The sights, sounds, and feel of summer!! And working out!!

Here are a few of my favorite things about running in warmer weather, and the tell-tale signs that summer is here!

The air is warmer, therefore easier on my lungs, thus not affecting my asthma as much. It makes me feel like I can go longer and faster! Plus the air is cleaner, no more of that inversion crap that was making life difficult when I wanted to run!

There are more people out, which is bad, and good. Bad, because I have more of an audience. Good, because I feel safer.

It's stays lighter later, which is great because I don't always get out as early as I would like, and helps me feel safer as well.

There's not much of a breeze to cool me down, but I guess this good because I sweat more, so I'm burning off more.

However, there are sprinklers on everywhere, which I don't mind a bit, because they help when there's no breeze!!

There's always a hint of barbeque smell or campfire, which I LOVE!!

There are the sounds of crickets everywhere, which I also LOVE!!

I love running in warmer weather!!

Ok, now, due to popular demand, here's my workout routine for the week:

I run 2-3 times a week (it would be more, but I'm doing Zumba now too). I'm actually pretty amazed at how well I'm doing too. I really had no intention in setting a speed/time goal, even though I was pretty fast when I ran in high school. I first noticed that I was getting faster after I had made a custom playlist for running. I timed it perfectly with the average time it had been taking me, with the perfect motivating songs and toward the end, some great cool down songs, selected from a few of my favorites from David Gray and Nora Jones. Well, after only a few times using it, one night I never even made it to my cool down songs, which meant I had already shaved off a good 8 minutes from my total time! So, I actually decided to put it to the test, and decided I would need to use my Nike app on my iTouch. First, I needed to figure out how it worked, so thanks to Jenny Howe, I got right to work on getting a sensor (Sports Authority, $19.99), and then since I don't use Nike running shoes, I also had to purchase a pouch for the sensor (MacMall online, about $10 with shipping). I put it to the test, and found out that I'm running just under a 6 1/2 minute mile, which is pretty dang close to what I ran in high school!! I was pretty amazed with myself!! Sadly though, this has made me really want that high school time back, and my fastest time was about 5:56.........Wish me luck!! Oh, and I'm up to about 7 miles right now!

Zumba is twice a week, and I can't even tell you how much fun it is!! I may not be great at it, but that doesn't matter, because I have a blast doing it, and I know I'm reaping the benefits!! I go to the Provo Rec because I get in free, the benefit of being a Provo District employee. I get to bring a guest too, so if anyone ever wants to come with me, just let me know!

On my off days (that is off from cardio, which would be running and Zumba), I do Pilates. I'm doing an ab workout and a bun and thigh. These are NOT EASY!! It requires a lot of strength, balance and stamina! But, I'm getting great results, and am sooo close to a six-pack!!

Now, I am pretty dedicated to my workout routine, but if only I could be as dedicated to eating right, then I would be unstoppable!! But sadly, I love food too much, and all the wrong kinds of food. So, for now, I'm just going to stick to trying to work off all the bad calories I consume, but maybe someday..........I'll have more self control! Wishful thinking, right??