Half Marathon Training: Week 7

This was a great week! I had to work a lot which sucked at the time, but will be awesome come pay day. I got all my runs in and felt pretty good about them.

My pace has been much slower than I wish it was, but I've been tired from standing at work all day, so it's whatever. I'm more concerned about the distance than the pace at this point anyway. I'm thinking over the winter I'll try working on my speed.

We did some incredible eating this week. Finally made it to the What the Fork food truck in Scranton and had some AMAZING crab sliders and pork tacos with thinly sliced sweet potato fries. I die. Cheat meal at it's finest. 

I got lots of cuddles after my long run on Sunday morning, which I was actually nervous about. I got it done, but it was a little painful towards the end. I wore my compression socks for the rest of day, to bed, and to work today so I definitely think that helped. I also tried an ice bath right after the run and I'm not sure I'll be attempting that again. So not fun!

Joe and I went to check out a possible rehearsal dinner restaurant with my parents and brothers last night and it was fantastic! I'm so in love with my Ellie running pants that I tried to make a casual outfit out of them to wear to dinner. ;)

I tried some Angry Orchard Apple at the restaurant and forced my dad to stop at the beer store on the way home so I could buy a variety pack. Cinnful Apple is the PERFECT adult beverage for fall. Mmmm.

 

What kind of awesome stuff did you eat this week?

Half Marathon Training: Week 6

This week was really exciting and really boring at the same time. Exciting because I'm officially half way through my training and boring because this was a slow week and I didn't really do anything exciting outside of running either.

Tuesday's run was done on the treadmill since it was raining and it was AWFUL. I need to invest in some cold weather running gear ASAP because there's no way I'll survive on the treadmill all winter. Funny how quick your attitude towards treadmills can change! Wednesday's run was broken up into a run and a dog walk and Thursday and Saturday's runs went according to schedule.

I found a neat little camera timer app on my iPhone and spent some time looking like an idiot trying to take running selfies. It takes a surprising amount of patience!

See you next week for my Week 7 recap!

Half Marathon Training: Week 5

This week was pretty great as far as training goes! I got everything in on it's proper day and didn't skip any runs.

Joe and I ran together for a little bit of my 4 mile run and then came home and walked the dogs for the rest of it, so that's why the pace is so slow. It was a really good idea too because the dogs totally passed out as soon as we got home.

My long run was up to 8 miles this week and that ties one other 8 mile run I did for my longest distance. From here on out, every increased long run will be a distance record! I was very excited when I first realized that, but it also feels a little daunting. Mostly exciting though!

The first 4 or so miles of my long run were a little bit of a struggle, but I feel like I get happier the longer I run and it gets more enjoyable. It may just be because I'm excited about the longer distances, but it's a great feeling! I had a gorgeous day for my run too, so that helped.

I went to yoga for the first time in months for my crosstraining and enjoyed it so much. I'm going to make an effort to go to at least one class a week and supplement that with some Yogify at home. I really love yoga; I wish someone would open a good studio in my town!

In non-running/exercise-related news, I finally got to go parasailing this week! My fiancé has been driving the parasailing boat on our hometown lake for the whole summer and I was finally able to make it over there to take a ride.

It was so awesome! I couldn't believe how high we actually got and it was so cool to see the lake from a completely different perspective. If you ever have the chance to parasail anywhere, I definitely recommend that you do it!

See you next week when I'll be exactly halfway through my half marathon training! :X

Lululemon Amped Crop Review/Photos

I'm doing something a little different today and reviewing some clothes for you guys! I placed an order with Lululemon recently and was like a little kid on Christmas morning when the package finally arrived. The Amped crop was one of the pieces that I ordered, but is also the only one that I'm returning and I shall tell you why.

I was really impressed with these crops when I first tried them on. The fabric is so much nicer than any other athletic leggings I've ever worn and I love the unique design with the one purple cuff and the white stripe down one side. (Also wearing the Cool Racerback in bold stripe power purple in these pics).

However, they didn't sit right in the front. The dreaded toe of the camel, you know? I figured I could fix it by wearing a longer shirt with these, but I honestly shouldn't have to. This was the first reason why I decided to return these. The second was that I figured I could get a lot more use out of a plain black pair of leggings from Lulu than these. I could wear black ones to work out and even under a dress with boots for work.

For reference, I am 5'2" and weigh 105 pounds. These crops are a size 4 and were just the slightest bit tight in the waist. I'd like to try on a size 6, but my closest Lulu store is about three hours away, so it won't be happening any time soon! Plus, I like my leggings to be skin tight; I hate when they sag in the knee area and I'm afraid that sizing up would make that happen. Ultimately, I would recommend at least going and trying these crops on if you like how they look. They really are adorable and if you wear a lot of longer tanks/shirts, the cam toe problem wouldn't be an issue for you.

Do any of you own these crops or any others from Lulu? What do you think? I'm thinking of replacing these with the Wunder Under pants but I haven't quite decided yet.

Half Marathon Training: Week 4

I'm one third of the way through my training! I can't believe how fast the summer has been flying by... This week was a little crazy and hectic, but it was my last week working the full-time schedule at work so I'm hoping next week will be better!

I didn't want to run at all on Tuesday, so Joe and I decided to take the dogs for a 3 mile walk instead; however, we only made it 1.5 miles since we couldn't figure out where we were going (more on that later). I added the other 1.5 miles onto my 4 mile run that was scheduled for Wednesday morning. I ran my other 3 mile run on Friday instead of Thursday and my long run (7 miles) on Sunday instead of Saturday. I was scared my Garmin was going to die, so I saved my run after 3 miles and used Map My Run to track the rest. I love the long weekend runs, it's so exciting to up my mileage every week!

So in regards to the getting lost, apparently we have a state game land trail for running/biking very close by and I was really excited when I found out about it. It starts out near a quarry, but the trail we were on quickly turned into a swampy area with tall grass over growing the trail. We ended up walking through the quarry and not being able to figure out where we really needed to be. I think next time we're going to try entering from the other end of the trail and see how that goes instead.

On non-running related news, we went to tour the barn again where we are getting married next summer and they built this amazing ceremony space in the woods since we were there last! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about all the stuff we are getting done for the wedding.

Aaaaand back to running. I sold a TON of nail polish to put towards a Lululemon purchase and am so thrilled with the stuff I ordered! These Speed Shorts are so stretchy and comfortable and I love how flattering they are. I'll show the other stuff that I got periodically on the blog! :)

See you next week!