Friday Five

I am so excited that it's Friday once again! This week was full of fun activities and this weekend will be as well!

#1 Long Run

Last weekend, I set out to run a long run with my running buddy Heather. We had 12 miles on the schedule and somewhere around mile 5, my knee decided to let me know it wasn't very happy with me. To be honest, I haven't been doing my squats and lunges and PT routine like I should and my knee just isn't having it anymore. Needless to say, our 12 mile run was cut short at 8 miles. I was ok with the decision (and thankfully so was Heather) because our main focus is a 10K next weekend and we both want to have a good time for the race. After weighted squats and lunges and foam rolling all week, I hope the knee is back to being ok - we shall see on Saturday!

Along with my knee, I also took a little break from running this week. I ate something on Monday night that left my stomach very unhappy with me. Needless to say, it all decided to revisit me the following morning and I've felt off all week. Here's hoping that gets better soon, too! 

By the way, Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day with amazing weather! I want it to come back!

#2 Grand Opening

This weekend, we also had the privilege of attending the Grand Opening for our church's Mother's Day Out program. Back in December of last year, our church experienced a massive flood (internally) which did a LOT of damage. It also wiped out our entire nursery/Mother's Day Out area. After a lot of time, restoration, and planning, the insides of the Mother's Day Out program is finally back to normal!

They held an official ribbon cutting and celebration this weekend. My dad even had the honor of cutting the ribbon!

One side is themed as "Under the Sea" and the other is nature and local scenes!

I LOVE it! They did an amazing job!

#3 Homecoming Parade

Last night, we attended the homecoming parade for our local college. All of my family including my husband are alumni and it's fun to go back and support them during homecoming!

Aren't Brayden's baby leggings just the cutest?! I loved his little outfit for the parade! 

It's also a tradition of my best friend and I - we have attended this homecoming game together every year since I can't remember how long! When we were in college, we were even in the parade together! :)

Last year, we were about 4 months pregnant (she was 3 weeks ahead of me) and this year, we brought our babies! SO MUCH FUN! Brayden loved looking at everything - the only thing he did not care for were the crazy loud sirens.

#4 The Walking Dead

You guys. Oh my gosh. I still have no words...but you gotta admit, this one's pretty funny right here!

#5 "Haunted" Car Wash?

There's a local car dealership here that "dresses up" their car wash every year for Halloween. It's actually rather funny and we decided to go check it all out for ourselves!

Lined inside this tunnel were all kinds of Halloween themed items. I'm not a huge celebrator of the scary side of Halloween, but this was pretty funny...and a clever gimmick to get people to stop by and get their cars washed! 

This weekend is going to be another busy but fun one! I have a wedding shower that I'm helping host on Saturday morning. That evening, we are going to take Brayden (and his cousin) back to the pumpkin patch in their costumes for pictures (can't wait)! We also have the homecoming football game where we will be celebrating the birthday of another good friend of mine. In all, it should be another fun (and busy) one!

Today, I'm teaming up with Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0 linkup!

Weekend Fun!

This past weekend brought around a lot of fun times with friends!

It all began with our local university's homecoming parade. It's a tradition of my friend Jane and I to attend, so we always mark our calendars ahead of time for the parade! We are all alumni of the university as well, so it's fun to see the homecoming parade year after year!

First, Jason and I had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. We always split the Mexican nachos which are delicious!

We also like to stake out a spot for the parade near the University President's home because that's where the judges sit and there aren't a ton of people around. Those in the parade make sure to put on their best showing for the judges, too! 

We also get a ton of candy here but shhhh...don' tell our secret!

This year, a little excitement was thrown into the mix. One of the bigger floats threw a bunch of confetti off their float towards the judges area. All of a sudden, we saw a streak of green fire coming out of one of the transformer boxes followed by a loud sound of electricity buzzing. The lights around us went out and lots of people in the judges stands jumped up and began running away. It all happened so fast, it took a second to put two and two together!  

A few minutes later, I saw an empty confetti cannon tube on the ground. Apparently the float people popped the cannon right into/near a generator and made it short out. No one was hurt, thankfully...it just scared the mess out of a bunch of people! The lights also came back on within minutes which surprised me!

My love and I at the parade! 

Jane and I! Her gender reveal party is the one I blogged about yesterday! :)

I wasn't able to go for a run on Saturday because I took the week off from running. My knee (IT Band) bothered me a bit during/after the Gulf Coast Half, so I decided to give it a week of rest. Actually, it was kind of nice to sleep in on Saturday morning! :)

Someone else enjoyed sleeping in on Saturday morning...and napping later!

On Saturday night, my friend Kim and I met up for dinner and the McNeese Homecoming game. My crunch lettuce with ranch dressing craving returned, so I ordered a salad from McAlisters and it was really good!

We had awesome seats for the game because my dad was out of town and let us have his season tickets!

It was a little rainy but we were prepared with our ponchos!  Best part? McNeese won the game! YAY!

On Sunday morning, I went to church then attended my friend's gender reveal, then went back to church to work the coffee shop! Despite the rainy weather ALL day long, it was a fun day! :)

I caught someone else enjoying my Snoogle for an afternoon nap on Sunday! These dogs are so funny!

I hope you had a great weekend, too!

What was the best thing that happened to you this past weekend?

Homecoming and Fitness Friday

Last week/weekend, my local University held its annual homecoming festivities! One of my best friends and I have this tradition – the homecoming parade. We were in the parades while in school and we’ve been attending them together almost every year since we graduated. I love it! It’s so much fun to see the community on display while rooting together for our favorite Southland Conference team!

Here’s a few of the floats. One of the fun things about this year was the University’s Anniversary….celebrating 75 years!

The tourist bureau always shows a good time, decked out in Mardi Gras gear!

The Clydesdale horses (yes, THOSE Clydesdale horses) were a huge hit for this year’s 75th celebration! They marched in the parade and were on display at the stadium throughout the weekend for everyone to see.

These. Guys. Are. HUGE. For real, y’all. Huge. I was blown away by their size!

Game night!

One of the horses was brought on the field during pregame – look at the size compared to the people around him! Each horse has a name, too…I thought that was cute. :)

Saturday night’s game served as a girls night. I haven’t seen these two ladies in quite a while so we had a lot of fun! Our team won, too…no better way to end a homecoming celebration than that!

We might have also enjoyed one of these at Chili’s after the game! :)

Now that I’ve yacked your head off, here’s my workouts for the week:

Currently training for:
Disney’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon
Louisiana Half Marathon
Rock ‘n’ Roll NOLA Half Marathon
Glass Slipper Challenge

Saturday – 14 mile run
Sunday – Rest Day 
Monday –  3 mile run
Tuesday –  Rest Day 
Wednesday – 4 miles with Jason 
Thursday – Felt bad all day – unplanned rest day
Friday – 3 miles

This weekend I have an 8 or 10 mile run followed by a 6 mile run the following weekend – then it’s taper time for the Wine & Dine Half!! Wahhooo!

How was your week? Any weekend plans?

I’m Making Strides!

Good morning! Fall finally found its way to SWLA yesterday – it was a chilly 68 degrees when I woke up on Sunday morning! Yesterday afternoon, I left the windows open in the house and it felt amazing. Jason and I also replanted and moved around a few plants in our flower bed (thank goodness, it was about time)! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend…here’s a glimpse of mine.

On Friday, I received a call from my friend Kim who asked if I would ride in the homecoming parade with her sister, as an assistant if need be.  Of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!

We had so much fun! After the parade, I had two people ask if I was Sara’s mother. I’m 31 and Sara’s 18. No, I’m not her mother.  Must be our dark hair, people think we are related. Someone please tell me I don’t look old enough to be the mother of an 18 year old…

Anyway, onto other things.

I am currently participating in a challenge that’s being hosted by Mommy Run Fast. It’s the Fall 5 or 10 by the 5th Virtual Race Series. Basically, for the months of September, October, November, and December, participants have to run 5 or 10 miles prior to the 5th of the month and document their accomplishments in a spreadsheet. Each month, giveaways are held and there’s an option to purchase a medal at the end of the series. It’s fun to read along and see what everyone’s running to reach their goal!

For October, I ran 5 miles (plus a 5K) on Saturday morning. I had plans to run more than 5 miles but woke up late due to the homecoming game the night before.

I ran these 5 miles without my running buddies (they had other plans…gasp, I know right?!). Kidding…I love you guys!

During the 5 miles, I pushed myself but didn’t want to overdue it because I knew I had a 5K to run not long after. It was HOT and humid (yes, still) which made it difficult to breathe.

Despite the weather, I kept a 9:07 pace and finished with just enough time to make it over to the 5K!

On the way to the 5K, I ate a banana and cooled down in my car. I also changed my shirt to pink…it was in support of breast cancer research, after all!

I’ve run this 5K twice in the past. Check out those recaps here:

• 2011 Making Strides 5K
• 2013 Making Strides 5K

As a volunteer with our local American Cancer Society, I’m always excited to see a great turnout at events. Making Strides Against Breast Cancer was no exception! The crowd was great and full of energy!

Opening ceremonies

With my work crew prior to the start

I gathered with several hundreds for the start of the 5K. This 5K is advertised as a walk, but is also runner-friendly. Last year, I got turned around with directions and ended up running almost 4 miles instead of 3. I haven’t been able to live that one down yet!

Ready to go!

As we took off through a local neighborhood, I weaved through walkers (sounds like a Walking Dead episode) until I was out in the open.

At mile 1, I noticed I was running an 8 minute pace. I HAD to slow myself down. This was not a timed 5K, I kept reminding myself. I was having difficulty breathing and I didn’t want to fizzle out before the end!

Around Mile 2, my friend Mike joined me and we ran and talked the rest of the way. I met Mike at a local race back in 2009 when I first began running – it’s always nice to see a familiar face at a local run. After he joined me, I kept talking so I would forget how miserable I felt. I wanted to walk SO bad, but I wouldn’t let myself. Mike confirmed my thoughts by saying he was glad I was there because he wanted to walk, too. We kept pushing each other through the end, neither allowing each other to walk. It was awesome and I told him we need to do that more often. When the weather is cooler and I can actually breathe outside, I would love to run a timed 5K with him! I have a goal to reach a 25 minute 5K – I’m so close, I just haven’t broken that time yet. We will see what cooler Fall weather brings!

We crossed the finish line, just shy of a 5K distance with a  pace of 8:39!

Thanks again, Mike!! I appreciate the support you gave me on the course.

Do you enjoy running with others? How do you get yourself through rough patches during a race?

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Don’t forget about my Thirty-One giveaway happening right now! One lucky winner will receive a Cinch Sack with personalization of their choice. Enter now, giveaway ends on Thursday!