Mish Mash

Oh man...I hate that such a negative post has been looming on my blog over almost 2 months!  Time to change that and include a quick update on what's going on in our lives.  Such a busy time for this little family!

Ethan
Man, this kid is growing so fast.  He is at such an awesome age (16 months) and he really is so so smart.  He has TONS of words and new this week:  bubbles, outside, balloon, and yummy.  Our Parents as Teachers Educator came over and confirmed that Ethan is as much as a genius that we expected :)  (Don't all parents think their child is the smartest and cutest on the planet?!)  Life with him is just so amazing right now.  I'm not coming down from this "Mommy High" anytime soon!  I just gobble up every minute with him that I can and love every second.


Mike
Oh, my poor husband.  He has been working so sooooo sooo hard lately.  He has been burning the candle from both ends for awhile now and today marks the start of his crazy wedding season.  Pretty much from now to November, he will be shooting weddings and sessions every day of every weekend.  He has been working all day at his full time job, then he comes home to work on getting our house ready to go on the market, and then stays up late with those projects or works on his photography.  He has done such INCREDIBLE work around the house by fixing every little issue that has come up, painting, landscaping, and our house looks great!  I don't know how he balances all of his work, our house, and being such an awesome daddy and husband. 


The House
Our house will officially be on the market next Sunday and we will have our first open house.  I can't believe this is happening.  The POD will be picked up on Tuesday, the photographer will come on Wednesday, we will have a garage sale on Saturday, and then open house on Sunday.  Pretty incredible!  As I have mentioned before, leaving our "small town" Kirkwood will be very hard.  But we are excited about a couple of bigger homes that we have found that are closer to our parents and my work.  We know it will be a sad transition but one that is necessary for our family.  (The picture below was on our first day in our home in 2008.)


Running
Ohhhh, running.  Training for the half marathon was going really well.  UNTIL a few weeks ago.  After I ran, I had a lot of aching pain in my right knee.  I gave it a rest and tried again the next week.  Same thing and I was barely able to walk for 24 hours.  I iced it and took ibuprofen and it the pain went away quickly.  I decided to give it one last shot today.  My sister and I were attempting 7 miles in Forest Park (and in the back of my head, I knew my knee wasn't going to make it.)  It started aching at 1.7 miles but I wanted to try to get a bit further.  I had to stop at about 3.2 miles because of shooting pain.  I am so disappointed.  I've never had knee pain and I've been running off and on for about 4 years.  I'm going to my chiropractor on Monday (he also specializes in sports medicine) to see if this is the end of running for me.  I have a feeling that it is.  I cried when I had to stop and my sister had to finish the run without me.  I could have done it.  The rest of my body and my mind could have done it.  Why why why is my knee failing me now :( 
*I've decided to describe the pain since I have a lot of runners that read and comment!  Help me out, ladies.  The pain starts a couple of miles in.  It is the outside of my right kneecap.  It generally aches and today was the first day with shooting pain.  When I get home and rest, it starts to feel stiff and it very painful to bend it.  It is especially painful to go downstairs, but it is ok to go up.  I can bend my knee when pulling it forward (like at a 90 degree angle) but it really hurts when I bend it backwards (like to kick my tush).  The pain lasts about 24-48 hours and then completely vanishes until my next run.

Weight Loss
I think I have gotten the most comments when I post about weigh loss and my body image issues.  I started trying to lose the baby weight when Ethan was about 8 months old.  (I realized the 9 months on, 9 months off thing was just around the corner.)  I started in February and by March, I was sad and frustrated.  But I didn't give up.  This summer, I took a stroller fit class and started training for this 1/2 marathon.  I got on the scale last weekend and it showed that I have lost 15 pounds since I started trying in February!  It's awesome to FINALLY (after over a year) fit back into my prebaby clothes and feel OK about my appearance.  I like having my confidence back and it feels great to have people tell you that you look good.  I am my sister's Maid of Honor (I hope she doesn't call me the Matron of Honor...that sounds old) in June and I'd love to lose 10 more pounds by then. 

Baby Fever
Of course, I have waves of it but it's pretty much been at bay for a couple of months.  I am just totally enjoying Ethan and everything life is offering us right now so we aren't there yet.  We want to move and get into the next year before we start entertaining the idea of #2.  Also, Ethan is just so perfect and it scares me to think about what #2 could bring...don't they say if you have a great first kiddo that your second will surely be a terror?  Haha :)  (Or vice vera, of course!)

Congrats if you made it to the end.  That is what has been going on in our lives and the reason that I haven't been able to blog as often as I'd like.  Summer and Fall in St. Louis are my favorite seasons with so much to do.  Last night, we did the Balloon Glow in Forest Park and today enjoyed the Green Tree Festival's parade and will go the craft fair after naptime.  Love this time of the year and this weather!   Hope you are enjoying it too!  Happy Weekend!  XOXO

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Running Gear and Essentials?

Now that I'm starting to train for the half marathon, I would like your advice.  What do you make sure to have with you before you pound the pavement?  I would love personal recommendations on kinds of ear buds (over the ear or not, what brand) and anything else you think I need.  (So far, I have great shoes and a water bottle.)

THANKS!

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Goodbye July, Goodbye Summer

I feel like I just wrote this post and I was in the middle of summer break.  But in one week from today, I will be officially back to work.  This summer blew by so fast and I can honestly say, that it was the best summer I've ever had.  Spending time with my son has been absolutely incredible and I going back to work is going to be extremely hard.  Last year, I was ready to go back to work and get back to my "normal" life.  But now, I'm not so sure that working is going to feel "normal" for me anymore.  I've already cried a couple of times about thinking about Ethan at the babysitter's.  Here's to hoping the anticipation of going back to work is worse than the real thing.
We have totally been digging the splash pads this summer.  Ethan wasn't so sure about them the first couple of times but now he loves running through the fountains.  (St. Louis readers, we like the ones at Tillis Park and Millenium Park.)  Ethan was so funny yesterday running around the house with his bath towel on his head.  SUPER-ETHAN!  When I took out the Bumbo to lend to a friend, Ethan wanted to try it out.  Hilarious watching him squeeze himself in and out :)

This morning, when I pulled in from work, a POD was in our driveway.  In order to list our house, we have a lot of cleaning to do.  Our basement is FULL of "stuff".  Boxes of toys and clothes, the Christmas tree, wrapping paper, craft items, bedding and pillows, wedding presents, well...anything you can imagine.  It's insane.  Our agent says that everything needs to disappear so into the POD it will go.  DID I MENTION THAT WE ARE GOING TO MOVE?!?

We aren't moving yet.  We are just starting to look and are hoping to list our house after Labor Day.  One more month to do a lot of little fix-up projects around the house and pack up this POD.  We are definitely staying in St. Louis and we will be moving closer to our parents and my work.  The driving back and forth is crazy for me and Ethan and I spend so much time in the car.  We LOVE LOVE LOVE living in the area we are currently in but unfortunately, won't be able to afford a house the size that we want. 

Finally (to end this totally random post), today was the first day of half marathon training.  It is my 3rd attempt at training and 3rd time's the charm, right?!  I've been running on and off for about 3 years now and I know there is nothing that can get in my way of running this thing in October.  My sister and I are going to train and race together and I'm excited to do this with her.  So here we go!

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5K and update on OLW

I'm not sure exactly what week we are at now, but I'm still continuing to try to lose weight.  Last weekend, I completed the Couch to 5K program again and I ran another 5K.

First of all, it was an awesome day for a run.  About 65 degrees and overcast.  My goal was to beat my first (and best) 5K time of 33:30 when I ran the Turkey Trot 3 years ago.  I trained and ran with a friend from work who had never run more than 5 minutes stretches.  We finished the first mile around 9 minutes and I knew we were going much faster than usual (we are usually around an 11 minute mile).  But we kept up pace and ended up finishing around 32:30.  (I also want to add that my Garmin said that we ran 3.4 miles so it was a true 5K, I think we would have finished around 30 minutes.)  Either way, this was a HUGE improvement for me...especially post-baby. 

To date, I have lost 10 pounds and I'm back to my pre-Ethan weight.  Now, I want to lose 10 more pounds to get me back to a healthier weight for my body.  I want to continue running but I know the St. Louis summer heat can be killer.  Thank goodness for the treadmill!  I also want to get back to 30 Day Shred to try to firm up the arms and legs. 

I'm feeling much better in my own skin.  Nothing feels worse than not fitting in your own clothes.  It took me a year, but I'm finally feeling like myself again.

And of course...I'm starting to feel baby fever again.

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1/2 Marathon- Take Two

Before I got pregnant, we were training for the Lewis and Clark half-marathon. (We actually ran 8 miles the day before I get my BFP.) Now, over 1 year later (15 months to be exact), I'm going to try to jump back into running and complete a 1/2 marathon in 4 months. Is this even possible? Am I crazy to even attempt this?

I need to do something that kick-start my year. I need to do something to get my body back. I need to do something where I can feel constant accomplishment and growth. It's going to be hard and it's going to hurt. But I'm going to do it. (And I'm not going to lie...I'm scared!)

I saw these on Pinterest and they are so, so true!
Last time, I used Hal Higdon's training plan and I think I'm going to do it again. If anyone knows of a better plan for a beginning runner, let me know. I'm going to use January to do a fast-forward version of Couch to 5k so I can get up to the 3 mile starting point. Then February-April will be focused on adding mileage. Have I mentioned that I'm scared?

Here goes nothing!

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New Running Goal

As you all know, almost 1 year ago, Mike and I started training for a 5K. We used Couch to 5K and I couldn't rave more about the program. Then in March, we participated in the GO!St. Louis runs. Mike did the 1/2 marathon and I ran the marathon relay (6 miles). I felt great after my run and was really enthusiastic about running again.

I am proud to announce that today started Week 3 of my 1/2 marathon training. On October 3rd, Mike and I will be running the Lewis and Clark 1/2. We are using Hal Higdon's Novice Half Marathon Plan and I have been tracking my miles and times on Daily Mile. I love Daily Mile because it gives you tons of stats on your distance and pace. I have already run 17.6 miles and I started 2 weeks ago!

To say that I am not nervous about this would be a lie. I can't imagine running 13.1 miles...BUT, I couldn't imagine running 3...or 6. I can't believe I am going to do this. Here goes nothing!

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Busy Bee...

What a month May has been! I knew it would be crazy busy but I think it even took me off gaurd. What did we do this month?

1. We went to Arkansas for a weekend to see Mike's little brother graduate. We had a beautiful lakehouse in Buena Vista, Arkansas and it was wonderful. We visited him earlier this year and went to a football game. Those hog fans are crazy!

2. The following weekend, Mike was second-shooting his first wedding in Columbia, and I was spending the day with great friends celebrating a wonderful occasion. We were supposed to all participate in Bark in the Park but it was pouring all morning so Mia and I didn't go. Instead, I went straight to Forest Park. Our great friends, Kate and Peter were getting engaged, in the rain, and we were waiting with a huge BBQ to celebrate. The rain didn't damper the mood or the day...it was such a happy celebration and no one minded getting soaked. Here are a couple of my pictures from the day.Me and Kate right after the engagement in the rain!Under tarp enjoying the party!All of my friends with the happy couple! It really was amazing because some friends come in town from New York, Chicago, and Florida just to celebrate with Kate and Peter. They are special people, I tell you!We ended the all-day celebration at Tom's Bar and Grill with some karaoke. Mike even joined us and drove straight from the wedding in Columbia. Congrats Kate and Peter. We really couldn't be happier for you two. LOVE YOU!

3. I "graduated" the next day. I didn't actually walk but I celebrated with a lot of family members with a BBQ at my parents house. It was perfect and I am so glad to be done!
4. I had a couple of crazy weeks finishing report cards and the school year. The last day of school was MY BIRTHDAY! Seriously, what a great way to celebrate a birthday. This year, marked my 27th year of life. I'm not going to lie. 27 actually felt different to me. No longer the mid-20s but now the late 20s. I can't really explain it but I think I finally understood why adults don't necessarily look forward to birthdays. Getting older is a part of life and blablabla, I just couldn't help feeling a little different about this one. But don't worry, that didn't mean I wasn't going to celebrate. Wednesdays are home to $5 buckets at the Bar Louie across the street so we were there! Not sure why the pictures are blurry but where are a couple with my friends and mom and my hunny.5. Since my birthday on the 26th, I have been eating, and eating, and eating. Seriously, it is gross. We have eaten every meal out since last Sunday! I guess that is what happens during your birthday week, huh!? Yesterday, we took a break from the eating to run a 5k in Forest Park. Man, it was hard...and uphill...and HOT! It wasn't our best run but we are alive. We are going to run Beca's Five in a few weeks so you should sign up too! It is a great cause and benefit's Beca and her fight for her life against melanoma.

6. Now that it is summer, I get to look forward to going HERE!May was a fantastic month! A month of happy endings, new beginnings, and wonderful life transitions and accomplishments.

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Still running!

I'm not going to lie...after the Go! Run, I didn't run for about 3 weeks. Nothing. It felt great but I started missing it (crazy, huh?). This week, I started again and I have gone running 3 times. Only 2 miles each time but hey, I've got to ease back into this thing! To stay up the running, I need some races to keep me motivated. On May 30th, Mike and I are going to run in the 1st Annual 5K Memorial Run benefiting Backstoppers. This race is in Forest Park and I am very excited. Backstoppers is a great organization that supports police officers, firefighters, and their families.

I am SO upset that we won't be in town for the Komen Race for the Cure. My mom is a breast cancer survivor and we have walked in ALL 10 RACES. I can't believe I am going to miss this one. Every year, I talk to my mom and sister about how badly I would love to run the 5K. Now that I am actually physically able to run, I can't attend. Next year.

On June 19th, we will be running Beca's Five. Beca is the girlfriend of my friend, Kevin's, brother. (Kevin is married to Tess and I was in their wedding last August.) Beca is so full love and life and has been battling stage four melanoma for the last year and a half. She is a beautiful woman and I am honored to run in support of her.

Finally, I can't believe I am going to commit to this on my blog, but I am going to train for the Louis and Clark Half Marathon in October. Holy crap...I said it.

Let me know if you are going to do any of those runs! I'd love to see some of you out there!

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Best Day Ever!

Who would have thought that I would ever describe an experience that was centered around running as the "best day ever"?

We woke up bright and early on Sunday morning at 4:45 am. We put on our race attire, did a little stretching, and ate our bowls of oatmeal and PB&J sandwiches. (Funny side story...kind of. Mike realized as he was making breakfast that we only had 1 packet of oatmeal left. Then, he decided to make a PB&J and realized that we didn't have enough peanut butter for 2 sandwiches. We shared but the lack of food made me a bit nervous for him.) Before we left the house, I insisted that we had to snap a couple of pictures. You know, in case one of us died...We met over at Kate and Peter's house at around 6:00 to catch a ride with them. By the time everyone arrived and we were in the car, it was 6:30. I started to get nervous (I don't even know if nervous can best describe the anxiety that I had going into this day) that we would miss the 7 am start. We parked, hit up a port-a-potty, took the picture below, and started running toward the pace groups behind the START line. Lining up in that corral was really nerve-racking and the anxiety started kicking in again. At least we hadn't missed the start. Before I knew it, we were walking and eventually running across the start line. I could tell within minutes that this run was going to be different. The massive amount of people running at the same time was just incredible. Running down Broadway toward the Brewery, we were able to see an amazing sight. 17,000 were running down the street! My favorite part was only 1.5 miles in. Suddenly, across the street, the fast marathoners were looping back past us. They were only mile 4!

The first 6 miles of the course was wonderful. There was a small incline up Broadway, a few steeper hills through the Brewery and Soulard, and the big hill up Chouteau. Other than that, it was a pretty flat leg of the race. I heard that the other parts of the race had a lot more elevation changes so I guess I lucked out.

Before I knew it, we were at 6 miles and it was time to say goodbye to Mike. He was in great shape and surprising, so was I. Honestly, I have NEVER felt that good while running. I felt like I could keep going. I felt wonderful. I think I might have even smiled for most of the 6 miles. I said goodbye to Mike, met my relay teammate, Lynne, to pass on our timing tag, and she was on her way. I am not sure about official timing but my Garmin said that I ran 6.2 miles in 1:06. I was pretty darn happy with that. The atmosphere and the energy kept me going. All of the people around and the supporter just keep you going. It really is the coolest thing ever.

After about 30 minutes of walking around downtown, Kate and I found a good place to watch the finishers of the half marathon (right at mile 13). Our friends were rolling through and I was just waiting for Mike. We had no clue when he would be done but we guess between 2 hours and 2:30. At about 2:20, I saw this cutie running toward me.(The first thing that my dad said when he saw this picture is that he couldn't stop looking at the old lady who beat Mike. But that is the coolest part! There were so many older and larger people that were amazing runners. There was a man juggling and he was going faster than we were!)

I shouted and asked if he wanted me to finish with him. Earlier in the week when I asked him if I should meet him at mile 12 and finish with him, he told me no. But this day, he eagerly said yes so I jumped into the race and ran the last couple of minutes with him. I was so proud of him at that moment and I wanted to cry. After we crossed the finish line, I snapped another picture of my half-marathoner with his medal. Not looking too shabby for just finishing 13.1 miles, huh? Mike left to go back to Kate and Peter's to shower and change, while I met with with friends that finished the half. I had to wait until my relay team finished the whole marathon so we could cross the finish line together. It was such a beautiful day and I was so lucky to be able to meet us with friends and talk about the run.

At about 10:45, I got a text that our final relay member had started her run. We figured that we needed to line up to meet her at about 11:45. We stood at the top of the huge hill called Market Street and waited for our teammate to come. A few minutes later, we saw her coming up the hill. Our 4-person relay team rallied together to finish the marathon strong. We held hands crossing the finish line and were so proud of our time. When we first signed up, we had to guess a finishing time. We guessed 5 hours. Then after much discussion, we changed that finish time to 6 hours. I am proud to say that we finished the marathon in less than 5 hours! I think our time was 4:50ish. Here we are right after we got our medals...That's Tess, Kate, Me, and Lynne (Tess didn't get the memo about the blue shirts. Or putting on the medal. She does that sometimes.)

We ended the day back at Kate's for a bunch of food, drinks, and race talk. Nothing like mimosas to make you feel better after a long day... This day was really amazing. Inspiring. Wonderful. The best. I am SO proud of my friends, my husband, and myself. Only 7 months ago, my running journey began and I posted THIS about signing up for the Turkey Trot. At the time, I couldn't fathom running for 30 minutes straight. Reading through those Couch to 5K posts is fun...I really struggled. I still struggle and have bad days. But I would have never thought that 7 months later, I would be able to run for 66 minutes without stopping. NEVER. I want to run a half-marathon now. I know that it is going to be a big jump and a lot of work but I am ready for it. I am not sure which one I am going to sign-up for but it is in my future. Thank you for all of the people that have supported and encouraged me through this entire process. Thank you for all of you that ran on Sunday morning and inspired me to continue my journey. The running community is an amazing one and I am glad to be a part of it.

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Weight Loss and Websites

Today, I stepped on the scale and had a big loss. I lost 3.4 lbs this week!!! Awesome, right?!? Wellllll...it comes after last week where I had a pretty BIG gain. I guess I am starting to feel the frustration of the yo-yo. I know that cutting out alcohol will definitely improve my numbers on the scale but I am not ready to do that just yet.This week was awesome because I finally met a HUGE running goal. I went outside last Saturday and ran. And ran. And ran. I ran longer than I had ever run before. I ran longer than I ever thought I could run. I ran for 56 minutes and 53 seconds. HELLO...that is almost 1 hours of running! Without stopping!!! Never did I think that I would ever be able to do this. I couldn't even run the entire 5K on Thanksgiving without about 30 seconds of walking. This was HUGE for me and if you don't believe that I did it, here is the proof...Here is where I stand as far as weight loss.
WW Week 7
Weigh-in: -3.4 lbs
Total Loss: -7.0 lbs
Slow and steady. I have had big losses but a couple of gains too. I really need to be more committed to this weight loss. I am sure that Mexico lingering in my future will help motivate me.

There are a couple of weight loss sites that I would LOVE to share with you. Being on weight watchers has really forced me to make conscious decisions about what I am eating. I can honestly say that I haven't been to a McDonalds, Taco Bell, or Qdoba (they are all within 1 minute from my house) in 7 weeks.

The first, new favorite site is Hungry Girl.This site is amazing! You can find delicious recipes include how to cook with my favorite cheese, Laughing Cow (only 1 point per wedge). Seriously...check out these recipes right here! I love California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ Chicken Salad. LOVE IT! I can make it on a pita for only 6 points. Ummm...yes, please! If you subscribe to her site, you will get emails almost daily about great swaps and how you can make your favorite restaurant items. I will be trying this recipe very soon!

Ok...next site. Actually, it is a blog...Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes. Go there. Now. Everything on this site looks amazing! I haven't actually made anything from this blog yet but I have all of the ingredients for the Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili and will be making it next week. A few of my friends tried this Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts and had wonderful things to say. I will be trying this one out soon too! I love how all of the Weight Watcher points are already figured out!

Finally, Dottie's Weight Loss Zone (restaurant section). You can go to any of your favorite restaurants to find out how many points are in the meals you want to eat. This site has been necessary for me. I have had 3 night events at school over the last couple weeks where I have had to run out and get something to eat before returning to school. I am able to go to this site, find something that fits within my points, and enjoy. I was pretty shocked to see that many of my favorite foods were worth more points than I can eat in one day. Mike almost died when he saw that the nachos he gets from Taco Bell were 18 points. That is almost 1 day of food for me.

Sooo...that turned out to be a much longer post than I thought it would be. I guess if it was helpful to anyone, then it was worth it. Have a great night!

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Back on the Wagon

Today it all began. Running has become a part of my life again. I went out today after work with the dog and together, we ran 2 miles without stopping. Big deal for me since I really haven't done anything in a long, long time. I forgot how good it feels to get out there and run. I was pretty impressed with Mia too. It was her first time running and she did a pretty good job!

I weigh in on Thursday for Weight Watchers. I am so scared that I will not have lost anything. I have been really good watching my points and I just hope for some positive reinforcement from the scale. I know that I can't expect a big number. To be honest, I would just like to see 1 pound. Please pray to the weight loss gods for me and send good vibes on Thursday!

Again, please comment here! Right now, it looks like I will pay $2 per comment rather than $0.50.

Don't want to post without a picture so here is one I took last week of my lovies :)

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Blog evolution

As my 2 year blogoversary approaches in January, I am enjoying a look back at all of the fun I have had in the past 2 years. The blog started as a fun way to talk about my wedding plans and DIY projects. Everything was pretty random after the wedding until little Mia came into our lives. I felt like she was all I wrote about. Recently, I started running (in case you didn't know) and my blog evolved into a running blog. Mike started photography and I am sure that my blog readers are getting sick of hearing about that too! Well...I don't care!

A couple of weeks ago, we/he shot 3 sessions in 2 days. Here are some of my favorites from the weekend. First, our friends Nick and Mimi and their baby, Collin.Next, we met Maggie, Dave, and their pup, Charlie...
The next morning, Mike met our friends Josh and Stacy (and their baby on the way) at Josh's fire station. I'm pretty impressed (but obviously biased). Thanks everyone who is following his blog and commenting on his posts. I know all of you bloggers love comments and they mean a lot to him too. Thanks for supporting him! I know he really appreciates the feedback, advice, and compliments.

I am looking forward to posting my own pictures soon. Mike will be photographing Stephanie's wedding in August and guess who the second shooter is?!?! ME! I have been tagging along with him and I really can't wait to learn more about photography.

I will continue talking about my running journey. I just committed to my first 10K run. I will be running the GO! St. Louis marathon relay with some of my girlfriends. I am a little nervous to train through the winter but I look forward to being about to run for 6 miles!

Just wanted to give a shout out to all of my readers for hanging in there with me and my ever evolving blog. To those of you that thought this post was going to announce something exciting, I'm sorry. You are going to have to wait a little bit longer for my blog to take that turn!

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We did it!

We finished our first 5K in 33 minutes and 33 seconds!!! (EDIT TO ADD: I just checked Fleet Feet's official time and we both finished together at 33:30. That is a 10:48 mile!!!! AHHHH!!) I can't believe that we beat our goal by 6 minutes and 30 seconds. YAYAYYYYY!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Hope you have a great time with family and friends.

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Done and Done (Weeks 8 and 9)

I can't believe that we have completely finished 9 week of the Couch to 5K program! I am proud to say that we have successfully completed the program and we will run our first 5K on Thursday! We ran 27.5 minutes during Week 8 and 30 minutes during Week 9. Unfortunately, we still haven't run 3.1 miles. We have only gotten up to 2.7 miles in 30 minutes. My goal is to finish the race in 40 minutes so I hope we can do that! I am nervous because I hear most of the Turkey Trot is uphill and we have only trained on flat roads. I am hoping that the adrenaline rush from the actual race will make it easier. I am REALLY excited!I have said this many times but I am just amazing at how this program works. It seems like just yesterday that I was struggling with Week 1 and 2, almost unable to run 2 minutes at a time. I am so proud of how far I have come. We haven't even finished our first 5k but I am already thinking about what is next. We want to run the St. Patty's Day run and the Komen Race for the Cure. We might even start thinking about running a 10k in 2010! I guess I need to keep my eyes on the short term goal...FINISH THIS TURKEY TROT!!! Woo hoo!!!

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Running Brag

Last week:
TIME: 25 minutes
DISTANCE: 2.1 miles
PACE: 11 min and 55 sec mile

This week:
TIME: 28 minutes and 22 seconds
DISTANCE: 2.5 miles
PACE: 11 min and 20 sec mile

That's an improvement, folks! We are going farther and getting faster!!! Only 2 weeks until the big Turkey Trot!!! (I used the Cool Running Pacing Calculator to help me figure this out!)

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Done with Week 6

I am starting to feel like running is like a pregnancy for my blog. A lot of girls post each week about the progress of their pregnancy. Nope, not me...I share my progress with running. I hope it isn't getting to0 boring. It really is all I blog about nowadays!

This week, I got the sweetest and most encouraging email from Teresa. As a fellow couch potato-turned-runner (is that fair to say, Teresa?), she understands exactly what I am feeling going through this journey. She started with the Couch to 5K programs and has already done a half marathon. I am sure a full will be somewhere in her future. (Who knows if I will ever get to that point?!) I know that it sounds cheesy but running is really starting to change my life. It sucks...but it is also so good. I crave it. I think about it constantly. And I hate it. But I LOVE finishing.

Today, we finished our longest run yet...25 minutes. Definitely over 2 miles! I have NEVER run for that length of time in my entire life. It made me feel good to know that Mike hadn't ever run that long either! I thought I was going to give up after 8 minutes, but Mike wouldn't let me. When I hit the halfway point, there was nothing stopping me. I NEEDED to finish. It was hard. Very hard. I am tired, and sore, and my throat hurts :( But I did it!

Week 7 consists of running 25 minutes, 3 times this week. I like the idea of feeling stronger and more comfortable with this length. I am going to get a Garmin from Karen tomorrow so hopefully I can figure out my pace and how far I am actually running.

As always, thanks for your continued support. It probably sounds dumb, but you all keep me going when I want to stop. I mean seriously, how could I blog and tell everyone that I quit in the middle of a run. That would be totally disappointing and embarrassing. Thanks for your encouragement!

Happy Halloween!

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Bye to Week 5...

...and hello to Week 6. Each week of this program, I am more and more shocked that I can do it. I love reading over my running posts to see how hard each week was at that time. I had been dreading that 20 minute run for weeks and last Friday morning, we did it! I'm not going to lie...it was hard. I was sore afterwards too :( BUT...I DID IT! I also realized something about running. I don't really like the running part but I LOVE the finishing part. The feeling of accomplishment is so great and it really keeps you looking forward to the next run so you can feel that "runners high" again. Now that the 20 minute run is behind us, I really feel (for the first time), that I am going to be able to do this!We will run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday again but the schedule above is totally do-able. Looking forward to another successful week of running!

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Week 4.5

We decided that we want to stretch Week 5 out for another week. We actually had 11 weeks to do this 9 week program so we knew that we would be able to spend a little time toward the end. We had great runs on Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday's run was a jog 5 minutes, then walk 3 minutes. We did that 3 times. Thursday's run was to jog 8 minutes and walk 5. We did the 8 minute walk twice. Talk about accomplishment! I never thought that I would be able to run for 8 minutes (and twice!) if you asked me 5 weeks ago. We were supposed to run 20 minutes sometime this weekend. BUT, we went out of town to visit my brother in Peoria and had a super busy day today. We are going to repeat the 8 minute runs this week and do the 20 minute run on Friday. I hope I can do it!!! Boring post, huh?!

But, we did have an awesome weekend! Wait till you see the pictures Mike took of our friends today. AMAZING!!!

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Week 4...Done!

Week 5, here we come! Tomorrow, we will start week 5 and I think this is going to be the week to get me. 20 minute run with no breaks this week. YIKES!

Week 4 went pretty well. After our 5 minute warm up walk, we ran for 3 minutes, walked for 90 seconds. Then ran for 5 minutes and walked for 2.5 minutes. THEN, we had to do it all again. Each day, I felt such a huge feeling of accomplishment. We jogged a total of 16 minutes!!! I feel like such a wimp when I read other people's blogs on running, but this was HUGE for me folks.

We bought new shoes last week from Fleet Feet! (By the way, I love that place!) I bought the Glycerin shoes from Brooks. They are so light and I feel like I am wearing slippers. I really love them. Mike got a pair of Asics and he also likes his pair (although he thinks they are ugly). Hey, looks don't matter if they are feeling good!I also bought a lot of running clothes for this cold/rainy weather. Kristal and Mary had some good advice for me---"Cotton is rotten". Thanks girls! I have to go to class so I will post more on my running purchases later!

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Week 3 and I'm alive!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Week 3 has been SO much easier than Week 2! Thanks to all of your comments, suggestions, and less of the jog then walk intervals, I have really enjoyed this week. Running for 3 minutes seemed impossible a couple of weeks ago and here I am! Of course, looking forward to the next week scares me but I don't need to think about that until next Tuesday. We have one more run on Sunday for Week 3 and then time to move on!On Saturday, Mike and I will be heading to Fleet Feet for some new shoes. I have no clue what we are looking for but I am sure that experts there can put us in some good shoes (although my legs have not hurt at all this week). After this weekend, we will be 1/3 done with this training! YAHOO!Oh...also, while we are on the subject of running, I have a couple more questions. It is starting to get colder in the mornings. This morning it was in the upper 40s/low 50s. Are there special gloves, hats, jackets, etc. to wear? I don't really want to drop too much money at the running store if I can just get the normal stuff at Target. Thanks!!!

I am looking forward to this weekend. I am dropping off calligraphy to a client, enjoying dinner with friends, going with Mike to photograph some adorable kiddos at Faust Park, getting running shoes, going to a housewarming party, and relaxing on Sunday by getting work done for my Masters classes. Can't wait!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

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