Fitness Friday...December 5th Edition!

Happy Friday! This week was tough after Thanksgiving Holidays! I'm so ready for Christmas break lol!

On a sad note....yesterday would have been the day I left if I'd been running the St. Jude Memphis Half tomorrow. I was a little down yesterday even though I know I made the right decision to not run the race. I wish everyone running tomorrow the best of luck! Wish I was there running it with you!

The day didn't end on a sad note though. I got some very happy mail from my favorite store in the world...RunningSkirts!!! I took advantage of their Pink Friday sale and bought the new honeycomb skirt! If you spent a certain amount of money on Pink Friday you also got a free pink tote! But...the awesome ladies at runningskirts sent me an additional surprise! They sent me the new Midnight Stars Running Capri!!!! They are adorable!!! I'm excited they are selling capris now too!

It's time for Fitness Friday! I'm excited to tell you all about my runs this week! I upped my mileage some (with Dr. Justin's permission of course) and it felt great!!!

• Friday- 2.06 mile run in 19:23 average pace 9:25 (run with my hubby after Black Friday shopping!)

• Saturday- 3.11 mile run in 26:25 average pace 8:30 (Haven't ran a 5K in WEEKS!!!)

• Sunday- 1.31 mile run in 11:20 average pace 8:40

• Monday- #plankaday 1:05, 1.31 mile run in 11:15 average pace 8:35

• Tuesday- #plankaday 1:15, 1.51 mile run in 12:50 average pace 8:30

• Wednesday- #plankaday 1:05, 1.36 mile run in 11:41 average pace 8:35

• Thursday- #plankaday 1:30, 1.36 mile run in 11:39 average pace 8:33

My calf is doing so much better! I barely feel it when I run. And I don't really feel it at all after the run. I went to my appointment with Dr. Justin on Wednesday and he released me from treatment!!! He said I could start slowly building my mileage back up! I just have to take it slow. #RnRNOLA training here I come!!! :-)

My eating was good this week too. I even did great last week during the Thanksgiving Holiday! I'm proud of myself!  

This weekend I'm going to start training again. My long run will be 3-4 miles. I'm taking it slow just like the doctor ordered! I don't want to digress and the calf start hurting again. Wish me luck!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

QOTD: What was your best run or workout this week?

Magic Christmas in Lights at Bellingrath Gardens!

Last Saturday night we went to Bellingrath Gardens to see the Magic Christmas in Lights! It had been several years since we had been and I was really looking forward to it. The lights are always so magical and I knew the boys would love it! We went with my sister Christy and her family. It was fun watching baby Ella react to all the lights! And of course my boys loved it!

Enjoy the pictures! Just know that the pictures don't do the lights justice...they were so pretty!

Halfway through the walk they were selling hot chocolate, coffee, and popcorn. And yes we took full advantage! That hot chocolate was so yummy!

It was a great family outing! Hopefully we can make it a family tradition for years to come! :-)

QOTD: Do you have any family Christmas traditions?

Thanksgiving Holiday Snapshots!

I had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday! We were off work and out of school on Wednesday through Sunday. I spent a ton of time with family and it was awesome! Here are some snapshots of my wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful and blessed!

Wednesday started out with a 1.5 mile run! And then goofing around with Hayden taking pictures! ;-)

That afternoon we went with my sister and Ella to the pier to walk and then to the coffee shop. What we didn't expect was how windy it would be down by the bay! It was hard to take pictures because the wind was shaking our phones so bad! You can see the wind blowing the water out of the fountain!

We didn't stay long because the wind made it so cold. We headed to the coffee shop and I got some cuddle time with Ella!

Thanksgiving morning I woke up and ran 2.5 miles! This was my longest run in a while due to my calf injury. It felt great to run a little more mileage!

After getting cleaned up after my run we headed about an hour away to my Dad's house for Thanksgiving lunch! A ton of my family that I hadn't seen in forever was there! It was so great seeing everyone! And I love spending time with my Dad and stepmom!

My Dad is so silly and the boys love him! Sawyer gets his silliness from my Dad for sure! I love seeing them interact! So cute!

I love my silly Dad!

And there is always one photo that has been photobombed lol! Here are my boys with my stepmom...and brother Josh photobombing lol!

We had a great time visiting with family at my Dad's house! Once we left there we headed to Andy's sister Katie's house to spend the night. She was going to watch the boys for us so Andy and I could go on our annual Black Friday shopping date! We woke up early and my sweetie even took me to my favorite coffee shop for Black Friday shopping fuel!

We went to several stores and found lots of great deals! About 80% of my Christmas shopping is done! Yay!

When we were finished shopping we went for a run. I couldn't let my streak end! I ran one mile with Andy and then another mile by myself!

Then we showered and headed back over to Katie's house. His parents brought lunch for everyone. We ate and then spent the rest of the afternoon watching Christmas movies and spending time together. That night we had Mexican Night for dinner! And then me and my mother-in-law and aunt-in-law did a little more shopping! They then took me back to Katie's house where we spent the night again.

So the next morning I got to run from Katie's house. It's always great to run a different route! And...I ran my first 5K in a long time! The calf felt great but was a little sore and tight the rest of the day.

We spent the morning with Katie and ate lunch with her. Then we packed up and headed home. Later that afternoon we went to my sister Christy's house. We went to Bellingrath Gardens that night to see the Christmas Lights! It was beautiful! It deserves its own post so stay tuned tomorrow for more of those pictures!

After seeing the lights we went back to Christy's house for a chili dinner and to watch some football! My Auburn Tigers lost the Iron Bowl but fought a good fight! It was a great game despite the loss!

Sunday morning we all slept in since we had some pretty late nights this holiday. I ran my mile for the streak that morning. The rest of the day was spent getting ready for the next week....back to work and school. That night I babysat Ella so my sister could go to the So You Think You Can Dance Tour.

It was a great weekend! I really hated to see it end! But....we only have 3 more weeks of work and school and then we are out again for Christmas holidays! I hope I can make it that long lol!

QOTD: Did you travel for Thanksgiving or celebrate at home?

The Weekly Chase #100!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!!! I know I sure did! I spent lots of time with family and it was amazing! I did not want it to end! But...today is Monday and it's back to reality!

Thanks for being patient with my lack of blogging the past few days. I wanted to spend as much time off the computer and with my family as possible and that's what I did! I'm sure you all were doing the same!

I'll be sure to update my Thanksgiving and weekend fun this week for ya! ;-)

Now it's time for the Weekly Chase! It's a new week and I have new goals to achieve! I hope you will link up your own goals with me too! And feel free to use the badge below in your post too! You can grab the badge HERE! :-)

Here are my goals from last week and how I did with them!

• Goal #1: Run every day! Yes! Sorry for the lack of a Fitness Friday post but I assure you that I streaked every day!
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. 75%. I missed one day of icing and a couple days of rolling since I was out of town for the holidays. 
• Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. Yes! I did surprisingly well with this! I tried to enjoy the Thanksgiving Feast but kept it reasonable. I didn't indulge in several desserts...I picked just one! ;-) When I got home I was actually down a pound so I call that a win! ;-)
• Goal #4: Make my plan for Black Friday shopping. Yes! Me and the hubby enjoyed our annual tradition of shopping together on Black Friday! We got some great deals!

Here are my goals for this week!

Goal #1: Run every day! Gotta keep the #RRGRunStreak alive! I hit day 190 yesterday! I can't believe I am so close to 200 days of running! 

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. The calf is feeling better but there is still a tiny bit of soreness and tightness. I increased mileage this past week (per Dr. Justin's orders) and I think it made the calf a little sore. I go back to see Dr. Justin this week so hopefully he can get most of the soreness out and I will be healed soon I hope!

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. I am so proud of how well I did over the holidays. I did eat more and not as healthy. I don't want to make that a habit so I will make sure to plan healthy meals for the week.

Goal #4: Get my class ready for their Christmas program. Yes our school Christmas program is in ONE WEEK! I've got to make sure my class is ready. We will be doing lots of practicing this week. 

Another short and simple week of goals. Good luck with yours this week too!

QOTD: What goals are you chasing this week?