month and it's usually around the third of the month. When we're really busy with work and sports in full swing (i.e., baseball season still has about a month left), we try to fit in something quick. A big favorite of ours in the ways of restaurants is something called Famous Dave's, about 20 minutes west in Tracy.


I've been really hungry lately - I'll get to that later - so this sounded like the perfect idea for our date night! Disclaimer: we don't always do something cheesy and silly, but sometimes it's fun! We've been to the Melting Pot fondue restaurant and went to a winery restaurant in Lodi after a full day of wine tasting back in October, so we can class it up or down, depending on the mood :)

Anyways, F.D. is a really messy, delicious southern BBQ place that serves gigantic portions of meat, your choice of two sides, corn on the cob and corn bread muffins. I went for the tri-tip/Georgia pulled pork combo plate and got fire cracker green beans and red skin garlic mashed potatoes. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS and I had enough left over to make me a repeat lunch today :)

And then afterward we had fun hanging out in the nearby Target allowing ourselves plenty of time to digest because...... we grabbed some frozen yogurt in Stockton! I opted for raspberry pomegranate blended with mango tart, topped with blackberries, kiwis and strawberries. YUM!

So why have I been so famished lately?!

That's because I ran FIVE MILES in 47 minutes on Saturday morning before our baseball game at 6 p.m. (which I had to arrive and prep for at 3 p.m.). Oh man it was crazy, I was only a little sore, but not too bad. However, I've been developing quite the healthy appetite. So I took two days off and I plan to get back at it tonight with at least a 20-30 minute run. I hope to become a better runner (like I was in high school), but know that my all-time longest run was between 6-7 miles back when I was full steam running cross country. So five miles isn't bad at all for someone who just decided to get back into this about two weeks ago :) In fact, I'm excited about it! Even though I ran about a 9:50 mile pace, it's still a good start! And something to certainly improve on.

With this new mindset in place, I'm ready to sign up for the Fleet Feet Women's Fitness Festival held in Sacramento on June 6th (or is it the 7th?) with my sister. She did a half marathon last year and I think at some point in the next year, I'd like to make that a goal of mine as well. So just say the word, Aimeé, and I'll sign up for this!

Baby steps! 5K first, then we'll talk about a longer race :)