Three Things Thursday

1/ I am exhausted today. Siri's friend slept over last night due to a family medical issue and they were still awake at 1 am, ON A SCHOOL NIGHT. When I went into the room to let them have it they were cleaning Siri's room. Seriously, I can't get her to clean her room at 1 in the afternoon but sure 1 in the morning let's go to town. Anyway it ruined my 5 am run because I was to tired to get up at 430 to meet Lynn. 5 hours sleep I can deal with 3 hours, not so much.

2/ I ran 4 miles on the treadmill before a meeting tonight. I did my own little tempo/fast run. I would run at 6.0 for a 1/2 a mile then bring it up to 8.0 for a half and so on and so on. I have to say my legs are a little tired right now.

3/ I have to make a Halloween costume tomorrow for Siri's horse. Yes, you read it right, her horse, Splash. I am sewing flowers onto his saddle pad. Siri is a bee and Splash is her flower. I will definitely post pictures. I need to learn how to post, I definitely have funny pics sometimes.

Happy Thursday....well almost Friday everyone:)

It's All in the "Axe"

I ran with my friend Lynne this am. It was a quick 4 miles, she had to go to work and then it started to pour. I hurried home to hop in the shower before my day started. Imagine my suprise when I realized that my pink Dove soap was gone, no more left, just a little piece that wouldn't even clean my arm. I was going to call to Travis, but it was 6:15 and I didn't want everyone up so I looked at my options, let's see...Suave Strawberry Kids Shampoo, Old Spice Men's Body Wash or Axe Fresh. It is official the kids have more soap, shampoos in my shower than I do. I then had to take my pick and I went with the Axe. I couldn't picture smelling like strawberries all day and the Old Spice was a bit strong so I soaped up and got out of the shower. I put my stuff together and went downstairs and said "hey" to Ben. He then came into the kitchen and looked at me. "Mom, did you use Axe today?" "Why do you ask?" "Ummmm.....because I can smell you in the playroom. Mom, that is just weird." It probably was weird, but I needed soap and I needed a shower. I smelled, it was humid out this morning and I had an appointment and I couldn't go in my running clothes. Oh well....I definitely still smell like Axe, that stuff lasts all day. I guess it is time to buy more soap.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

I am officially 10 days away from my first marathon. I feel like you feel the last two weeks before you have a baby. You know the done being pregnant portion of the show, but you are scared about what is to come. (especially if 3 of your 4 kiddos were born naturally and one weighed close to 10 pounds) That is how I feel about my marathon. I am so excited for November 7th. I am excited to show how hard I have worked for the past 5 months and that I will actually have met my goal of running my first marathon in the year that I decided to make a change. At the same time I am petrified. Am I truly ready? Have I been training right? Were 2 20's enough or should I have done 3? I guess that I could keep questioning myself or just recognize that there were good and bad training weeks, but I stuck to my plan. I need to realize that I can't do anything different at this point, that my training was and is MY training and that on the morning of November 7th I am going to run like I have never run before. Oh and that a magical sub 4 (3:59:59) would be awesome!

Where is My Hour?

All that I need is 1 hour. One hour in my bedroom, on my treadmill with no one asking for anything i.e. lunch for the 2nd or 3rd time, that bathroom light on, to tell B. to stop talking during iCarly. I also need 1 hour before 3 pm, it is now 1:09 pm. We are going to my MIL's annual pumpkin carving party. T. is still in Maine and will not be home until later so it is up to me and my 4 little pumpkins to represent 29 Oak Hill Drive. Can you feel the enthusiasm from my post. I really don't want to go anywhere but upstairs on my treadmill. You might be saying to yourself, "Why doesn't she just get upstairs and hit the treadmill?" Well....that is a good question. I have lost my motivation today as the morning wore on and I had to make a fruit salad and bring Andy to football and then the afternoon came and now I am on my computer. Way to many "ands" and way to many complaints. I think that I just need to get with the program and give myself until 1:30 then take it from there. What happens to you when you lose your motivation?

Three Things Thursday

1. I have been watching all of the news coverage of the Glee cast and GQ. Okay I have to admit I am not so into the pictures. They are extremely racy, but I think that is the turn that Glee has taken this year. To be on at 8 pm and showing some of the things that they are showing this year has been a bit stressful. My 10 year old was allowed to watch it last year after we had screened it and this year we have not let her watch it. It has just been way to over the top. I will tell you that I am not a prude, I was an adolescent health nurse prior to kids and have seen and heard it all. My kids know where babies come from etc...but the discussions I feel like we have to have after Glee are just to over the top.

2. I am not sore this morning after my 20 mile run. I wore my compression socks after and have them on right now. I was extremely tired last night, I was asleep before the first lines of Modern Family were even uttered, but I am definitely going to log in a couple of miles today.

3. Travis is away until Saturday afternoon. It does not typically bother me when he is away, but I hate having to get everyone to all of their practices, riding lessons etc...Plus there will be a homework argument with Siri tonight as she has a writing project due tomorrow. I better rest up now.

Happy Thursday!!!

My Last 20

Today was my last 20 for Marathon training. It was a hard 20. My running friend Michele picked our route that just happended to have many hills the first 10 miles and not just "hills" these were serious straight up hills and we were pushing her 2 year old in the jogger. At one point it felt like we were not even moving the hill was so steep. We went 10 miles, took a bathroom break at the preschool and then headed out for the last 10 miles. The last 10 were tough. My legs were tight by mile 15, by mile 18 my feet hurt and at mile 20 my stomach felt like it was about to explode. I did nothing different in my run except I ate chocolate Hammer instead of Rasberry Hammer. I am wondering if I need some other fuel, a granola bar or something like that. Michele thought that maybe we had a lot of sugar and water and nothing solid. I am going to do research tonight to see what other people do for race fuel.

On another note Siri is playing volleyball this season. She came home from practice last night so excited and I was excited for her. She is working so hard right now. Between her riding, new school and other activities she is really stepping up and we are thrilled. Yay Siri! Now, if I could only get her out running....

any fuel ideas out there to keep my stomach from flaring up?

Hot Dogs, Cheeseburgers and Kit Kats

I am scheduled to run 20 miles tomorrow. My last 20 before my marathon, then the taper begins. Usually the day before a big run I drink extra water, eat healthy foods and take it easy. Let's just say that I hit the taking it easy part just right, but I kind of bombed with the food and water portion of the show. I ate a hot dog, then ate a cheeseburger and finally to top it all off I ate Halloween candy. I also have had 2 Diet Cokes. I gave up Diet Coke during my half marathon training and felt great. for some reason I am now back on the "sauce." It's hard. I don't really drink, smoke etc...so for some reason I feel like Diet Coke is my alcohol. I can give it up for weeks then all of a sudden it is calling me back, but enough about my DC addiction. Let's talk about my nutrition status in relation to tomorrow. I certainly had enough salt so hopefully hyponatremia will not set in:) I plan on running with plenty of water and Hammer Gel. Really, I think that I will be all set. Let's hope...or tomorrow might not be to pretty.

what do you like to eat the day before long runs?

do you ever blow it the day before?

Barney and 1 hour on the treadmill

The weather here in NH is crazy. The wind is blowing so hard it knocked over a table and umbrella outside and there are branches everywhere. I wanted to get 6 miles in this morning and with the girls at home and T and the boys at football practice I knew that I was going to have to run on my treadmill. So, after one cup of Pumpkin coffee I threw on my sports bra, shorts and shoes and took off. I am lucky that my treadmill is in my bedroom because I can watch tv which keeps my mind occupied. Today though I was not so lucky as Izzie was in the bedroom with me. Izzie is 4 and watching NCIS or Biggest Loser for an hour was not what she had in mind. What was on Izzie's mind, Barney. Believe me, I can and do a lot for my kids but there was no way I was watching Barney for an hour while I was on the treadmill. I thought that it might do something for my mental toughness, but today I had to get it done. Finally, we struck up a deal. She would watch NCIS with me for 44 minutes and then I would turn on Barney for the the last 16 minutes. Unfortunately for me she didn't stop talking and I really didn't get to watch NCIS, but once Barney was on she had not one word to say and I focused on my last 16 minutes. It was quick and then it was done. Tomorrow is going to be a longer run. I am hoping for no wind and 10 miles in the AM before football. Keep your fingers crossed!

Wishing it Away

I am going on a "hot" date tonight with my husband. When Siri and Ben were little we went out once a week. We really didn't even have the money, but there was something important about getting out that once a week. I felt like I was stuck at home with two kids 13 months apart and that 2-3 hours out gave me enough energy to make it through the next week. I was always wishing the baby, toddler years away. Now, we are lucky if we get a sitter once every 6 weeks. I am always amazed at how you think that it is going to get easier as the kids get older, honestly I think that it gets harder. There are more activities, there is more homework, just all in all more stuff. My free time during the day is spent running the errands that I have no time to do after school or don't want to do with Izzie. (She is going through the "i deserve a treat at every store" phase.) Then I need to fit in my runs, which are necessary for my sanity. Now, that I am past the "baby" stage I sometimes wish that I could go back. I wish that I could feed them at 4:30, bathe them and put them in bed at 7. Rock them, read them stories, all of the things that I can't do now. It all seems so easy now that I am looking back on it. It is to bad that I wished it away.

Tufts 10 K for Women

Today I ran the Tufts 10K for Women in Boston, MA. I had a great race. The weather was absolutely perfect. Temp in the low to mid 60's and the sun was beautiful. The race starts and ends at the Boston Common which is one of my favorite places. We seeded ourselves in the 8 minutes/mile section. I was hoping that we didn't seed ourselves to high. I didn't know if I could run that fast for the entire race. As we were standing there I started to get sick to my stomach. I had not eaten breakfast since 8 am and it was now 12 noon. I had had some water, but at this point I had been to the bathroom so many times I think that I had peed everything out. The gun went off at high noon and we were off. It took about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes to get across the start line, but once we turned onto Charles Street we were off. We were fast for our first mile, 7:40 and at that point I was a bit nervous. I didn't think that I could keep that up for 6 miles. After the first mile we settled into ourselves and kept our pace at about 8:00 - 8:20 for the next 5 miles, finally finishing the race at 50:58. I was definitely pleased. I think that is that fastest 10K that I have run.

Now for a pet peeve. Jog strollers...I love jog strollers, I run with one, I help my friend push hers a couple of times a week and I think that you should be able to be in races. I don't think that you should be able to run people over and then laugh about it. In the registration it said that the jog strollers should be in the back of the pack. This woman did not listen and proceeded to lose control of her jog stroller and then almost hit my friend in the back of her heels and legs. It just totally annoyed me and I had bad jog stroller thoughts after that....Oh well what can you do?

Finally, we had lunch at Sur la Table on Boylston Street and then headed over to Lululemon for a little post run treat. Ohhhhh....how I love post run treats.

What a great race! I had such a good time and loved doing a race that was over in under an hour.

Early Mornings

I run about 2 times a week with my friend, L. She is an emergency room nurse and she always has great stories. I love these because before I started my 2nd career of "homemaker" I was an adolescent health nurse at Chilren's in Boston. So...while we run I live vicariously through her and her job. We also run at 5 am these 2 mornings a week. I am never usually scared, but this morning it was dark out and I mean dark. There was no moon, a million stars but no moon and there was one street light on our way. I definitely had a weird feeling this morning. I ran with my pepper spray today, but didn't have my Road ID on and started to get anxious. I don't know what the reason was this morning. Lynn and I are loud, I don't think that anything/one would just sneak up on us and snatch us or attack us. (okay maybe my imagination is gettting the best of me) but I was definitely not myself an glad for the end. I think that this route might be off of our list for awhile. We are going to start heading to the street lights.

Three Things Thursday

I don't always do a Three Things Thursday post, but for some reason it seems to be inspiring me today reading everyone else's posts. So here goes...

1. I am wondering at what point my 4 year old will stop saying "Mom" everytime that I sit down. It is really quite unbelievable. I can be upstairs and sitting down and she can be downstairs and for some reason she knows...it is lucky that I love her so much and that she is number 4. I have become laid back over the years.

2. I ran 20 miles yesterday. Not all at one time, but in 3 segments. The first part was when Travis left for Ohio at 5 am I ran a 10K. Then I ran 6 miles with my friend Karin in the pouring rain. I think that we ended up with over 3 inches of rain. I finished up with 8 miles on the treadmill at 6:30 pm. The last 8 was hard, but the kids kept talking to me and telling me how great I was running. It was actually really cute.

3. I am totally signed up for the Princess Half Marathon in February. I have my room and my plane ticket. Thanks Michelle for setting all of that up. So psyched, my husband told me that I can take down the magazine ad off of the fridge since I got my way:)

Oh good, Silvana is here to clean my house and believe she has her work cut out for her.

Treadmill

Yee-haw! My husband surprised me with a treadmill for my birthday this morning. It is being delivered at 3 pm. I am soooooooo excited! More to follow with pictures etc... Happy day everyone!

Races, Races, Races...

Short blog tonight, I am so tired! I had to get up at 5:30 this morning to take my 6 year old to his football game and then off to my other son's football came. I was supposed to meet my friend for a run at 2:30 and then got an awful headache. My stress level seemed exceptionally high today, but I can not tell you why. I ran 7 miles yesterday and could have run forever. It was one of those I could run away moments, thank God I didn't have water with me, who knows how far I would have gone. So anyway a big run tomorrow morning and then Wednesday I going to attempt 2o miles. I have 2 20's on my schedule this training cycle. I think that I am about 35 days out from my marathon which is 5 weeks. I am definitely getting excited, but also a bit nervous. It was exciting for me to read to bloggers that finished marathons this weekend. I always get a little bit teary eyed. A marathon is just such a big accomplishment!

Which leads me to the fact that I signed up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon tonight. I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am. I am going with 2 friends. My parents are paying for my plane ticket and T-bone (husband) gave me the go ahead. I have already started thinking about my outfit:) It will be a fast weekend, but one I can't wait for...