Bachelorette Weekend

Friends rule.  A lot. 

                                   A group of friends in Vegas for this girl's Bach Party???

..even better!

Highlights included the Peep Show with Holly Madison, a rooftop night at Pure and a fancy dinner for Mic that I may or may not have slept through.. oops.

And now, a sharing of photos. 

Micole - we were all lucky to be there with you sharing the weekend and I for one, can't wait for June 18th!



Workout Schedule

It's only Weds but I've been enjoying my workouts so much this week, I thought I'd share.

Some weeks it's difficult for me to workout everyday while trying to train for a run.  I find that if I push my leg muscles to failure one day, it's almost impossible to complete a long run the next.  I love my strength and circuit classes so much though, that I definitely don't want to give them up right now. 
I think I may have found the answer - introducing yoga back into my life.
Hot Vinyassa provides a good strength workout while allowing me to sweat and stretch myself out. 

Pre-Vegas Workout Schedule

Sun-   7 mile flat run
Mon-  Hot Vinyassa
Tues-  5 mile run
Weds-Run or rest - dependant on weather
Thurs- Organized Chaos w/ Ugi Balls & short run
Fri -    Dancing it out in Vegas
Sat -   Walk the strip w/ a beer in hand.  (nothing better than burning beer cals while drinking it!)
Sun -   More of the same
Mon -  RELAX

Anyone else have a workout they're loving??

Friday Failure

I am a Thursday/Friday Blogging Fail.  I'm sorry.
I'd like to say that it was because I was busy running 6 miles to prepare for my 1/2 marathon, or completing two difficult workout classes in a row, but it wasn't.  It was Netflix. 
Once my husband informed me that Weeds had arrived, it was game over. 

I still have the same pink glitter polish on.

It is pretty obnoxious by this point.

I will not be wearing it to Vegas.

I have given up on my nail-polish-vote dream and decided to jump on the Shellac bus. 

I am sorry for any dissapointment I may have caused...

... to Jackie :)


I WILL however be back with favorites..
it may just be on Saturday :)

Two-a-Days, Smoothie Dinners & a Nail Polish Vote

First of all, lets just take a moment to thank the sun for coming out today.  Such a nice surprise!  And after working through a headache at a stressful day of work, it was just the motivation I needed for a Two-a Day One-and-a-half-Day.  Now that I'm completely addicted to my classes and running, I rarely use the eliptical at the gym anymore.  Today though, it was the perfect excuse to snatch up a gossip mag and hit the gym a bit early.  It's been a long time since my workout has started with a magazine, but any evening that starts with comparing the "now" vs "then" backside  of Kim K. is a good one in my book. 

After a half hour of cardio, I joined Cass and Jiff in Bodypump. 

Warning:  tangant

I have to admit that after my frist Bodypump class back in January(?), I was not impressed.  After the circuit training classes I had been attending (at the time) twice a week with Christine, I left feeling like I needed more.  I am a little obsessed with sweating and because my face was, for the most part dry, it just wasn't good enough.  After a few months though, I'm starting to change my tune a bit. 
1. My body has definitely changed.. not in the smaller, Tracy Anderson way, but my butt has definitely lifted and my arms now show more definition that I've ever had. 

2.  I find that by adding more weight, I can break a little more of a sweat.  It's still not comparable to the other classes, but it's a great way to measure advancement and I love that!

Ok, done.

After Bodypump Dinner

Protein Smoothie with Spinach..

Seriously, it was so so good.  The husband can't get over how it looks, but after one bite, you'll forget.
BP Smoothie:
Almond Milk
2 LARGE handfuls of spinach
Protein powder
Powdered vitamins
1 Cup frozen bluberries
1 tablespoon rolled oats (bulk it up baby!)
Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon unsweetened cocao powder

on top - coconut butter + cha cha chia seeds

convinced?  no?  come over and I will make you one.


And now..........


Nails!!!

I am going to Vegas next week and before packing can begin, my manicure needs to be chosen.  Obviously, right?
So each night this week I am going to be testing different colors out and YOU should help me decide which to pick!  So *fun right?   

Here is our first option:

 pink sparkles!

Pros: Any glitter polish stays on well; maybe forever
Cons: It's not exactly a neutral color; therefore may not match many outfits.

Thanks Friends!

*in this case "fun" may = "dorky"

I Beat the Bridge

And better yet, I did it with my best friends! 

It was a very rainy day in Seattle, but we all stuck it out together. 

our other special guest!  So proud of my dad for starting his running journey later in life!  We have a lot of fun and a lot of good convos when we run together.

The worst part of the weather was actually before the race, when we were standing around waiting for it to start.  So cold and so wet!  I don't think I have ever looked forward to the running part of a race so much though - no anxiety, no nervousness; just a "let's get this effer started" attitude! :) Whatever works, right??

  The other best part of running races with friends????

Brunch, obviously!

After changing into warmer clothes our wonderful group met up again; this time at Hector's for food and Bloody Marys.  I pretty much plan out what I'm going to eat/drink after each long run days in advance... and we had been planning on a home brunch with grapefruit mimosas, but while driving back home, wet and shivering, burgers and Bloody Marys sounded way better!  So a change of plans it was. 

Yum!  This place is SO good for brunch.  They have a pretty extensive list of options for any mood you may be in. 


After brunch I had some much needed QT with Jif and Janae.  While sipping on champagne, we designed Janae's wedding announcements/reception invites and caught up.  Such a nice afternoon!  Days like this make me feel so lucky to have these amazing people in my life.  Cheesy much? :)

And now, another Monday...

The Secret Worked

orrrrr maybe it was the text that Jillian sent while I was laying in bed:

"are we running"

...  

"do you want to"?

...

"if you do"

...

"sure"

I don't know if either of us were necessarily excited to get up at 5:30am, but we did it.  I'm telling you -  that is the beauty of having a workout buddy.  The need for 100% motivation is no more.  50% is good enough; wo-bud will bring the other half.

It was also raining out, nbd.

so hot right now



Pro   - run is done.

Cons - legs felt very tired.  

         - all I wanted to do after the run is crawl back in bed.  No energy burst. 

 After a very tired day with pretty intense hunger, I'm not quite sold yet on early morning workouts, but I will give them a few more tries before my final ruling.  Stay tuned.

Running = Love + Hate

Training for a 1/2 marathon is, in some ways, very strange.  This may be considered "oversharing" but oh well.  I've never been one to shy away from details.
 
You see some days when I have a specific run planned, I think about it all day. Not for the whole day; but sporadically throughout.  Here is how it usually plays out:

5:30am:  Alarm.  I set it at this time almost daily in case i miraculously wake up one morning wanting to go on a short run.  It hasn't happened yet.. but I'm pretty sure The Secret says I just need to keep thinking about it....
5:31am: Snooze; sleep is far more important for health than an early morning run. Obvi.
6:00am: Alarm goes off again; snooze.
6:10am: Alarm goes off again; actually get up.
6:15am: Shower; where my first thought of run shows up.  Excited. I'm going to rock this run tonight.
7:00am: en route to work; man I can't wait until this day is over so I can go run.  It's going to be nice out and I definitely know what I should wear.
11:00am:  Hungry already; talk myself into waiting until noon for lunch.
11:45am: Pretty much close enough - go eat.
12:00noon: I hate it when I finish lunch before 12.
12:15pm:  I'm pretty sure I just ate the perfect lunch to fuel me for my run.  Pretty excited.
1:00pm:  why do the afternoons go by so much more slowly than the mornings???
2:00pm:  I'm pretty tired.  This is kinda a long run for me.  Should I get a pedicure instead??
3:00pm:  Email Jillian; we decide that we need pedi's after our run.
3:01pm:  Pedicure after run is perfect motivation. Excited to rock it.
3:30pm:  I don't know; I'm pretty tired.  Maybe Jiffy will just want to get a pedi instead.
4:00pm:  Jif has not emailed to ask if we can forgo run for pedi.
4:30pm:  Time to go!  New energy.  I'm going to rock this run.
5:30pm:  At home; mapping our run to ensure the perfect training/new scenery option.
6:00pm:  Jillian is home; time to run.  Sheesh. I kinda just wish we were getting a pedi instead.
7:15pm:  Finished the most magnificent hill run yet.  Gym to Juanita = long slow hills most of the way.  It hurt so good and not only did we get our training run in, we ran a great fat blaster and am feeling svelte and bikini ready.  Love running.  Running changed my life.
7:30:  Pedicures are amaaaazing!!

There it is.  That is the real, uninhibited truth.  I am crazy I know.  I take solice in the hope that most runners are a little bit obsessive.  If I am wrong, please don't burst my bubble. 

Weddings & Engagements

As many of you know, I've been getting extremely interested in photography.  With our new Cannon making it more than easy to shoot a clear picture, I'm now starting to focus more on composition and creativity. 
I have a TON to learn, but I thought I'd share some photos of our engaged friends after I convinced both couples to let me try a mini engagement shoot.