Two Steps Forward, ALOT OF GIANT STEPS BACK...

So you probably thought I was dead. Sigh. I've been gone SINCE EASTER!! That's craziness! 

My running has suffered ALOT. We had a busy month in May where my husband or I one were traveling. We saw each other a couple of days, I think. 

My husband was in Atlanta the first of the month. Then the little guy and I went to visit family in Dallas. A couple of days after I got home, my husband left for Colorado and the day after he returned our family left for Mammoth Lakes, CA. That's where we are now.

Talk about a busy travel schedule! I fell off the fitness wagon during this time. Sigh.

I've run a little bit here and there, but nothing consistent and nothing to speak of. I'll post my runs later this week as they're all stored on my watch. There won't be much to report, I'm afraid. 

The weekend between my getting home and my husband leaving, we did run a fun 5K together as a family. :D 

 Here are my two boys before the start.

 Check out the gal that was in front of me! Double stroller and a little white dog. Yeah. She beat me.

Here are the folks waiting to start..

Here's a picture of the little guy and I after we had finished. I think he kicked his little feet the entire way. He loved every minute of it. We ran it in under 33 minutes and it was the first time I'd ever really run with the stroller. We had such a fun morning. :)

We interrupt this blog to run....

Conversation between my husband and I as the pictures above downloaded.....

Husband: What are you doing?

Me: I'm finally posting something on my fitness blog.

Husband: What are you posting about? You haven't been doing anything.

Me: I'm writing about what a loser I am.

Husband: Oh. Wanna go out for a short run right now? I'll watch our little guy.

Me: Really? Do you mind? 

Husband: Nope.

Me: Okay! Thanks! 

So, out for a run I went. :) Mammoth Lakes is at almost 8,000 feet elevation and I felt every foot of it. Sigh. I'm back at the beginning where I'm walk/running. I jogged 20. Walked 5. Jogged 5. I'll put the times in with the next post. :) 

If the truth be told, I'm doing a really, really good job at only one of my top four priorities (Faith, Family, Fitness, Friends). 

Which one, you might ask...

Well, it's this one.

 My little man is growing so fast, I don't want to miss a second. We're up in a condo in Mammoth Lakes, CA. How do you like that make-shift toy box? :) He ignored all the familiar toys and went right for the cardboard box. Awesome. :)

It's June here and we got snowed on the last days in May. It was our little man's first time to see the snow. As a matter of fact, here on the 4th of June, there is a mix of rain and snow falling as I type this. Happy Summer.

My two little men napping. :) How cute is that?

Mammoth Lakes mornings go something like this. :) My little guy watches Baby Einstein on mommy's laptop while I have a cup of coffee and try to gear up for a busy day. :) 

My husband and a friend of ours are both up here to train at altitude. They're gearing up for the marathon olympic trials that will be taking place in Houston this coming January. My husband has had an incredible running career and I'm so proud of him. He's persevered through so many obstacles and injuries. This is his last big push as an athlete before we transition over to the coaching side of this sport. I'm up here taking care of our little man and cooking like a crazy woman. You try feeding two elite runners who are training like mad twice a day. These boys can eat! If you have easy, healthy and make-ahead meals in your kitchen arsenal, please do a girl a favor and share your recipes!! :D If I make 'em and the boys like 'em...I'll feature it here with your permission! :D 

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.

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

Beginnings

This is the first of what I hope will be many posts. Fitness has been a struggle for me...an up and down journey with more downs than ups. In short, my story is like that of many women. After I turned 27, my body decided to pay me back for every carb I'd ever consumed. Penance began with a vengeance. It didn't help that my first year teaching I worked 60+ hour weeks and began supporting the local fast food joint single handedly during my long days and late nights of "learning the ropes." Add to that year the meeting and marrying of my husband and this girl had alot going on. The pounds started creeping on, but I brushed it away with a trite "I'll take care of it later" mentality. I always had before. 

Fast-forward about five years and 32 pounds later....THIRTY-TWO pounds later, people!! I was overwhelmed to the point of inaction. It didn't help that my husband is a professional athlete with more discipline and self-motivation than any ten other people I know put together. I felt like a rather large loser. Sigh. I was out of excuses and started the painful journey of trying to shed the pounds one monotonous mile at a time. 

I started walking and then slowly worked my way to a walk/ run routine. Finally I ran three miles without stopping. They were slow miles, but they were miles. The next day I found out I was expecting our first baby. We'd gone through several miscarriages in the past, so to be on the safe side and not have to wonder "what if?" if things didn't work out, I abruptly stopped my runs and went back to walking. That was a little over a year ago. 

Now, with a beautiful 5 1/2 month old baby, I've started back at square one. This time is different though. I have goals. I want to run a marathon and someday, I want to run a F-A-S-T marathon. I'm committing to this blog because, I won't lie, sometimes I need accountability. (Don't we all?) I figure there are lots of folks out there like me. People who were once reasonably fit and then life got busy and crazy and full-time until one day you could no longer ignore the bins of clothes that no longer fit and the numbers on the scale that were no longer friendly. Enough already! Join me on this journey to not settle for anything less than your best when it comes to a healthy and fit lifestyle. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm bound to fall on my face throughout this journey. I'm notorious for that in just about all aspects of life.....but I get up. I plan to be painfully honest and will do my best to blog regularly - - at least somewhat regularly. :) I'll keep track of my workouts and report back. I plan to ask other women to share their journeys and their thoughts on fitness and find ways to motivate myself and others who have similar goals and passions. I'd love your company along the way. :)

So where am I starting from?

The last several weeks I've been walking and/or running several days a week. I worked my way up to doing about three miles four days in a row and then taking a day off. My knees were k-i-l-l-i-n-g me, so I backed off a little and started doing two days on and then one day off. I'm currently 8 pounds lighter than I was when I found out I was pregnant. WooHoo!! :D That's a huge victory for me and is really helping to motivate me in continuing forward. 

Today was day one of "the plan." The plan to run a marathon someday before I'm dead. 

If I were really honest with you (and since I've promised to be brutally honest....)my dream is to run a sub 4-hour marathon someday. I cringe to put that in writing....I don't want to set myself up for failure....but what kind of attitude is that?! I want to go through the rest of my life at full-throttle and see what I can do! :) That's my dream and I'm going to go for it. I have other dreams, but they have nothing to do with fitness so I won't deviate from the topic.....for now. :) Just know I'm not so one-dimensional as to only have a fitness-related goal in life. :) 

My new motto at present is: Faith, Family, Fitness, Friends

in that order.

I'm a very social girl. I love entertaining and I love making new friends. However, I recently realized that my priorities were all out of whack. I was focusing on family and friends and family and friends. There was alot of what I really needed missing. There was a restlessness and discontent because I wasn't taking care of me. I needed to have faith as my priority because, frankly speaking, everything else can move out from underneath you. Family and friends will fail you at times and fitness may not always be possible. Faith is a foundation I can build on that won't shift out from underneath me. 

Family is second ~ My family means the world to me.

Fitness is for me ~ That's a new one! :)

Friends are such a blessing ~ The real ones I want to truly invest in.

So that's it in a nutshell. This is where I'm beginning. I'd love some company for this fun, but rather painful journey I'm about to embark on. Are you in?