sunny weekend recap!

It was another Sunny and WARM weekend in Seattle. Now you may be reading this and going why is she SO focused on this. UMM.. well see we are pretty far north. Seattle is farther north than most of the US – more north than Chicago, or Minneapolis and even Toronto. The Latitude of Seattle is 47 degrees. Remember 0 is at the equator. For reference, Nashville is 36 degrees. So we don’t get a lot of sun and its a lot harder for things to warm up here! This weekend it was sunny. That yellow ball was out and the thermometer even hit 70. It is beyond exciting!

Last week I was feeling a bit sore on my left shin. I decided to nix my 20 miler this weekend and go easy. It was so pretty I couldn’t just stay inside so I hit up the trails! It was supposed to warm up, but starting off was only about 43 deg in the morning so I put on a long sleeve tee.

My legs were a bit sore from doing my NROLFW workout on Friday, so going up the hills was a bit slower going than I would have liked.  I thought I was going slow, but I decided to just enjoy the day! I was hot in my long sleeve, so the breaks were probably good! It was pretty with the sun streaming through the trees and everything starting to turn green! I saw a couple of flowers too.  In the end the run was about the pace I would have wanted it overall. I am sure I can go faster on a non-sore day, but I figured this was pretty good!

Post run shoes:

It was still a bit muddy from Fridays rain!

The leader of our group celebrated her 40th birthday Friday. She was still a little tipsy apparently for the run, but someone brought us all ribbon hairbands to wear! I wore mine all day for fun! Did you know that doing fun things like that makes a lot of people smile?! try it sometime!

I ran around and did some errands and did some crafts with some friends. It was so pretty out! Here is a quality spring/summer day in Seattle when you can see THE mountain!

It is AWESOMe to look at! I never get tired!!

And spring is pretty much here give or take.. and this is evidence!

We had several pretty Azalea bushes around our house growing up! I got nostalgic!

The rest of the weekend was just as beautiful! We just hung out with friends and did the usual chores! It was fabulous! Now onto another work week!

Sunday Scripture

InstaFriday!

Another fun-filled week with a few cell phone picts! I have been getting lazy about pictures, but I also haven’t been doing much other than work, run, eat, sleep. A little tv and reading and that’s about all. Kind of boring. Here’s what I have for you from this last week.

It was warm last weekend and since hubs was a bit sick, I drank a lot of Gatorade this week. Along with water but both. Plus last weekend it was warm and I felt a bit dehydrated.

So far this week – all of my runs were in SHORTS. yes. That is beyond exciting! I know some people complain about rubbing but whatevs. I’m so tired of pants/capris (well except for my awesome lulu ones!)

This week I have made a much more concerted effort to eat healthier. Try to actually eat veggies and more protein. I use Livestrong.com to track my food. It definitely helps!

In theme with this week, due to the tiredness I added in some coffee. It also went with the several days of full out rain we had this week.

And this is what happens in the evenings when I get hungry. I prefer a coffee mug -portion control. We don’t drink a lot of coffee at home, so I have to find some use for my mugs!!

Wow- what a theme – fuel and running. I guess that is life!

Linking up with Jeannette at Life Rearranged!

Happy Friday!!

New Rules of Lifting for Women Stage 1 Recap

It has been a couple of weeks since I finished this stage, but I still want to recap it properly! My Initial post about starting this is here.

Stage 1 has 2 workouts that you do 3x a week for a total of 6 weeks.  I followed the plan and did the workouts 3x a week for the 6 weeks.  I even had to do a couple of workouts while on travel, but thankfully I go places I have access to L.A. Fitness and can do everything!

The workouts for Stage one were great! I really enjoyed the sets. It started off nicely with about 30-40 minutes of lifting which is not bad to get you introduced.  After 3 weeks it added a set so it started to take closer to an hour, but I was enjoying it and did not notice the time. I noticed some improvements during stage one, but not a ton. I did notice being stronger. I am pretty vigilant about my protein powder after I lift, so soreness was a minimum. This also means that I didn’t over-do it with the weights. While doing this I kept up my 25ish miles per week of running as well. There were several times I did doubles – weights in the morning and run in the evening and it was hard, but I enjoyed the challenge!

Here is a summary of the starting weights and ending weight I did for the workouts. The starting weights were maybe a bit light, but I didn’t want to over-do it at first.

Workout A:

Workout A	Start Wt	End Wt
A: Squat	40	75
B1: Pushups	30 deg	flat
B2: Seated Row	45	70
C1: Step Up	10	30
C2: Prone Jacknife	8 reps	15 reps

Workout B:

Workout B	Start Wt	End Wt
A: Deadlift	30	75
B1: Dumbell Shoulder Press	20	40
B2: Wide Lat Pulldown	60	80
C1: Lunge	10	40
C2: Swiss Ball Crunch	8 reps	15 reps

I am pleased with the progress I was able to make over 6 weeks! The increase in weights tells me I am getting stronger and I hope to see more to come!

I did not take beginning measurements. I sort of forgot and was also to frustrated myself.  I took post-stage measurements though. Here they are(Taken 3/18/2012):

Bust = 39.5″
Waist = 37″
Hips = 41.25″
R Bicep= 12.75″
L Bicep= 12.5″
R Thigh = 20.75″
L Thigh = 21″

And NO there are not pictures. sorry. Provided all this works, there will be a picture at the end!

And onto Stage 2 I proceeded!

Wednesday along the Lake

Tonight I met up with a couple friends and we had a nice sunny run! We met up and headed out.  One person had to turn back at 15 minutes but we continued on.  I had been thinking about running 5, but at the turnaround for 4, I was not feeling it. We turned around and headed back. Possibly a bit slower as it was into the wind, but it sure felt good! It was 59 degrees out (per my car) and the sun was out behind a cloud. But there was no precipitation! It was an easy 4 mile run!

Here is a post race picture – shorts and a tee shirt! hooray!!

I came home and showered and then could have just eaten cereal (which I am prone to do), but I am trying to be better about my diet in hopes of dropping a few pounds before swimsuit season. I have been lazy lately. So I pulled out my package of chicken sausages and actually read the back to see cooking options. I was hoping for micro, but it said you could bake at 375 fro 8-10 mins. Not bad. I popped them on my Silpat along with a cut up sweet potato and they all baked together. The potato took a bit longer.. I threw one sausage on top of some spinach/spring mix, feta, and a few carrots. YUM. So good. Then I ate 1/3 of the roasted potato. YUM. See:

And now I’ve been chilling on the couch with an Ice Pack. The inside of my left ankle/shin area has been sore the past few days. I am thinking I strained something trail running. Its been tender and possibly a bit swollen. Any ideas? It was a bit sore today when I ran. I’m thinking a few rest days might be in order.  The start of those rest days is an early bed time!

Double Tuesday

Once again this week I doubled up on Tuesday!

I eventually made it to the Gym and finished New Rules of Lifting for Women 2 A.  I have my last B workout on Thursday! I know I am a slacker about the recaps. Exhaustion has taken over lately!

Yesterday morning it was so sunny and seemed like it would warm up! I even threw some shorts in my workout bag!

As the day went on, the sun slowly disappeared. And then the inevitable happened. There were raindrops on the window of my office. NOO!! I just wanted a dry run! It kept lightly raining all afternoon.

Run time came and it was ~48 degrees. I said oh well, threw on my shorts, a long sleeve tee and my vest.  Vest is for the rain and wind. I headed out with my friends who graciously waited for me – run group starts at 6 and I walked in the door at 6…

We took off and my legs were tight and dead from the lifting. We turned around at 1.5 and I had to hit the bathroom on the way back. ugh. Towards the end of the run my legs started feeling better overall. It was nice to get out in the sprinkles and run! It was a day I NEEDED it after work.

Hope you had a successful Tuesday workout!

Sunny April Back to Back Run Weekend!

This past weekend was another DRY, SUNNY weekend! It was beyond exciting!! I had some big running plans and a few other ‘goals’ for the weekend!

Saturday: Scheduled Run: Trail run loop.

This was a special Trail run. The running store owner was coming along to do a clinic and interactive help with trail running!

The morning started out chilly:

I put on a long sleeve under my tee just because the woods are cooler usually. Heading out to the trail I got to see this:

It's gonna be a good good day!

We grouped up and learned a bit about the map and the trails – i.e. how to not get lost. Then we took off. We stopped off and on to do demos and stuff on different sections of trail. It was pretty slow going.  The whole group was running together and we had some newbies. Here is a shot of the trail I took on one of our breaks:

Sun breaks through the trees – it was amazing. Was nice to go slow and enjoy it! We even learned how to fall properly on the trail and unfortunately someone had to test it out! Luckily a little dirt and scraped hand and all was A-OK! My watch is NOT accurate. I tried to stop it but forgot to restart it a time or two. In all we ran 7 miles and were out ~2.5 hours. yeah. hours. it was a long.time.

post run sweaty self-portrait!

We headed out for a little post run chat to catch up! One of my friends had been skiing in Montana earlier in the week so we had some fun at the typical Seattle Starbucks!

Saturday afternoon, I went into crazy spring-cleaning mode! Laundry, cleaning, trash, hanging pictures on the walls, bed making, target run, everything imaginable. It was great and I got a lot accomplished! Except for resting that is..

Sunday: Planned run: 12 miles

With the race coming up I knew I needed to get out and run. My goal was for 12 miles before heading off to church.  It was warm. My legs hurt every.step. I walked a bit every mile. I didn’t make it to 12 miles. I made it 10 though!

Per typical tired-run feel, my legs did start to pick up after 7 or 8 miles.  I did take my Gu and definitely felt better when I took it! I am really glad I pushed to get it done! I feel like I accomplished something with my running this weekend! But these babies – they were tired.

No blisters, just sore.

It was warmer on my run than I had anticipated so when I got home I enjoyed one of my favs:

It was beyond refreshing. I know some people aren’t into this stuff, but man when I don’t drink enough water it does make a difference. (I only run with water)

After the run, it was off to church and then I hung out with a friend most of the afternoon. We ran errands and had a good time. The hubs was not feeling well, so I left him home in bed!

Overall a good weekend, but I am still relatively tired. probably a mix of over-activity and dehydration. Both are being addressed!

Any double runs for you

Sunday Scripture

Source: faithfashionfrozenyogurt.tumblr.com via Karla on Pinterest

InstaFriday!

Another installment of random cell phone pictures for the week! Linking up with Jeannette once again!

Last Friday we went out for a sushi date! It is always fun, but I am quite boring with my California rolls! They are just too yummy!!

The Hubs had a meeting at the Library last weekend. I went along because the library is never boring. >exhibit A. I brought home more than enough reading for a couple weeks!

A little collection of photos from our run last weekend.. it was SO beautiful! I love spring/summer here!!

I have continued my weight lifting this week! I was able to up my weight on some things and am a bit sore to prove it! I am feeling good and feeling stronger these days! I think it is working!

Last night was so pretty! The sun was shining so I headed out for 5ish miles with some friends! They sped up at the end and I had to slow down, but it was a good run overall! Just felt great to be out in the sun in shorts!

I LOVED this as a kid. Now for $7.67 I can get a cheese pizza and crazy bread. It feeds me for 2ish meals. that is a steal. This is what I had for dinner last night. haha.

Head over to see what everyone else is up to!

Happy Friday!

Tuesday Double!

Since I have moved onto the NROLFW stage 2, the workouts are a bit more intense and longer. Instead of doing them 3x a week, I am only doing 2. So far my attempts to get up on Monday am for the gym have failed, so I have been going Tuesdays and Thursdays.

This morning I dragged myself up at 5am and hit the gym! It was hard, but I got it done! I did the full weights and then topped the workout off by doing 10 Burpees. I figure it’s a good way to burn a few extra calories!

You can see my stick figure drawings to help me remember the form! I got this Saucony bottle the other week at the running store when the rep came by! It reminds me to Find my Strong which is their new campaign which features Dorothy from Miles Posts!!

Then it was onto the normal day of work! It was a tough day so I was ready to get my run in tonight! Today was mostly sunny and WARM! Well warm for here – it was over 60! I headed to meet the regular group at the running store and ran 4 lovely miles in shorts and a tee-shirt! It felt amazing!

Double days are fun, but the definitely leave me hungry and tired!

I am off for an early bedtime!

How did you workout today?