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Week in Review

16 Jul

Last weeks was one of those crazy weeks that ends up with you screaming in your car. If you’ve never screamed in your car, you should really try it. It’s a nice stress reliever.

The month of July is notoriously busy at my job and last week was my second week of going full force. Perhaps it wasn’t smart of me to make plans for every day after work, but after the yoga challenge, I was excited to rejoin the social world.

Monday

I started my week off with Hatha. I was still feeling optimistic about my week. 🙂

Tuesday

My friend Rachelle invited me over to her place for a virtual wine tasting. You never have to ask me twice if it involves wine and food and lady time!

On my way over, I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some “hard cheese.” I’m no wine aficionado, so I asked the Cheese Lady for some help. After I told her what type of wines we would be tasting, she suggested a gouda. I asked what I should pair the cheese with (thinking she would respond with a cracker), she suggested a peach or a pear. I opted with pears, since they are crispy and I wanted that texture.

When I got to Rachelle’s I was super excited to see the food spread, and my friends of course!

This chardonnay paired perfectly with sparkling grapes (grapes flavored with JELL-O crystals)

The gouda went perfectly with the pears and the reds

My new favorite pinot noir

Also at the table:

  • A flat bread pizza that Rachelle made and was AMAZING
  • Brownie bites
  • Bagel chips and soft cheese spread

It was such a fun night! However, I found myself dragging Wednesday…

Wednesday

My day was super busy, so I had to force myself to ignore that headache I woke up with. After work I took off towards College Park, to join the Central Florida Lady Bloggers at Taste for the July meet-up. It was a large group of us, and I got there late. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself sitting next to Victoria from Running Peanut. She’s about 19 weeks pregnant, but is tiny and you can barely tell. I spent the early part of our meet-up asking her fun pregnancy questions.

The second half of the meet-up we were led in a discussion of how to fit in blogging in the midst of our busy schedules. There were a lot of great ideas shared, but I was too busy figuring out how I was going to fit in my exercise last week to think about blogging. Ha!

Thursday

Another busy day at work followed by an hour and a half of Ashtanga. Somewhere in between work and yoga I did some car screaming.

After yoga I found out there was a small hiccup in the home buying process. This was just what I needed to go home and cry. Honestly, if I hadn’t been so worn out from my day I think I would’ve taken the news in stride (as I’ve taken the whole home-buying process). However, I was too tired to be strong.

Friday

Most people dream of going out Friday night. I spend the day dreaming of sitting on the couch Friday night. Finally, my work day ended and my couch-sitting started. Aaaahhhhh …

Saturday

I hit my snooze for an hour straight and then at the very last possible minute decided that I was going to wake up after all and go to my 8:30 AM Ashtanga class.  I’m super thankful for my new yoga friend that knows I have the habit of walking in at the last minute Saturday mornings and now saves me a spot next to her so I don’t have to practice at the front of the class.

I spent the rest of my day running preliminary moving errands (donating books, buying storage bins, taking all of my CDs out of their plastic and into a organizer, drinking a Venti frapp, etc.). I was pooped, but when the boyfriend suggested we go to dinner I figured I could pull myself together for an evening out.

We were both so hungry it was hard for us to decide on a place to eat. And since it was a Saturday night we knew we would be facing long waits everywhere.

After doing a little calling around, we found out that the Dexter’s in Thornton Park has zero wait. We were there in 5 minutes.

I was craving red meat, so I opted for the bacon-wrapped meatloaf. I’ve seen this on the menu before and always opted against it, but after recently watching The United States of Bacon on TV, I was in the mood for something like this.

D went for the Fish of the Day, which would’ve been my pick if I wasn’t pining for red meat:

Fish of the Day at Dexter’s

We were starving so we also ordered a side of their truffle fries as an appetizer. They were so good that we ate the whole thing before our dinners came.

Both of our dinners were amazing! The meatloaf wrapped in bacon had the perfect flavor and the boyfriend’s fish came with a fried spinach that melted in our mouths. And the polenta that came with his meal was delicious too! So. Good.

Bacon-wrapped meatloaf … Doesn’t look as good as it tastes. 🙂

Fish of the Day: Snapper, served with fried spinach, shrimp, polenta and asparagus.

While my meatloaf was definitely the star of the plate, the snapper had a very strong supporting cast. We were happy with both of our choices, and enjoyed our leftovers yesterday for lunch!

Sunday

I spent my morning drinking coffee and deciding whether I would hit up Hatha at 11:30 AM. When I got a text from a friend saying that she was at a Starbucks nearby, I decided to throw on my yoga clothes, visit her for a bit and head over to yoga.

My Hatha class rocked my face off. I definitely had to remind myself to breathe often. 🙂

By the time I got home from yoga, I was hungry. Good thing I had some amazing leftovers!

Sunday night we headed to the grocery store to stock up for the week. But first, we stopped at a friend’s house who had tons and tons of boxes that we could have for moving. She posted on Facebook that she had boxes to give away and you better believe I responded immediately. A big thanks to Lauren for the boxes!

And staying true to the old rule “Never go to the grocery store hungry” we decided to stop at Gringos Locos for a quick bite. I got the sloppy taco and the double D. Both were yummy, but afterwards I was stuffed. I would’ve been fine with just one taco.

Sloppy Taco and the Double D

This week I’ve got plans to start packing and sorting through my clothes and yoga in between. It’s time to finally donate those expensive work pants that I can no longer fit in. Besides, if I ever do get back down to a size 8, I’m sure I’ll want to buy new pants to celebrate. 🙂

How do you manage a busy schedule? 

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The 30-Day Yoga Challenge :: Days 14 and 15

18 Jun

Since the goal of the 30-day yoga challenge is to complete 26 classes of yoga during the month of June, that means I’m finally past the halfway point. Woohoo!

Let’s take a moment to look at the numbers:

  • How many loads of yoga laundry I’ve done: 3
  • How many times I’ve had to say “Oh, I would love to join you but I have yoga class” to my friends: 4
  • How many downward dogs I’ve done: 150 (estimate based on 10 per class)
  • How many times I’ve promised myself a cupcake if I make it through class: 10
  • How many cupcakes I’ve actually had: 1
  • How many times I’ve been late to class: 0 <– This is pretty amazing for a Puerto Rican!
  • How many days since my last run: 42 😦
  • How many times I’ve asked Donnie if my shoulders look stronger: 3 🙂

Friday was my rest day and it’s a good thing. When I got home from work, I was exhausted from my day. I did a couple of things around the house, then lay down for a “minute” around 6 PM. I slept until 9 PM on a Friday night and work up starving! Nothing California Burrito Express couldn’t resolve.

Saturday I woke up feeling exhausted. My original plan had been to hit up a morning Hatha 1 class before I headed off to a very special 2-year old’s birthday party, but I just couldn’t move off the couch or say goodbye to my cup of coffee. I decided to double up my yoga on Sunday and take a second rest day.

Willow Tree Cafe

After the birthday party, Donnie and I drove over to historic Sanford and hit up Willow Tree Cafe. Since we had a few snacks at the party, we each got a beer and split some sausage sliders and potato pancakes. We asked if they could serve the sliders in gluten free bread (for Donnie’s sake) and they were happy to oblige. I’m sad I didn’t get a pic before we dug in… each sausage was served in a mini loaf of gluten-free bread! It was pretty funny looking.

The gluten-free bread was okay, but it didn’t taste as good as the bread they served at the start of our meal, so I popped my sliders into the table bread. I heart gluten.

Willow Tree’s bread is made fresh

The potato pancakes were yummy. I topped mine with both sour cream and apple sauce:

Yum.

It was a much needed rest day and I took it with pleasure.

Day 14: Hatha 1

Sunday I woke up feeling ready for some yoga. My first class was at 11:30. I was running on Puerto Rican time since I’ve gotten some stuff done in the morning, but got there two minutes early. Carolina from Peas in a Blog was there so we caught up briefly.

What I love about taking so many different classes is that the instructors all have a different way to explain a  pose. It allows me the opportunity to take in all that information when I set up a pose. Our instructor that day has such a great way of explaining each pose, and it’s usually her voice I hear in my head when I get in position.

We seemed to have more core work than usual, which was torture awesome. That’s definitely a trouble spot for me, and a strong core is important for good running form so I tried not to curse in my head too much.

After class I headed home for lunch and to rest for a couple of hours.

Day 15: Yoga Basics

I arrived 10 minutes early for my 4 PM Yoga Basics class. I took those 10 minutes to do my ankle exercises. After the marathon I developed some tendonitis in my right foot and it seems the yoga has been exasperating it. No stranger to tendonitis in my feet, I started to do my exercises as soon as I noticed it getting worse.

The class surprisingly went by quickly. I had imagined that it would drag on because I was doubling up. The class was taught by one of my favorite instructors (the same from earlier that day) and since it was a beginner’s class I focused on really breathing and getting good form in my positions.

After class I headed off to Whole Paycheck Foods to do some grocery shopping for the week. Fresh shrimp and coconut oil were both on sale, so I snapped them up. I’ll tell you about the delicious dinner I made with them later.

I also picked up this little reward:

My favorite things: peanuts and milk chocolate

I’ve had a sweet tooth lately and we have nothing in the house to appease it. I bought this bar and told myself I can only have two squares a day as dessert from dinner. I did good yesterday and only had two squares.

I’m off to start what will undoubtedly be another crazy week. I’m going to focus on trying to get enough sleep every night and drinking lots of water and eating clean. And coffee… but I will try not to increase my intake.

How do you get through busy weeks?

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Wednesday

16 May

The highlights of my Wednesday:

  1. Woke up at 6 AM so I could give myself a pedi and shave my legs. Which I had to do before I…
  2. Went to Doc for an 8 AM appointment to check out my leg. Glad I completed said pedi and shave. It seemed like everybody and their mother (Doc, Nurse, X-Ray tech) touched my smooth legs and had their faces near my nicely polished feet.
  3. Received bad news: I can’t bend my right leg because my IT band is tight and overworked. Apparently it thinks I’m the bitch and is refusing to work with me.
  4. Received good news: This confirms that it is just my IT band, I didn’t tear anything and that I will one day be able to run again.
  5. Had a slice of lasagna pizza for lunch. Not to celebrate. Just because this is an every Wednesday occurrence for me and my co-workers. It’s the pizza of the day every Wednesday at Pizzeria Valdiano in Winter Park Village. If you’re ever in the area on a Wednesday, I strongly suggest you stop in for a slice of sausage, sauce and ricotta cheese deliciousness! Trust me on this one.

My half eaten slice of lasagna pizza from Pizzeria Valdiano

I’m off to stretch every single muscle in my legs and show that IT band of mine just how bitchy I can be. 🙂

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Pick-Hey-Up-From-Failed-Run Day

7 Apr

This AM was scheduled to be my 20-miler. I woke up feeling good. I twisted my hair up, brushed my teeth, dressed and was out the door, eating overnight oats as I drove to meet up with my group.

The run started off good. I was optimistic and looking forward to freeing up my weekend from this wicked run. I was laughing and practicing my “weeeeeeeeeeeeeee…. weweweeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” for Flying Pig Marathon.

Then a couple of miles in I became distracted. I had to use the restroom and it now became the focus of all of my attention. This is what I get for recently bragging about my lack of bathroom issues during runs.

Finally around mile four we ran by a 7-Eleven that could fulfill my needs. Sure beats a port-o-potty.

Back on the road I was happy that I could finally relax and enjoy the run. This feeling was short-lasted. Around mile seven I started to feel a familiar twinge to the side of my right knee. I was running with my IT strap on my left leg, because that’s where I’ve been having the problems, and contemplated whether I should switch legs with the strap. The problem is, I know that once the pain starts, it’s not going to go away. The point of the strap is to keep that agitation from starting in the first place. I left in on my left leg. The last thing I wanted was for both of my knees to hurt.

Around mile 10 I moved it over in vain.

A little less than 12 miles into the run, we were minutes away from a water stop when I felt a sharp pain run up my right leg. Expletives flew out of my mouth and I started to run with a visible limp. The dull pain had become sharp and unbearable.

My group was awesome. Immediately they started to tell me that I should stop running and spend the week rolling my leg and icing it and try again next weekend… It wasn’t worth making the injury worse today, especially with plenty of time before the marathon. They are wise women, and I decided to heed their advice. I called it a run at 12.23 miles. I called Donnie and asked him to come pick me up.

Here were my stats (I didn’t stop my watch for any breaks, including 7-Eleven):

  • Distance: 12.23 miles
  • Time: 02:58:19
  • Avg Pace: 14:34/mile

He came to get me with the dogs in tow. It was genius on his part. C’mon… It’s hard to stay disappointed in yourself with a pug trying to lick your face.

We decided to grab breakfast with the dogs at the Briarpatch on Park Ave. The pugs were pretty excited to be dining al fresco on such a beautiful morning:

Rex trying to make new friends on Park Ave.

The conversation went something like this:

Donnie: (to the dogs) You don’t get to come to Park Ave. every day. This is a special occasion.

Me: What’s the special occasion?

Donnie: Oh, it’s Pick-Hey-Up-From-Failed-Run Day.

Sometimes you have to know when to say when. And it doesn’t hurt to reward your smart, yet disheartening, decision with a delicious breakfast afterwards. I had the truffle fried eggs, over medium. The eggs were served over vegetables: peppers, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and fresh basil. It was delicious! Briarpatch really never disappoints.

Truffle fried eggs at the Briarpatch.

Next week is a scheduled mock half marathon with Marathonfest. I’m going to have to wake up early and run seven miles prior to it. To be honest, I’m not particularly excited about spending another week thinking about running 20 miles.

Have you had a run recently not go according to plan? How did you improvise?

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Twelve and Long

26 Feb

Yesterday’s training run for the Flying Pig Marathon was supposed to be an 18-miler. However, one of my running mates had prior engagements so we swapped out our long run this week for next week and only did 12 miles this week. I was totally onboard with this decision since I’m still feeling a little wiped out from last week’s double hill run.

I met my group at 5:30 am for a quick two miles, before we swung back around to get the rest of the ladies for 10 more miles. I thought I started my watch for the first two, but I didn’t (one of the hazards of running before coffee) so I only have stats for the final 10 miles. Here they are:

  • Distance: 10 miles
  • Time: 02:11:14
  • Avg Pace: 13:07/mile

Afterwards I came home, did my slacker minimalist strength training and then Donnie and I headed out to enjoy a delicious breakfast from Brian’s Restuarant in Ivanhoe Village. I had my usual one egg, bacon and cheese sandwich on an everything bagel:

It was delicious, as always.

Only ten weeks until the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, OH!

Do you have any recommendations on where to visit while in Cinci? 

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What Day is Today?

21 Feb

Since I had off from work yesterday in honor of President’s Day, I will likely spend the remainder of today thinking it’s Monday.

My alarm went off this morning at 4:15 sharp, and I begrudgingly rolled out of bed. There were only two reasons I was going to run this morning:

  1. I did not want a repeat of last week’s episode where I accidentally left one of my running partners stranded to run by herself.
  2. The tiramisu I ate yesterday.

It was either said tiramisu or the two days of running hills back to back this weekend that made it feel like I was running on tree trunks this morning. Regardless of the cause, this morning’s six miler was run slooooowly and carefully (we run on brick roads). Here are our stats from the run:

  • Distance: 5.99 miles
  • Time: 1:16:04
  • Avg Pace: 12:42/mile
  • 5:1 intervals

Afterwards I came home and did my slacker minimalist strength workout. My goal previously had been to do the workout twice a week, which I’ve done successfully the last two weeks. For these next two weeks my goal is to do the workout three times a week. After that I’ll switch up the plan.

I’ll leave you with photos of my Monday Funday meal yesterday, so you too can see why I dragged myself out of bed this morning.

Donnie and I spent our Monday afternoon in Winter Park. First, we had lunch at Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine on Park Avenue. I had the  Doner Kebap served over a bed of jasmine rice with pickled beets, onions and carrots. It was incredible. And it was enough for two, so I shall be enjoying my leftovers for lunch today. Donnie ordered the Lamb Sis Kebab, also served over jasmine rice with pickeled beets, onions and carrots. His was also incredible. But he ate it all in one sitting, so no leftovers for him!

Here’s a pic of my plate:

Afterwards we walked down to Sweet Traditions French Bakery & Cafe (also on Park Ave.) and enjoyed a nice afternoon caffeine fix and sugar rush. Donnie had some espresso, while I opted for a latte with cinnamon sprinkled on top and we split a slice of tiramisu. They make it with angel food cake instead of lady fingers, but I didn’t mind the swap… it was delicious:

Afterwards we did a little window shopping in a lame attempt to walk off our lunch. Needless to say, we had salad for dinner. 🙂

Do you ever run because of tiramisu (or similarly delicious desserts)?

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Forgetting Fourteen

6 Feb

This weekend was one full of celebrations (Donnie’s birthday, Super Bowl, it being such a beautiful weekend, etc… ), but before I could start celebrating, I had to run fourteen miles.

First, we did a four-mile route: two out and two back. My times are slightly off because I didn’t stop my watch immediately after the route.

  • Distance: 4.12 miles
  • Time: 58:11.24
  • Pace: 14:07/mile

We picked up the late starters and ran our (almost) 10-mile route.

  • Distance: 9.91 miles
  • Time: 2:16.53
  • Pace: 13:48/mile

My long runs are with intervals (run five, walk one). For a good while we managed to maintain an average pace of 11:22 miles during the runs, which is faster then we’ve been running.

I’m not sure if it was our pushing the pace, or a combo of the running hills Thursday then the pace and longer distance on Saturday, but I was super sore several hours later. I think it would’ve been a good day for an ice bath, but I typically don’t need one for anything less than 16 miles so the thought hadn’t even occurred to me. I guess my body forgot what running fourteen miles was like.

Saturday night we celebrated Donnie’s birthday with the most yummy dinner at KRES Chophouse and sans ice bath I found it uncomfortable to sit still for so long, especially in a dress. I must’ve looked odd constantly shifting my body to try to get comfy. But the white chocolate bread pudding at the end made me forget all my pains. Ha! Everything we had was incredible: Steak Tartare, Filet Mignon served Oscar style (topped with asparagus, crab cakes and béarnaise sauce), Mushroom Risotto and of course, that bread pudding! And as always, the service was amazing.

Sunday was spent with friends laughing, eating, drinking and playing bocci ball, and watching football. For dessert I served a dessert inspired from one we had at Jam Rum Bar & Bistro in Puerto Rico last year: coconut ice cream topped with mango, blue berries and strawberries and served with cinnamon pita chips. When we went to the store earlier that day we couldn’t find coconut ice cream so I bought some Blue Bell Vanilla Bean ice cream, let it melt a bit, then mixed it with coconut cream in the blender and put it back in the freezer to harden again. It was delish!

What did you do this weekend? 

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A 10-Mile Run and a Boat Tour Kinda Day

23 Jan

Saturday marked the official start of Marathonfest Spring Training. It only being two weeks since my marathon, I was unsure of how Saturday’s 10-miler would go. Lucky for me it was a great run:

  • Body parts felt good: check
  • Easy breathing: check
  • Maintained pace: check
  • Completed 10 miles: umm… does almost count?

Technically we ran 9.86 miles or something like that. However, I didn’t feel like running up and down the street just to hit that 10-mile mark (though I have done this plenty in the past) so I counted it as a run complete and called it a day. Don’t ask me how long it took because I didn’t charge my Garmin so I ran with a naked wrist. Hmm… I wonder if that’s why the 10 miles went so quickly…

Afterwards I skipped our group’s usual breakfast outing to rush home and shower and prep for the day. D and I had talked about taking a day trip and I had to get home to get ready.

In the end we dilly-dallied until noonish, making it too late to head to St. Augustine or St. Pete, so instead we decided to do some sight-seeing in our own town.

Since my Saturday runs having us winding through the streets of Winter Park, I’ve noticed canals that I never knew existed. My running group seemed surprised to find out I’d never taken the Scenic Boat Tour in Winter Park and suggested I go on it. Since Saturday was a gorgeous day, this is exactly what we decided to do.

The dock for the tour is only a couple of blocks from Park Avenue. Tickets were $12 per adult and the tour was approximately one hour. The boat captain also doubles up as your tour guide, serving up cheesy jokes and a plethora of Winter Park history bits for your enjoyment. On several occasions we commented on how we felt like we were on the Jungle Cruise Disney ride.

When we got on our half-filled boat, we were surprised to find that no one had taken the front seats. I can see how the front seats would be bad during muggy or hot weather because of the bugs, but with weather like Saturday’s I jumped on the chance to sit up front. Because of our front-row seats we got lots of great pics and video.

My favorite part of the tour were the canals. I’ve only first noticed the canals this past year during our long runs, and riding through them made me feel like we were somewhere else in the world.

I took two videos in the canals. If you listen closely you can hear our tour guide.

Afterwards we walked over to Park Avenue and tried out a new restaurant that I’ve been wanting to try: Prato.

It was around 3:30 pm when we stopped in. Their kitchen closes down from three to five, so you can only order pizza between lunch and dinner. That’s okay, we had the most delicious pizza: the Widow Maker.

Last year after reading about adding an egg to my frozen pizza on a blog, I decided to try it for myself (I blogged about it here) and have been enjoying it ever since. Well, this pizza kicked my frozen pizza’s butt! With toscano, fennel sausage, kale, farm egg, romesco and a perfect crust, I would have to say this is the best pizza I’ve had in a while. I also discovered my new favorite stout: Southern Tier Mokah. The stout has an amazing chocolate aroma, and the mocha taste is amazingly smooth. If you love stouts and mocha, I suggest strongly suggest this!

Next week is a 12-mile run. I sure do hope it’s as fun.

Do you have any suggestions on hidden gems to visit in Central Florida? 

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