Then how's about a 5k, Sunday brunch & cats?

September has been uber busy!  I started a new job and have a completely new work/workout schedule.  Good thing about my new job, is that instead of commuting by car, I now commute by train and get to walk lots throughout the day.  I walk from the parking lot to the train, from the train to the job, on my lunch breaks, on building tours, to meetings, up stairs, and back to the train.  My walking between the hours of 9 to 5 has increased by 45 min/day minimum.   Hello semi-active lifestyle. Workout summary:  Sept:  Week #1 = 4 workouts; Sept. Week #2  = 2 workouts

This past weekend was super fabulous.  I was runner #1200 in my second Chicago Lung Run.  Lots of supporters of lung cancer research came out to run in the rainy weather...including my science lab partner from junior high.   It was wet and cloudy morning, and I'm not sure how fast we ran exactly, but we ran the entire thing! And we met a nice lady who's Mom was recently diagnosed with Lung Cancer.  She was super supportive of the Lung Run and shared all her life ups/downs with us.   We also learned of a super cool Barefoot running shoe that we now want!

Fleet Feet Sports showed us their running gear at the Lung Run.

Our next feat is to run another 5k in November, complete Saturday morning runs and a half-marathon in March.

Sunday was also excellent.   Had Sunday brunch at Ruby Tuesday.  It was my only big meal of the day so I splurged and got their new crabacado omelet with portebella mushrooms, a side of potatoes, yogurt and granola in a martini glass and a peach/orange/mango/pineapple/grenadine fruit blend.  Super super super calorie explosion, which is why I only ate half of my food, and took the other half home.  Thank the Lord for doggie bags!

On Sunday I also started volunteer training at the Humane Society and wanted to bring every cat I saw home.  Some looked so sad locked up in their cages.  The dogs, too.  As a volunteer I get to "socialize" with the shelter cats and show them off to potential adopting parents.  Don't mind if I do.

Here's to shedding some more pounds this month!

True Blood Diet

I love love love True Blood.  It's amazing.  I was there for season one.  I was there for season two.  And now, in season 3, unfortunately I'm a no show because I don't have access to HBO at the moment.  Regardless, I still watch show snippets via Hulu.com, got super excited by news of the True Blood comic book, follow up the actors/actresses lives and cannot wait until Season 3 is on DVD!  Recently, fitness trainer Josh Hillis wrote of Anna Paquin, aka Sookie on True Blood, and her "Bikini ready" diet via his Fat Loss & Fitness Blog. Read it here.  Anna says her diet is simply a, ""Well-what-would-you-eat-if-you-were-being-photographed-in-a-bikini-tomorrow?" diet... I mean, it's not anything wildly specific. I eat a lot of vegetables. I eat a lot fruit. I don't eat fast food ever. I don't eat a lot of dessert. I don't eat a lot of crap." I guess that means she and I don't share a love for M&M McFlurries from McDonald's.

The Summertime Salad at Egg Harbor in Lombard, IL:
Lotsa fruits, greens, avocado and lean chicken salad

How Sookie inspired me
So today, when I went out for my first "going out to a restaurant meal" for September, I decided to try her "diet" and I pretended like I was going to be photographed in a bikini tomorrow (false).  At the restaurant, I looked over the menu and really really wanted the Mexican egg scramble with chorizo and sour cream and chedda.  So not a "bikini ready" meal...unless I wanted to look like Britney Spears circa 2008, or whenever Britney did her infamous performance of "Gimme More" on MTV.  Instead, I opted for a lighter Tomato soup & Summertime Salad combo.  It felt real good to eat that fresh goodness.  It was tasty and would make Anna proud.   Since she has done me good so far today, I will also think of her tonight as I power thru my Turbo Jam one-hour workout at the gym...thinking of her in a non-creepy way, in the same way it's not creepy to be married to a man who plays a vampire on tv...opposite of you.

Other healthy things I've eaten over the past month that would probably make Anna proud:

Breakfast of zuccini & egg scramble, veggie snausage and a little bit of french bread with oj

Baked chicken with a lil bit of BBQ sauce, corn on the cob, green beans and low fat Jimbalaya

Veggie soup from Icosium Kafe in Chicago.

A Veggie Crepe from Icosium Kafe, garnished with fruit and sunflower seeds.

Baked chicken, green beans with tri-colored peppers and corn on the cob
(ok this one is a throw back from July 2010 but was still pretty fresh and healthy)

Fully-cooked & salted Edamame from Trader Joe's.  Super protein/fiber snack!

Blackberries.  The blacker the berry...

More Sookie-licious meals to come this September, fo sho.

Watch out for cows

Cows are a powerful animal. Yes...cows, the 4-legged animals we so often eat, aka beef.  They subliminally infiltrate our minds via Skinny Cow ice cream commercials and urge us to snack on them through McDonald's Angus beef snack wrap ads.  Today, for lunch, I had a craving for some cow carcass.  I toyed with the ideas of swinging by Wendy's, Portillo's or McDonald's for my fill.  A cheesy burger with a side of papas fritas sounded so enchanting, so easy to consume. Then I thought about all the hard work I'd put into the gym yesterday...the miles I ran on the treadmill and the weights I lifted.  I also thought about the Pussycat Dolls Workout DVD I did this morning before work and something in me said "No, Cyn.  How will eating part of a dead cow help you lose weight?".  And like a message from God, a Jamba Juice appeared to my left and I swung into the left turn bay to get my Jamba on.  Well, I was already in the left lane, so it wasn't as dramatic as I'm making it sound but I ended up getting a Mango Smoothie and a Chicken Curry Wrap instead of my burger and fries.  Nutritional values: 630 calories, 7gs fat, 19g protein. 

Who needs cow on a Tuesday, anyways?

Michael Jackson workout at the DuSable Museum

For Children, By Children (FCBC) burned some major calories Friday night
impersonating the Jackson 5 in Expressions of MJ.

DuSable Museum auditorium

Last night I attended a performance called Expressions of MJ at the DuSable Museum and all I can say is "AMAZING!".  It was presented by For Children, By Children (FCBC)and highlighted songs/dances/moments from the life of the ‘King of Pop’, Michael Jackson. From little Michael performing with The Jackson Five and later The Jacksons, to some of his most memorable music videos and dazzling live performances, the cast of FCBC put on a highly energetic showcase of the life of Michael Joseph Jackson.  Best $15 dollars I've ever spent on a Friday night!  Everything was sooo professional and my friend who also attended mentioned, "We should learn all the dances".  Michael Jackson workout anyone??  I think so.

New Pink Shoes!

Quote of the Day:  

Debby Miller: Beth! Why'd you have to congratulate her? 
Beth: I don't know.She's a human being, isn't she? 
Debby Miller: She's wearing pink shoes. 
-From the movie Hysterical Blindness

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This girl got herself some new running shoes!!!  After taking a very official Facebook poll about the best running shoes on the market for ladies, ASICS was the winner.

These bad boys are pink Asics Gel-Fluent 2s and are way better than the running sneaks I was rocking from Kohl's.  Also, they were 40% off on 6pm.com which btw, is an awesome website.  I ordered my pink ladies on Sunday and they arrived in perfect condition on Tuesday.  I put them to test yesterday on the treadmill and my feet and knees feel *amazing*.  It's crazy how a good shoe can make a huge difference.

Why I don't need an iPod

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Quote of the Day:  Act like a horse. Be dumb. Just run. -Jumbo Elliot, Track and Field Coach

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"The Feel Better Soup & Sandwich Meal That's Cheaper than Panera" 

My throat was feeling itchy on Sunday night so I decided to make a feel better meal.  It must've worked because I woke up Monday morning feeling peachy.  Ingredients: A mix of food from Trader Joe's and Dominick's.  Soup = TJ's Low Sodium Creamy Tomato boxed soup (yum).  Sandwich = toasted TJ's Tuscan Pane bread with munster and American cheese, TJ's Sun-dried Roma tomatoes in olive oil, fresh tomatoes, lettuce, Miracle Whip and TJ's Spicy Mustard.  Drink = Water.  Vitamins = C and D.  Holy heaven in my mouth.

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Why I don't need an iPod
Move over Apple, there's a new fruit in town

I'm obsessed with my Blackberry Curve.  If there was a way I could take a picture of my Curve with my Curve and post the picture on this blog, I'd do it but let's not get too crazy.  I'll just settle for the stock photo.
The Blackberry Curve is truly the best fruit-named phone I've tried, and this morning, while completing a quick run outside, I fell in love all over again when in the Blackberry App World catalogue I discovered the App called iMapMyRun. This tool tracks runs by average speed, mileage, time, current speed and is pretty much like a treadmill electronic display without the incline control.  


Alright.  Calm down you Apple iPhone freaks.  I know your kind also has the same App but personally, I don't like the iPhone.  I find Apple iPhone users snobby.  Clearly, Blackberry users are superior.  After all, the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice, and I happen to have a black Blackberry.  

So this morning, while I was running with the App on, and my Pussycat Dolls Pandora station, I couldn't help but smile.  Maybe it was because I said "hello" to half a dozen mamas standing with their Catholic-school-uniform-wearing kiddies at the school bus stop while songs like Buttons blared through my headphones and it seemed all too appropriate.  Or maybe it was because Crackberries really do have a crack-like effect on users.

Regardless, I didn't always love the berry.  My first Blackberry was the Pearl and was purchased from eBay, naturally.  It proved to be horrid.  It blocked my incoming text messages.  Sometimes it wouldn't let me pick up calls or show the icon that let me know I had 8 new voicemails waiting to be heard.  Sometimes I'd see a friend, and they'd ask why I didn't return a call.  And I'd say,  "You didn't call."  And they'd say, "Yes I did".  And then I'd tap into my voicemail, and of course I'd have half a dozen new messages from yester year.  And worst of all, the Pearl froze a lot.   The only thing it was good for was Brickbreaker. 


So, when it was time to get a new phone, I swore up and down that I would get anything but another Blackberry.  That was until a Sprint store associate told me if I traded in my Pearl I would get a FREE new & improved Blackberry Curve, no questions asked.  That's when I said sayonara to my Pearl faster than a speeding Toyota, and embraced the new Curve the same way one embraces a new addition to the Taco Bell value menu: I just didn't know if it would be good but I thought I'd give it a chance.

It's been four months, and so far so good.  I use my Curve constantly.  I text.  I play Brickbreaker, Word Scramble and Texas Hold 'Em.  I listen to Pandora radio via my Curve at the gym, in my car and at home.  I watch YouTube videos.  I utilitze the GPS capabilities.  I add reminder memos, events to my calender and update Facebook statuses.  It's the only camera I own.  It's my alarm clock.  And, sometimes I even use the darn thing as a phone.

If you want to be a better runner...

If you want to be a better runner, you've got to run more. It's as simple as that. -Tom Fleming, running coach

October 2002:  Running my first 5K in Urbana, IL.

I know it's only Tuesday, but I haven't gotten in as much running this week as I would like.  I usually save long runs for Saturday mornings, but I also appreciate a one or two-miler quickly on week nights.  This week has been so insanely busy. I've been super busy with job interviews and work.  I have 5 interviews scheduled for within a span of 10 day.   It's exhausting prepping and travelling to these places of employment, remembering titles/names/clever/creative ways to say why I'm so awesome and qualified and should be the newest hire.  When it rains, it pours I guess.    Like running, I guess the more interviews I do, the better interviewer I become.  Lot's hope that one of these jobs pans out!   Tom Fleming, running coach