Big News & Bigger News

December 5th, 2012 | Posted by Erica House in Fitness | Life - (30 Comments)

Yesterday was truly epic! I woke up and had that “I’m going to kill it” feeling about my workout. The last 2 weeks I haven’t had as much energy for exercise as I normally do. It’s strange since I love it so much but I can only assume the stress from end of term is making it difficult for me to muster up the energy for doing anything, even things I really enjoy!

It was my 5k day and I started with 20 minutes of ab work first (Jillian Michael’s 6 week 6 pack – gotta love it!) then went straight out for a run. I finished my first mile in 8:24 which is way better than my normal 9:45-10 min pace. I’ve been doing sprints once a week and that’s helped me significantly with my speed. I’ve also been doing the long runs on the weekend (up to 8 miles) which make doing 3 seem like a piece of cake. So, I had the mentality today of “I’m going to go until my legs give out because it’s only 3.1 miles!”

My previous 5k PR that I ran shortly after my break-up in October (such good motivation!) was 28:41. Today I came in at exactly 28 minutes. It felt incredible.

I topped it off with heading straight back inside for my plank-a-day (which for me is about every 2-3 days) and added 20 seconds onto my prior PR.

Unstoppable!

 Now, for my Bigger News:

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Am I a Runner Yet?

November 28th, 2012 | Posted by Erica House in Fitness - (51 Comments)

If someone were to ask me point-blank if I was a runner I’d probably hesitate, then respond with “Kind of.”

I started running in March of this year. No RunKeeper, no handheld water bottle. Just going at it for 30 seconds at a time for as long as I could stand it. By May 26th I was getting a bit more serious about running regularly and my pace was just shy of 15 minutes per mile.

Fast forward to November and I’m disappointed with any 5k time over 30 minutes:

I’ve completed my first official race:

I started off my Thanksgiving Day with Sprints:

and set a Distance PR this week of 7 miles (with a 10 min mile pace!):

Yet, I still don’t feel like I’m in the club.

It’s ironic since all of the runners I have me thus far have been so supportive, encouraging and non-judgmental. So, what defines a runner anyways?

I don’t have a Heart Rate monitor, but I use RunKeeper!

I don’t wear fancy running shoes, but I’ve got snazzy padded socks!

I’ve never worn compression clothing, but I sometimes soak in bath salts after a long run!

I’ve had a similar thought to this as I was weaving in and out of 5 year old’s at my first 5k:

And I’ve seen the look on friends faces who I’m sure thought this after I spent more than 2 minutes discussing sprint times and training plans:

So, am I a runner?

Do I get a membership card somewhere?

Am I the only one with a runners inferiority complex? How do you define being a runner?

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Weekly Workout Wrap-Up

November 16th, 2012 | Posted by Erica House in Fitness | Health | Life - (14 Comments)

This is going to be such an epic wrap up I’m going to have to break it down daily to make some sort of sense of it all!

Monday: I went on a baking bonanza! You can see all the meals I made for the week at the end of the post here and I have been enjoying the most incredible leftovers for lunch & dinner. My lunches this week have consisted of broccoli & cheddar quiches, roasted cauliflower salad and cinnamon with a splash of apple ;)

Tuesday: I was planning to run outside but I literally made it about 30 seconds in the cold & wind before my butt was back inside and wondering what I could do to compensate for not running. I put on my new favorite workout top for motivation and decided to #GetAfterIt with one of the craziest home workouts I own: Jillian Michaels Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism. Yeah,  that’s a direct link to the FULL LENGTH workout on youtube. Get some!

That night in class the student who asked me to come speak to her PreK class for career day gave me the ‘thank you’ cards they drew for me. Freaking adorable. Although, I am concerned that they saw me as a fire breathing giant who wears to much blush.

Wednesday: Started off the day with 80 minutes of Booty Barre. Yes, eighty minutes. I did the Booty Barre + Abs and Arms DVD which is even more difficult that their Total New Body workout that I reviewed here. I treated myself after with a protein shake that I received a sample of thanks to this months BuluBox (watch out for that review and *hint* another giveaway next week!)

I tweeted the picture above after the workout and said it was the only thing that was able to take my mind off some pretty severe jaw pain that I had been suffering from since Monday (stress related!). Guess who tweeted me back saying they hoped I’d feel better? TRACEY MALLET herself. /Dies.

I finally broke down and bought new gray pants for work last weekend and was so excited to wear them this week. My old pair were beyond repair, I think I had them for 3 years maybe and wore them on a weekly basis! These are from Ny & Company – the ONLY store where I can find pants that are short enough for my dwarf frame.

After class I came home and made some of my favorite protein pumpkin pudding and topped it with some whipped cream and cinnamon. OMGood. The recipe could not be more simple: 1 can pumpkin, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 2 Tb syrup (I use sugar free) & 1 T pumpkin pie spice. Mix well and leave in the fridge for a few hours to ‘set’  before eating!

Thursday: The temperature was a little bit warmer Thursday morning so I was excited to finally get a run in. I started off not really feeling it – it had been 5 days since my last run – but I decided to not run with any time/distance agenda. Of course, I ended up having an amazing run and set a new 5k PR of 28:14!

As I got ready for work I was assisted by my personal stylist:

While having another classic text conversation with my Mom:

That afternoon I had off so I napped for a bit with this gorgeous hunk:

Then made the most amazing dinner! I started off with  Nicole’s Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Portobellos  but the mushrooms I bought were so tiny (and I may have burned them a bit so they shrunk even more) so I had a ton of the delicious filling left over. I had the genius idea to pull out some old egg roll wrappers from the back of the fridge and use them otherwise I would have just ate the filling out of the bowl (which was a viable option). I was pretty proud of myself for diverting culinary disaster (and all of this ingenious thinking occurring while my smoke alarm kept going off!). I topped a can of green beans with the last bit of the breadcrumb topping from the mushrooms and went into a glorious food coma for about an hour.

Friday: Don’t forget to enter my Gymboss Giveaway that ends tonight at Midnight!

Finally, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite photos. This is my brother and I and the first time we saw snow! Don’t let the cute faces fool you – check out the bunny ears and foot stomping going on. It’s been TEN years since I’ve seen snow and I’m on a pretty serious mission to change that this winter.

Is snow on the forecast for anyone this weekend? If so, can I crash at your place?

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