I Finished!!

Today I ran my first 10k and it was awesome!!  I ran faster than I thought I would on a pretty hilly course.  I finished in 56.24 with a 9.06 pace. 

I started out the morning with a lite breakfast:

I had a peice of great harvest dakota toast with peanut butter and apple butter, a banana and some coconut water.  I woke up about 2 hours before the race started to make sure that my breakfast was digested.  I went outside to take Champ for a walk and realized that it was FREEZING!! Not quite what I had expected, but I layered up!  I had underarmor on every part of my body. Before I left the house I made sure to have a dose of my race buddy

Thank God for this stuff. Saves me every time.

The temerature 30 minutes before race time.

The race started right on time.  This is definitely the biggest race I've ran so far. There were hundreds of people.  I was super nervous before we started as usual.  I got there kind of late so I didn't have time for a final pit stop or to even take my tshirt back to my car (I hope the kid that picked it up out of the parking lot is enjoying it).  Here's how the race went:

Mile 1: OMG IT'S COLD!! This is pretty much all that was running through my head. My feet were numb for the first two miles.

Mile 2: I finished mile 1 in 9.30 so I picked up the pace a little and stated getting some feeling back in my toes.

Mile 3: Wow the first three miles went by fast! Oh hey there are my parents and Matt with Champ!!

Mile 4: This is when we started the second loop around.  I knew what I was in for at this point and I was starting to dread the two big hills that I knew were on the way.

Mile 5: Ok big hills are done.  I can do this.  Just try and keep this pace

Mile 6: SPRINT!!! I can see the finish!! CRAMP! OUCH! SPRINT!!

All in all a pretty great race.  I was really happy that I had done some interval training with hills in the gym and I had tied in some weight training for my legs.  As bad as I thought the hills would be, this is actually where I ended up passing a good number of people. And now for some blurry photos via my fiance's old decrepid camera (love you!!)

That's me in the black and pink finishing the first 5k going around for number 2!

Right before the finish!!

Overall I finished 125th out of 246 people.  I got 11th in my age group. Not bad.  I would love to do a half marathon next year! I wish that winter wasn't on its way so that I could run more outside, but I guess that will have to wait.  I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Saturday. There's a glass of wine with my name on it.



Race Goals

Hey everyone! Well it's the day before my 10k and I've been sitting here thinking about what I want to get out of my race. 

• Mainly I want to finish the race without stopping.  The only reason I every stop in a race is because of a cramp and the only way for me to avoid them is to drink a lot of water/coconut water and to try to keep my breathing even.  For some reason I am very prone to side cramps.
• I want to finish under 1 hour! I have done this during practice a few times so I know it's possible.
• Work on my pre-race nerves so that my stomach doesn't freak out on me.  Since I have an unpredictable stomach, I usually take Imodium on race days. I totally sound like an old lady saying this but it really helps me. 
• Have fun. I really want to enjoy my first 10k and I hope that finishing will give me the drive to train for a half marathon for next year.

Well I am at work, so I better keep this short.  Today is our Thanksgiving lunch at work and I cannot wait! Then I'm off to meet with a graduate advisor at the university to discuss classes.  And then....I'm off to TWILIGHT!!!  I will leave you with an adorable picture of the cutest puppy ever.  Mine of course:

What I Ate Wednesday

I saw this on a couple other blogs.  People just take pictures of what they eat on Wednesday. Thought I would give it a go.  I really need to get better at keeping my camera handy. Half of these pictures were taken with my phone so forgive me for the poor quality!

I started out with pumpkin pie overnight oats.  YUM. I added some applesauce this time

For lunch I used some leftover pork from last night to make a wrap.  First I spread some goat cheese on a whole what wrap.

Then I added some spinach leaves, pork, chopped carrots and sliced green peppers.  I had an apple on the side and a small peice of dark chocolate afterwards.

Dinner was....quick.  I got home from the gym a little late because of an accidant and I just put something together because I was starving. I cooked a salmon filet on the stovetop with some salt and pepper.  I heated up some leftover brown rice and black beans and had some pineapple with it. 

Man I can't wait until we get more attractive plates for our wedding haha. The 70's has made it's return.

Can't believe this time next week it will almost be thanksgiving!! This year is flying by!







Busy Bee

Sorry I've been MIA lately.  The little puppy is keeping me quite busy.  He is the cutest thing ever, but he's a non-stop mover.  Yesterday I took him for a 45 minute walk around the neighborhood to attempt to tire him out, but I think quite the oposite happened. He wore me out!! lol. He's has been so good with being in his cage during the day though.  So proud!

Cutest little man. I tried to take a picture with the flash and he was all squinty eyed, so this is a little blury

Today I went to work for a half day and came home to hang with Champ (tomorrow will be his first full work day alone in the cage).  I grabbed lunch and hung out with him for a bit and then headed over to the gym for a much needed workout.  I got in about 35 minutes of weights and 45 minutes of cardio.  While I was working out I was for some reason thinking about my favorite things to do in the gym.  I realized that I couldn't go a day at the gym without doing a few things:

1. Squats and lunges: no better feeling then a sore butt the day after a hard workout!
2. The Assited Pull Up Machine. I love this machine. It's fun and works a lot of muscles.

3. Sweating. I love the sweat and if I'm not drenched by the time I leave I don't feel like it was a good workout.
4. At least 10 minutes of stretching after cardio.  I'll do anything to prevent getting injured.

After the gym it was time to make some dinner! Tonight we had pork chops on the menu.  I created some sort of dry rub and it actually turned out pretty well.  Here is what I used for two pork chops:

Pork Chop Rub (2 servings)

1 1/4 tsp Paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp dark brown sugar

I put the rub on both sides of the chop and cooked them on the stovetop

I served mine with a half sweet potatoe, some all natural apple sauce and veggies.  And of course I dipped the pork chop in the apple sauce...a Vitale family must.

Hope everyone had a good day! Tomorrow's hump day!

WE HAVE A PUPPY!!!

Today was one of the best days I can remember! Matt and I adopted a dog! His name is Champ. He's a 2 1/2 year old puggle. He is fulll of energy and currently he is exploring our house.

He is adorable and is already attached to both Matt and I and won't let us out of his site.  He caught a glimpse of one of our cats and didn't seem to care about them which is perfect.  The cats are hiding at the moment but I'm sure they'll get over it soon.  Matt is taking the day off from work tomorrow to keep Champ company and I'm planning on coming home right after work to take him for a run.  I'm so happy to have  little running buddy!

Speaking of running, I started off my day with an hour long run.  I have no clue how far I actually went but the weather was perfect and I was enjoying myself.

It was one of those perfect fall days to be outside.  I saw some interesting things along the way.  I saw a dead squirrel on the sidewalk....now how does that actually happen? Hit by a bike?  And I saw some weave outside our house hahha

Must have blown over from one of the local high schools hahah.  I felt really good for my run until around 50 minutes I started tightening up a bit.  But all in all I feel ready for the race next week.

Happy to be done my hour run!

I had such a fun weekend I'm sad it has to come to an end.  I'll be counting down the days until next weekend when I get to go see Twilight with my BFF Stef and run my 10k race!!







UD Homecoming!

Today was such a fun day.  I love everything about homecoming....being able to pretend like I'm still in college, having good food and beer with my college friends, going into the game!....and then realizing at the end of the day that I am not in college anymore and that I get a huge headache from only 2 drinks! hahah.  It was still a fun day though!

Before we left for the game I had a chobani greek yogurt and a banana nut muffin with some peanut butter.  Decaf coffee on the side.

This is my go to recipe for muffins. They are really easy to make and are perfect for when you have some brown bananas sitting around.

Banana Nut Muffins

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon (but I usually add more b/c I love it)

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup banana (about 2 bananas)

3/4 cup milk

3 tbsp canolla oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 large egg or equivalent of egg whites

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Prehet oven to 375 degrees. Combine ingredients through salt.  Separately combine banana and next 4 ingredients through egg.  Add flour mixture to wet ingredients.  Fold in walnuts.  Bake for 22 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

After breakfast we headed over to the parking lot to get a spot for tailgating.  While we were there we had a few beers and cooked up some regular burgers and turkey burgers to have for lunch.  I used my favorite turkey burger recipe (i'm slightly obsesssed).

BBQ Blue Cheese Turkey Burgers

1.3 lb ground turkey

1/3 cup bbq sauce

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/3 cup blue cheese

Mix all ingredients and grill! Makes 5-6 burgers

We also had some pretty good snacks on the side.  Matt grilled up some sweet potatoes and we had chips and guacamole and some homeade cookies that my friend Stephanie made.  Yum.  I definitely let myself enjoy the day and the food.  Homecoming only comes around once a year and it was nice to be able to enjoy it.  I knew in my head that I had a long run planned for the next day and I had worked hard the previous week at the gym.  I was ready to let loose!

We went into the game for a little, but by this time it was starting to get a little too cold for us.  We grabbed a quick slice of pizza for dinner and made our way home.  It's currently 9:15 and I am soooo ready for bed.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to get in a 5-6 mile run before we go see the puggle Champ at the SPCA!!!!

Looking Forward To Letting Loose

Hello everyone! It's been a busy couple of days.  I just got back from the grocery store, picking some things up for this weekend (Homecoming!).  Who would've thought the grocery store would be so crowded on a Thursday night when it's raining? It was mobbed!

I didn't get a chance to write yesterday because I went to the UD Graduate Expo after work.  I'm seriously considering going back to school part time to get my Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology.  I would work full time while taking classes.  I would just have to make up the time I missed from work by staying later at the end of the day. I would take 1 class a semester for 2.5 years. Here's what I have lined up for myself:

• Cellular and Molecular Immunology
• Virology
• Immunochemistry
• Biotechnology and Molecular Medacine
• Cancer Biology or Advanced Mammalian Physiology

YIKES hahah.  Looks pretty scary sitting there all at once.  I'm hoping to start in Fall 2012 if I get in!!

Tonight I was scraping the bottom of the fridge/freezer trying to use stuff we already had for a meal.  I went with Spicey Honey-Brushed Chicken thanks to CookingLight!

Recipe:

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

4 Skinless boneless chicken thighs

cooking spray

3 tbsp honey

1 tsp cider vinegar

I mixed all the spices in  bowl and then sprinkled them over the chicken thighs.  I preheated the oven to 375 and baked them for 25 minutes.  I then mixed together the honey and cider vinegar in a bowl, took the chicken out, brushed the chicken with the honey mixture and then baked it for 5 more minutes.  Easy! I served mine on top of brown rice and black beans.

And some veggies and pineapple on the side.

This meal was a good pick me up after my workout at the gym.  I did some squats and lunges and a short ab workout and then hopped on the treadmill. I attempted to run for 30 minutes at what I would like to be my "race pace" next saturday. 

15 minutes @ 6.3 (9.30 pace)

15 minutes @ 6.5 (9.15 pace)

Every fifth minute I would up the incline to try and get used to hills

When I finished I was at 3.2 miles

For some reason it's always easier for me to run a 9.15 pace when I'm outside than when I'm on a treadmill.  While running I started thinking about some treadmill conspiracy haha.  The treadmill lies!! Oh wow looks like I'm going off the deep end.  At least tomorrow is Friday!