Running and raising girls

In the past two months

2010-10-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

I've done a half marathon in Columbus Ohio.

I ran a 5k and placed 2nd in age. It was my husband's first race!

Completed a 24 hour race in Memphis TN. 1st in age and 58 miles.

Ran a 10k with my husband, brother, and his new wife in Portland Oregon.

Came home and saw this:

Not only have I logged a ton of miles, but I also have an IUD. I must be dealing with one persistent little embryo!!

I'm about to head to the doctor to see about removing the IUD and keeping this little miracle. Wish me luck!

24 hour Tour d'Espirit race report part 1

2010-10-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the replies, I do love attention!! This is going to be long, but it was a long race!

2 pm

I arrived onsight. My aunt's family sets up a tent and canopy every year. It was great because we were right up against the course, so stopping to refuel was easy. I'm glad I brought a lot of food because all the aid station had were grapes and gatoraid from a dry mix, gag me! I actually had my cousin run out and get me more fruit punch gatoraid because the mix was making me queazy.

3 pm

The race starts and there's like 15 people, it was so weird! There were 300 or so individual runners and 15 or so teams. You could come and go as you pleased, so there wasn't a big start or finish. The teams made things interesting because you would see people whipping past you at 3am. The team that won went 200+ miles with an avarage 6 minute mile!

I jogged the first 1 mile lap around to survey the scene. It was mostly flat packed dirt, with about 1/4 of it paved. The first part after the paved spectator area was open field with some gravel I heard the fast runners complaining about. The second part went into a forest, then crossed a wooden bridge down past a playground. There was a big dip and a narrow mulch trail right before the finish and as you crossed the mat you were assulted by screatching chip sensors. Lap times and numbers were provided on a computer screen right past the finish and the aid station was after that.

I decided to walk the pavement and jog the trail at first. I turned on the Beatles and went to it! I sipped gatoraid as I went along and ate GU every 3rd lap (I was going slooow). I felt good so I had to slow myself down a few times. *think turtle, think turtle* was my mantra and my goal was to never get short of breath.

5 pm

Listening to The White Album

I stopped shortly after this to walk a lap and eat some food. (ps. my new medicine totally worked and I didn't have a single problem)

The larabar and peanuts tasted totally gross. I ended up not eating any more of them. I ate all 6 bananas I brought though! I also had some burger/rice letovers that tasted good and my aunt gave me some potato chips that were AMAZING. I'm definitely bringing some next year! Over all it was a struggle to eat. I just don't have an appetite when I run, but I knew I couldn't survive on GU alone.

6 pm

I took a picture of my dusty shoes, it totally sucked inhaling that stuff all day!

I changed out of my new balance cushions and fancy socks and put on my Nike Free's and two pairs of cheapo sock (which may have been a mistake). The Nike's did me well. I didn't change shoes again the entire time and had zero sharp foot pain like I'm used too. I did have pain, miles 10-20 hurt the most. After that pain just came in waves. Something would hurt for a few miles and then go away. I just chugged along!
I was able to run/walk the entire first marathon portion which totally cured my marathon phobia! (now it's next on the list!)

Mile 18 at the wooden bridge:

They lit up the entire course at night.

After the first 26 miles I took a break and sat down for a few minutes. All the advice says not to stop, but those short 5 minute sitting breaks were wonderful and totally reenergizing!

Miles 27-39 I can't really account for. I may have jogged some, but I mostly walked with my aunt chatting away. At one point I notice a blister on my left foot and we went searching for something to pop it with. We couldn't find anything, so we asked if they had a needle at the aid station where an old lady lectured me about not popping it and refused to help me. I'm a rebel so back at our area I tried to pop it with my fingernails, but it wasn't working. My aunt suggested I use my earring and that worked. She's awesome!

4 am

I started to get really cold and layered on the clothes. At one point we saw the defending female champion sitting on the curb looking rough. She asked us for some broth or something. We gave her some cheese crackers.
I couldn't shake the cold. Around 5 am we went into our tent and tried to get some sleep or at least warm up. I fell asleep cold in the dark and woke up colder in daylight!

To be continued...

Results!

2010-10-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

Incase anyone reads this and is wondering. I'm beginning to suspect that I find myself waaay more interesting than anyone else does!! :)

More to come!

Prep work!

2010-09-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

Since I didn't do any physical prepping besides running after two toddlers and occationally going on a treadmill run I decided to max out on all my physical supplies!

I present, how one who isn't prepared prepares:

The clothes, it's been 80 during ( high of 80, low of 48)

Two pairs of shoes, 3 pairs of socks, jacket, pants, shirt, fuel belt, tank, bra, shorts (not pictured: dirty ugly lucky hat)

The food

The plan is to GU every hour and hydrate with gatoraid (it's provided too, these are for emergencies). Every 4 hours I will have a "meal" of a package of peanuts, larabar, and banana. The peppermint patties are for if I'm nauseous and the (flat) cola is for if I get tired.

The meds

prep h (we discusses that already), chapstick, sunscreen, vaseline, bengay, pain patches, mole skin, (not pictured tylenol)

All packed up and ready to go!

The race starts at 3pm tomorrow (Fri) and goes until 3pm Saturday. I'll be updating my facebook during my walk breaks (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=507029810) if you're interested. Wish me luck!

Dress rehearsal

2010-09-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

Today I tried out my 20/10 plan. I did 2 hours going 5 mph / 3mph. Total mileage: 8.66

Lessons learned:

- mint chocolate GU = YUM, apple cinnamon Hammer Gel = Yuck. Both sat well on my stomach and perked me up though! I took 1 an hour and drank gatoraid. I stopped with energy to spare!

- I may break it up into miles. The loop is 1 mile. I like the 2:1 ratio, so I could do 2 miles jogging and 1 walking. That way I won't have to be staring at the clock all night. Plus 10 minutes made me feel rushed taking my GU. I can't imagine eating real food in that short a time!

Over all the run today was confidence building. When I started out I was still sore from the 5k and my right knee was having weird pains. I also went faster than my goal of 4 miles per hour. I honestly don't expect to go for the whole 24, but I'm excited to see just what I'm capable of!

First Ultra, the 24 hour race

2010-09-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

First off, this isn't how you're supposed to do this sort of thing!

It starts at 3pm Friday and goes through to 3pm Saturday. After a lot of reading I have a plan.

Run plan: 20 minutes of jogging, 10 minutes of walking. Repeat until I can't go any farther, then walk some more.

The eating plan: Hydrate with supplied gatoraid. During every walk break eat something. I read to aim to consume 300 calories every hour, half from liquid. I'll eat based on how I feel and I'll choose between: banana, larabar, potato chips (for salt and fat!), and peppermint patties. I'm also going to bring along some flat Coke for the sugar and caffeine. It's a little tricky because I can't do wheat... my uncle will be on call for food cravings too!

The entertainment plan: I've downloaded a book on tape, I have plenty of music, and I'll have internet on my phone. *bring car charger!* My aunt is going the full 24 and my cousins will be popping in and out of the race as well. I wonder if anyone running famous will show up?!?

The gear: I need to find a fanny pack. Anyone know where?! I'll pack some fleece for warmth. I'll have my sleeping bag and pillow if I have to stop for a nap. I'm bringing two pairs of running shoes. I read to switch every 6 hours. An extra change of clothes. Extra socks...

The extras:
vaseline
sunscreen
bengay
prep-H ( my special gifts from my daughters don't like it when I run for more then two hours! )
...

Any advice? I know I'm not in physical shape for this sort of thing, but it's supposed to be mental right? Plus I can definitely deal with sleep deprivation, having two young girls! I'm going into it for the experience and no real expectations. I'll do what I can and will have a great time, but I also want to prepare for the long haul!

I'm so excited/terrified!!!!!

Sole to Soul 5k race report and another last minute challenge!

2010-09-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

First the big news. I will be doing a 24 hour race next Friday-Saturday: Tour d'espirit in Memphis

Am I crazy? Yes. Do I have a plan? Not really. My aunt does it every year and asked me to come give it a try. I said ok. I've never run more than 13.1. I plan to jog my little heart out and then walk a bunch more. It'll be fun!

Today went FANTASTIC! I've actually never run a 5k before. I ran all out the first mile, conserved (stayed alive) the second mile, thought about running all out the 3rd mile, and then numbly stumbled into the finish. I think they thought I was out of it because they expected me to just stop at the end and were yelling, "it's over, stop running, it's over!". LOL It was a small race...

It was just clocked timed, no chips. I read 25.27 as I came through the gate. I'm happy with it. It earned me 2nd in my age division and 40th over all. Brad came in right at 28.00 and made me so proud!

Some pictures:

Lots of races this weekend, I hope you all had fun! Tell me about yours!

Ps: Tall Mom Giveaway!

Chia Power!

2010-09-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

( this title is meant to be sung to the tune of "Pattern Power" from Team Umizoomi )

I'm reading "Born to Run". Man, if I didn't have kids... I now want to retire in the middle of Mexico. Spend your life running and drinking beer (corn beer at that, gluten free!)... I'm so there!

*Note, Brad and I recently looked up gluten in beer. There obviously is some, boo. Thank goodness for wine.*

Anyway, I just got to the part where they explain what this magic endurance drink is... chia!

I made my own: frozen blueberries, lime juice, spoonful of homemade strawberry jam to sweeten, and lots of chia seeds. Blend and serve in a Diego straw cup.

It was good, but don't take my word for it!

I kid you not, the girl took off running after she finished! She ran laps around our house like a crazy person. I didn't get the same energy rush, but I'm sure all those antioxidants helped in my recovery!

50 minutes

2010-09-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

50 minutes of running was on the menu for today. I had a lovely vision of my kids playing on the playground while I jogged around it on the track. I brought the jogging stroller just in case.

The track around the playground is only 1/5 a mile, but still too far away for me to leave the girls playing. In my head it was much smaller. I ended up letting the girls play for a while, then we loaded up. I did a couple laps around the park and then we jumped onto the street and explored for a while. It started approaching 90 degrees, so I decided to finish up my 50 minutes at home on the treadmill later after lunch.

Do you ever find yourself being obnoxious when you don't really mean to be? Some older dude was walking the track and said to me, "I don't know where you find the energy". I felt the need to tell him that this was only the first part of my workout for the day... I annoy myself.

Post 20 minute outside run with stroller:

I was such a beautiful day I decided to walk with the consignment store to get some more costume items. Beth will be Tinkerbell and Elaina will be a brunette fairy (anyone have a clever name?!).

At home I did 30 minutes between 5 & 6 mph on the treadmill. After cooldown I hit 3 miles.

Recovered with a gatoraid and a Dr Scholl's foot massage. Now the girls and I are going in the backyard. They'll play with the hose while I read, "Born to Run". Life is beautiful!

Call me speedy!

2010-09-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm doing week 8 in my plan this week because I have a 5k on saturday. I'll go back to week 6 next week. Confused? I am!

Today's prescribed workout: 200 meters x 6 with 200- meter recovery jog between

My treadmill version:

1.1 mile jog outside pushing the girls in the stroller. My husband fixed it! I love when he earns his keep :)

strechin'

1x .20 miles at 4.0 mph, then .2 miles at 9.0 mph

200 meters equals .12 miles, but I figured I'd add some to account for speed build up time on the tready. I figured out quickly that it only takes .02 miles for my treadmill to adjust so I quickly adjust my plan after almost dieing going for .2 miles...

4x .15 miles at 4 mph, then .15 miles at 9 mph

I noticed that as soon as I put in 9 I mentally started to panic and gasp for air. I focused on my breathing and that helped a great deal.

The last set I went for it. I visualized the last quarter mile in the 5k, put the speed on 9mph and flew!

It's work outs like this that really make me appreciate having a treadmill at home. During that last set I was who'ing like an owl on the exhales and gasping on the inhales. My kids expect funny noises from me at this point, so they don't even notice!

10 minute walking cool down followed by lots of stretching, I was spent!

Total miles: 3.6 miles

Fuel: Nothing during the run, banana/ peanut butter/ cocoa recovery shake after.

I went to an actual running store for the first time ever yesterday and bought a bunch of different Gels to try during long runs. I'm so official now!

looong run

2010-09-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

90 minutes equals 8 miles today!

I feel good! I was dreading my long run because I may have drank a bottle of wine last night... along with a huge ribeye and some chocolate. (gluten free!)

My fuel: Gatoraid and a stolen GU from my last half. I loves me some GU now. Believe it or not I'd never taken in calories during a long training run before my 1 week half mary training session earlier this month. All you runners are RIGHT!

I started out at 4.0 for 10 minutes, sloooow jog. Then I stretched. started at 4.5 and bumped up .1 every five minutes. 25 minutes in I was feeling sluggish so I added a 30 sec pickup at 8.0 at the beginning of each 5 min set. Took my gu at 40 minutes and took it easy until 60 minutes. Then I started pickups again and worked my way up to 7.0 during that last half hour. Finished strong!

I watched Friday's "The View" and then some "What Not to Wear". The View pissed me off a bit. I am soooooooo sick of mother's bitching about "how hard" it is to be a mom. Suck it up, seriously. We chose to have these babies. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, how about you take some time to enjoy your kids? Motherhood becomes so much easier (and unimaginably enjoyable) when you focus on loving those babies!!

Headband give away!

2010-09-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

Shut up and Run is having another giveaway. This time a personalized headband to keep the sweat from stinging your eyes.

Check it out!

I read somewhere that sweating profusely is just a sign of how in shape and efficient your body has become. Wear those underarm circles with pride! (ewww... even I can't get all the way behind that one lol)

4 mile speed trial

2010-09-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

It didn't go exactly as planned, but what does?!

Elaina smiling in the jogging stroller:

... and Beth smiling

I had to take the wheels off the jogging stroller to fit it in my trunk yesterday. I kind of suspect that I didn't do it correctly seeing as it was pulling waaaay to the right. I called my husband (because he can fix things) and he had me reput on the wheel. I fixed the pulling problem midrun, but then had a problem with the brake pads rubbing against the wheel. I'll have Brad fix it when he gets home!

Ended up only doing 2.2 miles outside of jog/walk/ kneel and fix/ jog. Girls did great though! I gave them milk and organic poptarts. They love sitting in there!

Now, I have to admit to my competitive nature. My husband Brad is doing an easy training plan for this 10k. Yesterday he did two miles in 18 minutes. Not super fast, but fast enough where it had me worried. I will be PISSED if he just takes up running and beats me when I've been running for 10 years! I got on the treadmill for my last two miles, stayed between 7-8 mph, and knocked them out in 16.40. That's more like it!

Freedom from the treadmill

2010-09-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

It's in sight! We're rich in love, but poor in actual money. I've wanted a double jogging stroller FOREVER, but couldn't see spending $500 on one. Well, I found one for $100 on craigslist and am going to pick it up tomorrow. Hopefully the girls will be nice to me on Friday and let me do my 4 mile speed trial outside! ( What does that MEAN anyway? I take it to mean "run as fast as you can"?! )

Today I did my 70 minutes run and rocked it. I only did 6.25 miles, but that included a 10 minute warm up jog that I counted towards my 70 because I cheat like that. I think I've been going too slow on my long runs. I get so focused on numbers on the treadmill that I don't listen to my body. I get mentally fatigued around an hour and my foot starts to hurt. That's going to happen whether I start at 4.0 or 5.0 so why not get a few extra miles in?! I worked my way up to 6 mph during the run, which is my goal half marathon pace. I finished up feeling refreshed and *almost* pain free; Good run!

10k plan!

2010-09-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

Here's the race schedule for the next 2 months. Sole to Soul 5k in Memphis on September 25 and then Run Like Hell 10k in Portland Oregon the day after my brother's wedding. He and his bride are running it too!

The best part? My husband is going to run them as well! The 5k will be his first race ever! He did his first 3.5 mile long run this weekend and made me so proud.

Hopefully my left thigh/butt/foot will behave and I'll be able to get some good times. I need my racing confidence restored!

Here's my training plan:

WEEK: 5

Tuesday: 10 x 1-minute 20-second hill repeats
Thursday:70 minutes
Saturday: 4 miles time trial
Sunday: 90 minutes

WEEK: 6

Tuesday: 600 meters x 4 with 600-meter recovery jog between
Thursday: 70 minutes
Saturday: 400 meters x 12 at 5-K race pace with 100-meter recovery jog between
Sunday: 90 minutes

WEEK: 7

Tuesday: 10 x 1-minute 20-second hill repeats
Thursday: 70 minutes
Saturday: 2 x 1200 meters with 3-minute jog between; 3 x 400 meters with 1-minute jog between
Sunday: 90 minutes

WEEK: 8

Tuesday: 200 meters x 6 with 200- meter recovery jog between
Thursday: 50 minutes
Saturday: 5-K peak road race
Sunday: 50-60 minutes, easy

WEEK: 9

Tuesday: 8 x 300 meters at mile race pace with 300-meter jog between
Thursday: 70 minutes
Saturday: 2 x 1200 meters with 3-minute jog between; 3 x 400 meters with 1-minute jog between
Sunday: 80 minutes

WEEK: 10

Tuesday: 6 x 200-meter strideouts with 200-meter recovery jog between
Thursday: 50 minutes
Saturday:10-K peak road race

I'm starting on week five due to time constraints. I chose this plan because it sticks to my normal mileage with less running days.

Yesterday I did the 10x 1.20 hill repeats on the treadmill. Running coaches wanna give me free advice?

Here's how I interpreted the workout

10 minute warm up

light stretching

5mph @ 10% incline for 1m 20 seconds (twice I did it at 6mph, which killed each time!)

recovery jog at 4mph for 1m 40 sec

repeat 10x

5 minute cool down

stretching

It was harder than I thought it would be, but over all it felt good! I love finishing a workout where half way through you think to yourself, "maybe this was a mistake" LOL.

I'm not sore today. 2 of my rest days are going to be complete rest, but one of them is going to be a warm up with pilates moves.

911

2010-09-11T06:06:00.000-07:00

I was coming home from an early morning job when I heard. I was a clarinetist in Navy Band New Orleans. As we were trying to get back on base we noticed that the security level was at Delta. The radio was turned on and all of our lives were forever changed.
We finally made it back to work in time to see the second tower fall. I remember the feelings of disbelief that washed over me. I was sure it couldn't be real. 911 was the first time real tragedy touched my young 19 year old life. I will always remember.

Where were you?

As we remember, mourn, and relive let's not project anger towards Muslims. It's not the Muslim population who dictated the events of that day, it was Muslim extremist. Fight extremism!

extremism and feeding kids

2010-09-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

This topic gets me all bent out of shape. I'm almost too frustrated to even blog about it! I think the main reason is that the grandparents don't necessarily agree with my techniques.

I believe in common sense and risk management. Let's take a couple common toddler eating problems and examine them.

Lets start out with this fact: Our children do not want to die. Nature gives them all sorts of natural instincts to prevent it!

Let them eat a raw carrot? Yes

Let them run out into the street? No

Common sense!

Choking

We're told not to give children whole grapes, hotdogs, or raw veggies. I don't agree! I really feel that kids need to be exposed to different sizes, shapes, and textures of food under supervision so they can learn how to handle them. I think doctors recommend not giving these foods because some parents just give food to their kids and let them run around crazy. Eat at the table with your kids!! Learn the Heimlich! Don't freak out if your kid starts to gag; if they're making noise the aren't choking.
I figure that I'd rather have my child learn how to handle these types of foods under my direct supervision then have them come across a whole grape by accident and choke because they don't know how to eat it.
Also regarding small various non food items that one year olds love to find and shove in their mouths. I bet more kids have choked due to being startled by there parents screaming, "No" and running at them, then by exploring their surroundings and occasionally (always) putting small objects in their mouth. Also, kids grow out of the oral phase naturally, you don't need to teach them. I like the theory that kids put things in their mouth to develop their immune system by exposing themselves to the germs in their surroundings.

Freak out about the baby eating a rock in the back yard? No

Let my child lick the floor in a public restroom? Hell no!

Let my one year old play by herself with a bag of marbles? No

Calmly tell her, "no eat" and fish a Barbie shoe out of her mouth? Yes

Common sense people!

Choking is actually my main pet peeve, I've written about it before. I feel better now. Zzzeeeen...

One more thought:

- a child will not starve themselves. Let them eat what they want, when they want it. Offer healthy options and you'll be golden. Eat meals together as a family at the table. Offer each food group and let them have what they want. If they won't eat, then so be it! Offer healthy snacks between meals. Adults are told to eat 6 small meals a day for optimal health so why do we think our children should eat three big meals a day?!
I've followed this theory for almost 3 years now. I swear Beth has survived with one bite a day for weeks on end, yet she still manages to thrive!
As I type this I can see her lunch on the table. She didn't eat much so I left it there for her to have when she gets hungry.

Trust in your child's natural ability to tell you when they're hungry? Yes

Give in to their demand for chocolate as a snack ( "I NEED m&ms momma"- Beth)? NO!

(Disclaimer: I'm just a mom with theories. Your kids are most likely different than mine, so do what you know is best!)

A day in the life

2010-09-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

I was ordered to do this by Beth from Shut up and run. She has one of my favorite blogs, so I will obey in order to try and impress her. Teacher's pet!

7:00 am
Beth runs into my room. She tells me good morning and jumps into bed. We talk for a bit, she tells me, "Daddy is nudey bootie!" because she hears him in the shower. She decides that it's time to take off her clothes herself and goes into the bathroom to disrobe. Brad was out of the shower at this point and said she did an impressive move with her panties by swinging them into the hamper with her foot. She's two and prefers to be naked or dressed like a princess :)

7:15 am
Baby wakes up saying, "poop". I play asleep while Brad changes her; he's a good man! I come out to kiss on her once she starts crying because she has some diaper rash.

7:15-8 am
coffee and computer time! (7:45 Brad goes to work *kiss, kiss*)

8:00 am
I make breakfast. I have plain greek yogurt sweetened with homemade strawberry jam. The girls have the same plus some organic cheerio type things. Beth surprises me by eating!

8:15 am
I clean up from breakfast and dinner the night before because I'm lazy like that. Start a load of laundry too. The girls open up my plastic bag container and spread them all over the living room. Totally worth the mess because they squeal and giggle as they run around like crazy people!!

9:00 am
I get dressed and then pick out clothes for the girls. Elaina runs around screaming "bye-bye" clutching a pair of Beth's shoes. Beth has a couple meltdowns because she can't get her t-shirt over her head. She's at the stage where me helping her is the ultimate fail in her eyes.

10:00 am
Story time at the library! Mrs Kathy runs it. She doesn't seem to like kids all that much, so I get a kick out of the whole thing. My girls did wonderfully today! Beth tried to do a solo ABC song during one of the books, but besides that they didn't make Mrs Kathy glare at them. Mrs. Kathy left out a container of candy that she had decided she wasn't going to hand out to the kids. Elaina saw it and started, "Pop, pop! (lolipop) Peeeeeze!!!". Luckily I had a handful of lolipops in my diaper bag (a vacation must!), so I handed them out before we had a toddler mutiny. I also hid the library's candy in the meantime.

11:00 am
Some punk ass teenagers burnt down our playground a few months ago and they had rebuilt it, so I went to check it it out. The girls played hard and did want to leave, but we were already late for our normal lunch time!

12:00 am
Lunch! Leftover blackbeans & brown rice from dinner, plus red grapes! Girls have the same. Beth has seconds :)

cleeeeeeeeeean some more.............

1:00 pm
Baby goes down for a late nap. Poop #2. Then she goes down for an even later nap.

1:30 pm
I go off duty and turn on Diego for Beth. Computer time & chat with my sister!

2:30 pm
I notice Brad is on his way home early. Yay! I go get on running clothes. Brad comes home!

3:00 pm
I grab a gatoraid and hit the treadmill, watching dvr'd The View and Jersey Shore. 3 easy miles with lots of stretching. My first run since my half and I felt good! A little left back thigh pain, but nothing horrible.

3:45 pm
Wake up the baby and Brad is in the middle of giving his Tuba a bath. He plays Tuba in the Navy. Yes, that's his job :)

4:00 pm
Start the chicken for dinner, fold a load of laundry, girls play outside and then upstairs. Brad sits on the couch per usual.

5:15
Oven roasted chicken, quinoa, peas, crystal light. We eat at the table and Beth has thirds of the quinoa, Elaina eats an entire piece of chicken!

mooore cleaning while Brad takes the girls outside and then upstairs

6:15
I sneak on the computer and get my blog assignment.

6:45
Elaina is pulling on me and saying "stuck". I'm about to jump in the bath with both of the girls. Normally Brad bathes them, but it's hair night. Lots of screaming involved in washing and combing out half black toddler hair!!!!

Pass on the assignment and check out Beth's blog if you haven't already!!

Emerald City Half Marathon race report!

2010-09-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

Pre-race coffee!

I was excited because this was the first race I've done since I've gone gluten free. Prerace I ate two larabars and two/three cups of coffee. I woke up at 4:45 at my friends house to get ready. I really need to buy capris. I froze my butt off again!
We arrived an hour early to pick up our packets. My friend had tried to pick up our packets earlier in the week, but they were disorganized. Because of her troubles they gave us free socks! Drymax!
To kill time and keep warm we took pictures after hitting up the bathrooms.

It started at a hospital, which was appropriate seeing as my main goal for this last minute race was to not die :) At 7am we lined up here:

Luckily I wasn't as bad off as I thought and we never saw that sign again!

Miles 1-3 were a warm up. I was so cold when we started I was literally shuffling. My friend and I decided to run it together as a fun run.

Miles 3-6 were in a nature preserve. It was very pretty, but very empty. If we hadn't had been chatting up a storm it would have been VERY boring! I was taking poweraid at the waterstops instead of the gatoraid I was used to.

Miles 6-10 was when my forefoot on my left leg started hurting and my upper thigh tightened up. I was concerned, so I consciously stayed slow and shortened my stride. I took a GU for the first time ever at the half way mark. I'm very smart when I race and love to try brand new things, lol. It perked me right up, including my digestive system, what a pita :) It wasn't too bad and I didn't have to stop.

Miles 10-13.1 pretty much sucked. We stopped talking and just trudged ahead. It was fun mentally cussing out people cheering me on! That last mile we were searching for the finish and were able to pick it up a little right at the end.

Our final time was 2:20.55. Definitely not a PR, but I met my goals of not dieing or walking. With only one week of training I'll take it!!!

Our husbands surprised us at the end. They brought all 5 kids, dressed appropriately! It made me tear up a little :)

Recovery has been good. I had to get in a car and drive for 6 hours after the race. I had a recover massage today and only have minimal pain in my left thigh. I inspired my husband to try out his first race, so I registered us both for a 5k later this month!!

I'm a tight ass, but I ain't no doctor!

2010-09-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

Web Md let me down! I guess it's not sciatica.

I love my new massage therapist. She beat me up. I was literally screaming. She was working on my booty (hehe) and said, "I'm concerned about this down here". She said my muscles were so tight they felt like bone. Eventually she got them to release and now I feel like a million bucks. I'm glad I had limited cash on me because I gave her everything in my wallet!

I will go back. It was so nice to ask her questions about my body and have them answer them in an intelligent, informative way. I hate when doctors/ specialists try to dumb things down for you. I like to know what's going on with MY body!!! If anyone needs a good massage in Tipton County TN, I have your hook up!

I have one more easy day tomorrow and then my half on Sunday. Things are looking good.

my butt hurts

2010-09-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

This Sciatica thing has become a major pain in the butt.

It's actually not flaring up right now, which is comforting seeing as I have to run 13 untrained for miles on Sunday. It's still there though. A dull ache that reminds me things can get bad real quick at anytime.

I just read in Runners World that massage will help. Being a good little soldier I called my massage therapist for an immediate rub down. (I leave TOMORROW on my trip!) It was an interesting experience telling her, "I need you to rub my butt". To bad my husband is such a prude, because some men might get excited about that prospect!

Do any of you all have sciatica? It runs in my family. I read some where that it's only supposed to last about 6 weeks and is normally caused by a herniated disc. Mine has been pretty constant since my last half in March.

I know, I should probably go to the doctor... will one of you watch my kids?

Just call me crazy!

2010-08-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

I signed up for another half... next weekend!!! I'm visiting a friend and she's running Emerald City half marathon in Dublin, Ohio. The trip is a last minute deal, so I decided to sign up too.
My goals for this race are: don't die and finish. That's it.
I got some new running shoes, New Balance this time. They are much better than my last pair of Nike cushions. I'm kind of thinking my shoes were causing some of my pain... we'll see I guess!

Wish me luck!

The modern day Madame Bovary

2010-08-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

I finished Madame Bovary today. As soon as I finish this blog I'm going to do some internet reading on the meanings and morals of the story. I want this to be fresh.

Here's my take. The story is about dissatisfaction with life, which I see as dissatisfaction with oneself. When you don't value yourself you can never truly love someone who loves you back. Seeking out material possessions in order to increase your self worth is another clue that you don't see any value in yourself alone.

Madame Bovary seeks excitement through affairs. She quickly becomes dissatisfied with unromantic married life. I call this "Princess syndrome". It seems like some girls grow up with romantic notions of white knights who will sweep in, marry them, and spend the rest of their lives proving their love. Don't let your daughters believe these lies!!! I LOVE my husband, but he's an annoying pain in the ass some times.... a lot of times. I love him because he's my best friend and gave me two amazing babies. Our love is so much better that any romantic lustiness I've felt for the white knights of my past. Thank God I didn't marry them!!!! My point is that this kind of love takes time and commitment. Everyone goes through blah times in marriage, it doesn't mean it's time to bail! It is sad to think that you'll never have that new love feeling again, but the what you get in return is unimaginably better.

I found it humorous that both of Madame Bovary's affairs ended because they lost the romantic excitement of new love. I also found it tragically humorous that she could only love her unobtainable lovers. This goes with my theory that she had no self worth. Her husband was lovingly devoted to her and she saw this as weak and boring. Of course you wouldn't respect someone who was devoted to you when you're not even devoted to yourself! Think all of the short term marriages of our time and teach your children self worth!
I think the "player" is the male equivalent of Madame Bovary. They chase and chase, but once the girl is caught they lose all respect for her. Not because she slept with him, but because he doesn't value himself so he automatically loses respect for any woman who finds him valuable.

Madame Bovary's credit problem is a classic case of keeping up with the Jones'. I have a hard time convincing my husband that material possessions don't make you a happier person. He gets mad/envious of people who make more money than us and have bigger houses. I think most people need enough for your basic needs and a few perks. Beyond that you get trapped into the dangerous cycle of bigger and better. Learn to be happy with what you have and if you need more don't be scare to work to get it!
NPR talked about a study that showed people who spent their money on experiences were happier than those who spent on possessions. That makes complete since to me, although I do find the experience of clothes shopping to be enjoyable in itself... we all have our weaknesses!! I'm not saying don't enjoy buying things, just don't live beyond your means in order to impress others!

Privacy

2010-08-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

There was a news story on privacy this morning. Apparently people are up in arms about Google Earth being one step away from Big Brother. The justification was laughable.

GMA's beef with Google Earth:

- helped find unregistered swimming pools.
- helped find a pot field
- zoomed in on a house in a commercial for tax evasion

Am I the only one who see's a theme here? Don't break the law people!

I don't trust people who are privacy advocates. What are they hiding? Shame is a great moral compass. If you are doing something that you don't want people to know about then you probably shouldn't be doing it in the first place. Unfortunately some people have too much unjustified shame and can't tell the difference between an act being truly shameful or just self conscious.

Some people may say that they don't want google seeing them run around naked in their backyard. That's fine, but know that someone else can probably see you. If someone wants a picture of you naked or compromised they will probably get it regardless. Most of us aren't celebrities and people could care less about seeing you all nudey-bootie!

Disclaimer: We are a minimal clothes family, to my husbands side's horror. Our poor backyard neighbors look down into our yard. At least I don't have boobs. They probably are confused as to why the chubby teenage boy walks around in panties all day watching two babies!

Perspective

2010-08-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about perspective lately.

I'm a pretty moderate hippie. I think anyone who wants to get married should be able to. I'm pro-choice and anti-circumcision. I buy organic when possible. I breastfed and wore my babies. I find comfort and joy instead of distrust and fear in President Obama's rationalism; although I hesitate to label myself a democrat.

I am a GOOD person. A good mother and a good wife.

I try my hardest each day to be the best I can be without beating myself up.

I care about others and do favors before they're asked.

It's hard living in the bible belt and meeting new people. Normally by the third minute of the conversation which church you belong to has been established. I don't go to church.

I don't consider myself an atheist. I don't believe there isn't a God. I believe that I don't know why we are here. I know that I don't go to church every week and then slam liberals for wanting to help others. I don't pass the collection plate and then complain about taxes. I know that I don't need the threat of Hell in order to try to be a good person. To be a good person.

Church has been on my mind. Through out my life I've been great friends with traditionally religious people and had some great conversations. I remember being told that in heaven we will all love each other like one. Now that I have kids I have a better understanding of that concept. I was discussing with my husband today how impossibly heartbreaking it would be to love everyone like you love your children.

I think we should just try to be kind to each other. Don't hate others because they are different or believe in something you don't. You don't have to like or agree with everyone, but you should really take a little time to appreciate their perspective.

I haven't given up!

2010-08-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Health

I've been doing good and knocked off another 5 pounds. My sciatica has gotten better too! Surprisingly enough, cutting down on my stretching has made me feel loads better. I did 5 miles today! I'm still doing every other day running... makes my feel like a wuss!

We had a wonderful vacation, didn't eat that healthily though!

We did at least hike every day!

Happiness

I'm weaning myself off the meds and feel good! I haven't had extreme baby-dying fears, so I'm hoping all that was just my hormones readjusting after weaning.

PMS does not make me so happy however... :)

Motherhood

My oldest is starting dance class next Saturday! I can't believe how quickly they grow up. I'm hoping that she learns some group social skills. I value my time home with my girls so much! I think it's important that sahm's incorporate lots of socialization into their kids lives.

Pickles and a long run

2010-07-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

I should really say long run/walk. I was still soooore from our hike. My calves are on fire! I managed to pump out 6.5 ish miles while watching, "Valentines Day". I read somewhere that your long run should be 50-100% more than your average daily run, so 6 miles is about right then!

I started some pickles yesterday. They are just fridge pickles; no canning involved! We're going on vacation next week and they'll be all ready when we get back!

Happiness

I'm struggling today. I'm having "mommy issues" and my husband is irritating me. I try to remember that this mood will pass. Damn hormones!

Motherhood

Don't be scared of raw veggies. I think Americans are chok-a-phobics. I read somewhere (great with the sources, huh?!) that you shouldn't give your kids raw veggies until they are 5. Sorry, but by then they won't touch a raw veggie if they've never had one before! Learn the Heimlich, eat at the table with your kids, and let them figure out how to manage crunchy veggies.

holy smokes

2010-07-05T05:53:00.000-07:00

Health

I am in the weight loss groove.

Week 2 weigh in: 157.2, down from 161

My goal was 159, so this gives me some cushion for plateau weeks!

My waist-at-belly-button measurement went down an inch to 34 too!

My long run was postponed because of an impromptu 4.8 mile, 23 pound baby packing, steep hills a rolling hike with my family. I am sore this morning!!!

Happiness

We had a wonderful weekend full of fireworks!

Motherhood

Aim to say "yes" twice as much as you say "no" each day!

ranch

2010-07-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

Health

I did a hill workout yesterday, totaling 3 miles.

My weight loss is going well. I unofficially weighed in at 156.8 this morning!! It's amazing how quickly the weight drops off when I give up beer and after dinner snacking :)

Happiness

Don't let a rough time in your marriage scare you (especially after kids!). It is totally normal not to feel love (or even like!) towards your husband at times. I have an amazing husband, but our fourth year of marriage has been a challenge. Some times you just have to tuck your chin down and barrel through these things!

Motherhood

Ranch dressing is a food group in our household! As my oldest was licking her bowl asking for "more dressing" I decided that I was going to make my own. Have you SEEN the back of a Hidden Valley bottle?!

I used this recipe, with the 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1/2 sour cream (organic), and 1/2 mayo (natural canola oil... note to self: need to learn to make mayo!) variation: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/ranch-dressing-ii/Detail.aspx

I used high quality ingredients and this stuff rocked my world! Try it out!

The girls licked the bowl!

whipping up on that tempo run!

2010-06-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Health

Breakfast was peaches and cream this morning. Would you believe that I'd never made whip cream until early this year? The only reason I even tried was that we had some left over whipping cream from a fondue chocolate sauce recipe. Was I the only one who thought it must take magic????

1) Put a glass bowl in the freezer. Don't forget about it.
2) Get whipping cream and put in cold bowl. Ok, so this isn't good for you but it has to be better than that "whipped topping" junk!
3) Add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar to cream.
4) It's easier if you have a kitchenaid, buuut we don't so I use a hand mixer. Start on LOW unless you want sugar-fatty-milky junk all over the place. As it thickens, crank up the speed.

I may be dense, but it thrills me to make it! My friend blew my mind the other day when she told me that if I kept whipping it I would make BUTTER!!

Have I mentioned that I gained all my food knowledge from food network??? lol

Tempo runs. I honestly have no excuse for never doing them before. I didn't want to do them because they scared me. Pick a speed and just stay on it? How boring and HARD!! I was right... up to a point.
I hate thinking about doing a tempo run, beginning a tempo run, and being halfway through my tempo run. Some thing magical happens after I'm 3/4ths of the way done. All the sudden I feel empowered! The high lasts all day and makes my next one not seem so bad... until it comes time to do it!
Total milage: 3.3, 10 minutes warm up, 20 minutes at 6.1, and 10 minute cool down

Happiness

I got my hair did today! Hairdresser tip: Sally beauty supplies sells salon quality generics at great prices. I picked up a wannabe "Chi" straightening iron recommended by my hairdresser. I'll let you know how it goes!

Motherhood

Let your children eat as much or as little as they want. Offer healthy options and don't worry if they don't clear there plate or even touch their food. A child will not starve itself!
I love how we worry about the child obesity epidemic, yet still feed our toddlers chicken nuggets and juice everyday because it is "all they will eat".

400s and some refried beans

2010-06-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

Health

Oh my goodness. 400s kick my butt! ... and aggravate my injuries. I did 5 400s between 7.5-8.0 mph, recovering at 5 mph. Total mileage: 3.5 miles. I had to get up in the middle of the night and take an ibuprofen.

Last night I made some rockin' refried beans!

Step 1: soak pinto beans over night

Step 2: rinse and put beans in crock pot, cover with water

Step 3: forget about beans. Come home at 9pm and think "Oh crap, I forgot the beans". Unplug and then forget to put them in the fridge.

Step 4: wake up the next morning and again think, "Oh crap, I forgot the beans". Put them in the fridge. Better late than never?

Step 5: Add garlic and nuke beans and water in the microwave to heat up.

Step 6: Mash beans and water to a paste. I used a hand masher and it worked great.

Step 7: Realize that you've never made refried beans before and you might want to look up some instruction on the internet.

Step 8: Add a ton of salt. I like pink Himalayan sea salt. Heat two tablespoon of bacon fat in a skillet. Add beans and scoop around like scrambled eggs until they thicken.

Step 9: Taste. Add more salt. Yell at husband to come taste. Look at each other and say, "it's not baaad, but it needs something". Husband gives up after thinking for 10 seconds and goes back to watching his car shows.

Step 10: Squirt of lime juice! Taste, revel at how ingenious you are, and thank, "Chopped" once again for your culinary technique.

Happiness

Before you find happiness, you must find integrity.

Motherhood

Treat your children like you wish to be treated and be the person you'd like them to become.

Weigh in, feeling peachy!

2010-06-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Health

Remember those peaches?

They've been transformed!

I spent HOURS canning yesterday!! It was surprisingly simple!

Oh, and remember those goey homemade larabars? They came out of the dehydrator perfect!

Week one weight loss goal is met! 161 this morning. I did well this week! 4 quality runs, no drinking, and no snacking after dinner. I maaaay need to start paying a little more attention to portion sizes. We'll see how this week goes! I took my waist measurements at my belly button : 35.5 inches. I'm a major apple shape, so that'll be a good measurement for fat loss!

Happiness

Summer time is in full swing! Yesterday I spent the day with my favorite friend canning. We started off during nap time, but we quickly realized it was going to take a LONG time! We ended up calling Brad to pick up some pizza, and after dinner we all went swimming. It was the perfect summer day!

Motherhood

Bedtime has been thrown out the window this weekend and you know what? My girls are better for it! :)

Don't be afraid to break routine every once in a while!

Organic Santa and Mary Poppins

2010-06-27T07:14:00.000-07:00

Health

I did my first long run in a loooong while yesterday! I started getting foot pains at around an hour so I took some walk breaks. I was on my feet for 80 minutes, but only did 5.3 miles. Slow and steady my friends!

It was like Christmas yesterday! All my food came in. My friend and I go in on organic bulk fruit. Yesterday we got organic apples and low pesticide peaches.

I also got my order of dates and goji berries! This is my first time buying organic dates. I wanted to try making larabars. I kind of winged the whole process, lol.

First I choped the walnuts and added cinnamon and chia seeds. In the blender is a banana and a package of dates.

I combined everything by hand and then rolled it out between some plastic wrap.

They came out too gooey, so I threw them in the dehydrator. I'll post the final product pics later, so look out for them! Here's pre- dehydration:

Let me tell you how TASTY these things are! I ate a couple gooey ones :)

Happiness

We went to a fireworks show with our friends last night! LOVE summertime!

Parenthood

I watched Mary Poppins with the girls during my run today and had some deep thoughts. I totally think the movie was written for adults!!!
A big thing I noticed was that as Jane and Micheal were going to sleep Mary Poppins sat in a chair and knitted. That reminded me of "Goodnight Moon". When did we stop doing that as a society? Those kids were 7 years old and not expected to fall asleep by themselves. Ideally it would be there mother or father in there with them, but still! Why do we feel so pressured to have our INFANTS fall asleep on their own?! It made me want to put a chair for me in the girls room.
That led me to start thinking about my theory about "bad" kids. I've thought for a while now that the reason kids misbehave and grow up to be unsuccessful adults is because of neglect, not lack of discipline. Children want to be loved and accepted. All we have to do is reinforce that behavior!
I believe that if we just spend time loving and playing with our children they will turn out just fine. Sometimes I catch myself feeling bad that Beth doesn't "behave". I have to remember that the ultimate goal is for her to be a happy and self sufficient adult in the future, not to be a subservient toddler right now.

Kale

2010-06-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

Heath

I've been looking out for Kale for awhile now, but haven't been able to find it. Turns out it was at my grocery store all along, all I had to do was ask!

I tried it raw and it was a bit chewy for my taste. I'd heard about making Kale Chips so I decided to give it a try. First I tore it into bite sized pieces, removing the stem, and rinsed them in a colander. Next I put olive oil and sea salt on the pieces and tossed, evenly coating. Finally I arranged them on a cookies sheet and baked for 15 minutes at 350 F.

Raw and ready to go:

They came out crunchy and flaky. Very good! Not really a dip-able chip, but tasty all the same. Here's my lunch plate. I made some hummus and the cucumber came from our garden!

Hummus tip: ALWAYS make hummus with warm chickpeas. I made our lunchtime hummus with leftovers cold from the fridge and it just was not the same!

Happiness

Firework shows are about to start!!!

Motherhood

My babies looove hummus. The also seemed to like the Kale chips, but what they really loved was the sound they made when they crumbled them up... all over the floor! At least it's easier to sweep up than quinoa and brown rice! (which they also inhale!)

A tail of two hills

2010-06-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Health

So the good part of my every other day running is that I'm doing more quality workouts. Today I did hills, 2 of them, on the treadmill. I spent 30 seconds on each incline at 5.0 mph and went up to 10, back down to zero. Repeat. I WILL be sore tomorrow! Total mileage: 3 miles

Happiness

Brad took me shopping!

I was in a purple and black kind of mood!

Motherhood

We spent two hours at the doctors today to find out the the suspected spider bite on Elaina's pinky finger was wart. Fabulous.

Going good!

2010-06-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

Health

I met my first weeks goal weight this morning, lol. It's not official until Monday morning though!

I bought some Kale today. I plan to make Kale chips and Kale smoothie/popsicles tomorrow; high excitement!

Today was a walk day and I was sooo glad. My leg hurts after yesterday's workout! I also vacuumed the whole house, which is a workout in itself!

Peanut butter and bananas is the BEST snack EVER!

Happiness

Peanut butter

I feel really good! I'm trying to come up with something specific, but I really don't have a thing not to be happy about.

Motherhood

My baby is no longer scared of the vacuum cleaner, which means I don't have to wear her anymore!! BIG time and back saver! Apparently her fear has now turned to rage. She tried to take the vacuum out numerous times today by suffixation. She body slammed it... she's girthy.

I also may have to bite this little wrestler. Beth had a run in with her this morning:

I don't know what to do about it. She bites a lot and the only advice I've gotten is to bite her back... the girl slams her head into walls for fun, so I'm kind of doubting whether it'll work or not!

800s

2010-06-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Health

I have a new injury prevention plan, every other day running. I've been doing it for a little over a week now and it's going well. I also extended my warm up and cool down with 5 minutes of jogging. Since my kids let me do 40 minutes max, that leaves me 20 minutes of quality running.

Today I did 3x800s and felt good! Total millage 3.2

Happiness

I went to Hobby Lobby today! I've recently started making some of my own jewelry and they had their beads marked down 50%!!!

Motherhood

I also picked up some pipe cleaners. I've been sculpting crowns and wands for the girls all afternoon!

body dismorphia

2010-06-22T05:35:00.000-07:00

Heath

So you know how most people think they look worse than they do? I have the opposite problem. Let me tell you how hot I am in my head!! Unfortunately my husband tends to take pictures of me that force my perspective to be readjusted.

My butt is simply NOT this big!

I guess the reeses and desserts have gotten out of control, boo.

10 weeks, 2lbs a week goal. No sweets at all and no eating after 7pm. Started yesterday. Weight this morning: 163

Happiness

Watching "Bachelorette" tonight! DVR'd, don't ruin it for me!

Motherhood

kids are attacking right now!

Tempo ruuuuun!

2010-06-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

Health

Did my first tempo run today! 2 miles. A loooong 2 miles on the treadmill with a 10 minute warm up and 10 minute cool down. My leg did well and I'm totally ready to begin training in earnest... for a race I still need to find lol!

Happiness

My husband and I got to go on a rare date this afternoon and saw "Get into the Greek". It was one of those silly perverted movies. Made me laugh AND fell all fuzzy inside. I recommend it!

Motherhood

Please let your kids get dirty. Today my girls got to go swimming, pet a bunny, and catch fire flies. I am so thankful to live in the country! I'd rather my kids get messy than miss out on experiencing the outdoors!

Book giveaway #2!

2010-06-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

So, no one wanted my other book, so what?!? LOL

I am not easily discouraged!

Today ladies, I have the gloriously used paperback edition of, "Lovely Bones". It's wonderful.

To win? Leave a comment saying you want it and email me your address : )

My Credentials

2010-06-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

Health

I spent 9 years as a musician in the Navy. During that time I was the Command Fitness Leader. That means I conducted workout sessions 3x a week for the whole command. Twice a year I conducted the Navy's physical readiness test (prt), which included a body fat check as well as a physical test. When an individual didn't pass the PRT they were automatically enrolled in my Fitness Enhancement Program (fep), where I taught them how to lose weight and gain fitness. I had 100% pass rate from my FEP. I loved it!

Here's me in the bottom right hand corner... I don't have many pictures in uniform for some reason!

Happiness

I'm a happy person! I was forced into a mom roll in my child hood, living with my dad and brother. Once I moved out I reverted back to a child for a few years and was able to grow into the woman I am today. I believe in living my life as an open book. I don't have secrets and try not to do anything that I would be ashamed to admit to my parents... luckily my parents are pretty liberal ;)

Motherhood

Definitely not an expert here! Is anyone?!?

My parenting philosophy is "treat your children as you wish to be treated". It's working out pretty well; I'm proud of my girls!

I also believe that kids should get dirty. I offer healthy food and let them eat when they want. Child led parenting with lots of love!

supplements and crazy love

2010-06-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

Health

What supplements, if any, do you all take? I've always been a vitamin junky. A lot of nutritionists say that they just give you expensive pee, but I really can tell a difference when I don't take my multi. I'm also a strong believer in Omegas.

Here's my cocktail for happiness:

Fish Oil ( it pays to buy name brand, reputable sources here)
Woman's multi (for insurance)
Ginkgo Biloba ( for circulation and mental health)

Happiness

What makes me happier than "The Bachelor" series? Not much! The Bachelorette this season cracks my shit up!
First there was the guy nicknamed, "Shooter". He tried to when Ali's heart by telling her that his nickname referred to his sexual over excitability. Then we have the gay weatherman and his arch nemisis, who unfortunately was voted off too early imo. Last but not least we have a handful of jealous stalkers, one of which gets a tattoo to prove his love in the THIRD week!!
"The Bachelor", for when you've given up all hope of a normal relationship!

Motherhood

fresh lettuce and anxiety

2010-06-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

Don't forget that my "giveaway" is still going on (hahaha)

Health

The other night I rehydrated and crockpotted some pinto beans. We also had this fresh lettuce from our friends garden:

The turned into taco salad and with the left over pinto beans I made stovetop baked beans.

There was also yogurt. I don't know why I love looking at pictures of my greek yogurt, but I dooooo!

This time I used a spoonful of my jam to sweeten. I love my yogurt.

I walked 3 miles yesterday; 2 at a 3% incline, 1 pushing the girls outside.

Happiness

Admission: I am a naturally happy person. My husband once said when we were friends, that he could never date me because I was too happy. I enjoy life and enjoy laughing (most of the time at inappropriate stuff!!!).

Howeeeever, I now take Lexipro, an antidepressant, for anxiety. I never thought I'd take medication and have to admit that I looked down on those who did. I assumed that it was going through life being numbed. I was wrong.

It all started after I weaned Elaina, my baby, at around 10 months. I started having issues driving on highways because I would have then visions of being crushed by semi trucks. I would cry at night thinking about dying or my girls dying. I talked to my doctor about when this "normal post pregnancy paranoia" would lessen... and then I started bawling.

After she offered the prescription I called my husband crying. I told him that I didn't want there to be anything wrong with me. It seemed like going against everything I believed in. I liked myself and didn't want something to tone me down in order to have less stress.

I didn't know yet if I was going to take the pills. I filled the prescription and set the bottle on the counter, staring at it for a day. It held such shame for me. I try to live my life as an open book. I don't have secrets and I knew that I would want to hide this from people.

I decided that I should just take them as an experiment. I did enough drugs in my younger days that this probably wouldn't be much worse! I would take them and see what it was like to live in a fog.

I was so wrong. Almost immediately the ball of stress that was in my chest loosened. I didn't realize how bad it was until it went away! I actually was able to start thinking more clearly. I still had all the same thoughts and feelings, but didn't have the physical side effects.

I've been on them for around 2 months now. The plan is to go off of Lexipro around 6 months to see where I am.

It took me until the night before last to admit all this to my best friend. Now I've admitted it to the two people who read this blog!! I am no longer ashamed.

Motherhood

My job's getting easier!

My first Giveaway!!!!

2010-06-11T06:24:00.000-07:00

I have a big head now that I have a whole 10 followers!

I've always been a big fan of passing along a good book. My friend Ginna gets first dibs, but she just gave me back American Wife. We both LOVED it so I'm itching to pass it on. It is used and has been around 6 kids over the past few weeks, but that just adds character!

To enter:

1) Become a follower. All followers will automatically be entered once.
and/or
2) Leave a comment!
and/or
3) Link to this giveaway on your blog or facebook, and leave comment

BONUS: If I reach 20 followers I'll throw in a (new) organic cotton layering that I talked about yesterday!

greenery

2010-06-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

Food

Yeah, I admit it, ate some reeses last night.

Breakfast was the normal greek yogurt, but sadly I'm out of goji berries, so we did dehydrated strawberries instead.

Workout

3 slow miles. I was hurting at first, but after 20 minutes I started to feel good and was able to pick it up for the last five minutes. The baby had to be bribed with a lollipop after she threw her milk at me 15 minutes in, but I finished!

Harry Connick Jr was on The View. Oh, the things I would say about that man if I weren't married...

Outside

Our sun flowers and iris' bloomed!

I also found a late rose

and look how well my garden is doing!

The cucumber is taking off! The wonders of fertilizer :)

Clothes

I hung out the diapers to dry (please don't rain!!)

and I am thrilled to announce that I have found the perfect tank top. At Walmart no less!! There is no strap slipping or underarm fattage. It is super soft, fits snug, and has the perfect length. I have been looking for the perfect tank FOREVER. I've searched from Express to Old Navy to Target... nothing tops this tank!

(Note: I have no boobs )

Here it is in white. Sorry for looking like a jackass, but it's really hard not to look goofy taking your own picture!

The girls: WET

slowly but surely

2010-06-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

Workout

I'm coming back to normal. Yesterday I was able to do 3 slow miles, and today I did 3.2 miles. My speed is slow and I still have pain, but it's improving!

Weight

160.4
It's after my period, so I can't blame that anymore ;) Seriously, with the amount of food I've been eating it's amazing that I don't weigh about 10 pounds more!

Food

Last night I managed to go to bed without eating a pound of chocolate, so hopefully now that I'm running again I'll be able to keep that up.

I made my flax meatloaf last night and added some garbonzo beans. We had it for lunch today too!

Ingredients

2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
handful of frozen onions
2 eggs
Worcestershire sauce, 3-4 splashes
few shakes of Lawry's seasoning salt
pepper to taste
ketchup 1/4 cup
2 tablespoons of ground flax to bring it together

I also throw in any leftover rice, quinoa, or beans. Blend the beans first and make sure to season extra ingredients before adding! You can add milk if it's not mushy enough, but I hardly every do. Bake at 350 for an hour!

Babies

We are loving the weather outside! The baby is getting really independent and things are definitely getting easier.

Books

I just finished Lovely Bones. So good!!! Now I'm reading House Rules. I love the summer because I get to read under the umbrella while the girls play outside!

happy running day!

2010-06-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

all the bloggers are talking about it! My body celebrated by letting me run. I felt really good so I did some slow 400s to stretch things out. I went between 5 & 6 mph and recovered at 4 & 4.5 mph. Sloooooow.

Workout: 3.05 miles

Breakfast

Isn't it purty? Raw almonds & goji berries topped with nonfat greek yogurt and chia seeds. All organic 'cept for the almonds.

Snack: ranch flavored rice cakes. So good. Beth has spent the last half hour finishing off the bag. Next time I will hide it ;)

Lunch

Lowfat cheese, 2 organic apples, and natural peanut butter. The baby and I shared this plate, me eating most of the apples and she eating most of the cheese.

hummus!

2010-06-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I made hummus. Everyone should make hummus. It is so good, the baby and I ate it straight from the blender with a spoon!

Combine ingredients to taste and blend for 5 minutes!

This morning I woke up and actually got on the scale (162).

For breakfast I had pb & j oats with our homemade jam! After we let it sit for a while it set! We followed the instructions on the Pectin packet. In the future I will make jam with all under ripe strawberries. Our jam came out too sweet for me!

Now I'm about to go hop on the treadmill... to walk unfortunately. My left thigh is sending me sharp shooting pains this morning. My new plan is to try to do 3 easy days of running (MWF) and walk the rest of the time. I'm really sad because my race was supposed to be next weekend.

I ran!!!

2010-05-31T10:19:00.000-07:00

Workout: easy 3 miles, I only had a twinge of pain in my left thigh!! Hooray! I'll try some easy speedwork tomorrow and see how that goes.

This weekend was an eat-a-thon. My husbands family eats as a hobby :)

I'm back home now, so it's time to hotdog detox!

Breakfast:

I don't even make sense to myself!

2010-05-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

The great walkathon goes on. I did two miles today on the treadmill. My leg still hurts, but less than before. We are going to my husband's sister's graduation this weekend and I hope to come back healed and ready to run. I want to sign up for some races here! My husbands agreed to me taking a mini vaca by myself (without kids!) down to New Orleans to run the rock'n roll half next year. All I have to do is heal!

Now for some reason my diet goes to hell when I'm not running. I just could care less. Makes no sense, I know!

My husband and I have made one change for the almost better:

It's our diet beer. Down from 96 calories a beer Miller Light. Don't let the good be the enemy of the perfect!

I've also incorporated some Chia in my morning. They offer the omegas of flax without the need to grind! They remind me of popi seeds.

This is an easy, filling, quick, and nutritious breakfast that I have most mornings!

This morning I had some of my friends chicken's eggs

and I made some ice coffee! I normally drink my hot coffee with just one percent milk. Sweet hot coffee grosses me out, but I cannot drink unsweetened ice coffee! My mom bought some of this walden farms chocolate sauce when she was here visiting. It's probably not too hot for me chemical wise, but it's calorie free! I tried it and it was so yummy I forgot to take a picture before I finished!

You all see the picture below of the nakkid kiddos? Facebook deleted it from my album!!!

Walking, Walking,

2010-05-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Walking, walking, hop hop hop!

I probably will never stop quoting kid songs.

Today I watched this all morning:

My new walking partner punked out on me this morning, but I managed to get a couple miles in treadmill style. It's steamy hot here in Memphis, so if I don't get out first thing I'm pretty much screwed.

My second toe is returning back to normal color. My left thigh still hurts like a mother. The pain runs from my hip to my knee down the back. I guess I could ask my doctor...

My eating hasn't been tooooo bad. I do need beer in chocolate in my life right now however. I tried this Kefer chocolate/ rice poof bar today for a snack and it was super good... love sampling Kroger manager specials!

OH! I bought a huge tub of clearance organic baby spinach. I filled up my normal salad container in the fridge and then froze the rest to cook or put in smoothies.

Hot Mess

2010-05-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

I don't know what I did to my body but it does NOT like me lately!

I haven't blogged in a while because I haven't been doing anything! My first week back to running after the ankle sprain was alright, but I didn't really get fast again. Last week I had a GREAT run. I did 800s at 10k pace. I was still in pain though. I've had a pain going down my left leg and into my knee. Sucks. So I've been taking it easy, doing walks and an occasional easy run when I feel up to it. I've pretty much nixed my plans for the nautical 10 mile race early next month. They Y was damaged during the flood and won't be open again for another couple months, so there goes cross training. Big old BOO!

I met a girl this morning for some walking. I think we walked about 3 miles in the HEAT, pushing strollers.

Did I mention I fell on my second toe yesterday and it swelled up? I was scared it was broken, but it feels a little better today so I think it was just sprained.

So that's where I've been!

Breakfast: greek yogurt, chia seeds, goji berries, raw almonds (I bought more goji's from amazon.com and ordered the chia seeds too! Good omegas!)
Lunch: chicken "nuggets" (shake and bake), steamed carrots, watermelon, and rice cakes

Workout: 3 miles walking

More Rain

2010-05-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

I used to love Rainy days before kids. I used to curl up with a book and read the day away. Now I spend the day being hearing, "outside? OUTSIDE?" and going from room to room trying to keep to toddlers entertained. I MUST get out of the house today...

Yesterday:

Lunch: Leftover stir fry, rice cakes ("more cakes? more cakes?" - Beth), organic raisins for the girls

Have I mentioned that Beth's a nudist?

Snack: popcorn

Dinner: flax meatloaf, mashed cauliflower, peas

Dessert: semisweet chocolate chips (I suck lol)

Workout: 3 miles, easy

Rainy day

2010-05-10T07:43:00.000-07:00

Mother's day weekend is over. Back to the grind!

Breakfast:

I thought I'd show you what I feed the girls too (plus my mother's day flowers!). I had Greek yogurt topped with dehydrated strawberries & organic walnuts. The baby had some strawberries, cheerios, and yobaby. I only buy yobaby when it's on managers special. Beth had cheerios on top of yogurt. She's 2.5 years old, so this allows her to eat cereal without all the mess!

I pretty much feed the girls what I eat. My food philosophy with them is lead by example. I only eat junk after they go to bed, lol. I offer them plenty of fruits and veggies, but don't make them eat anything. My oldest is STUBBORN so if you ask her to take a bite of something she will refuse.

I do let them eat hotdogs, candy, and such too. I think forbidding foods can be just as damaging is only letting them eat junk! I like the 80/20 philosophy. 80% good and healthy, 20% good and junky :)

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

Great give away here!

My mother's day weekend has been wonderful. Yesterday was gorgeous and we spent the majority of it outside. It was a rest day for me, so we packed up and headed to the zoo. My husband made mexican for dinner AND cleaned up!
This morning he took care of the girls while I got my run in and now they're having lunch at McDonalds.

Workout: 6.25 miles, slow, ankle feels great but I have a touch of sciatica and foot pain on my left side

OH! AND Brad is buying me new running shoes :)

Happy Mother's Day! Remember how lucky we are to have these amazing babies!

worn out!

2010-05-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

whew, what a day!

Breakfast: eggs & organic pear
Lunch: greek yogurt & almonds, w/ dried strawberries, apple
Snack: popcorn
Dinner: chicken/broccoli stirfry over brown rice

Snack: strawberries & whipped cream

Remember those sugared strawberries I talk about a few days ago? My husband made a two egg cake to rest those on. Since I can't eat it (damn wheat!) we brought it up to our friends house and we had dessert and watched the kids play. We finally got them to bed at 930pm and I'm pooped!

Workout: 2.8 mile easy run, I have a nagging pain in the back top of my left thigh. I stretched extra long, so hopefully it works itself out.

Girl time!

2010-05-07T05:49:00.000-07:00

Great day! My husband left straight from work to go do some Tuba wheeling and dealing, so the girls and I got to spend the day together alone.

Lunch: two organic apples w/ organic peanut butter, 2 organic carrots, rice cakes, 1 slice of cheese, crystal light

We had a picnic at the park! It's already getting hot enough around here where lunchtime picnics won't be doable much longer. It was almost up to 90 today!

Snack: organic pear & a package of peanuts, coke zero

Dinner: oats with organic bottom of the jar peanut butter scrapings and organic blueberry jam

The girls loved me because I gave them mac'n cheese and hotdogs :)

Dessert: 2 tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips (160 calories) while watching Greys

Workout: 3.2 (or .4 can't remember!) miles at 5.0, with 2 minutes 6.0 pickups every 5 minutes. Last 5 went from 6-6.5

1 miles walk pushing the girls after dinner

Woke up this morning to a weight: 159.2!

Good Morning!

2010-05-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

Weight: 161.2

Ug, I have a cold. One of those colds that keep you up at night because of that nagging itch in the back of your throat. After tossing and turning for a couple hours I gave up and took some cold medicine. I must get cough drops today!

Breakfast:

I'm off to jump on the treadmill while the baby's taking her morning nap!

Hey, how come sometimes new blog posts show up on my blogger role thingy but when I click on them I can't read them? Are they private or something?

I'm being good!

2010-05-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

I had a snack of ( a lot ) of popcorn this afternoon which gave me the energy to prepare a feast for dinner!
I'm really a lazy cook and don't really make anything that's more than a few steps or much harder than opening a can. I guess all that Chopped watching has had an influence because my chicken tonight was awesome!

Dinner:

Honey mustard chicken (pan seared and then finished in the oven!), mashed cauliflower, and hickory salt seasoned broccoli

I'm quite proud of myself!

Tonight we're battling the big child to sleep, like normal. I have my water bottle and despite it being May 5th, I will not have an alcoholic beverage! (there's no chocolate in the house, so what's the point?!)

dehydrated

2010-05-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

Not me, the strawberries!

My husband came home early from work with bad news. The jam didn't set. Beer drinking plus jam making doesn't mix I guess. Sad.

Right now Brad's "watching" this chick on food network, he calls her "Gal Fieri"

Workout: a little less than 3 miles, slow run

Lunch: two apples with peanut butter, ranch rice cakes (the baby loooves these! so weird!)

Confession: I may now HATE strawberries lol.

Strawberries

2010-05-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Diet was delayed... my husband said we can't diet while he's off work lol. Anyway, so today starts!

Yesterday during the day I ate well, as always. Nighttime is when I always falter! It's not a horrible thing though because I know that in order to lose weight I just have to focus on that time of day and keep the rest of day the same.

We went strawberry picking yesterday and Beth loved it! We got 10 pounds of strawberries. I dehydrated, froze, sugared, and jammed my day away yesterday.

We did the jamming at a friends house last night, so I don't have pictures of that. I'll post pics of the finished products later!

Workout: 3.2 miles, slow 6x 400 at half marathon pace. It felt good to get my legs moving a little!

This morning started out with coffee, eggs, and...

back to the grind

2010-05-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

Workout: 2.68 miles, slow jog on treadmill.

I felt a tightness in my ankle that scared me into walking for 2 minutes, but besides that it went fine! I'm not going to be going fast (for me) for another week or so.

Now that I can run again it's time to stop sulking, give up the chocolate and beer, and lose ten more pounds. Now that I wrote it here I must be accountable!!

I'll start weighing in tomorrow!

Food

Breakfast: peanut butter and jelly oats, coffee

Lunch: greek yogurt with almonds, two apples

The flood!

2010-05-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

Holy crap what a weekend! We had storms and tornadoes all over the place. My husbands is in the military and his base had a levee break. People who lived in housing lost everything. It's beyond horrible. Last night we had a coworker, his wife, and their 2 dogs stay with us. My husband is down volunteering on base to help clean up. Here's what it looks like:

The building left of the water tower on the top of the picture is where I was supposed to be going grocery shopping yesterday! Insane.

Yesterday was spent hunkering down and then rushing all over the place trying to help people. We spent last night in the closet dodging a tornado that was spotted 1 mile from our house. Everyone finally got to bed at midnight and then slept without a peep until 630am. We are so lucky to have been clear of both the flooding and tornadoes.

Today so far...

Food

Breakfast: nonfat organic greek yogurt and raw almonds

Lunch: organic apples & peanut butter, cheese, carrots, ranch

Workout

2.15 miles on the treadmill, fast walk between 3 & 6% incline

Ankle

I'm so excited to run tomorrow!!!!! Ankle feel great!

back on the treadmill!

2010-05-01T06:10:00.000-07:00

I thought that since I hadn't taken the baby up to the play room in awhile my walk would go uninterrupted... I was SO wrong!! She is going through a major separation thing right now. I seem to remember that it's normal when they first start walking? Anyway, she wants to spend all her time in my lap and it ANGERS her when I won't hold her. So my 2 mile slow, back to the grind, walk was broken into two segments and accompanied by a healthy does of being screamed at. Have I mentioned how she likes to throw toys at me over the gate during my workouts?!

Food
Breakfast: Delicious PB&J oats, minus the truvia this time. Perfectly sweet!

Lunch: left over brussel sprouts w/marinara, organic pear, and some greek yogurt

Snack: organic apple with peanut butter (I'm a peanut butter who-or)

Dinner: I made what Brad labeled "chicken taco chili". I was cleaning out the fridge, lol. I threw in the crock pot some chickpeas, pinto beans, redbeans, chicken tenders, taco seasoning (I thought we had some chili seasoning, lol), cumin, garlic, and leftover salsa. It was interesting. The girls ate it up!

I topped mine with Feta

After the girls went to bed there were some reeses cups consumed while we watched greys and private practice.

Workout: 2 miles on the treadmill at a 3% incline, 1 hour pilates class at the Y (Elaina screamed through that too)

Ankle: feels good! Definitely on the mend.

A sprain

2010-04-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

Ankle update: the x rays were negative, so it's a sprain. Hooray! I can't wait to start jogging next week. I'm going to start slow and easy for a couple weeks and won't try to do two speed work sessions in one week again.

Food

Lunch
We went to the park for a picnic and walk. I stopped by Kroger first and they had some organic baby romaine on manager special and some organic pears. I picked up some chicken fingers and basil/tomato feta and made wraps. The pears were perfectly ripe and the wraps were delicious!

Dinner

I cooked up some chicken on the stovetop and topped it with feta! Peas with some hickory salt and olive oil, plus a sweet potato finished the meal off! I'm so proud of my husband for trying (and liking!) feta for the first time. The sweet potato and chicken above the plate are the babies :)

Dessert

m's & water

Workout: 2 miles pushing the girls in the stroller

"if running is your thing or whatever"- my doc

2010-04-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

I did well Tuesday night! I didn't drink and only had about 15 organic semisweet chocolate chips. I say about because my husband ate one and said, "these taste weird" yet kept stealing them! He should know better!

Food

Yesterday morning started off smooth

LOVE Kroger's organic line!

Lunch was leftover blackbeans, chicken, and brown rice. Topped with tons of organic salsa! That kept me full and I didn't need a snack.

While making dinner I snacked on some walnuts and an apple. I made scallops, wilted spinach, and brown rice/quinoa mix. So quick and tasty!!! I will definitely add that to our list of meals!

I had a rough mental health day so I self medicated with miller light and reeses cups after the girls went to bed.

This morning I stole my breakfast idea from one of my favorite blogs. We'll call in peanut butter and jelly oats. I made oats with water, truvia, and vanilla. Then I topped it with a scoop of organic peanut butter and jelly. Next time I'm leaving the truvia out... but omg DELICIOUS!

Workout: 1 mile walk with the family

Ankle: suspected sprain. I need to call the doctor today to get the results of my xray. The doctor said, "if you insist upon running you'll need to where an ankle brace for awhile" LOL

They gave me this to wear at the hospital while getting xray'd. With my natural grace I should probably wear it all the time!

My plan is to try jogging next monday. We'll see what happens!

swim day!

2010-04-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

Last night didn't end up well. Brad came home and offered up "mexican monday". I'm always up for not cooking so we hoped in the car. I had a steak fajitas salad... and chips... and a gigantic Dosequis. It made me happy and I managed to finish it all while the baby crawled all over me in the booth! (I don't want to talk about the m&ms we had after the kids went to bed)

Good thing every day is a NEW day!

Food
Breakfast: eggs and dehydrated pineapple/ banana/ apple. My mom bought me a dehydrator for my birthday. The bananas are kind of icky, but everything else is good and now I can buy organic produce in bulk without having to worry about it going bad!
Lunch: carrots, hummus, string cheese, apple and peanut butter (all organic except the string cheese, stupid expensive organic cheese)

The girls didn't eat very much lunch, so I need to come up with something to feed them for a good snack... I'll probably have peanuts today. Dinner *should* be the turkey spaghetti brussel sprouts. (yes I do make noodles for everyone else!)

Workout: 1 km swim (20 laps) I don't know how fast it was... I was proud of myself for keeping track of the laps! Swimming felt good. It takes me a while to get into it, but after about five minutes I go into a swim comma. I think I get hypnotizes by my breathing pattern, lol. Do they do biathlons with just swimming and running? I could totally do that, but my butt is not getting on a bike!
I had planned on getting a yoga class in too, but Elaina had other plans...

A new week!

2010-04-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

Food
Breakfast: non fat greek yogurt, raw almonds, organic blueberris. All mixed together and sweetened with some truvia. This gets you FULL! (coffee too of course!)
Lunch: Chick filet: 12 piece nugget meal with fruit, plus a small fry and coke zero. Split the meal with the girls. Beth can put AWAY some nuggets!
Snack: popcorn on the stove with a tablespoon of veg oil
Dinner: turkey marinara over brussel sprouts topped with parm (don't knock it until you try it!)

Workout
1 hour pilates class at the Y

I planned to swim today too, but Elaina (the baby) freaked out in the day care and they had to come get me.

Ankle
Great this morning. Now at 2 pm after walking around the mall for a bit, it's tight and painful. The veins on my bad foot are popping!

why does running mean so much?

2010-04-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not a real runner like a lot of you. I hate Garmins and couldn't really tell you my 5k pace... in fact I've never run a 5k! I don't want to run a marathon; a half is just fine for me! I'm not a purist either... I need my music and tv for my runs. I don't know what category I fall into, but right now I fall into the bummed out group!
Running is more than a sport for me. I joke that it's my prozac, but it really is! I'm a daily runner who forces herself to take a day off once a week... but I still walk on those days.
When I can't run I tend to just give up. I eat like crap ...

wrote this before breakfast! Ate some greek yogurt and feel a lot better. My ankle is getting better too I think! Amazing how some coffee and calories perk you right up ;)

Ok, back again at 4pm. Ever take 12 hours to write a post? No? You obviously don't have a 1 and 2 year old harassing you all day!

We went out to eat at Red Robin (mmm). Had a chef salad w/o dressing. We went over to an earth day festival afterwards and walked around. My ankle sucks. I'm making an appointment. It's been over a week! The pain is spreading over the top of my foot now. Sucks.

Still hurt

2010-04-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

At least now I have a plan! On Monday I'm joining (for reals) the Y. That way I can take as much time off as I need from running and still get a good cardio workout 3x a week swimming, plus pilates classes! My kids are going to hate it lol.

Ankle: still stiff, swollen, and sore. It was really bad yesterday, but feels a little better today. Maybe those shooting pains last night were healing pains?

Food: I have seriously eaten way too much this week, but it's been delicious! My husband and I got to go out for a date last night. Indian food and Bahama Breeze for cheesy music, drinks, and dessert!

Today I've been good so far:

Breakfast: blueberry/ mango/ banana smoothie with flax and spinach
Lunch: hummus, blue corn chips, apples, and strawberries

injured and pissed off!

2010-04-23T05:48:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so my last run was last Friday. I took Saturday off and intended to do my long run Sunday. My left foot had other plans. I started off jogging and the pain was sharp and intense. It starts at the heel of my foot and goes up to my outside ankle bone and then up over my instep. I decided to walk, so I did 5 miles of hills.

The next day I woke up and my left top ankle part was swollen. My mom also came into town, so I decided to take a few days off anyway. Well, now it's Friday and my ankle is still swollen. What should I do?!

I've been icing at night, but I've still probably been on it too much. Try taking it easy with and 1 and 2 year old!! Btw, my baby started walking this week!

I'm a little depressed about the whole situation and have been self medicating with chocolate and wine.

Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow morning good as new?

Gravity is light today!

2010-04-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

Weight: 154.2!!

Maybe it was the grilled rabbit salad I had for dinner yesterday?!

Breakfast: coffee, eggs, and banana

Workout: walking around the botanical gardens with my family!

For some reason I forgot to add that on Wed. & Fri. I did 100 ab moves and girly pushups

I'm also going to stop editing posts and just doing posts as needed.

ug

2010-04-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Rough day parenting wise. Good run though!

Workout: 3.8 miles, 4 x 800 between 6.5-7.5, finished off with 10 minutes at half mary pace

My left foot hurts mid outer ridge. It's weird. Hopefully a rest day tomorrow will heal it up!

Easy-peasy

2010-04-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday did not end so well! Captain D's and Reeses cups were involved... My girls are in a screaming phase and it's driving me bonkers! Beth has taken to saying, "Mommy's crazy" over and over, lol...

New day!

Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: oranges, cheese, rice cakes
Dinner: we're going to a party with hotdogs and beer!

Workout: easy 3 miles barefoot on treadmill

I've started jogging my warmups instead of walking. I like it, it gets me "warmer" lol.

I did it, I did it, I did it yeah! (wooo)

2010-04-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

Dora quote for the day :)

Food
Breakfast: greek yogurt, goji berries, raw almonds, coffee
Lunch: org. apples, org. carrots (with skin on!), some cheese stick, 3 white cheddar rice cakes (gluten free!), some natural ranch dressing, org. peanut butter
Snack: purple popcorn

Workout: 7 x 400s!! (between 7 & 8 mph) (recover for .1 - .15 miles at 5.0) Yay for speedwork! 4 miles total

speedwork?

2010-04-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

We'll see if I get around to it later today! Nope! LOL

Yesterday

Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: rice cakes, peanut butter, apples, orange, cheese stick
Dinner: more rice cakes while I cooked, meatloaf, peas, mashed cauliflower
Dessert: semi sweet chocolate chips

Workout: Easy 3, plus 1 mile walk after dinner

Brad and I decided to not drink at home ... again, lol. To bad our wallets and bodies don't like miller light as much as our minds and tummy's do!

Today

Weight 159

Breakfast: eggs and banana
Lunch: salad at Joe's Crabshack
Snack: ice cream, damn it I fell asleep! Does anyone else get crazy sweet cravings after napping? It totally ruined my grove for the day.
Dinner: pork chops, green beans, rice mix
Snack: peanuts

My children didn't stop screaming at me today. I'm also feeling annoyed. With myself... sometimes I do that lol.

Workout: walked the mall pushing 50 pounds of baby, walked a mile after dinner... speedwork will always be there tomorrow!

7.5 miles of suck!

2010-04-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

I time my long runs. I pretty much just go a far as I can during an episode of biggest loser (1.5 hours w/o commercials). Today I did not want to do it at all... but I did. I can't be quite stubborn ;)

Yesterday I took off. We went to the zoo and walked around for a couple hours with the girls!

Weight: 159

Food
Breakfast: old fashioned oat meal with organic raisins and real maple syrup, coffee
Lunch: Picnic! Apples, Oranges, Cheese, celery, hummus, peanut butter, coke zero

Workout: 7.5 mile progressive long run, starting at 4.2 and ending at 7.0

Gorgeous afternoon run

2010-04-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

Food
Breakfast: eggs, goji berries, banana
Lunch: tomato/rice soup, hummus, oranges, carrots, some chips, chicken salad
Dinner: cheese and raisins, miller light (2)

Workout
3.3 ish miles outside, hills

It was a beautiful day! I was kind of stressed out when I started my run and it took me a while to get mentally warmed up and in the groove. My body warms up easily but my mind is another story! By half way through I was enjoying my run and loved watching the kids play outside after school. Not to many days allow for an afternoon run because of weather in Memphis, but this one was perfect. Some of my neighbors were out on their porches during my 1 mile loop and it motivated me to speed up and use good form ;)

I'm like training and stuff!

2010-04-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

I did honest to god 5 x 800s!!!!! I feel like such a real runner, lol.

Food
Breakfast: nonfat organic greek yogurt with almonds, goji berries, truvia, and vanilla
Lunch: Chinese buffet! Two plates, 1st = sushi!, 2nd= lots of veggies and a few pieces of meat
Dinner: Spaghetti sauce with a dollop of ricotta topped with parm
Dessert: miller light, peanuts

Workout: 4 miles, 5 800s between 6.5 & 8.0, .1 mile recovery in between at 5.0

The scope

2010-04-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

Fun times here! This morning I didn't get to eat or drink at all. Turns out I have a wheat allergy. When my wheat allergy is in action it irritates and inflames my hemorrhoids. Sexy.
The scope and stuff was easy, they knocked me out so I have a great power nap. Plus they gave me take home pictures! I don't understand why I have better quality photo of my two internal hemorrhoids than I do of either of my babies in utero... lol.

Weight: 160

Food
Brunch: bbq at Corky's (in Memphis) buffet style. I had pulled pork over coleslaw, corn, salad, baked beans, and sausage. Nummy, nummy as Beth would say!
Snack: popcorn
Dinner: leftover dips! Organic sweet potato chips with homemade hummus; organic blue corn tortilla chips with homemade spinach dip. An orange split with the girls
Snack: Husband is away so I'll scrounge up some chocolate here shortly!

Workout: 1.5 mile walk on the treadmill tonight reading runners world while the girls watched Dora. Some light stretching between baby bedtime screams...

the fast

2010-04-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

First, here's a super amazing give away! Plus it's a fun blog to read!

Weight 156

"Food"
Breakfast: 2 blue gatoraids
Snack: jello and coke zero
Lunch: blue slushy from sonic
Snack: chicken broth
4pm snack: bottle of saline stuff
After the saline stuff I started to get really nauseous.
Dinner: couple spoonfuls of beef bullion, some jello

Workout: yelling at my husband

Swimming!

2010-04-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

Weight: 154.8!

Food
Breakfast: greek yogurt, goji berries, and raw almonds (touch of vanilla and truvia too!), coffee
Lunch: Mandrin chicken salad from Wendy's, big diet coke
Snack: peanut butter and bananas
Dinner: Ryans
Dessert: chocolate and wine

I'm eating it up tonight because I have to go on a clear liquid diet tomorrow. I have a suspected wheat allergy and have to get a scope on Wednesday. I'm so looking forward to it. Boo. Did you know you have to take a laxative AND give yourself an enema for these things?! I sure didn't!

Workout
1 hour pilates class
25 minutes of swimming freestyle

You probably won't be surprised that I don't count laps or know my pace! I was swimming at a pretty good clip though. It felt good. It was the first time I've done laps since the day before Beth was born. I have to work on getting that membership at the Y!
The pilates instructor didn't yell at me today. The girl she used as her example on friday actually said something about the fact that I actually came back!! I'm glad the bitchiness wasn't all in my head!
The daycare people DID yell at me... I went to check on the girls after the pilates class and Beth spotted me (whoops!). I guess she spent the whole time I was swimming under the table crying. I WILL resist the urge to check on them next time... or at least be more stealthy...

easy long run

2010-04-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

I'm back on the wagon! Well, the no snacking after dinner wagon. I can still drink during dinner though!!!!

Breakfast: eggs, goji berries and coffee
Lunch: left over blackbeans, chicken, and brown rice. Organic apples and peanut butter.
Snack: popcorn (amish purple!)
Dinner: Dip night! Homemade spinach dip and hummus with sweetpotato and blue corn chips. Miller light.

Workout
Progressive long run (? LOL), starting at 4.1 and working up to 7.0 over 7.25 miles
1 mile after dinner walk with the family

Big old catch up post!

2010-04-03T17:31:00.000-07:00

I don't even remember where I left off!

Thursday

Workout: 3.75 miles. 1/4 mile sprint thingies, forget what you call them LOL... all between 7&8 on the treadmill! Recovery between at 5mph for .10 - .15 miles. It was an awesome workout.

Food: don't remember! I went to a wine tasting that night and it was sooo good! I love blue cheese and pinot!

Friday

My birthday!

Workout: 1 hour pilates class at the YMCA followed by 25 minutes on the elliptical. I think I'm joining even though the pilates teacher was mean. She said, "I can tell you're a runner" lmao. Uh, maybe because I was wearing running clothes?! She claimed it was because I was doing the moves too quickly but I was just following the girl she pointed out as the example...
It was sooo nice to workout without the kids climbing me! On monday I'm going to swim.

Food
I was actually really good! Went to Melting Pot for dinner. Lots of yummy food and wine!

Saturday

Weight: 156

Food: Eh, cracker barrel breakfast and chili cheese tamales for lunch/dinner LOL I'm having easter candy and miller light tonight. Birthday weekend and all!!!

Workout: We went to an easter egg hunt and a park with the girls :)

off day

2010-03-31T18:33:00.000-07:00

Running just didn't feel good today!

Workout: 2 mile walk/jog on the treadmill, 1 mile walk outside pushing the girls, 100 ab moves, 30 (! lol) girlie pushups

Weight: 158.8

Food
Breakfast: nonfat greek yogurt, raw almonds, goji berries, truvia, & vanilla
Lunch: cottage cheese w/ blueberries, apple & peanut butter, some string cheese
Dinner: blackbeans, chicken, & brown rice. Topped with sour cream & mozz. YUM! Glass of pinot noir
Dessert: reeses eggs (planning on it anyway!)

OHHH, and I went to the doctors today and my resting heart rate was 47!!! Awesome.

Great Run today!

2010-03-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

Food

Breakfast: greek nonfat yogurt with raw almonds, goji berries, truvia, vanilla... and coffee of course!

Lunch: Picnic outside with the girls! Carrots, cheese, apples, oranges, peanut butter (all organic!)
Snack: Popcorn of course! I left off the butter lol
Dinner: leftover chicken/ brown rice/ broccoli casserole, celery with smears of cream cheese & peanut butter, oranges shared with the girls

Workout: 3.55 miles, will call it my .5 mile interval workout! + 1 mile family walk after dinner

I felt great! I got up to 8.5 and was really huffing, but my recovery time was really good. My feet seem to be completely better. Maybe they were still recovering from my half and my shoes weren't completely worn in? Eh, I feel great now so I'm not going to worry about it!

Whatdoyaknow?

2010-03-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

My feet felt great today in the new Nikes... I haven't a clue!

Anyway, I'm just now recovering from a loooong day of battling my two year old. There were multiple tantrums and general nastiness all day.

Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: Taco salad
Dinner: corn chips, brown rice/chicken/broccoli casserole
Snack: beer and ice cream (notice how I haven't been posting my weight?! LOL)

Workout: 3 miles, medium pace at 2%, ab work & 20 girlie pushups

I need HELP!!!

2010-03-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

My feet hurt. It's the center of the front part of my foot and it only hurts in shoes. I took my shoes off half way through my long run, but now I have a blister. I just bought these stupid shoes and it irritates me to no end that they hurt me. I have extremely high arches and need a good cushion shoe or maybe some Nike Frees since I like barefoot running so much?

Breakfast: Smoothie w/ organic kefer, organic french vanilla lowfat yogurt, 1/2 avocado, bananas, organic frozen blueberries & mangos.
Lunch: red beans w/ newmans own ranch dressing, organic carrots with peel!, oranges
Snack: popcorn... a whole crapload, lol!! Brad, I and the girls watched super nanny and congratulated ourselves on being good parents while we watched!
Dinner: wings & beer (yes, I'm bad, whoops!)

Workout: 7 slow miles in 1.5 hours at 2% incline

Yesterday I took off!

naked feet equal happy feet!

2010-03-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Food
Breakfast: lowfat french vanilla organic yogurt, goji berries, raw almonds, and coffee
Lunch: 2 cheese sticks, 2 organic apples, coke zero
Lunch (take two!): 2 bananas with organic peanut butter
Dinner: Taco salad! With pinto beans (from dry bag!), lean meat, taco bell taco seasoning, onion, lowfat natural cheddar, avocado, organic salsa, organic low fat sour cream, and organic baby greens! Two naval oranges shared with the babies

Workout: 3 naked feet miles, a little quicker than yesterday. I felt better than yesterday too! During my run (jog) yesterday my feet felt very tight. Today I was looser and felt springy. I jogged up to a little faster than my mary pace. I have some weird muscle soreness thing going on in my leg. Not unpleasant, it's just like I'm using different muscles to run now!
I also did 90 ab pilates moves and 20 girly pushups
followed up with lots of stretching
After dinner we took a 1 mile family walk too!

No shirt, no shoes, no problems!

2010-03-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

Breakfast: free range eggs, organic blue & goji berries, coffee w/ organic 2% milk, and water

Lunch: organic apples, green bean, and one homemade pizza role thing at my friends house

Snack: diet coke, cheese and dark chocolate

Dinner: Turkey kielbasa w/ onions and peppers, quinoa, broccoli

Workout: 3 slow miles barefoot on the treadmill. I liked it and my feet didn't bother me one bit... except afterwards during my stretching when I saw this:

Yuuuuck!!! Based on the dirt I'm landing where I should though! I did feel like I was landing a lot more forward than normal. I'm not going to become one of those crazies that go outside barefoot, but there's definitely something to it. Plus it's fun to only need underwear and a sports bra for my workouts; less laundry!

I know my body!!

2010-03-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

Screw the experts, I ran today! LOL I felt good and went super slow. It's not like I was fast on my half anyway!

Breakfast: lowfat yogurt, goji berries, raw almonds
Lunch: Asian chicken salad from applebees, diet coke
Snack: popcorn!
Dinner: Leftovers. Bean soup, hummus and organic celery, cauliflower and peas

I must confess that I fell off the wagon last night. Beer, peanuts, and dark chocolate, oh my!

Workout: 2.65 mile jog, some ab work! 20 girl pushups, lots of stretching, 1 mile after dinner walk with the family

So I think my feet are two different sizes. When I wore size 10 my right foot hurt, now I went down to a 9.5 and my left one hurts. Do any of you all buy different sized shoes? I'm going to try a barefoot jog on the treadmill tomorrow. My brother (he's done real marathons at real runner's paces, lol) has had a lot of good things to say about going bare. I figure it would be safe enough on the treadmill!

Brad just brought me some water, a miller light, and chocolate chips. I love and hate him!!!

When can I run again?

2010-03-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

This part sucks. I'm anxious to get back to the grind. I'm a little sore, but nothing too bad! When can I start jogging again? Some quick research last night said in a week.

I'm so excited for my next 11 miler race! It's with a lot of people I know and I know I can beat them, lol!!! I'm going to be a little more structured with my training this time and I'm going to try get in more ab work. Then next race is June 10th! Then I'll think about St. Jude...

Food
Breakfast: honeydew, eggs, and coffee
Lunch: Sushi! Tuna, Salmon, and California rolls

We went to the park and had a picnic with Brad! Both girls are asleep in their carseats in the garage as I type this.

Dinner: 15 bean soup is in the crockpot. I'm going to make some corn bread to go with it, yum!

The morning after...

2010-03-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

I don't feel too bad! I have a headache from the beer, lol. My thighs are sore, but it a good way! I'm not limping around like last time. I know my training plan isn't traditional, but it seemed to work for me. There's a nautical 10 (12 miles about?) race I plan to do in a couple months that my husbands work is putting on. I'm excited to drop a few more pounds and go even faster!

Elaina and I woke up at 445 this morning. I tried putting her back down to sleep, but it was a no go. I'm weaning her so I just had to get up! Brad has off today so I was able to nap during her morning nap. We just woke up.

Food
Breakfast:

I'm calling it my "everything but smoothie". Check out all the empty bags. I totally cleaned out the fridge and freezer!

Lunch: hummus, organic celery, and honey dew

Snack: leftover smoothie and raw almonds

Dinner: Flax, chickpea, and lean beef meatballs with gravy, sweet potato, mashed cauliflower, sweet peas

Workout: 2 miles walking 2.0-3.0 followed by lots of stretching!

PR and top 10 of the fatties!!! LOL

2010-03-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

FEMALE ATHENA : 10 - 99
DIV   OVRL  SEX                          *****6.55 MILE****  ***FINISH*** 
PLACE PLC   PLC      NAME            AGE RANK  TIME   PACE   TIME   PACE  CITY    STATE
===== ====  === ==================   === ==== ======= ===== ======= ===== ==============
    1 315   84   Corrie Peak          31    3   58:29  8:56 1:55:13  8:48 MEMPHIS TN            
    2 329   89   Kristi Allmon        37    1   57:00  8:42 1:55:47  8:51 PARAGOULD AR          
    3 339   91   Kelly Nye            34    2   57:27  8:47 1:56:20  8:53 JACKSON TN            
    4 511   162  Shally Pender        33#8    4 1:00:15  9:12 2:04:45  9:32 MEMPHIS TN            
    5 580   199  Amanda Sutphin       34    6 1:02:59  9:37 2:08:57  9:51 MEMPHIS TN            
    6 606   213  Linda Dams           34   11 1:05:53 10:04 2:10:30  9:58 MILLINGTON TN         
    7 618   219  Ines Delambert       32    5 1:02:02  9:29 2:11:04 10:01 TUPELO MS             
    8 662   241  Jessica Parrish      28   19 1:09:24 10:36 2:13:30 10:12 BRIGHTON TN

That's me!  #8!

I beat my prebaby time!  Hooray!!!!  Despite the freezing cold down pour.  The. entire. time.  The head wind managed to unfavorably change directions midrun as well.  The most satisfaction came when I started to pass people 4 miles out.  Notice my faster pace the second half?!  I'm proud to have followed my responsible running plan :)  I'm a little bit drunk now...

Here's me freezing after the race:

and now I'm home celebrating!!!

The day before... let them eat!

2010-03-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

I love carbo loading :)

I had three kids today. We took a mile walk outside this morning and played in the backyard all afternoon... and we ate!

Food
Breakfast: yogurt, goji berries, and fiber one
Lunch: leftover chili, organic blue corn chips with organic salsa
Snack: a couple bites of an organic poptart
Snack: popped corn!
Dinner: 1/2 veggie supreme pizza (shared with Elaina lol)
Snack: leftover blueberry cream dessert!!! (I froze some to eat tonight since my long run was so good last weekend!!)

Rain is still in the forecast. It's a bummer, but I'm still going down there. I just hope there are no tornadoes!

boooooo!

2010-03-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

It's supposed to wind and rain on Sunday. It was gorgeous today. I'm pissed. My aunt said she'd still run as long as it wasn't "hard pellet" rain. I hope the weather people are wrong!

Weight: 158 (and crampy double boo)

Food
Breakfast: eggs, coffee, honey dew
Lunch: humus, organic whole carrots, more honey dew, some string cheese eaten picnic style at the zoo! Here's me torturing my baby:

Dinner: raw almonds, homemade left over chilli over organic baby spinach, topped with lots of cheese, organic blue corn chips, more cheese!

Dessert: dark chocolate chips

Workout: walking around the zoo and a 1 mile after dinner walk with the family

A little worried!

2010-03-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

Starting fresh!

Breakfast: yogurt, apple butter, topped with fiber one. Coffee
Lunch: left over spaghetti casserole, hummus and carrots
Snack: leftover frozen smoothie
Dinner: chicken thighs (lightly floured & fried in veg oil), green beans, quinoa, honeydew

Workout: 3.2 mile easy run, starting on 5.0 and ending at 6.0 at 2% incline

Yesterday...

Weight
My weight jumped up five pounds the last couple days! I am so scared that I'm going to get Aunt Flow for the race... That would just figure, wouldn't it?!

Food
Yesterday we celebrated even though we aren't Irish or Catholic lol. We drank guiness and played wii golf LOL!

Workout: easy 3 on 3% incline

Note to self:

2010-03-16T18:21:00.001-07:00

Elaina can not eat 12 ounces at one sitting. Don't let her or she will throw up on you and you will deserve it.

Weight: 159

Food:
Breakfast: smoothie & coffee
Lunch: left over stir fry & cantaloupe
Dinner: spaghetti casserole (whole wheat pasta, organic spaghetti sauce, lean meat, onion, garlic, olive oil, organic ricotta all topped with mozzarella cheese), brussel sprouts (sauted in olive oil, garlic, and a bit of salt pork (in place of bacon)) topped with parm.

Workout 3 miles up hill. Started at 3% incline and worked my way up to 8% (briefly! lol)

feel so good!

2010-03-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday went like this:

Food
Breakfast: eggs
Lunch: greek yogurt with truvia, almonds, and goji berries
Snack: string cheese & more almonds
Dinner: small piece of lasagne, big salad with almonds, feta, and dried cranberries.
Dessert: 3 pieces of this made with blueberries instead of bananas

Jacquelyn's Banana Pudding

Source: Jacquelyn Sheppard

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies
6 bananas
2 C. milk
8 oz. cream cheese
14 oz. condensed milk
12 oz. cool whip*
2 boxes French Vanilla Pudding

Line 13x9 pan with cookies then bananas. Combine milk and pudding. In another bowl mix cream cheese and condensed milk. Fold in Cool Whip w/ cream cheese mixture. Add mixture to pudding. Stir until blended. Pour over cookies and bananas. Top with 2nd bag of cookies.

Suggestions

*approximately 2 cups heavy cream whipped with 2 tbsp. powdered sugar or honey may be substituted

We had dinner over at my aunts house. Turns out that my aunt and uncle are doing the half marathon next weekend too!

Today
Weight: 157.3 ... not to bad after three desserts! LOL

Food
Breakfast: eggs, cantaloupe, and coffee
Lunch: organic nonfat greek yogurt with truvia, almonds, goji berries, & vanilla. 3/4ths of a pb&j (whole wheat, organic peanut butter and strawberry jam) 3 carrots
Snack: popcorn!
Dinner: chicken and broccoli stir fry, cantaloupe

Workout
The best 4.4 mile easy run ever! I was a wee bit over a 10 mile per hour pace with a couple hills every mile. I was breathing easy and felt like I could go forever. I love running outside! I think the three desserts helped :)

Does this count as a workout?!

final long run

2010-03-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

... before the half marathon next Sunday!

Weight: 155.4 (??!!!)

Food
Breakfast: smoothie and coffee
Lunch: apples, peanut butter, cheese stick, avocado
Snack: popcorn
Dinner: blackbean soup, cantaloupe
Snack: chocolate cake and beer (my husband twisted my arm!)

Workout: 7.16 miles, at 2% incline. It hurt today. New shoes & another new outfit!! I'm so cut off from buying anything for a loooong time!