Look who made it to week 2

This may come as a shocker to most (especially me) but I actually made it to week 2 of the #4MChallenge. 

Week 2 did not disappoint and was very challenging. 

I was super excited to finish week one

And terrified to start week 2 

But I survived and I am truly enjoying the challenge and the accountability from the group. Boy am I sore though...

Thanks to my Runtastic Apps I did TWENTY push-ups in a row this morning. Now that's nuthin' compared to Megan's 107 but for someone that could barely do five just a few weeks ago that's a HUGE accomplishment. And I'm proud :) 

In other news:

I got this message from Holly the other day

eeeeeek

  I totally had a little geek out moment when I saw the message.
Mel and Holly are coming to Memphis for the St. Jude Marathon, and that totally makes my first half experience that much cooler.

Sara and I are planning on running together tonight if schedules allow and we have our first race together coming up in two weeks. Its the "Zoom through the Zoo 4-miler" and I am so excited about it. It's going to be a super fun race.

So how's everybody doing with the #4MChallenge?


Linking up with SkinnyMeg for workout Wednesday. Go check out her blog for some inspiration and workout tips.

Strength Training and Running

Saturday morning my alarm went off at 6:30 and my room was FREEZING. I slipped my hands out of the covers just enough to grab my phone and check the weather. It was 36 degrees! I had laid out my "winter" running clothes the night before but I had never run in temps that low. After checking the weather for the rest of the day I decided to try and go later in the day when it was supposed to be warmer. 

I am so thankful that I did. By 2:00 it was sunny and a lot warmer at almost 60 degrees. 

I set my alerts on my Garmin watch to a 6/2 split and headed out the door. I was extremely sore thanks to Jillian and my extra squats on my Runtastic app so I wasn't sure how good the run would be. 

I checked my watch a mile into the run and realized I had just finished my fasted mile at 11:03

That really gave me a boost and I continued to push through the run. 

At mile 2 my legs felt like jello and I really just wanted to stop but I thought about the fastest mile I had just completed and knew I could possibly get a PR on my 5K. So I dug deep for the extra motivation and pushed through.

Once I pushed through those thoughts of quitting the rest of the run was a breeze. Mind over matter people. Mind over matter. 

I couldn't remember the exact time of my PR 5k but when I finished and looked at my watch I knew I was close

Turns out my PR is 35:17 so I was just 50 seconds away. I'm pretty pumped about that considering my current PR of 35:17 was with me running the 5K without stopping and my time Saturday of 36:07 was doing a 6/2 split. 

So I would have to say that all the strength training is paying off. 

Today I did day 4 of Ripped in 30 for the #4MChallenge

Anybody else having Jillian dreams/nightmares? No? 

I am so ready for week 2 and something new. 

I finished up my workout with my runtastic apps

88 Sit-Ups

76 Squats  

54 Push-Ups

How's everybody doing on the #4MChallenge? 

{Insert Clever Title Here}

So sometimes I do this weird thing when I'm really tired and I'm curious to find out if I'm alone in this weirdness. 

I vividly remember this happening often when my kids were babies waking up all hours of the night to eat. 

See, apparently when I'm really tired and know I need to get up I just dream that I'm doing the thing(s) I need to be doing. 

Like for example when Becca was a baby and I'd hear her start to wake up I would dream that I got up, fixed her a bottle, and fed her. As you can imagine this was very confusing when she started crying louder and really woke me up and I thought I had just gotten done feeding her. It would always take me a moment to sort out if I had actually fed her or if it was a dream. 

I say all that to say that I had a wonderful "dream workout" this morning from about 5:00-5:45. What a disappointment it was when I woke up at 5:45 and realized I still needed to get up and work out. Disappointment or not I did get up and did day 2 of the 30 Day Shred. 

Oh Jillian

I unfortunately didn't get all of my  morning routine accomplished because 

1. obviously I overslept and 

2. Josh's work truck wouldn't start this morning and with his coming in and out of the house he woke up Eli earlier than normal. 

So a few of my morning activities have been pushed back to Eli's nap time, which will be happening earlier today thanks to his early rising. 

In other news; I am officially signed up for the St. Jude Half Marathon! 

and it's just 219 days away!!!

I signed up to be a "Hero" which means I've committed to raising $500. So be looking for the information on how to donate soon. 

I am running for "Team Ingram". My good friend Allie ran for the team last year (and will be running for them again this year) and had nothing but praise for this family. I couldn't not sign up to run with this family/team after all the great things she said about them. 

More info on that soon. 

Sara and I ran together last night and she totally rocked the 3/2 split with minimal complaining :)  

I also pushed her the furthest distance since starting our training together. We've been running about 2.5 miles doing a 3/3 split. I knew she was ready for more and she totally busted it out, and much to her disbelief she lived to tell about it. 

We have a 4 mile race coming up in 3 weeks so we've really got to step up our game. 

Y'all! I. Am. Sore. 

I see a HOT bath in my future. :)

I'm Back and with Challenges!

So I know its been FOR-EVA since I last posted. Sorry about that for those that care. I haven't been sitting on my rump though. I have been running!! My goal is to run 10 races in 2013 the last being the St. Jude Half Marathon. Eeeek! I've already registered for 5 of the races and have 5 others picked out I just haven't made the commitment to them yet. 

I have an awesome running partner. We try to meet 3x a weeks but it doesn't always happen. She is going to run the 1/2 with me so we are training together and I LOVE it. Running it so much more enjoyable with a partner. 

This is one of my most recent runs. My pace has slowed considerably because of my "break" during the winter. So I basically started from scratch (boo). 

When I'm not running with Sara I try to do 6/2 splits running at about a 11:00 to 12:00 minute mile. 

Sara is a newbie but it doing AMAZING! We started a few weeks ago doing a 2/3 split and are currently doing a 3/3 split and are running anywhere from a 11:30 to a 13:00 minute mile. She doesn't know it yet but our run tonight we are going to a 3/2 split. :) 

I am joining some blogging friends and am doing the #4MChallenge 

I already had a few Jillian DVD's on hand and decided to go with the 30 Day Shred. I have serious Love/Hate relationship with ole Jill. I usually "mute" her just so I can make it through the workout. :) 

How my morning started

*side note* Are you following me on Instagram?  You should (ebob86)

I also recently found these apps by "Runtastic* 

PushUps Pro

SitUps Pro

and Squats Pro

Yes I had to pay for them but for me that helps hold me accountable. The Squats Pro is pretty "easy" because I could probably knock out 100 squats in my sleep. But having the goals and training schedule is great for my "type A" personality and knowing that I have a schedule to follow means I'll actually do it. My goal for the PushUps Pro is to get through the training with the modified push-ups (on my knees) and then when I finish go back through it again doing  "real" Push-Ups.

You should check out the apps! They have free ones too.

I also just started an accountability group for morning quiet times called "Hello Mornings". My morning quiet times have been nonexistent recently. I don't really have a good excuse just laziness really. I love having accountability wether it be in exercise or my time with God. If you have an area in your life that you feel you are failing try getting someone with the sames goals to help hold you accountable. It will make a huge difference. 

An email sent by "hello mornings" this morning really convicted me.....

"Rising early to meet with the Lord — not because I am rested, but because He is worthy — is an expression of trust that He will supply what I need to get through my day." 

Such powerful words. Am I trusting God to supply what I need to get through the day? 

I did today :) Now to make it my habit again.

So will you join me in any of these challenges? How about just one? Let me know if you are! I'd love to be an accountability for you :)

Check out the hashtag on instagram #4MChallenge for motivation with the Jillian workouts. Or #operationredbikini 

You can go to Hellomornings dot org for more information about the accountability for your morning quiet times. 

I'm also linking up with Megan over at SkinnyMeg for Workout Wednesday 

So go check that out for motivation and ideas for workouts!

Have a great Wednesday!