Thursday, October 31, 2013

"The Jam" Thursday

It's that time again, it's Thursday! And bonus...it's HALLOWEEN!  Happy Halloween everybody! I've always been a fan of Halloween, yes as kids it was a time to look forward to because you could gorge yourself on sweet treats, dress up and go trick or treating with your friends around the neighborhood. Now that I'm older and I don't do that any more (I'm the one handing out the treats to the kids) I still enjoy this time of year because of the fun times you have carving pumpkins, decorating your home and interacting with the kids excitedly anticipating trick or treating.

So how appropriate is it that on Thursday when I usually share my favorite jams to run and groove to, that Halloween would fall on it this year and I can share a Halloween themed jam. YAY!

Today's jam should be of no surprise to anyone. This is such an iconic song and has been popular since the moment it was released. It was performed by the King of Pop himself and still to this day invokes a certain twinge of scaredy-pants apprehension when I listen to this in the dark.

Today's jam is:

Thursday, October 24, 2013

"The Jam" Thursday

Oh Thursday we meet again, you evil temptress you! So close to the weekend but yet so far. This week has been an odd one for me. I was off on Monday so I've been at work for two days, but this week has felt like FOR-EVER!

This is also the start of a very busy couple of weeks for me. I've got a birthday party on Saturday, a Halloween pumpkin carving party on Sunday, then the whole week will be prepping for my sister's baby shower that I'm co-hosting next weekend. After that I'll be seeing a bit of daylight in my schedule just before the ramp up to the holidays and all the festivities that those days bring. Not to mention I still have to prep and clean the extra bedroom to make room for our lil pumpkins arrival in January! So much to do and the time is just starting to slip away!

Today's "jam" is a Throwback Jam. I've loved this song ever since I first heard it and it never fails to get me grooving everytime I hear it. This artist has been a mainstay in the industry for a number of years now and has been cemented as a fantastic musician and entertainer. He even made a judging appearance on last seasons The Voice.  So I present today's Throwback "Jam":

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Disneyland Race Weekend: 5K Race Recap

With all the runDisney buzz yesterday with the announcement of the first ever night meet-up at this years Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend, I got so excited and am currently going through runDisney withdrawls, that I couldn't wait to finish my race recaps.  So, continuing on with my recap of the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend, here is the first race recap, the 5K.

Yes, if you know my blog content leading up to this, I had signed up for the Dumbo Double Dare and was REALLY excited about running the inaugural of the 10K AND the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge! However during the hype of signing up for the DDD, everyone was talking about running the 5K too, think of all the BLING you would rack up. My eyes glittered and my credit card winced, I signed up for the 5K too. The cool think about doing the 5K, well other than the extra neckware, was that my hubby was running the race with me as well! It would be his first 5K in almost two years and his first finisher medallion ever. So this 5K was going to be a special race for us.

The morning started off like any other runDisney race morning...REALLY EARLY! If the races have to be done before the park opens, that means 0:dark-thirty start times! This was our picture before we left the hotel room, bibbed up and ready to go! I was dressed as Alice as there was a very distinct reason why, you'll find out very soon!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

"The Jam" Thursday

Wow these days are going quickly! I can't believe we are at Thursday already, wasn't it just Monday? I mean I'm not complaining, the weekend is almost here, but this weekend is also bat shit crazy busy! I guess it is the beginning of the holiday season where your weekends are no longer your own and you are crazy busy all the time. Lots to do and lots of people to see, tis the season, right?

It's also crazy at work too! Why is it that people leave all of their vacation time until the end of the year and then realize they need to use it or lose it, then there is a rash of people out all at the same time making it absolutely nuts at work because everyone is covering for everyone else? Or is that just me and where I work? I mean I have some days to burn, but damn people, learn how to dole your vacation days out over the whole year! You are stressing this pregnant woman out!!!

Well since today is Thursday, it is time to share another "jam"! This one is what I call a workhorse of my list. It is always in the mix, usually somewhere in the middle when I just need music to keep my pace going. I have featured this artist a few times and she will inevitably be on here again in the future.

Today's jam is:

Monday, October 14, 2013

Momentum Monday: Back at it

Hello and welcome to Monday! Here we are again at the beginning of another week. The weekend went too quickly, as it usually does, especially when you had a packed schedule like I did! Two birthday parties, football games to watch, family to hang out with, grocery shopping to do, get my haircut and...finally get out for a run!

Yes...you read that right, I'm back in the saddle again. And boy was it not pretty.

I got together with my friend Danielle on Saturday morning, the rain had finally stopped and it was chilly. We were out for 3 or 4 miles, depending on how we felt. The first mile was BRUTAL. My body was saying "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!?!?! I DON'T WANT TO!!!"

It was the hardest mile I have run in a long time. My body mechanics were all off, my breathing was atrocious and I just wanted to stop. By the time we got to 1.5 miles, our turn around point for 3 miles, things were getting better and we both agreed to keep going to mile 2 for the turnaround, we were going for 4 today.

We turned at 2 and both of us were back into our strides. I was feeling better. My form was coming back and my body was finally grooving with me. It's as if it finally remembered "oh yeah, I've done this before, this isn't so bad!" 

The last 1.5 miles went by quick, before we both knew it, we were only .5 miles from our cars. Then the abdominal cramping started. That stopped me cold. We walked a bit and ran the last .2 miles back to our cars. By that time the cramping had subsided, but I was still very conscious of it as this was my first run back with my bigger baby belly, so I didn't want to overdo it. Safety first!

When we got back to the cars and stretched, I looked at my Garmin for the time and was not really happy with it. An hour...for 4 miles. Ugh...I knew I felt like molasses, but I didn't realize that I was actually running like molasses. But I kept thinking to myself that it's my first run back in 3 weeks and I didn't do too bad considering I'm 25 weeks pregnant. I'm not out to break any records or try to best my own time, I'm out for exercise and the enjoyment of running, regardless of how fast or slow I'm going. So when I saw this quote, I wanted to use it for my Momentum today, because I really needed it.

I have to remind myself that getting out there and running, no matter how slow or fast I'm going, is better than sitting on the couch and not running at all. It is infinitely better for my health and well-being to be out there, pounding the pavement and getting some sort of mileage in. Even if it's for the fresh air alone, it is great for my body and soul.

It was great to get out there and I can't wait to get out there to run again. It felt so good and I want to run for as long as my body can phyically can handle it. After that, I'll walk. I just know that I don't want to take this long of a hiatus again from being physical, some of that time I couldn't help, but there was at least a week that I could have been out there. I'm excited to be back at it again and have even considered running a race for fun.  Nothing big, just a 5k. Am I crazy? Maybe...but damn am I loving these endorphines!

Now it's your turn: How is your running going? Have you had a return from a hiatus that felt good or bad?