Life As Megan Knows It

Wow it’s been over a month since I blogged.. If you have been reading for a while you will now this is pretty normal for me as I tend to go strong with blogging for a few weeks and then life gets in the way and I forget I even have a blog..

Anyway I have lots of exciting things coming up in my life and I can’t wait to share..

February 24th – Wedding in DC

February 26-29 – Bahamas with CZ

March 1 – Move to Manhattan (woot woot)

For now I will share this mornings quote from my tea.

 

 

Ta-Ta for now..

Megan

Love,

Megan

Last night I had my first “official” personal training session with Barry. He decided to push me but not to the point where I couldn’t walk the next day. Today I am sore but I feel good! Since my goal is to loose weight he asked me to still do 20 minutes of cardio even if I am feeling sore the next day.

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We did the following circuit 3 times.

Circuit 1 – Leg Press 100 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 2 -  150 pounds (18 reps)

Circuit 3 – 150 pounds (18 reps)

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Circuit 1 – Bench Press 30 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 2 – 40 pounds (18 reps)

Circuit 3  – 40 pounds (15 reps)

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Circuit 1 – Lateral Pull down 45 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 2 – 55 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 3 – 55 pounds (20 reps)

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Circuit 1 – Leg Curl 50 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 2 – 50 pounds (18 reps)

Circuit 3 – 50 pounds (18 reps)

 

After the 3 circuits we did 50 back lunges.

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Next we moved onto a few arm exercises.

Circuit 1 – Straight arm pull down 40 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 2 – 40 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 3 – 40 pounds (20 reps)

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Circuit 1 – Hammer Curls 10 pounds (15 reps)

Circuit 2 – 10 pounds (12 reps)

Circuit 3 – 10 pounds (15 reps)

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And finally abs.

50 Bicycle crunches

50 leg lifts

and

30 reverse crunches

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One thing we talked about was the optimal way to burn fat if you are trying to loose weight. Barry said the 3 best times to burn fat are:

1. First thing in the morning.

2. 3-4 hours after you eat.

3. Right after you do weight training because during weight training your body is burning sugar, etc and building muscle therefore you will have nothing else to burn except fat when you do your cardio.

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My 2012 race calendar is officially started:

February 5, 2012 – NYRR Gridiron Classic (4M), New York, NY

March 4, 2012 – Coogan’s Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K (New York, NY)

March 17, 2012 – SunTrust Half Marathon, Washington DC

April 15, 2012 – More / Fitness Half Marathon, New York, NY

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Question:

Is anyone running any of the above races? I would love to have friends to run with

Have  nice day!

Megan

Let’s see, the last time I posted was November 17, 2011. After that post some things happened at work and in life and I went private.

I had to figure some stuff out on my own and I didn’t want to share it with the world. I also didn’t want to lie to everyone saying how perfect my life was when in reality I wasn’t happy.

I was confused, I was depressed, I was becoming a person  I didn’t like and I knew I  needed to change before it got to late.

So here I am a few months later, much happier and much more me. In the last few months I guess you can say I found myself. I learned what it’s like to love yourself just the way you are. I learned that life isn’t perfect and things will work out in the end if you let God show you.

I haven’t ran in months, I haven’t been to the gym in months and I certainly haven’t been eating very healthy. I am not proud of the above but I needed to step away from it all to truly appreciate my health.

Now that I have me figured out I can start to add health and fitness back into my life. I joined Weight Watchers last week and lost 1.2 pounds! I also received a very generous gift from my boss and decided to buy 12 personal training sessions so I can learn to work out properly.

One thing I lost on this blog was my creativity. I started to go through the emotions but didn’t share the things I love: photography, fitness, New York, etc. Now that I am back I plan to add more creativity to Life As Megan Knows It. I also want to share the things I learn from my personal trainer with you all, and share my half marathon training. I want to be proud of my writing, I want to be proud of me.

If anyone is having trouble in there life and not sure about the person they are or becoming I hope they look deep inside there heart because you are in there and I promise when you find it, it’s a feeling like no other.

Hope you enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. I feel like a thousand rocks have been lifted off my check.

 

Love,

Megan

Since moving home about a month ago I have pretty much fallen off the fitness wagon. I can’t lie the last time I ran was almost  a week and a half ago and this frustrates me.

As someone who prides themselves as being healthy and fit I sure haven’t been acting like it lately. I am ordering food more and more (not that there is anything wrong with that) and not using my free time to my advantage. With marathon training just around the corner not only do I need to simplify life I also need to work on my time management skills..

I did some math and divided my day into 5 sections: Sleep, Work, Commuting, Shower / Beauty, and Fitness.

5:00 AM – 5:45 AM	Beauty (hair, makeup, etc.)
5:45 AM – 7:00 AM	Commuting (Instead of sleeping I could blog, or study)
7:30 AM – 5:00 PM	work
5:20 PM – 6:45 PM	Commute
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM	Fitness
8:00 PM – 9:30 PM	Shower, Relax, Misc., Sleep

 

I am going to try and stick to this schedule as much as possible until I move back to NY and get my life back. Lately I have been so overwhelmed  and it’s been taking a toll on my attitude.

Any tips on time management?

 

Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.
Edwin Way Teale

 

After a lovely weekend away with my girlfriends I am ready to simplify my life..

Hi Friends,

Happy Happy Hump Day!

My camera has been acting up so I haven’t been able to get those pictures from volunteering for the NYCM on Sunday! It’s the most bizarre thing, the pictures show up on the camera but when I hook it up to the computer they do not showing up.

This is a short work week for me as I have Friday off for Veteran’s Day. My college girlfriends and I are actually heading to Boston for a girl’s weekend Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Even though Monday was a rest day I decided to head out for a easy 3 mile run. My legs weren’t the least bit sore from Saturday’s race and it was beautiful out so I figured why not. I noticed lately I have become addicted to my Garmin. I am constantly check my pace and distance and I seem to focus on that more than what’s around me. Monday night I left my Garmin at home and went back to focusing on what’s around me. It was so nice to just look at my neighbors houses decorated for the holidays, the fall trees changing color and children playing outside. I am going to try and make an effort to not depend so much on my Garmin.

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Yesterday I headed to the gym to do some weights. It was a quick weight session because I wanted to run to the mall to Sephora before it closed. I did upper and lower body in about 35 minutes, changed and made it to Sephora with an hour to spare. I had a few things I needed to get that I was running low on but I also wanted to inquire about something to help with my dark circles under my eyes. The sales person swore mine weren’t bad but they have been bothering me a lot lately. I ended up getting  Bliss baggage handler eye gel. She said I should notice a different in a few days. I will let you guys know how it works

Our Sephora is actually in JcPenny;  JcPenny is on of those stores I never really go in unless I have something specific in mind. After I bought my beauty essentials from Sephora I browsed to the designer section of the store and found this cute dress by MNG by Mango. Once I tried the dress on I knew I had to get it. It was flattering and long sleeved . Originally $65.00 I got the dress on sale + an additional 20% off coming to a grand total of $41.00.

 

Tonight I have 4 miles on the calendar.

Hope your day is wonderful!

Good Morning!

I had the best weekend!!

After work Friday night I decided to cook dinner for CZ; I made a roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

For the roasted chicken I simply seasoned it with lemon, salt and pepper and then stuffed it with lemons. The chicken had a subtle lemon taste and was super moist.

After dinner we headed into the city the The Campbell Apartment at Grand Central for drinks. We didn’t get home until 2 AM and I had to be up at 7:00 AM for my 5K.

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The next morning I headed back into the city for the NYRR Dash to the Finish. The race started by the United Nations and then headed up to 42nd Street across to 6th Avenue up 6th Avenue into the park and finally to the NYCM Finish Line.

This race was smaller than many other NYRR races I had run. I am not sure if this was due to the fact that it was the day before the marathon or the $50.00 entry fee. The race itself was not my favorite NYRR race. Although it was great running next to runners from all over the world I noticed they took it more as a scenic run. Most people either walked or ran/walked and took photo’s the entire time.

I had a different goal in mind, I wanted to PR! Lately I have been having awesome runs and I knew I had it in me to beat my previous 5K time. Unfortunately this was not the race to PR as I spent most of my time weaving in and out of packs of runner (like 15-20 people).

Although I didn’t PR I did end up breaking 30 minutes and coming in with a final time of 29 M 50 S.

This means one thing: If I didn’t end up doing all that weaving I defiantly could break my previous PR of 29:34.  I know I have it in me!

Saturday night CZ and I headed into the city to Murray Hill to meet up with some of my friends. We spent the night at Galloway Hooker dancing and having fun. For the second night in a row we didn’t get home until 2 AM and I had to be up at 6 AM. Thank goodness for Daylight Savings Time 6 AM didn’t feel that bad.

 

Yesterday I volunteered for the NYCM. Stay tuned for how it went tomorrow!

Sometimes it’s the little things that make me happy whether it’s seeing seeing a picture of the cutest puppy [ O M Gosh I want, I want, I want]

 

or spending time with my family [even in Mexican hats with plenty of tequila on the able]

or spending time with my godson

or even getting a great workout in [Thanks Ashley and Hi Katherine!]

 

and what made me happy yesterday was attending the NYC Marathon Expo EVEN if you are not running it!

I must admit I have fallen into the NYCM excitement. As I walked through the expo [I am running the 5K on Saturday so I had to pick up my bib at the expo] I couldn’t help but feel jealous I wasn’t running on Sunday.  All the runners looked so tough and fit and I envied them. They have worked so hard to cross the finish line on Sunday and they all deserve to do amazing! I listened as one person explained how nervous she was, another said she was going to gain back all the weight she lost while training, and another told me this was his 15th marathon.  I can’t wait to volunteer on Sunday and I can’t wait to run the 2012 NYCM!

Good Luck to

Dori

Theodora

Ashley

Tina

Gia
Melissa
and everyone else running on Sunday!

Hi Friends,

I have gone over my training plan close to a million times, changed it close to a million times and I am still not sure if it’s right for me.

Not only does the idea of running 26.2 miles scare the living sh*t of out me, the idea of training for 26.2 miles scares me even more. I know I am going to get stressed during training and I know it is going to be very time consuming but when coming up with a schedule I tried to make one that would stress me out the least.

I am a type A person:  I tend to do the same thing everyday, I make list and love crossing them off, and do my best to be “perfect”. Believe me I am far from perfect but I try and I am very hard on myself when I don’t succeed therefore the possibly of failing is very scares me as well.

Training is also going to be challenging because right now things are a little crazier than normal. I just started a new position at my  job and my new hours begin at 7:30 AM. Normally this isn’t a big deal but given the fact I just moved two hours south of the city it makes for very early mornings and no AM workouts. Most nights I have been walking in the house by 7 PM and I can make it to the gym but there will be some nights that I won’t get out of work until 7 and therefore won’t even make it home until 9 PM therefore I needed to come up with something that was flexible. O yeah and there is that whole Gluten Intolerance thing.

Ok enough rambling…

2012 SunTrust Marathon Training Schedule

With all this NYCM talk I am even more excited to run 26.2. I am running the Race to the Finish on Saturday and then volunteering for the marathon on Sunday. Tonight I am going to pick up my bib at the expo for the race