June Recap

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Dotty Runs

I can’t believe it’s already July!! Its been 25 weeks since Disney already. So crazy!

I’m really pleased with how I increased my milage this past month. I was barely moving in May, and in June I got up to 61 miles! I was really excited about this until I started reading other runners’  blogs. Some people are averaging that many miles a week!! This is when I need to step back and not compare myself to others. I don’t think I’m every going to running that kind of milage – it just doesn’t fit with my lifestyle or abilities.

I got my long run up to 5 miles in June and kept to a pretty consistent schedule. I alternated walking and running days to help avoid injury. I tried to do my BBG strength training 2-3 days a week. I’ve found myself modifying exercise sessions of the BBG to ones that work for me a little better. I’m still super sore after every leg day.

5 miles on Monday

5 miles

I started off the month with a 5k and that really helped me get back in my running groove. Evan and I also bought kayaks which made for some fun cross training. I’ve also made sure to stretch/foam roll after my runs and have done some yoga with my yoga studio app.

To top of the month in review – I found my wedding dress! 🙂 Super excited. I’m so happy my aunt and grandmother were able to come down to help me pick one out.

Dot Dot and Jamey came down and helped me pick out a wedding dress :)

Dot Dot and Jamey came down and helped me pick out a wedding dress 🙂

I want to try and hit at least 60 miles again in July. I’ve already done a 6 mile run this past weekend. I want to do at least one more 6 miler before training starts. I also want to do at least 10 out of my 15 BBG workouts. I hope increasing my strength training will help with form and speed for half marathon training. Official training starts in August, so July is the last month of my base building time. I’m really excited to start training. I’m hoping to have the help of a trainer this time around.

Happy Monday! Hope everyone’s week is off to a great start 🙂

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Pre Training Week 3

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Dotty Runs

Another week of pre training in the books and it was another hot one!!! I was called off work the first two days and already off Wednesday, so that helped me get some miles in. This week is going to be a little tougher as work is busier and the weather is nastier!

Monday: morning 5 mile run with post run stretching and foam rolling

Tuesday: 2 mile walk in the morning and 1.2 mile walk in the afternoon

Wednesday: .5 mile run BBG arms/abs then .5 mile run then a mile walk in the afternoon

Thursday: 3mile run followed by a 1.4 mile walk as a cool down

Friday: 4 mile walk and BBG week 7 Friday workout

Saturday and Sunday were busy at work but got quick walks in afterwards

Total Miles: 19.7

Total Steps: 97, 157

Its officially Summer Time now! Loving all the daylight. Have to do a make up Fathers Day with dad since I worked all weekend. Love you Daddy!!

Happy Father's Day to Daddy!

Happy Father’s Day to Daddy!

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Friday Photo Dump

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Dotty Runs

Just a quick photo review of the week so far. Its been super hot, and I’ve tried to get acclimated to running in the heat again. I’ve hit all my work outs so far! 🙂 recap to come Monday!

It was already almost 90 degrees by 830 am!

It was already almost 90 degrees by 830 am!

My hibiscus is blooming!

My hibiscus is blooming!

Fisher thinks he is the king of the garage

Fisher thinks he is the king of the garage

and he liked this yummy juice I found at Target

and he liked this yummy juice I found at Target

Dot Dot and Jamey came down and helped me pick out a wedding dress :)

Dot Dot and Jamey came down and helped me pick out a wedding dress 🙂

I got my new Erin Condren planer in the mail!

I got my new Erin Condren planer in the mail!

can't wait for July so I can actually use it :)

can’t wait for July so I can actually use it 🙂

evening walk with Erin

evening walk with Erin

hot run Thursday afternoon

hot run Thursday afternoon

And now its Friday afternoon but it feels like my Tuesday because I’m working through the weekend.

PS: if you want an awesome Erin Condren planner we can both get $10 off!

Click Here to check out the planners!

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Pretraining Week 2

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Dotty Runs

Another week of pre training in the books! Official training for RnR Vegas starts in August. Trying to build a nice base before then 🙂

Monday: attempted some intervals – my nike running watch offered a 2′ run 1′ rest so I did a 5′ warm up followed by 5 of these intervals then jogged back home. The fastest pace I saw  on my watch was 7’06 so I know my body is capable of at least moving that fast!! Now I just need to work on sustaining any type of faster pace for a longer distance. I ended up with a 2.55 mile total for the intervals. After that I did one round of the week 6 BBG arms/abs workout and took Olly on a half mile walk. Evan and I went Kayaking in the afternoon to finish off a nice day 🙂

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Tuesday: It stormed in the morning and the afternoon. I fit in 2 very short walks that didn’t even make a mile in between storms in the afternoon, so I changed plans and did some yoga instead.

hail from Tuesday's storm

hail from Tuesday’s storm

Wednesday: Ran 3 miles in the afternoon and did 1.5 rounds of the BBG workoutIMG_2422

I was afraid it was going to storm again!

I was afraid it was going to storm again!

Thursday: Ran 4.08 miles and did 10′ of yoga and stretching and later took Oliver on a walk.

Friday: 2 mile walk

its getting hot outside!

its getting hot outside!

Saturday: 2 mile walk

Sunday: morning: 1.36 mile walk and afternoon: 1.3 mile walk

Total miles: 17.6
Total steps: 89.189

I made my distance goal for the week (16 miles). I want to try and hit 18 this week!

Happy start to a new week!

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Weekend Fun

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Dotty Runs

This weekend was a kind of slow weekend. I didn’t get in a longer run like I thought I wanted to, but I hit the weekly mileage that I planned. I’m going to try to increase my weekly long run by a mile every week or 2 so I’m reading for training!

Friday afternoon Evan and I hung out in the garage and back yard for a bit. Fisher hung out with us chilled in the grass then tried to catch some lizards. He doesn’t have the hunting thing down pat yet.

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I also won our workweek FitBit challenge!

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I’ve loved using my fitbit so far, especially these challenges with friends and friends of friends. Its really motivating me to get out there and take a walk or a run when I would normally be done moving for the day.

Saturday I had to get up early to take friends to the airport. I had planned to run, but after I ran about a mile my legs were cramping so I decided to take a nice walk. IMG_2478The day turned really hot, so I got some things done around the house. I also finished the 4th Outlander book and Better than Before. I don’t think I’m going to buy the 5th Outlander book yet. I want to finish some of the others that I have first. The books are also starting to last a little too long for me. I sped read the end of this one just to see what happened to the characters. I wouldn’t even mind the ending of the book to be the end of the series. Everyone was alive and accounted for and happy! 🙂

Today felt even hotter than yesterday. I split my walks up into a morning and evening walk

IMG_2480Morning walk (yep I’m sporting my freebie state farm shades! They don’t bounce around on my face!)

IMG_2486Evening walk

In the middle of the two was some reading, house work, hanging out with friends, and pool time!

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Now its winding down time. Happy Sunday! 🙂

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Officially Signed UP!

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Dotty Runs

I’m all signed up for half number 7! Super excited to go back to Vegas. I love that the race is run in the afternoon/evening. There is always something to look at, and its a fast, flat course! Official training won’t start until August and I think I’m going to have a coach this time! I really want to get under 2 hours!

IMG_0006From the last time we ran Vegas – I think this was 2013

I got in a great run this morning. Getting called off work isn’t great for the wallet but it does help me get my runs in! It’s still pretty hot at 730 but not as bad as the afternoon – and there’s a lot less chance of a thunderstorm. I ran 4 miles – slowly- but ran them all. I’m trying to slowly build my milage back up to get ready for training to start.

IMG_2431After my run this morning. Wearing my Floppin Flounder shirt and free state farm sunnies 🙂

IMG_2439Had a nice walk with Olly later. He makes such a great cool down partner 🙂

Happy Thursday. Almost time for the weekend!

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Memories

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Dotty Runs

I couldn’t let the day slip away without remembering Momma in some way. Today marks 8 years since she passed. While the hurt isn’t as heavy, I still think of her daily. I have her thank for getting me to run, even though it was by her passing that I decided to start. She LOVED running. Much more than I ever will. But each run I think about how I am blessed to still be here, be healthy, have two strong legs to run on – I know she would still be running if she could. So here’s to you Momma for raising me, loving me and getting me into the sport that you loved.

Momma and Me

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What I’m Reading: Wednesday

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Dotty Runs

I’m happy today that there are blue skies outside. It was still 90 degrees on my way home from work, so I’m waiting just a bit before I head out for a run. I’m going to try a bit of a longerish run then do the Wednesday BBG workout. The boys are having boy night so that should give me plenty of time to get everything done!!

I’ve got a big stack of books I need to tackle soon. I have the bad habit of adding to the large amount of unread books I already own.

  • Someone at work introduced me to the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon. I’m currently on book 4. I love the concept of the books, but the plot is getting more and more drawn out the further into the series I get. Several of the girls at work are reading them though, so its fun to talk about what we think!
    • IMG_2418(fisher loves to help me read)
  • Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin – this book actually helped me change my attitude and step up my exercise routine. I’ve loved it so far and only have a few chapters left. I loved it so much that I also have her
    • IMG_2366IMG_2089
  • The Happiness Project sitting on my desk too. I’ve read a lot of great reviews about both of these and can’t wait to dive into this one too
  • Taken by Dee Henderson – I’m almost done with this one. I’ve read all of her other books and this is probably my least favorite out of all the books I’m reading right now
    • IMG_2217
  • Life is Short (No Pun Intended) by Jennifer Arnold – recommended by my aunt and cousin – looking forward to reading this as well. It looks to be a pretty quick but interesting read
  • I just got Dottie Frank’s newest book All the Single Ladies in the mail yesterday! These always make for great quick summer read
  • IMG_2184Piles of books everywhere!

This doesn’t include a couple of books I had started and put down, but I really need to make my way through these before I add anymore!!!

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Tuesday Thoughts

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Dotty Runs

Dark clouds followed me home from work today. Luckily I made it in the door before the rain and thunder started. I read a little bit then attempted a walk/jog during the thunder break. I wanted to get a bit of a longer run in today, but I’m not about to stay outside in a thunderstorm. I only made the half mile loop around the house before the thunder started to get loud again. I had a front row seat in my desk chair for the thunder/hail storm to follow. I changed my plans a bit and just finished up with some yoga. I still have 600 steps to fit in before I reach my step goal. Good thing we have 2 flights of stairs 🙂

IMG_2403Def not running with this falling from the sky!

On a fun note, I’ve been wanting a fun planner/calendar for a while. I’ve made Pinterest boards and checked out many an Instagram picture of different ones. I spent a good deal of my day off yesterday watching planner videos … yes I am a Nerd! I really wanted one that would go from now through the wedding as my current calendar is small and stops at this December. I finally decided on the Erin Condren life planner which lucky for me made its 2015-2016 launch today! The first thing I did when I got home was jump on the computer and order one! I’m super excited for it to come in the mail. I’m hoping I can use some of my left over Project Life embellishments with it.

Now its time to relax and work on some of the books I have piled up around the house 🙂

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Weekend Shenanigans

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Dotty Runs

Wow! What a fun weekend!! It was productive and relaxing all at the same time.

Saturday we all got up early to head to Sullivan’s for the Flopping Flounder 5k! Erin, Brian and I were all running. Craig, Evan and Tim came out to offer some support. The race started right at 8am. We didn’t realize how far down the island it started and parked too far away. Luckily we were plenty early and had time to walk to the starting area and find the porta potties. I’m glad they had some fast moving lines! We all just lined up in one group for the start. I started about mid pack in the middle but as soon as we crossed the start line I moved over to the side. I knew if I started off too fast I would get tired towards the end. The race was almost run in a figure 8 pattern. The first 1.5 miles were really pretty by Fort Moultrie and through some of the nicer residential areas. It was also fairly shaded. At the halfway point we ran back by the start. I saw all the guys and got a small sip of water from the one aid station at the same time. The second half of the race was in the full sun without as much interesting scenery and seemed to last a lot longer. Having just signed up for the race that week and not have trained for it – my goal was just to finish still running. My watch said I kept a 9’40” pace which I’m pleased with. My official time was a bit slower.

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I made it across the finish and every one else was already there. We stayed for the post race festivities. They had some great watermelon available and the boys got breakfast burritos. They had a raffle with a Ton of prizes. I won a gift card to a spa! After that they quickly went into the awards. Brian Finished 3rd in his age group! Yay Brian!

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After Brian’s age group awards were done we hit the road stopping first at Dunleavys for the after party. Everyone with a bib got a free glass of beer, so we enjoyed that with some pub burgers for “brunch”

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We headed home after eating for a quick change then were off to Erin and Craig’s for relaxation in the river 🙂

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Saturday was also Belmont Day and I’m super stoked that I finally got to watch a horse win the Triple Crown! Super exciting. Erin and I took the dogs for a long walk after dinner then I was too tired to stay up any longer.

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Sunday Evan and I got up for donuts then took a great rail buggy cruise out to Edisto. I spent the rest of the afternoon getting some chores done and just relaxing at home!

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Happy Weekend! 🙂

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