Sunday.Runday.Bitday.Beerday.

I realize today is Monday but I had such a great day yesterday that I wanted to share it with you yesterday but didn’t quite get around to it!  Anyhoo, Saturday I woke up with a tummy bug and basically slept the entire day away- I HATE it when that happens- so I was determined to make Sunday a great day. And that I did!

Kicked Sunday off with a long, blissful trail run at Redwood Park in Oakland. Because I wasn’t feeling completely 100% I told myself anywhere between 5-7 miles would be fine but after I ran (literally!) into a couple friends running the Skyline 50K, I got distracted and lost. Missed a turn somewhere and ran 9 very hilly miles total trying to find the trail that led me back to the car.

Fantastically, it was a perfect 9 mile “loop”!

Vacation “Plans”

Cheers to summertime!

I just returned from three wonderful weeks at our cabin in Pinecrest.  We go every summer and every summer, I plan out my health and fitness goals in advance and make sure to pack lots of work out clothes, hand weights, a resistance band, medicine ball, and multiple exercise DVDs.

And just like every other summer, despite my best intentions, it took exactly a week for me to neglect those goals and embrace doing absolutely nothing other than relaxing on the beach and eating lots of hamburgers. Here’s a list of all that I didn’t accomplish in 21 days… 

Weighty Issues

I should probably write the recap for my last race (and I will, I promise!) but today I prefer to discuss something that has been on my mind a great deal lately with PRs seemingly out of reach and swimsuit season all of a sudden upon us: weight.

I am certainly not the skinniest crayon in the box, and I guess if I were I wouldn’t be as consumed with counting calories or as worried about the level of butt jiggle that occurs when I run on down the road. In my life, I have ranged from a size 4 to a size 14; now, I’ve settled into an average size 8.  And that is just fine, I realize that, but also understand that if I lost just 10 more pounds, I would have a lot more ease when I run as well as when I put on a bathing suit.

Honestly, I would LOVE to look like this again: 

Meatless Monday: Jurek Style

While on a brief trip to our cabin a couple weeks ago, I finally got further into ultra-marathoner Scott Jurek‘s recent book, Eat And Run, in which he touts his vegan diet as the key to his success in winning and setting records in countless ultra-marathons- and we’re talking 50 and 100 milers here! Having grown up in the mid-west and raised on the typical meat-fish-eggs-based type of diet, Jurek explains his hesitation and then steady transition to a no-meat-no-dairy lifestyle while accomplishing amazing running feats.

Given that I of course want to improve my (albeit novice) running as well as overcome the digestive issues that seem to almost always arise for me during races, I figured I would give it a try and incorporate a few of Jurek’s recipes into my everyday diet. While I can’t really imagine going vegan 100% of the time, I can tell that my body certainly functions better eating this way- I feel lighter, I sleep better, and my digestion issues have vanished.

Meatless Monday: #elf4health

Yesterday I was super duper hungover, and I… oh, wait… that’s a HORRIBLE way to start a post that has the word “health” in the title!  Geesh!  Oh well…

Anyhoo, as I was saying, I was basically laying down all day yesterday and reading lots of blogs and catching up on Twitter and saw a bunch of people writing and hashtagging #elf4health. I clicked around and found bloggers Elle at Nutritionella and Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean and their Elf For Health holiday challenge so I signed right on up!

I am partnered with a buddy and every day we are presented a new health challenge- we will exchange emails and tweets about our progress and help motivate each other as well share recipes and workout tips. Today is the first day of the challenge and we are tasked to go meatless.  And after the indulgences of the holiday, I am oh so ready for that!

Meatfull Monday (with apologies to my vegetarian friends)

Home Sweet Home

… and we’re back, sports fans!  After six long weeks in the mountains with nothing but dial-up Internet to keep me entertained, I am more than ecstatic to be back home!

Don’t get me wrong, I had a great vacation, a little too great as stepping on the scale the other day forced me to recognize the results of my hedonistic ways.  10 pounds of extra fun, to be exact.  ARGH.

So today, I want to share a handful of the recipes that got me to that place of ample happiness- add happy hour cocktails every day for 40 days plus a metric ton of red wine every evening, and you can earn 10 extra pounds of happiness too!

Motivation Waning, Vacation Winning

Today is the 23rd day of my summer vacation with the family here at our cabin in Pinecrest.  Blue skies, perfect weather, campfires, staying up late, watching movies, playing games,eating good food… ahhhh… and all my friends wonder why I stay here for so long every summer!  So relaxed, so content, so happy!

You must be thinking, “Sooooo… how are those work outs going for you, Laura?”

Well, now you’re just being mean.

Meatless Monday: Service for 1

It’s Day 9 of our family vacation and Hubby will join me and the kids later this week, so in the meantime, I cook for one. Already feeling the effects of too many hamburgers and not enough running, I’m trying really hard to keep up with my goal of vegetarian eating at least on Mondays as the rest of the week demands a turkey sandwich for lunch and some form of grilled slab-o-meat for dinner.

Inspired by my friend Erica’s post on breakfast grains (check out Erica & Abbie’s blog– great recipes, great reading!), I attempted my own version with quinoa and it turned out super delicious and very filling.  Quinoa is nutritional perfection: a gluten-free, whole grain, complex carb, and a great source of fiber to boot- perfect for giving you the energy you need pre-run, and with the addition of the fresh fruit, also provides much needed vitamins and valuable antioxidants.

One bowl will do ya right!

Laura’s Breakfast Quinoa
Follow package directions, be sure to rinse, and prepare quinoa.  Take 2/3 cup cooked
quinoa (hot or cold, whatever you prefer!) and sprinkle with 2 hefty pinches of light brown
sugar and your desired level of cinnamon.  Top with about a 1/2 cup fresh, organic blueberries (or strawberries or raspberries), about a tablespoon of chopped roasted almonds (or walnuts or pecans), and enjoy! 

Expect the Unexpected

You can take the internet from the girl, but you just can’t take the girl from the internet!

It’s day 6 of summer vacation at our family cabin here in Pinecrest, California.  I expected to blog while here, going old-school style by way of HAND writing my posts, typing them into Notepad, and then snagging the nearby resort’s wireless connection to copy, paste and post.  Whadya know, they charge- an unexpected $5 an hour for some wee-fee love but I’m so grateful to connect even if just for 60 minutes, so that’s money very well spent.

Meatless Monday: Lazy Style

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend celebrating Cinco de Mayo!  I sure did… a little too much fun that I sorely paid for at the Divas Half Marathon yesterday. (recap coming tomorrow) but, that’s okay- it’s Monday and I’m starting fresh and meat-free.

The weather is GORGEOUS in the Bay Area right now, beautiful but pretty warm by 9am leaving my motivation to cook very low.  So, after my grocery shopping this morning, I stopped by my local Noah’s Bagels to pick up a quick breakfast- they have a new line of Bagel Thin Eggwhite Sandwiches (under 350 calories and 15g of fat).  I opted for a asparagus, mushroom and swiss sandwich on a honey whole wheat bagel and paired it with a side a fruit- a perfect way to start the day!

Just as easy to re-create at home but today I’m lazy and not too proud to admit it!