Sorry Guys...

This is what I've been doing today:

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I'll have more later... 

p.s. I only have to run 5 miles tomorrow... so... no long runs to discuss

Lazy Post

So, I have lots of topics I could post about today but I'm being lazy and don't feel like adding lots of pics. So... first....


I am super excited about my post about football made it to the FRONT PAGE of Blogher. I couldn't believe it!!! Maybe that's my niche, lol!!!



second: this is what I did today...

We had an office lake day to reward our performance for the first half of the year. It was so awesome!! I love the lake. This was Lake Keowee.

third... 

Tomorrow, I officially start my yoga teacher training. I am super excited about this as well. Yoga has been so awesome for me in so many ways. 

1. It has helped me reduce injuries during training because it gets much deeper than just rubbing my leg with a stick

2. It has helped me signicantly reduce my anxiety/stress. I work in a high stress job and I got so caught in worrying about the future, regretting the past, etc. Yoga has really helped me learn how to focus in the present moment and be available for something greater. I'll probably talk about this in more depth later but I have become a much more mature, calm person that is more confident than I've ever been. 

3. I think it's going to be a tool for me to help others. I am not sure how yet, but I feel like that's what's going to come of this. 

SO... I can't wait to start tomorrow. We're  using these two books first:

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I'll obviously be writing on how it goes!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I haven't done one of these in a long time!! Thanks Jamie for the post idea!!!

1. I am loving West Side Story!!! Last night, my friend Amy, her daughter and I went to see West Side Story at the Peace Center. It was so fun!!! Olivia (Amy's daughter) is so cute and the show was amazing. I love musicals and this is a great one. 

Olivia & I

Olivia & Amy

the stage!!! 

my attempt at artistic photography

2. Casual workplace attire. I am a recruiter and everything we do is over the phone. That means, we don't have a strict dress code. I like to look cute, but be comfy doing it. And after getting home at 10:30, today was  a shorts/t-shirt day. 

I think I'm also going to start putting more fashion stuff on here, and my daily outfits, kind of like Peanut Butter Fingers and Ali on the Run - i'm not promising I'll be as cute, but I'll try

3. I recently found this on Stumble Upon and was super excited. As I've mentioned before, my colleague and I do abs throughout the day so this will be nice to help us find new exercises. 

Today's Routine:

25 Butterfly + 15 Side Lift. X5.

4. Yoga!!! If you've been reading my blog, you are probably wondering why the name of it is A Southern Yogi when I don't seem to mention yoga. Ever. Well, I am super excited because starting Friday, I begin Yoga Teacher Training with Yoganize. Karen Noonan is so amazing and she is so intuitive so I was excited when she accepted my application!!! I will have so much more to talk about once it starts!!!

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Observations of a Spin Class...

So I woke up at 5:15 to go to spin class and wasn't sure if I was going to go. Somehow, I managed to get it together and get to class. Here is what I took away from spin class:

*there is a guy in class who sits in the front and talks to the teacher the ENTIRE time. It is annoying. This same guy will dance and sing in class and clap along with the music. That is also annoying. There are 3 rows of bikes and the last row was the only one filled. (it's cycling season so no one comes to spin because they usually ride outside) and he sat in the front row. He was the only one. in. the. front. row.

*There are a lot of old people in my spin class. I think that spin class is really hard. I have almost puked several times in that spin class. How do the old people keep up? Are they in amazing shape? Am I in poor shape? But I mean, I do love chatting with the old people. I found out a lady's mother in law is in the hospital from a stroke and she is 96. Also, one old man walked around and talked to everyone and Leora had to tell him three times to get on his bike. I felt like I was in kindergarten.

*I thought I was going to die at the end of class. Like, I thought I was going to die. It was hard but good.

Week 11 training and weekend recap

So in case you missed it, this weekend, I got super excited about football and I did that long run I've been dreading. I'm really encouraged by how it went yesterday and I'm ready to get back into training!!!


So this week is my 11th week - which means I have 11 weeks left. I'm counting down... 


Monday: Rest day since I ran 2 hours yesterday

Tuesday: Spin class - I keep oversleeping but since I can't ride tomorrow night, I want to get to that class

Wednesday: Tempo intervals - 4-6 sets of 5 minute intervals with a 3-4 minute recovery

Thursday: Swim + strength

Friday: Speed work; 5x60 second strides with 2 minute recovery, 5x30 second stride with 1 minute recovery, 4x1/4 at 10k pace

Saturday: I have yoga teacher training all weekend long so it's going to be hard for me to do a ride or anything

Sunday: 5 miles non stop - I'll have to get up at 7 and do this so I can be at yoga training by 9 am.


One BIG thing I've noticed is that since I've been doing abs - fitabs challenge plus just me trying to continue to do them - my back hasn't bothered my as much while running. Coincidence...I think not... So i gotta try to keep doing those!!! My colleague, Meredith and I (also my running buddy), do abs every hour, or we try to. That's been helping tremendously.


so.... that's my week...
What does your training look like this week? 

Finally did that long run...

I think I've found my marathon outfit... I finally ran without getting a rash in any weird spots - and I look retarded in this pic... 

So, I finally got to that long run I've been putting off. I had no choice, it's the end of week 12 and week 12 means run 120 minutes. I don't know why I have been so scared, but I have been procrastinating doing it. 

Let me start out by saying that I have not really done a lot to prepare this week. I have been eating healthy, but that's pretty much how I've been eating lately anyways. I haven't gone above and beyond to drink lots of water other than what I usually do, and I have not done yoga or stretched or even rolled my legs with the stick. All of that made me nervous and I was thinking that the run today would not go well. But I just couldn't get motivated enough to do any of that other stuff. 

I also absolutely refuse to get up at 5 am on the weekend. I am just not going to do it. So... I decided to get up at 6:30 which is still not ideal, but doable. Oh oh and I tried a new pre run drink which I am VERY excited about. Remember when I talked about Orgain protein drinks?? Well, I poured my drink into the blender and added one frozen banana. It was delish and it worked out very well. 

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this is the type of blender I have and it's awesome - source

I wasn't even hungry when it was time to take a Gu although I did anyway. But anywhos, I left my house with a camelback full of water, 2 gu's and my cell phone. Can I say that I absolutely HATE carrying a bottle, so long runs, I use my husband's camelback and it actually works very well. It's weird at first but you get used to the sloshing and it keeps your back cool also. I decided to run 3 minutes, walk 1 minute because that would be slower than my half marathon pace. My house is close to the swamp rabbit trail, so I ran in that direction. The nice thing about running there from my house is that it's fairly hilly the first couple of miles but flat the whole trail. I figured that would give me enough hill variety for Savannah which is not super hilly anyway. I took a Gu at 45 minutes and at 1:30. I also drank a sip of water every 15 minutes the first hour and every 10 the second hour. 

here was my view. It was pretty and quiet (no music). It was also nice and cool from the shade. and by cool, I mean not 90. 

Results: I actually left my Garmin at work so I have no idea my distance, but i think it was about 12 miles in 2:07. I walked the first 5 minutes to warm up and the last 5 minutes to cool down. 

Things I took away from this run:

1. I do some pretty good things during the week to take care of myself without trying that hard
2. I found a great running outfit that keeps my under arms and thighs safe from chafing and isn't too hot
3. I found my pre run drink. I do not have to get up hours before a run because I can make my simple shake and it won't upset my stomach
4. I have no issues running without music. I didn't even miss it. It was nice to be aware of my surroundings and enjoy nature and the people around me. I met two runners that are also doing savannah


This is the biggest one:

I could've kept going. Don't get me wrong, I was tired. BUT I could've kept going. And I think I had a while to go. So that makes me feel better. The other thing is that it shows me that, as I have always believed, Holly's plan is the bomb because I only run 3 days a week, I usually don't run more than 4-5 miles each time during the week, and I ran 12 miles without much issue. I am not sore anywhere. I was able to continue my day as planned. My legs weren't even really that sore while running.


So I take away this: 1) I for sure think I can run a marathon. It may take me a while, but I don't care. My first marathon isn't my time to try to improve significant running time, it's time for my body to get used to running 3+ hours. (let's be real... 5+) and 2) you do not have to run 4-5 days a week to prepare for a marathon and you're runs don't necessarily have to be long. It's the quality of what you're doing versus quantity. And I also think cross training is working.


When I was done, I got to see this: