My Running Playlist

First of all, I just wanted to say please bear with me while I get my blog up and fully functioning. I'm currently working on a more detailed "about me" page, as well as a more definite theme for my blog as a whole. Thanks for visiting!

Last night's workout kicked my booty. I am in no way able to run at a 6.5 pace for more than 10 seconds. I finished most of the run as planned, and tacked on 20 minutes to my workout with this machine.

I'm not quite sure what it's called (it kind of resembles an elliptical) but it's excellent for getting my legs into shape for ski season. I also used some free weights to do various arm exercises. Followed up by a post workout smoothie (sorry for the cell phone camera quality pictures):

In the smoothie:

Milk

Dark sweet cherries

Strawberries

Kale

Banana

Arbonne chocolate protein powder (a little expensive, but totally worth it)

This is definitely one of my favorite combinations. I usually stick with spinach in smoothies because it blends better, but kale was all I had on hand. The cherries and banana make it really sweet without any added sugar (besides the protein powder, of course).


Now, on to the main topic of this post: my running playlist. I am extremely picky when it comes to the music I listen to while working out. It must be something fast paced with a lot of bass. Pitbull is one of my favorite artists to listen to, especially while I'm running. 

My current playlist

I also get sick of my playlists fairly quickly. This is definitely a problem because my workouts always seem to drag if I'm not really into the music I'm listening to. 

I'm desperately asking for music suggestions to keep my playlist fresh and interesting. 

What are your favorite songs to listen to while you workout?

Today called for sweatpants, fuzzy boots, and lots of coffee.

I had a pretty late night last night and a very early morning to study for a chemistry exam. There are two more weeks until the end of the semester, so most teachers are trying to cram in last minute tests before final exam week. 

I did manage to pull together a pretty good dinner last night though. After a quick trip to the grocery store, I was able to make this delicious dish.

 Steak stir-fry with jasmine rice

The stir-fry had precooked steak, red, green, and yellow red bell peppers, broccoli, onion, and snap peas. I let the vegetables steam in olive oil and a little bit of water for 15 minutes or so, then added the precooked steak. After letting that simmer for a few minutes, I added La Choy Original Stir-Fry Sauce. 

I was hoping to have leftovers to last a few days, but it was so good that my boyfriend, Miles, ended up eating most of the intended leftovers. Oh well, at least it was good :).

While dinner was cooking, I munched on some pomegranate arils. I love pomegranate season.

Tonight I have a date with my biology homework. After I get sick of doing that, I'll mosey on over to the gym. I plan on trying a new treadmill interval workout. Side note: It's not unusual for me to not make it to the gym until 1am sometimes (thank goodness for 24/hr gyms). Does anybody else do their workout really late at night?

(source)

Since this is a pretty short one, I'll probably hop on the elliptical for 15 minutes and add some strength training at the end.

What are your favorite strength training exercises?
Also, anybody have a favorite interval workout?

Have a good night!

First post!

Hi, everyone! My name is Courtney and I'm new to the world of blogging :).

A few quick facts about myself:

• I'm a junior in college, majoring in Clinical Lab Science
• I'm 20 years old
• I live in the snowy state of Michigan, so most of my workouts are indoors this time of year
• Telemark skiing is my sport of choice
• I used to run every single day in junior high, but became discouraged after joining track and field and realizing my teammates were much faster than I was

I hope to use this blog to document my achievements (and many, many struggles) that come with developing a healthy lifestyle. I'm specifically interested in running, so most of my workouts will be centered around that. I do try to eat a healthy and balanced diet; however, my main focus at the moment is maintaining a regular workout schedule. Hopefully I can incorporate healthier foods into my lifestyle more regularly at a later point.

Developing a regular exercise schedule the past few weeks has been a challenge. I haven't been doing the exercise thing long enough to form a habit of working out a set amount of times each week, but I'm working on it. I seem to be able to manage at least four days a week, so I'm definitely off to a decent start. Last week, I did a turkey trot 5k with my sister, Krista.


                                          (source)
The main reason I started to run again was for this race. I didn't want to feel completely unprepared for it (as I did last year) so I started "training" for it about two weeks before the race. I use the term training very loosely because I didn't actually follow a plan, and there really wasn't any rhyme or reason to my running other than trying to increase my endurance and speed. However, it seemed to pay off because I ran the best turkey trot this year out of the three years I've done it. I'm not going to lie, it was still pretty slow (42:04). Even though there's a lot of room for improvement, I'm proud I was able to do that with the little amount of preparing I did.

I hope everyone enjoys this blog; I will update as frequently as finals allow in the next few weeks ;). Please feel free to link your blogs to me. I would be happy to check them out!