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Wente Wine and Bocce Too!

It feels wonderful to be home enjoying a glass of wine and a night on the couch with Bo and Meg. After a quick trip down to Bedford Cheese, we’ve deemed tonight wine and cheese night, complete with a few new favorite cheeses and an amazing balsamic fresh fig spread!

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Before our cheese shop adventure I satiated my post flight hunger with this month’s Naturebox. I’m loving the selections in this month’s box including the Mexican dried mango! So good!

So my trip out to California was quick and crazy. I was gone just over 48 hours but enjoyed having the chance to get to know my West coast peers a lot better and getting to know the market. Our trip out wasn’t exactly stellar based on the fact that the flight was warm and without wi-fi. But, I did have the time to get a manicure at the airport before enjoying Mean Girls on the flight.

Plane snacks

Tuesday night we were greeted with the most amazing dinner event at The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards! Just over a year ago Theodora and I actually had the chance to attend a Wente Vineyard and Food Network event for the launch of Entwine Wines, which come from Wente Vineyards!  The location was beautiful, the wine flowed all night, the dessert was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted, and the company was enough to leave my side aching from all the laughter. A great night indeed! Wente Vineyards

The chilled soup of cucumber only had a hint of honeydew and the yogurt made it super creamy. My main course, the roasted ling cod with a succotash of corn, garden squash, fennel and basil was my dream dinner. Perfectly light cod, flaky yet crispy and the succotash brought together my favorite summer flavors in one bite! Salt flakes sprinkled atop the succotash made the flavor punch each bite with an extra bit of flavor. Oh and then there is the dessert. This may be one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. Even though I could only eat about four bites it was heaven in a dessert. The chocolate crunch cake had marshmallow sandwiched between it and then drizzled and topped with crumbled salted caramel. On the side, a scoop of balsamic ice cream which paired perfectly with the rich cake.

If you’re ever in the area, I can’t recommend the restaurant at Wente Vineyards enough!

After all of this delicious food, I was very inspired for a morning workout bright and early Wednesday. Since it was actually supposed to be a rest day I didn’t run but instead stuck to incline walking while catching up on this month’s Fitness Magazine before doing a quick abs and arms workout. Not too shabby for a rest day!

Then last night, we played Bocce at Campo di Boce, a nearby restaurant that brings together delicious Italian food and bocce courts. I’ve never been to a Boce restaurant before but it was awesome! The staff provided us with instructions and then we had two hours of bocce fun on our own!

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Such a great trip but man I am glad to be home! After a night of relaxing I’m heading to Healthy Living Summit up in Boston tomorrow on the bus with Tina and Theodora! I can’t wait to catch up with everyone and enjoying a weekend long run in temperatures that include the number 6..67 as the low for Boston!!

Question: Are you heading to Healthy Living Summit this weekend?

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Training for the London Marathon

I’m so excited about this week’s Marathons+Moderation guest post that I actually wanted to post it sooner than Wednesday! Last week after watching the women’s marathon with Meghann, we both were talking about how much we’d love to run that marathon one day. We weren’t alone either. Twitter was buzzing with London Marathon excitement after the Olympics and I’d be surprised if their entry rate at this point isn’t higher than normal already. Much to my elation, Charlie reached out to me via email to see if I’d be interested in letting her share her London Marathon story through Marathons+Moderation. Heck yes!

Hi Healthy Happier Bear readers, I’m Charlie and I blog at The Runner Beans. I am so excited that Ashley has let me share my first marathon story with you. This April I ran the London Marathon 2012, and was thrilled to achieve my goal of finishing in under 5 hours!

I actually trained for the London marathon in 2011, but had to pull out due to an ITB injury. Thankfully I was lucky enough to be running for a great charity, MIND, who allowed me to defer my entry and sponsorship money to the following year.

When starting marathon training for the second time I decided to do things a little differently, so here are my tips for first time marathoner:

Your plan has to work for you… Having a training plan that worked with my life; both work and social schedules, meant that I stuck to it. If I had been overambitious with the number and distances of my runs, I can imagine that I would have found it overwhelming and may have been tempted to quit. I kept my mileage low during the week, sticking to 3-5 miles during three weekday runs, only upping my mileage, gradually, on my weekly long runs. This worked really well for me, especially for my first marathon where my main goal was to finish. It meant I could easily fit my runs in before work and could squeeze in other workouts. Be realistic and work out a safe, achievable plan to get
you to marathon fitness.

All the gear…Whilst running is a very accessible sport where you don’t need too much equipment to start, the most important thing to get right is your shoes. This year, unlike the last, I went and had my gait analysed at a shoe store in London, running on a treadmill whilst being filmed to check the degree of pronation in my feet when I run. It turned out that I overpronated quite a bit, and was given very supportive shoes to protect my feet and improve my running style. This definitely helped with the pain in my knees and feet after long runs. Other than shoes, you can kit yourself out with as much or as little as you want/can afford.

Cross Train… During training this year, I didn’t JUST run. The previous year I was new to running, and just getting back into the exercise game, and I didn’t really think about incorporating strength or cross training into my routine. I ran 4 days a week and that’s it. This year, I included weekly yoga sessions plus some weight and circuit sessions in and felt my whole body getting stronger. It took some of the pressure of my knees, improved my core strength, and allowed me to retain a little flexibility.

Have a cause… I originally signed up to run the marathon in memory of one of my best friends, raising money for MIND, a mental health charity. Having such a worthy cause ensured that I stuck to my training plan as I didn’t want to let his family down, or my friends and family that had donated to the cause. Every time I wanted to put off a run, I’d think about why I was doing it, and lace up my shoes and get out there.

Practise makes perfect… This year I signed up for three half marathons and a 5k. I found it far easier to complete long runs that were scheduled races, plus the appeal of a medal and goody bag never gets old! I ran two of these half marathons with my friend Emily, who I was also planning on running the London Marathon with. It was great to work out our goal paces and our race day strategies together. These half marathons were brilliant practises for the big one. During one of my half marathons my ipod was dead leaving me music-less for all 13 miles, and during another half,
my garmin decided to switch off halfway through. These minor setbacks during my half marathons, ensured that I didn’t make the same mistakes on the big day. Plus I realised that I really like running half marathons! (I’m doing another in 2 months time!)

You don’t have to do it alone… I ran the whole of the London Marathon with Emily, and don’t think I would have had as much fun during the race, nor would I have been able to finish so strongly without her. Hitting the wall at mile 20 was miserable, but having Emily by my side telling me I was strong and had to keep going, that she wasn’t leaving me, kept me running. Without her, there is a very real possibility that I would have stopped and walked.

Enjoy your race… This is one of the most important pieces of advice I was given. You will only run your first marathon once. You may run other marathons, but nothing will ever feel quite like the first time you cross the finish line. I loved (almost) every moment of the London Marathon. The course itself is so impressive, running past huge London landmarks. One of my favourite moments was running across iconic Tower Bridge, marking about the halfway point. We also ran through areas of London that I had never been to before, including the Cutty Sark. The crowds on the day were amazing; it was great having so much support from the thousands of people lining the streets, something that we wouldn’t have had in a smaller race. I also hugely appreciated the support of friends and family on the sidelines, a huge benefit of running a race that’s local to you.

I crossed the finish line in 4.54.59 hrs, holding Emily’s hand with a huge smile on my face.

“One day you won’t be able to do this, today is NOT that day.”

Question: Have you ever run a marathon in a different country?

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Ten Years Ago

While some people don’t like Facebook, I love that it helps me stay in touch with people near and far from many different parts of my life. Today my timeline was filled with news of University of Georgia Bid Day. A long standing tradition in Athens, Georgia and on college campuses across the country, Bid Day is the day when young girls find out what sorority they matched with after the formal recruitment time period.

I went into college pretty lost. My high school years, while formidable from an education stand point, were very tough socially. After my sophomore year of high school I switched from public school to private school, entering into a world where my graduating class would only consist of about 80 students, many of whom were “lifers” or had attended the school from Pre-K through 12th grade. Needless to say, this wasn’t an easy change. I consoled myself during these tough years with family size packs of Twizzlers during late night study sessions and immersed myself in academics. I found enjoyment in rowing but even exhausting two hour workouts after school couldn’t make up for all the candy I was consuming in the evening during late night study sessions or the fast food stops after practice.

By the time I moved up to Athens, Georgia for college I was over 185 pounds and was very self conscious. I couldn’t run a mile. I thought that Special K was the best way to lose weight. I’d been on a constant “diet” for years even though depriving myself during the day only led to late night eating behind closed doors. Always one to play by the rules and be scared of consequences, there were so many things I didn’t experience during high school. I was ready for a change.

When I moved into Russell Hall in August of 2002, I didn’t know much about myself or what I wanted out of college. But, I knew one thing. I was thrilled to start a clean slate in college and take advantage of every single opportunity possible. Though I was still overweight, had a horribly awkward wardrobe, and a haircut that didn’t include a single layer, I was excited.

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The above picture is from my Bid Day at Delta Gamma freshman year of college. The women in this picture and the rest of our pledge class meant more to me that year than they’ll ever know. The year I pledged Delta Gamma ended up being the turning point in the sorority’s rebuilding on campus. Over the next 10 years the chapter has gone from being one of the smaller sororities, known for attracting “nice girls” to being one of the largest on campus and winning multiple accolades each year! Regardless of the chapter’s size, through the doors of 290 Milledge Avenue I found the support I would need to step out of my shell. They balanced me and helped me take life a little less seriously. Always old for my age, sometimes I think making a C and a B my freshman fall semester of college was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. It helped me realize that the extra curricular experiences in life are just as important as the things you’ll learn in a classroom or work place.

Thanks to the love and support I found over the next four years in Delta Gamma I found the courage to do things in college I never thought possible.

  • Participate in a summer long field study program which took us from Sapelo Island, Georgia across more than 20 states across the United States through the Interdisciplinary Field Program.
  • Taking a leadership position within my sorority, beginning in my sophomore year.
  • Learn what game day in Athens, Georgia means regardless of your age: Jack and Coke, tailgating, calling the Dawgs, traveling to SEC championship games the weekend before finals, and staying until the very last play of the game even when we’re winning by over 40 points!
  • Learn how to balance my emotions  and strong personality while living under a roof with 40 other women, including 2-3 roommates of my own.
  • Train for my first road race after bring inspired by my sorority sisters who ran the Labor Day race each year.

There are so many memories under that roof that I could never find a way to put into a post. I still can’t believe that I pledged Delta Gamma 10 years ago today but I couldn’t be prouder to be part of such a strong sisterhood. While sorority life may not be for everyone, it certainly was for me.

Where were you 10 years ago?

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