Almost Wordless Yosemite

I uploaded the photos wrong, so I'm starting at the end of the trip. These deer kept coming in our campsite and looking for food. They were so cute.

We climbed to the top of this waterfall (lower/upper Yosemite Falls). I love the rainbow!

If you decided to kind of run down the very steep hill, you get down faster than you expected.

To the right of this photo was the cliff. Don't want to miss your footing. It really worked my quads!

I'm on the top!! Three hours later and we made it!!

Yes, we climbed to the top of this waterfall!

Half Dome in the center and North Dome on the far left (the view from 1 mile into the hike).

Headed to the top.

We had to take this tunnel everyday to get back and forth from the main area to our campsite.

Sunset.

Super slippery coming down from vernal Falls (along the Mist Trail). Gotta watch your footing here too.

We are drenched with the mist from the falls and we're not even half way up. Love it!!

The view from the foot bridge (only .6 miles up). We hiked to the top.

We are going there.

I loved all the mountains. They are so tall, I still can't get over it!

All by itself. Beautiful!!

Waterfalls are everywhere you look.

When we first got there, we just walked around exploring the area. There was this little village where people really stayed and acted out life back in the day (Pioneer times).

The Merced River ran through everywhere. It was super cold and really fast!

I'll give more information about our trip, the hikes, waterfalls and other enjoyable moments tomorrow. I need to try to catch up on laundry and other "real life" things before the weekend is over.

Do you like hiking? Do you prefer the scenery from the view at the top of a mountain or the excitement of a waterfall? I prefer waterfalls, but I'll hike anywhere. I love to hike, I already can't wait to do it again. I'm not sure Jason feels the same way right now, he's still pretty stiff.

New Training Schedule

I've been thinking A LOT!! I want to improve my time for my next half marathon. I want to get even closer to 2 hours. I don't think I'm ready for under 2 hours, just closer. This is what I have in my living room right as I walk in the house. It inspires me to be focused and want to be better at what I love to do.

So, I came up with a temporary new training schedule. After the first week, I will see what needs to be changed / added.

This reads:

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 5k (speed), 60 minute spin class, leg weights

Tuesday: Long run (starting at 6 miles and adding 1 mile per week), 30 minutes stairs

Wednesday: 5k (sprints), 60 minute spin class, leg weights

Thursday: 6 mile run, leg weights, 30 minute elliptical, arm weights, mat work (core)

Friday: Rest

Saturday: run to gym (5.3 miles round trip), leg weights, arm weights, mat work (core)

The white board is what is schedule and the paper on it gets written of what I actually did.

This new schedule will start on the 16th. I can't wait. I'm pretty excited!! I will be tired all the time and always hungry. I will feed myself with lots of veggies and healthy items. I will still indulge in sweets and beer. I will just control how much stuff I eat.

How is your training schedule? Are you always tired and hungry? What inspires you?

Dirty Laundry

I am constantly washing laundry. I think that if I didn't workout, I would only have to do laundry once a week. This is how my laundry room looks twice per week (and this isn't even the entire cycle).

I wash three loads of laundry twice per week. I was darks, whites and towels three times per week. And, they are full loads. The hamper is completely filled each time I do wash. I have special soap and most of my clothes get hung up. Jason's clothes all get thrown into the dryer. So folding laundry is a breeze (being one persons clothes).

How often do you do laundry? Do you like doing it? I hate doing laundry, it's a huge chore for me.

Packing Up

By now, we should be in Yosemite hiking around and maybe even building a camp fire to get started with dinner.

Here is some food that we brought with us: banana, oatmeal, canned soup. beer, water, coffee, coffee creamer, veggies, potatoes and soooo much more!

Since we are tent camping, we have to bring some more gear than a normal stay at a hotel. Like, tent, sleeping bags, bowls, propane, picnic stuff (we aren't back packing in), clothes, hiking boots and shoes and way too much to think of.

Do you camp? Do you prefer back packing or driving in and tent camping?

Getting Ready

This will be a quick post because I have to get ready to pack. We're going to Yosemite tomorrow morning. We are tent camping (the only way to go).

Don't worry, I have lots of fun posts for you guys to read. The best one is on Friday. You better keep reading while I am gone. On Saturday, there will be a lot of pretty pictures to look at.

Right now, I'm making brownies to take with us to snack on. It's not suppose to be so warm (upper 50's) there, so they shouldn't melt.

This will be my first time going to Yosemite. Has anyone else been there? I hear there are a ton of waterfalls and so much hiking, I won't know where to start. If I haven't mentioned if, Jason and I love to hike, especially to waterfalls. I can't wait! I hope I can sleep tonight. When I get too excited about something, I can't sleep and I get really impatient.

What was your best (and least expensive at the same time) vacation? I have a feeling this will be one of the best and least expensive trips we take (so far).

Games & Strawberries

This is how my Saturday night started. I finished it all! I'm not ashamed at all. It was pretty good, too.

Dave & Busters was pretty good. It was so much fun! There was some kids there, but more adults than kids. It was a good thing. I liked how you could carry and drink your beer in there.

I had 300 points to use. I didn't buy anything this time around. I think we'll wait until we have more points after the next visit.

I think we were either talking about cooking or the kitchen store we were heading to. Maybe it was about the froyo Dylan was going to buy us. Of course, I got chocolate, PB with all the chocolate toppings I could get my hands on.

My favorite froyo place I've ever been to (I've only been to 2).

This is what my Saturday had involved. Body Glide and Dave & Busters. Sounds like a great Saturday to me!

Jason loves me even though I wear running race shirts 24 hours a day.

How my Sunday started. Mother's Day for my mom. Homemade waffles with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream.

Paired with homemade banana strawberry walnut muffins. Some the the strawberries imploded (which I think looked cool).

My brother gave my mom Sherries Berries for mother's day and she shared with us.

I am so full. I have so much to do today, I have to get packed to go to Yosemite, and transfer all my photos to my back up disks. I know I will be taking so many photos there, I must clean off my camera.

How was your weekend?

Chicken & Strawberries

I made a great dinner last night. I made sweet & sour chicken with brown rice and green beans (my favorite things). It was so good. The chicken was baked, not fried. Yum! It tasted so good, I wanted to eat it all. I am a pig. I could eat everything in the house!


Speaking of eating everything in the house, I also had some dessert that I bought on the way home. It was mini ice cream. It was a warm day yesterday and this tasted so good and cool (plus, it was only $1, who could pass that up?).

This morning, I ran to the gym (5.3 miles round trip). I did a lot of weights today. I worked my legs for 20 minutes (like I do 5 days a week), I did some mat work on my core and the final 30 minutes in the gym, I worked my arms (with weights). After all that, I ran home.

When I got home, a smoothie sounded so good, too bad it hurt to make it (I made it anyways). It hurt because I worked my arms more the normal at the gym.

In the smoothie mixture, I used fresh strawberries (it's strawberry season here in CA), frozen banana, 1 T PB, some V8 pomegranate juice, vanilla yogurt and a scoop of protein powder. It was so good!

Tonight, we're going to Dave & Busters with some friends. It's kind of like a grown up's Chucky Cheeses. I can't wait, I haven't been there before.

Tomorrow, we're having my parents over for a mother's day brunch. I'll give you a hint: these will be used in most of the menu.

How did you Saturday workouts go?