5k Outside

I have a park less than a tenth of a mile from my work. So, usually, if I run outside, I'll go from there. It's awkward leaving from work and having everyone see me like that, it's just easier to drive there. This is how my run starts. It's so green and pretty.

 

Most of my run is in the sun, so that's why it gets so freaking hot. There are so many trees, but the way the sun is at that time of day, it's not a lot of shade where I'm running.

There's a little bit of "trails"on my run. But, it's mostly pavement. I think I'm mainly a pavement runner. That's where I prefer to train (even if it's deathly hot or pouring down rain).

Towards the end of my run, I enter the park. There are a lot of baseball and soccer fields here. I love it! So many people are here after work, I'm not alone getting my sweat on.

I'm almost to my car (I just passed some bathrooms, where I've had to make many, many emergency stops). 

I had another great outside run last night! I've missed it so much. When the weather cools down, I will be running outside a lot more and head to my classes afterwards.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we've been eating a ton of tomatoes in our random dinners. Our tomato garden is going crazy, but only producing small baby tomatoes. I can't stuff them or make tomato sauce or soup of of. We would be pushing it with salsa. I only have a handful of small "normal"tomatoes. I hope to picks up because I really want to make all that stuff again.

Where do you prefer to train (pavement, trails, treadmill, shower, backyard, etc)? Do you have a garden? If so, what are you growing? Are you producing as much as you have in the past?

PS.   In case you were wondering, yes, I did some more digging for the rock wall.

Yoga with Denise Austin

Last week, I didn't go to my yoga class, I stayed home a did a disc on the tv. I had Denise Austin in my home instructing me. It was so nice to be at home working out (minus the cats trying to lay on my mat the entire time).

I did go to yoga class class (and it was so nice to stretch, I really needed it) last night. After that and doing some more digging for the rock wall, I needed dinner badly. Talapia and green beans were it!! Yum!!

I was able to relax a little and cuddle with my little Izzie kitty (she loves her blue monkey).

I am so tired, but I try to keep a smile on my face (it's all for fun in the end and I'll never forget building this wall).

Do you prefer going to a yoga studio, taking a class at the gym and practicing at home? I've never been to a studio, so I think I prefer the gym.

Birthday Weekend & Meeting New Friends

I have the best husband, he always knows exactly  what to get me for any special occasion. He spoiled me for my 30th birthday last year and bought me the best present this year:

That's right, a new laptop. I've been wanting/needing one for a very long time. Now, he gets to take over my pc (he desperately needs one, too).

He treated me like a queen on my special day: after we got off of work, he had me sit down and relax while I watched my favorite shows, while he made me a drink:

And, a great dinner:

Before getting starting, the next morning, we relaxed and enjoyed a cool morning

I found a new friend while watering,

 

and, Jason worked his butt off putting our rock wall together. Once it is stable, I come around and clean all the cement off (a lot more difficult than it sounds). We're almost done (completely).

 

While I was waiting for my turn to work on the wall, I made something else. I made a candle holder out of cement. It's nothing special, but it will be nice to have something for those outdoor parties, and to hold down the table clothes (and it's cute with the pressed leaf on the side).

It was such a cool weekend, that I decided that I wanted to run outside, no matter the temp. So, after work yesterday, I hit the streets. I ran 3.04 miles in 37:22 minutes. I guess that isn't so bad since I'm  not use to running in the heat. I'll run outside on Wednesday, too.

I'm not going to any of my usual classes at the gym this week because I have my own at home workouts this week. I need to shovel rock hard dirt (with lots of thick tree roots) and fill in the inside part of the rock wall (my part of helping with the wall). I need to get all this done this week (after work) because we're going to start planting out flowers and catus this weekend. Lots of arm workouts here. 

While I was filling in dirt, I was also watering. This is when I met another new friend. I've named him Phil. Isn't her adorable!

I can't wait for yoga tonight. I really need to stretch out after all that digging!

What's your favorite type of bug? I usually hate any type of bug, but praying mantis are my favorite, they are so cute!!

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1...2...3...GO!!

Wow!! I have really been MIA. I have many good reasons. I haven't been working out. I took an entire week off! I was too busy to find time to work it in my schedule. Since I'm not in training, I didn't want to stress about finding time to go to the gym, if I don't have the time. Here's what I've been doing instead:

Eating really, really big burritos from a place that we found (in walking distance) from our new house. 

We spent a night in a nice hotel/casino. We rarely ever stay in anything this nice, so it was pretty exciting! Here a some pictures from our room:

I loved the bathroom. There was even a deep tub with a separate shower (this is how we're going to remodel our bathroom). 

My best friend (since high school) is getting married soon and I'm the maid of honor. I tried throwing her a shower and bachelorette party, but all she wanted was a nice massage and a drinking party back at my house. So, I made that happen.

The next morning, Jason made me some awesome eggs (with tomatoes from our garden). It may look gross, but they hit the spot. 

I also hit up the Dollar Tree store and bought some cheap things to make some crafts. I turned ordinary clear glass candle holders, into something nicer.

I also made a candle holder out of sand. It's more fragile than your average holder, but it's a cute holder for outdoors.

Last night was my first night back to the gym and my muscles are already hating me (yoga will feel great tonight). I ran 4 miles on the tm and then headed over to my ripped class. I haven't been to ripped in such a long time (I've been trying out different classes), that it was so much fun. She always gets us relaxed and loose, then we end up dancing and fist pumping and hopping around by the end of the class. Some of the moves, I think "I can't believe this is part of the class, it's so much fun!".  About every 10 minutes, the instructor would count "1...2...3...GO!! You're not going fast enough!! Move your feet and let's GO!!!!!". I don't usually like yelling, but she does it just perfect and it doesn't piss me off. 

When I got home, I was starving (I know I will be even worse today), luckily, Jason was willing to fix dinner for me while I put my things away. He knows that I get extremely mad and unhappy when I'm really hungry.

Don't you hate it, when you take some time off of working out, then you hit it hard, your body is just so hungry all the time. I'm not use to it, but I'm glad I have food with me at work. 

And, finally, I've been eating somewhat healthy (talapia and green beans with fresh tomatoes)...

My birthday is Friday and Jason is having my gifts shipped to my work. At least this year, he's letting me open them up when I get them (un-like least year, I had to bring them home, so he could wrap them). 

When is your birthday? Doing (or did) anything special? Does yelling from your instructor help motivate you during a work out?

Wanna be a Watermelon Baller, Fruit Caller

My spin instructor was off this week (as well as last), so I was able to enjoy another pilates class. Since we worked out our arms last week, I thought it was a weekly thing. I decided to do a little mat work on my abs. I spent a glorious 25 minutes working the abdominal muscles. I loved every one of the 1,500 seconds (I did the math!).

In class, we were upside down a lot. I learned that I shouldn't wear a low cut tank next time I take this class (and probably yoga, too). No one was staring, but I felt like they were. 

Little did I know, we were going to spend the entire hour working on our abs. I seem to always work the muscle that we end up working in class. I guess, I'm getting extra strong????

When I got home, I just wanted something super cool to eat (then my hot burrito). I had a watermelon chillin in the fridge, so I decided to ball it up. For some reason, I always have to ball my melons (I really only eat watermelons and honeydew). I felt like a baller (ha ha, a play on words)!!

Well, it's time to get going and do some stuff (hmm, probably should go to work). 

How do you cut up watermelon? Do you slice it in triangles, wedges, ball it ( like me), or something else? Have you seen those things people make out of watermelons? I saw that this person made a drink dispenser out of an empty one. It looked pretty cool, but I don't think I have patients for that.

Yoga in the Ocean & Decorating

Yoga class goes by way too fast. That is my only complaint today! I loved working my legs with weights before yoga and I absolutely loved class. It was one of those perfect workout days. I was able to forget everything and just sweat. It was much needed. 

In yoga, it was so calming, the instructor played one of those cds that has the sounds of the ocean. So, I felt like I was really there. Plus, I get super cold during class and the fans above cause a slight breeze, so it really does feel like I'm there. A great night!

That type of workout is so great, when I'm working on so many things at once. I work full time (which is getting very busy right now), then I workout and come home to get ready for the next day and fix dinner. On the weekends, we work around the house.

This weekend, I painted the hallway and hung the pictures up (we'll get more as time passes).

I made a picture of mine and Jason's first dance (from our wedding) with the lyrics off to the side and hung it up in the un-finished bedroom.

I also painted some canvas with leaves from our backyard and hung them on the wall (near the living room), as well.

All this, while we continuously worked on our rock wall in the backyard (which we're hoping to finish this coming weekend). We're a little over half way there. It's going to be so exciting when it's finished!

And, I'm also planning Jason's 40th (big) party for next month and I want everything to be perfect!

Right now, I really need my workouts. They really keep me sane! I think my ankle should be better for my run next week. That will help even more!

What keeps you sane in your daily life? What's making you insane?

And the Blister Won

I headed to the gym right after work. All I wanted to was run. I had a lot on my mind and I needed a release. I got to the gym (it was way too hot to try to run outside) and I just went. Suddenly, I felt a tinge on my right ankle. I looked down and that stupid blister from Saturdays race was mocking me and didn't want me to run. It started bleeding and that was it. I ended up running 1 mile. I should have stopped earlier, but I at least wanted 1 mile. It doesn't look like much, but blister come with a lot of pain in a small package (and I know that I have a lot of freckles on my legs thanks to surfing in Hawaii). 

I didn't need any pain, so I got off the treadmill and headed to the weight section of the gym and started with my arms. After about 25 minutes, I started feeling that good pain in my arms and knew I had done what I came there to do. I was happy and ready to go home. 

When I got home, Jason was in the backyard starting to work on our rock wall, for the day. I hung out there and helped him out the rest of the night. And, yes, lifting heavy rocks right after working out my arms does really kill a person!

Have you had any weaknesses lately?

Color Run & Sweat Your Thorns Off

Over the past few months, I was able to convince my friend to run the Color Run 5k with me. Also, since I'm participating in Adam's Sweat Your Thorns Off 5k, this was 2 races in one! Bonus for me!!

Kelly and I talked our hubby's in watching and cheering for us! They had us do a photo shooot before the race, while we were still clean. We are ballerinas here:

I sprayed my hair. The can was marked purple (obviously not), and it couldn't even finish my hair (Kelly was suppose to use it too). Jason is at every single one of my races. I think he's only missed one of my races (beacuse he had to work).

My very sleepy cheerleaders (they were up way too early). 

In a way to stall the start (45 minutes late start), they kept announcing that there were over 15,000 runners there. This is what the crowd looked like on all 4 sides of me. During those 45 minutes of waiting for the start, there were so many crowds that kept coming and coming. It was a never ending sea of runners. 

I loved having something go on every k. It made the race go by so fast! The 1st k was yellow and the 2nd was orange. I was kind of disspointed  by the brightness of the colors (blue was the only good color here). 

I thought pink would be a good color, but it wasn't as bright as I was hoping. Don't get me wrong, we still had a blast!

My favorite color!!! The blue poeple were the best!! They really got into throwing their color. They were dancing around and making odd noises and just having a good time!!

Here we are inside the blue.

There was the cutest old man that was sitting in his wheelchair (out of the color and on the sidewalk), he had the biggest smile on his face and he was giving high fives to all the runners that wanted them!! It was so cute!! He was really having a great time!

I was also disappointed that there wasn't a last color at the finsih, I thought there was going to be. The "after party" wasn't so much. I didn't even see it. Even though there was a late start and I was freezing in the begining, it was one of the greatest races I've ever done. I can't wait until next year!! Kelly and I are going to make this our annual thing. Here we are post race!

I wore my "working in the yard" shoes and they rubbed my feet raw, so I had to change them right away. Don't you love my tutu!!

We got cleaned up just a little (I had errands to run afterwards) and we stopped for breakfast. This was the best vanilla yogurt I've ever had in my life. The granola and fresh berries added so much flavor. Of course, it was paired with bottomless mimosas. Yum!

At home, no, I haven't showered yet (you can see a little blue near my elbows). So happy! Since this race wasn't timed, the hubby's guesssed on our times and they guessed that it took us about 30-35 minutes. 

Have you participated in a Color Run?

1st Pilates Class

Last night, I took my very first pilates class. I was a little intimidated. The class sounded hard, but I've heard a lot really good things about it. When I walked in the door, there was only one other person there. I asked her if she had ever done this class before. She had only done 1 or 2 pilates classes in general. She said she loved it though. I heard a lot of people saying that they had only taken 1 or 2 pilates classes, so I didn't feel completely out of the loop).

The class had a lot of core work, which I really need right now (remember summer of abs 2012, me neither). We also worked a little on the arms (which made it extremely difficult after doing a tough weight session 20 minutes before) and we did a medium amount on our legs. It was a very good class! I'm glad I chose to do this class (my regular spin instructor is on vacation). I can't wait until next week (he's gone for 2 weeks). 

When I got home, I was starving! I needed a snack stat! I ate a couple muffins while I watered the lawn and wrote this post. Leftovers were amazing (as expected)!

My brother is in town, so I get to see him, my nephew and my niece. 

Only 2 more days until the Color Run!!! Can't wait!! Anything I need to know for anyone who has already run it?

Look Sky, Down Dog

My newest hobby is finding fun crafts and things to make. Since Jason is a big Star Wars fan, I thought this was fun. This a clone trooper paper snowflake. They have a lot of different characters on this site. It's fun!

Since I felt 100% better (from yesterday's stomach issues), I was able to go to my yoga class. There was a sub for the class. In my experience with subs, they never teach the class as good as the regular instructor. This instructor was difficult to understand (she had a thick Russian accent) and had a different way of teaching. She called downward facing dog, "down dog", and when she wanted us to look up, she would say "look sky". It took a little time to get use to her. Last night's yoga class was taught as a workout, not mainly stretching (like I'm use to), which was a nice change. 

Since I am use to the stretching kind of class, I had worked out my legs prior going to class. It was pretty tough balancing in tree pose for about 2 minutes last night. My legs were quivering. I learned a lot of new poses, I've never done before. I think one of my favorites was preying mantis pose. You have your legs on the ground, put your forehead on the ground, in front and place your elbows on the ground next to your ears with your hands behind your head (palm to palm). It's not so much fun to do this pose on hard tile. I wouldn't recommend it.

I was starving when I got home (dinner was in the oven when I did this pose for you guys). What a better thing to do in a house that is 87 degrees, bake chicken. I was not thinking ahead when I planned this weeks menu. But, man, was it good! I started as soon as my bags hit the ground (which Jason hates when I leave my gym bag in the kitchen...I don't know why). 

Last night's dinner (and tonight's left overs) was chicken parm, with green beans and garlic muffins. 

Jason and I are huge fans of garlic (I feel sorry for anyone that comes close to us sometimes). These muffins hit the spot (you don't have to put in so much garlic) ! I've made this chicken many, many times (that's how good it is). 

What do you classify a muffin (vs. a cupcake)? I think a muffin doesn't have frosting and a cupcake has frosting. If I had frosted this with something (not sure what), it would become a cupcake. 

I'm taking my first ever pilates class tonight, should I bring my yoga mat (do people use them in this class)? I was also going to work out my arms before hand, is that a bad idea?

What's your favorite yoga pose, anything uncommon?