Early Morning Run

This morning I woke up at 4 to feed Rosalie and then headed out for my run. I know it's a little early to run especially on a Saturday, but we had my niece and nephew sleep over and I knew that if I didn't get my run in then, then it wasn't going to happen at all. 

My heart didn't want to run this morning. I didn't really want to, but I knew I wouldn't regret it if I did. This time I planned my route around a working water fountain so, I wouldn't have a repeat of last week. It seemed to help. I started out feeling good around 4 miles into it I stopped by the house and dropped off my jacket and kept going. I was pretty impressed with myself for still going after stopping at the house. I even did the first 4 miles without music. I had my music on me, but something in me just wanted to be alone with the morning and not be distracted by any music. 

I made it to about mile 7 and my mind was ready for the run to be over. I hate when that happens. I keep thinking about the end and it makes it that much harder to keep going. The music I turned on after mile 4 didn't seem to help. I started seeing more and more people out running around mile 8 so it kept me going. I knew I would be finishing soon so, I kept going. The back of my right knee started aching a little towards the end. I'm so nervous about that. I don't want a repeat of last time with the whole IT Band issues. They are NOT fun. 

Well, I finished! I did 9 miles in 1.52.24! Not bad. I walked the first 5 minutes and ran the rest. Pretty cool!

I walked 1.61 miles home as a cool down, so technically I went 10.61 miles this morning, but I'm weird and I just count the running. 

I wish I would have done better this week. I ran Monday and Saturday. Next week should be better. :) 

Oh! I'm down another 1.6 pounds this week!!! YAY!!

Auria Earphones Review and Giveaway (Giveaway Closed)

A little while ago I was contacted by the great people over at Auria.com to try out a pair of their Exceed model earphones. I was so excited to get my Glacier White pair in the mail.

Who doesn't have a couple pairs of earphones from your iPods laying around? I have them and have been using them, but they always hurt my hears. I even tried getting some of those ones that have a soft cushion, but either they didn't fit or they hurt so, after reading what Auria had to offer I couldn't wait to try them out.

I am totally one of those women who stick one in my ear and the other in my strap so I can hear. When I opened the package I tested it out. I put my earphones on and turned on my tunes. Jason talked loud and I could hear him. He talked soft and I could hear him. He even whispered and I could hear him. I like the fact that I could have them on and still be able to respond to my husband and kids without yelling.

There's a couple of cool things that these babies do. 

1. You can hear the things around you.

2. There are control buttons on the cord where you can change the song, pause the song, skip a song. No more fumbling with your iPod at the start of the race. 

3. You can answer you phone with the control buttons! I'm one of those crazies that will answer my phone mid run and talk. When I was doing my marathon my little brother called me about 10 times and each time I had to fumble with my phone to answer him. NOT ANYMORE! Now I just push a button. 

4. There's also a little clip that will clip your cords to your shirt so they won't flap all over the place while you run. I couldn't find my Auria earphones yesterday and I had to use the ones that came with my iPod...yeah...I hated how the cords kept tugging the buds out of my ears and how the cords kept flapping all over. Needless to say, after my run I went in search for my Auria earphones and found them! 

Soooo.... Do you want a pair??

All you have to do is leave a separate comment for each entry!

• Tell me why you want these awesome earphones!
• Like Auria and Facebook HERE 
• Tell me your favorite song to run to. I need a new play list for my half!
• Follow my blog if you don’t already 
• FB, Tweet or mention this giveaway on your blog 

The giveaway will end next Tuesday May 31st at midnight and the winner will be announced the morning of Wednesday June 1st (My birthday!!! Hehehe!)

The past couple days...

This week I went a total of 25 miles! I kept up with my runs and did everyone this week. Some of the days I went farther than I was scheduled. On Friday I did a 4 mile run where I took my time and felt easy. I felt like I was back to where I was before I had Rosalie. It's such a difference when your legs do what your heart wants. I know I may not be fast (read: 11-12 min average pace) and I may never win any awards in my age group (besides this one), but this momma is made for endurance. I can go, go, go. I can keep going when others quit and to me that is something to be proud of. :) 

Yesterday I got up at 5 after feeding Rosalie and headed out. I went 8 miles! I love that I could go 8 miles before anyone else woke up. The one thing I did wrong with my run was my lack of water. I was 4.5 miles into it when I stopped at the park to get some water at the water fountain and realized that they haven't turned the water on for the year yet for some stupid reason. So, I kept running and stopped at the bathrooms that they built only to find that they were both locked since it was so early in the morning. I ended up finding a faucet on the side of the building and used that. Haha! Next time I'm bringing water or I'll stash some along the way. 

Well, after my run I weighed and guess what!!! I'm out of the 200's! I've lost 17 pounds since having Rosalie. Yay! Only 35 more to go. :) I just hope I can keep up the weight loss like it's been going the past couple weeks.

I read this quote today... It's totally going to be my motto this week.

"Next time you want to give up - push on. Next time you want to skip a run - don't. Next time you want to ease up on your body - tell your body you run the show, not it." -Mile Posts

I hope everyone has an AWESOME week!!

Superhero Walk

This evening we went on a walk as a family around the lake. I pushed the BOB and the babies while Jason and the kids ran ahead. Jason is a BIG comic book fan so, the kids have grown up knowing all about all the different superheroes. Today while we walked Caleb was Flash, Brianna was Superwoman, and Jason was Superman. Their goal was to protect the "Tank" (aka me and the babies with the BOB) with a BIG engine (my butt. lol!) that has a lot of power. They had SO much fun running around even with the chance of rain. After about a mile the heroes were starting to lose their powers and the "Tank" had to carry them.

While we were walking we saw that the orange and blue ribbon from Chelsea's Virtual Race a year ago was still there! It's a little faded, but it's still there. Pretty cool, huh? I wonder how long it'll be there.

I just love walks like this with the family. I can't wait until the weather makes up it's mind so we can do this more often. We ended up going 2 miles, not bad...not bad.

11 miles today? Sure, why not....

This morning I got up, got ready, and headed out for my run. I figured I'd go around the lake today since I had so far to go. My goal was to go 7 miles, but I was scheduled for 80 minutes total. Could I go 7 miles in an hour and 20 minutes? The answer: YES! Well, technically it took me 1.23.43 to go 7 miles, but still 7 miles!!! The further I go the more I'm surprised with how well I'm doing for having a baby only (almost) 4 months ago. I wasn't able to run this much this soon after having any of the other kids. 

The first 2 miles were SO easy. I felt great! I kept it up and around mile 4.5 I was starting to feel a little slower. I stopped for a second to take a breath, but I kept going. I saw a fellow blogger (That was you right, Whitney? lol) at the beginning of the run and I kept telling myself that I had to keep going cause I was sure I'd pass by her again. I couldn't be walking when that happened. lol! That and the fact that I had my Garmin set to count down the miles and not show the time really helped me keep it up.  I think I'll do that from now on with my watch. 

Anyway, I finished up my run strong and I feel GREAT!!

When I got home and Jason decided he wanted to go for a walk/run around the lake with the kids. Sooo.... I got the BOB all ready and we headed out. B rode her bike, our boy walked, and the babies were in the stroller. Jason was walking beside me when Caleb ran up to Jason and says, "Let's run dad!" So, he grabbed his daddy's hand and off they went. Ahead of me I could see them running then stopping, then running again. It was so cute! Apparently Caleb kept telling him to run then walk then run. Haha! Such a great dad to keep going with him. We ended up going 4 miles.  The kids did well and the rain held off until we got home.

A total of 11 miles for me today!! I'm a little sore, but that's to be expected.

27 days until my half marathon!!! If I can go 11 miles today I'm sure I can go 13 in a month. 

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!!

Provo City 5k and cookies

It's a couple days late, but here's the recap!

I got up Saturday morning early and headed down to Provo for the race. Since I had to leave early Jason decided to stay home with all the kids rather than have to herd them around the finish line while I was running. It was a good idea since there was a good amount of people out there waiting for the half marathon and 5k to start. 4 kids under 6 is a little tough for 1 person. That's ok. :)

So, I meet up with Sue and get ready for the race to start. My mom was on the phone texting me from Africa. It's pretty cool that we can do that cause it was like she was there at the start with me cheering me on. When the race started I kept hearing my phone ding with each text she sent. (After the race I saw that she was writing "GO GO GO!!" I love my momma!) I started out good. I always feel like I'm going a lot slower than I am. The first mile went by quick. I looked at my watch and saw I was going at a 10.45 pace! I just kept wondering if I could keep up that pace the whole time. I did pretty well. My mind started thinking about the finish when I hit mile 2, but I was able to keep my pace around 10.30-11.00.

There was this one dude that kept passing me then he'd stop to walk and I'd pass him and then he'd pass me and stop to walk. He did it the WHOLE race. Hey, if that's how you do it, go for it...just don't stop right in front of me and walk, at least move over to the right side or something. Anyway... I stopped and walked a second through the water station and then kept running. I haven't mastered the art of drinking while running. lol! A little while later I saw the finish line ahead of me and I wanted to go a little faster. I felt like I was slowing down (after looking on my Garmin later I wasn't. I was actually speeding up without knowing it.) so, I tried to pick up the pace cause I really wanted to finish faster than my last 5k. 

Well, I crossed the finish line at 35.34 which isn't bad! It's still faster than my last 5k by a minute, but the course was an extra .12 miles longer than it should have been. Sooooo... according to my Garmin I finished 2 minutes and 15 seconds faster than my last 5k at 34.15!! I'm just so amazed with myself that I am able to run a 5k in 34 minutes only 3 months after having a baby. I just wouldn't have ever thought that I could do that. You know what's even crazier? The last time I ran this race in 2009 I ran it in 44 minutes. That means I shaved 10 minutes off!!! Isn't that insane?!

I wonder what my next 5k will have in store for me.... :)

For Mother's Day Jason made me a yummy breakfast and took care of me all day. We had some family over for dinner and Jason asked if I could make some of my delicious cookies for dessert. You remember how I'm trying not to eat cookies until I'm 185, right? Well........ These cookies are my FAVORITE!!

Chocolate, pecan, and butterscotch chip cookies......MMMMMMmmmmm! How could I turn them down? They smelled sooooo good and I wanted to eat the dough soooo bad! I kept texting my brother asking if cookie dough was the same as cookies and telling him how tempting these soft chewy delicious bad boys were. The hardest part is when you take the cookies off and a cookie breaks. I HAVE to eat the broken part, it's something I've always done and I wanted to eat the broken piece so bad. But, my brother in law Anthony helped me out and ate all the broken pieces so I wouldn't. Haha! How nice of him, huh? Well, I got through the night without eating any cookies. It was SO hard. I could eat a dozen or more of those without batting an eye. I'm glad I did it though. I just proved to myself that I can stick to the things I decide to do.

This week will prove challenging. I will have to figure out a way to run since Jason won't be able to help me this week. I may just have to suck it up and pay a TON to have the people at the community center watch them while I run on the treadmill. J laughs at me he says I should just ask a friend to watch them for an hour, but I feel guilty. I'd use my BOB, but there's 3 kids and only 2 seats and it's cold and they wouldn't keep content for an hour. Oh well, I'll figure it out and I'll get my runs in. I can do hard things. :) 

I hope everyone has a GREAT week!

Happy Mother's Day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!!

I can't wait until I can run with you again!! :) 

Next time we'll do a marathon together!

New shoes and sore legs

Yesterday I did fartleks and today my legs HURT! I went 4.44 miles! Talk about a good workout.

One thing yesterday's run told me was my shoes were shot. I needed new ones. So, today I went in and got those pretty shoes (the ones on my new header at the top of the blog). I tried on all sorts of shoes until I told them that I came last year and got some and I LOVED the shoes I had last time. He looked me up and pulled out the Brooks Defyance shoes. I was SO excited to see that they were orange, white, and gray. (My favorite color combo!) I can't wait to try them out on Saturday for the Provo City Marathon 5k. I bet they'll feel awesome!

The only thing though...I need my legs to feel better. My shins are a little sore and my legs are achy. I think I'll just go on a simple walk around the lake with the family today so they my legs can rest some.

2 spring miles

Aren't they pretty? They're from a tree outside my front window. I just love spring! 

This afternoon I went and did a quick 2 miler around the middle lake. It was nice. My legs didn't feel as tired as yesterday so, I was able to go a little faster. The only thing though is my form is WAY off. I really need to work on that. I wonder if that's what's contributing to my tired legs. I don't know...

I'm just glad I got my run in. It was such a beautiful spring day, a little over cast and windy, but still beautiful. It's a MILLION times better than the cold that's for sure. So, yesterday I come down stairs in my running gear and my oldest says, "Wow mom! Your belly and your arms are getting smaller." lol! Don't you just LOVE how honest kids are? 6.5 year olds crack me up. I'm glad she can see a difference. I want to be healthy and I want to lose this weight. Even though it's not coming off as fast as I'd like it to weight wise, it's still coming off. 

Tomorrow will be a fun run. I get to do fartleks. I hope my legs feel fresh so I can do them with no problems.

Ewwww!

I swallowed a gnat on my run today! Ewwww! That's what I get for running with my mouth open. Haha! My oldest told me to be careful last time I ran with her. The gnats around the lake can get bad.

Oh well, my run today made it all worth it. I'm getting a little faster. I was able to run/walk 4 miles in 51 minutes. My legs felt really tired today and I felt like I was going slow, but when I looked at my watch I was going a lot faster than I thought. 

I didn't post about it, but on Saturday I ran another 6 miles and I lost 2 more pounds. :) I almost reached my goal of 10 pounds in April...almost. I was 3 pounds shy. This month I'll do it! I also had the goal of not eating any cookies for the whole month, but without thinking about it I ate a stinking Oreo on the very last day. It sounds silly, but my biggest craving lately has been homemade cookies, so to go almost a whole month without eating a single cookie, that's a big deal to me. So, now I'm making the goal of no cookies until I'm 185. I think I can do it. 

I can't believe my half marathon is only 39 days away! Oooh, it's coming up QUICK! I hope my legs stop feeling tired by then. It sucks, I wish I knew what was causing it.

This is my "I just ran!" face. :)

I have a review coming up about some headphones or earbuds, or whatever you want to call them. They're pretty cool. 

I hope everyone has a great May!