Sunday, June 26, 2011

A Thoughtful Weekend

How was everyone's weekend? Fun and summery goodness??
Yeah, totally wish that was me on the beach with a surfboard...

My weekend, like always these days, was busy and on the go. Someday, I will sit around all weekend, watching TV, reading, getting a whole butt ton of things on my To-Do list done.. I'm just not in that chapter of my life right now and that is totally okay. Admist the chaos of my days and nights, there are moments when I get to take a deep breath and enjoy what is going on around me. Life is so fun!

With Parker starting preschool in the fall and Callie starting dance classes (hopefully!), and the onset of sports into our lives, this is the last couple months we will have with no schedules, no places to be, no Hurry Up's- We're gonna be lates.. What a special time.

Monday, June 20, 2011

5k Test

First off I would like to say Happy Father's Day (yesterday) to all you Daddy-O's out there who read this blog. I think my husband and my dad are the only ones- so Hi guys! I hope you had a good day! Cory was a little spoiled this year. He got a new charcoal BBQ/smoker, a shirt, and a book called "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters. The grill was his favorite part I think..

On a running note, I finally made it to the middle point of the training plan I laid out a couple months ago. The point of the plan was to very slowly increase my mileage and speed- all without injuring myself.

Well Mr. Hal Higdon I would like to shake your hand because I beat my previous best time and clocked a 32:58 for 3.1 miles. YAY! That's about a 10:40 pace. I did have to stop and walk a couple times, but that's alright. So I'm not sure if it's considered a PR unless it's an official race. What do you think?

I'm off now to eat some yummy burgers on our new grill. Yum!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women--A Book Review!!!!

Confession: I lost my camera. So no fun book review pics this time. It's too bad too because I really loved this next book. It would have been fun to have a little photo shoot with this one. It's called "The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get off your butt and on with your training" by Dawn Dais.
The author is hilarious and really made the book interesting and entertaining. The book included actual pages from her journal while she trained for her first marathon. It's kinda like a "how-to" to jumpstart your own running, while sitting and talking to your funny best friend about all the horrible parts of running. The author also includes different running plans to get you going for a half marathon, or full.
Reading this book actually made me feel not so bad about my slowness, or that it's a bad thing to take walking breaks sometimes when out for a run. There were great running tips in the book too as well as pages to write your own thoughts and training.
I would totally recommend this book to any female runner. Beginner to hardcore- it will make you laugh.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Green!

I love nature. I do not consider myself an outdoorsy girl by any means- but I love sitting in the woods, listening to the sounds of nearby water, birds, and crackling campfires. I love sitting back in a lawn chair with my head back, eyes closed, and the sun shines through the trees and hits my face. Ah! Heaven!




Last week we took my parents camping for my dad's birthday to Kanaskat-Palmer State Park and it was gorgeous.


There is just something about being amongst all that green that makes me appreciate life so much more. Makes me feel connected with Earth and is almost spiritual. Okay, trying not to go too hippie on you here. Sorry, I'm from Washington..what do you expect?!



We hiked, fished, cooked on the campfire, and just hung out. Here are some fun family pics!


Do you like camping? Where are your favorite spots?

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Running Treats

Wow, can't believe it's been a week since my last post. Sorry guys! I went camping all last weekend and it's taking me some extra time to get back to the real world.

On a fun note, I was "Introduced" on The Running Duck's blog! Go say "Hi" to her and follow her running blog. She's super speedy so I want to be like her when I grow up.

On another fun note, I've recently treated myself to some running treasures. First off, I headed down to our local running store, Runner's Soul to get myself some new shoes.

Although I waited a long time for a salesperson to help me, they were able to help me find a shoe that would hopefully help with my shin/ankle/foot pain. Turns out, when I run, or even just stand there, my foot wants to roll inwards, which pulls on my ankle, shin, and knee. Those muscles that have been so sore have been working to pull my foot back over when I run thus, putting a huge strain on the poor guys. So, I ended up being told I need a "stability shoe" and left the store with the Saucony Progrid Guide 4's in pink! They did get 4.4/5 stars on roadrunnersports.com, so I guess they are good. Plus, they were on sale! Score!

After running in them for a couple weeks now, I LOVE them! My shin feels 95% better. They were well worth the money!

The next pretty I bought was a Garmin 305!
I am still learning how to use this thing, but it seems pretty cool! The other night my mom and I took it out for a spin, and it made it so much easier to keep my pace and push myself. I actually ran under a 10 min pace for the majority of the run. Nevermind that it was pouring rain and I was sprinting back to the car. I can't figure out how to make it keep track of my calories burned while running on the dreadmill though. I guess I should read that book of an owners manual that came in the box.

Anywhos, I've spent too much money on all my goodies, but figure it's worth it. Not sure if the hubs agrees with that! So I will be posting camping pics this week. Went to Kanaskat-Palmer State Park. Very pretty campground. Very green and relaxing. What have you all been up too??!!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

No Weigh May is Over!

June 1st has finally arrived and I was finally able to bust the scale back out. I was excited to find out the damage in a sick way. Becuase of my shin splints, I barely ran at all in May. I took just about 3 weeks off. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty.. And the results? I gained 4 pounds.

Am I bummed out? Yes and No. Yes because I have worked so hard for every ounce I've lost. Every step I ran, every brownie I passed on..down the pooper. Looking back on it, I realize the less I excerised, the worse I ate. My eating habits became horrible! I ate out A LOT and drank A LOT of pop. No I wasn't bummed out because I knew I put some poundage back on so I wasn't surprised. At least I saw it coming! Also, the month did remind me that me sticking with exercising is about a lifestyle makeover- not just something to do once a week and hope for a miracle.

No-Weigh May has come and gone. It was very hard for me, but it's over! Will I go back to weighing myself every day? Um, yes, I'm sure I will. It helps me keep myself in check and at this point in my weight loss journey, that's what I need. I hope I eventually get to that maintenance phase and can weigh myself once a week or whatever. But for now, I still have about 15 pounds I would like to get rid of, (Dang it- it was only 11!) and I need that number staring back at me every morning to keep me on the straight and narrow.

How did your No Weigh May go? If you blogged about it, let me know and I will link you up on my page!

HAPPY JUNE!!!