Sprints and and the Time I Broke the Treadmill

Look at these legs. They are so powerful! So powerful, they broke a treadmill.

It started with a mile warm up. I upped the speed, to start my 3 more miles of sprints. I turned the treadmill up to 8.5 and stepped off. I glanced up at the tv on the wall and when I looked back at the treadmill, it was going crazy. All the numbers were flashing 8 in everywhere possible (times, mileage, calories, ect) and the map showed a full graph and everything. It was crazy. Also, I couldn't get the treadmill to stop. It was going 8.5 and fast. 

The 2 older men on either side of me were starring at me and wondered why I was walking away from this crazy machine. I walked away to get someone to make the craziness stop. When the manager came over, the guys were telling him how fast I was going, while I was running on it. One of them said I was like "the energizer bunny. I just kept going and going". It was so cute. 

The managers just unplugged the treadmill and looked at it in a very confused way. I really did break it! I  moved to another treadmill and enjoyed a very speedy 3 miles in sprints. I loved that it only took me 22 minutes. Love it! I wasn't really feeling my spin class, so I came home and made potato and leek soup. It was so worth it!

Have you ever broken a treadmill or anything like that?  Anyone running CIM this weekend? I live very close to the course!

Calluses Do Running Good

Earlier yesterday, I pulled some sort of muscle in my chest region. I don't know what I did or how to make it feel better. It was really strange. I'd never had this pain in this area before. It hurt to stand up straight or stretch. I was hoping it would go away in a few hours, so I could spend some quality time with the stairs and my yoga class.

Right before my lunch break, I noticed that I was finally standing up straight and wasn't in any pain! I enjoyed (only) 15 minutes with the stairs and a wonderful 60 minute yoga class, stretching. I say "only" for the 15 minutes, because I really wanted to spend more time. I got off of work on time, but traffic was a pain. It doesn't matter, I got my sweat on!

I've been noticing that when I get home, and get out of my shower, my feet are back to looking horrible. It's pretty embarrassing when I take off my socks in yoga class. 

 

I can't wait until I build up the calluses back up, so my feet won't hurt as bad when I do my long runs. Calluses really do running good. It's like they add a little protection between my feet and  ground (besides my good socks and my awesome shoes).

I can't wait for my spin class tonight. I've also declared that Wednesday nights are sprints night. Sprints and spin. How do you spend your Wednesday night?

How do your feet look? Do they look worse while in training? How do you hide your horrible looking feet when you must show them (yoga class or sandal season)?

Thanksgiving & Addition to the Family

Thanksgiving weekend was long and very busy. I made the standard dinner: turkey, stuffing, broccoli salad, cheddar rolls, cranberry sauce and gravy. Then, sweet potato pie and apple hill bought apple pie.

I did find some time to hang out and relax some. This is one of my favorite things to do.

I didn't really participate in Black Friday, but I did buy something, for myself. I added to our family by buying a new (to me) SUV. I've been wanting a newer car for a while. 

Last night, I ran my 5k (31.28)  and felt something weird in my right ankle. I didn't want to push it and injure myself, so I stuck to an extra long cross training session (~45 minutes). In my Monday night ripped class, there's a lot of jumping and running in place. With a slight twinge in my ankle, I didn't want to push it. I want to keep training. I love running and can't wait until my long run Thursday!

Stairs and yoga are on tonight's schedule. 

How was your Thanksgiving? What was your contribution? What kind of vehicle do you drive? 

So much Love for the Long Run

Last night, I completed a 1/4 marathon!!! My long run was 6 1/2 miles. How I plan my long runs, that I up each long run (once a week) by half mile. I loved every minute of this run. I hope this streak keeps coming. I love that I'm loving this training cycle so much. 

Ignore the thrown down gym bag and the freaky glowing eyed cat next to me. That's Scouty, she's my little girl and what I call my "cuddle monkey".  She's actually sitting next to me as I type this. She loves watching me type and the keys make noise. 

The miles just kept ticking by. I just wish something better was on tv. My gym only gets a few tv stations and that's how I keep sane on the treadmill. 

Today is my last day at work for the week. Yay for a 4 day weekend!

What are your plans this week? How have your runs been going?

Happy Legs with a Side of String Cheese

My "go-to" snack, while at work, I've been going crazy over pears and string cheese. The thing about pears is that the more bruised and beat up they are, the juicier and more flavorful they are. Love them!

Last night, my ripped class kicked my butt. Exactly what I needed before Thanksgiving. I think she pushed us more because the holiday where you eat as much as possible is around the corner. I'm so glad!

I'm really feeling it right now. Can't wait until this afternoon (enter sarcasm). My legs haven't been this happy since my last long run, last week. 

I have my long run tomorrow. I need to kick out 6 1/2 miles before Thanksgiving and tomorrow is my only day to do so. 

How are you prepping for the holiday? How many miles are you running per week, right now?

Apple Hill and a 5k in the Rain

There are some days when your weekend is so busy, that you're too tired for too many words. So, here's a post mainly in photos.

Jason and I went to Apple Hill this weekend to collect our annual apples and cider and pies.

Is was a beautiful day!

We drove up a little ways to play in the snow. It's kind of crazy to think that this was only 10 minutes away from the above picture.

Again, I met my friend for our weekly outdoor 5k. It was sprinkling some of our route, so it was really fun! I actually miss running in the sprinkling. As you can tell, from the below picture, I felt like a bad ass when I got home. 

Another 5k, weights and ripped class are on the schedule tonight. It's going to be a short workout week, because of Thanksgiving. We're hosting this year, and I'm making everything from scratch, so I have a lot of things going on and will need to relax afterwards. 

How are you celebrating Thanksgiving? What is your signature dish? If you don't have one, what's your favorite dish to eat? Any turkey day races? 

My Gratifying 57 minutes & the 1st Long Run of the Season

Instead of stairs and yoga last night, I needed to make up my long run that I couldn't do last week. It took me 57 gratifying minutes and I loved every minute on the treadmill. The first couple of miles went by so fast, I couldn't believe it. The miles just kept flying. Every time I looked down, another mile had past. It felt like I was only on the treadmill for 10 minutes. I'm still on my runners high!

Look at my smile last night. I'm beaming from cheek to cheek. The seven is as in fifty seven minutes. This is such a great accomplishment. It was like the good 'ol days, when I was "hard core" training (for me). I've missed this and I'm so glad I have a goal to keep me training (and in line).

Yesterday, I was looking online and saw this:

I think this would be so cute for an appetizer for Christmas. It's a cracker with pepperoni, thinly sliced celery, peppercorns (or anything for the eyes and nose) and cheese. So adorable!

Hopefully you're not eating while you're reading this (do you like my nail polish color?):

Last night, I felt a little pull on my left foot's pinky toe. I think my sock turned and the sewing ended up rubbing there. Since I haven't been running too far, I haven't been using any body glide. I guess it's that time.  It's a start of a blister. Time to get it healed, before my next run, on Thursday. 

I'm catching up on my runs and Thursday, I will be. 6 miles. I will be running my long run next week on Tuesday, instead of Thursday. If you remember, I do want to have a life and keep training. This is how I do it, I move things around, as needed. I'm still meeting my friend that Saturday, and she's agreed to try a little further distance. I think there will be more walking, but that's fine. It's (for) fun. 

Do you use body glide for every run? What color are your toes (or fingers)? What's your long run distance? What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

Sausage Phyllo Rolls & Treadmill Runs

Sausage Phyllo Rolls are a great, quick and easy dinner or snack. Jason loves these!

Instead of phyllo dough, I used puff pastry. I made these for dinner yesterday and I loved it! After my ripped class, I just wanted to shower and relax. These are such an easy item to make and while they were baking, I showered.

Ripped class last night was painful. My thighs hurt from the squats, my arms hurts from the weights and push ups and my core hurts from the last minute core work before the class was over. Since I've been upping my weight, it's going to hurt until I get use to them (then, I'll just up them again). I ran another 5k on the tm. I'm finding out that when the tms die (at the gym), they exchange them for new ones (which are the ones I hate). There are only 4 tms that I like at the gym. I hope these 4 last a while.

Do you hate certain type of tms? Do you have a love or hate relationship with the tm?

My 600th Post!!! (& a freezing run)

This is my 600th post!!! I can't believe how the time has past. Thank you for listening to all my stuff that I talk about. I've loved all of your guys' advice you've given me over the 600 posts. 

I appreciate it!

On Saturday, my friend (and new weekend running partner) and I met up and enjoyed a freezing, cold slightly windy run. When we started, it was 40 degrees (please ignore my circles under my eyes, I didn't really want to get up early to run).

I actually remembered to wear something warm. I wore my earn warmers (a review coming soon), arm warmers (that Jason bought me a couple years ago for Christmas), gloves and my winter running socks. It all helped, but it was still pretty cold. 

3.1 miles later and we were finished. Jenny is doing a lot better. She only needed to walk 3 times (last weekend, she walked 5+ times). We cooled down (even though it didn't take long) with a walk to Starbucks. It was a pretty good morning. 

The rest of the day (yes, I did finally shower) was spent hanging out with my mom. We had a girlie day shopping and going out to lunch. It was a great weekend!!!

How was your weekend? What do you wear to stay warm during a freezing run?

A Recipe for Tired, but Loved Legs

My legs have been needing some extra love this week. I've been putting them through some stuff they haven't had to do in a while: lots of running, stairs and spin class. I love my legs!

I still have one more day of toughness to put them through. Tonight, I have my first long run of my season. I'm only running 5 1/2 miles, but I haven't ran over 4 1/2 miles in a very long time. I haven't been in any sorts of training in well over a year. Buying a house and fixing it up has taken a lot of my time.

The above picture was taken post shower. I wasn't sure if sprints, followed by a spin class was going to be a good idea. I am sore, but I'm still in the beginning stages of  training. Friday is going to be a great rest day!

I ended up running 3 miles in sprints, which was a killer. I pretended that someone was chasing me down a dark ally. It was a real motivator. I was having a horrible time getting motivated to even go to the gym. But, I made myself and I'm so happy I did! I always regret it when I don't go, but I'm always happy when I finish a workout, good or bad.

Spin class was a terrible muscle breaker. During the last 10 minutes, I got a huge stomach cramp, I just couldn't take it anymore. I ended up leaving during the cool down (a couple minutes early). When I got had home, I immediately started the shower. Come to find out, I really had to pee. Once I did, the cramp went away (sorry if it's tmi). Thinking back, I did guzzle about 30 oz of water in about 1 1/2 hours. It's amazing of what will magically stop pain.

How do you love your legs? What's your recipe for tired legs?

Tree, Joe, Cobbler

I was so sore yesterday! All those squats in my ripped class, I really did kill my thighs. I was really looking forward to my yoga class, but first, my thighs had to hold up to 20 minutes on the stairs. I walked up 68 floors, stepped 66 steps per minute, burned 106 calories and went 1.26 miles. Pretty cool. Those are a few reasons why I love the stairs. I love to hate them!

Yoga, was exactly what I needed after the last couple of hard workouts. One of my favorite poses: the tree pose

The first few weeks of training can be difficult to start. I have the motivation, I'm finally reading The Long Run. I'm only in the first couple of chapters. All I can say is "wow!". I can't wait to read more. Getting out the door and pushing myself when I start, is the most difficult part (in the beginning). I always hate the first drop of sweat. Once I start sweating, I want to keep dripping.

When I got home, I really wanted dinner. I made home made sloppy joes. I love the red bell pepper in it. It adds a little freshness to it. 

I made a mistake by eating dessert too soon and too fast. I ended up with a slight tummy ache. But, it was worth it! I made berry cobbler, in the crock pot. It was ready when i got home and nice & warm (you can see the steam).

The cobbler was made with 30 oz of frozen fruit (I chose one big bag of mixed berries), 1/2 cup bisquick, 1/4 cup-1/2 cup sugar, all mixed together. Place in crock pot. In another bowl, mix 2 cups bisquick, 1/4 sugar, 1/2 cup  milk, 2 T veggie oil and mix. Place dropfuls on top of berry mixture. In another bowl, mix 1/4 cup sugar with 2 T cinnamon. Place crock pot of low for ~8 hours or high for ~4 hours. Enjoy the yummy bowl.

This is a great winter time dessert and everyone loves it! You can mix it up with different berries.

How do you stretch after a hard workout? What's your favorite yoga pose? Do you use a roller after a long run? Is it worth the cost? What is a winter go to dessert for you?

New Training Plan, Sweating Buckets & Dinner

Last night's workout was a killer. I was sweating so much. I started with my 5k, then headed over to the weight section of the gym. When I was on the bench press, my legs got stuck to the rubber of the machine. It was sopping wet, but hurt when I tried to peel myself off. After this hour workout, I still had an hour ripped class left for the night. Ripped always goes by so fast! Almost too fast! We jammed through the class, we were able to go through a quick ab routine. When I got home, I desperately needed a shower to wash off all my salt. It felt great once I was clean.

Dinner is such an important part of training. My dinners may not always be the best choice (healthy wise), but they always taste great! This week, I've been eating chicken in a basil cream sauce. So good! So not healthy for you!! I had it with garlic toast and green beans. 

Now, for what you've been waiting for...my new training plan:

I've noticed that some things didn't work with the time/schedule I already have. I don't want to wake up before the sun (except Saturdays) to workout. I still want a life and train at the same time. Last year, I didn't have a life and didn't get to spend a lot of time with Jason. I think falling asleep at 7:30pm will not work for me this year. 

Monday: 5k on tm (too dark, right now, outside), leg weights and 60 minute ripped class

Tuesday: 20 minutes (minimum) on stairs and 60 minute yoga class

Wednesday: 5k (on tm once again), leg weights, and 60 minute spin class

Thursday: long run (I'm starting at 5.5 miles since I'm so out of shape)

Friday: REST

Saturday: 5k + outside with friend

Sunday: REST

What's your dinner looking like? Are they always healthy? Do you ever change your training after you've started it?

Training Day One

Saturday morning, I started my new training plan. I got up early (for a Saturday morning), at 6 am to meet my new morning training partner. I met my friend, Jenny at the park that is by my work. 

The run went well. It was so dark, and cold, but it was great! Here are some pictures from the morning run:

I love how all these people were out running, too. I think people are  more friendly in the weee hours of the morning. So many more people said hi.

We run through the park and saw that some kids were playing baseball (youth baseball). I can't believe that people (kids) get up this early to play. Wow!!

Back on the road again:

I love all the fall colors

We ran over a peaceful creek

It was so cold, my nose was red the entire run. I must remember my running beanie and gloves next time!

When I got home, I got my post-running shoes on (warm, fuzzy slippers).

The best post-run breakfast: scrambled eggs (I only eat my eggs scrambled and hard boiled), toast with butter and jam with some coffee.

It was a great 5k (I'm training my friend). Just have to remember to dress warmer than this weekend. I've adjusted my training plan since last time I mentioned it. I will announce it tomorrow. 

How do you eat your eggs? What's a great post-run breakfast for you? How do you dress for those cold runs?