Month: July 2015

Portland Marathon Training Week 6 – Workouts Recap (7/20-7/26) and Weekend Update

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I finished week 6 of marathon training with my longest run ever, 15 miles! Woohoo! Felt pretty good, so I think training is going well. It’s been harder and harder waking up early to run though. I’m getting tired, especially on work days but I’ve managed to get it done. I ended up with 33 miles for the week.

Here’s what I did:

Monday – Cross Training Day. I decided to do P90X3 CVX. I like how this workout incorporates a weight with cardio.

Tuesday – Ran an early 4 miler.  Wednesday – 7 early morning miles before work.
Thursday – Rest Day. Traveled to Seattle. 
Friday – Had a nice 7 mile run.
Saturday – 15 early morning miles, my longest run so far! This was actually a pretty hilly run but I felt pretty good throughout. The hills were tough but manageable.  Sunday – Rest Day.

On to the weekend update. I went up north past Seattle to visit family. It was nice to get together and just relax at my parent’s place. We went on walks, had some ice cream, and watched some DVDs. The kiddos had fun. It was nice that they spent time with their cousins.

  

Can you spot the animal? I’m not sure what it was but my husband said it’s a nutria, also known as a river rat.

  
Something fell off, lol.

That was my week of workouts and weekend. How’d your week go?

I’m linking up with Tara from Running ‘n’ Reading for the Weekend Update. Be sure to check out the other blogs. 🙂

Portland Marathon Training Week 4 – Workouts Recap (7/6-7/12)

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Training for my first marathon is still going well so far. This week’s long run wasn’t that long, I guess to get a break and have some time to recover for the increasing miles ahead. I’m still somewhat following Hal Higdon’s Intermediate Plan with a few tweaks.

Here’s what last week’s workouts looked like:

Monday – Cross training day. I tried 21 Day Fix Extreme, The Fix Challenge for the first time. Oh my, it was a challenge and great workout! There’s 13 moves. You start with the first one and then keep adding one move each time until you get to the end and do all 13 moves. I liked it!Tuesday – Ran 3 miles.
Wednesday – 5 evening miles.  Thursday – I did Insanity Cardio Recovery. It’s a great recovery workout with good stretches but not easy. There’s lots of squats and lunges with pulses.
Friday – Ran 6 miles.  Saturday – Ran 9 miles.
Here’s a summary of what Hal Higdon’s plan had scheduled and what I did:

Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun
Hal Higdon’s plan Cross 3 m run 5 m run 3 m run Rest 6 m pace 9
What I did Cross 3 m run 5 m run Cross 6 m pace 9 Rest

How did last week go for you? Any races coming up? I’ll be pacing a half marathon on Saturday. It should be fun. Here’s to a great week ahead!

I’m linking up with Tuesdays on the Run – MCM Mama Runs, My No-Guilt Life, and Run the Great Wide Somewhere.
Tuesdays-on-the-run1

Sweat Pink #1MillionMinutes Mad Lib – Puritan’s Pride

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Happy Friday! I’m participating in the Sweat Pink community’s challenge to help achieve one million minutes of activity this Summer. The goal is to inspire and encourage everyone to get moving. Anyone and everybody can join in and sign up here.

They have a fun mad lib this week that I thought would be fun to share.

I’m so __excited_ [adj] to fuel my #1MillionMinutes goals with Puritan’s Pride! All summer I plan to __run__ [verb] my way to a healthier, fitter me, and I’ll need help staying hydrated and fueled during all my __magnificent_[adj] adventures!

I will make sure I stay on track and will rely on __healthy food__ [noun] to keep me well fueled before, during and after workouts, and my _Simple Hydration Water bottle__ [noun] to keep me hydrated!

I’m most excited to try _Vega All in One Nutritional Shake Chocolate_(product) and _Smores Quest Bars__ (product) from Puritan’s Pride because they look __yummy and healthy__(adj).

One supplement I’ve never tried but am curious about is __Korean Ginseng__ [noun]. I think it might make me extra _revitalized and rejuvinated _[adj].

Bring it, #1MillionMinutes! I’m ready to go!

Hope you join in on this #1MillionMinutes challenge if you haven’t already! Any exciting plans for the weekend?

Portland Marathon Training Week 3 – Workouts Recap and Weekend Update

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I’d say week 3 of Portland Marathon Training went well. I got my scheduled runs in and on July 4th, I completed the Runner’s World Summer Run Streak. Woohoo! 41 days of running at least a mile of day completed! That is my longest run streak ever! The last one I did ended at 37 days. IMG_5367

Here’s what I did last week:

Monday – Ran a mile and then did Insanity Max:30 Cardio Challenge. Had a great sweat session and maxed out at 17:32.Tuesday – Ran 3 miles.
Wednesday – Ran 6 miles.  Thursday – Ran a mile to continue the run streak and then did P90X3 Dynamix. This is a great recovery workout with dynamic exercises/stretches.
Friday – Ran 6 or so miles. My GPS was wacky that day on my Garmin. Not sure what happened there, but it was a first and of course it happens when I go a different route. Strava had me at 6.8 miles.  Saturday – Ran 9 early morning miles outside before hubby went to work and then finished with 3 miles on the treadmill for 12 miles total. Saturday marked the end of the Runner’s World Run Streak and I feel somewhat relieved that it’s over lol. I like rest days.
  
Sunday – Rest day

Now onto the weekend update, here are the highlights.

On Friday, I took the kiddos to the movies and we watched Inside Out. I thought it was a cute one. It had me laughing at parts and the kiddos enjoyed it.Saturday was July 4th so the kiddos had fun with some fireworks. It would have been fun to go watch a big show, but I had to work on Sunday. My kiddos enjoyed the smoke bombs and sparklers we got them.   How’d your weekend go? See any good movies lately?

I’m linking up with Tara from Running ‘n’ Reading for the Weekend Update.

Running 'n' Reading

Friday Five: Five Things I’m Loving This 4th of July

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It’s Friday! I’m linking up once again with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for their Friday Five Linkup. This week’s theme is the “4th of July” and so here are five things I’m loving this 4th of July:

1. Love seeing fireworks, but we’ll probably just get some sparklers and not watch a big live show. I have to work the next day. Here’s a cute but old pic when we watched fireworks at Rockaway Beach, OR.

2. The Runner’s World run streak ends on the fourth of July. This will be my longest run streak at 41 days. It was a good streak but I’ll be looking forward to my rest days now that I’m marathon training.IMG_5367

3. The 2nd Earthathon Relay has just started and I’m looking forward to contributing my miles. It’s not too late to join. It’s a fun and free virtual relay with ten teams competing the distance of the circumference of the earth. It’s fun, great motivation, and a great way to meet runners all over the world. All you need is a Twitter account. You can learn more at earthathonrelay.com. We could use your miles on team RunderfulRunners. 🙂IMG_27354. It’s been sooo hot lately, I’m loving these Yasso mint chocolate chip frozen greek yogurt bars. So good! I got them at Costco.

5. I’m also loving my new hat which is also a heart rate monitor. It’s called the LifeBeam Smart Hat. I splurged and got it with a coupon code since I don’t like wearing the chest strap heart rate monitors. It works great and pairs with my Garmin!

What are you loving right now? Any plans this July 4th weekend?

Hope you have a great weekend and be sure to check out the other blogs!