2013!

Tomorrow is the start of "Operation Get In Shape." I'm SO excited to get back into running. I even have my plan written out on a calendar that my 8 yr old made and gave me for Christmas. It's going to take a lot of will power, but I've done it before and I can do it again. I've signed up for 3 races so far this year. I'm SO tempted to sign up for a race every month, but I'm trying to take it easy and do it right.

Happy New Year!!! I hope everyone's year is an amazing one. :)

He's home!!

On the 19th I stayed over night at the hospital to show the doctor that Emmett nursed just fine. On the 20th (our 9th wedding anniversary) we were able to bring our boy home!!!! It's soo nice to have him home. The kids love him to death!!

A move in the right direction.

Well, they moved little Emmett from the NICU to the infant unit. That's a great step.

Now they're all about the feedings. For some magical reason he does full feedings with me here, but at night he'd rather sleep. What a wonderful concept, sleeping at night... I just wish they'd send him home to feed. He's above his birth weight and he's not losing weight so, I don't see the concern.

Anyway.

I think I might start one of those simple couch to 5k programs at the start of the new year. I figure I'm going to start from scratch. I'm tired of being slow and just trotting along. I want to be faster and I want to do better on my races. I think my ultimate goal for this year is to run a half marathon in less than 2 hours. I think that's a good start.

Another new adventure

Well, I'm starting again. It's been a while and right now I really feel the need to get back to writing.

On December 4th, 2012 (at 38weeks) after a few hours of labor our 5th child, Emmett, was born at 12:49am. He was 7lb 3oz and 19" long. Within a few seconds of delivery they took him from me and within 4 hours they were taking him to Primary Children's Hospital for breathing problems. My husband went with them in the ambulance and was there for about 13 hours before I could get the doctor to release me to get over there to be with them.

It turned out little Emmett didn't have surfactant in his lungs so they didn't want to work right. Then it turned out that he got a form of pneumonia on top of that. Then they did a heart echo an found that he had PPHN on top of that which was making it even harder to breathe. Every day for 2 weeks (so far) I've been driving the 45 min drive to the hospital in the morning and then driving back home to be with the other kids. Our neighbors have been amazing through it all. They've watched our kids, brought us meals, and given us any support we've needed. It's tough not having family close, but its great having awesome neighbors.

I haven't wanted to run more in the past year as I have in the past two weeks. It sucks having to recover from delivery and a uterine infection and not being able to run to relieve all the stress from this experience.

Right now, while I sit in the hospital with my boy in my arms and listening to the nurses talk and the bells ding, I dream about running outside in the cold as fast as I can to free myself from the stress.

Emmett is doing better. His oxygen needs are minimal, his last heart echo looked good (the PPHN might be gone), and now they're keeping him here another week to make sure he's feeding well. I've been pumping every day and our freezer is stocked full of milk for when he gets home.

He's such an adorable boy. I miss him so much, even when he's here in my arms. I just want to take him home so we can be together as a family. I'm sure the nurses think I'm nuts bawling at the drop of a hat, but I feel like my limit has been reached and I need to let it all out.

I NEED TO RUN!!!

AF Half

I signed up for this race last year and loved it so much that my sister and I signed up for it once registration opened this year. Little did I know, I'd be 15 weeks pregnant while running it... 

I have been able to get my awesome sister to run my races so far, but she was already running this one, so I had to suck it up and run. I haven't trained at all besides the 6 miler from the Provo City Half relay and that was a while ago. 

The alarm went off at 3:20am and I got ready and headed out the door. I met up with Joy and we were on the 4th bus up to the start. Since we were one of the first buses we got some fun, throw away HUGE, white gloves and a raffle ticket. Joy didn't bring a jacket and was freezing her butt off in her tank so, I shared. I have more meat to keep me warm. :)

Joy was hoping for a PR so, she hung out with the 1.55 pacer and I headed to the back of the pack. I knew I'd be doing a LOT of walking, so there was no need for me to be in the way.

My goal was to finish. I wanted to run as much as I could, but I didn't know how much that would actually be. I ran the first 3 miles and was feeling good. We came to a water stop and I decided to walk. I thought it'd be better to walk when I wasn't completely exhausted and then pick up the pace again in a little bit. I started running again before mile 4 hit.

Around mile 5 I stopped to take a picture. The run was so beautiful I couldn't help but enjoy it. We ran by a couple camp grounds and we could smell their fires. I think we'll have to go camping up there some time. Anyway... after I took the picture I started running again.

After I got out of the canyon I took advantage of the next rest stop around mile 8 and went potty. My bladder was begging to be emptied since mile 6. After that I started walking. My thighs were burning and my butt was aching. I gave my sister a call to see if she finished. She ended up sticking with the 1.55 pacer until mile 10 when she got a bad side cramp and had to walk 2 miles. The 2.10 pacer came up behind her and she finished with her. She ended up running it in 2.08. She's so great. I told her I still had a ways to go, so I'd be there in about an hour.

Around mile 10 my hands were swelling like crazy, that always happens when I walk for a long way. I don't know if it's cause my hands are down by my sides or what. They were starting to hurt from being so swollen. I passed a couple sprinklers and I tried to take advantage of walking through them, but each time I'd get close they'd shut off and switch to the other part of the lawn. :( Oh well, I was almost there 3 miles left. I could totally do this. I saw one lady being pulled off the course by family (I'm assuming) and she could barely walk. I was just glad that, that wasn't me.

.5 miles to go and my feet, legs, butt... EVERYTHING was aching. My body didn't want to run. It was only .5, you think I could have picked up the pace a little. I ended up running the last .25 though! Yay for finishing running!

My final time was 3.20.26. Not too bad for being prego and not training a bit.

One of the big pluses about taking forever to run is when you finish everyone is starting to clean up. So, you get lots of extra free stuff. Joy is a total freegan. If there's something for free she'll get it. The people from Kneaders were providing SUPER delicious french toast to finishers and they were closing up shop when I finished so, they gave her a WHOLE HUGE tray filled with the french toast... FOR FREE. I should have had her get one for me! 

Anyway, it was a great race and we had lots of fun. Right now though, a day later, my body hates me and doesn't want me moving. Haha! My back, arms, legs, butt, feet... everything. I just hurt. I'm waddling around like I'm 8 months prego rather than 4. 

The next half I have scheduled is the SoJo in October. Joy's planning on running for me. Though... She signed up for her first MARATHON and is running that in September. Yay, JOY! She's totally hooked. :)

Missing out

Well, I haven't been on here in forever and I miss it. I miss being able to tell about how I got up early and ran. How I pushed though certain hurdles. But, you know what... right now I'm building something and it's taking EVERYTHING out of me.

Baby #5 is on the way and I have been hit with the worst morning sickness EVER. It's actually more of an ALL DAY sickness. The good and the bad part: I don't throw up. So, the nausea just sits in my gut and drives me crazy. For a couple weeks I could barely get off the couch it was so bad. I tried throwing up a couple times only to pull a muscle in my tongue. Haha! Yeah, I'm weird. I've never been hit this hard before. With all the other kids there was maybe one day where a felt a little yucky, but nothing to complain about. Then baby #5 starts baking and BAM! Ugh... Luckily, I'm 10 weeks along now so, the nausea is almost gone, but the super tiredness is still hanging around.

Today is National Running Day and I want SO bad to go out and run, but every time I think about it I just feel SO tired. Maybe I need to get out and run anyway. We'll see.

Yay for baby #5 though! We're excited!! He/she should be here sometime between Christmas and New Years. The kids are all praying for a boy so Caleb isn't the only boy in a sea of girls. He was patting my belly today and talking to his "baby brother". :) He's such a good boy. I know he'd be SO excited to have a little brother.

Provo City Half Marathon Relay

Yawwwwnnn...Yesterday morning my sister and I woke up at 3:30 am and drove down to Provo for the Provo City Half Marathon Relay. My husband is the BEST. He watched all 8 kids at home for us while we ran. I am a lucky woman. 

Well, we got down to Provo and Joy caught the bus up to the start. She said their were bonfires to keep them warm up there. They did a couple t-shirt giveaways and she got 2 shirts. Lucky her! 

I sat in the car at the switch off point and took a nap. Haha! Then I had to go to the bathroom. Talk about scary! It was pitch black outside and I had to go BAD. Do I go find a port-a-potty in the dark or do I attempt to find a real bathroom in the park. Well, if I find a real bathroom, will it be open? I'm talking to my mom in Africa while I'm deciding and I'm saying where I am, what I'm doing, an all that stuff in case some psycho comes and gets me while I'm going to the bathroom. Hahaha! I ended up finding a nice restroom in the park. You'd think I'd learn my lesson about eating a jalapeno burger the night before a race. 

Well, after another nap it was close to the time for Joy to get there and for us to switch off. Turns out the half started 15 minutes late, so I was waiting for a while for Joy. Once she arrived we switched off and I started running. I forgot my headphones so this was a music free run. It wasn't bad. I kinda enjoy running without music sometimes. 

(Joy handing off the slap bracelet.) 

I was running along and it dawned on me that I didn't tell Joy how to work the keys and the car. Awww, crap... it's a push button unlock and key-less start. I just kept thinking that I should call her and tell her how to work the keys. I kept watching all the cars passing by me looking for my car. I was about 3 miles from the finish when I hear "Hey, Cathy!!"I turn around and see my sister with the car keys in her hand. "OH NO!!!" I thought. I knew it, I should have called her. Well, she comes up behind me and tells me that she ran into one of her neighbors and decided to keep running and finish the whole half marathon. Her neighbor was going to drive her back to the switch off so she could get the car. She told me, "I didn't wake up at 3 am just to run 6.5 miles!" I thought it was awesome. I'm so amazed with her. She was on track for a 2 hour half and then she caught up to me after going to the car, stretching, starting, turning around, and then starting again. She's awesome! 

We finished in 2.10.26!! 

I ran my 6.8 in 1.13.36! I kept it under an 11 min pace! :)

We did it!!! Pretty cool metal too! My second half marathon was the Provo City Half and back then they didn't do metals. I got a crappy little plastic bracelet. So, even though I didn't run the full half marathon, I consider this metal a make up metal for the one I didn't get. Hahaha!

The next full half marathon is June 9th. The Utah Valley Half. I've gotta do better at running every day between now and then though. I want to be able to finish it in a good time without hurting myself.

Color Me Rad 5k

This morning we went down to Orem as a family to run the Color Me Rad 5k. My big bro came down from Ogden and my sister and her 4 kids came along. We ended up with 4 adults and 8 kids running this thing. It was SOOOO much fun! We weren't sure how the kids would do with a 5k, but they were talking about it for weeks so we had high hopes that they'd be so excited that they'd do well.

 (Brianna after the color run.)

The start of the race was fun. The kids were excited to trot along next to their Uncle. We came to the first color bomb station and it was totally bottle necked. Jason was trying to push the bob through and we were trying to keep track of all 8 kids. The kids LOVED getting hit with all the colors.

(The family before and after.)

Around 3k Annabelle (my 3 year old) was getting tired after running the whole way, so I threw her up on my shoulders and kept running/jogging along. You know what's funny... in all these races I do, there are only 1 or 2 pictures of me taken by the professionals on a good day. The Color Run.... NONE! Haha! Everyone else got a good pic, not me. You know, maybe it's cause my pictures are so funky that they are too embarrassed for me to post them online. Hahahaha!!

 (Me and Jason before and after.)

The kids did AMAZING! My 6 yr old nephew ran the whole thing. My 7 and 3 yr old ran over 2/3s of it. It was such a great race the kids just LOVED every minute of it. This is totally a race that we'd do as a family every year. The best part... KIDS ARE FREE!!! It was SOO much fun! It was one of the things where we looked at each other and thought was that really 5k? It felt MUCH shorter.

We had a wedding about 3 hours after the race, so it was TONS of fun to try and get all the paint off of everyone. :)

Riverton Half Marathon

My big bro came down and watched the kids while I ran the Riverton Half. He's so good to do that for me. The race started at 9 and I met Joy at the start around 8. 

I started out WAAAY too fast and ran out of energy when I hit the first big hill. I felt good until that hill hit. A 9:30 pace is a little too fast for me. I held on running until about mile 9. My legs were done with running so I kept switching off running and walking. I ran up each hill though! :) 

Each time I saw a hill I cheered my sister on in my head. I knew she was going to do great. She left me around mile 4. 

Around mile 11.5 I saw a sign that said "Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked..." Call me silly, but it totally choked me up. Haha! It was probably that end of the race endorphin thing happening, I dunno. It made me run though. If they could walk happily, I could run for fun. 

My mom called me a couple times. I always like talking to her while I run. It helped me keep going. She called me around mile 11-12 and told me that Joy had finished in 2.10.09! Way to go JOY! I was so excited for her.

I ended up finishing in 2.37.39! My 4th fastest half marathon. :)

I thought about it a lot during the race and my sister is going to run the SLC Half in my place. She'll have fun. It works out cause I might miss it anyway.  

All the kids holding signs cheering me and Joy on. 

Me and my mouth full of bananas while holding my Rosalie. :) I love seeing my kids at the finish. They all grabbed on to me and ran across the finish. Brianna, my oldest, was all crying cause she didn't know if I would finish. I guess the 27 minutes between Joy finishing and my finishing is an eternity for a 7 yr old. Haha!

All in all, it was a good race. I wish my legs weren't so tried the whole time, but that's ok. Next time will be great. 

Last run

Last run before the half! 

2 simple miles. 

No stopping, no holding on, and I ran a strong solid run.

Life is good... Real good. :)

Nervous...

I just finished 3 miles on the treadmill! yay! :) No stopping or holding on again. I wanted to, but I told myself that I wouldn't do that anymore. 

For about 2 hours before my run I was super nauseous. I don't really know why, maybe my nerves are getting to me. 

I think my ultimate go for this half marathon is to run it in 2.30. I'd LOVE to run it under 2.20, but we'll see. I think I'm more excited for my sister to run. She's going to do amazing! I think she'll get under 2.20 easy.

It's almost time! 3 days away.

4 days and 4 miles

4 days until this year's first half marathon. 

I'm excited to run this with my sister. She'll do it faster than me, I'm sure, but the fact that someone else I know is there starting the race by my side is awesome. 

This week is the week to taper before the half. Today I was scheduled to run 4 miles. I decided to do the treadmill since there were some crazy winds out there today. I started out the run thinking that I'd probably end up holding onto the sides and/or stopping like I normally do, but about 15 minutes into it I decided that wasn't going to be the case today. I was going to run a solid 4 miles on the treadmill at a good pace without cheating. 

I felt really good during my run. I felt like I was pushing myself, but I also felt like I was comfortable enough to keep going without quitting. I finished at 6.5 mph. Not too shabby. I had to shut off my mind a few times, I kept feeling those "gotta stop, gotta grab those handrails" thoughts from sneaking into my head. I just kept telling myself that I was almost done. No stopping. 

Don't get me wrong. I can run 4 miles without stopping, but running on the road and running on the treadmill are two totally different things. 

Tomorrow I run 3 miles, then 2, then a couple rest days, and then the half! 

10 tough miles

We were out late last night watching Hunger Games (GOOOOD SHOW!!) So, my early morning run today turned into an afternoon run. 

I skipped breakfast (stupid mistake) and then ate a 6" Black Forrest Ham sub for lunch about 20 minutes before running (another stupid mistake). I started out feeling great, but then around mile 2.5 my legs turned into lead. I walk/ran about a mile, turned around and went the other direction. I think changing directions did the trick for a while cause I was feeling great for the next 3 miles or so. Then the sub started bugging me. I kept burping peppers. Yeah, not the best thing. 

I stopped a gazillion times to try and get my mind in the game, but it wasn't working 100%. I just wasn't feeling it today for some reason. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe it was not eating breakfast, maybe it was the sub. Maybe it was all of the above, but something wasn't working today.

I want to say I finished my run strong today, but that just wasn't the case. I barely made it. I'm glad I got out there and I'm glad I made it the distance, but something has to change. I really want to get back to where I was 2 years ago before I had Rose. I want running to be fun again like it is for my sister. 

Half marathon next Saturday!! Exciting! 

Maybe something will click this week and the half will be a breeze.

I didn't want to do it...

I spent all day moving things around in the garage and cleaning up. I moved our small deep freezer down to the basement by myself and while lifting it up the stairs I kinda sorta pulled something behind my knee. Sure, it wasn't one of those "HOLY CRAP! I don't think I can walk." kind of pulls, but more of a "Awwww, dang... I hope this doesn't start something..." kind of thing. 

I didn't want to run. 

This week has been one of those weeks. The kind of weeks where you don't want to do anything, especially exercise, because it's so chaotic, but you know you REALLY need to because it will make things MUCH better. 

Anyway, I had to run to run...

I put it off until after I put the kids to bed. I went down stairs and started watching Biggest Loser on Hulu. I know that show always motivates me. There's no way I can be lazy while watching it. 

I started off walking...

 I'll just put it out there... I walked 80% of this run. That's ok. Walking is better than nothing, right? Well, to make up for it at each commercial break (about a minute in length) I pumped up the pace to 6, then 7, then 8... I felt awesome doing the 8 mph. I'll have to keep doing that. I'll keep getting stronger and stronger. :)

I'm glad I did it.

5 miles with my mom

My papa and momma.

That's my mom. We ran the Utah Valley Half/Marathon together in 2010 before they left to Sierra Leone, West Africa to serve a mission for our church for 3 years.

She's such a great mommy. She loves to cheer us on in all our races and things even though she's so far away. 

Today I thought it'd be fun for her to "see" me run on the treadmill. The treadmill is pretty cool cause I can log into ifit.com and see the stats tick by while I run on it. So, my mom logged in and texted me with each mile that ticked by.  I had the stats covered on the treadmill so I wouldn't focus on it. It helped to have my mom there saying, "1 mile down!" "You're at a 9:50 pace!!" "Almost there!"

It was nice that even though she wasn't physically there to run with me, she was there in spirit. :) 

The run went pretty well. I started out slow and gradually increased the pace. I had to grab the sides a couple times. If I pushed myself a little harder mentally I wouldn't have grabbed the sides, but oh well. My next run will be even better. :)

My ending pace was 7.0! Yeah!! 

I finished my run nice and strong. I love runs like that.

A little while after my run I was playing with the kids when I noticed that Annabelle (the 3 yr old) was a little too quiet. I went upstairs to find her playing with the toilet cleaning gel and squirting it in piles around the carpet. Yeah... kids are great... Lots of bleach spots all over the carpet.

One day I'll laugh, I'm sure, and I'll say, "Just wait until you have one of your own..."

I'm glad I got my run done.

St. Patrick's Day 10k

I got up this morning around 630 and headed out the door to go up to the state capital for the race. 

I got there early enough to get a good parking spot. 

I was so nervous the night before and on the way to the race. I don't know why I've been getting so nervous in the past couple races. Maybe it's because my sister's running with me, I don't know.

The race started out uphill. I just kept thinking, "Sue would hate this race." hahaha! It started out uphill then leveled out a little.... then it kept going up hill... and up... and up....

It sucked. 

My legs hated it. I walked part of it. The angle of the pathway made my left calf scream from landing weird for so long. I hated watching my time go slower and slower. I felt like the race was never going to end and I wondered if my legs were going to feel like that the whole time. 

I was almost to the turn around point when I saw my sister coming down the trail, gave her a high 5 and kept going.

I got to the water stop and they were out of cups. Nice...

I really could have used a drink. 

I took a couple little Sports Beans and used the downhill to my advantage. My legs were LOVING the downhill. My pace picked up, my legs felt awesome, and I was moving along. 

Around mile 4.5 I started getting a side stitch. I haven't had one of those in forever. I ignored it and it went away. I couldn't let it get to me cause my legs were feeling SO good. The wind started blowing hard, but it really helped me. It seemed to help support me in going down the hill, plus it helped me push a little harder without feeling like I was running too hard. 

I hit another water stop and there were no cups... lame...

Finally the finish was coming up. I was running at a 8 min mile pace! AWESOME!

I crossed the finish in 1.09.44. Yay!

Joy finished in 1.01.01 Not bad for her first 10k!

I went to get some water after finishing and they were OUT OF CUPS! Ugh!!

That was their major problem. You can't run a race and not have any drinks for the runners. 

Oh well, it was fun to be with my sister. We even took advantage of the people doing massages. My lower back feels much better.

Half marathon in 2 weeks!! Can't wait!

5 miles inside

I wanted so bad to run outside today. It was SO beautiful out. The temps were perfect, but Jason had to work so I did my 5 miles inside on the treadmill while watching Duplex.

It was a little tough having to stop a ton of times to help the kids, but I got it done. I even did it a little faster than last time. :)

I'm really hoping to run 3 outside tomorrow. This spring weather is just too good to not take advantage of.

9 miles!

Jason was gone today and I didn't want to do 9 miles on the treadmill, so my sister came over and we switched off watching the kids while the other ran. 

Joy went first. She came back while I was making cinnamon rolls and I was surprised that she was home so soon. She looked at her watch and she finished 9 miles in 1.20!! She wanted me to run the same route to make sure the miles were right. Sure enough, she ran 9 miles! I told her when it comes race day not to stay back and wait for me. She needs to run ahead and get a good time. I think she'll really surprise herself. 

My 9 miles took me about 20 minutes longer than hers, but that's ok. I  was expecting that. That's about my norm. 

I need to give myself credit, though. 

 I'm a lot faster than I think I am. I kept thinking I was slow during my run, but when I looked at my Garmin I was under an 11 minute mile for over half of the run. Looking back at all my 9 mile runs this one was my fastest.

I felt really good during my run. I felt pretty strong. One thing I notice though, I stashed a drink on the bank of the lake in the rocks, when I'd finish a lap around the lake I'd stop for a second to get a drink. Well, after each drink I felt really bogged down. I think I may need to start taking my camelbak with me so I'm fueled during the whole run. 

Next week is a fun St. Patty's Day 10k with my sister. FUN!

Oh, I've lost 10.2 lbs since Jan 1st! yay! 

Myfitnesspal is AWESOME!

Life is good. :)

Sweating like a champ...

I sweat like crazy on the treadmill. 

Glad I'm doing it in my basement and not in a gym. Haha!

I went a little faster this time. I built my pace up to 6.5 by the end. Not too bad. 

Besides getting off a couple times to take care of the girls it was an uneventful run. I feel like I'm getting stronger on the treadmill. I really gotta work on my mental game though. Covering the display with a towel helps some, but I still think about how long it's taking way too much.

1st treadmill run

This morning was my first official run on the treadmill.

I ran 5 miles. It took me an hour to do, but I did it. :)

Running on a treadmill is a whole different mind game. Running on the road tends to be easier for me because my body naturally fluctuates in speed, but on the treadmill that's just not the case. Its a consistent speed, so my body's saying, "SLOW DOWN!!", but the treadmill's saying I'm already going slow. 

Brianna had fun recording me and Jason while we worked out. I showed my bro the video to see what he thought about my running stance and stuff. He said I looked good and I looked like my body naturally wanted to run. The only thing holding me back (I think) from going faster is my weight. 20 lbs is a lot. 40 lbs is even more. My body doesn't like going fast with so much weight. 

Tomorrow... 3 miles on the treadmill! :)

Runnin' in the snow and ice...

I was wanting to sleep in this morning... 

It doesn't work too well when you have kids up and ready to go at 7.

Oh, well... I decided to run with a local running group today at the Jordan River Trail at 8, so I needed to get up anyway.

My sister texted me and decided to meet me down there. We had 8 miles to do and we thought it'd be fun to do it together. She was running late so, we missed the group, but that's ok. 

We started out and had to climb a hill to cross the main street since the trail was flooded. 

 We got partway up the hill when Joy realized that she didn't lock her car. 

She ran all the way back to check and I waited.

It was COLD! I knew that when I warmed up I'd be fine.

Joy got back only to be upset that the car was locked the whole time. Oh well, It gave her an extra half mile to her run. Haha!

The run was a good one despite the snow and ice on the trail. 

We climbed a hill and the whole time Joy's yelling, "I LOVE HILLS! I LOVE HILLS!!" We made it up the hill with energy to spare. Yay!!

It was a nice run. We ran the second half a LOT faster than the first. I love when that happens. When we turned around and got back to the hill Joy says, "OK! No stopping! We've got this!" I think that hill was a lot longer on the way back, but we did it. We made it up the hill and finished our 8 miles nice and strong!

We've got this half. It's going to be a great race. 

Only 27 days!

My new friend...

 This was my view from my workout on the treadmill. Annabelle wanted to follow the example of her papa and do the elliptical while I did the treadmill. I'm proud of Jason. He's been working out on the elliptical an hour a day. He's doing AWESOME! His back is recovering VERY well.

This treadmill is awesome! You can go on the ifit website and map out a run and then it'll simulate the hills while you run. I ran around our old house in Mannheim, Germany today. :) Even though I couldn't see it, it was fun to imagine it. 

I ended up doing an hour on the treadmill. Can't wait to do more!

Well, dang, but YAY!

The planets aligned and we got a treadmill!!!

Our tax return came a couple weeks ago and we set a little $$ aside for the treadmill, just in case. Well, last Saturday while I was at the doc with the Rose I saw that Sports Authority had a 20% off coupon. YES! So, we went by the store and the treadmills were on sale. They were out of new Freemotion 750 treadmills at the store so, we decided to get the floor model for an extra 10% off. We were STOKED!! We were going to save $389! Then we remembered that the new company Jason's with gives a $350 fitness allowance for things like treadmills or gym memberships. We ended up saving over $739 on a $1299 treadmill!! How awesome is that?!

Well, they came by today to drop it off, but they couldn't get it in the front door. Who ever put the treadmill together stripped the screws and the delivery guys couldn't take the treadmill apart to get in in the house. I was a little upset just cause I was hoping to use it today, but I'll survive. After talking with the manager they're going to give us a BRAND NEW one in the box tomorrow afternoon. I am SOOO excited!

I'm telling ya, it pays to have faith in the Lord's timing! 

We got a NEW treadmill for an AMAZING price.

Since the treadmill wasn't coming today I got out a little late for my run. The wind was blowing like crazy. It was pretty nuts. I felt like a dog with my head out the window at some points. My cheeks were blowing in the wind. What's crazy is, I tend to go faster when there's wind. I push harder against the wind. I shaved a good minute off my time from Monday.

It felt good! I didn't stop and I ran a solid run. Those are the best runs.

I ran right at the perfect time cause when I got home the snow came in and it was a white out. It was NUTS! I'm glad I didn't wait any later to run.

Tomorrow's an off day, but I'll be getting the treadmill (hopefully) and I'll have to post pictures. :)

New shoes!

Today I did 20 minutes on the elliptical. I had to break in the new shoes. :) 

I wasn't to sure when I ordered them (running warehouse is having a sale!), but I'm LOVING the green!! 

The first thing Jason says is, "It'll be perfect for your St. Patrick's Day 10k." Yeah they will!

I've got something REALLY exciting to post tomorrow. All I can say is... 

The planets have aligned!!

Quit cheating yourself....

Things I learned on today's run:

1. Ducks around this lake sound like they're laughing when they quack. 

2. I tend to want to stop running when I get bored.

3. I'm capable of running 4.5 easily.

4. I think 3-4 mile runs are tough for me because it takes me about 2 miles to warm up. So, just when I'm warmed up the run is over and I don't have enough time to get my mind in the game. 

5. I made the resolution today to stop cheating myself. I told my sister a couple months ago that the trick to doing better is to not cheat yourself and stop when your mind starts wanting to stop. I figure that's when your body is about to reach a new level and if you stop now that won't happen. So, I took my own advice today. I gotta stop cheating myself.

6. When I make my mind up to do something it's hard to change my mind otherwise. 

7. I have an awesome husband who supports me in all I set my mind to do. (I already knew that, but it was reaffirmed today.)

8. I go faster when I pass other people on my runs. I don't intentionally do it, but I really noticed it today.

9. When I don't stop during my runs I get negative splits. I get faster with each mile I run. When I take breaks my miles are all over the place. 

10. I feel SO much better about myself when I run a nice solid run. 

Tomorrow I'm going to go fast! :) 

I'm going to try some speed training!!

WINDY!!!

This morning my sister came over and we ran 7 miles in the crazy wind. 

I wanted to stop a bunch of times, but I kept telling myself that I was an inspiration to her and if I stop now, what kind of example does that make me? So, I kept going strong and ran 7.17 miles in 1.16! I was impressed with myself. 

I was feeling really strong towards the end of the run. I ditched my jacket at mile 6 and I felt SO light without it on. 

I love when runs go smoothly. :)

Thanks to my wonderful husband for watching all 8 kids so we could go run. 

He's such a great husband!

Oh, and my elliptical time that I was going to wake up early on Friday and do didn't happen. I had a little boy keeping me up all night Thursday night with an ear ache. I figured I'd be a kinder mom if I slept in rather than woken up and worked out on only 3 hours of sleep. 

Just cause...

Today nothing was scheduled, but I was feeling like doing the elliptical. 

While the older kids were at school and the others were napping I was talking to my mom online and she says, "So, go do it now..."

Meh, why not... Why not do it now?

So, I turned on some "I Love Lucy", pumped the resistance up to 6 (Oooh! Getting higher!), and started sweating. It felt good to get down there and workout. :)

Towards the end of my 30 minute workout Annabelle came down, found a book, and plopped down next to the elliptical while I finished. It was fun to look over and see my baby twitching her legs while reading. 

Life is good! 

Tomorrow 50 minutes on the scheduled. Fun, fun! I may have to get up early and do it. 

Ok, that's what I'm going to do! I'm going to bed tonight at 1030 and getting up at 6. I'm going to get my sweat on early!

Pushing along...

5 miles done.

I was scheduled to do 4.5, but I was feeling good so I finished off the last mile.

Today after the two oldest were on their way to school I loaded up the two youngest in the stroller and went for my run.

I don't know why, but for some reason I've been feeling really nervous before each run. I'm so weird.

The first 3 miles flew by. I was really surprised. I didn't have any thoughts of wanting to stop or anything. My legs were feeling great. I think my speed work from Monday helped.

I finished faster than I started and that's always a big plus. My over all pace was a minute slower than normal, but I blame it on the stroller and the wind.

I'm thinking my 7 miles this weekend are going to go smoothly.

Yesterday I was supposed to do 3 miles or cross training. My cross training ended up being cleaning the kitchen and doing step ups onto the kitchen chairs to get stuff off the ceiling.

My thighs are loving me this week.

Slow start...

 I started out slow this morning with my Yaktrax on.

The snow was on the sidewalks and the sun was out. I was listening to Catching Fire for the first 2 miles and then the book ended.  Just when the snow started to melt, I took off my Yaktrax, put on my music and my speed naturally picked up. Interesting how things work like that.

I picked a different route today. I think that helped...

The view of the city is always amazing, especially after a snowfall.

I am blessed.

My first 2 miles were slow... about 12.30 pace. Then I got into the grove and my pace easily went down to a 9.46 pace...WHAT?! Yeah, man! I love when that happens. If only I could keep it at or around that pace. I ended up doing 4.5 miles and then I finished off walking/fartleks for another .5 miles.

The fartleks were a little tough, but I did it. I told myself that I'd walk on the parts that still had snow on the sidewalks and the parts that were all melted I'd run as fast as I could.

Today was a great day.

It was Jason's birthday!

Happy Birthday Love!!!

6 miles

Today I ran 6 miles.

It was a LOT easier than the 3-4 miles I have been doing. I think a big part of that is the whole mental aspect to running. With longer distances my mind and body knows how to settle down and just run. The shorter distances for some reason my mind just counts down the miles starting with the first step.

The run went well. Even though I was nervous before I stepped out the door I don't know why I stress out about long runs like that. My legs felt good the whole time. When ever I thought about stopping my body was content and just wanted to keep going. Maybe it's cause I was going at a slower pace, I dunno, but I was able to complete my 6 miles without much trouble.

I got home and went straight to work cleaning the house and folding too many loads of laundry, you know, typical Saturday stuff.

Now to relax for the rest of the weekend. My thighs are still sore from my workout on Thursday. Haha! It worked me out more than I thought it would.

Water and weights...

 This morning after all the kids were settled with school and naps, I left home to run my 4 miles I was supposed to do yesterday. 

I did pretty well on my run. I felt slow and heavy, but I did it. 

 I finished it under 45 minutes, that's been my goal for the past few runs.

I wish I was back to where I was 2 years ago when running was fun. I don't know what's holding me back and I don't really know what made it "fun" in the first place, but somethings gotta change.

Anyway, when I got home from my run, I figured I'd do some "strength training". I don't have any fancy machines, but I do have a willing 3 yr old. Haha! I did some leg presses or whatever you want to call them. I laid on my back and had her on my feet. She loved it and thought she was Super Girl.

Then I did some sit ups. She sat on my toes and helped me count. That one wasn't as fun as the other, but she got a kick out of my counting. 

I tried to do a couple push ups after that, but I'm NOT that strong. I couldn't even do girly push ups with her on my back and she didn't want to get off. She wanted me to walk around and pretend I was a horse. Haha! Maybe one day I'll be strong enough to do a couple push ups with her "help".

This is my new friend. I fill her up once at night and once in the afternoon. The goal is to drink 2 of these a day to stay on top of my water for the day. It makes a difference when I get all my water in. 

I have 6 miles scheduled for Saturday. EXCITING!! :)

I guess it's not in the cards...

Happy Valentine's Day!

We've been wanting to get a treadmill (a freemotion fitness 750 treadmill, to be exact) for a while now, but each time we get the itch we either don't have the money and it's on sale with a 10% (or more) coupon or we have the money and it's not on sale. 

Today it looked like everything was lining up for us to get it if we REALLY wanted to. That was until I clicked the link for the 10% coupon and it was ONLY for online purchases. UGH! Then things started to unravel... Jason can't help me lift the treadmill to put it together (duh!) and to get them to install it would negate the whole 10% off coupon. The basement is a mess and the price is still $100 more than we had seen in the past.

We've just come to the conclusion that right now, getting a treadmill just isn't in the cards. I guess the money would be better spent paying off debt. We're almost there... I guess we'll just have to wait until we're completely out and then get one. 

While I was getting all upset about the stupid coupon in my inbox, I came across my friend Amy's message... "did you run already today? just reminding you that you promised you would...."

How could I not run after that?! I laced up my shoes and headed out the door. 

Thanks, Amy for the kick in the butt. ;)

My run was pretty good today. I was determined not to stop, I got 2 miles in and then my mom started texting me from Africa. I had to reply. Haha!

I keep feeling really weak when I run. My legs feel SO heavy. I don't know what it is. I gotta get to the bottom of that. 

I did pretty well today. My goal was to run it under 45 minutes and I did it in 44! Yay!

Tomorrow is another 4 miles. I hope to do it early, but you know how that goes....

Switchin' workouts...

Today was one of those days...

The days when so much is happening that your workout falls to the background. I had 4 miles scheduled for today that didn't happen. 

At the end of the day I just wanted to sit down on the couch and not move. 

Me being the genius I am, I started watching this season of The Biggest Loser. 

There's no way for me to sit on the couch and skip a workout while watching The Biggest Loser. 

So, I got myself up and did the elliptical. It's better than nothing, right? It helped having the laptop covering the numbers. It made the time fly. I even had it on level 5 resistance. Yay! The one thing I did wrong though... I didn't wear my shoes. So, my socks rubbed on the bumps on the pedals and now my heels are sore. Yeah, I'm smart.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll do my 4 miles early so I don't have to stress about it all day.

South Jordan Valentines Day 5k

What a day, what a day...

Yesterday I spent all day with my wonderful husband at the hospital for his back surgery. I have an awesome friend who went above and beyond with watching my kids for me. We ended up having to spend the night at the hospital due to pain from the surgery. Luckily, I was able to stay the night with him there and take care of him during the night.

I ended up getting about 3 solid hours of sleep last night, when I woke up this morning around 5:30. 

I drove 1 hour from the hospital back home for the race this morning. 

My sister was waiting for me with my packet when I arrived. This is her first 5k, her first official race. She was so excited. Her goal was to run it in 30 minutes. I told her not to worry about me and to run ahead if she wanted to. She did awesome! She ran it in 30.30. GO JOY!!

Me on the other hand... I felt really slow and heavy. It was one of my faster 5ks, so I was happy about that, but holy cow... It wasn't easy. Those 3 miles were tough. I ended up finishing in 33.20. I think I'm just emotionally drained from a lot of things that are going on.

I saw a couple people running with bibs for Sherry. Pretty cool how many people are running for her this weekend.

Right after the race I went and picked up the kids and then drove an hour back to get Jason at the hospital. 

I did a LOT of driving today, but I'm glad to have him home and taken care of. 

Right now, I'm running on empty emotionally... It's been one of those crazy days where I just feel like binging on a box of JUJUFRUITS.

Tomorrow will be a better day. :)

Tired....

For some reason staying up WAAAY too late last night I was SUPER tired this morning when I woke up and my body didn't want to get out of bed. I forced myself up and out and ran 4 miles. 

Actually it was more like:

run 1 mile

Stop and look around.

run .50 miles

Stop and stretch.

run 1 mile

 

Stop, look around, and try to get my legs to keep moving.

run .16 miles

Stop and convince myself I'm almost done. 

run .34 miles

Stop, look around, take a picture of myself, talk to myself a little, and then tell myself, "You're finishing this last mile without stopping."

run 1 mile without stopping.

I'm telling ya, it was rough. 

I did have one good thing about my run today. 

I had one of these:

 PureFit Bars. Mmmm!

I've had some power bars that aren't very good. 

They taste like chalk and aren't good at all, but these babies are actually really good. 

So far I've had the Berry Almond Crunch and the Chocolate Brownie bars and they are really good. 

I'm saving the best for last though. 

I'm thinking I'm really going to like the Granola Crunch and the Peanut Butter Crunch bars. 

I've eaten mine before a longer runs and they seem to help give me that bit of energy that I need.

Go try them out!

Elliptical...

Today I procrastinated. 

I waited until right before dinner to do my cross training. I like watching I Love Lucy while ellipticalling (totally NOT a word) it makes the time fly by.

It was a pretty uneventful 50 minutes, besides my oldest dancing around me in a tutu mimicking Lucy. Until the end when I had to cut my hour workout short. Jason comes running down stairs to inform me that Annabelle (our 3 yr old) slammed Rosalie's (our 1yr old) hand in the door while upstairs away from grown ups eyes. 

Poor thing...her fingers were dented! She must have closed that door HARD. Poor little Rose, her index finger is all swollen and tender. I'm going to have to keep an eye on it. I may have to take her in tomorrow, to get it checked out. 

See, that's why I have a hard time working out when the kids are awake. 

 Oh well, c'est la vie. 

Tomorrow... 4 miles. :)

Sneaky, sneaky...

This morning while I was watching my oldest go down the street to school, Jason decided it'd be best to lock me out of the house. Good thing I was all dressed and ready to run. 

He passed my Garmin and a neck warmer through the crack in the door and told me to get my run on and to not come back until it was finished. I guess he knew that I was thinking about putting it off today. I feel guilty sometimes when he has to watch the kids while I run. He must have sensed my hesitation today and that's why he kicked me out. I sure love my man. :)

My run went well today. I felt pretty bloated and slow today, but that's to be expected this time of the month. I finished it only 22 seconds slower than my last 4 miles, which isn't bad considering. 

Today was weigh in day... I lost .2 lbs. I call that a win! I was on a trip and eating fast food everyday for the past week AND we had an awesome Super Bowl party last night. A .2 loss is better than a gain any day. 

This week will be great. 

Lots of things happening... like Jason's back surgery. I'm a little nervous about it, but it's something that needs to be done. Everything will work out. :)