40th Birthday Celebration and Race Recap: Bridge Street Half Marathon

     On Monday, April 8th, I turned 40 years old. I celebrated reaching this milestone by returning to my hometown of Huntsville, Alabama, having a joint 40th birthday party with my best friend since 7th grade, and running a half marathon.

Best Friend and me celebrating turning 40 this year

Me with my sister (and mom behind us waving) at 40th birthday party

This was an exciting time because this race was the first time my family would get a chance to see me run. Although my mom and sister we're able to able to attend my race due to a prior engagement, my dad did show up so I definitely felt supported by my family. Also, while at the race, I met a wonderful group of ladies from the Black Girls Run Greater Huntsville Chapter. For me, I'm always excited when I see other black women at running events because it reminds me that I'm not alone in working towards improving myself through running. It was a great half marathon which was fairly flat, the weather was good and I can now say that I've run a race in my hometown.

My dad and me before Bridgestreet Half Marathon

Black Girls Run Greater Huntsville Chapter Group Photo

Me after Bridgestreet Half Marathon with finisher medal

Hometown for the holidays

Happy New Year!!!!! Over the last week of the December, me and hubby visited my hometown of Huntsville, Alabama and I also ran my first race of 2018 which I'll write about in a later post. The trip was filled with high points (hanging out with my best friend and finding out the sex of a another friends twin babies) as well as lows ( a friend passed away at the young age of 34.) I was happy to be able to see family and to maintain my running workout schedule. Below are some photos from my trip to Huntsville and  I posted all of my trip photos on Facebook.

Also my friend Martinus Evans from the 300 pounds and running podcast was highlighted in Runner's World magazine so of course I had to buy the magazine and support my friend. As a bigger runner, I'm excited to see more magazines and society are starting to show more runners that look like me or just look different from the white, skinny runners I usually see highlighted.

Free gift wrapping table at Huntsville airport

Working out with hubby

Me and hubby taking a morning walk

Fried chickun tofu from Huntsville Whole Foods

Me with best friend and her son

Me holding magazine with friend's photo

A lake seen while workout out

Me with mom and little sister

Me with step mom and dad

Hubby, bro-in-law, me, mom and little sister 

Hubby in front of Star Wars Christmas tree

Me and hubby having dinner with friends

It was super cold in Huntsville

Assorted vegan goodies

Just wanted to write about some of the yummy food that I've had lately, both homemade and store bought. First up is a wonderful vegan pizza that Den made for dinner a couple of weeks ago. This pizza was made on a wheat crust using Ragu spaghetti sauce and topped with mushrooms, olives, artichoke hearts and onions. Not only was it simple to make, it tasted fantastic!

Next is a loaf of vegan banana bread that I bought at Garden Cove ( a local natural foods store). It's always comforting to go to a store that as vegan options as well as nut-free options (since Den is allergic). The loaf was small in appearance but big on taste.

Tonight for dinner we had baked potatoes with Lightlife Smart BBQ and Tofutti Sour Cream-healthy and tasty. So there it is-three tasty vegan goodies I've have lately.

Great food all day

Lunch
Today I went out to lunch at Rosie's Mexican Cantina with my co-workers in honor of his birthday. Considering I hadn't been there before, I wanted to make sure I had a dairy free lunch and I'm happy I was able to eat out with friends and not feel out of place. The veggie fajitas were very filling since it was made up of carrots,mushrooms, onions, peppers, rice, beans and tortillas.

Dinner

Tonight for Dinner, Den decided to make me a childhood favorite of his as which was a reuben. Den had some convincing to do since the only thing I knew about a reuben was that the sandwich usually had sauerkraut on it and I can't stand the smell of sauerkraut. Den made the rubens by using Lightlife turkey,red wine vinegar and fajita onions and peppers. This was really good, especially once I put it on a hoagie roll and spread on some veganaise which is my new favorite sandwich spread.