nashville 2012: week 8

It’s hard to believe that 2/3 of my training for Nashville is done. I really wish I could say it’s going better, but it most definitely is not. Here’s my run down of my workouts this week.

Sunday: Yoga Body Bootcamp™ + 9 mile bike ride
Monday: 3 mile run in the morning + workout A w/ 1.5 mile block sprints
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 2 mile run + workout b
Thursday: yoga
Friday: rest
Saturday: 20 mile bike ride + handstand workshop

I had a great 8 mile run two Saturday’s ago – I felt good and kept a really good-for-me pace, but something happened in between then and Monday to make my running take a turn for the worst. I’m not sure if my legs just decided not to recover at all, but they felt horrible in the morning and my shins definitely felt like they were splinting. I made it 3 of my planned 4.5 miles and gave up. I walked about a mile back home and immediately started stretching. I was feeling better during the day and was hoping that the morning was a fluke, so I decided to come home and do workout A from Best Body Bootcamp with a 5 minute cardio burst in between each set of exercises. I ran around our block three times which took under 15 minutes overall, the run felt hard but I was keeping a good pace so I figured that was why.

Because of my less-than-stellar feeling on Monday, I decided to take Tuesday as a total rest day. I was hoping to kick my crap feeling, but by Wednesday morning I was no better. I set out with a plan of covering 3 miles running (down from the 4.5 scheduled) – and made it through 2… barely. I was less than happy. That night I figured I might as well get some weights in, so Workout B was done (no cardio – and not too long of a workout).

Thursday was yoga at night. It seemed like a slower and more stretchy/twisty class so it felt really good! Followed up by another rest day on Friday.

I had decided that my body must be telling me something about running, so my scheduled 9-miler on Saturday was put on hold. I figured it would hopefully help my shins/legs to do something different, so I tool the time it would have taken me to run to take a bike ride. I figured I would plan on covering 20 miles in that time and ended up with 20.5 including a little time spent riding alongside Sister when she was tackling her first 20 mile run. I definitely underdressed on this bike ride and was FREEZING both on the ride and when I returned! My toes turned purple when I got back and got in the hot shower way too quickly – never again!

And even though my legs are feeling burnt out, my arms are fine! I signed up for a handstand workshop almost a month ago and it was finally the day for it! It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot – I’m definitely getting there with being able to balance but I’m a ways off! And since this was quite a bit of arm work (I’m actually still feeling it quite a bit today!) I decided to forego workout c, which was mostly arm work.

So what’s the plan for this week? Little to no running to see if that helps during the week, and then hopefully a Saturday run. I still have four weeks until Nashville, so this is a setback, but I’ll deal with it and hopefully come out stronger with a little rest.

nashville 2012: week 7

So I’ve kind of fallen off the blogging planet lately… I just haven’t been feeling into it and why do it if I’m not truly enjoying it, right? Well, at least I’ve been enjoying my workouts, even though they’re kicking my butt ;).

Sunday: Yoga Body Bootcamp™ + 9 mile bike ride
Monday: 4.5 mile run + workout A
Tuesday: workout B
Wednesday: 4.5 mile run + 2 mile walk
Thursday: 108 sun salutations
Friday: REST!
Saturday: 8 mile run + 3 mile bike ride + workout C

The weather this past week has been GORGEOUS. The temps have been between the 70’s and 80’s and the sunlight is finally out for longer since it is officially Spring!

Sunday was probably the best day all week and after my disappointing 10k the day before, I needed a hard workout. I ended up biking to Yoga Body Bootcamp – which was exactly 9 miles round trip. The bike there and back were both so nice and sunny and I could just zone out listening to my iPod (the roads are fairly quiet so I don’t have to worry about too much traffic on my route). So much better than driving! Definitely have to figure out a good way of biking to work instead of driving ;).

My runs both went well. Kept them both at a pretty good pace and was definitely sweaty when I returned!

Workouts A, B and C were awesome from Best Body Bootcamp – it’s the third week, so it was a new set of exercises. Definitely tough, but I loved it!

Thursday’s Yoga was 108 Sun Salutations. We only do this class at the change of every season and since Tuesday was the first day of Spring, it was time! I think this was also the first time after this class I had zero soreness – usually my hamstrings are killing me from all of the sun a’s.

I was going to do workout C on Friday, but I ended up taking an entire rest day instead. Good choice!

Saturday started out with an 8 mile run with Sister. It was the last 8 of her 18 mile run. I ended up finishing this 8 mile run one second longer than it took for my last 7 mile run in hilly Seattle – kind of funny :). When we got back Sister wanted an ice bath but she had forgotten to get ice, so I decided to spin out my legs and bike to the gas station to get some. My workouts for the day finished with workout C and some stretching. The rest of the day was spent driving up to see my friend and seeing HUNGER GAMES! Love love loved it! A perfect Saturday!

race recap: shamrock shuffle 10k

This race was a great learning experience. I did know a lot of them before, but ignored them rather than realize I was setting myself up for failure (or a half assed race).

When I first signed up for this race in December, I was thinking that March was going to be a cold month, so a race starting at 10am would be no big deal. Especially since it was in Madison (over an hour away), and that way we could easily drive there in the morning and not spend the money on a hotel room. About a month ago, it was still cold and Sister and I were in Target and saw some St. Patty’s Day t-shirts. They were lightweight cotton longsleeved shirts. I figured I would end up being cold wearing it, but that would just make me run faster, right?

It ended up being almost 80′.

I still wore the shirt.

Stupid.

The race started out fantastically. I felt good, I felt fast (I even knew I was keeping a good pace due to my Garmin – love this thing). There was a hill early on that took a lot out of me – I walked up some of it but still averaged that mile in a really good time. Most likely too good of time for how my training has been going. My watch ticked mile 2 in a similar, but not quite as fast of time. That’s when I saw Sister. Standing off to the side looking for me and then was just shaking her head. I couldn’t hear what she was saying at first due to my headphones, so I came out of my running zone to find out what was wrong. She was having a really bad side cramp and I tried to motivate her to keep running, making her at least make it to the half way point so she wouldn’t quit out on the race. We ran/walked that next mile and got to a water station and the halfway point. I could tell at that point that I wasn’t going to get my PR in the 10k today anymore, so I gave up. I passed the halfway point in 31:38. Sister said I could go on ahead without her, but she wasn’t looking too good and I couldn’t in good mind leave her on the course that wasn’t too supported. Plus, I was hot, sweaty and not sure if I would have even been able to keep up the pace and would have just been angry that I didn’t set a PR.

I shouldn’t have given up, but things were against me (weather, clothing, lack of water, motivation) and I wasn’t prepared. I also realized that I hate the 10k distance. In my mind it is “only” 6 miles, but that is a long time to keep up a good pace. Will I do this race again next year? Absolutely. But I will only do the 5k. I could have totally sprinted the 5k to make it in under 30 minutes and felt a hell of a lot more accomplished than I do now.

So what happened after the halfway point? We walked back. Yup, walked. 3.1 miles. Crossing that damn finish l line in 1:14:14. My new PR for the slowest 10k race I’ve done. At least I made Sister sprint the last .1ish of a mile to cross the finish line super speedy, passing three people who had been struggling around us. That .1 of a mile I’m kind of amazed about – we ran that in 6:45 pace and it felt great haha.

Even with only running two to three miles, I felt wiped after the race – I think more mentally exhausting than anything else ;). Yes, I was disappointed by not being stronger during the race, but it just wasn’t my day. And now looking back one week later? I’ll be back next year running a kick ass 5k if all goes as planned!

seattle seven

This past week, per my Nashville 1/2 marathon training plan, it called for a 7 mile run. Usually when I put together a training plan I look at what weeks I have signed up for any races or am out of town and plan accordingly. Well, I definitely did not account for being gone this day so still put “7 miles” on the schedule. I had never been to Seattle so I had no idea what the running would be like there, but assumed it would be okay depending on what area we were staying. I easily could have:

A. Not ran and taken a week off.
B. Run on Sunday instead when I was back home.
C. Run on a treadmill in the gym.

But, I took option D instead – just sucking it up and running outside! I had walked around with my co-worker quite a bit so I was comfortable with the streets surrounding our hotel, plus it was like 5:30am when I set out (on a Saturday no less), so I was close to alone until the later part of my run.

One thing about Seattle that I never knew was that it is SUPER hilly! At least in the portion I was in. I started out heading down one of the Avenues toward the Space Needle since I hadn’t gotten the chance to go there so after a little over a mile, I was standing at the base! It was nice to see it from the ground, but I definitely wouldn’t pay the $19 bucks to go to the top. This portion of the run was mainly downhill.

I didn’t want to run past the Space Needle since I didn’t know what was behind it and it seemed a little more sketchy… but that could have just been the darkness too. I ran back up the same street (UPhill) and ended up finding myself going down a road that took me to the waterfront. Now this portion was nice! So scenic and FLAT – I really enjoyed it ;). I took quite a few walking breaks here however because I wanted to try and soak everything in!

Well I ran down the waterfront and realized I wasn’t sure how to get back across the street and to the downtown area, as there were a bunch of hotels/condos in the way. I saw a huge staircase with a walkway across, so I figured why not – just go up it and across. Man, those steps were tough! 50+ steps later and I was walking crawling across the walkway.

I then tried to find my way toward Pike Place Market and eventually did, after a few turnarounds ;). At this point the run was not so fun anymore. Really hilly and up and back on the same roads since I didn’t want to find myself too far away from the hotel at the end. Needless to say my pace was not ideal – mostly because of the hills and the stopping for red lights thing. It was the first day I tried out my new Garmin as well and I did not have it on the auto pause function. Even though the run was hilly and slow, I just love running in new places! The change of scenery is what I love. I wish there were more than two routes around my house I could go toward and that they looked different from one another…

When I got back from my run I went to the hotel coffee bar for a bananas to have with my instant oats in my room – I must have looked rough because the lady told me I could grab an extra banana or orange ahaha. But I was very sweaty (I had even stripped off my outer later around mile 3 1/2 so was only in a tank top!) and my face was quite red. It probably looked like I never worked out/ I was going to pass out ;). But I definitely took two bananas.

nashville 2012: week 5

This past week was crazy! I had a work trip to Seattle on Thursday and got back home last night, so I have had way more than enough time changes within the past few days (since it’s Spring Ahead and all 😉 ).

Sunday: Yoga Body Bootcamp™
Monday: 4 mile run + workout A
Tuesday: Insanity Cardio + Resistance
Wednesday: 4 mile run + workout B
Thursday: Rest/Travel day
Friday: workout C
Saturday: 7m run

Last Sunday’s Yoga Body Bootcamp was by far the hardest class thus far! I was definitely feeling it after the fact for a couple of days… My abs and shoulders were worked well in that hour!

Monday was the first day of the Best Body Bootcamp (obviously I’m loving the Body Bootcamps right now!). In the morning I completed my 4 mile run for Nashville 1/2 marathon training, and then after work I did workout a*. I could definitely feel the burn as I have never been good at keeping a decent weight routine!

Tuesday I did an Insanity DVD at home (not taking an extra rest day again like last week haha).

Wednesday morning I ran the 4 miles for training and then workout B* was waiting for me when I got home from work. This one was very hard to focus on because I knew I still needed to pack and get ready for leaving the next morning!

Thursday was travel day! I woke up at 3am central time (yuck) to get to the airport to leave for my flight at 7. It was my first venture driving to the airport alone and find parking, but I figured it out no problem! The night didn’t end until after 10 Seattle time, so it was a LONG day. But, I guess I should put in that I did walk around the city from our hotel to Pike’s Market as well as to the location of our meeting the next day to set up.

Friday I completed workout c* in my hotel room! Luckily I had a semi-suite that had a long path from the living area to the bedroom so there was enough space for a couple of the moves ;). This one definitely kicked my butt and I was quite sweaty after I was done!

Saturday was long run day. Another 7 miles complete for 1/2 marathon training, but more on that run and the rest of my time in Seattle in another post!

 

*workouts A, B + C are from Tina at Best Body Bootcamp, so I can’t give any information on what the routines were, but they were all fantastic!

 

nashville 2012: week 4

Another week is done! Week 4 is complete and that means there are only 8 more weeks to go! In a way it seems like I’ve been training longer than that because I really only had 3-4 weeks off in between training plans. Fine by me as I love having something to work toward and a set plan of what to do each day… even if I deviate a little ;).

Sunday: Yoga Body Bootcamp™
Monday: 3.5m run + Insanity Max Cardio Recovery
Tuesday: Nothing – whoops! Extra rest day.
Wednesday: 3.5m run + stretching
Thursday: Power Vinyasa
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 7m run

Still loving Yoga Body Bootcamp each week. I didn’t think it was that hard when we were going through the circuits, but then I got home and could only remember one song that played… I guess that means it was harder than I thought since I must have been concentrating really hard on the moves?

My Monday morning run was cold and WINDY! Kind of awful, but I did it! That night I joined Sister in the Max Cardio Recovery DVD. Even though the recovery DVDs don’t go as fast, it is nice to stretch out for 40-50 minutes!

Tuesday I was going to go ice skating with a friend… but then the weather started sleeting so those plans were cancelled and I just headed home after work. I should have done some cross training, but I just wasn’t feeling up to it so I decided to pass for a day – no harm in that!

Wednesday morning weather was crappy again. It was cold and rainy, so my bed was a much better place to be! I decided to hold off my run until the afternoon to see if the weather got any better. I haven’t run in the afternoon in forever, but I figured I could do it :). I packed rice cakes + peanut butter for an afternoon snack since I know I’m okay to run after that and then changed and headed out right away. The weather was still not that nice – very windy and a little sleety, but it was at least bright out!

Thursday yoga – a very busy class, probably because of all the Grouponers! A big class means HOT and sweaty! And even though yoga is not supposed to be competitive, I love when there are newbies and less experienced yogis in the class because I can appreciate how much my own practice has grown so much more. The crazy looks the “experienced” folks get is hilarious when we’re not afraid of doing (or at least trying) ridiculous moves and shooting up in to headstand in the middle of the room. I definitely gave those looks when I first started – and still do to the even more experienced people in my classes! I can’t wait until I can master even more crazy moves… ;).

Friday rest – so nice! And then Saturday was my first 7 miler run of this training plan! I actually don’t remember a whole lot of this run… I really should write my recaps closer to the actual run haha. It snowed quite a bit on Friday so I wasn’t sure what the roads/sidewalks would be like. I was thinking of possibly doing loops depending on what had been plowed, but it actually didn’t end up being that bad at all so I just went out 3 1/2 miles, and then came back. The best kind of runs!

It was a slow one – but really, who cares besides me? No one! And a mile is still a mile, no matter how slow – oh Pinterest quotes, they’re the best ;). And as long as I make it to the end, that’s all that really matters. Overall the week went well, and this week I will be incorporating more weights as the Best Body Bootcamp starts TODAY! Happy Monday!

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

nashville 2012: week 3

The end of this week marks the end of the first quarter of my training plan! After my not-so-fun 6 miler last week, my calves were a bit sore. Obviously when I’m mentally struggling through a run, my form must change and thus impact my next run or two… Or maybe it was just the super challenging but awesome Yoga Body Bootcamp™ this week?! Here were my workouts last week.

Sunday: Yoga Body Bootcamp™
Monday: 3.5m run + ~.5m walk and Cardio/Strength Workout
Tuesday: Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance
Wednesday: 3.5m run and a Medicine Ball Circuit Workout
Thursday: Power Vinyasa Podcast Party!
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 6m run

The routine at Yoga Body Bootcamp™ this week kicked my butt! I am so addicted to this class now I look forward to it every week and am never disappointed. I always leave the class so incredibly detoxed and relaxes – it’s a fabulous way to start a Sunday!

I chickened out on my weekly runs this week. My training plan had said 3.5m run + 1m walk, but it was too cold that I didn’t end up walking the full mile at the end – plus I hadn’t mentally realized that running a 1/2 mile extra would take more time in the morning and my bed has been too cosy so getting myself up to leave was a challenge in and of itself ;).

Insanity was good – I’m still enjoying the change of pace it provides and am super stoked for Insanity Asylum! I’m glad sister is more obsessed with Insanity than I am so when I told her about this she instantly bought it… even if it won’t be used seriously for a few more months haha.

One thing I changed up this week was adding more strength training exercises in the mix. I am really bad at sticking with any sort of strength training routine and it often ends up falling to the wayside… but that all changes now as I have signed up for Tina Reale’s Best Body Bootcamp! I’ve obviously got a thing for bootcamps lately :).

The bootcamp starts on March 5th (last day to sign up is March 4th) and it sounds like it’ll be amazing. The cost is only $25… half the price of a gym membership for a month and it’s 8 full weeks of workouts! The cardio is only suggested, so I will be mostly doing it for the strength workouts and keep up with the running. I’m very excited to get the workouts this week, not to mention all of the giveaways she’s offering over the course of the bootcamp! (I’m secretly hoping I win Physique 57, Love Grown Foods granola or the Sparkly Soul Headbands… but I’m not picky 😉 ).

I usually don’t write about my Thursday night yoga classes, but we did something different this week that was great! The regular teacher wasn’t there, and the sub (and teacher of Yoga Body Bootcamp) was sick so she asked if we would be interested in doing a little podcast party instead of her teaching the class. None of us minded one bit, so we did an 80 minute Live Love Teach Podcast and it was a really nice change of pace. It was taught by three different master teachers who run the Live Love Teach yoga teaching program. I’m not a fan of yoga DVDs because I find them too staged and slow moving… definitely not the same with podcasts! It was recorded at a real yoga class and you can definitely tell the difference! My favorite part was the 5+ minute frog… it hurt so much I wanted to cry by the end of it, but my hips haven’t felt so good in ages!

Now finally on to the long run! Yikes, I’m long winded with my other workouts today ;). My second six miler was SO MUCH BETTER than last week! I think my conscious effort of being positive about this run made me enjoy it rather than wishing for it to be over. My new kicks might have had something to do with it too?! I got to wear these on Wednesday + Saturday and am in love. Zero muscle aches from changing shoes and zero blisters – always a good sign!

nashville 2012: week 2

A little late on my recap from last week – I was way too busy being lazy and unproductive this weekend to write anything, or spend any time in the kitchen haha. My week at work was very busy, so it was definitely nice to have some down time to finally relax! Anyways, here are my workouts from last week:

Sunday: Yoga Body Bootcamp™
Monday: 5k run + 1m walk
Tuesday: Insanity Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs
Wednesday: 5k run + 1m walk
Thursday: Power Vinyasa
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 6m run

Pretty similar to last week and still right on track with the training plan! The only thing that wasn’t similar to last week was how difficult my 6 mile run was – it was not a fun time. I set out for a surprisingly warm February run, quickly shedding my gloves and earmuffs and wishing I had a t-shirt on underneath so I could shed a layer! The run was both mentally and physically exhausting for me and I’m not exactly sure why. Yes, it is the longest distance I’ve run since the Disney 1/2 Marathon, but I’ve also run this distance many many times in the past – even several 10k races that are technically .2 miles longer.

I knew it wasn’t going to be the best run right away, my legs felt heavy, my stomach felt off and I was already getting sweaty. And at that point there was still 5.9 miles to go! I thought about doing two loops just in case my stomach ended up feeling really bad, so I went toward my normal week day route even though I’m not a huge fan of that for longer/daylight runs. I ended up feeling fine stomach-wise, but my legs still felt tight and I obviously kept getting warmer and warmer. I ran around the first block and decided to just go out 3 miles and come back to eliminate the multiple loops I was originally planning. I think it was definitely a good choice to just go out and back, because it would have been way too easy to just head back home after the first loop!

I ended up taking numerous walking breaks and finished the run averaging exactly 11 minute miles. The course I ended up taking left me with a mile walk back at the end which was a very welcomed cool-down. I definitely wish this run would have gone better, but I do have many more weeks to go before running 13.1, and hopefully gain the confidence I need that apparently left me so quickly! I have another 6 mile run next Saturday – so here’s to hoping that one is less mentally and physically exhausting!

One productive thing I did this weekend was finally buy new running shoes! I’ve been debating what kind I wanted to buy. I haven’t liked my current ones so I knew I wanted something different. I ended up deciding on the Rykä Aspire. They appear to be a good medium between supportive and barefoot, so I’m hoping there’s enough cushion to avoid tendonitis again, but not too much to overcorrect my natural stride. Plus, I love the colors :). I got them from Zappos which is extremely nice because if I end up not liking them, it’s free return shipping! The standard shipping is 5 business days – I ordered them last night and already got a shipping confirmation – and it says they actually shipped with two day shipping?! So excited to try them out!

nashville 2012: week 1

Week 1 of Nashville training = done. Only eleven to go! Man, I have a feeling the next few months are going to fly :).

I stayed right on track with my training this week:

Sunday: Yoga Body Bootcamp™
Monday: 5k run + 1m walk
Tuesday: Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance
Wednesday: 5k run + 1m walk & Insanity Cardio Recovery
Thursday: Power Vinyasa
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5m run

I really enjoyed all of my workouts this week, definitely a good start to training haha. Sister and I have been sitting on $30 of iTunes money since Christmas, and we finally decided to cash in part of it for some new tunes for our runs this morning. That definitely helped my motivation this morning! I was really worried that the weather was going to be super awful as the wind forecast was 17mph… I ended up being very happy when I woke up and couldn’t hear the wind outside! It was also sunny (sure sign of coldness, but I can’t really complain with how fair the weather has been for Wisconsin this winter). Weather.com tells me it was about 7* and only 12-13mph winds. Not too bad?

Well, I bundled up with two pairs of pants, a t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt and sweatshirt, two pairs of socks, two pairs of gloves and a headband. I put on my iPod with the following playlist, and headed into the cold!

It was SO cold starting out, I was chilled, but the coldness was nothing compared to the blown over snow/not shoveled show on the sidewalks – so annoying! There were some places where the snow was a few inches deep, and then the snow was sticking to the bottoms of my shoes so my feet started to feel really heavy. The coldness didn’t bother me at all. I was actually quite overdressed and ended up being sweaty within a mile and a half. I was originally going to do a normal out and back route, but ended up taking a little longer route back so I could have a cool down 1/2 mile walk at the end. Even though I was over-temping and my legs were getting tired from the snow running, I pushed through the miles and ended up surprising myself with the pace I managed! I wonder if it was the music, or the just wanting to be done running in the snow that helped? I even took a couple walking breaks at the halfway point and a little later when I was in a big snow patch.

This is definitely a good way for my training to start out since my confidence in my running abilities barely exist ;). It’s only up from here on out! Hope you all have a fabulous Saturday!

yoga body bootcamp + recovery

I went to my first Yoga Body Bootcamp™ class at my yoga studio yesterday and it was insane! This was the first time they’ve offered it in their regular weekly lineup and I’m glad that it’s on the schedule every week! They had one actual bootcamp class following the yoga body bootcamp “routine” the morning of my Disney 1/2 marathon and I was disappointed I couldn’t go then. At least had a good reason for not being there, but I still felt like I missed out ;).

Well I definitely didn’t miss out today, and the class did not disappoint! It was an hour long class, broken up with a 10 minute warm up, 32 minutes of 8 interval stations (listed below), a couple minute cool down, another station and then finally 10-15 minutes of stretching and shavasana. Here are the 8 interval stations (in the order I did them). Each station was done for 45 seconds, and then we had a 15 second “cool down”/move to the next station.

1. Sumo squats (jumping/squatting with wide legs)
2. Eggrolls (rocking back and forth on your back with your elbows and knees touching)
3. Monkey jumps/Walking planks (alternated every round, so two total monkey jumps and two walking planks)
4. Pushups/planking while moving on and off of yoga blocks
5. Four square jumps (clockwise + counterclockwise)
6. Oblique leg kicks (alternating left and right)
7. Back extensions
8. Tricep dips (on a bench)

And the final station was with a partner. One person was doing a minute plank on the bottom, and the person on top was doing pushups with her legs on the back of the other partner. Partners then switched and did the other exercise. I think this might have been the toughest because my arms/shoulders were already tired from the walking planks and moving pushups!

Needless to say, I was WIPED! I walked outside with just my tank top on and didn’t want to put on my sweatshirt for the drive home, but figured I should put on some sort of sweat-barrier so the seat in the car didn’t get too much on it. Probably a good choice because by the time I got home I had sweated through even that! But I guess when you’re in a 96* room, that’ll happen after this ass-kicking workout. I loved it. And I will be returning. Maybe every week. I’m so so so glad it fits perfectly in my new Nashville 1/2 marathon training plan!

I was craving something hydrating and fruity when I got home so I threw together the following ingredients in the vitamix. It ended up being delicious and almost like an Orange Julius! Will definitely be making this again!

Hydrating/Energizing Orange Smoothie

• 3 chunks frozen banana
• 1 pack tangerine emergen-c (or whatever flavor you like best)
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• ~3 ice cubes

1. Place all in the blender and blend away.

I was skeptical at first about this combo, with the fizzy emergen-c and milk, but the fizziness went away with the blender and it was very similar to an orange creamsicle. Yummm. I basically spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch watching Crazy, Stupid, Love and Dirty Dancing – a fantastic way to end the weekend!