Accept it and move on

In an effort to hold myself accountable, here is lunch from yesterday and will be a repeat today. I bought a chopped salad bag from HEB and then added leftover grilled chicken to it. It was delish! 

I have also been really diligent about trying to take in more and more water, hence the liter bottle!

Now dinner was chicken ticklers with steamed veggies and ranch style potatoes. Topped it off with one of our homebrews that was finally ready. 

Gotta love the KT Tape on the coffee table.

This morning was just one of those mornings that I just wasn't feeling it. My Nike App wasn't working well, my shins were hurting, I would have rather stayed in bed! But I atleast got moving and ran a mile before heading into work. 

After letting my Dr Cool Wraps do their thing, I guess I will get my butt in gear and get ready for work. I haven't even packed for the ranch/river yet so that will have to wait until I get home. I am looking forward to getting out of town this weekend with our friends to enjoy a little downtown, Frio River Tubing, and good food. Dave wants to take our new toy but I don't think it will fit everything we need. 

We have decided to get rid of my Explorer and get a Jeep in an effort to cut down our debt and reduce monthly expenses. Its really nice actually and it means that I get to drive the F150 full time! BONUS!

Off for the weekend. Maybe I will try to get in a cross training working but I am making no promises!

Hold on, Bacon!

Thursdays are hill days and I had a sweaty 5K hill series on the treadmill this morning. I have been staying consistent at level 4 which only takes the incline up to 4 so I am hoping to kick it up a notch here within the next few weeks. I noticed I have to vary my speed when the hills get steep. But as long as I am not walking then it is a success in my book. During races that is usually when my legs start screaming and my head starts talking me into walking. Hill days always kick my butt which means I know I need to work on them more. 

Dave came home last night which means I had a little bit more time to do things for me this morning so I was excited to make myself breakfast. I had almost finished my oven bacon when I realized my one and only egg was cracked! Womp womp! So the next best thing was to call the only place in the tiny town I live in that I eat tacos from - Nortex (I am very funny about how I like my eggs cooked). And since my bacon was all ready made - I took it along to put on my taco! HA! 

And yes, my potato, egg, cheese, and bacon taco was delish. 

Back to Business

So after taking Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off to let my knee heal I was back at it this morning. I really didn't want to split it open since it seems to be healing so well so it was worth the few extra days off. However I have been in a funk the past two days and I think its because I don't start my day off with a good, sweaty workout. 

Taken Sunday night

My knee this morning

 Mon - Wed - Fri the gym I go to hosts boot camp. It starts at 6 AM so I haven't been going much in the morning because I have to get ready for work but I think on Wednesdays (since that is cross training day) I may just be a smidge late to work so that I can get in a good workout. Wednesdays are cardio boot camp and it's a good workout! 

Did a mile on the treadmill first then I was able to get in about 30 minutes of boot camp before having to leave. Running outside was nice because I am able to start adjusting to the heat and humidity to help prep me for the trail run coming up in just over two weeks.

I was able to shake off the funk today and I am looking forward to finishing out July strong with my mileage.  

The life of a klutz

I had a girl once tell me that it takes a lot of skill to fall on flat surfaces....and she is right! But I can fall just about anywhere, anytime, barefoot or not. My best friend came in last minute so I didn't get my Saturday morning run in. I was ok with it because I had a good week. Plus breakfast and the beach sounded way better right about then. Living in a small town away from my friends in family means when they do come visit, I pretty much drop everything to hang out with them. 

But first, my glorious Boston Pork Butt that I slow cooked on Friday made an amazing dinner! 

I actually ate this same thing twice - once Friday night and once Sunday night. There is a sweet potato underneath there I promise!

I have been driving the Hubster's truck all week because I needed it to take the furkids to the vet so it came in handy this weekend going to the beach. 

I love living so close to the beach. I don't get in the water (have you seen our water....it's brown) But I do love the atmosphere and spending time outside. However the older I have gotten I realized the dangers of skin cancer so I pretty much stayed under that tent on the tailgate wearing my long sleeve fishing shirt. And I must say my Irish self didn't get sun burned!

The worst part of the weekend - a slippery boat trailer and me. After we pulled a few rocks out of it I was good to go but I am sidelined today and maybe tomorrow because it absolutely hurts. 

I finished the weekend off with three days of meal prep since Dave is supposed to be home on Wednesday, if not sooner. I love the containers I got from Amazon....they make prepping so easy!

Breakfast - leftover pork mixed with onion and an egg to scramble. 

Snack - cheese, summer sausage, celery with PB, and fruit

Lunch - Cold pea and green leaf salad with a hard boiled egg & organic ground beef mixed with potato, tomato, onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno with a side of corn and fruit. 

Fartlek Friday and more pork

Since Wednesday night was church night I didn't cook so that meant that lunch yesterday was a Bistro Salad and I added egg and avocado to it. I love the salad bowls from HEB because they have a good variety, they are affordable, and more than enough to fill you up as a meal. 

A friend from church happened to have buckets full of extra limes so she brought me some. My first thought - I need more beer! HA! But I looked up a few recipes to use some of the limes and I found a great chili & lime chicken recipe. I had leftover shrimp that I had been eating all week for dinner so I threw those in there too. It was delish! I think I used the Betty Crocker recipe, just an FYI. Next time I want to try the honey ginger and lime recipe that I found as well. 

Too bad we don't have an ice cream man otherwise I might have more motivation to run outside in the summer heat. 

After my disappointing run yesterday I was really hoping today would go much better and it did! Such a great Fartlek run this morning. If I eat dinner early then I notice my tummy isn't rumbling in the mornings.

Tomorrow the plan calls for 4 -5 miles and if this week is any indication of how it will go, I should have a successful run outside for the first time in a few weeks.

Boston Pork Butt.....yum! HEB had them on sale for $1 per pound so I got one to cook now and one that was cryovacked for later. I rubbed Dave's seasoning and Saltlick Garlic Dry rub on it, seared the sides, and it is now slow cooking allllllll day. I am beyond excited about this. I usually only buy chicken because we have a stand up freezer full of homemade sausage but when good meats go on sale that I cannot just pass up, it is nice to have a little variety in my meals. 

Stretching & Oven Bacon

Thursdays are hill days for me. The plan called for atleast 4 miles this morning but it wasn't happening. My tummy had other ideas and my legs were super tight. I am starting to realize the hard way the importance of stretching after running and foam rolling on a regular basis. I only got in 2 miles before the floor and roller were calling my name. 

Disappointed, definitely! But I ran so I need to be grateful for that. Two more runs this week are on the books. Saturday I plan on going to Corpus to run the trail we are running for our race next month. I want to have an idea of what exactly I got myself into! 

Gym selfies are usually not my thing but I wanted to show off the tank that I got! #TexasStrong came about during the Floods of 2015. I bought it because all the proceeds went to help the victims around the Wimberely area from the floods during memorial Day. Unfortunately they still have yet to find two children from the Corpus Christi area which just breaks my heart. 

I wanted to make breakfast today and skip my shake so to kill two birds with one stone (get ready and make food) I tried to make bacon in the oven. I had seen others do it but hadn't tried it myself yet. 

I used my Le Cruset griddle that we got as a wedding present and it was great! I didn't time how long I had them in there but I did end up broiling them for maybe 3 or 4 minutes just before I pulled them out to make sure they were crispy. I hate floppy bacon!

And breakfast is served! Scrambled eggs, bacon, and coffee! 

A bat & a toad!

After weighing in yesterday, weight loss is on the fore front of my brain! I told D that he is now my accountability partner and if he needs to be mean to me to help me reach me goals its ok! I may regret that later but I need all the help I can get! 

Lunch yesterday was a field green salad with pouch salmon and then topped with Seasnax crumbles. It was delish! I forgot I still had some Seasnax in the pantry so it was a good find. I had to go to the store to buy more lettuce since for some odd reason my big box of field greens froze over the weekend while I was visiting my parents. HEB even had a coupon for green lettuce leaves so it was a bonus!

Dinner was solo since D is working so I had a salad, a Bai5 Mango, fiesta salmon burger and 10 sauteed shrimp. Totally filled me up. I sually like to eat by 6 or 6:30 at the latest. I do not like eating late because my stomach usually doesn't like me in the morning if I do. I also noticed I usually don't sleep as well. 

While making dinner I was also making my lunch and dinner for today and some snacks. Sauteed chicken with bell peppers, onions, and a jalapeno; green leaf lettuce salads, mixed fruit, cheese square and celery with peanut butter. I even found some great meal prep containers online at Amazon. My MIL has prime so they should be here by Thursday. 

Tempo Tuesday started off very interesting. First I found a baby bat injured in my covered patio. Pretty sure the dogs might have gotten a hold of it. I never thought I would ever get face to face with a bat. He was pretty pissed! Then as I was trying to leave I had to shoo a giant toad out of the garage and out from underneath my truck so he wouldn't get squished. Once I finally made it to the gym, with no animals being harmed in the process, I had a pretty good run. 

1 mile warm up at 6.0

2 min at 6.2 

2 min at 6.4 

2 min at 6.6

1 min at 4.0

Repeat three times

1 mile cool down

And yes I am a hot mess in the morning when I get to the gym. I try to match my clothes but the hair lately has been a whole nother story. 

Monday miles and some honesty

I spent the weekend in Georgetown visiting my parents and it was a nice needed mini vacay. I took Bailey with me and she always enjoys to travel. Downtown Georgetown is so quaint and the antique shops are full of some pretty amazing things. But my favorite part is there is a satellite location of Grape Creek Vineyards there. I have to stop in every time and pick up a bottle or two. You cannot buy their wines anywhere but the wineries or you have to be a wine club member. 

Saturday we also made our way to the Round Rock Outlet mall so I could get my very first pair of Chucks! I am getting used to them, as I normally only wear running shoes. They kinda feel like I am wearing skis or something but I bought them to wear to work. I like that I can wear them with skirts, casual dresses, and pants. 

I told myself I would run while I was in Georgetown but it was nice to not have a schedule so I took the weekend off. But this morning it was back to it. I had a great run this morning. Other than my SI joint acting up since last week, my legs and shins felt amazing! I am looking forward to increasing my mileage to 5 this week if this keeps up. 

I found this on Pinterest and I thought it was pretty funny! During the hot months in South Texas, a treadmill for me is an essential piece of equipment however it can get so boring after a while. 

So after the wedding I tried to stay to my good eating habits but it seemed all I did was worry about what I was eating, how much I was working out, and how the house always seems to need to be cleaned. I told myself I was going to stop worrying about the need to look a certain way. Well, that in-turn made my eating habits head off into left field and as of this morning I have reached my highest weight of my life. With that being said it is back to better eating, drinking, and better sleeping habits. I am going to start keeping up with my weight loss here as a way to hold myself accountable and to have a record of it. 

Right after college (almost 10 years ago) I got up to 185 (my current weight) but I started working out with a trainer and eating right and I got down to 155 or 160. It was awesome! I felt great. Now I am not so sure that 160 would be attainable but if I can get back down to 170 or 175 I would be stoked. So here it goes. My path to lose 10 to 15 pounds starts today! 

TGIF!

The electricity was out at my house yesterday morning for 2 1/2 hours so I wasn't sure if the gym had power which means I didn't make my morning run. I told myself I would run after work but by then I am worn out, hot, and my husband came back home from the yard so it turned into an "oh well" kind of day. 

Kicked off my Friday with a 4 miler of hills on the treadmill....level 4 to be precise! It felt good but I definitely had to talk myself into finishing. I am having a hard time adjusting my body to 4 miles consistently which means next week will be another minimum 4 mile week as well. I am hoping to get up to 6 before the trail run but not sure if I can handle it in a short amount of time. T-minus 4 weeks. 

Sweaty Gym Selfie

I am ready to be out of work all ready and on the road north to Georgetown to spend the weekend with my parents. The only perk of them living in Georgetown (because it is so much farther from me now) is that Grape Creek Winery has a satellite location on the square! SCORE! I always stop by and pick up a bottle or two and this Saturday they will have live music and cajun food tasting so you know where I will be. 

I did find out that there is a monthly 5K run that takes place only a few miles from their place so I am going to check it out tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to new scenery and running with people instead of solo. 

Hump Day!

It was good to get back into the gym after the fun weekend I had but it definitely caught up with me by Tuesday. I didn't hit my 4 mile mark but did get in a 5K tempo run without puking so that was a success in my book. I upped my pace on the tempo run this week and I think I can keep up with it for a while so that was "thumbs up" progress for me as well. 

Today was off day from running but cross training. I would love to be able to do the bootcamp class but they don't start until 6 AM and it is about 30 minutes later than what I need to be able to get home, shower, eat and get to work on time. So I made up a ladder workout to do after I woke my body up with 15 minutes on the elliptical.  

 The 15K trail run is exactly 1 month away! I need to start kicking up my mileage to be able to survive that run. It will be the farthest I have ever run......race or not.

Monday Miles & Beer!

Over the weekend the America On Tap made their stop into good ol' Corpus Christi. Needless to say we were excited! Our friend Val made the awesome pretzel necklaces which was a genius idea. She should have brought more to sell because everyone was asking about them. 

The main reason we all went (besides the beer) was that Val is making the move, again, to Alaska at the end of the month and it was the only weekend we were almost all able to get together. Dave was off which was great! We were missing two gal pals though...one recently had a baby and the other couldn't get off work. 

Monday means back to the grind. I am still working on my consistent four milers. It was a little tough after taking a few days off to have fun and get stuff done around the house though. But I pushed through and I am looking forward to Tempo tomorrow since it is more fun that just plain running. It seems the more miles I do the more boring the treadmill becomes. 

I just got my email about the registration opening! Has anyone ever done this before? My sis did San Diego not long ago and she had a blast! I am hoping I can get a few girl friends to tag along with me because I am so signing up right when bibs are released tomorrow!

Ice Burns?

Tempo Tuesday and it was a good run!

1 mile warm up at 5.8

.5 at 6.0

.5 at 6.4

.5 at 6.0

.5 at 6.4

1 mile cool down at 6.0

Did 3x20 sit ups and I figured why not try to kill two birds with one stone and use the foam roller at the same time. Worth a shot but totally not the same. I rolled out my calves once I was finished.

I am hoping to be able to make my warm up and cool down paces above the 6.0 mark this month.  

Excuse my blurry selfie pictures as I am usually not working out with any buddies at 5:30 AM.

I ran out of eggs so I have to wait until pay day, Friday to get more from my farm egg hook-up. Until then I have plenty of smoothie stuff to get me through refueling in the mornings. Made a green protein smoothie and drank it while I iced down my shins. 

However late on in the day I couldn't figure out why my legs were itching.....this is what happened! 

The only thing I can think of is I burned myself with my ice pack. I have never had this happen and it was quite uncomfortable. I really think I will stick to my Dr Cool Wraps as much as possible. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

One of my favorite dinners this week, that is why I had to share. Two salmon in a pouches mixed with salt, pepper, lemon pepper and flax seeds on top of a field green salad with a sweet potato on the side. It was so good!

4 on the 4th & Monday Miles

The Corpus Christi Road Runners put on the 4 on the 4th every year and this was my 2nd year to participate! The route was a little different but as always, I enjoy running along the bayfront of Corpus Christi. 

Dotted along the bayfront are these little pergolas that you can hang out in and people watch, that is what I do atleast. We have one that is dedicated to the memory of Tejano star Selena so if you haven't found it yet, it is along there somewhere. 

Our little city doesn't have a whole host of things to do but when they built the splash park I thought it was such a neat idea. The concrete running path is right along side this. Normally in the early morning when we run it isn't up and running but if you are ever in the downtown Corpus Christi area, you should check it out! It is near the visitors information stand.

Just as last year, my Nike GPS fouled up and I didn't get a super accurate reading from it so I went off the race clock to sync my run. If you lock your phone before the run begins it won't really start tracking your run. Slower than last year but I am OK with that. I have decided I am running for mileage not speed. Either way, I had fun, enjoyed the scenery as well as the company of other runners. 

Monday miles in full force today. After sleeping on and off for almost 14 hours Saturday night my body was recharged for this morning. Living in a small town that I am not from means not too many friends and my only close one here just moved to Montana Saturday. 4 miles is the minimum for runs this week. The 15K trail run will be here before I know it so I have got to get my mileage up.  

I did a little run/walk scenario this morning which made the run much easier. Burned over 600 calories which was a bonus too! Looking forward to my tempo run tomorrow with this mileage.