What's In My Shopping Cart

Hi everybody!

I hope you had a wonderful, relaxing, and rejuvenating weekend!

I was active, but rather passive.  I did a little lifting at home in these bad boys, logged a few hours of yoga, and went on a short run.

I've decided I really need to up my weight-training --especially my legs.  I've been having some knee issues lately.  My hope is that strengthening those muscles, in conjunction with the knee strap I bought, will help alleviate the nagging pain.

I am really disappointed in myself that I slacked off so much in the lifting department during marathon training.  I'm pretty sure if I had kept up my lifting routine I would not be in this situation.  I was too worried about keeping my legs fresh for long runs, and not concerned enough with warding off injury.  Lesson learned.  But so far, this seems to be doing the trick!

I also made a trip to the grocery store.  I love going to the grocery store.  I could browse for hours and hours, looking at labels, making faces at the ingredients list, rejoicing when I find something new and (hopefully) delicious.  Just talking about it makes me want to go back for more!

So what did I get?  Let's take a peek:

• Cantaloupe
• Organic Spinach, Arugula, and Radicchio Blend
• Pineapple
• A BAG(!!!) of Chopped Kale (Baked Kale Chips anyone?!)
• Baby Carrots
• Bananas
• Grape Tomatoes
• Red Bell Pepper
• 2 Loaves of Wegman's Baked-In-House Bread (Multigrain and Marathon Bread)
• Mango
• Mushrooms
• Avocado
• Broccoli
• Sweet Potatoes
• Organic Strawberries
• Blueberries

• Kashi GoLean Cereal
• Organic Turbinado Sugar
• Crofter's Organic Strawberry Fruit Spread
• Sunbutter
• Chobani Greek Yogurt
• Organic Unrefined Virgin Coconut Oil
• So Delicious Coconut Milk
• Goat Cheese Crumbles
• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• Humbles Baked Hummus Chips
• Newman's Own Organic Spelt Pretzles
• Tempeh Bacon
• Newman's Own Organic Cinnamon Hermit Cookies
• VitaCoco Coconut Water (Pure and Acai and Pomegranate)
• Bob's Red Mill Organic Chia Seeds

I may die of happiness.

Humbles was a new find.  How could you pass up baked hummus chips?! Olive Oil, Lemon and Feta Flavored.  They are delicious, and may or may not be gone already. ;)

These cookies are my absolute favorite.  If you haven't tried them yet, do yourself a favor and go buy some. They are a little pricey, but you can't beat the soft, chewy texture, real ingredients, and most importantly, they contain no trans fat.

BLTs are DEFINITELY in my future.

If you ever hang out with me you will soon discover I will do anything for a little goat cheese.  That includes paying a million extra dollars at a restaurant to substitute boring cheese for creamy, heaven-sent, delicious goat cheese.  Oh, how I love you, dear goat cheese.

Ever since my friend Katie did a presentation on the benefits of Coconut in one of our classes, I have been on a mission to try everything coconut.  I LOVE coconut water.  SO great for re-hydrating after a sweaty workout due to it's natural electrolytes.  You know I am a fan of coconut milk from my post on Coffee Creamers.  I haven't used the coconut oil yet, but I think it will be great substitute in baked goods and a welcome change for the traditional olive oil during the summer months coming up!  I'll let you know how it goes. :)

If I was stranded on a desert island, the three things I would bring with me are Sunbutter, Crofter's Strawberry Fruit Spread and Chobani Yogurt.  They are just that good.

Full refrigerator = Happy Stephanie.

Have a great week!

Marathon Mania

It would be a crying shame if I didn't share with you all of the wonderful photos I took while in Cincinnati.  Plus, I think it would be a blogging sin if I didn't do a race recap! So here we go!

I flew in to Cincinatti on Friday and met up with my family who came all the way from Washington State! They're the best!  We got stuck in major traffic headed to our hotel, and when we finally arrived we discovered the local news was on site!

View from our hotel room.

My dear ole' (and slightly nosey) dad, went down and talked to the reporter to find out what was going on, and when he would be on tv.

Look! There he is! We see you!

Apparently, there was a hit and run which was followed by a police chase.  Then somehow the bad guy (Don't you like my third grade vocabulary? ;) ) stole a van too, which had a little kid in the back seat.  Pretty great introduction to the city of Cincinnati, eh?

Later that evening we headed out for dinner and drinks.

Aren't my parents cute!

The next morning we hit the Expo up bright and early! It was held at Duke Energy Center.

Everything was Pig themed!

There was information on the pacers, the route and what to expect at each mile.

I especially loved this...

It's a video of the course sped up.  It also shows the elevation at each mile.

We had fun at some of the different vendors. :)

We got free posters! Mountains and mountains of posters. This picture doesn't do it justice.

I came back with lots of free swag!

Free backpacks!! AWESOME! And probably the best race tee I've received to date.

 

These weren't free. I had really been needing new running head bands. Mine were all stretched out. My mom picked up some Sweaty Bands for me and I absolutely love them! They are backed with velvet so they don't move at all. I may have to order a few more!

After the Expo, we decided to go check out the starting line and drive the course.

It was a beautiful day!

Look at the line up of port-o-potties!! Honey buckets as far as the eye can see! They were well prepared for the 30,000 participants!

 We followed the Official Marathon Course signs.

We passed  a wedding party! And got a glimpse of the bride!

Little flying pigs!

Cincinnati has some interesting architecture!

Then we headed back downtown for some lunch.  We checked out a brewery called Rock Bottom Grill.

It was great! I had a veggie pizza without the cheese (I try and avoid dairy before races).

Spinach, tomatoes, onions, and zucchini topped with balsamic vinegar.  Deee-lish!

We took a stroll through a downtown park.  Then it was back to the suburbs to pick up gatorade, coconut water, pretzels and a cooler in preparation for race day.  I had a waffle for dinner, and then it was to bed early for this little runner for a 4:15am wake-up call.

I had my usual oatmeal, cup of coffee, and liter of water for breakfast, pinned on my number, then headed downtown.

Very wet morning, but the show must go on!

3 hours 54 minutes and 27 seconds later I crossed the Finish Swine! Woohoo!

They had apples and pears from my hometown after the race! A treat all the way from Washington State!

After resting and cleaning up, we backtracked along the marathon course in search of an authentic, non-chain Cincinnati restaurant.  I was craving burgers like mad!  We ended up in Hyde Park at a spot called Arthur's.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

An awesome, random find!  And a perfect way to end an amazing race weekend!

I don't know about you, but I am itching to do another!

Any suggestions on where I should run my next marathon?!