Just a Few Thoughts

So this post doesn’t really fall into any of the categories of this blog but…. Here are a few thoughts I’ve had over the last couple days….

1. Folding laundry might be the worst thing ever….can you tell I have laundry waiting for me in the dryer to fold? But really, come on engineering friends, can’t you come up with a folding machine too? How hard can it really be?

2. I am loving having sunny mornings. Not that it makes me get out of bed any earlier, but it is so nice to not be getting up in the dark anymore. Thanks daylight savings!

3. I’m looking for book suggestions…. I really like inspirational sports books and health and fitness books. Has anyone read Wheat Belly? I almost caved at target the other day and bought it but just wasn’t sure about it.

4. I’m thinking of taking a social media break; no Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for a month (with the exception of posting my blog of course). Who has done this before? Did you like it or did you feel like you were missing out on things? I feel like I waste so much time on social media that I am due for a break from it.

5. What would you like to see more of on this blog? More fitness routines? Healthy recipes? Life updates? Other? Always curious as to what my readers would like to see more of.

6. Shout-out to The Blue Dishes. I love reading your blog most every morning Haley. Does anyone have any blogs they really enjoy reading?

7. What are the holidays going to be like as an adult who has to work? I know this sounds strange to those of you who are seasoned veterans to the working world, but y’all this is my first year where I don’t have a huge break for the holidays….I have always been a student. I get two days for Thanksgiving and three for Christmas. I’m thankful for those days but also having a bit of a pity party over it.

8. I am really ready for a break from the endurance world. I love running but I am ready for a break. November 15th can’t come soon enough! As mentioned in here and here, I will be competing in Thunder Road Marathon on the 15th then it is off season for me.

Thats it for today! Hope you’re having a wonderful Thursday night!

5:45 1:49:26 13.1

Wondering what those random numbers are? Well I’ll clear up the confusion, they are the numbers that represent my Sunday morning. So lets start from the beginning with 5:45, this is the time that my alarm went off and 1:49:26 is the time it took for me to run 13.1miles. Continue reading for a recap of the entire City of Oaks Half Marathon.

5:45AM — the alarm goes off and boy am I thankful for day light savings time. That extra hour of sleep was clutch after all my other weekend madness.

6:15 — leave Bre’s apartment. Thanks for being such an amazing race morning host…I hope I wasn’t too loud as I moved about your apartment doing my typical race morning circles.

6:30 — Meet Kathryn at the start line for one last potty stop and to line up.

6:58 — Find the 1:45 pace group.

7:00 — The gun goes off and I am already thinking damn this is a quick pace so I quickly let the pacers go ahead of me but still keeping them close.

Mile 1 — Yep! I was right, the pace group went out really quick! Time to back off a bit.

Mile 2-3 — Settle in. Feeling good.

Mile 4 — Choke down some water. Running and drinking water is just something I will never master.

Mile 6 — Hello wind tunnel!

Mile 8 — Dear Peace Street hill, we will never be friends. You won the battle but I won the war. I walked about 30seconds of you but conquered the rest feeling strong.

Mile 9-10 — Uhh hello! forgot about you hilly Raleigh neighborhoods. You are so pretty and cute but must you be so hilly!?

Mile 11 — Whhhhyyyyy?! Really this extra little out and back is such a tease.

Mile 12 — HOME STRETCH!!!! Just have to make it past the NC State library and it is all downhill from there.

Mile 13 — maybe I should start smiling….there is a camera right in front of me….I’ll give it a try!

Mile 13.1 — DONE. 1hour, 49minutes, and 26seconds. I made it under 1:50 so I was a happy camper.

What I learned from the day:

1. If you want to run with a pace group, you need to ask the pacers if they are planning on banking time.
2. Not having spectators on the course specifically for you is super strange. Definitely have an even greater appreciation for my great race day parents now. Love you mom and dad!
3. Half marathon is a super awesome distance. It is tiring but you still can be a productive member of society after it is done with.
4. Take your fuel as you planned….I didn’t take anything along this race like I had planned too and definitely regretted it at about mile 12.
5. I should really sign up for more half marathons. This distance is really great.

So there you have it, my crazy numbers are explained and you now have the entire recap of my weekend. Hope you’re having a great week so far and getting in those couch to 5k training session. I’ll be back Friday (or Saturday if I’m slacking) with week two’s training.

Have a goodnight y’all!

Couch to 5K Series: 2

So glad y’all are back! I hope you are excited to get week one of training kicked off. We are going to keep the training really simple the entire 5 weeks. You will have 5 days of exercise and two days of rest each week. This week your total time commitment to the program is between 70 and 80minutes. I know even the busiest of people can spare less than 2hrs from their week. So lets get started….

Step 1: Sit up
Step 2: Put on running shoes
Step 3: Get off the couch
Step 4: Walk out the door

….You’ve done the hardest part!!! Sounds silly but I promise you, this is always the hardest part for even the most veteran of runners.

So who is going to jump on board for the next 5 weeks with me?? Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you may have along the way!

Couch to 5K Series: 1

Hello Friends! Are you enjoying these beautiful Fall days?! I sure hope so! I know I am enjoying being able to get some fresh air after work. With these beautiful Fall days, I have been getting a lot of questions from friends and clients about Winter 5Ks. You know the Reindeer Romp, Jiggle Bell Jog, Etc. Etc. that you see advertised all over town? So that being said, I am putting together a series on running your first ever 5K and what better time than right before the holidays?! We can all afford a little extra exercise before the season of pies, cookies, egg nog, and hearty family meals. I hope you will join in on this fun and VERY DO-ABLE 5 week series.

Warm – Up Couple Days:

Find those running shoes! If yours are super old or you don’t have any at all, check out your local running store. They will fit you for the correct shoe thus helping you avoid injury. A couple of my favorite places for running shoes are: Fleet Feet Sports, Try Sports, Inside Out Sports, and Omega Sports.

Pick your race and mark your calendar. If you’re following along exactly with me and just so happen to live in the Charlotte area, I will be gearing this training plan towards the Run Run Rudolph and the Jingle Bell Run they are both held on December 6th, 2014. A great site for finding races is Running in the USA. Click on your state then select the 5K distance.

Start walking, over the next couple days just do what you can. Real training will start on Monday, November 3rd.

Check back Friday for your first week of training!

** Consult your physician before starting any exercise program. **

Marathon Training Plan

For those of you that know me pretty well, you know I am a planner. My calendar goes everywhere with me and I have everything that day will hold, including all of my training, written in on every day. Well, this time around as I train for my next marathon, things have been a little different. As I mentioned in my life update post yesterday, I am really just settling into this whole being a working woman thing and needless to say, my training has reflected that. Although my calendar is still plenty full it comes with a bit more flexibility this time around. To avoid getting discouraged as I know I am not going to get a run in everyday (like I would like to plan for), I have created a schedule that has a few less miles but still plenty of activity. A typical week looks something like this….

Monday — nothing, maybe walk the dog and foam roll a bit. I typically work an 10-12hr day on Monday so getting in anything of quality, forget about it!!
Tuesday — short 3-5mi run. Topping out at about 45min. This allows me to get moving a bit after work but doesn’t take a crazy amount of time.
Wednesday — strength and cycle. Usually by Wednesday I’m pretty tired so doing an hour worth of activity where I am constantly mixing things up helps get me through it.
Thursday — another short 3-5mi run. Typically I have to push myself pretty hard to get through this one as Friday is one of my off days so I really just want to chill and take things easy once I get off work. Who else likes to workout on their “Friday” evening?!
Friday — 4-6mi run. I add intervals or something into this run to act as my speed work for the week.
Saturday — ya never know haha ….I told you I was being a bit more flexible this time around. I work a half day on Saturday so it totally depends on my plans for after work. I like to try and get in a good long run after work but the reality is that doesn’t always happen. This year I haven’t decided what my longest run will be yet. I’d imagine it will be somewhere in the range of 18-22mi. but….we will just have to wait and see what happens.
Sunday — if I didn’t end up doing my long run Saturday it gets put in here…. again, here I go with that whole flexibility in my training thing. If I did get it in Saturday then today is a day of rest.

So in a typical week, Monday – Friday I am doing somewhere in the range of 10 to 16miles and on the weekend an additional 13 to 22miles. This is a dramatic cut back from the 6-7days a week I would like to plan on running but it will have to do for this time time around. I’ll be sure to keep you updated as I continue forward with this training plan and into race day.

Happy Thursday! 🙂

Lets Play Catch-Up!!

Hello Friends!

How are you?! Have you missed me?! I know I have been gone for quite a little while and I know I have certainly miss you all! To get things kicked off after my long hiatus from the blogger world lets do a quick re-cap of the last couple months….

Dad’s retirement party and the day I accepted
my big girl job 🙂

June started out with Raleigh Half Ironman. You can read more about it here. Then later that month I celebrated my 23rd birthday and quit my job….yep thats right, I quit my job in Raleigh and start packing up my life.

July started out with a move to the Queen City where I knew no one and had no job but fortunately for me I have a great family who happily opened their doors to me. And almost as fortunate I found a job only 3 short weeks after moving home. I accepted my first “big girl” job working as a Jenny Craig Consultant. The hours and pay aren’t great but the relationships with coworkers and clients have been more than worth it. I have also learned a ton already and I know I will only continue to grow and learn.

All smiles after passing
the ACE Health Coaching exam

August I really got in the swing of things with the new job and unfortunately that took quite the toll on my training…no one ever mentioned how tired you’d you be at the end of a full work day!! I decided to defer my registration for Beach to Battleship 70.3 to the 2015 season when I hopefully have a little bit more structure to my schedule.

September was full of studying and I am happy to announce it all paid off…. I am now an ACE Certified Health Coach!! In addition to the studying, I have jumped back on the training wagon and started picking up my milage as I continue to train for Thunder Road Marathon in November…I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more about that over the next 6weeks as I get ready for the grueling 26.2miles.

So now you’re all caught up with me and I look forward to sharing more with you in the weeks to come!

Happy Hump Day Y’all!!

30min at Home Workout

Happy Monday! Lets get sweaty!! Here is a 30min workout that you can complete indoors or out that requires virtually no equipment.

Warm-up: 5min

For 5min, walk/jog to get your blood flowing and heart rate slightly elevated. By the end of this you should be sweating. Be sure to gather your equipment during this time, a towel or mat and a chair or ledge.

Main-set: 25min

Complete the following sequence of exercises continuously, rest 1min after completing all 5 exercises. Complete exercises 5x.

1min bodyweight squats
1min push-ups
1min plank
1min lunges
1min modified triceps dip

Cool Down: 5min

2-3min of walking to allow your heart rate to drop slowly back to normal
Stretching. Hold each stretch for 10-15sec. Some muscles to focus on are: hamstrings, quads, calves, glutes, hips, shoulders, triceps, back, and abs.

Hopefully this helped get your week off to a great start! Have a great rest of your day!

Also, be sure to check out Health On The Go if you are looking to get started with a fitness plan of your own! All plans are catered 100% to you, sent directly to your email, and are at an affordable price!