Weekend Races

Good Morning! It's Monday, it's rainy, it's cold... what will you do with today?

You may be able to guess where I'm going with this by now, but honestly everyday is what you make it. If you wake up thinking how cold and nasty it is outside, how tired you feel, and how badly you don't want to go to work.. you are setting yourself up for failure. If you think it's a crappy morning, it IS going to be crappy. But if you start your day thinking, it's cold and nasty outside, but I'm thankful for _______. Your day can start on a happier, more positive note. It's not hard to do, and if you can't find something to be thankful for then you need to seriously re-evaluate your life. However, I know ALL of you can find something to be thanful for. I joined a challenge recently that challenges you to put into writing something you are grateful for everyday for the month of March. I love it because it really makes me dig deep for things I am thankful for. This weekend I was thankful for my two little adorable nieces and having one more on the way. I am going home to Pennsylvania this weekend for Easter and my dad's birthday and I could not be more excited. My family is all getting together for a big Chinese dinner at our favorite restaurant on Friday. I am so happy to get to see everyone, and especially excited to see how my little peanuts have grown. It's tough being away from them, but luckily for Facetime and technology they still know who "Aunt Apple" is. They are ahhhh-dooor-ah-bull! haha

What did you find to keep you entertained this weekend? Did you stay active despite the cold and rain? Did you plop your butt in front of the TV for March Madness all weekend? Did you try any new recipes? Weekends are always good for creativity because we tend to have a little more time on our hands. Pick a new recipe to try next weekend, or maybe decide to try your first meal prep on Sunday. Find a yummy, healthy recipe and make a big batch of it to put in multiple tupperware containers for lunches/dinners for the week. It's much easier than you think! I need to do my meal prep today or tomorrow because I did not have the energy to go grocery shopping and meal prep yesterday after my half marathon. Luckily, I have about 5 extra meals to hold me over for lunches this week. Plan one thing you are going to do next weekend that will help you in your health/fitness goal(s) and STICK TO IT. You will feel better having done that thing you said you would.

My Weekend Summary:

I had a friend who I went to college with (GO SLIP ROCK) come down from PA to run the Spartan Race on Saturday and she was also tough enough to run the Charlotte Motor Speedway half marathon with me on Sunday. Crazy people tend to stick together, haha! So, the pup & I went out to support her and her friends running the Spartan Saturday morning. It was cold & wet but it was fun seeing everyone covered in mud crossing obstacles. Unfortunately, many of the obstacles were nearly impossible to complete due to the wet conditions, so that left them doing a LOT of Burpees. She did great, and we had a good time! I snapped some shots from the morning, see below.

I caught her warming up on the obstacle wall and then we took a pre-race/mud pic, I look like a midget.. story of my life, lol. 

Here she is finishing one of the last obstacles. She had to climb under barbed wire through the cold, muddy water, climb up the slippery angled rope wall, climb down the other side, jump through fire, fight through gladiators, and cross the finish line. She did a great job!

Sunday was wetter & colder, but the show must go on. The Charlotte Motor Speedway Half Marathon was a nice course and was flat for the most part, a few rolling hills, but there was always a downhill after the uphill battle which was nice. I snapped this picture of the Speedway, Saturday, when I went to pick up my race packet.

-Bre & I after the race, cold, wet, & still smiling. :)

-Matty came to cheer me on through the rain. As a runner, it means so much to me to see a familiar face along the way. Poor boy kept missing me at spots, but he was there at the finish line with a smile.  I could NOT ask for a better best friend to support me in everything I do.

I couldn't decide if I wanted my ears warm or my face shielded from the rain, so I went with the best of both worlds, hence my goofy looking head ensemble. I accidently left my gloves in my jacket pocket, which I gave to Matty before the race. It was really obnoxious to not feel my fingers the entire race, lol. The medal we got was awesome it has light up red/yellow/green LED lights and the middle of it spins which is pretty cool!

I was hoping for a PR (Personal Record) and I GOT IT! I have been training for months including speedwork into my workouts. I ran my last half marathon (13.1 miles) in 1:46:37 I ran this one in 1:44:17 and I was very happy! This came out to be a 7:58 min/mile pace and I felt great! The last two miles I made a game out of how many people I could pass. I was picking people off left and right, lol. I thought of my SRU cross country days, our coach used to always say "protect your neighborhood", meaning, don't let people around you pass you. I literally chuckled because I kept thinking, "GET OUTTA MY 'HOOD", in my head as I was passing people, lol. I am such a nerd I can't even help it. Here are the race results, below. I got 3rd for females 25-29 which I was pretty pumped about. This is why you push ALL THE WAY UNTIL THE END! :)

I had homemade chicken stir fry post-race to refuel my body and it was delicious. I cooked brown rice and sauteed stir fry veggies in EVOO (I actually bought fresh pre-chopped stir fry veggie blend of peppers, onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, bok choy, baby corn, broccoli, and carrots at Trader Joe's for like $3 and only used 1/3 of it, great deal!) I added reduced sodium soy sauce and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract, love the mixture of sweet and salty, it was delicious! I used more rice than usual because, HEY I RAN 13 miles, I wanted it! I paired it with water and Green Tea with mango. Gotta rehydrate! YUM!

Breakfast today was the usual: Overnight oats!

Today the ingredients were: 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 banana, 4 strawberries, slivered almonds, dried cranberries, cinnamon, flax seeds, and 2 drops liquid stevia. YUM! You must try it, it is so filling! I also had a cup of green tea with breakfast.

ARE YOU READY FOR A LIFE CHANGING WEIGHT LOSS SECRET?

^^ This e-card cracks me up. If you don't know what PINTEREST is, you're missing out. You can organize your favorite recipes, home decorating ideas, fashion ideas, workouts, etc... and "pin it" to your virtual bulletin board. I love it and I love this e-card so much because you will see a lot of people pin things that read, "BEST WORKOUT EVER, LOSE 10 POUNDS IN 7 DAYS" or other gimics like that. They always have a picture of a super skinny model on it as well. Let's do this the old fashioned way with diet and exercise, not by eating grapefruit or starving yourself. EAT CLEAN, TRAIN DIRTY PEOPLE! The weight did not get there overnight and it is NOT going to leave overnight either! I made the e-card "work appropriate" as well, like my fancy editing skills? Lol.

Have a great day, loves. Decide today what your goals for the week are. Don't just read this and say yah, ok April. DO IT, say it out loud and WORK FOR IT. It could be "I want to drink 8 glasses of water a day" or "I want to log all my calories" or "I want to workout 40 minutes for 5 days this week". Whatever goal you make, be specific. "I want to workout" is too broad, you need to say WHEN/WHERE/HOW LONG etc.. Be accountable, starting TODAY!