Weekly Workout & Race Recap

This past Sunday I did the Spirit 5K Walk/Run.  A flier about it came home with AJ from school & it looked like an interesting race.  It was a $20 entry fee & more than 50% of that (plus some donated money) went to the schools.  They did it as a contest between about 7 school districts.  The district who had the most people participate won the most & then it went down from there.  Licking Heights didn't win (Groveport Madison had a TON of people there) but they were probably in the middle of the pack.

We signed up for this race as a family.  Adrian & I paid & the kids were free.  We were going to all walk it together & then go to Chuck E Cheese for lunch with a friend.  Fri night we looked at the forecast & it was going to be around 30 degrees at race time so we decided I would walk it alone.  I knew a friend from the gym was interested in doing it too so she took Adrian's entry.

The race started down the street from my house (score!) so I didn't have to leave until about 45 minutes before race time.  Packet pickup & parking were super easy & there weren't a ton of people so it was easy to meet up with my friend & her husband.  We hung out trying to stay warm until the race started at 9:00am.

Before the race they did a moment of silence for Boston followed by the Star Spangle Banner by one of the schools' marching band.  Elizabeth & I lined up in the middle of the pack (much farther up than I normally do but you could tell most of the field wouldn't be running, or even walking fast).  We got started heading straight down Morrison into Gahanna.

My bibs - the official one & a virtual run for Boston one

The course was an out & back.  We found our groove pretty quickly & started passing numerous people.  There were a few bands & cheerleaders along the course which was fun.  We got to mile 1 pretty quickly & saw all the runners heading back.  The course was hilly but we pretty much kept the same pace the whole time.  Conversation was great & the miles flew by.

We got back to the finish line & both felt really good.  Finished in 48:06, about an average time for me.  There were a ton of snacks at the finish line (which I skipped since I had brought my own).  I did grab a bottle of flavored water they had that was delicious!  It was called Oxy & I'll be looking for it again.  There were about 7 different flavors, I picked peach mango.  Yum!

The race was well run, easy to navigate & a challenging course.  It didn't have a lot of fanfare.  It was close to home.  I would definitely do it again next year, hopefully with the whole family & in better weather.

The rest of the week was pretty standard for working out.  Here's what I did each day:
Wednesday - 60 minute Zumba class
Thursday - 60 minute Zumba class, 15 minutes on elliptical, 20 minutes on bike
Friday - 60 minute Zumba class, 20 minutes on bike
Saturday - 4 mile walk
Sunday - 5K walk
Monday - 40 minute Zumba class, 20 minutes on bike
Tuesday - 60 minute spinning class

Daniel & Daddy Day

Earlier this month Daniel was able to bring Daddy (or another male relative) to school with him for a special party.  He was so excited about this day & they worked on crafts for it for weeks before.  Adrian had a really fun time seeing what Daniel does at school & meeting some of his friends.  They had snack together (donuts) & Adrian got a bag full of hugs & kisses (chocolate).

Daniel also filled in a mad libs style letter about his Dad.  They read some of it aloud in the class & the kids got to guess which Daddy it was.  I thought Daniel's was hilarious & thought I would share it here with his comments.  His answers are in bold & explanations (his & mine) are in italics.

My daddy's name is A.  - because his name is like AJ's but not totally the same
He is 55 years old (tehehehe), 6 feet tall and weighs 55 pounds - because that's the biggest number I know.
His favorite food is salad - he eats it sometimes with Mommy and he likes it.
My daddy is really good at fixing video games - when Zak breaks the XBox only he can fix it.
He loves to play with play dough - I don't know where this came from, Adrian actually hates play dough.  And since Zak has been mobile we haven't played much with it since it gets everywhere.
My favorite thing to do with my Dad is play Lego Batman - really Daniel plays, Adrian just reads from the internet what he should do to beat different levels of it.
I'm just like my dad because I am smart - awww!  And very true!
What I love most about my daddy is he plays with me - double aww!
It makes Dad happy when I hug him - seriously, I think I was in tears by this point.  Daniel said this answer because you & Dad are always asking me for hugs.

Seriously, how cute is that??  It is hanging on the wall of fame for now & will be put into some kind of keepsake book.  This was a great morning for Daniel & Adrian & I can't wait until it's my turn next month for Mother's Day tea...although I hope they don't ask my weight!  :)

For Boston

The baby was up ALL night last night.  And the house was so hot because we closed the windows in case of rain.  Then AJ got up at 6:15.  I'm so tired.  And I have a headache.  The last thing I want to do is go meet my new runner friend for a few miles this morning.  I'm going to have to walk really fast, maybe even jog (gasp!) to keep up.  I think I'm going to cancel.

This all went thru my mind around 7:00 this morning.  And then I turned on the news to catch the weather.  And I saw pictures.  And video.  And the name & face of the 8 year old boy.  It didn't matter how I felt...I had to get out and walk.  For all those who couldn't.  For the town I called home for 3 years.  For Boston.

I'm not a runner, you all know that.  But I am an athlete & I'm on the fringe of the running community.  I have tons of friends & family who are runners.  And they are all SO supportive of me & my walking & exercise goals.  And so are the strangers...the runners I see on the trails, in the neighborhood, at the races, etc.  They all smile, say hi, cheer me on.

I can't pretend to know what any of those people in Boston are going through.  I know I was deeply saddened by the news yesterday & continue to be today.  I also feel anger, confusion, grief & scared.  But there is one more feeling...determined.  This will not deter me from walking, racing, and maybe one day running.

I was feeling a little blah about my workouts recently.  They have been good, I just haven't been feeling super excited about them.  After my 3.5 miles today, I'm re-energized.  I am committed to walking 26.2 miles (at least) before the end of this month.  I will continue with my classes at the gym.  And I will do my 3 races I have in the next 3 weeks, then figure out where to go from there.  For those who can't.  For Boston.

Feeling good after my 3.5 miles this morning!

 Here is a recap of the other workouts I've done the past week:
Monday - 60 minute Total Body Conditioning class
Tuesday - 60 minute spinning class
Wednesday - 40 minute Zumba class
Thursday - rest day
Friday - 60 minute Zumba class, 20 minutes on bike
Saturday - rest day (my house needed my full attention this weekend)
Sunday - rest day
Monday - 60 minute Total Body Conditioning class
Tuesday - 3.5 mile walk

Zachary Update

Zachary has really been asserting his independence recently...and testing my patience!  He is into everything!  I don't remember the other boys being into so much.  His favorite things to do now are go picking thru our trash can (which now resides on the counter when it gets about 1/2 full), unrolling the toilet paper (unless the toilet seat is up, which it always is thanks to his big brothers) and climbing on everything!

Zak exploring outside

Zak has also become quite the little explorer.  Now that he has pretty much mastered walking & is moving on to running, he wants to go everywhere.  He loves wandering around in the gym and the grocery store.  He also loves being outside & checking everything out.  We have to keep a close eye on him because his idea of checking things out includes putting everything into his mouth.

Zak fought me on his nap, so I decided to tire him out  :)

This past month Zak also got his first haircut!  I was hesitant to give up his baby look but Adrian convinced me it was time to do it.  He had some time off for Good Friday so we decided to take all 3 boys to get their hair cut.  We went to our local Cookie Cutters & the same woman who did the other boys' first cuts was there & also did Zak's.  At first he was a little upset, but for the most part he sat still, watched TV & got a very cute hair cut.

The finished product!

AJ Update

This month for AJ's monthly update, I wanted to focus on his activities other than school.  Right now he is involved in soccer, Awana and t-ball.  He also did gymnastics this year.

AJ does soccer at an indoor facility called Locker Soccer.  We love it there, have been going with Daniel for years.  This is the first year AJ has asked to do "soccer like Daniel."  He has tried the outside leagues & wasn't a big fan.  Turns out he likes the drills & practices, isn't a big fan of the games right now.  He started in Locker Soccer in August & has been going every week since and he LOVES it!  His skills have really improved this year, especially his defense.  I sometimes get to play with them before class & the other day he was genuinely stealing the ball from me, I wasn't letting him at all.

AJ running a snake drill at Locker Soccer

 He does Awana at New Life church in Gahanna.  If you're not familiar with the program, it's basically a Bible study for kids.  He has verses to learn every week & then goes every Weds night for a lesson & some fun.  This is his second year in Awana & his first year in their Sparks program.  He is almost done his book for the year and still has a month left!

AJ & Daniel ready for "crazy hat night" at Awana

AJ started t-ball thru our school district about a month ago.  They had a few indoor practices then started outside this week.  He LOVES it, asks everyday if he has t-ball practice & when his games will start.  Right now they are just learning the basics, throwing, catching, hitting, etc & are pretty funny to watch.  AJ needs some help with his catching & throwing but does pretty good hitting.  We start games in May & they go thru July, so we'll see how he progresses this summer.

AJ running the bases at t-ball

 AJ was doing gymnastics at Gym Skills but he had to give it up when t-ball started, it was just too much for all of us.  He really enjoyed gymnastics, especially the trampoline & the balance beam.  He still practices some of his moves around the house.  He won't be the next Olympic gymnast, but the skills he learned gave him a good foundation for some of his other sports.

AJ on the high balance beam

 He is also asking to learn how to play golf so we signed him up for that over the summer.  And he wants to go bowling, so we will sign up for the "Kids Bowl Free" program again this summer & go there a few times.  Finally, he is asking to go ice skating.  This has been a logistical hassle for us with the baby, but think we have it figured out.  But now that it's getting warmer, he has stopped asking so we will probably wait until next winter for that.

Easter Weekend

Last weekend we spent the whole weekend celebrating between Easter & my birthday.  It was a (mostly) great time with the family.

Friday night we went to the annual Egg-splotion put on by a church in Pickerington.  They have a helicopter fly over & drop thousands of eggs on the field for the kids.  The boys love this & honestly Adrian & I do too.  The only problem with this event is it's super popular.  There are lines for everything & tons of people!  This year there was also a ton of mud.  We actually decided to stay to watch the helicopter then took off & went to Graeter's for ice cream.  The boys didn't need anymore candy.

The boys being silly waiting for the helicopter

Egg drop!!

 Saturday morning we were up bright & early & ready to go to Daniel's school for the egg hunt.  We got there as they opened & the boys got to play in the bounce houses, make crafts & go to the petting zoo.  The only problem with getting there so early...we finished all of that & had an hour to kill before the hunt.  Luckily we live across the street so we went home & relaxed before heading back to collect some eggs.

The boys at the petting zoo

AJ & Daniel gathering eggs!

Daniel is super happy with what he got!

Zak getting his first egg

 After the hunt, we met Carl, Sarah & Isabelle for lunch, then headed to the zoo.  They had their annual Paws & Claws event with treat stations everywhere.  The zoo was super crowded since it was such a beautiful day.  But we managed to see a bunch of animals & collect a ton of candy so everyone was happy.

Easter Bunny

Silly picture at the zoo

Sunday morning started with our egg hunt at the house.  The "Easter Bunny" hid a bunch of eggs, both hard boiled & plastic, in the house.  Each boy had an egg on their headboard so as soon as they woke up, the hunt was on!  They were very cute running around the house finding eggs & announcing what they found & where it was.  I didn't take any pictures of the hunt, was just really in the moment enjoying them finding the eggs.

After the hunt, we headed over the Carl & Sarah's house for my family's traditional Easter breakfast.  We had kielbasa, farmer cheese, rye bread & hard boiled eggs.  I won the egg cracking contest this year!  We all ate too much & then parted for the day since they were heading to Sarah's family's house for dinner.  We came home & actually had a very relaxing day.  I forgot to take the ham steaks out in all the commotion of the weekend so we had chocolate chip pancakes for dinner, they were awesome!

It was a very full, very fun, very exhausting & a little bit stressful weekend!  Hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

100 Mile March - Week 4

So I did it...I walked 100 miles in the month of March!  There were times when I didn't think I would make it, and the last week was especially tough.  It was spring break & my birth-week, plus we were all coming off illness & Adrian was off from work 2.5 days.  You all know that I don't do well when I'm off my routine!

Going into the week I needed 28.4 miles for the month, which was basically 4 per day.  The week started off great with 4.5 miles each on Mon & Tues.  That Weds was my actual birthday & I wanted to walk 3.7 miles in honor of my 37 years, but I actually had the time to do a round 4 & I was cherishing every mile at that point.  Thursday was my last kick boxing class for a few months (stupid golf!!) so that was the one other thing I was doing that week.  After that class I was able to get a solid 4 miles that day as well.  Friday Adrian came home early & the boys wanted to go out & walk with me while the baby was napping.  We did 3/4 of a mile together around the neighborhood & I loved it!  It was probably my slowest mile of the month, but one I will cherish.

AJ & Daniel walking with me

After I dropped them off at home I picked up my pace & did a total of 4.3 for that day.  Saturday we went to the zoo & I wore my Garmin watch & logged 2.7 miles of walking...which should totally count as more because I was either pushing, pulling and/or carrying someone for every mile, but I digress.

Sunday I had 4.4 left to go.  I didn't want to do it.  It was Easter Sunday. I had been eating crap all weekend week & not drinking enough water (since apparently wine doesn't count).  It was rainy.  But how could I give up that close to my goal?  So I did it.  I went out into the neighborhood & walked 4.5 miles.  I finished the month with 100.1 miles.

I did it!

It was a challenge, but a fun challenge.  I won't be doing it again in April.  Well, actually I am doing it again in April but I'm counting all my classes & converting them to miles.  I love walking, but I also love my classes & had to miss a bunch of them to walk.  I may do it another month, maybe one with a lot of races in it already.  Or over the summer when I won't be going to the gym as much.  We'll see, I will keep you updated.

Last week things got back to normal.  Everyone is back to school & their other activities.  And most important, everyone is healthy!  I had a pretty good week of exercising last week.  Here's what I did:
Monday 4/1 - 50 minute total body conditioning class, walked 1 mile, 35 minutes of zumba
Tuesday 4/2 - 50 minute spinning class, walked 1.2 miles
Wednesday 4/3 - rest day
Thursday 4/4 - 35 minutes of zumba, 10 minutes on elliptical, walked 1.6 miles
Friday 4/5 - 50 minutes of zumba, walked 1.2 miles
Saturday 4/6 - rest day (if taking the kids to COSI for 5 hours counts as "rest")
Sunday 4/7 - 5K race!

Race Recaps

Well, I'm a little behind on my exercise blogging & I want to tell you about the last 2 weeks & my 100 mile March, but I'm skipping that for now to talk about the 2 recent races I did.  I'm so excited about them both & want to share that with all of you.

I finished up March & was looking forward to getting back to more classes at the gym.  I even had my schedule planned for the first week of April.  Then I got the email reminding me about the 5 by the 5th virtual race that I am signed up for.  I committed to walk either a 5K or 5 miles in the first 5 days of the month for the first 6 months of the year.  OK, no problem, I'll do it over the weekend.  I pulled out the calendar, crap!  April 1-5 are Mon-Fri.  I don't have a lot of time during the week to exercise.  I don't want to give up my classes for a 5K on the treadmill.  What to do?  What to do?

I emailed Laura over at Mommy Run Fast (check her out, love her blog!) & asked if I could split up the miles over a few days.  She said that was fine, so I decided to walk one mile each day for a 5 mile race.  Mon & Tues went fine, then I missed Weds, but was able to do 1.5 on both Thurs & Fri and finished up with 5 miles for the week.

Why tell you all this?  Not very exciting right?  Well I submitted my time for the race & I won one of the monthly prizes...a new pair of Brooks shoes!!  Yay!  I'm so excited that I stuck with my commitment, got my miles in & now I get rewarded with new shoes.  I just got my first pair of Brooks & I love wearing them to work out.

I'm so thankful that I have these mini-challenges for myself each month to keep me going on this journey.  And the moral of this story is always honor your commitments...you may just get new shoes out of it!

The other good thing that happened from those walks is that I did each mile at a very fast pace & all that speed work (plus the 100 miles last month) helped me have an awesome race this Sunday at the Scioto Miles race.  Adrian & I had both signed up for this 2 race series (and got the free Brooks shoes above) a few months ago.  We hoped to both do both races, but we didn't have a sitter in March so I missed that race.  This weekend we did have a sitter so we set out together for a race date!

Before the race

This race started & finished at COSI & was really well done.  We got downtown & parked at Adrian's work garage (yay for free parking!) & walked the few blocks to the start line.  The weather was great, nice temps, not very sunny yet & just a little wind.  We went into COSI to use the restrooms (no porta potties, woot!) & then headed out to line up.  It was a 5K loop that you could do once, twice or 3 times.  I was walking the 5K & Adrian was running the 10K.

The horn blasted & we were off.  I went to put on my music & my MP3 player wouldn't work.  I seriously have the worst luck with music on race day!  So I started walking & looking at the sites.  There were a few other women around me & I was listening to them as well & chatting a little.

The first mile flew by, I couldn't believe it!  I knew I was going at a fast pace & wasn't sure how long I could keep it up, but was gonna keep going.  There were some pretty good hills on this course, but I felt strong going up them.  By mile 2 I was starting to feel the pace a little, then I fell in step with these 4 ladies

Source

They were 4 women from MIT, the group I trained with for the Columbus 1/2 marathon.  They didn't do it last season with me, but I wish they had.  :)  They were flying & I was determined to keep up with them.  We started talking more & that last mile flew by.  Before I knew it we were back to the water below COSI.  One more turn, one more hill & then the finish line!  I thanked the ladies (who I am now Facebook friends with & will be looking for at CapCity next month!) & they kept going for lap 2 (they were in for the 15K) & I headed to the finish line.  When I saw the clock, I got a huge smile on my face, I knew it was a PR for me.  I finished at 46:48 - 2 full minutes faster than Jan!!  I am so excited & proud of myself.  My legs hurt a little as the day went on & today during my workout, but other than that I felt great.

I got my medal, chugged some water & headed back to the finish line to watch for Adrian.  I knew he'd be about 15-20 minutes behind me.  Then I realized I could go down the stairs & watch for him on the water.  I got down there & about 5 minutes later, here he came.  He looked great, high fived me & headed for the finish.  I raced up the stairs to see him cross.  He also PR-ed with just over 1 hour for the 10K.  I am so proud of him as well!

Adrian heading to the finish line!

Such a great, great race day for us!  Hope everyone else that raced this weekend had a great race as well!  Next race is a family race in 2 weeks!

Did you race this past week or weekend?  How did it go??

March Goals Update

It's been a crazy few weeks for us & my blogging has slipped some.  And my goals aren't where I would like them to be.  Getting back on track now in April!  Sometimes it's good to go off the track for a while.  :)  Here is the slight update on my goals for the past month.

Exercise Goals
1.  Do 13 races in 2013 - I finished two virtual races in March, one 5K & one 10K, bringing my total for the year to 4.  I have 3 scheduled for April (2 are actually already done as I type this) so that will bring me to the halfway point already.
2.  Exercise 5 days/week - I didn't log everything, but I walked almost every day this month to meet the  next goal, so I will say I accomplished this one.
3.  Do monthly challenges - I finished the 100 mile March!  That was super hard & very challenging, but I really enjoyed it.  It helped me to get some exercise every day.  I'm hoping to do a wrap up blog about this real soon so stay tuned.  For April, I'm doing the 100 mile April, Ab-tastic April, and an Eat Your Veggies challenge this month.  Check them out & join me!

Weight Loss Goals
1.  Stay under my calorie goal for the day for 13 out of 14 days - I don't even want to think about this one.  Between spring break, sick kids, my birthday & Easter, the month wasn't pretty.  Eh, it was fun though.  :)
2.  Lose 1-2 lbs/week - I lost 5 lbs this month (as of my last weigh in).  On track for this goal, although I skipped the last week's weigh in so I'm sure I'm back up.
3.  Get under 200 lbs by my birthday the 1/4 marathon - I'm currently at 222.  This may not happen, but I'm still working my butt off (literally) so it will happen one day!

Family/Personal Goals
1.  Declutter this house - This fell by the wayside this month.  I intentionally put it aside to try to finish something for AJ's school, but didn't even get thru that.  I also had planned to get thru some of my pictures on my retreat, but ended up sick so I didn't do that either.  I did declutter my MP3 player, but not sure that counts.
2.  Read at least 12 books this year - I finished 2 books in March:  "My Point...and I Do Have One" by Ellen DeGeneres and "Life is Not a Reality Show" by Kyle Richards.  Both were light & easy reads & I enjoyed them both.  That brings my total to 6 for the year - half way there!
3.  Take one picture each day - This has been a super fun challenge so far!  Not like I needed to take more pictures, but it is a really cool way to chronicle the year.  You can check out the pictures on Facebook.  Still going strong with this one, haven't missed a day yet, although some days are harder than others.
5.  More consistent blogging - I did not do well with this in March, as you can see since I'm a week late with this post.  I stopped my Thankful Thursday posts because it was just becoming too much for me.  I did blog the boys' monthly updates & all of my training & exercising for the month.  Come to think of it, the month wasn't that bad, just the end of it was.

How are your goals for 2013 going??