Little Race Recap

Well hello there again,

I am actually back within a couple days, isn't that just fantastic.

So I ran that little race the other day... I was pretty darn happy with how it went.

This will just be a short little recap, as to not bore anyone...

Even though I am in no way a Pro at this whole race prep thing, I do know the basics... and I do know that it is a great idea to get all your things prepped the  night before to make the morning that much less stressful... SO that's what I did, I laid out my clothes...

My pre-race dinner.... a little concoction I dreamed up that day.... turned out pretty well.... Sweet potato topped with peanut butter and a scrambled egg mixed with carrot shreds and cinnamon with a side of cottage cheese... random but DELICIOUS.... 

Breakfast was a protein smoothie and coffee and LOTS of water....

They say nothing new on race day, and this was nothing new!

a little before picture with my man! Please take note of the recycle bin in the back.... that's my way of promoting being green......

I lined up with the 10 minute mile group, I had no idea how the race was going to go, so I knew I would be comfortable there.... and the hand in the picture was not missing a finger.... even though it kind of looks that way....

So the race began.... it started out so well.... It is so motivating, especially in the beginning, to be surrounded by so many people who are so enthused about running. 

I felt really good till about mile 6.5 and I got a second wind that was great till about mile 8.... 8-11 was a little rough and tiresome but once I hit mile 11 it was all go from there... "almost done" I just kept telling myself

I wore my run tracker so I could make sure I was keeping a good pace!!!

This was what my run tracker said.... (I had pressed start a few minutes before I actually got running....)

And these were my final results....

My official time was 2:03 at a 9:27min/mile pace... a whole 29 minutes faster than the last half I ran.... can't complain about that.....

Instead of medals, we got charms that were engraved... Cute!!!!

Post-Race: Hydration....

and lazy.....

and waffle crisp.... just kidding, I didn't eat this... however, this cereal is probably delicious....

and that's my little recap... It was fun... I want to do another one right now!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day, and I leave with this..... Pretty sure this is what runners look like when they see the finish line...

It's been a minute or two

Well, am I a stranger to this poor little blog or what????

Well... an update to my life (since December)

It's April and the year 2014..... so it has literally... been a minute or two

I have been training for a Half-Marathon.... which happens to be this coming Sunday. I feel that I have not been able to train as well as I had wanted to, life happens though, and sometimes ya just gotta roll with it.

My favorite man competed in a bodybuilding competition last weekend and I couldn't be prouder of him.

and he brought this home :)

or into the restaurant rather :)

So I am an avid fitness blog reader, being a "fitness enthusiast" as some may say, and it makes me want to just blog all the time, but I haven't quite been able to jump back on that blog wagon. School has been so busy this semester, but only one more week of class, then finals week.... then done... for a week....

A few summer classes, then off to an internship..... it's weird I never imagined myself saying I was going to go on an internship... oh, growing up.....

So The Man and I visited another gym the other day, and they had the coolest Ab machine I have EVER seen, I just have to share....

It's like the basket ball game you see at arcades and places like that... just another way to make fitness fun :) I am very jealous of this contraption, I must say!

I have been LOVING that it is spring! I always say that of the 4 seasons, spring is my least favorite, but right now, I am loving it so much!

this picture is what I think of when I think spring, I just love it!

I've been able to get home and spend some time with my favorite girl too

Had to get a little Equine Selfie action in their :)

I can't wait for the time when I can wander into my own backyard and take selfies with her whenever I want... I miss that....

I just want to tell you a little about this ride we went on. I brought my pal Pippy... This little pup loves going on rides, she gets so excited and just follows along. It's weird to me how they just know what to do. She never get's in the horses way, is always trailing right behind, and if she does happen to wander off a little, it's for only a moment. I just love her. She is such a happy dog and makes going on trail rides even more fun (which, it is hard to make riding more fun!!!)

We are lucky to have a little patch of groomed trails in my mom's back yard. I love going on little adventures (however, there is no lack of mud back there). 

We also found this full Buck skeleton, completely intact and full antler rack... This picture is a little hard to see (I am a horrible phone picture taker), but it was out laying in a swamp. 

Oh, The circle of life I suppose.

Well I am off to start my day... Full or random things (when in reality I would love to just be lazy all day)

Got to prep for my race this weekend. It's crazy how these things just get to your head.... But it will be a ton of fun! And.... I'll even post a little recap (and hopefully not 4 months from now, hehe)

And... I leave you with this.... a bit of how I have been feeling lately.....

SOURCE

Have a beautiful day :)

A little-bitty review and Cave Cereal

Well it has finally happened..... enough snow has fallen that I have to wear winter boots to the gym and just bring my shoes....

Frankly, I am too lazy for that to be a simple "no big deal" kind of thing, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do I guess.

My poor little car is feeling the effects of winter too....

Doesn't he look miserable.... a trip to the car wash is definitely on the agenda... poor thing, such a champ though, let me tell you, Subaru's are the greatest. This car will go anywhere, anytime and the best part.... it heats up so fast. That is the best in the winter, I must say.

:)

So in other news, we were at Meijer's the other day, looking through the clearance section... and we found these little beauties....

Originally priced at $49.99... on sale for $4.99.... I had to ask the sales clerk if this was true because that is an insane discount..... But it was true, we got 2 pairs for only $4.99 each.

Let me tell you about these a bit. It is a blue tooth device that you sink to your phone and it plays music.... such as blue tooth devices do. I have never had something like this before, I just have one of those simple arm bands that you slide your phone into. Don't get me wrong, those are great, but with this little blue tooth thing, you don't have all the clunky-ness that comes along with an arm band. The headphones kind of are not the greatest, they have a short cord which is nice when working out, but the ear pieces hurt.... I really want to invest in a good pair... like THESE... someday I will, someday!

So a couple of weeks ago, I did this.....

The 21 Day Sugar Detox.... This is a diet (well detox, rather) program that is strictly Paleo.... So you go all caveman in your diet, and for anyone who does not know much about the Paleo diet and its wonderful benefits, HERE is a great resource for all you need to know!

I did this in November, well to be honest I only did about 15 days because Thanksgiving landed on day 18 (I should have thought that one through a little more) but after the holiday's I plan on doing to whole 21 days.... and then keep going, hopefully.

Even only doing 15 days, it made me feel so much better. You cut out all processed and glutenous foods, you eat purely a whole foods diet but you don't get jipped out on the good stuff, because this whole program IS the good stuff.... can we say BACON? yeah, a lot of bacon you get to eat :) I slept so much better and found that my body adjusted to its changes SO FAST. That was the best part of the whole thing.

I learned a lot about creating much healthier versions of my favorite foods, such as cereal, I am a complete cereal addict, however,  even the "healthy" cereals tend to be a bit misleading on their true nutritional benefits, but I created this little gem after doing this detox, so I can satisfy that cereal craving, but still stay Paleo :)

Cave-woman Cereal

-Handful of mixed nuts (I used pecans, walnuts, and almonds)

-1-2 Tbsp. Almond Butter (or other (non-peanut) nut butter)

-1 cut up Apple or Banana

-Almond Milk

Combine the nuts, nut butter, and fruit. Add your desired amount of Almond Milk, and Voila, Paleo Cereal :)

It's mighty delicious if I do say so myself.


DRIVE SAFE!


"If you want to be happy, be" -Leo Tolstoy





Everything stated here is purely my own opinions, nothing is affiliated with the 21DSD creator. 

School is to blame....

Hello all.....

I promise I'm not a stranger..... School is the one that keeps me from my little boggy blog....

However.... It's holiday break which means lots of blog time!!!

So here is a brief post to begin my month of them :)

This is what I've been up to.....

My family and I went to the annual Christmas tree party.....

.....and I bought home mine and my guy's first REAL Christmas tree :)

isn't it darling.... it's the same size as our love plant (we planted this plant together on our first date...)

this was it in the beginning.... it got mighty big, hey?

This weekend I also when on a date with my favorite oldest nephew....

I told him we could go wherever he wanted to go..... he is an outdoors, grizzly man type who hunts deer and shoots BB guns.... so of course he chooses Cabelas... (although I may have put a bug in his ear)

It was a blast....

we went on a safari....

and grabbed dinner..... Just kidding.... well we did actually get dinner.... but not freeze dried eggs....

and then we went bowling and he owned me.... really.....he is so good!

In other events.... 

My guy's sister visited us over thanksgiving... we had the most epic sushi adventure and can officially say I have eaten eel and fish eggs :) Delicious!

So here are a few things that I have been loving lately!

This man..... He really is made of iron

This little Scruff...

this little child and my favorite sister

My breakfast pretty much on the Daily following an early morning Gym Sesh.... Green Protein Smoothie, Emergen-C, and Coffee (which is always better in a cute mug to go with the season) 

This Pumpkin Tea.... This stuff is better than a Pumpkin Spice Latte.... and I am NOT kidding!

Things I have NOT been loving lately....

My egg the other morning was smiling at me.... I for one, do not like it when my food smiles at me... unless its a Mickey Mouse Pancake of course...

My favorite all time Christmas Tree Ornament had an accident.... THIS was a sad day....

Alrighty.... that is just a bit of an update... I am putting some things together to load up here, so hang tight....

"Do things with passion or not at all"

My Abandoned Blog and A Waterfall Run!

Well, It's been a while....

Hello Friends,

Lets just talk about the craziness that I call life. This is an average day in the life for me right now:

-5:40 AM: wake up

-6 AM- 8 AM: Gym

-8 AM - 9AM: Eat/Shower/Get ready for the day

-9:30AM-5PM: CLASS

-5PM-9PM: HOMEWORK

-9PM: Hello much needed sleep!

So anyways, things have been hectic, not always the easiest to make time for the little things (Like my abandon blog here), But I am figuring it all out!

Grad School is not easy folks... not easy one bit.... organization and time management are key let me tell you... along with LOTS of Sleep, Exercise, Healthy Eating (with some treats here and there) and down time

It's ALL about Balance! 

And getting time with the ones you love most....

Like this little lady friend of mine

:-)

Or... my all time favorite guy....

:-)

So here are some things that I have been doing to keep up with life....

Grabbing a quick Pre-Workout breakfast at 5:40 AM is not an easy task... no one is hungry that early in the morning... but I learned the hard way that if I don't grab something even little, the work out is doomed from hunger 30 minutes into it... so through experimenting with different things, I have created this... a little Pre-workout Doughnut....

Don't have a doughnut pan? No problem, just make "balls" of about 2 inch diameter instead... I predict 3 little balls or one doughnut would be a serving, that is usually what I grab before the gym! The recipe made about 9 Doughnuts! And they are the perfect pick-me-up!

Because the workouts are before class, I tend to feel rushed, especially if I go there without a plan... That is the best thing I have found, is going with a plan of exactly what I am going to do. I usually start with some sort of Cardio to get started and then end with a nice good lift session... BEST way to start the day.....

I am going to side note a bit... I HATE running on the treadmill... don't get me wrong, they're great and I love the IDEA of them... but when it comes down to it... me just going on a run on a treadmill is pretty close to the last thing I ever wanna do... However... running outside in the middle of a very busy town at 6 AM when it is still dark out and freezing cold IS the last thing I wanna do, so I get over my treadmill dread, and I run!

To make it more interesting, I mix things up, I get creative so I don't get bored, because frankly, that is where my dislike for treadmills come from, sheer boredom.... 

So THIS is what I do....

This little "Waterfall Run" is great... You Start with the 6 min run and end with the 5 min incline walk! It goes by super fast, not too hard, but by no means easy, and great when you just want a bit of a Cardio workout at 6 o'clock in the morning!

It is so easy to increase the intensity too:

-Make the "Runs" longer

-Alternate sprint to run rather than run to walk

-Get Creative!

So that is a little bit of a something... My poor little Bloggy Blog felt so abandoned and I am going to make a strong effort to make more time for this! If I can make time to catch an episode of "New Girl" here and there, I can make time for my blog!

So Friends... I leave you with this....

"Live to the point of tears" -Albert Camus

Just dropping in...

Hello all,

I have been away for a LONG time, but things have been a little crazy around here. We went on a trip to a beautiful wedding and school has started... well silly little me decided not to order any books until after classes started to see which ones I would "really" need... turns out I "really" need all of them... it also turns out that ordering them online (not through amazon), really can take up to 2 weeks for you to get them... it also turns out that grad school has no mercy when it comes to assigning readings immediately, and every day, so I have been playing the reading catch up game for a while and my mind is feeling it!

I know I am doing the post by the letter thing but today I am just going to do a quick post just to drop in since it's been a while... I will continue with the letter "J" in my next post!

SO today is going to be just a few of my favorite things lately!

Road trips to the U.P. .... for a wedding :)

My guy caught the guarder and I caught him running away with the little lady who caught the bouquet.....

Cute little backyard weddings....

Getting pictures of cute little babies :)

ICED COFFEE and lots and lots of time spent in front of this computer...

and I'm learning Braille!!

Those are just a few of my favorite things that have been going on in my life lately... as far as exercise goes, since I am so busy lately, I make a strong effort to get up early each morning and get to the gym before classes start.... this is a must for me both mentally and physically. It starts the day off to a great start. It gets my metabolism going and I feel like I have plenty of energy to get me through the day (along with coffee)...

but it is important mentally as well... since fitness has become a complete part of my lifestyle, when I skip a day that isn't a rest day, it is all I think about throughout the day... it's really a mind game, but it keeps me motivated to get up in the morning and go.... Having my man work early mornings helps too with the whole waking up process...

well that's all for today, I promise I will have more workout things and recipes up soon!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts"

-Winston Churchill