A Look Back: Polar Dash 5k

I realized the other day that I never blogged about my first 5k of 2011, which happened to be on the very first day of 2011!  That's right, no time for a New Year's Day hangover for this lady, although I do remember the morning of the race I wasn't quite sure if I was still drunk, or hungover, thankfully Emily handled the driving that morning!  We headed over to Carly's house where we met up with Carly and Kathy and then we all headed to the race together.  

Race Number!

Emily and I pre-race:

January 1st, 2011 was a very, very cold winter day, I believe the temperature was about -9 before the windchill!    Emily, Carly, Kathy and myself loaded on the layers and got ready to run, I even put handwarmers in my shoes hoping they would keep my feet warm, they didn't, they just made my shoes extra uncomfortable.  Emily and I had not prepared for this race at all, neither one of us had been running much since our last 5k on Thanksgiving.  So we were not trying to set any new personal records, all we wanted to do was finish!  With the frigid temperature and the lack of training all we cared about was finishing the race.  We ran our normal, slow pace, but of course there were plenty of large hills on the course, which always slow me down.  On the way to the race I had downloaded the Runkeeper app on my phone, which tracks your distance/pace/elevation, etc by GPS.  I think it was around the 2.25 mile mark that Emily and I realized that we were setting a really good pace for ourselves, and could possibly beat our previous best time of 37:41(which I had set on the very first 5k I had ever done).  Neither one of us acknowledged this aloud, as we didn't want to curse ourselves, so we just kept on running!  When we crossed the finish line I looked at the race clock and realized that we had probably just set a new personal record - also upon crossing the finish line we got these really sweet Polar Dash 5k finisher medals, with all this excitement I totally forgot to stop my running activity on my phone, when I finally got around to it I realized that our time was 37:46.  This race was chipped timed, so we were very anxious to see what our actual time was... it ended up being 37:01!!  Whoop Whoop!  So we went from only hoping to cross the finish line, with absolutely no time expectations, to setting a new personal record for the both of us!  The Polar Dash was very well organized and a super fun run!  I think we might have to do it every year.  It was pretty funny seeing all the guys with beards post-race, as there beards were covered in icicles!

If you follow this link you can view our race data (map, pace, mile markers, elevation) via runkeeper, it's pretty cool!

And we're Done!!  

And a shot of our group post-race:

Thirsty Thursday

My sister always gives me crap for drinking multiple beverages at the same time, I have been known to have 3-5 beverages sitting in front of me at the dinner table.  So I thought I would share my beverages of choice today, and yes, they all have liquid in them, and I am drinking them all. 

Cup of coffee from home, an Americano from Caribou, a cup of coffee from a retirement party at work and a water (and yes, that is Edward in the background):

I would also like to take a moment to wish my Mother in Law, Becky a very happy 50th birthday!! 

I hope you get spoiled and have an absolutely fabulous day!! 

Happy March!!

It's pretty amazing to think that I haven't posted a blog for 2 months, it must be the crazy, busy, amazing lifestyle I have... there is just no time between the parties, spa treatments, shopping trips, vacations and all the other glorious details of my life to find time for blogging...   :) 

Back to reality:  Let's start with me.  I pretty much lost track of everything in February, there was no exercising, no healthy eating, no blogging, lots of stress and blah, blah, blah... so now that it is March I am really trying to focus on regular exercise and healthier eating habits (now that it's in writing I have to stick to it).  I went and signed up for a free 30-day pass to Snap Fitness last night, it is $10 less a month than my current gym membership, smaller facility, and much less people.  I tried out the treadmill last night and their equipment is definitely not the same quality as at Gold's, but I guess I can't really expect it to be, right?  The treadmill worked just fine, it turned on, tracked my distance, told me how many calories I burned, which is what matters.  I am going to try it out a few more times before I decide what to do.  I was also thinking about checking out Anytime Fitness to see what they are all about.  If I am going to go through the hassle of finding a new gym I might as well check out all my options. 

I am also trying to do more regular workouts at home using my lovely collection of workout dvds.  I had to buy a new copy of The Biggest Loser Cardiomax cause mine quit working, and that is really the only dvd I enjoy doing lately. 

I am signed up to run the Team Ortho Get Lucky 7k on March 19th... 9 days from now!  I'm doing it with my regular running buddies.. Emily, Carly and Kathy.  I am sure it will be a grand old time, although I am still scared of the distance, it's 4.35 miles and I usually only ever go 3.1... so that extra 1.25 could really kill me.  I had plenty of time to prepare myself for this race, but of course I didn't... so wish me luck! 

One last note about me.. I have officially lost 14 pounds this year, whoop whoop!

Let's move onto Kara.  She is absolutely, by far the most dramatic child in the history of dramatic children.  She will cry and cry and cry over the littlest things and there is no settling her down!  Our daycare provider has also commented on her dramatic nature.  She said that most kids will cry for a minute, then move on with their lives.. not my little Kara, she just doesn't quit.  On top of being dramatic, she is also incredibly smart, silly, loving and absolutely hilarious!  It's so fun to watch her personality grow, and see how similar she is to Joe and I, she really is the perfect mix of the two of us. 

Kara is and has been potty trained for quite awhile now, she wears big girl undies and rarely ever has accidents.  The only funny thing is that she absolutely refuses to poop on the potty chair, so when it's time to go #2 she asks for a diaper, then goes and hides in a corner and tells us not to look at her... it's pretty hilarious! 

We are also working on breaking Kara and her sucky (pacifier) apart.  She is absolutely 100% addicted to that thing, and I just want it gone!  I, of course and the softy parent and give in and give it to her even when I know I shouldn't.  It's just so much easier to give it to her than listen to her cry and whine about it!  She was doing really good without it for awhile, but now that she is sick(poor baby girl has strep), I just feel bad and give it to her... I am an enabler... 

Things that I think Kara might be when she grows up:
Musician - she loves playing her guitar, drums, recorder, xylophone, she just loves music!
Songwriter - when she plays her guitar she is constantly making up her own adorable songs about random things
Baseball player - she is obsessed with her Twins baseball shirt
Brew master - she recently told me that I need to buy her a beer t-shirt so that she can make beer with daddy!

She can also identify the following bands within seconds of their songs starting:  Trampled by Turtles, Mumford and Sons, and Jeremy Messersmith.  I can't wait until we can bring her along to some concerts.  I have a feeling that she is going to love music just as much as her mommy and daddy do!  If Joe and I are headed out to a concert and we are dropping Kara off with Grandma/Grandpa to babysit we try not to tell her where we are going, cause she wants to come with us!

Here is a pic of Kara with her guitar and new guitar strap that I made for her, notice that she is wearing her Twins shirt and her baseball hat, she thinks she's a boy:

Finishing touches of the guitar strap:

Shall we talk about Joe for awhile?  Where do I start?  Joe is currently laid off, and has been since the end of November.  He has been picking up hours at his part time job, but I just want him to get back to his full time job!!  We have had to cut back on how often Kara is in daycare, so she currently is going 2-3 days a week, depending on which days Joe works.  When they are home together they are typically busy cleaning the house, doing laundry, cooking dinner for mom watching cartoons?  Yeah, I guess I'm not really sure what they are busy doing... haha!  Hopefully Joe doesn't read this, he will probably kill me :)  Joe and his friends have continued brewing beer, there are currently 4 or 5 batches sitting in our bathroom waiting to be bottled, which I believe is happening this weekend.

Joe and I have been to quite a few concerts this year, and they have all been pretty awesome...  I'm not going to go into much detail, but here is what we have been to:

January:  Cash Only - A Tribute to the Man in Black, The Current's 6th Birthday Party with Trampled by Turtles, Roma di Luna, Jeremy Messersmith, Brother Ali and Free Energy

February:  Justin Townes Earle (This was on Valentine's day, and it was a really great show!) and the cd release party for Sims of Doomtree, where we also got to see Mike Mictlan, POS, Cecil Otter and Dessa... again, another really great show!

March - Gayngs Affilyated Showcase - ok, I have to talk about this one a little bit.  Gayngs basically took over First Ave and brought along all of their friends, and it was amazing!  Gayngs has somewhere around 23 people in the group, most of those people belong to other bands, and just about all of the other bands were on the bill to play that night.  They took over the mainroom, the Record Room and 7th Street Entry, it was pretty much like being at a music festival inside of First Ave, we will not be forgetting that night anytime soon! 

This is a bad picture, but this is how close we were to POS when we saw him in the Record Room, it was the coolest thing EVER!

Upcoming Shows:  The Rural Alberta Advantage on March 25th, and also possibly Volcano Choir the same day, and then Bright Eyes on April 4th (an early bday present to me!)

I can tell that this is going to be a great year for concerts!! 

So I think that is all for now!  Happy March everyone!!

Road Blocks

My plan to complete the 30 Day Shred and run 500 miles this year has hit a road block that I would like to call shin splints.  It all started while I was shredding, my shins were absolutely killing me, I was hoping after a few days it would go away.  I made it to day 8 and had to quit.  Since I wasn't shredding I tried going to the gym for a run, it had been almost a week and a half since my last run.  I couldn't run longer than 2 minutes at a time, and those 2 minutes were absolutely miserable.  My shins felt like they were on fire, they were killing me, so after 20 minutes and 1.5 miles I gave up.  It was quite disappointing, I can't remember the last time that I had a run that bad.  So for now I am going to put running on hold, maybe I will try outdoor running, I have a 7k coming up in March, which is 1.25 miles longer than I am used to running so I really wanted to get myself prepared for it.

In the mean time I have been doing the Biggest Loser Cardio Max.  Level one is pretty tolerable, and it will definitely make you sweat!!  Level one is 30 minutes including the warm-up and cool-down.  The moves are pretty basic, they incorporate some weights, it is Bob as the trainer and then contestants from past seasons.  Sometimes its hard to follow what they are doing on screen, they aren't very well coordinated and some of them have bad form...but if you can get past that its really a good workout!  I really like it, its a nice change from the shred, which is the only workout dvd I have used recently....well, except No More Trouble Zones, but we don't need to talk about the pure hell that that dvd is...ugh....

Also, I have started a team for The Biggest Loser MN Challenge, our team name is Hotties With Naughty Bodies...Thanks Carly!  There are 3 different challenges, weight loss, exercise and nutrition.  You can sign up for one challenge or all 3... I plan on doing all 3.  The challenge starts on January 24(you have to be registered by jan 23) and goes until April 15th.  I am pretty sure our team is going to kick some major butt with this, and we will all be Hotties with Naughty Bodies by the time we are through!

I ordered 3 new dvds to use during this challenge... They are all Biggest Loser dvds.  I ordered Power Sculpt, Last Chance Workout and Weight Loss Yoga.  I will let you know what I think of them once I get them and have tried them out!

Along with all of these workout dvds I have also started counting calories again, that seems to be the only way that I can really lose weight.  So far I have lost 8 pounds(most of which were gained between Thanksgiving and New Years....)  Once I hit 20 pounds lost I am treating myself to a manicure and pedicure, for a few different reasons...1. because 20 pounds lost is awesome 2. I have only had two mani/pedis in my entire life and I owe it to myself to have another!!  3.  my weight at 20 pounds lost will be an all time low weight for me since I had Kara, and that is definitely worth celebrating!!  Only 12 more pounds to go!!  When I hit 40 pounds I am treating myself to a massage, which I have never had before!!!

Let me know if you are interested in joining our MN Challenge team, and let me know what your goals/rewards are!!

Happy 2011: Screw Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone, hope you all had a safe and happy new year!  This year my resolution is to screw resolutions.  I tend to forget what I have resolved to do for the year by about January 6th, probably because I dream up great big giant resolutions while I am intoxicated.  So this year rather than resolutions I am going to have challenges, and I want you all to join me...I tend to keep up with challenges better when there are more people involved, so here is what I am thinking:

30 Day Shred Challenge 4 times this year.  Complete your first 30 Day Shred Challenge by February 15th. Then we can all start the next 3 together.  With start dates of April 1st, July 1st and October 1st.  Just so you know.. I already Shredded today so I am one day ahead of you :)

Next Challenge - log 500 miles of running/walking this year.  This is a very achievable goal - it would take 2-3 run/walks of a 5k distance per week.  Or maybe you could run/walk 10 miles one day and take of the rest of the week....it's up to you, just get to 500 miles however you can!!

Alright, let me know who is in!!  I know you all want to do these challenges with me!!

PS - I will try to get a Chirstmas/2010 year blog post up soon!!