It has begun.

Marathon training has officially started!

Extremely sweaty post-run selfie.

Monday was day one, but Mondays are rest days so I had nothing exciting to report yesterday.  I did do a 21 Day Fix workout video and took the dogs on a 2.5 mile walk though.

This morning, I did my first run.  I have surprisingly morphed into a morning work out person over the last week.  Not sure how that happened, but it has, and I am extremely pleased about it.

My alarm went off at 4:53am, and I was out the door by 5:11am.  I had 3 miles on the schedule, and I started out slowly.  On Saturday, I ran 2 miles, and I felt burnt out after that run so I knew taking it slow would be key for today's run.

Even though I started slowly, I'm not very good at keeping a consistent pace.  My first mile was 11:47, mile 2 was 11:11, and mile 3 came in at 10:41.  Yay for negative splits, I guess...

  I haven't uploaded my stats from my Garmin yet, and I cannot remember me exactly at the moment, but I did just over 3 miles in 33:xx, and I think my average pace was 11:04.

Besides starting marathon training, I have been keeping up with my 21-Day Fix workouts, and walking the furbabies.  Nutrition has not been perfect, but it has been pretty damn good!  I'm actually excited for weigh-in tomorrow!

And because I'm not quite sure how to end this post, I'm going to end by sharing some of my favorite pictures over the past few days!

Last night, when I was sitting on the steps to put my shoes on for a walk, I SnapChatted a friend quickly.  I noticed there was an adorable photobomber in the background so I had to take a real picture too.

Then my friend snapped me back, and I went to send her another one, and the photobomber was even closer.

Finally, we just took this beautiful selfie together.  We're both extremely photogenic :)

On Sunday, after hours of yard work, I was going to go on a 2 mile run.  Instead, this happened.

Life is good, and my heart is full <3

Not only is Skittles a photobomber, she is also a spot stealer!  I got up to make coffee on Saturday morning, and when I came back to lay down again, she claimed my spot as her own.  She's lucky she's so cute!

I'm baaaaaaaack

Why, hello!

It's been a hot second since I last posted.  

Life has been a little crazy because this just happened...

This past Saturday, June 6th, I married the love of my life.  The day was absolutely perfect, and I wouldn't change a single thing about it!

Now that the chaos of prepping for a wedding is over, I am ready to get back on track with my health journey.  It's really no fun starting over, but then again, everything needs to start somewhere.

I didn't want to stress about weighing a certain number for my wedding day so I've avoided the scale for about 2 months.  I was pleasantly surprised to see this number when I stepped on this morning.

I thought for sure it would be a much higher number!

To get back into the swing of things, I have come up with a plan, goals, and rewards system.

The Plan

Make my weekly schedules to follow. 

Since I weigh-in on Wednesday, my schedules are going to be formatted as Wednesday-Tuesday.

I will be doing 21-Day Fix videos for strength training, and extra cardio.  

Monday, I will officially start training for my first full marathon!  

The marathon that I would like to run is October 10 of this year.  I am going to work my way through a few weeks of a training plan before I officially sign up.  That way, I can judge if I have enough time to train properly.  If I don't think I will be ready by October, I'll look for a November marathon, or one that takes place in Spring (Wisconsin winter running = awful!).

The Goals

Run my first full marathon this fall, hopefully on October 10.

Reach goal weight of 152 (random, I know) by the end of 2015.

These two are overall macro goals.  I will also set micro weekly goals.  So this week:

1. Complete all planned workouts

2. Log everything into MFP

3.  Stay within calories goals at least 5/7 days.

The Rewards

180 - Hiking boots

175 - Sandals

170 - Running shoes

165 - Pedicure

160 - New workout clothes

155 - Massage

152 -  Shopping spree

Nick and I will be honeymooning in Colorado, and we leave on July 1st.  I would really love to see 180 by then so I can buy a pair of nice hiking boots, instead of wearing tennis shoes while we trek through the mountains.

My final reward of a shopping spree is much needed!  My closet really needs a makeover.  I am almost 28 years old, but I rarely dress like a professional 28 year old.  I feel like many people do not take me seriously at my job because of the way I dress, most days... Having this as my end goal gives me time to save up so I can make that grown-up wardrobe a reality!

There you have it!  Fingers crossed for success this time around!!

Marathon Training Begins

Today is day one of marathon training!  I have exactly 18 weeks to train for my very first full marathon that I will be running on October 6, 2013.  I will be following Hal Higdon’s Intermediate 2 training program, which is 18 weeks long so I don’t have room to slack. 

After I ran the half marathon on Memorial Day weekend, I decided to take a full week off from running.  A week off from running unfortunately turned into a week off of exercising in general.  Besides not exercising, I've been eating like a little fatty too.  This combination of a sedentary lifestyle and no diet plan, has led me to basically fail at all of the goals I came up with last week.  Here’s a reminder of what those were.

Track everything I eat: I ate basically anything that was placed in front of me, so tracking was tedious and I was in denial about what I was eating.  I started tracking, but by the afternoon, I would be over it and would quit.

Go to the gym 5 times:  I made it once…just once….

Complete week 1 of LiveFit: I only went to the gym once…I’m sure you can figure out whether or not I accomplished this one…

Like I said, now that marathon training is here, I need to set goals and actually follow through with them.  If I don’t, I’m not going to do too well with this whole running a marathon thing.  So here are my goals for this week, which I will rock!

Complete every scheduled workout I have this week.

M – Cross Train & Day 1 of LiveFit

T – 3M Run & Day 2 of LiveFit

W – 5M Run & Day 3 of LiveFit

TR – 3M Run & Day 4 of LiveFit (This is roundout week 1 of the program)

F – Rest

S – 5M Pace Run 9:00/Mile

S – 10M Run

No alcohol.

I’m a beer lover, but the beer doesn't necessarily love me back.  Limiting my alcohol intake will only help my training.  There is no way in hell I could cut out alcohol for the next 18 weeks, but taking a break here and there will have its advantages.

Get Nick to go on a walk or bike ride with me every day this week.

I love my pookie to pieces, but he has been packing on the pounds lately.  I am not the only one to notice.  He has also been complaining about how his clothes are getting tighter, he’s always tired, and how he just feels fat.  Hopefully if I get him into a routine, he can pick it up himself, and work on getting healthier. 

Besides working harder to accomplish my goals, I will also be restarting Weigh-In Wednesday.  I took a break from weighing myself because the scale was just bringing me down.  I’m nervous for my weigh-in this week because I know I’m up.  I did a lot of damage this week in the diet area, so it’s not going to be a pretty number.