Hi 5:15am. Nice to meet you.

Those who know me well know I love sleep. I love sleep so much I could marry it. I love to flip my pillow to the cool side, sigh contentedly as I drift back to sleep after the alarm goes off and I've hit snooze for the 3rd time.

However, when it comes to my morning runs this often leads to me being pressed for time, rushing out the door and not properly warming up or stretching. On Sundays I wake up at least 1 hour before I want to begin my run. I eat some toast and jam, drink a cup of coffee and really wake up before I head out for my run. I decided to apply this to a week day run, that meant waking up at...

5:15am

Wow. The only time I get up before 6am is if travel is involved. This morning I only hit snooze once at 5am and then got out of bed at 5:15. My coffee was brewing, I made some toast and I sat down and watched the news. I caught up on some blog reading, played around on facebook. Then, after I finished my toast, I cleaned up the house a little, I was full of energy and it was 6:15, time to run. It was raining, so I headed to the gym and...



pounded out an AWESOME run! I felt better, ran harder, had enough time to warm up...it was as good as my Sunday runs. I can't wait to see what happens to me this afternoon and this evening...will I crash? I guess I'll have to wait and see, but if it means running well and feeling good, I think 5:15am and I might just become friends.

I don't know if you noticed a new edition to the side of my blog right over there --> but I've jumped on the FormSpring wagon. Feel free to ask me anything either by using the box provided or clicking here. I'm not at all interesting though...you've been warned. :)

Last night's dinner of crockpot BBQ chicken was tasty, but not really worth the calories, so I'm not sharing it. I'm looking forward to modifying tonight's dinner. It's a recipe I found for Lentil & Sausage Soup. I tend to like my lentil soup more stew like than soup like but I love the idea of putting pasta in it. I'm also going to use Smoked Turkey Sausage as well. Yummy! We'll see what it becomes. I still haven't had to break down and go to the grocery store. I haven't been in almost 2 weeks! Yay for pantry items! I really miss fresh fruit and produce though, I'm officially (aside from some carrots) out.

Ok, I need a new run mix so I want to know...What is your "Get Pumped" song?

Right now, what's been working for me is Korn - Freak on a Leash

Everyone has one...a song that comes on and you can't help but feel amped up and ready to go. No matter how silly...I want to know! Please share! :)

Quinoa Cheeses Up Real Nice Ya'll!

Good Morning World! I had a great run this morning and I'm filled with energy! I think it's due in large part to my new Zombieland Inspired Playlist. "The first rule of Zombieland: Cardio. When the zombie outbreak first hit, the first to go, for obvious reasons... were the fatties." If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend it...but only if you like cheesy movies.



My run stats:



My knees are a little sore, but not terrible. I'm almost thinking that 30 Day Shred is causing my knee pain. They almost seem to hurt worse on the days after I do 30DS. I will have to monitor that for a bit.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and thus begins the first day of Lent. I speak like I know what I'm talking about, but I really don't. I'm not very religious per say. However, I like the idea of giving something up for 40 days. It's a practice in self control. I have no idea what I would give up...would I want to give up a food item? A behavior? I'm sure my husband would love for me to give up nagging! 40 Days is a long time and I have a girls weekend trip to Savannah in the mix, so I'd have to be careful not to sabotage myself. I think it's worth thinking about. I have until tomorrow to figure something out, if I'm actually going to do it. What would/are you give up for Lent?

I wanted to play with last night’s dinner a little bit. I had a bag of Gorton’s Frozen Grilled Shrimp in my freezer, some Quinoa, cheese and butter. I figured I could make a pretty good substitute for traditional Shrimp and Grits…a southern specialty. I found out, that Quinoa, well, it “cheeses up real nice ya’ll!”

I cooked the shrimp and quinoa per instructions, once Quinoa was finished I added 2 tbsp of the mexican cheese blend, 1 wedge of Laughing Cow, 1/2 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tbsp Brumel and Brown and mixed. I placed 1/2 of a cup (1 serving per box) on my plate and topped with 1/2 of the shrimp, squeezed a little lemon juice on top and Viola! Shrimp and Quinoa in a flash!

It’s very tasty and definitely comfort food. The Gorton’s Shrimp has a smokey taste that I don’t love…I will use plain frozen or fresh shrimp from now on. This was a quick meal and took about 20 minutes to make. I placed my asparagus on the baking sheet with my shrimp and they cooked up fine! You’ll see a lot of asparagus the next few days…it was on sale! :)

Don't forget to let me know what you would/are giving up for Lent. I'm really curious! Happy Tuesday! Let's make it a great day!! :)

Hey, I know that girl!

Did you guys see OperationBeautiful.com today? If so, you can say "I know that girl!" That's me, well, my back, and my Operation Beautiful note I wore on my first 5k. If you aren't familiar with Operation Beautiful, go spend some time there. You won't regret it.

I had 2 great runs since we last talked. I have been at training this week and with the holidays I just feel like I'm going, going, going non-stop and when I do stop, I drop on the couch. Thank goodness for my training runs, they get me in the gym as it's been really cold (well, cold for here) I have started mixing in some weight training again. I forgot how much I enjoy that.

I wanted to share my latest gym mix, this gets me through a 2.5 mile treadmill run and about 40 minutes of weights.


(I don't know why this is so tiny, but if you click on it, it gets a little bigger...sorry I don't have time to fix it today! :p)

It works great and kept me dancing in between the weight machines...luckily I had the gym to myself because no one needs to see that. :) The new Adam Lambert CD "For Your Entertainment" is AMAZING gym music!

Well, I'm stealing time from work to write this blog and with the conference I just attended I haven't been in here for 3 days and I'm writing this from under a pile of paperwork, kinda like this guy:



Happy Friday!

My Kick Bootay Mix

So, I put together a playlist this week that has been amazing! This thing has kept me going even when I totally didn't feel like it. I pushed myself harder and at some points I was even semi-dancing on the treadmill, I couldn't help myself. I thought I'd share it, so, here it is.

1. Mutemath - You Are Mine For stretching before hand
2. The Bravery - Time Won't Let Me Go
3. Kelly Clarkson - I Do Not Hook Up
4. Mutemath - Typical yeah, I know, Mutemath twice...but I like them
5. Rise Against - Re-Education (Through Labor)
6. Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow (Club Version)
7. Britany Spears - Circus
8. Metro Station - Shake It
9. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Pen & Paper
10. Incubus - Dig
11. Pink - Long Way to Happy
12. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
13. David Cook - Come Back to Me

It's amazing, when I'm not working out, I couldn't imagine listening to Britany Spears. I'm just not that big of a fan...but it's great for working out! :)

So, there it is. I give you my "Kick Bootay Mix"!