Most mornings when I wake up, I hop on to Facebook/Twitter/Gmail to get myself fully awake before I start my day.

This morning I saw a status on Facebook by my mom about some pumpkin pancakes she made for her “big kids”.

That status alone was more than enough to wake me up.

All 3 of her “big kids” were home for the weekend, so I guess my mom wanted to make something special.

Apparently,the Fall pumpkin craze has hit my home as well as every other food blog.

I was the last one up, so I got the smallest pancakes known to man. However, they were so sooooo good and I am not even that crazy about pumpkin flavored food items. I highly recommend the Trader Joe’s Pumpkin+Pancake mix.

I was supposed to attend Fuse(ology)’s Pilates for Runners Class this morning with Minerva, but I had a minor mishap with my keys and I had to miss the class.

Thankfully, after class Minerva and I were able to meet up at a local race and she brought me my goodie bag from the class, thanks Minerva!

Soo, I decided to run on back to back days (I ran a 5k yesterday), I realize for someone who has only been running since August it could be a potentially a dumb move.

However, I really just wanted to run. I know my workouts are not anything impressive but I really have a blast with them.

A few things I love about working out:

• Cute workout clothes.
• Pushing myself mentally and physically.
• Endorphin rush
• Getting sweaty
• Meeting new people
• Setting and crushing my goals

The 2pm race start time was actually perfect, because it was freezing out today and we had enough time to warm-up a bit. I think it was 50 degrees!

For some reason I was not nervous about the race?

I think the fact that I ran the 5k the day before helped me feel confident about the distance.

I did the 2 mile race and Minerva rocked the 15k!!!

Minerva, I can’t tell if you look cold or nervous in this picture.

The race was superrr small, I am talking maybe 25 people for all 3 races? I think the many sporting events on TV and the cold weather kept everyone at home.

I was dead last within the first 5 seconds of the race, everyone took off sprinting. Apparently I missed the memo.

I had only two goals for the race:

1) Run the entire way.

2) Push myself.

I knew that I would finish so I had no reason to worry about that.

I think I did push myself since I finished with an average pace 11:58 min/mile. To most people that is not an impressive pace, however at the end of August I ran a mile in 12:30. Oh and I have only been running for 2 months? And most of my training runs have been at a 14-15 min/mile pace.

I was able to run 99% of the race. I stopped to walk up the ever ending hill in the picture above. I will stop running only when I know I can walk faster.

I am not sure how long I walked, maybe 30 seconds to 2 minutes? But I was able to finish strong after that short break.

I felt like the run was hard because the first mile was basically up hill, I had no one else around me except for a strong 7 year old who ended up beating me. You can see her blue pants up above.

It was super cute because she would turn around every few minutes to see if I was still behind her, I am not sure if she was checking because she wanted to make sure she was going the right way or if she wanted to beat me.

After the race, I congratulated the little girl, it was her fastest race to date! Can you believe that she has been running for two years!!! Her parents were running some of the other races.

Oh and running in the cold is strange because on one hand your nose is dripping, but you are burning up in your clothes. I think I blew my nose in my headband that was too hot for my head.

Super attractive.

Even though I could barely breathe while I was running, I was so freaking happy. I guess people have many different reasons for why they do or don’t exercise. For me personally I love how I feel after I sweat. It really is the best feeling in the world.

I am so glad the run went well, I am really appreciative of what my body can do.

Post shower, stretching and foam rolling I had some lunch (roasted potatoes and a chicken quesadilla that I almost burned)

Snack  (1/2 Cinnamon Crunch Bagel with hazelnut cream cheese with Panera coffee)

Perfect snack for a rainy and cold day.

Workout #2. PT exercises. If I am going to insist on running on back to back days I need to make sure I am still doing my PT exercises.

Dinner my favorite chicken + rice dish

I am thinking of having a honey crisp apple after I hit publish, why are they so good??

Why do you exercise?