Wordless Wednesday... someone loves to use my iphone camera!

Zombie Run ~ Gulfport

A couple weeks ago, I may have participated in a really cool race or two in 1 weekend and then failed to post my recaps. I feel I have totally failed you and would like to remedy this right now.

I was asked by Larisa from 0to26point2 to participate in a Gulf Coast bloggers group of runner's/zombies at the Zombie Run. This type of race is truly out of my comfort zone, so I of course said YES!! I am desperately trying to stop being shy, it also helped that Mindy was also participating, so I had someone I know and see regularly there with me.

So on this particular weekend, I was super busy. Not only was I participating in the Zombie Run but the next day I was running my 4th Half Marathon. But I was pumped and ready to go. I woke up very early that morning and got ready to go. I say got ready, I basically put on some old clothes and washed my face. This was the easiest race to get ready for ever!

I got up along with my step daughter Des and her friend Ashleigh and we headed out to drive to Mississippi. I met up with Mindy so we could follow each other over. I had to get back to Alabama fairly quickly as it was my sons opening day of baseball. We made good time getting over there and we may have gotten lost just a little. Apparently Apple Maps thinks the Zombie Run was being held in a little small town church parking lot. We finally found our way and got in line to get Zombified.

Of course we had to pose for a pic first!

To get "Zombified" was a pretty easy process, our make-up artists had been given a crash course in latex application and makeup. I must say I made it pretty easy to make me look dead, lol!

I think that Zombie was sizing me up...

Pretty scary, huh?

After getting all dolled up, we were paired into a group of ten and sent out on the course to our station. Myself along with Mindy, Larisa, Gina from Noshing on Asphalt and Melanie were all together at a  pretty cool obstacle. The runners had to shoot at us with Nerf arrows from a platform. In order to get their arrows they had to come out in a field of Zombies and attempt to pick up 2 arrows. At this point we could chase them down to get their flags. This was fun!

I may have been the only one, but I felt at times like we were on the Hunger Games, remember when they are at the Cornucopia?? Larisa, being the competitor that she is really got into her role, she had it out for this guy, she gave him a run for his money, literally, poor guy!

I got hit a few times from the arrows, but for the most part was able to dodge them.

So, what do Zombies do while waiting for runners to make it to our station? Pose of course...

We attempted to do the Harlem Shake, because I mentioned I had the app and it would be so cool! Well, I thought I had the app, couldn't find it so I downloaded another. I wont go into many details, but it didn't turn out! Loss of cool points, way to go Holly!

Larisa and her Arrow bouquet!

We were out in the field for 2 hours plus. We were expecting to be relieved and then maybe run the course. I did have to get home, but I was holding out hope. Our relief never really showed, so we had to go, but we took a second to pose with our group.

Pajama guy was really cool, he along with the others made the experience all the more fun!

We were given medals (I so love medals) that were cool, mine said Infected, because I was a zombie. If you ran the race and came back with flags still attached you would receive a "survivor" medal, if not, you were "infected" like myself.

After this I had to skidaddle! I had to catch the boys ball games. I had a really good time doing this race, and I would surely do it again. Next time, I will have a cleared calendar and wont be running a half marathon the next morning. I would really like to participate in the race part as well. Hopefully any kinks they had will be worked out and next year will go off without a hitch (there were complaints about the food, it was not free and we did not know). 

Thanks to Larisa for getting us all involved, and thanks to all of the ladies that I participated with, it was so nice to meet everyone!

So, this race was my third "adventure" race. I have also run in the New Orleans Color Run and the Dirty Girl Mud Run in Mobile, AL.

QOTD:  What adventure races have you done? What should be my next adventure race??

Weekly workouts... it's about time!

So, I've had a busy week, and while I was busy at work, I was even more busy working out!! Really! I can't honestly remember when I have worked out so much in one week, lately all I have done is work. So let's recap this week!

AD:  I also am participating in Under Armour's campaign "What is Beautiful", I really feel like this is helping my momentum. If you are interested in being held accountable, I would love for you to join my team!

Sunday ~ I started our wonderful Mother's Day with a 5 mile run with a few of my wonderful Mother/Runner's, including Mindy from Road Runner Girl. It was a glorious way to start the day. After that I cooked a healthy breakfast, relaxed then we took our Mothers out to lunch for Mexican food, my favorite!

5 Miles in 52:38 for an average pace of 10:31/mile

I just love my purple socks, don't you??

Monday ~ I can't believe this, its shocking to say, but I ran again, yep, two days in a row. And guess what else, we did hills! Yay!

3 miles in 31:07 with hills... for an average pace of 10:22/mile. I must admit, I kinda tricked Mindy into running with me and threw in there rather sly-like that we were doing hills. She now refers to me as Hilly Holly!

I started back with #plankadays this week too! Trying to get back to basics. I am going for at least a minute, more if possible, but definitely a minute.

Tuesday ~ I went way out in crazy-ville and tried something new! I went to the gym at lunch and tried Cross Xtreme. Its the YMCA's version of Cross Fit. I have never been before but have been really wanting to go. My friend Melanie was pretty sure it would be an arm and core focused day, so I wasn't to worried. After all I just ran 2 days in a row and had hills both days.

Well, she was wrong, it was Leg day!! But I survived and actually liked it. I will be going back for sure.

We did plate pushes (45 lb plates covered in a towel and pushed across the gym and back x 2, Handstand push-ups x 15, Stairs x 2, Burpees x 20, V-ups with weights x 15, Squats with weights x 20. We had to repeat that circuit as many times as we could in 30 minutes. I did it almost 3 full rounds.

When I got home, I was surprised by a package. Larabar sent me 4 new bars to try out. They are called ALT, the protein source comes from Peas... cool huh? I have tried the Lemon Pound Cake and I had the Cinnamon Apple Crisp today, they are both super Yummy!

Wednesday ~ Yoga at lunch and #plankaday

Thursday ~ another shocking day for me. I ran at lunch with my friends Melanie. We logged right at 3 1/2 miles, it was a great way to spend lunch. 

3.48 miles in 35 minutes.

Lunch was from Diet to Go, it was Thai chicken soup. I loved it, along with the granola mix and a V8 fusion. If you haven't tried Diet to Go, I would recommend it. I am also an Ambassador for them, and I really love their product and Common Sense approach to healthy eating.

After work I met some ladies from the Soul 2 Sole group. We ran 3 miles and incorporated some hills! It was humid and I was a little tired from lunch, but I did great.

3.08 miles in 31:01 for an average pace of 10:04/mile. 

I came home and did #plankaday

I came home after my run and picking up Syd from gymnastics and enjoyed a new Chik Fil A salad, I believe it was the Fresh Market salad.... It had chicken strips (grilled), variety of lettuce, bleu cheese crumbles, candied nuts, apples, strawberries, cucumbers and I used Ranch. I love Ranch, I should have used a vinagrette, but I didn't.

Friday & Saturday were rest days!

Ok, so I feel like I am getting back in the groove. Now the point is to keep the momentum going. I start marathon training in August, so I want to be prepared and ready to kick some Marathon butt!

QOTD:  How do you keep the momentum going? Do you ever get in a rut?

#Whats Beautiful....perfect timing!

Sometimes we all get in ruts. I think it is fair to say that I have been in a rut for quite a while now. I have not been juggling my life very well lately. I have been trying really hard, but sometimes you have to focus on one area and then everything else gets put to the back burner. My fitness and running have been getting cold on the back burner. I have not been making them a priority at all!

I have been trying to talk myself out of this rut, trying so hard to get re-motivated! Sometimes you get blessings in unexpected forms. I am an Ambasssador for many great companies, one of them is Fit Fluential, they are truly amazing. They open up so many doors for athletes and bloggers like myself. We get opportunities to work with great brands and like minded companies. One campaign that just started is very unique, this post is sponsored by Under Armour through FitFluential!

Under Armour has launched its Whats Beautiful Campaign! The purpose of this campaign is to empower women athlete's to acheive things they never dreamed possible, to support others in their quest and to motivate and inspire others! This is perfect to help me get out of my rut!

I would love for you to join my team SUPER WOMEN! Everyone can determine their own goals, make them known and then as a team we can work together to crush each goal one by one. I have a few goals in mind for this campaign, here they are:

Work on speed work for running

Master the Crow Position in Yoga

Train for my first FULL marathon

Get back to the gym!

(source)

If you join in and want to tweet about your goals, progress, etc. you should use this hashtag! #whatsbeautiful or #IWILL!

QOTD:  What goals do you want to acheive? Will you join my team?

Finding balance...

Happy Sunday to everyone! Joby and I were fortunate enough to be able to have an all expense paid weekend away. No kids, no money and we were doing something that Joby loves! It was a great weekend, of course it ended all too soon!

We were invited to go to Talladega Nascar race with Joby's bosses, their wives and some mutual friends. We were camping/RVing in the in-field and I was honestly a little nervous about that. I am pretty shy and conservative and I have heard crazy stories about how tacky, trashy and crude people can be.

Joby drove up on Thursday and I stayed home to work on Friday and then I drove up after I got off work early (well, sorta). I was looking forward to a drive alone, it's not very often I get alone time, so I was excited. It took me a little over 4 hours to get to Talladega, I had to battle the rain and darkness the last hour and was beyond stressed when I got there. But this weekend was exactly what we needed!

our Hot pass, gave us pretty
much unlimited access

We spent some great quality time with really nice quality people. There was nothing trashy or  crazy about our adventure. I did choose to forego Talladega Boulevard and stayed inside warm and dry instead. We were beyond fortunate and were presented with HOT pit passes, which gave us access to the garages and pit road, and we were allowed back there even after the races started. We were literally in the working pits. It was awesome! and best of all it was something centered around Joby and what he wanted to do!

I've realized I have to find a way to create more balance in my life. I have been so busy at work lately that I have pretty much dropped everything else in my life. Well, that can't keep being the case. I have so many great things in my life, including my job, that I have to be present in every situation while I am there. I have to make sure that when I am spending time with Joby and the kids that I am focused on them. It needs to be quality time. 

those pit boxes are pretty awesome and
the crew are very much athletes

FoxNews anchor with his crew and Police Escort

14 second pit stops, impressive!

I also have to return to being committed to my training, gym time and healthy eating. I just registered for my first Full Marathon, I am running the St. Jude Memphis Marathon on December 7, 2013. I am running this race along with a group of ladies from Sole 2 Soul Sisters! I am so excited to experience this journey with them. I am committed to raising $500.00 for St. Jude. If you would like to donate, please visit my donation page.

My goal is to get back to being well balanced and enjoy and be present in all of my life situations. I am not going to worry about work while spending family time. And I will get back to my love of running and being healthy!

I hope everyone had a great relaxing weekend! Stay focused, happy and committed!

QOTD:  What are you trying to balance in your life? How do you achieve a balanced life?

Designer Whey protein review....

Being a busy mother who is always on the run, I am always looking for something that is easy to grab and eat on the run. Being an athlete, who seems to be in constant training, I need to find quick and convenient ways to eat healthy. I am a big fan of protein powders, they are perfect for a quick breakfast when I can't get away from my desk and a great way to fuel before or after a long run. 

I was given the opportunity to review Designer Whey through Fitfluential. I have seen many of my fellow Ambassador's reviews and was stoked when I was chosen to participate. I wasn't sure what items I would receive and was surprised when I got a box full of all of these goodies, check it out!

The box they sent to me had 2 canisters of their Protein Powder (Vanilla and White Chocolate), 2 ready made protein shakes, 6 protein bars and 3 boxes of their Protein 2 Go juice packets. 

The first thing I tried was the Vanilla powder, I mixed it with water and ice at work, I was in a hurry and needed something quick. It was ok, I obviously could have made better choices in how I prepared it. The texture was great and it mixed up very well, I am not a vanilla fan as a general rule and would have enjoyed it more had I blended it into a smoothie (which I will, soon, so I will update you with my thoughts!)

My daughter Sydnee is 11, and a member of a local Gymnastics Company. She practices 3 days a week for 3 hours each session. She is required to take a healthy snack to each practice, and they have bag inspection. She asked me if she could take some of the bars and try the powder and juice packets. I of course could not say no because I want her to be properly fueled as well. She loved, Loved, LOVED all of the bars (we split them) and loved the juice packets. We were both really pleased with the taste and texture of the bars. Some companies just understand how to make good tasting and good quality protein bars, Designer Why is one of them.

that's Sydnee in the handstand!

Their bars come in three flavors:  Triple Chocolate Crunch, Chocolate Caramel Crunch and Peanut Butter Crunch. My favorite is the Chocolate Caramel Crunch, it is soo delish! Sydnee liked them all, lol! These bars come packed with 10g of Protein, 160-170 calories and around 14g of sugar. They are a great way to curb that chocolate craving and to keep hunger at bay. 

My favorite product was the Protein 2 Go packets. We love mixing flavor packets with water, I am a juice girl. These are perfect for my ride into work, a quick pick me up at the office or to feel refreshed after my run. I love the Tropical Orange flavor the best. My nephew Cody tried the Lemonade and said it was excellent! Each packet comes packed with 10g of protein, around 50 calories and only 1g of sugar! I will be buying more of these in the near future!

The shakes are very handy and great tasting too. Being the chocoholic that I am, the Chocolate was my obvious favorite, and I was really pleased with the taste and the fact that they contained only 100 calories and 18g of protein!

I have seen many great posts that incorporated the protein powders into recipes like pancakes, oatmeal and cookies. I would have loved to try this, and I just might do that soon. But in the time period I had to do this post, I cooked literally one meal for my family and there was no baking happening here. Beyond my usual late nights at work, we are also in the middle of baseball season (2 sons playing ball) and gymnastics practice three nights a week. So family meals are pretty much non existent. 

I did however make some ice cream tonight and used some of the White Chocolate protein powder!

I blended 2 bananas, 1 scoop of the white protein powder and a packet of Justins Dark Chocolate Dreams with a splash of milk. I blended them for a quick minute and then froze it (which just so happened to take until after the kids went to bed) then I ate it!

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this tasted, this may be my new go to late night snack! Designer Whey makes some great tasting and excellent quality products, I am a new fan and will be stocking up as soon as my current stash runs out! I encourage you to check them out:

Designer Whey

Designer Whey on Facebook

Desginer Whey on Twitter

QOTD:  What's your favorite way to use protein powder?

Disclosure:  I was given my Designer Whey products for free, to review on my blog through my Ambassador role with Fitfluential. All opens are my own. 

I've taken a little sobatical....

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed or not, but it's been about 2 weeks since my last post. There have been a few reasons for that, but the biggest would be my AT & T Wifi has been working in spurts of about 30 seconds and then it loses connection. I'm still waiting for AT & T to figure out how to fix it. So with no reliable Internet at home, it's been next to impossible to post and man have I missed blogging.

So what else has been going on? Well we've been super busy at work (surprise, surprise) my super great friend and part of our dept turned in her notice to leave for a wonderful mommy friendly new job. So I had to hire a second accountant, that makes for a very "green" staff, at a very busy time. But the newbies have been working very hard!

Joby was able to work out a great deal and we bought a used Ford Edge. I love it and its so nice not to have to worry about getting a new transmission. I had been without a ride for 2 months.

looks like this new car needs a 13.1 decal!!

We finally bought everything and spent this past weekend painting our room!!!! I have been waiting years to do this, we are about 90% finished, we just lack the trim now.

I ran the Zombie Run in Gulfport, MS and the Gulf Coast Series half marathon in Pensacola, FL as well. I am working on recaps for both races as well as blog post reviews for two great products.

I'm turning 35 on Thursday, I have really struggled with turning 35. Age has never really bothered me and turning 30, 31, etc I have loved, but for some reason 35 has been hard to swallow. I figure it's a turning point or big milestone. So I want to use my 35th year to accomplish things I never dreamed possible and things that I have been putting on the back burner:

1). Grow my relationship with God and find a church home.

2). Run my first Full Marathon - received my training schedule this weekend!

3). CPA certification

4). Take a nice family vacation - cruising away on June 2nd

5). Become more financially secure

6). Find a healthy work/family balance

7). Work on my relationships

So I must skidaddle and go get ready for work. I have a long busy day ahead of me, but I am looking forward to either running or yoga at lunch. I am also focusing more on my fitness again. That too had been slacking, pretty much life has taken a back burner for work, but it's time to restore balance!

Have a great Monday!!