Since I left my computer at home all packed up and ready to go, I have a few more pictures from this weekend to catch y’all up on.

Reese and Betsy getting ready to hit the pool for the first time.  There’s a reason Palm Springs is called a desert – it was so dang hot.  And actually because it is a desert.  Look at me, geographical whiz.

Christina and Betsy having mimosa time.  Christina is newly engaged and planning her (next) summer wedding which was fun to talk about and hear all about the planning details.

Bri rocking her new glasses: Betsy had made us all these cute little “welcome baskets” with sunglasses, champagne flutes, suntan lotion, etc in them so we sported our pink and white glasses all weekend.

Our other college friend Jenn stopped by in the afternoon with her daughter Emma and husband.  He is a legit lawyer so he was probably questioning why I was allowed to hang around Emma unsupervised…

This is about as active as we were all weekend… don’t want to pull a hammy or anything.

Good times with all the girlies.

Christina, in the blue on the end, is on the Primal Blueprint Diet and has lost 10-15 pounds, I believe, and looks amazing.  I had never heard of it but it sounds a little similar to the Paleo diet. 

Anyone ever tried it, follow it or know anything about it?

Sunday morning we packed in a little more pool time and I unintentionally created the forward ponytail with faux bangs.  I was outside laying stomach down reading a book and my hair kept getting in my face until I mindlessly put it up.

A few minutes later I went back inside to get another cup of coffee and everyone was like, Oh geez, what is wrong with your hair?!  And while we’re at it, your face?!

It was like Justin Beiber gone tragic.  Reese wants nothing to do with this.

One last group picture before we left:

Friday morning my college girlfriends and I drove out to La Quinta (Palm Springs area) to spend the weekend talking about how dumb we used to be and how old we are now.  good times. 

We all try to get together every year or so, but it seems the older we get, the harder it is to plan things and have everyone attend.  A couple girls couldn’t make it… some lame excuse about “I just had a baby last weekend.”  Uhhh, that was like 6 whole days ago; rally up.

My friend Betsy took the lead this time and rented a house for us through VRBO in Bermuda Dunes.  Thanks, Bets!

The house was huge and nicer than we expected, although the pool table right at the front door is sorta weird, right?

When we decided to rent a house instead of a couple hotel rooms, a pool was non-negotiable since it was at least 90* degrees every day.  Pretty much all we did on Saturday was lay out by and in the pool. 

There was also a hot tub that we didn’t use, a BBQ, fire pit and two tables and sitting areas.  You could pay more to heat the pool which might be nice in the winter, but it was already hot enough to glaze pottery in your kiln.

The house had 4 big bedrooms each with a king-sized bed so I had my own little hotel room, and splitting the cost five ways was cheaper than staying at a nice hotel.  We figured with the rent, food and drinks, it was less than $200 per person for the whole weekend.  Not too bad for a once a year trip.

Betsy, Reese and an errant rolling pin

I found this recipe for birthday cake jello shots months ago and wanted to make them but never had an excuse to, well, besides the random Tuesday morning. 

I only had blue food coloring and use whipped-flavored vodka instead of cake-flavored, but they were good and fun to make.  Plus, you don’t use that much alcohol so they’re not too strong.

Professional shot

Bri, my professional model. 

Like any recipe you make, mine were nowhere near as appealing looking as the picture, but if you have a girls get-together coming up, make these.  On second thought, maybe hold off for that baby shower…

This picture pretty much describes the entire weekend:

Pool time

Besides a lot of hummus, crackers and cheese – our standard girls weekend food – we also had some Zonin Prosecco, another standard. 

I always buy their Prosecco at Trader Joe’s and have blogged about it before so the company sent me a few different bottles to try out.  The Zonin brand is really affordable ($6.99 at TJ’s) and has a great taste without being headache-inducing sweet.

From a selfish standpoint, everyone needs a friend who’s a gourmet cook.  Depending on your penchant for extracurricular activities, you might also want a friend who’s a cop or a really good lawyer.

Anyways, Reese is a great cook and enjoys doing it; she says it’s cathartic for her.  I say she’s crazy.

Besides making a Cheesecake Factory-inspired Chicken Madeira dish (here’s a similar recipe) Friday night, she also made blue cheese stuffed olives.  Who does that?!

Family dinner time with Nina and Bri

And breakfast Sunday morning:

This weekend I was a total doorknob and forgot one of my packed bags at home; it had all my toiletries, computer and Garmin in it.  It could have been worse… it’s a lot easier to buy a toothbrush and stick of deodorant than a weekend full of clothes, but still, how do you forget 50% of what you packed?!  And when I got home yesterday, it was right on the kitchen counter by the door begging to go.

Do you forget stuff all the time or never?  Have you ever forgotten something big or important?  Did you get it back?

I left my camera at the Bismarck airport in October and it was returned.  Of course, people in North Dakota are super friendly and nice, basically un-Californian.

When we were getting ready to leave Palm Springs yesterday morning, the guys called us and asked us to stop by a golf course because Jaymo’s friend had left his wallet there.  oops. 

So I helped myself to a finder’s fee for it.  Oh, you had cash in your wallet?  Yeah, not anymore.

WORKOUT -

Ran on TM

8.5 miles/1:11

1.0 incline

ab workout

I wasn’t planning on running this morning, I really, really wasn’t, but then I made a deal with myself that if I did some ab work first, I would run instead of cross training.  Nothing like making a deal with the devil.

So I did a set of 15 reps of the reverse bridge, jackknife, and 1 minute plank three times each.  This post describes the moves a little more.

And then I ran some easy miles on the ‘mill.  Although I’m sure my body appreciates the time off, I hate it.  I feel like I’ve forgotten how to run and lost all endurance.  drama queen, what.

Now my college friends Betsy and Reese are waiting for me to stop farting around and get headed off to Palm Springs for a girls weekend.  It’s suppose to be 100* so we’re looking forward to doing some serious online video gaming and Parcheesi playoffs.  or champagne and laying out by the pool.

Let’s have some super funny Cat lady Blogs: Kelsey

Hi! I’m Kelsey from Ready Set Feast! I’m a born and raised girl from Maryland who’s now living in the Windy City known as Chicago.  I moved to Chicago to spice up my life and live here with a guy that prefers to be called PartyDogUSA over his real name.  We are clearly young, happy, and in love and radiate it for the entire world to see.

I spend most of my days my days being really classy and listening to Justin Bieber (or J.Bieb for those of us that are close personal friends) and BSB while I try not to fall off the treadmill. The good thing about running on the treadmill? I get to stare at this face for hours.

The bad thing about running on the treadmill? I have to look at this face for hours:

Would you want to stare at that face for an extended period of time? No one does. I considered just sending SR bikini pictures of myself for her to post as my CLB but then realized everyone would be so jeal of my bikini body and never read my blog so I just sent one:

My blog is totally critical to the blog-world. Where else can you go and read about adventures on the treadmill, healthy delish recipes, and general words of wisdom from my uber cultured brain? Certainly not my blog that’s for sure. My blog is full of nonsense and exceptional photography like this gem:

In this blog, you will find posts on running, recipes, books and other topics, but I must admit, it’s mostly a place for me to share with the world my incredible photography skills and all of my important thoughts. The blog is supposed to capture my experiences of living in a new city, the tasty treats I cook, and the progress of tricking my body into believing it loves to run.

But more importantly it’s about me and how seriously cool I am. Unfortunately since I’ve started my blog, I’ve spent most of my days doing this to avoid  the paparazzi that is constantly following me around:

So stop taking pictures of me already and go read my blog. Thanks SR for featuring me, it’s totes cool of you!
 

You heard the woman, go check out Kelsey’s blog stat.  Thanks Kelsey for the email!

Question of the day: what’s your screensaver picture?

Mine is of my nephew Big K in the wheelhouse of the boat.  I swear he looks exactly like my older brother Byron… minus a couple years.

WORKOUT -

Elliptical – 6o mins while watching Dr. Phil

Walked the dog – 2 miles

Jaymo and I are relatively independent which is nice because he understands how important it is for me to spend time with my family and has no problem with me jettisoning off to see them regularly.

And I know that he needs to value and prioritize the important things in his life too: mainly, golf. 

^{{We were in Maui in September}}

That’s why I have no problem with him going out to Palm Springs for the weekend with 7 other dudes for a golf trip.  (it’s so cute how he made up a tournament and acts like it’s actually a real one)  I have no problem with it mainly because I’m going out to Palm Springs for a girls weekend.

This was not intentionally planned; once you’ve been married for 5 years you generally try to stay as far away from the other person as possible.  I kid… sometimes. 

Anyways, JJ had planned this whole “tournament” for a long time, and when my college girlfriends were kicking around dates and places for our annual get-together, this weekend worked for everyone.  So we’re unintentionally following the dudes out there, but I’ll let Jaymo think that it’s because I just can’t bear to be away from him.

Since everyone’s leaving tomorrow and our house is closest to PS, we’re going to have a house full of guests tonight.  And since our casa is negative 7 square feet big, these are the guest bedrooms:

My pink office that doubles as the spare bedroom with the world’s most uncomfortable futon.  If the Weston has the Heavenly Bed, we have the Hellish Futon.

The second spare “bedroom”

Have fun whoever gets to sleep here.

MORE GOLF…

Speaking of that fabulous, totally not boring sport of golf, my dear husband is going to Scotland next month to play some of the original golf courses.  I really am excited for him and his dad to go together… mostly because I’m gonna buy some Jimmy Choos to even out the score.  What, you don’t keep score in your marriage?!  you need to start.

Apparently they don’t use golf carts over there so he’ll be walking 36 holes a day – that’s a lot, especially for someone who doesn’t do much regular exercise. 

Hey Jazz Hands, calm it down over there.

In an attempt to keep his legs from falling off, I got him a few pairs of Pro Compression socks for the 15+ hour flight and all the walking he’ll be doing:

Yes, Jaybob has faux grass in his office.  And yes, I had to have a little something something for me too.

Right now the pink compression sock is on sale for $30 and free shipping with the code SOM512; unfortunately, Jaymo didn’t want any hot pink socks.  even though I told him they were very Ricky Fowler-ish.

After this post goes up, I’m taking my rear to the gym. 

If I don’t go now, it won’t happen.  Why is it easier to take a 6am class than doinking around all morning and finally going at 10am?!

Anyways, last night I met up with some blogger friends for salad because all the froyo was taken by my dad.

Awkwardly staged photo with an inappropriate background, check.

We went to Souplantation which is like Sweet Tomatoes (I guess they’re now owned by the same company?) or Souper Salad.  (A group of us crazies also went here for Ragnar planning and Nicole’s birthday) 

It’s basically an all-you-can-eat salad bar with other stuff.  It’s like Whole Foods hot/salad bar but for people who don’t want to spend $32 to serve themselves a cardboard box of lettuce. 

By the way, if anyone wants to come visit me, Whole Foods just opened a brand new store yesterday in my hood.  I haven’t gone because I haven’t yet received my tax refund.

Pam the Stud.  She’s running RnR San Diego in a few weeks and going for a PR.  Girl trains hard!  She throws down 20+ mile runs like Derek and Maria on the dance floor.

You know how you get a bunch of junk mail every day but then you finally get one coupon that you’ll actually use and you feel like you won the Mega Millions?  Yeah, that was me last night… won the lottery by saving $1.98.  It’s the small things.

Heather, Margot (who has a great gear post up right now) and Pam

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it or not on here, but I’m running the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle marathon with Refuel with Chocolate Milk in June, and I found out last night that Heather’s running the full too.  This will be her first and like any crazy runner that I love, she’s already signed up for about 42 more.  so proud.

Pam’s pic

VIDEOS

A week ago today I was flying out to Boston for a blogger event with Reebok and Fitfluential (recap 1 and 2). 

Sarah made a video of the whole day: you can see what we did including me jumping the gun on our CrossFit run.  I’m a gem.

Sarah’s Youtube Channel

TO WEIGH OR NOT TO WEIGH

While doing some super important morning reading, I read a People article on Janet Jackson who’s battled yo-yo dieting for years but has recently lost weight with Nutrisystem.  I thought it was interesting what she said about weighing yourself…

I don’t know how much weight I’ve lost, only because I stay away from the scale.  I don’t think [stepping on the scale] is healthy. You’re setting yourself up to fail and women’s bodies fluctuate every month – certain time of the month in particular – we bloat a great deal.

Everyone is different and for some people, seeing that number on the scale isn’t a healthy thing mentally, but for others, it’s an non-emotional accountability tool. 

Your thoughts?  Are you a scale owner or not?

Last week we spent about 5 days with my family in Arizona working on our arctic tans (ahem, Marlie). 

What I love about being in Phoenix is that:

a) we’re on vacation but hey, my whole life’s a vacation…

and

b) lots of crusty old men stare at you we’re relatively active doing things like walking the dogs, biking, swimming and goofing off. 

None of it is strenuous or workout workouts, but it just feels good to be outside and be active, no matter what you’re doing.  especially when you’re with people you like… so basically not your family.  I kid.

Anyways, after all that activity we refueled with low-fat chocolate milk.  Just kidding, we went to Yogurtime twice and my dad tried froyo for the first time.  It was really special as you can tell by Jaymo’s face…

Yogurtime is a small, local joint that just opened last year in Peoria, and they have 16 flavors.  The Dulce de leche and Cinnamon Bun were crazy good. 

And the best part is that you can bring your receipt back for 10% off your next visit.  That’s why I went 19 times in the span of 72 hours.

The sample cups are out front so you can grab as many as you want; I love non-stingy sampling so I was all about it.  Not saying for sure, but they probably changed that policy once I left.

For the 2036 release of my future self-published book The FroYo Guide to the Universe, I’d rank it a 9 out of 10 sparkly high heels.

After church on Sunday, we said our tearful goodbyes to the Arizona sun and headed home to the California sun.   The second best part of vacation behind the old men in banana hammocks is all the mail that’s accumulated since you’ve been gone.  Besides all the eviction notices, JJ wants you to know he received the first book that he’s ever bought on Amazon:

I think it’s the first book he’s ever read, but who am I to question the Golf Master and the best instruction book EVER?

What’s one of the last books you’ve read?

My bro B and Niki gave me Onward by Howard Schultz; it was pretty good but dragged on a little in certain parts.

And then my dad gave me Pirate by Ted Bell for Christmas – not good, I had to struggle to finish this sucker.

DINNER, LIKE A REAL MEAL

I took a rest day last Monday which meant I had a free day to stew about the whole blog mess that was happening and then make an actual dinner.  Jaymo had some hot and heavy business meetings on Mon/Tues with the el jefe so I wanted to make a favorite dinner of his: PF Chang’s lettuce wraps but healthified by Iowa Girl Eats.

The real Chang’s wraps have 530 calories and 25 grams of fat in them and that’s just a starter.

I had to buy quite a few ingredients that I had either run out of (peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil) or didn’t have to begin with (chili garlic sauce, rice vinegar), but nothing was expensive or too weird that you wouldn’t use it again, like every Martha Stewart recipe ever.

This picture is from the recipe master Kristin because well, mine didn’t look that good.  But they tasted really good and were pretty easy to make.  If it requires more than about 4 steps, I’m tapped out, done.  Honestly, the hardest part about the whole recipe was peeling the lettuce “shells” off in one piece. 

Go make this, kids.  and then have some froyo.

WORKOUT -

(Monday)

Xtend barre class – 1 hour

Elliptical – 1 hour

Walked dog – 5 miles(!)

(Tuesday)

Rest day – walked dog 2.3 miles

(Today)

Piloxing Class – 1 hr

Bike/Elliptical – 30 mins/30 mins

After an April filled with a week of sickness and lots of racing and traveling, I fell off the barre bus but finally got back on it Monday. 

My friend Bri just got certified and taught the class, and if I were more self-conscious, I’d be super embarrassed about how many times I had to stand up (get out of the move) and rest.  My legs were shaking so bad during all the exercises at the barre that it looked like I was having a leg seizure.  not attractive.

^{Sporting my Vixen.}

Remember when I was asking about different grippy socks?  Well, Jaymo found these Gaiam socks on sale and bought them for me, but I have to say, I don’t like the whole separate toe thing and they hit a weird spot on your ankle… basically guaranteeing you cankles.  lovely.  I’ll use them but I definitely wouldn’t buy another pair.

After the class I did some elliptical action, took Marni on a 2 mile walk and later met up with Monica for a 3 mile walk.  I told you, I’m walking it out.

This was not us; it’s not that cold here in Southern California and we don’t look that cute walking.  And Janae didn’t walk with us.

Janae, Monica and I in Vegas for the Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon in December.

Then today I took another one of Bri’s classes, Piloxing.  This could be my favorite class of all.  I think I was born in the wrong fitness era, like I want step aerobics to make a big comeback.  Who wants to have a dress up aerobics party with me?  …crickets…

 source

DINNER WITH HOMIES

The other night we had our friends Katie and Merrick over for dinner.  We don’t entertain at our house that much because I’m a terrible cook and Jaybob has to go on a cleaning frenzy that includes painting baseboards, tiling, basically remodeling the entire house.  But we had bought these cute little burger baskets at HomeGoods and wanted to show off our $3 find. 

Some people like to boast about their kids; we like to brag about our bargain bin treasures.

Hey, I’m in the kitchen!  Look at me, I’m a chef!

JJ tended the grill, I made potato wedges with this recipe and Katie brought a huge salad with all the good stuff in it: dried fruit, blue cheese, nuts, and a berry vinaigrette.

Thanks Katie for the pics.  I should have you move in and do everything and I’ll just eat.

^{Good times.}

OTHER STUFF

I have a couple more Arizona posts from last week, but speaking of that sexy state, if you’re an AZ resident like my friend Diana, would you mind taking a short survey that affects things like local parks and rec services, hiking, camping, boating, etc?  Thanks!

Also, don’t forget you can get the cute DriBlend 26.2 Apparel shirts (or 13.1 shirt) for only $15.  Get yourself one, stat if for no other reason than to to make your newly sports bra’ed chesticles look athletic.

Last week I was invited to my local Road Runner Sports store to try on sports bras; this is the same store I get fitted for shoe inserts. 

I’m pretty sure Kirsten from RRS saw this picture and felt supremely sorry for me and my lack of support:

^{Oh hey, don’t mind me, just gonna tuck those things in my skirt.}

If you’re a creeper, you know I’ve always bought the cheap Target sports bras.  I’ve never been fitted for one and didn’t even know exactly what size I was.

RRS has these “bra closets” that might look a little overwhelming, but they’re set up from smallest to largest with a huge selection (sizes go up to 44E, phew, they have my size) and if they don’t have your specific bra in stock, they’ll ship it to your house for free.

They also offer free personalized bra fittings – you can set up an appointment and a “Fit Expert” will help you figure out exactly what size you are and what’s a good bra for your specific needs. 

I was like, Yeah ok, I’m a big girl; I can pick out my own bra… until I walked in thinking I was one size and walked out knowing I was a different one.

I’ve only had one real bra fitting in my life – right before I got married over 5 years ago so I thought this might be sorta awkward and uncomfortable, but my gal Tracy was really helpful and chill about it all. 

Since she’s a runner and CrossFitter, she totally gets all the ins and outs of chafing or finishing a race, getting cold and having “headlights”.  And I didn’t even feel like a total weirdo because she knew exactly what I was talking about!

She first figured out my preferences (do you want more of a bra or less, small straps, any movement at all or totally sucked in, a little padding, more compression, etc) and what workouts I was doing.  She measured me and then pulled a bunch of different sizes and types to try on. 

I probably tried on 10 different bras and my favorites surprised me because I assumed I’d gravitate to a minimal bare-bones bra like I was buying from Target.  You know what they say about making assumptions…

The Moving Comfort Fiona bra is their best seller and I see why – adjustable straps (easy for nursing or that special time of the month when all you want to do is eat chocolate and kill your husband) and a nice tight band that’s flattering without squishing everything flat.  I ended up buying this bra because I liked the way it looked and loved how comfortable it was.

My second favorite: the Moving Comfort Vixen bra.  I was also going to buy this one until the ladies gifted it to me.   I had heard of Moving Comfort before (I thought it was an old ladies company?!), but had never tried on their bras and ended up leaving with 2 of them. 

And the crazy thing is that I thought I was a 34B; turns out the 32C was a much better fit.  Who knew?  not me.

A couple bra tips:

***Don’t dry your bras in the dryer; it will break down the material much faster.

***Switch up your bras, don’t wear the same one day after day; you will get more use out of them if you rotate them, just like shoes

***If you are doing a lot of high-impact exercises like running, you need new bras every 3-6 months.  I’ve had my cheapo Target bras for about a year and a half.  Three cheers for saggy boobs!

***If you’re doing lower-impact workouts, you should switch out new bras every 6-12 months.

***You only get one set of lady parts (unless you live in Southern California, everyone’s a plastic surgeon here!) so treat them well.  You wouldn’t buy the cheapest, ill fitting shoes that don’t correctly support your feet, would you? 
(Ok, so I did once… hello, injury)

Road Runner Sports is offering you sexy ladies 10% off any of their bras and if you’re a VIP member, you get 20% off!  Just print out the coupon, scan it with your phone or use the promo code online to get your discount.  It will be good until the end of the month so get your girls fitted up right.

The only sad part about the whole experience was putting on my old Target bra afterwards, I swear I could stretch it down to my belly button.  really cute.

Here’s the bottom line: the Target bras are about $15 and with the discount, a lot of the RRS bras are in the $20-$30 range. 

More expensive, yes, but these two bras are the first ones I grab out of my drawer every time.  I took both to Boston, and if they’re clean, I’m wearing one of them instead of the cheaper ones so I gotta say, I really do think it’s worth the money.

What type of bra do you use for working out? 

Are you loyal to a specific brand? 

Have you ever been professionally fitted for one?

Thanks Kirsten for the invite!

Part 1 – my foray into CrossFit is found here. 

I’m sure you’ve read all about the weekend on otherblogsfarcooler than mine, but hang with me.  I promise it won’t be worth your time.

After our CrossFit workout, we walked back to the main building to learn about Reebok’s different shoe lines.

Like I previously mentioned, the Flex Transition is Reebok’s best selling shoe and is designed to be versatile so you could do a little of everything in it.  It sounded like Reebok really focuses on making shoes that are multi-functional, but we also talked running shoes: the Zigtech.  I’ve seen these all over in ads but never tried them on.

The Zigtech Optimal is their main running shoe with a 10mm drop.  Doesn’t the sole look craycray?

The centerpiece at our table, an exact replica of my wedding centerpieces

Some of the tips I learned:

-The longer the workout, the more cushioning you need (doing long distance running is going to require more cushioning than CrossFit)

-Looking at the wear and tear on your shoes is a great way to figure out what kind of shoe you need for your stride

-Have a couple different pairs/styles of shoes that you can rotate because it will extend the life of your shoes.

-When purchasing shoes, check out the sock liners – it’s a good way to judge the quality of the shoe.  They shouldn’t feel like thin paper.

-Have the flattest drop in your cross training shoes, not your running shoes

4mm CrossFit shoe – look how flat it is!  Flatter than my jokes, flatter than my greasy hair, flatter than my non-supportive bras.

We broke for a Paleo-friendly lunch, lots of salad with steak, chicken and sandwiches.  It was all really good, and I heard that the Paleo cookies were a hit but I didn’t try one: when I want a cookie, I don’t want the word “healthy” to be anywhere near it.

We were also able to check out the research and development area that’s headed up by an actual former rocket scientist.

It was really interesting to hear and see how much testing, development and subsequent prototypes go into making a shoe.  They can make 3D images with an AutoCad program and then actually create those computer images in 3D with crazy new technology.  And I thought I was high tech for learning how to use Pandora.

I was also going for the nerdy rocket scientist look but ended up just looking like I needed some serious face degreaser:

Then it was time for the last class of the day: a 30 minute hip hop dance class with Ilyse Baker, a professional dancer from California.  It’s so weird that we live in the same state and she doesn’t even know me or know about my amazing dance skills…

Unsurprisingly, I am absolutely talentless at dance (and art… and theater… and anything creative) and have zero rhythm so I was completely out of my element.  I wasn’t even in my own world let alone element, but again, it was fun to try something new and get outside of your comfort zone even when it’s well, uncomfortable.

CNC PIC

 PBF PIC

After the class I had to jet out of there early to catch my 6pm cross country flight back home.  It was a lot of traveling in 24 hours, but it was so much fun and I’m grateful to have the opportunity. 

I only wish I would have had more time to get to know some of the other bloggers.  There’s some gals I want to be besties with… whether they like it or not.

Thanks to Fitfluential and Reebok for allowing my un-rhythmic self to be a part of the event.

Are you a dancer at all?  Have any rhythm?

Do you wear Reebok shoes or tried the Zigtech?

**Next post will be all about sports bras and getting fitted, fun stuff

WORKOUTS -

Last week in Phoenix I ran a lot of very easy, post-marathon miles, most didn’t even get under 8:30 min/miles.

I’d run a few miles with Matt and Marlie or take Elmer the dog on a couple laps or someone would bike with me.  It kept it fun and casual and it was sorta like a hobo circus.

^{We even brought Nancy the miniature wiener dog on a run.}

BACKING IT UP

Last Tuesday night we left for Phoenix to spend a few days with my little brother Matti, his wife Marlie and my parents, but we decided to break up the drive and spend the night in Indio, CA.  On the way we did a little one-stop eating with Subway and Swirl Cup locations – a perfect pairing.

Dinner.  Dessert. Done.

I Pricelined a Best Western near the freeway that allowed dogs and not murderers.  It seemed to work.

We got up at 4:30am the next day and hit the road.  Both Jaymo and I were too sleepy to drive so Marni pulled double duty and helped us out…

Once we arrived and did the mega group run with dogs, bikes and people, it was spool party time:

My bro now has a Mohawk: he’s too hardcore for me so whenever he wants to hang out, I make him put on a dress and play with my Polly Pockets.  The Beanie Babies are off limits to him though, just not cool enough for those.

My mom’s also a hardcore hostess: she brought out a tray of fresh fruit, homemade guacamole and smoked salmon, dill and cream cheese on crackers and put it in the pool.  This is why I never learned to cook: if you wait long enough, my mom will magically appear with delicious food for you.

For dinner my dad had bought a fresh Oregon wild salmon from a fisherman friend and brought it to Phoenix for all of us to eat.

If you want to be healthier here’s a tip: eat WILD fish.  No farmed crap. 

And “Atlantic salmon” is not wild salmon; it’s farmed raised.  There is no such thing as wild Atlantic salmon anymore (you can check out this article for more info).  Wild salmon has far more omega-3 fatty acids but less fat overall, no dyes, colors or PCBs like farmed salmon.

Friends don’t let friends do drugs: don’t eat farmed fish.

The fillet master took the skin off for me, and then I used a mustard and bread crumbs recipe from my friends Katie and Merrick on one of the fillets.  The other fillet was marinated in teriyaki sauce and the third one had salt, pepper, onion and lemon on it.  All three were dynamite.

The three booze hounds say hi.

The next day we biked the 3.65 miles to our regular breakfast joint The Crooked Putter where we met the golfers in the family (they had just finished playing 18 holes at that course) for breakfast. 

JJ loves golf: he’s as passionate about it as I am about running so occasionally he asks me to take up the sport.  I always tell him the same thing: I’ll take up the sport when he buys me a Burberry golf bag.  Why, I don’t know because I’d never want him to buy it because I’d never want to play golf.  It’s so boring.  like more boring than my posts. 

But if you’re interested, a 130 lb woman playing golf for an hour walking and pulling her clubs will burn 254 calories.

Nice timing on that one, bro.

Oh, and the greatest thing to ever happen in JJ’s life: he got hit on by a 90 year waitress.  She called him cutie… multiple times.

Someone died and went to heaven… it was probably the waitress, she was so old.

In case you needed to know, while I was looking up calorie count for golf, I found out my next workout: forestry.  A 130 lb woman “ax chopping, fast” will burn 1003 calories in an hour.  Forget running, I’m going to become a lumberjack!

 source

Well…… maybe not.