Mom Works It Out by Angela Gillis

Angela January 18, 2014

A/B/C Goals for The Louisiana Marathon Race Weekend

It’s the moment I’ve been waiting for: it’s race weekend. All of my buddies are off running The Houston Marathon though which is a bummer. There are two lovely ladies I would have liked to celebrate our first marathon finishes with, but we’ll have to wait until Monday for the good times! This race was my first race of 2013 so I’m super excited it’s going to be my first race of 2014. Last year I did the 5K on Saturday and ran the half marathon on Sunday. I remember thinking that was the most miles I had ever run…

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Angela January 17, 2014

Recipe: A quick roasted corn succotash

I’ve been trying to come up with great veggie side dishes because that’s mostly what I eat. People seemed so focused on the meat main event, but I’m not a huge meat eater. I do prefer my meat on the side because I classify myself as a flexitarian. I would probably not eat meat if I wasn’t so adamant about running but I feel like I need it to keep my body strong and injury free. Anyway, I got an idea for the corn succotash after being on The Rachael Ray Show so I made a couple of modifications. It’s…

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Angela January 16, 2014

Looking forward to China

Remember when we were on The Rachael Ray Show and she gave us a trip to China? You may have forgotten but we haven’t. It’s an exciting thing for us that we’re totally not prepared for. We should have been on this months ago and now I feel like we’re in a big cram session. There are only two things we have done to prepare for the trip: buy Rosetta Stone and get things squared away for The Great Wall of China Marathon (and I’m even behind on that stuff). With The Louisiana Marathon weekend closely approaching, it’s time for…

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Angela January 15, 2014

Q&A: How do I get started in …

The biggest question of the new year has been about getting into to running. I’m in no way an expert but I’ll give you some friendly advice on the subject to help you get started. 1. The most important thing I recommend is getting fit for the right pair of shoes. Go down to a local running store (not a Footlocker, Champs or Shoe Department) to talk to someone who is KNOWLEDGEABLE about running shoes. Running shoes aren’t cheap so you want to make sure you have the pair that will work for you. I made this mistake when I…

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Angela January 14, 2014

Random tips on Tuesday: forming habits, baking and …

Hello from taper land! I will admit I’m getting a little antsy because I’ve cut back on my workouts this week so I could stay fresh for the marathon on Sunday. So instead of working out twice a day I’m only working out once a day which leaves some time in my life. I’ve been trying to find ways to fill the time so I don’t crazy. Yesterday I made some protein bread. It turned out ok, nothing special. I usually substitute applesauce for oil but I didn’t have an applesauce. I used pumpkin puree because it’s the basically the…

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Angela January 12, 2014

Lost and broken

I hate to do this to you but I’m going to have a “let’s get real” moment with you. It’s just something I need to get off my chest because I really think it’s been weighing me down. So here it is: When the St. Jude Marathon was canceled it broke me! I know I ran the miles, but in my mind it wasn’t good enough! I started training for that marathon in June and I did almost every single run on my training plan except for 5 runs and those were always short runs I bailed on. I invested…

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Angela January 10, 2014

Recipe: Quick pasta sauce

Last weekend (and probably again this weekend) I suggested that Willie take his go at making fresh pasta! We had a deal, if he made the pasta I would make the sauce and meatballs. I’ve always wanted to make my own sauce but I thought it would take a long time. Maybe I’ve just hung around too many italians and just envisioned standing over a pot all day and nurturing it. No doubt, one day I would like to do that but in my life I don’t have time for all that! Here is what you need: 2 (15 ounce)…

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Angela January 9, 2014

It’s our anniversary

Four years ago I married my best friend! It was a very cold day in January but our hearts were filled with love and joy as we celebrated the day with family and friends. Willie and I have been on an amazing journey together and I know we still have more to conquer out there in the world! On our first anniversary our gift to each other was the commitment to prolonging our lives by changing our lifestyle. Many people didn’t understand, many people criticized, many people doubted us BUT we pushed on TOGETHER to make our lives better. Every…

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Angela January 8, 2014

Tips to avoid the new work out burn …

It’s the beginning of the year and a LOT of people have resolved to get fit. That’s how the year always starts off right? People flocking to the gym, getting gym memberships and flaking out come February. Those people never see the gym until January of the following year when they plan to do it all over again. All I have to say is: the treadmills and elliptical are packed at my gym around 5:30pm! On a side note, don’t be mean to the new people at the gym. These people are coming to the gym to accomplish the same…

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Angela January 7, 2014

Let’s talk about snacks

A LOT of you have pointed out that I don’t talk about what I eat enough. Sorry guys! I’m working on it! The problem with me talking about what I eat is I never find it too interesting but y’all seem to enjoy. I also eat the same thing everyday at the same time so it’s really nothing to me. I eat the same thing for breakfast every morning because it can be made in advance and it’s just a grab and go situation. Always oatmeal of some kind. I tend to do overnight oats because I can make it…

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Angela January 6, 2014

Taper makes me think

Today I was on the phone with a friend and they asked, “What’s the good word?” The good word is taper. For all those who don’t know, taper happens close to a race where you scale back your mileage so you can rest up and recover for the race. Taper is a good and bad thing. It’s good because I won’t be running mega miles on the weekend but it bad because I’m not focused on running the mega mileage on the weekend. It leaves room to think about other things. The thing that’s been on my mind lately is…

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