Missouri Race Series 5k

Today was a very humid, Missouri Series 5k run.  Although humid, it was still a fun one!  

The course was pretty and mostly flat on the trail.  However, there were many times I thought "how long does this trail last?!"

While running by the lake was pretty, there wasn't as much shade in this part as there was on the trail so the blazing sun made it uncomfortable for this stretch.

But we all survived!

Standing on an incline really emphasized who is tallest and who is shortest in our group.  :)

We've all stepped up our running for October training so we went in ready.

But...you really just can't prepare for the humidity.

Not my best time but I managed to bring home third place in my age group.  We all received finishers medals and they are awesome.  I love that they are in the shape of the state of Missouri!  It was a very well organized run, a small group of runners, and they had pizza afterwards.  I mean, how can that be bad?  Of course any run with good friends is always a good time!

May Faves-Food edition

How is it possibly this hot already?  I went to spin class today and the gym didn't seem to have any air circulating.  So humid INSIDE the gym.  Not my favorite class ever today.  Which leads me to my first favorite....water.  I can't get enough water.  

I've been digging the Crystal Light with caffeine.  The Wild Strawberry and Grape flavors are bomb.  I usually have one a day while working to help get more water down.  Other than that water is flowing easily all day thanks to the heat.

The Laughing Cow cheese is the best.  One wedge is only 35 calories and the Pepper Jack flavor is awesome!

I've been combining the Laughing Cow with some Turkey Sausage and it is a great combo!

These cookies.  Ugh.  They are definitely a fave, however, I don't think I will ever buy them again.  They are too good.  It is really difficult to eat the serving size of 2 cookies.  They are gluten free and taste just like a normal cookie.  Great guilt free treat until you eat too many of them.

My last favorite is the Gerbes Friday Freebies.  These are the last two week's worth.  You really just can't beat free stuff.  Especially when it is stuff you actually think is good.

I'm currently watching Vacation and I have to say...it's surprisingly making me laugh more than I expected.  I love Ed Helms.  

So I guess all my faves this month are food related...so we're calling this one the food edition.

The road to a(nother) half marathon

Half marathon training officially began this week.  Along with it I've already seen a sneak peek of the  fun things that come along with the process.  Starting with a blood blister on my big toe...ouch.  

The reality of doing a race in October is training takes place over the summer.  This means I'm either running early in the morning, which is an option on weekends for sure but tougher during the week, running on the treadmill indoors, or just running in the heat.  I may be experimenting with doing a little bit of each!  

I'm working on eating gluten free again.  I feel better and have more energy when I do.  I know I'm late on posting May favorites but this snack is one of the faves...and it is gluten free.  C2O Coconut Chips.  It's like eating an Almond Joy without eating a candy bar.  These things are SO good.  I got this sample in the mail but will be keeping my eye out for them.  I know I can order them online if nothing else.

Project "the kid" is almost coming to completion.  She graduated, she is driving, she has a car, and is officially in college and already started her first class.  We've been working on her project for the past year.  Now I'm focusing on "Project Me."  Completing this half marathon is one of the goals under Project Me.  Maybe more on other Project Me goals later.  :)

Frugal Tip:  If you are Amazon Prime member...keep an eye out for offers of credits when you check out in exchange for no rush shipping.  Lately I have received a Prime Pantry credit and a digital book credit for choosing no rush shipping instead of 2 day shipping.  The best part...I STILL got my 2 day shipping!  So still got my items in my normal time plus I got a free digital book and free shipping to try Prime Pantry.  My Prime Pantry order arrives tomorrow.  Kind of excited to see how I like it!

Back to the half...this one will be my third half.  I always said I wouldn't do one here because of how hilly it is but someone twisted my arm.  So this week I started with a 3 mile run on Monday, spinning on Tuesday, and 3.4 miles on Wednesday  Today was going to be more spinning to replace a 3 mile run due to my blister but I didn't feel too great all day and between that and my blister I decided to listen to my body and take a rest day.  I still walked the dog 2 miles but my body was demanding some rest.  Tomorrow I'm going to get in some sprints on the treadmill before I allow my binge watching of OITNB to commence.

Speaking of binge watching shows...if you have Hulu...check out Line of Duty.  It's awesome and addicting and makes you want to repeat the words after them to practice their accent.  Cheers.

Go Girl 5k

This weekend was the Go Girl 5k Run.  I always enjoy this race but enjoyed it even more this year because I finally reached my goal of setting a new PR!

They changed the course from the normal route starting at Reactor Field to start downtown. However, that change didn't stop them from making the start of the course one beast of an uphill.  I am glad my strategy on hills is to look down and not up to see how much further I have uphill to run.  I was downtown later that day and walked to a restaurant up that same hill and looked up and thought "oh hell no how did I run up that earlier?"

The morning weather was perfect. It was sunny but cool.  Perfect for a nice run.  I decided to go minimal and not wear my watch or sunglasses.  I had told myself all day Friday I was going to feel great and have a fantastic run.  And I did.  I felt awesome the whole time and could tell I was running strong.  I am always focused and can't tell you much about the people running around me but I could see a woman running just ahead of me who kept glancing back at me.  I started to pick up on the fact she didn't want me passing her.  I'm normally only competing with myself but that gave me a little boost to pass her.  That led to passing the next person...and the next.  The finish of the race was a sweet downhill that allowed me to pick up speed and sprint around the corner to the finish.  I had no clue my finish time at that point and I grabbed a water and waited for Glenda.  Once she came along we walked to the results tent for our official time.

The lady at the results tent handed me my certificate and I said "You've got to be kidding me."  I must've sounded pretty serious because she asked me what was wrong. I think I told her that her computer was wrong because that time couldn't be right. She laughed and said that was my time. I finished at 27:23...a minute and 24 seconds better than my prior PR.  I even later mapped the course to make sure it was a full 5k.  I was 4th place in my division which turns out gets a medal...and I love my bling.  I had written down my goal to PR in May at either Jay Dix or Go Girl then believed I could and worked towards it. It is amazing what you can achieve when the positive thoughts push out the negative ones!

Not sure how the June 5k will go because the heat zaps me but I hope to keep up a good streak!  The race schedule for the rest of the year so far is:
June 18 Mo Series 5k (because bling and pizza)
August 14 Diva Dash (because it's flat, a fun run and there's bling)
August 20 Hotter n Hell 5k (because I love this one although it truly is hell. But...firefighters...so...)
August 27 Color Run (because bling and you get covered in nasty chalk you can't get rid of for weeks)
September 17 Tunnel to Tower 5k Jeff City (because I love hills?)
October 1 Roots n Blues half marathon (because Glenda is a bad influence)
November 24 Turkey Trax (Because pie)
December something Jingle Bell Run (because it's cold, or should be)

This will make my goal of 12 5ks and throw in a half! The year is going well!

Trash Talk

What a weekend.  Had a great run at the Go Girl 5k and the kid finally graduated!  More on that later.  

One of the Cardinals that likes to visit the patio now that the birds have discovered a food supply in my backyard.

I have collected a lot of trash since the last trash post.  As usual, my favorite Mango lotion.  Five of them.  $25 worth of lotion.  I had found a stash of the old packaging online one day and the old packaging is just so much better!
Total:  $25

Supplements-2 bottles of the O2 Gold ($31.16 x2) , my favorite Fruit Punch Spark ($38.97) and a bottle of the B12 chewable from Wal-Mart ($3.50).
Total:  $104.79

Random household items-Vanilla Snowflake soap from Bath and Body Works.  ($3)  I'm still working on using up so many Christmas scents!  Another Vanilla Snowflake candle.  ($10)  (with another in the process of being used in the background) The awesome Purex Crystals in Lavender. ($4)  I found a new scent last time I was at Wal-Mart called Tahitian Breeze.  I really like it so far!
Total:  $17

I finally used up the horrible Nexus shampoo I had bought at Wal-Mart for $12.99 I think?  Hated it.  I finally resorted to using it to shave my legs.  I typically like the Old Spice deodorant, however, for some reason, I hated this one.  I had found it on clearance for $1.99 and maybe it was expired or something but it sucked.  I finished up some Arbonne body cream that I had bought over 2 years ago for $80.  Yeah I know...not sure what I was thinking when I bought that.  It's like a cellulite, wrinkle reducing cream or something.  I didn't notice any $80 miracles coming out of that jar.
Total:  $94.98

Used up the Bobbi Brown eye cream that I love ($50 but bought it 20% off so only paid $40)...it didn't last quite as long as I remembered it lasting the previous time I had it.  Finished the Garnier gel cream that I like...already have another one to replace it.  ($7)  Used up an Almay eye make-up remover.  I like this one because it's not oily.  It's $5 at Wal-Mart or Target.  And I used up a sample of Clinique Laser Focus Serum ($25...it was half the size of the full size according to the label).  I LOVE this stuff and it's been out of stock online.  I swear I noticed a big difference in fine lines with this stuff.  I will totally spend $50 on a full size if it comes back in stock.
Total:  $77

I used up a Smashbox concealer ($23) that took forever to get through.  This used to be my must have concealer but I have since found cheaper versions.  I got through the Sephora Beauty Blender Cleanser that goes for $12.  It was ok but I'd rather pay for the actual Beauty Blender Cleanser.  It does a much better job and isn't too much more money.  The mascara is a Guerlain mascara sample ($5) and I ended up really liking this one when paired with another mascara as a top layer.  Then I used that creepy looking hand mask that I had posted about in a prior post that was $6 from Sephora.
Total:  $48

Trash total 5/22/16 $366.77
Trash total 4/10/16 $169.93
Trash total 3/14/16 $180.62
Trash total 2/7/16  $311.07
Trash total 2/17/16 $251.02
Grand total YTD:  $1,279.41

Really making some progress on decluttering and using up some of my stash!  Some of the items I have to repurchase as I go but a lot of it I don't so I'm seeing some space clear up!

Busy busy bee

I have been a productive, busy bee lately!  A lot of yardwork and errands.  I have a trashy talk post coming along with some frugal living tips so stay tuned for updates in the next few days. Seems all my activities have changed my bedtime to much earlier!  I'm exhausted but in a good way.  I've enjoyed my yardwork and feeding the birds and hummingbirds. #lifessimplepleasures

April favorites

So first a favorite this month has been saving money.  Which leads me to my next two favorites.  I may never go to Starbucks again...

 I found this Vanilla Starbucks syrup at Target around Christmas.  The chai is available at Target and Wal-Mart and has made a great, cheaper alternative than one chai from Starbucks.  The chai is exactly what Starbucks uses to make their drinks and a whole carton is half the cost of one drink at Starbucks.  I mix it with milk and good to go.

 Then I discovered this.  Stop the music.  This stuff is amazeballs. I don't even like coffee but this stuff...yes.  A new staple item.

 Peppercorn Ranch dressing.  I have the kid hooked on this now too.  I mostly use it on baked potatoes.  It's so good!

And finally my Garmin watch.  I looooove it.  You can change out the watch face so I chose runners to motivate me.  It keeps track of all kinds of stuff like steps, workouts, sleep, calories burned all day, heart rate when I wear the monitor, and more. I'm obsessed.  So glad I bought it.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there whether you mother the cute, 4 legged furry babies or the cute, 2 legged, bound to drive you to the edge but you still love em babies...or both.