Running around crazy

So so sorry it has been forever since I have written.

I keep meaning to write but then I always forget to take pics and then just loose motivation.

But anyway I am finally back :)

And will promise to try to be better. pinkie promise!

We will just go ahead and start with this morning and then work backwards :) (if that isn't to confusing... i have a feeling this might be an "all over the place post"

This morning was pretty good I must say.

Woke up at 5:20 and then did The Firm Express - 10 min Abs and Pump it up (10 mins) plus the Summer Shape up Cardio from Blogilates (13 mins)  :)

After that I got alll ready and headed down to get some grub. 

- Bad picture coming... be warned. 

Some Okios Greek Yogurt with a handful of Almond Special K and then an extra handful after.

I also added some stevia and some cinnamon :)

Yummy :)

Now I am at work.. blah blah blah. boring. but it is Friday so it is almost the weekend and I can not WAIT. Yay... I love getting to hang out and spend time with my fiance :)

The other eats for today are going to consisit of

Lunch - Turkey totilla wrap

Snack - Apple Sauce with cinnamon

Dinner - Sweet potato, Veggie Straws (not pictured) and Dark Chocolatte.

So onto 1/2 marathon training plan update.

I really feel like I am doing awesome... better than expected, escpecailly with my shin splint issues.

I am running 3 days a week. ( I would love to run more but my legs just think that is good for right now)

I run about 4-5 miles on tuesday and thursday and then do my long run on saturday. :)

This Saturday will be 6 miles again.. last saturday I ran 6 miles in 53:36. Pretty okish....i think.

I don't want to bore you with my silly life but that is what has been goin on :)

I promis there will be better posts soon :)

Walking...

Well I know I have been MIA for a tad while but I have just had the greatest time this past weekend :) - it included: Wipe Out, lunch at Chili's, Pink Spoon x 2, car wash and the pool.

But here is what I really wanted to talk about.

Yesterday was like any normal day... workout and then work.

But when I went out to run my 3 miles at lunch..... my shins started hurting. I almost had a breakdown... I reallly felt like... WOW wow wow this is not fair. I have been slowy running and strething and using "the stick" on my legs. Why me? Why me God? It is not fair that I always get shin splints.

I really felt abandoned and hurt.

BUT... then I picked myself up really quickly (something that I really never am able to do)

I stopped focusing on that ONE little annnoying thing... and started thinking about ALLthat God has already blessed me with.

He has blessed me beyond words.

So during that lunch I went ahead and walked.

I walked and talked to God about all that was on my mind.

I thanked God for:

• the ablity to breath
• the ablity to just walk... to have legs
• eyes to see the amazing trees and all the different people
• being able to call him my Father
• a one hour lunch break to enjoy his creation
• being able to come into his presence
• Aaron and my family
• being able to aready work out in the morning
• having lunch in my office when I got back
• living in a free country
• a job
• and the list goes on and on.... I am beyond blessed.

There are so many things that I take for granted. I tend to focus on the ONE thing that is wrong and not the millions of things that God has graciously given me.

It is so easy to focus on what we can't do and forget all we can do.

So just remember... God has a plan even when it really doesnt seem fair... HIS way is alwasy always best.. even when it doesnt feel like it is.

Questions:

What are you thankful for today?

Do you ever focus on the ONE small thing that is bothering you instead of all the other good things?

Lose the Training Wheels

This past Thursday and Friday I had the opprotunity to go help out with a absolutley wonderful organization. It was so much more than I expected.

Lose the Training wheels is a non profit organization that helps mentally challenged children (who are absolutley precious and oh so smart) learn to ride bicycles.

I went into the expereince feeling a little shaky... i didn't know if I would be able to help anyone at all learn to ride a bike but after watching some of the other volunteers I decideded to finally step up and give it a try.

Lose the Training Wheels is so efficent with their techinique of teaching all the kids how to ride bikes. They start all the kids off at the begining of the week with special bikes that have cool peg wheels to help them learn how to balance. As they progress they are able to finally learn how to ride by themsleves on a real 2 wheel bike.

Once I got out of my comfort zone, I had the most rewarding experince I could ever imagine having. I loved getting to know each child and learning that we are not that different at all. Before this expereince, I had never had a lot of interaction with special needs children but though interacting I learned we are all the same.

After the two days where over I went home feeling AMAZING.

Everyday after work I always come home feeling a little down, but after volunteering and helping all those children and seeing their faces light up, I felt like a new person.

I was so excited about life and so thankful to be able to live. I honestly felt like a new person. I had been renewed.

Through this experience I truly feel renewed and refreshed... I have new eyes.

I want to go out and help and I turly want to make a difference. It really showed me that there is so much more to life than the mundane work...I want to live my life.

Creating your own circiut workout

So I was reading some fitness magazines and I thought it would be fun if I started to try to create some of my own workouts.

So here is a create your own workout plan.

Start

-Choose a time limit

• 10 mins to about 1 hr

- Do a warm up (chose 1 exercise and do for one minute) - this a warm up so do this easy

• Jumping Jacks
• Jog in place
• high kness

- Chose a lowerbody exercise (do one move for 1 min)

• squats
• plie sqaut
• forward lunges
• backward lunges
• curtse lunge

- Chose a upper body exercise (do one move for 1 min)

• push ups
• tricep dips
• tricep push ups
• chest fly (using a elastic band or dumbells)
• calf raises
• dead lifts

- Chose an ab exercise (do one move for 1 min)

• crunches
• plank
• side plank
• oblique crunches
• flutter kicks

- Chose a cardio activity (do one move for 1 min)

• high knees
• jumping jacks
• skiers
• burpess
• mountian climbers

After one round have 1 minute break

Then go back and do the entire circiut  again.. either staying with the same moves or doing different ones :)

It should be pretty fun :)

1/2 marathon training plan

So yay... I am offically training for my first 1/2 marathon.

I just started training last saturday but it feels so real. I can not wait till Nov 17th.

I will be running the Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte. Here is the Offical Thunder Road page.

Even though I have ran off and on throughout my life I have never really trained for a race on my own.

My running story starts when I was in High School.

One of my friends who is an avid runner persaded our school to start a cross country team my senior year of high school. At first I was pretty nervous but I thought it would be fun. I always had run when I was playing soccer in highschool and I liked it pretty good.

All we did was run 5k's, which was awesome.. in about a 3 month time I got my time down from about 28 mins to 22 mins. I was pretty impressed....But from running I ended up gettting killer shin splints.

After that I would run some and do some races like a 5k s, a 4 miller and some Turkey Trots that ranged from 8 to 10k's.

They were all awesomly fun but I never really got into that much becuase I would end up starting running and go out for a 5 mile run. And even though my cardiovascular system could take it... my legs could not.

I get shin splints so easlily so ever single time I would always get them.

This time I am hoping will be very different.

I am using this training plan.

It is 16 wks long...( I think I have about 19 weeks till the 1/2) so I have some wiggly room.

I wanted a little bit of a longer training program, well b/c I have time and b/c I wanted to keep my legs safe. I don't want to push it to hard... but I do want to be able to run the whole race and end with a decent time.

(i have really no idea what that might be... right now I am running around a 8:30 to 9 minute mile while doing 3 mile runs)

I really am so excited to start running. :)

I have a feeling I am gonna get addicted.

I have already done two 3 mile runs.  

I have always been addicted to working out (usually with workout DVDs) but never to running.

I also bought some new shoes! ( to help the whole no shin splint thing)

Questions:

Have you ever run a 1/2 marathon?

Any good running tips?

What was your workout for today?

-mine was Sculpt 30 (Turbofire) and then a 3 mile run during lunch :)

2 years ago today

2 years ago today I started dating the man on my dreams :)
Oh my I am so blessed beyond words.

Aaron has made my life so much better and he more than I couldve ever imagined. He is my knight in shining, my hero, my safe place and my best friend... (and soon -to- be husband)

I am more in love than ever.

To celebrate this wonderful day we decided to go out on Saturday night and go on a special date. (since I had to work today and he has to study for a final... boo for growing up lol)

Son on Saturday night, after an absolutley wonderful day, we got all dressed up and decided to go to a tiny resturant called Mama Lena's in waxhaw, nc.

This is the absolute yummiest homemade Italian food out there.

We started off with an appetizer of calamari and some bread.

Both were so delicous. The bread was homemade and straight from the oven and the calamari was just so yummy.

After ordering our meal, we got a small salad and then split 2 entreres. Gnochi and Pene pasta with sausage.

Both were absolutley AMAZING.

During dinner it was great to just get to talk to each other and think about all the wonderful times we had over the past 2 years and all the things that are coming in our future.

I have learned so much over these past 2 years... knowing Aaron has made me such a better person.

He has taught me how to look to out fro the intrests of others and showed me how to truly love.

I can not wait to spend so many more years learning from him and growing old with him.

I love you Aaron Rankin :)

Perfect Saturday

This weekend was absolutley fabulous :)

I loved getting to hang out with my Aaron.

This weekend started off AMAZING by going for a Saturday morning run. I ran 3 miles and fininshed in 26 minutes.

That is not my most amazing run but it was great to get back out and run.... and that was my first offical run of my 1/2 marathon training plan. (more to come on that)

Then once I got back and cooled off a tad I started making some b fast. Aaron came over for some delicous breakfast.
I made some cinimon rolls and some (not so good) greek yougurt pancakes.

I put like way to much baking powder in them and they ended up tasting bitter so it was on to Special K protien cereal for me :)

After a yummy b fast me and aaron ran over to good will and then my daddy took us to go look at a golf store for Aaron

We have just started playing some golf and Aaron needed a pitching wedge so we went to this tiny store in Charlotte and it was so cool.

I found the perfect club for him and it was in a set so we got like 6 golf clubs for $45.

Yay!!

You can tell Aaron was a happy boy.

Then after that we went to the pool and swam for about an hour and a 1/2. That was my first time at the pool this year and it felt so great. It is just so relaxing and really feels great on your joints.

While we were at the pool we acted like little kids and did races and saw how long each of us could hold our breat.. um how bout no time at all... i think i have a defect. lol

After drying off.. lunch :)

Then to go buy me some awesome running shoes!

I am sooo incredibly excited! It is so much fun to try on new shoes... it makes me wanna go jump and run even more!! I can not wait till Nov 17th (1/2 marathon day)

Then we went to Aaron's house to get date clothes for tonight.

I also examined our baby vegetable garden... it is slowly but surley getting there.

Then off to play golf.

The rest of Saturday will be talked about in the next post :)

It was just to much to put in just one..

Questions

What is your favoirte saturday morning bfast?

Are you planning to run any races here soon?

Any 1/2 marathon advice?