Woot Woot!

The results of our 5k have been posted...I ran it in 34:58. WAHHHHOOOO to me! :)

I'm pretty proud of my time for a couple reasons.

1. It was my first 5k. Ever.

2. It was hot and humid and hard to breathe outside. Since it's been so hot outside lately, I've been running inside in the nice air conditioning on the treadmill.  Since I'm a scardy cat and refuse to go run on the bike trail at 500 in the morning when it's still dark outside and the creeps are lurking in the trees waiting to snatch me up.

3. This was  not you average 5K where you run around the warning track a million times until you reach 3 miles. No ma'am. We were running up and down stairs/ramps and all through the stadium.

So, while this time may seem crappy to you; I'm pretty darn proud of myself.  My sister and I are planning to run another 5K on September 10th in honor of 9/11 and I'm also planning on running the Marine Corps 10k on October 30th.

A few professional pictures from the race, clearly they are a picture taken off the picture but it works :)Just a random tidbit of information but a couple months ago I stumbled across this article...
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/training-day/201104/warm-cardio-then-go-weights-right-wrong
which after I read all the way through I was like hmmm, well even though that seems weird it makes sense.  I used to want to do my cardio first to get it over with, but now I try to work out like that article said because it does make sense.  Truthfully, I feel better when I warm up with a light cardio, get my weights in and then finish up with some intense cardio.  So unless I'm doing a pure cardio day (and even on those days I'll only do about 45 minutes), I'll work out like this article has suggested.


Another thing I've learned in the past few years is that doing too much cardio can have a negative effect on your body.  When I first met Chris, he always told me that doing a ton of cardio would just burn muscle and that in turn would slow down your metabolic rate. While I just continued to ignored him until he started sending me articles which proved he actually did know what he was talking about. Imagine that, a big muscle guy like him, knowing what he was talking about?! :) So these last few months, I've really knocked down my cardio because the last thing I want is to burn off my muscle tone and slow down my metabolic rate! I've also stopped  working out my abs everyday this last year.  I've only  been working them out once or twice a week at the most and I wont do anymore than 200 abs per workout because like with any other muscle group, I don't want to over strain them. I still have the same amount of tone that I used to and they feel just as strong.


I guess this goes to show you that no matter how long you have been doing something, you should always keep an open mind to the opportunity to learn something because no one ever knows everything.  The chance to learn something new, it the opportunity to better yourself and I'm always up for that :)

Grizzly Bear

 I saw this story this morning and this bear is such too adorable! Although, I can not believer that leesburg, VA now has bears. I wish he would come visit me and I'll feed him :) I'll bet he'd be a good snuggle buddy! I just want him to come be my new pet, he's so cutttte!!! I know Chris would love him!
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/a_grizzly_situation_for_loudoun_residents123/

Friends of Helpless Animals

I had orignally put in an application to be a volunteer with the Loudoun County Animal Shelter and I was accepted.  But then a couple people told me that that specific shelter was not a no kill shelter, so I had to find out.  So I emailed the lady who had accepted my application and sure enough they do put animals down after they are there for a certain amount of time.  Well upon hearing this, I quickly told the lady that I would have to take back my application and that I did not feel comfortable volunteering at a shelter where they don't give every animal a chance at life; as long as it may take.  Many of you know, I have an EXTREMELY soft spot for all animals and if I had still volunteered there I would have ended up with a house filled with animals and as much as I would love to take every single animal home with me and love on them, I know that is just not fair to them.  I can't stand the thought of an animal being put down just because they weren't adopted in a certain amount of time, that  just don't really seem like it's giving them a fair shot at a second chance to know what it's like to have a loving family. So anyways, the past couple weeks I've been researching shelters that are close to my home, no kill and need volunteers and I've finally found one.  It's call Friends of Helpless Animals and I can't wait to start volunteering there.  A lot of the animals in this shelter have been pulled from "death row" at other sheters, other have been saved from an abusive situation.

I've included the link for the website in case you would like to take a look :)
http://www.foha.org/

I love NYC

After work on Friday, my sister and I headed up to NYC for a short, but fun filled weekend in the worlds greatest city. The drive up there was pretty uneventful and we managed to escape without hitting too much beach traffic- lucky us :)
Saturday we drove out to Long Island to the beach, where we spent many of our childhood summers.  My mom grew up in Valley Stream which is located on Long Island and I remember taking many, many trips up there to visit our grandparents.  Each and every summer my mom would pack up the car and up to Long Island we would head.  During the summer, she would pack a cooler filled with snacks, pack the van filled to the brim with beach toys, boogie boards, beach towels and umbrellas and we would head to Long Beach for the day. It was magnificent. On our way to the beach, we took a quick little detour through Valley Stream and stopped by my grandparents old house.

The only thing that is different about the house, is that it used to have a white picket fence along the edge that was so adorable and a rose rush.  And my grandfather standing on the front porch waving at us of course :) But otherwise, it looks exactly the same.  It was so nice to see that whoever bought it has keep such good care of it. It's such a cute little house. My Pops would be so happy at how green and perfect his lawn looks.  He even used to let us have our own little garden in the backyard we would take of when we would come up.  Anyways, off to the beach we went.  Long Beach is a beautiful beach. I know, a beach in New York? But it's true, and it's gorgeous.  It was a beautiful day to just relax on the beach with a good book, which is exactly what we did.  Doesn't this just look perfect?

After the beach we grabbed dinner and headed over to quite possibly the best ice cream on earth, Itgen's.  Another childhood memory. We used to go here all the time when we were little.  It was every bit as fabulous as I remembered.  Across the street from Itgen's is a pizza place called Ancona's, which has the most delicious pizza I have ever tasted, and I've tasted a lot of pizza. My grandfather would always get it for us the day which we drove up to New York.  If you ever get a chance to visit Long Island, I would highly recommend visiting this two places.  They are well worth the drive up. How can you resist these absolutely huge, fantastic worth every calorie ice cream sundae? Delicious!

Sunday morning it was time for our 5K in YANKEE STADIUM! wahoooo!! We were excited to say the least! Now, this wasn't lets run around the warning track 12 times and call it a day type of 5k.  This was run through the entire stadium, including the basement, stairs, ramps, type of 5k.  Yes, we ran around the warning track twice but it was so much fun. I can't wait to go back and do it again next year.  It was such a blast! And, 100% of the proceeds that were raised went to cancer research, which was even more amazing. 

Before our race

Running our race

Wahooo! We made it :)

What a beautiful field

Amen to that.

On a sad note, when I was in seventh grade, I had broken my wrist; my first break since I broke it in second grade (which unknown to me, this would not be my last break) my mom walked home from work one day with a box and gave it to me.  Inside the box was a tiny little kitten.  He was only a couple weeks ago, so small that we actually had to feed him with a bottle and keep in the box at night so he wouldn't get stuck under any furniture or get lost in the house. We quickly named him Tigger and I grew to love that little guy. He was a playful striped, short haired cat with a ton of personality.  While I moved out my father's house to go to college, Tigger stayed there and always loved on me whenever I went to my dad's house and grew rather attached to my father.  He was the friendliest little cat ever, he was a mush.  Such a mush in fact that he snuggled with my dad's American Eskimo dog, and by snuggle I literally mean cuddle buddies.  He would love on anyone and even people who don't love cats would love Tigger.  Well upon returning from New York last night, I learned that Tigger had been hit by a car and died Sunday morning.  This news hit me hard and deeply saddened me.  I hate the thought of my little Tigger dying such a terrible death, all alone in the road like that. He was such a good little cat and I really did love him with all my heart.  I know he's in kitty heaven, but it breaks my heart to think that he was all alone when he passed away instead of  with people who loved him.  But little Tig Tig, I love you and i hope you're in a peaceful place little guy.

Sauteed Green Beans

Warning; this recipe isn't really that healthy but it was deliciousssss so I would highly recommend making it one night if you have the chance! It was super easy and quick to make, perfect for a weeknight.  Plus, you can always make it healthier, I just choose not too.

Ingrediants:
* 5- 7 pieces of bacon
* 1/2 cup slivered almonds
* 1 package fresh green beans (You could use a package of frozen if you want, I just prefer fresh vegetables)
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3-4 teaspoons minced garlic
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1-2 tablespoons of honey, if desired.

Directions:
* Cook bacon in a large skillet, until browned.  Remove from heat and place on a plate covered with a paper towel.  Drain the bacon grease.
* Return the pan to heat and put the butter on the heat.  Once the butter melts add the garlic and let it brown. 
* Add the onion and let it cook for a few minutes.
* Add the green beans and reduce the heat to a medium low.  Let cook for about 6-8 minutes.
* Crumble the cooled off bacon into little pieces.  Add the bacon and almonds into the pan.
* Add a little bit of honey, if desired.
* Let cook for another 3-4 minutes, until green beans reach the desired tenderness.

In preparation for our 5k on Sunday, this morning at the gym I did the "Sport Training 5K" Option on the Treadmill set on level 6 with the speed at 6.3; this varies the incline between 0% and 5.5% so it's definitely a workout.  I finished the 3.1 miles around 28 minutes, which isn't too bad for 515 in the am.  Hopefully, I won't struggle on Sunday in the heat. :) I think I'll deserve a nice pedicure afterwards though because running sure is tearing up my beautiful feet and making them all kinds of uglllly :(

Running, Running, Running

For those of you who know me, you know that I love to work out.  Always have, always will. I tend to work out around 5 days a week.  I used to be a competitive gymnast and once I had to quit due to a back injury I started working out and haven't stopped, just because I was so used to be so active all the time.  I wasn't one of those people who started working out once I gained the freshman 15 or once I got engaged joined a gym, or once I got married decided now's the time I need to start working out so I can have a great "before baby boday". Not saying that there is anything wrong with people who join a gym for any of those reasons, because by no means is there, in fact more power to them for getting motivated!! I'm just simply saying, I've never been one of those people who was only working out because of one reason, I've always been someone who liked being active and staying in shape and I probably will always be someone who enjoys working out.  I'm not someone who has to force myself to go to the gym or dreads to go, I actually enjoy going.  I started working out my senior year in high school and just really liked it and have pretty consistently worked out since then.  I love the time I have to myself, either before the workday begins or after my day is over.  I love the chance to get out all my frustrations with people and life in a normal, healthy way.  I love that it's an  hour and a half alone to just focus on myself. More importantly, I love the way it makes me feel. I love being in shape and feeling good about my body (most days anyways! :) )  I love my spin classes; they are an amazing workout and I would highly recommend them to anyone who needs a change in their workout.  I also really love kickboxing and my strength training classes.  But, I do tend to eat whatever I want and I do consume an awful lot of candy, so maybe it's a good thing that I love to work out so much. 

In the past year or so, I have taken up running more than I used to.  I've always had to run before gymnastics practices but lately I've found that I've come to enjoy it more than I used to.  I'm  not really sure why, but whatever it is, I don't really mind :) I've been able to go longer distances without having soreness but I love the feeling of getting a great cardio workout it.  Plus I love being able to get in a workout outside while the weather is still nice.  I'm really hoping run the Marine Corps 10K on October 30th this year and eventually work my way up to a marathon next year, but we'll see. 

Yesterday I was able to do 45 mintues on the treadmill; hills all around the world, speed 6.2, level 5 and I did 4.65 miles. Not too shabby for 5am :)

Beach Weekend

This past weekend, Chris and I packed up our beach bags and headed up to New Jersey with my Dad and step mom, Cindy for a long weekend.  It was my stepsister's daughter's second birthday and we decided to tag along.  Since our honeymoon Chris and I have barely gotten to spend anytime together with his military schedule and with the upcoming deployment creeping up on us, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to seize the day and take a long weekend together.  Besides, who can turn down a weekend at the beach? Not this beach babe.  Although, Chris seems to think he tans much more easily than he really does and never listens to me when I tell him he might want to out on sunscreen and ends up getting burnt the very first day.  All in all though, we had a really great time and perfect weather.  We stayed with my stepsister Jessie and her new husband Justin and their two dogs, Jake and Riley.  It was good to spend a  little extra time with them because we rarely get the opportunity to visit with them. 

Friday they both had to work, so Chris, Dad,  Cindy and I packed up the car and headed to the beach bright and early to catch a few rays and soak up the beautiful sun.  It looked a little stormy outside but turned out to be a beautiful day.  Of course, it wouldn't be a day on vacation with me if I didn't push Chris' button's just a little with a photo shoot :)

Saturday was Maddy's birthday party at the beach club.  The party started at 400, but we headed over to the beach around noon to hang out with the family and hang out on the beach for the day.  It turned out to be another gorgeous beach day.  Chris and I had a really great time, I'm really glad we were able to go up there! And of course, the birthday girl had a fabulous time as well! She's a little princess; her daddy's in for a treat once she gets older!

Sunday morning Chris and I headed to Atlantic City to spend the day/night up there.  Dad and Cindy had booked us a room there as a surprise, which was very nice of them :) I have never been before, so that was really fun.  We had a great time.  We gambled a little bit, walked the boardwalk, walked through a bunch of the big name Casinos.  We went to Carmine's for dinner and then actually went and saw the naked circus, which was pretty entertaining.  They weren't actually naked, more like half dressed, but still entertaining.  All in all a very fun day!

In other news, Abby Baby has gotten her meow back and seems to be on the mend :) Wonderful news in the Price household! It's wonderful to hear her start to talk again after listening to her squeak pitifully around the house for over a month.  It also means that her tumor is not malignant! whewwww!!