2014-Let go of the negative and embrace the positive

Well the holiday season was a whirlwind as usual so I'm still out of sorts. It's making it harder to get back into the swing of things because I went back to work on Thursday after being off for over a week and then got a snow day on Friday which makes this Monday morning even more unbearable. Especially because I had a lot of lazy days sleeping in way late in there. 

Today I am sharing my new year's to-do list with you. Super original, I know. I call them goals because I think the word resolution gets a bad rap, as in you might completely forget about your resolutions by the time February rolls around. Also having a set of goals to work at seems much more feasible to me rather than these big ideas I may have that do not come with some sort of game plan.  I was definitely inspired by these 5 goals which are awesome. I separated my goals by what the are mainly attributed to-mind, body, or soul. I will definitely try to write these out and post them in my bedroom so I can revisit them. I find it easier to focus on one at a time so 12 goals for 12 months in a year is perfect!

I have seen people come up with themes for 2014 which I like a lot. I think it's good to reflect on what you want to accomplish in a year. My theme would be to be happy. That includes doing things I want to do, not feeling bad declining invitations or things that take up my time which don't make me happy, and also allowing my self to be happy. As always, let go of the negative, breathe, and happily allow the positive to enter.  I'm a list person at heart though, so here we go :)

MIND

1. Re-learn French. I was a French minor in college and still a total francophile. I'm going to get on that Rosetta Stone business and re-learn how to speak French again because it's a skill I don't want to lose!

2. Read 14 books.

3. Try 1 new recipe a month from a cookbook. I have all these cookbooks lying around so I want to actually make an effort to tackle some of the more time-consuming and fancy recipes in them!

4. Live in the now. Planning for the future is important, but I want to focus on seizing the day and not waiting for some perfect time that will never come to do things I want to do. 

SOUL

5. Show more affection. I think it's important to make an effort to keep in touch with people and the people you care about know that!

6. Travel more.

7. Be bold-take chances without fear.

8. LOVE myself and how I look, flaws and all. 

BODY

9. Eat more greens!

10. New marathon and half marathon PRs. Always trying to improve!

11. Improve pullups (unassisted finally?) and string together double unders.

12. Work hard at feeling good in a bathing suit this summer. Superficial and pretty much on every female's resolution list, but feeling good in a bathing suit a.k.a. the least amount of clothing you are usually wearing in public is a huge self-esteem booster. 

If you don't believe in yearly resolutions or goals at least remember this- keep spreading love in the world and you are awesome so dream big!

Do you have any New Year's resolutions or goals? How many cups of coffee do you need this Monday?

Year of Running 2013

Amanda aka Miss Zippy is hosting a blog linkup for the third year in a row,with a 2013 year of running recap, so I thought I would join in because it's been a pretty awesome second year of running for me.  

I have been running pretty leisurely and less frequent the past few months but decided to get out there this morning and go on my last chilly run of the year!  It was a great time to reflect on the year that is ending. 

I accomplished my goal of 13 races in 2013 (not all races had medals of course!).

What was your:

Best race experience?
The Nike Women's DC Half in April was a pretty great race,but I think my first full marathon at the Baltimore Running Festival takes the cake. Four months of training and lots of sweat and tears went into that race. I hit my exact goal of 3:45, and it was the hardest race I've ever run. I know that it has mentally made me stronger. I hit those points where I didn't think I could do it. In the end I could do nothing but smile. I couldn't really walk for a couple of days, but that feeling of pride and accomplishment was worth it. When I had to push through all that self-doubt, insecurity, and pain during the race it was so much more emotional than I could have imagined. I'm ready to tackle 26.2 again in 2014. Bring it (hopefully!) Chicago Marathon.  
 


Best run?
This is a tough one because all my runs seem to blur together. This summer when I ran my first 20 miles ever during marathon training I remember feeling great. I was on that runner's high afterwards, and that's when I knew I could run a marathon. It was a hot summer Saturday morning, and I ran pretty much all over the entire city of Baltimore with a couple of my training buddies. Besides some quad tightness, I felt good. I was smiling the whole walk home with a big iced coffee.

big smiles after 20 miles!

Best new piece of gear?
I love running sleeves! I also just received three new arm sleeves for Christmas so they are not going away anytime soon. I'm always that person that is cold in general so I have a tough time judging what to wear for temperatures. I love wearing arm sleeves for races because they can be rolled down if I get hot. I even had GroovyBaby wonder woman arm sleeves to help power me through my marathon! They are my favorite layering piece for cold weather running right now too. 

post Nike DC Half in April

Best piece of running advice you received?
My marathon training group coach Deidre always told us "do not go out too fast" which has stuck with me because it pretty much dooms your race. I try to be cautious in the beginning of longer races.   

Also she always reminded us that "If marathons were easy- everyone would do them.  Invite the pain, accept it, and then find something else to occupy your brain." I think that idea of accepting pain and then finding something else to think about or a mantra to repeat is really important during marathons and half marathons.  I tell myself to just keep moving or focus on scenery which helps during rough patches of runs. 

5 Rules for Christmas Break

I'm just popping in to drop some Christmas and holiday rules on you before I get back to hanging out with my family.

1. Unplug-post your obligatory holiday greeting and show off your awesome holiday food and gifts on facebook/twitter/instagram/whatever, but then leave the laptop shut off and your phone plugged in somewhere rather than in your hand or pocket.

2. Only eat one cookie-of each variety! Too many delicious desserts to fill up on one type of cookie-save room to try one of everything! I know I only get to enjoy some delicious peanut butter blossoms and Polish chrusciki cookies at this time of year so I'm going to make the most of it. 

3. Be flexible- okay so you usually hit the gym in the AM and refuel with your oats or green smoothie. I'm going to partake in my mom's breakfast casserole or go to the movies to see one of the many films I want to see (I'm looking at you, American Hustle, Frozen, Wolf of Wall Street, and Saving Mr. Banks) instead of working out one day. I swear you'll survive. 

4. Eat some greens-along with green tree spritz cookies and green & red sprinkles, try to eat some of the veggie platter or throw a salad in here or there. You can worry about your waistline in January, but you'll probably feel better right now with some nutritious food to fuel you through the holidays too! Balance=sanity, people. 

5. Live, laugh, smile. The holidays are one of the only times of year I actually see all of my family in the span of a few days. Share your hobbies with people and spend time with others doing what they like. After all, the holidays aren't just about the food you eat, the gifts,  and the decorations, but just about spending time making memories with the ones you love! 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from me to you. May the New Year be full of health, happiness, and many PRs :-)

Friday Favorites-Christmastime in Baltimore Edition! 12/20/2013

Well the past few weeks have been a whirlwind, and I CANNOT believe that Christmas is next week. I've been so busy with work, shopping, gift wrapping, and attending parties.  Luckily, I made plenty of time to do my favorite holiday activities around Baltimore during this time of year. Here are some of my favorite Baltimore holiday tradition and events from this year!

Five Favorite Baltimore Holiday Traditions

Favorite light show: 

Baltimore's Washington Monument Lighting

The lighting of the Washington Monument in Baltimore (which came before the D.C. one in case you were wondering) is one of the biggest holiday events of the season and happens to take place right around the corner from me. There are lots of vendors selling food and drinks along with choirs and an appearance from the mayor. It all ends with the lighting of the monument and a firework  and light show set to holiday music!

Favorite holiday run: 

Celtic Solstice 5 miler

 

This race is my last race of the year and continues to sell out due to the awesome premiums, hot wine and soup after the race, and lore of the time it was run during a blizzard! It also starts with bagpipers and has lots of runners we're their holiday gear! You can read my recap from this year's race here!

Favorite Christmas lights display: 

Miracle on 34th Street in Hampden

Celtic Solstice 5 Miler 2013 Recap

This past Saturday was the Celtic Solstice 5 miler, which is a big annual local race in Baltimore with over 4,000 runners and usually gets a mention in Runner's World like it did a couple issues ago.  The forecast was calling for cold weather and snow. Don't worry, they wouldn't cancel-back in 2009 the race became infamous for runner's completing the course in the middle of a BLIZZARD. 

This was my 2nd race ever 2 years ago and a bunch of friends and co-workers were doing it so I figured it would be fun even though I hate the cold. It's always my last race of the year, and they happen to give out my favorite premium of the year. It's always some sort of half zip that is gender specific. I love the bright blue color of the women's Asics pullover this year!

Sorry for the reflector glare!

I still haven't really been running much since the marathon-I think I have the cold-weather running blues so I was feeling a little under prepared. I had some pizza the night before so there were definitely some carbs in my system to fuel me.  The race was at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, and the race director warned about the parking options and as always to get there early. I hate being at races early and always cut it close but decided to play it safe and get there an hour early. Luckily, I found some of my friends, but it literally took me about 15 minutes to get my timing chip and use the bathroom and make my way into a huge tent set up where it was slightly warmer due to all the people inside. 

Don't want to leave the car!

I'm not always good at judging what to wear when running in the cold, so I was banking on the fact that I'd be warm once I started running.  I was wearing a short sleeve shirt, Under Armour coldgear pullover, long pants with compression socks underneath, knee high Christmas socks,  and a Brooks ear warmer.  By start time I was still freezing and couldn't really feel my toes-great. 

They always start the race with bagpipers in kilts and all which is super fun. However, my friends and I waited a bit too long to line up so we just kind of pushed into the crowd at the start line. 

This lead to the first mile being AWFUL because I was stuck behind so many people across the entire road. I did what you're not supposed to do in a race which was zig zag around people and icy snow patches to try to get to a clear spot where I could run the pace I wanted to run. My first mile ended up being right under 9 minutes. 

There was a big hill somewhere between miles 2-3, but honestly my legs felt like giant ice cubes I was trying to move so it sucked. I finally got into the groove around mile 3 and felt okay at my faster pace.  I was running around a 7:20-7:30 for the rest of the race after the first mile and following my friend who was just a bit ahead of me.  Once you get to miles 4-5 the course loops around the lake and then is downhill until the finish line.  I found a girl around the lake who was running just a bit faster than me so I used her as my pacer and then eventually pushed by to pass at the end. My last mile was 7:02, and I was giving it all I had. I definitely was huffing and puffing at the end and need to add some more speedwork back into my running routine before the spring! 

Druid Hill lake

I finished in 38:41 (7:45 overall pace), which is pretty good for not really running much since the marathon. It's barely a slower time than the last two years I've run the race, but I'll blame that on the first mile! I was still 16/189 so that's pretty darn good for a race with people running sub 6 miles and all.  The girl who I used as my pacer around the lake came up to me afterwards and told me I ran a great race and just beat her in the end, which is always a nice feeling. 

Even got to chat and meetup with Sarah in the tent after the race

I was super sweaty and warm after finish so I think I did a good job layering. This race always has great post-race eats (aka the important things) including soup, coffee & hot chocolate from Zeke's, hot mulled wine from Boordy Vineyards,hot vegetable soup and lots of delicious cookies from a local Italian bakery, along with typical fare like fruit. I met up with some friends and eventually made the trek back to my car. 

Overall it was a good race, and I loved having lots of friends run it with me this year. I think it took all day for my toes to thaw, but I'll be back next year! 

Do you run any winter races? What is your favorite piece of winter running gear?

Breathe Deeply and Find a Gift #3-Erica Sara Designs

I don't have much to say about this weekend besides that it was definitely marvelous! I'll have a race recap for you tomorrow about Saturday morning's race that was indeed chilly but not quite snowy as predicted! After that I mostly watched Toy Story 2 on TV, took a nap, and continued to update my new laptop.  

I also finally finished pretty much all of my Christmas shopping this weekend, but know that so many people still have gifts to find in the next couple of weeks so today I'm back with another gift idea for this holiday season!

While I was marathon training, I came across Erica Sara Designs jewelry and promised that I'd treat myself to a custom commemorative necklace when I finished! Even though I was going to wait until my bank account didn't hate me, I couldn't pass up a Cyber Monday sale so I bought it.  It came the other day, and I absolutely love it.  

Erica Sara Designs offers classic jewelry pieces, semi-precious gemstones and metals, and personal engravings. Her pieces have been featured in Fitness and Best Self Magazine. I adore all her personal engravings pieces she makes including custom mantra necklaces, initial and monogram necklaces, and little love note pendants that make it easy to find the perfect gift for anyone on your list. They have a lot of great gifts all year round for mothers, bridesmaids, significant others, and even the runners on your list! They have a whole section here with holiday ideas! I have my eye on the Run Ring if anybody still needs to buy me a present :) 

I ordered the Outline City Race necklace in silver and customized the back with my Baltimore Marathon time, date, and "Lauren's 1st" to commemorate my first marathon. It was hard to photograph because the necklace is so delicate and pretty. 

Again, you can check out Erica Sara Designs online or on Facebook for ordering details!

Since a lot of the jewelry is custom I would order right away to get your gifts shipped before Christmas!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, and I was not compensated in any way. I really love the Erica Sara Designs pieces, bought my own necklace, and wanted to share with you! All opinions are my own. 

Friday Favorites 12/13/2013

I totally forgot to mention yesterday that the winner of my Beats by Dre giveaway  was Marcia from Too Cute Runner! Congrats! I'm so glad it's Friday- even if it is a spooky Friday the 13th! Apparently there is some wintry weather  in the forecast for tomorrow which should make the annual Celtic Solstice 5-Mile Race interesting for me. They held the race even during an infamous snowstorm once so there is no chance of it being cancelled! Can I just run in my puffer coat and boots?

Five Favorite Things This Week

Favorite hot beverage: 

Hot Chocolate

I don't know if it's just the colder weather and the holiday season, but I have been loving having hot chocolate in the morning or after dinner this week! I have a little Penzeys hot chocolate mix I've been using with almond milk but these bad boys picture above are a homemade mint hot chocolate my boyfriend whipped up with some almond milk, cacao powder, mint stevia, and other various ingredients. It was awesome, and yes, I called the Han Solo mug.

Favorite snack: 

Pickybars Runner's High flavor

I picked this up when running errands this week and it was a delicious and satisfying snack. I saw they are renaming the bar but am glad they aren't changing it's delicious blueberry and vanilla flavor. It's also gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan!

Favorite type of work day: 

Snow day (especially when it doesn't snow much)

Snow days off from work are awesome. It snowed a bit in the morning but eventually nothing really stuck and it stopped by 1 PM in the city. I treated myself to a little skinny peppermint mocha and a bunch of Netflix-watching. 

Favorite dinner: 

Homemade burgers (and bun!)

My boyfriend brought home some discounted Omaha Steaks products his dad came upon so we had delicious steak burgers for dinner this past week. We were unprepared without any buns so I whipped up a couple of these homemade paleo burger buns with what I had lying around. It tasted more like a biscuit with the dense texture from the coconut flour, but it was delicious! Somehow burgers replaced french fries as what I always want to eat! 

Favorite surprise: 

Beyonce's new self-titled album

Beyonce is queen, in case you were wondering.  She surprised everyone with releasing a fifth album today described as a "visual album" where the record comes with videos for each of the 14 songs. Check out some of the details here. AMAZING. 

Link up with me!


Did you have a snow day this week? What's your favorite hot chocolate recipe or brand?

HLB Tea Swap 2013 and New Goods

Well it's been a crazy week. I've been super frustrated with my computer and am blaming it for the lack of progress on my grad school applications-which I will SERIOUSLY work hard on this weekend. See, I'm accountable now because I told you all.  My laptop I had since freshman year of college finally bit the dust about a year ago so I have been using my dad's old laptop from circa 2003, a.k.a  a senior citizen in the laptop world. The buggy Internet connections and general inability to keep up with me having 10+ Google Chrome tabs open and a couple programs running at the same time was taking it's toll on me. Yesterday I had a wonderful package to open-a new laptop!

 I purchased a Dell on Cyber Monday, and it's all fancy with Windows 8. I don't really know much about technology in detail but knew I wanted an i5 processor and a good price-I got both so I'm happy.  

Since I'm behind on everything, a couple weeks ago I received a special surprise in the mail. It was some tea from the HLB Tea Swap Fall 2013 that I participated in. I love tea so was excited to participate for the second year in a row. It's pretty simple-you're matched up with another member of the Healthy Living Blogs community and send them a little note and 2 of your favorite bags of tea and then receive the same from a different member.  I have a bunch of boxes of tea because I love having lots of flavors to choose from, but I've had to stop myself from buying more until I use up what I have! I sometimes drink a cup in the morning and usually have one before bed at night . I love getting to try just a few bags of other people's favorite teas!

I received an envelope from Dianne "Veggiegirl" (check out her great blog here!) with an adorable tea-themed card and three bags of tea. I couldn't get over how the cute the card was with a few little buttons glued onto it-so perfect for this occasion!

 I've had the Tazo black tea before, and love chai teas so the red chai herbal tea was yummy. I brewed a cup of the Teeccino chocolate flavor last night, and it was AMAZING. I'm so glad Dianne sent it even though it's not really a tea, per say.  Teecino is apparently a caffeine-free herbal coffee that is made to brew and taste just like coffee without the caffeiene and acidity, which is great for people trying to cut down on coffee or bothered by it like I can be when I'm having some tummy troubles.  I am definitely going to be picking some up. 

What is your favorite type of tea or hot beverage (for you non-tea drinkers!)?