Double Whammy

My pictures from the weekend are completely out of control.   Between Thursday-Sunday a lot happened so I'm going to just roll with it and go through my attempt to document everything that happened this weekend.  

Thursday something exciting happened.   If you're a runner, you will understand. 

New Shoes!!!!!!  Newton Shoes are something I've been wanting to try for a while so I'm so excited they arrived at my door step.   I'll give you an update on these beauties when I've ran in them some more.

I had to try them on right away, even with my work pants on.

On Saturday I got up in the wee hours of the morning to get out to the PaceSetters Fox Cities Marathon training run.   It was warm, humid and I knew instantly it was going to be a rough run when I woke up that morning feeling like I was hung over when I didn't drink any alcohol the night before (shocker!).   I like these training runs because they actually have water and gatorade stations set up along the course route and those can be so helpful now that the temps are staying pretty warm.  

Saturday was also Mike's birthday so after the training run, I headed to a bakery that Mike loves the donuts from and bought 8 donuts, for the 4 of us.   Yes, we are gluttons.

We got a sitter on Saturday night and went out to drink some alcohol. 

The Someecard I put on Mike's Facebook.   We are classy.

I didn't do a great job documenting the evening but I managed about 6 unusable pictures of Lish and I because I really suck at taking selfies when I've had a couple drinks.  

Sunday we all know was Fathers day so not only did I have Mike's birthday but also Fathers day so I basically had to be an awesome wife all weekend.   It was rough but I think I made it through good without and of my normal bitchy wifeness. 

We went to my parents for a cook out and managed to gain a couple more pounds from all the food.   I made cupcakes.   And now I have like a dozen left over to eat the rest of the day. 

The girls went swimming for the first time in my parents pool so that's all they cared about. 

Aubri was not allowed to go swimming and that made her sad.

My daddio.

 Kids having a dance party.

And then we finished the day off with the summer fun run for the kids.   It's an awesome run that basically the kids have to run either 1/4 or 1/2 and then get pizza, dilly bars, cookies, fruit etc after.   It's such a fun event and my girls really look forward to it.  

Overall it was a great weekend.   This week will be a little off.   I will be traveling later in the week and the temps for where I am going are supposed to be just under 100 degrees.   I'm really unsure of how I will get my long run in with those temps when I'm not used to that at all.   We'll see what happens! 

Things I can't get enough of...

Toast with Peanut Butter, Sliced strawberries and honey on top.   It's is soooooo amazingly good and I can not get enough.   You're better off not trying this because you wont want to stop eating it.  Also, why does it look like I have a mustache in the above picture?  Seriously.   I'm grossed out. 

Head wraps.   This one has made it's appearance on Instagram quite a bit already.   My bangs are sort of a hot mess right now and these things hold them back so well for runs and yoga.

Brussel Sprouts.   I can't get enough.  I buy them in the steam packs and eat them all up.  If I'm feeling crazy, I even add a little hummus and mix it on up.

 Speaking of hummus, I used it on pretty much everything now.  I never eat mayo anymore and I missed tuna sandwiches so one day it dawned on me to mix some hummus in with the tuna.   It's so freaking good.   Try it.   It's good for you. 

So the moral of this post is that I eat a lot.   Almost all of this was about what I eat.   Also I must like to have my picture taken with food because that seems to be the only thing I do now.  

My best photo bomb ever!

After the Cellcom half marathon, they updated us when our pictures were ready.   Apparently not all of them were upload because Lish told me that later she checked and there were more pictures of her that were tagged.   Naturally I had to see if there were more pictures of myself and I am so excited I did.   I think I found one of my favorite pictures to date.  

I totally ruined that ladies finish line photo!!!  Could you imagine if you were her and you go look at your pictures only to have this tall freak hovering over you in your photo?   I'd be pissed if I were her.  

Anyway on to other news.   I actually had a pretty big accomplishment this weekend.   I had a cookout with a bunch of friends and I was so determined to do well with food and drinks that I actually avoided having even one beer.   It was sad to watch everyone else enjoying them but I am so sick of having to get back on track every single Monday and having to start over after over indulging every single weekend.   I did have two desserts though.  Baby steps. 

I still need to get my long run in today and I'm not sure when that will happen.  Mike's working so unless my girls make plans with one of their grandmas (hint hint mom), I'll have to wait until after 6:30 to get out there.   It's only 6 miles today, which is just not long but you know the second you tell your brain it's not going to be long, it goes into lazy mode and it turns into the hardest run to date so prepare yourself for a daily mile update whining about everything possible later today. 

Have a great Sunday everyone! 

Friday Foto Dump

Mike's new friend.   We were driving along and he was walking in the road.   We ended up putting him in the grass, hopefully he doesn't go back in the road.

Proud mom moment.   A parent came up to me last week when I went to pick the girls up from school and said "I just saw your daughter blow everyone away on the half mile run!  It was so fun to watch!"  The other day I got the results of her half mile run sent home.   I'm so jealous!  She also got 1st place for the summer fun run this past Sunday which is also a half mile run. 

The girls have been begging us to take them fishing for a long time.   Finally we did and the girls sort of enjoyed it.   Neither of them caught anything and they were actually well behaved for how boring it was to just sit there.   Mike caught one small fish that we threw back in.

Hot yoga makes me look gangster.  I'm likin' it.   I seriously am in love with Hot Power Yoga again.   Too bad it's going to maybe get hot here some day soon and then it might not sounds so great to go into a 90 degree room to do power yoga.

I love beer.  That is all.

My favorite lunch of the week goes to this.   It's a tuna melt made with wild caught albacore tuna mixed with 1-2 tbs. of hummus on whole wheat toast.   Topped with tomato and dairy free cheese.   It was amazing!

Happy Friday everyone!  Enjoy your weekend and try to get outside!

Designer Whey Review

Where do I even begin?   I was given the opportunity through Fitfluential to sample and review a bunch of Designer Whey Products.   Boy were they generous!

The first thing I dug into were the bars.   Honestly, these things taste way too good.  They are just delicious. 

Here is the nutritional information for the Chocolate Carmel Crunch Bar:

While I do enjoy all of the protein and vitamins that came packed into these bars, I can't help but notice the extensive ingredients list.   Normally I would try to keep that list much closer to 5-6 items, but this is not the case for these.   For me, these would still be considered a treat.   A very delicious treat mind you.

My favorite thing I received from Designer Whey surprised me.   I usually wouldn't buy a prepackaged shake for after a work out but these shakes surpassed my expectations.   They were absolutely delicious!  At only 100 calories and 18g of protein these were perfect for my after run snack.   It kept me full feeling until my next meal and did I mention how delicious these were?  You can check them out here.

They also included two different protein powders for me to try as well.   One of them being White Chocolate.   I instantly opened that baby up and made a protein shake.    I used vanilla coconut milk, frozen raspberries and white chocolate protein powder.   It was amazing!

 One scoop is 100 calories and brings in 18g of protein as well.    They have other flavors which include Belgian chocolate, double chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and more.  

The last product I tried was the Protein 2go.   They come in three flavors:  Lemonade, Mixed Berry, and Tropical Orange. 

They are very convenient on the go packets of powder that you pour into your water bottle for when you are on the go.   Each pack contains 50 calories and 10g of protein.   I expected to really like the Lemonade but was surprised that it didn't really taste much like lemonade at all.   It was too sweet and just kind of had an odd flavor to me.   The mixed berry was my favorite and I had no problem drinking that one!

One of my favorite features about Designer Whey is their website.   They have tons of recipes, many submitted by bloggers, on their website.   They have smoothies, oatmeal, baked goods and more.   I made the banana bread oatmeal and it actually tasted a lot like banana bread!  You can check them out here. 

I also want to mention something about Designer Whey.   I'm sure you've read about them before and there is a reason for that.   They only use high quality ingredients and I truly appreciate that.   They don't have a bunch of junk fillers in their protein powders.   They have a special formula that is made to help with recovery, build lean muscle, suppress your appetite and just overall help you achieve your fitness goals.   I always have a hard time deciding on which protein powders to go with since there are so many out there but I know with Designer Whey you are getting a quality product.  

You can follow Designer Whey too!

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Almost summer!

It's officially getting close to the end of my girls school year and the point in which my work hours decrease quite a bit.   One of the great things about me taking this position is that they allow me to work whatever I would like during the summer and being that I have never had my girls in daycare, I plan to keep it that way.   Mike works a really random schedule so the days that he has off during the week, I will work and the days he works, I will not.   That way the mini's can still do swimming lessons, soccer and any other fun outdoor activities they so wish.   Most importantly, I can still work on my tan. 

I'm hoping once my hours decrease a bit, I will be able to get some of my workouts in a bit easier.   Last week I had a really successful week in fitness.   I managed two days of yoga, running (even a long run), some walking and lots of weights.   It felt wonderful.   This week has of course started off slow.  Yesterday I kept thinking it was Monday and I normally don't run on Monday so I didn't run.   Then I realized it was Tuesday and once again was reminded of what an idiot I am.  

It's starting to get hot here.   I had one run last week that was hot but it didn't even compare to my run tonight.   So humid.    I ate a total of 3 bugs.   I'm not sure if they were "Mikes" (gnats) or lake flies.   I think the two taste the same or cause the same hacking smokers cough when you breath one right into your lung. 

Sweaty mess

This weekend was anything but relaxing.   We had two weddings to attend and my nephews birthday party so between drinking and sobering up I was lucky to get in a "long" run of 8 miles.   I'm kind of in limbo right now between training.   It's a tad bit early to start marathon training again so I'm trying to keep a good strong base before I start killing myself all over again. 

I also had my 3 month check up for my blood work.   If you don't recall, I was pretty badly anemic and my vitamin D was low as well.    After taking my iron pills and vitamin D pills religiously, I am happy to report my Vitamin D levels are within normal range.   I also have bad new.    My iron has barely improved at all.    I'm still completely anemic.   I was shocked when I saw the results.    I'm not really sure what they are going to do now.   The office finally called me today about it and ask me if I was actually taking my iron pills because of how little my levels changed.   I told them yes and that was sort of where the phone call ended.   I finally called them back and talked to a nurse to see what is next and she said she would pass that along to my doctor and they will call back tomorrow.    I forgot to mention to them that I also have added some meat back into my diet in hopes to help increase my levels and apparently that effort was worthless (but delicious). 

Past two results

Hopefully I can get this under control and feel a difference!

Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon

With finishing this half marathon, I finally feel like my body has improved over time and it shows with my ability to run two half marathons two weeks apart and still feel normal.   I remember last year, after running my first half marathon, that my legs were dead.   They didn't want to function for at least a couple of weeks after and even then, it was a slow come back.  

On the morning of the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon/Half Marathon I got up nice and early at 4 am.   I wanted to shower before hand because I knew the temps were going to be warm and I wanted my hair to be damp before even starting.   I also think showering really wakes me up and makes me feel alive.  At 5am Lish picked me up and we made the 45 minute drive to Green Bay.   Parking was easy and everything was smooth running.  

My goals for the race was to have fun.   Like I previously posted, I had struck gold and got a bib for free from a man named Joe.   I had not planned to run this race because it was only 2 weeks after the Wisconsin half and I wasn't sure I would be up to it.   The half marathon sold out way early so that was that.   Luck would have it that I happened to see someone wanting to give their bib away at no cost on the marathon's Facebook wall.   When I met Joe at the expo to get my bib, his only request was to pay it forward :)   I plan on it! 

Right before the start I had to pee...like I really did have to pee.   I lined up in the porta potty lines and waited and waited.   The line was very slow moving and they were singing the national anthem so I decided to skip the porta potties and line up.   Within a couple minutes, we were off.  

I felt great at first.   With having no goals, I settled in easily and just took it all in.   I people watched a lot.   I looked at peoples shoes. Their clothes.  Their strides and I just ran while observing.   I noticed right away that it was warm.   Really warm.   People were already full of sweat by two miles in.  Another thing I noticed was how some people sweat a lot and some people had no sweat on them at all.  

The course is pretty flat with a just a few inclines and declines.   There wasn't much wind at all.   You wind through city streets and nice tree lined neighborhoods.   The spectator support is the best I've seen yet.   There was never a time that there weren't people out there cheering you on.   Sometimes the crowd was three people deep.  It was awesome.  

At about 6 miles in is when I took my first walk break up an incline.   I was really hot by that point and needed a breather.   I know once I walk though, it means there will be more walk breaks but I was okay with it.   Today was for fun.   Shortly after that point I heard my name from the crowd and was surprised to see someone I work with out there spectating.  It was great to see her for the quick boost.  

After that I would run for about a mile or so and then walk through the water stations.   It was working and my pace was still alright even with that.   At about mile 10 I saw Matt spectating and once again got a little bit of a boost when he yelled out my name.   Miles 11-12 are pretty dang boring.   You go through a more commercial type of area with no trees and the sun was beating down on me.   I was ready to be out of the sun.    At this point I also saw a person being taken away in an ambulance.   It always makes you feel odd to keep running when others aren't able to.   I saw a total of 3 people down from the warm temps and 1 person dry heaving on the sidewalk throughout the race.   It's just a quick reminder to take it easy when we aren't quite acclimated to the warmer temperatures yet.  

Before you know it, there it was.  Lambeau......The finish.   YES!   I made my way through the tunnel, down into Lambeau Field and just reminded myself to be thankful for the day and for the ability to run this race.   My brain was in a happy place the whole time and I never had the feeling of  "I hate this!" or "Why do I do this?!"  It was wonderful. 

I exited Lambeau and headed to the finish line and sprinted it in.   I was done.   Just like that, it was over.   Time really does go quickly when you're running a race.  

Official Time:  2:10:43

Not my fastest half marathon but also not my slowest.   I was completely happy with it.   

I would absolutely do the Green Bay half/full marathon again.   Everything was well run and went smoothly.   The course is great is the spectators and volunteers are amazing.   If there was anything I would say to improve on is more outdoor porta potties near the start line.   I had to hold my pee the entire race (could have stopped at a water stop to pee but didn't want to) because there were too many people in line before the race.   Also the toilet paper ran out in every single porta potty after the race and no one was there to refill them.  

What's Beautiful and I WILL

This post is sponsored by Under Armour through FitFluential

In the past couple of weeks, blogs have been taken over with Under Armour's new campaign for What's Beautiful.    It's all about redefining what we see as beautiful and setting our goals higher and doing everything we can to achieve them.   That in its own is beautiful.

Accomplishment is beautiful.   As an athlete, I know the feeling of beauty.   When I cross a barrier never crossed before, it's one of the most amazing and beautiful feelings.   I actually had a friend just this week ask me if I feel beautiful after running a long distance.   At first I looked at her and thought "NO!  I look my worst once I finish running!"  But then I got to thinking about it and I realize exactly what she meant.   She gets it and she isn't even a runner.

#Whatsbeautiful is feeling comfortable with who you are while still trying to improve yourself! 

There is still a fine line in all of this if you ask me.   While we always want to improve ourselves and be better than we were the day before, we also need to feel comfortable with who we are and love ourselves for what we are today.   It took a lot of work to get to where we are today and it's an ongoing process to become something....or someone that we truly want to be but be proud of the journey.  As long as you're always open to learning, you will continue to grow.  

   

  One of my favorite things about this campaign is that it's all women working together.   It's not every woman for herself.   You can join teams to motivate each other and to keep each other on track.   There is also opportunities to win some great swag from Under Armour, including a trip to Costa Rica!  

If you would like to sign up, you can do so here.   You can also follow me here!   I'd love to follow you as well.   

My goals are to run a Sub 2 half marathon.   I'm close, but just not there yet.   I also need some redeption on last years marathon.   I will run a sub 4:20 full marathon.   I have all summer to work toward these goals and will do everything I can to do them.   

What are your goals this year?  

Your goals for the Under Armour campaign can be ANYTHING.   They do not have to involve running.   It's all about pushing your limits and going beyond anywhere you've been before.   I will.   Will you? 

 

 

Things I'm Loving....or should I say Buying

Help me.  I can't seem to stop buying things.   Internet shopping just makes it way too easy to buy things, especially when I've memorized my card numbers and can type it without even thinking anymore.   My bank account isn't thanking me but it's like Christmas every day when I get home and there is a box on the counter waiting for me.   Mike doesn't even comment on the amount of boxes coming to the house, so he must not mind.   Right?

So what am I buying?   It started with this:

My justification on this was that I was eying them from last year and then Mothers Day came around and Mike didn't get me anything (nor did the girls) so I bought it as my own gift to myself.   I have signed up for another full marathon and because of that, I'm going to need plenty of hydration on my long runs and my fuel belt sort of hurts my hips when running with it so I'll give this a go for a while and see how I like it.

A little side note here.   Mike sent flowers to my work on Tuesday.   I always thought it would be really cool to have flowers sent to me at work but have never had it happen.  I sort of never thought it would happen but when the florist walks up to you (you're the first person he sees) and says "I'm looking for a Sarah ____."   I just about died.   My face must have turned so red.

The next purchase was these beauts:

 I love Pro Compression socks and once again, if I'm going to be doing more races and having longer weekend runs, I need more than the 3 pairs I have.  At least that's what I'm telling myself.  I hope these aren't too bright.

The marathon Yellow are their sock of the month and you can get them shipped for $30.00 with the code SOM5.  

Then since I'm on a role I went ahead and bought a veggie steamer.   This one to be exact:

It's the Oxo Grips Silicone Steamer.   Since we are only 1 month out from the farmers markets here in Wisconsin, I need another option than just roasting my veggies.  



And then I tried ThredUp for the first time.   I don't know if I would have but I had a $15.00 off coupon and I actually was able to buy a nice work blazer and cardigan for like $3.00 after the coupon.   If you are interested, if you are a new customer, you can use the coupon code LADY15 and get $15.00 off of any Women's clothing purchase.   

I got the two items today in the mail and they are brand new condition.  One of them still had a tag on it and the other one looks like it was never once worn.   I don't know for sure if I got lucky but I am extremely pleased! 

In other news, I'm 3 days out from half marathon #2 of the year (hopefully not shitty like #2 suggests).   I'm at the point where I wont be running anymore until then.   Yesterday I went to yoga for the first time in something like two months and I am SO SORE.   I don't know what happened to me but I hurt in places I didn't think I could hurt anymore.   At least I know it's doing something!   Now I need this soreness to go away before Sunday.