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Product Review: Francesco Rinaldi To Be Healthy Pasta Sauce

GIVEAWAY at the end of this post! Whoo hoo.

Have I talked about Mitch’s homemade pasta sauce? Probably. I renamed it “Italian chili” because we never eat pasta around these parts (which is not my preference but his, FYI) so calling it spaghetti sauce seemed just wrong. But anyway. It’s really good and packed with goodness like lean turkey and tons of vegetables…and chipotles and olive oil, which makes it delicious but also tends to give me some less-than-fun heartburn. It’s also semi time-consuming for him, so it’s nice to have jarred sauce on hand for pasta sauce emergency.

Recently, I was sent some coupons to try Francesco Rinaldi pasta sauce, including their new “To Be Healthy” line that is made without added sugar and with Omega-3s. It’s also lower in sodium, so…score for that! But since we don’t do just regular pasta in my house, Mitch decided to make one of his signature dishes to try out the sauce: Chicken Parmigiana. We’ve had this before served with bread or pasta, but this time we went with grilled vegetables. I protested that decision at first, but eventually agreed this is totally hearty enough without the additional starch.

sauce

For full disclosure, not only did I get the sauce for free to review, but my sorority sister Jocelyn’s family owns (or manages? not totally sure) the company.

You read that right. I was in a sorority. And now we move on…

Honestly, since I’m spoiled by the homemade sauce, I wasn’t expecting a lot from Francesco Rinaldi, especially when I saw how inexpensive it was. But I was pleasantly surprised by the ingredient list and the nutrition facts. All recognizable ingredients, and I really liked how the “To Be Healthy” sauce was sugar-free. The other kind does have sugar, but it can’t be a lot because it’s only 80 calories per serving, which isn’t bad at all.

sauce (2)

I don’t have a Chicken Parm recipe for you, but it’s pretty standard. He breads the chicken with a panko/breadcrumb mixture, then pan-fries the patties until browned. Then, he pours the sauce and the boatload of cheese over the top and bakes until everything is cooked through. Since I’m not a fan of the queso, he left the cheese off my portion. I know it makes him sad that he has to do that, but it looks like he was consoled by the fact that he got 25% more cheese on his portions.

chicken parm in pan

We had our meal with a side of grilled vegetables. The orange pepper was from my CSA bounty this week and it was SO good. And yeah, a little cheese got on my chicken. And I didn’t die. Yet.

chicken

I’d definitely purchase Rinaldi To Be Healthy sauce again. The price was right, the flavors were good, and the nutritionals were great, in my opinion. I have to find someone creative to do with the jar of the “Chunky Garden” flavor that we didn’t use this time. That’s where you come in!

GIVEAWAY!

To win two free jars of Rinaldi pasta sauce:

  1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite way to enjoy jarred pasta sauce.
  2. 1 extra entries for posting about this giveaway on your blog (leave a separate comment)
  3. 1 extra entry for Tweeting: “I want to win Rinaldi pasta sauce on the @HealthyTwists blog” (or something to that effect) with a link to this post.

Good luck! And enjoy the rest of your weekend, ok? It’s almost SEPTEMBER…how nuts is that??

Organizing and Potlucking

This week, I worked on getting organized. I use Google Calendar to plan out my workouts and my dinners for the week. I know that sometimes, things will have to shift, but planning out my schedule makes me feel a lot better when I have a lot on my to-do list.

On my Google calendar, I have different colors (technically, each color is it’s own calendar but I have them all combined into the master) for categories such as workouts, yoga, bills due, going out with friends, “to-do list,” dinner meal plan, and I’ve even downloaded public calendars of important items like Jewish holidays and the Chargers schedule (season starts in a few weeks…yay…and boo since I’m totally a football widow). Once school starts, I’ll add in my assignments and other school-related tasks.

I also have my Outlook calendar at work set to synch to my Google calendar so I can see what I have on my work calendar (but not the other way around so it doesn’t have my yoga schedule on my calendar at work).

I also have birthdays on my calendar (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!). Like how I did that?

image

Do you use a calendar system? Tell me about it…Gcal, Outlook, pen and planner (how retro), or do you use one of those fancy smart phones that I’ve heard are cool but I’ll never own because I’m too cheap and it’s probably more of a “want” than a “need” anyway but that doesn’t stop me from being really jealous of anyone who has a Blackberry or iPhone?

I’m going to share some more of my organizing methods on the blog. I know nothing I’m going to do is revolutionary, but I know how stress is bad news bears for me, so I need to manage that as best I can from here on out. I don’t have the time to freak out, so I need to be prepared and thoughtful. My goal is to share some tips or thoughts along the way that help out others

Another way I plan to keep my head above water over the next few years (and beyond?) is ask for help when I need it. And plan, plan, plan. I knew I wanted to make a bean salad for a potluck at work so when Mitch called me at work and said he was going to the grocery store and did I need anything, I said, “why yes: beans, celery, and green onions, please.” I really wanted to add ice cream to the list, but I refrained.

Using a few bean salad recipes I’ve seen in blogland plus some others, I came up with this recipe and I must say, I was very pleased with how it came out. I think the little bit of sweetness made the dressing, and the crunch from the celery contrasted the mushy (in a good way!) beans.

And, you really cannot go wrong with fresh basil in the summer. I dare you to try.

Bean Salad with Basil

  • 1 can green beans
  • 1 can wax (yellow) beans
  • 1 can garbanzo beans
  • 1/2 cup green onions, sliced
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon agave nectar (or sugar)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Rinse and drain canned beans
  2. Add beans, celery, onion, and basil to a mixing bowl
  3. Combine vinegar, agave, oil, salt and peper and mix to combine
  4. Toss dressing with salad, cover, and let sit 12-24 hours. Serve!

I had the salad leftovers today for lunch. Delish. And people at the potluck really liked it too. But I’m not going to talk about why we were having a potluck from work. I’m not going to talk about cake-grilling friends leaving me to go teach in Thailand for six months. So don’t make me, ok??

American’s Finest City Half Marathon Race Recap

afc medal

I have waited a LONG time to do my half-marathon race report, and here we are! It’s so funny how you work so hard on something and it occupies so much of your brain space for so long, and then it’s over in a flash (well, a two-hour-and-forty-minute flash). I have a feeling that’s what my wedding is going to feel like too…only with different attire and different sore feet.

Anyway. Backing up to Saturday night, I spent the day running errands, drinking water, and trying to visualize a great race. Mitch made us our “carbo load” dinner of turkey burgers on whole-wheat buns with pan-fried potatoes. Nothing spicy, which in this house is pretty unheard of. We ate early and were in bed before 9. As I was drifting off to sleep (thanks, melatonin), I thought, man, wouldn’t it suck if we overslept in the morning.

Yeah, you see where this is heading. We meant to wake up at 3:45 am to eat, drink coffee, use the restroom, and leave the house at 4:45 to pick up a friend because we were giving her a ride. At 3 AM I woke up, checked the time, and forced myself to go back to sleep. I won’t mention who didn’t set the alarm properly, but at 4:30 I woke up again, looked at the time, and jumped out of bed. “Babe, get up, it’s 4:30” “oh, sh*t!” etc. So, instead of taking our time, I quickly forced down 2 slices of toast with peanut butter and honey and some coffee. I learned the hard way about getting everything ready the night before, so this time, I just grabbed my bag and off we went.

We picked up our friend Lauren, then drove to Jenny’s house, where her boyfriend gave us a ride to Balboa Park (so we wouldn’t have to deal with parking). Here’s how it worked: the race ends in the park, and we were shuttled to Cabrillio National Monument, where the race began. We had about 20 minutes or so to kill before the race started, but before I knew it, we were off! The starting area was a little confusing, but we just headed in the direction of, you know, the other 5000 people who were running.

The first couple of miles were “rolling hills” as we excited Cabrillo. I was NOT mentally prepared for hills at the start! I saw some people walking and I thought “OMG shoot me now if I have to walk already,” but I didn’t. No one around me was really talking, so Jenny and I didn’t talk either at first. I just couldn’t believe I was actually here, doing this, running a half marathon. Once we exited Cabrillo and got to the point where Jenny and I had done our 11- and 12-mile runs, I felt a little more confident. I knew what I was in for now.

I liked how they had a timer at each mile split, so we could see how we were doing. Our time at the 10k was 1:13:30, which I think was right about our time for the 4th of July 10k race. We spent the race chatting as usual (I like to pick Jenny’s brain on wedding stuff since she works for a restaurant as their events coordinator…it’s really fun for her). I also spent some time looking at the spectators (“Go Mommy” signs made me smile), reading people’s shirts (my favorite: Please, let there be someone behind me to read this” and “this seemed like a good idea 3 months ago”). I could tell it was going to be over before I knew it, so I wanted to really remember and experience the whole thing.

When I crossed the 9-mile mark at 1:49, I thought about Mitch and how he was done or nearly at that point. (His goal was to make it under 1:50.) He makes it look so easy, huh? (And…let’s talk about the sweat band for a minute. Sexy.)

AFC

Ok, now back to me. This was around the point my stomach started feeling off, and I slowed down a little, but I didn’t stop! I was drinking my “light” Gatorade throughout the race, but I didn’t end up eating my sports beans because I didn’t want to mess with fumbling in my fuel belt, and I thought the sugar burst might upset my tummy further.

At about mile 10, Jenny picked up her pace and left me in the dust (I kid). I was actually glad to run the last 3 miles solo. I put on my music and thought, “this is MY race…it’s all me.” There might have been Britney Spears’ “Stronger” played 3 times in a row, but I’ll never tell.

When I got to the dreaded “6th Ave hill” I knew I was so close to being done! At this point, I was basically with all the walkers or the walk/runners…but I wasn’t walking and that’s all that matters! I didn’t let myself look up the hill; I just focused about two feet in front of me and plugged away. When I passed mile 12 at the top of the hill as I entered Balboa Park, I felt a surge of adrenaline kick in. New PDR! I didn’t walk up the hill! I was almost there!

 mad race face

(Crappy race photo, but the look on my face is just awesome.)

My foot starting cramping, and I thought to myself, “oh HELL no this isn’t happening now. Just push through!” Then I started feeling a kinda lightheaded, but when I saw the finish line, nothing else mattered. All of a sudden, I looked to my left and saw Mitch, who was looking for me but didn’t see me until I almost ran into him. “Go Baby Go!” he yelled out. “I didn’t walk!” I yelled in return and tried to “sprint” into the end.

hallie_finisherr.cfm

I ran through the finish line, throwing my arms up at the last minute and attempting to smile. I thought I would cry at the end, but I think I was too concerned with not passing out to reflect on my achievement. I grabbed some water, and met Mitch and Jenny. Mitch ended up finishing in 1:48:44 (woo hoo!) and Jenny in 2:33ish. We went over to the tents, but they were all out of Jamba Juice samples and I knew brunch was coming so I didn’t eat anything.

A walk to the car, a quick stop at home to shower, and we were off to brunch. Gina, you mentioned something about celebrating responsibly. You can stop reading now.

brunch food

Actually, half that plate was veggies and fruit, so I guess it’s not so bad. But this was plate 1, mind you. I’ll let you imagine my omelet plate and dessert sampler. And two mimosas.

After brunch, we passed out for a few hours, woke up and went to a family friends’ house for a barbecue (read: even more yummy food). My stomach was NOT happy with me for everything I put it through on Sunday, but oh well.

Remember what I said about my ring getting tight when my hands are swollen? Here’s what it looked like after the race.

ring from race

Totally not just a gratuitous ring pic. Not at all.

So the question now is, will I do another half? Well, probably not anytime soon. The long runs took a lot out of me, and I need to focus more energy on school from here on out. But I’m sure I’ll do another half at some point. The nice thing about a time of 2:39 is that there’s lots of room for improvement.

I want to take the next few months to improve on my overall fitness (which I feel is lacking as of late, half marathon or not) and figure out how to incorporate healthy living into an insanely busy schedule. I’ll sacrifice some things (sigh…adios, Real Housewives) but workout out is essential and eating right are non-negotiable. As best I can, I want to document this here on the blog, because I know I’m not the only one doing the work/school thing, and I want to prove it can be done.

13.1 For the Bucket List

I did it!

Final time: 2:39:27

NO WALKING! (can you tell I’m happy about that?)

Full recap to come. I was going to write it tonight, but a few things came up and it couldn’t happen. But I wanted to let you all know that I’m alive!

hallie_finisherr.cfm

This is my stolen photo from the “official” race photos. Thanks to my blog reading, I knew to be smiling and throw my arms up at the camera when I was done.

Half Marathon Training: Week 15 Recap

Can we talk about how, in a week, I will have ran a HALF MARATHON?

Seriously. One week from today. It’s a little surreal. I mean, how long have I been talking about this? I only registered for it back in January. Oh I remember January. I was about 10 lbs lighter than I am today (wow…typing that out was pretty difficult) and running sure was easier than it’s been these past few weeks/months. But, I never quit, which I think says something about my determination. Today on my run, I thought to myself, “I can totally do this…I can do anything.”

My life is about to change in some wonderful yet slightly scary ways (grad school, getting married, etc) and training for this race has really taught me a lot about what I’m willing to do for the things that I want. I’m willing to work hard, I’m willing to sacrifice a little (but not too much) and, with the support of my friends and loved ones, I’m pretty sure I can reach just about any goal I set for myself if I truly want it.

Unless I wanted to be a ballerina. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do that. I’m clumsy.

So, here we have my workouts for the week. I actually got in a mid-week run! Fancy that.

Monday: 10 min ab work, some stretching, and a 30ish-minute speedy walk with Nina.

Tuesday: Nada. Mitch has his 12-miler on this day, in which he ran from his work to my work and then I drove him back to his car. Then we got Mexican food. Which is not great on a no-exercise day, but what can ya do? It was delicious, I’ll say that much.

Wednesday: I went to my BFF’s house for a little Bachelorette-finale viewing party. I only started watching the show this season, at the very end, but I think I’m into it now! Anyway, I squeezed in a 3-mile run in about 32 minutes…with my last mine in 10:47, which is pretty good, for me.

wedding side note: at girl’s night, I awkwardly asked my friend to be my maid of honor…let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t have to propose to Mitch. Pressure! And the whole, asking my friends, like, “I know you love me, want to spend a bunch of money on a dress I pick out for you, oh and want to throw me parties”? Ick.I feel so selfish with this wedding stuff, but I just keep reminding myself I’m allowed that between now and next July, I guess.

Thursday: I was going to go to the gym, but I forgot to bring my clothes to work. So instead, for fun, I decided to do the Insanity Fit Test, since I heard it was a workout in itself. Umm I about died, but I loved it. It made me feel very un-fit compared to the people on the screen, but I can tell I’m going to enjoy the workouts, in a totally sadistic way. I then did about 20 minutes of a boring Pilates video before I gave up.

Friday: I went on a 47-minute walk with Nina. At 8:45 at night (I went around my neighborhood, so I was safe. Plus, I don’t know if you know this, but Nina is ferocious). This was because I met Mitch for sushi at 6 after I got off work because he was on a break. Oh, the things we do for love and sushi. So it wasn’t the most comfortable walk ever, but that’s ok.

Saturday: Since Sunday’s run was “only” 8 miles (HA) I decided to hit the gym for some upper-body lifting and stair-climber action. I tried to use challenging weights but not totally “shred” myself, and my minimal soreness today means I succeeded! I normally love DOMS, but not today.

Sunday: This was a big day. First off, my last long run before the half! But also, Jenny was working so I had to run alone. I felt like I needed to do this, to make sure I had it in me to run for a long time with nothing but my thoughts and my iPod. I ran 8 miles in 1:34:39, so just under a 12 min/mile pace. This is the longest I’ve ever run by myself! No walk breaks, even when I started to (mentally) struggle around mile 6-7 and even when my knees started to ache (that’s getting annoying, btw).

I ran mid-morning so it was warm, but I felt really (mentally) strong on this run (refer to the beginning of this post). It helps that I actually have things to think about other than, “man…running is hard.” My brain was all…wedding…school…work….ow my knees….wedding…mmm coconut water…wedding…

And now it’s 13.1 or bust! One silly little week. To those who have been following my journey, thank you! I need all the support I can  get, and yours helps more than you can believe.

Chip Taste-Testing and a Raisin Recipe

“You get some weird things in the mail.”

This is what my darling fiancé said when I came home to this:

redlentils

I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was on Jenna’s blog that I found a link where I could request a sample of red lentils. And, since I’m planning on milking the “I’m a college student” thing for all it’s worth over the next two years, who am I to turn down free? I love red lentils. I think I’ll make this or this, or maybe I’ll get really creative and make this (er….probably not). Now, I know these lentils would probably cost me $0.45, but hey, getting legumes in the mail is cool, I challenge anyone to tell me otherwise!

In addition to the red lentils, I was the lucky winner of Nicole’s Food Should Taste Good giveaway, so the good FSTG folks sent me SIX varieties of their chips to try! We got: Jalapeno, Sweet Potato, Blue Corn, The Works, Lime, and Multigrain. So far, I’ve tried the Jalapeno and Sweet Potato flavors. Mitch has been snacking on the Jalapeno ones, and my hand keeps finding its way into the Sweet Potato bag, funny how that works. I think the Lime ones will be really tasty the next time we have World Famous Bean Dip.

FSTGbox

But honestly? I am not blown away by the FSTG, so far. I guess I’ve read how other bloggers rave about them so much that they got hyped up in my mind (the same thing happened when I finally got around to watching The Blind Side) and they were good, but not life-changing. I think I like my chips saltier, perhaps? I do like the all-natural ingredient list, but the tortilla chips we usually get are just corn, oil, and salt, so that’s pretty natural as well.

I’d give the chips a 7 out of 10, so I mean, they are good. Just not $5/bag good, in my opinion. But I know I need to try more flavors before I can really determine my FSTG stance. I tried to get a photo of all six bags, but Nina started investigating and that was more fun, for me anyway (I’m starting the #illneverbeaprofoodblogger hash tag on Twitter, ok?)

FSTGandNina2

Like me, she wasn’t totally impressed.

FSTGandNina

Oh and guess what I did today! I baked. I’ve been really wanting to get more creative in the kitchen, and Mitch gave me some chocolate-covered raisins that he got at work, and I have a going away/fundraiser BBQ for a friend who is going to Thailand for six (!!!) months to teach English. If that combination is not recipe for…well, a recipe, I’m not sure what is.

Raisin-Rasinete Oatmeal Bars
Adapted a bit from this recipe

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup  flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups quick cooking oats
  • ½ cup raisins
  • ¾ cup chocolate covered raisins (chop up the big pieces)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9×13” pan.
  2. Cream the butter and sugars together in a large bowl until smooth. Add in the egg and mix until well combined.
  3. In a smaller bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and oats together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir lightly until combined.
  4. Add in the raisins and the chocolate-covered raisins and mix. Add the dough to the prepared pan. You’ll have to spread it around a bit, because the dough is pretty thick.
  5. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before cutting into bars. Makes 24, or however many you cut!

And here’s my confession. I didn’t end up with a photo (but it’s not hard to envision.) This recipe needs help…because they took forever to set! They were all gooey after 18 minutes, even after I let them cool. So…I might have cut them into pieces and then put them back in the oven for another 5 minutes and they finally seemed right.

If you go to the original recipe, maybe you can help me figure out what happened, given my changes? The 10 minutes the recipe called for baking left them still raw, so I just kept them in until they looked done but I guess I misjudged. I think they’re cooked (as in, I won’t give the guests salmonella), so I’m going to bring them and I think people will eat them (if I had vanilla ice cream, I’d be a hero, but I don’t know what happened. Ah well, such is life.

If you make a cookie/brownie/bar/cake recipe for other people and it didn’t turn out as you expected, would you still serve it? Clearly, I will. As I’ve said before, I think homemade treats are so rare these days that they will get eaten, no matter what!

Half Marathon Training: Week 14 Recap

So…I may or may not be watching the newest Real Housewives of New Jersey while writing this post. Don’t judge me.

The other day, Mitch commented that I haven’t been updating my blog too much lately…and he doesn’t even read it, haha! I think he was showing it to a coworker or something. But of course, it’s the truth. I’ve figured out the new direction of my blog, but I still need some time to redo my About Me page and really flesh out the details. But, expect a shiny and new(ish) Healthy Twists in the next month or so. I’m about to enter a crazy new chapter in my life, and I hope my blog will reflect that.

Wedding Update: We got the location we wanted! I can’t be too specific for privacy reasons, but we selected a place that has a lot of significance for us but I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen. But it’s on! Now I just have to decide if I want to do it 4th of July weekend or pick a different week. Pros: an extra day for travel for guests, my anniversary will be near a holiday and I like that. Cons: I’m worried some vendors will be more pricy that weekend.

In half marathon training, this was a BIG week. My longest run before the race was yesterday, and I’m still here to talk about it! I cannot believe it’s just two weeks away. At this point, I feel like I’m as ready as I’m going to be fitness-wise, it’s just a matter of keeping myself healthy (that mid-summer sickness seems to be going around) and counting down the days until 8/15!!

So other then yesterday’s run, last week is a bit of a blur. Luckily, I’ve been keeping track of my food and exercise with my LoseIt app, so I can look up what I did. Technology…gotta love it…

Monday: Haha…apparently I ran for 5 minutes and then gave up. Like I said, I don’t remember that. But I did walk Nina for 50 minutes and did 10 minutes of yoga. I really should do yoga everyday (and you should, too). Just 10 minutes makes me feel so good (TWSS?)…but I am just not that good at motivating my inner yogi, it seems.

Tuesday: I did a run/walk session with Nina, with mostly running and some hill work. I was out for about 40 minutes and maybe covered 3 miles? Hills = hard! But it felt good to get a good workout in with my pup.

Wednesday: Per usual as of late, Wed was gym day…my fav! I did 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by a half an hour of lifting weights and some stretching. I had evening plans so I had to cut the workout short, boo.

Thursday: I was sore and emotionally tired, so I wanted to take the day off. Nina convinced me, by virtue of her being really cute, to take her on an easy-ish 40-minute walk. Relationships are about compromise, after all.

Friday: Another Nina walk (~50 minutes) day (I’ve been doing more mid-week walks and Mitch takes over on weekends, so we can coordinate our long-run days. It seems to be working). But I knew after this walk that I was not going to do any formal exercise the next day.

Saturday: Other than laundry (which TOTALLY counts as exercise in my book) and some errand-running and condo-cleaning, I kept my promise to myself and didn’t work out. Because…

Sunday: 12 MILES!! We did the same route as last week and added a mile at the end, basically. And it took forever an a century (aka, two and a half hours) but it felt good (emotionally, not physically, duh) because for the first time, we ran in some warmer temps and I didn’t punk out going up the hill at the end. Mentally, I needed both of those things to happen. Now, I know I will do this race under three hours (umm…the course limit), I know my knees will start to ache around mile 8, but I’ll get to the end.

I came home, took a glorious shower, and pretty much sat on my couch the rest of the day, exhausted. I am enjoying these lazy days while I still have them…once school starts, that’s all history.

And have I mentioned we’re going to a “free-flowing champagne” brunch after the half? We’re warning them ahead of time…4 (or 5) half-marathoners and some spectators are planning on doing some damage to the waffle bar. I’m just saying…

Half Marathon Training: Week 13 Recap

Or, Don’t Run With Your Car Alarm in Your Sports Bra (alternative title)

This week’s training recap will be a little more entertaining than most, so I’m just going to get into it. Well, first, remember when I ran a 4 mile race and then couldn’t remember where I parked my car and Mitch had to rescue me? Yes? Ok then. Keep that in mind.

Monday: 10 min yoga, some stretching, and a 45-minute walk with Nina.

Tuesday: 35 minute walk with Nina (I had some extra mommy duties this week since Mitch was working a lot.)

Wednesday: Gym session! I did 10 min warmup on the stair climber, then about 50 minutes of lifting weights followed by 10 min of foam rolling and stretching. I decided to do some lower-body work, and I was reminded for the next two days how much lunges and squats KILL me. That’s probably why I should keep doing ‘em, right?

Thursday: I walked Nina for about 40 minutes before work, and then after work I had these grand plans of running that ended after 10 minutes. But I guess 10 minutes of running is better than none!

Friday: I ran for about 50 minutes after work. It was only 4.25ish miles but I really didn’t feel like I was going that slow, so I’m not sure what was going on. I was still super sore, so that was probably part of it. That was when I decided I was taking the day off on Saturday if it was the last thing I did!

Saturday: See above. I did no formal exercise but got in plenty of NEAT due to running errands, doing a ton of laundry, and then working an overtime shift where I was opening and closing doors for people all night (don’t ask). I also stretched, stretched, stretched.

Sunday: LONG run day! 11 miles on the schedule. Here’s where it got interesting.

In the morning, I learned that when “they” tell you to have all your gear ready the night before, you should listen. I couldn’t find my nifty fuel belt, and I was running late so I just took my water bottle, my Sport Beans and my keys, and off I went.

The plan was to meet Jenny at point A, drive in her car to point B, then run back to my car at point A and then I would drive her back to point B to get her car. From A to B was a large portion of the actual half marathon route, so we wanted to see what it felt like. For the San Diego peeps, we started in Point Loma in a residential neighborhood, ran around Harbor Island then through downtown and ended in Balboa Park. Non locals: that’s FAR.

I locked my keys and cell phone in my car and just took my car alarm (see where I’m going now?). Jenny drove us to the spot in Point Loma, and we were off. It was a really cute neighborhood and I had lots of wedding talk to distract myself from the daunting task ahead. Neither of us had our watches on us, but I was actually happy to not know my time. Most of the run was uneventful. I liked not running a loop, because the whole time I was running towards the end! My knees started to ache around, mile 8 or so, which was odd because I usually don’t get knee pain. I just kept plugging along and it seemed to subside.

Probably somewhere during mile 10, up a long (but not super steep) hill, I let my emotions get the best of me and we stopped to walk for maybe(?) a quarter-mile. Did I “need” to walk? Like last week, I guess I don’t know. Maybe I don’t have the mental strength to get through this, but I believe I am still allowed to be proud of myself and what I accomplished, walk break and all.

I think we finished the 11 miles in about 2 hours and 15 minutes, which is fine with me considering the walk break and some stoplights. My goal from the get-go was to finish this race and not get injured during the process, and as of now I’m on track to meet that goal. This has been really, really hard (which I think is the point), and I know I’m not training “perfectly” and while part of that bothers me, I need to stop asking more of myself than I would ask of anyone else. I would be SO proud of anyone else who did what I have done thus far. So there :-)

Back to my story. We collapse on the grass for a few minutes, stretch, and head towards my car to go home. I click the “unlock” button to get into my car and….nothing. THE CAR WON’T UNLOCK. Um. Crap? I’m starving, sweaty, and thirsty, and now we seem to be stranded. Apparently, my brilliant plan of keeping my alarm in my bra was not the idea. At least now I know, sweat kills electronics. And, if I had my damn Camelback belt, none of this would have happened. My grumpiness level was doubled when I realized that one.

Jenny and I duck into a nearby shop and luckily, the store manager takes pity on us and lets us use his phone. I call Mitch. No answer. She calls her boyfriend. No answer. Repeat. At this point, we really didn’t know what to do, but Jenny figured her guy was probably home taking a nap or something. He didn’t live that far away, so she called one more time to tell him we were on our way to him. And off we went…walking 2 miles on the now-hot sun (because my feet needed that) to her boyfriend’s house.

The whole time, we’re wondering what we’re going to do if he isn’t home. Thank goodness, Jenny’s boyfriend was home, and I used his phone and finally reached Mitch, who said he would come meet me at my car. If you’re counting, this makes TWICE he’s had to rescue me, post-run. Jenny drops me off at my car (and then they go off to get hers, 11 miles away) and I wait around and stretch and fantasize about In-N-Out until Mitch finds me and delivers my spare key so I can get into my car.

By the time I got home, it was almost 2 PM. Since 7:30 AM all I’d had to eat was half a bagel with peanut butter and honey, and about 115 calories of Sport Beans and G2 (low-calorie Gatorade). And I ran 11+ miles and walked 2+. You do the math on that one.

I had the best wrap in the history of wraps (grilled salmon, roasted veggies, whole-wheat tortilla) and proceeded to crash on the couch for the rest of the day until I met up with a girlfriend for frozen yogurt and more wedding talk.

Today, my knees still feel a little tender, but honestly I’m surprised I’m not in more pain. So maybe I’m in decent shape after all? And now that I’ve had several showers and several more meals, it’s a pretty darn funny story.

And with that…what did you do this weekend? Was your Sunday more eventful than mine?

P.S. I found my fuel belt today. It was not on the floor or kitchen table where I thought I had left it, but actually put away in it’s proper place. The fact that I didn’t even think to look there should tell you something about my cleaning habits, or lack thereof.

Half Marathon Training: Week 12 Recap

Thanks for all your sweet words about my engagement. It’s still kinda crazy to think that what happened last week really happened, but I’ve always seen how “life events” and really show you the type of people you have in your life, and I know I’m really lucky to have the support system around me that I do. Seeing how truly happy people are for Mitch and me is just so great.

A few things on my mind since last Tuesday:

  1. This ring I have now. How do I take care of it and keep it sparkly? Should I take it off in the shower/going to sleep/working out/doing dishes/cooking? So far it’s been yes/yes/no/yes/no.
  2. My ring is a bloat-barometer. Normally, it’s a little loose, but after a salty meal it’s a lot tighter on my finger. The next time I get Mexican food should be a hoot.
  3. Surfing wedding blogs and websites was fun when it was all hypothetical. Now, they induce panic attacks. So I stopped that, and quick.
  4. I’m trying to “enjoy being engaged” for a little bit and not jump full-force into planning mode, but that’s not my style so it’s hard. I’m a anal-retentive planner. But I told Mitch to tell me to “SHUT UP” when I start getting all wedding-y and keep me in check.

And there we go.

Here were my workouts this week. Per the advice of some of you folks, I took the week off from running because I was worried that I was showing the starting signs of plantar fasciitis.

Monday: According to the LoseIt application on my iPod touch (yea, as of a few weeks ago, I’m counting calories to try to get back to a “happier size”…does it make me obsessive? Not any more than I am anyway, and it’s shown to be a useful took thus far) I did ten min of stretching and ten min of yoga. So, a rest day.

Tuesday: Before my big night, I went to the gym for some cross-training. I did ten min on the Stairmaster to warm up, then about 45-50 minutes of weight training and finished with 30 min on the elliptical. Holy DOMS! Squats and lunges (and I did like, one set of lunges since I hate them so) will do that to me every time.

Wednesday: Remember what I said about DOMS and drinking a lot of wine on Tuesday night? Umm…today was a rest day. 100%. It was also a “empty carb” day, but that’s neither here nor there.

Thursday: I took Nina out for almost an hour of hilly walking. I love love LOVE taking my dog for walks. It’s good exercise for both of us, and since I’m not hating my life like I often do when I run, I can actually enjoy the ocean views and my ring in the sunshine.

Friday: Another walk, although this time I tried to include some running intervals to test out my foot so it took about 42 min. I also did ten min of ab work.

Saturday: Another XT day! I think this is the first time the gym saw my swipe card twice in one week in a LONG time. I once again did my version of Susan’s upper-body interval workout . I think it ended up being 25 min (total) cardio and 55 minutes of weight lifting. Then Mitch and I went to Costco and Vons, so it was a fairly active day (more on that in a bit).

Sunday: Long run…hello, double digits! Jenny and I ran 10 miles today. We did two loops around the lake where we did our 10k (part of the race was getting to and from the lake so the lake itself is 5 miles). I was dragging and hitting “the wall” towards the end so I told J to go ahead of me. I ended up finishing in 2:00:25, and that includes a 1-2 minute “stretch/eat Sports Beans" break halfway through. So my running pace was ~11:50/mile? I can’t decide if that little break helped me or not, but I wanted to see how it felt.

I have spent the rest of the day being hungry lazy. I’m also trying to drink a lot of water and I’m going to ice/stretch again before bed.

Reflections:

I definitely liked the little rest from running this week. I think I really needed it, and I still got some decent workouts in, even with some top-notch celebrating. And I did, as promised, focus on stretching which is always fun in that “I <3 Torture” kinda way.

Today’s run was HARD.  My heart/lungs were ok for the most part, but my legs felt like jelly after 3 miles and I was having trouble with the distance mentally. I think last week’s 9 miles felt easier, even though I didn’t have the foot pain at the end I did last time (whoo!).

Summer has finally decided to grace San Diego with it’s presence, so the heat was part of it. And I think my legs were more fresh last Sunday since I laid around and did NOTHING last Saturday.

I’m trying to stay positive and be happy about my accomplishments, but as I mentioned last week it’s been a bit of a struggle as of late. I don’t think the long-distance thing gives me the joy it gives others (e.g., my fiancé), and I don’t think I need to devote hours of my spare time to something that makes me more grumpy than happy. But I don’t know. Maybe four weeks from today (AHHH) I’ll look back and it’ll all be worth it and I’ll be signing up for the Carlsbad Half. The way I feel now, though…I doubt it.

Bummertown feelings aside…I ran TEN MILES today, and there’s lots of people who will never be able to say that, so overall I’m proud of myself. I remember clearly when I would get side cramps after running for 5 minutes, so the fact that I ran for 2 hours today is pretty darn cool, no matter what.

When Facebook Asks, You Answer

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Ok, that’s not really how it happened, but for some reason this message on my computer cracked me up (just like when Facebook asked me to confirm my status as my mother’s daughter). Can you imagine if someone really was proposed to that way? And, on a related note, how does anyone keep secrets in the age of social media, and how did anyone spread the word about exciting news before Facebook?

Since I hit the “confirm” button, it must be true! Mitch and I got engaged last night. It was pretty awesome, and I’m still kinda getting over the shock. I had a tiny thought in the back of my head it might happen, but I was trying to not think about it because I wanted to enjoy my anniversary even if he didn’t propose.

Before dinner, as planned, we went to La Jolla to take some photos. I took my little tripod and we set the self-timer.

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This viewpoint overlooking the beach has special significance for us because for our first date, we grabbed Starbucks and then went to this exact spot and chatted for hours. I hadn’t been back there in…exactly four years! It was a gorgeous day, as you can tell.

We took about three or four photos with sunglasses on, off, etc (still trying to rock the arm thing in pictures! And I still think I look dumb.). The sun was not in a great spot for the pics at this time of day, but we managed. I’m not crazy about how I look in any of the photos (well, except the ones below) but whatever.

Then, before I knew what was happening, here we were.

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Now…this wasn’t totally what either one of us were expecting. He was trying to capture the moment on camera, so he sorta blurted out the big question. Then, due to nerves, he grabbed the wrong hand, and also due to nervous, I started cracking up. But looking back on it, we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. This photo is so….us.

(insert phone calls to parents and text messages to friends before my phone died, whoops)

(insert celebratory dinner that included more wine than should ever be discussed on a healthy-living blog. And Italian rum cake with a candle in it “on the house” from the restaurant.)

Mitch, knowing this was going to be a special night, booked us a really nice room at a hotel that was around the corner from the restaurant. Actually, it was a suite. Complete with full kitchen, two bathrooms, etc.

The rest of the night was spent reading Facebook messages (please tell me we aren’t the only ones with the FB sh*t, my newly married/engaged friends!) and me staring at my ring. And I still can’t stop looking at it. Not only because it’s pretty darn lovely, but also because of what it symbolizes. We’ve talked about marriage a lot but now it’s like…OK, we’re REALLY doing this now, holy crap!!

The hotel staff gave us some flowers and had this note to accompany them:

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Mission. Accomplished.

I’m really happy! And a little overwhelmed. And more than a little hungover. But mostly, just really really excited.

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