Momentum Monday: Fresh Start

Good Monday to you all!  How was your weekend?  I'm fresh off a crazy busy weekend and couldn't be sleepier if I tried!  The weather is GOR-GE-OUS and I'm thrilled that summer has finally arrived in the PNW!


With my weekend having been so busy and not a whole lot of sleep, I woke up super sleepy today and have been borderline falling asleep at my computer most of the morning.  I brought my workout clothes to work with me so that I could go for a lunch time run, though my sleepiness was trying to talk me out of running.  Wait...are you kidding me?  You're gonna listen to that voice, nuh uh.  Yeah, I was looking for an excuse to be lazy, but I realized that I will have more energy if I go for that run.  Wait, you get energy from exerting energy?  That's crazy talk!!  But it worked, I got changed and headed outside. 


The weather was PERFECT, lower 70's with a light breeze coming off the water.  I was about 3/4 of a mile in when my body started fighting back...HARD!  My shins were really weak feeling and started to hurt.  I wonder if that is because I'm wearing heels today?  Can any one answer that riddle?  Everything else was good, I had a bit of a longer stride today which felt good, but I wonder if that was aiding in my tired shins, and my legs felt fresh overall.  For some reason this run was hard and it shouldn't have been.  I know that I'll have good runs and bad runs, so I'm not getting down on myself, I'm just curious as to causation of these more labored runs I encounter.


I got back to work and took a quick shower (gotta love the small changing room and one stall shower available!), now I'm at my desk feeling more energized now then I have all day.  It's amazing how exercise can get you feeling energized, it's such a great byproduct of your hard work.  I have got to remember this nugget of information!  When I got back I drank a bottle of chocolate milk I picked up at the store this morning, Lucerne's Protein + Refuel Chocolate Milk.  It advertises that it has 20g of protein per serving, which is the full 12oz bottle.  It was a buck at the store so I decided to try it, I love chocolate milk and it's a great recovery drink.  The taste is meh at best, don't get me wrong, it tastes like chocolate milk on the tongue, but the after taste is chalky like one of the Premier Protein shakes.  This almost had a malted flavor for those of you that like malt flavor, though I'm not a fan.  Overall, I wouldn't buy it again, but I would drink it if it was available.


It is Momentum Monday and today's run has helped me to feel like I'm creating a good exercise foundation for this week.  Thursday is the first of three weekly training runs leading up to the Seafair Torchlight Run on Saturday July 28th, where I will be running the 8K portion.  The training runs are being put on by Brooks and will be meeting up at Road Runner Sports on Greenlake at 6:30pm.  I feel lucky to be a runner in Seattle where Brooks is heavily involved in the race and running community, and puts on these types of training runs where the community can get together and enjoy a good run and good times in preparation for a race.  Brooks has quickly become one of my favorite sponsors and I just got a pair of their shoes, all I can say is...WOW(!) I'm in love, though I'll save the review for later.  So the momentum mantra for this week is:

This mantra couldn't ring more true for me today.  I have no regrets lacing up my shoes and going for a run this afternoon, it was the best decision I've made all day.


Question for you:  Does wearing heels affect your running? Obviously you aren't going to run in heels, but does it tire your legs out differently than if you weren't wearing them previously?

Crazy Weekend!

Do you ever have those weekends that don't feel like a weekend because you are "working" the whole time and never really get a chance to relax or unplug?  That is me this weekend.  Holy lord has it been incredibly busy! 


Today is my sister's birthday, she is 30 years old.  Wow, did I just say that?  My baby sister whom I helped raise and looked over almost my entire life is 30 today.  Wow...I'm old.


However her husband and I threw her a 30th birthday party yesterday so that people would stay out later and enjoy the company, rather than the day of her birthday (Sunday) where people would leave early to get ready for work the next morning.  So yesterday was totally dedicated to prepping the(ir) house for the party, decorating and prepping all the food.  I also spent a great deal of time on Friday doing last minute shopping and prepping some of the food and drinks.  I made pre-mixed mason jar drinks with margaritas and John Daly's, thank you Pinterest for the idea!


So yesterday was a total blur and in order to keep the party going, I was racing around in the background making sure things went smoothly = no pictures taken.  BOO HISS!!!  I had my camera charged and ready to go to take pictures of the birthday girl and how everything looked and the great food and drinks that were made to post on here so you all could drool...but the camera never even left my purse.  Le sigh.


Though I need to give shout out's here for recipes that received RAVES last night!  The "Knock You On Your Ass Margarita's" from Brittany Gibbons @brittanyherself were a complete HIT!!  I put them in mason jars and threw them in a bucket with ice and they were the first drinks gone...and people RAVED about them.  So if you LOVE margaritas (I don't, bad tequila story for another time) try this recipe, your friends will thank you and your liver will kick you. 
Then the Seven Layer Crazy Greek Dip, complete with the creamy feta, from How Sweet It Is @howsweetitis.  This recipe made a HUGE batch and people could not. stop. eating. it!!!  Addictive in every way (oh no, you don't need chips, I was attacking it last night armed with a spoon, that's how I roll), I'm savoring what was leftover to top my salads with this week. :) 
Then last but not least, the Grilled Corn Orzo Salad from Iowa Girl Eats @Iowagirleats.  This recipe said it served 6, so I was making it for ~20 people as a side dish and doubled the recipe.  HOLY BIG BOWL BATMAN!!  This made SO MUCH salad and it turned out insanely light and refreshing!  The flavors worked so well together with the cool pasta and tomatoes, with the creamy avocado and heat from the chili in the dressing, it was a masterpiece.  Go make it...NOW!!


Today is my sister's actual birthday and also Family Dinner night (our family gets together every Sunday night for dinner together).  Also, the Family Dinner that follows your birthday is your "Birthday Dinner" where the birthday person gets to pick what they want served for dinner and what kind of dessert they want.  It's inevitable that we ask for dishes that are prepared by my mom and she knows that she will be in the kitchen most of that day cooking.  My dad has actually picked up almost all of the cooking over the past years, so there are distinct recipes that are my mom's and my dad can't make.  These recipes usually aren't the healthiest either, so you just indulge and enjoy on these birthday dinner nights.  Tonight is no exception to this rule!  Oriental beef and my mom's drumette recipe, oh nom nom nom.


So my crazy weekend continues on today with another birthday party for my friends twins who are turning 7...wow, 7 years old.  I remember when they were just infants!  Then Family Dinner after that.  I have a couple of hours until this all starts, maybe I'll go back to sleep and snuggle with the hubby.  Either way, tomorrow is still too soon for Monday! 


Have a great rest of your Sunday!

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone is having a great day!  Took advantage of the day off and got a nice long run this morning.  4.2 mile loop around where I live and I didn't stop to walk once!  A first for me!  I'm so stoked.  I'm so happy that my endurance is finally starting to come around.  I look forward to getting more mileage under my belt and increasing that endurance.

A little post run pic for proof:

Finally got to wear my tech shirt I got from the Beat the Bridge run and it felt really good running in it.  Gotta love breathable workout wear!  Thanks Brooks for the shirt!

Well I'm heading out to do some BBQing and lighting watching some fireworks!  Have a fun and safe 4th everyone!

Why you should volunteer at races

I had a really enlightening experience last weekend that I wanted to share.  It took me a week or so to think about how I wanted to blog about it without sounding like I'm up on a soapbox.  Please someone, kick it out from under me!  However I wanted to talk about my first experience volunteering at a race; the Seattle Rock n' Roll Marathon.


My friend Danielle was running her first ever half marathon and has been training for the past 4-5 months for this feat.  I was (and still am) in complete awe of her progress from being a non-runner to running a half marathon.  I wanted to be there when she crossed the start and crossed the finish line to support her and watch the culmination of all her hard work, but what was I to do for the next how-ever-many-hours inbetween?  So, I decided to sign up to be a volunteer at the race!  I figured since I would be there to support my friend who is there racing, why not support the other racers too?


I signed up with the RnR Series volunteer group and I took the shift that they have the most trouble filling, the morning!  So an early start for me as the call time for the volunteers was 4am!  GAH!  It was POURING rain and I was seriously starting to doubt my sanity in making this decision.  I went anyway, armed with a hat, layers of clothing and my waterproof jacket.  I get there (they provided free parking) and was given a poncho, my volunteer shirt, a shoulder bag (to put your stuff in since there was no bag check for volunteers) and some morning snacks. 

Pretty snazzy looking, huh?


I was lucky and got into the position I was hoping to: the start line corrals.



Pretty place to start, right?  I got to my corral and got set up.  We had to rope off the corrals and have the trash and recycle bags available, along with a bag full of packets of salt.  Luckily, by this time the rain had lifted and the sun was making its way through the clouds, it was perfect running weather here in the PNW!  Cloudy, cool and dry (well not on the road, but at least you are!).

In my corral was an entire running group that had over a hundred people racing together, and their cause was very touching.  Wear blue: run to remember.

It was a group that runs in memory of fallen soldiers, some of which were family, friends or even no relation at all, just because.  The group was amazing.  They had fantastic energy and were so sincerely nice.  They gathered for a prayer before the race began and called off the names of those they wanted to remember.  The group leader was carrying a flag the entire time and ran with it during the race!

The corrals were filling up and the energy was palpable.  I'd never been to a race like this before.  Not a marathon series, nor one of this magnatude.  Rock n' Roll has this down to a science and they have a great set up!


The race had finally begun and Corral 17 was moving to the start line.  One of the amazing things I've ever seen at a race I experienced here (and I'm so pissed I didn't get a picture of it) was the amount of clothing that is shed before the race!  It's chilly in Seattle and you want to keep warm while you're standing around for an hour+ waiting for your race to start.  So apparently, the racers will drop their clothing along the railing of the start line, if they don't have friends that will take it for them, and everything that is left is donated to the homeless.  That's awesome and such a crazy sight to see!!

Another crazy sight?  This guy.  You're not seeing things, yes, he is juggling.  You know what?  He juggled those 5 balls the entire. half. marathon.  They called him the "joggler" because he runs and juggles at the same time.  I guess if you really want to amp up your training, this is a WHOLE other level, my friends!

We are finally at the start and I was so excited, I wanted to jump in and run!  It was such an amazing feeling.  I cheered as my corral left and I headed down to the other corrals to help out.  I found my friend Danielle and cheered her on as her corral made their way to and over the start line.  She was nervous but grinning from ear to ear!  After that I helped break down the start line and the booths that surrounded that area.  Once that was done, I headed back to the volunteer table with others to be re-assigned, I was riding the good energy from being in the corrals.


Now I was already done with the shift I signed up for, but I decided to stay and help a while to wait longer for Danielle to finish.  I got assigned to the finish chute handing out "fuel" to the finishing runners.  The volunteer I was hanging out with Mitch, and I were assigned to the banana tables.  GO TEAM BANANA!!!  We had to break down the bunches into singles and lay them out on tables for the runners to grab as they went by.  We already had a ton laid out, but I also saw that tons of people were passing by and not getting their bananas.  So I grabbed armfuls of bananas and held them out to the dazed runners in the middle of the chute that were walking past me.  Some just walked past and declined, though many zeroed in on the banana like it was a million dollars being waved in their face.  It was so fun to be able to hand these simple bananas to these fantastic people after a grueling race. 


What was the most awesome and heartwarming part of this and my day as a whole, was the amount of "thank you"s I got from the racers.  Many thanked me for the banana and others thanked me for volunteering.  Mostly, the thanks came in their eyes and body motions when I assisted them in some way.  That was the most rewarding of the whole day and I left the race later that day floating on a cloud. 


My friend finished the race in 3 hours and 11 minutes...an incredible time!  She did such a fantastic job and I'm SO proud of her.  What this race did for me, and why I titled the post as such, is that you should experience this for yourself.  All of us that race and thank (or not thank) the people that volunteer to make the race happen and work as well as it does, owe it to ourselves to be a part of that wheel at some point.  You are no less important to the cause by volunteering instead of running.  I know I got the most amazing amount of satisfaction by being their for my fellow runners in small ways that made a huge difference in their experience.


I encourage you all to volunteer at a race, big or small it doesn't matter, just be involved.  Then reap the rewards of giving back to the community you love so much and have an even deeper appreciation of the process we involve ourselves in everytime we cross that start line.

Momentum Monday: Reset Button

Hello Monday and hello short week!  Holidays are nice in that we have a shorter work week and my office typically lets us out a couple of hours early the day before if it falls during the week (not on a Monday).  So we all get to cut out early and start the festivities sooner!  YAY!


Though, just because it is a holiday doesn't mean it's a holiday from exercise.  I'm trying to re-wire that part of my psyche.  Just because it is a holiday/"day off" from work, doesn't mean it's a day off from life.  Le sigh  So on Wednesday I will still be waking up fairly early and doing my long run, my hubby even said he would run with me...though I'll believe it when I see it. ;)


Today is Momentum Monday and time for me to push my reset button.  I have fallen off the wagon and I'm struggling to catch up to get back on.  I haven't been running much at all (maybe once a week, the shame!!!  I KNOW!!) and I haven't been packing my lunches for work so I've been buying from my work cafeteria, not terrible but not the healthiest stuff I should be eating.  All of this really hit me this weekend when my clothes started to fit me differently and looking at my body in the mirror, I can tell that my body composition has changed.  I went to the doctor's last week for my yearly and my weight was about the same.  Though looking in the mirror, it appears that my muscle has gone down and been replaced with fat.  Ugh...all that work I did has been undone, crap.


So today I am hitting my reset button.  Instead of thinking about what I've done (and subsequently undone with my recent laziness lack of momentum), I am going to refocus on making my meals for the day the night before and getting my run and/or exercise in every. day.  Did you get that last one?  I'm going to make it my challenge in July to run at least 4-5 days a week and to do the 300 Core and Ab challenge.

I found it on Pinterest (that website is a time eater!!!) and tried the moves out.  HOLY LORD!!  They are crazy hard and you are SORE not just the next day, but almost immediately.


Why am I doing this?  I ask myself that same question!!  Because my core is no where near where I want it to be and to be an efficient runner, you should have a stable core.  Not just have a rock hard six pack, that's not what I'm looking for.  I'm wanting a good stable core so that I don't get so exhausted during my runs and lose my form so quickly. 


This also means I'm going to have to be accountable now that I've posted this.  Oh boy...here we go.  And it also means I will have to take before and after pictures too.  What?!?  Nobody said anything about taking pictures!  If I'm going to make it a true challenge and a goal, I have to be accountable and show you what I have and haven't done.  Though the pictures won't be posted until after, so you'll have to wait a month for those.  ;)


The momentum mantra for this week is:

Question: I've hit my reset button this week, are there any changes you'd like to make?  Have you hit your reset button before?