New Years Day 5K

As promised, albeit a month late, here's my race recap of the New Years Day 5K. This is the 4th time I've run it and this year it moved to a new location. I made sure I got there early enough to find the place, get a good parking spot, and get checked in. I ended up being there way too early and it was freezing! My dad was there as a volunteer photographer and we huddled in his car until we absolutely had to go out.

The race made some weird loop so you ended up running the same part twice. And of course there were some decent hills coming back. Doing them once was okay but twice was no fun! I jogged what I could and walked when I needed to. Overall I felt really good during this race, I just didn't like those darn hills!

I have a hard time not "racing", but being pregnant I know I need to just have fun and not push myself too much. So I had a goal but it was a very loose goal. I wanted to finish in under 45 minutes, which I knew was completely doable. I was very happy to see the clock as I finished- under 40! My official time was 39:24. It's not even my slowest 5K, which is awesome! I ran a 5K when I was about 2 months pregnant with Jack. It's the only time I ran and I actually downgraded my registration from the 5-miler. I finished that in 42:37. So to be over 5 months pregnant and finishing in under 40 minutes is so amazing! I'm really proud of myself for continuing to run, even if it's only twice a week.


Here I am waving at my dad:

I'm running a virtual 5K next week and per doctor's orders, I'll need to switch to walking in about 2 weeks. I'll update with how January went and how February is going. I'll try not to let a whole month go by in between updates!

Mission 10 Miler

This past Sunday I ran my first race of the year! The last race I ran was a 10-Miler in November. 4 months later and I'm running another local 10-Miler. It's a great distance and it's becoming one of my favorites to run.

My running has been more consistent leading up to this race, but I didn't run for 3 weeks in March. Not good! The weather has been getting better so I went out for a short run last Thursday and an even shorter run Saturday morning. Getting outside (after only running indoors for the last 4 months) built up my confidence for the race.

I ran this race last year and the weather was just awful. Rain, hail, sleet, snow...every type of precipitation you can think of, we had it during those 2 hours! This year was 1000x better. A bit windy and chilly, but the sun was out, the sky was clear, and the ground was dry. I'll take it!

The course starts and ends just outside of a baseball stadium and it's an out and back course. The only problem is you're out in the middle of nowhere (or at least it feels like it!) and the road seems to go on for forever. Finally you turn the corner and see the tent marking the turnaround. It's a beautiful thing!

I started out with the 10:00 min/mile pacer and my first 2 miles were my fastest. It was too fast for me so I had to slow down a bit. I wanted to wait until I made it to the turnaround before kicking it up. The course consists of rolling hills, with 2 bigger hills as you near the finish, and I needed to save some energy for this last mile.

My splits were 10:37/mile for the first half and 10:38/mile for the second half. Finish time was 1:46:06, my second fastest 10 miler! And I beat last year's time by 4 1/2 minutes! But really, how could I not with the drastic differences in the weather? Still, I'll take it!

See that squint? Gotta love that sun!

Thanks to the hills and me pushing it (and after a 3 week running hiatus), my quads are still sore 3 days later. Am I crazy for loving it? I guess that's why I continue to run! :)

Here are a few things I love about this race and why I plan on doing it every year that I'm able to:

• It's local and takes less than 30 minutes for me to get there
• The race fee doesn't break the bank and even if it did, it goes to a good cause (see below)
• It's a 2pm start time on a Sunday. They want everyone to have the chance to go to church in the morning before the race. How great is that? And I love that I don't have to get up super early!
• It's called "A Race for Recovery" because they support a local Rescue Mission which provides long-term residential recovery programs to the chemically addicted, food to the hungry, and clothing and furniture to the needy. This year they raised $25,000! 
• You get a nice running shirt and medal
• They have same-day packet pickup so no having to go out of my way the day before. And did I mention the race is at 2pm? Packet pickup goes until 1:30. Again, no getting out of bed super early or going out of your way!
• A great selection of post-race food and drink
• Amazing volunteers who had smiles on their faces. One even thanked me for being out there running. 

To sum it up, this is the perfect race (at least to me) and I can't wait to do it again next year! If you live in the area, definitely check it out. Maybe I'll see you out there. :)

What do you look for when signing up for a race? What's important to you? 

Busy Moms Getting Fit!

I have a 4 1/2 year old son, I'm married, I cook healthy meals, I work 3 jobs, and I still make the time to workout every single day. There are a lot of reasons why we put everyone else ahead of ourselves. We can make excuses as to why we can't find the time to exercise and eat healthy foods. We can say we're too out of shape to get started. we're embarrassed and don't feel comfortable in the gym. We don't know where to even begin when it comes to eating clean.

I was naive about food and I used to eat a lot of junk. I was a runner and figured I could eat whatever I wanted because I would burn it off. I never even gave it much thought. I'm also an emotional eater and struggle with binge eating. I may not have been overweight, but I was very unhealthy.

When I could no longer wear my skinny jeans and my big jeans were getting tight, I knew I had to make a change. I started counting calories and adding in additional exercise to go with running. I still struggled.

It wasn't until this year when I discovered Beachbody and all they have to offer. I started drinking Shakeology every morning for breakfast (and still do), I joined online challenge groups for daily support and motivation, and starting doing the fitness programs. With T25, all I needed was 25 minutes a day and I could do it at home whenever it fit best into my schedule. I did it for 11 weeks straight and only missed 2 workouts.

I stopped the excuses. I made the time. I committed to getting healthier for myself and my family. And I feel amazing! I'm in the best shape of my life, I'm strong, confident, and have the energy to run around with my son.

With Shakeology, my cravings have almost vanished. It's seriously amazing! I've always had a huge sweet tooth but now I don't even crave that stuff. And when I do eat it I don't enjoy it like I used to. I can do without it and that is such a great feeling. A big emotional weight has been lifted.

And now I want to help you get healthy, feel strong, be confident, and have the energy to be the person your family needs you to be. Being a busy mom is no excuse for not making time for yourself. I'm now running my own challenge groups and I've currently got a client who has 5 kids and she's making the time! If she can do it, so can you.

Contact me today to join our next challenge group. It's exclusively for moms who want to get healthy and strong! I want to give everyone individual attention, help with meal planning, workouts, time management, even daily phone calls and text messages if that is something that will help you. So spots are limited to the first 10 people who sign up. I want to help everyone and I'll definitely do a similar group in the future. I believe it's so important that we make time for ourselves so we can be around to enjoy our grandkids! And a happy mom = a happy family!

Get healthy while setting a great example for your kids. Don't wait another day. You are worth it! If not for you, do it for your family.

My Results with T25 and Shakeology

I've been a Beachbody coach for a little over 4 months now. It's been so much fun and I absolutely love it! 

On February 24, 2014, I got my first bag of Shakeology in the mail and on the 25th I started working out and drinking Shakeology every day. I started with Les Mills Combat and it's definitely fun, but I wanted something more. Then I found T25 and fell in love! 

Not every workout will be for every person. That's why it's important to have a coach who knows your goals and also knows the programs. Then you can work together on finding the right one for you. T25 is definitely my soul mate workout. 

I love Shaun T. 

I love that it's only 25 minutes.

I love the high intensity.

I love that I'm dripping sweat by the end of every workout.

I love that it's split up into "phases". 

Just when I had had enough, after doing the same workouts for 5 weeks, a new phase began with all new workouts. It was perfect! I've seen some great progress thanks to T25 and I'm happy to share that with all of you!

I'll come back next week to share exactly how much weight and inches I've lost after taking them again tomorrow. Next week I'm starting Insanity and PiYo and I couldn't be more excited!! I'm working on decreasing my midsection a bit more and toning all over. 

My progress has been slow and steady and I'm okay with that! I'm very happy with where I'm at today. I'm a lot stronger and tighter everywhere. I'm not soft anymore! :) 

I'll post a full review of T25 as well as my progress with Insanity and PiYo. So stay tuned! 

If you'd like more info on these programs, Shakeology, or becoming a coach please send me an e-mail at AdventuresinRunning(at)yahoo.com or comment on this post and leave your e-mail address. I look forward to hearing from you!