Wardrobe Fail

Note: This post is probably TMI and quite disgusting. Anyway, you have been warned.

Today I had a major wardrobe fail, one I’ve never had before. I forgot to pack my sports bra. As I didn’t want to skip my planned Lunch Break Run (yes, I’m stubborn), I decided to run in my ‘normal’ bra. That worked surprisingly well. My heart rate monitor strap kept sliding down, but I don’t think that was related. When I took off my running clothes, I noticed that my bra was completely soaked. Shoot! I tried to dry it with my blow dryer, but that didn’t really work. So after taking a shower, I had to put my stinky, soaked bra back on. Gross!

Lesson of the day: Always double-check your gym bag before heading out the door!

Anyway, the run itself was great. Today I ran with a different co-worker, let’s call him Woody, whose comfortable pace is also comfortable for me. Winning! We took a slightly different route, so I had to guesstimate the distance. This route contains a very steep hill, that I mostly walked up. But the downhill part felt much worse, actually. I’ll probably walk funny tomorrow. Ouch!

The Stats:

• Distance: 4.6 miles (7,4 km)
• Time: 55:00 minutes
• Average pace: 11:57 min/mile
• Feeling: Chatty

That was the longest run in quite a while! Woody and I were talking all the time, about fitness, health, weight loss, diet, family, and before I knew it, almost an hour had passed and we were done. That’s why I love running with others, it’s so much more fun than running alone.

Have you ever had a workout wardrobe fail? How did you handle it?

See you!

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Sunday At The Christmas Market

Today marks the official start of Christmas season. So of course we had to celebrate the day by taking a trip to one of our local Christmas markets. I generally prefer the smaller ones in our area as the larger ones, like in Munich, Regensburg, or Nuremberg, are way too crowded.

After scanning the booths and their goods – and buying myself a new knitted hat (it’s purple!) – it was time for food and drinks.

Mulled wine & roasted chestnuts

Both were very good, but as we had skipped lunch, I was still a bit hungry. There are usually very few vegetarian options at German Christmas markets, most vendors offer some variations of grilled sausages, hot dogs, steak sandwiched, etc. As I wasn’t in the mood for greasy fries I got myself a savory crepe, filled with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

Savory crepe with tomatoes and mozzarella

Gooey, cheesy, and deliciously filling. On our way home I felt my sweet tooth kicking in. Luckily, we happened to walk past my favorite bakery – the one that made our amazing wedding cake! And we got some lebkuchen. I couldn’t decide if I wanted a ‘white’ or a ‘black’ one, so I got both.

Lebkuchen

I ate one half of each and saved the rest for tomorrow. I actually liked the white one better. Who would have thought?

Christmas market #1 – check!

Any mulled wine fans out there? Red or white? Hot cider or mead?

See you!

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My Favorite Season

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who’s celebrating!

For me it’s just a normal Thursday, so I’m already one step ahead and thinking about Christmas. Even though I’m not a fan of cold weather, December seems to be my favorite month of all. Why? Because of all the yummy cookies, lebkuchen, mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, and all the other seasonal delicacies that are only truly fun in winter.

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved baking Christmas cookies with my mum. In the past few years I’ve scaled down my excessive baking habit a little bit, but I still enjoy producing many different kinds of those delicious sugary goodies. Last year I shared a few of my favorite cookie recipes, but there are many more, mostly in the form of magazine clippings and hand-written notes, all neatly filed away in a folder. (Type A? Me? Psh!)

Coconut Macaroons

Fruity Chocolate Crossies

Spiced Linzer Cookies

There’s another seasonal activity that I enjoy very much: visiting Christmas markets! We have lots of them around here, big or small, traditional or trendy. Most local markets start this weekend and I can hardly wait!

What do you love most about Christmas season?

See you!

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Bust Your Bootie!

Last Saturday marked the start of this year’s Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge, created by Amanda of Run To The Finish. This challenge runs until Jan 6, to cover the major winter holidays. After signing up you can earn points by being active and eating fruit and vegetables, and you can win some amazing prizes! Details about the points system and some prizes can be found here.

I’ve learned about the HBBC a few weeks ago and immediately signed up. I’m already looking forward to all my favorite seasonal treats, like Christmas cookies, lebkuchen, mulled wine, etc. But I do want to stay active and healthy and maintain my weight during the next few weeks. So I will enjoy my home-made cookies, but after working out and eating my vegetables. Sounds like a good plan, don’t you think?

There are three different levels of fitness, and I’ve put myself into the ‘Builders’ category, as it describes me the best at the moment. Even though the sponsors and prizes look amazing, I absolutely don’t expect to win anything. And even if I do win, I don’t expect anyone to ship my prize across the Atlantic. That’s not why I’ve joined this challenge. I did it to have some additional motivation to stay active and healthy during the colder months which, to be honest, isn’t easy.

I kicked off my personal HBBC on Saturday by going to the gym, which is quite unusual, as I actually hate the long drive there. But I was determined to start the challenge the right way. So I did a 30 minute ride on a stationary bike, followed by about 20 minutes of strength moves and some stretching.

Sunday was a rest day for me, but I did get some housework done. Today I couldn’t make it to the gym, but I squeezed in a one mile walk during my lunch break, and I plan to hit the gym again tomorrow. Looks like a decent start for me.

You can also earn one additional point per day by eating at least 7 servings of fruit and vegetables. That’s a lot! Even though I usually eat some fruit and veggies daily, I rarely hit 7 servings, so I need to pay more attention to that. I think I reached that number today, having one banana, two small clementines, one apple, some chunky vegetable soup for lunch, and kimchi jigae (spicy Korean stew with tofu and various veggies) for dinner.

Vegetarian Jigae - I swear there are veggies under the tofu

If you’re interested in staying healthy and winning some awesome prizes, you can still sign up for the HBBC!

How do you plan to stay healthy during holiday season?

See you!

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Hurts So Good

I’m getting a nagging suspicion, that my co-workers are trying to kill me. Seriously. First they talk me into running with them at least once a week, and then on Tuesday they dragged me along to play Racketball (or something like that). As I had never tried anything like that before, I was a little apprehensive, but also curious. Turns out my hand-eye coordination isn’t that bad at all.

After chasing that tiny rubber ball and swinging my borrowed racket for about 40 minutes, I was sweating buckets! And I already felt my leg muscles tightening up. I had no idea that this was only the beginning of the worst muscle soreness in a very long time. I can still hardly walk today. Ouch!

But still, I went on a run today. See, I told you that my co-workers are plotting my miserable end. They are some stubborn folk.

It was quite chilly today (call me a wuss, but 40°F is cold in my book) but also sunny, so all in all it was a beautiful fall day, perfect for running along my favorite river.

The Stats:

• Distance: 4.2 miles (6,8 km)
• Time: 48:10 minutes
• Average pace: 11:28 min/mile
• Feeling: Sunny

More than four miles?! Dang, I didn’t know I still had that in me! The time literally flew by, and I had so much fun.

If you are a runner, what temperature do you consider too cold for running outside?

Have a great weekend!

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