Got twins!?

This weekend my hubby and I went on an overnight trip to Nashville. It was an abosolute blast. We met some friends for the first time. I met my friend Jen online on a mom's board about 7-8 years ago and over the last few years we have become pretty close. So, we agreed to finally meet. She and her hubby were in need of a vacation adventure so they chose to come to Nashville. It's not too far from us (3 hours). It was the perfect destination!!

Sadly though with all the walking around (in super cute not made for walking shoes...no they weren't boots) I developed twins.

Twin blisters, that is. Fun stuff. I didn't even notice my feet being sore while we were doing all that walking around, but perhaps there was a good reason for that. LOL Anyhoooo.

It was late when the family and I reached our beach vacation destination so I was unable to hit up Walgreens for a blister survival kit. The next morning Blister Sister A had seemed to have lost her juice. Nice huh!? She was flat. So, Sunday we found a Walgreens and I doctored up Blister Sister B so that I could go for a run pain free. It worked.

But when I got back in from my run and took off my shoes and socks Blister Sister A had been revived. She will be sporting a lovely blister pad today too. And I took my nail polish off my toes because it was look rough. Imagine my surprise when I noticed some funky stuff going on with a couple of my toenails.

Between my funky toenails and the Blister Sister Twins my feet look rather pathetic....just in time for a week by the pool and on the beach!

Three Things Thursday

1. Hey. Miss me? You should. ha I kid. You might miss me next week because beginning tomorrow I will be on vacation and I am not sure if I will be able to blog. I wanna try to, but I make no promises. I'm headed to Nashville for a couple days with the hubby (and to meet some friends!!). It's going to be a great couple of days. Saturday we swing back thru our neck of the woods to pick up the kiddos and make the trek over to Hilton Head, SC for a week. I am soooo ready to soak up some sun and just relax. (there will be running, too!).

2. My beautiful friend, Kelsey, who also blogs, runs, bikes, and so much more is having a giveaway. I told her I would be so kind and spread the word even though I wanna keep it a secret so that *I* am the winner. haha But if you love giveaways as much as I do and if you like that crazy trainer girl, Jillian, then I suggest you go

3. I have been running. I have been working out. I have not made June goals yet nor have I reached the goals I had in mind for this month. I stopped doing Paleo after the first week because I gained quite a few LBs and figured that since what I was doing for the last 2 years seemed to be working then I might as well keep doing it and quit trying to trick my body into another method for weight loss. Makes sense, right!? I have pics to post. I have shoes to talk about. I have a race coming up. So please please please stay tuned for all of that AND send your friends to read all about me (cuz I am cool). ;) Oh and soon...a giveaway of my OWN! :)

Give...give...giveaway!!

Check out my friend Kelsey's blog...

She's a big winner and wants you to be too!!!

And I will be back to regular posting soon. I leave for vacation Friday morning. You wouldn't believe how busy the week before summer vacation can be!? Gah.

Three Things Thursday

1. I love to sweat. So, I am sharing my sweat with you. Tonight I took spin class at the gym (15 miles of hill climbing in one lovely hour). But spin wasn't enough, so I ran a 5k (30:57, sweet). My legs feel goooood (sorta). The sweat though.. man, don't you love a good sweat!?! I feel like I didn't get a decent workout unless my shirt is soaked and my ponytail is dripping, seriously. Take a look and tell me what you think...did I get something outta my workout?


2. I really AM shrinking. Before getting in the shower tonight I had hubby snap a few pics. Sometimes it is good to see pictures of myself because just seeing myself in a mirror daily is not enough to see the actual changes that have taken place with my body. For example, I swear my legs are huge (thunder thighs anyone??) but in the following pic (ignore the goofy *I wanna be a body builder in my dreams* pose) my thighs look small. And my waist, could it really be considered small (ok, I still wear a large but compared to what it was 2 years ago..dude it is small!). And I do have muscles (traps!?).


3. Icecream. It's on my shirt and in my belly. Yes, folks I indulged in a Klondike bar tonight. I feel no shame, except maybe that my 5 year old has been singing "What do you dooooooo for a Klondike bar?" And yeah, it's what would you do but it's pretty cute how he says it. I think you know what I did for my Klondike bar. Check out my shirt...

Commitment

I found this quote a while back, printed it and stuck the paper in my gym bag. Yesterday I was packing my gym bag when I flipped through all the excess junk and random papers I had tucked inside it and ran across the one with the following quote...

"There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuse, only results."

I can't recall where I found it but I knew I liked it. I knew it applied to me. I was interested in running for a while but took a long time before I became committed enough to running for it to make a difference in my everyday well being.

I finally allowed my interest in running (and my overall health) turn into a real commitment. I started a running program and made changes in my diet...accepting NO excuses...I began seeing results. But recently I have been hearing from others about my results. But lately I feel like I am more interested in what I am doing rather than committed to what I have been doing the last couple of years and while the results haven't disappeared I am just not seeing the added results I had been hoping for to this point.

What does that mean?
It means I am not working as hard as I should. It means I am making excuses and making excuses IS NOT the answer to getting results.

What do I need to do?
Step.it.up.
Go all out.
Quit making excuses.
Don't try anything new (hello, Paleo!?....epic fail).

I need to do what I have been doing over the course of the last 2 years that has successfully lead me to a 70lb loss and a love for running. Not to mention muscles in places I never imagined you would be able to see muscles!

I'm committed to running. I am committed to my health. I am committed to reaching my ultimate goal. NO EXCUSES....Only Results.

National Running Day 2011

As you may know yesterday was National Running Day. I had already planned to run because well, it's my chosen form of exercise! Typically in the evenings after work is when I have to run because it just doesn't usually work out for me to get it done before work in the mornings. You know you love my excuses...
But I will spare ya on the why! ;)

Anyhoo...
I laced up immediately after work and due to the scorching temps and sweet humidity I planned to jump on the treadmill. Well, jump as in, that was where I would run. I had no intentions of using the treadmill as a trampoline. I bet I'd get some looks for that. haha

I didn't have a set mileage goal because usually I just run about 3 miles and hit the gym floor for weights. Yesterday I had not planned weights (shame on me) and just intended on running. I had to take a potty break at 2.5 miles and at that point knew I would go a total of 5 miles.

And that is what I did.
5 miles
50:28

What did YOU do for National Running Day??

Update to May Goals

I had 3 goals set for the month of May.
~Get back to the long run.
~Lose 5 lbs.
~Re-focus the eating.

So, how did I fair?
Well, I don't want to call myself a failure because failing just isn't an option. I also will NOT make excuses as to why my goals were not completely met. And believe me, I didn't meet them in the sense I had hoped to. But like I said, I did not fail.

~I might not have gotten back to the double digit runs. My longest run since the half marathon still has not been over 5 miles at a time. BUT I did add regular/weekly spin classes to my schedule and each class has me riding/spinning a bike for no less than 10 miles each class. And believe me I totally count those miles in my weekly totals because it takes A LOT of endurance to keep up in spin class. So, while I didn't reach the original goal to get back to my regular runs I feel like I didn't fail because my mileage was totally adding up each week.

~ I didn't lose 5 lbs. The lowest my weight got was 163 at my latest *real* weigh in, which was Thursday. I weigh daily but usually only chose one day (Thurs) as my actual day to count the weigh in. Since I am getting to the tail end of my weight loss (I'm within 15-18 lbs of my long term goal) it is gettin tougher to lose even a pound. So, I realize setting a goal to lose 5 lbs in a month is a lofty goal. But I will get there. I might not have gotten there in May and it may take me another year to lose the last 15-18 lbs but I will do it. I still do not feel like i have failed.

~I sort of refocused on my eating. We eat relatively well for the most part every day. We have treats once in a while but don't have all out junk food fests regularly in our house. However, there is always ALWAYS room for improvement in that department. But today I started Paleo. You may have heard about it. I recently bought The Paleo Diet book and have been trying to read a little as I go. It's still very new to me but I will try to post more about it the deeper I get into the book. Today I did fairly well with staying right on track. More on Paleo later.

And stay tuned for running/workout updates as well as my goals for June!