Bridal Gowns and Bridesmaid Dresses

Hey All! I thought I would start today's post off with this picture:

This was the sunset when I was driving home from the bridesmaid dress fitting today.  It was absolutely beautiful! An excellent ending to an excellent day.

Today I had another three mile run and it was definitely a lot harder today.  I didn't realize how much yesterday's run took out of me until I started running today.  I was able to run the first mile without walking but once I got past then I started to really struggle.  It actually had nothing to do with pain today, but rather with my breathing.  Because I am still fighting off a cold, my breaths were very short and I was having a hard time breathing in and out.  That and I couldn't stop coughing.  But I was able to finish the three miles and the time wasn't all that terrible.

After I got my run in I had to go home and basically gather my stuff and head out.  I had my Weight Watchers meeting tonight and I was down .2 pounds which put me RIGHT back into the range that I was stuck in for 6+ weeks.  I am not really too upset about it though because it is a weight loss and every weight loss should be celebrated.

After Weight Watchers my friend and I headed out to a dress fitting for her bridal gown and my bridesmaid dress.  She was kind enough to get my dinner from Subway! They have a lot of really great options for a filling healthy meal if you are wise with your choices.  I had a turkey sandwich on wheat with provolone, lettuce and lite mayo and a side of apples with a bottle of water.  Altogether the meal was a total of 9 Weight Watchers points.  Not too shabby!

After Subway we headed out to the fitting! Here is a picture of me in the dress:

The dress is cropped so high because this is actually a picture of the bride and myself and I don't think it would good if I posted a picture of the bride before her wedding day!

Anyway, here is my stats for today's run:

Time: 36:33

Distance: 3 Miles

Calories Burned: 356.1

Average Pace: 4.9

Time of Day: 3:00pm

Winded (scale 1-10): 9

Song of Choice: Trojans by Atlas Genius

Any Painful Spots: My left calf cramped really bad AFTER the run and has not stopped cramping since the run.  I am hoping it will be gone by tomorrow

Wednesday Weigh In: 171.0

Additional Notes: The shoes are starting to break in so any other painful spots should start disappearing by the end of the week.

Well it's getting late and I am exhausted! Thanks for checking in.

Over and Out.

The Opposite of Loneliness

Hey all! I hope all is going well with you and that you are enjoying this wonderful day.  

I am sure that you are wondering why I titled this blog the way I did and here's why:  Click Me!  I read about this article while checking up on what is quickly becoming my favorite daily read, PBfingers.  In her blog post PBfingers says in response to Marina Keegan's article, "I want to spend time with my loved ones. I want to laugh with my husband every day. I want to explore and share. I want to be challenged and excited.

I want to always remember the fun times in my past, but continue to have fun in my future. I want to believe that the best years of my life occurred in the past, but will also occur in the future."

Keegan and PBfingers definitely grabbed my attention today.  It is so hard to believe that such a brilliant young woman died at such a young age, but her death and her wonderful article reminded me to Carpe Diem, and reminded me that even though life can seem very loneli at times, there is always someone out there going through the exact same thing.  Life is way too important to be worrying about what everyone else thinks; rather, we should be focusing on what makes us happy and what will be the most memorable.

Thank you Marina Keegan for giving me a firm slap in the face to stop worrying and to seize my life and live it to it's fullest.  And thank you PBfingers for sharing the article and for your wise words that the best days of our lives are not just in the past, but are in the future.

On that inspiring note, I did get my run in for the day! I was a little worried that the run would really agitate my throat and that I would end up coughing, but overall it went pretty well.  I am glad to report that out of the 3 miles that I needed to do today, all 3 were completed and only 1/4 mile of those 3 were spent walking.  Not to mention that majority of the pain in my legs is gone.  Yay!

As an interesting note, I figured out that I am less likely to experience any pain if I just kept running.  The pain in my foot only began only when I started to walk (hence the 1/4 mile walking for the whole run) and it was actually more motivating to just keep running.  I am hoping that for tomorrow's run, I can keep running as far as I did today.

Anyway, here are my notes for today:

Time:  33:22

Distance: 3 Miles

Calories Burned: 374.0

Average Speed: 5.4 mph

Any Painful Spots: Right rib cage, right foot

Song of Choice: Unwritten by Natasha Beddingfield

Winded (scale 1-10): 8 because of the cold

Time of Day: 3:30 pm

Additional Notes: I am really hoping that I am down for Weight Watchers tomorrow.  I will not be surprised if I am not, but one can hope right?

Well, I am off to catch up on Revenge since I am a few weeks behind!

Over and Out.

Thankful Today!

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!

I would first like to say thank you to all of the men and women that have died for our freedom and continue to fight for it.  It is because of you that we are free and have freedom and I am forever grateful.  So thank you very very much!

So as you can see this last week really hasn't been my week.  Unfortunately, I am still not over this cold and am constantly fighting the need to cough.  Ew.  I will be calling my doctors office tomorrow to see exactly what is going on.  I am just praying that I can kick it in a few days.

This weekend has been super relaxing and I have been able to get some of the MUCH needed sleep that I lacked last week.  On Saturday my Husband and I slept in a just relaxed for the majority of the day, then headed out to my parents house for a birthday dinner celebration for my mom.  We went to Outback Steakhouse and I had their Teriyaki Steak Medallions and they were pretty delicious.  However, I honestly think that I would have been better off eating the fish.  A few months back my husband and I started slowly cutting beef out of our diets and it is rather amazing how quickly your body can change.  It is amazing how differently my body responds to red meat than white meat.  I definitely need to stay away from it from now on.  

 

Sunday we ended up spending time with my parents again with an impromptu visit to the shooting range at my parents church.  I have only shot guns once in my lifetime, but decided that I should probably try to go shooting with my husband since he is seriously talking about buying a gun.  It's always better to be prepared, right? Here are a few pictures of everyone at the gun range.  

 

 

It was pretty awesome to shoot the guns but I am TERRIBLE! haha I think I hit the target 4 times out of 30 shots.  Oh well, right? I don't have to be perfect at everything! 

So anyway, back to my running! I am supposed to run tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  Tomorrow-Thursday I am supposed to run 3 miles and Saturday is 7! Holy Canoli! I haven't been able to do many long runs because of being sick or busy, so we shall see what happens when I attempt to run the 7 miles on Saturday.  All I know is that it will be a very slow 7 miles, but that is okay! 

Last week I didn't do a picture of me because I really wasn't feeling 100% so I decided to just pass on the picture, but I have one for today! Here it is:

As you can see, I got a little bit burned while I was out at the beach today! I love it though.  There is nothing more rejuvenating than getting some good ol' vitamin D.  I couldn't find my black shorts today so I wore the exact same shorts, just in a different color.  Obviously because I haven't really been able to run, there really isn't any change in my body (except for the sunburn haha) but that is okay.  Change doesn't happen overnight, so hopefully we shall see some change starting soon!

On Wednesday I have a fitting for my bridesmaid dress for the wedding I am in in July.  I haven't tried on the dress since I got it last month but since I haven't gained any weight, I can't imagine that the dress won't fit.  Maybe just to be safe, I will try it on tonight before I head off to bed.

Well it's been a long day and the sun really drains the energy out of you.  

Again, thank you to all of the men and women that are fighting for our country!

Over and Out.

 

Anywhere but Here....

Hey All... So this week really has not been my week.  As I mentioned on Tuesday, the new shoes were causing me a great deal of pain and while I was able to take Wednesday off to heal, I wasn't able to go for a run yesterday.  Turns out that sometime this week I caught a cold from someone (I am guessing my husband) and I figured it would taper off after a couple of days, but it is only getting worse.  

On top of feeling crappy for most of the week, I was also up a pound in Weight Watchers.  Which in a sense is not  huge deal because of how busy I was last weekend, but it's still very frustrating.  The only good thing that came out of the pound gain is the fact that I finally broke the threshold I have been stuck in for 7 weeks.  Since March I have been stuck between 170-171 pounds.  One week I'd lose .2, the next I'd gain .6, the next I'd lose .4, etc.  It was really getting old and I was about ready to drop out of Weight Watchers because it was becoming a waste of my time.  I know, I know, Negative Nancy right?

Well when I weighed in on Wednesday I was up 1 pound which put me at 171.2! And honestly I could not have been happier.  I swear my brain was just keeping me between 170-171 to mess with me.  But now that I have broken that barrier (even by going up) I honestly think my brain will reset and I can get back on track.

A few weeks ago I set a mini goal for myself and right now I am no where near reaching that goal.  In about 10 weeks I will be standing up in a wedding and my goal was to be down 15 pounds before her wedding.  Since I set that goal I haven't lost any weight.  I know that it's only been a few weeks, so I am going to give myself a break but I really need to start seeing a loss here pretty soon.

A while back I was chatting with my girl friend about where she buys here jeans (because her jeans ALWAYS fit her perfectly) and she recommended that I check out Buckle.  However, she did forewarn me that they are a bit expensive.  So Wednesday I decided to check them out and I found a pair of jeans that I REALLY like.  Here's a picture:

These jeans fit me to the t and I am in love, but I am not in love with the price tag.  Luckily for me, they do layaway so Thursday I went in and put $25 down on the jeans.  I think this will give me a little more incentive to work my rear end off to lose weight.  I will not be allowed to wear these jeans until I lose 5 pounds.  Seems simple enough to me!

On a different note, I wanted to share my water bottle with everyone.  This is what my water bottle looks like:

I absolutely LOVE this water bottle.  It's a self-filtering water bottle and it tastes absolutely wonderful.  The way it works is this: you fill the water bottle and you drink it.  The water is filtered on its way out of the mouth piece and it is super easy to clean as well.  I also love that it helped me significantly reduce my amount of waste.  On an average day I could easily go through two or three water bottles and by using this water bottle I only go through one filter every three months and the filters are recyclable.  Totally worth every penny.

Well I am off to get a mani/pedi with my mom for her birthday.  I will hopefully be able to post about a run tomorrow! Either way, I will be posting with an update.

Thanks for checking in and I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL weekend.

Over and Out.

Another Disappointment

Hey All. So I totally blanked on posting last night! So here I am this morning playing catch up!

Last Friday I went to the running store to ask them about the shin splints and what I needed to do to help lessen the pain.  The gentleman at the store said that I just needed new shoes and that after a few times running, the shoes should fix the shin splint problem.  Sounds wonderful right? At least I thought so.

So yesterday I got home from work and was all excited that I was hopefully going to be able to run with less pain than the last few times I went running.  Boy was I ever wrong... The guy at the shoe store was right, the shin splints were not nearly as noticeable as the last 3 times I went running, but I developed a completely new pain in my right foot that was almost unbearable.  I got about .6 miles into the run when the pain started to begin and by the time I had gotten 1 mile in, I could barely walk.  I tried to run a little more thinking that I could just work through the pain, but that just exacerbated the pain 10x more.  So for the last 1/2 mile home, I had to basically limp home.  

I am so extremely frustrated right now.  I have been working so hard to train for the 1/2 marathon and in only 3 weeks I have been reduced to limping around.  By the time I got home from the run yesterday, I was pretty much in tears from the frustration and anger at what was going on, but instead of wallowing in self-pity, I grabbed my bike and left.  I figured that because running was causing me so much pain, I would try something that was not nearly as stressful on my feet.  The first little bit of the bike ride was painful but after about 10 minutes, the pain in my foot disappeared.  When I left the house I really wasn't sure where I was going to go, but I knew I was going. :D  I ended up riding the 3 miles to the Village of Rochester Hills and just relaxed there for about 10 minutes, then headed home.  I honestly think I would have stayed longer, but I didn't have a bike lock and I wasn't going to just leave my bike sitting out at the mall.  That and I didn't have my wallet or any money, so I couldn't shop either way.  I should probably get a bike lock soon.  Maybe today/tomorrow?

I have to say that I am proud of myself for not going home and just sitting after the run.  Although I am extremely disappointed that I couldn't finish my run, I am glad that I can say I exercised for a good hour yesterday.  After work today I am going to take the shoes back to the running store and talk to them about the pain.  They may be able to suggest what I need to do.  We shall see.

It is a common practice for people to use pictures as inspiration and up until now, I haven't really had any 'person' per say that I wanted to look like.  I was on Pinterest browsing the fitness section and came across these pictures:

I absolutely love Jennifer Aniston.  I've always felt that she hasn't let the pressures of Hollywood get to her and she has always looked healthy to me.  To me she has always looked like she is just solid muscle and that is my ultimate goal.  It's not so much the pounds but rather the inches.  Jennifer Aniston will be my inspiration for now and I aspire not to look just like her, but to be her level of fit. Plus, she always makes me laugh in whatever role she's in. :)

I came across this pretty awesome blog a few days ago: www.pbfingers.com
She blogs daily, and sometimes 2-3 times a day depending on what she is blogging about. What caught my attention for her blog was her posts about what she is eating.  I was thinking that it would be fun to start sharing what I am eating to give other ideas, and to help me keep better track of what I have been eating.  I will not go as far a pbfingers to do this daily, but I think it would be fun to share some yummy and healthy recipes with everyone that my husband and myself both like!

Anyway, here are my stats for my run and bike adventures:

Running

Distance: 1.5 Miles

Time: 21:21

Calories Burned: 152

Average Speed: 

Painful Spots: Right FOOT!

Time of Day: 3:00pm

Song of Choice: "The Fighter" by Gym Class Heroes.  This song seriously is so inspirational

Additional Notes: I forgot to take the picture again.  I will have to do that tonight after Weight Watchers

Biking

Distance: 6.04 Miles 

Time: 47:07

Calories Burned: 207

Average Speed: 7mph

Painful Spots: My knees ached a bit while I was going, but I think it's because I was using different muscles

Time of Day: 4:00pm

Song of Choice: "Dance Again" by J-Lo

Well! I really should get back to work! I hope everyone enjoys their Hump Day!

Over and Out.

A Bridal Shower, an Open House & an Apartment Search

Hey All! This weekend has been absolutely chaotic for me.  Yesterday I hosted a wonderful bridal shower for my girlfriend and it was awesome! Here is a picture of all of the decorations before the shower started!

I started planning her shower back in January and hit the ground running with decorations.  And as you can see, I went crazy with them! But honestly, I believe it is the small details that really count when it comes to these things.

Yesterday I was supposed to run 5 miles and that clearly did not happen.  I tried my best to get up early and get the run in, but it just didn't happen.  The shower started at 11 am which required that I got up around 7 to be ready to leave by 9:30.  I would have needed to be up no later than 6 am to be able to get the 5 miles in.

Now, I am sure you are wondering why I didn't just do the run later in the day, right? Well here's why: A Graduation Open House.  Immediately after the shower was all packed up, I had to go home and change to head to an open house that was about 45 minutes from where we live.  We made it to the open house with 30 minutes to spare and enjoyed yummy food and finally left there around 6:30.

After we went there we decided to drive around and look at some neighboring apartment complexes.  Our lease isn't up until the end of September, but it never hurts to be prepared, especially since the late summer/fall time is going to be super busy.

So because I was so busy yesterday I decided to push the 5 miles until today, but my body had another plan than I did.  Around 4 this morning I was woken up because my stomach was killing me.  Turns out my stomach didn't like what I had for dinner last night and I have still been getting sick throughout most of the day today.  So there will be no picture or running post for today.   I am hoping that I will be back to normal tomorrow and can "hit the ground running"!

Thanks for checking in.  I hope you're enjoying the beautiful weather!

Over and Out.

Makes Your Toes Tingle

Hey everyone! So I clearly missed my 2 mile run yesterday, but I am totally okay with that because I definitely was exhausted from everything yesterday.  For today's run I had to go 3 miles and it was rough.  I've decided from here on out to try to do the running outside.  It will be more realistic for when I actually run the 1/2 Marathon in September.  

When I ran outside today, it was around 65 degrees and the weather could not have been any more perfect.  The sun was setting and there was tons of pretty cloud in the sky.  It's days like today that I am so grateful that I have the ability to run and be outside.

I used the map.my.run app again today and I think this thing is going to be my new best friend.  I had a general idea of how far I would have to go for the 3 miles I needed to run, but it turns out what I thought was 3 miles was actually 2.5! So I am glad that I was able to get the full 3 miles in with the app.

Today's run was not all that great.  The shin splints are not getting any worse but they are definitely not getting any better.  About 2.5 miles into the run I lost almost all feeling in my right foot.  It's possible that I just tied my shoe too tight, but I am not 100% sure.  Tomorrow I am going to go to the running store and ask them what I need to do to help with the shin splints, and if they don't have any good advice, I will be headed to the doctor sometime in the next few weeks.

Anyway, I am exhausted so here are my stats for today:

Distance: 3 miles

Time: 35:10

Calories Burned: 349

Average Speed: 5mph

Winded (1-10): 5

Any Painful Spots: my right shin was exceptionally bad and my right rib cage

Time of Day: 8pm

Wednesday Weigh In: I stayed exactly the same which is good considering I had SO much cake last weekend.

Additional Notes: I have a 5 mile run on Saturday that I am not 100% sure I will be able to complete.  We shall see.

Well I am off to ice my shins and relax!

Over and Out.

85 Degrees & Sunny

Hey All! So as you can see, I did end up taking Sunday & Monday off for rest days.  Luckily the pain in my shins has died down a bit and I was able to run today.  I think I am a little crazy for doing this but I decided to go running outside today.  When I left my house to run it was 85 degrees out, but I didn't care all too much because I am in desperate need of sun and I loved every moment being outside.

Because I missed the picture on Sunday, here is my "Sunday" picture.  This one was taken this evening:

You will have to ignore the socks I am wearing.  They are specifically designed for running and allow the arch and other areas to breath while providing padding for the heel and ball of the foot.  I am not seeing too much of a difference in my body from three weeks ago except maybe a little bit in my face.  

I also just noticed that I never posted about my weigh in last week at Weight Watchers.  I was down a half pound! It's not much but it is something! I have literally been stuck between 170-171 for 5 weeks now and it is driving me absolutely nuts.  I seriously hope when I weigh in tomorrow that I can break the 170 lb barrier. 

Today while I was at work I started looking around for apps that could help me with running and I found this app called map.my.run.  This thing is absolutely amazing! It uses GPS to track how far you have ran and at what speed you were running it.  It also announces every.single.mile how far you've ran and how long you've been running and you can play your music right through the program.  Another cool feature about this app is it actually maps where you went.  This will come in handy later on when I need to run a specific distance and I can pull up a map that meets the distance criteria.  If you are interested in checking out this app check out here is the website: www.mapmyrun.com.   It seriously is pretty awesome.  I would post my map from today's run, but it starts literally at my house and that's a little too personal of information to post here.

Anyway, addressing the issues of my shin splints.  Today sucked.  I was in a ton of pain and there is nothing I can do about it.  I just keep icing my legs and taking ibuprofen to reduce some of the swelling around my shins.  If the pain keeps up too much longer I am going to have to go to the doctor and see what I will need to go.  Giving up is not going to be an option for me.  Because my shins were aching again today, I was not able to run as fast as I would liked to and because of this my time is absolutely horrendous.  But that is okay, I gotta commend myself for even going out to run.

Here are my stats for today's run:

Distance: 2.5 Miles

Time: 32.36

Average Speed: 4mph

Winded (scale 1-10): 5 because I walked a lot from my shins

Time of Day: 3:15pm

Calories Burned: 232

Any Painful Spots: SHINS.  And my left knee which I think is a result of me favoring my shins. 

Additional Notes: During my run I stopped to take a phone call from my husband and the clock/pace was still running so I lost about 2 minutes of time on today's run.  I wasn't able to go very fast, and that is okay.

Well, I am off to work on a project for a bridal shower I am hosting on Saturday! 

Thanks for checking in.

Over and Out.

Lions, Tigers & Bears.... Oh My!

Hello All! Today has been such a wonderful day.  I was able to celebrate my birthday with some of the closest people in my life and it was amazing.  This morning my in-laws, my husband and myself went and ran a 5k not too far from our house.  Unfortunately my time was not any better than the last time that I ran, but I definitely had wonderful company and that was more than satisfactory.  This is a picture of us before the race:

For my birthday my in-laws got me a really nice running sweater/jacket.  I was not wearing it in the picture because it was actually too warm to be wearing.  But it is super cute and I look forward to wearing it ALL the time! At the race today my husband decided to run at a pace much faster than my pace so I was "on my own", but I was able to find someone that went my pace and made friends with her.  Well, about a mile in, my husband was waiting for me and he ended up running with me for the rest of the face.  I LOVED it!

For today's race I was able to finish in 36:42.  This is actually about 10 seconds longer than my last 5k and I will admit that I am disappointed that it took me a little longer than the last time I ran, but I have to take into consideration that my shin splints were causing me to run slower.  BUT I am excited that I was able to run the first 2 miles without stopping.  I can't usually do that, so I will celebrate the small things there.

After the race I went to the Zoo with my closest friends and it was amazing! I haven't been to the zoo in sooo long! We were able to see all of the exhibits that everyone wanted to see and it was nice to just be walking around outside and enjoying the company of good friends :)

Well there will be no time/speed post today because of the race and I am exhausted from all of the excitement.  I am not sure if I will be posting any running tomorrow because I think I will need to give my legs a break and let the shin splints heal a bit.  

Well, Happy Mother's Day to all of you Momma's out there! I am off to bed.

Over and Out.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Hey All! What a beautiful day it was today! It was the perfect weather to be outside and running.  It made me even more excited to get out and run.  Here's a little picture just for fun :)

So today's post is going to be a little different from the other ones.  Per the suggestion of the trainer at the gym, I did my run outside and not on cement to help lessen some of the strain on my shins and knees. 

Much to my delight a friend of mine came along for the run today and it was VERY nice to have the company.  We ran/walked the three miles and the time definitely went by more quickly.  The only bad thing is my shins continued to ache today even with the running outside.   They didn't hurt nearly as bad as the other day but they were still rather painful when I was done.  I am really hoping that I can shake this pain in the next few weeks because it is really putting a damper on things. 

This Saturday I am running a 5k race with my in-laws and my husband and I am pretty excited! Saturday is actually my birthday as well, so as a present to myself I am running the race.  I know right? Who does that for their birthday?? Well I do.  There is nothing more exhilarating than running a race with a couple hundred people and I have to say that I always run better when I feel the need to compete with them.  Plus, the race I chose benefits the local city's library.  What better way to use your time and money than running a race that benefits others?

  

Well, here are my notes for today.  The times and speeds are just my best calculations seeing as I couldn't actually record them as I can on a treadmill. 

Distance: 3 miles

Time: 35 minutes

Average Speed: I am guessing 4.5 mph.  

Calories Burned: No Clue! haha

Winded (scale 1-10): 3 

Any Painful Spots: My shins and right knee :(

Time of Day: 4:30pm

Song of Choice: No song today!

Additional Notes: I will have to note that I did not push myself nearly has hard as I could have, but I am trying to save my energy for Saturday's race and I didn't want to make my shins any worse.

Ice...Ice....Baby

Boy I am ever in pain today... Today's run was not too long and I decided to continue with the interval running.  I actually was able to shave off a minute from my 2 mile time and I am rather proud of that.  However, about 1.5 mile into the run my shins started to really ache... and I mean REALLY ache.  By the time I had finished my run, I was in so much pain that walking was difficult.  What a bust.  I've been working so hard and haven't had any major pain yet and here I am sitting with a huge pack of ice on both of my shins.

I am rather disappointed that I am getting these so early in the training.  I understand that this will happen as a result of such an increase of exercise and I need to just be patient with my body as it adjusts to all of the changes.  Here is what the shin splint looks like, though the picture really don't do any justice to how painful it really is. 

So I am experiencing a TON of pain in the red spot you see in the picture.  Yay... 

Anyway, I will be doing TONS and TONS of icing for the next few weeks and hopefully that will kick the pain I'm experiencing. 

Here are my notes for today:

Distance: 2 miles

Time: 21:27

Average Speed: 5.6

Calories Burned: 257.6

Winded (scale 1-10): 5

Time of Day: 2:30pm

Any Painful Spots: SHINS for sure.  And right rib cage again.

Song of Choice: None today :( I forgot my headphones in the car and was too lazy to go back out to the car haha

Additional Notes: I am really hoping that I can shake this pain by my next run on Thursday.  Fingers crossed.

Anyway! Thanks for checking in and I look forward to "seeing" you on Thursday!

Over and Out.

Who Knew Walking Could Be So Hard?

Hey All! So it is very obvious that I missed my post and run yesterday (oops), but here I am today to get my butt back in gear! Visiting Grand Rapids was amazing and it definitely gave me the relaxation that I was so desperately needing.

Yesterday I was supposed to do a 2.5 mile easy run and I really was not up to it.  So to make up for my lack of motivation, I went to the gym today to do my "easy run".  Who would have known that an "easy run" was harder on my legs than I ever expected it would be.  By the time I had gotten a mile into my "easy run" I had to actually run at 6.0mph.  That was such a weird feeling.  I never imagined that I would be going "too slow" for me.  

Anyway, as promised, here is my weekly picture.  This picture was actually taken yesterday afternoon to make sure there is consistency.  

I can't really see much of a difference between last week's and this week's which is okay.  I wasn't expecting a change overnight. 

Here are the notes from today:

Distance: 2.5 miles

Time: 35:10

Average Speed: 4.2

 Calories Burned: 271.5

Winded (scale 1-10): 3

Any Painful Spots: my calves again and this painful spot in my foot.  If it doesn't go away I am not sure what I am going to do

Song of Choice: "Pjanoo" by Eric Prydz

Additional Notes: Today is not a normal running day but I needed to make up for not running yesterday.  I am hoping that my feet will stop aching soon.

I will have an actual running post tomorrow and I am grateful that I will actually be running and not doing an "easy run".  

I hope everyone didn't have too much Monday Madness! I know that I did.  See you tomorrow.

Over and Out.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Hello! Happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day so far! Today's post is going to be on the shorter side because I am going up to Grand Rapids to visit my friend today, and I am so very excited

Today's run wasn't too bad really.  I tried a new technique (per the suggestion of a friend) and it seemed to work pretty well.  For this technique, I had to run for 3 minutes and walk for 1.  Seems simple enough right? It really was.  I would run for 3 minutes at 6mph then walk for 1 at 4mph and I finished pretty quickly!

I may continue using this technique for the longer runs because I definitely am no where near being a long distance runner yet, but I am well on my way! 

Anyway, here are my notes for today:

Distance: 3 miles

Time: 33:20

Average Speed: 5.3

Calories Burned: 374.8

Winded (scale 1-10): 7

Any Painful Spots: My right foot again :( I may have to get it checked out.  My lungs were also sore today but I think it's from the humidity

Song of Choice: "The Fighter" by Gym Class Heroes

 Time of Day: 9:00am

Additional Notes: I didn't drink a ton of water yesterday, which may have contributed to the fatigue while I was running.  I am also in desperate need of a better sports bra... I will have to go on Sunday maybe to get one.

Well, my bff & I are off to Grand Rapids to have fun! I hope everyone enjoys their Cinco de Mayo.  I know I will!

Over and Out.

11:00 Minutes or Faster... Can You Do That?

Hey All! I am oh so very glad that I had the day off yesterday.  My body was extremely sore (boo), but today I had reset and was ready to go! Today's run was a lot better than Tuesday's and I am thankful that I was able to complete the 2 mile portion of the run in a quicker time than the last two times a ran :) In fact, I ran the first 2 miles in 21:50.  That's less than an 11:00 minute mile! Okay...okay... it's pretty close to 11:00 minutes, but still, I am proud of it!

Can you believe the weather today!? When I was driving home from work my car said 92 degrees! I am very excited that it is really starting to warm up because I would like to start running outside instead of on the treadmill (though if it stays this warm, I might have to work out inside anyway).  My next mission is to find the shoe reader for my Nike+ thingy-ma-jig.  It will be nice to be able to track how far I ran and how long it took (and I think my average speed) and have the luxury of not being stuck on a treadmill.  Maybe when I am done here I will go look for the shoe reader... just maybe. 

Last night was a Weight Watchers night, and I have to say I was a little disappointed with how I did.  I worked out 3 times since my last weigh in and I ate extremely healthy the entire week's time, but I still gained weight.  They are attributing it to muscle gain (which I am okay with) and the amount I gained really wasn't all that significant... Seriously... 1/2 lb.  It's really not that huge of a deal.  BUT when you work your rear end off (quite literally) at the gym and are diligent on your food, any gain is disappointing.  So my starting weight for the 1/2 marathon training is 170.8 lbs.  

This past month I have been going NUTS on Pinterest (www.pinterest.com) and have been pinning all kinds of workout sayings and pictures and it has really inspired me to continue running even though I am exhausted.  My favorite picture so far that I have found is this: 

This can be found at http://tayloredtraining.ca

 It actually is the background on my phone along with a picture of a pair of Addidas Sambas.  My husband told me that when I lose 10lbs he will buy me a pair of Sambas, and that has also motivated the heck out of me.  I've wanted a pair for a long time and actually had a pair last summer, but they were stolen out of my car (jerks) and I haven't had the extra money to get them since.  So when I hit my goal, I will make sure to post a nice picture of me in my new shoes.

Well, I gotta get ready to go visit with a friend! She's cooking me a healthy dinner and I'm super looking forward to it! Here are my notes for today:

Distance: 2.5 Miles

Time: 27:57

Average Speed: 5.3

Winded (Scale 1-10): 5

Any Painful Spots: Right foot on the outside (I think it's an old injury surfacing again), Right Rib Cage and Right Shoulder at the Collar Bone

Song of Choice: there are two today: "We Speak No Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP & "Sun of a Gun" by Oh Land.  Both songs were great for when I was going a faster speed and they keep me motivated to keep going.

Time of Day: 3:00 p.m.

Wednesday Weigh In: 170.8 pounds

Additional Notes: I spent some time lifting weights today after I ran.  It felt good to be mixing it up a bit and my body seemed relieved.  I have also noticed a huge difference in my flexibility in the last week.  Since I started on Sunday, I have been able to reach 1" further in a sit & reach than I was on Sunday.  That's always exciting to see, especially since I am not the most flexible person.

Well, thanks for checking in and I hope you're able to enjoy this beautiful sunshine! I know I am!

Over and Out.

Second Run, 2 Times Harder

I had my second run today and even though it was the same length as the last one, it definitely felt twice as hard.  I started with my typical 5 minute warm up and by the time that was done my calves were on FIRE.  I seriously felt like I couldn't bend my leg at the ankle.  

Which I'm guessing that means that I worked pretty hard on Sunday.  So I faced a little disappointment when I wasn't able to at least meet the time that I had hit when I ran on Sunday.

But such is life.  

On a more exciting note, my husband bought me a new bike for my birthday on the 12th and I cannot be any more excited! I had a bike when I was in college but someone borrowed it without my permission and it was broken... (No they did not offer to fix it).  So As part of him encouraging my hard work he got me a bike that I can ride to and from the gym.  Also, my newest goal will be to ride the 7 miles to Weight Watchers every Wednesday that I can.  I can't wait!

This is my new bike!

 

Once I get a lock for my new bike, I will definitely have to start riding it everywhere!

Anyway! Here are my notes from today's run:

Distance: 2 Miles

Time: 23 minutes 20 seconds

Average Speed: 5.1 mph

Winded (scale 1-10):9

Any Painful Spots: My Calves! And a small pain in my belly above the belly button

Calories Burned: 238.7

Song of Choice: Nothing in particular caught me today.  Just a bunch of random songs on my "Running Music" playlist.

Time of Day:4:30 p.m.

Additional Notes: Today was rather stressful.  A lot happened at work and I felt constantly behind all day.  I am not sure if this could contribute to my difficulty with the run, but I felt it should be noted!

Thanks for checking in and try to enjoy your "Hump Day" tomorrow!

Over and Out.