Ok wait, I actually mean that I finally have my Gruve back!

My Gruve has been MIA since Friday afternoon.  I was really worried that I had dropped it at the gym or in the dressing room during Friday’s lunch time shopping spree.  Last night I finally decided to check in the laundry basket.  There it was.  Safe and sound.  Still attached to the corduroy pants I wore to work on Friday!

I would’ve been pissed if the Gruve went through the washed and was ruined.  I need to remember to keep track of it from now on, and to wear it more often.  My Gruve is happily charging and I can’t wait to put it back on.  Love those hourly reminders to get up and walk around to make sure I’m burning the right amount of calories and getting enough activity.

I was too tired to watch Glee last night.  But not too tired to wake up at 6:30 am to watch the episode!  I enjoyed a hot cup of Boston Common Coffee and finally tried the pomegranate Chobani I bought on Sunday night.  Yum!  I love the pom arils mixed in with the yogurt.  Texture makes a big difference and I like these crunchy little pieces.

I snacked on an unphotographed banana.  It was slightly browned and bruised.  Not a pretty picture!

At 11 am on the dot, I absolutely had to eat lunch.

I’m not normally a fan of can soup, but I had a good feeling as soon as I opened the can of Progresso Traditional Chicken Noodle Soup I won from Stephanie‘s giveaway a month ago.  Bad canned soups have a funky smell, but I didn’t notice anything with this one. So far so good, and then…

It was love at first bite!

My soup and I lived happily ever after!

The entire can of soup fit in my Progresso mug.  The mug did not get too hot during microwaving.  The soup was full of veggies, noodles, and chicken chunks…and tasted GREAT.  I topped it with some Oyster Crackers and enjoyed every bite.  Very very happy and now I want to stock up on more cans of soup for all of the days when I run out of time to pack a lunch.

Since I ate such an early lunch, I have plenty of time to digest before hitting the gym.  I’m planning on a speedy run!

Apple banana bread to fuel pre-run.

I joined a group of friends and went to the South End Athletic Company for their Saturday long run.  Between the headwind and the last of my head cold, it wasn’t a good run.  I probably could’ve pushed myself to stay with the group, but Jared ate too much for breakfast and was struggling a little.  I stayed with him and enjoyed a leisurely jog.  Jared and I ended 5 miles exactly at the door of Starbucks.  Haha, perfect!  We grabbed Ice Chai Lattes to enjoy on the walk home.

I was feeling hungry so I had some pineapple Chobani for a midmorning snack.

Mmmm, Greek yogurt.

Miles helped me clean every last drop of yogurt out of the container.

It was a gorgeous day in Boston.

A little on the chilly side, but wonderfully sunny!

I had a grilled chicken sandwich from B. Good for lunch.

We headed over to Drew’s house to enjoying the grilling weather.

Burger, bun, and grilled sweet potatoes.

The guys made Garbage Plates.  Jared and Drew loved to eat these when they were in college at RIT in Rochester, New York.  They mixed macaroni salad, a burger, and the sweet potato fries then covered the whole thing with meaty hot sauce, red hot sauce, and ketchup.  The bun was used to sop up whatever was left on the plate after eating.

Umm, the guys loved this meal but I have no comment. 

Miles was hoping he could have a burger, but he’s on a doggy diet.

Now I’m watching the Frozen Four finals.  After the 1st period of hockey, BC is winning 1-0.  Let’s hope the Eagles play well for the rest of the game.

I ate a container of pineapple Chobani for lunch.

Mmmm.  I think I liked it a lot.  But when my nose isn’t super stuffy, I’ll have to do a better flavor taste test.

I was really hoping my gym time would help make me feel better.  Wrong!

20 minutes on the Stairmaster sucked.  I had a pounding headache the entire time.  I sat in the sauna for about 10 minutes, still no allergy relief.  Ehhh, allergies are the worst.  I bought some medication at CVS so I’ll be back at ‘em tomorrow.  Once my body adjusts to the change in the weather and pollen count, things will be better.

I wore the same dress I wore to Easter Brunch at work today.  80+ degrees was perfect for a spring dress.

I paired it with a darker pair of ballet flats and buttoned/belted my cardigan.  I always feel better when I wear an outfit a few times before washing it.  (As long as it’s not dirty or stinky, obviously! Haha.)  I guess I feel like it justifies the wear and tear of putting an item through the wash if I know I made good use of it.

Trail mix for an afternoon snack.

When I got home from work, I decided to close my eyes for a minute.  Two hours later…  I guess my body needed to get some rest.

I was indecisive about dinner and just grabbed a bowl of Special K with Red Berries.

I also ate a banana with some Maple Almond Butter.  I wish I had used Barney Butter instead.  The maple AB was too thick and chewy.  I would’ve preferred a creamy nut butter spread on the banana.  Live and learn.

Was it hard to stay in a bad mood when my dinner looked like this?

Yesssss….  Brown rice smooshed into the shape of a heart, chicken, and broccoli.

Plus I couldn’t be too cranky while sipping glass of Mark West Pinot Noir.

Aww, that’s love.

I became a little less bitter while snacking on Chocolate Covered Pomegranate.

And a corgi butt kinda helped me cheer up.

The 9 pm #FitBlog chat was intense.  Twitter overload for an hour!  But it was great to talk with lots of health and fitness fans in real time.  We tweeted about our definitions of being healthy, the best, worst and weirdest foods we’ve eaten, and recent accomplishments.  Katy did a great job organizing and running the chat.  I can’t wait til next Tuesday night to see what the next topics of discussion will be.

Overall though, I didn’t have a great night and my allergies were kicking my butt.  But obviously there were still so many things for me to be happy about.  Especially finishing last night’s episode of Lost when I get home from work later today…  I heard it was a good episode!

Mom’s banana bread for breakfast, times 2.  So good!

I received an e-mail from the front desk at work, “There’s a loooooooooooot of yogurt for you downstairs,” and I knew my Chobani had arrived.  I won a game of SPOONS last week and chose a case of pineapple Greek yogurt.  I’ve never tried this flavor before so I can’t wait to dig in.

I also discovered some leftover Easter cookies in the kitchen and helped myself to a vanilla egg.

Even though we ate our dessert first (remember I had JP Licks fro-yo as soon as I finish my run last night?!?), Jared insisted on making dinner when we got home from grocery shopping.  He made Annie’s version of hamburger helper.  I topped my spinach with French dressing to go with the green and orange Irish colors as a final hurrah to my St. Patrick’s Day.

I’ve been missing my Chobani!  It was great to mix vanilla granola into the strawberry Greek yogurt and call it breakfast.

Thank you Ryan and the folks at POM Wonderful for sending some samples my way.  I’d love to try some recipes, but for this Thursday morning, I’m sticking with a cup of juice.

Here are some facts about POM Wonderful

• All natural = contains no added sugars, preservatives, colors, or cheap filler juices
• The pomegranate fruits used in these juices have all been picked by hand
• Contains antioxidants (antioxidants neutralize free radicals which cause damage to your body’s cells)
• Pomegranates symbolize health, fertility, and rebirth
• Over $32 million has been spent on 45 published studies and drinking 8 oz of POM Wonderful has been found to produce many health benefits

POM Wonderful, thanks again for the samples and cheers to good health!

Thursday means I’m heading to Body Pump at noon.  But since it’s Member Appreciation Day at HealthWorks, including a lululemon trunk show and food samples, I may need to hit the gym early!

I made a Chobani blend for breakfast.  I blended cranberry apple butter into plain Greek yogurt.  I added a bit of brown sugar, fresh strawberries, and peanut butter.  This was okkk.  The plain yogurt was a bit too tart so I can’t consider it a real success.  If I had used vanilla yogurt, it would’ve been amazing.

When you find something you like, eat it over and over and over…  I only have 1 wedge of Laughing Cow cheese left.  Wahhh.

I ordered vegetable soup and grilled cheese.  I ended up with broccoli cheddar soup.  I wasn’t too disappointed because I wanted to try the broc cheddar.  Until a few bites in…  I realized I really didn’t like the soup.  Oh well, you win some and you lose some.  Cuz the grilled cheese was delicious!

I normally take a spin class on Wednesday nights, but I knew I couldn’t because I had plans after work.  So I did a really laid back “spin” workout and pedaled the recumbent bike for 20 minutes while reading In Defense of Food.  Really interesting!  I stretched and did a short ab workout.  And I left plenty of time to sit in the sauna for 10 minutes.

Unpictured afternoon snacks:  strawberries, almonds, and a Special K bar!

I met Julie at Whole Foods for a very important business meeting.  We’re roommates at FitBloggin so there was a lot to discuss.     Plus I peer pressured Julie into grinding some fresh peanut butter (OMG, the smell was amazing) and we grabbed dinner from the salad bar.

I loved being at a big grocery store.  Shopping in the city isn’t as spread out (traffic jams in the aisles) and doesn’t offer as much variety (really small shelves).  I bought peanut butter and almond butter and spinach for tomorrow’s Green Monster.  Oh and that blue bowl, well that was a gift from my lovely date. Thanks Julie!  Shes trying to win me over so I don’t make her sleep in the bathtub.

Julie and I shared a few thoughts on Food Inc. and I asked her questions about being a vegetarian.  I’m halfway done with writing my Vegetarian Challenge reflections.  Don’t lose any sleep…it will be up tomorrow!

For a bedtime snack, I had some French bread and olive oil.

Here’s what my instant oatmeal actually looked like.  Less delicious looking than Quaker’s photo; mine were too watery.  I beefed it up by adding extra raisins.

I snacked on baby carrots dipped in Laughing Cow cheese.

For lunch I ate each Arnold Thin as an open faced black bean burger.  Yum!  I loved making the black bean burgers during my Vegetarian Challenge.  They’re something I’m going to continue to make at home.  Glad I found a new fav food!

I intended to do an interval run on the treadmill.  After 10 minutes and 1 full cycle of intervals, I felt a cramp coming on.  I took it easy and ran the remaining 20 minutes at a steady 6.5 mph.  I was at a 9:13 for most of the run, exactly the pace I need to be at to accomplish my race goal.  It’s really hard for me to stick to a training plan.  I’m really proud that I’m 1 month into training and I’m on track.

When I got back from the gym, I recorded my workout on my paper calendar.  Love keeping lists!  I also snacked on an Amazing Grass Green SuperFood bar.  I normally don’t love Amazing Grass bars, but I was really liking this one today.

I made leftover Pacific Naturals spicy black bean soup for dinner.  I added too much chopped onions and carrots in an attempt to make it more filling.  Plus some camera shy plain Chobani.  It’s melted into the soup.  I at half of the bowl before I got tired of it.

Since I gave up on my dinner, I made a filling desert.  I started with plain Chobani.  I added a few fresh strawberries, a hefty sprinkle of brown sugar, and a spoonful of peanut butter.

Now my stomach is happily full.  I can relax, watch the Biggest Loser, and gather my thoughts since I FINISHED Food Inc.

For breakfast, I chose to eat another container of vanilla Chobani.  This time I added a little less granola and a spoonful of peanut butter.

Like breakfast, my lunch was ALMOST exactly the same as yesterday.  I ate another leftover cheeseburger, but this time I had a few tortilla chips on the side instead of baby carrots.

I was craving something refreshing so I snacked on a Clementine.

While I loved the original Half Marathon Training Plan, I knew I needed to edit it so that it would fit in with my life.  Here’s my latest version, always subject to change of course!

Sorry for the formatting issues!

My weekly mileage is much lower than typical Half Marathon training calls for.  But knowing what I did when I ran my first half, this is going to be plenty of miles for me to prepare.  Plus I didn’t factor in weeknight workouts with Jared.  Right now my M-F workouts can be completed over my 1 hour lunch break.

Paying VERY close attention, you’ll notice I already altered my training.  I ran 2 miles for speed yesterday and plan on running 3 miles today.

Follow along for the next 12 weeks as I work towards running a sub-two hour Half Marathon!

*At this time tomorrow, I’ll be well on my way to Cancun for 6 days of sunshine and swimming!  Where would you like to go to find some sunshine tomorrow?*

I ate vanilla Chobani and trail mix when I got to the office.

I brought a leftover cheeseburger for lunch.  I ate the burger with baby carrots on the side.

Today was officially Training Day #1 for the Willow Tree Half Marathon.  12 weeks to go!  I used this training schedule to create something that would fit in with my life.  I’ll post my edited version tomorrow.

Today I ran 2 miles for speed.  I ran at 7 mph at a 0.5% incline.  My right glute was still bothering me.  I stretched and then instead of foam rolling, I used a myo-release ball to get to the trigger point of my muscle pain.  I sat in the sauna for 10 minutes and then it was back to work.

I wore the same sweater that I wore on Friday, but changed the look by cinching my waist with a brown belt.  I also wore my new Danskos.  While I don’t know if I’m sold on the style, these shoes are SO comfortable that I’ll wear them anyway.

I snacked on a Special K bar and more baby carrots throughout the afternoon.

When I got home from work, I stopped by Champions to attend the HealthWorks event.  I snacked on some tasty appetizers while waiting to see if my team was selected for Fiona’s Challenge.  We weren’t, but the teams who were chosen seemed really excited and I’m looking forward to following their progress online.

After getting the bad news, I went to Whiskeys to meet friends for Wing Night.  Every few months, our friend Matt always suggests group trips to Whiskeys for buffalo wings.  I had 3 wings, after wiping off the spicy sauce, and one UFO beer.

Jared had to stay late at work and I knew I couldn’t wait too long for tapas.  So I made a yogurt creation out of plain Chobani, brown sugar, and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter.  It was pretty good and helped me wait until almost 8 pm to head to Masa.

Masa was SO crowded and I forgot to take photos.  We never got a table so I didn’t really get to enjoy the tapas either.  I grabbed 1 or 2 from our plate balanced on the bar.  I also snacked on a mini cupcake in honor of a friend’s birthday and had a slice of pizza when we walked over to Picco so we could have room to sit and quiet to talk.  Oh, and 3 glasses of red wine.  Thinking of my heart health after all.

I opted to sleep late and skip my morning shower.  Thank God for Healthworks over my lunch break!  I munched on 1/2 of this apple while getting ready for work and shared the rest with Jared.

I drank some home brewed Boston Common Coffee on the drive to work.  After the DD sludge yesterday, this coffee tasted like sweet nectar of the gods.  Boston Common has such good stuff!

I was hungry within an hour of being at work so I dove into my stash and had a Special K bar.

When hunger returned a few hours later, I purchased the most delicious wrap from HealthWorks:  goat cheese, hummus, cucumbers, carrots, and there might’ve been some sprouts in there.  Love at first bite!

Woohoo, samples from Pop Chips were delivered to my office.  Can’t wait to “pop” open a bag.  Haaaaa.

I made sure to GO RED today and wore red corduroy pants.  I also wore a red t-shirt when I worked out. 

I tried on my mom’s Dansko clogs yesterday and loved them, but didn’t know if they were quite my style, or even in style.  But this bit of info from Style Bakery proved me wrong:

“Lucky for you, clogs are a big trend for Spring. Chanel featured them with virtually every look on the runways, including dresses, skirts and skinny pants”

“Of course, the clogs shown on Chanel’s runway were hardly of the comfort variety, featuring high chunky heels. However, you can get inspiration from these looks to wear your Dansko clogs with slim-cut pants, jeans, shorts and flirty dresses.”

I may walk to Copley after I drive home so I can get a pair of my own.

My right thigh/butt was sore from Body Pump.  I took it easy today and walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes and then sat in the sauna for 15 more.  I will admit that the highlight was finally taking a shower and getting myself so fresh and so clean clean.

Last of my kiwis for an afternoon snack.

Do I look like Popeye?  This kiwi was so sour!

*Did you remember to wear red today?*