Daily Archive

Boy, did I have an experience getting my hair cut today!

To save some $$ I decided to get my hair cut at the local Aveda School. I mean how can you beat $36 for highlights and $12 for a haircut? Don’t worry I have had my cut there before and have nothing but good things to say about the results. It’s getting to the results that are a challenge.

The highlights took longer then normal due to the foil newbies and my super thick hair. And when it came time for the haircut I believe the girl was afraid to cut it as short as I wanted. She started at one level and then I had to keep telling her to go shorter. Finally her instructor just came over and cut my hair for her.

So 4 hours later I emerged with a haircut I was very happy with and a smile on my face

What do you think? I love it!!

I’m awful at taking self portraits, but I did attempt to get a picture of the back as well.

You kind of get the idea.

Backing up to earlier in the day. I snacked on a pack of Annie Bunny Fruit Snacks mid morning.

The whole morning I was looking forward to the wonderful lunch I had packed the night before.

This was seriously one of those meals that when I finished I kept repeating how great it was to myself.

I had left over Yuca.

Carrots with Almond Butter

An Apple that I also dipped in the almond butter.

And the last piece of Raw Goat Milk Cheese to round the meal out.

I always find the randomly paired meals are usually the best.

Though my lunch did fill me up, by the time I made it home after my extra-long hair appointment I was STARVING. I made the big mistake of going to the appointment snack free.

As soon as I took Abbie out, I got to work in the kitchen throwing together an easy peezy colorful stir fry.

In a wok I added

• Sesame Oil
• Garlic
• Cilantro
• Sesame Seeds
• Green Beans
• Red Cabbage
• Carrot
• Eggplant
• Pineapple
• Tempeh
• Mushroom

I then coated it with this sauce I had picked up at Trader Joes in San Diego.

This curry sauce had the perfect level of spiciness to it and really did a great job of bringing the whole meal together.

Every vegetable I added to this dish was fresh, the only item that was packaged was the tempeh. I loved how colorful and refreshing this dish came out. It was a perfect, healthy stir fry.

1/2 of one of Amanda’s Peanut Butter Trail Mix Blondies was patiently waiting for me for dessert.

Now I’m off to go stare in a mirror and play with my new haircut.

Good Night!!

I am glad everyone enjoyed my previous Marathon Reflection post on Weight & Hunger. To hear everyone had similar experiences is really encouraging and eye opening.

I thought long and hard on what to focus on this week, but all I really had to do was look towards my feet for inspiration. Last Friday I was lucky enough to enjoy my first pedicure in who knows how long, but before then my feet were tore up!

But just to put a fair warning out there, this post is a teeny bit graphic. So, if you don’t want to be grossed out then please don’t read it. Thanks!

When I would tell people I was running a marathon they would quiz me on black toe nails, blisters, chafing, etc. Basically what I would like to refer to as Marathon Battle Scars.

I was very lucky throughout my training on what scars I did endure. The worse I had were the severe calluses forming around my feet. The worst of which presented themselves on the outside of my big & pinky toes. My heels were rubbed dry and my ankles were permanently pink, dotted with fainted scars of blisters.

I would get comments on my beat up feet when ever I wore flip flops, but I live in Florida and not wearing flip flops is not an option.

I know team mates that had it much worse. They were experiencing the black toe nails and the ability to peel their own toe nails off. A couple had the toenails break right down the middle!

My only experience with a black toe nail came in my last week of training when the very tip of my big toe turned a deep purple. After the marathon is still looked the same as before with the deep purple corner.

I was also lucky to never experience any chafing during training, minus from the drawstring of the shorts I wore for my final 20 mile run.

One of the biggest lessons I learned though, is with all the training you  accomplish, you still have no idea what is going to happen on race day!

On race day I wore a skirt and sports bra I had ran in plenty of times before, including my success 18 mile run a month prior. During the trainings I had experienced no chafing. However, after mile 20 I discovered is when all hell breaks loose. After 3.5 hours of running my legs had somehow found their way to each other and I could feel the rubbing starting to burn. After running by dozens upon dozens of volunteers holding up sticks of Vaseline I grabbed one of mile 20 and slathered it on my inner thighs. That really hit the spot!

Some time before then Bobbi and I had actually got a kick out of a man in an Elvis costume, whom we witnessed grab Vaseline, unzip his jumpsuit and proceed to go to town with his business and the Vaseline. We were laughing at just how bad he must have been chafing at that point.

I didn’t notice the other areas I chafed until the race ended. Once I crossed the finish line, I could feel the burn in my arm pits. I lifted my arms to red marks all underneath. It really stung. I then discovered my bra burn that had occurred from the lower end of my sports bra once I was in the shower. In fact the hot rushing water does a great job of informing you of all the exact areas you had chafed or blistered.

At the end of the race the calluses that had formed on the outside of my big toes had expanded and tore. My feet wouldn’t let me wear real shoes for a few days! I also had a blister form between my pinky toe and the one next to it. I felt like I had a piece of paper or something between my toes.

Eventually the chafing marks faded and the pedicure helped with my toes, but for a brief moment is it strange that I wanted to show off all the battle scars? Every chance I got I would brag about my beat up feet or lift my arms to show the red marks. I guess after you run a marathon you have the right to be proud of every aspect of the journey.

Does anyone else have any Marathon Battle Scar stories to share?

To help wake me up and get the blood flowing this morning I decided to have a dance party in my living room.

I put my Marathon Mix on my Itunes at full blast and just started grooving to the music. Thankfully my blinds were closed tight and Abbie never feels the need to judge me for  my lack of skills.

I often forget how dancing really is a great cardio work out. I danced it out for an hour combining odd jumping up and down moves, old cheerleading routines and some long forgotten line dance combinations from my cowboy bar days. It was pretty fun, had my heart rate up and seriously left me full of energy.

Once I was finished telling Abbie to ‘hit me with her best shot’ I did a quick yoga session with Polly. I tried her Yoga for Healthy Shins and Knees. As always Polly was very soothing, but I felt the yoga moves more in my hamstrings then in my shins. I guess that just goes to show you how super tight my hamstrings truly are.

Last night I was so proud of myself for actually remembering to place my Muesli mix in the fridge overnight, so it would be nice and soft this morning.

I followed the same recipe I used previously and just added a spoonful of Naturally Nutty Vanilla Almond Butter, Strawberries, Blueberries and 1/2 a Kiwi this morning.

I had quite a few comments the last time I had kiwi and I wanted to point out that yes it is ok to eat the skins! You can’t taste them and it’s 100 times more convenient then trying to peel the slimy suckers.

Decisions, Decisions…

I have a hair appointment during my lunch hour this afternoon as I am in desperate need of some highlights and a good cut. I believe the last time I went to a salon was in the end of November and since then my the top of my highlights now begin at my temples instead of at my roots – my hair grows really fast.

Since it’s summer time I am kind of stuck on what to do with the actual hair cut. Should I just get a trim? Should I cut it all off? Should I try a fun new hair cut?

I cut my hair pretty short right after college and it was a breeze to take care of, but that was back in my slightly heavier days and it wasn’t the most flattering on my face.

I have also had phases where I let my hair grow out super long, which was awful to manage, but I LOVED the way it looked.

Right now I am at the middle stage where I just feel blah about it.

Any suggestions? Keep in mind, its summer time in Florida which means very hot and humid and I have naturally wavy hair. :/