WORKOUT – 1 hr 47 mins/13.5 miles

It’s that day again, Running Tuesday! where you get to brag about your workout today or even yesterday if you want.  So own it, put a ‘lil swagger in your step and be proud and loud of what you did!

Last week was lame; this week will not be.  So everyone better participate and join in the party.  In the immortal words of the wise Kim Zolciak, “Don’t be tardy to the party!”

This run was from yesterday along Santa Barbara’s coastline.

I started in front of the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel.

The Biltmore wall.  It was a gorgeous day, 60 degrees out and sunny.  I love running here.

I ran by the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

I took a self-portrait in front of the cemetery.

I ran by the bird sanctuary.

I ran by the Santa Barbara Zoo.

I acted like I should be admitted to the Zoo.

I ran by the Fess Parker Double Tree.

I ran down this lovely, widely paved bike path.  One of the reasons I love to run in SB, besides the weather and beach, is because it’s a very runner and biker friendly town.

I ran by the pier.

And the boat harbor.

Going in for a kiss with the camera.

I ran by Shoreline Park up on the Mesa.

And thought I’d take wilderness pictures in the park.

And then it started to get strange…

Now you can see why I became a runner. and not a ballerina.

It was a great run; Santa Barbara is one of my top favorite places to run.

So, do tell about your run/workout/whatever!

Ok back to regular programming and being nice Sarah.  No more mean comments about celebrities….

BUT…. if you make millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars by  PRETENDING and ENTERTAINING, then you can probably stand a little razzing.  And if not, you can retreat to your platinum McMansion and cry golden tears.

I’ll make fun of myself… and I only make hundreds of dollars a year.  Don’t tell the IRS that though.

Get ready for some Running Tuesday tomorrow; it’s coming from a new locale.

Good morning kids!  I’m off on assignment.  Actually, I’m dropping the kids off at school, going to run a couple miles of Santa Barbara coastline and then head back home to the great land of Vicki Gunvalson.

I looked online early last night as the Oscars were just starting.  I only saw a few pictures of dresses, and with every one I threw up in my mouth a little more.  So I quit looking.  mostly because my mouth was full.

I don’t know who this little boy is, but he needs to stop playing in his mom’s closet and come out of it.

If this whole look stopped at the chest, meaning everything north was gone, I’d like it.  But the weird yellow chest press bar going across the shoulders is really strange.

What else is strange is SJP’s face.  Do her eyes look hollowed out to anyone else?  It’s like she’s got skeleton face.

And one more thing, is there a seam running up the middle of the dress or do I have wonky eye?

I generally think Nicole Richie is adorable.  This look however, is not.  It’s like Walmart’s Route 66 line tried to do Missoni. 

Can someone please tell Zoe that we are not living in AvatarLand and she does not have to dressed by the set designer anymore.

I don’t know what movie Vera Farmiga is in, but what I want to know is the classis chicken or egg question:  Did the lipstick come first or the dress?  And Vera, do remember that Vitamin D is good for you; get some.  please.  You’re blinding us.

The other day I decided to make halibut chowder.  I had a frozen fillet in my freezer from last summer and wanted to do something with it besides fry it.

I combined a couple recipes because I’m crazy like that.  This recipe is from a crockpot cookbook; I love crockpot cooking because it doesn’t really get any simpler.  Microwaving tv dinners is almost harder.

Most of the time I “forget it” even when I’m not crockpotting and you’re supposed to do something like stir it for 30 minutes.

I received this cookbook as a bridal shower gift; I’ve made applesauce, taco soup, and even chicken dishes from it.  It’s pretty spectacular all the crazy things you can do with a pot of crock.

Then I also used this recipe from a book called Finally Thin!:

Finally Thin! is an easy to read, inspirational story by Kim Bensen about how she lost 200 pounds the old fashioned way: through diet and exercise.  In the back of the book she gives a lot of recipes that have helped her lose the weight and maintain her weight loss.

I ended up following the Thin recipe but only adding 2 cups of water and a can of creamed corn like the Crockpot recipe called for.

I’m a messy cook.  Right now my mom is shaking her head, fighting back tears and wondering where she went so horribly wrong.

Cook, baby, cook!

The final product:

I sprinkled some pepper, parmesan and butter buds on top.

The halibut was so mild and tender that you couldn’t even tell what type of fish it was.  You could use chicken in this even.  It kinda tasted like a corn chowder a little, with the potatoes and corn being dominant flavors.

Along with a side salad and some carrot trunks.

The chowder was pretty good for how low fat and low calorie it was.  Next time I’ll probably decrease the water a little because I like a thicker stew-type of soup.  Plus I’d add another can of corn since Jaydaddy really likes corn.  and he’s a big cornhole.

Ok enough of this food and recipe talk.  I’m outta here.  Did anyone do anything fun this weekend??

A short Y/I post before I take the kids to church…

LawGirl asked if Jaybob ever runs with me or at all…

Unless running to the toilet counts, no, he does not run.  I would love to run a race with him for fun one day, but I haven’t quite figured out how to trick him into signing up for one.

Tricia asked if I follow any sort of training plan…

No I don’t.  I don’t want to mostly because I know I wouldn’t follow it.  I could never do a “diet” for the same reason, I just wouldn’t follow it.  As I get older and learn more about myself, I’m realizing that when something becomes a “have to do”, I immediately don’t want to do it.

Anyways, I run for pure enjoyment and having a training plan that I don’t want to follow would suck a lot of enjoyment out of it for me.

Could I get better and faster with a plan?  I absolutely believe so, and if I ever got serious about running and wanted to try for something amazingly drastic, like run a sub 3, then I might consider it.  But right now I love running for the fun (and pain) of it.

Marietta asked if my family knows about the blog and how they found out…

Yes, they do know.  I just told them one day.  I am in the final stretch of getting a blog redesign (it has taken forever! like literally forever. and then 10 years.) and I wanted it to be “perfect” when they saw it for the first time.  Oh well, I think they still like me.

I’m not really sure who in my family reads it, I think my mom and brother maybe.  I don’t blame them; if I wasn’t me, I might not be as in love with myself as I am…

Also, if you think about it, it’s slightly embarrassing coming to grips with how narcassistic blogging and especially my blog is.  “Hey you wanna read MY blog that’s all about ME and where I take a butt ton of picture of ME and 100% of every post is about ME and MY life??? If I think about it too long, it can get a little disconcerting.  But then I just turn to the celeb gossip and all is well again.

Amy asked about my tattoo…

Maybe one day I’ll get into it, but I got one tattoo while living abroad in Spain and another after I was married.  I think the dolphin and the unicorn holding hands jumping over a rainbow with the wizard spelling out Chinese symbols with his wand riding the dragon in the background really turned out well.

What’s your favorite, dying wish, could eat every meal, meal?

Here’s mine:

The other day Jammy Jamms took me to Red Robin for lunch.  We like to go there whenever we have a gift card.  And whenever we don’t.  But luckily we had one this time.

Look how artistic I am taking a picture of something with Red Robin’s name on it.  You have to go to Brooks Institute of Photography to learn those tricks.

Whoah, Tyra Banks forehead, slow down there.

And here comes my last meal on death row:

The Cobb Salad with grilled chicken, no bacon or cheese, but with pickle slices.  Slathered with ketchup and ranch on the side.  With a water.  Although if it really was my last meal, I’d probably have a Diet Coke.  And a bottle of Dom.

And steak fries.  perfection in potato form.

And because we were evidently morbid and focused on my perfect last meal, JayJayJay took me to a candy store where I managed to leave with only a smallerish bag:

I asked for one of those 55 gallon trash bags… maybe this isn’t my perfect last meal anymore…

Oh yes it is.

So, what’s yours??

So Kirstie Alley has come up with her own weight loss program: Organic LiaisonHERE is an article about the specifics of it.  It looks like an organic meal plan with lots of supplements.

“I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist – I’m a regular person like you who has been struggling with her weight and searching and praying for a weight loss program to end that forever.”

(Kirstie on the left after losing 75 pounds strutting her stuff on Oprah.  On the right, she’s back on Oprah recently after gaining it all back.)

“I can promise you our certified weight loss elixir, Rescue Me, takes on excess hunger and cravings. It will support your body and flood your body with the missing elements that make weight loss an uphill battle.”

What do you think about Organic Liaison?  Would it be something you would try or shy away from??

Got my bags packed up and ready to hit the road to Santa Barbara….

I decided to retire my old Mizunos WaveRider 12’s for good today.  They have 515 miles on them, and with my thutt aching after the last and final run, I thought it’d be a good time to say goodbye.

When they were babies and brand spankin’ new... Goodbye, my first and second marathon shoes.  And half marathon PR shoes. and BQ shoes.  Would someone please stop me from being so lame?!?  please, Shut me up already!!

I’ve upgraded to the 13’s only because they don’t make the 12’s anymore; I broke these in already and used them for my last marathon.

I had hoped to put about 600 miles on the shoes, but pain-free trumps 85 extra miles any day.  I’ve also decided to use these for ONLY running, not cross training, walking the dog, running errands, wearing just so I look hardcore….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of you asked about the compression socks from Walmart.  Compression is like stretching; some studies show it helps and some say it doesn’t.  The idea behind them is toimprove oxygen delivery to muscles, speed lactic acid removal and stabilize the lower leg for greater muscle efficiency.”   (I have no idea why the font is so small)

Women’s CEP Running 02 Compression Sock $59.99

HERE is an article about whether compression socks work or not from the Running Times Magazine.  It basically says that there wasn’t any improvement to runners wearing them WHILE running, but they did speed recovery after runs.

I personally like them for recovery; I’ve never worn them while running but I put them on after most long runs.  I even wear mine snowboarding or if I’m going to be on my feet all day.  They just feel good, like your legs aren’t as tired.

Problem is they are expensive.

Zensa compression sock $49.99

There are also leg sleeves that are a little cheaper, but I talked to a running store employee who said they don’t work as well as the socks do.

Zensa Womens leg sleeves  $39.99

So what I use is Truform classic medical-style stockings from Walmart.  I said they were $11 but I am a liar.  They’re actually $19.97 at Wally’s take over the World.  But they are way more expensive online which is weird.


Sweet leg, dude.

I bought the smallest and tightest ones they had, meaning they have 20-30 mmHg of compression (if you get less compression like 15mmHg, they might not work as well) which is the tightest and a size M which was the smallest size Walmart had.  They feel tight but not uncomfortable or anything.  You pretty much forget you have them on until you go outside in a short dress and look like a complete goober.

My husband is a complete giver; he said that he would even take a Sharpie and write “Zensa” on mine so I’d have namebrand ones.  I’m also going to have him do the double C’s so I can have Chanel Tempo shorts, LV on my Louis Vuitton Target sports bras, and paint the soles of my shoes red so I’ll have Christian Louboutin running shoes!

Do you do compression?  Thoughts on it?  Think it works or just a money pit?

WORKOUT – Elliptical/bike ~30 mins/30 mins

I am driving up to Santa Barbara this weekend to nanny for the family that I worked for through college.

March is going to be crazy fun with:

*SB this weekend

*Dallas next weekend for the Rock ‘n’ Roll half

*our anniversary (I’ve got some sweet secret plans!) on the 16th

*LA Marathon the following weekend

*Then going to Phoenix for a week

*Running the Chesebro half in Calabasas with my friend Reese on the 28th.

Busy traveling and running, some of my favorite things.  I bet running isn’t one of your favorite things, now is it Oprah?

Speaking of her, she has a ‘lil vacation home in Santa Barbara: (you like that segue into celebrity gossip?)

And these stars were in Santa Barbara for their International Film Festival recently:

Emily Blunt.  I’ll be blunt: fabulous figure, ugly dress.  I think she’s engaged and getting married soon.

Hillary Duff.  Also engaged.  Also ugly dress.

Those two.  I think this was from 2008 or 2009 back when they were still in competition with Octomom and Kate Gosselin.

Things that aren’t subtle:

1. Adam Lambert’s love affair with make up.  Wonder if I could get my hands on that shade of lipstick or at least the foundation…

2. Boy George. enough said.

3. Me proclaiming: #70 Katie O, YOU ARE THE WINNER of the $10 Chocomize gift card!  Isn’t this the best day of your life??!!  Like better than your upcoming wedding!  Now all your wildest dreams will come true!!

I used random.org so hopefully all is kosher and we won’t have to do a Floridian recount…  Katie, please email me at skinnyrunnerblog@gmail.com your email address and I’ll send you the gift certificate via email.

Thanks to all 172 people who entered the giveaway; I didn’t even know 172 people knew about the blog…

« Previous PageNext Page »