Better Now

Sorry guys.  I’ve been ranting a lot as of late.

But it seems I’m not the only one with traffic issues.  Seems that we all deal with some frustrations when it comes to such things.  Even when I still lived back in Mid-MO I was quick to get frustrated.  In high school, when driving from my hometown to my summer job, you have no idea how frustrating it was to get behind a dude on a tractor. 

Yeah, that really happens.  And I’m pretty sure my friends from home who read this can definitely back me on this one.

Anyways.  I’m chilled out.  I got home (we shall not discuss the traffic again after this point) and ran quickly to the gym.  I wanted to get my lounge on, and that was not happening until I worked up a little sweat first.  So I did.  Not with ease, though.  There was a birthday in the office- happy birthday, Jaime!!!  I had a really really big piece of this:(The pics are here two little lovely dogs that I absolutely adore and even doggysat for back in the Spring!)

I giggled a little as we sang because Jaime  doesn’t embarrass easily.  BUT, she does turn extremely red in the face when a break room full of guys start to sing to her.  Don’t worry Jaime- it happened to me, too. 

The cake was chocolate and buttercream and delicious.  It also gave me a bit of a sugar rush that didn’t help me out one bit mid-workout.  You can’t sustain energy with butter and sugar?  Really?  Huh.  Whew knew? 

Either way, I did 2 miles at an 8:35 pace and finished off with 20 minutes on the elliptical.  I had wanted to do The Shred, but took the intensity down a notch and did the resistance bands instead.  They’re still a really good workout for my arms.  Plus, the circuit I like to do ends with sets of planks.  And I love me some workouts that trim the tummy!

After congratulating myself for getting through a decent cross training session, I showered and started my wild and crazy night in.  Yes. Wild. 

My cravings recently have really headed the direction of comfort foods- but not one certain one in particular.  Last night, it was BBQ.  Aaaahhh!  Naked chicken!  Well- almost.  It’s covered with a bbq seasoning and frozen peppers from Trader Joe’s.  I’ve used the peppers before, and everyone else who tried them agreed- they’re handy to have for mixing in to something.  Because they don’t have that crisp that make them good on their own.

I also add mucho red chili pepper flakes.  Because it’s delicious that way.  No other reason.Ah much better.  Sassy lookin’ chicken.  Just because summer’s over, it doesn’t mean I’m retiring the sauce… A little cheddar and ranch go a long way. 

That’s life advice, folks.  You should write that down.

And who doesn’t have a Friday night dinner without a glass of wine?Beer may have been a better choice, but I wasn’t really feeling it.  Wine got it done.

I spent the rest of the night catching up on shows I had missed during the week thanks to OnDemand. 

Does anyone watch Community?  Drew Carey was a guest star.  But I spent the first minute or two trying to figure out if it was really him- he’s lost 70 pounds!  Seriously- he’s barely recognizable…

Clearly I haven’t been watching enough of The Price Is Right to notice.

Ok I’m off.  I’m pushing it with my free time this morning.  Gotta get a long run in before heading to a food and wine fest with Mon.  Not sure how long the “long run” is actually going to be. Somewhere between 6 and 8.  That’s the plan.  Wish me luck! 

Enjoy your Saturday!

Bulking Up

So I’m not the only one who hoards leftover office food, huh?  Good thing we don’t all work together- I’d hate to fight you guys for it.

Because I fight dirty.  And I’m not scared.  Bring it.

Don’t believe me?  You should.  I’ve been working on my guns.  Well- sort of.  I’ve been loving using resistance bands during my workout as part of my cross training routine.  I may have mentioned it already- but doing the front body circuit is my favorite.  So I spend some time doing work on the arms, shoulders, and even the core.  Loves it.

So I did that, but also hit the gym beforehand for some elliptical and stairmill time.  Kept myself entertained in the workout room this time by playing “where is that cheap cologne smell coming from?” 

I still don’t know.

Then I did some more bulking up.  With my dinner.90 calories a serving?  Sweet… that’ll keep me full for like a whole 15 minutes!  Like oh my god! I actually took two pics of the same thing- because I caught myself doing a sweet hitchhiker’s thumb and was kinda embarrassed.  Then I laughed.  Try and beat that one, people!  I think my thumbnail makes it look that much longer… Awesome.

But yes, we can take a minute to talk about my soup in a can.  I love playing in the kitchen, and I know soup isn’t hard, but I’m just not “there” yet.  I still only keep a few cans of it around as an easy option.  I know it’s a bit high on the sodium end, but I don’t know what to say- I just don’t like making soup from scratch.

Anyhoo, I took the can and used it as a “base”.  Then I added the goods.  Like broccoli, black beans, and corn.  And red chili pepper flakes.  And pepper (because we know how almost all “lite” soups are pretty freakin’ bland).  I must have gotten a little out of control because it was exploding out of the pot…I SLOWLY stirred it until it was all heated up and ready to go.  And then toasted an Arnold’s thin (still living on coupons from the Healthy Living Summit- holla’) with cheese on top.  Because soup isn’t comfort food without cheesy bread.  I don’t care what you say.  I need my cheesy bread.Voila.  Just in time for Modern Family. 

I have fantastic timing.

Being as how it’s Thursday, today is an official rest day for me.  Again- probably for the better.  I still haven’t figured out that “weird” feeling in my left leg.  It doesn’t hurt.  It’s just annoying me.  Grrr.  My real frustration comes from the fact that I’m a little over a month away from my 15k, and have yet to really log much over a 6-mile distance as of late.  Gah.

Here’s something funny…

Has anyone heard of the Happy Meal Project?  An artist out of New York, Sally Davies, photographed a McDonald’s happy meal every single day over a period of MONTHS.  Results?  I believe she’s still doing it, but they had pictures of Day 1 compared to Day 137- with very little change of appearance.  What?? (Click on the picture to be taken to the article and slideshow) 

Now- let me be clear.  I’m a kid who runs through the drive thru every now and then.  I see nothing wrong with that.  But um… I’m concerned about people who eat this every day.  I mean, it looks like you could still eat the bread- which seems to be mold free after 137 days (another reason why I’m frustrated my lastest wraps purchase didn’t even last but a week!).  Yikes.

Thoughts?

Unexplained Injuries and Nachos

First off, let me just say thank you to everyone who commented about the race Annie and I did on Sunday.  We both walked away pretty happy with it.  I keep telling Annie her next step is a 10k. She keeps looking at me like I’m crazy.

Just wait…

Mondays are usually spent running, but after my speedy 8k on Sunday, I gave myself a bit of a recovery day and spent more time on the elliptical.  No worries- I’m not really feeling that much soreness (except what I would call a “good sore”, not “bad”).  I just wanted to be nice to the body (so to speak).  So I did 25 minutes on the elliptical, did some ab work, and finished off at home with Level 1 of The Shred.

Oh and I’m probably the only person I know to ever injure myself getting either on or off the elliptical.  I’m honestly not sure when it happened.  But I go over to the mirrored wall in our gym to stretch and notice that I’m bleeding from the front of my shin.  A sassy and decent-sized gash had occurred.  But when? And how?  It’s still a mystery…

I never said I wasn’t accident-prone. 

It’d be pretty sweet if you shared a good “clumsy” story as to make me feel better…

I made sure to keep one eye on the clock as to make sure I didn’t miss the start of the BEARS game!  So you can bet that I was done working out, showered, and parked in front of my tv ready to go with proper eats for the game:I’m sort of obsessed with making my own nacho chips now out of the Trader Joe tortillas.  I just sprinkle them with a little olive oil and garlic salt and throw them in the oven until they’re crispy.  Simple.

Then I topped it with black beans, corn, and red onion that I had sautéed really quickly on the oven with taco seasoning.  And added cheese (um, duh).  And topped it off with lettuce and salsa. 

This is how you can cover a wide variety of your nutritional needs.  And make it pretty with all the colors.  Can I get an amen???When I was little, my Aunt Anne used to say that it’s important to have a rainbow of colors at every meal.  I think she mostly said that because I’d often just chew on crescent rolls during holiday meals (while pouting) because I wasn’t a fan of ham and hadn’t quite developed a palette for things like stuffing or seven-layer salad.  Luckily, my veggie love finally kicked in and no one has to worry anymore. 

What’s something you’ve learned to love in the last few years that you hated growing up?  I’d say asparagus would be a big one for me.  My parents used to have it growing in our garden every year, but now they don’t and I’ll actually eat it.  Now that’s just bad timing.

It just might be Tuesday.  But since I’m not a fan of Tuesdays, we’re just not going to acknowledge it as such.  Is that ok?  Yes?  Ok.

Have a good almost-middle-of-the-week day!

Not Cute

Well.  I’m much more chipper today.

Probably because I got my cookie yesterday. 

Totally needed it.  Considered it pre-workout fuel.  Because that’s how my thought process works.

Thanks for all the kind words on how my speed work session went.  I’ve spent all this time dreading it, and think I may have built it up into something that is much worse than it actually was.  Don’t get me wrong- it was challenging, but in a good way. 

I was asked a few things about yesterday’s post, and here are my answers:

1. I walked a minute between each interval.  Is walking a no-no?  Should I have jogged? I’ve heard debates on it.  Seriously, I need to Google this situation more.  Because Google is my answer to everything.  And I believe it will someday take over the world.  Don’t ask me how, I know it’s simply a search engine, but it’s gonna happen.  You saw it here first.

2. The Samantha Bee book is going fabulously well.  I really like her.  I think because I’m one to appreciate dry humor.  It’s a collection of essays,  basically, about how she grew up.  Some I love more than others, but they’re all generally entertaining.  As a warning, she can be crude at times.  So if that’s not your style (I don’t judge), don’t take my recommendation.  If it is, go check it out.

3. And it is beyond me how people cannot smell themselves when they reek and are affecting the productivity of those around them.  No clue.  If you have the answer, please inform us all.  Thanks.

Last night was killer, too.  My plan called for 2 miles and cross training.  Which I consider as a free-for-all at my gym- last night that meant the run, elliptical, crunches, and some arm weights.  And there was a lot of energy bursting out of me (afternoon coffee?), so I was ok with the long session.  I even decided part of my arm workout would be my resistance band dvd workout.  It has three circuits: front body, back body, and core.  I’ve done them all together in a row, but like it much better to do one session (each is about 15 minutes) as part of a bigger workout.  Last night I chose front body.  And I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m crushing hard on the band workouts.  They don’t feel like that much of a strain compared to free weights, but I always feel the resistance and break a sweat (or continue sweating, in this case).

Last night I made something different.  I sort of took a few of the things I’ve liked over the last week or two and threw them together.  Spinach base?  Check!  Sautéed veggies with a curry seasoning?  Yes!  Peanut butter dressing?  Holy yumminess. All together?  Eeeehhh… Totally not cute.  Downright ugly-looking salad, if we’re being honest.  But did it taste ok?  Considering I can’t say “YES!” right away, that should probably be my indicator not to make it like this again.

Another look?Yep, still ugly.  I think what kills it is that the curry powder totally turned the veggies a semi-neon color.  And that the spinach is a bit wilty as it happens to be on it’s last leg.  Oh well… 

What’s the last “eh” creation you’ve made?

Today is my rest day.  I’m excited about this not so much because I want to rest (kind of indifferent on that one), but because I’ve got plans.  Mon and I are having a spa night.  I’m an avid Groupon gal, and when a spa near us advertised on it one day, we swooped.  I need a massage.  It’s out of control.  I’m tense.  So when I saw 60% off for a salon gift certificate?  YES PLEASE.  My muscles cried tears of joy.  It’s kind of pathetic.

Assume that tonight I will be a mellow ball of happiness.  Now the question is will I have enough leftover on the gift certificate to cover a pedicure for my friend’s wedding that I’m in next weekend?  If not, I may be in trouble.  Who’s got ugly feet?  This girl!  Seriously… not cute!

Pretty Bird…

As some of you might be aware, Thursdays are generally used as my rest day from the gym.  Why Thursday?  No clue.  It’s like an end-of-the-week break from the madness I guess.  Many take Friday or Saturday off.  But I don’t like this.  I love working out Friday- especially if I have plans later in the night.  It re-energizes me- helpful for nights that don’t end until 2 or 3 in the morning.  And makes me feel just a wee bit sassier in whatever I’m wearing.    What’s your preferred rest day?  I also do Sundays pretty light- usually just yoga or something that doesn’t include sweating buckets.

Now that I’ve declared my love for Thursday Rest Day, I’ll confess I didn’t do that this week.  I walked my happy little butt over to the gym at 5:15 (for all those keeping track- yes I’ve stuck to the morning workouts and have started to enjoy them this week).  I actually got a “good morning” out of the random girl there this time.  She’s not the same one I was complaining about, but still- I feel accomplished by doing so.  Elliptical, 1.5 mile run, abs, stairmill, a few arm weights.  Standard procedure.

My only complaint with morning workouts vs. after work is that I have a strict time limit.  I wanted to work on the arms more, but there just wasn’t time.  I could have revisited strength training when I got home after work, but I had things to do.  And didn’t feel like stressing about it.

I started the process of getting the baby shower cake done.  Because Mon has to be on her happy little way early Saturday, I didn’t want to make Friday night a “down to the wire” kind of night.  So I cranked out a few of the cakes last night.Classic white cake.  Courtesy of Food Network.  I like this cake because it’s a bit more dense and easy to work with when “creating” outlandish cakes the way I do.  When I said a few, I really meant all six layers.  I felt like being an overacheiver.  It’ll just make tonight easier.  Mon’s coming over to help finish up with the “cake bites” and provide alcohol and entertainment while I ice and decorate like a crazy mad woman.

Don’t think I snacked on cake batter all night (A finger lick may have happened.  Or two.  Who’s really counting?).  I had this beforehand:Breakfast for dinner.  That was the last of my spinach that I hoarded earlier this week.  Who wants to bet I’ll be picking more up this weekend when I get more food?  It’s a vicious cycle…

A sneak peak of the decorations?I’m naming it Petey!  Pretty bird…

I’ll give a cookie to the first person who knows what movie I’m referencing.

Seriously.  I’m planning on baking cookies in a couple weeks.  I’ll send you one.  Maybe two.  Three if you give me a compliment. :P

*And I apologize that this post randomly showed up last night for all you google readers out there… I’m a compulsive saver (lost one too many papers in college to not be!) and hit “publish” on accident.  Oopsies!

New to Me

Something that doesn’t happen to me very often?  Sitting at my desk for an hour or so, then going, “what a second, where’s my coffee?  did I really forget to get coffee?” 

This was new to me. I take in a decent amount of caffeine in the morning- there’s no getting around that.  I’ve played with the idea of weening myself off of it, switched from coffee to tea, etc etc.  But I always go back.  It’s my drug.  And I’m not willing to kick the habit.  So when I realized I hadn’t grabbed a cup yet, I was surprised.  I mean sure, I still got some later on, but I was impressed with how long it took for me to want it.

When it comes to caffeine, what’s your poison?

I think some of it has to do with the morning workouts.  They really wake me up.  Sure, the first 5 minutes of shuffling around the apartment blows, but after getting to the gym and starting my routine, it’s hard to tell a difference of what time of day it is.  Yesterday, I did random cardio cross training to switch it up from my running routine.  I still did a mile on the treadmill, but started with 20 minutes on the elliptical and 10 on the stairmill.  The stairmill and I haven’t hung out as much as of late.  Sorry dude.  I’ll remember you from now on.  Do you ever notice how you may start to ignore one workout or the other?  Lately it’s been yoga and the stairmill for me.  Oops.

Since I got my cardio activity done in the AM, I did some strength in the PM by breaking out The Shred.  I won’t go into detail.  At this point in the game, you know I’m obsessed with Jillian’s workouts.

I’ve started to really go for spinach salads.  This is new to me, too.  I still prefer spinach sautéed and “in” dishes (vs being the main part), but it’s cool.  Plus, I’m still trying to get through all the leafy greens that I compulsively bought without letting it go bad. This time it was sautéed tuna, mushrooms, feta, and cauliflower on the side.  Yes, cauliflower may be weird to add to this particular mix, but I don’t care.  I wanted it.  Another homemade salad dressing was created and I’m pretty sure I’m hooked. The dressing is not actually in the pic because balsamic makes spinach look sadder than a dirty wet dog. 

I made a honey balsamic dressing (who can tell I just bought honey recently?!?!  ha) by combining olive oil, balsamic, honey, dried chopped onions (I only have them in the pantry- not fresh) and a little garlic powder.  Again, it seemed like a strange combo, but recipes online said to go for it.  So I did.  Initially I was a little put off by the strong taste of the balsamic, but once you mixed it all up, it was pretty decent. 

It was supposed to go with a sweet potato sandwich.  But I cut into my sweet potatoes and they were definitely rotting.  I pouted.  And cursed a little.  Then proceeded to have a peanut butter sandwich instead.  That’ll show you, stupid sweet potatoes…grrr…. (I fully intend to make up with the SP’s after this post and go purchase more pretty much as soon as I get a chance.)

I also finally got my butt in gear and picked up some new books.  It took me a while to travel with Russell Brand through all his addictions, but I finally finished the book last weekend.  (I raved about his story here-  and like I said, it’s a good read if you are not easily offended.)  Since every single book I want to read is currently checked out and I’m on hold for each one of them until god knows how long, I browsed a little.  I ended up with these:Samantha Bee was recommended for Chelsea Handler lovers.  She’s going to be first up. She better be aware that I have high expectations being as how Chelsea is my girl.  Holla’.

Oh and there’s oatmeal under there.  That’s definitely how much cereal I put on top of it to mix in.  I’m like a kid. 

Anyways, let’s end on that.  And get our day started! 

Getting it done in the AM

So it seems a lot of you enjoy intervals more than the long runs.  I believe I’m in the minority when saying I enjoy the extra mileage.  And that possibly makes me a little messed up in the head. 

This is me shrugging my shoulders and moving on…

I’ve been busy trying to add a  bit of content to my humble little site.  It’s finally *almost* done.  So if you care to browse my racing past or what training plans I’ve used (because of general interest, to taunt me with my feeble attempts at becoming a better runner, or to just waste some time at work), you can now go to my “Racing Randomness” page.  Weeeee!

I’ve also been busy with other things.  Such as getting a haircut so I may look presentable at this conference and an upcoming wedding I’m in.  The hair was getting a bit out of control and frizztastic.  Shaggy Amy is not sassy Amy.Yes, I’m like a big frickin’ ball of sunshine today.  That is until I leave my apartment and get smacked in the face with the insane heat and humidity. Then… not so much.

Recently, I’ve been trying hard to keep up the morning workouts on days when I don’t have to go into work until 9:00.  I did it yesterday with The Shred again.  I did it this morning with a little cross training session in my apartment’s workout room.  I used the elliptical for 25, ran an 8:00 mile, and did some ab work.  While I was there, two other girls came in and set up there laptop to The Shred.  Is it sad I knew which circuit they were on without even having to see the laptop?  And is it sad that I just now realized how goofy people look while doing The Shred?  hmmm….

After a solid workout, I made sure the breakfast matched:Steel cut oats with kashi cereal and a little sunflower seed butter.  Still trying to cut back on the ol’ nut butter.  It’s working… some days (like today).  Others- um… no.  Also, there’s much more kashi in there that meets the eye.  It’s on the underneath. Because I’m sneaky like that.

Part of the reason why I did my workout this morning was so that Mon and I could have a proper fun night out.  It’s been a long week and we didn’t get to have one last week, so we decided to make a night of it.  We’re going to see Dinner for Schmucks.  Anyone else seen it?  I’ve heard pretty good things so far.  Which is good.  After Date Night, I was a little disappointed in Steve Carell.  And who doesn’t love Paul Rudd? 

What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?  I’ve been quite the little movie-goer these days, but there are still so many I want to see!

For all those coming in for HLS- I wish you safe travels!

Happy Thursday!  Try not to melt.  I’m sort of serious…

Cereal Confessions- Take 2

Why hello.

Thanks for all the suggestions for when it comes to resting after the race on Sunday.  I think I’ll be feeling it out on a day by day basis to see when I’ll be ready to get back into the swing of things.  Although my training plan will be finished, so I’m not quite sure what the “swing of things” will be yet.  Maybe I’ll have to start searching for another big race down the road? 

Anyhoo…

Won’t lie.  I’ve been a bit exhausted and stressed.  Various factors have built up and I was sad to leave my bed this morning.    Where is the weekend already?!?!

Can you believe I almost didn’t workout last night?!?!  (insert sarcastic gasp of horror here)  I’m one of those crazies that uses working out as a stress release.  But when I felt like going home and just retiring to the couch, I was quite surprised. 

Of course, I went anyways.  Because I knew I’d feel better afterwards.  And I did.  So my moody, stressed-out self can just suck it.  Yeah!  I was supposed to do a 3-mile run- but as discussed before, I decided to insert cross training into the 3-day running sweep.  Even if the run wasn’t overly long, that’s what my body tends to like a little more. 

I made a bigger version of the veggie sandwich I had yesterday.  I like to think because it was bigger, it worked out better.  Clearly this means I just need to eat more food all the time.  Clearly… 

I do, however, have a bit of a confession.  I know I’ve mentioned my bad cereal habits before.  But here it is again.  I heart cereal.  Kashi… Special K…. Honey Bunches of Oats… Quaker Oat Squares… it doesn’t matter.  What’s your favorite kind?  I’ve probably got a box of it.  Or maybe two.  I see it on sale, I buy it.  I think two weeks ago I had like 11 boxes stashed in the pantry/kitchen area.  Not a lie.  I’ve had house guests and obviously eaten since then.  So it’s been knocked down a bit.  But you get the point. 

It’s like my comfort food.  So when I stress, I eat cereal.  And this was my weapon of choice last night:I tend to stock up on Kashi more than anything, but I do have a weakness for one specific kid’s cereal.  And this is it.  The box has hung out for a long time, but sometimes I just need to have that sugary goodness! 

Is it sad that the one kid’s cereal I own is also the most unhealthy option in my pantry?  Think about that one for a little while as you read this over breakfast…

No seriously… it really is sad, right?  Geez…  I’d probably go off on a tangent here about the correlation of marketing and childhood obesity.  But that’s something we can probably save for another day.  So we’ll revisit it later. 

Ahhh… now that I’ve got that confession out, I feel better.  What’s your comfort food of choice for your “off” days?

As to not go wild and deal with a sugar buzz the rest of the night, I quickly diverted my attention from the cereal to some sleepytime tea:It helped.  And yes, I rocked out the snowman mug.  In July.  In all of this month’s 90-degree glory.  Because I like to live on the wild side on a Wednesday night.  I also don’t actually seperate kitchen/dinnerware by season.  I also have a snowman handtowel.  And you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll pull it out when in dire need of a towel.

Either way, gooooood morning!  It’s a new day and we’re one day away from the weekend.  So let’s get this show on the road, shall we?

How Boring

Well I’m slowly getting back to normalcy.  What I consider “normalcy” anyways…Oatmeal for breakfast counts as “normalcy” and not just “boring”… right?

Yesterday I ended up spending a couple hours getting my car taken care of.  A new battery was necessary.  And while I was there I got my oil changed and brakes replaced.  Yep… my car was an expensive little baby yesterday.  Frustrating.  But necessary.  So I’m just not going to dwell on that.

Let’s dwell on happier things.  Like how sweet my friends are!  Check out how great Annie was to me for my birthday- after also coming out and celebrating AND baking for me!She gave me a present that is pretty much the runner/fitness junkie’s dream.  After spending a night checking out her gym, I expressed my interest in resistance bands.  So she picked up one for me!  Along with some new workout clothes!  I love the Champion line- and was a huge fan of the sports bra especially…

There was also a water bottle, but I forgot to include it because I may have already used it… oops!

Clearly, I loved it! 

And look what my friend Mary brought for me over the weekend:It’s a little cupcake kit with the cutest cupcake liners ever!  I really need to get back into the kitchen…

So after a long day at the office, I was definitely ready to get some movement in at the gym- and last night was my lasts long cross training session before the race. But the gym was packed!  Lately, I’ve been lucky to not deal with a crowd (and let’s face it- in my apartment complex’s weight room, 5 people is a crowd).  I got in elliptical and stairmill time (how boring normal) and then did some focus on the arms.  I’ve been slacking on the abs as of late.  And had planned to get up and do something about that this morning by doing a round of The Shred and abs.  But alas- my sleep seemed more important the first time my alarm went off this morning.

Maybe we’ll try that one again tomorrow…

Since I didn’t get to the gym until late last night, I also didn’t leave until late.  So what’s the quickest dinner I know?Veggie scramble.  How unbelievably boring normal of me.

But that’s ok.  Sometimes I’m cool with being boring normal. 

Have a good day, everyone.  Even if Tuesdays are generally lame, I hope for your sake that maybe it’ll be a little less boring normal for you! 

I Didn’t Celebrate

Did you know yesterday was National Junk Food Day?

I found that one out half way through the day.  How did I celebrate?  Um…  I didn’t.  Unless you think celebrating with salad counts?Had someone told me it was National Junk Food Day, I may have planned appropriately.  Oh well…

Over lunch I started my new book- Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous by Esther Blum.  The title caught my eye.  Because seriously- who doesn’t want to do all three?  We’ll see how it goes, though.  As many “lifestyle” books as I’ve read, it’s starting to fall into the typical category.  Especially the beginning, which is a rah rah rah warmup telling me about how you can eat and drink whatever you want and never to restrict yourself and this isn’t your typical diet book (which I find to be an ironic statement since they all seem to claim this).  But whatever, it seems like it’ll be a fast read and maybe I’ll pick up a couple things from it.  I’m not counting it out just yet. 

Was supposed to run last night, but didn’t.  Instead, I ran a mile and then cross trained the rest of the time with the elliptical, some free weights and a session on the stairmill.  Nothing much else exciting to report there.  Still being careful.  Still icing the leggie-poo.  (I call it that now being as how much I baby it.)

I didn’t celebrate at dinner either.  Sorry guys.  I’m being a health nerd up in here.Huge.  Fantastic.  Salad.

Yeah, I had salad twice today.  Because I was feeling uninspired it the cooking department.  And I happen to actually like salad.  So yeah… there ya go.    I don’t feel like I slighted myself at all. 

I did, however, have a spoonful of almond butter and handful of chocolate chips.  Is that getting closer to celebrating a national junk food day?    I’m counting it.  Especially because then I went back for an encore with another spoonful.  And even more chocolate chips.  I tried to cool things down with you, nut butter.  But I can’t help but love taking this casual dating to the next level every once in a while. 

So my big excitement of the day (clearly there wasn’t much going on yesterday)?  I got a call from the library that one of the books I’ve been on hold for came in.  I’ve been really digging Russell Brand as of late.  I loved his standup on Comedy Central, loved him in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and most recently loved him in Get Him to the Greek.  So I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this:You can’t read it because I took the pic in a mirror.  Fail.  But it’s Russell Brand’s autobiography, My Booky Wook.  I like to mix it up with quirky reads like this bad boy.  Hooray! So maybe if I get bored with learning how to eat, drink, and be gorgeous, I’ll take this one for a spin. 

I also refuse to show you the sheer excitement on my face because I’m a gross mess in this picture and happen to currently be sporting a zit the size of Missouri on my face.  Seriously- where the f did you come from?!?!  Needless to say, I’m zap-zitting it up right now.  Because it is soooo not invited to my birthday party this weekend.

I’m thinking I might take a rest day today.  Firstly, because my shin is  a little sore (the reason why I decided to keep it to cross training last night).  Secondly, because I have my second round of girls coming up to visit!  Last week was some good friends from high school, this week is two of my best girls from college!  So, needless to say, I’ve got quite a few things to take care of after work.  Plus, my long run is being rescheduled to tomorrow morning (instead of the  usual Saturday), so I need to be ready for it.  I decided to take a spontaneous day off tomorrow (hey it’s my birthday- I’ll do what I want!) and I’m sneaking the run in before everyone gets here.  Weeee!

Now the question is- will I be up early enough to do the whole 10-maybe-11-mile run outside?

Have a good Thursday everyone!