Half Marathon Training: Week 3

This week was just as exhausting as far and balancing work and training goes. I ended up switching my Thursday run to Friday night and my Saturday long run to this morning but I didn't skip anything! It's hard to get home and go out to run after I've been on my feet all day and my legs are already tired. I think I only have one more week of full-time training though and then I will transition to my part-time schedule, yay!

Here's the proof for my runs this week! ;) Not in order, but how much do you really want from me? These runs pretty much all sucked; if I had to pick a "best run" out of the week, it would probably be the 6 miler. I just feel more accomplished after a longer run and it was nice to have a rest day yesterday and be able to run in the morning for once.

 Mal came over to cuddle with me while I was stretching this morning.

His one ear has straightened all the way up and the other one seems like it's on it's way to standing up too. I'm interested to see if they'll both stay standing up or if they will eventually flop forward.

Of course I had to wrap the week up with some s'mores and a campfire. We still haven't had a campfire by the lake at our house this summer and I think it's about time we remedy that!

I made a really exciting purchase this weekend that should hopefully arrive this week or early next week! Want a hint? It starts with "L" and ends with "ululemon." :D I also found a yoga studio pretty close to our house (who knew?) so I'll hopefully be going to a class there this week or next! Stay tuned for next week's recap!

Half Marathon Training: Week 2

Good evening everyone! This week has been kind of crazy in a bunch of different ways. Firstly, it's been ridiculously hot out (like 90º+ all week). I ended up skipping my run on Wednesday because of this; I didn't get up early enough to run before work and it was out of control hot when I got done. 

I did my 3 mile run on Tuesday on the treadmill, figuring it would be better to run inside with a fan blowing on me rather than dying of heat stroke outside. I didn't have the sun beating on me, but I still felt like I was going to die. We had our engagement photo shoot on Thursday, so I was able to get up early and run in the morning, although it was already around 75º by the time I got out the door at 7am. It rained for a few hours before my long run on Saturday, so it wasn't as dreadfully hot as it had been for the rest of the week. I was so unhappy with my runs for the week, but Saturday's run boosted my spirits a bit.

Even though it interferes with my morning runs, I love my new job! All of my coworkers are awesome and I get to dress like a real grown up lady! There's so much more that goes into being a teller than I originally thought, but I feel like I'm catching on pretty quick and it's enjoyable work. 

Joe and I spent most of the weekend in Philly visiting my best friend and her boyfriend. Joe's been wanting to tour the Mint for the longest time, so we finally were able to do that. We went to a small Mexican restaurant for dinner on Saturday night and it was beyond incredible. Suffice it to say, after chips and guac, ceviche, tamarind margaritas, fish tacos, and churros, I was stuffed.

We had planned on going to Dave and Buster's after dinner, but we ended up going back to their apartment and hanging out, which turned out to be totally awesome because we got to watch the coolest lightning storm.

I'll be working a full time schedule for job training for another week or two, so it's going to be busy around here for a bit longer. I'm very excited to transition into my part time schedule and have some free time back! 

Half Marathon Training: Week 1

Well this is exciting! Today I wrapped up my very first week of half marathon training. After looking through many different training programs, I finally settled on Hal Higdon's Novice 2 program. I love that he has a ton of programs for different skill levels and that this level goes up to a 12 mile run for training.

I'm pretty happy with my runs for the week (somehow I lost one of the pictures of my Garmin). I bought those individual packets of Nuun and I love both of them! I wish I could try every flavor this way. 

My long run this Saturday was dull, rainy and not so enjoyable. Unfortunately, I think I'm beginning to get shin splints so I'm going to make sure to be extra careful so I don't lose out on any training time.

I did some Tone It Up yoga and Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred today for my cross training and made a green smoothie afterwards for lunch. I like having a designated day for stuff like this in the training plan, but I think I'm also going to mix it into the week on a rest day or an easy running day too.

I saved the best for last! :) On Sunday, we drove to New Jersey to adopt the newest member of our family, Malcolm. He's an 8 week old Jack Russell/Corgi mix and the most precious little baby I've ever seen. Luna is finally starting to warm up to him too; they were playing most of the afternoon yesterday.

I've got a LOT going on this coming week so I'm interested to see how everything will pan out with my training. I have a feeling I might have to push my runs to the evening instead of morning or even possibly run on the treadmill since it's supposed to be in the 90s this week.

Montrose Race for Independence 10k Recap

I found this race just a couple of days before 4th of July and convinced Joe into registering us. The late registration fee was still only $25 so I figured it was a great deal! It was a little over an hour away from home, which meant we had a reallllly early morning. We got there early and were able to get our packets and use the restroom with some time to spare.

There were tons of people there and everything started exactly on time. The races started with a kid's fun run, then the 5k started and the 10k started ten minutes after the 5k did. The 10k started out with a short run through town and then to this decline. Unfortunately, every downhill has an uphill and the hill after I took this picture was rough. The scenery was gorgeous though, so that helped!

The first two miles were on paved roads, the middle two miles were down a residential dirt road, and most of the final two miles were on wooded trails, with the exception of the finish that looped back through town. I've never run on nice trails like this before and it was really serene and fun! It was also the only completely shaded part of the course.

The course support for this race was the greatest I've experienced so far. There were so many people out cheering and some homeowners on the course even had sprinklers and hoses out to spritz runners as they ran by if they wanted. It really helps having nice people out to cheer you on!

My Garmin said I ran 6.3 miles in 1:06:10, but my official race time was 1:05:59. They had mile markers at each mile and I noticed that my Garmin was going off progressively later after I passed each marker. This race was a little tough with the heat, humidity, and hills, but I'm happy that I was able to hang around a 10:30 average pace. 

There was an Independence Day Festival going on when we got done with a cook out and some craft vendors, but we didn't really stick around too long, as we had our own festivities to attend. It looked like a great place to spend the afternoon. 

We headed to my grandparents' property to get our freedom on with some awesome 'merica shirts that we found at Wal-Mart of course. We had our own personal fireworks show and some homemade pulled pork, which was amazing.

Luna went swimming involuntarily and spent the rest of the day giving us sad eyes about it. Not my fault she has to roll in any disgusting thing she finds.

My legs were pretty sore the next day, but I'm attributing it to the fact that I wore flip flops instead of my compression socks for most of the day after the race and I did a lot of standing around. In other news, I started a structured half marathon training plan yesterday, so I'll be ready for the Pocono Lake Region Half at the end of September! Woot!

How did you spend your 4th of July? Any races or delicious cook outs? :P

A lot of eating and not enough running...

Good evening everyone! I come bearing good news: I finished the 500 nail designs for my book! All I have left to do now is the short captions and I'm totally done. It's such a relief to have that huge amount of work behind me and I'm beyond excited to see the final result.

Besides my stress level being lowered, the other great thing about finishing up the book is that I have time to work out again! Today I had an interview for a local bank teller position in morning, so I came home and did the Bridal Babe Workout from Tone It Up and went for a short run after that. I got really out of control with my meals this week, so I'm working on reeling it in. I'm grazing on some amazing raspberries at the moment!

Yesterday was my birthday, so my fiancé and I went to La Tonalteca for dinner and it was perfect. Their fish tacos are to die for! They come with a delicious cilantro sauce and pico de gallo that is just so fresh and amazing. 

And did you know that Dairy Queen has a new s'mores Blizzard?? It's a limited edition flavor for the summer, so I'm taking that to mean I should grab one every time I have the chance. So yummy!

I'll leave you with this little gem. Luna loves going for car rides but hates when she gets left in the car while we run into the store. She usually just curls up on the driver's seat looking all sad and pouty until we get back.

Do you have a dog? Does he/she loves car rides? What's your stance on fish tacos, love 'em or hate 'em?