Category Archives: Daily Life!

Run Around Sunday

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, , , ,

Happy Monday! It was a beautiful weekend, and I’m happy to say that the snow is finally all gone! I was not the least bit sad to see it go. Snow days are only fun if you are a kid and can stay home and hibernate. 🙂

It was in the mid-60’s yesterday, so I did lots of running around (literally!). I started my day with a 4-mile easy run before I headed off to teach Jazzercise. Immediately after class, I headed to Target to get a baby shower gift for my girlfriend, Levie, who’s having her shower next Saturday morning. When I arrived, the store was dead! And it was fantastic! So I spent way too much time and money in there. But I did walk away with a cute gift for the baby-to-come. Success!

I headed back home to shower and have some lunch when Nick decided that we needed to drop his car off at Pep Boys to be worked on. Funny noises + a burning smell = a Sunday trip to the mechanic. Woot. But the trip ended with some awesome sandwiches at Which Wich.

IMG_3074I had the toasted chicken pesto with spinach, and I was in heaven! It was amazing and was definitely worth the multiple trips across town to take Nick back and forth. 🙂 Mac was pretty enthused with all the car rides too.

IMG_3076IMG_3078HA! That little guy could be content hanging his head out the car window for hours and hours.

Breakfast

So breakfast this morning was fun – I got to try Chobani’s new 100 Cal yogurt!

IMG_3082This excites me because the high calorie count in the regular Chobani is what steers me away from this brand usually. BUT, I always feel the need to buy it because it is made with more natural ingredients than my typical stuff. Needless to say, my fridge is stocked with this stuff after my grocery trip yesterday!

IMG_3083I love the inside of the lid “Finally a 100 calories yogurt worth counting.” I loved this black cherry flavor, so tomorrow I’ll be brave and try the pineapple flavor.

IMG_3081I had my yogurt with some oatmeal and a banana + lots of coffee. And I’m happy to say that this mix kept me full all morning!

Jazzercise Run

This morning started with a 3-mile run with Mac. I usually teach Jazzercise on Monday mornings, but I switched today with the 6:45 pm teacher. And I’m an idiot and didn’t write this down in my phone calendar. So I pulled into Jazzercise this morning at 5:30 a.m. and immediately remembered the switch. Oops! I didn’t want the other instructor to know I’m an idiot (or to feel bad for that matter!), so I just headed back home and leashed up Mac for a run instead.

We made it 3.4 miles with a 9:29 pace, which is pretty good for a tiny dog that makes frequent potty stops! I was thankful to get in a good sweat regardless of my poor scheduling skills. 🙂

This evening will now be spent teaching a class followed by an early bed time. I’ve almost got my marathon training plan put together, so hopefully I’ll be able to share that soon! The Little Rock Marathon is only 7 weeks away!

Have a great day, everyone!

 

15 miles and More Snow

Daily Life!, Running, ,

Happy Sunday! It’s a snowy one once again here in Springfield. We’ve been hibernating all day, and I’m loving it. Sometimes it’s nice to be forced to stay home and just relax!

Today has consisted of cleaning, cooking, and learning new Jazzercise routines! I learned almost 10 new routines so my mind was on overload. Therefore some baking needed to happen. You know… To let my mind relax and regroup. Haha

20140105-202328.jpg
I was craving chocolate! So Nick and I had an awesome dessert tonight. Brownies are always a good thing.

And I couldn’t feel that guilty about having some sweets. I did run 15 miles yesterday after all. 🙂

20140105-202530.jpg
This was my most physically and mentally challenging run so far. I expected that though. I made it through and even beat the winter blast that came Saturday night. So I’m happy with that!

I spent the rest of the day trying to recoup and rehydrate while lounging around in sweats and my compression sleeves.

This morning my Jazzercise class was cancelled (obviously!) but I was determined to move my stiff and sore body just a little. I thought I would attempt to run. It was the worst idea ever.

20140105-203303.jpg
I’ve run in snow several times and made it just fine. But today was hopeless. The roads hadn’t been plowed. And there was about 4.5 inches of snow on them. Needless to say, I made it less than 3 miles before heading home and making some coffee!

Tomorrow morning should be interesting as we try to make it to work. Slow and steady should hopefully get me there safe!

Be careful out there and have a good night. I’ll see you all later!

The Great Letdown

Daily Life!, Running, , , ,

So today is January 2nd. And what does that mean?! It means today could be (and most likely is) one of the biggest letdowns you’ve felt in quite a few months. The holidays are over. We had to go back to work. We have no major holidays coming up to look forward to. We’re all of a sudden on crazy diets so we can’t even eat the leftover sweets to self-soothe (HA!).

BUT, I’m not trying throw you into a further depression. I’m trying to motivate you stay happy! It’s a new year, and we have a lot to look forward to! If one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to work out more, I want you to stay positive and not let this photo become a reality today/tonight:

photo(129)If you made a commitment to yourself to exercise, get your booty to the gym tonight and just do it. Your Endorphins will be an awesome reward after our first full day back to work in the new year anyways. 🙂 Push through today’s ‘post-holiday letdown’ and you’ll have a happier tomorrow!

Morning Run

This morning’s 4-miler was a snowy one! And because of the snow, it also made it a sloooowww one. My pace all week has been about :45 – 1:15 slower than normal (even without the snow). My 10-mile race on Saturday wore me out and I’ve had a touch of the flu, so I’m just going to blame it on all that. I absolutely hate feeling like I’m running fairly fast, only to look down at my gps and realize I’m crawling compared to normal.

I suppose after training for months, I’m going to have a slower week here or there. I’m at the end of Week 11 in my half-marathon training plan, and up to here I’ve stayed pretty healthy. I didn’t know what it would be like to run with a cough/congestion/fever, but now I know I can do it – just a touch slower than normal. 🙂

Once I was home from my run and warm again, I was hungry and luckily snagged the last Clif bar from the cabinet for my breakfast!

photo(130)Gingerbread Clif Bar! I had some Greek yogurt and a banana on the side. My stomach tolerated it well, which is fantastic. Dinner last night wasn’t tolerated so well.

photo(131)I made some chicken and sausage in the Crockpot for our dinner, but my stomach wasn’t wanting any part of that. SO I just ‘indulged’ in some black-eyed peas and unsweetened applesauce. Geez, my New Years was exciting!

The rest of today has been pretty normal minus the snowy start. Mac still loves the snow each time it shows up.

image(22)And I’m thankful for my polka dot rain boots to keep me and my dress pants dry during our midday outing!

image(21)I’m off to teach Jazzercise soon. I don’t feel too sick, but I can’t stop coughing. So send good vibes my way so I can make it through class without hacking up a lung! For my sake and my students’ sake. 🙂

Have a wonderful evening!