Feeling good!

I want to get a quick update out there. I really want to make more time for blogging but I'm so busy with work, an almost 3 year old, and working out that it gets put on a back burner. I'd much rather be out living life than home writing about it! :-)

I've had an awesome month. I've been trying to run 3 times a week after work and so far I've gone 48.6 miles this month! That does include some walking but the majority is running. My goal for the month is 50 miles and I'm definitely going to get there! 

I'm still doing the 30 day Shred and this morning I did level 3 for the first time. Holy cow!! It makes level 1 seem like a walk in the park! I love it though. Today was day 24 and I'm going to do 33 days so that I can get 10 days with level 3. I sometimes skip a day here and there and I did level 1 for 12 days, so it's taken me a bit longer to do it. I ordered Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 DVD that came out this year and I'm going to start that when I'm done with the Shred. And I plan on doing the shred again at some point with heavier weights. Right now I'm using 10 pound weights but a few of the exercises seem too easy (chest fly's and bicep curls) and I want to use 15 pound weights for those. 

I think running regularly and the shred have definitely made me stronger. I hadn't run more than 4.5 miles all month or gone out for any solo runs since August 26. On that run, I had a route planned and wanted to run 5 miles. I got to a traffic light (before my turn around spot) and had run 2.2 miles. I was really tired and did not want to keep going. I knew if I turned around then I would still make 5 so that's what I did. This past Saturday I went out with a goal of doing 5, but really wanting to do 6. I went on the same route and figured I'd see how I felt. When I got to that same traffic light, I was feeling great! So I kept going and ended up running 6.4 miles! I haven't run that far since July 8. And my pace was 1 minute/mile faster than it was then (11:36 vs. 12:28). Awesome! 

Something else I'm doing is the Plank A Day challenge over at Running for Dummies. My first plank was 1:08.3 but I think that's because I did it immediately after finishing a shred workout and my arms were already tired. I increased my time quickly and made it to 3 minutes after just 7 or 8 tries! My current best is 3:07.8. It's motivating to see my name on the leader board and I hope to keep moving up! I'm very competitive and this is a fun challenge.

Now I need to work on eating even better and I know that eventually my skinny jeans will get more comfortable! I really wish I had taken measurements before I started the shred but I lost my tape measure. I'm going to get a new one and take a whole new set of measurements before I start Ripped in 30. But I am fastening my bra on the next set of clasps which is awesome! 

I'm signing up to be a foodie penpal over at The Lean Green Bean.  Look for more on that next month! And stay tuned for my 30 day shred review!