Sunday, January 27, 2013

Photographer??

Like I said in an earlier post, I like to daydream about what Libby will be when she gets older.  I recently gave her my old camera and she loved, loved using it.  I'm not sure she really understands how to use it yet though ;)

Wrong way kid

Story Time

We love books in my house.  LOVE them.  The kids will ask us to read them all of the time.  I hope they never grow out of that.

Story time this AM ❤

Naughty or Nice?

This is courtesy of our daycare...love this idea!

Naughty or nice?  My fav pic of TJ so far haha

Half Marathon Training: Week 2 Recap

This week has been rough.  I started out great on Sunday with doing 5 miles but unfortunately I got 2 massive blisters - 1 on each foot.  They were so painful that I could barely walk until Tuesday.  I risks running on Tuesday with some new shoes - thinking I just needed to get a size bigger.  WRONG!  I ended up pulling a muscle trying them out and then finally went to Fleet Feet on Wed.  That made all of the difference so I finally got back into the swing of things...but unfortunately by not sticking to the plan this week, it impacted my pace and strength.  I will come back stronger in week 3!!

Day 1 (Sunday): 5 miles @ 12:00 min/mile pace
Day 2 (Monday): OFF
Day 3(Tuesday): 1 mile @ 10:02 min/mile pace in the AM; 1 mile @ 10:30 min/mile pace in the PM
Day 4 (Wednesday): OFF - got new shoes!!
Day 5 (Thursday): 2 miles @ 11:11 min/mile pace - breaking in the new shoes
Day 6 (Friday): 2 miles @ 10:52 min/mile pace

Monday, January 21, 2013

All Boy

TJ requested this.  He is definitely ALL boy :)

Yes that's my son...who requested this....

Holy Blisters Batman!!

I've learned my lesson the hard way...if your feet start majorly hurting during your long run and you know there are blisters forming and you do not have any protection from them on your feet STOP RUNNING!!!  I have such a massive blister on my left foot that I can barely walk.  With help from some friends that are avid runners I have discovered I need special running socks for my long runs (which is when this happened) and shoes at least a half size bigger than my normal size.  So I bought special socks and bandaids (who knew!) and will be going to buy bigger shoes today.  Until then, I just want to have it heal by tomorrow so I can do my short run!!!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Half Marathon Training: Week 1 Recap

When I started this week I was excited but really nervous.  I knew it was crunch time and I needed to do this but I wasn't sure 1) what I was doing still and 2) if I was going to be able to really "run" most of the time.  I am not technically done with my week 1 yet but I did want to provide an update and how proud I am of myself and my husband for supporting me.  Without him I honestly wouldn't be able to sneak away to the gym to train so I really appreciate his support!

So here is my recap!

Day 1 (Sunday):  Took the day off because I did 4 miles on Saturday (13:05 pace).
Day 2 (Monday):  2 miles @ 12:53 pace
Day 3 (Tuesday): 1 mile @ 10:23 pace
Day 4 (Wed):  Rest
Day 5 (Thursday): 1 mile @ 9:29 pace
Day 6 (Friday) - Day 7 (Saturday):  TBD - I wasn't able to workout this AM due to stomach issues but hope to go tonight to get my 2 miles in

So when I started this journey on 1/2 I was doing 12 min miles and was making myself complete sick so I scaled it back and started doing 13 min miles.  I also could BARELY do 2 miles.  Now I can comfortably do 4 miles with a 13 mile pace (and that was last week, TOTALLY going to beat that this weekend!!!) and on my shorter runs to increase speed I am down to 9:29 min/miles?!  Holy cow!!  My goal is to get down to 8:30 min/miles running outside.  That's my bigger kicker right now - I am a chicken and won't run outside yet (mainly because I am too cheap to buy appropriate gear :)).  So we'll see how this changes come spring when I go outside for my runs when I can.  All in all I am starting to think I can actually do this and reach ALL of my goals!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Pace or Distance?

While I am training for this crazy half marathon and just really trying to get myself healthy and improve the quality of my life, I am noticing that I am (no surprise here) way too hard on myself.  I know I have posted about my conflict on whether to run or walk but what I am now questioning is, is it better to improve your speed/pace or go longer distances?  I've noticed my version of walking is faster than most and my version of "jogging" (I would never go so far as to call myself running) is a lot faster than others.  But when I "jog" I cannot go as far as when I "walk" at a faster pace.  So which is better?  Help?

Parent Pillow Talk

Parents of children that are talking know that there is very little time to actually talk with your spouse while the kiddo(s) is/are awake.  Jim and I just kind of fell into an interesting pattern of fixing this issue.  It isn't ideal but it works for us!

Each night - we each take one child to tuck into bed.  Usually I take TJ and Jim takes Libby and we get them settled in their rooms.  Then we meet in our room to have "pillow talk" and pretty much catch up on the day, talk about what is on the calendar for the next day, and just about anything we want to.  It's something I always look forward to doing even when I am just exhausted from the day or week.

Does anyone else do anything similar?

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Working 9-5

Ok so I don't work 9-5 but I am the luckiest girl in the world because I get to work from home 4 days a week!  Being a momma and working full time can be two jobs in one, so eventually I got the "Ocean Room" in our house (don't ask) as my office versus my hubby using it.  He had previously had a job that allowed him to work from home several days a week but his new job doesn't allow for that.  In any case, I previously had all of the stuff I needed: a desk, a good monitor, keyboard that was pretty quiet while I speed type, printer, fax, etc.  The only thing I really wanted was more room to work.  So what is a girl to do but redo her office?  So I give to you my new AWESOME office that allows me room to work and then the other half of the room allows my kids to play and co-exist in the room w/me without really disturbing me!

And yes, I realize that there are paintings of fish and sea creatures on the wall...that is phase 2 of the renovating process :)

All finished!  Sooo happyWith stuff

Monday, January 7, 2013

Exercise Confusion: Walk vs Run


I had it all planned out - running was going to be my new thing. My plans always have kinks in them. I ran for 3 days straight. The first day was awesome. I felt great. Well, except for almost throwing up a few times afterwards. The second day was harder. I thought I was going to die on the treadmill but I didn't give up. Then I almost threw up afterwards. The third day I could barely walk and my joints hurt so badly that I felt like I was 90 years old. Still, I didn't give in and did 2 miles. The fourth day I gave in and did the elliptical and man oh man that felt good. I wasn't sick afterwards either.

So this week being #2 I was really excited. I thought this is the week I am going to run and not get so sick afterwards. I decided I was going to make my journey public with everyone and then join up for the gym's weight loss challenge where I will totally win the grand prize (ha!). Then Kelley entered the picture and she threw everything off. She mentioned that her and the teachers at my kiddo's daycare are going to do a MS Walk in the spring/summer (cannot remember which) where they walk a total of 50 miles. I thought - walk. Huh. I love to walk...but WAIT!! I signed up for a half marathon and had already decided I was going to be a RUNNER and not a WALKER! Then I listened to Kelley talk about how much she hated running and prefers walking. So. huh. Walking. I've been so focused on running this half marathon and I never even thought about walking it.

So me being me I experimented this morning on my workout. I decided I was going to walk and see how much of a time difference there was and how I felt afterwards. I am going to do it tomorrow too since day #2 is always the hardest for me. Today I felt awesome. I easily did 2 miles at a pace of 13:45 min/miles where I was running at 12:00 min/miles. And I didn't get sick afterwards. Huh.

So...what I am confused about is what would you do? Would you stick to walking? Do a combo of both (kinda what I am thinking)? Continue to push through the pain to run?

I am SO CONFUSED!!

Oh, and I still joined the gym weight loss challenge. So that is totally happening no matter what :)

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Half Marathon Training Plan

This is my plan!  I am excited and nervous!!Untitled

Goals

I'm starting a journey. I'm excited and nervous. Will I succeed? Will I fail? Will I give into the distractions of life and continue to not make my life and health a priority?

I set some loft goals last year and succeeded in very, very few. To make sure I actually did not have any room for excuses I did a couple of insane things before the end of the year last year.

1) Rejoined the gym. Ok so this isn't insane but given that I couldn't get my large booty downstairs in my freakin' basement to work out, spending money on a gym seems kinda silly.

2) Signed up for a half marathon in April. I've always talked about doing a half marathon.  In college I was regularly running 8 miles 5-6 times per week.  I was in excellent shape.  What I have to remember is that was 11 years and two kids ago.  I am not the same girl as I was then nor do I have the same body.

3) Talked with my Dr for a little help in the eating department.  That's right folks.  This lady is on medication to help her curb her appetite.  It was a hard decision and it took me and my Dr months to finally decide it was what was necessary to shrink this ever growing belly.  I've been on the pills for about 3 weeks and I have lost almost 8lbs over Christmas.  I'm finding myself struggling now but I think it is more in my head.

So that's what I did last year.  This year, besides training for the half marathon in April I am also going to attempt a competition at my gym to lose the most body % from Monday until early March.  The winner gets something I don't really care about and a Kindle Fire.  You see what I want, huh? :)

I'll be using this blog, in addition to posting regular posts about my adorable family and friends to also cover this new journey I am on to accomplish these insane goals.  I hope you will follow along!

Friday, January 4, 2013

Buddies

So my kids are become friends.  I don't know how it happened but over the past week I noticed that TJ was following Libby around like a puppy and Libby was including him in almost everything.  TJ in return would ask Libby to do things with him.  It melted my heart to see them help each other and hold hands VOLUNTARILY!!!  I won't say they do this all of the time of course - they are kids and siblings.  But, I will say the first thing TJ does when he wakes up (after giving me a hug and a kiss) is ask where Libby is.  I am just truly blessed and am happy for however long this phase lasts!

TJ got scared and asked for a hug from Libby.  Then he got embarrassed that I caught the moment ;)Watching it snowLove these two

My Boys

12.28.12 My Awesome Kids (14)

Teacher? Journalist?

Sometimes I wonder what Libby will be when she grows up.  She says she wants to be a teacher.  I can totally see her doing that.  Her nature and patience with helping people just oozes teacher skills.  However, there might be another avenue she would enjoy.  Lately she has grabbed a notebook or piece of paper anytime she can and writes stories.  Now, the stories look like Charlie Brown wrote them but they are still so incredibly special to me.  She's even starting to use her laptop to write stories.  They are just a bunch of random letters and she will occasionally ask for assistance in writing actual words.  So maybe she will be a journalist?  Or who knows!!  The sky is the limit :)

12.28.12 My Awesome Kids (19)

Dance Party

We do a LOT of dance parties in our house.  I decided it was time to bring out the camera to capture these two yahoos dancing around.  We know how to party!

12.30.12 Dance Party (11) 12.30.12 Dance Party (5) 12.30.12 Dance Party (2)