Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

The Winner of the oh so fabulous giveaway is

which was Missy!!  Email me at talesfromthesole@gmail.com so I can get your shipping information.


Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!!

Run #66

"Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body." -Lynn Jennings

Tonight was a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!! I ran 4 miles. The LONGEST I've ever ran in my life. Once I got home from work things were busy in my house - took the dog for a walk with my BFF - hubby got home with a co-worker and needed me to take them to the Citrus Bowl to go to a soccer game so my running adventure was later than planned.

Last week I ran 3.5 miles - tonight I wanted to do 4. I was hesistant at first. 4 is such a big number. Its not a 5K its .9 miles longer ! It was late - but there were still a decent # of people out around the Lake so I felt somewhat safe.  I figured start out slow - see what happens. So off I went - I stuck to lake eola but ran my big square, then my little square, then around the lake and then a lil more to finish out the 4.  HOLY COW I ran 4 miles!! WOW WOW WOW. I still cant believe it.

Weather was perfect with it being later - I was disgusting though when I finished so I came back home - got the dog and went and walked a mile with her. We are 2 happy ladies tonight.

Results of Run #66
Distance: 4.0 miles
Time: 40:49
Pace: 10:11 / mile
M1 - 10:04
M2 - 10:20
M3 - 10:22
M4 - 9:59

NEW PR!!

Week Overview: May 15 - 21

Right now life is busy so these week overviews make my life easier in posting how I tortured myself with exercise.

Sunday - 3.62 miles in 30 mins on the elliptical. Now only if I could do that outside.
Monday - 1 mile walk on treadmill, chatting it up with my friend MaryKay (MK for short).Then I remembered this incline workout that PB Fingers posted the other day so I 'attempted' it.

Minutes                         Incline                                   Speed

0 – 10                              1.0                                         6.8 (I did 6.0)
10 – 15                           10.0                                        4.0
15 – 17                           1.0                                          6.5 (I did 6.0)
17 – 20                           1.0                                          6.8 (I did 6.2)

The treadmill kicked my butt on this today. WOW. Give it a try if youre in one of those, lets see how bad I can punish myself moods. Of course only do what you can handle. Obviously I'm not up for speed of 6.8 so I did what I was comfortable with and with what I could handle.

If that wasnt enough I then went to the stationary bike and rode for 30 mins and knocked out 11.38 miles.

Tuesday - 1250 yard swim
Wednesday - 3.51 mile run. The longest run to date! Whooo hoooo! Mentally its getting easier - I again went different ways which helped because I knew I couldnt stop until I finished.
M1 - 9:40,
M2 - 10:07
M3 - 9:59,
M4 - 9:32(.51)

Thursday - Hot Yoga day.
Friday - rest
Saturday - Hot Yoga followed by a 2 mile treadmill run. My legs were exhausted! But I loved it.

Giveaway Time

Holy moly - lots of giveaways happening. Here's what is up for grabs

Running off the Reeses is giving away some yummy reeses and the book 'Running on Empty: An Ultramarathoner's Story of Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run Across America ' by Marshall Ulrich

Courtney is giving away a Bondi Band 

The Studly Runner and Racing With Babes are giving away a pair of Keen shoes


To Round out the giveaways, I'm putting up the following (again) and for real there will be a winner this time.

1. Race Number Belt - color pink
2. GU Chomp Sample - flavor strawberry
3. TNT Chap Stick (unopened / not used)

How to enter:
Mandatory:
Follow my blog - this gives you 2 entries - I'm generous :)   If you're already a follower leave me a comment :)

Extra Entries:
leave a comment for any of the following
1 entry - Tell me- what is one of your favorite races? If you havent done one yet are there any you are looking forward to?
1 entry - link my giveaway on your blog
1 entry - add me to your blog roll

This giveaway will end on Thursday, May 26th with a winner being announced on Friday May 27th.

Vacation Update

Alrighty - so we Finally decided on a vacation destination. Its super exciting and I can't wait. The husband and I decided to head to.........

EUROPE!

We decided on the following cities to make our world tour; Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin & London.

I've been to London before so I have that day planned with seeing the city and then doing the tour out to Windsor castle, Stonehenge and the Roman Baths. But everywhere else - I need some help. 

Oh and the almost 2nd best part to this is that we asked my mom if she wants to go and shes 'thinking' about it. so keep your fingers crossed she tells me to book her ticket!

So tell me  - have you been to any of these cities? What are some things to see / tours to go on? Where are some great places to eat? What in the world should I pack for December / what are some good walking boots to wear?

I have 6 months until go time so email me - talesfromthesole@gmail.com if you think of anything helpful between now and December.

:)  Happy Monday.



Week Overview: May 8-14th

So I've been slacking on the posting. Sorry folks.

Let me give you the rundown of what happened over the past week with well everything

Sunday - 5.05 mile bike ride - 15.8 mph avg
Monday - Nada
Tuesday - 1200 yard swim followed by a 1.5 mile run.  Love some brick workouts.
Wednesday - 3.01 mile run (9:46 pace). This was tough. I had to complete 3, I kept telling myself that. It was hot out for a run at 7pm. I ran new paths and loved it and it helped a lot. For anyone out there who does the 'same ol' routine, change it up its not only fun but helps pass the time and then you dont know where the 'mile' increments are.
Thursday - Recover day
Friday - 2.0 mile run (9:34 pace). After run work - 3rd run for the week making this my 2nd consecutive week in a row running 3x per week.  The highlight of this run was the fact that someone walking on the sidewalk didnt know how to walk in a straight line and at the worst possible moment stepped infront of me. The only thing I could do was slow down making impact not as hard. Well this guy (and no he wasnt a 'regular' guy) wasnt happy and called me a nice name starting with the letter B.
Saturday - Sleep in day and research vacation things :) oh and watch the rain storm that came through.

This month is going great. Though I've noticed with running 3x per week my legs are tight so I've been trying to foam roll a lot and then wear my compression sleves to bed.  I am enjoying running 3x per week, its just a matter of how to fit them into my schedule and not have running with another activity so i'm not worn out.  BUT if you havent noticed I try to make 1 of my runs my 'long' run and at most my long run only goes up .5 of a mile at a time. (example: week 1 long run = 2.5 miles, Week 2 long run = 3.0 miles, week 3 long run = 3.5 miles) and then my other 2 runs are shorter but not drastically shorter.  So far so good. :)

Expectations

I received this email at work and thought it was great and I could totally relate to it so I wanted to share

"Several weeks ago I felt pretty overwhelmed but could not figure out why. Then I heard a list of the everyday expectations we place on ourselves:

• Be slim, physically fit, and toned.
• Have great hair, make-up, and a fashionable wardrobe.
• Be intelligent articulate, and computer-savvy.
• Be popular and sexually attractive but of good character.
• Pursue all your gifts and talents to the point of mastery.
• Marry someone with all the above traits.
• Communicate, have romance, share chores, have date nights.
• Have a beautiful home, which is clean, organized, and well-decorated.
• Cook low-fat, low-carb, high-protein, gourmet meals.
• Maintain a beautiful, mulched yard,
• Produce children who are cute, healthy, intelligent, and well-behaved, who get into the right schools, who don’t succumb to peer pressure but are well-liked and popular.
• Be financially successful.
• Stay current in your field.
• Read good books for pleasure.
• Be confident but not abrasive.
• Be humble and spiritual.
• Create traditions and holidays that are beautiful and meaningful.
• Write letters, remember birthdays and anniversaries, send cards and gifts.
• Keep in touch with friends.
• Have deep family relationships.
• Be relaxed, friendly, and easy-going.

I look at this list and wonder which items I can disregard. They are all important and worthwhile. But seeing this in black and white makes me realize that I have probably bitten off more than I can chew. Something has to go. I am expecting too much of myself! I am going to trim down my list. How about you? "

I'll be the 1st to admit there are a few more things on my list - one being running. It would go like this "Be a great runner" To me being 'great' is running 8ish min miles for a continuous amount of time. Yes I can get there with time and practice and patience but its hard work ontop of all the other expectations.

I'm attempting to trim down my list. It is hard, especially for women in my opinion. Whats the first thing I'm trimming thats relevant to me? I'm not sure at the moment, I've just sat here for 15 minutes trying to figure out what to say and I'm just drawing a blank. So I'll have to get back to ya.
 
 
What do you think? Are there more expectations that you put onyourself that aren't on the list?

Will you 'trim down' your list?

Vacation

Nope, not on vacation (yet). I'm trying to determine where the hubs and I should go on vacation later this year. I havent even narrowed down a list yet, this is the frustrating part. Well that and the fact that I havent booked anything yet.  When are we planning to go somewhere? December. Why am I freaking when its 6+ months away? Well because I'm a little ocd when it comes to having everything set and planned and done and not 'spur of the moment'.

Yes there are GOBS of places I want to go....



its just WHERE should we go this year ?

We love islands - we've been to USVI, BVI, St. Lucia, Tahiti

and we love snow skiing. Because last year was to Tahiti, we attempted to gather friends and go skiing but with people having babies its not going to work out.  So we figured lets take another fun trip while we can. 

I've been to London (had to go for work in 2007) so I'm wanting to convince the stubborn husband that he'd like going to Europe too, and we'd also hop on a train and check out other countries while we are over there. Oh and let me throw out there I can get us 2 free tickets over there right now with sky miles! The ONLY thing I'm concerned about is the weather and the cold. Like its one thing when youre skiing, but to play tourist and have to wear sweaters, coats, hats, gloves, scarves - is it really worth it?

Then I got thinking - let me throw it out there. Where is your dream vacation?
If you've been to Europe, when did you go and what other countries have you been to / would you recommend going to?

Week Overview

Quick update about this past week. I've been slacking a little when it comes to posting about individual runs so I figured I'd write about this week.

With this being a new month I'm going to attempt to run 3x a week for a month, which will accomplish one of my goals. Here's how this week went down
Sunday : 10 mile bike ride
Monday : lazy - 9:00pm bed time that night.
Tuesday: 2.5 mile run (9.34 pace)
Wednesday: 1300 yard swim then a 1.1 mile run (9:44 pace)
Thursday: lazy - hubby got onto me about not studying so I studied :(
Friday: went and hung out with some friends and their 2 little girls :)
Saturday: Hot Yoga then a 2.1 mile run (9:24 pace) and a 1.5 mile walk at night.

Really liked running 3x a week. Kept the distances shorter - the back to back runs on tues and weds were exhausting with the swim so I need to plan out a schedule better next week and slightly increase my distances too.

Here's to another great week!

C.P.A

disclaimer: I am NOT a CPA. I am not designating myself as a CPA. I am merely taking the exam and posting about the exam process at this time. Thanks :)

Alrighty - CPA - Certified Public Accountant.  Crash course in how to get this designation after your name.

1. Go to college and earn 150 credit hours (aka 5 years) for the most part almost all states (45/50) have this requirement.

2. For Florida I had to submit an application to the FL dept of business & professional regulation, to be approved to sit for the cpa exam (aka 'the exam')

3. Receive Notice to Schedule from NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy)

4. Pay Gobs of Money for exam fees and registration fees to NASBA - wait 3-5 days for your Notice to Schedule (NTS) which comes via email (and is a huge waste of time because if its email it should be immediate but thats just me)

5. Get NTS - log onto Prometric's site to finally pick the most dreaded day in your own personal history.

6. STUDY - STUDY - Lose friends - STUDY - gain bags under eyes - Study....day dream....

7. Exam Day. The most anxious day, nerve wrecking day in my life. Like its so not cool and you have to do it 4 times (well thats if your lucky and can pass each section on your 1st try).

Each exam for the CPA section varies on time and with all the fun new changes for 2011 lets just hope everyone passes. Oh wait that wont hapen....because look here

The pass rates for 2010 are wonderful.....ughh. Pretty fun looking test right??

If my life wasnt busy enough, trying to have a social life, become a better runner, enjoy life, I decided to pursue this little adventure. Right now I'm studying for FAR (well actually getting back into studying - I kinda have ADD when it comes to studying). I took Audit in April and have the fingers, toes, eyes, all crossed in hopes I passed that one but a miracle would be great too.

When I was at the Big 4 I used Becker but that was a while ago so I had to invest in some updated material and came across Yaeger. They use Wiley for their books and though the print is small and cramed together its not horrible.

What I like about Yaeger is 1 - it was way cheaper than Becker, 2 - the instructors 'teach' more vs Becker that just read the book to you 3 - you get access to the instructors via phone / email. granted they have a time limit (I think 3 hours per section you can call and chat with them) but still thats pretty awesome especially if you dont get it. 4 - yaeger sends you their videos on a usb stick so you can use it anywhere, becker you can only install it on 2-3 computers and then after 1 year its not accessible (unless you know a few computer tricks).

So thats about it for my CPA report today - questions email me at my email address
TalesFromTheSole@Gmail.com

Giveaway Post

I bet you think I'm posting about Skinny Runner.....well folks you are wrong.

Tonights Lovely giveaway is brought to you by - Long Legs on The Loose

Shes giving away some Easy Bands and the giveaway ends on May 5th.


Update on my 1st Giveaway:

Obviously that didnt happen - Sorry folks who were paying attention. I'll be re-listing the give away soon though and even if I get one measly comment I'll follow through and award the prize!

April 2011 Summary

I cant believe another month is over. I'm not sure about you but April seemed to FLY by.  But I guess when you log 46 miles, it helps pass the time....well that and a lot of this

Oh Easter Candy- how I love thee!! Brett and I have 'discussions' about which is the better candy.  I say they are in 2 different categories since Reese's are well hands down the best chocolate/peanut butter candy and Cadburry Creme eggs are well just delicious!!

Some Highlights this month include
Taking about 2 weeks off to rest my legs in order for the Shin Splints to go away.
Foam Rolling = Friend
Taking Kady for a billion walks....alright not a billion but almost
Being Featured on Skinny Runner which has increased my follower count! Whooohoo!
Running 2 5K's 1 week apart and setting a New PR!!
Getting back into the pool at the gym

Cant believe its May already! Memorial Day will be here before we know it and  Round 2 of the CPA exam is this month.... I'll post soon about this I promise :) 

46.04 Miles in April
Walking: 21.66 miles
Running: 12.35 miles
Elliptical: 6.18 miles
Cycling: 5.05 miles
Swimming: 0.8 miles