Thunderstorms, tornadoes, and floods...

So last night I was scared out of my mind!  Here in Northern Louisiana we had a tornado watch from like 9 PM until 7:15 AM this morning.  There were several places that had small tornadoes spotted, one place within 2 miles of us.  Thankfully, we didn't experience the tornado full on and have any damage from water or trees.  Only one branch fell in our yard and our basketball goal was knocked down.

School was canceled today because of flooding... so no work for me!  My prayers are with those who experienced damages and even loss of loved ones.  There were 2 deaths last night after the severe weather.  One of the bodies was found floating near the school where I teach.  Very sad....  I went to the newspaper's website and looked at the pictures of all the trees down and damages.  It is very sad, and we are so blessed that nothing happened to us or our house.  This really opened my eyes to things and that severe weather CAN happen here and affect us. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

On a lighter note, I have incorporated some more "healthier" foods in my diet.  I have been hearing more and more to stay away from processed foods and eat whole foods.  So for supper, I have had salads twice in a row.  I knew that I have always liked baby spinach, but I really LOVE baby spinach!  Last night I had a shrimp salad with baby spinach, carrots, and cucumbers with a splash of lemon juice and olive oil.  I am not really sure if the olive oil is ok, but I figured it is better than the light ranch I usually use.  Sorry, no pic of my salad. :(  My only problem now is lunch foods.  I know that packaged dinners aren't the best thing, but it's so much easier for me to bring a "smart ones" or "lean cuisine" to work. I save on money and time, both of which I don't have a lot of!

Do you have any tips for easy and cheap WHOLE foods lunches for a tired little first grade teacher ;) ???

But anyways, I want to read more up on this whole foods thing and start to incorporate more of the foods into my diet.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I have also started on the FIRST training plan from the "Run Less, Run Faster" book that I got this past weekend. 

You may have heard about it already.  It's a big thing in the running blogs right now.  Its a training program that they call "3plus2" where you do 3 days of quality runs a week and cross-train 2 days a week.  There are 3 workouts for the runs that they call "Key Workouts." 

Key Workout #1 is your interval run or track repeats.  Key Workout #2 is your tempo run.  And Key Workout #3 is your long run.  You base your paces on each of these workouts according to your 5K time.  If you are interested in it, they have some charts on their website that you can look at for free right HERE!

I am starting with the 5K one, since its mileage starts at about what I am running now.  I thought it was pretty insane that the 5K training plan had a 5 mile run for its first long run.  But then it does say that you shouldn't start any program until you have been running 15 miles/week for at least 3 months and have already completed several 5K's and maybe a couple 10k's.  So the 5K training program was just perfect for me!

The FIRST program does have a novice program for 5K you can start with. Also there is plenty of info for a beginner... lots of information on  things like form, flexibility, stretching, nutrition, recovery, treating injuries, etc.  I have really enjoyed it so far, and cannot wait to build up my running mileage and speed with the training program I am starting on!

I also wanted to share the website that helped me get to where I am at with my runs.  I used some of the training plans from Hal Higdon.  They are pretty easy to use, and basically you just build up your runs until you are running the required mileage for the race you want to do.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

WORKOUTS

I know this post is getting long, but it's been a while.  I wanted to update you really quick on my workouts....

I have been doing GREAT with my pushups challenge so far.  I had a couple of people wish me good luck on here.. THANKS :) My days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to do my sets of pushups! I haven't been doing that great on my runs :(  I had a HORRIBLE run this past Saturday.  I talked about it on DailyMile here.  To put it short, I felt like knives were driven into my ribs!!

Sunday - EASTER! Had a great time with family.  Maybe I will do a picture post tomorrow about our Easter adventures!

Monday - 16 total girl pushups (done in sets of 2-4 with rest intervals) and worked on arms and created my very first circuit for arms and abs.. Maybe I will post my workout plan later. 

Tuesday - RUN DAY!  My first time doing the interval workout from the FIRST program.  My hamstrings were hurting soooo bad . I stretched/foam rolled a lot the night before and after this run, so I don't know why they are so sore.

But here is the interval workout:

10 min warmup at 5.3 mph (11:20)
8 x 400m repeats at 6.7 mph (9:00) with 400m RI
10 min cooldown (I walked because my hamstrings are on fire!!)

Took me a good 42 minutes to do, and I didn't even do the actual prescribed program... it had called for 8 repeats, but my hams wouldn't let me, so I did 6 repeats. It was tough, but I am going to keep up with it.  Lots of bloggers swear by the program and have seen results!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Well I am off to do my Jillian video and my sets of pushups.   And then cancel it all with pizza... so much for my whole foods diet today ;)