BOISE!..... STATE!

Happy Halloween, Blue & Orange Style!

As I was pulling into my apartment complex after a great workout at the gym, I could hear the screams of "BOISE....STATE!" echoing through the sky. I was surprised at how well I could make out the yells from Bronco Stadium. It brought an instant smile to my face. I am a die hard BSU Bronco fan! If I didn't have so much Halloween prep-work to do today I myself would be down there with the rest of them hooting and hollering for the Blue & Orange!

I am wishing my Broncos good luck today! You can do it!! They are playing San Jose State today and should smoke them as usual. :)

This is my friend Tara & I at a bronco game. This picture is circa of about 2006. It's the most recent awesome bronco pic I could find. I surely need to fix that!


Happy Halloween everyone! I bet you can't wait to see what I have in store for you for my Halloween edition. I am hosting a Halloween Bash tonight and am excited to report the after math tomorrow!

***Update: Bronco's won 45 to 7!! YAY!

The last light run...

Fall is setting in.

I am glad to be able to bundle up in my hoodie and sip my pumpkin spice mocha with the light breeze upon my face all while enjoying the beautiful scenery around me. With the changes of scenery and seasons come the change of time.

Turning back the clock means a whole extra hour! The only thing I dislike is the early darkness. The WRFW running group has been meeting on a regular schedule finishing just before the night has set in. Now with our running schedule we will need to be creative on where to run safetly and hopefully warmly! This will be a test against mother nature once again, but I am confident we will win again.

Speaking of runs..... Check it out! The WRFW group met back up today to finish off the week with a great run. The weather was on our side! GORGEOUS! With the snow flurries yesterday I for sure thought we were going to have an interesting day ahead of us. Lucky for us, Boise weather always keeps you on your toes!

The Linz, Amy, Nicole, Bethany & Amber


Running Stats:

Distance: 4.49 miles
Time: 53.08
Cals: 493

I am excited to see new faces every time we run! Our group is growing at a rapid pace but it's so full of motivation! I love that I could call on every one of these ladies to go on a run with me and some of them I have just met!

I have to say I was also pretty impressed with the speed at which Nicole & I kept today. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to hang in there and I did! This was after not running since monday. I also decided since I had the day off today I would hit up my favorite class at Golds Gym Body Combat, which is a cardio kickboxing class. Ahhh... nothing like kicking and punching the crap out of the air! I tell ya it's quite a release!

Today rocked! And I am so ready for awesome Halloween fun tomorrow! YAY!

A tribute

Well I am sad to report that I missed the "WRFW" running group last night. But, I had a good reason though. MICHAEL JACKSON! Okay, so we had a family girls night out. The evening included my mom, grama, great aunt Glo, Aunt Betty, and cousins Katie & Nichelle.

I have always loved MJ since I was a little girl. I am not sure if it was the beats, the jams, the lyrics, or the dancing? Either way I love his music. We wanted to pay our tributes to the King of Pop, so we did!

We were V.I.P!


This Is It was a great movie. It felt as though you were sitting front row at a Michael Jackson concert. This movie does not touch on MJ's past, his life, or anything but the last time he was going to put his show on the road. It was a chance for everyone who had put work into this production to have something to show for it.

It was my chance to witness a Michael Jackson concert, because had he ever made it anywhere close to Spudland I probably wouldn't have been able to afford the tickets anyways. If you are a fan of MJ you will not disappointed!

To the finish line!

A girl with goals!

I have always been a goal oriented person. I feel that it keeps me motivated and in it for the long haul if I can see the finish line. Therefore I have broken down my goal of running a marathon in one year into segments. My running journey has only just began and I am literally taking it one step at a time.

As I have recently surpassed a mini milestone in my running bucket list, so to speak, I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at the progress and personal accomplishments I have made.



Run girl run! You can do it!!


Race Re-Caps:

May, 2009: Race For The Cure,
Time: 31:32
My first race ever, first 5k!

June, 2009: See Jane Run's I Run For Chocolate & Champagne 5k,
Time: 23:41 (Obviously I was running for the chocolate & champagne!)
They mis-routed the race and we were cut short by almost a 3/4 of a mile. I was starting to have a heart attack thinking I ran it at 7-something minute pace! It was still a good fun run though, and all the goodies were definitely a plus!

The Linz & Paige rockin' our race numbers after our race!


September, 2009: St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration 5k,
Time: 30:59
This race was a challenge as there was a hill involved, but it was also amazing as there were thousands & thousands of other women running beside me. Not to mention my friend Paige, the one who got me started on this crazy running obsession.


October 2009, Barber to Boise 10k,
Time: 61:43
My first 10k race!

Full Race Recap: As B2B was my first 10k and one big check mark off my running list I must admit I was nervous. I had been training for the race, but was never able to get up to the mileage I was supposed to. I think the farthest I had run was maybe 5 miles or close to that, but only on one or two occasions. To think my feet were going to run farther than they ever had all at once was frightening.

I was mixed with emotion when I hit the 4 mile point. Not to mention I was being completely passed by an eight year old, but I realized I was on a familiar path. It was the path I have been running all summer. This familiar stretch of green belt gave me a boost of energy and kept me going until I reached finished line.

It was a great feeling to know that I accomplished this goal of running a 10k. My mom always said "You can do anything you set your mind to!" - Thanks Mom! I am one run closer to being a marathoner!

J. Alabama & I before the B2B race!


What's in store ahead for the marathoner-in-training?

December 2009: YMCA Christmas Run 5k & 10k
I originally planned on doing the 10k, but I'm a little worried about seriously running in the snow. So the 5k/10k decision is still up in the air.

March 2010: St. Patty's 5k
April 2010: Beat Coach Pete 5k
May 2010: Race For The Cure 5k

June 2010: Sawtooth Relay (each leg is about 5 miles and I will run two legs)
June 2010: SJR's I Run For Chocolate & Champagne Half Marathon
These two race weekends are literally back to back, but I want to do both! So I will have to see how I feel!

**October 2010: Nike Women's Challenge MARATHON!** - San Francisco

So basically, I decided that I am motivated by a good race!

What are your fitness goals? Do you have any future races you are training for?

On the Run!

The "Will Run For Wine" Running Group had another adventure!

This time I was delighted to meet up with Brittany & Amy, both sorority sisters. Brittany is training to do her first 5k and lead the way with a podcast she had downloaded. She explained that on iTunes you can download different workouts and run podcasts that lead you through your experience. The podcast seemed to follow the Galloway method of running for a few minutes and walking for a minutes.

We were enjoying the beautiful fall scenery on the green belt when the winds blew in. We were caught up in a twister of leaves. The three of shrieked and shrilled as it appeared to be snowing yellow & red leaves all around us. Luckily we were close to the end of journey, because it was starting to rain and it was becoming cold.

Our Running Stats:
Distance: 3.62 miles
Time: 55 minutes
Calories burned: 397

Once I arrived home I knew it was time for some dinner! The boyfriend who prefers that I use the name of J. Alabama instead of his real name and I decided upon an interesting Chicken Cordon Bleu type recipe. Honestly it was way better than any other CCB dish I have had before, probably because there was no ham involved. I am not a huge meat eater. Chicken is the main meat that I eat.

We breaded some chicken and lightly fried it in a bit of olive oil. Once it was mostly done he cut a slit in it and put a slice of fresh mozzarella cheese and a few sauteed onions and topped with fresh spinach. MMmmmm.. Mouthwatering!

Here is my plate, a healthy mix of veggies and rice.


J. Alabama prefers to just stick with meat and rice, but I snuck a few peas on there because I know he needs his greens!


How do you feel about veggies? What is your favorite kind?

My Moments, a week in pictures

My sorority sister Brittany has taken on this project where she takes one fabulous picture daily, as a way to capture her life in photographs. This idea has inspired me to take on this picture project for myself. It has been a neat experience watching her post a picture a day. And I would like to follow suit with my own project of My Moments.

Barber to Boise 2009, My first 10k Race and I finished in 61:43!!


A nice surprise. Happy 6 Months boyfriend!

A present to myself, to motivate for 2010.










This is all you get until Halloween!;)


Friday Night out with the girls! We were definitely overdue for a girl's wine night. (Maria, Me & Hannah)


Cupcakes!

Wine, Cupcakes & Running - Oh my!

Saturday was AWESOME! I took the opportunity today to hang out with my grandma. It's been a really long time since we had a grandma-granddaughter day, so we seized the day.

It started out at the bagel shop for a delicious bagel sammie and a cup of coffee. While we were ordering our bagels we spotted Pumpkin Cream Cheese! It was a must have for sure. It's pumpkin cinnamon deliciousness!

Then we heard about a great wine sale at The Wood River Cellars Winery (Formerly Eagle Knoll) and had to check it out. As you can probably gather from my last post, I am a wine enthusiast. Not to mention I am Italian. So a wine blow-out sale moved to the top of the to-do list today!

After we had our wine tasting we spotted Lilly Jane's Cupcakes. Grams mentioned she had never been there, so it was obvious we needed to take a little sweet break. We split a peanut butter cupcake, and bought a few treats to give out to other family members.
MMMMMMMMmmmmm!!! :)

After our treat I took Grama home and headed off back to my home. I wanted to take advantage of the last few nice fall weather days. The forecast is showing many cold days next week. I strapped on the running shoes, the nikeplus and was on the green belt in no time. I was feeling a little heavy from the eats & drinks, and a wee bit sore from the run the night before. I resorted to the Galloway Method of running, which is where you run a portion and then walk for a minute. This seemed to relieve the shin splint pain and got me through.

My Running Stats:
Distance: 3.93 miles
Time: 42.01
Calories: 427

I love how I am rocking the "Towers" t-shirt from my freshman year of college in the dorms at Boise State University. It's a classic!

Rain Runner

Rain or shine the running group treads on!

A few weeks ago a few friends and I decided to start a running group. We have been meeting for runs every monday, wednesday and friday after work. It's been great to have such a fun group of ladies to run with. I am getting to know new friends too! The running world gives you such a great opportunity to meet new friends with a passion for hitting the trail! And did I mention the catchy title for this group? Well we voted on the "I Will Run For Wine" group. Since we decided that wine would motivate us to run.



Last night I met up with Nicole, Bethany and Emmy (Bethany's doggie) for an almost 5 mile run. We were a little hesitant since the weather drastically changed at the last minute from beautiful to downpour. Nicole informed me on our very first run that she didn't do rain runs. So it was surprising to see her there ready to get it over with. The three of trudged along through puddles and raindrops which actually made for quite a fun run. I loved it! We were shooting for 5 miles, but finished just short of that at around 4.67. The dark sky was setting in, and we were drenched. But all and all it was fab!
Here I am drenched after the run.

It has become apparent that if I want to be a marathoner I can't let rain, snow, hot or cold get in my way! This was a test of mother nature's abilities and I am proud to say that we didn't let that stop us!

The Green Monster Movement

This little guy is the star of my morning! I got hooked on Green Monsters from the very first time I made them. Not only do they taste delicious, but they are made with healthy ingredients. I am so full of energy I have even forgot to drink my habitual cup of coffee in the morning. And those of you who know me, know that I don't skip the caffeine.

What's in my Green Monster?

1/2 scoop of protein powder (I use Syntha 6 Cookies & Cream)
1 heaping handfull of raw spinach
1/2 Banana
1 cup of Almond Milk (original flavor)
2-3 Ice cubes

Blend away. Your body will thank you later, I promise!

To find more great Green Monster Recipes check out The Green Monster Movement.

It's Blogger Time!

So it's official... I am posting my first blog EVER! I know you may think I have jumped on the band wagon. I consider it a jump for the better. The blogging world has completely changed my outlook on healthy living in a matter of months.

It all started one day when I Googled “30 Day Shred” By Jillian Michaels to find out what all the talk was about. What I found was Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point and a whole new way to look at fitness and my own body. I will save the epiphany for another post, so stay tuned. I just wanted to say welcome to Destination26point2! I am glad to have you along for the ride; the ride where I turn from beginner runner to marathoner in just shy of a year.