Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy...

I have been struggling for the past few weeks with low energy.  As I was thinking through what the cause could be {icky weather, different food, not enough sleep} I couldn't figure it out.  When I finally got home on Sunday, around 6pm, I played with the dogs for a little bit and laid down on the couch to watch some TV.  Next thing I knew it was 9:30pm...  I slept for 10 interrupted hours that night, in addition to that 2 hour nap.  When my alarm went off that morning it took me an extra hour to get out of bed.

Monday was not off to a good start.  I knew that I needed to have a refocus of the week because if I let my terrible Monday morning mood continue I would be in a deep funk by now.  I decided the only way to get out of this mood was to get some endorphins going, because as we all know exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy and happy people just don't kill their husbands {or co-workers or random strangers}.  I started out the week with an easy 5K which totally did the job of flipping the mood switch.  I decided to double up the workouts for at least this week to try to reach my goal of completing the half marathon in under 2:45.

Today, I was going to do a 10K but decided that I should do half of the half and see what my time would be.  That way I have a guidepost or at least a realistic idea of what my finish time could be around.  I also decided to slow down a little bit and run the whole time.  I have been running at abut a 10:30 pace but I can only sustain that for 12 minutes at a time, so i slowed it down to a 12:00 pace and ran for 1.5 hours.  This was a break through for me.  I hit 7 miles in an hour and a half which is what I ran in the 10K a couple of weeks ago.  Doing the 7 miles and not wanting to cut off both my legs was a real turning point today.  Ever since April started, 4 whole days ago, I have been getting some anxiety about how far 13 miles really is and the fact that I have never run more than 7 miles at the same time in my entire life.  Today, was the first time that I felt like I could actually run 13.1 miles and not die and actually finish it in the time that I want to.

You always hear that working out gives you more energy, which always sounded pretty insane to me but right now I am on that bandwagon!   Let's hope I can keep this up for the next three weeks!

Gems of Pinterest

I am a little obsessed with quotes right now, and rather than post them all to Facebook and annoy the crap out of people.  I am just going to post them all here {perfect :)}

Hair

Next month when I go to Nashville for the Half I am going to get my hair cut.  I am trying to decide what I want to do.  I want something different but I can't decide how different I want to go...

Option 1: Similar to what I have right now but shorter with more layers

Option 2: Less layers, shorter, with bangs

 Option 3: SUPER short with bangs

What's your vote?

Obsession

I read all three of the books in the Hunger Games series {The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay} in about 4 days.  800+pages of book over and done in 96 hours.  I am waiting for my friend Amy to get back from her trip home to go see it with her.  So I am re-reading the books again to bide my time.  I hope it lives up to my expectations because this is one of the books I have been able to re-read without getting bored, which means its awesome.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Ode to Almond Milk

I have never really liked milk.  I was never one of those kids who had glasses of milk with a meal or for snack.  The only kind of dairy milk that I actually like is chocolate, enter this guy:

I am obsessed with almond milk.  This non-dairy milk has only 35 calories per cup and is not as sweet as regular cows milk.  I never even realized that cows milk was sweet until I'd been off it for a while, I ran out of almond milk one day and none of the stores in Saranac Lake sell it so I bought a half gallon of skim milk, it was so sweet I thought something was wrong.  Almond milk is also a great source of calcium and I think it tastes better in coffee than regular milk.  I actually cut the fake coffee creamer out of my diet with almond milk.

Give it a try!

Light

Could the light have been any cooler the other night here in Saranac Lake?  It was casting great shadows and the sky had streaks of fluffy clouds, enjoy!

Hey! Stop taking pictures and let us in!

Lost

Between this...

2012 4-man World Champions, USA 1, The Steves {Holcomb and Langton}, plus Olsen and Tomasevicz

...and this...

2012 2-man World Champions, USA 1, The Steves, Holcomb and Langton

 ...and this...

2012 Women's Skeleton World Champion, USA 1, Katie Uhlaender

I didn't really think much about myself.  It was all about the athletes, sponsors and venue needs, not about the fact that I am running a half marathon in less than 60 days.  It was as much as I could to to get home and in bed by the time the days were over.  That left me feeling completely satisfied with the job I'd done and to be honest I got a little lost in my personal life.

I've made the choice to spend this year changing my life.  While I am not saying that I have to do that without friends, but I do have to be conscious about what those choice to do to my goals.  On a good note, I did find some good balance a week ago today, I went skating on the outside oval in LP and then out to dinner with some new friends.  On the other side of the coin, the weekend was less that on point.  I let myself fall back into old habits and guys who aren't good for me.  I needed a reminder today that this time is for me and if someone wants to be a part of my life, they are more than capable of making the effort and showing me just that.

The that mode, I got back to working out today after a three week hiatus.  I thought I would share my running playlist with all you people {the 4 or 5 of you that read this}!  It really helps me get through my run especially when I want to quit a mile or so from the end...

Without further ado:

Haley's Running Playlist: about 49 minutes
1. Coming Home {Diddy Dirty Money}
2. Born this Way {Lady Gaga}
3. Party Rock Anthem {LMFAO}
4. The Edge of Glory {Lady Gaga}
5. You and I {Lady Gaga}
6. Sexy and I Know It {LMFAO}
*7. Stronger {Kelly Clarkson}
8. Last Friday Night {Katy Perry}
9. We are Young {Glee Cast}
10. We Found Love {Glee Cast}
*11. The Champ {Nelly}
12. All I Do is Win {feat. T-Pain, DJ Khaled}

The best part about this playlist is that when it starts over it's just as good because I love every single song on it.  Songs 7 and 11 are currently my favorites...  I could listen to The Champ on repeat all day {and maybe did last Friday}