Welcome Back!

It has been a long time since I have posted on here.  I haven't really thought a whole lot about this blog.  I started it to document my journey into fitness and share a little bit about myself.  But, like with everything it became a chore to maintain.  I love reading blogs and I am a loyal reader of a bunch of running blogs.  I love how it seems effortless for them to share details of their lives.  I have never met them.  But, I feel like I know them better then some of my real friends. 

I have a few friends that I hold very close to me.  But, they do not know me very well.  I try to stay to myself as much as possible.  It is something I am working on.  I feel like my life is pretty much scheduled to the max with family and kid activities, my business, and my husband's business.  So, it is much easier to be friends with people in the blog world that I have never met in real life.  I can do it on my time.  Not always possible with real people.

But, the real friends I do have are great!  I have done a few more half marathons with them.  I am up to 4 total.  I just finished my 4th and bombed big time.  I was going for that big goal of getting closer to a sub-2 hour half.  I bombed in my eyes.  I did still PR by over a minute and a half.  But, it should have been no less then a four minute PR.

I have now signed up for my 5th half marathon.  It is one that I know I will not be able to PR at.  It is going to be hilly!  It's in Kentucky so it going to be really hilly!  Hill is a four letter word to us.  I have about 18 weeks to get strong enough to hang in there through these hills.   My main focus is going to be on strength training.  Something that I think I really benefited from over this past winter.  We had a very cold winter and running wasn't an option.  I turned to a few different at home workouts.  I think it really helped me maintain my fitness over the course of the winter.  I would like to start that again and continue with my running.  I have a hard time doing both.  I prefer to run so that is my first choice.  Plus, it is hard for me to do my indoor workouts at 5 am.  I don't want to wake anyone up.  We have a small house.  I'm think of seeing if my running partners would be interested in mixing it up a couple days a week.  I am interested to see how my running is effected by these new workouts.

I will keep up posted on what my plan is starting next week.  I am going to try to post on here once a week to keep a log of how things go. 

Glad to be back on the blog!!

We will see how long it last!!

:)

Workouts

In case you haven't noticed.  I really like to workout.  I love to run.  I am even almost where I like to swim.  I just wish I was better at it.  I have been struggling lately.  I run about 2 to 3 times a week.  But, I feel like I have hit a stand still.  I'm not gaining weight.  But, I'm not getting any thinner. 

My goal would be to look as fit as I feel.  I just hate that I don't look like I workout.  I want to be lean and have toned muscles.  That doesn't mean I want to be a bodybuilder.  Just fit and healthy.  But, for some reason I'm not getting there. 

I need to find a something new that will challenge my body.  When I first started running a few years ago, I dropped some weight.  But, I was much more toned.  I ran my first and only half marathon that year.  Running is my first choice for excersice.  I think my body has become accustomed to my running routine.  I have been trying different interval workouts.  Which is giving me some much needed confidence.  We ran some 1/4 mile repeats.  It was encouraging to see that I could keep up a fast pace for short distances.  I just wish I could put a whole mile together with that time.  And then mutliple miles at that pace.  But, we all have to start some where. 

I am currently looking for new ideas for workouts.  I have tried a few different things.  I need to shock my body into burning more fat off my backside! I will post more on what I can come up with.  I am a very simple person.  I don't want to use a whole bunch of equipment.  I don't feel it is necessary.  I will be trolling Pinterest for some ideas. :)

I also need to tackle my diet.  I try very hard to stay away from things I know I shouldn't.  But, when a cake is staring me in the face.  I just can't help it.  But, diet is a topic for another day.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

Update

It has been a while since I have been on here.  I just thought I would put a little update on here.  I haven't been doing a very much of anything lately.  I have been busy trying to get kids back to school and work with both businesses.  Just like everyone I have my down moments. 

I have been trying to shake up my fitness routine with some different types of exercises.  I have been trying my hand at some at home Crossfit exercises.  It has really showed me that I have been very one sided with my workouts.  I really am going to try to incorprate more strength training into my routine for the next few months.  I like the sore feeling I get from working different muscles. 

Last night I had to to 20 lunges and 10 pushups for 5 rounds.  Sounds easy? Right?  Well, I absolutely hate lunges!  I'm so afraid that I'm going to hurt my knees.  Man! I'm sore today!  So I must have done them right! :)

Well, I will try to keep you up today on my workouts and goals.  I hope you all are doing well!  Talk with you again soon!

Running News

I know I haven't posting much lately.  It has been crazier then usual around here.  The kids have started summer swim.  So we have practices and meets all the time.  We enjoy watching them so it is great fun for everyone. 

Since I posted last I have ran two races.  With TWO PR's! 

The first race was a 5k race at a local Elementary school here in town.  I haven't been feeling well.  So my hopes for a PR weren't the high.  But, since I hadn't ran a 5k in a couple years, I was hopeful that I could pull something out.  And I did!  Just a little one.  I still have high hopes for getting my time down. :)

The second race was just this past weekend.  It was at our local Strawberry Festival.  It was a 4 mile race with some nasty hills!  This is the first race I ever ran as an adult.  Each your I improve.  But, I really wanted a big PR.  Still not feeling well the week leading up to the race.  I wasn't sure I was gonna run.  But, I woke up feeling good that morning.  So I thought I would give it a shot.  I kept telling everyone that it was just a 4 mile training run for me.  (Like I am really training!)  But, that way I just kept my expectations low.  And I could stay relaxed.

We took off right on time.  (Which I always love!)  Ran down past my house and my husband and kids were there waiting to see us run by.  We made it to the first mile marker in a great time. 

First mile was a 9:05 pace.  My friend that I  always run with was super excited about this!  I just kept saying stay relaxed.  We separated a bit before mile 2.  But, we were both still on pace to stay below a 10:00 mile pace.  Which with this course I will take. 

Right before mile 3 was the huge hill that everyone always talks about.  It is just plain mean!! I made my was up the hill from hell.  Mile 3 marker was at 28:39.  Nice pace.  Just one mile left.  I was so tired from the heat.  But, I kept going!  Slowly but still going. 

I ran the last half a mile with another girl.  We chatted about how hot it was and that we really hated that hill.  Who doesn't at this point.  But, rounded the corner for the last couple blocks.  I didn't check my watch at this point.  I didn't want to be disappointed if I didn't make my goal.  I wish I would have.  I would have probably finished a lot stronger.  I finished in 38.42 official time.  Not bad for a hot, hilly 4 miles.  :)  That was my PR by almost to minutes. 

My friend finished just over 40 minutes which was a huge PR for her too.  She was super excited!

After listen to awards.  I learned that I missed winning my age group by just 18 seconds!!  Damn it!!

Well, that will give me something to shoot for next year.  : )

Now I'm super excited to find another race to run. 

Hope everyone has been enjoying there summer so far. 

Trianing?

I think my friend and I have officially decided to do the triathlon in August.  It is a small hometown one.  Nothing big.  But, it will be the perfect starting point for us.  So now I am trying to decided on a training program?  And yes!  I am that much of a sport or fitness nerd that I have looked up all sorts of them on line.

I function better when I have a plan.  I am not sure how I am going to do all the training.  With two kids in sports and a full time job.  I'm a bit overwhelmed just thinking about it.   So a plan is what I need.  It has been hard training for one sport at a time.  I am not sure how I will fit 3 in to a crazy schedule.  But, I will figure it out. 

Do you follow a written workout training program or do you wing it on your own??

My workouts for this week  look like this:
(So far)

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
Ran 3.5 miles at easy pace (morning)
Swim (Evening) 900 workout

Wednesday
Bike ride 30 minutes (morning)
Hopefully an evening run
Track workout 6x200s

Thursday
Run 3.5 or maybe some intervals
Swim (Evening) 1000 workout

Friday
Rest
(Bethany's Birthday Party!)

Saturday
Swim (?)
Run a nice easy run.  :

Sunday
Bike ride 30 minutes

I'm looking for ideas for taking my running to the next level.  I can run miles at an average pace.  I want to be able to at least do a 5k at a faster pace.  Any suggestion on how to do this with only running 2 to 3 times a week?

Happy Tuesday

Needing to get back in Water

After I finished my 21 day swimming challenge.  I decided I needed a break.  I have taken a week off from the pool.  I am now ready to go back.  I just hope it goes well!  I am so excited about my new found swimming abilities. I really feel like I could serious do the triathlon.  I am thinking I need to take my training to the next level.  We have 3 full months until the race day.

I think I could do it.  First thing I need to do is get a  bike.  I know I can ride 13 miles easily on the stationary bike.  But, I'm sure it is much different on a regular bike.  So we have been bike shopping online.  I cant decided if I want a actual road bike or a hybrid bike.  The hybrid bike looks like a mountain bike but with road tires.  So, I could use it to ride with the kids too.  I think I'm leaning more that way.  But, the competitor in me wants a actual race bike.  We will see what my wallet has to say about this decision. 

Not much else going on here.  I'm gonna get back in the pool tonight.  I'm hoping to do a 1200 endurance workout.  Should be interesting.  My next move is to swim in deeper water.  Something I can't touch in.  Technically, you swim the same.  But, to a non-swimmer.  It is not the same.  Wish me luck!!

Next goal, We are running a 5k for at a local elementary school on May 19th.  I'm looking forward to hopefully getting a Personal Record (PR) at this race.  It has been a while since our last 5k.  So it shouldn't be to hard to do.  Now with that said.  I have to or else I look silly!! : )


Happy Wednesday!!

Swimming Challenge

Yesterday I finished my swimming challenge with a test day.  I wanted to see how far I could actually swim.  I had met my first goal of 100 earlier last week.  So that was bare minimum goal met.

On Tuesday, I was able to swim a 150.  Which I was very excited about.  It felt good.  But, I knew I was tired.  The thought of trying a 200 (which was my next goal) seem unreachable.  

I was nervous about trying this test.  The night before Ed brought the kids to meet me after swimming so we can go to dinner.  They got to see me swim just a little.  Ed volunteered to go watch me swim and count my laps.  I really appreciated  his support. 

I did a short warm up of 2 x25 and 2x 50.  I decided that I would just swim.  No pressure no race.  I just had to do the distance.  An easy run for those runners.  The nice relaxing long runs where you just run.  Not time crunch.  I did my first 50 with just my arms.  (I swimming for a triathlon.  I want to save my legs for the bike and run parts)  I felt good.  Then I got to 100 stilling feeling good.  Relaxed.  I got to 150 and I started to freak a little.  I had same any farther then that. 

I got to 200.  I thought I could stop here and consider it a good job.  But, why stop at a good job when you can do great!!!! Right??  So I turned and went for another 50.  I was feeling myself struggle with my breathing. I did what I do in a stressful situation.  I sang my ABC's. It got my mind off the stress and I relaxed again. 

I stopped at the 250.  I wasn't sure that I counted my laps right.   I asked Ed.  He said I did a 250.  But, by that time I couldn't turn again.  My legs were cramping.  I did meet my ultimate goal!!  But, afterwards I'm still kind of disappointed.  I think I could have done a little bit more. 

I am so pleased with this challenge.  I could not have ever imagined this kind of success.  I really feel I gained a lot from this.  Not just physical strength.  I think that was there the whole time.  I think what I gained most was confidence in the water and in myself.  I love to reach or smash a goal.  It drives me.  I am a very driven person.  I love the challenge.  That is a part of me.  It always has been.  But, as time goes by, it wasn't a priority.  Now I'm hooked again.  (Sorry Ed!!  I will probably come up with another challenge soon)  I just cant help myself.  I promise it wont be as involved as 21 days straight. : )

I still have a lot of work to do before I still feel 100% confident in the water.  But, I know I can swim! And not just look like I'm splashing around in the water.  I can't say that you will see me going off the high dive anytime soon. (Or ever!)  But, you may see me swimming in water deeper then 4-5 ft.  I think that is progress!  Another goal is to be able to jump into deeper water.   

Here is a lovely picture of Ed and I after swimming my test.  I look horrible and Ed looks ticked!!  He was just sticking his tongue out!  LOL!  I promise we will have a better pic taken soon.  : )

I'm going to take a week off from swimming and do some running.  I have been dying to run more this past 21 days.  But, swimming has taken up all my free time.  I also will be happy to not smell like chlorine all the time!! :)

Thanks for all your support!!