Also, I missed winning some of Gina la Fitnessista’s macaroons by 1 measly point!  Bummer!  Goes to show you, always give it your all, cuz you never know when your slacking can cost you some tasty treats.  I had a blast doing Gina’s Summer Shape Up challenge.  It was so worth it!  If you’re looking for a training program, I really recommend hers (she’s leaving all 12 weeks of the challenge up on her blog, so get to it if you haven’t tried it yet!).  It’s great for all levels of fitness.  And I’m not just saying that because I hope she’ll take pity on me and send me macaroons.

OKAY!  Ya’ll readers who have stuck with me deserve BETTER yo.  So I am taking my camera with my to MIA and taking PICTURES and I will actually POST said pictures on this here blog.  I swear.

I do have eats pics to post… and I have discovered I gotta take it easy on TJ’s canned soup.  It’s fairly clean and so I eat it on days when I cannot bear to chop and cut veggies or cook beans which has been quite frequently of late and it is messing with my tummy.  Maybe the salt?  Anyway, something in Elizabeth does not like something in the TJ soups.

Also, everything they said about beans and broccoli?  Yeah, it’s true.  Don’t mix them.  It hurts.

Everyone here sing some Will Smith for me while I party it up this weekend!  I have a SWEET rental waiting for me — a car I’ve ALWAYS WANTED TO DRIVE!  Stay tuned!

Party in the city where the heat is on… all night in the club till the break of day…

Welcome to Miami (Benvenidos a Miami!)

Peace!

E.

It was a tough run and I’m dead on my feet.  Traffic was awful so I got there literally with 5 minutes before the race started so I had to warm up during the race!  It was so awesome running with my buddies — they’re so much better than I am at running but they were so excited to see if I met my goal and came in under 30:00.  It meant a lot and it was a huge encouragement.

The anthem for today’s run is Britney Spears’ Stronger. I made some changes below… check it out!

Hush, just stop
There’s nothing you can do or say, baby
I’ve had enough
I’m not your property as from today, baby
You might think that I won’t make it on my own
But now I’m

Chorus
Stronger than yesterday
Now it’s nothing but my way (YEAH MAN!!!)
My loneliness tendons ain’t killing me no more
I Am stronger

Now i’m Stronger than yesterday
Now it’s nothing but my way
My loneliness feet and hams ain’t killing me no more(me no more)
I am stronger

I need to go grocery shopping, I am out of everything.  Almond milk, avocados, Zeke muffins (!!!!), bananas… what the heck am I gonna eat!?!?!  I leave you with pics from my hike to Mt. Monadnock last Friday.  It was a slightly hazy day, but it was perfect hiking weather.  I sweated like a donkey the whole time and was completely soaked at the end of it.  Next time, bringing a change of clothes. Gotta run, more later!  I still have to review Grezzo, complain about my recent Amazing Grass experience (I know I do a fair amount of kvetching on this blog) and many more things!   So much to do/see/eat/read (I finished Marriage to a Difficult Man and Jane and the Man of the Cloth earlier this week, by the way. Excellent reads both.   So little time!

Finished the 5k today in 30:05.  This is my personal best time, but a bit of a disappointment because I really wanted to get under 30 minutes.  Oh well!  I don’t have far to go.  It was a hard run — a lot of it takes place up hills and slight inclines.  I really need to make myself run these on the treadmill because it KILLS ME when I see them in real life.  The first hill came up just as “Welcome to the Jungle” started on my iPod.  As soon as I saw the hill, Axl said, “Oh my Go[sh].”  That’s what I thought.  Then the next hill came up just as he shrieked “Welcome to the jungle baby!  You’re gonna die!”

Way to encourage me Ax… I appreciate it man.

I was so blessed that my friend and her husband came to run this (of course, they dusted me… my friend ran it in 24:50 with a slight injury).  I will miss them when they have to go home at the end of the summer.  Sniff.

I made energy pudding based on the recipe on Brendan Brazier’s site (does he remind you of Luke Wilson?  I totally expect someone to call him “The Godfather”).  Today’s meal looked like this:

Breakfast:

TJ’s high fiber oats with almond milk

Ezekiel Muffin with Almond Butter

Coffee

Snack:

Green Monster w/ spinach, almond milk, flax seed, Amazing Grass Superfood, Amazing Meal, banana, and strawberries

Lunch:

Soy-free veggie burger with avo, sprouts, lettuce, tomato from a local deli.  A side of tabouleh salad over romaine lettuce (came with feta on top, alas)

Pre-race snack:

water, water, water glugged 2 hours before hand, The Godfather’s energy pudding with chia seeds and hemp nuts tossed in.  Delish!

Post-race snack:

Polar seltzer water

Dinner:

Banana, cheese-less pizza, 2 glasses smoking loon Cabernet (The Godfather would be so proud how I’m not stressing my body during recovery), a banana, water, and 1.5 sardines on a Carr’s table water cracker.

I know, I was a bad little vegan today, but I do worry about those Omega-3′s for the ol’ noggin.

I think a bath and bed is on my agenda for tonight… I’ve been sleeping very poorly of late.  I wake up (according to my Body Buddy) repeatedly and of the 8 hours I spend laying down, only 6-ish are actually spent sleeping.  Part of my wonders if wearing this thing on my arm while I sleep is partly to blame?

Maybe I’ll read a little too.  :-)

Pace,

E.