Highlights of the Week

happy saturday everyone! i am so happy it's the weekend!! it has definitely been a long week to say the least. but here's some of the highlights! 

finally getting to put on jeans because it's been a little chillier this week! 

making a trip into westwood in the middle of the week solely for a ginourmous cup of coconut froyo (with strawberries, brownie bits, almonds, coconut, sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and shredded coconut). it was SO good.

getting to wake up to this sunrise. talk about beautiful! 

a reese's pumpkin. no explanation necessary. 

going for an awesome 7-mile run with my running club on wednesday. we ran straight uphill for the first half of the run but it was so worth it - check out this view!!

getting care package from home with BARNEY BUTTER. (and other snackage, a mug, a bowl, pajama shorts, and hair bows. my mom rocks.) i was running around like crazy freaking out and all of my friends were cracking up at me. 

going to my second barbell class on Thursday night - we actually used the barbells this time and learned deadlifts and cleans. i deadlifted 100 lbs (and i'm finding my 1-rep max next tuesday!) and was SO PROUD of myself! and i felt so badass doing cleans with such a huge bar.

getting to drink tea in my room! i am so glad that my mom sent the mug because i've been drinking tea like crazy after coming down with a cold this week. 

seeing a gorgeous double rainbow after a thunderstorm on thursday afternoon!! 

trying my first ever pumpkin smash smoothie from jamba juice. it was pretty good but i definitely prefer fruity smoothies. 

unfortunately the lowlights of the week were getting sick and having a bedbug scare. long story short my roomies and i had to move out for a night to a different building because we thought we got bedbugs, but luckily we didn't get them! but it was definitely really stressful (not to mention i didn't get any sleep thursday night) and that on top of being sick did not make for a fun friday at all. i'm just happy to be back in my own room again!

this morning i woke up and was feeling like crap, but after texting my mom (who suggested that i get out and move a bit to clear my sinuses) i ended up going for a short run a little less than 3 miles. 

i ended my run at starbucks and got an iced coffee with 1 pump pumpkin spice. i sucked it down in like 5 minutes and went back for my free refill (yep the barista definitely thought i was crazy haha), and somehow ended up buying an egg wrap because any non dining hall food sounded delicious. and it tasted SO FREAKING GOOD! i am definitely sick of oatmeal, salad bar, peanut butter toast, and turkey sandwiches. i cannot wait to make my own food when i go home for thanksgiving and christmas!

i've spent most of the rest of today in my room trying to get some work done.. but it's so hard to be productive when i have a huge list of stuff i want to finish this weekend. it's like it's so daunting that i didn't even want to start! haha. and then tonight i'm going out with some friends to celebrate one of their birthdays! 

what was a highlight of your week?

tips on productivity? 

My Saturday Five [2nd Track Race]

Hi friends! I hope you are all enjoying your Saint Patty's day - my family usually doesn't do anything too special but you can bet that some greens will be making their way into my tummy today! :) 

This past week has been absolutely crazy & I really had to remind myself to just take a breath and relax. All of your guys' tips on relieving my stress were amazing, thank you all so much! If you ever find yourself stressed out, stop by and check out the comments section on my last post- everyone had such great advice.

Anyway, I wasn't in the mood for a full weekly recap of track so I figured that I'd do a weekend countdown post that included the race with some other more fun stuff thrown in.
[past weekend countdown posts: one, two, and three]

5 Favorite Pins of the Week

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4 Things That Are Making Me Happy
1. Getting three more college acceptances! From some of the colleges I've heard from I've been offered scholarships & gotten into the honors programs which is super exciting. Let's just say I'm ECSTATIC that all my hard work is paying off. {I still have my fingers crossed for a few more schools that are pretty hard to get into!}

2. I got a new phone case in the mail from Case-Mate yesterday and I love it! I ordered this case - it has two layers, one silicone and one hard, so it's super protected.

3. I'm going out to dinner tonight with a few friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. I haven't gotten to just hang out with my friends that much lately so I'm really excited!

4. Knowing that my Foodie Penpals package is in the mail and should be arriving sometime next week! I can't wait to see what goodies I got :) 

3 Recent Eats

a new-to-me flavor of Luna bar - it was a little too sweet but still tasty!

fresh berries with vanilla greek yogurt, which i mixed up and topped with Nature's Path Crunchy Maple Sunrise cereal

a big Whole Foods salad with lettuce, mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, onions, red quinoa, chickpeas, kidney beans, feta cheese, cheddar cheese, and two kinds of hummus

2 Cute Kitty Pictures

ginnie mae and lexy! 

1 Race of the Week
The weather today was a little bit better than it has been all week (it's been raining like crazy!) but it was still realllyyy cold and windy. I was not a happy camper to say the least! I raced at a distance invitational and overall it was okay. [Sorry, no race pictures!]
Since there were so many runners, everyone in my heat was really close in times- aka it was super cramped the whole race! Not to mention that when you're boxed in by other runners who can't pace themselves properly it's extremely hard to pace yourself. And during the 3rd lap a girl majorly tripped me from behind and I almost did a full face plant. So now that I think about it it really wasn't too great of a race. I finished with a time of 6:02 which is okay considering the conditions.

To be honest, I'm really getting tired of track because I'm sick of having people tell me what to do for a workout. I'm becoming more independent in all other areas of my life and I want independence in my workouts, too.

what was a highlight of your weekend?
any tips to help me survive these next two months of track season without going crazy? 

Track Season 2012: Week 3.

hi friends! I hope all of your weekends are going well- I for one am so grateful to have a few days off to relax! Today was definitely a great day - running, coffee, study + lunch date with friends, and a whole foods trip were all involved.

Anyway, this week was definitely a tougher week than the past two. By the end of the week my legs were just tired. Kind of like the feeling that I was getting during cross country season, except not as severe. I think it's just my body telling me that it doesn't like running 6 days a week with minimal cross training - it's such a bummer than my team has no focus on weights!

Past Weeks

• My Goals for the 2012 Track Season (Week 1)
• Week 2

Workouts this Week

Sunday: BodyPump + stretching & core

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 3 x 1200 workout + stretching

Wednesday: 4.5 miles + stretching & core

Thursday: 200 workout that looked like this:

• 2 lap warmup + drills
• 6 x 200 fast
• 1 mile run
• 6 x 200 fast
• 5 minute cooldown
• stretching

Friday: 4.5 mile run

Saturday: Time trials #2! I ran the 1200m and the 4x400 relay. I loved the 1200! I felt awesome the entire race, and although I don't know my time I'm really happy with how I did. The 4x400 relay was definitely fun, but 400's just ain't my thang. The entire time it felt like my legs and lungs were on FIRE. It's the kind of race where you finish and feel like you're going to throw up. But a few minutes later I was feeling great! 

Core/Stretching

5/6 days stretching, 2/6 days core. YIKES! stretching was awesome this week especially since I have the Stick now. It makes it so much more enjoyable. But core definitely was lacking this week. I was working a lot of shifts during the week and was pretty stressed out about having time for schoolwork, so I made excuses to skip core. Next week this is my main goal! 

Random Thoughts

• I am loving rainbow quinoa this week - i've made quinoa bites (recipe soon!), put it on salads, and made a ton of quinoa bowls. 

quinoa, pasta sauce, broccoli, chicken, parmesan cheese

• I cannot stop listening to Katy Perry's latest!

• I really, really, really don't feel like waking up early to go to BodyPump tomorrow. But, one of my goals is to fit in at least 1 strength session a week so I'm going to drag myself out of bed anyway. 

how do you fit core work into your routine? any good core workouts you want to send my way?

Track Season 2012: Week 2.

This week was definitely a tough week. I was really busy (lots of nighttime shifts at work and lots of studying to do) which always makes it tough to get myself to go to practice. I love running, but sometimes when you're flat out exhausted it doesn't sound so hot. Luckily I convinced myself to go every day this week and after each day I left feeling happier than when I came.

after thursday's sweaty workout! 

[click here to check out my original goals post - these weekly recaps are basically a check-up of how i'm doing on getting to my goals!]

Workouts/Runs This Week

Sunday: BodyPump + yoga class. Both teachers weren't my favorite (the BodyPump instructor kept messing up the timing on everything, and the yoga instructor talked WAY too much for me to get relaxed) but I accomplished my goal of strength training once a week. 

Monday: 5 mile run

Tuesday: 2.5 mile run, 2x800 (at 3:10 - 3:15 pace), 2.5 mile run 

Wednesday: 4.5 mile run

Thursday: 600 ladder workout. Basically this workout is a kind of countdown workout - we ran a 600 fast, jogged a 500, ran a 500 fast, then jogged a 400, until we got down to the 100s. Warmup was an 800 and cool down was a 1200.

Friday: 5 mile SUPER hilly run. I haven't run any hills since XC season so this one was definitely a toughie! After we got back we did 2x100 and 1x200 strides. [for those of you that asked, strides are in between normal running pace and a sprint. to me, most of the time they feel like the pace that I would race an 800 at.]

Saturday: Time trials! I ran the 800m and felt pretty good. I didn't start out too fast and had enough in me to sprint the last 200 and pass a couple of people. I don't know what my time was (I know it's going to be pretty slow for me since this is just the beginning) but overall I'm fairly happy with how it went. After we warmed up and did the time trial, we went on a short 1-mi cool down run and then did 6 x 150 strides.

I definitely forgot how good it felt to put on my spandex and spikes and get out there and run fast. I love the burn and the lack of oxygen! <--quite the odd sentence. ;) 

I'm taking either tomorrow or Monday off depending on how I feel. I am a huge fan of rest days! :)

Core/Stretching

Days that I completed: 4.5 out of 7. [the half is because i stretched but didn't do core one day] Not the greatest I can do, but like I said before - the reason I sometimes skip this is because of time. If the workout went super late and I'm working a night shift, chances are I won't do core and stretch because I know it takes ten minutes. Then again, last season I barely ever stretched or did core, so I'm pretty happy with last week. 

Fueling

Preworkout: I'm doing really well on my goal for this one! I've had a mini Luna bar before every practice this week and it's working out really well with my stomach. I also don't come home after practice and raid the kitchen frantically like I was doing before. Win-win!

Postworkout: I'm really good on the food aspect of this, but for hydration I need to work on it a little more. Often I'll forget to fill up my water bottle after practice and then get home, eat some food, and not feel too thirsty. Then, later I get a headache and feel like crap and wonder why. Now I'm making it a priority to drink lots of fluids after practice.

stopped at the gas station on the way home one day to pick these up :)

Random Thoughts

• I am loving having my new Lunarglide+ 3's! They're the exact same shoe as before but my old ones were getting really run down (I'd had them for 4.5 months) and these ones feel a lot better.

• I am addicted to omelets with TJ's refried beans, shredded cheese, and salsa. I've eaten this meal like 4 times this week. 

• I miss strength training more often! I wish I could fit in 1-2 more lifting workouts but I just don't have the time. 

what's the best workout that you did this week?