Menu

I haven't posted my weekly menu for 2 weeks, but there really wasn't anything exciting, and since it was the last of the month we tried to eat all our leftovers and meals I had previously frozen in the freezer. Here is what we will be enjoying this week. The bolded things are NEW recipes. I will be posting some new recipes to share soon!

Monday - Chicken Salsa Tacos - recipe it come!

Tuesday - WagonWheel Chili

Wednesday - Tuna Pasta Bake

Thursday - Baked Turkey Burritos

Friday - Sweet n Sour Chicken Pizza

Saturday - still deciding - possibly eating out - possibly cooking for 6 adults and 4 kids! But I

won't know until at least Friday.

Sunday - Mexican Fiesta! Birthday dinner for the sister in-law. Including, enchiladas, taquitos,

and more! Plus a MILE HIGH DEVIL's FOOD CAKE!

Obviously I am trying a lot of new recipes this week. So far so good. I am really excited about the sweet n sour chicken pizza.

What are you eating this week?

Change of plans!!

Now, I know originally I said I was going to run my 1/2 marathon on March 26th. But plans have changed... After talking to it over with Jay, I have opted to run here:

photo courtesy of Mountain Man Events

Make your old teachers proud, and tell me you know where this is. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I would be able to confidently say where this was if it wasn't on the race website...

i am a little embarrassed.

I will be running the SIX TUNNELS to HOOVER DAM Half Marathon on March 12th!

I am supposed to wear GREEN. I think I need to go shopping... So glad I live 1 mile for the Nike outlet. Jealous? muahhhaa :) This is why I am obsessed with Nike.

I am very excited, but am already feeling butterflies in my stomach. Please tell me these will not last for the next two weeks!

I kept putting off signing up for it on Saturday - even though Jay kept reminding me. * we didn't want to it sell out cause the website says it can * I just always like having an "out," (I know that is bad!) but this baby is non-refundable. Plus the fact that I have to drive 10 hours to get there complicates things a little. * Eating junk food in the car for 10 hours, then shopping for two full days, and trying to get two toddlers to sleep in a new place are probably not the best pre-race activities. YIKES! I am freaking out again!* Hopefully the lure of Vegas buffets won't ruin my race experience!

OK - back to the story - so when I checked my email late Saturday night I had a confirmation email in my inbox. DONE! I was signed up and couldn't turn back. I was so glad he did it for me! I needed him to sign me up, cause my palms got sweaty everytime I started filling out the registration. This is my first Half and I am nervous!

Let the countdown begin. They say I will see some of these on my run:

photo courtesy of Mountain Man Events
That would be sweet. I would like to race one of them. Scratch that - I think they would demolish me. Even better, maybe I could ride on one of their backs for my last 1/2 mile. I am sure I will be ready to rest!

photo courtesy of Mountain Man Events
I am really hoping to strike this pose at some point during my run. I would be willing to give up a little of my stored energy to leap like a praying mantis mid stride, and have it caught on camera!

Less than 13 days and counting.

Keeping it simple

Tuesday - 4.5 mile run

Thursday - 7.69 miles run (family run - WOOT!)

I was inspired by this HungryRunnerGirl post the other day. It really got me thinking. I haven't been enjoying my runs lately. In fact, I have found myself dreading them on many days....ugh! I was starting to wonder if running had just "run its course" (excuse the play on words!) with me. I wondered if it was just getting old to me. My love for running felt like it was fading. And that made me sad. But Janae's post really resonated with me.

Granted, I am only training for a HALF marathon, the strict training schedule was getting to me. I have always been running for enjoyment and health, so I would just get out there and run as far as I could. And it was FUN! So this week I have just been running at MY pace. I have been running as far as I want to, not what my schedule says. And it feels GOOD. No, FANTASTIC! Tonight's run was the best in a LONG time. I found myself singing along to my music again, smiling, and not counting DOWN the miles I had to go, but wishing I had time to ADD another mile or 4 :) I think I am finding my stride again with running.

I am glad I have found myself through running again.

It is good to be back.

Pulled Pork Salad

One of my most favorite restaurants is Costa Vida. I LOVE to get their Mango Chicken, Sweet Pulled Pork, OR Fajita Steak Salad (new fave). They are all to die for. After my 10 miler on Saturday I ate the WHOLE thing, whole wheat tortilla and all and was still hungry. And this is a BIG salad!

I have tried several recipes to mimic their amazing salad. I have never been able to find a recipe as delicious as theirs, last night may not have been identical to theirs, BUT last night was FAB-U-LOUS.

Do yourself a favor and eat it soon!

Pulled Pork Salad

Pork Roast 3-5lbs
16 oz Pace salsa
1 cup brown sugar

Mix salsa and brown sugar together. Set crockpot on low and stick roast in and pour the salsa mixture over the top. Let cook on LOW for 18 hours.. YES you read that right! 18HOURS! If you can't let it go that long, just let it go as long as you can. It makes it super tender. Make sure to check it is not burning. If it seems to be, add in some water to get things moist again.

For the salad put a whole wheat tortilla in the bottom ( I like la tortilla factory) and put some cilantro lime rice on the bottom (or even just cook your rice with some taco seasoning) then add black beans or pinto beans on top - as many as you want! Top with romaine lettuce, pork, mango salsa and cilantro! Mix the mango salsa around all over the salad to soak in the flavors.

Eat this soon....PLEASE. Then freeze the leftovers for another meal. That is one of my favorite parts :)

Here is what Jay thought about my meal choice...

Does his reaction make you want to make it, or run screaming?

Saturday Out n About

Saturday came, and since I had decided the night before not to run the race I decided I NEEDED to run. I left in the early afternoon while Gator napped.
RUN:
10.4 miles
8:38 pace
Fastest Mile: 7:11 SCORE!
<-insert biggest smile. I would have taken a pic but I get embarrassed asking people to photograph me>

WOOT! I felt good about this. Though I want my total pace to be 8:00, but I think my Nike+ was off on the last mile cause it said is was WAY slow...like 20 minute mile SLOW. And I KNOW for sure that is not the case....I wasn't walking!

So about half way through my run I had to go to the bathroom REAL bad... How do I emphasize this without being gross?....I will just stick with real bad!
But I didn't want to stop anywhere. I just kept running, and hoping that the time would go by faster. I thought about stopping at a friends house but that just sounded awkward to me. I thought about stopping at the gas station, but by the time I would arrive at the gas station I would only have 2 miles left...so I figured I may as well just keep running and wait for the comforts of my own home... Good decision? I don't know! It definitely made for a difficult last 5 miles to say the least!
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What do you do while you run for potty breaks? Do you push through it, or do you just stop?
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This was my first run EVER I have 'fueled' mid-run. But I am trying to do better at fueling my body properly so I tried Jelly Belly Sports beans. I am not sure whether they helped or not. But they definitely tasted good.

Candy+running= AWESOME

I will probably try them a few more times to decide whether they help or not...

What do you use to stay fueled during a run?

I got home and ate a bowl of cottage cheese and blueberries. I knew cottage cheese had a lot of protein, but I had no idea how much! 15g per 1/2 cup... YES, PLEASE!

I used to hate cottage cheese. Something about the curdled texture totally turned me off as a kid... ok, just the word 'curdled' makes me want to vomit. So moving on..

After my protein packed snacked I moved on to my favorite; Nutella Bread:
Have I shared with you yet my love for nutella bread? It is an obsession gone way to far, I think. My day is incomplete without my piece of nutella bread.

I usually have a slice as soon as my kids go down for bed at night. I don't drink alcohol, so I unwind with hazelnuts and chocolate :)

I love going for long runs, cause I feel like that justifies more than one slice of nutella bread in a day. And anything that can help me to eat more delicious things like this are totally welcome in my life.

How was your weekend? Any yummy treats? Any awesome runs?

ps Thursday was 20 minutes elliptical, and 3 miles on the treadmill---boring

Too Many Sweets

Maister's birthday is on the 15th, and with Valentine's Day just the day before, and two birthday parties we are on sugar overload! I am craving some crisp vegetables like never before! Unfortunately we don't have many left after all the events from these past 5 days. I ran a little over 5 miles on Monday, and haven't run since...WOOPS! I did manage to get in some turbo jam and ab work (tiny bit) today though! Hopefully things will get back to normal tomorrow...
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On the lack of running, I have been preoccupied making goodies like these:

YUM! I love these little things...

the inside of the southern coconut cake I made for the actual birthday. I know it isn't the most kid friendly, but it was also for our friend who shares the same birthday and she isn't eating chocolate - which is Maister's favorite flavor! I don't like coconut much, but this cake I liked! I was hoping I wouldn't like it...that way I wouldn't go back for another piece tonight! cocoNUT is really good for you right? I imagine it will make me faster or something... At least that is what I am trying to tell myself.

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I still haven't decided on the race on Saturday. I know it is getting a little late, huh?! I wish I could make up my mind... Jay is feeling stressed at work, and is having to work this weekend (just from home) so I don't want to add any extra stress to his already hectic schedule. Of course he says he will support me if I want to race, I just don't know!
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Every time I think about signing up, I get pre-pre-race jitters. Anyone else get these? It isn't a matter of finishing the race as I know I can run 8 miles just fine, but I just get really nervous!
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Do you get pre-pre-race jitters? If so, what do you do to calm them?

Big Run and Company

Like I said earlier, my sweet Mom is in town. Besides having one my best shopping partners around to hang with me, it also means we have unlimited (almost) babysitting! WOO! This also means I can run basically anytime of day - though I still prefer the morning - and Jay can join me for runs without being slowed down my the jogging stroller.

Here is my cute Mom. This was at Gator's 1st birthday party in October.

I love having my Mom around to chat and shop with :)

So last weekend, I knew I had my 10.2 mile run coming up. I got butterflies in my tummy whenever I thought about it. It would be the furthest I had run since October! **In October I learned a good lesson which was don't go that far when you have not properly trained. I had to rehab my knee for a good month before it felt even remotely normal....grr! I learned at great lesson though!

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We set out on Friday - early evening - for a super romantic sweaty sunset run. Right after we left the house I realized I had forgotten my iPod. AH! I about had a nervous breakdown... My iPod is like my security blanket. I tried to keep my cool cause I didn't want Jay to think I didn't want to talk to him. It was no offense to Jay, I did want to talk with him on the run, but sometimes I just need a song or two to get me back in my groove. I took a deep breath and continued 9 more miles with NO music! I was SO proud of myself :) It is the little things in life...

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We ran on some beautiful trails, and happened to be running over a bridge as the sun began to set. Once I wiped the sweat from my eyes, I was able to enjoy it :) We ran 10.23 miles and got home when it was DARK. It was fabulous. Jay is a bit faster than me, so he helped to push me some and I had the vision of pizza in my head to motivate me to hurry and finish! As soon as we got home we cleaned up (READ: changed clothes and put on deodorant so we didn't stink up the restaurant) then headed over to our favorite little pizza joint to celebrate our cute friends new pregnancy! I loved all the baby talk. It just makes me smile. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I couldn't take a picture of the stuffed pizza we had. Just know it was probably the best pizza I have ever tasted!

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Overall, it was great run. I had no reason to be nervous, but I have come a long way from being nervous for my first 4 mile run... so glad 4 miles is a cinch now..

LAST THING: I am thinking about running an 8 mile race this Saturday. It would be the last race before my half marathon next month. I feel like maybe it would help me to feel a little more prepared for my race. But on the same hand it of course costs $$ and I am supposed to run 10 miles this weekend for my training plan...Would you run it? I can't decide and could use some good imput. THANKS!