Firsts + A workout

Happy Friyay!

I hope you guys have all had a fabulous week! School is officially IN!!

Tanner and Baylee had their first FULL official day yesterday!

It pulled on my momma heartstrings a little bit to put them on the bus and send them off on their own!

I am so happy they have each other.

And I’m happy I still have this little guy to hang out with during the day!

This week has been a crazy one! Work, School, training the whole mom thing! I have some exciting news though!

I certified to teach HIGH Fitness! Check it out and get excited because I am!! This is a new adventure for me, it mixes my love for dance and fitness and can’t wait to start teaching classes at GPP!

Here is a workout for you this week too!!

Workout Demos:

Inverted Pushups

High Sumos

Press Jacks

Give it a try!!

I am heading down to St. George this weekend with a few of my girlfriends. We are planning on doing our 20 miler on the course. I have never ran the St. George marathon and excited to experience the majority of it this weekend!

Marathon training is kicking my butt! But PEAK week is here so its time to FOCUS!

Have a great weekend y’all!

P.S Ashley is currently 5 days overdue with her baby boy.. so I hope he makes his debut soon!!

Death By Boot Camp

K, so I totally realize this summer the blog has taken a total back seat and it just is what it is, I guess... I have totally enjoyed a little extra time with my family plus work and marathon training and all that jazz sooo, Lets just say I am going to try a bit harder now that school is starting back up and I will be minus 2 kids in the afternoons! I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I have 2 kindergartners! Like, aren’t they two?

Anyway, I love writing and sharing my life with you all and hope that you can find some inspiration and helpful tips to guide you through your journey!

It was brought to my attention that workouts are a fave around here and it is actually one thing I do on the daily. I teach 2 boot camp classes a week and it is one of my favorite classes to teach because it is just 60 minutes of sweat! I do however, try to stick to some programming with my classes to balance out the body within the 2 hours I teach at that gym. I try and stick with variety and bring something new to the table to each class. This week I taught this fun little number.

It went by super quick! You have to stay on the clock, be selective about your weights for the Chest press, Thrusters and Deadlifts. You do have a little recovery time between the run and the beginning of the next couplet so adjust accordingly. This workout is as hard as you make it. Remember, if you are new to working out then PLEASE don’t do all of this. Cut it in half- half the rounds & reps!

Oh, side note: the Burpee Box hops are done as follows: Do a burpee parallel to a box than jump OVER the top of the box and do a burpee on the other side. Each burpee counts as 1 rep. - That is a quick turnover to get to those V-up so push yourself.

Have fun and work hard!

YOU can do it!

~ Cand

Hobble Creek Half Marathon

At the beginning of this race season I set out to do Utah’s most sought after half marathons in prep for the St. George Marathon in October.

After researching several races Hobble Creek Half made it to the top of the list! I have had several friends run this race and love it so it was a “must do” for me too! I had a few of my friends from GPP register as well, so it has been fun to train together since my partner in crime is currently 9 months pregnant right now! Lindsey and Jamie have been at GPP for 3 years and they have become 2 of my best friends!

The race takes place in Hobble Creek Canyon in Provo, Utah. We decided to stay in Provo the night before the race so we headed down to packet pickup on Friday night.

Packet pickup was at Runners Corner in Provo. We were able to find it prettt easily. Picking up our packets was quick and easy. We found our names on a list with our corresponding numbers and they gave us our drop bag with some kodiak cake pancake mix (a total fave!) and our bibs. We were set! Because Runners Corner is the ultimate running store we had to do a little browsing and they have the cutest stuff! I need to go back and get a couple tops and SHOES! Their selection was one of the best I have seen in a long time! I ended up walking out with just a few Salted Caramel Gus for the race because they are also my favorite.

After we made our way to dinner! I actually brought my own chicken in a bag, SO classy, I know. So all I really wanted was a baked potato. It has been my go to meal pre race all year and I couldn’t stray. So we went to Wendy’s.

We headed to our hotel and noticed a bakery next door, I forgot my pre race food and made a quick decision to get something from the bakery. I grabbed a roll and a honey bear… $8 later I was set.

After checking in to the hotel I then realized I actually forgot my pajamas too.. oh and drop clothes to wear at the starting line. One of my most hated things is being cold. Being cold with really nowhere to go to be warm.. lol. I really need my mother to pack for me sometimes..

Luckily, Jamie had an extra sweater for me and well, I just slept in my race clothes.

Buses started to load at 5:15am so we set our alarm for 4:15am.. Okay, Lindsey set her alarm for 4:15 and woke me up at 4:40am.. BUT I drank about a liter of water, set out everything I needed, double checked my garmin and ipod were charging before going to bed.

When I woke up I got ready, ate about half my roll with honey and drank some spark to get me going. I also had a bit of water as well.

We headed out the door just after 5am and made it to the buses about 5:30. We were able to find a great parking spot really close to the buses. The parking was full in the church parking lot and there were lines of cars along the residential road. So plan a bit ahead for parking but overall it was pretty simple and nothing to stress over.

We jumped in the bus line and were directed pretty quickly onto one. On the bus I finished eating my roll and my spark, along with a water bottle.

The buses drop you off about a half mile from the starting line. We were given quick directions and a good luck then we started the walk to the starting line. It was bright outside already and to my surprise it was actually pretty warm! I didn’t even use the sweater and was just comfortable in my tank! Made me happy but I realized it would mean a HOT finish! At the starting line I was happy to know that it was a campsite! So, if your into the whole camping/glaming thing than I would recommend just staying up there and getting a few extra Z’s.. I actually hope every camper up there was a runner.. cause that music at the starting line was pretty fun! They also had water and gatorade? I think.. for you to sip on.

There were 40 porta potties at the top which were just great. The lines went fast.. We actually may of created one ourselves who knows. Ha! We took our pre race picture and then I ate a stinger waffle, took another sip of water and we headed to the start line. There were no pacers or corrals for this race so we just got comfortable amongst the group and hung out where we think we would be pace wise.

The race started right on time. At 7:15! The roads are not closed for the race so we were instructed to stay to the right.

When the gun went off I walked my way to the starting line and picked up the pace and weaved my way through. I felt great and was ready to run this thing!

The first aid station was at mile 3. They had water and I had a bit of my EFS vanilla shot along with it. I didn’t stop running so it was just a quick sip and I was good to go. They had set out signs to tell you that the next aid station was coming up which I really liked because I would pull out my EFS and sip it and put it back just in time to grab some more water and I wouldn’t really have to stop running. The first half of the course is a steady downhill. It is pretty gradual and if you have knee issues I think you would be okay on this course. You follow a river along the road which is one of my favorite things!

The next station was at 6.5, then again at 8. I had my GU at 8 (they also provided GU’s here) and another drink of water. The course goes off the road onto a running trail, expect a few rolling hills through here. The next station was at 10 and it was here that the heat was starting to get to me. I was HOT and felt a little dehydrated.. I knew I hadn’t had enough water during the race. They had gatorade at this station which I was really happy about! I would of liked another gatorade before this one. The last aid station was at mile 11.5. We walked through it and I drank a whole cup of water. It was definetly hot by this point as we anticipated at the beginning of the race and I needed some water. I was still feeling pretty good and we took off to finish the last miles.

 

Lindsey and I stuck together to the end, pushing each other to finish! I checked my watch when we hit mile 12 and realized that if we pushed it we could beat my goal for the day! Which was a 1:50. I told her and we pushed. That last mile was ROUGH mentally! I almost gave up due to the heat, but the thought of possibly beating my goal for the day gave me the chills and I used that thought to carry me to the end. The last 800m or so the street was lined with family and friends of other runners and they all cheered for everyone and it gives you that extra push to the end. Crossing the finish line I looked down at my watch to see 1:48! It was our fastest time this year!

My PR half is 1:42 on Big Cottonwood Half. So I still have something to work for, I was just so happy to beat my goal for the day. It was Lindseys PR! We also finished in the top 100 women and were given special medals and roses! I’ve never had a rose before so I love that aspect of the race! As soon as you cross the finish line you are given your medal and they cut off your chip, give you a water and then you follow around the corral and they give you your race shirt and lead you to the food. There was bread, watermelon, pretzels, bread and butter/honey, chocolate milk, gatorade etc. It was perfect!

This course was fabulous! It was beautiful and a gradual downhill with a few rolling hills. It was a little warm towards the end but starting earlier would mean an earlier bus loading time and that’s something I just don’t care to do.. ha! Besides.. I anticipate St. George to be hot so the training is good for me, right?!

Runners Corner did a fabulous job marking this course. The volunteers were all helpful and great at delivering cups to the runners. The finish line was well organized and everything flowed effeicently and orderly. My watch didn’t quite get 13.1. I think it was 12.9, but I was making sure to run the inside curves throughout the race when I could. Overall, It was a great race!

This would be a great course for anyone! 

Handcart Days Half

 

Hey guys! Hope everything is going well, I (Candice) just got home for Mexico! But before I recap my trip I have to tell you about the half marathon I did the day before I left!

My Rec Center that is close to my house (seriously 7 minutes) host some great races! I have done a few sprint tris through them and have loved them! When I found out they had a half marathon I checked it out and a friend and I signed up two days before the race!

The course is fairly flat with a few uphills. Not the easiest race but a great course. I will definitely do it every year, here on out. It is affordable, close to home, FUN, holiday run!

The race started at 6am. I didn’t take this race as serious as I normally would, because I was running it with a friend, packing for a trip, and I think too many races at race pace start to wear on my body a bit. So a race at 65% max heart rate was welcomed.

I set my alarm for 5:30am *Bonus of “close to home” races! Got dressed, ate a piece of toast with almond butter and lots of honey! Drank some spark, and headed to the race. I turned around half way there because I forgot my headphones.. then when I was half way there again I forgot my GARMIN! WHAT!! Yea.. so dumb. I had my heart rate monitor and no garmin. Oh well, I didn’t have time to turn around so I just went with it.

I met a few of my GPP peeps and my friend Jamie had my number ready for me. I pinned it on, ate a stinger waffle and took another swig of my spark!

The first few miles we averaged about 7:50 miles, I was feeling great as I was sipping on my EFS vanilla shot starting at mile 3.

A few aid stations did not have volunteers to hand you your water/gatorade, so we had to help ourselves at a few.

By the time we got to mile 8 we had quite the hill that stretched for about a half a mile. My friend didn’t eat much before hand so starting to feel it, slowed down a bit. We both took a gu and pushed to the finish. 2:09 Which is a PR for my slowest half ever. Ha! BUT my friend killed it considering the circumstances. I LOVE running with these girls! We had so much fun and pranked called the police and a friend along the way… our phones had minds of their own apparently!

Kneaders was at the finish line with some oatmeal and vegggie salad, I grabbed two to go and snapped a few finish pics and peaced out. I ran one more mile to wrap up 14 for the day and headed home to finish packing and cleaning because handcart days in Utah is a big deal and I knew we had a fair, parade and fireworks later that night!

Overall, it was great race and I had a great time with my girls. We will be back for sure!