Kevin Bacon & The Kardashians

Wednesday: Rest Day
Thursday a.m.: 5 mile treadmill run

Last night HTB and I had planned on going to the gym for some good ole cardio.

But then I got home and we ate dinner (leftover Enchilada soup - yum!) and we were so comfy watching the Liverpool v. Arsenal soccer game...I just didn't want to go back out.

So, we skipped the gym, but told ourselves we had to get the cardio in today instead. Today was going to be our rest day this week, so it's not really a big deal to flip flop the days. Sometimes it's just nice to stay in and cuddle on the couch.

Via

 We ended up watching the second episode of The Following.

It was recommended by a friend and I describe it as the lovechild of 24 and Dexter - 2 of my favorite shows.

And who doesn't like Kevin Bacon?

It has a scary movie feel to it and I probably shouldn't watch it right before bed. But I do.

So far so good, I'm interested to see how the next couple of episodes are.

This morning was a boring 5 mile run on the treadmill. Thank goodness for US Weekly to keep me entertained! I'm a little behind, but got somewhat caught up on the latest with all of the Teen Moms, Kardashians, the Royal baby and Taylor Swift's relationships.

On tap for tonight: Ping pong with dear friends. Yes!

Spring Marathon Announcement

Tuesday p.m. workout: weights

We hit the gym last night for another weight workout and boy are my arms sore today!

Thank you, ActivTrax!

If you print out your workout, this is what they look like. Most of the time I just enter my on my phone to save the paper. #reducereuserecycle

You can go back and look at it online or on your phone though too, which is how I snagged this nifty jpeg to post!

So, on my run last weekend I think I came up with my spring marathon plan.

The plan:

Don't run a marathon.

At least not a full one.

In order to not stress and enjoy this happy time in  my life I am only going to run a half marathon (or possibly 2).

I will still run some high mileage (can't leave Maureen alone on her quest to train for Boston!), but at least I wont' have the pressure of HAVING to get a few 20 milers in. If I miss a long run, no big deal!

So, that's it. The spring no marathon plan.

Two Recipe Tuesday

Monday workout: 2.5 mile treadmill run
Tuesday a.m workout: 3 mile treadmill run

Monday night's workout was short and sweet. I just wanted to get a little cardio in, but I was also STARVING after work. So, 2.5 miles it was! Easy peasy.

Tuesday morning I got another 3 miles in.  I am really trying to balance out my cardio/running with my weights. I think I've made progress in the last week!

We've been trying some new recipes at our house! I try to make at least one thing new each week, but sometimes I am not very successful. 

HTB loves ground meat. Luckily he doesn't care if it's beef, turkey, chicken or buffalo. So I substitute chicken and turkey 99% of the time. And of course he's Irish so he loves Shepherd's Pie.

Once again, Skinny Taste did not let me down!

I made this recipe Sunday evening while HTB did a little work. (He worked Sunday I worked Saturday - boo!)

Ground turkey, veggies and seasoning simmering away

 It took a little more time than I would prefer for a week night dinner, but it was perfect for a Sunday. Of course I didn't take any after pictures, so here is the one from the ST website.

I wasn't anticpating liking it much, but it was really tasty!

Sunday morning we also tried a new recipe for Banana Pancakes. I'd been wanting to try  them since hearing about them from  Jen.

The ingredients could not be simpler: 2 eggs and 1 banana.

Via

They cook very quickly (bonus for after workout breakfast!), so be careful not to burn them. We really enjoyed them and will make them again. I think my bananas could have been a tad bit riper to make it them easier to mash. I only had a fork to mash them with, but if they had been mashed a little smoother I think they would have cooked a little more evenly. I may have had the stove on a little too high as well.

But even with them not turning out perfect, they tasted amazing!

Have you tried any new recipes lately?

Weekend Workout Wrapup

Friday p.m. workout: weights
Saturday workout: 12 mile run outside
Sunday workout: weights

What a productive weekend!

It might be a little sad, but I really enjoy our Friday night gym dates. It makes me feel good going into the weekend and we still have time for dinner, wine, movie, etc.

Saturday morning I headed to running club, and I am so glad I did! I hadn't been in a few weeks so of course it was great to see everyone. I planned on doing 8 miles (which turned into 8.5) but ended up doing 12 miles! That's the farthest I have run since Running Advent (12 on 12/12/12)!

I planned to get 8 miles in, but Maureen needed 12 (she's training for Boston!). I was too nervous at the beginning of the run to commit to the miles with her, but we convinced her to do the first 8 with us. It was an out and back route, so doing 8 with us then 4 alone is much better than doing 4 out with us then 8 on her own after we turn around.

When we returned to the store I was still feeling really good so I told Maureen I would continue on the last four miles with her. I am glad I did. It was nice to have time running just the two of us and it felt good to get some double digit miles in.

I had to work for a few hours on Saturday. Boo.

We also moved a carload of my stuff from my apartment to the house.

It's not a ton - but a good start!

Sunday afternoon we hit the gym again for a weight work out.

The weights seem to be getting a little more difficult for me which is good!

I'm glad ActivTrax didn't start too aggressively, but it's also nice to see the workouts increasing in difficulty.

I think a decision has been made about a spring race.

Stay tuned!

What workouts did you get in this weekend?

Happy Friday!

Friday a.m. workout: 4 miles on treadmill

So we didn't make it to the gym after dinner with our friends last night, but that's OK.

We had a great time and spending time with good friends is more important.

Replacing smoke detectors is also important. 

Especially when they have been waking you up 5-6 times a night for 3 nights.

Did you know you should replace smoke detectors every 7-10 years?

So, after dinner we replaced all 6 smoke detectors in the house.

Now we are nice and safe. And not so sleep deprived.

This morning I got to the gym for some cardio.

4 miles on the treadmill!

The time really flew by since I had my morning work out buddy to chat with.

 

I also had a nice little surprise when jumping on the scale today. I guess the weight training is working! 

We have a date night at the gym planned for tonight. Maybe we'll manage to squeeze a movie or something fun in too.

Enjoy your weekend!

Success!

Wednesday workout: Weights, 1 mile run

I was quite impressed with myself last night.

After wedding dress shopping and froyo eating date with Sarah, I headed straight for the gym.

Woohoo!

 I got my weight workout in then jumped on the treadmill while waiting for HTB to finish his workout. I only got a mile, in but it's still a mile!

I've been doing really well with the weights, but I need to work on the running. Here is what my month has looked like so far:

 

I like that ActivTrax gives you this view. It makes me not feel so bad slacking on the running since there are lots of days filled in with workouts.

After the gym we came home and had the Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup that had been cooking all day.

Yum!

Perfect after a long cold day!

There was enough for both of us to take some for lunch today and we put the rest in the freezer to reheat later (maybe this weekend?)

I think the dress has been decided on! I just have to make the official commitment of purchasing it! It takes me a while to commit to big purchases.

I'm hoping to get some cardio in tonight after dinner with friends!

Slacker B

Oh, what a slacker I am.

I seriously need to figure out running and lifting TOGETHER.

Maybe tonight I can sit down and write out a plan.

I was hoping to run at least another 3 miles last night (I did 3.1 yesterday morning), but it just didn't happen. Too many errands that needed to get done.

However, I did get dinner ready to go in the crock pot this morning. It's a little chilly here these days (single digits, negative with wind chill factor), so it felt right to make some soup. 

I'm hoping mine tastes as delicious as this looks.

Skinnytaste hasn't let me down yet! So many great healthy recipes!

I do have a gym bag packed for this evening. Hopefully after I am finished running around with Sarah tonight I'll have tome time to burn a few calories! But if not, that's OK too!

In Search of Balance

Thursday workout: Weights
Weekend workout: Trying on wedding dresses (seriously, it's a workout), weights
Monday workout: Weights
Tuesday workout: 3 mile treadmill run

As evidenced by the workouts above, when I made one of my goals for 2013 "lift weights consistently", I really should have said "lift weights consistently while STILL running".

I guess balance isn't my thing. I'm more of an all or nothing type.

So this week's goal is to run 3 times and lift 3 times. Doable, right? Let's hope so.

It's a little cold out. So I ran on the treadmill this morning. There is nothing harder than getting out of a toasty warm bed at 4:45 a.m. when you know it is in the single digits outside. Except getting out of said warm bed to run outside. And yes, super tiny up by the moon, it says it feels like -7.

Awesome.

Via

So, yes, I wussed out and ran on the dreadmill.

Over the weekend we had family in town. Lots of fun, lots of shenanigans, lots of wedding talk.

We watched The Words and Pitch Perfect.

I enjoyed The Words, he did not. We both had it figured out, but I still enjoyed the story. 

Pitch Perfect - accaawful or accaawesome?
I'm going with awful. I did love Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson - British girl in Bridesmaids). She made the movie. It was entertaining. Just don't expect much.

We also accomplished some things around the house. Preparing for the official merging of households! There is so much to do!

Any suggestions on how to maintain balance with running and weights?

Day of Rest

Wednesday workout: Nada, Zero, Zilch, Zip

The good news: This week is going MUCH faster than last week!

The bad news: I am exhausted this week

So, I took a rest day.

Yesterday I did not go to the gym before OR after work.

I did not do any laundry.

I did not cook dinner.

It was glorious.

Today I plan to cook, go to the gym and do laundry. 

But at least I am well rested from taking yesterday off! 

Here are a few more sneak peeks. All photos by Ashley Kempher.

I LOVE the fog in the picture, but I think I look really weird.

A Little Sneak Peek

Monday workout: weight training
Tuesday a.m. workout: 3 mile run on the treadmill

As hard as it is to get up before 5 to workout in the morning, I think I dislike working out at 8 p.m. more. By the time we get home from work we are usually pretty hungry and we need to take care of the pups, so hitting the gym (together) right after work is not usually an option. However, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

So we hit the gym at 8 last night. At least thanks to ActivTrax our workouts were already planned for us!

Photos by Ashley Kempher

I couldn't resist posting these!

We really weren't sure about doing engagement photos, but I am so glad we did.

I was so happy to find a little sneak peak in my mail this morning! I can't wait to show you the incredible fog that was hanging over the Ohio River that day too. For a minute I thought we were in San Francisco!

This morning was a quick 3 mile run on the treadmill. Nothing too exciting, just trying to rack some miles for my 100 miles by Valentine's Day Challenge.

I might have another February challenge as well...stay tuned!

Weekend and ActivTrax Review

Friday workout: Weight training
Saturday workout: Smiling for an hour for photos
Sunday workout: 5 mile run outside

Well, it was another busy yet productive weekend for us!

Friday night, Hubs To Be and I had a date at the gym. We did our tests and had our orientation for ActivTrax. I LOVE this! It makes it so easy to do a weight workout. I enjoy doing weights, but I often just can't decide what to do next or just don't know what to do next, so now I don't even have to think about it! 

The above sheet prints out at the gym (or at home). You record the actual weight you lifted (if different from the suggested) and the actual reps (it gives you a range). After you are finished you log in and enter your workout. It keeps track of everything for you and will increase your weights when appropriate.

Easy peasy.

Saturday we had our engagement photos taken. We were unsure about doing any, but went ahead and went for it. We know the photographer and that definitely made it less awkward. We lucked out with weather in the 60s and no rain!

Sunday was spent cleaning, running errands, grocery shopping and working out.

I woke up at 5 a.m. but refused to get out of bed until 7:30. I think I had 4 loads of laundry done by noon not to mention several other random household chores. It felt good to be productive so early, but I was ready for a nap by 12:30.

 

Instead of napping, I went for a run! It was warm but rainy. I ran the first 2 miles with HTB then went on for another 3 alone. It was the first we ran together since December 16th! It was nice to run together and I felt really good on the 3 I did alone too. I almost kept going.

I made a homemade air freshener to simmer on the stove while cleaning Sunday too. What better way to use the peels of the clementines we've been snacking on? I just added the peels, water and little vanilla. Smelled delish!

My friend got me hooked on these vitamin C chewables. They taste great and with this flu craziness they can't hurt, right? They were BOGO at Kroger and all they had left were these ginormous bottles. So, if you  need any vitamin C, you know where to go!

Friday, Finally!

Friday a.m. workout: 3.25 miles of intervals

Well, I convinced myself sleeping one extra hour wasn't worth it, and got my bootay to the gym this morning!  Three fairly easy interval miles on the treadmill. Boom.

Via

Our exciting Friday night date is at the Y for our orientation for ActivTrax.

ActivTrax customizes workouts for you. You do a baseline strength test, input your goals, preferences and experience and it creates workouts for you each time you go to the gym. It also keeps track of the progress you've made.

I know I won't use it each time I go to the gym, but it will come in handy on my weight lifting days. Sometimes I just don't want to have to think when I am at the gym, so I will let ActivTrax think for me!

After our initial orientation, we will just have to swipe our membership cards at the kiosk and voila! A workout will be created!

I am excited to see how this goes tonight!

There is a lot going on this weekend!

Birthdays, engagement photos, parties...I'm tired just thinking about it!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Warm Front

****Just realized this didn't post yesterday! Oooops!****

Wednesday p.m. workout: 3 mile run outside
Thursday a.m. workout: Insanity Plyometric Circuit

Via

Is Friday ever going to arrive?

This has seriously felt like such a looooong week.

I had a great run Wednesday evening. Nice and short and good company!

And can you believe it was 53 degrees? Hello capris and ghost-white legs in January!

Mid 60s!!!???

Of course it has to come with rain, but I'll still take it!
	I'm trying to decide if sleeping in (til 6!) or working out tomorrow morning is a better idea. Right now sleeping is winning.

Happy Hump Day!

Tuesday a.m. workout: Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance
Tuesday p.m. workout: weight lifting
Wednesday a.m. workout: Insanity Pure Cardio

Getting back into the morning workout routine has proven quite rough this week! I feel like it should be Friday by now!

Yesterday morning I was definitely not feeling the work out. I wouldn't say I completely half-a$$ed it, but probably three-quarter a$$ed it. Some days are just rougher than others. But we still did it, and it was better than nothing! 

After work I had a hair appointment - hello blonde hair! I tried to go darker back in October and I just couldn't take it anymore. Hopefully i will get a picture up soon.

(remember that goal of trying to take more photos, yeah, not going so well yet!)

Not our actual meal (we had rice and veggies with ours). Pork chops + cream of chicken soup + ranch dressing packet = yummy and easy!

After a delicious dinner (thank you, Pinterest and crock pot!) and some time to digest, we headed off to the gym for a weight workout. It was hard to leave the house at 8 to go to the gym, but I'm very happy we did it! We've been doing a fairly light weight routine just to get ourselves back in to it. I can still feel it though!

I am hoping to get a run in today before meeting a friend for dinner. I need to be logging some miles! New goal (that shouldn't be very hard): 100 miles by Valentine's Day.

Oh, what a weekend!

Saturday's workout: 5.5 mile run outside

Sunday's workout: weight lifting at the Y 

Monday a.m. workout: Insanity Plyometrics

Wow, another weekend bites the dust!

Friday night was a great night with great friends! Sarah and her hubby had us over for some delicious apps and wine. We had such a great time and of course the food was ah-mazing! She is such a great cook/hostess!

Saturday morning I went to running club. I decided not to push myself too much on distance since I have only run a couple of times since being sick. It was great to catch up with my running friends I hadn't seen since the holidays (and getting engaged!).

Saturday afternoon we met up with friends to watch the Bengals in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they lost, but we had a great time and the game was so close! Being a Cincinnati sports fan sure can be frustrating!

After the Bengals game I met up with my sister and my Running Girls for an early birthday celebration for my sister! We had dinner and drinks at Stone Creek Dining. Delicious food and even better company!

Sunday was a typical Sunday - lots of errands and cleaning, watching sports (while cleaning, etc. of course), and working out. I was very proud of us for hitting the gym for a weight workout on Sunday afternoon. It would have been so easy to skip.

I think I need to add "take more photos" to my list of goals for 2013. Apparently I am majorly slacking in this area. I seriously took zero pics this weekend, pathetic!

Since I can't do a post without pictures...

Chocolate Aussiedor

Who doesn't love pictures of cute puppies? I am IN LOVE with this little guy.

Try It Thursday

Thursday p.m. workout: Muscle Mix class @ the Y

I've been inspired by the girls at Tone It Up to mix up my routine a little. They have some great workouts and a lot of suggestions. Thursday was Try It Thursday - try a new class, dvd, etc. 

So I did - Muscle Mix!

We recently joined the YMCA and last night was our first trip to the gym together! I haven't lifted weights in AGES. Insanity uses a lot of your own body weight for movements, but using dumbbells is something entirely different.

The very basic description of Muscle Mix from the Y website is:
"High intensity consists of warm up, stretch, 30-40 minute muscle conditioning and cool-down. Non-choreographed." We used dumbbells, a mat and our body weight.

It was a great full body workout. I definitely work harder in a class than I would lifting weights on my own.

Surprisingly, I am not nearly as sore as I thought I would be today! The class was definitely challenging, but I think it was just what I needed. I am looking forward to going regularly and hoping my future hubby tags along some more!

Bonus: My soon to be Brothers-in-law, sister-in-law and mother-in-law all belong to the same Y!

I didn't want to be the new crazy girl taking pics at the gym, so no evidence exists; however, I do have these adorable pics of Mr. Pugalicious. These were taken on the same day. What a rough life he has.

Yes, those are bed pillow he is curled up on.

I have no words for this one.

Have a great weekend!

New Year New Goals

Thursday a.m. workout: 2 mile run on treadmill. Meant to do more, but being awake in the middle of the night for a couple of hours changed my plan.

Happy New Year!

Our NYE wine

We stayed in, cooked dinner together, watched a movie then tuned in just time to see the ball drop on NYE. Perfect low key evening!

I planned on running on New Year's Day, but pulled something in my leg on my last run, so I gave it another day of rest. I really enjoy runs on Jan 1st, but this seemed to be the smart move since it was still pretty painful. 

Pre Sharon Woods run

Goals for 2013 consist of 2 separate lists - mine and ours!

Our Goals:  

• Waste less food (we are not always good at finishing leftovers)
• Volunteer together
• Install garage door opener
• Cook at home together more often (we definitely go through spurts of being really good at this then really bad)
• Clean out the garage
• Redo the kitchen cabinets
• Put in a new floor
• Join the YMCA
• Get married!!!
  

My Goals: 

• Run a race longer than a marathon (the "ultra" word scares me!)
• Stretch, stretch, stretch!
• Run every day for 1 month (at least one mile)
• Meal plan 
• Strength train consistently

I know this is going to be quite a busy year, so I don't want to overwhelm myself with personal goals; however, I would like to point out that one of Our Goals is already crossed off the list - go us!

What are your goals for the year?