An Unplanned 2-A-Day

As you are probably well aware, Chicago has been the victim of feet upon feet of snow.  And then magically, it got warmer yesterday.  Ok so it's not magic, it's science.  But for the sake of the story, let's call it magic because it seemed as if warmth would never come our way.  But alas, the warmth came and the snow melted.  But wait, it gets better.  Then it rained ALL day.

Despite the wet conditions, I still thought I would try to run outside yesterday morning.  I couldn't not take advantage of the first time temperatures were above freezing in as long as I can remember.  So I put on my fave long spandex, a long sleeve, and a short sleeve and headed on my way.  I didn't even bring my iPod because I thought I would just enjoy the pure fact that I was not on a treadmill.  Well, that and although it wasn't raining when I left, I was worried I would get rained on and I didn't want my iPod to get wet.  The poor thing has it hard enough dealing with my sweat.

I expected some puddles, but this was so much more.  I had to either run through small lakes or figure out ways to get around them - which often meant going into the street and weaving around parked cars, etc.  And some parts were slippery because temperatures were getting closer to freezing and causing all the water to turn to ice (more science).  So basically, I felt like I was not getting in a good workout and it was not worth it to keep trying to get through all the water and ice so I decided to call it quits at 2.3 miles.  I had the Garmin and I believe my miles were 8:07 and 8:3x (don't remember exactly).

Fast forward to the evening and I was back at the running again.  I wasn't satisfied with the short morning run since I took Wednesday completely off.  I had no real plan when I went to the gym in the evening, but soon decided I would do a tempo run.  It wasn't a long tempo, but still a tempo.  It went like this:

2 miles warm-up between 8:34 and 8:00 (7.0 - 7.5)

1 mile @ 7:19 (8.2)

1 mile @ 7:13 (8.3)

.5 miles @ 8:00

 

Total - 4.5 miles in 34:45

 

I'm happy with how I felt although I know I need to be doing longer tempos...or at least a long warm-up/cool-down to up the mileage.  But for now, I am really happy with it.

 

I think what I hate most about treadmill running (especially today) is how sweaty I get.  I like that the YMCA has huge fans, so I actually am cold when I enter the area wearing only my shorts and tank, but once I get going I can't control the sweat.  What I don't like about the Y is that they charge you for a towel and I always forget to bring my own!  But even when I do have a towel, it sucks having to wipe your face every few minutes (or more often).  I guess when I'm outside I don't think about it as much.  But when I'm running on a treadmill staring at myself in the mirror the entire time, there isn't much else on my mind except wishing I could stop and clean my face with soap and water.  (Not soup and water as I almost just typed, that would be gross...)

 

So now that I've most recently left you visions of either my sweaty face or washing your face with soup... let's get something happy and fun in here.  It is Friday after all!  But not just any Friday.  It's my dad's birthday!!!  This is a photo from his 31st birthday:

 

 

That beautiful, red-haired baby in his arms is me, along with some of my cousins.

 

And a more current picture of us:

 

My how hair colors can change.  Dad is on his way to Vegas right now for his birthday :)  I hope he'll come back with a present for me.

Do you ever do a 2nd run/workout in the evening if your morning run doesn't go as planned?

Have you been to Vegas?  What was your favorite part?

(Long) Weekend Photo Bomb - 11/27 - 11/30

It's been a nice long holiday weekend off of work and I've been busy with all sorts or activities.  I did 2 races (a 5k and a half marathon) and will have a full recap of those in the next few days, but in the meantime, here's the long weekend in pictures:

Dinner and gambling at the casino.  Dad hasn't quite figured out that the iPhone can be turned sideways to get everyone in the picture.  Mom and Patrick were the big winners of the night.

Catherine and I ran the Edison Park Turkey Trot 5k (like we do every year) in matching turkey headbands and tiger-print shorts.

My dear little cousin, Elizabeth.  We share a love for bread.  I told her that's called carbo-loading and she helped me carbo-load for Saturday's race  :)  On Friday, we celebrated her new baby brother's Baptism.

Post-half marathon selfie.  Very cold!

All aboard!  The entire Smith family (and "SigOs" - significant others) took a Christmas trolley ride through the city.

A few of the girls, ready to go.

View of the Chicago skyline from Smith trolley stop #1.

 Dad and I at the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights - Smith trolley stop #2.

Things escalated quickly... even had to make a few extra stops for beer/champagne runs (and bathroom runs).

Started the weekend with gambling, why not end it with a little family gambling?   A pizza party after the trolley and a 30+ person game of LCR - Shannon was the big winner.

And another running selfie.  An easy 4 miles Sunday morning in my all purple outfit.  Just kidding, I put another shirt on over that, but thought it looked funny when I was wearing all purple so I had to take a picture.

So there's the long weekend in pictures!  How was your long weekend?  What did you do??

My Chicago Marathon Super Fans

I remind my family quite frequently that I had nobody watching me in my very first marathon in Columbus of 2010.  My parents (and all the other aunts and uncles) had a 50th wedding anniversary party to go to that weekend and Columbus is about a 6 hour drive from Chicago.

But they all made up for it at this year's Chicago Marathon!  I didn't expect so many family members to come, but my family sure does love running.  (We even have our own marathon, 2 years strong.)

I'm not 100% sure, but I think they all planned to wear red on purpose.  I knew to look for my family around mile 4.5 first and was told Aunt Mary Ellen would have a red Elmo balloon.  Sure enough, I spotted them all.  I hope they weren't too bored while waiting, but it seems like that got some good family photos in the meantime.  (And obviously they didn't have to wait too long since I was RIGHT behind the Kenyans, duh.)

 They all had really great signs too!

Besides my family, I also had a lot of friends come out and cheer too!  Catherine and Matt were at miles 3.5 and 16.5.

Wondering what a TIGER BODYSLAM is?  Catherine's main track event in high school was the 2 mile race.  If you've ever been to a track meet, distance events aren't nearly as fun to watch as sprints and given the longer distance, the field of competition is pretty spread out.  A lot of times, the slower runners end up getting lapped by the faster runners.  To take care of this problem, at one meet the 2 mile race was called "Tiger takes the Tail" where the runner in last place after each lap of the 2 mile race would be stopped and not allowed to finish the race.

So basically, we decided that for this to happen, the tiger mascot person would body slam the person in last place and not let them finish. I'm glad I didn't get tiger bodyslammed during the marathon.

Steph and Danny were around mile 17-18 I think?  I don't remember that clearly, but Steph was jumping up and down with her sign.

Christina and Jim were around mile 6 with a big pirate balloon and n awesome sign that said "Your feet hurt because you're kickin' butt!"

I tried to remember other good signs, but my brain was kind of fried while running.  One said "Run quietly, I'm hungover" and then all the standard ones like "Worst Parade Ever."

But back to my fans...

I think the most mobile group of fans was Uncle Ron, Uncle Rob, and Jessica.  They were at 16, 18, and 20...as well as the earlier miles 4 and 10.  They used a car, which proved a better strategy than the other group who walked and barely missed me at 17.

Another perk of having fans at the race is that they can take pictures and I don't have to pay for the professional ones if I wanted a picture.  However, this does not improve the quality of how I look while I run.

I really loved my headband...I don't know if I can give enough plugs for how awesome those Sweaty Bands work to hold my hair back and are also glittery and thus, awesome.

I also spotted a few other people I knew along the course which was good to see.  And of course, the other 1.7 million strangers were great to see as well.  So thank you to everyone who was able to come out and cheer!

And also thank you to my fans who were not physically there, but texted me throughout the days leading up to the race and afterwards.  Some of my friends even made signs, took pictures of themselves holding the signs, and then mailed me the pictures.  :)

The Day Before - Expo & Pasta Party

This past Saturday, the day before the Chicago Marathon, was filled with a lot of fun, excitement, and nervousness.  Angela, Olivia, and I headed downtown to meet Michael, Drew, Patrick, and Josh to take the free shuttle bus to the Expo at McCormick Place.  Right when we got inside, we ran into Carly and took a group picture!

After getting our bib numbers and t-shirts, we all spent some time exploring, grabbing free samples, shopping, signing the #OWNCHICAGO wall.  We also met up briefly with Mac, Kevin, and Jason.  AND some fellow UDXC alum, Kelly and Allie were working the Sweaty Bands booth, so we got to pause for a picture with them.  I'm glad I have so many running friends  :)

There were about a million gazillion people at the Expo, so it was hard to move and keep track of everyone that we came with.  But eventually, we all met up and made our way back home on the shuttle.

Some of the free stuff I got included: a cowbell, a poster, sunglasses, samples of various energy chews and drinks, and a water bottle.  Angela and I also teamed up and bought 2 pairs of running socks each because they were buy 3, get 1 free.

By about 3pm however, I was nowhere near as excited and energetic as I was a few hour earlier.  I think all the noise and chaos of the Expo got to me and gave me a killer headache.  I got back to my apartment and had about an hour before people would be over for the pasta party.  I needed to clean up a little more and get ready, but instead I just sat in the dark and tried to make the headache go away.  I tried to eat some peanut butter on toast, but threw that up within 15 minutes and then threw up again right after my parents arrived to help set up.

My mom thinks I just made myself really nervous and worked up over the whole event, which is probably true.  But people started to arrive, so I kept taking Tylenol and tried to help set up and mingle.  I couldn't eat much of the pasta, but bread seemed to be good.  And I had made a pumpkin cake (pumpkin bread, but baked in a cake pan and covered in chocolate frosting) that I was able to eat.

So that is the reason I was so hungry by the time I got to the starting line and needed to eat half of a bagel during the marathon.  I did eat a bowl of Smart Start and half pack of GU Chomps the morning of the race, but that wasn't doing the job.

I was glad so many friends were able to come - work friends, running friends, Dayton friends.  And especially thanks to my parents for buying/bringing all the food!...even though my dad was not having fun hanging out with a bunch of 20-somethings.

Other attendees not pictured: Mom and Dad, Mac, his parents, Rachelle, and Christopher

So it was a busy, nerve-wrecking day.  I was sure I was going to wake up Sunday with the same horrible headache and not be able to run well because of it.  But I kept downing the Tylenol, was able to get to sleep around 9pm or so, and woke up in the morning feeling great!

A Look Back at My First 2 Marathons

With the Chicago Marathon coming up IN 4 DAYS, I decided I should write a little about the 2 other marathons I have finished.

Columbus Marathon 2010:

Alex and I decided during the spring of our senior year at UD that we would train for the Columbus Marathon in October.  We were set to be roommates during our 5th year and thought this would be a good way to keep in shape since we wouldn't be running for UD that year.

(I know, I've already had this picture on the blog, but I think it's one of our best.)

I was coming back from an injury that had me confined to cross training during the spring, but slowly began to build up mileage throughout June and July.  By the time I was back at UD in mid-August, I was having no pain while running and was so happy to be back on campus and able to run with Alex and the younger UDXC girls.

Alex and I talked about running and the Columbus Marathon A LOT.  It was the first marathon for both of us, so it was a great learning experience.  I think one of my favorite discussions was about what form of energy supplements to take while running - the gu, the gummies, etc.

Here were my race splits:

I ran the race exactly as I planned - start at 8 minute pace for the first 5 miles, pick it up for as long as I can, and then I drastically slowed down over the last 10K.  I remember miles 6-18 were all between 7:15 and 7:35 and I remember thinking that the half marathon in the middle of my marathon would've been right on a PR.

Terrible picture, but it's the only one I have.  I had no race spectators so I had to ask a random lady to take my picture after I finished.  I was super pumped to have finished my first marathon in a time that was significantly under the BQ time - 3:28:55.

Chicago Marathon 2011:

I registered for the Chicago Marathon in February during my 5th year at UD.  I had been a spectator at the Chicago Marathon every year since I was a junior in high school when my cross country team volunteered at a Gatorade station along the course and really wanted to run it.

My training was decent in the earlier part of the summer...and then I started a public accounting job.  The longest run I got in during that summer was 17 miles on a Saturday morning in mid-August.  And then I went to work for a solid 14 hours that day.  I got very sick one day about a week later at the end of August due to being over-worked and after that, I think I didn't run at all for a solid 2-3 weeks.  Then I tried to get in a few more runs, but by that time, it was too late to get in any real training.  Needless to say, I was not prepared for the race and had gained about 10 pounds in just a few months due to the stresses of my job and minimal exercise.

I remember thinking the first few miles were OK, but by the time I started heading back south from Wrigley, so about 6 miles in, I could tell it was going to be a rough day.  From these splits though it looks like my first half was fairly decent...then I crashed and burned.  My mom told me I looked a lot better when they saw me around mile 18 than I did around mile 10.  I think by that point I knew I wasn't going to finish in any great time, so I just did what I could to finish and experience the race.

(sign made by Rachelle)

I had lots of spectators at this one - Mom & Dad, Catherine (Matt was running too!), Rachelle, Bailey, Jim & his sister, and a few aunts, uncles, and cousins (Aunt Bernadette & Uncle Rob were running too).  The best part though was that right when I finished, I crossed the line and almost fell over in Christina.  She told me she would be working the finish line (she was a PT student at the time) to help runners and luckily I found her right away!  And then the worst part of the day...walking a gazillion miles from Grant Park to wherever the car was parked.

And now I will have even more spectators at this year's Chicago Marathon!!

MNF - Monday Night Fun - 20 Miles

I did ANOTHER long run in the middle of the week...and not just a moderate-distance long run, I'm talking the longest run I've done training for this marathon yet.  Mac and I ran 20.5 miles in 2 hours and 40 minutes - averaging 7:48 pace .

Would you like to know why we had to do it on a Monday night instead of over the weekend?  Mac overslept on Sunday AGAIN.  But that was fine with me because I felt a lot better running last night than I would have at 6am Sunday morning.

Here are the splits from the Garmin for 20 miles:

8:08, 7:53, 8:01, 7:44, 7:53, 7:51,7:39, 7:35, 7:29, 7:31, 8:00, 8:00, 8:07, 8:29, 8:17, 8:24, 7:59, 8:05, 8:07, 8:05

We started at my apartment and ran to the lakefront path and then ran south...really far south.  On our way south, we decided that we would turn around to be back in the downtown area at about 10 miles and then run essentially the same route as the first 10 miles of the Chicago Marathon, which would end right near my apartment.

Picture break (because I have none from yesterday and my dad loves being in blog pictures): 

The course goes north on Columbus drive, underneath some other streets for a little while, so you are basically running in a long tunnel.  We lost reception on the Garmin here, so those 2 miles I highlighted in red were skewed...the Garmin told us each was close to 10 minutes which I can tell you was not correct.  Once we were at around 8 miles into the run and started hitting some good splits, we decided to try to keep that up until at least 12 miles, which I think we did.  I'll just call them 8 minutes and leave it at that.  I was wondering though if the loss of Garmin reception in that long tunnel makes a lot of people angry during the marathon.  I bet it does, but it's in the first mile or 2, so I'm sure they get over it.  It would be super frustrating though.

And then around miles 14-15, we both really started to crash I think.  I felt like I was trying really hard, but just not moving fast anymore.  Over the 2nd half of the run while we were on city streets, we did get randomly slowed down by slow people walking/blocking the sidewalk and stopped for a few seconds at a few street lights - nothing too crazy though...so maybe if we were on the lakefront path we could've more easily maintained a solid pace?  We stopped in a Chipotle for a water/bathroom break around mile 15 and had only made 2 other quick stops around miles 8 and 12 for Gu/water.  I felt a lot better over the last 4 miles and felt surprisingly strong when I finished...although I was VERY happy to be done of course.

I went to bed shortly after the run...then woke up about 7 hours later to run again.  Mac came back in the AM and we did a super easy 3.5 mile run to stretch out.  So now I don't plan to run again for at least 36 hours.

Do you get frustrated when the Garmin loses reception?

Do you ever stop in random restaurants for water breaks?  - I usually try to find a McDonald's when I need to.

Weekend Running and a Video Chat

First of all, I'll tell you about my runs the last few days, and then some other random fun things I have to share.

I ran again on Friday evening, but only 3 miles because my legs still felt really weird, like during Wednesday's workout. I don't really know how to describe the way they have been feeling, but they are very tight and just don't feel "right." I am going to try getting back into running in the mornings and hope that will help a little.

Today's run was supposed to be 18 miles, but I cut it a little short.  Actually a lot short. I went to the Elk Grove Forest Preserve and Mac was supposed to meet me there, but he overslept. I debated going back home and then doing the run on streets instead of the trail and to get my iPod, but decided to stay there and get it done. The loop is 7.7 miles and then there is another trail that shoots off and is 2 miles. So I started the loop and then when I was at about 27 minutes, I split off onto the other trail and did the 2 miles out and then back. So then I was at almost an hour (I didn't have my Garmin but I used the trail markers to time a few of my miles and they were all pretty much exactly 8 minute pace.) I continued running the loop, but after a little longer I knew I wasn't going to be able to force myself to do another loop. So at 1 hour and 20 minutes, I stopped and walked the rest of the way back.

I was a little disappointed in myself, but I guess it has just been an off week. My legs did feel better this morning though. I have 4 weeks left before I have to taper, so I figure I can get in an 18-20 mile run each of the next 2 weekends, then a step back week, then another 20 mile run.

But now for something fun, this was the highlight of my weekend:

A Google Hangout with some of my very best friends!! We were all group texting during the day and apparently very few of us had plans on a Saturday night, so why not do a video power hour with each other? My excuse for staying in was legit though since I had to do a long run in the morning, so I also couldn't actually participate in the power hour, but it was still a boatload of fun. It has been determined that this needs to happen once a week.  I really miss this group.  And because they expressed interest in me writing about this/being in pictures, this is one of my favorite picture of some of us:

Another person who really loves this blog and being in pictures My dad. Remember when he wanted lots of pictures of him? This weekend, he shot an 81 at his golf league.  He was hoping for a 78, but I think he was still happy with it.  He would love if I gave you all an analysis of his game and which holes he pared, etc., but I don't remember.  He did give me a few good ideas for future posts though, so I'll get those in soon enough. And to be fair, my mom did a 10 mile bike ride this morning.  Unfortunately, we did not coordinate her bike ride with my run, but maybe we can for another long run.

Do you ever video chat with your friends that live far away?

Guest Post: Erin's "17 Things About Colleen"

Today I have a special treat for you - a guest post written my by lovely cousin Erin.  We are like peas and carrots.  She is the one who got me into blog reading and encouraged me to start my own.  And now that I have been working hard on this blog and just yesterday finished my "About Me" page, Erin decided she would like to give my readers a little more insight...

Hey there! My name is Erin, and I am Colleen’s cousin. I am also a 20-something living, working, and working out in Chicago…I just don’t run insane distances like CSmith. I graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2012, and the only other real things you need to know about me are that I am obsessed with Christmas, the Cubs, and the number 217. The last one usually needs a little explanation, and it’s pretty simple: I was born on February 17.

In light of the fact that today is 817 (aka halfway to 217!), I figured today would be an optimal day to write 17 things about Colleen that you cannot learn from her About Me page. I could probably come up with a full 217 list items seeing as I have known Colleen since the very first 217 that I celebrated, but I think that’d be a little much for you to read. So here goes!

1. Colleen and I once bought a sign at a craft fair that said “Forget the dog, beware of Colleen.” We hung it up on the door of her room. I think she still has it.
2. Pennellwood Resort is Colleen’s (and my) favorite vacation spot. I know she already posted about it, but it’s so important that it deserves its own list item here, too. There are plans in the works to perhaps open up our own Pennellwood one day.

3. Colleen loves Christmas almost as much as I do, and we both love Christmas music. I start listening to it on October 17 (aka 1017) each year and force her to do so also. Our favorite Christmas song is “Joy to the World,” by Neil Diamond. We – along with our cousin Katie – made up a dance to that song and filmed it in 2002. We all wore our matching pink North Face fleeces in the dance.
4. Colleen ran the 2010 Columbus Marathon all by herself and with no spectators. Most importantly, she was number 217 for this race.

5. Colleen loves bread, specifically Pennellwood bread. Pennellwood bread is just what you’d expect it to be – bread that Pennellwood Resort baked each and every morning. It was fresh and delicious, but no one loved it more than Colleen.
6. Plaid skirts are always in style on Christmas, and Colleen and I (accidentally) coordinated our Christmas Eve outfits one year to keep with the trend. Great minds think alike.

7. Colleen, our cousin Katie, and I have dubbed one night each year “D-Day.” We use this night to annoy Colleen’s dad, Don, and it falls during the week of Thanksgiving. Examples of past annoyances include putting post-it notes all over the kitchen walls, turning on every single light in the house, and filling his car with random objects so that it’s nearly impossible for him to get in let alone drive. They are harmless pranks, but they are fun. And he gets annoyed, which is the point.
8. Tubing on our uncle’s boat (we call him Captain Ron) is one of our favorite memories and things to do. Sometimes we both tube at the same time and then execute a mid-ride tube switch.

9. Nesquik is not called Nesquik when conversing with Colleen. It is referred to as “the Q,” because she used to drink so much of it that it was essentially her drug.
10. Colleen and I once made a commercial for Juicy Fruit gum when we were about 13 and 11 respectively. It had something to do with Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” as the background music I think.
11. Usually, for our birthdays, Grandma and Grandpa Smith give each of us cousins a bag of chocolate chip cookies as part of our gift. Going along with number 5, Colleen instead receives a bag of rolls for her birthday.

12. G-chat is where Colleen and I spend our time conversing every single day. We also text very pointless messages to one another, which occasionally include random Forrest Gump quotes.
13. Pizza Hut used to be a huge food staple in Colleen’s life. We spent many a Friday night sleeping over at her house and ordering from “the hut.” Their breadsticks are divine.
14. For about four years in a row (maybe more?), Colleen was a parrot for Halloween.

15. Acronyms are used far too frequently in our conversations. A few commonly used examples include: DTJ (“do the job” or “did the job”), BOG/GOG (“be on G-chat”/”get on G-chat”), YATWL (you are the weakest link”), CCC (“Colmone Country Club), LNPTDID (“Let’s not put the ‘duh’ in ‘dumb’.’’), and HIHACLY (“Happiness is having a cousin like you.”). That last one is a phrase we saw on a plaque at one of the Arlington Racetrack Craft Shows we attended.
16. The 4th of July is a big day for Colleen, although we typically call it “the FOJ” (gotta keep the acronym theme alive). A lot of our family members come to Niles to watch the Niles Parade, since it is pretty great. Colleen’s favorite part of that parade is the Little People.

17. Colleen and I enjoy making lists, and our best one was “CAEUSTDL 2010,” which was “Colleen and Erin’s Ultimate Summer To Do List.” It included a number of things that we never accomplished, but obviously we still have it and will cross everything off eventually. I hope you’ve enjoyed this list and keep coming back to CSmith Run to do just that!

2 Months Til the Chicago Marathon!

Alright, so yesterday was the 2 months til the marathon mark.  I really haven't been getting in as high of mileage that I had wanted to over the past couple weeks, but I still have about 6-7 weeks left before I need to taper down.  And I have been happy with the long run mileage that I have done.

During my training for the Columbus Marathon in 2010, I did a 16 mile run actually on this very date.  Then, 2 weeks later I jumped up to a 19.5 mile run on the last weekend in August.  So as of now in this cycle of marathon training, I've already done 3 15 or 16 mile runs which I'm happy with.  And then can hopefully get in at least 3 of 18-20 before the end of September which I think should be doable.  I have also been doing at least a few more miles per week than I did that year and have gotten in some quality speed work already, which I never did while training for Columbus.

 

 I really don't like that picture of me, but it's the only one I have from the Columbus Marathon.  I'm jealous of people that look flawless during/after running.  I was number 217!!  I can explain that significance in another post I am planning.

In other news: One of my very best college friends and roommate and teammate and Columbus Marathon training partner, Alex, is ENGAGED!!  Alex is running the Columbus Marathon again this year and hopes to break 3 hours because she is that awesome!  We had a great time while we were training for the Columbus Marathon in 2010 as roommates - as I look back at my running log from that year, almost every entry starts with "ran with Alex today..."  I miss that!

In similar news: My cousin Jennifer has set her wedding date!!  Jennifer is the eldest Smith cousin and the first of us to get married.  We are all just a little excited for this!

Good looking family right there I tell ya.  Loads of fun, too.

This evening I ran 5.15 miles in 38 minutes - 7:23 pace.  I had no intention of running that fast.  I just went out for a what was supposed to be a normal pace run and when I got to where I knew was 2 miles away, I was at 14:55 so I knew I was going fast.  So I decided to just keep it up at that pace and finish the 5+ mile route I had planned.  I felt so strong, I think because I am still so sore from the weekend at the lake.  I could feel every muscle in my upper body working hard...and my legs too obviously, but those aren't quite as sore as my arms, shoulders, and back.


I also did the 7 minute workout again right before I ran tonight.  My cousin Joe told us about it over the weekend, and then a group of all the girls did it together (twice) on Monday morning to start our day of activity.  So  here's a link to the 7 minute workout timer, which tells you which exercise to do and counts down the time for each exercise and the transition time in between each.  And here's a link explaining the science behind it.  I think doing it just once was pretty easy, so doing it 2 or 3 times would probably be more worth it.  Or maybe increasing the time of each exercise from 30 to 45 seconds, or something like that to make it a little more intense.

And because my dad wants to be in more pictures on my blog, here are a few more from the lake with him:

(I like making faces when Mom takes my picture.)

(Boys table at dinner Saturday night)

(Mom and Dad on the dock - cloudy day :/ )

(Dad and Uncle Joe on the wave runner)

Do you have any good short/high intensity workouts that you like?

Do you like being in pictures? - I sure do, but I can do without the ones of me after running...