Sarasota Half Marathon -- I'm going in!

Hi everyone!

The last time I posted I had just finished running the ZooZoom at the Lowry Park Zoo. I was so excited after running the race that I ran 8 miles last week and then another 8 two days later. This was inevitably a mistake because my left calf became incredibly sore, like an achilles pain.

I immediately freaked out and took a few days off. I bought some compression socks, started icing my leg and bought a rolling pin (low budget roller, you guys) to roll my calf out. I did not run for 6 days which put a damper on my running ambitions.

After three days of icing/rolling my leg/compression, my leg started to feel better which was great considering I signed up for half marathon #2 -- the First Watch Sarasota Half Marathon!

I'll be running this half on Sunday and have to admit I am somewhat nervous because I haven't trained a ton. I did run the Disney Princess half three weeks ago so I guess I am not totally lazy. I just want to finish in a decent time. Not looking to break a PR here, especially after that calf pain.

It will also help that one of these will be waiting for me at the finish line:

YES. RACE BLING!

The course is supposed to be beautiful -- running over the bridge and seeing the water will be really nice! Unfortunately the race starts at 7 a.m. which means I am going to have to wake up and drive to Sarasota early, so I am praying I arrive safely (I hate driving, a lot).

But all things aside, I'm really looking forward to this race and snagging a medal at the end. I can't believe I'll be doing another 13.1, but after about mile 10 things don't seem too bad.

I'll have a full race recap after I get back!

Running the Zoo at Tampa's ZooZoom 5k

Ever since I got back from the Disney Princess Half Marathon, I realized how much I LOVE races. The courses, the people, the after parties... and sometimes there are medals too. I am definitely a medal lover.

I felt sort of bummed out after the Princess was over since I had trained for a while for it and then it was all over before I knew it.

I found out about a 5k at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo earlier this week and decided to register to help get over my post-race sadness. A race through the zoo past a bunch of animals seemed like an awesome way to get back into the swing of things!

My alarm went off at 6:15 a.m. and WOW, was I tired. The temperature dipped here last night too and my apartment has terrible insulation so I was freezing. The only thing I wanted to do was either get in my car and blast the heat or start running.

Well, I did both! :)

I got to the zoo around 7 a.m. and waited around for half an hour before the race started. I got my chip and attached it onto my shoe for timing.

This was a walk/run 5k so I made sure I was closer to the front to avoid walkers.

The race set off and winded around the parking lot and the Hillsborough River which was really pretty with the sun just coming up! I headed into the zoo after mile 1 and the course seemed to go by pretty quickly at this point. It was well marked and there were big arrows directing me where to go.

At one point I ran into the (warm) fish/turtle/manatee viewing center which was super pretty! Not all of the animals were out while we were running which made me sort of sad because I would have loved to see the monkeys while I ran but I kept on going.

As I came around Mile 2, there was someone with a timer. She told me I was coming in around 16:56! Wow! I could PR this race, I thought. So I picked up my pace a little bit. I was closer to the front so there were not a lot of people around me, which was sort of nice.

When I hit mile 3 I blew threw the final part of the course.

Clock time: 25:21! Woo hoo!

The after party was awesome. There was a ton of free food -- bananas, apples, sandwiches, cookies, beef jerky (yay), and CHICK-FIL-A.

Yes there was Chick-Fil-A. Best 5k ever.

I got free chicken nuggets!

I stayed for the race after party since my race entry allowed me to get into the zoo for the day. This is when they started giving out medals.

Guess what? I placed! First in my division. This may never happen to me again but I was super happy. I knew I had been running a good time and it felt good walking away with a medal.

Afterwards, I headed into the zoo to check out the animals who were all pretty lively. I got to pet some sting rays which is my FAVORITE part of the zoo. It was awesome.

I saw some giraffes too. :)

Since I had registered late, I wasn't guaranteed a shirt, but they had extras at the end of the race and I picked one up. I was sooo happy because I really wanted the shirt. I mean, how could you not? Look how cute it is!

I loved this race and would run it again for sure. It felt nice walking away with a PR and the trip to the zoo was a nice little addition.

Thanks for a super fun race, Lowry Park Zoo!

Race Review: Disney Princess 2014 Half Marathon

Hi all!

So for the last little while I have been preparing to run my first half marathon -- the Disney Princess Half! This year's half marathon was held on Feb. 24 and it was truly an unforgettable experience.

So, without further ado, let's review the 2014 Disney Princess Half Marathon!

Fried green tomato-y goodness: Boca South Tampa

Not too far away from where I live is a place called Boca. It's a quaint-looking little restaurant on the corner that looks sort of out of place across the street from Americans for Prosperity and the gas station, but inside is a little restaurant that packs quite the tasty punch.

I lived in Nashville for about nine months and Boca reminds me quite a bit of the restaurants there. The whole "locally grown" movement is large in Nashville, as is the farm-to-table movement.

So, drawing on a sense of familiarity from my Nashville experience, I gave Boca a shot.

Korean food and a New Year's Resolution

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since I've written on this thing! With all the holidays and work going on over the last two months, I've been super busy.

For Thanksgiving I traveled to Vero Beach and stayed at the Costa D'Este resort with my family. We had an amazing Thanksgiving. It was so relaxing being able to look outside the window and see the waves rolling by! I'd recommend the resort to anyone looking for a getaway, even if it's just for a weekend.

I traveled to Utah for the Christmas holidays since that's where most of my family lives. Talk about the polar opposite from my Thanksgiving vacation! It was frigid and snowy there, but I still had a great time. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I love being around my family so it made the cold more bearable.

Although I had a great time in Utah, I was seriously craving some grub from my old food spots back home in Tampa.

After seeing a post from a local fashion blogger about Sa Ri One, a local Korean restaurant, I decided just had to see what all the fuss was about. I've never had Korean food before and wanted to try something new before the year was over. So off we went, not really knowing what to expect but hoping to be pleasantly surprised!

Event Review: Tampa Greek Festival

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been so busy with work and just life in general lately.

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Tampa Greek Festival being held at the St. John Greek Orthodox Church here in South Tampa. My boyfriend is a huge fan of Greek food and the more Americanized gyro sandwich so we stopped by on Friday night to enjoy the food, dancing and fun!

Dolmathes-A Greek appetizer of grape leaves stuffed with rice and veggies. 

My plate: Greek meatballs, Greek-style green beans (SO good) and feta cheese. 

Close-up of the feta cheese. Anyone that knows me knows I'm a huge cheese lover so I made sure to grab a plate of this stuff when I went. It was really tasty. 

There was quite an impressive array of Greek desserts at the Tampa Greek Festival. The whoopie-pie looking dessert is called Kok. It's a sponge cake with custard in the middle. To the right is Kataifi, a pastry made with shredded dough soaked in syrup. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

How can I forget the Baklava? Mmm. I'm a huge fan of Baklava and this looked sooo tasty. There was even a Baklava sundae station at the Greek festival! I didn't get around to trying one, but imagine the equation of a Baklava sundae goes something like this...ice cream + baklava=pure bliss. 

The Tampa Greek Festival runs until Sunday. If you haven't been yet, I highly suggest checking it out. There was dancing, shopping, and great live music as well. It's not very often that we have these kinds of festivals in Tampa, so definitely stop by if you're looking for some fun this weekend!

Tampa Greek Festival 

St. John Greek Orthodox Church 

2418 W. Swann Avenue 

Tampa FL, 33609

Dessert Spotlight: D'Lites

Anyone that knows me knows I have a horrible sweet tooth. I love all things sweet -- pastries, cakes, candy, chocolate -- oh, I just love it all and I'd probably eat sweets until I passed out and/or my stomach exploded.

But while I really love my sweets, I also really value my health. For that reason, I try to opt for healthier options when my sugar craving kicks in.

And so, in my quest to be healthy (but still indulge), I found D'Lites.

It's basically an ice cream place with loads of different flavors (changing every day) and all of the options are low calorie and low carb.  Each flavor has around 50 calories per 4 oz. serving which is great because that way, I can eat ice cream without feeling guilty afterwards.

The last time I went to D'Lites, I got the red velvet and mint chocolate chip flavors. I know, the two don't really sound like they'd go together, so I had the nice people working at D'Lites them put side by side in a cup:

SO. GOOD. The red velvet tasted just like red velvet cake and the mint chocolate chip reminded me a lot of what a Thin Mint would taste like if converted into soft serve ice cream.

Some of my other favorite flavors (and there are so many varieties) are: Snickers, Oreo, Samoa, and any cheesecake flavor. Like I said earlier, the flavors change daily, so there are always new and interesting types of ice cream to try. All of them are made either out of the chocolate or vanilla ice cream, so they all have the same caloric content.

All in all, I'd definitely suggest D'Lites to anybody who is either trying to make healthy choices or just wants some good ice cream. They've got lots of options for everyone here. I'll definitely be back!

D'Lites
1906 S. Dale Mabry Hwy
Tampa, FL 33629