This weeks runs/goals

This week will be fun. I'll be in Orlando Wednesday-Sunday for a business trip that I get to go on with my man. :) I can't wait! A few days without kids and just enjoying hanging out with adults. Nice!

This weeks exercise schedule:
Monday: Stretch & Strengthen
Tuesday: 3.5 m run
Wednesday: 2 m run or cross (My cross training will be running through airports.)
Thursday: 3.5 m run + strength
Friday: 40 min cross
Saturday: 5 m run (If I can't get the run in, I'll just count all the walking we'll be doing at Orlando Studios.)
Sunday: OFF

My goals this week are to do my runs, enjoy my vacation, be happy, take LOTS of pictures, and be SOO grateful for all of my many blessings. :)

Thanks for all the support. You guys are the BEST! I hope everyone has a great week!

Longest run since marathon

This morning I got up early and went on a run. I started out walking the first .2 miles and that's when the mental battle began. I wanted to walk, not because I was tired or anything, but because I wanted to walk. I wouldn't let myself walk. I had run the 5 miles, there wasn't an option for quitting. I felt great by the end of it. My first mile was a 13+ mile and my last one was around 11.15, so I know my wanting to walk wasn't because I couldn't run, but because I was being lazy (maybe that's too strong of a word, but you know what I mean.)

When I started a lady said, "Nice skirt!" She was wearing the red plaid running skirt. I love it! Running skirts are awesome. :) I REALLY need to get one of their skirts for pregos. It'll give my belly some support. I got to wear my new tank that Sony sent me. I LOVE it...I was afraid at first that it'd be too small, but it's nice and long and there's room for a growing belly. It's prefect!

A couple of notes to self:

-Get a new bra, one that supports the growing ladies and doesn't let 'em bounce.

-Momma needs a new pair of shoes. My left arch is always achy when I'm done running.

-Next time I run and it's sunny outside, I need to wear a hat and sunglasses. Each time I passed by the water just right it was blinding.

-Gaining 10 pounds and then jumping back into running doesn't feel the best. You aren't going to be as fast as you were, but it does motivate you to do better.

-The more weight I carry the more my IT band on my right side hurts. I was carrying a load of wet laundry and it started acting up. Let's hope it doesn't bother me later on in the pregnancy.

-I have to run in the mornings. I'm such a better person when I get it done early.

I'm so glad I did 5 miles today and I'm SOO glad I did it without stopping. It makes me so happy to know that I can run 5 miles and still feel great. :) Not bad for being 11 weeks pregnant!

See, I'm still in the "Is she putting on weight or is she pregnant?" stage.

Driving 700+ miles takes a lot out of ya.

We drove all day today and got home exhausted from all the traveling. Yesterday I missed out on my window of opportunity for running cause of rain and J getting home from work later than expected, so I stayed in and played with the kids. Tomorrow I'll be able to try out some new fun stuff that Sony sent me and I will get a run in!

Here, so you don't leave my blog completely bored to death I'll show you a funny picture I took today of a hitchhiker we picked up while driving....

He got stuck to our van's antenna and held on for the whole ride from Hot Springs to home. Too bad he was dead when we got home.

Hot Springs, Montana

I'm lucky if I can get an Internet connection out here. I have to piggy back off of someones wireless connection to be able to get any kind of Internet. I'm sure it's not a real legal thing, but you do what you gotta do.

Yesterday I did 3.5 miles around here. I felt pretty good, but I could tell that it's been a while since I ran that far. I kept telling myself that I ran for 6 hours before and 45 minutes is nothing.

I stopped to take a picture by the Hot Springs hill. It was pretty peaceful out, besides the dogs. I am so afraid of dogs when I run. Ever since Hayley got bit, I tend to freak out a bit and say "Oooh, stay away! Stay away!" under my breath to the dogs. There are sooo many out here, the good thing about it though is most of them are fenced in or tied up so I shouldn't be afraid, it's just their barks, they're so mean.

It was really pretty out here. There's lots of cows and horses and the typical farm stuff. The sun was starting to go down when I turned around and I was glad to be back home before dark.

Today I have another 3.5 to go. I'm thinking I might go with J, but we'll see if he's up for it after a long day at work.

They're eating me alive!!

I don't know if Utah just doesn't have mosquitoes or what, but I haven't been bitten this much since I lived in Georgia when I was a teen. It's NUTS! I've been bit on my back, my arms (through my clothes), even my elbows. It's crazy! It's never been this bad before. So, as an excuse and because the road out here has no side for me to run on, I'm switching today's workout and tomorrow's workout. I walked around and played with the kids as cross training today. Tomorrow we'll be in a new town in the middle of nowhere, Hotsprings. There's TONS of places to run out there without worrying about getting hit by a car, mainly cause there's no one out there, but farmers. I think I could outrun a tractor if it was trying to run me over. Hahaha!

Today's been a good day. I'm feeling great. I'm even getting to the point where I can feel my uterus when I lay on my tummy. It always makes it more real when you get to that point. :) Things are good. I'll have some pictures tomorrow when I get out there and get a run in.

Stretch & Strengthen

My stretch and strengthen for today consisted of me picking up & putting down my 3 kids all day, walking back and forth from the house to the creek, and getting up and down to help them with things. That counts right? I shoulda done lunges back and forth from the house, that would have really counted. I'm sure everyone would have thought I was nuts. I count the getting up and down as squats and the picking up of the kids as arm exercises. Hahaha!

Things are going well here it's been fun seeing all the relatives I only get to see once a year. They're so kind and loving. They all love J to death. They're amazed at how tall he is (6'3") cause they're all so little (between 5'2" and 5'9"). They all asked about my running and how I was doing it while pregnant. To be honest it's nuts how much training you lose when you take a month off. I know I can do these half marathons, but it's going to take a lot of training again on my part. I have to  make it a priority.

Oh! I have a fun CSN review coming up. You know CSN, they're awesome! You can get stuff like a bedroom vanity, a set of pots and pans, and even treadmills. There's over 200 sites you can visit though them. It's pretty cool. :) Sooo, keep an eye out for my review after all this traveling I'm doing.

3.5 mile run tomorrow!!! YAY! :)

This weeks runs/goals

Hello from Butte, Montana! I'm here visiting my Grandma Roggia while J works. I'm new to this whole stretch/strengthen part of the training schedule, so I'm thinking I may throw in some cross training (as in walking) on those days just to make it feel like I'm actually doing something. I was hoping to get my little video camera so I could record some of the beautiful Montana landscapes for ya, but it looks like it's coming tomorrow and I won't be there. Oh well, you'll just have to settle for Florida next week. I'm traveling like crazy this summer. We're supposed to go to Portland/Bend the week we get back from Florida, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to handle driving around that much. That's 2 more weeks of driving/traveling making it a total of, what, 5 weeks. Too much. We'll have to see how the kids are doing with it all when the time comes. The good thing though, they aren't going to Florida, just J and I are. Exciting!! It's going to be a company trip, but it'll be fun. They're setting all the wives up with massages. I've never had a "real" massage. The closest I've had is the 10 minute ones after my first Half and my first whole marathons. I'm excited!!

This weeks training schedule:
Monday: Stretch & Strengthen
Tuesday: 3.5 m run
Wednesday: 2 m run or cross
Thursday: 3.5 m run + strength
Friday: 40 min cross
Saturday: 5 m run
Sunday: OFF

My goals this week are to stick to the schedule, blog everyday, and make sure not to eat too much of grandma's Italian home cookin'! :) I hope everyone has a great week.

It's a new dawn, a new day...

I, Cathy Twitchell, will train for my upcoming half marathons and will blog all about it.  I will no longer stuff my face full of unhealthy food until it hurts to sit or stand. And I will get some sort of exercise in every day.

I'm just now getting over the whole lack of energy thing and last week we were in Denver with J. Last week was interesting, I decided that I'd eat whatever I wanted and not get any exercise of any kid. Great idea, huh? I felt like total crap when I got home. I think I gained a good 4+ pounds. Yeah, not going to happen again.

This week we're going to Montana to visit my grandmas. One's in Butte and the other's in a little tiny town called Hotsprings. There's lots of open space to run/walk and I'm going to make a point of getting out everyday while I'm there.

This morning I got up and walk/ran 2.65 miles. It was hot outside, but not too hot. I felt great besides the fact that I forgot to get a drink before and then when I got to the water fountain on my route there was a guy and his kid getting a drink and I didn't want to wait (Note to self: dumb idea.) so I kept running. After a couple minutes I started getting a headache and light headed so I walked the rest of the way. I just kept thinking the whole time, "I shoulda brought water. Next time bring water. Why didn't I bring water?!" So, when I go to Montana I need to bring my little handheld water bottle with me.

But, I promise I'll keep running and keep posting. I gotta keep up with it!

Gotta keep blogging...

Even though I haven't been running everyday and I haven't been a great blogger lately, I realized today that I need to keep blogging. Even if it's just for fun and for a journal type thing, I need to keep it up.

I've been getting past the whole nauseous and tired thing. Some days are worse than others and some days I'm completely fine. I need to start taking advantage of those "completely fine" days and get out there and run. My training schedule is pretty easy this time around since I'm only training for a half. (It still feels weird to say "Only a half".) I'm doing the Hal Higdon Half Marathon Training Schedule. I think it'll be perfect for me being prego and all.

So, I ended up not going to my appointment today. Things are all mixed up on the insurance front. We're switching to J's work insurance cause the deductible is a HECK of a lot less than the INSANE $7500 deductible we used to have for having a baby. Isn't that stupid? $7500 on top of our regular deductible and then 20% after that. Ugh....so anyway. The insurance is in the middle off being transferred so I have to wait until it processes in the system. It looks like I won't be able to go in until August sometime. Oh well, things will be fine and everything will work out.

Lets hope tomorrow is one of those "completely fine" days so I can get out there and run. :)

GUESS WHAT! GUESS WHAT!!

I'm still alive. Things have been crazy with family and all that jazz. But, I'm catching up!

Remember how I said that I wanted to run a couple half marathons during this pregnancy? Well, Sony just decided that they wanted  to sponsor me while I run the SoJo Half Marathon!!!

Cool, huh!? I'm so excited!!! This is exactly what I need to keep my motivation up. They're providing me with this cool little video camera so I can tape some of my runs and the half. It's gonna be cool!! Since the half marathon's on September 25th, I should probably start training again soon, huh? It's only 11 1/2 weeks away.

Everyone keeps telling me to make sure to take it easy and not to over exert myself. So, let me lay this out for everyone. I WILL NOT run, if my body tells me not to. I WILL walk if I have to. I WILL take it easy. I WILL listen  to my body and stop if I have to stop. I WILL do what I know is right.  I WILL take into account what my Dr. says. No one needs to worry, I will be ok and the baby will be ok. Things are going to be great! :)

I'm starting to feel better, less tired, and less nauseous...so, that's good. My first Drs. appointment is this Friday, lets hope my Dr isn't one of those anti-runners. It's funny cause I've had this Dr with 2 of my babies, but I never ran with either of them. I was the classic eat whatever you want and gain 60+ lbs pregnant woman, so there was never a question if I could run or not. It'll be interesting to see what he says about running a couple halves and what he'll think about me doing the marathon at 5 weeks.I'll just have to tell him that I'm being careful.

Anyway.

I have a recap of yesterday's Freedom Run coming up, so keep an eye out! :)

It's July already?

When did July happen and where'd June go? This year is going by SO fast! It's crazy. Before you know it, it'll be December.

So, to start off this month on the right foot I got up this morning and went on a 4 mile run around the lake. You know how it takes me 2 miles before I warm up usually, well now that I'm prego it takes me 3 miles. My first 3 miles were around a 13 min pace and my last mile was in the 11 min range. The thing that sucks right now is that I'm in that stage of pregnancy where people look at you and think, "Hummm...is she pregnant or is she just gaining a lot of weight?" The silly thing is every time I pass someone while running I feel the need to explain myself in my head, "Yeah, I know...I'm going insanely slow and I look over weight, but I'm pregnant. I'm aloud to be slow." The silly thing is I've only gained about 3 pounds in the past 2 months which isn't bad considering I haven't been running.

(See...you can totally see my "Is she overweight or is she pregnant" pudge.)

I'm proud of my run. Even though my thighs burned and my legs felt dead for the first 3 miles, I'm glad I got out there and did it. I'm glad that I did it without stopping and I'm glad that I was able to do it. :)