A Wednesday Night Workout!

Happy almost-weekend!!

Are you guys experiencing this arctic chill?

“Feels like -8“. Ugh. Only 8 days till sunny Florida!

Last night, my mom, brother, and I went to an indoor track workout put on by our running club! Every Wednesday night during the winter, they put on a group workout – last night’s was focused around hard running (80 to 90% effort).

We started with a mile warm-up before partnering up for a relay-style workout. One partner ran 2 laps hard before tagging their partner, so you got to recover a bit while your partner was running before going again. Each partner did that 5 times, so you were running a mile total at a fast pace.

I was absolutely loving it, and having flashbacks to high school indoor track! I finished the first 5 sets with my partner, no problem.

We then had a little rest before moving onto the second set, which was similar – except each partner was only running 1 lap before tagging off, and we were supposed to do 10 sets of that. I was on my 3rd or 4th sprint, when I felt a sudden tightening in the back of my leg, on my hamstring. I tried to ignore it at first, thinking that it was nothing, but nope – suddenly, I could barely pull my leg forward in a normal step, much less sprint. Much to my disappointment, I stopped doing the workout and tried to gently stretch and roll the muscle.

Because you don’t stretch. That’s why.

It still feels pretty darn tender and painful this morning, so it seems pretty clear that my hamstring has been pulled or strained. 😦 Looking back, that workout might have been a little intense for me, not having done a sprint workout in who knows how long! And I definitely didn’t stretch enough before.

On Saturday, we’re running the Resolution to Kick Cancer 5K (one of my favorites!). I had originally been hoping to run it relatively fast, but now I’m just hoping my leg will feel better and I’ll be able to do it at a nice, slow pace. And of course, there’s the Clearwater Distance Classic Half Marathon in 10 days! So I’ll be foam-rolling, icing, and taking plenty of anti-inflammatories and hoping for the best.

Another quick update- I’m hard at work at rebranding!! I’m so excited to eventually reveal the new blog Adventures of a Mother-Daughter Running Duo will be transforming into! I still have a lot to do so it will be a while, but I just can’t wait to show you all. 🙂

Have a great day and enjoy your weekend!

2015

Happy belated New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful time ringing in the New Year! My New Years Eve was low-key, but it was spent with family and loved ones, and that made it pretty special. 🙂

I have a quick correction to make from my last post – in it, I said my mom and I had crossed off 3 states… BUT I FORGOT ABOUT THE SHAMROCK HALF IN VA!! So make that 4 states, for a total of 7 states down. Only 43 to go! 😉

But given that my last post was looking back on 2014, I figured now would be a good time to talk about 2015- goals, resolutions, the typical New Year drill. 🙂

• Incorporate a weekly hill workout into my running routine. I know hills are good for me. I know that, but I still hate them with a passion. Well, I want to try to change that in 2015. There are plenty of hills in the surrounding neighborhoods, so I’m going to suck it up, and start running them.

Hopefully this doesn’t happen to me.

• Get a little speedier. To be specific, I’m hoping to start running half marathons averaging around 8:20-8:40 minutes/mile more regularly. And I wouldn’t mind a PR in a 5k either. This goal is a bit long-term, but I’m excited to start working on it.
• Keep crossing off states. Florida is next and we leave in 9 days! I’M SO EXCITED!!!!
• Keep using online workout videos for cross-training. In 2014, I discovered Fitnessblender, and finally started doing some different types of workouts (for example, I discovered I actually enjoy their 10 minute Tank Top Arms workout!) Through my ambassadorship with Sweat Pink, I’m currently getting to test out workouts from Gigabody.com right now! Like Fitnessblender, Gigabody offers users access to tons of different types of workouts of varying difficulty (though you need to join for $8.99/month in order to view the workouts). I’m still checking it out, but a full review is on the way!

And in terms of blogging goals…

• I’m looking to rebrand Adventures of a Mother-Daughter Running Duo in 2015! At the blogging conference I attended at the Heartbreak Hill Half, several successful bloggers stressed the importance of not being afraid of change.

Or in this case, the blog matures with us. 😉 The blog will still be about running with my mom and our plan to run a half in every state (OBVIOUSLY), but I’m looking to shorten the name, and give it a slightly different look. So, I will be starting to work on that very soon, but I will try to keep posting regularly in the mean time.

So that’s a quick look at some of my plans for 2015! I’m very excited for the New Year and all the new things it will bring. 🙂

Do you have any resolutions for the New Year?

PSA: Winter is Here.

Hello hello!

If you follow my Instagram, you know winter has finally hit upstate New York.

Oh joy.

THANK GOD, I have sunny Florida to look forward to mid-January! In case you missed it, my mom and I have picked out our next race and state – the Clearwater Distance Classic! From the race website –

“It might be the most challenging half marathon in Florida, with two ascents each over two relatively tall bridges connecting Clearwater to the barrier islands. It might be Florida’s most scenic half marathon, as the entire course is within 1/4 mile of Clearwater Bay and / or the Gulf of Mexico.”

I’m pretty excited. Those bridges sound tough, but after having survived running 26.2 miles in September, I’m pretty sure I can handle 13.1 miles plus a couple of hills. 😉 My mom and I were originally hoping to do one of the Disney races as our Florida race, but we ended up missing the registration opening, and it filled up crazy fast. A Disney race is definitely still on the bucket list, it just won’t be this year.

I would love to really train hard for this and to push myself for a new PR, and I even found a Hal Higdon training plan for if I do decide to go for it. But… I’m not sure it’s going to happen.

It’s super early in the winter, and the snow is already hitting pretty hard. Between the weather and the craziness that is college finals, I’m just not sure I’ll be able to get in enough running. But I’m keeping the idea on the back-burner for now.

Given that it has been snowy, and I haven’t wanted to take my life in my hands by running in these perilous conditions, I’ve been continuing to try out new Fitnessblender workouts! This week, I tried

• 30 Minute Brutal Butt and Thigh Workout – Drop it Like a Squat! (The title was highly accurate. There were a ton of squats, and my legs are still sore two days later.) This workout was the perfect excuse for me to try this Soakology muscle relief gel my mom sent to me from her recent trip to Maine.

It was kind of like a fancy Icy-Hot lotion, and I loved it! I put it on the back of my legs where I was the most sore, and it made my muscles all tingly and cold. Which might sound odd, but I promise it actually felt pretty darn good! If this sounds interesting to you, the same gel can be purchased here.

• Yesterday, I had a bit of workout video ADD. I first tried this Standing Abs Workout, but after 10 minutes or so, I decided to switch to something else. I’m not very flexible, and I felt like these exercises weren’t working very well for me because I just couldn’t get the range of motion for them to be challenging. So I did this Fast Abs 8-Minute Workout instead, which was much more manageable for me. And then, I topped it off with my favorite Tank Top Arms Workout!

Thank god I discovered Fitnessblender’s YouTube channel! These videos have been a lifesaver for times like these where weather has gotten in the way of my runs, and I feel like it’s so much easier for me to find the motivation to do these workouts since I can do them right in my room without having to drag myself to the gym. True story – I did the arms workout in my pajama pants the other day. 😉 Because I can be lazy and still desire to workout.

Happy Hump Day and have a good rest of the week!

Happy Veterans Day! (even though it was yesterday)

Hello again!

I meant to say this yesterday, but ran out of available hours in the day to post –

I hope you all had a wonderful Veterans Day yesterday. I, unfortunately spent most of the day in bed studying because I’ve come down with a nasty cold and had an exam on top of that. 😦

As I mentioned in my last post though, I did get to go to Letchworth State Park this weekend!

Despite being a pretty brisk day, it was still beautiful to walk around and take pictures.

I got a kick out of seeing all the picnic tables leaned up on their sides. That’s how you know winter is coming. 😉

I think it was a little too late for prime fall foliage, but it was still beautiful and very peaceful to walk around.

Moving on, I’ve decided not to do the Fall Fitness Challenge this week. I’m still feeling kind of tired and sick, and I’m hoping to concentrate on getting better this week (by drinking lots of tea and eating the Trader Joe’s pumpkin cornbread my mom sent me!) With any luck, I’ll be resuming some serious workouts soon.

I also have some important race news that I will be announcing soon, so stay tuned for that later this week. 🙂

Have a good day!

Fall Fitness Friday #4

Happy Friday!

Thank goodness we’ve finally reached the end of the week!

So, I have to admit the Fall Fitness Challenge was more of a Fall Fitness Fail this week. Oops. Halloween really threw me off my gameplan and I ended up hanging out with friends, eating candy, and sleeping late. And then not working out. So, let’s just forget about Saturday and Sunday.

Monday – got up early and managed to squeeze in 5 miles, woo! And I was excited to actually begin my run in the daylight, as my last several 7 am runs began in complete darkness. Thank goodness for Daylight Savings!

Tuesday – 40 minute pure Barre workout. I really like this workout, it makes my legs feel all jello-y after!

Wednesday – Exercise was walking around campus. It was a crazy day and I was still sore from Tuesday’s workout. (I know… excuses, excuses.)

Thursday – 10 minute arms. I still love this video! Some of the exercises are a little hard for me since I only have a set of 8-pound dumbbells, but I generally try to just do as many reps as I can.

My mom took Brady for a short run this week, and I received this funny picture when they had finished-

Apparently, Brady prefers sprints. Especially when there’s a tennis ball at the finish. 🙂

So here’s to hoping this next week goes somewhat better. This weekend, I’m looking forward to a visit to Letchworth State Park, where the foliage should be beautiful this time of year!

It should be fun to walk around and explore. 🙂

Hopefully, my fellow SPA’s did better on the challenge this week then I did! Hop on over to their blogs to find out 🙂

• Diane at Runnin Rocker
• Kristen K at Runaway with Me
• Kristen at Exploring Domesticity
• Ariana at Happy Life Healthy Life
• Brandi at Noteworthy Running
• Michelle at Fearless Beauty Fitness
• Kathy at Mama Marathoner

Have a great weekend!

Fall Fitness Friday #2

TGIF! 🙂

My week was another busy one, but I’m happy to report I did much better on the Fall Fitness Challenge this week! Without further ado, here’s how the week shaped up:

• Saturday – I tried my hand at yoga! In all honesty, it was not the most intense workout I have ever done, as I used a 15 minute yoga for beginners video, but it was fun to try something new, and if I wasn’t doing this challenge, I probably wouldn’t have done anything at all, so I figure something’s better than nothing. Interested in trying some yoga for beginners? Check out the video here!

• Sunday – I participated in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in the morning (full recap here!) It was a lot of fun, and I was so happy to participate! The 1 mile walk was a teensy bit short for me though, so I did a challenging, fast 5k-long run later in the afternoon.

The first mile is up a serious hill. I was very pleased with the rest of my splits though, as I haven’t pushed myself to run that fast in quite a long time!

• Monday – again, tried a new workout! This time, it was a 40-minute pure barre workout from Fitnessblender. I became curious about pure barre after reading about it on Julie’s blog. It’s kind of a combination of ballet and pilates exercises – think plie squats, leg lifts, calf raises… it was a pretty intense workout! Walking up stairs the next day, I was definitely feeling it 🙂
• Tuesday – 10 minute abs. Workout here. I wish I had gotten in a longer workout, but the day kind of got away from me.
• Wednesday – 4 miles. I knew it was going to be a crazy busy day, so I got up bright and early to squeeze this run in. So early in fact, that the sun had not come up yet. The first picture was from when I first started the run, the second was from the end. It was definitely hard to set out in the dark, but I was so happy that I got the run in when I finished.

• Thursday – 9 mile long run. This was the furthest I’ve run since the marathon, and it felt good to go a challenging distance again! Plus, I was missing vanilla-flavored Gu’s!

So much better than last week. 🙂 Check out how the rest of the Sweat Pink Ambassadors did this week-

• Diane at Runnin Rocker
• Kristen K at Runaway with Me
• Kristen at Exploring Domesticity
• Ariana at Happy Life Healthy Life
• Brandi at Noteworthy Running
• Michelle at Fearless Beauty Fitness
• Kathy at Mama Marathoner

Have a great weekend! 🙂

 

Fall Fitness Friday #1

Hello hello!

I apologize for my erratic posting lately. It seems like whenever I finish an exam, I have a wave of big assignments due right after. Ugh.

But, I’m getting though it. 🙂 And, I just had a wonderful long weekend in which I did many Fall things…

All aboard the Cow Train!

I survived a corn maze, got to see some adorable baby goats (what you don’t know is that the goat hit the other goat in the face right after I took this picture – vicious baby goat!), and ate some apple fritters. 🙂 It was a beautiful day and I had a fantastic time.

Back at home, Keeper and my mom have also been enjoying this beautiful Fall. I’m sure Brady was running around somewhere, enjoying the weather as well.

Now you may remember from my last post that this week marks the first week of the Fall Fitness Challenge and Link-Up!

As I mentioned before, my goal was to do 10 minutes of exercise everyday. This week could have been a tiny bit better, but hey, it’s a challenge for a reason!

Here’s how it all panned out:

• Saturday- 23 minute full-body interval cardio workout, courtesy of Fitnessblender. Check out the workout here. 🙂
• Sunday – walking around the corn maze counts right?
• Monday –  A few crunches and push-ups (probably not ten minutes worth though.)
• Tuesday – Drove back to school and didn’t find the time to work out. My bad.
• Wednesday – I did a 10 minute tank top arms workout followed by a 5 minute butt/thigh workout. It was a crazy day and I ended up doing this at 9:30 pm. I didn’t really think this workout would be strenuous enough to keep me awake, but maybe it was, since I ended up not falling asleep till after 1 in the morning. Sigh… 
• Thursday – Fantastic 5 and a half mile run in the beautiful mild weather. I wore my Rochester Marathon shirt, and that made it even better. 🙂

 

So, there’s room for improvement. The long weekend kinda threw a wrench in my plans, as I wasn’t home and didn’t want to be that guest who bounces around doing jumping jacks. 🙂 Be sure to check out how my fellow Sweat Pink ambassadors did with their first week of the challenge – 🙂

• Kristen K. at Run Away With Me
• Kristen at Exploring Domesticity
• Ariana at HappyLife.HealthyLife
• Brandi at Noteworthy Running
• Michelle at Fearless Beauty Fitness
• Kathy at MamaMarathoner
• Diane at Runnin Rocker
• Alicia at NeverEverBeenSkinny

 ALSO, if you want to stay up-to-date with the challenge (and participate in it yourself!), use #FFFchallenge (Fall Fitness Fridays Challenge) across your social media channels to stay connected!

This weekend, I’m excited to announce I’ll be participating in the American Cancer Society’s Breast Cancer Walk, so stay tuned for a recap of that! 🙂

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Cinnabon Smoothie and Fall Fitness Challenge

Hello there!

I hope you had a great week! The weather is finally starting to cool off for real around here, and it’s officially feeling like fall. I love it. 🙂

I briefly mentioned this in the last post, but I am happy to report that I am back to running now! This morning, I went for another fantastic run.

I don’t know if it’s because I had to take a couple weeks off after the marathon because of my toenail or if it’s just the cooler weather, but these runs have felt amazing. I don’t normally think I get much of a “runner’s high”; I feel good after a run, but nothing really out of the ordinary. These past two runs have left me feeling REALLY good after though – all excited and endorphin-y. (Yes, I realize that sounded super scientific.)

When I got back from my run this morning, I celebrated by making a new smoothie with the free sample of protein powder I received from Protein Milkshake Bar. I love the variety of protein powder they offer – everything from cupcake batter to rocky road to ice cream sandwich. I ordered the cinnabon flavor, wanting to try something different!

So. Freaking. Good. I combined:

• 2 spoonfuls Protein Milkshake Bar cinnabon flavored protein powder
• 1/2 cup honey flavored low-fat yogurt
• 1 frozen banana, cut in slices
• 1 cup low-fat milk. (I would have used almond milk, but I was out!)

I blended it all together and then sprinkled a little cinnamon on top. It was honestly the best smoothie I’ve made in a LONG time. I would definitely recommend checking out Protein Milkshake Bar if you’re interested in switching up your protein powder flavors, you won’t be disappointed. 🙂

My mom and I are definitely still living in the post-marathon glow as evidenced by this pumpkin she placed on our doorstep –

So festive. 🙂 We’re currently trying to plan what our next big race will be. It’s definitely going to be a half marathon this time (my toe still needs some healing time!), but we aren’t sure where or when as of yet.

For now though, I’m kind of excited to switch up my exercise routine a little!

The challenge for me is going to be to try to exercise for at least ten minutes a day everyday – and I’m going to try to add more variety back into my workouts. So while I might run some days, on other days, I’m going to try to do some different YouTube workouts or I might go to one of the fitness classes offered at the school gym with a friend. I want to challenge myself to really commit to more cross-training, and now is the perfect time. 🙂 And, I’ll be doing a link-up with some blogger friends and fellow Sweat Pink ambassadors, so stay tuned to hear about their different fitness adventures! Check out their blogs to hear how they do with the challenge –

• Kristen K. at Run Away With Me
• Kristen at Exploring Domesticity
• Ariana at HappyLife.HealthyLife
• Brandi at Noteworthy Running
• Michelle at Fearless Beauty Fitness
• Kathy at MamaMarathoner
• Diane at Runnin Rocker
• Alicia at NeverEverBeenSkinny

Have a great weekend everyone! Go do something fall-themed. 🙂

Prepping For the Marathon (5 Days!)

Hello again!

Sorry that I’ve been MIA for almost a week, I had my first exam of the semester yesterday and I wanted it to be a successful one so I was prepping for that! 🙂

I cannot believe that this Sunday I will finally be running the Rochester Marathon alongside my mom. After so many months of ups and downs, I am incredibly grateful to be feeling healthy and to have happy feet.

Image Source

Yes, I am essentially a dancing penguin right now. 😉

This week, I have a few short runs planned to keep my legs fresh without tiring them out for Sunday. Today, I did a nice, easy 3 miles that felt spectacular in the cooler weather that’s setting in.

When I got back from my run, I decided to refuel with a new smoothie recipe.

It was delicious! I also added a few drops of lime juice to pump up the tanginess. It was the perfect refreshing treat for after a run, and I was in heaven. 🙂

In what spare time I’ve had, I have also been reading up on last minute tips for the marathon. Here’s a few things I’ve learned and am planning to try:

• Pack some cozy, loose sweats to change into after the race. When you stop running after going for 26.2 miles, you cool off FAST, but you want to be comfortable enough to enjoy the post-race festivities.
• Turn off your music at the start/finish of the race. This lets you soak up all the excitement and spectator support. Running a marathon is such a huge accomplishment and you really want to be able to take it all in. 🙂
• If you can, arrange to get a massage later in the day. While there might be massages offered at the finish, the lines get so long that it can be a little impractical. I’m very excited for the massages my mom and I have scheduled at a local spa!
• Add some new, exciting music to your playlist in the days leading up to the race. There’s nothing like a new song that you haven’t yet heard a billion times to pump you up while you’re out on the course.

If you have any tips for a first-time marathoner, I’d love to hear them! Have a great week!

Running Long and Volunteering

Happy Labor Day everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend. As I mentioned in my last post, I decided to test myself with a ten mile run on Friday. I wasn’t sure if my foot would cooperate with the increase in mileage, but I was excited to give it a shot!

I woke up bright and early, drank a cup of coffee while eating some toast with peanut butter, and grabbed two GU’s to power me through. I was super excited to try a new flavor – salted caramel! We had ordered them just before my foot started bothering me, and so I had never gotten to test this delicious-sounding flavor. Instead, I jealously watched my mom use them! 😉

I decided to run along the same course of the race that I was volunteering at on Sunday, the Oak Tree Half Marathon. It’s a gorgeous course that runs through conservation land, and it was gloriously quiet. I think two cars total passed me while I was on that stretch of the run. I also saw four deer bounding away through one of the fields, which added to the peaceful setting.

Long story short, it was a fantastic run. The salted caramel GU – so good! I think vanilla might still be my favorite, but this would be a close second. 🙂 And *drumroll please*… my foot didn’t bother me! Yay!

At mile 8, I ended up walking up most of this giant hill which is why I slowed down a lot, but I was happy with the speedy negative splits that I hit on miles 9 and 10! Now that I know I can handle 10 miles, it’s time to test it again this week with an 18-20 miler.

On Saturday and Sunday, I helped out with the Oak Tree Half Marathon. I ran the race last year and really enjoyed it! It was also the first race where I broke 2 hours in the half marathon. It’s a fantastic race that is put on to benefit the Genesee Valley Conservancy and I was really happy to be involved in it this year. Saturday evening, I helped with packet pick-up and got to meet a lot of friendly and excited runners. The running community is so fantastic and I’m so grateful to be a part of it. Sunday, I got up bright and early to help with race-day registration.

Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse, and it ended up being a cool, rainy morning. Not terrible for running in, but not great if you’re standing around outside as a volunteer! The runners didn’t seem to mind the conditions though, as a course record was set in the half marathon with a time of 1 hour, 8 minutes. That is just over a 5 minute mile. Pretty freakin’ incredible.

Kip Tisia won the half marathon, setting a new course record in the process!

Today, I relaxed and enjoyed the day off from classes. 🙂 I slept in, went for a 6-mile run, and caught up on some homework. So overall, it was a pretty darn good weekend!

Did you do anything fun this weekend?