My Two Weeks of Rest

Wow! I never imagined how much I would miss being active. Last Wednesday (May 22) I had surgery and was told I was not allowed to run or hit the gym for two weeks! 

I have missed two runs with my amazing teammates on Friday mornings. I see runners outside and I'm so jealous, but God and Justin quickly remind me that my "NO RUNNING" is only temporary! Takes me back to running with a purpose! Running for those who no longer can, who lost their life to CANCER! 

Wednesday I cannot wait to be back in my running shoes! Back running for my grandmother, Kimberly, and many others that my amazing friends have asked me to run for! This week has been emotionally tough on me! I have thought so much about November 9 (Savannah Marathon) and just imagine the joy of the finish line and what I just did. I'm running to cure cancer!! 

The week before my surgery I have all the miles I could! Monday I ran my first 16 mile run, Wednesday I ran a quick 3.5 mile recovery run, and Friday I ran 13.1 miles at relay for life with my sister in law Jill in memory of her beautiful mother we lost to pancreatic cancer last year! After being diagnosed she lived for 77 days! This run was do amazing! Knowing I ran to find a cure for cancer! No one needs to go what the Bonner family went through! How quickly her life was taken from her! When I finished I looked at Mr. Bonner and told him that was for his incredible wife. I cannot imagine running around a boring track for 52 Laos for anyone else, but it was such an honor to do it for her!!

Please follow me along my journey of training as it all starts this Wednesday when in released by my doctor to run again!! 

Don't forget to donate to:

Http://pages.teamintraining.org/sc/rnrsav13/kbellpxh9g

Running With A purpose

Who or what do you run for? For so long I have run for myself and to some degree it has worked. I think of my day and let go of stress from what the day has brought me. I have always thought there has to be more to running. I have told you several times that I tell myself I run for those who can't, which I sometimes do. Last Tuesday I ran for Boston. This truly showed me how rewarding it is to run for someone else and have nothing to do with running for yourself. I ran next to a man and his soon at the very end of the race and at mile 2.2 he wanted to give up. I told him, "come on buddy only .4 left you can do this!" The little boy looked at me and then his dad told him, "remember who we are running for. We are Boston strong, we run for those who no longer can, who no longer have legs or feet". At that very moment I knew there was more to running then just a course or a way to clear my head; I needed to run for a purpose.

I am now training for my first Marathon which is November 9. I have joined the team, "Team In Training" which is s group that raises money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Many of you may know this already but after my freshman year in college (2007) my grandmother died of Leukemia. She was the most amazing woman. A woman whose heart was always full of joy and laughter. She was an amazing mother, wife, daughter, sister, and of course grandmother. I can still see her sweet laugh when I close my eyes. She's been my inspiration to never give up on anything I put my mind to. So in November I am running for her and I am running for a cure. No one deserves to lose anyone to cancer. A dear friend of mine, Kimberly, was diagnosed with Leukemia a year ago. She is so inspirational to me as well. She never complains or looks sad. She always has a smile on her face. Her faith in Jesus through everything she goes through with Leukemia has strengthened me and my relationship with Jesus. She is such an amazing role model and an incredible nurse that I look up to, I will be running in her honor on November 9.

All of us haves been affected by cancer in some way. We may have lost a family member, a friend, or even a child to the "Big C". I was blessed to be able to do my internship in Pediatric Oncology in nursing school, and this is where I want my nursing career to take me in the future. These kids are amazing, they are strong, and they are courageous. While raising money for Leukemia sand Lymphoma we will be sponsoring our Honored Heros. These are children who have defeated cancer. I cannot wait to meet this sweet children on May 14 as we kick off our training program. Cancer has my heart. I will be running for a cure. What will you run for?

Please donate to my team to help find a cure. Every dollar gets us one step closer.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sc/rnrsav13/kbellpxh9g

This is me and my friend Ashley at the Run for Boston Event

My friend Kaitlyn and I at the Run for Boston event.

The Sweet lady in the middle is Kimberly along with two of my other amazing Co-Workers Neala, and Misty.

My first race after realizing that I need to run for a purpose ( I PR'ed :)). This is at the Diva Half Marathon in North Myrtle Beach. This was my sister in law Jill's first half. She did great.

My Inspiration; my grandmother.

How's the year going.

I hope everyone had stayed true to their "new year resolution". Change is definitely a lifestyle. You have to be 100% committed to the change you want to be. Of course we are all going to have our days where we just do not feel like going to exercise, but we have to. Just remember the feeling of how much better you feel when you get done and how much closer you are to your dream/ goal. A fellow half marathon runner that I follow has started a challenge on Challenge Loop that I encourage everyone to join. The challenge is called "cross train or remain the same", it started yesterday but it is not too late. There are several other challenges you can join on the app or site and the beat news is you have a chance to win prizes. Healthy competition is so motivating, my work now requires us to put in our workout/ exercise on a daily or weekly basis. On the site we have friends and you can see how well they are doing as well. Don't give up on your goals after a bad day, stay motivated the beat way you know how. Think of how great you will feel when you have exercise and eating healthy as your way of life.

Swamp Rabbit Half Marathon

Two weekends ago I was able to run in my second half marathon. Definitely did not train for this one like I had for my first one. I had the mind set if you can run it once you can do it again. Yes I did run it this time but wow was it hard. Thank goodness for my amazing friend Erin who found me with about 3 miles left to help me finish strong. This race proved to me that you have to train hard to get the results you want. I signed up for the dailymile  today to help me stay motivated in this cold weather again. The website allows you to keep up with your friends and how many miles they have run for the week as well. My favorite part is it shows me how many doughnuts you have burnt off :)

Anyways back to the half marathon. I was able to run with my husband and our friend Ryan again for this one. It's so fun to have friends doing it with you. I have two more half marathons planned for next month. The first one is in Dallas, TX. Justin and I as going to be out there visiting his family so we thought it would be fun for them to see us run. The next one is the Diva run in Myrtle Beach! I am running this with my sister in law, Jill. This will be her first one I cannot wait to see the excitement on her face when she accomplishes her goal :) it is the best feeling in the world. In the diva run they hand out tiaras and boas so I will definitely have a lot of pictures :)

Here are some picture from the swamp rabbit half: from before the race to our big lunch after it a lot of friends who came to watch. :)

Helping Others to Accomplish Goals

I have noticed so many of my friends stating there is no way they could run more than 5 minutes or they wish they could run a half but there is no way. Well I have started making running plans to help my friends or whoever take running one day at a time.  The plans are custom made based on how much you can run now and what race you want to do. I made my first two this week and the girls are wanting to run the Disney Princess half marathon. What a fun goal to reach :) I know that meeting my first goal of a half marathon was an incredible feeling and I want to help others have that same feeling. If you are interested email me at kaylafbell@gmail.com or facebook me! I would be happy to help :)

Healthy Buffalo Chicken (or tofu) Pizza :)

My favorite meal of all times was Buffalo Chicken before I became a vegetarian. Obviously I could not eat this since the main ingredient is chicken. Justin came home tonight to surprise me with chicken tofu from Earth Fare. I have only tried tofu one time before and it was beef tofu and I hated it , but this kind was incredible! Also buffalo sauce can be very bad for you due to extremely high sodium. Justin found a buffalo sauce a while ago from Earth Fare that is very low sodium and actually not bad for you! I am on my iPad so all the pictures have to go to the bottom of the post but I hope you enjoy it :)

Ingredients:
- whole wheat pizza dough ( we use Trader Joe's)
- red onion

- fresh mozzarella cheese
- two chicken patties ( fresh) or tofu

- buffalo sauce

- blue cheese
- 3 scallions thinly sliced
- fat free ranch dressing
- pizza sauce ( Trader Joe's)

Directions:

1. Flatten the crust onto a non stick pizza pan or pizza stone.
2. Place a small amount of pizza sauce or buffalo sauce to the crust ( very thin layer).

3. Place thin slices of mozzarella cheese around the crust evenly.
4. Now add chicken or tofu ( if you want you can add the buffalo sauce to the chicken or tofu before in a skillet).
5. Sprinkle scallions and red onions on top and then more very thin slices of mozzarella cheese.

6. Zig zag buffalo sauce and ranch across the ingredients.

7. Bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes
8. Cut and enjoy :)

Week Two Workout Routine

Sorry to be posting a little late for the week. Since I am late I am going to post a three day workout plan. I hope that all of you tried at least three of the days last week. I am definitely going to use it again in a few weeks, but it is good to mix things up. This week I challenge you to measure yourself, it is more reliable to see the inches fall off than the pounds :)
Ok so here it goes:

Day One:
1. Crunches- 2 sets of 20-30 reps.
2. Squats- 3 sets of 12-15 reps
3. Leg curls- 3 sets of 12-15 reps

4. Flat bench presses- 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
5. Chin ups- 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
6. Presses behind the neck- 3 sets of 12-15 reps.

7. Tricep pushdowns: 3 sets of 10-12 reps

8. Barbell curls:  3 sets of 10-12 reps

9. Standing calf raises: 3 sets of 15-20 reps.

( www.bodybuilding.com)

Day 2: 

1. Bent Leg Leg raises- 2 sets of 15-20 reps.

2. Leg presses- 3 sets of 12- 15 reps.

3.Incline bench press- 3 sets of 10-12 reps

4. Lat Pulldowns- 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

5. Front military presses- 3 sets of 12-15 reps.

6. Lying tricep extensions- 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

7. Standing dumbbell curls: 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

8. Standing calf raises: 3 sets of 15-20 reps.

Day 3:

1. Crunches: 2 sets of 20-30 reps.

2. Squats- 3 sets of 12-15 reps

3. Leg curls- 3 sets of 12-15 reps.

4. Flat dumbbell presses- 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

5. Seated pulley rows- 3 sets of 10-12 reps

6. Dumbbell shoulder press- 3 sets of 12-15 reps.

7. One- arm dumbbell extensions- 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

8. Seated dumbbell curls- 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

9. Calf flexes on leg press machine: 3 sets of 15-20 reps.

Hope that you enjoy this schedule. Sorry that it is late, but 3 days a week is always a great start in the week. I definitely encourage yoga or pilates two or three days a week. Check out your local gym for classes, or do it at home. Also try running now that the weather is starting to become beautiful. I run 5 days a week and it makes me feel wonderful. Remember it doesn't matter how long it takes you as long as you finish. Hope you ladies have a wonderful week.