1/2 Marathon Training - Week 3, 4 & 5

Wow, didn't realize how behind I had gotten with this.  Not only have I not been blogging about it, but my training hasn't been going real great either.  I have a million excuses, which I'm not going to bother going into.  I'm only going to say, it happened, it's over & I'm back on the horse today.  Here's the (very light) recap of what I've been doing:

Mon 6/18 - 2.0 miles on the treadmill, Total Body Conditioning (TBC) Class
Tues 6/19 - 2.0 miles on the treadmill, 15 minutes on stationary bike, 30 minutes Zumba
Weds 6/20 - Zumba class
Thurs 6/21 - 2 miles in neighborhood, Dance Jam class, Total Body Conditioning (TBC) Class
Fri 6/22 - 2 miles on treadmill, Total Body Conditioning (TBC) Class
Sat 6/23 - rest day
Sun 6/24 - rest day
OK, that was a pretty good week.  The boys were in VBS every morning & I was able to go to the gym every day for at least an hour, sometimes more.  

Mon 6/25 - 2.5 miles in neighborhood
Tues 6/26 - 1.5 miles in neighborhood, Dance Jam class
Weds 6/27 - Zumba class
Thurs 6/18 - rest day
Fri 6/29 - rest day
Sat 6/30 - rest day
Sun 7/1 - rest day

Mon 7/2 - Zumba class
Tues 7/3 - 2.0 miles on the treadmill, 20 minutes on stationary bike
Weds 7/4 - 1.5 miles in a parade
Thurs 7/5 - rest day
Fri 7/6 - rest day
Sat 7/7 - rest day
Sun 7/8 - rest day

Totals so far:

Total Miles: 36.77

Average Pace: 17.56 min/ mile

Huh, I'm seeing a pattern here...I start each week good, then don't finish strong.  Need to work on that going forward!  Who wants to walk with me this Thurs, Fri, Sat or Sun??

Zachary - 5 months

Wow, we have had 3 kids for 5 months already.  They have flown by!  Zak seems to be learning new things every day right now.  On July 4th, he figured out how to roll over from his belly to his back & now he is rolling all over the place.  He is now desperate to learn how to crawl!  He is also working on holding his own bottle during feedings.  And today he tried rice cereal for the first time & I think he kinda liked it.

Riding with AJ

We are not surprised, but AJ is a ride warrior!!  He loves going on rides.  So far this summer we have taken him to Jungle Jack's Landing (at our local zoo) & Centerburg's "Heart of America" festival.  He loves every ride he goes on.  His favorite at the zoo was the frog hopper & at the festival it was the ferris wheel.  He was cracking me up on the ferris wheel because every time we passed the loading zone at the bottom, he thought we were going to stop, then would yell "They tricked us!" & burst out laughing.  He will have lots of opportunities the rest of the summer to ride rides including the Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival, the Ohio State Fair, Kings Island & finally Disney World in Sept!  I can't wait to go on all the rides with him.

AJ & Daniel on the "Frog Hopper" at Jungle Jack's

AJ, Mommy & Daniel on the ferris wheel

June Updates

When I did AJ's post at the beginning of the month I thought, "This is a good idea, I should write a post every month on the day the boys were born.  Just a quick update on what they are doing, or a story of something funny they did."  Well, it didn't work out great for June, we've been kinda all over the place this month.  Here is a quick update on all 3 boys, then hopefully next month I can do them separately.

AJ
AJ already got a post this month since he had such an exciting month with graduating from preschool & turning 5 & all.  The rest of the month we have spent just enjoying not having a school schedule.  He played T-Ball & loved it & now wants to play soccer & gymnastics in the fall.  He just finished a week of VBS at a local church & is still singing & dancing to all the songs from that.  He got a bunch of new video games for his birthday & is loving his one hour of video game time each afternoon to play with them.  Coming up in the next few weeks he has soccer camp, Safety Town & another VBS.

Daniel
Daniel is being a typical 3 year old, I always love him, but don't always like him.  :)  He is really keeping Adrian & I on our toes & seeing how far he can push his limits.  He did a lot of the same things as AJ recently including T-Ball & VBS.  He is also really enjoying his new role as a big brother.  He is all about "the baby."  He gets SO excited every time he sees Zak.  He loves on him, plays with him, talks to him, kisses him, etc.  It is really precious to see him being so nurturing.  He also continues to love the outdoors, spending huge chunks of time out there, with or without the rest of us.

ZacharyZak is now 4 months old, although he is playing the role of a 6 month old so I can take him to the gym nursery.  He has perfected rolling from his back to his stomach & is now scooting all over the place, trying to figure out how to crawl.  He is also working on sitting up & learning how to hold his bottle.  He continues to be a chill, happy, easy baby.  We get SO many compliments on how happy & smiley he is when we're out with friends & family.  He loves his big brothers, they get the biggest smiles.

1/2 Marathon Training - Week 2

Well, this was a much better week for working out & training.  I LOVE going to the gym!  I have been saying all week that I'm a gym rat trapped in a fat girl's body.  :)  I enjoy everything about it, the classes, the people, the fact that my kids are in childcare for an hour, reading while I walk/bike, sweating, etc.  This week I will be going every day to the gym while the big boys are in VBS in the morning.  I'm also in a little contest with a few friends to see how loses the most weight & inches in the next month & I'm hoping to kick butt!! 

I also had my first training walk with the MIT group.  I challenged myself to stick with the 17:00 pace group (which is my goal speed for the 1/2) & I did it.  I was really pleased with how well I did & am looking forward to the next few months of training with the group.  I have to miss this week for work, but will still be getting my long walk in this weekend, somehow.

Here is how the past week went:
Mon 6/11 - 2.0 miles on the treadmill, 15 minutes on stationary bike
Tues 6/12 - rest day
Weds 6/13 - 2.1 miles in neighborhood, Zumba class
Thurs 6/14 - 4 miles at Sharon Woods, Dance Jam class
Fri 6/15 - 2 miles on treadmill, Total Body Conditioning (TBC) Class
Sat 6/16 - 3 miles with MIT Group, Dance Jam class
Sun 6/17 - rest day

Totals so far:

Total Miles: 21.35

Average Pace: 17.48 min/ mile

1/2 Marathon Training - Week 1

So if you haven't seen on Facebook yet, I have decided to train to walk the Columbus 1/2 marathon on Oct 21st.  Yes, I may have lost my mind, but I'm actually REALLY excited about this!  I really enjoy the race atmosphere & I also do a lot better with my work outs when I have a goal to work towards & a plan to follow.

So I joined the local Marathoners in Training group & planned to start with them at their kick off on June 2nd.  Yeah, that didn't happen.  Looking back I realize deciding to start this big plan the weekend I was hosting 2 birthday parties & having the first week be the first time I was alone all day every day with 3 kids wasn't my smartest scheduling decision. 

So I did what I could this week.  I also decided that Zak looks old enough to sneak him into the gym daycare (their rule is 6 months & older), so that helped give me more times to work out, but also gave me more options including Zumba classes which I LOVE!  All in all it was a pretty good week exercise wise.  Not exactly what I had planned for the walking, but I have 4 1/2 months still & plenty more miles to get where I need to be.

Here is my exercise for the past week with my training week 1 in bold:
Mon 6/4 - 2.1 miles in neighborhood, 25 minute Wii Fit workout
Tues 6/5 - 35 minute Wii Fit workout
Weds 6/6 - 2.1 miles in neighborhood, Zumba class
Thurs 6/7 - Dance Jam class
Fri 6/8 - rest day (not intentional, but I worked 2 more hours than I thought)
Sat 6/9 - 2 miles on treadmill, 15 minutes on stationary bike
Sun 6/10 - rest day

Stay tuned for weekly updates & please hold me accountable!!

The Week of AJ

Last week was a very big week for AJ! 

First, on Wednesday, May 30 he graduated from Flying Colors Preschool.  They had a cute & simple ceremony.  The kids walked in to the graduation music in adorable hats (I cried).  Then the kids that are moving on to Kindergarten, including AJ, got a diploma from their teacher (I cried).  Finally, the kids sang & signed 2 songs for the parents (I cried).  I'm working on getting through our pictures, but here is one of them walking in.

Then on Saturday, June 2, AJ celebrated his 5th birthday!!  We had a party that day for some of his friends.  The weather didn't really cooperate so we had a mostly indoor party.  The kids still played mostly outside, and in the pools we had set up.  Everyone had a great day!  Here is a picture of the boys & the cake.

We are SO proud of AJ & the little man he is becoming.  He says & does funny things on a daily basis.  My favorite memory (other than these 2) of the past few weeks was just last Friday.  Zak woke up crying & I got up & was quickly getting ready for the day.  I turned off his monitor so I didn't have to listen to him cry.  When I went in to get him, AJ was in there, leaning into the crib & rubbing Zak's back.  He had turned on his crib music toy as well.  When he saw me he told me he was trying to help calm Zachary down.  It was very, very sweet.  :)