Driveway Races and Strength

Workout

So, I fear the days of my rest day Friday are over now that marathon training has commenced. My rest day is Monday. and that’s it. but Fridays will be a fairly light day because of long run Saturdays. 

Run – 3 miles easy and 30 minutes strength. 

I was doing my driveway workout while the kids played and was then forced into JM 30 day shred by my overly energetic 4 year old. she loves her JM. she also loves her t. swift. and will sing with her one day. so she tells me. 

Let’s talk about strength workouts. in the driveway. and wherever else they may happen to happen because I go where the kids go. 

But let’s first chat about the happenings of the day. because I’m feeling chatty and I’m feeling an extra special long post. because my posts are always so brief and to the point and lacking random nonsense. everyone needs more of someone else’s random nonsense in their lives. let’s begin. 

1.  For some reason, instead of buying and making our own coffee, we have been just getting coffee at the coffee shop. My morning iced coffee is one of the greatest parts of my day. pathetic. but true. somehow, every day, it’s a wonderful surprise when I look in the fridge and see my iced coffee sitting there. waiting for me. however, today, I was disappointed. I ran out of my stevia and I had no sweetener for my treat. I tried brown sugar. I was desperate.  no go. I tried sugar in the raw. still a no go. It tasted not so great, but I felt compelled to drink it. So I am still drinking my morning coffee.

2.  I only had to run a few miles today, so it was nice to wake up early but not have to run. note- I did not wake up early because it was nice to do that. I woke up early because my energizer bunny in the next room was pounding on his door. he was ready to get the day started.  as usual.

3.  Gymnastics camp is over for my limber little girls. I would be sad that the three hour window in my afternoon when my house is quiet is gone, but they start camp on Monday. all is well. 

4.  I had a brief moment of panic when my garmin would not function today. I have been talking down on the garmin lately, saying how I don’t need to run every run with it anymore. perhaps it was just giving me a taste of what it would be like to not have it at all. no thanks. I need you garmin. hubs fixed it. the world keeps turning. 

5.  I stumbled upon the wide wide world of photo editing. oh my. Instagram is fantastic, but there is more. pic stitch is just pure fun and excitement for this stay at home mom with no life. possibilities are endless. get ready. 

6.  We did some driveway racing. the kids raced each other. I raced the kids. good times. Healthy fun. awards were presented. 

Alexandra was very nervous to race me.  she beat me by at least 3 strides. it must have been the crocs. wave of the running future. get on that Mizuno, croc inspired sneaks. 

Back to strength. I love my strength workouts.  I wish I took more time to do them.  what strength does for me:

– it makes me feel strong. wow. what a brilliant thought.  but really, it’s a good good feeling. I barely did half of JM, and I was drenched, and out of breath. granted, it was crazy hot out, but still. I was working. 

– I like being toned. Toned is nice. I know there’s this thought that lifting is not conducive to running, or distance running in particular.  I’m fairly certain that my 5-10 pound weights are not going to turn me into the hulk. and hinder my running abilities. 

– likewise, I have zero proof and have composed nary a research paper to present to you that lifting weights will improve your running abilities, but I’m fairly certain that it’s probably beneficial, and there probably has been research done to support my unfounded thoughts – and it will probably help you in the long run. Ha. I’m so witty. If anything, you will just feel better about yourself and feel stronger and be a better runner in return. but don’t get all hulky on me. no good.  

– strength training doesn’t only have to be in the form of weight lifting. There are many outlets for strengthening that have no weights involved. I’m a big fan of the P90X yoga, Pilates, (I just ordered some new DVDs) and a plethora of other avenues to strengthen without ever touching the gym or using weights. That’s exciting because it breaks up the running and adds a little depth to the fitness activities. 

– I can do these workouts whenever and wherever the kids are. I can play with them while I’m working out, tend to their every need and be where they are. super convenient to do with kids around.

– strength training enables me to make these wonderfully beautiful facial expressions. that only come out whilst I am heaving my 10 pound dumbbell. serious work happening. 

I do not know why lululemon and shape mag are not knocking down my door to get me modeling their goods. so attractive. that beauty of a mug. 

Here’s the workout from today, thanks to pic stitch. 

I try to pick a few exercises and go through a circuit of them 3 or 4 times. that usually gets a little muddled, extras get thrown in and some get taken out and there usually is no real order due to kidling interruptions and driveway racing breaks. I do my best. 

there’s that face again.

I don’t know what this one is called, but I love it. It’s this dynamic stretching/strengthening. I like using words like dynamic stretching.  I did pick up some info from when I started studying to get certified as a personal trainer.  which is back on the short list of things to happen very soon.  using big training words makes me feel like the personal trainer I aspire to be. that, and a certified running coach. BIG life goals.  gonna make it happen. back to the workout – I like this because I have a finicky IT band and I think it helps strengthen those muscles.  my legs like to alternate which IT band will flare up in each marathon I run. fun. then I just hold the weights at 90degree angle in a static position to work the arms a bit.  whoa. bustin’ out all the terms I’m not qualified to use.  swing your leg out to the side and cross in front of other leg, for prestated time, then switch sides. 

Next. 

Another beauty of a face. don’t know what these are either, but it’s a static squat tricep press, which means you stay in squat for the duration, with a straight arm tricep push back. pretty basic.  keep your arms straight and push them back. 

Next. 

Pushups. never underestimate the basic exercises. pushups with a twist. work the back. and then downward dog pushups.  And curtsy lunges with an overhead shoulder press.  fun. 

1.  Pushup on weights.  pull weight back when you straighten arms out of pushup position for back work.  And a lot of other muscles. Alternate sides for each rep.  

2.  Curtsy lunge. just what it says. lunge into a curtsy position. shoulder press when you move into lunge, and arms go back into static bicep curl when you come out of lunge. I know, it doesn’t really make sense to me either when I write it out, but it works. 

3.  Downward dog position, and push up. Awesome. courtesy of JM and a plethora of other workout DVDs. 

Next. 

Little bit ‘o abs. 

 V-sit abs, extend arms and legs out at the same time. return to V sit. get a little arm work in there. 

voila. I’m done.  Please note – I am not certified in anything other than talking about what works for me. the preceding exercises work for me. proceed with caution if you choose to follow. don’t do anything you probably shouldn’t be doing. 

onto dinner. which looked suspiciously like last nights dinner. with organic chicken sausage instead of chicken.

I’m lacking originality lately. and it doesn’t bother me. there is food. Its fairly healthy.  no one is starving. I did get creative and added honey mustard to my little bean salad. so much better.

This night has been deemed a blog free, computer free  night of movie watching with the hubs. signing off until Monday. 

What’s on tap for the weekend??  Races??

Ps – I ran the race in my Mizuno mushas. Love them more with every little race. just thought I’d share. sneakers are an important part of running. probably the most important. and mr. Garmin.  can’t forget about him.  don’t want it to get pissy and shut down on me again. but sneaks come first. make sure they are good ones.

Pps – if you are on instagram and want to follow me, I’m Lcat19. try that. it should be me. 

Friday Family Fun and Body Types

Workout

I did it. I got in my extra little run last night for a total of 12.2 yesterday. 40 + a tad, miles for the week.  one day to go.

Today – scheduled rest day. while I FULLY respect and understand the importance of rest days, I knew today was not a good day to take a complete rest day. I just knew I needed a little sweat. a little hard work. a little heart rate soaring action. I would consider it more of an active rest/strength training/keep the peace kind of workout

 

25 min strength circuit/15 minute stair master.  during nap and girls at gymnastics camp for 3 hours time. wonderful time of day. 

I usually have to make my strength workout interesting to make it effective, to make it last more than 5 minutes and to keep it exciting. I did one circuit, then hopped on the stairmaster for a high intensity cardio blast. I did it three times and ended with strength. short and sweet and not running. I do consider cross training an appropriate rest day activity. My rest days are to give my running legs a break. and if I am motivated to do more than complete rest, than I take advantage of that. I had to make a deal with myself today. I desperately needed to get some cleaning done, but I also desperately wanted to hit the weights. This leaves me slightly incapable of concentrating on doing anything. I said Katie, clean for one hour solid and then you may work your little booty after. self, it’s a deal.  and everything got done. 

 

One thing that had to get done was this pile of laundry. 

 

frightening amount of laundry

Turns out if you leave it there long enough…it won’t go anywhere.  it will still be there. no one will take care of it. but me. some people say I workout too much. I say I fold too much. it’s excessive. and I think it’s unhealthy. I’m going to try to get the doc to right me a prescription for a housekeeper.  or just a laundry do-er.  I’m sure there are people out there who enjoy it. 

 

We also had to venture to target. oh lovely target. this is why I need my active rest day.  because of target trips.  with three monkeys in tow.  I had a long list of not exciting things to get. and we had to abandon ship shortly after we arrived. because some one was having a rough morning. no, not the two year old cranker, not even the four year old know it all. why yes, it was my passionately emotional 5 year old that couldn’t get her act together. we had to exit before I started throwing a tantrum at her. somehow I managed to get a couple things for myself before the meltdown happened. here’s one I wore for the workout. 

 

 

Camouflage sports bra. it’s amazing. It totally hides my voluptuous chesticles. you can barely see them overflowing. they almost look non existent.  wow. 

 

score for mommy. not so much for the kidlings. or the list of things I needed. I tired to salvage the lovely summer Friday morning and suggested we harrass the library. because its a very smart thing to take three cranky kids into a very quiet establishment. taking chances everyday.  we survived and got a huge stack of books. I even let them get a couple movies. they’ve never seen lady and the tramp or lion king. I put one on in the car for them on the way home. they liked. 

 

Luke is about to jailbreak and Anna got hungry for some paper. all in all, a successful trip. aside from the target tantrum.

 

We took a family trip back to target this evening and made a night out if it. we hit up Red Robin for dinner.  Endless baskets of steak fries, does it get better?  love that place. great to bring kids to for a family fun night. I think Luke was an infant the last time we came here. that also may have been the last time we went out to dinner as a family. Luke doesn’t like to sit still. and I dont think tranquilizers are an appropriate remedy for that. 

 

 

 

I got this Avo-Cobb-O salad. so so clever. 

 

 

 avocados and olives, can’t get enough of these healthy fats. except that Luke devoured my olives and the girls polished off the avocados. I took off most of the bacon and cheese. boring. good in theory.  thank God for the steak fries. This is how often we go out to eat: we got up to leave and Alexandra looks at me panicked and said don’t we have to take care of this mess?!? Who is going to pick up??? Oh my child. we need to get you out more. 

 

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I’m a big Jackie Warner fan. I read her book, This is why you’re fat…, and loved it and even did a little giveaway with it. I just got her new book, 10 pounds in 10 days, and I’m learning some interesting things. I get her books, not for the weight loss, but for her knowledge of the human body and nutrition and how simply she puts it. very basic, easy to understand.  I also love her workouts. I have one of her DVDs, and while it’s not the speed of Jillian, I want to make you gurgle your heart in your throat kind of talk, her workouts are very effective.  I found this one particular page interesting and wanted to share it with you. 

 

 

There are essentially three different body types:

Ectomorph

Endomorph

Mesomorph 

Ectomorphs tend to be scrawny and have a harder time putting on muscle. a slight build, smaller bone structure. 

Endomorphs gain fat easily, have a hard time losing fat and are a little softer

Mesomorphs are athletic build, large bone structure.  They have an easier time gaining and losing weight. 

 

She is saying we are all born with a genetic makeup that puts us in one of these categories, more or less. and that instead of trying to be one of these things that we may not be, it’s better to put the effort into being the best body type that you are. you can’t change bone structure but you can change muscle and you can help do that by what you eat. To further that, be the best you that you can be. in everything. I try to be the best mom that I can be. but I can easily look at other moms and think I should be like that or I should do that kind of activity with my kids or I should be more organized. absolutley. be inspired by other people. be better. but be better at being you and what you are good at, not what someone else is good at. know your strengths. know your weaknesses. work on your weaknesses and embrace your strengths and be you.

Have you heard about these body types before?

What body type do you think you are?  

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I’m pretty sure I’m officially starting my marathon training this coming week. oh boy. Entering a new phase. I’m very excited to be training for something. we’ll talk more about this next week. I haven’t a clue as to what my plan is. yet. NYC Marathon, here I come. let’s get speedy. and strong. and relaxed as a runner. stress free training will commence this weekend.

 

 

Some Winners and Multitasking

Workout

10 mile run. finally. I’ve been wanting a 10 miler since Sunday. thursday pulled through and gave me such a run. I can’t really classify this run as anything.  it wasn’t a progression, or speed work, or slow work, really. it could be called the slightly disappointing run that felt a lot faster than it was but when reviewing the garmin splits doesnt seem as impressive as when it was happening. that’s fine by me.  7:17 pace. A for effort. I just wanted 10 miles.  greedy runner.  the humidity made it a bit intense. but I really do love running in the heat and the feeling of a great, sweaty, leave it all on the pavement run.  the only intention I had was not to run this fast or with too much effort.  the first few miles cruised by at a good pace, a hill killed my legs.  I slowed down to around 8min/mile for the last couple and picked it back up for the last one home. a nice assortment of paces going on.  often times, my pace is determined by how many miles I want to get in and how much time I have.  I rarerly go out and say I’m going to just go run 10 miles, and I’ll get back whenever.  the faster i run, the quicker I get home and the more miles I can fit in.  30 miles for the week.  one more running day.  and onto a complete rest day tomorrow. no stair master. no run.

By 7:45, when I got home, the day was well underway.

10 sweaty miles in for me

Lawn mowed by hubs

Dog sprayed by a skunk. or he rolled in dead skunk. we haven’t officially determined.

Dog bathed by hubs.

Little lady has gone through three outfit changes. because they like to play in dirt. and they secretly like to punish me with copious amounts of laundry.

Little buddy has fire trucked and made many a disaster since his 5:15am rising.

Daredevil

I had a moment of panic this morning, when for some reason I noticed the bottle of honey mustard dressing…near empty. this is my new favorite condiment and must be on my flat out wrap everyday. we had to get to the grocery store anyway because I was in danger of stretching Luke’s last diaper for far longer than it should be on his little bum, but now it became an emergency. I had grand plans of errand running with 2 kids this am when #1 was at school, but I decided I would rather waste the morning getting absolutely nothing done at all and tote 3 kids all over town in 100 degree weather this afternoon. the joys of procrastination. thank God there was enough honey mustard left for my lunchtime wrap.

My day revolves around Luke’s midday nap. where I try to cram as much as possible in to that possible 1.5 hour window where he is not brushing the window sills with his toothbrush or sitting in the bathroom sink covering himself in band aids. I’ve tried babyproofing. no go. he’s not a baby. he’s an adorable freak of toddlerhood nature. one that should have 12 eyes on him at all times. anyway, I try to get stuff done while he slumbers. Anna desperately wanted me to enjoy the misery of the outdoors with her, but I had this enormously neglected pile of laundry that needed to be folded. mostly because I was on a rescue mission for a lost compression sock and running skirt that were in there somewhere. little brighty suggested I bring the laundry outside. such a problem solver. that’s what I did.

To maximize the 1.5 hour maximum reprieve, my plan was to fold laundry, rescue my sock, get a little strength training in and perhaps do a little blogger, and hang with the kids – all at the same time. multitasking. making it happen. getting things done.  laundry outside, little QT with my baby girl, little tlc for the muscles and a little catch up on the pesky house chores.  kind of.

sweltering. as soon as I made a dent in the pile and resurrected my long lost running necessities, I moved onto a tiny, little lunge/core session.  I also ALWAYS multitask with my workouts. legs/arms/core, whatever I can fit into one exercise, I cram it in there. I do a little shoulder press when I come out of the lunge. fancy pants. I also like the curtsy lunges – I feel like they target the inner thigh a bit better.  I’m no trainer, so I’m not really qualified for that kind of fancy trainer talk. just my experience.

my personal photographer.

This was the first, very short, strength workout where my bum elbow wasn’t feeling so bum. the first time I could hold the weight like that in almost a month. I still can’t do quite a bit of strength training because it hurts, but there’s progress.  and a lot more sweat. the air was suffocating. that’s why it was a pretty short one.  Better than nothing.  if you don’t want to do a workout, at least do something and call it your better than nothing. something is always better than nothing, unless it has to do with dishes, laundry or perhaps jail time.

I like doing the leg strength workouts on the harder run days – after the harder run – so that by the time the next real hard workout comes, my legs are recovered and back to fresh.

as always, lots more fun and exciting things went down this afternoon, as I’m sure you can only imagine, all of which the details I will torture you with.  beginning now. three kids and an unshowered, slightly haggard looking mama really know how to have a good time on a Thursday afternoon. although, I did put on my athletic best.

oh my. it is possible to be 30 with a training bra sized chest after having 3 kids. proof. fantastic. wouldn’t really have it any other way. ok, maybe an A cup way, but you gotta love and work with what you’ve got. all I got.

if you consider a little Barnes and Noble/TJ Maxx/Super Stop and Shop too much fun to handle, then we had too. much. fun. BN was the first stop.

we left it in only slightly worse condition then when we entered

Then we ventured on to Tj’s, where you get the Maxx for the minimum, so catchy, only to make a return.  Luke was a ticking time bomb.

we finished off the fanatics with the grocery store. it only took one cookie and two lollipops to keep Luke in his seat. and then he ran laps around the house.  awesome.

Luke has a fresh diaper.  I have my mustard. mission accomplished.

Ok, fine.  you want winners??? I’VE GOT WINNERS!!!

randomly selected, here are the two winners of the Mizuno mezamashii giveaway:

Lindsey @ The Skipping Pixie

AmyC @ Running Escapades

I REALLY would love to get you ALL free sneaks, but my hubs wouldnt like that and Mizuno doesn’t love me that much.  I loved all of the comments and the great reasons you should win, like it’s my birthday, that would be the best present ever!!! I think I could think of a few better things than free sneaks.  but I’m high maintenance sometimes. I love how many NEW runners there are out there, definitely check out the Mizuno line of sneakers – there is something for everyone. really, I’m sorry you can’t all get free shoes.  but, to try to make up for it, I selected ONE MORE RANDOM WINNER!!!  the third winner is…

Laura @ Mommy, Run Faster

Pretty please email me ASAP so that I can get you all Mezamashii’d out and hooked up with some sweet mizunos!

I will choose backup winners if I do not hear from the selected winners by Saturday. I said Friday, but I’m late getting this post up, so I’ll give you lovelies an extra day. because I’m nice like that.

Business – I got quite a few emails yesterday and I promise I will email you back!!!  be patient with me, I’m now officially on summer break and I’m a little frightened. but I will get back to you.

What is your favorite ‘discount’ clothing store to shop at?

What is your favorite condiment?

How many ‘rest’ days do you take a week?  I’m really curious about this one. It’s hard for me to take a rest day. 

God’s gift to Running

Workouts 

Yesterday – 7 miles. no garmin, just a watch and it was just under 8 min mile pace. which is what I was shooting for after Sunday’s run. and the fact that it was 5 am and I had very little motivation to run much faster. even if a wild animal was chasing me, not sure I would have had the desire to pick up the pace. followed later by a nap time workout (Luke’s nap, not mine, just to be clear) 30 min stair master speed intervals, 20 minutes strength. I know what you are thinking. killer workout day. you’re right. it was. 

 

strength moves included some of these moves:

 

Wall sits with shoulder presses

Stork stance reverse row (alternate legs)

V-sit core work

Dumbbell Chest press with hips thrust

Pendulum core exercise

Side lunges (alternate sides for 1 rep) with weighted arm extension 

12-15 reps of each, or until tired, repeated 3-4 times

Pretty confident none of those are the actual names for those exercises, but what they would logically be called if I named them. Interpret at your own risk. I am not a trainer. I just pretend to be one. in the comfort of my home. 

 

Today – planned cross training day. no running. 1 hour stair master, speed intervals and hill setting. 

 

Sweaty 

 

gearing up for a little strength session, but it’s possible it may not happen

 

As you can see by the magnificent photograph above, I enjoy sporting a good compression sock. that is one item that I have deemed God’s gift to running. it makes running possible. It possibly makes running and all time spent after running comfortable and injury free. even if I didn’t run, I would probably wear these. I have some pretty gnarly veins in my right leg, one of God’s gifts of pregnancy and childbirth, and these socks help a great deal with keeping that lovely gift a little more in check and a little further away from God’s gift of medicine in the form of sclerotherapy. which is as uncomfortable as it sounds. which would put me out of running for a few weeks. which is why it’s not going to happen and why I’m going to run compressed instead.  

 

Read on to find out some other things I have deemed God’s gift to running.  and because I think whatever I do is the best thing to do, you might want to consider following along. at your own risk.

 

1.  Cardio equipment that allows for cross training. I underestimated the importance and the effect cross training has for me this past spring, in training for my races. I got so focused on a plan I picked out online, which didn’t include any cross training. my bad. I did a lot of cross training last summer/fall because I was a clueless runner. sometimes it’s better to be a clueless runner and run on instinct. or some form of in between a plan and runners intuition of what works for you as a runner. things like spinning, stairclimber and stair stepper/stair master are pretty phenomenal ways to cross train and supplement the running miles. I don’t plan on replacing my miles with these machines as much as adding them on because I think they add a lot of strength without the pavement pounding. easy on the mind and body.  here’s my ad for the stair master: keeping runner’s burnout away, one step at a time. catchy, I know. I’m thinking about a career change into marketing. 

 

2. Strength training. I know there are runners who don’t lift a weight and can fly through a 3 hour marathon like its no big deal. I dont like you. that’s not true. I love all runners and people that are naturally fit and strong without having to lift a finger.  in a slightly envious way. anyway, I need strength. 

 

 

I have been thinking about what I did differently this spring from last summer and fall. I did quite a bit more strength training, core work and leg exercises last summer. Jillian and I were tight.  I could have done the whole shred dvd without watching it.  maybe.  and maybe I should get a life.  not so much this spring.  weights have taken a bit of a backseat. time to move them to the front.

 

3.  Lululemon. I’m just going to throw this one out there, call me crazy, but looking and feeling like a superstar when I’m running is just fabulous.  

 

Wasn’t feeling the fab vibe there, but I tried

besides fabulous, it’s functional. Is it too much to ask for a running bottom that doesn’t end up at my boobs, or lack thereof, by mile 2? I think not. lululemon figured that out. thank you. fashion and comfort. I could not ask for more. except maybe for more reasonable pricing, but that would be like hoping for gas to be $3 a gallon.

 

4.  Bad races. in hindsight, I am thankful for the disaster at gansett, and I am thankful for the shin splints. if every situation in life was peachy perfect, never presenting a challenge, we would all be pretty boring. and dull. and stagnant. we would never learn, change and grow. upward and onward to find the next challenge to rise above. bring on the bad races, as long as there are plenty of good ones to make the bad ones sweet.

 

5.  The track. for speed.  It’s lovely. truly, it is. I did not know of this glorious thing called speedwork at the track until this spring, but you fly. and it’s great.  try it out. get faster.

 

 

or take cute pics of children there.  it won’t make you fast, but you’ll have some memories. those are a nice gift too.

 

6.  Mizuno Musha. my new favorite shoe. I have a thing for lightweight sneaks. I just love them. I want to wear these all the time. for every run.  they love my feet like no other mizuno.  you NEED good sneakers when you run. injury will find you if you run in old, poor fitting sneakers. the truth. get some good sneaks, then run. every joint and bone in your body will thank you for it. 

 

7.  Avocados. this is just one food item that I love and believe to be perfect in many ways – supplying my hard working bod with the nutrition it craves. I say, an avocado a day keeps the doctor away. very original.  I’ve also recently found spicy honey mustard as a major addition to my lunchtime wrap.  Where has this wonderful condiment been and why have I not been using it??  I’m a big believer in that nutrition is important in running well. and living well for that matter. you are what you eat. have an avocado. then an apple. and stay away from the donut. most of the time. 

 

That’s what I’ve come up with so far. I don’t really run with music, so I can’t comment on that, although I’m sure those of you who do run with music would put it in this category of all things that make running lots of miles bearable and enjoyable.  I also do not use a lot of fuel on training runs, because I don’t like much of what is out there, so there’s another no comment. feel free to add to my ever growing list. 

 

Quick update on the home front…

We ventured to TJ Maxx today, and that was utterly not exciting. I bought a dress that would get me arrested if I wore it in public because it’s so short. I didn’t try it on, I just grabbed it because it looked cute and I had monkey boy with me so we were on a time crunch. that’s what I get for grabbing from the juniors section and thinking its gonna happen. Not so. time to grow up.  We did end up with a lot of pillows and towels. It was that kind of time to buy the necessities trip, not as much fun as seeing what fun designer jeans we can weed out. Luke is enjoying our new purchases. that’s nice. 

 

 

 

And I’ve actually been cooking. don’t fall over. I have a new favorite little veggie dish. and tonight I topped it with my new favorite marinade/dressing that I made up because of my new love for spicy honey mustard.  eat your heart out – broccoli, cauliflower and gold potatoes. quite tasty. 

 

So easy.  wrap those spuds in plastic and microwave, cut up and mix with the microwaved frozen veggies.  continue to massacre the nice veggies by sauteeing in a frying pan in the nice light dressing.  to ensure all nutrients are zapped from the dish.  but hoping some stick around after they are cooked to near death.

 

Honey mustard dressing: no measurements, because I don’t do that, guesstimated:

~ 1/3 cup water

~ 1/4 cup canola oil

~ 3TBSP spicy honey mustard

Splash of white wine vinegar

Any kind of onion, I used dehydrated onion, but I’m sure scallions or shallots would be lovely

Oregano

Garlic salt

Salt and pepper

Whisk together and toss with whatever microwaved, devoid of nutrient veggie you would like. Or if you like to be healthy, throw it on a fresh salad

I do believe that is far too much info for one post. that should keep your head spinning for awhile. take a couple Advil and you will be fine. 

 

Speed work is on the agenda for tomorrow, but so is a 100 degree day with 1000% humidity, so that’s going to be determined. the Mushas are ready for some fast action though.

 

What is your favorite veggie?

What is your favorite kind of dressing?

How many times a week do you incorporate strength work?

 

 

Superwoman and Smart Choices

Workout(s)

We have some workouts to talk about. get ready.

 

Wednesday – I mentioned I wanted to do 10 miles. What I want and what actually happens are rarely the same.  I want to pull together a nice non workout outfit, but I just can’t seem to get out of my comfy running clothes.  I’m ok with that. I did 6 that morning and went back out for a short and slllloooooowwwww 3. really slow. but it made 9 miles for the day

 

Thursday – is usually a running day. sleep trumped running and I got to sleep in until 6am.  be still my heart. 6 am is so much nicer than 5 am.  it’s still 6 am. and that’s still in the too early to be functioning category. my kids don’t care.  that meant no run. I will admit, I moped for approximately 37 minutes.  then I put my game face on, readjusted my attitude and my day and had a slice of get over it for breakfast. and I used and abused the stair master during nap time. my saving grace.  50 minutes speed intervals/hills. tells me I did 8 miles. probably not accurate. but I looked like this after, so it did kick my booty

 

 

Friday – hello 5 am. I really don’t like you.  like, I wish you didn’t exist.  thursday claimed the non running day.  friday, tag you’re it for the run.  not a bone in my body wants to be out on the road at this ungodly hour. The alternative is chasing around testy two year old. I’ll run.  about 6.75 miles, about 50 min, about 7:24 ish pace, just about a pretty good run if I ever saw one . I didn’t have the watch on.  Just checked the clock. kitchen clock tells me it was about 50 mins. I was pleasantly surprised because this run felt a lot slower than that. go me. good pace. glad I hit the road.

 

I love running without the garmin on non super hard, run your heart out training days. I’ve learned I’ve got enough push of my own without the watch barking at me that I’m going too slow.  Running watch-less puts the i love to run back in running.  Love it.

 

36.5 miles for the week. one more running day. Good stuff.

Every now and then, I’ve been known to make some smart decisions. sometimes I don’t. Let’s talk about some of the smarter ones and how I’m kind of like superwoman today.

 

1.  It is not always an easy task to get three children fed, dressed, ready for school, as well as myself and my husband. he needs help sometimes too. my 4th child. It must be noted that today, June 15th, I ran my almost 7 miles, made a nice breakfast for everyone (myself included – super crank comes out if mama doesn’t eat ASAP after the run), had everyone dressed and ready for school, got myself showered and dressed in my Friday best – I call it shamrock glam

 

 

Not everyone can rock the old 5k race tshirt and pull off this shamrock glam look.  I can. I was in comfort mode today.

All of this morning craziness was accomplished by 8:15 am. be impressed. not sure that has ever happened. call me shera. Or superwoman.  either one will do. So, it was a smart choice to get my bum moving at 5 am. it always is a smart choice.

 

2. I cooked a nice meal for my family. I have been in a total I don’t want to cook or think about what to cook for dinner funk.  big time. surprisingly, the children are alive and well and no one is starving, but meals have been less than impressive. think french toast and lots of grilling.  I kind of pulled it together Wednesday night. And made this little creation. 

 

 

The unfortunate thing is that friends of ours came over. Visiting friends are not unfortunate, but being unaware that we would be dining with them and one of them is gluten free, that’s unfortunate.  wasted energy cooking a meal.  bummer. we ended up doing sushi takeout. and this is lunch for the rest of the week.

 

3.  Strength training is a pretty smart decision. My weak little arms are just easing back into strength training after the elbow incident a few weeks ago. little righty is still pretty sore and can’t do most things, but we are working on some stuff. One exercise that I love in particular is doing upper body strength moves while doing a wall sit.  intense. 

 

I have a few personal photographers. this one happened to be 5 years old and impatient. hence the blur.

 

Multitasking at its finest. multiple body parts at once.  Kids play, I get strong.  win win all around.  this is great for runners because it strengthens those quads pretty nicely.  runners tend to have a plethora of knee problems, one of which is appropriately called runners knee. You can help your sweet and very necessary to running knees avoid this by having strong quads.  I did a lot of shoulder work in the wall sit position.  keep your core nice and tight and you’re getting a good workout.  that’s about all I can do. biceps hurt my baby arm. in good time it’ll be ready to work hard again.  much of my “extras” – strength training, massage sticking, rolling activities happen wherever the kids are.  there tend to be walls most places, so this is a good one.  pull up a wall, grab some weights, have a seat and start pumping out those arm workouts.

 

4.  We have a new familey pet.

 

 

 

 her name is Shelby the hermit crab.  right now she lives in a plastic cup. right now, I’m not sure if she is a he or a she. I’m not even sure how you tell the sex of a hermit crab.   I’m not quite sure that hermit crabs are male or female.  I’m not really sure I care.  I’m going to call this a good parenting decision. my daughter loves animals. she desperately wanted the class hermit crab for the summer. the lucky child to bring it home was to be randomly drawn from a hat from whatever children brought in the little paper saying they were allowed to take it if they were selected. how could I say no to her.  It was either a horse or a hermit crab.  Call me crazy but I think crabs are a little bit lower maintenance than horses.  sure. put your name in my sweet animal loving child. meanwhile I’m thinking she won’t get it. she got it. and we have Shelby. I can only imagine Shelby will be getting some fishy friends.

 

5.  Lululemon is always a smart choice.  

 

 

kids in tow, off to lulu we went. shopping with kids is kind of good and bad.  I take that back – given the opportunity, it would generally be without children, but that’s generally not the case, so- they can serve as damage control because you, meaning me, has to get in and out ASAP before crazy man knocks down every mannequin. Bad because that speed shopping could potentially lead to impulse buying. there was none of that impulse stuff happening today. I practiced good self control and we were super speedy in the store.  the jet engine hand dryer in the bathroom rocked Luke to the core of fear and we had to ditch pretty quickly. thank you Luke. I will divulge the contents of the bag at a later time. I will note that the item I purchased was on sale. And I do think it’s comical to speak of lululemon and sale in the same paragraph.

 

Baby girl #2 graduated from pre-k today. oh my, world. here she comes. she’s a big kindergartner now. 

 

 

She actually has two more days of school and big girl still has 4 days. then I am the mother of a first grader and a kindergartner.  and another little crazy person that doesn’t fit anywhere yet.  I don’t know how that could be seeing as I’m not a day over 21. I love those precious little people of mine. crazy how much a child can melt your heart.  enough of that. getting sentimental stuff.

 

Longish run on the agenda for tomorrow and who knows what other shenanigans we will come up with.

 

What are your weekend plans?

Who is racing and what are you doing?  GOOD LUCK!!!

Who has had a pet hermit crab?  it’s very exciting. Ours has already turned from a female to a male.  Just because. 

 

 

 

 

Running Seasons

Workout(s) – and a couple of fantastic ones at that.  Run.  run.  run.  Someone asked me the other day if I really loved to run.  just with my past races and my big disappointments and what not, she said, ‘do you love to run?’  without hesitation, I said why yes I do.  funny question to a runner, but a good one.  I do love to run.  and I do love it more now than I did 3 months ago.  3 months ago when I was running faster and farther and with more confidence.  then, I was broken down with a little shin splint action and a couple spirit crushing races and a little mental/running burnout that called for a little break time.  and that is what I needed.  sometimes you need to be broken down a little bit to appreciate what you love.  sometimes you need to lose a little bit to figure out what you want.  take a step back and realize how something really fits into your life.  and to come back with a different, better attitude.  and sometimes you appreciate it more when you come back with less and have to work your way back to your best.  so yes, I love to run.  and I will really love to run when my legs are moving even faster.  working on that.  slowly.

Yesterday – 6 miles.  no pace.  no stress.  no watch.  no clue how I was running.  I can’t believe I am admitting it, but I am a garmin-less running convert.  It’s a funny thing.  somehow, back in the ancient of days, before the running with a gps idea came about, people were running, and they were running fast.  baffling how they did it without guidance from a gps, but they did.  amazing.  I am getting on the boat.  I will run with my garmin, but I am hoping to run more without it than with it and use it more as a check in.  ditch the watch once in awhile.  it will probably do you good.  I ran 2.5 miles to meet my girlfriend and dragged her along with me for the last 3.5.  perfectly humid, sweaty, early morning run.

and I had energy to burn after that.  so I hopped on the stairmaster for 30 minutes.  even more perfect.

and then my little anna bam had a hankering for Jillian.

happy to oblige little lady.  get on your gear and get moving.

she could do more of the workouts than I could with my withering right arm that still can’t lift things.  except little boys named luke because he doesn’t understand that it hurts mommy’s arm when he throws a tantrum in the coffee shop and I have to peel him off the floor and out to the car, kicking and flailing or when he tries to climb the counter at Sweet Frog to get into the toppings and I have to hold him back with a death grip.  love.  where was I.  Jillian.  I sat there and did ab work while she worked it out with J-dog.  and then she ran a mile with the hubs later.  my little athlete.

so that completes the workouts for that day.  no it doesn’t.  the day ended with me sitting on the couch watching a movie that I can’t pronounce, eating these…

they were 2 for $3.  which means I could have just gotten 1 package for $1.50, but I felt the need to buy 2 packages.  I only had two.  I LOVE anything mint chocolate.  junior mints go down like water.  I have a decent amount of self control when things are individually wrapped.  not so much with a bag of m&m’s, which is why I don’t buy them, or these….

but I did buy those  because they were buy 2 get one free, so I had to get 3.  I obviously got a discount for that one that is opened.  I actually have pretty good self control with these suckers as well.  My sweet tooth has really tamed down a lot and I only need a little bit to keep me happy.  it’s really only the bag of m&m’s that get me.  again, that’s why they are never in my house.  that was my evening workout.

Today – 7.25 miles.  and still very humid and sweaty.  I love CT weather.  this was my first early outdoor run – feet on the pavement at 5:15am.  regretting going to bed at 10:30pm.  happy I pulled my bum out of bed anyway.  and thanking the good Lord for the early sunrise so I could get it done pre-children rising and attacking lovingly adorning me with their presence and allowing me to cook for and dress them.  I’m going to take full advantage of early days.  7 min/mile avg pace.  rolling hills throughout.  fine.  I did wear the garmin.  and I did push it a little at the end.  6:25 min mile for the last mile.  actually very happy I pulled that one out of nowhere.  I will not feel badly about pushing the pace today.  or about wearing the garmin.  it was the kind of run I wanted to do.  nevermind what coach B said about running easy paces for a few more weeks (technically that should be an easy pace consistently for me.  in time)  but he also said run how you feel.  some days will be great and some days will be not so great, and slow.  today was good.  tomorrow will be slow/easy, sans garmin.

so I thought it would be fun to make this post SUPER long and see how long you can stick with me.  I’m going to continue talking about running, and ‘run’ through a little bit of Katie running history for you newer peeps that are braving my blog.  Get your pens and paper out.  there will be  test at the end.  I am finding that a lot of runner’s go through A LOT of different phases in running.  I honestly used to think that all runners just ran and it was always happy and rainbows and lululemon filled dreams.  not so my friends.  It is rare that things go pretty smoothly all the time where nothing changes, la dee da everything is always perfect in running world.  even with elite runners and olympic athletes, a lot of them have their share of seasons and ups and downs.  Runners go through different training plans, styles, phases.  Runners go through different injury and recovery processes that slow down the running and decrease the mileage a ton.  Runners go through a lot of different seasons of emotion about running, how they feel about it, what their goals are and how and when they want to reach those goals.

I know for me, my running perspectives and feelings have changed a lot over the past 6 months and they continue to change and to teach me about myself.  So here’s a little timeline of ME.

Summer 2011

I wanted to do the VT50 in September 2011.  Was starting to train for it.  not really sure how to train for it.  and probably wouldn’t have been prepared had I gotten in to run it.  Registration was closed, couldn’t run it.  Plan B.  Run a marathon instead.  total gear change from running a 50.  My 50 plan was to run VERY slow, steady, and probably walk a lot.  I just wanted to experience it.  any training I did reflected that mentality.  Marathons were not on my radar at all.

October 2011 – I like to run.  but I’m bummed about the 50.  I’ll just do a marathon for fun.

Plan B marathon.  Hartford Marathon.  shooting for 3:15 finish that I very arbitrarily pulled out of my bum.  decided to run with a pace group.  worst decision I made for that race.  It wasn’t MY run.  I will never run with a pace group again.  I was running the pacers run.  horrible race for me physically.  Finished in 3:17.  fine.  I think I never want to run another marathon again.  I was so miserable.  3 hours later….just kidding. I want to run MY marathon now.  not the pacers. signed up for Harrisburg 4 weeks later.

November 2011 – I just love to run phase.  kind of a newbie runner.  I love running.  and I think I could be fast.

Harrisburg Marathon.  Ran my run.  excruciating ITBand pain started at mile 14.  quitting wasn’t an option.  just had to figure out how to finish.  I finished.  painfully.  3:11.  on cloud 9.  Now I want to hit 3 hours.  and I dove right into training for the next one because I am an all or nothing. I want it and I want it now and I’m going to start working for it now.  Big mistake.  I should have taken much more time off from running.  solely to avoid what happened before my next April Marathon.  total burnout.  and injury.  and I realize the competetive in me takes over the ‘I love to run because I love to run’ in me.  and I need to find a balance.

February 2012

Ran a hilly half marathon in the middle of marathon training.  good in theory, but looking back, it threw off my long run schedule, and I missed out on more long miles than I should have for my marathon training.  Got a new half marathon PR.  1:28.  still running good.  injury free.

Speedwork continues.  loving it.  feeling fast.  feeling confident.  injury creeps in…

March 2012

Last minute, innocent little 5k.  gave me a new PR.  18:42.  and it gave me pretty rough shin splints 6 weeks out from my marathon and a handful of long runs and tempo/speedwork to do.  tough place to be.  I was only able to run a handful of times before the marathon.  I should have ADJUSTED MY MARATHON GOALS, to mentally keep me in the game.  but I was a stubborn invincible runner.  and I didn’t.

April 2012

Gansett Marathon.  3:21 finish.  a debacle.  I lost it mentally.  My shin started acting up as well as my IT Band, but I think I made the pain worse by my really poor attitude during the run.  I could have run a better race, but let myself check out when I realized I wasn’t going to hit my unrealistic goal.  and that was a HUGE lesson for me.  I needed this race to LEARN a lot about who I am as a runner and a person.  it was meant to be this way as a little part of what will make me the runner I am.  Running is not all of me.  I love it.  and I want to be good at it.  but a bad race doesn’t define me.  nor does a good one.  it’s a hobby.  and I will enjoy it first.

End of April 2012

Nashville Rock and Roll Marathon.  Mentally a better race, physically not so much.  3:42.  you can just read about here, here, and here.  I say I had zero expectation of this race.  but I always go in with some expectation.  and I really need to learn how and when to tone that high expectation of myself down and really just have fun, no pressure races.

And all of that put me in to a two week complete running hiatus.  A good friend is going to coach me, more my mind than my running because he says, ‘you’ve got the running part down.  a marathon is 90% mental.  we need to get you back in the mental game of running’  aye aye captain!

and I’m back to LOVING running.  without any pain.  with or without the garmin.  fast or slow.  long or short.  I want to get out and run.  and June is my month of just running.  because before my fall 2011 marathons, that’s what I was doing.  I never did speedwork.  I never did a tempo run.  I never followed a plan.  I never hit more than 40 miles in a week.  and I did a couple pretty decent marathons.  and now I find the balance of running how I know to run, and training to get faster and stronger while keeping the whole experience happy and fun.  while learning how to apply just enough pressure to keep me on my toes, but not so much that I want to lose my mind.  and attempt to remain injury free.  and replace words like ‘doubt’ and ‘I can’t do that’ with ‘I am strong’ and ‘I am capable’ and ‘I can do whatever I set my mind to’.  that’s the season I’m in now.

and that should be it for now.  I can’t type anymore.  and I’m pretty sure you have left the computer by now.  I will chat with you cool kids tomorrow about my ever loving stairmaster.  I’ve gotten a few inquiries as to why I love it so much and what kind it is.  I’ll give you the 411.  but this post can’t handle any more info.

What ‘season’ of running do you feel like you are in?

Who is getting ready for a race this weekend?

What is your favorite chocolate/other flavor combo?

Tweet Me Nicely

Workout – 30 minutes easy elliptical (this is taper time) and 20 minutes of leg strength:

Seated adductors/abductors

Seated squats

Plie squats with shoulders

I don’t think I’ve been this excited to go to the gym at 5:30 am in quite awhile.  what could this be?  the stellar terrific run I had yesterday?  the run that quite possibly still has me high on endorphins and loving every little miniscule part of life?  even butterflies.  and poopy diapers.  ok not poopy diapers.  dislike.  or my two year old who is trying to eat me alive today with terrible screaming fits.  I love him.  but dislike the very inconvenient meltdown tantrums in the middle of whole foods.  pretty sure I could live without that.  but loving every other part of life. 

I am really very excited that I ran yesterday and am walking to tell about it today.  I absolutely don’t feel perfect.  My right leg is tight, but not ‘splinty’.  that makes me want to sing and dance.  especially considering I ran a marathon just over a week ago.  if there was ‘splinty leg’ to be had, it would for sure be happening right now.  that’s my theory.  so the fact that it just feels tight and not holy crap I can’t walk without it hurting, makes me feel pretty darn good.  REST DOES A BODY GOOD! 

I could use more rest for that leg, for sure.  and I will rest it until Saturday.  then I will continue to rest it for a bit after that.  but then I have a half marathon one month later that I LOVE TO RUN.  my favorite half marathon.  not because it’s the only half I have run besides the horrid colchester hills this past february.  my heart belongs to Ironhorse.  there is nothing spectacular or exciting about this half.  just that it works well for me.  and I want to rock it this year.  back when I was planning my races and the projected outcome of each one for the year, this was going to be a big half PR race.  BUT, lesson learned from my personal Gansett nightmare – I will definitely adjust my goals accordingly depending on how I feel leading up to it.  I don’t need to have another complete meltdown half way through the race and start hyperventilating in a sobbing mess.  what?  that didn’t happen at gansett.  you’re crazy.

that’s all there is to it.  I love to run.  I love to challenge myself.  I love to push the line.  I have lost my mental edge a little bit these past couple months.  and I felt it big time in my last race.  maybe it’s because the running has been lacking in a major way.  maybe it’s because I haven’t been pushing myself everyday.  whatever it is, my little run yesterday gave me a taste again for running hard.  I want to, need to, hold on to that.  especially this weekend.  big goals, or little goals, make it work.  push it hard.  make it happen.  give it your best everytime.  and everytime it will get easier.  i think.  that’s my plan anyway.  feel free to join me.

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Alright all of you Twitter Tweeple.  tweeple.  I’m so witty.  and so original.  i’m sure NO ONE has every used that word before.  anyway you lovely tweeps tweeting out there – I’m in.  I did it for you, FitFluential.  They told me I could let you peeps know this, I have been accepted as a FitFluential Ambassador!  Yay! 

Ok, I’m not exactly 100% certain yet what that means, but hopefully it means some very good things for YOU and ME in the future.  I’m still crossing my T’s and dotting my i’s with them, but this should be fun.

That is why you will see the little “follow me on twitter” button over yonder in the sidebar.  nothing fancy because nothing on this free blogspace of mine is fancy.  yet.  and I am pretty clueless about the in’s and out’s of twitter, so please bear with me as I learn.  so if you ‘follow’ me, be kind to any silly ‘tweets’ that make their way out into the twitter world.  It’s a big big world out there, all that Twitter stuff.  kinda crazy.  kinda funny.

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I am in the countdown mode to Nashville.  This is going to be a lot more work to ‘prep’ for this race – in more than just getting myself ready to run.  I think it will be good for me to run COMPLETELY 100% outside of my comfort zone. 

I’m bringing my two little girls with me.  and my mom.  I need backup.  and leaving the boys at home.  the little girls don’t know about the trip yet.  this was more self-preservation of my sanity than anything.  I do want them to be surprised, but I really didn’t want them packing for a month and asking me every 5 minutes for 3 weeks, when are we going to nashville???  so, they won’t know where we are going until 5:00am on Friday morning when they are pulled from their slumber to get to the airport.  so fun. 

Lots of prep for this.  like I said.  make sure the boys are all set.  make sure the girls are all set with a gazillion activities to keep them busy on the plane. 

This is going to be a busy week.  especially since I am still busy with bday celebrations – tonight, tomorrow and Thursday night.  quite the social calendar I have this week.  and evenings are really when most of my ‘stuff’ gets done because the days are pretty shot with kid stuff. 

my getting to bed by 9pm everynight this week plan might not pan out so well.  I will do my best.

I will also do my best to stay away from Lululemon this week and avoid the I must buy a new marathon outfit crazy talk.  I promise.  I will do my best.

I will also do my best to keep up on the blog this week.  it may be tough.  but, now you can keep up with me on twitter!  as soon as I figure out how to do that.

I will also do my best not to go crazy figuring out pace calculations and other pre-race mental stuff I do.  this is going to be a nice race.  nice.

I will also do my best to ice, compress, roll.  ice, compress, roll.  repeat. 

and I will do my best to keep my happy/life is good/go with the flow/anything is possible/dream big work hard attitude.  and you should too.  go for a run if you can’t find it.  it might be out on the road somewhere.  or hiding behind a bush, so don’t be afraid to take a potty break if you need to. 

that’s it for me.

Luke is outside somewhere.  maybe trying to find his happiness.  I hope he finds it.  for my sake.  and I need to go find him.  and I must feed the children.  doing my job.

 

Who’s on Twitter???

Who has run a Rock and Roll marathon before? 

When do you get most of your busy/housework stuff done?