Eversave Mother’s Day promo + Protein Powder

First the winner of the $10 Eversave Reward is…

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

6

Which would be Erica!! I need your email address that is tied into your Eversave account!  If you don’t have one yet, sign up HERE!

Eversave actually is having another promo this week!

This time in honor of Mother’s day:

“Better Together

Whether it’s a post-breakup pity party or a trip to the spa

some things are just better when Mom comes along.

Tell her how much she means to you.”

Now, you can win a save for a facial at Salon Kokopelli in Belmont, MA!!  You can purchase this save for $29…a $65 value, but you could just WIN the save without spending a dime by finishing the following:

Dear Mom,

Thanks for… (INSERT YOUR RESPONSE HERE)

Email your response to share@eversave.com before 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 10th to enter.

Then, earn an extra entry by purchasing the  Salon Kokopelli Save on Eversave.com — if you win, you’ll get to spend some Q.T. with your best gal this Mother’s Day!  In simpler terms you can buy the save, get an extra entry, then if you win you’d have a free save to take a friend to the salon too! 

Added Bonus:  Any NEW Eversave member who signs up using this link, will automatically get $5 in his/her Eversave account!!  The $5 will be in your account for 60 days. 

AND they also have a $2 promo code for this Salon deal!  Enter the promo code MOM.  This code is good until Thursday May 10, at midnight EST. 

Phew that’s a lot of info!  If I didn’t explain anything clearly enough or you have a question please comment or email me!! 

Speaking of Mother’s Day…any plans?? I’ve been taking my mom out for High Tea for the past 5+ years…and I think we’ve exhausted most teas in Boston.  Hmmm.  Or if you’re a new mom (I feel like I know a lot of those right now), what are you doing different this year??

P.S. I’ve finally found a protein powder I like!!  Seriously it felt like the never ending quest.  Luckily Whole Foods carries some individual packets of a few brands so I could try them.  I never wanted to buy a big tub of something I had no idea if I liked. 

Well after all that I did finally go out on a limb and buy a container of this…

It’s Whole Food’s 365 brand so it was pretty economical.  It has 16 grams of protein and tastes great to me!!   I hate the taste of artificial sweeteners, and usually can’t even stand Stevia either.  This one does have some Stevia, but it for some reason doesn’t bother me.  I’ve found it nearly impossible to find a protein powder sweetened with a regular sweetener/sugar. 

Also love my new blender!

It’s basically the Cuisnart version of the magic bullet.   

Small, compact, easy to clean, and multiple containers to use. 

I’ve been enjoying these after my Crossfit workouts.  I also keep is SIMPLE:  frozen berries, milk or Almond Milk, and protein powder.  Done and Done.

Less than 2 weeks to Reach the Beach!!

I had a lovely 8 mile run Sunday!  There is a paved bike path from Lexington to Bedford…I thought the paved path went all the way into Concord.  It doesn’t.  It changes to an unpaved rail trail. 

So more than half of my run was like this.  Very pretty, scenic, but probably won’t do that again alone…there were a few times I found myself by myself on the trail.

Either way I felt great through the 8 miles!! 

Nice full post jam-packed with randomness…Happy Tuesday!  Possible discussions…  Mother’s Day ideas??  Fav protein powder??  Running trails??

Fueled by Soap

Huh??  Yeah….lets rewind.  With our impending 9-mile run on the schedule for this past weekend, Brian and I decided it was time to get some fuel for our runs.

I was actually really excited to try out chews/shot blocks!!  Probably a little more excited than a person should be to eat a big gummy lemon-lime block...although I’ve always been a fan of fruity/chewy candy!  We also decided we needed a water bottle for the run.  The past couple weeks we planned out and back routes on the Minuteman bike path that would take us by our car halfway through so we could get water, but that wasn’t always going to be possible.

We had to do 9 miles and I wanted to plan out a new route (I get bored FAST running the same routes!).

This was a big loop from our house, through a surrounding town, and back, so we opted for the water bottle above that would slip onto our hands.

Because of our schedules, we did our runs separately.  I did mine Sunday when it was super nice out :) 

I had my ipod, Garmin, water bottle, and 3 shot blocks in the pouch that came on the water bottle.  All ready to go! 

At about 3 miles I took a sip.  Ewww….SOAP!!!

Apparently I did NOT rinse it out enough after washing, and while running and sloshing the water around I had a nice bottle of sudsy water!!!  AHHHH!

Thankfully my run took me by a grocery store around mile 5 where I ran in, washed the bottle out, and filled it up.  I really could of gone for a sip before that, but luckily I didn’t have to wait too too long.

Aside from my detour in the grocery store, and 2 quick stops to walk near the end, I was pretty happy with the run!

I did nine miles in 1:38:14 which is about 10:55 min/miles…I haven’t figured out the auto stop function yet so that includes any stops for walking, or at traffic lights. 

Training is going well so far!  I haven’t been as good with my 3rd “easy” run of the week, but I’m also happy to be back doing Body Pump!! 

I also had a 2 hour dance rehearsal only a couple hours after my 9-miler…definitely won’t make that mistake again!! 

Legs = Jelly.

Pancakes = Weekend…or a nice Monday off from work!

My company didn’t have Patriots Day off (Marathon Monday), but I took it off and after my running/dancing Sunday I was so relieved to know I didn't have to get up for work the next day.  

Brian had to go in for the morning, but I got stuff done at home while I waited…including a relaxing breakfast.

Protein Pancakes!

I love them with nut butter on top :) (one with PB and one AB)

and syrup, obviously.

Decided to try out a new juice combo….

• 1 orange
• 1 grapefruit
• 1/2 pear
• kale
• romaine
• pineapple

It was good, but not my favorite.  I think next time I’d double the orange, and leave out the grapefruit.  The grapefruit was a bit over powering, and even though I love grapefruit, it wasn’t working here. 

Oh well, Juice and Learn!

Once Brian was home we headed out to enjoy the weather and an afternoon off!  It was a little too late to try and get to the marathon, so we opted for Harvard Square.

We ended up dining al fresco for a late lunch at Russell House Tavern, which is one of the places I’ve been wanting to try for a while. 

It wasn’t that warm out, but it was nice enough to sit outside…at least we thought so.  We were the only ones out there!

I was a bit disappointed that they were out of the sandwich I wanted to try…and out of the beer Brian initially ordered, but our waitress was so nice and really I could order something else..like this!

 

Crab cake sandwich with greens!  DELISH!  Ate all of the crab cakes, half of the bread, all the greens and of course a handful of fries from across the table…

Brian got the: 

Smokey 12 Hour Brisket Melt:  Creamy Cole Slaw, House Pickles, Horseradish, Marble Rye

It was SO good.  A little messy…but worth it

Later on I picked up a cappuccino at Crema Cafe along with a couple goodies to share.

 

Our day concluded with grocery shopping, dinner, and ballz.

I think Brian likes these protein balls even more than me!

I made a double batch:

Protein Balls! (based on the recipe from Fitnessista)

• 4 T protein powder (Sun Warrior vanilla)
• 2 T Almond Butter
• 2 T Peanut Butter
• 4 T unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1.5 T maple syrup
• 1 tsp water
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• small square dark chocolate
• pinch of salt

All ingredients into a small food processor until beginning to clump.  I then dump it all out onto a plate or work surface and form into balls.  I store them in a tupperware container in the fridge :)

So far we both really liked the lemon-lime flavor Cliff Shot Blocks, haven’t tried the Gu Chomps pictured above yet.

What’s your favorite running fuel/product??
Any recommendations??