Training Recap: Week 20

Still running. Still doing cardio. Still lifting weights.

Weight Loss: 3.5lbs. Total weight loss to date: 9 lbs.

Trying to catch up on summer fun. Baseball is over. Swimming has started.

More later this week!

Training Recap: Week 20

I am such a bad blogger. I promised you Monday and here it is Thursday. Bad Blogger. I have no excuses except that life happens and I just couldn't get both, my thoughts together and find the time to sit and write.

Let's recap the last 2 weeks.....

The kids and I have started running with a group of moms/kids 3 days a week. They call it "Running Club", which I think is great because it implies that we joined, or had to pay some type of membership, or were invited by others in the club to be there. That sounds a lot better than one of my friend called and said "hey, I'm going to start running with the kids in the morning - you guys want to come? and I'm inviting others from my neighborhood". Anyhoo, however you look at it - we're running in the morning. It's been a lot of fun and my little kiddos have surprised me.

K has always been a runner. He's only 10, so always I guess, is a relative term. He will run in his 4th, I think, 5k this summer. I believe he ran his first when he was 7. So by always, I mean for a very long time. He enjoys it, he a natural at it and he's pretty darn fast at it! So I knew he'd love it. It was young C that has surprised me. He takes off with those older kids and just goes. and goes. and goes. He has never seemed to enjoy it when we go out as a family. Always asking to stop, or ride his bike, or his legs hurt, or he itches... you get the idea. But I think being in Running Club has made all the difference to him. And I'm not about to correct him either!

And Running Club has been good for me. I'm getting outside and running on a regular basis. I'm doing ok at it, I think. The breathing is getting a little easier, not great, but better. I am trying to figure out how to mentally work through this, as I am convinced that part of the breathing issue is in my own mind. I need to work through it and believe in myself enough to figure out that I can do it. It's a crazy thing, and I could write forever on it, but it boils down to I need to get over my feel of failure and Just Do It. ( Thank you, Nike! ) I'm working on that and figuring out things that hopefully will help me out. I'll keep you posted when I figure it out for sure!

That brings me to a big announcement. I am breaking up with the Treadmill - for indoor running. Treadmill: It's over. I have fallen out of like with you. You're fine when I want to walk inclines, but for running, you're just no good. I have discovered the Outdoors and that is just better for me. Treadmill, all you do is stare back at me with numbers. You know you do. It's the time, or the calories, or the distance, or the speed. You're constantly changing and you can't just be happy with what I can do. The Outdoors doesn't have any numbers. It just goes by me gracefully, never reminding me of how many calories I'm not burning, or how far I haven't gone. It understand me so much more. So I'm breaking up with you. It's probably not permanent, as the Outdoors is going to turn on me eventually. It will turn cold and slippery and not be very welcoming to my running shoes. But it will only last for a while. The Outdoors will be my forever like, but you Treadmill will become the one I run back to on occasion. I hope you understand.

Whew - I am so glad I got that off my chest! And I might have to fall back on that Treadmill. There is a prospect of a big race in my future and I might need that Treadmill, when the Outdoors has turned on me, of course.

See, last year my hubby, the runner, and my friend Krista, who lives in Phoenix, were talking about running. And I don't even know how the subject came up, but my hubby challenged my dear friend. "If you train and get ready for the PF Chang's Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon - we'll all fly out and I'll run with you" So, Krista's just got to train and get ready for a 1/2 marathon and I get to go out and visit her. Not a bad gig. She is ready to start training - she told me that last night - and it's a distinct possibility that she'll be ready by the race this January. So now, what do I do? Do I keep up this running and try to join them on the 1/2? Do I give it up in August and sit on the sidelines cheering them on? I don't know, but I know I'm not completely ruling it out if it will get me a short vacation to Phoenix to see my buddy. But 13.1 miles??? I am fearing failure for 3.1, I can't imagine what games my mind would play on me for 13.1.

Hubby and Krista - don't go getting all excited. All I'm saying is that I'm not ruling it out. For now, that's all.

Reading back over this, it's not much of a recap, but I think you get what I've got going on in my head. And my dear hubby always tells me, so much of running is accomplished in the 4 inches between your ears.

It's a mental game. And I'm just learning how to play.

This Kid

This kid. He's my first born.
This kid. On his first birthday, loved his cupcake. He's a kid after my own heart. He loves to play and loves anything boy.

This kid. Also loves super-heros. Buzz Lightyear. Spiderman. Batman. Loved 'em all.
This kid. He has a love for nature and outdoors. Getting dirty is still one of his favorite pastimes.

This kid. Has a thirst for facts. Loves knowledge. Loves to know why things happen. And though he won't always admit it - adores his baby brother.

This kid. Just won the Principal's Award in his 3rd grade class for the boys, For Outstanding Achievement in and out of the classroom. He loves school. Loves learning and has the coolest group of friends.

This kid. My firstborn. Turns 10 today. I can't believe the young man he's grown into. He loves baseball. his brother. his friends. his family.

He loves NASCAR and has a connection with his grandfather over cars that I can't explain. He has such a fierce admiration and love for his daddy that I am in awe of.

He is one good kid. I am proud to be his mom.

Happy Birthday 10 Year Old!!!

Note: I know there was no Training Recap this week. We are in the midst of baseball season, birthday party planning, summer fun and all that goes with it. I am still exercising and training. I just didn't get time to write this week. Monday, I promise!

Life with Mr. Business

A few weeks ago, when my youngest son C was getting ready for school, he came into my bathroom needing his hair combed. So I wet my comb and started. His hair was quite long, so I combed it out away from his eyes, off to one side.

He took one look in the mirror and promptly said to me: "Mom, you can't comb it like that I'll look like a business man. I don't want to be Mr. Business Man!"
Needless to say, I cracked up and grabbed my camera to take a picture of what Mr. Business man looks like.

And then he asked me to cut his hair that night!!!

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Another fun story about young C - just because this one is too good to not share.

Last Thursday was their last day of school. The kids had a half day, and we spent the afternoon hanging out with friends, eating lunch, playing baseball.....all of the great things that you should do for summer. Once we got home we decided that we didn't have any groceries and needed to head to the grocery store. This was about 7pm.

As I'm walking out to my van, the phone rings. I answer and here is the conversation that proceeded:

Me: Hello.
Caller: Hi, who is this?
Me: Amy, who is this?
Caller: This is Susie. Is there a C there?
Me: taken aback, I respond - Yes, there is.
Susie: I went to 1st grade with C, can I talk to him? keep in mind, it was the last day of school and he just finished 1st grade...
I get C out of the van and hand him the phone.
C: Hello
C: Hey
C: Yeah........ok.........let me check.
Mom, this is Susie and she wants to know if I can come over to play.
Me: Now? It's 7:00. No, not tonight.
C: My mom says not tonight........ok........................uh-huh...................................................bye.

And he hangs up.

We get in the van and this is our conversation:

Me: What else did she say, you were on the phone for a while.

C: Nothing. She was quiet.

Me: I don't remember there being a Susie in your room.

C: Yep. Susie M and Susie L. I don't know which one.

Me: You don't know which one it was????

C: Nope.

Me: Well, it's too late to go to a friends house anyway. Wonder why she called so late.

C: Yeah - I don't know why they do that.

I wasn't sure if he met girls in general, calling late at night. Or referring to the fact that she sat on the phone and didn't say a word.

Either way, it's probably not the last time it happens!

Training Recap: Week 18

Exercise Induced Asthma.

That's what I probably have. That's what the dr. thinks. And I say probably because there is no great way to test for it because of the whole exercise induced part. It only comes on when I go running, and more so outside.

I now have an inhaler to use about 15 minutes prior to running. Hubby and I went out for a run on Sunday, I did my inhaler and DID have a better run!! We went shy of two miles in less than 1/2 hour and it was better. (right, hubby??) I still had difficulty breathing at some points, but it was better. I was able to run for longer, and we went farther than last time. It can get so frustrating, because I don't want to stop, but my breathing forces me to.

I have also purchased a heart rate monitor and have been able to watch my BPM (beats per minute) and estimate when my breathing problems will come on. By watching that I can slow down, get my heart rate down and have better results with the breathing. It's all about listening to my body, which I'm not very good at. And I know there is part of this that is in my head. I'm sure the lack of breathing only gets worse because I can feel it and get anxious about it, therefore getting it worse. I'm working on that too, but that's the hard one. Telling my self I can breathe and actually being able to breathe are two different things.

So, that's whats happening this week. Figuring out breathing and watching my BPM. Fun Stuff. It sure would be more fun to say "I ran 3 miles today in 25 minutes".....but that's not happening. Yet.

And the weight hasn't really changed in the last few weeks. I gain a little, I drop a little... and in the end, it has remained the same. I don't doubt for a second that my worry about this exercise induced asthma has something to do with that....so now that I have some answers and solutions, I expect the weight to start dropping again!!! And my body hasn't figured out that I have a big trip coming up in just over a month and would love to loose another 8 - 10 lbs by then. C'mon body - figure this thing out!!!

Happy Exercising!!

Taking Flight

This weekend, my boys figured out how to fly.......

There is nothing sweeter than the giggles that ensure after they jump!

Training Recap: Week 17

Here we are, week 17, and a few days late. It's summer schedule, people!! It's CRAZY!!

Anywhoo - let's talk sweat, running and weight.

Workouts went really well this week. I felt good, getting in my cardio workouts and weight lifting. It still amazes me - how much better I feel. And how much better I don't feel when I take a few days off. I literally crave the gym, the sweating, and the feeling of accomplishment.

Hubby handed me an article recently about running, and how the author had started running. He was 4 months in and hadn't lost any weight, and running wasn't getting any easier. He kept questioning when it would get easier. Sound familiar?? And one day he finally realized that maybe it wasn't the running that would get easier, but everything else in his life. He could walk easier, keep up with his kids easier, though he hadn't changed sizes he fit into his jeans easier. And it was like I was reading a bio of my last 4 months. It's amazing how much better all things in my life are, now that I'm trying to get healthy.

Running. I went out for my first outside run with my hubby. I felt really good. The feet were going, the legs were smiling and I felt great. Except I couldn't breathe. It's a crazy thing, but a scary thing. I was running faster outside than I do on a treadmill and making good time. But that breathing thing....it's a problem. I really kinda like to breathe. It makes me happy. So I tried to relax, taking hubby's advice of how to hold my shoulders, where to keep my hands, relax, don't tense up....and it helped, but not fixed the problem.

So I bought myself a heart monitor to keep track of what the ticker is doing. And I made a dr's appointment for Friday to have it checked out. Hopefully, I can figure out what this is and what I can do to get out there and be able to go for more than 3 minutes outside without hyperventilating.!!