Orlando or Bust!

I am sorry to have been so neglectful to my readers this week.  I am sure you understand my thoughts have been elsewhere and concentrating on writing was just not in the cards. I am thrilled to be Orlando bound in just a few short hours! Please send some happy vibes my way Saturday night as I will be running the Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon at Disney!! YaY!! I plan to take my new presh blogging in pink netbook so I can give you guys some little updates during the trip. If they seem small its because I believe in living first to have to something to blog about versus constantly blogging and missing out on the fun stuff! 😉 But I promise to have plenty of Disney-tastic updates for you all weekend long!

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The Long Run

Everyone is a little different in terms of what they need for long
runs. I have one friend who starts a long run with 4 small bottles on
her belt; 2 are filled with powerade, 1 with water, and 1 is frozen
solid. Another friend must take along a camel back. Yet another friend
can’t do a long run without gummy bears.  Here is my “must have” list
for a long run.

1.      I-Pod (I cannot make it through a long run without a rocking play list)
2.      Water/Low Calorie Gatorade mixture (70% Gatorade)
3.      Arm Pocket with my car key and phone (just in case)
4.      Lara Bar (the minis make this SO much easier!)
5.      Nike moisture wicking socks from Kohls (they come in a 3 pack)
6.      V -neck or scoop neck shirt. (I cant stand to have something touching my neck when I run)
7.      Smart Water (for after)
8.      Peanut butter toast w a banana (pre-run)
9.      Asics
10.     Icy Hot

What are your “must haves” for a long run?

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One Track Mind

Only 3 full days left until we leave for sunny FL for the Wine and
Dine ½ marathon. I am sure you are all sick of hearing about this race
but here is something to think over; if it’s all I am blogging about,
it’s all I am thinking about. I have been living, eating, and
breathing ½ marathon for the last several days. I am ready to be done
with it just to free up that space in my head!

I am antsy and nervous (yup yup yup) but it still did not stop me from
registering over the weekend for the 2011 Disney Princess ½ Marathon
weekend. As I mentioned several weeks ago this race and I have some
personal business to attend to. My plan is to train harder than I have
in the past and to PR during this race. This also means some exciting
changes coming in terms of my workouts.

For now though, my eye is on the prize, that fabulously tacky
finishers medal for the Wine and Dine. I will try to talk about other
things this week but besides my job I am pretty much on ½ marathon
autopilot. I am drinking lots of water, eating well (no fatty, spicy
or weird foods this week), doing gentle workouts, and getting plenty
of rest. I made some mistakes leading up to my last big race that I
shall not repeat this time around. 🙂

I also made my play list for the run. I am pretty excited about it.
There are some Disney tunes, plenty of Britney, a little bit of
Drowning Pool, Eminem, Katy Perry and some fave dance tunes. All in
all a fantastic jumble of music to get my run on to!

I will try to post some non-1/2 marathon related material this week
but no promises! 😉 Send some happy “you will finish this race” vibes
my way!

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Friday Cheers!

It’s that time again! Cheers to Friday!

Cheer 1: The Countdown Is On. This time next week I will officially be blogging Friday cheers from sunny FL. The hubs and I leave at 7:00am from Richmond International and will arrive in Orlando around 9:45 am. I am loving this nonstop flight business. One week and counting gives me an excuse to sing Disney songs in the shower, watch Alice in Wonderland on Saturday, and make some dining reservations in the happiest place on earth!

Cheer 2: Date Night. Since the hubs is getting in touch with his geekyside tomorrow at an all day video game fiesta with his buds I get his undivided attention for date night tonight. We are thinking of having a quick dinner at home and then heading out to a movie. I love a casual night of just hanging out with my favorite!

Cheer 3: Football. Ok so my Cowboys are 0-2. And ok they are playing a team who steamrolled them during preseason. But I don’t care! The hubs, and maybe some pals are heading out for some wings and football fabulousness on Sunday. I am using this as my flexible eating day for the week. Go Cowboys! and Yay spicy wings!

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

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The Art of the Salad

In sticking with my “green challenge” this week last night I decided to make one of my absolute most favorite creations, a warm spinach salad. I started with some fresh organic baby spinach, placed it in my bowl and let it come up to room  temperature.

Next, I sautéed an entire (small) onion with olive oil, salt and pepper.

In a separate skillet I seared a lean cut of thinly sliced steak to medium rare.

To the spinach I added feta, craisins, and tomato

I topped this with my warm steak and onions

To dress the salad I mixed equal parts honey and balsamic vinegar

It was the perfect meal!

What is your perfect “go to” meal?

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Countdown to Disney

Hello my name is Sara and I am a Disney-holic. I make no apologies for this. Ever since my first trip to the Magic Kingdom at age 11 I have been hooked on Disney. I have friends, great friends, who cannot understand this obsession and a very patient husband who is learning to deal with it. Disney, for me, really feels like being a kid again. I never feel disappointed or let down after a visit. I get completely excited about visiting the parks, riding the rides, and eating Mickey Mouse ice cream.

The hubs and I have started our own Disney traditions of eating at Earl of Sandwich upon arriving in FL and always getting a glass figure and Christmas ornament at Downtown Disney to add to our collection. We also stalk the Alice in Wonderland characters (my fave) and ride the teacups first. Thinking about passing these traditions along to my one-day-some-day children makes me smile and gives me a serious case of the warm fuzzies.

Even though the hubs is a Disney lover in the making (IE: isn’t a huge fan just yet) we have spent some pretty important milestones at Disney. This is where we went on our first “real” vacation as a couple.

Disney is where we spent our first wedding anniversary.

We also visited Disney when I turned the big 3-0 earlier this year!

Now we are counting down again to some Disney Magic as we leave in 8 days for the Disney Wine and Dine ½ Marathon. I am pretty much beyond excited and have already started making my “To Pack” and “To Do” lists.

In celebrating the fun that is Disney I leave you with these questions:

1.      What is your favorite Disney park (other than The Magic Kingdom)?
2.      What is your favorite dining spot at Disney?
3.      What is your favorite Disney movie?
And
4.      Who is your favorite Disney character?

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The Taper

Today I officially started to taper with my mileage. This is one of the nicest and most nerve wrecking parts of the training process. It is nice because you know until the big event you will not have a run that consists of over 5 miles. It is unnerving because your mind keeps telling you it would be “better” to keep up that high mileage until the race. However, pretty much every training plan on the planet tapers for at least the last 2 weeks before an event so here we are. I did learn some interesting things on my run today.

1. I need to re-vamp my running play-list ASAP. This is a high priority before race time!
2. Forgetting to take water on even a shorter run will still cause muscle cramps (silly me!)
3. People are odd. I heard a mom tell her toddler that organic milk was “dirty” and it had germs in it. Ahem.

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Dinner ala Green

I was reading some tips on how to “sneak” veggies into children’s (and in some cases husband’s) food and I started thinking, why don’t we train ourselves to look at vegetables differently? Instead of sneaking them into food, why not celebrate their wholesome goodness by adding them to already popular dishes? I was not really  a vegetable eater before starting this journey so this has truly been an eye opening experience for me. Now I can’t imagine life without baby spinach. But for those of you reading this who are like the “old” me I decided to do a mini challenge this week. I am making each dinner during this workweek feature something green in a leading or supporting role! Tonight I have two recipes to share: Spinach and Brown Rice Casserole (with broccoli, mushrooms, and onions) from Monday night and Veggie-Sketti (a baked spaghetti recipe loaded with peppers,  mushrooms, onions, and tons of broccoli) from tonight.

Spinach and Brown Rice Casserole

1.      In a bowl combine 2 beaten eggs, ½ cup FF sour cream, 1 ¼ cup FF Cottage Cheese (set aside)
2.      Prepare 1 box of brown rice. I choose to toast my rice in onions and olive oil before boiling it in veggie stock for flavor but plain water works fine too!
3.      In a skillet combine 1 lb of ground turkey (or omit for a vegetarian option), grill seasoning, 1 large chopped onion, 1 lb finely diced mushrooms, 1 bag frozen spinach, 1 bag frozen broccoli. (Drain water and fat).

4.      Combine in a large bowl the cooked rice, veggies, and liquids
5.      Place in a large casserole dish and grate cheddar cheese on top.
6.      Bake with foil on for 30 minutes
7.      Remove foil and bake for additional 20 minutes

This is really low calorie and full of good stuff. Its also incredibly filling!

Veggie-Sketti

1.      Prepare 1 pack of whole wheat or whole grain spaghetti noodles, set aside
2.      In a skillet combine 1 lb of ground turkey (or omit), 1 large diced onion, diced mushrooms (if desired), 1 diced bell pepper (any color), and 1 large bag of broccoli. One the veggies warm up drain the excess at and water.
3.      Mix in 1 large jar of organic spaghetti sauce
4.      Combine the noodles and veggie mixture along with 1 beaten egg
5.      Pour into a casserole dish
6.      Add Cheese (2% cheddar) and bake at 400 until the cheddar is melted and the veggies are heated through.

I have to offer credit here to my friend Lori  M who was nice enough to give me this recipe yesterday! Veggie-Sketti might be a new favorite dish at my house!

What is your favorite “Green” dish?

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Ready to Run

Here is where it starts to all pay off. All of the weeks of stressing and feeling beaten down and broken start to fade into the background of being so excited about a race. In less than 9 days I will be running the Disney Wine and Dine ½ Marathon!! My goal is to finish. This probably seems silly to those more athletically inclined but this has been a huge battle for me. All I want is that shiny finishers medal around my neck!

I am trying hard not to focus on the issues I had during the Princess ½ last year but rather take this opportunity to find reasons to feel confident about succeeding. So far I have:

1.      I am running this race 37 lbs lighter
2.      I am running this race having trained better/harder
3.      I know my body better and what it needs during a workout
4.      I will have the hubs right there with me
5.      I have participated in a race at Disney before and know what to expect
6.      I have participated in several 5Ks and feel less anxious about running with others
7.      I am more comfortable with my pace
8.      I know what it feels like to not finish and refuse to let that happen again

With that said, here are a couple of pictures from my last race at Disney to get me motivated!

I can’t wait!!!!

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Confessions

So I have a confession to make. I mostly take this journey with gusto
and I try really hard to make good choices. For the most part I feel I
am successful. However, I think it is important to note that no one is
perfect and we all have our moments. Yesterday I had a moment. I
completely derailed from all things good and healthy like it was my
job. My husband asked what I wanted for dinner and all I could think
of was BBQ Pringles, Peanut M&Ms, and low calorie Gatorade (like that
extra 200 calories really mattered at that point). So this is what I
had.  I normally feel guilty immediately after I make a gigantic
mistake like this. However, last night I contently watched Gossip Girl
until I drifted off into a carb coma blissfully unaware I would soon
be paying for my mistake.

It did not take long for me to remember why I don’t eat like that. The
main reason being, I am not a 13 year old boy and don’t have a
metabolism like one. I woke up with insanely painful heartburn (which
I never get) and had to chew some tums in the middle of the night
(gross). This morning I woke up for the day feeling like someone had
taken a gigantic water vac and sucked all of the moisture out of my
body. It was gross. I can’t get enough water today and my body
practically did a happy dance when I took a sip of my smoothie this
morning.

So what did I learn from this little moment of insanity?

• It’s truly not worth it.

• Junk food tricks us into thinking it’s a good idea when it is actually pretty gross

• My body is rebelling against all of the toxic nonsense I put in it yesterday

• I feel rejuvenated in terms of my healthy living choices

I don’t feel “guilty” about yesterday which I think is a huge step in
changing my relationship with diet/health but I do feel like I should
have known better. I am ready to get my train back on the rails and
keep moving forward. One bad choice, or one bad day does not define
your journey. Keep on keeping on friends!

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