Fitness Friday - 8/19

Currently Training For:

• Cajun Cup 10K (Lafayette, LA)
• Cajun Country Half Marathon (Lafayette, LA)
• Disney's Princess Half Marathon & Glass Slipper Challenge
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon

Saturday - Rest Day
Sunday - PT Routine
Monday - Tone It Up Girls Workout
Tuesday - Rest Day
Wednesday - Rest Day 
Thursday - 2 Mile Run
Friday - Tone It Up Girls Workout

Rain rain and more rain...that's what we've been experiencing here in Southwest Louisiana this past week. I woke up early on Saturday morning to go for a run but the outskirts of "Katrina 2.0" was causing a torrential rain downpour outside. Thankfully, my area wasn't affected much from all the rain, but I can't say the same for many neighboring town near miles down the interstate. :( While Southeast Louisiana was affected from the storms first, Southwest Louisiana is now being affected as the river causing all of the major flooding here didn't crest until late yesterday afternoon. I have a cousin near Gonzales (kinda near Baton Rouge) whose home flooded as well as many friends whose homes were affected from the storm. Please keep all of them in your prayers!

Instead of a run on Saturday, I enjoyed spending time with my sweet boy all Saturday and I have zero complaints. He's so much fun...I love spending time with him!

By Sunday, I was going stir crazy so I did a few circuits of my PT routine. It had been a while since doing them so I was a little rusty (bad runner, I know)...

Monday came along and guess what? So did more rain. I decided to search out a few workout videos on Youtube and I came across the Tone It Up girls kettlebell workout. This workout was 36 minutes long and a blend of yoga and toning with kettlebells. I LOVE it and it quickly became one of my new favorite workouts! If you'd like to check it out, click here. 

By Thursday morning, I was finally able to go for a run outside before work! YAY! At first, I walked outside and thought it was going to be a cooler run but nope...100% humidity. 

After I realized how high the humidity was, I ran back inside to grab my bottle of off spray. No zika for me, thank you! 

As I neared the end of my 2 mile run (that's all I had time for before work), I had to stop and assist a neighbor as she unsuccessfully attempted to catch her dog. I was the reason the dog got away from her in the first place and I felt bad so I stopped to help.

I also forgot to stop my watch in the process, then attempted to sprint home to catch it back up! Whoops! 

100% humidity and my hair do NOT agree! I was born in the wrong climate for all of this nonsense! 

Unfortunately, Brayden and I were not able to take any afternoon walks this week because it rained every evening I was available. Whomp whomp.

This morning, I'm doing another Tone It Up workout before work. Guess what's in the forecast for the weekend? Yep...more rain! Hopefully, it will stay away from the areas that definitely don't need any more rain and clear enough that I can squeeze in a Saturday morning run! This no running business is for the birds! 

I hope you all have a fabulous (and dry) weekend!!

Fitness Friday - When, Where, and How?

Confession time: I did not run or workout not one single time this week. Not one. Well, unless you count the one mile walk I took with Brayden last night...

What's going on? Well, as most of you know I returned to work this week from maternity leave. I can honestly say that work itself hasn't been bad at all! I didn't even cry like I warned Jason I would!

My job and career is something I'm passionate about and really enjoy, so leaving Brayden for several hours each day with my  mom isn't bad at all. Brayden and I still manage to enjoy our afternoon times together and our evening snuggles on the couch. I do miss him throughout the day, but I enjoy returning home to him so much more!

Now, here's where the tricky part comes into play - working out. When, where, and mostly...how? With this new and ever changing schedule of ours, that's something I'm just going to have to figure out. In the meantime, I've set a goal to at least obtain 10,000 steps per day on my fitbit. Although my job is an active one, it doesn't warrant that many steps per day alone so this will take a little effort on my part. I know it's an obtainable goal for now and I'm happy with it!

I do have plans to run this Saturday with my friend Heather and I'm excited about it. I can't wait to run again!

Speaking of Saturday running, last Saturday was an interesting one! Heather and I text back and forth on Friday night to determine our plan of attack. You see, the weather forecast called for 70-100% rain from 5 a.m. until the afternoon on Saturday. I'm not afraid of a little rain, but this one was calling for flash flood warnings and all that craziness!

We decided to play it by ear and re-evaluate in the morning.

On Saturday morning, I woke up to a fog and humidity laden running route but I didn't care - it wasn't raining or lightning, so after a little discussion, we decided to get our run going!

Dreary morning!

We took a before picture because I didn't know if we would even be able to take an after picture!

Our run went well and although the humidity was high, we pushed through. In the end we decided to tack on an extra mile for a total of 6! My furthest distance to run postpartum thus far! Yay!

We managed to make it through the entire run without any rain...but boy was it on the way!

After my run, I heard Madalynn barking like crazy at something from her perch at the front window. I assumed it was the neighbors cat but I was wrong! One of our turtle friends from the end of the road had made its way to my flower bed and was laying eggs! We didn't disturb her (I know the above picture looks like we were close to her but we weren't). She was able to finish her business and leave before the storm hit!

Once the rain came, it came with a vengeance...fast and furious, lightning and all! I was grateful we didn't have to run through that! This picture was taken only about 5 minutes after it started to rain!

I'm excited about the weekend and another run with my BRF tomorrow, although rain is in the forecast once again.

What's your weekend plans?

Long Run, Rain, & A Softball Game

What a week it’s been! Last week, I literally had something going on every single night of the week (including the weekend). I’ll admit, some of it was for myself, but the majority was “extras” or things I agreed to help with. By Sunday I needed a BREAK, so I spent all day outside where I pulled weeds, spruced up the flower beds, cleaned off the front/back porch, etc. It was a great and super productive day! Perfect way to kick off spring!

This past weekend’s weather was ridiculous – the forecast changed at least three times before the weekend actually hit, then it changed again on Saturday. Basically, it was supposed to rain all day Saturday…which then changed to rain all day Sunday….which then changed back to rain all day Saturday.

A girl can’t keep up!

After much debate, I finally decided to stick with my normal schedule and run my long run on Saturday morning. My running group was out of town, so I ran it solo around my neighborhood.

The air was cool, but the humidity was pretty thick which made for a warmer run. I also wore my lucky shirt from the Louisiana Half to give myself a little motivation! :)

During my run, an unmarked garbage truck almost hit me (I mean, WHO drives unmarked garbage trucks anyway?!). I was running in the lane towards traffic and there happened to be vehicles coming both ways. I was off the side of the road (almost in a ditch) when the trash truck passed. Instead of him stopping and waiting for the other car to drive by, he charged ahead and nearly hit me. He didn’t even slow down. I was livid and I know he saw me because we made eye contact. UGH. After I hit my turn around point, I was headed back towards the area where he stopped to pick up a trash can and I realized that not one but two people got out of the truck.

My mind immediately went to these thoughts….unmarked trash truck, two random dudes, CSI episode. Ok maybe that’s a TAD bit dramatic but hey…you never know!! Unmarked trash truck? That’s creepy and totally suspicious to me.

They lingered in that location for like…ever. I kept thinking that I’d rather play it safe than sorry. Instead of standing there, I ran the .2 mile loop at the end of the road for a while. It added .6 miles to my total distance! HAH!

They finally left and I was able to finish off my run, 8 miles total! I have the Diva’s Half Marathon in Galveston coming up in a few weeks and I gotta stay prepared. Next up is a 12 mile run (with a ton of squats and lunges in between) and I’ll be ready!

After my run, my BRF Heather and I spent the day together! We planned to watch a softball game by our local university but the ran kind of put a damper on it.

The game was supposed to start at noon. Around 1 p.m., she asked if I wanted to leave. After checking twitter which said the umps would return to the field to evaluate at 1:15, we decided to stick around a bit longer.

Thankfully, they agreed that all was well and the game began around 1:30 p.m.!

We hung around until about the 6th inning when it started sprinkling again. I could see from the radar that a monsoon was about to hit, so we decided to leave….just in the nick of time, too!

After checking out the new Ulta store in the mall, we parted ways. I had such a great time with her, it’s been far too long!

On Saturday night, I saw Insurgent with some friends and really enjoyed it. However, I read the book like 2 years ago and the movie really didn’t trigger my memory. Kenzie kept asking “What’s happening now?” and I couldn’t answer because I truly didn’t know! Did anyone feel like it actually followed the book? I think it’s been too long…maybe I should read them again.

Our work relay for life team is holding a silent auction at the end of the week to raise money for ACS. Today, our team captain is going on a local news station to talk about a few items we have up for bidding and he wants me to tag along. I’m so nervous. Ugh. LOL

I hope you all have a great start to your week! Happy Monday!! :)

How has the weather been in your area? Has spring made its way there yet? Did you run/workout this weekend?

2014 Wine & Dine Half Marathon Recap

2014’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon is definitely an experience I’ll never forget! Up until we arrived at WDW, I really hadn’t paid close attention to the weather. To be honest, checking the weather repetitively kind of makes me nervous and I don’t like to think about it. I knew that rain was in the forecast, so I made sure to pack accordingly.

On Saturday morning, we completed Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K (beautiful weather…of course), then showered/changed and returned to Epcot for a little park time. Our friends Kelli and Darren had never been to WDW and had three day park hoppers, so we wanted to make the most of their time in the parks. After lunch with the princesses in Norway, we took a ride on Spaceship Earth, then returned to our rooms to nap and get ready for the race.

My number one problem that afternoon was a pounding headache. The song “All About That Base” kept going over and over and over in my head. Every time I hear that song from now on, I will always think of the Wine & Dine Half Weekend – they played it everywhere! Don’t get me wrong, I like the song…I just heard it a lot that weekend.

Part of my headache problem came from the fact that I didn’t drink coffee like I should have that morning, so it was catching up to me. I took some medication and dozed in and out of sleep for two hours. I felt much better after I woke up!

Despite the rainy forecast, I still decided to keep my race outfit/costume the same – Lilo from Lilo and Stitch.

Kelli was also running this race, so we hopped on a bus from the Wilderness Lodge around 7:30 p.m. (I think) and were met by a ton of traffic trying to file into Wide World of Sports. It took a while, but we finally made it. My first task was to find my friend Jen. She was dressed like Stitch, so we planned on taking a picture together!

Found her! Aren’t we cute?! :)

My friend Kelli and I in a huge field at Wide World of Sports, waiting on the race to begin.

The Wine & Dine Half Marathon is a different course from other runDisney events and doesn’t begin at the same area. Basically, runners are taken to a giant field where they stand/sit around and wait for the race to begin.

After saying hi to a few people, Kelli and I began the (much shorter) walk to our corrals. Bonus points for the Wine & Dine Half!

We were in Corral D – this is the view in front of us….

…and the view behind us!

As we made our way closer to the start line, we were finally able to see Carissa and Rudy!

One thing I felt this race lacked was a few giant TV screens near each corral like Marathon Weekend or Princess. Those would be a great addition, in my opinion!

I loved their “Epcot/Wine & Dine” themed costumes!  I took this picture, hoping you could see the steady rain dripping off their tent. Isn’t that crazy?

After only a few short minutes, we saw fireworks, then we we were off!

It rained pretty much the entire race for me – from start to finish…so some of my pictures are horrible. Like…really bad. I’m sorry in advance!

Also, I pretty much ran this entire race in a poncho. Fun fun.

The Wine & Dine Half Marathon took runners out of the Wide World of Sports and on the path towards Animal Kingdom.

I made a decision from the very start to stop for every character I saw, because I didn’t know when they were going to go back into hiding (from the rain).

Country Bears

Light Parade fairies

runDisney’s answer to the rain – hey, at least we still had plenty of music on the course!

Look who I found on my way into Animal Kingdom! Isn’t he cute? :)

We rounded the corner into Animal Kingdom and this is when the rain REALLY picked up. My shoes officially became water logged here – around mile 3.5.

Rafiki was hiding out under the ticket counter, but we still managed to snag a picture together!

A very nice lady was trying to take a selfie here, so I helped her out and she reciprocated! I like nice runners! :)

The path into Animal Kingdom led us through these red lights which were really neat!

Sat times for this picture – I kept in in here just to show you how wet and gross things were!

And the rain rain rain came down down down…

Rafiki was hanging out in a dry spot in Africa, so I stopped to say hi. I also paused here to call Jason and tell him where I was at on the course. At the time, he was trying to make his way to Epcot and the finish line.

Love the tree of life!

A few more character stops in AK

Loved AK all lit up at night – I don’t get to see this often!

Outside of Animal Kingdom, I encountered a few pirates – they were nice pirates though, thankfully!

The road to Hollywood Studios seemed to take forever, but I think it’s because I was mostly ready for a change of scenery. I also saw Lilo and Stitch’s location, but was incredibly sad because they were no where to be found. Whomp whomp. I did have a few friends who saw them out for pictures later but unfortunately, they weren’t out when I passed. Sad times. I would have waited had I known – but I assumed they weren’t coming out because of the rain. There were several stops like that along the course – you could tell it was set up for a character, but no one was in sight.

Finally at Hollywood Studios!

I also met up with Kelli here. I stopped a lot during the race and she didn’t, so we continued through Hollywood Studios together for a while.

The nice CM taking pictures with Buzz and Woody had a towel to dry off cameras and phones but as you can tell, even her towel was wet!

After several turns, we were finally at my favorite part of this entire race – the Osborne Lights!!

I’m also glad that Kelli and I were here together because we were able to take each other’s pictures!

So incredibly beautiful. I absolutely love it here!!

I spent a good bit of time here taking pictures and enjoying the sights. To be honest, I didn’t want this part of the race to end!

Another favorite part of this course was when we ran through the old tunnel for the Backlot Tour. A lot of the windows were boarded up, but the costume room was still open for all to see!

Before long, we were out of Hollywood Studios and onto the road that let around the Yacht/Beach Club.

Everyone kept telling us to be careful because the Boardwalk was wet. I was quite confused because I didn’t think we actually ran in front of the Boardwalk resort for this race…I finally realized they meant the boardwalk area in front of the Yacht Club!

A little live course music! :)

As we passed the International Gateway, we saw these guys – Lumiere and The Genie (not pictured here).

You know I had to get my traditional picture with the Mile 12 sign!

We ran through Epcot before finally passing Spaceship Earth, the Castmember break area, then the parking lot and on to the finish line. As much as I enjoyed this race, I was kind of happy it was over. I finished around 3 hours (around 1 a.m.). By this point, I was soaked, cold, and ready to change my clothes. I didn’t wait in line for anything after the finish line – thankfully, Jason had a bag of dry clothes for me…the bag check  line was INSANE.

After debating on using the changing rooms at the finish line (that’s how cold and delirious I was), I instead decided to enter Epcot and use the restrooms under Spaceship Earth. My friend Randy was also about to finish his very first Half Marathon, so I also wanted to cheer him on as he rounded Spaceship Earth. Thankfully, we got to see him and he was so excited that we were all there! 

Did we stay for the after party? You’ll have to stay tuned to find out!

A WELL earned medal!

My newest motto from the Wine & Dine Half – When life hands you rain, play in it!

Have you ever run a race in the rain? Did you still manage to have fun despite the circumstances?