Today I am Thankful.

...and everyday I am thankful. I am extremely thankful for my husband. He works incredibly hard for our little family and though, I let him know how thankful I am that I have him I don't always show it.

These past couple of weeks have been rough. I've been working a lot and haven't really gotten many workouts in. That makes me extremely cranky. I'm exhausted and everyday I think of how much I want to buy a house or how I want a day off to do nothing or really, just how we haven't had a vacation for almost 8 years. 8 years! Our last vacation was right after we graduated high school, our families went together. Adam and I basically came home from vacation and went to college. From there we graduated, got jobs(I lost jobs), then I got more jobs and we moved in together, and got married. After that we got the dog and here we are. Life has really gotten in the way. I really just want to take a honeymoon. I don't think I care where. 

He works so hard for us and I had two meltdowns this weekend because I was tiered and didn't want to go to work. Two!! 

We invested in a nice camera this week and he kept saying how he couldn't wait to help take pictures for my blog and then I go bat-shit crazy on him because I'm sick of working 7days. Seriously? I'm probably one of the luckiest people I know when it came to love. I married my Jr. High School sweetheart that I completely yelled at this weekend. I'm sorry. 

I love you. I'm sorry. You always forgive me when I least deserve it. You keep your mouth shut when you want to fight back. You've stood endless hours to watch me cross finish lines of races that I was no where near winning. I promise, for your sake I'll make it to the gym this week or run a couple miles outside. I will try to control my temper and not blame you for me being the one having to work two jobs through the holidays on you. And lastly, I promise to spend your birthday with you since the past two years were you giving me love and support because Gramma died on your birthday. 

I promise to remember how thankful I am of you and of that day above. Not many people can say they are as lucky as I am. 

I love you. 

 

Life has Gotten Hectic.

Hi friends. How are you? I'm alive, I swear. I've been kind of quiet on the fitness aspect because I haven't had time to do anything. Back in April I lost my job and it took almost two months to find a new one. Once I found a new job, I took a second job to get caught back up. My first job is a sales/HR position at a local trailer manufacture and my second job is a sales associate at American Eagle at a local mall.

 I don't usually get to many hours at my second job but this week I work 6-10pm on Monday,  Tuesday, and Wednesday. That was all on top of working 8:30am-5:30pm. Needless to say, I was pretty cranky by Thursday. I'm incredibly thankful to be working extra hours but I'm just exhausted from it. 

So what else have I been up to? Well, last weekend I went to a class to get my certification in Spinning. Spinning is indoor cycling. I've always had a passion for teaching people so I wanted to try this out. I didn't get certified because you have to take a test and with this past week I wasn't able to study. The class was great! It went from 10am-7pm at a local gym. It was long with 2 hours of cycling so yes, my booty hurt the next day. 

While all this happened, my husband and dog went to Pittsburgh to hang out with a friend all weekend. This gave me a chance to clean because I wasn't sure what my schedule would be like for the holidays. They didn't arrive home until late Sunday night so that also gave me time to hang out with my sister and sister-in-law (little sister...I think the "in-law" stuff is stupid) 

Since my hours were crazy in the coming week from last weekend and I hadn't seen Hudson(the Goldendoodle) he was a little confused. I don't like leaving him but Adam was with him all week. He was the only one up when I got home every night. 

Follow me on Instagram for more way cool pictures of my dog! misslissa825 

Wednesday was my first night off and I finally made it to CrossFit. I was pretty thrilled with that. As much as I love this box, I've decided to take the next month off. It's just not worth it to pay when I can't make it to class. It will be hard but it will go by fast. 

Thursday I had the night off and my husband and I have been wanting a new camera. We agreed that this would be an investment and we wouldn't get each other anything else for Christmas. 

It's unfortunate that I don't have a computer that I can hook it up to so I can post pictures but that will come with time. 

And to finish off my week, Friday we just stayed home.  I didn't really want to go anywhere. This was a busy, hectic week and I hope I can relax a little bit more next week. 

So I am alive, I'm just busy. I'm hoping to be posting workouts again soon. 

Have a great weekend! 

 

Hemp Hearts...No Blender Needed

Sorry for the delay, friends! My Blogger hasn't been working properly. 

I've gotten a chance to try a new product that I want to share with you.  This little bag of goodness is called a Hemp Heart. What's  Hemp Heart? It's a shell hemp seed that is cold-processed straight from raw, live hemp seeds. They have a nutty flavor(I thought they tasted like sunflower seed) You can put it in just about anything you would like. This little packet is full of nutrients. You can learn more about Hemp Hearts Here.

So, What did I make with it?! A pumpkin smoothie. It's fall people, get with the pumpkin. 

My blender broke the other day so I had to use a whisk and it still came out great.  

I eyeballed everything but here's how I made it:

• Vanilla greek yogurt
• Pumpkin (About 1/4 of the can) 
• Milk
• Pumpkin spice
• Nutmeg
• Hemp Hearts

Whisk it away!

This was sooo good and I bet you're wondering how you can get your own, right? Well, Manitoba Harvest is offering a 5lb. bag to one lucky winner.

How to enter:

• Get creative in the kitchen, tag @manitobaharvest, #hemphearts, and  #sweatpink in your Instagram and/or Twitter post and you'll be automatically entered.
• Anyone is eligible for the contest
• Contest deadline: November 30, 2014

Get 20% your purchase using promo code: HHSweatPink14

LucyTown Half Marathon Recap

...So to finish after the 5k that Adam and Danielle finished. 

After the race we went to Tim Horton's for breakfast. I had never been there because in Pittsburgh we don't have them. It was one of the greatest coffee shops ever. I tried the dark roast coffee (which was wonderful) and some breakfast and drove around Jamestown, Chautauqua to see where Katrina's family worked and where she lived during college. Later, when we got back to Katrina's parents we laid down for a few minutes which turned into a 3 hour nap. (Whoops! I guess I was sleepy from watching them run?) I'm not going to lie... I missed my animals but it was nice laying down to nap without having to chase a dog around the house. 

My mom sent this because I missed my babies so much on Saturday night. Note: I will not be leaving them again. 

After waking up, Katrina and her mom took us to the Chautuaqua Insititution to see the lake and take pictures. The Chautauqua Institution is an adult education center and resort that is only open to the public after summer. 

It was so beautiful. 

We took down photos by the lake. 

Then we went to see the fountain where St.Elmo's Fire was filmed. 

We walked around and took more photos because it was so beautiful.

Then we went back to Katrina's parents where they made us dinner. 

Carbo loading for race day. It was delicious. I tried my best to calm Katrina's nerves since this was her first half marathon and she has been sick for the past two weeks. ((And by sick, I mean, sinus infection turning into bronchitis turning into bruised ribs from coughing.))

We ate, hung out with her family and friends, are some more and then got ready for bed for race day. 

Sunday is here! 

It's race day!!! 

I woke up at 6:50am and the first thing I did was a breathing treatment. Once that was done I got dressed and ate breakfast. By this time I could tell Katrina was really nervous so I tried to get everything ready the best I could and take lots of pictures to take her mind off of it. 

On our way! It was a cold 35 degrees and I was wishing I had brought pants. Katrina kept telling me that once we start running it will get warmer so I listened because I made her listen to me all training season. 

It was such a beautiful sunrise. I was feeling really good about this race. 

Then we hit fog and I was a little nervous about running in that. 

About 10 minutes later we arrived at the ice arena where everyone was preparing. 

I can honestly admit that at this time I was not nervous. This was the first time ever before a race that I felt confident in myself and my running partner. I think my nerves were okay because I knew that I had her with me. Someone with me the entire 13.1 miles to keep me from being alone and lost. ((Because, let's face it...I suck at direction and my biggest fear during a race is getting lost on the course)) We got a few pictures taken and headed outside for the national anthem. 

Then out of nowhere I heard Osielle runner, Natalie call my name. I was so happy to meet her! I was looking for her but I'm the worst at trying to find a runner that says wem meet up together. 

Then it all began...

They walk us to start line where "Lucy" blows the horn to start. ((My least favorite part of the race was that they rate you on gun time and not chip time. But I had my Garmin, so it's all good.)) We started. 

About .10 of a mile I looked at Katrina and said,"Welp, there's no turning back now. Next stop..finish line." And we ran. We ran the entire hill as I coached Katrina through it because I only made her run the hills through our town. We ran through parts of her area that she had never been to before. It started to warm up and we had a good pace going. We walked through the second water stop at about 3.50miles. And kept trucking.At about mile 4.50-5, we saw the winner coming back through and he was at about mile 10-11. We talked a little and made sure each other was feeling okay. I think adrenaline got her through the first 5 miles because she kept saying she felt good and I was just rolling with it. ((I had a lot of calf cramping but since she was doing okay I wasn't stopping.)) 

At about 6.5, our second water stop I had an asthma, panick, chocking attack for a second. I could hear myself wheezing and all of a sudden I couldn't stop coughing. (The great thing about running with someone that knows you is that they usually know when you're having an asthma attack and my not be able to help you but can tell you to take yor inhaler) so I listened and walked for a second. After I regained composure we started running again. A few minutes later we saw Katrina's parents and sister. (Our other photographers for the weekend) 

We look pretty good for what just happened. ((This is my favorite race picture of us.)) We kept going and saw them again when we looped around. 

We're doing okay. We made it to mile 10ish were Adam and Danielle were. Danielle was and is our photographer. She takes our action shots and posts them to Facebook so our families know we're alive on the course. 

At this time I thought we were going in for a PR and we were doing really well. They cheered us on and told us to keep going because we were so close. Just about 3 miles left then we could go back to Tim Horton's. At about mile 11 I was losing it. The bottoms of my feet were killing me because my shoes were too tight and I was ready to be done. I started to give up when I realized that I wasn't going to make it to my PR but Katrina kept me going. 

We rounded the last hill and saw the finish line. At exactly mile 13 we saw our family and friends waiting for us and we pushed. 

We kept getting a little closer to the finish line and then we crossed it!

Being that it was gun time and not chip time, our "official time" was just over 2 hours 31 minutes and a few seconds... But I stopped my watch at 13.1 miles and got 2 hours and 29 minutes so we're going to go with that. 

And then we took celebatory photos with "Lucy", our medals and each other. 

The course was beautiful and the race was pretty perfect. If you ever have the chance to visit and run this race..do it! 

I couldn't have had a better running partner. I am so proud of the work that Katrina has put to finish her first half marathon. I'll never forget when I first met her and she thought I was crazy because I love these races. This race wasn't about me. It was about her. I hope I was a good running partner for her (and not too bossy) and I hope she plans on running more in the future (hopefully with me) even though her and Danielle say they have retired. 

This weekend was so great because I got to meet so many new, wonderful people and watch my friends and husband cross the finish line. 

Thank you, LucyTown for having me. It was a great weekend and I hope to be back next year. 

And thank you to Katrina's wonderful parents and sister for putting up with us all weekend, cooking us dinner and welcoming us into their home for the weekend. It was a wonderful trip. 

My First trip to Chautauqua, NY

A few months ago when I was asked to do the LucyTown Half Marathon and 5k, I asked my bestfriend whom is from NY where Jamestown is. Luckily it was only 20 minutes from her hometown, Chautauqua. She agreed to run her first half marathon with me where we trained together. Somehow we talked our other friend into running the 5k and my husband into running the 5k. 

Let's go back to yesterday 

Well, for the past few weeks Katrina has been sick with bronchitis. She hasn't been running so I asked her to take one little run with me before we left. She agreed. 

I was a little happy at 7am. She not so much. 

This is a beautiful sunrise to start the day. 

So we ran and went back to our homes to get ready. At about 10:20am we were ready to go. 

We were safely on our way to Grove City Outlets.  After about an hour and half we got there and did some hard core shopping for a few hours. We got a lot of awesome deals! After we shopped and ate lunch we drove another hour and half to Katrina's parents' house. 

Once we got there, we unloaded everything and went to packet pick-up, and dinner. Packet pick-up is in one of the ice rinks. It was very well organized and we got right in and out. 

We have our bibs! Next we went to dinner at Wing City. 

It was so good! 

I got the Chicken Wing Soup

And Rattlesnake Pasta 

After dinner we headed to Southern Tier...

I had a PumKing and an Unearthy beer. They were delicious and it's such a nice place. 

Afterwards, we went home so Danielle and Adam could sleep for their 5k this morning. 

Today's race and festivities 

We woke up to me say that it's "Race Day!!!!" It was for Danielle and Adam. We got showers, got dressed and left. It was a beautiful chilly morning. Once we got there we got photos taken with them and got them ready to head to the start line. 

And we get them to the starting line... 

This is the official car of the LucyTown Halfmarathon and 5k. 

And they're off!!!

After about 30 minutes we spot Adam coming back in.

Headed to the finish line!!

And then a few minutes later we spot Danielle! 

And she finishes! 

And they both finish! I'm so proud of them even if they say they'll never do it again.

Now we get ready for the half tomorrow...