March Workout Plan

I know March is halfway over so this is a combination post of what I've accomplished and what I plan to accomplish the rest of the month.

So far I've run 15 miles this month (or actually in the last 11 days). My goal is about 25 miles a month to reach my goal of 300 miles a year. I hope I can get closer to 30 miles.

I've also worked out every SINGLE day this week, which is kind of crazy. I always make goals for the week and only do about 3/5 of whatever I plan.  That just means I plan bigger to get more done.  But now, I've decided I don't have to RUN or do a long work out every day for it to count as a workout. This makes it a lot less stressful and I know I have time for a short ab workout or interval training. It's also easy because I can do a lot of these things right in my room rather than depending on the weather or scheduling time to go to the gym.

I've made a schedule for the next 2 weeks that consists of a mix of running, interval training, and short ab or push up workouts.  I've also added a new health habit to the mix: not eating after 9pm on weekdays. So far, it's harder than I thought, but I figured I'd give it a try to see if it had any benefits. I don't really believe in dieting, but I do work to eat mostly healthy foods and no one ever eats anything healthy after 9pm anyway...

Today my short workout was 10 pike-plunge push ups, 15 tricep dips, 20 sec torso twists, cork screw x12, crisscross x20, 30 sec side planks, and 20 sec teasers.  I did it 2.5 times because the new push ups hurt a lot. My plan is to do more abs tomorrow before taking the rest of the weekend off.  But maybe I'll squeeze in hike on Sunday.

What are your fitness goals for this month?
Have a happy St. Patrick's Day!

5k Best

Friday, the day before we flew home from Florida, we discovered a 5k race on the island.  Of course, only my sister Rebecca and I would consider running a 5k while on vacation, just hours before we had to pack up and leave. But we did it! We were up before 7am on Saturday to register and run at 8.  

Here's me crossing the finish line.  Many of
the runners liked to give out high-fives.

It was already getting hot but it was a fairly flat race through a small neighborhood on the island. I had made myself a goal of going sub-30 minutes.  I've run a few 5ks over the past few years but most of them have been trail races, putting my time between 35 and 45 minutes.  I thought this was a challenging enough, but fairly reasonable goal.  Well, I was certainly shocked and extremely happy to see that I finished in 27:22 and came in 27th out of the 70 or so runners there.  Rebecca completed in her own personal record of 39 minutes and some change.  It was a great feeling to beat my goal by so much and it gave me the motivation again to try for longer races. I'm aiming to do a 10k this summer and then train for a half marathon in November here in Roanoke.  

The last day of vacation was great too.  We joined the kids at the pool for one last swim then we packed up and headed home.  Starting with a good, strong run makes the day so much more optimistic.  Plus I felt energized and got to eat anything I wanted for the rest of the day. ;) 

"I love Florida" - Declan

My spring break so far...I'll be sharing more in-depth later, but I'm sleepy and wanted to share some pictures.  1) Our first site of the beach after a long morning of traveling. 2) Everyone having a blast in the pool. 3) The kids playing cars with Pop Pop. 4) A fun (and accurate) notice about the weather. 5) The sunset! 6) Declan's first Klondike bar. 7-9) Attempting to get a picture of Declan in his beach gear...first his eyes were closed, so I said "open your eyes" and so he did...After we giggled for a bit, I finally got a good picture.

New experience in New Orleans

Oh my, it has been too long since I've posted a blog and updated you on my life.  I have a good excuse though, I promise.

A pretty park on Decatur St.

Last Wednesday, I skipped out on class and flew to New Orleans for the 2012 Sigma Tau Delta Convention in New Orleans. What is Sigma Tau Delta? Well, it is the International English Honor Society. It's pretty elite and pretty cool. I happen to be the president of the chapter at Roanoke College and was accepted to read my paper at the convention this year.  I read a 13 minute, 7 page paper along with three other people at panel on vampires (my paper was about gender and reproduction in Dracula). This was a three-day long event in which many, many students-both undergrad and graduate-along with published and respected writers read their original work, participated in workshops and roundtable discussions and, of course, enjoyed the nightlife of downtown New Orleans.

 A pretty sidewalk art piece with
play-on words.

I stayed at hotel on Decatur St. around the corner from the conference on Canal Street at the Marriott. We were blocks from Bourbon St and Cafe Du Monde. I ate, drank and shopped my way through the week, presented my paper on Friday to an accepting and intrigued crowd and flew back home on Saturday.  The French Market was fun and interesting as were the characters on Bourbon St at all hours of the day. The beignets at Cafe Du Monde are as wonderful as everyone says and well-worth the line you find at any time of day (it's open 24/7).  The drunks on the street and the strippers taking their smoke-breaks are well-tattooed and quite a site to see.  In New Orleans, you can carry your drink up and down the street as you barhop, which is quite hard to get used to.

This is my first
(and only) hurricane!

Oh and my paper, well I had written it for a class last year, and my teacher (our chapter sponsor who joined us on the trip) helped me edit and rewrite to the point of acceptance and helped me practice.  I was nervous and shaky before (and during) my reading but the crowd was responsive and good, constructive conversation followed the four readings of that panel.  It was such a great experience, especially during my undergraduate career and I am so happy to have been able to learn so much and see New Orleans for the first time. I can't wait to go back!