Challenges ahead!

I signed up for the Gold's Gym Challenge today. $40. Done. There is no turning back now. Challenge starts on January 16th. Two weeks away. I should be part way into week 3 of LiveFit Trainer at that point and making great strides in eating clean. I joined a 30-day challenge on facebook to eat clean for the month of January...ties in perfectly with LiveFit and the Gold's Gym Challenge. I AM going to do this! In fact I might just do so well I'll win the challenge!!!

I also picked my half marathon training plan. I Googled a bunch of plans and decided on this one. I marked all the runs on my calendar. If I start it tomorrow it'll finish right on race day - perfect!! I got a new pair of shoes that I've been wearing on the treadmill. I can't wait to get in my first run with them. I've got three half marathons lined up this year. For the first one I just want to finish. I'd love to run the whole thing, but that's going to depend on how training goes. After 8 miles it's all uncharted territory for me.

 

The New Year is right around the corner. I'm still thinking about my goals for the month of January and my long term goals for 2013 - that'll be my next blog!

LiveFit Trainer Recharge

I completely fell off the bandwagon when it comes to lifting weights. My kids got sick, then I got sick, and then I got lazy. Yesterday I went to the gym with my hubby and started Day 1 of Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer again. I was going to start where I left off, but since it's been 3 weeks and I was just starting week 3, I figured I might as well start over (I was off of it longer then on it by this point). Honestly, it felt great to be lifting. I've always enjoyed it so I don't know why I was being so lazy after getting sick. I thought it was funny that I was 1 of 2 girls who were actually lifting, and I was the only one using dumbbells.
I have been going to the gym. I've just been walking/running on the treadmill...mostly walking...told you I've been lazy. I just haven't felt like doing anything and I don't know why. I have been logging my food. In fact I switched from myfitnesspal to spark people - I'm hoping the change will keep me motivated and logging, and so far it's working!
I saw a sign on the wall that said for $40 you can enter the Gold's Gym 2013 Challenge. You get 10 bootcamp classes, nutrition help, personal training session, and a bunch of other stuff. I'm going to do it! And I'm going to stick with it!
I've got my list of Jamie Eason approved foods and meals all ready to go. Chris has been following it off/on since we first started doing the LiveFit Trainer. I have too, but not as strictly as he has been. Yesterday for a snack I had a 3oz piece of chicken and half a sweet potato. LOL Sounds funny eating that for a snack. I need to start saying meal 4 since really I'm eating 6 small meals a day not big meals and snacks. If I look at it as a snack then I think I'm doing it wrong since it's not what I would consider a real snack, but if I change up the way I think about it and say meal #4 then it should get easier. Right?!?! Well, it has to be true since I found a poster that says so!

Here is a recap of what I did yesterday at the gym. Day 1, Chest/Triceps:
Wide Pushups - 12 (reg), 12 (reg), 6 (reg), 6 (knees)
Dumbell Bench Press - 20lbs - 12, 12, 6
**on the last set when I tried to push up for 7 I almost knocked myself out. Thank goodness Chris was spotting me. These were super tough for me. When I looked back through what I did on week 1 and week 2, I did 20 lbs, 3 sets of 12. Holy crap did that make me feel weak!
Flys on Flat Bench - 12lbs - 12, 12, 12
Narrow Push-ups (all on knees) - 12, 12, 12
**I attempted these with my legs straight - bwahahahahaha...ah well, we all have to start somewhere.
Standing Dumbell Tricep Extension (overhead) - 15lbs - 12, 12, 12
Tricep Pushdown - 30lbs - 12, 35lbs - 12, 12

2012 Race Awards

As I was reading through blog posts I came across a blog, Third Time's A Charm Runner, that had a recap of the races she ran in 2012. I thought it looked like a fun idea, so I'm going to do the same thing. The links take you to my recap of the actual race. Here we go...

Race with the best bling!
My absolute favorite medal is my 10k Turkey Trot. It's super cute!! The shirt was decent, but the medal was awesome!! Don't you think?!

Race with the best swag!
I will have to go with the Warrior Dash! The t-shirts are super comfy, the medal was awesome, and my kids love the warrior hat!!

Race with the best course for a pr!
I'd have to say the Baltimore Women's Classic 5k. Mostly because I pr'd there (first 5k under 30 minutes!!!!). We went back and took this photo after the race. Most of it was through town, but the last portion was on the water and just gorgeous!

Race with the most scenic course!

For this one I'd definitely say the Color Run 5k in Washington DC. The majority of the course was run on the water. It was a fun, colorful race.


Race with best spectator support!
That would have to be the Zombie run! The spectators were awesome on this one. They cheered and laughed and were just a ton of fun to have around (whenever you were near them).

Race with the best course support!
This one is tough! I ran two races that I thought had awesome support this year - the BWC 5k and the Hadassah 8k. The BWC 5k because of my favorite volunteer - my hubby!!!!

The Hadassah 8k had a ton of support on the course. Every mile was well marked with people cheering you on and calling out your time. The after race supplies were equally fabulous (they even had free smoothies!!!). Not a lot of pictures on this one since I left my camera at home.

Race with the best shirt!
Hmmmm. I got so many great shirts this year!! The Warrior Dash is by far the most comfortable one I got. The Baltimore Running Festival was definitely the best tech shirt (Under Armour AND it was actually cut for women!). The Turkey Trot 10k gave us long sleeve tech shirts. The Jingle All the Way 8k and North Face Endurance Challenge shirts were really nice too. I guess my favorite one would have to be...um...the Jingle All the Way 8k - mostly because it's the one I wear the most, so it must be my favorite! No pics of it though, I was so sick when I ran this race I'm surprised I've got any pictures at all.

The best small race!
That would have to be the Hadassah 8k. It was such a small race, yet they held nothing back. It felt like I was joining a bunch of friends for a run. Everyone seemed to know each other. There was not a big turn out, but they had a dj who warmed every one up, they had fantastic race course support, excellent after snacks, they even posted top times while we were grabbing our snacks. OH and they had an awesome sprinkler thing you could run through when you were done. Such a neat racing experience!

The coolest race experience!
My absolute favorite race I ran in 2012 was the BWC 5k. I felt so pampered at this race. I got a rose when I crossed the finish line and an ice cold towel draped over my shoulders. My husband was a volunteer (it felt like a date night). I pr'd. The course was fast and scenic. Overall just a great race experience!

I am super excited for my races in 2013. I've got big goals and big races. It'll be a ton of fun to do the 2013 race recap!

Running

Two mornings in a row I've gotten up at 510am and ran. Yesterday I met two running friends and we went for 3 miles, this morning I ran 2 miles alone. The weather has been good and my body is handling the time shift really well. I actually enjoyed running by myself, in the dark, today. I need a reflector belt if I'm going to keep it up though. There isn't a lot of traffic, but I'd feel a little safer. I wore my neon green jacket today - should've been hard to miss me!
This morning I was surprised by the number of other runners out and about (although most of them were men and wearing dark clothes). It felt good to know that I wasn't alone. I might have to start running with music on my solo runs though. I have a lot of internal battles about stopping and walking; I think the music would help distract me. I'll have to play around with the songs on my mp3 and see what I've got. Solo runs might get tough as I start adding on miles while training for the half...I'll have to think of something to keep me running when my mind tries to talk me out of it.
On the sickness front I've been feeling better. Still not 100%; however it does feel good to run. I might actually go to the gym today. I've been trying to figure out where I'll start up with the LiveFit Trainer program. I'm not going to restart it. I think what I'll do is just restart week 3 (I believe I was only on day 2 of week 3 when my daughter got sick). I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I've done LFT. Time has been slipping right on by. Guess it just goes to show that time stops for no one.
I've been slacking with logging my food and it's showing. I was hoping to be in the 155 range by now, but instead I've been maintaining 160...some day's its 158, others 162. It's frustrating. Today I'm making an effort to eat cleaner and to log all my food. I've already logged my breakfast and workout! I can't believe it's barely 8am and I've already logged 2.5 miles! It's going to be a good day!!!

The Liebster Award

My good friend Patti at Help, Mom's Melting nominated my blog for a Liebster Award. I had no idea what it was so of course I Googled it. What would we do without Google?! Turns out there are a ton of versions of this award out there with many ways to award it. Liebster in German means sweetheart, beloved person, darling; basically it's an award to bloggers for being your favorite blog. Cool! Thanks Patti!!!
This is how the version Patti sent to me works:
Write 11 random facts about yourself.
Answer the 11 interview questions you’ve been given by the person who nominated you.
Create 11 new questions.
Nominate 11 bloggers and mention them in your post.
Go and tell the person who nominated you, along with the people you’ve nominated about your post.

I'll play along, why not?! The only thing I'm not going to do is the nominate 11 bloggers - I don't know 11 bloggers and the blogs I do follow are huge (couple hundred plus followers), so I doubt they'd want to 'play along.' If you're reading this and you blog, let me know. I'd love to follow you and have 11 blogs to nominate!

11 Random Facts About Me
1. I was in the Navy.
2. I met my husband in the Navy - we were stationed on an aircraft carrier together.
3. We named our first dog, Vinson, after the ship we met on.
4. I married my husband on April Fool's Day so he'd never forget the date.
5. My best friend's Dad married us near a waterfall in WV.
6. I love the color green.
7. I actually enjoy running!
8. I cried when I had to sell my Toyota Tacoma.
9. I make everyone in my family wear silly hats on Christmas morning.
10. I love taking photos of my family.
11. I don't think there is anything better then eating the veggies that come from your own garden.

11 Interview Questions

1) Do you prefer to workout with a partner or yourself?

 I love working out with a partner!! However in September I lost both my workout partners and immediately lost all motivation to continue working out. I like having someone else around to 'suffer' with me through my workouts, but the hardest thing for me is to stay motivated when they can no longer join me. Now I workout alone, and if anyone wants to join me (like my husband) then cool! But I don't rely on anyone else anymore.

2) What was the breaking point to get you started on you journey?

 5 months after my son was born I saw a photo of myself and said no more. This is the photo.

My husband said he never realized how big I was until I started losing weight, and honestly, neither did I. Here is the before/current.

3) When do you prefer to workout?

I prefer to workout mid-mornings around 10-11am, but I'll workout whenever I can. Lately it's been in the evenings closer to 5pm and sometimes I'll go for a run as late as 8pm. I'll squeeze it in whenever I can!

4) How many days a week do you workout?

 Every day if I can, but usually 6 days. Rest is important, so I try to make sure that at least one day a week I'm taking it easy (although sometimes I'll still go for a walk on a rest day).

5) What is your favorite workout program?

P90X. It was my first at home workout and it's still my favorite. I could actually do 2 unassisted pull-ups after round 1. I'll be doing round 2 later this year.

A very, very close second is Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer. It's the program I'm doing right now (or was until I got so sick), and I absolutely love it!!

6) What is your favorite cheat meal?

Chinese- the horribly bad for you kind...General Tso's please!

7) What is your favorite workout song?

I don't workout to music! Seriously. I do actually have an MP3 player, but the songs on it are the same ones that my brother and sister helped me load on it the year I got it. I wore it while running one time with it on random and the song, "All by myself" came on...never again!

8) Who is you inspiration?

 My husband and my friends. They inspire me to keep on keeping on!

9) Do you have a favorite motto & if so what is it?

You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change. - Unknown

10) When did you start your journey?

 The very, very first time I started tracking what I eat and had a personal trainer was almost a year after my daughter was born - September 2009.

11) Do you have any advice for fellow bloggers?

Blog, blog, blog. It holds me accountable and it gives me a place to ramble about my fitness adventures. I'd be lost without my blog.

Since I'm not nominating anyone, I won't create any questions. Am I taking all the fun out of this?! LOL

Anyway, I'm still suffering from my cold. I did manage to go to the gym 3 out of the past 4 days, but all I did was walk on the treadmill for an hour or so while my husband worked out. Every time I coughed a lot and felt light headed when I got off the machines. Why, oh why, is this cold not going away?! UGH! I truly hate being sick. Tomorrow I'm going for a run! One of the girls on the running facebook page I'm on posted a couple of mornings this week she's going to run. I'm going to join her, why not! I need to get moving. My first half is in 13 weeks!!!! Time is ticking right on by.

Jingle All the Way 8K and the Sickness

Oh my! Where do I even start with this race. I am so sick! I ran the Friday before the race and didn't feel so well - it felt like something was sitting on my chest and I could literally feel snot in my mouth (I know gross right?!). I guess sitting on the couch for a few days snuggling my sick daughter while she coughed in my face wasn't such a hot idea. Who knew?!
My Saturday wasn't much better and Saturday night I got no sleep, seriously, none. I was up and down all night. Maybe it had something to do with the cup of coffee at 7pm? Normally coffee late at night will affect me some, but not like it did Saturday night. Sunday morning I was laying there waiting for the alarm to go off wondering if I should go to the race or not. My running friend Ivana was going too...

in fact we were giving her a ride, so she was depending on us to go. My sitter cancelled on me because she was sick too. Chris was going to push the kids in the double during the race - I couldn't have even if I wanted to. I got up, got dressed, and went to carry some stuff out to the car - it was pouring. Sigh. It was just going to be one of those days. Might as well try and make the best of it.
It was the WORST race I've ever done. Chris says I need to stop saying that because I did finish after all, but I didn't finish well. Thankfully it had stopped raining. The weather actually turned out to be pretty decent for the race. I took my first walk break around mile 1.5, and knew at that point it was going to be a long race. I ended up taking several walk breaks...pretty much whenever I felt like I was going to be sick which was a lot. I kept telling myself, you're not going to get sick, you can do this, it's not much further. Chris tried to keep me motivated too, but I was my biggest critic. Chris pushed the stroller across at 1:01 and I finished right beside him at 1:02. Same amount of time it took me to complete the Turkey Trot 10k.
I guess it really wasn't that bad for being so sick. I still managed to run parts of it. My daughter even leaned out of the stroller and grabbed my hand to give me support. She's a sweetheart like that! I passed out in the back of the car on the way home and stayed that way until this morning.
It's been a really rough couple of days. I've been sleeping on the recliner downstairs since it's elevated and I could breath better, less coughing too. Two days ago I caved and sent Chris to the store for medicine. He bought some stuff I've never had before - it  quickly became my new best friend. Suddenly I could breath and I had energy. I woke up feeling more like myself today, and didn't take any medicine.
In fact, I felt so much better I tagged along to the gym with Chris and the kids. I walked on the treadmill for 54 minutes while he lifted with a trainer (an early Christmas present for him). I almost fell over when I got off the treadmill. I was super lightheaded. I walked at 1% incline at a speed of 3.6 the entire time. I thought I was taking it nice and slow...guess not. Now I'm home showered and relaxing for the rest of the day. I hope to be back up and running real soon.

The Sparkly Skirt

There it is! The darn thing took me ALL day. It was the worst fabric to sew with. I had to keep reminding myself that it was just for a race an no one was going to care if it didn't look pretty. It bothered me though, so I ripped out the hem several times and then finally just left it. The stitches were doing weird things like this...

There are sections where it was perfect, and then sections where it wouldn't stitch and it'd leave big long gaps. I hemmed it twice to be safe. The other area I had problems with was the waist. I'm not a sewer. I've sewn a few times, but not recently. The directions said to pull the elastic so it's stretched out and sew the material straight to it so when your done it cinches together with that ruffled look...this is what happened to mine. Material all flat on one side...

 then all bunched up at the end when the elastic wouldn't stretch anymore and I had extra fabric.

I think I'll attach a piece of holly or something so it's meant to look that way - ROFL. Not quite a disaster. I still have the material to do another one (same color), I'll just need to buy more elastic. I'll do more research on this type of fabric and the waistband before attempting to finish the other one. I think it looks cute and will work for the race. The perfectionist in me wants it perfect and is itching to rip it all apart and do it again. Funny thing is the waist band is where it stitched just fine so to rip it out would take forever. Too funny.
Anyway, I can't wait to wear this with my nutcracker knee highs on Sunday's race!!!
Update on lifting: my kiddos are sick. My daughter has been on the couch in pj's for almost two days now. I've been forcing her to drink liquid. Definitely can't take her to the gym in this condition. My son is doing better today - not as clingy. I wanted to get my workouts in before we left, but I'm not sure how many we'll get done. Holidays and colds - you just have to love this time of year, and is probably why everyone waits until the New Year to start things.

Just One of Those Days

Yesterday was just one of those days for me. Nothing went as planned and if it was going to go wrong - it did. I broke a vase, didn't close the lid right on my protein drink so it leaked all over our cooler and floor as we were trying to get out the door, snapped at the kids too many times, fell over while lunging at the gym (oh yes, yes, I did), had my workout cut short because Denver fell and bit his tongue (lots of blood causing a very freaked out Gold's employee to come running out on the gym floor to find us)...it just goes on and on. Today I just have to laugh about it.
I did manage to get a somewhat decent workout in. We started week 3 (still Phase 1) of Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer. We do legs twice this week. This is the routine:
Leg Extensions
Week 1: 30lbs-12; 35lbs - 12; 40lb-12
Week 2: 40lbs- 12; 45lbs- 12; 50lbs- 12
Week 3: 50lbs- 12, 12, 12
Wide Stance Barbell Squat
Week 1: 20lbs-12; 30lbs- 12; 40lbs- 12
Week 2: 30lbs- 12; 40lbs- 12; 50lbs- 12
Week 3: 40lbs- 12; 50lbs- 12; 60lbs- 12
Walking Barbell Lunge **new exercise
Week 3: 20lbs-12; 30lbs- 12, 12
I started doing my second set and on the 4th one the barbell tilted to the left and my ankle rolled and I fell to the ground. Chris was watching me with this dumbfounded look on his face, "why did you just sit down?" He had no idea I fell...said I looked like I was just sitting down. ROFL! Oh my. There was a trainer right next to me and she didn't even notice. I'm sure some people saw, but no one said anything and I couldn't hear anyone laughing. I just stood back up and continued on with my lunges. I was shaking so bad when I was done - what a mess. I made a point of going slower and trying to keep the barbell weight centered on my shoulders. I felt so silly, but I'm happy I didn't hurt myself.
Single Leg Barbell Deadlift (done with kettlebell) **another new exercise
Week 3: 10lbs- 12; 15lbs- 12, 12
I liked these. They require a lot of balance and concentration. I really felt the pull down my butt and hamstrings.
Lying Leg Curls
Someone was on the machine so we skipped and were going to come back, but never got the chance to.
Seated Calf Raise
Week 1: 20lbs- 12; 30lbs - 12, 12
Week 2: 20lbs-12, 12, 12
Week 3: 20lbs- 12; 50lbs- 12, 12
Standing Calf Raise
Didn't get a chance to do this one either.

I was waiting for Chris to finish his last set of seated calf raises when one of the child care room girls came running up to me. She looked so scared; said Denver fell and was bleeding. I ran after her into the kids bathroom. The sink was full of blood and Denver looked scared, but wasn't crying. They said he was trying to climb up in a chair with his sister and he fell and smacked his mouth on the chair. It looks like he bit his tongue. It bled for a bit, but he let us clean him up. We decided to just call it a day. I doubt he would've wanted to go back to them at that moment. Thankfully, the scene looked a lot worse then what it actually was, so thankful he was okay. It felt like we just weren't meant to go to the gym.
We stopped at Starbuck's after the gym - can't think of a better reason for a coffee can you?! Then headed to Joanne's Fabric so I could get the material for my skirt. It figures that it was one of the only fabrics not on sale. $6.99 a yard. Still pretty cheap for a running skirt! I can't wait to make it. I've got everything sitting out. I'm going to work on it when my son goes down for his nap this afternoon. I'll post photos if it turns out, and probably if it doesn't turn out as well.
We're on Day 4 of the squat challenge (and my added planks). I haven't done them yet today, but I have been doing them. My butt and legs are so sore today!!! I feel them every time I move - great workout!! Not too happy to be doing legs twice this week with an 8k on Sunday. I think they'll enjoy a bit of a break when it gets here!!!

December Goals and Training Plan

December is going to be a weird month for me. I've created a tentative training plan that's going to have to be very flexible.
Dec 3-10 - run/walk as much as possible
3rd - 3 mile run
4th - Legs (LFT, day 15); 2 mile walk
5th - Back and Biceps (LFT, day 16); 2 mile walk
6th - Chest and Triceps (LFT, day 17); 2 mile walk (maybe a run too)
7th - Legs (LFT, day 18); 2 mile walk
8th - Shoulders and Abs (LFT, day 19); 2 mile walk
9th - Jingle Bell 8k
10th - 3 mile run
Dec 11-21 - possible CO trip
there is a Gold's Gym near Chris's Dad's place so we're hoping to use it as much as possible while there to stay on track. It'll take 3 days to drive there and 3 days to drive back so that will mess up our lifting routines some I'm sure. Phase 2 also starts while we're in CO. This phase is when you're supposed to add cardio in to the mix. I've been doing it the entire time but only because I've had races scheduled.
Dec 22-31 - back on track as much as I can. I don't have an actual plan for these days only because it all depends on how well we do while in CO. I'd like the runs to look like this:
22nd - 4 mile run
24th - 3 mile run
27th - 3 mile run

29th - 5 mile run
31st - 3 mile run
January starts half-marathon training and hopefully a more normal type routine. I was thinking I'd set a mile goal for December, but I'm just going to be happy to keep things going while in CO. I think I'll make that my focus.

December - already?!

Oh my! I can't believe it's December already!!! Where in the world did November go?! I saw a ton of posts on facebook lately about December and for some reason thought it was still a couple days away. It put me three days behind on my Holiday Squat-a-thon I stumbled across.

I've decided to add in a plank with the squat challenge based off of this poster...

I'll do any workout that helps my thighs! This morning I did the 30 squats and then held the plank for 30 seconds. I've decided that will probably be the best way to go - hold the plank for as many seconds as the number of squats I have to do. Makes it easy to remember! Later today I'll knock out 25 squats/25 second plank and then 20 squats/20 second plank and I'll be all caught up.
November Goal Update:
1) To bust into the 150's
Yep! I'm at 158 as of last night. I put on about 4 pounds when Chris came home, but I lost those and I'm down another 1 from the 159 I hit right before he came home.
2) Complete the Pile on the Miles Challenge
Well I completed it, but I didn't reach my goal. I set out to do 85 miles, and only hit 74 miles. I'm going to make a goal of 75 miles for the month of December. I really liked having all my miles laid out for me so I knew exactly what I wanted to do that day/week.
3) To lift 3 times a week
I didn't do this the first part of the month, but when Chris came home we started doing Jamie Eason's LiveFit trainer (which I'm LOVING) together. I've been going to the gym 4 times a week for 2 weeks now. Doing great with the program!!
4) To log every BLT
Nope, didn't quite do this one either. I did excellent until Chris came home, and then I didn't get on the computer as much so I missed several days. My eating wasn't horrible, I just didn't get a chance to log it all.

5) To complete my first 10k and 11k
Check and check!! I finished both of them and did remarkably well on both. I've got an 8k coming up this Sunday and my first half-marathon in March. I'm super excited!! The only thing I'm not happy about is that I still have not gotten my shirt or medal for the Veteran's Virtual 11k; which makes me feel really bad. I hyped the race up because it's such a good cause and then I haven't heard from them. I did send them an e-mail saying I didn't get anything and they replied we'll be sending your shirt soon, but nothing about my medal. I really hope it comes soon. I don't like recommending/suggesting races that aren't legit - although Patti got her medal, so it's probably legit, just not so well organized. Sigh.

Week 2, Day 9 LFT

Hit the gym with my hubby again last night. It was back/biceps day. The workout went really well until halfway through when we switched to biceps. My wrist started hurting again. It's been feeling really good since Chris has been home and I've been off the computer, but now he's back at work and I find myself on it a bit more again. I wasn't able to lift as heavy as I wanted; which I'd rather have a healthy wrist then hurt it further, so I wasn't too upset. Here is my comparison from last week:
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
Week 1: 30lbs - 12; 40lbs - 12; 45lbs - 12
Week 2: 40lbs - 12, 12; 45lbs  - 12
One Arm Dumbbell Row
Week 1: 17.5lbs - 12; 20lbs - 12, 12
Week 2: 20lbs - 12; 25lbs - 12, 12
Seated Cable Row
Week 1: 30lbs - 12; 35lbs - 12, 12
Week 2: 35lbs - 12; 40lbs - 12, 12
Underhand Cable Pulldown
Week 1: 30lbs - 3; 40lbs - 9, 12, 12
Week 2: 35lbs - 12, 12, 12
** I totally forgot how to do this one. I should've double checked the routines before we left. Thankfully Chris remembered. We ended up doing the last exercise then this one since I got confused on which one was which...no biggie though we got them both in. This is also when my wrist started hurting. I tried to do 40lbs and immediately jumped down to 20. I was seriously really confused at this point. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't do 40 when I did it last week, so thankful Chris was there since he realized I was doing the wrong exercise.
Dumbbell Alternating Bicep Curl
Week 1: 15lbs - 12, 12, 12
Week 2: 12lbs - 12, 12, 12
One Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl
Week 1: 10lbs - 12, 12, 12
Week 2: 10lbs - 12, 12, 12
Standing Bicep Cable Curl
Week 1: 20lbs - 12, 12, 12
Week 2: 20lbs - 12, 12, 12

Overall, the workout went really well. Did a mile warmup and 1.6 cool down (walking both). Were not going to the gym tonight - I'm meeting my Sister and going shopping for an outfit for our family photos, and then later tonight I'm meeting some running friends for a 4-5 mile run.
I'm super excited to run tonight! It's been ages. I'm hoping to get another run in on Sunday afternoon too. I've got my Jingle All the Way 8k next week and haven't been running as much as I should. Good thing is Chris will be running it with me. It'll be such a fun race...I ordered some super cute socks to race in!!!!!

Aren't they awesome?! I LOVE them!!!! Now I have to go shopping and find the material to make that cute skirt I saw.

Turkey Trot 10k on Nov 18th

Me and my biggest fan! Well, I did it! I ran my first 10k - the Columbia Turkey Chase 10k and relay race. It was an awesome race and great day to run. It was downright cold to start, but warmed up real quick. Holly, one of my friends from the running page, ran as well.

Grabbed a few photos before the start. Waited inline for the porta potties too (there were only 6)...the line was quite long.

 Here we go!!

 My husband kept the kids busy while I ran.

They made an awesome sign for me to see as I crossed the finish line and in their excitement to hold it up my camera dropped. I got my finish photo from my cell phone, and for once it took a good picture!

They said the course would be a flat out and back course. It was certainly not what I would call flat - nice decent size hill around mile 2.5 which wasn't so bad the first go around, but not so fun after the turn around.   Overall the race went really well! I finished in 1:02:48 - 263 out of 511 overall and 26 out of 50 for female age group. Right in the middle of the pack; not bad for my first 10k. I started off at the 8:30/9min pace and settled in around 9:30/10min pace and finished the last mile around 11min pace. Averaged out to a 10minute pace for the whole thing - I'll take it!!! I will definitely do this race again next year especially if the swag is the same!!!!

Dazzle Dash on Nov 17th

I was transferring files to my external hard drive this morning and for some reason I realized that I forgot to blog about the Dazzle Dash and my first 10k!!!!! How in the world did that happen?! You'd think my husband just got home from being deployed or something!
The Dazzle Dash was not really a 'race.' We got bib numbers, but it was for families and fun, and it was AWESOME!!! We got to run through Christmas lights. My little girl LOVED it!!

Chris, Me, our two kids, Patti and her daughter, Tabitha, her husband, and their 3 kids all joined us. It was such a fun time. Really looking forward to doing this again next year. It was dark out, so some of our photos didn't turn out as nice as they could've...
Here is Tabitha and her crew

 My little guy

 The kids with Health Hound

My crew getting excited to go and run

 Can you see her excitement?!

 There's a smile

 The girls (the girls were 'patiently' waiting for Tabitha and her clan to arrive).

We're going!

 HA!HA!HA! I LOVE this photo! Makes me laugh every time I see it.

 And here we go into the lights.

 

 

 Me and my little girls first race together!

 

 

 

 

 Who put this hill here?!

 Made it!!

Running with my little guy

 He didn't last long!

We did the 1.4 loop twice. It was a lot of fun and a great evening with friends. Afterwards when we got back to the car we realized that my son had lost his blanket, so I ran back to the course and thankfully found it right at the end. While I was waiting for Chris to come and get me they shut off the lights - whew! So glad he dropped it at the end and not while I was trying to find his blanket on the course. Next year I think all 4 of us will be 'running' it!!