Coldest Run Ever!

Well it is currently 29 degrees and brrrrrrrrrrrrr..... that is freaking cold!


The Will Run For Wine Running Group had a nice meeting tonight. We have been a bit sporadic the last few weeks due to the holiday. But I just couldn't stand another night going by that I didn't Pile On The Miles.

Since I am still newer to running, running in freezing cold, windy weather is VERY new to me. It would have been a lot easier to say heck with it. But this girl just doesn't do that anymore! So what does one wear to run in the freezing cold?

Layers








Gloves


Beanie


Honestly, once we started moving I wasn't so caught up with the freezing factor. Yes it was cold on my face, but having the gloves on my fingers was so key. I think this saved me.

I am highly considering running in The YMCA Christmas 10k on December 19th. Tonight's run was a 'test run' if you will. I can only assume that in 3 weeks it will be colder and even snowy. Now snow running will be interesting!

We ran 3 miles in 32 minutes and I still had some life left in me even with the blistering cold. If my friend Hannah says she is in (which I'm pretty sure she is) I am going to do it. Cold & all! I have no idea though if my time will beat my previous PR of 61 minutes. But I will never know unless I try!

Shred Day #3:
Ugggghhh! My calves were killing! All the air jump roping and jumping jacks were doing me in. Who knew that those would be the thing to get me! But I have stuck it out now three days. I only have 27 more days to go! Wooooopppeeeeeeee!!!! I surely hope I can keep this enthusiasm up.

26.2 or Bust...

The magnet bandit was out on the loose this weekend. I came home to find this attached to my front door.

I was super excited when I saw this because it completely represents my goals. I had a suspicion on who I thought it was -none other than Paige! She is the one who got me into running several months ago. I decided to hang it on my fridge as a reminder of where I am going (destination 26.2 or bust).

Speaking of running... The Will Run For Wine running group had a meet-up on friday night. I mentioned last week that I had hoped both brothers could do it. Well I got one of out two, not bad! We were also joined by Brittany's husband Brent. It was invasion of the guys at WRFW running group. It was nice though to show them what us ladies have been up to.
(Linz, Bethany, Brittany, Brent, A-Bomb, Michelle)

After a nice 3.5 mile run through downtown Boise, we thought we deserved a beer. This was actually our first official WILL RUN FOR WINE BEER after run drink as a group. Due to the $3.00 pitchers we couldn't resist going for some beer.


Shortly after the WRFW group arrived, J-Bomb arrived and Brother Sister Brother Night was well on it's way! The night was a success. The siblings got to hang out and enjoy another Bronco Football massacre!


Goals... Goals.. Goals... I talk a lot about my goals which I think is important because then it becomes visual. When you write them down or spread the news you feel more likely to accomplish them because you are somewhat being held accountable. So I have decided to dub December "Shred it" month. I am going to start The 30-Day Shred on Sunday November 29th. I will take before & after measurements & photos as another way to document my journey and to keep myself going strong.

I am excited to jump into this challenge along with the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge as a way to keep active through this holiday season. It seems that these times are the hardest for me due to an increase in holiday feasting. I feel that if I am keeping up a regular exercise routine, a few extra treats are not going to ruin the progress I have made.

So "Happy Shredding" & "Happy Bootie Bustering"!!

Pinkies Up

This lovely red pear was the fruit of the day!

I have been trying to buy new fruits & veggies when I go grocery shopping as a way to incorporate them into my diet. I can remember back to a few months ago when I would go days without eating fruits and/or veggies and not even think twice about it.

But what I have come to discover is the amazing powers they hold. Oh yes, super fruit & veggies powers! I feel naturally energized, my mood is happier, not to mention the many health benefits.

I have to say it all started with the Green Monster. A great morning breakfast infused with spinach & banana goodness. Sounds disgusting but it has changed my life. Since drinking those & incorporating the fruits & vegs into my daily routine I get the urge to run all the time!

The Will Run For Wine group had it's first meet-up since last weds. Far too long I say! We picked a new route last night and decided to give it a try. We were lucky that Nicole has her head lamp because we followed the green belt deep into the darkness. It had an a eerie feeling & was hard to navigate with just one head lamp. I do not recommend this type of adventure. Good thing there were 6 of us and I know some sweet kickboxing moves - noone was going to mess with the Wine Runners. We managed to bust out 4 miles along our adventure. We will save this route for a weekend or summer time, since it is beautiful during the day, but night time it's far too secluded and dark.

After the run J. Alabama & I decided on having Sushi night. It has been way too long since our last sushi session and let me tell you it hit the spot.

In the nature of trying new things we ordered Sake. (Well there was that one time I engaged in the Saki-Bomb-a-thon, but I was also doing an extensive wine tasting & don't quite remember if I liked it or not).


I think I heart the little cups. Oh and I couldn't fight the feeling of not doing the pinkie up. I know, I know... I had to!


My sushi was good.


But J. Alabama's was WAY better! Look at all the goodies on top.


Good thing he likes to share with me. He is so nice!! :)

My next post will be starring a new special character - one that you will see popping up over here a lot more often. Stay tuned! And I am excited for those of you who are signed up for the HBBC!

Pumpkin Love

Yes I love EVERYTHING pumpkin.

Last night I got super motivated and made pumpkin muffins. I have been dreaming about them for weeks now & finally had my chance. It kind of seems that I have been on a cooking craze lately, but I am seeming to enjoy it.

I was SO excited to pair my lovely pumpkin muffin up with my new breakfast creation of The Pumpkin Monster!

What's in my DELICIOUS Pumpkin Monster you ask? Well, here it is:
*1/2 banana
*1/2 cup pumpkin
*1 cup of Almond Milk (original flavor)
*1/2 scoop of protein powder
*2 huge handfuls of spinach
*1/4 tsp pumpkin spice
*3 ice cubes

So throw it all in the blender and you have yourself a delicious nutritious pumpkin pie shake!

So I wonder if any of you have the problem I have with the treadmill? It's a love/hate relationship really. I am glad to have it for those days when it's blustering cold or dark out & I still want to get some miles in, but once I am there I am so wishing I could be running freely outside - just my feet against the pavement.

I just feel like I run slower, more awkward & the time seems soooooooooooooooo much longer. Arrggh!

The Will Run For Wine Group did not meet up last night so I made my way to the gym to pile on the miles myself. I was actually excited until I started running and saw that I was pacing way slower than normal, I needed to take a lot of walking breaks and I just couldn't get into the rythym.

I managed to bust out 4 miles in 48 minutes. This was due to a lot of walking breaks. And my speed ranged from 4.5 - 6.2, I was all over the place.

If anyone has tips for making the treamill more exciting & easier PLEASE let me know!

After a non-exciting run I made it home for dinner with the boyfriend. I was excited because I made Artichokes. So yum!

I am trying to incorporate new fruits & veggies into my daily routine, so you may see many more popping up over here. I think part of the marathon journey for me is to learn the balance of running & being healthy. So I am trying to make a concious effort to do both well.

Fun with Fruit!

Grapes are fruit. Wine is made of grapes... YAY!


Okay, So it might appear to the untrained eye that a lot of wine consumption seems to happen over here. And honestly it depends on what you think a lot is. I probably indulge in a few nice glasses of vino a week and just LOVE taking photos of it!

But the real story of Fun with fruits goes like this...
Today is Veteran's Day, and as you know I am dating a man who has served his country. Today I wanted to do something nice for him, so I decided to make him dinner. I had a bag of apples that were staring me down and needed to get eaten so dinner needed to be apple-inspired.

I made Baked Chicken & Apples!
8 chicken parts with skins removed
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Vegetable cooking spray
1/4 c. water
3 apples, cored and sliced

In a small bowl mix together spices. Set aside 1/2 teaspoon and sprinkle chicken with remaining spice mixture. Cook the chicken until brown.

In a baking dish arrange slices of two of the apples on the bottom then top with browned chicken. Place remaining apples on top. Then mix water with remaining spice mixture and pour liquid over all. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes


Fall smells definitely filled the air! It was fun to make and fun to eat.

What is a good fruity meal without dessert? I normally don't make a desert, but the boyfriend deserved it. In honor of it being Pomegranate month, as well as the blogger world filling their food blogs with this deliciousness I couldn't help but pick one up.

Looks like a pomegranate murder.... eek.

Dessert is what I like to call PomCheesecake-tini
You will need the following:
A Martini Glass (for presentation purposes)
Graham Crackers
Cheesecake flavored Pudding
Pomegranate arils


OMIGAWSH! This was a total winner! It tasted like cheesecake with the graham crackers, and the pomegranate gave it just the fruity-ness it needed. YUM YUM YUM!


To properly open a pomegranate check out Caitlin's awesome directions. They worked perfectly!

This was a great night of eats, following another meeting of the Will Run For Wine Running group. We met up tonight and toughed it out through the rain! It was nice to get another 3.5 up on the board for Pile On The Miles.

Friday Fun day!

It was like Christmas when opening my mailbox today! I have been waiting...and waiting... and waiting... for about 6 weeks for my subscription to Runners World to FINALLY arrive. Today was the day. And not only did they send me one, they sent two! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <--- that is how excited I was when I opened my mailbox!



In other news...


And then there were three.... Nicole, Linz & Hannah

The Will Run For Wine Running group met up as usual. Tonight our group was looking a little scarce. But not to worry, the three of us trudged on for the rest of them! I know I was really excited to get to watching the Boise State vs LA Tech football game after the run. So I really wanted to do a short run in hopes of not missing too much of the game.

Our Running Stats:
Distance: 2.70
Time: 31.00

The run was refreshing and quick. It was just what I needed to re energize me for the meeting at the pub.



I met up with good friends Joe, Maria, Tim & Christa to watch the second half of the Bronco game. It was a very close game. At one point there was only a 2 point gap, and BSU is ranked #7. That doesn't look good when a non-ranked team is almost beating you.



To ease my worries, I had 1.5 of these.


The RAM, the restaurant we were at actually brews their own beer. And I was indulging in their Hefeweizen. Not bad!

I am happy to report that Boise State did finish the game in VICTORY!

Then it was the boyfriend & I to the movies for a late date night. He chose "Men Who Stare At Goats". I couldn't argue since I ALWAYS get to pick the movie, and it's usually a girly one.

But...I gave the movie a big thumbs down. :( It could have been that I fell asleep through it, or that I just didn't think it was that funny. But I was not a fan. And a funny thing about me, It's typical that I fall asleep through almost any movie. It happens ALOT.

I Ran For Wine!!

WRFW Group~ Brooke, Amber, The Linz, Michelle, Brittany & Amy (Roxy & Rio, Brooke's Doggies)

YEAH! Wednesday night's run was a great one. We found a new route that we liked and was perfect for night time running. It was in a public area, lots of lighting and there were great views of the city.

I was excited because I was going to meet up with a friend after the run to have a wine night! So I really used the run as motivation.

Our Running Stats:
Distance: 3.30 miles
Time: 37:00
Cals burned: 361 (that's atleast two glasses right?)

Ahh... :)


My friend Ashley is a Scentsy Consultant. Scentsy is the most amazing smelling, yummy, delicious wax stuff. It's a little brick of wax that is heated by a small lamp and emits the most amazing aromas!



This was my first time smelling them and she had over 85 smells for me to test out. Some were so delicious I wanted to eat them.

Some were not. (One even smells like leather, which actually smells like a shoe store, not sure if that one is a big seller or not).


To clense my nose palate, I was instructed to sniff coffee in between scents.

(Scentsy, you really need a coffee smelly one!)

Well I did find about 10 smells that I cannot live without. So I will be putting in an order. These things are the bomb.com!!

Cheers to wine & scentsy night!

Night Runners - Pile On The Miles

With November being a month that leaves you anxious and sluggish right before the holidays it was a good time to start a new personal challenge. Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point came up with a great way to get out the Thanksgiving Blues... She calls it PILE ON THE MILES Challenge!

The challenge is to literally pile on the miles from November 1st until Thanksgiving. I am super excited for this challenge because I have recently began tracking my mileage and now have a goal to beat.

October Mileage: 47 MILES!

With that I would like to report that today I clocked in the first miles for the POTMC (Pile On The Miles Challenge).




With the clocks turning back it has left the WRFW group with no choice but to tough it out and run in the dark. So tonight we embarked on our first night run!

Tonight's superstar runners included: Bethany, Amy, Nicole, Hannah, Michelle, Courtney, Brooke & The Linz. Our biggest group yet!

We started our run just as the sun was setting. We reached mile 1.5 and it was pure darkness outside. Our plan was to run through the park with hopes that there would be enough light for us to make it though back to the main street. We decided to switch our route up at this point making our run a little farther than planned. We all made it through until we reached the end. It was another great run for the WRFW group!

I'm sorry for the poor quality, my good camera had a mishap over the weekend.


The Running Stats:
Distance: 3.50
Time: 37.58
Cals: 379

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!

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?