Be Happy

7 Ways to Make this week Happy

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If you are thinking how do these apply to your week:

Think Less... Feel More
Eat when you feel hungry not when you think you are.
Don't think about working out... do it.

Frown Less... Smile More
Find things to be happy about. Don't beat yourself up.

Talk Less... Listen More
We're all in this together. Listen to others they might be more helpful if you ask.

Judge Less... Accept More
We might not all have the same struggles but we all struggle. It doesn't matter what your goal is we all struggle and have difficult times. (even those like me who are trying to maintain)

Watch Less... Do More
Get Moving. It doesn't matter how much just go. I always say about my running that it doesn't matter if you are first or last just that you got off your couch.

Complain Less... Appreciate More
There are so many things beyond our control. Make the best with whatever you are given. Bad day change it. Bad run... the next one will be better. Just never let anything hold you back.

Fear Less... Love More
Seriously fear will only hold you back. Don't fear anything from food, workout, life... nothing. Just embrace it all.

Live Happy and Healthy. Final Marathon training run tomorrow... to say the least I am excited, nervous, and relieved all at the same time. Updated tomorrow.

Friday Favorites

Welcome to my Friday Favorites... Here are a few things I love this week.

Apple Season
I can't wait to get some fresh apples. I love the taste of a fall crisp apples.

Shirt Deli
They are located in Hobart. They were able to put my name on my OE shirt in a matter of minutes. They will make a shirt of any reason, any design or any quantity.

No Meat Athlete... I know many of you are not Vegetarians. I am not a total vegetarian myself but I do have at least one or two days per week with no meat. I believe in eating real food as much as possible.

Here is an excellent article all about this that he posted today. I really love everything he had to say. He has a wealth of knowledge and I love sharing a little blog love. He has some good smoothie ideas and ways to cool more with real food. If you are looking for some new ideas please check out his site.

Self Respect

Here are a few things to think about today...

Set Goals.... Make sure they are attainable. Set them, achieve them and then set new ones. You can have a final goal but focus on smaller goals to get you to the big one.

Exercise... Do something you actually enjoy.

Love yourself.... I think most of us are pretty amazing in our own way.

Focus on Fitness... Make it a priority... even if you have to do it in your basement.

Rest and Relax... Enjoy some of the smaller things in life...

Eat Right... Stock up on all of the good stuff.

 Smile, Portray Positive and Enjoy Life... Really once a day in the mirror at yourself... or at least be willing to laugh at yourself. Focus on the things going right not the ones going wrong.We only get one chance so just enjoy it as much as you can.












Care for others... and also yourself.
















Tell yourself you can do it....BECAUSE YOU CAN!

Big Days Coming

This weekend was so amazing! We survived and had a fabulous time. Now is the final countdown until my sisters big day! I am so very excited for her. Plus wedding are so much fun.

Mom, Me, Bride/Sister Jenna, Sister Kristen

I'm really glad I followed a few of my cardinal rules for crazy parties...
1. Ran a long run beforehand so I knew I had at least earned the extra "points"
2. I shared an appetizer with someone instead of splurging on both food and alcohol.
3. I tried to pay some attention to how much I was drinking although this failed to some extent.
4. We did lots of fun dancing to work off some of the damage!
5. I got right back on track Sunday.




It is also the final countdown for my big day.
I only have a few runs remaining. I have my shoes bought and ready to go. I also I have one more run to go and I am planning to make sure I really like the flavor of gel that I am going to use. I have my outfit almost all set and ready to go also. I am really getting very excited!

I cannot believe it is almost to single digits!

Do not fear... Weight Watchers is here to help

This week at weight watchers we are beginning the 8 week countdown for Thanksgiving. The one thing that I am challenging myself with and that I am challenging the members in my meeting is to just be a little more active. It can make a big difference. This is going to be a little more difficult for me post marathon. Often times runners are ready for a break post marathon. I think that is better that we start now!





Imagine how good you feel if you take the next 8 weeks to focus. Start planning now and not at the last minute. Do not fear the turkey... Start your plans now. Here is a link to an article I found on the weight watchers website about Thanksgiving 101 and another about having a Guilt Free Thanksgiving to help you get started.



What days are you most excited for coming up?

Last Night Out

My little sister is growing up. I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday we were little girls playing barbies, school and riding bikes. Sometimes I forget that we are so grown up.












We have been through a lot together and as her maid of honor I am so excited for...

Tomorrow we celebrate her wedding that will occur in a couple weeks. I started thinking about how life changes so quickly. One thing I know is that if you want it go get it. I have never seen my sister as happy as she is now. I can't wait to see the look on my soon to be brother in laws face when she walks down the aisle. Although somewhere in the back of his mind I wonder if he is thinking I am going from only child to a family of 3 crazy sisters. I find this hilarious to some extent and I totally feel bad for him. We are crazy, silly and most of all girls. I'm pretty sure he is really glad he will not be in Indianapolis tomorrow for all the shenanigans. So here is my thought for this Friday...

If you had one last chance to do something what would you do?

Some Cool Stuff

I feel like I don't have much to say... So here are a few things you may enjoy

I saw this on Skinny Runner today and it really made me laugh... Also this blog is really funny. I really like reading it and getting good advice from her. I actually think this is somewhat true of myself though.

If you love following my marathon training then yes it is still happening.
Ran 5 miles on nice cool morning Tuesday. I have never been a morning run but with my recent new schedule this was awesome.

Ran 6 miles today... I love this taper thing. Can't believe the marathon is only 17 days away. I also got my official Opportunity Enterprises shirt today. If you still want to donate to my fundraising then go here...
http://www.active.com/donate/oerunners2012/DGrimes7




Do you ever wonder about oil? Hungry Girl dived into it today. She also discussed some really good tips for eating out. Check it out.

Do you love Fall and all things pumpkin flavored like I do? Do you also love Oatmeal? Check out this recipe that made my mouth water reading about it from Skinny Taste. I can't wait to get the stuff to make it ASAP.

Those are my fun finds for today. I am going to try to post more yummy stuff I find. You make it and tell me how awesome it is. Or you can also send me some links and I will post them for others.

Happy Fall! I love the cool weather, sweatshirt and jeans, football and all things pumpkin flavored.

 Do you love this time of year like I do?

Lets Play Catch Up

This week has been exhausting and draining for me personally. Its not so exciting so I will just share some highs instead of the lows.

Spaghetti Squash is really cheap right now. In fact I got this one for $.49 at Meijer last week. I cooked it in my microwave added some Morningstar Crumbles, LaRosas's Pizza Sauce and some Parmesan cheese. One of my favorite fall meals.

Of course the week was filled with lots of running.
5 Miles Tuesday
8 Miles Wednesday
5 Miles Thursday

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I also completed my final long run before the Chicago Marathon in less than 3 weeks. I was perfect running weather and I actually felt much better on this 20 miler than the first one.

Football is back and my teams all won! Great weekend!

I also got to have some fun. We went to the House of Blues in Chicago to see on of our favorite bands perform. 

Now its time to get some rest. Tapper my running. Prepare for changes and hope for the best. Sometimes we get forced into making decisions that we are fully unprepared for. I'm not sure how it will all turn out I just know this...

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Final Countdown

Did you totally start singing the song by Europe when you read the title of my blog today?

The home stretch begins this week for my marathon training. I took today totally off to rest my very tired legs. Tomorrow I run again and the final 20 mile training run is this weekend. I am nervous and excited all at the same time. 

There are several things that I am happy about I 

have a running buddy for the race.

finally feel like I have a pair of shorts, shoes and socks that will work well for the race.

seem to have nailed down a fuel routine.
don't feel as nervous since I have completed a marathon

A few things I am still on edge about
weather... because you never know what Chicago will bring
Shoes... still adjusting to new ones
Eating something the night before the race that makes me sick
Over sleeping... because I am just always paranoid about this
Fuel... I think I have nailed down a routine but I am still not sure how I will feel the last 6 miles. Recently I have felt super hungry after running the long runs.
Helping my sister with her wedding while training for the race.
Changing up some of my runs to coordinate with my real life
Gatorade... it hurts my stomach but I don't think water is enough over 26 miles...

Am I the only one who stresses about the little things in life?

Chicago Half Marathon Recap

Today was the Chicago Half Marathon.

I was supposed to run 12 miles for my Chicago Marathon so this race fit in perfectly. Several people asked me what my plan was for this race. After giving it a lot of thought I decided to just to the very best I could. I was hoping to get a slightly better time than last year so I knew a 1:55 would really be great.

I left my house at 5:00 AM after having my typical breakfast of 2 Bagel thins with peanut butter. A running friend Mark was nice enough to allow a group of us park at his girlfriends house which was only a mile walk to the start line. I LOVE FREE PARKING!!! After hitting gear check and super long port a potty lines we hit the start line.

Another Mark who came out to run had a similar goal for the race as myself. We decided lets try to run together. We were both in corral G. The race began on the street just outside Jackson Park. We anticipated a slow mile 1. However we hit mile one at just over 9 minutes. We decided to just keep going and see how we felt.

Miles 3 came and this is when we headed for Lake shore drive. Mile 4 also seemed to blow by without a wink. Then mile 5 came. We were on Lake Shore and my legs and feet were really starting to say why are you going so fast. After a brief moment I told them to shut up and kept going. Miles 6 and 7 came and went. I was having to hit every water stop on the course though. It seem to give my legs just a brief break and I was able to push on. This is where I took my hammer gel and hit up another water stop as well. I knew we were getting close to the turn around on Lake Shore and the push up the ramp was mentally breaking me down.

Just after we went down the ramp to head back toward Jackson Park I was just feeling very sluggish. I told Mark to go. I didn't want to hold him back. I had to mentally just start breaking down the remainder of the race. 15K passed and I knew it was just under 4 miles to the finish so I just really pushed to mile 10. At mile 10 of all half marathons I always tell myself ok go run a 5K... you have done that plenty of times. So I really started to break it down mile by mile. At the final water stop a girl said ok orange headband you got this and it was just the push I needed. Then I got to mile 12. The race broken the remainder of it for me with signs... 3/4 mile, 1/2 mile, 1/4 mile.. when I spotted the giant gold statue and the 13 mile marker I just pushed really deep down hard... To say the least I was pumped when I saw the sign for the minutes...

 I got a personal best!!

1:54:39...This felt amazingly good. 

Mark and I post race

I earned two medals today.
1 for the race today
2 for running both this race and the June race (Chicago 13.1) therefore completing the windy city challenge.

Chicago Half Marathon Race Prep

I have talked many times on my blog about prepping for a race the night before. It really takes days, weeks and months of prep for a big race. However there are really a few things we need to do to prepare the day of.

Today I started with a good carb filled breakfast. Since I knew I was not going to be running right away I opted for an oatmeal with a half scoop of Click Protein and some strawberries. I also ate a banana and had some coffee.

After I got off work I headed out to meet my friend Sara for part of her 15 mile run. This run also allowed me to get in some mileage without pushing my pace. I ended up running just over 6.5 miles. It was a beautiful day and I felt great.

Sara was kind enough to head up to Navy Pier with me so I could pickup my race packet. We picked up my race packed and wondered around the expo they were having. We ended up with a bondi band. I really like wearing these instead of a hat. They hold my hair back without making it look crazy. Plus the hats starts to get really gross after so many wears.

Then we went in search for some food. We ended up at Hagen Dazz. Sara had a really good looking veggie wrap and I had a chicken and cheddar sandwich. Neither of us had ice cream. This seems like a crime but most runners know you can't have too much dairy the day before a good long run.

Sara hooked me up with this mushroom burger that I was able to enjoy for dinner. She homemade these burgers and froze them. It was really yummy. I added some laughing cow cheese, sweet and spicy mustard and spinach to the sandwich. I paired it with some green beans. I really don't like to over do dinner the night before a good long run or race so this was perfect.

Then of course I got everything ready for tomorrow morning. I don't know if all runners prep as much as I do but I try to be fully ready for an early wake up call. Since it is going to be a cool morning I will be able to wear my NWI Region Runners shirt to represent all of us Indiana runners tomorrow.

If you are interested in following my results in real time click the link below and enter my bib # 1104
http://www.racemyrace.com/hosted/chicagohm.php?rid=139&theme=chicagohm

I am ready but nervous. I am always nervous for a race. So check back tomorrow to see how I did.

Believe

This week I did not lead a weight watchers meeting due to the Labor Day Holiday so this week just think about why you believe in the program and why you know it will work. It would be nice if just believing is all we had to do but it is a keep essential to the program. Believe that you can do it.

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Deanna's Active Link Challenge
141%
5 Mile Run
Hot, Hilly, Sweaty
48 Minutes
Days until Chicago Marathon: 32

Proceed to Party

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This weekend was no exception...

I started out Saturday with a few hours of actual work between my full time job and Weight Watchers.  Since I had made a plan to run after I got out I stopped at Target to pickup something to eat since I knew I was going to need something. I really do have a love for Clif Bars. Saturday I tired the Cool Mint Chocolate flavor before my run.I liked it but I still think the white macadamia is my favorite. It was raining after I was finished at weight watchers.Then I remember this saying... So I braved the run. I headed over to section of the bike trail that has a fair amount of tree cover. Overall I am really glad I went out and ran. It was probably the quickest 5 miles I had run in a long time. I felt good really good. Saturday ended early so that I would be ready for 20 miles Sunday.

Sunday I headed over to wicker park for the Opportunity Enterprises long run. This was my first 20 mile training run for the Chicago Marathon. I was really fortunate to run the 20 miles with another runner Sue. We finished exactly how we wanted. Although running in my new shoes wasn't optimal and I cramped up afterward I am really glad the run was able to be completed.

Then I went out to the Toby Keith Concert to celebrate my run and my really good friend Sherry's birthday. We had a really good time as always.

I spent most of today relaxing and just enjoying the day off. I can't believe the Chicago Marathon is so quickly approaching.

What did you do with your long weekend?