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

Changes...

Wordless Wednesday? More like Word Filled Wednesday...


Monday was my first crossfit class. 


My workout looked like this:


500m row (on rowing machine-duh!)
40 squats (all the way down past parallel)
30 butterfly situps (feet together, legs spread like butterfly/frog, all the way back w/ hands over head touching floor, all the way up touching feet)
20 pushups (chest to floor, hand release)
10 pull ups (up: chin past bar, down: arms fully extended.  I needed a band for assistance as most women do)


Total time: 8:59 (The goal is to repeat this beginning workout every 4-6 weeks and improve your time with each try.) 


I was a little dizzy off the rowing machine headed into squats, and my arms felt like jello after 20 pushups and 10 pullups; but, I didn’t die and I felt great the next day--not sore at all! So there’s that.


I really enjoyed how quickly I was fatigued and how hard I worked in such a short period of time.  I also love crossfitters' bodies, which means that I am absolutely diving head first into this crossfit trend (yes, I said trend and yes, I'm jumping on the band wagon!).  This means that my previously posted training schedule is going to change a bit.  I will still be doing my best to maintain my weekly runs (*I maintain the right to change my daily schedule as needed per life's interruptions); however, all of my strength training workouts that were designated to a NTC, Body Rock, or Women's Health routine will be replaced with crossfit.  I am still not sure about my cross train days, though.  I know that cross training is recommended for runners, but I just don't know if I can justify a second gym membership for two days of spin class per week.  And trust me, I do love me some spin class!  


I'm also hoping that big changes will come in the shape of my body, and my running speed.  Along with having the crossfit body that I love so much on others, my ultimate goal is to create a stronger core and stronger legs as a means to improve my speed for running my next half marathon (and all that follow). 


I shall keep you all posted...

Matchstick Challenge: Week 3

Week 3 Challenge: Meal Makeover: 


"Basically, there are always little things we can do to make a meal healthier overall. A meal makeover is a couple of swaps that exchange unhealthy food for a healthier option. Some examples?

White Bread to Wheat Bread
Soda to Fruit Juice
Fried Chicken to Grilled Chicken
Whole Milk to Low-Fat Milk
Ranch Dressing to Vinaigrette

You can also up the nutritional value of your food by adding fruits or vegetables, like Erica did to her otherwise veggie-less and less-filling pasta. You could add some on the side, or as areplacement for something else (like strawberries instead of candy to top your ice cream).

You can get as into this as you want! You could try buying a meal ready-made from a restaurant and giving it a “Meal Makeover” yourself, or you could do it with something you already eat. I would love to see pictures of the before and after—that’s the most fun part! You could choose to include nutritional info before and after if you’d like.

I’m so excited to see what everyone posts! Be sure to link up with this week’s linky party as soon as you post yours as well [click here for last week’s], I’ll post the link on Wednesday to give people a chance to put up their makeovers."

Slacker Sally

I'll start with my apologies.  I was so excited to start the Matchstick Challenge, but then I forgot to update with progress posts.  I updated over at tumblr, but failed to do so here.  Sooo...

Sorry! Sorry! 100x's, Sorry!

Now, on to those updates (posts coppied from my tumblr blog):

Week One: Try a new fruit or vegetable you've never tried before:   Because I don’t have enough on my plate as it is, I decided to join what seems like hundreds of other bloggers/tumblrs in Molly’s Matchstick Challenge.  This week’s challenge was to try a fruit or vegetable that you’ve never tried before.  I had a hard time finding one that I hadn’t tried and was a bit worried that I’d be a failure in the first week; when last night at dinner, a new veggie presented itself to me: cardoni (or as it more commonly called in Italy, “cardi”).  Cardoni comes from the cardoon plant, and while it resembles a celery stalk in its appearance, it is actually a distant cousin of the artichoke family (and it definitely tastes like an artichoke).  

I had cardoni as an appetizer, served deep-fried.  Not at at all healthy, but all sorts of delicious! Apparently the preparation process is rather extensive, so it doesn’t look like cardi is going to make it on my “things to make at home” list; however, if given the chance, I’d definitely order/eat it again!

(Sadly, my iPhoto still isn’t working, so I wasn’t able to add the matchstick challenge logo or an image of my new veggie.  If you google image search “cardoon plant”, though, you’ll see several celery-like pictures of the delicious Italian vegetable.) 

Bring on challenge number 2, Molly!

Week Two: Walk: As I said in a previous post regarding Molly’s goal for week two of The Matchstick Challenge; I don’t feel safe walking alone where I live.  I would love to be able to live in a town that I feel comfortable walking to the gym, to work, or to the closest Starbucks; but sadly, I do not.  To be quite honest, I live close enough to all three that the task is physically doable, but mentally, not so much.  I get inside my head and convince myself that there is someone following me or a creeper in the bushes.  That just takes the pleasure right out of the walk for me and I’d just rather not do it.  

That being said, I did go on a short walk around the neighborhood with my sister and her two kids after our Thanksgiving meal.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  Such a beautiful day!

(*I realize that the afore mentioned creepers do not disapear simply because I am with another person and two small children, but hey, safety in numbers, right? Right!)

Also, I almost always take the stairs instead of the elevator when I go to my Rick’s place (the almost part being reserved for situations when my hands are full and I can’t manage the stairs in all my clumsy glory).  And, as much as I love finding a front row parking spot at the grocery store, I never troll the lot searching for one.  I don’t mind taking a spot further away and walking a small distance, so if a close spot isn’t available I swoop up a far-ish (because really, how big is a parking lot in the scheme of things?) spot and make the trek!

So, even though I didn’t walk all over town all week long like some other Matchstickers, I’d say that week two of the Matchstick Challenge was a success! I’m ready for week 3! 

And there you have it.  My updates for the challenge.  I promise that I'll do better in the weeks to come in updating all my runners over here in Blogger Land!  Also, if you're following and participating in the challenge, leave your comments.  We'd love to hear from you!