Hello Humidity!

Well it's the end of April and spring has definitely sprung here on the Gulf Coast. Actually...I think we have missed spring and jumped right into summer! It's been hot here lately! And along with the heat comes the dreaded humidity. I got to experience it on Saturday for my long run.

The plan was to run 6 miles. I was happy that I wouldn't be running alone....Holly was running with me! We have been running a lot together lately and I'm so thankful for her! We run the same exact pace and we know when and how to push each other during the run.

We started out slow. We were aiming for negative splits at the end of the run. Y'all know I usually start out too fast and regret it in the end. I told myself I wasn't doing that this time. But Holly and I felt like our legs were heavy.

And our lungs felt heavy. We were having such a hard time breathing. It felt like we were breathing in a thick fog. Yep...hello humidity. I have NOT missed you.

The key to running in heat and humidity...make sure you are hydrated and slow down. Of course when you have been running faster all winter it is hard to slow down.

We finally reached 3 miles...and the place where Holly had so sweetly dropped some water for us. My body was so ready for that water! Can you see how sweaty I am after only 3 miles?

We didn't linger long (we knew it was only going to get hotter) and headed into one of my favorite neighborhoods to run in.

I love how all the trees and grass are getting so green! Yay for spring!

The last half of the run was tough. We were hot. We were sweaty. The air was thick. But we didn't give up. We didn't stop running. And finally....we made it!

The end result...A very sweaty girl who felt very accomplished! :-)

QOTD: Do you prefer to run in the cold or the heat and humidity?

Gone For A Run State Runner Tee Review!

Disclaimer: As a Gone For A Run Ambassador I received this product free to review. I received no other compensation. All opinions in the post below are mine and mine alone!

One of my favorite websites for running gifts is Gone For A Run! They have the best gifts for runners! And all their things are so unique!

I was super excited to review their Neon Series State Runner Tee for my state of Alabama! I love wearing shirts that show my love for running! And this one is so awesome because it has the words "run, runner, and Alabama" written out in the shape of the state of Alabama!

The first thing I noticed about the shirt was how soft it was! It's made of 60% combed cotton and 40% polyester. It's super lightweight and a shirt that I know I will be able to wear in the heat of summer. The fabric is breathable.

How about the cut of the shirt? It's a slim women's cut with cap sleeves. It is recommended to size up if you prefer a looser fitted shirt. I am normally a size medium and I ordered a large and it fits great!

I chose the neon pink color...because I love pink! This shirt comes in other neon colors as well...neon green, neon orange, and neon yellow. If you don't like neon colors there are other colors available too....charcoal gray, hot pink, lush berry, storm indigo, and teal. This shirt is also available as a long sleeve, a sweatshirt, and in mens! And if you want to wear this one to run in you can choose the performance tee!

This has become one of my most favorite shirts! I even wore it to the Crescent City Classic 10K Expo and got several compliments!

So I know the question you may be asking. Does this shirt come in other states? Of course it does!!! In fact, Gone For A Run has a whole line of running gifts by state that you should check out!

No matter what you are looking for I guarantee you can find that perfect gift for the runner in your life from Gone For A Run! (Mother's Day AND Father's Day are coming up!!!) So be sure to check out their website today!

Also be sure to follow Gone For A Run on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram!

QOTD: If you wore this shirt what state would you be representing?

The Weekly Chase #69!

Monday is here again! Does anyone else feel like the weekends fly by but week is so slow? Lol! This weekend was busy but a fun one! Friday night I FINALLY got to visit some with my sister Christy and niece Ella! They moved right down the road from me last week and I had only seen them for about 15 minutes. It was great to see them! Isn't my niece beautiful???

On Saturday I ran 6 miles with Holly! Then the rest of the day was spent with Paige and her family. We went to Five Rivers Delta's Delta Woods and Waters Expo. The boys had a blast! They got to make some crafts, see live snakes and mammals, and experience the marine resources touch tank. They even got to cross a rope bridge that the Boy Scouts built! It was a fun day spent outdoors!

Now it's time for another Weekly Chase! I'm ready to tell you all about my goals for this week! I hope you will link up your own goals with me too! And feel free to use the badge below in your post too! You can grab the badge HERE! :-)

Here are my goals from last week!

• Goal #1: Run 3 times this week. Yes! I ran with Holly all week! We ran two short runs during the week and a longer run this weekend. :-)
• Goal #2: Roll and stretch daily. I've gotten a little lazy on this goal. I rolled and stretched 4 out of the 7 days.
• Goal #3: Log and stay under all my calories this week. Yes! I even ate pizza the night before my long run to carb up...and I was still under my calories for that day! :-) I've lost a total of 12 pounds so far! Last week I lost 2.5 pounds so I have a feeling this week's loss won't be very much.
• Goal #4: Cook at home this week. Yes! We cooked every night this week except on the weekend! I love being in control of my food!

Here are the goals I'm chasing this week!

Goal #1: Run 3 times this week. I'm hoping for two short runs and a longer run this weekend.

Goal #2: Roll and stretch daily. I've got to get back into the routine of doing this everyday!

Goal #3: Log and stay under all my calories this week. I'm loving knowing what all I am putting into my body. And I love that some of the shorts that didn't fit me last summer are fitting me now!!! :-)

Goal #4: Complete my last monthly calendar for school. I cannot believe I only have 3 more weeks of teaching left for this year! I need to complete my last monthly calendar for my class this week. I've had such a great class this year! I'm going to miss their sweet little faces!

Goal #5: Cook most of our meals at home this week. I am loving eating healthier meals at home. Y'all know I hate to cook so here's how it works in my house. I plan the meals, hubby cooks them, and I clean the kitchen. It works great for us! :-)

So that's the plan for this week! I hope you all have a great week of crushing your goals!

Also, are you still joining me in the April #HeatItUp Instagram Photo Challenge? I'll admit that there are some days I haven't gotten to but I'm keeping up with it as much as I can! (Make sure you follow me on Instagram) It's so fun seeing everyone's pictures! 

QOTD: What are your goals this week?

Runner Spotlights #84

How has everyone's weekend been? Mine has been fun! We went to Five Rivers Delta yesterday and the boys got to learn all kinds of things about the outdoors! They loved it! While they were doing boy things I got to visit with Paige! :-)

Now it's time for another runner spotlight...my favorite time of the week! I love reading other runners' stories about their running journey! If you are interested in being spotlighted on my blog please email me at mindy@roadrunnergirl.com! I'd love to spotlight you! You don't have to have a blog to be spotlighted...you just have to be a runner! ;-) And I'm running low on spotlights so now's your time to shine!!!

Today I'm spotlighting Denise from Healthy Disney Family! I love that she loves runDisney races like me! And I love that she loves Disney like me! ;-) Keep reading to learn more about her and her running journey!

Name: Denise Laird
State: Oregon

When and why did you start running? 

I started running when I was in 5th grade at my school’s running club. I ran of and on for years but didn’t
stick with it. I picked it up again when I needed to lose 100 pounds after having my son. On Labor Day 2011, we went to Disneyland during Disneyland Half weekend. I didn’t know Disney had races! It was so awesome to see the runners with their hard earned bling at the parks. They were just glowing
with happiness! I was around 197 lbs at the time and thought it could be a great way to lose the rest of the weight and reach a huge goal of running my first Half. When I came home, I researched and found Jef Galloway’s run/walk program. I tried it and was hooked! I have gone on to do two Half and two Full marathons using the Galloway method.

What is your favorite race and race distance? 

Definitely the 2013 Tinker Bell Half Marathon at Disneyland! It was my first Half and my big goal race.
I love that 13.1 distance. It’s far enough to feel like I worked hard and the recovery is quick.

What is your race day routine? 

I keep it simple. I have 1/2 a banana with peanut butter, a small cup of oatmeal and a mug of coffee with 2% milk. I leave the house or hotel with extra time in case of something unforeseen. Fill up the bottles in my hydration pack with either Nuun U or Ultima Refresher.

What is your most favorite piece of running gear? 

My Mizuno Wave Inspire 9’s are wonderful. I have three pairs that I rotate between. I have some
overpronation issues and they really help me stay corrected.

Do you follow any diet or take any specific supplements that complement your running? 

When I was morbidly obese I talked to my doctor and he recommended 80/20 eating to me. 80% of the time I eat whole, unprocessed or homemade foods. The other 20% is flexible. Moderation
works for me and helped me lose and keep off over 100 pounds.

What do you wish you’d known when you first started running? 

How life changing it would be and how much joy, stress relief, and accomplishment I’d feel once I stayed consistent.

What is your fondest running memory? 

Seeing my husband and son at mile 25 during the 2013 Portland Marathon. My husband took this pic of me
kissing my son and it captured all of the emotions of why I ran and lost the weight - to be a healthier, happier person, wife, and better mom for him. 

What is one thing that most people do not know about you? 

In my 20’s I saved my money for over a year, quit my job and went on a two month solo backpacking trip to Europe. Super eye opening and jaw dropping to see historical cities and landmarks firsthand, not to mention experience the warmth and kindness of strangers in different countries.

Here are all the different ways you can connect with Denise!

Blog: http://healthydisneyfamily.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DeniseL321
Facebook: http://facebook.com/healthydisneyfamily
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/DeniseL321
Instagram: http://instagram.com/healthydisneyfamily

Thanks so much for sharing with us Denise!!!

QOTD: What did you do this weekend?

Fitness Friday...April 25th Edition!

It's Friday! Yay!!! It's been a great week but I've been so tired! I guess all the sleeping in I did last week on Spring Break made it hard to wake up early this week!

Monday night after my run, we met our neighbors in the back yard. They had saved some of their cascarones (hand painted confetti eggs) so the boys could enjoy them since we got home late on Easter night. We had so much fun with these! I had never heard of them before!

Now it's time for Fitness Friday! I'm excited to tell you all about my runs this week!

• Saturday- Crescent City Classic 10K in 1:22:31 average pace 12:58

• Sunday- Rest Day
• Monday- #plankaday 1:05, We Stand With Boston Virtual 5K in 30:11 average pace 9:43

• Tuesday- #plankaday 1:02

• Wednesday- #plankaday 1:10, 2 mile walk with the boys

• Thursday- #plankaday 1:11, 3.11 mile run in 31:05 average pace 10:00

• Friday- #plankaday 1:00

Weight loss this week: 2.5 lbs.

Weight loss total: 12 lbs.

It was a great week of runs! And I was happy to get in a walk with my boys too! 

Let's talk about my weight loss! You probably remember me talking about wanting to hit that 10 lbs. lost goal in my Weekly Chase post on Monday. So you can imagine my shock when I stepped on the scale this week and I had lost 2.5 pounds! Not only did I hit the 10 pound mark...I blew it out of the water! Of course having such a big loss this week makes me nervous about next week's weigh in. But I will say that I am enjoying eating healthier. My body doesn't want the unhealthy fried foods and sugary foods that I was so accustomed to eating before. It's a great feeling! :-)

Tomorrow I am running 6 miles. I'm no longer training for anything but plan to do long runs every weekend ranging from 5-8 miles until I start training again in the fall. I want to keep my long run mileage up as much as possible. I'm hoping this will help me stay injury free in the fall (when my knee usually starts to hurt) and I begin training again.

QOTD: What was your best run or workout this week? Do you still run in the summer? Have you ever heard of cascarones?

We Stand With Boston Virtual 5K!

Can I start by just saying that the Boston Marathon on Monday was amazing??!!! I was so excited that Meb won! Go USA!!! And then all the stories I am hearing (like the one about the runners carrying the collapsed runner across the finish line) are just so inspiring! I just LOVE the running community!

You all know how much I love virtual races! I love running for a cause and most virtual races help raise money for a charity. When I saw this virtual race by Will Run For Bling I knew it was a must for me to do. This race called "We Stand With Boston" was raising money for The One Fund Boston (which helps the families most affected by the tragic events that unfolded during last year's Boston Marathon).

I already knew I would be running for Boston on Marathon Monday. How cool would it be to donate to The One Fund Boston AND earn some bling? Pretty awesome!

Luckily, I didn't have to run this one alone! Holly ran with me! We started the run nice and easy. We ran my normal 5K route from my house. We talked about the Boston Marathon that day and about our friend Dani who had run it. I was lucky enough to get to see Dani cross the finish line online!

Our run was a great one! We both ran hard and finished strong!

One thing that inspired me was how many people we saw running! We usually see a few people out running but that day there seemed to be more than the usual. I wondered if they were all running for Boston too (I think they were)!

Since we were running for Boston....we wore Boston colors too! :-) And I also had to show a picture of my Run For Boston Shubeez that I wear on my shoe.

This was a great virtual race! I loved running for Boston! And I can't wait to receive my bling! #BostonStrong

QOTD: Did you run for Boston on Monday?

Crescent City Classic 10K Recap!

Be sure to read my post about the race expo!

Race morning I woke up (from my deflated air mattress) and got ready to go! I grabbed a cup of coffee for the road and Paige, Billy, and I were on our way. The plan was for Billy to drop us off at the start line and he would park at City Park where the finish line was. That way we didn't have to worry about any shuttles! Score!

Paige and I got out of the car at a nearby red light and stopped for a few pictures in front of the Superdome!

We stopped for a potty break and then headed to Champions Square to see if we could find any of our running friends. Champions Square was super crowded! We found one friend but no luck finding the others.

Then it was time to head to our corral. And we found our friend Donna so we were super excited! We did a little stretching and some picture taking while we waited to start the race.

I started looking around me and found Nicole! It had been forever since I had seen her and I was so excited to just run into her in the corral!

As we were inching up towards the start line we found Paige's friend Scott! And then finally it was our corral's time to start!

This race is always fun because people dress up. They act crazy. They pull wagons with kegs in them. Some of the water stops serve beer and shots. Only in New Orleans lol! They said there were 27,000 participants there. It's a huge race that a ton of people participate in. Some are serious runners and others just walk the course. It can get crowded especially with the people that choose to walk and don't move over for the runners. That was a little frustrating.

Do you see the people dressed as red solo cups???

Before I knew it we were entering the French Quarter and mile 1! We also found Scott's friend Ashley around this point and she finished the rest of the race with us!

We passed Jackson's Square!

And Cafe Du Monde! And those beignets smelled so good!

It was fun running through this area. In the Rock 'n' Roll course you run through here around mile 9. So it was easier to enjoy it on fresher legs!

We then made it to Esplanade Street and mile 2! Paige started having stomach issues around this time and had to stop at the porta potty. Since this race was just for fun we all waited on her. No man left behind!

All along this street there were people handing out beer! And so many runners drinking it! It was pretty funny to me! This was one of those stops!

We were having so much fun and before we knew it we had made it halfway! We were at mile 3!

I knew somewhere soon the Easter Bunny would be out. He was there last year but was pretty grumpy at me when I stopped to take a picture with him! But first I saw these guys!

And not far behind them....there was my Easter Bunny! And it must have been a different guy because this one was super nice! :-)

We ran a little longer and there was mile 4! We were having so much fun and the miles were just flying by!

We ran a little more on this street and then it was time to enter City Park! This brought back tons of memories of running my first full marathon here!

City Park is beautiful! I love that I was able to enjoy running there (instead of it being at mile 24 and 25 when I was so tired). We reached mile 5 inside City Park.

And Paige had to stop again for the bathroom. I was amazed at all the runners running while we waited on Paige!

Next stop...the finish line! Scott and I would run a little faster than everyone else the entire race and then slow down so they could catch up with us. But once we knew we were near the finish line we took off! It felt good to run as fast as I wanted since I had been holding back the whole race. I just LOVE finishing strong!!!!

It's my second worst 10K time ever...but I had a blast running this race with friends!

After getting our medals and finding our friends we headed towards the after party! We had to stop and take a few finisher photos first though! Priorities lol!

Then we headed towards the after party!

The downside...there were so many people that it took forever to get into the after party area! But I entertained myself with watching other people! And I saw this guy and his costume! ;-)

Once we made it inside the after party we headed towards the VIP area. There was a ton of food in there! They had some New Orleans type food (gumbo and jambalaya), Subway, and Hooters Wings. I treated myself to a Subway sandwich and some cold chocolate milk. It's awesome to be a blogger! ;-) Inside I found some of my blogger friends...Melanie, Heather, Larisa, and Holly!

I was super excited to see Heather and her cute little baby bump! She is seriously the cutest pregnant woman ever!!!

It was fun to sit and relax with my blends (blogger friends)! We also found a few more friends outside the VIP area...Jewel, Jen, and Nicole (again)!

The after party of this race is so fun! They have a band playing and tons of food! Red beans and rice is a favorite! They also have inflatables for the kids too!

Here's Paige and I with our finish photo and medals! Oh yeah...that's right....Crescent City Classic gives all finishers a medal! Sweet!

For the second year, I had an absolute blast at the Crescent City Classic! This is a must do race for me every year! It was the perfect ending to my race season! :-)

QOTD: Have you ever run this race? What is your favorite city to run in?