6.2 Miles Full of Adventure!

Ahhh! Another long run just for fun! Since I'm not training for any races at the moment it is nice to just enjoy the long run.

Saturday I had plans to run a 10K with Andria again! We decided to run the same route again since it is convenient and our favorite.

I walked outside that morning to super humid conditions. I knew the run wasn't going to be easy in the heat and humidity. But that's the life in the summer time here on the Gulf Coast.

We started the run nice and easy. I love running with friends! The conversation makes the run go by so fast! But right away we heard thunder in the distance. Uh oh! There was rain in the forecast but it wasn't supposed to happen until after our run. We decided to monitor it and keep going since it was still a long ways off.

We hit mile 1.5 and Andria yelled out at me. There was a snake in the road right in front of me! I screamed and ran way around it. I wasn't sure if it was dead or alive. It wasn't squished and I could see the roundness of its body so I just assumed it was alive. But I didn't stop to find out.

That made us run faster for sure! We made it to the downtown area in no time! Right before our turn around a little bunny rabbit darted out from the bushes in front of me. I could tell he panicked because he darted out in front of me, stopped, and then turned around and headed back for the bushes. He was so cute and I was sorry I scared him.

We made it to our turn around and stopped for a quick drink. It was so hot! We were both dripping what seemed like buckets of sweat!

Before getting serious again we had a little fun. I bought my first Lululemon skirt and was wearing it that day. Andria took a few pictures of me running in my new skirt. I LOVE the ruffles in the back!

After our fun we headed back home. We decided that on the way back we were going to see if the snake was still there. If he was then I was going to take a picture for my boys. They always want to see pictures when I tell them I saw a snake. But this mama ONLY takes pictures of the dead ones. I don't get close enough to take a picture if they are alive...yikes!

So the next few miles were spent focusing on finding that snake. Kept my mind off the run...and made me super aware of any other critters lol!

Finally (after thinking he must have been alive and slithered away) we found him. And dead he was. The hubby later told me it was a rat snake and harmless. Still! :-(

After the snake picture we only had a little over a mile left in our run. We were running on the street that always has lots of traffic. But for some reason, that morning there was barely any traffic. We turned onto my everyday route and were in the home stretch.

Boom! We had done it! It was a hard run in the heat and humidity. But that didn't stop us!

We had just finished running and then it started sprinkling! We had missed the rain...but we both said the rain would have felt nice when we were running!

I'm always so very thankful that God has given me the ability to run and friends to run with! I'm so very blessed! :-)

QOTD: Do you see lots of snakes while running in the summer?

The Weekly Chase #123!

Well here goes! My first week of summer vacation! And...my boys are still in school this week! Yes my preschool gets out a week earlier than my boys. I plan to have some "me" time but I will also be busy going up to my boys' school for awards ceremonies and end of the year parties. Should be a fun week!

And hopefully....my sister in law Katie will have her baby this week! She is due this week so my fingers are crossed!  :-) I can't wait to be an aunt again!!!

So since it's the start of my summer vacation I celebrated how any other coffee addict would celebrate...with a Starbucks frappuccino of course! ;-) I was so blessed to get more Starbucks gift cards from my sweet students so I'm set for the summer! :-) That makes me one happy girl!

Saturday morning I ran a 10K with my friend Andria! We had a very eventful run that I will tell you all about on Wednesday! But for now...Andria took this picture of me running....and it's one of my favorites!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home. It rained off and on all day. But that didn't stop my boys from having fun. They had a blast playing in the sprinkler AND the rain in the backyard!

I enjoyed reading my first book of the summer. I started the Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich. It's an older series (I think the first book was written in 1996 or so) but I'm loving it! And there is 20 books in the series so far! Anyone else read this series?

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 last week's goals!

• Goal #1: Run every day! Yes! The streak is still going strong!!! Only 7 more days until I reach a year!!!!
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Yes! My hip has been bothering me again so I've been very diligent with this this week.
• Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. Yes. I've done pretty well with this. I even logged the end of the school year cake we had at work! ;-)
• Goal #4: Clean my classroom and take everything down for the summer. Yes! It was sad taking everything down. I've had such a great school year! My students were sad while we were taking it all down too. But it's done and next will be redecorating for the next school year. That will be here before I know it!

Here are my goals for this week!

Goal #1: Run every day! I plan on reaching that year mark on Sunday! The question that everyone has been asking me is if I'm going to continue the streak. My answer...I don't know yet! I love running every day. But my hip seems to be telling me it needs some rest. If I DO continue I'm going to really need to take some of those one miler days a lot easier than I have been. I'm going to need to use them as actual rest days by slowing way down and running easy. 

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Gotta keep this up!

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. Summer is here and I definitely don't want to gain any weight. It will be hard to log everything when I'm on vacation but I will do my best.

Goal #4: Incorporate some weight training into my routine. Now that summer is here I will have more time on my hands. I would like to tone up (especially my arms). So I hope to start some basic weight training. I don't belong to a gym so it will have to be things I can do here at home. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm clueless when it comes to weight training!

So that's the plan for this week! Hope you have a great week of crushing your goals!

QOTD: What goals are you working on this week?

Fitness Friday...May 15th Edition!

At 1:30 PM today I will officially be on summer break!!!! Yes....today is my last day of school. I am going to miss my sweet class so much! They have been amazing this year and I'm so proud of them and the big kindergartners they now are! Bittersweet!

But I'm not going to lie! I'm looking forward to spending this summer with my boys! We have several plans that include Disney World and my best friend Stephanie coming to visit us in July! Yay!

This week was so busy with the end of the year stuff that a teacher has to deal with. I had to pack up and clean up my entire classroom. We also had our end of the year graduation party. But now it's done and I'm ready for the break!

Hayden had his last art class until the fall this week. So Sawyer and I had our little mini date at the pier. And that always involves funny face selfies! ;-)

Since frappuccino happy hour is no longer an option, I didn't make any trips to Starbucks this week. But...I DID have my afternoon coffee at home! Yum! And....I got two Starbucks gifts cards this week....one for Mother's Day and one from one of my students! Yay!!!

Now it's Fitness Friday time! I had great runs this week but I did take it a little easy because my hip was sore again.  :-(

• Friday- #plankaday 1:17, 1.67 mile run in 13:43 average pace 8:12

• Saturday- 6.2 mile run in 58:21 average pace 9:25

• Sunday- 2.26 mile run in 18:25 average pace 8:09

• Monday- #plankaday 1:06, 1.67 mile run in 14:05 average pace 8:27

• Tuesday- #plankaday 1:10, 1.68 mile run in 14:14 average pace 8:29

• Wednesday- #plankaday 1:15, 1.71 mile run in 14:30 average pace 8:29

• Thursday- #plankaday 1:31, 1.76 mile run in 14:39 average pace 8:19

My runs felt great this week! My hip is still a little sore but I'm hoping the new shoes will help. I've been icing it every day as well. 

This weekend the plan is to run another 5-6 miles. I plan on taking it at an easy pace just to be nice to the hip. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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

10K Fun Run!

I am officially not training for a race! It is too hot for racing now on the Gulf Coast. So now I get to run just to run. No races to train for. No distances that MUST be done on the weekend. I can run whatever mileage I please. I can run for ME! That feels good!

The only running goal I currently have is to make my year goal of my running streak. And I will meet that at the end of the month. :-)

My summer running goal is to try to run a long run every weekend. I hope to run at least 5-6 miles each weekend. I'm going to Disney this summer so I know that week I probably won't get in that long run and that's ok.

So this past Saturday was the first weekend that I wasn't training or didn't have a race to run in a long time. I decided I wanted to run a 10K. My friend Andria and I were finally able to get on the same page in our schedules and run together! It's been a long time since we've run together and I was so excited to see her!

We ran our favorite route that takes us downtown. Both of us prefer to run a little later so we met at my house around 6:30 AM.

The run started out great! I hadn't seen Andria in so long that I talked her ear off lol! Before I knew it we had made it to mile 3 and it was time to turn around and head back!

Andria was carrying her hydration belt with two bottles of Gatorade...one for her and one for me! We stopped real quick to refuel and then we were on our way again!

Around mile 4 we made it to City Hall and stopped for my traditional mid-run picture! ;-)

Then it was time to get going again! The last mile was the toughest. We were running on a very busy road and we had to really watch the traffic. We needed a little bit of motivation so I turned the music on on my phone and blared it! It seemed to help!

Before long we had made it back to my house...and we had run those 6.2 miles!

This run wasn't my fastest by any means. I didn't have to push it. I wasn't racing. I was just enjoying the run and enjoying being with my friend. It was a great run!!!

And I love this girl!!! Hopefully our schedules will allow us to run many more times together this summer! :-)

QOTD: What are your running goals in the summertime? 

The Weekly Chase #122!

I hope you all had a great weekend! And for all the mothers out there I hope you had a very happy Mother's Day! I sure did! My boys spoiled me all day long! :-)

This weekend was spent with family! I love spending time with my family! Friday afternoon I enjoyed another half price frappuccino from Starbucks! :-)

Friday night we headed to the in law's house for dinner and to drop Hayden off to spend the night. Sawyer had his gymnastics banquet the next day and siblings weren't allowed to come. But Hayden had a blast at his grandparents house!

Saturday morning I ran a 10K long run with my friend Andria! We haven't run together in a while and it was so good to see her!

Later that morning we went to Sawyer's gymnastics banquet. We enjoyed that one on one time with Sawyer!

After the banquet I convinced Andy to indulge in a frapp with me! ;-)

Saturday afternoon we went and picked Hayden up at the grandparents' house. They also took us out for Mexican dinner! Yum!

Sunday morning I woke up to a surprise from my boys and hubby! Then I went for a quick run. When I returned they had cooked me breakfast! So sweet! And see that jelly....that is the jelly made from the blackberries we picked a few weeks ago! So good!

We went to Andy's parents house for lunch. His mom wanted to cook for everyone. It was a great meal! Andy's sister Katie is pregnant with her first child and is due any day now. So hopefully the next time we have a meal together we will have a new addition there as well!

And....you know this is coming....I couldn't end Mother's Day without a Starbucks Frappuccino! Especially since it was the last day for half price frapps! And it didn't take too much convincing for my mother in law and sister in law to come with me! :-)

It was definitely a wonderful weekend! But now....I get to enjoy my last week of work! I'm sad to see my sweet little preschoolers leave me. They have been such a great class!

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!

• Goal #1: Run every day! Yes! I only have a few more days until I reach my year goal!
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Yes! But I haven't been icing as much and the hip started hurting again on Wednesday. :-( I DID get new shoes and ran with them on Friday so I'm hoping that is going to help. 
• Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. 95% on this one. I logged most everything.
• Goal #4: Start working on preschool memory books. Yes! I completed my memory books!!!! Yay!!!! Such a weight off my shoulders!

Here are my goals for this week!

Goal #1: Run every day! I am so close to my year goal of my running streak! I can't believe I've made it this long! Because my hip started feeling sore again last week I plan on taking it easier on my runs this week. 

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. I need to focus on icing my hip this week.

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. I'm doing good maintaining. But I still want to hold myself accountable for all the foods I eat. I worked too hard to gain any weight back.

Goal #4: Clean my classroom and take everything down for the summer. I have to take everything off the walls in my classroom for the summer. I also need to clean....and the kids will love helping me with this!

So those are my goals for this week! It's going to be a busy last week of school! But then...it's summer vacation time!!!! :-)

QOTD: What are your goals this week?

Fitness Friday...May 8th Edition!

Whew! It's been a busy week! At work this week I was busy getting my preschoolers ready to graduate! We had lots of graduation practices. I'm happy to say that they all graduated last night! What a sweet sweet time in their lives! And yes...I will admit that I got teary eyed! I love those sweet kids and am going to miss them so much!

Tuesday, Sawyer and I also had a little mini date while Hayden was at art class. It started with Starbucks (half price frappuccinos until May 10th...woohoo) of course!

Then we went to the pier and Sawyer finished his homework. And then we took a walk! I love when I get to spend one on one time with my boys!

Hayden also finished his painting of the Golden Gate Bridge during art class. I think he did an amazing job!

Since it was also Cinco de Mayo we had dinner at Moe's Southwest Grill. And....I got a free t-shirt! :-)

This week my Easter lilies finally decided to bloom! I was so happy to see them! They are beautiful! I made sure not to get too close though since I have a black thumb! ;-)

On Wednesday afternoon the boys and I met Jenny and her children at Starbucks for frappuccino happy hour! I may be getting a little addicted to those half price frapps! Not sure what I'm going to do when I have to pay full price again lol!

Now it's time for Fitness Friday! I had some great runs this week! The streak is still going strong...I'm so close to a year!

• Friday- #plankaday 1:15, 1.60 mile run in 13:47 average pace 8:37

• Saturday- Fiesta 10K in 53:43 average pace 8:40

• Sunday- 2.26 mile run in 18:35 average pace 8:12

• Monday- #plankaday 1:31, 1.76 mile run in 14:57 average pace 8:30

• Tuesday- #plankaday 1:06, 2.06 mile run in 17:12 average pace 8:21

• Wednesday- #plankaday 1:16, 2.06 mile run in 16:51 average pace 8:11

• Thursday- #plankaday 1:05, 1.71 mile run in 14:13 average pace 8:19

My runs were great this week! My hip has gotten so much better and I'm praying it continues to do so. 

This weekend I plan on running 5-6 miles for my long run. Then we have Sawyer's gymnastics banquet on Saturday. And then Mother's Day on Sunday.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! And for the mothers out there....have an amazing day celebrating YOU and all the hard work you do every single day!

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