Here's to one of many more!!!! :)

What a great way to start a work week….Monday was my baby brother’s 8^th birthday and my one year celebration of meeting the love of my life!!  As I had mentioned before, most of my family lives back in Virginia so FaceTime REALLY comes in handy on special occasions.  Jared and I got to sing Happy Birthday while we were at dinner….it made my heart smile.

Just to give you guys some background into my relationship, Jared and I met a year ago at a local gym in Myrtle Beach; American Athletic Club.  Neither of us was looking for any type of relationship but if anyone knows Jared, he has a way with words.  We both had and still have pretty similar schedules so we were consistently at the gym around the same hour every day.  After passing each other a few times, Jared approached me with a corny pick up line that I still give him crap for today but I guess a year later, his cheesy one liner worked!  I do have to say, it is amazing meeting someone in a place such as the gym for several reasons but the one main reason is because I instantly knew that we both had something in common:  we love and are extremely passionate about working out and staying in good shape.  He has truly been a blessing in my life and I look forward to our bright future! :)

 Anyway, enough with the mushy stuff….

So to celebrate our one year anniversary, we went to one of my favorite restaurants….THE MELTING POT!!!  And boy was it delish!!

Of course the first dish....fiesta cheese!!  This was my favorite part :)

Then came the main course....the lobster was to die for.

And of course, Jared's favorite part of the meal....THE CHOCOLATE!!!

We were both completely STUFFED after this meal.  

Before our dinner, we got in a nice quick leg work out and I really pushed myself.  It’s nice to have a partner there telling you “YOU GOT 22 THIS TIME!!!”

Because my workouts were limited last week due to traveling, I still had to squeeze an additional 5 miles in this week on top of the 13 that I already have to do according to my half-marathon plan.  It probably wasn’t the BEST idea to do a 5 mile HILL routine on the treadmill the day after working legs but I got through it….panting….hopefully the people on the treadmills around me weren’t offended because I was definitely breathing hard on this one: 

You can of course adjust the speeds to fit your running level.  I’m not going to lie, once I got to the 4^th incline, I had to step off and grab a quick drink of water because I was DYING.  I did finish strong though!!  My goal on the treadmill is always to get to the mileage before the time says on my routine so during the last mile (minutes 40-50), instead of going 6.0 speed the entire mile, I increased my speed .1 every minute so I was up to 6.9 towards the end of the mile.  It was fun and I finished my 5 miles just under 48 minutes doing it this way and had a couple of minutes to spare at the end to walk and cool down.  I would STRONGLY suggest this workout, especially if you are used to running on flat land like me; it’s good cross training!  And not to mention, I was DRENCHED and I LOVE to sweat!!!!!

After my long run, I attempted to fulfill my shoulder day but as soon as I got about 10 minutes into my workout, I began to realize that I probably worked my upper body more than I thought with running up hill because I was WEAK when I tried to do strength training.  I got through some of this but I’m pushing it back to Wednesday since it’s my 3 mile run day and my upper body should have more strength to get through this tough shoulder workout:  

This morning I had a soft boiled egg on a extra fiber, honey wheat English muffin and a slice of American cheese with 2 pieces of turkey sausage.  I topped this off with a protein shake (one scoop with 8 ounces of skim milk)!

For lunch, tuna fish sandwich on health full bread (Arnold brand) with some not so good for you chips and dip!  Hey I have to treat myself somehow :)

Mid-day snack:  my FAVORITE women’s vitality trail mix from the Fresh Market in Pawleys Island w/ a Spark drink! 

My workout today consisted of a quick 3 mile run (finished in 27 minutes):

Followed of course by the shoulder workout that I posted above...and I am happy to say I got through the whole thing! You definitely can't work arms/shoulders really hard on long run days....you really don't realize the workout your upper body is getting when you run!

Now for dinner as my very special boyfriend is out pressure washing my house.  I definitely wanted to cook us something protein rich but quick at the same time!  We picked up these chicken burgers that are GREAT at Costco...21 grams of protein!  We each ended up eating 2 of them...42 grams of protein, WOW!

Do you guys remember this thing?!?!!?  Haha...I do have to say it is VERY handy when you are trying to grill a quick meal!!

Cut up some vegetables to make a side salad....

It actually ended up being a great meal! :)

And of course, you can't forget the wine....and yes, we don't mind the cheap stuff! :)

Question of the day:  Where did you meet your spouse/significant other?  Although this has nothing to do with fitness, I LOVE hearing these stories! :)  In fact, one of the first questions I ask when sitting down with potential clients is "how did the 2 of you meet" and then they just start reminiscing and telling me their love story.  It's beautiful <3  

Cheers for now!