Hello hello!

Currently watching super intense Ohio State/USC game with my daddy I’m just gonna say it……..GO BUCKS!!!!!! I’m pretty much born and bred Ohio State; this is serious business over here.

Anyways, had a great day today with a mix of work and fun. Got some writing done, went to the jcrew outlet (muhaha) and then ran 8 miles! More on that in a bit. First, lunch!

Boar’s head turkey and hummus wrap on Ezekiel with hot sauce and honey mustard. Delish!

A balance bar while at the outlet stores!

No photo, but I did get a super cute tweed jacket/blazer. I heart it.

When I got home, the clouds were out and I made the executive decision to just run the 8 miles today rather than waiting and waking up at 5:30 tomorrow morning. I really prefer to save Sundays for total rest and knew I would feel better once it was out of the way.

I was glowing (literally) as I head out the door!

The run was…….hard. I’ve never done a long run in the middle of the day and have gotten so used to fueling the same way every morning so this was weird. Luckily, the balance bar did not upset my stomach or anything, but just running at a different time sort of threw me off. I averaged a 9:30 mile for the first 4 miles and then slowed down a bit to 10:00 for the return. On mile 6 it started to POUR but this time I welcomed it!!! People say if you can run 7, you can obviously run 8 but I’m here to tell you that there is DEFINITELY a difference between running 7 and 8. That last mile felt soooooo long and I stopped to walk a few times….my legs were feeling like lead. Finally, I started giving myself a pep talk (literally, talking out loud…I’m crazy) and I made it. Woohooooooooooo!!!!!!

My dad found me like this:

Alas, I pulled myself together

I’m also here to say that running skirts are seriously the best invention ever. I LOVE mine! I got it at Target for like $10 and I WILL be wearing it at my race next month! It’s my lucky skirt

I immediately ate half a banana and iced!

And then made a big shake. I like to follow Brendan Brazier’s advice about refueling with liquid after heavy duty exercise because it digests easier than solid food. Tonight for the first time, I tried his “Vega” powder in my shake.

This consisted of 1 scoop Vega, 1 frozen banana, 1 cup almond milk, frozen blueberries and a big spoonful of almond butter. Would have thrown some spinach in for a true GM but we’re out!

My thoughts? Meh. Sorry y’all but I’ll always give you my personal honest opinion and I just wasn’t a big fan of this. I don’t know if it was the Vega or my combination, but this was waaaay too sweet and had a weird aftertaste. I much prefer chocolate Amazing Meal and luckily I have some coming my way this week….I’ve been out for too long!

Regardless, I drank it down while soaking in an epsom salt bath Classy, I know.

And then…..it was time for beer and football with my daddy!

Around mile 7, all my favorite icy cold beverages were floating before my eyes and started to envision cold, cold water, POM iced tea, sweet tea, pumpkin beer, blueberry beer, MG fume?!! It was my driving force.

***

I’m off to make a snack.

…………….OHIO STATE FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 50 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cardio, Dinner, Exercise, family, Lunch, Snack

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Good evening

I hope everyone had a lovely Saturday. Mine was spent snacking—yep, my appetite finally kicked into gear!

First, this morning, an apple and some cheddar cheese:

Yum, this was an awesome sandwich I made! I used roasted chicken breast, hummus and swiss cheese on Ezekiel toast. Along with some avocado oil chips (hehe), watermelon and iced green tea.

I got a bunch done this afternoon, including answering about 50 emails. I promise I am catching up!

Snack was Oikos with PB2 and blueberries….yummy!

Since my mom is out of town, my dad and I had a father daughter night. First, we had some juicy Liar’s Dice Zinfandel….

I snacked on a few almonds…..LOVE these wasabi almonds!

And made us easy chicken pitas for dinner. The easy part was that my mom cooked these chicken breasts last night and so all I had to do was reheat, add herbed goat cheese, whole grain dijon mustard and greens before sandwiching in a hot whole wheat pita…..it actually turned out quite delish if I do say so myself

While we ate, we watched Heaven Can Wait…the old school version, not the new one with Chris Rock. Its pretty much my dad’s favorite movie ever and I had never seen it. I actually liked it, despite the super 70′s feel to it. And I got to snuggle with Mikan

His eyes match my fleece! Its amazing!

Dessert:

This week has been insane. Time to relax!!

**Quick note: I’m changing servers for GOOD tonight! Don’t fret if you can’t see the blog for a moment……she shall return, I promise!**

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 41 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dessert, Dinner, family, Lunch, Snack, wine

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Hi guys!

For some reason I’m just oozing with positivity today. I think mapping out my August on my google calendar put me in a really good mood! So much fun stuff! I saw a few comments inquiring about my Lexington trip! The news is that I have family there and….my parents are thinking about MOVING to Lexington this fall. So, at the end of the month I will be going up there with them, visiting family and helping them house-hunt. I ADORE Lexington and am so excited…I haven’t been back for a few years and I have desperately missed it. I’m going to try to have a reader meet-up while I’m there, so stay tuned! The sticky part of the situation is that I won’t have a car but hopefully it will work out–I love to meet y’all!

My 90 minute yoga flow class this morning was intense. It was all about the legs and we moved super super slow to really focus in on those muscles big time. When it was all over and we were laying in savasana, I put my palm on my quad and it was literally quivering. Two hours later and I am STILL jelly.

Since I knew I had errands to run before lunch, I snacked on this bar from the depths of my purse

I did buy some Gatorade at Publix after what y’all said about hydrating and running in the heat. Confession: I LOVE GATORADE. As in, freakin’ adore the stuff. I would chug it every single day if I could…especially the blue kind. I never buy it because of that fact (it would be gone in a day), however, I’m going to start doing the 1/2 gatorade 1/2 water trick in my water bottle for my outside runs. I’m also going to drink some Gatorade the night BEFORE my run to see if that helps any. I have got to find a way to beat these headaches! I’m planning a 3 mile run outside tomorrow morning so I’m trying to hydrate all I can today to get ready for it. Your advice helped so much the other day…thank you!!

Special treat!!!

Yummy all natural soda! This one tasted like cream soda (my favorite childhood soda) with sort of a floral note. Its very sweet (obviously) so a little goes a long way!

Time for wholesale! I shall return!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 54 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Exercise, family, Lunch, musings, Product Reviews, Snack, yoga

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Good evening!

I hope everyone had a fairly productive Monday. I honestly cannot fathom that last week at this time I was here (although why I ever thought it was a good idea to wear a white shirt wine tasting, I still don’t know and I still have the stains to prove it….)

(...)
Read the rest of Daydreams (369 words)

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 55 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dessert, dinner by mom, family, friends, musings, Snack, starbucks, traveling, wine

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Hi guys!

I LOVED hearing about your healthy adaptations! Keep ‘em coming–you have a few more hours to go! I will pick the winner randomly at 10 pm eastern time tonight.

I hope you also enjoyed the “Red Wine For Newbies” post. I had a lot of fun writing it! I do love me some red wine….I can’t believe I actually used to HATE it! Paris changed my life

This morning before lunch I did Dave Farmar’s latest 75 minute power vinyasa podcast. It was truly a wonderful experience. I find when I am anxious or stressed out, I NEED yoga. Not running, not weights….yoga. Only yoga has the capability to force me to quiet my mind and just concentrate at the posture at hand. Today I felt myself stretched from the inside out and afterwards I was like a bowl of jello! I think last week I sort of over-ran myself by running four times. This week I am paying for it with my right shin a little sore. I’m laying low and only running twice. I did a short run on Sunday and I’ll do a long run Friday morning. The rest of the time I’m going to focus on yoga to calm myself and prepare for the weekend.

After yoga was lunch!

I made myself a little meze platter with some leftover Middle Eastern salad, hummus, whole wheat pita and shrimp! I mixed everything together and the combo was perfect.

While I ate, I chatted on the phone with the Tampa Tribune! Looks like my little Murphy-Goode story will be in the Sunday paper! Eek!

Got a bunch done this afternoon and mid-afternoon took a snack break. Am I ever happy I did! I FINALLY got around to making Miss Gena’s raw banana soft serve, which has totally taken the blog world by storm and apparently I’m a little late in the game. Gena, you DID change my life–thank you!!! It was so easy too—all I did was combine 2 frozen bananas in the VitaMix and after only about 30 seconds, I had soft serve! I divided my “ice cream” into two so I could have some to enjoy later and then I topped my portion with raw almond butter. Now if this ain’t a sundae, I don’t know what is!

Now THAT was good!!!

Speaking of GOODE, I headed to my parent’s house to say hi around 4:30. They surprised me with a bottle of good luck Murphy-Goode Chardonnay-nay!!!

Even though apparently it was aged in French oak barrels, this wine to me was anything BUT oaky! How weird! Rather, it had a more buttery/butterscotch taste to it with lots of vanilla. Very light and easy to drink….we all loved it! Especially my dad, who said it was “his new favorite wine” (they ALWAYS drink Mondavi but tonight decided to totally make the switch to the goode stuff). This wine was about $15 I believe, making it a great and and affordable option. Between the three of us we killed the bottle (I had one glass and my parents each had 1.5 glasses) and decided it was definitely our new “go-to” Chard, whether I get the job or not!

Ryan is working late and dinner was simple and Parisian inspired

In France, its typical to get a salad with poached eggs on top. You break the eggs with your fork and the runny yolk permeates every leaf of lettuce, creating, so to speak, a party in your mouth. Unfortunately I goofed up and overcooked my eggs but it was still really good. I made a homemade vinegarette dressing to go with my salad using a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, a splash of organic balsamic vinegar, a pinch of sea salt, a smear of spicy mustard and a teeny tiny bit of minced garlic. My Parisian salad also featured the ripest, juiciest plum tomato yet as well as a piece of Ezekiel toast with earth balance.

If you haven’t tried poached eggs on salad yet, do so! Let me know what you think!

Dessert was the obvious…..

Oh no she didn’t….oh YES she did! Lindt Fleur de Sel dark chocolate with banana soft serve = bliss. Enough said.

Time to hit the bath and my book! Eagerly awaiting The Time Traveler’s Wife but I vowed to safe it for the airplane!!!! Soon enough…..! Tomorrow morning I will announce the winner of the Eating Well Cookbook and also announce ANOTHER aaaaamazing giveaway!!! I have a ton of giveaways this week…is that okay with y’all?!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 64 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dessert, Dinner, Exercise, family, Lunch, Snack, wine, yoga

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Hi friends!

Surprised to see me back so soon? Well so am I. Turns out we were on the 7th hole and all of a sudden, just like in a movie, a total MONSOON hits us smack in the face. I’m not talking about drizzles here, people, I’m talking about BIG FAT raindrops being pelted at us. Needless to say, we drove as fast as we could back to the club (we were in the total middle of the fairway when the monsoon started) and hightailed it out of there. I was soaked to the absolute core. Genius of me to wear white shorts. lol

It all started out so well though! I had packed lunch of a whole wheat pita with hummus, 2 tbsp guacamole and greens with the juiciest peach ever!

For beverages, we had FUZE and tons of water!

Ryan and my dad talked about manly things on the course while I sat back and drove the cart

And then all went downhill very fast. I went straight to my parent’s house and jumped in a scalding hot bubble bath; dry clothes never felt so amazing!

I also snacked on a little of my Trader Joe’s “Tempting” trail mix (this stuff is rather tempting with the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and dried cherries!)—

And like I said, tonight my dad and I are going to the Ray’s game! My mom is out of town for work all weekend and I thought it would be nice to have a father daughter date night. We’re going to grab dinner somewhere quick beforehand and the game is at 6:00. I’m not a big baseball fan but I have to admit, the Tropicana dome is REALLY nice and Ryan’s parents were kind enough to give us their tickets for the night.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Saturday—stay dry!!!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: family, Lunch, Snack

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Wow! Sorry I was MIA last night but we didn’t end up getting home from dinner until 11:45 and I thought it was in my best interests to go straight to bed rather than stay up till 12:30 blogging! I didn’t want to be totally exhausted today!

Here is a full recap though, starting with yesterday afternoon’s snack. Yes, I was hungry after that indulgent brunch. I can’t help it–I just get hungry! Good thing I snacked though because we didn’t end up eating dinner until 9:30!

Banana with PB2:

Sugar snap peas:

And then around 5:00 we headed over to North Tampa to Ryan’s aunt and uncle’s house. The occasion was that Ryan’s cousin, Chris, was home for the first time in awhile. He lives and works out west and rarely gets to come home—even on holidays! They live in a gorgeous area right on the river.

And when I got there I was immediately handed a mojito!

Yum-O!

There were wheat thins, whole grain tortilla chips and an array of Sabra hummus out for the pickins—

I definitely helped myself to a few, as my drink was rather strong and chips just look so good after a cocktail!

Before dinner we took a nice boatride down the river. Scenery was gorgeous!

We had TWO boats filled with people! Ryan has a huge family!

Erin, Grandma Dot and I (love that wind swept hair!)—

Erin and Clark—

Ryan and I—

It was a love boat!

After the boat, we all hung out and chatted while the fish was cooking and finally ended up eating at 9:30. I was very ready for dinner!

Here’s my plate loaded with Cuban rice & beans (with raw onions and plenty of hot sauce), a small piece of fish, plantains and salad (I didn’t end up eating the salad). I had water to drink!

Special Costa Rica hot sauce on EVERYTHING!!

Apparently there was key lime pie for dessert but I passed. I was quite full!

Overall it was a fun night with good friends. I’m anxious to get back to my routine though this week of eating super clean and working out because I have another indulgent wedding weekend coming right up and I want to feel and look my best!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 42 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cocktails, dessert, Dinner, family

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