It's offical....

I am signed up for my first FULL marathon! I still can't believe it- I am excited and super nervous all at the same time! We have actually been following the training plan for several weeks now as it goes right along with the half training plan that I am following but we are now offically committed!

 

I See my goal. I Understand the obstacles and Embrace the challenge. So far we have Stayed on track with our training. I have 88 days to Create a postive mental picture and Clear my mind of self doubt and I will Show the world that I can do it!!

 

The Weekly Chase #8

It is crazy to think that one month from now I will have completed the Shamrock Half Marathon (my 5th 1/2 Marathon) and will be making the trip home. I can't believe that it is that close already! I am right on track for training but I am getting nervous already. This will be the first half marathon that I run alone. All of the others I have either run with my husband or my best friend. I would love to PR this half but am afraid that without them pushing me I won't be able to do it. I also need to figure out the "fueling" aspect of it. Yesterday on our 10 mile run I tried the Sport Beans again and still got side aches that made me slow down a couple of times near the end. This time my stomach was great. I would love to hear suggestions of what works for others - what do you use, how often, etc.!

Yesterday's 10 mile run was my longest treadmill run so far! I would love to get back outside but it wasn't in the cards again yesterday. In the end it worked out ok and I was able to try out my Skirt Sport running skirt on a long run. I want to wear it for the Shamrock 1/2 but wanted to try it out first. There were a couple of spots that I learned I need more Body Glide but I think it will work provided that the weather is ok.

Now for the Weekly Chase!

Here are my goals from last week:

1. Challenge goal- Do something special for my husband for Valentine's Day. Done:)
2. Challenge goal- Spend one-on-one time with Riley and Isaac. I was able to get Isaac away to go run a couple of errands with me. He was hesitant at first but talked my ear off the whole time. It was nice to have him alone and hear what he had to say without interruptions.
3. Challenge goal- Read The Five Love Languages for Children so that I can work on my relationship with my boys and be the best mom to them that I can be. I have started the book and am trying to implement what I am reading.
4. Healthy and Clean eating- Continue to work on this. This week journal everything that I eat to hold myself accountable. This is still a work in progress. I got some in but not much.
5. Foam Roll- continue to work on making this a habit! Got it in a few times but still far from making it a habit.
6. Work my Scentsy Family Business- get organized to keep better track of mileage and expenses for this year. Set up a system for keeping track of my customers and my contact with them. Make phone calls and get parties booked. Another work in progress. Doing a great job on tracking mileage but haven't gotten anywhere on the system for tracking customers- I do have a couple of ideas that I just need to implement. Did get one more party booked and have a couple of others interested.
7. Add strength training back into my workouts- 2-3 sessions Fail! We are participating in the YMCA Indoor Ironman so that has taken priority this month. We have the whole month of February to complete an Ironman. So far I am done with the swimming and the running- now I need to focus on the biking.

So what is my plan for this week?

1. Challenge goal- Spend one-on-one time with Riley this week.
2. Challenge goal- Send a quick note to a friend/family member to let them know they are appreciated.
3. Challenge goal- Finish reading The Five Love Languages for Children
4. Journal all of my food for the week.
5. Foam Roll- 3 times
6. Try a Yoga class

What are your goals for the week?

The Weekly Chase #7

 My life has been a juggling act this past week and it felt totally CRAZY! I don't feel like I was very successful in balancing it all or doing a good job at any of it. The Weekly Chase for this past week feels like a big FAIL but maybe I will surprise myself as I look back at it all! Lets look at what my goals were for the week!

1. Healthy and clean eating! This week I am going to take control over the cravings and not give into them. I did fairly well here. I avoided the dreaded Girl Scout cookies while traveling with my Scentsy Team on Saturday. I also avoided the treats and goodies at work this week. I didn't eat totally healthy and clean but made good progress this week- I was definatly more aware of my choices.
2. Continue to add in core work 3-4 times this week. I got in 2-3 sessions. As the week got crazy this is one area that got pushed aside. 
3. Foam roll 3-4 times this week. This still isn't getting any easier! Is it common to have bruises on your legs from rolling? I got in 3 sessions but still need to get into a better habit of doing this after running.
4. Finish getting my Scentsy family business information ready for taxes. DONE!! Tim and I worked together Sunday evening and got it all done. Now to get better organized for next year and to keep track throughout the year instead of filing everything away until January/Feb.
5. Get 3 parties booked (Scentsy, Grace Adele or Velata). Step out of my comfort zone and make phone calls to make this happen. I got book/bag party going and have a couple of people that are interested in booking but no dates set yet. I didn't make any phone calls but need to start working on this!
6. Challenge goal- leave a note for Riley and Isaac in their lunches at least one day this week. FAIL! The boys either took hot lunch or made their own lunches this week.
7. Challenge goal- spend one on one time with Riley and Isaac FAIL! I need to make doing this more of a priority. I think they both need this time and we need to be better about getting it done!

I was really looking forward to the challenge goals and since those didn't happen I feel like this week was a failure. I want to be a good Mom to my boys and that is something that needs to continue to be a focus for me. This goes to show that I need to continue to have those goals and be more aware taking time out for each of them. In the end, the week wasn't as bad as I thought. I did make some progress on some goals and, nce again, I am being hard on myself- I did spend time with the boys (just not one on one) and we had some good family meals together. 

I need to not be so hard on myself!

 

What are my goals for this week?

1. Challenge goal- Do something special for my husband for Valentine's Day.
2. Challenge goal- Spend one-on-one time with Riley and Isaac.
3. Challenge goal- Read The Five Love Languages for Children so that I can work on my relationship with my boys and be the best mom to them that I can be.
4. Healthy and Clean eating- Continue to work on this. This week journal everything that I eat to hold myself accountable.
5. Foam Roll- continue to work on making this a habit!
6. Work my Scentsy Family Business- get organized to keep better track of milage and expenses for this year. Set up a system for keeping track of my customers and my contact with them. Make phone calls and get parties booked.
7. Add strength training back into my workouts- 2-3 sessions
   

 

The Weekly Chase #6

 

I have been all mixed up on what day of the week it is! I can't believe that the weekend has come and gone and it is already Tuesday! Did you have a good weekend? It was my weekend to work so that took up a lot of the weekend for me. Saturday Riley and Isaac each had basketball games back to back. After they were done we had enough time to get in our 9 mile training run. This run was suppose to be on the schedule for next weekend but plans have changed for next weekend making it next to impossible to get it in then so we opted to get it done this past weekend instead.Flexibility is necessary when training with busy and active kids! It was our longest treadmill run so far and it actually went pretty good! I felt like I had good energy all the way through. I tried using the Honey Stinger Chews again but this time I decided to try eating one chew after each mile or so starting about 1.5 miles in. I also made sure to drink a little water with each one. There were a couple of times that my stomach bothered me (I think more related to not eating my normal breakfast) but no side aches this week! It felt great to have such a good long run this week after last weeks long run was so rough!

 

Yesterday Aidan and I headed to my best friends house for a quick "girls day". We worked on planning our trip to Virginia Beach for the Shamrock Half/Full Marathon. We mapped out our drive and checked out the race details. We are both getting very excited and I am sure it will be here before we know it! Now I just need to figure out what I am going to wear! Any suggestions?

 

Now it's time for the Weekly Chase! If you are new here you might be wondering what the Weekly Chase is.  It's a place to post your goals for all to see...and help you stay accountable! Link up your posts here so we can give you love and encourage you throughout the week!

Last weeks goals looked like this:

1. Plank-a-day challenge- fail! I did pretty good at the beginning of the week and then towards the end of the week they got pushed aside again.
2. Daily squats- I did good with this until the weekend when we did our 9 mile run and I had to work all weekend. I know these are excuses and I will work more on getting these in no matter what!
3. Add back in some core work this week- Success! I did a bunch of core work this week and realized that I need to keep this as a goal because it was tough! 
4. Make friends with my foam roller. big fat fail! The foam roller still isn't my friend. Actually at this point it is more of an enemy. I did use it 3 different times but it was painful! I am sure if I was better about using it that would get better. I also have a massage stick and that isn't as bad so I did use that more this week for a change.
5. Work my Scentsy Family business- I did ok on this over the past week. I got most of my information ready for taxes and got one party booked.

This month Mindy at Road Runner Girl is in charge and has decided that since February is the month of Valentine's Day our challenge will be all about love and kindness!

Introducing...the All You Need is LOVE challenge! How do you play along? Each week in February make one or more of your goals about loving or being kind to someone. In a world that is full of so much evil these days make it a priority to show others that you care. Maybe drop a sweet note to a friend in their mailbox. Buy coffee for the person behind you in line. Give a random stranger a compliment. Do something nice for your husband and/or children. You get the idea! Have fun and show someone that there are still good people in this world!
Here are my goals for this week:

1. Healthy and clean eating! This week I am going to take control over the cravings and not give into them.
2. Continue to add in core work 3-4 times this week.
3. Foam roll 3-4 times this week.
4. Finish getting my Scentsy family business information ready for taxes.
5. Get 3 parties booked (Scentsy, Grace Adele or Velata). Step out of my comfort zone and make phone calls to make this happen.
6. Challenge goal- leave a note for Riley and Isaac in their lunches at least one day this week.
7. Challenge goal- spend one on one time with Riley and Isaac

I really could continue to add more and more but I better stop there if I stand any chance of accomplishing my goals for the week. It is going to be a crazy week so I better get my butt moving! What are you goals for this week?

Crazy January

I can't believe that we are already all the way through the month of January- it kind of feels like a blur! The month started out rocky with me having surgery on January 2nd to remove melanoma from my ear and two lymph nodes in my neck. It was stressful and nerve-racking but with the support of our wonderful family and friends we got through it and are stronger because of it. All reports have come back good and I am proud to say that I have kicked the cancer in the a$$! I ended the crazy month of January with one last appointment with Dr. Connelly and he said things look great. He removed the last two stitches that hadn't dissolved and said that he would see me again in 3 months!

Maybe someday I will figure out the reason!
One of the best things that a friend said to me was,
 "Try to relax and trust God. Sometimes He just wants to remind us who's in charge."

 The recovery from my surgery put me a little behind for the month but I didn't let it last long. I have a half marathon in March  and a full marathon in May to train for! I did what I could as soon as I felt I could do them - I was cautious and backed off if it didn't feel right and pushed myself harder when I knew it was ok to do so. Here are my totals for the month:

• 112 miles total
• 68 miles running
• 38 miles biking
• 5 miles walking 

Looking back now I am pretty proud of all that I accomplished in January even if it got off to a rough start. Here is a run down:

• I beat cancer (Melanoma = Cancer; it still feels weird to say that! I was lucky and surgery was all that it took to win my fight. Sometimes I feel guilty or like I had it "easy" to win my fight. It is hard to explain and put into words. I feel for all of the people out there that are fighting.)
• I have started to accept myself more and am ok (most of the time) with the new me.
• I realized that I am stronger than I thought and that I have so much support in my life!
• I ran a half marathon (in the rain, sleet, and snow) only 25 days post- surgery (not having fully trained for it)!
• I have continued to work on my eating habits and am making progress in that area.
• I have a new perspective on like!

I am truly blessed!

The Weekly Chase #5

The training plan for today said 3 miles and after the 13.1 miles in the snow, sleet, and rain on Sunday I wasn't sure if it was going to happen. As I drove to the Y I was just hoping to make the whole 3 miles. My legs are really feeling the difference from running on the treadmill to running outside the other day. I got on the treadmill and selected to run in Chicago on the Virtual Active setting (in my mind I was thinking that this was the flattest location of the options in the Virtual Active setting) and I took off. Much to my surprise it felt really good! My legs felt great and I found my groove very quickly. I enjoyed some new songs on my iPod and before I knew it I was at 3 miles but I wasn't ready to be done! I decided to keep going but not to push it too much so I ended at 4 miles. It felt great to have such a strong run this soon after running the virtual half on Sunday!
 
Now onto The Weekly Chase!

 

Let's recap last weeks goals:

1. Plank-a-day challenge- I did good until Friday and that is where I stopped doing them for the week. Thursday's plank was pretty week after doing a great arm workout the night before. Need to continue to work on this goal.
2. Get back to doing my daily squats- Again, I did great with this until Friday. I was sore from the workouts earlier in the week and opted to take a rest day so I would be ready for the 13.1 miles we had planned on Sunday.
3. Get all of my half/full marathon training runs in (per the Hal Higdon training plan)- Done! I am proud to say that I got all of my training runs in!
4. Get my Scentsy Family business re-organized and book 2 parties (Scentsy, Grace Adele, or Velata)- Started to work on getting organized but need to keep this as a goal for this week. Need to get some parties booked for Feb.
5. Make healthy choices when it comes to snacks and eating. Start moving towards "clean" and healthy eating. - I feel like I did really good on this. We went to the store and got more produce and other healthy foods to have in the house. Other than pizza on Friday night we did pretty good.
6. Complete the MRTT Winter Runnerland 13.1 - Done! It wasn't pretty but it is done.

Now for my goals this week:

1. Plank-a-day challenge- Do a plank every day. This week I am not going to worry about increasing my time each time I do it. I just want to make sure I am getting them in. In the back of my mind I am always trying to better my time but I won't beat myself up over it if I am not feeling it one day. I will get it done and be happy with that!
2. Daily squats- keep at them. I notice a difference in my running when I stick with it.
3. Add back in some core work this week- Get in 2-3 sessions of some type of core exercise.
4. Make friends with my foam roller. Roll for 10-15 minutes daily.
5. Work my Scentsy Family business- get working on my tax information and get 2 parties booked for next month.

Check out Mindy's blog Road Runner Girl or Molly's blog Thinking Loudly to see what goals others have. You can also particpate by linking up your own Weekly Chase post and get support from others!

Do you follow a training plan? If so, which plan do you follow?
What are your goals for this week?

Winter Runnerland

All last week I had planned to do my MRTT Winter Runnerland Virtual Half Marathon on Sunday. The way things were looking I was going to end up doing it on the treadmill. Tim was planning to do it with me but we were not sure how it was all going to work since Aidan could only be in the Y Watch for 2 hours and we knew that it was going to take longer than that. Well yesterday came and along with it came a Winter storm- snow, sleet, and freezing rain. The storm also came with some warmer temperatures. After church we decided that it wasn't too bad out and that maybe we could get some of the miles in outside (you know I have been itching to get in a run outside for about a month now!). We decided to try it and then we could still head to the Y to finish the miles and we would be good. Once we headed out we decided it wasn't too bad so we decided to head for The Great River Bike Trail.

The trail was beautiful and peaceful!

 It was a mix of snow/sleet as we headed out the trail. At times there was some freezing rain mixed in but it really wasn't too bad. We decided to go out to 6.55 miles and then head back. We were both feeling pretty good. At the turn around point we stopped for a minute and had some Honey Stinger Chews. We had the Fruit Smoothie flavor and they were really good. We took a couple of pictures and headed on our way home.

Along for support

Feeling pretty good at 6.55 miles- Half way done!

We were still feeling pretty good as we headed for home. It wasn't too long when I started to get thirsty. That is when it got ugly! We hadn't planned on doing the whole 13.1 outside so we didn't bring water along- big mistake! With about 4 miles to go we broke down and took some snow/sleet/ice off of the rail of a bridge that we crossed - I can't even believe that I am saying this... but it was amazing and really helped! About that same time it changed from snow/sleet to pouring rain! Not long after that I got a horrible side ache- way up high in my ribs. I had to stop and walk with my arms above my head for a minute to relieve it but it kept creeping back for the rest of the run and we had to walk multiple times to take it away. I am not sure if it was the Honey Stingers or the lack of water- maybe a combination of both. The last 3 miles were the longest ever! Our legs were getting very sore from running in the slush and having not run outside for a month. We were very excited to get to our driveway and to be done! 13.16 miles done in 2:26:09 in a Winter Runnerland! It really did feel great to finally get outside for a run for the first time in about a month. In the end it really wasn't bad considering we were only up to an 8 mile long run in our training plan. I also have to say it felt great to accomplish that only 25 days out from my surgery! It gave me an idea of where I am and what I need to work on in the next several weeks before the Shamrock Half in Virginia.

 

We earned this baby!
2:26:09 running in a Winter Runnerland!

It has also been a while since my last update on my ear/neck. I feel like things are doing great. I am pretty much back to all of my normal activities (except swimming- I am ready to get back in the water but wanted to make sure my ear was all healed before getting in). I don't have an appointment until this Thursday so I will know more then. As far as I can tell it appears to be healing nicely. I still have some numbness in my jawline near my ear but that seems to be getting better. The worst thing right now is the itching. I guess that is a good thing because they say that means it is healing. The sensitivity to the cold seems to be getting better but is still there when it is really cold and windy. It also isn't as tender to the touch and I am able to wear a hat now. Here are a few pictures so you can see the progress.

January 28, 2013

January 28, 2013