8 Miles Finito

8 mile half marathon training run.  Woo hoo!

This morning Greg and I woke up, ate a pre-run breakfast, digested, then headed out the door a little before 8 for a long run.  Instead of running on the usual A1A, I did some research beforehand and found that there is ONE "trail" in Boca.  The trail begins two miles from our apartment so we planned to run there, run the trail out and back (total of four miles) and run back home. 

I'll be very honest and say that Boca's one and only trail is quite a disappointment.  It started out with potential - a nice, wide path surrounded by trees and a little canal - but then it turned into a path running parallel to a big road and bordering some of FAU's maintenance buildings... hmmm not my ideal running trail.  I guess I'm spoiled from living in beautiful NC for 22 years :)

I developed a pretty serious side stitch early on and it lingered for most of the run but I was able to keep it at bay.  By about mile five Greg's knee started bothering him so he ran another half mile then I was on my own.  We ended up turning around before the end of the trail so I ran the last two and half in some neighborhoods not far from our apartment. 

Scrambled eggs and a smoothie followed the run then it was pool time!  As you've seen in some recent pics, I am pretty ghostly so it's time for me to get some color so I'll actually show up in our engagement pictures :)  Grego and I read by the pool for about an hour then came home to watch the Masters.  I ended up napping for a good hour and a half is it was fabulous.

We enjoyed the rest of the day on the couch.  I studied and Greg researched cars - more on that later!

I hope you had a beautiful Sunday. 

Happy Easter!

3:41 min/mile

Hooray!  Greg and I picked up our brand-spanking new bikes today!

The sucky Greg's bike being stolen situation ended up working out for the better.  The insurance company reimbursed Greg a few hundred dollars more than the cost of his bike so I was able to get a new bike without paying much at all.  WIN!

Strappin' them in for the ride home

As soon as we got home, we changed and headed out for a nice long ride.  We rode north on A1A about six miles then turned around and made our way back, making a couple of scenic stops on the way.

 It is a little paradisey, no?

Gotta love the helmet look..

Throughout the ride I did a few intervals to ramp up the cardio a bit.  Then I got a little crazy and pushed as hard as I could to see how quickly I could cover a mile.  I finished in 3:41!   I was def winded after that, but it was a lot of fun to test myself.

Such a fab way to spend the afternoon.  I am in love with my new bicicleta and I know Greg is loving his.

Time to shower and hang with the pup!

Ice Ice Baby

Hello and happy Sunday!

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend.  Mine consisted of lots of college basketball, a full day of AFAA workshop/certification and studying.

Study materials

I spent most of Friday preparing for the AFAA Primary Group Exercise certification.  The workshop was held at the local Y (where I work) and there were six of us going for our cert.  Our instructors were great - informative and fun.  We spent the day reviewing everything that would be on the practical and written examinations then finished the day by completing the exams.  I feel fairly confident about how I performed, but I won't find out for another 4 - 6 weeks so I'll be crossing my fingers until then!

Instead of going out on the town like the rest of Boca for St. Patty's Day, Greg and I spent the night in.  I was pretty worn out from the day so it was nice to relax with the hubs & pup :)

My next Anatomy & Phys test is on Tues so I made note cards and studied while watching NC State BEAT Georgetown today!  Whoop whoop we're going to the Sweet Sixteen! (Congrats to the Heels too)

Since I needed to get a longer run in for half marathon training, I set out to do 5 - 6 miles around 6 pm tonight.  I ended up completing 5.2 miles and was pretty happy since I didn't have my usual running partners (watching the UNC game) to help me through it.

My hip flexors usually give me some trouble after a longer run so I decided to try out my very first ice bath!

Since Florida water doesn't really get cold and I only had the ice out of the freezer, it wasn't an ideal ice bath, but hopefully it'll prevent a little soreness?  Next time I'll go out and buy a few bags of ice.

Well, I should get to studying.  Have a great night!


Do you enjoy running by yourself or with other people?  With music or without?

-I much prefer to run with someone, but I'm getting better at solo running.  I usually run without music, but will prob start using music to get through long training runs.

From the Weekend & a Mizuno Christmas

Hola!

Since it's been a few days, let's rewind to Sunday.  Greg and I relaxed for the first part of the day then headed down to Fort Lauderdale for the International Car Show.  It was held in a convention center adjacent to Port Everglades.

There were lots of brands to check out!

My faves:

New bugger!

Sooo different than mine inside... didn't feel the same at all

Smartcar.... I've been obsessed since our Paris trip in 2001.

I also love the Acura RDX.. maybe one day

Greg's faves:

Ferrari of some sort.... Greg, maybe someday we'll win the lottery

Audi A8

Okay, enough about cars.  So from there we stopped at Panera for lunch then drove over to Sunrise for the Carolina Hurricanes/Florida Panthers hockey game #2!!!

We arrived at the arena in time to hang out with our boys while they warmed up :)

 We chose to save some money and go with $10 tickets and sat on the upper level, but first row.  Ended up being great seats since we could see everything so well!

Hey, wanna know something soooo surprising???  The Canes lost.  Again.  Who would have guessed?  Oh well, still love them!!!

Okay so now to the fun part.  Last week I decided I wanted to order another pair of Mizunos since my running shoes have about had enough...... I ended up ordering THREE pairs and a pair of capris while Greg ordered one pair of shoes.

FedEx came today which meant it was Christmas all over again!!!!!!

Hurry open it open it!!!!!

Did you get meeee a pair mama???

Heaven!

Yellow = running, purple = walking/misc, green/purp = strength/crossfit!

We're ready for CrossFit!!

 After we calmed down from opening our new gifts, we decided to test them out and go on a stroll to get ice coffee and wander through neighborhoods!

 Such a beautiful day here in south Florida, sunny and warm

Love this

The verdict:  We both loved how the new shoes felt!  Can't wait to take my others out for a test run.. maybe tonight!

I hope you're having a great week!

Catch ya later :)

CrossFit Newbies

I have been wanting to try CrossFit for quite some time now.  I got Greg really interested in it and we started looking up local CrossFit gyms in our area.  Wowsa is it a little pricey!  The average price around here is $150/month per person for an unlimited membership and $100/month for two classes/week.

It's been in the back of my mind since then, but today after reading CrossFit Q&A on Carrots 'n' Cake I got determined to find a sweet deal somehow.  And what a sweet deal I found!

I came across this awesomeness on Gottahalfit.com.  $25 for an unlimited membership for the CrossFit gym just down the road from us = SCORE!!!

I immediately bought two so Grego and I will be crossfitting in just a few weeks when we get back from our trips!  So excited.  I feel like we're going to get hooked and end up shelling out $300 a month... eek we shall see!

I hope you've had a great week, one more day until the weekend woo hoo!


Have you ever tried CrossFit?  If so, what were your thoughts and do you think it's worth $150 a month?

Delish Pesto and Tuesday's Workout

Last night's dinner was very easy to make, healthy and delish!  We made linguine with homemade pesto and chicken sausage.

Here's how it all went down:

Ingredients

12-15 grape tomatoes

Handful fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup whole almonds, lightly toasted

2 garlic cloves

Sea salt, to taste

½ cup EVOO

Whole wheat linguine

Spicy Italian chicken sausage

Grated parmesan cheese, for sprinkling

Directions

Cook pasta

Thinly slice chicken sausage and saute until golden brown

Blend all of the above pesto ingredients in food processor/blender until preferred consistency

Mix pesto into hot pasta and top with sausage

Sprinkle with parmesan

Enjoy! 

Greg and I attacked our servings almost immediately so I don't have any pictures of the finished product.  This pesto is a lot healthier and yummier than those you find in jars at the store, so try this recipe!

Workout

After class today, I took Maya out to stretch our legs.  We walked a 1/4 mile, ran a mile in 8:30 followed by an easier 1/2 mile then cooled down with another 1/4 mile walk.

I did some ab and arm work with the fitness ball when we returned:

15 crunches

15 Push ups, balancing legs on ball

Repeat two more times

15 oblique crunches on left side

15 oblique crunches on right side

15 tricep pushups

Repeat two more times

Time to shower and do some schoolwork.  Greg's boss is in town for the night so we're going to have dinner with him later!

Have a great day :)

Who Drank the Kool-Aid?

I did!!  As my friend Elsa said, I "drank the kool-aid" ... meaning I am now a running freak :)  And I have to say, I'm super pumped about being in the club!

I got a little 5K happy earlier and signed up for two races in November.  Greg and I will be participating in a 5K next weekend here in Boca and my sista and I will be running in one on Thanksgiving day (The Gobbler)!

I am excited to get in some more race experience, since the half marathon was my first.  I'd like to average a 9:00 min/mile-ish pace for the 5K here in Boca.  I imagine Sarah and I will not be too worried about our finish time during the Gobbler, we'll be more interested in the fun and watching all the pups that will be out there.  They are having a 1.5 mile dog-jog along with the Gobbler!!

These babes will be out there!!

I wish my girl, Morgan was going to be in town to run with us.  We'll have to plan a race over Christmas break and... maybe I'll consider the marathon in May, ahh!

I challenge all of you to sign up for a race in the near future - it'll be funnnn

Half Marathon Training Status

So the Cannonball Run Half Marathon is three weeks away from today!!  I can't believe it's almost here.  I'm so looking forward to the weekend, but I hope I will be prepared.

I have been pretty diligent with my runs, including a 7 mile run last weekend and an 8 1/2 mile run this morning.  I woke up at 5:30 am, after the worst night of sleep I've had in a long time, ate my pre-run breakfast (sandwich thin with peanut butter), stretched and loosened up while my food settled, then hit the pavement at 6:20 am.  I felt so much better running this morning than I have over the last week during my shorter runs and that was very encouraging.  I ran the first 4.5 then stopped to take my GU and continued on.  I still felt good until about mile 7, but I managed to push out another 1.5.  My goal was to complete 9 miles, but I listened to my body and stopped a half mile short to walk the rest.

As you can see from above, my pace isn't fast by any means, but I'm okay with a 10ish min-mile.  I plan to run 10 miles next weekend, and 11 the weekend after that.  The week before the race will be spent resting with a few short runs mixed in.  I'm excited about that :)

I haven't been listening to music during my runs until today and that was a major game-changer.  It helped keep my mind off of the running and focus on the jams.. I wanted to dance throughout most of the run.  You won't find me running without my ipod anymore!

It started raining outside so now my bed is calling my name - nap time!!!