4 Country Miles!

This past weekend I was visiting my sister in Dothan, AL so I didn't do much of a long run. I did run 4 miles on Saturday instead of my usual summer 6!

I woke up at 6:00 that morning and headed out. The weather was sunny with a temperature of 75 and 90% humidity. I had in mind to run at least 3 miles....more if I felt good.

I started out running in my sister's neighborhood. The neighborhood has several hills that I had to run. But it's such a beautiful neighborhood in the country!

The first mile was in her neighborhood. Then I ventured out on the county road right outside the neighborhood. I had been running this road all week and there was hardly any traffic which was so nice! I took a right turn onto this road.

As I mentioned, I was in the country. So right across the street from my sister's neighborhood is a farm. They have cows, horses, and even a donkey! I LOVED hearing the cows mooing each day and seeing all the animals! It was also hilly and pretty! 

At the end of the road you have an option to turn left or right. I turned left. It was here that I could see a HUGE San Francisco like hill! It was straight UP!!! If you look real close you can see it in the picture below (although the sun rays block most of it)! And no....I didn't run it. I was too intimidated lol! 

 Before I reached the hill I turned around....and had to go up another hill to get back to the county road! I was breathing hard but I made it! I took a right back onto the county road, passed my sister's neighborhood, and kept going until I came to the end of the road on that side. I had to pass the farmer that was tending his horses. He said good morning to me and asked how many miles I had run so far! I was at 2.5 at that point! 

When I got to the end of the county road I turned around and headed back. 

I made it to the entrance to my sister's neighborhood...and 4 miles! That was all I had in me so I stopped there!

Red, sweat filled eyes lol!

I decided to take a short walk to cool down. On my walk I headed over to say goodbye to the donkey!  I didn't feel like traipsing through the grass so I took a picture of him from the edge of the road.  

Earlier that week I had gotten a closer picture of him. He was so sweet....although I didn't touch him because he was pretty dirty looking lol!

Even though it wasn't much of a long run...I had a great run Saturday morning! I LOVED running in the country all week!

QOTD: Do you encounter animals on your runs?

The Weekly Chase #180!

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't do my weekly Fitness Friday post last Friday. But I was busy enjoying a week long visit with my sister! She lives about 3.5 hours away. I will assure you though that I ran every day and kept my run streak alive!!!

We had a great week visiting with her! We enjoyed lots of sister time and my boys loved hanging out with their cousins! Here are a few pictures from the week!

My sister also took me to the gym with her! We did an arm workout and a leg workout! I came home with some very sore muscles! But it made me remember how much I used to love going to the gym! I'm hoping I can talk my husband into a gym membership now! 

It was such a fun week! We have already planned to go back in July for another week! It IS summer after all! 

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 while at my sister's house!
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Yes! I took all my rolling stuff to my sister's house to ensure I would do it. 
• Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. Yes to maintaining my weight....85% to logging all my calories. It's hard to log when you are eating things you normally don't eat while on vacation. 
• Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week. Yes! I made sure to meet this goal!
• Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles. No. 
• Goal #6: Eat less calories each day. No. I'm sure I ate more than normal but since I didn't log everything it's hard to say for sure. The good news is that I didn't gain any weight while I was gone! 
• Goal #7: Take at least one walk this week. Yes! I walked every day after my run. And then we walked several times in the evenings!
• Goal #8: Have a fun week visiting my sister. 110%! We had such a great week with her! 

Here are my goals for this week!

Every week goals:

Goal #1: Run every day! 

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. 

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories.

Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week.

Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles.

Goal #6: Eat less calories each day.

Goal #7: Take at least one walk this week.

Goal #8: Strength train at least 2 times this week. My sister made me a workout plan for here at home. I promised her I would continue my strength training!

Goal #9: Get everything ready for Hayden to go to Boy Scout Summer Camp. Hayden leaves early on Saturday for camp. We have a list of things to do to get him all ready. 

So that's my plan for this week! I hope you have a great week too!

QOTD: What goals are you chasing this week?

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10K Fun!

This past Saturday my long run goal was to get in at least 5 miles. The past week the heat indexes have been unbearable as well as the humidity. I struggled every day with just my daily 2 milers so I wasn't sure how this weekend's long run was going to be. I normally aim for at least 6 miles but told myself if I could get in 5 I would be happy.

Well a miracle happened overnight. I woke up to the temperature of 71 degrees!!!! WHAT???!!! And that was the feels like temperature as well! So I went from dreading the run to being super ready to run!

Another one of my goals this week was to slow down. I've realized I just can't keep my normal pace. The heat and humidity are making it too hard. I always forget that in the summer I MUST slow down. So I was going to try my hardest to make that happen.

Andy also decided to come and ride his bike along beside me! Yay! I love when he wants to come with me!

I started out slow. I looked at my Garmin and I was running a little under a 9 minute mile. I was proud of myself lol! My first mile I ran a 9:08 average pace.

That slower pace started me out well. I felt great the rest of the run!!!!

We ran the route I ran weeks back where the dog came after me. I figured Andy could keep me safe from the dog since he was on the bike! Luckily we never saw the dog!

Andy seemed to like this route better too because we didn't have to dodge as much traffic. That really makes a difference!

Around mile 4 we ran by a cow pasture. Usually the cows aren't close to the road. But this day they were!!! They were so cute! And there were even a few baby calves! I told them good morning and they just stared at me lol! I love cows!

Before we knew it....we made the turn that would take us back home! I was so excited because I was feeling great! The slower pace was helping make the run a lot more bearable in the heat!

And having this guy with me was great! Since I was having a decent run I was even able to talk to him!!! :-)

And then...I was done! And because the run felt good...I was able to run 6.2 miles....not just 5 miles! I was really happy about that!

After I stopped sweat starting dripping in my eyes! Usually my visor keeps that from happening but I guess I had too much sweat lol! See how red my eyes are in this picture??!! Yikes! It was stinging so bad!

So this run has taught me that it is a MUST for me to slow down in the summertime. I had a lot more fun running when I wasn't struggling!

QOTD: Do you see cows where you run?

The Weekly Chase #179!

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend!

Ours started on Friday. The boys and I went to a friends house for lunch and some pool time! We had so much fun! And I failed to take even one picture! :-( That night we had our normal Friday night pizza.

Saturday morning I woke up to a temperature of 71 degrees!!!!! Considering all week long I've had to endure feels like temps in the 90's this girl was super excited and ready to run a long run! Andy rode his bike beside me while I ran a 10K! Fun!

The rest of the day was spent at Andy's parents house. Hayden finished his foot locker for Boy Scouts Summer Camp!

Sawyer, Grandma, and I enjoyed playing with my nephew Ronan! Andy's mom has a little pool for him that he loves to play in! We laughed and laughed at how huge his diaper got from the water!!! He was having a blast!

We stayed and ate dinner with the whole family at the Mexican restaurant! Andy and I split the Chicken, Steak, and Shrimp fajitas! So yummy!

After dinner we stopped by Kirstin and Jim's house for dessert. We also gave the Daddy's their Father's Day gifts...a gift card to play golf!

Jim had also just gotten home from being in San Francisco for two weeks for work. While he was there he got to visit my best friend Stephanie and her family before they left for Guam (where the Coast Guard has sent them for the next 3 years). Stephanie and her family went to Disneyland last week and she got me the Starbucks You Are Here Disneyland Mug!!!!! She also sent me all the soaps out of her hotel room at Disneyland (she knows me so well)! Jim brought all of this home to me....as well as the San Francisco mug AND ornament!!!!!

Sunday morning I got in a quick recovery run while Andy did a run/walk (he's been getting up every morning and run/walking for the past 2 weeks...I'm so proud of him)! Then Andy and I walked a little over 2 miles together! It was the perfect start to Father's Day! 

I'm so thankful for Andy and what an amazing father he is to our two boys! And our little fur baby loves him so much too!

We celebrated Father's Day by going out to lunch. Andy's goal was to go somewhere where there wouldn't be a crowd. He chose Tropical Smoothie Cafe...and there were only a few other people in there! He was happy! 

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! Yes!!!
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Yes!
• 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 finally listened to my body and took a run streaker "rest" day! 
• Goal #6: Eat less calories each day. Yes!
• Goal #7: Take at least one walk this week. Yes! I took a walk after almost every run this week!
• Goal #8: Add in some strength training this week. No. :-( I told you this was hard for me. 
• Goal #9: Help Sawyer clean out his closet. 75%. We got some of this done! We still have a few more clothes to go through but I'm calling it progress!
• Goal #10: Shop for Father's Day. Yes! We got him a gift card to play golf and he loved it!!! 

And here are my goals for this week! 

Every week goals:

Goal #1: Run every day! 

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. 

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories.

Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week.

Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles.

Goal #6: Eat less calories each day.

Goal #7: Take at least one walk this week.

Goal #8: Have a fun week visiting my sister. This week we are going to visit my sister Amy! We are all so excited! The boys love visiting their cousins and Aunt! And I'm looking forward to some much needed sister time!

So that's my plan this week! Since we will be at my sister's house my main goal is to have a good time! 

I won't be doing much blogging while I'm gone this week so please bear with me if I don't get any posts up! 

QOTD: What are your goals this week?

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Fitness Friday...June 17th Edition!

Happy Friday y'all!!! Can I just say that it has been miserably hot this week on the Gulf Coast?! The heat index has been over 100 on most days. And early in the morning it's been in the high 80's or 90's which has made for some really hot runs. There has been no way to escape the heat this week when running!

I also want to express my deep sorrow over everything that has happened in Orlando this week. I cannot even begin to imagine how the victims and their families are feeling after such tragedy. My heart broke when the singer Christine Grimmie was fatally shot. Then my heart broke even more on Sunday morning when I saw the news of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting. And then my heart broke again when I saw news of the 2 year old boy who was attacked by the alligator and later found dead at the Grand Floridian in Disney World. I don't understand what this world is coming to. I know the alligator thing wasn't caused by a person. But the other two tragedies were....and I can't comprehend how so much evil can exist. It seems like every single day I am hearing reports of someone being killed or shot by another person. It's horrific.

I'm praying for Orlando. I'm praying for all the people who have intentions to hurt another human being. I'm praying for our country. I'm praying for our world.

This week was a fun one! On Monday the boys and I had a low key day. We went grocery shopping and to the library. I LOVE to read and want my boys to love it as well. So I really try to encourage it. Here are the boys books that they picked! I love that they both picked nonfiction books!

And here's my pick! I've heard from several people that this book is so good! Have you read it? What did you think?

My hubby has had to work late every night this week. He has a major deadline at work so he's been trying to get everything completed for that. He's had dinner with us every night but then had to go back to work. :-( My friend Kirstin's husband is out of town for a class so she's been acting as a single mom also! After dinner on Monday we met at my favorite spot to take a walk by the bay!

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful area!

Tuesday we headed to the beach with Kirstin and Maddy! We drove to Pensacola because that is my favorite beach since I grew up there. We had to make a pit stop at the rest area for a bathroom break (too much coffee for the mommas)! Who knew there would be such photo opps at the rest area??!!

We finally made it to the beach! 

Well we had only been there for about a half hour and the lifeguards made us get out of the water due to some bad weather coming in. They said we could stay on the sand. Well then a few minutes later they made us clear the beach. We had to stay in the bathrooms or in our cars with the windows up. We were getting kicked off the beach lol! We waited in the bathrooms for about 30 minutes but it didn't look like the storm was going to pass over. So we got dressed and called it a day. As soon as we got in the car it started raining. 

But guess what makes everything better? Starbucks of course!!!!

And I absolutely LOVED what was painted in the parking lot!!! How cool is that??!!

That night I had a teacher workshop to go to. It was a great class! Especially because they gave us 6 new books for our classroom!!!

Wednesday was supposed to be rainy. It rained a little but not like what was predicted. We decided to go to one of the summer kids movies. It only cost $1! When we got there they had decorated for the Finding Dory movie that opens up this weekend! SO cute! We wished that was what we were seeing! But the dollar movie was Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was a great way to stay out of the heat! 

Thursday Sawyer had gymnastics. While he was at the gym Hayden and I went and had lunch with Kirstin and Maddy. We tried Tropical Smoothie Cafe which just opened in our city. It was yummy!

Then we shopped for our Father's Day Gift (which I can't tell you about yet)! After we picked Sawyer up from gymnastics we decided to go to the pool. We got all ready, put on our sunscreen, and drove to the pool...only to find that it was closed for a swim meet! The kiddos were so sad! So we went to get ice cream instead!

They still wanted to play in the water so I hooked up the sprinkler and had it aimed at the trampoline. They had a blast!

And look! We have our second set of baby birds in the birdhouse my Dad build for Hayden! They are so cute!!! And the momma bird is such a good momma!

Now it's time for Fitness Friday! My runs were tough this week due to the heat and humidity. But I didn't give up (although I wanted to several times) and kept the streak alive! 

• Friday- 2.61 mile run in 20:52 average pace 8:00, 1.26 mile walk

• Saturday- 6.22 mile run in 52:42 average pace 8:29, 1.57 mile walk

• Sunday- 2.63 mile run in 21:19 average pace 8:06, 1.60 mile walk

• Monday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.31 mile run in 18:21 average pace 7:56, 2.37 mile walk

• Tuesday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.32 mile run in 18:26 average pace 7:56, 2.05 mile walk 

• Wednesday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.07 mile run in 16:45 average pace 8:06, 2.37 mile walk

• Thursday- #plankaday 2:05, 1.87 mile run in 15:23 average pace 8:14, 3.07 mile walk

Like I mentioned (several times lol) it's been super hot and humid this week. You walk outside and the heat hits you like a ton of bricks! But I managed to get in all my runs! And I got in a walk after all my runs too! That's one thing I love about not working in the summer!

We are supposed to get a break from the humidity on Sunday and Monday. I'm thinking about pushing my long run back to Sunday instead of Saturday. I'll just have to get up really early to get it done before church. So I'm still deciding. Also I may only do 5 miles this week. It's just too hot right now! I also know that slowing down will help some. I'm going to try really hard to slow down!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stay cool!

QOTD: What was your best run or workout this week? Is it super hot where you live?

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