LÄRABAR Giveaway

 *The giveaway is now closed*

I am super excited about today's post because I get to do my first giveaway thanks to some awesome people over at LARABAR.

I still have a fever and am still cooped up in my little college dorm room. I feel so lazy not being able to get up and move but I'd rather rest so I can get better sooner. Last night Alex came over for a little bit to visit so I hope he doesn't catch whatever I have!

So once again, no exciting workout happened today but I have an exciting giveaway to announce!

Giveaway

My friends over at  LÄRABAR have offered to giveaway a 16-count variety box of their bars!

If you have never heard of LARABAR here is a little bit of information about them:

LARABAR is a pure and simple bar made of fruits, nuts, and spices. The bars are gluten, dairy and soy free, have no added sugars, are vegan, and have no preservatives. So in all, they are pure deliciousness!

They 20 yummy flavors from apple pie to peanut butter chocolate chip so there is a bar to meet everyone's liking!

How to enter

Required: Comment on this post and tell me which flavor you would like to try. If you have never tried them, head over to their website and look around and pick from the 20 different flavors.
Optional: Share the giveaway on Facebook and like Truffles n' Treadmills Facebook Page and post an additional comment saying that you did
Optional: Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment saying you did "I just entered to win a box of @larabar from @trufflesntread at http://trufflesntreadmills.blogspot.com/" 

Who can comment

ANYONE! If you don't have a Google account, WordPress, AIM, or one of the other account options used to sign in to comment, I have offered the option to comment anonymously. Just make sure you include your first name in the comment!


I will pick a winner on Saturday!

Charity Miles

This morning I headed over to the health center because my fever still had not gone down. What people said about waiting for a long time to be seen was not a joke, I was there for over two hours. They prescribed me some antibiotics to help with the symptoms so hopefully that starts to kick in sooner rather than later.

I didn't workout today and my meals weren't the best. For lunch I had some chicken noodle soup and for dinner I had applesauce, pudding, and a Naked juice. I have been drinking a lot of water and Gatorade to replace the fluids lost due to the fever too.

Charity Miles

Earlier today one of my friends told me about an app called Charity Miles, available for iPhone and Android smart phones. The app allows its users to earn money by walking, running, or biking in order to raise money for the charity of their choice. The only catch about the app is that you need a Facebook account in order to access it because that is how you log in to it. Rather than force people to change their habits, the app gives users a way to add philanthropy to those everyday activities. For every mile walked or ran $0.25 will be donated and for every mile biked $0.10 is donated.

 

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The charities

Stand Up To Cancer
Feeding America
Every mother counts
Autism Speaks
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
World Food Programme
Wounded Warrior Project
ASPCA
The Nature Conservancy
Habitat for Humanity
Pencils of Promise
Achilles International
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria


Also, be on the lookout for a giveaway that will be happening on the blog within the next few days!

Do you know of any other apps similar to this? Have you used the Charity Miles app before?

Aches and Pains

Yesterday's aches and pains still haven't went away and I think I know why...

Last night my temperature was a bit higher and started going down as the night progressed but as today went on it started getting high again. If this keeps up I think I will head to the campus health center, which may be worse than running a fever and having a sore throat. I've never been to the one on campus but I hear the wait is awful.

Because I have been trying to stay consistent with working out and running I did some research online about working out while sick. One of the tips I found was if it hurts above the head (ie. headache, watery eyes, sore throat) you should be fine to work out, but if it hurts below the head (ie. fever, coughing, body aches due to sickness) then you should not workout.

My fever was down in the 99's earlier today so I thought it would be okay to squeeze in a quick workout just to keep my blood moving, and that workout did just that!

Workout

I completed a workout I found while browsing around on Fitlosophy Inc's site. I changed the box jumps to tuck jumps because I didn't have a box available. It definitely got my heart rate up, my legs burning, and my body sweating! After it I did a 10 minute walk on the treadmill on an incline because I was not feeling up to a run.

This is a great workout if you got out of your workout routine over the Thanksgiving weekend. Try it out and let me know what you think!


When you are sick do you completely skip the workout or push through it?

Galloping Gobbler 2012

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving spending time with friends and family! My Thanksgiving break was filled with fun activities, some running, and some light traveling.

To kick off the holiday my brother and I did the Galloping Gobbler 4 miler walk/run. I tried talking numerous people into doing the race with me but most of them had to get ready for Thanksgiving festivities. My brother, Chris, decided to walk it because he hasn't ran in months (maybe even years). Even though he didn't run with me I'm still glad he came! Also, I was super excited about my bib number because the number 3 is my favorite number! Maybe it was my good luck charm? :)

Being 8am on Thanksgiving morning, we just had a few fans who came to support us. Luckily for them, the weather was nice and it was pretty sunny out. My cousin from San Diego came to visit for the holidays and came to support us!

My sister was also there cheering us on!

It always means a lot to have support at races, even if they can only see you start and finish.

Race Results

The first time I ran this race was back in 2010 with some of my family members. When I ran it two years ago I finished with a time of 47:19, which is horrrrrible! I'm even embarrassed to say it. Thanks to the internet I was able to easily look up my time for that race in order to compare it with this year's, and I am really impressed with my improvement. In 2011 I didn't do the race because I was still recovering from my leg surgery and was not up for running that far.

This year I finished with a time of 36:22 with an average pace of 9:24! I am much more happier with that time and can tell all of my running is paying off. I was in the top 50 out of more than 200 runners for my age group! There were over 3,000 runners there total and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves! We started running on the college campus and then headed into a cemetery that was full of HILLS, where we were for a good portion of the race. Most of my runs lately have all been on flat surfaces as there aren't any good hills to run on in my area. I was hurting at some parts but was able to push through it and make it up all of the hills.

 

Workout

When I woke up today my throat was sore and my head was throbbing so I took some cold medicine and crawled back into bed until class. Later in the day I felt a little better so I decided to go on a run that was a little over 4 miles. When I started running I was hurting everywhere and had to do a run/walk combo for my workout. I am glad that I made myself run but now I am headed off to take a warm shower and grab some soup for dinner!


Did you take part in any holiday runs/walks this year?

Thanksgiving Eve Traditions

Today was filled with Fort Wayne holiday traditions.

To start off the afternoon, Alex and I went to Headwaters Park Ice Arena and skated until we couldn't skate anymore. We skated about an hour and a half off and on because our feet were killing from the skates.

Alex was doing laps around me in his skates. I preferred to keep my pace nice and steady to prevent falling on the ice.

 The falling down record was: Alex:1, Danielle:1. I was doing pretty good there until the end when I got ahead of myself and thought I was magically a pro.

After skating for a couple of hours we headed home to meet my mom and siblings before leaving to go downtown for some more festivities.

Our first stop was Pint n' Slice for dinner. We ended up ordering pepperoni pizza to share, a slice of mushroom pizza for me, and a slice of The Don for mom.

After we ate we headed to the spot where Santa and his reindeer were being lit up on the side of a building. This is the 33rd year that this lighting has occurred. Hundreds of people gather downtown to watch the lighting of Santa, a wreath, a building, and numerous other displays.

Before

 Waiting...

 After

Once this lit up everyone hustled over to the wreath lighting, which I didn't get a picture of.

After that we headed over to the Community Center to look around. They had a photo booth where we could take pictures with Buddy The Elf.

On our way back to the car we saw the display that Aunt Millie's Bread had put up. They covered the entire side of their factory with lights that flashed on and off in a pattern.

After seeing all of the lights we headed over to St. Francis college to pick up our race packets for tomorrow's race, the Galloping Gobbler 4 miler. Once we picked those up we headed over to Starbucks to grab a drink and watch the fireworks display. At Starbucks I saw two of my good friends, Amanda and Ali. It was such a good surprise to see them there because we all go to different schools and can barely see each other anymore. 

Now it's time for bed so I can get a good night's rest before the race tomorrow!

Are there any holiday traditions that you attend each year?

We're Outta Here!

School today couldn't have drug on any slower.. that's because it was the last day before Thanksgiving break! I didn't have to go to any classes but I had to work the first half of the day and spent the rest of the day packing and getting the room ready so we could leave for break. We have a to-do list and have to make sure certain things are done before we can check out of the dorms for a long break (take out trash, unplug everything, etc.).

Once I got everything done I had to wait around until 3:30 to turn in a paper before I could head home. As soon as I turned in my paper, I headed towards Jamba Juice to pick up 2 Pumpkin Smash smoothies and 1 cinnamon apple pretzel to share with Alex on the ride home. The pretzel smelled so good when it first came out of the oven and was so warm and soft. And the taste.. it was amazing.

Once we got home my mom had dinner ready for us. She made a chicken bacon ranch pasta dish that she found on Pinterest, originally pinned from Chef In Training's website. The recipe was really filling and being a ranch lover myself, I really enjoyed it. I personally thought it could use a little bit more ranch, so I am sure you can tweak the amount of ranch to your liking. I put the recipe at the bottom of this post.

Workout

Being home I don't have the access to a full gym within a 5 minute walk, so I took full advantage of doing one of the many home workout DVDs we have collected over the years. I decided to do the Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown DVD to change things up a bit. I have been doing a lot of cardio lately and I thought that yoga would be a good change. The workout consisted of a lot of balance, and moves that combined balance with movement. I can tell that my muscles are going to be sore tomorrow. My favorite move from the workout is called the Dolphin Pose Push Up. It worked my arms, back, and core all at the same time. If you are unfamiliar with yoga poses, you can check out how to do this pose here.

After my workout we enjoyed banana smoothies made of bananas, milk, ice, and a hint of vanilla. I added soy chocolate protein powder to mine for a little extra protein after my workout.

Mail

When I got home today I also saw that my t-shirt I ordered from Running for Ramie had been delivered! I always love getting things in the mail, especially packages! My cousin's friend, Tamara, ran in a marathon in honor of her friend Ramie who had passed away. She sold shirts as a way to raise money for a scholarship fund that was dedicated to Ramie. I thought that this was a good idea as most people, especially runners, love t-shirts! I am definitely going to have to break this t-shirt out in the next few days!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:
10-12 oz penne pasta
2 cups cooked and chopped chicken
3/4 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups heavy cream (or milk)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/3 cup ranch dressing
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Cook pasta according to its package's directions. Drain. I always add a little olive oil after I drain it and stir in around so the pasta noodles don't stick together or the pot.
2. Toss in cooked and chopped chicken as well as cooked and crumbled bacon into the pasta.
3. TO MAKE RANCH ALFREDO SAUCE: Melt butter in saucepan, add flour and stir to combine. Once you have your roux, add heavy cream (or milk) stir constantly until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in Garlic salt, onion powder and ranch dressing until well combined.
4. Pour ranch alfredo over pasta, chicken and bacon. Stir to evenly combine.
5. Add in shredded cheddar cheese and stir to combine.
6. Pour into a casserole pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.

Recipe source

What is your favorite Pinterest recipe?  

Strawberry Surf Rider

Mondays are always my favorite day of the week. Call me weird, but they really are. Most people dread waking up early after sleeping in over the weekend but on Mondays I don't ever have to wake up early for class or work, which is so nice.

My morning was not very productive. I just got some breakfast and relaxed all morning. Around noon I went to lunch with some friends to get mexican in one of the dining halls. We all got quesadillas. I had cheese and rice put in mine and topped it with guacamole and tomatoes. It was really good! I also had an apple on the side. I was extremely full for the rest of the afternoon and was not very hungry for dinner.

Workout

Today's workout was with run club. We did one of the loops we already have mapped out which was 3.63 miles. We finished in 29.58 minutes. I stopped the time at all of the major intersections that we had to wait at. It was a gorgeous day for a run, sunny and 60 degrees! Can you believe it? It is going to be Thanksgiving in 2 days and it is 60 degrees!

Jancee and I had been talking about moving our dorm room around for awhile. The way our room was arranged before made it hard for her to see the TV unless she was sitting at the end of her bed. I kept putting it off because I didn't think the TV would reach the cable cord outlet if we put it on the opposite side of the room. We ended up moving the room around and now we can both easily see the TV plus the room looks like it has a lot more space to move around. It's a win, win!

When we finished moving things around we went to Jamba Juice for smoothies and wraps for dinner. I got the Strawberry Surf Rider smoothie and made it light. Making it light reduces the calories, sugar, and carbs and it still tastes just as good. The Strawberry Surf Rider is made of strawberries, peaches, and lemonade.

For the wrap I got a Southwestern Chicken Chorizo breakfast wrap. This was my first time getting a breakfast wrap, and I will definitely be trying this one again. The breakfast wraps are available all day long, which luckily for me, it was easy to eat while on the run and filling when paired with a smoothie, which means it will definitely be a do-over for dinner. It was made with scrambled egg whites, chicken chorizo, a spiced corn and black bean blend, cheese and zesty salsa.

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Tomorrow my boyfriend and I are headed to my hometown for part of Thanksgiving break. I have to work at my other job Black Friday at 4AM!!! After I get off we are headed to his house for the other half of break!  Happy traveling.

Have you ever had Jamba Juice? What is your favorite thing to get there?
Do you have any exciting Thanksgiving plans?

Special Delivery

This post is going to be jam packed with everything from what I did over the weekend to the reason behind my blog's name change!

Friday

Friday night was very relaxing and consisted of a lot of lounging around, watching TV, painting nails, and eating pizza. Jancee was talking on the phone to her boyfriend who is currently stationed at a navy base in Florida and mentioned how her and I were really hungry. Her boyfriend, being the thoughtful guy he is, asked us what our favorite pizza place was in the area and we told him it was Cousin Vinny's Pizza. Cousin Vinny's offers a deal called "The Big Ten" that consists of a large 1-topping pizza, breadsticks and cheese, and 2 drinks. Her boyfriend then hung up the phone, called Cousin V's, and ordered us pizza! I thought this was so sweet of him as he lives 5 states away. He even had the pizza place write a special message in the boxes for Jancee. Thanks for the pizza Dylan!

Saturday

Saturday was also a relaxing day. I didn't have much planned for the day and caught up on a few hours of sleep. Alex's older sister invited us to go with them on a road trip to Ohio to see his parents and some family who was home from out of town. We took them up on the offer right away since we didn't have any other plans for the night. We spent our time talking, playing cards, and eating good food!

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Workout

Today's workout was all cardio. I hit the gym for 10 minutes on the stair stepper followed by 10 minutes on the bike. My bike workout consisted of alternating 1 minute of resistance 10 and 1 minute of resistance 5 for a total of 10 minutes. I have not done the stair stepper in quite awhile so it was somewhat of a challenge.

Blog Name

The name of my blog was "Run like a girl" but because I couldn't just use runlikeagirl.blogspot I had to use a longer website name, runlikeagirl13miles.blogspot.com which was really lengthy and hard for some people to remember. I will still use the motto "Run like a girl" for the ovarian cancer fundraising aspect of my blog and for the race. At first I was going to use my blog to only track my training for the mini-marathon and in an effort to raise awareness and money for ovarian cancer but I have been loving blogging and have included several things that are not from my training. I decided to change the blog name to "Truffles n' Treadmills." I feel that it is catchy and easier for people to remember, especially because it doesn't include numbers or anything. Plus it includes both my love for chocolate, especially truffles, and my love for running. You can now follow my blog at trufflesntreadmills.blogspot.com 


Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Cold Weather Running

November is half way over... and you know what that means? Running outside is beginning to be chilly cold freezing.

Here are some tips to keep you warm on your runs so you can still get in those long runs and not have to run on that dreaded treadmill all winter long.

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Clothing
Layers are a lot more important for the upper body than the lower body. This is because your legs generate much more heat than your core does while running. Most runners can get by with tights on cold runs but if it is <10 degrees then an extra pair of insulation is a good idea.

For the upper body wearing more than 1 layer is ideal. The first layer should be a sweat wicking layer that helps move sweat away from the body in an effort to keep you warm. The second layer should be a fleece material to help keep you warm when it is really cold. The outer layer should be a protective layer to protect and keep you dry from wind, sleet, snow, and rain.

Dress 20 degrees warmer.
Dressing for a warmer temperature than it actually is will allow your body temperature to increase without making you oversweat.

You lose 40% of your body heat through your head.
Wool or fleece hats or headbands are great for keeping body heat in. Another good thing to wear is a bandana or a scarf to keep your neck warm. You can also pull the bandana up over your mouth to keep the air you breathe warm.

You can lose up to 30% of your body heat through your extremities.
Wear gloves to protect your hands. Never wear cotton socks on runs. Cotton socks do not help to wick away moisture, leading to blisters. They also don't keep your feet very warm. Wear socks that are specific for running or wool socks when it is really cold out. If you are planning on running through the snow rather than plowed trails then wearing a trail shoe is a better option as it won't soak up as much water.

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Stay hydrated.
Staying hydrated is very important. Running while dehydrated is never a good option especially in the colder months. When the weather gets cooler most people don't think about replacing lost fluids as much as when it is hot and they sweat a lot more. 

Bright Colors
In the winter everything looks dull and dreary. Avoid wearing colors such as grey, black, or navy. Wear bright colors and reflectors so you can be seen by others and avoid accidents. 

Dress for the Environment
If you are running in New York you are going to dress differently than you would if you were running in Indiana. This website has great tips on what to wear depending on what part of the country you live in. This is also great to look at if you plan to be traveling this winter and still want to run while you are away from home!

Sources: http://www.runnersworld.com/cold-weather-running/comfort-zones, http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Running_in_cold_weather, http://running.about.com/od/coldweatherrunning/a/wintergear.htm, http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Winter-Running-Tips.htm

10 to 6

Today's lunch was a veggie sub that consisted of provolone cheese, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, red, yellow and green peppers, onions, and hummus. The picture I took makes it look disgusting so I am not going to share that!

After lunch I studied for a test that I had to take at 3:30 but I was feeling good about it so I took it an hour early. I feel like I did pretty well on it so cross your fingers! Since I took the test early I had some extra time on my hands to workout.

Workout

Today's workout was a circuit workout that I found on Peanut Butter Finger's blog a few weeks ago. This workout was focused on cardio but also included abs, legs, and a tiny bit of arm exercises. This workout only took about 30 minutes to complete and I was super sweaty after it. If you are up for a challenge then you can go from 10 reps all the way down to 1 rep! Once we reached 6 reps, the exercises flew by and I am sure we could have gone all the way but we were limited on time.

Wrong Turn

Lunch yesterday was a delicious stir-fry paired with a warm egg roll. The stir-fry included chicken, broccoli, snow peas, baby corn, red and green peppers, green and yellow squash, shredded carrots, and white rice. I was up for trying a different sauce rather than my usual teriyaki or sweet and sour so I chose szechuan sauce, which had a nice kick to it!

Workout

Yesterday's weather did not feel as cold as it had been so Jancee and I decided to go on a run around the neighborhoods near campus. We ran about 2.5 miles and were getting really hot half way through the run. We looked up a route using Google Maps that we were going to run but we ended up taking a wrong turn somewhere and just winged it! After the run I did a few random leg exercises that focused on hamstrings and glutes. I found this awesome website where you can put in what muscle group you want to work, if you want to use equipment, your fitness level, etc.

Jancee and I after the run.
Note: We aren't crazy enough just to run in t-shirts and running pants in 40 degree weather. We wore sweatshirts over our matching glow-in the dark shirts so we wouldn't freeze!

Fully Occupied

Dinner last night was a big, yummy salad and a Naked juice. The salad was topped with green peppers, tomatoes, hard-deviled eggs, cucumbers, cheese, and turkey. My roommate suggested that I try the Light Olive Oil Vinaigrette with Balsamic Vinegar. I normally put ranch or olive oil and lemon juice on my salad but this was tasty! I will definitely be using this dressing again.

 

The Naked juice that I drank was strawberry banana flavored. If you don't know what a Naked juice is, it is a 100% juice smoothie and has none of those "what the heck does that say?" ingredients. Mine contained strawberries, bananas, apple, and a hint of orange. It was delicious.

Workout

I headed down to the gym in my dorm around 8:00 last night determined to run on the treadmill because it was already way to dark to run outside. One my way down there, I was following behind 2 girls. As soon as we got in the door they jumped on the only two open elliptical machines that were available because all of the treadmill were in use too. So I headed back to my room and worked on some homework. I guess I could have went back down and checked out the availability a little later but I just didn't have it in me so yesterday's workout was non-existent.

A Piece of Heaven

Today was one of those days that felt like it was really busy, but when I look back on it, I had a lot of free time. I started the day off by working a quick shift at the cafe then headed over to a t-shirt exchange. The Student Government Association at school was collecting old high-school and college t-shirts to donate to a local homeless shelter. In exchange for donating an old t-shirt, they gave you a new shirt to wear to the last home football game on Wednesday. Saying I have dozens of t-shirts may be an understatement, but one more can't hurt, right?

 

Workout

Today was our first snowfall of the year! The snow didn't stick and it stopped snowing by the time I was ready to go on a run. My run was roughly 3 miles long. After that I completed an ab workout that I found on Courtney's blog.

 

Challenge Update

I also cheated on the Turkey Day Challenge today :( One of my friends offered me a piece of dove chocolate, which tasted so good! It was a tiny piece but it still counts as cheating! It tasted like heaven, hence the blog title.

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Important

The most important thing that happened today was.... registering for the race!
I sent in my registration for the Indy Mini-Marathon that is in May. If you are interested in participating in this race you can register online by clicking on the tab "The Race" that is at the top of this blog. The cost of the race is $60 until November 30th and then $75 after that.

Life In Color

Life in Color, formerly known as Dayglow, is the world's largest paint party and the world's largest electronic music concert.  Students had the opportunity to purchase a ticket for $15, instead of the normal cost of $40-$65! The show began with high-energy music playing and then the host did an introduction. He told us all to scream "Start the countdown," until the paint blast. When we did, a timer of 1 HOUR came on the big screen! At first my friends and I were disappointed as we all thought it would be 10 minutes tops until the paint blast. We all danced for the hour and then the paint began! It shot out from the stage at unexpected times throughout the concert.

My boyfriend, Alex, and I after Life in Color

The paint was watery and cold, which was refreshing because it was extremely hot in the arena with all of the people dancing. Everyone who came to the show wore white so the glow in the dark paint would show up easily in the black lights. The show also had different strobe and light effects which were really cool and added to the excitement. I heard that bigger shows even have acrobats and different performance acts which would have been really cool to see. Overall, I am glad that I got to experience this and if Life in Color comes to your area then I suggest you go! It was definitely a fun experience that I won't forget.

As for yesterday's workout, I didn't do one. I felt that all of the dancing at Life in Color was a workout in itself! Today I have been busy writing a paper and I have barely enough time to squeeze this post in, so if I get a workout in later tonight I will be surprised. A long run is definitely in the plans for tomorrow's agenda.

Dinner tonight was small and quick. I wasn't really feeling very hungry because I shared a blueberry muffin with my boyfriend earlier but I managed to make something up. I had a bowl of rice that I mixed with some salsa, and a side of strawberries. Salsa is one of my absolute favorite foods so if I find an opportunity to incorporate it in with my meal then I will. The picture doesn't make it look appetizing but it tasted really good. The salsa gave the rice a nice kick and added some spice.

Temptations

I started the Turkey Day Challenge 3 days late, but have been going strong for the past 5 days. The hardest rule of this challenge has been not eating foods with added sugar. It is supposed to be completely cut out of your diet which means no dessert-like or sugary foods that are eaten for pleasure.

This was difficult because last weekend I attended a fall party that was hosted by my aunt and uncle. At the party there were bowls that were full of leftover Halloween candy. These buckets had all of my favorites from FULL size bags of M&Ms (my absolute favorite), Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Twizzlers, and Milky Way bars. It was especially hard to say no to my 5-year-old cousin when he insisted that everybody eat some candy! Deep down I really wanted to say "yes" and dig right in!

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I think after a few days of not eating extra sugary or dessert-like foods that you hit a point where it is all you want to eat. I have been trying to resist my urges by chewing gum, eating fruit, or drinking flavored water. Even though I occasionally crave sweets, I have been feeling better overall since I haven't ate them.

These easy part of this challenge for me has been getting 5 workouts in and including at least three 30 minute cardio sessions a week.

Workout

Today's workout did not consist of any cardio. I just wanted to focus on strength training and did an arm workout. I found a workout similar to this on Pinterest and made some of my own modifications to it. I have found that when it comes to upper arm strength, I have close to none. If you do this workout you can make your own modifications depending on your strength ability. This workout is a challenge and I could really feel my arms burning when I was doing the third superset!

California Rolls

I still live in the college dorms so I do not really have the option to choose what I want to eat and there are not a lot of healthy options. I also do not have the option to fire up the stove to cook my own meals. Lunch today was fresh and light! Today I opted for California sushi rolls, which are made fresh by one of the chefs. I also paired it with fresh cantaloupe.

 I ended my lunch with a fruit parfait that included blueberries, strawberries, vanilla yogurt, and granola. This parfait is delicious and is probably one of my favorite things to eat.

Workout

On Wednesdays I have a night class from 6:30-9:10 so I am usually not in the mood to go to club and get all sweaty right before a 3 hour class. I just don't find sitting in a class full of people right after a run very appealing. I am sure the other students appreciate me coming to class not sweaty too! After my class I headed to the gym with my roommate, Jancee, and completed a 40 minute workout on the elliptical. I did not do any special workout routine, just chose the "variety" option that is preset in the elliptical.

Track Tuesdays

Before I get into today's workout, I will recap yesterdays.

Yesterday I ran with other members of the Run Club. We went on a quick 3.5 mile run in the neighborhoods surrounding campus. We ran at a 9 minute pace, so we were done in 31 minutes. We start running at 5pm every day which is usually not a problem but because of daylight savings time it was almost dark by the time we returned from our run. We were talking about changing our meeting time to 4 that way when we do our longer runs we are not running in the dark.

After the run I completed a workout that I made up that works your entire body.

 
When I woke up this morning I was feeling last night's workout in my quads! They were pretty sore from all the lunges and the curtsies.

Today is a Tuesday which means it's a workout day! Every Tuesday we go to the track for "Track Tuesdays." Another runner made up a list of track workouts so each week we go and complete one of these workouts. The distance to the track is roughly a half mile, so we run there, workout, then run back. Today's workout was 3x800s. My Achilles is feeling really tight now, so I see some stretching and icing in the near future!

Happy [Belated] Halloween

Early last year my aunt and uncle reserved a room at Ceruti's, a full service catering company in Fort Wayne. Because the original plans for the reception hall were changed, they did not want the space to go to waste. So what better way to use the space than for a Halloween party?

My aunt and uncle invited family members and several of their friends and co-workers to the party. There was a lot of yummy food that Ceruti's catered like garden salad, potatoes, green beans, and chicken. There was also strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, and chocolate cake for dessert!

There were a lot of fun and creative costumes! People dressed up as Dr. Who, Honey Boo-Boo, a zebra, and the singer of Gangnam style!

There were a lot of fun games that my aunt organized for everyone to play. We played bingo and used candy corn as markers. There was a table set up of prizes that the winners could pick from, which included things such as candles, candy, and DVDs!

There was also dancing, a hot-potato game where we passed a pumpkin around (hot-pumpkin?), and cornhole! Overall the party was a blast and a huge success. Everyone enjoyed themselves and even left with a goodie bag filled with Halloween themed toys and candy!