Update on me

 Not sure if I am going to keep doing anything with this blog, but who knows I might still use it for more personal stuff. I've started a new blog/website, Run Teresa Run. I have a different idea for what I want to do with that blog. I am writing again and writing articles on topics I'm interested in. I like science and I like researching things. So, what the hell might as well share what I come up with. 

I've also taken a huge interest in fermentation and gut health so I have been writing a lot of stuff about that. 

Since nobody really visits this blog unless I link something to it, I will probably just use this for random stuff. In the mean time, I wanted to at least put a link to my newest creation in case somebody does stumble across this and wonder what I'm up to.

Oh silly girl, how about this one

You and your blue energy. How's this for you. I'm not a proficient blogger, but I sure as hell got this one :).

Blinders on. This is hard

I'm up and down. I'm having small victories and then my dumb self looks around at other people's $700 bicycles for sale. Posts about 1 hour swim workouts, blah, blah, blah, blah. I am NOT getting ahead of myself. I am not setting my sight on other people's goals. I am working on where I AM AT. Working with MY BUDGET. If someone wants to donate a $700 bike to me that'd be great, but I don't even know how ride my $35 bike and I refuse to let myself jump into the money/competition game. I got 8 kids that go to Catholic schools. I know better than going there. This money thing has been probably the biggest deterrent from me for jumping into triathlons. I don't have endless supplies to be throwing around on my hobbies. Most people have no idea how much time, resources, energy, and money my kids take to raise and I, today am going to keep my focus on me and who I am and what I want.

So today, working on those small victories. Not comparing myself to others and making steps forward. I keep having to repeat this same thing over and over and over again.

I know where I'm at. I know I can accomplish big things. I know it takes patience. I know that I have persistence and determination and I know I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. NOT GOING TO START THE COMPARING GAME OR THE KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES.

Keeping it in check

My emotions are in a crappy place so just keeping it in check today. Reminding myself that I don't always have to be positive. I can blow off steam and piss and moan until I get it out and feel better. So you know what I'm pissing and moaning.

Race time - I gave it my all and I mean MY ALL. I do not think I could have made my stupid legs go any faster. I KNOW THIS.  I should not have looked at my standing. I was actually okay with my sucky time, slightly disappointed, but not too bad. It wasn't until I saw I was 123 out of 136 that I flipping kind of lost it for a second. Tears welling up in my eyes and everything.

I am not a "let's just have some fun" kind of girl. It's just not me. Sorry. I'm super intense and high strung. I'm annoying. I'm type A, OCD, that's me. I am okay with who I am. I am usually positive! And I will be if it kills me!

So letting this all out here. Today kind of sucked, but I KNEW this was how it was going to be when I got to the start line. No way to get to the other side if you don't push through this. I KNEW this was going to be an uphill climb.

I'm climbing! Anyhow, next blog post will be more positive. I do not want a pep talk. I am my own pep talk. Shaking this off.

Tri-ing. Seriously thinking about a triathlon this year

I have no idea what the hell I am doing with this one, but it's on my radar. I need a bike. I'm going to get one. I am going to ride one. I am more nervous about the bike than the swimming. Biking is like driving and I'm not a good driver. I hate driving and I haven't rode a bike since I was 15, but I really want to do this. I think it'd be good to have a new goal to focus on. I think it would help me not be anxious about my running. A good distraction. I think..... I just don't know how I think I'm going to do it all.

Anyhow, I found two possible races to look at Eagle Lake Triathlon or the one I'm really thinking about mostly because it's further away Barron Lake Triathlon.

These are just ideas in my little brain. I'm not committed yet. Can't commit without a bike and being sure I still know how to ride one. I have seriously lost my marbles.

Don't post blog posts when you're drinking

Oops. Oh well. I plan to be the girl that takes all of your damn excuses away. I mean hell, 8 kids, work full time, run a marathon. I call that badass. Could be the wine talking. Oh well. I'm pretty damn focused on two goals.

1. Qualify for Boston and by Boston I mean the damn marathon which is uh, 26.2 freaking miles for all the non-runners that might read my bullshit. So in my buzzed state (not drunk I promise). Only had 2 glasses and I can still type besides a friend posted an article which I vaguely read that says something like a research study said you can write better when you're buzzed. Just not sure if you can read better so I might have to go read that. Anywhoooooo, since I turn 45 this year I think this is a fantastic time to chase this goal even if I am running freaking 13 minute stupid miles! Ugh. Boo.

For 2019 women's qualifying time is 45-49  3hrs 55min 00sec

I think I can do it! I really do. I mean I got my freaking work cut out for me, but yes, I think I can. Posting my stupid PRs just so I can feel better about myself because this stupid freaking 3 hour half marathon crap is getting old.

Okay, bucket list number 2 is a stupid triathlon which I haven't rode a bike and look hell I can actually spell it right. Woot. Last time I'm off and typing ROAD like an idiot. Uh, no, I know how to spell. Also, while I'm at it because I got some serious pent up energy. I am not an idiot. I am hyperactive yes, talk a lot, and somewhat of a spaz, but I'm actually a damn good student and always at the top of my class. Anyhow, focus. Bucket list triathlon, Boston is the primary goal though.

So everyone is clear, I am probably going to become an absolute lunatic in the next 8 weeks because I am very, very focused on running my first marathon in I think 5 years which makes me sad, but Andrew and my nursing degree were worth it.

Delete, delete, delete, delete . Everyone does not need to read my bullshit. Anyway this was therapeutic for me. Bam, Boston it is. I think the secret to success to running Boston is to drink wine. There! See you speedy folks in Boston in 2020 because I'm going. (Might have to find a charity to run for, but that's my goal and I'm sticking to it.)

The usual bullshit

Haven't blogged in forever, but mostly putting this here so everybody doesn't have to read my crap on FB. Feeling this I don't belong here feeling as I post in one of my running groups. Feeling extremely discouraged even though I'm putting on my best I'm a badass face. I saved a screenshot of my long run from Sunday and trying to convince myself that this will be a testament at some point of how far I've come. Most of me believes I can get there again. I'm just disgusted about how long I think it's going to take. Anyhow for today just needed to spill all of this somewhere. I don't want to be the slow runner, the fat runner, the one that everyone's cheering at the end of the race. I get it. I do it to, but I don't want that to be me. I don't care if I'm 'fast' right anymore. All I want is 10 min/ miles. That's it! Ugh. Okay that's it for today. Adding my screenshot to this post. Hoping I'm right that this will be meaningful one day.

New month, new goals, March is in like a lion!

Okay, so February was a wash. Didn't meet a single one of my goals. Moving forward. Sometimes you just gotta keep on tweaking those goals and plans until you find something that works. I still think I can meet the goals I set for the year (except maybe the weight workouts because it's just not that important to me).

February miles - 83
Push ups - 740
Leg raises - 740
Squats - 770
Weights - 1
Diet - 16 days were on track

Goals for March 

Goal #1 - Big focus - me and my binge eating. Huge problems there and when this gets out of control everything else goes with it. When I'm stressed or super tired I eat. So setting a goal for no binge eating for the month. Scheduled cheat days 4 for the month, but I really would like to see none of them turn into binges.

Goal #2 - Push ups, leg raises, and squats - 1000 for the month. Bring it! I am SURE I can make this goal.

Goal #3 - 100 miles or better. Setting this one a little lower. I need to have some successes and damn it March is going to be a good month.

Now, I'm also switching things up and setting weekly goals and giving myself rewards at the end of the week because I keep screwing up the monthly goals and determined to have some successes and positives. Weekly goals seem much more achievable.

For this week from Friday to next Friday
3 sets of 100 push ups, squats, and leg raises (or better)
4 runs with 2 being 7 miles or better
No binge eating

if I meet these goals I'm buying a gift card to Regis salons. I want my hair done and I figure instead of aiming for a monthly goal of getting my hair done I'd put $25 on a gift card each week I'm successful. At least this way I will eventually get my hair done. I'm also buying myself my darn Supernatural t-shift for February because I want to wear it to the gym.

January 2017 wrap up

I didn't post any specific goals for January. I was aiming for 100 miles though. Didn't quite hit the mark, but 95 was pretty close so I'll take it. Fell way off on weight training. That's been my downfall for quite a while. Never enough time for everything. Oh well, It's still better than December so I'm moving in the right direction.

Miles - 95
Push ups - 490
Squats - 490
Leg raises - 490
Weight workouts - only 2

Done screwing around with this: Race report, Ramblings, Goals, and Supernatural stuff

This will be long-winded. Sorry, not sorry, because pretty much anyone that knows me knows I talk to damn much so I can't help myself. I'll try and break this up in sections so it's more tolerable. Plus, I really don't care if anyone reads this. I started my blog back up for my own personal motivation. That's it.

Race Report

Uh, yeah that sucked! I mean it was fun though and I'd totally do it again, just not doing the DFL part again. I'm done with that. I apparently didn't follow the directions or read anything on the website when I registered. Totally missed (didn't realize it until I was home either) that there was a 2 hour time limit on the first race. Oops. I clearly was not the only one that missed that part because there was at least a handful of people way over 2 hours. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to the race directors and other runners for being supportive and nice and not making me feel like a complete idiot and still letting me finish in spite of the piss poor shape I'm in.

Start of race, lining up and I realize every single one of the runners except for maybe 1 or 2 look fast (and those 1 or 2 were men). At this point I realize I'm screwed. I said to the other runners at the start of the race I'm pretty sure I'm going to be last. I've never felt like that and it wasn't negative talk. I'm a good judge of my pace and my competition. I knew I was over my league. Oh well. I was there and I'm not a quitter. Start lap one (1/4 mile track) and get lapped by 2 people before I even get around the first lap. I realize at the end of the first lap I was last. No biggie I'm always slow to warm up. They have a big screen up flashing the place of runners so get to the first lap and confirm I'm last.

Super nice. I got to see that about 37 more times. Nothing more encouraging than seeing last place every.single.time. Thanks for that. It's funny though. I was okay with it. I just thought well I can check that off my list of things to worry about. I've never been DFL before, someone's got to do it. Oh well, keep moving.

About lab 30 though I'll have to be honest first time I ever thought of quitting a race. It was just really discouraging knowing I was not even going to finish in 2:30. I wasn't discouraged about being last. Who cares, but I was discouraged realizing I was running a 12 min pace. I thought I could do better than that.

Anyhow, finished and that's all the thoughts I have on this race. I'm going to run this race again and I think I can PR a half there if I was better trained. Maybe next year.

Ramblings

Trying really hard to put blinders on and stay focused. A 2:30 hour finish means that I am at best looking at a 5 hour marathon with where I am at right now. I have run a 5 hour + marathon before twice. It is not fun. I don't know mentally if I'm up to going over 5 hours again. Therefore the blinders. I'm going to have to block that out of my head in order to get to the starting line. Let me just tell you as an experienced runner now. A 5 hour marathon is harder than a 4 hour one. (Not that I've run a 4 hour one yet, but close enough.) So with that I'm pissed off and going to do my best to get myself in at least better than 5 hour shape because I am just sick of this 12 minute pace crap. I know I can do better.

Goals for February

I have thirty pounds to lose! Eak. Maybe 25 if I'm nice to myself, but that right there is probably number 1 thing holding me back. The scale is not my friend and it keeps messing with my mojo so this is on my goal list for February.

#1 goal - NO stepping on the scale until March 1.
#2 goal - 120 miles for the month
#3 goal - Run 23 days out of the month
#4 goal - Eat healthy 23 days out of the month

The rest of the goals are more fluid. Just keeping up with my exercise spreadsheet and do better on all my goals this month than last month

Supernatural Stuff

As some of you may notice I have a new Supernatural (the TV show) obsession. I am like 7 years behind now. (I've watched 4 seasons already this year. Maybe I started in December.) I will admit to having a mild crush on Jared Padelecki. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to know a mom (albeit a Supermom) to 8 has a crush. He's second hottest guy besides my husband. Girls gotta be faithful to have 8 kids. Anywhooo so I made myself a couple Supernatural running deals to give me a bit of motivation. One if I meet ALL of my goals I am buying me this t-shirt

And you'll likely get a selfie. Other Supernatural related goal - My daughter came up with this on my drive to the hotel for the race. She said I could watch my show because I got my run in for the day. So, I think I'll go with that. If I get my run in for the day, then I can watch my show and no watching it until I get my run in for the day. So that's it. My long winded self.

Try try again

Dang I'm tired of that being my mantra. I can't seem to stay on track for as long as I want. I am really struggling with sleep. Working nights, honestly working period, is tough. That and daycare so I can run during the winter months.  Ugh. Enough whining.

I added healthy eating to my spreadsheet and a goal for 300 days out of the year eating healthy. Today is a new day. I'm going to get something done to knock off my goals for the year. Tracking miles has been a great tool for me to be successful so hoping that adding my diet to my spreadsheet will do the same. Sometimes it helps to see the big picture to see how many days you are doing right versus dwell on the wrong days. Not much else to write for today. Just writing something to keep this blog active (for myself, don't care if anyone else reads it... don't care if you do read it either. I don't put anything in writing and post it on the web unless I'm comfortable with my husband, my children, my grandmother, my coworkers, or anyone else that could stumble across it reading it.)

4 years since I last posted! Goals for 2017

Wow! It's been a busy 4 years. New baby. New career. (Although neither are really *new* now, but new since I last posted.) Decided this is going to be my comeback year. Last year was getting me warmed up and moving in the right direction, but this year has promise.

So, here's my goals for the new year. I do achieve a lot of my goals when I set them and if I don't I often come close so here goes.  Below is a spreadsheet tracking my progress. What the hell I'm making it public. I don't really care anyway. I don't have that many people that read my stuff anyway.

2017 Exercise Tracking Spreadsheet

So goals for 2017

1500 miles or better. This is doable
15000 pushups, squats, and leg raises for the year
100 weight workouts or better
and be able to do ONE real pullup by the end of the year.

More specific goals
Get back to goal weight
Complete a full marathon
Get my 5K time back under 30 minutes.

Not setting any PR goals for this year because I'm not sure it's realistic. I'll reevaluate that later. I think these are all very achievable goals right now. So with that let's bring on the new year!

Fat, stressing out, and out of shape

Okay, my husband doesn't like when I call myself fat. (Love him), but I am definitely moving in the wrong direction. I am up 30lbs from a little over a year ago. Right now I don't even care about running fast or anything else. I just want to get back into a groove, stop eating every 5 minutes when I'm stressed out and that's about it. Don't care if anyone reads this (honestly probably prefer if nobody read it), but putting it sort of public just so it makes me *feel* like I'm being accountable to somebody.

Goal for December (starting Dec 4)

24 BINGE FREE days or better (out of the days that are left). That leaves me 3.

Run 100 miles

20 30 Day Shred workouts (will move on to bigger and better things later).

Here's my log for December

BINGE FREE days - 2 down, 23 to go
MILES RUN - 8 down, 91 to go
30 DAY SHRED - 0 down, 20 to go

Charlevoix Half Marathon Race Report (round 4)

Not a ton to write like my usual race reports, but a decent amount of emotion went into this race so I wanted to write something up (even if it's just for my own reflection).  I'll start with the woe is me back story. This has been a really crappy year for me. I've failed 2 nursing simulation exams causing an almost 1 year setback on finishing my degree. I cut my running way back because of this. Stress, anxiety, depression, and lack of running equaled a 25 lb weight gain. Second back story my husband - some people know he has been less than enthusiastic about my running, but one thing about him is he can't stand to see me down. So after my second fail in April I decided that was it I wasn't letting nursing school suck another minute of my life away. I jokingly asked my husband if he'd run Charlevoix Half Marathon with me. To my surprise he said yes. I knew he could run even though he doesn't run. We met in the Navy and back then he was pretty fast. I also know after almost 16 years of marriage that he wasn't going to follow any of my running rules or a training plan. That he could give 2 sh*ts about his time and was only running this because he knew this would make me happy. Good enough for me. So with that came what I've been jokingly calling the 4 runs and a cigarette training plan.

Month of April I had 41 miles total mileage (and my yearly total at that point wasn't looking much better.) My main goal was getting my mileage up as quickly add possible without getting injured. I did no speed work whatsoever.  I got my first 10 mile run in June 1 and ran 10 again June 2. Ran 10 again June 9 and 12 last Friday and that was about it for training. I lost 8 of the 25 pounds. My husband ran even less than me - once a week, maybe twice and some weeks not at all due his work schedule. He ran one 10 miler with me, but I knew if he was keeping my pace he'd be fine.

Show up at the race. So we get parked and my husband goes to smoke a cigarette before the race which I knew he was going to do since he's a smoker, but I'm about ready to kill him because he's outside the car stretching for the race with a cigarette in his mouth. The cigarette battle I'll save for another day. He did make a good attempt at quitting in December, but the whole time I was thinking could you at least have smoked the cigarette in the car and been done by the time we parked it. We get to the start line a few minutes late because I had to go to the bathroom and I knew from last year it was a chip timed race. (I wound up starting late last year too so I wasn't sweating the late start.) We get started and mile 1 husband is ahead of me, not out of site, but ahead of me, but I thought we had planned to run this together. I didn't actually care if he ran ahead of me. He waits for me at the first water stop 1 1/2. First mile pace 10:09. I think okay, maybe I'm not going to suck as bad as I thought. (My PR for the course is 2:03:38.) Second mile was a little faster at 9:46, but having run this before there is a nice downhill on that mile and it's always been my fastest mile. At this point set a goal for a 10:15 pace. I figured I'd try to hold 10:15 or better and I wasn't stepping up faster than 9:45 until I was at least to mile 9. Somewhere around mile 2 I lost my husband. I didn't care at this point and wasn't going to even try to keep his pace. I'm plugging along and my anxiety is disappearing and I do that thing I do where I tune into a pace now and I love this distance (although I'm going to work on being able to dial it up a bit too.) Anyway, I'm real good with halfs and fulls once I find that sweet spot on my pacing I feel like I can dial in to my little computer in my head and then once I find that pace I have no problem holding it. I have a big problem convincing my legs to move any faster than that though. So with that most of my miles were dead on with pacing. Real tickled with how much better my pacing is. I'm not all over the place like I used to be. - Mile 3 - 10:14, mile 4 - 10:11, mile 5 - 10:16, mile 6 10:11. 

As we are about 1/2 mile from the turn around I start chatting with this lady and tell her I've lost my husband on the course and I'm beginning to wonder if he just left and went home. About then I finally see my husband I tell him to go run fast now instead of holding back for me and see what you can do. He of course does not listen to me which was okay too, and turns around where he's at and runs with me back through the turn around and asks what took me so long. He also knows from running with me that I will not keep his pacing, but he's one of the few guys I know that if I ask him to dial it down to my pacing sort of does it. At this point I tell him that I am not picking up the pacing until we are at mile 9 and that't there is a nice uphill through mile 8 and just not to lose me there if he wants to run with me because I was going to be slow. Mile 8 was my slowest mile at 10:55. We get to 9 and I'm trying to pick it up a little at this point. Nope, back to my rhythm pace 10:14, mile 10 -10:10, mile 11 9:52, mile 12 - another hill - 10:24. That sucked a lot out of me and I was struggling to finish the last mile strong. I had told my husband that I was going to try and push hard on the last mile and only then could he do his run hard and fast crap, but was really struggling with gas. I didn't pick it up really until 12 1/2 miles, but finished mile 13 at 9:39. About 12.75 on my Garmin I take my husband's hand and tell him I'm ready to bring this in. (This has what has constituted the only speed work I've done. He's done this sh*t a few times to me on our runs together where he grabs my hand for the last 1/4 mile or so and pushes me to his  pace/well probably not his, but closer to his.) So I tell him none of his 7 min mile pacing crap, not 8 min mile crap either, 9 min/mile and that's where I wanted it. We're coming around the corner to the finish line hand and hand (yes, we're silly like that oh well 16 years of marriage and 7 kids will do that for you) and the crowds cheering and I'm really struggling to keep up with his turnover. I tell him he's gotta back off his pace a little my legs can't keep up. He slows it down a tad, but I'm pushing as hard as my little engine will go and with that we cross the finish together - SWEET! (The last .13 miles 7:12 pacing! Hot diggety I never run that fast!) So finish time for this one in 2:13:38 official. No where close to a PR, but very happy nonetheless. It's good to be racing again!

Why I run

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. My running has been really sucking lately. School has squashed all the life out of me and it's really made me reflect all the things I love about running. . People think I run to keep manage my weight. While it does help with this, that is not why I run. Some people think it's about the races. I like racing, but that's not it either. Some people run because they like the community and the social aspect of running. I love my run group and my running friends, but most people that know me know that I do most of my runs alone. So this is also not why I run. Some people think I run for peace and quiet and to get away from the kids. While that is a perk, this is also not why I run. Some people think I run for the health benefits. I suppose that would be a good reason, but that's not really why I run either.

I'm kind of an emotional girl and I find that why I love running is because my running is completely honest with me.You see I've always believed you can do anything you put your mind to and running has shown this to be true. If I give it my all it then it rewards me. It's one of the few things in life that I know that if I work hard at it I will see results. That fulfillment I get is priceless. There are too many things in life that just aren't fair. Running is fair and honest with me. I find it's how I fight back when I'm feeling down. I used to listen to music when I run. I don't now. I find I really like just being by myself and in my own brain sometimes. When I need to think I can go for a run. When I need to not think I can go for a run. I find I slip into this own little peaceful bliss that's all about making it to the next mile and sometimes that escape from reality is all I need. I can't really put my finger on why I run. I can't explain it to others who don't run. It's like trying to convert an atheist. I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere in the last couple years I've crossed the line where running is not about the health, my figure, or races. It's just who I am.

The Forest Gump Experiment

Haha. That's what I'm calling it. I'm taking a little break from coaching and "racing" because just honestly I got too much crap going on to keep up with anything. It's just really weird right now not following a training plan or schedule or having a race on my mind. I do plan to run a few races in the spring, but I just need some time off from racing.  School has just had to be my first priority right now. So with that I've been all thrown off my game and finally came up with a "plan" if you want to call it that on how to work in my running and still keep up with my school and life.  So that's where the Forest Gump plan came in my head. So my plan is really no plan. I just plan to run each and every opportunity I can. My mileage is going to be weird, and there are going to be some strange doubles, but  right now I figure getting in running any way I can is better than no running at all. I know some days 3 and 4 miles may be all I have time for and I know that Friday, Saturday and Sunday I can run more so those are the days I'm going to run more. This week I've been totally sucking since I've barely ran all month, but now that I've freed myself from all these notions of how things should or have be done I feel things coming together for me. I ran 3 on Monday, 4 on Tuesday. That's all I had time for and I finally just got over that. You know 7 miles is better than no miles. Wednesday I had time on my hands so I did two runs 8 at lunch and then 5 in the evening. Thursday no time again 3 miles, but Friday had time for 8. I feel very accomplished today. I turned in a paper and should be able to hit 40+ miles this week without a problem! I plan to do doubles any chance I can and run weekend long doubles as well since that's worked okay for me in the past. That's when I have time to run right now so that's when it's going to have to be. Who knows I may wind up running more than I ever have (or I may wind up running less). I got no plans for speed work really or anything else right now. I will do some speed stuff as I feel like it, but not so much structured stuff. Just trying to keep up with my speedy husband when I can get him to run with me and some of my other speedy friends. I'm just planning to run when I can as much as I can and worry about racing in the summer. I plan to focus my "racing" for the summer as I hate the cold, love the heat, have more free time when my kids are out of school and I just think one big goal race a year right now is what it's going to have to be right now. I have come to terms with I can be Supermom and I can have and do it all - JUST NOT ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Yep, that's reality folks. With that, I'll be curious how this little experiment turns out for me. I'm curious how my spring races will turn out and hoping that this break from structured running will put me in a good mental spot for racing hard again this summer.

Thoughts on maintaining marital bliss and being an obsessed runner

This one's for you honey! This one's kind of important to me because we've had some bumps along the way dealing with my running obsession. I know that other runners have had this problem as well so  I want to encourage you to keep on plugging along with both your running and your partner.

My running friends know I'm yappy, my husband knows I'm yappy, but what he didn't know is that when my newest obsession took over that he'd have to listen to my constant jabbering about running this and running that. He's kind of used to my OCD and I joke around about it, but it can sometimes be really hard on the people around me. Anyhow, the last year has been somewhat trying for us as we work out the bugs with changes, but one of the assets I have is that I'm not a quitter. Most people know that about me. Once I set my mind to something I usually stick with it and this along with my running this includes my marriage. Just like running I reassess when something isn't working and make changes. I can happily say I think we've come out on the other side! Yes, we'll probably still have another running fight or two, but I think we've finally overcome this hurdle. Well, here are the tricks I am learning along the way to make marriage and obsessive running work.

1. Do not force your partner to be interested in your running. Also do not try and turn them into a runner. If they are interested it will come naturally. It's okay if you don't like the same things and it's important to remind them and yourself of that. It is okay to ask them to run with you or try to encourage it, but don't force the issue.

2. Do try to find a mutual hobby or something to do together. For us, this is a big one. What we found is that we felt disconnected some because our interests were different. We are working on something fun that we both like to do together.

3. Try to adjust your running to be not so disruptive to the family's routine. That is not to say there shouldn't be any give and take on this, but if your running is interfering with every single outing that is planned this could cause a problem. My husband is very good about taking over with the kiddos so I can run and this has actually never been an issue.  He knows how much I do all day and has never had a problem picking up the slack. Other spouses though do feel differently on this. For us, the bigger issue has been me missing out on family things versus him having to pick up extra responsibility.

4. Following number 3 another tip is keeping a family calendar. Figure out important dates like vacations and events that your kids or spouse may be participating in.  Use this when you schedule your races. More than once have I managed to schedule a race during a date that was planned for a kiddo's sporting event or a party that we were invited to.  Not all things can be planned ahead, but if you put a little effort there you can avoid this conflict.

5. Races - this is a your partner may vary kind of situation.  Mine does not like going to races. We have found that we get along so much better when I go by myself.  Also, and this is hard for me, I get big time taper madness that can test the patience of every single person in my family.  I try to remind my husband that this too will pass... until the next race anyway.

6. My final tip don't hold in hostility towards each other- keep the lines of communication open. Keep talking. Just like running sometimes you gotta push along through the tough spots and run on the days you just don't flipping feel like it so goes with marriage. Sometimes you gotta just push along talking until you get past that rough spot. Just like with running though you'll often find your second wind.  Sometimes this is easier said than done, but you married them for a reason. Remember that. Just like when you lose your running mojo sometimes you lose your marriage mojo.  Do something to rekindle that.


Love you with all my heart Mr. Wannaberunningmama

2012 Chicago Marathon Race Report

Well, thought writing up a race report might give me something to do while I sit and wait not so patiently for the Chicago race people to get my Garmin data and get me an official finish time. I still don’t have that so you’ll only get my word of mouth finish time for now.
I’ll do my best not to be too yappy. This was by far the most fun I have had in probably 10 years. I can’t thank everyone that was there enough for helping me figure out what the hell I was doing because even though this was my 4th marathon I really didn’t have a clue how these big races work. I won’t spend a lot of time on training other than I knew this training cycle was going well and I knew I was going to PR. Not a doubt in my mind going into that. What I didn’t know is how much easier this race would feel for me running it than the others I’ve ran. I feel like I really learned a lot on the course about pacing and this will help me a lot with the next race.
Prerace I realized night before that I somehow managed to grab the extra band for my Garmin instead of my Garmin itself. I was in a bit of a panic, but since I’ve managed to do this to myself before I wasn’t actually too panicked. Thankfully though John (my super fast California coach) is a pretty amazing guy and found me a Garmin I could borrow. Thank you Sandra if you are reading for the loner!! Hurdle one solved. I also packed my blender even though John insisted I didn’t need that either. I’ve been mixing glycomaize with flax milk and a banana and I didn’t want to drink that crap without my banana mixed in. So had that prerace and felt pretty ready to go. Oh, I should add night before I had pasta with just a little bit of clams in it. Big mistake. Lesson learned. I knew seafood made me retain water, but there weren’t very many and I stayed away from a heavy seafood dish so I didn’t really think those tiny bit of clams would matter. Not for sure they were the cause of my problems, but just the same not eating them again.
Leave for race with the friends I met there and we were kind of cutting it close to get there and get gear checked. I knew I really had to pee (sorry tmi). Anyways, they all assure me there’s plenty of toilets and I’d have time to go. We get there with 9 minutes to get to our corral and get gear checked. I hand my friend Brandi my gear bag and ask her to please check it because I really got to go. I start looking at the lines and start freaking. I knew there was no way I’d get to a toilet and to my corral in time. (Yes, promise to get to the race part, but for whatever reason this peeing issue took up a bulk of my energy on race day.) I start looking around like Clark Kent looking for a phone booth and trying to find somewhere to squat because I figure I damn sure was not blowing all this training and PR on a full bladder. Finally find a big old potted planter thing in front of a wall and fixed my problems or so I thought.
Start running and oh my gosh mile 1 not what maybe 10 minutes from the last time I peed I feel like I gotta go again. I’m thinking you gotta be kidding me. This is not gonna be my race. I spent the first 3 miles thinking about nothing but that. Yes, sad. I again kept saying I am not blowing my training on a full bladder and not proud of this, but at that point actually tried to pee on the course. I heard real marathoners do it, but guess I’m not a real runner. No can do. I decided that I was going to push on and I was not stopping. If I still had to go at the half way point then I was going. I figured I could hold it two hours if it killed me. Garmin I found to be useless. The paces didn’t seem to line up with anything so figured I’d just run for now and then thought about my friend’s advice to use the pacers. Yes, that was real helpful – these pacers sucked. Well, maybe not the official ones, but I’m telling you I saw people with anything from 4:00 to 4:30 on their backs. I had no idea what pace I was going at this point. I knew that I saw the official 4:15 guy around mile 6 and knew I had to get ahead of him. I also was proud of myself for not starting out too fast – although honestly wasn’t too worried about that. I am slow to warm up and rarely have that problem. Around mile 6 I think I moved ahead of the official 4:15 pacer and then my next strategy was to try and make sure I was surrounded by mostly people with 4:10 on their back. I saw some with 4:10 and some with 4:00 so I figured I was doing okay. My garmin was off on distance for most of the race. I can’t remember where it started, but I know I was hitting the miles beeping on my garmin about 2 or 3 minutes before I’d hit the official mile marker. I also wasn’t sure what my exact start time was either so I couldn’t even figure out what my times were or paces by that. The clocks were all based off of the 7:30 start and I started after 8:00 according to the chip times that registered. I just figured as long as I was running between the 4:00 and 4:10 group I was okay. I switched Garmin over to average pace and it was showing 9:18 minute miles so I felt pretty good. It read 9:18-9:20 for well actually almost the whole course, but it was below 9:20 from mile 6 to mile 12. I remember that for sure.
At mile 10 I kept thinking this is too easy. I thought about my last race how I was tired at mile 10. I wasn’t the slightest bit tired. Everything felt good and I felt like I was really sandbagging, but Garmin said less than 9:20 pace and I remember the correspondence John and I had prerace and he told me that 9:20 seemed about the right pace to hold for most of the course. I knew from my half times and my training that 9:20s were about right as well so even though I felt really good and wanted really bad to pick it up I kept that advice to heart. He said wait until mile 18 and then if I felt good pick it up. Mile 12 rolls around and I still have to pee. I was annoyed, but I knew I had held it for 11 miles and my watch still said I was averaging below 9:20 pace so I knew I was in good shape. I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the finish if I had already held it for 11 miles and that if I had to go this was the best place to stop. I knew mentally it would be harder for me to stop past the half-way point so I just wanted to go and get it over with. I don’t think I lost a whole lot of time, but obviously this was time that I would have liked to have had and I really had to go. (Which sorry more tmi, but I was grateful that I actually had a full bladder and it wasn’t my usual nervous bladder dribbling crap. I felt 100 times better after.) Get back on the course and avg pace was now showing 9:23 so I was pissed that I lost that much time. I had to work real hard on not picking up the pace too much because that’s a bad habit of mine. I try to play catch up after potty breaks and sometimes wear myself out. The other reason I stopped at mile 12 is I really wanted my second half to be faster than my first. I still felt really good here. No fatigue whatsoever. Keep telling myself to stay steady and not pick it up no matter how easy this felt. Plug along at mile 15 still feeling good. It still felt too easy, but I kept remembering that 11 miles was further than I thought and I knew my last 3 marathons I never ran the entire race. I always walked at least part of the end if not lots at the end. I should add I was psyched that I also had not walked a single water stop. I thought I would need to and nope didn’t need to do that either. I was real focused though. I honestly didn’t even hardly notice the crowds even as loud as they were because I was just so focused on what I was doing. Oh and I also remember looking at my HR around mile 15 because I think I started to pick up the pace a little, but HR was edging up so I backed my pace back down.
Finally get to mile 18, you know the spot where I could pick it up if I felt like it. Well, I still felt good, but I didn’t think I could pick up the pace any more so I decided to just hold where I was at and reassess at mile 20. I picked up the extra gel that was on the course at this point too because I was starting to get a little antsy about my legs staying strong. Get to mile 20 and I decide again to just hold where I’m at and reevaluate whether I thought I could pick up again at mile 23. Mile 22 rolls around and I don’t know what happened, but I literally started tearing up on the course. I picked it up pretty hard there. I was real emotional because I knew I had it in the bag then. My Garmin was still reading 9:20 pace average so I honestly thought I was closer to a 4:05 finish at this point, but I didn’t realize how off the distance was on the Garmin by this point. I only picked up the pace for about a ¼ mile before my legs said uh uh and I backed it back down again. Miles 24 and 25 were really hard. I just kept telling myself I was almost done. I get to mile 25 and I picked up the pace a little there. I get to the sign that said 800 meters and I picked up the pace a lot. Of course then the finish line seems to be so far away and I somehow kept running. I hit stop on my Garmin as I cross the finish and it said 4:10:40. It also said my distance was 26.77. This was a phenomenal experience for me. I am definitely doing it again.
Hopefully soon I will have an official time. Still waiting on that. My 20K, 30K, 40K and finish times apparently did not register. Highly annoyed about that as I know I did not go astray from the course and was in the middle most of the time. As soon as I get my official time I will update for sure.

Finally found something to sweeten my coffee!

I know all my friends were deeply worried about my coffee habit... Ok, not, but I was.  I've been on a mission to ditch Splenda from my diet.  I gave up sugar in my coffee and anything else you add sugar to a long time ago, but I switched the sugar to Splenda.  I was putting a TON of Splenda in my coffee. What I have been discovering is that by switching to Splenda I really haven't fixed my sugar problem.  I've really wanted to move towards more clean eating - less processed foods and healthier options.  I've been on a mission to clean up my diet more. Although I wasn't necessarily eating poorly I was doing a lot of dieter type things and I think it was not helping me in any way.  I have spent the past few weeks though struggling with what to do with my coffee.  You see I really like coffee! I have cut back to a reasonable amount of coffee a day so I feel no guilt about it. Coffee actually has health benefits if you don't abuse it. I'm down to 2 cups a day. Although occasionally I will have 3, but no more than that and most days just 2 or less.  I feel good about that too, but I've tried lots of things in the past few weeks trying to figure out what to put in my darn coffee if I don't use Splenda.  I just couldn't bring myself to go back to sugar. I switched to coconut milk creamer a while ago and I like that, but without sugar or Splenda my coffee just tasted blah.  I tried cinnamon. It helped some. I tried sugar again, but just couldn't do it.  It just seemed counter productive. I went back to Splenda again, but really don't want to use something processed so I tried honey.  Honey was "ok", but it's still got a lot of calories in it without a lot of nutritional value. I am using honey in my oatmeal now, raw local honey, but that is because one of the doctors I saw a while back for the chronic allergies/headaches I had when I was pregnant with Natalie suggested using local honey.  I've read up on it and it's supposed to help so figured what the heck I'd try it and  kill two birds with one stone.

Now, back to my coffee. I found something! Woohoo! All is right in my world now. Raw coconut crystals! Yay! It's still a kind of sugar and I sure as hell wouldn't call it health food, but at least it has some nutritional benefits.  It's a good source of minerals - potassium, magnesium, zinc, and iron as well as B vitamins. Because it's still sugar still not going to overdo it, but now I can have my 1-2 cups of coffee with something that doesn't taste like crap.  It's really a light sweetness so I don't feel like it's feeding sugar cravings, but it's just enough to make my coffee happy again.

Post run recovery drink - my newest creation

Well, since I'm obsessed with nutrition. Although I'm far from perfect, I do try to eat healthy. I've been reading a lot on running nutrition and how important it is to provide a combination of carbohydrates and protein after working out to refeed muscles. I also wanted to get in omega 3 fatty acids mostly for overall general nutrition, but figured this was a great to work it in. I've been drinking flax milk lately and I like it so I thought hmmm... I bet I could put this all together and voila I did.  Women need 1.2g per day of Omega 3 vitamins and men 1.6g per day (- source http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/omega3fa/). I also stumbled across another article stating flax oil produced better results in studies than fish oil so that's even better because I like flax milk. I like fish too though and still try and keep that in my diet as well. One cup flax milk has 1200mg (or 1.2g) omega 3. Men if they are wanting to meet the daily requirements may want to add a little more flax milk to the recipe below. So here goes my post run recovery recipe.

Flax Milk Recovery Drink

1 banana
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 scoop whey protein powder (or half a serving) *you can use a full serving if you want more protein, but for my needs 1 scoop was plenty of protein
1 cup flax milk (I use Good Karma Flax Milk)

Nutritional breakdown - Roughly 200 calories, 33g carbohydrates, 11-14 grams of protein depending on what source of protein powder you use, and 4g of fat

Put it in a blender and yum! If you want it to be more ice cream like you can freeze the bananas and the strawberries and it will come out closer to the consistency of soft serve ice cream.