Gourmet Runner

Thanks to everyone who said nice things to me after my crappy race recap post. Even though Tim said every single one of those things ("It's just one race! You'll be back in no time!" etc.) somehow from online strangers it made me feel better. So thanks, guys. After a weekend of laziness, reading and candy I figured I should try to deal with the intestinal drama and the leg pain business instead of ignoring it and then complaining again in a month. Right now I'm in day three of working out the very second I wake up. I don't know about you, but typically I need food RIGHT AWAY after waking. The people who do brunch are dumb and 11am meetup times mean I need at least two snacks first. But my thinking is that if there is nothing in my stomach, I can't be sick. GENIUS.  Maybe genius isn't EXACTLY the right word choice... Slightly less genius is the fact that if there is nothing in my stomach, working out feels roughly one billion gazillion times ha...

I feel a little bad for burdening everyone with my pity party yesterday. While writing the post I basically made my mind up that I would never run again. I decided I would start lifting weights, maybe cycle, become a yogi...something like that. Last night, hubby looks over my shoulder and asks what I'm looking at. I swear, I tried to block the screen like I found nude Ryan Gosling photos. What was on the screen? A race calendar. Four hours after crying about running I was looking up new races. It's a sick addiction, people. Sick.  I did refrain from running today and got in an upper body and core workout instead, along with 30 minutes of spinning. I'll take it, but I already miss running. Ugh.  To make up for being a downer I figured I would hand out some free makeup to your guys. Remember the box I mentioned a while back that I got from Vocalpoint? Well they grossly overestimated how many friends I have. Typical. It's fine though, I have you guys to give stuf...

No, really. Nothing to see here. Come back tomorrow and I will post a picture of some yummy food, or have a motivating life lesson or something. Promise. Today? I've got misery. And misery loves company, so be prepared. Yesterday morning I woke up SO READY for my half marathon. Honestly, I wish I could tell you I was exhausted, or sick or something - I wasn't. I felt positive and excited. Ate breakfast. Got dressed. No internal bleeding. Just a good day, you know? Drove up to Chattanooga - more good vibes. Packet pick up was great, thought everything was awesome and sparkly and fun. Goofy pictures were taken to commemorate what was sure to be an awesome race. I'm not even kidding about how giddy I was. You'd think I was running this race with Santa Claus or something. Apparently even the chip timer on my shoe was exciting enough to take a picture of: The first two miles of the race were pretty much on target - 8:53 at first and then a 9:10 because I told mysel...

The Garmin is charging. The clothes are picked out. I avoided fiber like the plague all day. I carbo loaded with a sushi dinner. I tapered this week (with the exception of 18 miles on Monday). I'm foam rolling. Hydrating. Putting on compression socks. Even my cat is encouraging me to run tomorrow. Can't let the kitty down, can I? I plan on running each step of the half marathon tomorrow planning my post-run food. Does anyone else do that? Really keeps me going on long runs. What do you dream about for post-race food? I always think it will be something sweet but I typically crave something salty like Pizza or chips. 

There is an issue that has been on my mind quite a lot lately - editing photos. I've mentioned it before in passing, and I wasn't surprised to hear that most of you are on the same page. If I say that I eat three bagels for breakfast each day and DON'T - people would be up in arms. If I say that I run 8 miles each day and DON'T - ditto for the grumpy mcgrumpersons.  So if I say through photos I look a certain way but DON'T in real life - is that ok? I'm curious where you draw the line on this one. Is it cool to delete stray pimples in an otherwise profile worthy pic? Wrinkles? Love handles in that bikini shot? Everyone has seen those photos that have edited beyond belief (usually making women skinnier, tanner and um, a little more "endowed"). It's nothing new to see these pictures, which have been recycled on websites: Source But what about when those people in the crazy edited photos are bloggers? Case in point: On the left: norm...

Last October I set out to run the Dalton Half Marathon and had one goal in mind - to break 2 hours. I felt it could happen, I had put in the work and even tapered that week. There was only one hiccup on race day, but it turns out that vomiting in the bushes at mile 6 is a pretty big hiccup. Final gun time: 2:01:22. My chip time disappeared somewhere but it was a small race so I don't imagine it was more than 20 or 30 seconds less, max. That was the sole picture of me post race. If you look closely, you can even see a little of the vomit that made it onto my white shirt (bad call on that one). I wish I was joking. I was not a happy camper after that race. SO FREAKING CLOSE and yet so freaking far away from breaking 2 hours. A few weeks later I ran my first marathon, got injured and started all over again. This Saturday I'm giving it another try at the Scenic City Half Marathon in Chattanooga. Part of the reason I ran my long run in Chattanooga on Monday was to run on part...

I get a few emails each week from readers asking personal questions about weight, fitness or food that I am happy to answer because it gives me a chance to share something with a new friend, reader or fellow blogger. I also get a few emails that are essentially about blogging as a whole. While I appreciate that people consider me a resource on the subject, it's kind of....well, boring as dirt to anyone who isn't concerned with changing their blog around, getting paid advertisements or expanding their "brand." To deal with some of these questions, I decided to create a tab along the top of the blog called "Behind the Scenes." It will not be a cool way for me to dump leftover photos and earn more page clicks, sadly. I know you were all hoping for blurry camera phone pictures, right? Don't worry, I have plenty of those to go around. Old. Blurry. Sad. Instead, it will be a mini journal where I update every few days when something blog-related happens ...

The last couple of months I have been doing about two runs each week with my friend Julie, who is training for her first marathon this April. Although it's nice to have someone to run with, it also means that I have to coordinate my schedule with someone else. Today was our long run, but technically it was for last week...if that makes any sense. It's entirely possible that I'm not even typing coherent thoughts since I just ran 18 miles, so bear with me. Anyway, we decided that a change of scenery would be nice and headed up to Chattanooga to run on the Riverfront. It was supposed to be 8 miles out and 8 mile back, with a little extra to make up the mileage. But did it work out like that? No, it did not. Of course not. I got lost and dealt with a few too many bridges and steps for my liking, but the best part is that now I'm done and I don't have to run anymore. Score. Time to drink copious amounts of hot chocolate and refuse to leave the couch. I parked in Wh...

In the last few years I have become an awesome, speedy and efficient shopper. Not in the grocery store, (where I pick up new items, read labels and just drool in general) but when buying clothing. I know what I want before I get there, pick up my size, try it on - done. No browsing or window shopping for me - I can stay home and not spend money just fine, thanks. There is one item, however, that I cannot buy without extensive research, multiple trips to the dressing room and thorough analysis. Sexy jeans, you are my Everest. When I was 17 I worked in England for the summer and lived with my grandparents. My grandmother, being the nice lady that she is, offered to buy me a pair of new jeans. Eight hours and goodness knows how many stores later, she declared that she would never ever take me jeans shopping again. And she hasn't. Maybe I'm just picky, or maybe it's because my butt decided to be four sizes larger than my waist, but I hate shopping for jeans. My absolute ...

Every once in a while I'll get a comment or email from someone who questions one of two things: a) Whether I eat enough OR b) Why I feature so much unhealthy food on my blog when"clearly" I don't eat it. I guess I find it kind of comical because those are basically opposite ends of the spectrum, right? I mean, it is possible for me to be eating too much unhealthy junk and at the same time not be eating enough? I guess cookies confuse me too... The jury is going to have to stay out on what I eat or don't eat and whether it's enough. The bottom line is that I don't want to talk about every single thing I eat and don't plan to start anytime soon. I don't want to make this some lengthy defensive diatribe. What I DO want to say is that no blogger is telling the full story. Honestly. Even those ones who post three times a day and send out 64 tweets an hour! So here are some things to keep in mind: -Dinners aren't always what they ap...

If I started a blog post without a horrific pun, how would you know it was mine? I apologize for the "re-lay" though- even that's a stretch for me. So what am I getting so excited about in Colorado? This summer's Ragnar Relay! I will be running 187 miles this July - well, kind of. I will be running a little portion of the total distance, which is divided into 36 legs run by 12 people. Source The team is made up of 12 bloggers, which is going to be a lot of fun. Plus, I won't feel embarrassed when I want to bust out the camera every 6 minutes to document super important stuff. Like snacks. So who have I tricked into running with me? The following ladies: Van 1: 1- Me! No pressure being the first runner, geez! 2- Danielle @ Happy, Healthy and Strong 3- Lisa @ Because I Can 4- Jill H. @ Run for the Hills 5-Lauren @ Duck on the Run 6-Amanda @ Run to the Finish Van 2: 7- Julia @ Pain, Pride and Perseverance 8- Rachelle @ Running for Trevor 9-Ashle...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Unless you already ate all the candy your mom gave you and now you have to go home and feel sick while watching the Notebook for the 17th time and imagining how awesome it is going to be when Ryan Gosling FINALLY wakes up and realizes you're the one. No? Yeah, that never happened to me either. Moving on... Sweet: The mass amounts of candy consumed around the world makes me happy today. Not least because of what we have at home. Ali sent me a package that I got in the mail last night and while I pretended to have a secret admirer in front of hubby I finally broke down and admitted the new man in my life was a toddler in Canada. I'm pretty sure Tim is cool with it now. Spicy : A few people asked me for the recipe for the Thai chicken satays I made for Tim's birthday so I wanted to share the recipe on here. I'll be honest here and say that while the recipe itself is EASY, the ingredients aren't necessarily typical pantry item...

I think you all know the drill by now. I pretend for a couple of paragraphs that my blog is a workout diary, ooze false modesty but demand compliments on my fitness. You may now begin. Monday : Ran 5K, walked 1.5 Miles Tuesday : Ran 8 Miles Wednesday : Ran 5 Miles, walked 2 miles Thursday : Ran 5 Miles Friday : Rest Day Saturday : Ran 14 Miles Sunday : Ran 2.5 Miles, 15 minutes of abs/upper body Total Mileage: 37.6 miles of running.  See that last ditch frantic effort on Sunday night to do some speedwork and strength training? It would be super cool if next week I could do that midweek. For three times as long. And repeat a few times on other days. Yeesh. Cross training is tough. In other news, I ran 10 miles today. My running partner of late was away for a week and needed a medium length run in the schedule and I figured it was a good chance to run outside before we get some snow! I know most of you are like "yawn, snow" but this will be the first of it we real...

Guess who is super handsome and is celebrating a birthday today?   This guy! Tim and I have both had an amazing weekend celebrating. Yesterday I got my 14 mile run in during the morning in honor of Sherry Arnold , which I was happy to do. As I read more posts from people who participated I feel part of something big and I am so proud to be one in a large group that honored the life of Sherry. Post-run it was time to get ready to celebrate something else - my wonderful husband's birthday. We had a few friends over for a fun dinner, plenty of drinks and some impromptu guitar playing and singing. My kind of night. I made a bunch of foods with no discernible theme other than they are Tim's favorites:   I made bruschetta, a big salad, Thai chicken satay with a spicy peanut sauce, veggies and pita with hummus and a massive plate of sushi. (Homemade brownies and cookies and cream ice-cream for dessert!) I'm not going to lie - I wasn't sure if the food would be well rece...

Oh, you're going to be humming Sir Mix-A-Lot for the rest of the day? My bad. The awful pun in the title was just too good to pass up. I've always been pretty lucky acne-wise. Sure, I had pimples as a teenager that made me think the world was like, totally, like, going to end . (High school with a zit? No thanks. Cough, cough. I'm sick. Staying home.) But overall, my skin was probably pretty average. So could someone please explain why my chest and back are breaking out at the ripe old age of 24? I'd really appreciate that. Seriously, this is an important issue for several reasons. Most importantly, because in order for me to show off the girls tops need to be low. Like, LOW. There's no under the chin cleavage going on over here. By the time I get low enough to the hint of chest that reminds people I'm a woman, there's acne. I don't need any more reasons to be self conscious of my chest, honestly. I am going to say that this has definitely gotten ...

I've mentioned before that even though I'm a resident of the great 'ole state of Georgia, I'm only half American. That's right, half of my blood is tainted with tea and crumpets and those weird hats that the British guard guys wear: Source While finding that photo I learned that each one of those hats is made from the fur of an entire Canadian black bear. I wouldn't throw red paint on a good looking leather jacket or anything, but bear hats are where I draw the line. Weird. So despite the fact that I drink tea with my pinky finger in the air and occasionally pronounce "tomato" oddly, I generally consider myself to be American. Over half of my life has been spent in the states (Hawaii, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and now Georgia), I have an American passport, I talk a lot and I own a fanny pack. Ergo, I am American. So what's making me question my authenticity as a citizen? The date of our British Airways flight booked for this summer: I ...

There are plenty of great things about working from home. Yes, I get to start work whenever I want to. I don't have to commute each day. I can work in my pajamas and no one can complain. ( Ok - hubby can complain but I ignore him ) There are a few downsides though, too: -Sick/vacation days are also known as a " days you don't earn money ". So they happen infrequently, needless to say. -It's super fun when people assume that "work from home" means my blog. Um, yeah right. I wish. As soon as Foodbuzz decides to pay me fulltime I'd be all over it, but until then? I'll keep my job, thanks. Samples of bars aren't going to keep me fed. -I go stir crazy. Imagine waking up and running on the treadmill at home. Then working from home. Then making dinner at home. And then blogging at home. At home. At home. At home. Sometimes I go like three days and realize I haven't left the house. Seriously? That is not ok. If I get a little crazy and re...