Old Faithful...

Well, I finally had a chance to exchange my Brooks Adrenaline for my old faithfuls - the Saucony Grid Stabil.

Okay so they're not pretty, but sometimes you just shouldn't mess with what works! Many thanks to the staff at Luke's for getting me fixed right up.

I am happy that I don't have a run tonight, because after my scheduled 25 minutes on the dreadmill, it was time for P90X....Plyometrics!

Fortunately, I had a little break between the two workouts and I was able to do the P90X full-out. So much so that my legs had that wobbly, jello-y feeling after I was done. I love it! But, I don't think my legs would like me very much if I made them run after that.

This morning I did the "Back and Biceps" workout, but I still have to do the "Ab Ripper X" tonight. I meant to mention the craziness that is the "Chest, Shoulders and Triceps" workout. I did this workout for the 2nd time on Monday and let me tell you...it is killer! The worst part for me was the slow push-ups where you go down slowly over a count of 4 and push-up over a count of 4. Killer! Then you do it again toward the end of the workout with 3 fast push-ups, followed by 4 slow ones and repeat over and over. I seriously hope I have some super sexy arms after all this! Oh and then there are the one-arm push-ups - I suck at those, but my goal is to do at least one full one before the 90 days is over (right now I can only go down a little without falling to the floor, lol!)!! I don't know what it is, but I just love the upper body workouts!

Hope you have some happy workouts too!

Absent

Sorry I've been so absent here. I've been enjoying the family time after work. After the kiddos are in bed, I squeeze in an hour of P90X and then the treadmill. Then I get all the suff ready for the next day - lunches, clothes, etc. By the time I'm all done, it's 10 or 10:30 pm and I'm ready for bed!


On Saturday I met up with Woodlands Fit for the long run. A huge shout out to Christy (sp?), Jennifer, Therese, two others whose names I can't remember (that's okay, because they don't have access to this blog anyway, hahaha!) and of course, the awesome Coach Debbie. We had a great 5:1 group going this weekend! It was cooler than last week, but incredibly humid - yuck! I was worried at the beginning because I was huffing and puffing during the 1st mile. I found out why when Christy looked at her watch and said we were at a 10 minute pace.



Ummm, yeah...I've been running at about an 11:30 pace. Last week we ran our 6 miles at an 11:40 pace.



We did slow it down a little and of course we had our walk breaks, but I won't lie, it was pretty tough keeping up. I can't for the life of me find my watch and I forgot my Garmin, so I had no idea how fast or how far we had been going the entire run. I know that I did take 2 extra walk breaks toward the end of the run, but I still managed to keep up with my group. The end result - 5 1/2 miles in 59 minutes - or a 10:43 pace! I'll take it. I guess it showed me that I really need to start pushing myself harder on the weekday runs, because I am capable of going faster.

Afterwards, I had a date with Ann Taylor (among other stores). The hubby's 20 year high school reunion was later that night, so I needed a cute outfit pronto. I think all that walking at the mall helped keep my legs from getting tight, because I had almost no soreness. I wanted this awesome pair of red shoes, but they didn't have them in my size...grrrrr!




It seems that my feet have grown yet another 1/2 size since having the munchkin...something I keep forgetting. Crazy! I don't know what's come over me lately, but I have suddenly become a clothes whore when it comes to work clothes. I used to be okay with getting my few really nice staple pieces - you know, the black suit, the navy suit, the brown suit, etc. And then buying the tops and other stuff super cheap. Let's just say Target and I are great friends when it comes to this. But lately, I have been hearing places like Ann Taylor (and Loft), Black HouseWhite Market, Banana Republic, etc. calling my name! LOL! These are places I loved to shop at before having kids....then I went into super budgeter mom mode (paying for diapers and daycare will do that to a gal!). I think it's because most of my pre-pregnancy clothes don't fit well and I need some new stuff. To top it off, none of the clothes I want are ever on sale! I may need an intervention, but I think I will be okay if I just stay away from the mall. Fortunately, I've been able to show some restraint and not get too crazy. Besides, I'd much rather spend money on stuff for the new house!


Speaking of shoes....I went to Luke's in The Woodlands over a week ago to get some new running shoes. thanks to Woodland's Fit, I had an awesome coupon plus it was tax free weekend! Woohooo! Well, they don't carry my heavy, not-so-pretty motion control shoes, the Saucony Grid Stabil, at that particular store. Not suprising, because they aren't the cutest pair of shoes, so I'm sure not many people just come in asking for them. I asked to try alternatives including the Brooks Ariel (which I used to wear before they changed them a little). They were out of my size in the Ariel, so I tried the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8, a pair of Asics and one other pair. I went with the Adrenaline and I went up a 1/2 size, because my pre-baby size just seemed too small. I opted not to wear the new shoes on the long run and try them out on the ol' dreadmill first (just in case there was an issue with the fit). I'm so glad I did, because they did not fit well at all! The just felt huge! No matter how I adjusted the laces, it just felt like my feet were sliding all around in them. So, they've been sitting in my closet in their box for the past week. If I ever get to have a non-work-related lunch, I will head over to the Houston location and promptly ask for my Brooks Ariel again. That's too bad too, because the Adrenaline come in an awesome shade of pink too:







Trust me when I say that Motion Control shoes almost never come in any color but blue. Don't get me wrong, I like blue, but it does get boring after awhile!

Well, that's it for now...have a GREAT week!

What doesn't kill you....

makes you hotter!

LOL, that's a lyric from Legally Blonde: The Musical. It cracks me up, but it's oh so true...especially in the case of my recent workouts. I don't know about the hotter part, but the workouts have been killer. :-)

I survived last Saturday's 6-miler! Woohoo! It wasn't fast and it wasn't pretty, but I did it!

I actually got in 2 of the weekday runs last week and so far have done 2 of the 3 weekday runs this week. Just one little thing I discovered...don't run before doing the P90X Plyometric workout! My legs were tired and then to have to jump over and over...well, that just doesn't work too well!

As for Saturday, it was hot. No big suprise there. Afterall, it is Houston and it is August. It was also humid. Again, no big suprise. When I arrived at the Woodland's Fit meeting area, I actually went to where the full marathon folks were at and could not figure out where the 1/2 folks were. Then, I saw a large group of people starting their run. Me and another girl took off after them and sure enough, it was our 1/2 marathon peeps. Luckily, I met two others (Tamara and her friend from out of town) who run at pretty much same pace as me and we stuck together the entire distance doing 5/1 intervals. Can I just say Coach Debbie is awesome? She constantly hung with each of the 5/1 groups and encouraged everyone the entire way. And, after the run, Coach Bill assured me that we would be staying in the 6-7 mile range for most of September, so I didn't need to panic about having to run the mileage after not running much the past few weeks.

I think I've figured out why I am having motivational issues with the running:

1) It's hot as hell outside and I hate the heat! Yes, I am a pansy. There, I admitted it.

2) I hate running alone. For the shorter runs, it's no big deal, but for the weekly longer runs - it sucks.

3) Starting over just plain SUCKS! I remember the days of training after I had the kiddo. Being so freaking slow and having to build up the endurance all over again is not fun (not to mention carrying the extra weight). To do that yet again - for the 3rd time - sucks. The good news is that I know it will get better. Eventually.

Anyway, enough of the whining. Tonight it's 25 minutes on the ol' dreadmill followed by 55 minutes of P90X shoulders and legs, plus the Ab Ripper X. I have learned to LOVE the Ab Ripper. Bring it on, baby!!!

Not so bad

I got my arse back on the dreadmill last night...that's the only thing that sucks at our house right now - dreadmill time. The hubby works nights, so he starts getting ready for work around 8 pm, leaves around 9 pm and works from 10 pm - 6 am. I'd much rather run outdoors, but by the time it is getting cooler outside, the hubby is getting ready for work and I have to get the kiddos into bed. I could run earlier, but that cuts into my time with the kiddos and hubby. I can't go out for an early morning run, because the hubby isn't home until it's almost time for me to leave for work.

So....the dreadmill it is!

Better than nothing I suppose.

To be honest, the dreadmill run was not that bad. Did I just love being on the run again? No! But, it felt good to get the heart rate going and to see the calories ticking away on the screen.

I've decided that I will try to get on the bike more (a friend and I are meeting up after work once a week to bike beginning next week), work on my horrible swimming and continue to train for the 1/2.

I also want to continue the remainder of the 90 days in my P90X cycle...I am loving P90X!

So, I will go to the Woodlands Fit run on Saturday. Let's face it, I am a total social runner. I don't mind running so much when I have peeps to talk to. The only problem is that it's a 5-6 mile run and so far, I haven't run farther than 3 miles this season. Oh, and that was almost 2 weeks ago. I don't know if I can hang for the entire distance. I may, or most likely will, be at the back of the pack and walking a lot at the end. P90X does include lots of cardio, but it's completely different than running!

So, that's it for now. I need to get to Luke's for some new shoes asap!

Confession Time...

I have a confession to make. School's been a bitch the past 3 weeks, so I decided I only have time to do one workout or the other. I don't have time to run and do P90X.

Guess what?

P90X won.

Seriously, in the 3 weeks that I have done it consistently I am already feeling stronger! I like results, so I decided to keep going. Screw running. I did miss some of the P90X workouts last week, so I am starting week 4 over again.

I only ran 2x in the past 3 weeks and you know what?

I.didn't.miss.it.

at.all.

I think I am nearing the end of my running career. After 7 years of training for something - a marathon or 1/2 marathon - with a break to have 2 kids, I think I'm done. Ready to try something new, explore other things.

I don't seem to enjoy it anymore. I definitely didn't miss it.

I may take a little time to really do some soul searching about the whole thing, maybe it's just because any running I have done has been solo and not with a fun Fit group. But I think ultimately, I will have to change the title of this blog. :-) Anyone wanna 1/2 marathon entry????

Done.

Well, it's official....I have my MBA!

It's been the roughest week of school projects I've had in a long time. And it was even worse because I (and the rest of my group) had motivational issues due to good ol' senioritis (or the grad school version of it). But, I am pretty confident that we did pretty well with both our final paper and our presentation. And, I am pretty sure I will end my grad school career with 2 A's.

I am so freakin' glad it's over. I was supposed to run 4 miles tomorrow, but honestly, after this week I just want to get some rest. I need a decent night's sleep!

I'll catch everyone up on all the other stuff in the next day or two.

Woohoo!

Our group made a 100 on our Marketing presentation...woohoo! Pretty good considering we actually met once in person the entire semester. One of the peer evaluations actually directed a comment at me - "Christy: great presentation skills!" I am definitely stoked...too bad I still have a final to study for, but no worries it shouldn't be too bad.

Still here...

Yep, I'm alive and kicking.

Still stressing about school. I have a marketing final, plus managemenet group paper and presentation. The management final went pretty well...it was tougher than I expected, but I made a high B which should be good enough for me to keep my A in that class.

But, in exactly 6 days I will be done with school!

Forever.

Well, okay maybe not forever. There's always the thought in the back of my head about getting a PhD and teaching. Or, going ahead and earning my Master's in HR too. But either of those options are a long way away.

Very.far.future.