New Things in My Life

Since I fell off the grid for awhile I figured it might be a good idea to recap some of the new things I am loving these days.

1. Advocare Products - if you haven't even tried the products check it out they have some really good things. My favorite two products are Catalyst which is an amino acids that helps maintain muscle mass and weight management. My second favorite product is Spark which is a powdered energy drink that contains 21 different vitamins. My favorite flavors of the Spark are the fruit punch, pink lemonade and mango strawberry.

2. Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Patties - I actually just ate one for lunch and it was delicious.

3. Mango Salad from Qdoba - if you like mango and haven't tried this salad it is a must. I love it with the fajita vegetables, guacamole, mild salsa and no dressing.

4. HIIT Treadmill workouts - I have been trying to incorporate speed work into my training over the last few months and the HIIT workouts are by far my favorites. I find a lot of good ones on pinterest that I use but one of my favorite is this.

Minute	Incline	Speed	Interval time (min)
1-5	0	6.0	5
5-6	10%	7.0	1
6-7	10%	3.0	1
7-8	10%	7.0	1
8-9	10%	3.0	1
9-10	10%	7.2	1
10-11	15%	5.5	1
11-12	15%	2.0	1
12-13	15%	5.6	1
13-14	15%	2.0	1
14-15	15%	5.5	1
16-17	2%	9.2	1
17-18	2%	3.0	1
18-19	2%	9.3	1
19-20	2%	3.0	1

5. Passion Iced Tea - I usually stick to green tea when I want an iced tea but a few weeks ago I tried the Passion tea from Starbucks and I fell in love with it. If you like a fruit flavored tea I would highly recommend trying passion tea, I even found it in k-cups.

 

Question: What are you loving these days?

Happy National Running Day

Sorry that I have gone missing for awhile now but I am trying hard to get back into the blogging world because I have missed it. Since today is National Running Day I thought it would be the best day to start blogging again.

I have some exciting news for all of you as well, I got in to the New York City Marathon. I can't wait to run my fourth marathon this November.

I started off my morning with a nice crisp run along the beach with my Back on My Feet Team. The sun was rising over the ocean and it was just perfect especially since we haven't seen the sun in Boston for a few days now.

If you have ever wanted to run a Rock n Roll Series race today is your day to sign up as they are offering a $20.00 discount today for National Running Day.

Question: What did you do to celebrate National Running Day?

Spaghetti Squash, a new obsession!

Sorry I have gone MIA for awhile things with work and life in general have been very busy lately. My goal is to get back on track with blogging ASAP.

I wanted to share with you a few things I am loving right now.

1. Spaghetti squash - I can't get enough of this delicious veggie lately. Last night I heated some up in a pan with some.leftover roasted veggies, spinach, Newman's Own pasta sauce and some fat free mozzarella. It was so delicious and under 200 calories.

2. MyFitnessPal - speaking of calories I have been logging my calories on the best program ever http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ for about 2 months now and have lost about 8 pounds. I can't believe once you start tracking how much you are in tune with what you are eating.

3. Veggies and fruit - for lent I decided to give up meat so I have been eating a ton of veggies and fruit to keep me full throughout tthe day. My favorite new veggie (besides spaghetti squash) is brussel sprouts roasted in the oven with a little garlic. As far as fruits go the pink lady apples and Asian pears have been my go to fruits.

4. Sprints - I have been working with my trainee doing sprints several times a week and I have to say I am loving the results. I ran a 10 mile race this weekend with a pace of 7:41, crazy!

Question: What are you loving right now?

Heavy Lifting

For the last few months I have been dedicating one day of my stregnth training to strictly lift heavy.  My trainer has me do the same plan for a month trying to increase the weight as the month goes on. Last night I started my new plan and it was hard!

Squats with the Smith Machine
120 lbs 5 reps for 5 sets
paired with
DB Flat Bench
27.5 lbs 5 reps for 5 sets

Single Leg Hip Lift with Ball
12 reps each leg for 3 sets
paired withDouble Arm Standing Row on the Kesier Machine
30lbs 12 reps for 3 sets

Curl to Press
15lbs 12 reps for 2 sets
paired withLateral / Front Shoulder Raise
(alternate one lateral with one front raise for a total os 16 for one set)
7.5lbs. 8 reps for 2 sets

I finished off my workout with 5 sprints on the treadmill at 4% incline and 9.5 speed. I did 45 seconds on with a 30 second rest for 5 rounds. These sprints were no joke but I felt so good once I finished.

Question: What is your favorite sprint workout?

Turkey Trot 5k

Sorry this is late but this week has been super busy with work and whatnot. I wanted to do a quick recap of the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot my sister and I did. It was your typical 5k Turkey Trot so my sister decided to push Abigail for her first 5k race!

As you can see she was a little scared at first

 A friend of mine also joined us and pushed her little son, aren't they so cute?

Luckily the race course was fairly flat except one hill around mile 2 but my sister was a rock star and had no problem pushing Abigail up the hill.

 The race was by far not my fastest but it was one of my favorites mainly because I was able to run it with people I love!

Abigail and I after she finished her first 5k

Question: Do you ever run races for fun instead of for a PR?

HIIT Sprint Workout

Yesterday morning I decided to switch things up and take a group class at my gym called Head to Toe. My mom and sister had bought a group on type deal to try the gym out. The class was really hard which I was surprised by I normally don't take the large group classes like that because I am so used to training with only a few individuals but it was a great challenging class.

After class I decided to work on my sprints and do this HIIT workout that I found on One Fit Foodie.

Minute	Incline	Speed	Interval time (min)
1-5	0	6.0	5
5-6	10%	7.0	1
6-7	10%	3.0	1
7-8	10%	7.0	1
8-9	10%	3.0	1
9-10	10%	7.2	1
10-11	15%	5.5	1
11-12	15%	2.0	1
12-13	15%	5.6	1
13-14	15%	2.0	1
14-15	15%	5.5	1
16-17	2%	9.2	1
17-18	2%	3.0	1
18-19	2%	9.3	1
19-20	2%	3.0	1

This is an intense workout but it is only 20 minutes so it goes by fast and you feel like you had a really great workout once you are finished.

Question: What is your favorite quick workout?

Chicken Fajita Stew

I love my crockpot so much and need to start using it a lot more. I forgot how easy and convenient it is to make dinner in the crock pot. Yesterday morning after I got home from my morning run with BOMF I threw all the ingredients to make a chicken fajita stew into my crockpot and set it on low for 9 hours.

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken cut into cubes
2 tbl minced garlic
1/2 onion chopped
1 green or red pepper chopped
1 packet of fajita seasoning
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
2 cans diced tomatoes with basil and garlic

I threw everything into the corckpot all at once and when I get home after the gym last night all I had to do was cook brown rice and dinner was served.

 

This meal was delicious and nutritious it is on the keeper list of crockpot meals.

Question: What is your favorite meal to make in the crockpot?

Chilly Half Marathon Recap

I ran another half marathon on Sunday to make this half number 8 but this one was very special to me. I was able to run the whole race with one of my resident members of Back on my Feet, Austin, who was running his first half marathon. To be able to run this half marathon with him knowing how hard he has worked to get to this point was so unbelievable. I have been lucky lately to run my last two half marathons with two very special people, my sister and then today with Austin (BOMF member).

Trying to take a self portrait of Meghan, myself and Austin, obviously we failed the first time

We did a little better the second time then it was off to the start

I can't explain how happy I am that Austin was able to dedicate himself to running this race today and finishing with such a great time of 1:55. Being homeless is not an easy thing as I have come to know since I started working with the BOMF organization. People don't choose to be homeless but have had made some bad decisions in their life or have not been able to overcome some obstacles they have been dealt with in their lives that have pushed them to be homeless. Seeing that Austin could put enough time and effort to finish this half today proves to me that he will get "back on his feet" because he has the determination to help himself beat homelessness.

The course for this race was hilly. The first and last few miles had a decent amount of rolling hills while the middle of the course had a few pretty steep and long hills, but we were able to conquer those hills and push through to keep running. Once I knew we could finish under two hours I made sure Austin kept a steady pace for the last 4 miles and I kept encouraging him to keep going one foot in front of the other, keep his shoulders back and down and chest up. The last mile or so had some rolling hills and Austin was starting to hurt but he knew the finish was just around the corner and that he would soon be finishing his first half marathon.

On the home stretch to the finish!

Austin and I finished in 1:55 which was a pace of 8:47 which crushed his original goal of finishing between 2:00-2:15.  I am so happy for him and couldn't be any prouder of his accomplishment yesterday. When I saw Austin this morning for our morning run he was a little sore but still ran two miles at a good pace, what a trooper!

Question: What is your proudest running moment?

Scarlet Oak Tavern

Last night Joe and I headed to the Scarlet Oak Tavern for an early dinner thanks to a Living Social deal I had. Since I was running another half marathon today I didn't want to be out late so we had reservations for 5:00 which was perfect so I could get home early and have a good night sleep. We started looking over the menu and figured we would start with an appetizer.

We went with the Narragansett Calamari which was served with arugula, pickled peppers and chipotle remoulade (which we did not use). Joe and I both don't care for mayonnaise. The calamari was so delicious and it just lightly fired but my favorite was the arugula that they served with it.

For my meal I went with the Cedar Planked Salmon with was served with balsamic brown sugar glaze, quinoa, roasted celery root and kohlrabi apple slaw. The salmon was very good and moist but the quinoa salad was out of this world. I want to try to replicate it at home now it was that yummy!



Joe went with the Chicken Pot Pie for his meal but I didn't get to snap a picture, sorry. I did try a bite though and it was very good but they used some dark meat in the pot pie and I am not a huge fan of dark meat.

As if I needed more to eat we also ordered a side of mac n cheese to try because it is one of my favorite dishes. I can't eat a lot of it because I have a hard time digesting a lot of cheese and cream but as long as I just have a little I am fine. The mac n cheese was very good and not super cheesy just like I like it.







I think Joe and I will will be back again soon to the Scarlet Oak Tavern but next time we might try sitting at the bar and trying that menu out.

This morning I ran my thrid and final half that was on my race calendar with a Back on my Feet resident. It was his very first half and he killed the hilly course, finishing in 1:55. A full recap will be coming shortly and I am already trying to figure out what my next long race will be.

I now plan to sit on my couch the rest of the day and watch football. Happy Sunday!

Question: Do you always need to have a race on your calendar to push you?

Pizza Night

Tonight I had a class at the gym that is called APC Circuit, APC stands for Athletic Performance Center. The class is a circuit class where we go to 4-5 different stations and perform an exercise for 45 seconds to one minute. We usually have a burst of cardio in between each exercises, tonight we did burpees and jump squats after completing each exercise in the circuit. The class is only 30 minutes but it is such a great workout. We usually finish with some sprints which I love!

This morning I decided we would have homemade pizza for dinner since we had everything we needed in the freezer so we wouldn't have to go to the store.

Excited about making pizza!

 
 

I decided to make a cheese pizza on multi grain dough and a pepper and onion pizza on the Portland Pie Co. garlic dough. They both came out delicious!



I took tomorrow off for work but I still have to be up early to run with my BOMF team then head to the gym for a class and a personal training session so it is off to be for me.

Question: What is your favorite type of workout?

Canton Fall Classic

Sorry I have been missing over this past week, work has been super busy so by the time I'm finished at night I'm too exhausted to blog.

Last week my 5k road race, Canton Fall Classic, that I was supposed to run with a few girls from the gym got postponed until yesterday due to the crazy weather we had. Yesterday we had a beautiful fall morning to run the race. I was planning on sticking with the girls the entire race but the course was a lot hillier then I expected so I needed to just run my own pace because I can't slow down on hills or I never get up them. I finished in 24:51 which wasn't a PR for me but I was happy with it. When I looked up by time today I also noticed I came in second in my age group.

Next week I have another half marathon on a hilly course so I'm not too sure how this one will go, especially since it will be my third half in about a month and a half. I love the half marathon distance though it is so much more bearable than a full.

After finishing the 5k

Question: What is your favorite race distance?

Happy Halloween

This morning was very cold when I got up at 4:45 to go meet my Back on my Feet team for our morning run. Since it was Halloween I stopped at Dunkin Donuts on my way to the run and got some muffins and munchkins to have after our run.

Munchkins

Once I arrived another volunteer had some glow sticks, leis and funny noses for us to wear. We put on our festive gear then headed out for a short 2 mile run.

We got back to Father Bills slightly warmer and hungry for some munchkins, muffins and photos.

My BOMF Quincy Team, we are a fun group!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Question: What is your favorite thing about Halloween?

Newburyport Half Marathon Recap

Yesterday my sister and I ran the Newburyport Half Marathon and we couldn't have asked for better weather. The air was nice and crisp with little wind and it was slightly overcast and since the race didn't start until 10:00am it had warmed up just enough for perfect fall running weather. The course was very scenic and went throughout the City of Newburyport in neighborhoods, around the center and near the water. The course was gorgeous and it was marketed as a flat course but there was a few steady inclines and hills that you felt but overall it was relatively flat.


My sister and I right around the finish line, this was her first half marathon!

Since this was my sister's first half marathon and I helped train her I decided to run the whole race with her. She did an awesome job and in the picture above it looks like she is doing better than me. We crossed the finish line in 2:02 which was awesome since Kristina's goal was to finish under 2:05. She kicked it at the very end of the race and beat me but I figured I would let her :) since it was her first and my seventh half marathon.

After race party

Once we finished the race we headed to the car to change then met up with my parents, Joe and Abigail to enjoy some after race beers. They had Peak Organic Brewing Company there as the beer sponsor and it was delicious. I had never tried their beer before but I will be in search for it next time I am at the store because it was delicious.


 

Kristina, Abigail and I post race

Proudly wearing our yo yo medals and enjoying our well deserved beers

The closest my dad will get to finishing a race

After we enjoyed the post race party we headed over to the center and found a cute diner to have lunch.  The service was a little slow but it was worth the wait because my wrap was delicious.

Abigail wearing nonno's hat (that is what she will call my dad)

Turkey bacon ranch wrap on a spinach tortilla

Question: What is the best part of a race for you?

Breast Cancer Cook Off

Last night I attended a cook off which was benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure which is a foundation for seeking to cure Breast cancer. The cook off theme was fall or comfort foods so you needed to base your dish off of those themes. I went with making Rachael Ray's Enchil-lasagna. I made the turkey meatloaf Friday night so that yesterday all i would have to do is assemble the Echil-lasagna at my sisters house before heading to the fundraiser.

Celery, onion, bay leaf, stuffing cubes and chicken stock

Stuffing cubes - a key ingredient in this dish

Mixing all ingredients to form the turkey meatloaf

Finished product of the turkey meatloaf, this is a delicious recipe by itself

Since I had cooked the turkey meatloaf which is a key ingredient for the Enchil-lasagna it was easy and quick to put it together. Sorry I didn't take pictures while I was assembling it, I forgot but here is the finished product.

Once everything was cooked we headed over to the fundraiser which was at my sister's cousins house. My sister made Rachael Ray's Apple and Onion Stuffin' Muffins, which were delicious and would be a great side for Thanksgiving. If you haven't noticed by now my family loves Rachael Ray and her recipes.

Once we got to the party we brought in our cook off items.  They had the garage decorated so cute and everything was pink for breast cancer.

Dessert table, everything had pink involved somehow



My brother-in-law and Abigail

There was a lot of different types of food yesterday which was very good and a few things I didn't care for too much but overall the food was delicious. No one in my family won but we still had a great time and the event raised over $1,300 which was a huge success.

My sister and I left the party on the earlier side so we could go home and get a good night sleep before our half marathon today, the recap will be coming shortly. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend.

Question: What is the best type of fundraising event you have attended?