We Aren't in Kansas Anymore!

So now you should be humming "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" LOL

Picture from the Electric Run two weeks ago

 It has been one heck of a windy couple days here in NorCal. And it suuuuuuuucks major LOL When my alarm goes off I can HEAR the wind beating against the house. Needless to say it has put a crimp in my running style LOL I'm still getting it in, on the days when the wind takes a break. 

So I've started doing a new thing with pancakes in the morning. Emme seems to like them and I feel good about her eating them LOL 

Keep an eye out for toddler thievery! 

Oatmeal Protein Pancakes

• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 carton fruity, flavored Greek yogurt
• 3-4 egg whites (judge consistency) 
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (can be omitted) 
• coconut oil for the pan

To make oat flour, put a cup of whole oats into a food processor and keep processing it until it is fine, like regular flour. Add all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and blend until combined. Melt your coconut oil on your griddle and cook the batter by 1/4 cupfuls, until bubbles form and pop. Flip, cook through, and serve! 
I have made these with plain Greek yogurt and added cinnamon and vanilla, omitted all fruit and they tasted like oatmeal cookies! Super versatile and toddler approved! And a great way to omit processed baking stuff, like Bisquik which I admit to having a low-hate relationship with LOL 

The base we live near is offering yoga classes on dates and times that actually fit into my schedule *gasp* So I am totally signing up for that stuff LOL I'm going to get my yoga on twice a week and run the other 4 with an off day. Now to find a yoga buddy, hmmmmm… 

And I leave you with a fitness challenge provided by He and She Eat Clean. You in?!? 

What's your favorite fitness challenge? 

How do you like your breakfasts best, sweet or savory? 

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It's Been A While…

And now that you have Staind in your head, I'll do some updating LOL Because every post should start with a song reference! 

Chicken Little and I went to Florida to visit my folks. It was ah-mazing! Made me super homesick ::sad panda:: And I didn't want to leave. But we did, le sigh! 

When we got home, Hubasarous and I started adding juicing to our diet. I fully intend on writing a great big long post detailing why we are doing, but today is not that day LOL Suffice to say, today, that I have way more energy and get up and go than I did before. I'm caring for my body on a cellular level, yo! 

I've signed up for quite a few runs lately. The next one up is the Electric Run tomorrow, in Sac-town. It's basically a rave with a 5K thrown in for fun! I'm running it with a girlfriend of mine, there will be tutus!! 

There is a half-marathon on base on 6 June that I plan on doing. It'll be an almost 30th birthday present to myself. Yay, you're turning 30 now move your a** so your 30s are better than your 20s were LOL Makes total sense, right?!? I'm following a hybrid, basic training program, starting Monday. 

Yup, so I'm pretty nervous about it LOL And I will DEFINITELY need to start dragging myself out of my warm bed and get at it early. The weather is changing here and the high 90s are just around the corner! 

So I'm pretty excited for tomorrow. I'll post a recap about it, hopefully picture heavy! 

P.S. I'm on Facebook now, come find me at TwoBlueSparrowsBlog. 
P.S.S. I'm also on Instagram, TwoBlueSparrows.  

Pancakes and the Park

I made Chicken Little a new pancake version this weekend. Gotta change it up every now and then! 

I really need to start dressing these up for pictures! 

Chocolate Banana Pancakes

• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 2 cups Bisquick HeartSmart mix
• 1 1/4 cup Almond milk
• 1 egg
• 2-3 Tablespoons baking cocoa

Mix everything together in a bowl. Ladle by 1/4 cupfuls onto a heated, greased skillet. Flip when the bubbles form and pop on top. Cook through. NOW EAT!! 

We did a family trip to the park yesterday. Chicken Little's absolute FAVORITE thing EVER is the slide. She won't go down by herself, she flips when she lays down on it. But as long as there is a hand there keeping her sitting up she screams with delight! 

I spent last night working on a another beloved hobby, beer SEWING! 

I busted out two new dresses for Chicken Little and started on a third. I would have finished the third but I couldn't find the zipper I had bought to go with it so I had to set it aside. ::sad panda:: She may end up wearing it to Easter Sunday Mass, I'm not sure yet. It needs some jazzing up first, I'm talking ribbons and bows here people!! (the pattern isn't pictured here)

I'm creating a new training plan today, after I get some homework completed. I'll share it hopefully tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest. It'll mostly be a running plan, since I'm starting to take it much more seriously. The goal is to end up being able to pound out 13 miles and say that 4 miles is a short run. 

Is anyone interested in a tutorial for the dresses I made? They are halter style but I am making another with a variation thrown in. I can snap some pictures during my next session and post an easy to follow tutorial. 

How was your weekend? 

Do you follow training plans or just wing it?

Race Recap- Biggest Loser 5K

Whoop, whoop! The day I've been waiting for finally came and I think I killed it for my first race ever! 

My alarm went off at 0500. Holy early Batman! I hopped in the shower to try and clear the cobwebs before I put on my sweet gear. 

The shirt is the official shirt we got, super sweet and comfy! I got the socks at Target to honor the St. Patty's Day run. They totes go with my sneakers huh? LOL I ate a peanut butter Cliff bar and drank some water during the drive so my tummy would stop grumbling. 

We hit the road at 0545 since I was worried about being late and I didn't want to take the chance of missing anything important. Registration opened at 0630 but since I had picked up my packet the day before I was in the clear! We hit Raley Field right at 0635 and managed to get some kick-a** parking. It was pretty chilly so I was glad I had worn capris, high socks, and a sweater. 

We killed the time until race start at 0800 people watching and goofing around. Our best game was reading everyone's race bibs until we found the first one who registered. It was a tough game at first, we couldn't find anyone in the double digits. And there she was. She wore a grey hat and had THE NUMBER ONE bib. Whaaaa?!? We didn't think we would actually find her LOL 

By the time we started lining up, the sun had come out and it was starting to feel really great! It was super hard to get into the 10 minute pace group. Apparently it's a popular spot! Seriously, don't be jelly of my sweet swag...

I finally managed to find a slot in the line up and hung out until the gun went off. Well technically we counted down and then like cattle started herding forward. It was a good 30-45 seconds before there was even the attempt at jogging. We were all jockeying for some sort of position without bowling each other over and stepping on heels. Very considerate, these Sacramentians. 

We ran through downtown Sacramento which is beautiful in the morning! This was taken right as we rounded the corner and we went over this old bridge. It's a Sacramento landmark and it was so cool to jog over it, both ways. At this point we were all still trying to find our places. 

The running aspect was nothing to really talk about. The course was clearly marked and there were a TON of volunteers to keep us all straitened out. As we progressed I passed quite a few people and then was passed by quite a few LOL I even passed the flag bearer! During the second mile we ran on a footbridge that went over I-5 so that was kind of neat also. 

Once we hit mile marker 3, people started picking up the pace and trying to really end on a great note. Which was super cool until they were getting in the way of MY ability to speed up and end on a great note LOL For the end we went back into Raley field and ran around part of the outfield and past the dugouts. Talk about jockeying for position!! I just picked a spot on the outside where none else was and went for it. 

Finished! My actual finish time was 31:11. The official time started when my toe tag crossed over the mat at the beginning and then ended when I crossed the first mat at the finish line. Cudos to Hubasarous for getting a shot of the clock though, right?!? I wasn't even looking for them at this point so I totally didn't realize I should wave LOL 

There were volunteers handing out medals and water in the cattle chute there. I hauled tail back up to the top to try and find my cheer squad. 

I'm not entirely sure what was up the thumbs today but it just felt right! LOL This is my "I'm finished" face. 

Close up of the medal

My finish time was officially 31:11. So I finished 24 out of 110 for my age group (24-29) and 227 out of 1022 overall. I'll take it!! I mean top 25 in my age group is a pretty sweet deal LOL 

We proceeded to pig out because we were ravenous! LOL PANCAAAAKES… Drool :) Then we all came home and crashed, Chicken Little included. We are not used to such early starts to our day! 

Next up is the Electric Run on 20 Apr. It's going to be super SWEET! Then prepping for a 10K in May. 

Thanks for all of the super awesome support!! 

Highs and Lows

Ugh! I know, I know… I disappeared again. All I can say is that school, motherhood, marriage, and life in general has been overwhelming these last few weeks. I've been sewing up a storm for Chicken Little's Spring/ Summer wardrobe. 

I'm making halter dresses and a few bubble dresses. Please forgive the lack of ironing! 

We are hitting the trenches in my classes. Only a few weeks until Spring Break and then a few weeks later the semester is over. Which would be exciting if I didn't also have classes scheduled for summer term LOL 

 So my recent high was hitting a sub- 10 minute mile while pushing Chicken Little in the stroller. It was like every star aligned for me LOL There was NO breeze, it was 60 some odd degrees outside, sunny and gorgeous, etc. In all honesty, I felt super slow and Chicken Little felt super heavy so I was shocked when RunKeeper told me my mile time for each mile. 

Then the next day was my loooow. Same weather and everything but I was sloooooow today. I have no idea what happened but I managed to tack an extra 30 seconds to each mile. And it took every bit of energy I had just to hit 2 miles. No clue what was up with that jazz. But I'm not happy with it.

After I finished I still felt wiped so I made a coffee protein shake to try to get some pep in my step. 
Coffee Protein Shake

• 1 cup brewed coffe
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• Some ice cubes

I tossed everything in the blender because I wanted my ice cubes crushed LOL It isn't quite working yet but I'm pretty sure that's my fault! 

My race is finally here on Saturday! Holy bananas where did the time go?!? After today I am feeling pretty discouraged about it, to be honest. I'm hoping today was an off day. Also hoping that on actual race day I'll start getting a nice adrenaline buzz and it'll carry me through. I keep checking all of the information coming through to make sure I can wear my iPod with only one headphone in. I need my motivating music! I'll have to draft a specific playlist though so I'm not fussing with it while running on race day. 

Pink and white combo

I'm going through my gear and trying to figure out the most motivating color combination for Saturday LOL Should I wear the pink shirt and black pants? Or the pink shorts and green shirt? Or the green shirt and pink and black pants?!? So many decisions!! But you know the fuchsia shoes are totally happening! 

Outfit votes?

What do you do to gear up on race day, since this is my first?

Weekend Round-up!!

So the weekend happened LOL Here's how it went down! 

Because it was a beautiful Spring weekend, best time of year to run

Saturday:
     Hubasarous managed to get food poisoning. From where? Who knows! Chicken Little and I were perfectly fine all weekend so he must have gotten it somewhere outside of the house. So instead of going to a local Beer Fest (sad panda!!!) we stayed at home. I went and looked at an Open House then came home and made homemade chicken noodle soup, thinking he may like the broth when he was able to keep fluids down. He started eating today and was thankful for the soup. 

Sunday:

Chicken Little and I started the day off with some Popeye's Pancakes. Only the best in this house, I tell ya!! As you can see I topped mine with a little bit of Fage, some walnuts, and some sugar-free syrup. We sat around the rest of the morning drinking coffee and zoned out hanging out. 

When Chicken Little and Hubasarous went down for naps, I suited up to try and get my sweat on. I know I've posted this shirt before. It was the March of Dimes shirt that my preemie support group wore last year. It was GREAT for a run in some mild 60 degree Spring weather. I took Hubasarous's and used a sports bra to cut the shape out. Worked out shockingly well! 

I had planned an out and back 3 miler, following a new path I had mapped out. What I failed to realize was that the sidewalk stopped barely into the first mile and I had to run on the side of the road. I was not happy LOL There was super, super loose gravel and random clumps of grass all over. I ended up stumbling quite a bit and added 30 seconds to my mile time. Booooo :( 

I hit the turn around point to finish out the mile and get down with my planned run. But as I got closer to my 3 mile point I decided I still had some juice left. And what started out as a 3 miler turned into a 5.21 mile run!

Whaaaaaaa?!? LOL I know! That's a distance PR for me! And I am totally ok with having an average pace of 10:34 for over 5 miles. I could have kept going, I had finally hit the elusive "running zone." But then my stomach started growling and I figured Chicken Little was awake and hungry too LOL Food ALWAYS wins out! 

Today's run showed me that yup, I can totally sign up for, complete, and be proud of a 10K. So that is my new goal. I'm trolling around Active.com looking for some runs in my area. My BIG, year-end goal is to do a half-marathon. I think I'll start the true, blue training for it in a few months. But I'm super EXCITED to have a new goal! 

Now to go get my 30 minutes of yoga in. I need the stretching today for sure! My glutes and hammies are super, duper tight. 

How do you stretch post workout?

What fitness goals do you have for the end of the year?