Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Sunday Supper at Samba January 30, 2011

Filed under: Dining Out,Food,Friends — Kelocity @ 8:37 pm
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It rained in LA today, and I loved every minute of it. We ran around and did a bunch of errands and then I cozied up on the couch and finished reading Meb’s book. I love reading about running, it inspires me. I can not people humans can run 4-minute miles. It boggles my mind. I recommend the book to runners, especially anyone who has done New York or Boston.

We decided to end the weekend with a bang and head to CityWalk for dinner tonight.
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Our dinner companions tonight were the fabulous Erika and Timmy. We both bought a coupon a while back for Samba and we have been dying to try it. It’s always fun to play ‘tourist’ for a night and walk around CityWalk.
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Samba is tucked in the back, behind the Hard Rock Café.
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It’s a Brazilian Steakhouse served buffet style. There are two parts, first, the unlimited salad bar, and second, fresh meat shaved off of a spit right onto your plate. But first… The Salad Bar!
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They had SO many amazing side dishes.
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Lots of different kinds of veggies, salads, sides and bread! Oh man, the bread had cheese baked into it. DELICIOUS!
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The staff walks around with all different types of meat, and if you want it, you put this card on the green side, and if you don’t, you flip it over to red.
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They had lamb, beef, chicken, steak, tri-tip all cooked with a different spice or seasoning. My favorite was the bacon-wrapped chicken. MMm!
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The décor was festive and modern. It was swanky yet casual. Very nice.
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In the middle of the meal, these Brazilian dancers came out and danced for a while. It was fun entertainment, I felt like I was at the Rio in Las Vegas.
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We ate SO much, it was a delicious meal. We went for a mile walk after dinner, I definitely needed that to digest. We’re lucky to have such great friends close by to enjoy these adventures with.
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I’m off to watch the new Hallmark Hall of Fame movie with Betty White! Have a great week!

 

Rainy Sunday Morning

Filed under: Food — Kelocity @ 10:43 am
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This morning, I woke up incredibly sore from yesterday’s workout. I’m really feeling it in my butt, calves and back! I spent some time on the floor with a foam roller and a tennis ball. Feels a little better, but I feel a migraine coming on from my stiff shoulders. Nothing a little Dunkin’s can’t cure!
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First thing, Irving and I set out on a walk to run some errands, coffee in hand!
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It felt great to get the blood circulating. I’m still a little nervous about my shin splints since I’m running a half marathon next Sunday! So I am just taking it easy until then in the hopes it heals a little before the race.
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Just as we were heading back home, it started to rain (I LOVE THE RAIN!) Today will be spent folding laundry, Costco and grocery shopping. Kathy Kaehler coined a phrase called ‘Sunday Setup’, and it means that every Sunday, you plan, shop and prep all your meals for the week. Irving got right to work on Sunday paper coupon cutting!
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And I plotted out our meals for the week. This makes it a little less daunting. We are planning our meals around other events we have planned this week, so hopefully it will keep us organized.
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I hope the rain keeps the crowds away from Costco today!

 

A Very Blogger Saturday January 29, 2011

Filed under: Blogging,Food,Friends — Kelocity @ 7:48 pm
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After our exciting workout with Kathy Kaehler this morning, a few bloggers met at the Sagebrush Cantina for lunch!
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I didn’t feel like we worked out all that hard, but I was starving by the time we got there (and it was only 11:30am!)
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Some awesome conversation ensued. Topics ranged from running, to FoodBuzz, to blog hosting. It was such a great group and I was honored to dine with them. 
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Andy, the other ‘Boo’ of Two Boos who Eat joined us for lunch too!
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I soaked up some Vitamin D while I ate my amazing BLTA sandwich (Man, I love Avocado!) It was a fun, relaxing lunch.
It was 75* and sunny over here in LA today.

After Lunch, Sarah (SkinnyRunner) and I headed to Crumbs across the street!
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Man oh man, so many choices! They all looked amazing.
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I decided on the ‘Half-Baked’ flavor, which was a marble cake, buttercream frosting, and pieces of brownies and cookies on top!
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Once home, I split my prized possession with Irving.  Marriage is about compromise, right?
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When I cut it open, I realized they put icing all the way in the middle (Heaven!) I swear, someday I’m going to open up a Cupcake shop that only sells the tops of cupcakes (It’s all about the frosting, people!)
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The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning up the place, cooking dinner, and hanging out in my jammies. Hopefully we’ll start a movie soon and call it a night. Til tomorrow!

 

The Shin Splint Dilemna! January 28, 2011

Filed under: Food,Running,Training — Kelocity @ 7:52 am
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Ever since the Phoenix Half Marathon, my hamstrings have been SUPER tight. I’ve been doing the ice, foam roller and stretching, but nothing seems to be working. I thought the yoga the other night would have helped (all those down dogs!) but they actually feel even tighter since the class. What gives?

This morning, I got up to go for a run (I told you I would!) but first, I stretched inside and then did lots of these outside too. I love this stretch. It goes straight down the back of your legs.


You let your foot hang off and press down as you lean forward.

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The run started out pretty good, it felt really good to loosen up a little bit. My hamstrings were already feeling better. But then I started to get twinges in my shins… and then pain…. and then:

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Oh. My. Gosh. DO I HAVE FREAKIN’ SHIN SPLINTS AGAIN? I am paranoid about those because EVERY single time I start training again, I get them. And they don’t go away easily. I’ve had to deal with them since my High School field hockey days. I last had them while training for Boston, and the only thing that cured them was resting for a solid month. Every block or so, I stopped to stretch out some more. (Sometimes shin splints can be caused by tight calf muscles).

Here’s what I think happened:

  • I ran the Phoenix Half without much training, which left me more sore than usual
  • After the race, my muscles tightened up (especially my hamstrings)
  • When I started running consistently after the race, my calves tightened up to alleviate my hamstrings a little bit.
  • I did a lot of sprints last week, and that always messes up my shins. How am I supposed to get faster and fitter if I can’t sprint?!

So then I got to thinking, no one really likes a whiny running blogger, so I have to nip this thing in the butt and figure out what’s really going on mechanically with my legs and find a long term solution.

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It’s not brain science, I know what I need to do:

  • Ice every night
  • Stretch every morning and every night (even when I don’t feel tight)
  • Foam Roll the tight areas every night
  • Get a massage to flush out the knots (this worked really well before Boston)
  • Do more weight training/squats/lunges to strengthen my legs

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Also, I know that Advil isn’t that healthy for runners, but I really feel like I need it. Thoughts?

PS. How funny is this? I saw this in someone’s yard today. So cute!

After a frustrating run, and finding motivation to garner a solution, I enjoyed some breakfast cookie oatmeal: Oats, Banana, Chocolate Protein Powder, Peanut Butter and Coconut.

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Nothing like a blood sugar stabilizing breakfast. I buy the Trader Joes Chocolate Whey protein, and it seriously keeps me full for almost five hours!
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There’s talk of a trip to Menchie’s today after lunch! Happy Friday!

Tomorrow is the big Celebrity Fitness Workout session with Kathy Kaehler! I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures!

 

Relaxing Weekday Evenings January 27, 2011

Filed under: Babies,Food,Random — Kelocity @ 9:03 pm
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My life just isn’t that exciting on weekdays. We’re pretty boring people during the week (and then get all crazy on the weekends I guess!)

We watched a lot of Jeopardy this week. HAHA It’s sort of become our nightly cooking routine.
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One night, we cooked up one of our Dream Dinners. This one was a recipe created by Bon Greene, one of Oprah’s experts.

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It was a healthy take on Sweet and Sour chicken.
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The chicken was baked with oranges, pineapples, apricots, figs and oranges. It was deliciously sweet and we couldn’t believe there was no added sugar, it was all natural.
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Paired with some orange slices on the side, it definitely hit the spot.
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In other random news, I ate a Trader Joes burrito for lunch one day this week off of a Hanukah plate.
I thought this was HIL-ARIOUS. I was going to take a picture, but then the burrito kind of exploded in the microwave and ruined my plans.

[source]

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Have you guys checked out QWiki.com yet? It’s a pretty neat interactive website. It’s so cool, you don’t even realize you’re learning stuff.

For example: http://www.qwiki.com/q/#!/Marathon

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Oh, and just for some added cuteness, I got to snuggle with the infamous Hudson this morning.
He was totally worth the Parking Ticket I got while hanging out at his place today. TOTALLY worth it.
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I’m up at 6 for a run in the morning. And because I’m announcing it on the blog, I HAVE to actually do it.
I’m off to watch Teen Mom 2! Night!