Weekly Workouts

Monday:  rest day

Tuesday:  squats and lunges throughout the day at work

Wednesday: 5 treadmill miles after work, plus box jump work

Thursday: 1.5 mile walk plus YMCA WOD:
     AMRAP
     10 pull ups
     1 legged burpees with BOSU 5 each side
     15 KB squats
     10 spiderman push ups each side
     15 deadlift 65#

Friday: 5 mile trail run after work

Saturday:  Crossfit Cupcake WOD (with brother!):
EMOM x 10:  1 clean and split jerk (I did a more simple movement after failing to grasp this one)
10 RFT:  3 pull ups (with a band)
4 RFT:
    800m run
     10/5/5/5 rope climbs from ground
     40 ft DB walking lunge (40#)

Sunday:  rest day

Weekly totals:
11.5 miles plus WOD running
2 WODs

Less than last week, but I still felt good about this week. I worked an extra day and also we drove to KY to celebrate E's birthday so it was a busier week in general. I was happy fitting in the workouts I did.

Vacation Part Two:::: NYC day 1

Tuesday morning we packed up and left Vegas bright and early.

brad was taking full advantage of the the strip's open container policy as long as he could! we arrived in NYC around 7pm. it sucked to lose a day of vacation to travel, but we were together and we weren't working, still a win in my book.

we stayed at the metro apartments, which mostly worked well for us. the studio apartment was tiny, but it had a kitchenette so we were able to make our breakfasts. the biggest problem was more of a problem with travelocity than the hotel. long story short, i made a point to call travelocity to confirm that there was a fitness center on site. we get there and there wasn't a fitness center. i call travelocity and am on the phone for over an hour, without a resolution. greaaaaat.

the first night i honestly can't remember where we grabbed food, but then we caught a late showing of Lincoln.

the next morning we got up and went for a run in central park. i cannot even tell you how much this is my favorite part of visiting NYC. i don't know if it would wear off if you ran there every day, but i can't get over just being in awe of the amazing beauty and tranquility in the middle of such commotion. i also love seeing all the sights that you see in the movies and tv shows. wednesday i ran 3 miles with brad and thursday i did 5 miles on my own.

on wednesday we visited grand central station, rockefeller center and the nyc public library. grand central seemed other worldly to me. i loved it and could have sat in there for a long time. they were having a holiday market too, and a man was playing Christmas carols on his violin. we enjoyed listening to him for a while.

next we ended up and rockefeller center and i spotted magnolia bakery. the line wasn't out the door as usual so i ran inside to get a cupcake. i chose the rockette red velvet. the cake part was delicious but i didn't love the frosting [more marshmallow-y than cream cheesey). rockefeller center looked great all dressed up for Christmas.

the nyc public library was really cool to see in person, and it was decorated inside also.

we had to get back to the room pretty quickly because we had a big date planned. we had tickets to the NYC ballet's performance of the nutcracker at lincoln center.

the dancing portions were amazing, but i had honestly forgotten how boring the first act is. i was pretty bored during the first act, and brad was pretty much asleep! but the second act was a lot better, with more dancing. afterwards we went to dinner at rosa mexicana, which was our favorite restaurant when we visited NYC last year. [quick side note, brad found the biggest lululemon i've ever seen on the way to dinner, SO much product! i found a jacket that i loved and i think i MIGHT be getting it for Christmas... fingers crossed!]
dinner was great, if you're in NYC you should definitely try rosa's. they have chains now, but we ate at the one in atlanta and it just wasn't as good. so we went back to the original one that we had tried before.

more to come on the rest of the week later!!

Why You Should Never Let Your Guard Down While Running Outdoors

I honestly really hate that I have to tell this story. I hate that it happened at all. And while I can look back on it with a mixture of relief that it wasn't that serious, and humor because let's face it, it's funny now, I still feel like I need to share.

Saturday I had an eight mile long run on the schedule so I got up early and got ready. Brad and I were visiting my family in KY for the weekend and my dad was the only person up at the house. He and I don't get a chance to talk one on one very often so I took my time getting ready and stretching while talking to him. I think I ended up leaving the house around 9am. And just like I was still young, he asks where I was going and how long I'd be, because he's my dad and he worries. I can't begin to list all the times my parents have given me that 'warning tone' when I mention running outside alone... And as usual, they were right.

Our hometown has a major bypass that will take you from one end of the town to the other and there is a walking path that runs between the road and the river. There are only a few spots on the trail that you can't be seen from the road. I've been on that track thousands of times. 


I run out and back on the trail, and it is about 0.8 miles, so I settle in for a while. I've got a great playlist and while I have both earbuds in, the volume is very low. The first person I pass from behind is an older man, probably in his 70's, walking from McDonald's with his coffee. I don't pass another person until I'm on my way back (passed from the front), I passed a young boy who looked about 12 years old. I smile and wave and he nods. I continue to run.

I passed this kid really close to the turn around point so I quickly lap him from behind as I go out for another loop. He moves when he hears/sees me coming and I go on. Everything's going great, the weather's perfect and I'm really getting into my run. I'm running a faster pace than usual and taking the small hills with ease. I loop around and before long see the boy again. I really don't think anything of him being as we've already acknowledged each other, but I do look up at him and he nods again.

Right when I get by him, I feel this sharp smack on my left butt cheek. I am shocked out of the happy little world I was in and turn on him. He turned to run when he realized I was coming towards him but then he stopped. Either I'm not very scary or he realized he was running from a girl. I yelled at him, "who do you think you are?" and "who made you think it's okay to treat a woman like that?" (don't ask me where I get this stuff, I was in the moment). I kept asking him how old he was also. Like I said he looked about 12 and while I wasn't really thinking, I remember the thought, 'if I hit him I'll get in trouble for assaulting a minor.' (No it didn't occur to me that he'd touched me first).

He answers me that his dad taught him that he could treat women like that and he said he was 17. I was fuming. He obviously didn't have a good example at home, but that still didn't give him the right to touch me. He kind of smiled and walked off. I turned and started walking, and even put my ear buds back in... But then I thought, 'No, he's not getting away with this." So I called 911 and told them what happened. (Sorry I didn't have the PD in my phone). They sent two cops out and I was so pleased when I realized I went to school with one of them.

Long story short, they told me that I was right in calling (I was worried I'd blown it out of proportion) and they took me very seriously. They found the boy and he first denied it, then he admitted everything. He ended up being fourteen years old. I didn't press charges and the officers made him get in their car so they could drive him home.

So looking back... Yes this is a very funny story. Some little kid got grabby with me. Big deal.

But the whole incident has set in very heavily for me. I know you can't play the if's and but's game, but really. That just goes to show you. People can surprise you. I thought just because I was out in the open where people might see me that I was fine. I didn't have my pepper spray or ID. I had both ear buds in. Essentially I was in my own little world and that cannot happen!!

I hope you find the humor in this story, but I really hope it'll scare you a little like it did me.


Be cautious. Be prepared. Be careful. Be aware of your surroundings. 

Best Long Weekend Ever

This weekend our friends from KY came to visit and we had so much fun! It was all part of my grand scheme to get them to move to NC. I'll let you know how that works out! Becca and I are training for the Run The Bluegrass (her first half marathon) so it was awesome to do our long run together on Saturday. She is having some weird foot pain though, any ideas on what it could be?

It was so great to catch up and show them around Asheville. And of course I didn't take a single picture. Whoops. 

Yesterday I got to run outside on one of my favorite trails. It felt so good to off the horrible treadmill. The weather was perfect and I have really missed running in the parks! 

And I've watched at least 10 episodes of Gossip Girl. Super productive I know. 

What's your favorite thing to do when you have time off around the house?

2011... What A Year

I love year reviews. Love, love, love them. Probably has something to do with my nerdy need to be organized, but that's neither here nor there.

I can't begin to list all the things that I enjoy about blogging, but one of my favorites is being able to look back and see progress. I love that word:  PROGRESS. Am I where I want to be? No. Have I reached all my goals. No way. But have I worked hard and progressed? Abso-freaking-lutely.

Because it's the most fun and easiest to quantify, let's look at running:

• i participated in fourteen races
• five virtual races, nine in real life
• two trail runs, seven organized road races
• thirteen in North Carolina, one in Ohio
• nine 5k's
• one 4 miler
• one 9k
• two 10k's
• one half marathon 
• three instant PR's 
• two real PR's

I am beyond happy with my running this year. I ran in NC, OH, KY, TN, NY (Central Park in NYC), HI (Mauii), CO (Denver). Running in Central Park was surreal. What's also great about running in all these places: 

Usually I would make excuses:
I'm on vacation.
I'm going to be eating out so much there's no point in working out.
There's no point in taking up room in my suitcase with running stuff (you just need a pair of shoes my ass!).

I count this point alone as major progress.

Top Three Running Experiences of 2011:
3.  Lady Distance Classic 10K in Ohio - Brad and his parents came out to cheer me on--the only race I ran this year with people I knew watching (I did run several races with friends).
2.  Running the Turkey Trot 5K with Brad (his first 5K). -- just realized I never posted about this race. Bad blogger award.
1.  Finishing the Asheville Citizen Times Half Marathon.

I've really enjoyed reading your all's 2011 reviews! I'll be back at you later with my goals for 2012!

Tell me your top running experience(s) of 2011!!!!

Breaking Through

I haven't been posting about my runs this week because they've been depressing me and mentally kicking my butt. I was excited for this week because my training plan called for 3 easy runs. Not necessarily to take it easy, but excited and confident that I would have a strong week because I knew I could run the distances (4,3,4). I couldn't have been more wrong.

Monday I had the 3.6ish (should have been 4) miles from hell. I accidentally grabbed my road shoes for a trail run, Garmin was being a lazy bum, I ran too close to dark so I was freaking the whole time, and not to mention that darn snake.

Wednesday I convinced B-rad to join me on my 'easy 3 miler.' I was excited for him to run with me and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to show off a little bit (look at me I can run 3 miles soooo easy). That backfired. He kicked my trash, and my confidence took a major blow.

I had somehow convinced myself that I can't run outside. I can hop on the treadmill and run without stopping (I know it's different) but I have this mental block that beats me up while I'm running outside. I've yet to have a race that I haven't walked, and deep down I know this isn't a big deal, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me. ALOT.

So this morning I was nervous. I had a 4 miler that I really wanted to do outside. I figured I needed to get over this before I start adding mileage. Well I worked 10-10 yesterday, and we have inventory this morning, so I stayed til 1130 to help count down our robot (very exciting work). I set my alarm for 7 and come morning that just wasn't working out.

I got up a little later and knew it would probably be better to head to the gym due to the heat. Then I thought, to heck with I'm doing this outside. I was hydrated, wore my Mizuno hat, and kept telling myself what Kara Goucher says in her book about running in the heat:  You might have to slow down but you can do it.

And I did. It took me 47 minutes, but I ran 4 miles, without stopping. I feel so great right now, knowing that I didn't let those two bad runs defeat me.

But don't worry, I won't get all big headed on you... Not with awesome self portraits like these. If that's not humbling I don't know what is ;) And just so you know I was saying four aloud. Not singing.

What are your tricks for getting over a bad run?
What are you all doing this weekend? Any races? I'm working 9-9 on Saturday and Sunday, so think of me. I hope you all have a great weekend!!