Monday, December 30, 2013

Holiday Madness

It has been so long since I blogged. Sad. And sorry. 

To start - I'll recap my workouts over the  holidays, which to be honest were tough to fit into all the madness. 

Thursday (12/19) - 
Worked out at the gym at work but I can't remember what I did. 

Saturday (12/21) - 
Broomball practice on the ice for an hour. I was INCREDIBLY sore for a few days. It was a really hard workout. I'm not used to sprinting right now that's for sure

Monday (12/23) - 
Went to the LA Fitness by my house for a quick 3 mile treadmill run since we had the day off of work. 

Friday (12/27) - 
4 miles on the treadmill at a 7:50/mile pace. WHOOT!

Today (12/30) - 
4 miles on the treadmill at a 7:38/mile pace. WHAT? HOLLLLAAAA!!

So yeah I think I did pretty well considering how busy we were. We had 7 celebrations in 4 days starting on Sunday and going through Wednesday. It was so busy and a little stressful, but I can't complain about having a lot of people in our lives that love us. Kellan was overwhelmed by all the travelling and all the people and all the presents, but honestly he did pretty awesome. I love that kiddo. He ended up starting to get pretty sick as the holiday gatherings continued and I figured he was teething and tired. He has 2 bottom teeth coming through and my god those things are sharp! 

Well Wednesday (Christmas Day) he ended up with a fever around 3pm. Poor peanut guy. I was a worried first time mom with a kid with a fever on a holiday! He got up to 102.5 which was scary for me, but I guess totally normal for a baby. Whew. We made it through after lots of snuggles from mom and dad and a little infant's tylenol to bring the heat down to a more manageable level. If I'm being honest he was still pretty crabby even last night so he's still fighting it. Awwww.... :(

Here are a few pictures from the past few days. 

First is a picture of Kellan on the night after he had his fever being adorable in the laundry hamper. We were letting him hang out in there while we folded laundry and seeing him smile made me feel better that he was starting to feel a little bit more like himself. 


We were dog sitting for our nephew dog, Pepper, over the weekend. Pete's brother's dog. The dog cousins had SO MUCH fun together. It's really cute to see them together. Except when they bark while you have a sick baby sleeping hahaha. Silly doggies! We loved having him come visit though and look forward to having him come stay with us again. We can't wait for his brother to come stay with us too. His human brother that is, who is due in March. I CAN'T WAIT!


Here's a picture of K being adorable in one of the new outfits he got from his Oma for Christmas. We got so many great things for him and I feel so lucky that he has so many family members that really love him. It's an amazing thing. Kind of like it takes a tribe to raise a child or something like that. He will get so much value from each of the people in his life that love him and I feel so great about that. 


And finally - yesterday we went to go see the final Vikings game of the year with some of our friends, Jay and Cheryl, who have a 3 year old. He was so amazing with Kellan and to be honest Kellan loves NOTHING more than other little boys. How cute is that?? So here is a picture of those two hanging out. I DIE - they are too cute. Honestly. It was super fun to see them and catch up. Our little boys will be out running around together and jumping off the boat together in just a few year's time :)


That's all I have for now. Sorry I was MIA over the holidays, but were people really even reading blogs over the holidays? Everyone was probably as busy as we were. 

Any funny holiday moments to share???

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Crazy life

Well life has been nuts lately. I swear each time I go to cross something off my To Do list I'm adding 3 new things to the bottom of it. It's never ending right now.
- Order Christmas Cards
- Make address labels
- Mail Christmas Cards
- Order Christmas Presents
- Wrap Christmas Presents
- Buy Wrapping Paper
- Make Holiday Gift Tags
- Send Baby Shower Invites
- Fit in workouts
- Groceries
- Make a holiday food checklist so I know what to bring to the 6 holiday celebrations I'm going to.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. I've also been putting together gifts for the people at my son's daycare - there are 11 teachers that work with him occasionally. ELEVEN~!

So in the middle of all that chaos and on top of the fact that work has been crazy I've been trying to fit in workouts. I normally manage about 6 projects at a time at work and right now I have ten. TEN~!

Workouts lately:
Last Week Wednesday: 4 mile treadmill run
Last Week Thursday: Lift Circuit
Last Week Friday: 3 mile HIIT run
This Week Monday: 4 mile run
Today: Circuit Lifting

YAY! At least I'm staying on track with that. And I need to because in one month from tomorrow Pete, Kellan and I will be here:

Yes that is an actual picture of the beach at the resort we will be staying. I seriously cannot wait!

But first I need to make it through this busy time at work and I need to make it through the chaos of the holidays. Another thing that's getting added to the docket is Broomball. I am the captain of a broomball team through my work. I am so excited to be able to play again this year. I had to sit out last year since I was pregnant. We have a practice this Saturday and then our first game is next week on Thursday. Should be a fun season. For those of you who don't know what broomball is it's a sport played outdoors, on the ice, wearing broomball shoes, kind of similar to hockey in that you try to get the ball into the net using a broomball stick. It's super fun, and a real intense workout. 


That's all I've got for now. I hope everyone has a great week. I'm heading tonight to get some new pads for broomball and I need to get groceries for all these events coming up. I have a lot of baking and cooking in my near future. :)



Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Work is insane

Well like the title says - work is really insane right now. I did get in a workout yesterday. When I got to the gym all 4 treadmills, 3 elliptical machines, 1 stair climber and 2 bikes were in use! Crazy. I waited and the first machine to open up was the elliptical machine so I went for it.

Monday's Workout:
Workout: Elliptical
Time: 32 minutes
Distance: 6.10 miles
Program: Random on Level 8 to get a little quad burn going :)

No workout today. I am too busy with work. I am writing this post while I pump. At work. Ah life as a mom! I really wanted to get to the gym to lift today, but I just have too many projects popping right now and so I worked through my lunch. It's ok. Sometimes work is just that busy.

Kellan has been sick lately. Poor little dude has a bad cough and hadn't been sleeping well at all. He was waking up coughing with lots of congestion throughout the weekend. We had to go down to help him out a few times a night for a few nights in a row. Being sick is the pits, but snuggles from mom or dad helps! Last night he woke only once and then SLEPT IN. It was wonderful even though we were a little later than usual getting to work. I'll take the sleep when I can get it.

So this week I've just been spending lots of quality time with my little dude. Even though he's been sick and a little whiny when he doesn't feel good he's still full of smiles. I love that about him.


We went to my mom's house over the weekend since Pete had plans on Sunday. He was really digging hanging with their dog Amalfi. Adorable.


What else is new? Nothing at the moment. Busy with work and life. I'm working on holiday cards and buying all the remaining Christmas gifts I need to get. I need to start wrapping. I need to actually mail the Christmas cards once they arrive. I need to send out some baby shower invites for my sister in law's baby shower. Life is crazy with the holidays coming, but I am enjoying all of it.  

Any suggestions on new workouts I should try out this week? Leave ideas in the comments. 


Friday, December 6, 2013

Friday - The Gym - What Motivates Me?

It's Friday!

I was supposed to have PTO today because K's daycare is closed for half of the day so I took the day off. BUT! BUT! But work is too busy so I ended up putting in some hours from home. It was sporadic since Kellan was home with me, but I was able to get everything done that I needed to get done. More like a half day of PTO. I was able to drop Kellan at daycare for an hour this morning while I went to spin class though. Holy cccrrraaappppppppppppp. I have not been to spin in close to a year. I was still going when I first got pregnant, but haven't been since I went on bed rest while I was pregnant. It's definitely something that's easier when you go often. WOW! It was tough.


I was able to keep up and finish the class and of course now I've been famished for the rest of the day. :)
The class was a good one. We did a twelve minute sprint in the middle. I mean, 12 minutes is a long time for anything. 12 minutes to wait for noodles to cook. 12 minutes waiting for the bus. Let me tell you, 12 minutes sprinting on a spin bike when you think people are watching how fast you are going (even though they totally probably are not) is a reallllyyyyy long time. We also did an 8 minute hill. Sheesh. 


Workout: Spin Class
Time: 55 minutes
Distance: 22km which is something like 13 miles? I am not sure I'm just doing that in my head. 

I spent the rest of the day with Kellan. We went grocery shopping and wrapped a present for my sister in law's baby shower tomorrow. We did laundry. We cleaned the house. 

So I was sitting on the spin bike today thinking about how this blog is supposed to be about my life, but also about working out and I thought I would write a post about what motivates me to get my butt to the gym. 

So here goes. What motivates me? First and foremost I want to be healthy for me and for my family. I want to live a long life. I want to set a good example for Kellan. I want to FEEL good every day. And I like to eat. Working out means I get to eat a lot. I also like to look fit. I like the feeling I get knowing that I am a runner. Sometimes when I am out for a run and it's just one of those really hard runs I think to myself: this sucks. I think life would be easier if I just sat at my desk all day. But the cool thing about being a runner is that it's hard. If it was easy everyone would be a runner. I like to put in the hard work - on those hard run days - on those days when I'm dragging my butt to the gym I rely on the satisfaction I get in my life from knowing I'm putting in the work to accomplish that goal of being a runner. A real runner - someone who runs every week. Or if you are me someone who runs at least 3 times a week. Ha ha. Just working those goals in here. 

So I have my 3 runs in this week (Mon, Tues, Thurs) and a spin class under my belt. My legs may be a bit wobbly, but bring on the weekend! Looking forward to spending time with my husband and our friends this weekend. Looking forward to family time. 

What motivates you to get to the gym on those tough days?


Thursday, December 5, 2013

Kellan Day

As I've mentioned before I have every other Wednesday off from work. I took a slight pay cut so that I can spend that day every other week with my son. It's been so worth it and I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to spend that time with him as he grows. And he is growing way too fast! Slow down kiddo, mama wants to savor every moment of your incredible development. The other day on the changing table he made probably 8 - 10 different sounds with his mouth and it reminds me that we aren't that far away from crawling... and talking... and walking. I need to enjoy every day.

Before I get into my day off - I did get in a workout on Tuesday. I got some really tough news from a good friend who was going through a tough time. I had her in my heart all day. The way I deal with stress or sadness is usually with a good run. I got on the treadmill and kept cranking the speed up until the tears at the corners of my eyes were at bay.

Tuesday's Workout
Workout: Treadmill Run
Distance: 4 Miles
Time: 31:18
Pace: Just under 7:50/mile

Ok so my day off. My husband and I were up somewhat early with a happy, active little guy in the morning. We were met with a new blanket of snow making the morning quite pretty even though the sun wasn't even close to rising yet. After my husband left for work I got Kellan down for a nap and put a lovely meal into the slow cooker. The plan was to have it bubble and cook all day filling the house with a warm, wonderful smell by the time the day was coming to a close.

With dinner successfully slow-cooking, I left to go meet up with two of my best friends. Our kids are sure to be great friends as they grow older and we love the opportunity to spend time together. When I arrived at my friend Elise's house she informed me that our other friend, Tara, had called with a flat tire. And not just a flat tire, but a flat tire in the middle of a snow storm with her twin 1 year olds in the van. I called Tara since I have plenty of experience changing tires and offered to come help. I inched my way back into the morning's traffic to her location. I think while changing her tire I looked a little something like this:


With the tire successfully changed - we headed to Elise's house for some much needed girl time. Oh and pizza. That was much needed too. Since I still can't have dairy I had to order half of it without cheese. And that was sad. So sad. But to be honest the pizza was really good. Even without cheese on it. Is that even technically pizza anymore?? :)

I had to leave around 2pm because my dog, Wyatt had a vet appt. I didn't really want to drive in the snow storm all the way to the vet, but I did. 


When we got home from the vet the house smelled amazing, just like I was hoping it would. It was warm and the Christmas tree was lit. I fed K and put him in his pack and play and shoveled the incredibly heavy snow. Blech. Then I put in some laundry. What a day!

All right, enough boring details. No workout today - unless you count shoveling and tire changing, both activities had me breathing heavy so it must have been good for something. 

I'll post this in the morning when more people are reading. Now I'm going to wait for my husband to come home from work so we can enjoy some chickpeas and chicken from the crock pot for dinner. 



Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Thanksgiving Recap

I got in my three runs last week on Mon, Tues and Wed because I pretty much knew there would be almost no movement Thursday - Sunday :) And I was right.

Quick Recap of last Wednesday's run, which I will tell you I DID NOT want to go do.
Wednesday's Workout: 
Workout: Treadmill Run
Distance: 3.5 miles
Time: I ran the first 3 miles with a 7:47/mile pace!! WHOO HOO. I finished with an additional .5 miles at an 8:00/mile pace.

Thanksgiving this year was awesome. I loved having four days off of work. Four days with my husband and my kiddo. Four days visiting families that we really love. Four days of delicious food and good memories.

Thursday we celebrated with my husband's mom's family. We had a traditional dinner - turkey and the fixings and yum yum. His mom even made everything dairy free for me which was incredibly gracious of her and certainly not expected. The meal was so tasty - I ate more than I thought I would and we ended up not eating dinner that night because we were stuffed. That's when you know things were really good. The time spent over there was really great. Kellan focused on getting in lots of snuggles, especially with Grandma :)


Friday we ventured out to my husband's dad's family celebration. His step sister made us 4 different kinds of soup - some made with turkey left overs - and WOW everything was so delicious. I can't believe how much work she put into making these great soups for us. I felt very spoiled. Kellan focused on hanging with his aunts and uncles and tried to be adorable all day. He got to see his Papa Steve and GJ. Life as a cutie is tough work. 

Saturday we celebrated with my mom's family - and had another traditional Thanksgiving meal. My mom makes things differently than traditional-traditional though, so there was turkey and potatoes and stuffing but it was different than Thursday. The stuffing was prociutto, fennel stuffing. The gravy was porcini mushroom gravy. To die. It was all so amazing. Again - we are so lucky for all these amazing meals and the time we got to spend with our families. Kellan soaked up some quality time with his Papa Keith and his Gma. 


(He doesn't usually wear knee high socks with no pants ha ha - but we figured a little bit of no pants time is always fun.)

Sunday Kellan decided he had snuggled with enough other people and it was time for some Sunday morning snuggle time with his mama so he took a 30 minute nap on my shoulder. I die! 


I'm one lucky mama. :)

Sunday I went to Vikings game with my stepdad. What an incredible game to be at - especially this year. The Vikings finally won a game in this country. :) It was so much fun to spend the time with him and I feel so lucky that we have kept this tradition for so many years of going to the game together. Plus we had amazing seats!!


So I leave the Thanksgiving weekend with the thought that I really wish there was a holiday every month where we had the ability to spend time with our families - away from work and away from the hectic normal lives we all lead. 

Coming back from four days of eating I hit the gym for a run. I assumed my legs would be nice and rested, but instead I struggled through 4 miles. 

Monday's Workout
Workout: Treadmill Run
Distance: 4 miles - literally hit the STOP button at 4 miles and didn't even walk my cool down that's how over it I was by the time I reached the finish line. 
Time: 33:18
Pace: 8:20/mile


What was your favorite memory from Thanksgiving this year?



Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Is she really complaining?

I better start out this post by apologizing to all the new moms out there (Elise! Molly! Ana! etc). I mean Mother of 2 week old Kellan would look at me today - Mother of 4+ month old Kellan and laugh that I have the audaciity to complain. But things in the present are HARD and things that have already happened don't seem that bad haha.

So let me get the meat of my complaint. Sleep! Kellan has had a few rough nights. He had been sleeping pretty well only waking up once a night for a dream type feed and back to bed. I was dancing in sugar plums! Or something like that - you'll have to excuse my sleep deprived mind. Two nights ago my dear son was up several times in the night and then decided it was time to get up for good at 4:45am. FOUR... FORTY FIVE. In the AY EM! Luckily Pete came down at 5:45am and I was able to go back to bed at 6am for a little more shut eye before the day started. Last night Kellan woke up at 9:45pm - talked to himself in his crib and fell back asleep. H was up again at 11:30pm and before I even peeled myself out of bed I knew it was going to be a tough night because 11:30pm is way too early for his first wake up time. He ate and then had really bad gas - poor kiddo. Pete came down to the sound of cries around 12:15am and we stood listening to Pink Floyd in Kellan's nursery rocking him and kissing his face and staring at each other silently knowing we were in for a long haul of a night. He finally fell back asleep at 1am. But alas he was up again at 3:30am. Ha! Of course he was. Why would he want to sleep for more than 2.5 hours? That would be just SILLY! He was up until 4:30am and crashed from what I can only assume was pure exhaustion.

Needless to say we were a tired bunch this morning. I know this will pass and so I don't let myself get too upset by all of it. And that kiddo is just too cute to ever be mad at.


Up all night? WHO ME?? NAH!!!

To top off the morning when we pulled into the parking ramp at work I realized I had forgotten my gym clothes. Likely on the kitchen floor. Awesome. 

Luckily I was able to borrow a sports bra from someone at work. Go ahead judge me. I really wanted to workout. Because you know what cures a night of no sleep?!? A HIIT workout!! Right? Especially when you are wearing a borrowed sports bra and long sleeves indoors because it's the only thing you could scrounge out of your locker. 

Tuesday's Workout - HIIT and a Circuit
HIIT Intervals = 1:50 minutes @ between 6.1 - 6.5, then 1:10 minutes @ 10.0 - 8 Intervals
Distance: 3.18 miles
Time: 24:00
Pace: 7:43/mile

Circuit: 
10 lb weighted side hypers - 15 reps
Medicine Ball Knee Ups - 1 minute
Elevated Bench Dips - 15 Reps
15 lb Arm Curls - 12 Reps 

Repeat the Circuit 3 times. 



And just to be consistent I did get in a workout on Monday: 

Monday's workout: 
Workout: Treadmill Run
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 32:12
Pace: 8:04/mile

One more work day and then we're all off for the weekend. We have a jam packed schedule but we're looking forward to some quality time with our families and to celebrate Kellan's first Thanksgiving. Not that he cares. He'll enjoy the time with all his grandparents and aunts and uncle though!













Monday, November 25, 2013

Weekend before Thanksgiving

Hello - Happy Monday. I am actually typing this Sunday night but I will wait to post it until Monday morning when normal people are awake. :)

Before I start in on the weekend: Friday's workout

Workout: Treadmill Run
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 32:32
Pace: 8:08/mile

I had a good run and some friendly competition on the treadmill next to me to motivate me to get in a good run. I was happy to get in my third run of the week (per my goal - you all remember) before the weekend started.

Friday night we made a new recipe out of Cooking Light - Minestrone with spicy turkey sausage and chickpeas. It was a relatively easy recipe to make. The flavors were awesome. We will definitely be making this soup again. I forgot to take a picture - so I'm stealing one from the internet :) This is exactly what it turned out like though, except we paired ours with a big old Wheat Bun from Breadsmith - amazing! 


Saturday we cleaned the house and installed some new stuff - like a new Fox Hook for K's room. We started to decorate for Christmas even though I know it's silly to start so early. I literally could not help myself. We put up the outdoor lights - although we won't turn them on until Friday. And I put up some decorations inside. We'll put up the tree on Sunday. 


Sunday morning we put together a slow cooker recipe - also from Cooking Light magazine - Cuban Pulled Pork with Rice and Beans. It took us about 45 minutes to put together. It was a fun new recipe with a few interesting mixtures that I would have never thought of. 

While that cooked on low for 8 hours, we had Tom and Elise come over to watch the Vikings vs. Packers game. Luckily for us their cable went out on Saturday night and they asked to come over. It was an improptu get together - and we loved every minute of it. 


Just a couple of dads with their kiddos :) Boy how our lives have changed in the last year.

After they left we hung out for awhile and prepped the last parts of the slow cooker recipe. We made some rice and put together the fresh salsa that goes on top. The meal was AMAZING. We will be making this again and luckily for us the recipe made a ton. We'll eat it for dinner again tonight and then freeze some for some future meals. 


I am definitely planning on hitting the gym today. I am hoping to get down there all three work days this week. Otherwise I'll have to run over to the LA Fitness by our house on Friday to get in a run. We have crazy Thanksgiving plans. Thursday with Pete's mom, Friday with Pete's dad and Saturday with my mom and stepdad. Whew. Looking forward to quality time with the families though and probably some amazing food. 

Is anyone lucky enough to be going out of town somewhere fun over the Thanksgiving holiday?

Here's the recipe for the Pork if anyone is interested. Warning that it makes a lot!
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pork-shoulder-beans-rice-50400000131785/






Friday, November 22, 2013

No workouts, Snuggles and Dinner

I haven't had time to workout the past few days. It's ok, I don't need to work out every day. I'm just too dang busy with work and life right now for working out. :(

Wednesday was a good day with K. We had his appt and he did a great job. He's growing up nicely and is still up there in the 75-80%. He weighed in at 16.5 lbs. Go Kiddo Go! I gave him Infant's Tylenol BEFORE his shots this time and that seemed to help. He was a quiet and tired boy that night, but not too cranky... UNTIL... 7pm. He would NOT go down for his usual 6:30pm nap. I had to put him in the Boba (baby carrier) and dance with him in the kitchen until he fell asleep. He just really needed some extra cuddles. He didn't seem to want to go to bed at 9pm either and then he was up a lot in the night, very restless and feeling not great. Poor Goose.

Extra Snuggles with Mom:


Wednesday night Pete and I made a fun dinner though! We made Lamb and Red Pepper Pita Sandwiches from Cooking Light magazine. They were super yummy although I'm not used to eating red meat so my tummy was definitely chewing on those for a little while. The flavors you mix up in the food processor to put into the meat were really tasty! Here's the recipe we used and a picture of the results.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lamb-pepper-pita-sandwiches-50400000131742/


Last night my mom came over for a little time with K and we had dinner together. I whipped up a batch of quinoa and I bought a rotisserie chicken. I also got a green pepper and some carrots to dip in hummus. An easy but delicious dinner plan. K loved the time with his GMa. 

Like I've been mentioning I'm swamped at work, the other night I was holding K with one arm and testing emails with the other. That's definitely not quality time with my boy, but sometimes work deadlines loom.

That's all for now.  Hopefully I can sneak down to the gym at lunch today for a treadmill run or at least a quick lifting session. We'll see!

Any fun plans this weekend?!?! Feel free to leave comments here on the ole Blog.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

What I eat

It's my day off with K today. I've already cleaned the bathroom, showered, fed K, thrown in laundry and started cleaning the kitchen. Ha. We have a lot planned for today. We're starting out the morning by bringing breakfast and coffee to Elise and Eva. I love being able to go visit them on her maternity leave. It can be kind of lonely so having friends to pop in make all the difference. Then it's K's 4 month appt today - I can't wait to see how big he's measuring. I'm not looking forward to his shots though. Poor kiddo. After his appointment we have pest control coming to spray for spiders - they tend to come inside when it gets cold out. And finally I have a few new recipes I mention at the bottom of this post that I need to get groceries for. Whew.

Tuesdays run was pretty good. I decided to run outside because the temps were supposed to be in the low 40s. I decided to wear my capris instead of my full running leggings. Brrrr. I am not hardcore enough for that. It was really windy so I was chilly. The thing about a cold run is that it makes you run faster. Running faster means not only are you warmer, but you'll be back inside SOONER.


Workout: Outdoor Run
Distance: 4 miles
Time/Pace: I don't know. When I run outside I typically run "naked" - meaning I run without a watch. I ran the first mile at whatever felt comfortable as I warmed up (literally) and got into the groove of the run. The next two plus miles I kicked up my pace and made sure that I didn't feel "comfortable" and was breathing heavier. Then for the last 3/4 of a mile I kicked it up as fast as I could without getting a side ache. I felt good and I know I had a good pace. I can tell that I worked my leg muscles and I'm a little sore. Run success!

So let's talk about food a little bit. I burn a lot of calories. Feeding K burns about 500 calories every day and my workouts typically burn between 300 - 500 calories on the days I work out. I eat pretty healthily. That doesn't mean I'm on a diet - because I'm NOT. I just don't like to put things into my body that aren't good for it. Things like aspartame, excessive sugar, caffeine, and artificial packaged stuff. I like to eat foods that are good for me so I might skip that chocolate cake, and instead have two servings of chicken. Ha. BORING. But it's true. Food is fuel. That doesn't mean I don't have a stash of Halloween candy at my desk that I break into every single day. Sugar is good. It tastes good and it's a good pick me up. I just like to eat it in moderation. Because I'm burning so many calories right now I need lots of snacks available to me. I can't eat dairy right now because K isn't processing dairy well. This has limited the kinds of snacks, meals and desserts I can have. I eat a lot of fruit - apples are in season right now. I eat granola bars and hummus with pretzels and/or carrots. I've been going to Breadsmith to get their cinnamon buns and their brownies. They are a kosher bakery and they don't use dairy. SCORE! Plus their stuff tastes amazing! 

I've been making banana oat muffins a lot lately. I think they taste really good and they are pretty dang healthy too. I made some modifications to the original recipe to sub in some wheat flour and to use applesauce instead of oil. If you make them I am sure they'll be a hit. I'll post the recipe at the end of this post. 

I got my Cooking Light magazine in the mail this week. I LOVE getting easy recipes out of that magazine. Here are a few I'm planning to make this week - I'll try to post pictures as we make them. 
- Chickpea and Sausage Minestrone
- Lamb and Red Pepper Pita Sandwiches - with brown rice on the side
- Cuban Pork Shoulder with Beans and Rice (slow cooker recipe)

And without further ado - here are the muffins. 


Banana Oat Muffins - makes 12 muffins: 
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour - you can use all white flour if you don't have wheat flour
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup milk - I use almond milk 
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil - I use applesauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup mashed bananas - use a really ripe banana
Directions
1.     Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt.
2.     In a large bowl, beat the egg lightly. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla. Add the mashed banana, and combine thoroughly. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper bake cups, and divide the batter among them.

3.     Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 18 to 20 minutes.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Weekend, etc

Things at work have been Ca RAZY lately. Whew.

I've gotten in a few runs though. Friday I went outside for an easy 4.5 mile run. The weather was awesome - hovering above 40 with a bit of sun poking through. I really enjoyed it and took an easier pace.

Workout: Outdoor Run
Distance: 4.5 miles
Time: 39:30
Pace: 8:43/mile

The weekend weather sucked! But we had some really fun plans on the docket. We went over to Mollie and Ryan's house for dinner. K was a champion. I brought his PJs with so he could fall asleep there. I'm so one of those people now - a parent. Ha. Oh man, but I love it so oh well.

Saturday we went to the Home and Holiday show with Pete's brother and his wife. It was so much fun to see those guys. They are pregnant right now and I can't wait to meet my amazing nephew! K was loving all the time with his aunt and uncle too. Lucky guy. We found a display for a bath remodeling thing and so they had this mini tub and shower set up so you could see how nice it would look and it was like the perfect size tub for K so we had to put him in it. HA! It looks like a normal sized person in a normal sized tub. TOO CUTE!


Saturday night we went over to our friend's house to celebrate her birthday. It was a nice dinner and super fun to get to see her. They also have a baby so it was a parent night. DINNER WAS AMAZING! Holy moly. Tom made some pulled pork and I can't get it out of my head. Literally. So delicious - probably the best thing he's ever cooked for me and all I want to do is go steal the leftovers out of their fridge. :)

Monday I got in another run - but it was on the treadmill. I had a stitch in my side for most of the run and it was pretty miserable. Which sucks because my legs really should have been rested from a weekend of no working out. I think I was hungry...

Workout: Treadmill Run
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 33:10
Pace: 8:17/mile

My plan today is to run outside because it's supposed to be in the 40s again! WHOO HOO!
I'll leave you with one more pic of my dude being all snuggly last night :)



Friday, November 15, 2013

Outdoor Running

I much prefer to run outside. When I run outside I don't use an ipod or listen to any music. I just listen to my feet hitting the pavement - that rhythmic sound propels me forward. Especially in the fall when each step crunches into some newly fallen leaves. But we're quickly approaching the "run indoors only" weather. At least for this running mama. I know some die hard Minnesotans who run throughout the winter, but once there's ice on the ground I'm a treadmill girl until Spring. With the weather hovering in the mid 40s I had to take advantage of an outdoor run. I was lucky enough yesterday to have the company of my husband. We work in the same building downtown even though we work for two totally different companies. Occasionally that provides the opportunity to run together. It's always been a great benefit, but it's even more so now that we have Baby K. I made sure to dress warmly enough that I would be able to enjoy the run, but not overly so.

That's the lovely locker room in the gym at work. Yes I took a selfy... oh the shame. I have to admit that I much prefer reading blogs where people post pictures and I'm assuming it's the same for all of you out there. (All 3 of you.... HI!) So there you go. I wore running pants and a long sleeve shirt. I have a Halo Headband that I bought at a race expo last year that was perfect to just keep my ears warm but let my head breathe. I highly recommend using them for warmer winter running days. When it gets frigid I'm a full on hat girl though. 

My husband didn't have a lot of time so we did a 3 mile outdoor run. It was really nice to be able to run together. When we got back to the gym I was going to pop onto the treadmill and do one more mile but all the treadmills were full, so instead I did some lifting to round out the workout. 

Last night I went to Happy Hour with some girlfriends at World Street Kitchen. It was fun to catch up with them and leave K with dad. I wasn't a huge fan of what I ordered to eat, but my friend at work says she's gotten really good food there so don't my meal as a reason not to check it out. 

K turned 4 months old yesterday - and he's pretty freaking excited about it :)


That's all I have for now. I plan to run outside again today - a nice 4.5 mile loop. At my work we have a tradition of cracking a beer or pouring a glass of wine on Fridays at around 3:30pm. I plan to enjoy Beer Friday to round out the work week. Have an awesome weekend and I'll catch up with you guys next week. 


Thursday, November 14, 2013

Life outside of working out

I didn't workout yesterday. Instead I went to lunch with some girls from work at the Macy's Skyroom. They have an incredible salad bar there and it was super fun to spend some time with those ladies talking about things other than work. I mean, let's be honest, of course we talked a little bit about work - laughing about some of the projects we're involved in right now, but for the most part we just caught up.

This picture doesn't do the salad bar justice, but it's a glimpse. The salad bar has everything you would want on an amazing salad PLUS pasta salads, a great selection of fruit, a soup bar, a bread selection, and pudding. It's awesome. I may or my not have gone back for seconds. :)


So let's talk about life outside of working out. I work downtown Minneapolis for a Marketing Agency. I'm a Senior Account Executive - which basically is a Project Manager. I really enjoy my job and I like working downtown. I'm enjoying being a working mom. 

I live in South Minneapolis with my husband - Pete, our son - K, our dog - Wyatt and our cat - Ribley. 

Life lately has been all about being a mom. And I love it. We're working on a sleep schedule with K. He comes home from daycare and takes an evening nap. Playing at daycare is a lot of work! Then he gets up and we play with him. Eventually we give him a bath - yes every night - he loves it. We read books, get jammies on, feed him and then rock him to sleep. He's a great evening baby and so full of smiles. He's been pretty sporadic at night and sometimes has great nights, while others are tougher. He had a stretch of time where he was waking once at 4am to eat and then crashing again until 6:45am. Those were the days! For the past few weeks he's been all over the place - literally. There are a few factors at play. First of all - I know he's been growing like a weed and growing is hard work. On top of that he's super active and can roll over like a champion. He can move ALL over his crib in the night. It's awesome. But that means we had to stop swaddling him. Since we stopped swaddling he's been waking himself up a bit more. I am not getting too frustrated. I know this will all work itself out and he'll have a consistent sleep schedule again. Some day. I just need to be consistent myself. Which means I let him whine a little in his crib and try to get him to soothe himself back to sleep, but if he starts crying I'll go get him. I'm his mom - I can't help it. He's only four months old, so I don't think we're at the point where he needs to "cry it out". I do give him time to try to soothe himself back to sleep though. He tends to play in his crib and talk to himself when he's not upset and so I lay in bed a lot at night staring at this: 


Look at that ADORABLE BABY! He's like - hey Mom you should come down here. It's a GREAT time to play right now. Just look at how cute I am! LOOK! MOM! Come play. It's 3:30am :) 

K turned 4 months old today. I can't believe how fast time is flying. I'm so glad we're past the infant stage - that was hard. And he's so rewarding. He lets you know how much he appreciates all your hard work by giving lots of smiles and even a few laughs. His dad and I love that little guy so much. 

I have Happy Hour tonight with some girlfriends in Uptown. I'm looking forward to having a drink and getting out. The weather is getting cold here in MN. When you get off work and it's cold out and there's not a hint of sunlight left in the sky it's easy to want to go home and put your sweatpants on. I'm glad that Pete and I are good about making plans with friends - just enough to get us out of the house, but not so often that we're missing out on good family nights. That's all for now. I'm going outside for my run today - it's supposed to be in the 40s and I need to take advantage of being able to run outside while I still can. I hope you are all having a great week.

Question of the day: How are you sleeping these days? Better than I am? Worse?


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

HIIT

Tuesday's workout was a toss up. I literally tossed some shorts and a tank top into a bag in the morning along with a banana and some leftover stir fry. I didn't even know if a workout was going to be in the cards for me with work being pretty busy but I figured I should at least be prepared in case I had a chance to sneak down to the gym around lunch.

I got some much needed testing done in the morning at work and at about noon it looked like I had a few extra minutes to sneak away. As I rode the elevator to the sub-floor level of the gym (depressing that the gym is in the basement), I was still contemplating what I should do. Since I ran on Monday I thought maybe I would just lift. Not that lifting is necessarily easier than running, but sometimes it SOUNDS easier. I was also thinking about getting in a run though since I committed to that whole 3 runs per week thing. I went to the locker room and changed and literally as I was walking out the door of the locker room into the gym I decided I would do a HIIT running workout. A HIIT workout is a High Intensity Interval Training run. Essentially it's a good speed workout, it works out your cardio in a way that a normal run can't. It helps to build some of those fast twitch muscles and helps you to become a faster runner over time. Here's the HIIT I made up for myself:

0:00 - 1:50 at Speed 6
1:50 - 3:00 at Speed 10

I did that rotation 10 times for a total of 30 minutes and finished up 2 additional minutes to reach 4 miles in 32:05.

Pace: 8:00/miles

Now wasn't I JUST talking about 8 minute miles? I don't really count a HIIT as a normal paced run, but it still felt great to see the numbers crunch together that way. Run Success. It's interesting too to see that not only do you burn more WHILE working out in a HIIT workout, but for a long time after your workout too. I can vouch for that seeing as I was famished for the rest of the day and tried to eat every food item that crossed my path yesterday :)



On another note I'm in the process of applying to be a Milk Donor. Too much information? I don't really care. I'm a mom and I'm breast feeding my baby. It's an awesome thing. Yadda yadda yadda. And anyway - I really want to be able to donate for babies that are born prematurely. When babies are born too soon their moms can't produce milk yet. The BEST thing for the survival of a premature baby is human milk. So yeah I'm going through the quite complicated and time consuming process of becoming a donor. I feel good about it. I went into preterm labor at 25 weeks and so I know the fear of having a baby too soon. I would have given anything at that time to have every chance possible for K to survive and thrive. I want to be able to give that chance to other moms who aren't as lucky as I am. I made it full term - in fact I went 4 days over my due date - and delivered a healthy, happy, amazing little dude. I'm excited to be able to work with a program in MN to give some of those babies born early a better shot at a healthy, happy life.

Other than that - nothing too new to report. I'm working on planning a baby shower for my sister in law who is due in March. That's exciting! I have a girl's happy hour on Thursday. My husband and I have dinner with my brother and his wife on Friday. We are going to the Home and Holiday show on Saturday afternoon with my brother in law and sister in law and then finally dinner with my best friend for her birthday on Sunday night. An eventful week to come!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Goals?

One of the primary reasons I started this blog was to have to hold myself accountable to some type of running goals. After K was born and I was able to start running again, my first running goal was to run 3 times a week. A run would have to be at least 3 miles long in order to count, but other than that the goal had no other "rules" attached to it. It certainly was motivation on quite a few Sundays to get that 3rd run in. And go figure - the week I started my blog is the first week since K was 4 weeks old that I did NOT run 3 times. Running Goal Fail. I was so tired on Sunday after a really tough sleep weekend with K being up a TON in the middle of the night and a yard full of 18 big bags of leaves. I mean inserting piles of leaves into that many bags can make a girl tired. Good thing I didn't have to RAKE any of the leaves (insert raking expert husband). And well... instead of running on Sunday I dragged my husband to Pizza Luce for a pint of Surly Furious. Sometimes a running mama just needs a beer.

So perhaps it's the perfect time to recommit to that goal. To say out loud to all my readers (even though there are likely only 3 of you out there) that I am RE-committing to running 3 times per week. My other running goal is to run 8 minute miles. I'll slowly increase my speed over the coming weeks and try to get in some solid runs at an 8:00 pace.

Monday's run was good. A far cry from the pain and horror that I endured on Thursday's run. I felt good. I was BREATHING instead of wheezing. I was gliding instead of clomping.

Distance: 4.5 miles
Time: 37:07
Pace: 8:15/mile

Now I want to reiterate that I'm on a treadmill. So they aren't really, truly 8:15/miles. But for the purpose of winter training all I can do is improve the pace on the treadmill and I'll deal with my outdoor pace come spring time.

So here I've gone and said it out loud. Ladies and gentleman - we have some running goals!

Work has been crazy busy - so working out during lunch at work is becoming increasingly more difficult. Which is fine. I love my job and I like being busy. It's just hard to work out a lot when you have a BABY! Life is good. We have some great plans this week that I'm looking forward to. I'll try to pop on and tell you a little about my week. Before I go I'll leave you with this recipe - which we made yesterday. I'm not necessarily suggesting this recipe because it blew my mind. Because it didn't. But it's healthy, and it was easy and with a little salt added on the plate I really liked it. We tossed the ingredients into the slow cooker and when we got home it was done. I love meals that work like that!

image

http://blog.naturebox.com/post/65567225991/slow-cooker-barley-chickpea-risotto


Monday, November 11, 2013

One of those runs

Do you ever have one of those runs - where you hit the pavement (or the treadmill) and it just feels really GREAT!?!? Your breathing is right on. Your legs feel great. You surprise yourself with your pace and add on an extra mile at the end.

It's those days that make you get out of the shower thinking I'm going to sign up for a Turkey Trot 10K! I'm going to PR my next race. I'm in such great shape!!

Last week, Thursday's run was NOT one of those runs. Thursday's run was the antithesis of that run. I don't know if it was because of how sore my quads were from the deep squats I did on Tuesday - clearly indicating that I'm not doing squats enough! Or if it was because I was really tired from being up with an adorable and very awake baby for a lot of the night. But Thursday's run was horrible. As in horrendous. As in I couldn't find a breathing rhythm that wasn't loud to my treadmill neighbors. I couldn't get the nasty stitch out of the right side of my guts for the. entire. run. My legs hurt that whole time. I mean normally you can run that lactic acid out in the first mile. But on Thursday's run? NOOOooooo!!! That did NOT happen. It was everything I had both physically and mentally to clock in my 4 miles. It was one of those horrible run days. I know we all have them. It's the kind of run that makes you question - am I really in that great of shape? Ha! But we have those runs and we move on, cringing inside hoping we never have one of those days on a race day. :)

On a happier note - let me tell you a little about my Wednesday. My husband and I had baby K almost 4 months ago now. Time is flying! When I came back to work, I missed my little dude SO MUCH. I don't want to be a stay at home mom, but I felt like working full time wasn't giving me enough time with him. Those daycare ladies, as amazing as they are, were getting all of those amazing little man smiles. And I felt like I was missing out on quality time with the newest, most important person in my life. So my husband and I talked and we agreed that I could take a 10% pay cut at work and start taking every other Wednesday off to spend time with K as he grows up. I was so happy that we were in a financial situation that this pay cut was possible and that my husband was so supportive of the idea when I brought it up. In fact he pretty much told me it was something I needed to do, both for me and for K. Anyway - so this week was one of those week's where I get to hang with my dude, and he was all smiles, all day.

We woke up and hung out around the house. I got a ton done - laundry, dishes, etc. and we played together.

Then we loaded up and headed to Target and to Jimmy Johns for some lunch. I was picking up lunch for me, but also for my best friend and her husband who just had their baby 3 weeks ago. I was in serious need of some time with that adorable baby! We headed over to hang out, just a couple of new moms, hanging with our adorable babies. I can't get enough of little E - she's perfect and amazing and so dang cute. 

We had a great day hanging out with my friend and then we headed home. K fell asleep on the ride home so I took the opportunity when we got home to make a batch of Banana Oat muffins - dairy free version since K has been having issues with dairy since he's been born and so I can't really eat it for the time being. Maybe I'll post the recipe, but it's pretty dang healthy and probably most people don't eat quite like that :) Anyway - muffins in the oven, I made a Merry Christmas banner because I can't WAIT to decorate for Christmas this year, even though I'll force myself to wait until after Thanksgiving. (maybe). Then I started putting up that plastic window insulator. If you are from MN you know what I mean. Our living room window is a little drafty and that's where K's exersaucer is so I wanted to get that up. It was a super productive day and I loved all the time with my dude. 

On Friday - we headed to Winona for my Uncle's wedding. It was great to be back at my Alma Mater and to see those two be able to get married. Friday night K did NOT sleep at the hotel - not as in didn't sleep well at the hotel - as in - DID NOT SLEEP. I think we got about 4.5 hours of total sleep. Blech. It was a tough night. Saturday was tough just because I was so pooped. Passed out on the couch at 9pm with my hip all twisted but apparently didn't care and didn't wake up in pain, until an hour later and I was so sore I could barely walk. So yeah, I guess I was tired. Ha. Had a decent night's sleep on Saturday and had a wonderful Sunday raking leaves in the sun with my husband. :)

Now it's time for a new week and I'm ready. I have some running goals this week and I'm hoping to get in some good ones that are not reminiscent of Thursdays slog run. 


Thursday, November 7, 2013

Work Workout and Some Eats

For Tuesday's workout I went to the gym that is in my work building. It's in the basement. There are no windows. It's small. But it does the trick - there are some treadmills, weights, machines. Everything you really need to get a workout in. I'm not complaining because I feel super lucky to have the option to workout at lunch at work.

I tend to lift in a circuit fashion - which means I do 3 different exercises in a row without stopping in between. It allows one muscle group to rest for the next set on that muscle group while working on another one so you get a little cardio action in. 

My workout - 

Side Hypers - set of 15 with a 10 lb weight
Deep Squats - set of 15 with a 10 lb weight
Bicep Curls - set of 15 with two 15 lb dumbells
Repeat this circuit 3 times

Deep Dips - set of 15
Plank - 1 minute
Chest Flies - set of 15
Repeat this circuit 3 times

Elevated sit ups - set of 15
Lunges - 10 on each side with a 10 lb weight
Repeat this circuit 3 times

It was a great workout and I'm still feeling it in my legs today.

After my workout I heated up the soup I brought for a lunch. An amazing Thai Coconut Red Curry soup I made over the weekend. 

Tuesday night we cooked up a new recipe I found in this month's Cooking Light magazine: 
Beef Tenderloin, Swiss Chard, and Caramelized Fennel Tacos

We cut up the fennel and onions and cooked them in a little olive oil, salt and pepper:
Then we cooked up the Beef which we covered with Coriander, White Pepper, Black Pepper and Red Pepper. Delish!
We squeezed some lemon over some swiss chard and grilled some corn tortillas. The result was really delicious. We paired our tacos with a glass of Excelsior Brewing's Pale Ale that we had a growler of. 

It was a great night and K was full of smiles all night too. 

I'm off to the gym for a run this afternoon, so I'll catch up again soon. Last night K started rolling onto his stomach while swaddled, so we can't swaddle him anymore. That means a few nights (at least) of little sleep for this mama (and his dad too). I'm sure I'll detail that in my next post, along with what I did on Wednesday. I have every other Wednesday off from work to spend with my kiddo, so I'll be sure to share on here what we find to do on those really great days together. 

What's your favorite winter workout?