California!

I am very lucky to have family in some pretty awesome places.  My mom lives in Southern California and so does that entire side of my family. The BF and I were able to visit last August but decided that Memorial Weekend would be the perfect time to make it back out there.  We packed so much into the 5 days we were though but it was so worth it!

We were lucky enough to be gifted a one night stay in the beautiful Hyatt Regency in Long Beach by a coworker.  They had won the stay and knew they would never use it so they gave it to us for free!  We flew in on Wednesday and had time for some beachside margaritas before we passed out in our glorious bed.  We decided to splurge on room service breakfast since neither of us had every ordered before and it was so much fun to eat breakfast in bed.  The hotel overlooked the ocean and the Queen Mary which made for a great morning view.  Since we had nothing to do for the day we decided to grab some poolside mimosas and then hit the beach AKA my favorite place in the whole wide world.  It really was the perfect start to the vacation!

 

 

My mom came and grabbed us from the hotel and we ate the best sushi I have ever had at Maru Maki in Long Beach.  I will truly dream of that sushi until I can get back.

The next day we decided to do something touristy and figured there was no better location then the Hollywood Hills.  I have spent so much time in Southern California and yet have never once hiked the hill or even seen the sign up close.  We looked online and found that there were a ton of different paths to take you up and around the back of the sign.  It was a perfect day for a hike and it felt good to get up and do something athletic and so cool.  We got a ton of pics and it was awesome to see the sign from the back.

 

The one big family day we had planned was Sea World which is somewhere I haven't been to since I was very little.  Every time I go to Cali I plan a trip to Disney but since we were just there in Feb I decided to give the BF a break and do something different.  Sea world was so much better then I remembered it and it was awesome to see all of the different shows and exhibits.  Sadly we didn't get any family pics even though I told everyone I wanted to but the BF and I did get a pretty awesome pic with Shamu peaking his head up in the background.

 

 

 

Our final event of the weekend that was planned out was a trip to visit Stone Brewery.  The BF loves their beer and we had heard that their facility looks more like tropical gardens then a brewery.  It did not dissapoint!  The whole place was absolutely gorgeous and we were able to grab an amazing meal and a few drinks in their outdoor dining area which rivaled most commercial gardens I have seen.

 

Overall it was an amazing trip and it was so great to see my Mom and family since I don't get to see them often!





Wine Stroll 2013

There was 1 event this summer that I knew that I could not miss.... WINE STROLL!  The last 2 summer my friends have attended and each time I have had to miss out due to some event that I could not get out of.  This year however it was on!

So what is wine stroll?  Well it is a bar crawl with 21 bars each handing out a sample or two of wine and a small bite to eat.  You only have 5 hours to visit as many bars as you can and my group had one simple goal to make it to every bar.  We started strong and ended victoriously hitting every bar in only 4.5 hours.  We had perfect weather, a perfect group, and a perfect buzz by the end and I couldn't have asked for a better Saturday.

Grand Rapids Riverbank Run 10K 2013

Whew it has been awhile!  Let's play catch up!

A few weeks ago I completed my first big race since my half the Grand Rapids Riverbank Run 10K.  I was super nervous for this race because I didn't really train but since I was running it with girlfriends I knew it would at least be a good time.  All of the girls I ran with I have been friends with since high school and it was crazy to see us all together again doing something that we never thought we would.   It was the first 10K for all of the girls and it was great to get pumped up with them before the race. There is nothing like running your first race and it was great to feel that energy from them!

 

 

I had run the full 6.2 the week prior in 1:12 so my goal was to hit the 1:10 mark. I was shocked when I crossed and realized that I had done it in under 1:05. My official time was 1:03 and I couldn't have been happier. This is the first race that I really felt that I blew out of the water and it was great to finally feel really good about what I had done!

 

 



After the race started the obvious after partying which included a few too many glasses of boxed wine and too many rounds of black Betty and Roxanne. It was an amazing weekend and I remembered why these girls are so close to my heart even though we live so far away.

 



There goes my calorie count!

I have been really really good about my calorie counter the last week! The only day I didn't use it was Saturday because to try to count every chip, queso, and taco trip would have drove me nuts. And most days I can stick between 1250-1350 calories depending on how hard I worked out and whether or not I went out to lunch or dinner, and I can for sure see my body changing. Somehow I have found newfound dedication in the last few weeks and I am really happy with the results. However, working that hard means that every once in a while I deserve a treat!

Last night I had an exam in my master’s class and my teacher was nice enough to let us skip the lecture so we could enjoy the amazing weather. The bf and I decided that there was no better way than to head to one of the best ice cream places in the area Ray's. Now I usually try to stick to FroYo or a fruit Popsicle but sometimes there is no replacement for homemade ice cream. I asked for the "smallest size possible" and I still wound up with a huge cup. Thankfully the BF was kind enough to eat half of it for me and it was worth every calorie!!!

Working out this hard and watching what I eat isn't worth not being able to splurge on a treat every once in a while. For my workout I did a 2 mile run and a 1 mile walk with a friend at lunch and then TIU abs routine.

The 10K race is only 3 days away so tonight I hope to get in 2-3 miles and then a toning session. Tomorrow I will do the same and then Friday just rest and hopefully take a long walk!

Weekend update!

Seriously could not have asked for a better weekend!  The weather, company, and activities were all perfect! 

Friday night the BF and I cracked down and got our entire apartment organized and cleaned.  It feels so nice to finally have everything in a place.  Even though I was really nervous at the beginning I am now loving every minute of being in "our" place.  All of the cleaning and such made us super boring and we ended up in bed by 11.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to get ready for a 5K.  It started at the park across from our apartment so even though we didn't hear about it until Friday we still had no excuse to skip it.  The race supported the Mind Over Matter (MOM) Foundation which raises money for suicide and mental health awareness.  Sadly both of these issues hit very close to home for the BF and I so we were really excited to be able to participate on such short notice.  Ended up finishing just under 34 minutes which was right where I should be with my current pacing.

After the race I went to get my hair done by my hair god Danny!  Seriously he just does amazing things and I have never felt prettier then when I walk out of the salon.  We then had all of our friends over for a "Quatro De Mayo"/housewarming party.  It was a perfect day for bags, beer pong, flippy cup, and eating too much Mexican food!  Everyone stayed until way after dark and it couldn't have been a better day.

 

Sunday the BF woke up early to head golfing which left a whole day for me to do whatever I wanted.  Even though living together is going amazing it was awesome to wake up and have no agenda but my own.  I had brunch with some friends, and then stayed productive the whole rest of the day with cleaning and homework.  I have a 10K next weekend and I have been totally unable to do any type of structured training.  I haven't ran over 4 miles since the Disney race so I knew I needed to get in a long run.  I headed out about 7:30 and was able to get in the full 6.2 miles!!  I did it in 72 minutes which is under my goal time of 75 so I should be perfectly set for this weekend!!!

 

I am not horribly sore today but I know my body needs a little break.  I hope to get in 30 minutes on the eliptical and then a full body toning workout from TIU!

Smile... It's Friday!

Wahoooo!  So happy to finally be at the weekend, this week has been packed and it will be nice to relax a little.  Tonight we are keeping it low key and getting our apartment for a party we are throwing.   Saturday morning we are running a 5K to benefit suicide prevention and then throwing an awesome Cinco De Mayo bash for our friends.  Sunday will be recovery day and then a long run since I have a 10K next weekend that I have been less than stellar at training for.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Birthday and a Runch

First of all I need to mention that today is my amazing baby sisters birthday!!  So crazy that she is 23 years old today.  We weren't always super close but now she has truly become my best friend and the person in this world that I could never survive without!   I am so proud of who she has become, she will be starting her big girl job in just over a month and having so many new and crazy adventures in Nashville!  It will be crazy once we both move since we will go from 2 hours apart to a 2 hour plane ride but I know we will be able to stay just as close!

Yesterday my whole body was super sore from my full body TIU workout but I knew that I needed to get a run!  Thankfully it was a perfect day and I couldn't wait to get out on my lunch our for a "runch". I work on a very large complex so I was able to change at my desk and get in about 3.5 miles total.  I only ran 2.5 and then did a 1 mile cool down a) because I was super sweaty and didn't want to be totally gross when I went back to work and b) because I didn't want to go back to work yet lol!  It was crazy because I remembered fully why I actually started to like running in the first place.  Last summer I started training for my first half marathon and as much as it sucked I really did love getting out and enjoying the beautiful (and not so beautiful) summer days.

 

 

After that my body and especially my legs were done!  As soon as I got home I threw on my new compression socks, which I'm not really sure about but figured it couldn't hurt and cleaned.  The BF went to a tigers game but as soon as he got home I made him take a long walk with me so that I could try to stretch out a little more.  Tonight I am hoping to get in some time with the foam roller and do some upper body work since that is the only part of me that isn't super sore today HA!

 



 I look like a hot mess and he looks like a goon ^ ... yup basically this is everyday lol

Water, water everywhere!

So apparently I have a little problem..... I drink too much water!  Never thought I would say that since up until about a year ago it was like pulling teeth to get me to drink any water that wasn't from a brita, or a smart water bottle and even then it had to be flavored.  Since I started running I made it a point to try to drink more water.  I bought these awesome contigo bottles and invested in mass amounts of Miu flavoring that I store in my desk.  At first it was really hard to drink 2 bottles a day which is only 48 ounces but apparently it has gotten much easier.

 Last week a coworker asked me how many bottles I drank a day since I was constantly filling it.  I couldn't tell them since at this point I drink it and fill it without even thinking.  This week I started to track and realized I am up to 5-6 bottles during the work day.  That is 120-124 ounces of water during the work day, plus at least 8 ounces of almond milk that I have in the mornings, and any water I drink at night!!!  No wonder why I have to pee every hour lol I did a lot of searching and most sites recommend that you drink half your weight in ounces which means I should only be drinking about 60 ounces a day... oops!  Apparently it isn't horrible for me but I just need to make sure I keep up my sodium levels, I bought a bunch of NUUN the other day so now I plan on adding in at least 2 tablets a day to try to keep up my electrolytes and sodium. 

In other news I signed up for the Tone it Up bikini series this week!  I have been hearing a lot about Tone it Up from the blogging world but didn't want to spend $150 on the nutrition plan they offer.  I didn't realize that you can sign up for their fitness plan for free and they send you weekly workouts and offer a ton of videos and print offs.  Here is there blog for information!

Yesterday I did the cocktail dress workout and sunkissed abs workout an oh my!!  I can not believe how sore I am today.  I struggled through my last set and I can say that I am for sure hooked.  The workouts use very little equipment and take less then 30 minutes.  These will be my new go to lifting routines during the week.  I planned on doing the Sunseeker workout which they released yesterday but I think today will just be a running day if my legs can handle it!