It's Official!

Here it is, the exciting news I’ve been dying to tell you:

I officially registered for the 10 Mile Run! Wicked nervous though…

(I also registered for the St. Patty’s day 5k in Somerville- Looks like somebody’s on the fast track to reaching her 2012 goals!)

I’m extremely nervous for the 10 mile race because I’ve never run that far in my life.  Since I need some help with the training, I went over to runner’s world to print out a custom training plan.  My plan includes 3 or 4 runs a week that gradually works up to 9 miles.  I’m planning to finish the race with a time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. If I can do it under that I'll be very happy!

My training has been going well.  I've been unofficially training since Dec 21st. The longest run I've done so far was a five mile run last Saturday.  I felt pretty good after that because 5 miles is halfway to 10 (Duh).  The main thing I have to work on now is my endurance and focus.  It's so easy for me to want to give up, so I really need to push myself to get through this training program.

This week’s training schedule:

Monday: 4 mile run(Check!) 

Tuesday: 2 mile speed run(Check!)  Pace- 7:26

Wednesday: 4 mile run

Thursday:  Off

Friday: Off

Saturday: Long Run- 5 miles

Sunday:  I’ll see how I feel…. 

In other news, I attempted to cook myself a steak tonight, and I had no idea what I was doing.  Since, I don’t like it to be pink in the middle so I ended up cutting it into smaller pieces to make sure it was cooked thoroughly.  I won't even show you a picture, it was that pitiful.  The end result was something that resembled steak tips, just without the tenderness and juiciness.  Oh well, protein is protein, people!

I think I might need to ask my friend Matt for some meat cooking advice....

Get out of your own way!!

The second I said I was going to do all this stuff and be all motivated, was the exact second I lost all motivation! Am I sabotaging myself? 

I've been in a little bit of a funk, and as a friend put it; "it's the anti-climax of the year."  Which is true in a way.  There are no more holidays to look forward to, no events to wear sequins to, there's no snow but it's still really cold... it's just a bit depressing!

To make matters worse I've also become sucked into a morbid TV show(Six Feet Under) and spent all day Sunday and Monday watching the entire first season.

Now that the holidays have passed, it's back to reality.  I'm left wondering "what am I doing with my life????" 
I'm assuming this is normal, and I'm probably just having a miniature quarter life crisis.  No big deal.

All I need are some endorphins to get me through these winter blues!

I need to change my negative self-talk to positive and get my butt on the treadmill!

I was hoping I'd have some really exciting news by now, but I don't....There is a 10 mile race in March that a friend told me about and I wanted to sign up for it.... I just....haven't yet.  I'm being a chicken, and I know I should just do it. 

I once read some advice in a magazine and it said:
Get out of your own way.

It's good advice, and what I took from it was:  the only person between you and your goal is yourself.  It's true! So, with that being said, I'm not going to let my negative thoughts stop me from doing whatever it is I want to do.  


If you really want to see self-motivation at it's finest, hop on over to running perspective. 


Now, If you'll excuse me, I have a date with my treadmill. :)

2012 (WIll the world end, or will I learn to juggle??)

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of my time at the gym.  I’m hoping it’s not just a phase!  This week in my pilates class the instructor said, “Give yourselves some credit, this is the week with the lowest fitness attendance.”  I was like “wahooo go me!  I’m a dedicated gym goer” (as of late, anyways).  I don’t want to be one of those people that only goes to the gym right after the new year.  (BTW I am dreading going to the gym after Jan 1.)  But I don’t want my motivation to fizzle out!

While training for my first 5k, I realized that having a goal in mind really helped me stick to my work-out plan(duh!)

So, I decided to make some fitness (and life) goals for 2012 to see if I can stick to them.

Fitness Goals:

1.       Master the crane pose in yoga

2.       Run a 5k in under 29 minutes

3.       Sign up for and run a 10 mile race

4.       Learn to juggle (ok, this one was CJ’s suggestion, but it sounded like a fun goal to me)

Life Goals:

1.       Move out of my parents house

2.       Go on a trip, even if it’s a just for a weekend

3.       Learn to eat at a slower pace (I always make fun of CJ for eating so slow, but he really has the right idea!)

4.       Continue to blog my little heart out!

What are your fitness and life goals for 2012?  Do you have a New Year’s Resolution? Or do you not even plan to exist in 2012?

I'd love to hear!

Christmas Recap! (and what's really in cool whip)

All I’ve done for the Christmas Holiday is eat!

Here’s some of the food highlights:

Christmas Eve:  homemade pizzas, wine, cookies, and White Russians 

Christmas Day:  Turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, eggnog, pies and more...


Side Note:  When the desserts were being brought out, I noticed the lite Cool Whip container and decided to read the ingredients.  To which my Grandma asked "what are you doing that for? Do you do that with everything you eat?"  "No, Grandma, I'm just curious."  (jeez)

Haven't you always assumed that Cool whip would be made out of milk?  Yeah, me too!  Turns out the ingredients are: CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL* (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUM CASEINATE (FROM MILK), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, XANTHAN AND GUAR GUMS, POLYSORBATE 60, SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE, SODIUM POLYPHOSPHATES, BETA CAROTENE (COLOR)....

There is no dairy in there! I guess they can get away with that because they call it "whipped topping" and not whipped cream.  The closest you come to dairy is the sodium caseinate, which is made of the protein Casien found in milk.  Answers.com defines sodium caseinate as : A tasteless, odorless, water-soluble, white powder; used in medicine, foods, emulsification, and stabilization; formed by dissolving casein in sodium hydroxide and then evaporating. Source

Christmas Night:  Sushi Boat from Oye’s! This thing was massive and awesome...

Day-after Christmas: Applebee’s soup and salad combo and a Pomegranate Lemonade

I was so sore from my Jingle&Jab class that I didn’t work out at all on Christmas.  And I was perfectly ok with that! 

Oh, and dreams do come true!  Thanks, Santa!

the yoga mat of my dreams

Christmas Eve Jingle&Jab

My gym has been advertising this special Christmas Eve class for a few weeks now.  It sounded intense so I decided to try it.  It was advertised as “75 minutes of Cardio kick boxing and weights.” 

So I thought, “ bring it on, MG Fitness!”

I used to love cardio kick boxing in college, and I haven’t really done it since.  It’s an awesome way to get your heart rate up, and to sweat…a lot! Just don’t expect it to teach you how to be a fighter.  The moves aren’t exactly “UFC” material.

Last night I went out with some friends to Fat Cactus, so I was a little hesitant about crawling out of bed this morning and going to the gym for an intense 75 minute workout.  The class was at 8:45, not crazy early, but still pretty early for a weekend.  Even though I would have rather slept in, I dragged myself there and it was definitely worth it.  The class was very fun, and high energy!  I felt great after, and my arms are even a little sore already.  I’m so happy I went.

We started with a brief warm up, basic jabs, crosses, hooks,  and upper cuts.  The music was really fast and loud.   At some points during the class, the instructor was going so fast, people couldn’t even keep up!  Within the first 15 minutes, I was dripping in sweat!  There were so many people in the class that I was afraid to kick and punch because I didn’t want to hit anyone.  Luckily I didn’t, but I did get punched!  

 After the class I headed home and made myself a nice cup of coffee.  I plan on relaxing for the rest of the day.  How do you like to relax after a tough workout?

Tonight, I’m making pizzas with my family.  I guess it’s sort of a new tradition that we are starting.  We’re also going to open presents tonight because my dad has to work a 24-hr shift tomorrow.  Last year I had to work at the hospital on Christmas eve and Christmas. I was really sad!  The only thing that helped me through it was the fact that I was there to help people, and I should be grateful I got to go home after my shift, unlike the patients. 

After we open presents, my bf and I are heading to out friend's family Christmas party. I can’t believe this will be my third Christmas with the bf, time flies! 

This is my favorite picture of us from last Christmas

 And since I know you've been dying to see it, here's out Christmas card for this year:

Dorks

Merry Christmas!!

Jingle Bell run 2011!

I had so much fun doing this race!  The weather was very cold, but very sunny.  The temperature was in the low 20s!  I was really nervous that the cold would affect my running, but I was fine.  I think the energy of the other runners really helped.
 
Since my friend lives in Davis square, we parked at her house and walked over.  I got there early so my and my personal photographer (aka my bf) sat in Au Bon Pain while we waited for the start.  We met up with my friend from college and her boyfriend.  At about 10 minutes to the start, we walked over to the starting line.  I couldn't believe how many people there were!  It was so crowded!  We saw some really funny costumes, people really go all out for this thing.

I finally found my coworker, Tracy, through the crowd.  It was a good thing I found her because she had some antlers for me to wear.

When it was our turn to start running, there were so many people around us we couldn't really get going.  I thought it would thin out as we moved on, but we spent the rest of the run weaving in and out of people.  Like I said, the energy of the crowd really helped me forget about the cold.  It was great to see people cheering on the side of the roads.  Someone even had a sign that said, "GO AMY!"  It wasn't for me, but I pretended it was. haha.

I lost Tracy in the first mile, but I stayed with my college friend.  We kept a pretty good pace throughout the course.  I'm really glad I did all the training I did because at the very end of the race had a giant hill.  It was really tough!  That was where I lost my college friend, but I found Tracy at the top of the hill and we crossed the finish line together.  The end of the course was a full on sprint for me!  It felt great to cross the finish line.  I saw my bf on the sidelines and that put a smile on my face.  I also saw my brother (remember him and his gf were running it too?), and he told me "good job".  I didn't see my brother at all during the run but my bf got some pictures of them crossing the finish line.  Go Mike and Yulia!

 When I crossed the finish line, the clock said 37 minutes, but since I didn't start running when the started the clock, it wasn't an accurate time for me.  According to my nike+ I ran 9 min miles, but according to the official results I did 10 min miles.  Either way, I'm very happy with my results!

My very first medal!

 I definitely want to do another race (but not until the weather is warmer) :)

Oye's and last workout before the 5k

Friday night I decided to take my bf out to dinner.  He recently started a new job and has been working a lot, so I thought he deserved a treat.  I even let him pick the destination!  He suggested we go to Oye’s, an Asian fusion restaurant in Reading.  We haven’t been there for a while, so I was pretty excited for it.

Since I’m really boring, I always order the same thing: miso soup and Pad thai with tofu.  But this time I ordered the Pad Thai with tofu AND Shrimp.  I know, I’m so interesting.  The bf ordered yaki udon noodles (which I had no idea what they were), and crab Rangoon.  

I rate Oye’s 3.5 out of 5 peas.  The food is great, the atmosphere is lovely(they had a live jazz band last night), but the service is not always the best.  

Saturday morning I headed to the gym for a workout.  I ran a mile just to loosen my legs up from Friday's run with cement filledsneakers.  Then, I hit the arc for a 20 minute cardio workout.  After that I used some ab machines, and the hip abductor machine.  After the machines I stretched, and then did a few core exercises such as the plank.  I made sure not to over do it because I wanted to be in tip top shape for the 5k!