#powerplankchallenge

If you are on twitter, I would guess you have probably seen the hash tag #powerplankchallenge in your feed at least once today! If you are wondering what it is, I will fill you in....



Myself @ Mindy over at Road Runner Girl, decided to co-host a day of planks challenge. We have a group of I think 8 tweeters (is that the correct term) that follow each other on Twitter and share in on daily planks. We encourage one another and post great videos, pictures and proof of timers.

I introduced plank ladders to them a few weeks ago. That earned some of us a place on FUDiet's website for the #plankaday leaderboard. While perusing their website, I saw contests from months ago. 8 hour plank challenge. Now that sounded like a great idea! You do 1 plank every hour, for 8 hours.

I suggested this on Twitter to our group, and Robert upped the challenge to do a 12-hour day! Can we say HARDCORE plankers!

Thus, #powerplankchallenge was born. Mindy, sent me an email and suggested we co-host a challenge on our blogs, Twitter and Instagram, opening it up to everybody and anybody. The prize would be one of my work-out tanks!

Tomorrow is the last day for the challenge. If you are seeing this now and have not joined in, it's not too late. All you have to do is follow the instructions in my blog post. I hope you decide to join in, can't wait to see everyone's pictures.

I want to introduce you to some of our group. Most of us are bloggers, and #sweatpink ambassadors. Show your love and support to these ladies, they have great blogs!

#1. Mindy Bobe over at Road Runner Girl

#2. Cristina over at Triathlonmami

#3 Sarah over at Mom Running on Empty

#4. Abby over at Back at Square Zero

#5. Kate at Run with Kate

#6. Amanda @ Becoming a Healthier Mama

#7. Amalia at Live, Travel, Eat & Run

If you are not currently planking, I encourage you to start. In the 3 weeks I have been doing it, I have noticed a few changes. My stomach is slimmer and tight. My waist is more defined. I see the definition in my shoulders. I also notice better posture and I can tell a difference in my running. You can do it alone, with friends, with your kids. All it takes is about 6 feet of floor space!

Don't forget to check out www.fudiet.com, join in on their #plankaday mission!

A big shout out to my friend and co-worker, Megan Rone, she planked away with me today! It was nice not to have to do it alone!

A post with challenge pictures will be coming later! I can't wait to see everyone's creativity. Thanks again to everyone who participated!

Weekly Chase, 6 weeks of accountability!

Happy Monday, may this week be more relaxed than the last (haha! yeah right) So this is 6 weeks that I have been participating in the Weekly Chase. This was started by Melissa over at Live, Love & Run I look forward to this post all week and think about staying accountable! I also love checking in with all the ladies participating!



Last week my goals were:

#1 Dedicate some quality time to my husband! I think I made better attempts at this. I hope he agrees with me. I will be continuing this. I can get a little self focused at times. So I will do my best to focus on marriage and family too!

#2 Develop a plan to get back to studying for the CPA Exam. My Plan is to move this goal to this week. It was a no-go this past week. Total fail!

#3 Continue my scheduled runs and get back to the gym and plank ladders. I achieved all of my schedule runs and planks. I never made it to the gym. I was going to go Thursday, but then the auditors from PWC planned to take us to lunch, then cancelled. And I had a stiff neck and headache.

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What fun things can I do this week??

1. Develop a plan to get back to studying for the CPA Exam. take 2!

2. Focus at work and get 'er done! This has been a crazy busy month. I have a lot to wrap up these last few days of this month, then maybe I can breath a little. So focus, focus, focus!

That's it for me this week! I am obviously going to continue my runs and planks, that's a given! I just need to get through this last week of craziness, and then I am going to chill!

And so as not to disappoint anyone, here he is.... Merry Christmas in July, lol!

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Liebster Award!!

Sorry, What?

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Copied straight from Kate, who tagged me at Run With Kate
The Liebster award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

Rules for receiving this award:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.

2. Then answer the questions the tagger sent for them, plus create 11 questions for the people they’ve tagged to answer.

3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.

4. Notify the people you have tagged.

5. No tag backs.

1. My favorite Musician is kenny Chesney. I love him!

2. I love Mexican food, Chocolate and Publix brand Jalapeno Hummus and pita chips!

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3. I am claustraphobic and scared of elevators (and I work on the 18th floor of the RSA Tower in Mobile, AL. I ride those elevtors only!)

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4. I am really shy and have a hard time talking to people when I first meet them, then I turn a 180 and I never shut up after I am comfortable. Sorry for my motormouth!

5. I planned, designed and made everything for my wedding to Joby. Decorations, invites, cupcakes, candy buffet, banners, drinks, everything!

6. I can't watch scary movies. They freak me out. I am more of a happy, love movie kinda girl!

7. I make up words to replace cuss words. It use to drive my co-workers crazy (I think) now I catch them saying "holly words" like Dango Bango, fudge mudge!

8. I am impatiently waiting to get a new iPhone 5! It's really testing my patience. My old phone iPhone is a POS! I put ALOT of thought into new cell phones, almost obsessively. I compare and obsess about which one to buy more than I did vehicles or a house.

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9. I battled anorexia when I was younger, good news is, I won!! I don't think you ever win (for real), but I am certainly better. I have major issues with my body and weight all the time. I wish people understood even "thin" people can feel not so great about themselves. And I think we should have freedom of speech about that topic, the same as someone who is over weight. We aren't meaning to be offensive, but maybe we just really don't like our bodies, or a fat roll either.

10. I am very empathetic towards people/animals. It hurts my feelings to see other's hurt. I can't stand to here people use derogatory or insulting language about other people. I try to pass this on to my kids the best I can. Mean people SUCK!

11. I love to take Naps!

My Questions from Kate!!

1. Is this your first blog? If not, where did you start? Actually no, I had one, I was trying to start a Candy Buffet service. Baking cupcakes and setting up candy buffets for weddings/parties, etc. That didn't pan out. But I did do a blog to share recipes and inspiration type themes.

2. Where were you born? I was born in Buffalo, NY area. A small village named Middleport, NY. Cute little place, on the Erie Canal. See the house to the right of the library, covered in snow, that was our house. <3 it!

I lived there 5 years, then we moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania (famous for it's Flood and Inclined Planes)

and finally to Daphne, Alabama when I was 10.

3. What’s something that you’ve done that you’re incredibly proud of? I think my biggest life accomplishment (other than my kids) is graduating from college with 2 small children. I started my family early in life. I was married at 19 and had Collin when I was 20. Married, kids and house. I had to work full time and get my degree and raise a family. I finished my accounting degree and went back to get my 150 hours required to sit for the CPA exam. I am suppose to be studying for the CPA now. I need to rededicate myself to that.

4. What’s something you got into trouble for at school? I don't remember getting in trouble really. But I'm sure if it was for anything it would have been for talking or forgetting my supplies.

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5. What do you like most about yourself right now? I like that I am pursuing my passion of running. I may have had passions in the past but never really dedicated myself to them. I am so happy I am at a place that I can focus on running. My kids are old enough that I can "get away" and my husband is nice enough to let me do it. (that's me in the yellow, after my 1st 5K in April 2012)

6. Who is your biggest fan? Without a doubt my kids! I am so thankful for that. They are always cheering me on!

7. What sport do you follow? I follow Alabama football, life it's a religion. And any sport that my kids are part of. So football and gymnastics.

8. Do you have a hidden talent? (Or not so hidden!) It's not a talent, but I have cool long toes, that I can do all sort of weird things with. I can choreograph them to move with music (lol!) and pick things up with them.

9. When do you blog? Whenever I can. Mostly at home after work. Sometimes at lunch. And anytime I have some alone time.

10. Is there anyone who doesn’t know about your blog who you’ve avoided telling?
I don't think so, not now. I didn't tell anyone at first. Maybe I didn't tell some at all, but I do email them my blog posts. Maybe that's my shy way of telling them!
11. Name a song you can’t get enough of at the moment. I love LOVE love country music. Right now I love: Kissed You Good Night ~ Gloriana, Come Over ~ kenny Chesney (my Fave), Free ~ Zac Brown Band (fave #2), Why Ya Wanna ~ Jana Kramer.


My Questions to those tagged:

1. How do you stay fit? What is your activity of choice and how did you get into it?

2. What is your favorite thing to do (other than #1) in your spare time?

3. What are some of your big goals right now?

4. If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go? (all expense paid, take anyone you want)

5. What is your favorite food? Least favorite?

6. What did you want to be when you grew up? What did you end up doing?

7. Who inspires you and why?

8. What's your fave childhood memory?

9. What's your top songs on your playlist right now?

10. Are you watching the Olympics? What sport do you love the most?

11. What's your motto?

My 11 People:
1. Just Keep Sweating
2. Run Find Your Happy Pace
3. Run Run Mom
4. Burning Babi Fat
5. Revved Runner
6. Living The Run
7. Shore to Run
8. Cupcakes Run
9. There's Something About Mary
10. Run It My Way
11. Little Miss Fit


Ok, Awesome! I hope everyone that was tagged, plays along, this was fun!

five for Friday!!

I can't believe it is already Friday, this week (month, year) has flown by!

I have always loved getting older, celebrated it in fact. Im 34, and have more fun every year. But for some reason this week, so many things are making me feel like I am old and will be an old granny in no time at all. Of course i know that is silly.

- this week I realized that I have to take my son Collin to register for high school next friday. WHAT?? how in the world is my precious little baby going in to high school. Seriously? Sheesh, that went by so fast.

- my mom turned 60 on Tuesday! Happy Birthday mom! Both my parents turned 60 this year. Apparently I have blacked out the last 10 years of my life, they just turned 50...oh man!

-my kids and some friends keep referring to people my age as old(er)! OMG!

Im hoping this pity party about being mid 30's passes soon. It would however be nice to pretend to be old(er) and try retirement out! That would be awesome!

So on to my post.... I have had a crazy busy month at work. I love it though, I think all accountants love crazy deadline times! But in the midst of all my busy-ness and deadlines, I wanted to share some of my fun things that have happened this week!

1. I received some of my #sweatpink swag in the mail this week. I mentioned it before, but I applied to be a sweatpink ambassador over @ Fit Approach. Their mission is:

We believe that kicking ass is best done in pretty shoes. We’ve learned that real women sweat, and sweat hard. We know that assertiveness, strength, and ambition are the ultimate feminine qualities. We concede that sometimes it takes hours to get ready, but we’re also no strangers to just rolling out of bed and going. We’re convinced that we run faster in pink shoelaces. We believe in pushing ourselves, and we believe in giving ourselves a break, too. We’re all about the rush of endorphins and the thrill of the challenge. We’re all for looking great and feeling even better. We’re committed to finding our best fit, and making it stick.

How do we get there?
We climb.
We journey.
We balance.
We reward.

I am so happy to be part of their mission! I have met so many great bloggers!



Anyways, my goodies, (tank and wine glass, pins and shoelaces) i <3 all the pink!

#2. Mindy @ Road Runner Girl and I are co-hosting a #powerplankchallenge! How exciting! You should really think about joining in. You can read all about our Challenge and Giveaway! And I have to add in, Mindy and I are tearing up the Leaderboard over @ FUDiet.com...WTG girl!

#3. In addition to my #sweatpink goodies in the mail yesterday and today, I also got my Moving Comfort bras that I ordered. And I got these bras 50% off and free shipping. Booya! I ordered the Juno in Grape soda and the Fiona in turquoise. I thin I am going to return the Fiona in exchange for the Jubralee. I am so glad to have more running stuff. I really needed them.

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#4. I have decided, and gotten the go ahead, to register for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. The race is in February. This race has been my ultimate running goal! I wasn't sure it was going to happen. We are taking our family on a cruise next June. The 6 of us and Patsy. So a trip for 7, well, I just about had to sell a body part to pay for it. So we are setting a lot of money aside to pay for that trip. But I am going to make it work somehow!

#5. I have gotten in all my runs this week. And I have done my plank ladders every night, but tonight, I did 4 planks and then 1 plank for a little over 2:30. Wow, my abs are sore! Saturday I am running with the S2S group for our longest run yet! 9 miles, here we come!!

It's been a really great week, I am ready to tackle tomorrow and roll in to a great weekend! I hope everyone has had a great week and has an awesome weekend!

Power Plank Challenge and Giveaway

So you know how I've been planking every day? Thanks to Dr. Sherry Pagoto, Michael Bauman ,FUDiet.com and @PlankADayNation on Twitter, I have been planking again for 3 weeks. My core is so much stronger.
Well, I am up for a planking challenge! Me and my friend Mindy at Road Runner Girl are hosting the "Power Plank Challenge" and we want YOU to join us!!! So what's the challenge???

Plank once an hour for 8 hours!




<center><a href=http://www.runningandbakingohmy.blogspot.com " target="blank"><img src="http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj517/hollyj0077/planks.jpg"/><br /> </a></center>


That's it!!! Your planks do not have to be for a specific time...just plank as long as you can!

Why do you want to complete this challenge??? For a strong core of course!!! And...for a chance to win one of these awesome tanks that I make!

Except your tank will say "I Plank for Power." How cool is that? The tank will be personalized so if you win you get to discuss the colors, size, etc. with me! ;-) And for the guys....I have a shirt planned for you...without the ribbon! :-)

How to enter (this will be done through Instagram...comments on this post will not qualify as entries):

1. Mandatory: Take a picture of all 8 of your plank times. Be creative...you can write all of them down on a piece of paper, make a collage, etc. Post the picture to Instagram and tag @running_baking and @roadrunnergirl #powerplankchallenge #plankaday to be entered.
2. Extra: Take a picture of yourself planking. We would LOVE to see pics of you planking in weird places...like work, etc. You are doing this every hour for 8 hours so there's no telling where you will have to plank! :-) Post the picture to Instagram and tag @running_baking @roadrunnergirl #powerplankchallenge #plankaday to be entered.
Challenge ends on Tuesday, July 31st at 11PM CST. The winner of the shirt will be announced on Wednesday, August 1st!

Make sure to tweet about the challenge using the hashtag #powerplankchallenge and #plankaday!

Please follow me on twitter @running_baking and Mindy on Twitter @mindybobe and @PlankADayNation so we can see all your tweets about the challenge! :-)

And feel free to grab the Power Plank Challenge button at the beginning of this post to display on your own blog or website! :-)

Happy Planking!!!!

weekly chase, take 5!

It's Monday again! This is the fifth week that I will be participating in the Weekly Chase. This was started by Melissa over at Live, Love & Run I have really loved being a part of this weekly following of ladies setting goals.

Last week my goals were:

#1 Write my Bio for the #Sweatpink ambassador site and actively blog. I accomplished this goal! I am working on writing more informative blog posts. 

#2. Continue Plank Ladders, Totally accomplished this goal

#3. Eat more fruits and veggies this week. I made a big effort towards this goal, so I will say it's accomplished. 

This week my goals are:

#1  Dedicate some quality time to my husband! He deserves it, and has been asking for it. I purposefully have my runs and gym time scheduled for a time that does not interfere with family time. But I have been bad about having my nose stuck in the laptop. I have to make a huge effort to limit the laptop time and have better time with Joby.

#2 Develop a plan to get back to studying for the CPA Exam. I let this get away from me and failed to dedicate myself to a schedule. I have to take this more seriously!

#3 Continue my scheduled runs and get back to the gym at least 1 time for power-lift. Also finish the month out with plank ladders. Im at the top of the board, so I want to finish the month out.

There ya have it! I hope everyone has a productive week. I can't wait to read everyone's goals!! (And I just can't resist another Ryan ~ Hey Girl!

I finished the tanks!

why exactly do I run???

When my alarm goes off at 3:45 am and I wake up all dazed and confused I often think, why in the world am I waking up so early to run? I mean, REALLY? In the middle of our runs, when I can't breathe and sweat is dripping in my eyes, I wonder if I am loco! When I forked out $100's for chiro appointments and massages due to a hip injury, I thought I was out of my mind. There must be some really good reasons why I follow through with this running hobby. So I thought it might help if I journaled those reasons so I can look back on them in the future.

#1. I run because it was something that I never thought I would be able to do, especially with my bad back. I had back surgery 5 years ago and my doctors advice was: stand as much as possible, no high heels and when I asked about working out, he advised maybe swimming or walking. But no running! Well, 5 years later, here I am training for my 1st (because it won't be my last) half marathon. I noticed when I run, my back pain would go away. The more I did it, the less I had back problems. I have not had an episode in about 18 months. woohoo!!

#2. I run because I like to push my limits/boundaries. Obviously from #1 above, you can see that I am stubborn. Tell me I can't do something, and I will find a way. I believe you have to make your own destiny. I don't run to compete with other's or to "win the race" I run to push myself. Over time I want to beat my time/distance/etc. I have tried many things in my life and I have failed at a few of them. You never know what you can do, until you try.

#3. I run for me time. I am a mother to 4 wonderful kids. We have two 13 year olds (my son Collin and step daughter-that we raise Destiny). Then there is Sydnee my 10 year old daughter and 7 year old Gavin. As you can imagine with 4 kids, we have no free time. We are on the go all the time and usually in the middle of a "season" of one sport or another. I believe every couple needs grown up time and we get that when the kids go to see "their other parents". But I also believe I need ME time. I get this in my running and I do go to the gym on my lunch hours to lift weights with a class I have attended off/on for about 2 years. You meet some really positive uplifting people when you join groups like these.

#4. I run to stay in shape. I run to clear my head. I run to stay smoke free (I quit smoking 2 years ago and am so much healthier!). I run to buy cool shoes, bras, running clothes and shot bloks!

#5. I run for the friendships. I run every run with 3 other women. Bridget, Susie my sister-in-law and Jennie my sister. I invited these ladies and many more to join me in the C25K program this past December. We run with Soul 2 Sole Sisters. I am so grateful to have both groups of ladies. I have formed closer relationships with all of them. And I have met new wonderful ladies that I look forward to running with every week.

#6. I run to inspire my kids to be active and healthy! Im trying not to raise couch potato video addicted kids. I figure if they see me being active and trying new things, they will do the same.

Next week we are running 9 miles so we are well into our Half Marathon training! I will never forget, my son's pre school teacher Jackie Parks, who is part of S2S, she would post pictures and posts about her runs on Facebook. I remember seeing one of her posts. She ran 10 miles, I believe for the 1st time. She posted a picture of her Garmin to show the distance and time. And I thought, how does anyone run 10 miles straight and in "x" amount of time? That amazed me then, and still does now. I think I will know I have "made it" when I run those 10 miles in 3 weeks! I am so grateful for Jackie's posts on FB. She is what motivated me to take up running!

I know that running will be part of my life for a long time. I have set many goals for myself that center around running. I just can't wait to run our race September 30th! That's going to be a big day for all of us! I am so proud of all the ladies that are training with our group! We are all working so hard!

this is why I plank

Being more mindful of my food......

I have been struggling with my eating for awhile now. I do not eat BAD, but I could do so much better. I have been working so hard in the gym and running, but I am not seeing the results I have been looking for. So last night on my grocery shopping trip I purchased items that would help me make healthier choices.

I have been super busy at work. With being busy, I have cut out snacking. I just don't have the time to snack and that's been a blessing. I know my intake was low today, but that will improve just as soon as I slow down. I am packing my breakfast and lunch this week. I will be cutting out my trips to McDonalds in the morning for a large iced caramel coffee and trading out a packed lunch for my Subway sandwiches.

Today I had Quaker Oatmeal Squares and milk for breakfast. For lunch I ate grapes and a sandwich made on Arnold whole wheat sandwich thins with laughing cow cheese, spinach and Chicken lunch meat. I did drink a diet coke this morning (I have not had a soda in months now).

When I got home, I was surprised to see Joby grilling burgers! That was a such great help. On Tuesdays I go straight from work to Sydnee's gymanstics class and we don't get home until 7 pm. So dinner is usually rushed, but not tonight. I ate a burger on a wheat bun with spinach and mustard. And instead of fries, I heated up some edamame.

I feel like I made better decisions today about my food and plan to keep it up the rest of the week. I have cantaloupe and Chobani greek yogurt at work for snacks. I plan to make time for a snack tomorrow.

On another note: This morning I got up at 3:45 AM and got ready to go meet up with a group of Sole 2 Soul ladies for our run. The route was to run 3.5 miles. I decided to wear a skirt this morning, that I have not ran in lately. About 1 mile into the run, I realized why the skirt was at the bottom of the drawer. I ran 3.1 miles and then decided that my thighs had been tortured enough. I absolutely hate quitting, but I walked the remaining .40 and just realized today was not a great run, but it was a run none the less. I am not going to beat myself up over 4/10 of a mile!

Has anyone started doing plank ladders yet? What do you think about them? I am still doing them. I have mat burn on my forearms from my yoga mat. Ouch!

What do you eat for breakfast and lunch on busy days?

I saw this pic on Pinterest, I like it!

4th week of The Weekly Chase

Happy Monday morning! This is the fourth week that I will be participating in the Weekly Chase. This was started by Melissa over at Live, Love & Run I have really loved being part of this weekly following of ladies setting goals.

Last week my goals were:

#1. Do a plank ladder a day! I have accomplished this goal! I feel so good doing these plank ladders. I have my kids joining me and my husband joined me last night. I also have made it to the TOP of the leader board for the month over at FU Diet Check it out: Leader Board Every night I have completed 6 minutes worth of planks! I encourage everyone to try them for a week. At the end of the week, you will notice a difference.

#2. Be mindful of my eating. I did pretty good this week on my eating. No cookies at bed time. And I made some smart choices. I can always do better, and plan to do so.

I feel like this past week was successful.



This week my goals are:

#1 Write my Bio for the #Sweatpink ambassador site and actively blog. I have been so busy at work, I have not been blogging like I wanted to. I need to come up with some plan for blog posts. I also want to check in with other weekly chasers in a more timely manner.

#2. Continue Plank Ladders, I feel so much stronger in my core.

#3. Eat more fruits and veggies this week. Its time to really focus on healthy choices.

I hope all of you have a great and healthy week!! And to end the post, a little Ryan Gosling encouragement :)