Music & Medication

I'm sorry that I haven't kept to my typical blog schedule this week.  Due to the head cold that refuses to quit, my work outs haven't been anything spectacular.  Monday and Tuesday I took off because I felt like I could barely stand straight (don't you just love a fuzzy head?).  Wednesday, I went back, but had to keep it pretty slow on the treadmill because I was still feeling a bit light headed.  Today, I did about 100 minutes on the elliptical.  Certainly easier than running if you're not your usual self.

I've been adding a ton of music to my running playlist.  Here are some of the new songs:

"Hey Mama" Mat Kearney - Just a fun song with a decent beat. 

"Titanium" David Guetta featuring Sia - Great beat and I love Sia. 

"Pumped Up Kicks" Foster the People - This is a good warm up song for me.  It's kind of chill, but for some reason it works.

"Dark Horses" Switchfoot - Off their new album and it's SO good for running.  This song definitely motivates me to keep running.

"Mercy" Duffy - Nothing new, but it's a fun song for me to run to.

"Howlin' for You" The Black Keys - Just a cool song :).

"Sweetness" Jimmy Eat World - I've liked this one since college. 

"Brighter Than the Sun" Colbie Caillat - Just a song that makes me smile.  I like to run to songs that put me in a good mood.

"Your Love is a Song" Switchfoot - This one isn't very upbeat, but I really enjoy the song, so I added it to the list anyway.

"Wake Up" Arcade Fire - I love to start off my running playlist with this.  It starts off kind of slow, but the beat ramps up at the end.  It's great for warming up or stretching before a run.  You've probably heard it before.  It was the song in the preview for "Where the Wild Things Are" that made your heart swell and gave you hope that it might just be the coolest movie you'd ever see.  Ok, maybe it didn't do that for you, but that's how I felt when that preview came on.  Music has that affect on me.  The music in a preview can make or break my opinion of a movie before I even see it.

On to other things that affect me/us...medications.  I have been an insomniac for years.  I have been taking sleeping meds on and off for a very long time.  My doctor recently put me on a medication that I'd never heard of.  I, being the excellent patient that I am, started taking it without really looking into the possible side effects.  Super smart, right?  No!  I've been on this med for a couple of months now.  After visiting a different doctor for serious muscle pain, I decided to go through and check the meds that I'd been taking to see if one of them might have been the cause.  My sleeping med just happened to be the culprit.  All that to say, make sure you're paying attention to the things you're taking and how they might adversely affect you ;) 

I'll leave you with this awesome work out towel found on Pinterest ;)  I'm pretty sure that it was made for me. 

8 Miles & -40 lbs

I'm a third of the way to my weight loss goal!  40 pounds down :)  I still have a long way to go, but I'm consistently losing, which is great!  Anna weighs about 35 or 38 lbs, so it's like I've lost a small kindergartner.  How's that for perspective?  Even better than the weight loss, I feel so much healthier (Ok, maybe not at the moment because of this head cold, but generally). 

Things I can do now that I couldn't before:

-Run for 90+ minutes without stopping to walk
-Keep my heart rate in the cardiovascular zone while running (it was off the charts before)
-Enjoy chasing after my kids at an amusement park all day
-Fit comfortably in pretty much any seat I chose to sit in
-Buy clothes in pretty much any store that I want to
-Look at a picture of myself without cringing

This is really just the tip of the iceberg.  I know there are a ton of other things, but I can't think of them right off the top of my head ;)

I ran 8 miles yesterday!  I had to do it by myself, on a treadmill, because T was going hiking.  I definitely missed her, and the great outdoors!  I have decided that running on a treadmill for longer than six miles or so is just the pits.  It's a bit too repetitive and boring for my taste, but I didn't stop to walk at all.  I had to re-start the treadmill about 4.5 miles in, but I kept my feet going so I didn't lose momentum.  The problem with trail running without someone else is that I am still new to running and running 8 miles by myself outside doesn't seem like a super safe idea.  Also, T is really great at keeping us on course out on the trails.  I would probably get hopelessly lost ;)

8 Mile Run

Stretch
0.25 miles @4.5mph
1.75 miles @5.5mph (BIIIIIIG mistake.  Due to the congestion in my chest and overall gross head cold, I ended up with major cramps in my rib cage/chest.  If you're sick, try to take it easy.  Don't follow my example)
6 miles @4.5mph (I hated going back down, but it was the only way I was going to survive this one)
Cool down = 0.25 miles
Stretch

Total Miles = 8.25 miles
Total Calories Burned = 1,503

Confession- I may have led you astray when it comes to the salad dressing for a breakfast salad.  The blush wine vin is really great, but when you eat it for breakfast repeatedly, you might end up with heartburn....ouch.  I discovered the err of my ways and switched to...

It's made by the same brand as the blush wine.  It's a poppy seed dressing, and it is SOOOO good!  It's excellent with the berries/spinach/nuts.  I don't know if you're like me, but every time I eat anything with poppy seeds I think about "The Shower Head" episode of Seinfeld.  Elaine takes a drug test and pops up positive for opiates because of the poppy seed muffins she loves ;).  It always makes me chuckle.  I figured it was just something silly from a t.v. show, but according to Snopes, it's true!  If you work at a place that makes you take random drug tests, you might want to skip this dressing.  Stay-at-home moms, feel free to indulge (within your caloric budget of course ;)).

New Hair, Cute Kids and a Good Run.

This isn't the best picture in the world, but I decided to change my hair.  I went to the salon yesterday and had two different colors of highlights put in.  This morning, I woke up and felt like it wasn't quite enough, so after my run at the gym, I went and bought a home highlight kit and added some lighter caramel highlights to it.  I really wanted a change and I'm liking the way it's turned out. 

These are my sweet babies.  The children who drove me to the brink of insanity today.  The pictures are from our day at Legoland.  I posted a bunch of pictures from that trip on Facebook a little bit ago.  If you're even slightly impressed by Star Wars, you ought to head over there and check out the insane recreations of scenes from the movies.  It's very impressive.  There are also more cute pictures of my kids.  It's hard not to love them ;)

I'm dealing with a super lame head cold at the moment, but I had an awesome run today.  Terilyn is a life saver on days when I am feeling crappy.  I was motivated to run, but I just wanted to spend the morning in bed today.  I can't sing the praises of my running buddy enough.  She's also the reason I was able to go to the salon yesterday.  She took care of my munchkins. 

Today's Run

Stretch
0.5 miles @4.5mph (Warm up)
4 miles @6mph
0.9 miles @4mph
0.25 (Cool down)

Total miles = 5.65
Total calories burned = 941