Friday Five

Happy Friday! It's so great to see another weekend, especially since most of last weekend was spent in bed for me, but more on that later.

We've had some fun things happening around here this week, so I thought I would share them in a Friday Five format!

#1-The Weather

Have you seen those memes going around about fall in the south? They say things like "oh yay it's fall - let's get out the pumpkin spice and scarves and boots...just kidding we live in the south, it's basically like summer but with lots of orange." Yeah, that's 100% life for real. Well, it began yesterday, but we've officially had our first cool snap of the season! When I walked outside yesterday morning, I was shocked to feel the cool breeze - the temps were in the 60's and it was glorious. Of course it warmed up to the mid 80's by the time the sun came out, but we won't discuss that.

Also, we might have made our first pot of gumbo last night! It was delicious!! Gumbo and cool weather are synonymous down here in southwest Louisiana!

#2-Superhero Commercial

On Monday afternoon, I met up with a group from our church to shoot a commercial for our church news segment. At the end of the month on the Sunday before Halloween, we always throw a big "Superhero Sunday" shindig where kids dress up as their favorite superhero (which could be anyone that you "look up" to) and it's always a fun time.

To promote this event, we made a commercial for our Sunday church news. They had me dress as Wonder Woman and I had to run all over the place which was lots of fun of course.

I can't wait to see how it turned out!

#3-Workouts

Sadly, I spent the entire weekend in bed due to a stomach virus and fever. I seriously felt the same way I did back in January when I was diagnosed with the flu...and the fatigue lingered for days. Yuck. Needless to say, I did not have a long run on Saturday and didn't really return to Orangetheory until Tuesday. Running around on Monday for the commercial was as much as I could stand, so I decided to wait until Tuesday to resume my workouts. Both Tuesday and Thursday workouts this week were great! I also plan on running a long run tomorrow morning in the (hopefully) cooler weather!

#4-Police

This week, the local PD visited Brayden's Mother's Day Out program where they had the chance to see an officer in uniform, check out their motorcycle with the lights on, and crawl through the backseat of their unit. I had my brother (who is also in law enforcement) send a picture of himself in uniform to me so I could show it to Brayden and make that "personal" connection to what these guys do. Brayden was a little hesitant with the officer presentation at first but once the MDO director told Brayden that this officer wears a uniform just like his Uncle Brian, he was ok!

He was so very proud of his little badge and hat! I love opportunities like this where they get to see professionals and hear what they do.

#5-Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of year again! Pumpkin patches are popping up everywhere and we've already visited one! Brayden had so much fun calling out the different colors of the pumpkins he saw and running throughout the patch! We even came home with a little pumpkin as a memory! :) Sadly, the memory card inside of my DSLR camera decided to corrupt and won't allow me to even see any of the pictures I took there (which just means we will have to go back for more). Thankfully, I have the pictures I took on my phone!

I'd say it's been a pretty great week so far! :) Have a great weekend!!

It's FRIDAY!

Link up with Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0 linkup!

Fitness Friday - 9/1

Another week has come and gone! Although tomorrow is officially the first day of fall, it doesn't feel like anything has changed here. Thankfully, we have heard talks of a possible cool front next weekend which should leave temps in the upper 60's!! I cannot wait!

How did this week go? Let's take a look!

Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA 
• Contraband Days 5 Miler 
• 4 on the 4th
• Castaway Cay 5K (Cancelled)
• Rock n Roll San Antonino Half 
• Fairy Tale Challenge 

Saturday - 5 Mile Run 
Sunday - Rest Day
Monday - Orangetheory Power Day (OUCH)
Tuesday - Rest Day (my legs were so tired from OTF the day before)
Wednesday - Orangetheory Run to Row
Thursday - Walk at the Park with Brayden
Friday - Gleaux Run 5K

As I mentioned earlier, this week was HOT with no sign of fall anywhere. On Saturday morning, I made a dumb mistake and thought I could run a little bit later in the morning since it was "cooling off" outside. WRONG. By the time we finished our 5 mile run, the temps were "feels like 100 degrees" and I was so drained of all of my energy.

I definitely won't make that mistake again!

After a much needed rest day on Sunday, I returned to Orangetheory on Monday morning for a class with my favorite coach. It was power day and we seriously had like 12 all outs on the treadmill or something crazy like that. TWELVE. If you aren't familiar with the Orangetheory lingo, that's 12 times that we had to run our hardest for a set time (1 minute x 4, then 45 seconds x 4, then 30 seconds x 4). My hips were so sore by Tuesday morning!

After another rest day on Tuesday, I returned to Orangetheory on Wednesday for an endurance and upper body workout.

This one was a run to row (where we ran on the treadmills, then rowed - back and forth a few times). We also did an upper body workout which involved a bunch of pushups. My weakest area is my upper body, so to see slight improvements in the way I move and weights I can lift is really great!

On Thursday afternoon, Brayden and I went to the park for a quick walk, then I chased him around while he played between the splash pad and the slides. Chasing a toddler around is serious cardio, y'all. I'm not joking, either!

So much fun at the park!

The remainder of my week was spent planning Gleaux Run things! This will be our fourth Gleaux Run and I'm so excited to see how it all turns out!

I love volunteering with the American Cancer Society because I know my time, effort, energy, and dollars are going to a worthy cause.

If you'd like to follow along with the progress of this year's Gleaux Run, check out my stories on instagram - I'll be posting there throughout the day starting around 12 noon central time. :)

Last but not least, we had several good eats this week! For lunch one day, I visited my favorite salad place with my coworkers! I always order the China Town and it's delicious! 

Jason also cooked his mom's vegetable soup recipe and that was delicious as well!

I hope the first day of fall will treat you better than it's treating us! Have a fabulous weekend!

Do you have any exciting weekend plans?

Fitness Friday - 7/20

Another week has come and gone and it's Friday once again...which blows my mind. Wasn't it just a weekend like yesterday? I don't know what it was about this week, but it truly went by fast for me!

Since it's Friday, that means it's time for another weekly workout recap!  How did my week go? Take a look below! :)

Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA 
• Contraband Days 5 Miler 
• 4 on the 4th
• Rock n Roll San Antonino Half 

Sunday - Rest day
Monday - 3 mile run outside
Tuesday - Orangetheory power day
Wednesday - Rest day
Thursday - Orangetheory strength day
Friday - Rest Day


On Saturday, I'll admit - I was lazy and wanted to sleep in. Super warm temps at 7 a.m. were not appealing to me, and Brayden would have had to come with me...so I skipped it. Oh well, I guess I'm allowed that every now and again. It's just so dang hot outside!


With missing a "long run" this weekend, I was going stir crazy by Monday! So, on Monday evening, I loaded Brayden up in the Bob and headed out for a 3 mile run.

Even at 7 p.m., the temps still "felt like" 101 degrees outside! What in the world...??

However, this run was a grand one. I started off at my usual pace and around mile 1, I realized I wasn't running hard enough. So, I picked up the speed at mile 2 and somehow managed negative splits for the remainder of the run...along with a pretty decent pace (for me), too!

All of this took place while pushing a 30 pound toddler on a hot July day. I attribute it all to Orangetheory. It really has made me a faster and better runner!

Brayden and his foot were pretty proud of us, too! :D

On Tuesday afternoon, I made my way to Orangetheory for a workout. It was power day and the entire workout felt amazing for me...which shocks me because I ate a bit of junk food that day. Regardless, my all outs were faster on the treadmill and I had a ton of energy! Whoop!

 

Thursday afternoon's Orangetheory workout was a strength day and not near as great as Tuesday. I ate so much better all day and felt like garbage. Oh well, I made it through and that's all that matters! Also, the OT Beat screen turned itself off with about 8 minutes left in class, so I know those splat points and calories should be a little higher.

In other news, Chef Brayden received his "kitchen" this week and he couldn't be more excited!

The look on his face when it arrived was priceless! 

My mom has been wanting one of these for him for a while and when a friend of mine posted hers for sale, I had to jump on it! Brayden is seriously in love!


Speaking of love, our "Mickey Mail" arrived this week!

Just means we are one day closer to our next trip! This is our Eastern Caribbean redemption cruise, to make up for the one that was canceled last year due to Hurricane Irma. I can't wait!


How was your week? Any fun weekend plans?

Fitness Friday - 7/6

Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA 
• Contraband Days 5 Miler 
• 4 on the 4th
• Rock n Roll San Antonino Half 

Saturday - Orangetheory - GREAT Workout
Sunday - Rest Day
Monday - 3 mile run outside
Tuesday - Rest day
Wednesday - 4 Miler on the 4th of July - and a new PR!
Thursday - Orangetheory
Friday - Rest Day

Well, what an interesting week it's been! I'm not going to lie, taking a day off in the middle of the week had me totally confused as to which day it actually was! I do love days off, though so I'm not complaining.

In all, it's been a great week of workouts!

It all began on Saturday when I miscounted my Orangetheory days and realized I would have one extra when the month was all said and done. So, I booked the 7 a.m. class and off I went!

We all started out on the treadmills which is totally new for me. I'm usually a run last kinda gal. It wasn't bad, though and I had a really really good workout. You know when you leave a workout and you're like WOW that was a good one? Yeah, that was Saturday!

 

I about lost it mid-class when Christmas music started playing! We all joked that it was just "Christmas in July", although July didn't start until the following day. Oh well, it was fun anyway!

On Monday evening, I decided to go for an outside solo run (minus Brayden), since I had the 4 miler on Wednesday morning and it had been a few weeks since I'd done so.

Why oh why did it still "feel like 100 degrees" at 8 p.m.? I love you, summer but I'm over your craziness.

While running, I found that I wasn't pushing myself hard enough which was shocking to me! I also didn't want to overdo it and possibly injure myself for Wednesday's race. 

Wednesday was the 4 miler on the 4th of July and I shared my experience with the race yesterday. Despite my ridiculous heart craziness right at the end of the race, I still managed a PR!

Even though this one was only by 3 seconds, a PR is still a PR and I'll take it! 

Yesterday was another Orangetheory day where we focused on strength. This workout was tough and hard for me to keep my heart rate in the orange zone, but it was a good workout overall!

This weekend, we are planning a little out of town trip to see the Astros and take Brayden to the Houston Zoo! I'm excited to share all of the fun with him! :) 

Have a fabulous weekend!

Valentine's Day & Mardi Gras

What a week this has been! Two holidays and a sick Brayden along with everything else...whew! Let's just say I'm grateful the weekend is here!

Since I haven't done this in a while and this week was actually sort of interesting, I'm going to share a weekly recap with y'all today! :)

For starters, we attended a Valentine/Sweetheart Banquet with our friends last weekend and had a BLAST! So much fun! By accident, our name was called for the final door prize when there actually weren't any door prizes remaining. It wasn't a big deal, we really had a great time at the banquet and no one was upset over it. However, the lady who was handing the door prizes out felt so bad, she went and purchased a gift for us and gave it to us on Sunday! I thought that was really nice and thoughtful of her (and she totally didn't have to do that)! We received a pair of "Mr & Mrs" coffee mugs and an adorable stuffed animal.

On Tuesday, we celebrated a little thing around here called "Mardi Gras"! Although I didn't technically "celebrate" by attending any parades or balls, I did wear beads to work and had a slice of king cake!

This one was blueberry cream cheese and it was delicious!

Oh yes, I also stopped by my favorite Main Squeeze Juice Co for a little King Cake smoothie...and it was complete with purple, gold, and green sprinkles on top!

So good!

This week was a rainy one, which means my puddle loving toddler spent a LOT of time outside between rain showers, stomping in puddles at my parent's house!

On Wednesday, we celebrated Valentine's Day with a sick Brayden. He had a bad tummy ache that evening and a low grade fever along with...the other stuff that comes with having a tummy ache. Poor little guy wasn't a happy camper.

After getting him settled, Jason and I enjoyed our Valentine's Day tradition since we started dating 12 years ago...chocolate covered strawberries!

By the next morning, this little guy was feeling ALL better!

 My dad and mom also gave sweet gifts to us for Valentine's Day! Here's mine! :)

On Thursday afternoon, we ventured out for 3 miles with our friend Melissa. Her husband was on his way home from work and saw us, so he "joined" us for a few miles!

It was SO NICE to see the sun!! It's been sorely missed this week, that's for sure!

Sticking his feet up while I'm trying to take a picture has become a funny game, apparently! We had to hold his feet down to get this one!

Silly kid!

Post-bath snuggles also happened a lot this week and this has quickly become one of my favorite times of the day! I just love this little guy so much!

We plan on officially celebrating Valentine's Day on Saturday evening since it hasn't worked out for us this week. I also have a LulaRoe party to attend tonight and we have a Minnie Mouse themed birthday party to attend tomorrow! I'm finally looking forward to a long run this weekend as Rock n Roll New Orleans is QUICKLY approaching!

So there you have it, our week in a nutshell!

How was your week? Did you celebrate Valentine's Day? How about Mardi Gras?