Reaching Fitness Goals + $20 Paypal Cash Giveaway

Right now I'm training for a 5k using the Hal Higdon Novice 5k training plan. This is probably the first time in my entire life that I chose a training plan for a race and actually stuck to it and the results have been showing.

When I first started running again in April of this year, it took me 12 minutes to run the one mile loop in my neighborhood. It's all hills so you basically run a quarter mile up, and a quarter mile down, etc... until you finish the one mile loop. Each Saturday my training plan tells me to just walk for a certain amount of minutes, so I used to go to the high school track near our house, run a mile as fast as I could, and then walk for my remaining time. The fastest mile I ran on the track over a month ago was 8:32. 

Due to commitments we've had, birthdays, and lack of a desire to drive 10 minutes to the local track, I haven't ran a flat mile in weeks. My training plan also requires that twice a week I run one mile, and those days I always do it in my neighborhood. Those miles started off at 12 minutes, then a few weeks ago I dropped it to under 10, and then last night, I ran an 8:30 mile on the dot. Faster than anything I'd done on the track, through all the hills and everything. I'm convinced when I go to the track this weekend, I can get under 8 minutes. 

In high school I ran track for four years and it always seemed like my coaches we super frustrated with me, and I'm pretty sure it's because they knew that I had so much more potential than what I gave in practice, in meets, and in pretty much everything I did. I've been pushing myself harder the last four months than I have pretty much my entire life with running, and I now know all those years of high school track where I was too afraid to run races, or too afraid to actually push myself, could have been so much better. 

Aside from motivation, and actual determination to push myself, another major difference between now and high school is that I'm actually fueling my body with the right foods it needs. Instead of living off of high school pizzas dipped in BBQ sauce and buffalo chicken salads, I'm actually eating whole foods, fruits and vegetables, and drinking 100 ounces of water a day. I don't think I drank 100 ounces of water in a week during high school.

Another major difference is fueling my body after my workouts with ZonePerfect's Simply Perfect nutrition bars. They're packed with 10 grams of protein and are the perfect treat to refuel my muscles with the nutrients they need after a long run. I also live in fear of getting cramps on my run from not eating enough so these bars are a great pre-workout treat for me too.

Because I love you guys, and because I want you to be able to try these ZonePerfect Simply Perfect nutrition bars, I'm self hosting a $20 paypal cash giveaway! Giveaway runs from now through 9/10/15 at 11:59 EST. Enter using the Rafflecopter below!

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