Back to Life... Back to Reality ...

Monday is always better when it's on a Tuesday, but I'm going to be off a day the entire week.
The weekend was great, I'm not going to bother you with a day by day account, but it was full of:
Swimming!Playing at the park.

Running, BBQ, shopping, and more eating.

I like to be home as little as possible during the weekends. Well I guess that holds true for the weekdays too. The kids hate being couped up in the house all day and so do I.

I got in a great long run on Saturday morning: 14 miles, avg pace 9:17, and my last 6 miles were my fastest. Yesterday was a 7 mile easy run, but it did not feel easy, it was soooooo hot!
I've done a good job of following my training plan and I do enjoy knowing what I'm going to run each day. On the strength front, I did well. I got in 3 videos. I want to start using heavier weights, right now, I use 5 lb weights, 10 lbs for some exercises. I would like to use 10 lbs for all of the exercises.

Did you all have a great weekend? What was the highlight?
I had a great weekend, I wanted to go out of town, but it didn't happen. We still managed to do a lot and have a good time. Our neighbors had a BBQ that was really fun and swimming was a blast.

It's Friday Friday Friday!!!

Rants and Fav's:

Rant: When people find out you run, their first response... I hate running...

Fav: BBQ season is officially in full swing!

Rant: House flies... in the summer one fly's in the minute we open the door... annoying little buggers!

Fav: The pool is open!

Rant: The older kids that don't pay attention and jump on your little kid

Fav: 4 day weekends with these guys:
Bonus fav: We have plans every weekend from now until the 2nd week of July! That could become rant...

Have a great weekend!

Sleep Deprived

As I lay awake at 2 a.m. last night, I read about reasons I have been unable to sleep.
I am convinced I have Restless Leg Syndrome, the symptoms are me to a 'T' I have had all of the symptoms for as long as I can remember, even as a child. One thing I know about it is that antihistamines can make it worse. Antihistamines as in benadryl or the main ingrediant in all of the "PM" medications. I used to take a benadryl to help me sleep but it made the RLS so much worse. I have been wondering why it's been bothering me so much these past few days and I thought it was soreness from running. As I was reading last night, I read one of the most common causes is iron deficiency. I've never been deficient in iron, however, I know that running can cause iron deficiency, something about the repetitive foot strikes doing something to the blood that lowers iron? And, TMI, it's that time of the month, and I've only had that time of the month twice (being pregnant and than nursing for 9 months.) I eat a lot of spinach which I know is high in iron, but very little meat like 3 oz 3-4 times a week in the form of chicken. I don't eat fortified bread, and I know cereal usually has added iron, but I haven't eaten cereal in a long time. I don't actually know if my iron is low, but it makes a lot of sense to me. I need to start taking a daily vitamin.

Have any of you ever dealt with low iron?

When your pregnant they test your iron levels quite often, and I was never too low, though often on the lower side. I was also diligent about taking my prenatals with extra iron, which obviously I don't do now.
My husband told me to eat a steak. I think that's code for he wants steak.

Yesterday's workout was 5 miles at easy pace: 9:40, which is a little too easy, I think I am going to up it a bit and the ab video.

My weekend starts tomorrow! So TGITH!!!

May you all have sweet dreams!

Wednesday Eats

When your dinner looks like this, how can it not be a good day?

Yesterday's workout per schedule speedwork, 7 miles with 4 x 1600 @ 7:51 w/ 800m jogs.
I iced my hamstrings afterward, I think it helped. My legs are still sore (mostly my hamstrings) I know it's because I'm lazy and don't do anything after runs, ie... stretch, ice, eat... That all changes now.
Thank you for the comments and suggestions... I think I need to get more protein in my diet and I know I have start rolling and icing. I think I'm going to get the stick... I tried it at the running store and really liked it. It's pricey, but hopefully, it will be worth it.

Lets talk about schedules, not running ones, daily ones...
Do you follow one?
I do, to a T.
I have to, with two little kids, it's the only way I can get anything done, and it helps them because they get used to routine.
The question I get most from friends, family, strangers, bloggers, etc... is how I find the time to workout.
My daily (weekday) schedule looks a little like this:
Wake up
Give Kids breakfast - Pick up house
Work on the computer for an hour or two (the kids are good in the morning and content playing)
Run errands
Eat lunch
Down time for kids (I do a little more work)
nap time! (Workout time for me!)
More work
Cook dinner
Eat
Play
Kids sleep
Relax time for me and hubby = I read blogs
The weekends are totally different. I do my long run on Saturday morning, hubby stays with the kids. They meet me at the park, Baby Leila is ALWAYS dressed weird. I have to get in the habit of leaving her clothes picked out. Why is it that hubby can dress Adam no problem, but baby Leila always looks ready for Tacky Tuesday?
Do you guys follow a routine?
Do you like routine?

It's Tuesday...

My legs are SORE, like keeps me up at night, achy, can't get up if I'm squatting down sore. I barely ran last week and they've been like this for like 2 weeks. I need a foam roller or the stick. I want the stick but it's like 35.00, that's a lot of money! My legs are actually more achy than sore, as soon as I'm moving around they are fine, and I don't feel it when I'm running, but when I'm laying down trying to sleep they feel like they need to be stretched 10 feet.

I ran 5 miles at 9:50 pace yesterday, that's what the plan called for. It was weird because I usually run at almost the same pace every run and it's usually around 8:30 - 9:00 so this seemed slow, but I varied the incline from 2.5% - 3.0% and it was a really easy run. I guess that's why they call them easy runs! I didn't even feel like I'd run afterward. I also did Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 level 4, my arms, shoulders, and back are already sore.
Holding this one is a good workout too.


Yesterday's lunch was left-over pasta salad over spinach, now that it's warm out you will start to notice I eat pasta salad almost everyday.

Here is Adam's breakfast! Whole wheat bagel with light cream cheese, grapes, and milk.
I haven't had breakfast yet, but it will probably be the rest of his bagel and a banana.


Tangent Time:
1. I am a terrible sleeper, no matter what it takes me like an hour to fall asleep. I always wake up multiple times throughout the night and I move around a lot. Oh, and I'm also told I grind my teeth. I'm pretty sure I have restless leg syndrome. I think I'm going to try those melatonin pills to see if they help, it's getting out of hand.
2. Even though I don't get quality sleep, for some reason I am always hyper. I think maybe I just have way too much energy because I'm very rarely tired, except when I first wake up in the morning.
3. I don't know anyone in real life that likes running. It really really sucks! I talk to my husband incessantly about it, but he has to listen. No one else cares, they don't know how many miles a 5k is, they could care less about the difference between a 10 min and 8 min mile, and whether I run 10 miles or 15 it's still crazy. Thankfully, I talk to myself more than anyone and I do care about running, so I love listening to me!

Are your legs always a little bit achy?
How do you sleep? Have you tried melatonin?

Workout Recap

I had planned to take it easy this last week, I think I took it a little too easy...
Monday - 4.25 miles @ 8:24 pace, 30 day Shred level 3
Tuesday - 1.6 miles @ 8:45 (I just wasn't feeling it), 30 day shred level 3
Wednesday - 5.25 miles @ 8:45, ab video
Thursday - Nothing, Nada, Zilch
Friday - 1.5 miles @ 8:30
Saturday - 5k 24:12

Total miles = 15.5

I'm glad I did the 5k on Saturday, I'm going to use that to base my training paces for the next couple of months. Since I'm going to be doing my first marathon Oct. 30, I've decided to start "officially" training for it Aug 1. I have decided on another 5k July 30th to base my marathon training off of. That means I have 10 weeks to my next 5k. I used smart coach to make myself a 10 week training plan to the next 5k. I've never really followed a training plan, so I'm excited to see how it goes! I always follow a pattern each week mon = easy, tues = speed, sat = long run etc... but I do however many miles I feel like doing at a pace I'm feeling for that day. So, this time I'm going to try to follow it as closely as possible and see how I like it!
I also think having a plan will help hold me accountable, I have a busy summer and I don't want my running to get pushed to the side. If I've got the miles already on my calender, I think I'll be more likely to stick to it.

Goals for this week:
Follow the running plan
3 strength workouts
2 ab
and to buy a foam roller, or the stick, my legs have been so achy!

Insta-PR and Weekend Fun

On Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to run my first 5k! I was excited because I never really try to run fast, I'm usually pacing myself. The race was by a beautiful lake about 15 min from my house. Here are the results:

7

1274

LISA HARTLEY

ACWORTH

GA

F

27

24:13.24

24:12.39

7:48

5/34

7/167

F1829

Chip time was 24:12:39/Pace 7:48
7/167 Females

I'm happy with the results and glad I have a benchmark time to base my training off of.
After the 5k, I ran with my son for the kids fun run.
He had a blast

After, we headed to the farmer's market and for the first time this season got Peaches!
I love peaches. We headed home, put the kids for naps, I got in two episodes of Criminal Minds!
For some reason we took Adam to go ride go-karts on the hottest day of the year. It was fun waiting inline for an hour with a sweaty, bored baby.


It's obvious my husband was having wayyyyy more fun than Adam! We came home watched the Yankees finally win and went to sleep way later than we should have.

Sunday funday started with lots and lots of cleaning and preparing lunch, we had friends coming at noon. I don't have any pictures but they have two of the most adorable girls almost the same age as our kids. It's a blast watching them all play, and they were all good! I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of lunch! I made mozzarella, tomato, basil pesto paninis, whole wheat pasta salad with tomato, feta, black olives, red and green bell pepper, and cucumber. I even made the red wine vinaigrette, and we had fruit salad. Soooo yummy, even the kids ate it.
After we watched the Yankees win again, wooo hooo, took naps, washed cars, played in pools and went to dinner to eat the largest amount of seafood I've ever seen!


That baby splashed for an hour straight! And, ummm, do you see that car?!?! Yep, it was actually that dirty.


Ok, so that seafood platter, was half-gone when I decided to finally snap a pic. There was also a plate literally piled a foot high with fried flounder. Oh and the bread was Hawaiian sweet bread filled with a sweet cream cheese, it weighed like 2 pounds. The salad dressing was so good I took some home. That cake needs no description... it was by far the best piece of cake I've ever eaten and the biggest! It was Raspberry White Chocolate Mousse.

Obviously the weekend ended on a good note.

I hope everyone had a Spectacular weekend...
Tell me, what did you do???

Thinking Thursday...

So Studly runner has been posting on childhood obesity these past few days and that's a topic as a mom really makes me think.
before you read on, read her posts here and here

I, in no way consider myself a "health-nut," I don't subscribe to the latest and greatest diet crazes, my food isn't made up of words we've never heard of, I don't subsist off of weird herbs, seeds, or plants. I eat real food. That's not to say that I haven't gotten comments on more than one occasion about what I'm eating or feeding my family. If I had to breakdown our diet it's probably 50% fruits and veggies, 30% carbs (whole grains), 10% meat, and 10% crap (sugar, white four, etc...). I'm a big believer in moderation.

I'm lucky in that my son is still 100% under the influence of me, he's only 3 1/2. He eats what I feed him, he doesn't know any better. And I feed him exactly what my husband and I eat, same goes for my daughter (her food is blended and mashed though). I cook with a lot of herbs and spices. I've never made him anything "special". I think a lot of parents give their kid chicken nuggets and french fries because they think they're kid will only eat bland food. Kids only know what you teach them, in my opinion that just sets your kid up to be a picky eater. They say to try a different food 10 times before you decide if you like it or not.

I read a study awhile back that said after the age of 2 the number one most consumed vegetable is white potatoes. Sad, right? I eat potatoes, but I consider them a starch not a veggie. Plus I don't consider french fries or potato chips either. Obesity is an epidemic in our country and it's starting at a younger and younger age. When you see toddlers who are overweight, the only person to blame is the parents.

I loved what Studly Runner said about parent's toting around snacks and juice for their kids. I never have either for my kids and I think it makes me look unprepared, and yes usually I am, but if I'm at a playdate for an hour I think my kid can go without a snack. Were so quick to shove food in kids mouths to keep them quiet. I say just let them scream! j/k...

Look outside of your window... how many kids do you see playing? I don't see any. When I was a kid we were outside running around, riding bikes, playing basketball All. The. Time. I hardly ever see kids playing outside in our neighborhood and believe me we've got TONS of kids. My guess is they're indoors, playing video games. Very few kids are getting the physical activity their bodies need on a daily basis, adults too. Obviously no one that reads this blog lacks physical activity, but so many people do. I've seen people literally get winded walking from their car into a store. That can't be fun.
I'm really trying to get Adam excited about being active. I've signed him up for the kids fun run this weekend after the 5k, he goes to a pre-school sports camp, and he loves being outside.
I think it's especially important for him to be active and continue to eat a well rounded diet. He is a big boy! He's bigger than most kids his age and he has a huge appetite. I know that if he were eating the wrong foods he could very easily be overweight. A lot of people blame genes on weight problems. It's true some people are genetically dispositioned to be bigger than others, Adam definitely has those genes. That shouldn't be a deterrent from eating well and exercising, to me it's an advantage. He will be big and strong, there are certain sports that he'll have an advantage at just because of his size, that's awesome!

I've rambled on enough.
What are your thoughts on childhood obesity? Do you blame the parents? Do you blame society?
I know there are lots of commercials for Happy Meals and candy out there, but my son doesn't see them. I don't want him watching T.V. all day anyways. I blame the parents because I don't think little kids have a choice of what they put into their mouths, they don't know any better. I just think a lot of parents don't really know how to eat healthy or watch portion sizes.

WIAW and a 5k?

For what I ate Wednesday I have a recipe (but I've actually been eating it since Monday)
This is Carrot Bread (in an 8x8 cake pan, because I didn't have a loaf pan). We juice carrots and my husband hates throwing away the carrot pulp. So I baked up this bad boy. In the past I've done carrot cake cupcakes, which are amazing, but I'm a little over cream cheese frosting right now. This bread is by no means "healthy" but it's really good!

Carrot Bread

3/4 cup oil
1 cup sugar (I did half brown and half white)
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp powdered ginger (optional I added b/c I think carrot and ginger go well together)
1 1/2 - 2 cups grated carrot
1/2 - 1 cup walnuts

Lemon Glaze

1 tsp lemon zest
1tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Pre-heat over to 375
mix oil, sugar, eggs, salt, vanilla.
add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger... mix until combined
stir in carrots and walnuts
bake for 45-60 min (depending on type of pan)

Let cool 10 min spoon glaze over cake/bread

So I'm thinking about doing this 5k on Saturday.
I've never run a 5k so I thought it would be fun and I was planning on having an easy run on Saturday so I can do this instead and/or a few extra miles on my own. I don't know what to expect time-wise, since it's my first it will automatically be a PR!!!
I'm hoping for 25 min, but we will see...


Like father, like son... neither one wants to take pictures with me. They both always have the 1/2 blink in pictures or are making silly faces. I for the life of me cannot take silly pictures. I end up looking strained. Also I usually have a silly cheesy smile.

*Thank you to everyone that stopped by my blog yesterday!!! I love comments and new people I can blog stalk!

I'm famous!

No, I'm really not.
But you can check me out here!!!
I'm on Stefanie @ Run On! blog today!
Go Check out her blog, even if you don't care about running... just stare at pics of little C, she's toooo adorable.

I'm about to throw this computer out of the window

A few months ago our computer's mother board broke. Us, being the naive, and very cheap people, found someone on craigslist to fix it.
Well, he told us he couldn't fix it but would build a new one for 100-200 and we agreed (ummmm really?) So anyways when we get it, it's 200 and he tried to charge us 250! Ok, than we find out he took out all of the memory, ram, etc... from our computer and put it into this "new" one, ummmm hello, that's not a new computer! Anyways, this computer is crap! And, I hate it!

Ok enough about that.

So, I have an unnatural fear of falling while running. It consumes me. Even on the treadmill I'm scared of tripping over my own feet and falling. When I run outside, I purposely plan all my routes where there are sidewalks. No street running for this girl (I'm scared of being run over too). Whenever I have to run on the street for a little bit, cars always make a fuss and give me dirty looks, like I'm in their space. Not cool. I will not run on grass, dirt, or anything unpaved. I don't even like running on sidewalks with a lot of cracks or overgrowth. I'm a baby. I'm always thinking about it when I run too. I just don't want to fall. Not because of embarrassment, I fall all the time when walking. Seriously, I trip and fall or almost fall, everyday. I've fallen in the mall, grocery store, down my drive way, down my stairs... I never get hurt, so I don't know why I'm so terrified of falling while running.

Are you scared of falling? Have you ever fallen?

*If you haven't already please send me a question, any question, running or otherwise :)

Recaps Recaps and Goals!

Alright I am going to recap my weekend, my workouts (or lack there of), and my goals for this week.

Workout Recap - (Totally stole this from Vanessa!)
Monday 5/9 - 5 miles @8:51 pace, Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones
Tuesday 5/10 - 6 Miles @ 8:43 pace
Wednesday - 4.0 miles @ 9:25 pace, Ab Video
Thursday - 7 miles @ 8:48 pace
Friday - 3.1 miles @ 8:36 pace
Saturday - 15 miles @ 9:50 pace

*I think I did well running, but um where are those strength training sessions?
This week my goals are 3 strength (Jillian videos, no gym here!) and 2 sessions just abs
I'm going to run less but I don't know how much less, I'm planning on 8-10 miles for my long run and Friday off.

Weekend Recap:
Friday night was the same old thang... eating cookies using my morning run as an excuse.
Saturday morning I ran all around my town, I saw a Deer, like right next to me, it was so pretty.
I used map my run and it was really cool because I could see the elevation for all the hills I went up. I think running downhill is harder for me than uphill.
After my run I ate, showered, and napped
Than I cleaned...
went to the mall...
Fed the kids dinner and to bed they went...
hubby and I went to Buckhead for a super cool date night...




It was this Moroccan restaurant and it was really really cool. I know the pics are lame, but it was dark. That one on the right is of the belly dancer. We sat in these little chairs almost on the floor and the decor made you feel like you were in a tent in the dessert.







Sunday morning we drove to the farmer's market and spent $77.00 on fruits and veggies, smh.
That includes no milk, yogurt, meat, or bread. Ughhh I can't afford to eat! I'm really trying to trim the food budget but I don't know where to trim from. By the end of the week we are literally out of food. I have little kids and they love dairy so I can't cut that, we eat very very little meat, I don't buy soda, chips, or snacks... I don't even really buy frozen food. I don't know... hopefully produce will be cheaper during the summer because everything will be in season.

I made a vegetable lasagna for dinner, it was soooooo amazing. I used mushrooms, onion, garlic, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, and spinach. I'm glad it turned out so well because we will be eating it for the next 3 days!
All in all I had a very nice weekend. Except I'm really mad at the Yankees, I don't even wanna talk about it. Not cool NYY!

I wanna do a q&a post, so if you read my blog please please please comment and ask me a question. Any question... I think it will be fun!!!
Thanks!

I died a little bit...

Oh my gosh... I have been staring at my iphone blankly since last night. I don't care about my own little blog too much, but not reading everyone else's was driving me crazy! I was so excited to wake up this morning because I thought it would be up and than I could read my morning and night blogs... oh TGIF, but it was still down!!!
I'm so happy it's back!!! I think I seriously need to get a life or some friends!

This has been a very long stressful week for me. I'm glad it's almost over and I really hope this weekend is a good one! My legs have been sore and uncooperative, the heat has gotten to me, plus life stuff. whaaaaa. Oh and the Yankees got KILLED last night... it was bad, but it's a Yankees vs. Boston weekend, that could be very good or very bad...


Ok enough complaining.

I really look forward to my Saturday runs. They are my long runs and the only one I get to do outside. My husband stays with the kids while I go... I'm not constantly looking at the baby monitor while one the treadmill making sure they are still asleep. It's a good time. It's my time. It's supposed to rain tomorrow morning... what am I supposed to do????
I've been stuck at the house all day waiting for a delivery... not cool. Plus, it's not here yet and it's 2. At least now I can sit here and read blogs and not be upset that I'm stuck in the house!!!

Yay for blogger being back up! I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Really?!?!

So, have you guys seen this article?
The scary thing is this is completely normal. Do you see some of the stuff marketed to little girls? I mean I'm talking make-up, skimpy clothes, games with "adult" themes, you name it they've got it. It's really shocking and scary. There have been reports of 7 year old's with eating disorders. My niece is 7!
My daughter is not even a year old and you would think I've got time before I worry about this stuff, but the truth is, it's just around the corner. It seems these days it's coming sooner and sooner.
When I was younger I had a lot of self-esteem issues. I don't think my insecurities were all that different from any other girl, but I tend to be obsessive and when your talking about diet and exercise, obsessive turns into restrictive. It's sad to think that today's girls have even more pressure on them than we did in the past. How do we instill confidence and individuality when commerical's are already telling them to lose weight and be just like every one else?

What do you think?

Does this disturb you, or, do you look at it from a different view?

Baby it's hot in herrrrrrrreeee

My house is like a green house, it just captures heat. Case in point, it was 86 degrees upstairs yesterday, and the a/c had only been off for a couple hours! I love this weather, I just wish my house didn't get soooo hot, even with the a/c on. It's so much harder to run when it's hot. I am going to complain about it all summer.
Yesterday's workout was 6 miles in 53 min
Today ab video and 4 miles @ 3% incline in 36 min
My legs are sore, they've been sore for the last 3 days... Boo


I wish I could go get fro-yo right now, but I'm watching the Yankees and I'm lazy.
Maybe tomorrow.
I just ate dinner and I was so full at the time and now I literally feel like I could eat another full meal. Why?
It's because I'm sitting here reading blogs, it always makes me hungry!

I need to buy a new DVD player. I'm having 30 day shred withdrawal.
I also need to get p90x. Has anyone ever done it??? I've only heard good things and Im dying to do it.

Question time!
What are your favorite indulgent food (like how I didnt say bad) ie chips, cookies, candy...
I'm all about baked goods cookies, cake, brownies. Although I'm not a huge pastry person. I could live off bread too, but I consider bread healthy and necessary!

Do you like sports? Play or watch?
I'm obsessed with baseball and the Yankees. I like basketball too, but truth be told I can watch just about any sport on tv or live. I don't really play any sports but I can't wait to play baseball with my son once he's a bit older. Hubby and I like to pretend to play tennis, but we really suck.

TTT

Yesterday's workout = 5.5 miles in 48:43 and a Jillian Michaels video My legs are sore from the video. Whenever my legs are sore I cannot sleep. I should really invest in a foam roller or the stick.
I want to run more, but I don't want to get burnt out.
I'm not planning my first marathon until Oct 30th so I figure it's a little bit too early to start "officially" training for that.

This week all of my meals will contain spinach. I bought a 2.5 lb bag of spinach and it has like a 4-5 day shelf life, bring on the salad!

I don't really have any plans this week. It's supposed to be HOT this whole week and I love when it's insanely hot, but, I don't like to run in it!

Here are some random pics:





































Triple Tangent Tuesday:
1. I love magazines, I have a ton of subscriptions and get really super excited when I get magazines in the mail, I really really look forward to it.
2. The biggest reason I miss working is because I miss getting dressed in "work" clothes
3. My feet are hideous. I don't think I will ever get a pedicure again. I'm too embarrassed.

Has running ruined your feet too?

What did you eat for breakfast?

Great Weekend

I had a great weekend, super relaxing and fun. The only problem, it went by too fast.
Friday I went to sleep early so I could wake up for my run on Saturday. It's amazing that I actually go to sleep early when I don't have to, wake up early when I don't have to, all for the sake of running, I can't believe it myself. I ran 13.2 miles in 2.5 hours. It was a good run and I wasn't too tired or sore after. We spent a little more time at the park and than hit the mall.
Saturday night was date night!
I love date night and I love sushi even more.




Sunday we went to breakfast and I ate a ton of food. Going to breakfast with two little ones is interesting. Especially when you add a 45 minute wait, the fact that they're hungry, and very squirmy. We hit up the farmer's market after, than back home to relax and watch the Yankees! No exercise for me, Sunday = rest day. Love.



I can't believe it's already Monday! Running has been really good to me these last few weeks. It's going to be HOT this whole week and for some reason it's 10x harder for me to run when it's hot so, we'll see....
I'm going to sign up for the Atlanta marathon this week (it's in October) I want to do a half this month or next month, but I need to find one. I'm also going to look for a half in September.

I hope everyone had a good weekend, filled with fun and relaxation!

Do you dread Monday's?
I don't usually, sometimes the weekend just goes too fast!

Are you photogenic?
I consider myself to be the most unphotogenic person I know. For some reason I don't know how to smile in pictures and I always look really cheesy and weird. Oh well...

Remembering My Mom

In honor of Mother's day on Sunday I wanted to get all personal and talk about my mom.
The first thing I will say is that I am adopted, and the second thing I'll say is that it really did not impact my life or relationship with my mom. I never wished I knew my biological parents or felt at all inadequate about it.

My mom died of breast cancer on October 12, 2004, she was my best friend and hero. I miss her every single day, especially now that I have children of my own. I don't talk about her to my husband (they never met), friends, or family. I'm still too sad. I think about her always and try to honor her in my own way, by being the best mother that I can, and living my life in a way I hope makes her proud. I don't even want to sit here and talk about her passing, she was an amazing person and I just want to tell anyone that may ever read this about a wonderful person that truly lived her life for others.

My mom and I had a great relationship, we had a ritual of watching jeopardy followed by the Yankees game every night. We lived in Orlando, so whenever the Yanks were in-town (playing Tampa) we went to games, shopped, ate, and had a blast. She was always positive and made everyone around her feel special, loved, and important. She was originally from New York, born and raised, so she obviously had a great sense of humor!
My mom could not cook, I think I learned to cook, solely because she was so bad at it. I just couldn't take eating her food any longer. She wasn't big on cleaning either. She was too busy to be concerned with all that boring domestic stuff. She adored her New York Giants and Yankees, her kids, her family. We shopped and went to lunch more times than I can count, I told my mom everything, she never judged, she was always supportive. I never had to question her love for me it was evident in every single thing that she did.

When she got sick, I got to see a glimpse of who she was beyond being just "my mom." The support she received when she got sick was overwhelming. Her friends and colleagues were around constantly. They lent so much support to our family, had people cleaning our house, bringing us dinner, staying with us and my mom round the clock. It was amazing and I am forever grateful.

My mom's spirit was unbreakable, she was the strongest, and most strong willed person I've ever known. To have known her in any capacity was truly an honor. She touched the lives of every person she met. I will try to raise my kids with some of the characteristics that came so naturally to her and if they grow up to be just like her, I would consider that a success.

On Mother's Day and every other day I honor the person that knew me best. I hope the disease that she could not beat will become a thing of the past in my children's generation.

Run for a cause here

Pressure to be unhealthy?

I want to talk about something kind of the opposite of what you normally hear.
Does anyone ever feel pressure to eat junk or workout less? For example, when people find out I run... not just a mile or two, but say 35+ miles a week they look at me like I have 3 heads.
But your so skinny, why do you run so much?
Or you bring salad for lunch and your coworkers snark at you...
What, YOURE on a diet?!?!?!?!
Even my friends that are non-runners or non-healthy eaters... I have to kind of down play how much I workout or the fact that I practically live off of produce. They think I'm weird. I'm totally weird, obviously, but not for that reason!
I used to take my son to a play group, but every meeting was at a fast food place. I don't mind feeding my son or myself fast food on occasion (like once every couple of months) not twice a week. I felt weird always ordering salad or not letting my son drink soda. I don't ever judge how someone else chooses to live their life, but I constantly feel criticized for how I live mine. It's just more acceptable to make comments about the weird lady feeding her 3 year old lettuce when the other kids are eating french fries.
*for the record I would give my kid fries if he wanted them he honestly doesn't like them, now candy is a whole different story :)
Today's society has become so focused on weight loss and appearance, that it's almost inconceivable that someone would actually workout because they enjoy it, or eat healthy and not be on a diet.
I have days where I have too many negative thoughts and days where my self-esteem is at the bottom of my shoe, and running helps tremendously. Not because of the calories it burns, but because of the confidence it gives me.
I wish you could open a magazine or watch a show that talks about exercise as enjoyment and enrichment, not some horrible punishment that you have to do for exactly 30 minutes everyday to lose weight.

*I hope this doesn't come off as sounding negative, I in no way, intended for it to sound like a vent or a rant.
I'm always happy! I'm full of endorphins!

What are you thankful for today?
I'm thankful it's almost the weekend.
I'm thankful for this weather.
I'm thankful a good night's sleep

What up? Wednesday...

Sorry, I couldn't think of a name for this post.
Yesterdays workout was:
6 miles on the treadmill in 51:13 I did a speed workout 5x 800m @ 8.0 mph. It was great! Usually by the 4th interval I am tired, sweating and my legs get heavy, but yesterday I finished with energy to spare. I hope that means my legs are getting stronger.
I also did the ab video and attempted to do the 30 day shred, but apparently my dvd player decided to break.... odd that it worked just a couple hours previously... oh well exercise tv it is!
So... I went to Target yesterday and they had Easter candy for 75% off! I paid like .70 a bag!!!

I actually think having all of this candy is a good thing. I am a baker and when I bake it's only my husband and I eating most of it (I bring some to neighbors) but it still leaves a lot. Most recipes make 60 cookies or 24 cupcakes and so over the course of 3 or 4 days, that's a lot of sweets! Now, candy has a longer shelf life, it's nicely prepackaged in those annoying little foil wrappers and it's bite size! Plus, it's so difficult to unwrap you get so frustrated and can only eat 2 at a time!
Do you like my reasoning? Whatever it takes to justify having 5 bags of candy in my possession!

For dinner yesterday I made this:


Photo from Runner's World

It is Mac and cheese and is totally to die! You have to try it!
I make a couple adjustments...
I roast the cauliflower instead of boil it.
I also use a 13 oz box of pasta (almost double)
My cauliflower was huge too like 4 lbs.
I used extra cheese too, like a cup.

It is soooo good! It makes a huge dish and we eat it for 2 or 3 days!
Try it!

What was your workout yesterday?

Do you do speedwork? And, if so, how much of an improvement have you seen in your overall speed?

3x T

Triple Tangent Tuesday
1. I hate making phone calls! It drives me nuts, maybe it's because I've been sitting here on hold for the last 15 min.
2. Coffee is my best friend, it trumpets pizza and candy ALL the way!
3. I have cut my hair 1 time in the last year, what is wrong with me? It's sooo long and I wear it up every. single. day.

Yesterday's workout was:
5.16 miles in 45 min.
30 day shred level 3

It is so hard to run when it's hot. I wish I was a morning person so I could run in the morning. There is no way. I run at like 3 pm right smack in the middle of the day.





My future cross country star, look at that form, he's airborne!


We start 'em off early! Already a fro-yo addict and running superstar!

I'm posting from my iPhone

My Internet is down!
This will be quick and riddled with errors and no pics :(
1. Today is a historic day. No matter what you support, whether red or blue, if you agree or disagree we should all take a moment. Let's remember everyone fighting for OUR freedom. Let's put differences and views aside and give thanks. To our troops the world is a safer place because YOU are in it. Thank you.

2. I got fitted for shoes. I have an normal arch and no overpronation. I had no idea! I thought I had flat feet and thought I majorly overPronated! Let's see if this info and new shoes prove to be helpful! (pre mothers day gift, thanks hub!)
3. I ran 13.5 miles on sat. There were some major hills in the first 5 miles! I'm starting to love running outdoors.
4. I had an awsome weekend. I ate pizza both days! And have you ever head of krispy Kreme bread pudding? Oh man I was sooo yummy!
5. I ran 115 miles in April! Not bad considering I missed 5 days while on vacation and 2 because I was sick. I really want to go over goals but I'll wait till I can use my computer again.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

What did you do? What did you eat?