Brave like Gabe

June 15, 2019

We lost @gigrunewald this week, and the running community and world was totally heartbroken.

All week, I’ve been running and thinking of her. I didn’t know her personally, but I have been following her inspiring journey since she was on the cover of Women’s Running.

She is one of my absolute favorite professional runners. She was super fast on the track, breaking records, while battling a rare cancer – literally had treatment set a PR on the track.

When you define BRAVE with an image – she is it, #bravelikegabe.

Running was something she would not give up, it always made her feel alive… I can totally relate to that, most runners can. However, she didn’t just use her platform to crush it on the track, but by openly sharing her health issues she raised cancer awareness and the importance of supporting/funding cancer research.

Although, the passing of Gabe totally crushed me, I donated to @chipgaines in honor of Gabe, and within 24 hours the running community raised $2 million towards St. Jude – how INCREDIBLE!! Kelly over @moremilesmorefun also set up a virtual 5K or 10K option and %100 of the funds will be donated to Gabe’s foundation @bravelikegabe. It’s not to late to join the movement, so head over and sign up, I’m registering today for the 10K.

Heaven received a brave one this week. One who shared her story honestly, teaching everyone who listened to be brave and seize the day.

You made a difference Gabe and will continue to. xo

Kisses after a 4 mile run

June 13, 2019

Nothing is better than a salty kiss from my three year old, after a four mile run. Little Miss Zoe made me a mother runner, and I am so thankful this child still asks to go running with me.

However, she did got through a phase where she hated it. She would strand up in the stroller. She was scream and fuss to get out. She would beg to do the running part.

I would try to engage with her, but at the end it was more time consuming and mentally challenging than it was worth. So I took a break from running with her.

Then this spring she started asking to come along. Our stroller runs became enjoyable again. She still talks my ear off most runs, and we always go to the playground after. But honestly, nothing makes me happier than to have both of my girls with me. They are my biggest cheerleaders, and their little high fives and kisses are the best!

Reflecting on 2017

January 2, 2018

On instagram Best nine of 2017 was trending. Mine is in the far left corner, the rest are a few of my personal favorite photos of the year.

After looking through my photos and review my yearly stats on Strava. I discovered something very cool about 2017.

In 2017, I spent time outside everyday… running and mothering.

I ran all the miles…

Under clear skies and cloudy skies…

I ran solo miles, stroller miles, and pregnancy miles.

I ran early morning miles to see colorful sunrises…

I ran late evening miles to see colorful sunsets…

I ran city miles…

beach miles…

trail miles…

When I wasn’t running… I kept moving forward…

I marched for what I believe in.

I hiked to see waterfalls.

I jumped waves, and felt sand between my toes with my loves.

Ultimately…

2017 has taught me that you don’t have to travel far or experience something huge and impressive… in order to be challenged, learn new lessons, feel love, and find beauty.

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you can reflect on 2017 in a positive light, and create more beauty in 2018.

Happy Holidays and Happy Babies!

December 28, 2017

Hey there lovelies!!

It’s been a full two months of busy holiday excitement, from hosting thanksgiving to cutting down a Christmas tree, and everything in between… writing had to take the back burner. But oh my, it feels good to be back on the blog!

So let me tell you guys a HUGE HUGE UPDATE… (If you follow me on Instagram you definitely already know the news.)

The above photo was taken on Friday, October 13th, 2017.

That’s me running on Martha’s Vineyard, running 6 miles, with my 2 year old cozy in the BOB running stroller… and my second baby girl cozy in my belly at 17 weeks pregnant!!

I am now 27 weeks pregnant entering my third trimester on Friday. And unlike my last pregnancy, I have continued to run through out this whole pregnancy. I’m definitely slower, and not running as far, but I’m still out there, moving.

Our new baby girl is due on March 23, 2018. Zoe, my two year old, will be two years and 7 months when she arrives.

My plan for this blog for the next 3 months is to update regularly about my experience running while pregnant and living a fit pregnancy lifestyle. Feel free to leave comments and questions, here on the blog and on instagram. I’m ecstatic to share this chapter of my life with you.

Xo Meg

Prenatal Yoga at Refresh Yoga Studio (28 weeks pregnant)

May 23, 2015

“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”

-Buddah

This Saturday morning, I met up with my friend Rita, for some prenatal yoga.

Rita is about one month a head of me, due date July 19th. She too is expecting a baby girl. So many baby girls are being born, these days.

If you have read my previous posts, you may already know… for the last month I have been doing prenatal yoga, and it has become my new found love. I have tried prenatal yoga at JounreYoga and Mind the Mat. But today, Rita invited me to join her at the studio she has been practicing at – Refresh Yoga Studio in Old Town, Alexandria.

Rita and I started our morning with a 40 minute walk around Old Town. The weather this Memorial weekend has been amazing. So our walk was refreshing. I also saw another mom, with the BOB running stroller, and asked her how she liked it. She claimed it was the best baby item she owns. Everyone loves the BOB! I haven’t heard one negative thing about it.

Our walk ended at the front door of the yoga studio. Although, the studio space was small, it had positive energy and a very zen yoga like vibe to it – my favorite type of vibe! The room was small and so was the class, only six moms to be, and one instructor. But the smaller class size was nice, and more personable. The less people you have the more attention you get.

Erin was the instructor, and she was fantastic. Like most prenatal classes she opened the class with us introducing ourselves and telling the class how far along we are. This week I am 28 weeks. Happy – first day of the 3rd trimester – to me!! She also customized the class, by asking us what we wanted to work on. Most of us wanted to work on hip openers. She also wanted it to be an individual practice, so we quietly chose our own word to focus the class around. I chose Courage.

This class started out relaxing, but as the class went on became more strength building, with some squats, warrior poses, down dog, and prenatal push ups. It ended relaxing with a gentle scalp massage, and a cool towel over our eyes.

Some of my favorite things during this class was the breathing techniques, and the combination of relaxing and strength building. This combo really made the class a full body workout.

I also really enjoyed some of the postures, such as, down dog, dolphin pose, goddess pose, pigeon pose, warrior pose 2, peaceful warrior, triangle pose. I also like the squat work and the prenatal push ups. I use to be the push up queen, but didn’t know they were safe for pregnancy, but I am definitely going to include more push ups to my workouts during the week.

Over all, this was a great yoga practice, and a lovely studio. I definitely plan on going on a regular. Being pregnant, has opened my mind to different kinds of work outs and yoga poses. I have been having a lot of fun trying the different studios and instructors in the area. Each class is so different, and each instructor has something to offer.

PREGNANCY UPDATE

It is hard to believe that today, I am 28 weeks pregnant, or in other words 7 months pregnant. It is the first day, of the 3rd trimester for me. I really can’t believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by.

In a way pregnancy is much like long distance running. The first few miles you feel uncomfortable, but once you find your groove, you can comfortably keep running. When you take it one mile at a time, you begin to really enjoy yourself.

When it comes to pregnancy, most women are the most uncomfortable in their 3rd trimester. For me so far, everyday that goes by, I am feeling more and more comfortable. And because I don’t have much more to go, I am living in the moment, and enjoying this pregnancy more and more.

It is a pretty amazing thing, creating life.

Prenatal Yoga at Mind the Mat Yoga Studio

May 16, 2015

One of my absolute favorite times of the week are my Saturday mornings. Usually, I wake up early, and hit the running trail for a long run. But now, because I am pregnant, my body has changed so my fitness goals have changed. Now that I am pregnant, I have been using these mornings to practice prenatal yoga, at my local yoga studio Mind the Mat. When else will I have the opportunity to do prenatal yoga, better take advantage now.

Although, I am really missing my long runs, at the same time I am loving my yoga practice. Because the class is so popular, I arrive to the studio early, to find a spot close to the mirror. I lay out my mat, make sure my water bottle is full, and patiently wait for class to begin.

At the beginning of class, we go around the room introducing ourselves, telling the class how far along we are. Sarah, the class instructor, also gives the class a focus theme. Last week I was 26 weeks, and the class focus was courage. We each revealed, what we wish we had the courage to do. Today, I am 27 weeks, and the class focus was on our favorite childhood game. We each laughed, as we went around the room and exposed our favorite game.

Then the yoga begins.

It ends up being a full body workout. The major focus is on strengthening areas of the body that need to be strong for labor. We practice deep hip openers, preparing us for labor. We also work on arms and back, for carrying baby later. We work on strengthening the pelvic floor, and do some core strengthening poses that are safe during pregnancy. We also practice some poses that are great positions to use for natural child birth.

About the Studio

Mind the Mat yoga studio has two locations, but I have only practiced at the Del Ray location. I love Del Ray. It is an awesome area, filled with lovely local boutiques and delicious restaurants. It is also a very artistic neighborhood. Today, after yoga, I hit up the farmer’s market, which I plan to do more often.

About the Instructor

Sarah, the instructor for the class, is awesome. She provides us with the yoga poses we need that are both safe for pregnancy, but also the ones that strengthen, and make us sweat. Her class also is very yoga like, and when we need to cool down, very relaxing. She definitely provide a great balance.

My favorite part

One of my favorite things about the class, is the community feel. Its a class full of mom’s to be with the same priorities and goals. We all want a healthy, fit pregnancy, with the ultimate goal to bring a child safely into the world.

Last week, Sarah did a head count, because the class was so large. We had 20 mom’s to be, 22 babies to be, and 2 instructors. This was a total of 44 yogis. I thought this was amazing!

Have you practice prenatal yoga?

…because I am missing Thailand.

February 2, 2015

Sorry, I haven’t written much this month, I have been having the winter blues. However, exactly, a year ago today, I had finally escaped the cold winter by traveling to the oh so exotic country of Thailand. The minute I got off the plane, I could feel the heat. It felt so good, and because I long for that same hot Thailand air, I have decided to publish this blog post. I found this post waiting to be published in my draft section on my wordpress dashboard. I remember writing these words, when I first started to explore Thailand. It is hard to believe that a year has gone by.

Bangkok, Thailand (February 2, 2014)

Yesterday, was my first day touring around Bangkok.

We woke up and relaxed on Elissa’s balcony taking in the view and getting familiar with our new Bangkok neighborhood. Shockingly the city was quiet in the morning time.

Once we got ready, we headed for breakfast. My friend, Elissa new an amazing brunch place.

I ordered a savory crepe with egg, spinach, mushrooms, onion, and feta.

We sipped on coffee and drank down fresh juices. I got watermelon juice of corse.

After breakfast, we headed to the embassy to convert some American dollars to Thai baht. While Elissa was converting the money Erik and I hung outside strolling down a side street that were lined up with street food vendors (similar to our food trucks minus the truck part.) Everything smelled amazing but we ended up getting refreshing bubble tea. Of corse I went with Papaya.

After our tea time we headed for a pedicure while Erik got a massage. The pedicure I got is the best I have ever had. Next time I might go for a massage.

After our spa services we headed to the Jim Thompson house. We took the BTS which is their metro system. It was packed so we had to squeeze in.

We saw a rally of protestors on the way.

The election happened on the day we arrived, so the protesting has significantly died down. A lot of people back home were scared for my safety because of the protesting and political issues in Bangkok. But it wasn’t out of control.

Anyway we made it to the Jim Thompson house and it was gorgeous. Jim Thompson was an American architect who fell in love with Bangkok, later making it his permanent home.

That’s all from that post.

Anyway, I hope this blog post finds you happy and healthy. I hope it gives you a little warmth to dream about on this cold gray winter February.

xo ~ M

Don’t you wish you could drink that watermelon juice?!

The story of why I stopped drinking Milk & a Cashew Cream Recipe!

November 1, 2014

When I was little, I refused to drink milk. I still remember the day my older sister scarred me for life. We were sitting at the kitchen table, and we were both about to down a glass of white rich creamy milk, when she said, “You know, thats from a cow’s boob.” She ran off smirking, when I on the other hand, immediately put the cup down with a look of disgust. I vowed, from that day forward, I would never drink a glass of milk again.

Now a days, if you don’t want to drink milk, or heavy cream you don’t have to. There are tons of dairy alternatives right on your local grocery store shelves. They are available and the variety is endless. However, there are sneaky additives to some of the most popular brands, and it is just as easy and quick to make your own, fresh at home.

When I started to cook more vegan and plant based meals, I noticed that most of the dishes that required heavy cream such as Clam Chowders, used Cashew Cream.

I first came across Cashew Cream in the, Isa Does It, cookbook. But today, I found another variation on the blog I have been reading, My New Roots.

Can you believe I made that creamy goodness from the raw organic cashew nuts sitting in the bowl behind.

So here it is, the Cashew Cream recipe…

INGREDIENTS

1 cup raw organic cashews
1.25 cups water
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. sea salt

DIRECTIONS

Place cashews in a large bowl and cover with water. Add a pinch of salt and let soak for a minimum of 4 hours at room temperature or overnight refrigerated.
Once cashews have soaked, drain water.
Place soaked cashews in Vitamix, and add water, garlic, lemon juice, and sea salt.
Blend until completely smooth.

That’s all you do.

That’s it!

Enjoy as a replacement to (dairy) heavy cream in all of your recipes!

Have you made Cashew Milk before? What is your favorite dairy replacement?

I don’t like labels.

September 26, 2014

Last weekend, I went to DC VegFest. It was totally cool hanging out with all of those vegans and vegetarians. The Veg community is a very friendly group, and most wanted to know my story. I was asked by a couple different people, “What brought you to VegFest today? Are you vegan?”

My answer to that questions is…

No. I don’t feel it comfortable or necessary to label myself as anything. I don’t want to follow rigid rules of any kind, when it comes to food – I am too much of a foodie to be so restrictive and disciplined. I simply want to eat a healthy well balanced diet – full of color, flavor, and texture. And although, I eat and cook mostly organic plant based, I am opened minded, adventurous, and willing to explore all different types of food lifestyles.

I recently found my new favorite blog called, My New Roots. When reading Sarah’s (the owner of the blog) About page, I thought to myself, ” Wow! She nailed it. This is exactly how I feel.”

Sarah says, “The only label I’ll slap on myself is “whole-food-lover.” Nothing makes me feel better, think better, and look better than whole foods! And the big bonus? I never count calories or worry about my weight because I know that if I eat this way, my body will be in a perfect state of balance and health, naturally.”

I agree with her 100%. Although, my diet is mainly plant based, consisting of veggies, fruit, grains, beans, quinoa, nuts and seeds, I still can not label myself as vegetarian or vegan. There has been weeks in which I have gone meatless, but there are days you can find me eating a greek yogurt. I absolutely love eggs and eat them a couple times a week. I also can’t live without fish. My favorite thing about summer time is eating a Maryland crab feast or a Lobster bake on Martha’s Vineyard.

If you are vegetarian or vegan, your main priority is eliminating all animal products. But the most important thing to me is that everything I eat is organic and whole. It is a very rare day, if you find me eating something that is not organic. I avoid GMOs and processed foods. I try to buy everything from local farms, and eat seasonally. If I am eating eggs, they are from cage free hens eating an organic feed. When I eat fish, I only eat wild caught. And on the rare occasion that I eat dairy or any other animal product, it must be treated as humanely as possible, free of antibiotics and hormones.

There are times in which I love labels, and there are times in which I hate them. There are some labels that are simple, while others are more complicated. The times in which I love them is when they are simple and define ones identity. The times in which I hate them are when they are complicated and become stereotypes. I can label myself as a marathon runner, simply because I run marathons. But, I can not label myself as vegan or vegetarian, although I often cook and eat that way.

I bought this pendant from a vendor at VegFest…

It says, Plant Strong.

So if I must come up with a label, Plant Strong is a pretty awesome one. I also love the label that Sarah from My New Roots came up with – Whole Food Lover. Add organic to it and slap it on me.

What’s your label?

DC VegFest

September 21, 2014

Today was a fun and fulfilling Saturday.

The sun was shining and there wasn’t a drop of humidity in the air. It was the perfect day for a quick five mile loop around the monuments. I wore my new running shoes, Newton Gravity. I also wore my new running watch, Garmin 620. It was my absolute first time wearing the watch and I loved it. However, I will be writing a detailed review on the Garmin 620 later this week so stay tuned.

Then it was off to DC VegFest…

The DC VegFest was located in South East DC at the Yards Park right along the river. Growing up in the DC area, South East was a part of the city you always tried to avoid, it was poor and dangerous. But now, it tells a different story. The famous Eastern Market is located in South East, and eastern market is one of my favorite markets in the area. There are also some really cool bars and restaurants on the neighboring streets.

But today, the VegFest took me to another area in South East. I would have never thought to go down to the waterfront. Wow! Things are changing everyday. Check out how cool the South East waterfront is…

After walking around the waterfront my friend and I headed over to DC VegFest.

At the DC VegFest, there were some fabulous vendors, delicious plant based food, free samples, and amazing guest speakers.

SPEAKERS

I didn’t get to see all of the speakers, but I saw a couple. They discussed the health benefits of living a vegan lifestyle. They also touched on politics, and environmental reasons for becoming vegan. They touched on animal cruelty, and some told their personal stories of why they went veg. The last speaker of the event was actually on the October cover of Runner’s World, wearing vegan compression socks.

VENDORS

There were some awesome vendors at the festival, but this soap vendor was by far my favorite. I have been using this sugar based shower gel from Blue Mercury which has been irritating my skin. Sugar is bad for you in every way. So when I saw this vendor, I thought perfect just what I needed. Buying soap here, saved me a trip to Sephora or Blue Mercury. All of the soap is free of animal products and both of the bars of soap I purchased have coconut oil in them. Coconut oil is my new obsession… (I will be writing a detailed post on the health benefits later this week so stay tuned.) The only negative thing I saw is that some of the soaps contain palm oil. Palm oil is in everything, and although it is not an animal product, it is not very vegan. Palm Tree farms in South East Asia, are taking away food and habitats from Elephant, Tigers, and many other animals. Anyway, I went home with two soaps a coconut one and and oatmeal one. The coconut soap is free of palm oil, but the oatmeal one may have some small amounts. Unfortunately, palm oil is hard to avoid.

FOOD

Going Veg is all about eating your veggies. If you go to DC VegFest next year, make sure you come with an appetite. There were tons of amazing food vendors and food trucks. A lot of the vendors only took cash, so make sure you bring cash. However, there are ATMs for those who forget. The food ranged from pizza to Indian, Ethiopian to mexican. There were sweets, and southern cooking, even greek.

Overall, I enjoyed DC VegFest!

I highly recommend VegFest for anyone who is already living a plant based lifestyle, and for those who are just interested to see what it is all about. At DC VegFest I learned a little more about animal cruelty, politics, and the environment. I also got the chance to eat some awesome plant based food, while learning how I can help create a better food system for the USA. And in my eyes, at the end of the day that is the most important thing. You are what you eat.

“That’s when I heard part of the secret. What we eat is a matter of life and death. Food is who we are.” ~ Scott Jurek

Stay tuned for some upcoming posts…

Review on Garmin 620

Coconut oil health benefits.

© 2014 sweat1xdaily

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