Saturday, September 6, 2014

Ultimate Coffee Date - September 2014

Good morning! It's time for another edition of The Ultimate Coffee Date, so grab a cup of joe, and let's chat!

If we were having coffee this morning... The Ultimate Coffee Date Sept 2014

If we were having coffee this morning... I'd be very distracted! We're heading out for a 30-mile bike ride in a few minutes for Day 1 of the Ventura Marathon Beach Party weekend! Day 2 I'm running a half marathon. We arrived yesterday afternoon to some CRAZY wind. I'm hoping it dies down a little for the ride and the run.

If we were having coffee this morning... I'd tell you all about my awesome August, and ask you how your August was. And maybe ask what fun plans you have for September.

If we were having coffee this morning... I'd definitely ask you for your advice about running a free full or half marathon on Oct 12th in Long Beach. I've mentioned it before, but I still haven't decided which distance to run. You see, I'm running a full in mid-November, and I've got to PR it, so I'm not sure if I should risk running a nice, easy full just a month prior or trying to run a fast half. Help me! :)

Kind of a short coffee date this month, but I've gotta jet! Have a great one!!

While I'm out biking, feel free to relax for awhile, and catch up with some other bloggers at the Ultimate Coffee Date?

Monday, September 1, 2014

August in Review

Happy Labor Day!! Hope everyone is enjoying the extra long weekend. I know I enjoyed sleeping in late and lounging around this morning!

Let's talk about August. IT WAS AMAZING!!! Seriously, so many fun things happened in August. It was my birthday month, after all.

Biggest highlight: Jeff and I ran a half marathon together. It was my birthday, and his first half marathon.


I got to meet-up with Katie from Twitter and ChaseThisSkirt for a #LadiesBeLike tweet-up at the Palms. She dropped off the fun alien green skirt and headband that I wore for the ET Half Marathon. So fun to meet up with her.


Jeff and I also got all dressed up to go to a friend's art show.


We had a pool day with some friends and my nephew and his girlfriend (and one of their friends), who were visiting from MN for the weekend.


I ramped up my running to officially start marathon training for Rock 'n Roll Vegas in November.

I've been slacking on my yoga, but I did create an easy yoga sequence to do in the morning - even before crawling out of bed.


I shared 5 lessons from Running that I haven't learned.


Jeff and I finally went for a couple bike rides to prepare for Ventura Marathon weekend, where we'll be biking 30-miles on Saturday, and I'll be running a half marathon on Sunday. Can't wait!!


Overall, it was a pretty winning month. In addition to all of the above, I also won two $25 GC to Starbucks in a couple of random drawings at work, a super cute Uberfit tank from This Mama Runs for Cupcakes, AND entry to Long Beach Marathon (or half... I still haven't decided) from Fitness Fatale.

Perfect for my birthday month, right?

Let's check in on my 2014 goals.

Individual Goals

Fitness goals - Run Faster and Train Harder
After my July fitness challenges ended in early Aug, my train harder kind of stopped - unless you include the ramp-up of running mileage. I have been good about getting in some speed work, so there's that. The heat is still kind of killing me, but fall is right around the corner. Even though it's still been triple digits here. I mean Starbucks released the Pumpkin Spice Latte, which means fall, right?!

Blogging goals
I like blogging, but it's a little difficult to see my numbers drop every month. :-( At least my social following has been growing, so there's that... Now, how to get them to pop over and read my blog, too. lol.
  • Monday Listicles? Rumor has it this will start up again in September, so maybe next week...?
  • Fitness Friday posts? I think I posted once on a Friday, but linked up a couple more times.
  • What's for Dinner/Week-in-Review posts? With all the craziness of the month, my weekends have been busy, and I *may* have missed a week.

Goals with Jeff

Run a Triathlon. We've decided to push this back to 2015. It's just not the right time for us with me training for a marathon and other things going on.

Read 3 books together. Maybe in September. :)

New in 2014. Have I mentioned we ran a half marathon together? :-) It wasn't my first, but it was his. Plus it was definitely our first together.

New in 2014 | Enjoying the Course


Enriching Activities. We knocked off a cultural activity (our friend's art show) plus we found a great (new to us) biking/running trail. We'll be doing a lot more bike rides and running on this trail for sure!

2014 Enriching Activities | Enjoying the Course

What was your biggest highlight from August?
How are you doing with your 2014 goals?