Running Power Hour

Guess what today is?

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Well, sort of.  It's the first day of pre-planning for teachers, which means that I get to sit in faculty and department meetings all day.  I'm actually pretty ready to get back to school and excited for the new things I'm doing this year!

This weekend, my friend Krista shared a running strategy with me that she and her husband use to get out and moving a couple times a week.

Neither of them are really "runners," but they want to run for exercise.  One of them will bring their phone with them and play a "power hour" mix on YouTube for them to listen to.  No, they're not taking shots.  They use it as a walk/run interval timer!

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They start out walking for the first minute, run for the next minute, then alternate until they've gone the distance or length of time they've wanted.  When she told me about this, I thought it was the perfect idea for anyone interested in starting to run.

We tried this method out both Friday and Saturday morning this weekend to get in some exercise before our full days of wedding events!  We were all able to keep up with each other, and we had a great time jamming out to the different songs that would come on during the power hour we found.

I highly recommend this method to anyone trying to develop a running routine.  It'd also be great for doing speedwork intervals on a training run.  After a YouTube search of "power hour", here are some ones I found that sound fun to me:

• Power Hour Zone has a bunch of power hours featuring different genres/time periods available in 4 parts.  Perfect for getting in workouts of different lengths!
• Disney/Pixar Power Hour-who doesn't want to run to a few Disney songs in their lives sometimes?
• 2000s Decade Hip Hop Music Video Power Hour-sadly, this series of videos is not available on mobile devices, but I really enjoy this mix and thought I'd include it!
• Links to a few different power hour playlists
• And just for kicks, here's a Virginia Tech Football Power Hour!  Not so good for running, but I get goosebumps watching it!  Let's Go Hokies!

Question for you: What unique strategies do you use to motivate yourself to exercise?

BBB6 Week 8 Recap

Happy Monday, everyone!  I'm back from DC after a great weekend celebrating Valerie and Nick!

They had a beautiful wedding, and I had a blast celebrating with me.  I'm also honored to have been a bridesmaid!  I'm going to talk more about the wedding weekend on Wednesday, but here are a few pictures until then:

Well, Best Body Bootcamp's summer round is now over :(  It's been a great 8 weeks of workouts and focusing on developing and maintaining healthy habits!  I am sad that it's over, but I have one more recap for you.  Also, there will be a fall round of BBB, so I'll let you know when the sign-ups for that are open!

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Activity
Monday-rest day
Tuesday-3.5 mile run + core workout
Wednesday-completed Workout A at my neighbor's house
Thursday-travel/rest day
Friday-15-minute walk/run with some of the other bridesmaids to start the morning
Saturday-another 15-minute walk/run with some of the other bridesmaids
Sunday-Spent my wait time in the airport walking around for some exercise.  Not necessarily your traditional workout, but pulling a suitcase and laptop case while walking for 30+ minutes is certainly a workout!

Goals
I kept the same goals this week despite the lack of excitement over these goals.  I flossed my teeth 5/7 nights this week, and I also ate 2 servings of fruit 5/7 days.  I'm happy that I'm improving my habits in these two areas, so hopefully those trends will continue after Best Body Bootcamp.

Highlight of the Week
I'm really proud of myself for actually getting up early Friday and Saturday to get some exercise before our busy days.  It helped that I had two others going with me, which really goes to show that I need to find a regular workout/running buddy to help keep me motivated!

Goals until Next BBB
The biggest goal is to finish the Rock 'n Roll Half in Virginia Beach in under 2:30!  Until then, I also want to actually do the long runs on the weekends before the half marathon.  A non-running goal is to continue a strength training routine so that my muscles won't go away!

Question for you: What workout program/schedule are you doing right now?

Book Review: Gone Girl

What's up, y'all?  I'm busy getting ready for Valerie and Nick's wedding, so I decided to schedule this book review post for you!  It seems that Saturdays are when I like to post book review, so why not continue the trend!

Today, I want to review Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

The book begins on Nick and Amy Dunn's 5th wedding anniversary.  Amy usually sets up a scavenger hunt for Nick, highlighting romantic moments from the year and leading him to his gift.  Nick receives a phone call from a neighbor that the door their house is open and the cat is outside.  He hurries home to find that his wife is missing.  The crime scene leads police to believe that Nick had something to do with it.

The first part of the book alternates between Nick's perspective of dealing with his wife's disappearance and Amy's diary, detailing their marriage and her perspective of moving from New York City to Nick's rural hometown.

I kind of had a hard time getting through the first part of the book.  Nick's character frustrated me, since he wasn't behaving the way I expected a man searching for his missing wife should be.  I was intrigued by Amy's diary entries, hoping that I would better understand why Nick was acting so aloof.

***This part of the review DOES contain spoilers (just because of the nature of the book), so please skip down to the bottom if you just want to read my opinion.***

Then came the HUGE TWIST at the beginning of part two. 

I just couldn't believe how Amy faked her own disappearance.  The way she planned everything down to the last minute detail was just insane to me.  I wanted to like her (considering we share a name, and I felt like I could relate to her in her diary entries), but I just couldn't.

The story did keep me engaged until the end.  There were so many twists and turns throughout the story that I just couldn't stop reading the book.  I must admit: I was pretty disturbed by the ending.  It was believeable due to the fact that both Nick and Amy seemed a little mentally unstable, but it left me a little unnerved and concerned for their future (I don't want to give everything away...). 

My overall opinion of the book (no spoilers here):
Gillian Flynn is a talented writer.  Her story kept me engaged and it was well-written.  I think my biggest problem with this book was that I didn't really connect with any of the characters (like Julie and Katie).  I love a story where I can put myself in a character's shoes and suck myself into the story that way.  Since I didn't connect with these characters, I didn't get wrapped up in the book as I expected I would.

I am happy that I read it, though.  It's definitely a psychological thriller, and I enjoy stories like that.  I've been reading a lot of chick-lit lately, so this one was good to throw in for something different!

I recommend that you read this book, but it's not an automatic favorite of mine.

Question for you: Have you read Gone Girl?  What'd you think?  If not, do you have any psychological thriller books that I should read?

I'll be back tomorrow evening to talk to y'all about the end of Summer Best Body Bootcamp!

Anti-Laziness Project (Part 2) Update

Greetings from the Charlotte airport!  I'm on my way up to DC for Valerie's wedding and have a three-hour layover here.  I flew US Airways this time, so no stopping at my beloved ATL airport :(  One thing the Charlotte airport has on the Atlanta airport?

Moving sidewalks.  I love those things! 

I'm taking a break from working on some school stuff (specifically, a presentation for a workshop I'm presenting next week) to update y'all on how my Anit-Laziness Project is going.  I set a bunch of goals, so let's see how I did this second half of summer.

Food Goals

1. Continue creating a weekly meal plan and shopping according to what we need for those meals.  I'd give myself a 50% on this.  I did this some, but not every week.  I have created a meal plan for next week, though, and am hoping to get more regular about this now that I'll be back in a regular schedule.
2. Keep junk food out of the house to prevent "bored eating."  I've actually done rather well with this.  While I have been doing some baking, I've been passing off the goodies to others while enjoying a normal amount of the treats myself.  I've also been very intential about eating when I'm hungry and stopping when I'm satisfied.

   

   Watermelon and Veggie Straws--two tasty and healthy snacks!

Fitness Goals

1. Work out as early in the day as possible (so that the workout actually happens!) Workouts have been happening to my liking.  Sometimes it's early, sometimes it's later in the evening.  But, I've been getting them in, so I'm happy!
2. Stick to my half marathon training plan!  Not happening so much.  I am getting in three weekday training runs, but I just haven't been doing the long runs.  As long as I do 9 miles Sunday/Monday, 11 miles on the 18th, and about 10 miles on the 25th, I think I'll be ok for the half marathon on September 1st.
3. Stop being lazy and STRETCH/foam roll to reduce/prevent injuries.  I am improving on this!  Stretching has been a regular thing for me before/after runs, I've started going to yoga as a mid-week recovery/stretch day, and I've been foam rolling this week to relieve my tightened muscles.

Faith Goals

1. Complete Bible Study homework and/or read my devotional for the day while eating breakfast.  Again, I'm about 50% on this.  I'm not completing the Bible study homework in the schedule that I'd usually follow, but I am getting it done.
2. Increase confession and thanksgiving in my prayers.  Thanksgiving, yes.  Confession, kind of.  I'm praying more immediate prayers of confession, so I guess that is an increase, right?
3. Go to church each Sunday. Yes, my laziness has even kept me from getting out of bed on Sunday mornings!  Ehh, again not so much.  Unfortunately!  I was doing well with this until I went to NYC.  I have no excuses for not going, so I'm a little disappointed in myself.
4. Try out the Young Adult small group at church with Joe.  Again, haven't gone.  I'm going to plan for it this week, so we'll see what happens!

   

   Video sessions totally enhance the Gideon Bible study experience!

Other Goals

1. Reduce daily clutter throughout the house.  Before this week, I was doing really well with this!
2. Make a chore-a-day chart and stick to it.  I have a mental chart, and I've been working on those chores pretty regularly.  Joe and I also made a plan for when we start carpooling again to come right in and pick up any clutter we see before doing anything else.
3. Make sure everything is clean and put away (namely, dishes) before going to bed.  I've improved on this!
4. Floss teeth every night.  I'm getting this done about 5/7 nights.  Much better than before!
5. Complete one project each day, whether it's a special chore, a craft, reading something for school, or an errand to take care of.  I've done ok with this.  I kind of started piling a lot of projects in to one day, but at least they are getting done!
6. Do some work on the blog :) I have some big ideas for some big changes! Stay tuned!  I've been working on this, but I thought I'd be further along by now.  I'm hoping that the changes will occur by the end of August!

Well, there you have it!  Overall, I really do think I've reduced the laziness in my summer, which was the point of setting these goals.  I also think that this is a very reasonable list to keep up during the school year.  I'll need to modify the fitness goal of "work out as early as possible" to "work out right after school" and the "special project every day" to "special project once a week," but I think all of these are doable!

Question for you: What time of year to do you feel your laziest?  What do you do to reduce this feeling?

I'll have a book review for you on Saturday (scheduled post), and I may be able to pop by tomorrow afternoon to fill you in on the first day of my trip.  No promises, though, because we have a full day of preparing for the rehearsal and the wedding!  Have a great weekend :)