Posted by fizzsbizz

It’s the weeeekkkeeeend! Hooray! I hope your Saturday has been going swimmingly and you have been doing fun things!

Workout…
My day started out bright and early with a 5:50am wake up call. I’m trying to get back in the routine of early morning Saturday runs and I really like to have time for a leisurely pre-run breakfast and cuppa.
I started pounding my feet right at 7. From the get go it was just a tough run. It was kind of rainy and my legs were feeling very heavy.

Around the 4 mile mark I started having some stomach *cough* issues *cough* and had to stop for a minute at a nearby rest room.
I finally found my groove around mile 4.5 and settled in for a good remainder of the run. While running, I’d seen the same couple on their mountain bikes a bunch of times. At one point I was running along the path and I saw the woman biker coming towards me. Hold up, let me set the scene for you… On one section of the path I run along, there is one path and then another running parallel but divided by a tall group of shrubs and windflowers meaning you can’t always see the other path. Every now and then there are small cut throughs were you can swap paths. Soooo anyhoo, I was running along the right side of my path when I saw the woman riding towards me and my thoughts went like this.. “Hmm I wonder where her biking buddy is. I’m on the right side so she’ll go around me. Ohhh another bunny. Ahhhhh!” SMACK. Out of nowhere the man biker suddenly came through the cut through from the other trail straight into me. A biker/runner head on collision. It was actually terrifying and I’m very thankful he wasn’t going any faster!
I got a bruised shin and a bung thumb but other than that I was hunky dory.

I took a couple of deep breaths, collected myself and finished up my 8 miles feeling pretty strong.

c
An eventful run to say the least!
…………….

After I stretched and rolled, it was time for my favourite part of run day. Smoothie time!
I went green this morning and blended up;
- 1 banana
- 2tbs Peanut butter
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- handful of spinach
- 1/4 cup of oats
- almond milk

……………
Chris, Annie and I spent the rest of the day doing some recovering…

And eating…

And celebrating the weekend.

Cheers to a wonderful Saturday!

Jun

2013

Sneaky lunch date.

Posted by fizzsbizz

Happy Friday!!

Yesterday was a wonderful day!
It was wonderful for many reasons, but the main reason was that I got to have a special lunch date with my husband buddy…in the warmth! Hooray!

But, lets back it up a little…

Breakfast…
I don’t even know if I need to or should show this breakfast since I’m sure you’re all bored to tears with my breakfast ritual. Even I’m bored of it, but I love it so!

With a side of Annie face…

…………..

Workout…

It was a beautiful sunny day and I was very excited to get out amongst the rays and get my sweat on. I had an easy 4 miler on the schedule and so headed out on my usual trail.
It was a sweaty but beautiful 4 miler, with a little extra brightness thanks to my Pro Compression neons.

I finished up with stretching and some core work. Wonderful!
………………

Lunch…

And now for my fun lunch date! After getting showered and dressing for temps 15-20 degrees warmer (YES!) I made the hour drive to meet Chris for lunch.
Hooray for the warmer temps meaning I could wear my new denim top. Oh how I love dressing for the summer.

I met Chris and we headed to Steins Beer Garden to get our lunch on.
And beers…

Nothin better than an adult bev in the sweet sunshine.
We split some delicious pretzels and I also had the seared ahi salad.

Delicious!

Spending an extra hour of the day with my husband, eating awesome food and in the sunshine = an awesome day!

I hope yours was wonderful too.

Happy (almost) weekend!

Jun

2013

Up And At ‘Em – Workout Time!

Posted by fizzsbizz

Yesterday I was in struggle town big time motivation wise. Pretty much all day I was thinking about when I was going to work out and pushing it back farther and farther in my mind. I just didn’t want to do it and wasn’t feeling it all. day. long.

So, I was focusing on different things. Like a delicious breakfast.

Breakfast…

I whipped up my usual fave breakfast to start the day off on a good note. Oats with brown sugar, walnuts, banana and almond milk. Delicious.

My lover.

(Pardon the blurriness, I was probably way too excited to dig in and shaking the camera!).

………………….

I then headed off to work for a couple of hours before coming back to enjoy the sunshine for a while. Studying in the sunshine is my favourite way to study!

Sweet Sunshine!

Annnnd then all that vigorous sunshine bathing made me hungry for a snack – you know, working hard and what not

Enter Chobani deliciousness.

Mango Mango!

99% of the time, I eat the non-fat yogurts, but I do always keep a couple of Mango and Pineapple low-fat on hand when I really want that extra creamy taste. YUM!

This little tub of awesomeness tied me over until I had to dash out to pick up a couple of necessities.

Just the necessities.

Oh in case you didn’t know, a York peppermint patty is absolutely a necessity, as were the Buy One Get One raspberries! Score!

Lunch…

It is not pretty but this baby was awesome. Half a roasted sweet potato with PB and walnuts, turkey and some raspberries.

Lunch delight.

…………………..

And the lack of motivation to workout continued. At this point, I just had to let lunch settle for a while right?

About an hour later, I was sitting on the couch with Annie and I finally said “OK Fizz, Up and At Em’”. So I got up, put my shoes on and whipped out a quick at-home workout. It wasn’t long but it got my heart-rate up and my blood pumping and, of course I felt great afterwards!

So, if you’re struggling with motivation, I sat ‘Up And At ‘Em!’.

Up And At ‘Em!

………………

Speaking of getting up and at ‘em I have to send a big shout out to my big brother Matt who is about to embark on the Couch to 5K program!! I’m so proud of him and excited for him to experience that awesome ‘runner’s high’! Go get em Matty!

Go Matty!

Happy Thursday All!

Jun

2013

Back to the drawing board.

Posted by fizzsbizz

Hello hello.

Happy hump day friends! I hope you’re all having a wonderful week.

My week started off on an interesting note. I heard from my work (I have been working as a nanny for a family for the past year and 9 months) that with some re-shuffling of their family etc. my hours are going to be cut back to…basically nothing. Wah . So of course I was bummed, not just about the job but because it threw off my ‘everything is scheduled until the end of the year’ plan. I don’t handle surprises all that well!
The bummer of course is the monetary side of things which will be a little tight for a while. Boooo.
So I let myself wallow in the ‘now I have to find a new job that will be ok with the holidays Chris and I have booked for the summer’ drama for a day and now I’m looking on the brighter side.

Every instance of change is an opportunity to seize a new adventure, start something new, grow, develop and change.
So whatever comes up for me, I will be ready for it!
………………..

Since yesterday was a shorter day tha I had anticipated, I got to spend a little more time with this sweet lady.

I took Annie down for a romp on the beach and we lucked out with a beautiful day!

Even though the fog sat just off the beach, reminding us that it was there ready to pounce at a moments notice.
You don’t scare me fog!

Workout…
After our beach time, it was time to lace up and cross another run off my marathon training plan. Oh how I love crossing things off lists! (I become more like my mum every day!).
I headed out for a slowwww 4 miles. This was a tough run. Everything was a little sore and I just wasn’t feeling it. BUT I did it so that’s all that counts! Right?

And then finished up with some core work.

I also received something special in the mail yesterday that was extra motivation to get out and run. My new Pro Compression socks! I popped these on post-run for a little recovery and I feel like they really work! Hooray!

…………..

So, there’s a quick little update from yours truly.

Words of wisdom welcome for the rest of the week. Sharing is caring friends!

Jun

2013

Sunday Loves!

Posted by fizzsbizz

Scenes from a splendid Sunday.

A sleepy sweetie.

Yogurt bowl delight.

3 mile recovery run.

Week 1 of marathon training done!

Custard French toast brunch time.

My new favorite drink – espresso martini!

And one thumb sucking bebe.

Yep, a pretty fantastic Sunday! I hope yours was too

Jun

2013

Back in the old routine.

Posted by fizzsbizz

Hi all!

I’m just popping in to say a quick haaeeeyy on this fine (but foggy) Saturday! So, haaaeeyyy!

I started my morning off with a nice long (er) run. It’s been a long time since I’ve done the early Saturday morning wake up and run and I have to say it was nice to be back in the routine!
I had my usual pre-long run breakfast of oats and a cup of tea and headed out around 7am.

It was foggy but beautiful along the coast and I had a nice 7 mile run and felt pretty strong. It was a good one!

After some stretching and rolling, I whipped myself up a breakfast (número dos) smoothie.
In the mix;
Almond milk
Total lean 25 vanilla protein powder
1 banana
1/2 cup oats
2 tbs peanut butter
Dash of cinnamon

Thick and delicious!
………….

After some showering, relaxing and TV watching the husband and I headed out for a (disappointing) lunch. We drove into Pacifica and into the sunshine to grab Mexican and a margarita.
Well, the margarita was delicious…

The tacos, sadly not so much!

Seriously bland. Ah well at least they looked good!

We took a quick spin down to the beach and then headed home for some wrestling…

And some more reeeeelllaaaaaxing!

It’s been a pretty great Saturday!

I hope yours has been wonderful too!

Jun

2013

Donut Day! And Weekly Workout Wrap Up.

Posted by fizzsbizz

It’s the weeeekkkeeeennnndddd!!!

As if Friday being Friday wasn’t enough to celebrate already, today was also National Donut Day. Yes, in the USA they have an entire day dedicated to the love of those fluffy, round, little pieces of heaven.

Donuts!!

They were giving out free donuts at Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts today. Epic!

I decided to get amongst the spirit of the day of the donut by whipping up some healthified ‘faux-nuts’ in my very own kitchen.

Were they as delicious as Krispy Kremes? Oh hells no, I swear they use actual heaven tasting crack in their glaze. My chocolate frosting was decidedly crack-less but still pretty damn tasty.

Friend or faux?

I was out of sprinkles (sad!) so I spruced some of them up with some shredded coconut.

Faux-nut Success!

Fun times in the kitchen this morning for sure.

……………………….

And now for your Friday instalment of…

Sunday – Rest day.

Monday – At-home full body workout.

Tuesday – 3 mile trail run + core work.

Wednesday – Strength workout + core work

Thursday - 4 mile trail run + core work.

Friday – Same strength workout + core work as Wednesday

A pretty solid week if I do say so myself.

……………………….

I am really excited to start throwing myself into Marathon training this weekend (first long run tomorrow – 7 miles!). Oh, in case you missed it, I went crazy the other day and signed up for a marathon! This marathon, to be exact.

Full crazy.

I am following the ‘Rock N’ Roll Ultimate Guide to Marathon & Half Marathon Training’ 16-week beginner plan. I have looked at all sorts of marathon training plans online and I really liked this one for a number of reasons;

1. It has me running 4 days a week – two shorter distances during the week, one long run and a recovery run.

2. It has scheduled strength training days – so I can use the prescribed workout in the book and/or BBB that starts up again soon. I didn’t want to give up my strength training!

3. It incorporated cross training into the plan which I appreciate because I know I’m going to need to added endurance while going easy on the joints.

4. There’s some speed work thrown in at the end of the long runs further down the track – I think that’s really going to help me push through ‘the wall‘. P.S I’m NOT looking forward to becoming acquainted with ‘the wall’. By all accounts, she (I will be referring to the wall as a ‘she’ from now on) sounds like a real piece o’ work!

I’m excited to share this journey (the good and the bad!) with you all!

Happy Weekend!!!!!!

Jun

2013

My life in zip lock baggies.

Posted by fizzsbizz

It’s my Friiidaaaaayyy!! Ohh let the sweet sweet weekend festivities begin. (Sorry for all you ‘Friday is Friday’ ers).

Thanks to an early morning on-the-way-to-work drop off of the wanza dog for her grooming, I had to pack my breakfast, lunch and snacks for the workday ahead.
Poor Annie, whenever she gets to ride in the car she gets this look of pure excitement like we’re going to the beach or for a hike or something. And then once she realises where she’s really going, this usually happens…

She hides so far under the dashboard that I have to wriggle under there to pry her out. What a little fraidy-dog!
Even after the 5 minute coercing out of the car, I made it to work on time and starving!

Breakfast…
I pulled out all my assorted sized and shaped zip locked baggies to find my breakfast mixings and whipped up my fave porridge brekky.

Everything from the oats to the brown sugar was packed in baggies. Impressive right? I thought so.
I washed down my breakfast with a cup of tea and a side of 4 year old saying ‘you know you should have eaten before you came here’. Ugh. Good thing she’s cute!
……………

Some puzzles, reading, arts and crafting and a trip to the playground later and I was hungry again. I have found that eating every 2.5-3 hours really works for me. Small meals to keep my blood sugar steady makes for a happy Fizz!
I just wish these weren’t quite so packed with sugar because they are freakin delicious.

Snack time!
………………..

Lunch…
Wow, let’s talk about food some more eh? I guess I did a lot of eating today! It was all delish by the way.
I headed back to the baggies to assemble a mix match plate lunch.

Toasted whole wheat English muffi with PB, sliced cheese, roasted turkey, baby carrots and raspberries. Perfecto!
…………

And shortly after, my work week was done. BOOM! Weekend!
I made a quick trip to pick up the pooch who was feelin’ pretty fancy with her new do.

And headed home to change and run it on out.

Workout…
Today was a run day and I headed out on the trails for a beautiful 4 miler. And I saw about a million rabbits including babies. I was pretty much in heaven! I tried to snap some pictures but those buggers were too quick. I love watching their little white tails bounce away. Cutest!

Can you see Annie popping a squat in the background? Ah, lovely.
I finished up with some hardcore stretching, rolling and some core work. Wonderful!

I hope your Thursday is going swimmingly!

Is it just me or did this week fllllyyyyy by? Craziness.

Jun

2013

National Running Day! AKA The day I lost my marbles.

Posted by fizzsbizz

Hellllooooo out there!

Did you all have a lovely National Running Day?

Run Run Run!

The National Running Day site posed the question ‘Why Do You Run?’. It’s an easy question in theory, but when you really try to put in to words exactly why you run it’s a harder task. Day to-day the answer can be for different reasons – exercise, to clear your head, to have some ‘you’ time, to challenge yourself etc. But I think this question really refers to why you run beyond those daily reasons. So here we go, my answer…

I run because…

I didn’t think I could…and I did.

Running is a constant reminder to me that I can overcome any negative self thoughts, I can push myself past what I thought was possible. I am strong and with every run, I get stronger.

Yes, I am still a very new runner but there is one thing that is true in running and something that I constantly remind myself of…

If you run…

(Source)

How many sports can you say that about? Yep, running is pretty awesome!

And now on to the part where I went completely insane…

Maybe it was all the National Running Day hashtags flying around, the running motivation or all the reading about people’s running stories but I got the overwhelming urge to sign up for a race…not just any race…the mother race… see where I’m going with this??

Yep, this happened.

26.2 Miles of Running Heaven???? We’ll see!

September 29th – Me, 26.2 miles of roads and trails and (hopefully) a lot of positive thinking. I have actually been thinking about this for a while but the usual thoughts of self-doubt kept creeping in. Today I said ‘to hell with you, doubt!’ and pulled the trigger. I’m excited/nervous/anxious/overwhelmed/legitimately scared of pooping my pants while running… and I haven’t even really dug into the training yet. It’s going to be an interesting ride and one I’m excited to take you all on! Bring it on Marathon!

…………………..

And now back to your regularly scheduled Bizz…

Breakfast…

My day started out on its usual delicious note with oats, brown sugar, almonds and sliced strawberries.

My fave.

I think sliced berries on oats is the cats meow without a doubt.

………………….

Work was same old same old with nothing too exciting to report (except for a whole lot of marathon research!). But when lunch rolled around, I was excited! Am I the only person who gets excited for a packed lunch?

Lunch…

I packed a whole wheat english muffin with roasted turkey, cheddar and baby spinach. I warmed it up a little to make the cheese melty and feel a bit more decadent. What is it about melted cheese that makes all the difference?

Packed lunch excitement.

And paired it with my usual little fruit bowl. Rock melon today!

Melon delish.

Lunch success.

…………………………

Workout…

While today was all about running, I actually didn’t have running on my schedule. I just did a lot of thinking, talking and reading about it instead.

I did an at-home strength workout consisting of exercises from the Rock N’ Roll half-marathon and marathon training book.

I did two rounds of 30 seconds of each of the following;

Single leg dead lifts

Standard push ups

Left hand forward push ups

Right hand forward push ups

Front plank on forearms

Left plank

Right plank

Hamstring Curls

Burpees

Single-leg squats

Tricep dips

Calf raises

Box Jumps

And then I finished up with this yoga ab workout. Burn!

Shweaty.

…………………..

Dinner…

We kept things pretty simple around here for dinner tonight. Roasted chicken ravioli with homemade avocado pasta sauce.

Major avocado love.

Delicious.

Thursday tomorrow! Yayyyy!

Happy night friends.

So, why do you run? Why did you start?

If you don’t run, what activity makes you the happiest?

Please share your advice on how to successfully run a marathon without pooping my pants. Really though…

Jun

2013

Yay for not frittering the morning away!

Posted by fizzsbizz

Today something pretty amazing happened!

Workout…

I love the feeling of exercising in the morning before work (I start late on Tuesdays) but I also love the feeling of enjoying a leisurely morning, a cup of tea and a delicious breakfast on the couch while catching up on blogs, watching ~~the news~~ Dawson’s Creek and just reeelllaaaaaxxxing. Because of this, I always end up frittering away my Tuesday morning and work time sneaks up on me before I know it. It’s ok because I usually fit in my run after work.

Today, I woke up a bit earlier with a little extra motivation…I had thrown together some overnight oats with peanut butter and I knew they were waiting for me. The catch for today is that I can’t run after eating PB (it doesn’t sit right with me when I run) so if I was going to get out and pound some pavement it would have to be before breakfast. And so I did! Just like that, hooray!

I headed out for an easy 3 miles on the trails.

An easy 3.

I followed the run with some core work and stretching and then finally it was time for breakfast! Yessssss.

………………………….

Breakfast…

Like I mentioned, I quickly threw together this bowl of deliciousness last night before bed after chatting with my girlfriend about overnight oats. It’s so funny how a conversation can spark an “I have to have it!” craving!

I used Julie’s recipe for Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Overnight Oats and they were pretty phenomenal!

In the mix;

3/4 C oats

1/2 C Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

1 1/2 Tbs Peanut Butter

2 tsp Brown Sugar

1 tsp Chia Seeds

And in the morning (after another splash of almond milk) you’ll be greeted by this little baby.

PB Cookie Dough heaven

And wouldn’t you know it, I still had some time to enjoy it over an episode of Dawson’s, have a shower and still be out the door on time. Ahhh the little things in life.

…………….

Lunch…

Lunch was a little ‘bit of this, bit of that’ action. I wanted a nice mix of carbs, protein, dairy and fruit but no one thing was jumping out at me. So, a mix n’ match it is!

I helped myself to a toasted whole wheat english muffin with a little dusting of cinnamon sugar, some roasted turkey, sliced cheese, and fresh raspberries.

A little of everything!

I actually love these types of lunches where I get to feel like I’m snacking but I actually get a decent lunch in. Success!

……………………

And now I simply must share this little beauty that served as my ‘please save me from 3pm grumps’ snack attack.

Here are my little words of wisdom for today…

Take a chocolate peanut butter Quest bar…

And microwave it for 25 seconds.

And then enjoy your snack while your taste buds think that it’s dessert time. Seriously, this was awesome!

Ohhhh yeah.

Fair warning, you will burn the top of your mouth if you’re too impatient to wait until it’s not scolding! Ouch.

This definitely helped me stay happy and positive through the end of the work day with a particularly sassy 4-year-old!

I hope your Tuesday was wonderful!

Any delicious eats lately?

What’s your favourite snack? Sweet or salty?

I am usually a salt lover with snacks, but something that tastes like dessert rates pretty high on my taste-ometer!

Page 1 of 3112 3 4 5 Next ›Last »

fizzsbizz

Living a balanced life…wherever the road may take me!

And then I got hit by a bike.

Sneaky lunch date.

Up And At ‘Em – Workout Time!

Back to the drawing board.

Sunday Loves!

Back in the old routine.

Donut Day! And Weekly Workout Wrap Up.

My life in zip lock baggies.

National Running Day! AKA The day I lost my marbles.

Yay for not frittering the morning away!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: