LOVE YOURSELF!!!!

I saw this quote in healthytippingpoint’s blog post last night:

“You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy.” (Anonymous)

I love quotes…I even have a whole page devoted to the quotes that I find/love! haha…anyway I thought this one was particularly interesting.  It strikes home the message of how important it is to be comfortable in your own skin, to be confident in the person that you are, and most importantly- to not let the people around you change the REAL YOU.

A lot of times people doubt themselves…”I am not good enough”, “I am not as pretty as ____”,  “I am not smart enough”, “I will never be able to ____”, the list can goes on and on.  I think sometimes we ALL need to take a step back and realize how awesome we are.  If you love yourself – your whole entire self- and are confident in who you are– that is all the matters.  You will have a presence that not only no one can take away from you- but also a presence that will be noticed by all.  so today, my friends…LOVE YOURSELF!!!  pretty simple, right?  okay…off to yoga class…have a good day!

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Roasted Chicken & Vegetable Quinoa

before I get to the topic of today’s post— check out this picture that my friend Katye found on the Boston Marathon website:

too funny.  what is even better is the fact that these guys probably did pretty well (check out the guy behind them- looks pretty in shape to me! hahah).  I remember in the Philadelphia marathon there was this guy running in a leotard and tutu (wait a minute…I think I have a photo of him….yes…I DO!)

although this guy may look like a joke- he was pretty speedy!!!  so I wouldnt be surprised if those solo cup guys did pretty decent in Boston

Last night I tried a recipe from Iowa Girl for roasted chicken and veggie quinoa. when I was making the dinner my roommate, Kaitlyn, asked me what quinoa was.  I guess I never realized that the majority of  people have never ever heard of it before…so here is a little run down for you:

Quinoa is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked.  A recently rediscovered ancient “grain” native to South America, quinoa was once called “the gold of the Incas,” who recognized its value in increasing the stamina of their warriors. Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids.Quinoa is also a very good source of manganese as well as a good source of magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus.

you can read more about quinoa and its health benefits at WHFoods (below is a picture of what quinoa looks like)…

Serves 5-6.

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken tenders (or 2 large chicken breasts)

1 head broccoli, chopped

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and chopped into thirds

salt & pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

sesame oil

2 1/4 cups chicken broth, divided

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 handfuls spinach

chopped sundried tomatoes (optional)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Season chicken tenders, broccoli and asparagus with S&P, garlic powder, onion powder and sesame oil. Roast chicken on non-stick sprayed pan for 15 minutes, and the broccoli & asparagus on a non-stick sprayed pan for 10 minutes. Let chicken cool, shred with two forks and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, bring 2 cups chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan, add quinoa and simmer, covered, on low for 12-15 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed. Let stand off the heat for 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

3. Heat 1 Tablespoon EVOO in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic slices and sauté until golden brown (do not burn!). Add spinach, season with S&P and allow to wilt.

4. Add chicken, vegetables, sundried tomatoes, 1/4 cup chicken broth and 1 teaspoon EVOO into the skillet with the garlic and spinach, and mix. Serve over quinoa and top with parmesan cheese.

ehh not the best photos but I do what I can haha…you cant really see the quinoa in there (although in the bottom photo you can sorta see it!)-  but it is in there! This meal was really really good! and filling too. Cooking the quinoa in chicken broth really gave it a great flavor.  This was also the first time I used Sesame oil… I like! Definitely give this one a try…

Have a good day!!!

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“running down a dream” 2010 Boston Marathon

(sidenote…the title of this blog post is a song by Tom Petty- I have the youtube clip of it at the bottom of this post!) As many of you know today is the famous Marathon Monday (aka the Boston Marathon).  It is always hosted on the third monday in April (Patriot’s day).  It is a HUGE event in boston…everyone even has off of work/school. awesome, eh? Boston is a prestigious race… it is a very tough/hilly course (some people say to add a good 10 minutes- or so- of time to your usual marathon time and that is the time you will get for boston…not sure how true that is) and you have to qualify in order to run it.   My sister, Mary qualified for Boston in her first marathon (2008 Philly Marathon: 3:33:43).  You have two years to run boston after qualifying and she chose to run it this year!  Below are the qualifying times for each age/gender.

Today, Mary finished in at time of 3:37.22 with an average pace of 8:18…here is the breakdown of her race:

She absolutely rocked it.  I woke up to a text from her telling me she woke up with a cold, sore throat, and a stiff neck…just PERFECT. haha  I knew she would brush it off as soon as she started running but I am sure it didn’t help her morale.  I was so nervous/excited for her…I could only imagine how she felt!

I could not be more proud of her! I would have given anything to be there watching her cross the finish line today….I was sitting in my bioethics/physics classes today trying to calculate approximately what time she would be at the next marker so I could click refresh on my page to see how she was doing…yeah I really  paid alot of attention in class today (told you I should have been allowed to go to boston, mom! haha).

Mary had such a consistent race; her splits stayed (relatively) constant for the entire race.  When I saw that she had finished the race in such an awesome time I choked up and smiled from ear to ear.  (kind of corny now that I think about it- wonder what people thought of me? hahaha)  I look up to Mary in every aspect of life; She is such a great role model for me; and not just in athletics. She is truly the person that I strive to emulate; she is a fun/caring/athletic/studious/kind/confident person and I love her so much…and you know what the best part of all is?

I qualified for Boston in this year’s Philly marathon (time: 3:39) and that means we are running Boston TOGETHER next year!!!! I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It seriously will be the time of my life- and even more so because I get to run it with my sister 😉

and the winners:

The winner: Robert Cheruiyot Time: 2:05:52 (4:48 pace!)

female winner (Teyba Erkesso) 2:26:11

Hope your weeks are all off to a great start!!!!  Adios.

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Grilled banana sandwich!

Good morning!  hope you are all having a nice start to the weekend!!  I went for a short/easy run this morning- it was nice to just be outside and enjoy the scenery 🙂  after the run, I started up on breakfast…I have been wanting to try HealthTippingPoint’s Grilled Banana Sandwich for quite some time now and today I finally got around to trying it!

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of whole wheat bread
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• Cinnamon
• 1 sliced banana
• Powdered sugar

Directions:

• Grease and heat frying pan.
• Make basic French bread by dredging the toast in eggs and placing on grilled.
• On eggy side of toast, sprinkle the brown sugar.
• Meanwhile, slice the banana and place on griddle to cook.
• When first side of toast is done cooking, flip the brown sugar side down.
• On the cooked side of the toast, sprinkle cinnamon.
• Once toast has finished cooking, remove from heat and put bananas in between slices (on the cinnamon side).
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!

this was so so good!  the bananas were nice and sweet and soft and the  brown sugar sort of caramelized on the toast….yummmooooo. definitely give this one a try!

I also have a new spinning playlist to share with you!! I got some of these songs ideas from Ashley’s cherry blosson playlist

in other news…my sister is running her first ever boston marathon!!!!!! I am so excited/nervous for her!!!  the race is on monday at 10 AM….ill be stuck in class while she is running the marathon 😦 I wish I could have gone but my parents wouldnt let me! haha…I will be running boston next spring (it was full by the time I had qualified for it this year!) so i hope mary requalifies so we can run it together….no pressure or anything, mary! hahaha

good luck to all of you who are running boston on monday as well 😉

well… I am gonna go shower now- there is a lacrosse game today at noon (loyola vs. georgetown)….have a great weekend!!

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and the winner is…

hey everyone!  this weekend was a long one.  but it was so much fun!!! beautiful weather, too.  On saturday my mom and two sisters (mary and danielle) came down to baltimore for the day.  We walked around the stores and stopped at Ryleigh’s Oyster Bar in Fed Hill for some lunch (Ashley suggested it!).  It is actually located right next to the bar we go to sometimes on thursdays…never even realized it haha Anyway… the food was great! I got a Spring Veggie Sandwich which was AWESOMEEEE:  It included… Cucumbers,edamame humus, black olives, roasted red peppers, red onions, goat cheese (my favoriteeee), lettuce & tomatoes… the bread was great, too.  I subbed the chips for some Hand Cut Fries….good choice if I do say so myself

My momma got a cheese burger….

We also shared a grilled seafood salad:  grilled hawaiian blue prawns, calamari, jumbo lump crab meat, jalapeno vinaigreet, grillyed cherry tomatoes… but I forgot to snap a picture before we devoured it…woops!  Here is a picture of my sisters and I outside of Ryleigh’s (from left to right…Mary, Danielle and myself)

Next up was some Pitango Gelato in fells point!

There was also a pirates festival going on downtown— it was crazy! I dont think I have ever seen that many pirated located in such a small area in my life haha…

After my mom dropped me off at home I went to the Orioles Game (versus toronto blue jays) with my best friend Lauren, her boyfriend Matt, and Matt’s friend brian.

Matt really enjoyed his pulled pork sandwich…

hahah love it….and after thatttt my roommates/friends and I went out- it was our friend Kyle’s 21st birthday!  It was alot of fun.

anyway— onto the winner of my giveaway!!! FALLON!

Fallon– email me your address and I will have the vitatops sent to you…congrats!

Hope you are all having a great day… GO FLYERS!

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new spinning playlist!

Total Workout Time: 1.1 hours (not including track 16)

What are your weekend plans?…… I am staying in tonight to study for bio with my friend Lauren…we are nerds!!! hahah we are going to grab something to eat and then head over to the  Johns Hopkins library to study (since it is open for 24 hours….I’m sure we will be one of the only ones in there haha)…On saturday my mom is coming to visit for the day…I am so excited!  We are going to get lunch,shop,walk around etc.   At night I am going to the Orioles game (versus the blue jays) with Lauren,her boyfriend and his friends and then we will go out from there…

I hope you all have a nice weekend! 😉

p.s. Do not forget to enter in my giveaway!!  (it ends on sunday)

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Vitalicious Giveaway!

Hey hey!  So I am sure most of you out there know what vitatops are…but if not…let me fill you in:

With no preservatives or artificial ingredients of any kind, Deep Chocolate VitaTops provide all the flavor of freshly baked muffins without all of the sugar and fat. Only 100 calories, VitaTops contain 6g of fiber; 3g of protein; 8g of whole grains; and only 1.5g of unsaturated fat per 2 oz serving. And they are addictingly good.  Nothing can start the day off WORSE than a huge, fat-laden muffin with your morning cup of coffee. Cutting the fat and calories while packing in the flavor, Vitalicious Deep Chocolate VitaTops — convenient, healthy and delicious 100-calorie muffin tops — are a healthy way to indulge.

Deep Chocolate is just one of the many flavors vitalicious offers (but I must say it is one of my favorite flavors…especially heated up with some peanut butter on top ;)) Deep Chocolate VitaTops (12-pack) are now available at Costco in the Midwest!They are on sale now but will be gone in 4 to 6 weeks!

Katie (from Crierpr) has generously agreed to offer a giveaway for 12 Deep Chocolate VitaTops to one of you guys!!

To enter…leave a comment telling me…

(a) your favorite dessert

(b) your favorite NHL team…or if you dont dabble much in hockey…tell me your favorite sports team.

I will randomly chose a winner on Sunday…good luck!

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mixing up your runs…

I have never really did any formal training with running….well I did follow the Hal Hidgon Marathon Training Plan but I have never seriously trained very much with hill workouts, intervals, tempo runs, fartleks,etc.  My sister is running in the Boston Marathon in a couple of weeks (AH!) and is using Hal Higdon’s boston bound plan.  I think she will be doing a post about her new philosophy she has developed towards running….and so I wont go too much into all of it but basically she made me realize that you should not KILL yourself on every run.   Throughout the week- my sister will run EASY one day, follow it with a fast hill workout/yasso repeats, followed by an EASY day, a Tempo run day, a rest day, a pace training day, and a slow long run day (emphasis on SLOWWWW).  all of this adds up to SPEED on raceday and NOT getting burnt out. For instance, I came on her 8 miler recovery run (from her 20 mile long run ) the other day….we went very slow and it was sooo enjoyable to be able to truly take in the scences surrounding you.

So what is my point? My point is that my sister and her marathon training plan have allowed me to view my “training” from a whole new perspective.  and it has made me want to incorporate different types of runs into my workouts.  I think I have avoided doing different types of runs for fear or injurying myself…but I think that if you find that perfect balance of rest with work and  realize that you dont have to go “all out” in every workout…then you will find yourself much happier, much faster, and performing much better on race day.  When I trained for the marathon back in the fall I used to beat myself up if I didnt hit certain splits (that were way to fast for a long run anway)- and sometimes would get burnt out because I didnt let myself truly enjoy the run….anyway…below I have a list of different types of training runs that I will be incorporating into my future workouts:

1. Fartleks: running at an easy pace with bursts of speed of varying distances throughout the run.  speeds of the farleks should vary as well as times (anywhere for 15 seconds-3 minutes).  Fartleks are more of an informal type of training…many people will chose landmarks to run to.  The benefits of fartleks are training your body to run anaerobically, preparing your legs to feel/absorb a variety of paces.
2. Tempo Runs: A tempo run consists of an easy warm up jog, followed by a 3-6 mile run at about your 10k pace.   This 10k pace is basically a pace that you doesnt allow you to carry on a conversation with someone next to you.  After the tempo run, make sure to include a cooldown jog.  Tempo runs increase your body’s lactate threshold, or “LT.” The LT is the point at which lactic acid begins to accumulate in muscles. If a runner increases his or her LT through tempo runs, they will be able to reduce the accumulation of lactic acid and run at higher speeds without suffering muscle fatigue.
3. Intervals: Interval training is defined as a series of repetitions of work with a recovery period following each repetition.  The duration of each run in an interval session is typically 15 – 90 seconds or 100 – 600 meters. The recovery ratio should be between 1:1 and 2:1, run to recovery. Interval training should be done faster than race pace. The intention of these workouts is to produce lactic acid by forcing one to run the last portion of each repetition anaerobically.
4. Hill repeats:Hill repeats are an excellent way for runners to build strength, improve their speed, and build their mental strength and confidence in hill running. Although hills come in all different lengths and degrees of incline, the basic concept of a hill repeat is usually the same. You run up the hill fast and then recover by jogging or walking down. When you reach the top of your hill, your breathing should be labored and your legs should feel heavy.
5. Recovery runs: Recovery runs are the most important part of your training regimen. The body needs a break from the intense training a distance runner puts it through. The hard workouts provide the stimulus to help you improve. The recovery runs are when you will see those training benefits. Running fast everyday will lead to overtraining, and may cause unwanted injuries.  You should be able to EASILY carry out a conversation with someone.

The next question is…how fast should we be running all of this stuff at? Well my sister also showed me the McMillan Running Calculator– you type in your time of a specific race you did (whether it be a 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon…etc.) and it will give you estimates of the pace you should be running your various workouts at…  for instance….I ran a 3:39.12 marathon…so with that information…the McMillan running calculator gave me the following information:

**click on the images if you cannot read them well

Q1: What type of running workouts are your favorite?  Are they any that you do that I did not include in the list above?

Q2: How do you approach your “long run” days?

Christina

p.s. HAPPY EASTER!!!!  have a wonderful day with your family!

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LIVESTRONG.

Remember these guys?  I still wear this bracelet everyday of my life…as I am sure many of you out there still do.  I always wonder if I will ever take it off for good. hmmm..interesting food for thought? haha  but anyway…..I love how such a simple statement…”livestrong” can have so many different meanings for so many different people.  Each of us has our own “story“…a reason for being the person we are… a reason for living the type of life we chose to live.

The reason I wear my Livestrong everyday is multi-fold.  “Livestrong” reminds me to live everyday to its fullest…it reminds me to be the best person that I can possibly be….to take risks…take chances…push myself to the edge, do things I never thought possible, live in the present, be kind to everyone,etc.

But…as of recently…my livestrong bracelet has developed an even deeper meaning to me.  It is a representation of my grandmom, who passed away this fall. I will never ever forget the last day I saw my grandmom.  I came home for my fall break and my mom took me to the hospice to see her.  My mom told me that my grandmom was not doing well and not to be surprised when I saw her.  But no matter how much I prepared myself- I was not ready to see what I was faced with when I walked into her room.  There was my grandmom in bed, unable to even open her eyes.  I remember feeling as though my heart sank straight to the floor when I first saw her.  I sat there, with a lump in my throat, holding in all of my emotions, acting like everything was okay.  I joked with my mom, laughed, smiled etc.  But every time my mom looked away from me I brushed tears away from my eyes.

My mom whispered into my grandmom’s ears…telling her that she loved her and that I was there to see her .  She wet my grandmom’s lips and kept her comfortable.  my grandmom could hear us, she knew we were there…she heard every word we said…she just couldnt respond.  my mom then turned to me and asked if I wanted to say something to my grandmom’s ear….  and for the first time (ever?)  I became completely vulnerable and let my true feelings show…I let out all of the tears I had been holding back for months and started to sob in my mom’s arms.  I wasnt able to whisper anything into my grandmom’s ears.  Sometimes I look back at that day and regret that I couldnt pull myself together enough to tell her how much I loved her.  But I know she heard me in that room…she heard me tell my mom how much I loved her.

I hated seeing my grandmom like that. That wasnt my grandmom.  My grandmom was hands down the strongest person I knew.  and there she was in bed unable to even open her eyes to look at her own granddaughter.  When I went home later that night I thought about what had happened that day.  My grandmom fought cancer not once, but twice.  When my mother was younger, my grandmom had cancer and was told she had almost no chance of living.  but my grandmom beat the cancer. she went on to live a long, healthy, and active life.  She was the policeman (or woman), the one teaching water aerobics to all the old ladies at the pool, dancing around at our family parties,  organizing cruises, trips to europe, trips to nyc…you name it.  Heck, she was more active than me! haha.  When she got cancer for the second time when she was older (bladder cancer) she was able to fight it for 5 whole years.  She maintained her peppy, active self right until the very end.   She never once had a bad attitude…she truly lived her life to the fullest each and every day.  that is a fact.

I miss her so so much.  This summer will not be the same without her.  My sister and I always had dinner with her down the shore…whether we went out, cooked at our house, or cooked at her house.  I looked forward to those nights with my grandmom all of the time….and this summer all of that will be gone.  I still cry from time to time when I think about how much I miss her….but it no longer tears of sadnesss…it’s more like tears of happiness/remembrance; I realize how much of an impact that she has made upon me.  I will forever carry her active spirit/spunk/positive attiude with me whereever I go.  and most importantly…I know she is looking down upon me…keeping me safe and directing me down the right path. I am grateful to have had my grandmom in my life.

Well there you have it…my story of why I wear my livestrong.

What is your story?

–Christina

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