What have I been doing?

I'm sure there are scores of rabid fans wanting the answer to that question...well, here we are! Sorry to take a four month hiatus. Oops.

In June I purchased a $100 30 day introductory package from Pure Barre. I've taken (and loved) barre classes before; my first experience was a few months of Go Figure in the summer of 2013. This style of workout is intense, hard and gives results. It's also pretty stupid expensive. I ended up stopping Go Figure classes because my membership at the Village Clubs offered barre classes and I decided I didn't need to pay extra, but those group ex classes were definitely more "dance-y/ballet-y" than stereotypical "barre-y." Picture me reacting to order of "Plie! Tendu! Battement!" and then pick yourself off the floor from laughing.

Anyway, Pure Barre is freaking hard. I can't really decide which technique I like better between the two. PB just works better for my schedule because they have early (5:45 a.m.) classes and are a little closer to where I live. I haven't purchased another package because they are freaking expensive, but I DID sign up for a free class this past Saturday in celebration of their 5 years in AZ. I entered a raffle to win 6 months of classes for free because, why not?! I'm sure I didn't win, but you can't really pass the chance up.

I've also incorporated at least one hot yoga classes into each week. If I said barre classes are tough, hot yoga classes are like going into battle. But the drenched feeling of getting completely detoxed after each session is enough to keep me reeled in. I've been attending Lauren's Village Hot Yoga 5:30 a.m. classes (waking up at 4:45 a.m is rough, just in case you weren't sure.) on Wednesdays. I love her. VHY is a set list of poses throughout each session, which I hear is like Bikram, but without a creepy guy in a man-diapy leading the class, apparently. I also like to see how many towels I can accumulate throughout each class. My record is two full-length body towels and 5 hand towels. A fun game!

I can't believe last year at this time I was training for my second half marathon. Was I huffing glue or what?

(She is my #1 Intervention fave.)

It is DISGUSTING lately. It's hot and muggy. I was running about 7 miles at this time last year. No thank you.

What else? Not much. I may attempt to keep up with this. Oh! Just a little aside/FYI/oopsie-daisy: I eat meat again now. I've been having some stomach issues for about the past year and a half now and started reading up on the Low FODMAPS diet.

Yes, all the things on that list are the ones to be avoided/used sparingly on Low FODMAPS. Kill me now, right? Luckily, I got tested for Celiac and don't have any gluten sensitivity. There are other foods on that list I know don't effect me, but I ended up cutting out ones who have straight up wrecked havoc on my insides. (See: Apples. *insert crying emoji with angry fist to god*) In taking out a lot of my protein sources (beans/lentils), I really didn't see much of a choice. And I have noticed an improvement, for sure. Right now I'm sticking with just chicken/turkey a few times a week. Still dicey on red meat (if AV offers me a bite of something he says I simply CANNOT miss out on, like the tri-tip sandwich from Twisted Grove, then I will try it), and still a no on pork. 

That's all for now. I leave you with a line of poetry after seeing Straight Outta Compton this weekend. Incorporate it into your daily life: When you diss Dre you diss yourself.

Upside-Down

A short update...

A few weekends ago I signed up for an arm balance/inversion workshop at the DCR Village. (Led by Gracie--if you are in the area and get a chance to take one of her classes, do it. She is sparkle and sunshine in human form. So warm and welcoming, and such a great teacher.) It ended up be mostly a focus on inversions, which introduced me to a new discomfort zone I didn't even know I had in me.

I was not one of those kids who could throw themselves around into cartwheels and back handsprings. I never made the dance or cheerleading team and I remember one ill-fated gymnastics class where I think my cousin Drew and I mostly screwed around and didn't listen to instructions. So, I've reached the ripe old age of 31 without ever really getting used to the sensation of flinging my head and feet up in the air and propping myself up by my hands or arms. And even with the knowledge that there's a wall right behind me, it makes me terrified to try.

We warmed up in an inverted L-shape handstand and...I could barely hold that bad boy. A little embarrassing, to say the least.

(Picture me doing this, but falling after 3 seconds. Also, I was wearing a shirt.)

The rest of the workshop made me realize inverting isn't just throwing myself into the air and praying something sticks. I've had to really start working on my upper-body training and core strengthening. Which I HATE. I have always hated core exercises, but now I'm regretting putting them on the back-burner for all these years. These poses use that strength so much, and I'm so dang weak.

One thing Gracie told us that has helped me was to visualize ourselves mastering our inversions in the middle of an empty room. No wall to balance off of, but perfectly holding a headstand or handstand. And to mentally feel what we'd feel once we accomplish getting there. Just holding that feeling in my mind has helped tremendously. 

So, I recruited a personal trainer to help me out a few times a week. We've been really focusing on pushing myself to the point of exhaustion using pushups, core exercises, and different upper-body moves he's learned in his years of being a professional strong-man

 (It's not Easter until someone takes a sneak-pic of you)

He's one of the most VIP trainers in the Valley. I repay him back in breakfasts out in exchange for him working me to not be able to lift up my arms.

AND...in the few weeks I've been focusing on these areas, I've seen progress! This morning I mastered tripod headstand on my own in the middle of the floor during class! And yes, held it there for more than half a second. I just need to keep up with it. "Nothing changes if nothing changes."

It's Alive

Why yes, I am here. Here's a little rundown of things that have happened since my last entry (October 24...whoops):

-I turned 31. I celebrated with a spa day, and then AV made me a birthday mac and cheese that I still dream about. And my dad paid for our Pomo the weekend before!

-Then the next month, AV got me a sweet gift!

(Every time I come around yo' city, blang blang)

-We spent Christmas in KC and I met my NEW BEST FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...and saw some of my OG besties as well :) (but not nearly enough people--sorry, coming back for the holidays and trying to balance family/friend time is hard.)

-We hiked Camelback for the first time and I am obsessed! I hope everyone who comes to visit me in the future is ready to get up at the crack of dawn to experience it. Cannot wait to conquer it again!

 

-We spent another year at the Open. Unfortunately, ol' Tiger didn't stick around long enough for us to see him on Sunday morning.

(Speef)

 

(Gross weather)

-Running has been put on the back-burner indefinitely. While I am proud that I've finished 2 half mary's, it's just time to focus on what makes me happy and makes me feel my best, which is YOGA. I still run here and there, but I haven't gone more than 4 miles since October. I've also been going to a Tuesday morning "body strength" class, which is like a mix of BodyPump but with more cardio, and basically a gazillion squats interspersed throughout. Not the worst. And if anyone in the valley stumbles upon this blog and has a chance to take yoga classes led by Beri Golding: DO IT. Her Saturday morning flow class is a reason to live.

I'll try to get my crap together and update more than once every four months or so. I suppose that's doable.

Week of Workouts

Happy Friday! How cute to think that at this time last week I had no idea the death and destruction I was about to face the next morning. (Hyperbole is one of my strengths.)

In the past 6 days I've gone to yoga 4 times and this morning I actually laced up for a run. And it was not the worst!

Wednesday morning I took the 6 a.m. flow class at Gainey. The instructor is the same for the Monday 6 a.m. class over there and we always start with "breath of fire." Will I ever make it through that warmup without feeling like an asthmatic dragon? Maybe. She talked about yesterday's solar eclipse (which I missed because I didn't have welding glasses to look with!) and a bunch of other spacey/astrological stuff. She's kind of a kook. I love her.

Yesterday our instructor (my favorite) said she was thinking about me and another guy who had been traveling out of the country while she planned up what we were doing that morning. A short flow warmup and then lots of looooong holds in Warrior B, Triangle and hip openers/glute stretches. That class is my favorite way to start my Thursdays.

This morning I contemplated just sleeping...then I contemplated just going out for a walk...then I hauled myself out of bed and set out on a run with no expectations or intentions. Scenes on my 5K route included the gross towney bar right down the street that now has a sign set out on the greenbelt train: 20% off for all runners and bikers! (Hey I just ran 5 miles, hook me up with a discounted bucket of Miller Lites!) There was also  "FUCK JOGGERS" spray painted onto the sidewalk under one of the bridges...well good morning to you, too!

All in all? It felt great to just run and no worry about hitting a time or goal or anything. Pace? 10:33, 10:14 and 10:00. 

Also, this morning I signed up for tomorrow morning's barre. I looked will be my first class since the middle of March. Save me.

I leave you with...

(GO ROYALS)

Done!

First, I want everyone to know that I drafted a post on Friday and had absolutely no time to edit it and post it (I had to work through lunch) that contained the above graphic. I absolutely couldn't let it go to waste, so there you go.

Well! Saturday morning came and went in a blaze (and I do mean a gigantic, hot, fiery sun-ball blaze) and I lived to tell about it...barely.

First things first, I did not meet my 2:20 goal. There. I knew I wasn't going to at the 5K mark. Why? Not because I wasn't prepared or didn't train enough or didn't fuel enough or didn't get enough rest. If I hadn't done any of those things, I might be disappointed. No friends, it is because the Y Race was multiple gigantic uphill loops in the side of a mountain that took off at 7:00 a.m. when it had already reached 70 degrees with zero wind. So, I guess you could say I was disappointed for a little while. But when I factored in the things that were simply out of my control...I guess I'm pretty proud to have finished that beast.

Friday night we continued the carb-load (PESTO PENNE BAKED IN A BREAD BOWL!) and went to sleep early. I woke up feeling pretty dang good. I dropped a Nuun in a water bottle and drank it throughout getting ready and eating breakfast. We got to South Mountain (emphasis on MOUNTAIN) Park in enough time to go to the bathroom and stretch before the 7:00 gun.

I have to say, the first half of the race felt pretty good. I had enough gas in the tank to take on the hills and the temperature hadn't started to factor in yet. I took water at every stop to conserve my hand-held reserves--although I realized I had forgotten to drop a Nuun in it. Rookie mistake. Remember how I said I think 10K's are my new official running time? Well I felt awesome until the turnaround halfway through!

Then. THEN. I stared back up the hill I had just happily descended and knew it was going to be a long ride on the struggle-bus to finish. I took my first walking break at mile 7 and knew I was done for. It got hot. The hills seemed steeper and longer. I trained exclusively on the Scottsdale Greenbelt and running down Shea and in neighborhoods around there. There are "hills" along those routes, but nothing like these monstrosities. 

The sun started to factor in and I started pouring water on myself. I stopped to walk through water stations and had them refill my bottle as well. I knew 2:20 was out the window and beating my previous time of 2:28 was gone too. I just had. to. finish. it.

It sucked. I was dripping from a combination of water and sweat (have you ever blinded yourself by sweating into both your eyeballs? It's amazing.) and wanted to die. I wanted to take my phone out and send AV a crying text about not making it. But I didn't. I finally, FINALLY crossed the finished line at 13.15 miles in 2:34:27. And I was just happy to have survived that sucker.

I immediately chugged 3 cold water bottles and ate half a banana, part of a blueberry oat bar and part of an apple. We came home and AV made gourmet breakfast burritos while I showered before passing out for a few hours. I woke up and felt like a new person. And then I completely annihilated the eggplant parm at Il Capo.

Sunday night I started to feel a little defeated/upset about how everything shook out this weekend. The early mornings of running before the sun came up, pushing myself to more diligently follow my training plan than last year, money spent on new shoes, etc. all seemed "for nothing." But I talked it out with AV and if I HADN'T done those things, then maybe I could be upset. But I really did do everything I could and as someone who doesn't run very naturally, who picked easily one of the hardest races in the area to tackle, I'm OK with it. I'm actually pretty proud of it.

Sunday afternoon I forced myself to the 2:45 afternoon "power" class and it was painful/necessary/amazing. I had Monday off for comp time from working the weekend before and took a 75 minute flow class at the Gainey location that also helped stretch me out. I also rewarded myself by finally drinking the kool-aid yesterday and am really excited to continue my practice more in-depth for a while. But I don't hate the idea of running and I know I will always have that to fall back on as a workout. So I can officially say I'm OK with not hitting 2:20, because I gained more out of it than a finishing time.

...As an aside, AV ran the 5K in 28 minutes. WHAT!

Mah babe's babe

Hello again!

I left off last Thursday. Yoga that morning was amazing. We did a ton of work involving back-bends and opening our spines and our instructor said something about how we'd have lots of energy throughout our day because of it. Not sure if this was just a yogacebo or what, but I was pumped! up! all! day! It was awesome. The free iced coffee they have in the mornings probably helped.

Friday morning I set out on a "long-ish" run, because I was fairly certain I wasn't going to haul my cookies out in 35° morning weather during my quick weekend trip to KC. I did pack a workout outfit, my water bottle and running shoes just in case. Shoulda saved the carry-on space! I ran 6.56 early morning miles with progressively faster splits and felt completely amazing. 1:09:29 for a 10:36 min/mi average. I want every run to be that not. (Spoiler alert to this morning: they're not.)

My boss scared me into leaving for the airport earlier than I had planned, so I headed down there around 1:30. I'm glad I did, because the entire economy parking lot was full. I was forced into the garage spaces out there, which is $2 more per day. What a ruse!

I picked up a veggie sambo and iced coffee from La Grande Orange (Sky Harbor's restaurant scene is glorious) and waited while my flight got delayed about half an hour. It didn't matter, since my flight was now arriving the same time as my WonderTwin Ashley. We bounded off our flights and went to pick up her amazing chariot:

(I got tha Hertz hook up...holla if you hear me)

We sped off to my dad's house and got there around 11:00 for baseball watching and snacks.

The next morning she left in her pimped-ride and my mom came to pick me up for the baby shower. It was a glorious afternoon of friends, snacks, a mountain of gifties and of course lots of pictures. I miss these ladies!!!!!!

 (BUMP!)

 (Every gal needs a hip set of glittery Jayhawk diapies)

Afterwards we helped deliver gifties to Jo's house and hung out for a while. Can't wait to meet that Blueb!!!!!! And learn her name, but someone said "Beyonce Spears Conrad" and Jo didn't say it WASN'T that, so there is hope.

That night we went to Pizza Bella for mom's belated birthday dinner. The food was just as delicious as the Crossroads location, but you could definitely tell we were in the Johnson County location by the two tables nearby with screaming children.

Sunday we all met up at Eggtc. off the Plaza for a final group get-together and breakfast. This place was a standard before I moved, but they've expanded their menu and it's even more glorious. Their iced coffee was on point and my frittata ("Cheddar, potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, onions and roasted red peppers. Topped with spicy salsa and basil") was DELICIOUS. AND HUGE. We all wheeled ourselves out of there.

(Blurry breakfast)

My flight back was on time and I relished the 90 degree air that hit me in the face as I walked to the parking garage. I forced myself to go to the grocery store and that night we started an epic binge:

I'm glad to have a new TV obsession because when Mad Men ends next spring I'm going to want to die.

I forced myself up for a 6:00 a.m. flow class at the Gainey Village location. I'd taken this class once before and while the instructor is a little more hippy dippy than other ones I've experienced (she's the one who starts class with "breath of fire" and talks about astrology/moon cycles/etc.), which you know I love, the class itself is right up my alley. A complete workout without feeling like I'm going to pass out and die like some more power classes can do to me.

I was not looking forward to this morning's run for some reason. I ended up sleeping in a little later than usual (alarm went off at 5:25 so that's my "later" time apparently) and was just not interested. I actually still wanted to go back inside and just hang out while I was stretching outside our gate. No idea what the problem was, but I sucked it up and ran 4 miles in 42:04 (10:31 min/mi) with progressively slower splits. 10:25, 10:28, 10:31, 10:38. Whoops. Not terrible, but not the greatest, you know?

Tomorrow I hope to do another "long-ish" run like last Friday. It looks like the heavens may storm-dump on us again so I might have to do it on the treadmill. Woof. We'll see.

 

Nunnya biznass

After I quit wallowing in my self pity on Monday, I actually had a pretty good week of workouts.

Monday afternoon AV ended up getting tickets to the Cardinal's game from a "secret source." Seeing as it was the first game of the season and a Monday Night Football game, parking at the stadium was a goat-rodeo nightmare. 

The game was fun and Arizona eked out a last-minute win so at least we had that to comfort us while waiting an HOUR to get out of the parking lot. Woof!

Because of AZ's massive storm dump this week, there was no way I could run my scheduled 5 miles outside in Tuesday morning's swamp-like conditions. I busted out 5 treadmill miles in 50:30 (10:06/mi pace) and was bored outta my gourd, but at least I felt pretty good.

Wednesday's treadmill 5K came in at 31:20 (another 10:06/mi pace...would be nice if that could ever translate into real life. It shall not.) and I followed it with upper body weights. 

Yesterday's yoga was amazing, per usual. We did a lot of twisting and opening around the spine. We also set my quads on fire while holding Chair for approximately 53 hours while hooking our elbows to each side. 

This morning I tried some Tri-Berry Nuun in my water bottle for my first-of-the-week outside run. I wanted to try these out to see if the electrolytes have any effect on me. I'm going to use it in my water for tomorrow's 9 miles (gulp), but thought I'd test drive them today. Not sure if it was placebo effect or if these babies really work (I'm leaning towards the latter, since I've read a lot about them), but I felt great on this run. 3.22 with splits of 10:41, 10:04 and 9:44 for 3.22 in 32:16 (10:01/mi). It felt great! I'm looking forward to see how they effect me tomorrow. I finished up with a 10 minute ab video from Blogilates. It was one of her older clips, so she wasn't as "peppy" (read: annoying).

I tried to capture my before/after shots to sufficiently show a typical sweat-drench.

(Didn't mean to have the flash in that first pic. Nice faces, dork.)

Tomorrow's forecast has a 63% humidity rate at 5:00 a.m., only getting worse from there. I'm just going to force myself to be positive and do my best. And that's what matters.

Discouragement/Encouragement

I'll just say this right now: the 8 miles I ran on Saturday morning were not the best. I think one of the worst feelings ever is getting up early (alarm went off at 4:55 a.m.), eating breakfast, foam rolling (AV showed me some awesome moves that really loosened up my legs), getting completely set up and pumped to go run and then stepping outside into heat and humidity. Half a mile in I had to give into the sinking feeling that the run was not going to be speedy. I had to be OK with that, because I really didn't have any other choice. Not sure what my splits were, although I know my fastest mile was somewhere around 10:37. 8.03 at 1:27:44 for a 10:56/mi pace. Bleh. Blah. Puke.

I'm trying not to get into the "I hate running" mode that I got sucked into last year. Last week I actually considered rejoining my barre studio (even though my free gym offers barre classes), so I know I'm right on the edge of getting bored with it. Yoga helps. Yesterday's afternoon class was HARD. Yogitoes mat? DRENCHED. It was awesome. What discouragement I felt Saturday ended up floating away at the end of the sweaty hour.

I have 6 weeks until the half, and some days I'm pretty positive I'm not going to hit this 2:20 goal. Other days I feel like the fastest woman alive. (Probably delusional exhaustion talking) I am clearly not a natural runner and sometimes that makes me ask myself why the heck I signed up for this thing in the first place. But the feeling I get after a long run--even a crappy slow one like Saturday--almost always makes me forget the negative. 

If anything, I'm praying this morning's rain dump took care of some of the humidity. Please, baby Jesus!

Oops

Yesterday I had a "oh, crap" moment. For some reason I had the wrong pace time in my head for my 2:20 half goal. It's 10:41/mi, not 10:46. And yes, I know 5 seconds seems pretty measly, but to someone who isn't exactly the most natural runner, it means I need to get my act together!

Thursday morning yoga was necessary and awesome. After warming up with about 15 minutes of flow we spent the majority of the rest of class in various down-dog positions and deeeeeeeep lunges working out hamstrings and hips. Also! I learned that some people called Flipped Dog "Wild Thing," which is basically my new favorite term of life.

Another "crap" moment this morning: I babied out on core work. It was humid (no comments from the peanut gallery, mom) and I was DRENCHED in sweat when I came back from my 3.12 miles. All I could think about was a shower. I'm sure Sunday afternoon yoga will involve core work somehow.

(Sweet, another Garmin pic where it looks like you took a dip in a pool of sweat. 

Well, maybe I did.)

Tomorrow calls for another 8 miles. I might try to extend it to 8.5 to build upon last week, but we'll just see how I feel. 

I'm v. excited because in one month I will be celebrating the impending birth of Blueberry with my ex-wife. HOORAY!

My old pal, The Universe

It's Friday! We survived!

(This song was in my head for some reason on this morning's run. Not mad.)

 

And speaking of:

 

 (She is my spirit animal)

 

Wednesday's treadmill workout was fine. Ran a 5K in 30:27 for a 9:49 min/mi pace. Ended with some arm work and various squats which I STILL FEEL. Yoga yesterday helped stretch out some of the soreness (I swear it's like she knew exactly what was wrong with my body and based the whole hour off that) but I think I still need to do some stretches tonight before tomorrow's 8 miler.

 

This morning's run felt pretty great, and I'm sure that's because of the massive truckload of carbs I ate yesterday. Splits came in at 10:50, 10:20 and 9:54 (I think) for 3.15 in 32:28. To be honest, I probably had enough fuel in me to finish tomorrow's scheduled 8 miles right then. I finished with some core.

 

I know I need to up my carb intake while I'm upping my running, but I also don't need to drown myself in them. I need to find that happy medium. Yesterday's food diary:

 

Breakfast at work (yoga in the morning):

-Hard boiled egg

-Morningstar "sausage" patty

-1/4 C shelled edamame

-Half a thin bun with 1 Tbsp. of natural chunky peanut butter (Chunky or die! But don't refer to me as chunky, thanks)

 

Lunch:

Leftover stir fry consisting of:

-Approx. .5 C each white basmati rice and brown rice

-Approx. 1 C stir fry veggies/scrambled egg/soy sauce/shelled edamame

-Approx. 1.5 C of "power greens" mix underneath it all

 

This was obviously not enough (because I needed about 4840382 more grams of protein in it), so I stole a Samoa from the break room (WTF Girl Scout cookies randomly appearing in the office at the end of August?). At least I didn't succumb to AJ's carrot cake that was also here.

 

Snack:

-A few handfuls of this that AV brought a big bag of the other day and I'm basically obsessed with:

 

 

For dinner I busted out an old pasta recipe that I haven't made in about 356 years. 1.5 servings of that with garlic bread (because ALWAYS garlic bread). Oh, and? Finished half a piece of chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip icing. Because that's necessary. (It actually might have been necessary.) So basically, I was riding the carb wave all day for no apparent reason. BUT, hopefully the residual effects are still with me tomorrow morning!

I receive Notes from the Universe in my email every morning and today's was awesome: 

 

"Should you ever hear that voice inside exclaim that you're working too slow, are too easily distracted, or that you should take life more seriously, please rest assured, dearest Erin, that it absolutely, positively is not me.

I'm the one saying, 'You totally rock!'

- The Universe"

A New Moon (no teenaged vampires)

Hello! Welcome back to the adventures of sweatbomb.

Saturday's 7 miler ended up being pretty pleasant. I never felt incredibly tired, but I did feel the boost my 3 shotbloks gave me at mile 3.5. I think I'm going to bump up my first 3 blocks to 3.25 because they didn't really kick in for a while and I don't want to risk being drained. If that ends up being too late, I'll start at 3. This whole running thing is too much trial and error.

I started out takin' her easy ("take her easy...she's my lady and that's what I said"...anyone? Anyone?!)

And maybe it was a little too easy. Splits came in around 11:08, 11:03, 10:58 and 10:52 (from what I can remember) so I decided to stop being a baby and remember a 10:35 and 10:45 in there. No idea what the other mile clocked in at. I ended with a 10:51 average pace which is a little too slow for a 2:20 half. BUT, I forced myself to not feel too bad, because I honestly felt great during this run and never really got bored or wished it was over. (A miracle.) 

Sunday I ended up missing yoga because I went to Tempe for the Sigma Kappa chapter at ASU's for MOCK RECRUITMENT! It made me remember just what a freaking weird time sorority recruitment is. Plus, it's weird how different it is at KU compared to here. Overall, it was cute and all the girls I talked to were friendly and outgoing. I could tell some were incredibly nervous, but I remember wanting to basically poop in my pants going through mock for my first time as a Sophomore so I can't judge. I have no idea how I handled work week AND recruitment without the help of some handy dandy 5 Hours, but I do remember caffeine pills being involved. (Sorry, mom.) My throat hurt after talking for less than 2 hours, so I'm definitely out of practice.

Also, how did I ever forget the glory of the song that is "Goodbye Ladies"!?!? Don't worry, it's been blazing through my head ever since. 

Since I missed out on Sunday yoga I attended a new-to-me 6:00 a.m. flow class yesterday morning at the Gainey Village location of my gym. I'd been to this location before, but never to work out. The class was FABULOUS. It was the perfect mix of challenge and flow without being too intense and making me feel like I was dying. Our instructor walked in and let us know a new moon had started that morning and so if we wanted to set any good intentions or start projects that it was a great time to do so. I've decided I'm going to really focus on being healthier and to start out each morning in a positive mindset, and hoping it will cross over into work as I embark on my 2nd year of treacherous budget work. Here's hoping!

(Oh, and! I finally got to use my Yogitoes towel and it was a glory!)

This morning's 4 miles went great. It was cool and a little cloudy/humid and felt great. Splits came in at 10:45, 10:16, 10:09 and 10:00! Beauts! I decided to actually push myself instead of being lazy. It paid off!

It's insane that August is almost over. I'm dying for the weather to cool down as these long runs get longer, but knowing AZ we'll be in the 100's into October. Puke!

The week so far (humid nightmare)

It's Friday, and I hope you're getting down.

This week had it's challenging moments, but I've made it.

Tuesday's 4 miler was Charles Barkley Turrble. 

First, my Garmin refused to turn on, so that was fun. I had to use my MapMyRun app on my phone. It's nice that I have that second option, but it's not my favorite by far. I like to be able to see where I'm at simply by glancing down, and with my phone in my SpiBelt it's just a hassle to unzip and check. Speaking of my SpiBelt, 95% of the time I wear it, I can't even tell it's there. This was not one of those times. For some reason it was bouncing around and being uncomfortable. In fact, "uncomfortable" was just how I'd describe this run. The temperature wasn't too bad from what I remember, but the humidity was soul-destroying. I had to WALK TWICE between miles 2 and 3. Luckily I made it back home about 5 minutes before the monster storm dump that Arizona got to live through this week.

Two bright spots of the run:  

• Even with babyish walk breaks, I got 4.06 miles in at a 10:41/mi pace. Right at pace time for my 2:20 half goal. YAAAAAAAAAAS.

• Monday afternoon I had a surprise waiting for me in the mail from my WonderTwin Ashley! My very own Yogitoes Hband! And all I have to say is, it held up PERFECTLY in my disgusting, sweaty humidityfest run. It didn't slip at all! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

                                                                 +

 

=

wuv

 
Wednesday's speedy treadmill run didn't start off so speedy. Apparently I run way too close to the "emergency stop" bar and I accidentally pressed it. THREE. TIMES. Would you like to know how mad I was? I'm not sure I can describe to you without unleashing the hate of a thousand firey suns. (Hyperbole is one of my strengths.) I ended up going the 5K in 30:27, a 9:49/mi pace. Fast for me! It's just so much easier to run on the treadmill, but so much more BOOOOOORING. Ended with some upper body weights in the weight room. And yes, the weight-hogger was in there and yes, she was wearing pink and white UFC workout clothes. So she's got that going for her.

Yesterday's yoga was of course wonderful. We held some loooooong poses. Will my quads ever not melt and be on fire when I'm holding Warrior?

Today was redemption for the earlier "meh" runs this week. I felt amazing. I took a new route and watched the sun rise over the McDowell's. The clouds were pink cotton candy. It was humid, but cool enough to where it wasn't as debilitating as Tuesday. I had to use MapMyRun again (really praying my Garmin is ready to go tomorrow for my 7-miler) and just estimated where to turn around for my out and back 5K. I turned at exactly 1.5 miles out. Perfect! I ended 3.11 with 10:41, 9:53 and 9:57 splits, for a 10:11 average. I actually thought "aw man, that's it for this morning?" once I got home, which NEVER happens. I wrapped up with some core work.

Like I said, tomorrow's 7-miler is what's on deck for me. Here's to an early wake-up call and negative splits! And no rain, please baby Jesus.