Well, I have been out of control busy, just on the go since last I posted. So I am going to get all of you guys up to speed.

Saturday, I went to work at my part-time job and then to Trader Joe’s to get groceries. Adam and I really felt like going to to dinner, but we were trying to save money. We knew Sunday would be an expensive day (you’ll see why in a few minutes), so I decided to make a restaurant-like meal at home. We started off with the appetizer.

Trader Joe’s Spinach and artichoke dip with some soy and flax chips. This dip was really great. It comes frozen, you put in a microwave safe bowl, heat it for 2 1/2 minutes, stir, heat for 2 more and your done! Easy peezy, right? Spinach and artichoke dip is our favorite appetizer to have when we go out, so this gave us the going out feel, while being able to eat in our jammies!

We both had a small glass of red wine too. We like it cold!

After the appetizer, we had salad. Mine was romaine, red pepper, olives, feta, cabbage  and balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Perfect!

Dinner was TJ’s frozen gnocchi with some grilled chicken. Perfect portions (so much better than all that food you get at a restaurant and don’t finish). If you love gnocchi like me, you should totally try this stuff. Super yummy and quick and easy to make. Just add a little water to a frying pan, then add the gnocchi (it comes with the sauce) and cook for 7 minutes on high heat.

What’s a dinner “out” without dessert, right?

We split a small TJ’s Creme Brulee! It was really good, see that brown cup it is in? Yeah, that’s chocolate! It was really good. They come in a pack of four and you just thaw then for 1 hour at room temp and your ready to go. Great dinner, less money than a restaurant and less effort than a big cooked from scratch 4 course meal. Plus, we were able to have smaller portions and then (since it was so quick and easy to make) got to spend the rest of the night enjoying each other’s company. We were like 90 year- olds and were in be by 9:30 pm.

Yesterday Morning we got up and got ready to race. I had a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and 1/2 of a banana for breakfast.

I also had a coffee in the car while on the way to the race.

Old picture, same coffee! Small, medium roast coffee with half and half and one pump of vanilla syrup.

You want to know what I didn’t have any of? WATER!!!!!!!!

For some reason, I had not water to drink yesterday morning, or the night before. I was super dehydrated, you will see this becomes a SERIOUS problem for me as I run the race.

The race we ran was the 1/2 way to St. Patrick’s Day Race organized by Cops for Kids with Cancer. Great Cause. We ran it with Adam’s co-worker Derek.

Those are our road race team shirts.We ran a race in April as a team as well.

RACE RECAP:

We decided to get up close to the start line. My personal goal was a 26:20 time (the race was a 5k). My last 5k time was a 26:25. After a prayer, the National Anthem, and quizzing a guy next to me about his Garmin ( I WANT ONE!!!! NOW!)  the race started. We took off up the first (of many) hill at a very fast pace. Adam and I decided to slow it down. During the first mile, I could tell my dehydration was going to be a huge problem. I started to feel weak, tired and dizzy. I also became so angry with myself for not hydrating before this race. There were a few points were I felt as if I may throw up or pass out. No good.

As we approached the 1 mile marker, the volunteer yelled out 8 minutes.  Although feeling very ill, I was still on track to make the time I wanted. Mile 2 was a struggle. Adam was right by my side the whole time, reminding he that this race was bigger than me. There are kids sitting in hospital rooms depending on us, and they are in a lot more pain and feel a lot sicker than I did. He was right! It was just what I needed to hear as we hit the 2 mile mark, I heard the volunteer yell out 15:18. We were flying.

The 3rd mile was hilly as heck. I felt like all I did was climb and climb. I was feeling a little less weak, but was fatiguing pretty badly and rapidly. The uphill running was hurting Adam’s back and he asked me to walk with him. I welcomed the break! We walked for about 10 seconds and then moved as fast as our legs would take us up the hills. We ended up finishing at 27:00, which averages out to me a 8:43 minute mile.  As you can tell, our last mile and .2 was significantly slower than the rest of our race. We fatigued a lot in that last hilly stretch. The race had about 5 hills so it was a tough one.

I felt a little discouraged, but know I did my best. I am still angry with myself for not hydrating well enough, not only because it hurt my performance, but also because it is plain NOT SMART!

I know for a fact, I would never have made it through this without my favorite running partner! Adam talked to me and helped me out mentally through every stride. We really do make a great team, and I always thankful to run with him. He is so incredibly supportive and knows the right thing to say when I get discouraged. He always takes the opportunity to remind me how far I have come. And you know what? Whether I beat my PBR (personal best record) time or not, I have come pretty damn far. I gave it my all and I am pretty freakin’ proud of that!!!!

Ha! Sun in our eyes!!!!!

After crossing the finish line, I down 3 bottles of water! Followed by a celebratory beer (or two) with my team

Once we got home, I got Oscar (aka Sicky) ready to spend his night at Nana’s, packed up the coolers for our tailgate and got ready to head out the the U2 concert!

Here is my outfit yesterday!

ALLLLLL FROM GAP!

With my Chuck Taylor’s!

I really love gray and cream together. Such a soft combination!

We took a party bus to Gillette Stadium for the U2 concert, the bus was awesome! Yup, I took pictures, and there were 28 of us! Fun, right?! But as you can tell it was a pricey day: race registration, tickets, food, bus, parking, beer. We all met at the 99 before getting on the bus. I had a turkey panini.

It had turkey, cheese, tomato and avocado! Yum!

I ate half the sandwich and a few fries.

I also had a small October Fest.

Around 2pm, after lunch, we got on the bus and headed down to Foxboro.

Back of the bus

Front of the bus! Sweet, right?!

There was tons and tons of food! I loved Steph’s spinach dip, she brought some Food Should Taste Good Chips to eat it with. It was so creamy and I loved that I could taste the spinach!!!

Here is Peter on the grill…he grilled up tips, burgers and my veggie burgers! Thanks, Peter!

I brought hummus and pretzel thins to share!

I had a bunch of bud lights while tailgating!

And also had a veggie burger on an Arnold’s Sandwich Thin with a laughing cow cheese.

Then later on an apple:

and a kashi bar before going into the concert.

Oh and one of these!

They were chocolate covered cookie dough made by Kristen!

So good Kristen!!! Tailgating was fun and full of friends!

The concert was kind of disappointing. They played well, but I think we were all looking to hear some more of their older stuff. But, we still managed to have a great time!

I sat with Adam, and our friends John and Eddie. There was a lot of this:

and this:

and this:

Yup, that’s Eddie playing the air guitar on with his leg.

But, after the third song, there was no more of this:

They shut down the beer taps!!!!!!!

Doesn’t the stage remind you of a giant squid?

Well, after the concert, it took over 4 hours to get home. There was a lot of sing along action to Bed-Time Magic on a local radio station (soft rock) and we didn’t get home until 3:30am.

I was tired this morning getting up for work! Here is breakfast.

Greek yogurt, strawberries, blueberries and granola! With a LARGE coffee!

yum!!!!!

Lunch was a huge salad from a salad bar near my office. I always bring my lunch, but I was way to tired to pack it this morning!

It had spring mix, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, boiled egg (just ate the white), tuna, peppers, peas, black and kidney beans, tuna, feta, eggplant, olives, green beans and chickpeas. AWESOME!!!!!

Outfit:

Khaki Chinos (JCrew), white tank (Jacob), Gray Sweater (Gap), Brown Belt (J Crew), flats (Steve Madden). I chose this outfit today simply because it didn’t need to be ironed!!! HA!

Well, I gotta get to class, see you all later!