eat good, live good, feel good

Man. What a day. As much as I want to pretend like the events of today didn’t happen and just write a post filled with cute pictures I can’t go without mentioning my thoughts regarding both of the recent shootings. I honestly have very few actual words in my head and my heart – it’s mostly emotions.

I am so, so sad for all the families who have lost a loved one. I get a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes every time I think about it. I have hatred for the people who committed these acts and anger at the people who watched these shooters, who had to show signs of being mentally disturbed, in the days and weeks leading up to these events and didn’t take action when they saw the warning signs. And I have some fear, of how easy it is to miss or ignore those warning signs, and of the direction this country is headed. Finally I have hope: that faith, love, and humanity will prevail and that these actions help us to become a better people somehow, in some way, because without that hope we have nothing.

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Until I got home from my run and saw that something had gone horribly wrong I was having a fantastic 24 hours. Last night Hubster and I went to the local Mexican hotspot Luchita’s (on W 117th) with some of his work peeps. Luchita’s is actually kind of a hole in the wall, which is exactly why I love it. Authentic Mexican food with awesome staff and a fun atmosphere. I HATE tequila but I gave in to peer pressure and had a margarita with my meal…

This is my tequila face. I tried not to let it out in it’s full effect last night…not sure I was successful

I still hate tequila. I do not, however, hate the best dish on the menu – Tinga de Pollo – which I ordered and devoured last night. I would have taken a picture but I went in to the restaurant “naked” (no electronic devices ). The Tinga de Pollo is chicken and chorizo with avocado on top served with rice and beans. A-MAZING. I cleaned my plate.

Then this morning I had a kick butt track workout despite the old tummy feeling a little hinky when I woke up. I was only able to gag down half a PickyBar and a gel, which almost came back up. No clue why I was so yuck, but I’m blaming the tequila. Luckily once I started running that feeling went away!

Speaking of running, let’s get a visual as to why I love Oiselle distance shorts. This morning, after a lot of running in warm weather and not enough laundry loads, I realized I was out of clean Oiselle shorts options. EGAD! So I begrudgingly put on some spandex and some Nike shorts…How bad could they be, really? (It’s been over a month since I’ve run in Nike’s).

MY LEGS ARE NOT FAT!!! Why is all the fabric stuck in my crotch!?!?!

This picture was taken after my warm up jog – no adjusting, I just stopped running, stood still, and clicked. Are you kidding me? NEVER AGAIN. Stopping at my local running shop tomorrow to pick up another pair of Distance Shorts…or maybe 2.

The track workout on my schedule today was 4x200m (200m recovery), 4x400m (400m recovery), and 2x200m (200m recovery). If you care about paces, I ran all the 200′s in 46-47 sec and the 400′s at an eerily consistent 1:37. Faster than planned and I didn’t feel wiped out afterwards – SUCCESS!

I honestly find something calming about the oval…

On the way home I stopped at our local health food store because I’ve been wanting to try some of these post-workout recovery drinks I’ve been hearing about – I usually suck at recovery and since I’m running well I want to keep the train rolling and this is an area I can seriously improve on (that makes a big difference!). Anyway, I was perusing the aisles for the Vega One nutritional shake mix (used by this speedy lady) and lo and behold, look at what I found!:

Nuun All Day, I’ve been WANTING to try you! Colorful little canisters amongst boring nutritional shake packaging

The price was a little steep vs deals I could get online, but I’ve been wanting to try the “all day” variety of Nuun for a while so I just had to grab a little canister. They stood out so well – Great packaging design Nuun!

Then I arrived home to find that {not so} little Tessie had left me a surprise! Back story: Last year we were able to put all the presents under the tree and Tessie didn’t so much as sniff at them (you can see where this is going). Fast forward to yesterday, when Hubster decided to put several packages his mom had sent us under the tree.

Then fast forward to this morning, when I walked in the door, groceries in hand, to find Tessie looking guilty laying on the couch. I look to the left: presents from under the tree scattered about the dining room, ripped open in varying degrees.

Tessie has perfected the Christmas present opening technique.

I look up the stairs, at the top I can see one brand new cozy slipper, completely unwrapped, and a package of seasoned nuts, also totally unwrapped but thankfully still in the packaging.

Side note: Totally pumped about these slippers!

“TESSIE! Bad Girl!”

“this is my guilty face. Can I have a treat?”

“But Mom, I was just trying to find the one to me!”

(She did have a present for her, which she did open.) I immediately got on the phone with hubster, dying with laughter after I realized she didn’t actually eat anything. Then, while on the phone with him I found my way into the living room, where I found the final present, socks (for me) completely unwrapped (but in tact). Silly Tessie.

What’s your favorite post-workout beverage? Help me out here – I want to become a recovery pro!