2012 Goals.

It took me so long to write this because I wasn't sure how I wanted to handle my 2012 goals. I don't like to call them resolutions only because of the bad connotation of failed resolutions. Also, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do any kind of goals because being pregnant, I'm not sure how this year is going to pan out. I don't know how I'm going to feel after having a baby, and I don't want to set my goals too high. I also feel like this year is going to be split into before/prepare for baby, and being a mom. I thought about doing goals for the first half and then re-evaluating them after I have the baby, but I think I can make them general enough so that they can work throughout the year. So here goes nothing!

1. Be the healthiest woman I can be through my eating habits. This includes eating well, making sure I have enough fruits and veggies every day, along with balanced meals and correct portions. This also includes sweets/treats in moderation. I know that when I have the baby it might be eating whatever someone makes for me, and if that's the healthiest I can be at that time, then that's just fine. I want to do my best.

2. Be the healthiest woman I can be through exercise. After baby, I really want to get back into running, but we'll deal with that hurdle when we get there. Maybe I won't be able to run due to an injury, but I want to find something that I can do and stick with it. Right now, that means walking on the treadmill. If I get to the point where walking isn't as comfortable, then maybe I'll do some yoga, but I really want to take time every day and try to work on my fitness.

3. Deliver a baby to the best of my ability. I have higher hopes for this one than might be encouraged. I'll write a blog post on that in some later months, but for right now, this means to do a ton of research and prepare my body, my mind, and Mr. Skinny to deliver a baby in the next few months. This also means that if something happens and it would be safer to deliver baby via c-section, don't beat myself up and think I did something wrong, God has His reasons, and I need to trust Him. I also want to be the best mom I can be.

My little cousin Colton the morning after he was born!

4. Save money & pay things off. Does this goal ever go away? I don't think so, and I guess I'm okay with that. This one also comes with a sub-goal - stop being so materialistic! I don't need the latest gadget to be the best person I can be! Appreciate what I have, be frugal with money, be smart. Spend more time with family and less time on my iPhone. Don't buy what we don't need.

5. Get closer to God. This is never going to go away either, and I'm definitely okay with that. Mr. Skinny and I know we want to be the best role models we can be for him/her. This means going to church on a regular basis, and taking the baby with us. My mom and I have talked that we'd like to help out in the nursery so that we can keep an eye on the baby. Really, I'm going to try to keep the baby with me in church. But we'll play that by ear. I'm also going to try to read my devotions to the baby, I read them aloud now because I know that the baby can hear me talking and so I pray out loud too, to set a good example.

So pretty much that's it! Honestly, I want to be the best person I can be, best wife, daughter, mother, cousin, and sister. I think they're all general enough that they shouldn't change, but we'll take this year with a grain of salt considering I have no idea what kind of baby I'll have and what new challenges will be coming with that.

Tell me:


Did you set any 2012 goals? 
Do you call them goals or resolutions?

Feelings About Running.

Some people learn to love exercise. They find the form that appeals to them and give it their all. They love the way they feel after accomplishing something new and they look forward to it. I thought I was becoming one of those people, but my recent hiatus from just about all forms of exercise taught me that's not true. I am a lazy person, I truly am. I know it's not a good thing, but I don't like doing work, any kind of work really. Over the past year or so though, I thought I was teaching myself to enjoy running. It's really the only kind of exercise that I'll do. I do need to step out some strength training and yoga though. Anyway, I'd run, but I don't love it. I love how it makes me feel, and I love to be able to say that "I run." I also love the amount of food I can eat because I burn the calories running. I don't love running itself though. I'll keep going at it, just to continue saying that I run, and to continue loosing weight.

Although I will say that this morning's run was definitely on the side of liking running. Since I haven't gone running for over 2 weeks, I convinced myself I needed to try this morning, if nothing else, just so I could try and see if it hurt my back. It didn't, but I never had any proof that my back pain was a result of my running. Since backing off running though, it hasn't been as painful, but it always hurts at work. I'm going to take this as a sign that my current job isn't my dream job. But we all knew that, right?

I was worried to head out this morning, thinking that my running endurance would slip away into nothingness again, and I'd be stuck doing the Couch-to-5K program again. For the third time. But I guess 2 weeks isn't too bad. I was able to run one mile, then walked another mile - ish and finished up running another half mile before my cool-down walk. I was so excited when I was finished. I really didn't think I could do that. Now, time will tell if my back pain is caused my running.

Weights should be my friend. I always have such good intentions, but then I never follow through! I need to come up with a schedule for including strength training, but I get nervous when people are home and watching me use my weights. I know, I'm home, and they're my family but it doesn't help when your brother looks like this...

No lie, he's about 10x more ripped than that this summer. I can't believe how small he looks there!

Yeah, he hits up the gym at least 3x each week. Ain't nobody ever gonna mess with my little brother!

Sorry for rambling. Moral of the story? I'm lazy and don't love any kind of exercise. I suck it up and do it because I want to be healthy. And I should start lifting weights. Who wants to be my personal trainer?

----------------------------------

Tell me:


Do you really love exercise? 
Do you strength train? At home or at the gym?

Tempo Runs.

I run really slow, like really slow. Normally it doesn't bother me, but sometimes, like when I'm reading a blog of a multi-marathoner, it gets under my skin a bit that I run so slow. I know that tempo runs (I think?) can fix this. Yesterday, I decided I would attempt my version of a tempo run - run for a half mile, walk for a quarter. Sound good? Yeah, the first one was okay, then it turned into run for a quarter, walk for a quarter. Eventually I slowed down and just rotated walking and running. Oh well, I tried. That counts for something, right?

On Monday though, I found myself home alone. Mr. Skinny was working late, and my mom had to take my dad for some tests at the hospital. Since I didn't get my run in on Monday due to grocery shopping and going to the dentist, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to head out. I had a lot on my mind, and wanted some time to think. Well, time I had. I started out running for about 2 miles, took about a half mile break, ran another mile and walked another mile for a grand total of 4 1/2 miles! That's the longest run/walk I've been on and I am really proud of myself for it!

I was actually sore from this run. My hip flexors still hurt from it. I've been back into my yoga this week, too, to see if it helps with the soreness.

In case you were wondering, that's my running update. I was kind of on hiatus last week, but I definitely made up for it this week with my two long outings so far, with another short one tomorrow, and hopefully another medium-ish one on Saturday.

---------------------------

How has your exercise been going?

Do you count your "outings" as runs, jogs, or walks when you tell people about them?

Relaxation.

This weekend was a perfectly relaxing weekend. Other than Mr. Skinny's alarm waking me up on Saturday morning at 4:45am, and not being able to fall back to sleep. At. All. But I'm glad we got DVR a few weeks ago, I watched a Sex & the City marathon that I had saved. I didn't roll out of bed until about 10am. I had plans for a run, but just wasn't in the mood. Sometimes you have to take those spontaneous rest days, right?

After I finally got out of bed and got dressed, Dad make some eggs for us, then my brother, Dad, and I went back to school shopping for my little brother. Well he's not so little, he TOWERS over me! He's starting his senior year in 2 weeks! I remember when he started kindergarten! Wow, time flies. I made burgers for dinner on Saturday, they're my new favorite thing to cook I think, and Mr. Skinny and I watched Grown-Ups and were in bed by 10pm. Exciting Saturday night for us!

Yesterday was even more relaxing. We slept in, we were going to go to church, but then decided to go to the movies instead, but my dad did something to his back, so no movies for us. Do you think God was telling we made the wrong decision? I think Dad pitched a nerve in his back, but Mom's taking him to the doctors today to see what's going on. We did some food shopping and had a spontaneous cookout at Mr. Skinny's grandma's house last night. Enjoyed family and hung out.

This morning, I slept in (again!), ate some pb toast, talked myself into a run/walk. Did 2.2 miles which was pretty refreshing, now I think I'll make a green monster and a veggie sandwich for lunch!

I finally found my camera cord, so I think I'll do a Wordless Wednesday post about the work done on our lot as of last weekend.

Oh, and still no news on the baby front. I'm waiting for some signs of something, and I'm feeling some cramping, but I don't know if that's period related, or baby related. I'm trying to be hopeful and thing of all money we can save for a few more months if we don't get pregnant right away, but at the same time. I want to be pregnant! God knows what he's doing and I just have to trust Him.

------------------------------

How was your weekend?

Life Update.

I feel like I have a lot to tell you my lovelies, well a ton of different topics to talk to you about. I might be breaking this up into smaller posts that I'll write today and then I won't have to worry about writing a post every day Monday - Friday. Sound good? Good.

This weekend was really good. I'll talk about that in another post when I can find my dumb camera cord so I can show you all the pictures. We were working on our lot, which will be given to us by Mr. Skinny's grandparents. It was Pop Pop Skinny's dream to have us home again and living out on our lot, so this weekend was a little bittersweet for us all. Knowing that Pop Pop would have loved seeing us home and working on out lot was hard, but it's exciting to be getting closer to actually having a lot for our house. It's getting there!

Second update? Running. Since I last blogged, I ran 3 times, all were pretty good runs. On Saturday I ran 2 miles straight! No walking breaks at all! I'm trying to trust my body and push myself, but not push myself too hard in case I am pregnant.

Speaking of that, I have a somewhat personal question for you ladies who have had kids. When do I take the pregnancy test? I have 3 of them under my sink. To be honest, I don't really feel any different than my normal self, but I've been googling "early pregnancy symptoms" like mad, hoping that I could come across one that I could say I was feeling. I know you're supposed to wait until after your missed period, but I have no idea when mine is supposed to come since going off the Pill! Before I started birth control, my cycle was around 5-6 weeks, ish. So should I play it safe and wait for like 7 weeks before taking it? Or go by how I feel?

I'm really trying not to stress, I know it doesn't help the whole process. Honestly, I don't even normally stress, and I really don't think I am. I'm just curious, and a little anxious about not knowing. It doesn't really help that for the first time ever my entire family wants to go on vacation next summer and we're already looking for a place to stay in VA Beach. Mr. Skinny and I want to go really bad, but we'll have to see when we get pregnant. My brother is graduating next year, so he gets to pick, and he wants everyone to go together. My family doesn't know we're TTC, so we can't really say anything. I just hope that we don't book the house before we know if we can go or not. I think I would be okay with taking a pretty small baby to the beach, but I wouldn't want it to be too soon.

Oh, and last by not least, we have our first Non-Scale Victory is quite some time! I was trying to think of something to wear to work last week and remembered these jean bermuda shorts that I had. I dug them out, and tried them on and look! They don't fit! It was a wonderful, wonderful feeling, for sure!

-------------------------------------

When did you take a pregnancy test?

When was your last NSV?

Miss Me?

I didn't get killed by the big excavator that we rented this weekend. I have pictures! And running updates! Too bad I can't find my camera cord...

I'm still trying to balance working with blogging and running and everything. It's hard to figure out how to balance it all. Oh, right, it wouldn't be if I would get up earlier than 8am every morning. But that requires me to go to bed before 11 and I'm just not a fan of that any more. Who am I from the person who lived in Maryland. The one who was in bed by 9pm and up at 5:45am? I think she stayed in Maryland :)

I will be back tomorrow with a fabulous update, I hope.

Oh, and for an awesome chance to win a book AND a workout DVD, head over to Leah's blog to enter!

-------------------------------

Tell me something fun about your weekend!

Next Steps.

After I came home from work last night, I was feeling a run. I'm still trying to figure out exactly when to run during the week. I like to aim for at least 3 days, but then I don't like running in the morning when I have to work because I don't like to shower before work since my hair doesn't dry nice (such a vain reason, I know!). So that leaves my 2 days of the week I'm off - Monday and Wednesday - and maybe one day over the weekend? Most likely not because I love to be a lazy bum on the weekends. However, the past two weeks it's worked that I could run on Thursday night instead of Friday morning, and get my 3 runs in.

Also, after my awful run on Wednesday, I wanted to make sure that was just a fluke, and not a regular occurrence. With all that said, I come home yesterday, changed and headed out.

It was a pretty awesome run. I didn't warm up again, and my heart rate was a bit high, but didn't shoot up like it did on Wednesday. I took a few walking breaks, but ran a total of a smidge over 2 miles with a pretty rockin' pace - 11:24! I'm really proud of myself and proved to myself that I can do it.

After that wonderful run, I weighed myself this morning and did not like what I saw on the scale. But I'm not going to let it get to me. I know I had an off weekend last weekend, but I've been back on track this week. My body is going through some changes since I went off the pill, and it's taking a bit to even out. No big deal, I refuse to let this affect my mood. I just have to keep taking each day one at a time, and make it a masterpiece as my Grammy would say. I need to appreciate each day, and not keep hoping for the next step, because honestly, if we (meaning me) keep doing that, when are we going to appreciate what we have? Dreams are one thing, but holding off happiness until we get there isn't a smart way to live life.

Sorry about the tangent, but I've been thinking a lot about how wonderful it'll be when we get pregnant, but I need to appreciate the time I have with just Mr. Skinny, just the two of us. God will take care of the rest, I just need to enjoy my life each step of the way, and not be impatiently waiting for the next step.

Have a wonderful weekend! We'll be working on our lot this weekend, so hopefully I'll have some pictures to show you on Monday!

--------------------------------------

Do you find yourself wanting that next step in your life now?

Does the scale affect your mood?

Warming Up.

Do you warm up? Normally, I walk for about 5 minutes before I start my run. This morning, though, I decided not to. I wanted to switch it up. Well, honestly, I wanted to try to start figuring out my pace just from running as opposed to walking/running. I thought I'd pause my Nike+ GPS when I took my walk breaks and start it when I ran. Makes sense, right? And with that, I decided to nix my 5 minute warm up walk. No big deal, right?

I was hoping that my "slowest" pace would be somewhere around 13ish minutes, so I could really see where I went faster and slower, but didn't work out so well today.

Yeah, try again. I don't know what happened today in all honesty, but I could not get a good take on my breathing. Normally, I can keep about a 170-175 heart rate for the first mile or so, then it starts to creep up, but never usually goes above 187ish. Today? It shot right up to the 180s and stayed there the whole time. Even when I was walking, and I was walking slowly, mind you, it still didn't go below 150, and I could feel my heavy breathing. Was that from not warming up? Or might there be something else going on...? Google is not always a trying-to-get-pregnant woman's friend. I'm still trying to be in touch with my body so I can figure things out and see if I can tell when I get pregnant, but I'm trying not to read into things too much. Especially because we just started trying.

I know that once I'm pregnant, I'll probably lay off the running, and just stick with walking. Yes, I'll talk to my doctor about it, but I feel like my heart rate gets too high to stick it out with running. No big deal, I've done Couch to 5K twice already, I can do it again when I can. Anyways, once I came back home, I had a giant headache and just felt SO exhausted. I don't know what exactly was going on today, but I think I'll quit trying to go farther in my runs, and just stick to what I know I can do.

Took a break afterwards, I just laid on the floor for a little.

I looked at the dog for an example.

I ended up burning about 600 calories with a run/walk a bit over a 5K, which is a lot, even for me. I'm just going to take it with a grain of salt and chalk it up to a not so great running day. I'll try again on Friday.

*Insert smooth transition here*

I've really started to learn to take pictures with my iPhone. There are so many cool apps to make your pictures look freakin' awesome! Instagram is one of these apps.

Camera+ is another one, you can change all this stuff that I have no idea what it is, but it makes your pictures look pretty awesome.

-----------------------------------

Do you warm up/cool down/stretch?

When TTC, did you continue pushing yourself in your workouts, or did you back off a bit, just in case?

Stuffed.

Happy August! Ahh, the blank canvas that is a new month. It feels so good sometimes! But seriously, where did July go? Where is 2011 going??

Remember when I said I wasn't going to track for awhile? Yeah, I think I'm going to start tracking tomorrow again. Today's after dinner food included 2 pieces of zucchini bread with butter AND about half a container of strawberries dipped in white chocolate AND 3 mouthfuls of redi whip straight from the can.

Yesterday, after I posted, was a continuing spiral downward, including a yelling match with my dad when he snapped at me for putting the case of water under his sink in the garage when I didn't even put it there. Yeah, that was the final straw for me, and poor dad got the brunt of my bad mood all day. We both apologized when I got back from my walk, but my mood was still lousy. I went over Mr. Skinny's parent's house then, and put on a smile for there. Eventually "fake it until you make it" worked out and I was in a better mood. It was just a bad day yesterday.

This morning started out a bit better, went for a run. I just wanted to go for a slow run, and still ended up with an 11 minute mile. I ran 2.61, but honestly could have ran longer. I turned around too fast. I might hit up another run tomorrow morning though.

It's been an okay day today. I'm getting out of my funk, slowly. I think I just want to know where I'll be in a month, and where I'll be in a year. Will I be pregnant? Have my baby in a year? We're throwing around vacation ideas with my family, and since they don't know we're TTC, I can't really say much. I don't like my job anymore than I did when I first started. Sure, it's getting easier, but I hate not being able to cook for my family. I miss cooking every day. I know we need the money, but I think that's why I want to be pregnant so quickly, so I can count down to when I can quit my job.

Hopefully I'm in the upwards part of this funk. I just need to focus on each day one at a time and appreciate the time I have with Mr. Skinny. God is in charge and it's all up to Him. I just need to get myself in tip-top baby makin' condition and everything will work out.

---------------------------

Do you have a problem with patience sometimes?

When was the last "funk" you were in?

Late Run.

Just a quick update today. Nothing new or exciting going on really. I'm trying to focus on anything different that my body does in hopes of it being the implantation of a fertilized egg, but I know in all honesty, nothing really would have happened yet. I've been googling any time I've had a question, trying to figure it all out. I think what's the most unnerving is the unknown. You don't know when anything is going to happen. Especially because I just finished my birth control pack this past Saturday, I don't know what my normal cycle is, I have no idea when I did or when I will ovulate. And if we miss it this month, we have to wait a whole 'nother month! That seems so long. You can't try again the next day or next week, you missed it for at least 4 more weeks. Oh well, all I can do is pray and keeping doing my job. It's not all horrible ya know ;)

Sorry for the rant. I just wish I would know. Anyways, I slept until 8 this morning. I was planning on a walk or a bike ride, but thought sleep was more important, again. So I slept, went to work, which sucks, but I'm getting used to it. I don't like it, but I'm learning what's expected of me. Once I got home I decided to go out for a run. Man, it was a good run! I didn't take my phone because it was kinda rainy, so it was a nice run, not worrying about pace or focusing on my music. Just me and the road (and my terrible breathing - huffing and puffing, haha). I ran for most of 2 miles, taking about a 2 minute walking break, and averaged about a 10 minute mile, I'm pretty proud of myself!

Alright, time to go make Mr. Skinny some dinner!

----------------------------

Do you like exercising without any "gadgets'?

If you could, would you know your future?

Things I Never Do.

I never lay out in the sun. Especially in a BIKINI! Yes, you read that right. I went out, in public (kind of public) with a bikini on. I got these bikinis back in February hoping that they would be motivation enough for me to loose the weight to wear them this summer. And now I sit, at the end of July, with those bikinis having the tags on them still. So today after my run (which is what I do normally do), I decided that I would put a bikini on, with a tank top, and go out for a quick swim.

Once I got out of the lake, I took my tank top off, and quickly laid down on my awesome Kim Possible towel, and let gravity help make my stomach look flat.

Too bad it doesn't look like that normally.

And stared up at the sky for a while. Just enjoying the lovely sun and warmth from it. I was only out for about 45 minutes, I knew I would get burnt if I stayed out too long.

I came inside and sucked down a green monster with spinach, a frozen banana, 1 heaping tablespoon of honey peanut butter, and a little skim milk. Delish!

Running pace.

Still think that 6:37 pace is my dumb phone screwing up. I'll stick with a 10 minute pace.

I have more news on the baby makin' front. We're actively trying now! We talked about it and there's no reason why we should wait until next month to start trying. Sure I might weigh a little less, sure we might have just a bit more money, but there's no real reason to wait. I'll keep you posted, obviously, and I'm glad I have this blog so that I can use it as an online journal-type thing to record how I feel about everything about this new step in our life.

Oh, I also called the health insurance to ask them about which hospitals in our area accept our insurance. Now keep in mind that we really only have 2 hospitals, one of which has a horrible reputation, and wanted to take Pop Pop's kidney out when he was having heart trouble. Yeah, figure that one out for me. I don't know what I would have done had they told me that the good hospital didn't take our insurance, especially because we don't have any midwives in the area. Seriously. It sucks. So good news, they do take our insurance for the delivery, BUT if I had any bloodwork drawn, or any ultrasounds, I have to go to a different hospital for that. It's really confusing to me, and I suppose we should figure it out before we get pregnant, but I'm just planning on going with the flow. I know, not always the greatest idea. But we'll see how it all works out. God won't give us anything we can't handle, I know that for sure.

Off to make dinner tonight!

---------------------------

What's one thing you've done recently that you never really do?

Is your health insurance as confusing as mine?

Wonderful Ending to a Not So Great Day.

First of all, let's do a bit of a weekend recap before I tell you about the doctors. Saturday morning I went shopping for some new work clothes with my graduation money. I knew I didn't want to get a ton of clothes because I could loose more weight or I could be gaining a belly in the next few months. But I did need some clothes to get me by until that happened. Here's some of the shots.

Got the capris and the top.

This shirt was SO comfy, and would be a good first trimester shirt when we get pregnant, but I know it didn't flatter my figure.

Got this outfit, too.

Saturday night Mr. Skinny and I went out to the movies and out for dinner. We went to a local owned restaurant that has great fried pickles! Mmm! The food, other than the pickles, was just okay. I don't think we'll be going back there. I'd like to try to make my own fried or baked pickles. We were going to see Harry Potter in IMAX/3D, but the timing didn't work out so well, so we just saw it in boring 2D. I loved seeing it again, and Mr. Skinny really liked it, too.

Sunday was really low-key. We went over Mr. Skinny's parents house for the day, I was researching baby things while Mr. Skinny was being a hard worker, changing oil and working on the family tractor. Then we had a cook-out over Grandma's house. It was really good and I loved spending time with his family.

This morning started out as a bad morning. I went for a run, but I just couldn't catch my breath. I ran a little over a mile, maybe more, but walked most of it. I still got a good walk in though.

My pace is getting better every time!

Once I came home, I thought that I'd go back out for a bike ride, but my left pedal was a little weird, but I took it out for a little anyway. When I got around the lake, I thought I should check out my pedal, so I stopped and looked at it, it fell right off in my hand. I put it back on, figuring I'd just go back home. About 20 feet later, this happened....

*warning, some blood in this picture*

Yeah, isn't that nice. Then I had to walk the bike home. And it started raining. Awesome. I thought that was a sure sign it was going to be an awful day. I took the time and said my prayers, hoping that my doctor's visit would be a good one, but worried that she would tell me something I didn't want to hear. Anyways, when I went to the doctor's, she didn't even bat an eye when I told her we wanted to start TTC! The only thing she recommended was that I switch from my one-a-day women's to a prenatal pill. I took my first one tonight! Man, they're easier to take than my other vitamins.

So that's exciting news for us! She didn't really seem to care that we were going to start, didn't ask me if I had any questions or anything. I don't really like her, but she's a woman, and she's the closest dr. to my house. I'll deal with it for a few years. I'm not sure if we're going to start trying right away, but I didn't start a new pack of my birth control pill, and my pre-conception visit is done, so we're well on our way! I even bought a pack of 3 pregnancy tests today so I have them on hand!

Time to get to baby makin' ;)

-----------------------------------

Have you injured yourself while exercising?

Have you ever bought clothes that you know didn't flatter you, but we're comfortable anyway?

Happy Day.

It was even MORE humid today than it was yesterday if you can believe it. Well, chances are you're probably experiencing it, too, and I'm sure you CAN believe it. I'm seriously so glad we moved back to PA, I wouldn't be able to stand this is we were still in Maryland.

Anyways, let's back up. First thing this morning - it's WI Friday. Step on the scale, after doing everything that would make me loose weight, bathroom, strip down, ya know, the norm. You know what the scale said? 150.8! This is exciting news! I'm really trying to step off the scale more, and not obsess over it, but for right now, this is how I track my progress.

Sorry for the bad picture.

After I did that, I was debating what I wanted to do for my cardio today. It was SO humid though, I knew I couldn't going on a long run, especially after my run yesterday. I was in the mood to run though, but I knew only running 1 mile wouldn't be long enough for some cardio. My plan was to do a run then bike for about 2 miles. So I set out. By the time I was done by run though, I was done. I put my bike back and came inside and downed a bunch of water.

Awful picture, I'm trying out my "it's HOT" face. Does it work?

But I am really glad I went. If nothing else, I showed myself what I really could do, averaging about a 10 minute mile for most of the run, other than a few walking breaks.

Isn't that AWESOME? I'm rather proud.

Another pretty bad picture, but it was so humid I was sweating all over my whole body, even my KNEES were sweating. I really didn't want to shower, but after coming in from outside I had no choice but to hope in for a cold shower.

As for my weekend plans, it's gonna be pretty low key. Mr. Skinny and I are planning on going to see Harry Potter in IMAX/3D tomorrow night and hopefully we'll go out for dinner, too. Monday is my doctor's appointment, so I'll be back on Monday with an update on what she says about our TTC plans!

----------------------

What are your plans for this weekend?

Have you been exercising in this heat/humidity?

Humidity.

Wow, it's muggy out there!

Take a look at that - 97% humidity! Then take a look at the time - 5:58AM! Does it officially make me a runner that I got up that early to run? I was on the road by 6:10AM, and would have been there earlier if I knew what time it actually got light outside.

Mr. Skinny has had this dream of me making him breakfast every morning before he leaves for work. I refused to do it in Maryland, but now that we're back in PA and living with my parents AND I didn't have a job for so long, I started getting up with him at 4:45 to make his egg sandwich and tea, and pack his lunch for him. Usually I would go back to sleep, but after being awake for about 30 minutes, it takes me a while to get back to sleep. Since I've started working, I've been getting up at 7 to get some cardio in before work, so this lets me sleep for no more than 1 hour after Mr. Skinny leaves. I wondered if it was really worth it. So today was the day to see if it really was. After Mr. Skinny left about 5:20 or so, I went back into our room and played on my laptop for a bit since it wasn't light enough out yet. I got dressed, ate my pb&j toast for breakfast, and headed out to run. At first, it wasn't awful, but it was humid. By the end of my run, however, it was HUMID! After the sun came up it was just seemingly impossible to breathe.

I didn't run the whole thing straight. At first, I ran 10 minutes, then walked for 2, then ran 5 minutes and walked for 1. After I got more tired though, I was walking more. However, I shaved 2 minutes off my 5K time from December! I was so excited for that! It was motivation to continue running for sure!

Once I was done, I stretched and took a cool shower. I'm all ready for work now, boo, minus packing my lunch, which I'll do after hitting "post".

So let's discuss this pace. Do you see that green part in the upper left hand corner? Ya know, that part that says I ran a 6:51 pace? I think it's full of bologna! There's no ran I ran that fast, I don't even think I can sprint that fast. So I'll be taking my 11-12 minute pace and sticking with that. The only thing I can think of is that I was running downhill, but I still don't think that would have been that fast. You can see I took a good amount of walking breaks, but it is 97% humidity.

Tomorrow I'll be back with a WI post, I haven't been doing them as weekly as I'd like to be. Good news? I know I'm down lower than I've been since I don't even know when. :)

Happy Thursday!

--------------------------

How do you keep cool when exercising in high heat/humidity?