Good news, bad news, and 3 Half-Marathons planned!

I'm still here. I just haven't really had much to say. Well, that's not exactly true. I have a few things to bitch about, but I hate to be a downer ;)  So let's start with the good news:

I'm now back at my old job 3 days a week (Tues, Wed, Thurs). While the driving pretty much sucks (2 hours each way and gas is up to almost $4/gallon!), I have it down to a routine now. And I started listening to audio books on the drive, so that definitely helps! And I'm bringing home the same amount I -WAS- making when I was full-time. Yes, they need me as much as I (currently) need them, and are compensating for it. Yippee!

Looks like I'll be doing 3 (yes that's T-H-R-E-E!!!) Half-Marathons this year! The first one is next month! The SuperHero HM in Morristown, NJ. I'm anxiously awaiting the Wonder Woman costume I ordered a few days ago ;)

The 2nd will be the one I'm already registered for: the ING Rock-n-Roll Philly HM on September 18th, and the 3rd will be the ING Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas HM on December 4th (or is it 5th?). I'm super excited about this one for several reasons!! First, 2 of my Spark friends (and their hubbies) are also going! Anyone else wanna join us?! The more the merrier :)  Second, can we just say VACATION! I haven't had a vacation since my wedding/honeymoon (which also happened to be in Vegas!). I have a comp for a week free at the hotel we stayed at last time, and airfare is super cheap right now too! And while we're at it, let me just mention how much I LOVE bingo at the Plaza! Woohoo!

So now, the bad news, which really isn't all that bad, haha! Anyways, I mentioned previously that I had 2 black toenails from my foot slamming into the front of my shoe during the 10-miler.  Well the big toe on my right foot is really bad. During what was supposed to be my long run last night, it somehow "peeled" halfway up (off) and started slapping against the top of my shoe. I managed to make it just over 6 miles before I couldn't stand it anymore. And I was in my new Mizunos, which I have to mention I HATE, even more than the new Nikes. After wasting about $200, I've learned my lesson and am going back to Ghosts.

Today I wrapped my toe and figured I'd try the long run again. Yes, you can start shaking your head now. Stupid! Although I made it a little farther than yesterday (6.5 miles), by mile 5 my toe was throbbing! I'm sure I made it worse, and now I'm gonna have to take the rest of this week off to let it heal. Good thing I won't have time to run for the next 3 days as it's time for the 15-hour days to begin again.

So that's about it from this end. Hope everyone has a good week and I'll try to check in when I can.

Do you have a Skinny Kitchen?

     I was reading an article about how to stock a "Skinny Kitchen" and it stated that you should always have at least 6 "go-to" foods/meals on hand (healthy of course!). This really makes a lot of sense because I know that for me personally, when I run out of certain things, I tend to make worse eating choices. I'm always looking for new ideas so let's see what your foods are!

Here are mine (I did meals since there's no way I could narrow down to just 6 particular foods!):

1. My homemade "Super Salsa" (tomatoes, red onions, cilantro, jalapenos, radishes, limes) I eat this at least once on most days, sometimes more!

2. My homemade "Mexican Meatloaf" (ground chicken breast, super salsa from above, reduced fat shredded mexican cheese, fat-free sour cream, eggs, Quaker Guacamole tortillaz) This is probably my favorite meal :)

3. Non-fat plain yogurt w/Jell-O sugar-free, fat-free Cheesecake pudding mix and a Granny Smith apple (favorite snack)

4. PB2 (chocolate) on an Arnold multi-grain sandwich thin w/banana and strawberries

5. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts slow-cooked in crockpot w/BBQ sauce, then shredded, served over either whole wheat pasta with reduced-fat cheddar cheese, or mixed salad greens.

Hmmm... coffee is not a food right? What about Gu?

6. Original vegan boca burgers w/Laughing Cow light creamy french onion cheese and Asian stir-fry veggies with sesame oil.

With the exception of this past week (it's been bad, really bad) I basically eat those same things all the time. Or I have those same ingredients in different combinations.

Your turn!

Doing the #30daychip dance :)

 First I'd like to thank everyone for the kind words/encouragement about my 10-mile race! While I don't think I'd do that particular race again, I am already looking for something else in May/June - I'm thinking a 15k would be good at this point.

 I FINALLY got new running shoes this morning! I had all intentions of just grabbing a new pair of Ghosts and leaving, but they were out of my size and I didn't feel like ordering them. So... I tried on a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 14s. I actually had been wanting a pair of these but didn't want to spend the $150. They just so happened to be on sale for $99.99 and then I had a $60 groupon on top of that, so I couldn't pass them up! I also restocked my depleted Gu supply. They were out of Espresso Love so I got a couple packets of Vanilla Bean, and then saw that the Clif Shots had a Double Expresso flavor so I got some of those and some Mocha. Anything that even vaguely tastes like coffee and I'm sold ;)  And of course I got some more socks!

 On Wednesday, I earned my #30daychip! Now I just need to let Brad know so that I can get my "award."  Yay! I tracked every single thing that went into my mouth for 30 days! While I normally do track everything, there are always some days that something will get skipped, and I'm really trying to be totally accountable. So no matter whether it was something as tiny as a cough drop, if it went in my mouth, I wrote it down.

 As far as the #100daychipquest goes, today is tomorrow will be, yet again, back to Day 1 :( On Wednesday, I didn't drink enough water, and then yesterday I had Chinese Food. The worst part - it didn't even taste good, but I ate it anyways. So between that and the cookie overload I am back to square one. By the way, I don't know if this has anything to do with it or not (I've never had PMS before), but TOM showed up this morning, TWO WEEKS EARLY!  To compensate? A totally unhealthy omelet at the diner after shopping this morning. I only ate about 1/4 of it (plus the toast), but my stomach is telling me that I've failed for today. And because I don't know exactly how to dissect it into what exactly went into my mouth, my #7daychip and #30daychip also starts over tomorrow too :( 

 Anyways, I'm going grocery shopping later this afternoon or tomorrow morning, and then I'll be all restocked with my normal healthy, yummy foods. But for now, I think I'm going to take a nap. Have a happy Friday everyone!

Race recap, Week in review, #100daychipquest

Yesterday was my (Kutztown Fools Run) 10-mile race. I was a little worried at first because I pulled a muscle in my lower back on Friday, and I had a few moments where I thought I might not be able to run. It was pretty sore at the start of the race, but for the most part (other than a couple times on the ungodly hills where I thought I was going to die) I felt pretty good. Here are my stats from the Garmin/Runkeeper (and I'd really like to know why EVERY time I upload files to Runkeeper I get shorted on distance?!?!):

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And here's a little video from the end. I think there's an F-bomb (or 2), and for the record I did NOT puke, but please excuse the spitting ;)

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Here's last week's chart:

And finally, while I am doing great on my #7daychip (I'm on Day 27 of #30daychip), I am back at Day 1 of the #100daychipquest because I fell asleep before getting in all my water last night :(