Hi loves! Just a quick post on my beloved pumpkin muffins! I la la love these lil guys and make them yearly once Halloween comes around. I get in the mood for pumpkin everything this time of year (is Pinterest to blame??). I found these Day of the Dead muffin cups at Target and whipped up this easy recipe in my parents new dreamy kitchen. These guys are mom, dad, and boyfriend approved so that’s a major win!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffin Recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup water

1 cup of canned pumpkin puree

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Combine the eggs, oil, water and pumpkin puree. Sift dry ingredients together in a different bowl, then gradually beat into the first mixture. Pour into a muffin cup or greased muffin pans. Bake 10-12 minutes.

I am not sure where I found this recipe, I actually wrote it down in a notebook a few years ago! I also baked a similar recipe here from last year, along with other cute Halloween ideas.

Happy Halloween!

xo, Jenna

Over the weekend I ran my 5th Nike Women’s Half Marathon here in San Francisco! Oh what an experience it was! I had an absolute blast, broke my PR and can’t wait to do it all over again next year. So let’s start from the beginning.

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning- 4:30 to be exact. Got ready in the dark, ate a banana and chugged an insane amount of coffee to get me going. I then hopped in an uber and headed downtown. (Uber was 4x the rate and cost me $40 to go only a few miles! ugh). I got to my 8:00-9:00 start corral right as the race was starting. No time to down a gu gel or even start my music. I always arrive so early and get impatient so this year I decided to get there and get running!

And we’re off. The race starts in Union Square, heads through the Tenderloin, zig zagging through Golden Gate Park, Presidio then finished right at my apartment on the Marina Green. In no time at mile 2 we were already at a steep hill. It was a long uphill and got a little nervous about starting off too fast. Once I made it up that hill I knew I would be ok until the enormous hill at mile 10.  I honestly didn’t have a lot of thoughts running through my mind (that I can remember), I was constantly making my way through the crowd, feeding myself gu chomps (energy blocks) as needed and enjoying the whole vibe! Once I got to mile 10 (the steepest hill EVER) I was totally in the zone. I slowed down quite a bit, but pushed myself uphill with the mindset that the downhill will come VERY soon. And once it did, my pace was back and I was in my home turf. The mind is a powerful thing. If you get your mind to a good place, you can achieve anything. Once I reached the Marina I knew I was close to the finish and pushed hard until the finish line.

(photos via Run Nike Women Series)

It was incredible to run through the streets of San Francisco with 25,000 other fit, ambitious, strong and like-minded women. The fact that we were all chasing the same goal is incredibly empowering. This was an extremely difficult course, but luckily I trained hills more than I ever have before and the work I put in was certainly put to the test. I ended up PR’ing with a time of 1:49 and 8:18 min/pace. I am a strong believer that if you run with your heart, your body will follow.

So cool to find my name on the wall at the Niketown! The expo was much smaller this year, but Nike always puts on a great event.

We were able to snap a quick pic before the race started. Actually, the race may have started at this point but we needed a ‘before’ photo!

Concentrating and totally in the zone. I’m usually in my own little world but still having fun despite my expression!

Jeff met me at the finish line and he was clearly happy that I was happy! And notice the new addition on my neck. 🙂

The Tiffany’s necklace at the finish line sure is a plus to this race! Who doesn’t love a beautiful piece of jewelry?! Looking back at the past 5 years makes me realize how far I’ve come. These necklaces mean so much more then just a medal. They symbolize tireless hours of training, and incredibly sore body, blistered feet and at times a whole lot of self doubt. No matter what level you’re at, keep on pushing forward. Running takes a whole lot of heart, but I’m a huge believer that you can do anything you put your mind to.

xo, Jenna

Helloooo loves! This past weekend I visited my parents in Sonoma (wine country) to run a 12k with my mom! Not only that but they have this amazing new kitchen which they just finished renovating. We’ve lived in the same house for 25 years so it was time for an update! After probably 10 years of “thinking” about it, they finally went for it…and well, it looks pretty darn amazing.

This is the “before” picture (needed an update badly right?!)

And the “after”:

So what do you think? Hard to believe that’s the same place! I’m definitely looking forward to making new memories in this kitchen, as we always tend to gather here. Since this was the first time seeing it complete we obviously had to cook up a yummy feast! This is probably the easiest recipe of all time. If you’ve been following me for awhile now, you know that I don’t have much patience for anything too complicated. 😉

The Easiest Pesto Chicken Recipe:

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts
• Pesto (any kind you prefer)
• Mozzarella cheese
• Tomatoes

Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prep the chicken in an oven safe dish. Coat the chicken with a pesto spread then top with sliced tomatoes and shredded mozzerella cheese. Bake for 40 minutes.

We then sauteed some peppers in duck fat (don’t ask, but we had some on hand!) and then added partially broiled brussel sprouts into the pan. Last we drizzled with a little truffle olive oil. Then served the chicken and pepper mixture on a small bed of brown rice.

There you have it, easy and super moist chicky. The best part is the leftovers for lunches during the week! I always plan to cook a lot more so that I can re-heat at work. So delish! Hope you try and enjoy!

xo, Jenna

I wanted to give you all an upcoming race roundup! All of the below runs are located in the San Francisco / Wine country area- a few of which I’m training for at the moment. I’ve taken quite the break from running, but recently signed up for the Nike Half here in San Francisco…and you know what that means: I’m in race mode and want to sign up for more! Running is the best addiction. 😉 So here’s the roundup in no particular order:

Full Marathon

Napa Wine Country Marathon

When: October 24, 2015 (They also have a half & 10k!)

Half Marathon

Transamerica Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon

When: April 3, 2016 Where: San Francisco.  (I heard this series is awesome! Definitely on my sign up list)

Napa Half Marathon & 5K

When: September 27, 2015 Where: Napa CA

Tiburon Half Marathon

When: October 4, 2015 Where: Tiburon CA

Nike Women’s Half

When: October 18, 2015 Where: San Francisco (My FAVE race of all time!! I’ve ran the past 4 years and cant wait to run again this year!)

Napa Wine Country Marathon

When: October 24, 2015 Where: Calistoga CA

Healdsburg Wine Country Half Marathon

When: October 31, 2015 Where: Healdsburg CA (Destination Races event- they put on great events)

Golden Gate Half Marathon

When: November 8. 2015 Where: San Francisco CA

5k / Fun Run

Hot Chocolate 15k/5k

When: January 10, 2016 Where: San Francisco CA (I had friends run last year and cant wait to run this year! You even get hot chocolate at the end…)

FroYo Run

When: September 6, 2015 Where: San Francisco (Super excited to run this with my Mom coming up!) They are offering a $5 off coupon code here!

This is a training schedule that I created awhile back. Hopefully this can help you ladies training for your first half! (CT=cross training)

(Also found here. Full marathon training schedule that I’ve used found here.)

I posted this on my instagram this weekend- a view from my first long training run at the Golden Gate Bridge! Let the running commence. 🙂

Are any of these races on your list? Do you have any to add? Share below!

xo, Jenna

Happy Monday! I wanted to share the last of my workouts from last week. Finished with some legs, abs and nice long run. I was kind of all over the place- most of the time I plan out my workouts but since I was trying to get as much in as possible I ended up just going with the flow and training whatever I was feeling at the time.

(While everyone’s at Outside Lands, I’m over here like…. #vacationprep #gymtomyself 😉 )

WORKOUT OF THE DAY- (Friday) Legs & Abs

Circuit #1: 12 reps, repeat 3 times

Barbell lunges

Barbell squats

Box Jumps

Circuit #2: 10 reps, repeat 3 times

Leg press

Split squat with dumbells

Single leg deadlift

AB CIRCUIT*** my fave! (15 reps each, repeat 3 times- try not to stop in between sets)

Weighted crunches

Russian twist with weight

Scissor kick

Elbow to knee (or bicycle crunch)

Plank (30 seconds)

WORKOUT OF THE DAY: (Saturday) run run run 6 miles!

We are off to Mexico tomorrow!! I’ll be sure to share some pics on my instagram this week so be sure to follow me on there @jennapardini. Have a great week!

xo, Jenna