Author: Happy Running Mom

Fit mom, hoping to inspire you through my fitness journey. Loves running and working out.

Join Week 2 of the #BosuStrong #SweatPink Challenge – All About Balance

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If you forgot to join me last week for the #BOSUStrong challenge or just weren’t up for the cardio, make sure you join me this week as it’s all about the balance! We’re standing on one leg, lunging, and squatting our way through the week.

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But balance means more than just being able to stand on one leg, it also means being able to do what you love while making healthy choices at the same time. It means putting in the work and still finding time for everything else. Or eating the foods you crave but balancing it out with healthy alternatives.

Here are the 6 ways I stay balanced – what are yours?

  • I make time for myself by  waking up early to get my workout done.
  • My favorite me time is when I’m running or working out.
  • My rule when it comes to a balanced diet is it’s all good in moderation.
  • I make fitness a priority by sticking with my schedule.
  • When I get stressed or overwhelmed, my go to is running.
  • I do my best to help my family stay balanced.

So I want to know – are you #BOSUStrong? Copy and paste the above, fill it in and make it your own and then tag me in it and share with your friends! Let’s all be #BOSUSTRONG.

Here’s a pic from last week’s challenge, my favorite way to get my cardio on: 

Here are the daily prompts for this week. You can also follow along HERE.

Week 2, it’s all about that BALANCE (9/21-9/25):

(Make sure you tag @Bosu_Fitness on Instagram & @BosuFitness on Twitter):

    • Monday, 9/21: Happy Monday sweaties, this week we’re all about that balance. Let’s see you stand on one leg – ready, set, GO! #BosuStrong #SweatPink #FitFamily @Bosu_Fitness @FitApproach #ad
      • Bonus: Y’all know we love to #jumpjoymonday! Show us your BEST jump shot and tag @BOSU_Fitness @FitApproach #BOSUStrong #FitFamily #SweatPink #ad
    • Tuesday, 9/22: We want to see you #dropitlikeasquat…on your BOSU or perhaps one leg? #BosuStrong #SweatPink #FitFamily @Bosu_Fitness @FitApproach #ad
      • Bonus: It’s time for #treetuesday! Show us your best tree pose. @BOSU_Fitness @FitApproach #BOSUStrong #FitFamily #SweatPink #ad
    • Wednesday, 9/23: Let’s lunge it out sweaties! #BosuStrong #SweatPink #FitFamily @Bosu_Fitness @FitApproach #ad
      • Bonus: #workitwednesday, show us how you’re workin’ it this Wednesday and tag #BOSUstrong #FitFamily #SweatPink @Bosu_Fitness @FitApproach #ad
    • Thursday, 9/24:  It’s #totalbodythursday. Show us your favorite total body balance  move! #BOSUstrong #FitFamily #SweatPink @Bosu_Fitness @FitApproach #ad
      • Bonus: Give us a #tbt of a time when you really challenged your balance (feel free to get creative!) #BOSUstrong #FitFamily #SweatPink @Bosu_Fitness @FitApproach #ad
  • Friday, 9/25: #FreeFriday. Show us your favorite way to get your balance on! #BOSUstrong #FitFamily #SweatPink @Bosu_Fitness @FitApproach #ad
    • Bonus: Happy #forearmfriday. Let’s forearm plank it out y’all! #BOSUstrong #FitFamily #SweatPink @Bosu_Fitness @FitApproach #ad

Notes: You do not need to own or have access to a BOSU to participate. By participating you will have a chance to win a BOSU and other fun prizes. And please, if you are using a BOSU throughout this challenge, never stand on your BOSU with the dome facing down (images or moves down on the BOSU incorrectly will not count during this challenge).

Who’s in with me? Don’t miss out on the chance to win a BOSU!

Portland Marathon Training Week 11 – Workouts Recap (8/24-8/30)

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Five more weeks until my first marathon! It’s been a milestone week since I ran my first 20 miler which will be the longest distance I run until the marathon. I must say it was a tough one but a pretty good first 20 mile run. I have another 20 miler planned in two weeks. I’m not sure how I’ll get it in, but here’s what I did last week:

Monday – I remember waking up a lot later than planned, since my alarm didn’t wake me up, and I did Focus T25 Total Body Circuit. I cut it close and got to work just in time. Tuesday – Ran 5 miles before heading up to Seattle.
  Wednesday – 8 miles. It was nice to run on this trail again by my parent’s place. Thursday – Running Rest Day. Ended up walking 2 miles and went geocaching.
Friday – Ran 5 miles.  Saturday – Ran 20 miles.
The 20 miles were tough especially since it was a hilly course and rained for a good portion of it. The rain wasn’t bad and felt good at times. But when I finished I had the thoughts of how I would get through 6.2 more miles at a faster pace. My main goal is to finish the marathon but another goal is to finish under 4 hours. I ran most of it at a more comfortable pace since the program says to run the long runs slow. But I also looked at what RunKeeper had planned for me and they had an 18 miler planned with 3 fast miles towards the end and the last 3 miles steady. I decided to incorporate that in my 20 miler to see how I’d do and I ran miles 16-18 faster with splits 8:53/8:42/8:55 and then miles 19, 20 back to a steady pace and got 9:45 and 9:19. I’m actually pretty happy with how I did. But to do another 6.2 miles has me nervous. For me to get a time of 3:59:00, my average pace needs to be 9:07 per mile. There’s still five weeks left and one more 20 miler scheduled. I’ll see how I feel in a couple of weeks. 🙂

Sunday – Rest Day. I am feeling a little sore, and it seems to be my glutes.

Here’s a summary of what Hal Higdon’s plan had scheduled and what I did:

Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun
What I did Cross 5 m run 8 m run Rest 5 m pace 20 Rest
Hal Higdon’s plan Cross 5 m run 8 m run 5 m run Rest 5 m pace 20

How did your week go? How’s your training going?

I’m linking up with HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin for the Weekly Wrap.WeeklyWrap

Five Things I did This Summer

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Happy 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 “5 Things I Did This Summer”. It’s been a hot but not too eventful summer for me. Here are five things I did this summer:

  1. Run. I just had to put that since I’ve done so much running this summer. I’ve done the most running in my life ever these past months. Training for my first marathon is pretty time consuming since there’s so many scheduled runs as well as long runs. But I’m still enjoying it. 🙂

2. Started geocaching. This is a fun activity to do with the kids. It’s modern day treasure hunting using GPS. There’s been some really cool and unusual ones we’ve found. 

3. Went to our first local minor league baseball game. We had a fun time seeing the Hillsboro Hops play the Everett AquaSox.IMG_7043

4. Finally did the Ride the Duck Tour in Seattle. It’s a fun one that I recommend. It’s pretty cool to go in the water on Lake Union and see great views of Seattle. 

5. Enjoyed lots of froyo/ice cream with the kiddos since it’s been a hot summer! 🙂 

Summer isn’t officially over yet, but what’s your favorite thing you’ve done this summer?

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

Portland Marathon Training Week 10 – Workouts Recap (8/17-8/23)

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Six more weeks to go until my first marathon! Training is still going good. Mileage decreased a little. I ran 31 miles compared to 39 miles the previous week, which is still a lot for me. I’m still managing to wake up early enough to get my runs in but in one case I missed my alarm on Friday so I had to run in the evening. Thankful that I’m able to get it done!

Here’s what I did last week:

Monday – Cross training day. I did Focus T25 Speed 2.0. It’s a good, fast paced workout that makes me sweat.
Tuesday – Started the day with a nice 5 miles.
Wednesday – Another early morning 5 miler.Thursday – I did P90X3 Dynamix, a great recovery workout with dynamic exercises and stretches.
Friday – Ran a fast evening 8 miler. I probably wasn’t supposed to run it that fast but it felt good, and at the end I decided to run a fast mile for the weekly challenge in G+. I ended up running a 7:32 mile for mile 8. I’m not sure if it was the spaghetti I ate or the Energy and Endurance Formula I took beforehand lol, but I sure went fast. Saturday – After my evening run the day before I still woke up early to get my total 13 scheduled miles.  I ran 10 miles before hubby went to work and the last 3 miles were on the treadmill.

The thirteen miles were ok, just another training run that felt fine. But I’m getting anxious about my 20 miler this weekend. It will be my longest run ever!

Sunday – Rest Day.

Here’s a summary of what Hal Higdon’s plan had scheduled and what I did:Screen Shot 2015-08-23 at 10.24.32 PM

How’d your week go? Any races coming up?

I’m linking up with HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin for the Weekly Wrap.WeeklyWrap