It sounded like a good idea....

    Today was supposed to be an easy workout day. All I had planned to do was a simple (or so I thought) yoga class.
     At some point during my day I got bored and REALLY wanted to go running. But I am really trying to not to do too much too soon, which I always do. You see, I kind of have an addictive personality. When I get interested in something I become OBSESSED! In the past this has caused me a lot of pain and usually results in me giving up on my venture to become a runner. So in an effort to avoid this issue, I decided to go spinning.

   I was dreading it a bit because I find it to be a bit torturous. So I gave in to another addiction: Vodka.

Just kidding, it was just some coffee.

     After the coffee, the neurons in my brain started firing and I had a bright idea.  I would bike to the spin class. It was, after all, a good warm-up. Very good idea... more on this later.

     Spin class was AWESOME! I am really noticing a change in my cardiovascular system. Boy was I sweaty!! I had an hour in between spin and yoga so i did a little stretching and then relaxed sweated like crazy in the sauna. It has been a sweatastic day!

So I was totally psyched about yoga... then class started :( It was a super small class today so the instructor spent a lot of time praising correcting our stellar crappy form. Her main target: ME. I'm not so limber. I nearly fell on my face, luckily she caught me. In the end it was a good stretch i suppose, but not as enjoyable as I had anticipated it to be.

Now, back to the wonderful idea that was not so wonderful. Remember 3 hours before when I had that great idea to ride my bike to spin class??? Well by the end of yoga, a crazy storm had started and it was hailing!!! Luckily a nice stranger let me put my bike in the back of her car and gave me a ride home. Yes, I said a stranger gave me a ride. Don't worry I'm safe.

What is with this weather?? Don't I live in sunny California?

What's the worst weather you have been caught in while out for a run or ride?

Well that run blew...

... actually that was the wind. Holy moly. 
     
     When I got home from school today it was really windy so I relaxed at home for a bit thinking the wind would die down. After a while, I realized I was losing precious daylight and decided to check the weather channel to see what the wind's plans were. 

Local Weather Alert

Special Weather Statement for Santa Barbara County Central Coast, CA

Wind:

From NNW at 23mph gusting to 29mph

Well crap....

     So then I spent the next ten minutes making excuses and telling myself skipping one workout would be okay. Then I remembered all of you, my wonderful bloggy friends! And I put on my shoes and went for a run.


     The wind was horrid since I was running into the wind almost the whole time!! But hey... it was a better workout right? Is it possible to get wind burn when running, because I think I did.

Lessons learned:

     In an effort to not get discouraged by the wind, I thought "hey if i look cute everything will be better." So I donned my cute Juicy sunglasses. Bad choice. I spent the whole run pushing them off of my nose. I should have just worn the not-as-cute but super sporty and made-for-running sunglasses.

     On a positive note, I am gaining more followers yay!! Honestly and truly, I am so thankful for you guys! Especially those that are not my family. O man that sounds harsh... What I mean is that you guys (non family members) keep me accountable. If I quit running, you'll stop following. So you guys are totally awesome. My family, whom I love, has to follow me know matter what :) That's what family does.

   I'm sore, so tomorrow I think will be a yoga day... don't worry I'll blog about that too!

What's your favorite non-running workout??

Am I having "follow me" problems??

It was brought to my attention today that some people are not able to "follow" my blog. My blog lists this person as a follower when I look, but she is told that she can't follow. Anyone try to follow me and couldn't?

I have received a few "comments" from people who aren't followers but I just assumed they thought the post was interesting but my blog want something they wanted to actually follow. Maybe there is something going on here.

If anyone has any information, let me know. My email is listed under my contact me tab in case ya'll can't comment.

What the heck was I thinking??

      I'm a complete dunce today. I couldn't stop thinking about going for a run ALL day. It was just so sunny and the perfect temp. for a run and I was excited. So as soon as I got home from school I threw on some workout clothes and shoes and ran out the door. Literally. Without stretching. Dumb. I know. Needless to say my run didn't go very well. I still did more than 4 miles, which for me is awesome. But it was not pleasant.

     So here I will lay with ice packs and heating pads attempting to baby my sore shins.

  

On a humorous note, I saw 5 deer!! I was thinking about how cute they were when they started to walk toward me. Then I was scared. So I walked for a minute. I mean that deer just looked at me like I was dinner. Talk about a role reversal! I really wish I had taken a picture.

But I do have a picture of these pretty flowers I saw. I nearly stopped breathing when I saw them. No, they were not that beautiful. They were riddled with pollen, which sucks - the air out of me that is.










What's on your wish list? What new thing do you want to buy to enhance your running experience?

The Incredible Thigh Reducer....

.... does not exist. BUT I did get your attention :)

Today was a cross-training day so I decided that I would head to the gym to enjoy lifting some weights. More on that in a minute.

It was a nice day so I decided to ride my bike to the gym.

And yes it was awesome, because it was sunny. And because, have you seen those gas prices??

Anyways, the workout was perfect. Just what I needed to stretch out my sore muscles and give my legs a break. A little muscle definition is pretty cool too right?

 

You know what else is cool?? That strength training is AWESOME for you!

"With a regular strength training program, you can reduce your body fat, increase your lean muscle mass and burn calories more efficiently. If your aerobic workouts aren't balanced by a proper dose of strength training, you're missing out on a key component of overall health and fitness."  --From The Mayo Clinic


AND....


"Weight lifting can also reduce your susceptibility to injury and can even cure specific injuries, such as shin splints or runner's knee, which are often associated with specific muscle weaknesses." -- From Alberto Salazar's Guide To Road Racing.

So there you have it, it doesn't matter what your goals are (maybe to run further or to lose a little weight), get your butt to the gym because just like milk, it does a body good.

Running the bases...

... well at least one base. I live on a military base which provides some interesting aspects for my running. I feel safer running here. Maybe it's that I live in a gated-in, security-protected compound or maybe it's the lack of of traffic, who knows...  Anyways, today as I was running, I realized that some of the things I see on my runs are slightly peculiar. Today I ran past an old tank machine and thought to myself "now I bet most runners don't encounter such a thing."

Random I know!

Today was another victorious running day. I ran almost 5 miles! Probably the furthest I have ever run. Now my poor, blistered foot may not share my excitement, but I am STOKED!!!

Tomorrow I am off to investigate some better socks. Do you have favorite socks your wear for running??

Getting Back On Track With Big Strides

   Wow, I am horrible at remembering to post on here! What a crazy couple of weeks it has been, study, study, study all the time. Finally got back on track this week with my running. During my visit to Oregon last week to see my sister we did a bit of shopping. I bought the nike+ sensor for my shoe. There are many more fun things I want to buy in the realm of the fitness world, but I consider them rewards so they will have to wait.
  So the chip, (which has been out forever and to most runners is probably pretty lame), is awesome! Why? I'm not a hundred percent sure. I think it's just a subconscious thing. Just knowing that something is keeping track of what I am actually doing, has been very beneficial to me.
  I also had a major breakthrough this week which resulted in an increase of distance. Yay! I usually run in the gym, on a treadmill, with a set distance, and my results staring me in the face constantly. So this week, I made a change.
  After inserting my trusty chip in my bright pink shoes, I hit the streets. This time, with nothing more than a desire to run for 40 minutes. No set pace, no visual results. I focused on running slower and calmer. The wind was obnoxious and I felt like i was running slow enough that a turtle could surpass me but when i came home and looked at the results, I was amazed. I ran four miles!! Double what I usually run, and the crazy part... I ran faster than I usually do! This was Monday. Tuesday I woke up and really wanted to run again, but I made myself take a break. I usually get excited about a good run and over-do it too early, causing my stupid over-zealous shin splints to come back and haunt me. Wednesday, I felt sluggish but ran always, and again ran faster. Now it's friday and I hope to run further but it will have to be a later run, because this sun is amazing but a little warm to run in.

  What's your favorite music to run to?