Chobani Goodness

I was contacted by Chobani to receive these products for review at no cost to me – all opinions are my own.

In the past I have not been a fan of Greek yogurt.  To me, it tastes like a creamier version of sour cream, which I love, but cannot eat by the spoonful.

It had been awhile since I’d given Greek yogurt a try, so this opportunity came at a great time!

A little information about Chobani’s yogurt from their website –

• Only natural ingredients. No preservatives. No artificial flavors.
• Includes 5 live & active cultures, including 3 probiotics.
• Made with real fruit.
• Two times more protein per serving than regular yogurt.
• Free of gelatin and other animal-based thickeners.

I came home to find a nice box on my front porch -
 
I was super excited to break into it and check out what they had sent me!
 
I had never tried any of these flavors so I was excited to give them a try!
I am horrible at making myself eat breakfast, so when these babies came, I had no excuse not to be able to grab something, throw it in my purse, and eat when I got to the office!
The first flavor I tried was the blackberry.
  SO.GOOD!!  I finished it up in record time
I tried out the orange vanilla and found that I would have liked a little more orange flavor in it.  I missed that citrusy goodness that comes with oranges.

I also received Key Lime, Apricot, and Coconut, all of which I really enjoyed (but forgot to take pictures…oops!)

Chobani has definitely shown me that all Greek yogurt isn’t like eating sour cream with a spoon.  I’ve also bought some of their Flips on my own…the Peachy Pistachio is my favorite so far!

I’ve also found that I enjoy cooking with the plain Chobani Greek yogurt.  Subbing it in for sour cream can help lighten up the calories in a dish.

What’s your favorite flavor of Greek yogurt?

Thanks Chobani!  Until next time,

LiveJournal Tags: Chobani,Green yogurt

So...Let Me Explain....

I know my blog has been quieter than normal, and for that I apologize.  Let me explain -

I have a confession - I have not run since my last half marathon on October 6th (recap coming soon).  I was beginning to feel burned out from running, so I gave my body (and mind) some time off to figure out what I want to do seeing that I don't have another half marathon on the calendar until February when I travel to Jacksonville to run 13.1 with Donna. (wow that was a huge run on sentence)

I have struggled to lose weight, and most of it is my own fault.  I had the mentality of "Oh, I'm running half marathons so I can eat whatever I want".  I know that's not how I should be thinking, but the point of my blog is to be truthful, so that's what I'm doing.

Last week, I got this -

Hubby and I decided to join Bodyplex!  I'm looking forward to participating in some classes and trying out spin and yoga for the first time ever!  They have tons of free weights and machines to use as well as a great selection of cardio equipment.

Tomorrow night I'm running the Esprit de She Atlanta 5k event at Piedmont Park, and I'm really looking forward to it.  I'm not going out with any expectations since it's been a minute since my last run, but I'm hoping this race will jumpstart my love of running again.

Have you ever needed to give yourself a break?  What helped motivate you to get going again?

Until next time,

Jen

runDisney Shakes Things Up…

Back at the beginning of the month, runDisney tweeted, asking what people thought about taking the meet up’s on the road.
Of course, living in Atlanta I would LOVE for them to make a stop here!  It may not be the Magic Kingdom, but knowing runDisney, they would make it an experience to remember.

Fast forward to today…out of nowhere the tweets hinting at a runDisney meet up on the road starting coming through and, of course, created a buzz.
Where would their first stop be??  Lots of speculation was going on.  Then – an hour later -
Ahhh!!!  No way!!!  WE were the first stop!  My BRF (Best Running Friend) Brandi and I had plans to get into the Disneyland half meet up together…she made it and I didn’t, so this was a second chance for us!  We eagerly got our emails ready and waited for the blog post.  At 11 a.m., the Disney Parks blog began to crash!  We were panicked!  After about 20 minutes of refreshing, it finally came back up with the blog announcing the meet up!
We weren’t sure if the protocol would be the same as it had been for past runDisney meet ups, but after a quick skim through the post for more information, I sent my email out within the first minute of it being posted. 

For those that don’t know what I’m talking about…runDisney hosts social media meet ups before their big races.  These are very coveted and highly sought after, and it’s a very exciting (and anxious) day of stalking the Disney Parks blog and runDisney’s Twitter, and after sending the email…waiting.

After about 30 minutes, the capacity message appeared and the waiting began.
Brandi and I were so anxious! (As were many of our other local runDisney fans).  We heard nothing for hours…finally it was time for me to leave work.  As I got home and let Guinness out, Brandi sends me this text -
  At first I thought she was asking me, so I went to the Disney Parks Blog to look at the list -
SQUEE!!!  I made it into my first meet up!  I saw many familiar faces on the list…some of whom I’ve met and others who I’m looking forward to meeting.  We don’t have much information except that it starts at 6 a.m. on Saturday, November 16th and we’ll be running in Turner Field!  My birthday is November 12th and I can’t think of a better way to end my birthday week. 
Being that this is a social media meet up, I will be posting to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram on this day, so if you’re up super early be sure to follow #OnTheRoadToDisney.  And you know there will be a blog post recapping this awesome experience.  I’m so excited to be participating in my second inaugural runDisney event this year!

It may not be the same as running through Cinderella’s Castle, but I know with runDisney and my running friends with me, it’s gonna be an amazing time.

Have you gotten into a runDisney meet up before?  Will I be meeting/seeing you in a few weeks?

Until next time,

LiveJournal Tags: runDisney,Atlanta,Disneyland,Turner Field,Magic Kingdom,Twitter,runDisney meet up

Disneyland Half Marathon recap

Sorry the blog has been quiet!  I have a couple more recaps to write up and I’m working on figuring out what to do during my off season.  But for now…I give you my Disneyland half recap!

As I told you before I left for Disneyland, I was dressing up as Hula Lilo from “Lilo and Stitch”.When I woke up Sunday morning, I felt very “off” but I couldn’t put my finger on it.  I got ready and headed to the pre-start area to meet up with Brandi.  I also met up with a Twitter friend, Meredith, before the race in the corral.
I found Brandi and we snapped a picture before the race started.

Finally it was our turn to go!

We actually ran past my hotel, and then circled into the back of DCA near the Tower of Terror.  We ended up running into Jen, Lena, and Kim near the World of Color!
  

We kept plugging along and then we ended up in Disneyland!  Brandi’s mom was waiting for us on Main Street so we stopped for hugs and a photo op -
It was nice to have lots of space to run down Main Street USA…much different than running at WDW.
Too soon, we exited the parks and were on the streets of Anaheim.  It was nice to have Brandi there with me to chat with and encourage me along.

We passed by a crowd support tent, where they had a cooler full of ice water and people with sponges cooling runners off.  They also had candy and orange slices…which tasted AWESOME!
 

There was a decent bit of entertainment along the course, including cheerleaders, marching bands, and probably my most favorite group – the Polynesian dancers!  They loved my Lilo outfit :)
 
Soon after, we came up on the Honda Center, home of the Anaheim Ducks!  Since we have dubbed ourselves Team Duck after running the Peachtree, we had to get a picture in front of the sign!
 
After running by the Honda Center, we made our way onto the Santa Ana trail and headed for Angel Stadium!
 
While on a stop at the medical tent for some Biofreeze, Brandi snagged this shot :)
There were Boy Scouts lining the course before we ran into the stadium.  They had such great energy and it got us pumped up and ready to run through the stadium!  I also saw a girl with a hilarious sign and costume :)
 
Running through the stadium was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done!  When am I ever going to have a stadium 1/8 full of people cheering for me??

Here’s a couple of my favorite pictures of our jaunt around the warning track -

After we left the stadium, we were greeted by a group of cheerleaders.  Then, we saw Nicole from Cookies on the Run and HAD to stop and say hi!  She posted on Twitter that she would be along the course.  It was so nice to meet her! (You guys should follow her and her husband, Brian, as well!)
  Brandi and I did a lot of walking past mile 10, just chatting about what we were going to do after the race and other nonsense.
Finally we entered back onto Disney property at mile 12, and saw the infamous Peggy Sue!  She is at just about all of the runDisney races with her trademark sign “Hello complete stranger I’m proud of you, too!”  We stopped for a photo op and she gave us some Starburst…what a nice treat!  Thanks Peggy Sue!
Getting back onto Disney property put a little pep in our step.  As we rounded the corner and passed the Sorcerer’s Hat at the Disneyland Resort, we ran into Lena, Jen, and Kim again! 

We had to high five Minnie before crossing the finish, too!
 
And then we finished!  I PRed my runDisney time by 8 minutes :P  It was awesome to get that awesome medal around my neck -

Then “the girls” had to get a group picture after we all received our half marathon medal -
These are some amazing ladies and I am so lucky to call them my friends!  After the picture, we made our way over to the “Dumbo Double Dare” tent to get our challenge medal, THEN we got our Coast to Coast medal! 
 
Brandi and I carried our 10k medal from the day before and our Princess half medal in our SPIbelt so that we could get some pictures with ALL of the medals :)
We found Brandi’s mom and headed our separate ways to shower with plans to meet back up at Disneyland for a post-race lunch!

Overall I REALLY enjoyed this race!  I do wish we could spend more time on property but, at the same time, I understand that’s not possible for the half.  The crowd support along the course was fantastic, and my BRF Brandi made the race even more fun and memorable.  I may be back to do it again next year, but we’ll see what happens between now and then.

Be sure to check out the blogs of “The Girls”!

Kim - Kim Runs Disney and Beyond
Jen - Travel Girl on the Run
Brandi -Girl on the Run
Lena -The Beginners Runner

Have you run the Disneyland half marathon before?  What’s your favorite part of the course?

I’m off to be a supportive wife this weekend and cheer the hubby and his paintball team on at a paintball tournament outside of Orlando.  I hope to get back in the groove of blogging next week.

Until next time,

LiveJournal Tags: Disneyland,half marathon,13.1,Disneyland half marathon,Dumbo Double Dare,World of Color,Disney California Adventure,SPIbelt,Lilo and Stitch,Disneyland Resort