Running!!!!

I ran yesterday, it was a no Les Mills Pump Day. There are a few rest days through out the program and you literally are not doing PUMP every day. They have the FLOW and Hard Core Abs workout included in there too. SO all in all you have three days of real pump and then three days of either walking ab work or flow. It is pretty balanced. Since the girls at work like running and I needed some form of cardio and was not in the mood to add some Insanity I opted for running as well.

My love for running started pretty much when I got in the Army where running and I had a WTF relationship. WTF am I doing up at 6:30 AM to run 6 flippin miles kind of relationship! Ha ha! It was not FUN. Over time I made it into a competition and I LOVE me some competition I love to win and if I can beat one person and be faster than them than I won! SO that's how it all started by some friendly EFF this crap competition! Then I let that go because I got out of the Army and then I fell back into it when I had B and then when my marriage failed. Running was always there for me when I needed it. The last time I ran I was inspired by a Chief that worked with us. She ran and ran and ran and she got really tiny. I wanted to so the same thing minus the tiny part. What caught me with her is that she ran races. I had never run a 5K or a 10K before and I wanted to try it. So that is exactly what I did. I ran my first 5K in Kodiak in 27 minutes and then I ran a 10K and finished in 56 or 57 minutes?? and then another for the 4th of July and I did that one in 56 minutes. I didn't really TRAIN for them I just threw myself out there and ran! Well......I didn't know anything about shoes and what not and I got really bad shin splints and couldn't run for months and then winter came and didn't end until May, so here I am with an opportunity to run and I am taking it!

Now that I am into fitness I sincerely love all things fitness and my programs were starting to bore me and with everything that I had in me from being in AK all I wanted to do was run. I had read about races that I wanted to do and I even made a scrapbook goal page to go with the runs that I wanted to do. I wanted to run the Diva Half Marathon and the Disney Half Marathon. SOOOOO I am going to run both of them next year! I also found a running store that I am going to join up and do pub runs with I think it would be super fun and I would meet some friends that have the same interest as myself so I think that would be cool too!

Here are the runs that I was able to track on my runkeeper! That way I can be accountable to what I do :) and you can see what I am doing as well!

Joss Stone

The day had finally come for me to see Joss Stone! I had been following her music since she first came out with her CD Soul Sessions and I was hooked. The concert was FANTASTIC and it was my first concert EVER and I am glad to say that this was my first one. It kind of took awhile for everything to happen we stood around for about an hour and a half before the concert began so my friend and I grabbed a drink! Then we stood there waiting and her intro band Vintage Trouble was amazing! They got the crowd going! They are for sure a great band I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Then she came out. She sang so absolutely beautiful, there was incense burning and she was just belting everything out. I really loved it her band and back up singers were amazing. She truly did sound like she does in her albums 100% real there is no messing around her voice is just that her own and I loved every single second! If you haven't listened to her than you should! She is a truly amazing soul singer!!!!!

Photober Fest Week 3!!!!

Cristian at the pumpkin patch!

He had so much fun on the tractor ride.

I may not get to see him often but I try and make every moment a memory :)

I can't believe it is week three of this photography bit. I have taken these, I decided to keep the boy seperate because they are individuals and they need their moment to shine :) B lives in FL with his Dad and I don't see him all the time so the third pic represents US Momma and son the thing that him and I both cherish the most each others time! C well he loves anything with wheels so I wanted to show that and the first picture is somewhat a recreation of his 1 year old picture ha ha! Minus the TUDE :) I hope you enjoy my submissions!!!

5 miles and Les Mills

Yesterday I went out for a 5 mile run. I don't know what got into me but I wanted to see if I could do it. Well in my neighborhood I have a 2.6 mile road that leads out of the neighborhood so I did that. It was pretty chilly so I waited until it was 10 so that way it would be warmer. I got out there decided to ditch my jacket in my car and go. That was boo boo #1!!!! WOW it was FREEZING OUT THERE! I had a head wind and whew I sure did know it! My hands were red and everything was just COLD.

The next boo boo was when I turned on my runkeeper and tried to adjust my music and my stupid iPhone just TURNED off with more than half the battery.............WTF! Gosh! I was HEATED so needless to say I wanted to turn the heck around get my jacket get in the car and run over the dang phone! HA HA. I don't have anger issues or anything. About a mile into the run I saw another runner and was entertained with trying to reach her but my crazy head didn't realize that the route I gave myself had hills upon hills upon hills! WITH A HEADWIND and if you are a runner you KNOW that kind of sucks ha ha ha! All I could think about was the fact that I am a Bad Ass Barbie for doing it LMAO! SO I got out there and pack and noted the time that I left and came back and I ran the 5.2 miles in 48 minutes which left me at a 9.13 pace which I thought was AMAZING because of the hills and the headwinds not to mention the cold! I was super excited about that!!!!!

While I was at the running store on Friday, the guy mentioned workout gear that wicks the moisture away from you and I had bought some socks and I was interested in getting some clothes because if I am going to run in the cold than I may as well get some good gear that wouldn't drown me in sweat so I went on eBay and let me tell you even on there it isn't cheap! I did end up winning 2 pairs of pants for about 30 bucks for both and I was LOOKING for them and then I went to Target picked up their Champion jacket and a pair of pants and a shirt and that cost me 68 bucks for all three pieces needless to say I am DONE! UGH! ha ha ha! If I do things I like to do them right and if it was summertime I probably wouldn't have invested in them I am just deathly afraid of being cold LOL. WHY do I live up North again?!?!?! Oh yeah because of the USCG but whatever ha ha!

Les Mills Day 5 was today and it was Pump Challenge again......20 minutes and that's it. Flow was fun I did that yesterday too and I will probably do it again tomorrow just for some extra stretching I have Hardcore Abs tomorrow I hear that is a tough one.....I am intimidated I hate AB work by the way. just because I am fit doesn't mean I have to like everything right? Tomorrow I am going to run another 5 miles and then do the hard core abs with the flow. I am going to watch Joss Stone tomorrow with a friend so I know that means I am going to eat out and what not so I may as well get the calories in LMAO!

Hope you had a great weekend!!!

If the shoe fits!

When I started running in Alaska I was doing pretty well until I ran a Fourth of July 10K. I never really trained on hills and I was the kind of person that just jumps first and never gives too much thought into the things that I want to do if I really want to do them. Well there were hills on this 10K and I seriously hadn't run anymore than 4 miles on the treadmill and I was big headed and thought that it was JUST a run! How harmless could that be? What a fail! 

I ended up going down hill for about a quarter mile and totally didn't pace myself and KILLED my shins! I was out of commission for about 2 weeks. I went to medical and they gave me an appointment with a foot person who gave me show inserts and the works. I saw a physical therapist but she didn't really help me much but she did fit me for my inserts. I started looking online and noticed that my feet overpronate and I needed to get fitted for shoes.....well Kodiak is a small island look below.....

 So I told myself that if I ever got into running again (In AK I had big dreams for running a half marathon and local races) that I would go to a running shoe store. Well I found one in Plymouth and I went there yesterday for a shoe fitting. I ran on the treadmill and that went well......weird. My feet over pronate like I thought they did. That means that my ankle takes a lot of the impact and it goes inward to receive all of the energy. My feet then SWING out when I run ha ha ha it looks so funny because my stride is right one and then WHOOP my leg flies to the outside. It is the most hysterical thing that I have ever seen and something that I am going to try to work on but for now I am glad that I got some good shoes. 

So the guy was awesome he came by with 5 pairs of sneakers. He told me that I would have to size up! OMG I THOUGHT I was a size 6.5 well NO I am a 7 and I got sized up to an 8!!!! WHAT? He said that I would have to wear bigger shoes because they will help reuce the blisters on the top of my toes and that they would keep toe nails from coming off. Well then I was sold and I am ok with having GARGANTUAN feet for running only......weird! ha ha ha! So $110.00 later.....I got a pair of shoes! I am really happy and I am going to try them on this morning. I also have Les Mills Pump Flow to do and from what I understand it is a Yoga stretch DVD so I will do that after my 5 miles to try these shoes out! Kinda excited but it's cold out there ha ha ha! My first time running in the cold! Ahhhhh! 

I have more things to look forward too! I am going to Trader Joes for the first time AND I am doing Scott Kelby's World Wide Photowalk! Pictures of Provincetown coming soon! 

Have a wonderful day/weekend!

Photoberfest Photos

Ahhhh I am always so late on things and I meant to post this AGES AGO but I am doing a weekly photography contest and I am suuposed to put my family photos up! EEEEEEKKKKK ok so here we go my three submissions! I hope you enjoy!!!!

This shows the true character of what I go through as a photographer and the true spirit of my boys who are my family!

Les Mills day 3 and moody me

Yesterday was my rest day from Pump, I ran four miles on the treadmill and I have to say that it was the most boring freaking run ever! I ran on the treadmill because one of the girls that I am training is a pansy and complains all the time so it was TOOOO windy for her and TOOOO cold for her so we ran inside. That may have been my reason for such a sucky run. By the way I am a certified personal trainer and I train with my "clients" if you call it that and I don't charge them because I couldn't do that.......Yes I do think that I am selling myself short and maybe one day I will stop being so nice anyway ( I am moody today if you already can't tell). So back to the running, yes it was torture and I wanted to get off and I run faster off the treadmill than I do on the treadmill which was really weird.....I run 8.30 - 8.36 by my house and I can't get over a 6.7 on the treadmill which is about a 9:30 mile.....it is the strangest thing. Anyway something isn't calibrated and I am going to say that it is the treadmill LOL.

I was totally craving and I still am CHICKEN WINGS ( I think Bloody Mary is about to visit). One of my co-workers had some buffalo wing pretzels in her desk and shared which I thought was really nice! I totally enjoyed the handful that I ate :D and it saved me from the devil chips! They are these Rice Works chips and I can't eat one serving of them it's more like the WHOLE BAG! They are so good and thankfully they are made with brown rice and they are low in fat so that helps a bit right?!?!?!?

So today was a good day of course I am moody but the more I type the happier I am getting so maybe I need to vent right? I went to work and got off at noon which is FANTASTICAL, I got rid of some of my eBay stuff ($145!!) and I did my day two of Pump. It was the same workout that I did on day one I put more weight on there with the exception of the shoulders and the chest and tricep part where I stayed at 10 pounds like I did last week and for everything else I was comfortable at 15 pounds! I am super excited that I am stronger than I thought I was but at the same time I was working larger muscle groups so there is a huge difference there :)  I really was looking forward to my workout and was pleased that I felt everything burning which I think is an awesome thing right? I mean who wouldn't want to feel a workout in 20 minutes. Here is my before picture that I took on Wednesday and me working out :) Enjoy!!!! I think I may go out on a run to cure this mood!