Catching Up!

Hey everyone!  I know it's been a while since my last post.  I have no excuses other than I needed for my life to settle down a bit, including having some time to breathe.  Life as a mother, wife, teacher and runner can get awfully hectic {especially with children in afterschool activities} and one thing had to give.  Unfortunately the blog got the brunt of my time constraints, but I am back, hopefully on a several-posts-a-week basis.

Here are a few things that we need to catch up on...

Nutrition:  The last few weeks I've decided to switch to a more plant-based diet.  Now, I'm not labeling myself or my eating habits {vegan, vegetarian, paleo, etc} since I still eat some dairy and meat, but I've dramatically upped my intake of fresh fruits, veggies, beans and gluten-free products such as brown rice pasta, quinoa and sweet potatoes.  

My family has also felt the effects of my meals since I am the primary chef in the house, but they really haven't complained much at all.  I still have organic chicken once a week, as well as homemade pizza with whole wheat dough using mozzarella.  Many of my meals have had feta or parmesan mixed in for flavor and texture.  Plus, each morning my coffee is flavored with vanilla soy creamer and I have a smoothie consisting of almond milk, a spoonful of Greek yogurt, frozen berries, 1/2 a banana and a scoop of a Amazing Grass's Super Food.  Honestly, my runs have never felt better and I even lost a few pounds as an added bonus without even trying. 

 
For a great article on labeling yourself as an eater, check out Lindsay's post from a few weeks ago: My Diet Doesn't Need a Label.

Running: As I mentioned above, my runs have been awesome!  I haven't done any real, structured workouts, but I've managed to squeeze in a Sunday long run of 9-10 miles, a mid-week 7-8 miler, plus a few 3-5 milers to fill in the gaps.  Some of those runs incorprated a stop at the track for some quick intervals such as 6 x 400 intervals at 79-80 second pace on a minute rest. 

After a recent seven miler around the neighborhood...



This morning I ran a quick 8 miles on my favorite trail.  The first four were done in 30:37 {7:39 pace} and the final four in 27:55 {7:04 average pace}.  The last two miles were 6:58 and 6:44 consecutively.  Final time - 58:32.  I have no idea why the last mile registered as 8:54 after the watch was stopped....my Garmin does weird things sometimes.  

 
As part of the Runner's World's wear-testing group, I am testing out Nike's new LunarGlide+ 5.  I don't believe this actual model has been released to the public as of yet.  So far, so good...I'll let you know how I like them as I spend more time on the roads.  Crazy color, huh??     

Recipes:  Lately I have been putting together a plethora of fun, nutritious, meat-free meals for the fam.  Last night I tried a risotto using steel cut oats, rather than the traditional arborio rice.  The result? Delish!  Unfortunately I didn't take photos during the process, but I have some leftovers to photograph of the final product.  Recipe coming this week!  

Family & Friends:  Friday was Willsey's second birthday so we celebrated like we normally do...with a plain burger from a fast food place.  I can't believe how fast the year went because it seems like yesterday that we celebrated his first!  

 And.....it was gone in .002 of a second. Flat.

He also loved his new toy!  Nope, he's not spoiled....

 
Saturday was absolutely gorgeous so Willsey and I headed to the trail for a little walk and squirrel watching.  He loved it!  

 

Last week it was too beautiful to stay inside the school, so we took the kids out for an Earth Day scavenger hunt/nature walk.  It was so nice and the kids had a blast!  

 
Plus, my spring flowers are in full bloom!  I love this time of year because it's so colorful, but my allergy-suffering family isn't loving it as much.  

Well, that's about all I have for now.  See you this week with that recipe I promised....