Sorry I haven’t been here all weekend.  After volunteering at the Tri I was exhausted (more about that in a minute) and have spent most of the time sitting at my desk trying to learn Texas Marital Property law.

Saturday the hubby and I volunteered at a Triathlon down in Kemah.  We  were up at 3:30, out of here by 4ish, and surprisingly made our 4:45 meeting time.  I have never been a race volunteer before so I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  My hubby has volunteered at a couple of my races and he was always a course monitor, thus he stood on the course, cheered and watched for cheaters.  Well… lets just say that is NOTHING like what we did.

The hubby and I ended up on the bike course team.  I was the only girl, I now know why.  We worked from before 5am until almost 1pm.  And when I say work, I mean manual labor.  We were in charge of laying all the cones and signs for the 12 mile bike course.  Volunteering thoughts:

• lifting piles of 20+ orange cones at a time is really heavy
• Laying down cones while hanging off the  side of a moving trailer is harder than you would think
• Leaning your body in a contorted form to try and not fall off the trailer  leaves numerous bruises, muscle cramps, and uses some massive core muscles
• Trying to pick up the cones while leaning over the moving trailer is a seriously difficult task.  I was the master.  Wish these NFL receiver hands came with a professional athletes body.
• Putting down and picking up 12 or so miles of cones is a serious arm, ab, back, leg, everything workout–I AM SO SORE!!!!!

If you can’t tell, my triathlon volunteering was absolutely nothing like I thought it would be.  To top it off it started to storm, so I spent the last 7 miles of cone grabbing being blasted with rain and wind.  That said, I really ended up having a good time.  It has been a long time since I have done an honest days worth of manual labor, and it felt good.  It also felt good to help.  There was a team of about 6 of us who did all the setup, maintenance, and tear down of this course, and I definitely did my part.  It was great to feel like I made this event possible for all those athletes after being on the other side for so long.

I did manage to catch a little bit of the race while we waited for the last biker to clear the transition area.  I am not going to lie, I had some serious Tri envy!  I could feel the excitement!  I want to do one!  (I must get a bike first and learn how to swim competitively first).  Anyone a triathlete?  Tips for breaking into the sport?

After we finished tear down Satuday the hubby and I were starving (we hadn’t eaten since 3am) and could already tell we were going to be in some pain.  I have bailed hay in my day, but I was sooooo much more sore today when I woke up!  Not to mention my legs are bruised and swollen from where I had to lean my body weight and balance on the side of the trailer.  I also plan on skipping upper body strength for a few days because my biceps burn trying to life a water bottle.

After all my achy whining, my body hurts, but it feels good to push it sometimes.

I took my bruised and battered self for a 6 mile run this morning.  The weather was perfect and I couldn’t pass it up!  I popped some ibuprofen and headed out.  I am now taking it easy and studying until I pass out on the desk and the hubs moves me to bed.

Weekend Food Recap in Photos

Thank goodness I made this to eat at 3am before the Tri.

Once we made it home, we collapsed on the couch and I ate the biggest wrap I could make!  I put a whole Boca patty in there.  I also munched on Wheat Thins and cocoa roasted almonds.

Saturday dinner and Sunday lunch were both a GIANT bowl of cereal.  The millet and kamut puffs I bought the other day only have 50 calories/cup so I fill my bowl to the max!  Topped with bananas, strawberries, protein powder, and small dollop of AB.

On the side both meals I had half a toasted pita full of jelly and bananas.

Tonight I made a giant salad monster.  This thing was huge and I ate every last bite!

Today I have snacked on some Wheat Thins (my hubby better never buy these again) and a doughnut.  The hubs also bought a box of donuts this morning–clearly he doesn’t realize sugar is dangerous around me during finals.  These were massive donuts so throughout the day I have been cutting little pieces as sugary rewards.

Okay, time to study!  Anyone do anything fun this weekend?  Let me know, I need to live vicariously through people who aren’t permanently glued to their desks.

The first day of finals studying and I have gotten no studying done. I have just been trying to keep up with my daily assignments which have increased a ton! All of my professors seem to be trying to play catch-up and are loading the work on. Not good timing. Needless to say, I am going to try and stay up really late or get up really early to get in a couple hours of study time.

Monday recap:

Breakfast was a nice big bowl of oats/bran. This was a hearty change from the GM. I made a huge batch to last me the week! This morning I topped mine with banana, strawberries, and AB.

There was also coffee consumed x2.

Lunch was courtesy of My Fit Foods. I got a great Groupon deal the other week for a $35 giftcard for only 15 bucks! Steal.  The hubby and I knew things were going to be crazy this week so we picked up some meals this weekend.  When you go to store, all meals have labels with size, nutritional information, heating instructions, and best by dates.

These are Miguel’s Snack tacos.  3 tacos, 270 calories, 3.5 g fat, 41 g carbs, and 18 g of protein.  These were quite yummy.

I ate 2 of the tacos and saved one for the hubby to eat.  I am a volume eater-I need to consume a lot of food- so these meals are just too small for me.  I added a side salad to bulk it up.

Overall, the food was good but the meals are pretty pricey.  If you really don’t have time to shop or cook then this would probably work for you.  The hubby and I really need more food (more volume) and definitely couldn’t afford to do this for every meal.  With that said, it might be a good solution for finals time!

Snacks included some pita chips, grapes, and handful of jelly beans.

Dinner was quick and the hubby prepped everything for me.  Sweetie.

I had another Lavash wrap stuffed with hummus, sauteed mushrooms and onions, diced tomatoes, and some scallions.  I love these wraps!  Wish I could find them somewhere besides Wal Mart because I hate making the trip outside the loop.

On the side were carrots, cucumbers, and ranch.  Simple and delicious meal.  Eaten on a paper plate-one less dish.

After dinner we headed to park to run.  Bad call.  We went right after dinner so that I could get back and work.  Maybe it was lack of time to digest, maybe my stomach just hurt…but my “run” was really more of a walk.  I “ran” 3 miles in about 34 minutes.  My stomach was in terrible pain and I just couldn’t run.  Lesson learned.

Study.  Pass out.  Goodnight.

I promise there is a waffle under all those blueberries!

First thing, I got to sleep in a little bit this morning because I have nothing to do before my class.  Second, my allergies are killing me!   I find this ironic because I grew up in the middle of a corn field and never had allergies until I moved to Houston.  Thirdly, I had an awesome breakfast.

1 Central Market Organic Whole wheat flax waffle

lots of blueberries heated up until syrupy

AB

honey

1/2 baked cinnamon apple

I piled some of these on after the first picture and then consumed the rest straight from the bowl.

It is also the most beautiful morning out!  On Fridays the traffic mess is delayed a bit, so Trooper and I enjoyed a nice stroll.  The little guy was all frisky in the Spring air.  Needless to say there is no “unmarked” bushes left in Midtown.

Agenda for the day looks something like this:

• strength workout
• class
• CLEAN
• Clean some more (this place is filthy!)
• Lunch
• Run
• Clean
• Grocery shop
• Relax

Tomorrow afternoon the madre arrives, so it will be a busy weekend!  Also, shout out to Cathy who is visiting Htown as we speak!  (Welcome to Texas, you will be called a Yankee)

The blogging may be lacking this weekend, but I will be keeping up on Twitter on the good ol’ blackberry.  If you haven’t already you can follow me by clicking the Follow Me icon to the left!

Happy Friday!  Is is starting to feel like Spring in your neighborhood?

We are finally!  I have even seen sun 2 days in a row now!  This girl would love to lay out at the pool and fix this ghostliness!  The madre said Indiana had good weather yesterday, so I hope my northern bloggers are warming up!

Good morning bloggers.  This morning, my walk to school was BEAUTIFUL!  Perfect temp, lower humidity, the air just had that crisp Spring morning feel.  If I closed my eyes and pretended there wasn’t traffic, homeless people, and pollution it was just like being back home.  Haha, sort of.

This morning was a GNC shake to go.  I also had some apple slices first thing because I woke up starving!  I was up early this morning to finish homework, I slept like crap-more on that in a minute.  I also woke up and did some sun salutations and stretching- my body was stressed and wound up tight.  I felt about 10 x better after my stretching.  My dog also loves when I get on the floor and do stretching, he stretches with me (no joke, he is a Yoga king!) and gives me lots of kisses!

Lunch and dinner were both packed to go because I had to move my 60 min tempo run until this evening after all my classes, aka 730ish.

Lunch was a whole lotta butter nut squash topped with even more cinnamon!  On the side some apple slices and a Cherry pie mini Lara bar.

Dinner was a AB and jelly sammie with a whole apple sliced up and 100 calorie pack of cookies.  I am really trying to stay away from pre-packed food like those, but I felt I needed some processed crap food today!

Anyway, I am having to run tonight because the hubby decided to go meet up with people after work and came home from work 3 hours late even though I told him I needed to go run.  This is a problem because we only have one car, so I can’t get to the park and run (literally no public transport in Houston- they don’t believe in that here).  Needless to say I was an unhappy camper, and we ended up fighting all night.  And I am not a person you want to fight with because a) I am in law school-it is my job to fight and win, b) I am the most stubborn person ever, and c) I will find a way to get my way.

Anyway, not to be a debby downer, but I had a very stressful night and woke up exhausted and still angry.  (Grr I hate waking up in a bad mood).  Enter the stretching.  Ahhh…felt so much better.

Now, school for 12 hours, had to cancel the wine tasting I was going to attend because today is no longer a rest day, and fit in an hour long run tonight after class.  This girl is going to pass out the minute I get home!

P.S. My mom arrives Saturday…all things will be better!

Are you a fair fighter?  How do you handle stress/fights with significant other, best friend, etc?

I know I am not a fair fighter, this little lady has a temper!  I usually say (or scream) my points and then just want to be left alone.  Surprisingly it works well, because my hubby is not confrontational so I think most of the time he just sits there and lets me fight.

I have about 200 pages worth of reading and cases to brief until I am on Spring Break!  I think I can do it!  (I also have to clean up the disaster zone that is our apartment before my mom arrives…that is questionable).

I have just been ravenously hungry all day!  Today is also a double workout day (by chance), so I used the excuse to fuel up!

Lunch started with this hefty Boca Burger.  Anyone else enjoy toppings as much as whatever is under them?  This baby is topped with sliced mushrooms, onions, pickles, and spicy mustard!  Almost too big to bite, almost.

On the side carrots (x2) and ranch dip.  I later snacked on apple slices, bag of popcorn, hot chocolate, and few chocolate covered pretzels!

I attempted to do my homework for about 30 minutes…fail.  Maintenance showed up to replace stuff, so I used the excuse to hide in the kitchen and roast a butternut squash.

I napped.

I made dinner.

Over-afternoon oats, prepped during my kitchen hideout.  I added in cold microwaved cinnamon-apples, and half container of greek yogurt.  Sandwich thin with AB on the side.  Who else loves breakfast for dinner?

I will do some work, then 60 min tempo run, then crash.

2 days.  I can make it!

Anyone have a spectacular Hump day?

The MPRE is over.  I am nervous about how I did.  Mainly because I suck at multiple choice exams.  I am one of those people that gets down to two answers and changes my mind back and forth a million times.  As with everything in law school, I get to wait 5 months for my results!

Anyway, it is the weekend…Woooo Hoooo!

Friday night dinner started by chopping up random items from the fridge.

I then threw everything on the last of my spring mix.  Sad it is gone, glad I ate it all before it went bad!

Dessert included handful of pretzels and a sandwich thin with PB and melted mini chocolate chips.

I also drank almost two of my giant bottles of water yesterday!

Saturday

Woke up nice and early to finish up a practice test:

Lucky for me I had these overnight oats prepped and ready to go.  I topped with banana and tsp of AB and consumed while practice-testing!

Overnight oats:

1/4 cup oat bran/oats mix

3/4 cup water

1 Tbsp flax meal

Added pumpkin, cinnamon, agave this morning and stirred up.

EXAM.  Blah.  We shall see.

The hubby met me at school and we drank a latte and walked around the shops a bit.

Lunch was quick because all our dishes are in the washer, and we were trying to do quick apartment clean.  AB and banana sandwich.  I should start calling these cinnamon sandwiches as you can see.

And an apple.  All served up on this classy paper plate.

Purdue has a game.  I need to do my planks and ab work.  The hubby also promised a short run today!  I haven’t workout (besides upper body strength) since last Sunday when my leg was in so much pain that I cried the last mile of my run.  My leg is still tight, but it feels a ton better!  Monday I honestly couldn’t walk without wanting to cry.  So I cut out all exercise and took the elevator at school.  I am going to do a LIGHT couple of miles today…like 2.  If it starts to be painful I will stop and rest a few more days.  (I am getting worried for my Pelican Challenge March 20 and 21st!)

Houston is having a pleasant, semi-sunny day so far.  Is Spring showing its face in your neighborhood yet?

I am so ready to see the sun more often!

Good morning everyone.  Anyone else not want to get out of bed at all this week?  Usually I hit the snooze one time then spring out of bed.  So far this week I am 2/2 of snoozing 30+ minutes!  (Someone, Me, needs a vacation!)

Monday night dinner was this glorious salad.  I basically just threw on whatever I found in the fridge:  mushrooms, plum, tofu, butternut squash, onions

Dessert was a warm cup of hot chocolate.

This morning…

Another green monster.  This one contained

1 cup soy milk

1/2 frozen banana

1 scoop chocolate protein

spinach

Lets hope this baby motivates me to get through the 12 hour day that is my Tuesday.

Lunch was packed in my Stay Fit containers.  1 AB/banana sandwich, plum slices, grapes, and cashew cookie Larabar.

I am going to take the rest of the day off from blogging (although I might try to catch upon Google Reader).  I have a group project, briefs, and studying for my MPRE to accomplish today.

Like McD’s Cafe line? I do- way cheaper than the ‘Bucks.  Looks like Burger King might be jumping on the coffee bandwagon too!

Pre-Race I had a few of these little babies and a piece of toast with AB.

Post-Race the hubby and I scored all this free stuff at after party.  Guess who now has a dozen more sample sized Lara bars?  Yep, me!  I also had almost a whole cinnamon raisin bagel while walking around the after party.

After a  long walk home (2.15 miles to be exact courtesy of Mapmyrun.com) I knew that I should eat lunch.  I had half an acorn squash that needed to be used in the fridge.

Boca-Stuffed Acorn Squash

4 chopped artichoke hearts

1/2 Boca Burger chopped up

Pasta sauce

Parmesan

After chopping up the artichoke hearts and Boca I stuffed them into the half of cooked acorn squash.

I then topped with a tiny bit of shredded mozz just to help keep the stuffing together, topped with a little pasta sauce, sprinkled with Italian seasoning and Parmesan.  Then bake at 400 degrees until warm.  Turn broiler on if you want the cheese crispy on top (I know I like it that way)

Get fork and enjoy.

After eating I became a bit snacky and had two caramel rice cakes with a mug of hot chocolate for dessert.

There were also a mini candy bars eaten from our freebie stash.  I am headed to a law school bowling event and will likely eat pizza and beer for dinner.  The hubby and I are vowing to eat better all next week again but you gotta give yourself a little break on the weekends (or after running an awesome race).

New 10k PR: (See below)

I had some issues with the organization of this race (like running out of size small shirts even though I was pre-registered, thus meaning they gave away all the small to walk-in registers at the packet pickup and the lack of time corrals), BUT the results page is awesome! You can find your individualized time, watch your finish video, see time break down, average times, compare your course location to other finishers…just amazing!

Click link below to see my finish line video:

I am towards the right side wearing gray t-shirt, gray headband, and sunglasses.  You can see me approaching at about the 6 sec mark.

RodeoRun2700

I might have worn this shirt to classes on Friday.  Real professional I know.   My hubby got me this shirt while I was running my half on Valentine’s Day.

Let me recap the rest of Friday for ya:

Lunch was light because I knew we were having a lot of courses with dinner.  I had a piece of toast with AB, Chobani, diced plum, and lots of cinnamon of course!

An unneeded and unpictured snack of 2 chocolate rice cakes with PB was consumed during the day.  I need to really set a goal of cutting down unnecessary snacking!  One day.

McCormick & Schmicks Scotch-Paired Dinner

Here is our menu, but the chef surprised us with an extra course!

All the scotches were listed and a scotch expert was there to explain each drink.  He was very knowledgeable and had a fun accent.  I was amazed at how different the scotch tasted based on the environment it was grown.  Biggest lesson learned:  Don’t ask for whiskey in Scotland.

Cocktail Hour: Scotch Cured New Zealand King Salmon on Toast Point with Blue Cheese

(This went unpictured because things were just getting started and I was busy passing the plate, listening to introductions, and explaining to the other couple that was seated with our group that I write a blog)

Surprise bonus course: Lobster bisque!!  My husband was so giddy when the chef announced the surprise course was lobster bisque.  This bisque was made with pureed rice instead of a traditional rue and also infused with a Madagascar vanilla bean.  The vanilla note was instantly noticed.  I honestly couldn’t decide whether I like it or not because it was such a different taste from traditional lobster bisque.  Both the men of group gave it a thumbs up!

Scotch:  Singleton 12 year

Salad Course: Yellowfin Hawaiin Tuna Tartare Salad, Cilantro, and Micro Arugula tosseed with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigerette

Scotch:  Glenkinchie 12 yr

This was delicious!  The tuna had a wonderful flavor and the chef used a locally grown wasabino? instead of wasabi.  It did not have that strong wasabi kick and perfectly complimented the salad.

Seafood Course: Gulf of Main Sea Scallop Pan Roasted with Morel Mushrooms and Asparagus risotto

Scotch:  Talisker 10 yr

This was my favorite entree course.  The chef had the sea scallops brought in for this meal so they were on their 2nd day out of the water.  They had a wonderful flavor and were perfectly cooked.  My favorite part was the morel mushroom on top.  Morels grow in the wild where I used to live in Indiana so when it was “mushrooming” season we would eat them all the time!  The chef explained that since these were out of season they were about 200 bucks/ pound!  Yikes!  So glad he splurged!  It was sweet and delicious.  I saved if for last!

Meat Course: Venison Tenderloin Oven Roasted with Sweet Melted Leeks, Pemmes Maxmiand Blackberry Currant Demi Glaze

Scotch:  Oban 14 yr

I won’t lie, I wasn’t excited for this dish.  Honestly I wasn’t even sure I would eat it.  I was definitely unsure when I saw it was cooked medium-rare (in my world that means still bleeding).  I did try a few bites of the meat.  I was not impressed with the venison.  This was probably more of a mental picture of Bambi than anything to do with the meat or its preparation.  I did however love the Blackberry Demi Glaze–delicious!  The 3 bites of venison I did eat were completely drenched in glaze.  The paper-thin potatoes were also good.  My hubby thought this was the best course of the meal obviously.

Dessert: Rustic Pear and Apple Tart topped with Scotch Ice Cream

Scotch:  Chilled Dalwhinnie 15 yr

This was my favorite course of the whole meal!  It was very understated and the natural flavors of the apple and pear were allowed to shine through.  The Scotch ice cream was incredibly different.  The first bite of ice cream was unsure; however once it began melting into the tart I thought it was a wonderful compliment.  Overall, AMAZING!  I would have licked my plate clean had I been sitting in my own living room.

Cheese Course: Brie Cheese En Croute with Apple-Peach Honey and Fresh Assorted Fruit

Scotch:  Lagavulin 16 yr

The brie was baked in a puff-pastry then topped with the apple-pear honey.  My husband had never had brie this way so he instantly fell in love.  I honestly could have eaten this as dessert.

Overall, the entire meal was delicious!  Confession:  I don’t like Scotch.  I gave up drinking after the new year in preparation for my slew of races so I am serious light weight right now.  However, I did taste each one of the course’s scotch–it just wasn’t for me.  I also did not want to have to be carried home, so I stuck to one taste and a few glasses of ice water.  Both the husbands really enjoyed the tasting and comparing all the differences.  I enjoyed the food-clearly.

I have a busy Saturday ahead of me:  Rodeo Run 10k and Law School Bowling Event.

I somehow managed to get myself to school a little after 7 this morning (and I fit in 2 quick miles on the treadmill).  I finished up briefs for my first class and then realized that I wouldn’t be leaving school for over 12 hours!  What a bummer!

Anyway I managed to remember my camera (probably the first time ever), so I can post my eats real quick before I have to hit the books again:

Breakfast was a piece of toast with almond butter and cinnamon.  I had really wanted to forgoe as much wheat/gluten products as possible this week but that would require going to the grocery store.

I packed my dinner this morning because we are supposed to go make up that 5 mile tempo run right after my night class.  I packed AB sandwich with sliced apples.  Almost all clean food.

Snacks included some sample bars from the Austin Half Marathon Expo.  I really wanted to bring carrots, but I didn’t have time to chop them this morning.  So I caved and brought processed food.  I did make sure I chose organic bars made with simple ingredients.

For lunch I brought a mashed sweet potato.  I know this baby doesn’t look appetizing, but it smells so good!  I of course added cinnamon.  I haven’t decided whether to just eat it cold or go find a microwave.

My husband suggested we do some form of detox/cleanse for a week to clean out our systems and see what stuff has been bothering us.  I am up for the idea, but again that would require time for grocery shopping for lots of fresh fruits and veggies.

Has anyone ever tried a cleanse/detox program?  Did you like it, make you feel better?

Given I only have about 5 minutes to write this post, I will be choosing a random giveaway winner tonight.  Winner will be announced tomorrow morning!