Happy Turkey Day!

As I’m sitting on the couch typing this I can’t help but think about how thankful I truly am for all of my blessings. I have a the best family in the world, a loving boyfriend (5 years next Wednesday!), and faithful friends. I have a large family that all live pretty close to me so it’s easy for all of us to get together. We didn’t have as many people here this time because they spent today with other family members. Christmas is when EVERYONE comes over to my parent’s house because we play the Chinese Christmas game or White Elephant; whichever you prefer. It’s the game where everyone brings a wrapped gift that can be for a boy or girl then we all draw a number and go in numerical order. You can either open or steal a present but after the third steal the present is frozen and can no longer be stolen. My family can be vicious, and I love it!

Anyways, I woke up around 6:50 this morning to start getting ready to meet my friends at 8 for the Turkey Trot. This is my third year to participate, and this year I ran with two coworkers. I really wanted to dress up a little bit to really get into the turkey trotting mood so we all decided on turkey socks! We got all of the equipment needed at Hobby Lobby and the socks at Walmart. We hot glued everything yesterday at work on our lunch break. A lot of people really liked our socks!!

Today was my first time to run since last Thursday because I’ve been having feet problems so naturally I was a little nervous going into the run but it was surprisingly easy! It felt so good to run again. Every time I run I’m reminded of how much I really do enjoy it. The three miles literally flew by and I finished in 29 minutes. I really wasn’t worried about my time because I just wanted to enjoy running with friends. Afterwards we got some free goodies before heading home!

I hope everyone is having a very relaxing and turkey-tummy filling day!

Here are two food pictures from today:

I’m literally in a food coma as we speak. The couch has never been more comfortable.

PB Banana Dark Chocolate Baked Oatmeal

I have been wanting to make baked oatmeal for quite a while since I first saw it on Pinterest but I never seemed to have all the ingredients at the same time. I had ZERO desire to study last night so I baked! After a quick look at my Pinterest page I concluded that I had everything on hand for PB Banana Dark Chocolate Oatmeal! I was soooo excited

It was delicious! I may or may not have had a little of it for dessert at lunch and as tonight’s dinner. Don’t hate!

Fashion post + 3 mile struggle

Last Friday, my parents and I got dressed up to head to a restaurant/bar to surprise my cousin with an engagement party. I had never been to one before so I was excited to see my cousin and his new fiance’s face when they saw us. My aunt who is also the mother of my engaged cousin decorated a reserved area of the place in Tiffany blue. It was beautiful. Her attention to detail amazes me. She’s also the person who was the wedding planner for my brother. She works at a bank but really she should be a party/wedding planner. The woman is a genius! I apologize for the crummy iPhone pictures. It was very dim lighting which means the flash gives everyone demon eyes.

During dinner my cousin ordered a bottle of wine. When the waiter brought it out he showed the bottle only to my cousin who then replied with “I think she will love it. What do you think”. The waiter showed the bottle to her and this is what she read. By the time she looked up from reading the bottles my cousin was already down on one knee with the ring (which is GORGEOUS by the way!). How clever and unique!

I have to be honest. Today was the first time that I have ran since my miserable 5 mile run last Thursday. I didn’t want to feel that disappointment again, and frankly I was just scared. Not to mention I was still very from Monday’s sprint workout. My soccer game was cancelled that following Sunday so I ended up spending the entire day with my parents. Plus a little Developmental Psych studying. I don’t miss being a full time student at all and I’m only taking one class. Since I didn’t have to be at work until 3 today I figured I should get in an early run that way I could study. Even though I was sore I figured it would work its way out during my run; which it did a little. My upper body is still sore but my legs need some yoga and a foam roller. My feet on the other hand are another story. Since high school I have thought that I had planter faciitis because I have all the signs and symptoms. I’ve never gone to a doctor because I’m afraid I might be right. One of the perks of working at a physical therapy clinic is that the therapists check you out fo free! My right foot wasn’t just sore, it was downright PAINFUL. After a quick little test, I was told that I may not even have planter faciitis, and that something else is causing my pain. Apparently what I may have is common in runners! She gave me homework that I need to do 1-2 times daily for 5 minutes each. One of which are toe scrunches that I’m doing as I type/study.

That’s all I have for you! Don’t forget to check out my first fashion post!!

MIA

My goal when I started Happy Feet Runner was to blog 1 to 2 times a day however I have neglected that for the past few days. Between a full-time job and class while finding any time to exercise takes up most of my day.

My weekend didn’t go as according to plan but I got to spend a lot of time with friends and family and nothing beats that. I ran sprints last night with a co-worker and my abs and back are sore! I didn’t realize how much until later today. Our sprint work out looked like this:

8 20 yard sprints with 10 seconds rest

6 40 yard sprints with 15 seconds rest

4 60 yard sprints with 20 seconds rest

2 80 yard sprints with 25 seconds rest

1 100 yard sprint

It felt good to run since I hadn’t since my less than stellar 5 mile run on Thursday (which I’ve yet to repeat). I was supposed to run it yesterday in preparation of my 6 miler this Thursday but I think I’m going to push my training back a week. I’m going to attempt 5 miles again on Thursday then my usual 2 mile Saturday run then back onto the training plan by Monday! My schedule is a little hectic this week so I’m hoping for a laid-back Thanksgiving week. I’m running in the 5K Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning and my goal is run it as close to 25 minutes as possible. My best time is 28 minutes and 1 second. I’m running with friends and we’re going to dress up a little I’ll have pictures up soon!

My study break is over which means it’s back to chapter 8 of Developmental Psych!

P.S. – I should have my very first fashion page post up tomorrow! I wore something for the first time after having it for a year. I hope I’m not the only one who does that.

I Sat Down

Last night I set my alarm for 7:30 in order to get in a small pre-run meal and be out of the door by 8:15-8:30. Well, that didn’t happen. Mother nature’s monthly present came calling at 6:30 which caused me to stay in bed until 10:30. Midol works waaaay too slow. Around 9:30 I had 1 slice of Cinnamon Raisin Ezekial bread with peanut butter, bananas, and honey. By 10:30 I sucked it up and headed out the door for my scheduled 5 mile run.

I arrived at my usual running trail 15 minutes later and stretched a little bit to mentally prepare myself. I was nervous. I was beyond nervous, I was scared. I got to the start of the trail and felt like I was going to throw up. This is what running does to me. I look forward to it until I’m standing there looking down at my shoes wondering why I’m doing this and if I can do this. I pressed “start activity” and I was on my way. That start was what I needed because before I knew it I was halfway through my 5 mile run. I’ve started to notice that I “lose” myself and take in my surroundings. I stopped twice for water but I didn’t stop moving my legs because I was afraid that I would stop moving all together. I was fine until it got closer to mile 4. I ran 4 miles last week without any problem so what was my problem today? My groins were SCREAMING at me which made moving my legs increasingly more difficult with each step. I struggled to say the least. I wanted to stop so bad but I wouldn’t let myself until I found myself sitting on a bench at mile 4.30. My first thought was why am I doing this? Then it was who am I doing this for? My groins were killing me and my eyes were beginning to water. I was mad. I was pissed off. How in the world can I complete my 10k plan if I can’t even complete half of it? And then it hit me, I’m doing this because I want to, and I’m doing this for me. I got up and ran my little heart out so I could hear “distance 5.00 miles”. However my phone had other plans and decided to die on me at mile 4.59. REALLY?! Oh, I was even more pissed off so I kept on running until I felt like I had ran 5 miles. I’ll never know for sure I did or not what my official time was but I do know that I’m very proud of myself for getting off that bench and changing my thoughts from can I to I will.

When I arrived home I was STARVING! I wanted a smoothie and something to chew on. I decided on the “Ice Cream” Smoothie and a repeat of yesterday’s sandwich. I got to work at 3, and before I knew it it was 6 and I was on my way home.

Now I’m sitting on my bed, watching Sex and the City re-runs, and trying to decide what to have for dinner. A very hectic morning turned into a very calm, and relaxing evening. I hope yours was as well!

Life in Pictures

Or at least yesterday and today

First up? Yesterday’s delicious breakfast.

Sure, it doesn’t look delicious but oh was it ever. I enjoyed a big bowl of overnight pumpkin pie oats with an cup of coffee. My oats included the following: 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. In the morning I microwaved it for 45 seconds and topped it with a little sugar free maple syrup. Perfection!

Next up was lunch, and it couldn’t have come sooner. I don’t think my body is used to the time change yet because when it gets closer to 11am I start craving lunch! Technically that would be noon and lunch time so I’m not that crazy, right? In my bowl of tubberware was brown rice, grilled chicken, broccoli, carrots, and a  little bit of soy sauce. This always reminds me of a healthier version of chicken fried rice.

After I got off work at 6 I met up with my friend for a 3 mile run. We gossiped the entire time which made us run slower than usual. We managed to knock out 3 miles in 31 minutes. My personal best is 28 minutes so that’s not that bad. When I got home I had grilled chicken with steamed broccoli and called it a night!

This morning I had the same oatmeal from the day before. What can I say? I LOVE pumpkin! Wednesdays are my half days, and I like to take that afternoon to go grocery shopping and any thing else on the to do list. I headed over to Trader Joe’s and picked up a lot of goodies including white bean and basil hummus. OH MY GOSH! I loved it so much that I put it in a sandwich with steamed broccoli on the side. Don’t you love my Thanksgiving centerpiece? It’s a souvenir from my brother’s wedding.

After lunch I took a 30 minute nap then studied chapter 5 of my Developmental Psychology book from 1-8. I’m livin’ the life, I know. Around 5:30 my stomach was growling! I’ve been craving soup a lot since fall has arrived so I decided not to wait and had a bowl of soup I got from Trader Joe’s today.

I needed to get out of the house so I headed to the gym for a late night gym session that consisted of:

Julie really knows her stuff! I love all of her workouts. I finished my workout with A LOT of stretching because I have my first 5 mile run tomorrow morning! I’m actually very excited to tackle this run so wish me luck!

Night!

Mondays

I don’t like you, and today was no different. My day started off on a great horrible note before I even got out of bed. I accidently fell back asleep after my last alarm thinking I had another alarm set. Wrong. 15 minutes later I awoke wondering what was taking my alarm so long. I then had 30 minutes to get ready and make it work in order to help open the place up on time by 7am. Let’s just say that I pulled into the parking lot at exactly 7am . All day today I was physically at work but definitely not mentally. I’ll spare you the pity party of a story I had worked up. You’re welcome. Insert the lady from Office Space, “sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays”.

I forgot to take a picture of my lunch because I haven’t gotten into that habit yet. I can’t wait to see the looks on my coworkers faces when I start that. Ha ha! I enjoyed baked chicken with steamed broccoli and carrots on the side and a very small bowl of black beans. For dessert I had sugar free cherry Jell-o. Yes, I’m a 23 year old kid (should I mention that it’s my 5 year old niece’s?). Next up I had a few bites of some homemade vegetable soup that someone was kindly sharing. An hour later I may or may not have eaten a cinnamon raisin cookie. I was hungry!

The rest of the day went by so slow. I like the time change because when I drive to work at 6:30am it’s already sunny but the downside is that its dark by 6pm. It made me feel like I was at work forever, which I was if you consider 10 1/2 hours forever. It’s now dinner time and I just want to go to sleep. I hope you all had a much better Monday than me. Enjoy your night!

Question:

Do you ever get “a case of the Mondays” or is it like every other day?

Dog In The Bed

First things first. Breakfast! It’s probably my most favorite meal of the day. I always wake up craving breakfast. I usually make overnight oats but on days when I feel like treating myself I’ll make pancakes! I think that since daylight savings time so graciously gave us an extra hour of sleep I felt it was my obligation to keep the giving going (don’t judge). I didn’t actually make pancakes this morning but I did have left over pumpkin spice pancakes. Maybe it’s me but the pumpkin was way more pronounced today and I loved it! I’ve recently found a new love for all things pumpkin. Pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin oatmeal…you name it I want it. I also shared my pancakes with a slice of Ezekial cinnamon raisin bread topped with peanut butter. I love the peanut butter!

Now back to my title. I’m house sitting for the weekend and every time I do I let one of their dogs sleep in the bed with me because it makes me feel safer. Since she’s so close to me I feel she would be quicker on the attack if a crazy person decided to stop by. I do set the alarm but I’ve watched way too many scary movies in my lifetime. I awoke in the middle of the night to find her sleeping in the middle of the bed horizontally and literally taking over the ENTIRE bed. I was so tired that I didn’t care and fell back asleep. When I woke up this morning every part of my body hurt from not being able to roll over. Of course I could’ve moved her but she’s so sweet and giant (she’s a big dog!) and not to mention protecting me from said crazy person. Who am I to disrupt her slumber?

Side note: I apologize for the poor picture quality. I don’t have a fancy camera so I’m using my iPhone.

Now I’m sitting on the couch procrastinating on packing up my stuff to head home. I’m enjoying a big cup of hot coffee as I watch the Liverpool-Newcastle game, and hoping Liverpool can come out with a win! I have a soccer game of my own later today so hopefully I can channel Steven Gerrard. Fingers crossed!

Why hello there!

Welcome to Happy Feet Runner! I finally took a deep breath, said a little prayer, and created my very own blog.  Happy Feet Runner will revolve around (you guessed it!) my love of food and passion for fitness. As a former athlete I know first-hand what life is like when you don’t have the support and motivation from a coach or team.

I’m sure most of you are wondering what the story is behind the name Happy Feet Runner. Well it’s funny, and when I think about it, a little embarrassing as well. According to the boyfriend, I remind him of the dancing baby Mumble  from Happy Feet when I play soccer because I “dance” and act “excited” when I have the ball. Ever since then he has enjoyed referring to me as happy feet

 

Such the romantic huh? 🙂