Rock n’ Roll Country Music Half Marathon

Okay okay! I think I have finally gathered enough thoughts to discuss the race! People/bloggers recap their races in lots of different ways. I like to break mine down into sections of things I remember most. There really is no method to my madness. I’m just playing back the race in my head and writing what I remember and how I felt. So here ya go!

Mile 0– “I want to die.”

This would be the 30 minutes that I had to wait before my corral finally made it to the start line. I was soaked, freezing, and miserable. For a split second, I considered stepping out of the corral and calling Chad to come get me. I was shivering so hard that my quads kept tightening up whenever I wasn’t moving. Things started getting better as we got closer to the start though. The announcer really helped to pump us up right before our horn blew, so by that time I was ready to rock (n’ roll?).

Mile 1– “WHAT? A mile gone already??”

With all the people cheering and music playing (yes even in the pouring rain!), I couldn’t believe how fast that first mile went!

Miles 2-5– “Holy crap I cannot believe how awesome I feel right now!”

These were some of my favorite miles. We ran through the downtown part of Nashville, and seeing all the sights and people everywhere was just awesome. Yes the hills were crazy, but I just kept pumping my arms and getting through them. I took 3 Clif shot blocks at mile marker 5. It was around that time that I decided not to put my headphones in for the rest of the race. I had originally thought I’d run the first little but w/o music so I could take in the crowd and then listen to a little bit to get me through the rest. But I was loving listening to people talk, crowds cheer, and music set up all throughout the course!

Miles 6-9– “I think I can run this thing without stopping!”

By the time I was running these miles, I started contemplating running the entire race. I usually add in walking breaks to keep my legs from giving out on me at the end, but I just felt so good. I knew I could make it through the whole thing. And that’s what I did! 🙂

Mile 10– “Man, I’m starting to feel it now. But only a 5k left and I’m done!”

Seeing that 10th mile marker made me happy happy happy!

Miles 11-12– “Uhhhhhhh am I about PR this race??”

By this time, I was starting to calculate my time with my Garmin to see when I might finish. It seemed like I might have a chance at a PR, but I wasn’t sure because I didn’t know how far behind the official clock I was, and my brain could not function enough and run at the same time. haha So I just kept pushing.

Mile 13- “This is it! Give it all you’ve got! HOLY MESS HOW LONG IS THIS HILL???”

Yeeeaaah, those of you who have run Nashville probably know about that freakin’ hill at mile 13.

Mile .1– “SPRINT!!!!!!!”

When I saw the finish line, I was like lightening. I actually ran/pushed through a group of people in front of me to keep from slowing down. Of course I apologized as I was shoving them out of my way. 😉

Finish– “PR!!!!!!!!!!!!”

My watch told me I finished in 2:15:??, but when I found Chad, he showed me a picture of my official time from the website. When I saw 2:14:31 I almost cried!! Words could not express how happy I was!

I know that my race PR was a God thing. I remember waiting to start and praying that God would take the rain away. I asked Him why the rain needed to happen? What good reason could there be?? And now I know why He didn’t answer my prayer. His plan was SO MUCH BETTER. The rain without a doubt helped me have one of the best races of my life. Without the rain, my body may have heated up quicker and I would have gotten thirsty and fatigued much easier. I’m am so thankful to God for the rain!

Okay, I’m ready for my next half! But more importantly, I’m ready for my first FULL. I’ve just got to decide when and where. I’d love your marathon suggestions!

Happy Tuesday! 🙂

MIMM [Race Weekend in Nashville]

I’m finally joining in the Marvelous in My Monday party again! It’s been way too long.

I have so much to say and don’t know where to begin! This past weekend was filled with so much marvelous, but there were also a few bumps along the way. Let’s just rewind to Friday when we arrived in Nashville!

We went straight to the convention center for the expo and could not believe all the traffic. Chad never found a place to park and ended up dropping me off and circling around. I had never been to a big race like this before, so the expo was pretty overwhelming. Plus there were people EVERYWHERE. That’s what I get for going on Friday evening, but oh well! I was able to snap a picture of the madness before I left.

I loved that they were giving out these bracelets too!

I pretty much got in and out as quick as possible. I met Chad outside and we made our way to our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Preston just off the interstate. I picked that one because it was close, not sold out (like most other hotels around), and was one of the cheaper choices, though it was definitely not cheap. Our room was nice, but we were only staying for the night so it didn’t really matter.

We absolutely did not want to go back towards the downtown area for dinner after dealing with all the  traffic, so we decided to grab dinner at a little Mexican place down the road. We got our usual fajitas but with chicken and beef instead of just chicken.

I know this really isn’t the kind of meal to carbo load with, which is why we had a very important stop to make on our way back to the hotel.

That would be one dozen Dunkin Donuts y’all. Now tell me that’s not the perfect way to carb load! haha We ended up trying a little of all the donuts. My favorites were Boston cream pie and chocolate glazed!

After our donut feast I went straight to bed because our wake-up call was 3:30! I didn’t get the best night’s sleep because I was so anxious, but it wasn’t too bad.

I shot out of bed when my alarm went off and started getting dressed. I made some coffee in the room which was pretty good.

All dressed and ready to run!!

I wanted to show my support for Boston, so I chose the only blue and yellow clothes I had.

Entire outfit: Nike tempo shorts, Nike dri-fit tank, and dri-fit long sleeved top, ProCompression socks, Brooks PureFlows, Sparkly Soul headband, and Nike hat.

We left the hotel around 4:30 to park at the finish and take the free shuttles to the start line. At this point, it hadn’t started raining yet. Once the shuttle dropped us off at the start line, the rain came and never stopped. I’ll be honest, I was completely miserable waiting for the race to start. It was cold and pouring down rain. Some people took refuge near McDonalds.

I was chillin’ under a tree near the potties.

FINALLY, after an hour and a half of waiting in the rain, it was time to start! But wait, no it wasn’t, because I was in corral 19 and forgot that it takes about 30 minutes for the last corrals to actual cross the start line. haha By the time we got to the start, I was completely soaked and miserable. I kept thinking, this is going to be the worst race of my life. (The good news is that statement could not have been more wrong. :))

The horn sounded for corral 19 and I was off. I plan on doing a full race recap in my next post, so all I’ll say now is that I absolutely LOVED running in the rain. Yes it was miserable before, but once I got running, it was awesome!

I ended up running the best race of my life so far. I ran the entire thing without music because the cheering crowd and music along the course was giving me all the motivation I needed. This was also my first time running the entire half marathon without stopping. I took zero walking breaks and only slowed down enough to grab water from the volunteers’ hands. I felt so awesome when I finished, and it wasn’t until I looked down at my Garmin that I realized I FREAKIN’ PR’D!!!! My first half marathon time back in October was 2:19:11 and I ran the CMM in 2:14:31! I was ECSTATIC!

After I finished and found Chad, I started feeling the pain. Plus, it was still raining and cold, so that started to effect me as well. We decided that nothing sounded better than just getting in the car and heading home. We stopped at a gas station for a quick change into dry clothes and then made our way back to the house.

We had to figure out a way to dry out our shoes and clothes, so this happened.

We ended up going out for a very early dinner…… like at 4:00. What can I say? I was hungry. Oh! Bryan’s is a local steakhouse that we love! I always get the Cajun blackened chicken with a sweet potato and salad bar.

We went home after dinner to watch The Hobbit. We watched it in bed and fell asleep shortly after the movie was over, which was around 8:00. We had been up since 3:30 that morning and didn’t care how “old” we seemed for going to bed that early. 😉

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All in all, even with all the rain, running the Rock n’ Roll Country Music 1/2 Marathon was one of the best experiences of my life!! And now I can officially cross this off of my “30 Before 30” list!

I can’t wait to write my race recap and tell you all the thoughts that were going through my head! But I’ve got to actually get them all together before I can try to write it all out. So until then, I’m gonna ride out this runners high for as long as I can!

Have a MARVELOUS MONDAY! 🙂

Thursday Thoughts: Getting Ready for the CMM

Hello!! It’s Thursday, and mine includes a million(well, more like 5) different thoughts about my upcoming half, so here ya go!

1. I’m officially in crazy mode getting ready for our trip to Nashville tomorrow for the Country Music Marathon! I have to get everything done by tonight because I have to work on Friday. It’s only a half day for students with a professional development meeting during the afternoon for teachers, so hopefully we’ll be done a little early so we can hit the road ASAP.

2. I’m getting a little nervous because the expo ends at 7:00, and if we don’t get on the road until 3:00, that puts us getting to Nashville around 6:00. But I have no idea about traffic or anything like that?? ………………….. I know I just need to take a breath and relax because there’s no sense in getting worked up over the situation.

3. I’ve also been a little worried about my back. For the past week, I’ve had a pain in my lower back. It got worse Tuesday and Wednesday, so I decided to take a rest from running yesterday and this morning. I put some BioFreeze on my back last night and feel much better today! I’m going to see how I feel this afternoon and possibly go out for an easy 2 miles. We’ll see though. I don’t want to hurt myself before Saturday.

4. There’s a 70% chance of rain on Saturday in Nashville as well. POOP. I guess I’ll be running in the rain! I really need to figure out what I’m wearing though. I may be investing in a rain jacket. Do they make running rain jackets?? Oh gosh I’m so unprepared. Please God make the rain go away!!

5. I know that all I’ve talked about so far are the negatives of this race, but I am seriously SO excited to be running this half! (And I get to cross something off my list!) It’s just a little overwhelming traveling to a race in a big city, especially since the race itself is pretty big. I’ve only ever done local races, so this will be a new experience for me. Just pray that I make it to the expo in time to get my packet and that I make it to the start line! lol

And there you have my Thursday Thoughts. Once I get everything ready and clear my head, I’ll be much more relaxed. But until then……………….. 😉

Weekend Things and Such

 

Happy Tuesday! I’m in a strangely good mood right now, and I don’t know why? But hey I’m not complaining!

A lot went down this weekend, and I always mean to do a MIMM post to recap everything, but Mondays have gotten to be so tiring that by the time I get home, I crash and have no energy. I should probably figure out some way to handle that afternoon slump. Coffee is out of the question past noon or I’ll get a major headache. Any suggestions??? Please?

Anyway like I said, this weekend was pretty busy.

Friday night started with Mexican food with Chad, my brother, his girlfriend, and my parents (triple date?).

After stuffing our faces, we drove over to Florence to see the other brother perform as Orfeo in the opera Orfeo ed Euridici. Because of the theater we were in, I wasn’t able to get any pictures of the show, but I did take one with the diva of the night.

Seriously, he was brilliant. I’m so proud of my little bro! 🙂

After the show, I went straight to bed to rest up for Saturday’s 12 miler!

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Pre-run breakfast of REAL pancakes, peanut butter, and sf syrup!

I ran 12 long and sweaty miles, and the last tenth of a mile was uphill, so that was fun……. but I was happy I finished!

I’m so ready to take on Nashville in the Country Music 1/2 Marathon this weekend!!

I literally had 30 minutes to shower, get dressed, and find something to eat before we were on the road to Huntsville for my nephew’s birthday party. It was super hero themed, complete with food, capes, candy bar (aka Power Surge Station), bouncy house, and trampoline (aka Cape Tester).

Everything was SO cute, and Grayson looked like he was having a blast!

It was a busy and tiring day, so when we got home that evening, we crashed pretty quickly.

Sunday was wonderful. I never really take pictures on Sundays because I just want to enjoy the day without worrying about content for the blog. You’ll just have to trust me when I say that Sunday was filled with church services, family lunch, relaxing couch time, small group bible study, and Game of Thrones. Perfect!

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So far this week has been laid back. Besides work, the only interesting thing that happened yesterday was grilling turkey burgers for dinner and eating outside on the deck.

I also made sweet potato fries to go along with the burgers. Deeeeeelish.

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It’s TAPER WEEK, so this morning I went out for a short and quick HIIT style run. I ran 1/2 a mile, did a sprint/slow jog combo for 1 mile, and ran the last 1/2 a mile back home. All of this happened before 5:15 am. How awesome crazy of me right?

Chad was just leaving the house to go on his walk, so I decided to join him on a 1.5 mile walk around town. I think these walks may become a regular thing. 🙂

Oatmeal was my breakfast of choice after my super dark run and walk with hubs.

So right now, it’s probably late afternoon/early evening. Chad is more than likely sitting at the kitchen table already waiting on his dinner because he knows that I’m making Reuben sandwiches tonight. The last time I made them he would not stop talking about them. He even told me this morning how excited he was for dinner tonight. Then when I said goodbye as I was leaving work he said “Bye, see you later when we have REUBENS!” hahaha So I better get in the kitchen and at least act like I’m about to start dinner so that he’ll quit drooling and growling at me. 😉

Have a happy happy Tuesday! 🙂

*NOTE* I’m going to try to slowly add more carbs into my diet this week (instead of having on huge carbo load on Friday night) in preperation for the half this weekend. I’ve heard it works better that way. What do you think? Have you heard similar suggestions?

Super Poodle is Ready for the Weekend

 

First of all, let me say a huge THANK YOU to all the sweet comments and Facebook messages I received after publishing yesterday’s post. It means the world to me that so many people care and are also facing similar situations. We’re all in this together and with God’s help, can overcome all of this!! 🙂

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And with that said, HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

Super Poodle sure is tired from saving the world all week. We’re both definitely ready for the weekend! I know it’s going to go wayyy too fast though because there’s so much that’s happening.

-Dinner and an opera tonight. My brother is performing in Orfeo!

-Long run in the morning. I’m shooting for 12 miles.

-My nephew’s birthday party tomorrow afternoon in Huntsville. Not sure how long we’ll be there, but I know that by the time we get home, we wont be doing anything else but vegging out on the couch. 😉

-Sunday morning church which is always busy busy busy, but fun!

-Teaching Jr. High girls’ small group Sunday evening. I’ll be doing this for the next three weeks.

-New episode of Game of Thrones Sunday night!! Okay… so that’s not really a big deal to y’all.

Maybe that’s not as busy of a weekend as I thought? I guess I’m just used to doing nothing at all. hah. Seriously, that’s my favorite thing to do on a Saturday after a long run…… NOTHING. 😉

Speaking of running, the Country Music Marathon is NEXT WEEK! Ah! I’m a little nervous, but mostly excited about being part of a big race like this. I’m really looking forward to the expo because I’ve never been to one that had more than one booth. haha As far as my training goes, I added a 3rd weekday run the last two weeks. Just a short 3 or 3.5 miler. I was shooting for 4 miles this past Wednesday, but once again the heat really got to me. It was 85 degrees!

Yesterday morning I actually took my morning speed run outside! It felt way too good to be on the boring treadmill. My plan was to run to the high school track and do 4x400s and run back home. When I got to the track, I noticed all the lights were off. Pair that with a creepy white 15 passenger van parked by the gate and that plan was a no-go. So I kept running and decided to go with a “sprint a block-jog a block” method for about 10 minutes. Then I ran back towards my house. I passed Chad out on a walk right when I hit 2 miles, so I turned around and accompanied him on a 1 mile cool-down walk. It was nice, and the weather was perfect! 🙂

Unlike today, the weather was amazing all day yesterday. It felt so good that we decided to grill out for dinner!

Seasoned chicken and asparagus on the grill was perfect! I also roasted some sweet corn on the stove-top.

We were going to eat out on the deck, but that’s about the time that the wind picked up, and we could tell the storm was coming. After dinner Chad left for a youth thing, and cleaned the kitchen and relaxed on the couch until I got tired enough for bed.

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I didn’t get a great night of sleep last night partly because of the wind, and partly for reasons I can’t explain. I just kept waking up every few hours. So coffee was a MUST when my alarm went off at 4:30!

I think it helped because I was alert and energized by the time we got to the gym. We worked biceps and shoulder this morning, and I’m seriously feeling it right now. Shoulders. Are. On. Fire.

After strength training, I like to eat a lot of protein which is why I’m obsessed with my 2 ingredient protein pancake! I saw the recipe on Monica’s blog and love it!

1 scoop of protein powder (any will do) plus 1/3 cup of egg whites. I also add 2 packets of Truvia and a drop of vanilla, almond, nut extract. It gives it a “cakey” flavor that I love! Of course it’s not a pancake for me without almond butter and syrup!

This breakfast gives me 35-40 grams of protein depending on what powder I use. You can’t beat that!

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So before I leave, I want to clarify something. In yesterday’s post I talked about making God the center of my life instead of health and fitness. BUT, this does not mean that I want to completely abandon a healthy lifestyle. Not at all! I want to keep working out because I love it. I just want God to come before exercise. I want to keep eating healthy because those foods nourish my body and make me feel good. Plus I crave those kinds of foods! I just want to make sure that I don’t make healthy eating an idol in my life. God needs to be the focus of my thoughts. Always. I just wanted to put that out there so that people didn’t think I wasn’t trying to change. Because I am. 🙂

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Last thing for real this time…. look at this pear I ate at lunch today.

Does anyone else eat that far into a pear? I really like pears.

Thursday Thoughts [Problems and Answers]

Heads up y’all. This post gets a little deep.

I mentioned a little bit in my last post about how I’m trying to make God the center of my life instead of all the other things the world says is important. I wanted to go a little deeper in today’s Thursday Thoughts post. Usually my Thursday thoughts are less serious and more random, but I’ve just had a lot on my mind and needed this post to dump it out on all you innocent readers. 😉

For the past 3 1/2 years I’ve struggled with body image issues and eating disorder tendencies ranging from extreme calorie restriction to binge eating. I’ve talked about my issues with some people before, like my husband, mom, friends, and probably even a few random people. But, I’ve never really just come out and said it to the world. (Not that I feel like I have to) This weekend at the Women of Joy conference, God revealed some powerful things to me. First, let me tell you about my messed up mind.

The Problem

When I look in the mirror, I immediately see every single flaw that I have. I see a pudgy belly, thick thighs, love handles, a short torso, broad shoulders, fat toes (my mom is probably laughing at that), and so many other things. As a result, I constantly try to fix everything about myself. I eat healthy to lose weight. Then when the weight wont come off anymore, I start exercising to tighten, tone, and burn off extra fat. The thing is, there’s nothing wrong with doing those things. It’s great! BUT, it consumes my thoughts to the point that it’s all I can think about.

I’ve gotten better about it over the past year and even quit calories counting back in the fall. But the truth is, my brain still “counts” the calories. Sure I don’t know exactly how many calories I’m eating, but I know a rough estimate at least. In the past, there was no room for splurges EVER. And you know what that eventually led to? Binge eating. Once I let myself have a little taste of something “bad,” it was all downhill. “Well, I’ve already had a brownie, why not go ahead and have that cookie? Ohhh and some poptarts. Who knows when you’ll get to have those again? Quick! Eat as much bad stuff as you can because tomorrow it’s back to normal!” I couldn’t grasp the concept that healthy eating is not an all or nothing thing. I realized recently why I couldn’t stop eating once I started. I was an emotional eater. As soon as I would eat something bad, I’d feel almost elated. So happy that I was finally eating that brownie. But as soon as it was gone, the guilt would flood me. So in order to keep the guilt away, I needed to keep eating.

After a night or day of binge eating/eating a crap ton of bad foods, I would wake up feeling horribly guilty and disgusted with myself. I would check the mirror to see how much my stomach had grown, and even if it hadn’t grown a centimeter, I would see 5 inches of growth. It was a terrible cycle of restriction and binging for a while there. Sometimes I’d go weeks or months without a binge, and other times I’d binge a few times in one week. I even went as far as trying to make myself throw up. Good thing I’m a wimp and can’t do it or else who knows where I’d be right now? I was not in a good place.

How I tried to Fix It

I always thought that if I could just get to XXX pounds, or if I could just get down to XX% body fat I’d be happy. So I continued on with my journey to perfection. I made progress along the way. I stopped weighing my self so much and focused on how I felt in my clothes. I stopped counting calories and tried to adopt the 80/20 plan for eating healthy. But I still had slip ups all the time, and every time I felt like a failure. WHY couldn’t I just be a normal person??? WHY can I not eat normally without feeling like I should either eat ALL the healthy foods or ALL the bad foods??

How God Told Me to Fix It

There were times when I thought the problem was fixed, but it wasn’t until hearing God this past weekend at Women of Joy that I realized what I was doing wrong. Angela Thomas spoke about how we all have our “soul cup” that we try to fill with things of the world weather it be people or things. I realized that I’ve been trying to fill my cup with healthy eating and exercise. And on the days when I slip up and have something unhealthy or I don’t exercise, I try to fill my cup with food. And lots of it. The only thing, or should I say, the only ONE who can fill my cup is Christ. He is the water that should be pouring into my cup until it overflows! If my cup is overflowing with Him, then nothing can take away my JOY and my happiness. Having the perfect body will not make me happy like I thought it would. And I’m finally starting to feel like I’m in a place where I can love myself for who God made me to be.

It’s still going to be hard. The day that I came home from the conference, I had a night of semi-binge eating. I didn’t go as far as I have before, but still…. This was the day I got home from the conference where God had just given me the answer! How could I still be messing up? When I woke up the next morning the first thing I did was pray, and I prayed hard. I realized that I have to consistently pray for God’s help and healing or this problem wont be fixed. So that’s what I’ve been doing the past few days. And let me tell you, I’ve been SO HAPPY.

Of course it’s a constant battle between the thoughts the devil tries to put in my head, and the thoughts God wants, but I feel ready to tackle the rest of my life free from those chains that were holding me back from true happiness.

Sorry this post was so long, and if you’re still with me, I hope it didn’t bore you to tears. But I really felt like sharing my story and the good news of my answer to recovery. Questions, comments, advice??? I want to hear it ALL! Comment, email, anything. We (*ahem* I) could always use a Christian friend to talk to about these kinds of problems. Thank you for taking the time to read. GOD BLESS! 🙂

What Wednesday

 

I have lots of WHATs to share with you today. “What I did,” “What I ate,” “What I think,” What I want,” etc…. just be prepared!

What I Did Over the Weekend

I mentioned here that I was going away for the weekend to a women’s conference called Women of Joy. It was held in Sevierville, TN. At the conference there were amazing speakers, powerful worship, and an awesome concert by Jeremy Camp. It was a busy weekend, but I made sure to stick to healthy eating and even squeeze in a 6 mile run on the treadmill Saturday morning! Here are some pictures I took during the trip.

What I’ve Been Eating this Week

Meals have been pretty normal around here. After having a bad night of eating on Sunday (maybe I was making up for eating so healthy while I was out of town?? lol), I’ve been making sure to keep my meals as clean as possible!

• Breakfast on Monday was an omelet made with 1 egg, 1/2 cup of egg whites, spinach, and low fat mozzarella cheese.
• Dinner on Monday night was the same broccoli and beef recipe I used HERE, but this time I added red peppers. GREAT decision!
• Oatmeal for breakfast on Tuesday. If you’re wondering how I make my oatmeal, here’s the official “recipe” I use every single time. 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup almond milk, 2 tbs pumpkin, 1/4 cup liquid egg whites, truvia, cinnamon and sf maple syrup to taste, and a big blob tbs of peanut butter. Throughout the process of putting all the ingredients together I microwave it a few times. Oats+milk=30 seconds, add pumpkin=30 seconds, add sweetener+cinnamon=30 seconds, egg whites=45 seconds, stir=45 seconds, syrups+peanut butter=EAT.
• Tuesday night I was on my own for dinner. I threw a bunch of random things in a skillet with some soy sauce and baked a sweet potato. In the skillet was chicken, brussels sprouts, carrots, and spinach.
• This morning I had a protein pancake with almond butter and sf syrup.

What Workouts I’ve Done

Like I said, this weekend I was able to fit in a 6 mile run on the hotel treadmill. It was pretty sketchy, but it got the job done. haha

Yesterday, I went to the gym to do the usual HIIT workout on the treadmill. Short, sweet, and sweaty all before the sun came up!

This morning, Chad and I did a tricep/chest combo at the gym. No pictures to show for it though…. does that mean it didn’t happen?? 😉

What I’ve Been Thinking

I think we’ve all been thinking about the same thing lately. How could someone be so cowardly to bomb an event like the Boston Marathon? The only good thing that came out of this was seeing and hearing all the news about the first-responders and people helping after the attack. It reassured me of the fact that there are so many good people in this world. Still, as a runner, I feel so close to the people affected by the bombing. I didn’t personally know anyone running the marathon, but I still feel like all of those runners are my friends. It’s something I can’t explain. And the fact that someone made the sport that I love something to fear makes me angry. I don’t think this will stop people from running races though. Actually, I think more people will start running. I’m curious to see the number of people who try to qualify and run Boston next compared to this year. My bet is that number will be much higher. Runners are pretty determined people. I mean come on, we wake up at the crack of dawn everyday to run on purpose. The running spirit is  definitely not broken. If anything, it’s been strengthened. So “good job” BM bomber. Thanks for firing us up to run more and do more good in the world.

What I Want

I want everyone to look at how cute Pierre is when he lays his head on my shoulder.

I want summer vacation to hurrrrrrry because I’m ready to sleep in past 4:30 am.

I want to be a faster runner, so I’m trying my first Yasso 800 workout tomorrow morning.

I want to feel properly trained for the Rock n’ Roll Country Music 1/2 Marathon next weekend in Nashville……. After only running 6 miles for last week’s long run, this Saturday’s 12 miler will have to be my ticket to getting there.

I want to stop consuming mys life with all things HEALTH AND FITNESS and focus on putting God first in my life. I know that all the other good things will follow after that. This is something I’m working on, especially after attending the Women of Joy conference this past weekend. Even though this is a health and fitness blog, I don’t want it to be something that defines me… that title is reserved for CHRIST!

I want you all to have a HAPPY WEDNESDAY!! 🙂

Pretty Weather = Happy Me!

Happy Tuesday!

How has the beginning of this week been for you guys? Mine has been pretty good so far! Monday morning began with lots of coffee as always, and a little change in my normal breakfast. I was craving toast, so I had a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and apple butter along with a fried egg + 2 egg whites.

Surprisingly filling!

Since I missed the gym that morning, I went after work to get on the elliptical for a while and watch a little Grey’s Anatomy. I’m starting to get addicted!

When I got home and showered, I ate a protein bar and relaxed a bit before getting started on dinner. On the menu was turkey burgers cooked in a skillet with onions and a side of zucchini wedges.

For Chad, I made the burgers into little sliders using toasted whole wheat bread cut into fourths. They were so cute!

After dinner, we sat outside on the deck and talked for a while, enjoying the beautiful weather. I can’t tell you how much this weather affects my mood. I just feel so much happier when it’s nice outside. 🙂

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This morning I hit up the dreadmill for some speed work. I warmed up for half a mile and then did 4x400s before calling it quits.

I was a sweaty mess. Someone mentioned how quickly I got done with my workout, and I responded with “quality, not quantity!” I would much rather have an awesome speed workout or HIIT session that lasts for 25 minutes (and burns calories/fat during and after), than be mindlessly moving for an hour. Unless it’s one of my long runs! 😉

I had my oatmeal outside on the deck with Chad while he drank his coffee.

This is always one of my favorite things about spring/summer time. We almost always take our coffee or breakfast outside together in the mornings when it’s nice out.

Later on after work, I’ll be running some errands to get ready for Thursday. It’s going to be a very busy day at school because I’m doubling up all my classes since I’ll be going out of town on Friday. I can’t get a sub for this lesson, and I don’t want my Friday classes to miss out. So, Thursday is going to be a little bit crazy.

And speaking of going out of town, Friday morning I’ll be leaving with a group of women from my church to Tennessee for the Women of Joy Conference. I’m excited to hear the speakers and especially Jeremy Camp! I’m just looking forward to a weekend away with some girls. 🙂

Well I’m off to teach some music classes! Have a great Tuesday!

Getting Marvelous Again!

Happy Monday!

Usually, Mondays are pretty busy for me. I never really have the time or energy to sit down and write, so I’m writing this on Sunday instead! I don’t know why I never thought of this before? I haven’t joined in the “Marvelous in my Monday” party in a while, so it’s about time I did again! Go visit Katie to see other mimm posts!

This weekend was filled with lots of fun things. Plus the weather was amazing! I kicked off the weekend with a 5 mile pre-race run.

I kept this run nice and easy because I knew I’d run hard at the race later on that morning.

After the first 5 miles, I ate a pack of sports beans and went to run the Helen Keller Wellness 4 mile and 1 mile race. There were some Team Total Health members running as well!

The race was definitely hard. I was really feeling those previous 5 miles, but I pushed myself and kept an average 8:53 pace. Then I ran the mile so that I could hit 10 miles for the day. I was beat by then and only managed an 8:45 mile.

Both times were good enough for first place in my age group though! Hooray for small races! 😉 And Team Total Health took home 12 trophies in all!

Later that afternoon, Chad and I leashed up the pups and went for a walk down to the park. We’re so lucky to live within walking distance of the park!

After a morning of running and an afternoon of walking, I was exhausted. But I mustered up enough energy to make dinner. I tried out a cauliflower pizza crust again (last time it was a fail), and it was awesome!

I loved being able to eat an entire half of a pizza and it still be semi-healthy! And the fact that I’d run 10 miles that morning meant I deserved a treat. 🙂

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Sunday was pretty marvelous as well. Church, lunch with my family, couch time, games with our youth group, and ending the night with the new episode of Game of Thrones. The Walking Dead may be over for now, but at least we’ve got Game of Thrones now!

I’d have to say that the best thing that happened on Sunday was this…

Suzy (Drew’s new fiance) proposed asked me to be a bridesmaid! I’m so excited to help plan and be apart of their big day!!! 🙂

Now let’s spread the marvelousness…. tell me something marvelous about your weekend! Anything at all!

Have a MARVELOUS MONDAY! 🙂

Countdown to the Weekend

Usually I write Five Things Friday posts on Fridays to recap things from the week, but I don’t have enough “things” to make it to 5 in each category  So I’m recapping by counting down to the weekend instead!

Five Things I Ate

1. I’m still having the occasional omelet for breakfast. 
2. And I’m still obsessed with the protein pancake topped w/ almond butter!
3. Broccoli and beef from Monday night
4. Blackened tilapia, roasted asparagus, and baked sweet potato Tuesday night
5. A dinner FAIL from last night. I tried a new recipe of baked chicken and squash in a apricot/ginger sauce. I don’t know what I did wrong, but that mess was disgusting. Chad ended up eating a PB&J and I had a big salad. Can’t win em’ all I guess. lol

Four Workouts

1. HIIT on the treadmill (Tues)
2. Chest and Triceps (Wed)
3. HIIT on the treadmill (Thurs)
4. Biceps and Shoulders (Fri)

Three Things I’ve Learned

1.  This life is not ours. God is in control of everything and can call us home whenever He wants. All I need and want to do is spend my days praising Him and spending time with Him so that when He does call me, I’m ready!
2. Not every recipe you find on Pinterest is a good one. Ahem, last night’s dinner.
3. Taking another Carnival cruise this summer may not be such a good idea.

Two Things I’m Doing this Weekend

1. RUNNING! Shocker. Tomorrow I’ll be going out for 6 super early miles before going to do a 4 mile race with Team Total Health. I’m supposed to run 10, so I figured this way I can still do the race and get in all my miles!
2. Target practice with Chad. It seems like every other weekend Chad’s convincing me to go shooting with him. Maybe I’m starting to enjoy it more than I think? 😉

One Thing I Can’t Stop Thinking About

1. CHIPS, SALSA, AND FAJITAS IN MY FACE TONIGHT

Obviously a recycled picture. 😉

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!! 🙂