Happy Thursday! I don’t know about y’all but I’m ready for the weekend. Luckily, my weekend just started! I’m heading down to Charleston tomorrow to spend a long weekend with my some of my college roommates and sorority sisters down on Edisto Island, South Carolina. Unfortunately, Bo can’t make the trip down with me due to work, but I’ll have the opportunity to spend time with the rest of the girls and their husbands celebrating babies, engagements, and memories!

It’s been a year since I reunited with most of these girls and I’m so excited I could scream!

I have a lot to do between now and tomorrow morning when I fly out, bright and early, including pack and get even more nervous about my 20 miler. My running coach only has 17 miles on my Saturday schedule but, I like to make my coach proud and I like to push myself. Therefore, I’ve made it a personal goal to conquer 20 miles on Saturday. I have awesome running friends down in Edisto with me who first motivated me to start running six years ago. I figure that the fun discussions we’ll have, ocean breeze, flat streets, and new scenery will make it more bearable too! Now if I can just remember to apply sunscreen to my calves so I don’t have a horrible calf sleeve tan line come Sunday.

Before my vacation started, I had a jam packed day trying to squeeze in everything I needed to finish before putting up my out of office message.

Lauren and I met for our Thursday training session which has now become the arms and abs killing session. Each Thursday we barely touch my legs due to my marathon training but instead focus the whole session on my biggest trouble areas. The hard work is finally starting to show as we’ve been able to decrease the weight used in the pull up assist each week and increase the weight and repetitions we’re using in other combination exercises.

I also enjoyed some delicious meals today which kept my snacking at bay.

Breakfast was quick and messy, a crunchy cinnamon oats paired with a trenta Starbucks unsweetened iced green tea.

Per Lauren’s suggestion, I substituted my Soy Chip and Baked Lays obsession with a whole grain roll during lunch along side a beet heavy salad.

During the day, I tried to stay hydrated by drinking more water. My body still feels a bit off after last week’s travel and my heavy sodium meals haven’t helped. I’m in love with the new Crystal Light that I was sent to sample.

When I first started losing weight, I was a Crystal Light addict, often going through multiple packs a day. But, then the artificial sweetener headaches and cravings came and I cut it out almost cold turkey. I was hesitant when Crystal Light contacted me but with the word pure in the name, I figured I’d give it a try.

Crystal Light Pure contains no artificial sweeteners, flavors or preservatives. Instead, it is sweetened with sugar and TruviaTM, an all-natural, no-calorie sweetener derived from the stevia plant. This also means that while it isn’t calorie free like the traditional Crystal Light, you can have the delicious AND natural flavor for only 15 calories per serving.

I highly recommend this product if you’re not a fan of plain water or are trying to wean yourself off sodas. This little packet of flavor turned today into Thirsty Thursday, helping me drink over 100 ounces of water from 8am-7pm when I left the office!

Last but not least, before I go pack, I want to thank each of you all for reading each day. When I started my blog, over a year and a half ago, it was a place for me to track my marathon training and a way to keep in touch with my family. Now, it has evolved into my favorite hobby and provided me with amazing opportunities, friends, and memories. I was honored and so humbled by Fitness Magazine’s shout out today on their FitStop blog. I also have to give Caitlin mad props for that wonderful picture they featured!

 Question: What is one thing you’re trying to cut out of your daily routine? Mine is my lunch time diet soda. I grew up in Georgia and was born with a Diet Coke in my hand. 🙂 Therefore, it’s a difficult habit to cut but I’m trying to at least cut back on the habit.