TGIF and a Morning Run

What a great day already, and its barely 8 am!

motivation stolen from theBerry.com

 

I woke up bright and early this morning, a little before 5 and went for a run on the treadmill. It was sleeting out all last night so I waited to do a run until this morning. (Treadmill is outside in detached garage, FYI). I ran 3.1 miles, I would have gone more but time was closing in and I had to take a shower and get Ms. Willow up and make lunches.

I am in such a good mood today! I think it is because of the following:

1. Running at 5 am
2. Getting to giggle with my girl this morning
3. My Turkey Sausage and Egg white bagel from Wawa
4. ITS FRIDAY!

Also, last night I did 2 videos instead of running. They were:

• Cafe Mom Cardio *
• 8 Min Abs
• I added a little bit of weights afterward (4lbs) for my arms

*I only did some of the cool down stretching because I wanted to do 8 min abs before I cooled down.


Remember, its never a bad thing to switch it up and try something new! Thats why I love Youtube, I can find so many different (and free!) option for work out videos.


So we decided that since we don't have any big plans this weekend, we are going to try and get started on potty training Willow. She is having issues with diapers irritating her skin lately so why not give it a go? I'm going to pick up some mini M&M's at the grocery store this evening to give her as treats everytime she uses the potty.

When did you potty train your child? How did you start?


I hope everyone has a great weekend! It is supposed to be REALLY nice this weekend, so I'm looking at doing a long run Sunday :) Anyone want to join?

Her'sday Thursday

Happy Her'sday! :)


Okay, so I lied about doing the p90x video yesterday. I had the full intention of doing so, I even pulled the dvds out. But the only tv with a dvd player was being used by someone else who obviously didn't want to watch me get my pain  sexy on. So I found this on my smartphone instead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU6jg-SgEpY

It was actually super hard and at a few points last night I swore my legs were going to fall off.

I'm looking forward to a run night, I'm going to find a good movie and do a long run on the treadmill. I need something to relieve some stress and a good run sounds like just the thing!

In other oh-so-exciting-news, Willow was back to her happy self last night. After reading a few articles, I decided to try something new. I asked her instead of telling her. For instance, usually I say something like "Its time for a diaper change, go get a diaper!" (in a nice voice). Last night I tried by asking her:

"Willow, can I change your diaper? Do you want to sit on the potty?" Which led to her getting all excited and she didn't fight me to take the diaper off, especially since she wanted to sit on her potty. She doesn't quite get the whole potty thing, but she understands that you sit on it and that you put toilet paper in it afterward...thats her use of the potty. Lol.



I didn't get much sleep last night and what I did get it wasn't restful, so seeing this this morning made my day a little better:

 

 



What are you looking forward to on Her'sday? Don't forget to treat yourself! A glass of wine, a good movie, a good run, whatever makes you happy! :)

A "Lazy" Run and The Most Terrible Twos

Yesterday Afternoon I ran in the park.

I completed 2.63 miles in 29.09 minutes at a 11'04" pace. The pace isn't too bad for me but I would have liked to get to at least 3 miles, I just didn't have it in me yesterday, but I will not let myself go under 2.5 miles.


I did try a Click Protien drink afterwards though. I tried the Mocha flavor and that was pretty amazing. I blended it into a frappe type drink. It was gone in no time. When it starts getting warmer out I might even start making that as my breakfast. It gave me a boost too with the expresso shots in it so you know I loved that.

Expresso-Yumminess

I have been avoiding them but I think its time I break out the P90X videos on my no-run days. Starting with tonight. I'll let you know if I make it out alive.

Alert: Rant in 3, 2, 1:

Speaking of making it out alive, I don't know how people survive their child's Terrible Two phase. I LOVE my daughter, but she doesn't not like me right now. She only wants Josh and she will barely let me talk to her in the afternoons. I know she is testing her limits, as well as teething, and I realize that part of it is Josh gives in more than I do. Being a guy, I'm assuming Josh doesn't quite understand that girls will use their weapon of crying/whining/pouting to get what they want, regardless if it is something they need or not. He has that soft spot for a daughter that any father should have. And I have that OMG-why-does-my-daughter-hate-me-guilt that I don't know if its common or not, but I know I inherited it from my mom, shes reminded me of this often.

I know Willow will grow out of it, and don't misunderstand, she is not like this all the time. Just recently she has been very into the "getting her way" thing and lately her way hasn't been the expected way (like playing outside when its 40 degrees and dark)...I can't wait for summer to get here and we can all play outside in the evenings and eat dinner on the back porch.

So, if any lovely mommies out there have any helpful advice, please feel welcome to comment!

Rant Over.

I guess I better get on with my day and do some work, hope you all have a wonderful hump day!

I Want, I Want!

Good morning all!




I need these. If you know me, you know I am obsessed with the following:
1. Owls
2. Cups
3. Coffee


You realize my birthday is this month, right? 18 days. Get on it.



Just kidding. But seriously, I want that cup!

 Last night I did not work out, it was a rest night. I did do a load of laundry and cooked dinner but thats about it. I tried those "unsloppy-Joes" with the Pillsbury biscuits....they weren't sloppy but I couldn't get them to stay shut. They turned out okay though.

Today after work I will hopefully go on a run in the park. Its only supposed to get to 56 degrees today for the high but while running that shouldn't be bad at all. (They say to dress for 20 degrees warmer than the actual temperature while running) I would like to work on my pace some. I would like to be able to be in the top half at my next 5k. That probably doesn't sound adventurous but for me its the next step. The next 5k is on my birthday, I'm running the Color Me Rad. (April 20th). Its the whole reason I started running in January!

I would like to do a 10k in May, but I'm not commiting to anything yet.

I hope everyone enjoys their Tuesday. This is going to be a short blog, I'm still beat and I'm going to go make some green tea. :)

2 Playgrounds, 2 Egg Hunts and Too Much Food!

What happened to the weekend? I seriously thought today was Sunday when I woke up. I was very disappointed.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter, and that you enjoyed time with family and friends!

Saturday went something like this:


Easter Egg Hunting!

• Mid-Morning Easter Egg hunt at a friend's church, Willow especially loved the story time and songs!
• Attempt at running at a track with Jessi H, got about 4-5 laps in before Willow tried to get out the stroller
• 2nd playground of the day, to play on slides too high for Willow and a random lady indirectly calling me overprotective to her husband. (I like my child alive and broken-bone free, thank you.)
• Cook out at my brother's for our dad's birthday. Willow enjoyed rolling in the grass with her cousins.
• Roasting marshmallows at the neighbor's house

To say the least it was a busy day! But we had a lot of fun!

Easter Sunday Mom came over and Josh made his "heart stopper" omelets and Willow stole bites from mine and her Grammy's. She also had a cadburry egg filled with Caramel and tons of other candy. We had lunch with Josh's family and another Easter egg hunt. Lunch was awesome and I was so full I didn't eat again until this morning. 

I squeezed in a run before Easter Breakfast. 3.12 miles on our road. I finally made it all the way to the end and back! It was a small victory. I also did some ab stuff when I got back since I knew it was going to be food over load after! (I had 2 Cadburry eggs shortly after. Those things are addictive.)



I have been exhausted lately, like I'm ready to go to bed at Willow's bed time. I'm not sure why I've been so zapped. I think I'll take it as a sign that tonight should be a rest night. Hopefully it will help, I'm tired of being tired all the time!
***note: on my lunch break I picked up two packets of that Click expresso protein shake stuff...I'm going to see if that gives me a little boost in the afternoon, starting tomorrow. It looks like itd be awesome for run days!

    




Well, I thought there were more but apparently not. We both forgot our phones at home yesterday...whoops!

How was your holiday?

Crazy Hair and My Longest Run so far!

Willow's crazy adorable morning hairstyle
 

Happy Friday Friends!


Willow finally slept better last night! She did wake up once, but we were all so exhausted from the past 2 nights that we let her work it out and she did, and the rest of the night went smoothly.

Yesterday's motivation helped me on my run last night, which didn't happen until almost 9 pm!
:)

Last night on the TM I ran 3.62 miles! That's my furthest so far! I'm not exactly sure on the time, I'm going to guesstimate here and say around 40 minutes. Me and the phone are having an on going war when I'm on the treadmill and my treadmill tends to shut off every so often...I think I fixed that issue though. I was using the same extension cord for both the TM and the DVD player and I finally changed it after it cut off for the 3rd time last night.


I tried to run around 5 MPH on average and I'd knock it up to 5.5 or even over 6 at times.


Tomorrow after we take Willow Easter egg hunting at a friend's Church, my friend Jessi and I are going to go run at a local elementary school. I'm going to clean the jogging stroller and put air in the tires tonight so I can take that and Willow with us for a test run. I hope she won't get to antsy and she can just enjoy the ride. It is supposed to get up to the low 60's tomorrow so that will be nice for a change!


What are your plans for Easter Sunday?




Last Saturday's 5k Results

Results from Saturday's Rebuild Richmond 5k are in!


I came in 59 place (out of 109) and Mandy came in 60th place! We both finished in 34:19, and I am going to say I'm pretty darn proud of us for challenging ourselves and working hard to get this far! Just wanted to share!