Half Marathon #15 (and race #50) is in the books!  I absolutely loved the Coastal Delaware Running Festival and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a race of pretty much any distance.  They offer a 5k (Saturday), 9k, Half Marathon, Full Marathon, and the opportunity to run a combination of the 5k and any of the other races on Sunday.  We considered running one of the challenges, but due to Gabby’s swim schedule, we wouldn’t be able to make it in time for the 5k on Saturday.

My mom and Gabby each decided to race the 9k, while I signed up for the half marathon.  I didn’t feel very prepared for this race.  In fact, the longest training run I had completed this season was a 10 miler and it had been several weeks before the race.  I didn’t have any real time expectations going into this one.  I contemplated leaving my Garmin home because sometimes it leads to me making “deals” with myself and taking more walk breaks.  I also considered running with the 2:15 pace group.  Another option that really interested me was run/walk intervals.  After reading an article that a runner friend recently posted on facebook about interval running, I decided to give it a try.  The plan I settled on was to run a mile, walk a minute, and repeat. 

We headed to Dewey Beach after Gabby’s swim practice on Saturday morning.  We decided to go directly to packet pickup when we arrived around 4:00.  To be honest, my first impression was not a good one.  The parking situation appeared to be a nightmare.  As soon as someone pulled out and I started to pull into a “spot”, I got lectured by a grumpy man about how my van would be towed and he wasn’t very helpful in advising me where I could park.  After our near-towing incident in Virginia Beach last year at the Shamrock race, I didn’t want to take any chances.  I decided to go find my hotel first and get checked in first and we would try packet pickup later.  The lady who checked me in at the hotel was wonderful and helped me in regards to parking.  Basically, before Memorial Day you can pretty much park anywhere in Dewey Beach (the signs stated this but between the weather and being stressed out by the grumpy man I hadn’t really noticed).  Fortunately, when we got back to the packet pickup location, the rush was gone and there was plenty of parking.  From there on out, everything was a breeze.  The expo was small, which was expected, due to the small size of the race but it had everything we needed.  I loved the shirts, although they did seem to run a bit small (good news for Gabby who is generally given a shirt she can wear as a nightgown).  We also received a Coastal Delaware Running Festival beer glass.  Nice!

After packet pickup, we decided to drive to the Rehobeth Beach boardwalk to find dinner and look around.  I just love this cute little town.  We carb loaded and then let Gabby get a henna tattoo.  Afterwards, it had started raining again so we decided to go back to the hotel, after a quick shop at the grocery store to pick up breakfast items.  We laid out our running gear and then headed to bed. 

I was still a little concerned about finding parking in the morning so we decided to leave around 6:00 to start the search.  The start and finish were about a mile apart and you could park at either and take the buses that were running back and forth.  We decided to park at the finish line (town of Dewey) and easily found parking.  We sat in the van for a while because it was pretty chilly outside.  Although it was chilly, we were very pleased that there was no precipitation.  The forecast was looking pretty bad up until the night before.  We finally decided to make our way to the bus line, but the buses seemed to be taking forever so we ended up jumping out of line and walking to the start, which was about a mile away.  We had just enough time to hit the port a pots!  When I came out, they announced 17 seconds to the start of the race!  I was in corral 3 so luckily I had a little more time to get lined up, snap a few selfies, and get ready to race!  I contemplated taking my jacket off up until the last minute.  The weather was in the 50’s, overcast, and breezy and I knew I had to run near the ocean for a bit so I decided to leave it on (spoiler alert – mistake).  My mom and Gabby still had a half hour before their 9k started.

Miles 1 – 4: The first few miles felt pretty easy.  Although I didn’t feel like I needed to walk at the mile markers, I decided to stick with my plan and walk for one minute after each mile.  I was feeling pretty good.  I liked how the intervals broke up the run and always gave me a break to look forward to (3 down, 10 to go).  We started at the Delaware Seashore State Park and headed north through Dewey Beach.

Miles 4 – 5: We made our way to Rehobeth Beach and ran along the boardwalk and then continued through the town of Rehobeth (we saw some beautiful houses).  Around mile 4, I was starting to feel like things weren’t going to stay quite as easy as they had been.  At my mile 5 walk break, I decided to eat half of my Stinger waffle. 

Miles 6 – 8: We headed into Gordons Pond Wild Life Area, which was a trail.  The trail had to accommodate runners going both directions, so it was a little narrow, but I didn’t really run into many problems where it was hard to pass.  I was very hot by this point of the race and I could really feel it on my walk breaks.  I thought about wrapping my jacket around my waist but I had my id and credit card in it and really didn’t want to take the extra time to rearrange.  Plus, I hate running with a jacket hanging from my waist.  I finished my Stinger waffle at some point around this time.

Miles 9 – 13.1: After a loop in the park, we headed back down to Rehobeth and crossed the boardwalk again and then headed back to the start via another loop.  I could tell the farthest I had run was 10 miles (and it had been a few weeks) because mile 10 – 13 were very hard for me.  Towards the end of mile 10, I decided to take an early walk break because there was a water stop and walked for .2 of a mile instead of only 1 minute.  I ended up walking again during mile 12 and again in 13.  I even took a quick walk break right around mile 13, even though the finish line was right around the corner.  I was spent! 

I finally made my way across the finish line and saw Gabby and my mom cheering me on. 

I finished in 2:16:51, which was a 10:27 average pace.  Definitely not a PR by a long shot, but I was happy with it, considering my lack of training.  Here are my splits according to my Garmin:

Mile 1 – 9:34

Mile 2 – 9:51

Mile 3 – 9:42

Mile 4 – 9:58

Mile 5 – 9:57

Mile 6 – 10:16

Mile 7 – 10:11

Mile 8 – 10:08

Mile 9 –10:24

Mile 10 – 10:27

Mile 11 – 10:46

Mile 12 – 11:56

Mile 13 – 10:49

Mile .27 – 10:44

I got my medal, my finisher’s trucker hat, and some water and reunited with my mom and Gabby.  Gabby did outstanding once again and placed in her age group.  Her age group prize will be mailed at a later date.  My mom also did amazing, especially considering she hasn’t been able to run as much lately and really didn’t know what to expect.  Congratulation to them!

My clothes were drenched with sweat so we went upstairs to grab my bag so I could at least change into my dry sweatshirt I had brought.  The finisher’s festival was really nice.  There was plenty of space both inside and outside on the beach.  They also provided a full buffet for the runners.  It included BBQ, chicken, pasta, salad, mac & cheese, rolls, and more.  The only drawback is that if you are not a runner, you have to pay to attend the buffet ($24.99 each, I believe).  This was okay for us this year, but if Makayla and Steven would have gone, we probably wouldn’t have attended.  We found a table and chairs inside and ate our lunch and then headed back out to the beach for a little while. 

After cleaning up, we headed back to the boardwalk for a little while.  It was a much nicer day than yesterday, although still a bit breezy.  I got some Thrashers fries and we headed down to the beach, although it was short lived because a flock of seagulls REALLY wanted my fries and chased me off of the beach, which Gabby and my mom thought was hilarious.  For some reason they don’t bother you on the boardwalk but as soon as you hit the beach, they attack!  After finishing our snacks, we did head back out to the beach for a few photo ops and then after a quick stop at the candy store, we were headed home.

I would definitely run this race again!  It’s definitely up there with my favorites and kind of reminded me of the Outer Banks Half Marathon.  I love all of the loot we got, I love the course, I love the small size of the race, and I love the town.  And I almost forgot to mention that you get free downloads of your race photos!  What a great bonus (those suckers can be expensive)!  If you are looking for a half marathon in the Spring on the East Coast, I would highly recommend this race.

Sorry I’ve been missing in action so much lately!  Life has continued to fly by and I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I last blogged!  On the fitness front, a few notable things have happened:

• I signed up for my first half marathon of the year!!  I will be running the Coastal Delaware Half Marathon on April 23^rd!  I’m excited and nervous!
• I signed up for the Hospice 5k!  This is the race that started it all for me and also has a special meaning.  I am excited to run this race on Saturday.
• Makayla joined me for a Body Pump class!  I was so excited, but unfortunately she did not enjoy it one bit.  I am still holding out hope that she will get bit with the exercise bug and want to join me.  It’s always more fun with friends and family.
  

  
• I “successfully” completed long runs (7, 8, 9, and 10 miler) over the past several Sunday’s.  I had some serious doubt setting in before my 8 miler and ALMOST decided that I was done with long runs.  Then I had a solid run that felt pretty good and decided to keep on moving!  I was able to keep an average pace of 10:12 for the 8 miler and 10:15 for the 9 miler and that included multiple walk breaks.  Then for my 10 miler, I was able to meet up with Sam for 5 of my miles!  And while I was SO excited to have my running buddy back at my side for half of the race, I felt pretty crappy for a lot of the run.  I ended with a 10:39 pace and doubt started setting in again.

• I am experiencing hip issues (again!).  This time, its my left hip and the symptoms are the same symptoms that I experienced a year and a half ago when I was diagnosed with hip bursitis.  This makes me extremely nervous to continue my training, but I’m so close to the race date, I don’t want to throw in the towel yet.  I have been cutting out some shorter runs and replacing them with other cardio (bike, elliptical) and I think I’m going to skip my long run this weekend.  Again, going to see how I feel.  I have the hospice 5k on Saturday so I am going to wait and see how my hip feels on Saturday night.  I have also started doing some of the exercises that I learned in rehab.

Below are my March totals:

Running: 59.2 Miles

Body Pump: 5 Classes

I am considering going back on the Tone It Up nutrition plan that I did last year, or at least some variation of it.  I remember that it was really time-consuming and I didn’t *love* all of the food, but there were definitely plenty of good recipes as well.  I’d like to start incorporating some of those ideas into my diet again.  They focus on natural foods and also eating 5 smaller meals a day.  It worked for me last year so why not give it another go?  I just have to get in the right mindset.

Hopefully my next blog update will be telling you all about how great the Hospice 5k went and how great my hip is feeling!  Stay tuned…

Gabby and I completed our first race of 2017!!!  And BRRRRRRRRR…it was a cold one!  I raced both the 5k and the 10k last year (recap here) so I already knew that I enjoyed this race, but it was very cold last year so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run it again.  I decided to keep an eye on the weather and sign up at the last minute based on the forecast.  Well…I waited until March 1^st and the forecast was saying it would be in the 50’s!  Great!!  I talked to Gabby and she said she wanted to run it as well so I went ahead and signed us up.  Lo and Behold…the forecast changed over the next couple of days (our weather has been very unpredictable lately) and we were in for a very cold morning!! 

Gabby and I made sure we had some warm clothes (trying to find as much green as possible) and laid everything out the day before to ensure a smooth race morning.  We hadn’t participated in a race since December, so I was a little paranoid that I was forgetting something. 

We got up bright and early in the morning and hit the road by 6:00. 

The race didn’t start until 9:00, but I wanted to ensure we had plenty of time to find parking and pick up our packets.  Gabby read some of her Ronda Rousey book on the way up the road and I think that helped to motivate her.  We were there with plenty of time to spare so we decided to hang out in the van for a little while.  We were trying to avoid the cold for as long as possible!

We finally decided to head towards the starting area to hit the port a pots and pick up our bibs.  After getting our bibs pinned on (difficult to do with numb fingers), we took some fun photos/videos (can you tell the Ronda Rousey book motivated Gabby?).  

Next, we went over to the starting area to watch the start of the 5k (8:15 start time).  This race is pet friendly so it was fun seeing all the dogs.  We hung out for a while longer and talked about where we would meet back up if we got separated and then I decided to go ahead and check my coat.  Gabby was going to check hers but decided it was too cold so she kept it on.  Finally it was time for us to head to the starting line.  We lined up right around the 10:00/mile corral. 

Time to run!!  I decided not to bring my earbuds since I figured I would be running with Gabby.  The first half a mile or so was a little crowded but we were easily able to run side by side.  Before we hit mile marker one, Gabby was warmed up and ready to come out of her jacket so she took it off and wrapped it around her waist.  The first couple of miles took us beyond the Lincoln Memorial and just past the Kennedy Center before turning around.  I looked at my Garmin and realized we had completed mile 2 in 9:08, which is a little fast for me.  I remember telling Gabby that I needed to slow down a bit but that she could keep going.  We headed back towards the Jefferson Memorial and then made an extra loop down Independence Avenue.  I could see Gabby just ahead of me.  Occasionally, she would take a quick walk break and I would catch up to her.  I kept her in my sights until just beyond mile 5.5.  She said she was heading towards the finish line when the announcer was saying that if you had a goal to finish the 10k in under an hour you had a minute left, and he kept counting it down from there.  She told me she really gave it her all for her last .10 of a mile!!  I could heard the announcer saying the same thing so I wasn’t too far behind her, but I knew I was going to just barely miss the 1 hour mark.  I finished my race and saw Gabby off to the side!  She beat me by 1 minute and 26 seconds.  That girl is amazing!

We got our finishers medals, water, and another picture before heading over to grab my coat and wait for the awards.  I was curious to see if Gabby would place in the race.  We didn’t see many other younger kids in the 10k so I thought she might have a chance.

She did it!!  She placed 2^nd in her age group (F11-14).  I was so happy for her! 

Her official time was 58:59 (9:30 min pace) and my official time was 1:00:25 (9:44 min pace).  Below are my splits according to my Garmin watch (GPS was a little off making my time a little faster than official time):

Mile 1 – 9:25

Mile 2 – 9:08

Mile 3 – 9:35

Mile 4 – 9:37

Mile 5 – 9:49

Mile 6 – 9:48

Mile 6.32 – 9:25

We originally contemplated walking around DC for the day, but we just wanted to get out of the cold so we headed home.  Gabby slept most of the way home.  We stopped at Panera Bread for lunch and were home by early afternoon. 

I love that Pacers gives you free photos of the event!  They have posted some of them already, but I am very anxious to see the rest.  I also love the size and route of this race and would definitely do it again.  If only Mother Nature could turn up the heat a little bit for us in the future!

Hi there!  I hope you all are having a good weekend!  Our weather continues to be all over the place.  This weekend has been so cold!  I’ll be so glad when the weather is consistently warmer, but it looks like we have a cold week ahead of us.  I just want to be inside my warm, cozy house when its cold outside. 

Below is my workout recap:

Wed, Mar 1^st – Rest Day

Thurs, Mar 2^nd – 3.5 Treadmill miles total.  I’ve been struggling with finding time to fit everything into my schedule again.  I have not been able to take a lunch at work recently because I am not able to get in until 7:30 (Makayla’s school is out of district so it adds a bit of time in the morning for me to get her to the transfer location, but that’s a whole different story).  Anyway, I decided that maybe I can become a morning runner.  We do have treadmill in our basement and although I really am not fond of it, it will do in a pinch.  So believe it or not, I actually got up and got some miles in before work.  Unfortunately, I ran out of time so I was only able to get 2.5 miles in before work (10:23 pace).  Those miles were a STRUGGLE!  I’m not sure if it was because I was still sleepy or because the house was so hot, but I had a hard time getting through the miles.  Then I still had one more mile to complete after work.  Since I knew I only had a mile to go, I was able to run a little faster (9:09 pace).

Fri, Mar 3^rd – Rest Day

Sat, Mar 4^th – Body Pump with Sam!  I was very excited to have my workout partner back!  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture but I’m hoping we are able to work out together regularly again.  It helps so much to have a workout buddy.  Finding someone who has a similar schedule is tough.

Sun, Mar 5^th – St. Pats Day 10k.  Gabby and I ran the Pacers St. Pats Day 10k in Washington DC (race recap coming soon).  Spoiler Alert – Gabby took 2^nd place in her age group!!  Woot Woot!

Mon, Mar 6^th – Rest Day

Tues, Mar 7^th – 4.5 treadmill miles (9:43 pace)

Wed, Mar 8^th – Body Pump again with Sam!  It’s a challenging release but I’m already feeling stronger than I was just 2 months ago.

Thurs, Mar 9^th – Rest Day.  I usually run on Thursdays, but on weeks when I have off on Friday’s, I’m known to push my run to Friday instead since I have the whole day.  Instead, Sam and I met up for dinner and a drink.  Exercise isn’t the only form of stress relief 😉

Fri, Mar 10^th – 4 treadmill miles (9:25 pace).  I get so bored on the treadmill so I found an interval plan that had me sprinting.  I was unable to complete the entire 4 miles based on the plan, but I was still happy with my pace.  It was tough though!!

Sat, Mar 11^th – I wasn’t able to attend Body Pump today because I was busy watching Gabby compete in the Maryland Junior Championship Short Course Meet!!  She qualified in 8 different events and was also signed up for two relays!!  She swam 5 events today, and still has to swim 5 events tomorrow.  I’m currently debating about going to the gym to get some sort of strength workout in.  Anything other than the treadmill at the gym is intimidating to me though.  I have some old videos that I could complete at home if I don’t work up the nerve to go to the gym.  I’m hoping to fit something in.  If not, I’ll make sure to take body pump on Monday to make up for today.

I have 7 miles on the schedule tomorrow that I’m a little nervous about.  With the time change and the early morning swim meet, I’m going to be exhausted by the time we get home in the afternoon.  The last time I ran more than 6.2 miles was back in October so we’ll see how it goes.

I still haven’t gotten a handle on my nutrition just yet and that plays such a bigger role in weight management than working out does.  I generally make pretty decent choices during the week and then when the weekends come…anything goes!  I have no self-control!   I’ve considered posting my “My Fitness Pal” summaries on my blog.  Knowing that I’m going to share my food choices with the world (okay…more like my 10 followers) might inspire me to make better choices.  Stay tuned to see if I follow through with that idea!

I hope you all have a good weekend!  Stay warm!

Goodbye February, Hello March!  We are officially one month closer to SUMMER (my favorite season).  The weather is still having a bit of an identity crisis.  Today’s high was close to 80 degrees, yet we have a chance of a frozen mix on Friday.  Go figure!

Here is a summary of my workouts since my last update:

Tuesday, Feb 21^st – Rest Day.

Wednesday, Feb 22^nd – Rest Day.  I initially planned to run today, but ended up meeting up with a friend and spending some time catching up.  Sometimes friend therapy is more important than any workout.

Thursday, Feb 23^rd – 3.5 Treadmill miles (9:56 pace).

Friday, Feb 24^th – Another beautiful day!  Since Steven and I had the day off, we spent the morning walking around Solomon’s Island.  We got about 3 miles in before my middle schooler sent me a text telling me she forgot her lunch.  Oops!  We had to rush home to get it to her during her lunch.

Saturday, Feb 25^th – 4 Treadmill miles (9:42 pace).  My running days were a bit messed up this week due to the holiday weekend last week.  But I was determined to get my ‘scheduled’ miles in so I decided to hit the treadmill before my body pump class.  I missed the Wednesday Body Pump class, and my body could tell!  Later in the afternoon, Steven and I headed back over to Solomon’s Island with the girls to walk around and feed the ducks.  It was another beautiful day! 

Sunday, Feb 26^th – 5.5 Treadmill miles (9:49 pace). 

Monday, Feb 27^th – Rest Day.

Tuesday, Feb 28^th – 4 Treadmill miles (9:43 pace).

As far as nutrition is concerned, February was not too kind to me.  Let’s just say I had my fair share of Valentine’s Day treats and Girl Scout Cookies!  My weight was up and down the entire month.  I only managed to lose a total of .5 pound.  I know I can do better than that!  I’d still like to lose about 5 more pounds.  Hopefully March is kinder to me than February was.

February Totals:

Running: 48.5 Miles

Body Pump: 5 classes

Yoga: 1 class

Bike: 4 miles

Spin: 1 class

Looking ahead, I have a lot of miles on the schedule for March (67.7 to be exact)!  I hope to be up to 9 mile long runs by the end of the month. 

And in other running news, there were a couple of familiar faces featured on our local Hospice Race flyer!  Lilee loves the fact that she is “famous”!

QOTD:  What are your March goals?

Wow, what a gorgeous weekend we had!  The weather has been really crazy lately, but mostly in a good kind of way (although if you remember, last Friday was FREEZING)!  We enjoyed our long holiday weekend, with weather in the upper 60’s/lower 70’s throughout most of the weekend.  I was definitely ready to get outside and soak up some sun!  Again, I had the itch to get out of the county and do some exploring closer to DC.

I’ll give you more details later, but first let’s recap the rest of my workouts since I last blogged:

Saturday, Feb 11 – Body Pump

Sunday, Feb 12 – 4.5 Treadmill miles (10:10 pace)

Monday, Feb 13 – Rest Day

Tuesday, Feb 14^th – 3.5 Treadmill miles (10:27 pace).  This particular run was brutal.  Every year my family celebrates Valentine’s Day with heart-shaped pancakes for dinner.  We all gorged on the pancakes and then Steven dropped Gabby off at swim.  I knew I had to pick her up at 7:30 and if I wanted to make it in time, I knew I had to run on a full belly.  Ughhh.  None of those 3.5 miles were fun, but check out my pancakes Steven and I made!

Wednesday, Feb 15^th – Body Pump

Thursday, Feb 16^th – 4 Treadmill miles (9:36 pace).  REDEMTION!  After Tuesday’s run, I so needed a good run and I got just that today.  It was the first time in a long time where I felt like I could have kept on running.

Friday, Feb 17^th – Rest Day

Saturday, Feb 18^th – Body Pump

Sunday, Feb 19^th – Family Bike Ride.  Since the forecast was predicting a perfect day AND none of my family had plans AND we all had off the next day for Presidents Day to recover, I decided to convince the whole gang to go bike riding.  And because I can really be a pain in the rump, I took it a step further and decided we should drive approximately 70 minutes away to ride our bikes along the GW Parkway.  I have run 3 races along the GW parkway and am in love with the route so I thought it would be fun.  As a disclaimer, we are not a bike riding family so this was new to all of us.  We basically had to beg, borrow, and steal bikes to even have enough for everyone to ride.  We parked at Belle Haven and headed south towards Mt. Vernon.  My grand plan was to ride all the way down to Mt. Vernon, lock up the bikes, and then take a tour of the mansion to celebrate presidents day (I didn’t tell them that part of my plan…I can only spring so many “ideas” on them at once).  Makayla’s bike turned out to be kind of crappy and she was not enjoying the ride.  After two miles, we decided to turn around and head back to the truck.  Womp womp.  Steven was glad because he found it to be boring (you have to stay single file a lot of the way because the trail is crowded).   

We got back to the truck and fed some ducks and walked a little ways before heading out in the truck.  We did drive down to Mt. Vernon to see where other parking spots are in case Gabby and I decide to come back one day.  I asked if anyone was interested in touring the mansion, but only Gabby was interested so her and I will definitely have to go back.  (Fun Fact – My grandmother and her twin brother were born on George Washington’s birthday, so they were named George (Washington) and Martha (Jane).  The “Jane” part of my first name is after my grandmother.  I tried to convince my kids that it basically means I’m presidential and ‘almost’ related to George Washington – lol!!!).  We spent the rest of the day at the National Harbor.  There was some sort of costume convention going on, which proved to be very entertaining.  So, although my initial idea failed, we still got to walk around a bit, people watch, and enjoy some family time together.  I’d call that a win.

Monday, Feb 20^th – I pushed my long run for the week to Monday since we were up the road on Sunday.  The weather was perfect for an outside run so I decided to get 5 miles in.  Its tough to run outside when you are used to the treadmill, but I managed.  I did walk a few times, but I didn’t let myself walk TOO long and still managed to average a 10:03 pace. 

I also joined a weight loss contest sponsored by my company’s wellness committee last week.  It basically runs from Valentine’s Day until St. Patrick’s Day.  I honestly don’t think I’ll win, but it provides a little extra motivation to make healthier eating choices (still difficult for me).

This coming weekend is looking to be yet another beautiful weekend so there is no telling what I’ll get myself and my family into this weekend.  Stay tuned…

QOTD:  Did you get to enjoy the weather this past weekend?  What did you do?

When I am looking for new races, I tend to search for race recaps so that I can get a runners honest perspective of the race.  I find that this is more helpful than any information listed on the race website.  So years ago, these searches led me to some local-ish blogs that I ended up falling in love with and following.  Sometimes I look for recipe ideas, but mostly they provide me a little extra motivation to continue working out when I read them.  When I say they are local-ish, I mean the bloggers live in the DC area.  I do have to admit that I tend to find myself a little jealous of all the workout options that the city has to offer.  It seems there is always some trendy fitness boutique around every corner!  I have a gym membership that I enjoy, but I’d love to have options such as Soul Cycle, Orange Theory, Pure Barre, etc! 

Over the past week or so, I have been very excited to be able to incorporate some new workout experiences into my routine and I have LOVED it!  I am a gal who loves a routine, but a nice break from it every now and then can be exciting!  So without further ado, I’ll recap the last 10 days below:

Wednesday, Feb 1^st – Rest Day

Thursday, Feb 2^nd – Spin Class at Salt Cycle Studio!  We finally have a boutique style spinning studio in the county and I was fortunate enough to try it for free, thanks to my company and their commitment to promoting physical and mental wellness.  I had tried spinning once or twice before, but it was years ago, so I was basically a newbie.  I really enjoyed this “party-themed” class.  Between the great music selection and the glow in the dark lighting, it was definitely a workout with great energy!  If I can find a way to fit it into my schedule, I’ll definitely go back. 

Friday, Feb 3^rd – Ran 3.5 Treadmill Miles (9:50 pace) Steven was laughing at me because I told him about my music routine when I run on the treadmill (since I’m not currently watching anything on Netflix).  I tend to overthink things and when I’m bored and running on the treadmill, I need constant change to keep me going.  So, I have been changing the song every .20 mile and I increase my pace every .5 mile.  Do you have any whacky routines that help you get through a boring workout routine?

Saturday, Feb 4^th – Body Pump

Sunday, Feb 5^th – Ran 4 Treadmill miles (9:55 pace).  My first 4 miler of the 2017.

Monday, Feb 6^th – Yoga at home.  Makayla kept me company, but she decided to sit this week’s yoga session out.

Tuesday, Feb 7^th – Ran 3.5 Treadmill miles (9:41 pace).  It was beautiful outside (upper 60’s and Wednesday was 70.  Spoiler alert – these temps did not last)!!!  It would have been a great day for a run outdoors, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take a lunch break today and by the time I get home from work, it’s starting to get dark outside.

Wednesday, Feb 8^th – Body Pump.  I increased my weights tonight (except bicep track…it’s a doozie!)

Thursday, Feb 9^th – Rest Day

Friday, Feb 10^th – Ran 3.5 miles in the FREEZING cold!  Steven and I decided to go on an early Valentine’s Day date since we both had the day off and the kids were in school.  We decided it would be fun to go to Georgetown Cupcakes.  I think it has been 2 years since we went and the cupcakes are SO good (fun fact – I won my first dozen through a radio show contest by captioning a photo of Ellen DeGeneres and Katy Perry).  The last time we went, we talked about how it would be a fun place to run.  So, naturally I decided we should take a run first and then get the cupcakes.  Steven reluctantly agreed.  I think sometimes he wishes he had a normal wife who just wants to go to dinner and a movie – lol!  Unfortunately, the wonderful temperatures from earlier in the week were gone and my van was reading ~30 degrees when we got to DC around 9:45.  With the wind chill, it felt like ~19 degrees.  I think Steven was hoping I’d change my mind about the run portion of our date, but he should know by now that when I get an idea in my head, I’m pretty stubborn about keeping to the plan ;o)

I’m not super familiar with the city, so I looked up some routes online and found that we could easily get to the National mall by foot.  That became the plan.  After finding a restroom and bundling up, we started running.  While running in the city was fun and exciting, its a little hard to get into the groove when you have to keep stopping at crosswalks.  Once we got to the bike path, we didn’t have many more cross walks for a while, but then hit a few more towards the end of our route.  I also stopped once just to make sure we were headed the right way (it almost seemed too easy).  So, our pace wasn’t very fast, but we still enjoyed it.  We were at the Lincoln Memorial at ~1.65 miles so we decided to just keep running along the reflection pool until we reached 2 miles on the GPS.  Our faces and hands were pretty cold along the way (even with gloves), but other than that, we stayed pretty warm during the run.  Once we stopped, the cold really set in, but we decided to brave the elements and walk around for a bit.  We checked out the World War 2 Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  Unfortunately, Steven had some major chaffing going on during the first part of our run and it became increasingly painful as we walked around.  The pain seemed to subside a little when we had decided to head back to Georgetown, so we started running back the same route we came from.  We made it ~.80 mile, when the pain became intense again and we decided to walk.  He was even having trouble walking for a while, but we knew we had to get back to my van.  After a while, he decided to push through the pain and we began running again.  I had turned my GPS off when we got to 1 mile so I turned that back on and we ran until it totaled 1.5 total miles for the return trip.  We made it (barely)!!

We finished our date with a stop at the Nike store and a visit to Georgetown Cupcakes (where we purchased 16 cupcakes and I may or may not have eaten 4 today.  Ughhh…I have no will power!).  We decided to head back down the road at that point because we aren’t big shoppers and it was too cold to just walk around.  We stopped for lunch at Chili’s and were back home around 3:30.  All in all, it was a fun date!  I’d definitely love to do it again with Steven when the temps are a little warmer.  I’m also hoping to plan a girls day with some of my running buddies in the Spring!  It’s so nice to have a change of scenery every now and again!

Wow, January sure did fly by!  I like to look at it as one month closer to Summer!!  I booked my summer vacation this past weekend, so the countdown is officially on.  Unfortunately, I still have many months before the family heads down to the beach, but it’s fun to daydream. 

I am feeling better about my running routine each week.  It’s getting a little easier (I am getting stronger) and I actually look forward to it on some days.  I’m going to start increasing my mileage slowly on my Sunday runs.  Here are my January exercise totals:

Mileage – 43 miles

Body Pump – 4 classes

Yoga – 3 at-home sessions

Walk – 3.5 miles

Another interesting note on the fitness front is that a memory popped up in my memories on Facebook that was from when I first started running more than 3.1 miles!  Somedays it’s still hard for me to believe I am a “runner” and I still don’t feel confident calling myself a “runner”.  I still feel like a phony for some reason – lol!

Nutrition:  Hmmm…I’ll give myself a B- in the nutrition department for the month of January.  I did manage to lose 5.5 pounds of my added Christmas weight!  I’m not sure how I managed to do that with Gabby living in my house.  She LOVES to bake.  Her most recent creation was this 4 layer cake.  MMmmmmm.  Get in my belly!

I’ll also give you a quick summary of my last week and a half (Jan 22 – 31):

Sunday – 3 Treadmill miles at the gym (9:55 pace)

Monday – Rest Day

Tuesday – 3 Treadmill miles at the gym (9:57 pace)

Wednesday – Body Pump

Thursday – Rest Day

Friday – 3 Treadmill miles at the gym (9:51 pace)

Saturday – Body Pump at the gym

Sunday – 3.5 Treadmill miles at the gym (10:05 pace).  Funny story…I had finished catching up on all the Scandal episodes that were available on Netflix on Friday, so I decided to start a new show.  I heard that Shameless was a really good show so I started watching it.  Definitely not “gym appropriate” – lol!!  I ended up turning it off because there was a dude running right beside me and I didn’t want to look like a pervert (I will save this show for watching at my house).  I ended up listening to my music, which I rarely do at the gym and I actually really liked it for a change. 

Monday – Yoga at home with Makayla (and Flash).  He decided to do the “All the way down facing dog”

Tuesday – 3.5 Treadmill miles (9:53 pace)

I’m looking forward to February workouts and upping my mileage!  I’ve got a few workouts on the horizon that will be a change from my usual workouts.  I’m really excited to share them with you!  Stay tuned! 

I made some New Year’s Resolutions.  The problem is that now I think it’s considered pretty lame to make New Year’s Resolutions.  All the cool kids have just learned to accept themselves as they are and find resolutions silly.  I tried to think of something different to call them so that I didn’t sound so lame but we all know I am not that creative.  So, I’ll just call it like it is.  I made some New Year’s Resolutions.  And call me lame, but I actually like the idea of having a fresh start.  Yes, I pretty much make the same resolutions each and every year but that’s okay!  It’s like hitting the reset button.  I almost wish it were the norm to make “New Month’s Resolutions”.  Wouldn’t it be great to pause for a moment after each month and really reflect on what we want to do differently the next month??  Is that really so bad?  Plus, those who know me well know how much I like to make lists 🙂

So anyway, the resolutions have been going well so far.  I really do think that the key is preparation.  One of my resolutions was to make time for more sit-down dinners and stop resorting to fast food all the time.  A – It gives us family time to talk about our days.  B – It is generally healthier.  C – It saves money.  The challenge has always been that my husband and I both work full time.  I don’t get home until almost 5:00 each night and Gabby has to be at swim at 6:00 three nights a week and 5:30 once a week.  Do you see the problem??  So, I’ve been trying hard to stay ahead by at least a day with the meal planning.  I find that when I prepare as much as possible in advance, it really does make the evenings so much smoother!  And trying to fit my runs in during my lunch break helps free up my evenings so that I can prep the next night’s dinner or actually have some down-time every now and then.  I’ve been more successful at getting my runs in at lunch because I prepare my running clothes the night before and leave them sitting on the dining room table. 

I would never have the time to pack my bag in the morning.  So I’m hoping that as long as I continue to prep ahead of time, my resolutions will be easier to keep.  What are your resolutions?  I would also love to hear any tips you have to help you stay focused on meeting your resolutions.

Now, onto my workout recap for the week (Jan 15-21):

Sunday – 3 miles on the treadmill at 9:43 average pace.  I started a little slower and worked my way up while catching up on Scandal on Netflix.

Monday – I was off for the holiday.  Makayla, Gabby, and I decided to play Just Dance on the Wii to get some cardio in instead of yoga.  We had so much fun!  We went back to the original Just Dance.  You know the one; Ring my Bell, Womanizer, Who Let the Dogs Out.  We played long enough to work up a sweat so I’m counting it as a work-out!

Tuesday – 3 miles on the treadmill.  I actually packed my running clothes and planned to run at lunch, but I forgot about a lunch meeting that I had accepted before my long 4 day weekend.  No biggie.  I just hit the gym after work and watched another episode of Scandal while I ran on the treadmill.  I like to have something to keep my mind occupied so the miles go by faster.  I averaged a 9:52 average pace.

Wednesday – Body Pump.  I came *this* close to getting Steven to try it with me.  He ended up running while I took the class.

Thursday – I ran 3 miles outside during my lunch break so that I wouldn’t have to worry about it in the evening.  Running outside is still tough for me.  I am still trying to get used to changes in terrain and pacing myself.  I ended up having to walk 3 times and finished with an overall average pace of 10:28. 

Friday – Rest Day

Saturday – Gabby had a swim meet so I wasn’t able to go to Body Pump.  It was dreary and misty out, but Steven and I had a long time to kill before Gabby was up to swim so we decided to take a walk around St. Mary’s College.  It really is a beautiful campus.  Plus, we got to see this tree with all the shoes wrapped around the branches (maybe some of them are even running shoes)!  I don’t see that on my normal route.

There you have it.  I had a relatively successful week of workouts.  I am still fighting the battle with nutrition.  I have definitely improved my habits (while still being a believer in “everything in moderation”), but I still have some habits I’d like to break (like evening snacking).  I’ve lost a couple of the 10 pounds I had gained this winter so I’m on the right path.  Why is it that we can gain weight so quickly, but it feels like it takes forever (and a ton of hard work) to lose it??? 

I hope you all had a good week!  Let me know how those New Years Resolutions are going!

We are 14 days into 2017 and things are going pretty well so far.  My first run of the year was on New Year’s Day and it was tough (to say the least).  I hadn’t ran since the beginning of December and I could certainly tell!  I decided to run outside for my first run of the year.  I was pretty happy with my first mile but I ended up having to walk a few times over the final 2 miles.

Since then, I’ve been officially back to running 3 days a week, although I have been keeping my mileage low (3 miles each time so far) for a total of 18 miles so far this month.  I’ve ran outside 3 times and on the treadmill 3 times.  I am not going to lie, I have struggled at some point with each of my runs so far.  What used to be “just 3 miles” is just not that easy!  But, I will continue running and working on building up my strength and stamina, little by little.  I am happy to say that each run has gotten faster!

My daughters both joined me for yoga in my living room early in the New Year and although there were lots of giggles and silliness, we also got a nice stretch.  Makayla even joined me for yoga the following week (Gabby was at swim).  We’ve been rolling out yoga mats and finding youtube yoga videos to watch.  Whatever works, right?  Well, it kind of works.  Until Flash decides to interfere!  But we have fun and I really hope that she continues to join me each week.

I also went back to pump on Wednesday.  My legs are still really sore!!  I’m really looking forward to going back.  I considered going back this morning but I didn’t think my legs could handle it quite yet.  Instead, Steven and I hit the gym to walk for 2 miles and then hit some weight machines to get some chest/bi/tri exercises in.

I plan to use the month of January to get my groove back and then at the very end of the month, I plan to start increasing my distance.  I have some spring races in mind, but have not made any commitments just yet.  Some of the races I’m thinking about are:

• St. Pats 10k (D.C)
• Hospice 5k (Leonardtown, MD)
• GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler (Alexandria, VA) OR Coastal Delaware Running Festival Half Marathon (Delaware)
• St. Mary’s Historic Half (St. Mary’s City, MD) OR Ocean City Island to Island Half Marathon (Ocean City, MD)
• Leatherneck 5k (Patuxent River, MD)

How is your 2017 going so far?  Have you started any new workout routines?