July stats

I know it's already August 8, but it's been busy busy busy here. Also, blogging requires stillness and I have not been very still as of late. But that's another blog post. 

My birthday month is over and it was a pretty good one. I had some great runs and some crappy runs but I had ZERO TREADMILL runs so it was awesome. My speedwork is coming along, I continue to hate tempo runs, and my long runs depend on many factors. Today's long run was spectacular because I ran with a couple of friends, one of whom is my BRF who hasn't run long in quite a while since getting mono! It was so nice just to run with her again. But today is August and I need to talk about July. 

Stats

Total 68.6 miles

Running: 50.9 miles

Biking: 17.7 miles

Cross Training: 5 sessions

Races: 0

I skipped a couple of days of running when we went camping for the first time ever. I did do a lot of walking however and tallied 27 miles in the 4 days we were away. I also skipped some biking before and after camping. I did good with cross training the beginning of the month but then things got away from me and on the list of priorities it was low. I did do quite a bit of swimming and while we were camping I did some rowing in the canoe. So maybe I should count those. 

June stats

Stats
Total Mileage: 68.3 miles
Running: 55.9
Biking: 12.4
Cross training: 4
Races: 0

Running-wise June was ok. I started training for my next half-marathon. It's the toughest training plan I have ever done-- faster speedwork, tempo runs, faster long runs. There will be no stroller runs this time around. Vader has been working a lot of early days which means he's getting home early enough for me to run outside. Other days I've paid a babysitter. I've been lucky enough to not do a treadmill run since May 5! I'm hoping to keep that trend up this summer.

April stats

I'm still riding pretty high from Saturday's race. I had to tell Lauren Fleshman how I did because we're besties now and she replied and retweeted me. Such a perfect day. The best part though was having my family there and my kids seeing me get the medal.

April was a pretty good month. I was able to do some stroller runs, some decent long runs, good speedwork & I ran a race. I upped my running mileage and for the first time in months I ran more than I biked! I seem to have forgotten to do any strength training. Oh well.

Stats
Total Mileage: 129.4 miles
Running: 72.4
Biking: 57
Crosstraining: Oops
Races: 1

March stats & wrap-up

Guess where I had that kidney stone problem...

March could have been a bit better if I had not had that damn kidney stone problem. It cost me 14 running miles! Grrr. Overall I'm okay with it. I'm not a 100 mile a month girl. Running 3 times a week & biking twice is working out for me. I'm not quite sure what the proper terminology is for biking... I'm on a semi--recumbent bike. Is that still biking, or cycling, or spinning? Does it matter? I'm on it right now which is why I'm musing about it. When I add my running and biking miles together it's a decent amount:

Stats

Total Mileage: 128 miles

Running: 63.5 miles

Biking: 64.5 miles

Crosstraining : 7 sessions

I skipped my strength training yesterday. I did my 1/4 mile repeats and I was really feeling it since it had been my first run since doing them last week. So I decided not to push it. Which kind of sucks since I'll be missing it on Friday as well. I'll just have to be more vigilant next week--when the kids are on school break.

I feel like my running is getting better, my biking is getting better, and I'm hopeful I'll do well in my next 5k. I've increased the resistance on the bike and I'm doing speeds I did at the lower resistance. That's progress. My speedwork is feeling better and my long runs are going well. The easy runs on the treadmill are NOT working out, but I am hoping to do my first stroller run tomorrow. I should just get up earlier and run in the morning but I think I need the sleep more. 

My next 5k is just a tune-up race to see where I am right now. Chewie & LightRunner are doing the 200m, SkyWalker is doing the 1 mile, I'm doing the 1 mile with the Princess and then I'm doing the 5k. That will give me 4 and I need 10 for the day so I'll have to stick around and run some more. 

I'm looking forward to my first double digit run this weekend (since my last half). I'll be using my new Garmin Forerunner 220. I've heard good things about it so I hope it can fill some of the hole left by my beloved Bia. We'll see. I'll have to squeeze 10 miles in to the weekend and see my sister's new twin babies too. I can't wait! For the babies. I'm looking forward to doing 10 miles again, but not in the same way.

February stats & recap

Daily Runs

February was definitely better than January (but strangely less than last February. Had I done my long run yesterday it would have been more, but alas, I did not.) Despite it being one of the coldest Februarys we have had in centuries (for reals), I did all of my long runs outside and even managed  a rare midweek run on the road too. 

Daily Rides

I have not done very well with strength training or core or anything besides running and riding. I've decided that for the time being I am going to try to do strength/core/other stuff just once a week instead of trying to fit it in on my running/biking days. I have a limited amount of time to do anything and I have plenty I'm doing. So we'll see how well that works. 

I have been pretty consistent with the bike rides and have advanced to doing more than just nicely pedaling the time away. I've added some resistance training. I was going to just do "speedwork" on the bike and pedal really fast for certain intervals, but I think it'll be better for me in the long run if I do the resistance training. So rather than pedal really fast, I increase the resistance for a minute and pedal as fast as I can (not very) and then recover for a minute with lower resistance. The funny part is that when I am doing an easy bike ride I wind up with speeds of 11-12, but when I do the hard bike ride my hard speeds are 11-12 and the easy recoveries are much higher. So I am actually biking faster anyway. I think this will strengthen my legs, particularly the parts that don't get a lot out of running. 

I've got 61 days until my "A-goal" 5K race and 76 days until my "B-goal" half-marathon so only time will tell. 

Stats:

Mileage: 52.1 miles

Runs: 11

Races: 0

Bike: 67 miles

Rides: 8

Crosstraining: 3 

January stats

Running and Biking

I had every intention of getting into a good routine this month and really upping my running and biking miles. 

You know what they say about intentions right?

It's not entirely my fault. I started out the month sick and I ended the month sick. And someone was sick in the middle. In fact, someone has been sick in one way or another since November. I've just gotten my first delivery of Essential Oils and am getting some diffusers soon so I am hoping to stop the sickness. I'll let you know how it works out. I am a natural skeptic, but I will say that during LightRunner's illness I rubbed some oils on his feet and never once had to give him tylenol or ibuprofen. So there's that. I thought I'd do something nice and take the girls to the movies at the mall and I was rewarded with the flu. I didn't go to the doctor and get diagnosed. But I haven't been that sick in 16 years. I was in bed for 16 hours. That does not happen. Ever. It knocked me off my feet, literally. I missed runs, biking, cross training. That big ol' gap in the graph up there is my flu week. I did nothing but sit on the couch and watch Thomas the Tank Engine. I couldn't even focus enough to read. It sucked. 

It's also been wicked cold and snowy. You know, winter. Bah, winter. My long runs have not been long. Whine, whine, whine. The highlight was being able to do a couple of runs with friends. I really need to do that more often.

January was not the best. But onward and upward right?

Stats

Mileage: 40.7 miles

Runs: 11

Races: 0

Bike: 54 miles

Rides: 6

Crosstraining: 6 days. I think.

February will be better. 

November stats

I feel like I was just writing October's stats. We spent the majority of November sick. After 3 weeks I gave up and went to the doc (yesterday) for meds for a sinus infection. I only took a weekend off when I was sick and the girls were both sick and the idea of running long just wasn't appealing.

I did pretty good sticking to my routine this month but it's getting harder. It's getting cold out there and the toddler does not like to bundle up for stroller runs (and it's hard to buckle him up wearing a coat anyway). I think I'll be doing more treadmill runs soon. My long runs are not quite long yet, but I ran more often this month. Last November was 32.8 miles.

Stats

Mileage: 54 miles
Runs: 14
Races: 1 (Celebrate Women 5K)
Cross training: 8
Bike: 12.5 miles

I did really well with the cross training this month. In addition to the Jessica Smith videos, I've been adding some bike miles. I bought a bike trainer to use with my road bike but it didn't work out the way I hoped. My bike is a smaller sized mountain bike. The back tire was being shaved by the trainer and when I looked into getting a replacement tire I realized that I couldn't get a trainer tire for it and to get just a regular mountain bike tire would have been too much work and money. Adding it all up didn't make sense. So I sent the trainer back and bought a semi-recumbent bike instead. I should have done that right away but I swear when I first started looking all I saw were bikes for thousands of dollars. My research failed me. I'm not heading for a triathlon or giving up running. Biking is great cross training for running and an indoor bike is something I can do during the winter. I'm hoping to do the bike twice a week, run 4 times a week and throw in some videos when I can. 

The Exerpeutic 400XL Folding Recumbent Bike

I did just start Jessica Smith's Quick Fit Holiday Challenge which means videos almost every day for the month. I generally don't do challenges because I have a hard time fitting them into my running schedule but I like the word "Quick" in this one. All of the daily workouts are 20 mins or less. I should be able to get that done on top of whatever running and biking I am doing. I'm expecting to have a really strong winter of exercise so I can have a really strong half marathon time next fall. When a good friend says she's running her first post-baby half and asks you to do it with her there's only one response. So I signed up for the Wineglass Half Marathon in October. A destination half with friends and wine. Awesome. 

October's stats

That month went by pretty fast.

I was determined to not let this October be a repeat of last October when my 2 weeks off after the half-marathon turned into more. I intended on only taking a week off so that's what I did. I've been fine too, no aches, no soreness, no need for extended recovery. I started back relatively slow but now I'm kicking it back into "high gear" with a planned 4 run week. Two stroller runs, one speedwork, one long. I hope I can keep this up!

Stats

Mileage: 43.4 miles
Runs: 9
Races: 1 (Mohawk Hudson Half Marathon)
Cross training: 4

Last October was 24.1 miles, so I'm okay with 43.4. I've started to get some Jessica Smith workouts back into my rotation too. I'm hoping that if I stick with it all it will make the winter slightly less horrible.

Lather--Rinse--Repeat

Or, how I finally solved my laundry problem.

While 62 miles a month may not be a lot to some people, to a Mama of 4 with other responsibilities as well (goddesslibrarian.blogspot.com) it was a lot to me. I didn't run after the half marathon in October and when I started up again in December I had a really hard time fitting it into my schedule. I am a creature of routine and habit. I had been running M-W-S for so long that I just couldn't break out of it, but M-W we have preschool and then speech and then when I finally get LightRunner down for a nap, it's time to get the kids off the bus. It just wasn't working. So I used January to get running and exercising back into my schedule and establish a working routine. I switched my running days to T-Th-F-S (yes, 3 days in a row) and added cross training on those days as well. I'm following the "hard days hard" philosophy and making my T-Th really hard, Wed just cross training, Friday easy, Saturday long and Sunday-Monday completely off. No run, no exercise. Two full days in a row and it works out lovely. Sunday I am with my family and doing odd things around the house. Monday is my grocery shopping day. It's working out really well. Sometimes there are wrenches--like class parties on Thursdays--but I just adjust nap times and make it work. I have a monthly calendar on the fridge with every single day designated for something and I like checking off my run or cross training or stretching.

The other thing I have on the fridge now is a weekly calendar. I have given myself completely to lists and schedules and organization. On Sunday I go through the week and make out my daily to do list with such thrilling activities as dishes and cleaning toilets and laundry and other crap I have to do. Like I said, I am a creature of habit and the way I have done things for decades is to wait for things to pile up and then take care of them. This is particularly true of laundry. When the hamper is full or we've run out of underwear is my signal to do laundry. It worked out fine until I had all these kids. There are 6 of us and we generate a lot of dirty clothing. The kids' clothes were a real problem because they are so much smaller, more clothes could fit in the damn basket. Now I'm fine with putting clothes in the washing machine and dryer. It starts to break down when I need to take it out of the dryer and there's a complete fail when it comes to folding and putting away. So I would wind up doing all of the kids' laundry on the same day and have a bunch of clothes to fold. But the kids' clothes go upstairs and I am basically downstairs the entire day. I would wind up frantically trying to fold clothes at bed time, irritating the man who thinks bed time is learning time. It wasn't working. So, much like changing my running routine, I have overhauled how I do everything. Instead of waiting for things to pile up, I am now scheduling them ahead of time and breaking them into sizable chunks. I clean toilets and do our clothes on Mondays. On Tuesdays I do the girls' clothes, on Wednesdays the boys, Thursday is whatever, Friday I do the girls' clothes AGAIN and the same with the boys on Saturdays (and my running clothes which I always forgot to do before!). Breaking the kids clothes up into 4 days a week has made it so much more manageable. It's not like it's just a few things--there's still a load of clothes but I'm not doing two double loads. I can easily fold the clothes on the couch during nap time, put it back in the basket and get it put away when I get upstairs.

This has seriously revolutionized how much crap I have to do. I don't have baskets of laundry in the living room hanging over my head. It took me a few minutes to clean the toilets instead of having to do a major cleaning. Then I still have time in my day for running and exercising and stretching and showering and reading and writing book reviews and playing games with kids. Sure, it might start to feel like I am doing the same things over and over and over again--Lather-Rinse-Repeat--but I am in more control over it. Instead of feeling like Sisyphus rolling his bolder up the hill and not making progress, I feel like I am taming the laundry/housework beast. (Of course having a mobile 18 month old creates all sorts of messes that can't be scheduled in, but I can always bribe older siblings to help with that.)

January was all about establishing the routine and I did pretty good. February is going to be about taking it a bit further-- getting my long run longer, my speed work faster, my legs straighter, lifting higher weights, reading more books, writing more reviews. But don't worry, I'm not planning on dusting at all.

Cross training and Jessica Smith's Summer Shape Up Challenge

The only exercise I have ever stuck with is running. It's remarkable really. But I'm at the point now where I want to improve my running and simply running more just doesn't cut it. I've tried over the past couple of years to add other things, weight-lifting, yoga, etc, but nothing ever lasted more than a week. Until I found Jessica Smith on the exercise On Demand. Specifically the 10 minute workouts. I started doing those and then I bought the book/DVD combo (Thin In 10, you can find it over there in my right sidebar) and then I subscribed to her YouTube channel (you can find that over in the right sidebar too). I would pick whichever routine I could squeeze in. I've had some good weeks with a lot and some bad weeks with a little.

My willy nilly days of picking the shortest workouts whenever I feel like it are over. I'm following along with Jessica's Summer Shape Up Challenge. It's a 5 week program with exercises 6 days a week. She posts the entire week's plan on Sunday--but just a week at a time. I'm used to thinking in months and not weeks so that's a bit of a challenge to me. But it's good. All of the workouts are free through YouTube and we comment on each video so she knows we're keeping up. It's a great motivator. I'm sure she's not going to hunt me down if I don't do a day, but it keeps me accountable and I find myself rearranging things so I can do it. I'm so excited that I'm sticking with something other than running that I am planning on donating to her website. I'm getting quality workouts in the comfort of my own home that I would normally have to go to a class to do. I just started Week 2 today and so far the only pain is that the rest day doesn't always sync up to my running rest day. Week 2's rest day is Saturday--the day I will be racing the Freihofer's. But once the Freihofer's is over I can try to plan my weekly runs around the Shape Up Challenge. I'm not sure what I will do if I wind up having to get these kidney stones blasted. But I'm not thinking about that yet. 

I'm hoping that all of this will make me a stronger runner and that by the time I do the half next fall it'll be a piece of cake (yeah, I'm kidding.). I guess I'll see on Saturday how well I do (provided I don't have any more complications). I know that I've lost 3-4 pounds in the last couple of weeks and my clothes fit differently. (I don't really track my weight, I've never cared that much about it, but I still weigh LightRunner every week and that involves me weighing myself first and then holding him). But really, the only numbers I'm concerned with are the ones on the clock at the finish line.

March wrap up

In just one week I will be running my first postpartum race. But that's another post.

My "training" kicked up a notch for March and it shows. I ran my highest mileage month since before I found out I was pregnant with Lightrunner. Unfortunately my cross training took a nose dive. We were wicked busy for various reasons and I was really focusing on the running and blah blah blah excuses. I'm happy with the running though--I've continued with my local running friends and it's made a difference with my solo runs. If I don't have to stop and walk with them why do I think I need to stop alone? I don't! The last couple of solo runs I've been able to keep going and to go faster because of running with friends.

Stats:

Mileage: 52.5
Runs: 14
Cross Training Days: 5!
Cross Training Sessions: 5

I haven't had a 50+ month in quite some time and considering that I had to deal with that UTI and traveling and doctor visits and all sorts of distractions, I'm pretty happy.

I meant to type so much more but I have little ones climbing on me and demanding things.

February Wrappin' Up & Catchin' Up

I am not sorry to see February go. Although it's the shortest month, it was quite full... full of coughing and snot and fevers and vomiting and general blech. Buh-bye February! Here's to a healthy March!

Lightrunner was the last to catch the February break virus. His fever broke a few days ago and his coughing is not nearly as bad as it was. He seems to be back to his routine instead of nursing and sleeping nonstop. When I took him for his sick visit on Monday he gained a whole pound since his last checkup. I didn't get to see our pediatrician, but I haven't heard from her so I'm assuming that was enough. As long as he's going up, it doesn't quite matter how much. He's eaten green beans (the first time was with green beans I had frozen from my garden!) and today he had peaches. I bought an avodaco, again to fatten up one of my kids, but he got sick and wasn't eating anything. I didn't want it to go bad so I mashed it up and froze it in ice cube trays. Hopefully it'll be okay when we try it! 

I'm trying to catch up now with all the crap I couldn't do the last couple of weeks. Lots of laundry, cleaning, blog reviews and assorted "to do's". I kind of always feel like I'm catching up though... so maybe this is just how it is. I will never get ahead. Like Sisyphus I keep rolling that rock of laundry up the damn hill and it keeps rolling back down on me. 

February sucked as far as exercise goes. If I wasn't helping a sick kid, I was helping a sick me. We literally started the month sick and ended it sick. But I did manage to run more miles than I have since I got back to it, which is not bad when you remember it's the shortest month!

Stats:
Mileage: 34.3
Runs: 11
Cross Training Days: 8
Cross Training Sessions: 14

I discovered that my first goal race is a month earlier than I had planned. Which obviously has pushed training earlier too. So I've "officially" started although this week has been less than stellar. But today is a new day, new month, and time to get down to brass tacks. 

Beachbody

You may have noticed that I've been talking a lot about my running and exercising and fitness lately. You're not the only one.... the good people over at Beachbody--they're the ones behind the popular P90X series--also noticed and wanted me to pass some information on to you*.

P90X Certification

If you've enjoyed the P90X workout series and are interested in teaching, they are now offering a certification program. It's a 2 day workshop resulting in official certification enabling you to take your skills to the local gym and teach a class. The price is $498. That seems a bit steep to me, but I have never done a certification program and am no where near being capable of doing one, and I'm kinda cheap. If that sounds like your thing, check out the link here.

If teaching is NOT your thing and you're looking to step up your exercise game instead, Beachbody has two programs you may be interested in:

Brazil Butt Lift Master Series

Three different kits, Base, Plus, and Elite, promise to help you train like a supermodel and "shape, lift and firm your booty." Leandro Carvalho's routine works the three major muscles of the buttocks, the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus. The basic kit includes the workouts, stability ball and online support. The Plus and Elite kits also include more supplies like yoga mats and weights. The video looks like this would be a fun workout. Check it out here.

Insanity: The Asylum Volume 2

This dude is hardcore. And so is the Insanity workout. Seven new pro athlete routines exercising your abs, back, legs, and more promise to help you get your body leaner, stronger and faster so you crush the competition. This is not the workout for this busy time-strapped beginner exercise mom. But if you don't have kids needing to be nursed and wiped every few hours, this looks like it would be a killer workout that would help get you to your running A goal. Check out the full program here.

*Please note, Beachbody has not compensated me at all for passing along the information. I have not tried these workouts and am not reviewing or endorsing them. Just passing it on to you!

January recap

Although January is not quite over I just finished my run so it might as well be. I'm not planning on doing any more running today, although one never knows when the bus might just drive on by with my kids still inside or maybe Chewie or Haze will escape. But I think it's a safe bet that my running for the month is over.

It was once again a low mileage month, but I'm okay with that. It's January, I have a 6 month old baby, everyone has been sick, I'm doing the best I can do.

Stats:
Mileage: 24.8
Runs: 8
Cross Training Days: 14
Cross Training Sessions: 23

Keep in mind that the exercise program* I've been following is broken up into 10 minute segments that don't have to be done consecutively (which is good for busy moms!). So on a particular day I may do a 10 minute core routine and then later on do a 10 minute kickboxing routine. I'm counting those as different sessions.

I've tweaked the schedule a bit so I can have a full do nothing rest day on Sunday. There were then some days that called for 2 cardio sessions and I had a run planned, so I wound up using the run as the cardio. I'm going to have to figure out what--if any--other stuff I want to do on my running days. There are only so many things I can do in a day when I have a baby to feed, a preschool to feed and transport and children to get off the bus and dinner and blah blah blah.

*As I've mentioned A LOT, I'm following Jessica Smith's Thin in 10 plan (with my own modifications). Whatever I don't watch off the DVD I get from her YouTube channel & watch on my iPad (like kickboxing or toning walks or specific lower/upper body exercises). I've added a link to her book over on the side right there --------> Not because she asked me to, but because I truly recommend it to anyone who needs to find a way to incorporate exercise into a busy mom schedule. The exercises are easy for me to follow & I think I might actually have fun doing them. So weird. I try to stick to the 10 minute or shorter ones right now, but she also has plenty of long ones if you don't have a baby/child needing you every 2 minutes. I'm really not trying to lose weight--honestly--but to just be a stronger runner. So focused exercises are really good for me instead of a generic aerobic workout which would be good for someone trying to lose weight, so I gravitate towards the shorter specific routines. Regardless of your goals or fitness levels, I think you'd find something to work for you too. I don't know who "you" um, is. I guess the handful of you who still read this. Or strangers on the interwebs looking for superhero birthday party ideas.

Speaking of which it's now time for me to pick up my snot producing sick baby and attempt to once again feed him. He must be on the mend since he willingly ate every 2 hours the last 2 days and today he was not into it. Let's hope because sick infants are tough!

In summary, I am awesome.

Well, that didn't take long.

I was feeling pretty weak after Lightrunner's checkup. Sad that once again one of my kids was going to have to catch up and try to gain weight. Wait, what? Sure, on paper a 6 month old weighing 13 1/2 pounds is little. But we don't live on paper. Lightrunner is bigger than SkyWalker was at 6 months. And guess what? SkyWalker currently weighs about half what I do and I weigh more now that I ever have before (not including pregnancy). When we got SkyWalker's class picture I couldn't find him. He was IN THE BACK ROW. Not sitting down in front. I went to a Girls Night in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago and one of his friend's moms asked me if he was playing basketball because he's so TALL. I looked behind me to make sure she was talking to me.

I don't make fat babies.

And there's nothing wrong with that. We are such a weight-obsessed society and often a number on the scale is more important than an overall picture. This is the picture I see: a smiling happy baby with chubby legs and fat rolls. I tried to force him to nurse this week and I wound up with a crying overtired baby. When he was younger I had to wake up him up to feed him, but he's 6 months old now. When he's sleeping, he needs to sleep. I'm not going to force him to feed when he doesn't need it, just so he can be on some silly growth chart. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, following him, making sure he is happy and peeing lots and take it from there. If he loses weight, I'll rethink things. He has a bad cold right now and I wound up feeding him at 10 last night, something I haven't done in a long time, and this morning I skipped his cereal and just fed him myself. And now he's taking a nice long nap which is exactly what he needs to get better.

As a parent it's wicked easy to doubt yourself. Sometimes I forget I'm awesome.
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On Saturday, I ran my longest distance in a couple of months. There was anything spectacular, but it was a great run just because I did it. I was tired. It was cold. I had a million things I needed to do. But I got out there anyway. For quite some time my slow runs have been in the 12-13 minute range, so I was buoyed when I looked down and saw I was running in the 10:30 range. I kept it up for 3 miles, stopped for a tenth of a mile when I blew my nose, and then started running against the wind. That slowed me down but I still wound up with a faster average pace for 5 miles than I've been doing. I haven't been running much lately but I think all the cross-training I'm doing is actually paying off. I am determined to be the strongest runner I can be for the half next fall. My immediate goal right now is to keep up the cross-training and run SOMETHING 3 times a week. I've got to be a little flexible with a baby and with kids and school schedules and something always coming up. But I think if I can do this, I can go into my spring training much stronger than I have before.
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The other night Vader and I went to a local (like 2 minutes away) bar with two couples I intend on spending a lot more time with-- naturally Shinesalot (and husband) and my friend Gina (and husband) who doesn't blog anymore. It was so nice to be out without kids, with our husbands, and just talk and have fun. I think we're going to try to do this every couple of months. We're also having a little Ladies Night this week without the husbands. I'm hoping we can do that every month but our schedules are not that easy to coordinate. I'm trying to focus on spending time with people who want to spend time with me.
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I've been reading a lot more and watching TV a lot less. I really think it helps me to relax and get outside of myself. Books truly feed your soul in ways that TV shows just can't. And sometimes my soul is a little too hungry.

October exercise wrap-up

October has come and gone...  I haven't really progressed that much with my running since September. I managed 8 runs (19.2 miles) but only 4 cross training sessions. It was an unusual month though--we had a trip to LI, I had my annual Girls Weekend away, Vader turned 40, Halloween. AND they finally started construction on our new attic room. There have been a couple of days when I had running on the schedule but the electric guy was coming in and out of the house and I didn't want to be on the treadmill with a guy coming in and out of the house--not to mention I didn't know if he would need to turn off power and the last thing I need on the treadmill is for the power to go out! I had one failed attempt at intervals with Lightrunner in the bouncy seat (mistake) and had to stop for A) projectile spit up B) to bring him upstairs for a nap and C) the beverage bar on the treadmill popped off and flew at me. But despite all this I did manage those 19.2 miles. I'm getting there. Slowly. I ran 4.5 miles yesterday--longest so far-- and it was so slow, painfully slow--that I really started to question whether or not I will ever get to where I was before I stopped running.

  I bought the Thin in 10 Book and DVD mid October and the cross training sessions I've done have been from there. I love the idea of doing things 10 minutes at a time. The book has plans for complete beginners as well as more advanced exercisers. I've been following the novice plans--even though I've been running for a while--because sometimes it's hard to even find 10 minutes! I've tweaked it a bit though to accommodate my running instead of doing the 10 minute walking everything is based on. In a few weeks I'll probably move to the intermediate plan. For the first time ever I'm excited about doing something other than running. I heartily recommend it to busy moms. My BFF just bought a copy too. (No, this isn't sponsored. I bought my own copy & truly enjoy it.)

I'm hoping that November is a bit calmer than the last two months, even with Thanksgiving, and I can really focus on getting back to where I once was.