Adult Running Camps

Since running was not something I did growing up, I was a varsity swimmer instead, I have been learning how to run as I go as an adult. I researched adult running camps and so far the one that stands out the most that I really want to go to is Zap Fitness Adult Running Camps outside Charlotte, NC.

I have made this my goal for 2016 since the camps for this year are all full. There is an all women's camp and then there are different mini camps. I will have to save up to go but I think it would be well worth it. 

Have you been to a running camp?

If so, which one and what was your take away from it?

Would you recommend anything other than running camps?

AM vs PM workouts

I am by nature more a morning person. I enjoy getting my workouts in before I start my day. I like the solitude of clearing my head before the day starts.

 I used to be able to do that which was fantastic but when I started my current position my hours changed a bit and it was really practical to wake up so early...plus I was really feeling it around 2 or 3 PM when I swear if I put my head on my desk I was just fall right to sleep. 

I have been in my position just over a year now so I am thinking I am going to push my start time back a bit so that I can run four days in the AM and do boot camp. That also means my runs will go from road runs to treadmill runs since Alice has an abundance of stray animals that I do not want to be chased by. Plus I heard that there is a coyote that likes to go to he park early in the morning so I think avoiding the park while it is dark is a good idea! The heat and humidity are making my afternoon runs and workouts right now something that I just do not look forward to and they are much harder. Lucky for me where I work I am not required to be in business casual therefore pulled back hair and no make up are ok! Bonus! And a total time saver. 

With my training really kicking into high gear come July I really want to make sure I am able to get it in all my mileage and cross training. What do you enjoy....mornings or afternoons? Why? 

Now we don't have kids yet so I am sure all this will change when that happens! 

Selfie stick problems

Selfie Stick Take 1

Selfie Stick Take 5

Selfie Stick Take 7....I think

 I got a selfie stick for my birthday and finally decided to try to use it. It was pretty comedic. If anyone has any tips/tricks please let me know! I was heading out for 4 miles Monday when I decided to try to use it. I did 1 mile warm up, 3 x .25 sprint then .25 walk, then finished out the rest of my run through the neighborhood back home. 

HIIT was before spin so I did that and completed day 2 of my Plank Challenge for Feb! 

I am pretty sure if  Sara had an IG she might be cranky about the sneaky pics I take of us in spin and post!

Lunch while at work.....cheap, easy, healthy!

Tuesdays mean Core class after my run and before spin!

Still smiling! Tuesday was day 3 of my plank challenge
but by now my shins were killing me!

DINNER!!!! Thrown together leftovers included cubed sauteed chicken then I added pasta salad
from Sunday and broccolli salad

OK so let me explain........I originally posted this on my IG account Tuesday night 

In need of tips/tricks/suggestions/advice....whatever you think will help. I have been getting shin

splints on the interior of my legs. I've had X-rays done to see if it may have been a stress 

fractures and it's not. I just got new shoes - New Balances and I am a neutral heel striker. I 

don't have any runner friends in the small town I live in to pick their brains hence taking to 

IG for help. I follow/learn from y'all and would love if you could help me!

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So the picture (excuse my non-socked feet) - my instructor from the gym taped me 

up tonight. I had YouTubed instructions and she did it similar to what I saw. Is it correct 

for runners? She taped me more on the inside since that's where my pain is.

OK so since then I have received some awesome feedback on my IG account. I purchased some 

KT tape, two Dr. Cool wraps for icing, and I am going to look into the six foot drills on YouTube. 

If there anything else that I am missing please pipe up and tell me!

RANDOM FACT - so my office is at the top of these stairs to the left.
I must go up and down these stairs at least 5 to 7 times a day!

Wednesday was a rest day for me this week. Had to go get dog food from the feed store instead of running before church small group. The dogs have to eat too right?

If you are doing the plank challenge with me this month....how is it coming?

Running Journal

For Christmas I received (actually I got two!) the 

Believe Running Journal written by Lauren and Ro. 

This is my second week to use it and I really enjoy it. I enjoy the through process and being able to lay everything out. It is really making me focus on making time to run and which runs I have to do that do to achieve my goal. I just mapped out my training plans until February 28 which includes 2 10K's. Between using the journal and my Nike App Coach I have been able to plan out my mileage for each week based upon my schedule. I am trying to make sure I balance my life. I would like to keep up spin and HITT with my friend Sara, Wednesday nights has always been small group church, and starting this Thursday for the next 9 weeks I have committed to teach the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class at our church. All of my after work activities play into the time I have available to run. So far based on what I have put onto paper I can meet my goals. 

What I did to plan is I took a pencil and wrote in my goal mileage/workout for that day. If the journal gets updated I think that would be an awesome line to add to each day to see if you are really working at meeting your goals or not. 

Sunny Southern California for Christmas

I leave tomorrow morning to head to San Diego to spend Christmas and my birthday with my sister and her family. Yes I know....it is our first Christmas as husband and wife but I had made these plans with Dave's old schedule and when he switched jobs his scheduled changed. Gotta love the South Texas oilfield. 

I am looking forward to checking out San Diego and Carlsbad where they live but I am most stoked about being able to run in a different place. 

My sister is trying to get back into running now that the twins are in school two days a week so I am hoping us running together will help motivate her and I will enjoy having a buddy!

I lapped my husband

With it being Wednesday night and Dave wasn't working, we were determined to make our church small group at 6:30. With that being said I had a very short amount of time to get home, change, run (Dave didn't move from the couch), and then get on the road to Orange Grove. My goal was to hit 3.25 miles but I ran out of time. I absolutely despise being late....I think it is rude and disrespectful so I usually end up arriving 10 or 15 minutes early almost everywhere I go. (One of my quirks I guess)

In order to hit my goal mileage for the week I need to run at least 5 miles today, tomorrow, and Saturday and I am going to try to my hardest to reach that goal. I have been running with shin splints apparently and they can be pretty brutal after mile 3. I haven't figured out if I am getting them from the almost 2'ish months I wasn't really running before the wedding or if it is a sign that I need new shoes......I am still such a novice runner I can't tell the difference. 

If I get new shoes before my first 10K in 2015, I would love a new pair of Asics. So far they have been pretty good to me and they are very friendly to my budget!

JUST....wow!

Reading through my blogs this morning and I came across Mile Posts aka Dorothy Beal's

blog post - There Is No JUST In 13.1

It could not have come a better time. I am so guilty of this. I call myself a beginner runner because I know there are so many people that can run faster and farther than I can. I constantly compare my abilities to others. In her post she asks what a long distance is for us and for me, right now, running 10K's is my challenge. I have run 2 or 3 registered 10K's and just over 6 miles around the small town I live in so I know I can do it but they are still challenging for me. 

I have also been bad about comparing my average mile times to others instead of focusing on the fact that I am completing the mileage I set out to do. I am not a fast runner.....in comparison to the people I consider fast. I guess it is all a matter of perspective. I am sure some folks consider me fast. 

I am trying to focus on being consistent and more positive when it comes to my runs so that I will not get frustrated and give up for weeks at a time. I know if I had a running buddy that would help however I just can't seem to find anyone that has a similar schedule as mine to be able to that. 

Thanks Dorothy for the post! It was definitely the motivation that I needed to know that any mileage I get in is better than nothing and it still makes me a "runner". 

My first 10K for 2015 is January 3 and I am part of a two member team relaying the American Bank Half Marathon in Corpus Christi. My second 10K race is at the Cowtown Marathon at the end of February. I know I can complete the mileage however the challenge I know I will face is the weather. I am not used to running in cold temps. I live in a small south Texas town where the high tomorrow will be 71!

Dorothy if you ever make your way to South Texas I would love to meet you!

Hitting the ground running

After what seems to have been almost a month out of the gym...between injury, wedding craziness, work, hunting season (special white wing and then regular dove season) and personal/family stuff, I unfortunately put running and working out on the back burner. I have a tendency to do that because I feel selfish when I take that hour or two to myself when I know there are so many other things I could be doing to help out or contribute.

I am officially 46 days out from the wedding so it is time to kick this thing into high gear!

The Plan::

Dietary - Dave and I complete a Whole30 back in January and we really enjoyed it. It made us look at our food very differently. So we are going to do our second round starting October 1 (the full month before the wedding). I am actually going to be finishing a juice cleanse the first two days but I don't think that is a big deal. I found a juice bar close to my mom and dad's that provides 5 day plans so I am looking forward to actually trying something other than what I make at the house.

Monday's snacks....orange-carrott-apple-mango and kale-apple-kiwi.
Never-mind the picture of the deer in the background...LOL I am counting down the days until deer season which happens to be the weekend before we are getting married!

Since my last post I have been using my new blender to make my blends! And I must say I do think that is a better way to go than juicing on a consistent basis. I seem to feel full longer and I do get all the vitamins/nutrients from the fruits/veggies that I use. I store mine in mason jars which makes for easy measuring, transportation to/from work, and cleaning. Monday's recipes were orange-carrott-apple-mango and kale-apple-kiwi.

Fitness/Exercise - it will be back in the gym atleast 4 days a week, running and completing toning workouts. If the bootcamp that takes place at our local park is still going on I will be there two days a week.

Yesterday's afternoon workout consisted of.......

A little sore today but it feels good.

(Wo)Man Down!

Well even though my doctor appointment on Monday morning went what I would consider well, my body has been telling me otherwise. I rested up again on Monday but this week started my Alice Women's Kickball League that my friend Inez pulled me onto. We have games three days a week and practice in between. I didn't make practice last week because I didn't feel well and fell asleep at 7 PM. So the game last night was my first time playing kickball in years. 

All day Tuesday it seemed as though my hip flexer had been acting up. I am not sure if it was from sitting in my truck for the quick trip to Houston over the weekend coupled with the trip to Corpus on Monday for my doctor appointment but my hip has been killing me. And playing kickball last night didn't help.

Soooooooo I think I am going to take a break from running this week and rest up. Gonna try to get in four or five miles on Saturday with the girls.

The Mr comes home after a three week hitch so a little R & R and live country music will be in order anyway! Our favorite go to place is always Brewster Street Ice House.....and with The Departed playing tonight and Dirty River Boys playing Sunday I would say we are going to have an awesome weekend!

Monday Morning Dr Appointment

So since I started running more regularly about a year ago I haven't had very many injuries. I was able to ward off a stress fracture on the outside of my left foot by laying low on running and wearing a big black boot for about three weeks. I also got new shoes so I am sure that helped.

Lately, however, my right shin has been killing me. I began wearing a calf compression sleeve about a month or so ago which was helping but the pain is still there. I researched which sleeves to buy and in the process realized they are quite expensive. So I settled on buying one from my local Academy before I spent $45+ on one. (Plus I hadn't really received any first hand recommendations for one)

Hence why I spent the morning at the South Texas Bone & Joint clinic in Corpus Christi.They took two x-rays of my right tibia which confirmed I do not have any stress fractures (thank goodness). The doctor said it isn't shin splints because of the location of my pain. He actually couldn't really tell me what was wrong. But I will take no news as good news at this point. His remedy is to take an anti inflammatory daily and if it is still bothering me in a month or so to come back.

Training this week

Sunday is usually my day for meal prep. At work we have 10 AM break and 3 PM break
so I usually pack a snack pack and my lunch.

 This week was a pretty good week for doing more of my runs & workouts outside in the South Texas 95+ degree heat and humidity. 

Found this app through reading blogs. It is sponsored or created by The Weather
Channel and I think it is pretty dang cool. 

The small town I live in hosts a bootcamp three days a week in the mornings and in the afternoons. I didn't go once it turned into Hades here in South Texas but I have recently picked it back to start getting acclimated to the heat/humidity again. Plus our instructor is former military and I do like the workouts. I leave a hot sweaty mess!

Monday's 6 PM session. That board is what Garza puts our workouts on.

Monday and Wednesday was bootcamp with Inez. Just over 2 miles in mileage mixed in with our workout. Garza likes to use kettle bells, along with lots of squats, jumping jacks, tire flips, mountain climbers, and ab work.

Wednesday's aftermath while stretching

Tuesday Inez and I went to the gym. I got roughly 2.5 miles before we did our CrossFit WOD in the back garage of the 24 hour gym we are members of. 

LOVE my second pair of Fabletics capris. I am so glad I found the website because they
are seriously my new fave pants!

Tonight won't be any running as we have family dinner for a birthday and tomorrow I am leaving work early to drive north to New Braunfels for wedding stuff in San Antonio this weekend. Mom and dad live at the edge of Landa Park so I am going to take advantage of that for an early morning run on Saturday before dress alterations and my bridal shower.