A fun 4 mile run!!!

The *only* time I've really ran with someone and we purposefully ran together and stayed together for the whole race (with limited walking at water stops and such) was during the KY Derby Half Marathon in 2014.  It was my very first half and I ran it with a friend.  We had never ever ran together before so I had no idea what to expect.  But we stayed together and finished together and it was fun.

So yesterday morning (Saturday) it was kind of sort of misty outside, but it was a cooler temperature and overcast - perfect running weather.   I didn't *want* to run as I had done a brief 2 miles on Friday after lunch and I was just tired.  I thought about taking the day off.  My husband was talking some nonsense about going to the gym.  What?!  He's a new runner and I think he hasn't quite figured out what *good* running weather is.  I said if you run here at home, I'll run with you.  Can we stick together?   My husband runs a pace around 10:00 - 10:15 I would say, but I also think he's still finding his pace as he's only been running consistently since January.   My current pace seems to be around 11:15, maybe 11:00 if I'm having a good run.  Could we meet in the middle?  And if so for how long?  I told my husband that it's good for him to do a run at an easy pace once and a while.

So off we went and I didn't want to run any mile (or much of any distance) faster than 10:30 cause I knew I couldn't hold it long.  We planned 4 miles and so I needed to find a rhythm and stay there.  The first mile was easy.  The second wasn't all that bad either.  I thought "if we can make it to the halfway point and still be together I'll be impressed".   We turned around at mile 2.  I hadn't eaten anything that morning but I had a pack of Gu with me.  I didn't take it and that was a bit of a mistake. I did take it around 2.5 and that was a bit late.  I was starting to struggle and when mile 3 hit I was pondering walking and let my husband run off a head of me.  But I pushed through.  At 3.5 we turned the corner to home and I was groaning.  My husband told me I could do this!  I stayed strong and we finished 4 miles together!

They say the best way to increase your pace is to run with someone faster than you. :)   It sure does help.  I told my husband I'd like to do it again on a regular basis, provided this wasn't a fluke.   Next time I won't run 2 miles the day before.

We got home right as fedex was delivering my Advocare order.  I truly believe that Advocare has really improved our health and our life.  My husband is the smallest he's been since I've known him and probably the smallest he's been in his adult life.   I love the products so much!

Notice our matching headbands?   We got them last weekend when we were in Springfield at Scheel's.  They are Junk brand headbands.  Technically both are unisex.  But mine is stretchy and his ties in the back.  My husband sweats buckets easily so I think he's learned that headbands are amazing for keeping sweat out of your eyes.

So 10:41 pace!  That's pretty good for me for 4 miles.  I was running well last summer before I got sick and I hope to get back to that again.  It was fun to run with someone else the *entire* time.  However, I can't talk and run.  They say you should be able to but there's just no way.  No matter how slow I run, my breathing sucks and I sound like I'm in respiratory distress.   I can never hold a conversation.  Just not possible.  I think it would be fun to run and chat, but right now I'll just take running with someone else.  It made the time fly by!

---

I was in a workweek hustle this week and I kicked some butt!  I'm really not sure how because I have a desk job and it takes effort to reach 10k steps a day.   So I'm really not sure how I slammed this one, but I did. Yet another reason I was tired yesterday and wanted to have a day off.  Maybe today will be that day.  It's hard for me to convince myself to take a rest day.  Especially on a weekend.  It's different if I've been at work all day.

---

 I can't stop taking photos of Doughnut the barn kitty.  She's so pretty but she's not all that nice. She's a typical female that only likes you when she wants to like you.  She purrs so loudly but then will just randomly squeal and bite you.  I guess I should be glad she's not super friendly cause I'd be cuddling her all the time and I wouldn't get anything done at the barn. 

Step, step, step. . . .

This past week has been full of fitbit challenges.  I let my competitive side get the best of me.  First today is day 27 of my streak of making my fitbit goal of 10K steps per day. . . . So far I've made goal 26 days.  I have never *ever* looked at this streak before and I'm not sure why I am now.  But I'm am now.  The bummer is that the last day I didn't reach goal I missed it by 389 steps.  Like I said I never looked at this streak before and I generally have had one day per week that is an "off" day and I don't reach goal.  My streak would have been longer if I had got those 389 steps!  I'm trying for a total of 30 days at goal.  Then I can take a break.

I got invited to workweek hustle challenges last week.  They are hard for me due to my desk job.  But I was off Monday for President's Day.   I jumped in and I was determined to beat the one girl in my first challenge cause she has beat me a few times.  The second challenge was new people to me and they were pretty active.   I actually didn't think I win that one.  But I won both.  Fitbit didn't tell me this was a personal record for my workweek hustle, but it had to be (based on the previous record)

Friday rolled around and I had a massage and I was determined to get my 10K steps.  That was priority number 1.  I knew if I didn't reach that goal I wouldn't win either challenge.  I went for a short run at lunch.  I walked with a coworker at recess and my boss gave us a bit more time at recess to walk his dogs.   I also tried to be more active around the office.  My fitbit Charge has an altimeter and it counts floors.   The town I work in is hilly.  So with a run, recess and a few trips up the stairs in my office I was racking up the floors.  Previously I got a badge at 25 floors.  I didn't know when the next badge would be but I assumed 50.  At the end of the day I went up and down the steps at work about 7 times to reach that goal.  I was right. . . there was a badge. . .

This weekend was super nice (unseasonable) weather.  We broke records on both Friday and Sat I believe. I hated how hot it was Saturday.  I saw 75 as the highest when I was in my car.  I don't know where we topped out, but I believe it was higher in order to break the record.  It was so hot - Eli got so sweaty during his ride.  I had the AC on in my car.  I hated it!  No joke.   I want the bugs to die and this winter has been mild. Back on topic. . . since it was so nice I started a weekend warrior challenge and I was also invited to one.  So 2 challenges to motivate me to step, step, step. . .  which I did.  Winner winner chicken dinner!

I won them all!

Fitbit has a friends leader board in the app.  It's a revolving 7 day step total.  I'm usually near the top of my list.  I'm rarely at the top because that spot is held by my cousin who runs non-stop.  She can run a half marathon at a moments notice.  Drives me nuts!   But I am always envious of her having a total of 100K plus.  I did that once (that I remember) and I did it again this weekend.  Here is a screenshot from last night once I was done stepping for the day.

I'm not going to lie. . . I'm tired.  Can I nap now?  

66 Bananas

On Saturday we made the trek to Trader Joe's.  It's about 45-60 mins depending on traffic.  We hit the store often enough but this weekend I wanted to go for one reason.

I wanted that frozen riced cauliflower.  Yes I'm lazy.  Yes I've made cauliflower rice before but I imagined how much easier this would be.  And how often I'd use it since it was it was less work.  BUST!  My TJ's didn't have it.  I learned a few things though: 

                     1.  It comes from Italy.  Why can't we source this from the US?

                     2.  They were expecting some any day but they only get 2 cases at a time. 

                     3.  They put the shipment out at 8am and it's sold out by noon. 

                     4.  The guy said "you'd think this stuff was gold". 

Nice huh?  I live too far away to ever get some of it given the above information.  Unless it loses it's popularity and people no longer think it's gold. 

What I did discover is that I must be living under a rock because I thought carrots were only orange. 

I had no clue they came in different colors.  I just had to get a bag for Eli!  I'm hearing that the white ones are sweet.  Maybe I should try them.  

Eli approved of all three flavors. Ha!

I noticed the inside of the purple one was white once he bit into it. 

One other thing I bought at TJ's was some bananas.  I know bananas or often priced by the pound, but TJ's (and Target that I know of ) charge per banana.  I bought 6 bananas.  I got home and was uploading my receipts into Receipt Hog (a new app I'm trying out to get money back for submitting receipts)  and I suddenly noticed that I bought 80 items at TJ's.  Huh?  What?  No way. . . 

Yes. . . I did. . . because apparently I bought 66 bananas. . .  

Isn't that fabulous?!  I called the store.  I gave them info from the receipt.  They are suppose to send me a gift card, but I thought that the guy was also going to call me back once he confirmed that I wasn't lying.  He didn't call back.  So now I'm not sure what to do.  Obviously driving an hour to get my money back isn't going to happen any time soon.  Thankfully I find this amusing and I am not going to go broke without the $11.40 (+ tax) that they owe me.  But I would like that gift card. .  

---

Saturday evening the barn where I board Eli hosted a customer appreciation party. It was at the Elk's lodge and was catered like a wedding: fried chicken, pasta, green beans, corn,  mashed potatoes, salad, rolls. . . and cake. 

And yes we ate it.  First time I've ever cheated while doing the Advocare 24 day challenge or the 10 Day Cleanse.  I feel guilty big time.  Thankfully the pieces of cake were small because they almost didn't have enough cake!   My hubby put on 2 lbs the next morning but it was off this morning.  I didn't gain Sunday morning, but I did today. My body always does the delayed reaction gain, especially when the food is consumed later in the evening.  I expected the gain. I'm moving on.  I was back on track on Sunday.  However, the last day of the challenge is Wednesday and I am a bit bummed that my results won't be where I want them. And the weight loss might be skewed thanks to this cheat meal and the fact that it'll be that time of the month tomorrow.  Hello bloat.  But I'm planning on chugging the water and hoping to overcome all of that. 

We played horse trivia at the party.  My table had 5 people.  The three you see above, my husband and one other husband.  The husbands didn't really help in the trivia - they aren't horse people.   We had to name our team.  Our name was "Chestnut Trio".  All three of us have chestnut horses (that's the color for you non-horse people.  Our horses are red heads!).  There were about 5 rounds of trivia and at the end we won with a score of 49 out of 54.  One round was fact about the barn including the barn owner's middle name.  I got it right but one of the other ladies talked me out of it and changed it.  Thankfully we didn't lose by 1 point!   :)   We also got a chocolate candy bar for winning. I was hoping for a month of free board.  A girl can dream right? 

I had my barn owner take a photo of us, cause I was pretty confident in how I looked.  Unfortunately I hate the photo and I think I look like I've gained weight. 

Maybe it's how we are standing. . . I can never figure out how to take a pic with hubby so we look as good together as we do apart.  I think our very similar heights don't help.  Hubby looks skinnier in real life too,but the lighting doesn't define him well here, so maybe that's why. *shrug*  Just give me motivation to keep on going.  Reach for my goals!

---

I was in 2 more fitbit challenges this past week.  The same ones as before: The Workweek Hustle and The Weekend Warrior.  I almost declined them.  These things are wearing me out! I actually didn't even "try" to win the workweek hustle like I did the previous week.  But there were a few different people in this and guess what? 

Somehow I won!  And I even beat my step count from the previous challenge (59,204).  I have no idea how I managed that!  As for the Weekend Warrior. . . I think I won that too.  I'm waiting for everyone to sync this Monday morning.  The funny thing is my cousin was in the Weekend Warrior. She *runs*.  Like at any given time she can run a half marathon.  In the friends leader board on fitbit she is always *always* at the top of my list.  When I saw she was in it I told my husband I didn't stand a chance.  But . . . I ran 5 miles on Sunday morning and was busy the rest of the day. . . it looks like I might win it!  Whoop!

Fitbit Challenges and a weekend update

Do you have a fitbit?  I started with the Fitbit Flex and while I liked it I had issues with charging it.  I also didn't like the lack of a true display and not seeing the actual *number* of steps taken.  So at the very beginning of the year I "upgraded" to the Fitbit Charge.  Not the HR. . . I'm not hip on having a constant HR monitor.  We have enough electronics in our life I don't need that kind of monitor on my wrist.  I also don't pay any attention to calorie burn cause I don't feel that's truly accurate even with a heart rate monitor.   So I used my points from my Amazon card and got the Fitbit Charge for like $9 after my points were deducted.  Score!   But as is true with Fitbit, they have quality issues and I got a dud.  The battery wouldn't even last 24 hours.  So I exchanged it with Amazon and now I have a good one.

I go in spurts wearing my fitbit.  Mostly because I know what it takes to reach 10K steps in my daily life.  I have a desk job.  I go for a 20 min walk at recess every day, but ultimately if I don't do *something* after work, I will never reach my steps.  So once I figured out what it took, the charm of the device wore off and I'd wear it in spurts.  Maybe if I had a big run/race I'd wear it just to see how many steps I took.  But I did that with one of my half marathons in 2014 and what happened???   Well I got the 10K buzz from my fitbit early on in the race and then when I synced it later it gave me way way under 10K steps.  Bogus!  What a rip off.  I have no idea why it barfed.  So . . . again - this is why I go in spurts with Fitbit.

I actually bought a jawbone in Dec on a great sale at Target, but I realized I'm tied to Fitbit because I have so many friends in the app, that if I switched I'd lose those friends.  And what I do find motivating about my fitbit are the challenges.  So last week I was in a workweek hustle challenge. Who takes the most steps M-F??   Did I mention I have a desk job? However I have to say that I rocked this challenge.  I was often leading and honestly I think I would have won, but I had commitments on Friday after work that were *not* active and I couldn't reach my goal on Friday.  I was 5,000+ short.  I didn't even make it halfway.  But I did apparently set a personal record for the workweek hustle.  I didn't even know fitbit tracked this.

I was just shy of winning by about 3500 steps.  Oh so close!  I was bummed cause I really moved and tried like heck to win this.  :)

So the same person that invited me to that challenge, invited me to the weekend warrior challenge.  Challenge accepted!!!   I had a busy weekend.  I ran both days (3 miles) and was generally just moving around. And I won this one!!!  Whoop whoop!

There weren't as many people in this one but I still kind of crushed it.  The daily recommended amount of steps is 10K and you can see I stomped that.   Not all weekends are like this.  And honestly if I wasn't in the challenge I may not have ran both days.  As I said above the challenges and competing with friends in the one thing I love about my fitbit.  There is a revolving 7 day total that you can look at to see where you rank with friends.  I have a cousin that runs her butt off and is almost always over 100K steps in any given 7 days.  I'm never above her.  Sometimes you just don't have a chance :)

---

Yesterday I went to a baby shower.  My brother's girlfriend is pregnant.   I decided to try my hand at making a baby blanket.  This was a bit of a challenge because I couldn't decide on a pattern.  I knew exactly what color scheme I wanted, but choosing the pattern was stressful.  I actually chose this pattern and started with 2 rows of each color.  That looked off.  So I started over and did three rows of each color.  This is the shell stitch.  I learned a lot doing this blanket.  I learned 2 stitches I hadn't used.  I taught myself to make the top row even once I was done.  And I did a border for the first time.  A double border at that!  I think it turned out well. I have no idea how it will hold up.  I cringe at the thought of washing it - will the colors bleed?   Will the yarn hold up and dry well?  Yikes.  And if I can, at every baby shower, I try to give something horse related.  The stuffed horse is super cute, baby safe and I've given it to a few people now.  I adore it! I should buy myself one.

---

Today is Day 15 of the Advocare 24 day Challenge.  My weight is creeping down slower than the last challenge.  Which is kind of disappointing.  But it is going down and I'm feeling much more confident and comfortable in my clothes.  I brought my own food to the baby shower.  It was at 2 pm so I actually had a good lunch that held me over and I didn't eat all the snacks.  The key is really preparation and not allowing yourself to be set up for failure.  That's true with any eating program/ lifestyle change.  

We tried one new recipe this weekend.  Yesterday my hubby made Beef and Butternut Squash soup while I was at the baby shower.  He had it ready and waiting when I got home.  It was actually really really good.  We'd like to add a few more veggies next time.  Maybe some celery and green beans.   But holy cow - I LOVE butternut squash in soup.  I can't wait to make this again. 

Here is the recipe.  The interesting thing I thought is the outside of the beef was pink.  I don't know if it was the broth/squash that made it that color.  I cut my pieces up smaller (we'd do that differently next time too) and the insides were well done and brown.  It was kind of the opposite of how a steak would be where the inside is pink.  I was amused by that.  It's the small things. . . what can I say? 

Have a great week peeps!!!