Category: Friday Five Link Up

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! 🙂

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!

Friday Five: 5 Reasons to Run

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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 – National Running Day which was on Wednesday. In honor of National Running Day I’m giving you five reasons I run.

1. To stay healthy and fit. Running is a great way to get in shape as well as maintain fitness and health.

2. To push myself. Running has been a great outlet in allowing me to realize I can do things I would never have attempted. For example, I will be running my first marathon in October. I’ve taken the plunge to do something I thought was crazy before.IMG_1783

3. Because I can. There are many that would love to run but can’t like those in the IRUN4 community. I have an IRUN4 buddy and I’m honored to run for Caysen who has Down Syndrome.

4. Feels good. Especially after a run, I usually feel great. Knowing that I’ve accomplished something good for my body, or finished a race, or went faster or longer than I’ve gone before is awesome! You know the feeling.

IMG_36005. To be a good example for my kids. I want them to live healthy and active lives.

  

Why do you run?

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

Friday Five: What I Love About Spring

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TITLE (11)Happy Friday! After last week’s busy week in New Jersey and NYC for the NYC Half Marathon last Sunday, things have gone back to normal. I am 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 “Spring”. Here are five things I love about Spring:

1. The weather is usually great during the Spring for running. It’s not too hot or too cold.

2. Love the flowers blossoming in the spring.

3. Love that it stays light out longer. 

4. My birthday occurs in Spring. The pic below was from last year. 🙂

5. Spring Break. This was a lot nicer when I was in School, but my kiddo’s Spring Break is next week so it will be a great time to have some fun before I start work again in April.
What do you love about Spring? Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Be sure to check out the other blogs!

Friday Five: Day in the Life

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TITLE (10)Happy Friday! I’m out of town and am excited for the race on Sunday. I will be heading to the NYC Half Expo today. But I am 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 “Day in the Life”. Here are five things about my usual day.

1. After I wake up and I get to the kitchen, first thing I try to do is drink about 16 oz of water. There are so many benefits to drinking water in the morning.advantages-drinking-water2. I go for a run or do a DVD workout.

3. I drink the healthiest meal of my day, Vegan Chocolate Shakeology. I usually drink it after I run or workout. 4. Help my eldest with his homework.


5. Do laundry. The laundry never ends….
What’s a part of your usual day? Hope you have a great weekend!

Be sure to check out the other blogs!

 

Friday Five: Favorites

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TITLE (9)It’s Friday once again! I am linking up 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 “Favorites”. Here are some of my favorite things:

1. Sushi – I didn’t always love sushi but I was missing out before. Sushi is yummy!2. Pizza – I’ve always loved pizza. It’s not the healthiest food but I’m loving MOD pizza. This is the Dillon James with added spinach, mushrooms, green peppers, chicken, and chicken sausage.

3. CogniTea – This tea is so good. It has a sweet taste and I don’t know what it is but it really seems to give me some added energy. I’m glad I got to try it after winning it in a giveaway. I’ll have to buy some more soon. 4. Brookside Dark Chocolate Crunchy Clusters – These make for a great dessert or guilty snack. I have too much of a sweet tooth lol.5. Quest Bars – These are great for a snack with lots of protein. I love the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor and usually heat it up a little bit in the microwave.

What are some of your favorite things right now?

Have a great weekend! Be sure to check out the other great blogs!

Friday Five: Free Friday

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TITLE (8)Happy Friday! I am linking up once again with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for their Friday Five Linkup. Every Friday they have a linkup for bloggers to link up a post about five things on their theme or you can write five things about your own topic. This weeks theme is “Free Friday” so we can write about anything. I’ve chosen to write about five things that have been on my mind this week.

1. Have you heard of the Earthathon Relay? It’s not too late to join in on this fun virtual relay around the Earth. My team #RunderfulRunners is currently in third place and we’d love to add more runners to catch up to second place! 🙂

Earthathon was created by @GoRunHappy last year as a way to motivate others to exercise regularly. It’s picked up and for 2015, he set up ten teams to run a relay around the earth. The teams will combine and complete a total of 250,000 miles, which is the approximate distance to the moon. There will be ten teams but they are just a part of the bigger picture of “One Team, One Planet.” Once a team finishes their leg of the relay, they will help the other teams. When all teams have finished, they will have accomplished finishing a 250,000 mile relay. How cool is that?IMG_2652-0

All you need is a Twitter account. Learn more here http://earthathonrelay.com/.

Just log your runs/walks/hikes on this form after you sign up: http://earthathonrelay.com/run. The password is: run. We’re a fun, motivating and supportive group! Would love it if you’d join us! 🙂

2. Today’s the last workout (Friday Fight: Round 2) of the two month long program, Insanity Max:30. I can’t believe it’s the last day. It’s been tough and challenging but I’ve seen great improvement in my times. I like the concept of maxing out (the time when you have to take a break for the first time) and you’re pushing to beat your own time each week. It’s a great way to see how far you’ve gone. I feel more stronger and feel it’s helped with my endurance. I like this insane program and will continue to do workouts from it.max30

3. Saturday will be my first race of the year. I’m excited! I’ll be doing the Mommathon 5k race that’s being put on by my local Mom’s Run This Town group and Uberthons. I blogged about this race previously and it should be a fun one.10478166_687839397998857_8449749821663005143_n

4. We bought Big Hero 6 from Target and this is a pic from the back of the case. It’s so cute! The kiddos and I loved the movie!

5. Some really big news, I recently got a job offer and will be starting work again in April. This will be a big change since I haven’t worked since my eldest son was born, six years ago. I’ll be going back to the tech company I had w0rked for previously and will be working a compressed work week schedule. It will be 12 hour shifts and I’d work three days a week every other week and four days the other weeks. The thing I’m not looking forward to is that it will be on night shift. I felt it was time to go back to work but we’ll see how the night shift goes. I used to work nights so I’m familiar with it. I still plan to do all my scheduled races and pace for Uberthons.nightshift

Have you ever worked a night shift? Any big weekend plans? Be sure to check out the other blogs in the linkup! Hope you have a great weekend!

Friday Five: Five Races to Run in 2015

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TITLE (6)Happy Friday! I am linking up once again with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for their Friday Five Linkup. Every Friday they have a linkup for bloggers to link up a post about five things on their theme or you can write five things about your own topic. This week’s theme is “5 Races to Run in 2015”. Here are five races that I think are awesome and I’m running this year:

1. Mommathon 5k 10k Fitness Festival – 2/28/15. This one’s coming up soon! It’s being put on by my local Mom’s Run This Town group and Uberthons. What’s cool about this one is that it’s not just a 5k or 10k race, it’s also a fitness festival where there are fitness challenges. There will be fitness stations which include tests like how many burpees can you do in a minute, or how long can you hold plank? They also have a virtual option. You can learn more HERE. Check out the cool medal!mommathon_medal

2. NYC Half Marathon – 3/15/15. I was lucky to get into this one since it is a lottery event. I’m so happy both my sister and I got in! This one should be fun since I’ll be traveling to the East Coast. I’ll get to run through Times Square and Central Park. It’ll be a nice running tour. I’m excited! Here’s a link to their official page for more info: HERE.nychalf15_racehead_4

3. Rock’n’Roll Portland Half Marathon – 5/17/15. I love all the Rock’n’Roll Races I’ve done so far. This will be the fourth time doing the Portland race. rnrportlandIt looks like they’ve changed the course this year, so I’m excited for that! Improvements include:

  • No stopping for trains or traffic relief! (glad this never happened to me)
  • New bridges, new streets
  • Run through the historic Irvington neighborhood.POR_course_updated

Here’s a link to the official Rock’n’Roll Portland page: HERE.

4. Rock’n’Roll Seattle Half Marathon – 6/13/15. I did this race for the first time last year and loved the scenic course! I remember getting a great view of Mt. Rainier, running on the freeway seeing the Great Wheel and Seattle’s sport stadiums. Also, it was nice running along Lake Washington, and there was a sea of blue, military tributes and American flags to remember the honor and sacrifice of our service men and women. It was great!14_RnR_SEA_Logo

Looks like they changed the course this year too and they will have a new start and finish line under the Space Needle. Here’s a link to the official page: HERE.

5. Portland Marathon – 10/4/15. This will be my first marathon. It’s listed to be one of the best marathons for first timers in this Runner’s World Article- HERE, in Fitness Magazine- HERE, Fitbie -as one of the 10 Best Beginner Marathons- HERE, and one of the 15 Best Fall Marathon’s in the U.S. from daily Burn- HERE. I’m glad this race is local. Here’s the official Portland Marathon site for more info: HERE.cropped-2015Masthead

What is your favorite race for 2015?