My Crazy Version of A Rest Day

It was so nice to wake up and realize there was nothing that I HAD to do on the calendar today.  Other than getting some groceries, dropping off some bank deposits, and making a couple of phone calls, my schedule was wide open.  I did originally plan to get in some yoga as well on my rest day from my half marathon training plan but I switched up my plan a bit as the day progressed.  Let me just tell you I'm a glutton for punishment and it appears I have my priorities a little out of whack.  You'll see why as you read on...

Our day kicked off with a leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs, Morningstar sausages (my boys and husband love these things and I've learned to like them too), and a waffle topped with strawberry jam...oh, and of course, COFFEE.  Now that the Intelligentsia coffee is gone, we have moved on to the Caribou Mahogany blend.  We already miss those yummy Intelligentsia beans...Hopefully there are more in our house in the near future.  The Caribou blend smelled a bit like cigars...not sure what I think of that.

After we cleaned up breakfast and made ourselves presentable for the day, we headed off to one of our favorite places to visit, Publix.  We can't seem to get enough of that place and go there at least once a week, usually twice.  Lucky for us, Gina was there again this morning to give us balloons.  She's so good to the boys!

I had trouble getting them to look at me.  There were
too many other interesting things going on in the parking lot.

Our next stop was the bank where the boys got some lovely blue suckers.  They thought it was funny when they got home and could see their blue lips in the mirror.

Once again, they're not very smiley today.  So serious!  Maybe they knew what was next up on my plan for the day...haha.

As I unloaded the groceries, I started thinking, "What if I just do my long run today?"  My friend had just invited us over for "world famous margaritas" and I didn't want to have to miss out on enjoying them since I had a long run scheduled for first thing tomorrow morning.  (Last time I drank the night before a run, my run was less than stellar and I didn't want to repeat that event.)  This is what I meant when I told you earlier I have my priorities out of whack--I ran so I could drink!  What's wrong with me???  To my defense I also wanted to have tomorrow to dedicate completely to family.  If I squeezed in my run today, I wouldn't have to worry about it tomorrow.  I could make tomorrow my rest day and I'd much rather have my rest day on a day when we can have our whole family together.

Once the groceries were all put away, I had made up my mind to go for it.  I chugged some caffeine and electrolytes in the form of one of these delicious little babies...

(Thanks to Lindsey for the recommendation.  She described them perfectly, "like heaven and sunshine.")  I don't even like coconut water but I LOVE these.  Check them out!  Once it was polished off, I loaded up the boys in the stroller along with their snacks and water for all of us and we hit the road.  Did I mention it was 11:30 at this point and 87 degrees outside.  This is the part where I'm a glutton for punishment.  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

I can't claim that this was the best run of my life.  In fact, it might have been one of the most torturous runs of my life, but I figure if I can survive 9+ miles in midday heat pushing 100+ pounds of stroller weight, 13 miles at 6 am on October 28 should feel easy, right?  I'm not gonna lie.  I NEVER take walk breaks and I took at least 5 little breaks to chug water and convince myself to keep going.  On top of it all, MapMyRun wasn't working.  Check out what it was telling me...

 8.36 miles in 33 minutes and 45 seconds.  I wish! I think it was more like 9.5 miles in 1 hr 35 minutes. Only 3 more long runs until the big race.  I won't be doing any of them in the midday heat EVER again.  Lesson learned!  

At least the views were pretty.  I ran over that bridge you see in the distance.  It was probably the coolest part of the run with the breezes off the water.  Thank goodness for that relief!  Somehow the cloud cover that I thought I'd have when I left the house seemed to disappear as I ran.  Not cool!

Once we got back home, I chugged LOTS of water and finally felt like scarfing down a giant salad after my shower.  I love the combination of almonds, craisins, blue cheese, Organic girl super greens, black beans and balsamic.  YUMMY!

I didn't take a photo of my salad but if you haven't tried these salad blends, it's time you did.  I just bought a baby kale mix I can't wait to try as well.

I have a batch of black bean brownies in the oven as we speak.  I used this recipe and changed it up a bit by adding peanut butter to the mix in place of the oil and using a dark chocolate bar in place of the chocolate chips.  I hope they turn out as yummy as the batter tasted.

Now, I think I've got time now to squeeze in some of the yoga I had planned for today and them hopefully I can prop my feet up and read more about Tamar.  Monday's book club discussion is sneaking up on me and I have some work to do on my book.  Thank goodness I'm enjoying it.

It makes me really glad I don't live in Bible times and I got to choose my amazing husband.  I cannot imagine having an arranged marriage.

Only 2 hours or so til I get to enjoy a highly anticipated margarita.  Hope you have something fun planned for your Friday night as well.  Cheers!

Total Body Toning Workout and Grandparents Day

Last night, my husband came home not feeling well so I decided to ditch my dinner plans and made noodle soup for him and leftover lobster ravioli for myself.  It wasn't quite what I hoped for but it filled my belly nonetheless.  In the grand scheme of leftovers, I think I made out pretty well.  I'm still hoping to make that Salmon Fishbowl tonight since I can't stop thinking about it and I bought all the ingredients for it yesterday.  We called it a really early night, like 8:30 early, which meant I was bright-eyed and bushy tailed before 5 am this morning.  So much for sleeping in... Oh well, I did have the luxury of lazing in bed reading for about an hour before deciding to get up, grab a second cup of coffee, check my e-mail, and muster up some motivation to squeeze in a cross-training workout today.  Today kicks off week 4 of my 10 week half-marathon training plan.

To help motivate myself, I came up with a new workout that I really enjoyed.  While planning it, I had a couple of goals in mind...

• challenge every major muscle group
• combine weights and plyometrics
• get my heart pounding
• finish quickly

I successfully accomplished my goal with the following 32 minute circuit:

I'd love it if you try it out and let me know what you think.  Let me know if it doesn't make sense too.  I had a hard time describing how it was organized.  I'd appreciate your feedback if you decide to give it a go.  That background photo is a doctored up photo of a window in my grandparents' barn.  Cool, huh? They've been on my mind a lot lately.

Happy Grandparent's Day to all you grandparents out there, by the way.  You guys are amazing people! Here's some of our favorites...(Photo dump alert!)

Oma and Daddy with the boys.

Oma and her boys.

My grandparents (the boys' great-grandparents)  and my parents
(the boys' grandparents) with me and the boys.

Mason and his Great-Grandpa.

My parents my sister with me and the boys in Washington DC.  

We are blessed to have so many family members who love these guys.

I also whipped up a batch of flourless black bean brownies after church this morning.  It's another recipe I've been wanting to try and it didn't disappoint.  I found the recipe here and the only change I made was to use applesauce in place of the oil.  Are they as decadent as a brownie chock full of butter? No.  Are they delicious and the perfect thing to nip a chocolate craving in the bud, YES, Ma'am.  I suggest you try them out.  Don't be afraid of the black beans.  You can't even taste them.

You know I had to add chocolate chips :-)  

Thankfully, I got the boys down for an early nap this morning because we're headed to a baby shower early this afternoon.  They're brave to invite all 3 of us.  I didn't really like baby showers until I got pregnant and realized how important it is to feel so pampered and cared for when you feel as big as a house and are a little nervous about what is to come.  I have a much different perspective now.  Pregnant moms rock and deserve every party they can get.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday.  Don't forget to count you blessings and let a grandparent or two know how loved they are.