Weekly RUNdown

Ya'll know about this.

I decided my weekly recaps would be called Weekly RUNdown's. It makes sense.

So....this week I ran twice-Tuesday and Thursday. I got up at 6, pumped, then ran. Tuesday's run was a little hard. I knew I wanted to do 2 miles, and it had been a while since I'd run last and is still the furthest I've gone since having Paige.

The first mile was slow. I had a sidestitch and kept wondering if I would be able to make it. With it also being the first real run, I kept wondering if I would be able to do this or not. 

I made it thru. Slowly, but I did it. 

Thursday I was not expecting a good run. We got home late the night before and I knew I was tired. Surprisingly, I didn't feel that tired when I woke up. It did hit me later on though. I planned on only running 1.5 miles on Thursday. I didn't want to keep pushing it and be frustrated with my time. Because I knew it was a shorter distance I was able to run a little faster. Still not where I was pre-baby, but every little bit counts. 

I felt great after Thursday's run! I was proud of myself for meeting my first weeks goal and pretty excited to draw one of my rewards. I really do live for rewards or any sort of treat.

These are my Reward Cups. I have a Weekly Rewards and a Monthly Rewards. I wrote my rewards on slips of paper and put them in the cups.

Reward for the week: Bottled Starbucks Frappuccino

I actually enjoyed yesterdays run so much that I thought about running today. I didn't really have time though and it was about 1000% humidity. And I showered yesterday and didn't feel like showering today. No reason to overdo it. :)

Next week, my plan is to run 2-2 milers on Tuesday and Friday.

Thanks for following along!

love

laura

Day 1=Done

Today was day 1 of running. Remember, I have to run twice a week to get a "reward." 

When I first started out I almost quit. Running is way more mental than physical. 

I got a horrible sidestitch halfway and had to walk for a minute. But I did run almost 2 miles! It was slow, but  I did it! 

I read this article today. I thought it was really interesting, because until today I was in the camp of a mile is a mile, no matter if you're running or walking. I don't think there is a huge difference as far as overall calorie burn, but yay for the running afterburn!

Tonight, a friend is coming over to watch Paige while Daniel and I go out for a date! It's our first date since we've been back-over 2 months. And it's Paige's first time with someone other than us or my mom. i'm excited/nervous to see how it goes. 

We're not going too far or for too long, since it's our first night away. I'm pretty excited. Especially after today. Not sure if I'm just tired or what, but it was barely noon today and I was done.

Speaking of...she just woke up! Gotta go!

love

laura

Need your help-give me your thoughts!

Okay! So....I am a very goal driven person. I like to know what the goal is, how we're going to get there, and what the reward is when we do. I love to meet goals and have a reward at the end.

I've tried to get back into running and working out in general. But I just cannot for the life of me get motivated. I would like to lose 5 pounds and 10 would be my ultimate goal. BUT, I am very aware that losing the weight won't get me back into my pre pregnancy jeans. My body has changed, I know this. But I want to get back to being healthy and in shape.

I think diets are dumb. I know eating healthy and exercise is where it's at.

The summer after my junior year in college, I stayed on campus to work. My roommates were mostly gone or doing other things and the kickboxing class I went to was over. I knew i needed something to keep me on track to work out. So I took two paper cups-one was for weekly goals and one was for monthly goals. In the weekly cup, I had written little rewards on slips of paper. If I worked out 3 times a week, then at the end of the week i could draw something from the cup. The rewards were small, but something I wanted and wouldn't normally do. Like, buy a new thing of nail polish, rent a movie,etc...

If I worked our every week for a month, then I could draw a reward or treat from the monthly cup. These rewards were a bit bigger, like buy a new shirt, or spend $10 at Target. It worked really well, and I was super motivated and driven to complete my work outs each week so I could get a treat. And I hated the feeling of failing if i didn't complete my work outs. 

So my point.

I've decided to do the same thing for this summer. I'm not focused on weight loss at all, but I want to get back into running consistently, try to get my mileage back up, and my pace back down. I don't have specific goals set for when this has to be done by. I want to focus more on the consistency of working out again.

Here's what I'm thinking:

If I work out/run twice a week, then I get to draw a reward from the Weekly Cup. I know twice a week doesn't sound that challenging, but it is. Especially now with Paige. Because for me to run in the morning, means I have to get up early, pump, then run. I have to get up earlier than I used to because I just can't throw on my running clothes and go out the door. Running twice a week will be a challenge for me right now.

If I run twice a week for 4 weeks straight-then I get to draw a reward from the Monthly Cup. Now if i miss a week because I'm really sick or something, then I'll take that into consideration.

So....THE REWARDS!!

I picked things that are real treats for me, that I rarely do or buy. I don't want the rewards to be too big or expensive, or too small to where I could care less if I get it or not. I'll write each reward on a slip of paper, then draw one out each week.

Here are my thoughts so far for the Weekly Rewards:

Foot Massage ($4)
Hair Wash ($4)
Salad from a Western restaurant ($5)
Snapple Drink from the import store ($2)
Starbucks bottled Frappuccino ($3)
Candle from Ikea ($2)
Magazine on my Nook ($3)

Monthly Rewards:

Buy a season or TV show on Itunes ($15)
A book for my Nook ($10)
New dish or mug at the dish store near our house ($10)

Those are my ideas so far. I didn't want the rewards to be too focused on food, or too expensive. Just little things that I would really enjoy.

I've decided I will do a weekly blog post on Friday's to recap the week and share what rewards I got.

This is where you come in!

Do you have any thoughts or ideas about other rewards?

What should I title the Friday post? 

I've thought about Running Rewards, Friday Findings, Friday Finals, Friday Fortunes, Friday Fix, Weekly Rewards....... what do you think? any other suggestions?

Does anybody want to join and do this with me?

SO EXCITED!

love

laura

What I've been up to

So back in the day...prePaige, I loved to run. I think I still do.

Right after I had my 6 week postpartum, Daniel and I went out for a run. I ran up until my 20th week while I was pregnant, and I really regret not keeping with it longer. My hope and plan for the next pregnancy is to run as long as I can.

Anyways....my first run back was HARD! Much harder than I thought it would be. I'm not sure how much of it was because I hadn't been exercising as much or because my incision from the surgery was still sore. But it was hard. We only ran 1 mile. 1 mile was my goal, I knew I wouldn't be able to pick up where I left off. It was a very slow mile, but a mile nonetheless.

Because of life just being busy, I haven't run since then, almost 4 weeks! I don't like to run here unless it's early in the morning. After about 8 am the roads are too crowded for my comfort. But with nursing, I can't get up first thing in the morning and run, not until I either pump or feed Paige. But Paige doesn't get up till about 7, so by the time I finish feeding her, it's almost too late.

Yesterday morning she woke up at 6:45 so I fed her and went out for a run. It was also a huge holiday here and most of the people weren't out and about. I ran 1.7 miles. Again, slowly, but it felt SO good. And yes i am sore today. Lamers. But I'm proud that i'm running again. I hope to be able to run twice a week. I've also been doing the Shred and some postpartum work out videos at home. 

Also, I saw on twitter lots of people talking about Call the Midwife. I got a lot of Itunes gift cards for Christmas, so I bought season 1 to give it a try. I really like it! After the first episode, I cried like a baby and wanted to hold Paige tight and never let her go. It is hard for me to watch. Maybe because I just had Paige, and it's about babies, but I'm so emotional when I watch. Not bad emotional, just extra sensitive. I cried at the birthing videos in our childbirth classes. Something about seeing a mom get handed her baby for the first time-GAH! it just gets to me!

I'm also starting back to language class next week. I'm going to be slowly easing myself into it. I'm pretty excited though...i've really missed studying and being able to communicate here. I'm going to be able to have my same teacher I've had before, and she's so great.

That's what I've been up to! what about you???

love

laura

Weekly Rewind

This past week was pretty eventful and fun, I feel like a lot of great things happened.

First, Tuesday I had my appointment for the DS risk blood test (get the results in a week). My dr's office is pretty far away, but there's a McDonald's next to it. So i got up early (my dr always wants me there by 8), ate a delicious breakfast then headed to the appointment.

I honestly thought I would just have the blood test and go, but the dr let me hear the heartbeat first-150! It was a great surprise to hear the heartbeat again. So then he asked me to step on the scale. And I made the comment I had just eaten a big breakfast. He looked at me and said "oh you ate?" I was like "mmmhmmmm yeah why?" 

Apparently in the EA no matter what kind of blood test it is, they want you to fast. Probably would've been good to know. So i got to get up early the next day and head back. They also don't give band-aids here when they draw blood. Luckily Daniel is always prepared and had one with him. So we went to McDonald's after my appointment, but I only ate a breakfast sandwich, not the whole meal. You know, everything in moderation right?

I also found out recently, that a Toys R Us just opened in our city, and they carry Babies R Us items too! So we made the trek out to the new mall to see what they had.

I was pretty impressed to be honest. It wasn't anything like going to a real Babies R Us, but they did have a large selection of Tommee Tippee, and a few good options of Fisher Price play mats.

The mall also had an import store that I wanted to check out. They had a lot of great options, but they were WAY overpriced, even for imports. But we did find caffeine free Coke-so I splurged and bought a couple. 

I've been craving doughnuts lately. I must have been out of mind this day, because I walked right past these and didn't even buy one! Ugh.....regret.

And in other big news (to me at least), I ran this past Friday. It was my first time to run in over 12 weeks. Sadly, i forgot to charge my shuffle, so it was also the first time running without music in about 2 years. 

I took it slow and ran 1.4 miles. I thought i would feel really different running pregnant, but other than just feeling way out of shape, it felt about the same. I was so excited that it went well and I felt SO good afterwards. I've been walking and going to spin, but nothing really compares to a good run. 

I will have to slow it down a little bit more though. I took my heart rate and it was 150, and word on the street is that I need to keep it below 140 while preggo. So that just gives me another excuse to run slow and not feel bad about it. I'm hoping to get another run in this week. 

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

love

laura

That is what I call ironic

So....I don't have a single picture of our Easter. But rest assured that I wore the exact same thing I wore last year and Daniel wore a new blue plaid shirt that looked quite wonderful on him.

I was talking to a friend last night (you know who you are) and we were both lamenting how we had "mysteriously" gained 2 pounds each in the last few weeks. I was specifically annoyed because these past 2 weeks I have intentionally exercised more and continued my healthy eating habits...yet right when I started to increase my physical activity, I gained weight. (sidenote I've been the exact same weight for the last 9+ months, so any deviation is weird)

Yes, 2 pounds is not the end the world, I know this. But I'm allowed to feel like it is :) ha! And just because i don't live in America doesn't mean I can't experience first world problems :)

Anyways...I've been going to spin twice a week, and doing the Shred or walking a few miles on other days. And let me tell you I had the opportunity for Starbucks this past week and I turned it down!!! Someone give me a gold medal for showing ultimate self control.

So...the 2 pounds. I decided this weekend that enough is enough and I decided I must start running regularly again. It's been a few  months weeks since I've run with any real consistency. The best time for me to run right now is in the morning before class. Which means I would have to get up early. Earlier than I would like. But I told myself I had to get myself back into shape and exhibit a little self discipline.

So this morning, my alarm went off and I started to get ready for my run. I figured I would weigh myself to see the most recent weight gain. And lo and behold if I wasn't exactly back to my old weight. That is what I call ironic.

After celebrating how healthy and in shape my body was I contemplated not running at all, because clearly there was no need right?! Daniel even told me to go back to bed. But persevered I did, and ran about 3 miles. It wasn't fast by any means, but I loved it. I loved running on the empty quiet streets and knowing that before I'd even had my first cup of coffee, my work out for the day was done.

go me.

In other news, I'm continuing to watch my way thru the Star Wars movie. We've started watching a new one on Saturday nights...yes, we do know how to party, thank you. We just finished the Jedi one, so now I think we start going back in time to start watching the new ones. Makes sense right?

All that to say....I'm going to start running again.

love

laura

Superbowl Monday

What? You didn't watch the Superbowl on monday morning??

Because we did.

We were supposed to be travelling this week, but it didn't work out (much to our disappointment). So we decided to kick our Monday off right by going out to eat for breakfast and trying to watch the Superbowl.

The commentating wasn't in English, which I'm sure some of you wouldn't mind, but I actually really like listening to the commentators. It makes it easier to follow the game if you're not actually watching it.

Anyways, between my french toast and coffee (with real sugar-I use splenda at home), I pretty much got the shakes and bordered on slipping into a sugar coma. Somehow, I pulled myself together long enough to go grocery shopping and getting nothing on my list because the store had nothing on my list.

After an extremely productive morning of eating....I decided to study because I have class tomorrow. And I get nervous going back to class after such a long break.

Then to put the icing on the productivity cake, I went for a run.

Sidenote: Daniel and I walked 6 miles on Saturday. I strapped on the Garmin and off we went. The big deal of the day was getting a fresh pineapple for less than a $1. It tastes amazing!

So the weather was very unseasonably nice today. It actually got up into the 50's and felt pretty good. The weather is supposed to return to 'yucky' by mid-week, so I knew I needed to push myself. So I ran 4 miles. Which if you're keeping track, you'll realize I haven't run over 3 miles in almost 2 months. Just call me consistent.

So pushed I did. And I realized something......you can't run 3 miles once a week for 2 months and expect to keep a respectable pace. At least I can't. I was slow. But in my mind running 4 slow miles is better than running 3 fast ones (more calories.)

After my run, I showered and made Zuppa Toscana soup. It was super yummy!

I might end the day by studying more and drinking some hot chocolate!

Happy Superbowl Monday!

love

laura

Love & Running

Remember the marriage weekend Daniel and I went to back in October? You can read about it here.

Well, they are having another weekend in our city this summer. Daniel and I really believe in UME and the organization as a whole, so we really want to be involved and help as we can to make this next weekend just as meaningful for other couples as it was for us.

We had a few people over last night to talk about the next UME weekend. I used this opportunity to use my new heart plate from Amy, and to try something I had seen on Pinterest.

Look how cute this is!! And super easy!!

I just chopped off the top part of the red pepper and put homemade ranch dressing inside! I will definitely do this again!

I mainly took this next picture so you could see that we finally put pictures in our frames, after having hung the frames about 3 months ago, ha!

Check out the UME site and find an upcoming weekend near you! They have several coming up in Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, and several International locations.

Hmmm what else is going on???

I haven't been running. I ran last Monday then all day Tuesday my right foot hurt when I walked. I think i got a callous or something, because the skin got really hard and raised, and was painful. I decided to rest a few days from running, but the pain has still been come and go.

I really want to run. Like, really. But at the same time, the weather is so gross here, I have very little motivation. Another thing I realized, is that when I ran in Oklahoma, I ran in the neighborhood behind our house, and there was never anyone out....it was just really quiet and peaceful and I got a lot of thinking/destressing done while I ran.

But running here just stresses me out. I am constantly watching where I'm running to make sure I'm avoiding the people who decide to walk straight into me and stop, or for dog/human poop, cars, bikes, scooters, etc.... I use up so much mental/nervous energy when I run that I don't really get the peace and quiet that I want.

That's my excuse for how anyways......

My sister is running in a marathon relay next week. She's one of those people that doesn't run for a long time, then just goes out and runs 9 miles. It's semi annoying and semi impressive. Anyways.....she tells me this morning that it is a trail run and heard the course is "challenging." She's starting to get a little worried, since she's been running on flat roads. Either way, I'm excited for her to run in her first marathon, relay or not, it's pretty cool!

have a good weekend!

love

laura

Wednesday

I titled this post Wednesday, because that's what day it is and I have no other clue as to what to name this.

I'm tired.

I wish I could say that our new storage room is completely organized and looks great. But I haven't touched it since cleaning it last week. I do walk in about once a day just to appreciate it. And I do appreciate it! I did buy drawer liner to put in the drawers and on top of some of the cabinets. Actually I bought sticky paper that is supposed to be used on windows, because the real drawer liner stuff was almost $15 a meter and oh my word that is too much for something I want to put inside a drawer.

I have high hopes for organizing the room tomorrow.

I'm out of class for the next 3 weeks because it's a holiday. I wish I could say I've been sleeping in, staying in my pj's, all day and watching The Office. Actually, I really don't wish that because I wouldn't be able to handle the guilt.

Life still goes on, with or without class. I've been trying to run errands and get things done. We have friends that live in our city that have been travelling for several months and just returned home. We volunteered to meet them at their apartment when they got in, to help with their bags. They got in about 1:30am. A.M.

Daniel are I learned very quickly that we are old people. I was ready to go to bed on Monday at 9:30p.m. While we were more than happy to help our friends out, it was just an eye opener to us that we are old and can't hack it.

We were in bed at 3 AM and up by 8 the next day. Surprisingly I didn't feel as tired as I thought I would. Until 8pm rolled around and then neither of us were speaking coherently. We were in bed last night at 8:30 and woke up at 8:30 this morning. Sadly, I'm still tired and considering 8:30 to be my new bedtime.

I've already ran twice this week. I had a GREAT run this morning! While I still haven't pushed myself past 3 miles yet, my pace is getting back to where I'd like it. My average page today was 11.19/mile. After taking 6 weeks off, I'm pretty pleased with it. And honestly, today's run just felt great. I loved it. I like the feeling I get when I'm doing something good for my body and health and it's making me stronger.

All that to say, I just ate a lot of candy corn. We got 2 lbs of it for Christmas and I am more than happy to eat my share. This is why I run people.

Happy Wednesday!

love

laura

New Toys

Monday was the BIG day. I knew it was coming and I tried to prepare for it.

It was the day I start running again. Technically I ran 3 weeks ago, but it had been about 6 weeks since I'd run with any regularity, and that was the half marathon.

Even though my weight didn't change too much during those 6 weeks, my feel about myself did. Even if i'm not losing weight, I love how i feel when I'm running with some consistency. I feel stronger, healthier, and better about myself as a whole. Lately I've been feeling sluggish and gross.

So I headed out monday in the AM (when it's practically still dark and freezing). I was still pretty excited though because of these!

Daniel bought me this for christmas and I LOVE it! It keeps my ears warm, and my headphones in place!

(it's also reversible-black on other side)

And of course my new Garmin!!

I have had my eye on this for a long time!!! Daniel's parents gave it to me for my birthday. It shows my pace, distance, time, etc.. There is a heart rate monitor that came with it, but honestly I could care less what my heart rate is.

I couldn't find a satellite for about the first mile of the run. It finally located one right before the end of the first mile. So I quickly reset it and started it over. I was SHOCKED at my pace!!! I ran SOOOO slow. Granted, I've been sick and was coming off the longest running break I've ever had. But oh my word!!! I kept looking at the pace thinking it had to be wrong.

Sadly, it wasn't. But I was pretty close on where I thought my mile markers were.

After getting over how slow I run, I synced my watch with the Garmin software online. It is SO cool!!! I could see my elevation for the whole run, my pace per mile, and it even knew if I had stopped at intersections, and had a separate "moving pace."  There's tons of stuff it tells you online, but my favorite is seeing my run on a map. It is so accurate!!!

I want to try wearing it when I'm bike riding and walking around town, just to get an idea of how far I go.

In other news......we are having the worst, ugliest, most disgusting weather day ever. I biked to class in the pouring rain. But it's more than just rain, it's the gross foggy dark stuff. I.don't.like.it.

I am SO ready for vaca........just about a month away and we'll be in sunny Malaysia! woo to the hoo!!!

love

laura



Catch up

I had so many good intentions this past week.

While classes are done at the university, Daniel and I are tutoring during the winter break. But I took this week off from school (minus one class) before plunging right back into it. I had great plans to cook really good meals, blog, and most important, run. I thought I would be running everyday.

But then last week I got hit with stomach stuff. That pretty much took the whole running thing right out of the picture.

I started feeling better on Tuesday. Then the sore throat came, and now my sinuses are wreaking havoc on my body. I woke up this morning thinking the bones in my face and jaw were broken, because of the intense sinus pressure.  I don't feel like i'm dying, so I really don't think it's an infection, just something viral that I have to wait out.

And while waiting, I'm not going to run. Not only do I feel miserable, but it's been way gross out for a few days. The only motivation I have to run, is I'm afraid of losing muscle. I'm not gaining any weight (thought i totally should be), which makes me afraid that I'm losing some muscle mass. Anyone know anything about this??

So today my plan is to sit on the couch and watch movies. I am so ready to start feeling better again. Especially by next Thursday......it's the big one.

p.s. Mom's package came this week!!!!

love

laura

Like taking off a band-aid

You just have to rip it off and go for it.

This was my approach for running yesterday.

I hadn't run in 2 weeks, since the half, and honestly running is such a love/hate. I love trying to be healthy and taking care of my body, and also how great I feel after a good run. But because most of my runs have to take place in the afternoon, it feels like an inconvenience to get dressed and ready, run, then come back and shower-and have to do my hair and make up again if we have something going on that night. (I know i know all my first wold problems....)

So yesterday I took the plunge.

This is how I felt about running in the cold.

I'm wearing REI thick running pants, Nike long sleeve dri-fit, and Nike running half zip up. I tend to overdress. I am so afraid of being cold. And since I hadn't run in cold weather in about a year, I didn't know what to expect. But within the first mile I was drenched, especially with the hat. I will definitely wear less next time. And if I thought people stared at me running before, you should've seen the looks I got for running out in the cold. Ah well......

I planned on just doing 3, because if I set the bar too high I won't feel like I can do it. But my first 2 miles were about 10:45 min/mile, and I didn't want to waste the greatness that was happening, so I did 4.2. It was just the right amount.

And to be honest, I LOVED running. It felt SO good to be out and active. I don't know why I fool myself sometimes into thinking I don't enjoy it. I do. I can't get away from it.

I REALLY want to hit 500 miles for this year, but that's going to be difficult with schedules and stuff the next 3 weeks. But I'm really going to try!

We're not doing too much this weekend. Getting caught up on life, baking, cooking, studying, and trying to stay warm. :)

love

laura

Oh Christmas Tree

As promised, here is a picture of our Christmas tree.

I had a hard time really capturing it.

But it makes me really happy! I have really enjoyed sitting in our living room, drinking hot chocolate and just watching it.

Speaking of Christmas, this will be our first one to spend in our own house. The last two years we've been at my parents house. I'm kind of excited about it though...to wake up, make coffee, eat something sinful, and enjoy our morning together.

I really want to start our own Christmas traditions for our family, but I'm having a hard time coming up with anything.... we don't have kids yet, and I think it will be easier to start them then, but I would love to have some traditions that we do now as a couple. I would love to hear any ideas you have, or traditions you do.

And speaking of freezing temperatures.....it's cold here! What's weird is that it's mostly been in the 40's, and after last year when we spent a lot of time below freezing in Oklahoma, you would think it wouldn't feel too cold.

Wrong.

I feel the need to repent for all those years I took central heating for granted.

We turned on our heating unit (the big thing in the picture next to the tree) this week for the first time. We've only turned it on in the living room. It's been so lovely!!! We also bought an electric bed warmer because I have something against sleeping indoors in freezing temperatures. Granted, it has made it really hard to get out of the warm bed in the morning. But I'm sleeping and avoiding hypothermia, so everybody wins.

Also......notice I haven't been blogging about running. I looked back and last year I ran several times in below freezing temperatures. So why can't I just get out there and run??? As Daniel pointed out, I was coming home to a warm house when I ran before. It feels so cold here, because riding our bikes is our main mode of transportation, and then our house is cold, so the last thing I want to do is go run outside and risk losing a finger or something.

But because I thrive on adventure and living on the edge (ha!), I'm going to attempt a short run this afternoon. If you read this in a few hours and there is something next to the MTD running stats....feel free to congratulate me, because I survived :)

Also, I just can't not run for the next 3 months. It has less to do with weight, because as I've recently discovered, it doesn't matter if i run 20 miles/week or go a few weeks without because my body refuses to gain/lose weight no matter what I do.

So really the running is just for me. I like how I feel when I run. And being in shape is really important to me.

Enough about that....I think i need to go make some pumpkin bread.....

love

laura

Second Half

I did it. I really did it!!!!!

13.1 miles

3 Gu's

2 Time half-marathoner!!

Here's the details (go here for background info)

I hydrated yesterday and got a great night's sleep. I was still pretty tired when I woke up at 6, but I had a busy day ahead of me! (after my race I helped a friend make 150 pounds of sausage!)

Daniel was actually up before me and took a few pics of me getting ready to head out.

I was feeling pretty good at this point, ha!

I ate a small granola bar and a GU before heading out.

The first 3-4 miles was pitch black. It was about the 4th mile that it started to get light out. I thought that would slow me down since I was trying to run carefully and make sure I didn't fall. But I was pleased to see my normal pace.

My plan was to do a 5 mile loop, grab my water bottle and GU from the gate guard, then have Daniel meet me at mile 9, to refill my water bottle and give me another GU.

This is the map I drew for Daniel so he could meet me.

The first few miles are always hard mentally just because you know you have so much further to go. Today my mantra was "This is YOUR race!" I told myself that a lot when I was running today. It seemed to help me focus and keep me motivated. The last few runs I've also been saying this phrase, "You just have to put your time in." That may sound weird, but when you're at the earlier miles, it's hard not to run too fast and just want to finish already. Telling myself to put my time in, made me remember that I wasn't worried about not being able to finish the run, I knew I could physically do it. But it was going to take time.

Here's me at mile 9.

Probably 90% of my route is in alleys and small streets. But about 2 miles is in a park, this is me running out of the park. I like this part :)

I'm so hardcore I even run stairs.

My 10th mile was amazing and fast. Then came mile 11. Miles 11 and 13 were definitely the hardest. Mile 12 for some reason was great. But 11 and 13, I was feeling it. I was SO ready to be done with the race!

Here I am finishing!

(notice the people staring behind me.....this is normal)

And this is how I FELT after finishing my half marathon!!!

I OWNED this race!!! I was first female, first place...not a single person passed me....and I totally PR'd!!!!!

Daniel, in his wonderful love and support for my race, he made me a sign naming me the champion!

He also made me gold medal. When he put it around my neck, I lost it and started crying. I was close to really letting it all out, but I don't like to cry so I held it back (and people were already staring at us for cheering and yelling). But getting the medal around my neck made me feel that it was all worth it. All the side stitches, dog chases, early mornings, sore muscles, all of it......it was all worth it for this moment.

Overall this was an amazing race! I felt great practically the whole time!! In my book, an uneventful run is a success!

Here I am enjoying chocolate milk. Yes, my ankles are dirty.

Here I am with my gold medal!!

Here are the stats:

Total distance: 13.2 miles :)

Total race time: 156 minutes (2 hrs, 36 min)

Total run time: 152 minutes (2 hrs, 32 min)

Total race time pace:  11:48/mile

Total run time pace: 11:30/mile

I am SO proud of this pace!!!! Honestly, it seems surreal. It used to seem like I could never get out of the 12 min/mile rut, and I was always slower if I ran more than 5 miles.

I'm almost in denial about it all. It's been such a journey these last two years-the weight loss and the running. It's such a huge part of my life, I honestly don't know what I would do without it. It has changed me-how I feel about myself and even who I am.

I am a runner.

love

laura

Saturday Stats and Happy Birthday

As my friend Caroline would say, I'm going insane in the membrane.

Seriously ya'll, I ran how many days ago and didn't even post about it?? I will try not to complain about the business that is my life right now, because I know it's a busy time for everyone. But next time you're driving around going crazy getting all your errands done, imagine doing all of that on a bike. (do you feel thankful now?? you're welcome.)  haha, so kidding.

I'm trying not to get caught up in the chaos of life right now and freak out and cry because for the love how is it all going to get done?! Because, most of the things that are busy in my life are good things. I don't want to just 'get through it,' and not enjoy the actual moment. So I'm trying to have a good perspective and remember to calm down and be more laid back. Which comes so naturally to me. ha

Besides, I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could find a pharmacy that carries percocet or vicatin over the counter.

Kidding!

Kind of....

So......

Last Saturday was my long run. It ended up being about 11.2 miles. There was a lot less pain this week than the 9 miler last week. I tried something new this time. I had GU before the run and during. I've never tried using it before running. I couldn't tell a huge difference energy wise or anything, but it didn't hurt me so I'm likely to try it again.

I started exactly at 7am, and finished with less than a 12 min/mile pace. I will take it!!! 

Honestly, the run and all of the recent days are kind of blur, so I can't really remember much about it. Let's just say it went great........

It's taper week, but again, busy so haven't noticed. But i'm also thankful, because I couldn't imagine finding time for anything more than 3 miles this week.

Saturday is the big day.

I'm going to run 13.1 miles.

Go me!!!!!!

Don't worry, you will get the play by play. It may not be immediate because I have every minute of my life planned after the run, but I'll try to find time to post about it.

Also, today is someones birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Ethan is turning 3 today!!!! Sadly, he has mono, so they're not doing anything too big.  I'm sad we're not there to celebrate, but I was overseas when Grant turned 3 too, so I guess it's good that i'm not playing favorites. ha

love

laura

Running, rain, records, recipes, and random

There is just so much to say, i can't even stand it.

Let's start off with the most important news. I witnessed a miracle today.

I ran 3 miles in 30:30. In case math isn't your best subject, that's an average of a 10:10 mile. As in 10 MINUTES 10 SECONDS people. Ya'll.......seriously?!?!?!?!!? My average is usually 12 minute, or as of late 11.

Can I get an AMEN?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!??!!?

Let's backtrack to the reason why I ran so fast:

I slept in till 9 am this morning. I drank 2 cups of coffee with homemade coffee creamer (read down for the recipe). After drinking the coffee, a sip of water and no food, I thought it would be a good time for a run. Yes, call me crazy.

As I stepped outside it started to rain. Perfect.

I took off running and felt really fast. I've heard that coffee that make you run faster, and I'm here as living proof that it does. I don't really recommend the no water, no food, only coffee mix though, because i've had a bad headache since.

Anyways, let's get back to the awesomeness that was this morning.

I ran at a pace of 10 min 10 seconds a mile. And yes, I'm pretty sure I heard the Hallelujah chorus as I finished. Not sure if that will ever happen again, but I just witnessed something that has been forever in my "impossible" category. I'm sure Runner's World will be asking me to do speaking engagements or something very soon.

I got a recipe for coffee creamer from a friend, and then I googled to see what variations there might be. I specifically looked for a Creme Brulee creamer recipe, because that was my fave in the States. And coffee creamer has been one thing I have really missed.

I found one here. Someone had given me SCM a while back, and when I went to use it this morning, I realized it expired in January of 2010. But beggars can't be choosers, and nothing was going to stop me from making this creamer.

It was good. It wasn't much like what I would buy in the States, but I think it just needs a bit of tweaking. I didn't think it was very sweet, but Daniel couldn't even drink it because he said it was too sweet. Anyways, I'm pretty excited just to have a starting point and to be able to make different flavors. I might look for a hazelnut flavor too, because that's my second fave. Oh the possibilities!!!!

For the random.....

We can buy sodas at an import store for about $1.50. I buy a Diet A&W every so often as a treat. But sometimes they'll sell things at a discount if they're damaged or expired. I was at the import store last night and found these little treasures for half off, so about 0.80 cents!

It's damaged, but who am I to judge. And no it's not diet, but I was at negative calories when I ate lunch today, so I think it will be okay to splurge.

To keep with the random.......Daniel and I were walking to dinner a couple weeks back and saw this. I HAD to take a picture!!

It's kind of blurry, but yes, that is a purple dog.

So many questions......

love

Laura

P.R.

You probably won't notice anything about this picture. But something is missing.

Can you guess??

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.

.

.

.

.

.

.

It's our bathroom scale.

I realized I was in the habit of weighing myself 2-3 times a day. That's probably not healthy. I was noticing every 10th of a pound, up or down. I was weighing myself when I got up in the morning, before my run, after my run, and sometimes just randomly during the day.   Psycho!!!

So yesterday when I got back from my run, I asked Daniel to hide the scale for me. And he did a good job, I actually don't know where it is! I get it back the 24th. I thought 10 days was a good stretch to go without the scale. It's kind of driving me a little crazy, I'll think "oh today I feel a little thinner, I wonder...." But I can't weigh myself so life just goes on.

It's better this way.

In relevant news, I had my own PR today. It wasn't a chip timed race by any means, but I did 3, 11 minute miles. I know that's walking to some of ya'll, but considering I used to be a very consistent 12 minute-miler, I'll totally take it!!!

I found a local website that is similar to mapmyrun.com, but way easier and very accurate to my neighborhood. It actually had the stoplights and information about the stores on the street. I had been guessing this whole time where I thought each mile was. Come to find out, my first mile was a lot sooner than I thought. Which explains why I was killing myself trying to run a 12 minute mile....my distancing was pretty off.

Anyways, I wouldn't be able to keep up an 11 minute pace for much longer than a 5K. At the end of the run I was breathing so hard. And call me lazy, but most runs I finish and barely out of breath. Which should probably be my clue that I'm running too slow. Eh.....

I'm going to get my haircut tomorrow. I'm actually just walking into a random hair place that is near our house. I know a few words to tell them I want long layers and not too short. Here is my before picture from tonight.

If things don't turn out too tragically, I'll post an 'after' pic tomorrow.

love

Laura

Saturday Stats

(I think i'm going to do a weekly stat update each Saturday for my training)

It's officially the end of Week 1 of training! Only 9 more to go....which seems forever away!

The week went well. I had to run during the afternoons during the week. I don't mind it, but i'd much prefer to run in the morning and get it over with. But with class, it's just too hard. And it's been a very exhausting week. But I enjoyed a delightful iced coffee after my run this morning, that I'd been looking forward to all week!

My "long" run for this week was 4 miles. Next week it's 5. I won't get nervous until it's 8.
8 miles is always my big marker. I'm pretty good up until then, but then each run over 8 is always hard. More prep goes into those runs: hiding a water bottle to pick up half way through, eating before-having time to digest, carrying Gu with me, making time, etc.....

Running long is going to be interesting here. I have a few thoughts that i'll share when we get closer.

I haven't lost any weight, but didn't gain. Again, it's week 1 so not a big deal.

I did realize how much my pride is a part of running, especially long runs. I'm going to be honest....I enjoy when someone asks me what I did today and I get to say " well i ran my 10 miles, then blah blah blah." It's such a good feeling to have a really good long run. But I need to work on the pride. :)

Like most of ya'll, our temps here dropped a lot too. Sunday it was about 110 (or felt like it), but this week it's been mostly in the 70's. I think it was in the high 60's when i ran this morning. I LOVE running in cooler weather!

A few of ya'll asked about the fam.....my parents are moving to South Illinois, i think closer to the Missouri  border (where dad's family is). They are actually there right now house hunting.

We don't have class on Monday because it's a Holiday here. Which makes me feel better about going to class this past Monday when I had to see everyone's tweets and fb updates about them enjoying their Labor Day, ha!

Oh and this week on the menu:

Sat night/Sun nite: Chicken Broccoli casserole (need to find a recipe!)
Mon nite/ Tues nite: Chili
Wed: Local Dishes
Thurs/ Fri: Creamy Garlic Crockpot chicken
Sat: Out-western food

Have a great weekend!!

love

Laura

Weekend Rewind

Friday ended up being busier than we expected. We found out that our paperwork was ready to get our student visas, so we took a last minute trip to the visa office to file everything. It just happened to be close to a McDonald's and we decided we just couldn't pass it up. But don't worry I got the chicken nuggets and drank water. So it wasn't a complete splurge :)

Friday afternoon I grocery shopped, and FINALLY found chocolate chips! They only had 2 bags so I bought them both. It's so easy to become a 'hoarder' here. You never know when or what the import stores will have, and just because they have something one week doesn't mean it's guaranteed to be there the next. And I consider chocolate chips a surival food.

Saturday we slept in (8 am ha!), and just did things around the house. I baked a bit for visitors we were having over today. I attempted to make homemade donut holes, and it didn't go so well. I made the dough, but had problems getting the oil the right temp and actually getting the dough into the shape of a ball. So we had weird looking shaped donuts. They still tasted good and that's really all that matters!

Saturday afternoon we went to see Cars 2 3D in ENGLISH!! I was pretty excited. It was our first movie to see here. There were only 7 of us in the theatre and we all sat really close to each other. You actually buy a specific seat here instead of sitting just anywhere. It's actually nice because most of the time you don't have to get to the theatre as early.

After the movie we went to eat at a Western restaurant, complete with hamburgers, fries, and pie! We don't go out for Western very often, so it's pretty exciting when we do. Well exciting for us.....not sure if ya'll are really holding your breath to find out what we eat, hahah!

This afternoon is pretty laid back. Tomorrow we start school and will find out how often our classes meet, times, and all that. It's been a while since I've had a first day of school. I'm hoping for a good awkward moments to tell ya'll about later.

But speaking of.....these two little cuties started "school" this week too.

Ethan is in MDO twice a week and Grant is in Pre-K. Sarah and Mike are also moving this week. They're just moving about 15 minutes North of where they are now. I've been on to this girl to start a blog. Selfishly I want her to start one so I can get more regular updates on the boys. She keeps saying she's busy.........

ALSO, my bike is here now. I biked yesterday for the first time in our city. If I thought running was hard, i was dead wrong. Biking here is insane. I'm always talking while I bike, in English, things like "watch out I'm going to hit you!" or "I can't stop.. oh no oh ummmm"  I'll keep you posted.

And in running news, I'm DEFINITELY starting my half marathon training tomorrow. It's a whopping 3 miles, but i'm excited to be committed to the training!!! I might do a weekly recap of the miles and how the training is going.

love

Laura

Get it Together

I am a person who loves having goals. I thrive on them.

So far I've met all my weight and exercise goals for 2011, so I set new ones to keep me going. But they're a little too vague. And vague goals don't get accomplished in my book.

I took 2 weeks of from running bc of being in the mountains and just being really tired and busy after we got back. I ran 3.2 miles on Thursday and felt pretty good. But today I didn't run because I honestly just didn't feel motivated. I'm currently at the lowest weight of my adult life. And when I see some small improvements in the weight area I tend to slack off. I know I shouldn't, but I do.

I want more.

After reading TPGs post today, I became motivated. I have got to just get out there and do it. I need to run whether I feel like it or not. I need to be disciplined again. Which is hard when I'm not training for anything. They have races in this country, but they're all far away and way expensive to go to.

So I've decided to train for a half marathon, even if I never race it. I'm going to be using this training program that I used for my first one. And who knows, maybe I'll do my own personal half and call it a day. (I'll just need a shirt and a medal to feel legit, ha!).

If all goes well, it will put me right at our 2 year anniversary mark. And I've already decided if I lose 5 more lbs, I'm going to let myself have a Smores Poptart. I know you should never reward weight loss with food, but I just can't bring myself to eat these without knowing i've lost more weight. It's a mental thing.

I'm a little nervous about committing to a training program, because school starts on Monday and i'll be getting up on a normal day around 6:15. And that's without running. So I know i'll have to get up about 5ish a few mornings. And that doesn't sound like fun to me. Hopefully when/if the weather cools down I can run in the afternoons. But that probably won't happen  for a while.

Anyways, wish me luck. I need it. I'll take any motivation I can get!

love

Laura