This week is spring break for Mason so we have been trying keep ourselves pretty busy with activities. Today we had plans to go to the Littleton Historical Museum to check out the farm animals, especially the nine baby lambs. We were meeting my friend Jen and her two cute boys Ethan and little baby Owen. But before we could get down on the farm I had a bit of running to do at the gym.
Yesterday was weights and swimming so today was more running, running, running. As I get closer to race day my short runs are starting to get longer. On Tuesday I ran 5 miles with hills so today on the treadmill I would do a flat but faster 4. My goal for the run was to start at 6.3 mph and go up from there. After a half mile I increased my speed to 6.4 then 6.5 and the last half mile was at 6.6 mph. Hey, those intervals are paying off! Four miles later I was feeling great, sweaty, and ready to see some baby lambs!
A quick Starbucks run (Coco Cappuccino for me and scones for the kids) and then we were off for the morning adventures. Although it was a windy day, it was a great little outing. We enjoyed seeing a cow obsessively try to lick the snot from its nose. Emmy enjoyed saying hello to all the animals. "Hello Chickens, Hello Cow, Hello Cock (that is peacock and I think we should work on her saying the WHOLE word). The baby lambs were adorable. Little, fluffy, sleeping balls of wool.
Maybe it was seeing the baby lambs or cute little Owen, but I started feeling sentimental about the fact that I no longer had a baby. Here were my two kids growing up so fast. 2 and 4! How did that happen?? Did I make the right decision to not have anymore babies?? We got in the car to head home and my two lovely children screamed the whole way. Yup, I made the right decision. Two is all this momma can handle!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Long Run
When Sunday morning rolled around I wasn't quite sure if I'd be able to do my long run. According to my schedule I needed to run 9 miles. 9 miles, ugh, I wasn't sure. I hadn't done any physical activity in 4 days, still feeling a little off from being sick, plus the weather kept threatening to turn ugly. Should I just call it three strikes and toss the sneakers back in the closet? But then the thought of me bonking during the race or walking the last few miles started nagging me. No, I made a commitment to complete this half marathon and I needed to stay on schedule. Dang my dad for reading me "Horton Hatches an Egg" repeatedly! I meant what I said and I said what I meant so I laced up my shoes 100%.
The original plan for this run was to go to the Mary Carter Trail because it is nice and flaaaat. Which, is hard to find around here. I ran hills last weekend for my long run and it was killer. I wasn't wanting to do that again. But the weather and my fear that I physically wouldn't be able to do it kept me close to home. Close to home means hills, lots and lots of hills. It is two loops: uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill, and then around the block to finish it up. The first time I go uphill I feel great. The second time? Well I am pretty sure my heart is going to explode. So, I had in the back of my mind that if I wasn't feeling up to it I could just do one loop.
Kevin and the kids went up to his parents and I started to get ready to head out the door. Water bottles filled (this time 2 had water and 2 had Gatorade), ipod on, and time to do this thing. To my surprise it was a great run! 9 miles with hill in 90 minutes (which is good for me). Maybe the days off did me some good, maybe it was having Gatorade as well as water. Who knows? But after the first loop was over I knew I could keep going. When the second loop was over I was feeling the second set of hills, but felt substantially better than the previous week. I also felt confident that I could do that last mile around the block. And I did it! I am so glad that I pushed through and got it done. I am just that much closer to my goal and that feels great!
Today's Training
Full body Strength Training
No swimming (pool was closed)
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Sick. . .again
Last night as Kevin and I were getting into bed and said, "Ooh, my stomach doesn't feel so good." I was hoping and desperately trying to believe that perhaps I had just eaten something that disagreed with me. You see, I hate throwing up. I know that nobody likes to throw up, but I really think I would prefer death to vomit. I'm not trying to be overly dramatic, but to me it is just the worst! Plus, I have the irrational idea that I should be exempt from puking for the rest of my life because I did it so much when I was pregnant (and we just had the stomach flu last month! Once a year should be the limit.). But that is not how life works and what a bummer!
I was tossing and turning and chanting in my head, "You don't want to throw up. You don't want to throw up. You don't want to throw up." I started to chant with more conviction when Mason threw our door open and cried, "Make the wet go away!" I went over expecting to smell pee and realized real quick that that smell was not pee but puke. And. It. Was. Everywhere! All down the front, in his hair, on his face, in his ear. Oh no! I could no longer pretend that I wasn't sick. Even worse my son was sick. Even worse than that, he had class pictures and a preschool program the next day. Oh brother!
I have always hated having the stomach flu, but it is the worst when you are sick and you have to take care of kids (especially sick kids). But fortunately I have a great husband. And today I am ever so grateful I have a great husband. He stayed home and took care of all of us. What would I do without this man? I am not usually overly gushy/mushy/sickeningly sweet, but I am just so appreciative to him for swooping in and saving the day (well my day at least). I love him and I am a pretty lucky girl!
Today's Training
Abs (toilet bowl crunches)
I was tossing and turning and chanting in my head, "You don't want to throw up. You don't want to throw up. You don't want to throw up." I started to chant with more conviction when Mason threw our door open and cried, "Make the wet go away!" I went over expecting to smell pee and realized real quick that that smell was not pee but puke. And. It. Was. Everywhere! All down the front, in his hair, on his face, in his ear. Oh no! I could no longer pretend that I wasn't sick. Even worse my son was sick. Even worse than that, he had class pictures and a preschool program the next day. Oh brother!
I have always hated having the stomach flu, but it is the worst when you are sick and you have to take care of kids (especially sick kids). But fortunately I have a great husband. And today I am ever so grateful I have a great husband. He stayed home and took care of all of us. What would I do without this man? I am not usually overly gushy/mushy/sickeningly sweet, but I am just so appreciative to him for swooping in and saving the day (well my day at least). I love him and I am a pretty lucky girl!
Today's Training
Abs (toilet bowl crunches)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sprint Intervals
Four weeks ago I started a training program for a half marathon (The Colfax Half Marathon). I don't really know what possessed me to want to do a half marathon. Before I got the bug to do it the longest I had run was a 10K. Also, I am not really a very talented runner. I like to run but I always say "I run" not "I'm a runner." To me the term "I am a runner" brings to mind someone much faster than me, you know like the skinny girls that constantly pass me on the running trail. But, I love a challenge and so I decided that I was going to go for it. I signed up, paid my money, and started looking for a training plan.
To me all training plans seemed to be basically the same with slight modifications. After looking I finally just downloaded one and decided that it would be the one I would stick to. Not because it seemed like the best, more just because I was sick of looking at training plans. This training plan (like all the others) included doing sprint intervals. Hmmm. I had never done those. Since I came into running later in life I never had any proper training. I just put on some shoes, hit the track, and slowly started building mileage. I have always been a slow and steady kind of girl. So these "sprint intervals" totally freaked me out, especially because I now run mostly on the treadmill at the gym. . .oh and I am really, really uncoordinated. Images of me flying off the treadmill started coming to mind. Do I really need to do those?? So of course I scoured the internet to see if there was anyway I could get out of these. Surely someone would say that doing intervals was totally unnecessary and dangerous! But alas, everyone was in love with intervals. They are apparently the miracle exercise. I was promised to run faster and lose more weight. Yee-haw! So I thought I would throw them in and just pray to God that I did not humiliate myself on the treadmill.
Trying something new is always scary no matter how old you are. Give my son a new food and he is freaked! Give me a new exercise and same thing. I looked at sprint intervals as a way to improve my running (fingers crossed), lose some more weight (double fingers crossed), and model trying new things for my children. Well, it has been 4 weeks now and I have yet to fall off the treadmill!! I don't know if it really is a "miracle exercise" but I have gotten faster and it helped kick me out of my plateau. So I would definitely recommend sprint intervals to all those slow and steady fans out there. Don't get me wrong, I still love my slow steady runs but mixing it up a bit has helped me improve my times.
Today's Training:
Swim- 25 minutes (would have been longer but the gym daycare got me because Emerson had a poopy diaper. Plus the over 60's crowd was circling the pools waiting for water aerobics to start)
Sprint Intervals- 2 miles alternating 1 minute walking and 2 minutes @ 7.3 mph (and yes that is sprinting for me!)
To me all training plans seemed to be basically the same with slight modifications. After looking I finally just downloaded one and decided that it would be the one I would stick to. Not because it seemed like the best, more just because I was sick of looking at training plans. This training plan (like all the others) included doing sprint intervals. Hmmm. I had never done those. Since I came into running later in life I never had any proper training. I just put on some shoes, hit the track, and slowly started building mileage. I have always been a slow and steady kind of girl. So these "sprint intervals" totally freaked me out, especially because I now run mostly on the treadmill at the gym. . .oh and I am really, really uncoordinated. Images of me flying off the treadmill started coming to mind. Do I really need to do those?? So of course I scoured the internet to see if there was anyway I could get out of these. Surely someone would say that doing intervals was totally unnecessary and dangerous! But alas, everyone was in love with intervals. They are apparently the miracle exercise. I was promised to run faster and lose more weight. Yee-haw! So I thought I would throw them in and just pray to God that I did not humiliate myself on the treadmill.
Trying something new is always scary no matter how old you are. Give my son a new food and he is freaked! Give me a new exercise and same thing. I looked at sprint intervals as a way to improve my running (fingers crossed), lose some more weight (double fingers crossed), and model trying new things for my children. Well, it has been 4 weeks now and I have yet to fall off the treadmill!! I don't know if it really is a "miracle exercise" but I have gotten faster and it helped kick me out of my plateau. So I would definitely recommend sprint intervals to all those slow and steady fans out there. Don't get me wrong, I still love my slow steady runs but mixing it up a bit has helped me improve my times.
Today's Training:
Swim- 25 minutes (would have been longer but the gym daycare got me because Emerson had a poopy diaper. Plus the over 60's crowd was circling the pools waiting for water aerobics to start)
Sprint Intervals- 2 miles alternating 1 minute walking and 2 minutes @ 7.3 mph (and yes that is sprinting for me!)
Why Blog?
It seems like this day in age everyone is blogging about something. I have never been that interested in starting a blog because a) I'm not a writer and b) I'm really not that interesting! I do not have a glamorous or drama filled life which I am really happy with, but it doesn't make for good reading right? So why start a blog now? Well, I actually have a couple reasons to start this blog. The first reason is to write stuff about my life as a mom. Pretty soon I will be back at work and it will be nice to go back and read about the time I got to spend with my kids (the good, the bad, and the poopy). Also, there is something therapeutic about writing down the things you feel. Even if nobody is reading it is still cathartic to write it down and put it out there. I also train for races from time to time and it is nice to keep myself accountable through the blog. It will be harder to blow off training when I know I am writing about it. So...here I go!
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