FitnessLab Family

After almost a four month hiatus, I am back at it!

Lunch after spin and some manual labor working on our yard

I joined the FitnessLab family which is a CrossFit gym not far from our new house. I am doing just basic classes there and adding running into the mix. We also found a church that I think is going to be a good fit and they are on their fifth season of Run for God! I had never heard of it before and there are only three groups in the state of Texas and one just happens to be here! Run For God's Mission: 

Preparing people to be better witnesses for Christ... Physically, Mentally, and Spiritually

Physically - Create a healthier you and make it possible to reach a new demographic of non-believers - potential believers! Matthew 28:19-20

Mentally - Learn the discipline and endurance that it takes to "Run the Race Set Before Us" Hebrews 12:1

Spiritually - Learn always to give God the glory for all that we accomplish. Psalms 86:12

Joining this group has not only plugged me in with other local runners which was awesome but it will also help plug me into to our church. 

Disruption at it's finest

This week has been a pill! Every day has been a chore....full of stresses and 

things out of my control. 

Tuesday I decided to run it out with my largest furkid. 

Meet Captain Woodrow F Call.....our 4'ish old yellow lab who is my BFF and protector when my husband is away on hitch. I think I may actually start running with him atleast once a week. His trot was pretty well in pace with my slow run. It works out well...we both get in some miles. 

I made it to spin afterwards too which was a struggle since I decided to eat dinner before hand. 

Note to self - that will never happen again! I think it will be shakes on spin night from here on out. 

Dave got home from Louisiana in the middle of the night Wednesday night. When he comes home my usual schedule goes out the window. I wish I could say I stuck to my hoped for training plan this week but that isn't the case. At some point you have to weight your potions...spending time with my husband who has been gone pretty much for almost three weeks or spending my only free time at the gym - I didn't choose the gym.  

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?

Monday Madness

I have been told to never miss a Monday and my Mondays are doozies! I needed to clear my head so a run was definitely in the cards for me! 

I didn't run far because I knew I had HIIT and spin but I was running pretty quickly for running solo! I was pretty impressed with myself on that one. I think it was just because I had such an awkward-turtle Monday I needed to get it out of my head!

HIIT last night was all upper body which I needed. Push ups and shoulder exercises....I am feeling them this morning! I like going to Evy's HIIT classes. They are different every time and I am able to get in more of a weight training workout than when I workout out by myself. 

Oh spin class....how Sara and I missed you! We hadn't been to class in a week! Sara had trigger finger surgery on both of her hands (which is why they are still wrapped) and I was feeling like poo last week after Monday's class. Last night....the struggle was real getting back into the groove of class. Evy added weights to our routine which was a little tough trying to get the hang of.

DINNER! I seriously could not cook this fast enough. The last 20 minutes of spin I was going over in my head how I could cook and shower at the same time so I didn't waste time! 

So lemon pepper baked cod, sauteed shrimp in EVOO and crushed red pepper, roasted yellow bell peppers, sauteed fresh spinach, 1/2 an avocado with cherry toms and quinoa was the finished product. It was delish. 

Hump day and how my week has been so far....

So if you haven't figured out, I usually don't blog everyday. I really don't have time. I work full time, work out, and I have activities with my church my family. When I do have free time, I catch up on my DVR and try to spend as much time with our three fur babies as I can. This week I have done fairly well with keeping up with meals and such....

I love coming home at lunch when I know I have goodies on the way! Another new Fabletics outfit
and my first box of RxBars. They are good but a little too much chocolate for me.
These would be great if you are a chocolate person on a Whole30 or paleo.

Lunch Sunday was chicken tenders wrapped in bacon dipped in Tessamae's Honey Mustard sauce
with sauteed greens!

Dinner Sunday night was baked salmon, sauteed brussel sprouts, potato hash, and avocado slices.
After church I was on a seafood kick so I picked up quite a bit of it. 

Monday I ate leftover slow cooked pork. I was finally able to finish it. That one small shoulder made so many meals. 

Monday night Sara and I made HIIT class and spin. I didn't run because it gets to be too much some nights but class was awesome. I feel like I am getting the hang of spin and I hope to start seeing the effects of taking the class in my running.

The last of the salmon for lunch on Tuesday.
I have been using blackening season lately which has been a change to just salt and pepper for me.

 Tough it up Tuesday you could say! I ran 3.5 miles increasing speed every half mile, took the CoreFit class, and did spin. My run felt great! Core class was a little weird....the instructor didn't do the usual core workouts I was used to doing. And it was Calvin Harris night last night at spin and the routine can be brutal. Once I am able to keep up with her 100% I know that set will really kick my butt!

3.5 Miles increasing speed every half mile.
Made my run go by fairly fast it seems. 

Core class. Surprisingly I am feeling it this morning. 

Last but not least - SPIN!
Love Sara's face in this picture :P

After class I started feeling like I was catching whatever crud is going around. I still don't feel that great. I am downing Emergen-C, added Vapor Steam to my humidifier, and using some essential oils which will hopefully help. I don't do sick well at all. 

I have a week and half until my next 10K and it is mostly bean running. Not sure what I was thinking when I signed up for this one because I am pretty sure it is going to TRY to kill me but it will be an awesome challenge. I am not expecting to PR, I am really just looking forward to the challenge. 

Whole30 Day 6...and an update on spin!

The beauty of living less that three miles from where I work is I can come home and cook my own meals whenever I want. It truly is one of the best things about living in a small town. Staying on track in much easier because I have all my resources so close. 

Lunch yesterday was sauteed spinach mix from HEB, pan grilled chicken, a microwaved "baked" sweet potato, avocado, and cherry toms. I am not a tomato fan in the sense of the big ones. Other than cherry toms I will only buy roma tomatoes when I am going to make my own pico de gallo. It always cracks me up when you saute fresh spinach greens because you literally have to overflow the pan or add handfuls as it cooks down because what you start with never seems like what you end up with!

So looking at the schedule at the gym and with my church commitments after work throughout the week I will only be able to make spin on Monday and Tuesday nights. That's not bad. Before class I got in a short "speed" run.

.75 @ 6.0 then .25 @ 4

.75 @6.2 then .25 @ 4

.75 @ 6.4 then .25 @ 4

Cool down

total 3.25 miles all while on the random hill circuit setting on the treadmill

Still had on my calf sleeves from running

Since it is after the new year and everyone seems to want to start their resolutions the gym has been beyond packed! Our small gym only has 13 spin bikes so it has been interesting watching the girls nicely fight over the reservations list. 

Once I got home I was starving! So in between making my dinner of a pan grilled hamburger patty with bed of bacon, sauteed Brussels sprouts, and cherry toms, I braised a wild pork shoulder roast that Dave got recently from a hunt and threw it in my slow cooker. I set it slow cook over night and when I checked it this morning it looked amazing! I still have it in there on low for the next five hours so it should be super tender when I go home for lunch.

Tonight calls for a short 2 mile hill circuit before I go to my church small group to start our new devotional. 

Monday Funday...Back to the grind

After two weeks of holidays and vacations Monday marked the started of a normal week and getting back in the groove of things. 

My Yawp bars finally came in! And they came in super handy for this morning since I didn't have time to actually cook myself breakfast!

I am only able to do spin class Monday and Tuesday because of church obligations on Wednesday and Thursday....I was finally able to get Sara to HIIT with me and then we stayed for 45 min of spin. I am starting to get addicted to those workouts. I think they will be a good addition to my running and will hopefully help me improve this year. 

Dinner (at like 9 PM at night) was a grilled hamburger patty, potato hash, avocado and cherry tomatoes with steamed broccoli and carrots. My glass from church turns blue when there is something cold in it...isn't that cool? It had water in it BTW!

So far this Whole30 has been much easier for me. I didn't have the tiredness and my cravings aren't near as bad as they were last year. I attribute that to the fact that Dave and I cleaned up our diet as a whole since our first one. I am super proud of us for really wanting to change our lives and try to keep it as healthy as possible!

Doozie of a Tuesday

Monday night our spin class was cancelled because they instructor was sick so I was happy to hear that she would be back last night! Especially because HIIT was before spin so it would be super convenient to take them both. I hadn't taken Evy's HIIT class since she moved it to the new expanded section of the gym and I am glad I went back. She has tweaked her class a bit and man I am feeling it this morning. The best part was there were only two of us in the class so it was somewhat like having a small group personal training session for FREE!

I tried to get Sara to join but since she just started back to gym it 

might have been too much for her. 

So far I am digging the spin class. I am hoping it will help with my running as well. Even though we live in a small town I am glad that there are women here who know that these classes are needed. 

Friday Evy is doing HITT and spin back to back again and since it will be fairly slow around work I am going to take an early, long lunch so Sara and I can go back.

I'M BACK!

I have been a little MIA I know but there were some family things I had to tend to and then with Dave still out on location it has been up to me to get all the Christmas stuff done as well as pack for my trip to California tomorrow. 

The American Bank Half Marathon & Relay is in two weeks! I know I can finish 6 miles...I am just hoping I can do it in less time than my first one! Need to beat 68 minutes!

My friend Sara who just had a baby about 3 months ago wanted to get back into the swing of working out. So she convinced me to go to a spin class with her at our local 24 hour gym. Boy did she go from turtle pace to jaguar! I am pretty sure she might be regretting that decision this morning but either way it was fun to have someone to try it with!

My legs surprisingly don't hurt however the seat was not very friendly to me! The instructor said once we get past the first 30 days we won't even know its there....hope she is right!