Run Jac Run 🏃🏻‍♀️

Week 34 (of 2022)

Since my run yesterday (Sunday Aug 21st) with baby girl went well and the toe did NOT swell up, I am going to take that as the green light! Also, my tiktok of half the run got a couple hundred views and on Instagram I got like over 80 likes! lol, small things but that is kinda fun to me. 😁
Also – I want to add that I didn’t get to really look at my times/splits from the long run yesterday, but surprisingly I was averaging around 11 min/mi paces! Pushing a heavy stroller and heavy baby… heck yeah!

The weather forecast looks like it is supposed to rain all day every day. However, it has been known to be wrong! So, I am going to try to do as many runs outside as I can, but who knows what the weather will have in store. I should also mention, it isn’t just raining here – it is supposed to thunder and lightning as well. So…. yeah, definitely not a time to run outside when that is happening!

Monday (8.22.22) – Plan: Active Recovery Day! Stretching and 30 min walk
Actual: After doing the math I realized that doing a (OH EM GEE, I THOUGHT MY GOAL WAS 3 MILE WALK) wow… I feel silly. Since I thought (very wrongly) that I was supposed to walk 3 miles, and walking at 3.2mph on the treadmill it would have taken me nearly an hour to get done, I was being “smart” and doing run/walk method. Luckily, I felt really good and so I did 5 min walk / 5 min run (5.0, 5.2,5.5,5.7) progression. I made it to 3 miles in about 40 minutes. I did some light stretching before but really wanted to get moving more. Also, HOW HAVE I NEVER SEEN “When Harry Met Sally” ??? I am a die hard romcom fan, Harry is so cynical though – but I bet it gets good! I only got 40 minutes in to the movie, but now I am invested. Might have to finish it tonight. I know the boys are sick of my movies – I went on a binge this weekend watching “girlie” movies, but I had enough of their stupid fishing YouTube shows.

def not wearing proper shirt or sports bra for this run! If I just paid a little more attention to my notes.

Tuesday (8.23.22) – Plan: Upper body Strength + 2mi run
Actual: Boulder shoulders and bicep curls! Glute activation and 2 mi running + warm up and cool down (2.44 mi total) I am feeling REALLY good, really excited, my foot feels great and I am just trying to ride this wave of good vibes. Dumpling said “DAD” today! She is super close to crawling also. ❤ Also, watched more of When Harry Met Sally – I am really enjoying the movie! What do you like to watch or listen to when you are running on the treadmill?

Wednesday (8.24.22) – Plan: Core work + 3 mi run
Actual: I decided to use this as an active recovery day, I don’t want to get too ahead of myself and run myself down so that next week I am feeling too worn out. So, instead of the 3 mile run I did core work and then 2 mi bike and 15 minute walk. Simple, easy and just niiiiice. No sweat was created. lol (also I forgot a hair tie, so that like really made up my mind I wasn’t running!)

Got an email from soccer team and they are still putting teams together but asking parents to volunteer to coach. I am too nervous, but kind of want to do it! But, that would be a lot of commitment that I don’t think I can give, and I don’t know how invested the parents are, is it going to be magnet ball? (like the 4-5 year olds that are adorable) or is it going to be like real soccer?? I started playing at 10, so it was a little more organized but not much. But it seems that sports here are way more intense, so I am just going to not volunteer. My running will have to take the cake on this one.

Thursday (8.25.22) – Plan: Active Recovery / XT
Actual: I really really really didn’t want to go. In fact as I left for lunch I was planning on just going to Marshals or something and waste money. And then, something hit me… 1. I don’t have the $ to go spend and 2. I GET TO WORK OUT, I DON’T HAAAVE TO. And So, instead of going to shop I went to the gym. I saved myself $100 by not shopping and I did 25 minutes of strength + stretching. And I am really happy with that decision!

I’ve been trying REALLY hard to change my narrative and the way I think about my body, I am conscious that my kids watch and listen to me and hear what I say about my body so I don’t ever comment. I try to make healthy choices and when I say I want this because it is “healthy” I say something more like these vitamins make me stronger, my brain work better… etc. But, yesterday I just wasn’t having a good body day. I am not sure why, but it just was an unhappy body day. I kept it to myself though.

I am excited to get my run done today and put together a new tiktok! I will link it below when it is live 🙂

Friday (8.26.22) – Plan: 5 mi
Actual: 5 miles completed in 55:28 min, making my average pace around 11 min/mi! woo hoo, I watched “Hustlers” the stripper movie while running and it was a good distraction and kept me going. Toe feels great, but when I took off my socks a little toe on my left foot was bleeding! I have never lost a toe nail, maybe this year will be the year lol I am really happy with the progress and that I went to the gym 5 out of 5 days!!

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRfEFhwb/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChzypOtAd0s/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Saturday and Sunday will be cleaning out the storage rooms! We have been in our house now for 6 months and we have barely touched the extra rooms where we just piled things up. Before sports and the holidays come around, I should probably try to tackle a little bit of it!

total mileage: 10.44 miles 😀

Week 33 (of 2022)

This week I am supposed to start training, I have three runs to equal out to 10 miles on the plan. Howeverrrrrrr my toe keeps swelling up after being on my feet for a bit. And when it rubs against my shoe it tends to hurt a little. So, will need to rest it a little more.

With that being said Monday I did not go to the gym. Anything at the gym would have put stress/ weight on the toe. Since I did quite a bit of gardening / weed pulling this weekend, I figured today should maybe be an actual rest day?

Monday – Rest

(Tuesday thoughts) – you know when you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed and everything just feels shitty? Well, that kind of happened this morning… to EVERYONE. (nightmare) Hendrix was having a tough time with his clothes and emotions were at an all time high. The car line for drop off is still freakishly long and takes forever, so when we left I handed him my phone to catch some Pokemon and we headed to the donut shop. I was determined to turn the day around. What better way than some sugar? His new favorite donut is a chocolate eclair with no stuffing. So we sat in the trunk of the car talking and he ate his donut. He was only about 1 minute late for school, and since there was still such long lines I don’t think he will be marked tardy! Sometimes, it is the little things to help brighten up a day, I knew a hug wasn’t going to cut it so to our neighborhood donut store we went! 🙂 shhh don’t tell dad or baby girl we went to get yummies, they will be sad they missed out. (no, the baby doesn’t have donuts yet lol)

Tuesday – Plan: Upper body strength + 6 mi bike ride
Actual: 1/2 the upper body workout completed at home. I have taken it a little too easy and have let myself down. Switching my mentality from I have to work out to I GET TO WORK OUT!

Wednesday – Plan: Cardio + Abs workout + sauna
Actual: I actually ended up trying a Les Mills core workout that was playing in the room and just about DIED. There were 2 other girls in the class, one bailed after 5 minutes lol ( I almost did too) and then the other did only 1/4 of the workouts. It was HARD. After I did about 10 minutes on the ARC trainer and just kept repeating to myself “I GET to do this, I GET to do this.”

My best friend called crying me today when I got back to work. She is going through a lot and I knew she needed help. We have been talking about her coming out here to visit for 1.5 years, and something always came up. So, I bought her a ticket. And she flies out with my parents (basically her second family) at the end of November. While she can’t stay as long as them, I am so excited for her to visit. She helped us get ready to move out here, and that was the LAST time I saw her. Over 2 years ago.

This was after a run we did when I lived in San Diego still, we were so hot we ran into the ocean afterwards and it was the BEST. (I was in PEAK fitness shape lol)

Thursday thoughts – Every. Single. Morning for the last 2 weeks River has woke up at 4:37am and barked. I think someone is walking or something at that time past our yard. today though, it was the weather. So much thunder and lightning and he got scared. I must have dozed off a little because in no time my alarm went off. He barked some more around 6:30 and decided I would let him out early. I’M SO GLAD I DID! He went to the bathroom and I put him back in his crate to hang out for a little longer (he is the type that if you feed him earlier than normal he will DEMAND it at that time the next day and it takes a good week to break the demand lol) right after he laid back down and I got inside it started dumping rain. Oh yeah, I woke and my abs are SORE! Feels really good, my toe didn’t swell up yesterday either and it feels good this morning. So, looks like taking some time off was actually a really good thing.

Thursday – Plan: Assess the toe situation – if it is OK then maybe run 2-3 miles. If not just do the upper body pull + 30 min elliptical/ ARC trainer
Actual: I am so so so so so happy I went to the gym today!!! My toe feels great, but I am not ready to try to run. I did a full body weights session, ~20 minutes and then a short 5k bike ride (stationary). Quick, fast and easy!

After my workout I got a dreaded call that I did an invoice wrong and when I look to see the issues I am COMPLETELY baffled as to how the numbers changed, it makes zero sense when I copy from the previous invoice. So to end this tangent, I nearly screamed with frustration because these invoices have been a nightmare for the last 2 weeks. I thought it was all done and over and it has come back to BITE ME ONCE MORE. arrrggghhh

Friday – Plan: 2 – 3 miles + Unilateral leg workout or 45 min bike ride
Actual: RAAAAAANT incoming – I. AM. TIRED.
Hendrix has woken up every night the past week with a stuffed nose, trying to blow snot out at 1am. He has successfully woken up EVERYONE in the house each time he has done it too. He wasn’t trying to, he is just stuffed up and annoyed with his nose, I get it! But, I am tired. I just want sleep and the icky attitude is leaking out of me and I am lashing out. I want to run so badly, but I knew that running on the treadmill was NOT going to cut it. I am hoping with all hope that I can do some sort of activity tonight. Even if it is just a walk.

Saturday – Plan: REST

Actual: 2 mi walk with baby girl and then a mile walk with the pup and baby girl before the thunderstorm hit!

Sunday – Plan: 2-3 miles
Actual: 6.6 miles! the boys headed out early to go fishing and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go on a run with the baby girl. She woke me up at a not so bad time of 6:34am. Neither of us were quite ready to get out of bed. So, we rolled around and listened to music and giggled away. Finally I got up got ready chokes down a banana and had to pump because she wouldn’t nurse. By 7:30 we are out the door and on our next adventure! it was tough, my legs hurt, I was sweaty but luckily the sun was not up in the sky it was very very cloudy. For the first 45 minutes I adopted a run 10 minutes walk 1 to 2 minutes but then I faced a hill and I walked up that b**** LOL. After that we kind of just ran and walked and did whatever we found a little pickleball practice going on and watch that filled up our water bottles and just this run went from what should have been only 1 hour to close to 2 hours of running and walking so I’m pretty excited and happy to say that we did it the last 10 minutes she hated it she was getting hungry and she wanted to nurse, but now we’re good!

I really want to learn how to do running vlogs, I find so much inspiration from others when I watch theirs and love listening to them rant and talk and seeing where they run! That I’m like, what makes me like to watch?? I think because I can relate to them.. I really want to branch out and I love sharing my experience, through writing, pictures and videos. I like to look back on my training experience and show how far I’ve come. Check out my reel on Instagram at @runjacrun or on TikTok @jtok2989

Alsoooooo I have made my goals known to the family! I want to stop snacking on sugary foods. I’ve been definitely over consuming candy and chocolates and it’s been making me just feel bad about myself. So, yesterday was Day 1! I just want to shape up my diet a little and not eat icecream every single night with all the fixings on it lol. (Trust me, a lil is good!! I’m not getting rid of it completely, but I just need to not be so glutinous about it)

Week 32 (of 2022)

I woke up this morning (August 8th) and my toe is red and purple and swollen. It hurts a little, and isn’t the happiest of campers. All I can really do is just work with it.

This is the last week before pre-training begins! I am going to sign up for a half marathon and although it is at the end of January 2023, I expect I’ll probably run that distance in 2022. (which was one of my goals this year). We are going for sub-2! When I was in the best shape of my life (2019/2020) I was running on average 22-25 mi weeks with peak weeks as high as 35 miles! (WHAAAT! When I went back in my Garmin and Strava data I was shocked! lol) And my 2020 10k I was running 8:26/mi avg pace! HOLY MOLY! I hope to get that fast again. My dear friend, Jake, from Wisconsin is helping me strategize and get ready to crush my goals.

Personal goals for this training cycle:
1. Get new running shoes** literally the shoes I have been ogling over are 20% off right now, I feel like this is a sign even though I was trying to commit to no spend August (which has gone horribly wrong)
2. Continue strength train 2-3 times a week
3. Streettttcchhhh
4. Activate my glutes before each run
5. Focus on nutrition and REST
6. Have fun!
7. Stay positive
8. Find some sort of balance between work, running, strength and family time
9. Make sure to enjoy this process!

So for the next 4 weeks our first goal is to get back to 20 mi weeks.

Monday – Plan: REST
Actual- While I got to work early this morning to put in the time and hours, my computer decided it was still the weekend. I had to have IT work on it and it left me starting work later than normal. Also, my toe still hurts (uuughhhhh) and I have to leave early to go to “Meet the Teacher,” my son starts school on Wednesday! (where did summer go??)

I woke up (Tuesday) and my toe feels a lot better! It is red and purple and still swollen but I like cracked/popped it yesterday and it immediately started feeling better. So maybe I dislocated it?? Anyway, it feels great now. We will see how it holds up when I run today! One account i follow on Instagram is Grit Chicks, I love the owner/founder Jen who is so real and down to earth, she puts on women running retreats which is something I would love to do! But with a young child it isn’t something that I can do so easily right now. But I want to put it on my bucket list to do in my lifetime! While my aunt was here I told her I still really wanted to do our hiking trip we had fantasized about until she got hurt and had surgery and then I got pregnant. Guess it’s good those happened in the same year! Anyway, we might try to do a SHORT trip this fall… Or maybe just do a one day. There’s some good hikes 4ish hours from us so that might be something fun. It would be nice to have a night away from the kids 🤣

Tuesday- Plan: 3 mi EZ + strength
Actual: I tried to run outside with the dumpling and Hendrix this evening, we were going to test out the new mosquito repellent patches. But, we made it about .8 miles and turned around. Hendrix had his bike but I kinda knew he wasn’t going to make it the full 2 miles in the 86 degree heat so we decided it best to turn around. I dropped him off and ended up taking River on a short walk around the neighborhood.

Wednesday morning – A huuuuuuge storm formed near the beach and made its way up to us. After I dropped Hendrix off at his first day of school (second grade!!) I was on my way in to work and got a call from J, our power was out and two of the power poles/lines in our yard went down. Luckily within an hour the power company was out there to fix it. To be honest, this week has NOT been my week, but I am trying to not let it get to me… it is hard though. I worked through lunch both Monday/Tuesday making it so I didn’t have my “me time” and I am overly stressed on work right now. It’s making an impact on my mood. I have to remember that I need my “me time” and I feel BEST after I have worked out. So, unless I get called home for an emergency (storm or otherwise) I am going to the gym and I am going to run and lift. I just can’t put myself on the side burner any more.

Wednesday- Plan: 2 mi EZ + strength
Actual: Strength at home. My emotional well being after not really running in 2 weeks is at an all time low. I cried 6 times. I left work early (but not early enough to run) and sat in a parking lot to listen to my book and cry a little more. Pity party is done.

I am DONE. I am DONE not setting aside the time for myself. So, I am blocking off 12pm – 2pm EVERY DAY to work out. I don’t have to use that whole time, but I have to get out of the office for minimum of 30 minutes. If I WANT to succeed in running I have to make an effort. Yesterday I cried 6 times. SIX TIMES. Because I was so overwhelmed and sad I hadn’t put myself first in what feels like forever. Running and lifting helps me feel calm and like I have done something important for me. I can’t keep neglecting that side of myself and spiral. Enough is enough. No more excuses.

Thursday- Plan: XT
Actual: I woke up this morning having finally had some decent sleep, I didn’t feel like an ugly cloud was over me and I was ready to tackle the day. I got to work EARLY, I hammered down on invoices I was neglecting and hopefully they are correctly worked out. (a bit hard with having to send the gov’t stuff and they are so strict about billing certain things) I promised myself that I would take a lunch and go to the gym. I blocked off 12pm – 2pm for myself. I left right at noon and went to the gym. I did some glute activation workouts and ran for 4 miles! The last .37 miles were cool down. Unfortunately, the last .5 mile of my run I picked up the pace and my toe/foot starting hurting! Now that I am back at work it is hurting 5/10. And the toe next to the pinky is numb. I hope this doesn’t lead to anything worse! I am just so happy I did it and made it and didn’t make up any more excuses. 4.37 miles total

Friday- Plan: 5 mi
Actual: After speaking to the coach about my foot hurting he said (and I quote) “don’t run on it, ya dingus!” lol
So, today I treated my gym time like a doctor appointment and despite not wanting to go, I DID! So glad I did. I did some leg exercises from here and then 5.5 miles on the bike. My legs feel like JELLY.

Saturday – I got a butt load of new vitamins that I am happy about! Zinc, prenatals (for nursing), vitamin D, iron, B12.. and more but I am drawing a blank!! Anyway, today I mostly did stuff around the house and we went groxery shopping. My legs were SO SORE from yesterdays workout. In the afternoon I got a nap in and then had a burst of energy and decided I would pull weeds. About 1.5 hours later and the whole family joined me outside we pulled, mowed, listened to music and sweated it out. I got about .01 of the yard done lol. But afterwards, I took a look at my toe and it had swelled up again. We are thinking it’s a possible hairline fracture ☹️ so I am going to take some more days off to see what transpires, feet play a big role in LIFE and RUNNING so I gotta take my time with this injury if I want to succeed in my runs.

Sunday – a short walk to get donuts with the kids, dishes, vacuuming and more weed pulling! The B12 is really giving me a kick of energy and focus it seems! But even just that hour of weed pulling is really gnarly for the body, huh?!?! Got another nap in this afternoon and it was AWESOME! I think I slept for about 1.5 hours.

Week 31 (of 2022)

(Monday morning, August 1st) Since yesterdays failed attempt at a run and the weather just not working in my favor I was in a SOUR MOOD. Nothing was good enough, I was just downright upset. There were of course other factors, but I am not going to get into that. I know that if I had gone on that run, I wouldn’t have been in as bad of a mood as I was. That mood carried into Monday morning when nothing was going my way! I forgot my pumping stuff when I was already halfway to work and had to turn around. As I exited the freeway and tried to turn around I managed to mess up and get back on the freeway NOT going the right way! *major facepalm* so then my normal 25 minute peaceful drive was turned into an hour drive. Raced home to get my stuff, but I did remember to grab my Garmin watch (so that was one positive) and then raced back to work.

It was expected to be 88+ today and I was assuming just hot and miserable, but I was going to plan to run outside. Get acclimated to the heat and I just don’t want to run on the dang treadmill. Some times I am more than okay with it, lately though… I have just wanted to be outside! Whether or not it is miserably hot. But then, by 10am it started pouring rain. And then the thunder started… and I was so upset! I almost gave up and just didn’t do anything, especially since the afternoon and evening looked even worse. Luckily, there was a break in rain and thunder and I managed to get out there!

Monday- plan– 5k loop OUTSIDE + leg day??
Actual: Well, it was rainy! I genuinely thought it was going to be too much to run outside (also because of thunder) but I decided to go check it out, it’s called Glenn Sebastian Nature Trail. It has SAID there were paved areas 😂 it was all mud/dirt… Of course my shoes were not trail shoes but I managed well enough and didn’t slip and slide! I got a little lost and managed 2 miles rather than the full 5k. This run lifted my spirits in more ways than one! A little slipping and sliding and lots of rain, it was absolutely perfect and left me ecstatic! I kept a good pace (10:35) too, trying to run through the trees and worrying about lightning despite no rumbles of thunder, probably not the smartest to be running through trees during a storm, but it was just rain today. On my way to the gym, I found out where Fleet Feet is located! (literally .25 mile from the gym haha) And I went to the gym after my run and showered and changed because I had mud all over my legs. I have decided that once I have saved $300 I will get myself new running shoes – let’s not forget I am going to challenge myself to NOT spend any thing else till I have my shoes. So no more shopping and no more fast food – chipotle lol. Sometimes that just really hits the spot though. I put away $100-$200 a month in a separate savings account, so I should have new shoes by mid September! 😀 (unless something happens lol, knock on wood!)

Little turtle crossing the trail as I ran by 😊

My pace was definitely quicker than I normally do for my runs, but it was exhilarating and so much fun! I had to concentrate on the tree branches and make sure I didn’t trip on them, there weren’t many hills, there were some narrow trails and I definitely did a tick check after! I can’t wait to go back and explore more. Running on these trails really really makes me want to take River out and run, he LOVES trails and does so well. He is truly a working dog, and I love that I feel extra safe with him. (imagine a black lab lunging at you… lol, I haven’t been on the opposite side, but I have seen others when they approached the wrong way and he scared them good)

Tuesday – Plan: upper body strength and bike 30 min
Actual: I went to the gym… like I parked and thought about it, but I COULD NOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME WALK INSIDE. I DON’T KNOW WHYYYYY! I decided to check out Fleet Feet, and it was meh, customer service wasn’t really welcoming? and I wanted to get my feet scanned, even said it! And yet they didn’t do it. womp. I tried to get other recommendations, but was given very quick one off recs. It was also raining all day. I was going to attempt a run in the evening, but we gorged on delicious spaghetti and meatballs and the mosquitos were out in FULL FORCE. I did a little strength training but that was it.

I feel like I am unmotivated and motivated at the same time. I am motivated enough to WANT to run, but I don’t actually go do it? I find an excuse… like I don’t want to run on the treadmill, or it is raining, or the mosquitos (I feel like this is valid, there were GIANT ones and when I went out just to let River out to use the bathroom and hang out I got bit like 5 times). I planned to try to run Wednesday morning but it was pouring rain. I planned to try to get in a workout before work, but I ran out of gas. WHAT IS GOING ON? Maybe I really do need to sign up for a race in order to get my butt into gear. Time to have a talk with the Mister to get everyone on board. The only downfall is that it will be during the BUSIEST time of the year.

Wednesday – Plan: REST – haircut and pampering
Actual: I got my hair cut, and it was much shorter than I wanted, but it will grow and I’ll probably learn to like it. Also, after 15 seconds of deliberation and the go ahead by J, I am signing up for a half marathon. At first I was going to do this one in December but with the dumpling’s first birthday days before and my parents are supposed to be here then mash in Thanksgiving, Christmas and all that… waaaay too much! So, I’ve reached out to my friend who loves to help make running plans and is trying to get certified and he is going to make a plan with me!

Thursday- Plan: 4mi
Actual: This morning I had a meeting with Dept. of Transportation and it pretty much interrupted the rest of the day. And it was busy! Hoping to get in a run this evening. 1.5 mi run with pup and dumpling, it was too hot for river so we walked home slowly. Total of 2.2 miles, lets be honest it’s mostly walking since the pup

He would NOT look at the camera. Poor guy. He’s nearly 2, but was acting like an old man today. I didn’t think it was that hot and we were in the shade, but I’ll keep better eye on the temp and not exert him when it’s hot like this 😢

Friday- Plan: 2 mi + strength
Actual: core work! Glute activation! And 3 MI running 😝 I attempted 5, but was so hungry, didn’t fuel properly today and thirsty… Soooo 3 mi (on treadmill) and then met up with the kiddos and the aunt at the playground splash pad!

Saturday- Plan: 6 mi
Actual: 2 mi hiking/running with the oldest and the aunt and 1 mi running thru trails. Hendrix did awesome, I feel like from ages 5.5-7 or so he was just like so meh about going hiking with me. And today he wanted to explore and run through the woods some, I’m secretly hoping he will turn into a trail runner or something 🤣 he was a lot of fun to hang with, and when I went on my solo run I couldnt find any wide enough paths I felt safe in (scared of the giant spiders, enormous grasshoppers that just sit in the middle of trails and snakes) so I only made it one mile alone lol. Any suggestions on how to get over the bugs?!lol the grasshoppers I just feel like will jump on me and attack! Haha also, I just purchased (still waiting on delivery) mosquito repellent patches! You’re supposed to stick them on you (I believe just one) and they repell mosquitoes so you don’t have to worry about the spray being all down your arms and then you wipe your eyes and Ouch!!!

Hendrix was super awesome through the trails!

Sunday- Plan: REST
Actual: rest with a side of weeding, transplanting plants because one of our raised garden beds broke! And a good ol nap 😄 alsooo while I was doing laundry I accidentally hit my pinkie toe on the corner of the wall and OUCH! it hurts quite a bit, I’ve iced it and it’s still swollen but not black and blue. 🤞🏽 Hopefully it’s not broken… If it is, is there even anything that can be done??

7.5 total miles run

My last 5 years of Running

I started running FIVE years ago… weird to say because I still feel like a newbie. I started running when I turned 28 years old and my goal was to do a 10k in under 1 hour. I trained and fell in looooove with the process. We booked a hotel in downtown San Diego and I ran my heart out. (definitely overdressed, even though it was chilly for January early morning) I ran it in 56 minutes and 28 seconds. I was ECSTATIC! All I hoped for was to get it in under an hour, I was training at 10 min/mi so I knew I had to gas it up at the end to make it, but the thrill of the race and everyone around had me running faster than I thought I could.

That same year I decided to push myself and run a half marathon. I had seven weeks to prepare! My goal? FINISH it! There were some small rolling hills an it was much hotter than anticipated. I was also pretty bummed because my friend was supposed to join me and she slept through her alarm. So tackling that long run without that support was a definite bummer. But afterwards I got a glorious sports massage and was introduced to the massage gun – which I quickly put on my Christmas list! You can see my pained face here, I was definitely feeling like giving up.

Below was the second 10k I did (same race as the first picture) but following year. My goal was sub 55 minutes. I trained HARD for this race, I increased my speed training and fitness so much. I was hyper-focused and as you can see I dressed much better, despite the morning of the race it was in the 40s! I had throw away clothes so that I could keep my muscles warm while I was waiting for the race to start and then that light jacket tied around my waist. It was so cold that J and H stayed in the car in the heat the entire time! They tried getting out but I was already done with the race! haha I clocked in at 52 minutes and 22 seconds! Completely blasting away my goal!

Summer 2021….. PREGNANT! I had every intention of running my own marathon, I found out about 2 months after I started training I was pregnant. And, if you followed my blog I sporadically ran, kept in shape and movement but was not doing any kind of long distance running. I had a very rough pregnancy and it didn’t leave me much energy to do a whole bunch! As much as I wanted to be that pregnant runner running 10ks all the time, it just didn’t happen. I think I managed 3 miles around 26 weeks pregnant and I was super happy about that!

Summer 2022 – so far, I have run 6.5 miles as my longest run. After not a lot of deliberation, the mutual sign off from J to help support my dreams and my friend signing on to coach me through, I have decided to sign up for a half marathon! This will only be my second half marathon race, and the first in the South! It is set for end of January 2023, so it will be cold and PERFECT weather for long distance running.
Goal? SUB 2! Which means I get to not only increase my endurance but my speed and I am excited.

I love daydreaming, don’t you? My go to daydream is running early in the morning and everything goes perfect. Your body cooperates, there are no issues getting to the place you need to, your snacks and water are just perfect. The dinner from last night is sitting well (lol). I am excited for the next 5 months! Lots to unpack and do.

Week 30 (of 2022)

Hard to believe we have like 4 months left of 2022, which means 4 months till my littlest is ONE YEAR OLD. Which means then 6 months till my oldest is 8 years old. 😭 This has me spiraling. Also, it is making me realize that I don’t have the endurance (yet) to run a half marathon which was one of my goals for the year.

Monday – something like a switch turned on today after talking to one of my really good friends. And it’s like this motivation and determination came through me, making me really want to push myself to run further. I had a 2022 goal of running a half marathon, even if I got to double digits I would be ecstatic! While I was working out, I started with strength and thought at first “ehh I’ll just do this and get back to work” and I thought .. wait WHY? I should get on the treadmill for a bit and run, just try. And so I did. A nice easy pace for 15 minutes. Totaling 1.5 mi on the treadmill and PUSH day. I even did glute activation exercises before running and I could actually feel my butt alive! No more dead butt 🫣

I went down memory lane a little on my IG and really missed the drive I had to run. I want it back, and running these last few days really made me realize how much I miss pushing myself! So I think I might start a training plan and definitely need to make it a point to run OUTSIDE and not on the treadmill. The biggest issue is support at home, it’s not an “issue” it’s a commitment I need from everyone though. And with a little little there it’s tougher, but it can be done!

Tuesday– last night I slept like the DEAD! I slept so hard it was amazing and the dumpling only woke up once around 4:30-5 (guessing as I didn’t look at my watch) to eat! Compared to what has been going on for the last few weeks of waking up 2-3 times a night… I was ecstatic! 😀 My shoulders And chest are a little sore this morning, like a good sore? Like I can feel my muscles growing! And I’m ready for a leg day today. My aunt comes back into town tomorrow (I know! She comes a lot! But she’s retired and loves hanging out and she helps out so much, it’s actually really nice of her and she’s helped us out soooo much over the last few years, we would never say no to her coming to visit lol)

Tuesday workout – legs and glutes! And then 15 min walk/run on the treadmill to loosen up my legs because WOW they were hurting after that strength training today. I definitely took my BCAAs after this one. 😵‍💫😵‍💫

DOMS for sure (delayed onset muscle soreness)

I guess with 4 days (Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues) in a row of working out I need to take a day off. Wednesday – active rest day! My legs really needed this rest, they are sooooore. I did end up going on a walk with River and the dumpling in the evening. Had to spray down with bug spray so I wouldn’t get bit up. Last week during our morning runs I got bit up so badly around my knees! They are still itching!

Thursday- The dumpling has expressed so much more interest in food, she had avocado last night and apple blueberry puree. We all slept like logs and I am happy to announce she slept till 6:45! Woke up around 5:30 to nurse and then she was back down again 😀 (8:15pm – 6:45am HELL YEAAAHHH) So proud of her haha.

I went to TJ Maxx at lunch 😩 because I was supposed to have a meeting today and so I didn’t bring work out clothes… So I went shopping! Ugh and this is why I need to go to the gym haha 😂 but I got 2 pairs of running shorts, one tank, one visor and one hat (all for running!) So I’m very excited for the new gear. One pair of New Balance shorts have like 5 different pockets, zippered, mesh all kinds….it’s awesome! But in the mirror they looked slightly too big? I’m taking them home and will test them out again to see. I loved the extra pockets for gels and stuff though. But maybe I do need to size down 🤷‍♀️

Friday – battling a huge headache today so focused on hydration and decided to not go to the gym. Buuuut I am planning on doing a long run tomorrow! Whether I make it to the Fairhope group run (not even sure if it’s really on as they haven’t answered my question, I reached out on IG thinking I would get a quick response… But I haven’t. So, even if I make it and there is no run, Fairhope is still a beautiful place to run. So instead of the gym, I went to MARSHALLS. LOL. 🫣🫣 I got a running top, a UPF long sleeve top and also one for J so that I could … You know, sneak in the rest of the stuff I got. And I got a 2 pack of the cutest little rompers for the dumpling. I tried to find a moisture wicking top for Hendrix but there were none in his size!! But I did get him a new backpack and school supplies that come next week 🤷‍♀️I tried lol

Saturday – I made it 7 miles! OUTSIDE! I feel like a real runner lol 😅 so excited about making it this far… Unfortunately I did not make it to the group run, I had to really drag myself out of bed at 5:30 this morning lol. I waited till the sun came up and left around 6:30am with River. We did our normal loop and clocked in 2.3 miles. It was already pretty hot out, so we definitely took it nice and slow, averaging 11:30-11:40 min/mi. We stopped a few times for water as well. I dropped him off after the loop, used the bathroom and grabbed some more water and was back out the door. By that time both kiddos were up but hanging out with Aunt Mel and doing fine. I did another 4ish miles (to equal 6.5) then walked the last half mile. I think, looking back, I could’ve definitely ran another .5 mile to make it my goal of 7 miles ran. But oh well! I’m so proud of myself for getting to 6.5. 😀

After the run I got ready and we went to Graham Creek Preserve where they had a little event and met up with some other ladies and hung out. It was HOT. luckily it was only a 2 hour event. The older kids did slip in slides and ran through the bubble machines while the babies babbled away. Then we came home and ate some lunch and we all took naps 😴. Oh! And Haze has a tooth poking out! It finally cut through, which is amazing because she made very little fuss about it where as Hendrix was a total crybaby when he was cutting teeth lol.

I will not be wearing low rise shorts + a crop top + running with River… He kept switching sides and the waist leash was rubbing on my stomach!

Those are the new shorts, they are pretty good but I definitely wish they were high waist!! Overall 7/10! And they were like $15 new balance! So win!

Sunday– morning I actually felt good enough to go on a run, but chores were calling me and by the time I finished (9:30am) it was all ready too hot to go out safely with River. So maybe later in the evening! Checking in at 7pm and it’s still 87° outside!! So that’s a no go 😩 but the weights did arrive today! So that’s pretty awesome!

Week 29 (of 2022)

Goals for the week: HYDRATE AND GET OUT FOR A WALK IN THE EVENINGS- try to get energy back and daily movement.

On a brighter note – we signed up for soccer! I had to pull myself back from signing up to coach, but I might volunteer to be an assistant coach. Hendrix is super excited to start and asks to practice during the evenings – win! We are dribbling down our yard and trying to score on each other and I had him practice headers- which he is really good at!

Monday- We went on an evening walk, but to be honest my legs hurt and were tired so we didn’t go far and we didn’t play any soccer. I think it was more that I wore heels today to dress up for work and my muscles were like WHOAAA. On a brighter note, J is trying to quit smoking. He has smoked for 34 years! (Product of the 80s and parents smoking in the car and house, he picked up cigarettes at 4 years old) It has always been a hot button issue with us – while I admit I used to smoke when we met, but once I was pregnant I quit and never went back. (yay me, celebrating 8 years of NO CIGARETTES!) So, anyway… he has finally had enough and I hope that it sticks and he quits. I will support him as much as I can, but ultimately it is his journey. He has tried many times before, but did not succeed. I was pretty restless sleeping, even though I was dead tired and laid down at 9pm!

Tuesday- Even though I packed gym clothes and had every intention of going to the gym, I didn’t go. I got Chipotle instead, and my eyes were much bigger than my stomach because I barely ate half of it. However, after a delicious spaghetti and meatball dinner I took the dumpling and River on the 2 mile walk! I miraculously managed to hit 10k steps today too! YAY!! It wasn’t too hot at 6:30, but River was TIIIRREEDDD, and we stopped often and he had plenty of water, but he definitely wasn’t used to the long walks since the last few weeks I have been under the weather. You would think that after a long work day staring at numbers – leaving my eyes and head HUUURTING and then a nice walk that I would be tired and have a great night sleep, but sadly I did not. Apparently bad sleep is accompanied with post-covid recovery (go figure).

We have a fan setup for the baby girl so she has some wind on her! I just gotta get some ties to keep it pointed at her more properly

Wednesday- Plan: I want to restart the strength workout from Nourish, Move, Love – I really enjoyed those workouts so hoping to get to gym and redo DAY 1!
Actual: I was sooooooooo close to not going to the gym! I ate my remaining Chipotle (from yesterday) and was so full and didn’t feel like going. But also, I couldn’t imagine working straight through work without any type of break. DILEMMA! So, I decided to go to the gym and just tryyyyyy to do something. Day 1 leg day completed! and 35 minutes walking on the treadmill, making it 2 miles. 😀 Low impact and I am loving it.

Also, can we shout out to the fact I feel stronger right now and am happy with my body image at the moment? This doesn’t happen all the time, so I am really just trying to roll with it!

Another also – I purchased new uniforms for my son for school. He is growing so dang tall, his pants nor shirts fit him anymore! Hopefully he isn’t inbetween sizes and they fit. We shall see! Annnd then I priced out all the school supplies- which no longer are we supposed to buy just for our kid, but for the whole classroom?? I understand like helping the teacher out, but they are asking us to buy multiple marker PACKS, multiple crayon PACKS, 50 pencils, dry erase markers, lysol wipes, kleenex galore…. it is A LOT. I remember back to school shopping was us buying things for our individual selves… and then of course chipping in for like kleenex or whatever – and I think it should be that way, because HELLOOOOO GERMS! Like, why can’t each kid have their own set of markers like the good old days? Because nowwwww they put it in a community pot! eww.

Thursday– unfortunately, Jesse keeps forgetting to turn off his dang fishing alarm! So for the past month, every Thursday morning his alarm blares at 3:20am!!! THREE TWENTY IN THE MORNING! ughhhhh it’s the absolute worst! And every morning I’m like “you need to turn that alarm off!” And every week it still goes off. 🙄 So, after that alarm I had a really hard time getting back to sleep. My legs and glutes are a little sore, but not terrible. It was a good workout yesterday and didn’t leave me unable to walk or too sore. So I’m pretty happy!

I tried to go shopping at Old Navy for pants, not like I really need more but I was trying to find some without rips in them! Unfortunately though, their pants just don’t fit me! So I left empty handed, which is probably better for my wallet than anything.

Friday- happy birthday to me! I turn 33! Yikes 😳 I was going to try to get my haircut since I’m in dire need and it’s been 7 months! But the salon I was going to try out today is booked. Was GOING to go to the gym- decided I didn’t want to. lol.

Saturday – I planned to go on a run in the morning with River and Hazel. But when morning actually came around I really didn’t want to 😂… But I’m so glad we did!! 2.75 miles total (2.5 mi ran) it was a perfect morning! I did get bit 5 times by mosquitoes but that’s the price I had to pay! I surprisingly had a lot more energy and could’ve gone much longer but River seemed to need to rest and wouldn’t lay down until we got home… And I decided instead of trying to push myself too far I would come home. Had some coffee! Started watching Persuasion on Netflix and ate the 2 day old spaghetti and meatballs. Lol

My aunt is coming into town next week and for my birthday present she is buying me dumbbells! Those great ones that you can adjust the weight! 😃 At first I told her no, then I thought more about it and it would be amazing to be able to get in my strength at home. If I’m lucky maybe I could continue to do running outside at home. I really really enjoy running outside rather than in the gym. I wish river could run further, maybe in the winter, or we just build up, if I could get him to 4 miles consistently it would be awesome!

Sunday– another ~2 miler in the books! It was a bit hotter and a little later than yesterday. The dumpling and River strapped up and rearing to go. 2.35 miles to be exact, the .35 miles was our cool down.

Also, we walked around and looked at our veggies, and found a watermelon! Jesse was just about to take out the watermelon patch thinking it had been eaten all by an animal and then… Look!

Somehow this escaped us each time we went to look at the patch, (nearly EVERY SINGLE DAY) how bizarre, right?! And we found a few more small ones, hurray!

For my first week back after COVID, 3 solid workouts is GREAT! And I feel strong and really good. 😄

Week 28 (of 2022)

This week didn’t go as planned at all.

From last Friday (July 8th) I started getting more physically sick and was able to rest most of Friday night and Saturday morning. But then…. Everything went downhill and I no longer had the luxury of rest.

Jesse declined quickly. He was in bed Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday. I took the kids out to the park to play forcing myself to just be okay, but my throat was killing me.

By 6pm the littlest started feeling warm, I started thinking maybe we need to take a COVID test just in case, I was thinking I could go to work and just bring the kids to let Jesse rest. But it was positive. Everything kinda went crazy then. A range of emotions that spiraled out of us all because we didn’t know what to expect from this… I didn’t think it would be this bad …

I asked a friend to pick up medicine and drop it off on our porch. I gave the dumpling some Tylenol. She vomited EVERYWHERE. it was horrible! She immediately spiked her fever higher, in the cold bath she went. I was too nervous to give her Tylenol again… Rookie mistake. Through out the night I kept a cold compress on her, but by 4am she spiked to almost 103° … We had to put her back in the tub…. It was bad, she’s too young for a fever to be that high. Packed the bags and took her to the ER. We were there for 5 hours. She tested positive for COVID too, and then once her fever broke and she got fluids in her and no more fever spike we came home.

Our oldest kept saying he was doing fine, we took him at his word. Monday night we go to sleep and it’s the first good sleep I had in a while… I wake up around 5am to the oldest whining a little.. I check on him, he’s burning up at 104° !! In the cold bath he goes … Everyone is up now. Baby is crying, Jesse is freaking out. This has been our week so far. Trying to stay calm in a not so calm time.

Tuesday Check in – Since Sunday (the 10th) I have has 2 small meals, one was a turkey wrap and the other was chicken noodle soup. Both meals have sent me to the bathroom and I don’t know how much I really got to enjoy it or get the nourishment from it. I’ve lost about 3 pounds in 2 days so far. ** in total all week I lost 6-7 pounds and gained back about 2.

Wednesday morning – me on 2.5 hours of broken sleep because I was checking on my oldests’ temperature. It keeps rising to 103+ and I can’t keep it down. It’ll go down for 30 minutes and spike back up. I am tired. I tried sleeping. It’s just really hard knowing your kids are suffering and that high of a temp for long periods of time isn’t good. My throat still hurts, I think I’m having reactions to too much Tylenol… If that’s even a thing because I was itchy all over last night. My head hurts, my eyes hurt, I’m slightly light headed but I am pushing on. Because we don’t have anyone else to help. Everyone else is thousands of miles away.

But, some good news…. Baby dumpling was constipated from Friday to Tuesday when I got in some baby laxative in her and she is now regular!

Friday morning check in- no more fevers or chills. Everyone is still tired, and and J are coughing a lot and congested. Baby girl isnt such a limp noodle and can sit up and play on her own 😀 yay. I’m still exhausted.

I’m going to make an appointment this weekend to get tested to see if I’m still positive and hopefully get the clear to go back to work!

Saturday and Sunday I made an effort to get out on a few walks with the pup and kids. We went slow and did 20-30 minutes. Totally wiped us out. Sunday we took a 3 hour nap! 🤣 Still getting our energy back and trying to get food and hydrate ourselves back to health.

Everyone is still feeling fatigued. There are a lot of food aversions and headaches. Today, July 18th- I went into work.. and am working slowly with a mask on – we are all trying to get back to our normal routine. Hoping the home front is successful.

Week 27 (of 2022)

I am really happy that I got in a few runs with River, even though they were short – it was a lot of fun! He did really well with the fireworks, barking – yes.. but literally as soon as we go “River, it’s ok!” he laid down and was quiet – like how cute is that? I am not sure if I want a real plan this week or not, I think my only plan is to be active every day. And try to do strength

Monday– Happy July 4th! or… maybe not? We didn’t really celebrate and I really didn’t feel the need to… because America isn’t really all that free right now… but I don’t really want to go into it.

I don’t agree with the overturn of Roe V Wade – and it scares me to death of what this means and what it could mean for my daughter. I am trying to not let it swallow me whole though.

Tuesday- Plan: Legs & Chest Strength + 30 min run EZ pace
Actual: 2.91miles – As it got later and later in the day I realllly didn’t want to go to the gym. I was trying to tell myself it was just too late to go and it would be weird only have 1.5 hrs left of work. But, don’t we all deserve a break?? YES! So, I went. I am really glad I chose to do my run first because I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to run after that strength training! It was GOOD, fired up my quads and glutes big time. 30 min EZ pace and around 20 minutes in I took a 1.5 minute walk break. I started “Only Murderers in the Building” (on Hulu) – and if you haven’t seen it… WATCH! It is really good.

I watched the first season when it first came out with my dad when they visited during Christmas/New Years/ welcoming baby dumpling to the world. So, today, I watched episode 1 of season 2. It got me through my workout and excited to continue watching! I am going to save this for my treadmill runs to keep me going strong. Only problem is the ads lol… but oh well! I am really happy with my effort today and that I actually went to the gym. *gold star!!* We went to bed super early too, which I loooooved. I am a grandma when it comes to bed time, J was ready for bed around 9:15pm and I was like HELL YEAH! Very excited for the extra sleeps.

Wednesday morning I am pleasantly surprised I am sore! I can feel my arms a little sore and my legs and glutes are definitely sore.

this cracks me up, because – yeah.. it’s true… whenever I do strength I am like yeah gonna build the booty lol

Do you guys listen to audio books? I did download ROAR by Staci Sims and that is an interesting listen, but I probably need a hard copy to really understand it all, and have it in front of me. I also just finished a book called “After I Do” by Taylor Jenkins Reid which was interesting, sad at some points but a good read. I just started “Act Your Age, Eve Brown” by Talia Hibbert – the third book in the series. If you can tell, I like the “rom-com girlie” books – they are easy reads and put me in a good mood! I listen to the books most often when I am driving to and from work.

Wednesday- Plan: Upper body pull work out + biking
Actual: The upper body pull was GNARLY! I cleverly went along with the youtube workout instead of just following the written out plan, put my phone in my running belt and when I needed visionary assistance with the move I could look at it easily. My biceps are WRECKED! My back will also probably feel good and strong tomorrow too! I enjoyed the cardio breaks where we were punching and jabbing haha. I ended up doing 20 min incline walk and made it around 1 mile. I must say I am really enjoying strength and I am definitely challenging myself this month to keep with it and focus on this rather than mileage. I even foam rolled after my walk! My back cracked a lot, it felt fantastic!

Thursday- Plan: Unilateral legs workout + speed workout?
Actual:

Friday- Plan: Dynamic stretching and mobility and if up to it 35-60 min of running EZ pace
Actual: 2 miles on the treadmill followed by sauna

Friday ended with me feeling not so great and achy. I went to bed early and we slept a lot Saturday….. Sunday I felt better but had a sore throat. J was knocked out by “something”… Can you guess what? Yep. We have COVID. And I’m desperately trying to make sure the kids don’t get it but it’s really hard and I don’t know what to do. Luckily I only was tired and achy Friday and Saturday night with some chills and Sunday I’m mostly okay minus a sore throat. I still have to stay home and can’t go to work and just gotta take it easy. This is our first time with COVID so that’s pretty crappy. Hope y’all had a good weekend!!

Week 26 (2022)

I tend to forget (often) that I am in fact a hardcore introvert. I don’t do well among chaos, uncontrollable situations or a lot of people and I can’t let many things go in my environment. I also forget to feed myself adequate protein and drink my water. So, as I write this Monday morning I have a raging headache, I really want to curl up in a dark room under a blanket and nurse my lack of protein and dehydration headache to sleep. It is Monday the 27th of June – just so you know, I update this weekly blog every day so that I don’t forget things… which happens way more than I want to admit.

My cousin and her three kids came yesterday (Sunday) and it was pure chaos. CHAOS.

What I expected was chaos, but outside???!! lol. Not running in and out of the house, not leaving the door open, ESPECIALLY not eating food and walking around and spinning with food and chunks going places. That left me dumbfounded… my cousin is a much more lax parent apparently… and so J and I set some rules… when you are eating, you sit down at the table. If you can’t concentrate on the food in front of you, TV goes off. No, you can’t get up from the table to get a toy while you are eating, you are EATING. Is this a normal thing?? With more kids do you just have to be more lax about things?? I don’t know haha… they just run a different ship – especially when it comes to bed time! I am not trying to be mean or judgmental, but they let the kids (ages 10,8,5) go to bed around 9:30-10pm…. and me and J are like “but then when do you guys (parents) get to hang out and enjoy some peace and quiet!??” Kids need sleep, so bedtime for H is 8pm, unless weekends it might be 8:30pm depending on what we did that day. If it was super active, 8pm sharp… if it was more chill, we might float an 8:30pm. But that’s it, then we can watch our shows for an hour and have our snacks that we don’t want to share (lol) and go to bed. That is our unwind time, ya know? (Even the dumpling goes to bed by 8:30! haha) But when kids go to bed so late, its like WHAT…. why??? Anyways… they left this morning for NOLA and will be back.. I don’t know when exactly because my brain isn’t working properly and I am just nervous haha. Nervous for baby dumpling who was so overstimulated she took probably 6 naps yesterday. So, we will see how work outs go this week, will probably keep them pretty light. *edit to add – baby girl slept nearly all day Monday, fell asleep early and slept hard all night long and then Tuesday night fell asleep at 7:15 and slept through the night – it’s like she is preparing for some long wake nights soon*

Monday- Plan: 30 minute strength workout following Nourish, Move Love SplitStrong Day 1! According to my Garmin run plan I am supposed to do intervals (threshold pace, 4 minutes. Recovery jog, 90 seconds. Repeat 4 times) We will see if I feel up to it or if I do an easy paced run or NOTHING. I am giving myself grace – I really don’t feel that I need to run feeling today, but I know once I move my body I will wake up more and feel much better!
Actual: I drove to the gym and quickly turned around because I got SUPER dizzy and wasn’t feeling too great. Not sure what is goin on, but I am definitely struggling with something. I ended up going home early feeling extremely nauseous and dizzy. I slept for over 3 hours, just dead to the world. Woke up totally blegh, but not nauseous… I think my body was so stressed from having company??

Tuesday- I honestly feel like my symptoms yesterday are still lingering today and my body is releasing a lot of stress, and bottled up emotion?? At least that is what I am hoping for, so I am just taking things nice and slow and easy right now. I am tired, and still getting a little motion sick. I have very little appetite and am having trouble hydrating.

Wednesday- Feeling way more normal! No more dizziness (yet!) I had excess energy last night and I felt like I needed to work out, so I hope today that energy holds up and I can go to the gym for a bit.
Plan – JUST GO!
Actual – I Made it!!!! I enjoyed a “push” day with Nourish, Move, Love and did a little extra core work as a Les Mills virtual class was playing in the background – honestly might try one next week! It seemed good. Anyway, did that and then did 15 minutes of incline walking. Strength made me feel soooo much better and I had no intentions of running today – it is not happening right now. And that’s ok. So a good 30 minute strength + 15 minutes of cardio!

Thursday– Plan: The cousins and all the children will be here, but I hope to possibly get some yoga and a deep stretch in. The weather is expected to be horrendous, but perhaps we can turn it into something fun!
Actual: Everyone stayed up till nearly 1am the night before and dumpling slept like poop and woke up early early so I did not get any yoga or stretching in. We enjoyed the morning watching the rain, listening to thunder and lightning and chatting over coffee while the kids played games inside. Around 11am we went to a nearby bowling alley (that we have never been to) – it was pleasantly really fun! The pictures on Google did not do it justice. There was a good size arcade, laser tag, obstacle course, rock climbing and bowling! Once we got out of the house, it was much easier handling the kids! We got to enjoy the arcade and bowling – first for bowling for all the kids.. so that was really fun and special! We also went to Olive Garden for lunch and then for dinner we got WAY TOO MUCH sushi – there was so much, but it was soooooooo good!

Friday- Plan: 2 mile run and core work
Actual: I FREAKIN DID IT! 2 miles EZ and core work! It felt great, did I really want to go to the gym, no! But I did and I am sure glad I did 😀

Saturday – it felt like a good morning to get River out and run. So we did 1.8 miles and it was fun!! Pushing the stroller and running with River we still managed to play with a little speed and I felt great pushing myself! I guess it’s easier when you know it’s only for a short time and I was hitting some fun 8s !!

We went to the library and got some new books for H and an audio book! I am trying to get him more interested in books, so I’m introducing audio books. We picked out a ghost hunting book and then drove around listening to it and stopped to get cookies from Crumbl. My favorite was the one that tasted like a cinnamon bun (second from left)! Also the chocolate and peanut butter one was super yummy!

Left to right brownie with peanut butter and chocolate on top, cinnamon swirl, chocolate chip, golden Oreo (all were good! I liked them even better the second day 😂) you gotta put them in Tupperware so that they don’t dry out!

Sunday– pop up showers totally killed my plan to take River back out for a run! Like it was just pouring!! So I turned on Breakfast Club and ate some delicious cherries!

Since I am trying to sign up H for soccer (I am so excited about this) we decided once the rains stopped and things dried out to take the ball out and do a mini lesson. So a couple laps in the grass, some dribbling and passing and then attempted to run around the “circle” which is a little over .5 mile. But we’ve got a starting point and he can run, when there’s a purpose.mm like chasing a ball or a kid lol.

Mushroom in our yard I thought was really cool

By 7pm it cooled down to around 82° and I took River out for a quick run, only 1.25 miles but just enough to get moving and grooving and he loved it. Baby dumpling was down for what I hoped was an early night but she decided to wake up while I was out 😂 so I came home dripping sweat And baby girl sitting with dad with her looking at me like WHERE DID YOU GO?! lol

The last few days I’ve really enjoyed getting outside running even though it’s not the most favorable weather. . but it’s nice to know running still brings me joy!

Questions – do you or did you have any rules your children were expected to follow? Have you ever had an eye opening experience where you see another parent do something totally opposite of what you consider “normal parenting?” I know every one parents differently and in the end every family and child is different… I just remember certain rules I had to follow as a kid and those still kinda stick with us now.