5am Run with Boyfriend!

My boyfriend and I have talked about running together for a long time now and we just never did it. So last night we decided this morning was the morning to start. He got to my house around 5:00am and after I finished getting my warm clothes on we were ready to hit the pavement. We got outside and I turned on my Garmin and it took forever to find the satellite this morning. It probably was the same amount of time, but it was 48 degrees out and my boyfriend and I were both ready to get running and warm up. Finally…satellite found! I programmed the interval workout option for today (run 14 walk 1 two times) and we were off. We started of nice and easy and began to feel our bodies warming up, although my nose never really got warm. Anyways, we were talking about anything and everything and just got carried away in our run that we didn’t even notice my Garmin beep when we were supposed to change paces. We couldn’t stop laughing…we were being so silly the whole time. Seriously, we are such goofballs together! It was great because I was wearing this bright green long sleeve Underarmour hoodie and I kept saying that I was a green monster alien completely with faces and noises! At 5am this was pretty funny! Here is the shirt:

And us at 5am!

Anyways, we had a great workout this morning. It was the perfect way to start my day. Oh, and as I walked outside my house, CSI: Miami was getting ready to shoot again. They film in my neighborhood a lot, and specifically at my neighbors house. It’s funny to see the MIAMI POLICE cars and new street signs like Palm Drive. Guess it looks like Miami here (and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper to film than flying the entire cast and crew to Miami and back)!
:)

Shin splints? Nope! + Travel Fitness Goodies

This morning was my first run in 3 days. I took a few days off from running because I started to have shin pains. I was hoping that I didn’t have shin splints because those are incredibly painful. Over those few days I did a lot of icing and stretching, and alas! Today I was fine. I think it was also a good rest because I got a quick two miles in before work this morning and it felt great. Speaking of work, I know it can be a challenge to get a workout in when traveling for business. After a day filled with meetings it can be deterring to come back to your hotel room and realize you haven’t gotten your workout in yet. Well, I stumbled across this article on businessbalance.com. It talks about 10 simple items you can throw in your suitcase when traveling. And it’s more exciting than a basic resistance band! Fun, simple, and compact! What more could you want when traveling with fitness gear?! Click here to read the article.

Tomorrow I’ll think I’m going to hit the gym before work so I can run a bit and do some weight training. I’ve been neglecting my arms, and it’s time they get a little attention :)

xoxo

William Wade Fine Photography (Beautiful Day Photography)

First of all, today is the Long Beach marathon.  I wish all racers the best of luck!  Maybe next year I'll be able to run the half!  Now that's a pretty sweet thought!

Anyways, this morning I woke up and met our dear family friend Bill (Uncle Bill) at the beach for a running photo shoot.  He is a brilliant photographer, an artist actually.  He owns a studio in Long Beach called William Wade Fine Photography (or Beautiful Day Photography).  He's been photographing me and my entire family since we were born, and out of all those shots, and the shots I've seen in his studio and even the shots he takes on vacations for leisure, I have NEVER seen a bad photo.  I mentioned to him that I wanted to take some pictures running for my blog, for a possible website later, and to simply document the beginning of a lifelong journey.  He immediately said "Let's do it!"  And it became a collaborative and super fun project.

Last week we did some test shots in a beautiful park across the street from my house (that ironically I had no idea existed!).  He took some of just me, and then some of me and Sean.  They turned out beautifully!  Here is a sneak peak of some of the photos from that day:

Me and my incredible Sean <3

Me in a tucked away park

There a lot more which I will post later!

Today's shoot was the running shoot I wanted to do.  So we met this morning at the beach on the border of Long Beach and Seal Beach.  We couldn't park at LB where I normally run the bike path because it was closed off for the LB marathon.  It was overcast which made a perfect photography setting.  (When it's too sunny the exposure can be off and there will be different shades of light patches contrasted with shadows everywhere.  Overcast makes for much better and even lighting.)  The first pics were of me stretching in the wet sand, followed by some shots of me running along the ocean.  From what Bill showed me on the LCD screen on his camera, I know I am going to LOVE the pictures.

xoxo

10,000 Steps + Morning Run

As most know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. What most don’t know is that October is also National Walking Month. My company is having a month-long event for employees called 10,000 Steps. The goal is for each employee to log at least 10,000 steps a day, approximately 5 miles, which studies suggest is necessary to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It’s a companywide (nationwide) competition between departments in each state, and at the end of October the department with the most steps wins! Our company even gave us cute little pedometers with our logo on them, and they kind of look like a pager from the ‘90s. It’s pretty cool, and my department is SUPER competitive. We are set on winning!



Anyways, two days ago I had an amazing run. It was a run 8 minutes, walk one, repeat three times, followed by a three minute run for a total of 30 minutes. I woke up at 5am and it was the first morning that I was actually cold. I wore my Nike dri-fit capris and a long sleeve Nike top (hot pink of course!) and hit the road running. I ran those first 8 minutes at about a 10min/mi pace with ease, and when my Garmin started beeping to tell me it was time to walk for a minute, I almost wanted to stop. But like I said before, I am sticking with my schedule to build a base no matter how good (or bad) I feel. So I walked at a brisk pace keeping my breathing rhythm in check and picked up to run for another 8min. It was dark outside and very peaceful. I started to warm up a bit and felt very comfortable. The early morning walkers/bikers/runners were starting to hit the streets and I love how everyone is so friendly and either says “Good morning” or waves with a smile. At least in my neighborhood :) After my three rounds of 8 minutes I still felt energized, and those last three minutes were cake. It was the first run that I really felt the benefit of my “slow and steady wins the race” type training. My endurance is building, and once I have my foundation, I can increase my mileage and work on speed. I love it!


Today I’m going to run 9min three times (walking one min in between each set).


Happy Wednesday!


xoxo

Pink Ribbon Month!

I love October.  I love when the weather becomes cool and crisp, I love everything pumpkin, I love Halloween, and I LOVE PINK!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!  This month is super important to me because my Grammie, who is my namesake and hero, had breast cancer a decade go.  She is one of the strongest women I know, and she beat it!  In 2008 I walked 40 miles for my Grammie and everyone affected by the terrible disease.

As negative as cancer is, this month is a month of celebration!  A celebration of everything pink to help raise money and awareness for the cure!  I love it!  Oprah has some cute things on her website including:

cupcakes for the cure from BangerangBakeShop, and

Riedel O's for Breast Cancer (15% of purchase goes to research!)

These are just a couple of the 26 fabulously pink items Oprah has on her site...all items can be found HERE complete with links to purchase them.  Check it out, there are some really cute things.

In addition to Breast Cancer Awareness month, my company is launching a program during the month of October called "10,000 Steps" to help promote healthy living and an active lifestyle!  I'll write about that tomorrow.

Happy PINK shopping and running!

xoxo

My Running Goals

Happy Friday!  So I'm listening to Sondre Lerche (I saw him/met him last night, woohoo!!!) and I realized that when I first started blogging, I never did delve into my goals.

I started my blog a little while ago, and although it was on my mind constantly and I've told my family, I never did write my goals for running.  I'm here to correct that right now!

So in my first blog I talked about why I wanted to start running...that I wanted to get back into it but more seriously that I ever did before.  Before I started this blog, I told my parents my top goals in my running endeavor.  Here they are:

1.  Train to run 30+ minutes constantly--build my foundation
2.  Train for and race in a 5K
3.  Train for and race in a 10K
4.  Train for and race in a 1/2 marathon.

A fifth and later goal is to eventually run a marathon.  I realize this might take a while, but I believe I can accomplish this goal before I am 30.  Right now I'm 23 years old.  If I work/train hard and accomplish my four goals listed above, I know I will be able to achieve this fifth goal.

I have almost accomplished goal 1.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I have decided to go back in my training schedule because I had such a bad week with training.  If I don't hit anymore obstacles, I will reach my goal by Halloween!  As for my goal number two, I have signed up for the San Diego Mud Run, and the LB Turkey Trot.  The SD Mud Run is less of a race and more of a mud obstacle course (obvi), so I do not count that as my first 5K.  My first 5K will take place ON Turkey Day of this year, and I can't wait!!!  I've signed up and there is no turning back!  It will be here before I know it, and so I have to follow through with all my training (including the getting used to running in the pitch black mornings!)  But it's sooooo worth it.

So I just wanted to clarify my top goals in my running adventures.  I can't wait to accomplish them ALL!!!

Have a fabulous weekend and if anyone is racing, good luck and run happy!

xoxo

This Morning's Adventure

This week has not been one of my best. I don’t know what it is, but the past two days I have had the hardest time waking up in the morning. Maybe it’s because it’s pitch black at 5:00am, or maybe my body was just telling me I need more sleep.


Yesterday I didn’t even hear my alarm and I don’t remember turning it off, but I know I set it. I always set my alarm for the same time every morning—5:00am. It must have been my body catching up on some much needed rest for the many 5:00am wake-up calls I’ve had recently.

I did wake up this morning, but it was a cross-training day so I walked (fast-paced!) for 40 minutes around my neighborhood. An interesting thing happened…towards the end of my walk (mind you it’s 5:15am, pitch black, and silent) this morning, all of a sudden a fire truck with lights flashing comes racing down towards me. I hope on the sidewalk and watch it pass me, but it’s heading in the direction of my house so I watch it closely to see which street it turns on. It turned on MY street!!! When I left my house everything was fine…what could have happened? I live in a cul-de-sac-like street so once you turn there are only a small handful of houses to go to. I race back to my street to find it parked in front of my house! Ok seriously, what the heck. The lights in the house were off, so that was reassuring, and then I thought about my neighbor. She is an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s and I began to think what could have happened to poor Mrs. Baker (this is not her real name) and my mind jumped to the worst possible scenario. The firemen and paramedics (they just arrived) seemed calm so I asked them what happened. They were soooo NOT friendly! I got a rude “Who are you and what are you doing here?” response, to which I returned a polite and worried “She’s my neighbor. Is she ok? What happened?” The not-so-friendly man in uniform abruptly replied that she was fine and that she hit her leg, then he stormed off. Jeez! Luckily she was ok though, my gosh!

Anyways, this week really put a dent in my training, so I have decided to go back and repeat last weeks schedule which is:

Mon: Run 6 min Walk 1 min (repeat 4 times) Run 2 min

Tues: Cross train

Wed: Run 6 min Walk 1 min (repeat 4 times) Run 2 min

Thurs: Cross train

Fri: Run 8 min Walk 1 min (repeat 3 times) Run 3 min

Sat: Run 8 min Walk 1 min (repeat 3 times) Run 3 min

I probably could continue with next weeks schedule, but after struggling to get my butt out of bed the past few days I think I need to repeat and make sure I’m absolutely comfortable with this. I know it’ll be worth it. And I have two 5Ks in November to look forward to and keep me motivated! Wahoo!!!
Have a happy Thursday! I’m going to see Sondre Lerche tonight…so excited!!! (He sang the “Dan in Real Life” soundtrack and has some awesome albums, just FYI.)

xoxo