Weekend Update

Good Morning!!! 

We had an AWESOME weekend!  It started out with our First Annual Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza!  I made so much food, and the weather turned out awesome, and everyone got into the pumpkin carving spirit... one friend even brought his power tools :)

Even though we had our friends over the night before, my running friend still wanted to get in a 12 mile run Saturday morning!  I met up with her for 6, but then it turned into 7... she wanted me to turn it into a 12 mile run, but I was good with 7 :)

Then I took little Lu to Dogtoberfest downtown and met this little beauty!

Um, he weighs 120 pounds!  He tried to lean on me and it knocked me over!  He was so stinkin' cute though!!

Today is a rest day for me, which is fine, I did 5 miles Friday, 7 Saturday, and 5 before Church yesterday. 

Hope you get an awesome run in today!  Let me know how it goes :)

Family Pictures

Good Morning!

Yesterday I went to the dentist, and boo, I have some cavities :(  But the dentist said that my teeth are very nice and once we get that taken care of, I'll be as good as new!

After the dentist I got in a 7 mile run, and to be honest, most of it sucked.  I started out totally fine, but pretty fast- 8:29 for 2 miles, but I couldn't slow down!!  So by the time I was at mile 4.5 I was so done, and so tired.  I made it through though with an average of 8:54.  Not bad.

So a couple weeks ago we got family pictures taken.  They turned out really well.  Here are a couple.

Have a GREAT Thursday!  It's almost FRIDAY!!  :)

Speed Work- Mile Repeats-- Kind of :)

Hello!!

Whew!!  Speed work is NO JOKE!  I decided to do some mile repeats yesterday and I didn't like it.  (I may like it when I start running faster) but it was HARD.  I decided that since my 5K PR is 7:52/mile, I would try to run one mile hard at 7:30, then sloooooowly jog for 3 minutes, one mile hard at 7:30, jog slow for 3 minutes, repeat until I hit 4 miles.  Easier said than done.  I did the first mile in 7:33, jogged for 3 minutes and decided I was done.  But, I remembered that I told you guys that I would push through.  So, I still did the run, just a little different.  The second mile I ran at a normal pace (9:00), mile 3 I did in 7:45, mile 4 8:54.  I averaged an 8:19 pace for a 4.11 mile run.  Better than I have ever ran so that was good, but I'm feeling sore today.  Wow, sorry I just wrote a novel on my 4 mile run.  I looked at this while I was running.  Aren't the trees so pretty??

We are having a little Fall Kick-Off/Pumpkin Carving Contest this weekend and I made these cute signs for our food.  Aren't the precious?

I am loving this fall weather and just may bust out my new fall skirt I got at Goodwill :)

Have an awesome Wednesday and get in a good workout :)

Windy Run!

Good Morning!

Yesterday morning I did a six-mile run, but oh boy was it windy!!  I averaged a 9:07 for the run, but two of my miles were 9:30 because of the winds! It was a good run and I'm glad I did it in spite of the wind.  I knew if I said I was going to do 6 miles and quit early because of the wind I would be mad at myself, so I trucked on through it. 

You know it's a good run when you take out your ponytail and your hair sticks that way.  Gross.


Today is work and then another run in the afternoon, not sure how far I'll go, but I will truck through it :)

And I'll leave you with this precious picture.  A tired beagle.

Hope you all have an awesome, incredible Tuesday!!!  Get in a good run today!! :)

Weekends- I prefer the weekends!

Happy Monday!  (As happy as a Monday can be)

So, we had no definite plans this weekend.  Hubby said he was excited to get work done.  So being the good wife that I am, I planned on helping him, but first I got in a GREAT 8 mile run with my good friend!  We started at 7 AM Saturday and it was still dark.  It was awesome and speedy (for me).  It was so humid though!  Here is proof.

Do you see that sweat dripping down my leg?  Disgusting.  Sidenote:  How much do you love my socks?  They were my grandma's. <3

A few exciting/scary things happened this weekend, too.  Little Lu decided to get caught up in a leash and I had to come to the rescue before she got hurt!  I don't know if you can see it too well in the picture but the leash is around her neck.

Then, she got herself into another mess!  She was scratching on the door to come in so I went to go bring her inside.  I saw that she had (what appeared to be) a stick in her mouth.  I thought "how precious, she wants to bring a stick in, I will take some pictures."  So I took some, and then opened the door to get the "stick" out and let her in.  It was then that I realized it was a DEAD CHIPMUNK!!!!  Oh my gosh, I was so terrified, I screamed and then hub came to the rescue.  Gross.  That beagle had a shenanigan-filled weekend.  

Oh, and Lu also wants to show you that she's not all crazy.  She can be very prim and proper.

All in all it was a great weekend!  Enjoy your Monday!!

Do any of you have crazy dogs?

Anyone get in a good run this weekend?

Pushing through

Good Morn!

So yesterday I had to run in the afternoon.  I used to do it all the time, but now I loooove running in the morning.  Well, after I left school I was pouting just thinking about having to run after a long day at work.  My principal even said to me "What are you all whiney about?"  Haha, apparently I wear my emotions on my sleeve.  I left school saying to myself that I would just make it a short run and do 3 miles.  But by the time my mile and a half drive was over, I was thinking more clearly.  I decided to do 5.  It was a great run time-wise, but I still had mixed feelings about it afterwards. 

Don't you love blurry pictures...

Anyway, back to the point of the post.  I knew if I did less than I usually do I would be all down on myself for the rest of the night.  I had to push through and do my run.  It won't always feel good.  It won't always be fun, but it will be worth it.

That's all.  Push through when it's hard.  Push through when it hurts.  Push.  That's what I did and it was good(ish) :)

When my hubby got home we went to Target, which is always a good time.  Then I watched Glee with this little face.

Cutest face I have ever seen!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

Any plans for the weekend?

How do you push through?

It's almost Friday!!

Good Mornin' to ya!

I would love to go out on my morning run today, but I can't.  I need to do some testing, so I have to be at school at 7:30, and it's too dark!  boo.  So I will be running after school today.  I used to run every day after school, but I haven't in a while.  We'll see how today goes...

Yesterday my parents came over.  By the time I got home from work, the dishwasher was empty and the trash was taken out! :)  We went on a nice walk with them after dinner with the dogs, and our dogs slept like babies!

I guess we'll be going on more walks with our dogs.  It was a beautiful day and we are trying to soak up all the good days before winter!

I feel like I don't have much to write about today, so I will be back tomorrow with how my afternoon run goes today.  I'm sure you all can't wait to read about it ;)

W.O.W. How to start running and How to stay motivated!

Hello Everybody!

This morning I want to talk about how to "start running" and how to stay motivated.  Disclaimer:  This is what works for me, and it may not work for everyone.  Everyone is different, but I think "my" way is a good way! :)

1) How to start running.  I was NEVER an athlete.  Growing up I played softball when I was 10.  I was never good.  I just got to play because I was 10 and everyone got to play.  In high school I played volleyball, I was not good.  I played soccer, I was not good.  I was a cheerleader, this I was good at! :) The only reasons I got to play these sports at all was because I went to a VERY small Christian School and everyone got to play because it was so small. 

Okay, all that to say is that I believe anyone can start running regardless of their "athletic ability." (Because I have none and I can run)  When I first started running, I told myself that I would run for 10 minutes.  I probably ran a half mile in that 10 minutes but I ran it all.  After a couple weeks of running for 10 minutes, I tried to run for 15 minutes.  Then I would try to run a mile, then two miles, etc.  I think a lot of times people try to focus on how fast they are going, and I think that is what gets so defeating.  Just focus on getting out there and doing something.

2) How to stay motivated!  This is my favorite part.  When you first start running it's best to sign up for a race to stay motivated.  When you finish the race you get a prize.  After my first 5k my prize was Taco Bell.  (Again, this may not work for everyone, or even be good ideas, but they work for me, and may help you.)  After I did my first triathlon I went and got a pedicure, and it was perfect!  They don't even have to be things that cost money.  Sometimes if I do a bigger race (10k, half, etc)  my hubby and I will do something special together like rent a movie and eat popcorn.  That is a cheap one :)  I am such a little kid when it comes to staying motivated so oftentimes I will say to myself if you finish this tough run you can go out to lunch with a friend.  I think I'm motivated best by food.  Which is probably really bad.  But hey, once again, it works for me.  I just have to remember to not go overboard :)

Brother and I eating after the marathon.

One more reason to stay motivated... I don't want this guy to outdo me :)

But for real, I love to do races with my hubby and that keeps me motivated to keep going when we are doing things together!  I hope you guys stay motivated- keep at it!!!

Any other good ideas to stay motivated?  How did you start running?