Back in the Saddle

Yesterday was awesome.  Awesome eating, awesome training, awesome day!

After not getting in much exercise over the weekend (more on that later), I decided to start the week off right.  I had a great day of eating, getting in lots of water (read: going to the bathroom at work so many times I lost count), and ending the day with some great miles.  After work, Dustin and I went out to a new Mexican restaurant in town (good food, bad service, weird atmosphere).  I had the mango chicken but only ate about a third so I didn't have any excuse to talk myself out of running.

Dustin went to a round-up meeting (go cowboy...he's vice president at fair this year, which shows you how redneck we really are) and I headed to workout.  My stomach wasn't feeling very good as a result of TOM and ingesting a minimal amount of spicy salsa, so I decided that the treadmill at my work gym would be my safest route.

The downside of my work gym is that there is no air conditioning and the windows are all facing west, so it is hotter than HELL in there in the evening.  I kept all the lights off and hit the treadmill.  By the first half mile, I looked like I'd been running for hours.  Drenched!

I wasn't sure if I was going to make it long, but kept working on my intervals, not letting myself get off!  I ended up doing 3.7 miles before throwing in the towel and heading home for the night!

Ok, here comes the weekend workout excuse:  SNAKES!

My fear came to a head this weekend when my mother-in-law told me she saw a giant rattlesnake at the foot of our driveway, right where I had run past the night before.  Thus, no running on the road for awhile at home.  All running will be done in town before I go home at night, either outside on safer roads or on the work treadmill.  While Dustin assures me that I would still be fine running on our driveway, I prefer to stay away from any and all snake encounters.  Yuck!

Busy, Busy

So for the past week I've been extremely busy!  It's nice to feel needed...sometimes I feel like we have too much help at work, but this week a lot of people have been gone, giving me more things to do.  Also, I worked on both Saturday and Sunday for fire, getting in some awesome overtime hours!  Thus, my exercise has been slightly lacking.

Last night, however, I got in a great run!  I put in interval times/distances into my garmin (love it!) and headed out.  I finished 4.1 miles, and felt like I could go forever.  I'm really glad I've figured out the interval feature on the Garmin because it helps me to be a smarter runner.  On the treadmill I can focus on intervals and pace easily, but when I get on the road I tend to go too fast too early.  With interval timing, I can get in a great run using the run/walk method while getting in more miles than I would by pushing too hard just running.  (You might be thinking: DUH!  I'm a little slow sometimes.)

So I have my half-marathon picked out for October 30, but I haven't registered yet.  I'm not trying to back out, but because I hadn't been working on my base miles much before my actual training plan started (this week), I'm going to play it by ear as to how I do and whether or not I'm going to do the half.  If I can stick with my training plan and get in my long runs as planned, I'll go ahead and do the half.  If I don't (it's not a matter of CAN, it's a matter of WILL), I'm not going to risk injury by running the half if my body isn't ready.

I'll keep you posted as to how I'm doing.  I've got 6 miles lined up for this weekend, so we'll see how that goes!  I'm excited for it, if that's any consolation!

TGIF by the way!

Nightmares

So you know how I said I was DEATHLY afraid of snakes?  (Well, I might not have said it, but it was definitely implied!)  At work today there was a snake in the foyer, about to make its way into the office.  The only good thing about the situation was that the UPS man happened to walk in and scare said snake back outside.

I called Dustin and told him he has to drive 25 miles into town, pick me up, and carry me out to my car.  I don't do snakes.

Anyway, after that fun rant, I'm off to plug out 4 miles or so.  Except maybe I won't now, because a fire was just dispatched right where we are haying and have cattle.  Sometimes it pays working for the gov, because I know when things are happening.  I can go pretend I still fight fire!

Sunday Funday

Horrible title...sorry about that!

After my run on Saturday, I went to the store for some much needed groceries.  We have been trying to eat up some wedding food (read: pasta salad), but have finally either finished some of it off or have thrown it away.  It's been a week, and by now we are either sick of eating our weight in pasta salad and cut up fruit or it has gone bad.  We still have about 15 tri tips in the freezer though, and will be slowly eating our way through that for the next few months.

Saturday night was a bridal shower/bachelorette party for a cousin.  She's marrying Dustin's best friend, and although we've had issues in the past (not she and I, but just her in general...long story), we had an excellent time with our friends and ended the night at a new bar/grill in town.  I was proud of myself because normally, I'd be the one to stay out late and drink, but I capped my night off with water and drove home (I still didn't get home until 1:30!).

Sunday was a fun day for me.  Not fun in the sense that I got to do something new and exciting, but fun because I didn't have any expectations!  Our house is still a mess from all the presents and wedding stuff, and I slowly went through and organized *almost* everything while watching DVR'd episodes of Grey's on the couch!  What a great day!  I've been getting up and working on house/wedding stuff for so long that I haven't had a weekend day to just RELAX!

We also put together our brand new BBQ last night, so many great meals to come on it!  Yay!

A few more pictures from the wedding:

I'm looking pretty mischevious!

Just married!

My parents!

Have a great day!

Back in the Game!

I just pounded out 4 sweaty, grueling miles!  I decided that since my snake-filled driveway was giving me too many excuses to not run, I'd head to town and get my miles in on the treadmill.  It's been several months since I've stepped foot on a treadmill, but today I was just feeling it for some reason.  I did 3-1 and 4-1 intervals, and even though at one point I thought I might puke, it felt SO GOOD!

My half-marathon training doesn't officially start until next Sunday, but I'm going to do the first week twice.  "Long run" number one is outta the way!  Could be sad that 4 miles is my long run, but I think it's a pretty good starting point!

Life...and a WEDDING!

Where do I even start?  So much has been happening in my life that I can't begin to tell you what has been going on.  Here's a try:

I got married last weekend! It was perfect--a ton of work before, but so worth it in the end.  We had it right in our backyard, and about 400 people attended.  Crazy, huh!  That's what we get for having huge families and lots of friends!

Not the most high quality pictures in the world, but I haven't got many back yet.  I'll post more as they come!

As far as half-marathon training has gone....well, it's been non-existant.  I'm supposed to run in the Haulin' Aspen Half on August 8, but it's not going to happen.  I'm disappointed, but I know that I'm not giving up my dream, I'm just postponing it for a few months.  I already have another lined up for October 30, so official training begins on August 8!  Until then I'm just going to get in a few runs to get my mileage back up!

I was going to run yesterday, but as I was driving home a long, huge snake slithered across the driveway about 100 yards from the house.  Needless to say, I'm scared to death of any and all snakes and didn't leave the house for the rest of the night.  I live out of town and love running out there, but I think I'll be keeping my runs in town for a few weeks during the height of snake season!

That's it for now!  There is lots going on, but I haven't been around to blog about it!  I'm working on that and I'm going to make a conscious effort to keep up the blogging...it helps me stay accountable!

Softball and a Run

Last night Dustin had his second softball game of the season.  I love softball season, by the way.  I'm not sure why, but for some reason I love sitting my ass down on those hard bleachers and watching my love and his buddies play.  With the exception of one or two teams, our boys usually ten run rule the other team in five LONG innings.  It can be downright boring, but I just love it.

It was a good game last night, and we did ten run the opponent in five.  Before the game I laced up my sneaks and headed out on a 3.6 mile run.  I took a different route, and it helped me stay on track.  The first 1.5 miles I had some extreme cramps!  I blamed this on the half of a banana I consumed before heading out.  It wasn't until I had made it back that I figured out that it was probably the greasy pizza I ate for lunch that was the likely culprit.  Damn bananas anyway...

Tonight Dustin has another softball game...two actually.  It's a double-header in a town about an hour away, and I'm going pretty much so I can be the DD.  I might be the only fan there, but I'm going to get some good Thai food and watch the boys play.  I might consider a walk while I'm there to get my blood flowing today, and then tomorrow I've got a quick 2-3 mile run planned...it's going to be a busy day!

We're branding calves tomorrow, which normally I like, but we don't have a ton of help because most other people had obligations for the day already.  We have a lot of work to do with not so much time, so hopefully all will go well.

Tomorrow night I have my second bridal shower!  I'm pretty excited to see everyone...it's mostly a family ordeal because my friend already threw me one with most of my friends.  Even though it's just family, we're expecting around 40-50 people, so it should be fun.  The only thing I hate is having to open gifts in front of everyone...don't get me wrong, I appreciate it all.  I just don't necessarily like the whole spotlight being on me.  I better get used to it since MY WEDDING is coming up shortly...36 days to be exact! AHHH!

Do you miss me?

Cause I miss you guys!!!

It's been awhile since I've posted...a little over 3 weeks actually!  Time sure does fly!  Last time we talked, I was sick.  I finally got over that after about 5 days, thank goodness!

The first weekend in June, I was in a wedding!  It was a ton of fun, and I had a blast celebrating and dancing the night away.  Since then, I've been busy planning and sorting out all the little things I've neglected for my own wedding.  I've definitely been busy.

And last weekend, again, I was in ANOTHER wedding!  It was pretty fun, and Dustin was also in it, so we got to practice walking down the aisle together before our wedding in July.  I've definitely been really critical of these weddings, only because it helps me figure out how I want my wedding to go!

Half-marathon training....well, it hasn't been going as planned, but now that I'm not in another wedding until my own, hopefully I'll have more time (excuses, excuses) to get in my training.  I got in a nice run last night in my brand new running skirt!  I loved it, but I think my parents thought I went nutty when they saw I had a skirt on to go exercise.  They just don't understand the phenomenon.

I also just invested in one of these babies:

I bought it used on Ebay for a pretty good price, so cross your fingers that it actually works!  I've been wanting one since I started this blog and saw that all of YOU had them, but I couldn't ever get it in the budget.  I still really can't afford it, but I splurged anyway!

Eating has not been passing the bar lately, but since the wedding weekends have come to an end for now, I actually invested in items that I can COOK, and things that are GREEN!  That's right, folks, vegetables have made their way back into my life!  It was a great reunion.

On tap for today and the rest of the week, I've got a run planned for today and tomorrow, and on Friday I'll either rest or do some cross training.  We've got a weekend home for once, so we're going to get some much needed landscaping and cleaning stuff done around the house.  I think we might also be branding calves, something that needed to happen about a month ago!  Someday we might actually be caught up with all our work!

So glad to be back in blog world!

Out of Commission

So I've been sick for the last few days...meaning my little mileage ticker at the top of the page hasn't moved one tiny bit.  I've had a weird stomach flu and though I went to work today, I'm still not feeling quite right.  I'm hoping it will go away soon so I can start getting my workouts in...I want to prepare for this race as diligently as I can!

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

Merry Christmas?

Happy Monday!  And Merry Frickin' Christmas!  It snowed this weekend.  Like 3 inches snowed.  It melted, but it's May for goodness sakes!

Friday night I got in my miles!  I was proud of myself because I almost decided to go home without going to the gym first...I talked myself into it, though, and got in 3.5 miles!

I had a pretty productive Saturday and Sunday, but not in the way of exercising.  On Saturday, my mom and I went to the greenhouse that my in-laws run and worked on planting my wedding flowers.  It went well, but because the weather is so crappy, the greenhouse is much more full than it normally is this time of year.  We had to really work hard to find a spot for all of my flowers!

After a day of planting, Dustin and I went out to dinner with my parents and aunt and uncle at our local Mexican restaurant.  Good food and great conversation was had, and a Negra Modelo might have been consumed.  It was totally worth it!  We then went to our friend's house for more beer and conversation, then travelled home (I stopped at my first beer, so I was DD) around ten.  After a few miles, I drove through the WORST snow storm I have EVER been in.  It only lasted about 4 miles, but when you're driving about 15 mph, searching for reflectors on the side of the road, it seems like forever!  Needless to say, I'm ready for summer to get here!  NOW!

Yesterday we woke up to snow, but it quickly melted off and actually turned out to be a pretty nice day!  I got the house cleaned in the morning and in the afternoon we set out to work on trimming the trees in the orchard...again.  We started this project a few weeks ago, but there are so many trees (all of which are 100+ years old and haven't been trimmed in at least 40+ years) that it is taking us forever!  We enlisted the help of our friends and got most of it done!

I was supposed to get in my long run yesterday, but it didn't happen.  I'm swapping it today since today's workout is stretch & strengthen.  I'm using yesterday's tree trimming project as my strengthen because I hauled heavy limbs all day!  After work I'll get in my mileage and be caught up again.  I have a feeling my whole training plan is going to work this way...trading days so I can get in the right mileage.  I hope it works out for me!

Wish me luck on my 4 miles tonight!  It doesn't sound long but my motivation is lagging today.  If all goes well I'm going to add in another half mile or mile...

Snow, Snow, Go Away!

The weather sucks!  That's about all I have to say.


Ok seriously...to my east is blue sky.  To the west?  SNOW!  Snow flurries!  They've been happening all day, and honestly the one thing that worries me the most is that my dog is outside by herself all day.  You might think I'm crazy, but I own one of the most spoiled dogs in the world, next to my father-in-law's corgi (notice I said father-in-law...I'm not married yet, but I'm trying it out for size). 

Luckily Tallie loves being outside.  And there is no way in hell she was staying inside all day, because bad things happen.  The last time we did that, I found a ziploc bag filled with needles (for giving cows shots) that had been ripped to shreds, needles laying all over.  She chewed on the caps that cover them and no needles were consumed (we think) so it turned out ok.  And she ate an entire paint stick (for marking cows).  It was non-toxic, thank goodness.

The worst thing, however, is what happens to my underwear when we're not around.  For some reason, she seems to like my underwear.  Not Dustin's, definitely mine.  Now you might be saying, "why doesn't Caitlin just pick up all the damn clothes off the floor?"  You'd think I'd learn, but so far I haven't.  I'm going to have to make a trip to VS soon to get some more butt gear!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that I've shared way too much information, I'll get to the point.

Last night I went to the gym to run on the treadmill.  I had 3 miles planned, but I got to about 1.5 and had to stop.  My tummy issues are really starting to make me mad.  Sometimes I can jump off, go to the bathroom, get back on and be fine.  Then other times, like last night, I have really bad cramps and when I try to get back to running, it makes everything worse.  I really need to focus on my eating in the next few days so I can get in a run without feeling like I need to stick around a bathroom.

So tonight, I've got 3.5 miles planned and we'll see how that goes.  I'm already fudging on my training plan because today is supposed to be a rest day, but I'd like to get my miles in.  Once I get in my groove I'll pay more attention to my rest days, but I'm not worried about it this week.  If I really need to I'll take a break tomorrow before my long run on Sunday (long run = 4 miles at this point).

On another note, Beth at Shut Up and Run! is having a "Choose You" Healthy Lifestyle Giveaway!  Check it out here!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Thanks for all your support!

Just a Quickie

I'm just putting up a fast post today, because I'm off work and it appears to be nice outside!  Hopefully nice enough for a 3 mile run!  If not, gym it is...

Hope everyone has a great day!

3 Miles & a Pit Stop

Last night I got out for my scheduled 3 mile run.  I just ran on the driveway (our driveway is 2 miles one way) because I didn't feel like mapping out another spot.  I grabbed my precious running partner, Tallie (my dog) and headed down the road.  The first mile went pretty well.  I was sucking wind a little bit, but that is to be expected when I haven't worked out much for the better of a month or so.

At about 1.2 miles my stomach began to do somersaults.  The familiar feeling of nausea I get when I start a running routine was back and I had to get to the bathroom...fast!  Lucky for me Dustin's sister lives on down the road (we're total hicks, I admit) and no one was home!  I decided I could make it for a few more minutes until I turned around, then jetted inside their house for a quick pit stop.

This helped me until I had about half a mile left to go, when that familiar urge came back.  At one point I stopped in the middle of the road and said "shit, shit, shit!"  (LITERALLY)  I had to walk for about .2 miles but was able to run the last bit home.

After I got back, I made homemade lentil potato soup.  The lentils were a bit of a disaster because after I'd rinsed them, I set them on the counter for a minute.  Apparently, I didn't set them all the way on the counter, because as soon as I turned my back on them, they crashed all over the kitchen floor.  I could have picked them up and washed them again, but my kitchen floor isn't something I'd eat off of.  I have a dog that resides in the house.  She sheds sometimes.  Enough said.

Anyway, before dinner was ready, I started to get really nauseous.  Instead of eating dinner with Dustin, I had to lay moan on the couch and watch him eat.  About an hour later I finally decided I could keep food down, and was able to eat some soup.

Thoughts:

• Until Monday, I've been eating like crap.  Not crap like I used to, but crap for what I eat like now.  So, now that I'm back on the healthy eating wagon, my stomach probably isn't used to so many veggies and good foods.  Go figure.
• When I started running in January, I had similar episodes when running on the treadmill.  It took a few weeks for me to get my diet down so that I wasn't having this problem.  Also, I think running is something your body just needs to adjust to.  Obviously my lack of exercise has made my body not recognize what real exercise is.
• I wish I would have picked a training plan that started sooner.  Not because I don't think I'll be trained enough for my half, but because I am dedicated (so far) to this plan.  I think a reason I didn't exercise much before the plan was because I knew I'd be starting it soon, so I put it off.  Lesson learned.

Asparagus...

So I bought a giant bag of asparagus over the weekend.  In turn, I've been eating LOTS of it, especially today.  I went to the bathroom at work a little bit ago and was really worried for a few moments because there was this...smell.  Then I remembered the large portions of asparagus I've been consuming, and it all made sense!

Day 2

So I'm on Day 2 of getting back in the habit...as well as official half-marathon training!  Last night I had "Stretch & Strengthen" on board for training, so I did Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred and got in some good stretching afterward.  I'm going to look into fun things to do for this to keep myself from getting bored, but I definitely like Shredding.

Tonight I have 3 miles on board.  I think I'm just going to go on the driveway when I get home for now.  I'd like to find some other places to run, but I hate having to drive to get to my destination.  Driveway it is for now!

My eats have been great!  I've been loading up on all sorts of fresh veggies and fruits.  I love when certain foods come on sale because they're in season.  Right now I'm loving strawberries and asparagus...


That just reminded me....I forgot in my last post to mention that I took a food preservation course!  It was a six week course (I had to miss the last week because of work training) that focused on various ways to can fruits, veggies, etc.  The last week focused on how to properly freeze foods (i.e. blanching...), but I have all the class materials on it so I can learn from them.  I'm so excited to have a GIANT garden this year and start preserving my foods.

In the class we canned pears, carrots, pickled asparagus (yum!), pickled brussels sprouts, pickled carrots, and made different jams and jellies.  My group made apple jelly that didn't exactly turn out (not enough natural pectin in the apples) but it was great on pancakes and french toast.  I haven't tried any of my others yet because I love looking at them all on the shelves of my pantry!  I might have to break into the pickled asparagus soon, though, because Dustin might open it and eat it all before I get there.  I might have to hide them...

I'll keep you guys posted on my canning adventures.  First up will probably be a batch of strawberry jam (full of sugar) because that is mainly in season right now.  And maybe some more pickled asparagus!  I feel like an old lady.

I'M BACK!!!!

Can you believe it?  I'm back!  I just checked and it's been well over a month since I've posted!  That is unacceptable!  I wish I could say it's because I have been so busy putting in my mileage and workouts, but that is certainly NOT the case.  I have been super busy, but I've definitely been slacking in the training department.

Recap of the last month or so:

• My job got extremely busy.  While this is great (I was previously bored out of my mind), I haven't made the transition that well.  Work took over and other areas of my life (and body) have suffered in the process.
• I travelled for a week for training
• I am busy training new employees
• I had my first bridal shower.  It was a small one put on for both me and another friend who's wedding is before mine.  Our mutual friend put it on and it was fantastic!
• I travelled to Las Vegas for that friend's bachelorette party!  It was great--I'll post some pictures below of my month recap...
• Dustin and I are extremely busy getting everything ready for our wedding!  The invites are in their final stages of being completed (YAY!), we got some engagement photos taken, our wedding flowers are ready and waiting to be planted at his family's greenhouse, and we've been busy getting the ranch cleaned up.
• On that note, we still have a TON to do!  We've been busy, but it usually gets interrupted by other ranch work.  We've also been busy branding and getting cattle ready to go out to pasture.

Notice what has been left out of the mix?  EXERCISE!  I have done a little, but definitely not what I should have been doing.  However, today is officially:

THE FIRST DAY OF MY "OFFICIAL" HALF-MARATHON TRAINING PLAN!

I'm ready to start and kick butt.  However, I know a few things have to change.  I need to become more organized with my time.  That is one reason why I haven't been working out, because I feel like I have other things that are way more important to do.  If I prioritized my time better, I would have time for exercise and all of the other items on my agenda.

Thanks to all who have stuck with me in my absense.  Feel free to HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE!

Some pics of my travels--

April Goals

Upon reviewing my March goals, I found that I didn't complete ANY of them!  Geez, I'm such a slacker.  However, April brings new possibilities, and I'm bound and determined to actually hit my goals for a month.  So here they are:

• Run 40+ miles.  Since my lofty goal of 60 hasn't happened yet, I'm going to scale down and work my way up.
• Do 30 Day Shred ten times.  I'm in love with this, but I'd like to have a balance between running and Shredding.
• Weigh 157 by April 30.  I hate doing weight goals, but I'm so close to this I can taste it!  Right now I'm sitting at 160 (I say that, but my scale almost tells me I'm at 159), so I'll only have to lose 3 pounds in a MONTH--I think that's attainable without being a freak about it.

Besides my monthly goals, I'm also going to do weekly goals on Wednesdays (because that's when I weigh in).  For this week, though, I'm going to do them today.  Here we go:

• Take my vitamins EVERY DAY!
• Drink 70+ ounces of water EVERY DAY!
• Get 14 miles in (through 4/14)!
• Shred 3 times!

Even though I've been completely slacking on my workouts, I've still been eating pretty good (minus Mini Eggs).  I got some good hiking in this weekend (in the snow), so I've counted that as a mile even though I think it was further.

Tonight I'm planning on running since I'm not going to get to do Jillian tonight.  It's a sin in our house to not watch the final game of March Madness, so my odds of controlling the remote tonight are slim to none.

How are everyone else's goals going?  Are you accomplishing them or is there some slacking going on like me? (don't worry, definitely not judging!)

Back on the Bandwagon!

Wow, time sure flies.  Especially when you aren't blogging, tracking food, or even exercising.  If anyone still happens to read my blog, you can see that I haven't posted in a week.  And guess what?  I haven't officially worked out in over a week.  Yuck!

I guess I've just been in a completely unmotivated funk for the last few several days.  I haven't completely fallen off the bandwagon, but I've definitely indulged in more treats than normal, including beer and sweets.  Now, I do have to say that March is birthday month in my family.  Yesterday was Dustin's birthday, my dad's is today, mine is next week, as well as SEVERAL other family members.  Pretty much it's like Christmas all over again in March.

That being said, it is no excuse.  I need to get back into working out!  I don't want to lose the good base I've worked for in mileage, and I'm in love with the results I've already seen in/on my body.  So it's time to get back on it!!!  I started tracking again today, and while I probably won't get a workout in tonight (family birthday dinner...surprise, surprise) I will workout tomorrow.  I'm going to get back into running and Jillian Michaels will again become my best friend.  Here is my thinking:

I've got almost two full months before I "officially" start my training plan for my half-marathon in August.  So until then, I'm going to focus on keeping my mileage base where its at or increasing it a little bit.  However, I'm also going to focus on strength and cross training, such as Jillian, until then.  I really see results when I combine running and cross training.  While I don't plan on giving it up after that (it's part of my training plan), I will devote most of my workouts to RUNNING once May 17 rolls around.

Also an update on my last week:

• I don't know if I mentioned it, but I got a new boss last week.  She's great, and I have actually been really busy since she's been here!  Success!
• I went and tried on my wedding dress last weekend.  IT WAS TOO BIG!  I'm so glad I tried it on this early because I just exchanged it for a smaller size instead of having to do TONS of alterations.  I may still have to do some alterations if I lose any more, but that's better than having it not fit me completely!  Yay!
• Because we're having the wedding at our house (Dustin's family ranch), we have A TON of work/cleanup to do before that special day.  We invited my fam and a ton (notice my trend...word of the day apparently) of our friends out for a work day.  The girls worked on cleaning up the yard, raking leaves that haven't been raked in YEARS, and burning piles.  The boys took down a barn that was falling in.  It had been standing for over 100 years, and it had a lot of history and memories left in it.  They worked all day without stopping for lunch, but by the end of the day it was all down.  We BBQed and drank by the GIANT bonfire we created.  That was my only form of exericse for the week, and I was SORE!  I love getting in hard work and seeing the results!

Hope everyone had a good week!  I've been keeping up on everyone else's blog, just not writing on my own.  Funny how that works!  Hold me accountable!

Three Things Thursday

 Here it goes:

1. I got my hair cut last night after work.  It's hot!  I totally (like, valley girl?) had a run planned after I got done at the stylist.  But she straightened and fixed my hair!  I don't do that very often, so I had to take advantage of the fact that my hair was pretty, and I skipped my workout.  And when I showered this morning I didn't wash my hair, and it is still pretty.  Anyone else ever do that?
2. I'm SO close to sending out my save-the-dates!  We're reaching the point where it's almost pointless to send them out, so I've been working my butt off getting them finished.  Minus a few printer problems I'm having, they're coming along nicely!
3. I have 6 miles planned for today's run.  I'm going to do it tonight after work, and I don't have any excuses this time.  Especially since I'll have to wash my hair tonight, because it won't look as pretty tomorrow if I don't.

Weigh-In Wednesday

160...no change

Feeling kind of blah...I'll post more tomorrow!  Have a good day!

Blah Tuesday

I'm having a little trouble coming up with something good to talk about today.  In fact, that's pretty much how my whole day is--boring and blah!  I've been working hard at the office all afternoon (so glad I was actually busy today!) and now I'm getting off work and catching an early dinner with Dustin.

After dinner he's heading over to a friend's to pick his winners for the college basketball practice....I'll be heading over to the gym to get in a "last chance workout" before my weigh-in tomorrow.  I've got a lot of good exercise planned, and I'm really looking forward to kicking my butt!  Hopefully my inner Jillian voice will come out when I'm thinking about giving up!

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I guess I never updated about the rest of my weekend.  It wasn't really that exciting, but here goes.  I got home on Saturday after my 5k and an afternoon of planting hanging baskets at Dustin's family's greenhouse.  He had told me one of his old college buddies was coming down because he had a bachelor party that weekend.  Well, his friend's bachelor party made their way to our house, where they shot squirrels and blew things up like only men can do.  After that, six random (ok, five because we knew Dustin's buddy already) people came over for dinner (thank goodness they brought it) and ended up drinking beer at our house all night long.

After that, they proceeded to stay at our house, which at the moment is not set up for one or two overnight guests, let alone six, so they all slept on the hardwood floor or wherever they could find some couch space.   Dustin and I got up Sunday morning and cooked them all breakfast, and after that they all headed out to shoot some more stuff ALL FREAKING DAY LONG!  I wouldn't have minded so much, but it was a gorgeous day and Dustin and I have A TON of crap to get done before the wedding.  Once they finally left around 5 that evening, they had fed Dustin enough alcohol to last me a lifetime, rendering him useless to me for the rest of the day!  Love it when my weekend plans get spoiled!

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine!

ShamRun 5k: Girl Scouts, Snow, and Prizes!

I get to do my first race recap today!!  Yay!  Prepare for a long-winded approach to a not so exciting race!

I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty good.  I've been sick for almost a week, but I knew that I could ignore that fact for a few hours because nothing was stopping me from doing this race.

There was a skiff of snow on the ground at my house.  Translate that into town weather (I live about 26 miles from "town") and add a inch or two.  This made me a little nervous because I haven't ran much outside, let alone on snow/ice.  I packed myself up for a day in town and made the lovely drive in.  By the time I got there I was starting to get nervous, which made me mad, because I kept telling myself that "it's only a 5k."  Well, once I thought about it, it was my FIRST 5k and a chance to show myself that the hard work I've been doing has paid off.

Once I got to the high school track, which is where the race started (and finished), I felt better about the whole situation.  There weren't too many people, and I knew almost everyone there because of the small town atmosphere.  About 3 minutes after I arrived, several Girl Scouts started to come, and I learned that a local troop was doing the 5k walking portion.  Great, I get to hang out with the little kids all day.

So after a quick quarter mile race for some little kids, we got to the starting line.  The race director explained the course to us and then the Grand Marshall of the town's St. Patrick's Day Celebration started us off!

I started my iPod and was on my way.  Because of the snow and ice, they changed the course up and it was just going to be a out and back race.  It started with about 300 meters around the track and then onto the pavement.  Even though my feet were a little numb and I had some lovely phlegm building up, it felt good to RUN! 

Me and another lady I know only as an aquaintance started out pacing each other.  I was glad to have someone with me for the first half mile or so, but then she took off ahead of me.  I ran by myself for about the next mile and passed her when she decided to walk before the halfway point.  Not that I was in any way trying to spite her, but it felt good to know that I was able to run that whole way, as that was one of my goals for the race.

After turning back from halfway point, I began to have some doubts.  I knew I could run the whole thing, and I just kept telling myself to keep going and be proud of what I was accomplishing!  With about a half a mile to go I just kept my pace up (which for most is just a step ahead of a shuffle) and cranked up my tunes.  I got to the track, which was the last leg of the race, and pumped myself up to step up my game to pull out a great finish!  I made it about halfway around the track when I thought I was going to puke my guts out!  I was pushing myself, but I didn't think I was pushing THAT hard.  I quickly realized that it was probably from the cold meds I'd taken that morning.

The feeling passed just as quickly as it had came and I cranked it up for the last part of the lap!  It felt so good to finish!

STATS:
3.1 miles (I don't have a cool Garmin so I can't post multiple stats)
30:58 ~ 9:50 min/mile

My goal was to do it in 30 or under, but I just couldn't pull it out.  However, that is my first and only PR, so it will be something to beat next time!

I came in first in my age group!  I should let you all think I'm bad ass, but I was the only person in my age group.  Period.  I live in a small town, what can I say?

I came in first in the women's category.  Remember the other lady I was running with?  She was the only other woman to actually run the course, so I beat her.

I waited around because they were going to give out prizes.  My prize for winning my age group?  A box of store bakery cookies.  Pretty exciting, huh?  All in all, a great day!

More to come later for the rest of my weekend recap!

Exciting plans!

It's FRIDAY!!!  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!  I've got so much planned for tonight...want to hear it???


Dustin and I are going to park our butts on the couch and eat pizza and watch loads of TV!



We're so exciting!!  We aren't married yet, and we're still about as exciting as an old married couple can get (no offense to anyone for that comment).  A few years ago I would have been itching for something to do on the weekend, whether it be going out and drinking with my friends, BBQing and drinking with my friends, oh yeah, and drinking with my friends.

Don't get me wrong.  We still do this, probably more often than we should.  What I think is funny is that now we couldn't imagine doing that every single weekend!  How tiring!  I savour the weekend, I crave the weekend!  It's my time to clean the house, catch up with family, and just be generally lazy.  And now, it's my time for weekend long runs!!!

I just set my training schedule for my half.  I'm going with a 12-week program that technically won't start until the middle of May.  I'm going to use my two months before that to work up my mileage and see if I could switch to a harder better plan by then.  This all depends on how well I do from now until then.

And tomorrow is....the ShamRun 5k!  Yay!  I'm going to go home and put my outfit together!  After the race I'm going to shower at my parents and then go plant flowers at my soon-to-be-in-law's greenhouse.  Bet you never knew I worked at a greenhouse!  Of course you didn't, because I've never talked about it.  I worked there last year for a few months before my temporary job started up.  Even though it can get mundane, I love planting all the flowers and hanging baskets to sell!  I learned so much from that experience.

Plus, that is where I'm getting most of my wedding flowers from!  I picked out all sorts of annuals in colors for my wedding so that we can plant them around our house and in planters.  So much fun!

To everyone racing this weekend:

GOOD LUCK!

Three Things Thursday

I'm going to copy everyone else in the blogosphere and do a "Three Things Thursday".  Sorry to anyone who might get offended, but let's face it, everyone does it!  So I'm going to do it too!

1. Dustin is still sick.  I thought I was going to outsmart the cold, but I'm pretty sure that my lingering slight sore throat is soon going to become a full-fledged raging sore throat monster soon.  I'm not saying that because I want it to happen...it's just going to happen!  I hope I'm wrong because....
2. My first real 5k is on Saturday!!!!  I'm pretty excited, and sore throat be damned, I'm going to run that race.  I'm a little nervous about what to wear, because I am quite the fair-weather runner, and it's probably going to be colder than sin that morning.  I'm hoping that my current running gear is sufficient enough, because otherwise I'm going to have to come up with some makeshift cold weather gear that might make me look like a dork.  I'm used to that, though, so I don't know what I'm worried about!
3. I've won two giveaways in the bloggy world in the last 2 weeks!  Now I'm going for 3 for 3!!  Check out the right side of my blog for current giveaways that are happening.  I'll try to keep it updated.

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

Weigh-In Wednesday

160!

Down a pound!  I'm pretty excited to see pounds coming off!  It shows me what a little hard work and determination will do!

I've contemplated taking weigh-in Wednesday off of my blog list.  The reason for this is that I am determined not to focus solely on my weight.  I mean, yes, I still have a few pounds to lose, but right now I would like to focus on my running.  But then I thought about how my weekly weigh-in really keeps me accountable, not only to myself, but to all of my readers (who probably don't care what I weigh, but too bad).  Also, this is a complete healthy living transition for me, so taking off one aspect of that (weighing in) would take away from my story.

With that long-winded story, my final decision was to keep my weekly weigh-ins, as well as talk about running, food (something I could talk about for hours), etc.  I am not solely a runner, and though I'm striving to become a marathoner, I still have other lifestyle issues that come into play, so they need to be addressed.

I got in my 5 miles last night!  Longest run I've had in a few weeks.  (I've planned several long runs in the last few weeks that magically didn't happen...)

I'm going to get in a few miles tonight and then stop on the running front until Saturday.  I will be getting in some Jillian Shred tomorrow and possibly Friday.  I haven't had a date with her in several days and I think she's starting to miss me!

And finally, not to be sappy or anything, I just wanted to thank those of you who actually read my blog.  I started it not really knowing what to expect.  Really I didn't expect anything at all...I didn't think anyone would actually read my story, but I'm getting more and more readers every week!  It amazes me (and makes me think that I should try to write about something more interesting)!  Thanks for all of your support!

Suck It Up

I'm feeling pretty good today.  I thought was paranoid that I was going to get sick because Dustin has a full-fledged cold going on right now!  While I'm still not sure that it is behind me, I'm feeling good today and plan to get a good long run in today.  At this point in time, I'll take 5 miles as a long run.  I need to do something because I haven't worked out in a few days!  Yuck!  I have been eating pretty good, though, getting my veggies in.

In other exciting news, my friend Ashley has decided to run the half with me!!!  I cannot even tell you how excited I am that I'm not alone (not that you guys don't help me) in this process.  She is a much better runner than me and will probably eat my dust, but I'm fine with that.  Right now I don't think I'm going to set any specific time goals because I think I need to focus on FINISHING!

I'm a little nervous about my 5k on Saturday.  I was contemplating bowing out, but don't worry, I won't let myself do that!  I just know that I haven't trained as hard as I should have, so not doing it would be the easiest way to show that I didn't train.  I would be supremely PISSED OFF at myself if I did that, though.  It's only 3.1 miles, I can suck it up and push through it.  I might not go super fast, but I never expected myself to in the first place.  I think this will be a good test for me.

Hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!  Biggest Loser is on tonight!

The Weekend

I had a great weekend!  I went out on Friday night for dinner/drinks/dancing with friends for a birthday.  I probably had a little too much fun, but that's ok.  Dustin and I woke up on Saturday feeling less than perfect (well, me at least), but we had a good day at home getting some stuff done.  I probably should have done more, but my alcohol-induced headache wasn't so fun.

I was thankful that I got my drinking out of the way on Friday night (wow, I sound like an alcoholic!) because even though I wasn't on top of my game on Saturday, I still had all day Sunday to get stuff done.  I cleaned the house and my parents came to visit, and then we went for a hike!  I love living next to a giant mountain!  Except for the fact that I can't hike on my own because I'm completely afraid of cougars and bobcats attacking me.  Minor details though.

After we got back in, I was trying to figure out what to have for dinner.  When you live 30 miles out of town, you really have to plan or at least stock up on food for dinners.  Well, I definitely had nothing planned, so I grabbed some chicken out of the freezer to defrost.  Still unsure what to make, our saving grace, aka Dustin's parents, called an invited us over (as in across the driveway) for dinner!  I love it when that happens, because it usually lands on a day that I have no clue what to make!

Dinner was great, and some family friends ended up showing up, so we talked and had a good time together.  Then Dustin and I got in the hot tub for awhile, then gathered up our dog and headed home for the night.  All was great until this morning, when....

Dustin woke up with a horrible sore throat!  So, needless to say, I'm either having sympathy pains or I'm so paranoid of getting sick that I feel like I'm getting sick, or I REALLY AM GETTING SICK, because my throat almost kinda hurts!  No!  I've got my 5k on Saturday, so I'm really hoping that it's all in my head and that I'll be fine.  Until then, I'm going to stay away from Dustin (no kissing allowed), get my workouts in, eat good, and get mentally ready for this race.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Mental Toughness

I'm having a little trouble keeping my thoughts in the right place today.  I need to get a workout in, but I can already tell it's going to be a struggle to get to the gym.  Mentally, anyway.  I'm up to the challenge, though, and one thing I'm going to need for my half-marathon is mental toughness.  So with that:

"Caitlin, get your ASS to the gym tonight!"

Yep, just what I needed!

Weigh-In Wednesday

Today's result:  161!!!!  It was so close to 160 (I still have a scale that isn't digital...) that I almost decided to put it down, but I'm going with 161 just to be safe.  That's a 3 pound loss from last week, and 1 pound lighter than I've gone on this whole journey!

I think Jillian is paying off!  Even though I've missed skipped a couple days of it, it is really making me stronger.  I've also gotten in a few runs lately and my eating habits have been pretty good.  So maybe they were right when they said (I don't know who "they" is by the way) that eating good and working out is the way to go for this whole weight loss thing.  Huh.

It's now time to get off celebration cruise and buckle down for another week.  I made Rolo cookies last night for some unknown reason and I'm trying to not eat them all.  Hopefully Dustin will have eaten every last one of them by the time I get home.  Either that or I will need to sleep while running on the treadmill tonight.  One way or the other....

I got up and Shredded this morning.  I think I'm ready to move up to Level 2 because even though I still sweat and get my heartrate going for level 1, it's much easier than last week.  Time to shock my body again!  Going to get a few miles in tonight too!  I got in 2.5 miles during lunch yesterday.  I'm going to meet my mileage goal this month for once!

My stomach is making some weird noises right about now.  I have headphones on with music playing and I can still hear it.  It's not upset but it seems like there is some serious digestion going on!

*Please excuse my exclamation point usage in this post!  I get a little outta control sometimes!

March Goals

Here they are, let's see how many of them I can meet!  I was searching my previous posts so I could compare my February goals to what I actually accomplished, but lo and behold, I never actually wrote any down...funny how that seems to happen sometimes!  Not this month, though!

1. Run (walk) 60+ miles.  I'm really going to have to kick it in gear for this one, but if I just follow my training plans, I should be able to get it done!
2. Finish the 30 Day Shred.  So, I'm not going to get it done in 30 days exactly.  I'm fine with that, because I want to first and foremost get my mileage in.  I'm seven days in already, so that means I've got 23 days in March to get it done!
3. Rock my 5k!  Ok, so by rocking it I really mean just running the whole thing without walking.  And possibly getting a sub 30 minute time.  That, my friends, is rocking it in my book, at least at this point in my life!
4. Lose 5 pounds.  This will get me below the 160 mark!  I'm not really worried about this one too much, but I've got to get it written down because I think I can hit this goal pretty easily this month. (See weigh-in tomorrow).
5. Paint the dining room!  Obviously not a health-like goal.  Well, yes it is--for my SANITY!
6. Get my taxes done!  Also a sanity goal.  Plus I'll be getting a refund!!!  Can we say wedding money?

Ok, I could put more, but those are six things I want/need to get done in March.  The first two are going to be the hardest for me, so wish me luck!

Weekend Mashup

Hello!!!  It's been a few days since I've posted, so bear with me on this one.  I have a lot to say.

To start, I'll recap the weekend.  On Friday when I got off work, I headed straight to the gym (read: 20 yards from my office) and put in 2 miles on the treadmill.  It wasn't quite the long run I was hoping for, but my legs were shot and I still had to go home and Shred.  So once it was out of the way, I made a break for home....once I got there I crawled into bed and turned on my electric blanket because I was freezing!  Dustin was away this weekend, so I came home to a cold house and didn't feel like walking my lazy ass out to get wood for the stove.

After about half an hour of reading in bed (I'm reading My Sister's Keeper) I finally talked myself into doing the Shred.  This was quite the NSV for me, because on any other day I probably would have talked myself into staying in bed and not finishing my workout.  By the time I got done with Jillian, I was toast.  I ate a small meal and then did what anyone would do on a Friday night....headed back to bed!  It was pretty nice--I watched Gilmore Girls (which I don't get to watch when Dustin is home) and fell asleep!

Saturday I woke up early to get ready to go to Bend with my parents.  Why is it that I can wake up at 5:30 easily on Saturdays and Sundays, but when the weekdays roll around, I can't hardly get my ass up by 6?  Anyway, I had a great day with my parents, although my eating left something to be desired.  I guess you could say that eating ice cream for dinner was not the most nutritionally enticing dinner I could have imagined.  I did not, however, overeat--I just didn't make healthy choices.

Sunday I woke up to my dog whining to go outside.  Time: 6:30.  I just can't do it.  Sleeping in is a thing of the past for me!  I attempted to crawl out of bed, but it was FREEZING in the bedroom.  Even though I didn't build a fire, we still have a monitor in our room, so I knew it could only mean one thing...we were out of monitor fuel.  Damn it, now it's cold everywhere in the house.  Except for the bathroom, because we have a mini heater in there.

I got up and found some blankets and chilled out in front of the tv with some hot coffee and breakfast.  I had the makings of a pretty lazy day, but I took one look at our house and decided it needed to be cleaned...badly!  So I got up and worked on it for a few hours (barely made a dent in it) and then decided to head outside.  It was warmer outside than it was in our house!!!  I quickly went in and changed into my workout clothes and headed down the road for a run.

Our driveway has a fork in it and you can either go the long way or the short way to get out (each has their pros and cons).  I took the short way and still ended up running 4 miles.  It felt so good to get out in the sunshine.  My dog went with me and she spent the whole time searching for squirrels (FYI, she caught her first squirrel that morning and was super proud of it!)  After I got back in I Shredded and had a snack.  Dustin came home not long after and we vegged on the couch for awhile before hitting up the hot tub.   After, we ate dinner with his fam and went and watched the hockey game that we DVR'd.

All-in-all....a great weekend.  If you didn't notice, I didn't mention anything about Shredding on Saturday.  It didn't happen.  I should have got up a little earlier to get it done before leaving for Bend, but I didn't.  I don't regret it though, because my legs were pretty sore and I really think I needed the break.  I got right back to it on Sunday and I plan on doing it all this week.

February recap:

Miles ran: 34.5
~I definitely didn't meet my goal of 66 miles.  I could have and should have got more runs in, but I'm still satisfied with my efforts and feel like I'm getting in pretty good shape.  I can see results, so that is a great feeling!

Ending weight: 164
~I had some ups and downs, but since my weigh-ins are on Wednesdays, I'm not going to weigh myself until then (ok, that's a big fat lie, because I got on this morning; however, I'm not going to tell you guys until my real weigh-in day).

February: SUCCESS
I'll post my March goals in another post.  This one was just getting too long!

Fun Friday

I wish it was Fun Friday!  Instead I'm at work (and of course I'm posting during a break) all day long and my fiance is leaving for the weekend!  So the "fun" for me today will be posting this in bullet form.  How exciting!

• Actually, to be honest, I'm kind of glad to have the weekend to myself!  I'm going to watch whatever I want and do whatever I want!  Can we say Gilmore Girls and catching up on reading?  I'm such an exciting person!

• I'm heading to Bend this weekend, which is where I'll be running my half in August.  I'm just going for a day trip with my parents, but I'm glad to get to spend the day there with them doing some shopping.  Maybe I'll check out the place where I'll be running!

• I headed out for a run yesterday after I got off work (two workouts in a day for me, wowzers).  It felt so great to run outside, as most of my training up to this point has been on the treadmill.  I'll definitely be giving up the treadmill as much as possible, though, because running outside feels so much better.  I only put in 2.5 miles yesterday, but I'm going to slowly try and build my miles up.

• Dustin and I had tri tip last night for dinner!! Can we say yum?  I ususally don't get to eat it much except for during the summer, but they were on sale this week, so I got a smaller one for us to BBQ!

• My dog usually sleeps in between my legs and Dustin's legs.  Now she has decided that sleeping between my legs only.  I don't mind because I usually sleep by taking up as much room as possible with my legs spread eagle (please disregard that statement, but it's true), but when I try to roll over she's always in my way.  I guess that's what we get for letting her sleep on the bed.

• If everyone on the guest list for my wedding actually showed up, there would be over 550 people there!  Yikes, I hope to God that maybe half that many people come!  I'm related to way to many people and Dustin seems to know everyone in the world!

Well, that's it for Fun Friday!  Have a good day and a great weekend!

Aftermath

So I'm over the fact that I signed up for a half-marathon.  Not over it, but over the aftermath of it.  I was seriously struggling with the fact that I'd actually done it.  Negative thoughts were creeping into my head, and for a moment I thought I'd lost my marbles.

You see, all my life I've been one to say I'm going to do something and then I never get around to doing it.  I've told myself for a long time that I'm going to run a half-marathon.  I don't know why.  I've never been a "runner" so there was never really a reason for completing that mission.

However, instead of just telling myself that I'm going to do it, it has become a passion.  Running is not my passion, but I have a strong desire to make it a passion.  I don't know if that makes sense to anyone.  I've never met a runner I didn't like.  Runners are humble and put in the work to get the job done.  That is what I want.  I want to set a goal and actually accomplish it.  So here it is:  my goal of completing a half.  I'm going to get it done.  I might be crazy for signing up for one that is two weeks after my wedding, but I'll get it done, even if it kills me!

On the home front, I completed day 5 of The Shred this morning.  I did day 4 last night because I couldn't didn't get my lazy ass out of bed yesterday morning.  I'm trying to get in the morning habit of doing it so that I can get runs in at night, but I have to overcome my love of sleep and laying in a nice warm bed in order to do so.  One step at a time.

Yesterday I completely forgot to post my weigh-in:  164.  I stayed the same, which is slightly disappointing after my gain last week, but I'll take it.  It's all about the effort you put in, and I just haven't put in enough effort to see a drop on the scale.  So I'll try again this week...

Happy Thursday everyone!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I might be sick....

I just signed up for my first half-marathon!  Yikes!  I'm so freakin' nervous!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Bought and paid for!  Time to crack down!

Shredded

Last night I did day 2 of The Shred.  It went really well, although I have troubles with one of the exercises.  Otherwise I don't really have to do any of the modified versions for it, so I'm feeling good about it!  I had a nice healthy dinner and even allowed dessert (low fat ice cream, yummy!) and was still low in my calorie range!

This morning I woke up early and put in The Shred again for day 3.  Man, it kind of kicked my ass!  I got through it fine, but I'm certainly sore now!  I wanted to do it this morning to get into the habit of doing it early rather than at night, so hopefully this will be a good transition.

It's funny how working out in the morning can have such a great effect on me.  I'm doing well in my eating, and have not felt the need to eat from the candy dish at work or eat any unneccessary treats.  I'll have to continue on this pattern!

Have a great Tuesday!  Weigh-in day tomorrow....I'm hoping for some better results this week!

Awesome purchase

It's a whole new week!  Notice how time is flying by this year?  It's already the end of February!  How crazy is that?  I'd like to say that I'm right on target with my goals, but in fact, I'm a little behind.  Even though I'm behind, I'm still doing well and am continuously making the effort to be healthy and get fit!

This weekend I headed to a distant city with a few friends for a day of girl talk and shopping.  It was pretty fun, but by the end of it I was drained.  My best purchase of the day?  The 30 Day Shred with Jillian and some 5-pound hand weights!  I'd been talking to a friend about the Shred, and she had Netflixed it, so while we were in the big city for the day we both bought it.  Now we can hold each other accountable for it!

Yesterday I felt like crap.  I've been on the verge of getting sick for the past few days, and even though it still didn't hit full force yesterday, I was drained and couldn't focus my eyes all day.  I'm doing my best to fight it, though, and tried to eat healthy and drink LOTS of water to counter it.  I still had cabin fever and felt like I needed a workout, so Dustin took me out for a walk/hike around a butte by our house.  It felt great!

Also, because I can't seem to sit still while I'm sick (when I'm perfectly healthy I sit on my ass), I started the Shred last night.  Dustin sat and watched me sweat and look like a dork for the entire 20 minutes, but it felt good.  Out of any workout video I've ever done, I liked this the best.  The moves are simple, but still hard.  And I'm pretty sore today.  Day one completed, tonight I'm on to Day 2!

I'm also going to try to get in a quick run when I get off work.  I'm feeling much better today, so I think I'll try and push myself a little bit.

Giveaway!

Erica H. over at I Run Because...I Can is hosting a giveaway for One More Mile running apparel!  Head on over to her site HERE and enter to win....but please don't because I'd like to win it myself!

Don't Steal My Sunshine!

Today I am thankful for the absolutely gorgeous weather we've had lately.  It seems to revive my spirit and resolve toward healthy living.

Yesterday I got in two workouts:  A lunchtime walk with a friend and then a run after work.  It felt so great to be outside!  I got home and almost told myself it was getting too cold outside to workout, but then thought better of it.  The weather was PERFECT!  I took the dogs, and they had a great time running and sniffing every squirrel hole they could find (I live in the country).  Today might include a lunchtime walk (not sure yet) and will most definitely include an after-work run. 

My eating was decent yesterday, but still left something to be desired.  Today is off to a good start, and I'm happy!  What a difference a little sunshine can make!

RunZoeRun Giveaway

RunZoeRun! is hosting a Champion giveaway here!  Head on over if you want to enter!

Lent

I'm not Catholic.  However, I like the idea of giving something up, or changing a bad habit for 40 days.  Not just to say I can do it, but for true self-improvement.  So here are four things I've come up with that I'm going to change/give up:

1. No diet soda.  I just finished one, and as I was drinking it I thought about how much better off I'd be to drink water instead.  Oh, and that includes regular soda also, but I really don't drink it much.
2. Take my vitamins everyday, twice a day.  As directed.  I know I should be doing this and I've just been slacking...not planning, so I'm planning to fail.
3. Track something that I'm grateful/thankful for everyday.  I'll do it on this blog for the tracking part.
4. No sweets during the day.  I'd like to say, this is not ALL day.  It's during the day, and if I want a treat, I can have it at night after dinner.  And that is only if I'm good during the day.

So that isn't so bad.  These are things I'd just really like to work on, so what's better than a good 40 days to do that right now while everyone else is giving things up.  We're all in the same boat now!  (And by the way, I can't have dessert tonight because I've already had some sweets today--in the form of Girl Scout cookies...but don't worry, after today's weigh-in, every ounce is being accounted for!)

Wish me luck!  (No, I don't need luck, I just need determination and an iron will!)

Weigh-In Wednesday

"Failing to plan is planning to fail."

Is that not so true?  I've fallen off the wagon this week.  It hasn't been pretty.  Notice I haven't posted since last THURSDAY?  I bet you know why...so do I.

164

+2 from last week

Yuck.  I knew it was coming.  I indulged on Friday night, even after working out on Thursday and Friday.  Saturday I didn't really indulge too much.  Sunday was a different story.  One thing is for sure, though, is that I don't feel guilty about overeating/drinking because of the day, but I sure as hell don't enjoy the scale on weeks when things like that happen.

Sunday started with a champagne and all you can eat buffet brunch.  Can we say calories?  I told myself it was fine, because I didn't completely binge, and I knew it was for breakfast and lunch.  Fine.  However, we got news that morning that our good friend was moving away, as in leaving the next day.  So Sunday night was quite the PARTY.  We laughed, we drank, we cried, and we drank some more.  This resulted in me being so hungover on Monday that I could hardly move.  I don't get drunk very often, and I'd almost forgot what my hangovers do to me: MAKE ME EAT.  EVERYTHING. IN. SIGHT.

So that is pretty much what I did on Monday.  Tuesday I did a little better, but felt bloated all day long because of the hangover/binge from the day before. 

It's really no surprise, and I'm just ready to kick it in gear this week.  I started the day off good by going for a nice long walk during lunch.  It is such a nice day today (sorry all you east coasters that are freezing your asses off).  When I get off work I'm going to race home and go for a quick run/walk before it gets dark.  I love the sunshine, it helps me to get active because treadmill running gets freakin' boring!

Tall Mom Giveaway

Tall Mom on the Run is hosting a great giveaway!! Go here to check it out!

Put Me In, Coach

I'm heading to go workout...and nothing's gonna stop me!  Woo hoo, I'm back in the game coach!

Puppy Love

I just picked my pup up from the vet.  She was pretty darn excited to get to go home, and I have to say I was pretty darn excited to see her.  Dustin and I were so funny last night...she's like another person living there, so while she was gone we missed her terribly!  I kept thinking she'd be in the kitchen or bedroom or something and he just flat out told me he missed her!  Tallie come home!

Well she's home, and licking her wounds...literally.  Good thing Dustin is around to stop her, because she would sit and lick for hours on end if we didn't stop her.

Ok, enough about that.  I'm pretty excited because I also just purchased two necklaces from Tiffany at True to You Design.  She's got some great pieces, and she probably thinks I have a minor girl crush on her because I keep talking her up!  I don't, I promise, so no need to thinking I'm stalking or anything.

I haven't been to the gym since Sunday.  It makes me feel like crap, and I'm going to get there tonight.  I'm back working at my normal office, so I really have no excuse not to get there.  I have a shorter run planned for tonight and then a long run for tomorrow.  I'm kinda already off of the plan I posted the other day, so I need to get back on it!  So I'll say 3 easy miles today and then 6 tomorrow.  Saturday I'm going to do a long walk or easy run and then take the day off Sunday.  Let's see how well I do.  I'm not much of a planner, but I need to get on a plan/routine in order to be successful in my races.

Just so everyone knows, I've got a giveaway in the works...it will happen in the next week or two!  Just keep watching and waiting...

Weigh-In Wednesday

162

-1 pound

Woop Woop!!!! Down one?  How did that happen?  I was so nervous to get on the scale this morning!  Like so nervous that I thought up some good excuses not to get on it so that I'd have something to tell you guys today.  Or that I was giving myself a free pass for the week.  Well, I decided that was a bunch of crap and that this journey is about being responsible and accounting for the good and the BAD, so I stepped up to the plate...

And I lost a pound.

That goes to show that you should never give up on this journey.  Just keep pushing and never give up!

In other breaking news, I didn't get my workout in last night.  You see, I've been working in a different office for the last three days (here come the excuses).  Well, that office is an hour away from where I normally work, so on top of driving the 25 miles from my house to town where I normall work, I've been driving an extra hour EACH WAY to get to and from work.  So, in the time it normally takes me to get off work and workout and get home, I'm only just getting back to town.  And then I have another 25 miles to go to get home.  Excuses.

We also had friends over last night for an impromtu dinner.  Really, that meant me slaving over the stove, trying to come up with something decent for dinner because I wasn't planning on cooking.  I WAS planning on Dustin eating bratwurst, which would have worked for dinner with our friends except for the fact that Dustin happened to eat most of it for lunch that afternoon.  FAIL.

Instead we had elk steak (YUMMO!) and it was great....so tender and not gamey at all.  Everything turned out just fine and we had a good evening!

My dog had to go to the vet today to get spayed :(

I hated leaving her there, and she has to stay the night.  Dustin made his dad take her because he didn't want her to hate him when she gets home!  His dad said that Tallie was fine when he first got there, but another dog showed up and started barking and she just started shaking uncontrollably!  It makes me want to cry, she is my baby!  (And yes, I'll probably someday end up being the crazy dog lady, if I'm not already.  Better than being a crazy cat lady though.)  I'm considering taking tomorrow off work just so I can spend the day with her.  Ok, I won't but I want to. 

Giveaway!

And obviously it's not mine!  But someday soon!

The Busy Woman's Guide to Surviving Motherhood is having a giveaway for one of Tiffany's (from True To You Design) Valentine's Day jewlery sets.  They are darling and I love her work!

The giveaway can be found here.

5k Training

Thanks for everyone's comments about yesterday's post.  I'm feeling much better today!  I'm not sure what happened to me, but I'm back in the game and I'm trying not to eat everything in sight!  I'm in one of those moods where EVERYTHING sounds good, especially chips, crackers, candy, chocolate, etc.  You know, those foods that are just so damn good for you!

I've been thinking a lot about my training, and I think I've come up with a good plan.  At least for the next five weeks.  That is when my first 5k race is, and as much as I'd like to say I'll be prepared for it, I'm still scared that I'm going to majorly suck at the actual racing portion of this.  I have a tendency to start walking when the going gets tough.  So with that, I'd like to really make sure I get the right training in.

I found a program for intermediate runners.  I'm not really sure if I'm really an intermediate runner, but after looking at the different options (beginners, advanced, etc.) I chose intermediate because that seems to be based around what mileage I'm already doing.  Also, because it is technically an 8-week plan and I'm only doing 5 weeks, I think this plan fits in perfectly with what I'm already doing.

Here it is.  Not that most people care, but I feel the need to put it out there.  Hold me accountable peeps!

There we go.  Obviously I missed Monday already, so tonight I have a 3 mile run lined up.  Let's see how this works out for me!  After I get this 5k out of the way, I'll plan my next round of training for my half in August.  Or maybe I'll start sooner, but I'm glad I have a clear direction for the next month.

If anyone has any suggestions for me, please feel free to speak your mind, either in a comment or email me at caitlinsimms1 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks for reading!  I've got big ideas for a giveaway once I get a certain number of followers....so in the next 5 years you may be able to enter!

Biggest Loser tonight!  And bratwurst (for my man...I'll probably have salad or something :)

Yuck-O

I feel like I'm going to die.  Ok, not die, but I think I might puke.  And I'm at work and I want to go home, but I can't.  And there's nothing that I can do about it so I'm just sitting here with the trash can by my side, doing nothing but I have to be here because there is no one to cover for me.  Blah!

So I'm trying to distract myself.  I ate some of my lunch to see if it would settle my stomach (leave it to me to EAT when sick).  It didn't work.  I've been trying to drink some water, but that isn't going down very well.  I popped in some minty gum, and I think it is slightly helping.

I did pretty good this weekend.  I FINALLY went to the gym on Friday after work.  I got in 5.5 miles, and it felt great.  I love getting in a good run, and I'm proud of myself for going that far.  I also love going home and telling my honey how far I went.  He is in the habit of asking me as soon as I get there, and it makes me feel so good that he is on board and supportive of me.

Saturday I didn't get an "official" workout in, but I did run a chainsaw for about 5 hours, so I'd say that counts.  We're trying to cut out a whole bunch of juniper trees from around a spring we've got above our house, so Dustin and I and our friend went out and tipped trees all day.  It was pretty fun, I have to say that I love falling trees!  I feel kind of like a dork when I say that, but I really enjoy it.

Yesterday, I had to run to town to get groceries and ammunition (see below), so I stopped by the gym for a quick 2.5 mile run before heading home.  It felt good to get in and get that done, especially when I knew I probably wasn't going to eat that great for the rest of the day.  I got cleaned up and made a 7 layer dip for the superbowl party we were going to, and then fell asleep on the couch!  Dustin finally came home and we headed to our friends to shoot skeet (hence the ammunition) and watch the game.  It was pretty fun, and I didn't overindulge as much as I thought I might.

Today I have a workout planned for when I get off work, but if this crappy throw-up feeling doesn't go away, I'm going to just go straight home and to bed.  Yuck-O!