• I have never listened to an audio book. My sister-in-law and I were discussing this last weekend and I couldn’t tell you why I’ve never listened to one. I could do it while I drive or run. So now I am trying to decide which book to choose as my very first one to listen to.

• Apparently the actual house from A Christmas Story in Cleveland is having a 5k / 10k this December. I saw this picture on Facebook yesterday. What a cool medal. It’s a major award! Seriously, I wish I was closer to Cleveland.

http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/

• One week from tomorrow, I will be speaking at my Weight Watchers location as part of their Live Life Active event. To say that I am nervous is a HUGE understatement.

• I follow @traderjoesinsider on Instagram and yesterday they posted this picture. Oh my goodness, I want to try these chips. They are probably high in points, but they sound amazing!

• Since I started running half marathons, I have been very firm about not doing a full marathon, I could never imagine doing one. A half marathon is hard enough. I now have this little voice in my head telling me I should maybe consider it. So, I am now possibly open to the idea of it. But 26.2 miles is insane, right? So far I’ve only been half crazy. We’ll see…. I’m not saying I will, but I’m not saying I won’t. Maybe.

• Our fabulous niece is staying over for a night next month when her mom and dad go see Heart in concert. The best part of all? She asked us if she could sleep over. I love that and I love that she likes staying over at our house. I adore her!

• I took my run outside this morning, saw a beautiful sunrise in the making, AND I have a new fastest pace time of 9:39. I was running like someone was chasing me, but I promise no one was. It was just really nice out and worlds better than the evil dreadmill.

• I am currently obsessed with sliced banana and fat free cool whip. Makes for a great 0 point dessert.

• We have to buy a new vacuum. This really isn’t a fun fact, because I don’t want to buy one, but ours has come to the end of it’s life. Having two Aussies who shed like crazy means that vacuum has worked very hard the last couple of years. RIP vacuum.

• I love the show Long Island Medium. We DVR the new ones every week. I think Theresa Caputo is so cool and she has an amazing gift. Yes, I believe in what she does. Call me crazy.

Can you share a fun fact about yourself with me today?

I am not running super long distances every day. I am not out to injure myself. I am running between 1 –2 miles daily during the week and aiming for at least 3.11 miles on Sunday mornings. But every mile I log means 11-ish minutes of quality me time where I don’t have to worry about anything else.

With each run, I get a little bit faster. And with each run, I prove to myself that I am so much stronger than I realized. I have yet to take a walk break on any of my walks. This might be the most amazing thing of all to me.

Today starts week 4, with 10 runs left. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s not a light that says oh finally, I’m almost done. No… It’s a light that says, you are so close to completing this challenge and proving just how strong you are.

If there is any downside to running every day, it would be my appetite. I am definitely hungrier and it’s a struggle to eat more and enough, but not pig out.

Week 3 had a total of 13.68 mile, so I am still on track to meet – and exceed – my 50 mile goal for this month. It really has been great. I am super proud of myself and look forward to my run each and every day. More than ever, I feel like a #milemotivator. If I can do this, so can YOU.

If you missed my previous posts on this challenge, you can find them here….

• Week 1
• Week 2

When you run more, how do you handle being hungrier? Any tips or tricks you’d like to share?

One of my favorite songs to run to is the Training Montage from Rocky IV. If you’ve seen the movie, you know it’s the part of the movie where Rocky is training in Russia for his fight again Ivan Drago. Best scene of the whole movie, except for the fight, of course. I have loved this song since the minute I saw the movie. Did I mention that I also had the Rocky IV poster in my room when it came out? I know you’re laughing at me….

Sometimes when I’m running and I feel like I’m dragging, this song will come on and it pushes me. If Rocky can win against Ivan Drago, then I can finish my run! I can run a little farther and a little faster. I’m not training in the freezing cold in Russia, but it sometimes seems just as hard. I know, I’m such a geek.

For your listening enjoyment, here is the song. You’re welcome.

Share with me one of your favorite songs you love to run to that you might not admit to…

After lunch, we headed to Inkwood Books for the book signing with Rick Yancey and his new YA book, The 5th Wave. This is supposed to be the next big thing, much like The Hunger Games. Jenna has a YA Lit review blog, Jenna Does Books, and whenever she attends these events, she invites me and it’s always fun to tag along. We both love to read and she is forever recommending books to me. If she loves a book, I know I need to read it. My to-read list is forever long!

Be sure to check out Jenna’s blog if you are a YA Lit fan… She has reviews, giveaways, and more. And most exciting… She is an aspiring writer herself. So proud of her!

Rick Yancey was very entertaining and fun to listen to. I always love to hear how an author came to be an author, how they turned their ideas into a book, and what they think of other books. It was a treat to listen to him talk about his influences and how his idea for this book, the first in a trilogy, came from his wife telling him that she is afraid of aliens. I am very excited to read this book.

The 5th Wave

“The first wave took out half a million people. The second wave put that to shame.” Now humanity, or what’s left of it, faces the oncoming of the 5th wave and only one rule applies: Trust no one. 16-year old Cassie travels alone in the plague and war-ravaged remnants of her hometown, desperate to fulfill a promise made to her little brother. Along the way she must evade Them, the enemy who is all but indecipherable from other survivors. When she meets Evan Walker, Cassie must decide whether or not she can put her brother’s fate–as well as her own– in his hands. The 5th Wave is an exciting, thoughtful, brilliant read.

Always a fun time with Jenna and it made for a nice Saturday afternoon!

Do you read YA Lit? How often do you go to book signings?

This week’s weigh-in….

Twenty weeks has brought me an average of a pound a week! Some weeks have been up, some have been down but it’s a pretty good pace to lose weight and keep it off. I ‘m not in this to lose it fast. I want to lose it slow so it doesn’t come back. That’s the plan – keep it off.

Things I did right this week are:

• Ran my butt off. I am in the midst of week 3 of the #mayruneveryday challenge and I’ve been doing 2 miles daily.
• Eat a healthy snack before and after a run. Bananas are my friend!
• Took my lunch 4 of 5 days as planned.
• Tracked everything, even the splurges last weekend. It’s important to track everything. Here’s a good one to remember…. Only track on the days you want to lose weight.
• I’ve been drinking Smart Water after my runs for the electrolytes.

What I will focus on this week:

• Running!
• Time to stock up on fruits and veggies again. This week, I’m going to freeze some grapes for a great post-run snack.
• I have a new chicken recipe to try thanks to our friend Ashley. It sounds amazing!
• Will finish typing up my recipes to share with all those who have asked about them. I’ve taken forever to do it (sorry!!!) and it will be a great reminder for myself.

I finally hit 50 activity points for the week…. 53 to be exact! Running every day has obviously played a big part in that.

I also received the report for the end of my first 12-week challenge. It’s mind boggling to think about how I’ve earned 396 activity points in those 12 weeks.

And because non-scale victories are just as important as what the scale says, I had a HUGE one yesterday. Since summer is here (groan), I had to buy a pair of running shorts that I could actually run in. The pair I have constantly ride up and it’s not comfortable. They’re good for just wearing, but not running in. I went to Sports Authority with a $7 rewards certificate and a 20% off coupon and decided to splurge on myself. Shorts were a priority but I also found a cute top. It was worth every penny… Never underestimate the power of nice running clothes that fit well. Thank you New Balance! I love my capris and I’m sure I will wear them again, but the shorts I bought are amazing. They didn’t ride up once during my run this morning and they are slimming. As for the top, it has a built-in sports bra which means I’m not constantly adjusting my tank top. It is so important to be comfortable while running. There’s even a little zipper pocket on the shirt for my key. Love! And most exciting of all, I feel amazing wearing it.

I’ve already done my morning run and had my coffee and a yummy egg and salsa breakfast. Next up is an afternoon with my fabulous sister-in-law Jenna, for lunch and a book event at Inkwood Books in Tampa. It’s always fun to spend time together!

Have a great weekend!