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.

Well, at least when you live in South East Texas.  Sunday was a warm one!    I will admit that after my run I didn’t spend much time outside.  Our apartment was disgusting, I had reading to do, and we had about 6 loads of laundry.

But, in honor of the warmth I made up a Summer Sunday kind of meal.  Hamburgers and fries.  Okay, Boca Burgers and baked sweet potato fries which are way better!

Summer Sunday Sweet Potato Fries

Serves 2-3 (or barely 2 in my household)

1 extra large Sweet potato or 2 mediums

Large ziploc

1 Tbsp olive oil

Seasoning of choice

Preheat oven to 425.  Cover a large cookie sheet in foil then spray with non-stick spray.

I cut an EXTRA large sweet potato into fry-like shapes.  I then dumped them all in a large ziploc bag, added 1 Tbsp olive oil, cinnamon, cumin, Morton seasoning salt, and pepper.  Shake, shake, shake.  Spread out evenly onto baking sheet.  Bake about 30 minutes or until reaches desired done-ness.  Turn fries every 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Now time for the burgers:

Oh yes, I really did put that many toppings on my Boca.  Amazingly I could still bite into it!

All together now with a pickle.  YUM!  Tastes like summer.  Now if only I had my friends and family gathered around a bonfire in the middle of a field or next to the lake.

Other Weekend News:

• On a stress snacking note, I snacked on 1 bag of 100 calorie popcorn (Yummy), 1 serving pita chips, and about a handful of jelly beans all day!  Much improvement from the rest of the week
• On Saturday night the hubby and I did an Around the World Circuit that I found over at NHerShoes.  Wow, we were sweaty!  This was really fun, so click here to see the circuit and click here to see a video.

Stuff I am Clicking on:

• Junk Food Addiction may be clue to Obesity:  This might explain why the more sugar I eat, the more sugar I want.

• Calorie Data to be Posted at Most Chains: I know everyone is up in arms about the health care, but posting calorie counts is good.  Hopefully it is a reality check for a lot of people.

Off to study.  Happy Monday!

There was a lot of weekend recap happening, but obviously I left out a lot of food!

Let me start with today’s lunch:

Lunch was a toasted sammie with Laughing Cow Swiss and raspberry jam.  Dessert was a calcium chew and half a Cliff Z bar-brownie.  Some how I always end up eating these in halves.

I also had a big ol’ GM.  I used mixed berries instead of blueberries and it turned out to be of a Mud-colored Monster.  Oh well, tastes good to me!

Now, here are some random foods consumed since Friday:

Massive jar of oats/oat bran mix.

Turned into a massive bowl of apple cinnamon protein oats.  So filling!

I had saved a couple pink pancakes for the hubby, so he had PB pancakes on Sunday morning!

Tuna salad-salad.  Yes I made this is a casserole dish because all of my plates were dirty.

New “fake garlic bread”.  Toast bread, spread on Smart Balance, sprinkle Kroger’s Zesty Garlic & Herb spice, sprinkle on Parmesan.  I am addicted to this combo!

Boca burger salad.  I promise there is Boca under all those mushrooms!  Another piece of “fake garlic bread”.

Cadbury egg!  About the only kind of chocolate candy I like!  I always eat at least one every Easter season.  Anyone else think they have gotten smaller since they were kids?  Not that that is a bad thing!

PB & J protein cake.  Deliciousness!

Found the cutest Easter treats, click here to make!

I enjoyed a wonderful 6 mile run in the beautiful, sunny weather.  I wore a thin-strapped tank top in hopes of fixing the farmer’s tan I got from sitting at the bar yesterday!

I also managed to down 2 cups of hot chocolate today.  I really wish I hadn’t broken my coffee pot.

There were also many good eats today:

I prepped some frozen banana sandwiches today.  Looks like I have dessert for the weekend!

Lunch was based with some overnight oats with greek yogurt mixed in.

On top was cinnamon apples, bananas, cheerios, and honey.

On the side a piece of ww toast with jam (and two pieces of banana-random).  I snacked on apple slices, grapes, and a mini-protein shake.

Dinner was a HUGE salad topped with mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, carrots, and a Boca burger.

I ate the last piece of my Central Market mult-grain bread.  I toasted it, topped with Laughing Cow, tomato, and crumble of Boca.  I also ate a few random tortilla chips.

Dessert was consumed.  I honestly wasn’t hungry, but I emotionally wanted dessert.  When I emotionally want sweets I try to make it nutritionally beneficial.  Dessert was “baked” cinnamon apples, spoonful of greek yogurt, half a crumbled granola bar.  I also ate a small piece of caramel.

Tomorrow is a full-on rest day.  I plan on sitting by the pool most of the day.  I will also being shopping for the hubby’s birthday.  He is turning the big 2-5 in a few days!

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?

After lunch I had about half a bottle of Woodshuck Granny Smith.  It my Purdue glass.  We celebrated a Big Ten Championship win today!

Then…we headed to the running store.  As you know, I have been dealing with a leg injury this week (aka not exercising at all).  I figured now was the time to bite the bullet and go get new shoes.  We headed over to Finish Strong Sports where I was immediately told that I had problems!  I said, “How did you know?”.  Response:  “Your shoes are wrong.”

The super-knowledgeable staff member, told me to stand up.  Immediately he began rattling off the exact way I run, where my legs hurts, etc.  WOW.  I took off my shoes, he took one look, and said I should burn them.  Haha.  Basically I was seriously hurting my feet and tendons by my shoe choice!  A shoe that I thought felt comfortable could have caused my injury!

Heaven on my feet.  (P.S. Trooper wanted to be in the picture obviously!).  These are the Mizuno Wave Nirvana 6.  The wonderful man (who had run 27 marathons himself) even taught me how to properly tie my shoes.  I wasn’t even tying my shoes right!

I did a little jogging in the store to check them out–pain free.  My hubby was so impressed that he decided to get his feet fitted too.  Needless to say we dropped some serious cash today, but I think it was definitely worth every penny.

I laced up my new kicks and we headed out for my first run in almost a week!  I could totally tell a difference with my new shoes.  My legs and hips were adjusting and balancing out in ways I didn’t even know.  After the first 15 minutes I could feel my leg tighten up, so I walked and stretched out my leg.  It loosened up and I ran about another 15 minutes.  The run was slow and definitely not 100 %, but my leg was not in pain!  Woo hoo!

This was the start of my dinner.  Toppings.  Lots of toppings.

Veggie burger night for the hubby and I.  Yes, I got the hubby to eat veggies burgers and he liked them.  My Boca Burger was topped with sliced onions, mushrooms, artichokes, spinach, pickles, and spicy mustard.  Holy yum!

On the side was some butternut squash.  Dessert was hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream.

I am going to try and not snack the rest of the evening.  The sun today reminded bikini season could be right around the corner, and this body isn’t in tip top shape yet.

March Challenge Check up:  Ate more fruits and veggies everyday with a GM; did 3 minutes of planks every day, and added strength today!

How was your first week of March?

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

Well I am up bright and early to go spend the day in a MPRE review course.  Ah, the perks of being a law student.

But let me recap Saturday for ya:

Lunch was a Boca burger with mushrooms, ketchup, mustard and unpictured side salad.  Yummy!

A caramel rice cake was eaten as dessert on the way to the watch party.

At the watch party I had a Strongbow Cider.

After the watch party, we ran to the grocery store for a few necessities then came back home for dinner and a movie.

Dinner was a wrap with hummus, mushrooms, mozz, artichokes, carrots, and some honey mustard sauce.

On the side the last of my baby spring mix, and carrots with hummus.  Random I know.

These two silly boys and I watched My Sister’s Keeper.  Has anyone else seen this?  And did you cry the entire movie? Because I seriously think I cried the entire movie, it was incredibly sad!

Dessert was another caramel rice cake topped with some PB and a small cup of hot chocolate.

After the movie I decided to make these babies for later:

Frozen Nana Sandwiches

1 banana sliced long ways, then slice into 3 parts

Spread with nut butter of choice

Add a few mini chocolate chips

Wrap and freeze for a delicious dessert!

I am sure one of these will be enjoyed for dessert tonight!