Category Archives: Workouts

Winter Blahs

Running, Workouts, , ,

Happy Tuesday to ya! The sun is shining and it is finally above freezing here today! Yay for melting and warmth!

So I set my alarm this morning to get up and go to the gym. I heard it blare at 5 a.m., and I rolled over, turned it off, and went back to sleep. Yup. I just turned it off like it never happened. WHAT?! Me – the queen of waking up before the crack of dawn to get in a good sweat session – completely ignored my alarm and slept until the very last second. And it wasn’t only today. This ‘lazy’ trend started last week when I got sick the Monday before New Year’s. And now that I’m better, I can’t seem to get out of my funk! I’m calling it my ‘Winter blahs’.

WinterBlues_Car__Web1_I’ve come down with a bad case of the blahs, and I’m trying to push past it. Being sick last week + all the snow Springfield has had is turning me into a lazy, hibernator, and I’m not loving it! At first, I was afraid I was experiencing some running burnout. Which, to an extent, wouldn’t shock me. I’m in week 12 of my half-marathon training. But then I realized, I’m not sick of running. I don’t dread going out on my next run. I dread leaving my warm house and heading out into the cold and snow. That’s the main reason I didn’t get out of bed this morning: I was scared my car would get stuck on the side of the road at 5 a.m. with no one around to help.

To set myself back in the right direction, I’m going to teach my normal 2 Jazzercise classes tonight, and then complete a 7+ mile run tomorrow. And I’m going to love every minute of it! I’ve learned some new songs I’ll teach tonight. And as for the run tomorrow, I’ve already told myself that it is going to be challenging with all the snow on the roads. I will be fighting traffic and icy sidewalks, but whatever I don’t get done in the morning, I can finish in the gym tomorrow night with Nick. I just need to sweat and remind myself of why I love exercise, regardless of the crazy weather. 🙂

My first half-marathon is in 2 weeks and I can’t wait! And this also means that I don’t have time to be lazy. I need to push myself this week and then slightly taper my workouts next week to be in tip-top shape for the 25th. I can’t believe I’ve already been training for 3 months for this sucker!

photo(133)It has felt so good to mark off each training run as the weeks have passed. And I can’t wait for the half-marathon to be over so I can make new training plans for the Little Rock Marathon, and then the others halves that I’m signed up for this Spring. It’s going to be a fun and busy race season!

Tonight will be busy with Jazzercise, and I’m thankful for that. Otherwise I would probably go home and eat all the leftover brownies I made on Sunday. And I already had two with my lunch today….I’m just about brownied out!

Have a good evening!!

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Christmas Decorating, Part II

Daily Life!, Workouts, , ,

Happy Monday morning! I’m perkier than normal this morning. I think it’s all the coffee I’ve had + the good workout I had at the gym.

Workout

Monday mornings are when I teach at 5:40 am, but today I switched with the 6:45 pm teacher because of another event she needed to attend this evening. A normal person would’ve taken this opportunity to sleep in, but my body likes routine.  I was up at 5 am like normal, and I headed off to the gym (running outside did not sound like fun to me at all!).

I ran 3.1 on the treadmill – gotta get ready for the Turkey Trot! On that note, can you believe Thanksgiving is next week already?! Holy cow. I just doesn’t seem possible. But I digress. After my run, I was sweatin’ like a fool, so I did some upper torso strength training focusing on my triceps. Seated dips are my favorite right now! I finished with about 5 minutes on the Elliptical to help me cool down before I headed home to get ready for work!

Christmas Decorating, Part II

Yesterday, I finished up my decorating after Nick got home from deer hunting. He got home sooner than I was anticipating! He didn’t get a deer, but one of his buddies got his first buck! That seemed to make the weekend trip worthwhile. 🙂

I got our fancy wreath put up on the front door (compliments of Nick’s wonderful mother).

photo(134)And then I prettied up our little dining room table with some decor that was also provided by Nick’s mom.

image(14)Yay! The table is so festive – love it!

I also put some snowmen and reindeer above the fireplace, but since I don’t have a stocking for Mac or Nick yet, I didn’t want to show our fireplace with only one lonely stocking! Just a few more finishing touches, and the house should be ready to go for the holidays.

Mac’s New Clothes

My mom bought Mac a couple new outfits while we were shopping on Saturday. I finally got Mac to settle down enough for a couple photos yesterday!

First off is the blue sweater with matching scarf.

photo(137)Yes, he’s standing in the window. He was obsessed with all the leaves blowing around in the crazy wind this weekend.

photo(136)Who knew that doggies could look so good in scarves, too?!

His second outfit was some new PJs!

image(13)I party with Santa! haha The booty flap is my favorite part. He was pretty thrilled with them.

photo(132)Awkward face while he’s chewing on a dentabone…or maybe he’s just grinning. Either way,  Mac loves Christmas. 🙂

image(8)Well anyways, happy early holidays! I hope you have a great week. It’s our last full week before Thanksgiving gives us a few days off. Woohoo!

See you all later!

Feels Like Winter

Food for Thought, Workouts, , ,

Happy Hump day evening! It was a long and busy day, so I’m just now checking in. Thankfully I’m home tonight and have time to catch up! Plus I even had time to put together a pot of homemade soup that’s simmering on the stove right now. Recipe to come!

Workout, Part I

This morning I woke up early to get on my workout clothes and head out for my typical Wednesday morning run. On the schedule for today was 5+ miles. The forecast was looking gloomy, so before I even left my bed, I checked out the weather radar. It didn’t look so good! The temps were in the 50’s, but our entire area was covered in green blobs of rain. So I opted to go to the gym to run as far as I could tolerate on the treadmill.

I got through 3 grueling miles before I absolutely had to get off that thing! I did some abs and got in a good stretch before I finished my workout with one mile on the Elliptical. When I headed out of the gym, it was raining and I could tell the temps had dropped. A lot. It felt like Winter had arrived while I was working out! And from the weather forecasts I watched while I was on the treadmill, the cooler temps were going to keep pushing into Springfield throughout the day. Definitely feels like Winter today!

Breakfast

I quickly showered and got ready for my work day when I made it home from my less-than-exciting treadmill run. It was better than nothin’ though! And once I made it to my office, I was hungry for breakfast. I had prepared a batch of overnight oats to bring to work with me. They weren’t my best ever, but they filled me up!

photo(101)I also had some yogurt on the side for extra protein.

image(5)This new flavor is Blended Orange Creme. If you like orangey stuff, you would love it! I gobbled it up in about 30 seconds flat I’m sure. 🙂

Lunch

Lunch started right when I walked in the door because I was starving! I grabbed the first thing that I could find in my fridge. Hummus!

photo(132)While I had lots of this stuff with baby carrots, I made a quick wrap with chicken, spinach, and spicy mustard.

photo(102) image(6)I put in extra spinach. I was feeling guilty for not having a big salad like normal. It did the trick!

Workout, Part II

The rain cleared up as the day progressed, and the temps kept dropping. This presented the perfect opportunity for me to run outside and try out some of my cold weather running gear. I headed out right when I got home for a quick 4 mile run in the dropping temps. 38 degrees feels a lot different from the 50 degree temps that were here this morning! But the run went by fast, especially since I knew I had a hot shower waiting for me at home. 🙂 This brought my mileage for the day to 7 miles which is all I wanted to accomplish with this second workout. Woot for staying on track with my half marathon training!

Now tonight we’re just relaxing as I whip up a new recipe. American Horror Story has a new episode tonight, too! I probably won’t stay awake through the whole thing, but my DVR will make sure I don’t miss it. Have a great night, everyone!