Quick Five Friday 3/14/2014

Not Five Friday Favorites but just five random Friday things for you today. Mostly food-related, which isn't surprising. I have a busy, busy, busy weekend. A race expo after work, half marathon, going away party, Shamrock 5K, and travelling all in between. Yikes. I received some disappointing news yesterday so it was a big pity party for me all evening. Trying to stay in the mindset that "everything happens for a reason". A for effort on positivity, right? 

Five Friday Things

1. What you buy when you are sad and at the grocery store: 

It was amazing, and I would've eaten a bar of just the dark chocolate coating! Worth it. 

LesserEvil but Yummier than Most! [Review + Giveaway]

Disclosure: This post is a review for LesserEvil Snacks. I was sent 6 bags of snacks as part of the review but received no other compensation for this post. As always, all opinions are my own. 

A couple weeks ago I was sent a BIG box of snacks from the LesserEvil company. I  connected with them after picking up a bag of their Classic Theatre Chia Pop at Whole Foods and wanting to try more!  I seriously went through that bag in like two days. Oops. 

While I'm always talking about snacks and treats that satisfy my sweet tooth, I also love salty snacks like popcorn and chips. I don't discriminate against snacks :)  I've been packing more snacks I can munch on lately since I'm on the go with school and work but have been getting bored of baby carrots! LesserEvil snack products are GMO-free, USDA organic, gluten-free, and include wholesome ingredients  including chia seeds. 

Look at the all these snacks!

 Along with the the Classic Theatre Style Chia Pop I had previously tried, I was also sent the other two Chia Pop flavors- Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper & Aged White Cheddar.  

MIMM-Going into a Race Unprepared

I'm linking up with Marvelous in my Monday today even though my weekend was less than marvelous. 

I had a fabulous Thursday night out at Baltimore's Cosmic Cocktail party and had various libations and bites to eat from local restaurants.It was nice to get dressed up and have a great night out in the city!  

Friday night after getting back from Crossfit, I started to feel really tired and awful so I called it an early night.

Saturday the weather was BEAUTIFUL with temperatures near 60 degrees and the sun shining. I tried to go on my longer run alone in the afternoon to enjoy the weather after loading up on some medicine. I scaled back and wanted to try to do 8 slow miles instead of the 10-11 I should have been running. Unfortunately I only made it 6.5 miles before I felt like complete crap and got home. After a long hot shower and some time with the couch and Netflix, I took my temperature, and it turns out I had a low grade fever. No bueno. So needless to say, the rest of the weekend I took it really easy and drank lots of fluids a.k.a lots of tea and lemonade flavored Mio in my water.  The boyfriend also brought me home a chocolate bacon doughnut which made me feel a little better :)

Bacon is good on everything. 

Sunday night I did have some yummy pizza that was loaded with veggies. Seriously this is just a pile of delicious roasted vegetables pretending to be pizza, and I don't mind. 

So I'm feeling pretty discouraged that I could not get a last good long run in since I'm feeling not so good about the DC Rock and Roll Half Marathon on Saturday. I'm just glad that what I have is probably just a cold or virus and not the flu, and that I have a week to feel better. 

So here's what to do when you're unprepared for a race, which is not recommended, but may happen. (Note: I am not a personal trainer or certified in any way, these tips are all from personal experience. Please discuss plans with a health professional before running a race you may not be prepared for!)

1. Make your race goals realistic.

This isn't my spring half marathon to PR so already expectations were lower, which is good. At this point, I'm trying to make it better than my "worst" half marathon, which sadly for me, was sub-2 hour and not bad at all (and my first half marathon).  If you are under-prepared for a race, accept that you probably won't set a new personal record , and it might hurt a little. Set realistic goals based on the training you have done and the shape you are in. You don't want to get in the middle of the race and get burned out or injured.  As always, start the race out slow!

Change race goals so you don't feel like this a 1/3 of the way through. (gif from here) 

2. Hydrate and roll out.

Foam roll out that is. I plan on stretching, foam rolling and making sure my legs are feeling good for race day. Also I ALWAYS notice how crappy I feel for any run or workout when I'm dehydrated, so drinking extra water is just good advice for fitness in general and especially before races.  I'll be trying to drink my All Day Nuun in the mornings before my coffee/tea and be mindful to drink more water throughout the week. This is extra important since I'm still feeling under the weather too!

Disclaimer: I'm a Nuun ambassador and receive a discount on Nuun products, but have been a huge fan WAY before that. I really freaking love and use their products!

3. Get a couple more good runs in. 

I wasn't planning on really tapering much for this run since I haven't been running a ton. Hopefully when I'm feeling 100% better I'll get a solid 6 mile run in (approximately half the distance of my race distance) during the middle of the week to see how my body and pace is feeling.  If I feel good, it'll be a nice confidence booster and will help me figure out how I should be pacing myself. Obviously if I felt I was completely out of shape or could get injured, I would NOT still be running it. 

You've got this!

4. Be prepared for race day.

I'm a super organized person and while I can go with the flow, being late and chaotic makes me really stressed out.  If I can have all my travel plans ready and race gear picked out and packed,I'll feel much better. Stress only makes everything worse.

All my gear laid out pre-Baltimore Marathon 2013

4. Run happy. 

I freaking love this motto (which also happens to be the Brooks Running tagline).  Hopefully by race day I'm feeling better and will be able to line up at the start line feeling relaxed and ready to have an enjoyable run. I want to enjoy the course, be smiling, and just run. There really isn't much more I can do right now to get ready for the race-pushing yourself the week before will only hurt you more! And hey, you never know what can happen in a race! 

I hope to be feeling like this on race day!

Also go check out this awesome coffee talk post with the I'm Fit Possible community today!

Have you ever felt really unprepared for a race? How was your weekend?

My Very Own Coffee Review

Disclosure: This post is a review for My Very Own Coffee received through my I'm Fit Possible community ambassadorship. I was provided with 1 bag of coffee free of charge, as part of the review but received no other compensation for this post. As always, all opinions are my own. 

Lately I have been drinking tea in the morning, because I sometimes back off of drinking lots of coffee due to it's effect on my digestive system (you runners know what I'm talking about!). However yesterday I had a hot mug of coffee in the morning for the first time this week, and it was perfect.  I brewed the coffee in my french press and topped it with some frothed almond milk. It hit the spot. 

This post got lost in the shuffle of the holidays so I'm just posting now about how the I'm Fit Possible community along with My Very Own Coffee hooked me up with a bag of freshly roasted whole coffee beans a few months ago and let me tell you, freshly roasted whole beans makes all the difference. 

myveryowncoffee.com is an awesome site that let's you customize the design of your bag of coffee for monthly delivery. They also own We CARE! Coffee Company which is the same custom coffee concept but helps raise funds for schools, sports teams, and nonprofits. With We CARE! Coffee Company you can order bags with your group's logo to sell yourself or hold a fundraiser via online sales with profits going to your group. You can customize the coffee bag with a photo, title, and text. The layout of the label on the bag is fixed so the design wasn't too flexible for customization, but I did love the idea of being able to upload your own photo! This makes a perfect gift that keeps on giving for the coffee-lover in your life. However I chose to design a bag for myself so I decided to put a little morning motivation on my coffee bag.

What's more inspiring then seeing a photo of you after your first marathon with your breakfast in the morning? 

My coffee order came quickly and was packaged just the way I designed it. I titled my coffee "Runners' Fuel: The drink of choice for marathoners who run while others sleep!" 

Very inspiring, right?

Besides, the custom bag, you have some choices regarding your coffee such as ground or whole beans and medium roast or french roast.  The company works with coffee importers in the San Francisco Bay Area and sources two types of organic coffee beans (1 caffeinated, 1 decaf) at a time, based on access and availability to the company.  

Usually if I buy whole coffee beans I grind them at a local supermarket, but my boyfriend insisted on helping me out with this antique hand-crank coffee grinder that hangs in our kitchen. He is quite the coffee connoisseur and wanted to taste test the coffee too!  It is decorative yet functional! However I would not recommend hand-cranking to grind more than a couple cups of coffee (unless you have a lot of time on your hands!). 

The verdict, I loved the flavor of the beans and will definitely keep My Very Own Coffee and We CARE! Coffee  in mind for a unique gift or fundraising option.  It's also your lucky day because My Very Own Coffee has offered my readers a 25% discount good for the monthly coffee club (which includes free shipping!) with the code: breathedeeply25.

Check out both companies' websites: 
http://myveryowncoffee.com/ AND http://www.wecarecoffee.com/

Facebook pages: 
https://www.facebook.com/myveryowncoffee AND https://www.facebook.com/wecarecoffee.fundraising

Disclosure: This post is a review for My Very Own Coffee received through my I'm Fit Possible community ambassadorship. I was provided with 1 bag of coffee free of charge, as part of the review but received no other compensation for this post. As always, all opinions are my own. 

I'm Even Eating the Whole Bun

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler or "Let the Good Times Roll", is a little French saying associated with  Mardi Gras, which is today. This is going to be my theme for March because I have so many good things coming along in the next few months. Even a little snow and wintry weather won't get in my way. 

Although I don't mind snow days

Yes, there was another snow storm yesterday that resulted in a snow day for work AND school. This means staying in my pajamas all day, catching up on TV I missed during the Oscars Sunday night, and ending the day with a burger and a beer with my boyfriend. The burger was amazing and came topped with goat cheese and sauteed onions on a pretzel bun. I usually feel like burger buns are too much bread and end up only eating half the bun or picking the edges off so only about half is left (yes, I'm a super classy-looking eater). Last night, I was so excited for the delicious burger surrounded by the pretzel bun I told my boyfriend "This looks awesome. I'm even eating the whole bun" so he laughed and said that should be my blog post title. Voila. No photo because I pretty much devoured it before I even thought about taking a photo (bad blogger, I know).  Life's too short not to enjoy a good burger every once in a while. 

On Sunday I had a fabulous little Oscars party with a nice little spread of appetizers and drinks. 

I made these yummy little Healthy Chicken Enchilada Bites from Mackenzie's Clean Eats but used lean ground beef instead of ground chicken. There were no leftovers so I'd call them a hit! 

I also finally made these Flourless Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies from Ambitious Kitchen which were amazing.

 I used peanut butter along with mini chocolate chips, and they tasted way more sinful than they actually are. My boyfriend and I ended up finishing up the leftovers for breakfast the next day. He said they were one of the best "healthy" desserts I've ever made!

If you missed it here are some of my favorite Oscars highlights. Leo lost (boo), but Cate Blanchett won (yay). Jared Leto won for Best Supporting Actor and is as sexy as he was in his Jordan Catalano days,  although he needs the ends of his hair trimmed. 

Ellen posted a star-studded selfie that became the most retweeted tweet ever. She also had a guy deliver pizza to pass out to the crowd. Brad Pitt even looks good chowing down on some pizza. 

John Travolta royally butchered pronouncing Idina Menzel's name which was hilarious. Oh and this happened at the end of Matthew McConaughey's awesome Best Actor Award speech. The only thing that would have made his speech better was if he performed his tribal, chest-bumping song from The Wolf of Wall Street. 

On Saturday, before all of the Oscars fun, I had a nice 10 mile run with some friends and am feeling VERY unprepared for my first race of the spring-the Rock and Roll DC Half Marathon. It's a little less than two weeks away, and I just haven't been running as much. I can blame it on the cold, wintry weather, but at this point there isn't much I can do. 

I'll try to just take it easy and have fun and hopefully not run my slowest half marathon ever. I looked at the course map. and it seems there is only some big hills around miles 6-7 so hopefully the race will be manageable. Right now I'm focusing on getting a few more runs in, stretching, and making sure I'm hydrated. 

This week I'm hoping to get back on track with healthy eating, workouts, and looking my best for when it finally gets warmer outside. I'm not greedy, I'm just asking for a little springtime weather!

What was your favorite Oscars highlight if you watched them? What are your tips when feeling under-prepared for a race?

Friday Favorites 2/28/2014

See, you can tell I'm feeling less stressed and busy now because I'm on a blogging roll! Yesterday was TGIT, but today I'm truly feeling TGIF! I have a bunch of things to share so of course I had to participate in a Five Things Friday linkup! 

Five Friday Favorites

1. Favorite sweet treat: Salazon Organic Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt & Caramel

The boyfriend did good and got me a whole bunch of chocolate bars from Whole Foods for Valentine's Day. I've pretty much devoured this one in 3 days. It's all organic andIt's a delicious dark chocolate with a bunch of sea salt on the outside and liquid caramel on the inside. SO good.  

2. Favorite weekend event: 86th Annual Academy Awards

Every year for a while now I've had a little Oscars viewing party with my college friends where we dress up, have a few drinks, and fill out ballots with our predictions. Oh and of course seeing what everyone is wearing is fun too! It's something I look forward to, and I always love trying to see most of the movies.  I just hope Leonardo DeCaprio gets an Oscar one of these days because seriously, he freaking deserves one! 

I loved his 2014 Golden Globes speech. And I love Jennifer Lawrence.

3. Favorite recipe to try this weekend: Seasoned Asparagus Fries from Jess at Just Call Me Janks

My fit friend and fellow I'm Fit Possible ambassador posted a photo teasing this a couple of days ago, and I couldn't wait for the recipe. These look delicious, and include a favorite seasoning of mine-Old Bay (#marylandproblems). I just so happen to have some asparagus sitting in the fridge right now...

4. Favorite fitness item: C9 by Champion sports bra from Target

When I was visiting my parents last weekend my mom had picked up a cute blue sports bra from Target she found on uber-sale that happened to be one of my favorites! I don't need a lot to support up there (sadly) so these simple, comfortable sports bras are my favorite! I even love wearing them on the weekends under a slouchy shirt when I don't feel like actually getting dressed. 

5. Favorite inbox surprise: I was chosen as a Fitfluential Ambassador!

It's all about the big blog news lately! Last night I was completely surprised to be notified that I was chosen as a Fitfluential ambassador! When I first started reading blogs it seemed like only all the big bloggers that I read and loved were Fitfluential ambassadors so I'm completely honored and shocked that I am part of that community now! Honestly I didn't think I had enough of the stats and readership and jumped up and down when I read the email last night. This means I'll be able to partner with more brands and hopefully share with you some more awesome products out there in the fitness/health world!

Do you watch the Oscars? For the films or the outfits?

Thinking Out Loud Thursdays-TGIT!

TGIT. You know I've been a long week when you are just glad it's Thursday. I've had a pretty crappy week so I'm just trying, as always, to focus on the positive things like my article on Parade.com that I've gotten a lot of virtual love for.  I have lots of random thoughts and tidbits to share today so linking up with Amanda's Thinking Out Loud Thursdays is perfect. 

1. Anatomy and Physiology II is kicking my booty. I have so much homework from both the lab and lecture portions plus I had a quiz and exam this week. It feels like non-stop work. Working full-time and going to school when I have to trek there in rush hour traffic is taking its toll on me. Is it May yet? 

2. My sleep and water intake have been bad this week. Not to make excuses but to make excuses, sometimes I really hate working in a lab because I can't just have my big pink Nalgene at my computer or in the lab. Boo. Sleep is something I'm always talking about working on, but lately it just seems there is not enough hours in the day.  I need at least 36 hours in a day, c'mon.  I know I need more water so today I've got my big water bottle with lemon slices in it, ready to be demolished at work. 

3. I have come up with a loose half marathon training plan for the 3-4 half marathons I'm running in the next three months (who am I?!), and am hoping to PR at the Nike Women's DC Half again because it was a nice, flat course. I was reminded of all of this with an amazing huge package of goodies from Bakery on Main with lots of Truebars to fuel me through my training. The Rock and Roll DC Half in around two weeks is going to be a slow,painful mess I'm sure, especially since I didn't get in 10 miles like I should have last weekend.  How is is already March?

Disclaimer: I am a Truebar-fueled athlete and receive free products from Bakery on Main in exchange for brand promotion. I really do love and eat these products, and all opinions are my own! 

4. Speaking of March, Spring needs to hurry up. Last weekend I was elated to be running in shorts and this week I've got my snow parka and boots back out and had to brush snow off the car yesterday morning. I need shorts and flip-flops weather, stat. 

See how happy running in shorts made me?

5. I really love spending my Wednesday mornings with the November Project. I was out there in the cold, snowy weather doing the "race day" workout consisting of stairs and running a loop on Wednesday morning and ended it with a big smile on my face-even after we did "Sally" which consisted of many squats.  It was my first race day workout so it was a PR for me even with the snowy weather! I got a great workout in, but I think I was mostly there for the free hugs. 

We are great at taking group photos. 

6.  I've got some exciting blog news and summer travel plans in the works but can't reveal it all right now! However, I cannot contain my excitement that I'm attending Fitbloggin' 2014, my first blog conference! I was offered a live blogger assistantship which will cover the cost of the conference so now I'm just getting my flight and hotel plans sorted out. I wanted this position really badly because I just couldn't afford it last summer. I'm so ready for a fun summer trip! It's going to be an awesome weekend with fit, fun blogger people in a city I've been wanting to visit for a while-Savannah, GA!  

7.  Yesterday I really need this TUT email in my inbox: 

Lauren, if at first you don't succeed, it only means you're getting closer, cooler, hotter, better, "badder," and more awesome. 

Tallyho, 

    The Universe

It's good to start the day with some inspiration. Here's to tomorrow being Friday and to only getting better, hotter, and more badass. 

How has your week been? Are your ready for Spring to get here?

Parade + Sverve: 5 Tips for a Running Newbie

I'm having a bit of a rough start to this week with class, work, my personal life, and trying to stay on track with my half marathon training. Fortunately, I have something positive to focus on quickly today before I get back to studying for my Anatomy & Physiology exam (bleh).  I recently joined Sverve to network with more brands and was lucky enough to work on a campaign with Sverve & Parade Magazine. 

Today my article 5 Tips for a Running Newbie was published online! 

Please check it out here, comment, and share! It's a great list of some easy tips if you have friends who or you yourself want to commit to start running this year. I've talked to a few people looking for advice on starting to train for a race or just beginning to run to get in shape so I knew this was a great topic to write about! Now for a quick workout, studying, and lots of tea!

Do you have any other tips for beginner runners? How is your week going?