Wooo..slacking a little bit and I already feel it!

Wow, it's amazing how once you start a habit you definitely feel it when you don't keep up with it! I've felt SO tired on days that I haven't started with a workout...which I guess is a good thing! It's forcing me to get up earlier and squeeze in at least 15-30 minutes of walking with Buddy, doing yoga, or even a quick jog.

The past few days I went a little off the wagon because...FOOD AND WINE FEST BEGAN!!! Mom was able to take half the day off to come with me to the cast preview and we had SUCH an awesome time! (Shout-out to my Seas folks who let me give her a backstage tour!!!) It was definitely a needed bonding time for us :) So much has been happening lately that it's nice to just get away from reality for a while and indulge in foods from around the world! And go figure...the very first booth we find is none other than HAWAII! These signs just keep showing up everywhere haha

But today I got back on track and hit the pool for a bit; it was nice to swim while it's actually sunny outside instead of 6am in the morning when it's pitch black outside!!! It's all still worth it though :)

And I can't believe September is almost over with already!!! It's absolutely insane...but I can NOT wait for the holidays coming up! Halloween, my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years! But holy cow...that means that my internship will be ending soon and I still don't know what I'm going to be doing afterwards...AHHH! It's so scary!!! But I guess living by the seat of my pants isn't so bad haha

Anyway...tomorrow's plan in a jog with Buddy and some Jillian Michael's yoga :)

Elyse and I are trying to level up on Fitocracy by Sunday...and I only have 800 points to go! We can totally do this :)
Level 9 here I come!

Block Workouts...gonna take some getting used to!

Wow, so today was my first block work out: running, then swimming and it was pretty tough, but it was a good step towards training for the biathlon! In case you were interested, here is the link to the race webpage :)
http://www.orlandohealth.com/drpphillipshospital/think_pink/think_pink.aspx?pid=6775

Anyway, this morning was still successful! Did one mile in 11 minutes, then suited up and did a 100m warm up, 2 x 400m, and a 100m cool down and finished my swim in about 30 minutes. Earned about 450 Fitocracy points!

Tomorrow I plan on doing some at-home yoga in the morning instead of going to spin class...my legs are killing me and I think my arms and abs could use some attention! I also want to do the Y's Zumba class tomorrow after work :)

I've actually started noticing that when I work out in the mornings, I tend to yawn A LOT less throughout the day and feel more awake. Hopefully this will be my new substitute for that morning cup of coffee ;)
It seems to be working fabulously so far!

Surprise rest day!

This morning when I woke up, I was WAAAAAAY to sore to think about going to spin class...so I rearranged my schedule, rested/slept in this morning, and tomorrow I'm going to the Y at 0530, running for 15 minutes, then swimming for 30 minutes. This will be my first EVER block workout, and I figure now is as good of a time as any to try and prepare for what it's going to feel like when I tackle my biathlon in 19 days that way it (hopefully!) won't be so daunting on the day of the race.

SPEAKING OF...the day of the Think Pink biathlon at the Y is on Saturday, October 13th at 0700...then, I've been invited to be a guest speaker at the University of Tampa's GETSMART event that day (I did it back in April too!) which will go from about 1000-1230, and FINALLY that day I will attend the HENAAC/Great Minds in STEM Conference Graduate School/Career Fair from 1400-1600...WOWEEEE! That is going to be a full day haha but I'm so excited :) It's going to be fantastic!

So I'm working on my fitness AND my future!!! Things are looking up...finally :)

LEVEL 8!!!

I did it AGAIN!!! Made my level up goal by the time I set it for :)
This is really starting to become a habit...and I'm LOVING it!

Went for a run after work today since the weather was BEAUTIFUL! I took Buds on a walk since he still isn't back to his full health, but I took him on a 20 minute walk before my run.
Stats were:
3.54 miles in 37:16 (including warm-up and cool-down); 5K time was 30:11; workout pace (w/o warm-up and cool-down) averaged at 9:09/mile, and I burned 393 calories!
It felt absolutely AWESOME :)

And in the end, I rallied up 420 points on Fitocracy...which pushed me over by 8 points to LEVEL 8!
So now I have 1744 points until Level 9, and I think I'll be able to make that by next Sunday; that averages out to 5 good workouts around 350 points each. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to manage that now! It would've seemed daunting about 2 weeks ago, but now I feel like it's a decent goal to set! :)


In other news, Buddy is feeling better but still not fully recovered from his belly-ache, I got a GRE practice book so I can start studying for that little gem, and work is still going as great as ever :) Still waiting for an interview for the Behavioral Husbandry position...so I've just gotta keep my fingers crossed!!!


Things have been really rough lately...there's a lot of baggage in my life that not everyone on Facebook needs to know about every little detail...but it's there. And it's been really hard to deal with, but that's all a part of the challenges of life and the healing process that follows.

I read a quote today from one of my magazines that said, "You don't know strength until strength is the only choice you have."
I've definitely experienced that in the last few months, and I can't say that it's only going to get better from here; but I can say that now I know I'm strong enough to deal with whatever God has planned for me in my life :)

Back from the weekend!

I'm pretty sure this is the first time EVER that I haven't fallen off the wagon when I've been home for the weekend haha my parents ALWAYS have my weakness foods...cookie dough, crackers, chips, ice cream, cookies, etc...but my will power was strong!!! Mom and I indulged in a few cookies, had some good, healthy meals, and enjoyed our time to relax (what little of it we got hahaha)

As for working out, those were my two rest days for the week and today I got back into the swing of things by doing 30 minutes of Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown...WOWIE that kicked my booty!!! I can still feel my muscles quivering from those crazy poses hahaha but it felt good! And now I'm 414 points away from Level 8 :)
The plan for tomorrow is to have a morning run, then when I get home from work do some more yoga...the easier kind this time hahah
Then Monday will be 530 spin class,
Tuesday will be either swimming at 600 or kickboxing at 1830
Wednesday will be a rest day
Thursday will be either swimming, yoga, or body ballet
Friday will be either swimming, zumba, or spin class
Saturday will be a rest and/or yoga day

Then hopefully start all over again :)

Only 3 weeks until my biathlon!!!

And sadly my running Buddy is out of commission for the next few days to give him some rest to get over his upset tummy :( Poor kiddo has NOT had a fun 24 hours....but he's getting better! Soon enough he'll be back to normal and getting MY butt out of bed to go for a run again ;)

0530 spin class?? HELLZ YEAH!!!

I'm gonna keep it short, sweet, and to the point:

Woke up at 0400 this morning.
Walked Buddy.
Had a banana, chocolate, and peanut butter smoothie.
Drove to the YMCA.
Did the spin class...got my ass kicked my by 65 year old instructor that I could barely keep up with...and he was even SINGING ALONG with the songs that were playing! Talk about some serious cardio endurance! So that's pretty motivating considering I'm only 22 years old and couldn't even keep up with him lol
Went back home, walked Buddy, made a spinach and cheese egg scramble.
Had a green tea latte at work.
Worked.
Came home.
Napped.
World of Beer with Brandon!!! SO much fun and SO awesome to catch up with my dear friend :) PS: We need to do this again soon!
Now I'm home, Buddy is walked again and we are snuggled up in bed together :)

BTW...I earned 731 points today on Fitocracy from my spin class and walking today!

Only 546 points away from Level 8!!! :) Staying on track!

SURPRISE!!! Level 7...woohoo!

WOW!

So, it REALLY paid off for me to wake up at 0515 this morning and get my booty to the Y to swim! I didn't join in the Master Swim Class (because I am SOOOO out of swimming shape...lol) so I took my own workout and did 1500 meters, freestyle and breast stroke, during 45 minutes...took it pretty easy, but had a few laps where I pushed myself!

Then I go to enter my workout into Fitocracy, and I earned 558 points from my workout! Little did I know...I also conquered FOUR quests: 1) Gullible Guppy-Swim 100m in one session-20pts, 2) Torpedo Trial-Swim 250m in one session-50pts, 3) Submarine Sprint-Swim 750m in one session-200pts, and finally 4) The Pool Mile!-Swim 1500m in one session-400 points!!!
That gave me an extra 670 points and put me at 4,073 total points, and only 1277 points away from Level 8!
I'm going to make Level 8 by Sunday :)

The plan for tomorrow is to attend the 0530 or 1800 spin class! I felt SO great and energized today since I got up early and worked out, I'm thinking I might brave the 0530 class tomorrow!!!
I guess we'll have to wait and see :)

Latin Cardio!!!

So I FINALLY joined the YMCA!!! It was so much fun tonight! I ended up doing their Latin Cardio class, and it was like Zumba! I really enjoyed it and the instructor was a hoot :) haha!

Anyway, 202 points down...1005 to go until I reach Level 7! Goal is still to hit it by Friday...so tomorrow the plan is to do the Master Swim class at the Y...6:00am...let's see if I can make it! I've got my gym bag ready, bathing suit set out, work clothes good to go, and plans for grabbing breakfast on the way to work!

Feeling good about this new week :)

Stuck in a Funk...

So the past few weeks have been a little tough to deal with, and I've definitely let myself slide by taking refuge in being lazy and vegging out on the couch instead of being productive and working out and eating right...I feel like I've had some pretty good excuses lately, but ultimately this is setting me back from what I've been working so hard for!

I'm stuck on Level 6 in Fitocracy...but that's going to change this week! By next Friday, I will be on Level 7!!! That is 1207 point away until I level up, so if I run one day and then swim another day and do a spin class on another day and then throw in some ZUMBA or kickboxing classes, that should keep me on track!

On Monday I am going to get my YMCA membership started, and then it's all uphill from there :)

The IMATA workshop was AMAZING last weekend! I definitely needed that little getaway trip; helped me clear my head and see that great things are waiting for me in the near future!!!

Starting tomorrow I'm getting out of this funk!
Gotta get signed up for the Think Pink Biathlon one month from now too! Starting to train tomorrow!

LEVEL 6!

All right! Made my goal this weekend!!! Thanks to 50 minutes of excruciating yoga along with about 15 minutes of Buddy walking and all of my secondary walking  and stairs at work today I was able to level up! I am now at Level 6 and ready to step it up a bit!

I am joining the YMCA this week so that I can start building my swimming skills again...I need to be ready in case I can take the swim test for a marine mammal training position soon!
Also, I want to do the Think Pink Biathlon at the Y in October :) I think that would be a great "in-between" step before I even think about trying to tackle a triathlon!
They've got some awesome group ex classes and a masters swim team, so hopefully I can go to those! My goal is to go to 3 classes/week so that way I can get my money's worth and not waste the money that I'm paying to get in shape!

Things in my professional life are going better than I could have ever expected...it's crazy to think that this time next year I could possibly be achieving my life-long dream :) Just gotta take another step in the right direction...which is where turning in my application for the next internship period came in handy today! Hopefully I'll hear back from that soon...applications close on Oct. 5th, but I'm hoping I won't have to wait until then hahaha it's too far away!!!!!!

I forgot to mention; Buddy's vet check up went really well again! He's an ideal 74 lbs, has beautiful chompers, clean ears, and plenty of muscle! That's my healthy baby boy!!! :)
Now I just gotta start being as healthy as he is...haha!

Boo-ya!

Quick post tonight since it's already late and my computer is dying!

Went on a walk/jog with Buddy today; stats were 3.21 miles in 45:47 with a 14:15 pace! I think he had fun on our walk today...or he's trying to hide them so I don't tire him out again like I did today ;) I also got conquered the quest of 3.1 miles which puts me at 200 points away from Level 6!
I'm going to wake up in the morning to do cardio yoga and then I can hopefully squeeze in some Zumba or kickboxing after church tomorrow (yes that's right, I AM going to church tomorrow...it's been a while and I kinda need it right now)

Ate decently well today, had an AWESOME day at work, and now I'm wrapping it up with a picture of my sweet baby boy napping on my sneakers :)