Sometimes Healthy Friday: A Sweet Squash Muffin + a Bad A*** Treadmill Workout

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Hello and welcome to another Sometimes Healthy Friday! In case you haven’t noticed the pattern, the goal of these posts is to help kickstart your weekend with a healthy (sometimes) recipe and a workout to help burn off some of those much-needed indulgent weekend calories. 

You’re in for a treat today. First, I’m going to share with you a very sweet Butternut Apple Muffin recipe, and then I’m going to follow it up with a Bad Ass Treadmill Workout, accompanied by a “rapper’s delight” playlist. Get ready, my friends.

This Butternut Apple Muffin has been in the works for a few weeks now. As I always say, “You can’t hit home runs every time.” And, that was certainly the case with this muffin. The idea came about when I mentioned in a WIAW post celebrating fall flavors that I wanted to create Butternut Squash Muffins, and a reader left the following comment.

Screen Shot 2013-10-18 at 8.21.26 AM

That was all the encouragement I needed to get cracking in the kitchen! But alas, cooking with butternut is no easy task. The first time around, the muffins were too dense and they didn’t rise the way that I wanted them to.

But, the second time around was pure squash perfection.

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Posted in: Recipes, workouts \ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pre-Run Procrastination and THE Marathon Playlist

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I Don't Wanna Run! I'd rather hang out with Kelly and Brenda!

Happy Saturday! Are you procrastinating like me right now? Over the past few months of marathon training, I developed a reliable Saturday routine. I would wake up by 7 or 8, think about my long run, stress about my messy apartment and relocate to the couch. From there, I’d spend 2-4 hours devouring a giant breakfast (convincing myself it was fuel for my run) and watching SoapNet’s 90210/One Tree Hill Breakfast in Bed. Next, I’d either walk around the block to Dunkin Donuts or put on a pot of coffee to give me a little caffeine boost. Finally, at around 2:00, I’d head out for my long run.

(Don’t want to read the rest of the post? I understand…it is Saturday after all, click here to link to the marathon playlist in iTunes…maybe read the rest of the post while you download?)

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Posted in: Exercise Motivation \ Tagged: , ,

National Marathon Recap (Part 2) – The Big Day: It’s a Marathon not a SPRINT

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Marathon Day – A Race is a Journey, not a Destination?

Me and my BFF Michelle showing off our beautiful medals

Can you hear the Rudy soundtrack playing in the background? If not, click here, and listen while you read (note: this is entirely optional – I’m just trying to add drama here. Is it working?) Apologies for the lengthy post – I promise, most will be shorter. But seriously, if I can run 26.2 miles, you can spend an extra 5 minutes staring at your screen right?

Anyway, when it comes to long races, I always tell myself a race is a journey and not a destination (thank you Steven Tyler). To me, it’s never really about the finish line or the crowds, but how I can work through obstacles mentally to finish strong. Well, in this race, it was certainly a battle until the end, but it just felt even sweeter when I crossed the finish line. I’m going to break down the race in chunks and recap my thought process at the milestones. I’m hoping the recap will be helpful and entertaining and NOT self-indulgent. Please let me know. I need all the help I can get on this blog. Continue Reading →

Posted in: Races \ Tagged: , ,