No Shenanigans On St. Patrick’s Day

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Coco

I’ve always been a rule follower. Maybe it stems from my Montessori education, where there were particular ways of doing things and everything had to be put back in its place before moving on to something else. Maybe it stems from being high strung and worried that Bad Things would happen if rules were broken. I distinctly remember crying in the back seat after seeing on the speedometer that my Dad was speeding because I thought we’d all be thrown in jail. 

Dad

So, I don’t have any fun stories to tell you about my shenanigans.  But shenanigans is a great Wednesday Word, and reminds me of other great words my Dad used. Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Recovering With Spring Fever

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Coco

Did you catch Spring Fever last week? Our weather was crazy warm–in the 80’s even!–and all of the flowers started to bloom. The National Park Service just had predicted that the cherry blossoms would be in peak bloom the weekend of the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, but revised their prediction to March 18-23 after this week’s heat wave. That’s fine by me, since I can do my own cherry blossom run and stop to take as many pictures as I want.

spring fever

I had a pretty grueling week at work, so I didn’t get to enjoy the nice weather too much, but Monday night I met some friends for dinner and it was still warm enough to enjoy eating outside.  Continue reading →

Posted in Fitness | 21 Comments

Meal Planning For An Unpredictable Schedule

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Coco

One of adages I heard when I was losing weight was “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Of course, I am capable of making healthy choices in the moment, but it didn’t take me long to realize that the more I planned to enjoy healthy options, the easier it was to follow through. I admire people who do meal planning by writing out a weekly menu, but my life is not predictable enough for that approach to work for me. I’m lucky to be home for dinner one night during the week. But, I have figured out five meal planning steps that even work for my unpredictable schedule.

Meal Planning

This week’s Friday Five them is food. Join the link up hosted at Eat Pray Run DC,
Mar on the Run and You Signed Up for What?!. Continue reading →

Posted in Food | 20 Comments

Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal Recipe

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Coco

I really love my Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal recipe and my husband really likes this Banana Bread, but now that I’ve combined the best of both recipes into this Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal, there may be no going back. 

Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal

Enjoying Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal during a mid-morning break at work.  Continue reading →

Posted in Food | 11 Comments

A Hilly PR — Reston 10 Miler Race Recap

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Coco

Much to my surprise I kicked off my 2016 spring race season with a shiny new course PR at the hilly Reston 10 Miler! I had not trained for a PR, was not mentally psyched up for a PR, and was not even sure about my goal of finishing between my 2015 course PR and my 2014 course debut. But, my legs were stronger than I thought they were, and I kept my head in the game through a tough few miles.

Reston 10 Miler Race Recap I dressed for the hills in my CW-X compression tights and SLS3 socks,
opted for a tried-and-true Athleta top, my new Mizunos, and my blue Yurbuds. Continue reading →

Posted in Fitness, Race Recaps | Tagged , , , | 54 Comments