Proving how BLONDE I am

Sunday night I completed my first round of SPEED work...aka 2 x 0.25 mile pretend sprints because I'm slow in general and RLRF considers a 0.25mile @ a 09:00 pace speed work for me....

Anyways that made Tuesday day 2 of RLRF, which was completed in the park by the dog park...someone was anxiously waiting in the car while I got all my "running crap" together....PS- sprints are his FAVORITE!

For some reason my blonde brain thought this "tempo run" was 1 mile warm up, 1 mile tempo @ 7:36 pace then a 1 mile cool down...(WTF? Like I can run a mile at 7:36....yah NOT SO MUCH, I can run 0.25mile at that pace, then fight down the vomit, breath like a fat kid for 5 minutes while walking, then do another 0.25 miles.... at that pace.)

Here's where the blonde part comes in.....

I got home, after thinking I was going to die for a good 45 minutes, and decided to check my training plan.  I meant to take it with me to the dog park (where The Hubs and Knox played before/while I ran...) but realized almost half way there I had forgot it....no biggie, I looked at my plan earlier, I GOT THIS....I sooooo didn't "get" anything!  I am the reason people tell blonde jokes....my second mile of my "tempo" run from HELL was supposed to be at a 9:56 pace, not a 7:36 pace!   WHERE THE HELL DID I GET 7:36?!? Oh on the page BEFORE the one I was supposed to be looking at....the page where someone who runs a 20 or so minute 5k is supposed to look....NOT someone who can barely run a 5k in 30 minutes (that's giving myself more credit than I deserve ps...)

 I.AM.BLONDE....  

I LOVE the foam Roller and the Texas Rangers!

Ahh sweet sweet TEXAS RANGERS!!...Oh Nelson Cruz how I love you!  If any of you are watching the MLB playoffs you know EXACTLY what I mean....tied in the bottom of some extra inning (I lost count) with a Walk-Off GRAND SLAM to win it?!!!  The ONLY one in MLB playoffs history?  Yup that was Nelson Cruz!!

                                                  Me & The Hubs sporting our Rangers gear!

After the game Monday night I made encouraged The Hubs go to the gym with me....WHAT?! I had only had 1.5 beers, and he had only had ooooh maybe 4?...Haha oops, wife of the year?  Probably not! 

I had cheese fries for dinner and was feeling like a rest day was not appropriate....sooo we went to the gym, lifted some biceps, stretched (a lot) and did pushups.  Most random workout ever....but I SUCK at pushups....that's my goal for next month!

But I do NOT suck at Foam Rolling....

                                       Sorry for the pic of half of my face...The Hubs was slightly intoxicated...
                                           GEEZ I have big thighs....but damn I love my spandex shorts....

Here's a photo-op of JUST how happy the hubs was to be at the gym.....

Strange....but I love him!!

Woooo Hoooo go me....3 whole pictures in a SINGLE post!  I'm getting better at this...

Going PRIMAL

SO me and The Hubs have been playing around with the idea of "going Primal."  I feel like this might have a few of my readers (Haha yah right!) a smidge confused and maybe their minds in the gutter?  Oh wait, that was just me?

Got the pic from his website....HERE

"Primal" refers to a "diet" called the Primal Diet (I'm so smart I know...) You can check out the website HERE and learn everything you ever wanted to know about the Primal "Diet."  I use the "" around diet because I don't really feel like this is a diet persay (I think I just made up the spelling of this word, if it's even a word), but more of a "Life Style Change"  You know that one I keep talking about? Me and The Hubs are working on this whole "be healthier, workout more, eat better" binge right now. I feel SO much better when I'm being healthy!  I'm much less grouchy, probably because I'm much less fat?!

ANYWAYS....the Primal "diet" is based on caveman science...kind of.  It suggests eating all you want of lean protein, veggies, and fruit, some healthy fats (avocado, EVOO etc) but very minimal grains.  I don't want to say minimal CARBS, because what kind of runner would I be if I ate minimal carbs?  According to his plan you should consume 50-100gm of carbs/day for optimal weight loss, or 100-150gm carbs to maintain your weight easily.  Based on the research grains (bread, pasta, etc) cause insulin surges in your blood, which = bad (I'm a nurse and should be able to explain this better...but I'm tired, and its all in the link above!) Now my thing with the whole being a "runner" is consuming my 50-100gm of carbs per day at the APPROPRIATE times!  A-la before runs when I burn through all the carbs I ate right before. He actually mentions this on his website.  He only suggests "carb loading" right before you lace up your shoes. 

Now the above mentioned information is my "take" on this eating plan....I like that, let's call it an "eating plan" instead of a diet!  Diet has such a negative connotation in my world...that means I CANT eat something, not that I should limit my intake of it.....

Man I'm getting distracted by my wordage tonight....

So here's a picture of a hearty lunch I had, with this "eating plan" in mind. Janae would be proud!!


That is mixed greens, carrots, onions, half an avocado, half a can of tuna (Hubs got the other halves) and some LIGHT italian vinagarette!  And it was YUMM-O!  And kept me full....for a little while.  I'm kicking back into that "running/working out all the time...NEED MORE FOOD" mode!

Anyways we bought the cookbook that Mark Sisson (the author of this "eating plan") published today....and made Coconut flour pancakes.  Interesting...not bad, but weird.  It will definitely take some getting used to, and some serious $$ to get this whole thing started.  The good news? He says I can eat Maple Syrup in moderation....I wonder what his definition of "moderation" is?

Any thoughts on this "eating plan"....anyone ever heard of it?  Anyone read my blog?!? Nope, just me? Oh well, I'll just consider this my workout/food journal with questions to OUTERSPACE at the end!

Stay tuned for a post with pics at the gym....super awesome pics my drunk husband took!  Yup I drug him to the gym AFTER we watched the RANGERs win game 2 of the ALCS....in a bar....I'm such a good wife!

Speed Work...we MIGHT be friends.

I got bored last night and made a few changes to the blog...a little more colorful now!

My workout today consisted of the 1st speed workout on the "Intermediate" 5K plan in Run Less Run Faster.  I'm going to work on the 5k plan for a couple of weeks to get my 5k time faster then move onto the Half plan.

1st speed workout EVER = successful!  It was a 10 minute warmup (jogged at a 10-11min/mile pace for 10 minutes.) then 2 x 400m @ 2:15, followed by a 10 minute cool down (another 10 minutes of 10-11 minute pace.)  Me, The Hubs, and Puppy Love did it together.  It was not a crazy interval, crazy pace, or anything like that, but got a little speed work in there, and felt good the whole time!  My legs are still recovering from my killer leg workout the other day, so it felt good to stretch em out a little!

Oh Oh and I figured out new FUN tricks on my Garmin!  Ok so I figured out that you can program it to beep at you to slow down or speed up and set intervals. Hey before today all I knew how to do was turn it on and off, change it to bike mode, and keep track of my distance/pace.  It's the little things in life!

Go check out Janae @ HungryRunnerGirl she's giving away a fancy pair of WOMENS only running shoes!!!

Hello October....a new list of goals

Yes I know it's 9 days into the month....but I just got back into blogging and am trying to catch up on my week! 

So I mentioned before that I decided to give up Dr. Pepper and make some lifestyle changes on October 1st. So far, so good!  Christina @ TheAthletarian HERE had a post with her goals for the month on it, and hers were very similar to the chat I had with myself (In my head, not out loud!) on Friday night.  So she inspired me to make a post about my new goals!  So here they are!

*No More Dr. Pepper! (I had stopped drinking most pop, and in the words of SkinnyRunner HERE pop=soda, deal with it!....but recently went on a Dr. Pepper binge! 

*Start Running more, well just start running again in general.  I was doing so good until it got HOT, and now I suck.  I am reading Run Less Run Faster, and my goal in the next few weeks is to get my 5K time to under 30 minutes, yes I am SLOW, so I can start the RLRF half training program!  There is a 5K training program in the book, so I'm starting there just for the speed work to get my time down, then once I'm under 30 minutes Ill move onto the Half plan....Thanks to Amanda @ 5MilesPastEmpty HERE for that advice!! I have yet to start this "plan"...thanks to my killer leg workout my running got pushed back a few days!

*Lift/Crosstrain more - I have done both a LOT more this week, I outlined my workouts from the week HERE I have ridden my bike, gone to spin, swam, and lifted 4 times!

*EAT HEALTHIER!!!  I have done a DECENT job on this one...minus my 2 pieces of pizza while drinking, a few pieces of Halloween candy, and a piece of pizza at work tonight (it's been a rough few nights at work) in general this week we've been eating at home more, and eating healthier!
*Blog more and POST MORE PiCTURES!  Doing better on the blogging, need work on the pictures!  Blogging at work (which I do a lot...) is a little harder on the picture part...working on it soon, I promise!

Ps I just figured out how to tag other blogs....Im such a ra-tard!! 

So there ya have it....my goals for the month...

What are you goals?

  PSS I love how I ask questions at the end of my posts A-La HungryRunnerGirl like anyone reads my blog or responds to my questions.....SOMEDAY!

I get my workouts from watching Real World

Ahhhhhh....sweet relief!  My legs are MUCH better today!  I drank my Amino Acid Energy drink around 4ish this morning (don't forget I work night shift!! ) and had a protein smoothie on my way home from work, took 2 Aleve during the night, and the Creatine I took before work...I woke up this afternoon and feel a thousand times better....still sore, but the good kind now, not the "I can barely sit down to pee" kind of sore!!

Let me enlighten you on my KILLER leg workout from Thursday....

I started with these things I don't have a name for yet, and I saw on Real World San Diego (Yes I'm a loser, Yes I record every season of the Real World, and yes I stole a workout from one of the chicks on the show)  They were at the gym and goofing off while working out, but I saw one of the girls doing this and decided to give it a try...hey she has an awesome body so why not? You take one of those aerobics class step things...you know the gnarly green plastic things?  Get down in plan position with your elbows on the ground, and put your feet on the narrow end of the step.  "Jump" your feet out to the sides, then "Jump" them back onto the step, keeping your legs straight and your abs pulled in....OUCH! I did 3 sets of 10....which contributed to my inner thighs, upper Hammys, and lower butt soreness!

Next I laid on one of those ab workout balls, on my stomach, the ball about at my chest, then with your legs straight and together, lift them off the ball as high as you can....pull in your abs while doing this one too...more OUCH!

I did 2 quad machines, a Hammy machine, then holding a 10lb weight I did squats (3 sets of 10) and calf raises (3 sets of 20)....OUCH some more!  My calves are actually what is still the most sore! It seriously amazes me how much squats, calf raises, and lunges can do for you....no fancy equipment needed! 

This workout will definitely be a frequent flyer on my lift days!....AMAZING legs here I come!

No pain No gain right?

OUCH!  is all I have to say....when I left work Friday morning my legs had started to get a little sore from my workout the night before.  I did a few new leg workouts so they were sore in some new places and it actually felt kind of good....then I woke up this afternoon, and realized I could barely walk my legs hurt so bad!  There went my plan for a run before work tonight!!  I took a couple of Ibuprofen and The Hubs suggested I take a couple of his creatine to help with the muscle recovery.....NOT WORKING!  It's been 12 hours since I woke up and they STILL hurt!

Any suggestions on ways to help muscle soreness go away faster?!?!!  I have that new Amino Acid drink and havn't drank any today....maybe that will help a little?

The Biggest Loser...Obsessed!

So The Hubs and I discovered that The Biggest Loser is on NetFlix.  I've never watched it, nor had any desire to watch it, but for some reason we decided to watch an episode the other night....and 5 episodes in 2 days later....we're HOOKED!!

We started with Season 1...and we are both so into it!  It's funny to hear The Hubs opinion on who should go home and why.  It's alwasy funny to see him get a SMIDGE emotional at times!

I think this might be part of my whole "serious amount of motivation" lately.  Watching these people give up their lives and their families for an unspecified amount of time to be healthy is truly inspiring (OMG how corny did that sound?!) After watching an episode I seriously have this craving to go to the gym then eat something healthy!  I am also learning a lot!  It's interesting to see the workouts they do and the meal plans they are following! Plus I <3 Jillian Michaels!  I am going to be sad when I catch up to the seasons when she's gone!

Do you watch it?  And do you get the same motivation it gives me?

I'm baaaaaack!!!....hopefully for good this time!

I suck at this whole "blogging" thing....but I'm going to do better, I promise.

We went to Galveston for our 1 year anniversary trip last week!  Holy crap we've already been married for a whole YEAR!  On the way home I had an epiphany, after looking at a picture my husband took up close of my ass....then wanting to throw up!  I decided it was time to SERIOUSLY make some changes to my life.  Time to start eating right, for real, to get serious about working out, and to focus on my running. 

So I had Wendys and a Dr. Pepper for dinner in the car....one last Dr. Pepper, then at midnight my lifestyle "transformation" started!

Sunday we went to the gym.  Me and The Hubs lifted, and focused on back and shoulders.  KILLER workout, as in I'm still sore and it's Friday morning!  I weighed myself after my workout, and wanted to cry.  I know it's not about the number, but it's SO hard for me not to focus on that.  I weighed 137lbs.  The most I've EVER weighed in my life.  I'm 5'4", and I know this isn't a crazy out of control weight, but it's not where I want to be.  Enough about my obsession with the numbers....

Monday I woke up and went to my very first spin class!!  LOVED.IT. Totally.Addicted! 

Tuesday The Hubs and I went to the gym and lifted biceps this time....again still sore!  I ran when we got home from the gym....no clue how far because I confused my Garmin and it never found me!  It was kind of nice to just run, probably only 2 miles or so, but just me, the dark, a cool breeze, and a run.  It.Felt.GOOD!

Wednesday we went for a 15 mile bike ride on our anniversary presents to each other....Hybrid bikes!  I got a TREK, it's their fitness Hybrid, and I LOVE it!  After dinner we swam 250m in the pool at the gym.  This was my first swim for fitness purposes....it kicked my butt way more than I expected!  The Hubs and I have hopes of slowly training for a Sprint Tri!!  We are doing awesome at increasing our bike mileage, we just need to keep focusing on the swim and run! 

I worked for a few hours on Wednesday night, so I slept most of the day Thursday.  I did get up and go to the gym before coming back to work.  I did legs and abs.  We'll see if I can walk by the time I wake up today!! 

That's 5...YUP 5 days in a row I worked out.  Pretty sure I've never done that....Ever.  I'm trying really hard to be healthier all around.  I havn't had a Dr. Pepper since Friday, I'm drinking tons and tons of water and NUUN, I bought this Optimum Nutrition Amino Acid drink from Vitamin Shoppe that the guy recommended to aid with muscle recovery, endurance, and energy.  It's got green tea in it, and most of the ingredients were all natural. I am loving how much of a difference it makes when I drink it.  The Hubs even said tonight he felt like he could have stayed at the gym all night!  I started taking Glucosamine as well,  I'm trying to do all I can to stay healthy.

 I had pizza on Monday night (Ooops, that's what a few to many beers will do to ya!) but other than that, we've been eating much healthier. 

So my goals are to continue my workout binge, eating healthier, and blogging!!