Yoga or Pilates?

I decided on Friday to try out some yoga. At my other gym I had taken a couple a Pilates classes. I enjoyed the classes but felt a little out of place since I had never done that before. Fridays yoga class was just as strange. The movements were hard for me to do, and I felt awkward. I think going to the classes will help me with flexibility! Just wondering what others prefer?

Also on Friday I took a muscle class which felt great! I hadn't really done a whole lot of lifting and figured I should work that in. I cannot even tell you how sore I was on Saturday! This was not good as it was a run day! Bahhhh. I woke up around 10 and was starving! After a quick google search about what I should eat before I went downstairs and had some toast with peanut butter. I waited about an hour half before I went out on my run.

The weather was overcast when I started. I set up my run app, got the music going, and was off! The first part of my run was downhill. I felt good as I made it a mile again! I didn't stop exactly at one mile! My app on the phone is hard to operate so I wasn't sure how long my first run was. I'm afraid to get a watch because I know I will keep looking at it. Since I was so sore I decided to take a different route but still do 3 miles. This run was not as hilly. I ran 3.22 miles in 48:58 with a pace of 15:11. Consistent with what I ran with Cori on Thursday! I was so sore after this run,but I think it had to do with the fact that I had taken the muscle class the day before.

A few questions I have after...
-what are good things to eat before a run and after? Any set time I should wait after eating? If I know I have a run to do is it wise to take a muscle class before the run?

So far I have kept to my workout schedule for the week! I didn't make it to my class today because tennis didn't get done it time and I played for 2+ hours and was exhausted! Tomorrow I am going to take a kickboxing class with a run scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

BREAKING NEWS! First goal accomplished!

Yesterday I embarked on my second run with Cori! I was excited to run with her today. I know I know, I can't believe I thought that either. After feeling confident about my first solo run, I was excited to see how I would fair today! Before we started I asked if we could run the opposite way just because I didn't want to run by the spots I made it to last time.

We started running and it felt great! My pace was good! So good in fact that I ran for 1 mile (13 minutes) without stopping!!!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I was so excited. Never before in my life had I ever run a mile without stopping. This accomplishment feels amazing! I am so proud of myself. Knowing that I can do one mile only means that two, three, and four are not far behind!

Throughout the rest of the run Cori continued to push me. She would let me rest for one minute (maybe two depending on how I did before). I would run and then when I needed a break I would tell Cori pick a spot to stop. That way she knew I was going to need a little break and I had a stopping point in mind!

As We were nearing the end of the run she informed me we were almost done, and all I had to do was make it up the hill. Ummmm did you just say hill? She did! Little did I know by running the opposite way as last time there was a hill at the end of the run! No wonder she didn't put up a fight when I asked to go the opposite way! She knows those route like the back of her hand! I should have known that! Anyway I went into the hill ready to conquer it. I had just run a full mile so there was no way that a "little" hill was going to stop me. In the end I had conquered the hill and my run.

Yesterday we ran 3.14 miles for 48 minutes with a pace of 15:25. I almost knocked a whole minute off my run!

I had another strange feeling after my run. I felt excited to run again on Saturday! Crazy right? I never would have thought that I could get excited about running! Tomorrows run is going to be good because I know I will be able to make it to the one mile mark on that run!

I am so thankful that Cori came to BCES! I know it has only been two sessions, but she has already inspired me so much. During the runs she makes me not want to give up and keep going. Cori helps me not think about the fact that I am running which helps get me through! She is inspiring me to work hard everyday, and not just the days I am with her!

I feel excited to run and I have really been watching what I eat. I am not drinking alcohol, soda, and coffee (minus my Friday stops). Tonight I am going to do a muscle class and beginners yoga class at the Y!

Everyday I get up I feel stronger! A big thanks to my sister who loves to listen to me and is so encouraging! I wish we lived closer because this would be a fun thing to do together! I am sure when I am out there in July we will be doing lots of fun things together!

I also want to thank all my family and friends for the constant flow of encouraging words and support. Near and far, it means a lot and keeps me going!

Have a great weekend!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My First Solo Run/Walk

Well folks, I completed my first solo run/walk!! Wahoooooooooo! This run took place on Monday! After getting home from work and relaxing (my eyelids were so heavy!) I mustered up the energy, got dressed, and set out! Before my workout even started I saw a co-worker of mine finishing her run and chatted with her for about 10 mins. She gave me advice on a good 3 mile route to go on. I was off!

The first part of my run was down a hill. It felt amazing! I was going at a good speed. I am not sure how long I ran for but I feel like I made it a good distance. After walking for a few minutes I started to run again and got to a big hill! It was my intention to make it up the hill! This was a big hill and I made it a 1/3 of the way. At least I attempted it!!

Most of my run was uphill then down then uphill then down. During my first run with Cori it was flat! This was definitely a change!

I used the app Map My Run so I could track where I went and how far! Every mile the nice lady would updated me about how far I had gone and my pace. After the first mile I had a 20 min pace! Don't worry, I didn't run that slow! As I stated before I was talking to a friend while the app was running. After each mile I noticed that my pace was going down! This felt good to know that I was still working even toward the end!

Overall I ended up doing 4.16 miles! HOLY MOLY! My thoughts exactly! I honestly had not planned to go that far! I was amazed! After the run I felt tired but also good! I was so happy and impressed! Here is a picture of the run I took!


(I will insert picture later...couldn't figure out how to work it :( )



Compared to my first run I felt better! With my first run I felt like I ran shorter amounts, walked shorter, then ran again. I was super tired after that one. I am not sure if it was because I was walking less in between or the heat. With this run I recovered more in between the runs, but felt after more recovery I was able to run more and with more pace. For you runners out there, is there a better way? Run shorter, walk shorter so you get more "runs". Or is it better to run longer, walk longer so you have less actually run times but run longer and a bit faster. Thoughts?


Yesterday I continued my exercise! I went to a cardio muscle class at the Y which was a combination of muscle work and cardio. We listened to 80's music the whole time! This was my first class and I really enjoyed it! After the Y I went straight to playing tennis! Another great workout!

Today is going to be a rest day. I am so exhausted from work and being super busy! Here is my plan for the rest of the week!
Thursday-run with Cori
Friday-Class at the Y
Saturday-run
Sunday-Class at the Y/tennis
Monday-run
Tuesday-Class at the Y or run

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Where is the time?

For all you runners/super active people out there, I have a question for you. With having a job, and life events how do you find time to get in a workout? I feel like I need a personal running assistant to look at my schedule with all my events and tell me to run here or that I have time there for a run! Life is crazy!

After my awesome run with C on Tuesday, I am ashamed to say that I haven't run run since then! On Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday I had almost 2 hour tennis matches! Great! Right? My mind is thinking many things! Thumbs up to me or getting some exercise! But is playing tennis really going to help me prepare for my 5k?

The race is 26 days away! Ahhhhh! I am worried I am not doing enough! How do I find time when I feel like my calendar is booked with so many other events. This weekend my best friend got married and I was booked to the max. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were booked to the max. No run then :( As someone who is not accustomed to making running a priority, how do I start?

I have tried the get up before work thing, I hit snooze a lot! My break at work is so early in the morning and there would be nowhere to shower. Do I really want to be sweaty and smelly? (even though some students are). After work is the best time (here comes the excuses) but I tutor and have tennis and get tired! I need to find another way to motivate!

This is going to be a weird comment but I wish I had a friend that was in the exact spot I am in so I could have someone to join me at all times! I need to clone myself! Don't get me wrong, I have a million and one friends that are offering to run with me but I feel like I do them a disservice by dragging them along my slow path.

No one told me about the mental games I would be playing with myself! It's time to get even more serious!

At the wedding this weekend I felt so pretty in my dress and was all dolled up! However I looked at some of the pictures and I was ashamed! I thought I looked horrible!!! (I'm typing on my phone so I will post a picture later). People say to use a bad picture as motivation! Well I think I just found 50 of them!

After school I am going on a run! I am going to do the 3.1 miles and use the new map my run app that my sister an AA informed me of! I hope to post after the run to let you know how it went! Till then send me your positive thoughts :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I look like a strawberry and feel like and elephant!

*Author's note....I know it has been light years since I have posted, but I am choosing to address  that and say that a monkey came and blog napped it! The monkey has since returned my blog!

In 33 days I will accomplish something that has never been done by me before! I will officially run in my first 5k!! Don't hit the refresh button you read it correctly.... I, Molly Elizabeth, have signed up for my first 5k on June 3rd! I think while the monkey was blog napping my blog, he also messed with my brain! This whole idea to run a 5K started when I was in FL visiting my parents a month ago. I downloaded an app on my phone called couch to 5K and decided to see what it was like. After completing the first day I thought, "not too bad." Then came day two, and three! After the first week I was thinking hmmmmm maybe I should see this thing out!

A few days after returning from FL I was meeting with the nutritionist. We were talking about how my workouts were going and I told her about the app and how I completed week 1 and thought about signing up for a 5k. She thought it was a great idea! My nutritionist could tell that I am a competitive person and thought that this would be a great mini goal for me! After asking putting some feelers out there and asking some friends about doing a possible one in DC, my co-worker Cori told me that there was one June 3rd in Raleigh.

My first thought was that June 3rd was too close! Then I realized that if I didn't pick one that I would have the excuse that any of them were too close and at that point I would never sign up! June 3rd is a perfect date because it was 7 weeks away and would allow me to complete the full 8 week app training program. I got the info, signed up, and knew there was no turning back!!!

Starting the app is not the sole reason I decided to embark on this journey. I have some friends and family around me that were trying new things and I thought if they can do something why can't I! My sister signed up to run her first sprint triathlon in July in CO! (You can follow her blog). I have been so proud and amazed with how active she has become!! My good friend Ginnie decided that for her 10 year anniversary that she and her husband were going to run a half marathon to celebrate!! Ginnie has run before but never this far!! I am proud to say she reached her goal this past weekend! Ginnie has a hilarious blog that you can follow as well! My dear college friend Chris has been a runner her whole life! She was my inspiration for starting a blog about my new healthy lifestyle that I thought it would be fun to run one with her! Chris has a great running blog about her runs. (I follow both Chris and Ginnie)

As you can tell I have a lot of inspiration around me! Enough about the back story, now onto the title of this post! Ginnie asked Cork,  a co-worker , to help her train for her half-marathon. After months of seeing the progress that Ginnie was making and hearing her talk about how inspiring and helpful Cori was, I decided to ask Cori to help me as well. I have to admit that I was afraid to!  Cori is an amazing runner who has completed a marathon and numerous halfs. My fear was that I would be too slow or boring for her! (I was wrong) Cori accepted and after a scheduling conflict last week we had our first run today.

I somewhat knew what I was getting myself into! I wanted someone who was going to push me and not let me make excuses about anything. Cori is not going to let myself or any excuse stop me from reaching this goal!! Cori and I went on our first run/walk today!! As most of you know I am not a runner at all! The program I started has me alternating running and walking. Each week I run a little more. While we could have followed my next day, Cori that it was best that we worked on the 5k distance! Before we starting I told her I didn't want to know how long I had to run or anytime info. I felt like if I knew I would just keep dwelling on it!

We started the run and I was feeling good! My first "leg" of the run I ran for 7 minutes. Again, don't hit refresh! I have never run this long in my life!!!!! Up to this point my running app only had me run 2 min! Go me go!! At the beginning I ran until I needed to walk. Cori was good about just letting me stop! After the first mile I started to slow down tremendously. At this point Cori talked about picking a point, running to it, walking, and then starting over. This is what we did for the remainder of the time. After the first running distance I gave the street sign a high five because I was so excited I made it! We continued this trend of picking a point to run to, walking, and then starting over all the way back to the car!

As you can guess, the later runs were slower and harder but I kept going! Cori gave me a lot of advice while running! A few things I remember was to not think about me while I ran. Meaning think about everything around me, the smells, sights, and sounds. I am gonna need to practice this one! Cori also mentioned to not look down while I was running as it might make it seem like the time was going slower! These were the big ones I remember and are good ones to work on even if Cori is not with me!

In the end I ended up running/walking 3.11 miles with an average pace of 16.22! Not bad if you ask me! Even Cori was proud. I have a LONG way to go!! However I can't use the excuse of "I can't!" Running with Cori was proof that I can!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I got into my car I started to cry! Good tears :) I could not believe that I just went 3.11 miles and ran some of it! This is a huge accomplishment!! I was so overcome with emotions that I just cried. Honestly it felt good to cry!!

One day down many more to go!!

As for the title....I look like a strawberry because my face is so pink!!!!!!! I feel like and elephant because my legs are so tired and heavy!!

From here on out I am going to post updates on the runs and food part! I was so good about tracking my food for awhile. However I moved onto the exercise part and let the food part go. Cori told me today that being healthy is 30% exercise and 70% nutrition! I am thinking about trying nutrasystem to see if I can jump start a balanced meal. Anyone have any thoughts?


Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the long overdue post!!!

It's time to "Take out the trash"

Ash Wednesday is upon us and it is time to reveal what I have decided to give up for Lent.

First off, I looked up the time of mass at school and thought it was for 6:30. Little did I know that this was the mass time for a church in CA. After arriving at the church and realizing I had the wrong time I sat in the parking lot for a bit. I decided that if I went home then there was a good chance that I wouldn't make it back!

The priest tonight talked about Lent being a time to "take out the trash" or get rid of all the sinning we have done over the past year. I could really relate to this. He also talked about what we would be giving up. The priest asked us to think about this, is the thing we are going to give up going to make us a better person after or the same. He talked about someone giving up alcohol. If that person stops drinking for 40 days are they going to be a different person after or the same grumpy one. What's the point of giving something up if we are just going to be the same after? Lent ti s a time to learn and grow into someone we want to be!!! I really enjoyed listening to the priest tonight. I thought he had a great message and I was able to relate to it!

With that being said I have decided to do two things during lent. First, I am going to give up drinking! I figured this was a great way to not have unwanted calories on my plan. Second, I am going to volunteer during this time. When I was on a wine tour (ha ha) a few weeks ago, I met a a guy who works for a nonprofit organization called "Playworks." This local organization works with local schools to provide recess games and after school programs. I found it very interesting!!!! I love PE and kids so I think this will be a great chance to give back to others. A few weeks ago I emailed the organization. I recently received an email asking to set up a meeting for find some opportunities to volunteer.

All in all it was a great day!! I am excited about the next few weeks and to keep up with my Lent promises!!

The plan has been good this week!! Feeling back on track :) Went to bosu ball class last night and am going to attempt a 5:45 am class!!!! Hopefully I can make it!!!!

Southwestern Chicken

My house smells so good right now!!!! I wish I could attach something that demonstrates how good it smells.

This was one of the easiest receipes to make!!!!! All you need is two cans of corn, one can black beans, jar of salsa, chicken, and cheese.

Drain the corn and beans and place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup salsa. Add chicken halves in and cover with remaining salsa.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Add cheese for the last 5 min and presto....Southwest Chicken!!! Each serving is 300 calories. I added some brown rice and I thought some mexican rice would also taste yummy!!!

Such and easy receipe and yummy!! While corn is probably not the best option it tastes yummy. Usually I am not a fan of black beans but they sure did taste good in this dish. Enjoy :)