Wake n’ Shake / Wknd Recap.

Happy Monday! My alarm went off at the lovely hour of 4:45 am this morning. Wake it and shake it! I had to be at Channel 8 for the Danceaton flashmob on their morning show! I boarded the DART rail with my mom and her friend (lucky teachers with their summers off!) and we jetted off downtown.

We did a tribute to Michael Jackson and danced to the song ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.…it was SO much fun! I enjoyed our last little TV performance so I decided I would participate in this one as well. The dancers rocked it…they posted tons of photos and video footage online. I really enjoyed watching us rock it out!

Now, I will have my IV coffee drip hooked up to me all day while I plug away at work. Great way to start the morning!

This weekend was filled with lots of fun things – running, pool time with friends, and brunchin’. I ran 10 miles on Saturday with my marathon training group and then had mimosas at Penne Pomodoro with my girl Natalie. Always a good time with her.

 

I ordered an arugula summer salad with grilled asparagus, tomatoes, onions and lots of yummy goat cheese. I had never had asparagus in my salad before, but it was delicious!

After running and brunch I went to a pool party with BF at our friend’s place. The boys had fun playing volleyball while the girls parlayed and got our tan on.

The volleyball game got pretty intense and went on until the sun went down! Thankfully the pool was nice and lit up and the party continued late into the night.

On Sunday I went for another morning run with Team Luke’s. We did an easy, but hilly 5 miler. Having good friends to run with always makes it more enjoyable!

This weekend I focused more on running and I will definitely be doing more of that in the coming months leading up to the Marine Corps Marathon! It is going to be a fun summer of training mixed with teaching lots of dance classes! I am looking forward to logging lots of miles and having fun while doing it.

How was your weekend? What is your favorite kind of salad? Favorite MJ song?

Danceaton on Daybreak & a Comeback Race.

Holla holla it’s Friiiday! I hope everyone’s day is getting off to a great start. Mine sure did! I was up bright and early this morning with my dancing shoes on…Danceaton was live on Channel 8′s Daybreak show this morning! So much fun. They filmed us and did short cut-in segments during the news the entire hour. We had a blast dancing and taking tons of photos!

My mama joined in on the fun, she loves to dance too!

We will be back on June 25th for a special tribute to Michael Jackson, so come dance with us or tune in if you’re in the DFW area!

After the fun little dance segment I had to jet off to the 9 to 5…so much work to do, so little time!

This weekend I am looking forward to coaching my running group on Saturday, then Sunday morning I will be running the Wounded Warrior 10K with my Luke’s Locker teammates! I honestly have no goals for this race other than to just have fun with it. It will be the first race I’ve done in a couple of months since my hip flexor strain, so I am excited to be making a little running comeback!! After the race I will be hosting a little post party brunch for Team Luke’s Locker at my place. I have to put together a fun breakfast menu! I put together a yummy light french toast casserole last time, so I may be whipping some up again for this weekend.

I will leave you with one of my favorite songs to rock out to right now…I am loving the Ne-yo/Calvin Harris combo!

What’s your favorite song to dance to? Any brunch items I should add to the menu? 

The Perfect Morning & Tasty Eats.

My morning started just perfectly. I would not have wanted it any other way honestly. Bright and early run, great conversation with a running buddy, beautiful sunrise off in the horizon. My endorphins tank has been filled for the day. Thankyouverymuch.

The last couple of days have been busy both at work and at home. I have been so wiped out in the evenings but manage to get it together somehow and prepare some tasty healthy meals. One of my favorites this week was whole wheat spaghetti with kale sauteed in garlic and a little olive oil, topped with feta cheese.

I have found cooking to be quite therapeutic lately after a long day at work.

I also discovered a yummy smoothie they make at the Starbucks at my job! (yes we have a Sbux at my job…hate on me) The barista whipped me up a protein smoothie with mangoes, bananas, soy milk and whey protein powder. No syrups, no sugar! The bananas gave it just the right amount of sweetness. The perfect blend. Now all I need is the ocean side and an umbrella to put in my drink.

Oh how I would long to be here right now…

So anyway, back to my morning run. I ran with my neighbor Elyse who is tapering off for the upcoming San Diego Marathon in June! She is super speedy but was gracious enough to let me run with her this morning. We kept it real easy, finishing 4 miles in just under a 9 minute pace. And of course I logged it on Daily Mile…

I really enjoyed running this morning with a buddy. Since I ALWAYS run solo during the week before work it was a nice change of pace and made the miles whizz by quickly! The strain that was once in my hip has dissipated and I honestly felt stronger than I have felt in WEEKS! Taking some time off definitely does a body good. It just goes to show how important resting your body in between training seasons REALLY is.

My week of workouts has looked something like this:

Monday – Sharanda’s Danceaton class, 1 hour. Yoga On Demand 16 minutes

Tuesday – OFF

Wednesday – 4 mile easy run, Yoga On Demand 20 mins

Thursday – Teaching 15 minutes of abs ‘Crunch Time’, then an hour of Danceaton at 24 Hour Fitness - This will be my FIRST time teaching an abs session! I am so nervous!! Wish me luck

Friday – Easy recovery run

Saturday – Early Marathon training begins at Luke’s Locker. TIME TRIAL for the participants to put everyone in pace groups. 6 mile run

I am so excited that Early Marathon training is starting! I have never been more ready. I am looking forward to meeting some new running faces this season and getting reacquainted with some older ones. We have lots of people training for various races in the fall season, including New York, Chicago, Marine Corps (which I will be running) and San Antonio. Bring it on baby!

If you are in the Plano area and want to check us out, we have an orientation this evening at 7PM. Come join us!

 

Anyone training for a fall marathon? Do you practice yoga? What is your favorite kind of smoothie?

It’s a Celebration…Wknd Recap.

Before we jump into another busy week I of course have to update you on my weekend! So much going on so we’ll back it on up to Friday night.

Friday was spent catching up with my lovely mama. I like to pay her a visit on the weekends in Plano, and since I was celebrating my birthday ALL weekend we had to have our traditional mama/daughter birthday treats and eats. We went to Grimaldi’s – known for their coal brick oven NY style pizzas. They give you a free large pizza on your birthday so you know we had to be on board with that! I ordered the Margherita pizza, my all time fave, with fresh basil and tomatoes. Heaven.

 

Mama seemed to enjoy it too.

 

After getting carb’d up I went to bed early and got up bright and early to get a few miles in.

My running group is at the track for the remainder of the season. They had 12 x 400 meter sprints on deck. Since my old lady hip is on the mend, I have been starting back with my running, SLOWLY in preparation for marathon training for this race which starts up at the end of May. So I did a slow 3 miles followed by some dynamic stretching and a few of the sprint drills. I knew I wasn’t up for all of them so I did what my body was ready for at the moment. It was just nice to be out there in the mix with my team! I logged a total of 6 miles for the day so I was happy.  I spent the rest of the time cheering on those speedy runners.

Later on in the day I went to the Danceaton flash mob! It was held at the Dallas Kidz Get Fit Festival. We danced to Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling”. It was a crazy fun good time! Can you find me?

 

After a NAP I went to Saturday night church with Eric, then hit up Gloria’s for my birthday celebration. I had a great group of friends that made it! We had some amazing food and then salsa danced the night away!

Sunday morning, it felt so good to sleep in knowing that E and I had been to church the night before. We met up then went to a pool party at our friends Iesha and Jay’s house. They were workin’ it on the grill – ribs, chicken, and hot links, oh my!

 

We layed out by the pool and enjoyed the beautiful sunny afternoon.

 

Overall I had a great weekend. I was so happy to see so many friends old and new come out to my birthday celebration. God has blessed me with so many wonderful friends, and for that I am thankful.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything active in the great outdoors? What is your favorite thing to cook on the grill? 

Fun in the Sun – Wknd Recap.

Happy Monday to you! How was your weekend? Let’s get caught up!

My weekend was filled with some fun in the sun, teaching back to back dance classes (LOVE) and catching up with friends old and new! Friday night I went out with the boyfriend and some good friends of ours. Took some snapshots with the girls. Good times as always.

It had been a long time since I’d been out on a Friday, as most of those nights are dedicated to getting some shut eye so I can be up early for a Saturday long run with my running group. Saturday morning, I slept in. Unheard of, right? It was soo nice. Then I had to teach Danceaton at the 24 Hour Fitness Irving gym at noon. We have been getting ready for our big flash mob which will be next weekend!

Here’s a flashback of one of the flash mobs we did at the Galleria in Dallas.

After I taught dance of course I had to squeeze in my plank-a-day. Eric decided to join me in my endeavor. Couples that plank together stay together, isn’t that the saying!?

I also decided I wanted a hair upgrade this weekend. So my stylist Lydia highlighted my hair! I am already loving the sun streaks. Much needed update.

 

Saturday night boyfriend and I went to one of the newer services at my church. Can I just say that church on Saturdays is such a genius idea? I love being able to have my entire day free on Sundays knowing you have gone to church the night before. We had a little date night on Saturday night and went to see the movie ‘Think Like a Man’. Go see it, by yourself, with girlfriends or with your man! GREAT movie to strike up a conversation!

Sunday I went to Gaby’s Danceaton class at the gym, then hung out at the pool and went to a bbq.

It was such a beautiful day to bask in the sunshine! I brought over some of my famous skinny buffalo chicken dip to the pool with Texas Rangers style blue & red tortilla chips.

 

This week I will be doing more cross training (teaching dance class again tonight) and just may sneak a run in this week somewhere! Thursday is my birthday so I just may make it my comeback BIRTHDAY RUN. Stay tuned!

cake the boyfriend got me a couple of yrs ago when I first started getting into running

How was your weekend? Did you grill or hang out by the pool? What is your favorite poolside snack? 

Sweat it Out.

Almost the weekend! It’s so close I can taste it. This week has been long and all over the place in terms of my work schedule so I definitely needed a double dose of endorphins today. So I went to Danceaton this morning followed by a 4 mile run in the sun. I made sure to pause and smell the flowers for just a bit!

 

I ran in my Inov-8 F-lite 195′s. These shoes are what you would classify as minimalist shoes, so they are great for short quick runs. I really enjoy these and love the hot red color. 

 

They are also great for trail runs. As long as you don’t mind ‘em getting a little dirty!

 

This weekend is gearing up to be a busy one for me. Saturday I will be rocking the Esperanza 5K in Plano with the Luke’s Locker crew. This race was featured in Runner’s World magazine! 

 

The Esperanza 5K Race is in support of the work of Dr. Nancy Rodriguez and Larry Cox at Casa Bugambilia near Matamoros, Mexico. Casa Bugambilia shelters ill and abandoned persons until they can be reunited with their families. It is a center for diabetes prevention and treatment. It provides medical care and physical therapy to people without access to quality health care. Casa Bugambilia advances the education of children through preschool learning readiness classes, tutoring and education enrichment. 

I am excited to run to support such a great cause! The first 500 finishers also receive a ceramic medal hand painted by members of the Case Bugambilia Community. 

Then Sunday I will be traveling to Atoka, Oklahoma to run my first true blue trail race – the A-OK 25K/50K race! I’ll be running the 25K. A bunch of my running buddies will be taking a road trip up there together so it will definitely be a good time. I hear the “medals” there are fun too! Here’s a pic of my friends Pepsi and Lori rocking Atoka from last year.

I will leave you with my new favorite song to groove to. We are learning the choreography to this song in dance class! 

How are you “sweating it out” today? Have you ever done a trail run or race?

My new bestie and a virtual race.

Okay so those of you that know me…know that I have been needing a new phone for YEARS now. Me and my discontinued T-moblie Dash phone have been besties for quite some time now. Yes, it was like a Zack Morris style phone. I am embarrassed to show you what it looked like so we will just move on.

Finally, we went our separate ways last night. I said farewell and now I have a new BFF. Behold the Samsung Exhibit.

Yes, my first touch screen phone. So why didn’t anyone tell me that having nails and having a touch screen phone does not work. If you text message me expect to wait at least an hour for a response.

I feel so high tech. I even have Words with Friends now. I even have these things called applications! Wow! I have been missing out on life.

This morning was a rest morning for me in terms of running. Since I’ll be teaching Danceaton this evening I figured I can use that as my cross training for the week and take it easy. I am excited about my playlist tonite – I have a new warm up track, the new Afrojack song “Take Over Control” which is a very fast paced fun song so it should be a good time.

The Danceaton boss lady Gaby also makes us promo posters for Facebook which I think is pretty cool. Look at all of those hotties teaching tonite!

I also have been peeping the weather forecast for my marathon this weekend in Galveston.  Hey rain, make sure you keep your activity to a minimum. Thank you.

In other news…what are you doing February 11th? No plans? Well I plan on running in honor of Sherry Arnold, a woman who came up missing January 7th after she left her home in Montana to go for a run. For days volunteers searched for Sherry. Finally the FBI found the man that admitted to abducting Sherry one mile from her home and then killing her. This story has affected the running community in a huge way, and definitely serves as a wake up call for everyone about awareness and safety.

Sherry’s cousin, Beth, of Shut Up and Run is holding the virtual run which takes place on the 11th. Wherever you are, I encourage you to set out for a run, no matter how far you go, in honor of Sherry.

The virtual race will begin at 9 am. You can get more info on the race here.

Domination is the only option.

Ok, so I will have to apologize in advance because since I’m 6 days away from running yet another marathon. So it’s highly likely that the topic of running on the beach will be mentioned quite frequently this week!

Galveston beach...get ready for me!

This morning’s run was easy and relaxed. 5 miles at an 8:30 pace. I was feeling good and got some good stretching in afterwards before work. Breakfast was a potent cup of espresso roast, english muffin with PB, and the new passionfruit Chobani with some honey and chia seeds.

The weekend was a busy one for me, per the usual. Saturday was the Luke’s Locker 5k/10k benchmark race for the Beat Goes On spring training. This event is always lots of fun since every Luke’s Locker store in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area gets together to run and then have breakfast afterwards. It was held at the Ft. Worth Stockyards, which is a neat little area that has rodeo shows, shopping, and restaurants. The founder of Luke’s Locker, Don Lucas was there all decked out in his cowboy gear – in true Texas fashion.

Nike was the sponsor again this year, and they came out to showcase some of their newest running shoes and apparel.

I paced my running group for the 10K race. The group that I coach (green group – I like to call them the green machines) averages about a 9 to 9:30 pace…so we tried to stay within that range for the first half of the race. The trails out in Ft. Worth are beautiful, and we got to see the sun rise. It was a mild winter morning, just perfect for a run.

The back half of the race we did a negative split & picked it up a bit. Everyone looked strong and I think overall my group was pleased with their finish times. I was happy I got to share in that with them.

Hanging with green machines Heidi and Jeanette after the race

I logged in a few more miles on my own since this was my last training run. I picked it up a bit and ended up rounding out at about an 8:50 pace, including the miles I paced with my group. Not too shabby!

After the run and some yummy breakfast I went and had some mimosas with some of the other coaches. Always a good time with them.

awesome ladies - love those two.

The rest of the day I made sure to take it easy. Met up with some friends later but nothing too crazy. Was in bed by about 10 pm. Got some much needed sleep.

Sunday morning I did some cross training, went to Danceaton and got some booty shaking in since I’ll be teaching a class on Wednesday. It was nice to be back in class since I hadn’t gone in about a week or so.

That was my weekend in a nutshell! This week I will be focusing on keeping the mind and body strong. Marathon number 4…get ready for total domination.

In the words of my fellow running friend Patton Gleason…

Domination is the only option.

We Need a Resolution.

Happy Wednesday to you! I am drinking my grande bold Starbucks coffee and grooving out to the Erykah Badu station on my Pandora…nothing like a little neo soul / R&B to get the workday rockin’ and rollin’.

Most of the time I like to rock out to something more upbeat but this morning I’m feeling mellow…if only incense were allowed in the office…

My morning started with a 4 mile run watching the sun rise. It was beautiful and quiet in my neighborhood. It was nice to get up and running since I had taken off the day after the NY Double. Typically after running a hard race I like to get a massage lasting anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes. It really helps aid in recovery. I pretty much swear by massages. Once a month, every month! It’s how I stay spunky and bendy.

After my run I had some oatmeal with peanut butter and honey. A bowl of oatmeal on a chilly morning = always satisfying…

Speaking of spunky/bendy, tonight I will be teaching Danceaton at 24 Hour Fitness if anyone wants to come out! It will be a good time. A lot of calories will be burned and lots of yelling and dropping down low will ensue. 6:30 pm – 24 Hour Fitness in Murphy, TX. So if you are a member in the area and want to see me make a spectacle of myself I suggest you be there. If not, sorry you miss out.

everybody put your hands in the AYER!!!

So…lots of people have been making posts about New Year’s Resolutions and such…and I haven’t had much to say on the subject since I don’t really make any serious ones…perhaps it’s due to laziness, my A.D.D. – not sure. So I decided that it is a new year and I’m being a slacker. So I should at least jot down a few things I want to work on for 2012. Just because.

I should probably mention that I was inspired to make this list from Giuliana Rancic’s blog post “A New Kind of New Year’s Resolution”. So, here goes.

*Color my hair a funky color. Why? Because I can. 

*Buy a pair of colorful and/or sparkly pumps (and actually wear them…)

these pumps were made for walking (or running?)

*Sing loud in the shower without abandon. Wait – I do this already…

*Run in my neighborhood barefoot.

*Try a recipe with tofu in it. This looks yummy…

quinoa + tofu...a seemingly perfect pair.

*Run a half marathon trail race – doing this in MARCH! See the “Upcoming Races” list at the top right.

*Pick someone each week or each month who you love and write them a note of appreciation and thanks (especially parents, teachers, and mentors)

*Play hooky from work. It will still be there when you get back. (hopefully)

*Turn off facebook/twitter/whatever your social media platform and go visit that friend in person.

*Travel somewhere new. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 or 20 hours away, just make sure you get there and explore. A new mall doesn’t count.

*Surround myself with more uplifting, positive individuals. 

*Eat 2 desserts without any regret (and fine, hit the gym a little harder tomorrow.)

Do you make new year’s resolutions? If so what are they? 

Bodypump & Other Guilty Pleasures.

It’s my Thursday, and can I just say how happy I am that yet another 4 day weekend is rolling around again? It makes being at work much more pleasurable. I have a couple of projects here at work so that is helping things move along a bit.

I have been super tired in the mornings this week so my workouts have moved to the dark side. I have a feeling it has something to do with my long run this past Saturday + running trails on Monday, just a little fatigue setting in. I don’t mind afternoon workouts though, because as much as I love getting up at the crack of dawn I also value my sleep. So if my body needs to sleep, that is definitely what it’s going to get.

Last night was a 3 mile run on the treadmill, with some speed intervals (ran a 6 minute mile somewhere in there – wowza!) but averaging about a 9ish minute mile pace. It was more of a recovery run but it was challenging and got me working up a good sweat.

Following my little cardio jaunt I went to Bodypump class for some strength training fun!

If you’re unfamiliar with Bodypump, basically it’s 60 minutes of total body weightlifting that is set to music. According to the Les Mills website:

The class was definitely challenging but I always love the shock my body gets from a good Bodypump session (and judging by how tired my arms are as I’m typing this, I’d say it was a good workout.) We did the 75 release which had really great music to keep you motivated and pumping along.

After the workout I did some grocery shopping, bought a lemon pepper rotisserie chicken and enjoyed that with some veggies and a glass of Cupcake Red Velvet vino I received as a Christmas gift. A little taste of heaven.

Then I had some of this amazingness for dessert, with some crushed candy cane on top…

Stats per serving:

I ate my decadent dessert while watching the season premiere of Texas Multi Mamas on WEtv. It’s bascially a reality show that features 6 women that are mothers of multiple children. My friend and fellow Danceaton instructor Candace Hickey is cast in the show. It’s a fun show and we all know how I love my reality tv! Just another guilty pleasure to add to the list!

On a random note…I think the sheer fact that it’s a ghost town in my office warrants a dance break…wobble anyone?

Do you have any guilty pleasure shows that you watch? 

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Check out this Runner’s World article on Runner’s Resolutions for 2012.

Want some running SWAG?

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