Time for my daily update, sorry I'm a little long-winded :)
Workout(s): Last night I did one set of 10 pushups. I figured after the hard strength workout that was enough and also the video worked my abs pretty well so I skipped extra abs before bed.
This morning found hubby and I out at the park again set for 3 miles and run how you feel. We warmed up and he took off, he's faster than me so we only spent the warmup together today. I timed my first run with "Let's Get it Started" by the Black Eyed Peas, which use to be my song to start off the 5Ks I ran. I ran the duration of the song on the first lap (each lap is 0.75 miles), then I walked a little and ran about 4 minutes then I finished the lap with walking. Next lap I picked up a run for 4 minutes and then walked and then ran for 6 minutes! Yay my longest non-stop run to date :) After walking, I ran again for 4 minutes and then walked and ran for 4 minutes on the third lap. I was starting to tire, my legs were hurting, but I wasn't having problems with breathing at least! On the final lap I ran 4 minutes, walked and finished up with running 2 minutes and then a brief cool-down, if you can manage to cool down in this heat and humidity we are blessed with on the NC coast. And of course you know there was no breeze today on run day lke there was yesterday on walk day. So I did 3 miles in 39:49, which is at least a 2 minute improvement from the other day! I guess that averages to a 13-minute mile at the moment and I'll take it.
Mile times:
mile 1: 14:02
mile 2: 12:45
mile 3: 13:02
Time running: ~32 minutes
Time walking: ~8 minutes
Food notes:
Lunch: A great spinach salad that I packed from home and then picked and chose my protein and a few additional veggies from the Lowe's Foods salad bar which I am in love with!
Supper: Was inspired by last night's appetizer. We grilled shrimp with bacon wrapped around it and put BBQ sauce on it. We also grilled some seasoned shrimp as well. Both were delicious to me. We also grilled some cheese stuffed banana peppers. These are wonderful and so easy to make. Additionally on the side we had okra and sweet potato fries. I made sure and drank some apple cider vinegar mixed with water before my meal to help prepare my stomach for the meal since I had my gall bladder removed 12 years ago. I just read this post on the Balanced Bites website yesterday and it got me really thinking. I will be incorporating some of her ideas into my diet in the next few weeks.
Breakfast: Van's Chocolate Chip bar and a banana.
Water: I drank 72oz yesterday, only had one diet coke and the rest was water!
How I feel:
A little tired today, the run was tough, but I really feel like I accomplished something. I also have decided to mainly do Pilates leg work on my strength days. I think doing the weights and then a good run the next day is a little much. I'm going to give it a try in the morning. I'm still playing around with what works for me. I'm not overly sore, and I like to be sore, but I don't want to overdo either.
On the good news front I weighed in today. I like to weigh-in on Wednesday but the last time I did was Friday, but I went ahead and did it today. I have lost 1.8lbs! I'm not focusing on the number, but I do like to see it. My main focus will be accomplishing longer and faster runs and increasing my muscle definition (bye bye bat wings and thunder thighs!) My weight goal is something that may change as well. Right now I'm thinking 25lbs, but I'll analyze how each weight feels and looks and decide for myself. Again I'm more focused on improving myself and helping my health, which I will get to in another post.
Personal notes:
Night at home with the hubby, my parents kept our youngest again. Still haven't heard from oldest at camp. Talked with one of the mom's that is there and she asked him about his cell phone (he wasn't answering texts and I was afraid he lost it). She said he said it was dead and I guess there really isn't anywhere to charge it close to their campsite. Oh well.
I'm reading The Paleo Answer by Loren Cordain and I'm really enjoying it so far. Lot's of ideas I want to incorporate. I really want to go Paleo, but haven't done it yet. I will continue my research and one day the Paleo bug will bite me just like the running bug will. I feel it coming soon!
Hubby and I watched the last two episodes of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Very enjoyable. I have really liked the first two seasons of the show and can't wait to watch Spartacus: Vengeance. Hubby recommended these and since he's sat through Grey's Anatomy (which he loves) and Gossip Girl I decided it was time to watch a guy show. I think we are watching Dexter next when we finish Spartacus. These are the Mommy-Daddy-time TV shows obviously. I also want to watch The Borgias eventually. Do you have a good recommendation for TV show watching? We do all ours through Netflix and love it. We don't have a DVR and have a hard time watching a TV show every week. The only one we manage to do that with is Survivor.
Well this is a very long post, I seem to like to ramble.
Everyone enjoy your day!
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Tuesday Check-In (plus a couple of great places to visit in Morehead City)
So I didn't get my extras in last night. We had a night without kids and the hubby came home a little later than normal, so he showered and we went off to town for a delicious meal out. We ate at one of our favorite places in Morehead City, Raps. And we chose pretty wisely by ordering two appetizers to share and a house salad each. The Seared Ahi Tuna was delicious and the Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp with Chipotle Barbeque Sauce was delicious as well. But what made the meal was the Cucumber Wasabi to dip the tuna in. Absolutely divine!
We then went home and vegged out for the rest of the evening.
Then I woke up at 5:45 this morning. I had actually planned on skipping my strength workout so I could sleep in since we went to bed around 11:30, but I guess my body had other plans. I decided not to go to the gym so I dug into my immense exercise video library and came up with one of my favorites, Fire Supercharged Sculpting. This is a great one and I dusted off my Transfirmer, got out my exercise mats and put on my cross trainers and I was off. This is a tough one or you can make it as tough as you want with the weights you choose. I used 12, 10, 8, and 5. 5 was for shoulder and 12 was for legs and back. For my arms, chest and some shoulder work I used 10. I felt great afterwards and went and woke up the hubby for our walk. We headed off to the local park again and it was a nice breezy morning so I think I broke more of a sweat during my workout at home. We did 3.1 miles in 54 minutes. I felt refreshed afterwards and ready to tackle the day.
Youngest son is home tonight so I'm hoping we will fix shrimp, rice and okra which is his favorite. He stays with my parents a couple of nights a week during the summer so it's nice to have little breaks, but I'm glad to have him home too.
I did a lot of ab work with the Firm video so tonight will just be pushups because the video was a little light on chest work. Our youngest loves to do pushups with us and he's getting quite good and I'm so proud of him for joining in.
Well that was long-winded but now I must sign off, I have a delicious salad to enjoy for work and I had a Van's Chocolate Chip bar and a banana for breakfast.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Monday Check-in + This Week's Workout Goals (7/22/2013)
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Back to my post now. So my hubby and I have been walking and adding a little running in since before school got out. We get up first thing in the morning and head to the local walking path at the park near our house. You have to get out early here on the NC coast before the humidity and heat set in for the day, especially right now. Thankfully we are usually blessed with a breeze so it makes it a little more tolerable.
We walked 35 miles in May, 59 miles in June and so far 43 in July. During the last week we have gotten serious about the running part. For weeks we would do 1-2 workouts a week where we would run certain parts of the track, but the workouts were hit or miss as well as how much we would run when we did them. However they have paid off now that we are serious. This morning we went out to do 3 miles which is 4 laps. We warmed up a little and ran for awhile. The second lap we started at the starting point running and I managed to run the full 3/4 mile lap! I was so excited and just kept pushing. Hubby ran most of the way. He would take quick walk breaks and start up again (I mean like less than a minute breaks). He stayed ahead of me the whole lap but he's learning to pace himself better for the longer runs. I'm a slow runner so going longer is easy for me, but this morning that felt like I conquered a major hurdle. We ran more during the 3rd and 4th lap and had a wonderful time. We would take some walk breaks together and then start up again. It felt great. We managed 3 miles in 42 minutes which shaved a minute off of our time on Saturday! It was exciting and motivating and I can't wait for Wednesday to do it again. Tomorrow we will just walk maybe, I'm trying not to overdo, but want some cardio everyday. Tomorrow I will also hopefully get up and go to the gym and do my weight workout. However 5am comes early and we don't have kids tonight so we may be up late watching Spartacus. :)
This Week's Workout Goals:
Monday: run/walk 3 miles, 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches, yoga/stretching
Tuesday: gym for weight work, walk 3 miles (if weather is good), 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches
Wednesday: run/walk 3 miles, 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches, yoga/stretching
Thursday: gym for weight work, walk 3 miles, 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches
Friday: run/walk 3 miles, 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches, yoga
Saturday: walk 3 miles, gym for weight work, 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches
Sunday: rest or walk, 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches
Wish us luck! When the kids are home, they participate in our pushup challenge with us. Got to get my oldest in shape for upcoming middle school football season, however this week he is off having a wonderful adventure at Boy Scout camp. I can't wait to hear about how white water rafting, visiting the National Jamboree, New River Gorge, a coal mine and the Lost World Caverns is. I am hoping he has a blast in West Virginia (which may be the farthest he's been from home).
I also plan on joining in on 100% Accountability Monday's at Run to the Finish.
My goals for this week are to make my 3 gym workouts and drink my water everyday (at least 64 oz).
Have a wonderful day! Hopefully I'll check back in tomorrow (and my legs won't be killing me)!
Back to my post now. So my hubby and I have been walking and adding a little running in since before school got out. We get up first thing in the morning and head to the local walking path at the park near our house. You have to get out early here on the NC coast before the humidity and heat set in for the day, especially right now. Thankfully we are usually blessed with a breeze so it makes it a little more tolerable.
We walked 35 miles in May, 59 miles in June and so far 43 in July. During the last week we have gotten serious about the running part. For weeks we would do 1-2 workouts a week where we would run certain parts of the track, but the workouts were hit or miss as well as how much we would run when we did them. However they have paid off now that we are serious. This morning we went out to do 3 miles which is 4 laps. We warmed up a little and ran for awhile. The second lap we started at the starting point running and I managed to run the full 3/4 mile lap! I was so excited and just kept pushing. Hubby ran most of the way. He would take quick walk breaks and start up again (I mean like less than a minute breaks). He stayed ahead of me the whole lap but he's learning to pace himself better for the longer runs. I'm a slow runner so going longer is easy for me, but this morning that felt like I conquered a major hurdle. We ran more during the 3rd and 4th lap and had a wonderful time. We would take some walk breaks together and then start up again. It felt great. We managed 3 miles in 42 minutes which shaved a minute off of our time on Saturday! It was exciting and motivating and I can't wait for Wednesday to do it again. Tomorrow we will just walk maybe, I'm trying not to overdo, but want some cardio everyday. Tomorrow I will also hopefully get up and go to the gym and do my weight workout. However 5am comes early and we don't have kids tonight so we may be up late watching Spartacus. :)
This Week's Workout Goals:
Monday: run/walk 3 miles, 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches, yoga/stretching
Tuesday: gym for weight work, walk 3 miles (if weather is good), 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches
Wednesday: run/walk 3 miles, 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches, yoga/stretching
Thursday: gym for weight work, walk 3 miles, 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches
Friday: run/walk 3 miles, 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches, yoga
Saturday: walk 3 miles, gym for weight work, 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches
Sunday: rest or walk, 20 pushups (girlie ones), 30 crunches, 30 lower ab crunches
Wish us luck! When the kids are home, they participate in our pushup challenge with us. Got to get my oldest in shape for upcoming middle school football season, however this week he is off having a wonderful adventure at Boy Scout camp. I can't wait to hear about how white water rafting, visiting the National Jamboree, New River Gorge, a coal mine and the Lost World Caverns is. I am hoping he has a blast in West Virginia (which may be the farthest he's been from home).
I also plan on joining in on 100% Accountability Monday's at Run to the Finish.
My goals for this week are to make my 3 gym workouts and drink my water everyday (at least 64 oz).
Have a wonderful day! Hopefully I'll check back in tomorrow (and my legs won't be killing me)!
My name is Crystal and I hope to run a half-marathon :)
Does saying it on a blog make it official? I hope so!
I'm starting this blog as a way to hold myself accountable and also to document my running, my eating goals, and hopefully my weight loss and increase in health. I'm almost 40 and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia over 5 years ago when I suddenly lost my energy and felt awful. I had been in the middle of training for a half-marathon and was religiously running 3-4 days a week and had made it to 8 miles for my long run. A year later I found out I had/have cysts (syrinx) in my spinal column and also have a Chiari Malformation that has hopefully been fixed after two brain surgeries. Over the last 5 years other problems have crept up, one summer it was headaches and most winters find me confined to bed at least 1-2 days every week or so. Also as the years have gone by I have been steadily adding to my medications as these new ailments crept up.
Then January 2012, I had a friend who also has fibro to suggest that going gluten-free could help me. So I gave it a try and was serious about it and found out it truly did make a difference in my life. Last winter showed me it isn't the full problem, but I was better off. So I have stuck with that for 1 1/2 years now and love it. Yes I will miss things from time to time, but not enough to feel miserable! I also recently started going to a more holistic doctor. I am now working with him to reduce the number of medications I'm dependent on and since March I have removed two medications from my daily regimen. Now I have three more to go. The doctor is working with me on eating healthier and using supplements and honestly it has really helped. Well also in the summer a weekly visit to Cape Lookout to hang out with friends and get my vitamin D and salt and sand therapy help a lot too.
So I'm working towards being off all of my medications and running a half-marathon in the first quarter of 2014. Thankfully I have a wonderful training partner in my husband who is picking up running for the first time and loving it like I did 6 years ago. I am so happy to share this with him. We don't run at the same pace, but we have a great time out there encouraging each other and on our walk days we spend the time catching up and talking without the kids underfoot. This time is a true blessing to us, not only to make us healthier but also to make us closer (we've been together 21 years and married almost 17, I love him dearly!)
I also have two boys, one who is almost a teenager, but I'm still very close to him and the younger one is 8 and a mess, but I couldn't love him more.
So I've said all of this to say I do love running, I do have obstacles in my life, but I am hoping to overcome them and make myself healthier in the process.
What can you expect? Updates on my running for the next few months and then eventually updates when our official training starts. We also have to decide on a marathon, so I'll probably post on which ones are in the running and if anyone is reading they can let me know their thoughts on them. I will also update on my health as I make progress. There will also be other random posts. I run a book review blog so although this one is more personal, I'm use to blogging and love it.
So that's it. Later today I will post our awesome morning workout.
I hope everyone has a wonderful day!
I'm starting this blog as a way to hold myself accountable and also to document my running, my eating goals, and hopefully my weight loss and increase in health. I'm almost 40 and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia over 5 years ago when I suddenly lost my energy and felt awful. I had been in the middle of training for a half-marathon and was religiously running 3-4 days a week and had made it to 8 miles for my long run. A year later I found out I had/have cysts (syrinx) in my spinal column and also have a Chiari Malformation that has hopefully been fixed after two brain surgeries. Over the last 5 years other problems have crept up, one summer it was headaches and most winters find me confined to bed at least 1-2 days every week or so. Also as the years have gone by I have been steadily adding to my medications as these new ailments crept up.
Then January 2012, I had a friend who also has fibro to suggest that going gluten-free could help me. So I gave it a try and was serious about it and found out it truly did make a difference in my life. Last winter showed me it isn't the full problem, but I was better off. So I have stuck with that for 1 1/2 years now and love it. Yes I will miss things from time to time, but not enough to feel miserable! I also recently started going to a more holistic doctor. I am now working with him to reduce the number of medications I'm dependent on and since March I have removed two medications from my daily regimen. Now I have three more to go. The doctor is working with me on eating healthier and using supplements and honestly it has really helped. Well also in the summer a weekly visit to Cape Lookout to hang out with friends and get my vitamin D and salt and sand therapy help a lot too.
My favorite place on earth!
So I'm working towards being off all of my medications and running a half-marathon in the first quarter of 2014. Thankfully I have a wonderful training partner in my husband who is picking up running for the first time and loving it like I did 6 years ago. I am so happy to share this with him. We don't run at the same pace, but we have a great time out there encouraging each other and on our walk days we spend the time catching up and talking without the kids underfoot. This time is a true blessing to us, not only to make us healthier but also to make us closer (we've been together 21 years and married almost 17, I love him dearly!)
I also have two boys, one who is almost a teenager, but I'm still very close to him and the younger one is 8 and a mess, but I couldn't love him more.
My wonderful family
So I've said all of this to say I do love running, I do have obstacles in my life, but I am hoping to overcome them and make myself healthier in the process.
What can you expect? Updates on my running for the next few months and then eventually updates when our official training starts. We also have to decide on a marathon, so I'll probably post on which ones are in the running and if anyone is reading they can let me know their thoughts on them. I will also update on my health as I make progress. There will also be other random posts. I run a book review blog so although this one is more personal, I'm use to blogging and love it.
So that's it. Later today I will post our awesome morning workout.
I hope everyone has a wonderful day!
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