Progress in Lists: Ups, Downs.. and Going Vegan!

Hey Ladies!

Well this is long overdue. 

The last month has been really good for me. After 3 months of craziness between work and moving, life finally settled down. Then I became a hermit. I feel like I went a few weeks there without talking to anyone or doing much... and I loved it. It's like I needed to load up on me time after doing too much. So, I'm sorry for being MIA but I'm back to normal. I'm now finding balance in many ways. Lists are more fun so I'll list things off:

1. The Ups

• I've been reading a lot about veganism and vegan cooking through different books and blogs. I find it so fascinating and it's been a great source of enrichment and enjoyment for me after my work days.
• I'm not totally transitioned to being a vegan, but getting there. After trying different things, making mistakes, and learning a lot... I've finally got a plan that can be maintained for the long term.
• Lots of me time has allowed me to cool off and I'm ready for what's to come this fall.
• From these nutritional changes, I've slimmed down a bit. Though I technically weigh the same (?) I bought some new shirts yesterday and while trying them on, I could notice the change.

2. The Downs

• In my pursuit of learning about vegan eating, I've been neglecting exercise. Not good. I've had issues in the past with over-sleeping when I don't exercise enough.. and despite biking to work on weekdays and working out on weekends... I can feel it starting to come back. I need to get back on track. Which means one workout almost everyday (even if it's small).
• The Army Run is fast approaching and I have not been training properly at all. My goal is to finish the race and I'm confident that will happen, but I'm going to have to work hard from now till then to get there.

3. The New!

• Just finished the first week of my new rotation at work! Yay! I now work in Media HR and I am loving it so far. I'm working on a big compensation project and I have no idea what I'm doing.. but I'm learning a lot every day, which feels good. Things are gonna get busy for sure, but I'm mentally prepared for it this time
• I signed up for my first knitting class! It starts next Thursday! I think it will be really therapeutic and fun to learn something new. 
• Going to the Vegetarian Food festival today.. really excited. Going with a new buddy I know from races around Toronto. I'm having dinner with a gal pal from grad school tonight. Feels great to be building up a circle of my own friends in TO.
• Chris and I are nice and settled in the condo and it feels great.

4. My favourite blogs right now :) 

• Oh She Glows (www.ohsheglows.com)
• Char Eats Greens (www.chareatsgreens.com)
• Healthy Ashley (www.healthyashley.com)
• Vegan Yack Attack (www.veganyackattack.com)
• <3 <3 <3 Fitness a la Anna (www.fitnessalaanna.blogspot.ca)

5. Books I'm dying to read:

• Crazy Sexy Diet (and Crazy Sexy Kitchen) 
• The Kind Life
• I Quit Sugar

6. People I miss (in no particular order!):

• Laura
• Anna
• Kelsey
• Jess

7. Books I've read and loved in the last month (photo list, woo!):

What I've been reading book-wise

8. Annnnnnd tiny bits of progress:

August to September - Mini Progress

If you guys are curious in my new meal plans and the details of my vegan eating - I can definitely post more about that sometime this week.

Miss you gals! How's it going for you all? Let us know.

xoxoxoxo

5 Week Countdown

So, a little under 5 weeks until race day.

Here is my schedule for the next month. I will be focused specifically on building distance and improving pace.

I never completed my food journal! But I would still like to try. I would also like to work on achieving 6 small meals a day and to incorporate more fruits & vegetables into my diet.

I'll let you ladies know how the 15KM goes!

Post-Vacation Tone-Up

Hey ladies,

It is high time that I posted - sorry for my disappearing act! I was on vacation in Nova Scotia last week, where I ate ice cream. Every. Single. Day.

Time to get back on track!

Here is my plan for the week:

Day	Activity	Completed?
Mon	Weighted workout
Tues	Run @ work (lunch)
Wed	Kettlebell Class
Thurs	Run - intervals
Fri	Weighted workout
Sat	Run - 7km
Sun	OFF

Also, I have a confession. I started another blog. I've decided I'm not going to drop this one, though, I love the inspiration! Check out my little side-project here if you have a chance, and let me know what you think! http://fitnessalaanna.blogspot.ca/

Good Week!

Hi ladies,

So this week was pretty good. Was able to get in 4 runs, my longest being 10km (which is the longest so far :)!!) and I didn't feel like I was totally going to die during it lol. On one of my runs my Aunt Angie came up to Huntsville and joined me. She decided to start training for the half marathon in Toronto to as a bucket list for her 50th birthday. It was fun getting out and doing the run with her :)

In other news, my mom had a slimming party this past week. Basically you wrap your self in these cream soaked sheets and saran wrap them into place. They are suspose to detoxify and shrink cells, causing you to lose at least a inch (cue my eye rolling here during my mom's explaination). Anyways, I joined the party mostly for the wine and cheese and girl talk. The after treatment measurement shows that everyone lost at least a inch....though not sure if that because we were wrap so tightly for a hour and we were squeezed into place or the person measuring fudged the numbers a bit....anyways, despite it being a fun party, I think I will stick to the running to lose the inches...seems like a more reliable-if painful-way lol

In my plan for this week I hope to get another 4 runs in before I head out east to drop my sister off at school (logging some distance in since I know Im not reliable with training when Im away). The long run is 12km, eek!

Sums everything up!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ailbhemalone/the-stages-of-taking-up-running

I'm still going! Much needed update

Well ladies, it's been too long! I haven't posted much, not because I haven't been doing anything.... but because of the opposite.

A few updates:

Last Week

• The 4 day weekend at the cottage threw me off. Although I was very active while I was there (exercised everyday! even on the one day I didn't run, I helped pick up and stack wood logs - holy squats and lifts!) it threw me off my weekly schedule, resulting in a less than stellar week.
• Nutrition was way off. Indulged quite a bit at the cottage and then it was tough to go back to healthy eating when I got home.

This Week

• As a results of my indulging, I got fed up with feeling icky from bad food and made a serious meal plan for this week. I've been sticking to it too! (Remind me I need to post it here).
• I'm really into vegan eating and I'm trying to consume as little dairy and meat as possible. I got a great book on cooking vegan which I LOVE. Will post it later. I'm trying to transition into 95% vegan eating - not indefinitely, but for now. (I say 95% because I know there are little things I can never avoid e.g. going to a coffee shop and having to settle for dairy milk instead of soy or almond milk, or, having something cooking in chicken broth, or, honey)
• I last minute registered for the 'Midsummer Night's Run'. I'm doing the 15km race on Saturday night. Definitely not ready. Was gonna do a 12km last night but felt exhausted. Gonna do it tonight. Excited to amp up my running game.
• I felt like I needed a physical detox or bootcamp so this week I'm doing morning workouts and afternnoon workout. Honestly it feels great. I'm hoping to keep it up while Chris is away on vacation next week too.

I took before pictures and I'm going to take after pictures... I'm thinking I'm gonna call this a 2 week bootcamp + vegan eating camp? Not very catchy. Regardless I'll post results after the two weeks.

How are you guys doing? Summer is tough for staying in the swing of things. Let me know how it's going :)

xo Danielle

PS: Vegan + Fish. I can never ever give up fishies. miam miam miam

Was away but now I'm back!

Hey girlies!

So back from NYC and it was amazing! Had super fun but unfortunately the old trick of getting out and running on vacation didn't pan out well. Only one day did I do an "actual" run on the treadmill in the hotel. However, on the bright side we walked EVERYWHERE in NYC, only took one taxi while we are there.... So figured that we walked approx 3-6km per day (depending on the day)... So that counts doesn't it?

Being back this week at it has been ok... Trying to recapture my running groove again (feel like I just found it before I left and then it disappeared!) but keeping at it. My goal is trying to do 4 runs this week as I'm home for the entire week. 

Is it just me or is it getting Fall cold already?!

Panic

Hey ladies!

So it's been a while!

I thought I had been doing well after the MEC race (despite coming last I beat the time I had set for myself, so I'll take it as a win), but this week has been absolutely brutal for me. I've been getting up at 5:30 and working 9.5 hour days and I seriously have no energy by the end of the day. I would try getting up early to run but that would mean I would have to get up at like 3 and yeah... definitely not gonna happen.

So last week I had accomplished my goals and stuck to my schedule. Had two gym days, ran 7km and had a 5km run outside Saturday morning. This week everything is off, partially to my work schedule and the holiday Monday where I totally lazied it up.

This is where my "panic" is coming from right now, I thought my 15km race in September was near the end of the month, but actually it turns out that it's the 8th, and I'm also running it by myself. I'm worried that I'm not going to be back into the swing of things and increase my endurance enough for the extra 5 km.

AHH.

my schedule:

I've been rearranging it as I go to actually mark what I did... I know that kind of defeats the point of a schedule but oh well.

7 Day Report Card - Week 2

Hey Team!

Hope you guys are doing well and achieving your weekly goals. I had a pretty good week. Morning workouts are going really well for me. I even managed to keep it up at the cottage. WOO.

How are you guys doing??? I wanna know!!

xo
Danielle

Ladyz, I've been lazy

I felt pretty motivated after the MEC 10KM. You'd think that would have inspired me to train harder and more religiously than ever. Instead I became lazy lazy lazy and could not hit the pavement.

Bought new and proper running shoes: 

(They are the green ones, i was trying to get Sylvester to pose with new shoes but he was more interested in my cross trainers).

Shoes helped me get back at it but In an uninspiring way. 

Today, ladies, I share my new outdoors cross training regimen. My trainer suggested to do the workout solo but I tacked on a light warm-up run. Seriously this workout means business and sets your thighs on fire. 

("Crush" = crunch, rowing requires a heavy item - strengthens back and triceps if that helps illustrate move, "planchette"=plank but with arms extended in push-up position) 

Pros, can do workout at home or just run outside, don't have to go to gym

Cons, having to roll around in dew-sodden grass.

Not quite sure when I will get my next log distance run in. I'm working a double tomorrow and am going on a spontaneously wilderness filled adventure Sunday-Monday. 

Happy long weekend!!

Anna - Workouts for the Week

Hey ladies!

I hope you all had an amazing weekend! I went to my first-ever friend wedding, and had an absolute blast!! I will (hopefully) post some pics tomorrow :)

Anywho, I actually managed to do almost all of my planned workouts last week except for Saturday...wedding preparations took over! But I did shake my little bootay on the d-floor into the wee hours of the morning, so that makes up for it, riiight??

Workouts for the Week:

Day	Activity	Completed?
Mon	Weighted workout	YES
Tues	Run after work	YES
Wed	Kettlebell Class	YES
Thurs	Run - intervals	NO
Fri	Weighted workout	NO
Sat	Weighted workout
Sun	Run

I'll give updates throughout the week this time, just to keep it interesting ;)

How was your weekends??

xo Anna

7 Day Report Card - Week 1 (Anna you inspired me!)

After seeing Anna's column on her fitness objectives... I realized I needed one too!

Skip a day, and we're back

Missed real day five because the night before we we're moving old furniture to the salvation army... manual labour is tough and exhausting. Butttt I'm back at it today. Off to body combat! Jogging there and back to boot!

Day 5.. a day late

Staying with it!

Day 4 - very sweaty post 4km jog. Woo!

Scheduling for Success (and half-marathon season!)

Well, now that I've finally found a workout time I can stick to regardless of my crazy-cray life.. I've figured out my plan for half-marathon season! Seeing all your timetables on here totally got the ball rolling for me. 

Let's see how it goes. YEAH MORNING WORKOUTS.

Fall's coming and it's bringing.... COLOUR RUNS!

Hey hey girls!

I would like to draw your attention to two different (but basically the same) running events happening in the next couple months.
I WANNA DO ONE.
I figured this would be a good as place as any to plan which would be the best or to do them at all.

Comment and let me know what you think : ).

The Color Run: 
Cost: 50$ solo or 45$ per person in a 4 member team. (we will need to register a team)
Location: By palladium Dr. and the Trans-Can Highway (AKA The CANADIAN TIRE centre)
Time: August 25, 2013 at 9am

The Link 


Color Me RAD: 
Cost: 35$ until August 2, 40$ until September 6
Location: Place de la Cité (850 de la gappe)
Time: September 15, 2013 any time basically between 9 - 10 am.

The Link 


I am personally feeling the August run a little more because I have no other race event planned in August, but I don't really care that much.

And because I can....

Keepin it goin'

Day 3 - Post Pump!

Yeeeah going to work out classes in the morning! Slowly becoming a morning work out person! 

WOO. How are your weeks going?

Shit gets real

10KM was awesome, I was unsure about running the "race", about feeling stressed, but I found the rhythm and finished in 1hr 11min 13secs, beating my goal time of 1hr 15mins. 

While this run was a milestone for me (first double digit, first race), right now marks 2 months to the 1/2 marathon. Training will quickly get tougher. 

I think I'm going to follow Anna's approach to posting my fitness plan week by week (although I have a training schedule for the whole of August). Also, goal for rest of July is to maintain a food journal to monitor what I'm eating and when.

Monday: long lazy walk ✔

Tuesday: intentionally lazy rest day with maybe a 3KM this afternoon... Although I've missed my peak workout time

Wednesday: upper-body weight training 

Thursday: outdoor CT+2KM

Friday: intervals (10:50)X10 

Saturday: intentional rest day 

Sunday: 12KM

Next week, shit gets real.

Anddddd, just because

IM BACK BABY

First of all - CONGRATS ON COMPLETING THE MEC 10KM LADIES!!! SOOO PROUD!

And now... after a month long hiatus to deal with moving into our first home (!!!) - I'm back!! Wheee.

I'm finally settled and into the swing of things. To get back into the fitness rhythm - my goal is to jog every morning, bike to work every day, and go to pump 2 times this week. Food wise, my goal is to stick to my meal prep. Which is the following:

- plain greek yogurt, blueberries, and homemade granola

- overnight oats

- spinach salad with tofu or fish

- veggies + hummus

- fiber rich veggies + tofu or fish 

(Emergency granola bar if necessary).

WOO.

Post Jog - Day 1

Post Jog - Day 2

Homemade granola

Breakfast! Yogurt granola and berries

Overnight Oats Yumm

MEAL PREP!!!

Veggies for hummus snacking

Emergency granola bars

Anna - Workouts for the Week

Hey ladies!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!! I did the MEC 10km run with Jess and Laura on Sunday, and finished in 1:03 - my new personal best for a 10km! So exciting. [As a side note, the guy who finished first did it in 38mins. What a champ]

Here's my fitness goals for the week:

Day	Activity	Completed?
Mon	Weighted workout	NO...fail :(
Tues	Run @ work intervals	YES
Wed	Kettlebell Class	YES
Thurs	Run (30 mins)	YES
Fri	Weighted workout	YES
Sat	Run - 7km	NO (wedding)
Sun	OFF	YES :)

I found it really helpful to have the 'completed?' column last week - I'ma keep it up again this week! Also, I'm challenging myself to stick to my plan this week, for realz this time.

What's your girls' challenge this week??

xo Anna