Monthly Archives: December 2011

by

Back to the Gym

Tuesday: 3 mile run (29:08) and first Zumba class ever tonight

 

I ran with my friend Amy this morning around her neighborhood (which is near my new house!!). It was so nice running with someone and talking the whole time! I really think that helped this past fall when I would run with her at least once a week and we would talk while we ran.  It really makes it feel easier when you are on your own later.

Amy just got Garmins for herself, husband and daughter for Christmas so she was eager to try it out and get the Garmin Connect website up and running.  I should have taken a picture of our matchy matchy green Garmin 405s :)

 

I have big plans to go to my first Zumba class tonight with my friend Andrea.  Andrea and I went to college together and she is traveling across the state to visit for a few days.  I’m going to take her to her first BodyPump class on Thursday so she can see what it is all about. My gym (Gold’s) recently had a new membership you could switch over to that allows you to have guests anytime you want.  I think that is great for classes!  I’m very intimidated for Zumba tonight and don’t want to look like an idiot. Andrea has been going to classes for over a year so she will probably be a pro!

Some highlights from the past week…

 

My first Five Guys experience (I just had the fries while Colby went for the burger and everything). We went there late one night right before Christmas when we had some last minute shopping.

Enchiladas I made last week that were really good.  I just the Peas and Thank You cookbook and made lentils to go inside but also added refried beans.  Colby’s had chicken with cheese and sour cream while mine had extra lentils and Daiya “cheese”.

Waking up Christmas Eve morning to Colby playing Guitar Hero at 7:30 am.

Christmas dinner at our new house! (My Mom basically cooked everything and it was amazing)

Lots of carbs on my plate :) My favorite is stuffing made in muffin tins!

The amazing hot tub that was left at our new house by the previous owners in a three season patio off the back of the house.  We just got it filled and running last week.  I almost feel guilty relaxing in there at night because our house was seriously an amazing find.  The owners were moving out of the country to retire and were going to send all of their furniture to auction.  We were able to buy almost everything in the house we wanted… like bedroom furniture, kitchen/dining room tables, sofa, tv, etc. !  My Mom’s side of the family came over yesterday for lunch and was amazed at what we were able to get!

Some yoga goodies from Colby. I got a new, super thick mat that will hopefully not slide like my old one, along with a yoga block and some Jillian. I tried out my new Brooks Adrenaline 12′s this morning and loved them. My old shoes were seriously beat and giving me IT pain.

I’ll let you know what I think of my first Zumba in the next post!

by

Half a Month Off

Tuesday Workout: 3 miles (28:40)

 

After running the Nittany Valley Half Marathon on December 4, moving into a new house (!) and a busy concert season with my music students… I needed a break.  My IT bands and I took a full 15 days off from running, BodyPump and yoga.  I haven’t been blogging much lately because there really wasn’t much to say when I wasn’t working out! I was focusing on work and being at school late all last week and putting our new house together.

I ran after work with Colby today around our new neighborhood.  I was breathing heavy, but was able to talk to him almost the whole time.  I was happy to see I was staying around a 9:30 pace without looking at my Garmin too much.  I’m hoping to fit in BodyPump this Thursday, but it will probably killllll me.  I’m hoping to get back into BodyPump to work on those arm muscles… because I picked out my wedding dress last week! It is one of the dresses on my Pinterest ;) I loveeeee it.

Some other stuff from the past week…

Crazy good sushi dinner I had Thursday night after my Mom and I went to the wedding dress shop :)

Made my first crock pot dish for a few friends that came over to see the new house this past weekend. I found it on the Crockin Girl’s website: Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches. I didn’t try them, but all the chicken lovers thought it was spicy and good.

For my Twilight fans… I’ve discovered Bella’s Diary… a fictional blog that writes diary entries in Bella’s perspective and I’m completely hooked.  It actually gets really good after you’ve read a few and I’m not even finished with it yet. I think they update each week.

I’m going to try to update a bit more over the holiday break. Hopefully that means I’m working out!

 

by

A Happy Birthday

Workouts: None! I took an entire week off!

 

After last Sunday’s half marathon, I knew I had a big week coming up and took off a full week of exercise and running.

 

Some stuff that happened over the past week:

*My students had their first concert of the holiday season! Two more this week!

* I had my Grandmother’s ring sized down so I can finally start wearing it!

* Started to put up a Christmas tree but I need more ornament hangers

*Today is Colby’s birthday and we celebrated…

in our new house!!

We settled on the house Wednesday night and we have been living out of a suitcase until this weekend. It was difficult for my to keep up a running schedule after we found the house in October, so we’ve been busy over the past month.  This is our first house, both of us have been living with our parents :)   Both of our families helped so much over the past two days getting everything moved in.  We are very tired, but it is starting to look like a home :)

 

by

Half Marathon #5

Saturday: 2 miles (9:32 and 9:14=18:46)

Sunday: 13.1 Nittany Valley Half Marathon = 2:13:17

 

I ran 2 miles Saturday morning to remind my legs what it felt like to run.  It had been awhile and I only ran 7 miles last weekend for my longest run to train for this race.  Not the smartest, but it was the best I could do right now.  With limited training and a busy schedule, I was happy with my race today.  The race had so many runners this year compared to last year (731 this year compared to about 300-400 last year).  The first mile was very crowded and I definitely tried to make up for the first few minutes that I shuffled along with the big crowd along a narrow path.

 

As you can see from the elevation chart, this is a very hilly course.  Around mile 4.5 I started walking for a few seconds and my friend Steph tapped me on the back and we ended up running until mile 9.5 together.  It really helped me running with her and at a steep hill I told her I’d see her later and walked.  Without the training, I knew it was better for me to just walk 30 seconds up the steep hill instead of run slow and let my heart rate go through the roof.  I walked again at mile 10.5 at a steep hill for 30 sec-1 min. Once I got to mile 11 everything was hurting.  My hamstrings held up during the entire race (they have been sore for almost 2 weeks!) but my IT bands were extremely tight and the front of my hips hurt really bad. The lower part of my legs/ankles were really sore for the second half of the race and I think I’m ready for some new shoes. I made myself run mile 11-12 and told myself I could walk once I got to 12 as much as I wanted. The last mile is horrible and called the spiral of death by the race director.  It is so steep and I knew it was going to surprise me again this year. I walked from 12-12.5 and then ran for a bit, did another quick walk and then ran to the end. Tough race!

 

I looked up my splits from last year and I was definitely faster and didn’t walk as much at the end.  I was able to run more last year leading up to this race so that definitely helps!  My friend Amy was there today because her daughter and husband ran and both had fantastic races.  She had her camera so I will post pictures once I get them from her  :)   Big week for Colby and I and I guess I can announce the good news around Weds/Thurs! We will definitely be busy!