What's for Dinner? Week of 1/5

In case you missed my 2014 goals, one of them is to menu plan every week. Menu planning in 2013 was a little hit or miss. Even on the weeks when I did do some planning, it was hard to follow.

That all changes starting now.

Lately, I've been so lazy after work. The last thing I want to do is make dinner when I get home. The good thing is that we still haven't been eating takeout much. The bad thing is that we haven't really been eating. I might just have a simple snack before bed. Ugh.

So this week, I'm trying to keep it simple. Plus, I'm hoping to get some food prep done this afternoon, to take some of the weeknight work out of actually making dinner. *fingers crossed*

Sunday - Black Bean Soup

Monday - Crockpot Lasagna

I pinned this a LONG almost a full year! time ago from Katie at From Ice Cream to Marathon. Now is the time to finally try it. :)

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Tuscan White Bean Soup

Thursday - Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili

I've made this before, but not for a very long time. I'm excited to try it again. :)

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - TBD

Since we'll be having soup a couple times this week, I couldn't resist these new bowls.

I'm linking up with Laura over at Mommy Run Fast. Go check out what everyone else is cooking up this week.
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Fitness Friday 1/3

As I mentioned in my New Year's post, I'm going to start participating in Fitness Friday with Jill Conyers.

Since it's still so close to the New Year, and I'm just finding my new blogging groove, I don't really have too much to say this morning.

So, I'll just share this pic I found on Pinterest the other day. What a great thing to keep in mind as we enter the new year and all year long!

Here's my weekly recap, starting on the 1st.

Jan 1st

• Started my #sunmoonchallenge with 1 sun salutation in the morning and 1 moon before bed. If you're joining the challenge, be sure and like me on FB for a daily check-in!
• 3-ish mile run with Sallie
• New Year's Workout

Jan 2nd

• #sunmoonchallenge
• Arms and Abs 

Jan 3rd

• #sunmoonchallenge
• 3 mile run

Highlights
The arm workout I did yesterday was TOUGH! I was so sore immediately afterward that washing my hair was ooh! so rough!! The soreness subsided for most of the day yesterday, but it's back with a vengeance this morning - especially my elbows. :)

Today's 3 mile run was AWESOME! It was SO COLD 41°F that I ran my fastest pace in a LONG while. I just wanted to get out of the cold. Ha! But it felt good running at that pace. I didn't feel like I was dying. At all. No, I felt like a gazelle.

How's your New Year starting out?
On your best runs, which animal do you identify with? I always like to imagine I have the grace and speed of a gazelle. Not sure why.

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Start the New Year with Diet-to-Go

Does one of your New Year's Resolutions include eating healthier or losing weight? Is this a recurring resolution year-after-year? This year make an anti-resolution and instead make lasting, lifelong changes for weight loss and total health.

Diet-to-go can help!

They're hosting a Twitter chat on January 7 – focusing on a discussion about changing our mindsets from “I want to be skinny!” to “I want to be healthy and love life!”

I’ve spent years with the “I want to be skinny!” mantra, but it was more of a dream for me. Or nightmare? That mantra would make me feel bad about myself. And deny me the happiness I deserve.

Instead, I try now to focus more on living my life the way I want. If I don’t look perfect in my bikini, that’s OK. What’s more important is being able to DO the things I love to do! By living an active life, I’m much happier, but there are still days when that “I want to be skinny!” voice starts yelling at me again. Booo!

So, I’m excited for this twitter chat. I love chatting with others who are trying to focus on shifting from skinny to healthy.

And, of course, there are some great prizes! ONE tweeter will win their choice of a Fitbit Force Wristband or Fitbit Scale and THREE tweeters will win one week of free Diet-to-Go meals.

Oh yeah! Diet-to-Go is also having an amazing giveaway in January.

They’re giving away 1,000 meals this month, and tons of other great prizes!

• 5 lucky winners will receive one month of free meals! 
• 20 winners will receive a free week of meals! 
• 25 winners will receive a $50 Diet-to-Go gift card!

Wow! So exciting!!

If you haven't tried Diet-to-Go meals, now's your chance! You can read my reviews of their meals here and here.

Entering is super easy, too. All you need to do is enter your email address in the widget below. You can earn additional entries for liking and sharing on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Plus, get unlimited bonus entries for each friend you refer!




For more information on the giveaway, you can read the announcement on the Diet-to-Go Blog.

Oh, and if you missed my 2014 goals, you can read about my exciting plans for the year here.
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Disclosure: As a Diet-to-Go Ambassador, I will receive compensation for this post promoting their Twitter chat on 1/7/2014 as well as their 1,000 meal giveaway.

Happy 2014!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This morning I slept in, played on my phone, ran 3ish miles, did this workout, did my 1 sun salutation and hit the pool.

Phew! Gotta love days off work. 

So, the year is off to a good sweaty start.

I didn't do so well with my goals in 2013, but here's to starting over in 2014!

Individual Goals

Run Faster. Yes, this is a repeat from 2013, but this year, I WILL get that sub-25.

How? I plan to achieve this by running consistently all year long AND incorporating speed work 1-2 times/week.

Train Harder. Yep. Another repeat. I really want to focus on my arms and my abs this year.

How? I'd like to incorporate arm/ab specific workouts 3x per week. If you have any that you love, let me know! Otherwise, I'll head to Pinterest and FitSugar for inspiration. :)

Blogger smarter. This includes blogging regularly and upping my social media game. I hope you'll continue to join me. :)

How? Themes and an editorial calendar. I've already got the themed posts marked on the calendar. :)

Monday Listicles. I did these quite a bit in 2012 and the beginning of 2013, but then pretty much stopped altogether. I miss them, so they're coming back! Stasha is the host over at The good life.
Tuesday's Tips. This one isn't a linky, but something I'm doing on my own. I'll share tips about blogging, social media, cool apps I've found on my phone or maybe running tips or fitness tips or tips around the house. It'll be really open to whatever I want.
Fitness Fridays. I've done a few of these in the past, but never very consistently. I'll be linking up with Jill for my weekly workouts + motivation or whatever else is on my mind that's fitness-related.
Menu planning on Sundays. We tend to eat better if I go into the week with a plan, so that's my plan for 2014. I'll be linking up with Laura and Jill for this to not only hold me accountable, but also to get inspiration.

That leaves Wed, Thurs, and Sat for random posts. :) Towards the end of each month, I'll check in with a Month-in-Review post.

That's it for my individual goals.


Goals with Jeff

Complete a triathlon. Not sure when or where, but this is something that Jeff and I want to train for together. I love to run, like to bike, and hate swimming. Jeff loves to swim, likes biking, and hates running.

How? TOGETHER! Once we decide on a triathlon, I'm sure I'll come up with a training schedule for us to follow, but I think that if we're training together, we'll be more likely to accomplish this together.

Read 3 books together. We watch a LOT of TV/Movies, and it would be nice to spend some evenings reading together. We did this before in 2012 and had a lot of fun with it!

How? No specific plans on this - other than buying the books and making it happen. :) Pretty sure we're going to read the Pegasus series by Anne McCaffrey.

Do at least 1 NEW thing a month. We're leaving this pretty vague intentionally. It could be something as simple as a new restaurant or something more extreme.

Complete a checklist of enriching activities. We're hoping to do 3 activities in 4 different categories - cultural activities, outdoor activities, volunteering, and new restaurants.

There may be some overlap with the New Things and the Enriching Activities. So, if our new thing in January fits one of the enriching activities, that's OK.

By the end of the year, we'll have these filled out with snapshots of all the fun we had during the year! As we do things, we'll insert pictures into each of the little squares.

In other news, check out this cool logo Jeff designed for my blog!

I asked him to design me something that epitomizes my blog's theme of Enjoying the Course. I love how he incorporated running and all the different types of scenery seen on my runs. I love it!

How's your 2014 starting out?
Did you make any goals or resolutions?
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2013 Goals - How'd I Do?

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!!

Are you sick of my recap posts? This is my last one for 2013. Promise.

You probably already know from this post that I had a pretty great year, but in relation to my 2013 goals, it was a bit of a failure of a year.

Here were my goals.

Run faster, conquering a sub 25:00 5K --> NOPE
About halfway through the year, I ditched this goal in favor of running my 3rd marathon. At the start of marathon training, I'd hoped to continue working on speed as well, but that simply wasn't in the cards.

Eat healthier, trying at least two new recipes a month --> SMH
I may have eaten a bit healthier, but I didn't try two new recipes a month. Sticking with what I know is so much easier!

Train harder, achieving strong, beautiful arms --> Not so
My workouts were OK throughout the year, and I tried to focus on my arms and upper body, but there is no measurable difference today.

Read more, finishing at least 12 books --> Not even close
I read a grand total of 3 books this year. In January. Oops!

Serve more, including CharityMiles and community service with my husband --> So sad!
I wasn't even consistent with using CharityMiles!

Like so often happens, our New Year's Goals drop off after a month or two. I fell victim to this in 2013. I even stopped doing monthly recaps after March. :(

Even though I didn't accomplish stick with my goals for 2013, it's only a complete failure if I don't learn something, right?

So, now I can will hopefully make better goals for 2014!

Sorry for the downer post. I probably shouldn't have kept this one for last. LOL. For cheerier end of the year posts, be sure to read about my #yearofrunning13, my Top 13 of 2013 posts, and, of course, my 2013 Year in Review.

Oh yeah! And I almost forgot, but I DID ACCOMPLISH ONE GOAL - 365 days of Happy Moments! Well, I WILL accomplish it after I post today's happy moment. :D

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve tonight!! See you in 2014!!
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How to: Sun & Moon Salutations

Prepare for the day with Sun Salutations.
Prepare for bed with Moon Salutations.
In case you're unfamiliar with these yoga sequences, I thought I'd break them down for you a little.

Sun Salutations
This sequence is meant to create heat and warm you up for the day. Each pose syncs with your breathing - inhale to extend and exhale to bend. This flow focuses more on forward and backward bends, and can be a great warm-up for your regular workout or probably towards the end of the month a workout on its own.

Here's what it looks like.

Yoga Outlet does a good job of breaking down each pose - How to Do Sun Salutation A in Yoga.

If you prefer video, I know I do! here is a link to my favorite. Esther from Ekhart Yoga really walks you through the sequence and goes slow enough in the beginning, so you can get a real feel for the flow. She repeats the salutation 10x, which is helpful for me because I tend to lose count.

Moon Salutations
Unlike the sun salutation, the moon salutation is a cooling and quieting flow. It's used to calm your mind and draw your awareness inward. Instead of forward and backward bends, it focuses more on side-to-side motions.

Here's what it looks like.

Though for the full sequence, this should be repeated by starting with a left side bend.

Again, Yoga Outlet breaks it down well - How to Do a Moon Salutation in Yoga.

Ekhart Yoga has a video for the moon salutation as well. This time she only goes through it once, and it's a bit slower than her video for the sun salutation, but it's great for a beginner.

And here's another video I found that flows a bit faster.

The faster flowing video takes about 3 min for the full sequence.
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Year in Review 2013

Yesterday, I posted my Top 13 (most viewed posts) of 2013, and Friday, I posted my #YearofRunning13. To continue recapping 2013, let's take a look month-by-month at how this year went down. Bullet-style.

January

• I kicked off 2013 with some goals for the year. Like most New Year Resolutions Goals, I didn't really stick to them too well. :( January was a pretty good month, though. 
• Many of my most viewed posts were from January, so blogging-wise, I was on top of my game. I also did a blog redesign.
• Work was crazy busy and a bit stressful. Lots of major projects to tackle. 
• And I struggled with my hair experiment.
• Oh yeah, and Jeff and I went on a date night to Bahama Breeze and discovered we love coconut shrimp. Who knew?

February

• The month started out with a 5k PR. Whoo hoo!!
• It's the month of love, and I professed my love of my bike, running, and a few other things.
• I didn't cut my hair, but I go a bit more reddish. :)

March

• This was a fun month with NASCAR, Cee Lo Green, and a baseball game.
• As well as a visit from my brother, a visit from a college friend, a friend's birthday, and a Fitfluential meetup.
• I also tried out a new (to me) restaurant with some bloggers.
• Struggled with calling myself a runner.
• Spring came as it does every year, and I spruced up my closet at the thrift store.
• I wrote what I think is one of my most important posts - Sharing the Road: Tips for Drivers. It makes me a little sad this one didn't make it to my top 13.

April

• After the craziness of March, April was kind of slow.
• Jeff and I designed someone else's blog.
• And I ran Ragnar Zion, which was super fun. You can read about it here, here, and here.

May

• We tried Bountiful Baskets for the first time and LOVED it!!
• I  started my first ever Run Streak.

• And I went blonder.

June

• I created a new workout and tried out Shine Fitness.
• With summer comes the need to focus on hydration and how to monitor your hydration levels.
• I ended the hair experiment and cut my hair.

• We bought a crazy new sofa.

• And I learned about Bitchy Resting Face.

July

• I fell in love with the Mizuno Wave Sayonara and finished my Run Streak.
• Hosted a pool workout series.
• Registered for my first marathon in 10 years and won entry to the Valley of Fire Half Marathon.
• Another visit from my brother. Yay!

August

• MY BIRTHDAY!
• Hosted my first ever virtual race and started marathon training.
• And there was lunch with an old college friend.

September

• We bought a new car - Meet Genie!

• I volunteered at Bite of Las Vegas.

October

• I shared my Running Story and created a fun hill workout for Halloween.
• We attended LUCKYRICE at The Cosmopolitan.
• My parents came to visit and we saw Bon Jovi, visited Hoover Dam, hiked at Valley of Fire, and caught the free shows on the Strip.
• Volunteered at Life is Beautiful, attended NHRA, and stopped by the Las Vegas Balloon Festival before a long run.

November

• I ran Valley of Fire Half Marathon, met a new friend, and checked out the RnR Vegas race expo.
• Dyed my hair a deep red. 
  
  

December

• Um. I ran my 1st marathon in 10 years! And haven't really run since.
• Registered for the RnR Las Vegas Marathon next Nov!
• Gave my blog another face lift.
• Got my first celebrity follower on twitter.
• Dressed up to go and pick up pizza on Christmas Day. 

I also spent countless hours running and many hours in the hot tub. Of course, there was plenty of time spent snuggling with Sallie and watching TV/Movies with Jeff.

All-in-all, I'd say it was a pretty great year! Can't wait to see what 2014 brings!
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Top 13 of 2013

I saw this over at Running with Ollie, and simply knew that I needed to do, too, so here's a look back at my top 13 posts from 2013 (by pageviews).

13. I'm a Top Health & Fitness Blogger!

12. 10 Things that Make Me Happy

11. Ragnar Zion - The Experience

10. Diet-to-Go Really Delivers

9. Happy Spring!

8. Marathon Monday: Tri-States Marathon Recap

7. Weighing In - A Bathroom Scale Review

6. Simply Snackin'

5. So, You Want to Start Running?

4. Factors of 36 Virtual Race

3. 10 Random Movie Quotes

2. Happy April!

And the #1 Most Viewed post from 2013...

1. Busy College Student? Tips for Staying Healthy

THANK YOU so much for reading along through 2013 and I look forward to seeing more of you in 2014!
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My Year of Running 2013

Where did 2013 go? Seems like just the other day I was making my 2013 resolutions. I didn't do a great job of sticking to them this year, so I'll probably not do a full recap post.

My running goal for 2013 was to run a sub-25 min 5k. About halfway through the year, I decided to change the goal from speed to endurance. 5 months later, I ran my 1st marathon in 10 years.

Though my goal changed, I think I had a pretty great year of running.

I'm a little late to the party but the linky is still open! yay! but I thought it would be fun to link up with Miss Zippy for ...

MY YEAR OF RUNNING 2013

January Challenge - Sun & Moon Salutations

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas yesterday! I had the day off work, but otherwise didn't do anything special. In fact, I battled a nasty headache most of the day. Booo.

We had the most delicious pumpkin pancakes for breakfast! But since I had a headache the rest of the day, I didn't feel like being in the kitchen at all, so we ordered Papa John's for dinner.

And watched 2 Batman movies. Kind of nontraditional, but it was a good day (despite the headache, which is still lingering by the way).

I've got a few end-of-the-year type posts coming at you, but I wanted to invite you to join me in January for a little New Years Challenge.

Starting Jan 1st, I'm going to challenge myself to begin and end each day with a little yoga - prepare for the day with sun salutations; prepare for bed with moon salutations.

Each day, I'd like to increase the number I do. I'm starting with 1 because I want to realistically be able to get to the end of the challenge.

So, Jan 1, I'll do 1 sun salutation in the morning and 1 moon salutation before bed.
Jan 2, I'll do 2 suns and 2 moons.

You get the idea.

If you're a more experienced yogi, and you still want to join the fun, just choose your starting number and then increase by 1 every day.

Right now, this is purely for fun, and because I want a little more yoga in my life. I might try to wrangle up a prize. I'll keep you posted, but I wanted to extend the invite now while you're thinking about the New Year.

UPDATED: I was able to secure a prize this challenge you're welcome, and I've amended it to only doing at least 1 sun and 1 moon every day. Check it out here.

Not sure what a sun or moon salutation is? I'll post some examples for you on Monday!

How was your Christmas?
What other January challenges are planning on to ring in the New Year?
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What's for Dinner? Week of 12/22

Wow! I can't believe I haven't done a meal planning post since the 2nd week of November!? And, of course, my dinners have been a bit lacking.

No time like TODAY to get back on track.

Sunday - Beef Kebabs with Veggies and Mashed Potatoes

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen our new kitchen toy.


Our breakfast of pumpkin french toast and sausage was delicious. Can't wait to see how the kebabs turn out. I've got the meat marinating right now.

Monday - Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

I got this recipe from Angie over at A Mother's Pace. If you go to this post, and scroll through the comments, she posted the recipe just for me - and all of YOU!

Tuesday -  Pasta with Grilled Veggies

I know there will be some leftover veggies from our kebabs tonight, so I thought why not use them for a pasta dish.

Christmas -  Since I won't be working on Wednesday, I figured it would be a good excuse to plan a whole day of eats.

Breakfast

Lunch 

Chili dogs and edamame 

Dinner 

Leftovers 

Thursday - Homemade pizza

Since we aren't really doing anything on Christmas Day, I'll take advantage of the day at home to make some homemade pizza dough and sauce.

Friday - Soup and Sandwiches

Most likely, we'll have some canned soup and some kind of grilled sandwich. Or something from my Sandwiches board on Pinterest.

Follow Clarinda's board Sandwiches on Pinterest.

Oh, it feels good to have a plan!

What are you eating this week?
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Three Things Thursday - 12/19

Here's what on my mind today.

1) This has got to be the SLOWEST week ever. Seriously, it seemed to take FOREVER for Tuesday to get here, and now it's ONLY Thursday. When will this week end? Of course, today has been one fire after another at work, but at least today is moving quickly. Yay!!

2) I get a lot of junk email. So much that I created a separate email address just for when I sign up for newsletters or mailing lists.

One of the mailing lists I'm on is for H&M. Usually I just ignore them, but when I checked my email this morning while lying in bed Tell me I'm not the only one who does this! I couldn't ignore the UP TO 70% OFF email I had staring back at me.

Plus there's a shopping app for my phone? Ok!

So, yeah. I downloaded the app and went to browsing the Sale items.

$100 later...

I did find some really great deals, though.

3) Do you get stressed out over the holidays? I do okay, actually. Mostly because it's just me and my husband, and we don't do much to celebrate. Even though we don't celebrate the holidays, I still enjoy a little pampering all year long!

I received this Water-Resistant Professional Skin Care Face and Body Brush System from ToiletTree Products to review awhile ago.

It's fabulous! So easy to use, and it's like getting a mini-facial every morning.

It comes with 4 interchangeable heads - 2 for your face, 1 for your body, + a pumice stone. They are extremely easy to change - even the hot steamy shower.

Definitely one of the best features of this is that it's water-resistant. I keep mine hanging in my shower for everyday use.

It's also nice that you just use your favorite facial cleanser. I love that you don't need to buy anything special.

NOTE: I wouldn't really recommend using the Apricot Facial Scrub with this. I find it a little hard to clean out of the bristles.

The pumice stone is a very nice touch. Makes giving myself a pedicure a bit easier.

When I use it, I feel like my face gets a little more love and my skin is a little bit happier.

It's on sale right now at Amazon for only $39.95, so give yourself (or someone you love) the gift of pampering and relaxation this holiday.

How's your Thursday? 
Has this been slow week for you or is it flying by?
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Koss FitSeries - The Perfect Gift for Active Women

This post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Koss.

Less than 10 days until Christmas. Is your shopping done? No?

Are you still looking for that perfect gift for yourself the active woman in your life? I recently had the opportunity to try out the new Koss FitSeries headphones as a FitFluential ambassador. They come in two styles - FitBuds and FitClips.

Personally, I preferred the FitClips. They fit easily around my ear, and I barely noticed them during my 5-mile run. I meant to try them out during my marathon, but ended up not listening to any music with headphones.

Unfortunately, I had some difficulty with the FitBuds. The left one always seemed to pop-out. Could have been user error.

I'm not really much of a headphone aficionado. I usually just use whatever comes with my phone. :-) That said, I really thought the sound quality was good. I didn't have to turn the volume up nearly as high as with my other ear buds. Score!

Both styles of headphones come with 3 different sizes of cushioning, so you can customize the fit to your ear.

See the difference in sizes of the two headphones without the cushioning? I think is this partially why I liked the FitClips better. So much smaller. :)

They're designed by women, specifically for women.
The FitBuds are 33% smaller than other Koss earbuds.

They're sweat resistant and come in a variety of colors.

But the best part is that they are totally affordable! Normally $29.99, they're on sale at several retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, Walgreens, Kmart and Sears for $19.99. Or less!!

Sounds like a pretty great deal to me!

You can also check out Koss at the following:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/koss
Twitter: @KossHeadphones
Instagram: @Koss
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/KossHeadphones
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What's Next?

My marathon is over. What? You haven't read the recap yet? Go read it here. I'll wait.

It was an amazing experience, and I'm glad that I decided to get out there and claim the marathoner title once again.

Will I run another one? I hope so. Maybe even in 2014. Maybe even twice in 2014. Who knows?

The only race I actually have scheduled right now, though, is the Mustang 50th Half Marathon in April. Who else running it?

Ideally, I think I'd like to do another marathon in May or June and then *maybe* Tri-States again in Nov (they moved it earlier in the year, so maybe it won't be so cold) or something. Do you have a favorite race I should check out?

Anyway, I attempted a run yesterday morning. It wasn't pretty. My shins were screaming by 0.35 miles, and I knew I'd be lucky if I got in a full mile. I did! But I decided that was enough.

A little disappointed, I posed the question on Twitter.

3 days #postmarathon I attempted a run. It wasn't pretty. How long after a marathon before you're back to regular running? #fitfluential
— Clarinda (@EnjoytheCourse) December 11, 2013

@EnjoytheCourse it took me two weeks but I had a hairline fracture :(
— Kayla Preston (@kaylapreston) December 11, 2013

@EnjoytheCourse usually a couple of weeks for me. I take the first week off completely
— John T. (@tomlinsj2) December 11, 2013

@EnjoytheCourse i normally take 3 days off running but cross train though. #RunChat
— Alex Magdaleno (@Amagdaleno32) December 11, 2013

So I guess now is the time to step back a bit from running.

I think I'll take at least a week off entirely, and then start doing short, easy runs. I plan to increase my yoga and do some of the many, many workouts I've pinned to my Workouts board. And maybe I'll start biking to work again. Cold, cold GO AWAY!!

Ultimately, there are a lot of things I wish I would have done differently in training for Tri-States, and I really believe that strengthening my core and cross training will help immensely in making me a stronger runner.

And I want to be a stronger runner before I start training again for another Marathon.

What's your favorite way to cross train?
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Long Weekend Recap

Well, my long weekend has come to an end. :( Back to a regular routine this morning. It's okay. The memories from this weekend will last a long time. And if not, they'll be recorded here, for good measure. ;)

Obviously, the biggest highlight of the weekend was running the Tri-States Marathon with Katie.

Katie and me at the Start Line

Missed my recap of the race? Check it out here.

Besides running a marathon, the weekend was filled with delicious food and drinks.

And walking around the Strip.

Katie had never been to Vegas before, so we had to do at least something Vegas-y. But it was so cold! And we were both tired from a day of travel Thurs - Katie flying from KY; me circling the McCarran Airport for 20+ miles - that we just grabbed dinner at FIREFLY and called it a night.

So, before heading to Mesquite for the marathon, I had to at least show her the Vegas Strip. We parked at Fashion Show mall. I got some nail appliques on my ring fingers; Katie got her hair straightened AND bought the hair straightener. I decided that maybe it hadn't been the best idea to stop at the mall first. LOL.

We walked from Fashion Show to Aria, popping in and out of the casinos to hit the tables warm up.

Since we went during the afternoon, none of the free shows were going. I, at least, wanted to show her the Conservatory at the Bellagio.

It was between shows. #thwarted

It was still fun to see glimpses of the holiday show.

After walking around for a couple hours, we were both getting hungry! I saw I had a Starbucks reward for BOGO food, so we decided to grab sandwiches at Starbucks.

Unfortunately, we had to go to THREE locations before I could redeem my reward. Apparently rewards don't work in casinos. #lessonlearned

Katie and I got along fabulously! It was so much fun getting to know her in person and chatting about blogging and running. I so rarely get to do that in real life, so it was lots of fun!!

Come back anytime, Katie!

The rest of my weekend was spent watching movies and TV. And blogging a bit, too.

My legs were feeling pretty good on Sunday, but the DOMS definitely set in as I lounged on the recliner. Walking seemed to get more and more difficult as the day went on. I spent quite a bit of time massaging them throughout our movie marathon.

When I went to bed Sunday night, I was definitely happy about my decision to take Monday off work as well.

Thankfully, my legs were feeling much better yesterday. I even took Sallie for a 2-mile walk. They felt so good in fact that I think I'll even try going for a short, slow run before work today.

How was your weekend? Do anything particularly fun?
How long after a marathon until you're walking 100% normal again?
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