Marathon Training & Weigh In

Happy to report that my ankle has been feeling much better. Not perfect, but better. I did my long run Saturday and then took Sunday off. 

I did a Labor Day 5k on Monday with my neighbor. I was not worried about my time and only needed the mileage. I stayed with my friend for the entire race trying to encourage her. This was her second 5k and she had her fourth baby two months ago!! I remember when a 5k was difficult for me! My running group put on the 5k and it was nice to support our only fundraiser. It was super humid and warm but I enjoyed it:)

I have been so busy the past few days!!

Sunday my husband and I went to the movies and saw Lawless. Not great, but not terrible. My husband enjoyed the movie and I enjoyed the candy!

I did some Fall decorating

I had to get this guy to the vet!!

My sweet sister sent these to me a work yesterday!! She just wanted to put a smile on my face:) It worked!!

This is not easy for me to post!! What the heck?? I have had several people tell me that I can expect some weight gain during marathon training. Honestly, this is not what I expected!! I do not think this gain has much to do with my training. Looking back over the past week, I can think I several things that I just ate because I felt like it. More stress eating then marathon eating!!!

My food journal for today 9/5.

First timer! I worked until 6pm today, so around 4, I walked over to Starbucks for my tea refill(4th of the day) and they offered me a free drink. I have heard so many people rave about this drink that I had to give it a try. It was really really good!!!

My husband has different work hours now, so our dinner is much later then I am use to. Not sure how this will work out since most nights its just him and I. I may have to start eating earlier, before he gets home. I have gotten so use to eating around 5 or 5:30. Eating around 7:30 is a big difference!!

I hope to try out a new yoga studio tomorrow afternoon. I really think that this will be good for me and it has been about a year since my last yoga class. I will let you know how it goes!!! Tomorrow I hope to post about my future goals:)

I am so looking forward to Fall weather!! Uggs, hoodies, hot chocolate and bonfires!

Productivity

John and I were up bright and early this morning. My ankle was sore from my run yesterday but not as bad as it had been last Wednesday morning, so I was happy about that. I have a five miler planned in the afternoon tomorrow, so I may get it taped again to see if that will help. Today is a rest day for my ankle for sure.

Breakfast was a stop at Panera. I was still in my flannel PJs, so my husband went in and grabbed a few multi grain bagels. We sat in the Jeep and enjoyed them before going thru the Starbucks drive thru. I wanted to take my husband for a little drive this morning. Since joining my running group about 8 months ago, I have wanted to show him some of the routes we run. He could not believe some of the hills we endure and was not too happy with some of the very narrow streets. I assured him that since we run so early in the morning the traffic is very very light. I was excited to show him where we run and I know that he is proud of me:)

Once we got back to the house it was time to get busy. Since the weather in MD today was kinda crazy (one minute it was sunny and beautiful, the next it was pouring down rain), it was not worth making plans to be outdoors. First up was the pantry. I completely emptied it. Then I vacuumed every crumb I could find before organizing/tossing and putting everything back. The hall closet was next and then I tackled the large shoe bucket in the garage. I cannot begin to tell you how many shoes we have with so many girls! We have always taken our shoes off in the garage before entering our house. This is why we have a "shoe bucket." Seriously, the flip flop situation is out of control!!! I had someone say that my garage looked like an orphanage because of all the shoes! I had laundry going most of the afternoon only stopping to switch things to the dryer and folding. This job lead me to several drawers in the kitchen. I have always had a "school" drawer. Well, I went through that drawer, and by the time I was done it was empty! I no longer have a school drawer. Tomorrow is the first day of school for our county, and for the first time in 20 years I will not have child going............wow.

Lunch was a Subway veggie on whole wheat with a bag of baked chips.

My treat for the day. I love a York every once in a while.

Dinner started with a salad.

I also enjoyed a bowl of high fiber Progresso bean soup.

Grabbed an apple on the way up tonight for my dessert. I have lots of laundry to put away. Today was a super productive day and will make going to work in the morning much easier. 

Do you enjoy a productive weekend??

 

College Move and Change

I have been super busy the past few days. We got our youngest daughter moved in to college on Thursday. The baby of the family. It is hard to believe that she old enough!!!! I am not the type of mom that takes their child to college, and then weeps the entire way home. I have never cried or been sad to see them off. If anything, I am SO EXCITED and SO PROUD. You need to understand, I was married at 18, had a mortgage payment and my firstborn at 19. I have never been on my own and I do not remember a time when I was free to worry only about myself. Seeing my girls go off to school makes me so excited for their futures and what the world has in store for them. Trust me, I have no regrets for the choices I have made. Everyone wants better for their children. College is one of those things.

Before pic of Taylor's dorm room.

Things are coming together.

Lots of pictures going up.

Not sure dad was going to let her go!

Not sure I could either!

It was a beautiful day on campus. Thankfully, she is only 3 hours away. She is attending Salisbury University on the eastern shore. Our oldest daughter graduated here, plus she are only 30 minutes from the beach!!

Time for us to leave. Her older sisters will be checking up on her frequently!! It is almost like Taylor has not one mother. but four. Older sisters have a way of doing that. I am blessed that they all love each other so much. It is nice that they all have each other.

Stopped at the gas station for some food to hold us over until we could stop for lunch. The apple was awesome and who does not love popchips?? 100 calories of goodness!

Bridges is located on Kent Island. It is a beautiful restaurant, but we enjoy sitting outside by the water. 

 Delicious appetizers.

White pizza. So so good but could not finish it all. John was happy to polish it off for me.

We did so much talking here today. How fast our girls have grown and what is next for us. No fall sports for me to rush out of work for. No back school night. No meet the teacher night. No carpools. No bus schedules, Things will be different for me for sure. No more kids in the public school system. We could sell the house. Downsize? I for one, will be picking up more hours at work. Yes, I feel much "change" in the air.

I painted my toenails blue just to prove to myself that I am still "cool" even though my youngest is now in college!! 

My husband took me out for a "frozen yogurt date!" Not sure if frozen yogurt is good pre running food, but I pretended it was.

My ankle continued to be sore, but was feeling better after 3 full days of rest. This morning, I met a few girls from my running group bright and early, 6:45 to head out for a ten mile run. I was nervous starting out and my ankle felt so bad, I almost returned to my car to just cry it out. I told my group that it was feeling really bad but I wanted to see "how far I could go." It was not pretty. 

I did it!! Ten miles was on my training program. I did have to walk at times (mostly the downhills) but I managed. Hopefully, I did not do anymore damage to my ankle. If I really thought it was worse I would have stopped. Tonight it feels sore but not terrible.  It was a beautiful morning run with cooler temps and that was awesome!!

My daughter and her husband had a wedding to attend tonight, so we got to babysit this little guy. Seriously, how cute it is???? We all fought over him the entire evening. What fun!!!

Speedwork Tuesday

The past few days have been really good. Since my 13 miler on Saturday, I decided to take it easy on Sunday and Monday.  I would have done some cross training Monday, but my ankle was feeling sore so I figured I would give it some rest. 

Breakfast. Seriously, if you have not tried the Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Clif bar you really should.

Lunch. PB sandwich on ww, string cheese and Triscuits.

After lunch I wanted something sweet and this was in my purse. Seriously, some of these bars taste like a real candy bar. These could be very dangerous for some people to keep in the house or their purse. Plus, the calories were as bad as a REAL candy bar. I still ate it! Should have saved my calories!!!!

An hour before my speed work at the track, I made myself a green smoothie. This was the first time that I have tired the almond milk. I know, surprise surprise, but I have not tried it. I added a banana, lots of spinach, the almond milk, PB2 and a few ice cubes. It was AWESOME!!! Trust me, you do not taste the spinach. Then it was time for me to head to the track.

7 mile speed work at the local high school track. I met Jen from my running group. I was concerned with how my stomach would feel after the smoothie, but I had NO problems. I have enjoyed the past 3 weeks meeting at the HS once a week. It is something different and good training. I always feel like I have "one" pace. Doing the speed work has shown me that I can push myself farther then I think. I also love my Garmin and it came with the heart rate monitor. Honestly, I have used it once and hated it!! After today, I really need to get my manual out and read up on it and give it another try. Did you seen the show Extreme Edition Weight Loss on ABC a few weeks back? It airs on Sunday night and the trainer brought in his wife for a difficult woman, Sally, that was trying to loose weight. It showed how Sally thought she was working to her maximum potential, but not according to her heart rate monitor!! I think this is what I am doing!!! So tonight, I am going to be reading up on my monitor so I am prepared for my next run. I also need to work on strength training if I am ever going to improve. I will let you know how it goes.

I enjoyed a nice quiet dinner all ALONE tonight!! It was a nice treat. I made myself a salmon burger (bought a box of them frozen 120 calories and it was amazing) on a light english muffin topped with a 40 calorie slice of colby cheese, a large salad, with fresh strawberries. DELISH!!

Think I will go enjoy a warm quiet bath while I still can.

My Saturday

My Saturday started off super early when my alarm went off at 5:15am. I was meeting my girlfriend for a long run and we wanted to beat the heat!! 12 miles was on the agenda. We mapped out our run and on my way I stopped and planted some water bottles along our route. 

6 miles in and the sweat has appeared. We stopped at a local park to use the bathrooms. Our run was very HILLY and thanks to Krista I contoured them all. Since joining my running group I have really enjoyed not running with music. The conversation with the other runners makes the time go by so much faster, not to mention their encouragement when you feel like you have had enough!!

Woohoo 12 miles done!! 

Breakfast was 2 eggs/1 egg white and 2 slices of whole wheat toast.

After I showered I put on my compression socks and then did some foam rolling. The foam rolling has really helped my IT band and I hope it continues. Not much else on the agenda, so I got in a nap, enjoyed watching some Olympics and got some laundry done. 

Saturday night we went to a surprise 30th birthday party for Stacey (middle). She is a PTA at my office and so sweet. I love working with her. Oh, to be 30 again!!!! It was at a beautiful restaurant about a half hour from our house called Dutch's Daughter. We have heard great things about the food, but we have never been there. I really wanted to take some pics of the food but the room was so dim I knew I would have to use my flash and my hub would have killed me! It was a fun night and she was surprised for sure!!

Hope everyone else had an awesome Saturday!