Diet? What diet?

This last weekend was my family Christmas in Southern California. I was off exercise for 3 days and my diet consisted somewhat of this...

Taco, enchilada, beans and rice
reduced fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich from Starbucks
Chips and salsa
Beer
Mac-n-cheese
Grilled veggies
Tri-tip
Punch (that was clearly loaded with alcohol because that's how we roll)
Cupcake
Beer
Eggs, hash browns, ham
Crusted calamari
Caesar salad
Garlic bread
Another beer
Cookies

This was all in a matter of 3 days. This morning I went back to CrossFit and all that food I just listed slapped me in the face as hard as it could. I. felt. like. poop. During our brief chat while warming up, I had told my trainer about my weekend. She made sure to remind, while all that food was slapping me in the face, that if I kept that up I was going to be working against myself. I will do anything not to feel that way again. I want to be fit. I want to be strong. I want to be healthy. Time to change what I put in my body.

Danielle

P.S. After listing all of the food I ate over the weekend, it sure does motivate me even more to change my diet.

Motivational Monday

Time to kick ass...

Now that student teaching isn't consuming 10 hours of my day, I need to get caught up. For the last 2 weeks my running was put on hold because there weren't enough hours in the day. There. I said it. I don't belong to a gym and I don't run at night in the dark. When the sun comes up, I'm getting read for work. I've decided to dedicate the next 7 weeks to kicking ass.

I decided to ride Amanda's coat tails by starting CrossFit. My first class was this morning and I had no idea what to expect. The CrossFit gym isn't like your typical gym. You aren't surrounded with weight machines, elliptical machines, and treadmills. It's way better than that. The room is open with options for free weights surrounding the gym. The music, and it's good music, is blasting and the energy from the other CrossFit gurus is contagious. I had people cheering me on and yelling at me to push harder.

My workout looked something like this...

200m run
squats
arm rows
push-ups

reps of 15-12-9

finished with a 200m run

I was done in about 9 minutes, my arms felt like jello, and I was winded. Cannot wait to go back for round 2 tomorrow morning.

While incorporating CrossFit into my training I will continue to run and pick up where my training schedule leaves off.

Here's to kicking the next 7 weeks ass.

Danielle

When Your Legs Get Tired, Run With Your Heart

(quote and photo source unknown)

Matchstick Music

Matchstick Challenge: Week 4

My Running Playlist:

First, I must preface this post by saying that I really only use my playlist for running. The playlist is actually called “13.1”. I don’t warm up or cool down with specific songs; I just set my playlist on shuffle and run. Most of my songs have some correlation to running based on their title or lyrics, others have lyrics that give me motivation based on lyrics, and some just have an amazing beat that make me want to get after it! That being said, I did my best to use my music and put it into Molly’s proposed categories as suggested by Challenge #4. For Matchstick purposes, my list is as follows:

Three “Relaxing” Warm Up Songs:

~P.Y.T - Michael Jackson

~I Run to You - Lady Antebellum

~Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine

Three Power Songs (i.e., songs that put me in the zone and keep me going):

~Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga

~Days Like These - Asia

~Without You - David Guetta ft. Usher

Three “Angry” Songs (I hate “angry” screamo music so these are more “kick it into high gear” based on title and lyrics):

~Let’s Go Crazy - Incubus

~I’m a Machine - David Guetta ft. Crystal Nicole

~Crank It Up - David Guetta ft. Akon

Three Fast Paced Cardio:

~Mr. Brightside - The Killers

~Quiet Little Voices - We Were Promised Jetpacks

~1901 - Phoenix

Three Cool Down Songs:

~I’m Real - JLo ft. Ja Rule

~Arms - Christina Perri

~Fly - Nicki Minaj and Rihanna

One Song Guaranteed To Kick It Up (THIS is my ultimate power song, especially at 1:52):

~Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen

Other faves on the rest of my running playlist include more Gaga, and Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Galore, Boston, LMFAO, Foster the People, Journey, Swedish House Mafia, Vampire Weekend, The Downtown Fiction, Black Eyed Peas … and the list goes on… Thanks for the challenge, Molly!

(photos source: iTunes)

Superb Sunday Stroll

Today was perhaps my best training run to date.  My goal for the Tinker Bell half marathon on Juanuary 29 is 2:15.  Today I ran 10 miles and was on pace for a 2:10 finish time!  With seven weeks left to train, this gives me the confidence to know that I will at the very least reach my goal, if not surpass it greatly!  (insert fist pump here)

53 DAYS!!!

Matchstick Challenge: Week 4

matchstickmolly:

Matchstick Challenge #4

Guess what? It’s Sunday, and that means it’s time for another Matchstick Challenge! [Info //Join] This weeks challenge is going to post your workout playlist.

We all work out for different reasons, and it’s no secret that emotions can play a powerful role in how hard you work out. Have you ever pushed yourself extra hard because you were mad? Have you ever reached a ‘runner’s high’ and felt nothing but pure happiness? Have you ever gotten an extra burst of energy just because you felt good about yourself?

Sure you have…and the right music can help you harness that energy and use it to your advantage! So this is a little different than just your basic ‘post your workout playlist’ challenge. Take all the songs you normally use to work out and decide which category they fit into—figure out why they help your workout so much! Search your music library to try and fill all the categories!

THREE RELAXING WARM-UP SONGS:

THREE SONGS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL POWERFUL TO BEGIN YOUR WORKOUT:

THREE SONGS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL ANGRY TO KICK YOUR WORKOUT INTO HIGH GEAR:
YOUR TOP THREE FAST-PACED CARDIO SONGS:
THREE RELAXING COOL-DOWN SONGS:
THE ONE SONG GUARANTEED TO KICK YOUR WORKOUT UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL:

 Spice up your post with iTunes screenshots, pictures of your iPod or MP3 player with your favorite song playing, etc. We love pictures!

When you’re finished, link up here!

Please link right to this week’s challenge post, not just your blog.

Friday Five

I just finished making a 30b430 list (30 things I want to do before I turn 30).  Included in that list are five running related goals that I want to accomplish (the rest of the list can be found here).

1. Run a half marathon in 2 hours or less
2. Run a full marathon
3. Be a Running Buddy for Girls on the Run
4. Do a Warrior Dash, Color Run, and Muddy Buddy
5. Run in just a sports bra and look good doing it