My Day Friday

Happy Friday!  TGIF for realz, y’all.  The planned post for today is totally different than I had anticipated.  I thought I would be posting another Thirsty Thursday recap with a new brew review.  The new 6-pack has been in my fridge for a week now just waiting to be sampled.  However, I just wasn’t feeling it last night.  (Probably too many muffins!)

This blog is about wellness, happiness, and all that comes along with it.  For me, beer often comes along with it because as Ben Franklin once arguably said, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”  It makes me happy.  However, too much of anything is never a good thing, and if I’m not feeling it, then I’m not drinking it.  (Plus, it wouldn’t have paired well with last night’s chicken and veggie dinner.)

This reminds me of one reason I’ve kind of, sort of, but not really been counting calories.  Although I go over my limit 65% of the time, and I hit my limit about 25% of the time, there is about 10% of the time that I fall under my daily limit.  When I under-consume, I generally think, “Ooo!  I can have an extra muffin/apple/beer/whatever.”  This makes me wonder – if I wasn’t counting, would I have wanted that extra whatever?

It’s similar to why Kevin refuses to “budget” for certain things.  We’re both savers, but he goes by similar logic.  If we were to have an $80 grocery budget for the week, and we only spent $60, we might go buy a fancy tenderloin or 12-pack of beer because we can.  This doesn’t mean we “should,” so by budgeting you’re sometimes not actually restricting at all.

Anyway… enough of your Jedi mind tricks.  I also wanted to discuss tomorrow’s race.  I have questions for you guys, and I have goals to discuss.

These aren't the droids you're looking for...

I ran this same 5k last year.  It was my first race since high school.  (I ran cross country freshman and junior year.)  I was pretty darn nervous, and I didn’t train well.  I could only run 2 or 2.2 miles a month before the race when I started my training!  Then in November, I ran my first 10k.  I am feeling more confident now, but I’m still sort of a newbie.

To prepare this morning, I did 5 minutes of walking on the treadmill as a warm-up, 35-40 minutes of upper-body weight training, and (lucky) 13 minutes on the elliptical.  Most importantly, I set three goals.  My basic goal is to finish.  My realistic goal is to beat last year’s time (24 min and 45 sec), and my stretch goal is to hit 22 min and 30 sec….errrrr, maybe 22 min and 45 sec.  I came in 4^th place for my age group and gender last year, so getting third would really rock my socks.

Speaking of socks, I’m wearing my favorite pair today…

Green Beer Drinking Socks

Tonight I plan to hit the hay early.  Kev is going out with one of his guy friends, so I’m pumped that I get to enjoy whatever dinner I feel like eating and watch whatever movie I want before bed.  This is where I need your help…

Do you have any pre-race or pre-big-day habits?  (Lucky sports bra, chocolate, extra stretching, etc?)

What do you eat the night before a race or other physically strenuous event?

Thanks for reading!  Sorry I don’t have more pics or fun stuff today.  Fridays are busy for me at work, so it’s time to face the day!