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....