Goal time

Alright, I'm just going to put it out there again.  My goal for the Women's 4-miler tomorrow is to run something under 30 minutes.  I don't think I'm going to be able to shave off that much time, but it was my goal and I'm sticking to it.  My foot has been feeling pretty good, but the compartment syndrome in my right leg that was never fixed is driving me crazy.  After a mile or so my calf muscle fills with blood and goes numb.  The lovely "drop foot" returns making it easy for me to trip over my own feet and it just plain makes it hard to run.  If this wasn't an issue I think I could crush my goal because my cardiovascular fitness is on point.

We shall see what the morning brings!  Do you really need to carb up to run 4 miles? I think not, but don't think for a minute that I haven't been bringing on the carbs all day today;)

I can't wait to post pictures of my race day outfit!  Get ready for the "High Kickin' Bettys"!

Whole Life Challenge

A read about the Whole Life Challenge through Courtney at A Petite Athleat a couple of weeks ago and thought that it sounded TOUGH, and I mean really tough in the nutrition department, but who isn't up for a challenge, right?

From their website: 
The purpose of The Whole Life Challenge is to see what sort of impact you can have on your 
body,your fitness and your lifestyle habits over the course of 8 weeks, and to train in having a
health and fitness practice that is practical and sustainable for the long term. There are three
categories that make up the criteria for the game:

1. Performance - How much can you improve in a workout (faster time, more reps, better score)?
2. Body - How many inches can you lose off of your body (based on circumferential measurements)?
3. Lifestyle & Accountability - How consistent can you be over 56 days in maintaining healthy habits
   and being accountable for your results in your daily life?

The main focus for me would have to be nutrition because the guidelines are extremely strict.  I'm interested to see what would happen if I cut out grains and dairy, which is exactly what a lot of trainers ask their clients to do for 8 weeks when they first start working out and cleaning up their diets.  In fact, I've already opted to cut out a lot of these on my own.  However, I know I am going to be hurting without my morning oatmeal and cottage cheese for a snack.

If anyone is interested in participating, let me know.  Check out the rules on the website first.  I had to sign-up under Courtney's affiliate since I do not belong to an affiliate.  I'll send you her link if you are interested. The madness begins on September 15th.  

South Western Crockpot Chicken

After a long day of fence building in the RAIN, this was the perfect meal to come inside to this evening!  I'm so thankful that I set the crockpot this morning so I wouldn't have to deal with dinner this evening.

So good! 

We rented a post hole digger on Friday, so we didn't have any option except to plow through all day in the rain to get it done.  I guess the weatherman was wrong about the predicted beautiful weather that we were supposed to have today, but that's to be expected, right?  I just about froze to death even though we were working hard.  Cold fingers and toes makes it difficult to get anything done.

Saturday before the rain

Before the welded wire was added

South Western Crockpot Chicken

Ingredients:
6 raw, boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans (rinsed and drained) 
2 (15 oz.) cans black beans (rinsed and drained) 
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes in juice, low sodium 
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes in juice, low sodium
 2 (15 oz.) cans corn, low sodium
1 (16 oz.) jar of salsa, no sugar added 

Directions:

• Place chicken breasts in bottom of crockpot and then layer with salsa and tomatoes and then beans and corn. 
• Cook on low heat for 7 hours.  
• Pull chicken with a fork and serve with brown rice or on quesadillas!  

**Thanks to the Gracious Pantry for the inspiration! 

What I'm Loving Lately

Using my Garmin on longer outdoor runs to keep me motivated and sweaty!

Lots and lots of eggs and egg whites mixed with random veggies!

Eggs, egg whites, greens, fresh tomatoes, onions

Spending time on the boat!  

After weeks of work, Rich just finished painting and putting in new seats and carpet in the boat, as well as painting the trailer and installing new LED lights.  Did I get lucky or what with my Mr. Handyman husband?!

Showing off the newly refurbished boat!

My favorite captains

Let's Talk Soccer

It's no secret that I LOVE the Olympics.  I'm so thankful that I have had time off during the day to watch as many events as possible.  It should come as no surprise that I absolutely love watching the women's soccer team.  This group is just as inspirational, if not more so, than the good old days with Brandy Chastain and crew. I watched every single US game and they did not disappoint, well all but one of them.  Hope Solo lost tons of points in my book after she criticized Brandy Chastain's commentary on the game.  I couldn't believe the words that I was reading off of her Facebook posts, disrespectful and disappointing.

Pure joy after beating Canada

On the other hand, I can't imagine being able to be on the same field as Abby Wambach.  She is a class act and is the most motivating player I've ever seen on the soccer field.  Her leadership skills and determination are bar none.  I think I shall start a new campaign, "Abby Wambach for President!"

All of the ladies on this team are no doubt exceptional, but I loved watching Alex Morgan make plays happen out of nothing, Megan Rapinoe's endless energy and drive (oh yeah, and she's my number, 15), and last but not least Amy Lepeilbet's amazing defense.  She is a player that I hadn't paid much attention to in the past, but good lord the girl has skills.  She reminds me of what I always wanted to do on the field; shut down every single one-on-one play and turn the game around.  She's a beast, I tell ya!

Lepeilbet 

Congrats to the US for bringing home the gold, for inspiring our children, and for redeeming themselves against Japan! And did I mention how impressed I was with their game against Canada?  By far the best game I've watched EVER.  Tears were flowing, seriously.

Hmmm, maybe there is an adult league on this side of the mountain? ;)

Bump in the road

After a small bump in the road regarding my meals, I am back on the wagon.  The last couple of weeks have been very stressful so I did my fair share of eating quick and easy meals like Chic-fil-a, including fries, gasp! I am not beating myself up about the goldfish grahams, milk duds and popcorn at the movies or chocolate chip waffles, but I am ready to get back on track. I think it is normal for these things to happen and it makes me even more motivated to get myself in gear again.

However, Monday was a new day and I kicked it off with some clean eats including lean beef and broccoli served with brown rice, shredded chicken spinach salad, an apple and cottage cheese, overnight oats, and a PWO shake.

Speaking of my PWO shakes, the latest version includes 1 banana, 1 cup of Chobani yogurt (any flavor), handful of fresh spinach, 2 scoops egg protein, 1 scoop creatine, 3 tbsp flaxseed, 1 cup ice, 1 cup of almond milk.  Rich and I split the shake so there isn't as much sugar.  I'm loving the change, but I'm sure I'll switch it back up in a couple of weeks to something else.

This morning was only the 2nd morning of the entire summer that I did not make it to the gym at 6:00 am.  Rich has been hard at work trying to finish up restoration of his boat and I have been working on other projects and watching the Olympics so we haven't gotten much sleep.  We both slept in until 7:00 this morning!  It was glorious.  I just now got back from a fantastic leg workout and feel energized and rejuvenated after a stressful week.  I'm ready to rock out a shoulder workout tomorrow and hopefully start to see some leaning out results in the next two weeks.

I'm combining 2-3 long runs a week with some HIIT training 2-3 times a week.  I would like to start hitting the track for some bleacher runs, sprints, and other agility training.  This should get the legs to come in a bit better as well.

Get up and get out there today!

Goal Met!

Well, that was much faster than expected; I met my goal to reduce my 4 mile time by 1:15 each week.  I  shaved off 1:28 this morning with a time of 33:20 and that is only 4 days after I set the goal.  I'm not going to get overly excited because the faster I run the harder it will be to take time off, but it felt good to beat my time that quickly!

On a not so fun note, my right calf muscles got tight and full of blood with only 2 minutes into the run....good ole compartment syndrome.  I'm sure it was my fault for not warming up enough before sprinting up a hill, but regardless it bothered me the entire run and is still swollen making my foot numb.  I'm going to throw some ice on it for now and then put on my compression sleeves for recovery today. 

This fricken foot has been a lot better lately, but still creates a nagging pain.  My whole joint is now discolored and looking way more vascular.  Gross.  But check out my pretty toes thanks to a pedicure and lunch date with the girls last week:)

Purple, blue and see thru ;) The bone that is the problem is under this joint. 

The Summer List

Every summer I make myself a list of a million household chores that need to be taken care of before I return to school.  Some days I'm extra motivated, but there are others when I could care less whether the laundry room gets organized and the old files get shredded.

More often than not, this is what I am thinking...