Hello! Well, I spent my weekend reflecting about my “funk” and how I was going to drag myself out of it. I did even more reflecting yesterday and realized a few things:

1. I just have to grab the bull by the horns and decide to climb out of it and get back to myself.
2. My life is pretty stressful as of late and that is really causing me to be in a “funk”
3. I have HUGE post race blues and need to work on a new training goal to get myself out of the “funk” (cough cough someone is toying with the idea of a 30k (18.6 miles))
4. What I consider a “funk” is how many, many people actually go through their entire life. So I should not be so hard on myself.

So this morning, that is what I did. I got up and made the choice to not be so funky!!! And guess what?! I feel better already. I quickly reminded myself of my goals on how to get back to my old (from two weeks ago ) “me” and I was on my way:

• Drink more water
• Plan my workout schedule at the beginning of the week
• Get in 5-6 days of workouts
• CLEANER eating
• Get at least 7 hours of sleep a night
• GET MORE HOUSEWORK DONE (check- I cleaned all day yesterday)
  
• Get my wedding stuff done and enjoy doing it
• Rest when I need it so I don’t get into this “FUNK” again
• Find something to train for

I have Officially Declared My “Funk” Over!!!

I was still a little funky this weekend so there was not that much working out or eating or cute outfits for that matter! I know, who am I?! But, I do have one day I need to fill you in on!!!! PARADE DAY!!!!

For those of you don’t know (which I bet is most of you) Bunker Hill day is celebrated in Boston every year on June 17th. The Sunday before the 17th my neighborhood, Charlestown, celebrates this holiday with many festivities- including a 8k (5 mile) road race and a large parade. For those of you who want to learn about the history behind Bunker Hill Day, you can find more information by clicking here.

Sunday morning I got up early and make a pre-race breakfast. A mini whole wheat bagel with natural peanut butter.

I quickly got dressed and headed to the start line. Sunday was my friend Melissa’s 31st birthday and as her birthday gift I promised to run the race beside her and be her pacer. This was Melissa’s third road race and her hardest course yet. She wanted to beat her 5 mile PR of 54:00 by at least a minute. Of course I knew with a harder course she would need more encouragement. What better way to get that from spectators and other runners than with this fabulous shirt?!

My friend Jill and I spent Saturday night cooking for my BBQ on Sunday and making Melissa’s shirt. It read : “It’s My Birthday Give Me A Hi-Five”. She loved it! Here she is with our friend Ash (and some creepy guy that jumped in?!) at the start line!

Melissa was a trooper she ran faster than she ever has before. The first mile of the race she set a new PR for fastest mile! All along the route people were yelling “Happy Birthday” to her and high-fiveing her! She had a lot of friends along the route cheering her on and I know that helps. She powered up both of the two steep hills along the course. Towards the end, she was feeling tired. She set a goal and was determined to get there, Ashley and I ran beside her the whole time chatting with her. The last quarter mile, all of a sudden Melissa sprung into a very fast sprint that I struggled to keep up with.

We crossed the finish line shaving two minutes off her time and creating a new PR! GO MELISSA!!!!!!

All smiles at the finish line!

Melissa’s cheering section!

Little Birthday Tribute!

Enjoying some post race beers

It was a great race, I was so proud of Melissa and so glad I was able to run right beside her on her birthday  After the race (and a few post race beers) I hopped in the shower, welcome guests and watched the parade (with more beers ). The parade was great this year!

After the parade we had a number of guests back for a BBQ. We started off with some healthy munchies. Hummus and whole wheat pita chips, kettle chips and onion dip (made with greek yogurt and onion soup mix) and Ashley’s homemade guacamole and blue corn chips. I had a little of everything while putting out the “real” food.

The boys dug right in too There was TONS of food. I had some lime and cilantro turkey, some of my whole wheat pasta salad and my potato salad.

There were also many beers had that day Of course the celebration of Melissa’s birthday continued!!!

I had Monday off-like I said I was still in my funk and barely ate. I actually spent the day cleaning my apartment. This morning I was determined to get my life back to normal, and I think I did!!!

Breakfast was some coffee (obvi).

I was so excited to try the new strawberry banana flavor of chobani!!!

I topped it with some fresh strawberries and bananas, it was yummy and a nice change.

Lunch was eaten while working and was provided by my “new” office. I had a veggie sandwich and some fruit salad. The sandwich was a portobello mushroom, mozzarella cheese, roasted red peppers and arugula on a whole wheat roll!

I had a busy day at work that made it FLY BY! It is hard being in between two offices, it is a juggling act, but it makes the day fly by and I am really enjoying it. After work I headed to my part-time job where there was a lot of work to do. When I got home Adam had started dinner – love him . We had some cookout leftovers (there are TONS!). Adam grilled up some of the turkey tips we never got around to cooking. I had some oriental and lime and cilantro turkey tips and some leftover pasta salad and salad. Plan of seeing a lot of these leftovers- I am going to try to get creative with it so you don’t get bored.

EDITED TO ADD: While cleaning up and doing laundry, my “salt tooth” hit hard. I snacked on a few handfuls of these kettle chips. I HAVE TO GET THESE OUT OF MY HOUSE…addicting!

Today’s Outfit:

Black linen embroided dress (Amichi), White Tank (Gap), Black thong sandals (Target).

In Other News:

The fantastic people at Tazo teas in conjunction with Healthworks Beach Body Bootcamp sent me a fun beach pack.

It was a mini cooler with a beach towel and samples of their all natural no calorie teas How cool is this little pack (literally). All of these teas are brewed from real tea leaves and botanicals and naturally sweetened with stevia. They are all caffeine free too! They come in three varieties: Passion, Zen and Refresh. Passion is a blend of hibiscus, lemongrass, and rose hips. Zen is a green tea that also had flavors of lemongrass and spearmint. Refresh is a blend of peppermint and spearmint with a pinch of tarragon.

So, after dinner tonight Adam and I did a little taste test!

They are all awesome! The are refreshing and sweet. I loved the Refresh,it was my favorite. I have been really into mint teas lately and this one was so good. After the taste test I finished it off. Adam’s favorite was the Passion, he likes Passion tea a lot.

Well, it is official I am out of my funk, feeling great and really back!!! Night! See you in the morning!!!!