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? 

When There’s Cake, You Dance.

You will have to excuse me, while I come down from my birthday high.

Yesterday truly made me realize just how BLESSED I am to be surrounded by so many wonderful people. From my mom and dad who called me with their own personalized birthday songs, to the boyfriend who came out and surprised me on my birthday run. My heart is full of joy and happiness.

It all started with a ladies lunch with my coworkers that afternoon at CoCo’s Tea Room. We enjoyed some yummy salads and their famous iced chai vanilla tea. So much fun.

 

I could hardly work when I came back from being so birthday giddy. I probably worked a total of 30 minutes the entire day. There were lots of birthday shout outs so I tried to respond to every one. Totally more important than work, right? I thought so too.

It may have also had something to do with being excited about my first run in 2 WEEKS! Which felt more like 2 years but who’s counting. I was going to the Luke’s Locker social run and bbq/pool night, so I was a little nervous about how the old lady hip would hold up. But I had been cross training with spin and dance classes for 2 weeks so I felt ready to test it out. Nike was at the social run showing off their latest shoes. I wanted to test out my Newtons so I decided to wear them to the short 3.6 mile run. I met up with my friend Ann and some of the other runners. We were ready to go, my Garmin was fired up and ready to be used. Then, guess who appeared out of nowhere? This boy…

He told me he had a game with his basketball league all night so I wasn’t expecting to see him there. It was such a nice surprise!! He wore a special shirt just for me and totally dominated the run!

I also enjoyed running with my running partner in crime, Ann! We had a great time on the easy run talking the miles away. My hip felt pretty good and legs were just happy to be moving again!

 

After the run I stayed and mixed and mingled with the gang a bit. Took pics with the girls, of course.

Elaine, Sarah, Ann and me

Kickin' it with Sarah

Ann also surprised me with birthday cupcakes and everyone sang me a little birthday diddy...and of course I danced because when there’s cake, you dance.

It was a great time! Thanks to all of you for your kind words and for making my day a special one! I am looking forward to celebrating ALL weekend!!

I also wanted to give a shout out to my running buddy friend Shirley Barbaro who will be crushing the Eugene Marathon on Sunday! You’ve got this, girl!!

Do you have a Friday workout on deck today? Doing anything outside this weekend (grillin’ and chillin’, poolside, beachside?) Who is racing this weekend?

Pretty in Pink.

I have to say this week has really been flying by for me. Work has been busy and I have been plugging away. I am thankful for the busy week though because time really does go fast when you are busy!

This morning…I didn’t work out. Not even a sit up or push up. Can you believe it? I slept in til 7:30 AM. For me, that’s a pretty big deal. I will be getting my run on this evening with Luke’s Locker…I decided that is all I needed for today. After a long week of busting out morning runs and teaching a power packed dance class, I can definitely say it was nice to just get up and take my time getting to work.

This morning I am sipping on peach black tea and eating Chobani greek yogurt with honey and chia seeds. I really like today’s flavor of choice, it has yummy chunks of mango in it!

Ladies Night on Tuesday was a good time indeed. There was a fashion show, and I got to model some new shoes! Can you guess which foot is mine?

I have totally fallen in love with the new pink Newtons distance shoes. I had a really hard time taking these shoes off of my feet. I think they are a great investment though, even at $170 something bucks a pop. Newtons really are great shoes for racing, especially marathons. I may have to make the splurge!

I also took some photos with a few of my running homegirls. They are all running Rock N Roll this weekend. Looking forward to rocking this race with them!

(From left) Ann, Jeanette, Heidi, Me & Elaine down below

Elaine, me and Shirley

After the Rock N Roll marathon I plan on just running for fun until marathon training season starts this summer! I am looking forward to running for fun with my crazy running buddies! We really love our pink running gear!

What kind of running shoes do you like to train or race in? What is your favorite time of day to run or workout?

Oh Yes, It’s Ladies Nite.

Last night I had to sub a Danceaton class at the 24 Hour Fitness in Valley Ranch. Man, was the gym hot and humid last night! I think I was dripping sweat within the first 5 minutes of class.  Overall it was a sweaty good time as always. I did some new choreography and added some old stuff. I always love doing the Ludacris song “How Low Can You Go” because we drop down on the ground and hump the floor. Most of the time everyone is a good sport and drops down low along with me. Other times I will get looks of bewilderment which is fine too. Remember to always hump the floor in dance class when you get the opportunity – everyone is doing it so you don’t look like an idiot. Plus it burns more calories.

Check out this movie trailer/promo the lead instructor Gaby made for some of the teachers. I thought it was fun & creative!

After dance I went to the grocery store to grab a few essential items. Some days I am seriously craving lots of protein. I got some avocados, hickory smoked tuna, turkey lunchmeat, tacos to make for later in the week, fruits and veggies, and multigrain sandwich thins. I had dreams of mixing the tuna and avocado. Anyone know if that tastes good? I also love that the sandwich thins are only 100 calories and they are super easy and convenient. I’ve had the honey wheat and multigrain ones so far, they’re delish.

This morning was definitely a struggle to get out and run. It was pouring rain and thunder/lightning outside. My bed was so warm and cozy. But my drill sergeant in my head wasn’t having it. Get up, get going, NO excuses…it said. So off I went to my apartment gym. There was another runner girl in there so that made me feel a little better. I love how runners always acknowledge each other when they cross paths. It’s like a mutual respect. I did a quick 4 miles and some ab work on the stability ball. Overall it was a great workout. Got ‘er done. And of course I logged it on daily mile, because that’s what I do.

Tonight I am hoping the weather cooperates because I will be going to Ladies Night over at Luke’s Locker. Brooks is sponsoring this evening’s event and there will be a stylish fashion show which I will be a part of. We always leave there with some exciting freebies – oh and there’s wine and cheese so you know I’ll be there without a doubt. Love hanging with the ladies on a weeknight. If you are in the area and of the female persuasion, come join the fun!

Have you ever tried a dance class? What kind of music do you listen to when you workout? 

Happy Trails to You.

How was your weekend? I hope it was filled with adventure or maybe a little bit of relaxation. Mine was super busy and filled with lots of running. I can definitely say I’m beyond thrilled to be wearing my compression sleeves under my pants to work this morning. Me + compression = a match made in runner’s heaven.

So…where do I start? Since I didn’t blog all weekend I guess I had better get you all caught up. Friday night was spent with my sweetie…we stayed in and watched Comedy Central shows on my On Demand. It was chill and relaxing. Saturday morning was the Esperanza 5K at Custer Road United Methodist Church. It was a good time! I got to see all of my buddies and we took some quick snapshots before the race.

Going into this 5K race, honestly I had no expectations. My goal was just to go out there, run my best and have fun…then run some additional miles after with the running group that I coach. So I ran my little heart out. Clocked in at 23:08 – 1st place in my age division. Not bad for a no expectations race.

Ann, Shirley and me post race

Love the hand painted ceramic medal!

After the 5K I stayed and got some training miles in with my group – they are training for the upcoming Rock N Roll Dallas half marathon. It was a beautiful morning. Logged 12 miles total. Did nothing the rest of the day. Well, except go to brunch with my homegirl Nat. Brisket quesadillas and mimosas. Nuff said. Love brunching it up with this girl.

That brings me to Sunday Funday! My running buddies made the road trip up to Oklahoma for a trail race! My first real trail race in fact. Granted I did run a 3 mile mini trail run back in December but this was a whole different beast. 25K…15.5 miles of rocks, ridges and dirt roads. Kinda brutal! But a good time with good friends. The race started at 8 AM, so we got up early and made the 2 hour road trip up to Atoka. There was a lady that holds this race every year on her land out there. She’s about 80 years old and is still running, how awesome is that!? We went up to the “start line” and got the READY SET GO! from the lady. And off we went. I took it REEAL super easy for this race. My friends took off and I ended up by my lonesome for a majority of the race. Which at first was a little boring, but ended up being an experience more than anything else. I stopped and took lots of photos.

I met new runners that were from the Oklahoma area and got to chat with them. The aid stations were off the chain!! Why can’t every aid station at every race have potatoes and salt?? Is that too much to ask? I certainly don’t think so.

So anyway, not my best race (my Garmin died midway) and I don’t even know my finish time but it was more of the adventure part of it that I enjoyed more than anything. I did my best to NOT FALL and slip on a rock and I succeeded! That is a victory in itself! After the run we took some snapshots…

From left - Steve, Pepsi, Ann, Lori, Me, & Jessica

…and I got my super cool awards – Amish cherry jam and a slice of tree trunk.

Try putting that bad boy around your neck...

After the run we drove back to Dallas and went to this NY style brick oven pizza spot called Grimaldi’s. We sat on the patio and enjoyed a beautiful sunny afternoon. I shared a pizza with my friend Ann – with fresh tomatoes, basil and pepperoni. Food-gasm! I had two slices and was fat and happy.

So that was my weekend in a nutshell! Back to the real world!

Did you do anything adventurous this weekend? Ever run on trails? NY pizza or Chicago style? 

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?

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.

Like a kid in a candy store.

TGIF! So happy this week is coming to a close. That means I’m just that much closer to this…

1 WEEK AWAY! I am like a giddy kid in a candy store. I can hardly contain my energy.

Last night was a good time as usual. I got to run with some super fun Luke’s Locker peeps. Afterwards we had some adult beverages then went over to the Village Burger Bar. I split one of their turkey burgers and awesome sweet potato fries with my homegirl Ann.

I am really enjoying the Thursday Night Social Runs. It is a nice break from the monotony of the work week and I get to see some of my favorite people while running! Does it get any better than that? No it does not.

just another fun Thursday nite with the crew

runners just wanna have FUN!

This weekend is the Luke’s Locker Beat Goes On Kickoff event. All of the runners from the different Luke’s stores in the DFW Metroplex will be linking up to run 5K and 10K races. Since I’m coaching the half marathon group, we will be running the 10K as part of our training. There will be post race breakfast and games afterwards and it’s always some crazy fun.

That is pretty much what is on tap for me this weekend! Well, that and a 9 mile taper run I will need to knock out tomorrow. Today…I rest. Legs up, compression sleeves on = happy Chels.

I know, I’m a wild woman right? 

What is on tap for you this weekend? 

Manic Monday / Wknd Recap.

Just another manic Monday! Well, not really…it’s actually a pretty chill Monday. I am happy for that!

Ran 4 miles this morning – 8:17 pace – humid but nice & breezy. Tonite, spin class! Looking forward to that.

Breakfast was yummy! Blood Orange Chobani greek yogurt topped with chia seeds and honey.

This weekend was comprised of running, dancing, getting a massage from my favorite therapist (YES), and a little productivity with just a sprinkle of laziness!

Yeah pretty much a typical weekend.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early for an 18 mile training run. My plan was to run 12 solo and then the remaining 6 miles with my running group at 7 am. So…guess what time I was up and ready to go? Yup, you guessed it…4 am. Nice.

But, it got done! All 18.55 miles of fun!

18 miles...worth smiling about? Sure, I guess so.

After the run, I took a small chai tea latte break and booked it over to teach Danceaton at noon over at the 24 hour fitness in Irving. The class was energetic and lively. Typically they just look at me like I’m nuts but everyone was having a good time! We did a lot of dropping down low and crazy stuff…I don’t know how I did it but I had a little bit left in the tank and felt good. It could have had something to do with the carb loading dinner from the night before…

turkey meatballs, whole wheat pasta, feta cheese...YUM!!

 My recovery beverage definitely helped as well…

Saturday night, I was a vegetable. I stayed in and did some reading, watched the last little bit of the Olympic Trials. So emotional. I loved watching Shalene Flannagin, Desiree Davila and Kara Goucher crush it and make the Olympic Team! It really made me proud. These women worked so hard and are going to represent the U.S. in an awesome way.

Sunday Funday I went to Gaby’s Danceaton class at 24 Hr Fitness In Carrollton. After dance was church, then brunch with my mama at Houston’s Restaurant in Addison. They have this amazing ahi tuna salad that is to die for! This might quite possibly be my last meal on earth. Okay, maybe not, but it really does come close.

On Sunday I also tracked some of my pals that were running the Houston Marathon! I loved the live results page where I got to view them all at the same time. So cool.

It looked like everyone had a great race. I have this thing where when my friends are running in a marathon I get up extra early…like without my alarm clock all concerned, because they are the first thing on my mind. I can’t help it. It’s the running mother hen in me.

Sunday night I got some of my race medals together and finally hung up my medal rack in my apt! It looks great in my bedroom. I have a few more to add to this collection (5 more half marathon medals in my old bedroom at mom’s house) so they’ll be added to the rack soon. I know – it’s a little crooked, I’ll work on that later.

I also bought a purple tutu this weekend for the Galveston race! What do you think, purple tutu…tye dye shirt…winner?

Countdown til the Galveston Marathon – 20 days and counting! Thus the taper begins!

Have a great week!