Improvement!

I've been running for two weeks now and this makes my 6th run.  Until today, I had only run 1.5 miles w/out stopping to walk.  (The full runs, including walks, were between 3-4 miles.)  I'd been getting farther before my walk portion, each run.  The distance of the walk was also getting shorter.  I had been walking a whole street last week and this week I had only walked appx 50 ft. 

Today I didn't walk at all!!!!!!

This morning I ran at a 10 min/mile pace for 2.6 miles and I didn't even take ANY walk breaks.  I know that's not very far for a lot of people, but that's far for me!

My runs are getting better.  YAY!

Oh, did I mention that the race I wanted to do in July is full?  Bummer. 

It was only the second year of the race and they didn't expect it to fill up so quickly.

I signed up on the waiting list, in case there are enough cancellations.  Fingers crossed.

I'm trying to find another half in my area around the same time.  I found one for 3 weeks later, so I'm planning on that one, but still training for July.  A few extra weeks will be great for me though, since I only started running a few weeks ago.  I'm following a plan where I was supposed to be able to run for 30min, prior to starting it, and that was not possible.

The Garden Attempt

I had always dreamed of having a garden.  I wanted to grow my own vegetables.  Think of how good we'd feel eating what I'd grown and save money too!

We finally bought a house a few years ago and I couldn't wait to put one in. 

Then we had the baby. 

The garden did not happen last year.

This year, hubby says "Didn't you want to make a garden?".  I told him I did, sometime.  He said, "Well, sometime will be too late."  OK, so he's right. 

 We went to get some supplies and he built me a box outside and I started some seeds indoors. I planted some of everything that I had bought seeds for. There were snap peas, green beans, cukes, zucchini, green leaf lettuce, romaine, carrots, and spinach in my boxes.

Some of them came up quickly and some of them did not.

A few weeks later, I started some seeds directly outside.  The peas, lettuce, romaine, spinach and beans that I planted directly in the ground are growing great!  YAY!!!!!!

I had been keeping a log of how my seeds were growing, so that next year, I could separate certain veggies that took longer to germinate. 

I put the seed boxes outside to 'harden' them, before planting them in the ground.  I am just learning about all of this as I go, so I will make a few mistakes.  The cuke leaves started turning kind of yellow. 

I transplanted some of the cukes, beans and peas into the outside box.

My husband tells me the other day, "I think some of them (in the seed box) aren't growing well, because we are over watering them."  WHAT!?  What do you mean WE are over watering them?!  I told him to leave them alone.  Now all my notes don't mean a thing, because there were more variables than I was writing down.  UGGGGHHHH

We have seen deer prints in some sand in our yard and last year we had skunks and a groundhog.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the animals don't ruin my garden, before I get to it.  So far, so good.  I look at it each morning, before my run.  Every time, I am amazed that I am still seeing plants.

Hopefully the critters will stay away and I will soon be able to tell you about my wonderful garden. 

Hike w/ Baby Girl

So today, Baby Girl and I took a hike. This was only a couple of miles round trip, but it was her first experience being in the backpack.

  She loved it! YAY!!!! I'm so glad, since she may be spending a lot of time in it, this summer.  I'm thinking............lots of backyard lunges with these two attached!

This was the only 'exercise' that I got today.  It was a rest day from jogging in the morning and Saturdays are 'Children day', so I don't get any training in later in the day.  The BIG problem with this low exercise day is:  I've eaten like crap all day.  Why is it, that when my body isn't sore or tired from training, I eat worse?   Do I really need that physical reminder to MAKE me listen to my head?  I KNOW what i'm supposed to eat, but it doesn't always happen.  Tomorrow is another day and enough talking about my bad choices of today.

The only problem was.......there was one child missing.  The teenager wanted more friend time.  OK, I can give in once in awhile.  She doesn't know what she's missing.  LOL!  She does not find the little hike as exciting as we do!?

Just wait and see what I have in store for one-on-one time tomorrow.  HEHEHEHE (evil laugh)

Maybe a nice long bike ride.  Sounds good to me!  But, not till after my Sunday jog.  Hopefully, I'm not really regretting my poor eating choices of today.

Missing Toenails and Other Questions

So.......today was run # 5.  Am I allowed to call it a run yet?  Let's say that today was jog #5 (from the start).

Monday had started my 10 week plan for training for the half marathon.  Tuesday, today, and tomorrow are all supposed to be 3 miles and then 4 on Sunday.

There is a hill that starts my route each day.  I walk up the hill, from my driveway {to warm up ;)  LOL} and then begin my jog.  When reaching the starting point for my jog........I had a  question about my training.  There had been a car accident (the cop told me that the driver walked away, thank goodness) and the street was blocked off, which meant that I had to take a detour.  This was going to take me close to an extra mile over my original route.  Should I swap my 4 mile day on Sunday, for today? Is that enough to really matter?  I had hoped to stick to the 10 wk plan to the T, but it's already screwed up.

I think that this is no big deal, but then my head started spinning with all the little questions that have been racking up over the past few weeks.  These questions have been stemming from all the worries, problems, fears, etc that I overhear and conjure up in my head.

     Do I really need to pay attention to the mileage that I'm racking up, so I know when I need new sneaks?  Will I just feel it?  Will I even run enough to matter?
   
 Should I be wearing special socks?  Do I need compression socks? If I don't wear them, will I get nasty veins?  Would running make any difference in my leg veins, if powerlifting and bodybuilding hadn't?

     How long of a run will I do, before I need one of those water belts?  Should I really be eating and drinking more, before I go for my run?  I only get up like 10 min, before I head out the door and hate having anything in my stomach.

     I've heard a lot about bad heel striking?  I don't have pain now, but should I be running more on the ball of my foot?  Will I all of a sudden have horrible pain, because I may be running wrong?

     Will my toenails fall off?!  I can deal with black toenails, because I always have them painted and I like dark nail polish.  Missing nails will NOT look good in my cute sandals this summer and I have a feeling that my teenage daughter will remind me of this, every time she may see it.  I haven't had even a slight pain in any toe yet, so no worries.  I even cut them last night, which made me worry all night.  Did I cut them too short?!  No, they seem fine.

     There are a lot of slugs out in the morning.  Do they slither up trees and if so, will they drop on my head?  I ran my hand over my head, quite a few times this morning.  Caterpillars are a BIG fear of mine, so I'm always on the lookout for them too.

     Am I going to have to worry about chafing at all?  How far of a run will it take to chafe?

     I want to squat and deadlift.  Should I do it today and jog tomorrow, so that when my legs hurt the worst, it'll be a full rest day?  Would the jogging, just loosen me up, if I have some DOMS?  Might be good, but I'd hate to wake up and give myself a reason to stay in bed, rather than go for my jog.

     Should I be wearing a visor or glasses?  The sun is getting brighter by the end of my jog and I don't want to help the wrinkles out any by squinting.  On the other hand......would a visor make my forehead break out?
  
     Will all the real runners, think Im a joke for even asking all of these?  Will they say 'she only ran 13 miles this week.  what's she crying about?' ?

OK.  ENOUGH WHINING FOR NOW!!!!!!!!!  I'll just take it jog by jog and listen to my body.  Everyone is different and no one knows me better than ME.   :)

The Beginning and a NEW GOAL

So......today I sat here and typed.  Trying to figure out how this blog stuff works.  I had a full 2 hours to myself (which NEVER happens), while the baby took a late nap.  Forgive me while I make some mistakes.

I wanted to start a blog to keep myself in line a little better.  Through the last 11 years, I've taken a journey through fitness.  I started out skinny-fat.  I've competed in figure, bodybuilding, and powerlifting.  Now I'm trying to find a happy medium between my fitness and family along with work, hobbies, remodeling, cleaning, cooking, laundry, does the list ever end.  My family makes me HAPPY, but I am at my best for them, when I am fit.

My youngest child, turned 16 months today.  My husband and I are enjoying the fact that we can adjust our work schedules , so that we haven't had to use daycare. 
This however, has changed my training schedule.  I need a new goal.  I am always at my best, when training, if I have a goal. 
Before she was born, I had been at the gym, waiting for the doors to unlock at 5 am.  Until this past week, I couldn't get my butt in bed before 11:30 pm.  This does not work well when you want to get up at 4:45.  Mornings are my best chance for training.  Hubby is in bed at home (so I can sneak out) and because daily life ALWAYS gets in the way later in the day.   

This was a new week and the sun started shining again!  It's been raining for like forever here.    I HAVE A NEW GOAL!!!!! 

 I will run a half marathon at the end of July. 

 Remember?  Accountability.  Well if I say it really small, then maybe I won't feel horrible if it doesn't happen. 

 NO!  I WILL SUCCEED.

I am not a runner. 

The farthest I've ever ran is:  I have no idea.  

I could jog for a half an hour a few years ago.  I had started jogging, because I had a shoulder injury and needed to take myself away from the weights for awhile.  I had always said, "I'll just traing everything that won't hurt my shoulder".  This always turned into sneaking something in, to keep the shoulder hurting.  For 6 weeks or so, I ran.  I went to the gym up to 3 times a day and ran, just to keep myself sane and away from the weights.  The shoulder got better and the running stopped.  I was soooooo excited to start lifting again.  Months later, I said to myself  "I should've kept running".  I had actually missed it.  I liked the 'thinking time'  that I had, when I got into a zone.  (Mind you, the only way I started finding this 'zone' was while watching Motocross on tv at the gym.)  I will find the zone again and need to learn to love it for a lot longer than a half an hour.

OK, I have to go.  Mommy duty is calling!