Last Weekend in Pictures

I just can't seem to get back into the groove of posting regularly. I don't even have a good reason, it's not like I'm incredibly busy or anything.

Last weekend I made the drive up to Boston to visit one of my friends from college. (side note: what's the deal with the traffic in Connecticut?) We had a great time walking, eating and drinking all over Boston on Saturday.

The Boston Marathon finish line before repainting

And on Sunday we went wine tasting and sightseeing in Newport, RI (which is where my marathon is later this year).

It was a really fun weekend! - nice to catch up in person and explore some new (to me) places at the same time.

#SproutVoxBox

I haven't gotten anything fun from Influenster in a while. The last box they sent to me was lost in the mail, so I was pretty excited when I got the email that the Sprout Vox Box was on its way to me.

I love getting try out different products (for free!)

Here are the goodies I got:

Hair Food shampoo and conditioner - they smelled amazing and made my hair really shiny. I would definitely buy these if I saw them in the store. I know Target has them, but I don't get there very often these days.

Ecos laundry detergent - it cleaned our clothes, and didn't bug our skin, which is really all I want from laundry detergent. We usually buy the dye and fragrance free types because we both have annoyingly sensitive skin.

Curate snack bar - I have already bought another flavor of this bar, they're all really odd sounding flavor combinations, but very tasty. They are chewy and crunchy, which I'm a big fan of.

Vichy Liftactiv Supreme face cream - Fancy French face cream that is supposed to smooth out fine lines and hydrate skin. It smells like being at a spa, and is really rich without being too heavy. If it weren't so expensive I would definitely buy more of it.

Orgain Organic Plant Based Protein Powder - I received the vanilla bean flavor. It has a really light flavor (not too sweet), which I really enjoyed. Some protein powders are sickeningly sweet, which isn't really what I want to drink after a hard run. I recently won some protein powder from another blog, so I don't need any at the moment, but I will definitely look for it in stores the next time I need protein.

EatSmart Garlic Hummus Tortilla Chips - I don't know that I have met a chip I didn't like, but these didn't disappoint. They were tasty on their own, they have enough seasoning that they don't need dip, but they would be good with salsa too.

You can check out more about any of the products I received by checking out my #SproutVoxBox list on Influenster.

Not Much Else

I had some major plans to do stuff today. I got the dishes done early and braved the Sunday grocery store madness before noon.

And then I did a whole lot of not much else.

My Saturday long run (10 miles) went much faster than last weekend because I was running with my running group. I don't really feel like I'm running a half marathon next weekend, but apparently I am.

I don't know what to expect from this race, because I haven't run a half since September. I'm hoping I will be able to keep it under 2 hours, but the first long race of the year is always unpredictable.

In other news: this is what you should do with any and all St Patrick's Day leftovers - corned beef hash! Tom made it on Saturday. It was delicious and I wanted more.

Buddy has been really busy lately.

He actually has a new trick of digging things up in the yard and eating them. The old owners had a really big garden in the middle of the yard that was overgrown and crazy when we moved in. We cleared it all out, but a few things have popped up (like random asparagus stalks). I'm pretty sure Buddy found some kind of radishes and he's been ripping up the yard to get to them.

I got these fancy shoe laces on Kickstarter (I should not be allowed on there) and now I'll never have to tie these shoes again.

The rest of our corned beef leftovers (we deliberately made a ton) are going to be turned into reuben sandwiches for dinner tonight.

Super Lazy

This may seem strange coming from someone who runs, but I'm really a naturally lazy person. Just ask my mom.

I am perfectly happy to curl up on the couch with a book or my laptop and not move all day. I don't even feel guilty when I do it either.

It's not the most productive way of living, so every day is a series of negotiations with myself over random things. It's usually along these lines:

I don't want to do that

Will you want to do it later?

Probably not. 

Does it need to be done?

At some point...

Just do it now and get it over with.

Fiiiiiiiine

It's all very mature, but at least I can generally get things done when I need to. This tendency is also part of what motivates me to sign up for races. I like running, I wouldn't keep running and racing if I didn't, but even things I like to do can fall victim to my default laziness.

Tom has been working in the city this week, and when he's gone I tend to be super lazy about meals. I'm the queen of the snack-a-thon - I'll just have a little of this and a little of that until I'm full. I'm pretty impressed with myself because I haven't done that this week. I have actually cooked something every night.

Not that I have anything against cereal for dinner, because I don't.

A few meals from this week:

This is not attractive, but it was delicious: rice with bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, broccoli and chicken.

Burger! (I would happily eat a burger every day) and some mostly successful potato wedges/fries. Considering I'm working without an oven they turned out pretty well!

Tonight was avocado with a side of chicken fajitas. Avocado is the best.

Do you have a food you would be happy to eat every day?

Double Digits

I keep having runs where I drag my feet getting out the door, and for the first mile or so, and then I suddenly feel better and end up having a really good (and fast!) run. It's weird. I guess it's better than being excited to run and having a sluggish run.

Check out this 5 miler from Friday:

I can't believe there's a mile that starts with a 7 in there!

My Saturday started off extra early this morning. 

Some of my weekend running buddies decided to meet up for 3 miles before the regular Saturday 7 miles that we run. I had a 10 miler on my training plan this weekend anyway, and 10 miles with friends always goes faster than 10 solo miles.

It was a brisk 17 degrees out when I left the house, though it warmed up to a toasty 23 by the time I parked the car, tied my shoes and hit the trails. Three of us ran 3 early miles and went back to the parking lot to meet up with the rest of the group.

I kept having to remind myself that we had already run a few miles, because some miles felt tougher than they normally would have. We had to run a bit past our cars to hit 10 miles, but we weren't about to come up short after waking up early to run. I'm happy with the 9:28 pace we managed to maintain.

Plus it's nice to have a recent double digit run. I think the last time I hit 10 miles was on Thanksgiving.

I drove home and waffled up some cinnamon rolls (because we don't have an oven).

Post-long-run breakfast lunch of champions.

What's your run this weekend?

Do you have a go-to post-long-run meal?

Tank Top Weather

Well, ok, so it isn't actually tank top weather yet. But compared to the weather we've been having, it felt really warm! I made it about 3 miles into my 5 miler before I took off my half-zip sweatshirt and ran the rest of the way in my tank top. Pretty exciting!

Granted, once summer rolls around I will probably be whining for cooler weather.

I had a really productive morning today, rather than my usual not-productive-at-all mornings. I did some bookkeeping for work that I've been ignoring for a few days, tackled the dishes and didn't even procrastinate on the way out the door to run. It was pretty wild.

I tracked down Buddy's other bed (he has several). He's been hanging out in the empty living room because there's sun in there in the afternoon.

Only sunshine (or food) will cause Buddy to be in a room by himself.

Tom was over at our neighbor's house for a bit before dinner. I sent him this when I started contemplating snacking on pretty much everything in the kitchen:

He came home and grilled burgers, because he's the best.

Freezer 5k

I went back through my Athlinks profile on Saturday, so I'm pretty confident in saying that I haven't run a 5k since 2009.

I didn't really have a time goal going into Sunday's Freezer 5k. I decided I was just going to run it and see where I'm at right now.

The race didn't start until 10, which felt late to me, but I guess you don't have to start so early when it's only a 5k.

We got to the race around 9:15 so we had time to pick up our numbers (Tom ran too!) and find some of my weekend running friends. It's a small race, so getting our bibs was quick and easy, and we had plenty of time to warm up a bit.

Tom and I both went out a little too fast, but stayed together until a little after mile 2. It was weird to run such a short race, and when I realized there was only a mile left, I sped up. I passed a decent number of people in the last mile, and as I was reeling in my next target, he started keeping pace with me rather than let me pass him.

I told the guy he didn't seem to be in enough pain for that stage in the race, and at the mile 3 marker he said, "Come on, let's go!" We both sped up for the last tenth of a mile and even when I pulled ahead, he kept telling me to "go!" I've dubbed him my finish line buddy. He disappeared at the finish line (which is tricky in a race of a couple hundred people) so I didn't get a chance to thank him for the extra push.

I ended up being pleasantly surprised by my finish time: 25:01! It's definitely a PR for me, and I don't think I completely hate 5ks anymore. I can actually see some benefit to running a 5k from time to time.

Tom has only really been consistently running for the last month or so, but he wasn't very far behind me. Give him a few more months and he'll be beating me in the 5k!

We came home and ate a bunch of Liège waffles and sausages. I could say it was because of the Super Bowl, but really we just wanted waffles.

Please ignore the waffle crumbs all over the counter. It's a messy business.

We ended up being so full from our lunchtime waffles, that our Super Bowl dinner ended up consisting of a buffalo chicken dip that Tom made, carrots and celery, and chips and salsa. I'm not sorry.

I had a 4 miler on my training plan for today, and wow, it was slow. Apparently you can't expect to be at the top of your game the day after running a PR, even if it was just a 5k.

Did you watch the Super Bowl? 

What's your favorite game day food? Chips and guacamole. Always.

Under the Weather

We're kind of under the weather over here today. All those kids we work with are little germ factories, so it's kind of a wonder we're not sick all the time.

Mostly I just have a cold and no energy, it's really nothing major - but it's still no fun.

In more exciting news: Tom made an awesome dinner the other night. Ribs, mac and cheese (from scratch) and kale. I almost ate myself to a Thanksgiving level of fullness. My picture ended up really dark, but you get the idea. 

I thought the clouds looked cool when I woke up the other day.

The insulation was delivered on Tuesday. Tom gave them a little tractor assistance so they didn't have to move it all by hand.

The whole process is pretty cool, and extremely messy. They put mesh up on the walls and then blow in the cellulose insulation. There's more to it than that, but that's the general idea.

The drywall is supposed to get delivered tomorrow so they will start installing that in the next few days. Pretty soon it will look more like a a finished house and less like a construction zone!

For dinner tonight we made a previous Blue Apron recipe again. Chicken and Udon Noodle Soup. It's delicious, and super easy. The recipe calls for a dried lime and chicken demi-glace, but we just used lime zest/juice and chicken stock and it still turned out amazing.

Nuun has officially released its new and improved formula and the new Mango Orange Nuun Energy flavor!

I have to go through all our kitchen boxes to find all the Nuun tubes I have lying around so I can decide if I actually need to re-stock or if I just need to reorganize ;)

ALL the Cookies!

It's impossible for me to walk past new Oreo flavors. I can't help myself.

These ones are really good - I like the cinnamon cookie - though I do question if it's really an Oreo if it isn't chocolate.

Tom made really amazing clam chowder for dinner last night.

I may have had more than one bowl.

My run on Tuesday was 6x400m repeats at 5k pace. Every repeat was into the wind and it was super cold out, but I did it. Apparently it took more out of my than I thought it did, because my run today was insanely slow. It was supposed to be an easy run day anyway, so I didn't push it, but I haven't run that slow in a long time.

Does anyone else lounge around after a run rather than actually showering and putting on clean clothes? That's not just me, right?

Yoga camp has been great this week (and the whole month, really)! It has been more mellow and less power yoga, which feels great and has helped improve my mood on more than one occasion.

Buddy hasn't been able to go running lately because the roads are covered in salt right now. He looks so sad every time I leave without him, but I don't want the salt to hurt his paws. I also don't want him to eat any of it. I periodically chase him around the yard instead, which he seems to accept as an alternative.

He's so cute.