Three Things Thursday

1. I woke up yesterday morning to a snowy world.  It was only 3 inches or so but it oddly made me happy. It was a heavy wet April snow and I knew it would be gone soon anyway.  I live up at a higher elevation than where I work so it is fun to drive a snow covered car into town where there is no snow and everyone wondering where you came from.

It's also been very cloudy and rainy. It rather makes me happy. I know it turns the world green and makes the grass grow. It makes the hay grow that feeds our cows and makes the crops grow that feed us.

It doesn't always make running fun out here as it turns my dirt and gravel roads to a muddy sloshy slippery mess!

2. So when I got home from work a little early yesterday and saw how muddy the roads were I decided a cross training day was in order for sure!

I did 10 minutes of rowing and then a 15 minute HIIT workout.  To cool down I went and danced in the rain. It felt really good.

3. I signed up to try BeachBody on Demand for a month free. I have already decided to cancel when my month is up.  I have used it once in two weeks. The workouts I really wanted to try aren't available unless I want to pay more. I don't want to pay more, thank you very much.

The one workout I did was half dynamic cardio HIIT type workout and half power yoga. I really liked it and would love more like that, but there was only one. Well two, but the other was a beginner one and I don't want beginner.   My goal is to try at least a couple more before my free month is up, but I was having a hard time getting excited about any of them. I did finally explore the workouts enough that I think I found a bunch I want to try.

Core Water Review and Giveaway #BeTrueToYourCore

I was lucky enough to team up with FitApproach and Core Water for a review and giveaway.  I was sent a box of twelve 24 oz bottles of Core water.  

I am not going to preach to you how important water is because we all know that after all our bodies are about 75% water. 

Awesome things about Core Hydration

• ultra purified to remove impurities and contaminants through revers osmosis
• enhanced with mineral and electrolytes to help your body achieve the perfect pH balance 
• bottle is 100% recyclable 

This might seem a little silly, but one of my favorite things about this bottle is the flip cap and little drinking spout.  

I find them easier to drink out of than regular bottles when I am running or working out. I always pick this kind of water bottle when given the choice.

Giveaway time! You can win in store coupons for Core hydration water of your own.   If you want some right away you can find CORE Organic at a store near you here, including 7-11

Another week is in the books

Sunday.  I was really only planning on running 5 miles, but it all felt so good, my legs, the weather, the sunshine that I added an extra 1.2.  I believe this was also a yoga session morning.

Monday. A HIIT workout in the morning before work.

Tuesday was grey, rainy and as it turned out perfect for a super hilly long run.

Some pictures from the Instagram yoga challenge I am participating in.  I was super excited about getting firefly (top left corner picture)

Wednesday was a work day and I did a 20 minute HIIT in the morning.

Thursday presented itself with beautiful weather and I couldn't wait to get out and run. My legs however were so tired! All the ump lunges and the long run from earlier in the week wore them out I guess. It was still a good run and nice to be outside in the sunshine.

Saturday was grey and overcast in the morning but I got in a good run with some intervals

and then we helped our neighbors move their cows down the road to summer pasture. The kids had their saddlebags packed full of snacks

and it was a good thing since it took twice as long as it normally did to get the cows where they needed to go. They just didn't want to move! The weather was great for it and the rains that were supposed to show up late afternoon never did so that was lucky. It was have really made for a miserable ride.

Once we got them to pasture we have to let them "mother up" as in no cows or calves can leave the bunch unless it is a mom/baby pair. This makes sure that moms and babies know that each other both made it to the destination and tells us if any cows or calves got left behind.  Unhappy cows or calves will try to run back to where they last saw each other.

and more yoga challenge poses.

  linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

 feel free to check it out and join in! 
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules} 

Running in the Rain

I don't have a tread mill so if the weather conditions outside are less than ideal my options are

• elliptical (which is okay but I don't like to do it very often and does not make me as happy as running, I prefer to save it for desperate situations like blizzards, thirty below zero, or hot weather. or when I am dealing with an injury)
• rowing machine (good cross training, but something I don't like to do more than 20 minutes or more than once a week)
• Cross training like yoga, and strength workout which I do anyway and are no replacement for running

I generally only run 4 days a week. It fits my schedule best and for the most part keeps me injury free so when I have a day off and there is a prospect of not being able to run I am not a happy girl.

Yesterday was cool and rainy, but thankfully not windy, once I got out running I wondered what had been my hold up waiting for the rain to stop. When I started running it was a light mist and varied during my run from misting to light drizzle,  It was 48 degrees out and felt amazing. 

I love the rain. I am a pluviophile. Rain makes me happy. It makes the world smell good, it makes the flowers bloom and the grasses grow.  Of course being a farmer's daughter I know the value of rain however I don't always like to run in the rain if it is cold out, so I procrastinated most of the day about running. 

The desire to get in a long run finally won out and I overdressed of course because I hate being cold. It didn't take me long to shed my rain jacket and gloves and love the run.

It's one of my favorite times of year, the world is turning green again. It feels like the green lasts such a short time I feel like I have to soak it in. I am constantly telling my kids to enjoy the beauty and aren't we lucky to live here.

I kicked up this little group of calves and this babysitter mama cow on my run.

One happy dog and one happy me!

What is your favorite thing about running in the rain?

Last week in running.

I didn't really keep track of my workouts or yoga this week, but it was a good week, especially running wise!  

Monday I did an easy recovery run and my legs were feeling a bit heavy and tired from the 5k I ran the day before.

Tuesday was a rest day aka I had to work and so I didn't run, but I am pretty sure I did some sort of strength workout.

Wednesday I did a 9.15 mile long run with some speed intervals thrown in at the end and it felt really good.

Thursday and Friday were both no run days.

Saturday was one of the best run days in what feels like forever.  I had so much energy, my legs and breathing felt so good and I felt like I could run all day.

Sunday I was guessing I was going to have tired legs from the run the day before, but nope, my legs wanted to run all day again and they wanted to do it fast. I kept having to slow myself down and remind my legs this was supposed to be an easy run! I was only going to do 5, but ended up with 6.2.

Still doing a yoga challenge also

Those splits are just not going to happen, but planking, I got that!

  linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

 feel free to check it out and join in! 
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules} 

Three Things Thursday

1. Yesterday was perfect weather for running. I was so happy it was my day off from work. I got in a nice 9 miles with some intervals. I think my little dog was happy to be out running too.

2. A friend of mine was one of the photographers at the race I did last weekend and she sent me this pic.

 It's just a screen shot and there will be a better one coming, but the funny thing about this is that while I didn't see the photographer this was right when I was passing the girl next to me and she had ear buds and so she probably couldn't hear me coming, right as I was about to go by her she scooted over and nearly cut me off so I pushed into her a little, or we bumped or something and she lost her balance a bit. That is why her hand is like it is.  I beat her by the way. I think she ended up third. We both got beat by a 10 year old girl.

3. After my run yesterday I stopped by the barn to check on our bottle baby Sage with her new cow mom and Cola got ran off by the resident geese.

Not the best picture but you get the idea.

Happy Thursday!

Goings on in my world: yoga, cows, kids, running, spring

IOther than a race report I have been rather silent for nearly a month. Although if you follow me on Instagram you have seen me there still running, doing some yoga challenges and keeping up with the kids.  Life is good.

1. Currently doing the #YogaForGrowth yoga challenge.  It has a lot of easier moves mixed in with some more challenging ones. I consider myself a sort of begginner intermediate yogi, I can do some of the harder moves, but I lack a lot of the flexibility too.  Either way the challenges on Instagram are fun to do.

2. The kids have been taking advantage of the nice weather and getting in lots of outside play time and time on their horses.

3. The world is greening up and it is beautiful. Calving is in full swing for the older cows and so my husband is riding and tagging calves every day. Thankfully night calving is over (night calving is getting up every couple hours to check on the first time cow mamas to help them if they need it with their delivery) (sometimes it can be an all night no sleep kind of thing)(my husband, dad and brother take different shifts and every third night you have the night off)(you still have to work all day too. For my dad and brother that means feeding cows, farming, etc and for my husband fencing)(that is a lot of parenthesis).

At one point we had three bottle babies at our house, Two were twins and the mama cow only wanted one and the other just had a bad mom who kept kicking the snot out of him.  The little red guy in front in the picture below is the only one we still have. One got a mom (its her third mom!)and one went to a neighbor and in exchange they are going to raise some chicks for us and when they are grown we will get the chickens out of the deal.

Running is going good. I will be doing a 5 mile race in May and a 10k in June and maybe a couple more 5ks somewhere in there. I had originally planned to maybe do a half marathon in May, but decided to put it on the back burner. A half marathon will have to wait until September I guess. The whole back thing really messed up my spring running plans! I feel like I am just now getting back to plans.

I think my little dog is glad we are back to running again.   He likes getting out as much as I do.

Also Inknburn just released a fun new kit for spring. I have to admit I am in love with the bright colors and these shorts are awesome!

When was the last time your running plans got derailed?  How is spring where you are?

Scheel's Run for Ryan 5k Recap

Well I dusted off the keyboard, I guess life has been busy and blogging has been neglected! I decided rather last minute to sign up for a 5k on Sunday. I haven't thought a great deal about racing since I hurt my back and had to miss the half marathon I was signed up for in March.  Running has been picking up nicely though so I decided to go for it.

Sunday turned out to be a cold, windy and rainy morning. Although really at 45 degrees the temps weren't bad it was just the wind, and rain and no sun. The Run for Ryan helps raise money and awareness for SIDS so it is a great cause.

As soon as I saw the course routes for the 10k and the 5k I was immediately glad I was signed up for the 5k.  The 10k was an out and back with the out being uphill and as it turned out into the wind and rain!  The 5k was a bit of a loop and only into the wind for a mile.

I ate my usual pre race bowl of oatmeal with chia seeds, cinnamon, and chopped almonds.  I was all out of raisins.

I was a bit undecided about what to wear but picked out shorts and a tank, Thankfully I also packed a pullover and I wore it.  That wind and rain just made things cold.  I got to the race and discovered I had left my race bib at home.  ARGH!  Who does that?!!

Thankfully its a small race and they were still doing registrations that morning, they gave me another bib number and fixed it in the system.  Disaster easily averted.

I didn't set any goals down on paper but in my head hoped at least to have a 7:20 or better pace.  Super awesome goal time would have been closer to a 7:00 pace, but since I haven't done much speedwork lately I was not really expecting it.

The gun went off and we took off. A quick glance down at my watch confirmed I was going out way too fast, but I quickly settled into an easier pace. The first mile went by pretty fast, I knew from looking around that there weren't any local fast girls that I recognized so I thought that just maybe I had a chance of being first female.  I passed two girls in the first half mile and thought I was out in front for the females when I spotted another ponytail up ahead,  It was definitely motivating!  First mile 7:25.  A bit off where I wanted to be, but given the wind and uphill I am okay with it,

I slowly inched up on the ponytail and by the middle of the second mile I had caught up with her and I had visions of winning. She was tough though and seemed to have lots of course support. Her dad was everywhere in a minivan yelling at her to keep pushing.  I traded spots with the ponytail several times back and forth, but it was a little bit like she was playing with me, I would stay in front of her for about 10 steps and then she would sling shot past me.  Second mile:  7:14  I really would have guessed this one was faster.

The third mile 7:07  The ponytail started to pull away from me in the third mile. I was still feeling pretty good, but I was also pushing about as hard as I felt I should. I was very happy to see the finish line coming up!

Last .16 6:29 pace. Garmin time 22:48 with a 7:13 pace,  Official 5k time 22:50 with a 7:22 pace.

The ponytail's dad came and thanked me for pushing his 10 year old daughter during the race. Yep, I got beat by a kid.  What an awesome little runner she is!    I did end up 2nd female and I won my age group which they had grouped as 20-39.  I waited around with two friends to see if they were going to do awards, but then found out they were just going to mail them. Boo.  It will be fun when I do get it in the mail later though!

Complete fail on the getting any pictures though.

I have a 5 mile race and possibly another 5k in May, hoping to find another race in April also. I think I have missed it!

  linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap since I can sit and read blogs again

 feel free to check it out and join in! 
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules}