Oh Mr. Sun, Sun! Mr. Golden Sun...

Where the heck are ya?  I seriously need some good vitamin D inspiration to get my butt outside.  I still haven't broken in my new lulu's and we're almost at 3 weeks post Christmas now.  What the haaaaaaay?

These are the ones Santa brought me.  I should REALLY get my ass outside and run in them before they don't fit this ass anymore!

Honestly, it's been about 4 weeks since my last run and can I EVER see a difference in my butt and thighs.  I was actually pretty happy with the reflection I was seeing in the mirror before Christmas happened.  I KNOW RIGHT!!  What?  What was that?  Did she really just say she was HAPPY with what she saw?  Yup, she sure did (ok, I should probably stop the 3rd person thing now, right?)

So, what happened since then?  The cold and snow and lack of a treadmill.  That's what happened.  I've been sitting on my lazy butt, ignoring my squatting and planking rules (every time I pee, I squat and plank - also part of the reason why I liked what I saw!)

We've been in our Christmas break mode for the last 2 weeks.  Allass, that comes to an end on Monday morning at 9:00 am!  The boys are back in school, so that means I'm back in my routine!  I can run whenever I want and not worry about whose making sure the kids aren't lighting the house on fire!  I can go to hot yoga - which I'm hoping to do at least once if not twice a week with my regular yoga date, EP.

Today, after I get my butt outside and finally get that run done (the garmin is charging on my lap - well, it's sitting on my lap under my computer, not actually charging from my lap.  Although that would be crazy impressive, wouldn't it?  I wonder how I'd track those calories burned in MFP?) I am going to plan out my meal plan and grocery list for the next week.  I'm done with flying by the seats of our pants!  We need order and routine around here and it's starting today!

I found this today on pinterest.  It spoke to me.  Like really did.  I think I'm gonna make some decisions over the next couple of months and then a plan to work towards something just for me.  2013 really is going to be a phenomenal year!

I want to do something scary this year.  Who wants to join??

Freak out Friday!

Oh shiiiiiiizzzzzzza!  Tomorrow is 15 k day and I'm feeling a whole hell of a lot tiny bit nervous about the whole thing.  I did however, tag along on a quick mall trip this morning with Charlie so that I could get my well deserved and earned Run Swiftly shirt!  I got the hot pink one, so there will be no mistaking me for anyone else there (well, except for the other 50 mamas who went out and bought the same one and will be wearing it tomorrow!)

Game plan is this, take it easy tomorrow, drink as much water as I can between now and 3:00 tomorrow afternoon.  I'm hoping to get lots of protein rich snacks in as well like my delicious, honey, greek yogurt and perhaps some egg whites.  I haven't run since Wednesday, so my legs should be well rested since I'm definitely not walking tonight.

The hope (note, fingers are crossed and I'm squeezing my eyes shut really tight while typing *hope* - talented, I know!) is to finish in under 2 hours.  It's 9 miles - well, a tiny bit over if you want to get really technical. Like 9.32 miles to be precise.  If we average 11 minutes/ mile, that should bring us in at the hour and a quarter mark-ish!  If we can be done in under 2 hrs, I'll be super happy!

So, cross your toes, your fingers, your eyes - whatever you've got for me and I'll post results on Monday.  Maybe, just maybe there will be photos to go along with!

FREAK OUT!

Make that $56!

Whaaaaaaaat?  How did I go from $4 to $56?  Woooooot!
I know it's not a lot of money and in reality it will probably only buy me a shirt from LuluLemon, BUT I earned every single one of those sweaty little dollars and I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment!  I have one more little run before the big 15k which will bring my Lulu jar total to $58.  Which means, I'm getting this!

I've also decided that to reward myself for not missing A SINGLE run over the last 5 weeks that I'm going to gift myself with another $58 because, well, I'm pretty sure that I deserve it!  Now I just have to decide what I'm going to get with the extra money!

Today was a fairly easy 2 miles outside.  The first run I've done outside at home in a really long time and not my worst time ever so I'll take it.  Hopefully doing these little runs outside this week will help me not want to die on the side of the trail on Saturday.  Hopefully...!

So, what should my next workout incentive be?  A spa day?  New shoes?  New non-workout clothes?  What to do, what to do???

Number one thing NOT to do is...

watch the food network!  It's like dangling a cupcake carrot in front of me a horse but never actually letting me the horse get it!  And why, might you ask, don't I just change the channel so I'm not watching delicious food dance across the screen in front of me?  Because clearly, I'm a masochist of sorts who likes to spend my free time torturing myself!
Ok, so time to distract myself from the food orgy that is currently happening on my tv right now.  I did NOT get on my treadmill last night - family on the phone kept me from getting my run in.  However, I did get down to my fitness dungeon today and did do my 3.5 miles as per the schedule.  Tomorrow I have to get in 3 miles and then 5.5 on Sunday.  Hopefully my legs don't give me the middle toe and tell me where to shove it!
I've been toying with a few incentive plans for my runs.  I'm a person who likes pretty things.  I like new things and since I don't feel comfortable buying new clothes when I'd have to buy them in a size that I'd never like to see ever again hanging in my closet, I've had to come up with a new plan of attack.  In the past I've rewarded myself with lots of different things.  I tried bribing myself with the lure of new shoes.  That failed.  I tried food rewards (I know SO counterproductive!) Obviously none of these plans worked so, of course I started creeping Pinterest to see what I could find there!
Some people were paying themselves money, some people were using complicated colour coded charts and some people were just talking about what everybody else was doing!  Sooooo, the question is, which incentive route do I pick?  I'm leaning towards the financial incentive plan where I pay myself a toonie every time I run and watch the jar fills up.  The ultimate goal is to go into LuluLemon and buy this:

And this:

And finally, this:

That's almost $300 worth of Lulu, so I'd better get my ass moving since I've only earned $6.00 so far!  Hopefully by the time I hit the $300 mark, said ass will look as amazing in those pants as the size -4 model up there!  

Sunday is meal planning day.  I foresee a lot of salad in our future for the upcoming week.  It's too hot to cook a whole lot so if it can't go on the bbq, it's probably not going to get cooked in my house right now!  Let's see what kind of excitement I can come up with for my picky eaters next week.  I'll keep you posted!  AND I'll leave you with this (and by you, I mean me!)...