I’ve seen my running group, the Suncoast Striders, more this week than probably over the past year. I ran with them last Saturday, again on Memorial Day and then joined the group for our Ladies Night Out on Wednesday evening, which was a fabulous meal at Zen Forrest, but more about that in another post.
Today, I joined the Striders once more for another Saturday run and it was a gorgeous morning on the Starkey Park bike trail. We had a drier, less muggy morning, although the heat came on fast. I was glad to only be running 6 miles.
6 miles
Time 1:00
Ave Pace 10:08
Max Pace 7:22
My friends have been giving me a hard time about not running with them on the trail, but I prefer running in my neighborhood. I have some strange satisfaction of just getting up and going. I just pop out my front door and I’m on my way. If I run with the Striders, I have to get in my car (or hop in a friend’s car), drive to the trail, run for an hour, and then hang around and talk to everyone. It becomes a three hour tour for a 6 mile run. If I run in my hood, I can be done in hour and back home.
So, am I being antisocial or practical if I choose to run in my neighborhood?
June 1 is a triple threat for me. It’s the start of the hurricane season, which actually started early since we’ve had two tropical storms roll through already. That’s not a good sign and I fear we may have a very wet and windy summer. I don’t run in the rain.
June 1 also means the start of Juneathon, which started off great. This morning, I began the Juneathon with a 3.1 mile run between thunderstorms. It was a great run, but I’m just glad that I didn’t flake on Day 1 because of the weather because I was really tempted to stay in bed when I heard that storm. And look, I even managed to blog about it.
3.1 miles
Time 31:20
Ave Pace 10:07
Max Pace 8:13
And finally, June 1 also starts the next Run DMT fitness challenge.
In a few more days, my kids will be home for summer break and we’ll spending many days at the pool and the beach, which also means I’ll be spending many days in a bathing suit. I’m not ready to strut my stuff across the sand like I’m working a catwalk.
Even with all the miles on my legs, they still need a lot of work. I really want to firm and tone up my legs and leave the waves in the water where they belong.
Therefore, selfishly the next Run DMT fitness challenge will be Sexy Legs for Summer and this can be accomplished with 6 simple sculpting and strengthening exercises. If you’re not familiar with these exercises, I’ve included some videos to assist you.
1. Squat
2. Alternating forward lunges
3. Burpees
4. Inner thigh leg lifts
5. Jumping jacks
6. 60-second wall sit
Although #sexylegs blog button has a set number of reps for each exercise, feel free to do more reps or add some weights to the sets if you so desire.
To make the squats more challenging go wider and lower, but remember to watch your form and not let your knees lean over your toes. To raise the bar even higher on this sexy those leg squats, add a leg lift to each squat to really work that outer thigh.
So besides me, who wants sexy legs this summer?
If you’re in, share 6 Steps forSexy Legs This Summer challenge with others by adding the #sexylegs button to your site. Then, follow #sexylegs on Twitter for motivation and support throughout the challenge. Good luck!
Honestly, it’s probably good that I didn’t share my recipe in that post. That photo was horrible. Back then, Friday Food Fight was still in its early stage, where we actually fought over who was eating the tastiest food. Hence, the term “fight” in Friday Food Fight. In those early Friday Food Fight days, Kirsten, Karen and I tortured each other with bad photos of good food.
So although technically I already shared a photo of black beans and rice, I never shared my recipe. And since my photography skills and Friday Food Fight have evolved into something more than just food porn and foodie photos, I thought I would serve this dish once again, becauseit’s a really good recipe. With one taste of my black beans and rice, you’ll know just how truly Hispanic I am. Black beans and rice this bueno is in my blood, y’all.
Beans and rice…beans and rice…once or two or even thrice…beans and rice is nice.
Only two days left in May which means the Joggermom Marathon and the Run DMT Superhero Challenge are coming to an end. Once I added up my miles for the Joggermom Marathon, I realized I actually went over by 2.6 miles. How funny! Here, I thought with my nasty chest cold I wouldn’t finish in time and I went over.
Now that I finished the Joggermom Marathon, I need to submit my miles and I also need to think about a funny photo to submit. In order to be eligible for a prize, the photo needs to be original. Last year, winner was a runner collapsed on a treadmill. Any suggestions for a photo idea for me?
Speaking of funny photos, I ran 4 muggy miles with the Suncoast Striders for the annual Celebrate America Run on Memorial Day. I don’t run with the Striders as often as I like but this run was definitely a fun run because I ran with my friends, Chrissy and Maribel. We found humor in the humidity thanks to the red, white and blue pinwheels headband I wore. Every time the wind caught the pinwheels, I sounded like I was going to take flight. Pppffffftttt!
4 miles
Time 43:24
Ave Pace 10:51
Max Pace 7:06
This week has been a Strider filled because I also ran 6.5 miles with the Striders on Saturday. It was my friend, Stacey’s first time joining the Striders at Starkey Park so I paced with her on the trail.
6.5 miles
Time 1:16
Ave Pace 11:44
Max Pace 8:19
Next month, I’ll be pacing along in the Juneathon again. For the Juneathon, each participant has to run or do some form of exercise every day and blog about it within 24 hours. Easy peasy, right? We’ll see. Every June I participate and I always fail. It’s not the exercising every day, but the blogging every day that’s difficult for me. In the past, I would get behind in the blogging and end up posting 3 days at once. Oh well. Maybe this time will be different. Wish me luck! There’s still plenty of time to join the Juneathon if you’re interested. Maybe we can fail together inspire each other to succeed.
The start of June also brings another Run DMT fitness challenge. This summer, I want to bring sexy legs and six pack abs to the beach. Therefore for June, we’ll be squatting through summer. For this challenge, we’re following the 200 squats program (by the founder of the 100 push ups). On the rest days we’ll do, abs. The sexy legs summer challenge kicks off this Friday, June 1, so stay tuned.
And now for the Track Tuesday stuff! Tropical Storm Beryl has been making things pretty unbearable around here. The humidity has been just awful, but this morning the humidity and wind did a number on me. By looking at my times, you can tell which sprints were running into the wind. Thankfully, I pushed through the humidity and the wind because as soon as I finished the storm arrived.
Lap 1 – 1 mile
Time 10:02
Lap 2 – 0.25 mile
Time 1:53
Pace 7:27
Lap 3 – 0.24 mile
Time 1:54
Pace 7:53
Lap 4 – 0.25
Time 1:55
Pace 7:44
Lap 5 – 0.25
Time 1:55
Pace 7:42
Lap 6 – 1.1 mile
Time 11:14
Ave Pace 10:11
How were your sprints this week? Do you let the weather ruin your running plans?
To join our Track Tuesday linky party, do your speed work (at least 4 quarter mile sprints) on Tuesday or any day you that works best for you, blog about your times and remember to add our cool Track Tuesday button to your post. Then, link up your post at either Ricole Runs or Run DMT to share Track Tuesday Speed Work Sessions. To show support for our other virtual running partners on the Track Tuesday Team, be sure to visit the other blogs listed in the linky party. Give them a virtual high-five and leave some comment love too.
Last week, Emmalynn’s teachers planned a Memorial Day program complete with songs, poems and red, white and blue attire. The kids were so cute. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.
Thank you to all the service men and women who sacrificed so much to protect our freedom.
God Bless the USA!
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You will seriously love this breakfast casserole recipe and you will want to bookmark it or pin it for sure. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Because this breakfast is so tasty and such a crowd-pleaser, I’ve made it twice just this month for family and friends. Seriously, it’s that good. And the best part, it’s low fat. You’re pinning it now, aren’t you? I knew I would have you at “low-fat”.
I also used a half loaf of Publix White Mountain bread because I thought the thick, dense bread would make a wonderful base for the casserole. Both substitutions were spot-on and like I said, a real crowd pleaser.
Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Prepare a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
In large skillet, stir and sauté onions until translucent.
As onions cook, slice sausage links into quarters. Slice each link into quarters lengthwise and then slice each quarter strip into small bite size morsels. Add to onions. Stir and warm through.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, egg whites, milk, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the bread cubes, cheese and sausage mixture. Pour into baking dish.
Bake at uncovered for about 45 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Watch closely for the last ten minutes to avoid overcooking or burning the casserole.
Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. Serve with Tabasco or fresh salsa.
Makes 12 servings.
Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!
For the past two weeks, I had been suffering from a really nasty cold that I just couldn’t shake. One of the fantastic symptoms of my cold was a horrible, wet hacking cough, like a smoker’s cough. No exaggeration, I sounded as though I had been smoking unfiltered Lucky Strikes for 20 years. With the cough, I also had this horrible tightness in my chest, which made it very difficult to breathe.
Despite not being able to breathe, I decided to go ahead and run in the 5 Miles for Moffitt race. I already had skipped out on the Crazy Sombrero 5K the week before due to my cold and I didn’t want to miss another race. Besides, my aunt spent the better part of two years fighting lung cancer, the least I could do was suck it up and run with a little chest cold. Admittedly, that wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done.
Just as the experts warn you, you shouldn’t run with a chest cold. A runny nose or sore throat is a different story. Limited breathing due to chest congestion is not a good thing and I truly believe running in the race extended the life of my cold. So, let this be a lesson to you. Learn from my mistake. Always listen to the Livestrong Gods.
So while I spent the time recovering from my cold, my blog suffered. Actually, everything suffered. I didn’t have the energy to do much. I missed out on the superhero challenge. I missed out on the Track Tuesday speed work. I missed out on logging miles for the Joggermom Marathon. It made me sad to miss out on it all. For almost two weeks, I was a super sloth with a cough.
Then when I woke up on Saturday morning, I could breathe, but I waited a couple more days just to be safe. I started running again on Monday and today it was back to business as usual with my speed work. I am happy to be back on “track” now.
Now that I’m all healthy again, I’m a #superhero once again doing my Spiderman and Superman sets as well as running and blogging again. The first half of the month may have been a loss, but next couple of weeks and the Joggermom Marathon will end on a high note.
Although my running may be back to business as usual, my blogging still had a slow start because yesterday, I totally flaked on a Music Monday post, which is a first in almost 3 years. I’ve been playing catch up now that I’m feeling better and blogging a music post didn’t make the must-do list. I felt horrible about it too since I’m an honorary co-host this month with Xmas Dolly and 4M crew. Plus, this week’s theme was a song from a movie and movie soundtracks are my thing, a lesson I learned from the late John Hughes. And I had such a good one in my head, but it just never made it to the blog. Aw hell, I’ll share it now.
Is anyone else sad that all the shows are ending? I am not happy about all these season finales and cliff hangers. I am completely addicted to Once Upon a Time and that cliff hanger was the worst best. Of course, if the show is not renewed for another season, I would be happy with the ending, without giving too much away.
Please tell me I’m not alone with my Once Upon a Time obsession! I can’t wait for the Season 1 DVD to be released (August 28) so I can watch it all over again. Seriously, it’s that good.
When I am really into a show, like I am with this one, I visit the show’s website and read all the actors’ bios and watch the interviews. I love reading where the actors studied and what other shows they’ve done. Since I’m a bit entranced by the actor who plays Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold, Robert Carlyle was the first I investigated. Imagine my surprise, when I learned he was the actor who played Begbie in Trainspotting. Actually, I wasn’t truly surprised, because Rumplestiltskin in pretty creepy as is Begbie. But Begbie gave me nightmares.
In case you aren’t familiar with it, here’s a glimpse. Warning: Begbie is a psycho sociopath and these clips are violent and riddled with vulgarities.
Robert Carlyle may be better known for his role as Gaz in The Full Monty. (Be sure to click on that link and watch the movie clip. Gaz is one sexy thing. lol) Truthfully, I prefer to remember him as Gaz than Begbie. It also demonstrates the depth to his acting ability. Plus, with Donna Summer’s passing over the weekend, this scene and song seem very fitting pretty fitting.
So, there you have it. My Music Monday post may be a day late, but Track Tuesday is now literally Track Tuesday. And now for the sprints…
1.1 Mile
Time 11:05
Ave Pace 10:05
Lap 1 – 0.25 mile
Time 1:73
Ave Pace 7:37
Lap 2 – 0.25 mile
Time 1:73
Ave Pace 7:37
Lap 3 – 0.26 mile
Time 2:01
Ave Pace 7:53
Lap 4 0.24
Time 1:52
Ave Pace 7:39
1 mile
Time 10:14
Link up and share your speed work and some music for your Track Tuesday/Track Tuesday post.
I seriously love Spanish food. For me, Spanish food is comfort food, like someone’s else mac and cheese. Throw a bunch of ingredients together and it’s like a latino’s version of a casserole. Not to mention, there’s just something about the saffron that just makes me happy.
I’m just mad about Saffron.
So when I found this easy, low-fat version of a Spanish classic, I had to give it a whirl. Thankfully, my family loved it and now this meal is a regular on our weekly dinner menu.
Now, if I was a better latina, I would go to the bodega to buy my chorizo, but I’m too lazy for that, which is just sad really because there’s a bodega on every corner in Tampa. However, there is really no need for me to make an extra trip to the bodega, except to support small business owners which I really should instead of giving money to big corporation.
But in one weekly shopping trip to my local Target, I can buy MSG-free Archer Farms Chorizo Sausage as well as pick up a allergy medication, tampons, a cute sundress, some new sandals for my kids and deeply discounted running clothes. See how I save money shopping at Target?
But this post is about paella not summer deals at Target.
Chicken and Chorizo Paella (Pollo y Chorizo Paella)
1 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups low-sodium free range chicken broth
½ cup frozen peas
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 ripe tomato, chopped
¼ sliced green Spanish olives with pimentos
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp turmeric
Pinch of Saffron threads
Directions
Preheat oven to 375.
Using a large, heavy skillet with lid, heat olive oil in skillet on a medium heat. Add chorizo links and cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until brown. Remove links from skillet and slice into ½ inch round slices. Return chorizo to skillet and add chicken. Cook both meats together for about 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink on outside. Transfer chicken and chorizo to a plate.
Add onions to skillet and cook, stirring often until softened, about 3-5 minutes. (There should be enough oil in the pan left from the chorizo, but if need be, add 1 Tbsp olive oil to skillet.) Add garlic and cook for about a minute. Return chicken and chorizo to skillet and add chicken broth, peas, rice, tomato, olives, salt, pepper, turmeric and saffron. Bring to a boil, cover and transfer to oven. Cook until rice is tender and the liquid is completely absorbed, 25-45 minutes*.
*Time may vary depending on oven. This dish takes closer to 45 minutes in my oven.
Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!
As we wrap up the end of the school year, it seems like the projects keep piling on. One of the recent projects required my youngest daughter, Emmalynn, to read a biography, complete with a book report and then she had to either dress as that person or create a puppet of that person for an oral presentation.
Did I mention she’s only six? I don’t recall having to do these types of presentations until high school. Nonetheless, Emmalynn and I visited our local library to search through the stacks of biographies for her report.
There were so many wonderful biographies of great people. Although the choices were endless, we limited our choices to the materials and costumes available in our closets for the oral presentation portion of this assignment. Should she be Sacagawea?Mary Queen of Scotts? Madame Curie? Hillary Clinton? Miley Cyrus? Harriet Tubman?
With her Bob haircut, a sword, a riding horse-on-a-stick, and a homemade Princess Leah costume, she would be a dead ringer. Not literally, though. We would omit the whole burning at the stake part for her presentation.
As we read through the book, we learned that Joan of Arc preferred carrying a banner over a sword. Therefore, we fashioned a similar banner using the backside of some leftover Christmas wrapping paper. Emmalynn did her best to draw a few fleur de lys, the angels Michael and Gabriel seated on either side of God and the Latin words “Jesus Maria”.
For a more dramatic effect, Dad wrapped some duct tape around the cardboard tube. It also helped strengthen the tube.
In the end, we had our own little Joan of Arc, who lived to tell about her adventures.
Why do we allow society or the media to flame these feuds?
If you work outside the home and still have the strength to raise a family, then you should be applauded. If your job is a full time mom trying to juggling it all without losing your mind or yourself trapped between a world of toddlerese and Lori Berkner, then your efforts should be applauded as well. Neither job is easy. Motherhood no matter how it’s dressed up, be it a corporate suit or yoga pants, requires sacrifice and that sacrifice should be praised not ridiculed.
And yet, somehow that sacrifice opens the door for ridicule or judgment rather than praise.
As moms, we make decisions every day about child-rearing with the sole purpose to do what’s best for our children. Therefore, how can any reasonable child-rearing choice be wrong? If you choose to breastfeed your child until school-age, who are we to judge? If you choose to bottle feed your baby over breastfeeding, who are we to judge? And if your child stays on the bottle, boob or binky until kindergarten, then that’s also a parenting choice and no one should judge.
No matter which avenue we choose to get there, we all want a stress-free existence with confident, well-adjusted children. Our ultimate goal is the same. So why not build a society that mirrors the one created when we cradle infants in our arms, be it on the breast or on a bottle?
Acceptance and support starts with each of us. As mothers, we need to stop criticizing each other and start supporting one another. We can’t allow magazine images and political sound bites to open the door to criticism and attacks.
Motherhood makes beautiful things. Society needs to stop turning into something ugly.
With yesterday being Mother’s Day, I felt compelled to share my thoughts about moms supporting other moms and what better way than incorporating it into a Music Monday post. What topics and tunes are moving you?
I’ve seen my running group, the Suncoast Striders, more this week than probably over the past year. I ran with them last Saturday, again on Memorial Day and then joined the group for our Ladies Night Out on Wednesday evening, which was a fabulous meal at Zen Forrest, but more about that in another post.
When my friend Kelly sent me a Facebook message requesting my black beans and rice recipe, it dawned on me that I had never shared it with my Run DMT readers. I shared 
Only two days left in May which means the 
![Once Upon a Time: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hKiATmyOL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
When I am really into a show, like I am with this one, I visit the show’s website and read all the actors’ bios and watch the interviews. I love reading where the actors studied and what other shows they’ve done. 
