Puerto Vallarta!

Where to begin? I have so many photos and aspects of our trip to share so let's get to it.

Our trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico was short, but awesome. We stayed at Barcelo, an all inclusive resort in Mismaloya Beach for four nights.

This was the manfriend's first trip outside the U.S. and I think I have him hooked on intercontinental travel. Now that we have the passport, the options are endless (well, if we had a money tree)!

The food at Barcelo was amazing. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this definitely exceeded them. From the options to the quality, we were always pleased and well fed. 

There were three restaurants at which you could make reservations for dinner (Italian, Spanish and Mexican/Brazilian), a buffet that was open almost all day for breakfast, lunch or dinner, an outdoor sit down grill for lunch and the cantina for drinks and a chips and salsa bar.

Shrimp, chicken and steak fajitas I ordered for dinner one night. A-mazing!

The fruit was probably the best food I ate because it was so fresh and close to the source (I assume). Each morning I had a nice pile of fruit with my yogurt, nuts, coconut flakes and granola.

The margaritas were the best I've ever had. We stuck primarily to margaritas or cervezas (Tecate Light) and of course water. The water at the resort was filtered so it was safe to drink and there was also plenty of bottled water too.

The pools were awesome. This was the activity pool where the music was bumping as well as the swim up bar. There were also two other smaller pools and two hot tubs.

People reserved their pool chairs by 7 am so it was tough to get the good chairs (location wise), but because I was usually up early to head to the hotel gym, it worked out.

The hotel gym was well equipped with treadmills, bikes, ellipticals and weights. I took advantage of everything and even squeezed in a 6.5 mile "long run" on an older treadmill in a stuffy gym. 

While in Mexico, we knew we wanted to take advantage of the spa. 

The manfriend got an overdue haircut (his words, not mine) the first day and the next day we got a couples massage (25% off!) on the spa balcony with the waves crashing below. Seriously so relaxing and cheaper than the massages I get at home. 

While the vacation itself was a splurge, I really tried to remind myself we were on vacation. Doing something small like a massage really made the trip feel extra luxurious. Therefore: bring on the massages!

Randomly awesome: Each afternoon, they would set out a variety of tequila bottles, shot glasses, lime wedges and salt. On your way to lunch or at the cantina in the evening you could simply take a tequila shot at your leisure. I can't say we didn't partake in a few. :)

And by now, you well know my obsession with sunsets. In this area, Puerto Vallarta also did not disappoint. We had some amazing sunsets and beach views. 

Thoughts on Barcelo: The manfriend and I both agreed we would recommend Barcelo to anyone traveling to Mexico. They have hotels in several different cities.

The service at Barcelo was hands down the best I have ever received at any hotel. There was always someone ready and willing to grab you another drink, make sure you were happy and had everything you needed, or simply offering a "Buenos dias" as you passed by.

*Our only regret is that we didn't book another night or two. You live and learn. 

What else do you guys want to know/see that I didn't cover? If you're thinking at all about booking a vacation, whatever type it may be, do it. You won't regret spending the money once you're relaxing and taking in new sights, sounds and tastes.


Next up: Vallarta Adventures!

Three Things Thursday

By this evening we'll be in Puerto Vallarta hopefully laying by the pool with margaritas in hand watching the sunset. Temps during the day will be about 80 degrees and I can hardly wait. I thought I'd do a little Three Things Thursday since it's been a while since I've done one of those. 

1. In an effort to use up the huge box of spinach I bought last weekend at Costco, I've had several green monster smoothies this week. Well...

Tuesday my blender went a little craaaazy on me. It was making all kinds of horrendous noises and moving across the counter if I didn't hold on to it.

Luckily, I've had this thing for about 10 years (I think my mom bought it for me in college) so I feel like I definitely got my use out of it. However, the scary burning smell and shards of metal (as shown by all the grey dust looking stuff) was a bit freaky!

P.S. How does one properly dispose of kitchen appliances that are toast?

2. Kristin of Food Fash was randomly in Eugene for work so we met up for lunch and had sandwiches the size of our faces (see below). Kristin was one of my roommates at Healthy Living Summit and recently moved from Tampa, FL to Austin, TX.

3. Wednesday morning I woke up at 4:30 am to meet the 5 am madness group for a good run before our vacation. I'm planning on spending a little time in the hotel gym, but not much. 

On the drive home from the run, the sunrise was beautiful. It was a balmy 27 degrees!

What are your random three things Thursday? 

It will likely be quiet on the blog front for a week or so. I'm not sure what the computer situation is at our hotel so I may pop in with a photo, but if not, I'll catch you up when we return. Sayonara!

One Car Family

I'm not sure that I mentioned it, but last June 2011, the manfriend sold his Jetta wagon and went carless. This was in part to pay of medical bills from the scary migraine incident and in part simply to save some dough. Plus, he's a cyclist so it was like an exciting challenge for him.

That would so not be me. I like my car and I like getting places quickly and enjoy riding my bike on occasion when it's nice out. 

Well, it's now March and the manfriend has been car free for eight months! So how has it been? 

Actually, it's been great - a lot better than I expected. I wanted to be sure that him going carless didn't mean I was missing a lot of workouts/runs because I was picking him up. More importantly, I didn't want the car to be a reason we had arguments and thankfully, it hasn't!

In total, I think I've picked him up a handful of times and usually because I offered and we were going somewhere together after work (to run club, dinner, etc).

Moral of the story is, having one car has worked pretty well for us so far. The manfriend works about 3 miles away from home and I work about 5.5 miles away, both are pretty direct and easy to ride to.

If we lived in a bigger, less bike friendly city and worked further away from home, one car might be a bit more difficult. At this piont, the only issue is that it's about time for my 1995 Toyota Corolla to be upgraded so we've been looking at new cars, which is both exciting and stressful.

Have you ever thought of giving up your vehicle to bike everywhere? 

I've thought about it, but probably wouldn't ever do it 100% because I pack my days so full and need 2-3 outfits and pairs of shoes for all my activities. I'd need some kind of serious trailer to bring all my clothes and be able to go grocery shopping too!

16 Run and Done

You guessed it, today I had a 16 miler on deck. Lately, I've been trying to do my long runs on Saturday because it's nice to have them out of the way for Sunday's group run and coffee.

But I really wanted to make it to yoga yesterday so I switched my long run to Sunday.

It's funny how things work, I went to class expecting the usual awesome teacher and found a sub in her place. I know it shouldn't be a big deal (and I'm still happy I went to get some stretch and strength on), but the yoga teacher's voice and demeanor can really make or break the class for me.

Anyhoo, last night the manfriend and I met up with an old high school friend of his for some beer and chatting, which meant my eyes didn't shut until past midnight. So. exhausted.

Sunday morning at 9 am came quickly, but I put on the spandex and a little purple (for National Eating Disorders Awareness week) and headed out from the running store.

From the very start, I knew this run wouldn't be so hot. My hammy's and butt were sore from Friday's Lifeforce Fitness class and Saturday's cycling + yoga. My body was tired. But luckily, my mind was in it for the long haul.

I opted one of my favorite out and back routes that takes you along the flat Pre's Trail and then into Springfield and over a big hill to Dorris Ranch where I can run laps in the woods and orchards. Dorris Ranch is one of those places I always wish I would get to more often.

By mile 8, my butt was still sore with every step and my calves were getting really tight. But quitting or walking isn't really a great option when you're still 6 miles from your car and 8 miles from the end of your run.

On my way back to Pre's Trail, a camera crew was shooting Lauren Fleshman riding on her ElliptiGO along the bike path. Gotta love Tracktown and runner sightings at every turn!

The last two miles of my run draaaagged on. I was so happy to see 16 miles and my car again.

Luckily, the sun was out and chocolate milk was in my future (Starbucks ran out of Chonga bagels - the horror!).  After a little Trader Joe's visit, I headed home for foam rolling, an epsom salt bath and LOTS of food.

And then, the fun stuff. I started trying on some of my summer clothes for Mexico because I'm such a horrendous packer (aka I want to bring my entire closet with me). Gotta start days in advance.

After the manfriend got home from his bike ride, showered and refueled, we did our part to keep the economy going. Vacation = a good excuse to pick up a few new things.

Him: Vans slip ons, Simple flip flops and shirts and swim trunks from Old Navy.

Her: my first pair of TOMS, new bathing suit and bra from Victoria Secret + new undies from American Eagle (Finally broke the $100 bill my grandparents gave me for Christmas to buy a few of these goodies!)

Carpe Diem! I'm definitely in streeetch mode over here. TOMS stretch a ton so apparently you have to buy them much smaller than normal (I bought 7s and usually wear 7.5-8). Hopefully, these will stretch out just perfectly.

Interesting fact: did you know that if you buy a pair of TOMS sunglasses, you also buy sight for someone else? How cool is that?! Someone else will receive medical treatment, prescription glasses or sight-saving surgery!

While today's long run was less than stellar, I'm hoping that the next time I tackle a distance run, my legs will be fresh and I'll have a more specific plan of pacing for different parts of the long run.

How was your weekend?

A Look Back on February

I don't typically reflect on the previous month, but I thought it would be fun to do today. I was reminded by Allie that I don't usually even check at the end of the month how many miles I completed. It's so fun to read recaps from bloggers like Allie, Aron and Redhead Running with a little roundup of the month, so why not?

February
Running - 146 miles
Yoga - 1x a week
Strength - 3x per week
Cycling/spinning - 2x per week (in short 20-25 min sessions)
Foam rolling - limited, but better than some months

Most weeks in Feb. I ran 6 days per week, but typically I run 5 days a week with one day as my "yoga day" and one other day as a cross training focused day.

What's more interesting? In January, I ran 165 miles (one of my higher mileage months) and I didn't even realize it. My highest mileage month in the past 12 months was August with 167 miles, which makes sense because I ran the McKenzie River 50K on Sept. 10th and then Victoria Marathon on October 9th with some lovely blog friends.

Thank you, dailymile for reminding me of these stats. Do you guys use dailymile or something else to track your workouts? 

I also thought it would be good to put together a collage of some of the photos I took during #FebPhotoaDay. I definitely did NOT participate every day, but I tried to when I remembered.

This was definitely a fun little challenge. I know some people are also doing #MarchPhotoaDay so feel free to join in. I liked that there's no pressure to it, but you can get a little creative if you want.

Some days I tweeted my photos and other days, I just took a picture for myself. And some days, I just plain forgot.

Okay, well my rear is really hurting after tonight's 400m jaunts around the track. That must mean I was running pretty fast (at least I hope). Time for a serious foam roll session!

Today marked my first daily double run of this marathon training session and it went pretty well - 4.5 easy morning miles and 6 miles of speed after work. Legs are feeling strong.

What's on your agenda for the weekend? Long run, packing, relaxation and errands for me.

Countdown to Mexico: 7 days!!!

Salad Slingin'

I am one of those people who has an idea for a recipe (pizza, oatmeal, salad, etc) and then just totally throws that idea out of whack by dumping a whole bunch of extras on it.

Well, last week, I stuck to my guns. I really wanted to make a spinach, chicken, apple, walnut, goat cheese sandwich salad. So what happened? We had a spinach, chicken, green apple, pecan, cranberry, goat cheese salad and it was delicious!

See? I stuck to my guns (for the most part) and it was a win.

What else happened? We ran out of salad dressing so I made up my own with: a little olive oil, balsamic, rice vinegar, cracked pepper, and lemon juice. It was okay, but mostly I was just glad I had the ingredients to make a halfway decent dressing.

Proof of previous salad mess.

Don't think the haphazard salad won't ever happen again, but it's fun to see what happens when you stick with a plan. 

Are you a recipe follower or a more go with the flow kind of cook?

Favorite City

Hard to imagine that it's already Monday...

Alas, we had a great time with Kristin visiting from Nashville. We indulged in plenty of satisfying food, tasty drinks, some good sweat and laughter. The last time she was here was November 2010.

We lucked out with beautiful weather Thursday morning and I was able to take the morning off work so we opted to conquer Spencer's Butte with a little hike. 

Almost there...

Two miles later, we reached the top and were standing above some of the clouds. 

As I said, it was a beautiful morning. We could have stayed up there for hours.

I think Jonah Bell enjoyed it just a little bit...

After our descent, we headed to Vero (an adorable espresso house) for caffeine and fuel. Kristin had an egg, bacon and tomato sandwich. 

And I had a berry scone. Worth every ounce of butter in that thing. 

Last night, we capped off her visit with a trip to Le Bar for fancy drinks and laughter. We talked about our favorite cities (if we could choose one to move to) and why we like ours (Eugene/Nashville). 

The pros for Eugene: big enough that you don't know everyone, but small enough that the commute is always quick, accessibility to outdoors and athletic activities is abundant and easy, mild weather, organic/healthy food easily available.

The pros for Nashville: climate (warm most of the year), community feel, the emphasis on shopping local/supporting your neighborhood, culture & music. 

It was a great weekend! Kristin's visit reminded me how important it is to stay in touch with good friends and make the effort. This girl is about to graduate with her masters in education policy from Vanderbilt. Holy impressive.

What is your favorite city and why? What are the pros/cons of your current city?

I Heart Trader Joe's.

Have I said that lately? I fear it's been too long since I've uttered such words.

The other day I went there kind of starving after a long run and ended up buying the sample item they were giving away in the store. Luckily, that sample item was a very delicious $4.99 arugula pizza.

Monday, I decided to roll meatless and naturally, Trader Joe's helped with a lot of the ingredients. Into the pan went TJ's frozen fire roasted corn, TJ's frozen grilled bell peppers and onions, TJ's black beans and mushrooms, plus a little taco seasoning. 

Then, a grilled sweet potato (also now found at TJ's)...

While filling the burritos, I added quinoa (more protein and fiber - whoop!), avocado (healthy fats), a little cheese, mild salsa and TJ's non fat sour cream. 

I finally wrapped up the burritos in locally made whole wheat tortillas with cheddar and hot sauce on top paired with TJ's broccoli to broil for 10-15 min. 

Do you have any idea which one belongs to the manfriend?

Mmm...

This Meatless Monday dish was perfect because it was healthy, but has those satisfying characteristics with the creamy tastes from the sweet potato, black beans, mushroom and avocado.

Additionally, it's great if you're trying to feed big hungry men who like meat because you can fill up the burrito (or make extras) and still keep it healthy. I promise, they'll be satisfied with this dish!

And if this post didn't prove why you too should love Trader Joe's, I'll leave you with the message I saw this week inside their store.

OH, and guess who is visiting? Kristin from Nashville!

We had a fun girl's night eating pizza, drinking wine and catching up with other friends last night. Having friends visit is the best. Let the fun continue! Happy Thursday!