Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Well, ok, it was on Monday, but still! I actually had a great birthday weekend. My wonderful boyfriend took me down to MGM Grand at Foxwoods casino for the weekend. We stayed in a very fancy hotel room and wen to this restaurant called High Rollers. It's a contemporary bar/lounge area that also has bowling lanes! So, we were both dressed up (me in a dress and heels) while we bowled away the evening. We enjoyed some very yummy lobster dip (which I'm sure was completely awful for us- but darn was it tasty!). After we bowled for a few hours, we wandered around, taking in the sites and stopping to play a slot machine or two. As we headed back up to the room, we also picked up a slice of Junior's cheesecake. YUM!!

As it turns out, we didn't need to buy the cheese cake because the front desk clerk decided to surprise us both with a special Birthday gift (my birthday was Monday, my boyfriend's was Tuesday). When we got back to the room, we found these waiting for us:

Can you believe it?! All hand made chocolate and a dark chocolate cake in the middle! I know I'm not supposed to eat chocolate because it makes me sick, but I took a bite or two of my cake anyway. SO GOOD!

The next morning, we checked out of Foxwoods and went over to the other casino, Mohegan Sun, to do some gambling and such. We ended up eating at a very yummy BBQ place. And, because it was our birthdays we got a free dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, a free ice cream from Ben and Jerry's, 2 free Godiva truffles and so much more! Holy sugar high, Batman! Later that night, we met up with both our families at Joey Garlic's- this amazing italian restaurant that serves incredibly large portions. I got a gluten free pasta dish (yay!!) that gave me enough left overs to last me a few days. Then, they brought Anthony and I a tiramisu for our birthdays. After dinner, we went back to my parents for presents and were surprised with 2 different type of cupcakes, peanut brittle, white chocolate toffee, and a cheesecake! After this weekend, I feel I may need to go on insulin.

I have to say, I did eat a fair amount, but I did also try to restrict myself. I didn't have toffee or peanut brittle or cheesecake after Joey Garlics- I didn't have room. And I also took home about 3/4 of my meal from the restaurant.

To make up for all of that food though, I went to the gym after work yesterday and pounded out a 3 mile run. It felt great! Well, my tummy was a little unhappy with me, but everything else felt awesome. 3 miles in 43:33. Not my fastest time, but not too shabby either. I hopped on the scale, just to check in with myself, and saw that I'm down to 208! Woohoo! (Not sure how that happened over this past weekend- maybe it was all the walking we did, not to mention I did walk a good few hours in 6 inch heels- now THAT'S a workout!)

My plan is to get back to the gym tonight for another 2 mile run. Then, on Saturday, I'm going to do a 4 mile run and Sunday is the Jim Calhoun Cardioraiser where I get to do Zumba for Autism Speaks! Hooray!

Also, in case I don't get a chance to update before then- BEST OF LUCK TO ALL MY DISNEY PRINCESS RUNNERS!!! Have a great time! I wish I could be there with you!!!

All Good Things

I was sitting with Kurt today while he updated his blog and I realized I had once again been neglecting mine. You would think that if I can go on Facebook often enough, I should remember to at least hop on my blog for a few moments and write a paragraph or something, but no.

I guess I should send out a Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! My goal today was to avoid candy- and I successfully completed that. Score one for me! I know some people went out to a fancy schmancy dinner and everything but I fully enjoyed my half of a tuna sandwhich and apple sauce for dinner. Yum Yum Yum! (More on that later though.) It was also a beautiful day out, in the 50's (finally!) and it was the PERFECT day to go running, but alas, my schedule didn't really allow me to do so.

My goal for tomorrow is to get up early and go for a nice run in the park again. Then I can shower and go to work with the kids again. Afterward, I am going to see the Cedar Rapids movie screening. I love John C. Reilly and Ed Helms, so I'm rather excited about it.

I'm also excited about a book I found while doing some shopping at Borders. It's called The NonRunner's Marathon Guide for Women. It was written by a woman who was never a runner, or felt that running was something she was biologically born to do. However, she decided to get up and do some running (sound familiar?). This book has her training schedule, advice, funny stories, etc. My mom told me she bought it for me for my birthday, which is in 6 days, but I'm going to see if she will let me get it a little early so I can check out the training schedule.

On the Runner's Nipple update I invested in some lanolin lotion that has been helping heal my condition. My mother also bought me some protective pads that women use while breast feeding. I'm not too sure about that but I suppose we will see if they help.

Anyway, here's today's break down:

FOOD-

Whole Wheat Toast with Peanut Butter and Banana- 570 calories
Roast Beef and Buffalo Chicken Sandwhich- about 500 calories
Half a Tuna Sandwhich- about 530 calories
AppleSauce- 100 calories
Lemon Ice- 10 calories

Grand Total: 1710 calories! Perfect!

(I should mention, I've been doing some research and I've realized that as my training schedule for running has increased, my metabolism has increased. Therefore my caloric intake has had to increase as well. My daily goal is now between 1700 and 1850 calories.)


EXERCISE-

About 10-20 minutes of cardio with the Girl Scouts today: around 200 calories

Not too bad. However, tomorrow will be better!

EDIT: Found this quote and thought it was amazing! I'm going to start working on a fitness goal collage on my bedroom door, and I think I just found the phrase I'm going to work around-

If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes. - Andrew Carnegie

And I'm Feeling Good

Chelsea called me today and asked if I wanted to run the Cupid's 5k with her on Feb. 12th.
Although my lungs are not up to 100%, I have decided I am going to run with her anyway. Now that I can run a mile straight, I'm hoping my time will drop by at least 1-2 minutes. So, my goal between now and Feb. 12th is to work myself up to being able to run at least 1.5 miles without stopping. However, I am going to have to bite the bullet and start running outside soon. Which means I'm going to have to find somewhere to run because my nearby streets are not safe with all of the snow piled up. Maybe I will just go running over at Chelsea's haha. She has the perfect running near her apartment, lucky gal.

However, I went to the gym this evening and ran another 1.5 miles. Then I figured, while I was there, I might a well do a bit more cardio (especially since I downloaded the best of Ace of Base to my ipod and it was pumping me up) so I did the elliptical for 20 minutes. After that, I was still pumped from my music, so I got back on the treadmill and ran another mile. Woot! All in all, I kicked my own butt, but I liked it.Kurt would be proud because I definitely pushed my limits tonight, especially doing two different machines.

So, here are today's numbers-


Food:

Blueberry Pie Light Yogurt- 110 calories
Two pieces of whole wheat toast with 1.5 teaspoons of peanut butter- 541 calories
3 hunks of honeydew melon- 60 calories
Hummus with carrots and broccoli- about 270 calories
Deli style BBQ chicken and Buffalo chicken with light mayo and american cheese on whole wheat bread- around 546 calories

Grand Total: 1527 calories


Exercise:

Ran 1.5 miles in 22 minutes- 175 calories
20 Minutes on the elliptical- 100 calories
Ran another 1 mile in 16 minutes- 127 calories

Grand Total: 402 calories burned!

My calories eaten were a little high today, but I knew I was going to be running at least 1.5miles and that the calories burned would balance it out (hence why in the morning I fueled up with wheat toast and peanut butter). The extra calories I burned are quite lovely though. In fact, they allow me to have a small snack tonight if I so choose. Hot diggity dang!