Moving on up!

Hi everyone!

This blog is moving! The new web address is:

http://lovelustlunch.wordpress.com

By moving my blog is going to improve.

There is so much more you can do over

at wordpress. The good news is-all my old

posts are over there too. 

Enjoy and let me know if you have any

feedback!

Reaching the Beach

If you remember- I once said I was doing a 200 mile

relay race with work. It consisted of a 12 person team

and each person ran 3 legs with a total distance of

11 to 22ish miles. It was more fun than it sounds!

Reach the Beach 2012!

We started off with a team dinner Thursday night to

Carbo load.

We packed  up the vans and headed to our hotel for the night.

We got as much sleep as possible and headed to check in on

Friday morning. It was like a 5 step process. It included

 a little race orientation.

We had a 10:20 start time so we had a little time to kill.

We road to the top of the mountain on the Polar Express.

Took some team photos.

And finally got ready to kill this race.

Lael was the first runner and he basically had to run up

a mountain for 2ish miles.

While he ran-

 we piled into the van to meet him at the top.

Then it was Shayna's turn. Then mine.. James, Cara and

Karissa finished it up for us.

I averaged around a 9 minute mile for

my first run which was 6 miles. 

After we finished our first legs- we had some down

time. We had some dinner- aka Panera.

Then decided some shopping was needed. We hit up

the Banana outlet. I found some sweet deals.

We quickly had to hit the road because van 2 was doing

so awesome! We got the transition area and got out

night gear together and stretched it out. Then our van

had to start it up again.

Karissa was supplying each runner with water

as they ran by.

Before I knew it, it was time for my second

run. It was around 6 miles. And I felt like I was sprinting.

It was pitch black out and you could barely see the ground..

even with the head lamp. I was very sure someone was

about to jump from the woods and take me. Maybe

I've watched too many horror movies but at least

it helped my pace.

Once we all finished, it was time to catch up on some

sleep. Or at least try to. Some of us slept on the floor.

By slept I mean I laid sideways and couldn't move my limbs.

James was excited.

I was squished.

Yup those are my sandals in my face.

Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep. But before I knew it,

it was time to run again. But this time- was the last time!

I took my last bathroom break, got my compression sleeves

on and I was ready!!

I slayed my last run. I averaged an 8:30 pace. Which to me

was great since I had already run 12 miles on no sleep

and my legs felt like 100lbs each. I finished my last

2.7 miles in 22:53. BOOM! I was done. And our team

was 3 hours ahead of schedule on projected time.

James was after me. But between miles 4 and 5, his knee gave out.

We had to make a quick decision. Cara finished his run and we moved

the rotation up by one. Which meant... Lael had to run a 4th leg. This

was a bummer because we had been sitting and hanging out

for awhile and he had to jump back in and run 7 miles!

We waited around before his run. I clearly took to the beer.

And I took to the beach.

This is where the last leg came through.

Before we knew it- it was Lael's last run. We met him with water

at every mile of the 7 mile run. He was averaging 7:30/8 min miles.

He was sprinting through hot hot weather. He killed the run.

We were done before I knew it. I felt so freaking accomplished. 

We worked so hard as a team

and had some injuries along the way but we finished.

Not with the 3 hour lead we had on ourselves- but still

before our expected time.

Today- I feel good. Ok today I hurt a little. But running

is such a mental game. You want to quit. You want

to walk. You want to give up. I kept my head up. 

Kept focused and at the end... fell in love.

With running again. It had become such a boring thing

in my life and I found a way to make goals and

make it exciting and fun all over again. Needless to say-

my running calendar is filling up. I'll be running a lot

more races. And I'd really love to run this one

again. Anyone with me?

Overdue weekend in Boston

Happy Mother's day to all the awesome

mom's out there. Including mine.

A weekend in Boston was over due.

I spent Friday resting up but Saturday-

I got my run on. I needed to test my

legs since my big race is coming up this

weekend. Yep-15 big ones. But I bought

something to try and help me.

Compression sleeves. Did they help? A little.

They work enough that my pain is mild and dull.

They helped enough to allow me to knock out 6 miles.

I finished my run and devoured a Life Alive wrap.

Hot & Healthy Bachelor if you need to know.

I got my act together and ran over to Casey's for

her birthday pub crawl. It was a Golf theme and 

everyone did a great job fitting to the theme.

My tan is ridiculous. It's more like a farmers tan/burn.

I was going for a country club housewife look. It 

worked. 

I checked out of the party after 5+ hours drinking. 

I tried to detox this week so 5 beers over 5ish hours

was enough to make my trek home interesting. 

I was apparently really tired since I passed out in my

get up and got 11 hours of sleep. Think that's enough?

I wanted to take George for a nice hike today 

to see how he would do. He still hates people

and gets pretty scared when he sees anyone.

But he did great! He was a rock star on the trails.

Everyone stopped me to tell me how beautiful he is.

And I agree. So we hiked the trails. Sniffed around.

Saw some cool trees and nature.

But George was a hot dog. And he refused to drink the

water I brought. Was he holding out for Evian?

Nope. He was holding out for the local creek water

that he also decided to just lay in to cool off.

I didn't blame him.. I was wishing I could join him.

It was a great mother's day spent with George. Now

I'm off to do Sunday things... laundry and cleaning.

YAY!

New Orleans in a nutshell

I could make a really long post on how

awesome New Orleans is. But I feel it could

be better summed up by some pictures.

These are monsoons. Buckets of drinks.

Hanging out with the ladies in Nola. These are some

fabulous ladies that I am lucky to know.

Hurricanes at Pat O'Briens.

Jazz Fest!!

Drinks and Foo Fighters.

Clean streets of Nola.

Iced Coffee and Beignets!

Enjoy!

And some trips end with 3 for 1 drinks.

If you've never been to Nola- get going. Pack

your bags. Leave tomorrow.. it's worth your time.

Holy Balls

So I'm back in Boston. But don't

get used to it. I'm heading to New Orleans

this weekend to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, Jazz

Fest and life in general.

I bet you didn't know I was actually born in

Louisiana and lived there growing up. So for

me- this is kind of like going home. So I have to

pack this baby again.

In the mean time, I'm keeping busy by eating

tasty and wholesome food and getting back

into exercising and running. I was given the ok

by my physical therapist to run until the race

so I gotta keep at it. (My injuries are going on

a journey to improvement soon.)

I have a recipe to share with you before my trip.

Fitnessista is one of my fav bloggers. She has a

great health mentality and comes up with some

awesome recipes. So I borrowed one to share on

here after I made it and it was a success.

Protein Balls:

2 tbsp protein powder (I had a sample and I used 

that. You can use vanilla or choco)

2 tbsp unsweetened coconut

1 tbsp honey (maple syrup is ok too)

2 tbsp almond butter or PB

1 tbsp choco chips (optional but I use vegan chips.)

1- mix in food processor. Pulse it.

2- roll in your hand into a ball

3- throw them in a bag or Tupperware in the fridge.

4- Enjoy!

 

These things freaking rock and I ate all 4 in one sitting.

That was bad but they are sooooo good.

Can't wait to give you all a NOLA recap. I have a feeling

it's going to get a tad crazy.

Seattle is cool

I'm packing it up and shipping up to

Boston. This trip is almost dunzo.

My 36 hours spent in Seattle has been

enthralling. Yeah- sense the sarcasm. Don't get

me wrong, Seattle is cool. But I am tired. Beyond

tired. After that fun time in the ER and the other

mishaps on the trip, I'm ready to slam into my bed

and make sweet love to it... aka sleep.

I did make a little time for the sights!

Original Starbucks!

They were tossing these babies around.

Elephant garlic?!? It was the size of my hand.

Some views from the space needle.

Does this look familiar? This is Seattle Grace from Grey's!

It's actually a tv studio and it didn't feel like McDreamy was

around the corner.

Today I had meetings all morning/afternoon. Once

I finished I figured it was a good idea to visit the market

one last time and do my own food crawl.

It included 6 mini donuts, 1 french baked good and

this.

Good lord. My belly is full. So that counted as

my lunch and dinner. Now I'm pounding some

drinks before my flight tonight. By drinks I mean

plenty of water so I'm hydrated and can catch a cat 

nap. See you kids on the east coast.

Ain't no sunshine when I'm here- Vancouver

I'm blogging live from the Amtrak Cascades

train to Seattle. I woke up super early this morning

for the last leg of the trip so I am exhausted.

Stick a fork in me. I'm done.

I traveled by train from Kamloops to

Vancouver on Friday. It was a nice trip filled with

good food and nice scenery. And somewhat

peaceful sleep. We followed a river or 5 for most of the trip.

This is basically what the entire trip looked like.

I did see like 4 or 5 bald eagle's so that was a nice touch.

They did serve me some wine and cheese.

Once I arrived in Vancouver I opted for a run around the seawall.

My legs/body were craving the pavement and I felt

I should listen to them and get them moving.

I'm pretty sure the sun didn't shine the entire 36hrs I was there.

Ain't no sunshine when I'm here?

I did about 6 miles and my legs felt it.

Pain. I'll now be in pain for days to follow.

I did a little city tour to get to know and to get

personal with Vancouver. I saw some nice sights.

The totem polls. I'm part Native American and

I actually like to boast about it pretty often.

So this gives me another reason to brag.

The first narrows lion's gate bridge.

Built by the Guinness family actually.

I made it over to Granville Island for the market

and my own afternoon delight. The produce was beautiful.

And the crepes weren't bad either. This is my kind of

afternoon delight.

I saw some amazing hilltop views of Vancouver. And yeah-

still no sun happening.

I went into what felt like part of the movie Bio-Dome.

It was a tropical rain forest with birds.

And I finished the day with a walk around the seawall

to stretch my legs. And let's be honest- take in the

views. 

Vancouver is a great city. It's actually rated in the top 5

of most livable cities in the world. I can see why.

I could easily be a west coaster since they love

soy/almond milk, they love recycling /saving the planet

and they prefer to walk/bike/run/roller blade to where they're

going. Yeah- I made all these observations in 36 hours.

But be warned- it spits a lot here. It actually rains more than

a foot per year than Seattle. Which brings me to my next

 destination.

Question: Ever been to Vancouver? Seattle? West Coast?

What are your opinions?