One Year

This past weekend the boy reached our one-year mark! I can't believe it's been over a year already. Time really flew right on by.

He took me on the most well thought out date! He started by bringing me a dozen red roses, the first type of flowers he ever got me. Dinner consisted of sushi - the place where we had our first dinner-date. (BTW, we got the Fireball Roll and it was so good. I literally could not get enough of it. Definitely one of the highlights of the date!) The next place he took me was the place I took him back in the day: Sayville Park. It's this park that has a playground, picnic benches, and a small "beach" and little dock. We got there just in time for the sunset and it was absolutely beautiful.

After freezing our butts off, we went and got some Starbucks, one of our frequent date spots and also our first real date. Then we went people watching at a 711, then back to the spot we used to go to chat before he met the parents and was "allowed" to come in. Last but not least, he gave me the movie we went to after Starbucks on our first date:

What a funny first date that was. Hah. Poor movie choice on my part. Not bad at all, just a little awkward for a first date. Anyway, he also took me on a mini shopping spree to Dick's Sporting Goods and I picked out pretty excellent items if I do say so myself. 2 pairs of shorts, a T-shirt, a Nike pullover, a sports bra and a pair of pants! He knows me too well ;)

Last night I took him out to a nice dinner at another one of our favorite Italian places. It was absolutely delicious. Of course, we drew out our anniversary like we do with all presents and holidays and made it a 2-day thing. We need to stop doing that! It was an amazing 2 days though - I could not have asked for anything better!

One of my gifts to him was a mix tape (CD). Corny, I know, but it was awesome. Here's one of the songs that was on it:

Kind of a funny/joke song. Everyone hates this song but he completely loves it!

SOOO not a distance runner

Let me start off by saying that I envy you. And by "you" I mean the people that can run at a decent pace for miles and miles without getting bored or out of breath. This is the complete opposite of what I can do. I run for about 5 minutes and I'm already itching to get off the treadmill. Then I'm onto the the next cardio machine for a limited time before I'm bored again. It's a vicious cycle. It really is.

Not only do I get bored, but I get out of breath relatively quickly! I was a gymnast forever, so it's all short sprints or getting your heart rate up quickly for a short amount of time then coming back down and recovering. Distance was never really my thing. However, now that I am no longer a gymnast, I'm really trying to train myself to become that distance runner I so desperately want to be. Will it ever actually happen? Debatable. It's a work in progress.

In order to try to combat my treadmill boredness, I've been trying out interval training. All of the changing the speeds/inclines and what not  seem to keep me more on my toes (for the most part). Plus, it gives me more of that quick high speed, low rest and recovery that gymnastics gave me. A little comfort never did anyone wrong, right? Eh, it works. I guess that won't reeeealllyyyy get me to that super-duper-marathon-runner status that I want. Like I said: work in progress.

Interval Pyramid Workout 
Today I did a 30 minute interval/pyramid workout. I really liked this one today. The speeds weren't terrible and it gave me a bit more of the running for a longer period of time (kind of...).

Minutes                    Speed
0-3                                 4
3-5                                 5
5-7                                 6
7-9                                 7
9-10                               8
10-13                             4
13-15                             5
15-17                             6
17-19                             7
19-21                             6
21-23                             5
23-25                             4
To wrap up my 30 minute treadmill workout, I did a 5 minute quick sprint, quick recovery interval that included running at 8.0 for 30 seconds then walking at 4.0 for 30 seconds. I ended with a 5 minute cool down after that.
Total miles: 3.0

See? 30 minutes to do 3 miles? I need to work on that.

Here was my favorite song from my workout today:

First of the New Year

It's been a while since I've posted! I keep meaning to, but things just get in the way. One goal for 2012: blog more. However, I'm not going to make this post about the New Year's Resolutions I might not keep. I have a few resolutions tucked away, but they'll be for me. I don't want to put all of these goals for the new year on here because there will probably be a few that are a little outlandish. I don't want to be a failure to all of you! So in the planner (that I don't have just yet) they will go!

Anyway, here's a little photo re-cap of the last couple weeks of 2011!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Gingerbread House

Christmas

New Year's

It really has been an amazing couple weeks since being home. Other than work, everything has been perfect. Hanging with friends and family, relaxing, eating delicious food. Everything. I couldn't ask for better friends or family. I can't believe how fast this break is going! It's unreal.

 As for the rest of my day? Researching a few things (mayyybbeeee part of my resolutions), cleaning my room, going to the gym, then hanging out, probably re-painting my nails. Obviously online browsing for some of these things and maybe these as well. I'm obsessed.

I have not yet read The Hunger Games, but I heard it was absolutely fantastic from many people. I'm almost thinking of picking it up and seeing what all the hype is about. I haven't decided yet. Anyway, here's a song that is apparently from the soundtrack. It's T Swift and The Civil Wars. It sounds very Civil-Wars-esque rather than TSwift-esque. I think I like it.

What are you doing today? How were your holidays?