Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

Yesterday I did a workout DVD during my son’s first nap, and I was even able to take a shower as well before he woke up! Score.

Later in the day I took him for a nearly hour-long walk while chatting with a friend on the phone. My son LOVES going for walks, and thankfully we had a break in the rain showers, so we took advantage of it.

Early evening has proven to be a challenging time with a baby. He’s not taking a third nap anymore, but he’s not ready for bed yet, and is probably going a little bit stir-crazy (like me!), so it’s always better if we can get outside for a bit before we start winding down for bedtime.

Today I didn’t specifically exercise, unless you count carrying around a 25 pound baby, and assisting him with learning to stand up. Oh, and I did a load of laundry. We had rain all day. Hopefully tomorrow it’ll clear up a bit so we can take a walk at some point.

Here we go, again.

If we could sit down and have a cup of coffee together, it would be easier to catch you up on what’s been going on in my life. But I’ll just give you the Cliff’s Notes version:

I had a baby!

And it is amazing, incredible, so so hard, and beautiful too.

Since this is a getting healthier blog, I’ll stick with what it’s done to my body. I was running up until June 2015. Then I got a nasty sinus infection, went camping, and came home and took a pregnancy test. Surprise! We found out on July 4, 2015. I started to experience morning sickness about 2 days later, and from that point on through the first trimester, I wasn’t up to doing anything other than going to work, dragging myself to the grocery store when we needed food, and then laying down. I suffered from nausea pretty much all the time, and couldn’t eat after 3 pm for a long time. I also had debilitating migraines beyond the first trimester.

I didn’t start feeling like I could get out and exercise for months. By that point, I was already getting bigger, so I didn’t feel like I could all of a sudden resume running. I walked and did some yoga. I also experienced a big aversion to green vegetables, but attempted to choke some down on occasion.

So, I gained some weight along the way, though I tried to exercise and eat with some sense of moderation (no nightly ice cream habit over here).

We moved about 1.5 months before my due date.

Then I ended up having an emergency c-section after almost 24 hours of labor in March 2016. It took me months to recover fully. My husband was KEY to my recovery. Emotionally it was very hard for me as well.

My father passed away extremely unexpectedly at the end of September 2016. I could say a lot of things, but basically my son has kept me going.

I have done quite a bit of walking with my son, and a little hiking. But now I’m starting to get back into running again. I’ve gone a few times, and it was hard to realize just how out of shape I’ve become; but I’ve been down that road before, and I will again. I have taken out the jogging stroller, and that’s a fun challenge.

I’m working on eating more vegetables and fruits, as well as trying to curb the mindless snacking.

In June 2016, 3 months after giving birth, I signed up for a half marathon taking place in June 2017. Well, that’s now only 5 months away. When I clicked the “sign up!” button, I figured I had PLENTY OF TIME. It doesn’t feel that way now.

I don’t expect a PR. As I always expect, I want to put forth my best effort. That’s my goal.

Long time, no type

Heya!

So, since the last time I wrote (an embarrassingly long time ago), I’ve run a couple of races.

A 10-miler at the end of October 2014, with friends, which I got a personal record on! Spoiler: my friends basically unknowingly paced me to a PR. And then I threw up several times afterward. To be honest, after that, I needed a bit of a break from running. I got a bit freaked out that I threw up, even though I knew it was just my bodies reaction to working hard, it had never happened to me. In high school when I ran cross-country, other people would throw up after a hard workout, but that was not me.

Photobombed!

Finished and ready for some food!

I continued to stay active doing other stuff, and occasionally running, I just didn’t train for anything. I saw that a local half marathon was going to be on May 3rd, so I trained for 9 weeks for that. This was my third half marathon. I got another personal record, which I am super proud of!

Especially since I got a nasty sinus infection during peak week, and I couldn’t do my last long run. I was feeling good, so I decided to push myself, and got in the 2:30 pace group to start, but after 5-6 miles, I decided it would be best to hang back and not try to catch them after every water station. I also didn’t want a repeat of how I felt after the 10-miler.

Since that race, I’ve been continuing to do Piyo a couple of days a week, for strengthening and stretching, and running 3 days. Last weekend I did my first longer run since the half marathon, almost 9 miles. I took it really slow, and just enjoyed it.

Also, baseball. I went to a game a couple of weeks ago, and I loved the light, the clouds, etc. A baseball game is just good fun.

How about you? Have you done a race lately? Had a good run? Been to a baseball game?

Mileage, and a Shoe Hashtag

I got some new running shoes last Friday (woot!), and I was putting them on Saturday morning and happened to turn them over to look at the sole more closely.  Lo and behold, there is a hash tag: #findyourstrong.  I smiled, then took a pic and instagrammed it.  Then I headed out on my first 4-mile run in over a month.

As I was getting through mile 1, I started to think about the hash tag.

Find your strong.  Find YOUR strong, I thought.  Not somebody else’s strong.  Not somebody else’s mile time.  It’s not “somebody else’s” run, it’s MINE.  Whether I run a 10-minute mile, or a 12:30 mile, or I have to walk during my run.  Who gives a crap?  I’m finding MY strong.  And whether that’s “good enough” for someone else is really irrelevant.

So, here’s my encouragement to you: Go find YOUR strong.  Whatever that looks like!

Running is hard

So I am feeling pretty bummed about my running lately.  I started back last week after taking a month and a half off (I continued to do other aerobic activity, just took a break from running).  I feel REALLY slow and it’s also really warm.  I struggle with waking up early to get a run in, before the heat gets going too much.

I need to stop making excuses and just get out there and get my mileage in.

First run back in awhile…

 

 We got our biweekly vegetable download via our CSA box. Spent Saturday near the beach with friends. Good times! And my run today… It had been far too long since I laced up the running shoes. And friends, the struggle is real. 

 

Our

Happy Friday!

Today has been pretty great. I started out with a quick 40 minutes of jillian michaels’ “no more trouble zones” (free with amazon prime membership). Took a shower real quick and then headed out to hang with some friends for the afternoon. 

We walked and ate Mexican food. Which is basically my favorite food group 🙂 

I’m feeling better today (after my little bout with, what I believe was good poisoning), but didn’t push it as hard as I could’ve with the workout. I just wanted to make sure I’m feeling ok and not about to “toss my cookies” again. Ahem. 

Tomorrow, I’m planning to attend BodyCombat at my gym again. Funny how looking forward to something like that can make an early-ish wake-up on a Saturday more palatable, right?

Plus the a/c was fixed, so it’ll be less sweaty and smelly. Last Saturday the a/c was on the fritz, so the room was basically a sauna after the previous class finished. I felt pretty bad for the class following us, because we worked up a good sweat (to say the least)!

Life has different plans sometimes.

Today has turned out a bit differently than I planned it. My plan was to eat breakfast, let it settle, do a workout DVD and then go for a run. However, about 45 minutes to 1 hour after eating, my stomach started to hurt a lot. I laid down and hoped it would stop. Then I threw up breakfast. TMI? 

So, I’ve been taking it easy today. Could be the sprouted grain toast (brand new, just opened the package today) or almond butter (which wasn’t new, and I had eaten from that jar before), or the banana. Not too sure. I’ve had both of these things before, but I’m going to do some research on sprouted grains.  

Anyway, hope to get that trial run in tomorrow. 

Hope your workouts have been better than mine! 🙂

Overview of my Piyo Strength Experience So Far… And Another Race?

Today I took, what I think was, my 4th Piyo Strength class.  It is a low-impact workout that combines yoga and pilates.  Let me tell you, I was curious how many calories this would burn, and I have been consistently amazed!  I’ve been wearing my heart rate monitor, and for a 55 minute class, I burn between 550-600 calories.  CRAZY!

There are multiple segments you move through that include flexibility, cardio, and strength.

Today we did more tricep push-ups, which are killer.  I’m doing them on my knees, and it’s still challenging!

I found that I have a difficult time going quickly from plank, to up dog, and transitioning to down dog.

It’s the up dog pose that is challenging me right now.

Upward Dog pose

It’s a combination of upper body strength and pointing my toes like that, which is hard.

I definitely DO NOT look like the lady in the above photo.  Maybe someday 🙂

Before the class, I did some short intervals on the Cybex Arc Trainer, which got my heart pumping before all the Piyo action.

For the past week or so, I’ve been contemplating an upcoming race.  There’s a choice between a 10k (6-mile) and a 10-miler at the end of October.  The registration cost is the same for both.  However, being honest, I haven’t run at all for the past month.  Between the heat, going on vacation, I need new shoes (my pinky toe is poking out of my current pair), and other excuses :), I haven’t been pounding the pavement.  However, I looked up training plans, and I think if I count today as my start, and try out a run tomorrow, I could definitely be ready by then.

It would also be a local race, which would be nice, because we wouldn’t have to get a hotel or any of that stuff.

Anyway, I will see how tomorrow goes, and then make a decision by the end of the week!

No More Trouble Zones!

Did you know that with your Amazon prime account, you can do full length exercise videos?!  I didn’t know that until last week, when another blog that I read told me so.  I feel a little dumb for not realizing that sooner.

Enter Jillian Michaels’ “No More Trouble Zones”.

She will kick your butt.

She uses circuits to challenge your body to change.  Basically there are several moves that I hadn’t been introduced to previously.  Squirms, surrenders, fire hydrants (I think that’s what she called them).  Good lord.

Even though I’ve been running pretty consistently for the last 6 months or so, there are definitely muscles that I hadn’t been using.  I’m hoping that by doing these types of exercises, I will become a stronger, more fit runner.