APA Fastest and the Furriest 5K

More fun than running was the excitement my friends brought along this weekend.  Yesterday was my good friend's wedding...what a wedding it was.  We had so much fun, the wedding was beautiful, the couple was gorgeous, food was delicious, and a good time was had by all.  After the ceremony, my other good friend, who was 40 weeks pregnant and due yesterday (as well as being the maid of honor) went into labor and headed to the hospital to have her beautiful baby girl.  :) The OB nurse in me couldn't sleep last night, so I was up texting her at 2am asking how labor was going, she gladly text me back with details as she couldn't sleep from all of the excitement either.  It was a fun sleepless night. 

So this morning, after little sleep, I hauled my butt up to Tower Grove Park to run a 5K race.  There were dogs EVERYWHERE!!!  Caroline and Brayden were loving it.  Caroline squealed "DOH!" over and over all day.  And Brayden loved watching them all trot around.  I ran my 5K in 24:27, not as fast as I'd wanted to, but still okay.  It apparently was slightly farther than 3.1 miles, by how much I'm not sure, but it couldn't have been much farther.  I was the 9th female finisher, and 2nd in my age group.  We had a great morning running.  April ran unregistered, 5K entry fees start adding up, it's an expensive endeavor. She also did awesome.  Finished in just over 32 minutes.  I hope to get under 24 minutes still for my next race.  I'm planning to start running more miles.  So far I haven't been running much more than 4 miles at a time. I need to throw in some 5-6 milers and a long run every once in awhile.  Yay for training and racing! 

 

 

 

Brick!

Bricks suck! But I felt wonderful after I had succeeded. For those of you not hip on the triathlon lingo, a brick is when you ride the bike and then run right afterwards.

So today I rode 9.5 miles around town...in 46:46. Not super fast, but I had to stop for cars and cross traffic quite a bit. I'm pretty timid on the road. Running on two feet is easy, I've done it .  But riding a bike on the road, next to cars, makes me nervous. So after the bike I hopped off and within 20 seconds was running. My legs felt like they weighed 200 pounds each...and it took about a mile for them to loosen up. Wow, those ironman athletes are something else...I don't know how anyone bikes so far and can still run afterwards. I ran 3.1 miles in 26:56. I was quite proud of myself. :) If I hadn't been so afraid of the cars I may have biked faster. And the run was an out and back run on the outer road...wind the whole way...sucks! My legs are sore and my right in step is killing me. No training tomorrow, gotta work. It will be a much needed day off.

Happy training.

Swim, Bike, Run

I've been throwing in some extra work-outs: crossfit, Insanity, to help build the muscles that always get ignored when I'm training for a race.  In track, the sprinters and jumpers always did extra stuff like that, speed drills and such--so I thought it would be a good idea to do the same and really prepare my body for my triathlon (and future triathlons I hope).  However, I'm a wimp.  My right ankle has been hurting since my box jumping, and as of yesterday my left quad is really tight.  I am going to do some circuit training/crossfit stuff with sit-ups, push-ups, squats--that sort of thing, but am going to cool it on the jumping and everything for now I think.  Don't want to hurt myself too badly and have to skip the race! 

So yesterday I started an Insanity video at 0630....after 10 minutes I wasn't feeling it, so I just turned it off.  At first I felt bad, but I knew I'd work out later, I just wasn't in the mood yet.  So instead I sewed.  I made three beautiful diapers out of my favorite Apple Dapple PUL print.  A pocket diaper for my cousin Brooke, an all in one diaper for her friend Erica, and a swim diaper for Rachel at work.  They are adorable, Caroline needs one now. :) 

At lunch I set Caroline and Brayden up to eat their lunch in the garage, with the door open, facing the street--so that I could do my crossfit workout from last week.  They were happy, and I was happy.  I did my 140 yard sprint (70 downhill, 70 uphill), 25 sit ups, 20 push ups, and 10 squats.  I did this for 5 rounds in 10 minutes.  I planned to go for 20 again but Caroline wanted out of her high chair, so I stopped early to keep her from screeching.

Then, when she went to bed for her afternoon nap, I headed out the door for a run.  Jordan was home, so no, I didn't leave Brayden home alone.  They were in the back yard, staining the deck.  I ran from my house to the Herky track.  4.06 miles according to RunKeeper online.  I ran it in 37:08, pretty slow, 9:09 minute miles.  My darn ankle hurt, and it was a lot warmer than I thought.  So either way, I worked out, I got it done. 

I really want to get faster, but it's hard training by yourself, when you have so many other commitments.  I work 12 hour shifts as a Labor and Delivery Nurse, I have a husband and two kids to take care of and spend time with, I have my hobby/side business of sewing, and now triathlon training....oh, and I'm attempting to participate in an advancement program at work takes a fair amount of time and effort as well...add something else to the plate.  I'm not really whining, I like being busy, but I'm just not sure how serious I can be about my racing when I have so many other things going on.

Oh, such is the life of a busy woman. :)

Summer Race Calendar

Well, I've been hunting for races constantly, problem is I work every other weekend, and most of the local tri's are on my weekend to work. Boo! However, I've got 5k's lined up also, so that helps. :)

So here it is, my race schedule so far...I'm sure I'll add to it. Racing is expensive, I should have quite the t-shirt collection after this summer. :)

April 28: APA 5k in St. Louis
May 11: 5K in Webster Groves
May 25: Ste. Gen Sprint Triathlon
June 8: 5K in Bonne Terre
June 22: 5K in Fenton
July 13: Moonlight 10K (my weekend to work, but the race is at 10pm) :)
Oct 27: Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in St. Louis

I'm pumped. Now to keep up the training!

Two a days

Twice this week I've done two a days. It was awesome! And exhausting. :) Yesterday I woke up before the kids and did Max Cardio with Insanity. 45 minutes of non stop, extreme exercising exhaustion. I had to take extra breaks, and my legs were killing me by the time it was over. After my workout I had a coffee protein shake, mmmm, my favorite.

Coffee protein shake:
2 cups of strong coffee
1/2 frozen banana
Almond milk
1 scoop of protein powder
Ice
Blend and enjoy!!

I love it and drink one regularly for breakfast. In the evening I loaded up the kids and the stroller and April and I headed to town for my 3.1 mile loop. It also kicked my butt, I have a love/hate relationship with stroller running at this point. I think I'm getting stronger from it, but I feel horribly slow doing it, and my shoulders cramp from not being able to swing my arms. But enough whining, because I did it. I ran the loop in about 32 minutes, slow, but oh well. I have a 5k next weekend, hoping to run it in 23ish minutes. :) After my run I had a green smoothie, inspired by my cousin Brooke. It was also delicious and I will be having more.

Green smoothie:
Handful of baby spinach
Strawberries
1 Apple, peeled
1 banana
Splash of juice, I used cranberry
2 scoops of my "greens" powder from It Works.
Blend and enjoy.

Yum. Happy training!

Box jumps are scary

I am well aware that I'm a weenie. I did more crossfit today, this time with my cousin Brooke. And the box jumps are hard...and scary. But let's start from the beginning. This morning April and I ran at West City, we ran the same 5k course as our race Saturday, with my handy dandy runkeeper app, to ensure it was a full 3.1 miles, and it was. So I ran that in 29:40. I was sore from crossfit yesterday so I used the first mile to warm up, ran the second mile harder...doing fartleks the whole mile, and ran the last mile easy. Then we stretched and called it a day. This evening we went to visit Brooke and Adam and we did some awesome crossfitting. We did box jumps, double unders (jumping a jump rope twice in one hop...hard, and I suck at them) good mornings, and then I finished up with some leg assisted pull ups. We did four rounds of the first three exercises, as many reps as we could. The box jumps are horrible. My first round I was a wimp, my second round I flipped the box over and fell on my ass (and banged up my wimpy arm), my third round I had better form and felt better doing them, and my fourth round sucked because my legs were tired. The double unders are hard to time, throughout four rounds I only did 3 double unders successfully. But just jumping rope was a good work out. The good mornings weren't hard, but I'm sure my legs will feel it tomorrow. And the pull ups, whew. I did 3 before our rounds, and 5 after. I want to be able to do them without Brooke holding my feet, but for now they are hard enough. My sternum is even sore, she kicked my butt! Then we went for a one mile run/walk. I gladly walked some of it as I was pushing Caroline in the stroller. All in all, it was a great work out day. Going to hopefully bike tomorrow after work. :)

Cross fitting it up

Whew, talk about a work out!  Thanks to Pinterest and Google, I reviewed lots of cross fit work outs and decided I'd try some on my own at home.  Since I have two little kids, my work outs are limited to pushing the stroller while running, doing a workout DVD in the living room, and now my DIY cross fit workouts in the front yard.

So I decided to do AMRAP in 20 minutes (as many rounds as possible).  Each round consisted of running 70 yards down hill, then 70 yards up hill (140 yards total, duh), 25 sit-ups, 20 push-ups, and 10 squats.  I started by running 1/4 of a mile and stretching, not a great warm up, but better than nothing.  Mind you, I couldn't go very far, Caroline was napping and Bray was in the living room watching tv--Jordan is working today, so I had to stay pretty close to the house.  After warming up and stretching a bit I started my stopwatch and got moving.  The first few rounds weren't so bad, I even found myself really sprinting up the hills.  Towards the end of the workout I was gasping for air as I pushed it up the hill, and slowed my sit-ups as I was enjoying laying down. :)  I did 9 rounds of everything in 20 minutes exactly.  I was pretty proud of myself for doing it all alone, and in the cold rainy weather--as you all know, I hate the cold.

So there it is, my first cross fit workout.  Can't wait for more! :)

Student Loans

I am like most 20 something's in that I owe money for my higher education, or should I say owed. As of today, Jordan and I have finished paying off my student loans!!!  We worked hard to pay large sums of money each month to pay them off faster, and in 12 short months we accomplished our goal!  :) 

I added up quite a load of debt for my mere associate's degree.  2 years at a private university, Maryville University, for PT school, 1 semester at SDSU when I lived in California, and 2 years at Jefferson College for my Associate's Degree in Nursing to finally become an RN.  5 years of school, over $14,000 dollars in debt, and I finally had a degree.  While I would love to get my BSN, I'm basking in the glory of being student loan free.  I never intended to jump schools so much, but life happened.  I got married at 19, finished my sophomore year at Maryville with intentions to transfer to SDSU when I moved to Cali after Jordan's 1st tour in Iraq.  Then, upon transferring into the Athletic Trainer's program, SDSU informed me they would only be accepting somewhere around 20 of my 70+ college credits, so I would basically have to start over....something I had no desire to do, could not afford, nor did I have the time...Jordan only had 2 years left at Camp Pendleton when SDSU informed me of this.  So I took spring semester off, moved home during Jordan's second tour in Iraq, got into JeffCo's nursing program and prepared for becoming a nurse.  Then, wouldn't you know it, more life happened.  During my second semester of nursing school, shortly after Jordan had been home for Christmas, I found out we were expecting our first bundle of joy!  Just a slight bump in the road, I finished my LPN certificate, took the year off of school to work as a nurse and have my sweet boy, Brayden.  Then, in 2008 I went back to finish, and in 2009 I FINALLY had a degree.  Now, after less than 4 years, I've paid for all of those 100+ college credits. :)  Feels good. 

Going the distance-5k

April and I ran our 5k this morning and had so much fun!! I decided to race it fast and April did fantastic without me, she doesn't need me. :) I ran it in 24:24 according to my watch, their chip timer said 24:27, whatever. I got first in my age group, 3rd for the females, and 8th overall. it was great. I didn't run my fastest time ever or anything, but I ran a lot faster than I have in any recent race and it felt good. I got a trophy for 3rd female finisher, Brayden thinks that it is incredible. Haha, glad to be his superstar. The race was at West City Park, not super hilly, but not totally flat either. Now that I raced, I want to get fast again! I would love to run a 5k under 22 minutes again, doubtful that will ever happen. I'd settle for 22's. :) April ran her race right around 31-32 minutes, her personal best. She ran the entire race and didn't need me to push her to keep going, quite proud of my runner sister. :) Great start to a beautiful spring day.

Training

Ran this morning, amidst the wind and my allergies being on the verge of exploding.  April and I headed out of the subdivision for a 3-4 mile run.  We ran out towards Shell, ran by the golf course, over to the high school and back.  It's a good course for sure, not too hilly, but not entirely flat either.  The last hill kicked our butts, of course, finishing up hill is always hard.  I ended up running 4.35 miles in 41:49...so 9:36 pace.  I'm tired.  I ran back to April a few times, so it made my distance a little farther--she ran 3.8 miles in 12 minute pace.  She is doing AWESOME!  She ran her first mile under 10 minutes I believe.  She rocks.  :)  I work the next two days, so training may be hard...but I'll try.  5K race Saturday, they always make the training that much more fun. :)  

Sneezing and more running

My silly little princess is smacking my cheeks and laughing uncontrollably as I try to type, so forgive any mistakes. :) 

Good-ness, all of this running lately has me worn out!  :)  And I like it.  Today Sarah and I loaded up the kids and met in town to run again.  We opted for a less hilly course today.  I'm quite the wimp and can't handle a ton of hills, as you all have heard me whine about recently.  So we ran the 3.1 mile course from last week, finishing in 31:14.  I had to walk up two of the hills, tried to keep the walking to a minimum, but my calves were on fire from me recent Insanity workouts.  Like I said, I'm loving the sore muscles, but I could only take so much today.  I was pouring with sweat by the time we finished.  But it was fun, and I love having a running buddy.  April and I don't always get time to run together because she works 6 days a week. We have a 5K on Saturday that I'm excited for.  :) 

After running I came home and had a busy day with the kids, feeding, diaper changing, feeding, feeding, naps, feeding.  I swear, all I do is feed them food, clean up the kitchen, and repeat--they are bottomless pits! 

And the sneezing, ugh!  I love warm weather, hate spring.  I've always wondered why allergies exist--mine were extra pleasant today.  I HATE Bradford Pear trees!  They are everywhere!  I love looking at flowers, and wish I had a greener thumb...but in all honesty, I hate anything that contributes to my excessive sneezing. Fun stuff.

I did some more abs from Insanity today as well, I didn't use the DVD, just did some of the exercises from the abs workout.  Caroline rudely interrupted me and cut my session short, my abs thank her I'm sure. 

47 days til my triathlon!

Insanity

For weeks I have been blowing off exercise on the days Jordan works, because I loathe pushing the kids in the stroller, as you all know.  But yesterday I got motivation to exercise, aside from being home alone with the kids, and aside from being on call.  I risked getting called in to work all sweaty and stinky and pulled out our dusty cd case full of Insanity DVD's.  Shawn T. is INSANE for sure....and in shape.  Man, those people look good! :)  I don't know that I'll look that good in 2 months, especially since I don't know that I'll do it daily, but I'm sure it will get me in better shape regardless.

So yesterday I did a plyometric cardio workout--40 minutes of butt kicking exercise.  At one point Shawn T. reminded me, "Come on, only 20 more seconds." To wish I responded, "Until what? I die?"  Haha, in all seriousness though, it was awesome.  I woke up this morning with aching sore muscles and plans to do it again.  Hoping this motivation sticks! 

Thankfully the rain held off today and I got to hit the roads with my new running buddy, Sarah Puhse.  She is an awesome triathlete that is teaching me the ropes in preparation for my first--47 days to go!  She and I left West City for the same 4.1 mile course I ran on Saturday.  The sun was shining bright, and having someone to talk to was wonderful.  Poor Sarah had to push her sweet little Gracie in a stroller up and down some tough hills, I lucked out, Jordan stayed home with the kiddos.  We finished in 41 minutes, 10 minute pace.  When I got home I decided to do another Insanity workout, went for the Insanity Abs DVD since I'd already ran and was sore as could be from yesterday's workout.  16 minutes of abs, ugh!  I had to take more breaks than preferred, but I finished it.  :) 

Two days in a row of working out good, I feel great!  :)

Running!

Well, after whining and expecting it to get easier, I sucked it up and got out there to run.  My fabulous cousin helped by sending me some virtual motivation. :)

Haha, funny stuff.  So, working three days in a row really kills training--you see I get up at 5am, leave the house at 6am, and get home at 8pm--not a lot of time to train.  So before my three day stretch I hauled the double stroller into town and pushed my monkey's around town for 3.1 miles.  I tried to avoid big hills, but totally avoiding hills is impossible.  Although I hated every minute of it, I was so happy to have finished, and felt a million times better after running.  It wasn't fast, it was actually painfully slow.  I ran 3.14 miles in 31:07, averaging 9:54 minute/mile pace....like I said, slow.  But I was pushing 100 pounds of children and stroller in front of me....so I didn't feel quite as bad.  Then I took the kids to West City to play for an hour before lunch.  I enjoyed our time together, outside, enjoying the sunshine!

Also during my motivation I headed up to West County to the Swim, Bike, Run store to find some tri-shorts.  I knew going in that I'd be spending about $50 or so on shorts...holy crap, when I got there most of them were $90!  I found one pair that was $59 and grabbed them to try on, still not convinced I would be making a purchase.  Then  I saw it, the 75% off rack. :)  I'm a sucker for sales.  I found a pair of black and red tri shorts and a black fitted spandex top--got both for $36!  I was pumped, this just added to my glorious day.  Never again will I find such a great deal, I'm sure, and the lady at the counter also agreed I was getting a steal. 

So back to running.  Yesterday I got off early, and was home by 6:15, awesome!  It was still sunny and warm out so Jordan and I loaded up the babies and headed to the park so Brayden could ride his power wheels 4 wheeler...our yard is too tiny so we usually go to the park.  Jordan was awesome and hung out with "Big Baby" (Caroline) and let Bray ride around the big soccer field, and I head out to run.  I wanted to run 4 miles, and couldn't bare the thought of running a million laps around the park, so I left West City and headed into town.  I ran past the high school, past the track, across the West Main overpass, and down to Sunset Park and back.  It was 4.1 miles.  I ran it in 36 minutes, so just under 9 minute/mile pace. My first 3.1 miles was in 28:15, not fast, but faster than on Thursday with the kids/stroller.  Hoping to get my time down, gotta keep logging the miles for that to happen though. 

Also, I have blisters on my feet again.  Only a runner would recognize the love hate relationship one can have with a fluid filled foot lesion--they are proof that I'm running again. :) 

Training & Peanut Butter

Well, I have missed quite a bit on here lately.  So let me try to recap the last week or so.

1. I'm avoiding coupons already.  I realized quickly that while I might be hunting for great deals, I was spending too much time doing it, and not necessarily finding things we absolutely needed.  I don't have room in my house for a storage closet filled with overflow couponing deals.  So, I've learned the basics of extreme couponing, next time we need something I'll try to use my skills, but I'm not going to regularly worry about coupons. Whew, that was a short obsession.

2. We got a storm door on the back door FINALLY!  After 7 years in this house we finally have a storm door. :)  It looks great, thanks Jordan and Dad. :)

3. I made my own peanut butter.  I have to admit, I copied off of my awesome cousin Brooke, who has recently made her own peanut butter and almond butter.  I found a tutorial on Pinterest and went for it.  The tutorial was quite long and had a lot of pictures, in summary it said: buy peanuts already shelled, put in food processor, blend until creamy, eat.  :)  I got honey roasted peanuts from Aldi, added them to my knock off magic bullet blender, and let them grind until smooth and creamy.  It is delicious!  Nothing added, just peanuts.  The family loves it as well.  I had a big scoop of it this morning with my breakfast, mmmmm.

4.  Training: Blah!  I've had the goal to eat healthier, Easter killed that.  I've had the goal to train harder, the cool weather has been killing that, along with my laziness.  But on Friday, after 9 days of slacking, I went and ran at West City.  Only 3.1 miles, but I ran, finally.  And then on Easter Sunday, April and I ran an early morning 5K race in Crestwood.  It was actually 3.5 miles because the race coordinator measured wrong.  Haha.  It was fun, and a great start to our Easter.  April ran her fastest mile at 10:03, during the first mile of the race...she was excited. :)  Side note: she rocks...down 30 pounds in a little over 2 months, she is incredible.  So now it is Thursday and I have yet to train again this week.  I need warm weather, and motivation.  So I've put on my sports bra and compression shorts this morning, hoping that dressing appropriately will keep me motivated to get my butt in gear today. :)  51 days until my first triathlon!

5. My kids are awesome.  :)  Brayden has been playing more with Caroline, and they're enjoying the little bits of sunshine we've been having.  Caroline is talking non stop and becoming very vocal and bossy, which is hilarious coming out of her tiny 23 pound body.  Brayden is growing way too fast, we can't believe he starts Kindergarten in the fall. He did great with his kindergarten registration and testing.  Summer school starts May 28th.  He's going just to get the hang of school, Pevely Primary does a fun pre-K summer school program...it's not because he is behind or needs extra schooling.  :) 

Now, back to the kiddos and housework.  :)