Say What Now

Hey yall, today was amazing. I think the main part was I didn’t have to work. Sounds really bad I know, but sometimes it’s nice to have a day off. I was going to run in the morning so I had no excuses to not run later in the day. However, there was a lady who was running along with her 2 children. Needless to say I turned around and walked away. Between there being kids and the mom being on the good treadmill, there was no machines left. I mean I don’t really want to be trying to train with children in there, plus my fiance was with me and he needed a machine. So we went back to my apartment.

On the plus side we then went swimming instead. My ultimate goal was to run and then swim. It makes sense to me to go get sweaty and then go cool off in the pool. It still worked out and I got to swim. Thankfully we (my fiance and I) decided to get out at a great time because out of no where a gazillion children showed up. Ok, so maybe not a gazillion but there was about 10. I felt so bad for the quiet lady with a baby because none of those kids showed respect and jumped in right next to her. I was like good grief that baby does not need to be splashed and neither does the mom. Eventually we left the pool a little tanner (that was me) and a little more red (my fiance).

My fiance left for work and I decided I should probably go run. So I went and it was awesome! I ran over 9 miles in a hour and a half. I still can’t believe I managed to do it. The only times I stopped were to drink some water, stretch, and the usual bathroom breaks. The beginning of my run felt like a breeze and I was like I got this. Towards the last 2 miles however, I thought I was dying. It was awesome to finish and finish well. I’m so happy with how it went. I did realize that I will need to start bringing a bigger water bottle.

It did end up being kind of an interesting run. I heard some people come in and awkwardly came out of the bathroom to them. They didn’t seem super happy to see me. I mean it was a couple trying to work out but I was like hey I’ve only gone half an hour. Anyways the girl kept eyeing me and then looking at her man. Apparently she wanted to talk to him or something but didn’t since I was there. The guy finished before the girl and sat in a chair that was right behind me. It was SUPER awkward. I’m running and thinking why in the world would you sit right behind me. Eventually they left when I had about 20 minutes left.

Later in the evening we took my puppy for a walk. She slept all day for whatever reason. I mean I took her on little walks through out the day.

I’m not sure if it’s the heat or what, but later in the evening she eventually got crazy and hyper. My fiance was awesome and jogged with her a little bit, since I ran a crazy amount earlier. It made me so happy to see him jog. It’s been so long since his pinched nerve has kept him out.

~Fitness Addict~

This Heat Though

Today was an extremely hot and humid day. I mean you step outside and you just start sweating. It was crazy. But I have been so desperate to run outside my fiance finally gave in and let me. Now, yall should probably know that my area is under a heat warning advisory. At this point it was still technically morning (11am) and I thought it would be a great idea to go run for an hour and forty minutes. Yeah… That didn’t really happen. I did manage to run in that heat/humidity for about half an hour. However, some crazy heavy amount of humidity and heat just hit me like a heavy blanket. My fiance and best friend, who is visiting from my home state, were like how are you running in this we are dying just sitting here. I decided that we should go back and I would just finish inside. However, I promised my best friend we would go swimming, especially since it was so hot. Granted, once we got to the pool we realized there were chairs and debris in it, so we didn’t go. No one had eaten lunch and it was almost 1pm, so I ended up not running. But another friend came over and we grilled and had a lot of fun. It was pretty entertaining listening to each others stories of different times in people’s lives. Later, when letting my dog out I saw that the maintenance guys came and cleaned up the pool.

Not My Day

Today I was going to go run for an hour and a half, which seems crazy. It is needed to run that distance. I mean I’m training for a half marathon. However, we (my fiance, my puppy, and i) went to aI trail to go run but it was flooded over. Normally I would go and run through it, but the creek was gorging over so it wasn’t possible. After, we came back to my apartment and I tried finding a place to run. All the places were freakishly close. It becomes challenge to find a decent place because my fiance walks. I’m hoping as soon as his sciatic nerve gets better it won’t be so hard to find a decent place to run. There are many long trails but they don’t allow dogs. I’m training my puppy to run with me because she has so much energy. Plus she’ll make it entertaining.

It was really disappointing that I didn’t get to run what I planned on. I think part of my reason is because I know one you get out of the habit, it’s hard to get back in. Taking a week off for a missions trip has thrown me off my normal schedule. Plus in less than 2 weeks I leave to go on vacation, however it’ll have a workout area.

No More Breaks

Hey yall! I’m back. I was on a missions trip this last week and it was a blast. Maybe on one of my days off I’ll blog about it. I ran a little bit while I was out, but not near enough.

Today was my first day running after a week off. It was challenging, but so worth it. Apparently that week off helped because I ran better than I had been. I mean I felt it and my legs definitely started to get weak. My run went well all things considered. It felt good to run again and just process everything. I’ve also stated using this protein shake to help curb carb controls. Carbs are hard for me to give up because I’m Italian and a lady. It’s a great shake because it gives me 17 grams of protein and only 100 calories. Plus it’s chocolates and you can’t go wrong there.

Tonight my fiance is taking me out on a date! It has been so long since we’ve gone on one. We were originally going to go see the Minions movie but it wasn’t on until 9pm. He does have a drive back home. He made up for it though and took me out to Red Lobster. He spoils me way to much. I’m so glad I ran over 5 miles today because those biscuits are delicious, however I did manage to limit myself to only 2 biscuits. I ate some amazing salmon, rice pilaf, and broccoli. Everything was amazing.

Early Morning

Yesterday’s run started off crazy early in the morning. I had to work earlier than normal and was going out later with some new “cousins” of mine. Now yall have to realize I have not run early in the morning in ages. It has been years since I’ve done that. Overall my run went well all things considering. At first my body was a little stiff and sore, but after stretching when I got warmed up I loosened up a little. I am proud of how well I ran. I only stopped because I was having digestive issues (sorry, don’t know any other way to put that), otherwise I just started walking. My other highlight was I ran longer than I planned on, which was on purpose.

Now as for those new “cousins” I met yesterday. My fiance and I went to the Bass Pro restaurant in Branson and it was my first time meeting these people. They are a ton of fun and were so warm and welcoming. For the theme of my wedding they fit right in, which is awesome. I learned how to play Farkle thanks to them and almost beat my fiance. They are sarcastic and funny and I get to see them today. 🙂

Home Run

Hey y’all! Hope you guys had a great 4th of July. We should always be honoring our vets and what they do for this country everyday.

Last week my blogs ended a little early because I ended up having to be done early in the week. My knee was pretty swollen and bruised. The pain had slowly gone up my leg and my fiance things my tendon was super tight and strained. Because I rely on him and his knowledge, I decided to not run and let it finish healing. However, I did have a 7 hour shift at work. Normally that would be nothing because I used to do 14 hour shifts that included a lot of manual labor. Since my knee was still kinda jacked up though, it was a slight problem. I did wear a compression sleeve on it to help keep it from getting worse. My work was super nice and let me go early, since I was going home for the 4th and it was a 5 hour drive.

When my fiance and I showed up, the fireworks got a little crazy. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but it was entertaining. We did end up eating a long the way but I still had pasta salad when I got there. I realize that probably wasn’t the greatest thing for me, but I really, really, really like pasta salad (I’m Italian, what can I say. Pasta calls my name). It was so much fun to see my family, even if it was for only an hour. The next day my church had a 4th of July picnic after service on our new land. It was a lot of fun and my fiance almost won an oreo pie (super healthy, I know) but got beat but girls. Probably good for him, so he can get humbled. After that fun/hot event we got to go see some more family that I don’t get to see often. My fiance had briefly met some of them before. It was good for him to meet them again and actually get to know them. My dad and I talked about a bike ride that day, but it was so hot and we were up late the night before. On Monday I got to see my riding instructor and her husband plus visit some of the horses. It was so nice to see them again and check up on the one horse that was sick. Today I go in for a final fit on my wedding dress! That’s super exciting and my mom told me to not lose anymore weight. I don’t think it’ll change anything if I do, but oh well. My rib cage is bigger than my mom’s, so I can’t really suck that in to fix the issue.

However, today I went on an easy run. My knee hurt barely, but not enough to make me stop. I’m so happy with my run today because I only had to stop once for the restroom and the other times were because my fiance almost needed me. At the end I did stop to drink some water, which is kinda important. My fiance folded laundry while I ran, since his back was bothering him. But it was nice to be home and get to run and feel good about it.

Rest Day

Today was my rest day from running, which apparently I needed. During work (retail) my knee felt like there was a lot of fluid in it. Slowly it went away and got better. Even though it was my rest day from running, I still did body weight workouts. It was for about 45 minutes, but consisted of a lot of squats and lunges. On top of that I made turkey meatloaf for the first time. It was quite delicious and my fiance can attest to the fact it was good.

I got this from Balancing Beauty & Bedlam, but changed it up slightly.

• 1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
• 1 cup of spaghetti sauce (your favorite)
• 1/2 cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs (if you don’t have any substitute quick oats)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 eggs, beaten (for lower fat – 1 egg & 2 egg whites)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 TB Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 cup low fat shredded cheese, mozzarella (or what you have on hand. In the pic, I used cheddar)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line 8 or 9 inch loaf pan with foil for easy clean up. (Optional)
3. In mixing bowl, combine turkey with 1/4 cup of sauce, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, eggs, Worcestershire Sauce, seasonings, parm cheese and optional fennel. Mix well.
4. Press half the turkey in the pan.
5. With the back of a spoon, press a 1 inch deep indentations down the center, leaving a inch border on all sides.
6. Place 3/4 cup cheese on meat.
7. Spread the remaining turkey over the top, sealing edges along the side of pan.
8. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
9. (Take out of oven and carefully dumb out any accumulated grease).
10. Spoon the remaining spaghetti sauce over the top of the meat loaf and sprinkle remaining cheese. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until meat is cooked through and sauce is bubbling. (Check)
11. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. If you try and serve right away, it may fall apart, since it needs a little time to set.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 1 hour(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

Interesting Article

I found this link on Facebook but it’s really good. She makes an excellent point about many things. In order to accept ourselves, we have to give all our insecurities to God. It shouldn’t be about comparing ourselves. This relates to running in a different sort of way. For one thing as runners we compare to each other like crazy. I know personally I feel like I’m an awful runner (not really sure how you can be bad at it, but whatever) and compare myself to people who have been running for years upon years. Running has become such a huge part of my life it’s hard to believe I’ve only been a “runner” for a few years. I really have to try hard to not compare myself to others and be happy with my progress as a runner.

http://qpolitical.com/sadie-robertson-has-a-shocking-confession-to-make-i-didnt-expect-this/

Aches and Pains

Today my run got cut short. It was sad and disappointing, especially since it was supposed to be an easy run. I didn’t push my run and I honestly was trying to take it easy. It’s not always easy for me to go for an easy run because I’m always trying to beat my goal. Sometimes it’s a good thing and other times not so much. The main reason my run got cut short was because of pain in my knee. For this particular knee it was a little worrisome, only because it has a bruise that keeps growing. I kept trying to run through the pain. I had read somewhere that sometimes pain in the body is psychological, expecting when running. It makes sense, since runners are putting pounds of pressure on these joints. So I kept trying to run along, attempting to ignore the burning sensation. Eventually I gave up and had my fiance look at my knee. He looked at it concluded that it was swollen and that my ACL and MCL were the big issues. I guess they were the ones giving me pain. On top of all that my achilles on the other side of my body was giving me pain.

It was more disappointing in the fact I felt like I failed myself. I have a huge goal in front of me and I didn’t complete one of the smaller goals. I know it was good for me to stop if the pain wasnt leaving. I realize that by ignoring the pain and still feeling it something was wrong. I ended up just doing abs without running. It sucks feeling like a failure, but I know I’m not. I’ve decided that is because I don’t want to get out of the habit of running so I can be successful in this half marathon. Probably was best I quit running when I did, since I’m running my long run on Friday instead of Saturday.

Lonely Day

Today was an amazing run. I told myself no stopping unless I was going to fall over and have a heart attack. I could slow to a walk but that was it. It is easier to drink water at a walk than a run. I’m so pumped with how the run went! I only stopped once to use the restroom and the rest to walk.

The only downside to this run was that my fiance couldn’t join. Our work schedules collided a great deal. I would put his disappointed face in my mind every time I would think about stopping. Pretending he was there cheering me own helped out a lot. Even though  it was a lonesome run, I’m thankful I did it. No matter the mood, a run, whether good or bad, will always help me feel better.