It's been awhile since I've done one of my features, and it's really just because I'm a slacker.

Today I am not a slacker. Today I have a post for you about some of Old Navy's acitvewear. I will apologize in advance for the cruddy pictures. I am not great at taking full length pictures of myself.

A very long time ago, I complained about the lack of options for us tall gals in the fashion department. Add in a bit of hip, and you've got a nightmare for properly fitting pants. Of any kind, but we're talking activewear here, so I'll stick to just those pants.

A few months ago, I wrote a post about exercise clothes, and how hard it was to find decent clothing. You can find it {HERE}, and I'd like to announce that I'm in love Fabletics. Well at least my first order.

So remember a few weeks ago, when I asked the question about the chemically smell in my nose after working out? The post is {HERE}.

So my question today is why do I get chilled after running?

This is not a new question, but I found several varied answers. Some of them I wholeheartedly agreed with, and some left me shaking my head.

So let me start out with some things I know -

• After a good, hard, sweat-inducing workout of an hour or more I will get chilled to the bone afterwards. 
• It doesn't matter the season or weather. I've been out running when it was 9* and snowing, and bundled up to the teeth, and out in 100* sun-baking heat in little more than shorts and a tank. 
• What I eat before, during, or after a run doesn't matter either. 
• I'm a shade under 6'2" and weigh 195 lbs, which means my BMI is 25 (can you believe it still categorizes me as overweight?). 

Our bodies are very good at a lot of things, but sometimes they don't always keep up with changes. Our cooling/heating system is one such item. When we're running a distance (this is up to your body) that enables your body's cooling system (sweat) and then we suddenly stop, our body doesn't always get the memo, and it continues to cool our bodies, until it's done such a good job of cooling us that now we're cold. Our cooling system has over-cooled our body to the point that the emergency heat kicks on (shivering and goosebumps) and begins to warm our body back up. After a few hours, our heating/cooling system has stabilized our body and we feel normal again. 

I'm blessed when it comes to be able to rely on my people. I have 2 people that I lean on a lot when it comes to the night before a race. My husband and my sister.

However, Saturday night they were both busy! How dare they have lives! Don't they know I have a race tomorrow? Please read, see, feel the sarcasm dripping from these words.

I love that they were out, and that they took the time to talk to me while I had my regularly scheduled pre-race freakout. Of course, my husband was going to be coming home and then waking up early with me and the kids to trek to DC with me, but my sister was out at a friend's house and still talked to me.

I freaked out when I realized I'd forgotten to buy more gels, and the boys were already in bed, and hubs was still out. I called him and without even saying hello, quizzing him if he was going to be home before midnight, and if he could please pick me up the fruit punch gatorade gels that were in the sports drink aisle at Wegmans. I didn't realize I was on speaker, and my dear sweet friend's husband got to hear what a mess I am the night before a race. Luckily, they missed the conversation between my sister and I.

My sister was out, and I tried calling her. She didn't answer, but instead texted back, that she's busy and what's up? I basically vomited everything that was running through my head in the text back to her. She called me immediately. We talked through my outfit for the next day. How many layers should I wear? Am I over thinking this? [yes]

She then helped me create a new overnight oats concoction. After I had the overnight oats done, I let her off the phone so she could go back to being a perfectly lovely guest. I'm a terrible older sister. Sorry to your friend, because I monopolized your time for a bit, but I love that you did that for me! It's why you're my person!

So here's what we came up with! Peanut butter banana is one of my favorite flavor combos. I love the Ben & Jerry's Greek FroYo Peanut Butter Banana, so why not try to whip up a breakfast with that same flavor profile?

Hello, all!  Dana here.  If you know me at all, you know I have a very curious mind.  You may also know that I often will venture out on my own to discover my own answers.  What's that you say?  The answers for why or how to do pretty much anything probably already exists on that amazing place we call the Internet?  Super-duper!  I will now ignore all that and embark on my own journey of discovery.  That's just how my brain works.  I have to see it for myself, much to the chagrin of those around me.

I'm back with another version of my overnight oats. I decided on this combination, as I was making the oats.

What I love about this recipe is that the base is always going to be the same. It also helps that the base recipe is 1:1:1. 1/3 of everything.

You really can't get simpler than that.

So here's how I started my day on Saturday.

So during our respective 10k's on Sunday, Dana and I were talking about weird things that happen during or after our workouts, and one of the things we talked about was a chemically smell in our noses after a workout.

Welcome everyone!

You know what's funny? Rituals. Rituals are sometimes funny.

Example - I'm running 12 miles on Sunday, and I've run 12 miles before. I've run further than that, yet, because this is the first time I've run 12 miles this year, I'm a bit of a head case.

I don't know why. It's really quite stupid. I know I can run 12 miles.

This is where micro goals come into play. Micro goals are small goals that you can set for yourself to motivate you or help through a tough spot in your training. I use them all the time. I've used them for my entire journey.

What!?!?

I've managed to write two Thursday posts in two weeks?! That's craziness. Ok, it's not, but I feel like mini-celebrations are a needed part of everyday life. They're little pick-me ups.

You know what else is a pick-me up? Breakfast.

I love breakfast. Breakfast = coffee. If you follow me anywhere, but here then you know I love my coffee.

Today's post is not about coffee, but about a breakfast that pairs super well with coffee.

Earlier this week, I made myself some fresh ricotta for the sole purpose of making myself a tartine for breakfast. My ricotta recipe is {HERE}, and my other tartine recipe is {HERE}. Both are super yummy and easy.

What's better, is if you don't like store-bought waffles, then use bread! Challah would be amazing, as would sourdough or even a baguette. It really doesn't matter. Now let me introduce you to my newest favorite.

Some journey's don't require you too look back. Most people don't like looking to the past, but when you're on a journey to get healthy, lose weight, or achieve a fitness goal, looking back is good for you.

It reminds you about how far you've come. It's been a rough week in the Boyajian household. Over the weekend, Small Fry went down with a stomach bug, and then Tuesday night, Baby Girl got hit with the same bug. Small Fry was kind enough to suffer during the day. We only had one incident at night, but the hubs and I were still awake. No biggie. Baby Girl, on the other hand, was stricken with the nasty bug about an hour before hubs and I went to bed. It was a long night. A very long night.

Garmin said I got 4 hours of sleep. It lies. I might have been lying down for 4 hours, not continuously, but there was not a lot sleeping going on. We moved Baby Girl into our room, so we could better hear when we needed to take her to the bathroom, which was a fine idea. Our bed didn't get puked in, but she was sick multiple times throughout the night. I think I finally fell asleep around 5 am. The hubs didn't fair much better.

I am still recovering from that horrible night of sleep, which has me whining about my run later today. It's only 4 miles. It's not a big deal, but it is.  I want sleep too, but I need to keep with my training. The miles will get done, but they won't be pretty, which is why I went looking for inspiration.

I found inspiration on my old fitness blog, Muffin Top, in a post titled: Popped my Cherry.  It was just the kick to the motivation I needed.

Happy Thursday All! Man, I haven't done a Fit 4 Thursday in a while. I've missed it.

I love when you do a search for inspirational fitness quotes and google returns 80 bajillion of them, and right off the bat you see like 5 quotes that speak to you.

Then you open Photoshop. You buy a calendar template from your favorite digital scrapbook shop (Peppermint Creative), and then you let the creativity fly.

I got my training calendar for the spring made up, and then I made blank calendars for the whole year for you guys!

Well race day is on Sunday, and I'm trying not to be a stark raving in-my-own-head lunatic.

I don't know that it's going well.

One thing I can depend on is my go to breakfast for long runs.

Overnight Oats are amazing. They're easy. They look terrible, but taste amazing.

If you haven't tried them out, you need to. Now. Go right now and whip some up. You will thank me in the morning.

I have a favorite jar for my oats. Its a wide mouth pint size mason jar. My husband discovered a while back that you do not use this jar for prepping yeast for a beer batch. It angers the wife. A lot.

He very kindly made me my overnight oats, after he'd cleaned out the yeast, and after I'd gone to bed. They were delicious, and he is amazing.

So here's the recipe for my current favorite go to.

So all the brands are coming out with their fall lines, and I'm in love.

What I'm not in love with are the prices.

I love to run, but why do I have to pay through the nose for some of the running gear I like?

 I get that shoes cost. I understand that. Shoes, more than any other piece of gear take a beating, and I'm willing to pay for it.

Same goes for a sports bra. If duct tape were comfortable, I'd tape those babies down. I know the women agree. Boobs are annoying when you're exercising. They get in the way. A good sports bra is the 2nd most important thing. My favorite sports bra is actually from Target, {HERE}.

So what about the rest of the gear?

A cute running skirt that costs $75 is outrageous! Brooks is selling one such one, {HERE}.

I get that it's wool and its wicking and all that jazz, but there's probably not more than 1 1/2 yards of material there, and who's honestly wearing a wool skirt for running if the temp dips down to warrant wearing wool?!?!?!

Not me. I've done my fair share of winter running, and a skirt was never on that what-to-wear list. Not to say I didn't wear wool. I did. In a ski mask, that I made myself. It was amazing. It cost me less than $5 to make and literally took me an hour or so of tv watching to whip up.

That's also not to say that I'm not totally coveting an outfit from Ink 'N Burn. I posted this little number to the hubs wall as a birthday gift hint.

If you guys read Monday's Report, then you know that my Pink Lady's (Nike Air Pegasus 29) died over the weekend, and if you follow me on Instagram (@SewHalfCrazy) then you'll know that I bought new Blue Devils (Brooks Ravenna 6)

I'm gonna talk about shoes, and how important they are.

Welcome to another edition of Fit 4 Thursday!

I know last week I shared my favorite recovery smoothie, but today I'm also sharing another favorite.

Now, I'm not one to readily jump on any bandwagon, but I gotta say I am impressed with tart cherry juice.

What's this about tart cherry juice, you ask?

Well, a few weeks ago, my mother-in-law posted on my facebook page that she'd read/heard that a lot of runner's drink tart cherry juice. Then one of my runner friends chimed in and agreed about tart cherry juice, saying that it's got some great anti-inflammatory properties and that she can't drink it straight, but she does mix it with plain carbonated water.

How is it that I'd never heard of this? So then I ask another girlfriend about it, and she again, backed up everything that I'd heard so far.

Who knew?!

Wow, it's already time for another Fit 4 Thursday post? Wasn't it last week like a second ago?

For time to be flying by so fast, I must be having a blast. Or I'm just busy.

It could be just busy.

Training is kicking into higher mileages, school is about to start, and summer is winding down. Why is my calendar getting full again?

Despite all of that, I'm super excited to share this week's recipe. I found this recipe last year, during my first half training and changed it a bit to suit me.

Let me introduce you to my favorite recovery smoothie. It's so good, especially after a long run.

Welcome to yet another feature!

Seeing as how I have so many interests and in yesterday's post the husband very wisely suggested having a plan, Thursdays will be reserved for fitness and health related posts. It could be a super, yummy good-for-you recipe (that might be parent approved, but not kid approved), or dialogues about training plans, exercise routines, etc.

Monday will also be about fitness, but it'll be a recap of the previous week's training, my goals for the week and my motivators. It will mostly be about me, and Thursday's will be about you. That's fair, right?

Anyways, on to today's topic.....