TGI.. Friday!

I am super happy its finally FRIDAY! It means tomorrow I will be in Washington DC for a few days. I can not wait! First I must workout today.. and it's Friday so that means hardly anyone in the gym. Which I'm starting to like! 

The kids didn't even have school today and that means we had the chance to sleep in if we wanted. Well, you know how that works. We are so use to getting up early, its not wonder we couldn't sleep in.. up and off to the gym.. EARLY!

30 minutes = 3 miles on the cross ramp. I talked Steve into biking with me.. I will get plenty of walking/running in the next few days so biking sounded really good! 

I was the one messing up the stationary bike setting. Half way through my workout, I bumped something and then my miles were off and it said something about being in bike mode and not doing RPM's.. I have no idea but I kept biking hills for 30 minutes and I'm guessing it was 10 miles since that's what I biked before. 

I actually had time to lift weights. I always do my 5 minutes of abs, and now I could do legs and arms. I'm completely out of the habit of lifting weights and it was a challenge wanting to do more. That really needs to change as I know the more muscle I build, the more calories I burn. I definitely need to get rid of fat and build more muscle to lose a few pounds.

I have a new goal.. Starting when I get back on Thursday from my DC trip, I'm going to start working on my diet. Cut calories and up the workouts to burn more and lose 10 pounds for summer. I've got some tennis to play, mountain biking and more miles to run. Eat more fruit and veggies and really limit the sugar and watch portion size. A good plan and a must do! 

A photo of Logan's 5th grade band concert, from last night. 

Logan's Band Concert, 5th Grade

Logan's last Elementary School Band Concert for 5th grade. 

How you start the day, determines the rest of the day!

Our days don't always start with rainbows and sunshine or end with them either. You do choose how you start your day and that can set the mood for how the rest of you day will go! 

I saw a sign in a house that said "it's morning, here comes the stress". I don't know why anyone would want to start their day every morning thinking the day would just be filled with stress. Not a healthy outlook on life? Maybe time to change that? 

I choose to be positive and be thankful I'm able to get up every day and do what I love... go for a run. While I didn't always love getting up early and running. It's now become what I do love. It just makes the day that much better and it gives me the mind set it will be a good day no matter what is thrown at me. I know I can handle it. Running is my stress reliever, my time to think and reflect and work on improving me. Its my time to take care of my health and feel good about who I am. 

It might be easier to lay on the couch instead of moving, but the price your health pays for that choice has a huge impact on your quality of life. I know first hand as I sat on the couch not moving much for over 10 years. I gained weight, didn't feel good about myself and had no goals or hobbies to make me feel good. I don't want to be that person any more! I want to live a healthy long life, able to move. Obesity takes away the ability to move and it's a sad situation when it's hard to even walk. I had an 80% chance of being obese in my life time. My parents where both over weight which stacked the odds against me. It was not easy to and it still isn't easy to start my day with exercise but it determines how the rest of my day and life will be. 

Yesterday, I purchased some new flat walking shoes for around the house. I can't wear my running shoes all the time. They were cheap $14, black so won't show the dirt and slip on. Perfect!

Last night we made the most unhealthy dinner. Baked chicken with potato chips crushed on top. Logan's favorite so we knew he'd actually eat dinner instead of saying Yuck!

Beer batter onion rings and cheese curds. We limited eating this stuff to just a few each. This way it tasted extra good. 

Beer Batter Recipe: 

1 cup flour

1tsp baking powder

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Beer (add enough to make a semi-thick/thin batter)

Fry in hot peanut oil until golden brown!

It's a good thing all I ate for lunch was veggies, sweet potato and Brussels sprouts. 

I'm really looking forward to this afternoon. Its my massage day. Oh how I look forward to this every week. Also glad to be done running only 6 miles on the cross ramp today. The machine said I burned 700 calories in 60 minutes. I had a long 2 minutes left to run when I took the photo. 

The rain stopped me from running home. I determined just saying on the cross ramp for the hour was what I felt like doing for my workout. Every day there are new choices.. 

I'm hoping tomorrow I'll be able to get outside to run. I really love that the best. Time goes by so quickly.. 

Is a 9 minute mile considered Speedy?

Today is the day.. I wanted to run home from the gym. Not too cold 39*F and it does get light out before I run for home. I started off with 30 minutes on the cross ramp for 3 easy miles. 

Then off I ran.. through the park and home.. I was trying to speed up and keep my pace around 9 minutes. 

The first mile was my fastest 8 minutes and 44 second mile. I slowed down a bit due to some hills 9:14 2nd mile, and then my slowest mile because I had to wait 2 minutes for the traffic light 11:04 and the last .41 mile.. 8:30 pace. It would have been nice to not have to stop for that traffic light because I really tried to run a bit faster today and keep up a good pace. I'm not any where near keeping my pace at 8 minutes or under for the entire run unless I am racing. 

Can you tell from my heart rate where I stopped running? It sure does drop off fast! That was the stop sign... a long, long wait! 

I'm back to wearing BRIGHT colors when I run. I want to make sure cars see me. 

It was cool out for my run, but I was still a sweaty mess. It takes a while to cool down and I end up dripping sweat all over if I don't say outside long enough. 

6.41  miles done and the last 3.41 miles done in a moving pace of 30:56. 

Every Step Counts..

My legs have not felt like running the past two days. I've been pushing though it. I skipped running on the treadmill in hopes that doing an hour of the cross ramp would give my legs the needed rest to feel like running. Today, nothing felt good. I just wanted to walk.. but I know every step counts and I work towards my 6 mile goal every day. 

I break up my workout into 2 sections, 3 miles at a time. I do this on my outdoor running miles to. It's just a lot easier to say I'm going 3 or 4 miles then I'm running 6 to 8 miles. It usually feels the hardest the first mile.. sometimes longer.. but at least 30 minutes in I'm feeling better and am into running. 

I think running outside will get me out of this every step is feeling really difficult stage. It's taking a lot and I mean a lot of effort to keep going. It probably seems like I have this issue a lot but I don't. I just like every day to feel great and go so quickly that I want to keep running... I don't like the days where I want the run to end and I'm checking every second on the clock. 

I ate way too much of this cinnamon coffee cake yesterday. I hate to admit we hardly have any left because that's how much I ate. I had it at every meal and for a snack. I just can't control myself and there are just those certain foods that I should never have around. This is definitely one of the foods that I have issues with controlled portions. 

I'm missing this fun little guy already. We had such a good time yesterday. He is just learning so much and its so fun to see that progress. What I am excited about..? I get to spend 5 whole days in Washington DC with Kendra and Evan. Evan and I will tour the city while his mom is at a work conference. We are staying 1 mile from the Mall and 2 miles from the Zoo. All will be within walking distance so we definitely are going to get some exercise. I haven't been back to DC in .. about 20 years. I was born in DC and have never seen the cherry trees in bloom and I hope there are some blooms left. 

I finally finished the 2nd book in the Divergent series, Insurgent last night. Now what to read? Is there a 3rd book? I'm not super crazy about this type of story.. but it's something to read and I need another book to read before bed. I'd better go find something before my trip. Reading before bed always makes me tired. I have a hard time falling asleep if I don't read so reading a book before bed is a must! 

Open Windows...

There is nothing better then having the windows open, the fresh air, listening to the birds, frogs and bugs. 

Its light enough outside to run in the mornings if I choose to. 

Time for my weekly Miles Recap!

Total miles on the cross ramp = 15

Total miles on the Treadmill = 15

Total Miles Biked (stationary)= 38

Total Miles Run outdoors = 7

GRAND Total Miles for the week = 75

It was back to the gym this morning. I just did the cross ramp since I was kind of not feeling like doing anything. I just took it easy and keep the resistance a little easier.  6 tough miles done! 

Its going to be another nice 60+ day. We definitely need to go for a walk and try out Evan's jogger stroller.

All About Easter...

I am sooo glad I ran and biked today to have extra calories. Easter is all about the candy.. and food!

Dinner ham, asparagus, sweet potatoes, cheese potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. I was so full, I had to skip the bread but I had plenty for brunch.. 

Breakfast, bacon, hash browns, ham with cheese quiche, fruit and cinnamon coffee cake. 

I made two quiche one mushroom/spinach and the other ham with cheese. 

Happy Easter... 17 Miles!

Its Easter and I already finished 17 miles all so I can eat a Big Brunch!

What a perfect Easter morning to go for a run & bike. I was out in a tank top and it felt great!

I did my training again where I decided to actually run outside and to the gym this morning. It's 3.5 miles to the gym... Got to the gym, drank some water and biked 10 miles in 31:30 minutes at level 12. I decided to take it a bit easier on the biking since I was running an extra mile. 

It was kind of gross running because worms were EVERY where! I am afraid that I ran over a lot on my run. It was hard to avoid them. I did avoid all the dead frogs. The air was thick with dead worm..wet smell.. 

Not bad for a fun running outside today. Average moving pace was 9:37 ( I stopped for 2 traffic lights). and ran the 7 miles in 1 hour and 6 minutes. With my biking in between (half way). 

Yesterday I made this cinnamon/pecan coffee cake. I had to taste test it when it was hot out of the oven. Delicious! I could eat the entire roll. 

No time to rest.. I have two quiche's to make before 10am.. 

A cute, wet bunny photo of Paige.. She got a bath yesterday and LOVED IT! 

Who knew bunnies loved the water? It totally relaxed her.