Bird of Paradise and Wknd Snapshots.

Monday morning workout- 55 minutes of spin class, back in the saddle with my hardcore 5:45 am-ers.

Happy seis de Mayo! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend full of some r & r. Mine was quite lovely…lots of rest, an invigorating yoga class, and some yummy eats.

Starting off with 90 straight minutes of power vinyasa flow. Cashed in on my birthday freebie from my favorite yoga studio. Gettin’ bendy with it.

My favorite yoga move of all time has to be the bird of paradise. Such a beautiful pose. I am slowly getting back into it.

Mama joined me and she rocked it too. After class we went to our spot for some yummy Tex Mex. Rehydrating with sangria swirls on the patio.

I deviated from my usual dish and tried their veggie tamales which were super delicious and hit the spot.

We did a little shopping and browsing around at the boutique next door. I found the perfect wrap watch. Love this color too.

Later on I just chilled and finally saw Silver Linings Playbook. Such a good movie…forever girl crushing on Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper is a serious hottie.

This week in workouts-

Monday- Spin class/abs

Tuesday- Bodypump/3 mile run

Weds- Spin class

Thursday-6 mile run

Friday- REST

Saturday- 10 mile run

How was your weekend? Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? 

It’s Getting Serious and My Favorite Type of Speedwork.

This morning’s run was a little over 3 miles around the lake. Sans the Garmin, just enjoying my usual neighborhood loop. It was super cloudy and humid out so I took it easy and did some ‘fartleks’ in between. Speedplay is my favorite.

After the run I had some time before I had to get ready for work so I did yoga in my living room with Ted McDonald from sportskool On Demand. Ted and I are starting to be pretty good friends now. I think it’s getting serious.

We did a series of poses including lots of hip openers. Perfect post run stretch.

‘Fartleks’ are my favorite type of speedwork. I love doing them even during my long runs. Just pick up the pace a bit, hold it for about 30 seconds, then slow it back down to your usual pace. I think it really strengthens your turnover in running and helps you to quickly be able to switch to that faster pace during races.

Do you prefer to do yoga in the gym, studio, or at home?

I love studios but lately have been loving doing yoga right in my living room.

Ever try ‘fartleks’, or speedplay during your running workouts? 

Wild for the Night.

Last night after teaching my 2nd spin class for the day I decided to do some Yoga for Abs on my On Demand. Gaiam features these workouts that are usually anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes long.

It was a great workout for the core…held a lot of the poses for a long time…the boat pose nearly killed me! I always love how I feel after yoga though. All zen like.

I am super excited that today is my ‘Friday’. I have to teach back to back spin classes this evening at 5:30 and 6:30PM, then I have some plans with a friend tonight.

Goin’ wild for the night…have you heard this song? It has definitely been added to the list. Hot hot hotness.

Cheers to the freakin’ weekend!

Are you off on Good Friday?

Have any fun Easter plans? 

Runnin’, brunchin’, churchin’.

Pep in My Step.

Just a few things putting a pep in my step today…

-An easy breezy 4 miler this morning with one of my breakfast club running buddies in these fresh new kicks.

 

-Yet another amazing hour of vinyasa flow over candlelight last night. Namaste.

-Marinating on this from my morning devotional.

-Packing my lunch in a pretty in pink bag.

-This remix. Makes me want to shake it shake it.

-Oh, and of course coffee. Pass the dark roast.

What is putting a pep in your step today?

GNO, A Bendy Session and Back to Running…Wknd Recap.

Hello hello! Another work week ahead. I started out my Monday with my 5:45 am spinners. I hadn’t seen them in over a week since I took time off after the marathon so it was good to be back. They worked it out this morning.

Goin’ in on those sprints with one of my favorite tracks.

How was your weekend? Here are a few snapshots from mine…

Back to running after a week off. Easy Saturday morning jaunt in 30 degree weather with a few of the guys from my Luke’s crew. One of them ran the ULTRA 50k last week and still met up with us for an easy run in the ‘hood. It was fun to catch up with him and hear about his experience.

After the run we had breakfast at this joint then I went home for a long hot shower and a nap. Later…painted my nails, got my hair done and took a selfie. Yep, selfies are where it’s at.

 

Went out with my girls hopping around uptown for pizza, some dancin’ and more pictures.

 

More pics on the patio warming it up by the fire.

Sunday morning I was up for a little bendy session at Uptown Yoga in Dallas.

60 minutes in an 85 degree room with the candles lit was just pure bliss.

Overall I loved this place. I bought the 10 days for $10 coupon so I cannot wait to check out more classes. I can’t wait until the day when I am able to hold the crow pose again for longer than 5 seconds without faceplanting it. See exhibit A.

How was your weekend? When is the last time you went to YOGA? 

Do you like to dance?

I love it. Need more dancin’ in my life…

Fat Tuesday Run and Things I Miss.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

It’s rainy and dreary here so I decided to kick off my morning with a 6 mile treadmill run in the humid apartment gym.

This song was in heavy rotation.

Post run I had this little green goddess. Bananas, strawberries, peaches, nonfat vanilla greek yogurt, spinach, & chai green tea. Energy boost.

Backing up to last night, after work I made up another quick workout to do in my living room. Takes about 15-20 minutes to do all the way through and I used 8 lb. weights with the sumo squats.

The hardest part about that little mini workout had to be the pushups. Seriously need my upper body strength back. After the marathon is over I am going to hit the yoga back pretty hard like this girl. I miss being able to do this:

Back bends, oh how I miss you. I will get there.

A little motivation for your day -

Do you ever do workouts in your living room? What is for breakfast today? 

Any workout you haven’t done in a while that you wish you did more of?

Yoga for sure.

Keeping Track.

I got up bright and early this morning to get my feet moving on the treadmill. 6.28 miles done in 55 minutes. I read today’s devotional on my bible app while I got my run on.

 

After the run I stretched and got ready for work. Did a little bit of yoga in my living room to stretch. Love the bridge pose.

According to Yoga Journal, the bridge pose has lots of nice perks -

Looking back on last week I was very pleased with my mileage! I finally got to over 40 miles and am still feeling pretty good. Thanks to my BFF daily mile I was able to keep track of all of that movin’ and groovin’.

It’s definitely motivating to be able to keep track of your workouts and seeing where you can improve and/or how you felt on each run.

I love logging my weekly miles and the camaraderie of other runners on there is very encouraging. It definitely keeps me accountable from day to day.

I was a little fatigued from Saturday’s 20 miler so I took a much needed rest day yesterday. Legs felt great because of that this morning!

Here’s what I’ve got on tap with my marathon training this week - 

Monday- OFF

Tuesday – 6 mile run (tempo-ish/intervals)

Wednesday – 5 miles easy + strength training

Thursday – 7 mile run + teaching dance class

Friday – OFF

Saturday – LR (recovery week) 12 miles

Do you keep track of your workouts on a site like daily mile or with pen and paper? What is your favorite stretch/yoga pose?

Summer Lovin’ and Wknd Recappin’.

I am back from a lovely Labor Day weekend! I hope you enjoyed the holiday to your heart’s content. My weekend was filled with all of the things I love about summer…

Iced coffee…

 

Laying poolside…

Grillin’ and chillin’ with my sweetheart…

And of course, running…

I also met up with one of my old high school buddies over brunch. It has been years since I’ve seen this girl! Caught up with her over mimosas and breakfast tacos. I knew Facebook was good for something.

Yesterday I celebrated free day of yoga at Soul Motivation! It was an hour and 15 minutes of vinyasa flow. It had been so long since I’d gotten my bend on! I felt a little bit like a fish out of water but it was an amazing stretch. Joseph’s yoga studio was so beautiful, serene and inviting. Love the wall art.

We sat in relaxation pose for so long I almost fell asleep. Loved it.

After yoga I had almost forgotten I was also still training for a marathon so I burned some rubber on the treadmill. 6 miles done.

This week I am teaching dance class on Thursday night I will have to shake the cobwebs off and refresh my playlist a bit! I am looking forward to teaching…it has been a little over a month since I’ve taught a class! Good times!

How was your weekend? Did you BBQ or eat any yummy foods? What is your workout today? 

Memorial Day Wknd Recap.

I am back after my short blogging hiatus! I’ve missed you guys. Hope you all had a wonderful long holiday weekend! Let’s get caught up.

This weekend stayed fairly busy but still had a nice mix of relaxation. Saturday morning I coached my running group over at Luke’s Locker. We did some drills followed by an easy 5 mile run. Still building those miles up for marathon training. After the run I wanted to do a little bit more and added on some miles in my mom’s quiet little neighborhood. There were beautiful flowers blooming so of course I stopped and admired them. I logged a little over 7 miles total that day.

After the run I got all cleaned up and caught up with my friend Natalie for our traditional brunch at Penne Pomodoro. Girl talk and pizza, perfect combination.

Saturday night I turned in early so I could get up the next morning and do some sweaty cross training at 24 Hour Fitness. I went to spin class and then did some Danceaton with Gaby. Always a good 2 hour long workout! I had to make room for all of the barbecue I knew I was going to eat later on.

Sunday evening was fairly low key. Eric and I went to church and basically were lazy the entire day. I went to the grocery store and stocked up on goodies for the week. I also made dinner – lemon pepper tilapia and roasted asparagus. Love cooking on Sundays.

Memorial Day Monday was busy but fun! I went for a run around 7am. It was already quite balmy already outside so I found a nice shaded loop in my neighborhood and logged about 5 miles. I used Run Keeper to log my run since my Garmin watch was dead. I was happy with my pace considering how warm it was!

 

After the hot run I wanted to do a little bit more so I went to the free day of yoga over at Sunstone! I attended the fire series 60 minute class, and boy was it HOT!

I really enjoyed it and felt so amazing afterwards! My arms are still sore this morning after that workout!

Eric and I spent the remainder of the day at the pool with some friends. I made some of my famous skinny buffalo chicken dip for the pool party. I added some crumbled goat cheese on top. It was a big hit!

I enjoyed hanging out in the cabana by the pool and working on my tan.

This week I am going to be doing a little bit more running and I am teaching Danceaton at the end of the week! I am also super excited because I signed up for another race – the Wounded Warrior 10K in June! I will be running this race with a bunch of my Luke’s running buddies so it should be fun!

What did you do over the long weekend? Have you ever tried a hot yoga class? What is your favorite poolside snack?

Foot candy, yoga and 3 days of freedom.

Happy Friday! It’s pretty much the weekend around these parts! So excited for the 3 days of freedom ahead. Hope you are having a swell day and are kicking off your Friday in a grand fashion. I definitely did. See exhibit A – vanilla soy chai with double espresso shots. If that’s not happiness I don’t know what is!

Last night was the Luke’s Locker Thursday night social run! I tested out some new shoes – the Asics Gel Nimbus.

I was excited to try some new foot candy, and they felt great at first fitting. But I will have to say I will be sticking to my Gel Landreth shoes. My foot just didn’t agree with the Nimbus. About half a mile in and I felt like my foot was being squeezed like a sausage in a casing. So I ran back, took them off and put my lovers the Nike Free Run 2s back on.

I love those babies! They fit my foot like a glove and I have lots of pep in my step when I wear them. I ended up hitting just over 4 miles that day, in 90 degree weather no less. Happy and sweaty.

I drank tons of water afterwards and hung out with the Luke’s crew. They had a massage table out there and I got a 10 minute full body massage. For FREE. I don’t have a photo but I promise you it was picture perfect awesome.

This weekend promises lots of running, dancing, maybe a little bit of yoga and some fun in the sun! I plan on signing up for a free yoga class over at Sunstone yoga studio. I love getting my bend on, especially in a hot room!

I also will be doing lots of grillin’ and chillin’ with this fella. Bring on the pool time and the BBQ’n!

What are you doing this weekend? Are you traveling or staycationing it? What kind of shoes do you run or workout in?