Slacking Blogger: July Catch-Up

What have I been doing for the past month? I haven't blogged since the 4th of July and I'm sure a lot has actually happened but I've totally forgotten about it now. Slacking blogger. Clearly, this is just a hobby.

I went on my first big canoe trip last weekend. There were 17 of us and we spent the (entire) day floating down the Buffalo River by Waynesboro, TN. We basically floated, drank beer, ate chips and sandwiches, and tipped our canoes. Oh, the boys did a little clif-jumping as well. It was such a fun, exhausting day and I'm hoping for a repeat next year.....sans the random bruises that I ended up with. Still haven't figured a couple of them out.

Due to eating a lot of fast food the last month or so and the extreme bloating effect the canoe trip had on my body, I decided to do another round of the 3-Day Fruit Flush. I did it Wednesday-Friday and although I didn't have the dramatic results that I did the first time around, I'm still down 5 pounds and feeling much less toxic since it's completion. Ha!

Friday night was the perfect evening with friends. The Olympics were about to start and since I don't have cable (lame, I know!) I headed over to Cacey & Caleb's to watch the opening ceremony. London did not disappoint and we ooh'd and ahh'd over the magnitude of the production. The best part of the night for me was actually snuggling with their sweet baby Cadence. How cute is she??

Darcy had a pretty awesome time over there as well. She made a new best friend in Cacey & Caleb's black lab, Baloo. Can you say Double Trouble??

After doing my detox I gave myself a day (Saturday) to refuel before picking up my running again. I was supposed to run with a local running group this morning, but sadly, sleep got the better of me and I didn't make it to the trail head in time. Amazingly, I still motivated myself to go alone and I headed out to the greenway around 5:30 a.m. I kicked out 5 miles with some rests throughout - I guess I wasn't completely recuperated from my detox and had zero energy. Plus, since it was so pretty and peaceful out, I couldn't resist perching on the bank of the Stones River for a photo opp with my new kicks on. In case I didn't mention it on here, I might have purchased another pair of PureFlows in red. Yes. They are that awesome!

When I finished up on the greenway, all I could think about was a cup of coffee but I was having serious trouble deciding where to go (story of my life - those who know me are probably not surprised one bit). I started heading towards McDonalds because their coffee is generally pretty good at 7 a.m. Then, I remembered how much I love Sonic coffee and headed in the other direction. Upon arrival, I found out they were closed. Seriously? Fine, McDonalds it is. I had almost reached the golden arches when I realized Starbucks wasn't much further. Again, I changed direction. Eastward, ho captain! I had the air cranked up in my car and was getting cold so instead of simply turning it down, I decided to practice my reckless driving skills by putting on a hoodie as I was cruising down the frontage road. Just a little tip: Do NOT try to put on a hoodie while wearing your seatbelt - you won't get it past your shoulders and then you have to awkwardly get back out of it. Probably should have pulled over for that one. I managed to make it to Starbucks without any major disasters....although I did almost ramp the curb trying to pull up and order. Apparantly, I was still discombobulated from the hoodie fiasco. It was well worth it and I enjoyed that cup of coffee the whole drive home while chatting it up with my grandma.

The rest of my day is going to consist of cleaning - I need to finish the job I started yesterday and get my pigsty under control. On tap today: my bedroom and bathroom. Happy Sunday??

A Sunday kind of Wednesday

I had originally planned on registering for a 5k of some sort today. I say it all the time: there's no better way to start a paid holiday than by running a race. I wasn't really on the ball with it and couldn't commit to one - which turned out to be a good thing since I am sans car this week - but I didn't let that stop me from kicking out 3.1 miles bright and early with Darcy this morning (and by early, I mean 5:30 a.m. - gotta beat the heat!). It was a perfect little 5k - right in our own neighborhood. We both won our age groups and tied for first overall ;) It was a great way to get the day started!

After our run, I came in and had my breakfast and coffee before doing my Jillian Michaels workout. I haven't mentioned it on here yet, but I started Jillian's 90-Day Body Revolution series a month ago. I'm on the first week of Phase 2 and really enjoying the challenge of these workouts. Phase 1 was fairly basic for me since I was already in decent shape but the intensity is definitely ramping up and I'm feeling the burn!!

I'm also on my second week of training for my next half marathon - The Murfreesboro Middle Half on October 13th. Molly and I decided that we wanted to do a 16-week training program for this one because we felt like the 12-week one we followed this past spring didn't quite prepare us properly mileage-wise. I can't decide what my goal for this race is yet because the course is fast and flat compared to the hilly route of the Country Music 1/2 we just did so they aren't really comparable. I ran the Country Music 1/2 in 2:22ish. Do I want to just shave off a few minutes or really go balls to the wall and try to hit it right at two hours or under? We'll see how training goes, I guess. I've been doing a lot of research on speed-training to incorporate into my runs so it will somewhat depend on what kind of results I get out of that.

Other than that, Darcy and I are having a wonderful relaxing day at home today - feels like a Sunday but better. She's been romping around the house a bit and napping here and there. I've pretty much stuck to the couch with a good book. I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th!!