Friday Five: 5 Things I Did This Summer

Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia host Friday Five, and today is talking about this that happened this summer! I'm going to let the pictures mostly speak for themselves this week.

1. I went to school.  It was brutal.  4 week semesters! They're normally 16.

I might have studied in a bar - sorry Mom and Dad!

2. I finished moving into my new place!

3. I ran a half marathon with my big sister!

4. I ate.  This is just a small selection of the food pictures I have from this summer.

5. Most importantly, I spent time with family! A week long trip with Mom, Dad, brother, sister (in law), and 2 nephews!

Did you do anything exciting this summer? My favorite time was when I was on vacation.  It was amazing to chill out for once and spend time with family I hadn't seen!

Lauren

Friday Five: 5 Running Tips

Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia host Friday Five, and although this is a day late (sense a pattern here?), this week's topic is 5 Running Tips!

While I'm certainly not the most proficient runner, there are definitely some life lessons I've learned so far.

1. Get the right pair of shoes!!! I think any runner will tell you this, and it's so so important.  I started running in Nike Frees.  Such a bad decision! They've now retired to my weight lifting shoes and work just fine for that.  I then went to Asics, the GT 2000 model.  They worked pretty well for me, but I still had some arch soreness and tenderness for me.  We have a "natural" running store in the next town over, Georgia Game Changers.  It was there that I found Newtons, and I've fallen in love with them! I still get some arch soreness, but it's usually just when I'm undertrained, so I don't blame that on the shoe at all!

2. There are running clothes that are both comfortable and cute! I have thighs.  Big ones.  As much as I love cute little Nike, etc. running shorts, I just can't do them! They ride up and then there's chafing, and no one likes that.  I also live in Georgia, which means pants or capris just aren't an option the majority of the year.  I finally found SparkleSkirts which are long enough, never ride up, and are super cute! They also have really functional pockets.  I never run in anything else now!  The point is - find what works for you.  I thought if I couldn't wear the cute little shorts, I couldn't be cute running, and I was totally wrong about it.

3. You don't have to run every day to train for a race.  There are a lot of people out there that run 6 out of 7 days a week.  That's wonderful for them.  But it doesn't work for me.  I don't have the patience for it, quite frankly.  And I don't need to run that much to race well.  Galloway's plans call for 3-4 days of running a week and that works just fine for me!  It seems to be a theme - you just have to find what works for you, and not feel the need to do what everyone else is doing.

4. Running brings you into a great community.  There are bloggers I follow because of running alone that I've met in real life who are amazing people!  There are huge blog communities online, such as link-ups like this one.  Or on Tumblr.  Or on Facebook.  There are local running groups, or local chapters of national running groups such as RWB.  I definitely haven't taken as much advantage of these groups as I should have because I'm not the most social person, but they are available and definitely something all new runners should look into!

5.  It's ok to be last. It's ok to be slow.  A lot of the blogs I read are super fast runners.  They amaze me every time they post Garmin pictures after a training run, or race results on weekends.  I envy them, and I get jealous of their times.  Sometimes I feel disheartened comparing my times to theirs.  What I've learned over the years, and from doing small races, is that I am slow and sometimes I will come in last.  But also sometimes I'll place in races (and not by default!).  Just because I finish last, or close to it, doesn't mean I'm less of a runner or I ran a lesser race than those who came in first.  I ran my own race and did the best I could!

Running is definitely a great experience, but it's hard to go in to blind.  Well, at least for me.  Some people are natural runners and need barely any gear or help.  But the majority of us need support and help, and hopefully this can help someone!

What are your best tips?
Lauren

Friday Five: Good Things

Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia host Friday Five, and this week is Five Good Things to celebrate Good Friday.  I'm not much of a religious type, and I think I'm going with a little bit of a different interpretation.

Here are Five Good Things that I'll be focusing on doing this month!

1. Yoga at least twice a week - this will help manage my stress levels and help with my fitness.  May 1 is the last day of classes, so this entire month is really turning into crunch time.  As in I should be working on homework but instead I'm writing this blog post crunch time ;)

2.  Running at least twice a week - I have lots of good races coming up that I want to be stronger and faster for.  Unfortunately for me, this involves actually running!  I want to reconnect with it before it's obnoxiously hot down here and I have no motivation at all.

3.  Weight train at least once a week - I really want to get back into this.  I've been neglecting the gym, which hurts both my wallet and my heart! Eventually this will be back to more than once a week, but there's a lot of other things going on this month, and I want to give myself an attainable goal.

4.  Watch my micronutrients as well as my macros - I was doing pretty well on a low carb/high fat eating plan, but was sometimes left feeling light headed or dizzy.  From what I've read, this is often attributed to a lack of magnesium, potassium, or sodium (or a combination).  As I transition back to LCHF, I want to make sure I focus on these.

5.  Work on homework every day - I always procrastinate and do everything last minute.  I can't exactly do that with a 10 lesson unit plan that's due.  I have a schedule of what to work on each day, but I'm actually already behind on it!  I need to be able to break this into small chunks, for completion and my sanity.

These are the Five Good Things I'll be focusing on in April.

Do you like to set monthly goals, or yearly?

Lauren

Friday Five: Fall Preview

Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia host Friday Five, and this week's theme is "Fall Preview".

I happen to absolutely love fall, because I like more temperate weather.  The Savannah heat is absolutely horrible, and really starting to get to me.  We have dropped from highs in the 90's into the 80's, but I'm craving cooler weather! It helps a lot with my running too.  The other day a good stretch of our run was in the shade, which felt about 10 degrees colder, and I felt like I was running twice as fast!

So #1 of my five is definitely a happiness for colder weather!

#2. Half Marathon Training.  Not just for me, but for Ray as well.  His first half marathon will be Space Coast, and I think it's going to be very interesting watching him go through the training.  I'm excited for it!

#3. Wine and Dine. I'm excited for the race itself, to see friends like Meg and Kristy, and to be back at Disney!

#4. Hot Tea.  I know that it's fully possible to drink hot tea during the summer, but I just can't bring myself to do it when it feels like over 100 degrees outside.  I do love it though, and have an adorable pink teapot and matching up, and I'm really excited to use it again.

#5. Boots.  Again, something I can wear in summer, but it's too dang hot.  I have cowboy boots and fuzzy Ugg type boots, and a pair of Uggs I'm eyeing.  I'm excited about being able to wear them, because they're adorable on their own, and about the fun other outfit choices it gives me!

What are you looking forward to going in to fall?
Lauren