Coach Jen B

I'm joining in on the weekly challenge hosted by Mommy Run Fast and Fitness, Health, and Happiness  to post our dinner menu for the week.  The purpose behind it is to help in planning to put together healthy meals for our family and to help with being more budget friendly. Source Care to join in on the challenge?  Even if you are not a blogger, there are tons of benefits to prepping your meals on Sunday for the week. So, what are we eating this week? Breakfast for me will be either be my granola over greek yogurt or an egg omelet.  I tend to bounce between the two and both are incredibly easy. Lunch is going to be Greek Quinoa .  I made a huge batch today.  Yum!  It's incredibly filling and delicious.  For snacks each day I'll bring with me some apples, sliced veggies with hummus or strawberries and cottage cheese.  I have all ready to go, I just need to grab something on the way out the door. Dinner is trickier.  I have some picky

Apparently in my world it is.  I haven't run a race since the 4th of July 10k.  I wanted to focus on MDI and not have to switch up long runs on the weekends due to races.    Believe me, there were plenty of races I wanted to do, but I held strong. But now that MDI is in my sights, a little over 2 weeks now (deep breaths), I am starting to feel that it's okay to do other races again.  I'm thinking I must be making up for lost time because here is my October racing schedule.  YES, I AM CRAZY! October 8th - Tufts 10K (compliments of FitFluential and Reebok ) October 14th - MDI Marathon October 21st - Bond Brook TreadFest - 5 miler Am I crazy for signing up for the Tufts 10k?  Why yes, I am.  I know it.  But after consulting my running gurus (Ward and Wade), I will use this race as my last speed work before MDI.  I'll be in taper mode madness anyway - so why not?  Plus it's an incredible chance to meet some of my New England FitFluential peeps.  I'm real

Okay guys - stop reading now.  Really, stop! I was recently provided with a box of Instead SoftCup to review.  I was a bit apprehensive about this in the first place because I had no idea what they even looked like or how to use them.  I had heard of them before, but really hadn’t taken the time to look at the box and study them.  I usually don’t spend a lot of time in the feminine hygiene isle.  I just grab what I like and go.   First things first, I’d like to characterize my flow as just weird.  The first two days are gushers and then it tapers off to a light trace which can last for up to 7 days.  Sometimes 4 days, but not always.  I know.  TMI but for you understand where I’m coming from in this review, you should know a little bit about me.  (perhaps I just shared too much and for that I’m sorry!)   Basically, the Instead SoftCup is a cup that you insert into your vagina and it cups your cervix.   Here are the instructions from the site.   

Somehow the stars aligned and I had the best 20 mile training run I could ask for.  I'm not sure how it happened or why, but does it matter?  Not at this moment. Going into the run I thought for sure it was going to be a horrible run.  I know, I shouldn't go into a long run like that with such a negative attitude.   I ate out for three days prior to the run and didn't make the healthiest choices. Thursday night - Burger and fries at the A-1 Diner Friday night - Burger fries and onion rings at Johnny Rockets. The Berry & Nut salad, topped with turkey at the 1912 Cafe at LL Bean.   Saturday -We were on our way to a wedding in Southern Maine, so lunch was at the 1912 cafe.  I tried my best to correct myself with this beautiful salad.  Then completely splurged on yummy wedding food - crab cakes, peanut sauce chicken, bruschetta, cheese, veggies, more cheese, cupcakes (3!), wine and beer.   This was a gorgeous wedding for two lovely friends of ours & t

The past couple of weeks I have been blessed with gorgeous running weather and having the opportunity to get my weekday runs done in the afternoon & NOT at 4:30 am.  I don't know how that happened, but I am most appreciative.  I will run at the gym on the treadmill at 4:30 am, but only if I have to! I really do have some pretty areas around my house.  I don't often go out here because there are some killer hills to take on before I get to the beautiful flat area, but since I'm training for MDI, I thought I should really not avoid the hills.   I really was enjoying running on this dirt road last week, but quickly aborted the run when I noticed an unleashed Rottweiler in the middle of the road.  I don't know the dog and didn't really know the people on the road, so I thought it would be best to just turn around.  It did mean my run was longer than I wanted, but I'll always take a longer run.   It only took about 50 attempts to get this

My husband often says "who are you? You are definitely not the woman I married." That's right, the woman he married used to yell at him on hikes or runs telling him I couldn't breath and that I had asthma. Not that having asthma is a sign of weakness.  My point here is that I used my asthma as a excuse.  Making excuses is weak.  The woman he married would not have taken on 5ks, 10ks, half marathons, marathons, trail races and 10 mile races in the dead of winter in Maine.     feeling strong here, but definitely not smelling good My strong story started a little over 7 years ago.  Tucker was close to 18 months old and I hadn't lost the baby weight.  I was in a rather low point in my life and was making some unhealthy choices.  I needed to regain control in my life and be a healthier person.  If not for myself, for my family. My sister-in-law had just joined a local gym and started losing weight and looking good.  Being envious of her progress, I joined

One thing I've learned from marathon training is that I need to listen to my body.  If my body is pointing out aches and pains or tightness, I turn to yoga.  My journey with yoga started last summer when I was training for my first marathon.  I was contacted by Terry and Jenn from Yoga to Run to try out an introductory marathon/yoga program which provided participants with training plans incorporating yoga and running.  By making yoga part of my weekly routine, I quickly came to realize that my aches and pains with long runs, subsided quickly and I successfully completed marathon #1 injury free.  Terry and Jenn taught me many valuable poses that I still use today.  I am sad that I live too far away from Terry's new yoga company and cannot make her classes regularly; however, that doesn't stop me from practicing yoga.  While I prefer to attend a class, I have found that when my schedule doesn't allow for me to attend a class,  I can use one of the yoga DVDs, or use any

Quinoa has been a favorite staple of mine. It is an incredible versatile food and is packed with a huge amount of nutrients. Not only is it good for you and versatile, it’s incredibly easy to make. I usually make a few containers of it earlier in the week in the rice cooker and set them in the refrigerator until I’m ready to use it. Quinoa has also replaced my pasta dish the night before a long run. It is incredibly gentle on my sensitive belly. just waiting for me to use it I’m going to share with you my favorite 5 Quinoa Recipes Roasted Veggies over Quinoa This is incredibly easy - just choose whatever veggies you enjoy or have on hand - roast them in the oven with a bit of olive oil or coconut oil and some salt then top over the quinoa. Most of the time I don’t even warm up the quinoa if I’ve had it refrigerated because the head from the roasted veggies will warm it up for sure. Sometimes I’ll get fancy and add some broiled haddock or tilapia to it, but most of

I may be a bit obsessed with this little green bean .  Although, I really enjoy getting the pre-shelled edamame at Trader Joe's.  However, our closest Trader Joe's is 45+ minutes away, so the next best thing (for me anyway) is to grow it in the garden. Personally, I think it tastes better knowing that I took part in the planting and growing of this fabulously delicious bean. Here's my row of edamame - ready for picking! Preparing Edamame is time consuming, but it is really quite simple.  Just pick it, boil it, shell it, and eat it.   I usually just pull up the entire plant - root and all.  The root is going to come out soon enough anyway.  Right?    Just remember, if you choose to just pull it out by the roots- it's probably best to NOT pick the pods off in your house.  That's just asking for a mess.   Today Izzy and I were smarter and chose to do the pod picking on the deck.   Picking the pods alone is quite boring.  I do suggest find

For me, summer is a time to let go, relax, let the house get messy, and have tons of fun with the family. That's a very easy routine to slide into once school's over.   The hard part, for me anyway, is adding structure back into my life when school starts up again.  One thing I struggle with is meal planning and making meals.   I have found that by spending a few hours on the weekend making a menu, shopping, and prepping meals - the week's meals seem to be a bit easier to manage.  I'm not saying I always stay on track and follow my plan.  Sometimes I just say screw it and we head off to Subway or A-1 Diner or we eat cereal.   I found this dry erase sticker at Staples a few week back - it's fabulous!  It's really helping me to stay on track for the week.   Sometimes I write "future" menu ideas in the corner - so I can remember them for the next week.  If I don't write it down, I am sure to forget!   Another thing I like

I'm a mom, a wife, teacher, and I have a garden & chickens.  Sometimes I think about all the happenings in my life and I get exhausted thinking about what needs to be done. This is just a glimmer of what a day in my life looks like: courtesy of Word It Out With a day like that - energy is vital.  I try to eat healthy most of the time, but that's not always enough.  Most of the time I turn to supplements for help.  Not all of them do the job - but this one sure did.  Introducing: ENERGYbits . Have you ever heard of it?  I hadn't before I was sent a sample for a review.   Now I cannot get enough of it!  Check it out for yourself.   source The only bad part is that I needed to hide them because this guy kept taking them.  I think he needs to get his own.   I love you, Ward.   But stay away from my ENERGYbits! I have had two very successful long runs with ENERGYbits .  Not my most recent ones - maybe because I am out o