Running update

The 2017 race season is in full swing here in The Mitten. I ran a 5K in Florida over Easter weekend and wow, what a difference 40 degrees and humidity makes on performance! I was pretty mad at myself afterwards.

Coming up, we've got a local 5K for a small festival, and all the while we're training for that dreaded 10K I had signed the Hubs and I up for in June. Remember how mad he was? Turns out now he's protesting by not training at all. That silence was heard, loud and clear!

However, my birthday was recently, and my boys bought me a sweatshirt I had been coveting from the local running store for quite some time. SO EXCITED!

To assist in my quest to put the right foods into my body , I bought a spiralizer and my kid and I have been getting creative with our "zoodles" (this is zuccini pasta for those of you new to the Vegetti world!). Our first night, we used a jarred cheese sauce and mixed in diced grilled chicken (H said it was AMAZING) and last night we tried a peanut sauce. This was incredible. I'll make it again and post pics next time. The sauce was also really good on Barilla protein pasta.

I definitely feel a lot better with less carb-y, starchy food and more of a protein, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats focus. I have been running with the old girl at least every other day, if not every day, 2-3 miles or so. We did the full 5K on Saturday at the lake for practice, and yesterday did 2.75 even though we decided our legs were tired.

Ok, so I decided my legs were tired, but I kept repeating to myself, "Run until your legs aren't tired anymore!". Old girl did just fine. So we'll see how the weekend's race goes.

In other news, I have to travel for work and be gone ALL NEXT WEEK. This household will be in an uproar with Mom gone! It will also make training and eating well difficult. I'll do my best to stay on track and likely spend some time on the hotel 'dread'mill. Ughh.

10K soon, 10K soon, 10K soon...

Mitten Love Mondays - vol. 3

Welcome to a Tuesday where I publish my Mitten Love Monday entry a day late.
It happens, right?

Today I'm featuring another food company I adore:

American Spoon Foods

www.spoon.com

What do I love from there? Better question, what don't I love. Short back story, I came across this store downtown Traverse City once. The door was open and the enticing smells pulled me in. They have a kitchen in-house, and were making their famous chili. This isn't just any chili. This chili features two of their best products:

Cherry Peach Salsa and Pumpkin Chipotle Grilling Sauce

Stay with me, I know this sounds weird.

They also use ground turkey in their recipe. And cocoa powder. Yes, you read that correctly. It is such a unique and delicious flavor in chili. It is one of my go-to recipes now so I always have two jars of the salsa and one jar of the chipotle sauce on hand. There are never leftovers when I make this chili!

Lately, we've also been hooked on this product:

So delicious on burgers and chicken sausage, just in time for summer grilling. You can't beat any of their preserves either, with our house favorites being Early Glow Strawberry, and Blueberry Lime.

I love that you can sample their products too, because I always end up liking something new and buying a jar of it. With locations around Michigan, you'll leave with your arms full and your belly happy.

Leave a comment if you'd like the chili recipe. It. Is. Amazing. Would I ever let you down when it comes to food? Of course not. :)

Mitten Love Mondays vol. 2

Ahh Cherry Republic. You had me at "sample". If you've never been to a Cherry Republic store, you are in luck if you're visiting the Mitten. They now have stores in great locations other than Northern MI! Don't get me wrong, I love my TC however I can't always make a three hour trek just for Cherry Jam. An hour to Frankenmuth is much easier! So yes, confession Wednesday, I have gone to the 'Muth just to go to their store before. I stocked up while there on my favorite classic Cherry Jam, but we also got some Imperial Pretzels, Cherry Mustard, and Cherries on Fire Salsa, my hubs' new favorite. Confession Wednesday again, I've never walked in and not spent at least $60. Ever. But their stuff is THAT GOOD. I promise. Best PB&J you've ever had? Good bread, and the items below. Boom!!

My son loves that there are samples at every turn, beckoning you to try something new so that the full size jar or bag can end up in your shopping basket. And it works. My son loves the Sour Cherries and you cannot go wrong with plain chocolate covered cherries (White? Dark? Milk? Imperial? I must try them all! So many choices!). What else do we love... let's see, Boomchunka cookies, cherry tea, spicy cherry BBQ sauce, white chocolate cherry peanut butter (coupled with their cherry jam, which we only buy in the large jars, it makes the most divine sandwich ever), Cherryaki sauce, umm... yeah. I might have a bit of an obsession.

The only thing I am sad to say I regret I haven't tried yet is their breakfast line. They have pancake mix and syrup that I really must get on my next visit to stock my pantry. The best part about the Republic (besides their amazing products) is that they've gotten shipping down to a science. It is an annual tradition that I ship my baby brother (who is an adult now living in Miami on his own!) a box of their treats for his birthday. The end of April can get a little balmy in South Florida, and his box always arrives perfectly. Shipping rates are reasonable when you order a large quantity of items. Plus they pack a little bit of the north country in every box - a sprig of green, a piece of birch bark, a pinecone. Ahh home.

Oh, and the company itself comes from humble roots and has blossomed (get it, cherry blossom, ha...) into this big company with multiple locations, tons of products, and who knows how many employees, but it doesn't FEEL like that at all. It feels like family when you've been enjoying their products for so long. And the amount of money they put back into the communities they're in is truly awesome. Sign up for the newsletter just to hear tales from Bob, the founder (he's a unique guy for sure), about his life with his wife and two boys. You'll be part of the Republic in no time.
Life, Liberty, Beaches & Pie!

Tomorrow is Opening Day aka our first race of the 2017 season!

Tomorrow is our first official race of the season. I was able to run twice this week and give my legs a rest for a couple of days. On my most recent run, I was able to run sub-11:00 minute miles, which has been my fastest pace since last summer. The Old Girl was once again my best mate for running.

 Let's see if I can keep it up under race conditions tomorrow! I did meet some friends for a beer last night (Lansing's Ozone Krypton Ale--will it help?) which I don't normally do, but I figured it was 36 hours pre-race and it should be okay...

I stopped at my favorite running store to pick up our packets. I was drooling over the new Saucony shoes as well as the Mizunos. I have no idea what shoes I should actually be wearing but I sure love looking at the flashy ones!

Here's the race gear (H is running the Kids One Mile with his BFF Emma):

Mother Nature didn't like my taunting last week. Here is our Mitten weather today (freezing rain, snow, sleet, ice pellet-y mix!):

I seriously hope the weather takes a turn for the better in the AM. Nothing like slick roads to blow an Achilles!

And finally, in the spirit of the holiday, here we are.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2017! And may the luck of the Irish be with us and all the runners in tomorrow's Run for the (Ronald McDonald) House!

Marching in like a lion for sure...what a run today!

Snowing, blowing, cold. That sums up what we woke up to today after hitting 60 degrees last week. After hardly a winter at all here in the Mitten, I shouldn't complain. But outside runs are great, if and when breaking an ankle is not a distinct possibility.

I really was not going to risk it with our race coming up soon... but... my Old Girl looked at me with those eyes when she saw me throwing my New Balances on. Next thing I know, I am rigging up her harness and pulling on my Puma running hat and gloves. And she is dancing around in her own doggy glory.

I really didn't have time for more than 20 minutes before work but I figured if I could get 20 minutes in without face planting on the icy streets or blowing an Achilles, I would be happy.

Low and behold, once I couldn't feel my hamstrings from the cold I felt pretty good. I surprised myself by finishing a full two miles with a pace of 11:31. Considering the conditions, I consider this a big win for the week. Ice crystal mascara is really attractive, isn't it?!??
Come on, Mother Nature, you can do better than that!!

Mitten Love Mondays vol. 1

I have decided that I need to share my favorite Michigan products with the world... now let's hope that shouting from the rooftops how much I love all things Mitten doesn't mean a shortage for me when I'm low on my favorite products!

This week, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I am featuring one of  my favorite Michigan-made treats. Wooden Crate Popcorn Company makes the BEST gourmet popcorn. Ever. Seriously.

This weekend, we got our hands on two bags; one is Irish Stout, featuring beer from one of Hubs' all time favorite Michigan breweries, Shorts in Bellaire, Michigan. I have never, ever witness him try one of their beers and NOT rave about it. Ever. He loves all of their beers that much. He's visited the brewery as well and has declared it is a must-stop on the Michigan Hops Trail. Back to the popcorn! We tried to just have a tiny sample and save the rest for later, but alas, half a bag was gone in the blink of an eye. They actually poured bottles of Uncle Steve's Irish Style Stout into the caramel coating as it was cooking. Oh my GOODNESS. We did manage to save a few pieces more than 24 hours after opening the bag, but not much.

The other bag I was gifted with was their Peanut Butter & Jealous, which is peanut butter and chocolate covered caramel corn. Those who know me know my #1 food obsession is peanut butter in any and all forms. This popcorn is amazing. That's all I'm going to say for fear that next time I want a bag, my friends that make this confectionery delight will tell me they've run out.

Check out their Etsy store here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodenCratePopcornCo

You will not be sorry. They ship anywhere, but if you're in the mid-Michigan area, you can stop by Appletree Lane in Owosso and pick some up for yourself (and even sample their other flavors if you are lucky enough!). Pure Michigan deliciousness!!

Training time! Let's do this.

So. My husband has been complaining incessantly that he needs to get back into shape, that he needs to start eating well again. I agreed with the getting back into shape part; it felt like we took the winter off from running, and it showed. It's so hard to get motivated to run outside when the weather clearly suffers from psychotic episodes frequently here in the Mitten. It can't decide if it's winter, spring, summer, or all three during any given week. He hates the "dread"mill even more than I do so he's done nothing over the course of the last few months.

But what's more motivating than knowing you've signed up for a race that almost 1000 people will be at?!

Not much.

We are registered for a race that benefits our local Ronald McDonald house in just a few short weeks. Knowing this, I've been running about 2 to 2.5 miles every other day over the course of the last few weeks. My lungs aren't very forgiving yet but I'll get there. I am amazed at what foam rolling does for post-run relief. I so wish I would've had my foam roller a year ago! It definitely speeds recovery time and helps to alleviate soreness.

Here's my beloved orange friend:

The TriggerPoint Performance "The Grid" model is fabulous for legs, calves, hip flexors, glutes, even shins. If you don't have one, run (ha!) to your local sports gear store and get one. Really.

{I've also added new compression socks to my routine; more on those and my opinion on whether they are worth it next week.}

.

<---Not me, but a perfect example of how I use it.

This is me, and how happy I am after rolling the crap out of my post-run sore muscles!--->





I also REALLY made him frustrated when I announced that I had also sort of kind of maybe definitely registered us for our first 10K in June.

"YOU WHAT!!!!"

"It'll be ok and we have 15 weeks to train and the route is beautiful compared to their 5K route and we can work together to up our mileage and we can start tomorrow and take H with us and it will be fun and...."

I lost him at "it'll be ok"; I'm quite sure he didn't hear much after that. I am convinced he will thank me later. Stay tuned!