16 | January | 2014 | Chocolate Covered Race Medals

First and foremost, I want to thank you all for all your love and support from this mornings post. The blogging community, friends and family, never cease to amaze me. Your love, prayers and thoughts are SO appreciated.

And because I’m in such a thankful mood, I thought I’d share with you all some of the things I’m loving lately. Enjoy!

Frozen Bananas

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/06/frozen-banana-popsicles.html

I know it sounds weird, but there is something SO refreshing about frozen banana. I’ve been adding it to my yogurt in the AM and let me tell you, match made in heaven. The trick is to let them defrost enough to cut them out of the peel, but still very cold. I’ve seen some pins lately about frozen banana and pb sammies that are on my must try list as well . . .

Anticipation

http://www.ineedsnow.com/ski-holidays-austria/st-anton/st-anton.html

With everything we’ve had going on lately in our little household, you cannot even IMAGINE the anticipation we have for our upcoming honeymoon. Two weeks of nothing planned in the beautiful mountains of Austria? Hello amazing.

Pyramid Runs

As I wind down my running streak, it has become more important than ever to find runs that interest me. Enter: Pyramid runs. The concept of pyramid runs are simple, just think of a pyramid. You start at your slowest pace, and slowly build up to a “peak” pace. My favorite pyramid run has looked like :

Start at 6.0 and increase speed by .1 every minute-on-the-minute for 15 minutes. Remember to repeat top speed.
Decrease speed by .1 every minute on the minute until you get back down to 6.0

You try and be bored doing that run!

thinkThin Bars

I know, I know. I’m trying to eat whole foods and less processed stuff, specifically bars (they’re my weakness). But my favorite thing about these bars are how high in protein and low in sugar they are. Let’s not pretend, they taste like a candy bar I’ll be honest. But they’re simple, specifically the Creamy Peanut Butter that is my favorite. When I know I needs calories and protein but don’t necessarily feel like eating, these are absolutely my go to.

Mexican Dark Chocolate

This is absolutely my FAVORITE DARK CHOCOLATE IN THE WORLD (that’s a lot coming from me. I’ve pretty much worked my way through every single dark chocolate there is on the market). If you haven’t tried Taza chocolate, change that right now. Immediately. It is worth the cost.

And on that note . . . because of my love for Mexican chocolate lately I picked this up to enjoy tonight:

https://untappd.com/CopperKettleBrewingCompany/photos

Ummm — hello beautiful. Please don’t judge me, I am excited.

And of course I always love. . .

Since it’s my late night at work, Zach and I are planning to take it very easy tonight. On tap: packing for the weekend at home, enjoying said chocolate stout, snuggling my family, and some serious relaxation. Have a great night everyone!

Question of the Afternoon: What are YOU loving lately?

My apologies for the radio silence over the past couple of days. You know how much I love.love.love you all but there have been some things going on for me and my family the past couple of days that I needed to focus on. Both for me and those around me.

Do me a favor and give all those you love around you a big hug for me, OK? If they think it’s weird you can tell them I told you to do it. . .

With that said, there have been a couple of runs over the past few days

A 60 minute very easy pyramid run because easy was all my legs could do but my brain needed to move
And an attempt at speed work for 4 miles that once again, my legs weren’t all about but at least I got to 4.

Some changes made to the ol’ blog!

And some good eats

The husband made me get out of the house for a few and took me to one of our absolutely favorite spots here in Denver, Stella’s in the Highlands. Some good comforting Italian food, fresh air, and great company was exactly what I needed to end what otherwise could have been a pretty tough day.