Category Archives: Daily Life!

Mac and his Crackers

Daily Life!, , , ,

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! I hope you’ve had a great day. It’s beautiful and sunny here, despite the cold temps and  20+ mph wind. 🙂

Today started off with a trip to the gym, although I should have probably stayed in bed for more sleep. But when my alarm went off, my mind was immediately alert so I decided to get up and go for an easy workout. I did 1-mile easy jogging on the treadmill, 20ish minutes on the Elliptical, and then completed an upper torso circuit that focused on my back and biceps. I’ve gotten in a run everyday this week, so I needed to do something different besides go pound the pavement today! And the gym did the trick. I was sweaty and happy after my quick and easy workout.

Lunch today was a productive one. I went home to take care of Mac and eat. While I was there, I packed my Jazzercise bag for tonight AND I put some chicken enchiladas together in the Crockpot for our dinner!

IMG_3103(Recipe to come!)

I was rushing around like a mad woman, but I got it all done and back to the office in one hour. I can’t wait to get home tonight and be welcomed with the aroma of dinner already cooked! Plus, I’ll be extra hungry after teaching class at 5:40 pm. Because of my rushing around at lunch, I didn’t eat much other than a Lean Cuisine and a million of these wheat crackers that I’m addicted to right now.

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Mac also loves them. Hence the title of this post. He cries incessantly when I pull the box out of the cabinet!

These are the most legit whole wheat crackers I’ve ever had. You can taste and see the grains in these babies! Plus, they taste a lot better than Wheat Thins and are a lot cheaper. Win! I need to buy more for my carb loading next week.

After class tonight, I’ll be heading home for a lazy night on the couch. I’m going to wake up extra early tomorrow to get my miles in because I have a baby shower to be at by 10 a.m.! Speaking of that….I still have to wrap that gift, too. HA. After long runs, I’m always pretty useless for the rest of the day, so I need to get all that little stuff done tonight. I told Nick I would probably end up napping most of the afternoon tomorrow. He didn’t seem too bothered! I’m excited to get this run checked off the list because it will be my last big run effort before the half marathon in a week! Woot!

Have a great night and start to your weekend. Hope you have some fun things lined up! Nighty night!

500 Miles

Daily Life!, Running, , , , ,

Happy Thursday! Hope it’s been a good one for you. Sorry I never checked in last night. I had a completely lazy night at home, and it was fabulous. I got home from work, had a snack, and took Mac for a long overdue evening walk. And it must have really tuckered him out because this morning he just could not wake up.

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This is how he sleeps while I shower in the mornings. We have a large master bathroom, so I just pull his little bed in there while I shower and get ready so he doesn’t whine at the door. He’s usually pretty alert and talks to me as I do my makeup, but not this morning.

IMG_3086He hid behind that toy and tried to keep sleeping as long as possible. Sleepy puppy = adorable.

And on a side note, I found this on Facebook last night.

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Hilarious! And what’s even funnier is that my parents had a baby carrier for my old pug, Molly. She would sit in it for rides on the motorcycle with my parents. Yes, this is completely real, I’m not making it up. And no, I sadly don’t have photos or I would definitely share them. 🙂

500 Miles

This morning I went on my usual Thursday morning run of 4ish miles. After I completed my miles and saved the activity on my Runkeeper app, I got this fun little email.

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I hit 500 miles! How crazy is that?! I know I have logged a lot of miles since I started really running/training in October, but I had no idea it would add up this fast. Surely with this many miles under my belt I can be ready for my first half and full marathons this year.

And speaking of my upcoming races, this weekend will be my last long run effort before my half marathon. You’re not really supposed to do a long run this close to a race, but I have to take into account that my full marathon is 7 weeks away, and I’ll be tapering for that one before I know it. SO, I solemnly swear that after my run on Saturday morning, I will take it easy and rest as much as possible before my race the next weekend!

My week next week will consist of teaching a few Jazzercise classes and running a couple times but at a slower, easier pace. I need to keep my endurance in check without doing anymore tissue damage to my muscles. And also, I’ll be focusing on eating as healthy as possible through the first part of the week and then low-fat carb-loading towards the end of the week. Since this is my first major race, this is all trial-and-error. Yes, I’ve tried to prepare for all of this with my long runs, but races always feel so much different to me! Let’s hope that it’s all in my head and my body just acts like the half-marathon is a normal Saturday morning long run in Springfield. 🙂

I’m off to teach a 6:45 Jazzercise class. Have a great evening, and I’ll see you tomorrow! We’re almost to the weekend! Woot!!

Little Rock Marathon Training Plan

Daily Life!, Running, , , ,

Hey there! How’s your Tuesday going? So far, so good around here. Today started out with one of those ‘ah-ha’ moments for me. You know, those moments when something really sets in deep in your brain.

I don’t always run on Tuesday mornings, but the weather has been so nice this week that I wanted to get out and enjoy the snow-free roads and sidewalks. So I set my alarm for 5 a.m. to get in a little run before the work day began. When my alarm went off, I turned it off and rolled over. I did not want to get up. At all. Like really really really did not want to get up. I struggled for about 15 minutes before I finally just got my lazy butt out of bed and out the door.

It took me about 5 seconds to get into my normal groove, and I completed 4.2 miles at less than an 8:30/mile pace. It felt so good to get in the zone and focus on some speed work. I got home and hopped in the shower, and that’s when it hit me: I really do love running. I enjoy it so much because of how it can make me feel. I was dancing and happy in the shower at 6 a.m. and without that run, I would have been grumpy and sluggish through my whole morning routine. SO, moral of this story, anytime I feel like hitting snooze and skipping my morning workout, I need to remember how much happier and healthier I feel if I start my day with a little sweat. 🙂

But onto other things…. like my first Marathon!!!

LRmaraThe Little Rock Marathon will be in Little Rock, AR on March 2! I’m so scared/excited about taking on this major commitment! I wouldn’t have even thought about taking on the full marathon until I started looking into some training plans. Since I have been training for my first half since October, I was right on schedule for a beginner’s marathon training schedule!

My girlfriend Heather was already registered for the Little Rock Half Marathon, so when I found out the full and the half marathons were at the same time, I decided to be brave and register for the full course. Am I a little crazy? Well my family sure thinks I am. But I’m pretty much determined to run the whole thing and get my HUGEEEE medal. The Little Rock Marathon is known for their big medals, and I cannot wait to get mine! They posted on the Little Rock Marathon Facebook page that this year’s medal would be around 2.5 lbs!

SO this major commitment meant changing up my Frostbite Half Marathon’s training schedule to be longer and work in some longer runs.

trainingplan-fullDownload the full size PDF here. Download the Excel Sheet here.

So this plan is just a continuation of my half marathon training. I will be incorporating two 20-milers, and those will be my furthest distance before race day before I begin the taper the last 2 weeks before race day. I can’t believe I’m already on week 13 of my this 19 week schedule! haha I guess I had a head start.

My half marathon is coming up in less than 2 weeks. My Runkeeper app was kind enough to bring this to my attention this morning!

IMG_3084I took this screen shot this morning, so I am nearing right at 10 days until race time! I know I can do it, but I’m already dreading those crazy hills that I encountered during the Frostbite 10-miler. But, on a positive note, I’m just a few days from a small carb loading extravaganza!  Next Thursday and Friday my diet will consist of about 85% carbs, and I cannot wait. I will be loving some bananas, white bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, Greek yogurt, pretzels, and crackers! Low fat and high carb will be my philosophy for a day or two.

On one more side note, Lululemon released some new compression socks this morning, and I obviously bought them within 5 minutes of finding them.

IMG_3085I had a gift card to Lululemon burning a hole in my pocket from Christmas, so I gladly used a portion of it for these. I should have them soon and can hopefully wear them for my half in 2 weeks!

Well I’m off to my Jazzercise double-header. Have a great evening, and I’ll see you tomorrow!