Day 9: Working toward my goal

Marathon training week 2, another half marathon completed!  

Day 7/8: something new

An activity that I have never done before: my first relay race.  Here I am during my leg of the Bison 50. 

Day 6: A Place I'm Thankful for

I am thankful for so many places: home, work, KU, the places I have traveled.  But today I am thankful for the Bar Method studio in Leawood.  I didn't want to fall in love with the workout because I already run and do yoga and Zumba, but I cannot deny the results and how strong it makes me feel.  It is the only strength training I have stuck to and it love this place!

Day 5: Something beautiful

Nothing fancy.  Just some amazing Malabrigo merino wool waiting to be a cowl.  Yay for cozy warm knits!

Day 4: What's for Lunch?

I know everyone is dying to see a picture of today's healthy lunch.  Sorry folks, I forgot to take a picture.  But honestly, I wasn't going to bore you with an iPhone pic like a million others.  Instead, here's what's for lunch tomorrow:

Planning what I eat the next day is a huge part of my success with the Weight Watchers program.  As cheesy as it sounds, knowledge is power and knowing the points plus value I am going to eat really helps me stay on plan and make better choices all day.  

Along with pre-tracking for the next day, monthly cooking helps me minimize poor choices. I love www.onceamonthmeals.com and the pesto soup I'm having for lunch is a great recipe from that site.  Having a freezer full of lunches and dinners of REAL food keeps me from grabbing low nutrition, high calorie meals on the go.  I challenge you to know what's for lunch ahead of time.   

Day 3: today's workout

Ran the Bass Pro Half today in Springfield, MO.  Great race and a beautiful day.  Not a PR but not my worst. Loved running in my SparkleSkirts camo. 

Here are some pics.  

New Month, New Challenges

I love November!  Time to think about what we are thankful for, the leaves are beautiful and the pie is plentiful. 

There is a photo challenge going around the Moms RUN this Town boards and I am all about a good challenge.  As I officially start training for Little Rock, I am going to take this opportunity to be more accountable and hopefully motivate someone else I get active.  Here's the challenge: 

And here's my day 1:

And since it is this guy's birthday, here is my day 2: 

I am so thankful for my son Owen, who has autism and rocks everyday!  I love him to pieces.   Running marathons seems like a piece of cake compared to the frustration he feels everyday. 

Tackling Obstacles

I already had two races planned (Moster Dash 5k and Bison 50 relay) when a friends sent me a message last week. She had an extra entry to the Rugged Maniac 5k and was wondering if I would be interested.  Sure!  I changed to an earlier Bar Method class and give this obstacle race thing a try.  

So, the morning of the race I packed up my muddy shoes, some towels and my bathrobe and headed up to the only ski slopes in the Kansas City area.  That part will be important later.  As we got ready to start, I began to wonder what the heck I had gotten myself into.  Why can't I say no to a race?  Too late now.   Here goes nothing!  The highlights of the event included:  jumping over fire, getting stuck in mud and more opportunities for "that's what she said" jokes than I could count. I had a great time being completely miserable.  The downside was the bruises and the fact that my quads are just  becoming functional again, 3 days later. Running, well walking, up and down ski slopes was probably the hardest my legs have ever worked.  The rest of my weekend running was going to be interesting.  

The Monster Dash was all about having fun with my son. We ran as Sully and Mike from Monsters Inc.   He rocked his race and rode in the stroller for the 5k.  At one point he said "thanks for bringing me to this awesome race, Mommy". 

My legs were tired and I was pushing 50 pounds in the stroller, but I had a cheering squad with me the whole time. "You can do it Mommy!"  (Love this kid!). 

Sunday morning I was awake at 4:00 to meet my relay team for the Bison 50, from Topeka to Lawrence.  And that race deserves a post of its own.   

Dealing with Disappointment

This morning I was supposed to run the Kansas City Half Marathon. My outfit was laid out, meet-ups were planned and I was excited about the cooler weather forecasted.  But yesterday I so gracefully fell down the garage steps and landed on my right knee.  It hit the concrete pretty hard, but at the time I didn't think it was too bad.  Well, when my alarm went off this morning my knee was throbbing.  It wasn't the worst pain ever, but I wasn't sure running 13.1 miles of Kansas City hills would be a good plan.  I was torn. This was actually the third time I had fallen down in 3 weeks. All 3 times I bumped or twisted that knee.  So, I opted to stay home.  All day I have felt like a failure.  I know injuries happen.  I know there will be other races.  I need to learn to handle disappointment, and steps, with more grace.  The pity party ends here.  3 easy miles planned for tomorrow morning and I am looking forward to a 5k Saturday and relay next Sunday.
Happy Running and Watch Your Step!

Women Run the D:race report

10 months ago my running BFF moved to the Detroit area.  This was the person I started Couch to 5k with, ran my first half with and couldn't imagine running without.  So, of course I had to find a race to run to I could visit the Motor City.  I signed up for the inaugural Detroit Women's Half Marathon on September 22 and started counting the days until I would see my buddy.
I had the best intentions of training this summer, but I only managed one 8 mile run since the Hospital Hill Half June 1 and pretty sporadic short runs on weekdays throughout the summer.  My goal in Detroit was to enjoy the race and just finish.  I was excited to run in my gorgeous tutu that I won from Race Junkie a couple months ago but a little nervous about my lack of mileage.

Pre-race on beautiful Belle Isle

It was perfect running weather: a bit chilly at the start but felt great once I started running.  The location was BE-A-U-tiful!  the island is a city park on the Detroit River.  We could see Canada across the water! (next trip I'll need to visit Ontario) The island was the flattest thing I have ever run and I could feel that as the race progressed.  I definitely used the same muscles the entire 13.1 miles.  The course took us around Belle Isle 2 and 1/4 times.  Pros: I got free chocolate 3 times and I knew exactly what to expect terrain-wise after the first round.  Cons: I passed the same scenery 2 or 3 times and having the finish line in view more than once was a bit cruel.  The ultimate pro was passing my personal cheering squad 3 times and getting the extra encouragement.  

Feeling good and enjoying the scenery.

My final time was 3 hours and 7 minutes and change.  Not my best but not my worst.  But I felt good while running and really enjoyed the race.  The tutu was fun to run in and didn't interfere at all.  I'm already trying to figure out which tutu I'm going to order next. :)  

I can't wait to run this race again and I'm looking forward to my next half this Saturday: Kansas City Half.  No tutu for this race, but I have a Sparkle Skirt ready to hit the hills!

Post-race photo booth 

Roll With It

my new personal trainer post run

At the last minute, I decided to put my 4 year old son in the jogging stroller and take him with me to get some miles in.  Sounds simple enough, but I haven't run with the stroller in over a year and he is not a small 4 year old.  It turned out to be nothing like that run I had planned for the day (I was hoping for 4-6 miles solo), but it was a great 2 and half miles.  You have to love the fact that kids his age have no filter.  As we started running he asked me. "Mommy, are you running yet? You need to run fast!"  Sorry, honey. This is as fast as your mommy goes. After we finished the first slow and steady mile, I decided to add some entertainment for him and run some intervals.  He LOVED going faster and I got my heart rate up.  We took a potentially boring run and put a spin on it.  I may have to do more training with him because he was very excited to race on the middle school track by our house, but he didn't have his running shoes on.  I think next time we may run up some big hills to get coffee and a donut or do a neighborhood 5k with a stop at the post office.  That's how we roll. :)

Well, my resolution to blog more has not gone as planned and neither has my running this year.  I could list excuses, but the bottom line is lack of motivation.  I think after running two full marathons earlier this year, I was just tired.  Pure and simple.  Life got in the way and I didn't try very hard to change that.  On the up side, my cross training was going great.  I started Bar Method classes and LOVED it!!!  
So, here I am trying to get my running mojo back and trying to stay accountable.  I have races coming up. Time to get training. What do you do when you need a boost in your running?  I would love to hear some creative motivators!  In the meantime, here is a list of what I'm training for so it is public and I cannot slack. :)

• A destination race with my running BFF: Detroit Women's Half  9/22/13
• Hometown race: Kansas City Half 10/19/13
• Bass Pro Half: 11/3/13
• And the biggie: St. Jude Marathon this December, one of my Bucket list races AND I am fundraising, too

Clearly I need to get my tush out the door and get running.  I think this sums up my new agenda:

Happy Running!!!