Weekend Recap and The Lilac Festival 5k

I'm feeling so tired and run down this week. May has been a busy month and there are still a few pretty big things coming up:

My first 8k is this Saturday.
We have a three day weekend!
We're going camping on the 28th for our 3 year anniversary.
I've still got 12 days of trying to hit my Fitbit goals each day to make it the full month.

I don't know why but it all feels like a lot to squeeze into this month.

But let's take a moment to look back on this jam-packed weekend:

On Friday, we stopped at the MedVed center to pick up my bib and shirt. The shirt was a nice breathable fabric with a pretty cute design.

We grabbed our Subway Subs and stopped for supplies for our Friday night treat!

Chocolate milkshakes are soo good but these were so thick we could only finish about half of them!

Saturday we wanted to try and go to the Willard Mental institution walk through of the abandoned buildings that they do once a year. It didn't go so well. When we left my car decided to do this fun thing:

That would be my exhaust completely sheared at the seam. So my car was obnoxiously loud for the whole day and we got stuck in traffic for 45 minutes due to an accident which made us late for the walk through. We decided to just hit up a State park and walk around for a bit.

It was a good substitute and we enjoyed our time walking in nature. It was pretty warm out but we made sure to wear our sunscreen. :] We wrapped up Saturday by lounging around the house and eating Pasta for dinner.

Sunday we needed to wake up early in order to get up to the festival by 7:30am. I was super nervous and felt very under trained for this race but I went into it knowing that I was just going to do my best.

My boss had actually signed up to run the 10k that followed my 5k and he warned me about the long uphill towards the finish line so once the gun sounded, I made sure to keep a nice easy pace. My first mile tacked off at 9:09. Not as easy as I had planned, but it was all down hill. It was warm and if you weren't in the middle of the road, you sloped to one side.

Rounding off of the main road you get into some residential running. It was flat but boring. Mile 2 ticked off at 18:36. We turned and retraced our steps back up the mile long hill. It was as tough as I had imagined and it slowed my pace considerably but I knew that the end was right at the top of the hill and all I had to do was to keep moving forward and I would reach it.

My friend and I ran the whole race together and this was caught just before we finished. I gave a little bit more effort than her and ended up beating her by one second!

My time rang in at 30:57, nearly a whole minute slower than my previous time. I'm not terribly bummed by that finish because the temperature was nearing the mid 80's and that mile long hill was a tough one. I came in 20/41 for my age group and came in 367 over all for the race.

We were both pretty tired by the end of the race but then it was time to explore the festival with my mom and Dustin. 

Not counting Sunday's race, I ended up beating my previous weeks 'active minutes' which was my ultimate goal for this past week.

And that is about it! No wonder I'm tired. It's been a long couple of weeks and I'm working another 50 week before my 8k this Saturday and a couple of 3 day weekends in a row! :]

How was your weekend?

Run any races?

Weekend Recap

This is honestly the most tired I have been after a weekend in a while. We ended up doing so so much and it has just drained me.

Friday night for our date night we headed out to the drive in movies to see the Avengers and Fast and Furious 7. Both were pretty good and if you've watched the rest of each franchise, you'll like them!

A-la being bored in the car because we got there an hour and 1/2 early.

The one downside of the drive in is how far away from home it is. We ended up going straight from work because there was no time to go home and then get back in time for the movies. We were and hour and 1/2 early for the show and we ended up leaving at 1:30am to get home by 2:30am.. SUCH a late night for the couple who is usually in bed by 9pm..

Saturday was off to a wonderful start with a 3 miles run followed by some couch cuddles with this handsome.

We were both pretty tired from the night before and ended up running around noon. NOT a good idea because the heat killed us even further.

Lunch was followed by hanging out on the deck and soaking up some beautiful weather.

It was about 5pm by the time that I could convince Dustin that we should get out and go hiking. And of boy; hiking waterfalls works muscles that I don't normally use in the winter!

Get a picture of how deep this water is! :]

Waterfall selfies!

Working the legs and arms on top of some very slippery shale.

He suggested I pose for this picture.

More waterfall selfies! We climbed up it after taking this ;].

It was beautiful and the bugs were hardly biting at all! I love hiking the water falls and it's one of my favorite summer-time activities. It's really a great workout and fun too!

We were exhausted by the time we finished and got home. We made some salmon burgers (HIGHLY recommend!) and then hit the hay.

Sunday I woke up at 6:30 to get ready to go hangout with my mom, brother, and his girlfriend at the Lilac festival for Mother's day!

It was a beautiful morning and (even though I put on sunscreen) I ended up getting burned on my neck and shoulders. We then headed to the farm where Dustin joined us for some BBQ and animal watching.

Overall it was a jam packed weekend and I ended up getting all green for my Fitbit stats! :] 

How was your weekend?

Did you do anything different than you usually do?

Favorite things about Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!

It feels like this week has been equal parts 'oh god it's going by so slowly' and 'I can't believe it's already Friday!'

The past week has been rough. Wake up at 5:30, out the door by 6, hour commute to work, 10 hour workday with a walk during lunch hour, hour commute home, hour of running, and then bed. Repeat all 5 days of the week..

It feels like it's always go, go, go and that I never really get much time to just sit down and relax.

So today I'm going to share my top 5 favorite things about Friday that I look forward to:

1. It's pay day! I get paid on a weekly basis and it's nice to be able to store some into savings for our house or pay on my student loan debt. It's just a nice thing to look forward to.

2. We get to wear jeans at work. Friday's are the only day of the week that we're allowed to wear jeans and let me tell you, as a (not so) recent college grad, I miss wearing my jeans and yoga pants every. single. day.

3. It's Date Night! Every Friday we choose to go out and do something or eat a cheat meal. Tonight we're going to grab some Dairy Queen and then go to the Drive-in for a double feature of the Avengers and Furious 7.

4. It's rest day. I will run and cross train for the other 6 days of the week, but Friday's are my day to rest and I enjoy them thoroughly.

5. It's finally the weekend. Weekends are more fun. There's more time to do things that you really enjoy doing and more time to just be outside. Plus you get to sleep in a little bit. Also there's the option of getting ice cream and I love ice cream. :]

What are your favorite things about Friday?

Ice cream; yay or nay? 

What are your weekend plans?

Monthly Measurements

So I have been off of the scale ever since before New Years. One of my resolutions this year was to not let a number on the scale rule my life and I have been successful.

All had been going fairly well until the end of March when my curiosity was really starting to drive me nuts. So I found an alternative.

My company is neat because they have a Registered Nurse come in a few times a month and she's available to talk, to take our measurements, to help out with any health related things really. So at the beginning of April I had asked her to take my measurements once a month in order to physically track my progress.

The April stats read as: 4/2/15

Blood Press:  119/77
Heart Rate:    66
Blood 02:       98
Body Fat:      32.4 % <-- This one may have been a mistake.
Waist in ":     34.5"
Hips in ":       47"
Thighs in ":   26 1/2" (L) 26 1/2" (R)
Arms in ":     13 1/2" (L) 13 1/2" (R)

I had gotten a small hip flexor injury that had me being out for the last two weeks of April and when I'm out and not running I tend to eat really poorly. I had a lot of ice cream and cake and just plain junk food.

Which is why I was surprised yesterday when we had my monthly check-in. All together I was able to lose 13.25" from around my body! It's amazing how motivating that is!

May stats read as: 5/6/15

Blood Press:  107/79
Heart Rate:    94
Blood 02:       99
Body Fat:      36.5 % <-- This one could also be the mistake. I'm not sure but I know one of them is                                             goofy because I lost inches so I should not have gained body fat...
Waist in ":     32"
Hips in ":       42 1/2"
Thighs in ":   24" (L) 24" (R)
Arms in ":     12 1/4" (L) 12 1/2" (R)

I mean, look at that! 2" off of each thigh, 1" off from each arm, 2.5" from my waist, and 4.5" from my hips?!? That's nuts! I'm unbelievably proud of the progress that I made in that single month.
Can you imagine what my body will feel like and be able to do in the months ahead?

It's hard to notice changes happening along the way, because we see ourselves everyday. We run with our bodies and only see one or 2 second improvements each run. We think that we aren't improving fast enough, but if you take improvements and look at them over a month or two, you really are able to see the progress and the change that is happening along the way.

Thursday Thoughts

Happy almost end of the week!

These past few days have been full of work and running and not much else.

Monday we started off with a nice 3 mile run on the trails. I need to get some experience running outside and on hills for my next 5k.

Please excuse the poor picture quality.. I forgot to take one until we were already inside. It's no excuse and we turned out orange.. but it will have to do.

I also started a new strength training type thing to get my muscles a little more.. muscular? 

It really is kicking my butt at the moment. Fridays are usually my rest day from running so I switched up Friday and Saturday.

Tuesday went much the same as Monday Except that we took better photos! 3 miles down!

He loves me; I promise..

Last night was another 3 miles on the trails in the sunshine and HEAT! It was still 70 degrees when we got out to run at 7pm..

My hip flexor is a little tight again and I've been trying to stretch it.. thankfully tomorrow is a rest day.

My friend has been making it a goal to get over 10k steps in per day this week and I have been joining her! I've been pretty good about it since Saturday so I guess we'll see how the rest of the week goes! :]

How is your week going?

Do you think you get in enough steps in a day?

What temperatures do you like to run in?

Weekend Recap

So this weekend was pretty enjoyable!

Friday started off with us finishing out our 50hr week with a trip to Subway! I needed to get some carbs in for the race on saturday ;]. We mainly just went home and relaxed for a bit before getting to sleep.

Saturday we woke up at 6:30 to get around for the race and to head over to my parents house to meet with my friend and walk over to the race.

Race time was great besides it being a little bit too warm. Race finish 29:55! I made my goal of a sub-30 time! :]

Dustin and I then proceeded to go to an animal auction with my parents where they bought 2 female rabbits (1 already bred), a rabbit enclosure, and a rooster! It was fun to be outside and to be in the sunshine. my legs started to ache mid day but I enjoyed being with my parents and watching them bid.

We ended the day by grabbing some Wendys for lunch, and grabbing supplies for home-made pizza for dinner.

Sunday, we woke up early and were out for our 3 mile run by 8am. We got home, lounged around a bit waiting for everyone else to get up, and then set to work on various activities for the day. I took charge of cleaning leaves out of the pool while Dustin's mom chatted to me about wedding venues. Dustin washed his car, and his dad cleaned the shed.

We then all went out for lunch at Seneca Farms (grilled chicken sandwich, yum!) and then we came home to laze about while his parents went out to a friend's party. We made another homemade pizza for dinner and had a nice night just hanging out until bed time. ;]

I'm excited for the next month of things. This weekend is Mother's day; next weekend is my next 5k race; the following weekend is my 8k race; and then we have our anniversary weekend!

3 years together already! I'm really trying not to get my hopes up for a proposal on our anniversary weekend. He's told me that he will be asking me sometime in 2015 but I'm really trying not to get my hopes up for that weekend (even though I would be REALLY excited!). We'll just have to wait and see I suppose :]

Sonnenberg Spring 5k Recap

This race was a really nice start to the season!

Let us start back on Friday when I was able to pay off my third students loan!

Saturday we woke up at 6:30 and got around for the day. I ended up eating 3 mini bagels 1 when I woke up, 1 an hour before the race, and 1 half an hour before the race. The one thing that I think that I neglected to do was to drink enough water.

We got to my house and walked ~1 mile as a warm up to get to packet pickup. The event didn't have the correct size for my friend's or my race shirt ( which was a bummer) but they were a nice purple color and a long sleeved shirt (which was kind of nice!)

We ran into Hollie's pastor and on of the girls that we went to high school with before the race and ended up running pretty similar times with her. 

The first mile was within the park and had shade so we powered through it, even though it started on an uphill (9:42 mile). We then hit the black top of the Va Hospital and I realized that my choice of wearing a long sleeved shirt was a poor one.

The 2nd mile was really rough and I had to walk a couple of times because of the pure heat of the day. I lost Hollie and Brooke as they went ahead but then caught them again by picking up my speed when I did start jogging again (9:53 mile). 

It was by that point that we were back in the park. I couldn't breathe and had to slow to a walk again. I shooed my friend Hollie ahead because this was her first race and she had a goal of getting below a 30 minute 5k. I saw her overtake Brooke and I forced myself to continue to chase Brooke with off -and-on walking. The course ended on an up hill and I was able to overtake Brooke on that hill but when it flattened out for the last .1 of a mile she flew by me. I was so tired by this point and was sure that I had missed my goal by having to walk.. but as I rounded the corner and saw that the clock was at 29:50 I pushed the last bit of effort that I had and finished off with a time of 29:55! (10:20 1.1 mile)

I couldn't believe it! I was so happy that we were both able to reach our goal of getting a sub-30 5k! Brooke told us that the finish listing was up and Hollie (29:20) had placed in 3rd for our age group (20-25), Brooke had placed in 4th (also gotten a pr of 29:49), and I had placed in 5th! Hollie was so excited to get a medal for her first 5k, she couldn't wait to sign up for our next one!

Hollie and I after cooling down a bit.

Dustin and me and I was soo warm and tired.

Holls and I again right after finishing.

And here is the confusing and hilly course that I wasn't prepared for but we all finished strong! 

Overall, I am very happy and proud of being able to finish in our goal times! My next race is on May 17th and my goals for next race are to A) not walk during the race & B) beat my time of 29:55.

It will be a bigger race with a lot more people, but I am sure that that will only fuel me to not walk and to really give it my all. 

Even though this wasn't a PR race (5k pr time is 29:28) it was a nice starting place after 2 years of not racing at all. :] I cannot wait for the 5k on the 17th!