Three Things Thursday

Its lunch time and I am busy at work so I am throwing this together. And its more than 3 things!

1. Currently Reading: The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

2. Currently listening to: Beautiful, Dirty Rich by Lady Gaga (why are her songs so catchy!!!????)

3. Whats your color?? (Stole this from Lisa's post!)


Treadmill run this morning (4.5 miles).  The snow has started to fall.  Winter storm advisory is in affect and we are supposed to get up to 12 inches between now and tomorrow at 1pm.  Now the weathermen here have lied to me before so I don't know what to think!!  


Let me know what you are up to! I have to get back to work! Happy Thursday!!

Good Samaritan

Last night I got home from work/the gym and saw a letter on the counter for me.  I usually don't get any mail so I was perplexed.  There was no return address either.  I opened the envelope and found a bunch of papers with a note:

Note says: "Found this in my library book - "

I WAS SHOCKED!  I must have left a stash of papers in a book and returned it to the library.  The contents of the papers included:

one of my long list (see picture below), gym membership receipt, grocery store and gas receipts, junk mail, and a bank slip (account balance and partial account number).  I was overwhelmed with what could have happened if these papers had ended up in the wrong hands.  I am just so thankful that this anonymous person went these things back to me.

It just makes me realize that there are so many good people in this world!

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I took today off from working out because my muscles are sore and tired.  After yesterdays 6 mile interval run I went back to the gym for spin class after work! 

We are supposed to get a blizzard tomorrow!!!  Guess Ill be on the treadmill in the morning!  Happy Wednesday!!

Interval Tuesday

It has been a very interesting last couple of days.  The weekend flew by and so did Monday as I never got around to posting.

Friday night Brian and I drove home to his parents house and went to a family bowling party.  It was pretty awesome and we stayed out till after midnight.  Saturday I woke up and felt hung over even though I didn't drink at all the night before.  Also my left hip was sore from all the bowling so I took Saturday off from running.

Sunday I got up and made it out into the SUNSHINE for a wonderful run.  My legs felt good and I really pushed the pace.  4.8 miles at 7:10min/mile pace and I was dying at the end.  This run really helped me to realize that I am getting faster.  I think the reason I haven't raced since last summer is because I lack the confidence.  I was in such good shape 9 months ago and I set such high expectations for myself that I worry I wont be able to meet them.  Although it was beautiful out, I didn't totally enjoy this run.  I was just pushing hard and focusing on my legs.  Slow steady runs really are more enjoyable because you can look at your surroundings and just relax.

Monday was a full cross training day.  I went to the gym in the morning and finally learned how to use the new Ellipticals.  I just glided along for 30 minutes while I read my book then jumped off and did some upper body weights.  After work I met my best friend Kaylie at the gym for a yoga class.  I didn't go last week and I could totally tell because my hips and hamstrings were so tight!

This morning I decided to run treadmill intervals instead of waiting for Wednesday (workout stolen from Lacey).
1 mile warm up
3x [400m, 400, 800m] with 90 seconds rest after each and 3 minutes rest between sets
0.5 mile cool down

And this workout killed me!  I ran this workout at a much faster pace than the last time when I did the 600s and 800s workout.  I think I ran it at about a 6:47 or 6:50 pace last time and this time I started at 6:35 pace but could not hold it.  I scaled back to 6:40 for the second 800m and the final set.  After the second set I stopped to walk because I thought I was going to throw up and my stomach hurt so much.  I only did 400m for the last 800m because I was dying.  It just wasn't a "good" feeling workout.  I feel like I am running out of ideas for interval workouts!

Its been another busy day at work.  Hope you all are having a fabulous week!

Photo Friday - My Watch!

This is my watch! Its small and its simple. The big button under the screen is the Start/Split button which is awesome for me because I can just push that each time I finish a interval and the time continues but it records my split. In the past, Timex had put the Start/Split button on the side and that made it really hard to use the feature!


Last night I caught up on all my Olympics! I watched Lindsey Vonn win the gold medal in downhill (and also watched all those women whip out!) and I saw Shaun White win gold in snowboarding! It made me proud to be an American watching those athletes succeed! I loved the snowboarders American Flag gloves!

I went to the gym this morning and barely managed 3 miles. This week my legs have felt beat up and sore from all the treadmill running. Or maybe it is because I wear high heels to work every day! I love high heels but maybe I need to fit in some flats to let my legs rest!

Suzy from Running on My Time and Caroline from Boston Runner both gave me this award! Right now I think we all need some sunshine especially those of us who live in the Eastern states and have all this snow and no sun! Thanks so much!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

**Check out Marlene's Red Mitten Giveaway!!

Three Things Thursday

Three Thursday Questions -

1. Dinner time. What time is that actually? Recently I have been eating around 7pm because I wait for Brian to get home from the gym. I would rather eat a little earlier so I can fully digest before I go to bed! We usually eat together during the week because he can't really cook. Plus it's just easy to cook for two. So what time is your dinner time??

2. I'm sure that you all have picked up on the fact that I love intervals. Since I have been stealing everyone's workouts I have noticed that the rest time after each interval is different for each workout. For 400m I usually rest for 400m but what about longer distances? How long do you rest between each interval or set??

3. Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and so Lent has started. I am Catholic and I have been contemplating what I will give up for Lent (I am a little behind). The past years when I was in college I told myself I wouldn't give anything up I would just try to be more patient and kind to others. This year I just don't know what I should give up. I don't eat much candy so that really is not a sacrifice. Are you planning on giving something up for the next 40 days? Let me know what you are doing for Lent!

Giveaways:
Happy Runner Champion shorts giveaway HERE
Tall Moms Running Essentials giveaway HERE

Happy Thursday!

Cupcakes

My first attempt at Red Velvet cake was a FAIL because I made it from scratch which I would not recommend unless you are a very practiced baker. So I resorted to the box mix thanks to Duncan Hines! Most local grocery stores do not sell this mix, but my local Wal-mart happen to, so I stocked up (Wal-mart in fact has the most variety of cakes - who knew!!)


The recipe I used can be found here although I did not add the jello pudding into the red velvet cake mix and it turned out ok. I think if you like more chocolate you can add the pudding. The frosting turned out good, I made half the recipe and it was more than enough for 24 cupcakes! Brian has always wondered why I have been IN LOVE with red velvet cake and now he understands because he loves it too!

Recent workouts include Monday's double run - 2 miles in the morning on the treadmill and then a 4 mile outdoor run after work. It was so sunny out that I just had to take advantage of the beautiful weather and run outside! Tuesday I took a full rest day and then this morning I ran 400m repeats with 400m rest on the treadmill.

Happy Wednesday!

Happy Valentine's Day

I ate WAY too much chocolate today.

Running + lots of chocolate candy + wind = not a great run

My stomach was feeling funny the whole time but I made it outside for a run tonight at 5pm. I love how the sun is setting later and later so I can run in the light instead of darkness!

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I am way behind the times and still have a regular watch that just tells time and has a stopwatch. I use a Ironman Timex watch that has a stopwatch with a split feature which I love because it makes running intervals on the track so easy!

Over Christmas and New Years I lost it! I knew I had packed it but between spending time at my house and Brian's I just lost track of it. I had searched my apartment, my parents house but there was no sign of it! I had almost given up hope and thought about buying a new one.

Well Brian surprised me with a Valentine's Day dinner last night in his home town so we ended up spending the night at his parents. This morning I was packing up my things and happened to look under the bookcase in my room. Well underneath was my watch!! I was so happy to find it and ran with it tonight! I feel complete again!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Happy Friday!!

I was driving into work, trying not to get run over by the crazies that drive 100mph, and I smiled to myself because IT'S FRIDAY!!

Even though a full 8 hours of work still looms ahead of me, I am excited for this weekend!

Here's just a few things that I plan on doing this weekend:

• Get a much needed haircut after work
  
• Mail Valentine's Day card to my parents
• Watch the Olympics!!!
• Go watch my college team play Saturday
• Make Red velvet cupcakes for Valentine's Day!
  

A perfect weekend that wont be too busy or too boring! I already have the DVR set up to record as much of the Olympics as possible!! I am sure I will fit some running in there - hopefully outside and not on the treadmill!!

Any exciting weekend plans? Hopefully the day will go quickly because I am ready for the weekend!!


**Took yesterday morning off from workouts and slept in. Felt groggy and slow until about lunch. Was supposed to go to spin class with the girls but got held up at work and then realized I had left my shorts and shoes at home. Woke up this morning and ran mile repeats on the treadmill. I miss running outside.

Wild Wedneday

So many of you may wonder how I come up with my workouts since I am not on a training plan.

Well I actually steal it from all of you other bloggers! I love reading about your workouts, especially your interval workouts!

This morning I stole the workout from Lacey, who actually stole it from MarathonMaiden! So while they have interval Tuesday, I have interval Wednesday!

Here's the workout I did:

1 mile warm up
3X (600m, 600m, 800m at 6:58 pace with 90 seconds between each interval) and 5 minutes between each set.
0.5 mile cool down

I woke up at 4:45am so I would get to the gym earlier and therefore have more time (I usually finish my workout at 6am then shower at the gym then leave and go to work).

I jump on a treadmill, start running. Get through the first set no problem. Run about 4 minutes then start the next interval. By this time it is 5:30am and I am worried about finishing two more sets and cooling down by 6am.

I get through set #2 with no real problems, then start into my 5 minutes of jogging before starting the next set. I made it about 2 minutes then started the last set because it was nearly 5:50am. I finished the last set, my legs were dying, then cooled down quick and hit the showers by 6:05am.

I was just slightly late and so there were a ton of us in the locker room. Usually we are staggered a bit so we aren't all changing and doing makeup/hair at the same time but not today! It was super busy!!

I ended with 6.6 miles and spent a total time of 56 minutes on the treadmill. I have never spent that time on a treadmill and probably couldn't have unless I was doing intervals because I just get too bored!

Let me tell you though, it is really hard to add 0.38 miles (600m) onto the current mileage to figure out when I could stop sprinting!! Overall it was a great workout and it just felt good to pump that out this morning!!

Monday Blahs

After the Thursday and Friday workouts, I took Saturday off to rest my legs. I wasn't that sore form all the running but I did notice a huge spike in my appetite on Thursday and Friday nights! Friday I came home after work and ate oatmeal and some other snacks and then an hour later headed to Wendy's with Brian for a cheeseburger, fries and a frosty! We then proceeded to the mall to walk off our fat filled dinner.

The rest of the weekend was pretty low key. Sunday of course was the Super Bowl where I ate way too much food again! Did anyone else hear the rumor that if the Saints won, Reggie Bush was going to propose to Kim Kardashian?? Apparently that was a lie!

Even though I was up a little bit later than usual due to the Super Bowl last night, I still dragged myself out of bed this morning and went to the gym. I needed to work off all that food I ate last night! My legs felt decent on the treadmill this morning so I pumped out 4.5 miles and then headed to work. Now its mid afternoon and I feel ready for a nap! Not sure I will be able to pull of 5 days in a row of morning workouts like I did last week!

The work day is almost over though and I am off to yoga soon! Hope everyone is having a good Monday!!

Three Things Thursday/Friday

1. Happy Friday! I am so excited to finish up work today and start the weekend! Tomorrow I am going to a make-up party with my mom then off to a college swim meet with Brian. Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday which will be filled with pizza, wings, and lots of fatty food!

2. Recent workouts:

Thursday morning 5am: 3 miles/26:09/8:37 pace
Thursday afternoon 4pm: 5.53 miles/44:30/8:03 pace
Friday morning 5am: 3 miles/25:10/8:24 pace

Since my workplace does not have showers, it is impossible for me to do a true Triple workout and run at lunch time like Marlene but this was my attempt at a triple with three workouts in 24 hours! I kept it slow and just ran because I wanted to get the miles in. I felt pretty good - this morning was tough and my legs are tired now!

Please enjoy the following pictures taken before my morning and afternoon Thursday runs!

Morning

Afternoon

3. I just got an email from Victoria's Secret featuring this years BATHING SUITS! The countdown to spring/summer has begun! Time to start getting into bathing suit shape!!

Have a GREAT weekend!!!

Wednesday Night Post

Its Wednesday night and I am finally getting around to posting. Its been one of those whirlwind weeks. I am trying to keep up with all the blogs and I am sorry if I am a little slow on commenting.

Thanks for all your amazing comments on my "Embarrassing Photo". We all have an area of our body that isn't our favorite and my hips are it for me. SO thank you for all the kind and wonderful comments! It totally made my Friday!

So it is February now, and that calls for a quick recap of January.

• January miles = 70.1 (December miles = 58.9) - I am feeling good with my running and adding on the mileage.

• Daily Journal - I wrote in my five year diary everyday in January. I really love the 5 line approach. I just jot down something that happened that day, the weather and my workout. Its quick and easy to keep up with!!

So January was a good month and I hope that February will be great (with less snow!) In fact it is snowing outside right now. Hopefully it will stop by 5am tomorrow morning so I can head out for a run before work.

Good Night!