it's really happening!

This week I signed up for my half marathon. Not only did I sign up, buy my sister also signed up.  I was excited when I first signed up on Tuesday, but now that I know my sister has signed up, I am beyond excited. (and why do her blog posts always get me choked up??)

The nerves are definitely starting to set in, and I am feeling frantic about getting as much information as possible about the race: the fuel, the water, the everything. These next few weeks are going to be brutal, but I can't wait to cross that finish line.

Yesterday, I did my 3rd run in a row, and per usual, it sucked. After having 2 great runs in a row, this one just blew. My legs felt heavy, my body felt tired, and I pretty much just went through the movements to get 3 miles done. I am glad I did it, and I never regret a run, but it certainly wasn't anything great.

I will not be doing a long run this weekend, since my training plan has me running a race. Mike and I will be running in a 5K on Saturday morning before heading to Greenville to watch the ECU football game. I am hoping that I can PR at this race, since I haven't raced in a while and my running has come such a long way.

The last 5K I ran was back in April and was my fastest race ever at a pace of 8:34, finishing in 26:35. If you remember in this post, I have gotten progressively faster over the last year and a half, and I would like to continue my streak. Let's hope I can beat 26:35 tomorrow! (btw, my ONLY goal for the half marathon will be to finish... so don't expect anything spectacular).

On Wednesday night, I had the chance to make a real dinner. I had done my run in the morning, so when we got home from work, Mike headed out for a run while I cooked.

Quinoa in the rice cooker, made with homemade chicken broth.

Stir fried chicken, red bell peppers, onions, garlic, and soy sauce, with cumin and red pepper flakes added.

Roasted sweet and white potatoes.

Mixed all together for a delicious meal and plenty of leftovers. :)

Also on Wednesday, I had a lunch time favorite sandwich: peanut butter and banana, along with mango, carrots and celery.  (I didn't eat the apple)

My department always celebrates Chocolate Wednesdays, which is awesome, especially around Halloween.

I am super excited it is Friday, and ready for the weekend. Tonight I am going to prep some food for our tailgate tomorrow, and then probably just relax. I hope you all have a relaxing weekend as well!

chocolate glazed donuts

I am pretty sure it was a bad idea to run twice in less than 12 hours, but it just had to happen. I didn't wake up early enough yesterday morning to get a run in, so I went last night. Then, in order to allow for sufficient couch time tonight, I went again this morning. To be honest, it really didn't feel too bad, and I think I ran faster than normal.

We took Franklin with us last night, so he kept us moving. Mike and I were both running in the sub 9 minute miles for a majority of our run.

This morning, I went ahead and knocked out my 5 mile run. I was a little concerned that running 5 miles 12 hours after running 3 last night would be troublesome, but I think it worked out just fine. I wouldn't do it often, but every once in a while, it can certainly be done.

Both runs felt pretty awesome and I didn't have any knee pain or complaints. My shoes are finally starting to feel broken in and don't cut off the circulation to my feet after the first 15 minutes, which is a total win, I was really thinking I was going to need another pair of new shoes. This weather lately has been perfect, and I think that is helping a lot with my speed.

Mike has been recovering from his runs with chocolate milk, so I decided to give that a try today. I just read in Runner's World Magazine about how chocolate milk is considered the perfect recovery drink. I must say, it was a welcome treat after a 5 mile run. :)

So over the weekend, I woke up and decided I wanted chocolate doughnuts. Why? This is why. Ever since I saw that post last week, I haven't been able to get them out of my head. Sure, I could have ran out to the store and grabbed some, but I thought they would be better if I made them.

I made up the dough and heated some oil.

It took me a while to figure out just how long to leave them in the oil, because some came out dry and others came out not done.

They turned out pretty good. They were no Dunkin, but they definitely hit the spot.

Hope you all have a great day!

10 miles and prepping for the week

Let me just say that my 10 mile run over the weekend was anything but pretty. I struggled hard for those 10 miles and almost broke down in tears around mile 9.5. I thought about giving up at that point, but I only had half of a mile to go and knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that. I don't blame the mileage though, I blame myself. I did not prepare myself properly for this run, and I certainly learned a few things for next time.

I woke up on Saturday nervous, but ready, for my longest run ever. Mike and I had a big breakfast that morning, including eggs, toast, yogurt, and skim milk. I figured that would have been a perfect meal 3-4 hours before running for almost 2 hours. I figured that would keep me full, yet give me the energy I needed to finish out 10 miles. Boy, was I wrong. Since then, I have done a little research and learned avoiding dairy in the 24 hours prior to a long run is best, so I am thinking I will try that for my next one.

Keep me full? Absolutely. A little too full, actually. I felt nauseous because of how full I was and thought I was going to lose it a few times. Give me energy? Not at all. I was so full that I felt weighed down and miserable, instead of energetic and fueled. I brought along gummy bears, but only had a few due to how full my stomach was. I couldn't even get gummy bears down!

We also brought along a little water. I say a little, because seriously, it wasn't enough water for 1 person to keep hydrated, let alone 2. This is something that Mike and I really need to improve on, hydration during runs. To give us a little credit, we really didn't expect it to be as hot as it was on Saturday. I guess we could have checked the weather, or stepped outside (I even ran errands earlier that morning), but we were prepared for fall temperatures of high 70's, not summer heat of low 90's. We figured we would be sheltered by trees to provide shade, but most of our run was without any trees and the sun barreling down on us. We were parched and hot, and there wasn't a water fountain in sight. Since Mike ran a lot farther than I did, luckily he came across a guy washing his car who allowed him to re-fill his bottle, but next time, we need to plan better for that. I seriously blame my entire emotional breakdown at mile 9.5 on the fact that I was so incredibly thirsty, I could hardly stand it.

My knee started to give me a little trouble around mile 8-9, and it was really hard to recover from that along with the thirst. I definitely ran slower than usual, but I am just happy I finished.

My quads are still hurting and I spent the majority of yesterday really resting in between some cleaning and cooking. I also managed to give both pups a bath, which is a work out in itself.



I have been really trying to follow my sister's lead and prepare our meals on Sunday before the week starts. I am mostly concerned with breakfasts and lunches, since lately between working at the hospital and other obligations, we haven't had too many nights where we have to make elaborate meals.  I am getting a little sick of the same old oatmeal and yogurt, so I wanted to change things up a bit.

I started by making The Fitnessista's Cheesy Broccoli Egg Muffins. I doubled the recipe so I could freeze some for quick and easy breakfasts on the go.

Also, I took a few chicken breasts and cooked them in the crock pot with water, carrots, celery, and onion so that we had some chicken for sandwiches and some homemade chicken broth for cooking later on.

I brought some chicken today with a little hot sauce and tomatoes and stuffed them into a pita. It was a nice,  different lunch.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. It is back to running tomorrow and I am thinking I will try 3 days this week to see if that makes my long run any easier. We will see!

Have a great day!

edits to the training plan

The other night I headed out for a run by myself since Mike had planned to run at a different time than me. Normally, I am fine to run around the neighborhood by myself, but I really wanted to go to the trail behind our house, which is kinda dark and a little scary (totally exaggerating but I am a wimp). So, I brought along the next best running partner (and bodyguard), Franklin.

We used to take Franklin running all the time, but lately, he has been getting left behind. Mostly because we haven't been running in our neighborhood, but also because of other factors. We have been running really long distances and I don't feel right exercising him longer than 30 minutes or so.  I get into such a routine of getting home and feeding the dogs right away, so I don't want to take him out for a run right after he eats. It can be dangerous for dogs, and I am a super worrier, so ya know...

Anyway.... this run the other night totally made me realize we have got to get him back out on the leash more often. We rarely take him on the leash since we have a fenced in back yard and you could tell he was very confused by it. He is really good about coming when I call him, but he just did not want anything around his neck and sorta freaked out when it got tight at all. So I think we need to start taking him on regular leashed walks to get him back to where he was a few months ago. Plus, it is good to keep him exercised. He has a ton of energy and is always running around the house harassing Deluca, but last night he came home, drank a ton of water, and passed out hard for the rest of the night.

He loved the trail though, and it was nice to have my little companion with me during my quick 3 mile run. He tried to keep me moving quicker than I wanted to, but I still ended up at a pretty normal pace. The first mile of our run was interrupted by several off leash dogs on the trail... trying to get said dogs back to their owners slowed us down, majorly.

After my run, I realized that I don't really think the training program that I am following is the best for me. I find that after I run a long run, I need at least 2 days to recover from that. Plus, now that I am running 5 miles one day during the week each week, I need more than just a day between that and my long run. I am supposed to do 3 miles on Tuesdays, 5 miles on Wednesday, and 3 miles on Thursdays. Fridays are rest days and then Saturday should be my long run.

This week, I ran 5 miles on Tuesday and 3 miles on Wednesday. I decided not to do my other 3 miles, because my run on Wednesday felt horrible and sluggish, and I just feel like I need an extra rest day before my long run. Mike thinks I should stick with what the training says, but I just don't feel it in me. I feel much better when I have had a solid 2 days of rest before doing these really long runs. Maybe it's a bad idea, but I am trying to listen to what my body is telling me. I may go back to sticking with the plan if my 10 miles tomorrow go badly. I kinda just feel like with as high of miles I am doing, 4-5 days is a lot. Then again, I would think the king of marathons would know what he is talking about.

Well, I am currently munching on some food from a little bridal shower here at work, and the apple butter biscuit needs my full attention. :) Have a good weekend everyone!

Happy Birthday!

Guess who turns 1 today???

The BLOG!!!

I can barely believe it has been a year since I started this thing... but I went back to my first post, and yup... September 20. It is even harder for me to believe that before a year ago, I had no idea how to eat and exercise effectively. I have learned so much in the last year and have never felt so great about myself.

I thought it would be a good time to go over the changes that have occurred in the last year, for everyone in our family.

Let's start with the dogs, because they are most important. :)

A year ago, we had just brought Franklin into our lives and Deluca was in for quite the shock. Now, they are roughly the same height, annoying as can be, and the best of friends. I couldn't imagine our lives without Franklin, and I know Deluca feels the same way.

First week Franklin came home

Just a few months ago.

They may drive us crazy, but they really are good boys. :)

Moving on to Mike, my sweet, wonderful, always happy, neverthoughthewouldeverjumponthehealthytrain husband.

Before:

Last October, on our Mexican Vacay

He jumped on board much later than me, but since he did, he has lost about 30 lbs and helped me to lose the last 10 myself. Having him run and eat healthy with me has helped tremendously. I am so proud of him and so glad we have gone down this journey together. 

And then there is me...

My very first 5k, ever. Look at those cheeks!

and here we are now:

I could fill this blog with before and after photos, believe me, we have plenty. But, wow, what a difference! Together we have lost more than 50 lbs and have such different lives than before. Our days of poor food habits, wasteful weekends, and couch potato-ing are behind us and are now filled with exercising and cooking wonderful, healthy food. We still have our days that we eat what we want, when we want, but we know how to balance our days and even our weeks better than before. We still have times where exercise is not a priority, but between the two, one of us will always encourage the other to get us back on track.We make a really great team, and I really hope this continues with us for the rest of our lives.

Goals Update:

I technically didn't set the short and long term goals for myself until September 30 of last year, but I am going to go ahead and say what I have to say about them.

My long term goal was to lose 25 lbs and I am not going to reach that by September 30, or ever for that matter. That is a decision I made a while ago and I am completely happy with it. I had no idea when I set those goals for myself what 25 lbs would do to my body. I am currently at a solid 20 lbs loss, and I couldn't feel better. The things that I have left to change on my body are not measured in lbs. I want to tighten and tone, and continue with our healthy lifestyle. I am really happy with my weight and feel that I have lost all that I can. Pounds and weight aside, I have dropped 2 dress sizes and 3 pant sizes in the past year.  My body has figured out how to remain and maintain those 20 lbs off without me having to try too hard and that is how I would like to keep it. I want to continue to exercise and eat well, but I also want to keep myself at a healthy and happy weight, which is where I am right now.

One of the biggest reasons for starting this blog was to figure out a way to lose weight and keep it off, to change my attitude towards eating, and to find a healthy balance between good and bad foods, lazy days and challenging work outs, and to avoid 'dieting' all together. I think I have absolutely achieved that. There isn't much I won't pass up in the way of food, and I like that I haven't put myself in a position where I have to. Mike and I have both gotten to this healthy place without using any of the latest diet fads or quick fixes, which is something we are both really proud of.

Over the next year, I hope to achieve other goals that I have started to set.  I would like to complete a half marathon, improve my 5k and 10k speed, improve on my hill running, and learn how to set a pace and stick to it. I would like to get to the gym more, increase my weight training, and tone my arms, legs, back, and abs.

I thought that once I reached my happiest weight, I would be done and all I would need to do was maintain. I have learned that getting healthy is not so simple and the more I learn about it, the more goals I have and want to achieve. It is a life long commitment that I know Mike and I are happy to take on. I hope that we can continue to be an inspiration to others and most importantly, teach our (someday) children to have a healthy relationship with food and exercise.

I have to say that I credit a lot of my achievements to this blog. I know I don't have a huge following, but knowing that just a few people read it, help me to stay focused and on track. Life is pretty great right now, and I hope it never changes. :)

run clubbin'

About a year and a half ago, Mike and I were involved in a run club on Monday nights. We would all meet and run 4 miles (I usually only ran 2-3) and then head back to a restaurant for trivia, beer, and food. The restaurant we were going to closed down, and since then, Mike and I just haven't found another club to become a part of since our schedules never seemed to mesh with when the runs were going on. Last night, we finally went to one and were really glad we did.

We went to the Natty Greene's Run Club, which is located downtown. We completed 5 miles through downtown, which is one of our favorite places to run anyway, and then headed back to the restaurant for some tacos.

I made my tacos into a salad with a few tortilla chips to scoop up the goodness. They were delicious. We didn't really hang around for a beer, since we wanted to get home to let the dogs outside.

I don't know why it didn't save my last mile, but there was something funky going on with our phones last night. Mike's app completely erased his run. :(

I also got to run with my favorite running pal, Layne! It was great to see her. Of course we had to get a post-run, super sweaty picture. :)

Tomorrow is a very special birthday! Check back for that! :)

getting closer

This past weekend, Mike and I spent the weekend at a friend's lake house with a group of friends. The weather was on the cooler side, but gorgeous. On Saturday, we took the boat out for lunch and then went to Goat Island. We got out and were able to walk around on the island to see the goats. They were adorable and let us pet them.

He reminds me of Franklin

We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon, sitting on the dock and playing corn hole on the porch. The sky was absolutely gorgeous.

We had a frozen lasagna for dinner (standard) and sang happy birthday to a dear friend. It was a really great weekend.

When we returned home on Sunday, Mike and I immediately headed back out the door. We both had to get our long runs in and we knew if we sat down, it wasn't going to happen. We headed back to Shelley Lake, where there are plenty of miles of trails and a wonderful place to run.

I needed 9 miles this week and Mike needed 12. The run started out great and for fuel, we decided to use gummy bears. Every 2 miles, we rewarded ourselves with 2 gummy bears. I have to say, knowing you get gummy bears makes 2 miles fly by!

All the way until mile 6 or 7, I felt awesome. Somewhere around that time, my knee pain returned. whomp, whomp, whooooommmmpppp.... just before I started to cry, I stopped to give my knee a good stretch. My running slowed to around 10/11 minutes per mile and I considered just walking back. But then, I started running normally again. by the time my phone died at 7.8 miles, I didn't even feel the knee pain anymore. I finished out 9 miles in 1 hour and 30 minutes. This whole knee issue makes zero sense to me. The only thing I can figure is that maybe my new shoes have gotten my stride off again?

My phone turned off at 7.8 miles, but Mike's kept calculating. Right at 9 miles he told me we were at 1:30 and he continued on to do 12.

At mile 3, someone (coughmikecough) got us lost on the trail after I told him he was taking us the wrong way which made us go up a SUPER steep hill. The hill was probably almost a quarter of a mile long, so I lost a lot of my time then. Mile 7 was when my knee was really killing me, but I am just happy I was able to get 9 miles in.

I know I will feel even better at 10, 11, and 12 miles, but since I have never run more than 8 miles before, hitting 9 was a huge deal to me. I am finally starting to feel like this half marathon might really happen. I hope my knee pain was just a fluke this week, but I did some serious icing last night on the couch and am thinking about getting some type of compression brace to wear. I am hoping that will help.

I slept pretty horrible last night because my legs were really sore. I hope I can get a better night's rest tonight and I plan on making sure I get my long run done on Saturday next week to allow for an extra rest day. Today, I was in need of some chocolate to keep myself awake...

btw... if you have never had this chocolate before, it is AMAZING! I mean, it has a texture and flavor like no other.