Back at it

Winter is always a struggle for me; I eat too much and don't work out enough!  Then every year spring rolls around, it starts warming up and I get an itch to start running.  But this year was a little different, on and off this winter I was doing classes at the gym, cardio and weight training.  After just doing a few weight training classes I felt like I was hooked, I could see my muscles start to get more defined and I was liking he way I was looking in my gym clothes.  I thought to myself hmm I really like this, I think I could just focus on my body and not my athleticism. I thought it was a perfect plan with our cruise coming up and all.  Then I started noticing that I was gaining weight, I know everyone says muscle weighs more than fat blah blah blah but I just didn't like it so I stopped going and stopped caring about what I was eating.  My jeans are a little tighter now and I feel like i'm getting the cheeks I used to have when I was little..
So fast forward to a few days ago, my mother in law sends out a mass email about signing up for the Ogden Marathon (which has been sold out for MONTHS).  Elias's uncle works for Zions Bank and since they are the race's biggest sponsor they always have spots in reserve for family and friends.  This email was seriously an answer to my prayers :) right away I got butterflies and I was so excited!
Normally you should train for about 16 weeks before the race but since I am doing a late registration I am only going to have 10 weeks to train.
When training for my marathon last year I used the Hal Higdon training schedule and I really liked it; I felt prepared and I felt like I was getting a good workout every single day.  So I am going to use the Hal Higdon Half Marathon training schedule this time around! And I am going to bump it up to the intermediate level.

Now all I can think about is the race.  I keep telling Elias, "I just want to be so fast!!" ha ha.  And really I just want to beat my last half marathon time which was 1 Hour 55 Minutes!  I would love to get closet to 1 hour 30 minutes.  But we'll see :)

And just for fun I made a little collage of my "dream outfit" for the half marathon.  As you can tell i LOVE Oakley.  I actually already have this sports bra and it is the best one I have EVER owned!!

1. Oakley Reversible Wide Print Headband (Jet Black)

2. Oakley Glasses (Pink Lava/Black Iridium)

3. Brooks Shoes (I ran my fastest mile ever in these bad boys!)

4. Oakley Tank

5. Nike Capris 

6. Oakley Bra (best bra of all time)

I can't wait for this running season :)

-Stef

First Lake Powell trip Septemer 2013

In September we had to opportunity to go to Lake Powell! I have been told my whole life how much I would love it! Especially by Elias, he grew up going every summer with his family!  This year we were invited to go with Elias oldest brother Creighton.  Creighton's neighbor/friend invited them and said they could invite 2 couples.  So being the amazing people that they are they invited us and Michael and Makelle.  Not only did we get to go to Lake Powell, but we got to stay on the MOST AMAZING house boat ever.  3 stories, granite counter tops, a slide off of the very top of the boat and it was huge!!  Elias told me that it kind of sucks for me that the first time going to lake powell happened o  be on the nicest boat ever because nothing else will compare! ha ha

Here is the Cartouche! It was seriously incredible.

Everything I had ever heard of Lake Powell was true! It was beautiful, the water was warm, the sun was hot!  You get to do a whole lot of nothing :) and eat allllllll day long! And that is basically what we did :)

Elias and I spent about 2 hours building this awesome sand castle!  Then I guess we just felt the need to pose by it, on it and around it!

My absolute favorite part of the whole trip was when Elias and I took the Kayak's out and went on an adventure over to a beautiful alcove

The water was so still and beautiful and it was SO SO quiet!  It was like straight out of a dream!  Also when we were kayaking back to the houseboat we found this nice big boulder to jump off of :) it was so fun!

Basically all I ate the whole trip was candy! Sour punch straws, hi chew, TONS of laffy taffy.  Here I am eating candy like usual!

Some other highlights of the trip was a crazy storm that blew through that required all of the men to change all of the anchors to the boat at like 1 o'clock in the morning.  Sleeping on the second deck of the boat during the freak storm and getting all of our bedding wet.  Catching lizards in a mucky alcove, playing games for hours and hours on board.  Line dancing on the top deck, noodle chilling all day long and going off of the slide over and over and over again!

It seriously was one of my favorite vacations of all time, and I can't wait till Elias and I get the opportunity to go again! 

On our way home :)




-Stef

4th of July weekend!

The Fourth of July is our favorite holiday! Good food, hot weather, parades, family and FIREWORKS!! What gets better than that? 

In the morning we went to the annual pancake breakfast in my parents neighborhood, then we headed over to the kaysville parade, went swimming (elias went on a bike ride when it was 104 degrees) in the afternoon then headed over to a barbecue and fireworks at Layton High School to top off the night!

I already can't wait for next year :)

-stef