New Shoes!!!!!

January is over?!?!?! Are you kidding me? Man that month really blew by.  I have been completely consumed with studying, work, and training and I feel like I haven’t even had even one minute to chill out and just do nothing. On the positive side of being so busy I have gotten a ton accomplished.  I have been training extra hard, my house doesn't look like an episode of Hoarders for once, I have turned in all my homework on time, plus I had the opportunity to do a great yoga workshop. Who is this new Lauren and why is she so organized?  I even have time to make another blog entry and this bad boy has had 19 views!! wahoo!! ha! Way more than I thought it would.

            I don’t know about you guys but nothing gets me motivated to go running like a pair of new running shoes!  I have been excited to try the Saucony Kinvara3’s and after beating down my old ones I decided to finally upgrade.  I went running in them yesterday for the first time to do some fun-ervals on the bosque with my running friends.  These running friends are ride-or-die chicks who are training for the Boston Marathon and kick my butt every time we meet and I just love them;) So, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to do some fun-ervals in them the first time I wore them but they were just too damn cute I couldn’t help it!!!!! Today I am feeling a little regret as my shin and ankle area is a bit sore but I love the cushion and lightweight feel of these shoes so much I will have to update you later on these as I beat the crap out of them more. My favorite shoes so far are the Newton Distance U's so we shall see if these can match them...

Thanks ABQ Running Shop! Can't wait to put some miles on these:)

          Another thing I have just been loving in this life. PALEO DIET!!!!! I never ever ever thought I could love a diet where there wasn’t ice cream and bread but I was wrong and I love the heck outta this diet and I actually feel more energized than I did eating the seefood diet (I see it=I eat it).  I read a great book called Paleo diet for Athletes before I went full-blown paleo and I haven’t looked back it has been almost a year since I started(obviously a slight break over the holiday season;)) and I am so thankful I tried this because there are plenty of yummy foods you can still eat with in the paleo parameters so you are never hungry. So I am going to attach a yummy high protein, easy to make banana bread recipe to the bottom of this and encourage you to try it because you will not look back! 

        

Yummy Paleo Banana Bread 

3 ripe bananas mashed (about 1.5 cups)

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon seasalt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups almond flour 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• mix together bananas, eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla extract together in a food processor.
• pulse in almond flour and dry ingredients
• bake in a greased bread pan at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes and Voila!!

 -I like to put chopped walnuts and chia seeds in mine. I have also done chocolate chips which is delicious too but not so paleo.

Money in the pain bank!!!!

            I am totally channeling Carrie Bradshaw right now!!!!  I am at my laptop in my single-girl apartment with my glasses on drinking a glass of wine and trying to figure out how to make my usually offensive and vulgar language acceptable to put in a blog that will be on my coach’s website.  Well, I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off this blog and the year 2013 than with recounting a trip I recently got back from to Tucson where I trained with my coach Jaime and also had the opportunity to attend an elite development camp.

My week in Tucson was super challenging but a really fun and positive learning experience. My 2 days spent with my coach and his family were awesome.  We got to swim, bike, run, and plan out my entire season.  I just turned 26 but as it turns out I still belong at the kids table which is fine with me. The best part about hanging out with my coach was also hanging out with his 2 super cool daughters who are 10 and 6.  We jumped on the trampoline, played kitchen beautician and dyed purple streaks in our hair and gossiped about Taylor Swift and One Direction.  It was really fun to be away from work and school and just have fun and be goofy with these girls in between workouts.  The next 4 days spent at the camp were very demanding and humbling.  We trained hard 5-6 hours a day which was a wake up call for me! I must admit that I am the first one to slack on workouts once it starts getting cold outside so I needed a good kick in the pants to get the 2013 triathlon ball rolling. 

After planning out my entire season with Jaime and getting back into training I realize that I have a lot to work on.  I’ve got some lofty goals to reach!  Learning more about the sport and also about myself I feel more confident and better prepared to conquer this triathlon season. 

So next on the calendar is the Black Dog Tri camp in Tucson in February and I cant wait!! I have even been stepping outside into the cold weather for a little more training.  I just keep telling myself that much like my days at the camp in Tucson, my miserable arctic bike rides are just money in the pain bank.