Fitness Friday...October 30th Edition!

It's Friday y'all!!! I'm super excited because this weekend is going to be full of celebration!!! First, it's Halloween (which is one of my favorite holidays)! Halloween is also my hubby's birthday!!! And then Sunday....is MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! Yeah...I'm a little bit excited!!!!

But I had to get through the week first! Monday and Tuesday weren't that fun. I had to stay at home with a sick little guy. Sawyer had strep throat. :-( On the bright side, I got ALL the laundry done, some blog posts done, and some race promoting done (yes you KNOW you want to come to Mobile, AL and run the Battleship 12K with me)!!!! I even have a discount code for ya below!!!

I also got to spend lots of time with my Sawyer and my furry little guy too!

This week was also Red Ribbon Week at school for the boys. They had different things they got to do each day. On Monday they wore their favorite sports team shirt. So Hayden sported an Auburn shirt of course! Tuesday was crazy hair day!

Wednesday was crazy sock day! Sawyer had on minion socks but you couldn't see them. But those are the ones he wanted to wear lol!

Wednesday was also silly hat day for me at preschool (since we are studying the letter H)! Here's a picture of me and some of my coworkers and our silly hats! I knew my preschoolers would love my Olaf hat that I wore during the Glass Slipper Challenge!

Thursday the boys got to dress up as their favorite book character. Sawyer chose SpongeBob and Hayden chose Diary of a Wimpy Kid!

Today the boys got to wear a red shirt in honor of being drug free! :-)

Thursday I also had some birthday celebration fun! My work gave me a birthday present! Two of my favorite things....Rolos and Starbucks!!! They know me well! So sweet!

After school I met Jenny at Starbucks for a coffee date! I had no idea she was planning to celebrate my birthday! She brought me a present!!!! First we got our coffee. The barista filled mine a little full but guess what showed up on the lid of my frapp??? A Hidden Mickey!!!! Love it!!!

And of course there's a coffee selfie!!!

Then it was present time!!!

Y'all!!!!!!! She got me a coffee mug filled with pictures from our half marathon PR!!!!! What an amazing gift!!! I am so very blessed by this girl in my life!!!! Thank you sooo much Jenny!!!!!!

Now it's time for Fitness Friday! It was an eventful week! I had a 5K PR and AG award at my race on Saturday! Then we had lots of rain Monday and Tuesday. It was the remnants of Hurricane Patricia coming through. My run on Monday was full of crazy wind and rain but I did it! I didn't let my run streak die!

• Friday- #plankaday 2:11, 1.75 mile run in 14:05 average pace 8:03

• Saturday- Turkey Trot 5K in 23:27 average pace 7:33

• Sunday- 2.55 mile run in 20:24 average pace 8:00

• Monday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.06 mile run in 16:49 average pace 8:09

• Tuesday- #plankaday 2:15, 2.07 mile run in 16:53 average pace 8:09

• Wednesday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.16 mile run in 17:33 average pace 8:08

• Thursday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.31 mile run in 18:48 average pace 8:09

It was a great week of running! I'm pretty proud of myself for running in the crazy storm on Monday! I got really lucky that there wasn't any lightning! 

Tomorrow I'm running the Faster Than Boo Virtual 10K race! It should be lots of fun!!!

I hope you all have an awesome weekend!!!

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

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a set of resistance bands!!!

Turkey Trot 5K Recap!

I know what you are thinking! A Turkey Trot in October? Seems early! Well...I run this race every year because of that fact. Because every registration buys a Thanksgiving turkey for a local family in need. So I'm ok with it being early!

This race is also one that the cub scouts participate in. So we always do it as a family! This year was no exception!

Funny story....my husband was in charge of registering all of us for the race since he is a cub scout den leader. Well...he got us all registered but our shirt sizes were a different story. Sawyer's shirt was a little snug but it worked. MY shirt however....was super big! He ordered me a size LARGE!!! Lol! I'm not sure what he was thinking! And now I can't stop picking on him about it!

This race is always very family oriented. They had several vendors out there with games for the kids. And Piggly Wiggly even had Mr. Pig there!

Donna rode to the race with us. My boys kept her quite entertained! We both bought the same skirt last weekend at the half marathon packet pickup so we decided to wear it to this race! Don't we look cute?!!

My goal for this race was to try and PR my 5K time. I also hoped I would place like I did last year. Because this race isn't bib timed I lined up as close as I could to the start line but not too close so I wouldn't get trampled. I heard two runners in front of me talking about keeping an 8 minute pace so I knew I was lined up in the correct spot.

As I was waiting for the start I realized I hadn't turned on my Garmin. It is usually super fast about finding the satellites but that morning it was having a hard time. The gun went off before my Garmin was ready. But what can you do? I started running hoping it would catch up. And I had RunKeeper going on my phone so I knew I had a backup.

I knew immediately when I started running that I was going to have a good run. My legs were feeling strong. I had that floating on air feeling. It was making me very happy! When I ran mile 1 in the 7's I was super shocked! Had I really just run that fast? And could I keep that pace for two more miles? I didn't know but I was going to try. I was in a groove so there was no slowing down.

There were several hilly parts of the course but I got through them fine. The course was different than last year but still downtown in one of my favorite areas to run.

Before I knew it I had made it halfway and to the turn around point. Headed back I saw several of my Sole2Soul Sisters and that was fun!

Mile 2 came and then it wasn't long and I could see the finish line. But since it was a straight shot there I knew it wasn't super close. I was still running fast and in the 7's. But I was getting tired. I wouldn't let myself slow down. I was too close.

Near the finish line I saw one of my favorite photographers Tim! He snapped pictures of me and said, "Fast!"

That gave me the extra push I needed! I sprinted to the finish line! Right before crossing I heard and saw Sawyer cheering for me! Love my sweet boy!!! :-)

I had done it! I PRed with a time of 23:27!!!!

The only issue I had was my Garmin said the mileage was 3.00. Now I'm not sure if that was because the satellites didn't come on until after I started. Or if the course was a little short. Either way...I still would have PRed regardless!

After crossing I headed toward Sawyer and also found Hayden and Andy. We walked around a bit and the boys played some games. Then we found Donna. We still had a few minutes until the fun run would start.

Another awesome picture by Tim!

Andy was supposed to do the fun run with us. But he could barely walk. He got hit in the leg by a softball last week at his softball game and he was in pain. So he decided to not risk it. I knew Hayden wanted to run since he has been doing the running club at school. But Sawyer wanted to run and walk. Sweet Donna offered to run/walk with Sawyer so I could stay with Hayden in case he wanted to run.

We lined up to start and took off! Hayden did so awesome during the fun run! It was a mile long. We walked a few times and ran a few times. He loved it! He finished in about 14 minutes. Then we waited to see Sawyer and Donna come in. They weren't that far behind us. And as soon as Sawyer saw the finish line he took off!!!!!

After the fun run it was time for the awards. I had no clue if I'd placed or not because I couldn't find the posted race times. So when they called my name for 2nd place in my age group I was so thrilled!!!

I received a medal and a water bottle!

I was so happy! It was another great time at the Turkey Trot! I remember how last year at this race my calf strain had just started. I was so thankful to be running injury free this year!

Of course I'll be back to run this one again next year!!!

QOTD: Have you ever run a race where your Garmin was off? Or a course that was too short?

Aurorae Fitness Resistance Bands Review and Giveaway!

As a runner I really need to do more weight training. So when Aurorae contacted me about reviewing their new resistance bands I was thrilled!

Their set includes 5 resistance bands (ranging from 2-30 pounds), 2 padded handles, an ankle strap, a door anchor, a guide book, and a carrying case!

The set is very affordable at $24.95 and is sold on Amazon!

The bands are color coordinated by their resistance level. Yellow is 2-4 pounds, blue is 4-6 pounds, green is 10-12 pounds, black is 15-20 pounds, and red is 25-30 pounds. You can combine the bands for multiple levels of resistance. So there are lots of options for the beginner to advanced athlete. 

The bands are made with durable, high grade latex rubber. And there is a lifetime guarantee on the bands.

I love the guide book because it gives you examples of different exercises you can do with the bands!

You can do bicep curls!

I also used the door anchor to do hip adductions and hip abductions.

And seated rows!

There are tons more exercises that can be done!

My favorite part is that these can all be done at home. And...these bands can travel with you! Especially since it comes with a carrying case!

I'm very pleased with these resistance bands!

How would you like your own set? Aurorae has kindly offered to giveaway the same set to one of my U.S. readers! Enter below for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Aurorae sent me this product free to review. No other compensation was provided. All opinions are mine and mine alone. 

The Weekly Chase #146!

Happy Monday y'all! It's going to be a rainy two days here. We are under a flash flood watch from the remnants of Hurricane Patricia. I'm hoping and praying it doesn't interfere with my runs too much!

We had a great weekend! I just LOVE weekends don't you?

Friday afternoon we took Sawyer to gymnastics and then Andy, Hayden, and I set out for some shoe shopping for the boys. But first...Starbucks of course! Hayden was so excited because I treated him to the pumpkin cookie that he's been eyeing for weeks. He said it didn't disappoint!

After shopping we picked Sawyer up from gymnastics and then headed to Mellow Mushroom for a pizza dinner with our friends Kirstin, Jim, and Maddy! It was so yummy! And we needed that pizza fuel for the Turkey Trot 5K the next morning!

Saturday morning I ran the Turkey Trot 5K! And I ran a new PR AND placed second in my age group!!! I'll do a race recap on Wednesday!

Saturday afternoon Andy and Jim went to play golf and Kirstin and I took all the kids and went shopping! I found a ton of great deals on some clothes which made me super happy!!! And of course we had to have Starbucks too!

And look what I FINALLY found at Target!!! Monster Cereal!!! I wait ALL year for this cereal! I LOVE it!!! I haven't been able to find it so to say I was excited is an understatement lol!

After shopping and when the boys got done golfing we all went and ate Mexican food together. I got a burrito with chicken and mushrooms and smothered in cheese sauce and pico. If I'd known it was as good as it was I would have taken a picture! So yummy!!!

Sunday we went to church. And you can never have too many family photos! Do you like my new dress? :-)

The rest of Sunday was spent doing chores around the house and getting ready for the next week.

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 my goals from last week!

• Goal #1: Run every day! Yes! I kept the streak alive even though I was sore from my half marathon last weekend!
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Yep!
• Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. Yes!
• Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week. Yes!
• Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles. Yes! I made sure to take it easy this week for recovery.

Here's the plan for this week!

Goal #1: Run every day! Definitely plan to keep the streak alive. I'm hoping the rain (flash flood) isn't too bad so I can get out there! Even so...I'll find a way!!!

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Gotta stay injury free!!!! Please!!!

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. The key to maintaining for me is staying accountable!

Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week. I LOVE moving this much in a day!

Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles. These little recovery runs really help.

Goal #6: Get everything ready for Halloween and Andy's birthday (and my birthday on Sunday)! We are having friends come over on Saturday to Trick or Treat and celebrate my hubby's birthday since it is on Halloween too. And then my birthday is the next day so I'm sure we will celebrate it some too! :-)

So those are the goals I'm chasing this week! Good luck with your goals as well!

QOTD: What goals are you working on this week?