Tuesday ramblings and a Garmin Question

What a busy few days!!! No excuses though..I promise!

This morning I gagged down a banana and half of a powerade I hate both but whatever, I was skeptical but I loaded Itty bitty, in the stroller and we took off....4 miles later when I was done, I had Minimal cramping!! Yes success....maybe I do have a potassium problem, I am ok with that it is better then Shin splints!! I rolled out the rest of my cramps on the overpriced rolly thing....ouuucchhhh, that thing brings tears to my eyes but makes me feel better!

I had new cloths to run in...I have new brooks shorts, mizuno shirt and new brooks shoes to try out! Running warehouse is this awesome addictive place....if you don't want to spend money don't go to that site, their prices rock..too good to pass up rock! Anyhow, I loved my shirt and my shorts and my shoes they were all awesome, the shorts were a little on the short side but really comfy!

SO in a few weeks I will be another year older, and as I birthday gift I think I want a Garmin, I am starting to run longer distances and *wince* may be considering a half marathon soon...yikes that was hard to say! I actually have this ridiculous addiction to try a Tri-athalon I have no idea where that is coming from but anyhow my point is..

What Garmin do you all use? other than price, what are pros and cons to the one you have do wish you would have gotten a different one? I have no idea which one would be best! Helllllpppp pleeesseee

Inspirational me? In the last week, I have gotten my dear friend, my neighbor, my Mom, a pre-school friend and in-law into exersising! whoaaaa seriously some days I still have to talk myself into it! Now I feel even more accountable for setting a good example!

Organizational me? I spent all day Sunday clenaing my kids rooms, closets, drawers and so on and so forth! Their rooms look so gooooodddd! Today I finished the upstairs being the guest room, both bathrooms and my room!and washing walls. Holy smokes it is organized to a T! I donated 9 bags of clothes!!!! and numerous other things, wow I love the way my upstairs looks, now if I can just get downstairs done, I can quite my OCD, neat freak self!

I am approaching 50 posts! Yikes you better stay tuned there may be a fun little gift involved :) Ok on tap tomorrow weights, and a gentle two mile run! Yes I love two mile days!!!

Happy hump day everyone!

Three things Thursday...

First, I don't know why, but I decided I needed to race again this week so tomorrow I am running Crystal City 5K can I get a PR in the house pleasssssseeee running gods?

I am just tagging along with three things Thursday this week, my brain does not seem to be able to cough up anything else!

1. Holy workouts batman! I decided on Monday, that I do not push me body hard enough, fast enough for long enough! Sure I can run, sure I can finish a race, but I bet you I can do it faster, and I bet I can run further! and I am not actually betting you guys as much as I am betting myself! Also on the days I don't run I absolutely have to do some other form of exercise, another bet I made with myself! This can be riding my bike, aerobics, weights or my current fave Jillan's Shred....TODAY I can barley cough, sneeze, laugh or lift my children without wincing, all for 20 minutes on level two with Jillian, it actually is really painful, feels freaking awesome!!!

2. Also, on Monday (wow I thought a lot on Monday) I decided I was not eating right, when I decided to start running it was to loose some weight and to do something I have never done before, I relished in the "thing I have never done before part" and not the loosing weight part! I hate to admit that, and don't get me wrong even without being overly strict about what I eat I have lost weight, inches and changed my body SOME.....but I want to be able to quit the hunkey chunky running Mom club before long(and be in the speedster,marathoning Mama club) and my Brie and triscuits with Honey is not helping me get there!

So I have gone Psycho on my booty and have been making much better choices about what I eat! I have always been able to consume large quantities of food! Yup I can take out a whole pan of brownies, an entire brick of cheese or half of a large pizza all by my little lonesome! Not to say I am proud of these things, just saying this girl can eat! When I was nursing, people would laugh at the amount of food I would consume, I guess they just weren't expecting a chick to eat like a 500 pound Man! SO instead of consuming junk,(that would not keep me full) When I get hungry (and decide I could eat a small horse,) I make a giant salad with many veggies, and fruit on the side and I consume without guilt! I was starving at lunch today, I was able to put away, half a chicken breast, 3 cups of salad greens, 1 cup of broccoli, 1/2 cup of carrots, a spinkle of cheese and one tablespoon of dressing! Packing in the veggies and fruit feels great! and I feel really good too!! Eating right is really a fine tuned balancing act! and for me a work in progress.

3. Excuses, I told you the other day I have been making excuses! I really have been whining and complaining about whatever I can latley! So much so that I am driving myself nuts. So I decided that also needed an overhaul. Sure I am having some leg pain, and some Achilles problems, my days are long (but who's aren't?), I am tired after getting up with Itty bitty who is teething (again), so on and so forth blah blah blah....I also want to loose weight and be faster so what is all my complaining getting me? NOTHING, NATTA, ZILCH, ZERO......So it's over, I am no longer making excuses for myself and I am going to do everything I can to complain less, about everything including my in-laws haha just kidding they are great wonderful people whom I don't ever complain about! But you get the picture, instead I will be trying to find things I am thankful for! Thank you to all my friends in both the real and blog world who have listened to my bitching' for far too long..I am sorry I promise to try harder! Tonight, I put this to the test, actually all week Hubby has been away, and I could have easily made excuses not to run or cross-train but I didn't!! Tuesday, I ran with the stroller, yesterday I did shred during nap time, today I began to blow off my run when I decided I had no reason to, and although I only got two miles in because by time I got out there it was dusk, dark fell on me quick, I still got two miles in!! Take that excuse maker!!



Ok All this hit me on Monday!
Dear,Rude awakening,
You caught me, I hear you loud and clear I am trying to change, please bare with me while I try my best! Thank you for shaken my ass up and bringing me back to reality!

so so proud of all you Boston bloggers, I watched some of it in complete aweee...I would be lying if I said there was not some spark of "hey I want to do that one day in me" yikes I think my heart just skipped a beat, mostly I just want the Jacket...and if you have ever seen my jacket collection you would know that if I had to run 26.2 miles for the awesome Jacket I would freaking do it! Yup I am bazzzaarrr like that! and don't say to me "you can just buy the jacket" I already know, I want to freaking earn the jacket!

Ok so maybe that was more like 110 things but I had a lot to say, the creative juices just didn't start flowing until I started typing! Happy Friday tomorrow!

Today I am Thankful for a supportive community of friends and family (bloggies included) who know how to hold me accountable for all the ridiculous things I manage to sign myself up for!!!

What are you thankful for? Do you ever make excuses?

di di dum diddley deeee

I could write for two hours tonight, I have so much going on in my brain and I am trying to sort it all out!! I am going to do extended bullets so there is not so much confusion! Ok every one hang in there with me.....

First and foremost an extended race report, I am sorry the one from Sunday was so quick we had family staying with us and I did not want to be rude! I really felt good during the race but I was slightly annoyed that the course was not marked properly as in the only mile marker I saw was mile one and from there I had no freaking clue where I was and it drove me crazy!! All that being said, I heard a nasty rumor today that the course was actually 3.5 miles long and not 5k distance of 3.1....I have no idea if this is true but I would like to believe it in my brain because that would then mean I finished 3.1 in thirty minutes! Anyhow no reason to dwell on the past, I will get sub 30 before long! Although it was fun, I enjoyed it, and it refueled my fire for running!

uh-huh you heard me say re-fuel....pretty much since the day I bonked I have been in a hate relationship with running! I have not blogged much or told anybody because I was not ready to give up, I just hit a hard spot and had to work through it. In fact I only ran once in the week leading up to the race and was nervous because of it! I am blessed with a loving supportive handsome hubby who puts up with my freak show self on a daily basis, he was nothing but words of encouragement and jokes for the entire week! SO now I am back to my love/hate relationship with running, yup I love it when a tough run is over but hate the moments leading up to going running! Maybe one day we can take our relationship to the next level of all love....so be for warned Hunky chunky RUNNING mom has resumed!

Today I went for a run with itty bitty in the stroller! Hubby is away on a business trip and I was not going to let that be an excuse, because seriously I have been making excuses lately and I am done! there are no excuses anymore! So anyhow we parked and tried out the "rail trail" while little missy was at school. I had a hard time with the stroller this is the first time I had to use it and I was not a fan but it was fun to share my run with itty bitty she loved it! I ran and ran and OMG it is 10:30 and I have not turned around and I have to get little missy in an hour, I was at least 20 mins from the school!! and god only knows how far from my car! I took off running back towards the car, we managed to squeak out three miles in about 34 minutes, not too bad considering I had 40 pounds of pushing in front of me!

Realization today! Construction workers around these parts can be total creepers! Sorry I don't mean to offend anyone who does construction or anyone who's hubby does, but in these here parts, honking your giant dump truck horn at a Hunky chunky Mommy with her baby in the stroller more than once, is just creeper status all the way!! Unless you were about to run my ass over, please don't honk it scare the bejesus out of me!

Watching parts of Boston was sooooo inspiring! Woooowwww maybe one day....just maybe!

Decided today that maybe I don't feed my family so healthy! I mean I always make sure they get fruits, veggies, protein and dairy in their diet, but I also feel like I am a little lax about the junk food! This has really been driving me crazy and I don't want to obsess about what my kids eat but I feel like I need to curb the junk food to the tenth degree, it seems every time I turn around someone is begging for junk and I am not ok with that! I will be a better example as well, the girls and I made whole grain English muffin pizzas for dinner with veggies and it felt good that every one had a nice healthy dinner that they enjoyed!

Ok so I am back and ready to attack...(running attack to be clear, and maybe the next construction worker who honks while I am running)

Okay so I can't wait to hear about Boston! I hope everyone else is having a great week I promise to make my way around to make comments tonight!

have I lost my MOJO??...beware debbie downer post

grrrr....on tonight's run I decided that I was kidding myself, I was not a runner, I was not cut out for running and getting faster just is not gonna happen..I bonked I was totally over running at the 2.5 point and I was supposed to hit four...I quit I just flat out QUIT!

YUP I am a freakin quitter, and I am now so mad at myself I could scream it is such an obnoxious feeling really, I mean what the hell a weekend ago I was conquering mountains running a 10k and loving every minute, tonight I am ready to send my new skirts to TMB (although they would fall off of her) my bondi bands to Marcia and hang up my shoes.

It sure as hell didn't help that is was 92* degrees when I headed out to run, I love HOT weather however I do not like to run in hot weather! ughhhh I think I will go cry in my pillow this evening...

do you runner buffs have days like this? do you feel like given up? and what gets you through? am I a wus who should quit running? I need mega inspiration!!

still wiping noses

ohhhh my I have soooo much to post about!! But things are crazy here right now, I still have sick little kids who it seems each night of sleep gets worse instead of better, we still have family in town which has been great to have extra hands and help.....and I still am sleep deprived so I will make this short and catch up again soon I promise!

I had a beautiful Easter Sunday, I got to go for a run with my Dad and my husband, I was nervous to say the least. These two men are the most in shape guys I have ever known and I thought I would be soooo slow!

I did great we finished 2.5 in 24.01 which was slightly more than a comfortable pace, but lately I have been thinking I need to push harder anyway, and I won't mention that my Dad was behind me the whole time and when I would feel him gaining on me I would speed up, I never let him by....I also will not mention that the only reason this was possible was because he is just getting back to working out after having hip surgery 10 weeks ago....all of these are minor details....I was in front of him and I am proud of that...

Needless to say we got home hid Easter eggs and watched my precious albeit sick babies hunt eggs and be in complete candy heaven!

I have little missy now going for Jogs around the house with my hydration belt! SO cute...I know I have not even had the chance to tell you my awesome Mama bought me a hydration belt because she is Well awesome and it is pink I loooovvvee it....I will tell you more about that later!!

I totally have to go to bed..Itty bitty sleeps until about 3a.m. and then the coughing and sneezing get the best of her and she needs her Mommy and sometimes you just need your mommy and I won't complain because there will be a day when she doesn't need me (or won't admit she does) and I will miss that....so I will go sleep now so I can be a nice Mom at 3am...I hope everyone had a great Easter and has a great week!

Blood, Sweat, tears, Glass and a race re-cap

I am sure after reading the title of this post you were wondering if I lived through my 10k. Turns out I did...and I had a lot of fun doing it..you ready for a re-cap?

Blood: it all started with the signing up of this virtual race! I decided if I was going to run that far you better believe I was going to make it fun...now let me warn you bloggy peeps I am not a crafty chick....my poor kids who are 1 and 3 do crafts better than I do! Anyhow, I decided I needed a "race bib" I printed the one Tall Mom had made and decorated it!


*In case you can't read it is says: She's tall, I'm short but we are both running for a cure....and I drew pics of Tall Mom's log legs and my really short ones!* See I told you super artist aren't I...I can do stick figures like nobody's buisness

You see those cute little pink ribbons, you know the ones you slide scissors across to make curly?? Turns out your supposed to slide the scissors along your ribbon and not your FINGER....ahhhh blood and freaking ouch! Ok so it is nothing a bad-aid could not take care of, but for a minute there I was considering stitches! When I calmed down I realized it was no worse than a paper cut, ha did I ever mention I can be somewhat dramatic? I emphasize the "somewhat"

Anyhow, I made the bib, decided if I was racing then I was gonna have a race bag and all the swag....so I made one!
This is my dream bag by the way...


yup, it included new sunglasses, GU, an awesome bib, and a hand held water bottle, who came up with this bag? she is awesome!

Sweat: ohhhh buddy did you watch Spartacus this week? ooops that is for another post...ummmmm oh yeah sweat, so I kissed the kids loaded up my self and all my gear prayed to the running and weather gods, told handsome to send the search parties at the 3 hour mark! and I was off...

oh yeah I did run in this awesome outfit!



Sorry I look horrible in this pic I was not exactly ready!! Anyhow I had taped Susan G. Koman thingies to my capris, made my Bondi band into a Susan G. Koman Band and put on some pink!

Anyhow so off I went.....Mile one was over in 10:30, I was trying hard to not run hard because I knew I would need all the energy I could muster at the end! It was a cool breezy run...when I reached the first major intersection about 2 miles in I could not believe I was doing it....

Mile 3 and 4 clipped by quickly, I looooovvve my new sunglasses by the way, as I did not have a headache when I got home from squinting and I did not even notice they were on my face... I know the look goofy but I don't care! They were seriously that awesome!


Mile 5 and 6 and .2 were good I was really starting to feel tired at 5 as that is a previous mileage PR for me! Mile 6 started up a hill, and when I got to the top I pretty much turned around and flicked the hill off....then laughed as I got back to my neighborhood I knew I .2 to go.. I picked up my feet and sprinted to the end!!!

TEARS: They kinda started to flow as I let out a big YESSSSS once again in the middle of my street much to my neighbor's awkward looks, I did a giant fist pump and them remembered to stop my watch....duh...


I felt soooo great 1 hour 11 mins and 15 secs, I know slow for some, but it was comfortable for me and I finished without croaking....and Handsome did not have to send search parties!!


that's me after completing 6.2 MILES!!!! wooowwwzaaaaa

Mel- your are such a fabulous Inspiration and your running for such a great cause thank you for hosting a virtual race!

oh and glass- dude I broke three glasses today!!! The first was this morning, the very first think I did was knock a bottle of balsamic vinegar out of the pantry...mmmm my house smelled great all day! I then knocked a tumbler off the counter and then dropped a tall glass in our porcelain sink....what the hell, I must have runner's brain today...

I honestly had a great time running this and feel more confident in myself then I have in a long time!! I hope you all had great weekends! I have to hop off here and clean my house as tomorrow is playgroup!! Take care and have a great Monday everyone!

runnning runnning running...run onnnnnn

or is that rolling rolling rolling.....either way, As you can see I have been absent since turning into a cute little chimp on my last run...it is pretty hard to type with those thumbs they have ... Actually, and truthfully sometimes life gets in the way of my blogging....damn that stuff we call life! how dare you interrupt my witty writing schemes!

Handsome and I have been on a serious home improvement kick, I told you about our impromptu kitchen re-do and well now our deck is half torn down, as we have decided that we don't like it and need a new one.....seriously I am unsure why we do this to ourselves. But it has been my job to go around and take out all the screws, there are 100 boards on the top deck each has 22 screws in them, most of them old and rusty, can you imagine the fun I have been having! Forget bad ass runner mom, I am a bad ass with a drill/runner mom!! bwhahah I make my own self laugh!

Actually, I am quite versatile, after all not only are we doing the deck, I have been in the midst of baby shower plans that are going on for my sister in law this weekend, and well it has not been a walk in the park, but that is a story for another time!

Oh yeah and running! After my bad ass five on Tuesday, I took Wednesday as a rest day, I was super sore!! Thursday I was supposed to do a tempo run but my kids really deserved a trip to the park. So little missy and I ran there and back which overall is about a mile! she was great she is 3 and a half (please don't forget that half it upsets her!) and she would jog for a minute or two and then stop to "stretch" I think I laughed the entire time! She was in a dress and her super fast "running shoes" and those were here words the whole time "mommy aren't I so super fast!" totally adorable although she runs a little like Phoebe from friends!! More of a skip than a run, but non the less totally worth every minute I missed running to be with her.

and then on Friday I went running with a total Rockstar!! She just so happens to be one of my besties....she is the Mom of three. Three of the cutest kids I know and I swear if she would let me, I would glue my self to her hip, I would do it in an instant! Seriously she is that awesome! She is a former runner, (As in before she had kids she used to run and loved it!) and I will just say I was nervous!! I am totally confident this chick could roll me up and smoke me on a run in no time! I just did not want to be embarrassed, but as it turns out when you have a best friend, there is really no reason to be embarrassed. I figured she would still love me, even if I am slow.

So we headed out for a 5k! and we did great.....I don't know if she was taking it easy on me, but I was able to keep up with her! and we managed to kick it out in 34.31 which is a great pace!! We pretty much held a conversation most of the run! Now, I never talk and run, and I talked between my huffing and puffing! She was so great and I totally loved having a running buddy!!! and talking while running (although I did not know it was possible) but let's face any chance I get to talk I pretty much cannot refuse, and K and I could be held captive with our mouths taped shut and we would figure out a way to conversate I am pretty sure! The run went by so fast, and I never wanted to give up! I really hope you come back and run with me again K!!! It was the highlight of my running week.... and some creepers in a car totally honked at us....even though she claims she knew them, I know we are just that hottttt.....

Well seeing as how I have to be on my way to Virginia in 20 minutes and I am sitting here typing un-showered I should probably scadoodle, but just another quick highlight, I went window shopping yesterday and I was TWO whole dress sizes smaller.....holy dress fitting gods are you kidding? So excited, until last night when I was trying to pick out something to wear for this baby shower today and nothing fit! Not in a bad way, but like every dress I put on fell off, or looked awful, ok now usually I would not complain...but at 8:35 at night when I was still un-showered from my run and just wanted relax I flew to the mall and dropped $75 on a dress to wear today....all because I am smaller....sayyyy whatttttt at least handsome is a supportive dude and said I totally deserved it!

Anyhow, ahhh must go shower Have a great weekend everyone!

Be a Bad ass.....

yeah you heard me I just told all of you to go be a bad ass.....much like miss TeamarciaHERE told me to do today, yup her blog was speaking right directly to me, ok so maybe she didn't mention my name but I could hear her words my entire run...she said own your awesomeness....so I felt like I better be pretty freaking awesome today because I need to own it! and since I told her I was a running bad ass I was out to prove a point!

So I went for a run on this beautiful 60 degree day I pounded out FIVE miles!!! That is only the second time I have done so and it felt so freaking goooooooodddd, I was lapping up the weather, flying by other runners (ok well merely passing them but still) and there were not any vultures waiting for me to drop dead!

How does 54.01 time sound to you, sounds like 10.48 paces to me which = aweeeesooommeee in my book, so I can officially say to myself girl your a running bad ass and it feels good! and this is me owning my awesomeness!!

Thank you Marcia you made my day!! Anyone who has not checked out her blog should totally do that right now!(well finish reading me first) She is a bundle of inspiration and good for a giggle too..

So I now want to pass that feeling onto you....be a bad ass and be proud of it! I hope every one has had a great Tuesday and is enjoying the spring weather!!

Awhile back Shelly dared us all to post a before and after running shot of ourselves. Well I finally got around to it, dudes and dudettes alike please don't laugh to hard..



and after....


yeah I know running is pretty tough on my body!!! bwhahaha

hope everyone has a great hump day, maybe tomorrow I will show you the real picture!!

Ruuunnnnnn.. a quick recap!

I did it... I ran the first 5k of my life and totally have a PR! ok so the Pr is a little bit of a joke considering I have never run an official timed race but I finished the race in 34.43 which for me is a PR!!

It was a great race a beautiful day, and a lovely weekend! Other than sharing my bed with Itty bitty (my one year old)she made it really hard to sleep solidly, everything went great, we made it every where we needed to be in time and the kids were not too fussy!

I felt great running today, I know this is so cheesy of me but I got a little emotional in the beginning, thinking that it was not so long ago I was sitting on my couch complaining that working out and getting shape was hard and I was never going to be "one" of those people. Anyhow I was able to fight back the tears have my private sappy moment at the beginning and comfortably run the whole time! I would occasionally catch myself running much faster than I had planned and I really wanted to save my energy for the last half mile. I totally fist pumped it across the finish line!

Speaking of the last half, as I approached it...guess who was standing there? My cute little family talking about moving faster....they were adorable freezing their bums off just to wave as Mommy went by!

Needless to say it was awesome, I am addicted and I have another race next weekend! Which pretty much means,I have to go to bed now because I am exhausted from a busy weekend and we have a busy week to go! I hope everyone had a great run or race weekend looking forward to hearing about all of them!

J K L (tall mom said to do it so I am)

Okay so I am totally copying her, but I thought this might be fun to try since I have not run, seeing as the snow is piled as high as my nose!

J- JUNKY that's right I am a junky a total running Junky, I love the high it gives me, the way my body is starting to look and all the fun gear I can run out and buy for it! (this all happened in a little over a month in the beginning of Feb I still did not like it!)

also, a blogging Junky I will admit I used to be one of those who thought blogging was just odd! But not only have I become addicted to both writing a blog and reading blogs , handsome hubby also reads blogs about his hobby. We never realized what a great source of information they would be and for me they have been a giant source of inspiration.

K-Ka choowww is what my little girl says! It is from the movie Cars and after my morning shred this morning she looked up and said "ka chooww, we did a great job Mom" ahhh I love her,she and her sister are also a great motivators in this whole running effort! I want them to have a strong Mom, who is happy and proud of herself! So that they can always remember to do and find thigs that make them happy, proud and strong! I will have to remember when I run across a finish line (if we ever get to see the ground again) "ka choww"

L- Lacking!! I am totally lacking a valentines day gift for handsome hubby!!! I do not know what to do or get and although we both agree Valentines is kinda of a silly holiday I think I had better come up with something, maybe I could dedicate a blog to him? ahaa sorry hunny I love you and I will figure out something soon! (maybe)

So that was pretty fun I might have to try more of these! I have been sticking to Jillian's shred and it really works me out! I am craving a run and hope that soon the roads will be plowed and I will be able to head out for a 4 miler!

The inspiration I have found in Blog world lately is like no other I have felt in a very long time! I am starting to think I am gonna run my tushy right the heck off!! I hope everyone here in the mid-atlantic is warm and with power! We have so far been lucky with power!

What is the weather like where you are? (be careful what you say I may be on the next plane to your house) :) Happy Thursday everyone, the week is almost over!!