Category: Running

Last Week’s Workouts and Weekend Update (3/16-3/22)

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neon (11)This was recovery week after the NYC Half Marathon. I was a little sore after the race and wanted some time for my legs to recover. The My Asics App also had the whole week as a rest week but I couldn’t rest the whole week. Here’s what my workouts looked like this week as well as my weekend update:

Monday – Rest Day

Tuesday – Rest Day

Wednesday – I tried 21 Day Fix Extreme’s Pilates Fix for the first time. You use a resistance band throughout the workout and the handles were missing on mine so it was much tougher. But I had a great ab workout!
  Thursday – First run after the NYC Half. It felt good. Nice and easy.Friday – Ran a mile with this little cutie. He wanted to go for a run and I think he did awesome running his first mile.Saturday – I decided to do Focus T25’s Total Body Circuit workout. It’s been a while since I’ve done this one. I’m happy I can do more of it like some oblique push-ups now. I had a great sweat session!

On Saturday, I also decided to check out Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve. It’s a 635-acre wildlife preserve with 4 miles of walking trails. This was my first time going there and it was a great place to walk and enjoy nature. My kiddos enjoyed it too. I think I’ll do another post on it since I took a bunch of pics.

That night I also drove to Seattle, about 3 hours away.

Sunday – I got in a 6 mile run before heading to my nephew’s birthday party.
  This was waiting for me after my run….good thing I went for a run lol. This was a great idea that my sister in law came up with for lunch. It was a sandwich making spread. Everything was there to make a grilled sandwich or panini. We just picked what we wanted and then grilled it on the stove or in a panini maker. It was great!
We celebrated my nephew’s 7th birthday. I can’t believe he’s seven already. Time is flying and it means my eldest son’s birthday is just next month, since they are about a month apart in age.

It was a great day and nice to see my family again. How’d your week go? Hope you have a great week ahead!

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

Running 'N' Reading

Last Week’s Half Marathon Training Workouts Leading Up to the NYC Half Marathon (3/9-3/15)

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It was tapering week so there wasn’t much to this week training wise. I wasn’t able to get one of the 3 mi jogs in due to traveling and switching days around. But all my training paid off when I ran the NYC Half Marathon.

Here’s what the My Asics plan had scheduled for last week:IMG_3298

Here’s what I did:

Monday – I tried Yoga Fix Extreme from 21 Day Fix Extreme. I’m still a newbie at yoga. I liked how this one has a modifier as well as other options to follow.

Tuesday – I did the 5 mi Build up run. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get the run done on Wednesday since I was traveling.Wednesday – Rest Day.

Thursday- Ran 3 miles with my sister.Friday – Rest Day.

Saturday – Rest Day.

Sunday – NYC Half Marathon. Recap coming later this week.

It was a fun and busy week for me, which I enjoyed! How’d your week go?

Last Week’s Half Marathon Training Recap (3/2-3/8) and Weekend Update

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neon (9)This week started off great! It was nice to not have the Insanity Max:30 workouts since it’s tapering time. I did try some 21 Day Fix Extreme workouts and liked the strength training. But it seems like I’ve just come up a with a cold and my Sunday run was tough. Hopefully, it goes a way soon. Here’s the My Asics schedule last week:

Here’s what I did last week:

Monday – Rest Day

Tuesday – Before my kiddos Preschool Field trip, I tried 21 Day Fix Extreme’s Upper Fix workout. It was a great upper body workout! It’s been a while since I’ve used weights and it was good. Wednesday – I ended up running an easy 4 miles instead of 3. Then I did Dirty 30 Extreme with the hubby. Another great workout with weights.

Thursday – Ran 5.5 miles while the kiddo was in Preschool.Friday – Rest Day

Saturday – Three miles on the treadmill.Saturday was also a big day for the kiddos, since they were belt testing and earned their next belts. My youngest got his gold belt.

My oldest got his Warrior Juniors blue advanced belt and a patch for being teacher assistant more than twenty times. I’m proud of them and happy they enjoy martial arts.

Sunday – I ran only 5 miles, for the San Jose 408k Race to the Row Virtual/Remote Run I won from a giveaway from Relentless Forward Commotion. The actual race took place on March 1st, but I did not receive the bib, medal and shirt until Friday, the 6th. This was my first 8k virtual race or 8k race I’ve ever ran. An 8k is 4.97 miles but I decided to run 5 miles. It was a tough one for me. I just got a cold and wasn’t into it but got it done. I was hoping to run the 5.5 miles but didn’t feel well while running so just decided on the five miles. Hopefully my cold goes away soon! One more week until the NYC Half!
How’d your week go? Here’s to a great week ahead!

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

Running 'N' Reading

Last Week’s Half Marathon Training and Workouts Recap (2/23-3/1)

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neon (8)Last week was a great week! I finished the two month long Insanity Max:30 program and had my first race of 2015. Half Marathon training is going well too. This is what was planned on the MyAsics app:IMG_2959

Here’s what I did last week:

Monday – Day 50 of Insanity Max:30 -Max Out Cardio. Here’s what I posted on FB that has some video clips:

Tuesday – Ran three miles.

Then did Max Out Power.

Wednesday – Day 52 of Insanity Max:30 – Max Out Sweat.

Thursday – Ran 8.5 miles.

Also, did Max Out Strength.

Friday – Last day of Insanity Max:30 – Friday Fight Round 2! Friday Fight Round 2 is definitely the hardest workout in the program. I maxed out at 6:33, just a 6 sec improvement. This program really pushed me and I will definitely continue to do more workouts from it even though I’ve finished the two month program.Saturday – Ran the Mommathon 5k, a local race put on my Mom’s Run This Town group and Uberthons. PR’d…woohoo! Race recap coming soon.
Sunday – 11 mile run. I wasn’t able to run it as fast as the MyAsics app said after it recalculated paces, but it was still fast for me. 😛 They are just guideline paces.

How did your week go? Happy first week of March!

I’m linking up with this week’s Workout Wednesday (WOW) Link Up!

Brought to you by hostesses Diatta Harris | Femme Fitale Fit Club and Sheila Simmons | The Frugal Exerciser and co-hostesses: Amanda | Eat Hard Work Hard and Heather | Divas Run For Bling.

Femme Fitale Fit Club

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!

Last Week’s Half Marathon Training Workouts Recap (2/16-2/22)

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neon (7)This has been a pretty good week. I ended the week with an eleven mile run at race pace, and I felt great. It was my longest run so far this year and fastest 11-miler. The My Asics App changed things around a little after seeing I was running faster than expected. Now it seems even more challenging, since it wanted me to run a 8:14 pace today, and I managed 8:25, which is really good for me. I think that’s about what it had before the app recalculated and made the adjustments. Here’s what the My Asics had scheduled for this week:IMG_2846I’m also continuing with Insanity Max:30. It’s been tough but I think it’s really helped build my fitness level. I feel stronger and I think it’s helped with my endurance too. I felt pretty strong on my 11 miler. I can’t believe there’s only one week left of the program. Anyway, here’s what I did this week:

Monday: Running rest day. I did day 43 of Insanity Max:30 – Max Out Cardio. I maxed out at 9:38, a minute and four seconds improvement!IMG_2843

Tuesday: Ran three miles. IMG_2858

Then did Max Out Power. 

Wednesday: Ran 8.5 miles

IMG_2870

Then got Max Out Sweat done. 

Thursday: Got day 46 of Insanity Max:30 – Max Out Strength done. 

Friday: Ran 3 miles on the treadmill and then did Max:30 Friday Fright Round 2. The side to side floor hops are still a killer. I maxed out at 6:27, a 5 sec improvement.

IMG_2909IMG_2916

Saturday: Rest Day.

Sunday: Ran 11 miles. Felt great!

IMG_2966

How’d your week go? Here’s to a great last week of February!

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?