Naan, Hills, ST works + LOVE my sponsors

Gosh it's been a busy week filled with many ups and downs. It started well on Monday when I spent some hours doing what I love most besides running...being in the kitchen :) I baked the most amazing delicious Naan bread from scratch and I proceeded to eat all of it within 3 days, lol. I LOVE the Naan bread from Trader Joes yet at almost 4 dollars per bag and only 6 pieces per bag I decided to find a recipe that sounded good and try to make it. It turned out super yummy and next time I'll experiment with different flours such as whole wheat and maybe use honey as a sweetener instead of the white sugar it called for.

In my 5th year at Duke when I decided to pursue my running and take a stab at triathlons in my immediate post-college life, I thought about what I want to do after my peak years as a pro athlete are done. I love to eat and drink fabulous food and baking and cooking for others truly makes me so happy. If I can make something that others enjoy, I feel like I accomplished something great. Therefore, in addition to my passion for running I decided to pursue my passion for food and drink and eventually open my own bakery and coffee shop. Here in the Phoenix area, very few fantastic bakery and coffee shops exist. They may have a few things that are good, yet no one has to-die-for baked goods and coffee drinks (good coffee as in made like the Italians make it!). So someday down the road I'll have my bakery plus a big patio for people to bring their dogs and I can give all the dogs my dog treats I bake from scratch as well :) I can't wait!!



I had a couple stressful days dealing with some car issues yet thank goodness my baby is fine and driving well again :) I also taught at Mountain Pointe one day this week and it was good until the last hour of the day when I had a "I wish I were at home with my dogs" moment. Disrespectful kids are not fun to deal with and although I love teaching HS because I can be a smart ass right back to them, it's just not fun to deal with. I have better things to do with my days thank you very much. Thank goodness my training literally prevents me from doing much subbing these days. Running on average 15 miles per day isn't conducive to being at a school by 7:15 in the morning. I'm not getting up at 4 to run in the pitch black, rush to get to school, etc...you can catch my drift..;) my college coach always told me I worked too much and it hindered my running. Every single day I remind myself that I don't want to look back and wonder....like I do with my college years that were way too busy with not enough sleep.

Anyway, one day this week I drove to my old neighborhood in north scottsdale and did a challenging run with tons of hills. I visualized the bridges in the NYC course and powered up the long hills as hard and efficient as I could. The past couple days I've had soreness from the workout and I'm so happy!! I never seem to get sore from my workouts so I'm loving this feeling that I'm strengthening some weakness I obviously have right now :)

Speaking of weaknesses, I used to get stabbing pains in my hips and glutes late in long runs and in the late miles of my marathons. I started doing so many stabilizing exercises for my glutes and hips along with my core and strength training (ST) and it obviously works because I don't get the pains anymore!! It's such a terrific feeling when you actually see results and know that the work you put in actually benefits you in some way. :)

I got a big shipment of some awesome goodies from GU the other day and now I am set for all my racing and training through the marathon. I just love their products so much and I'm so incredibly grateful for all that they do for me. They are coming out with a NEW Chomps flavor too!! WATERMELON!! I cannot wait to try them; I have a feeling I may have a new favorite flavor soon :p My main sponsor, Marathon Guide.com I cannot thank enough. They help me so much with my day to day training and without them I would have to sub teach or work another job many hours per week. Simply put, I cannot do what I do without their help :) Triple Sports helps me so incredibly much, especially with all of my triathlon needs. I obviously buy different things from their store because they have such a huge selection of nutrition products, running clothes, etc. yet when it comes to my tri needs, I can't thank them enough. They really are the best tri store in AZ so if you ever need great stuff from great people, go see them! Endurance Rehab continues to support me as well! For instance the other day I dropped in when I was up there and needed someone to look at a calf problem I've been having and Shane helped me before his patients were supposed to be coming in for the day. I really can't thank them enough!

Pic: My Naan bread I made and a random hilarious picture I found from a friend LOL :p

Quote for today: "All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them."- Walt Disney