Running Update

Warning: this post contains much bragging and attention-whoring!

This year, I have gone on 20 runs (my stats say 21 but one was a nike+ glitch where I recorded me walking to the car lol), for a total of 16 hours and 129.19 Kilometers which is over 80 miles! I've run 80 miles in two months! I know that's not a lot for most runners but it's great for me!! Not too shabby for someone who literally couldn't run for 30 seconds this time last year and couldn't run a minute until last August.

I started focusing on my speed toward the end of December. I was "running" at 4.0mph (groan) in December and today I ran for 10 minutes at 4.8 then 30 minutes at 5.0. Still slow but getting better all the time. I'm still relying on 2 minute walk breaks and need to break that habit one of these days.

I was scared to death to join the Nestie Nike+ challenge because I hate getting last place and was sure I would. But I'm not, I'm currently in 9th place and am fighting for 8th. I'm thrilled to be in the top 10!!

I'm just going to keep going, try to keep improving at a steady pace, and work to get rid of those walk breaks. I'd love to be running 10k by June, and hopefully under 10 minutes a mile.

Here's the bar graph of my runs from Nike+:

Touhey's Tabata

In honor of Jenna's birthday, Brenna came up with this torturous routine. It doesn't sound so awful but it was, and I can already tell that I will not be able to walk tomorrow.

Tabata, 38 seconds working, 22 seconds rest:
3 minutes of step-ups
8 minutes of lunges (ugggghhh)
3 minutes of push ups
8 minutes of full sit ups
38 burpies

It wasn't too horrible until we got to the burpies, but the lunges are what make me so sore the next day. My arms aren't feeling so fantastic either.

What is it about burpies?? They NEVER get easier, ever. I can do more of them now but they are always horrible.

The Best Running Pants EVER.

I guess I shouldn't really call them the best pants ever since I certainly haven't tried every pair of running pants that one could buy. In fact, I've never tried any compression tights ever, even though Erin told me to get them like 7 months ago (note to self: Listen to Erin!), so maybe they're all this wonderful. Anyway, I am in LOOOOOOOVE with Lululemon's Run Team Spirit Crop.

Yes, I am a chubby girl wearing, basically, tights, to the gym. In public. I don't care, they are divine! Fortunately, they're as flattering as a cropped tight could possibly be on a chubby girl. The compression is fantastic and keeps everything in place and the pants also stay perfectly in place. The luxtreme fabric is the best invention ever and wicks moisture beautifully, the pocket isn't huge but will hold your gym ID and car key, and the fit couldn't be better. The sales associate suggested I size down in these, which turned out to be perfect. They feel like a second skin, but a skin that holds your chub in place so you can run in complete comfort. I was hesitant about the ruching (ruching on a running pant??) but it's awesome and very figure flattering.

You can't really see much detail in this pic, unfortunately. You really need to try them on. Mine are black with a pink waistband, but I couldn't find a picture of them.

Here they are:
I felt so comfortable that I did 5 miles even though I hadn't run since Monday, and usually a Saturday run when I haven't run all week would suck big time. I possibly could have gone another mile, but my ankle was hurting (not sure what's up with that.... I'm icing it now).

They aren't cheap but I had a mall gift card. I will soon be using the rest of my mall gift card to buy a second pair.

Kirsten's (well, Brenna's) Workout of the Day

Thanks Brenna for a great workout! I was dripping sweat during this one. A good thing about it is that the only equipment it requires is a jump rope!

You do 100 jump ropes, then 20 lunges, 20 sit ups, and 20 push ups. Then you do 90 jump ropes, 18 lunges, 18 sit ups, 18 push ups. Continue with 80 and 16, 70 and 14, 60 and 12 etc until you get to 10 and 2. If it feels easy, then you are insane and should go faster. :)

I had a super crappy run yesterday and wasn't feeling well, but today I felt better so I was glad to get a good workout in. If I can move tomorrow after all those lunges, I'll try to get in a good run. I'm looking forward to breaking in my new running cropped pants/tights tomorrow and will review them after I see how they work out.

By the way, I had to ditch the Brooks. I just couldn't deal with the blisters and numb toes! I'm back in Saucony's Omni 8, which I love even if I may have to replace them more often because the support breaks down. Props to the Boulder Running Company though... I appreciate how easy they are to work with. They let me exchange the Brooks with no problem even though I had worn them several times. They said they donate returned used shoes and are currently sending them to Haiti. Here are the oh so comfortable Sauconys:

Reading Update

This year I'm really hoping I can meet my goal of 50 books! I've read 6 so far and should finish #7 today. Here are some quick reviews of the books I've read so far, in no particular order:



The Handmaid's Tale was written by Margaret Atwood in the 80s, but somehow I had never read it until we read it for book club in January. It's a great book. It's one of those books that you think about when you aren't reading it and you worry about the characters. It's one of those 1984-type books that makes you wonder if this kind of world is possible... and then you realize not only is it possible, but it is happening right now. There are parts of the world where women have few freedoms, have to cover their bodies the way Offred does, and live lives of indignity and mistreatment. I highly recommend this book.



I really enjoyed Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. It's a pretty typical highschool relationship story with a supernatural element. Patch is a dark mysterious hot guy. Nora is a regular girl. They're paired up in biology one day and Nora starts learning more about Patch and his mysterious past (sound familiar, Twilight fans??). I'm not sure if it lives up to the hype of being "The Next Twilight" but it was a fast read and I liked it. I'm looking forward to the sequel, Crescendo, which will be released in September.




Shadow Kiss and Blood Promise and the 3rd and 4th books in the Vampire Academy series. I love this series! Rose and Lissa are students at the Vampire Academy. Lissa is a vampire, and Rose is a Dhampir, which is half-vampire, half-human. Dhampirs typically work as protectors for vampires, and because of the connection between Rose and Lissa, Rose already acts as Lissa's protector even though they are still in school. Dmitri is Rose's instructor/crush (not to mention my book crush!). There are other minor characters who I like a lot because they all feel very real. Since these are the third and fourth books in the series, I don't want to give too much away in case anyone reading this wants to read the series. I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes teenage vampire books and I'm so looking forward to the release of the 5th book!

The Luxe and Rumors (Luxe #2): Basically, The Luxe felt like Gossip Girl set in 1899. While I have nothing against Gossip Girl, I was happy to find that in Rumors, the second book of the series, I became much more connected with the characters. There are a few different plot lines going on in these books. There are the Holland sisters, Elizabeth and Diana, who are from a prominent and well-known family in New York. Elizabeth is known as an elegant young woman and her family expects her to marry into another well-known prominent family, but her feelings lie elsewhere. Diana is much more quirky and irreverent than the always-proper Elizabeth. Then there's Penelope, Elizabeth's frienemy who is in love with the dashing playboy Henry, and Lina, the Hollands maid with big ambitions. The first book was just ok, but in the second one I really became attached to the characters and I even cried at the end. I checked out the next two books in the series from the library and I'm looking forward to reading them soon.

This Week's Workouts

I had a good workout week! Good crossfit workouts T and Th, a good run Sunday, a great, long (still slow) 8.somethingK run Wednesday, and 6k Saturday. I got all 5 workouts in WOOHOO! Now it's Sunday and I suppose I need to make myself go to the rec center soon. Next weekend we have Friday and Monday off work so I'm looking forward to 4 good runs.

Here's Thursday's workout. It was properly butt kicking:
Basically you do 10 burpees, 1 situp, 10 jump squats, run 1 lap, then 9 burpees, 2 situps, 9 jump squats, 2 laps etc until you finish. It took us 35 minutes.

I'm still struggling with shoes though. My Saucony Omni 8s were completely worn out and had no Support, so I took a trip to the Boulder Running Company and they hooked me up with these Brooks:

They're more supportive than the Sauconys, less comfortable, and have given me one heck of a blister on the inside/bottom of my left foot. I'm thinking of going back to the Sauconys and just replacing them every 3 months when they start breaking down. However, that's $34 a month every month for shoes soooo I dunno. Maybe there's another pair of shoes for me out there. I think I'll take another visit to Boulder Running Co.

Annnnd semi-related to workouts, now that more clothes are fitting me, I got a great pair of Joe's Jeans for my birthday. They're being shortened now and I can't wait to wear them. They're this style (Honey fit) but mine might be a slightly darker color: