Five Things Friday

It's Friday - woohoo!

1) What's a girl to do when she's sick of the chilly weather & dreaming about her upcoming vacation in just four short weeks? Um, lay out all of her potential outfits & plan a packing list for the trip! Doesn't everyone do that? It probably goes without saying that I LOVE the planning for a trip almost as much as the trip itself. I have a packing template which contains all of my basics (makeup, comb, toothbrush, underwear, etc) & then a trip-specific itinerary listing each activity & potential outfit. I use that itinerary to generate my packing list for the trip. I think I've mentioned before that I love, love, love dresses. And, I love going on vacation where it's warmer enough to wear dresses for the entire trip. The good news is that, despite my crazy anal packing & planning before a trip, I'm surprisingly mellow once we get there. As long as I can wear something fun, I'm up for whatever we decide to do on the actual trip.

All up picture:

Bikinis (Billabong, on the left, Trina Turk on the right):

Cover ups for the pool (Forever 21 on the left, Target on the right):

Traveling dresses (Limited tie-back halter dress on the left, BCBG dress on the right - much cuter on):

Day time dresses (I tried rotating this correctly several times, but blogger wasn't having it). In the upper corner, Express maxi dress, next one down is a one-shouldered BCBG, the next dress is a purple Express flutter dress, and the last is a Forever 21 purple dress). I like purple. :-)

LBDs (the one on the far left is a micro tiny BCBG dress circa 8 years ago, that Michael is insisting that I bring. I will likely model it for him & wear something that doesn't resemble a hanker chief when I'm in public. Next dress is a black lace Express strapless dress. Final dress is a black bandage Express dress):

2) After assembling all of my potential dresses (I know, I need to be in a 12 step program for dresses), I then decided it was time for a run to get bikini-ready. I put in 53:21 minutes & covered 4.9 miles. Today was my hills workout. And, yeah. The last hill before I got home nearly made me weep. I felt great when it was done, but it was a heckuva hill. My legs felt like they had bricks attached to them. But, I'm now caught back up with my training plan, after my bizarre week.

3) Tonight our big plans are attending a Hawaiian luau put on by the preschool that our boys attend. Pictures are from last year, but the event includes: lei making, a Hawaiian song & dance recital, & dessert. It promises to be fun. We're party animals!

4) I'm going to Las Vegas three times this summer, & I'm not ashamed. For a variety of reasons, it's a great destination for us. Close enough for a long weekend (usually all we can pull off when my parents watch the kids), easy flight from Seattle, lots to do, free hotel & food (my husband is there a lot & gets comps), & it's one of my favorite places to relax. I know, that doesn't really fit the Las Vegas mold, but we spend time at the pool, at the spa, shopping, and eating at fancy restaurants. Win! I'm going with Michael for an adults only trip over Memorial Day, we're taking my parents to Las Vegas for their 40th anniversary (their choice), & I'm doing a girls trip with my best friend & sister in July. Here's us last year on our first ever girls trip. It was fabulous. After a long day at the cabana, involving at least one bottle of champagne. . .

5) I'm addicted to edamame & cottage cheese. Not together. These two items generally make up the base of my lunch, and then I build the rest of the meal around them. I'm obsessed. I have to portion out the edamame, or I'll eat way too much & get a giant stomach ache later. Not that I've done this before by eating an entire bag from Trader Joes.

Food from yesterday:
Yesterday was another good eating day. Any time I can get stay home & remain on track without falling into a bag of Pirate's Booty, life is good. Plus, I got in two workouts yesterday (a run + 60 minutes on the elliptical, which kicked my butt), so I was hungry.

• Breakfast - coffee, an egg sauteed with spinach & feta on an everything bagel thin
• Snack - apple & dried fruit/nuts
• Lunch - Fuji apple chicken salad + 1/2 chicken salad from Panera. I didn't like Panera's new chicken salad sandwich. I should have stuck with my old favorite - Mediterranean Veggie. YUM.
• Snack - grapes, vegetables + hummus
• Dinner - 1 piece of vegetable pizza, with a side of tomatoes. Yes, tomatoes on top of my pizza which had tomatoes + sun dried tomatoes cooked on it. I'm not obsessed with tomatoes or anything.
• Snack - (after I got back from the gym I was starving) - apple

1) When I got home from my run today, I inhaled my lunch. Seriously, inhaled. Do you ever get stomach aches from eating too quickly? Does this happen to you after you run?

2) What are you up to this weekend?

Doubling up

I'm still at home with Nick (he has strep throat), and he is getting very bored at home. Here's hoping that he feels better tomorrow. From the minute Sam leaves for school, Nick starts asking where he is & when he'll be home again. He misses his brother & best bud.

Running:
I got up at 5:30 this morning so I could squeeze in a work out. My plan is to do another cardio (non-running workout) sometime today to make up for one of the cross training workouts I missed earlier in the week. That will be dependent on my energy level this evening. Fingers crossed. My right hamstring was killing me on my run this morning (should have stretched after my run yesterday), so I had to walk the last 1/2 mile. Ouch. I stretched out quite a bit this afternoon, & things definitely feel looser.

Yesterday's run time: 4.5 miles in 48:35 minutes
Today's run time: 4.26 miles in 49.39 minutes

Food:
Yesterday was a much better eating day. I planned things out, stayed on track & generally just tried to follow my normal plan. I usually struggle when I'm home unexpectedly during the day & snack a lot.

• Breakfast - spinach & egg on a bagel thin, strawberries, coffee
• Snack - dried fruit & nuts
• Lunch - edamame, cottage cheese, 1/2 piece margarita pizza
• Snack - apple & 1/2 of a homemade banana muffin
• Dinner - vegetables & hummus, homemade spaghetti sauce + 1/2 c noodles

Rather than showing you a picture of my yoga pants & tshirt today (thrilling, again), I thought I would show you what I stumbled over this morning. If you've ever lost weight, maybe you have reached a point where it's hard to remember that you've made progress & it feels like you're stuck. Today I found these pictures from late summer/fall & they definitely reminded me that I've come a long way: I am not posting these to make fun of myself, but to remember that my body is actually changing & my hard work is paying off!

I can tell the biggest difference in my face, stomach, & arms.

And on that note, I just realized that I'm leaving for Las Vegas 4 weeks from tomorrow! I cannot wait! My parents are watching the boys, and it's an early birthday trip for Michael. We're planning to rent a cabana & hang out by the pool, get massages, shop (me), gamble (Michael), & enjoy long dinners in non-kid-friendly restaurants. I can't wait!! It's the perfect fitness & bikini inspiration I need to kick it into high gear for these next few weeks.

Question for you: do you use pictures as motivation? I like looking back & seeing how far I've come, or how I used to look. It's nice to see progress.

Question #2: what is your next upcoming vacation? Describe it & make me jealous! :-)

Bad run, good attitude

As I mentioned before, Michael came home at lunch & I went for a run. It was one of those runs where everything went wrong:

• I had on the wrong outfit for the temperature. I was doing strength training at home before I left & had on a tank top. Threw on a jacket & ran out the door when Michael came home. Fail. The jacket was too much once I warmed up, but the tank top was definitely not enough. Brr.
• The tank top was actually "too much". By that I mean, I've got a bit of a chest, & didn't envision using this tank top for running. It's more of a gym/elliptical kind of a thing. I got three whistles, & a few honks on the run. Which made me super self-conscious. I will say that it's very cute & flattering on:
• 
• It rained.
• And it was windy
• I had multiple bathroom issues, which I won't bore you with.
• I was trying to combine two workouts in an attempt to make up a few days that I've lost on my training plan. It was a colossal fail & the hill I chose (with no research) was a 1.5 mile incline.
• It was all around painful, & I never hit my stride

All of that said, it's runs like this that make me appreciate the good ones. How is it that a run like this made my 6 miler on Saturday look so effortless? Isn't your body interesting? I have a feeling that it has to do with the crap I ate over the past few days. My body was not a fan of the "fuel" I was giving it.

Here's what I kept telling myself on the run:

• I'm putting in the miles & doing my body a favor just being out here.
• I'm lapping my own performance of sitting on the sofa yesterday.
• The hard workouts make me appreciate the easier ones.
• Even a painful workout tones my body & burns calories.
• I clearly need more hills training.
• I'm lucky to have a job that pays me for sick days when one of my kids is not feeling well.
• I'm incredibly lucky to have a husband who will come home at lunch so I can run. Thanks, Michael!
• My body is making huge progress - in February I couldn't even run a mile without stopping.
• The endorphins will eventually make this feel good.
• I'm burning off some of the junk I ate over the past few days.
• Everyone has bad runs

And you know what, it worked. The run is done, I feel like a million bucks for doing it, and I'm happy that I made it happen. Some days, that's really all you can ask for. :-)

What do you do when you have a bad run? How do you push through on those days when it's just hard?

Sick

I'm at home with Nick today, who has the stomach flu. Good times were had by all last night, as he kept getting out of bed & hurling throughout random rooms in the house, & then wandering back to bed in a stupor. It was like a frat house around here.

My eating has not been great (I struggle when my routine gets out of whack & I'm at home unexpectedly). Lame, I know. I also haven't run since Saturday, & I'm definitely getting antsy. I've convinced Michael to come home at lunch so I can squeeze in a quick run and not feel like I've completely abandoned my training plan.

Outfit:
I'm currently rocking an old sweatshirt & yoga pants, so I'm definitely a sight.

Nick was not down with the idea of me taking his picture this morning, so I'll leave you with this one from last August.

Oh no, I'm sick! (Okay, he's really covering his ears because of a loud train whistle, but this is the best I've got after 3 hours of sleep.) :-)
Hope you're having a great Wednesday!

Easter in the pacific northwest

Begs for fleece & rain boots. This is my awesome family!

Here's me with my sister. We were cuter before we changed into our grubby clothes to hide Easter eggs, I promise. :-)

My youngest (Nick) finding an egg:

My oldest (Sam) with my grandmother:

My dad, helping Sam find another egg:

All four of the boys (my 2 nephews are the older boys):

Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

A case of the Mondays

Greetings, lovely ladies. I'm having a hard time being back at work today after my wonderful vacation! We had a great Easter & the weather at the beach was awesome on Friday & Saturday. Now we're back to rain in Seattle. I didn't get a chance to wear anything very Easter-y yesterday, because I had to wear my fleece & rain boots for the egg hunt. So today I wore hot pink in honor of my favorite Easter color. I have to get our Easter pictures off of the other camera, but I will post them soon.

Outfit:

In the first picture, I really look like someone who is overjoyed to be back at work, don't I? ;-)

Details:

• Hot pink sweater with gold sequined pockets - Ann Taylor Loft
• Cream tank top - Ann Taylor Loft
• Bootcut jeans - Vigoss, BP/Nordstrom
• Gold pearl necklace - Jcrew
• Black sequined wedges - Alfani/Macys
• Frizzy hair - courtesy of dropping the kids off in the rain this morning
• Gorgeous bathroom setting & dorky face - always mine!

Food:
For the first time ever, I did not totally gorge myself at Easter. Small steps, people! I think I had about 100 calories of candy in total yesterday, which must be some kind of personal record. I think my calories netted out around 1700, so higher than I normally shoot for, but definitely okay for a holiday

• Breakfast - spinach, egg, & laughing cow on a wheat english muffin + coffee & strawberries
• Brunch - 2 mimosas, 2 mini Costco sandwiches, pasta salad, a ton of fruit, & 2 handfuls of baked cheetos
• Snack - 1 bite of Sam's cupcake, & a handful of Easter candy
• Dinner - 1 glass of wine, a sliced tomato, 1/2 cup pasta salad & 1.5 mini burgers

Weight:
The scale says I'm up .2 lbs from Thursday, so I'm not terribly worried. Hopefully after a few days of being back from vacation, I'll be on a downward trend again.

Running:
Today my training plan calls for 4 easy miles, so I'm planning to run at lunch. In the rain. Ick. But, preferable to the treadmill.


Questions of the day:

1) How much Easter candy did you eat yesterday?
2) Would you rather run on the treadmill, or in the rain?

A day in numbers

• 6:30 - time I got up on my vacation so I would have time to squeeze my long run in before the town Easter egg hunt
• 6.01 - Miles run today
• 1:03:28 - amount of time it took me to run my longest distance ever
• 3 - numbers of bugs I swallowed while running
• 2 - number of times I spit on myself due to wind
• 1 - number of times I peed in the woods
• 49 - pieces of candy the boys collected at the egg hunt
• 9 - pieces of candy they consumed in under five minutes
• 3 - pieces of salt water taffy Nick stuffed into his mouth at once before I caught him
• 250 - calories in the tortellini pasta salad I'm bringing to our Easter brunch tomorrow
• 2 - number of mimosas I plan to consume at our brunch
• 34 - days without shaving my legs. Poor Michael!
• 12 - minutes I had to get ready between my run & the egg hunt (should explain the picture)
• $17 - spent on knock off Lululemon jacket from Costco
• 2 - margaritas I plan to consume on the deck tonight
• 1625 - total calories consumed yesterday
• 4 - times I played CandyLand today
• 4 - times I got smoked at CandyLand by a 5 year old
• 10 - how I feel about today, on a scale of 1-10

Outfit:

Coral jacket - Tuff Athletics (Costco)

White tshirt - Ann Taylor Loft

Skinny jeans - Gap

Blue metallic/leather thongs - Gap

Giraffe Easter basket - Target :-)

Too Soon

After I posted about how I was having such an amazing day at the beach, my youngest son threw up all over the dinner table. It kind of killed the mood. I guess I spoke too soon. :-)

Nonetheless, it's been an absolutely beautiful day at the beach. I think it got up to 65, no wind, & we sat on the deck drinking margaritas & listening to the ocean while the kids painted Easter eggs. Life is good. I didn't take any new beach pictures, but it basically looked this this today, minus the clouds. :-)


Running:
I had a fabulous run today. My training plan called for 5 miles, which is the longest I've ever done! I set a goal to finish in one hour, knowing that I would need to walk a bit. I ended up doing 5.62 miles on a loop in a state park that was breathtaking, and I finished in exactly one hour. The craziest part? I told myself that I could walk once I hit the 5 mile mark, but the last .62 miles were the easiest of the entire run for me . . . I had finally hit a groove & enjoyed that part of the run the most. It was awesome!!

Food:
Yesterday's food was good, overall. Still a little short on the total of fruit & vegetables I was aiming for, but I'll take it.

• Breakfast - bagel thin with an egg, spinach, & feta cheese + coffee & strawberries
• Snack - dried fruit & nuts. (LOVE Trader Joe's Trek Mix with pineapple & cherries)
• Lunch - peanut butter & jelly after my run, plus cottage cheese, & an apple
• Snack - Mandarin
• Dinner - 1 glass of wine, tortellini with lots of tomatoes
• Snack - handful of dried fruit/nuts on the road to the beach

I did manage to take a picture of the sunset from our deck, and it was gorgeous. Sunset at the beach always makes me happy. :-)

No outfit post today, I'm wearing jeans & a black tshirt. Super glamorous. :-) But I did hit up the Nike outlet today & picked up a bunch of shirts for running - they were having a 40% off sale, so some of their clearance items were $7 for Dri Fit. I also picked up a pair of Tempo Shorts. I'm not convinced that I can pull them off, but at least I have the option if I decide to go for it once the weather gets warmer. :-)

Happy Friday to you all!

Best day ever

I've had one of my favorite days ever at the beach (which I will be recapping, of course), but our 5K pictures from last Sunday our finally up & I couldn't resist posting.

Not very flattering, but I'll live. :-)




Hope you are having a wonderful Friday!!

Shake that booty

We're leaving for a weekend at the beach tonight, & I'm excited! We have a house on the Oregon coast, & love to spend as much time as possible there. We will be spending tonight, Friday, & Saturday night at the beach, & then driving to my parents house (halfway between the beach house & our Seattle house) for Easter on Sunday. Can't wait! It even looks like the weather will be halfway decent. I was able to run on some trails by the ocean last time we were at the coast, & loved it, so I'm very excited about running this weekend.

Running:
Yesterday my training plan called for 30-60 minutes of cross training, plus strength & stretching. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 30 minutes on the bike. I then worked my arms and abs, and stretched out/foam rolled a bit. I was definitely sweating by the end of my workout.

My plan today calls for my first ever speed repeat work (jog 15 minutes, then run 1 mile at push it pace - 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, jog 2 minutes. Repeat). I'll admit, I'm a little nervous!

Food:
Yesterday was an okay eating day. I had a fabulous day until after dinner. I ate extremely well & stuck to my plan. But, I should have had a bigger dinner. I was very hungry, & opted to have something light to stay on track with my calories. I'm sure you can imagine what happened (as I should be able to predict, because I've had this experience many times in the past. Eventually I will learn). :-) As I was packing the kids lunches, I ate a bunch of Pirates Booty. I have no objection to The Booty (as my little guy calls it), but if I was hungry, I should have eaten a more substantial dinner that added some nutrition to my day. Ahhhh, well. Two steps forward, one step back. I am planning on having another great weekend with my diet & workouts at the beach, and need it to stay on track & not let every weekend getaway/holiday cause a gain, so I have a plan for what I'll be eating & when I'll be working out! I love a good plan. :-)

Yesterday's recap:

• Breakfast - bagel thin with egg, & 1/2 a laughing cow cheese, banana, coffee
• Snack - Chobani yogurt
• Lunch - 1/2 Chipotle burrito bowl, apple, edamame
• Snack - chocolate milk
• Dinner - edamame, cottage cheese, apple, handful of nuts
• Snack - pirates booty.

Outfit:
Here's what I'm wearing today:

White 3/4 length cardigan - Jcrew, Audrey
Fuschia tank with silver detailing - Ann Taylor Loft
Pink necklace - Nordstrom
Jeans - Joes, Honey Fit
Shoes - American Eagle brown peep-toe wedges

Random things:
With everything going on in the world, this is what people are upset about? The Jcrew ad showing one of their execs painting her small son's toenails? Really? http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/11/jcrew-ad-showing-boy-pink-nail-polish-sparks-debate-gender-identity/  Give me a break.

What are your big weekend plans? And, more importantly, if you're celebrating Easter this weekend, what are you planning on wearing? I'm still going back & forth because of the weather, & because I'm neurotic & insist that everyone in my family  (Michael + the kids) color coordinate. Yes, I'm nuts. :-)

Closing the gap

First up, the sun is out in Seattle & that always puts a smile on my face. It's cold (35 - brrrr!), but it's supposed to warm up later in the day. Michael is always saying that we need to move to San Diego so I can enjoy the sunshine year round. Maybe someday! :-)

 

Weight:
I am very excited, because when I got on the scale this morning, I discovered that I only have 5 pounds of baby weight left. I'm officially in the home stretch! Michael & I are having a fabulous adult only weekend in Las Vegas over Memorial Day (36 days away, not that I'm counting down or anything), & my goal is to have officially lost the baby weight by that trip.

 

Because I will be rockin' this little beauty (I wear mine with straps, but close enough. . . ):

 

Trina Turk Palm Sola Bandeau - Nordstrom

 

PS - if I could ever manage to achieve that color on my pasty white skin, I'd be thrilled. Sadly, self tanner gives me a Snooki-like-look, even when I use the palest color. I believe I've tried every product on the market, but I'm giving it another go next week & will do a product review. Bad or good, I'll share my results with you, in case you too are seeking a slightly tan, non-oompa loompa look.

Running:
Today is my cross-train/strength day. I'm planning to do 30 minutes on the bike, 30 minutes on the elliptical, & then arms/abs/back. For those of you who are currently training or have trained before for a 1/2 marathon, do you have a training plan you would recommend? I just started yesterday, & I'm currently doing the Fitness intermediate training plan. But I discovered that it's only 8 weeks, & I have 12 weeks until the 1/2.

 

Food:
I tried a protein smoothie for the first time yesterday, & it wasn't bad. I think I still need to work on tweaking it, but it was drinkable. I blended apple juice, greek yogurt, protein powder, a banana & frozen strawberries together. Next time I'll cut the apple juice & greek yogurt & add water.

• Breakfast: coffee, gatorade (post-run), coffee, protein smoothie, split an egg on a bagel thin with Michael
• Snack: handful of dried fruit/nuts
• Lunch: apple, 1/2 of a chipotle burrito bowl, chocolate milk
• Snack: mandarin, apple
• Dinner: tortellini with 1 tbsp shaved parmesan, diced tomato, edamame

Outfit:
I'm thinking that these pants are ready to retire, unless I can get them to shrink. Which is a bummer, because I love them! They are getting baggy in the crotch region, which is never cute. And yes, I did cut my head off, but managed to get my shoes in the picture today. Small steps, people. :-)

 

Details:

• Black cardigan with jewel buttons - Ann Taylor Loft
• Purple gathered shell - Ann Taylor Loft
• Silver necklace - Macy's
• Black cropped pants - Jcrew, City Fit
• Black wedges - Alfani (Macy's)
• Dorky smile & frizzy hair - still mine!

 

Hope you are all having a fabulous day! Please recommend a training plan, if you have one. Or a self-tanner for super pale chicks, if you also have that. :-)

The love triangle

I think it's time for you to know that Wills & I go way back. Way back. Maybe that's why Kate is so jealous & won't invite me to their wedding?

Kate, not to worry. That thing with Wills is all in the past, and anyway, I prefer Prince Harry now.

Why yes, that is me posing with the royal couple at work, and forcing an unsuspecting coworker to take my picture. Doesn't everyone do that? Doesn't every office have a Will & Kate in the hallway? And no, I haven't the foggiest clue why it's there.

Running:
Next up, in big (and I mean HUGE) news, I got up at 5:30 and ran outside this morning. Tuesdays are my crazy days, because I'm taking a two month training class that requires my presence all day. Yippee. That means that lunch time runs are out. And, because my training plan called for my first run of the 1/2 marathon training, I had to get 4 miles done this morning. So, I did it. I'll be honest. It was unpleasant to run without any breakfast & no hydration. Mondays are also the boys swimming lessons, so it probably didn't help that I ate dinner at 5:00 last night, meaning it had been just over 12 hours since my last meal. Combine that with being dehydrated, & I struggled. All of that said, I'm super thrilled that I got up & put in the miles. I think I can figure out the fueling issue and make morning workouts happen. And quite frankly, I'd rather pee my pants than run being that dehydrated again.

Also, word to the wise. If you just wake up & stumble into the kitchen looking to grab something to throw down your mouth on your way out the door, Power Bar Protein Bites are not the best choice. I had one and that thing stuck in my throat for the entire run. It was not awesome.

On to the run details. I did 4.12 miles in 45:21 minutes. Super slow pace. I was actually 3 minutes behind my 5K pace and I know that it had everything to do with fueling. Good lesson for me. I walked for about .60 of a mile in total, broken into chunks to catch my breath. I will say that running in the morning was actually really enjoyable, fueling issues aside. It was quiet & peaceful, & it wasn't raining. My route takes me through a park, around a mini pond, and then back again to my house. It's nice & there are a few small hills to battle. My goal is to finish the same run in 40 minutes on my next go. I actually am pretty confident I can do it with proper food and water.

Food:
I had a pretty good eating day yesterday, & stuck to my calories as planned. I ate 6 servings of vegetables & 3 servings of fruit, so I need to work on boosting that up. The only really "empty" calories I had were the handful of animal crackers I ate while packing the kids lunches.

• Breakfast - coffee, strawberries, 1 small piece of light zucchini bread, 1 tbsp feta, 1 tbsp strawberry preserves, & 1 piece of Persian bread
• Snack - 1/2 protein bar
• Lunch - dried fruit & nuts, rice & beans, 1/2 of a salad with turkey
• Dinner - Spinach salad with balsamic chicken & cottage cheese
• Snack - handful of animal crackers, apple

Outfit:
It wasn't raining when I left the house this morning, so I took that as my cue to dress as though it's spring time. And yes, I was trying to match my sweater to my toenail polish. Even though my chip is getting bigger every day.

 

ETA: I found the shoes on the Seychelles website, and even though mine are last year's version, they look pretty much identical to this, but in plack patent leather. I didn't want you to have to go by my terrible photo. :-)

Details:

• Pink sweater - Audrey, Jcrew
• Blank tank top - Ann Taylor Loft. I swear that I have 4 or 5 black tanks from Ann Taylor Loft that are all slightly different. I don't wear the same shirts 3x/week, I promise
• "K" necklace - courtesy of my sister
• Jeans - Chip & Pepper
• Black patent sandals with cork heels - Seychelles (Nordstrom)
• Chipped pedicure - courtesy of running 

Question for you: if you run in the morning, do you get up early enough to eat/drink/digest before you head out on your run?

I'm thinking that I may have to get up at 5:00, eat & drink, then run around 5:45. It will be tight depending on the length of my run, which means I'll need to pick up the speed. :-)

It's really Monday

Good morning, all you lovely ladies out there! I hope you had a fabulous weekend.

I'm still pretending like it's spring here in Washington, despite the fact that some of the higher elevation towns near me got a dusting of snow this morning. Um, really, Mother Nature? We put up with your 9 months of rain & cloud cover without so much as a peep, but snow in April? We need to have a talk.

Outfit:
Once again, poor photography skills requires me to use more pictures than necessary to depict exactly what I'm wearing.

Details:
Sweater - Ann Taylor Loft. New, purchased over the weekend at their 40% off sale.
Tank top - Ann Taylor Loft. (Are you shocked? ;-)) I love how their colors across multiple years/seasons coordinate.
Jeans - Nordstrom, I think the brand is Vigoss. I bought them in the junior's section a few years ago.
Heart necklace - Tiffany & co. Valentine's gift from Michael.
Shoes - I like these shoes & wanted to show you additional details, but it was hard to get it all into one picture. So, here are two for you. :-) They are Alfani, from Macy's. I got them at the end of the season last summer for $12.
 And why yes, that is a chip on my big toe, courtesy of my run this weekend. I like to keep it classy here.

Food:
I would describe yesterday's food as very average. The reason? I got up really early to eat/digest before my run, & then didn't eat lunch for 7 more hours. That meant I was ravenous by lunch, which I'm sure you can tell by my intake. I went over my calories by 500+. Ick. :-( Fail. Sadly, my stomach was still growling when I went to bed last night. I think my stomach believes that I ran a marathon yesterday, vs a 5K.

• Breakfast (pre-run) - coffee & peanut butter toast
• Snack (right after race) - banana & mini Starbucks vanilla scone
• Lunch - Chipotle burrito bowl. Entire thing. I ALWAYS eat 1/2 of this & save the rest for a second meal, but yesterday? Not so much. And I finished off my gigantic lunch with a handful of Easter candy.
• Dinner - 2 glasses of celebratory wine, 1 piece of vegetarian pizza and a side of tomatoes.

Running:
I'm taking a rest day today, so that I can kick off my 1/2 marathon training tomorrow! Super excited for that.

Question of the day:
If you're a mom, or you run with/know other moms in this situation, how do you handle races? Who watches your kids? I don't have family close by, all races start before I could get a babysitter to my house, and if I have my husband watch the kids, then no one can be there with me. And yesterday I discovered that it would be a lot more fun to attend with someone else.

5K race recap

First up, I had a blast. I have never run in any sort of event before (minus middle school track, which I really hope doesn't count ;-)), & just being there with the music & crowd was a ton of fun. It was a little tricky logistically to be on my own & have to carry my keys, etc. I was also really sad that I didn't have anyone to hold a warmer coat for me while I was waiting for the race to start or to cheer when I came through the finish area, but I survived. It was just under 40 degrees & I was there for about an hour before we started to run & I was COLD.

I was wearing gloves, but all of my fingers were white & then eventually purple. When I started to warm up (about a mile in), my fingers started to hurt. I also felt like my legs were bricks of ice for about the first mile, but eventually hit a good stride. The first 1/2 mile was slow as people were adjusting their pace, I was dodging folks with dogs and strollers, etc. I pushed myself hard & I think I could have come close to 30 minutes if I had had a better first 1/2 mile. There were more hills than I expected, and the last hill (I think it was between 2.75 miles to the finish) was especially painful. I listened to Club Can't Handle Me Right Now, on repeat, about three times the last stretch. Rock on! :-) My Garmin said I ran 3.27 miles, and quite a few folks were saying the course was a little longer than it was supposed to be. I'm still waiting for my official time, but my Garmin said I finished it in 32:26 minutes. Regardless, I'll take it.

*ETA - the race results show I finished in 32:22, so a pace of 10:26. I finished 13/54 in my division, and 230 out of 629 overall. It also says that the top winner was 16 years old & ran a race of 18 minutes. The top female finisher was 43 - super inspiring to know that I have the potential to get better as I age. ;-)

The race was a little crowded, but I have no idea what's normal, as this is the first race I've ever been to (as a spectator or runner). There were a few stands after the race, and Starbucks was giving away coffee & mini vanilla scones. Yum! They also had bananas, oranges, water, & mini Clif bars. Qdoba was also giving away free tacos, but I couldn't hang with that idea at 9:00 am. I did see quite a few people putting them down, though. There was also a kids race after the 5K/10K, and I'd love to take the boys next year if they're interested.

Now I am researching 10Ks. I would love to do a 10K before my 1/2 marathon in July, & I feel like I could have done more today. Not a full 10K of running, but I do feel like I had more gas & I wasn't as exhausted as I expected.

Overall, I loved it & I'll definitely be running in races again. I had basically no knee/ankle/shin pain today, so I'm extremely grateful for that. I'm kicking off my 1/2 marathon training next week, as the 1/2 is in 13 weeks. Yeah!

I woke up at 5:30 (race started at 8:15) so I could eat breakfast (peanut butter toast) & hydrate with enough time to not pee my pants on the run. Mission accomplished, which is something I was really worried about on my pre-runs. :-) Me, looking a little tired around 6:00 am.

Still waiting for the race photos, but I'll add those when I have them.

My first race

I did it! According to my Garmin, I did 3.27 miles in 32:26. Yeah! I'm super excited & had a great time. It was FREEZING. I was outside for a little over an hour before the race started in 39 degree weather, & didn't have enough clothing. I should have gotten a cheap jacket to leave on the ground when the race started.

Pictures & details to come, but I'm so excited that I finished! I only walked for about 10 seconds while I took my gloves off & put them into my pocket, and not walking was my goal.

Saturday Finds

I had to go to *the mall* to pick up my race packet today (always a dangerous endeavor), & I picked up a few things. I was in need of some belts, as I currently have zero that fit. My quest for belts quickly turned into this:

 

Much cuter in real life, I promise. This dress is very flattering on. I also got a great belt to go with it. The Jcrew pictures is not particularly clear, but the pattern on the dress is actually blue. Very well cut & I can imagine wearing it all throughout the summer. Assuming it ever warms up here!

 

I also got this sweater, in navy (Ann Taylor Loft). ATL is having 40% off their entire store, so there were many good deals to be found:

 

I also got this dress, in navy stripe:

So, so so flattering on & it looks great with my new belt & the sweater above.

 

And, Ann Taylor Loft didn't do this shirt any justice in the pictures, but it is extremely cute on. Very nicely cut & flattering:

I got it in black & navy.

 

And, I did actually get a few belts. . .

 

 

And, a few they didn't have online for me to grab pictures of. You'll be seeing these finds in my upcoming outfit posts, so I'll show you how I will mix them in with my current clothes!