Things I love Thursday - 3/31

So on this lovely Thursday I really could do a TiLT cold edition, but i pretty much did that yesterday, and i'm feeling much better this morning (although it could be thanks to that crazy extra strength mucinex i took before bed last night)

Also, check out my guest post over at Stacy's blog - Every Little Thing.

Weee I'm famous! Although it is a little silly that I have failed to write anything about nasty chemicals in my own blog despite that toxicology degree I'm working on. I'll get to it!

On to the themeless Things I Love Thursday

hello trader joe's knockoff girl scout cookies

(not as delicious as tag-a-long's but a good trans fat free sub)

I LOVE BETHENNY

i want to grow up and be her. and i LOVE that she promotes things like healthy eating. I own her recipe book - SkinnyGirl Dish and adore it! And Bethenny ever after is the best part of my Mondays. hilarious.

Michigan Hockey

these boys pulled through last weekend to make it the FROZEN FOUR

love them so much and hope they kick some North Dakota butt next Thursday ;)

image from mbeautylounge
Zoya's Gemma is definitely my Martian nail polish color for this weekend's 5k.
Yes, I coordinate my nail polish to race themes. be jealous.

Plus zoya nailpolish is extra fab because its free of several pretty harsh chemicals ( toluene, formaldehyde, DBP (phthalates) and camphor) that are usually found in nail polish.

I am a tar-jay fiend. and when i went to buy my fancy rebel, i knew it was time to get the card that gives me 5% off all my target purchases.
While I was attempting to apply for the debit card, tarjay decided to give me, girl with zero credit whatsoever, a target credit card. Weeeeee, I'm in love.
it was the perfect encouragement to buy black swan on blu-ray. 
special 3 disc edition and 5% off? i'm in :)

Spring Cold

So this cold is kicking my ass.

I'm pulling out the big guns in terms of cough suppressants and expectorants. I'm already registered for the Martian 5k this weekend, so I will definitely be running it. I just need to be able to breathe while I'm doing it!

When I made my post yesterday morning, there was quite a bit of coughing going on, but nothing I couldn't handle. That progressively got worse.

I'm trying to stick with as natural as possible, but sometimes you just got to give in modern medicine and whip out the big guns.

I've been pounding back lots of the aforementioned Yogi Tea Cold Season. Last night at target I picked up target brand zinc tablets and ricola mixed berry drops. And finally this morning - after a rough night filled with dreams inside dreams (hello inception) and waking up unable to breathe, I took a trip to the grocery store to do some real cold-fighting damage.

I picked up:

mucinexDM

vitaminwater zero - squeezed lemonade (ZINC ZINC ZINC)

Hot & Sour Soup (even though the sodium in this baby is atrocious)

So hopefully, with all this, I'll be feeling better shortly.

Monday night I was able to make a delicious salad that has lasted me through Tuesday and will now be a perfect accompaniment to my Potbelly roast beef sandwich (roast beef has tons of zinc -- who knew!)

Inspired by the fitnessista, I made a chopped salad of cukes, grape tomatoes, chick peas, lemon, oil, S&P. so delicious.

whoops. not enough room in that bowl for the chick peas

much better!

this is so fresh tasting.  i love it.

6 Miles!

Half-Marathon training is going SO well.

Saturday was the not-so-dreaded any more 6 miles. I did the usual two miler loop by the apartment to get a feel for the temp outside - it was only around 34 degrees, and I am not a cold weather runner by any means, so I didn't know how to appropriately dress. At the same time, I was NOT going to treadmill 6 miles. So i bundled up and braved the cold.

I started off with too many layers -
under armour coldgear + lulu run:swiftly long sleeve
gloves
puma running tights

so after my 2 miles, I stopped back at home, lost the under armour and gloves and then headed off for the last 4. I ran up to north campus, did a loop, and then scooted my butt back home.

GARMIN STATS:

It was the first time I was genuinely working out for an hour+, so I felt it was finally necessary to pull out the big guns when it comes to re-fueling.

Zico Coconut Water + Bagel and TJ's creamy goat cheese

That delicious bagel came from the famous zingerman's Deli. So freaking good.

Sunday was my rest day, and yesterday I attempted a 4 miler on the treadmill post an hour of vinyasa power yoga.

The 4 miler didn't happen - I pounded out 2 miles, but then gave up. I somehow acquired an awful chest cold. So breathing is a little bit difficult.

I've been gulping down Yogi Tea's Cold Season, which is just about the only thing that makes me feel better.

BUT in exciting running news, I signed up for the Martian Meteor 5k in the hometown this morning!  The race is this upcoming Saturday morning! Hopefully my breathing situation will be improved by that point ;)

I'm excited, as this is my VERY FIRST RACE. I'm hoping to get a 10k in at some point before the June half as well.

We'll see how it goes ;)

Baking Cookies & Walking Dogs

On Monday night I had a baking extravaganza.

I needed to bake cookies for one of my letter of recc writers, as well as my fellow 2AM broomball players (it was an incentive for them to show up ;))

So I baked the classic Neiman Marcus Cookies (I promise this is the real recipe, that I got from the Neiman Marcus Website, although for some reason thats not loading now??) + unphotographed blondies (because i gave them all away before I photographed so I couldnt eat them myself!)

This ingredients image is actually quite misleading. I didn't use the maple syrup (some recipes call for corn syrup, others do not, mine did not), there was also a single egg involved in the cookie making process, and I used granulated sugar instead of the "sugar in the raw" in that pink tupperware container. oh and half of the cookies included walnuts

but close enough!

Pre-chips dough in the kitchenaid. LOVE

from raw....

to delicious.

these babies are SO good. I actually ate one for/with breakfast this morning.

Oops. ;)

Last week Friday was an afternoon spent at home laundering all my running clothes (i'm too picky and dont have enough of it to last more than a week or two). I also took the family pup for a walk with the DSLR. We had a good time ;)

oh sadie, you are my little gentle-lady :)

Saturday's Long Run

So saturday was the oh-so-scary 5 miler. I haven't ran five miles in a long long time, and I was a little scared of such a high number, and such a long amount of time to be running.

Well, I definitely CONQUERED the 5 mile run.

I started out with an easy 2 miler with the roommate. We did a loop around our apartment and the river that runs near us, I stopped at home for a quick water break and to fix my heart rate monitor, and then headed out for the last three.

Well I, of course, ran too far, and the last three ended up being 3.82. So in total, I ran 5.82 miles. feeling so accomplished today! :) And in addition, I'm not at all scared for the 6 miler I have to run next weekend.

Things I learned from the run:

1. Running "long distance" (4-6 miles) is 70% mental, 30% physical ability. I think that if you can run 3, you can run five. You just have to be in the right mindset.
2. Running without a set path is best. Go where the "walk" signs take you. This is another reason why I love my Garmin. I dont need a set path -- I just need to run until that distance reads 5.00


Next time I'll have to bring my crappy little point&shoot so I can get some pictures.

I came home, did some stretching, took a trip to trader joe's and then made myself a pretty delicious (but ecletic) dinner.

I baked sweet poatoes using the "slow+low" method, and baked some trader joe's whole wheat pizza dough with pesto on top. delicious.

unfortunately no pictures, but I was too concerned with eating to actually take pictures. whoops!

Things I love Thursday - 3/17 Running Edition

Happy St. Patrick's Day! While I will probably be partaking in some activities this afternoon (probably just a green beer around lunch-time), I don't think I'll be going too crazy in the festivities.

I have a half-marathon to train for ;)

Speaking of the half, I definitely have some running essentials I'd love to share in the Things I love Thursday - Running Edition. 

 First of course is the fivefingers. The barefoot running thing can be a little intimidating at first, especially to those who either a. have not run before, or b. have ran in crazy heavy or crazy stabilizing shoes. I run better, faster, and with proper form in my fivefingers. I don't get as tired, and I honestly think they make me enjoy running MORE than I would in any other shoes. I have a pair of nike frees, which i use for treadmill runs, and a pair of asics that I bought two summers ago when I was doing all that crazy running. I like both of those shoes. But i LOVE my fivefingers.

Let me now introduce you to my ipod shuffle, Elle Woods. Elle Woods has "endorphins make you happy" inscribed on the back. She is my motivation for physical activity. Lately I've been running to the black swan soundtrack and Adele's 21. It's been great.

Running clothing - here we have the lululemon run swiftly long sleeve tee which is all kinds of incredible. yesterday was the third time i've worn it running and its NOT SMELLY. love. plus its super comfortable, doesnt ride up and has awesome thumbholes. Paired with a pair of (livestrong) nike tempo shorts and i'm good to go. this was actually my running outfit on the cruise ship and I am SO excited that I can wear it in Michigan again.

Another important part of running is the running HAIRSTYLE. now i know running is def. not a beauty pageant, but when you have long hair, it can be really frustrating to find something to do with it that isn't bothering you on your run. for me, the SIDE BRAID IS IT. it is actually my new go to hairstyle for everything, thanks to a Women's Health article talking about how its perfect for straight hair after using dry shampoo (love dry shampoo, esp. klorane)

Finally, my last necessity is my garmin (stats from yesterday's easy 2 miler). Nothing is more accurate for keeping track of your runs. I love that I can glance down and see how I'm doing in terms of distance and pace. And let's me honest, map my run sucks balls.

So that's them -- the things I need for successful runs. I do know that I'll need to get my hands on some sort of water holding device for longer-distance runs. Any suggestions?

Running

Getting back to running.

The last time I ran consistently was two summer's ago. It was when I bought my Garmin Forerunner, and was determined to train for a half marathon.  Seeing as I have yet to have any racing bibs or tee's, that didnt happen.

Running for me has been an off and on thing since then, and it was within the past month that I decided if I was going to keep up with it, I needed a schedule and a goal. I know that running consistently makes me feel better physically and mentally, and is actually really great for my body personally. I've never really had any running injuries (minus weird hip pain that I got once, but hopefully my 2x's a week yoga will take care of that now), and I've never really struggled with running.  In middle school I was on the track team because my best friend was, and while I was never great, I could keep up in practice, I could get through the runs and the friday morning practices in the dark. I wasn't a runner per se, but I could run.

Two summer's ago I got up to about 5, 5.5 miles, and then my running petered off. Well right now I'm back at 5 miles again. According to the Hal Higdon Novice half-marathon training plan I've been using, I was supposed to get 5 miles in last weekend. Instead I ran 4.38 with a group of current and prospective Michigan Law students, and Dean Z, head of admissions/the school.

There's a few races before the Princess Half next February that I'm thinking about -- a few in south eastern Michigan, and one in the UP that I would LOVE to run, but I'm not sure that I could convince anyone to go with me.

I do have good news on the motivation for the Princess Half front though. Via complete chance and early morning twittering, I discovered that miss La Caffeinista, my fellow wolverine, is super interested in it as well. So we'll have to motivate each other.

I also just found out through my crazy downloading of everything I could find on this year princess half, so I don't have to wait until Jan/Feb of next year for pretty much the same info, that the race goes towards the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, one of my absolute favorite charities. So now I have even more of a reason to run it.

Overall, I'm really happy with my training right now. It's not overwhelming, its very do-able, and with weather like today

I am more than happy to get outside, get some VitD and just run.

I have some running essentials, that I'll probably share with you tomorrow (maybe a running-themed Things I love Thursday?), but for now, just know that this is your call to keep me on track, accountable, and motivated.

Are you a runner?

Goals and (self-purchased) Gifts

hey blogging world.

a new goal + a new purchase has brought me back to you all.

first, the purchase:

yes my lovely bloggie friends that is a canon rebel t1i.
i got an awesome deal on it at my favorite tarjay last thursday and I couldn't say no. i picked up the last one in the store, and i am so in love.

also, check out the awesome michigan law shirt

while i'm still learning how to use it, the photo quality is so much better than my crappy little point and shoot. i took it to the michigan hockey game (last game at yost of the year! so sad!) and the pictures are incredible.

oh canon rebel, currently nameless (but not for long), how i love you.

and the goal:

So see that nice event at the very bottom?

See this nice winter 2012 school schedule:

The Disney Princess Half Marathon 2012 is the first weekend of my spring break next winter.

Life goal?  here i come :)

I've actually started half-marathon training since I discovered the jogging track around the Norwegian Sky is freaking incredible at sunset. 

There's a few half's i'm considering for the summer, and if Admitted Students Weekend was any indication, Michigan Law should actually be pretty good for running support (I, and about 20 other prospective and current students def. went on a jogging tour of Ann Arbor (like I needed it) with Dean Z, head of admissions).

I'm excited to have a destination half-marathon on the horizon. It gives me a bit more to look forward to than just a half-marathon around southeastern Michigan.

And registration isn't until July-ish, so I do have some time to back out (although I'm hoping that since I've blogged about it, I won't actually back out).

Now training in December and January will totally suck balls.  But I think I can pull it off. It will def. require some hardcore winter running apparel, but I think it will be a worthy investment.

I have bunches more about UM Law admitted students weekend, running consistently again in general, and the new camera baby, but I'll save it for future blogs.

Disney Princess Marathon, February 25, 2012, Here I come.