Great weekend, great run, great distance

Distance: 2.22 miles (I love that it is all 2's!)
Time: 30 min.

We had such a fun family weekend. Yesterday besides the race, basketball game and soccer game, we also played a family game of Wii, took a family nap, and had a really nice dinner together at The Old Spaghetti Factory.

Today we lounged all morning, went to Costco and Fresh N Easy for groceries, and then came home for some physical activity.

By the time we got home from shopping, it was a bit after 4. I asked Eric if he thought I'd make it for a run before it gets dark. (I don't run in the dark because I am a big chicken.) He suggested that he and the boys ride their bikes with me while I did my run!

I was super excited about that, so I changed my clothes lickety split and we headed off. The 3-year-old did semi-okay at staying out of the middle of the road. Luckily we live in a fairly low-key neighborhood. Not many people were out and about at 4:30 on a freezing cold Sunday.

I LOVED that the whole family was getting exercise together! It made my day. And even with having to hop out of Child #2's way when he would veer into me, I still managed to run 20 minutes, keeping at an 11:55 pace! Yay me!

Today's run was the first one since I started up again where I felt strong! I wasn't talking myself into "just one more minute." I just ran. Sure, I got tired, but I knew I was going to make it the full 20 minutes. These good runs sure help make the bad ones more bearable.

Once we got home, Husband prepared a new recipe from the Weight Watchers website. Broccoli Beef stir fry. Yum!


This entire plate of food was only 5 points! For those who don't know WW points, that is an extremely good value for the amount of food on my plate.

I don't like broccoli, so I threw that back in the wok and threw some red and green peppers into the mix. So good!

Just a great family weekend. Love these days.

Two Miles!

Distance: 2.04 miles
Time: We'll say 24:30 min. I forgot to stop my watch!

This morning was the two mile race that I signed up for on Thursday. It was great! After watching my 6-year-old place first in his race and watching my 3-year-old have a blast in his race, I headed to my start line.

My coworker (the music teacher at my school) found me, and we ended up running the whole two miles together.

My goal was to run for at least 20 minutes and then run/walk to the finish. Having Elaine run with me made it easier to focus on something other than my huffing and puffing! She chattered, and I gasped out sentences!

Once we hit 20 minutes (about 1.6 miles), I figured I could finish the whole two miles without walking. I did it! Yay me!

I really enjoy the atmosphere of a race. It's just fun.

I don't think we got any photos of me, so I'll post one of my little people.


The boys just before their races. I love making running a family event.

By the way, I am going to live vicariously through Child #1. He placed first in his race and got an awesome trophy!

Race

Distance: 2.109 miles
Time: 31 min.

I signed up for a race at the last minute today. I'm going to do a 2-mile run on Saturday morning. I'm not ready to run two miles, but that's okay. I'll run/walk until I finish. No big deal!

I figure my "training" plan calls for a 20 minute run anyhow, so I may as well sign up for a race and enjoy the atmosphere. I really love races. They are just fun and festive. And right now they are cold!

I also signed up both kids. This will be Hudson's first race! Right now he is excited, but on race day, he might decide to hide behind my leg. We'll see how it goes. Evan is an old pro at age 6!

My run tonight went well. I always get anxious as the time lengths for runs increase. I went from five minute runs on Tuesday to two 8-minute runs tonight. I didn't slow my pace even when I wanted to fall off the treadmill! Yay me! Gotta pat myself on the back when I can!

Slow and Steady

Me again.

I am pleased to report that I lost another pound this week! That brings me to a total of 13 pounds lost.

Tonight's WW topic was about tracking and working at this slow and steady. I've got the tracking thing down. I was meticulous tracking my food while on vacation. I think that is why I continued to lose even through Christmas and New Year's.

The slow and steady is something I have to remind myself of...whether it be weight loss or running...or anything. Our leader gave us the best perspective tonight. If I lose one pound a week, by Valentine's Day, I'll be down six pounds. I'd be down 11 pounds by St. Patrick's Day. And so on throughout the year.

Weight didn't pile on overnight, and it is not going to come off overnight.

Slow and steady. I've got time.

I also did my elliptical workout tonight. I did it on Monday as well. Tomorrow is the last day in my workout week. Friday is my rest day before I am scheduled to run for 20 minutes on Saturday. That first 20-minute run is always so daunting.

Liking Me Again

Distance: 2.074 miles
Time: 31 min.

This post has two parts. One where I like myself, and one where I am frustrated for comparing myself to someone else.


I like this picture! For once, I like a picture of myself! I can't even tell you how long it's been since I liked a stinkin' picture of myself.


I'm not sure what's up with my little smirk!

I hated every Christmas picture of myself this year. I've also been growing my bangs out since last year, and I'm still pretty self-conscious about them.

But Monday it all came together with feeling good, decent hair, and happy smile. (It's really weird to take a photo of myself. I feel like a big goofball doing it!)

And now for the part where I compare myself to others.

There is a teacher at my school who is young, beautiful and is one of my favorite people on Earth. She casually mentioned to me that she was proud of herself because she ran four miles yesterday on the treadmill at a 6.0 speed. I just about spit out my salad listening to her.

I knew she sometimes ran in the past, but I didn't realize that she's been building up to running again. She said she's been running since before Thanksgiving.

Ugh!!!!! Gahhhhh!!!!! I feel like I can run for the next four MONTHS and not be able to run four miles. I am smack in the middle of running for five minutes at a 5.1 speed, and it makes me want to gasp for breath and die.

I start to get irritated with myself. I start to beat myself up about what I can't do. But I stopped that line of thinking pretty quickly.

Hey, I'm just me, running as fast as my little chubby legs will carry me. It's okay if I can only run for five minutes right now. It's more than I was running a month ago. I'm quite proud of my five-minute stretches.

Doesn't mean I don't envy my coworker, though!

Easy Run

Distance: 1.966 miles
Time: 31 min.

I wasn't intending to do an easy run today. I was intending to do a hard (for me) run. However, once I got on the treadmill, I just didn't feel like I had the energy to run for three and five minute stretches.

I ran a three minute stretch...walked...then started to run a five minute stretch. That turned into two. From there out, I ran a minute and walked a minute. I ended up with 12 minutes of running altogether.

Was it what I planned? Nope. Am I pleased that I still did something? Yep. Will I get stronger? Yep. Eventually. Could I have done the five minute stretches? Probably, but I just wasn't feeling it today.

In other words, I am trying to be a little more forgiving of myself. I am trying to say, "Hey Self. Good job for getting on the treadmill when what you really wanted to do was stay in those new polka dot pajamas. So what if you aren't running for super long stretches yet. You moved your butt. It's good."

So, that is what I said to myself.

Now I am trying to convince myself to do my arm, leg and abs routine. Not sure if that is going to happen though. I still have lesson plans to finish. Curses. I knew two weeks ago that I should have done my lesson plans then. Why oh why do I wait til the last minute and end up feeling awful about them not being done? Stop procrastinating. There's a New Year's goal.


I didn't take any photos today, but Husband is moving all of our photos over to a Picassa website. I thought it would be fun to randomly post old pictures. Fun for me, anyhow! This one is of Hudson when he turned one. (He's now three.) I don't remember him looking so little. It's hard to believe how much they change and grow over two years.

Happy New Year/Happy Birthday Mom!

Distance: 2.32 miles
Time: 32 min.

Last night was the first time in a long time that we actually stayed up to midnight to see in the new year. Usually we watch the East Coast feed and call it good. However, the 6-year-old really wanted to see the ball drop. He fell asleep at 11:30.

In any case, we stayed up and kissed in the new year and cheered with apple cider. Then I slept in until 10! Wow! Thank you, Honey for herding the kids into the family room so I could stay asleep! It is going to be so stinking hard to get back to reality on Monday. And by reality, I mean waking up at 5:45. Ugh.

Today is my mom's 66th birthday, so we were planning to meet at a Japanese restaurant for her birthday lunch. I wanted to get my run in before we left. There was a slight break in the rain, so I decided to head outdoors for the run.

Felt pretty good. Love the new shoes. I accidentally ran for 30 seconds longer than planned. Weird.

After meeting up and having a great lunch, my kiddos convinced Grandma that they should spend the night at her house! Yes! So, we are sans kids for the evening. Pretty good day!


Me and Husband enjoying lunch with my mom and family.


My mom with the gift we got her...a mousepad with a picture of her and her grandsons. Awwww!

P.S. I am having issues with changing the look of my blog. I sort of like the new background, but I can't figure out how to change font colors, title color, etc. I already spent enough time working on it today. I'll try to fix it another time.