Wrapping Up The First Month With A Belated Blog

So sorry to be so tardy. Sigh. 

I wrapped up my first month of running and made my goal for the week. 

THIS week, I've been a total LOSER. However, let's start with the good news. 

My husband finally came home from his trip and, boy, were we glad to see him! We miss him when he's gone. :) He kept our little guy for me while I went on a couple of longer runs. 

On Saturday I did a long run with my friend Angie. We went for a slow and easy run. The running I did with her plus my run home came to 7.5 miles. It began as quite the debacle. My watch that I thought was fully charged was totally dead. My music wouldn't load and I was running almost 15 minutes late by the time I finally met Angie at our rendezvous point. What started out as rough and frustrating ended up being a pretty enjoyable run though. 

On Sunday, I ran 4.15 in 40:11.19

Mile 1: 9:41

Mile 2: 10:03

Mile 3: 9:43

Mile 4: 9:25

Total for the week: 24 miles!

I would be way more excited and whooping it up if I had blogged about this in a timely manner. However, it is late Thursday night of the NEXT week and I have run once. Yes, that's right, one time. :(
I am so frustrated with myself. This is truth for ya, people. Sigh. I was doing so great and all of a sudden, I've stalled. I could give you a list of all the reasons I haven't made it out the door in tennis shoes, but who am I kidding? There will always be reasons, right?

I've gotta get back on the horse. I'm going to limp through the rest of this week and get a few more runs under my belt and then try to start again strong the next one. 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter From Our Family to Yours

Hope you have a wonderfully blessed day. 

He is Risen! 

 I'll report back later with this week's milage. I'm heading out for a run in just a minute. I'm still trying to reach my goal for this week.

An Hour & 15 Minutes...

Not an hour and 15 minutes of running...an hour and 15 minutes until my husband's plane is supposed to land and he'll be home. I can't wait! It was really just a short trip, but I missed him so much! We spend so much time together, it feels really weird when he's not around. I don't like it. Well...I don't like it MOST days. :) 

I didn't run today. :( I'm a whoose (how DO you spell that word????)*See Note*, I'll confess. I really just didn't want to run with the stroller. Sigh. Now I'm really behind in my milage, with only two more days to try to fit it in. You want to know the really bad news?? I don't even know how many miles I have left to reach my goal of 23 for the week. I'm going to have to go back and count it up after I post this blog. I'll probably be thrown into a little bit of a panic when I see how many miles I'm going to have to cram into two very short days. We'll see...

Yesterday (Thursday) morning, I went over to a girlfriend's house and ran on her treadmill while she kept my little guy. Thank goodness for wonderful friends. :) I only ran three miles, but that's three I don't have to worry about tomorrow. :) It felt really different to run on the treadmill. I started pushing myself in a different way trying to see what different speeds felt like, etc. I was tuckered out at the end of the third mile. :) I don't have the breakdown by miles. I just have the total distance and time spent...

3 miles in 28:56

Weird picture, I know, but the screen kept flashing back and forth between time and distance and this is the best I could do. :) 

Now to post this and then count up my milage, or the lack thereof, for the week thus far. I'm a little scared.

On a happier note, just 59 more minutes now til his plane lands!! :)

*NOTE* So I googled how to spell it and it's "WUSS." LOL. :D I wasn't even close! :D

Cobb Salad with Southwest Dressing

I'm just getting ready to head out the door to go and run on a girlfriend's treadmill. My goal for this week is 23 miles. With my husband out of town for much of the week, I've had to lean on friends to keep our little man while I run for 30 minutes or so. I'll have to fit a couple of long runs in when my husband gets home to make my goal. I'm avoiding running with the stroller for as long as possible. :) It just seems really H-A-R-D. :)

Just wanted to share a quick recipe for Cobb Salad and Southwest Dressing. This is a favorite with us and I make it pretty frequently. It's healthy too! 

If you're interested, you can get the recipe on my other blog here. :)

If you try it, let me know what you think!

Short and Sweet

It's late and I'm tired and tomorrow is a busy day. So...with no more ado, 

Wednesday: 3.01 in 29:12.83

Here are the splits...

Mile 1: 10:32

Mile 2: 9:40

Mile 3: 8:57

I never could understand why my husband and others did such crazy warm-up runs before a race. I always wondered if it didn't hurt their performance or cost them more than it earned them, so to speak. I'm starting to get it. 

The first couple of miles hurt and they're not your best. When the gun goes off, those who have warmed up a mile or two are ready to roll! 

My husband was unavailable to watch our little guy this evening and our wonderful neighbor came over to watch him so I could get a short run in. I LOVE her! :)

Goodnight. :)

Beginning the 4th Week with a Bang!

I took Tuesday off as a rest day, but on Monday evening Angie and I ran together again and it's the most I've run in years! She and I met at a park, ran 5 miles together and then each ran home. It was a mile and a half home, so I started my week with a 6 1/2 mile run!! 

WOOHOO! :D 

Check it out! 

Here is the milage breakdown. 

Monday: 6.51 miles in 1:01.12

Mile 1:  10:11.01

Mile 2:  9:34.72

Mile 3:  9:06.90

Mile 4:  9:07.37

Mile 5:  9:21.10

Mile 6:  9:11.20

.51 Mile: 4:40.05

According to the scales this morning, I've only lost 1/2 to 1 pound. Sigh. However, I'm hoping that means I'm gaining muscle and losing fat. I'm still hauling around the little spare tire out front. I'll be soooo excited when that starts shrinking. I'll try to do an update picture every month or so. I'll have a "Watch the Tire Shrink" photo series. Every woman's dream, I know. LOL :D 

Wrapping Up Last Week

Yikes! I'm so behind. I haven't posted all my milage for last week and I've already started my milage for this week. The OCD side of me can't combine the two weeks' milage in the same post. I need 'em separate. Ridiculous, isn't it? :) 

First of all, let me just say that I am so incredibly encouraged by the email and comments I keep receiving from you guys! You're unbelievable! There are women working out indoors with 13 feet of snow outside. There are women doing C25K (Couch to 5K). There are moms who are riding bikes with their kids riding along in the back and more.

Can I just say that before I found out I was pregnant, I tried riding a little pink beach cruiser on the trails alongside my husband while he ran. I'm embarrassed to say that there was more than one time that my husband helped to PUSH ME UPHILL.
Mortifying.
He's running. I'm "biking" and he's pushing me up the hill. 

True story. Sigh.

 I can't even imagine having a passenger. :) 

You go, girls!

So here's the rest of my milage for this past week....

Saturday: 3 miles in 28:47.34

Mile 1:10:14

Mile 2: 9:49

Mile 3: 8:42

Sunday: 4 miles in 39:46.38

Mile 1: 10:00

Mile 2: 10:13

Mile 3: 9:35

Mile 4: 9:59

Total for the week: 21 miles!!!

This wraps up my third week in a row of running! Can you believe it? I can't! I've always quit by now in the past! This morning, my husband told me that he's kind of getting excited to see my progress. He said he thinks I'm actually going to stick to it this time and he's so proud of me. :D
THE BLOG IS WORKING FOR ME, GIRLS! :D It's just the kind of accountability and community that I needed. I hope that it's helping you as well. We're in this together. :D Keep letting me hear from you! 

Iron Sharpens Iron

Thanks so much for the awesome feedback! You guys are so motivating and I LOVED reading your comments and hearing about your workouts. Keep 'em coming! I want to hear how YOU are doing!

It was nice to have a running partner! :) I had my husband snap a picture for the blog before we headed out. He and Angie both humored me. :) 

It was so motivating to run with someone for a change. I ran the fastest mile I've run in a long time and I know it's because I had Angie there pushing me. We've already scheduled our next run this coming week. We are going to try to run when it's a bit cooler though and not quite so close to the middle of the day. It was HOT out there! Here's the breakdown of the mileage. 

Thursday: 5.50 miles in 51:35.27

Mile 1: 9:23

Mile 2: 8:51 *WOOHOO!* :)

Mile 3: 9:30

Mile 4: 10:17 (jogged a slower mile here)

Angie had to get back so we stretched and hydrated. I got home to find the little guy sleeping with his dad, so squeezed in a little more before calling it a day. 

Mile 5: 9:11

I ran another 1/2 mile, but I'm not counting it towards the total for the week. That'll teach me to quit before I'm done. ;)

So there it is, folks. :) After all my worries, it was really good to have some company out there. :) 

I'm a Little Scared...

I'm a little scared because this morning I'm running with a friend who is going to kick my not-so-little tail. :)

I'll let you know how it goes, but I won't lie, all morning I've had this sense of both anticipation (it'll be nice to have someone to run with for a change) and dread (this is gonna really hurt).

Just to let you know what I've done so far this week....

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: 4 miles in 39:48.45

Mile 1: 10:46

Mile 2: 9:49

Mile 3: 9:42

Mile 4: 9:32

Wednesday: 5 miles in 46:50.00

Mile 1: 10.13

Mile 2: 9:02

Mile 3: 9:06

Mile 4: 9:02

Mile 5: 9:24

I think these were my fastest times yet!! However, last night I felt like every muscle in my lower back down was screaming. Sigh. My awesome husband worked on me a little bit. His expertise and experience in the realm of running and pain is coming in handy. He knew right where to massage and man did it hurt! This morning my knees and ankles are still angry...let's just hope I can keep up with my girl Angie. She's a real runner and I'm the newbie. This should be good and humbling, folks. :)

My goal for this week is another 20. I don't think I'm quite ready for a 25. Maybe next week, depending on how my knees are holding up.

What are you guys up to this week? I wanna hear from you! :)

20...and a 1/2

Friday I didn't get out the door until a little before 6pm. You know what that means, don't you? That means that the fact that I hadn't run yet hung over my head like a little black cloud all day long. I told my husband that I felt a little like Eeyore. 

(picture from Just-Pooh.com)

I finally got my little self out the door and wouldn't you know it, that little cloud burst and it started raining on me at about .25 of the first mile. Lovely. 

Around 1/2 a mile in, I saw a little black dog dash across the road and take off down the trail ahead of me. Now I'm a dog lover - a dog lover that lives in an area with tons of coyotes. I'm not kidding. We listen to them just about every night and I hate, hate, hate the sound of them catching something. It was stressing me out since there wasn't much daylight left for the little thing. I heard someone calling a minute or so later and confirmed that they were looking for the little runaway. Yea!! Thankfully, when I turned a corner on the trail, the dog had stopped just a small distance ahead. I stopped the watch and knelt down calling it. The little thing came right to me and I scooped it up (praying I wouldn't get bitten) . I walked back down the trail til I found the owner. Happy ending. :) 

It rained on me the entire run and I only went three miles in 28:28.43. Here's the breakdown....

Mile 1: 9:42

Mile 2: 9:28

Mile 3: 9:16

Saturday=No Running

That wasn't the plan, but the day ran out before my list of "to dos" did. That left me with five miles to still get in to reach my week's goal. 

Sunday (today)

This morning my husband went for his run early. He got home and took the baby while I went for mine. Quite a system we have going, eh? :) Today's run started out pretty rough. I was a hurting unit and, when I glanced down at my watch, I'd only gone .74 miles. Sigh. That, my friends, is when you know it's shaping up to be a long run. The hills were killing me today. They felt extra....well...hilly. I checked my watch again and had only gone 1.81 miles and felt like it had been 4. That's when I decided not to look at the watch anymore and just try to run. 

One little problem with the outfit today... well, two actually.

The running tank kept inching up. Very annoying. I'd glance down and see the lovely leftovers of a cesarian. That's gonna take some time.

The running skirt/shorts equaled some severe chafing today. Not fun. I look forward to the day when that's not an issue. I'll be wearing pants this coming week no matter what the temperature. 

It wasn't until I was almost to mile 4 that the run started feeling a little better. That was a long 3 1/2+ miles. I ran 5 miles and then stopped to stretch a little. I walked for a bit and then ran for another 1/2mile or so. Retrieving the watch...

Mile 1: 9:22

Mile 2: 9:54

Mile 3: 10:14

Mile 4: 9:48

Mile 5: 9:14

Mile 6: 13:10

 Total for the week: 20 1/2 miles.

:)

That's a very happy smile. 

Miles, Miles and More Miles

I haven't meant to disappear....really. I promise that I've been running and walking and running some more. Life just feels very overwhelmingly busy this week for some reason. I'm cleaning out kitchen cupboards and organizing my pantry. I'm trying to learn how to make my own baby food and I still need to brush out my poor dog's terribly tangled tail and give the monthly allotment of flea and worm meds. In the midst of all that, I'm behind in meal planning and grocery shopping. I just remembered that I haven't switched the laundry over to the dryer and there's a clean load in the basket waiting to be folded, and that's just barely the tip of the iceberg that has been my week. Sigh.
Real life is just coming out my ears right now. How in the world is a girl supposed to work on getting skinny fit in the midst of all this craziness??

But I digress. This blog is about fitness. I'll try and stay on topic. :) 

So, the goal this week is to run another 20 mile week. Here is where I stand so far....

Monday: I had planned to run 4 miles, but was supposed to meet a girlfriend at 9am to walk our little dudes in their strollers. I ran out of time and only got three miles in before I had to get home and meet her. I was sooo bummed that I didn't have time for a fourth mile because I was feeling pretty good during the run. Here are the times: 3 miles in 29:46

Mile 1: 9:54

Mile 2: 9:58

Mile 3: 9:53

SEE??? I was on a roll!!! I tried to make up for stopping at only three miles by walking like a crazy woman. We walked 6.32 miles which gave me a total of a little over 9 miles for my morning. However, I'm only going to count the miles RUN towards my 20 for the week. Everything else is just frosting. :)

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: 4 miles in 39:53.69

So not a fun run. Everything hurt. My husband asked me afterwards what specifically was hurting and I asked him if I could give him the shorter list of what didn't hurt.

Mile 1: 10:10

Mile 2: 10:13

Mile 3: 9:32

Mile 4: 9:58

At least I was speeding up a little bit towards the end. I was so glad to be done with that run. I just kept reminding myself that it was just a couple of weeks ago I was walking three miles max. There IS improvement. 

Thursday (Today): Today was a bit stiff as well. I think my body is in a bit of shock from this second week of going for 20. I'm trying to push through it. I would come up on yet another hill and think, "Learn to love the hills. Learn to love the hills." They make you strong, right? :)

I haven't even looked at my times for today yet. Let me get my watch.....

Okay. 

Mile 1: 10:39

Mile 2: 9:34

Mile 3: 9:16

Mile 4: 9:15

Went home and hydrated and then ran a slow mile in the park to try and squeeze in one more mile. 

Mile 5: 11:12

I'd planned to fill this post with lots of interesting and witty comment. However, I'm at 5% battery and I still have laundry and a dirty kitchen waiting for me. :) Let's suffice it to say that I have a total of 12 miles for the week so far and have 8 to go. 

Thank you so much for all the encouragement and comments. It's helping to keep me going this week when every muscle I have seems to be seriously angry. You guys rock! 

My First 20-Mile Week!

Whew! It's been a whirlwind of a few days, but my first week is complete! Woohoo! 

Here's a quick summary of the last few days. 

FRIDAY

I had a bit of a shorter run. I went for three miles (none of which felt particularly great). 

Mile 1: 11:22

Mile 2: 10:00

Mile 3: 10:03

This made for a total of 15 miles. Five more to go in order to reach my goal of running my first 20 mile week in a long, long time! 

Funny mini-dialogue between my husband and I when he brought me a slice of pizza later that day:

Me: "Did you get one more piece than me?"

Husband: "Yes."

Me: "Good, because my goal is to NOT eat as much as you...even though I can." :D 

I went to the pool with a girlfriend and she asked if I was on a strict diet along with my new running regimen. Heck no! I told her, "I run so I can eat, girl!" :D

SATURDAY

This was a rest day. We got up at 5:30am and took a family trip to Oceanside to support two of our friends who were doing the half iron man. Here we are at the beach.

Talk about motivating! The guys did an awesome job. It was especially inspiring as I watched athletes who had lost legs in the line of service crossing the finish line after swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and running a half-marathon. Talk about heart! It made me want to stay the course and I found myself looking forward to my long 5 mile run the next day. Don't laugh...that's long for me.  I'm no ironman...yet. :D

SUNDAY (Today)

I did it!! I ran my last five miles to reach my goal of twenty miles for the week and it felt great! No really, the RUNNING part felt great today! My husband put together a great music mix and I headed out the door after throwing back a cup of coffee, a sour apple powergel and glass of water. 

Check out the milage!! 5.38 miles in 58:37.09

Mile 1: 10:48

Mile 2: 10:54

Mile 3: 10:37

Mile 4: 9:42 (I sped up! Must have been some kickin' music :)

Mile 5: 10:00 

The last mile I was still feeling pretty good. As I was going up one stretch of the run, I saw a car pulling over ahead of me and a lady leaning out to get my attention. I'll confess, my first thought was to hide behind my sunglasses and earphones and pretend not to see them. I sooooo did not want to stop and break my rhythm or ruin my time. Sigh. That thought was quickly followed by a self-scolding. What's my problem??? Of course people are more important! I stopped to give directions to Walmart and Home Depot and then started up again. I tried to kick a little and gain some of the time lost. While I'm embarrassed to confess the temptation to pretend not to see them, I'm also kind of strangely excited about it. It does, afterall, show a small shift in my thinking. Used to, I would have welcomed any and every opportunity to stop. Case in point...today when I would get stopped at a crossing, I tried to keep moving so as not to lose too much momentum. Just a week or so ago, I was praying for red lights and gasping for air. These are tiny improvements that show change and make me happy. :)

My first 20 mile week! Thanks so much for all the support. You guys rock! I love all the comments and emails. They're so encouraging and motivating. Makes me kinda feel like I have some company out there. :D 

Next week's goal: 20 miles

My First Blog Party Attempt :)

Just found the very cool post on the 5th annual Ultimate Blog Party 2011 by 5 Minutes For Mom. Very cool. This is a veeerrry new blog - as in "not quite been around a week" blog. You can read about the beginning of this journey here. I would love for you to join me! :)