100 Mile Journey- Day 4-9

Day 4- Ken and I ran  along the canyon trail today. We we ran 3.3 miles and boy was it hard! Today I realized that not every run is going to be the same. Monday and Tuesday's runs weren't as bad as this one. I was suckin' wind and didn't do very good.  I was super proud that we went that far though. To make it to 100 miles, we have to run 3.3 miles 5 days a week, or 16.3 miles per week. So the fact that we actually made it to 3.3 was impressive. 
Day 5-7- Ken and I slacked off during the weekend. I like to be lazy over the weekends because it's my time to relax. In the future, we are hoping to not slack off as bad, as we did this weekend. 
Day 8- I went to the chiropractor today and I was talking to his wife about running. She told me that her husband loves to run on a trail near Walmart. Ken and I decided we wanted to check the trail out. When we left to go running it was slightly sprinkling and there was a heavy cloud cover. The entire trail is 1 mile, so round trip we ran 2.1 miles. At the beginning of our run it was slightly raining, and at the end it was pouring rain and we were both drenched! But I loved it!! If it would rain everyday I would rain EVERYDAY! 
Day 9- We ran the same trail as yesterday. It rained for a majority of the day, when we started our run the sky was blue and mostly clear, at the end a storm was rolling in... again. There has been so much rain fall in Southern Utah and Nevada! Roads are being washed out and its the record amount of rain fall in 30+ years. But anyways, running today was harder. We ran a 10 minute mile the way down the trail, the second mile didn't go as well as the first but it's okay... baby steps. 

Side note, I haven't had soda since the 1st of September! Actually that's a lie, last Friday my boss bought me a pepsi and I had a sip or two but gave it away after that. So I don't count that as consuming soda haha. I used to have a small Mt. Dew addiction, so this is a huge step in the right direction. I've also tried to limit the amount of sugar I have. That has definitely been hard as well. I honestly didn't realize how addicted I actually was to sugar. In random parts of the days I'll have cravings for random snacks that I used to enjoy. But alas! I have found a way to resist the temptation to go to the gas station and buy said treat. I have found that keeping a pack of gum in my purse has helped. When I get an urge to get a treat, I'll just pop a piece of gum in my mouth.

Running Total: 12.85
Weight Lost: -Audrey: 2 pounds Ken: 6.5

Meal Planning

On our quest to be healthy, Ken and I have been trying harder to plan our weeks meals and have more well rounded meals. I've also been trying harder to prepare my lunches the night before. In the past, I would go out to eat or just not eat lunch at all because I was too lazy to pack a lunch. Packing lunches the night before has saved us money and has had me, as well as Ken, eating healthier. I recently read a blog where a lady documents what she had for lunch every day for a whole year. A lot of the meals were healthy, but were quick and easy as well. The past week I've tried tried to include a fruit or veggie in all my lunches. I'm a big carrot fan, so most days it was a dozen or so baby carrots, some grapes, or an apple. For breakfast it is more likely than not a thing of greek yogurt and an apple. Before marrying Ken, I never tried greek yogurt before and Ken told me I probably wouldn't like it. But I LOVE it! Best stuff ever. But anyways, done with my blabbering on. I started this post with the intent to document what we we're having this week,
Sunday: Salsa Chicken w/ fresh pico de gallo
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ the same pico de gallo
Wednesday: Shrimp Stir Fry
Thursday: Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli
Friday: We're going to Salt Lake to see our parentals!
Saturday: "                              "

For Lunches I plan on making a variety of sandwiches. I plan on boiling more eggs and making egg salad sandwiches. Tuna fish has always been one of my favorites, so that will probably make an appearance in between 2 slices of bread. During shopping today, we bough strawberries and black grapes, some spinach, and romaine lettuce , and we have some baby carrots left over from last week. 
Well that is all. The End. 

My 100 Mile Journey: Day 1-3

On October 11, Ken and I are running a 5k in Vegas. It is a mud run, so it is full of obstacles  and a BUNCH of mud! We are both so excited to do it! At the beginning of the summer, Ken's family decided we were going to train for a half marathon next June. It is in Ohio and the route is through a coool Amusement park called Cedar Pointe. Ken and I both have wanted to get into shape and lose some weight while we train for the race. Frequently we fell off the wagon and for discouraged because we were having the results we wanted. We weren't running very fast and we weren't running very far either.
This past weekend I decided i wanted to make a change, a real change. I didn't want to just wish I was in shape, or make goals I wasn't serious about. I wanted to run more and learn to love it. So Monday I decided I was going to Run 100 miles before October 11th. I did the math and each week I will have to complete 16.3 miles each week. So each day, or every couple of days I am going to document how far I went, and how long it took me. I hope at the end of this 100 mile journey I am a different person. Not just physically, but mentally too.
*Disclaimer* When I say "run", I really mean run/walk. Not a full run... yet!
Day 1: While Ken was at work I decided to go on a short run. I ran around part of SUU campus and then circled our apartment a few times. During this run I ran 1.35 miles in 19 minutes and 52 seconds. It definitely wasn't easy but I was felt refreshing to get out and have my heart racing. After Ken got home, we decided to go on another run. We drove a little up the canyon and ran down the trail that is next to the river. Running at this time of year in Cedar is so refreshing. I feel like it gets cooler here than the Salt lake valley. It is the perfect temperature to go on a run. During this run I ran 2.71 miles in 41 miles and 26 seconds. Followed by a few crunches and push ups. My wrists have been giving me some problems lately, so I can't do very many  push ups. 
Day 2:  Today was kind of a crazy day! I had to work and got home a little bit later than expected. The gym we go to had yoga at 7 and I really wanted to go, so we didn't have a whole lot of time to run. I ran 1.25 miles before yoga. I can't remember how long it took me, but it was about 20 minutes. Following Ken and I did an hour of yoga. I've actually never done yoga before and it was a little weird. It was a lot of breathing and stretching. I slightly felt like a hippy when the teacher told us to center ourselves and get in touch with our souls. I was prior to yoga and expected yoga to help with that. I was wrong... very wrong. I was more sore after. But I kinda liked it haha. I like the feeling of success after a work out.
Day 3: I didn't do any running today. For work I help coach a special Olympics swim team, so I did that instead. Practice was from 7 to 8, and I lightly swam for about 30 minutes. It wasn't anything extremem but it sure felt good to get back into the pool. After graduating from high school, I didn't exactly like swimming after that. I was never a very good coach, but I feel like I'm getting better every day. 

Running total: 5.35 miles
Time spent running: 80 minutes 78 seconds
Time spend working out: 110 minutes 78 seconds
Weight lost: 2 pounds

Life Update

While Ken was at work today, I thought about writing a little blog post since I haven't done one for a while. As I log onto the blog I realize I haven't written anything since November. Well a lot has changed since November. Ken has changed jobs, not once but twice, we have moved to a new place, became apartment managers, had both our birthdays, had our one year anniversary, and have lived in Cedar for a whole year! Now that I write it down I realize how much stuff has gone by. 

• When we first moved here both Ken and I got jobs at a place called Chrysalis. I have had a much better experience at this job than Ken has. He was working some crazy hours and was also going to school full time. So after about 3 months, he couldn't handle it anymore and started looking for a new job. He shortly after got a job at a local gym call Spirit Fitness. Working there was pretty easy and he enjoyed it for the most part. We both got free memberships which was nice. The pay wasn't the best and his boss expected him to do a lot of things, so yet again he went on the hunt for another job. And for the 2nd time, he got a job very shortly after beginning his search. Now I gotta tell ya, I am happy that Ken has been able to find jobs so quickly, but on another note it pisses me off. My experience as Chrysalis has been very bitter sweet. It has its ups and downs, so the whole time I have been employeed there (Which is a few days shy of a year, crazy I know!) I have been looking for a new job. Not very actively looking, but I've been keeping an eye out for anything available. But anyways, enough with  my tangent, Ken is currently working at a store call Zagg. He replaces iPhone screens and puts on screen covers and all that fun stuff. He is enjoying it a lot and has a pretty good schedule and will work around his school schedule. He still works at the gym 2 hours on Mondays as a trade employee, so we still get to keep our memberships. 
• When we lived in our old apartment I was visiting teaching partner with the manager of our complex, and we also visited one of the girls that had a brother that managed a complex that was owned by the same guy. Kinda confusing... sorry. But anyways, our managers told us the owner was looking for a new manager at a different complex and she told him we were interested. So we started managing 3 buildings at the beginning of April. We manage 2 student buildings and 1 married building. It hasn't been too bad, but it does come with some stress. The students are moving in next week so there is a lot more to come. Along with managing comes free rent, which is super nice. The apartment is bigger than our other one, I will post pictures later.
• The month of May is a pretty busy month for us, my birthday is the 8th, mother's day is shortly after that, Ken's birthday is the 27th and our anniversary is the 30th. We didn't do anything too exciting for any of them. Because Ken's birthday is so close to our anniversary, we just celebrated them both at the same time. We went down the St. George and went to Texas Roadhouse, our favorite place.

Today, I had the realization that we have lived in Cedar for just over a year! It's crazy to think how fast time flies. I feel like just yesterday we moved here. Living down here has been such a great experience. We are so close to so many great places to visit. A lot of times at work we go on all day trips to places like Zions, Bryce Canyon, Brian Head, Duck Creek, and other places around Cedar.  

The view from the "C"

Bryce Canyon

Laigh Hill Lake

It's this man made lake that is right above the place I work, I had seriously lived in Cedar for probably 8 months before I figure out about this lake! A great place to swim, they have kayak's and paddle boards for rent. The fish here are also pretty crazy, you won't catch anything unless you are using worms. When you are fishing from the bank you can literally see them swim past your hook and they'll look at it and swim right past it. 

Kolob Reservoir