My Running Essentuals

Lately I have seen a lot of posts going around about everyone's running essentials, so I thought I would make a list of my own.

 

{1}

Garmin Forerunner 10

I have this little gadget in green, of course! I love how this tracks my distance, alerts me when I am behind my goal pace, and I can upload all the information to the Garmin site and track my progress.

 

{2}

Polar Heart Rate Monitor F4

I have used a heart rate monitor for many years for all my fitness. I replaced my FT7 with this F4 recently because I was having issues with my FT7. I like being able to track my heart rate and know how many calories I burn. It also lets me know if I am pushing myself too far.

 

{3}
VSX Y Back top

I fine these tanks to be so light weight, I can barely notice them when I run. I like how breathable they are and non clingy.

 

{4}

SPI Belt and Nathan's Water belt

For long runs I gotta use my Nathan's water belt. It hold 16 oz of water, my keys, and cards. For 5Ks I love the SPI belt, it holds all I need and is pretty comfortable. I like to wear the zipper pouch on my back.

 

{5}

Good shoes

For me that's these bad boys my Brooks Ravenna 4's. I highly suggest going to your local running store and getting fitted for running shoes. They can analyze your gate and determine which shoe style works best for you.

{6}
Nuun

I love Nuun, all Nuun that I have tried so far and I probably have about 8 flavors. Nuun is a tablet you put in your water to give you electrolytes when you work out. I do not run or workout without Nuun. It has zero sugar and is easy on my stomach so I never feel sick.
 

 

What running/fitness item can you not live without?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



What I'm Loving Wednesday

 

{1}

Looking forward to Saturday night. We are going to our yearly outing to Olive Garden to enjoy endless bowl of pasta. Don't worry I will be enjoying the whole wheat pasta!

 

{2}

The new charms from Pandora for fall. We are going to the mall Saturday and I might pick up one of the new ones. I am also eyeing a ring from them. Has anyone bought any of their rings before?

 

Love the owl and peacock

Charms Addict pic

{3}
Still keeping up with running and eating well, yes even after my comment on the unlimited bowl of pasta :). I am thinking of doing a post on my favorite pieces of running gear. I have so many and would love to share what works for me.

{4}
Next month we will be going to the world's largest corn maze with Bonnie, Adam, and Carter. Every year Justin and I go to Richardson's Corn Maze and this year will be fun getting to bring Carter. This year the corn maze is Beatle's 50th anniversary theme. Then in Oct I will be doing a 5k in the corn maze!

 

{5}

I updated the blog some and finally figured out how to make tabs. It only took me 6 months to figure out how to make them!! I'm sure I will think of more tabs to add as time goes on.

 

What are you loving this Wednesday?

 





Weekend Wrap Up

Mom and Tobi

 

Friday I worked 1/2 day and then my mom came over to spend the day with me and the kitties. Tobi especially loved the extra attention. Is it me or does he look huge here! We went to Goodwill to hunt for some deals. I got a hoodie and two sweaters for the fall, one being a brand new cashmere sweater from Old Navy, score. I also got a Serta Sheep, #55 and a Weight Watchers cookbook. Mom also got clothes and a few other stuff. After that we went to Panera for a yummy lunch. I had the Poppy Seed Chicken salad which I highly recommend and the Summer Corn Chowder. Mom had a Tuna sandwich and Broccoli Cheese soup. We split a fruit tart and strawberry rhubarb cake. Yum!! After that we hung out at home and caught up.

 

Saturday I did the Rally for Autism 5k, which you can read about here. I was woken up that morning at 5am by the smoke detector battery dying. Fun times, so I wound up falling asleep on the couch while we watched the Cardinal/Cubs game. For dinner we went to one of our favorite sub shops, Penn Station East Coast Subs in Grayslake. I had the Dagwood where you make your own. Mine was turkey and all the veggies, Justin had the Italian and we split the fries. We even had a coupon so my sub was free.

My turkey Dagwood

Justin's Italian

Attack the fries!

It's so tasty!

Afterward I read some magazines and we watched Friday's WWE Smackdown.

 

Sunday was full of cleaning. We knocked out the kitchen and the bathrooms. We also headed to Goodwill to drop off some donations and to Garden Fresh for fruit and Cannoli.

Guido loves pineapple and could not wait to get his mouth on it.

 

For dinner I made a Weight Watchers Sausage and Mushroom stew recipe from the Weight Watchers in 20 minutes book. So good, we had it with everything bread.

 

Dinner with Sprecher Hefewisen

Close up on soup

 

How was your weekend!

 

 

 



Weekly Workout Wrap Up

 

This week I was pretty active despite finding out La Fitness cancelled my Monday and Thursday spin classes at 6:45pm, there was not even a sign Monday indicating... How rude!

 

Monday August 12- Ran 3.1 miles on the treadmill at the gym.

 

Tuesday August 13- Walked around the neighborhood with Justin, so nice out.

 

Wednesday August 14- 5.2 on the treadmill while watching Big Brother. Was only planning on

running 3 but felt good and kept going. Plus Big Brother was interesting.

 

Thursday August 15- Another walk around the neighborhood, I had to work late.

 

Friday August 16- Rest- Shopping day with mom.

 

Saturday August 17- 3.1 miles at the Rally for Autism 5k, read my race recap.

 

Sunday August 18- Knee hurt a bit today so another rest day.

 

How were you active this week?

 

 



Rally for Autism 5k Race Recap

Great tech shirt

 

Saturday I ran the Rally for Autism 5k at Independence Grove in Libertyville. I heard about the race through work where a few of my managers were encouraging co workers to race or volunteer. Thursday I went and picked up my packet outside of the Runners Edge in Libertyville. Pick up was easy and the people were so nice. I got the great shirt above (so glad it was not white! It's navy) and an Autism canvas bag full of materials.

 

Saturday I only had to get up at 7am, thankfully, because I only live 15 minutes away. I was a little worried because my knee was bothering me from Wednesdays treadmill run, but it felt great at the race! Parking was great and they had police directing people inside the park, very convenient. As soon as I parked I went through my pre race routine: apply body glide to legs, take chomps, drink lots of water, pin bib, take pre race photo, and lock up my stuff.

Ready to run!

Got my bib ready.

Beautiful day and gorgeous park

Near visitors center

Yes nice porta potties in the shot

 

The event had lots to do! There were games and a bounce house for kids, local vendors were there giving things away, and there was plenty of food. We lined up for the run at 8:55 and it started promptly at 9am. I found a lady with a similar pace to me and followed her pretty much the entire run expect for the end when I got my burst of speed and sprinted past her. The course was very nice, lots of people directing the way and cheering you on. There were 2 water stations on the course and lots of water at the end. It was warm out but since the course is not shaded it got pretty hot. I finished in 34:36 which bet my race PR by 2 minutes! I could not believe it. After the race was over they had the times printed out with in a few minutes, which was really nice. I also ran into a few more of my co workers and chatted with them for a bit. One of the coolest sponsors was our local grocery store Marianos, they gave out a pedometer and I got a box of Chex.

 

This race was for such a good cause, it was nice to see all the families and the kids out there walking/running provide support. Everything was so well organized and laid out, I was so impressed. I highly recommend this race and will be participating in it again next year.

Added another bib to the wall, total is 4 now and counting!

 

 

What local runs were you highly impressed with? Are there any specific causes you like to run for?

 

 

 



What I'm Loving Wednesday

 

It's been a long time since I did a What I'm Loving Wednesday but I figured today was a good day to do so. Other than the usual suspects that I love: husband, cats, family, etc...

 

{1}

I love this new show called Total Divas on E! that follows the backstage lives of the WWE Divas.

 

Image from wrestling insider

 

This show has also somewhat re-sparked my interested in the WWE. How I forgot how funny and outlandish wrestling was!

 

{2}

My next 5k race is this Saturday at Independence Grove in Libertyville. It is also for a great cause- supporting Autism. Find out more about the race here. I am hoping it is not too hot and I can break 36 minutes from July. Look for my recap Sunday. After this race I have two more planned so far. My biggy 10k in Sept and a Corn Maze 5k in October.

 

{3}

We did not get to go on a summer vacation this year so we are going on a fall trip instead. Sometime this fall we are heading back to one of our favorite resorts in the Dells, Glacier Canyon at Wilderness Resort.

 

 

This time we are going to Sprecher's Restaurant and trying Moosejaw Brewery for dinner, so excited to try both. Looking forward to relaxing in the lazy river and going down the slides! There is also a Coach outlet across the street which I will be checking out!

 

{4}

Today's weather!

 

Hello it feels like fall! I love not running the a/c last night or today and having the windows open. Such a cool breeze and perfect temps! Too bad it will be in the 80s again next week.

 

{5}

My mom is coming over to spend the afternoon with me Friday. We are going to enjoy lunch at Panera and pop some tags at Goodwill.

 

{6}

photo courtesy of fanpop

 

Watching classic shows like Full House. I can't believe I just referred to Full House as classic. Ugh. Well this show has sparked a lot of healthy conversation around this house about when Joey moved into the converted garage, how horribly the show ended, or at what point Danny became OCD about cleaning.

 

These are just some of the things I am loving this week. What about you?

 

 

 

 



Weekend WrapUp- Food and Family

 

We had a nice weekend this weekend, relax and nice. Friday after work I went to the Grayslake pool with the neighbors. I can't wait to buy a pass next year, hopefully the weather will be better. Justin and I did our weekly errands, we bought new phones for the house. I even saw my friend Lauren from the library at Best Buy.

 

Saturday Justin and I went and worked out for a bit. I did 3.2 miles on the treadmill and then lifted weights.

 

We went to TGI Fridays for dinner, which was very good.

We had this yummy pretzel and cheese appetizer

Justin had a burger and I had steak, mozzarella salad, and broccoli

Afterwards we had this yummy brownie and ice cream dessert. I forgot to take a before picture but we certainly enjoyed it!

 

Sunday was low key too. We went to Half Price books in Palatine, I got two weight watchers cook books and some magazines. We also went to Sonic where I got a pretzel dog and a pineapple drink that was excellent! Afterwards we went to mom and dads to hang out and have dinner. It was brats, beans, and a weight watcher side I made.

 

Although the weekend seemed to fly by, it was certainly enjoyable. What did you do?

 

 

 



Sunday Social Link Up

 

Linking up with Neely at a complete waste of makeup on this cloudy Sunday, enjoy!

This Weeks Questions:

1. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up? Dance teacher or a scientist

 2. What was your favorite way to kill time as a kid? Playing outside with my friends or reading

 3. When did you get your first cell phone? Sometime in high school only to tell my mom to pick me up. It was 1996 or so.

 4. What is your favorite magazine to read? Weight Watchers or Runners World

 5. What is the one random object people would be surprised to find in your purse? Probably my weight gloves or glasses

Next Weeks Questions:
. What is something you’ve always wanted to do but are afraid of?
2. Where do you see yourself in five years?
3. What are you looking forward to before the end of 2013?
4. What are your hopes for your blog?
5. Do you always see yourself living in your current town/city?
6. What is your morning routine?

 



Sunday Social

 

Linking up with Neely at a complete waste of makeup on this cloudy Sunday, enjoy!

This Weeks Questions:
1. What are 3 items you can’t live without on a daily basis (water, food, shelter, and clothes don’t count): phone, cats and husband, chocolate

2. What is your all time favorite book? Why? The Lemony Snicket Series (I know not super deep, but fun and mysterious)

3. What is something you’d like to accomplish before the end of 2013? Running longer/further. Completing my 10K next month.

 4. If you could go back and relive any year of your life which year would it be? 2011 was pretty good: new job, Mexico, Lake Geneva, it was a nice year.

 5. What do you wish people knew about you without you having to tell them? I know a lot about things you would never expect me to, like sports.

Stay tuned to next week for the answers to these questions:
1. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?
2. What was your favorite way to kill time as a kid?
3. When did you get your first cell phone?
4. What is your favorite magazine to read?
5. What is the one random object people would be surprised to find in your purse?