less than a week!

Well it's less than a week until I run 10km in the Bluenose Marathon here in Halifax. Looking forward to it!! It's definitely one of the best runs I participated in last year. Just so much energy and so many people! This evening I ran this route with my running team; my sister Nikki and my brother in law Ray. If you are familiar with Halifax then you know this run incorporated A LOT of hills. Although my legs were feeling pretty heavy near the end it made me feel confident about next weekend! And it gave me the chance to try out my new running sneakers!

The model is Saucony Kinvara 4s and I love them!! I purchased them in Maine while there for my graduation ceremony. They are very light weight but it still feels like you're wearing a sneaker. I'm not a fan of the shoes that are so light weight that you can't even tell your sneakers are there... I think if I purchased those I'd end up leaving the house without any shoes on at all and not even realize! Speaking of which, Nikki and Ray saw a man running COMPLETELY barefoot earlier today. In my eyes that is INSANE but hey, whatever you want to do!

I'm super excited to wear my new shoes next weekend at the Bluenose along with my new Reebok running socks:

Needless to say it will be a colorful event! I also managed to get some cute new exercise capris! Love the ruching on the sides!

I picked up a few other treats at the grocery store:

Let me tell you, this peanut butter is DEADLY!! It basically tastes like a peanut butter cup. It is going to take all of my will power not to eat the entire jar this week. No promises that I won't! So good. I'm not really sure what to eat it with... so far I have opted for directly out of the jar and into my mouth. Any other suggestions? I purchased some coconut water as it's been pretty popular lately and I haven't tried it yet. I'm interested to see how it tastes and if I like it. I'll keep you posted on what I think!

busy bee

What a busy week! Back in Maine, getting settled back into the school routine. Managing to keep on top of my running which I'm happy about.

Just completed week 5 of my training which included:
M - off
T - 3k
W - 4k
T - off
F - 3k and I did kickboxing at the UMaine Rec Center! (Beautiful new gym, check out their facilities!)
S - 6k
S - walk 30 mins

I actually ended up doing the 6k today (time 39:39, pace 10:35, 3 - 1 minute walking breaks). I ended up waking up too late on the weekend and so by the time I got up it was WAY too hot! Today was beautiful though. It was a tough run which I attribute to me not sticking to my schedule. So I want to make a point of trying to stay on track.

Some photos from my run today:

Two photos while I'm crossing a bridge.

View of the bridge from another part of my run.

The route I've been doing lately has allowed me to check out my current neighbourhood a little bit which is nice. I go over that bridge twice (there and back), which allows for gorgeous views and a nice breeze. Today I ran through the University of Maine campus which has great tree cover. My only complaint is that in a lot of areas the sidewalks are TERRIBLE but there is usually a wide shoulder, so I run there instead.

My running schedule (week 6) for this week is:

M - off (but I ran the 6k)
T - 3k
W - 5k
T - off
F - 4k
S - 7k
S - walk 30 mins

I am trying to increase my strength, and so I am trying to incorporate more strength workouts in my routine. I find this difficult to do on my own, as usually by the time I get home from a run (even just 3k!) I am WIPED out. I think the heat has a lot to do with it. This is why I attended kickboxing last week. 
I want to do kettlebell on Wednesday, but I'm not sure if I'm up for a 5k AND kettlebell. Looking for some opinions here... should I keep my current schedule and try to do a 5k and kettlebell? I could also switch my T/W run and do 5k tomorrow and 3K & kettlebell Wednesday, but then I would be doing a 6k and a 5k back to back. Let me know if you have any insight! Thanks

source: http://umaine.edu/wp-content/rotator/222/Rec%20Ctr%20At%20Night.jpg

The beautiful UMaine Rec Center lit up at night!