WIW

First order of business:

BOOM!

Finally, I am out of the 80's!  I hope to NEVER see them again!

I didn't do an official WIW post last week because I forgot to weigh-in on Wednesday.  I did step on the scale Thursday though, and I came in at 180.5.  

This 1.9lb loss comes as a little bit of a surprise (didn't eat the greatest over the weekend, but wasn't too terrible either, and I used the snow as an excuse to skip my 4 mile long run on Sunday...), but it is definitely a welcome one!

I had an amazing 3 mile run last night!  I was very tempted to skip it, but once I skip one run (e.g. Sunday), I just want to keep skipping them (e.g. last night's temptation).  

The original plan was to run on my lunch break at work, but I ended up being too busy and didn't get around to it.  I "accidentally" (I was going to use this as my excuse to not run after work) left my running bag at the office. 

Once I got home though, the thought of skipping another run made me feel ashamed.  I don't like blogging that I am not following through with my goals.  I want to inspire others, not admit defeat time and time again...

Anywho...

Leaving my bag at work meant I didn't have my running shoes, my Garmin, or my iPod.  How could I possibly run with out these essentials!

Well, I kicked it old school.

I busted out an old pair of shoes (Asic Gel Tri Noosa 7s) that got me through my 2nd, and fastest half marathon in 2013, and my trusty stop watch.  

The watch doesn't doesn't have GPS so I just relied on time to track my miles.  I've been running just over 10:00 miles so I figured if I ran for 30 minutes, I would be close to 3 miles.  Then when I got back home, I would just have to map the run using RunningAhead. 

I also hit the pavement without music, gasp!

As soon as I started running, I knew it was going to be a good one.  Everything just felt right.  I felt light and fast.  It actually felt good to not have my iPod cord bouncing around on my neck and chest.

I didn't have much of a route in mind, I just made it up on the fly, and I ended up hitting 30 minutes just a block away from home.  As I said, I felt fast, but was surprised to see the 9:28 pace once I mapped it out!  

Even though I didn't miss having music as much as I thought I would, I did miss my Garmin.  I really wish I could see my mile splits!

Even though this run felt so great, it was by no means easy.  I was really pushing myself and breathing hard about half way through.  It was only 30 some degrees, but as you can see, I still got SUPER sweaty :)

Today, I have 4 miles on the schedule.  My pace last night was hard, and I don't think I could eek out another mile going that fast.  I'll have to dial it back for sure.  

In non-health news, I found the necklace and shoes that I will be wearing on my wedding day!

I have my first dress alteration fitting next weekend, and I am beyond exciting to get that started and to get the whole look pulled together.  Only 73 days until I say "I do"!

And one last completely unrelated note...

My job has a very relaxed dress code, and I usually take full advantage.  

Most days, I wear jeans, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt or sweatshirt from the college, with my hair pulled back in a pony.  To me, this is the epitome of comfort, but c'mon, I'm 27 years old...it's time to start dressing like an adult.

So, for the first time in weeks, I actually put effort into my outfit and hair today.

If I may say so, I sure do clean up nicely! :)

Happy Wednesday!!

Sometimes Life is Hectic

Work is starting to get really busy so I have much less time to blog, hence my sporadic posting.  I've also been busy getting wedding (only 80 days away!!!) decorations made and battling my lingering chest cold.  I didn't even have time to make a weekly schedule!  GASP!

I wanted to pop in quick for an update though.

I realized a few hours ago that today is Wednesday, and I should have weighed-in...oops.

Yesterday, I had a binge-tastic day so the weigh-in would most likely have been awful.  My mind probably subconsciously registered this and made me forget to step on the scale.  I'll face the scale tomorrow morning instead.

Monday officially kicked-off half marathon training!

I'm behind schedule and only have 10 weeks to train for the Madison Half...yikes!

On Monday, I ran 2.04 miles in 20:45, average pace 10:10.

Today on my lunch break, I did 3.01 miles in 30:51, average pace 10:15.

Friday, I'll run on my lunch break again, and I have 2.5 miles on the schedule.

My long run for the week is 5 miles, and that will be on Sunday.

Even though I ran 3 miles just fine today, muscles a little tight towards the end (more stretching!), I'm terrified to see 5 miles already in week 1.  But then again, I'm following a 10-week training plan so long run mileage is going to increase rapidly!

I'm proud to say that for the #4weeksfit challenge, I still have not had a single piece of candy this month!

At a cookout this past Saturday, there was a bowl of Easter candy that I somehow resisted.  

There was a point where I had a peanut butter M&M in my hand, and was reasoning with myself, saying one M&M wouldn't hurt.  I ALMOST ate it, but since I'm killing this goal, I really didn't want to give it.  Instead, I gave it to Nick :)

Check out the Weigh-In Wednesday Link-Up to support and cheer on your fellow bloggers!

Off to a Crummy Start...

This week has been off to a crummy start.

Long story short, I've been sick since Saturday.

I'm finally back to work today, but still feel crappy.

I haven't made a weekly schedule. 

I didn't eat the greatest the past 4 days. 

I didn't work out until this morning.

My weigh-in wasn't ideal, but wasn't surprising based on the above statements.

182.3

This morning, I did my first run of the week, outside.  It was so glorious to finally run outside again!

Today I did:

5 min brisk walk warm-up

5 min run

3 min walk

5 min run

3 min walk

5 min cool-down walk

2.59 miles total

Tomorrow, I am doing the same run walk intervals and Friday is a rest day.  Saturday I will be doing the same warm up and cool down, but the run intervals will be 8 min run, 5 min walk, 8 min run.  Sunday will once again be the same warm-up/cool-down, and then a 20 minute run.

Since I am still getting over being sick, I am just going to focus on running this week, and getting nutrition back under control.

Next Monday, I'll get back into the swing of schedule making and strength training.

Friday 5

This girl is ready for the weekend!

Nick and I finally have a weekend with zero plans, and I couldn't be happier about that!  I am going to do some Spring cleaning around the house, work on wedding decorations, start some of my garden seeds, read a lot, drink a lot of coffee, and just relax.

Here are 5 other things I am excited about/am thinking about.

{ONE}
Heat wave coming through!!
It hasn't been over 20 degrees in Wisconsin in about a month.
I think I will dump the treadmill next week so I can start running outside!

{TWO}
Speaking of running, my tired legs are happy to have the weekend off.

This workout on Wednesday killed, in a good way, but my sore exhausted legs made it tough to get through my run today.

Definitely didn't even come close to 3 miles in 30 this week.  Today, I ended with only 2.57, my shortest distance for the week.  My legs were so tired that I had to hover around 6.0mph for my run intervals.  The previous runs were between 6.5-7.5.

{THREE}
Resisting temptation.

As part of the #4weeksfit link-up, I am not having any candy this month.

One of my student workers gave me two pieces of her Dove dark chocolate (YUM!) candy bar on Tuesday.  She just came in my office, set them on my desk, and walked out.  I felt weird giving them back to her, so I set them aside, and will enjoy them sometime in April :)

April chocolate stash.

{FOUR}
Staff & Faculty Appreciation Fridays

I work at a college, and now on Fridays, faculty and staff get $2.00 coffee and a pastry in the morning, and half off of the salad bar at lunch time.

I was partaking in the coffee & pastries, but have been avoiding that lately because it was causing a slippery slop of poor eating for the entire weekend.

For lunches, Nick and I usually just have left overs from our dinner the previous night.  Last night we ended up not having leftovers so I had no lunch packed.  I cashed in on the half price salad bar instead, and it was awesome!

This beauty cost less than $4.00!

{FIVE}

Anemia.

Definitely not excited about this one, but after some research, I've come to the conclusion that I'm anemic (not getting enough iron).

I've been absolutely exhausted lately, but have been sleeping just fine.  I wake up feeling great, but after just a few hours, I'm ready for a nap.  By the time I get home from work, I am ready for bed and have difficulty staying awake until 8pm or later.

Since I've been eating well and working out for about the last month, I think I should have MORE energy.  Not less.

I decided to Google "tired all the time", such a bad idea lol, but after everything the internet told me, I share the most symptoms with anemia.  

I had issues in the past with getting very nauseous after taking vitamins with high iron concentrations so I'm not ready to start taking any supplements at the moment.  I am going to start by adding more iron rich foods to my diet, and see where that takes me.  

If the diet tweaks don't help, I'll talk with my doctor about recommended supplements.

Does anyone else suffer from anemia?  Any tips?

Have a wonderfully joyous weekend!

WIW

Let's get right to it.

Finally, a loss!!

The past few weeks, the scale has not been my friend.

2/18 - 182.2

2/25 - 184.2

After a frustrating 2lb gain last week, I am SO happy to see a 3.2lb loss.  I have high hopes to saying sayonara to the 80's and seeing the 70's next week.

On Monday, I participated in the #4weeksfit linkup hosted by Love, Fun and Football and 

Mama & Mou and set some monthly goals for March.  

One goal is to drop 6lbs.  Since today is my first weigh-in of March, I will be using 181 as my starting weight.  This means that I hope to be down to 175 by the end of the month.

Monday, I had also mentioned that I had hopes of getting my 30 minute running mileage up to 3 miles.  After yesterday's run, I don't think I'm going to make it.

Maybe yesterday was just a bad day for running, but hot damn, my run was tough!  

I normally get really sweaty when I workout, but usually the sweat doesn't start pouring out until about halfway through the run.  Yesterday, I felt really hot and flushed after about 2 minutes.  I was completely drenched in sweat by the the time 30 minutes wrapped up.  About 2 hours after my run, I was still quite red in the face.

A couple times, when I finished my run intervals, I felt dizzy.  My last run interval, I was SO tempted to just walk.  Somehow, I stuck it out and finished strong.  

I am very glad I have a day off from running today!

I mixed up my strength training days, and did upper yesterday instead of lower so today I'm doing this beast

Repeat 2-3 times?! Ummm, I'm going to be lucky if I make it through once!

I started this morning before work, and so far I've completed 100 squats, 90 walking lunges, and 80 mountain climbers.  My legs felt very noodley after that!  I will finish the rest of the list after work.

Happy Wednesday!

Weekly Schedule & March Goals

I was bad again over the weekend.

I promised I wouldn't be, but I was.

I didn't do any of my workouts Friday-Sunday, and I didn't eat the greatest.  Nutrition was not as awful as last weekend, but still not as good as it should have been.

All chores where completed though, so at least that'a a win!

 Here's my schedule for this week.  I decided to change up some of my strength workouts.  I am still doing everything on the same days, but I found other videos/moves to do because I was getting bored with the ones I had been doing the past 3 weeks.

Running is still going really well.  I am so happy that I actually look forward to my runs now!

Last week, this is how my distance panned out.  I'm super stoked that I've been able to push myself and beat my distance each day.

Monday - 2.39 miles

Tuesday - 2.47 miles

Thursday - 2.55 miles

And on Friday I was bad and skipped my run... The C25K program actually has a person running 3 times a week, I added the 4th day myself.  So "technically" there was no skipped run :)

I already completed my run for today, and got in 2.65 miles in 30 minutes.  That 30 minutes does include a 5 minute warm up walk and 3.5 minute cool-down walk.  I have high hopes to hit 3 miles in 30 minutes by the end of this week.  It's a lofty goal since I do have walking breaks, but I think I can do it!  I will just have to bump up my interval speeds.

I stumbled across a new blog today that I am really excited to check out!

 Love, Fun and Football has been around for a couple of years, but I just discovered Erin's part of the blogsphere today. She is hosting a #4weeksfit link-up for March goals, and I'm jumping on board.

My weekly schedule has been great for keeping me accountable, but I think it's good to set some larger goals too.

#1 - No candy.  None.

I will allow myself some treats such as ice cream or cake that will be at a friend's baby shower on the 21st, in moderation, but absolutely NO candy for the month of March.

#2 - Drop 6lbs.

That's 1.5lbs a week, which is a bit much, but still doable.  The scale hasn't been my friend the last two weigh-ins so this one will be tough.

#3 - Complete ALL weekly schedules.

Link up to share you March goals!