Running Forward- What's Next??

 

 

It's been 5 months since my first 5k and I am surprisingly still going! I have managed to run one to two races a month, a goal I set back in May. I have completed in 1 mud run, 4 5ks, and 1 10k since May. I have 2 more runs planned for the end of the year and still need to pick my December race.

 

So what's next on the horizon? Well Oct 20th I am doing a very cool run, World's Largest Corn Maze 5k where you run through the corn maze I went to on Sept 20th. I am very excited for this one and got some new shoes last night to wear during it. I got some Asics Scram 2.

They felt really comfortable and got good reviews so hopefully they will help me zoom through the maze.

After that I will be running the Veterans Day 10k in Kenosha, WI. I am running that one with my friend Paula. I look forward to doing another 10k, I really liked that distance when I did the one two weeks ago. So what's next?? Well I have been really thinking lately about how far I want to go with running and decided I want to keep going. I did join my local running club, I have not had a chance to run with them but home to soon.

 

 Last night I made the leap and committed to the next step... a 1/2 marathon. I signed up for the Rock and Sole Half Marathon in Milwaukee, WI for June.

Does it make me nervous, a little. But I know with continuous training I can do it. Again it is never the distance that scares me, but it's coming in last :). I am hoping some people I know might do this one with me, but if not I'll be prepared to pound the pavement alone! Who knows what runs I will do between now and then. I am hoping to fine a 15K or a 10 Miler. Not sure where I will go after that run either. I am hoping I will enjoy 1/2 and can keep doing them for awhile before contemplating a further distance, we'll see what the future brings.

 

 

 



September Happenings!

 

September marks the beginning of my favorite season, fall. We already have so many things on the schedule for this month and it's only the 3rd! Here's some of our September happenings, feel free to share yours!

 

-. Going to the place in the picture above, Richardson's Adventure Farm for the World's Largest Corn Maze! It's a yearly tradition of ours, so excited to go with Bonnie, Adam, and Carter.

 

- We are finally going on our summer vacation to Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. Very much looking forward to floating in a lazy river, going down some water slides, relaxing in the condo, going to the outlet :), and just spending time away.

 

- Neighborhood block party. We missed the last few years but we will try again this year and hopefully the weather will cooperate. We have some new faces on the street and it would be nice to meet some of them.

 

- Just joined our local running club so I am hoping to get away from the dreadmill and outside to meet some local runners and hopefully learn from them.

 

- Grayslake Fall Frolic 5k, looking to see if I can meet or beat my PR from the Autism race. Should be a fun, local run.

 

- Brewers 10k in Milwaukee, my first official 10k and I am both pumped and scared!! Justin is coming up for support and I am looking forward to running through Miller Park again!

 

-Spending an afternoon with mom, always a nice time can't wait for that!

 

Lot's going on in September so far and I am sure much more will be added to the list! How is your September shaping up?

 



Labor Day, Hooray!

 

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend this past weekend. Our weekend was pretty low key, which is exactly what we were hoping for.

 

Tuesday- I know not really Labor Day yet, but I finally got my hair cut. What do you think?

 

 

Friday- I went to Goodwill to see if I could find any bargains. I ended up getting two bags- one a canvas Lands End and one is a Lucy bag for my gym clothes. I also ended up in the Goodwill for almost an hour due to the monsoon that came. It was coming down so hard it sounded like horses on the roof and water was coming in. On the plus side I was indoors and I ran into my friend Bridget whom I was glad to catch up with! That night we did some errands and came home and relaxed.

 

Saturday- Slept in some and hung out at home during the day. Guido discovered that the suitcase is his new club house:

 

At night we went to a few stores to do some shopping and pre order some video games. We went to Toys R Us to get a birthday present and stumbled upon the T-Pain mic and found there are now speakers! Every kid needs one of these sets.

 

 For dinner we went to Ruby Tuesday's where I got the steak and Justin got the new pretzel burger. Both were excellent. I also got a nice Bear's shirt on discount and Kohl's finally had my jeans!

My Bears shirt is like this one with the old logo:

Sunday: We headed to Lake Zurich to go to the newer La Fitness and then to Trader Joe's to go shopping. This La Fitness was so nice compared to ours, all the machines had tvs, nice locker room, and their spin room was stadium style. So jealous! I was only going to do 3 miles on the treadmill but managed to knock out 5.

 

Looking super sweaty! We got some good stuff at Trader Joe's, such as my new obsession crumpets!! For dinner we made Rachel Ray's NY style mac and cheese, an old favorite!

Where's mine?

 

During dinner we watched the new Great Gatsby movie, I loved Leonardo as Gatsby!

I found the music and style of filming to be excellent. I remember reading the book and watching the movie in high school, so as soon as I saw this advertised I wanted to see it. It certainly did not disappoint!

  

Monday- Slept in again! Justin got a hair cut and I cleaned house. The cats rested.

 

I also played my new Xbox game Disney Infinity, it's pretty fun! For dinner we made Grilled Cheese on the Foreman and Southwest Chicken Weight Watcher Salad, yum!

 

All and all it was a pretty relaxing weekend. Tuesday was rough going back to work, allergies are getting to me!!

 

How was your Labor Day weekend, do anything fun?

 

 

 



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?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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?

 

 



Weekly Workout Wrapup

 

This was a good week for working out. I am hoping to keep up the momentum and have an equally good week, if not better this week.

 

Monday June 3rd- Spinning with Tom, felt good to spin this week. Lots of hills. 6 Activity Points Earned.

 

Tuesday June 4th- Gorgeous weather outside today. Solid first mile, but started out too fast. Burned out by mid mile 2. Need to pace myself better. 5 Activity Points Earned

 

Wednesday June 5th- Ran 3.29 miles on the treadmill and lifted weights. Did not want to over do it because I did Habitat on Thursday. 6 Activity Points Earned

 

Thursday June 6th- Volunteered at Habitat all day then did spinning with Ryan. Hard class this week, lots and lots of hills!! 6 Activity Points Earned

 

Friday June 7th- Went shopping at Goodwill and Kohls

 

Saturday June 8th- Walked around the mall and had Cracker Barrel

 

Sunday June 9th- Phillies versus Brewers baseball game

 

How did your workouts go this week?

 

 



Weekly Workout Recap

 

Well this week was not exactly what I wanted, but there was so effort there and there is always next week.

 

Monday- We did nothing, it was Memorial Day and we relaxed.

 

Tuesday- Ran 5 miles in under an hour at the gym. Knee was majorly acting up. Picked up a knee brace so hoping that will help. 7 Activity Points earned.

 

Wednesday- Knee was recovering, no gym

 

Thursday- Tried Ryan's spin class and loved it! She does a few different things than Tom so the balance of the two will be great. Burned the most calories in a spin class ever! 7 Activity Points Earned

 

Friday- Was going to go to the gym after work, but decided to do laundry instead

 

Saturday- Made my medal and bib sign and worked on stuff in the house

 

Sunday- Felt crummy today so I did more chores, got a lot accomplished.

 

Goals for this week- Spin Monday, Run Tuesday (5+ miles), Run Wednesday, Spin Thursday, Rest Fri.

 

What are your fitness plans this week?

 

 



Running Forward- Summer Running Goals

Keeping up the momentum

 

So with my first official 5K behind me, I have to keep up the momentum and keep running. Next up is the Dirty Girl Mud run at the end of June. This will require weight training as well so I can get up and over the hurdles.

 

Yesterday I ran on the treadmill for the first time since Saturday. The knee pain returned in my left knee. It is weird, it is like a soreness more than a stabbing pain and is kinda to the side of my knee. Like it is joint or ligament pain. Whatever it is, it is annoying! I know a lot of the ladies whose blogs I read have been plagued with injuries and I know I can power through.



Even with the knee pain I managed to get through 5 miles on the treadmill, the longest I have gone in awhile. I have found the Nike + app to be a huge motivator when running indoors and out. Who does not love getting little achievements and want to run further/faster to see this:

After Dirty Girl I am hoping to do another 5k or even an 8k or 10k. I want to see how far I can go.

 

What are your fitness goals for the summer?

 

 

 







Adventure in Weightloss, an Update

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you would notice that I have been posting a lot of food pictures lately. I know they are not the most interesting pictures, but they help me remember what I made and provide others ideas for dinners. A few weeks ago I decided to give up frozen dinner for awhile. I was over doing them and eating 1-2 of them a day, it just seemed like too much sodium and processed food. So 3 weeks later and I still have not eaten them and I feel pretty good! I am down almost 3 pounds and are starting to really see improvements. I am still following Weight Watchers and working out consistently. Running has probably help a lot also, but I have also been trying to lift weights.

 

 I wanted to share some of the ways I have been trying to incorporate my veggies and fruit into my meals.

 

I just used this for the first time today and it is GREAT for cutting up fruits and not having them roll into my main meal. It is also dishwasher and microwave safe, score.

Believe it or not I got this from eating Lean Cuisines.

 

Next I have been trying to incorporate egg whites more and veggies. I have found awesome egg bowl recipes from Hungry Girl.

Portobello mushroom with bulgur wheat, veggies, and yogurt. Yum!

One of the Hungry Girl egg bowls, fruit, and Fruit Water

A typical breakfast, English muffin, fruit, and yogurt

More Egg Bowl!

 

The only frozen food I am eating lately is ice cream and Boca burgers. I have figured out how to make an excellent Boca burger salad. Also I have tried to stay really hydrated. I drink a lot of water today and have only been drinking Nuun when I work out. I find it is easy on the stomach and is really refreshing. I also will drink half a tablet of Nuun all day throughout the day.

 

What have you done lately to try and eat healthier??

 

 

 





Adventures at the Rollins Savannah

I have been wanting to check out Rollins Savannah for a few weeks now. I asked Bridget this week if she was busy on Friday and wanted to go for a walk around the Savannah. The weather was perfect to go exploring, the sky was beautiful and it was nice and warm. Of course it was incredibly windy but the Savannah is pretty flat with minimal trees so I guess that is expected. We met at 4:15, I fired up my Garmin and she turned on the Endomondo app. The main trail is a nice circle path about 3.6 miles long. We just walked it and only stopped once the enjoy the scenery. Thankfully the trails were not flooded, with all the rain we have had.



 

They have really cool binoculars there so you can observe the wildlife. We did see two deer and a bunch of geese. The trails might not have been paved but they had pretty tight gravel on them. I did keep getting rocks in my shoe but I think that won't happen with my Brooks.

It looks us a little over and hour to walk the 3 1/2 miles, which is not bad since it was going to be my rest day. Next week I am hoping to go there with a co worker and run. I'm looking forward to exploring some of the other Lake County forest preserves.

 

Where do you like to go to be one with nature?