(Half) Marathon Monday #5

Happy Monday, people!

This week was slightly better than last.  And it's also my first post since last week's training recap. That should give you a hint at how busy I am! Plus, I spent a very productive weekend in Austin and have a picture post ready for you folks on Tuesday so check back!

Week 4 
Monday // 3.5 miles // Pure Barre
Tuesday // 2 miles or cross // Rest
Wednesday // 3.5 miles + strength // Pure Barre
Thursday // rest // Pure Barre
Friday // 40 min cross // 3.65 miles (13:01 pace)
Saturday // 5 miles // 1.3 mile walk*
Sunday // stretch & strengthen // 1.3 mile walk*
Scheduled workout is in gray and actual workout is in pink.  Rest days are orange.
Total Miles // 12 miles // 3.65 miles

Friday was a treat. I really didn't want to run after being up late with family Thursday evening, but Roxy (grrfeisty) was in town and our visits overlapped by one day so we agreed to meet up for a run. She had been in town for a work conference since Tuesday and was leaving Friday. I got in Thursday and was leaving town Sunday. We've both been working on our health and fitness for the last few years. Nothing extreme, just more conscious of our decisions (and more aware that we don't have the metabolism of 19 year olds anymore!).  So we met up at Town Lake and ran the 3 mile loop. Except we got lost at one point so it turned out to be 3.65 miles.  I needed to go 4 miles but had to use the bathroom since we left and couldn't want any longer (TMI? Sorry!) so when we rounded back to our starting point, I sprinted to the restrooms.  After that, there was no going back out there.

Thanks for the potty humor, Austin!

The run was tough and I'm glad I had a friend to push me.  Roxy is tiny but can book it.  This was the longest she had ever run but her pace far exceeded mine. I'm trying to talk her into running my upcoming 5K and 10K - do it, Roxy!  We also stopped periodically to snap photos (her, not me) and get some water. I'm perfectly content with a pace of 13:01 and want to focus on my endurance from here out.  Taking 10+ days off from running had a toll on me and I don't want to backtrack like that again.

As for my weekend runs, whenever I'm in Austin, my mom and I like to walk the dog to Starbucks and back in the morning. It's our little ritual. We chat, take Milli out for some exercise, grab some coffee, and make our way back to the house. If time allows, we'll go further into the neighborhood. For this short visit, my mom to work on Friday but we got our walks in on Saturday and Sunday. It wasn't strenuous by any means but it got my sore muscles warmed up and moving. Someday I hope I live in a neighborhood with tree-lined streets that is within walking distance of a grocery store, coffee shop, and some restaurants.

Check back tomorrow for some more pics of the weekend.  And send me some good vibes - my Psych final and Psych ATI exams are both today!

xoxo,

Cait

(Half) Marathon Monday #4

To sum up this week's training in one word?

FAIL

I could very easily list all of the things that go in the way of running. And I'm going to do just that - lucky you. I studied all day for a test. I took a test and then got my flu shot, which wiped me out. Clinicals were exhausting. And a girl showed up with active strep. I started a new job (see below for more on that). Friday was an all day simulation lab (AMAZING) following by a much needed girls' night out. Followed by some bad food (TMI?). I worked again at my new job. Felt sick and missed the Blog Elevated conference. I studied, a lot. My community outreach project is taking up a lot more time than I realized.

Week 3

Monday // 3.5 miles // Rest
Tuesday // 2 miles or cross // Pure Barre
Wednesday // 3.5 miles + strength // Rest
Thursday // rest // Pure Barre
Friday // 40 min cross // Rest
Saturday // 5 miles // Pure Barre
Sunday // stretch & strengthen // Rest
Scheduled workout is in gray and actual workout is in pink.  Rest days are orange.

I know, Sheree, I know. [via]

I didn't run at all despite my best intentions. But I learned a few things from this week.

I miss running. I'm sorry, what was that? Did you catch that? I. MISS. RUNNING.  A few months ago, you couldn't pay me enough to run and I hated every step of it. Now, a week off and I miss it.  My legs have felt jumpy all week and I'm looking forward to a nice evening run tomorrow.

Balance makes me feel better. I spent a lot of time working this week but I didn't manage my time well. I took too many breaks and naps which resulted in not enough time to run. Even though I hate getting up, once I'm up I feel good and I'm productive.  So on those days when B gets up early for work but I don't have to be anywhere I need to commit to getting up anyway. Getting my day started early is the best way to fit it all in.

I like being busy. This goes with the point above. I know I've got a lot on my plate right now but I like it that way. When I have a lot of things to manage, I (usually) get started on them right away to begin crossing things off my list. I get a little high when I cross something on my list. If I only have one thing to do, chances are I will jack off all day and still not get it done.

Working makes me happy.  It's a weird feeling to not have a career. I enjoy the routines of work, the challenges of projects, and most of all the interactions with people. My program is a hybrid where we come to campus for tests once a week but all the coursework is online. Most weeks, I only see people (aside from B) at clinical and for a test. That's not a whole lot of action for a social girl like myself. And I take pride in a job well done. Basically, this is a roundabout way of telling you all that I got a job! I've mentioned before that I take Pure Barre classes. They're pretty expensive, and when I had a job, I justified the expense. However, I don't have a job now so I was cutting back on classes drastically and basically only coming in when there was a Living Social deal. Well, it turns out that they were looking for additional help at the front desk at our studio and the position comes with a FREE membership for classes.  This is a win-win situation! I'm be working 2-3 shifts a week for just 2-3 hours at a time. I'll get a small paycheck, I can take classes when I want, and I'll be able to interact with a bunch of lovely ladies on a regular basis.  I could not be happier about this!

[Nov. 2012] At the barre with one of our fabulous instructors when we were both recently engaged!

And a few pics from the weekend for your viewing pleasure:

NICU simulation lab baby. Think I may have found my calling!

Enjoying the Sara Bareilles concert with my BTF.

Not sure which song prompted this, but I love it.

GNO at the Sara Bareilles/One Republic concert!

No so sure about this community project for my psych class...

Finally perfected my at home iced coffee recipe.  Mmmmm!

Handsome nephew and even more handsome fiance enjoying some Blue's Clues. My heart melts!

Hope you all enjoyed your weekends! Here's to a great week of training, maintaining balance, & getting the most out of life!

xoxo,

Cait

Linking up with JustJacq and In the Kitch with Kaara for the Move It! Challenge. You can win a 10 Day Advocare Cleanse and lots of other goodies just by linking up!

And with Ashley at Coffee & Macarons.

 

wedding wednesday fail

HUMP DAAAAAAY!

Don't lie. You said it in the camel voice, either out loud or in your head. Doesn't matter how many times I see it. Never gets old.

{via}

But hump day means that I'm at clinical all day long.  Please send me good vibes. Psych is not my nursing forte. I know, I've said this before. I'm repeating it because it's true! Thankfully, this is my second to last clinical for this course.  The end cannot come soon enough.

Except, that it is coming too soon. This course is 6 weeks long and we are in the midst of 4 straight weeks of tests.  I hardly have time to attend clinical (60 hours in total) and read the chapters before it's time to take another test. Throw in my community learning project, two new courses starting up, running and you know - LIFE - and what have you got? A stressed and sleep deprived girl.

How does this relate to Wedding Wednesday? Well, because I failed at the planned post.  I'll be back soon with a great post on my ideas for table decor including some wonderful little Etsy shops I plan on using. But for now, I need to read and sleep and see my man.

Thanks for being supportive.

(Sorry for the pity post!)

Happy hump day, y'all!

xoxo,

Cait

PS - For putting up with my lack of post and complaining, here is a little treat. When I taught, it was in a district you might call "hood" or "ghetto" so this is all too true.  Enjoy!
Warning: Some vulgarity. So don't play it on full volume in your cubicle!

making a commitment and sticking to it

THANK YOU for all the responses and emails yesterday regarding hydration & fuel! I'll be trying some of these out during this week and would love to hear any other ideas you've got!


*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

To say I am nervous about this half marathon would be an understatement. In an effort to stay committed (and calm my nerves), I have signed up for a few races along the way.  According to Hal Higdon's Novice 1 training plan I should do a 5K on week 6 (Oct. 12) and a 10k on week 9 (Nov. 2).

BCM Wellness 5K

Saturday, Oct. 12th

5K course through the med center in Houston. My goal is 30 minutes or less.  Right now I'm consistently averaging about 12:30/mile but I can run a mile at or around 9:30.  As in, one mile and then I'm done. The hard part is not giving up after that one mile and to keep the pace up for 3 miles.  I'm trying some negative splits this week so check in next Monday to see how that works out. Hopefully it gets better because it was an epic fail on Sunday's run.

PARC Monster Dash 10K

 Saturday, Nov. 2nd

This course is part of the Pearland Area Runner's Club and it was basically the only 10K within reasonable distance from me that weekend.  Because this is my first half marathon, I'm trying to stay as close to the training program as possible and when it says "10K race", then you best believe I'll be running a 10K race!  Not too sure what a realistic goal is yet.  Theoretically, if I can accomplish my 30 minute 5K then I should aim for a 60 minute 10K.  Twice the distance, twice the time. Right?  But that assumes I can maintain a 10-minute mile pace for twice as far. So for now, the goal is 70 minutes. I just rain 4 miles in 52 minutes so this seems plausible.

And because that isn't enough....

We signed up for the Tough Mudder!
My (future) brother- and sister-in-law did the Tough Mudder last year and I was very jealous of them. Unfortunately, it fell during football season and Bryan has a strict rule about missing any football games so we didn't participate. Yes, I could have gone on my own but everyone else was a couple and I was nervous and just didn't want to do it without him.  No judgment.  This year, the Tough Mudder is Oct. 5th and that just happens to be the Aggie bye week! Score!

 The Tough Mudder is billed as a 10-12 mile obstacle race, so it will fit in nicely with half marathon training.  And they (sometimes) offer free tattoos after the race. Who knows, maybe I'll get tatted up for the first time too!

Just kidding, mom! Maybe....

I don't have a goal for the Tough Mudder except to complete all the obstacles and finish. We're going as a group and it's more about the experience then trying to get a certain time. Plus, what would that time tell me? An obstacle run isn't at all comparable to how I would do on a regular run at the same distance.

Do you have any races planned to help you meet your goals? Anyone in the Houston area want to sign up and join me for these runs? I'd love to hear about your plans!

xoxo,
Cait

(Half) Marathon Monday #3

Before we get into the nitty gritty of training, I have some questions for all you athletic, healthy people out there.  How do you fuel when running?

 Do you eat before a run?

If so, what do you eat and how far in advance?

Do you eat while you run?

At what distance did you start eating while you run or carrying water or wearing a hydration belt/vest?

I feel pretty clueless about these things.  They seem to be the details that people don't really get into, but as a new runner, I need to know! And I get the whole listen to your body thing.  The thing is, my body is not and never has been a runner and yet here I am, trying to make it be a runner. So it is screaming and crying and pitching a fit the entire time.  I'm having a hard time deciphering what is my body just whining about being pushed and what is actual hey, give me some water and food you crazy lady!

So really, any advice you have is appreciated. No matter how small or insignificant you may think it is - I want to hear it all!

Shall we see how I did this week?

Week 2

Monday // 3 miles // 3.01 miles (11:24 pace)
Tuesday // 2 miles or cross // Pure Barre
Wednesday // 3 miles + strength // Pure Barre
Thursday // rest // Pure Barre
Friday // 30 min cross // Pure Barre
Saturday // 4 miles // Rest
Sunday // stretch & strengthen // 4.04 miles (12:52 pace)
Scheduled workout is in gray and actual workout is in pink.  Rest days are orange.

Just so you know, I killed that first mile on Monday's run.  Murdered it.  Ran it in 9:17.  Then I almost collapsed and my other 2 miles required short periods of walking (about 1/4 mile each).  But hey-yo, that's a pretty fast mile for me!

After that, my knee was killing me so I ended up taking a few days off running. As you can tell. I made sure to make it to Pure Barre on those days off. Pure Barre is a barre workout that is focuses on strengthening and toning muscle groups to the point of fatigue through small, isometric movements.

You can read more about it here or check out the great review The Southern Wife wrote about her visit to Ballet Physique while in Denver. Both should give you a good idea of what you're getting into with a barre workout. And The Southern Wife is one of my favorite bloggers to follow!

As for Sunday's run, I got it in at midday which is not ideal here in Houston. But I was coming off of an overnight babysitting gig which happens to be near Rice (hello, shaded running path) so I just went for it.  We also do Sunday family dinners every week with B's family so I know I couldn't have run after that.  I was scheduled for 4 miles and ran it in just under 52 minutes. I tried to run negative splits but that didn't happen. Despite making an effort to take the first two miles at a comfortable pace, I was still feeling worn out by the third mile. It was battle of mind over matter just to run that third mile and I ended up walking for a quarter mile once I hit the 3.25 mile mark. I wanted so badly to run the entire 4 miles without stopping to walk but I just couldn't do it. The worst part? After I got in my car and just sat in the A/C for a few minutes I totally felt like I could have finished it without walking.  Ugh!

I promise I wear other running clothes! It just seems like this tank comes up in rotation on my weekend runs. I gotta rep ND all the time {Go Irish!}. And this Tervis tumbler is the bomb. I'm smiling because I finished and because that A/C felt damn god, not because of my pace. Next time I WILL run the whole thing.

 Check in tomorrow for a few extras I'm planning in my race training and later this week for an outfit remix! Hope you all had a restful weekend!

xoxo,

Cait

Linking up with JustJacq and In the Kitch with Kaara for the Move It! Challenge. You can win a 10 Day Advocare Cleanse and lots of other goodies just by linking up!

And with Ashley at Coffee & Macarons

overnights & sunday social

In addition to nursing school, I also babysit for a local family.  I found them after I'd been in Houston and teaching for about a year. I needed some extra income (student loans are not cheap!) and had always babysat during high school and college so I posted my profile on SitterCity.com. From that, I ended up getting a couple of babysitting and dogsitting gigs that are still going strong nearly 4 years later!

Fire Chief Cait. Because the internet isn't embarrassing enough and no post is complete without photos, right? Middle pics by E (5 years old).

It's not a huge commitment to sit for them once a week and the extra money comes in handy.  It doesn't take care of my bills or anything, but it's cash (!!!) and I can spent money on the little extras without guilt - Starbucks, a mani/pedi occasionally, random Target trips. You get the idea.  Well, this weekend I did an overnight babysit job. A few times a year the parents like to get out of town for a night to themselves. Hey, if I had a 3 year old and a 5 year old, you bet your ass I'd want some nights off too!  But between the 24 hours straight of kids and studying, my brain is mush!

Which is why I love the Sunday Social!

1. What is the name of your blog?

Your Favorite Girlfriend. My friend Roxy (grrfeisty) helped me come up with it. I had decided I wanted to blog and the hardest part for me was deciding on a name. I just wanted my blog to be a place that covered topics you might discuss with your girlfriends - fashion, relationships, pop culture, exercise, food, pets. Basically anything 20-to-30-something girls chat about!

2. What do you love most about blogging?

It's been a great creative outlet and I didn't expect to get that feeling from it. I guess I wasn't aware of how much I had ignored my creative side over the last few years just focusing on work and prerequisite classes for school. And of course meeting people!

3. Why did you start blogging?

Not unlike many others, I had read a handful of blogs for about a year and wanted to be part of that community. It sounded like so much fun, so why miss out on that?

4. What is something you'd want to tell someone just starting out in the blog world?

Just write! Don't get hung up too much on the layout or design of your blog at first. Who cares if your blog looks great but has no content? You can always edit your design and add to it, but you have to find your voice first and that will only happen if you write.

5. Biggest blogging learning experience you've had?

Some people haven't left high school. Listen, I made some great memories in high school but I have no desire to be back there. I don't have any interest in "playing the game" and trying to be the most popular blogger on the block. I just want to share my life, learn from others, and meet some great people along the way!

6. What are three blogs you love?

I just nominated some blogs I love for the Sunshine Award, so I'll avoid those (but go check them out - they're awesome!). These are blogs I read and learn a lot from, but don't really ever comment on. Maybe I should push myself out of my comfort zone and start commenting!

Little Baby Garvin

i heart organizing

The Small Things Blog

Be sure to check in tomorrow for my half marathon training update!

xoxo,

Cait

Five on Friday!

Happy Friday! 

1. I've lost track of the days.  Studying and going to clinical means that my days themselves are very structured but my weeks are often all over the place. As a result, I feel like I don't ever know what day it is. And even though it's Friday today, it doesn't feel like it. Let me correct myself - it doesn't really have the same meaning that it used to when I worked Monday through Friday.  I used to be "Woohoo, finally Friday! I have 2 days off to hang out and not work and take care of the millions of things I couldn't get to during the week because of my job!"  But now I have the luxury of taking care of those tiny errands that easily add up during my week as a glorified study break. Winning?

How life used to be.

Life now.

2. My student loan interest rate went down! Just got an email telling me that the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013 means that my loan interest rates dropped down to 3.86%. Truthfully, I don't remember what they were originally but hey, I'll take any break I can get.

3. My scholarship came through! My school requires you to pay your tuition upfront (loans and/or personal money) and then after 2 weeks they process any scholarships. As we speak, $1084.74 is being transferred into my bank account so this means I will continue to eat this semester!

4. Only 2 psych clinicals to go! Psych is just not the field for me, you guys. I have the utmost respect for those who work in the psych field and it has been wonderful to learn about it. There are many more parts going into the care for our mentally ill than I realized. But dear Lord I do not wish to work there.  We go on Wednesdays for 12-hour shifts and I only have 2 more visits to make! 

5. I can't stop drinking Starbucks. I have a serious addiction and not only is it not a great post-workout fuel, but it is draining my bank account.  I need an intervention!

via

 Hope you all have a great weekend and that your football teams win! Unless you cheer for the Purdue Boilermakers, the Alabama Crimson Tide, or the Tennessee Titans.  In that case, prepare to lose. Love ya!

xoxo,

Cait

PS - Lots of exciting news and posts next week so be sure to check in!

returning the favor: guest post from Just Jacq!

Hi readers of Your Favorite Girlfriend! I'm Jacquelyn and I blog at justjacq. Caitlin so kindly guest posted for me during my blog vacation and I wanted to return the favor!

Like Caitlin, my blog is a mishmash of eats, moves, and clothes all on a budget. Right now I am working towards my goal of losing 8 pounds in September. I think that will take me down a pant size and I'll probably end up being at that size for a bit until I lose more weight. To help keep me motivated I am going to buy a new pair of pants as a prize if I complete my goal. Might not sound exciting to most of you, but I have not bought pants in forever because I refuse to buy more at the size I am. I thought I'd share my plan to success here!

Eats

September started off with me doing the Advocare 10 Day Cleanse (want to win a cleanse? Read how to here) to get my butt in gear with healthy eating. I'm hoping to see a drop on the scale from the cleanse, but I won't be disappointed if I don't. I am really doing this to motivate me to eat cleaner and healthier. My game plan is to prep my food on Sunday as much as possible. Some of my favorites are Chipotle inspired rice bowls and egg muffins. I try to create "bowl" type foods for lunch that include a starch like brown rice or sweet potato, a veggie or two or three, and a protein like chicken or tofu. For breakfasts I like grab and go foods. I'll throw two muffins in a container and eat them when I get to work. To keep me sane I like to allow one "snack" type food like a fig bar or Coco-Roons that make me feel like I'm eating my beloved baked goods, but aren't as bad as something I'd normally reach for. 

 

Moves
I recently started Crossfit and I'm loving it. I only go three days a week so I added in running and home workout dvd's again. I am not the strongest runner so I decided to redo the Couch to 5k program. I started on 3.2 and it wasn't too easy, wasn't too hard. I'm looking forward to finishing the program again! Want to see a picture of me all sweaty? K, here you go. You're welcome.

 

I posted that to Instagram after doing 3.2 on C25K.

Clothes aka, my prize (prize is so much better than reward, isn't it?)

The pants. I have been wanting a pair of straight leg, ankle length, cigarette, black work pants for a long time. I am currently in love with this pair from The Limited. I haven't tried them on, but they look wonderful. My style icon for this look is Mary Tyler Moore in the Dick Van Dyke show. 

 

source 

I just love them. I imagine myself wearing them with something like this (all pieces shown are something I already own or own something very similar and are within my budget)

Cigarette Pants by justjacq featuring a white sweater

Shop the look:
Left side: top, earrings, bracelet, shoes
Right side: top, earrings, shoes Pants
(learn more about my affiliate links here)

Tell me, how would you wear the pants? What is your prize for accomplishing a goal? Any healthy food recommendations to keep me full and meet my calorie goals?

Thank you, Caitlin, for letting me crash and for crashing my blog! To keep in touch with me you can do so through... Blog, Bloglovin’, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest

registry woes

Yesterday I posted this little to do list so let's see how much I accomplished before moving on, shall we?

Pure Barre class

run 2 miles

laundry

sweep/mop downstairs

vacuum upstairs

clean bathrooms

complete psych assignment
read at least one chapter in psych

Looks like I had about a 50% success rate. Not too terrible but I really need to stop procrastinating this psych work. I'm curious, how do you motivate yourself to do something you are really not excited about doing?

Alright, on to wedding things.

Y'all, I am at a lost for this registry business.  I spend what felt like 500 hours setting up registries and then deleting them, research various sites, putting on our website only to take them down, yada yada yada. 

Here's the deal. B bought the house we live in before we were even dating.  And I lived on my own for two years while we were dating but before we moved in together. So, we've got plenty of stuff. Trust me, the process of moving in together was painful because it seemed like we had two of everything and we had to figure out what to keep, what to donate, what to sell.

And for the most part, we've got stuff we like. Before you starting getting ahead of yourself, NO. We don't have fancy stuff.  Most of our things are from Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond. (And there is nothing wrong with that. I looooove me some Target!) We don't have a bunch of Crate & Barrel/Restoration Hardware/Pottery Barn things in our house. Though I wish we did! Plus, our house kitchen is not really designed that well.  It's got an awkward layout and there is not enough storage.

What I'm getting at is, I can't think of many traditional items to register for and I don't want to ask for furniture because a) it's expensive and b) I hope we move into a new house in a few years and who knows what we'll need then.  What's our solution then? To register at a catch-all site AND register for our honeymoon. (Did you all just cringe? Or say to yourself that this is tacky?)

GiftRegistry360

GiftRegistry360.com

This site is great! I looked at a ton of sites where you could put items from different stores into one common registry and this one seemed to be the best for our needs.  Some of the stores are linked (Macy's, William-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel) which means that your registry at that store communicates with your registry on the website. So if someone buys you a gift off your registry, whether in-store, online, or from GiftRegistry360, all the registries reflect that purchase.  

For other stores that are not linked (Target, Home Depot, Bed, Bath & Beyond), the purchaser needs to come back to the site to mark the item off as checked. For our wedding guests who are part of the millennial generation (or whatever we're called... Gen X? Gen Y?) I doubt this will be an issue.  The registry site clearly explains that. For our older guests, it may be an issue but I'm not overly concerned.  So we get a repeat gift. I'm sure we can use a gift receipt and exchange it. Not the end of the world.

Bottom Line: The fact that items are linked from certain retailers is a huge advantage over some of the other sites I looked at (Merci Registry, MyRegistry.com).  We were able to register for items from your typical stores like Crate & Barrel to Home Depot and Anthropologie - score!

Honeymoon Registry
This is where it gets a little tricky.  I am well aware that this is a newer idea and it may not sit well with people.  B and I work really hard and we want to be able to take a nice honeymoon. But there is no way we can afford one currently. He is paying all of our bills and I'm in school full-time.  We will get married in March, I graduate in April, and then take the licensing exam in May.  We don't know yet when the honeymoon will be (June or July) but unless we want to spend a night in Galveston, we can't afford anything else on our own.  And no, Galveston is not an option!  It's our honeymoon - we only get one!

Wanderable.com

Has anyone registered for a honeymoon before? We are looking at using Wanderable.com but I haven't set it up yet for a variety of reasons - we don't yet know where we want to go and I'm not sure if this is best site to use.  It's a pain to set up the whole thing only to have to take it down and set up a new one when you realize that the site doesn't fit your needs.

Here is what I'm hoping to get out of a honeymoon registry:
- guests can gift us a portion of travel and lodging (a night in the hotel, $50 toward airfare)
- guests can gift us an experience (scuba diving, massage, dinner)
- money is not tied to the actual item (if we are only gifted $100 out of the $200 for a couple's massage, then we are free to use the money in another way - or pay the rest out of pocket)
- we can use the money ourselves to purchase these things (don't have to go through the site)

- there is no fee for the guests

- there is no fee for us

I would LOVE to hear any and all advice you ladies have on this topic! What are your can't-live-without house items? What did you do (or wish you did) for your honeymoon? Have you had any success or failure registering for a honeymoon?

Thank you!

xoxo,

Cait

PS - If you want to see my wedding website or our gift registry, just comment below! I don't mind emailing it out but I don't want to post it for any ol' crazy to stalk!

                        

good one, Jimmy

Remember that twerking video I posted Friday? It sort of blew up over the last few days. Last night I even saw it on Chelsea Handler as I fell asleep.

Well, today I came across this clip:

Well played, Jimmy.  Well played.

Hope you're all having a great Tuesday.  Generally I take tests on Tuesday so I spend my day down in G-town but our test was yesterday instead. This means that I'm playing catch up with my life at the moment.  On the agenda today:

Pure Barre class

run 2 miles

laundry

sweep/mop downstairs

vacuum upstairs

clean bathrooms

complete psych assignment
read at least one chapter in psych

Anyone want to come help? I can provide the companionship of 2 cute pups and we can snack on some delicious edamame hummus and gluten-free beer.

Bueller? Bueller?

Hope your Tuesday is looking more interesting than mine!

xoxo,
Cait

(Half) Marathon Monday #2

Another weekend has already flown by! Mine was spent mostly studying as my first psych test is this afternoon (wish me luck!).  I did manage to get in my 4-miler though, just one day late. I was not feeling well on Saturday so all I managed to do was sleep and study on-and-off all day.  Top that off with a Notre Dame loss and the whole day was just rough. On to the training, eh?

Week 1
Sunday // stretch & strengthen // 3.12 miles (11:52 pace) and Pure Barre
Monday // 3 miles // REST
Tuesday // 2 miles or cross // 2.18 miles (12:16 pace) and Pure Barre
Wednesday // 3 miles + strength // Pure Barre
Thursday // rest // 1 mile FAST (9:21 pace)
Friday // 30 min cross // 2 Pure Barre classes
Saturday // 4 miles // REST
Sunday // stretch & strengthen // 4.15 miles (12:53 pace)
Scheduled workout is in gray and actual workout is in pink.  Rest days are orange.

As you can see, I had to move a few workouts around and I am okay with this.  It's a training program but life gets in the way and school comes first.  I'm currently in Psych rotations that are every Wednesday from 6:20a-6:20p.  I was able to make it to the 7:00p Pure Barre class this week but I can't say that will always happen or that I'll be able to make a run happen on those days.  And for those of you suggesting I work out before clinical.... um, no. I have to leave my house by 5:40a to get there which would mean joining the 4am club and as my grandfather would say, that's an AGH - ain't gonna happen. 

On Thursday I was planning to run my 3 miles that I skipped on Wednesday before heading down to Galveston to visit some family for the afternoon.  My stepsister, her husband, and her new baby were visiting from France and most of their trip is being spent in Austin but a few days were at the beach in Galveston.  With school, I knew I couldn't swing a trip to Austin but Galveston was possible. Plus, my mom was there and it is always great to see her since we don't live in the same city.

Well, I ended up oversleeping (seems to be a trend the day after clinicals) and toyed with the idea of skipping the run altogether. I was tight on time because I needed to leave Galveston by 4:00p in order to get home, drop of Milli, feed the dogs, and then get to babysitting by 6:30p in Houston traffic.  To make the most of an hour and a half drive to Galveston, I wanted to get on the road by 11:30a which would give me 3 hours to see family. So I made what I feel was a smart running decision - I decided to do just 1 mile but really push myself to run fast.  I knew I could get 1 mile done and still have time to get ready before needing to leave.  Generally, my personal mindset is "slow and steady wins the race."  Speed has never been on my side and my goals are this point in time are to finish.  Once I know I can do it, then I can always work on my time.

I ended up pushing myself really hard and ran the mile in 9:21. That is insanely fast for me!  I hope one day to look back and have 9:21 be more of my average pace and a time in the low 8s/high 7s to be considered fast, but for now, I am proud of myself. Which means that Week 1 was a success!

Copilot Milli, the only picture I took in Galveston. My mom loves this little nugget so I brought her with me to cheer her up.  Hopefully I'll get some pictures from my fam to show off my new nephew!

Bright red but happy about finishing my 4-miler!

It doesn't count if you don't post a picture of your Garmin, right?

Keeping track of my workouts so I can stay accountable.  And I love these pens that Justine sent me in my Cara Box!

I'll leave you with this adorable picture of B and our nephew taken after Sunday dinner last night. They were watching an episode of Blue's Clues together on his phone.  That kid is obsessed with Blue's Clues and it is the cutest thing ever.

How was your weekend? Spend any time with family? Accomplish any fitness goals?

xoxo,

Cait