Hills

Kentucky hills have been destroying my legs, so today's run called for my favorite compression socks. 

And, since I wore my favorite socks, I wore my favorite shoes, headband, and race shirt. It's the little things that make constant inclines and declines more fun.

But then this happened- I took my sunglasses off and they broke! 

And then, when I was loading some stuff into my trunk, THIS happened!

Thank goodness I have a spare, so all is well now.

8 days until the move to Oklahoma!!!!!

Ever lock your keys in your car in a strange way?

Favorite piece of running gear that makes any run better? Gotta be my Halloween ProCompression socks. Confession: I wear them year round! 

Sanity saver

The past two weeks have been crazy.

The Husbeast graduated from OTS, so I spent 4 days in Alabama.

Then, two days after getting back to my temporary Kentucky home, I had to drive back to Northhern Indiana to supervise the packing/moving of our stuff. It was chaotic, starting with the movers changing dates when I had already arrived, then arriving late, and then finishing later than predicted. Let's just say I am glad it's over.

I stayed sane by sitting on a box and stitching while the movers loaded stuff.

The worst part? Our tempurpedic mattress and box springs were stored in the basement.... And got covered in mold. RUINED. I nearly cried.

Today, I am happy to be back in Kentucky for about two weeks before finally moving to Oklahoma!!!!

These two are happy I'm home, too. And they are exhausted from their runs this morning. Prudence went for a hilly mile, and then I took Matt for what I thought would be another mile... Except we got lost, so it turned into 2.4 miles. Oops.

And with that, I am going to relax. I am exhausted from everything going on!

Ever get lost on a run?

Moving, moving, and more moving

So, I'm temporarily living in Kentucky. 

Mom sold her house, and since I'm staying with her while the Husbeast is in OTS, that means I moved with her.

And will be moving again in Novemebr. 

But before that I have to go back to northern IN to watch the military movers unpack, inventory, and repack our stuff.

Yeah.

Exactly, Matty. That's exactly how I feel about it.

Do you love or hate moving? I'm excited to reunite with the Husbeast in a home of our own again, but not looking forward to two days of six hour drives, and then the fourteen hour drive to Oklahoma. With dogs. 

What happens when you hate a product you're supposed to review

Today was the publish date for a product review. And here I am, not reviewing it.

Why? 

Because it just wasn't a hit. Like, I nearly vomited, and even though my family physician wanted me to eat small amounts of nuts, I had an allergic reaction. So yeah. I learned that my allergies are not as controlled as my doctor had hoped, and the texture of puréed coconut and almonds makes me want to retch.

Thankfully, I contacted the necessary people, explained it was, um, less than stellar, and was let off the hook. Phew.

So instead of a product review, let me tell you this!

(Why do I look so sallow??? I swear I have a functioning liver... at least, I think I do!)

Today is day 102 of my run streak!!!!

(Why do I look so sallow??? I swear I have a functioning liver... at least, I think I do!)

I gave myself permission to end it after 100, but it's still going. We shall see how long it lasts!

Ever receive a product for review that was just awful? Worse, ever buy something and hate it? Besides the unpublished review, I once bought a Kind bar and took one nibble before tossing it in the trash. Some of you might call that blasphemy, but I can't stand them. I also tried to like SoyJoy a few years ago, and failed, so I was kind of happy to hear too much soy can be bad for you.

What is your favorite bar- protein or granola? 

Ever do a run streak?

A story about sucking it up.

Today was the Blueberry Stomp 15k.

I had not trained for this beyond a single 7 mile run since May.

It was hot. Humid. And definitely not flat.

And all I wanted to do was stay in bed at 5:30 am. Or choose 5k instead of 15k once I was signing up this morning. Or turn with the 5k runners when they split off during the race. Or ask the volunteer for a ride back to the start when I was halfway through. 

But I did none of that. 

I sucked it up and ran. I walked when I was too dizzy, but still managed a 9:40 pace overall with my 1:30:58 finish.

I finished. 

That's all that mattered today.

And then we changed out of our wringable, sweat-soaked shirts and walked around the blueberry festival. Friends make sucky runs much more bearable (she smoked it today with her new PR of 1:23:xx!).

Best run lately?

Worst run? Hey, humidity, I'm over it.

Four week shape up- the results

Remember the   4 Week Shape Up Plan ? are the results, in all their bathroom photo glory!!! Don't mind my face; I clearly love taking these photos. *why is there no sarcasm font?*

START:

HALFWAY:

END:

I'm not sure if there is much of a visible, difference in these photos, but check this out- Saturday, I slipped on my favorite pair of cycling shorts before Bloom and Zoom 40 mile ride... And they were loose around the leg opening!

Don't mind Turd Ferguson, the photo-bombing basset hound. She was pouting because she could tell I was about to leave without her.

See that? The gripper isn't snug. What?!? While the fullest part of my thighs showed no change in inches, there must have been some shrinkage there. 

Unfortunately, this meant my shorts were annoying and sliding around for 42 miles, but oh well. No sausage legs. Worth it.

Overall, most measurements remained the same- waist, calves, thighs were unchanged- but I did gain a quarter inch around my biceps- and I'm totally ok with that, since I was able to help my brother load a 400 lb iron saw table into a moving truck over the weekend. He actually called me a beast. All little sisters know the pride I felt getting that kind of praise from my big brother!

Angelena has plenty to offer here. Go check it out! As I said last time, she knows here stuff. The plan is thorough and easy to follow, complete with checklists and progress tracking. Having a place to record the workouts makes it easier to keep going during that third week- seeing progress keeps me going!

Overall, I enjoyed this   4 Week Shape Up Plan. The strength parts took 30-45 minutes to complete, and since I've been run streaking, adding cardio after that was no big deal.

I plan on continuing the workouts, as evidenced by my planner- I even made stickers for each of the days:

LOVE my planner. Want your own? Sign up for a $10 coupon here!

I love how I was able to change the order of the workouts to fit my needs. Since I was recently talked into running a 15k on Labor Day, I've been trying to get a few long runs done on weekends, so I moved leg day to the beginning of the week.

My only complaint about the program is the lack of core work. I stuck to the plan, but I wanted to do more core work than just one day. Going forward, I will probably add some of my favorite and least favorite core exercises at the beginning of each workout, more like i was doing last spring before the moving/life chaos began.

Thanks, Angelena, for giving me an opportunity to try your program! The   4 Week Shape Up Plan is easy to follow, and a great bargain at only $10. It's practically a book, full of everything you need to follow a plan to a better version of You. It's completely customizable, and if you have the drive to do the work, results will come.

The true test is going to come in October. If I can keep up with staying in shape, will my husband notice any changes when we finally see each other again??? I'll keep you posted!

It's here!!!!!!

My Erin Condren life planner arrived!!!!! And it's perfect. I love this cover- but they are interchangeable, which made it easier to pick just one when I ordered, since I know I can get another later if I want. :)

So pretty... And I've already begun to personalize my weekly spreads.

Here's a normal week before it gets written in:

And here's a week in all it's decorated glory:

Somehow, having my to-do lists and chores written in a pretty planner and decorated with stickers makes it more fun to do them. Plus, it's a lot harder to skip workouts when I wrote them in pen in my planner.

Love, love, love it. It took a long time to get here (most orders take 2-3 weeks to get printed), but it was worth it.

I love being able to write the week's dinners along the bottom, make lists for the days I have things to do, and then decorate the crap out of it ally this week's theme was easy to pick- SHARK WEEK!!!!! 

Next week, I just went with bright colors: 

So fun. 

The good news? I have a referral link to share! Use this link

https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/kaseypotts1116-8427

to create a new account, and you will get a coupon for $10 off. Pretty sweet, huh?

This planner is going to keep me organized through the next 17 months- 3 moves, 2 PCS, and who knows what else. 

Do you use a planner? I used to look forward to getting a new one every year for back to school. I LOVED picking out a planner. I'm so glad I found one to use as an adult!

How do you track workouts/meal planning? I might actually stick to a training plan since I can write it all in here! And no more losing the grocery list that contains the week's meal plan. :)