Good Workout Day!

One of my oldest friends is home from Grad School, for a little while at least.  She's kind of a runner and every time she's home we say that we'll run together, but never do.  Yesterday she convinced me to go with her.  I was nervous, because although she says she's not fast, I didn't know if that was true.  She only wanted to do 3 miles, which she said she does in about 32, so that made me feel a little better.  We did a warm up walk and caught up for a little, then off we went!  I knew she didn't take walk breaks, and was determined to give it a try (I used to run 3-4 miles straight back last year).  When we got close to my house, she said we were a little short and wanted to do the courts in our neighborhood, but I was done.  I pushed myself at the end to go faster because I thought we almost finished.  But you know what - 2.61 miles with no walking breaks sounds fantastic to me!
She told me that her and some of her friends are planning to do the Philadelphia Rock and Roll half in September, so I may do that with them!  And then her friends want to do the Disney full, but I'm trying to convince her to do the Princess half with me, and work up to the full maybe the next year!

Thank you!

I thought I posted this via my phone, but I guess it never went through.  Can't trust technology, I suppose.

When I got home Friday from work, I went to get the mail.  I opened the mailbox to find a little package waiting for me!  I got so excited to see it was the shirt that I won from Tess's giveaway.  I put it on right away and fell in love!  I can't wait to wear it out, not just on my runs but everywhere!  I actually wore it down to the beach on Saturday.  It's super comfy.

If you haven't checked out this shop on Etsy, definitely do it!  Nutrition Snob

Memorial Day Weekend was a busy one, for sure, but unfortunately not a lot of training.  Had a lazy Friday night watching movies, went to bed early-ish because I wanted an early start to Saturday.  Drove down to my family's beach house with a friend in the morning and hit the beach for four hours.Now I'm pretty fair skinned, but I applied sun screen regularly when I was there, but still managed to get a funky sun burn.  Just a strip on the back of each leg, one worse than the other, and half my back.  Now I'll be half tan when it goes away.  My friend's back and butt were all burnt, so we suffered together.  We came home and later another friend came over and we just hung out.

Sunday we planned to head into Philly for the day.  Our friends work on the Ferry boat that takes you from the Camden Waterfront to Penn's Landing.  So we hopped on that to see them, and it was something we never did before so it was nice!  We knew we had to try out this ice cream shop, Franklin Fountain.  If you're ever in Philadelphia definitely check it out!  It was a bit pricey, but totally worth it.  We shared their biggest sundae - three scoops of ice cream with the works.  We went with Maple Walnut topped with strawberries for her, Peanut Butter topped with chocolate syrup for me, and Banana topped with pineapple in the middle - all topped with almonds and whipped cream.  So delicious!!  This was our lunch - I know not a great lunch nutrition-wise, but sometimes you just have to live a little.
Then we walked around all the tourist spots in the city.  We really haven't been there since we were kids on school trips so it was nice to see it again!  We saw Independence hall and the buildings around it.  The Liberty Bell had a long line to see, so we looked at it from the outside of the building.  We were about the go into Betsy Ross's house, but there was a charge, and we were being cheap so we didn't go in.  Walked passed the Mint on the way back to the Ferry.  On the way home we got a flat tire!  When we finally got home we relaxed for a little and then got ready to head to Ocean City for a little board walk fun.  We went on a ride, walked around, and then got some amazing late night Pizza.
Monday we had a super lazy day.  Layed on the couch most of the day.  We decided since it was Memorial Day we needed to get a burger so we headed to Five Guys.  (I ate so horribly this weekend!  So it's back on track today.)  And now, I'm unfortunately at work.  How was everyone's Memorial Day weekend?

Weekend Roundup

This weekend was a pretty relaxing one.  Saturday I got a huge tree removed that fell in my yard a couple of months ago and two other trees taken down.  My backyard looks so big now!  I can't wait to fix it up and "landscape."  I do not have a green thumb by any means but I'm going to try because I want a fun summer backyard.  I'm thinking a fire pit and a cute little area to lay out in.  I went out with a friend Saturday night, for her friend's birthday.  Got home at like 2AM, late for me!

Sunday was another field hockey game!  I got to play defense the entire game, still no subs, though!  So 45 minutes of internals - run/sprint/walk with a few breaks of nothing when the ball was at the other end.  I think I pulled 2 muscles, so I look really awkward walking today.  We lost terribly.  So we celebrated that by going to the local ice cream place after the game!  Yumm!

It's raining today and add the pain I'm in, so I'm not sure I'll get a run in.

Testing out the Gatorade

Wednesday I was so tired.  I guess my body can't handle going out until 1:00 and then getting up at 6:30 for work.  I tired the Gatorade chews in the Orange flavor.  They have a texture that I'm not too fond of, but the taste wasn't horrible.  But I do not think they gave me energy because I proceeded to lay on the couch and watched my recorded TV shows that day.  But maybe it was really the lack of sleep, who knows.  I'll give them another shot Sunday before my field hockey game.  Currently, though, I prefer the Power Bar energy chews.

Yesterday I told myself I had to go for a run.  I was determined to make it a longer one, too.  I also bought Gatorade to take on the run with me instead of water.  I can't tell if it made me more thirty or not, since I don't regularly bring water with me.  But I chugged a bottle of water when I got home, which I usually don't do.  I was shooting for 7 miles, but only made it 5.28 (still not bad though!!).  My running plan is usually to walk a short distance every mile.  I seem to have a hard time with the third mile for some reason, so I usually take two walk breaks then.  Yesterday, during mile four and five, I went for a mile and half without stopping.  I don't know where the energy came from, but it was nice.  Thinking about it now, I should have taken the walk bread earlier though, because then maybe I could have gone a farther distance.  Oh well.  Still a successful day if you ask me!

Energy in a chew?!

Yesterday was my mom's first day not there - she's babysitting my niece two days a week now that my sister-in-law went back to work.  And of course that's the day the phone decides to ring off the hook.  But all in all, it was a decent day.  The weather couldn't make up it's mind - pouring rain then sun and back again.  My mood is really effected by the weather, so I felt tired just from staring at the dark skies all day.  By the time I left work  the sun was starting to break through more and more so I thought there was a chance of a run.  Alas the rain held up, and now I just had to convince myself to get out there!
While grocery shopping this past weekend, I got PowerBar Energy blasts, so I figure it would be the perfect test!  I ate two and waited to feel the extra energy.  I had heard that you should drink extra water when taking these, but I forgot so I started to get a headache.  I downed about 12 oz. of water and felt so much better!  I got dressed and cranked my music up and off I went. My new song, Call Me Maybe - don't judge, came on in the first couple of minutes and I found myself running faster!  It's amazing how a good song pushes you to keep going or pick it up a notch.  What I didn't realize was how hot and humid it actually was, so I was dripping sweat and dying. Maybe I pushed myself too hard in the beginning or maybe it was just the weather, but I cut it short and only did 2.5 miles.  Still happy I went out there, though!

Catch Up

Thursday I convinced my running buddy to come over after work.  She's been having a hard time with motivation lately, so I'm trying to help her out.  We ran two miles, at her pace, and then ended to walking and chit chatting for the two miles home.  I figured, though, that we did something which  was better than nothing.

Saturday I woke up with the intention to run, but after I ate breakfast I realized that I had close to no food in my house.  Needless to say, food shopping won that battle - but I made sure to buy a lot of yummy fruits and veggies.  Then I got ready to head to Brigantine, my family has a shore house there so that's where my mother was.  I spent the afternoon with them, and we went out to dinner.  It would have been nice to stay the night, but I didn't want to have to wake up extra early to make it to my field hockey game in the morning.

Sunday I played indoor field hockey, with some friends I haven't seen in a while (it was so nice to see them and hang out with them again).  I haven't picked up a stick in about six years, so I didn't know how it would go, but as long as I had fun I knew I would be happy.  Our team lost, terribly 11-1, but I did have fun!  I even scored our only goal!!  That's extra awesome, because I think it may have been my first goal ever, in eight years of playing in school - I did play defense.  Oh my, was it a workout though.  I had to play the front and mid and defense positions during the 40 minute game, and we didn't have any subs.  I thought I was going to die once or twice.  I can run, at my slow-ish pace, for miles, but now I see why every says interval training is so great.  Those bursts of spirits killed me.  And just the way your body has to move, pivoting and bending down, uses muscles that I usually don't - my butt is hurting.

I'm so frustrated!!  How do I keep gaining weight?  I eat pretty healthy and I work out.  I just don't understand!  I mean I suppose this weekend I didn't do too well with eating, with mother's day cake and a few other goodies.  But it just stinks to get on the scale in the AM and have it go up - not a good way to start the day!

If you haven't already checked out Bethi's blog, you definitely should!  She's currently having a giveaway of a SPI belt that looks super cute!  It looks small, but it expands to fit your necessities!  I love Minnie Mouse and this belt is red and white polka dots, just like her!  She has the different ways to enter, so go take a look.  She's also a huge inspiration during her journey to running a half marathon!

Tess is also having a giveaway!  Super cute workout shirts that have great motivational sayings!  If you need that extra boost to get you out the door to run or workout, these would sure help!  I think that when you look and feel good, you have an easier time getting out there.  And the best part, is that they custom make shirts if you don't find one you like!!  Esty has surely become my new favorite place to find little treasures!

Middle of the Night

I woke up in the middle of the night and stretched my legs while lying in bed.  Big mistake, apparently.  I don't know what I did, but it felt like my calf muscle was tearing away from the bone, ouch!  I leap out of bed as fast as I could to try and relieve the pain. I did different stretches and it finally went away.  When I stretch it now, it still feels a little sore.  Weird, right?

Morning run success!

Second morning of the year and this one was much better than the last one!  Just getting up early enough to do this is an accomplishment for me.  I decided to walk down my street to warm up my legs, usually I just walk down the driveway.  This definitely helped because my last morning run my legs were hurting.  First mile went GREAT, but mile three was a struggle for some reason.

I can do this.  I can do this.  I CAN DO THIS!!

We Are Family

So this weekend was filled with family.  Saturday I ran errands with my mom and helped her get some food ready for my niece's baptism.  Then I got to babysit my princess for a few hours.  She's the cutest thing in the world.  I am determined to make sure she likes everything Disney.  So I was playing Disney songs and every time Tale As Old As Time came on she just lit up and smiled and laughed! :)  Sunday I got up early and planned on going for a run.  But I got a call from my brother just as I was about to get ready, he asked if I could get the pretzel tray they ordered.  So I told myself I would try going after the party.  Whelp, I feel into a food coma and that idea went out the window.  Back on track today!

I was talking with my cousin.  She and her brother run and they did the Broad Street Run yesterday.  It got me thinking as to what I want my first race to be.  Should I start with a 10K, or just go all out and try a half marathon?  What do you guys think?

Proper Attire

The Pixie Dust faded, just as I thought it would.  The first mile of my run was pretty good, but then I was struggling.  I didn't even do 3 miles!  It could have been the weather - it was about 20 degrees cooler and it had rained earlier in the day.  But at least I went out there, right?!  Nearing the end of my run, I told myself that I had to go to kickboxing, too, since I didn't perform my best.  I knew none of my friends were going, so this was my first solo class at the gym!  It wasn't as bad as I thought - not as much fun and laughing to get my through, but still a good workout.

I never know how to dress properly if it's not warm out.  I tend to put on too many layers.  In my mind I know that I'll get hot a couple minutes into the run, but that hasn't stopped me from throwing on a zip-up.  Half way through my run I get uncomfortable and maybe that affects my performance.  Jeff Galloway has a section of what to wear in different temperatures, I'll have to reread that section and follow it!

Kickboxing

Yesterday I had a lot of energy for kickboxing!  When I'm like that my friends say that I'm on my "gym crack." haha  Looking back I probably should have tried to fit in a short run beforehand.  I didn't sleep too well the night before, so maybe I ate the right foods.  I ate a bigger lunch and a smaller dinner as compared to normal.  I'll definitely be trying this out more in the future.
I love the actual bag work that we do in class, I have made a personal goal to knock over my bag with a round house kick... I'm so close!  My favorite part of the class has when he tells us to put our bags off to the side, though, and we do some type of stations.  Maybe it's because I'm already exhausted and it's a challenge to manifest the energy to do it.  But it feels so rewarding when we start our cool down stretches!  Last night we did different types of burpees, Kettle bells, and abs.  I have to be one of the only people in the class that doesn't mind burpees.

I've been wanting to try out different classes at the gym.  They recently added three classes with a new instructor:  Turbo Interval, Core Conditioning, and Boot Camp.  I feel like I need a friend with me to brave that first time at a new class.  I'm working on my running partner and one other friend, so we'll see!

Do you go to classes at your gym?  If you do, what are you favorites and why?