guilt run

this morning is still a struggle

from my alarm going off and hitting snooze

to getting "the turkey trots" somewhere in the middle of my run (the endearing term i use to describe gas that could actually be a poop while running)

i just wanted to be back in bed (or in the bathroom)

but i knew once i was out of bed that climbing back in bed for 45 extra minutes of sleep

wasn't going to make me feel any less tired

so i put on my big girl panties and running shoes

and did my 28 minutes of running with 25 minutes of walking (warm up and cool down + doggy walk)

bill had spent all day yesterday cleaning house

i love that man

so when he said he wasn't going to run this morning and would just walk woodford

i didn't bat an eye

but i got a text message this morning at work saying he had felt guilty for not running with me

and he had just got back from his fastest 3 mile run

nothing like a little shame + guilt + peer pressure to hold yourself accountable

i'm a morning workout person because of those things

i hate missing a morning run only to sit at my desk consumed with the idea of having to go home and put on smelly running clothes

i feel guilty that i didn't get up early and run, and then the pressure to actually run instead of watching real housewives once i get home - it's just too much

so i get it over with at 5:45 am.

but actually, i do come home and put on smelly work out clothes - because i've been doing the shred in the evenings - two-a-days! whoop!

and speaking of - i finished up day 30 last night and will try to take "after" pictures tonight

are you a morning or evening exerciser?

do you ever guilt yourself into working out?



 

backstreet's back, alright!

dear routine

you make me happy

and breakfast was delicious as always

today marks the last day of the 30 day shred!

so happy that i stuck with it for all 30 days

i'm also ready to flip the page on my running calendar!

august will start the first week of half marathon training

and i'm not going to lie - i'm really nervous about going away from my couch to 5k program and busting out 3 miles everyday and only going up from there

but i'm also looking forward to zoning out more and focusing less on how many minutes i have left

and more on the journey - physical, literal journey through the back roads

as well as the spiritual journey

it gets deep out on that pavement, ya'll.

or sometimes i just listen to backstreet boys and sing my way through a few miles.




anyone else gearing up for fall races?

 

sticking to diet and exercise

so you're probably not wondering how i stuck to my diet and exercise routine this weekend

but i was super proud of myself

so here goes

back in college when i lost a lot of weight i pretty much became a shut in

when i was taking eating and exercising seriously, social situations made me nervous

i didn't want to be tempted to eat something i shouldn't

and in college i didn't want to be around people drinking

those pesky alcohol calories are the devil

and the same can be said now.

the anxiety of having to eat someone's cooking or having someone pour me a drink

not knowing how to calculate and account for those calories stresses me out

before we left on friday i got in a 30 minute elliptical workout and then completed the shred with bill

that extra work helped me feel at ease about heading down to the lake to have a few drinks.

we were running kind of late, and not in the mood to cook

so the topic of take out was brought up

i really didn't want to ruin my streak of not eating out

i didn't want to be tempted by a quick drive through fix

so since we had to run to kroger's on our way out of town

i had bill pick me up one of those caesar salad kits to eat in the car

 

450 calories for the whole kit made a very filling dinner and i can still say it's been over 2 months since i've had anything from a restaurant

 

once we got to the lake, drinks were already being poured - so i had a bourbon and diet coke.

 

i checked myfitnesspal and had ample calories to expend

 

so i ended up having somewhere between 3-5 bourbons that night

 

i'm not sure since there wasn't a shot glass.

 

i still came in barely under my daily goal thanks to the elliptical and shred

 

but the next morning i just felt like crap - not really hungover - just kind of slow feeling

it was just one night of rare drinking - but i absolutely hated not feeling like myself the next morning

determined not to feel defeated, bill and i chose to walk woodford and not miss a day of the 30 day shred

we set up boot camp, i brought my kindle, and we let jillian yell encourage us to "hang in there"

we didn't let a little weekend away keep us from sticking to our goal!

after that i didn't feel as guilty about the bourbon friday night and just tried to keep it sensible saturday.

we cooked eggs and hashbrowns for breakfast, packed turkey sandwiches for lunch on the boat, had pretzels and apples for snacks, and then had a pretty healthy dinner of grilled chicken, baked beans, and corn

the portions weren't measured

i had two beers on the porch

thank goodness there wasn't ice cream :)

we came back home sunday and it was back to normal and back to doing the shred in our living room

i ran this morning and will be on my next to last day of the shred tonight!

i haven't weighed myself from the start, but i don't feel like those two evenings at the lake wrecked my progress

the important thing is that i immediately got back on track

i'm not sure if i'll ever feel completely ok with cheat days, but being able to hop right back on the wagon is a big confidence booster

i got this.

 

lake weekend

i think i still smell like a fire pit

but i'm not complaining

i don't think i've ever sat around a fire pit with a sweatshirt on in late july either

still not complaining

my only complaint

i have not swam all summer - it's either been too cold or too rainy out

and this weekend was no exception

this little dark cloud followed us around the lake

until it opened up and poured

huddled under the cover trying to stay dry

really was quite useless as we tried to make it back to the house

thankfully, the dark skies lightened up and we were able to get back out on the water

the temps were still too mild for me to actually get in the water, so i settled in for a light nap and some magazine reading

bill was the only brave one who swam and tubed

i much preferred getting back to the house and sitting on the deck listening to the boats go by

woodford was all about lounging as well

 once the frogs started croaking and crickets chirping we made it around the fire pit

which lulled me to sleep fairly early

we had to make the trek back sunday morning

which was filled with laundry doing, house cleaning, grocery shopping, and prepping for the week

it's amazing how exhausted you get from lounging around the lake for a couple of days.

but i ain't complaining

 (if you can't listen to this while at work....imagine us cruising around to "california love" by 2pac)

 

just say the word

pick a spot on any old map

i travel light and my bags are packed

just as long as i'm where you're at

i'm gonna have a real good view

i'll go anywhere

anywhere with you

happy friday!

i'm puttin in a few hours of work today before calling it a weekend

we've got plans that involve a lake....and trying to teach woodford to swim

doggie life vest has been purchased.

this little guy wouldn't even go near the sprinklers this morning on our run

should be interesting.

 

yurbuds

good morning ya'll

i was sitting in a meeting ALL day yesterday from 8-5

and came home, after i did the 30 day shred, fell asleep at 9 o'clock

so after a longggg night's rest

i was more than ready for this morning's run

and thanks to some new earbuds

i was able to plod along happily

 

i broke down and purchased a pair of yurbuds

target started carrying this line, and i've been tempted since i've seen them hit the shelves

the inspire line is geared towards women's ears

and while i never thought i had small ears

i'm grateful to say something on my body is indeed small and warranted special earbuds.

as opposed to my previous favorite earbuds - the skullcandy ones that suction deep down in your ear

these are much more comfortable and rest just inside that little tab thingy on your ear



which is apparently called the tragus

you learn something every day.

thanks google.

anyways i've ran in these 2 mornings now and while it took some getting used to - not having the sensation of something lodged down in your ear and i kept thinking they might slip out

but they never did!  when i used to run with the skullcandy buds - even though they were supposed to suction in - they eventually came out because i sweat buckets.

 don't you run with day old mascara on?  yikes.

also, because they aren't so deep in your ears, it makes it easier to hear traffic, and in my case, a family of opossums crossing the road - it's seriously been nature city on my runs and walks lately.

and thanks to discovering a country workout station on pandora - i was singing along like a nut this morning

one last action shot!

 

having a plan

one of the most important keys to sticking with anything

is to have a plan

whether you have fitness related goals, money saving goals, or simply get the laundry done tonight goals

you have to have an action plan in place

for me, everything always sounds great in my head.

wake up @ 5, workout

i'll eat healthy all day

and i'll come home and walk the dog.

however, if i don't set quantifiable, measurable goals

that plan in my head turns into

sleep in until 5:30, watch the morning news and do a few bicep curls

eat fruit and nuts for breakfast and then treat myself to ice cream in the evening - you know, for "following through"

and walking woodford just until he does his business before calling it a night

as they say - the best laid plan of mice and men often go astray

the best way i've found to get around this is to write that ish down!

being able to physically "check" something off gives me a great sense of pride and accomplishment

and maybe i'm just wired differently, but i can't consider myself a success if all items on my "plan" aren't checked off

with half marathon training starting in less than 2 weeks - and bill and i using 2 slightly different schedules - i knew i needed something more than just an understanding between the two of us that we're getting up and running in the mornings

we would be running into the issue of who would be responsible for woodford on which day (bless his heart, he cannot stand to see us leave him at home when we run and refuses to keep quiet about it)



and what is the other person doing on "rest" days - so there's no slacking!


woodford shouldn't be running more than 3 miles right now in the heat/humidity

and we each have a medium-long run during the week which is 3+ miles.

in the past we never made a clear delineation of responsibilities and someone either took rest day too liberally (it says rest day...but that means from running!  cross train or strength training is still important!) or someone was reluctant to run with woodford since it was their faster/longer run day

and you know what happened - we burnt out.  we non verbally decided it was easier to just give in to the problems instead of finding a solution and our training suffered and became non-existent

and i blame that on not having a plan - not setting who is responsible on which day

until now!

i took to my favorite half marathon training tradition

and busted out a simple calendar template in excel

i believe you can click on this and make it more easily readable

the above is a snapshot of july - i couldn't resist the urge to be able to start crossing off days right away :)

my schedule is in pink and bill's blue.

if we take a look at august


you can see how our schedules are much different

bill is following hal higdon's intermediate plan which focuses more on speed work

while i'm just trying to survive :)

and i've also added shaded fields which indicate who will be walking/running woodford that day

that way - when bill is working on speed work he's not having to fool with woodford

and during my mid week medium-long run i'm not confined to the neighborhood to run in circles (it's too dangerous to run woodford on the surrounding roads)

and since our long runs are on opposite weekend days - there's no worries.

i've mapped out the next 3 months to get us to race day

and i've made several copies.

because the other important thing to keeping a goal

is visibility.

i have one calendar pinned at my desk

and made several copies for home - one for the fridge, another for bill's office and probably one more to keep by my bed

seeing what i have to do the next morning, the next weekend, etc keeps me inspired

and encourages me to make smart decisions like drinking more water so my legs don't feel crampy, and going to bed early.

it's also inspiring to see those long runs on the calendar

i know i can't bust out 10 miles right now

but knowing by week 9 i will be setting out to do just that really makes me take these 3 milers seriously - knowing that i'm building a foundation.

and the biggest satisfaction of all

i seriously get some weird high from marking things off

i do it at work too..

ok, so maybe i'm just some weirdo who needs validation through crossing things off/out

but it works for me

 

weekend

i'm a little late to the game today

but i'm much peppier knowing that there's just shy of 2 hours left to my work day

and i still have one snack left in my lunchbox

it's the little things, right?

i also had a healthy dose of essential fatty acids this morning to keep me from lashing out on a monday moring.

but let's back it up to the wonderful weekend - which actually felt long and relaxing.

friday night bill and i had reservations for shakepeare in the park

the event is actually free, but living social was running a deal for reserved seats for 2, boxed lunch, bottle of wine, a backpack, and 2 t shirts.

all for $60

we try to go to a couple of plays a year - so $60 for 2 tickets was nothing compared to what we usually spend

and the fact that we were getting dinner and extras made it a done deal

we made our way to old louisville and took our seats for taming of the shrew

lunch was catered by city cafe - i had the veggie sandwich and bill had the lamb (this was our first non at home/take out meal in like 6 weeks)

and a bottle of chardonnay as promised

both wine and food tasted great

and the book bag and t-shirts were icing on the cake.

the performance was actually by their high school camp group - and they did such a wonderful job - i can't even imagine memorizing a page worth of shakespearean iambic pentameter -  let alone a whole play written as such

i logged about 4 glasses of wine (whoops :)  )

and tried my best to log the veggie sandwich - i may have went over my daily caloric allowance by a couple hundred

i deemed it date night

and made up for it on saturday morning

where i completed the last day of level 2 and knocked out 30 minutes of hills on the elliptical.

and there just wasn't enough time in the day to eat!  i came in way below my caloric allowance, but decided it all evened out from date night.

sunday was laid back

we watched the avengers, adventureland, and the blindside (cue the waterworks)

and only left the house to pick up some much needed dog food

i tried my hand at day 1 of level 3 of the shred

and whoo boy.

jumping lunges?  jumping squats?  moving pushups? rockstar kicks?

jillian tried her best to break me

i was soaking wet with sweat

and i'm not going to lie

it was hard

but i also think it's my favorite level so far

ask me again tonight after i complete day 2 :)

my inner thighs are still aching a bit - and sitting up this morning to tie my shoes for my run was a bit of a challenge - but girl got it done!

anyone else up to level 3?

 

two bottle whiskey

I've got my ticket for the long way 'round

Two bottle whiskey for the way

And I sure would like some sweet company

And I'm leaving tomorrow. What d'you say? (lulu and the lampshades)

happy friday :)

we're off to shakespeare in the park tonight (we're VIP! ooh la la)

and this weekend...it looks like rain.

stay dry my friends

 

capeside high

shout out on facebook last night

i was watching dawson's creek on amazon prime

season 2 to be exact

and i had all these feels

i was transported back to 1998 ya'll

i was 12

my room was covered in teen/tiger beat pinups



i would call my bff tiffany up on the cordless phone

and we would sit in front of our respective tvs

and watch dawson's creek together.

but neither of us would really talk while the show was on

i guess we were just checking to make sure each other was breathing.

re-watching the episodes made me reevaluate those simpler times, though

 
the 90's were apparently a scary place

one of the episodes i watched last night

pacey decided to get an HIV test done, and andi was all like "it's 1998, you have to get checked"

which made me think high school was going to be a lot different than middle school

truth be told

i didn't like dawson



he was obviously kind of lame



pacey was the bees knees

and i'm pretty sure i, along with many other 12 year old girls, wanted my first kiss to be with him.

actually, i pretty much disliked everyone else on the show

i basically wanted to watch a joey and pacey love story non-stop.




watching it this time around, all i can focus on though, are the clothes

i don't really think of the 90's or 2000's as having a "style" since living through it

but dear god, they do.

and it's kind of bad.  but in a good way.

in a way that i just want to break out an old gap catalog



and order some high rise jeans (they help flatten out that pooch)

and crushed velvet half zip shirt...that i guess you would tuck in...



and bill could rock a caeser hair cut...and an oversized button-up, unbuttoned dress shirt

and vans



my generation knew how to work a sweater vest better than any mr schu

there's nothing classier than a vest paired with a white undershirt

and a hemp necklace.

501 levi relaxed fit are now reserved for dads - but back in 2001 all the guys were sporting the baggy leg.

the early 2000's were also pre-flat iron



and as a female with high-frizz potential, is a time i had removed from memory.


it was also a time where flame shirts were acceptable



as i remember poring over them in delia's catalogs.



remember? 

i remember

and now i just feel old...





really old.