5 weeks to go!!

I am a little shocked that the past 3.5 months of training for my first ever half marathon has flown by so incredibly fast.  To date I have ran 336.5 miles in 103 days.  I have increased my longest ever run to 10 miles now.  And I lived to tell about it (partially joking)!! I have lost a little over 20 lbs as of last week, I have burned tons of calories.  I have ran (and fell) in ice, snow, wind and sun.  I have ran with more clothes on than I thought I ever would.  I have rethought what "girl time" is after taking a few long runs with a few good friends.

I am following the Nike+ 1/2 marathon training program.  As I looked ahead for the next 5 weeks, the training intensifies in length of runs as well as frequency of long runs.  As amazing of a husband I do have for scheduling time for me to run, I know that I am a Mom first. 

I couldn't help myself from thinking last night as my littest one refused to sleep after midnight, "I am so glad the kids will be with Grandma the night before the race."  I have ran with my 6 year old on her bike and me pushing a jogging stroller.  I have ran many miles pushing my 4 year old and almost 2 year old in the double jogger.  I am thankful to my husband who has sacrificed hours while I have ran alone. 

I do have to say that my time running has really decreased my need to window shop, hunt for deals or bargains, etc.  When the kids are driving me bat shit crazy (because we all know that there is at least one time of the month that the kids are able to push our buttons), all I need is twenty minutes, an hour or maybe two to lace up my shoes, tune in my Ipod and get out of my own head and into nature.

It is mid April in North Dakota.  Last year, we had snow at this time.  I am so thankful that the year I decide to run my first ever half marathon, we have had a mild, though windy winter and spring.  I have tan line to show already!  I honestly think growing up in the clowdy, overcast and dreery Northwest, I crave the sunshine.  I know people in the frozen tundra we call North Dakota that take Vitamin D suppliments during the winter months.  I have always been bad at remembering to take suppliments, but I do feel a huge difference when I get outside and take a run in the sunshine.  I can breathe deeper, I can take a moment before I react, I can appriciate life a little more.

So, did I say I have 5 weeks until race day?!  Is that relief to be done training for the longest ever race in my entire life ~or~ fear?  Honestly, I am not really sure which.  I am a person who operates better with a very busy and scheduled life.  The more time I have to relax, to slack off, to do nothing - the more...  well, I will do exactly that.  The busier I am, the more productive I am.  I think to know I have basically my toddlers 2 hour nap to get on the treadmill and get my 4 mile run completed and a shower drives me to do more.

Let's be honest though...  I HATE the treadmill.  I am not exagerating.  I am not fibbing.  I am not a fan of the machine in my basement with the rotating belt.  It serves a purpose if I have no other choice, or am too busy to do otherwise.  I find no enjoyment of watching crappy daytime (or even worse early morning) TV while going no where.

So, as the weeks tick down, I have been trying to read up on what to expect.  I am still uncertain and I know once we leave to head to the race the nerves will hit.  So much to think about - What will I wear for the race?  What to eat in the week before, the night before?  What time to get up to run?  What time will I finish in?  (This one makes me smile - though I have a goal I am shooting for, FINISHING a HALF MARATHON is really the goal!!)

My fears for the half is 1) I will have my period during the race and 2) That I will lose toenails.  I have heard horror stories about feet.
So as I look forward to the highlight of my May being running my first ever half marathon.  To me, I look forward to this more than my 35th birthday, not even my anniversary of meeting my husband or of marrying the wonderful man.  In the meantime, I do have weekly dance classes, an end of season dance performance, weekly soccer practices, weekly soccer games, weekly church school and my darling baby's birthday that are all admist the training.  That is right...  training to run 13.1 miles has to be in between my regular duties of being a Mom.

In just over 5 weeks, I will return home after a 4 day, 3 night vacation from the kids as a half marathon runner.

Weigh-in Friday!

Today was my weigh in day.  My alarm went off at 5:45 and I turned it off.  Laid in bed and thought about getting up.  It took me about 5 minutes, I rolled out of bed and got my workout clothes on.  I went down stairs to weigh in and workout.  Last week - well, for the last 17 days the scale read 175.6 (well, I only weighed the 1st & the 10th - but no change).  Today I weighed in and was shocked at what the scale said to me, 172.6.  3 pounds, REALLY?!  I will take it, not as 3 lbs in 1 week, but 3 lbs in  17 days.

So I celebrated by taking a day off from running, I did a mere 20 minutes on the eliptical instead and celebrated those calories burned with a mocha.  :oP  The rest of the day will be good since we are having pizza for my nephew's birthday party tonight.

48 days into the new year and I am 11.8 lbs lighter and have ran 146.65 miles.  Just over 3 miles a day.  I think my goal shall be to increase my distances I run, but decrease the amount of times per week I run.  To run 4-5 days a week and still have totals around 20 miles as I have averaged per week so far.

Goals, goals, goals...

So what would life be if we didn't make goals?
I made a goal for the new year to lose 20 lbs and to run 800 miles.  Today is February 7th, just over 5 weeks into the year and I have ran 113 miles.  If I keep this up, I can run over 1000 miles this year!

Milestones!

Today marked a milestone for me.  I acheived my goal of running 60 miles in the past 4 weeks.  Really, 23 days but whose counting.  In the past 23 days I have also lost over 5 lbs and inches off my body.  I really, could not be happier!  60 miles in month 1 of my 800 mile goal for 2012.  I guess to acheive 800, I need 66 miles a month.  Good thing the month is not over and I have 7 more days to get the other 5.5 miles...  I think I can do it!

A week of struggles

A week?!  It is only Tuesday!  :o)
Sunday I opted to take the day off from working out and to sleep in.  Yep, kids got up at 6 am.  Fail.
Monday I struggled through my 4 mile run like it is hard or something.  :oP
Today I had ZERO desire to get up before the sun to workout.  I have one kid with a cough, 1 kid up with a runny nose (the baby), so before 3 am I was up 5 times with the two of them.  ::Yawn.::
I drug my dog tired ass out of bed and ran a mile bearly under 10 minutes and did the shred complete with 7.5 lb weight up from my past 5 lbs.

Now it is nap time.  Please give Dylan the memo.  I need to fold laundry, unload & reload the dishwasher and figure out dinner.


...  still so sleepy.....

34.67 miles in 2012!

In 14 days of the New Year, I have ran 34.67 miles.  I feel amazed about this acccomplishment, it's a great start!  I ran just over 20 miles this week and 4 this morning.  I am happy to say that it is getting so much easier!  My weight loss is not as great...  2.8 lbs in 2 weeks.  It is okay, but I really hoped for more... 

I think I can, I think I can.

So the New Year is almost 2 weeks in.  Tomorrow is week #2 weigh-in for me.  At this point, I know I will see a loss.  Last night on a whim, I took out my tape measure.  I took measurements before I started.  11 days of running (well, 10) - and I lost 1 inch off my hips and 2.5 off my waist!  I knew that working out really helps me to keep my baby belly sucked in as opposed to the alternative which is a not so flattering, let it all hang out.

So, I will take my official measurements after the first month, but this is incentive!!  I also realized if I can run 4 miles on the treadmill or outside - after only 2 weeks of working out then in 4 more months I should be ready to run 13.1 miles.

1 week down!

So today is January 8th.  8 days into the New Year and 1 week down of working out. 

I have to confess that yesterday I did not eat the best or exercise at all.  It was my husband's birthday and we made a buffet of appitizers to watch the NDSU Bison win the National Championship in Football.  I made breaded baked mushrooms, baked crab rangoon - with fat free cream cheese.  I also made quacamole and fruit & veggie trays.

After 7 days of working out, I have ran 18.2 miles and did Jillian Michaels 30 day shred 3 times.  I set a goal on Nike running to run 60 miles by 1/23 - I set these before the new year!  Well, I have over 40 miles to run in 2 weeks to achieve this goal.  Not sure if it is acheivable at this point.  I have been running 1-1.5 miles as a warm up to the shred one day.  The next day, I run 3-4 miles.  Today I did almost 4 miles outside.  It felt great to get outside in the sun!!  I am so thankful we don't have snow yet!!

Plan it, do it!

So I have been saying for the lasy last 3 months that I was going to run the half marathon in Fargo in May 2012.  Yep, I paid the money and registered today to do it.  Now on to training....  LOL!
I just took my measurements and they are BAD.  Like almost the same as 2 months after I had Dylan bad.  Guess I had one too many Christmas cookies and need to get running!!

So, 21 week to train and 13.1 miles to run... that day!  20x15 miles a week minimum = 300 miles to run training between now and then.  I will track it and keep track.  I am betting I run closer to 400 miles by May.  I better keep it up and I can run a good 800 miles in 2012! 

So...  I better set my alarm, fill the ice in my cup, set out my clothes and make it a plan to get on the horse!  I have a lot of miles to run!!

Another 5K done!

I woke this morning and got out to run. It was 35 degrees this morning after our snow flurries yesterday. (Seriously, it is SEPTEMBER!) I did not set any records. I ran the entire race and I completed it shortly after my third child turned 4 months old. I do not know my results (I think 33, my friend says 31... we'll know for sure when the results are posted on www.bismarckmarathon.com)

My said daughter, was an angel for her father. She did not cry or throw a fit. She cuddled and took a nap and woke when I returned home. I am so relieved. That 2 hours was the longest I have ever left her and I think that 3.5 hour stretch may be the longest time she has went w/o a feeding... though she did sleep most of it.

My first 5k!

So, I accomplished my goal. Please pass the doritos, pizza, donuts and ice cream please!

I ran a 5k this morning that I planned for less than 24 hours. It was the Miles for Smiles run to benefit pink scarf and the Bismarck cancer center.

I bribed my Sister in law (by paying her fee) to walk the race pushing Dylan in the stroller. Her wonderful husband allowed me to drop my other girls off at his house to lounge and watch cartoons with their two kids. The only foul was that Taylor peed on the bathroom floor, her pants and panties trying to go potty there. I did provide breakfast for them making the struessel banana muffins I blogged about here. I also made homemade granola bars. These were awesome. I made them yesterday and there is barely any left! The kids all LOVE them!

Okay, back to the run... I jogged the whole time repeating to myself as I was passed many, many times that time does not matter because I have a 3 months old. I have never ran a 5k, much less 3 months and 6 days after I had a baby. I had my heart rate monitor on but tried not to pay attention to it and tried to push myself.... I ran 20 minutes of the race with my heart rate above 85%. It took me about 33 minutes to complete the race (5.5 mph - not too bad!). Of course, I was second or third from the end of the runners - but I did it! I have the Friends of Youth race in a month that is put on with the Bismarck marathon. I would love to finish it in less than 30 minutes, so that is what I have to strive for over the next month.


I celebrated my success this morning by taking my three angels grocery shopping at Wal-Mart (after I showered, started laundry and gave the girls a snack). We then went to Wendy's drive thru for lunch which I had the new Apple Pecan chicken salad. It was great! I inhaled it I was so hungry... The website says that it is 580 calories, which is a little more than my normal salad I make for lunch... still GREAT! After, I unloaded groceries, put them away, emptied the dishwasher, loaded the dirty dishes into the dishwasher (and hand washed a few), emptied the trash, switched laundry and picked up clothes that we took this morning.

I am exhausted. I will close my giving myself this:

Not because I think I did super, duper excellent. Not because I beat a few people in my run. But because I jogged the whole thing and I accomplished a 5k after 3 kids (one who is just 3 months!).

My first 5k!

I signed up to run a 5k in September, but I saw in the paper one that is being held tomorrow. With the help of my Sister in law, to walk pushing my 3 month old in her stroller and her husband to watch my two older kids, I will be running tomorrow! I am super-duper excited! :o) I also weighed myself and it read 185. Super!! I am down 39 lbs and 15 from my pre-PG weight and 20 from my goal 10 weeks to get there. I guess it may have been easier to not gain 54 lbs with my pregnancy, but then Starbucks would have went out of business! :o)

Life of a runner?!

Well, I think 5 days in a row I have ran now. (Ha! Does that make me a runner?!) Well, I ran 1.5 mi outside in 17 minutes, then 2 miles outside in 22 minutes. I ran 1.5 miles the last 2 days on the treadmill and a little over 2 miles today. I wanted to go more, but the 2nd interuption by my 4 yo, made me stop - and the baby was starting to cry too.....

So, I wake with the baby in the morning and shower before the morning activities - because that is what I do. I shower in the morning to feel human. So, I typically eat lunch - get Dylan and Taylor down for naps - then change and run on the treadmill downstairs. I then shower again to feel human and not like a sweat monster... I also have to put on a tight sports bra to run since I am nursing... so I feel the shower has to happen fast in case my now 2 month old needs to eat, since the sports bra is tight and does not allow any wiggle room (thankfully!).

I don't know if this working out is helping my waistline... I know to want results after 5 days is expecting a lot (isn't it?). Well, I am not limiting my diet though. I think this is a fine line to walk. To eat enough to produce for your kid - yet to eat little enough that your body will feed the baby off your fat reserves.... I still have 25 lbs I want to lose so this may take a few more months. I think I will focus on running until after my 5K in September, then I will do more 30 day shred for toning in addition to running.

My big note for the week is that my 2 month old slept 3 nights this week from 9-9:30 pm until 6 - 6:30 am! 8-9 hours 3 nights out of 4! That makes a Mommy have a great big smile! :o) Alex didn't sleep like that until she was 4.5 months, Taylor didn't sleep like that until LAST SUMMER!

Life of a Mom of 3

You probably noticed that for the last month, I have been horrible at blogging. Well, as a new Mom of 3, I do not get downstairs to use the computer much- to check email let alone blog.

For 6 days now, I have made a commitment to run a mile on the treadmill during Taylor's nap, so I have been downstairs once a day. Dylan sleeps or watches me from the swing. Alex watches cartoons and plays in the toy room. I am now up to a 12 minute mile or 5 miles per hour. Slowly but surely, I will get into shape - and a shape that is less round.

So, as a new Mom of 3, I think that I keep the house cleaner - because I am on the computer less. My kids watch the same amount of cartoons... I have resorted to freezer meals (pre-made pre-baby) while the husband is working. I need to work on drinking more water, especially before 11 am and not eating so many sweets. I vow that after the current treats are gone, I will not make more. THEN maybe I will lose weight. This week's weigh in was no change. I can wear jeans now - though they are tighter than I like... I just need to further deflate this belly....

Should I?

My pondering is should I sign up to run a 5K in Spetember? This would be about 4 months post partum.... I am 4 weeks out now and just ran my first entire mile, straight. I ran at 4.5 mph, which is not impressive, but I did it w/o stopping!!!

Wednesday my weigh in was 194- down 30 lbs since I gave birth. 24 pounds of baby weight to go. I am going to start trying now..... (yep, 30 lbs w/o an effort.)

Back to my question... I know that 3 miles is doable, so I know I can do it. Paying a registration fee would make me invested to do it. Having a fitness goal 3 months out to train for, would keep me on track. I have ran in the past to lose weight for my wedding, but I have never done a race (even though to me it would be about completing, not competing). I look at it as an opportunity to help me lose the 24 lbs faster....

I am almost sold...