Excited to be theVitamin Shoppe and #ProteinPantry Ambassador!

Vitamin Shoppe and #ProteinPantry Ambassador!

     I was super excited to get the email saying that I had been chosen to be a theVitamin Shoppe and #ProteinPantry#ProteinPantry Ambassador! I'm a fan of all things protein and probably eat a minimal of 2-3 big spoonfuls of peanut butter a day. My protein shake addiction is OUT. OF. CONTROL.

     I want to be Ambassadors to products that I love and will actually use! 

     The nice folks over at Vitamin Shopoe sent me a huge care package of products to test out and try. I had no idea what to expect so I was shocked at the amount of goodness that arrived on my doorstep.

A huge box of goodies...Thank you theVitamin Shoppe!

Products courtesy of the Vitamin Shoppe.

Take a look at some of these awesome products!

P28 The Original High Protein Pancake Dry Mix
"P28 High Protein Pancakes are the perfect option for those leading a healthy lifestyle who don't want to give up their favorite breakfast dishes.  A hearty breakfast staple that is perfect for both adults and children, these pancakes are a healthy twist on a classic dish.

Our pancake mix is formulated to provide you energy and nutrition when you need it most.  With a great balance of protein and carbohydrates, our P28 pancakes are an excellent addition to any meal."

P28 White Chocolate
The Original High Protein Pancake Dry Mix

Nutrition Facts.

FlapJacked Mighty Muffin with Probiotics Mix

I love that these muffins can be prepared right in the cup.  

"Directions:

1. REMOVE lid and protective film.

2. ADD water to fill line. DON'T OVERFILL.

3. STIR WELL using a fork. Batter will be thick (like thick cake batter).

DO NOT COVER

4. MICROWAVE on high for 35 seconds. If muffin is still wet on top put lid on and let sit for 1-2 minutes OR heat for another 5-8 seconds.

Caution: Contents will be hot.

5. ENJOY!"

Flap Jacked Mighty Muffin Mix
Cinnamon Apple and Double Chocolate Flavors

Nutrition Facts.

P28 The Original High Protein Peanut Spread

"Creamy White Chocolate Peanut Spread with Whey Protein Isolate. Two Tablespoons of P28 Spread on one slice of P28 Bread provides 28 Grams of Protein!"

P28 White Chocolate High Protein Peanut Spread

Nutrition Facts.

D's Naturals Chocolate Fudge Cake Batter--Protein Infused Almond Fluffbutter

"All Natural

Non-Gmo

Vegan

Sustainable Ingredients

No Sugar Added

Gluten Free

Dairy Free

Soy Free

Lactose Free

Guilt Free"

 D's Naturals Chocolate Fudge Cake Batter

Nutrition Facts.

Buff Bake White Chocolate Protein Peanut Spread with Chia & Flax

"Ingredients:

Roasted Peanuts, Whey Protein, White Chocolate (Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Nonfat Dry Milk, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Coconut Palm Sugar, Chia Seed, Flax Seed.

Contains: Peanuts, Coconut, Milk, Soy

*Manufactured in a facility that also processes almonds.

Follow the hashtag #BuffBake and #Spreadthefit to see more tips and recipe ideas using Buff Bake products.

Buff Bake White Chocolate Peanut Spread and
Buff Bake Snickerdoodle Protein Almond Spread

Nutrition Facts.

AboutTime Protein Pancake Mix--Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Spice Flavors

"Be Creative With Your Breakfast!

Add milk to the dry pancake mix instead of water.  Try adding nuts, bananas, blueberries or any other of your favorites to the batter for added crunch and flavor!  Don't forget the toppings--our pancakes do taste amazing with original maple syrup, but you can also use honey, yogurt, agave, peanut butter or even chocolate!"

AboutTime Protein Pancake Mix
Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Spice Flavors

Nutrition Facts.

Mancakes High-Protein Pancake & Waffle Mix

Buttermilk, Light Chocolate, Maple Bacon and Cinnamon Oat Flavors

"20g Protein

38g Net Carbs

4g Fiber

Just Add H20

No Gluten

No Soy

No GMOs

Low Sugar

Makes 3, 4" pancakes

For Men or Women"

Mancakes High Protein Pancakes, Waffles & Baking Mix

Nutrition Facts.

Time to whip up something in my kitchen using some of these products!

     Now for the test! I need to actually start making some items with my ingredients. Protein pancakes are so interesting to me. Since I don't eat a lot of sweets, my biggest question was how can I eat pancakes without syrup or whipped cream?!? 

     My answer?!?...Honey. All natural and totally the good kind of sugar. 

     Let the recipe testing begin!

     I decided to make Chocolate Chip Protein Pancakes and smother them with blended strawberries and bananas, slather with White Chocolate Peanut Butter, top with fresh cut up strawberries and then drizzle with honey. Sooooooo delicious and healthy!!

Ingredients:

One banana

One pint strawberries (reserve half for topping)

Splash of pure vanilla

Two tsp honey

One scoop Chocolate Chip Protein Pancake Mix

Directions:

Strawberries, Banana, Vanilla and Honey.

First I blended strawberries and banana, 2-3 drops of vanilla and splash of honey in the blender. Set aside.

About time Chocolate Chip Protein Pancake Mix

Next, I mixed up the About Time Protein Pancake Mix and water together according to directions on the package. I set that aside for a few minutes to let thicken.

Letting the batter thcken.

After the batter was thick enough to my liking, I warmed up just a tiny lit bit of butter in my skillet and poured the batter in. I cooked the pancake for approximately 2-3 minutes until they were golden brown on each side. Sorry I don't make pretty perfect circular pancakes...but they are taste great and that's all that matters!

Golden Brown!

When the pancakes were finished cooking, I put them on the plate and spread the P28 White Chocolate High Protein Peanut Spread on them. The pancakes were still warm so the spread was melting...yummmmmm.

I topped the stacked pancakes with the blended strawberries and banana mixture, the sliced strawberries and drizzled with honey. I absolutely loved these pancakes and let my kiddos try them out too! Two out of the three gave them a thumbs up and the one who didn't doesn't really care for any kind of pancakes so I don't count her opinion. ;)

My creation!

Chocolate Chip Protein Pancakes...BamagirlRUNS Style!

     Thank you again to the Vitamin Shoppe and the other great companies who sent me these yummy products. I will continue to make other healthy creations with these products! Stay tuned!

Happy Running and Happy Healthy Eating! 

I was provided these products in exchange for my honest review and recipe creation. All opinions are my own and I will be using these products as claimed in the near future! This post was sponspored on behalf of theVitamin Shoppe, #ProteinPantry and Fitfluential.

Runners World Half Marathon & Festival Experience... My Ultimate "Challenge" Race

         All week long, I've been back home, back to reality and really thinking about how I wanted to recap my Runner's World & Half Festival presented by Altra experience. I will be honest and admit that I struggle with writing recaps immediately following a race. I like to soak in the experience and not feel rushed in my writing. However, when I crossed the Finish Line last Sunday during the half marathon, I was OVERWHELMED with emotions. Not typical for this thick-skinned funny Bama girl. I don't cry. I don't like for anyone to see me cry. I don't like to be sappy. But this race, this experience, this journey, this medal......I couldn't hold it in. I sobbed like a baby going down the chute at the finish and I'm okay with it. I was the third to the last finisher and I couldn't have been any prouder.

Disclaimer: I do not want this post to be a "woe is me" kind of post. I've been struggling for 6 weeks with my broken ankle (and longer with personal issues) so this is just where I'm at in my life. However, I want to share a genuine and truthful post so here goes...

This is my story........

King's Chair at Oak Mountain State Park

     Rewind if you will to Labor Day September 7th, 2015. My running group and I decided that we would go trail running at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama. We run the streets of Birmingham weekly and wanted a change of scenery. It was a gorgeous day, my friends were all off of work and we were having a great time running the trails. I was super excited to get some trail running in as I was registered to run the new 3.8 mile trail run during Runner's World Half and Festival weekend in just a few weeks.  When we got to the top of the mountain, we took lots of pictures and I remember asking one of my buddies how far we had ran. He told me that we were almost to 2.5 miles so I knew that we were going to get almost 5 miles in that day. 

     Cool! Now I knew the 3.8 mile trail run was not going to eat me alive! I knew that I could run all of the distances. I was registered to run the 3.8 mile trail run, the 5K, the 10K and the Half Marathon. A total of 26.2 miles for the weekend! Marathon status...Holla!! Not bragging but I knew that I could run these distances. I'm trained for these kind of "challenge" races. However, I'm not a trail runner so I was worried about that one. 

     Coming down the mountain, I roll my ankle. I hear it snap. Good grief. I walked the last mile and a half down the mountain just knowing what was about to go down.

Diagnosis?!?  BROKEN. Life as I knew it changed at that moment. 

Clean Fibula Break.

What in the world?!?! 

I'm a fitness instructor, now I can't work. I have been working so freaking hard to get all of my certifications in order over the last few months. I've been taken off of the schedule and my classes were given away. This just killed me.

I'm a personal trainer. Now I can't train my clients who are depending on me for their goals. Loser Trainer.

I run a Bootcamp for Moms in my backyard. I can't even walk through my grass now. 

I'm a social butterfly. All of my social media revolves around running, runDisney, exercising, running bloggers, fitness, races. Ugh. I don't even want to look at it. Go away world wide web.

Most of my friends that I hang around with, run. Lovely. Their races and long runs haven't stopped. I didn't see them for over a month.

Not gonna lie. I HATED EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF THIS.

But......I've been home more and had lots of down time and I really thiink that I just needed that. My kids and my hubs needed that. We've had some rocky times over the past few months. Slowing down is good even though I don't like it, it's just good.

Now I'm just beating myself up over and over and over again for being so selfish and bratty. "Get over yourself Kristin. It's one broken ankle. There are so many people in the world with much bigger issues. Seriously. You are the worst."

I go to the Doc in the Box immediately after the fall and to the Orthopedic the next day....

My Orthopedic set me up with a "let's get you back to running plan but just know that you won't complete any challenge races anytime soon." 

*6-8 weeks in the boot depending on my healing via x-rays. 

--First Two weeks on crutches 

--Third week...25-50lbs of weight bearing on my right leg.

--Fourth week..75-100lbs of weight bearing on my right leg.

--Fifth week...X-rays were fabulous. Out of the boot and into a brace with physical therapy at a specialized sports clinic.

--Sixth week....cleared to resume normal low impact exercise.
--Just don't over-do it.

So that was my Dr's plan. This was my plan.....

*I put my boot on, slept with it and only took it off for a quick 5 minute shower. Somedays I never took a shower. I never wanted to take that boot off. HEAL ALREADY.
--I don't think I ate a full meal for the first two weeks. I lost at least 8 pounds. I quit counting after that.
--The crutches were completely on my nerves but I used them when I needed to.
--Third week..I went back to the gym. I worked my arms and back out like crazy. Lou Ferigno didn't have anything on me.  20lbs on leg press machine was tough but it felt good.
--Fourth week..50-75lbs on Leg Press Machine. If there was one thing that I knew, the minute I was cleared from the boot, I did not want my legs to be weak. I was in the gym everyday. The Row machine was my new best friend. #RowRowRowYourBoot
--Fifth week..I feel great. I'm out of the boot and headed to physical therapy. He knew that I had it in my brain to finish Runner's World Half Marathon. I told him that's all I would do. I would definitely not attempt the trail race and had zero intentions of trying to finish the 5 or 10k either. He gave me the clear to try to walk the half marathon but warned me that he wouldn't have to tell me if I was pushing too hard. I would know it.
I wanted to be smart but dangit I wanted to finish those 13.1 miles. 

This is me having a talk with this crazy boot. I'm like "hey girl. here's what we're gonna do"
All delirium sets in when you can't run. (Yeah, I talk to my boot. #helpmysoul)

      The very first thing that came into my mind after I broke my ankle was...OMG. Runner's World Half!!! I had been dying to run this race for years and I finally had this awesome opportunity and seriously? I break it almost 6 weeks before THIS race???? I just can't take it. I'm beyond broken-hearted.

     Almost immediately after I posted a picture on Facebook of my broken ankle x-ray, David Tratner from Runner's World PR sends me a message to tell me how sorry he was and to please not worry about trying to make the trip. He was so encouraging and so understanding. I knew at that moment that I wanted to make it my life goal to make it to Bethlehem Pennsylvania in less than 6 weeks.  I was on a mission. By the end of our conversation, he says to me "If you think you can do it, we got your back".  Those were the only words that I ever needed to hear.

     From that moment on, I needed to change my thinking. I needed to change my focus. I needed to heal and I needed to heal properly. I had a terrible angry attitude and I needed to change it. ASAP.  I was so humbled by the fact that Runner's World Magazine invited me and because of their generosity and support, there was NO WAY that I would ever want to let them down.

Fast forward through the next 5 1/2 weeks....working out and healing in progress. Everyday.

October 15th, 2015:

     I'm flying to Allentown, Pennsylvania. I never dreamed in one million years that I would EVER go fly away to run a race with Runner's World Magazine or go to Allentown.  All I could think about was the Billy Joel song. I'm a music junkie and I've loved and sang that song all my life it seems and now I was on my way there. It was really one of those crazy moments when I just thought.."Am I really about to get on a plane and go to Allentown, Pennsylvania to hang out with the folks at Runner's World? How crazy is this?" It's totally crazy and I'm still in disbelief somedays. 

     I landed on time and soon met up with the rest of the crew! My roommate, Larisa, is another crazy Blogger friend of mine from Mobile, Alabama and I just knew the weekend was going to be more than fabulous hanging out with her. Trucker hats courtesy of Altrarunning were in our swag bag as we arrived and I think that just set the tone for the weekend. #FUNandSASSYfromTheSOUTH

Trucker Hats and Roll Tide. ;)

     I was not out of the air for more than an hour when we decided to go grab a quick bite to eat. I checked in with my hubs to tell him that I had made it safe and sound. He was at the Dr. office with my Justin. My boy plays the Baritone Saxophone in the 7th grade band and had been complaining that his mouth was feeling kinda weird lately when he plays and his eye was twitching funny. I was thinking he may need to have his eyes checked or need new reeds for his instrument. We all have bad vision in my fam....I was sure it was his eyes. Yep. That's it. New reeds and bad vision. He said he would text me back after they saw the doc. Twenty minutes later, I get the text..  I had to the leave the room and step outside to read it again. I was about to lose it.

BELLS PALSY.

and that was all it said. 

I wanted to throw up. 

I was devastated.

     Why am I here? Why did this happen? My kids are everything to me. 

     Again, I'm the most selfish person on the planet. It's a runner's dream to work/be a part of Runner's World Magazine! I don't want my priorities to be mixed up. I want my heart to always be in the right place.

     My hubs re-assured me that he was going to be fine. It just had to run its' course. Bells Palsy was most likely caused by some sort of infection. We never even knew he had an infection.  "Go have fun."

     I tried to believe him but I was worried to death about Justin. I prayed hard for my boy.

     Now I was on a new mission. I had traveled to Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania from Alabama and had only planned to *attempt* to finish the Half Marathon. Now I was going to finish ALL FOUR RACES WITH A BROKEN ANKLE AND ALL. My boy is the only one in my fam who loves to see my race medals and I was going to bring them home for him. Period. The End.

     I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I knew it was going to hurt. My legs were strong and I was going to crawl to the finish if I had to. I love my boy that much.

     I will recap every one of the races in a "race recap style" in future posts but I wanted to share now why I was a crybaby at the finish line and why when I crossed the final finish line for the weekend, I looked at David Tratner and said, "you just witnessed me earning my most favorite race medal EVER". And I meant it.

I don't think I have ever been more proud of myself than I was at this very moment.
I finished 26.2 miles over the weekend...
I smiled, I laughed, I Roll Tide'd, I cried and I brought my medals home to my little boy.
BEST. RACE. EVER.

     I will forever love Runner's World Half Marathon & Festival. I cannot say enough good things about the race, the course, the seminars, the venue, the sponsors, the entire organization, etc.  I hope to come back one day and actually be able to *run* but if that never happens, that's okay too. I will cherish this weekend forever. I made life long new friends, ran for my precious purpose and came home with a whole new sense of urgency to run with a purpose and create a life that is meaningful and full of endless possibilities all while keeping my priorities in order.

     Nothing about healing this ankle was easy. It's still not easy. I still can't run. In fact, I walked all 26.2 miles of Runner's World Half & Festival Weekend. I wouldn't trade one step of walking for running either. At the time, when the gun was fired, I wanted to run. Gosh, did I ever want to run. But I didn't. I walked. And I walked. And I walked. And then walked some more. I needed to get through this the hard way.

     My healing has been 99% mental and as weird as this sounds, I have loved the healing process. I loved the "challenge" of being down and having to rise up. I loved having to force myself to have a positive attitude when I wanted to just throw in the towel and give up. I loved finishing this race with a purpose for finishing and not just because I just wanted to log some miles for the weekend and use this half as a training run for a longer distanced race.

      I will always be forever grateful to the folks at Runner's World Magazine and bloggers that I met over the weekend. They are the most awesome group of people that I've met in a long long time and it meant the world to me that they were waiting and cheering for me at the Finish line. I laughed more than I thought I ever would and I needed that happy distraction. I really still think it was all just a dream....a long and meaningful six week dream except for the fact that I have a set of three gorgeous medals, a healthy boy and a very positive mind full of memories. :)

**Update on my boy...he is doing great! His side effects are barely noticeable now and will be able to keep playing his saxophone like a champ. One day when the time is right, I will give him those medals from this weekend and tell him just how much he (and my girls) are my inspiration for every step that I ever take in life. Literally.

Finisher Medals from the 5K, 10K and Half Marathon

     Healing is a FABULOUS process and I needed to soak in this six-week experience in its' entirety. Through it all, I have been reminded by my own self that I can stand on my own two feet, rise up against any situation and keep my priorities straight in the process. I completed the ultimate "Challenge" race and I will always be forever thankful to my broken leg, my fam, my friends and Runner's World for this amazing  experience.

Happy Running, Happy Healing....Thank you and Roll Tide. <3

My #HatTrickHigh Required Bowtie Pasta! #RWHalf #MealsOnTheRun

Because doesn't everyone wear their medals and
Finisher Beanie to the grocery store the day after
Runner's World Half & Festival when it's 70 degrees outside?

     I had such an AMAZING weekend last weekend at Runner's World Half & Festival presented by Altra! I woke up Monday morning collecting my thoughts, uploading my photos and *trying* get somewhat back to reality.  After I loaded up my Mom taxi and took my kiddos to school, I unpacked my suitcase and had to make a quick trip to the grocery store.  You know when Mom goes out of town...all of the groceries somehow manage to magically disappear. ;)

     Okay. I'm kidding just a bit when I say that I'm trying to get back to reality. In my mind, I'm still in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on my #HatTrickHigh but I'll pretend for the next few paragraphs that I'm here in Alabama. Hehe.

     Reality Check: As I was walking through the grocery store (wearing my medals and my Finisher's Hat of course), I realized that I was starving. I had one thing on my mind. Bow-ties with Tomato, Basil and Avocado Sauce! I have been thinking about this pasta since I left a luncheon that I attended with Runner's World and the oh sooooo amazing Deena Kastor! (More to come on Deena Kastor in a future post---remember I'm starving and need pasta ASAP in this post!)

     The luncheon menu consisted of 150 healthy recipes from the new Runner's World cookbook "Meals On The Run" by Joanna Sayago Golub and foreward by Olympian Kara Goucher.  Each recipe in the book is designed with the runner in mind and can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. How awesome is that?! As a mom and a runner, I can appreciate this. I don't have all day to spend in the kitchen and I would be willing to go out on a limb and say that I'm probably not alone in this.

From the Introduction:

     "No matter which recipes appeal most to you, you'll quickly notice a common thread trying them together:  They all feature fresh, minimally processed ingredients. Building your diet on wholesome, natural foods is a key tenet of our nutrition philosophy at Runner's World.  These foods offer the best in terms of nutrition and taste--we believe that just because you only have 30 minutes to cook, you shouldn't have to compromise on either.  That's also why every recipe in this book has gone through the rigors of the Rodale Test Kitchen.  The result is a comprehensive collection of easy-to-follow recipes that fit within your busy lifestyle.  Once you get cooking, we think you'll quickly agree that fast meals can be synonymous with good taste, good health, and good running."

     The nice thing about attending a weekend hosted by Runner's World Magazine was that there was definitely not a shortage of healthy food options. #RunnersLikeToEat ;)

Mediterranean Turkey Burger

High-Protein Chocolate Pudding

Bow-ties with Tomato, Basil and Avocado Sauce
(substituted with Penne Pasta)

My lunch was DELISH!

Cheers to a super healthy lunch!

        I decided to test out the 30 minutes or less claim for myself and see if I could do this. Truth?? I failed. I failed for good reason though. I was taking photos for this post and got a little bit sidetracked because one of my kids called me and was at school trying to fake a "stomach ache". I think someone was missing Mom and knew that she was home and wanted to come home. Oh well. I wasn't busy so I was cool with failing on my 30 minute challenge. I'll try again later with a new recipe.

     Needless to say, I bought a few things that I knew I would need to make this pasta happen.  I had most of the ingredients in my pantry so this was going to be an easy recipe to create!

Ingredients:

Makes 4 Servings:

1 Box (12 ounces) whole wheat bow-ties, fusilli, penne, or shells

1 Pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 Teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped

2 Avocados

3 Cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 Cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)

1/4 Cup grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

1/4 Teaspoon ground black pepper

     "Bring a large pot of wather to a boil over high heat.  When the water boils, salt it and add the bow-ties.  Cook according to the package directions.

     Meanwhile, put the tomatoes in a small bowl and sprinkle with the salt.  Add the oil and basil and toss to coat. Set aside."

Tomatoes, basil, salt and extra virgin olive oil.

     "Reserving 1 cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta and cover to keep warm. Set aside."

Boiling the pasta.

Reserving one cup of water from the boiling pasta.

Scoop out the middles of the avocados.

     "Add the avocados to the empty pasta pot and mash with a potato masher or fork.  Add the garlic (I used minced) and lemon juice and stir to combine."

Adding in garlic and lemon juice.

     "Whisk in the reserved pasta cooking water, creating a light sauce."

Whisking in the reserved pasta water. 

Light and creamy avocado sauce.

     "Add the pasta and tomato mixture and toss well to coat.  Add the Parmesan (if using) and pepper and toss again."

Adding in the tomatoes and basil. 

Adding in the pasta.

Sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese.

The Finished Product!

     Because I'm pretty frugal, I could not stand the thought of wasting an entire lemon. I cut it up and added it to my water. I will keep those lemons in my glass all day and continue to refill with water. Love lemon infused water!

Meals On The Run and Lemon Infused Water.

     "Thanks to its mono- and polyunsaturated fats, avocado gives this pasta dish a heart-healthy richness. When swapped with trans and saturated fats, unsaturated fats reduce levels of LDL, or so-called "bad" cholesterol. Vegan runners should omit the Parmesan.

NUTRITION PER SERVING: 485 calories, 75 g carbs, 13 g fiber, 13 g protein, 16 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 231 mg sodium"

I really like how this cook book gives "Quick Tips" through out the book.

This "Quick Tip" can be found for this recipe on page 128.

"Quick Tip: All the recipes in this chapter provide a hearty portion of pasta per serving.  For a more prerun-friendly meal, simply reduce each portion by about half."

     I am convinced that this pasta will quickly become one of my "go-to" pasta dishes. It is DELICIOUS!!

Meals on the Run is the perfect gift for any runner!

Disclaimer: I was hosted by Runner's World Magazine and Altra Running to attend Runner's World Half & Festival.  I received this cookbook and was asked to give an honest review. All opinions are my own and I absolutely loved this pasta!

Heart on my sleeve? Umm no. I'm #MOTIVATED.

Well. It's been three weeks since I broke my fibula and WOW what a difference the time makes. This past weekend was kinda tough but overall, I'm seeing the bright side in all of this. 

I woke up this morning full of determination, focus and #motivation...while most people wear their heart on their sleeve, I wear my motivation on my leg. LOL. 

Here's what went down in my world today:

I started the day out at the gym with one of my besties. I'm not even playing around today...with every single rep, I'm saying "get stronger girl".

I know I have a broken bone but 99.999% of the healing is mental. That's right. I've been a mental case. I'll own that and Ill heal from that too.

The races and running will come and when they do, I'll be ready. I'll be strong! 

In the meantime, I've found a machine that I ABSOLUTELY HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH. Compound Row. Unlike a Row Machine, I'm able to add weight and not put any pressure on my right leg. I can hold the handles two different ways and work all of those back muscles, shoulders and biceps....I stayed on this machine forever today! Yeah!

After a full two hours in the gym, I was starving so I went home, chugged a protein shake and ate a salad then I did all of the adult things that suppose I have to do. Ugh! 

Next week I go back to the Orthopedic for more X-rays and hopefully will be close to coming outta this crazy boot! Until then, I'm going to workout like a BEAST this week. 

I'm starting to feel like my happy self again and I'm excited about that. :) 

Happy Running, Happy Healing and Happy Monday. :)))