Hemp Hearts Review and Giveaway!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Manitoba Harvest and the Sweat Pink community in exchange for a review of Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts. All opinions are my own.

You guys know how much I like trying new (to me) products, especially if they're edible. So I was pretty psyched to get to try out a bag of Hemp Hearts from Manitoba Harvest.

Hemp hearts are nutty little guys (raw, shelled hemp seeds, if you want to get technical) that you can put on just about anything.

I really like putting them in yogurt, and I have even tried them on an English muffin with apple butter. I have also seen other bloggers use them in smoothies and as a salad topper. There are no rules!

Manitoba Harvest has a bunch of recipes on their site, and if I had a kitchen right now I would be all over these Banana Hemp Heart Muffins. The nuttiness of the Hemp Hearts would be delicious in banana muffins, kind of like adding walnuts to banana bread.

Hemp Hearts have more protein and omegas (10 grams of each per serving) and less carbs than the same serving of chia or flax, if you worry about those kinds of things.

Want to try Hemp Hearts? Use promo code: HHSP1015 to get 20% off the entire Manitoba Harvest web store! This code expires December 31, 2015.

Want to try out Hemp Hearts for free? Enter my giveaway by clicking the link below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One prize per person. If you win this giveaway, and have already won another prize from Manitoba Harvest through another blog, please disclose that you have already won so I can choose another winner.

Bulu Box Review and Discount Code

Disclaimer: I received a free box from Bulu Box to review as part of my relationship with FitApproach and SweatPink. All opinions are my own. 

You guys know how much I love trying out new products, so I was excited to get a chance to try out Bulu Box this month!

Bulu Box is a monthly subscription box with a focus on health and nutrition. You can choose between an original box or a weight loss box. Each box comes with 4-5 samples so you can try new products without having to risk wasting money on full-sized products that you end up not liking.

If you decide you like something from your box, you can head on over to the Bulu Box website to order full sized products. You can also review products from your box to earn reward points to use toward your purchase of full-sized products!

My box came with a nice mix of things, from gummy vitamins and running fuel, to instant coffee and an omega 3 supplement.

I like that they include a list of what comes in your box, and even include the price of the full-sized product as well.

It is a smaller box than some other subscription boxes out there, but it's also priced accordingly. Bulu Box is only $10 a month!

If you want to try Bulu Box out for yourself, you can use the code SWEATPINK for 50% off a 3-month subscription

Have you tried Bulu Box? What subscription boxes have you tried?

Back to Normal

I was having weird dreams and woke up at 7 for no good reason. Boo.

I'm getting into a routine now that Tom's back at work - my morning consists of coffee, breakfast, dishes, and a trip to the grocery store for dinner things. That's because I'm incapable of planning meals any further in advance than that.

Yesterday I told Tom I didn't want to start my run because I was afraid I was just going to have to stop again right away. I felt that way again today. There's almost nothing more frustrating than having to cut a run short because you're in pain.

Fortunately, the icing, stretching and compression socks seem to be working, because I got back to my training plan today with no pain - I win!

3 easy miles with a little stretching at the halfway mark.

Followed by some push-ups as today's #NoExcuses challenge with Sweat Pink. It takes a whole new set of skills to set up my phone and use the self timer to get these pictures.

I even elevated my feet for a bit after my run, and Buddy pouted until we left the basement.

He always turns his head away when I turn my phone camera on - brat.

Just in case it affects anything, I put the mat back under my treadmill today. We didn't bother with it when we moved it to its new home, and I'm wondering if it's creating more impact than there would be with the mat down. It certainly can't hurt.

I'm so happy to be feeling back to normal - there's nothing like having to rest an injury to make you want to run!

Race Sign Up and Running Again!

I was amazingly lazy on Sunday. We had freezing rain pretty much all day long, and I spent most of my day researching races, reading blogs and watching tv.

Freezing rain is dumb.

Buddy was terrified while Tom cooked dinner, so I threw his blanket on him. He stayed like this for about an hour.

He has such a rough life.

The result of all my race research is that I'm now officially signed up for 3 half marathons!

West Point Half Marathon - March 29th
Rhinebeck Hudson Valley Half Marathon - May 16th
Walkway Half Marathon - June 13th

The Rhinebeck and Walkway races are new, it's the first year for both of them. I think I have run more races in their first year than I have run established races. I have never been signed up for more than one half marathon at a time, it's weird for me to be planning my entire year of racing at once.

I'm almost 100% decided on a marathon, but registration doesn't open up for most fall marathons until April, so we'll see if I'm still stuck on the same one come April.

I ran today!

I haven't run since my painful, aborted tempo run last Thursday. My ankle has been feeling a lot better, and I took it slow. I did a legitimate warmup (which I don't always do) and stopped to stretch (and do some mountain climbers for the #NoExcuses challenge) every mile. I ended up running 3.13 miles in 30 minutes. I'm just happy that I got to run!

And yes, I iced after I was finished.

Hopefully this means I can get back to my training plan this week.

Buddy did as much adventuring as his leash would allow this afternoon. I think he was just happy the temperature was above freezing.

Do you plan your race schedule for the year all at once or do you like to play it by ear?

The Speed Trap

Sometimes, I get caught up in the speed trap. I want to run fast, faster than last time, faster than last week. Faster.

It's not a smart way to train, in fact, it's a recipe for injury.

My training plan (which claims I will be able to PR at my next half - it hasn't seen the elevation chart!) has my easy runs starting out at 10:21 pace. While I didn't slow down that much, I did slow down. I did today's run at 9:40. And then I read a few articles to remind myself why it is important to not get caught up in the speed trap all the time.

Easy runs are extremely important to training. They help develop slow twitch muscle fibers (super necessary for distance runners!), improve aerobic capacity, bone density, muscle tendon strength and increase glycogen storage (more energy!). This article is a nice reminder that easy runs have their place, even if they are sometimes frustrating.

Buddy thinks that any time someone sits on the couch that he should be on their lap. Because he is clearly a lap dog.

Good thing he's cute.

Today's run was 3 easy miles - it felt short and slow.

It's hard to come off a 50 day run streak and switch to training mode, but I'm working on it.

Have you fallen into the speed trap? 

Buenos for days!

It's rainy and gross out here, which I guess is a nice change from freezing and windy. Maybe the change in weather will make my insanely static-y hair calm down.

Tom is back at work today, so he was up early and out the door. Buddy is so used to having us both home, he's been pouting and ignoring me all day - except for when I was eating cuties, he loves those, so he came to say hi and see if he could mooch a piece or two.

I decided I should be productive today, so I started off my morning with a delicious egg sandwich for fuel.

It was an English muffin with guacamole, eggs, baby spinach and kale - I could eat egg sandwiches every day.

I followed up breakfast with some dishes and then hit the grocery store to grab some things for dinner.

I'm making this slow cooker Creole Chicken and Sausage from Pinch of Yum - if you haven't been on this site, you're missing out, they have some amazing recipes! The slow cooker is bubbling away and the house smells really good!

Dinner in progress:

This strength training business is sticking around (so far) and I hit the basement for another round of Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones. I did it last Monday and was sore for days, hopefully it doesn't last as long this time around. Some exercises felt easier than last week, and some still made me want to fall on the floor and quit - working muscles you don't normally use is hard!

I also added some planks for the Sweat Pink #NoExcuses challenge - day 1 was to do at least a 30 second plank.

I broke open one of my favorite Christmas presents today. Tom's the best. :)

Buenos for days!

The key is to not eat all of them at once ;)

Now I'm off to do some laundry and catch up on some blogs.

Do you ever make egg sandwiches for breakfast? What do you put on them? (I'm always looking for new ideas!)

- My go-to is just eggs and Sriracha - so good!

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I'm MAD excited for #NoExcuses 2015

A little Monday morning silliness and motivation as part of SweatPink's #NoExcuses Challenge!

Hey 2015, it’s me, Becky (nickname, spirit animal, real name, blog name)

This year I would like to run outside more, eat more fresh fruit, and do more strength training.

It would also be super duper awesome if I also travel more this year. It’s not a resolution, though, just a reminder to myself to try and have the best year yet because there are so many places I haven't seen yet!

The thing I am looking forward to most this year is moving.

I’ll use the one thing that truly gets me out of bed in the morning which is coffee to help me get up, get dressed, (verb) and get after my #NoExcuses 2015.Speaking of excuses (ahem), my very favorite excuse is not wanting to get dressed and I have used it to get out of doing exercise and walking Buddy on more than 1 million (number) occasions.I vow to move my body and be more healthy this year even if it means I have to actually get up off the couch.

Even if my alarm clock gets eaten by the dog in the middle of the night, I’ll still get up, eventually.

I will stop blaming the dog [ex: kids, dog, husband] for eating the rest of the ice cream when everyone knows it was really me.

My laziness [job, hair, car, husband, kids] is not the reason I make excuses. I will show my laziness [same as before] who’s boss this year and get my run [type of sweaty activity] on.

I know that any kind of workout [type of workout] is better than sitting on the couch watching food shows. [noun]

I will reward myself by buying ALL the running shoes!

#NoExcuses 2015 has just begun and already I am imagining myself a winner. I can’t wait to rock a Freedom Pullover (article of clothing) from Augusta Active. I can’t wait till my sweaty friends are jealous of how fresh, clean and glowing (adj) I am between workouts with help from ShowerPill body wipes. I can see myself rocking tree pose [yoga pose / workout move] in new Run Like the Wind Leggings [article of clothing from Actio926] from Actio926 and looking fit and fly while doing it. And of course, I’ll be taking my workouts to the next level and improving my arms [noun] with my new ActivMotion Bar to help me train for my next  half marathon [distance] race with Sasquatch Racing.

Oh, and let’s not forget how amazing my tank top [article of clothing] will smell in my/during my race [favorite type of workout] after washing with some WIN Detergent. And lastly, I’ll keep rocking my 2015 with clean eats and nutrition from Beaming with Health!

Tag, Tweet, shout-out, call, text, fax or email 3 friends to take this survey and share how they will have a #NoExcuses 2015. Remind your friends to simply fill in the underlined parts! 

Tagging: Mary Beth from Tutus and Tennies, Lynda from FtinessMomWineCountry, and Jan from Running on Fumes.

p.s. Click here to join #NoExcuses

Just me and the cows

Jillian Michaels is mean. I know I said it yesterday, but I just wanted to make that clear. 

All kinds of muscles are sore today. Holy cow. That workout yesterday was not a joke.

This afternoon I bundled up for a run in the snow.

It was pretty much just me and the cows.

I definitely picked the wrong shoes for running in the snow. My Mizunos have a circle in the heel that collected and packed snow into little elevated ice heels. It was a little annoying, but it didn't stop me from knocking out just under 6 miles.

It was really nice to have the trails to myself, just the quiet crunch of the snow and the occasional cow sounds. Pretty peaceful.

I turned taco leftovers into nachos when I got home. I'm a terrible example, don't be like me. 

I dropped one of those pickled jalapenos on the floor and Buddy got it before I could stop him. He's a weirdo, and he wanted more.

Dinner tonight was Eggroll in a Bowl again. We can't help it, it's a quick and easy meal - and it's delicious.

We found the original recipe HERE.

Ours usually consists of country sausage, onion, cabbage, ginger, garlic, carrots, bean sprouts, soy sauce and chili garlic paste. It does not photograph well. We usually use red cabbage, so the whole thing turns purple. We top it with green onions and sesame seeds. The leftovers are amazing with eggs the next day.

You should definitely try it.

Do you like running in the snow? 

Race Sign Up, Strength Training and Crab

I took my rest day on Sunday very seriously. Mostly unintentionally.

I was ridiculously tired from not sleeping well on Friday and waking up early on Saturday to run, so I ended up sleeping in. Really sleeping in.

Ok, I woke up at 10:58.

The day mostly consisted of catching up on blogs and digging through boxes in the basement for all of my workout dvds - I did manage to do some laundry though!

And we watched Divergent. It was cute - Hunger Games is better though.

I also signed up for my first race of the year - the West Point Half Marathon at the end of March. It's hilly. Crazy hilly. One of my weekend running buddies ran it last year and is running it again this year, so we are now planning to harass convince some our other weekend runners to join us.

Good thing I got my new training journal in the mail over the weekend!

Today I reinforced the knowledge that while I can run for hours, I have really minimal muscle strength when it comes to anything else.

I did a Jillian Michaels dvd and wanted to die for about half of it. I guess that means I should do it more than once a year.

She's so mean.

You should definitely be jealous of our dinner tonight. For Christmas, my mom sent us a big box of fish and some king crab.

Merry Christmas to us!

Buddy's had an exhausting day of napping. It's a rough life.

Do you do any workout videos?

Are you a cardio addict or are you good about strength training?

Looking back and Looking ahead

A few weeks ago, I actually won a blog giveaway! I was really excited because I pretty much never win anything. I know everyone says that, but it's totally true.

Anyway, I won a bunch of smoothie making goodies from Jamie and Puritan's Pride and it came in the mail today!

Hooray! I know what I'm making tomorrow!

It feels like this every year, but I can't believe it's the end of December already! (Also: I just typed September...)

Everyone seems to be doing some kind of running year in review post, so I thought I would join in.

In 2014, I:

• Bought a treadmill - best decision ever
• Joined Rivertown Runners - my Saturday group
• Ran 3 half marathons - the most I have run in a single year
• Improved my PR at each race
• Broke 2 hours at the Fall Foliage Half Marathon
• Took 18:21 off my half marathon time - between March and October
• Had my first DNS - because of the threat of snow and my own laziness
• Ran over 1,000 miles! - I'm currently at 1,022

As far as 2015 goes, I want to:

• Run my first full marathon - which one is currently up in the air
• Run at least 2 half marathons - 3 was a good number, but I'm not sure how it will play out if I'm doing a full
• Actually strength train - I say it every year, it's gotta stick sometime!

I'm also thinking about running a few shorter races next year, but don't hold me to it.

It's hard to plan too far ahead when we have some big changes in the works. At some point in the near(ish) future we will be moving and remodeling a house, and I'll be starting a new job (more on that later).

Are you happy with your 2014? What changes are you going to make in 2015?

I'm Smart Like That

Hi! How's your Monday treating you?

Don't hate me, but I slept in. Not working makes it so you don't hate Mondays. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be back on the Monday-hating bandwagon again soon.

It was sunny out today, so Buddy was busy following the sun around the house. Usually he lays down behind this curtain, but was confused since it was open today.

I feel like everyone updates their blogs on Monday, I had TONS to read this morning!

It took me forever to get moving today, but I finally hit the basement for a couple of miles.

I used my run as a warm-up and spent some time on Gigabody doing the Ballet Body workout again. It's a good mix of strength training and stretching, neither of which I normally do. I'm pretty much constantly saying I should do something other than run and then I just go running.

I'm smart like that.

How have I never tried a Quest bar before?

Tom got me a special holiday RunnerBox for Christmas, and there was a Quest bar in it. I have read several blogs that go on and on about how wonderful they are, but haven't ever tried them - until today.

This cookies and cream Quest bar might be the best protein bar ever. To the point where I may actually make a trip down to GNC to pick some up.

I was really sad when it was gone, and I was happy to see that it isn't full of strange chemicals and things. Apparently people also cook things with Quest bars. Seems like a lot of work when it's so delicious on its own.

In an effort to make the dog less stressed, we decided to run the self-clean function on the oven. Hopefully that will make the smoke alarm chill out - time will tell.

Have you had Quest bars before? Other favorite protein bars?

I'm bad at bedtimes

No matter how hard I try, I can't make it to bed on time on Fridays. 6:45 was too early again today.

I started the day off with a peanut butter English muffin and coffee.

As per usual.

It didn't feel very cold when I walked Buddy, but the start of the run was definitely pretty chilly. A few brave souls were actually in shorts today!

I had fun poring over all my stats from my TomTom when I got home. I'm not sure about the default max heartrate/heartrate zones. According to my watch, I was in my top zone for over a half hour, which I don't think is right. I'm investigating. We covered 6.5 miles with an average pace of 8:59. As an added bonus, I didn't fall today!

After some more coffee (and apple pie) I tried out another workout from Gigabody. This time I tried the Ballet Body workout. Aside from feeling terribly ungraceful, I liked it and will probably do it again.

Buddy found some sunshine.

Sunshine is his favorite. And food...and Tom...

Tom made deep dish pizza for dinner. Buddy only acted a little weird while the oven was on.

Someone is coming to look at the house tomorrow...we have a bit of cleaning to do.

Do you monitor your heart rate when running/working out? Do you trust the "zones"?

It's kind of inevitable

Happy Saturday!

I hope you're having a great weekend so far and haven't had to venture out and deal with the last-minute shopping madness.

Friday was pretty uneventful around here. I ran, I did dishes, harassed the dog - the usual.

I got to try out my new tank top from Sweat Pink - it's really soft!

I was up too late on Friday night, hanging out and drinking eggnog, so 6:45 felt even earlier than usual this morning.

Pre-run breakfast was coffee and an English muffin with peanut butter. It's my go-to meal before a run or a race.

For some reason, it felt extra cold this morning. My face was numb for about half the run. We were pretty speedy today, we averaged an 8:48 minute pace for around 6.5 miles. It was a really good run! And I fell. It's kind of inevitable if you spend enough time on the trails. We've all done it.

We were about half a mile away from finishing when my toe caught on a tree root. I impressively managed to hit both knees, my right hip, forearm and shoulder. I'm not even sure how I was able to hit so many body parts on the ground. A couple of guys from my running group were right there and helped me up, and we were off again. I must have been a little numb from the cold, because things definitely started to hurt more once I got home.

Not my worst injury (you should have seen some of the ones from roller derby), but not fun either.

I was also very popular this morning because I brought some eggnog cookies for everyone.

I watched The Book Thief this afternoon. It's a total crying movie - and if you haven't read the book, you totally should.

Now I'm being festive drinking White Christmas tea and watching Die Hard (It's totally a Christmas movie).

What's your favorite Christmas movie?

Any good falling stories?