My friend Shannon asked me awhile back to participate in a Stroller Roll 5K with her. At first I was like "UGH", because it was one of the Gasparilla races. I swore off ALL Gasparilla races a few years back.
Why?
Crowded does not even begin to describe how these races are. There are SOOOO many people. Plus the street that the race is on, is not conducive for stable running. I've been known to trip several times...

Regardless, what sold me on the race was that it:
A. explicitly said that this was NOT a race, and that anyone caught racing with their strolling would be tossed out. (in so many words)
B. not only does the adult pushing the stroller get a medal, but the baby does too!

Double the medals!? SCORE!

So BB and I participated with Shannon & her precious peanut.


What an experience.

Our time from our last 5K together, DOUBLED. Ha!

We encountered numerous pit stops to tie my shoes :) but also a pretty lengthy pit stop to soothe, hold, and then change a poopy diaper. Talk about obstacle course!

By the end of it, we CLEARLY deserved the medals.

BB was for more into chewing on his medal :) (it was rubber)

I write all this to say. The beast in me has been awakened. I want more medals. Which means I have to participate in more races.

Half marathon training is back on.

it takes talent to be this pale.

YIKES!

Training week #2 is done-zo.
I feel good about it, mainly since I didn't miss any scheduled runs. I tried working at a faster pace & feel like I accomplished it (somewhat). My hip flexor (specifically the iliopsoas) is still causing me issues while I run, but that's the only pain.
This week I rotated running in the early AM with running in the evening after work. I'm still partial to evening runs, but it's not really conducive to my new work schedule. I did notice that my early morning runs, while I felt alert & ready for work, after a few hours I started feeling a bit nauseated. I did eat breakfast & replenish fluids...so this week I plan to tweak some minor things & see if that helps alleviate the discomforts.

Here's what week 2 looked like:

Monday - easy run, 45 minutes
I pulled a "two-fer"...I didn't wake up in time do all the run before work, so I did 3 miles in the AM & 1.5 miles in the PM.
3 mile run @ 6:18AM, splits: 10'10, 10'21, & 10'14
1.5 mile run @ 5:55PM, 10'02 pace
(I went over the 45 minute mark...womp, womp)

Tuesday - moderate pace, 45 minutes
I tried to incorporate a little speed, by bumping up the speed .4 to.6 mph every .75 miles.
4.77 miles @ 5:58PM Splits: 10'40, 9'58, 9'57, 9'52
(I also had a 2 minute walk & cool down included in there...so the total run time was 45 minutes, but total workout time was 49 minutes)

Wednesday - easy run, 30 minutes
I did not want to run today. I hated this run.
2.92 miles @ 6:20PM, average pace 10'21

Thursday - rest
My goal on rest days is to do either Physique 57 workouts OR P90X's Cardio X workout. Epic fail.

Friday - easy run, 45 minutes
4.1 miles @ 6:23AM, Splits: 9'58, 10'33, 11'27, 11'49
This run was re-donk-u-lous. I was full from an endulgant sushi dinner the night before, & the bowels kicked in. TMI?

Saturday - easy run, 8 miles
I had to break this up into 2 back to back, 4 mile runs. My iPod decided to stop working after the first 4 miles. Womp, womp.
4.02 miles @ 9:15AM, Splits: 11'19, 10'50, 11'29, 11'20
4 miles @ 10:15AM, Splits: 10'39, 11'55, 10'55, 10'19

Total mileage: 24.35, average pace 10'39
My goals for week 3 are to continue to work on speed, but also bring back Physique 57 workouts.

I'm pretty convinced I was in fact drop on my head as a baby.

I'm in week 2 of half marathon training, and I just jumped in to the schedule. I didn't really read the descriptions of what my runs entail, except for the time & mileage.

This morning I had a 45 minute, easy run. Oh, I totally rocked the easy part. Especially since last night's sushi was not sitting well. I always over eat when it comes to sushi.

TMI?

I got a wild hair today & read away.

My plan has what's called "easy runs" - & yes, I've been wondering what the heck an "easy run" means. Do I walk? Do I jog? What should my pace be? What should my breathing be like? Ya da, ya da, ya da. So I read up on the "easy run" description today.

Here's what it says:

Ummmmm.....

Sorry Coach, but the last time I could do that was 5th grade.
Surely she meant 50 states.
But even then I forget the little ones. Like Texas.
Porkchop on the other hand, is a walking globe. He can tell you north of, south of, east of, west of, & then how to get to Russia.


PTL it's Friday. My brain can rest after trying to recite all 50 capitals.

I was a narnar on Friday & left my camera cord at work. So, plan to see a part 2 of this post.

Saturday was the endurance run for my training plan. 7 miles was the target. I ended up running a little over 8 miles.

Dexter was a super sideline cheerleader for me & slept the ENTIRE time.

Thanks buddy.


My hip flexor area is still bothering me - so the pain was sporadically slowing me down. Plus, I've got a lot of junk in the trunk & I'm just not fast with the load.

According to Nike+ my average minutes per mile was 11:33 & I finished in 90 minutes. (That does include all my water & potty breaks though - I let the timer run & didn't pause).

After my run, I decided to take Dexter out for a short walk. I'm not sure how this happened, but I got lost in our neighborhood.
Yes, I was dropped on my head as a baby.

So once I finally navigated in the right direction, that's when I noticed Dexter was struggling a little bit. He then decided he had had enough, & just laid down in someone's lawn. I finally coaxed him to get up, but I was really thinking that I should probably carry him back home.

But I didn't.

We got back to the house & he collapsed on the cool floor.

It was super hot out & all, but for a hyper dog, he's super out of shape. Matt thinks he's just designed for short bursts of energy, not sustained activities. It was a 2 mile walk, so I really thought he'd do just fine. I will say it SO helped his temperment the rest of the day.

Lesson learned.

We attended a wedding Saturday afternoon....& I finally got the chance to wear this dress:

Here's the full run down for my first week of HMT (half marathon training) :)

The plan I'm following has minute goals M-F, rather than mileage goals. Saturdays are the only days with specific miles to run.

Monday: 45 minutes @ an easy pace = 4.2 miles, 10'37 average pace

Tuesday: 45 minutes @ a moderate pace = 4.3 miles, 10'36 average pace hahahahaha i shaved off a second!

Wednesday: REST

Thursday: 30 minutes @ an easy pace = 3 miles, 10'09 average pace; threw in a Physique 57 workout as well

Friday: REST

Saturday: 7 miles @ an easy pace = 8.1 miles, 11'30 average pace, followed by a 2 mile walk with Dexter

This week I restarted the half marthon training. I'm using a program from the Women's Running Magazine. Instead of having mileage goals this week (with the exception of the endurance run, which is tomorrow), it was all time goals.

Their schedule for me this week:
M - 45 minutes, easy run
T - 45 minutes, moderate pace
W - 30 minutes, easy run
Th - cross training
F - 45 minutes, easy run
S - 7 miles

I changed it up a bit:
W - Rest :)
Th - 30 minute run, Physique 57 30 minute advanced express workout
F - Rest :)

And tomorrow, will be the 7 miles definitely, but I may squeeze in a few more miles. We'll see.
How's your training!?

My friend Erin is having a baby girl, due in November. Matt had bought me a Cricut a few months back, so naturally I wanted to make her baby shower invitations. The theme is punk baby / glam rock....so I adorned the invites with this:

kinda hard to see but the hairbow is glitter cardstock  "Girls Rock" in the same paper as the hair bow

 I've also been spending a ridiculous amount of time on Etsy looking for baby goodies for Erin's girl. Good grief that site has everything! I found this little treasure today:


Somehow I drifted over to twin stuff ~ I think it would be so cool to have twins! My mom is an identical twin.
Any twins in your family?
What is / was your timeline for children?
Matt & I said 5 years. We're approaching 3 years. With many of my friends being pregnant & having babies this year....I'm hoping that 5 year plan will go away :)

First & foremost - THANK YOU for all the sweet comments & birthday wishes! Ralphie had a big smile on his face as he read all of them.
And thanks to Paula for pointing out that I failed to explain where the nickname "porkchop" came from :)
To sum it up: Ralphie used to be ridiculously thin - homeboy could eat ANYTHING & never gain an ounce. He lived off of french fries, Kraft singles (yes, he'd eat those like no one's business), Cheetos, & spoonfuls at a time of peanut butter. (Hmmmm...this may explain why I was a hefty-sak growing up - I thought I could eat all that too...)
So anyways, as it normally happens, once you reach a certain age all the health choices you made at a young age start to catch up with you. At around 20, this happened for Ralphie. And the cruel sister that I am, made it known to him by calling him "porkchop".

Don't judge me. He calls me an "idiot" in sign language.

humble

On to other goodness....it may have been the fact that we've been watching Mad Men lately, but I felt the need to rock a pencil skirt to church yesterday:



Do you watch Mad Men?
Matt & I just started watching the past seasons - we're pretty addicted.

This morning, I officially "re-kicked-off" half marathon training. New plan & new running time! I get to run in the mornings now since my work hours changed. No more evening runs - unless I hit the snooze button. 
Today: 4.2 miles, "easy pace"
Saturday I ran 8 miles at about an 11:30 pace.
I'm a speed demon, I know.
(please pick up on the sarcasm)