Fitness Friday

After getting my butt kicked yesterday from Level 3 of 30 Day Shred, I was totally looking forward to getting back at it today. Unfortunately, my allergies have flared up and I can hardly breathe. I know I will be ok, I am on my allergy medicine, it just takes some time to stabilize all the junk floating around my head. Sorry for all the gross details, but I keep it real here. Ha! However, since I am not doing the 30 day shred this morning, I am still going to get some activities in today. I am meeting with a Beachbody coach to discuss my new adventure in the business and with taking my fitness to the next level. Eeek. I start Insanity too. After this meeting, I will run the steps at Lafayette. It might take me longer than usual, but I need to do them. They are paying off (at least I want to believe they are). I am trying to let my legs rest.  Haha, rest so only doing one workout not 2. 

Tomorrow, my friend is hosting a run. It's an awesomely scary thing because there are rules and stuff but not stuff like normal runs.  This run is a loop of 4.4 miles in length. It starts at the top of the hour and the next loop starts at the top of the next hour and so forth. If you don't finish the loop before the next one starts, you are timed out. Apparently this race can go for hours. I am planning on only running 1 loop, but if my running legs are there, maybe I will be able to get 2 full loops.  Next Saturday I have a 5 mile race. I am looking forward to it because the distance seems awesome. I feel that a 5K is too short and with feeling under the weather I don't think I will die with 5miles (right now, 6 might seem forever).
Well, I better get going. I have to get ready for the day and wake my sleeping sweet baby girl. I hope you all have an awesome weekend! I will let you know how the loopy loop race goes!

Where have i gone?

Hi! Sorry I have been MIA, but my personal life is kinda hectic right now. To the point that I feel like every day is groundhog day. But you didn't come here to read about that. So, on with the show.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I sure know I did! It was an emotional day for me, because as you know, last year, the Pumpkin Pie 5K in Nazareth was the first 5K I EVER did. I ran it again this year as race-aversy present and tried to look back on how far I came. Let me just tell you that this course was NO joke and the fact that for my first race I ran those big hills lets me know something, I LOVE challenges. I did manage a 30 second PR and although I was frustrated at first, I realized with the help of my sister and running friends that had I actually rested my legs (I ran steps the day before and did 30 Day Shred the day of) I probably would have done better. But, hind sight is always 20/20 so at least I PR'd. Speaking of 30 Day Shred, I managed to only miss Monday this week so far bc of my sick child, but tomorrow I am stepping up my game and moving on to Level 3. AGH! Goodness hopes it doesn't kill me, right?!? Right.
Speaking of fitness, I am stepping my fitness up to the next level. I am now a beachbody coach and will be starting Insanity here in the next week or 2. Goodness knows I want to look my best for myself and for my daughter, but I also want to be proud to wear a bathing suit again, especially with a beach wedding this summer. I am also taking Shakeology, another beachbody product, to also try to restart my healthy eating habits. Since I have lost 57 pounds, I am not stepping everything up. I am throwing all cards in the middle and saying go for it!! Who knows where this next stage will take me, but I know it can only take me closer to my goal. Speaking of goals, I am still looking into becoming a personal trainer, I am just kinda waiting for life to slow down a moment so I can catch my breath.
I am also going to be refocusing some of my energy back on my motivation board. I started it last running season, and now that a new one is upon me, I want to update it and add things to help me this year. I am also trying to add some of the same races, but different races this year as well. For instance, I am running the same race that was my first half marathon last year again, but I am also throwing in a warrior dash and a chocolate race (hopefully) this year as well. Variety is the spice of life right?!?
Well, I really should get to bed. 430 will be here shortly and I want to make sure I have enough energy to put into tomorrow's 30 Day Shred level 3 workout! Goodness I am scared and nervous all at the same time. I hope you all have a great night!

Sad yet exciting day

Today, is a sad yet exciting day. How is that possible, you may be thinking, well sit right there and I will tell you. Today is the night before Thanksgiving. Ok, still don't get it. Thanksgiving last year was my first 5K race EVER!! And here it is, the eve of that day 1 year later. I am running that race again tomorrow, as I may every year because of it's significance to me, and I cannot believe how far I have come.  Today, I took down my display of my race bibs from Nov 2011-until today. When I started running, I only imagined signing up for that one race, but something clicked. I never felt so alive as I am running. It's my chance to push myself, and it was something I wouldn't have known had I not signed up for that first race. I cannot believe that a year later, I have run a few 5ks, a 10k and 2 half marathons! Not only that, some of my friends are coming to me asking me for assistance to get them into running. Wait?!?! How did that happen? When did people start looking up to me?!?!  So,  I took down my race bibs and put them in a safe place until I figure something else to do with them. Today is the day that I start with a clean slate. I will reflect on what races I want to participate in this year and what races I most likely won't repeat. I will be looking for longer races (Preferably greater than 5K) and will think of other ways to work in cross training. I just cannot believe how fast that year has come and how when I am having a talk with someone over running, when it comes to a 5K I say "It's only a 5K," not intending for it to come out that way. Ahh well. I will work on that.  Later today, I will be running steps with Bob. He got me hooked on running them, I blame him for my steps obsession.

Tonight, I will be beginning our Thanksgiving festivities.  It will start with taking my daughter to my old high school to see the Bonfire. My high school plays a football game every year (I believe this is the 160th meeting) and the night before is a huge bonfire.  The seniors in high school started collecting wood Mon and then slept out last night to protect the pile of wood. Tonight it will get set on fire. My daughter was too young last year to go, but this year we will be taking her. After that, my cousin and his wife will be hosting their annual Thanksgiving Eve party. My cousin's wife's family comes up for Thanksgiving from Tennessee and we celebrate their arrival. I cannot wait. In the meantime, my sister J will be traveling from Chicago to join us tomorrow for food, family, fun.
So while this blog is about my fitness and all that, this blogpost today was a little about everything else. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving eve, but an even better and blessed Thanksgiving. I have a lot to be Thankful this year, and I cannot wait to see where the new year will bring me.

The Fighter

I don't know how I found this song, but I did. The lyrics seem to be where I am right now, wanting to give them hell.  Who is them? I don't know. I think the them is more my doubt, because I am sure that I am not the talk of anyone out there. But, these lyrics....

Give 'em hell, turn their heads
Gonna live life 'til we're dead
Give me scars, give me pain
Then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me

There goes a fighter, there goes a fighter
Here comes a fighter
That's what they'll say to me, say to me, say to me
This one's a fighter

That's how I feel right now. I need to be a fighter, I need to keep on moving on.  

 

 

Today was an unintended rest day. I didn't sleep well on Wednesday night, and when it was time for my alarm to go off, my daughter climbed into my bed and wanted to snuggle. I am all about spending this type of quality time with her, and I wouldn't trade that in for anything in the world. I made up my mind to just work out then when I came home, but, quality time with my sweet babe is more important. So, today, I made it a rest day.  I enjoyed the moments of spending time with my daughter. I want her to know the sacrifices I have made to get healthier so I can be around for a long time for her.

As you know, I have been doing Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. If you have been following me on instagram and/or twitter you can see the occasional post workout photo. Like I stated there, I am not sure if the workouts are getting easier so I am working harder or if I am just not as in shape as I thought, either way, it is kicking my butt. Starting tomorrow, I will be going back to an ab routine that I did a while ago as a challenge with some of my friends. Even if I do them 3 days a week for starters, hopefully it will help my core. My core is insanely out of shape.

 

I am focusing so much on the fitness, but I think I need to start looking again at my nutrition. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to send them my way.

Speaking of nutrition, with Christmas being a little over a month a way, and my birthday less than a month away, here are an example of some of the books that I am hoping to incorporate into my life. I am not asking anyone to buy them for me, but just trying to shop around so that I can eat healthier, cleaner.

 

I hope you all have a happy Friday! I will be running with my BCR friends this weekend, I have another race scheduled for Thanksgiving, it will be sentimental to me because it was this exact race last year that was my first race EVER! And look at me now. I would have never thought I would be where I am today. How far I have come and how much further I am going to go. I thank each and everyone of you for supporting me and helping me every step of the way. Thank you!



1st Annual River Ramble

Let's start off by saying that I am sorry that I haven't been blogging like I would love too, but work and life sometimes get in the way of free time. And, when I do get some free time I try to do some sort of cross training to make up for the missing runs or I simply just cuddle with my daughter. The latter has been winning lately :) Anyway, since my trip to Chicago 2 weeks ago I haven't completed many runs. I don't even think I did any aside from the stairs since then. So, yesterday I made it to kinda run with BCR. I say kinda because 1- 730 is really early in the morning, but 2- it's even earlier with a toddler who I refuse to wake up in the morning, so by the time I got to where BCR was running they had already started. But, I was there none the less. I really didn't have a mind set on how far I wanted to run, I just really wanted to stretch my legs out and see how they felt. I ended up doing 3.62, which is good considering it was my first run in way too long. I also didn't want to push myself because of the race I was doing today.  Today was the first annual River Ramble Fall Classic.  It was held in the Delaware Water Gap, which I have to admit is one place I have never been before. It was put on my Ready Set Run which is a running store in the Poconos. There was a 5K and a 10K which the option of changing your mind out of the 10K mid course. But, I made up my mind yesterday running that I don't think 5Ks are long enough, and with all the driving we did to get there I wasn't going to just run a 5K. So, at the 5K turn around I kept going. But, wait, let me back up. I found about this race from a girl named Sam who contacted me via twitter after the Runner's World Half Marathon with something along the lines that we run at the same pace. So, due to peer pressure, I totally signed up for this race not knowing anything about it. Nothing. I didn't even know where the Delaware Water Gap was, although I did know of the general vicinity. Oh, I did forget to mention that one of the perks of this race was that they weren't giving away race t-shirts but instead race sweatshirts! Yes! Something different. So, Yesterday after running and then showering (in that particular order) we headed up to Ready Set Run to pick up the race packet. It actually was pretty cool, with some free pens and a free cup from Bushkill falls. The ladies that work there must not get out of the Poconos much because they thought it was cute that I went to breakfast after I run. (I guess they didn't get the whole Breakfast Club Runners on my sweatshirt).  That leads me to today, race day. We left the house at 730 to head to the race. We left with extra time to spare because River Road (which I later learned was the main road) closed 10 minutes before the race and since I didn't know what to expect I didn't want to have to scramble to get ready. We got there with plenty of time to spare and found a good parking spot. There was still some time to wait before the race, but since I was meeting Sam IRL for the first time, I wanted to make sure I actually ran into her. With the race capped out at 500, I didn't know how hard it would be. It actually turned out to be pretty easy. After I met up with her, there was still some time to kill so I went and got a free stretch. I am not sure if I will continue to stretch before I run, but it was still nice.  Much easier to find her than to actually find the race. My only complaint of this entire race is that they should have done a better job with the signage on actually getting there. So, with 10 minutes before race time, they send the walkers to their starting line and then had us runners line up at ours.  They did a bunch of chattering on the bull horn, but nothing that I could really understand. It was at this time that they mentioned that you could change your mind at the 5K turnaround if you wanted, and no one would have to know. I think that should have been my warning, but I ignored it. Someone sang the National Anthem, and then some cheers. Then we started. We started out of the park and immediately went up an incline. It was not to bad as the hills I am used to running, but it was still a hill when my legs still felt cold and stiff.  We then continued onto River Road and ran away from the park. Up and down hills. The website was not kidding when it said rolling hills. The course was well marked and East Stroudsburg Softball team was there to cheer us on as well as the many volunteers. At mile 1.5 was the first water stop which was nice to have.  A little after that was the 5K turnaround. Again, that should have been my cue, but I kept trucking along. Up and down hills, along a windy road. I pushed hard up the hills, relaxed on the down slope and just tried to maintain my momentum. I NEVER once looked at my Garmin, I wanted to run based on how I felt. Right before the 10K turnaround was another long and windy hill, but then we went downhill. At the turn around I thanked the volunteer and told her she was my favorite person of the day. So that awesome hill that we went down, yes, we had to go up it. But, not only did I have to conquer that hill, but also the pitch in the road. I didn't notice how much the road pitched because coming into the turnaround we were on the upside of the slope. There were some nice ladies who at this point passed me, and they were helping me figure out what part of the road to be on. I chose to just run along the yellow lines, that had to be the straightest part right?

After this hill there was a small descent and then more of the same. At this point 2 other ladies passed me, but thanked me for pacing them up the hill. I told them I didn't think I did anything, but they were welcome. We then came to a mile marker with 2 miles left, then again with 1.5 miles to go and then the water stop. Again manned by the ESU softball team. They cheered and gave you water all at the same time. More hills and then a small respit of flatness. Which, of course we all know NEVER lasts long. At mile 5, there was a really long rolling hill. I guess I never noticed how much of a hill it was because of running it in the opposite direction, but never the less it was one more hill to conquer. Right before mile 6 we started our return to the park. More ESU athletes, more cheers, more excitement. Once we got back into the park there were athletes everywhere. One girl even offered to run in with me, and I said sure. She took off like a bat out of hell, I had to remind her that I was 5 miles ahead of her so she was way too fast for me. Just when I could see the finish line ahead of me, I turned on my jets and sprinted to the finish.

This race really took a lot out of me. Not emotionally, but physically. Not like I couldn't walk, but I think because of all of the hills, and twists and turns and the pitching of the road. I really felt done after this race. My right foot did hurt a little bit and because of it I am going to call a doctor this week to have it looked at. I want to make sure there isn't something really wrong with my foot.

The after race party, and I do mean party was really nice.  They had free stretches again, (which I used and will do at every race that offers it from now on!), hot oatmeal, fresh fruit, bagels with every imaginable topping, danishes, hot chocolate, coffee, tea. They had raffle prizes to give away as well as the top 3 from each age group. I think it was well organized and that they made it enjoyable for all. With it being sold out it's first race, I am sure others will race it again, especially since the money goes to help educate more Forest Rangers.
Overall, nice race. Well organized (except for the signage), good race swag, race grub, and scenery. I will most likely do this race again!
That is all I have for now. It's off to bed I go, I have a date with Jillian Michaels and her 30 day shred in the morning. I am also going to try to add abs again to my daily workout. My core is NO WHERE near where I want it to be. But anyway...have a great night!!   
 

The Stairwell to Mt Everest

If you follow me on instagram or Facebook you would know that I had a rough week between working out (or lack there of) and eating (not the best work this weekend). Anyway, one of my awesome friends posted how today was a clean slate and clean plate. So, I vowed to pick myself up and brush it off. I cannot change last week, but I can move forward one step at a time starting today. So, I did. I woke up knowing that I needed to eat better, especially with all of my talks about running more half marathons and maybe a full or 2 next year. I know that when I eat better I want to work out. So. I ate healthy. Maybe not enough for breakfast (that always seems to be my problem) but I ate healthy. Then, I hit the steps. No, not your average stair stepper. I headed off to Lafayette to run their steps their. When I did it on Friday, I made it a game. Yes, I am aware that I am making myself sound crazy. But I thought that If I break it up into sets, then I won't lose track of what number I was on. So, I run all the way up the top, do 10 crunches, run down and then do 10 more crunches. I take a 5 second break and then do the halfway steps. At the top of these steps, I do 10 crunches, and then run down and do 10 more crunches.  This is one set. I rest longer in between sets. I give my heart rate time to come down, and catch my breath.  I did 5 sets; 10 total stair repeats. That is what Bob and I have been doing, except that we sometimes lose count. By early spring next year, I want to continue with the sets, but instead of each set containing 1 long and 1 short, I want them to be all long. I think that will definitely help with training for my running.

Anyway, I posted this picture at the end of my workout today...

And while I know this is a corny picture, (I am terrible with self-photography) when I posted it to instagram, I got the best reaction from a follower who I didn't know was actually following me. Anyway, this person said this... "is this the stairway to Mt Everest of what? Can't even see the top. You rock!!!" I responded how it wasn't the stairway to Mt Everest but just steps at a local college's stadium. And how they just made me feel bad ass.  They responded back "We've done stairs but nothing like those! We've got to get our game back on!!"

Thank you instagram follower designerwhey1 for making me feel bad ass! You helped refuel my drive again! Remember, if you are reading this and are ever in my area, bring it, there are plenty of enough steps for all of us! Even if it isn't to Mt Everest.

Tomorrow I will go back to the 30 Day Shred. Jillian Michaels needs to kick my butt and I enjoy it.
Have a great Monday!

Foodie PenPals

I know this is late, but without internet, I was not able to post my foodie penpal reveal on Oct 31. This month, my foodie pal, Caitlin did an awesome job with picking out a few of the best treats that I have ever had.

 

 

 Those stickers, yeah, they didn't last long, my daughter snatched those up right away!!

 Resealed for more enjoyment, yes, that does say Pumpkin Spice!!

 Yumm, more Pumpkin!!!

 These are the best! They even made awesome inflight food on our recent trip to Chicago. I so NEED a Trader Joe's!

 I haven't tried this yet, but today is definitely going to be the day!!!

 I have no idea what Cashew Butter is, but I love cashews and I am always looking forward to a new way to treat my bagels...tomorrow, I will be trying this badboy!!

 These did not last, at all! I love this so much better than the other brand!

 All of the loot! What an awesome treat!!

 

ACK!!!

OMG! I feel like I have blogged in forever, and it wasn't that I didn't want to either. With hurricane Sandy taking our power in almost everywhere, we were ones of the fortunate ones who didn't lose power, but we did lose internet/cable/phone. Until this morning!! Back to a normal life I guess. Anyway, let me back track up to today...
Friday, we left bright and early for Chicago to visit my sister. You can read all about that over at my other blog Shelze's World (not yet, I didn't blog there yet, come one I just got internet back). Anyway, I knew that while I was there I would have some able bodied person more than willing to watch the babes so I could go for a run. I forgot my Garmin in the haste, so I had to use my mapmyrun app on my iPhone.  Saturday I chose was the perfect day. It was my first run since my half marathon, so I didn't plan on running far, just slow and steady to stretch out. I ended up going 4 I think. I love my sister's neighborhood, it was nice and flat and had a beautiful park with a 0.44 track in it that I incorporated into part of my run. Between the sights being all new to me, and the constant airport and trains, there really was no boredom for me. It felt really awesome to run again, and I didn't even have any pain. I really only planned on getting in that one run, but I packed so much fitness clothes just in case.  With hurricane Sandy, we found out on Sunday that our flight was canceled for Monday so since I knew we were spending another day there, I decided to run on Monday. With my mapmyrun app on hand, I set out for a 6 mile run. I don't know how accurate my speed was, and I hope it was really accurate, but since I didn't have my Garmin for me to constantly check, I actually ran all 6 miles with splits less than 10 min/mile. ALL 6 miles of them!!! I was so totally stoked. The run itself was awesome, no pain (I really hope it was just my shoes) and I thought I could run forever!! I absolutely loved how flat it was. I think I have made up my mind about one of the full marathons I want to run next year! (ACK!!)
While we were there, I did plan on continuing my 30 day Shred, but with the lack of sleep (I am totally ok with that) I chose to continue my week of rest post half. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't completely inactive. With 4 kids under 6, there were lots of walks to the playground and lots of walks themselves. It was nice to get to hang out with everyone, and come Monday morning I will be back in the zone for 30 Day Shred.

Yesterday I received in the mail a flyer from Lehigh Valley Road Runners with all of the upcoming races in the next month. I am so excited, there are so many races I haven't raced before, so I am looking forward to running this year. Thank you LVRR for a well timed and mailed flyer!!!

Today, I plan on running steps at Lafayette. Me and my arch nemesis doubt have a date so I can kick it's ass. Tomorrow I will be back to running with BCR to an undetermined distance at this point. In 9 days I have my first race since the half and I am looking forward to it.

Have a great Friday and an awesome weekend!!