Weekend Rewind

Hope all of you ladies had a fabulous weekend.

Friday:
We started off the weekend by attending the boys preschool luau. It was hilarious. I dressed for the event - note the flower in my hair, starfish necklace, & floral tank top. :-)

Running:
I ran 4.9 miles in 53:21 at lunch time, and felt good. I love having a training plan - lots of structure and I can tell that it's getting easier to add miles, which is awesome.

Food:

• Breakfast: smoothie & coffee, + 1/2 a bagel thin with an egg
• Snack: nuts/dried fruit mix
• Lunch: 1 piece of vegetarian pizza, edamame, cottage cheese
• Snack: handful of cashews + vegetables & hummus
• Dinner: 1 glass of wine, & a small serving of homemade spaghetti

Saturday:
We took the boys to soccer practice in the morning, & chilled at the house until it was time for DATE NIGHT! We have date night about once a month, & it's so nice to have a little adult time with Michael. The boys attend a swimming/pizza party at our gym, so it was perfect for us to hit the gym for a quick workout before we went to dinner.

Running:
I ran for a mile on the treadmill & then rode the bike for 20 minutes. My legs were feeling tired and I wanted to save a little bit for the long run on Sunday. Plus, I am starting to hate the treadmill. Ick. I used to run on it all the time, but now I'm spoiled by running outside.

I am a dork and forgot to take a picture after we got ready for date night. I did wear this super cute shirt with a pair of Hudson jeans & wedge sandals.

Sadly, I did not wear it with shimmery shorts as the model did. Maybe next time. ;-)

Food:
I had things all planned out so I could enjoy dinner out & not go totally out of control, but Michael wanted to try a new restaurant & I wasn't familiar with their menu. And, the food was fabulous. :-) So, I was over by a few hundred calories. No regrets!

• Breakfast: 2 spinach patties with yogurt, strawberries & coffee
• Snack: nuts/dried fruit
• Lunch: cottage cheese, a piece of grilled chicken, and an apple
• Snack before our workout: cashews & a piece of cheese
• Dinner: 2 glasses of wine :-), 1/2 of a small salad, 1 spring roll, chicken, rice & vegetables

Sunday:
Yesterday was my first ever 8 mile run. I had to split it into two runs, which I know is not the same as running it all at once, but I really wanted to meet my friend and run with her as planned. She's just starting her training plan, so 8 miles together was not in the cards. I ran 4.34 miles at home before I left (in 46:15) and then we did just over 4 miles together on a trail near her house. I couldn't get my Garmin to find a satellite until we were about 1/2 way through with the run, so I don't have an exact time. It was a SUPER hilly run, and we were totally beat by the end.
 And yes, that is the world's biggest zit on my chin. Why thank you, running, for bringing back something that I thought I ditched 10 years ago.

The boys and I ended spending the day at my friend's house with her kids, & enjoying the beautiful sunshine. It was a gorgeous day!

Food - this was more than I'd intended to eat yesterday, but I wasn't sure how much fuel I'd need. I'm still trying to experiment to find the right balance between a healthy but steady weight loss, & giving myself enough energy to run & follow my training plan.

• Breakfast: egg with spinach, feta on a bagel thin + strawberries & coffee
• Lunch: cottage cheese + nuts/dried fruit, peanut butter & jelly sandwich
• Snack: blueberries
• Dinner: pita chips, 1 1/3 pieces of pizza, cottage cheese
• Snack (hungry on my way home!): 1/2 a banana + 1/3 of a mini luna bar

And, finally, here's an actual outfit. Me - today at work. Of course, it was beautiful & warm yesterday, so I chose a skirt & sandals. It started raining about 5 minutes after I left the house. Oh well. Such is life in Seattle. :-)

Details:
Black sweater - Jcrew
Black camisole - Banana Republic
Silver necklace - Macy's
Black & white skirt - BCBG
Black wedge sandals - Alfani/Macy's
Multi-colored hair & terrible photo skills - still here! :-)

Do share - what's the weather like where you're at, & what are you wearing? Any big runs this weekend? Are you sore? My glutes are killing me after yesterday's trail run!

I did it!

More to come tomorrow, but I ran 8.4 miles today! I had to split my run in two. I was running with my friend today & we're training for the 1/2 marathon, but she's at the beginning of her training plan, so I knew she wouldn't be able to do 8 miles.

After breakfast, I left the house & did 4.4 miles in 46 minutes. I came home, scarfed down more food, & drove to my friend's house. She'd never been on the trail before, & it was VERY hilly! I almost died on the last uphill. Anyway, she did amazingly well & we did 4 miles together.

I'm now very tired. :-) I have a few pictures to post tomorrow & I'll add additional details.

Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

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!