Saturday, September 10, 2011

Having a ball and 10k race recap

Hi there peeps! It's been some exciting times around the Trader household lately. Starting with a Battalion Ball that Seth and I attended last night! My good friend Jackie was gracious enough to do my hair and make up for me and she did a WONDERFUL job!


We headed to the ball around 5:30 and enjoyed a bit of cocktail hour with some friends!


my handsome date!!

love the ecksteins aka cutest couple ever


Seth and Captain Comfort

waiting for our sub-par dinner-haha!


am i right or what?! so adorable!
First Sergeant Lafary and us had a nice conversation :)

Overall it was pretty fun and it was nice to actually get dressed up and try the hair and make-up thing :)
Haha...goodness knows that doesn't occur too much!
After the ball, we stopped in at the Ecksteins's house to chill until we were ready for bed and headed home. We wanted decent sleep because.... I ran the Running for Recovery from Addictions 10k the next morning!

pre-race posing

Mr. Shane and Seth cheered me on!

my good friend and client Star- love her!


I loved having my pup there! Although he didn't run it ;)



sprinting toward the finish


DONE!
I was super, duper pleased with my time on this race! There was an extremely hard hill at the beginning of the race and a few rolling hills throughout the race. Whoo, that got me warmed up real fast. I started at about an 8:30 pace and slowly picked up my speed through the race. I know it's a little mean, but this strategy worked really well because at the end I passed quite a few runners which always feels so good ;)

I finished in 49:30 and placed 3rd in my age division at an 8:00/min pace!!!


The race was really great and I even got a t-shirt (score!). Having my man there (and pup) to support and cheer me on means more than anything! I'm thinking a half marathon next weekend is definitely in order.. ;)

Have a GREAT weekend!





Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Running towards the prize...together!!!!

Well folks, here it is: the 2011 VA Beach Half Marathon weekend post I promised ya!

Let's start at the beginning: the car ride down to Fredericksburg, VA to meet up with my family!

Mom and dad and the boys minus Isaac

long car ride down south


We had a GREAT time with them even though it was short. I hadn't seen my family since May so I was very happy to spend a lil time with them. We stayed at a hotel in Fredericksburg and went to dinner at Carrabbas and then went for a little swim in the hotel pool/hot tub! The next morning we had breakfast in the lobby before heading out to the historical downtown area to walk around and take in the sights. It was a really cute little town and I'm so glad we stopped in and hung out with my fam!

But we had to leave eventually so we could continue our trip down south the VA beach and get to the expo to pick up our packets and swag bags! I didn't take a pic but we scored some cool stuff including two t-shirts that were on clearance. I'll try to take some pics of those soon!

Next we met up with Seth's parents! We all walked to the beach once they arrived and it felt so good to get out and stretch for both of us.


cussing is a no-no in VA beach ;)

We went out to dinner at Lone Star after we checked in to the hotel.



No pics, but I loaded up on bread and a southwestern style salad. Not bad!

Our wake up call the next morning of the race was 4 so we headed to bed at a reasonable time and woke up without too much trouble... Although it took Sethy a while to get in his groove ;) We had coffee and and half of a bagel with pb each.



We took the bus ride shuttle to the start of the race and Seth's parents were gracious enough to come with us and be our photographers and cheerleaders :)

still dark out...


my beast of a man- thanks mom for the shirt!

gettin pumped!


loved all the support!
Next thing we knew ( after several potty trips) we were off!




on the boardwalk at the finish!
We finished in 1:59 minutes!!! Our goal was under 2 hours so we met our goal! Seth did GREAT for his first time and it was so amazing to run this race together. It meant so much to both of us....

cooling off in the water afterwards

together and stronger than ever :)


I'm so proud of him!

It was a great experience overall and I think we might be back every year to run this race together...
it was emotional and wonderful in all the right ways... thanks to my in-laws for being there every second to support us!

After a one hour couples massage (which was AMAZING), we ended our trip on a high note at the Cheesecake Factory- as per tradition!


Great weekend and more good things to come... like a 10k this weekend and possibly another half marathon next weekend for me! Hehe.. I'm addicted just a little :)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

shin splints=no running

Yep, that's right... after my last 11 mile run I was cursed with the dreaded shin splints.
Major sad face over here... but I'm getting my cardio in with other methods such as...

A 10.5 mile bike ride on the trails today!!


The weather here has been great! Today I enjoyed 78 degrees and sunshine with clouds and a little wind. My bike ride took me on the streets to the wooded trails on base which was enjoyed while listening to Norah Jones and some beautiful hymns on my ipod. I love listening to worshipful music while I enjoy the beautiful surroundings God has given. Probably my favorite way to really feel close to God and take glory in Him. So peaceful. Loved it.

Anyways, I'll be cross training until my shins feel 100% better.. which better be before the race NEXT WEEKEND!
For your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of the race last year:


my sisters ran it as well!





post race relaxin
My friend Christine took all the pictures and let us stay with her! I'll miss her this year :(
This year, as I've mentioned, Seth and I will be running the race together and I'm so excited! Although with my mysterious breathing issues and shin splints I'm not betting on a PR, but oh well! The point is that we will be finishing together this year! Yay for being together!

Anyways, hope you all are doin well! I just picked up Jillian Michaels 4 week workout DVD so once I try it out I'll do a product reviews for you guys.

Have a great day!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

catch up

Workout: Ran last long run of nearly 11 miles this morning with Seth and Shane (and almost died from not being able to breathe) 

Let's play a little catch up, shall we?

Hope you all enjoyed that workout if you had the courage to give it a try! It ain't easy...

Anyways, so this post will be random but filled with lots of pictures, so that's good, right?

Whatcha got here is how to cover up your doggie from the rain when you know he really needs to pee:



Isn'the just the cutest little guy???!!! Ahh, we love him so much! :)

Now onto our most recent trip to Lake Placid for the Army Marriage Retreat. Lake Placid is a beautiful little town nestled in to Adirondack Mountains. We stayed at a resort in town and totally got hooked up! I didn't take pics of the room but it was very nice! Here was our view when we woke up Friday morning:

Incredible
We arrived Thursday afternoon, grabbed some lunch, shopped a little ( they have a Gap outlet!!), and then checked into the hotel. We made a quick trip to our room then headed out to do some free kayaking!






It was alot of fun! Then we headed to the pool to hang with some friends!


Good times all around:)

Anyways, after the pool we had dinner at the hotel then Seth and I headed to town to grab a drink and walk around. Like normal, we were in bed by 10 pm and watching House Hunters :) Call us old and nerdy but it's just who we are.

Friday morning we had breakfast, checked out, stayed for part of the conference, but left early because we were told we had to so Seth could take care of some paperwork back at the company. Lame, I know. But it didn't stop us from going on a little walk in the woods on our way back!


Please excuse my kim-kardashianness...

trying to climb a tree...didnt quite make it up ;)

Anyways, so that was it! We've got the VA Beach Rock N Roll comin up in just 2 weekends so we're getting pumped! Like I said at the top though... we weren't able to finish to the 11 miles because towards the end of the run I just couldn't breathe. My lungs felt tight and we weren't even going fast! So I'll be making an appt with the Doc on Monday to find out what's causing that. I hope so much that it doesn't affect my time at the race!

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

My "25" workout

Ok, so give this little guy a try if you are looking for an awesome, sweat-tastic, leg, arm, ab, burning workout ;)

Disclaimer- Always check with your doctor before starting any fitness program-


Ok, so first thing is first. Warm up for 5 minutes. This can jogging, jumping jacks, anything that gets those muscles warmed up and your pulse goin.

Then dive right into some plyometrics!

- 25 jump squats
- 25 push-ups ( regular or on knees)
- 25 tricep dips
- 25 mountain climbers
- 25 jump lunges alternating legs
* take a 1 minute break here to catch your breath, you'll need it ;)

Next, with 3-10 lb weights (wherever you are physically), do the folowing exercises

- 25 lateral shoulder raises
- 25 bent over flies
- 25 press outs
- 25 seated lunge with hammer curls
- 25 bent over rows on each arm
- 25 plank rows
- 25 back extensions ( bridges)
- 25 superman raises
- 25 roll ups ( do these slow and feel the burn)
- 25 v- up with pulses (100's as they are known in pilates) - do these slow as well

Then repeat the entire circuit again starting with the plyometrics and then moving to the strength training.

Cool down and a nice stretch afterwards is highly recommended ;)

If you guys have any questions about these exercises, feel free to ask me in the comments or googling usually works well too :)

Now go get your sweat on!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Why?

Please pray for all who were affected by the helicopter crash in East Afghanistan today that killed several lives. It is hard to understand why this war is even happening... it's all too tragic.

May God be with their families...

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Emotional

That's how I would describe myself this week.

It's my last full week of watching Kayla.

A good chunk of my family is in Bermuda and I miss them (and everyone else).

It's "that time of the month". (nuff said!)

And worst of all...

Seth's gone on a detail to Binghamton, NY til Sunday. It's our first time being separated again since the deployment. I just wanna sit around and cry (can't believe I'm having such a hard time with this!) but I'll put my big girl pants on and be thankful he's just a few hours away and I can call/text him whenever. Plus... I get to have some time to hang out with some girlfriends.

Hope you all are well and if you're still trying to keep up with this old thing then I apologize for my inconsistency. I kinda suck.





I love him!!!

Later peeps...