Mostly Cloudy but All Smiles

Good Morning :)  It's 73 degrees out, most cloudy and I love it!  Dare I say we are in our decent into Fall weather????  I had the most enjoyable run this morning.  I went six miles!  It felt really great and I didn't feel exhausted at the end.  I also did not walk at all and my pace kicked some booty! 

Of course, I ran in my new Mizunos and wore my running pak.

The running pak says that it doesn't bounce while you run and I suppose that is technically true.  It DOES ride up though.  I started with it down by my belly button and two minutes into the run it was almost to my chest.  Maybe if I tighten it up that will help....

The plan for my run this morning was to try a new route.  It involved going down the Prince William Parkway, which doesn't have a side walk.  It was a little scary at times but the shoulder was large enough to put adequate space between me and traffic.  I finished up the route that I planned out and looked at my Nike+ to check the distance.  I had gone five miles.   Emily had six miles planned for today and I thought I might as well do the same :)  So I started running through the side streets of my neighborhood to get that extra mile.

Once I finished my six miles, I went home for some breakfast.  I usually love to fix eggs and sausage on the weekends but after all that running, I didn't feel like being in front of a hot stove.  So Julia had yogurt with fresh berries and granola and I had a delicious smoothie!

Today's smoothie had frozen, sweet cherries, fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries, spinach, wheat germ, chia seeds, almond milk, vanilla protein powder, and baking cocoa powder.  It was soo good!  I can't remember if I have tried cocoa in my smoothies before or not, but I will definitely be doing it again.  I can't wait to try a smoothie with cocoa and put some almond butter or peanut butter in it too.  YUM!

Well I am off to train with Patrice now and then to the running store to check out compression socks.

What's your favorite way to refuel after a run?

~Andrea

Back to the Grind

Tonight was my first workout since coming back from vacation and I was really glad that I went.  Exercise is just one of those things that you never regret doing.

The morning that we left on vacation, I got up and went for run around our neighborhood because I knew it might be difficult to get my workouts done while on vacation.  I have to admit that I had Kara in my head that morning.  She's an ulta-marathon runner and she is also the mother of a toddler!  People ask her how she has time to run all the time and her response is "I make time."  If I want to be fit and healthy and want my daughter to see that fitness is important, then I definitely need to make time for it and make it a priority.

This doesn't apply to anything I just wrote about, but aren't we cute? Haha

Last night's workout with Patrice was pretty good.  To be honest, I wasn't hurting as much as I thought I would be.  Don't tell her this, but I thought she could have pushed me more.  I have been toying with the idea of not continuing on with the personal training but investing in some weights for my home instead.  I was thinking about doing it alone for some time and then possibly hiring her again a couple months before our wedding (still no date yet....).  Good idea or no?

After my workout with Patrice, I had a delicious smoothie.  It had frozen peaches, fresh raspberries, spinach, and vanila whey protein.  Yum :)  I really like the spinach in smoothies; you don't taste it at all.  Alex even had some so you know it was at least decent to the normal person.

I do feel that I have come out of my rut a little.  I have felt like there has been a little more swagger in my strut (haha!) and my mood has definitely been elevated.  I did not get up this morning for my workout so I am will work out tonight. 

So I'm feeling good again and I love it!  Today is my "Friday" and it's a holiday weekend so I am off for the next four days!!  Woo hoo :)  My plan for the weekend is to clean my house (read: unpack from vacay), run every day, and do some scrapbooking!  Alex's parents have also set up and official meeting of our families on Saturday too :)  I will let you know how it goes!

What are your holiday plans?

~Andrea

I bleed purple

Hello!  I have either caught the attention of fellow Dukes or Emily with this title :)  Yesterday just seemed to be very purple for some reason.  It started out very delicious too!

This was the most amazing smoothie I have made so far!  I put frozen peaches, frozen blueberries, chia seeds, almond milk, spinach and.....da da da daaaaaah....

Oh my yummy!!  I've never tried this protein powder (in a purple-y bag) before so of course, I bought it from Costco!  No regrets.  This powder mixes so much better than my last one and tastes so deliciously vanilla-y.  I'm sooo tempted to run back and grab the chocolate too :)   I was a little sad that I was running late getting ready for work because I loved that smoothie so much!  I wish I had time to really enjoy it.

Anyway, my workout was pretty intense yesterday morning.  I did the Jackie Warner HIIT workout on the treadmill.  Usually I do it only four times in total but yesterday I decided to do it one more time for luck.  I was exhausted and sweaty!  Both signs of a great workout! 

After my workout and delicious smoothie, it was time to get to work...

I had at least one admirer of my outfit ;)

What color was your day?

~Andrea