Trying my best to get back in track

So there are a few new updates. One of them being that I signed up for this yesterday

This means I need to get busy! Things just got real!

With that said I did this yesterday

I ran 3 miles yesterday on the treadmill. I HATE the treadmill, but I also can't run in this heat. So the treadmill it was. It was not fun and I had to push myself the whole time, but I got that sucker done.

This is the schedule I am following to get ready for my half marathon.

I looked at this yesterday and I think I should have some time to even get to 11 or 12 miles before the race in Novemeber. But to be honest I CAN NOT run 11 or 12 miles on a treadmill. Ugh. So as soon as this heat goes away I am running outside again. I tried to get up early this morning to run my 2 miles, but it didn't happen. I am having a hard time going to bed at a decent time and then last night was a very restless sleep. I hate when that happens, it makes for a long day the next day.

I am also eating better. I am still having my oatmeal for breakfast, but for lunch yesterday I had my favorite lunch, taco salad with out the chips.

So I am very slowly getting back on track. I think I am going to start using My Fitness Pal app to keep track of my meals. Anyone else using this?

So things are going good, but I made some cookies yesterday for R and Jed, but I think I have had more than they have. Ugh, so one step forward, 5 cookies backwards. Lol oh well. New day and the cookies are put away. So let's hope I can keep my hand out of the cookie jar!

Have a good week and I will be back on Friday! Oh I can't leave you without a pic of my favorite little guy! We sure are staying busy!!

 

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I'm back!!!

Okay so we survived our vacation in Colorado. We had a great time. This was our first vacation with R and I will say if I had to do it again, I might choose something else to do. But over all he did pretty good and had a good time. He is an EXCELLENT rider. Ohhhhh what did we do on vacation? We went to Colorado and we took our side by side(RZR) to do some trail riding.

It was beautiful out there. If you get a chance to go out there, DO IT!!! Also if you have a RZR don't be afraid to take it on the trails; we took ours on the 4th hardest trail in Colorado and it made it up like a champ!

Since we got back I have been trying to adjust to being at home with R. I am not going to lie, it was a little difficult. We are working on potty training and that can be incredibly frustrating. I am trying my hardest to be patient, but whhhhhooooooaaaaaa, he can really make that difficult. He is also go through a big bossy phase and that is about to drive anyone crazy. I try to keep in mind that his world is completely different too and I don't think going on vacation helped either. So this week I am really focusing on getting OUR schedule on a routine.

With all of this said, I have NOT been to the gym in 2-3 weeks. And I have been dreading it because I know I am so out of shape now. So yesterday I got the itch to go run and this is how it turned out.

 

Well that was a wake up call. That last mile I really struggled. So not only am I getting R's schedule back on track, I am getting mine back on track. It did feel good to run, but I need to get more focused. So with that said, R and I are going to gym this afternoon!

Food update:

Today I added bananas to my oatmeal and it was surprisingly good!

 

I also started putting slim fast in my coffee. It is a little different, but it is growing on me. So now my coffee has better stuff in it.

Is there anything new you are doing? Do you have any good food swaps?

Also here are some random pics!!

 

R destroying his pizza. He refused to let me cut it and ate it like mommy and daddy does :)

Daddy and R in front of a tumbling mine in Colorado. You are only going to see this mine if you can make it up the trail!

We stopped at some sand dunes in Syracuse, KS and found a little friend!!!

 

My favorite pic. Thank aunt Jeannine for capturing this moment!!!

 

 

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Updates

• Reid is at his last day of daycare and I am busy doing this

• I have to say that I always wondered who had time to hang out at a cafe with their iPad or lap top. Well this girl has time, TODAY! Lol. Plus I needed to turn in some paper work and run some errands, so I came here to write my post so I don't have to go back home in-between all my running around.
• I have an interview at 1:00 and I am excited about it!
• I had a phone interview yesterday and I was NOT excited about that one. But it was good practice.
• I learned yesterday that I don't like phone interviews and that I am MORE likeable when people meet me in person. Or so I hope so! Lol
• We are going on vacation this weekend/next week! We are going to Colorado to do some trail riding. We normally stick to the sand, so I am pretty darn excited to try something new.
• I probably won't be able to post next week and that makes me a little sad.
• I ran 4 miles on Wednesday and that felt great. It wasn't the fastest time ever, but man did it feel good to run that distance. Plus it was on dirt roads and in my neck of the woods. I love my running route!

• I will head to the gym today and do some weight lifting. I haven't done that since Monday even thought I have worked out every day except for Thursday ( I could tell my legs needed a good rest).
• I have not packed for our vacation yet. Eeeeekkkkk! I am a true procrastinator.
• There is a 5k tomorrow at the zoo, should I run it? I think I might skip it. It would be a fun run, but it also cost money! Maybe next year.
• I will need to run in the mountains sometime next week and I am freaking nervous about it. Mountains are not flat, I like flat runs.
• I am doing another warrior dash while I am in Colorado and for some reason I am NOT nervous about that.
• I am running out of things to say, so I am logging off. If I have time or Internet access I will update you on how the interview went; our 7 hour drive with a toddler; mountain trails; running in the mountains; and any other shinanigans that goes on during vacation! Have a good weekend.

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How did you start running?

Last night I thought about this question, when on earth did I start running? Running has seemed to be in my life for a long time now and it has always been my go to exercise. But why?

Well, let's see. When I was in grade school my parents signed me up for summer track. I don't honestly know whose idea it was for me to run track, it could have been mine, my dad's, or my Mom's. But let's be real here I am sure my dad said "hey Jessica there is a summer track team that you could run on and I think it is a good idea." and I jumped right on it. I was (and still am) a daddy's girl. So whatever my dad said I did, until I became a teenager and even then I HATED to disappoint him.

So I ran track in grade school and I don't honestly remember liking it, but I don't remember hating it either. What I do remember is loving the track meets. If I am anything, I am competitive. So I naturally loved the track meets. Was I any good? Not that I remember. It wasn't the sport that I stood out in. Yeah I was pretty good on a basketball court, volleyball court, and on a softball field. The track field isn't where I stood out. I was pretty average.

Then middle school track came and I enrolled in that. I ran all through my 7th grade year (it was the only sport you could participate that wasn't inter mural, track was the real deal). So what area did I sign up, long distance. What on earth was I freaking thinking?!?! I ran the 800 most of the time (half a mile). Once again I don't remember loving it, what I loved was the social aspect of it. Back in the day I could run and talk. I BARELY do that today.

8th I went out for track again and this time half way through the season I quit. I was bored and even the competitive track meets couldn't keep me interested through the practices, plus I wasn't blowing the doors off of any of my competitors. Once again I was pretty average.

So that was the end of my track career. I did try out for cross country and I quit the first day. Ugh, I could barely finish the course on the first day and I sucked. I think I might have came in last place. Yeah, I wasn't about to look like a loser all season long. So that was my cross country career.

But I do remember in middle school calling up my friend asking her if she was interested in running over to my then boyfriend's house. UMMMM WHY DOES THIS SEEM LIKE A GOOD IDEA, I HAD A PERFECTLY GOOD BIKE! But we both ran over to his house, but I am pretty sure we had one of our parents drive us back home after hanging out at his house all afternoon.

In high school I remember running around Vet's lake. It is an over sized pond in the middle of town. I think I did this to get in shape for what ever sport I was getting ready to try out for. But what I remember about those runs is that they were hard, but I did LIKED it. I remember feeling good about myself because I could always push myself a little harder and end up running further than I thought I could. This is something I still enjoy today.

I remember running across this bridge with Jed when we were training for soccer try outs.

Then in college I was excited to find out our dorm had a treadmill. So I would randomly run a mile here and there. And then in the spring I would drag some of my friends to go run with me outside. It would usually end up being a long walk. But I never really pushed myself to see how far I could run or how fast I could run. I would seriously just wake up one day and say, well today seems like a good day to run. Or I would get bored and basically get dressed and go run and then come back to the room and call it good.

When I moved to Salina I found myself really lonely and bored, so once again I would put my running shoes on from time to time and go for a run. Eventually I joined a gym and started to run on a treadmill. It was about this time that I started to think about a half marathon. Yeah, skip the 5k & 10ks, I wanted my first race to be a half marathon. Okay I also had just set a date for our wedding and really wanted to lose some weight. So I started this program Hal Higdon Training Programs. You have to be able to run 3 miles and I don't remember that being a problem. I got up to running 6 miles and then I got sick and had a horrible cough. Also I had already bought a dress shortly after I started training and then when I went back to try it on, it was getting too big! Eeeeekkkk. I was excited about that, but I didn't want to lose anymore weight because I didn't want to pay to get it altered. So I stopped. And to this day, I wish I hadn't.

WEEK	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
1	Stretch & strengthen	3 m run	2 m run or cross	3 m run + strength	Rest	30 min cross	4 m run
2	Stretch & strengthen	3 m run	2 m run or cross	3 m run + strength	Rest	30 min cross	4 m run
3	Stretch & strengthen	3.5 m run	2 m run or cross	3.5 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	5 m run
4	Stretch & strengthen	3.5 m run	2 m run or cross	3.5 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	5 m run
5	Stretch & strengthen	4 m run	2 m run or cross	4 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	6 m run
6	Stretch & strengthen	4 m run	2 m run or cross	4 m run + strength	Rest or easy run	Rest	5-K Race
7	Stretch & strengthen	4.5 m run	3 m run or cross	4.5 m run + strength	Rest	50 min cross	7 m run
8	Stretch & strengthen	4.5 m run	3 m run or cross	4.4 m run + strength	Rest	50 min cross	8 m run
9	Stretch & strengthen	5 m run	3 m run or cross	5 m run + strength	Rest or easy run	Rest	10-K Race
10	Stretch & strengthen	5 m run	3 m run or cross	5 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	9 m run
11	Stretch & strengthen	5 m run	3 m run or cross	5 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	10 m run
12	Stretch & strengthen	4 m run	3 m run or cross	2 m run	Rest	Rest	Half Marathon

This is what I will be doing for the next three months!!!!!

So see, running has been in my life for a really long time. It shouldn't surprise me that I have committed to running a half marathon, but it still does. I still have regrets from quitting before. I really want to make it this time, but this time I am going to do things a little different. I want to do most of my training outside and not on a treadmill. Also I am going to still lift weights, my weight training is what has kept me going this whole time. If it wasn't for lifting weights I couldn't run 3 miles after weeks of non running. And I am going to go back to good ole Hal's training. It was working great before I quit and I know a lot of people who use that program. The race I am interested in running is on November 24. This gives me a little more than 3 months to train which is perfect. It is also 6 days before my birthday, what a great way to end my year. Here is the link to the race Half Marathon | The Williams Route 66 Marathon. If anyone is interested in running with me please let me know.

How did you start running? If you aren't a runner, what is your go to exercise?

 

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Favorite things swap

In July I signed up to do a "favorite things swap" from life is Sweet and I was paired up with Alejandra at Munchkins and Military. I am so glad that I did because Alejandra is so stinking nice and sweet. She is a stay at home mom to 2 daughters, but the great thing about these swaps is that you get to know the person behind the blog.  Alejandra always seemed excited to get my e-mails and was super sweet when my gift took SOOOOO much longer than it was suppose to.  THANK YOU USPS. ugh. This is the second time this year that I have had issues with USPS taking too long.  And when I say too long, I mean a ridiculously long time.  My first issue was when I ordered a tank top and it took a MONTH to get here.  Alejandra's gift took almost 2 weeks from the time it was sent.  That is ridiculous. ANEEEE WAYSSSSS.

This is what I got from Alejandra

I will say that I love the BB cream, I use that every day. And R LOVES fruit snacks so that was a win in our household. And the frame, I think I am going to use chalk board paint on the glass and put it in my bedroom. I am not sure yet, but there are some good possibilities. I love the lobster key chain because it has a bottle opener in, SCORE!! She got to know me SOOO well. LOL Now those poppy seeds may have to wait a while and lets hope my green thumb improves because my garden right now is super weedy. And that hat, well R won't wear it :(   I am not sure why, but he has decided he just wants to wear his baseball caps.

I am totally so late on posting this and linking up with the rest of the girls, but I guess better late than never.  If you get a chance go check out these girls' blogs.  They are NOT fitness blogs, but I really like both of their blogs. Alejandra's is nice if you have toddler age children and like new recipes, ALSO I really like her pinterest posts, she pins some awesome stuff. And Jenna @ life is sweet is a "girl next door" friendly. She is always doing some fun and LOVES baseball. Go and stop by their blog!!

That is all from me.  I will see y'all tomorrow. If you live in KS, good luck with this humidity, it is stupid muggy out there!!

5k race

So if you tuned in last week you know that I signed up for a 5k at the last moment. It wasn't until Friday night that it dawned on me that Manhattan has hills. Also please remember that I haven't ran in weeks. I also told myself that if I had to walk that it would be okay.

My cousin and I before the race.

I ran the whole thing, but my stinking awesome cousin beat me!! Hahahaha, but that is okay. I placed 13th out of my age group and my cousin got 12th. I would say that we both did pretty darn good. My cousin's husband got 3rd in his age group, he did pretty darn awesome too. He was training for a half marathon and then started having some ankle issues so he hasn't been able to run either. So I would say our group performed much better than any of us thought we would do. I had so much fun running with them. I am so glad I made the decision to run with them. It also felt awesome to run again. Once I got back into my groove, it felt good. Although I was a little sore yesterday, but nothing too bad.

 

We all had a good time. We got to enjoy some beer and pizza afterwards. Isn't that the healthy thing to do after running a 5k? Lol

R and I ended up staying in manhattan all weekend and had a great time. This is us after our much needed nap.

 

R learned how to take our picture. It was pretty cute.

Then that night we got a babysitter and the whole group went out. I will say I needed it! We had so much fun. All In all this weekend this was a GREAT one. It is great when you can exercise with your family and it makes it even better when you can an enjoy a nice cold beer with them too! Thank you Kurtz family, we had a great time.

 

 

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Running and stupid decisions

Okay so I literally JUST signed up for a 5k for tomorrow. When is the last I ran? Ummmmmmmm A LONG TIME AGO, probably over 2-3 weeks ago. I might be stupid. But I miss running and I LOVE races. This is what I signed up

It is in Manhattan, KS and there will be beer!!! Yay. I might regret it when I am done, but I am soooo excited to put my running shoes back on! Will I PR? NO!!! Will I walk? I hope not, but there is a chance I might have to. But that isn't the point, the point is to get me back in my shoes running. Yes I have been going to the gym and lifting and some cardio, but I haven't ran in forever and I miss it. This is a great way to get me back at it! Plus I get to run with my cousin and we haven't been at the same race EVER! I am so excited!

But the other thing that has been hanging over my head is the decision to run a half marathon. And yes I said I would make the decision in July, but up until this morning I haven't given it any SERIOUS thought. Well I am saying it here and now. I am freaking running a half marathon.

I am not sure which one yet, but it will probably be the one down in Tulsa in November. Anyone else want to commit to this with me?? It will be 13.1 miles of fun!!!!! Lol plus it is a week before my birthday, what a great way for me to end the year!!

Well that is all I got for ya today. Have a good one and I will see ya next week!

Anyone going to be there (Manhattan) tomorrow? If so give me a ring or message me on Facebook!!!

Wish me luck!!!!

 

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What day is it??

Okay seriously, staying home isn't the worst thing ever, but it does take some adjustments. This is what I have learned in a week!

• What day is it? It is easy to forget what day it is. Yesterday I swore it was either Tuesday or Thursday.
• I no longer NEED to dress up. This is odd for me because I am use to wearing business casual five days a week! So I have been wearing a lot of work out clothes :)
• I find myself getting bored even though I have a ton of stuff to do. It just feels weird to be at home this much. And time goes much faster at home, before I know Jed is coming home from work. Where did the day go?
• I cook A LOT now. Breakfast, lunch, dinner! Geesh, do we really need to eat that much?? Plus I am still trying to eat every 2-3 hours, so I feel like all we do is eat and then I clean up our mess from eating. Seriously this is all we do all day long.
• I get to workout WHENEVER! This is odd to me. I am so use to trying to squeeze it in and following a schedule and now I am having to work hard to remember to workout. Isn't that weird? But I love the fact that R is at the gym daycare and that I can go grab him whenever. I still keep my workouts to an hour, but I get a full hour to myself. Normally I would have to leave at 45-50 into my workouts.Plus R LOVES it there! That is a huge plus!
• When you are sore from returning to the gym after a week from being sick, it is hard to keep up with your 2 year old! Lol.
• I have taken a shower at all different times of the day. The days I go to the gym I try to take one at R's nap time. But there has been a day or two that I have taken a shower early in the morning before R wakes up. I have also taken my daily shower at night. This is odd for me because I have ALWAYS take my shower at 6:30ish in the morning. This is taking some adjustments.
• This has become my office

 

And this is my new boss

no complaints yet!! Let's see if this boss will "lay me off"!! I highly doubt it! Lol

Well that is it for today. We are off to the park!!

 

 

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