Run.Chew.Sparkle

Alright here we go, my end of the year post. And what a whirlwind of events and emotions was this one for sure. I just read back to what my year in 2014 was until now and the goals I set out are so different than what actually happened in 2015. So lets recap a bit shall we because the way that 2015 started out and was headed was a great path. I had set up a running plan and even ran a virtual half marathon with Nanci and Corina. Running was definitely going to be one of my biggest focuses this year at the beginning. I wanted to run a 1000 miles and have a sub 30 minute 5k and planned on running the Gasprilla Distance Classic. OH January held such high hopes and then my world came a bit crashing down in Feb. And it literally did as I had fallen off the ladder at work and sprained, badly my right ankle. I know to some an ankle injury is not a huge deal BUT to me it was everything. It shook me right to my core. The idea of not being able to work out or run was killing me. For days I l...

Hello world!!!! I am back and I survived the holiday 2015 season! Holy hell was this one a tough one. I was at work every single day 10 plus hours. 14 hours one day and the so on and so forth. The mornings were early and the nights long. I lived literally on coffee and tuna packets. I threw in some grilled chicken sandwiches, which I have ate one from practically every fast food. And I am not kidding on that one. It was my go to protein and not so bad for you choice of meal this week. I had one at Sonic, Wendy's, McDonalds and Chick Fil A. I am not proud of the choice but it was the only thing I could to survive lol. And hell I could have ate worse, but I didn't. I did bring some pretzels, cheese sticks and yogurt for snacks too. I was prepared. Breakfast was a bit tough because I was constantly running out the door, so thank god for Starbucks and Dunkin for having great breakfast sandwiches. I also drank a whole lot of coffee and Spark. Work was truly nuts at times, but ...

Hey Everyone!!! I am over here trying to just get by and all. Honestly it has not been too bad at all. I am holding it together quite nicely but the hours man are they creeping up. I don't even remember what a slow day or 8 hour day looks like anymore and well that is okay. It is only really super intense these next 9 days and then it is semi back to normal. Half marathon training was a bit tough last week. My hours were much longer than scheduled and with having to commute and by the time I have to be to work and leave work, it made it extra tough. I did not get any cross training in at all. And I only got 2 runs in. One was 5 miles and one was 3.5 miles. I am trying to listen to my body and when it wants rest, I am giving it rest and when it wants to go I am letting it go.  I really did not want to miss a run last week but life got in the way. On Saturday I just had to go into work earlier because we had some issues and by the time I got to my car and home, I was like the h...

It's funny, usually when I am writing my post for how my week went in Half Marathon training, I am usually half way done with the current week. I seriously can not wait for my life to just get back to some sort of normalcy, even though it has not been that way for months now. But with the extra long shifts and then life in general on top of it, it is just exhausting but I have to admit that my runs have not been affected much, usually when I am getting my runs in, my body is feeling extra great. I ordered from a friend of mine, some Advocare Spark to help with a little bit of energy. And I have been trying it before my runs and it defntley does work. It really brings a little pep in my step. I have also brought it to work to help with being sluggish or just keep me focused a bit more. Week 3 brought 1 cross train day and 3 rest days and 3 run days. I do like the 3 rest days because walking on the floor at work all day is concetrate and it really is doing a number on my legs a...

Good Evening all my lovely friends and family. I am so bad that I have been posting this so late, but geez work has been so busy and by the time I sit down the last thing I am doing is my computer, but I wanted to update how week 2 in my half marathon training went. It went sooo well. And the main reason was because I had a nice and calm week at work. Things Remembered gave us 3 days off last week and it was glorious. It seriously was exactly what I needed. Just having one extra day goes such a long way. I kicked off the week enjoying two rest days in a row. I spent my Sunday, just kicking back and relaxing. I literally spent the day being lazy and cozy. Monday I used as a rest day because I worked and then really wanted to go and see the new Hunger Games movie, which was fantastic. I recommend seeing a movie on a Monday night. Just push all responsibilty aside and just go with the night. I went to Panera before hand and got popcorn and had an awesome night. James stayed home and...

It is one of my favorite posts!!!! And I figure better late than never at this point haha. Geez life and everything seriously got in the way this last month. I thought I wasn't reading all that much but indeed I actually was this past month since October. My most recent books included... I LOVED this book. Much more than I thought I would. I do not own my own business but I found this book to be very inspiring. It had a lot of great stories from women who own their own business and how they rose above. Even though I work for a corporation, being just my own boss in life, it really rang true. Between this book and How to be BadAss, well they have really changed my outlook on being positive in all things. I highly recommend this book and be your own #GirlBoss. Just like the last book I read from James Patterson, with the same feel, I read this book in one day! It was quick and easy but the ending just happened. The chapters were short and you knew the end...

Okay so I survived my first week of Half Marathon Training and what a week it has been. My life is all over the place right now with work. I am putting in a ton of hours, usually my days can go between 8-10 and then some. Then by the time I get home it takes on another 1/2 hour, believe me the last thing i really want to do is work out or run But I am trying my absolute best. This week was a bit different than the rests because I have only had one day off, which was yesterday. See life is out of control. But per schedule it gives you 2 rest days, 2 cross train days and 3 run days. Out of all of those days, I know that the run days are the most important and I should never miss them. Now because my work is crazy, I will take an extra rest day and miss a cross train day because running around the store is defintley a cross train day for sure. And that is how this week panned out. Sunday - Rest Day Monday - 3 miles after work in the dark. Stayed around a 13 minute mile. My legs...

Good Sunday Evening Everyone!!! Pretty fun and exciting stuff happening on the run side of my life. Today, started my week 1 of Half Marathon Training. So if I ran a marathon and tons of 5k's and halves, why am I training for one?? I know I can run, I know I can run the mileage and get it done. But I need the structure. I love the routine. I need to know everyday what I need to be doing. It holds me accountable and allows me to never give up. I know if I didn't set out a plan and stay on track with it, I would let the rest of life pass around me and then I wont get it done. I really want to have a great experience with this half. It is my turning point, since coming back from my accident and just making it through life through that. I went on to Pinterest and found this really great 12 week plan. Which has 3 runs a week, 2 rest days and 2 cross train days. Cross train days will be done in gym, I want to work on strength training on those days and the bike. My longer r...

If there is one thing I love for lunch or dinner is SOUP!! My top 3 soups are French Onion, Tomato and Broccoli and Cheese. And I never really eat them because they are so high in points or calories. They are definitely a treat when I get them out and ironically all my favorites are at Panera. But this post isn't about my love for Panera, it is just about soup. On Sunday, I was looking through my Pinterest for some good soup recipes. I was really in the mood for using my crock pot and making soup so I can have it for lunch for the week. I found this one where I had all the ingredients, which is rare in my life lol. And it was so easy and simple. 3-4 chicken breasts 1 package of frozen corn 8 cups of chicken broth 4 cloves of garlic, minced 1 red onion, diced 1 1/4 cup of BBQ Sauce Salt and Pepper and Garlic Salt to taste Add all to the crock pot. Cook on low for about 5 hours. Take the chicken breast out, diced or shred, then add back to the soup and stir. I...

Good Friday Morning. Oh my gosh it has been a little over 9 days since the last time I had checked in. Remember when I would write every day. Remember when I had the time to do so. Yeah me neither. Life is pulling me in a million and one directions. You should hear the ongoing fights I have in my head on what I should get done now and then. Believe me sleep and resting seems to always win first. That basically has been my life since the last time we had chatted. Halloween for us was something super simple. I worked in the day and then just made it nice and comfy on the couch and called it a night. We ordered some pizza and watched Sons of Anarchy. Which, could be my new favorite show and we are on the final season. I hate to see it leave, it AGAIN, has been a show I didn't think I would love, but oh man...and look at this sexy man... There is just something about a bad boy for sure. Then came this week. I knew this week was going to be long, but I guess I wasn't sur...

Happy Wednesday Everyone!!!! Can we please acknowledge that in 3 days it is Halloween and more importantly the end of the month of October!! Meaning the end of the year is even closer. God, I literally feel like it was just February. Time seriously just needs to slow down!!! But while I am here lets recap what I have been going on lately. As of last week, I had a pretty busy end of the week. Thursday and Friday I had travel days with work.  I went to Tallahasse and Gainsville and Ocala in those two days, doing store visits with my Boss. It was an awesome learning experience for me. She taught me so much in those two days alone and I learned a lot of what it was like to be a traveling supervisor and what to expect when going into visits. We stayed the night at a Hilton and it was really nice, but I just could not sleep. I ended up getting up super early, which made for a super long day. By the time I got home on Friday, I was beyond beat. I ended up crashing into a nap and t...

Positive Thinking and Hard Work goes hand and hand and it goes a long way! I am proof of that! I got a promotion at work. I am currently moving up in my company. I am going from being the store manager in St. Pete to the store manager at the Clearwater location. It is a higher volume store and busier and it looks awesome being the store manager of it. I want to move up in the company and this is defintely a great stepping stone for me to do so. I, officially start there on Monday. It is a little bit of a commute, only 30 minutes. It really isn't that bad. And now the weather is amazing and I don't mind driving because it isn't that  hot anymore. So I am off to new beginnings and challenges. This coming week will be a bit different, I have to plan more and move my work outs around and I am excited for that. I embrace change and I am ready to take it on!!!

Hi Folks!!! It has been quite a week since the last time I posted. But first let me take it back to a race that I did the beginning of the month. I won an entry from Nanci on her blog, to run the The Race For A Cure 5k. It was a glow run, meaning a night run and you can wear lighted up material and glow items. I really, really wanted to run this race because it was in downtown St. Pete, which as you guys know is probably my favorite place to run. Plus the atmosphere and ambiance and everything was just what I wanted from a run. The weather was perfect. We finally had a nice little cold front come throughh and down by the water and the air cooler and no sun, it was my favorite time of night. I took advantage of the glow items and dressing in pink. I got my skirt from Michaels, for super cheap. I loved it and it was comfortable and the sparkle of course was right up my ally. I had the best time!!! I ran the race like I did the one prior, with out my GymBoss and just runni...

Hey Everyone! So it is that time of the month with my Favorite post I do, with Nanci , our what we are reading post! Okay, so I have to admit, this one will be short and sweet because man oh man, I have not put a lot of effort into reading like I have really wanted too. At night when I normally would read, I am now catching up on my T.V. shows on Hulu or James and I are now watching Sons of Anarchy on Netflix, which by the way is my New Favorite show, why did I wait so long to watch it. So my one book that I had read and finished was The One and Only by Emily Giffin I really enjoy Emily Giffin and her books, I have read a couple of them in the past and really loved the characters and the stories that went along with them. This book, I had some really high hopes for because I heard so much hype around it when it came out around last year. My cousin even said it was a great book to read. Okay, so I enjoyed the book, but it was really just ehhhh to me. The one thing I liked w...

Good Wednesday Morning Everyone!!! I am off from work today and could not be happier!! Mainly because the beginning of the weeks now have been crazy for me. October is a quick and fast and LOTS of going on for me month, and Monday and Tuesday at work this week, was a little hetic. Lots of paperwork, interviewing and I had a travel day that involved two stores. I want to be a DM someday and I know this would be my life, so I enjoy it, but when it isn't your normal, whew it knocks you out. And today I have no big plans for the day, except to finish a book, get a run in and a nap. The simple things for sure. But I wanted to pop in and tell you all how much I am Loving using My Fitness Pal to count my calories and how much I am enjoying counting my calories in general. I have been using the app and counting my calories for roughly a week now. It was not hard at all to start. Counting calories and Weight Watchers are VERY similar. When I signed up for MFP, they asked your curren...