Summer Vacation

That's what I've been up to! After the spring marathon, I took some time off, caught some fish


and then trained for a half marathon. Did OK - finished 4 minutes slower than last year. But I will confess to not training as hard as I should have.



I chose that picture to show off my husband's amazing picture-taking skills. :)

You may notice that I have a poncho tucked into the back of my belt. Because I had to run another race in the rain! For the first 3 or so miles of the half marathon it was pouring rain. Then the sun came out and it was beautiful for the rest of the race.

There's a 5K race coming up that I want to run, and then another half marathon around Halloween, but I'm going to hold off on signing up until I am absolutely sure that I want to commit to the training.

I should be posting more often later this summer or early fall. Hope you are enjoying your summer!

TT Contest Week 10: Enjoying Summer

Wow, look at all the cobwebs around here. I've been a little neglectful. :) We've just been enjoying the summer, being outside, taking the kids on vacation, etc.

Workouts have been going well. I've decided to use the original TT for Abs for my last 4 weeks. (I only have 2 weeks left!) I'm not expecting a super dramatic transformation. I didn't gain any weight while on vacation, but I didn't lose any weight either. ;) Though I did complete all my workouts, so that probably helped. It was actually really cool. I was able to workout outside every day, just after sunrise. We were staying in a cabin that overlooked a lake and it was just beautiful to workout in that area. I even brought up my PowerBlocks (even though my husband gave me a weird look when he had to load them into the trunk) so I was able to complete my TT workouts.

One recent major achievement was my first 13 mile run. I actually had my husband follow me on a bike since it was my first time running that far. He would go ahead, and then drop behind, and then take a break, haha. I think he was more sore the next day than I was! My time was 2:22:27 (average pace: 10:58 per mile). I was very happy with that because a) I finished it without stopping; and b) I thought it was a good pace for me.

Finally, here are the promised patio pictures!

Here's the Before....

Looking one way:


And then the other way:


And here's the After (before the grass grew):


And another After (after the grass grew - the patio really isn't slanted, just took the picture at a funny angle):


Have a great week!

Hogs And Kisses From Iowa!

OK, I saw that on a T-shirt and thought it was cute. My husband and I took a trip to Iowa this weekend for a wedding. For the entire trip, I had that Backyardigan's song in my head. (W-IOWA, Corn-i-est sta-tion, in the na-tion) The wedding was very nice and reminded me of my own wedding (outside, gazebo, short and sweet).

I don't know about you, but I've never really paid that much attention to Iowa before this weekend. In case you've never been there, here are a few things Iowa has to offer:






70 mph speed limit











High frequency of fairly nice rest rooms











World's Largest Truckstop. Yes, we made a special stop.













We also saw a lot of this:













And this:















And this:













And as my husband put gas in the car, I saw this cute little guy checking me out from the car next to us:





















I'll post a Week in Review next week, at the end of my second week of the TT contest. (Still time for you to enter! See Rules HERE.)

Have a great week!

Week In Review - Honk If You Love Pluto!

What a great week! Training went well, diet went well - just felt great! Ever since I have been back from vacation, my diet really has been falling into place. I haven't been counting calories at all, and I'm even down a few pounds!

Before vacation, I had started feeling a little out of control. I was eating a few things I shouldn't have been eating in great quantities (i.e., graham crackers, ice cream). I don't know if my new balance has to do with eating more fruits and veggies from the farmer's market, getting more sleep, running more, or if it's something hormonal dealing with leptin, serotonin, cortisol, or whatever. Probably a combination of all of the above, but everything has been great since vacation - so when in doubt, take a vacation! :)

Running went well this week. My legs didn't feel overly sore, and it didn't feel like it was too much. I did modify my plan slightly, so here's what I did (distance and times include warm up and cool down):

Saturday - 5.8 miles/1:19:49

Sunday - 1 mile/11:15

Monday - 4.18 miles/48:00/TT 2K6 B (later)

Tuesday - 4x400 (2:15 each)/3.17 miles/40:00

Wednesday - TT 2K6 A/1 mile (9:00)/2.14 miles total/25:00

Thursday - OFF

Friday - speed drill (see below)/2.00 miles/27:00/TT 2K6 B

Total miles for the week: 18.29 miles

The speed drill is something I found online and decided to try. I walked for 3 minutes, jogged for 8 minutes, then ran for 10 seconds, ran faster for 10 seconds, ran faster yet for 5 seconds, then walked for 1 to 2 minutes and then repeated that 2 more times. Cool down was the reverse of the warm up - jogging 8 minutes and walking for 3 minutes. I had enough time afterward to complete my Turbulence Training workout so I didn't have to do it later in the day. Next week, I will do more repeats so probably won't have time for the TT workout before I have to leave the gym, so I will do it later in the day.

This morning's workout was a 5 mile run. I parked in a ramp near the farmer's market and then ran 1 mile to where the 5K race will be in a couple weeks. I wanted to test out the course. :) There was just one little problem - it started pouring rain (complete with lightening and thunder) about half way through. I stopped in a bus shelter and waited for about 15 minutes, then finally decided to head back. It was still raining (not quite pouring) and by the time I got back to the car, I was soaked. Still, the run felt good, and I feel like my running form is improving. It ended up being 5.13 miles, and it took me 55:40, not including the time I spent in the bus shelter. A much faster average than last week's 5.8 mile run. I'll give this another try next week.

Then I did my shopping at the farmer's market. Luckily, I brought some dry clothes! As I was leaving the parking ramp, I saw my new favorite bumper sticker: "Honk if Pluto's still a Planet."

Honk! Honk! :)

Excessive Energy In The Vortex...

That's what one of the local weatherman actually gave as part of his forecast while we were on vacation. It just made me crack up laughing. :)

Our vacation was fantastic. A whole week with no computers, and no phones. We went swimming with the kids, and fishing, and did LOT of eating! LOL I did manage to fit in 3 workouts. Monday and Friday I ran about 3 miles (in preparation for the 5K race that I signed up to run at the end of the month), and on Wednesday I used a TT bodyweight workout.

And, I caught a big fish! Well, big is relative, I suppose, but it's one of the biggest I've ever caught. It was a 16" largemouth bass, which we'll be having for dinner later this week. :) Here's a picture:


And here's a picture of my son being very brave and sticking his finger into the fish's mouth:


It was a very fun and relaxing week. It's been tough getting my sleeping and eating schedule back on track, but with the race getting closer, I want to make sure I'm drinking more water, and sleeping and eating well.

Have a great night!