Selfish Wishes

I'm not what you'd consider religious but this bible verse feels very appropriate in summing up my life right now.

I wish I could make time stand still for a minute.  I wish I could have my way and have a Christmas Eve exactly like the ones I used to have when I was a little girl at my Grammy & Grampy's house with my parents and brothers and my crazy great aunts.  I wish everyone I love could be here with me one more time.

I've kind of avoided updating my blog in the last week because I didn't feel like I had anything positive to contribute to the universe right now.  After all, this blog is supposed to be about health and fitness in my life  but honestly for the past week I've physically done very little to improve my health and fitness.

But I've come to the conclusion that while I wasn't running or working out, I have been working on my mental health and I think that is a very important aspect of my overall health and fitness right now.

The reason I've been slacking is because last Tuesday my 91 year old grandfather was admitted into the hospital.  He's been fighting congestive heart failure and various assorted other "old age" problems for about a year now.  The amazing part is that prior to a year ago he was still living alone, driving and pretty much doing whatever he wanted. The last year has been tough as his health has declined and he has been in and out of the hospital but he is one tough old bird.

This past hospital stay was different.  He had a "small" heart attack (doctors words, not mine...any heart attack seems like kind of a big deal to me!) and his kidneys are shutting down.  Basically we were told to bring him home under Hospice care and that it is only a matter of time.  So now he's home and he's comfortable.

So I've decided that for my mental health's sake, I plan to squeeze out every. last. minute. I can spend with this wonderful man.  I adore this fabulous, stubborn, old fashioned, sassy man and I don't want to feel a minute of regret for time lost.  Running and my body will forgive me for the time off.  That's the beautiful part about running, it's always there for you.

I know how incredibly fortunate I've been to have this man in my life for almost 33 years because so many people don't get this much time together.  I truly have be blessed.

Yet I can't help but wish for more time.  I know that it's a selfish request.  I'm pretty sure there will never be enough time.  I'm asking for a lot right now, but I'm really, really, really wishing that my Grampy has it in him to spend one more Christmas with us.  

So for now, the time I do have will not be spent on a treadmill or at a gym.  It will be spent reminiscing and talking and making sure that someone who means the world to me knows that he means the world to me.

No regrets.

Game ON - HBBC Day # 8

I have been off to a horrible start with the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge because of a nasty chest cold that I've had for the last week.

Actually I think I've been sick for 2 weeks but since I had a race to run last Saturday I was in total denial of my illness for the entire first week.  Once the race was over, however, there was no denying that I was fighting some nasty germs.

Because I was so determined to feel better, I did get my 7+ servings of fruits and veggies on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week so I earned a few points.  Once Thanksgiving and weekend hit the fruit/veggie consumption went downhill fast.

So today was my first run in over a week.  The other thing that bummed me out about being sick is that my family purchased a new fancy pants treadmill over a week ago and prior to tonight my husband and son were the only ones lucky enough to use it.  It is a Nordictrack C900 with LiveFit and I LOVE IT!!

Isn't the digital screen beautiful? I think so!!

I ran 4 miles tonight in 43 minutes, 43 seconds.  I felt incredibly happy to run and I'm pretty sure my lungs will thank me in the long run.

I'll get back into my fruit/veggie tallying tomorrow and I'm hoping to get 3 miles in tomorrow night.

Turkey Trot-ing in the Olympic Village

Did you know that Thanksgiving is the #1 day of the year for races?

Seems like everywhere I turned, there was another Turkey Trot, Wobble, Waddle, etc popping up in every corner of the earth, even virtual online races.  I think that's pretty darn cool!

Since I had participated in the Hobble Gobble last weekend, me & the rest of the Peak Sport Solutions crew loaded up the van and traveled to the Olympic Village of Lake Placid, NY to time the Adirondack Medical Center's 3rd Annual Turkey Trot.

Lake Placid High School & the Olympic Center overlooking the Speed Skating Oval

The race was scheduled to begin at 8:30am with registration from 7am - 8am, which meant we needed to be in the car on the way at 4:30am.  McDonald's was the only place open in town and you better believe coffee was purchased for the ride!

Nope, the sun wasn't even up yet.

The start and finish of the Turkey Trot was at the entrance to the Olympic 400m speed skating oval.  We had gotten a lovely early season snow storm the day before so there was roughly 5 inches of heavy, wet, melting snow where the race chute was supposed to be set up.  Shovels were gathered, ice melt was applied and show went on!

We had 61 preregistered runners but in the end 195 folks trotted with us Thanksgiving morning so the registration table was crazy right up to race time.  The run helped benefit a local food pantry so every registrant who brought in canned goods got a discount on their registration and lots and lots of food was donated.

Beat the Turkey!!

The Turkey Runner was a really good sport

The first 3 male and female finishers won a nice prize bag but the main goal of the race was to beat the "Turkey" runner.  The Turkey came in at 20 minutes flat on a slightly short very hilly 5k course but he got beat by 6 runners who each got frozen turkeys to take home.

Overall it was a really fun run put on by a great group of people.  It was Peak Sport Solutions' first event timing gig in Lake Placid which was an incredible experience.  I mean, it's the Olympic Village, who wouldn't want to time a race there?

Adirondack Mountains in the distance

The Olympic Center as the sun was coming up, such a cool building!

The race was followed by a quick stop at Starbucks on the way home.  I was very, very thankful they were open, I live in a very rural area where Starbucks is 2 hours away on each side and I was in need of a serious caffeine fix.

We headed home, unloaded the van and enjoyed the company of our family for the rest of the day.

Now I'm ready to bring on the Christmas cheer!! :)

HBBC Day #2

I've decided that I'm going to try my absolute best to post daily updates about my progress on the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge.

This will make me WAY more accountable, right?

I think so!!

It must be true because I feel so incredibly guilty about not running today.  I'd been fighting off the plague that infected my house over the last couple of weeks but after my race yesterday my immune system must have breathed a sigh of relief and said "game over!!"

This evening I feel totally yucky, scratchy throat, post nasal drippy-ness, dry cough, generally feeling like poo.  So I decided that because I'm not feeling well and since I was so happy with the way my race went yesterday I felt I deserved a rest day.  Yeah, I'm still trying to convince myself too!

But there is another way to get points...7 or more servings of fruit or vegetables per day = 1 extra point!

1 extra point doesn't sound like much but over the entire contest it can add up to potentially 48 more points which is huge.

So here's how I earned my point today:

2 really huge salads - one for lunch & one for dinner!
   Including 3 cups of leafy greens (3 servings), 2 large tomatoes (2 servings), 1/2 cup of cucumber (1      serving)

1 large MacIntosh apple (1 serving)

3/4 cup of V8 Vegetable Juice (1 Serving)

Which actually is a total of 8 servings...and point earned! :)

Hopefully after a good night's sleep I'll get back to racking up the miles tomorrow!

Hobble Gobble Prediction Race Re-Cap

Today was a very exciting day for me!  It was the first time I've been able to race since July and I was ready to go!

This is the 2nd year I've run the Hobble Gobble.  It's a very popular local race, they actually capped and closed registration at 625 people.  It's a prediction race, so you don't find out the distance until you get there.  There are two distance options, one is 4 miles or less and the other is 7 miles or less.  This year the long course was 6.1 miles and the short course was 3.2 miles.

I ran the long course last year and was hoping to run it again this year but because of my surgery I knew it was a better idea to run the short course.  Injuries are not welcome in my life so I felt I'd be pushing my luck racing 6.1 miles without a proper base built.

This race always brings out lots of local runner friends of mine plus I was thrilled to be riding to the race with two close friends and my incredible mom-in-law.

Pre-race pics with Deb, my mom-in-law!

The weather was beautiful, you never know what you're going to get in Northern NY in November so 50 degrees and sun was perfect.  We went inside the fire hall where the packet pickup was and grabbed our swag.  We also filled out the form with our predicted times...I predicted that I would finish in 34:23.

We chatted with some friends, put on our bibs and made our way to the start.  Since it's a prediction race there are no Ipods or Garmins allowed which made me a little crazy as I have an unhealthy dependence on listening to music while I race.  The cool part about this race is that cheerleaders from local high schools come and cheer on the racers and there are local bands on the course too so I didn't miss the Ipod as much.

I hugged Deb goodbye, wished her a good race and took off.  It was a slow start because the race director didn't ask the walkers to start in the back so I was weaving in and out of people for the first few minutes.  I was so excited to be there that I had to keep reminding myself not to take off too fast.  I felt so good, it was actually fun to not be "cut off" from the other racers by my Ipod so I could cheer for everyone I knew wherever I saw them on the course.  It was an out and back course so I knew that I had a couple of decent sized hills to conquer on the way back, the biggest one being "Hobble Hill" which is right before the finish line.  

I couldn't believe it when I hit the turn around at 1.6 miles, it seemed like the race was flying by.  The 2 mile marker seemed like it appeared really quickly too.  I would've loved to have had on my Garmin to see my mile splits.  It was all good until I reached the bottom of Hobble Hill.  I don't know if I just psyched myself out or if I was running out of steam but I hit the wall hard.  I've never hit the wall like that in a 5K before, my legs felt so heavy and I had to slow down my pace quite a bit.  I finally made it to the top of the hill, ran under the finish line that was kind of falling down and got my medal.  The other thing that stinks about a prediction run is that they don't give you your time at the finish time so I had no idea how I did.

The start/finish line wasn't holding air very well, people had to duck underneath it

I stuck around the finish line to cheer on all the rest of the people I know that were finishing the race.  I met up with my friends and mom-in-law and we went inside to gorge on the after race food.  They had homemade chili, homemade cookies, bagels and cream cheese and yogurt.  I think I did more post race carb loading than necessary but it tasted so good.  We stuck around for the post race awards, the winner of the race finished within 0:00.2 of their predicted time.  Pretty wild.

Post race crew!

As we were walking out we saw they had posted the results.  I finished in 34:51, only 28 seconds off of my predicted time.  I'm very happy with that time (averaged 10:53 minutes/mile) since I haven't raced in a long time and my legs weren't as strong as I want them to be.  

Plus that hill kicked my butt.  

The solution:  Find bigger hills to train on!

It was a really fun day overall with some really great people and a great way to kick of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge! (3 points down already!)

Post Race Hugs!

And I'm so so proud of Deb, she beat her predicted time by 3 minutes, 53 seconds.  Can't wait to race some more next year with this incredible lady!!   

So that wraps up my "race season" for this year.  I didn't race as much as I hoped to but a lot of changes took place over the last year.  I have big dreams and big plans for 2012 though so look out!

Finally...Racing Tomorrow!!

So glad it's Friday and I'm looking forward tomorrow more than I've been excited about a Saturday in a long time.  And there's two reasons for that:

1.  I'm FINALLY racing tomorrow!!!  Between the time I've devoted to Peak Sport Solutions & my illness/surgery, I haven't raced since the end of July.  Which has killed me.  I've been so happy to hear about and talk about and be excited about everyone else in my life that has been racing but (not so) secretly I've been incredibly jealous too.  

So the Hobble Gobble is tomorrow morning.  It's a local race held in W Potsdam, NY and this year, for the first time ever, they've capped the event at 630(ish) registrations and it sold out.  This is a huge number for a local race around here.  The coolest part about this race is that it's a prediction run.  For those of you who've never ran a prediction run that means you don't find out the exact race distance until you get there and then have to predict the time you'll finish. And to win the race you don't finish first, but finish closest to the time you've predicted. 

The short course is 4 miles or less, the long course is 7 miles or less.  After much mental debate, I've decided to do the short course.  I know I'm not ready to race the longer distance and feel good about my finish but it took some time to convince myself that because I really, really wanted to race the longer course.  At this point, one month post surgery, I'm just happy to be racing at all.

With a weather forecast of 51 degrees and sunny, plus tons of my favorite friends coming out to run, tomorrow will be so. much. fun.

2.  I had totally forgotten until I read my email last night but...the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge starts tomorrow too!!

Amanda from Run to the Finish has created this incredible online challenge to keep us working on our healthy habits throughout the entire holiday season.  The average American gains and maintains 5lbs every holiday season...and I'm not going to be one of them this year!  The basic rules are that you get points for the ways you're active each day, keep track of them honestly on the master spreadsheet and you can stay healthy and happy through the holidays as well as compete with other people to win some pretty awesome prizes.  Amanda is taking late sign ups here if you're interested in getting involved.  But I warn you, I'm feeling pretty competitive...so bring it on!!

Hope everyone's Friday is fantastic!  :)

Five Random Friday Favorites

Since I had the day off today in observance of Veteran's Day, I had the chance to enjoy my Friday even more than usual.  So with that in mind, here's five of my favorite things today:

1.  My new Road ID.  I love the new slim design of that Road ID has, it doesn't irritate my wrist with velcro anymore.  Sounds like a minor issue but after running 10+ miles, even the little things can get really annoying.  Plus, it's purple, my favorite color!!

2.  Applegate Chicken Nuggets - I found these in the organic/natural section at Hannaford and they are my new favorite.  It feels like I'm eating something very unhealthy but they're not!  Yummy!

3.  Autumn Wreath Yankee Candles - these are my favorite fall scent and they make my house smell so good!  I hate having all the windows closed and no fresh air but this candle makes it bearable.  Guess I better go buy a new one tomorrow!

4.  My electric blanket - I am always, always, always cold.  It started snowing this afternoon, you better believe this bad boy will be cranked up to high so I can crawl into nice toasty blankets!

5.  A Beautiful Sunset - I took this last night when I was leaving work.  The colors were even more stunning in person.  I'm very sad it gets dark so early now (like everyone else) but this was a sunset worth noticing.

Happy Friday everyone!  Hope you all have a great weekend! :)

1 Pound = 4 Sticks of Butter

I have a confession to make. 

I step on my scale every. single. morning.  

I know you're only supposed to step on it once a week because weight can fluctuate.  I know that the number on the scale is not the most important factor in my quest to be the healthiest person I can be.  But knowing that I have to face the scale every morning reminds me that every day counts, that no work out or meal is unimportant and that everything I do (or don't do) accumulates in the end.   

And as of today, I've lost 13 pounds.

Which is huge for me.

It's hard sometimes to get excited these days about a "normal" amount of weight loss.  So much revolves around Biggest Loser-type numbers, but for us mere mortals losing 10 pounds in one week is not likely or healthy.  These 13 pounds have taken a month and a half to disappear, not 1 or 2 weeks.  But I've still worked hard for them.  I've replaced useless fat with lean muscle.  I've eaten healthy, natural foods and never EVER starved my body.  I've ran miles and miles.  

And the purpose of my weight loss is not "to get skinny".  It's to become the strongest, healthiest person I can be and improve my running PRs.

So for all of us working hard to lose "just" a couple of pounds, who feel that they aren't getting anywhere by losing "only" 1 or 2 pounds per week and who want to give up and dive back into their previously unhealthy lifestyle, remember this:

1 Pound = 4 Sticks of Butter

Picture it.  Or go to your fridge and take out that box of butter or margarine and look at it.  By losing 1 pound, that's the equivalent of the amount of weight you've removed from your body.  That's no small accomplishment.

By losing "just" 13 pounds, I've melted 52 sticks of butter from my body. 

Everyone's journey to fitness is different.  Just remember that no achievement is too small to celebrate! :)

"Happy" Meal?

Since Daddy & Thing 1 are gone to camp for the night and Thing 2 is not happy about being left at home with me I thought I'd treat him to a McDonalds Happy Meal for dinner tonight.

Let me clarify a few points before I go any further:

         1.  I personally do not eat McDonalds food, haven't in over 3(ish) months and quite honestly the thought of the grease completely grosses me out.

         2.  My kiddos do not eat McDonalds on a regular basis, they are fed home cooked, healthy foods most of the time.

         3.  Please do not tell me I'm a horrible parent for occasionally giving my kids an unhealthy meal, I know what the food at McDonalds consists of but I feel that it's better to let them have it once in a while than to have them binge on it when they are with friends, etc., because I know I can't shelter them forever.

Okay, so I ask Thing 2 if he wants a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets, he chooses a cheeseburger, we order through the drive through and take it home so Mommy can eat her dinner too.

I get home, open the bag and pulled out the french fries.  What there was of the french fries...10 fries in all.  I know, I counted.  There was a little bag of the fruit formerly known as apple dippers (now known as apple slices since we're not allowed to have caramel dipping sauce anymore either).  Thank goodness the cheeseburger and the toy he really, really wanted were there.

Reese's PB Cup used to show actual size of french fry packaging, more packaging than french fries!

Since I was then intrigued by the lack of french fries, I googled "Happy Meals changed" and found out that due to public outcry, McDonalds has reduced the calories in the Happy Meal by 20%.  Guess I've been under a rock since this was announced in July.

I totally and completely support any and all efforts to curb obesity in this country.  It's a terrible thing to walk around my sons' elementary school and see so many overweight children.  

What I don't support is that now I feel like, as a parent, my choices are being taken away from me.  The one little treat that I give the boys now makes me feel like a horrible parent for choosing it at all.  

The worst part is that I'm feeling bad about this but I'm supposed to be okay with letting my kids buy school lunch that consists of mozzarella sticks one day, "rib-b-que" (think McRib, no joke) the next, followed by corn dogs the next.  Seriously.  How does that make any sense?

Actual school lunch menu

Can't make this stuff up...mozzarella sticks were on the October menu

At the end of the day, my kids' nutrition is my responsibility, just like every other parent out there.  These children can not buy themselves a Happy Meal unless Mommy or Daddy or some other adult in their life takes them to McDonalds and buys it for them.  I have an issue with being told that since others are "irresponsible", I need to be "punished" with everyone else.  

And you can't tell me that if a kid wants french fries, Mommy or Daddy won't order a larger fry to go with their healthier Happy Meal.  Should we just put McDonalds and every other restaurant out of business and be done with it? 

I took it in my stride when restaurants started posting calorie content on their menu and banned trans fat but this just seems out of control to me.  

When are we going to wake up and realize that we are responsible for our own choices, good and bad? 

Sometimes there's no one but ourselves to blame for where we are today.

Every choice you make matters, some more than others, but over time bad choices add up.  

Just don't forget that good choices add up too. :)

Octoberfest Costumed Prediction Run

Well, Halloween is officially over at our house now.  Pumpkins are extinguished, costumes put away, candy consumed and kids in bed.  Bring on Christmas Thanksgiving! I find it troubling that I saw a Glade ad for Christmas on TV this afternoon.  Halloween wasn't even over yet.  Sheesh.

This year the most exciting part of the Halloween festivities for me (other than Thing 1 & Thing 2 looking adorable as usual) was that Peak Sport Solutions was fortunate to be picked to time the 1st Annual Octoberfest Costumed Prediction Run that was put on by the United Helpers.

For those not from Northern NY, the United Helpers are an organization that's been in existence for 110 years  and provides services from independent living to long-term care for senior citizens, developmentally disabled and mentally ill patients.  They have beautiful facilities and are a wonderful group of people.

So Sunday morning we headed to Canton, NY.  Since it was a prediction run, we didn't know what the distance was until we got there and it ended up being about 4 miles.  Registration was so much fun, people were in great moods and just wanted to have fun plus the costumes were hilarious!

View from the Registration Table

We ended up with 57 registered folks.  For a first year event up in our neck of the woods, that's more than respectable.  The good news is that the race directors were so pleased that they're going to make this an annual event so it can only get better.  I was really excited to see a few of the local gals that I run with show up, it's fun to know some of the finishers when you're timing so you can really cheer them on.

Beautiful course but it did have a "Halloween-y" feel with leaves off the trees!

View of the Finish

I was hard at work, can you tell? :)

My incredible team (aka my hubby & mom-in-law)

A few pics of the great group of finishers!

All in all, a really great event!  I love competition, I love to race, but sometimes it's nice to go to a race were everyone is truly there to have fun.  The vibe is incredible.

If you live nearby, put this one on your race calendar for next year!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! :)

Everyone thinks I'm crazy...

Well, maybe not everyone.  But I'm pretty sure most of the people in my life that I interact with on a daily basis think I've gone crazy.

I'm revamping my lifestyle.

I've thought for a long time about what I want to achieve but haven't gone out in the world and done the work that I needed to in order to achieve my goals.  Honestly, I never even told most people about some of my goals, mostly because I was afraid that I'd fail.  But I'm sick of being scared of failure.  I've decided that it's time to go after exactly what I want.

I want to run faster.  I want to compete at races.  I want to lose some weight.  I want to be fitter.  I want to be able to see my muscle tone in places other than my legs.  I want a sick set of abs.  I want to help people become fitter too.  I want to become a personal trainer.  I want to coach runners and teach people to learn to love running.  I want to plan and execute incredible racing events.  I want to be self employed and self sufficient.

Not asking for much, right?

But wanting and doing are two completely different things.  So I've stopped wanting and starting doing.

And that is what's making all the people in my life think I've gone nuts.

I'm increasing my weekly mileage.  I'm building back up my base.  This really doesn't strike people as odd since they're used to me running.  Plus it helps to have a husband, mother-in-law and lots of good friends who are runners too.

What's really causing people to be concerned or, in some cases, feel sorry for me, is my diet changes.  I've decided that the reason that I've never been as successful as I want to be is because I never truly changed my diet.  I lied to myself and pretended I did but never really committed.  And we all know that you can exercise forever but if you eat junk no progress will be made.

The thing that I've found hardest about changing my diet to eat natural, clean foods is that it goes against what so many people consider "normal".  I'm not becoming a vegetarian but I've cut out a lot of meat.  I've cut out highly processed foods and anything where I can't pronounce an ingredient on the label.  I've cut out foods that I don't feel give me enough nutritional value.  I've added more natural foods, quinoa being one of my new favorites.

Another thing I've found is that everyone wants to give me advice about the food I eat.  I realize they mean well but I assure everyone, I've done my homework, I eat plenty of calories, protein, carbs, whatever.  If you know nothing about nutrition, please don't offer unsolicited advice.  I don't go around lecturing people about eating McDonald's or drinking gallons of soda. (Exception to this my mom, she's a nutritionist therefore her opinion counts...plus she's my mom, so duh, her opinion always counts!)

I guess the reason everyone thinks I'm crazy to eat like this is because it's far from the "normal" way our society eats.  That's kind of sad to me.  Why do people think it's so insane to eat healthy?  To eat food that hasn't been over processed?

I know since I've made a true effort to eat cleanly I feel so much better.  I have a ton more energy.  I just plain feel good.  I know I'm doing the right thing for me.

I feel like I can accomplish anything right now and that I can reach all the goals I've set for myself.

So that's exactly what I'm going to do! :)

Determined to Make Positive Choices

I love this picture.  My aunt sent it to me in an email and I love the message it conveys.

We're a culture of instant gratification...we want whatever we want RIGHT NOW!

This need for instant gratification is what often shapes the choices that we make in life.  People say all the time that they would love to start running, lose weight or attain some kind of fitness goal.  The problem is that so many times we aren't willing to do whatever we need to do to reach where we want to be in life.  We get bored and distracted and go off the course that we had originally planned to follow.  And then we just can't understand what we did wrong and why we didn't succeed.

I read a post from a blog (Amanda @ Run To The Finish) I recently started following that really struck a chord with me this morning.  I really, really, really like this blog...plus it doesn't hurt that she lives in Miami, which always gets sentimental points in my book!  So follow it, Amanda writes really great things!!

Anyway, she writes about choices that she has made in advance of a trip she is taking next week.  What I love most about it is that she has taken the time in advance to plan and made these choices before temptation has been put in front of her.  Awesome idea!  It's much harder to turn down the donut when it's under your nose but if you make your choice in advance, it doesn't seem so hard.

So I'm going to follow her lead and write out the choices that I'm making in advance for the next week:

• I choose to focus on building my business or getting nothing accomplished
• I choose to follow through with my entire exercise plan for the week or not see any improvement to my running
• I choose to keep eating the healthy, clean diet I've been enjoying or eat high fat, processed foods and feel sick

I love this!  Self affirmation is awesome and I already feel mentally stronger to take on the week.  Try it for yourself, you'll be amazed what positive thinking can do! 

Yes, this is as happy as I felt when I heard I could run again! :)

In other news, I'm cleared to run!!!  Yippee!!  My lovely surgeon has decided that I heal extraordinarily well and has given me the green light to run.  I enjoyed a super duper 2.5 mile treadmill run this morning, it was heavenly. 

And it looks like I'm going to be able to run the Hobble Gobble!  This is my most favorite local race of the year and it was killing me to think that I might not be able to run with all of my friends.  Not sure if I'm running the 5k or the 10k yet, I'm going to take the next few weeks to decide what my body thinks of the idea.

Run happy!  I know I will! :)

See, I can cook!

In my quest to eat healthier and cleaner, I'm trying to expand my horizons when it comes to trying something new.  So I had to share the awesome dinner that I made tonight!

I got the original recipe from the Wannabe Athlete blog who got it from the Daily Garnish blog.  It looked so good that I had to try it.

After searching all over my little town for millet, I concluded that I needed to be a little creative if I wanted to eat since millet is not something easy to find.  Honestly I didn't even really know what millet looked like until today.

Uncooked Millet

I keep hearing how fabulous quinoa is for health and all sorts of other reasons.  It is a complete protein source, has all essential amino acids, gluten free and easy to digest.  Best of all it is delicious with a slightly nutty flavor.

Uncooked quinoa - see where I might get confused??

The other issue I had is that I obviously need to brush up on my winter squash types.  The recipe called for a butternut squash and I apparently purchased an acorn squash.

Well duh, now I see the difference! 

So here it is...the PeakFit take on Quinoa with Maple Acorn Squash & Cranberries:
Serves about 4 people

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 acorn squash, peeled & cubed
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss the acorn squash with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Roast in oven for about 20 -30 minutes, flipping the squash a few times.  Keep an eye on it so it doesn't get too brown.


While the squash is cooking, cook the quinoa.  Put water and quinoa in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 10 -15 minutes until the water is absorbed. (Or use directions on package if you want to use microwave or rice cooker)


Combine all dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined.


Once everything is cooked, combine squash, quinoa and cranberries in a large bowl.  Add dressing and stir well to combine all ingredients.

Enjoy!  I know that I did and that quinoa will be a new staple in my cupboard since the web is full of awesome recipes to try! 

Friday Favorites: An Obsession with Coffee Creamer

I try to eat healthy but it doesn't always work out exactly how I plan.  Between my husband and I working different hours and shifts, somewhat picky kids, tons of sports and other types of commitments and our training schedules easy sometimes trumps healthy.

Since I was diagnosed with a low functioning gallbladder, I pretty much had to cut all the fat and processed foods out of my diet until the surgery to avoid pain.  It was hard at first but when french fries = bent over painful agony, you'll condition yourself to choose an apple every time!

Why do you taunt me, sweet pink cupcake??

Now that I'm recovered from my surgery, I've started adding healthy fats back into my diet but I've decided that since I'm over the craving stages, the processed foods can stay gone.  Especially since the "experimental" pink frosted birthday cupcake I ate last night made me feel sick, it's just not worth it to me right now.

The one thing that I refused to compromise on though was my morning coffee creamer.  I only drink one cup of coffee per day, made with my Keurig.  And it must be light and sweet.  Up until this week, International Delights Caramel Macchiato non-dairy creamer was the go-to for my sweet fix.  But even though it tastes delicious, I know chemically modified non-dairy creamer isn't going to help in my clean(er) eating quest.

I was discussing my dilemma last weekend with my mom-in-law and she asked if I'd seen the Natural Bliss Creamers that Coffee Mate is making now.  And that they had Caramel flavor!  Score!!

So I tracked it down at my local Price Chopper grocery store (I saw they have it at Walmart too) and took it home to try.  And promptly fell in love!

Mmmm....caramel!

Now if you avoid dairy, stay away because this definitely has all sorts of real dairy goodness in it!  It's creamy and fabulous and I can pronounce all the words on the label so feel no guilt about enjoying it every morning!  Yippee!

Things I actually recognize as food!

They have vanilla and sweet cream flavors too, for those of you who don't love caramel. (But really, who doesn't love caramel??)

In other news - I get my stitches out this afternoon and will get the verdict on when I'm allowed to run and strength train again.  Keep your fingers crossed for me and my sanity that it is soon!

Also, check out the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge 2011 that my fellow blogger Amanda at RunToTheFinish is hosting!  It starts November 19 and runs through January 6, just enough time to make sure your festivities don't derail your fitness goals!  She also has some incredible prizes and it's open to all levels of fitness...make sure you take a look!!  Of course, I intend to kick butt and win so enter at your own competitive risk!! :)

Hope your Friday is a fabulous one! :)

Treadmill walking is a start!

This has been a long week already and it's only Wednesday.  Yesterday morning I woke up and felt like myself again.  And it felt really good.  Except my body is not used to sitting around the house, it's used to going constantly, working, chasing kids and running on a daily basis.

You get to see all kinds of pretty things when you're forced to relax!

So once the haze of the anesthesia wore off and I was able to get a couple good nights of sleep, I suddenly had more energy than I've had in months.  I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin.  It actually felt a lot like tapering so I'm calling it "post surgery tapering".

Since I can't run and I can't sit still, I decided to compromise.  I walked.  I went down to my trusty treadmill in the basement and walked for an hour while I watched the Biggest Loser.  And I only covered 3 miles in an hour.  20 minutes per mile.  But I did it!  Less than a week post surgery, I walked 3 miles.  Pretty psyched about that!

I also started using Daily Mile last night.  I know, I must live under a rock since I hadn't heard of Daily Mile until I started using Twitter.  I love using MapMyRun but I really like the social media aspect of Daily Mile. I figured it was a good time to start since I'm truly back at the beginning of my training.  I'm very excited to see the progress I'm going to make over the winter while I'm base building so I can race stronger than ever next year.

And fittingly enough, I just found out that today, October 19th, is National Love Your Body Day!  I absolutely love this!  Although I believe EVERYDAY should be a love your body day!  Love it, respect it, feed it, work on it and don't forget it's the only one you've got!  You and your body have to work together for a very long time.  Make it the healthiest body you can!

No Tummy Tuck for Me!

I have mad respect for my body.  It is far from perfect but it's given me 2 beautiful children and allowed me to run hundreds of miles.  It's always been strong and consistent.  Until the last few days.

Thursday morning I had my gallbladder removed.

See how loved I am?

Sidebar: I thought that this would be common knowledge, but if someone tells you they need to have surgery, this is not the cue for you to tell them every horrible surgical story you've ever heard.  It's kind of like when you're pregnant and every woman comes up to you to tell you how awful their labor was.  Why do people do that???

Really, really loved! 

For the record, gallbladder surgery is not fun.  It's not as horrible as half the people I talked to wanted me to think it was but definitely not something I ever want to go through again. Thankfully I'm a healthy and fit girl so I only spent one night at the hospital and got off the pain meds the day after surgery.  Tylenol is the only thing that doesn't make my world spin in circles.

But really, nothing says "Get Well Soon" quite like brand new Under Amour! :)

The most humbling experience (and when I "really" knew that I'd had major surgery) came Thursday evening when the nurse made me walk to the end of the hall.  And I could barely do it.  All I could think was, I ran 5 miles a couple of days ago and now I can barely walk to the end of the hall.  Yikes.

So I've decided that my mission now is to avoid surgery, if possible, for the rest of my life.  The funny part is that I used to believe that "some day" when my body was close to "perfect" I'd have some "work" done to tuck my tummy and move my girls up a bit to their pre-baby location.  Nope, never gonna happen.

Why would I torture myself to try to make me into someone that I'm not?  Why would any healthy girl?  Why is our self esteem so low that we feel we need to be "perfect"?  And why can't we accept that we are perfect just the way we are?

I love my body.  I work hard everyday to get my body in the best shape I can.  I will never take for granted the strength that I possess because I'm a pretty tough cookie.  I wish more girls I know believed this.

This unplanned downtime in my life has helped me put a lot of things into perspective.  It's reminded me that I don't have to run, instead I WANT to run.   Like right now.  Seriously.  But I won't, I'm all about respecting my body, remember?

The next few weeks will not go fast enough...but it will give me enough time to plan my racing calendar for next year! :)