It sure feels good to have my running partners back!

I almost made the shot!

This morning, my pups and I hit the local park for a four mile run/walk to enjoy this beautiful (still slightly chilly!) weather. Although the three of us haven’t shared a run together in quite some time, these two haven’t slowed down a bit these past few months. More or less, this is a pretty standard day for them…

They are crazier than one could ever imagine but I couldn’t love them more!

Dustin and I had a wonderful Easter with both families, cooked and ate lots of good food and celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

All my siblings in one house!

The celebration continued up at Dustin’s parents house yesterday since it was Opening Day for the 2013 baseball season! It’s a big day in the Evans household and I love it! This year, for the first time ever, we cheered on two teams, both the Braves and the Mariners. We were happy with two Ws and some delicious food, al fresco!

The grill master and number one Braves fan doing his work

Grilled asparagus, corn, broccoli, carrots and roasted potatoes for me and ribs and chicken for the rest! It was veggie heaven! We enjoyed what will hopefully be one of the last nights cold enough for a fire (wishful thinking, right?) after dinner. Why can’t every Monday be like this?

My lap dog had had enough by the end of the night

The hubby hit the road today so I hit the books, fueled by this delicious, nutrient packed green smoothie.

In it went baby romaine leaves, Warrior Blend Vanilla Raw Protein, spirulina, flax meal, maca powder, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, lemon and almond milk! It was delicious and so green because of the spirulina!

I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday evening! More studying for me!

Good health!

The post Lately Through Pictures and a Smoothie Recipe appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

Hi there! I hope your week is off to a good start!  Time is flying down here! One large project, two tests, a few assignments, one practicum rotation, two presentations, a little bit of research, and three finals stand between me and graduation! But who’s counting down? HARD. TO. BELIEVE.

This past weekend, as you’ve read, myself and three others ran the ZOOMA half-marathon up at Lake Lanier in efforts to bring awareness to stop Child Sex Trafficking. We had an awesome time, even with all of the hills that this “flat course” served up! The weather was perfect (maybe a little chilly after as you can see below) and my body felt pretty good.

Yes, that is the table cloth.

I ran it in 1 hr and 53 minutes, a little slower than I hoped, but I’m still very pleased with that time considering it is my PR.

Trying to snap a shot of all three of us, less than a mile in. Maybe this is why I was a little slower than I hoped haha

After the race

Dustin and I had an awesome trip home; we got to visit with his family Friday night, his grandmother Saturday morning, my grandfather, who is currently in the hospital right now (prayers please!) but hopefully recovering quickly, my family and great friends Saturday evening and then enjoyed the race on Sunday morning. It was a quick but wonderful trip.  Time really does fly when you’re having fun.

Anyways, just wanted to check in! I’m off to a meeting, class, and then am teaching tonight.  Hope you all have an awesome day!

Good health!

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Two times the fun with this crowd!

A Double Boxer Run? What in the world is that?

“Slow down, Gunner. Boss, quit biting his ear. Would y’all come on? Your leash can’t taste that good. Another bathroom break? Already? Don’t be scared of the cars, Gunner. Boss, this isn’t play time. Run straight. Watch where your going. Quit looking back at me. Let’s gooo.”

There you go. The definition for Double Boxer Run.  And this is what it looks like…

Absolute chaos for the first five minutes.

Making sure that Boss and Gunner get exercise is a priority for me.  Not only because they are monsters when they don’t get enough playtime (insert two large dogs wrestling on the couch here) but helping them live long, healthy lives is also important to me.  I want B & G, as I like to call them, to live for as long as they possibly can; I certainly hope they will be a part of our children’s lives, years and years down then road.  I’m sure you understand if you have family members that just happen to be dogs, as well

After teaching yoga this morning, I planned on getting in a little cardio myself when I got out of class.  It would have been rather selfish of me to just leave these two behind just because I thought they couldn’t keep up or would slow me down. So instead of leaving two wild Boxers, full of energy at the house, today was the first time I decided to let Gunner join in on mine and Boss’ run, maybe a little late (he is 10 months old now), but better late than never, I guess.  Boss was just the opposite. We got Boss just a few months before I began training for my first half-marathon back in April 2010, so at six-months, Boss was running just that, six miles (or more on other days). He absolutely loved the early morning runs, however, Dustin thinks that running that much at such a young age may have stunted his growth. Because 65 pounds is small, right? Dustin says that he is “small for a Boxer.” If he’s small, I’d hate to own a large dog. So because of this, in order to let Gunner grow to his full potential (he is 10 months and already 60 pounds) I took it easy on the little guy through his youth

However, lack of experience or not, Gunner actually really surprised me today.   I was expecting a 1 minute run, followed by 1 minute of walking for about 30 minutes or so. Oh no, they had other plans.  Thirty minutes of straight running. No breaks allowed. Last time I play them for lazy fools!

Gunner was so excited to be included…

Now these two monsters have been silenced by exhaustion (and destroying our guest bed)…ahhhh, finally a little peace!

What about you? Do you like to exercise with your pups? More trouble than it’s worth or absolutely necessary? Absolutely necessary for these two!

Good health!

Ashley

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The hardest part is taking the first step.  Nike says, “Just do it.” But is it really as simple as that?  It is…  Exercising or even simply moving can help keep us young and healthy. Remember the commercial that says “A body at rest tends to stay at rest” and when we are sleeping, that’s okay, but as long as we’re awake and as long as were alive, the easiest thing we can do to keep off unwanted pounds and to keep living is just keep moving.

Whenever I was training for a half-marathon last year, so many people asked me, “How in the world does your body ever get used to running 13.1 miles? I run two and am exhausted!”  And my answer, you train it.  You gain motivation, put your mind to it and decided that it’s what you are going to do. Always remember, anything is possible.

 How can one ever run 26.2 miles?  That’s the question I’m asking myself right now but the answer is easy: they tell themselves they are going to do it and they do it… and so can I.  That’s why I’m going to brave my first marathon on November 5.

For many people the hardest part is taking the first step. A marathon runner wasn’t just born running marathons; he or she had to start somewhere, somewhere small, somewhere like a 5K. Because of this, I’ve decided that I am going to put together a 5K group, for beginners (or any level really).  Maybe it’s your first, second, third or hundredth race, but I just want to gather a group and make an event out of it.

On June 4^th, Survive The Five…K, will be hosted in Savannah, Georgia and this will be the race that my group takes on.  So right now, I’m looking for the group: I’m looking for you.  All you have to do is commit, really commit, and let me know that you’re ready to take it on!  The bigger the group, the more encouragement we will have, so please, take the first step (so far we are a team of 2)!  If you are from out of town (Atlanta area or wherever!) you can come stay with me, if you are currently in the deep south, how perfect!  Join me, will ya!?

The post How can you ever start running? appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

I used to dread running, especially long distance. Now, I look forward to it, as it is my sanity and escape from school work. I love listening to Pandora Contemporary Christian radio and running in tune with God. This truly is my daily time with God; it really helps me clear my mind.

One of the the moms (a mother of triplets plus one) that I used to babysit for used to always go run when I came over. She would say, “It’s the only way I can tolerate my girls. It’s how I enjoy every moment with them.” I didn’t understand her at the time, but now I totally get it.

Running is so freeing: with nothing but open roads of possibilities ahead and miles and miles of frustration, irritability, and problems left behind.

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