Life

Today is the most beautiful day!  Fall.  Leaves.  Trail Runs.  I am 99.9% over my marathon soreness!  The leaves are starting to change and I need to get out on the trails.  I’m hoping my friends are up for several more mountain runs this season!  Tomorrow is a 5k at my daughter’s school and she actually came to me and said she wanted to run it!  We’ll see how she feels about 3 miles!  She is my most NOT a runner of all my kids!

I mentioned I’d talk about lowering your metabolism and decreasing body fat.  From the article I read in Max Muscle, most of the suggestions are things I harp about all the time.  Yay for me (:  Here’s the list:

• Exercise, especially weight training.
• Eat smaller portions of protein 3 or more times a day.
• Eat 5-6 small meals a day.
• Get plenty of sleep.
• Eat high fiber foods.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Focus on breathing, especially when working out.
• Add fish and fish oils to your diet.

There you have it!!!  Starting officially on Monday (:  I’m going to work on a few of my weaknesses.  I want to lean out some more.  I’ll be doing several of the above listed pointers!!  I’m looking forward to fast runs, hard weights, and MORE sleep!

We had a good week!  My Mom celebrates her birthday tomorrow!  My sister and I took her to dinner and the mall!!  Cute Mom!

We went to a mall that I rarely go to and I was surprised with happiness when I saw my favorite symbol!!  LULU!!

 I love walking through Lululemon and I didn’t even buy a thing, not even a headband!  Yesterday morning I decided to do a video at home.  That’s not really recommend by me!  I’d much rather run or be at the gym, but I had my little babe at home with me and sometimes a video is easier.  I think Billy Blank’s is pretty cool too!!  Please ignore my half ripped apart basement.  This room is next on our list.  We need new flooring and paint.  One side of the room with be a wall of mirrors for my daughter’s dance studio.  Lots of good winter projects we’ll get to soon!!

I’m silly!  GREAT weekend we have to look forward to!  I’ve got to get my Utah flag out!  It’s the big rivalry football game with our favorite teams around here!  PARTY!!

Advice for training runs

Happy to be home from one of the best camping trips ever!  We went with a group of 17 girls from our church and several leaders.  Everything went smoothly and all the girls got along fantastically.  I think my favorite part was viewing the night sky with the millions of stars!

We also LOVED a HOT 5 mile hike and spending an afternoon at Bear Lake.  I got a little sun but the water was perfect and we enjoyed several games of tag that ended up in a big dunking war!  I’m happy to say that I ate very well (meaning HEALTHY) too!!  I made a commitment to myself that I didn’t want to share on my blog.  It seems like when I make a goal on my blog I never keep it.  Anyway, NO CANDY for the rest of the year or at least until after my marathon that I just signed up for this morning!!!!  Here is where I’ll be running!  Seems like the perfect race for me!

I have almost 2 months till race day.  Today we ran 10 and I felt a little rusty.  I think we’ll hit the trail tomorrow!  Then, after I showered and had breakfast I got a call to teach a class this morning with only a half hour warning!  So, I’m in workout outfit number 2 for the day!  We did a great upper body workout and a little Zumba!!  Since I’ll be running A LOT in the next couple months I want to post about two running accessories that my friend had a question about.  The first is, what do you think about running with a GARMIN?  I use my GARMIN only when I’m training for something.  Here’s mine:

I use it to track my distance and to see my current pace.  If you want to get faster it’s a great tool to have.  You can look down and know exactly how fast you’re going and if you need to speed up!  Today we ran at an 8 1/2 average pace.  I need to get faster.  So, yes they are worth it and great to have!  It helps especially with tracking long runs.  You know exactly how far to go.

Next question was about fuel belts.  Yes, I have one.  I don’t love them.  I bought one many years ago when I was training for my first marathon.  This is what I have:

 

The bottles leak.  I think I just need new ones, but it’s a little difficult to maneuver with the bottles behind you and then trying to get into the pouch for a gel or something.  I would like to try this one!

 

You hold it in your hand and the pouch is right there on the bottle.  I tried a hand held one before and it bothered my wrist.  I think I’ll try it again though for my upcoming training.  I just thought of one more thing to say concerning long runs.  What do you eat and drink during long runs?  For me, I like water.  Powerades and Gatorades upset my stomach.  I can’t stand gels.  They make me want to puke.  I LOVE LOVE STINGER WAFFLES and SPORTS BEANS.  They are the BEST!!!

 

All of these things can be found at AMAZON!!  So easy!  Well, I’m home for a few days and then off to another camping trip.  This one is with family.  I’m looking forward to it!  Enjoy the day!  I’ll be hitting the pool with my kids in a few.  Non stop Fun and Running!!  The BEST!

 

 

Taylor Taylor Taylor

Happy Day and Awesome weekend!!!  June is here!!  I’m so proud that I ate well all weekend.  The worst things I ate were a couple of half wheat, half white rolls I made and half a small butterless popcorn at the movies.  It wasn’t easy, well actually it was because when I’m ON I’m ON, but we did have several outings and dinners to tempt me.  Many highlights of the weekend, but I’ll talk about one today, TAYLOR SWIFT!!!  I’m so happy I bought the tickets.  Here I am with my sweetest girls!!

It was quite the amazing production that I knew it would be.  She is a such a doll and so talented.  We had a wonderful time.  My favorite part was watching my daughters squeal and jump up and down when she first hit the stage.  Great memories!

OK!!  Diet update!  You know I’m sticking to one of my many plans when I actually post an update on it!  6 days in and I’m weighing 134.  That is down 3 from my start.  I feel fine.  I wanted it lower, but we’ll get there.  This week in fact.  I’m shooting for 130 by next Monday.  I have a cute outfit waiting for me to wear as soon as I get to 130 (:  Can’t wait!!

During my 6 mile run this morning I almost committed myself to running another marathon with my friends.  So many of them are training for one this fall and I have no other races on my brain, so I just might do it!!  There is one on September  14th here locally down a beautiful canyon that is calling my name.  I love summer running!  So, you can pretty much count me in.  I think the marathon will keep me on track with eating healthy eating too.  I can feel a HUGE difference in my running when I’m eating well.

Food this week is not determined quite yet.  We have a busy week with something every night.  I do want to share my friend’s eating ideas for the week.  She’s awesome!!!  YUMMMMMMM*

Meals for the week

Dinners:
Asian Baked Tofu (Pinterest board: vegetarian)  with salad of lettuce, tomatoes, avocados and mushrooms (drizzled with lemon olive oil and rice vinegar)
spicy thai basil chicken lettuce wraps (cooking light magazine)
Quinoa salad (tomoatoes/cucumbers, parsley, red bell pepper) with grilled salmon
Grilled chicken (marinated in italian dressing and lime juice) and steamed broccoli with toasted pecans (found at trader joes)
Grilled shrimp ‘tacos’ (lettuce shells) with cilantro, fresh tomatoes and lime juice, watermelon and refried beans (made from dehydrated fat free beans)
Spaghetti squash bake (made up recipe) spaghetti squash with sautéed vegetables and cottage cheese- onions, mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, mixed with cottage cheese.

lunch/snack
2 – fruity apple, chicken, lettuce roll up (on pinterest board:  Healthy recipes)
Farmer’s market Skillet (Pinterest board:  Healthy recipes) with one over easy egg
salad with left over asian tofu with lettuce, pecans, avocado, mushrooms (whatever I can find in the fridge) and olive oil/rice wine vinegar and one fuji apple
Sweet potato and left over protein (salmon or chicken)

Breakfast:
Trader Joes steel cut oatmeal with chopped apples and pecans
huevos rancheros (refreind beans (made healthy) and two over-easy eggs with fresh tomatoes and cilantro.

Desserts:

“Fried” cinnamon bananas (sprayed with coconut oil, drizzled with honey and topped with flaked coconut)
Healthy choice ice cream bar

Time to get the house organized.  Summer is coming!  I need to make a summer job and fun schedule for my kids.  Happy to have them home!  Enjoy one of my favorite Taylor songs.  Cute video that reminds me of my friends!

*Everything will be alright…

My Race

Well, it has been awhile!  This has been an epic and life changing month for me!  In my fitness and healthy life style side of things I haven’t been the greatest example.  I have had some personal challenges to overcome which have prevented me to fully engage in my 6 week healthy challenge and I believe affected my performance in my MARATHON!  

Last Saturday I ran the second marathon of my life.  The first one I ran was 5 yrs. ago and I did pretty good I thought.  I finished in 4:05.  This one, I had HIGH hopes to qualify for the Boston Marathon and wanted my time to be around 3:30-3:40.  NOT SO, not even close!!  I finished in 3:58!  I should be happy since it was 7 minutes faster than my time of 5 yrs. ago, but it was really SUCKY (sorry, I hate that word) to feel SO defeated and to see my fellow running friend achieve a 3:35.  I felt like a LOSER with a capital L!!  I was doing really well until mile 19 or 20 when my whole system (mental, physical, and digestive) broke down.  That WALL you hear about, hit me with FULL force!  The last 5 miles of the race were devestatingly never ending.  I tried not to show the terrible pain and agony that I felt inside on my face nearing the finish line.  Here are a few pics. 

Life can be very much like a marathon.  Our race called life can be so uplifting and exhilarating and yet many times discouraging and overwhelming.  As my mind slowly changed over the course of the marathon from fun, pretty, strong, healthy, ouch, out of breath, out of energy, oww, I can’t run, this is so hard, will it ever end…I did eventually see the finish line and the crowds on both sides and my sweet husband worried sick that I ended up in the medical tent.  I straightened up and realized that I wasn’t a quitter.  I had the courage, capacity, and hope to keep going and finish my race.  

As in life, when it gets hard and so difficult you wonder how you will endure you have to remember that those feelings will not last forever.  You will overcome them and come out on top.  My favorite quote from college that my friend and I always said was, “This will all be but a brief moment.”  Stick it out through the killer pain and  reach your finish line of triumph!  My body will heal and I will come out stronger and I will start over with a NEW look on my fitness and health goals.  

More to come on my new health challenge to keep me away from my nemesis of sugar!!!  I am so happy right now and ready to start a new and exciting look on life.  I’ll post a GREAT workout we had yesterday that I am so sore from.  It is summer and the sun and light make me happy.

SEIZE THE DAY!!