Running ... with green smoothies!

First of all, let me say YUM. I had NO idea that smoothies with spinach, chard, romaine, or any other green vegetable could taste like that! The first one was definitely the scariest... and it was more brown than green. Actually, I made my boyfriend try it first, and he promised me that it tasted just like a banana, and nothing like spinach. Lots of good stuff in the blender there... including greek yogurt and a scoop of protein powder.

So after the first one, I got smart and realized that red, orange and purple/blue foods were going to turn it brown instead of the limey green color I was aiming for... and that's when I became addicted, and also experimental. I began adding new fruits and vegetables, cayenne pepper, honey, egg whites... and it was all surprisingly good.

My favorite included a handful of spinach, 1/2 green apple, tablespoon of honey, 2 tablespoons of 0% fat Greek yogurt, frozen fruit (peaches, honeydew, strawberries, pineapple), and 1/8 cup water. I also tried pineapple juice in place of the water and pineapple. Both ways were delicious.

My boyfriend got addicted to these too and we ended up with a new blender because we came to love having a smoothie for breakfast or after a workout. Usually I am not one to try new things (especially brown fruit and vegetable mixtures) but I am so very glad that I opted to participate in PB Runner's green smoothie challenge. I think most of it was mental, but I did feel better that week of doing green smoothies.

And now that I have a new blender, I'll be experimenting with even more smoothie recipes (I've found that Pintrest is an excellent place to find these!)

Be brave, try a green smoothie. And if you HAVE tried one, share the recipe here!

Running... cleansing... and ice baths!

This weekend is my first official 8k... and my legs feel like they are boulders. Yesterday, I really needed an ass kicking so I did an interval work out. I was running between 8.5 mph and then walking at 3.7 for a minute each. Tonight is my night for Group Power with the girls; however, the girls bailed, so I went by myself. CRUCIAL leg tracks... yes, multiple tracks. Apparently, my house has no icy hot in it, or tiger balm, or Bengay. So... I resorted to an ice bath. (If you go back to my first few blogs, I tell you how I'm always cold... so you can imagine how this went). I sat there shivering for all of 5 minutes and had to call it quits. But at least I tried. Now I'm rolling my legs out and giving myself a massage. Fingers crossed that the pain fades before 8 A.M. on Saturday.

Also today, I tried a cleanse that I found at EarthFare. It was on sale and had cucumbers, so I figured it couldn't be THAT bad. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad. Didn't have much of an effect but it was only $1.15 so I don't really feel like I lost anything by trying it.

I fussed at a friend a few weeks ago for wanting to try a cleanse she found on Pintrest. But it required her to cut major food groups out of her diet for 10-12 days and guaranteed weight loss up to 20 lbs. Anyone who knows anything about nutrition knows that can't be healthy for you. I don't necessarily feel like a drink "cleanse" is healthy for you, but I'm 99% sure it can't be as unhealthy for you as depriving yourself of entire food groups. Plus, that diet told her no fruit and I am addicted to fruit of every kind. So today's adventure spiked my curiosity and I've now decided to try this 6-day cleanse. 

Conveniently, I have 6 days left before I head to West Palm Beach for some girl time and sunshine! I'll update next week on the effects of the cleanse. And as soon as I'm done with my final grad school paper of this semester, I'll post all about my green smoothies from PB Runner's challenge (totally addicted to them now! Who knew?!) 

Running... for 32.

There are some moments in life in which you will neVer forgeT where you were when they happened. 9/11 - I was in French class, freshman year of high school. The day my best friend's dad passed away is another. And of course, April 16, 2007 is one of those days for me. 

I had just finished a 6 mile treadmill run at the gym where I also worked, and I was moving on to the weights portion of my workout when someone announced, "Someone was shot at Virgina Tech." Insert heart in stomach here. Not only does my sweet, sweet mother work at Virginia Tech, I have SO many friends that go there. Part of me thought, "there's no way it was my mom"... or even any of my friends. I continued on with my work out. The death toll went up to 2. 


By the time I left the gym (after calling my mother 4 times at this point and texting countless other family members for updates)... there was footage of bloody bodies being carried out of Norris Hall. Shooter unaccounted for. I was on the verge of freaking out at this point. I drove back to my apartment and sat stunned on the couch with my roommate, Emily. 16 dead. More bodies. More cops. 17 dead. At the end of the day it was 32. (My mother had been at a doctor's appointment and unable to answer her phone. Bless her heart, she scared the crap out of me.)


I actually didn't know anyone that was shot, or killed that day. But the tragedy was still there. It didn't just effect Virginia Tech, it effected the whole community. I not only went to school in that community at neighboring Radford University, but I grew up there. You don't have massacres like that in Southwest Virginia. We farm and drive too fast on back roads. We have field parties and love Hokie football. People don't shoot each other. People only die from old age. Maybe I lived in an alternate reality until that day... and at that point, I saw true evil. 




The pit in my stomach didn't go away for days. My heart ached for the families who lost loved ones. I wanted to hug the students who survived. I wanted the community to be as resilient as they showed they were and to bounce back from such an unimaginable event. Virginia Tech is an amazing place. If you've ever been to a football game there and felt the energy in Lane Stadium, you know what I'm talking about. The people are friendly. When they say "how ya doin?" they genuinely want to know! 


Two years ago, my mom (who still works at Tech) and my boyfriend (who is an alum) did the 3.2 for 32 race. It was a beautiful day to pay tribute to those 32 who left us on April 16, 2007. They will truly never be forgotten. 5 years later, it's still hard to believe that something like that happened in the small town that was named the best place to raise kids by Newsweek. 

Today, we are all Hokies. We are Virginia Tech. 

Running... Cooper River Bridge.

We finished! Yay... what a RELIEF to cross that finish line. And then go an extra .2 to find water. My official time was 1:03:14, and although I'm usually one that hates excuses, let me explain why...

We woke up at 5 A.M. Pumped! I was running the race that 44k other people also wanted to run. I was running with one of my very best friends. And my boyfriend, who loathed running when we started dating, was going to run his very first 10k with me. I was stoked to get out there, get it over with and have a Blue Moon in my hand by 9:30 A.M. (It's legit if you've run a race and are drinking at that time, otherwise, you may want to review your priorities).

The bridge is closed down to allow the buses to transport runners to the start line. We get there at 6 AM to stand in a 2 mile long line. We figure this is the norm with 44k people running the race and waiting their turn to be taken over. So we wait... and wait... and wait some more.

It really wasn't bad waiting, we were with good company. However, we started questioning how they were going to stop running the buses at 7 A.M. if all of these people were still waiting? Surely they couldn't NOT take us over to the start line... could they? So we continued waiting... finally finding a bathroom (which of course also had a line!) I went, and came out only to find that our position in the never-ending line hadn't progressed much. Disappointing. And it was 7:08 at that time. One of the race coordinators made an announcement that the buses got lost?! We're not sure if that's really what happened but if so, all of those drivers should be fired! How do you get lost doing the same thing 20 times? Don't you do this EVERY year? Hasn't the race been a success in the past?

Finally, shortly after 8 A.M. we were loaded onto a school bus and taken (most of the way) to the start line. It was at least a 15 minute bus ride, if not more, and then they dropped us off more than a mile from the start line. So before I even started the race, I had walked 2 miles to stand in line and walk back to the front and then another mile to get the the corral I was  starting in. I was supposed to be in "D" but as we were passing "K" they mentioned the race was starting in 2 minutes, so we hurried up and ran to "G" and hopped in. Here we GO!

Nope. That was corral A that was getting to go.... at 8:56 A.M. Almost an hour delayed. For those of us corralled in "G" ... we started at 9:21 A.M. At this point, I had been up for almost 4.5 hours, had a banana and 1/3 of a Cliff bar and my GU gel. My water had been finished while standing in the longest line ever. My mouth was dry and all that excitement I had at 5 A.M.... also gone. I literally did not want to run the race. And it showed... my friend Liz caught up with me at mile 2 and asked if I was okay? Nope. Struggling. Need water. And not the hot water that was offered at water station 1 before mile 2... then I found out, the next water station was beyond mile 4. I was kicking myself for not enjoying the bathwater they offered at the first station.

We finished. And my sweet, amazing boyfriend finished in 1:10 which is INCREDIBLE for someone who had never run more than 4.3 miles before, someone who is not a "runner" by definition and someone who would have rather been sitting on the porch of the condo having his morning coffee than weaving through 44k people on a bridge with an average incline of 4, which covered mile markers 2, 3 & 4. I am SO proud. We felt fine after the race, although there was not a Blue Moon waiting on me. Disappointing. There must have been lots of complaints about the race, they have issued an official apology.

It's definitely not something I will do again. Once was enough and now it can be taken off the bucket list. I just signed up for my 4th race of the year, the Elizabeth 8k in Charlotte, NC. First official 8k I will be running, just hopeful for a better experience than the Cooper River Bridge Run.

Running... and 5 things I'm loving right now!

I tend to get obsessed with something and want to do it/eat it/see it/hear it all the time... most recently it's been McAlister's Chicken Tortilla soup, Zoe's Kitchen's Pimento Cheese (yum!), smoothies with whey protein, my Group Power class, Adele and monogrammed items. So I thought I would share 5 things that I'm currently LOVING:

1. The way I felt after doing 6.5 miles yesterday: Seriously... I thought there's no way I'm going to be able to do the Cooper River Bridge Run next weekend in my goal time of 55 minutes but now I'm thinking it's possible. I felt empowered. I felt like I could keep going. I felt extraordinary. So this has my excitement sky high for Charleston with our couple friends Liz (one of my future bridesmaids) and Chris, and for my bf's first 10k. I felt super proud of him for doing 4.3 miles yesterday - that's the farthest he's ever run! I'm SO looking forward to next weekend.

2. Being a bridesmaid: now... I know I have complained about the dress and it's hefty price tag, but seriously, this is the best motivation ever! This will be the wedding of the century with 400+ guests on the invite list so I have lots of people to show of my new (and hopefully toned) arms to! I've been busting my ass running, in the gym and doing home DVDs to get in shape. Now it's not ALL for the cause of being a bridesmaid but I'm certainly motivated to rock that Lula Kate dress all night long. This week's workouts were a 2.6 mile run on Sunday, 1.6 miles on Tuesday + Group Power, Tabata Inferno on Wednesday, Group Power on Thursday and 6.5 miles on Saturday. On target for being fabulous by August 25th.

3. Having a tan: Jergens now has SPF in their sunless tanning lotion! What a break thru! Now... I will NEVER, EVER use a tanning bed, but I do spend some time outside in the summer; however, I'm totally covered in sunscreen when I'm out there (I use 100 SPF on my face) and every night I'm putting Jergens lotion on which is really where my tan comes from. If you're still fake n' baking - STOP - and read this while you're at it. You do NOT want Melanoma. Use sunscreen every day!

4. Smoothies: I found recipes on Pintrest and tried them... and fell in love. I've also been trying to find ways to bulk my boyfriend up a little so I said we could do smoothies for breakfast and I've been adding Whey protein to them. It's great because he's still eating his normal bowl of cereal + the smoothie. Mission accomplished! However, I've found that they are heavenly and I've been trying different recipes with different fruits. Today, I tried my first "Green Smoothie" which I'm doing for a challenge for 7 days. I was TERRIFIED that I was going to taste the spinach, but I didn't. All I could taste was banana to be honest. There are so many more recipes to try... tomorrow I'm going to do a swiss chard recipe with pineapple and apples! I'll post an update at the end on how it went and if I'll be incorporating vegetable smoothies into my life on a regular basis or calling it quits after the 7-day challenge. 

5. Spring! Have you been outside?! The colors, the smells, the air... it's perfectly wonderful! I love all of the blooming trees and flowers and the smells that they produce. The air temperature was perfect this weekend for running with blue skies above. I even got to wear shorts on Saturday! I bought new sandals today and a bathing suit! Totally prepared for Spring to be in full bloom so I can soak it all up. What a wonderful time of the year! Enjoy it... have a smoothie, put on your sun screen and go for a run!

Running.... for a cause!

I've done fundraising before with my runs, mostly with my sorority or for Colon Cancer over the past few years when both my family and my boyfriend's family had incidences of the disease. I have a friend though, who has a toddler with Cystic Fibrosis and she was doing a fundraiser to help find a cure. I thought, I can help. I'll run for Keagan when I do the Cooper River Bridge Run. Keagan's mom made shirts for everyone who is going to participate in the Great Strides walk in Alabama, so I ordered one too - which I plan on wearing in the Cooper River Bridge Run.

I knew Cystic Fibrosis wasn't a good thing, but until I did some research, I had no clue how bad it could actually be. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease affecting mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver and intestine. Difficulty breathing is the most serious symptom and results from frequent lung infections that are treated with but not cured, by antibiotics and other medications. Other symptoms include sinus infections, poor growth, diarrhea and affect other parts of the body. Ultimately, lung transplantation is often necessary as CF worsens.

It's hard to think of a two-year old having to go through these treatments and not be able to enjoy running outside or playing with his friends because he has to be at the hospital doing a breathing treatment. I want to help in every way I can. My donation has been made, you can make yours by going here: Help Fight Cystic Fibrosis.

Running... for Summer!

I have a small shopping addiction and have been blessed with living in a city of 4 malls and every store I could ever want. Yesterday when I got home, I was tired from working all day and then going to my night class until 8:45 and all I wanted to do was have a piece of Dan's Chocolate that my boyfriend's parents sent him for his promotion and to hit the hay. But lo and behold when I walked in the door, I had two gorgeous packages waiting on me. One, a white bag with hot pink flowers all over it, from where else but Lilly Pulitzer?! My sweet, sweet scalloped shorts have arrived! They are just like these but in white and oh my how perfect they are! As soon as I put them on I had the desire to do lots of squats and lunges to get my kickers in shape for summer. The other package had my new VS bikini inside. Can we say cute? So, now I am also in the mode to get my abs looking sharp... West Palm Beach trip at the end of April - so not much time but enough to make some progress with the right amount of dedication. Boy am I ready! It's been 80 degrees here for the past week so I have no excuses for not getting outside for a lunch time walk and an evening run. It's time to kick the workouts into high gear people. Summer is coming!