Such a mess :)

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time -- any of the three I've used since 2007 that is! -- you know how much of a mess I can be! So I'm going to preface this with a little bit of a throwback: Senior Mosts.

Remember in high school yearbooks how there was always that "Senior Mosts" section?? I wish I had a copy of mine to scan and post here for you all. But, I was voted Biggest Klutz/Spazz in high school. And you could have certainly guessed that yesterday.

Feeling extra motivated to get in some cross training since I hadn't ran in quite a while, I made sure to prepare/eat dinner extra early before Woodstock's puppy training class at PetSmart. Which by the way, he only has one more left before his final exam and graduation :) By the time class was over, I knew I'd have close to an hour of sunlight -- plenty of time to get in a good bike ride! I even set a bike date with a friend to ensure I wouldn't skip it.

Except, I haven't used my bike in almost a year now. And my front tire is completely out of air. Within the first five minutes of taking it out, I knew it sounded rubbery and squeaky and the tire was to blame. So instead, I figured I'd wing it and ride to the closest 7-11 to pump it full of air. Self-conscious of the hideous sound it made the entire way. But, when I arrived at 7-11, the AIR PUMP WAS OUT OF ORDER!!! So now here I am two miles from home with a bike that barely moves and not much sun remaining.

So guess what I did?

Yep, I took my bike for a run. I tried to jog my bike back home, holding the handlebars and running to the side. Which trust me, didn't last very long. It was more like interval training really ;) Or, like I'm practicing to make a bobsled team or something. I've gotten really good at the side push, if anyone's looking for a bobsled pusher.

Anyways, I reached my house 20 minutes later and felt completely destroyed. No more sun meant no more working out outside for me. And then it hit me: AT&T's On Demand section has workouts!

Luckily for me, this month they're previewing Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred. I've heard plenty of people brag about how awesome it is online, so I gave it a go. I tried one of her kickboxing-inspired videos On Demand before and loved how I felt after. However, I do find her pretty intense, intimidating and actually kinda creepy.

But the woman knows her stuff!! I was utterly exhausted after only 30 minutes of hardcore workouts. She constantly stresses no let up and by the end, I was grateful for the break.

The 30-Day Shred is definitely something I'm going to be looking into in the future!

I mean, look how sweaty and gross I was after??? I cheated in having a ton of water before this picture :)

After my super sweaty workout, this waited for me :)

Remember those Island Way fruit cup sorbets I talked about before?!?! Well J.D.'s parents were kind enough to pick up some more at Costco for us!!! YAY! I was surprised to find they've changed up some of the flavors. As usual there is a coconut shell filled with coconut sorbet and a mini half pineapple filled with pineapple sorbet. New to the mix this time around was a lemon shell filled with pomegranate sorbet (pictured above) and an orange shell filled with mango passion sorbet. Guys, passion fruit is one of my FAVORITE flavors!! It's sooooooo good and tropical feeling!

And now I'm going to backpedal a bit here. Back to last night's dinner! I set to work making all the fixings for a mini buffet bar thing.

Because I just cooked up a large container of carnitas!

And then put all the separate portions on my plate: spinach, sweet potato chunks, carnitas topped with a bit of cheese, olives and grilled peppers/onions, chips/salsa and brown rice.

But then, I didn't know what to do with this plate! So I mixed it all together and made a tasty fiesta salad :)

And the rest is history.

Oh yeah, I INHALED some more of that banana bread, slathered in cream cheese this morning along with an iced roobios vanilla latte. Home made coffee house meals are the best :)

Were you voted something crazy by your peers in your senior yearbook?? :)

I leave you, now, with something obvious.

Something exciting IS coming!

I've deemed myself fit to begin HALF MARATHON TRAINING this week!! Eeeek! I'm so nervous about it, especially since I don't know which half I'm running yet, but I figure it's good to start now and maintain the training if I run a later race. The Rock 'n' Roll Arizona half/marathon is in January, so maybe if I'm located there, I'll sign up for that? Or if I stay in Stockton, there's a half marathon on Nov. 14 I'd also love to sign up for! Plenty of options :)

Without further ado, here's my Week No. 1 training plan (keeping in mind, I was consistently running 6-7 miles during my Sunday long runs prior to being sick). I'm using the Runner's World Smart Coach iPhone application, for the sake of convenience.

• Monday 7/12: cross train
• Tuesday 7/13: 2 mi, easy run
• Wednesday 7/14: cross train/rest
• Thursday 7/15: 5 mi, tempo run
• Friday 7/16: 2 mi, easy run
• Saturday 7/17: rest
• Sunday 7/18: 7 mi, long run
• Total miles: 16

That's it! Now that I've posted my plans, I expect you all to hold me accountable for this schedule :) Unless of course, I'm sick or injured.

Originally this morning I had hoped to wake up at 6 a.m. and get in a quick run to acclimate my body back into running. Except, I'm so NOT a morning person. My alarm went off and for lack of sleep, I felt like a zombie. I felt dizzy and hot and gross. So I opted to skip it, although I've felt fantastic all throughout the day. My cough is on its way out, I believe! Oh well, maybe I don't need to "ease back" into running and instead just go for it! We'll see :)

Now, how about that BERRY BANANA BREAD recipe I promised you all earlier!! (Oh, that reminds me! I'm glad you all LOVED the pizza sticks! They're so much fun and would probably be GREAT for parties. Tasted just as good as they looked too!).

MONIQUE'S BERRY BANANA BREAD (adapted from Betty Crocker):

• 3/4 c sugar
• 1/2 c butter, softened
• 1 c mashed bananas (2 medium)
• 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 c Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt 1 T almond butter
• 3/4 c chocolate chips 2 T chocolate syrup
• 1 c halved cherries 1/2 c cherries, 1/2 c raspberries
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 1 loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches, or 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 1/2 inches, with shortening; lightly flour.

2. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until well mixed. Beat in bananas, sour cream and eggs. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips, cherries and nuts. Pour into pan(s).

3. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (if bread becomes too brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil about 10 minutes before end of bake time). Cool 15 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan(s); remove from pan(s) to wire rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

*NOTE HERE, for some reason, mine wasn't even close to being ready after 45 mins. Nor did it start to brown until the 55th minute. Maybe it's because I switched out the sour cream for Greek yogurt, but I found that the perfect time for my brad was about 62 minutes. All I'm saying, is just check the middle of the loaf with a toothpick often, to ensure you don't have the same problem!

Now if you'll enjoy berry banana bread pictures from my breakfast :) I clearly had too much fun making ridiculous shapes on the top. And also drizzling almond butter over the whole thing!

It really is delicious though! I suggest you make it if you're looking for a way to get rid of some extra bananas!

And now, I'll leave you with another one of my favorite songs at the moment. I'm glad you're all learning loads about my musical taste over here :)

3/4	cup sugar
1/2	cup butter or margarine, softened
1	cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium)
1/2	cup sour cream
2	eggs
2 1/4	cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon salt
3/4	cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1	cup halved red and green candied cherries
1/2	cup chopped nuts