LaraBar Winner!!

The lucky winner for the fabulous LaraBars is:


Kiley!!

Email me you address and I'll get the goodies out to you as soon as possible!!

Celebrating 500 with a Run!

It's time to celebrate!! This is my 500th post!! My first post can be seen here (I was testing the waters with something easy to blog about). I can't believe how fast time has gone by! I started this blog, as many of us did, to hold ourselves accountable for our actions. Putting things out there for everyone to see, will help motivate ourselves to keep to our word. I started this blog to hold myself accountable to train for my first half marathon last year. 

Well, it was such a nice day, I celebrated with a run outside. I'm glad I did, it's suppose to pour all week long. My plan was to go 6 miles. The only thing is that when I run, I usually space out and just go. My legs were on auto pilot and turned too early Turning too early on this route, meant only going 5 miles. 

One reason I wanted to go 6 miles was because I just found out that I may be getting a free entry (the only way I can afford to race this year) into a 10 mile race on the 1st, so I need to start logging more miles. Either turn I made, my legs were happy, and so was I! These (below) are happy legs!!

I'm looking forward to 500 (+) more posts. Please keep following me on my journey to logging more miles and staying in shape (especially so I can eat all the yummy foods I love). I love running, with or without a race on my schedule. It has become a habit and a necessity of my life. Happy 500 to Runner Fuel!!

What have you celebrated recently?

What's Been Fueling my Legs (in pictures)?

Crockpot meatballs

Salba chips (try them if you haven't, yet)

Dijon crusted chicken 

Panko crusted salmon

Mushroom turkey burger 

What has been fueling your legs, for any type of workout?

Fabulous Friday Giveaway & Sweet Tooth Part 4

Yesterday, I mentioned that I was going for a run, no matter what the weather had in store for me. Well, I got lucky. It was nice and sunny, but the winds were a little crazy. They weren't the absurd 50 mph, like we had the day before, but they were blowing. I only went for a 3 mile run, because my stomach has been acting funking lately. The run seemed more difficult than the 6 miles I ran last week.. 

To finish off Sweet Week, here is a picture of some red velvet cupcakes I made for Valentine's Day. I loved the butter cream frosting, but the cupcake itself didn't turn out that great. If it didn't have the frosting, it would have been so plain, I would have cried. It look pretty though.

The wonderful people at LaraBar have offered to giveaway some of their yummy bars. We're celebrating that they were featured on The Biggest Loser the other night! Click here to see the clip. One lucky (sorry US residents only) winner will win 2 Peanut Butter Cookie and 2 Cherry Pie LaraBars. I love the Cherry Pie flavor! I think that must be my favorite, so far. 

To enter:
-Become a follower
-Like Runners Fuel on Facebook (use panel on right side)
-Like LaraBar on Facebook

-Follow Runners Fuel on Twitter (use panel on right side)

One winner will be announced on March 14th, so you have until Tuesday to enter!

What's your favorite flavor of cupcakes? I'm always looking for new ideas to make.

Sleep & Sweet Tooth Part 3

A couple weeks ago, I received the best package at my door step! A big box of cookies were sitting there waiting for me from Lovely Liz Cookies. I couldn't wait to open these up. I loved their green packaging material. The bubbles wash away with water and they do not contain any harmful chemicals. I was playing with these for hours! It was fun putting one in my hand and watching it magically wash away with just water. I still find them around the house and play with them!

Lovely Liz cookies is a certified vegan bakery, and everything is made from 100% natural ingredients. Once I was finished being distracted with the packaging material, the first cookie I tried was the Cowboy Cookie. This one has oatmeal, walnuts and chocolate. Look at the size of this cookie. They are all that big! Each serving about 1/2 cookie and has about 180 calories (per serving). It is so worth the calories. I'll run a million miles to eat these!

A couple nights later, I paired the Snicker Dudes with some chai tea. They wet perfect together! This was so so thick!! The cookies aren't dried out and brittle. They are soft and they melt in your mouth!

The other day, after my ripped class, I was so tired, I crashed out on the chair. Sound to sleep with a cat in my lap. It was only 9. I'm not getting up at 4 am anymore, so 9 pm bed time is pretty early now.

Well, I have my bag packed and I am going out for a run tonight, after work. I'm going to go if it's raining, if it's cold or even if it's windy. Let's see what type of weather I get to run in tonight!


What's your favorite cookie flavor? I prefer just plain chocolate chip, but I'll eat anything that has chocolate in it (or on top).

What's your bed time? I've been staying up until about 11 lately. It's kind of nice to have a real life and be able to hang out with Jason and not be a zombie all the time.

Getting RIPPED & sweet Tooth Part 2

On Monday night, I headed out to the gym after work. I made myself go there. I really wanted to run outside. It was sunny and 72 out there. But, I knew that I would really prefer being indoors sweaty while I got ripped. 

Since I had an hour before my class a started, I got warmed up by running a couple miles on the lovely tm. I know the tm doesn't treat some of you they way it treats others. See, the tm treats me very well! I love it and it helps me keep pace. After that, I went over to the weights. I worked every leg machine there was, except for one. These teenagers were all sharing it (about 7 of them). Oh well. With all that I was about to do in my ripped class, my legs were thanking me for not using that last machine. Since I didn't use that other machine, I went back to the cardio room and used the elliptical for about 1 mile. It was tough, but I did it. See, I hate the elliptical. It doesn't treat me well. 

6 o'clock came, and it was time. It was time to get RIPPED!!! I love this class. It hurts so good! More and more sweat kept dripping off my tired body. I think I lost a few pounds, just in sweat. I was so happy (to be done) with this class!! I heart this hurt (that I've been missing)!

As I posted on Twitter, I love my compression shorts, but I always feel fat in them (sorry to be such a girl here). I feel so good while in them and never want to take them off (plus, it's really difficult to get in and out of them). I stayed in them for about 4 hours.

Now, I love sugar! If you've been reading my blog, you know this. I'm always eating something sweet (or something that tastes oh so good). A couple of weeks ago, Pamela's Products sent me some stuff to try out. You know how I love to bake. Well, they sent me a cookie mix to try out. I only needed to add a couple of items and I was set. Here's all the details.

They were so easy to make. They were ready to be inhaled in no time! Pamela's Products makes so many products that are gluten free.

Sometimes, with mixes, they can tastes dry. These were so good!! Jason said they were one of the best cookies he's ever had. When I told him they were from a mix, he was really surprised. He even stashed a few at work (so I wouldn't eat all of them). The chocolate chunks were a natural tasting (and they were)!

They also make a mean pancake mix. I had Jason makes these one morning, since I'm not allowed to any more (because it just turns out too horrible).

Do you prefer cookie mixes, store bought, or from scratch cookies? I normally prefer from scratch, but I may buy a couple of these mixes, to have on hand in a pinch!

Sweet Tooth Week Part 1 & Sweaty bands

On Saturday morning, I got up early and headed out the door. My new routine, on the weekends, is to go grocery shopping, come home, go for a run, then unload the car. That's exactly what I did. On my run, I saw some stuff that you only see in the movies and I'm not proud. I saw a guy driving an older bmw, get out and walk over to a homeless looking guy, in the park. They didn't act friendly to each other. They got pretty close to each other, exchanged "something" and walked away. I just continued running, like I didn't see anything. 

It was a great morning for a run. It was cool, but sunny. One of the things that I always have a problem with, is my hair. I'm always fixing it in the middle of a run (inside or outside run). Haley, over at Sweaty Bands, sent me a cool headband to try out. I've always tried the cheap ones, from Target, and they've never really done what I needed them to do. Sweaty Bands did the job. I never had to get my hair out of my face or anything. And, it's really cute too. They have so many designs, it's hard to choose which one (or 5)to get!

(never mind the pile of groceries or the dishes in the dishwasher, in the background)

Once things got put away, I enjoyed my post run bagel (as seen on Twitter), and I lazed around the house, just like this squirrel in our backyard. A little sun bathing does the trick for a happy day (I didn't sun bathe).

 After relaxing for a bit, I needed to go pick something special up. Cameron at Nothing Bundt Cakes (don't you just love the name!) let me try out a little bundt cake.

They have so many flavors to choose from. They had a sample of their lemon cake. I tried that while trying to think of which flavor I wanted. I just wanted more lemon. I am a chocolate girl (especially after my morning run), but the lemon was so refreshing, I wanted more. Isn't it cute!

This was a single serving size, they also have bigger sizes, if you want to share (I'm not good at sharing anything, especially something this moist). It didn't last very long. The frosting wasn't over powering, at all! The cake did give me the energy I needed to finish some projects around the house! I liked going into the store, their staff was very friendly and helpful!

I have such a sweet tooth, I'm starting a full (almost full) week of reviewing yummy sweets I've been trying out.

Do you have a sweet tooth? What's your favorite?