Where do you find your motivation?

Motivation....sometimes it is just the little push you need to get yourself to put on your running sneakers and head out the door.  Sometimes you need someone/something in your face to tell that little voice in your head to get up off the couch and move!

When I first joined Instagram I wasn't really sure about it.  Then when I signed up for my first half marathon (Disney Princess Half in Feb 2014) I started following other runners who were training for that race also.  I love seeing people post their outside and treadmill training runs. I knew that if they were running the same race as me, I better get my butt in gear and be running also and compare my mileage to what other new half marathon runners were running.

The longer I have been on Instagram I found more people to follow that like to run as much as I do.

Every morning I am up early on the treadmill on these dark winter days before work.  As I do my cool down walk after my run I check my Instagram page and am happy when I see other people already posting that they are up and working out early too.

Last year I became a Sweat Pink Ambassador.  If you haven't heard, Sweat Pink is a group of women to motivate each other in being healthy and supporting each other's goals. I started finding other Sweat Pink Ambasssadors to follow also and it is great seeing people set and meet their fitness/running goals.  It is fun to know that you are motivating someone too possibly start running too.  It is a great organization to be part of.

If you would like to find out more about being a Sweat Pink Ambassador yourself visit:

http://www.fitapproach.com

I would love to know which Instagram pages are your favorite to follow.  Please comment below or tag the page in my latest Instagram post. 

Also, if you and I are not following each other yet, please use the link on the side to follow me on Instagram and I will follow you back :)

I run because I really like to eat!

Let's be honest....this time of year I run just to try to balance out some of the yummy foods that I am eating this time of year.

Eggnog..... I LOVE IT!  I know it is so bad for you but I try to drink the light version so hopefully that is a little better.  Also, I will not allow myself to drink it before Thanksgiving or after New Years (I have to have some control).

I just looked online and there are 223 calories in one little cup of eggnog....ugh!   So, If I run about 2.5 miles on the treadmill each morning it balances out one cup of eggnog!  I will keep saying that to myself until I believe it.

Another thing I love is all the yummy Thanksgiving Day foods.  My favorites are mashed potatoes and corn casserole.  Carb city in both of them but I cannot let them pass by.  Here is the recipe I use for corn casserole (http://www.cooks.com/recipe/47p60l2/best-ever-corn-casserole.html)

What are you all doing for Thanksgiving?  We are having Thanksgiving at our house tomorrow with my parents so it will be a nice relaxing day just the four of us.

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving & safe travels if you are traveling.  

(This blog is so new that it might be just my parents that are reading this....so, if that is the case...see you soon Mom & Dad)

What is your favorite food at the holidays?  I would love to know 

Best Bars ~ Energy Bars that is (& a tiny giveaway)

I am a snacker and once I get hungry I am miserable until I find something little to eat.  I love trying different kinds of energy bars to try.  They taste great and are good to keep in my purse when I need a snack since they don't really melt or get smooshed by stuff in my purse.

I do have some favorites but there are just sooooo many to choose from.

Bear Naked Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter bars are super yummy and the chocolate chips make it feel more like a candy bar.  It is nice and filling and has 8 grams of protein so it keeps you feeling full for a while.

http://www.bearnaked.com/en_US/products/details/bear-naked-energy-bars-chocolate-peanut-butter-product.html

Kind Healthy Grain Bars are also a great choice.  They are gluten free, full of whole grains and have 3 grams of protein.

http://www.kindsnacks.com/kind-store/granola-bars/dark-chocolate-chunk-256.html

http://www.kindsnacks.com/kind-store/granola-bars/peanut-butter-dark-chocolate.html

Lastly, another one of my favorites are Clif Bars.  I have tried chocolate chip ones and like them. Around the holidays Clif Bars come out with seasonal flavors.  The seasonal flavors are only around for a limited time.  The other day I saw an offer on Twitter to be able to try the three seasonal flavors (Iced Gingerbread, Spiced Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie) for $3.00.  I ordered them right away.

http://www.clifbar.com/article/seasonal-clif-bars-are-back-again

When I received my package of Clif Bars they sent an extra Iced Gingerbread bar to share with a friend.  Comment on this post and let me know what your favorite energy bars are to win!!!!!!!

Every comment will be entered to win and Tuesday night I will pick a winner to send the Iced Gingerbread bar to ~ I will mail it out to you on Wednesday

Looking forward to hearing what your favorite energy bars are!  Hope you are having a great weekend!

(All bars pictured above were purchased with my own money)

How I make early morning workouts easier

Do you work out in the morning like me?   It is way to dark & cold for me to run outside for me (I am definitely a warm weather runner), so I like to do a few miles on the treadmill before I get started for the day.

Here are a few tricks I do to make waking up really early to workout easier:

1)  My clock on my alarm is set 15 minutes fast.  That way my brain thinks I am sleeping longer than I am and it doesn't really "feel" like I am waking up at 4:20am to run on the treadmill.

2)  Lay there a minute or two, climb over the lazy dog and down to the treadmill in the basement I go.

3)   Once I am in the basement I turn on the treadmill and sit on the floor a couple quick minutes.  On the floor I put on my socks and running sneakers that I just keep down there ready to go.

4)   Now onto the treadmill! I keep a Sweaty Band on the treadmill to keep back my crazy morning hair.  I also watch YouTube videos while I run, so the iPad is all set up and ready to go.

5)   I run for about 20-30 minutes and I am happy knowing I got about 2-3 miles run before already before 5:00 am.  That is a nice feeling! 

6)  After my run I usually do another 5-10 minute cool down walk on the treadmill and that is when I check Instagram.  I see what my Instagram friends are up and some are also up posting their workouts already too.  It is nice to know I am not the only one up at crazy hours.  ** If we are not friends on Instagram yet, please follow me and we can motivate each other :)  

After my cool down walk it is time to hit the shower, feed the dog & get ready to head to work.  Getting up early isn't fun but I always feel better once I am on the treadmill and moving.

What tips or tricks do you use to get yourself motivated to get up and work out?  

Fun Mail Friday

Hi guys!

If you are like me, I'm sure your mail box is usually just filled with bills, junk mail and flyers.   Well, this week I received two "fun mail" packages so I thought I would share them with you.

The first "fun mail" was my monthly Ipsy bag subscription.  For just $10 each month I receive a small makeup bag with deluxe samples and full size beauty products.  When you subscribe to Ipsy you take a short beauty quiz and that determines what products will be included with your bag.  I normally get 5 products each month.   This month I received under eye concealer, moisturizer, lip paint, eye liner & hair spray.  I have been subscribed to Ipsy for almost a year now and love getting the bag each month.  You definitely get your money's worth of products.  It is like a nice little treat to yourself each month....and who doesn't like that?

Interested in subscribing?  Here is a link to their page:

http://www.ipsy.com/r/32vs?sid=ipsypoints&cid=general

Today I received another "fun mail" of tea bags.  I joined in a tea swap on the Healthy Living Blogs Team Instagram page.  We sent an email including our email and address. We then received an email with another person's name and address participating in the tea swap. We were to send two of our favorite teas at the moment to share with our buddy we were matched up with. Great way to try teas that you may not have tried yet, and connect with other tea lovers.  I have never tried these two teas before so I am excited to drink them.

 What is your favorite tea?

I hope you all had a great week!  Let me know if you received any fun mail!

A little about me

Well, here I am writing my first blog post!  I have never really thought of myself as a writer but I do love sharing my interests and connecting with new friends.   I thought I would start off my blog with a little about me.

T   ~   transfers!  My husband and I have recently transferred from Upstate NY to Virginia with our jobs.  We have only been here since the end of May but we are loving it already. Our area of Virginia is so pretty.  I could drive around and take pictures of new things every day (and I am sure you will see many of them).  What I am also loving is that I walked the dog in capris tonight and it is the middle of November....that's a big difference coming from Upstate NY.

R   ~   running!  One hot, humid day in June about 2 years ago I decided that I wanted to try to start running.  I made it about 5 house lengths before I needed to walk.  A few weeks later my brother signed me up for a local 5K race as my birthday present.  The race was less than 3 months after I started my running adventure and I was scared to death.  In my mind 3.1 miles was like a marathon.  I finished my first 5K and caught the running bug right away.  I started signing up for other 5K's immediately.  Then one day I saw a YouTube video about the Princess Half Marathon in Disney.  I figured if I was ever going to do a half marathon I wanted to GO BIG!   So in February 2014 I ran my first half marathon and loved every minute of it.   I could do a whole post about that race....and I probably will.

A   ~  animals!  I love them!  We have a 10 year old St Bernard named Brewski.  He is the laziest dog I know but so cute to take pictures of.   I am also a dolphin lover.  I had the opportunity to swim with them on our honeymoon 11 years ago and fell in love.  If there is a dolphin anywhere in sight you will find me watching them.

C   ~   connecting with new friends!  I originally started my Instagram page to follow other runners that were running the Princess Half Marathon also.  I was using their posts as motivation to get me out there running and training for the race.  Then Instagram started being even more fun when I started connecting with more people.  Sometimes I would get comments that I was inspiring people to get out there and run also.  I don't know how that happened but I love it!  I'm not a super fast runner and I don't go out and do long runs every weekend like some other runners, but I just keep at it a little every day and enjoy running....even on the dreaded treadmill.

I   ~   interests!  I have many other interests besides running that I will also be sharing on this blog.  Just a few of them are: reading, finding new recipes on Pinterest to try, couponing & finding deals, planning & organizing using my Erin Condren Life Planner & trying new products from my Ipsy bag subscription.

E   ~   everything else under the sun!  If something fun or exciting is going on, or just sharing pictures of my first "Red Cup" of the season from Starbucks I will love to share it with you guys.

So, that is me, TRACIE in a nutshell.  Please let me know if we share any similar interests and I can't wait to see where this blogging thing goes.