update on 2-a-days

Holy Cow- that takes a lot out of you; Working out twice in one day! I ran several miles today and did a circuit training. I felt like I was running in circles. The class was built with 1 minute stations and filled with 1 minute of cardio after station. There was a push-up station, bicep curl station, dips for triceps, abs on the ball, lunges for the glutes, and weights out to the side for the shoulders. It was tiring, but I knew it was working. I was soaked- more so than when I am just running. It was a change of pace and it really got my heart rate up. I definitely realized that I need to change it up more often. I'm hitting the road tomorrow (this time in a car for 8 hours) on my way back home for the highly anticipated 10 Year High School Reunion. By highly anticipated, I'm not sure if it is good anticipation or bad anticipation. I was the homecoming queen and am not sure if there are expectations with that. I sure hope not! I don't want to disappoint! OH Well! However, on the drive I am not sure how I am even going to get one mile in, but we shall see. Maybe I'll run at the rest areas?? You know, be creative. Well I need to get to bed because for today no more miles to go before I sleep

Try something new

I'm going to be trying a few different things this week. Let's spice it up! I am going to be working out twice a day. I want to get a lot of miles in, but I don't want to risk injury or fatigue. It works out better for me if I don't spend a 2-hour + block at the gym and just split it up. I understand that it is no feasible for most. However, not having to work allows for creative time strategies. Also, with splitting up the time, I am going to try something else-weightlifting. Not the -muscle men from Saturday Night Live "I want to pump you up" kind of lifting, just the need to tone some muscles and get my Body Fat % down kind of lifting. I found some ideas on a Facebook thing that I subscribe to called Active.com. They blogged about some abdominal excercises from Mens Health Magazine as well as some butt exercises with visual tutorials.

Add in some 2-a-day running and some actually muscle building activities and hopefully we'll be seeing physical differences soon. It is suppose to improve my running too! Well I have to get out there if I'm going to meet the goal for the week- 40 miles. It is coming along nicely so far. I just need to keep it up- so many miles to go before I sleep.

Small Goals= Easy to achieve

2,010 miles is a huge goal that we have already decided was daunting, at best. However, along the way I have set little goals and given myself little rewards. Race Days are rewards. I love races!Signing up for races is fun. There are so many possibilities, so much success to strive for and another reason and deadline to push yourself for. I love getting the t-shirt and I anticipate the adrenaline rush at the start line. Regardless of the length of the race, I love them.

In June, The Hubby and I decided to join up for a race during our family vacation to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We planned on running a 10-k at the highest elevation we have ever been to: 6,035 feet above sea level. Food for your brain: The higher the elevation, the more difficult it is to breathe. When running at sea level is already sucking the air out of my lungs, I could have only imagines what 6,035 feet would do.

I had been 'training' for this run in the weeks leading up to it. Running at higher speeds for longer amounts of time trying to work on my VO2. I even had a few days to pound the pavement while out in Colorado before the actual race. I had even checked the running race site for the coarse and they stated "this is a relatively flat coarse with only one Colorado sized hill." In my head I was thinking cool- only one little hill.

I'm ready.

Well, 2 days before the race, the hubby was complaining of having a case of the

sniffles. I was teasing him because I figured this was his excuse of backing out. The 'Oh, I don't feel so good, don't think I can run' excuse. I wasn't going to fall for it-this time. We pumped him full of OJ and didn't let him over-exert himself. However, morning of the race he had a fever, his nose was running like Niagara Falls and he sounded like Barry White. He was in no condition to run.

- Who knew he was telling the truth. (Sorry Honey, for doubting you- like he actually reads my blog anyway) -

He was a trooper and drove me to the Start Line and stayed until the race started. He was great for moral support! That morning I totally needed it. I've only run big races before. Not that I'm a running snob or anything. It is just that by the time I hear about them, they are pretty popular. This race was different. There were only about 70 runners. I was terrified that I was going to be last. I'm not that fast and SOMEONE has to finish last.

I was scared that it was going to be me, the one from a home elevation of actually below sea lever; they call it the Low Country for a reason, ya know!

All these native Colorado-ians with big lungs were going to leave me in the dust. (That is why I needed the hubby for support, I was thinking about going back home- who wants to lose??)

With The Hubby cheering me on, I began the race in the middle of the small crowd. We ran down a rural street next to the Yampa River up stream for a little bit and then started climbing a hill. In my head I was thinking, well this hill isn't SO bad. I think I can make it up, I've trained for this. However, I soon found out this 'hill' was actually part of the "relatively flat course" and the "Colorado-sized hill" was actually up the side of the mountain for 0.7 miles! OMG! But I learned:what goes up, must come down!!!!!

After I hit the halfway/turnaround, it was literally down hill from there! I made up some time and hauled butt towards the finish line. Thanks to the encouragement from my husband and my sister-in-law, who were about 25 yards from the finish line, I sprinted and beat 3 people to the finish line! (You should always beat someone in a race... usually the person right in front of you... they can't ever see

you coming!) While sprinting and turning the 90 degree corner to the finish line, I stepped in a pothole and twisted my foot and hobbled 20 feet to a painful finish at 1:06:10. This was a not a bad time considering the elements and my lung capacity or lack thereof!

Oh no, did I fail to mention one particular element:

THE VIEW!!!

When you are up that high, God's Creation is really awesome! This run was hands down: #1 Most Awe-inspiring Run.

These are the small victories to small goals that make the big goals achievable! This week I am setting myself up for another goal. I would like to reach mile 600 by Saturday. I am 40 miles shy right now. I have 5 days to finish this goal. It is completely do-able. I need to rack up some miles before I head back to school. Only 3 more weeks of summer vacation. Well, at mile 600 I will be in-touch! Until then I have lots of miles to go before I sleep.

500- here and gone!

Vacation usually means over eating, taking a break from the every day lifestyle and just kicking back. However, this Summer "Vacation" has taken on a new meaning and a new purpose for me this year. We (meaning the Hubby and I) have tried to add

in as much physical activity as possible in these short 2 and

1/2 months I have off from work. We began our vacation with our nation's Capital; Washington DC or Bust! Our only plan was to head to a baseball game, so we can keep crossing Major League Baseball Stadiums off our list.

However, we met up with the twin and my niece, Deshon. We visited inside the Pentagon (thanks to Martez), participated in a cheesy under cover case at the Spy Museum, saw lots of planes at the Udvar Hazy Air/Space museum, and made it to Arlington Cemetery for a cool history lesson and

the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Something I highly recommend- if you ever get the chance.

We also added on to the semi-physical activity of walking around each day. Jeff and I participated in some of my greatest runs ever!

Run #1: Most historically Scenic

We began running at the Capitol Building and continued down the entire National Mall. We passed the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, The White House, The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, The Reflecting Pond and even climbed the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Grabbed a breather atAbe Lincoln's feet and then headed back: All before 7:30 am. Watching the sun come up in the reflecting pond was neat! History Run was amazing!

Run #2: Naturally Breath-taking

The Hubby and I happened upon run #2 after getting lost on the way home from dropping the twin and niece off at the airport. We knew we were going to go for a run, but didn't have a clue where to do it. Virginia is a beautiful state, with quite a few rivers. We looked on the GPS, found some national parks, and meandered our way through one and found a gravel parking lot. In the parking lot, there were a few other avid

Virginia runners had the same idea. So we stealthy followed them to a foot beaten trail along one of these rivers. WOW!! We found rock trails, water falls, babbling brookes, hills, horse trails. It was amazing! Prior to the run, I have never run through anything so naturally breath-taking and I'm not talking about being out of breath from running. It was amazing to run for almost an hour under tree-covered trails and ever changing terrain. It was completely NATURE. I loved it.

In 4 days we racked up over 35 miles! I also hit MILE 500!!! This wasn't the only vacation we took this summer, but that post is still to come. For now, I still have miles to go before I sleep!