Yes, You Should Be Happy I’m Wearing A Backpack

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There’s a line in Swingers that always makes me giggle.

Okay, if I’m being honest, the entire movie makes me laugh- massive, clutch-my-stomach, tears-streaming-down-my-face belly laughs. But as someone who was a teenager in the 90s, a girl who dreamed of living in Cher Horowitz’s closet, this line takes me back to that time.

“I spend half the night talking to some girl who’s looking around the room to see if there’s somebody else who’s more important she should be talking to, and it’s like I’m supposed to be all happy ’cause she’s wearing a backpack, you know?”

Because we all had backpacks. I had a mini silver one, similar to the one Cher wore when she failed her driving test. (Purchased at Contempo, of course.)

90s fashion is making a comeback- flannel, overalls, docs and backpacks. Now, as a babywearing mom, I’ve carried a backpack for a few years. Don’t get me wrong, I love my totes, but it’s a lot more comfortable to have my things on back when I have a baby on my front, rather than carrying things on one shoulder.

As a runner, I know that a backpack can help save my core from unnecessary stress. It can help me maintain good posture throughout my day. And lucky for us, there’s a lot to choose from this season. Thank you, style gods!

My current backpack is the Herschel Supply Camo-dot backpack from J.Crew. It’s kid-size, so slightly smaller and just so cute. Below are some of my other favorites at various price points. I love the floral Marc Jacobs or the striped Baggu for spring, and the Pashli is just drool-worthy. My littlest just spilled cold “hot” chocolate all over my bag during a recent trip to Target, so if it doesn’t come out, I might be on the lookout for a new bag. Oh, who are we kidding? I am always on the lookout for a new bag.

Backpack, Backpack

Do you carry a backpack? Who was your teenage style icon?

My Feet are Trying to Kill Me

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It’s that time of year.  In 2013, I logged a few Ragnars, a couple half-marathons, and some fun runs and my running sneakers have seen better days.  It’s widely known that I have a sick fascination with footwear.  I own  it all: boots, clogs, flats, Moccasins, Oxfords, Mary Janes, Espadrilles, and chunky heels. I have tap shoes and ballet shoes and boat shoes.  My Salt-Water Sandals, flip-flops, and Chucks come in every bright color, and my sock collection is even more impressive.  Knee socks and bobby socks and ankle socks and funky patterned socks.  My footwear is like a page out of a Dr. Seuss book.

But there is one type of footwear that I despise having to shop for.  And it’s all because of my stupid flat feet.

I’ve searched high and low for a running shoe that will not hurt my feet.  I’ve read articles and visited experts, all to no avail.  It’s always the same, it only takes minutes of running before my feet start to rebel.  It doesn’t help that I suffer from Air Jordanitis Syndrome.  It’s a side effect of growing up in the 90’s.  A tragedy really, it’s responsible for my compulsive tendency to believe that a new pair of shoes will actually increase my running speed and drastically improve my agility.  If I could only find THE pair of running shoes.  Similar to the holy grail or an easy diet, I’ve heard of their rumored existence, but I’ve yet to encounter them.

This is why I need your help, internet friends.  I don’t know which shoes to buy.  I have about 2 and a half months until my first big race of the season, plenty of time to break in a new pair of kicks.  Do I go minimalist or a trusted favorite?  Do I dare make the switch to a barefoot shoe? Do I just need to wear my inserts?  Show me the way, oh trusted internet!

I have narrowed my search to the following contenders.  All pictures have been borrowed from their respective links.

1. Saucony Omni 12

saucony

I currently own these and they’re not bad.  They worked out okay and still look pretty decent after a year of abuse.  They’re not perfect, I still have foot pain and lately I’ve been having some shin pain.  It’s unknown if this is caused by my erratic fitness regime or my flat feet but if there’s the hope of that perfect shoe out there, I simply can’t just settle for decent, right?

2. Brooks Adrenaline GTS 13

Brooks

I took a little quiz on their site and this is the shoe they paired me with.  I’m not crazy about it, it seems all the flat foot friendly shoes aren’t very cute.  And we all know cuteness matters.  However, everyone raves about Brooks.  I have ran in Brooks before and they do have a more generous toe box, which I like.  But they’re so borrrrrring.

3. Mizuno Wave Sayonara

mizuno-running-womens-wave-sayonara-410536-pri-4U73

I have this good friend who writes this blog that I love and she seems to like her Mizunos.  This shoe is pretty light-weight and it looks snazzy too.  I like the mesh and it just looks fast.  This shoe definitely plays into my Air Jordanitis Syndrome.  I feel like it will shave minutes off my pace!

 

4. Merrell Road Glove Dash 2

Merrell

I love this shoe.  I have been interested in trying out Merrell for a while now, but I’m extremely nervous about this whole “barefoot” idea.  This shoe just screams my style and it weighs a whopping 6 ounces.   And it’s adorable.  Have I mentioned how much I want to be able to run in these shoes?   My fear is that I want them to be “the one” more than they actually will be.  Kind of like that guy I dated in college.

 

 

5. Newton Energy

newtonNow, I hadn’t heard of these shoes until I started researching my options.  I googled “running shoes for flat feet” and into my life these little gems appeared. I love the style, I like the breathable mesh, and they have a kick-ass tread.  And it was Shoe of the Year.  I dig how wide they are, I’m no dainty dame and my Flintstone feet need a bit of accommodating.

 

As you can see, I have quite the decision to make.  What’s a stylish, yet comfort-seeking, gal to do???

Goodbye Jack Daniel

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My dog died.

jack1

There are no pretty words to say about a death and my emotions are still raw. Certainly, I knew that Jack wouldn’t live forever but I suppose the suddenness of his death has thrown me and my family for a loop. He showed no signs of sickness although he did show his age of eleven years, with his graying hair and occasional yelping from what we believed was arthritis pain.

He was just barking at his arch nemesis, the vacuum cleaner, the day before. He had all his faculties; the sound of a deli wrapper could be heard from any point in the house. He joined me in the kitchen as I made the kids their grilled cheese for dinner, always patiently waiting for the slice he eventually knew was coming his way.

But on Friday, he was ill at ease. He paced the house, looking to all his regular spots to get comfortable. My husband and I fretted, not knowing what to do for our oldest baby. Eventually we decided that we’d bring him to the vet the following day.

I spent the night sleeping on the floor with him; my blanket was a favorite of his and it seemed to comfort him for awhile. At 4:30am we awoke to his labored breathing and realized that he could no longer walk. I carried him down the steps, crying and telling him that he was the best dog and how much we loved him. He licked my face, one last time, and Jay brought him to the emergency vet.

Within an hour, his heart stopped beating. Jay was with him as he took his last breaths.

My family is devastated. I know that’s a strong word but there’s really no other to explain how we feel. We miss our best buddy, our healer, our protector from possums (but not steps, thunder, lightning or bees), our first “kid” and our “big brother”. We miss our pack member, who placed himself just below the kids in order of rank, but grumped about it on the regular.

The house is quiet. Too quiet. I write while all family members are at their respective places when they aren’t smashed into our 1600 square foot home. When they are here, I can’t think straight. When they are gone, I can’t stop thinking.

I can’t stop thinking I see Jack out of the corner of my eye or hear his feet gently padding the floor.

I’ve continued with my streak, getting my miles in, even though right now I’d be lying if I said it was anything more than just going through the motions. My mind wanders to wondering if there was something more we could have done or if we could have seen this coming any earlier than we did. I cry randomly for no other reason than I miss him.

I’m sad and miss my friend.

jack4

I know it will get easier eventually.

But not yet.

Guest Post: WDW Half Marathon

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I signed up for the WDW Half Marathon very last minute (early December through a travel agent), and was not very prepared for it training wise after being sick for the majority of December.  With the 10K the day before, I knew that the half was going to be tough and long no matter what I did, and I was right!

If you read my blog about the 10K, you know that I had to wait 40 minutes to start for the 10K, and I was in corral E. After that, I had no idea how long I’d have to wait to start the half when I was in corral I. The half start was structured a lot more like Wine & Dine with only 2-5 minutes between each corral, which was good since there were 16 corrals! I actually only waited about 30 minutes for the half to start which I was happy with.

Starting out I was already sore and needing to take walk breaks by mile 1. From there I went into the race with the mindset, as long as people keep passing me I’ll be ok! It’s when they stop passing you that you know you’re in trouble.

lilostitch

With the new mindset I had a lot more fun! I focused on getting to the Magic Kingdom and to the characters I wanted to take pictures with. The half has A LOT of spectators throughout the course, which is great encouragement! Not only are they cheering you on, but it’s always fun to see the creative signs they make. With the help of the crowds and knowing the feeling of running down Main Street, I made it to the Magic Kingdom! This is about 4.5/5 miles into the race.

tigger

I love Disney races because of all of the pictures I take with the characters on the course. I always buy the photo package, so I purposely stop for as many as I can, and make Shutterfly books for each race weekend.  While I have a lot of character pictures, Disney continues to surprise me and adds characters I haven’t seen or stopped for before on course! It literally took me an hour to get through Magic Kingdom because of all of the character lines I waited in! But I did get so many great pictures throughout the day.

sleepingbeauty

Back on the course, I was struggling! My legs hurt and I was having a hard time sticking to longer running intervals.  A good thing to know too about this race is the course is VERY narrow. Most of the roads are only one lane. This means if you wait an hour on character lines, you’ll be towards the back of the pack with all of the walkers.  This isn’t a bad thing, I was walking a lot too, but know that if you do plan on trying to run, it’s a lot of weaving in and out of people or running on the grass around everyone.

bigcheese

I was really impressed with all of the character stops they added throughout the non-park portion of the course.  Again there were characters/costumes I had never seen before, i.e. golfer Mickey! Last year, this was my first race ever; I didn’t stop for any character pictures and don’t remember how many there were to compare to this year, so I was pleasantly surprised this year.

There is nothing like seeing that 13 mile marker and knowing you’re almost there!  Disney is extra special for me because you have some of the fab five waiting for you and cheering you on at the finish. I might have even stopped a few feet before the finish line to take a picture with Goofy!

Crossing that finish line is a feeling that never gets old. Whether it’s a 5K or a Marathon, you accomplished a huge feat! You overcame obstacles however big or small, and no one can ever take that away from you. This was my 4th half, and race anniversary, and an overall great experience!

winnermer

Pros:

  • Running through Magic Kingdom and Epcot
  • Running through the Castle!
  • Lots of character stops
  • Lots of spectators and motivators along the way

Cons:

  • Tight course
  • Lots of participants!
  • Super early morning start (3:15 wake up call)
  • Running on exit ramps (aka hills of death!)

Meredith is a 29 year old living in South Florida. She started her running journey with the 2013 WDW half marathon and has been hooked on RunDisney ever since! You can find her on Twitter @MSchechter1218 and over at her blog, justanordinarygirlinfl.

Have you ever ran back to back races? Do you take it easy the first day so you can push the second? Or vice versa?

Guest Post: WDW Marathon Weekend Expo and 10K

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Most race weekends start out by traversing the expo. RunDisney races are no exception, and with a race weekend with 50,000 runners, I was dreading the expo! I must say, they made improvements from last year! I was lucky and was able to go Wednesday morning, only about an hour and a half after it opened, and I went in with a plan. I headed straight to the RunDisney merchandise, as I knew there were a few items I wanted and I was hoping the lines would be short.

For those of you that are looking to run your first RunDisney event, something I always get is an “I did it” shirt! These have the course map on the back, so it’s a great souvenir for each race I do! In the past they have only carried these for races 10 miles or longer. If you are doing the 10K, they only have 1 shirt and it’s not an “I did it” shirt. I’m hoping they add more options in the future, but for the two 10Ks I have run for Disney, this has been the case.

A change they made this year was having 2 levels of booths for picking up your bibs, which meant that I didn’t have to wait on a line for the first time ever! They also added more vendors into the stadium area. While this allowed for more options, that meant that there were 3 buildings you needed to explore.

10kstart

After surviving the expo, it was time for my first race! This year was the Inaugural 10K, featuring none other than Minnie Mouse! This was a new distance and new course to be excited about. The start of the race was reminiscent of the DL 10K, in which people didn’t really know what was going on. While the corrals were organized, we didn’t know when we were going to start.  At the Wine & Dine there were about 2-5 minutes between each corral, so my assumption was that was how the 10K was going to run. Well, I was wrong, and there were 10 minutes between each corral. Being in the last corral, meant that I waited 40 minutes to start!

epcotmer

I was a little frustrated waiting around, but once the race started I had a lot more fun! The course starts out running about 2.5 miles on the roads, which is pretty normal for Disney events. We entered Epcot in China and ran halfway around the world past France, and exited through the back entrance. From here we ran around the Boardwalk and passed the Swan and Dolphin as well as the Beach and Yacht Club. This was the only area that I saw some spectators, and there weren’t many, but that could’ve been because I was so far back!

chipanddale

Heading back into Epcot, we came in next to the Figment ride, and went around Spaceship Earth and out to the finish line!

10kmedal

Overall I liked this race! I think it’s great that RunDisney is offering an in between distance for runners. Half Marathons are a big undertaking and it’s great that there is another option longer than a 5K for runners of all ages and abilities.  Personally, I will try and stay a legacy runner for this race and the Enchanted 10K (Princess weekend) because I enjoy the 10K distance so much! I also can’t turn down a chance to dress up in a costume for a race. 🙂

Pros:

  • Love the 10K distance
  • Course was easy and enjoyable
  • Liked seeing “different characters” (Football Goofy and Mushu)

footballgoofyCons:

  • Long wait between corrals
  • Not many spectators
  • Not many character stops or entertainment along the course

Meredith is a 29 year old living in South Florida. She started her running journey with the 2013 WDW half marathon and has been hooked on RunDisney ever since! You can find her on Twitter @MSchechter1218 and over at her blog, justanordinarygirlinfl. Meredith will be back later today with her WDW half marathon review.

What’s your favorite race distance? Have you participate in a runDisney event (or will you be at the upcoming weekend’s Tink race)? What do you look forward to most during a race?

Recipe Box: Buffalo Chicken* Chili

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*contains no buffalo. Or chicken. I’ll explain.

With my work Biggest Loser competition starting last week, I knew it was time to get back in the kitchen. After being waylaid by the flu and strep throat, I finally got down to business this weekend, and the first order on the agenda was making this chili. I came across the recipe in Weight Watchers Magazine and my entire being was like ‘YES!!’

Because chili. And buffalo chicken. And yum.

The original recipe called for ground skinless chicken breast. This is all-but-impossible to find, so I grabbed ground skinless turkey breast. I also had to make a special trip to buy beer, as this is not something I ever have on hand. The rest of the ingredients are typical panty staples at Casa de Bec.

This chili is GOOD, but I’ll say this. It’s not very chili-like. I don’t know if it’s the color, or the lack of beans (which you could totally add, and I think I will next time), but it doesn’t scream ‘CHILI’ to me. What it does scream is ‘HEALTHY AND DELICIOUS’. And really, that’s more important.

I hope you guys enjoy!

Buffalo Turkey Chili

Adapted from Weight Watchers Magazine, November/December 2013

Prep – 15 minutes

Cook – 30 minutes

Serves – 4

Ingredients:

2 tsp Canola Oil

1 lb ground skinless turkey breast

1 onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, sliced

2 carrots, sliced

12 ounces light beer

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 can (14.5 ounces) fire-roasted diced tomatoes

¼ cup hot sauce

¼ cup crumbled Gorgonzola

¼ cup light sour cream

 20140113_221504

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add turkey and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned. Add onion, celery and carrots; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened.

Add beer, broth, tomatoes and hot sauce, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened (about 15 minutes). It doesn’t get particularly ‘thick’, so just cook until your veggies are how you like them.

Garnish each serving (about 1.5 cups) with 1 TBSP each crumbled gorgonzola cheese and light sour cream.

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ENJOY.

No seriously, enjoy. It’s really good. Not too hot, but hot enough. And if you’re doing Weight Watchers, the original recipe lists this as 7 Points Plus per serving. That’s a good deal for a big bowl of chili with toppings. I made this for lunches this week, but it would totally work for dinner with a side salad. Or hey, if your home team has a really good shot of making the Superbowl (Go Pats!), this would be a great addition to a Superbowl party.

We hope you guys enjoy this! What’s your favorite Superbowl party food? Any healthy recipes you want to share with us??

Sure, I’m Dopey

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Last weekend, I cheered friends from afar as they ran through Walt Disney World during runDisney’s annual marathon weekend.

Some ran the family fun run and other ran the inaugural 10K. Some ran the half and others ran a full 26.2 miles on Sunday morning.

More than 50,000 runners participated in the WDW Marathon weekend last week, and among them were about 7,000 runners who ran ALL THE RACES as part of the inaugural Dopey Challenge.

That’s right. Four Days. Four races. 48.6 miles and six incredible medals.

medalskristinAll the medals my friend Kristin earned! (photo courtesy Bamagirlruns)

Last year I ran the Goofy Challenge (a half marathon and a full marathon over two days). I decided to skip the event this year and cheer from afar. And in 2015, I’m planning to return to the WDW and complete the Dopey Challenge.

And I think I *might* be able to convince Meri to tackle her first marathon at the same time! Who else is with us? We’re taking names!

Congratulations to all the Dopey Challenge finishers and all marathon weekend participants!

Have you ever run a runDisney “challenge?” Would you consider running Dopey?

New journeys for a new year

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2013 was a big year for me.

I ran two marathons, including a runDisney coast-to-coast ultra in memory of two fallen firefighters. I PRed in nearly every distance and became an Oiselle team runner.

I covered several high-profile trials at work and for the second straight year, ran more than 1,000 miles.

So what’s next for 2014?

Honestly, I am still trying to figure that out. I have several spring races planned and I would like to run a fall marathon, but I also want to do something new and different. What? I’m not just sure.

I don’t make resolutions. But I know I need to work toward a few fitness and overall life goals:

I need to work on my core, and not make excuses when I’m not in the mood or the weather makes travel difficult.

I need to drink less coffee and more water.

I need to clean put my closets, become more organized and purge unnecessary items with a mass decluttering.

I need to be more patient.

I need to step out of my comfort zone and try something new.

I need to be better about living in the moment, and just go with it.

So I plan to live by this mantra in 2014, live each day better than the day before. If I follow that plan, I can’t go wrong.

What suggestions do you have for my coming year? What should I try? What are your 2014 goals?

Goal-Setting and Well-Wishing

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It’s January! I love a new year. I don’t make resolutions but I always find myself making goals and lists and trying to be a better me even without committing it all to paper. This also happens before a new school year (because that is it’s own year, really) and before summer (because Pinterest makes it a Big Deal).

photo 3-8

My fitness goal is easy. I want to PR in the half marathon. I will PR in the half marathon. My current PR is 1:57:52 and really, I just want to best that. But deep in my heart, I want to best that in a Major Way. So we’ll see. I’m focused on the Glass Slipper challenge right now, and increasing my weekly mileage closer to 30 instead of in the lower 20 range. I’m also working on getting faster- I’m still not fast enough to reach my current race PR (which I reached before my last pregnancy). I’m giving myself until December because I am very generous and also, I’m trying to be realistic. (my fingers are totally crossed for reaching goal A in April and doing Something Major in December though.)

I am also making some wonderful chore charts and calendars to do a better job cleaning my house. I know that’s really boring stuff, (for me and for you) so that’s all I will say about that. If I come up with an awesome system, I’ll let you know.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that my girlfriends and I have done a holiday gift exchange for the last ten years. Last month, we met for a delicious dinner, sans gifts but avec wine and good conversation. One of my girls said that this year, she decided that if she didn’t care enough to wish someone a “Happy Birthday” on Facebook, she would delete them from her friend list. I’m not really sure how this qualifies as a resolution (I will have less friends? I will only be friends with someone if I want to celebrate their birth? I don’t know exactly.) but it made me think. My husband hates those Facebook birthday wishes. He thinks they’re insincere. Perfunctory. I don’t have a strong feeling about them- I mean, who doesn’t like hearing a birthday wish, no matter how it comes?- But I prefer to text or call my close friends. In 2014, I’ve decided to take a page from long-term, snail mail penpals, Mer and Vic, and send birthday cards. I will likely have to send them in a batch at the beginning of each month, because I am terrible with mail, but I know it will make my people happy, and that makes me happy.

Hanging with my girls made me wish for more time with them, so I am definitely making that a priority in 2014.

These girls! My favorites for 15 years.

These girls! My favorites for 15 years.

Lastly, some friends and I decided to start a club. A fit club, with a goal of taking one new class each month. In the past, I’ve tried to form book club, wine club, craft club, mom movie night club- and nothing ever sticks. I think this one will- and it will be fun- and I can’t wait to report back to all of you on our progress.

As the Floridian of the Chicks, I want to welcome the runDisney runners to Orlando this weekend! It’s going to be a hot one, so hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, and be sure to take a selfie by the pool so your friends are jealous.

Also, go to Epcot! The Frozen princesses are in Norway, along with a statue of runner Grete Waitz. You can have a cronut (omg, delicious) near Canada and a margarita in Mexico. All the salt and sugar will be good for your recovery. (So I’ve heard. I’m not a marathoner, so don’t take my word for it.)

Meeting Elsa and Anna was the highlight of our week (the 3 hour line was not).

Meeting Elsa and Anna was the highlight of our week (the 3 hour line was not).

I’ll be at the Magic Kingdom on Sunday to see our UCF Knights march in the parade. If you see me, stop and say hello and I’ll give you a high five and compliment your marathon medal. Happy running!

My baby with some guy. Who is he? (If you follow college ball, you probably know the Knights quarterback now!)

My baby with some guy. Who is he? (If you follow college ball, you probably know the Knights quarterback now!)

Roll call! Who is headed to the most magical place on Earth this weekend?

Do you make resolutions? What’s your fitness goal? What’s the best fitness class you’ve taken? Birthday wishes on facebook- yay or nay?

Weight a Minute

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There was a point in my life that I weighed myself every day. That’s right. Every. Single. Day. I was definitely obsessed, if not on the edge of disordered. Truthfully, I was driving myself a little crazy.

Until one day, I just stopped.

I decided that it wasn’t healthy for my mind to be so wrapped up in the numbers. So the morning visit to the scale ceased. I was mindful of my food but no longer tracked every morsel I consumed. I continued to work out. And I was content.

2013 brought many good things my way, including more half marathons, shorter races and workouts with my trainer at the gym. However, I injured myself in September and that put a damper on what I was able to do physically. My miles shrank but my food intake continued as though they hadn’t.

(You see where this is going, don’t you?)

I weighed myself the other day for the first time since the summer. I wasn’t all together surprised by the number but I will admit that I wasn’t happy with it either. That’s not to say that I’m not happy with myself, because I am. I’m at a good place, a much different place than I was when I was the girl weighing herself daily.  Generally speaking, I’m pretty awesome.

But I would like to work hard to get back down, weight wise.

At my leanest, I was at 144. This was in 2012, when I was tracking everything – my weight, my food, my workouts – everything.

By the end of last summer, I was at 152 – I tracked my workouts, but that was basically it.

And now, here I am, at 156. I knew I was gaining weight. I could tell by the way my clothes were fitting mostly. I think that I tend to have a bit of body dysmorphia so no matter when I look in the mirror, I always see the same thing – whether I’m 10 pounds lighter or 20 pounds heavier. That doesn’t help matters.

What I do know is this: I need to make a change.

Rather than focusing on the numbers (since that hasn’t really worked well for my psyche in the past), I’m going to try to present things to myself in more than/less than fashion. For example…

More water and less 180 calorie drinks

More water and less bazillion (slight exaggeration)  calorie drinks

More homecooked, less takeout. More veggies, less cookies. Smaller meals throughout the day and smarter choices.

I’m going to leave the numbers bit of things in the trusty hands(?) of my Fitbit One and myfitnesspal.

Treadmill outranks couch (that's "my" spot that everyone steals - and I'm going to let them steal it.)

Treadmill outranks couch (that’s “my” spot that everyone steals – and I’m going to let them steal it.) And outside will outrank treadmill when it’s not 3 degrees.

And I plan to continue my exercising. I don’t think that I’ll feasibly be able to add things like hot yoga back into my schedule but I would like to hit the 10,000 step goal set by the Fitbit each day. (Okay, fine, maybe focusing a little bit on numbers isn’t the worst thing in the world.)

No excuses, no whining. I’m ready to get this done. I can and I will!

What sort of challenges or goals are you looking forward to tackling in 2014?