Smoothies, Easter and the Marathon, Oh My!

Gavin and I had been talking about smoothies for a while, we were going to hold out and save for the Nutribullet... (Newest version retails $150) A friend of mine at work had just purchased an Oster with the sports bottle attachment and had nothing but good things to say about it. (Retails for about $30) Can you guess which miserly frugal way I decided to go?

And here you have it!

For the money, well worth it.

I also had a coupon at Bed, Bath and Beyond for 20% off my entire purchase, so I picked this bad boy up for around $23.  Don'cha Just Love a Bahgain??

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With our 5K coming up, the one that I need want to beat my PR time, we moved our schedule around to run Sundays instead of Saturdays. Which meant that Easter Sunday was a run day.  With time constraints and getting off to a late start we hit a local rail trail and eeked out a quick 4 miles. 

I might have started out slow but I pushed it in the last couple miles. My Garmin has a virtual partner feature. You set up the time/pace you want to hit and it shows you how far behind or a head of the "runner" you are.  On all of my outside runs, I have never beat my VP, as I have said before I am not a speedy runner.  I set it up to pace me at 10:57 pace... like I said not speedy. 

Look what I did!

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I fear I am burying the lead.  Gavin and I were watching the Boston Marathon last year. We decided that in solidarity to the city that we love we would go back for the same events this year. First the Red Sox game and then out to the streets where the Marathon goes by to watch the runners as they approach the finish line. 

What and amazing day it ended up being. The weather couldn't have been better for runners and spectators and the energy in the air was just all you could ask for on a Marathon Monday. 

Just about 1 Mile to go! 

Look who we met, Carlos!!! He was SOOO nice! 

Walking down the middle of Boylston while they wrap up the race.

Boston Strong and Running On

I am not sure how today will not be an emotional one for years to come, but it is also a day that will remind us all that something broken only grows stronger.  There are so many inspirational stories of victims striving through so much physical and emotional pain, and they are standing strong today. They truly give me motivation to strive harder for that next mile or 10 and make me so thankful for what I have and to live so close to the Best City, Boston.

Although, I had already signed up for my first half marathon 2 days before Marathon Monday 2013, it definitely gave me a push to train and accomplish a goal I had set for myself 3 years prior.

Very excited to be able to attend the Red Sox Game on Patriots Day again this year and as the game empties out onto the Marathon route and watch the runners once again.

Photos from last year...

From our race 4/21/2013

Clean Eating... well within reason

Workout: TM 2.3 miles / 25 minutes (sad face)

After the the week of the 4th (the past 2 months) I have come to the conclusion that i have been on a see-food and drink diet. It really has to stop! It has made me feel so sick to eat and drink whatever I want or maybe was just in front of my face (will power is not a strength of mine). I have paid the price for indulging in all things yummy and I am taking a break.

I made a self proclamation on Monday to eat as much whole and unprocessed food as possible.  So far so good, it might have just been bloat, but i am already down 2+ lbs in 3 days. Eating for fuel and not for excess is making my stomach sooo much happier. I am not going to keep from eating things that I want, but I think there needs to be some sort of portion control included. Knowing how all of that made my stomach feel and feeling so much better without it makes me want it less...

Tomorrow is an elliptical day.

I will leave you with some happy thoughts!

 We spent a day on the Vineyard this past weekend with friends. I miss the Vineyard already! 

I think this should still count as whole food... I can see the cows the milk comes from!

Throw Back Thursday... Wedding Edition

Now I don't claim to be original, this throw back Thursday thing has been around for a while and I am really just jumping on the band #tbt band wagon.

I was watching GMA the other morning at the gym and they had a girl on that was a bridesmaid 14 times, bringing up that she was almost like Katherine Heigl's character in 27 Dresses. Now I am no where near 27 or even 14, I have only been in 5 weddings. I have shot more than twice the weddings than I have been in.

Seems like things that happened prior to me being on Facebook, doesn't exist, or I just have a much harder time getting pictures of things. So there is one picture missing, and I was an honorary bridesmaid at one point so I will save you the dress I bought at Macy's.

I wanted to share some of these acts of love with all of you, or the few of you that are reading. Also, give you a break from my boring rambling.

There was a lot of beer that night.

Before I was allowed to have beer (Dad and Bonnie "Bonus Mom"'s Wedding) 

The most recent wedding I was in.