Swings & Personal Bests!

Happy Thursday all! Thanks for all the supportive comments yesterday. They really help push me to be stronger! :) And I had a wonderful day yesterday so that really helped!

My mom had the day off of work so she called me up tuesday night and asked if I wanted to have a picnic in the park with her, Dyson, and Layla. I of course have no objection to this. So we grabbed some panera before heading off to the park. It got up to 75 yesterday! So beautiful. So here are a few pics of our park afternoon. And this first one was my trying to be creative before we left. Key word trying!

yay or nay?

Layla and Dyson together were too cute

Can you find the swan?

swings are always a given, or as Layla calls them-wee wee!

who doesn't love swings?

time to drive!

she was trying to give Dyson kisses

she wanted to give the pole a hug

and one last one before we left!

I wanted to go back to the park after work and try to run over 4 miles. I wanted to see if I could do it and if I would be able to, then I would run the 10k next month. If I couldn't then I was just going to x-nay the 10k. I was super exhausted from being up half the night and I was fighting to talk myself out of it. So I naturally did what anyone would do. Started doing yoga. I know, what is happening to me right? I actually am remembering this stuff! I did about 15 minutes and it actually felt good and my legs felt a little less sore from spin the previous 2 days. And it gave me some energy, so I set off to the park after work. It helped it was so beautiful out.

I got the park and it was crazy crowded which I expected. But I think having a place to go that has trails and it's 4 miles around, helps make me want to run outside. I actually liked it. Which I NEVER thought I would say I like running outside more than the mill! But now I hate the mill! Plus I am not constantly looking behind me for cars. There are no sidewalks in our neighborhood so I have to run in the street which freaks me out. But I almost got ran over a few times from bikes!

So I set off and I was doing good, had to slow my roll to get a good pace. I got to 1.64 miles and whabam my watch dies. I was so infuriated and was about to just call it quits, but I had to turn around to get back to my car and knew it was 1.64 miles to get back. Then a light bulb went off. I tried to calculate it to run back 1.36 do get the whole 3 miles. Then I would do the route a second time and try to turn around at 1.5 miles so then coming back would equal 3. Then I would have 6 miles. I have never run more then 4, so I knew if I made it back to 3 and turned around and had to force myself to be far away, I would have to finish the 6 miles even if I walked back. 

I looked at my watch time and then used the stopwatch on my ipod and added the time from my watch the end. I had no idea what pace I was going, but just tried to run what felt good to me. I was using the run walk run method and would run 3, walk 1, run 3, etc. Those little one min breaks helped get my breathing back down and give me a break to recoup and push myself forward. Funny enough the time it took for me to add up the mileage and figure that all out distracted me quite a bit. I forgot to stop running for my 1 min break. So thinking about math while running is a good distraction apparently! I got to 4.5 miles and knew this was it. Can I finish this without quitting and being forced to walk? I could feel a blister forming and was trying hard to ignore it. My legs were also starting to hurt. I got to mile 5 and about puked since I had never gone so far or ran that long. I got to 5.5 and knew I was almost there and after a walk break, I decided to push for the home stretch. When I saw my car I almost teared up because I was so proud of myself.

So my distance may not be exactly accurate but in the end I DID IT! I finished those 6 miles with a smile on my face. I needed that victory so badly! I was on top of the world until I stopped running and the pain set in and I wanted to die. My body hurt so bad. I timed in at 1:09:50. I will take it! Even though I know it probably isn't accurate either for 6 miles. Oh well. I was just ecstatic I got a personal best for distance!

I can not believe how much spinning has helped my breathing, my cardio, and my endurance. A month ago I would have never been able to run that before I started spin class. My pace was better for 6 miles than it was when I ran 4 miles a month ago! I couldn't believe it! So this just shows everyone, if you really put your mind to it, you really can excel and improve in things you aren't good at. I am not a runner, still not one. But I know if I really push myself and try, I can succeed! But I am good with 6 miles for now!

This was the casualty of running 6 miles though-

poor foot! :(

Good thing it's a rest day and I can wear flip flops! Have a good day all!

Your turn

-what was your favorite thing at the park growing up?

-ever beat a goal in the fitness world you never thought you would? how did you feel?

Only in Yoga

If you take Yoga, then you may enjoy this post. If you don't then you may not understand this post! Here are a few things said, heard, & thought during a Yoga class from beginning to end. I feel like you are ALL over the place in a yoga class with your thoughts!

pinterest

-"Let your troubles melt into the floor"-if only it were that easy lady! Come on now.
-"Don't think about your bad day or hitting every red light on the way here"-uhm now I am thinking about it, thanks, this is relaxing
-"Focus on your breathing"-if I focus too much I will hold my breath to try and focus.
-" Just relax" (when you are upside down with your head between your legs)-rightttt, easier if I couldn't touch my nose to my ankle!
-Did she say downward dog again? Downward dog seems to be on repeat in her vocabulary.
-Why did I eat that apple? Please don't pass gas, pleaseee don't, OH I hope no one heard that!
-That lady must have had more then an apple. Don't laugh Don't laugh.
-Is that a man in here? An OLD man? Say what?! But really, why is his shirt off? And why does he think spandex shorts is a good idea?
-Why are there so many mirrors!? How's a girl supposed to fix a wedgie in here? Maybe when they close their eyes or look left, I will use my right hand to fix it! Genius!
-"Reach to the ceiling with those fingertips!" ok Lady I get it, point up, I can't touch the ceiling so stop telling me to.
-"Warrior pose"-If this is how a warrior came at me, I wouldn't be scared, just sayin, I might laugh actually.
-Advance people show offs.. just wait, one day I will be able to fold like a pretzel and touch my toes to the back of my head.. ya who am I kidding. Teacher's pets. Can't they have their own class?
-(While doing pose) "This pose is one of the most dangerous poses in Yoga-DON'T LOOK LEFT OR RIGHT?! If you do this wrong you can burst all the blood vessels in your head!" JEEZE LADY! I thought this was supposed to be relaxing! If I don't have a heart attack first, I may kill myself doing this whacko pose. I am going to die in yoga, that's it. I will be on 10 o clock news. How do I get out of this pose now?
-What the heck! Seriously. How is that 72 year old lady doing that pose better than me! That's not right!
-"Find your center." What the frig is she talking about? I have yet to find my chi let alone my center, she needs to explain these things.
-Who thought of these names for these poses? Seriously dead bug, I look like an idiot rolling all over ground holding my legs up. I look like I am drying to deliver a baby upside down.
-"Sink into the ground deeper." Uhm newsflash, I can't go anywhere further then the floor and this mat, how can I sink deeper?
-If I hear downward dog ONE more time, I swear.
-Is this torture over yet?
-Oh, I get to lay down during a workout and relax? YES!
-2 minutes later right as you are about to pass out-"Time to go." WAIT NOOOO! That was my favorite part!
-Man that was so hard! Why did I sign myself up for this? That should be how they torture prisoners. I am never going back!

Next Day
-"Welcome to Yoga everyone." -Drat, I knew I would be back. Let the torture begin!

Namaste.

Cauliflower Recipes

I found this recipe for Cauliflower Crust Pizza and it is DELISH! So I thought I would share! The original link is here: original link. I changed the toppings and used pesto, fresh diced tomato, and reduced fat cheese. It is so yummy!

I also have a good recipe for baked veggies including cauliflower! You can use squash, zucchini, asparagus, mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, or red potatoes. With mushrooms, you only want to put them in towards the end of the time because they will cook super fast! When veggies are soft, they are done! I am just going to do ingredients for asparagus and cauliflower.

Recipe

Ingredients:
Asparagus
Cauliflower
Lemon Juice
Fresh garlic minced (your choice of how much)
1/2 tsp Salt
1.2 tsp Pepper
2 tablespoons Olive Oil

Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 400. Chop veggies into small pieces. The smaller they are, the faster they will cook. Larger they are the longer it will take. Try to keep them all chopped to the same size so they will cook evenly. On your baking pan, Drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil on the pan and spread it around. If you don't have a cooking brush, use bottom spoon. Add your veggies onto your pan. Sprinkle your fresh garlic, salt, pepper, and if you desire any other spices on top of veggies. Sprinkle lemon juice over veggies. A little goes a long way. Sprinkle another tablespoon or less of olive oil over veggies until they have a thin coat.

Bake for 20-25 minutes for smaller cut veggies. Bake 25-35 minutes for larger cut veggies.

If you want a little added bonus, sprinkle some reduced fat cheese on top after they get out of the oven. Enjoy!

Tonight is my vday, so we shall see what he has planned! We both agreed to not do anything extravagant, or spend too much $ since we are saving for our honeymoon and taxes coming up.. yikes! So I am not expecting anything grand, but still curious to see what he does! Let you know soon!

I've decided since my knee is getting better to try some classes. I did Bodyflow, which is a mixture of pilates, yoga, and Tai Chi. I really enjoyed it. I forgot how tough classes were! Then I decided to go right into a Spin class after I was done with Bodyflow. (Don't know what I was thinking!) I wanted to die from minute 5 to minute 60. But I stuck through it and it was nice to finish and felt proud of myself. I also am picking up yoga as well. Did that last night and that was tougher then I remembered. But the more I do it, the easier it will become. I plan to try some other classes out as well. It is nice to feel stretchier (is that a word? It is to me!) and I am not as sore as I used to be because of it. One thing I did learn, do not run before going into Yoga. I was a hot mess when I got in and just kept sweating. So my hands and feet were slippery and I kept sliding off the mat. This is no good! I had to keep wiping them off on my towel. Learned my lesson!

Enjoy your Thursday evening everyone! I leave you with this:

via pinterest

Do you take any classes at your gym? If so, what?

Do you enjoy Yoga, or Spin classes?

What do you do to celebrate vday?