Becoming a Runner: Look what I went and did!!!

Hello lovelies!

All in all I would have to say I had a great weekend. I worked out, I cooked, I got to hang out with the boy for two days straight, and I attended my first non-work gathering in this city. All of these go a long way to making this place feel a little bit more like a home. :o)

I also have a little SURPRISE for you - in my evolution towards a half-mary (half marathon) runner! lol But I'll leave that reveal for the end. Let's start with yesterday's eats.

I began my morning with a smoothie blend identical to the one from Saturday. I'm definitely a HUGE fan of mangoes in my Green Monsters. Next time I'm near a Costco I'll have to load up. As I was sitting down to enjoy my breakie I busted out my Rodney Yee Power Yoga DVD (review coming soon) and happily noticed my breakfast and my workout matched! :oP lol


Lunch yesterday was very yummy and surprisingly filling! It also happened to be green! :oP I took one of my whole wheat tortilla wraps and filled it with 1/2 of a small avocado, a smear of hummus, crumbled goat's milk feta, a tiny bit of salsa, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, cucumbers, and a small amount of chicken and shrimp that I grilled on my stove-top.


See how insanely full of veggies it is?! That wrap and apple kept me full until quite late in the evening. Which is a very good thing because it kept me from indulging in the baked goods I made for yesterday's party, Oh She Glows! baked banana donuts:


I made some modifications to the recipe. To make them slightly tastier I added apple sauce to the batter. I also created a glaze using icing sugar, water, vanilla essence, and a healthy dose of rum. They were a hit - everyone would bit into them and go "Mmmmmm rum . . ."

When I was invited to dinner I was told "Come! There will be ribs! And pizza! And wings!" lol Most people consider that three separate parties. I also noticed that there was no mention of anything with veggies in it. I wanted to make sure there was something I could eat without doing too much damage. So I volunteered to bring a salad.


My lovely salad was made up of multi-coloured lettuce, cucumbers, sunflower seeds, a sprinkle of sun dried tomatoes, strawberries, and whole-wheat croutons. This was all topped off with a fat-free pear vinaigrette that went wonderfully with the strawberries!

At the party I first indulged in a good serving of salad and a small piece of ribs:


I was then offered some of their home-made pizza. So I took a small slice and loaded up with salad on top. I've never done that before but it really got the greasiness of the pizza. Not that it was overly greasy - it wasn't. It just lightened it up a bit! It also filled me up so I would stay away from future slices.

I finished off the evening by enjoying one of my home-made baked donuts. All in all a good night! :o)

Now for today's edition of Becoming a Runner . . .

I have officially chosen my race! On Sunday, October 11th, 2009 I will be running the Royal Victoria Half Marathon!!

Victoria is the home of my fitness journey. I arrived severely overweight and out of shape. I left a totally different person. It's home to wonderful views, a boat load of memories, the place I will always consider my gym home in this big world (Bodhi Personal Training Studio), my trainer (Hi Nick!), and the location of my first race last year (the Times Colonist 10K).

Choosing the Royal Victoria Marathon as my half-mary also allows me to go spend Canadian Thanksgiving, the weekend of the race, with the boy's family. It will be a home-coming of sorts and I'm beyond excited!!

Want to see the course?

Sorry it's all squished but you get the idea! It's a beautiful course with most of it run along the Ocean.

I'm SUPER excited!! This makes my goal all the more real. It gives me something tangible to work towards. And that makes this Toronto Girl out West, a happy camper! :o)