Fitness Friday...July 31st Edition!

Happy Friday! We've had a fun week! Our summer is winding down though. We only have two weeks until school starts! My boys are not looking forward to it lol!

Monday was Hayden's 10th birthday!!! We celebrated with friends at the park splash pad! He had a super fun day! Then that night he got to open up his presents...which is always a kid's favorite part!

Tuesday was a super busy day for me. I had to renew my CPR training. But I did get a super fun surprise in my mailbox from a friend. She was cleaning out her closet and asked if I wanted these runningskirts! OF COURSE I do!!!! What is so great is that I already have these two skirts...but I can't wear them anymore because they are two sizes too big! So now I have ones that are the correct size! Yay!

Later that night I had a professional development class. My coworker Erika and I always attend these together! And before the class started we had to be prepared...with Starbucks of course!!!

On Wednesday we met Jenny and her kiddos for some fun! She is leaving to go on vacation for almost three weeks so we needed one last Starbucks date!

And one more shopping trip to Target with our kiddos!

When we got home there was an amazing package waiting for me!!!

I was so excited and blessed to get this box of goodies from Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series! I'm so happy to be a part of team Rock 'n' Blog!!!

Thursday we headed to my school and worked in my classroom some. I only have about a week to get things ready for my new students!!!

I also got some more fun mail...my two new princess visors from Sparkle Athletic!!! So excited!!!

That night I had another professional development class with Erika! And of course Starbucks before!!! :-)

Now it's time for Fitness Friday! I had some great runs this week! I tried to have an easy low mileage day. I think that will be key for my streak since I've started half marathon training again.

• Friday- #plankaday 2:05, 1.66 mile run in 14:04 average pace 8:29

• Saturday- 8.05 mile run in 1:12:46 average pace 9:02

• Sunday- 2.07 mile run in 17:42 average pace 8:33

• Monday- #plankaday 2:05, 20 push-ups, 2.06 mile run in 17:16 average pace 8:24

• Tuesday- #plankaday 2:30, 1.76 mile run in 14:52 average pace 8:27

• Wednesday- #plankaday 2:05, 3.13 mile run in 25:56 average pace 8:17

• Thursday- #plankaday 2:15, 20 push-ups, 2.31 mile run in 19:02 average pace 8:14

My runs felt amazing this week! It's still hot and humid but I've been getting out there a little earlier and it's helped. I've also been walking a little more after my runs and have really enjoyed that! I won't have time to do that once school starts.

This weekend I'm running the Road Shark 5 Mile Virtual Race! It will be fun!

I hope you all have a great weekend!!!

QOTD: What was your best run or workout this week?

Dr. Cool Cooling Shirt Review!

Disclaimer: I received this product free to review. I received no other compensation. All opinions in this post are mine and mine alone!

Living on the Gulf Coast is wonderful! But living here means it is hot and humid in the summertime. So this runner is always on the look out for running clothes that will be cool for the summer!

I was excited when Dr. Cool Recovery contacted me and asked me to review their cooling shirts. A shirt that actually cools you down as you sweat? It sounded too good to be true!

I was hoping for a tank but at the time they didn't have any available. So I chose the women's couch shirt! I LOVED the saying on it! I've been injured before and being stuck on the couch really does hurt!

So what makes these cooling shirts so special? Here's what their website says about their cooling apparel:

"As you work up a sweat, Dr. Cool shirts make sweat work for you by reducing your fabric’s surface temperature up to 30%. Unlike traditional wicking technologies the moisture and sweat activated material delivers three distinct functions – wicking, moisture circulation, and regulated evaporation. Other workout shirts degrade over time, but the cooling benefits of Dr. Cool's chemical-free shirts will never wash out."

I'm going to be honest when I tell you that I didn't believe any shirt would help me stay cool here on the Gulf Coast. It's so hot here and I sweat so much when I run that it looks like I just stepped out of the shower when I'm finished. And the fact that this shirt was black (I hardly ever wear black in the summer time here since black attracts the sun) made me almost dread trying it out. And there are sleeves on this shirt! I ALWAYS wear tanks in the summer! But I knew it would be the ULTIMATE test to try this shirt!

So I set out for my morning run. It was hot. It was humid. I was sweating. But...I wasn't as hot as I expected in a black short sleeve shirt! And the shirt wasn't sticking to me like I'm used to my run shirts doing. It was actually not bad! I could tell that the shirt was doing what it was supposed to do! I was sold!

As far as washing the shirt goes...you can wash it in cold water and tumble dry low. Like all other wicking material you are not supposed to use fabric softener. The shirt washed great for me and worked just the same the next time I ran in it! :-)

Be sure to check out Dr. Cool Recovery's website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

QOTD: What is your favorite thing to wear while running in the heat?

Gulf Coast Half Marathon Training...Week 2!

Currently training for:
Gulf Coast Half Marathon
Senior Bowl Charity Run 10K
Battleship 12K
Double Bridge Run 15K
Disney Princess 5K
Disney Enchanted 10K
Disney Princess Half Marathon

This week Jenny wanted to run 8 miles. I was a little worried about 8 miles in the heat and humidity! But I knew we could do it! It just may not be pretty!

We decided to run down by the bay. I hadn't run there in a while and it is one of my favorite places to run!

A blogger friend, Jen from Marathon Mom, was also in town for her graduation for her doctorate degree! She needed to run 14 miles for marathon training. So she came and met up for our 8! It was so good to meet her in person! And running together made it even better!

Jenny's husband Eric came and ran too! He's much faster than us but he stayed with us until mile 4 when we turned around. He kept going another mile before turning back around.

The run was great at the beginning. We were running right by the water and there was a nice breeze! But once we got away from the water it was hot and very humid!

Despite that we kept a great pace! We talked and talked! Jen and Jenny had lots to talk about because Jen lives in Minnesota and Jenny is from there!

The last two miles were a little frustrating. We saw so many people out running that morning! But this one guy was in front of us and every time we tried to pass him he wouldn't let us! It was like he didn't want to be passed by girls! Lol! You can see him in this picture below.

Finally the sidewalk split into two by the water and we went on the opposite sidewalk from him and were able to get in front of him. It was so frustrating that he was so rude and wouldn't let us pass him! Jenny looked and he made us slow our pace by 24 seconds! In run time that's a lot!

Overall the run was great! I felt amazing the entire run. I just struggled with breathing a little due to the humidity. But I was very happy with our pace and run!

It was so great running with Jenny and Jen!!! Running with friends always makes a run so much better!

After pictures Jen went on her way to finish the rest of her 14 miles. She ended up doing great!

Jenny, Eric, and I went to our local coffee shop for some coffee! Coffee after a long run is one of my favorite ways to refuel!!!

It was a great morning and amazing way to start my Saturday!

QOTD: What is your favorite way to refuel? Are you a coffee drinker?

The Weekly Chase #133!

I can't believe it! Today my first born child turns 10 years old!!!! My Hayden is double digits!!! I cannot believe he has been in our family for 10 years already!!! He has blessed our lives in so many ways and made our world so much more happier! I love my sweet boy!!!

On Friday the boys and I met Andy for lunch at a new restaurant in town...the Chicken Salad Chick! I fell in love! I love chicken salad and this place has so many different kinds! I got the Barbie-Q (bbq flavored). I also LOVE that they offer healthy sides! I got fresh fruit! AND you also get a cookie with your meal (I mean who doesn't need that little taste of sweet after a meal)! It was under 500 calories for the entire meal! Yes!

That left me plenty of calories for an afternoon Starbucks frappuccino after I ran errands and paid some bills!

The day ended with an amazing sunset! God was showing off again!!!

Saturday morning I met Jenny and her hubby for an 8 mile run. Jen from Marathon Mom was in town for graduation and came to meet us to run! She needed to run 14 miles so she ran 8 with us! I loved meeting her and am so glad we got to run together too!

The rest of Saturday was spent at the beach! The birthday boy wanted to go to the beach so that's what we did! But when we got there some thunderstorms starting rolling in. We got rained on a few times but the lightning was way out so we were safe. And both boys got stung (not bad) by jellyfish. But we still had a blast!

After church on Sunday I did lots of shopping! I had to shop for the birthday boy and do grocery shopping for the week. I also baked a cake per the birthday boy's request. That night Andy's family met us at Cracker Barrel (the birthday boy's request) for a celebratory birthday dinner! Then they came to our house for cake! Fun times!

Now it's time for the Weekly Chase! It's a new week and I have new goals to achieve! 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 last week's goals!

• Goal #1: Run every day! Yep! I hit day 425 this week!
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Yes!
• Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. I did so much better this week logging everything!
• Goal #4: Incorporate some weight training into my routine. I didn't do too well on this this week. I forgot to do most of my exercises each day. :-(
• Goal #5: Clean the house. I didn't get everything done but I made a dent in it!

Here are my goals for this week!

Goal #1: Run every day! Keeping the streak alive of course!!!

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Gotta prevent injury as much as I can!

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. I plan on logging everything this week! Need to stay accountable!

Goal #4: Incorporate some weight training into my routine. I plan on doing all the challenge exercises this week!

Goal #5: Make Hayden's birthday a special day! We have plans to go to the splash pad park with friends. I really hope he has a fun day celebrating!!!

So that's the plan for this week! Good luck to you on accomplishing your goals this week!

QOTD: What are your goals this week?