Back To Running?

I haven't posted about running in a really long time and there's a good reason for that: I really haven't been running!  After accomplishing my goal of a 5K a few years ago, I added variety back into my workouts and only run when I feel like it.  I still really like running but I have been much more casual about it.  For example, last week I ran/walked twice.  Once for one mile and once for a mile and half.
But then one of our friends posted online about a 4 mile run/2 mile walk on November 28th.  This caught my eye because Kayleigh will be home for Thanksgiving.  I sent it to her and Bill to see if they would be interested.  I was thinking of the walk,  A 4 mile run would have been out of my league 3 years ago, let alone now!  But Bill sent me a text immediately saying we should do the run.  When I pointed out to him I actually had to train several months to just do 3 miles, he said, "You have a month. You can do it."  Really?!?

I wrote him off as being insane but the idea set in my head for a couple days.  This morning I decided to get on the treadmill and just see what 4 miles feels like.  I did a combination of running and walking (much more walking than running) and kept my speeds as high as I could.  My best run ever was at the 5K where I ran the whole thing and my time was 33:40 (I think).  Today with plenty of walking, I did 4 miles in 54:20.  That's about 14 miles per hour which actually isn't too bad for me.  When I was running all the time, I would go between 11 and 12 miles an hour with my best being 10.

Am I actually considering doing this?  We'll see.  I'd also like to point out that I don't run in bad weather and the Chicago area
at the end of November isn't really ideal!  But if I survived the humidity of August a few years ago, maybe (I said maybe!) I can handle November's cold.

Vacation - Exercise

We knew that Bill would get his exercise in during vacation since it involved 10 days of bike racing!  Kayleigh was missing the first week of Cross Country practice for our vacation, though, so I had all these ideas about how we would get our running in.  We would get up early and go running near the hotel.  We would drive to the lake in the town where we were staying and run there.  We would run at some of Bill's races.  So many ideas!

Although Kayleigh is sitting here, we actually did a lot of running around the various courses to get tons of pictures and videos of Bill.

Well it didn't turn out quite like I thought!  First of all, Thursday was spent driving so that day was out.  Something I didn't mention in the last post was that when we finally rolled up to our hotel (which I had booked months in advance) late Thursday, we were told that they overbooked and we were being sent down the road for the night.  So that meant Friday morning we had to head to the first race with our 10-days of stuff in the truck with us.  By the time the race was over and we got moved into our actual hotel, we were in no mood to go run.  Saturday is the day that we stayed later than expected at the race and then stopped at the vegetarian restaurant on the way back.  One more day lost!  The worst part about all this is the weather was really cold for the summer so it would have been perfect weather for me.

Bill and Kayleigh in the great room of our hotel watching the World Cup while waiting for our food to cook on the outdoor grill and our laundry in the next room.  We could have been working out, but we weren't.

Sunday I was determined to get out and do some real exercise.  Kayleigh and I got up early and went out for a run by the hotel.  It is located on a big circular road that looks like it will eventually be developed but for now is pretty empty.  We figured out how far we had to go for each mile.  I had been really slacking with my running so I was pretty happy when I ran for 25 minutes straight.  We think I got about 2.5 miles.  I then walked until Kayleigh got in the rest of her run.  

We found the water in Wisconsin to be completely disgusting.  We brought our Brita thinking just filtering the water would be fine but we were wrong.  Once we had to start buying bottled water, we soon realized how much water we actually go through.  It was crazy.

At one point when Kayleigh and I were still together, we came upon two cranes or herons (we aren't sure which) running in front of us.  It was so funny because they kept turning around and honking at us.  They may have thought we were chasing them! I felt really good after the run but then at Bill's race I developed a terrible headache which we think was caused by dehydration.  I made sure to drink a lot more after that but it made me nervous about running in the morning.

Riverwalk

So, you know where this is going!  I barely ran the rest of the vacation!  Day 5 was at Schlitz Park in Milwaukee very close to the Riverwalk so Kayleigh and I wore our running clothes and went for a short run before the race.  Kayleigh went out for 2 or 3 more runs from the hotel in the evenings.  I think she did pretty good considering we had a chunk of our time already scheduled each day.

Kayleigh taking more pictures. See how high up we are?  Our truck is parked down there.  Which means...

We had to walk up and down all these stairs several times.  Not sure if you can tell in the picture but there were cool quotes on the steps.  Didn't make the climb any easier though!

The hotel had a decent gym and it was next to the laundry room so we could have easily gone in there while doing laundry - but we didn't.

It was absolutely freezing the day we were here but we still got a lot of exercise.  First Kayleigh and I went the wrong way trying to get to an overpass and walked about 4 times further than we planned.

Then Bill asked us to walk down this huge hill looking for bottles he threw at the end of the race.  We got all the way down there only to find out someone had already got them so we turned around and went back up.  

My suggestion for getting exercise in while on vacation is simple.  Plan an active vacation.  Even though we didn't get the runs in that we wanted, Kayleigh and I figured out that we walked over 70 miles across the 10 days.  Most of the bike race courses were about a mile around.  We always walked the whole course at least once or twice before Bill's race, several times during it, and often another time after the race.  And there were some decent hills thrown in there.  Plus we had to walk back and forth to the car and sometimes down the road for lunch.  To add to that, we also walked around downtown Oconomowoc (where we stayed), the mall, and a museum.  All that walking along with the few days of running kept Kayleigh fit enough to slip right back into practice with her team when we got home.

So it wasn't what we planned but we all came home feeling fit and healthy.

One of the many pretty lakes in Wisconsin that we walked along.  This one is in Fond Du Lac.

Too Much Stress!

The last couple weeks I've been under a tremendous amount of stress.  I'd love to get it all off my chest but unfortunately it isn't something I can talk about.  What I can talk about though is how I did exactly the wrong thing when all this turmoil began.  I quit exercising and meditating and started eating junk food.  Granted, my junk food isn't nearly as junky as the typical American diet but still it caused my body to get very confused.  I quit sleeping but then only had enough energy to sit around watching TV.

The worst of it is behind me now (I think) so I'm going to make it a priority to get back on track.  I bought plenty of fresh produce last weekend so our meals should be automatically more healthy since I don't want it to go to waste.  Also, I'm off work until next Monday so exercising shouldn't be a problem.

Even though I am disappointed with how I let this issue disrupt my healthy lifestyle, it provided proof that I've been doing the right thing over the past couple years.  Normally it would have taken much less stress to completely mess up my stomach, give me constant headaches, and kick my IBS back into full force misery.  None of that happened.  Yes, my stomach has been very quivery and nervous, but I've been able to eat and overall I've felt pretty good considering the circumstances.  I haven't neglected any of my other activities.  I still get up every morning, pack Kayleigh's lunch, fix breakfast, go to her track meets.  I'm really shocked at how well I managed to compartmentalize that small but extremely stressful part of my life so that it didn't interfer with the rest of my life.  Oh yeah, and poor Kayleigh had her birthday fall in the middle of all of this!

This has been rambling and incoherent but I guess my main point is that although I didn't keep up with my diet and exercise routine over the past couple weeks, the good habits from the last couple years helped get me through this minor set back without too much damage.

I have tons of planned blog posts that I haven't got to this month so I'm going to make those a priority along with getting everything else back on track.  Stay tuned!

March Goals Recap

For March, I set 5 goals for myself.  Overall I'm happy with my results.  Two of them worked out so well I plan to continue.  The first success was drinking a glass of water every morning when  I first get up.  I managed to do that all but two days this month.  Now I'm so used to it, I feel funny if I don't drink water within the first half hour of getting up.

Parking in the back of the parking lot at work started off with a challenge because it was snowing the first day I went to work this month.  I was really tempted to pull into my normal spot but then I stopped myself.  I couldn't mess up a goal on the first day!  So I pulled all the way to the back and after a couple days discovered a hidden bonus.  I was actually able to get out of the parking lot much quicker in the evening because I didn't have to wait for everyone else before I could pull out of my spot.  So I walk a few extra steps and get home several minutes quicker!  Definitely going to continue that one.  There was only one day I parked closer but that was because it was raining and later in the morning I had to go to another location with someone else.  I didn't think it was nice to make her trek across the parking lot in the pouring rain so I parked in my old spot.

The exercising went OK.  I didn't always get it all in but I liked the variety of doing yoga, running and strength workouts.

I didn't meditate nearly as much as I would have liked but I did get more in than usual and I definitely felt calmer.

The sugar - well.... I really only gave this a half-hearted try.  I didn't make any cookies or anything like that this month but I still ate sugar.  I switched it from trying not to eat any sugar to just being aware of how much I was eating.

So overall it was a good month.  I haven't decided yet if I'm going to do something similar in April.  I have a couple hours to figure it out!

New Yoga DVD

I've noticed that a lot of people seem intimidated by yoga.  I always tell everyone that if I can do it, anyone can.  I don't look anything like the instructors but I still get something out of it.  Because I'm not at all flexible, I prefer to stay home instead of taking a class.  I have one yoga DVD that I've been using for years (Yoga for Inflexible People - I knew it was for me when I saw the name!).  I also sometimes record a couple yoga shows on TV or get them from YouTube but those are usually way too hard for me so I only make it part way through before I collapse.  Still I always enjoy yoga so I try to fit it into my regular routine. Over the past few weeks, I've been doing yoga first thing in the morning or right before bed a few times a week.  I've really seen a difference in how I feel both physically and mentally.

I'm usually pretty good about avoiding impulse buys.  A few weeks ago, though, I found myself buying a new yoga DVD from the grocery store.  It was the weirdest thing.  We were walking from the shampoo/makeup area of the store to the grocery section and before I new it, I had detoured to the exercise area and thrown a general yoga DVD in the cart!  Luckily, and much to my surprise, I really like this one.

It's called AM & PM Yoga for Beginners.  It is a little pathetic that I've been doing yoga on and off for about 15 years and yet I'm still at the beginner stage but I still enjoy it.  I've been asked more than once how I can do these poses so many times and yet not become any more flexible.  I seriously have no idea but if I ever manage to actually touch the floor without bending my legs, I'll probably die of shock!

Anyway, I like both the morning and evening routines.  They do exactly what they promise.  The morning routine gets me energized and ready for the day and the evening routine relaxes me and stops me from thinking too much.  I also like that they are short enough that I can squeeze them in first thing in the morning or right before bed.  Another benefit for me is that they don't require a lot of space so I can do the routine anywhere, instead of needing to kick everyone out of the family room.

Some of the poses are challenging for me (does that mean I'm pre-beginner?) but I've been doing them long enough that I know how to modify them on my own.  She provides some modifications but not for some of the more difficult (at least for me) poses.

One of the main benefits for me is that I don't have to think about what routine to do.  I just put the disk in and pick the time of day.  The less decisions I have to make, the more likely I am to exercise so this is a big plus for me. Especially at 5:15 in the morning!

March Goals

Back in December I had my workout goal of 2 hours a week including at least 4 miles of running.  That worked well to keep me motivated for a little bit but then that fell apart and wasn't really motivating me any more.  Kayleigh's track season started a couple weeks ago and Bill is training for his upcoming training camp (for cycling) so I decided I needed to come up with some kind of focus as well.  Last year I had the 5K that I was working towards but I don't really have anything specific like that this year.  Instead of picking one big goal, I decided to pick several enhancement kind of items that I could work on this month.  I'm generally happy with where I'm at right now but there are always small tweaks I can make.  I thought it would be good to have general health improvement actions instead of just exercising.  Here's the plan:

• Do yoga, running and ab workouts each at least two times a week.  I came up with this one because I was considering buying Insanity.  I decided I should prove that I was more dedicated to my current workouts before I spend money on a new one.
• Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning.  I usually drink a lot of water through the day but lately I've been so busy at work, I barely drink anything at all.  Starting the day with a full glass of water should get my day off to a good start.
• Park at the back of the lot at work.  I usually get to work early so a close spot is usually available but that doesn't mean I have to take it. 
• Meditate every day.  I already meditate on a regular basis but I'd like to increase it to daily.  I see a big difference in my stress level when I take the time to slow down for a few minutes.
• Reduce sugar.  That's my hard one!  I'm going to try to cut out most sugar and use only fruit, maple syrup, stevia,  or agave sparingly.  

I've managed to make it through the first two days but we'll see if I can keep it up.  I'm hoping by the end of March I'll see an actual improvement in my overall health, fitness and mental attitude.  

Why I Hate Treadmill Programs

I find it interesting that when we were shopping for our treadmill a couple years ago, one of the selling points always mentioned was the number of programs included with the machine.  I started out trying to use the various options but soon figured out that I did better adjusting the speed and incline as I went along.

Recently Bill has been adamant about using the two open program slots to develop something that Kayleigh and I could use.  About a week ago, I decided to give it a try.  I told him what I liked and didn't like and he tried to adjust it.  I gave it a try, I really did, but I've now decided that programs just aren't for me.

I understand the philosophy behind them. You are forced to react when the speed changes so you can't slip into your comfort zone.  What I realized as I tried to work with the program Bill developed is that we have different goals with our workouts.  He is always trying to push himself to do more and improve.  This makes sense since he races on his bike.  Obviously he needs to be able to react to unexpected changes in speed. The same goes for Kayleigh with her cross country.

As I was fighting with the program and getting very frustrated, I realized I run because it relaxes me, increases my confidence and reduces my stress level.  Dealing with the program did the exact opposite of what I was trying to accomplish!  I have never been an athlete.  I just want to be healthy.

So from now on I'm going to stick to my own way of running.  Go faster when I feel like I can, try to push myself, but slow down and relax if I need to.

Fun Treadmill Workout?

I promised myself that when I finally found time to post, I would not mention the weather so I'm going to pretend that 2 feet of snow and -15 degree weather for 3 weeks is normal! Plus I refuse to post a picture of this craziness.

I'd like to say that the reason I haven't posted anything in 2 weeks (or has it been 3?) is because I've been working out so much that there just hasn't been the time.  Unfortunately I've barely worked out.  It started with an issue with my elbow.  I messed it up a few months ago and it has really been bothering me so I've been restricted to basically just running.  There may be some people in Chicago running outside but I am not one of them!  I don't hate the treadmill the way some people do (my daughter) but I get bored with it easily.  Of course part of it was just plain laziness, too.

I was already planning to run tonight when I saw that Patty Rivas posted what she called a "Fun Treadmill Workout" on Google + so I decided to give it a try.  I had to adapt it a little bit because I'm out of shape but it was still a challenge and a really nice change.  Click here for her blog post describing her workout.  Here is how I adjusted it.

I started out with a walking warm up for the first song which turned out to be almost exactly 5 minutes long.  Then I ran the next song at 5.3 and bumped it up to 6 for the chorus.  I quickly realized this was going to be harder than I expected so for the next song I dropped back down to a walk with an incline of 1% and bumped it up to 3% at the chorus.  I continued this back and forth for 5 songs and then ended with a walking cool down.  I did a total of 33 minutes and 2.44 miles.

I liked the unpredictable part of it.  Some songs repeat the chorus way to many times and others had what seemed like unusually long ones which forced me to really push myself.  The other thing I liked about this workout is that depending on what song I start with, it could be a different workout every time.  I'm definitely going to use this to try to change up my runs from time to time.  Thanks Patty!

Weekly Exercise Challenge

I almost forgot to post this week.  As expected, I didn't meet my 2 hour with 4 miles of running goal last week but I did manage to get in two really good workouts.  Considering the week we had with the holiday and funeral, I'm pretty happy with it.

Total workout time - 1.5 hours
Total run distance - 2.5 miles

This challenge was originally going to go until the end of the year and then I planned to change it.  Since I've had a rough couple of weeks, though, I'm going to leave my goal where it is for now.  I'll re-evaluate it in a few weeks.

I also continued to do my plank challenge everyday but I've been unable to hold it longer than 1 minute 32 seconds.  I'm continuing to try though.  I missed last Friday because we were at the wake all day and I was exhausted mentally and physically once we got home.

Day Late and a Dollar Short

I didn't get a chance to post my weekly exercise challenge results yesterday.  I don't have the exact numbers at the moment but I can say that I didn't come close on the run distance or overall time.  Usually I don't think sitting on the couch watching TV is a good excuse to not exercising but last week it was.  My husband's mother has been battling cancer this year and passed away Saturday.  Last week we knew the end was near and I felt like I was being more useful watching TV and talking with Bill than I would have been on the treadmill.  This week probably won't go much better but that is OK.

On top of his mom, we also lost his sister's father-in-law the week before and my aunt has only been given a couple days.  It has not been a happy few weeks for our families but I've been overwhelmed by the support from our friends.  It has meant so much.  Today I went into work for half a day and one of my co-workers brought in a taco dip (vegan!) for me to take home so we'd have something to eat around the house while we made all the funeral arrangements.  I've only been at this job for 5 months but I have made such good friends already.  They have really been thoughtful and supportive and I can't begin to express my gratitude.

Blurry but delicious taco dip

The only positive exercise accomplishment I had last week was that I did my plank challenge every day.  I was amazed on Friday when I held it for 1.5 minutes.  I never thought I could do that!  Unfortunately tonight I was supposed to do 2 minutes but I completely collapsed at 1 minute 32 seconds.  I've decided to keep trying to reach the 2 minutes.  When I do, I'll continue the challenges from there so it will definitely take me longer than 30 days.  On the bright side, Bill tried it with me tonight and only made it 27 seconds so I feel pretty good about my time!

Winter Exercise Goal - Week 3

I just finished week three and once again I met my goal:

Total workout time - 2 hours 18 minutes
Total run distance - 4.25 miles

Every week I think I'm not going to reach the running goal but so far I've been able to pull it off.  Friday I struggled through my run but ended up getting 2 miles.  That left me with only half a mile needed on Saturday.  I really need my recovery days so even though it wasn't a long distance, I was worried about running two days in a row.

Since it was such a short distance though, I decided to push my speed.  The guidelines I was using last winter on the treadmill were 5 MPH for slow, 5.5 for comfort and 5.8 to push myself.  Recently I've noticed that anything below 6 MPH seems really slow.  So yesterday I ran the half mile at 6.5 just to see it I could do it.  Once I met that challenge and walked a little bit, I decided to go a quarter mile more but keep increasing the speed to see the fastest I could handle.  Shockingly, I got up to 7.4!  I possibly could have gone faster but I got scared and had to slow down.

Overall, I feel a lot better.  My headaches, upset stomach, and general tiredness have mostly gone away while my stress at work has increased so I think the regular exercise is definitely working.

One of my co-workers is doing a plank challenge so I decided to start that last week as well.  I had my daughter pick a random 30-day challenge off the Internet and she picked this one:

I started this past Monday.  Planks are probably my biggest weakness so I'm not sure how I will do at this.  As you can see (maybe) I did 45 seconds today but by the end of the week, I'm supposed to be at 1.5 minutes.  What?!  We'll see!

Eggless Experiment Revisited & Week 2 Exercise Goal

Last night around 8 PM I decided that I had to have brownies.  I have several vegan brownie recipes that are good but they are never the same as a box mix.  We had discovered earlier this year that Betty Crocker makes a mix that doesn't contain dairy so we've had a couple boxes of that on hand for when I needed brownies quickly.  We've always used Egg Beaters with it though.

This past summer, Kayleigh and I tested several egg substitute options by replacing the one egg in chocolate chip cookies.  Last night we decided to try our favorite to replace the two eggs called for with the brownie mix.  Our favorite of the five options we tried was the arrowroot powder so we used 2 tablespoons of that mixed with 6 tablespoons water.

I didn't notice any difference in the taste or texture.  Kayleigh thought they actually tasted better.  So now we know that will work for replacing two eggs as well as it did for one.  I'm going to keep my eyes open for a recipe that calls for 3 eggs for a future test. Usually the more eggs you are replacing, the less successful the results so we'll see.

 As for my weekly exercise goal, here are my results for this week:

12/1 - 12/7
Total workout time: 2 hours 8 minutes
Total run distance: 4 miles

I met my goal again but I almost didn't.  We are trying to get a lot of house projects done before Christmas this year so our house has looked like this lately:

That has made it a little harder to get my workouts in.  Last night I knew I still needed 1 mile of running and about 15 minutes which is obviously doable but I thought brownies sounded better than running at 8 PM!  Then when we were about to put them in the oven, I started to feel guilty so on the spur of the moment, I jumped on the treadmill and told Kayleigh to call me when the brownies were done.  So my goal was met and I got to eat brownies too!

Week One - Exercising Results

I've completed the first week of my winter exercising program. My goal was to workout for 2 hours including 4 miles of running.  I immediately regretted the 4 mile part of the goal but I decided early in the week that even if I didn't reach it, I'd leave that out there as a goal.  I wanted it to be reasonable based on my schedule but to also a challenge.

I was absolutely shocked when I went through my twitter posts this week and found that I had actually met the entire goal.  I had to re-add it several times to make sure!  My results are as follows:

11/24 - 11/30

Total workout time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Total run distance: 4 miles

Shocking!  I'm going to keep the goal at this level for the rest of 2013 and then re-evaluate and hopefully increase it a little.  My main purpose right now is to get back in the habit of exercising on a regular basis.  And on that note - I need to go workout!

New Goal

One thing I know about myself is that I'm very goal oriented.  Lately I've had a lot of headaches and problems sleeping and just generally not feeling well.  A big reason for this is that I have a stressful job that only gets more stressful at year end.  But I think another big issue is that I haven't been exercising.  I keep wanting to get back into it but then I'm so tired, I decide not to. That makes me even more tired and it gets into a never-ending circle.

This morning I managed to get on the treadmill for 30 minutes.  I had planned to just walk but then a good song came up and ended up running for 5 minutes in the middle of it.  Of course, today is Sunday so I have more time to fit in a workout.  The problem comes during the week.

That is why I've decided to set a specific exercising goal from now to the end of the year.  I thought it would work best to set it as a weekly goal so that I have some flexibility in my week.  I went through several ideas but I've decided to keep it simple and aim for 2 hours total exercising during the week with at least 4 miles of running.  It doesn't sound like much but it is way more than I have been doing.

I'm going to monitor my time from Sunday to Saturday so each Sunday I'll post my results for the week.  I'm hoping this will get me back in the habit and then I can set a new goal after the new year.

Starting over

This is going to be two posts in one.  I'll start with what I had planned but then I have to end with some bragging since Kayleigh just walked in from her school sports banquet.

First things first though.  I have been slacking like crazy with my workouts.  I had convinced myself that running around at cross country meets and being generally active would keep me in shape.  I was wrong!  Tonight since Bill was on a bike ride and Kayleigh was at her banquet, I decided I should work out instead of my normal sit-on-the-couch evening routine.

I started with a basic 10 minute ab workout that I used to do like it was nothing.  Just a minute in, I knew I was in trouble because it was hard!  Then I went down to the treadmill.  I walked for 5 minutes, ran for 10 and then walked 5 more.  After how my workout started I was really worried about running but it felt great.  It was hard but I actually ran faster than I thought  I would and generally felt good throughout.

The best part is knowing I actually did something worthwhile tonight.  I'm going to have to remember this feeling and do this more often.

Kayleigh with her hair down.  She NEVER has her hair down!

Now on to Kayleigh.  She did so good in Cross Country this year.  For the last two years she had been the slowest on the team by quite a bit.  She tried so hard and she was slowing improving but then this past summer she made a huge leap forward.  The team had a lot of new members this year so she had to compete to make varsity, which she did.  That earned her and "M" which means she gets a Letterman's jacket as one of her presents this year.

She also got a patch for Scholar Athlete.  She should have had this every year but she always had one class that would cause her problems and drop her GPA just below the required 3.5.

But the one I'm most excited about is the "Most Improved" award.  I was hoping she would get this but I wasn't sure how much the other girls improved this time.  When her coach announced this award he said "This runner knocked 5 minutes off her 5K time.  You may not understand what that means but it is a really big deal."  I'm ridiculously proud (and happy I ran tonight or I'd have felt extra lazy!).

Active day - I am tired!

It was bad enough that I returned to a full-time job.  Then it started getting dark earlier.  That means that I basically come home every night and just sit around on the couch.  It is one thing to be too lazy to exercise but seriously, too lazy to blog?  That is really lazy!

Actually the main reason I haven't posted is that I have three main topics on this blog.  First, exercise.  I already commented about how I can't seem to figure out how to work and exercise all in the same day.  Second, food.  I now work until 5:00 which means my husband does all the cooking during the week which means I'm never in the kitchen.  Third, happiness.  Back to the working thing again.  I feel like I don't have time to think about things that make me happy because I spend all my time working or staring blankly at the TV.

But that all changed today because it was parent/teacher conferences.  I took the day off since Kayleigh was off and it was fantastic.  First of all, the weather was beautiful.  It started out around 50 and got up to almost 80 but it was sunny all day.

Kayleigh had cross country practice at 9:00 this morning so I dropped her off and then went to the park for a run.  I was a little worried because I haven't worked out the last couple weeks and I can't even remember the last time I went for a run.  I have been running around a lot at her meets but that isn't the same thing.  So I decided to start off slow and see how it went.  I ended up running 3 miles in about 35 or 36 minute which isn't too bad.  I then walked for about 5 minutes then ran a cool down of 1 more mile.  It took a total of about 50 minutes.  I felt like I could have gone even longer just because it was so nice to be outside running.
Then we went out to lunch with a friend of mine who Kayleigh has seen in years.  After that we had to go to the conferences which was actually really fast.  The only teacher I wanted to talk to wasn't there so we grabbed her report card, talked to her coach for a minute, then headed out.

Kayleigh's cross country team has sectionals next Tuesday.  This is the first year she is in varsity so her first time competing.  Her coach gave us a map of the course because it is different from last year.  We decided to head over to the park and check out the new route.  We ended up getting really confused in the woods so hopefully they mark it well.  We walked about 2 miles probably and raced up and down the hill.

It felt so good be outside today and moving around instead of sitting at a desk.  But, after all that activity, I am exhausted!  Think I'll head back to the couch - but with less guilt today than usual.

Since I haven't been blogging the last two months I should add that Kayleigh is having a fantastic season.  She has knocked about 4-5 minutes off her 5K time which is amazing.  Here she is in action.  That is her in purple.  This meet finishes on the track which is fun to watch.

Here is her team after that same meet.  It was an Invite with about 20 teams and they got 3rd place.  Kayleigh is #648.

We are very proud of her and I love to see her new-found confidence in her running.

Vegan Pesto

My daughter's cross country season started this past Saturday.  Her training has been going really well this summer so we were all very optimistic.  In practice, she has managed to take about 4 minutes off her best time from last year.

Then we got to the meet.  It rained off and on all morning (even though it wasn't predicted) which made a terrible course even worse.  The school is under construction and at one point right at  the beginning and end of the race, there was an absolute mud pit.  I can't believe they didn't either re-route the race or at least put straw or something down.  You sunk straight into it.  I realize this is cross country and it gets muddy but this was ridiculous.  The meet was at my husband's old school and he was throwing a fit.

The aborted warm up

Before the races, everyone started their warm ups and as quickly as they could moved away from the course.  Shoes were at best weighted down with mud and at worst stuck in the mud completely.  One of her teammates actually lost a shoe and had to go back for it during her race.  So obviously all this slowed them down.  Still I thought Kayleigh's stride looked really good  each time she went past me and her times seemed strong.  I wanted to make sure I caught her final sprint so when she got to the 3K mark, I headed to the finish line.  As soon a she turned and started her final sprint, I noticed that she was crying.  By the time she finished and got over to me, she was basically hysterical.  Her time was 26:21 (which is her new PR, by the way) but she had it in her head she was going to get under 24 minutes.  I kept telling her that on that mess of a course, that was a really good time but it didn't make her feel any better.  About a minute later, here came a teammate, crying as well!  I guess it shows that they were really trying but I wish they could have been happier with their runs.  They have new coaches this year and they did a great job trying to perk them up after the race.

Kayleigh after about 1 mile

Unfortunately, most of the team is now sick from hanging out in the rain for a few hours.  And their second meet is tomorrow.  Thank goodness today is Labor Day because Kayleigh has basically slept the whole day.  I'm not sure how she will make it through school and then a meet tomorrow.  Those are long days when you feel well.  I wish her season could have started off better.

A sad and muddy team

About a week ago, she asked for pasta tonight to get ready for her race so, even though she didn't really feel like eating, I went ahead and made pasta.  Jacqueline over at tinnedtomatoes.com posted a pizza recipe with pesto which has had me dreaming of pesto for a day now!  So I headed into the backyard for a big bunch of basil and made some to go with the pasta tonight.   I love adding pesto to just about everything.  At the end of the summer, I usually cut all the remaining basil and freeze as much pesto as I can to get me through the winter since everything is the store contains cheese.

Pesto

3 cups basil

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup olive oil

Put all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor.  Pulse until everything is finely chopped.  With the processor running, drizzle in the oil until the desired consistency is reached.

Rotary Ramble

I should begin by saying I didn't start running until I was in my 40's and before today I had never participated in any kind of sporting or athletic event.  That is why I really can't believe that I ran in a 5K today, didn't have to walk any of it, and finished in 33 minutes and 40 seconds. That time is so shocking to me, I had to keep looking at my watch when people asked because it just didn't seem possible!  Everyone (online and in person) kept telling me I could do it and that it would be fun.  And guess what?  I did it and it was fun!

I'm now going to go into a lot of details about my day.  Feel free to just look at the pictures (that my husband was so nice to take)!

Look how relaxed I am!

We were up at 5 this morning so that we could be out the door shortly after 6.  I was very surprised to not feel nervous at all and had no problem eating breakfast.  Yesterday my stomach was full of butterflies but they disappeared sometime during the night.  I wasn't about to question it!  Unfortunately, I have problems with motion sickness and this race was about an hour away so half way there I started not to feel well.  It didn't get too bad though and before I knew it, we were out of the car and I was fine again.

Registration was a bit of a mess.  I got my stuff fine but just as we walked into the gym, someone came up to my daughter and her teammate (after seeing their shirts) and said that their coach had already picked up their bags so they only needed to get their numbers.  Kayleigh got her number and told them she didn't need a bag.  Angelic on the other hand, didn't get anything.  We were confused about why the coach would get one number and not the other and had a feeling he didn't have Kayleigh on his list but we went with what they told us at registration.

The three of us went down the finish straight-away to check it out since it was Angelic's first year.  I ran back for my warm up and immediately decided that it was not as cool as they predicted and changed into shorts.  A text message came through from other teammates so they headed off to find them and Bill and I just walked around.

Kayleigh and Angelic before the race.

There were two stressful things that happened minutes before start time.  First, the expressway was closed down and they were re-routing traffic through this little town and right through the start line.  They said they could hold off the race a few minutes but then the traffic would just have to wait.  Unfortunately, the closure caused a lot of runners to get there late so they came in and basically went straight to the start line.  I was very happy we left so early!  The other thing was that Kayleigh's coach did not have her bag so she had to rush in, get it from registration and then run out to our car and still get a warm up in.  It was more confusion than she would have liked but it all worked out in the end.

Kayleigh and Angelic are off!

I got in line way in the back with the other 11 minute/mile runners.  I was trying to look around for someone who looked like a good person to pace off of.  There were a couple people right by me and based on the parts of their conversation I could overhear, I thought they'd be a good option.

And here I come.  Why do I look like a giant?

The race started really abruptly because we were so far back, we didn't realize they were even giving instructions.  All of a sudden everyone just started running.  The second I started moving, I felt pretty good.  It wasn't very far down the road before you come to the first turn and by that point, we had all slotted into a decent position.  I've never run in a huge group like that so it was a little unnerving to try and weave through people.  It probably helped in the long run though because it kept me from starting off too fast.

Kayleigh (with Angelic hiding behind her) right before the 1 mile point.

I reached the 1 mile mark without too much trouble but still I was surprised to see that my time was 10:36 even with the slow start.  I tried to slow down a little and fell in next to someone who I then stuck with through most of the race.  The first part of the race is a really long straight road so I was happy once we turned.  Plus this road was shaded so that was extra nice.  My cousins used to live at the end of the road so from this point, I was very familiar with the route.  I was very shocked with how fast we got to the next turn. The road seemed so much longer when we were kids!

A few minutes later, here I come.  Still smiling and you can tell I'm running because my hair is swinging!

Right after the turn we hit the two mile mark and my husband seemed to pop out of nowhere with the camera.  I was shocked to see him because there isn't really any short cuts through this route so I couldn't figure out how he got there when I had passed him earlier on the other end of the route (turns out he just ran really fast!).  I did my second mile in 11:02  which is still pretty fast for me.  At this point, the person I had been running with fell off but I still felt OK.  Every time I saw someone stop to walk it just motivated me to keep going.

The girls are starting to look tired and Kayleigh's hair has broke free from it's bun!

Not sure why I'm still smiling.  Maybe by this point I'm delirious.

After a couple more turns, I was on the same road as the finish line.  Unfortunately there are a couple hills to get through before you are done.  Now I was starting to hurt and I was really tired.  The 3 mile marker seemed to be so far away but I finally reached it in 11:02 (again!).  At this point I wanted to stop so bad but I could see the finish line and, even worse, I could hear cheering.  There was no way I could stop!

Ok, now I'm getting tired.

Apparently Kayleigh and Angelic came down the road after they finished to find me.  Kayleigh said she was running next to me on the side of the road but I didn't even see her until Angelic said "Good job Mom"!  Nice that I'm spotting Angelic but not my own daughter!  I was obviously reaching my limit at this point.

Seriously - where is that finish line?

I wanted so badly to sprint at the end but my legs just wouldn't cooperate.  I was never so happy as the moment I stepped across that finish line.  Bill, Kayleigh and Angelic quickly found me and told me that both of them had got their best times as well.  Kayleigh said she had a really good final sprint and I was a little upset I couldn't see it.

My attempt at a sprint.

Thank goodness!  Stopping my watch and staring in shock at the time.

I quickly found somewhere to sit since I was starting to feel like my legs were going to buckle.  I was out of breath, too, but after a few minutes, I was feeling almost normal again.  I really couldn't believe it was over and I had done it!  Some of Kayleigh's other teammates came over at that point and they tried to convince me to do a cool down run with them.  I told them "That run across the finish line was my last running step for today"!

Bill went over to check the final rankings.  Turns out I was 8th place in the 40-44 age group.  What?!  Granted we don't know at this point how many people were in this group but since there were about 750 runners total, I'm hoping it was more than 10!  One of Kayleigh's teammates got 3rd in her age group and her coach's son (who is about 11 years old) got 2nd in his.

Bill road his bike home so I had to drive but felt pretty good.  Until around 2 this afternoon, that is, when I fell asleep on the couch!  I didn't feel too bad though.  Kayleigh has done this a lot more than me but shortly after getting home, we found her asleep while holding the tablet in her hands and a video still playing!  I guess she was a little tired!

So in closing I would say that if anyone is questioning whether they should sign up for a 5K, I'm going to say YES YOU SHOULD! (But you may not want to plan anything for the rest of the day!)

Getting ready for my 5K

Overall I've been happy with my running even though my exercising in general has decreased dramatically since I returned to work.  The first week, the only thing I wanted to do when I got home was sit on the couch and watch TV but now I can actually continue to function for a couple more hours.  Still I'm glad I reached my goal of running 3 miles before I returned to work. I needed that confidence boost.

This Saturday is my 5K run.  I'm not sure if I'm more nervous about running or the fact that I have to get up, drive about an hour and then run in a huge group of people with tons of spectators!  I'm trying not to think about it too much.

To get ready for this weekend, I decided that tonight would be my last run.  I planned on running nice and slow just to stretch my legs.  When I got to the park, though, I felt so good I just had to go.  On the first lap (2/3 mile) I beat my best time by one minute.  I still felt good but decided I really should slow down.  I ended up doing 2 miles in 21:35 which is still pretty fast considering my mile times are usually 11 to 11:30.  Overall, this gave me a big confidence boost for the weekend.

Tomorrow night I'm planning to do some strength training and then Friday night some yoga so I'm nice and relaxed (yeah, right!) for Saturday morning.

Kayleigh has morning training now so she didn't run with me but she did go to the park and took some pictures.


I don't look quite a miserable as I used to!

These clouds created a beautiful picture but they are also bringing with them beautiful cool weather for the weekend with low humidity.  I was scared to death we'd have miserable weather with it being August.  This has to be a good sign!

The family that exercises together...

Or at least at the same time!  This evening it made me feel good to see Kayleigh heading of to cross country practice and Bill on a bike ride as I was heading out to run.  I'm slowly catching on to working and exercising on the same days.

This was my first day at work that felt like real work, not just walking around meeting people.  Half way through the afternoon I got a headache and it is still there.  I came home and immediately put on work out clothes.  After eating, I really wanted to sit on the couch and watch TV but I didn't.  I made myself get up and go for a run.  I figured I couldn't skip it when everyone else was out exercising and the weather has miraculously dropped down to the 70's! 

So as much as I wanted to stay on the couch, I didn't.  I went to the track and ran a lap, walked a lap, etc until I reached 3 miles.  My lap times were better than I thought I could do.  And now I'm back home, it isn't even 8PM yet, and I can watch TV without any guilt!

This picture has nothing to do with anything.  I just thought it was pretty and hate to have a post without a picture!  We saw this flower this weekend and thought it was so pretty, we went and bought one to plant at home.