Run Jac Run 🏃🏻‍♀️

Week 36 (of 2023)

I looooooOOOOOooovve the message behind this runner’s club. Unfortunately she is in London, but she is trying to conquer all challenges and does what she can because she knows one day she won’t be able to. And that is a great way to look at things! And it is this weeks’ motivation for working out!

I have about a week till Half Marathon Training starts! So I want to obviously prioritize running, I want to make sure I am strength training as well. With tutoring done I feel like I am not as panicky with getting runs/strength done during lunch – or maybe just for the time being? It does mean that I have to do a lot more work one on one with Hendrix once I get home. But hopefully we can keep things smooth sailing!

Goals for the week: KEEP MOVING EVERY DAY!

Monday – (9.4.23) happy labor day! We slept in till 8:15am – yesssssss!! Then I chugged coffee and Hazel and I got ready for our run/walk with River. The weather has cooled a little (teeny tiny bit – read mid-high 80s instead of 100s! lol) bit and I really wanted to get back out there. I wasn’t as sore as I thought I was going to be after Sunday nights run. Woo Hoo! Even though I was super easy paced that night, I didn’t get to stretch and so I was worried it would be tough this morning. But I warmed up well (yay for finally finding my little exercise band I thought I lost but cleverly tucked into my hydration vest) and we walked across the highway (it’s barely a highway but it is!) And we set off on a nice easy jaunt. River did really well and while I was hoping for 4 miles, he got STUCK and transfixed on the high school boys playing football at the academy so we had to turn around and cut the run short. He is a bird dog- and he stands pointing at them directly and just following the ball in the air. It took everything in me to keep him from running onto the field and tackling the boys to get the ball!! It was still a lot of fun though- and I LOOOOOVE running with him! Hazel really enjoyed it too, not only the weather being much nicer, but she got to pet River and hold his leash a little bit too.
(5.41 miles total for the day)

Photo obviously taken later bc my shoes are different!! Lol did you notice?!? 🤣

We did an evening walk where the dumpling fell asleep almost instantly – read as I tried to take an afternoon nap, she refused, but when she got in the stroller she passed out!! Totally not fair.. and then River rolled in sewer water (at the very end of the walk)!! Omg he stinks so badly – there wasn’t enough time to wash him that night sooooo I just dumped water on him to try to get as much stink off him as possible. And I hand-washed his vest and leash because it was FILTHY.

Tuesday (9.5.23) – My arms are DEAD. I joined the Les Mills BodyPump class today and it was a full body workout. My biceps and triceps are still hurting after. My quads were definitely hurting during but now as I write this up, not as much. Probably by tomorrow it will all be sore – ha!! But I am glad I did it and finished a good strength training workout. After I did some extra stretching and some fast-twitch movements.

A quick walk around the neighborhood on the new wheels! She was trying to ride without holding on so we had to keep stopping to make sure she held on properly ha! She’s a dare devil…

Then our neighbors (and dogs) were out so we said hi to all their dogs and unfortunately one of them jumped and got hazel and scratched her down her face! Nearly getting her eye! Thank goodness it didn’t! 😢

She did a little cry and then was fine, and we cleaned her up and put neosporin on it – hopefully it heals well and she doesn’t get a scar there- pretty gnarly to have a scar like that! I called it her evil villain origin scar haha!

Wednesday morning check in – first off, it feels like it is only Tuesday, but with the three day weekend it is nice to be halfway through the week! My body feels HEAVY and sore, my arms are definitely feeling the workout I did yesterday! But, I feel good and strong.

Wednesday – 9.6.23 Plan: 3-4 mile recovery run + core?
Actual: There was a 30 minute Les Mills Core workout at noon! I made it there and it killed me! It was so so tough! It worked core and back muscles and my legs were ouchy ouchy they got heavier every second I was working out.

I managed to get in the run, barely finishing because I had to pee so badly!! Treadmill said 4 miles and 45:24 minutes and Garmin says 3.87! ahhhh I hate that part —- ewww my watch needs to be cleaned! Also, I saw the most disturbing thing today on the treadmill! This guy was on one in front of me, and he was sweating up a storm – good for him! buuuuuuut there was sweat spraying from him, down the treadmill, screen, arm rest things? on the side of the treadmill where you run, it was basically SOAKING WET. And when he finished, he BARELY wiped it down. I was absolutely appalled by it and from now on I will ALWAYS clean my treadmill before and after and never get on that treadmill he went on, I am going to keep an eye on which ones he goes on.

This was really 4 miles. But Garmin doesn’t calculate right inside 🙄

Thursday – 9.7.23 Plan: 3 mile tempo + maybe half a Body Pump class
Actual: I am very glad I made it to the gym! I decided to leave at 11:45 (as I have been to make the class) and I went to the GYM. There was no like ehhh maybe not today, I mean there were those thoughts… but I pushed them away. I did a mile warm up (5.0-5.2mph) then a pee break and then attempted to increase speed to 7.1mph for three miles. I basically did 1 mile (treadmill showed 1, garmin did NOT) and then a 2 minute walk, then 1 mile and 2 minute walk. I averaged around 6.5mph and did go up to 6.9 briefly. I wore my new shoes, which to be honest aren’t supposed to be for speed – but I have been wearing my speed shoes every day, so I needed to give those a break! In the last tempo mile I just COULD NOT HANG. I think I stopped halfway through and even though I was like “you aren’t done till you are done!” I stopped. My legs are sore, my feet hurt, I have one more week till training starts and I might need to actually take a small break or at least rehab something and not force myself to injury. The treadmill picture shows 3 miles, but that is because the first mile (warm up) was a start then stop to pee moment and it didn’t save!

check out the new shoes!! They are fun, I don’t know if these are cushiony enough ha!! I hope they work for long runs. They are the Craft CTM Ultras so I mean, they should be good shoes for many many miles to be put on at once, right???

Since I technically was supposed to do 1 mi warm up, 3 mi tempo, 1 mi cool down… and I stopped early I knew I owed it to myself to foam roll.

I took some time to properly foam roll my IT band, by which you don’t roll on it but hinge (if that makes sense?)

Also, I am thinking about getting up early and trying to walk River in the morning!

** Update on Hazel’s dog scratch – it is healing fine! and there 99% won’t be a scar there 🙂

Friday – 9.8.23 Plan: Active recovery 45 min WALK + BodyFlow 30 minute (Les Mills)
** I slept like a LOG last night!!! I did not get to wake up early to take River out for a walk, but dang I was exhausted after the weeks’ activities! Luckily Hazel and I went to bed at 9:30 and I passed out immediately.
Actual: I decided I needed some outside walking time and not in the unbearable hot hot heat. So I took it upon myself to go on a little walk before work. I dropped off Hendrix at school and went to the nearby trail and walked for about 25minutes. I got to see a deer on the trail also! It didn’t even spook that quickly which I was shocked by.

GARMIN SHORTING ME AGAIN!! I GOT 2 MILES 😩

Saturday – 9.9.23 Plan: 8-10 mile run with Haze + 2-4 mile walk with River + clean the whole house in prep for mom’s arrival.
Actual: 3 mile morning walk with River + cleaning and laundry + .4 mi walk through the same place I went to yesterday and saw the deer except it was too close to nap time and Hazel wasn’t down for the exploring. It was too bumpy in the stroller as well.

Sunday – 9.10.23 Plan: 2 mile walk with River
Actual: 2 mi walk with River!

Life + responsibilities is greater than the run sometimes. Kitchen and bathroom cleaned ✨small grocery haul ✅ dog bathed 🐕 🫧 vacuumed house 🏡 deep cleaned car seat 😁 and made dinner!

With all of the chores that had to be done it finally got completed by midday, which then it was 98° and WAY too hot to bring baby girl out in to run for hours. So instead I waited till about 5:30pm when the temperatures were lowering, to a nice 89-90° and we headed out. I knew I wasn’t going to get 8 miles in, but I am glad I got 3 in! It felt really good and easy

Total Weekly mileage: 15.7 miles

Our Sunday took a drastic turn that led us to the ER. Hendrix’s cough turned real ugly and paired with an anxiety attack it scared the living daylights out of us. It’s now 7am on Monday morning as I catch y’all up to date and I am tired and hoping that I don’t get too sick since training starts in a week!

Week 35 (of 2023)

September all ready?!?! Yeah, I know… each week I am like wait what day is it ? How is it already XYZ?! lol. I just can’t keep up! This year has flown by so incredibly fast… I can’t even wrap my head around the idea of three months left till 2024. I kind of HATE how fast things are going.

Aunt Mel left on Monday morning in preparation for the hurricane hitting her area and it was a great visit despite most of the week we were all a little ill and she left morning of sneezing and probably will be fighting the bug we passed her.

Jesse is working slowly but diligently on the trailer and trying not to rush and do it right… which his younger self would have haphazardly fixed it and it wouldn’t have looked great, but would have worked okay. (like a band aid) We are going to ease back into our routine and then it will get scrambled again in 2 weeks when my mom gets here! ha

Monday morning check in – I am a little sore from that 15 miler definitely not gonna lie. Running 15 miles was awesome and completing it in just under 3 hours was FANTASTIC feeling! My feet are all bandaged up from blisters, my toes have some blisters as well and I am VERY hungry.

Monday – 8.28.23 – Plan: Active recovery – walk around the block + stretch and foam roll
Actual: It was storming and I was unable to get out for a walk. But I was able to find a cool new watch face that makes me feel like I’ve got a brand new watch! Also I used the massage gun once the kids went down and we watched Big George Foreman on Netflix – such a good movie!!

SMUDGY WATCH! LOL BUT THIS IS THE NEW FACE OF IT, I LIKE IT A LOT

Tuesday – 8.29.23 – Plan: Strength + 30 min run
Actual: 30 minute run + strength!! Except treadmill said 2.91 miles so we will go off of that! Lol

Also its official the deodorant I got from Dollar Tree turned brown (eww) and melted so I threw it away- which means I don’t have deodorant anymore after running. It didn’t last very long and I’ve returned to work sweaty and stinky. Also, walking from the gym to the car was disgusting and very moist.

Wednesday – 8.30.23 – Plan: Tempo run 4-5 miles
Actual: While we should never compare our journey/life/ups and downs to anyone else, ALL the Instagram runners I follow get outside and run seemingly EVERY DAY- despite weather! And it was making me HELLA (I never say that word) jealous. I make excuses (sometimes valid ones) like it is too hot (lately has been 110+ and 80% humidity), it is the middle of the day when I am able to run and they run early in the morning, they don’t have to go do xyz after their run they can just sleep, eat and recover… etc etc! So, anyway, after I did my bank run for work I was going to go to University of South Alabama and hit the trails. There is a good 5k loop and it is lovely and shaded. However, on my way there what do I see? Langan Park- a place I ran when we first moved and I met my friend Amanda! I also saw a girl running and it looked shady-ish and thought HEY! I WILL GO THERE! So, I pulled into the parking lot and got ready to run. It was about 90 degrees with a real feel of 97. But, it didn’t feel that bad – only 51% humidity- maybe that is why!? Anyway, it was tough though, I was out of breath quickly, my legs were dead and heavy but I enjoyed it! As I was running around the bend I thought I saw someone in the shade painting! And I thought OH HOW CUTE. No.. it was a statue! haha! I got a picture with it for you to see.

After my run I decided to go to the gym where I completed 15 minutes of ab work and stretched. Then showered off the sweaty stinkiness and headed back to work! I would call this a great day even if I was short on the miles.

I also was able to take River on a short neighborhood walk in the evening which felt really nice to get out with him and roam. ❤

Thursday – 8.31.23 Plan: Strength + 2 mile EZ recovery run
Actual: not sure why I thought I was getting in a run when it was a short day ha! But after dinner I managed to get Haze in the stroller and we took river out for a walk before it got dark and it was the best!!! She kept reaching for him and then squealing and laughing when he kissed her hands and arm haha

Friday – 9.1.23 – Plan: mobility + stretch + sauna
Actual: I woke up thinking I was running today… Now I look at my plan and see I wasn’t. But either way, my feet hurt! The top of my right foot and the heels of both feet are in pain. So I didn’t do anything but get a new water bottle, a tub shrooms (to catch hair! Lol), a new bottle brush cleaner thing, and three books for Hazel! She has been really getting into reading and turning pages (mostly) as well as coloring! And I am trying to encourage this quiet play and independent play as much as possible

She has been asking to trace her feet and hands a lot. So she stands directly on the paper and I trace her feet and then she moves them and says “again”

Here are the books I got for her, the witch one is a finger puppet one. She will get a kick out of all of them!

Saturday – 9.2.23 – Plan: 8-10 mile long run
Actual: early morning walk + WORK+ MIDDAY migraine + birthday party = no run today

Sunday – 9.3.23 -Plan: REST
Actual: 7.22 miles + .6 mi cool down I decided to get in an evening run, the only one holding me back from my run was myself! I didn’t want to wake up early, so I decided that I would do an evening run. I was hoping for 8 miles and I thought the route I planned WAS 8… Somehow though it only turned out to be 7 miles, but that’s okay! I planned it so the end of my run would be at the pizza place to bring pizza home for the family 🤣 I really liked the picture of the watch to show mileage but I forgot to do one this time!!

While I didn’t get my mileage in I wanted to this week, I did make a big effort to run outside! And I think that’s even better!! Yay me!

Total mileage ~13.5 miles

Week 34 (of 2023)

We just finished Kaleidoscope – it’s a heist TV show. And instead of numbered episodes they are colors. You can watch them in ANY order you want, but you just have to keep the White episode (the day of heist) as the last one. It was a pretty interesting series. It kept my attention, that’s for sure!

Monday – 8.21.23 REST – my legs need rest so badly
Actual: I slept like a log last night, despite allergies flaring up and not being able to breathe through my nose! I only woke up once at 5am because River barked to let me know he threw up 😭 poor guy, and then he tried to get me to play with him! Lol I climbed back in bed and got back to sleep. It was horrible trying to wake up. I debated calling in sick. Apparently everyone one was feeling worn out. Hendrix woke up with a fever (low grade) but we decided to keep him home so he could rest and I made it into work. By night I was feeling like ABSOLUTE POOP and had to take medicine and fell asleep on the couch. I have a touch of something and I feel very worn out. I have a feeling it is a mix of sickness and ramping up mileage?

We got the call from insurance that said they don’t cover the water damage in our trailer so we headed off to Harbor Freight for some supplies.

Tuesday – 8.22.23- Plan: 4 miles EZ
Actual: I forgot to pack my stupid shoes today and couldn’t get any thing done. I feel so bad and sick so it’s probably for the best. I ended up finding some cute and CHEAP new running clothes and clearance Craft shoes! So excited for these 😄

Wednesday – 8.23.23 Plan: 1 mi WU, 4x 800m repeats, 1 mi CD + strength
Actual: welp! Work got in the way on this one and took priority leaving me to have a lunch break at 2:30 which is TOO late to take a gym lunch and would result in basically no point coming back, but that’s also too early to leave work 😂 lol so yeah. Conundrum

I did try this out! It’s different…. might’ve tasted better if I didn’t eat a twix right before! Ha

Thursday – Dentist appt no run
Actual: legit no run and starting to feel run down again – but the kids were cavity free!

Friday – 8.25.23 Plan: 3 miles EZ
Actual: woke up and I was feverish, exhausted and felt like absolute 💩💩💩💩 I still dressed and got ready for work, dropped off Hendrix, went to Publix to get water and then nearly fainted. I couldn’t hang, I was sweating like I did a workout and all I did was walk into public. So I called in sick for work and rested most of the day. I spent A LOT of time on Instagram and the algorithm did it’s thang and introduced me to some awesome girls and I got a brilliant idea. Cutting long runs into chunks. Also I need to find me a running buddy because it seems like they have way more fun running long distances with a friend to chat with. I wish I had a girl near my age and pace that could run with me. 😢

Weekend Plan A (before I was sick and didn’t know I wasn’t making it to gym like all week)9-10 miles

plan B (thought up on Wednesday afternoon) do 3- 6 miles loops. Aim for time on feet and basically after each 6 mile loop get grub and take the rest I need? Saw it as one girl was doing it training for an ultra. It actually looked like a good challenge. The farthest I’ve ever run is 15 miles (all time) and postpartum with Hazel is 14 miles. So maybe I aim for 16 miles, idk we will see how it works and if it’s a jam or not!
Actual: first date with Jesse in well over a year went well! I decided to carb load with sushi and miso soup and we watched movies (of my choice) and laughed and hung out. It was great. Very low key but much needed

Sunday – 8.27.23 Plan: 3 miles shake out
Actual: as mentioned above, I wanted to do loops of miles for the long run. So I mapped out 5 mile loops (2 different loops- which helped shake things up and not get too boring) and my stopping point was the bench swing where I could get more fuel and water/Gatorade but also not get interrupted with the kids. I was worried if Hazel saw me she would cry watching me leave each time and want to go in the stroller. Which would’ve been fine for the first loop but not really any other loop. So, I put a cooler bag on the bench, I had two small 6 oz water bottles with liquid IV in them and had one with me and one in the bag. I had Gatorades in the bag and my water bladder filled up. I had some granola bars, Honey Stinger Waffles – which were hard to chew after 6 miles but so delicious – and a lot of gummies. I stayed hydrated well! But during the last loop I forgot to grab some food and I had about one bite of granola bar and 3 gummies and that was it. It was a ROUGH loop and ultimately I was going extremely slow and hurting. But I did it- and I didn’t walk at all! Which wasn’t the point, I just wanted time on my feet.

15 miles total! I wore a new outfit – Reebok shorts + kyoden top which worked really really well!

On 3rd loop of run I put ice cubes in my top and it felt amazing!! At the end I used the last of the ice and filled up the kiddie pool and plopped down and sat. IT FELT SO GOOD! I just splashed around and Jesse came out and we talked. Then I showered off, ate food, foam rolled and stretched some.

I ended up with a couple blisters on the top of my feet – probably more from these sandals below rubbing than the socks and shoes during run. My legs and hips are tight. I have been shamelessly popping Tylenol like candy! I enjoyed a 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon – could have used a longer one lol but it is what it is!

Back at harbor freight to return some stuff and get more tools.

Total planned mileage: 19 miles

Actual mileage – 15.04 miles

Week 33 (of 2023)

Lightning crack happened on Tuesday evening when I was driving home! How cool was that!?

Currently listening to:

I forgot to mention LAST Sunday grocery haul we found an EXCELLENT dog frisbee – and I played with River last night as the sun was setting and at first he was like how do I hold this.. and then he figured it out and it was so much fun!

There is like 4 months till the end of the year.. how is that even possible??
Here are the scheduled visits that are 100% happening:
Aug visit – Aunt Mel (~1 week)
Sept visit – mom (~2 weeks)

Nov visit – mom & dad (~ 2 weeks)
Dec visit – Aunt Mel (~1 week)

With a possibility of having a guest stay in October. – WHOA- that is a lot of visitors in the next 4 months- ha!!

Monday – (8.14.23) Rant – my key to the car ran out of batteries – I have an extra but not being able to beep it locked sucks haha. It made it so the ONE ERRAND I had to run at lunch didn’t happen because I thought my keys weren’t working and I didnt want to lock myself out of the car. In all honesty it didn’t seem like my key was going in to the door to turn and lock properly. The heat got to me, and I got back in car and just headed back to work – lol. It is about 110 degrees (heat index) out here with a hopeful chance of rain later this week which will bring it down to the 90s and then it will soar back up. I figured today would be total rest day, but then I had to take Haze out on the bike to get some energy out. We were CRUISIN! Average speed 8.3 mph and a max of 15.4! I wish I could see her face as we were booking it down the street haha

Tuesday (8.15.23) – Plan: 5 mile progression run
Actual: I don’t know what actually happened here other than I didn’t go to the gym… And I don’t know why?!? Severe lack of motivation and optimism I could run later??

Wednesday (8.16.23) – Plan: 3 mile EZ run + strength (lower body)
Actual: since I missed my run yesterday due to a huge lack of motivation I wanted to make it up today but was lacking on time. 1 mile warm up, 3 miles progression-ish run. Each half mile or so I increased speed. Total of 4.2 miles

I completed upper body strength and foam rolling!

Thursday (8.17.23) – Plan: 20 min run (400-800s?) + upper body strength
Actual: core and lower body strength completed! No run though

Friday (8.18.23) – Plan: 5 mile EZ run
Actual: 2.7 miles completed but I eased off because something was wrong with foot/heel and also my legs were so DEAD. I really couldn’t get into the run, but I knew I had the opportunity to go on a long run this weekend and didn’t want to push and overload my legs TOO hard since I’m just ramping up mileage

Saturday (8.19.23) – Plan: 8 mile LR
Actual: With my aunt in town I knew I could get some mileage in. My legs still felt heavy but my goal was to get in 90 minutes of running. While I love taking Hazel out for runs, the humidity is tough to keep her out that long and if there’s no breeze- uh oh! I don’t want to put her in a heat stroke type of way. So, I left before she woke up, which was still later than normal (around 7:15am) and I started off. I told my aunt I would probably call her to come pick me up because I didn’t want to do 14 miles – haha. So, I set off and completed 8 miles exactly in 90 minutes. And then 1.3 miles trek (cool down) back to meeting spot at the pier. Which was absolute HELL! Haha. I didn’t take many pictures, but about 5 miles into the run I knew I needed some sort of Gatorade or something, I luckily passed by a gas station and stopped in for a small 12 oz Bug Juice and got a Core Power for later! This was my most brilliant idea EVER. The Bug Juice was spot on, perfect amount and helped a ton!! It was about 85* real feel of 93* and 86% humidity! It felt so great though being out there!

After the run and shower my Aunt took Hendrix to the trampoline park and I took Hazel to an indoor playground I have been wanting to check out! We met up with a friend and her son and they played “near” each other lol – not quite to the age of playing with. Hazel LOVED the little houses they had and played nicely in those and she LOVED vacuuming the whole floor!

After a while she got interest in the ball pit and played some in there and walked across the obstacle.

This place was incredibly clean and the workers were cleaning pieces of furniture and toys every 30 min and each Sunday they are completely closed for a deep clean. Loved seeing that.

Jesse went fishing in the morning and Hazel was so amped on all the activities she didn’t nap in the morning at all. I was absolutely EXHAUSTED after lunch and so luckily we all went and laid down around 3pm. SLEPT FOR NEARLY 3 hours! hahaha

Sunday (8.20.23) – Plan: bike?
Actual: Despite the nap and me still being tired, I had a TERRIBLE night sleep the night before- I was up like every single hour of the night. Jesse is taking full advantage of Aunt Mel being here and went fishing with a friend again this morning. I needed a shake out run and really felt good to do it, except that the stroller tires were so flat it made everything feel 100x harder than it should have. I didn’t want to turn around – bad choice on my part – and managed a 2.27 mi run/walk with super flat tires. I was afraid turning back to the house Hazel would change her mind and want to get out of the stroller. Toddlers are so unpredictable! lol After our run/walk I pumped the tires up which I swear I sweated more doing that than the actual activity. Neither of us were ready to go inside, so we went on a 1.5 mi bike ride- but then my legs started feeling like dump trucks and I had to drag her inside.

Afterwards we went to the splash pad and played for an hour and then came home for lunch and relaxed.

After lunch she took a 2.5 hour nap! Aunt Mel and I took Hendrix to tutoring and then when she woke up we went out to the play room where she stacked cups and was drawing!

Before picking up Hendrix we stopped by the dollar tree store to get some goodies, big crayons because she was drawing on her face with marker (lol) but then she tried to eat the crayon! We got water balloons – which we ran around the yard throwing at each other and snacks. Oh, and we got her stickers – she loved peeling them and putting them on paper and her arms. (quiet activities – she is really good at them right now)

Planned mileage: ~22 miles
Actual mileage: 18.47 miles

NOT BAD! If I can keep up 15-20 mile weeks I will be ready for training to start 😀

Week 32 (of 2023)

First week of school and scrambling for the last supplies! I purchased them online over a month ago and they are stuck in another state! Mainly the pants! The uniform pants…. So I bought some from another company and realized they are too big for him so then back to another store and those hopefully arrive Tuesday!

Monday (8.7.23) – It is “Meet the Teacher” Day which means I have to leave even earlier than normal from work and won’t be able to get in a quick run during lunch. I wish though! But, weirdly haven’t been able to drink much coffee or get decent sleep. We met his teacher, who he knew from first grade (kind of nice!) and brought in the school supplies and saw some friends. We have been on extreme weather alert for the last week or so, so getting out even in the evenings is risky – especially with Hazel. I try to get her out but being cooped up in a stroller with not a bunch of wind or air movement has got to be HOT! So, I don’t push it too much. Hoping soon the weather will take a change, but I feel like this won’t happen till December – ha! I remember last year during soccer games we were DYING and soccer didn’t end til November. But I think by end of October it was changing a bit.

Haze— the queen of the remote, she will turn the TV off and on and raise the volume up really loud and of course when we are watching a show she grabs it and turns it off and runs off somewhere haha

Tuesday (8.8.23) – Plan: 1 hour Strength Class (maybe I will only stay for 30-45 minutes?) + 30 minute run to watch my Fast and Furious movie! lol I have been trying to not watch any more of the movies at home or during a slow time of day because they are so good to watch for treadmill runs!
Actual: I woke up this morning with so many aches like sick aches… but I did sleep really well despite waking up a few times with some neck aches and I was able to get down a whole cup of coffee. But after some advil kicked in I just had such a strong pull to run, I went with that! I skipped the strength portion and did a great little run.
The distance is a little off because well treadmill and Garmin (inside tracking) don’t mesh well. But I did 1 mile around 5.6 warm up and then .5mi repeats with .25 jog. My speeds for the repeats were as followed: 6.2, 6.4, 6.6, 6.8 and then I did the last .75 at 5.2mph and then an extra .35 walk for a total of 5.35miles! I definitely could have pushed the speed, but I am going to start slow and gradually move these paces up!

I have found (I think) my plan to follow for the half marathon in November. SUB 2 OR BUST! And I have about ~5 weeks left to get my mileage at a decent 15-20 mile average, strength train and keep my hips mobile! After the run I stretched and did some hip mobility work and BOIIII that was needed! ouch! But overall, felt SOO good to run!

We got in 1.6 miles biking before dinner! My attempt at getting Hendrix outside and getting energy out so he goes to sleep at a reasonable time before his first day of school! Lol I pushed for longer but he was “tired” 😒🙄🤣

Sharing these activities with these kids makes my heart so happy!!! I hope I can convince Hendrix that when it gets a little cooler out we can hit the trails and go mountain biking!

Wednesday (8.9.23) – I think we successfully tired him out last night (night before first day of school!) and he went to bed and slept well from 9pm-7am! Woo hoo. He got ready quickly and was excited and ready for school!

Plan: 4 miles EZ pace – which by the plan I am going to follow easy pace is still faster than I want to run, so I will go by feel.
Actual: UGH!! The easy miles today were faced with a lot of mental stubbornness to not want to run at all! My glutes and hamstrings were sore from doing lunges and jumps while playing with River last night lol. So my leg muscles were SINGING even though I didn’t feel tired and could run. My mind kept saying “ugh just stop and rest!” and I must admit I stopped the treadmill a couple times, hopped off about ready to quit and then thought about it and got back on again to finish the run. It definitely helped that there was a super badass chick running next to me that has to be training for something! She didn’t quit and so I refused to quit as well. The miles that you really don’t want to do are the ones that make you the better runner! After my run I hobbled my butt over to the empty studio and foam rolled, stretched and did some upper body strength. (4 miles total)

Hendrix’s first day of school went really well! He said it was more games and meeting the kids than school work but he is ready to buckle down and work… hopefully I can bribe him with a super cool reward and we keep his grades up! ha!

Thursday (8.10.23) – 30 min shake out run
Actual: ahhhh I’m killing it this week! (funny how mentally I go from I hate running and can’t do this to I am killing it!) 30 min slow jog done and completed. I was bored for 3/4 of this run but I kept at it and did the dang thing!! I am trying to work on foot strength because for some reason my heels are hurting a bit… Is that plantar fascitis? (2.7MI?) – Whenever I wear the new balance I seem to have aches in my feet but not when I wear my Craft Endurance

Waking up Friday morning, my legs feel GREAT. I’m hoping to get in a good long run today during lunch and then just see where the weekend takes me. We’ve got my aunt coming in to town next weekend so we have to get some things ready. Clean playroom so that we can install the new AC unit, clean up the yard some, clean up the trailer … So much fun! Over the next few months we will have visitors almost every month so this will be a recurring theme ha! 🙄

Friday (8.11.23) – Plan: 6 mi run with speed sprinkled in
Actual: the treadmill at the gym only goes for 60 minutes… So, in order to get in as much as I could with that 60 minutes and not overdo it I did a 1 mi warm up, then 400m at 7.2mph then 1200m at 5.2mph recovery and repeated till I hit 60 minutes. Which got me to 5.26 miles. I felt pretty good, like I definitely had gas in the tank. So, I took a quick break, used the bathroom, got some more water and decided to go for a one mile time trial. I was doing SO GOOD 1/2 way through! I went conservative and started at 6.5 which felt so easy and good and even at 7.0 I was gliding. But as I got to 3/4 of the way through I wanted to stop! I tried leaning into the pain but definitely need to work on it. I was nearing 8.0mph and went up to I think 8.6? I honestly am not sure because I feel like I blacked out and was just trying to get it done, ha!! I ended up with 7:47/mi which I wasn’t too happy about to be honest. BUT I had just done 5.25 miles on these legs with 400m repeats and it is the end of the week of a lot of running… so maybe I should cut myself a little slack! My fastest known mile was a time trial I did back in 2019 (I believe) and it was 7:17… so just 30 seconds off? Not too shabby! I would love to get a sub 7 min mile! I left it all out there on the treadmill so I was absolutely TOAST when I was done. which was a nice change! After my run I foam rolled and stretched – I think foam rolling is helping my legs a lot! I can’t believe how NOT sore I was this morning!

holy macaroni! 18.31 miles during the week! WAHOOOOOOOOO!!!

Saturday (8.12.23) Plan: bike ride / walk with pup and Haze
Actual: we woke up close to 8am (amazing) and I got right to work – dishes, laundry folded and put away, cleaned counter tops cleaned and swept the play room out – whoa that was a task! Moved all furniture too! Picked up the dead wild flowers and piled them up by the street to be picked up and even weeded a few areas!! Sweat absolutely pouring down – before all of this my legs felt so good – like I hadn’t even run the day before and pushed myself! After an hour and a half of work outside my legs are sore ! That counts for cross training, right??? Lol Also, my shirt was so drenched in sweat it was nearly 10 pounds heavy!

While waiting for Hendrix to get ready, Hazel and I hopped on the bike – I inflated the tires last night and WOW they were low!! It was so much easier to ride today with her! We were flying 😄🚴‍♀️🚴‍♀️

Afterwards we went to the library and hung out and found some books, then came back home where I was pretty dang hungry – I made a veggie sandwich (gosh it’s good!) And of course didn’t take a picture of it because I devoured it!

We found this dress in our pile of “new clothes” and tried it on – she wanted to wear some other pink sandals but they were still too big (we get a lot of hand me downs hah)

Train table at the library that kept them occupied for a bit

Super cute corner where they decorated with Harry Potter platform!

Almost 2 mile bike ride in the evening completed! Jesse caught quite a bit of fish today! And we played outside in the tiny pool and Hazel kept filling up her bucket, walking across the stone steps and grass and trying to give water to River. She mostly spilled water down her while walking over, but she kept going for close to 15 minutes! lol

Taquitos at night HIT THE SPOT! Soo so good haha

Sunday (8.13.23) Plan: Bike Ride / walk / run
Actual: 2 mile bike ride !! We made it 😄 and then smoothie king! We all got smoothies and they were so nice in the heat! Grocery shopping completed today and we had delicious fish wraps for dinner! I also made some eg bites with mushroom, onions, tomatoes and spinach!

Total mileage:

18.31 miles running

~4.75 miles biking

= 4.5 hours this week!

Week 31 (of 2023)

Just Finished Reading: it was so cute! Absolutely loved, not the typical romantic-lit that follows all the rules – it spoke to me a lot, I don’t know my true calling/career choice, and neither does this main character- I hope one day though, I can figure it out and follow my dreams.

Started this new book:

Monday – (7.31.23) Plan: 30 minutes easy run (2.65 miles). These were really easy easy miles and the only goal was to run continuously and not put too much pressure on it. I decided in order to cut down on the gym time I would wear most of my workout clothes underneath my work clothes – that was kinda uncomfortable lol but it FORCED me to go to the gym! So I wore my shorts and sports bra under my clothes and then quickly changed my top. Got to the gym in 10 minutes and did my warm up and immediately started my run. It’ll be about a one hour lunch break which is Perfecto. I ended up doing 10 minutes of music, 10 minutes audio book and then 10 minutes of Instagram story watching which helped break it up and keep boredom out. Mini sweat = hopefully I can sleep tonight! I was tossing and turning and laying up awake A LOT last night.

We had delicious and I mean delicious loaded chili cheese dogs – sometimes those just hit the spot!! Hazel was absolutely covered in chili and it was hilarious. She is at the “I’m independent” stage and hates being fed. So after food it was a big wipe down. Then I packed her in the bike trailer and we went off for a little ride at sunset! Love that so much. I haven’t adjusted my seat yet so I didn’t want to go to far and risk having my lower back in a ton of pain. I surprisingly did NOT get any bug bites – and I didn’t even put on bug spray!

I feel like she can’t properly sit in the trailer and I hate that. It doesn’t look like it’s as comfortable as it should be. I am really really tempted to take it back. Any recommendations on what to get? A friend said a Topeak bike seat for her which is like top of the line and brand new is a bit too much ($250!) So I’m trying to find other options. I also like the fact that the trailer provides protection from sun and bugs. But it is not sturdy enough to like protect her if she got hit by a car – god forbid! I know she should wear her helmet. And I should make more of a point to put it on – will work on that!

Tuesday – (8.1.23) Hoping to sneak into the body pump class – strength for one hour! I have about ONE month till half marathon training starts and I need to continue to focus on strength dang it all! Basically my “basic” gym membership doesn’t allow me to sign up for the gym classes, but since it is virtual and no one checks attendance, if someone else signs up I can just join the class. If no one else joins, then I don’t think the class will be on, but it will be a free room so I will just do something on my own.
Luckily I woke up with no back soreness! yay!

So for the group classes you can check attendance and I checked it 10x all morning long and even at like 11:30am (since class started at noon) and NO ONE signed up. I even looked at 11:50! No one!! But when I got to the gym at 12:10 there was someone in there and the class was playing. So I was a little late but I decided I would still go in and try it! OH MY GOODNESS… BICEPS, TRICEPS, SHOULDERS, DELTS, QUADS were all on fire! It was such a good workout. And then I did ~8 minutes of an ab workout from online. Which I didn’t feel really today, but maybe tomorrow I will??

We went on an almost 2 mile bike ride – my legs felt like jelly after – also Hendrix and I raced bikes up and down the street… so yeah! lol.

And then Hazel passed out on the couch, woke up briefly and snuggled up to me. I took control of the TV and watched “Happiness for Beginners” which was a semi romcom but not. It was cute and entertaining!

The days’ activities successfully WIPED me out and as soon as my head hit the bed I was OUT COLD! I barely got out of bed at 6:45am but really wanted to sleep longer. Body doesn’t feel too sore, glutes feel it a little – but nothing like OHMYGOSH I need advil.

Wednesday – (8.2.23) Plan: 4 miles
This morning she tried to convince me to read this book to her, or really she is very invested in turning pages. She is working on being more gentle on books, she has a tendency to rip pages easily. My heart hurts when that happens. But mistakes will be made!

She tried convincing me to just lay back down and go to sleep. She must be going through a growth spurt – she can out eat everyone and sleep like no one’s business!

I ran out of extra deodorant (for my gym bag) weeks ago! And I have been stinking up something awful after the gym so I stopped by the Dollar Store to get some deodorant and found this energy drink – it is soooo good! Tastes just like a caramel apple!

4.24 miles (including the cool down) easy miles until the last .75mi and I increased speed a little to just turn the legs over faster to see what I got. My legs are tight, I definitely need to stretch more when I get home! And I was HUNGRY by the end of the run. But I did it! And I’m excited! Also silly me, I bought deodorant with NO cap 😒😒😒😒 it just had the little safety cover thing on it and I thought that was the cap. Ugh! And the shower gel I bought to wash with smelled extra funky. Guess it’s a no go for dollar tree bathroom stuff! Lol

While I only have ~7 miles in the week so far I feel like I’ve done a lot!! Maybe it’s the evening bike rides – even if those aren’t very long?!

Another 20ish minute bike ride with the little dumpling and a big long stretch because these legs and glutes were FEEELING SOOOORE! Haze seems to be really enjoying our nightly rides and is much less apprehensive about getting into the trailer now.

Started watching two shows: I enjoy an action packed show during a treadmill run or scary to make me jump. I started FUBAR which got interesting in the middle/end of the first episode.

I need book recommendations about running! Good inspiration, do you have any!?

Thursday – (8.3.23) Plan: 30 minutes + strength

I did not sleep well nor feel exceptionally great today. I ended up skipping lunch workout and thought I would just tire Hazel out at the park, get her to go down early and try for a workout at night. But that didn’t go to plan at all. Once we got home I started getting VERY stuffed up and couldn’t stop sneezing. So once Hazel went to sleep I just got ready for bed myself, however I couldn’t sleep well at all and tossed and turned all night!

Friday morning I woke up with my face super puffy, eyes puffy and tired and super super stuffed up/congested. It’s all in my face if that makes sense, no congestion in my lungs or below neck, so I believe I can run… If I stop sneezing. I don’t want to go to the gym and snot everywhere. But I’m still hoping to get in a workout today!

Friday – (8.4.23) Plan: 5 miles + mobility

Despite feeling like absolute CRAP 💩 this morning, a coworker gave me some liquid/gel Advil and WOW it changed everything. I channeled @hungryrunnergirl and took some inspiration from one of her workouts. The last .25 mi of each mile I increased the speed, so I did it at speeds of 6.7, 7.0, 7.2, 7.4 and finished up with 5.5 miles and it felt great!! Before the workout I had a Chocolate core power (which was aaaamazing) and during workout I had 3/4 of a SIS gel. It didn’t sit too well though lol but I pushed through! Despite the absolute crap sleep I got and lack of caffeine, I really powered through this run and it was super great! I am so happy I did it.

Saturday- I finally got some decent sleep! Hazel and I went to take River on a walk this morning but had to cut it short at 1.5 miles because it was already 89° and not even 8am!! River LOVED the grass we were walking by though

Haze took a late morning nap and I decided to tackle some of the weeds I was ignoring. CUE A LOT OF GOOD SWEAT AND A LOT OF WEEDS PULLED and just a few bites from the ants

In the evening we went bowling! Had so much fun – I even won a round!

Unfortunately we had a pretty bad night sleep and woke up close to 9am and it was almost 90° out! I did Not Get my run in, but maybe this evening 🥵

Sunday – I Introduced the kids to Fast and Furious 🤣 it was such a nostalgic movie from my teen years… While I definitely fast forwarded through some parts it was cool and I bonded a lot with my son on the fast race cars. He doesn’t believe me when I tell him I used to be part of a car group and had a really cool car and worked on it. Haha most days I don’t believe it myself. We had excessive heat warning all day, but I knew I wanted to get out there at some point! After doing laundry and cleaning up the place… MAKING dinner just to clean up again 🤣 I was in a great mood, until I wasn’t. And it was like my body and mind saying YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN SO YOU ARENT GRUMPY. also, sleep… I’ve been having terrible sleep lately. Not sure why. But it’s been so hard to fall asleep and stay asleep the last few nights.

So anyway, as Jesse was outside whittling away on a project I went out there and announced I HaVE TO GO ON A RUN. And so inside he went and outside I went. The sun was setting so I had on my noxgear light up vest, a bright top and green shorts – love the idea of those shorts but dang! They show sweat so easily. I did not properly warm up as daylight was leaving and street lamps are basically non-existent here on this side of town, so I just started off slowly. It felt great to be outside running, despite the mosquitoes and heat. It was still 88° outside with a real feel of 101°F! Thats wild lol. So only 2.7 miles because it was pitch black and a little sketchy trying to run with cars passing by but I felt great for getting out there. And it bumped my mileage up for the week!

Weekly mileage ~15 running miles PLUS STRENGTH TRAINING PLUS CROSS TRAINING – wow I am killin it! Why did I not sleep well half the week???!?!!?!?

Week 30 (of 2023!)

We are ending July… how is this possible??

We are getting ready for school to start, thinking about possible fall sports, and discussing Halloween costumes! I kind of want to get princess costumes for Hazel – she LOOOOOOVES trying on my heels haha, and loves a good dress.

Also, I really really enjoyed running outside this past weekend but there is no way I can run outside during lunch without being able to take a FULL shower. Also, did I just enjoy it because I was able to enjoy it with Hazel?

So, I think this was Sunday morning but on my run I look down and I had a vein POPPING out of my finger. It was wild and it hurt. A couple hours later and my fingers went purple. But no pain.

Then, Monday morning it was back to normal. We looked it up and think it is Achenbach Syndrome. Which is just a rare and benign condition characterized by sudden pain, bruising and swelling. At first we were like oh duh bowling must’ve done it. But it’s my left hand and I bowl righty. Sooo yeah, weird!!! Anyway, it’s all better now.

Monday (7.24.23) Goal: 2-3 stroller miles with Hazel!
Actual: 92° sun blazing down with not a cloud in the sky resulted in no run because it would have just been WAY too much for Hazel (and me!). But after dinner Hendrix and I went on a short 15 minute bike ride! It was so much fun – we lathered ourselves in bug spray – and I think I still managed to get bit! While it was short, it was a lot of fun!

Tuesday ( 7.25.23) Plan: 4 miles EZ pace + strength
Actual: 3 difficult feeling but “easy” miles – I haven’t been super hungry which has resulted in really low energy- it has been a weird mix of nausea + headaches + NO food intake. I only managed 3 miles today and I even contemplated quitting at 1 mile, hopped off the treadmill and then said NO NOT TODAY! And got back on to finish up 3 miles.

Wednesday (7.26.23) Plan: 5 miles w/ .25 (x8) speed
Actual: Today was a lot like yesterday not feeling so great, I battled midday nausea and really bad headaches. Possibly dehydration related? I was going to try to make it to the run group tonight except when I got home Hazel was stung by a wasp and her arm swelled up like a bowling pin and so we got her Benadryl and rest. She wouldn’t let me take a good picture of her arm, so this doesn’t it do it much justice. But the sting was large and very hard giant bump. I contemplated taking her to the ER but she wasn’t spiking a fever and didn’t have any other symptoms. She didn’t cry at all, so Jesse had no idea it happened, she was just playing in her little pool and doing her thing. I ended up noticing her arm swollen when I brought her inside.

Thursday (7.27.23) Plan: Rest
Actual: allergic reaction + reading
As if the week couldn’t get worse! lol – we had shrimp today and something caused me to flare up and be itchy and feverish all over. While I didn’t have a run on plan, I wanted to at least enjoy outside… but noOoOoOoO. So, we read books in Hazey’s room and hung out.

Friday (7.28.23) Plan: 5 miles EZ + mobility
Actual: Felt better today! No nausea or headaches – thank goodness! I got in 5 miles broken up with some walking breaks and a bathroom break plus stretching and minimum core work. But I’m so happy I completed ALL MY MILES! yay go me!

Jesse set up the trailer we got on my bike! So cute – but I have no idea how two kids could actually fit, it is so tiny!

Of course we had to test it out! Getting used to it, it doesn’t even feel like I am pulling anything, which is great! But I still want a little seat on the back instead of the trailer lol I feel like she would have so much more fun!!!

Saturday (7.29.23) Plan: 4-5 mile bike ride!
Actual: Jesse went fishing and we ended up sleeping in till 7:45am! I think the run the day before took my energy out haha. However I got Hendrix and Hazel to go on a BLAZING hot 2.5 mi bike ride to the park and back . It had to be 93+ degrees and full sun. But we went to the park, played a bit and then headed home. Then I gave River a really nice scrub down bath! It was so nice and fun. He smells good! We had next to no food options so our only option was to go out to eat! Which wasn’t the best laid out plan since Haze hadn’t had a nap yet and lunch rush was insane. Hendrix really wanted Cracker Barrell but it would have been way too long. We got seated within 15 minutes but then waited another 15+ minutes and the server hadn’t even come to greet us – she was super busy. I had to call it and say Haze nor I was going to make it. So, we went to Five Guys Burgers and it was DELICIOUS and fast!

She LOVES wearing Hendrix’s old shirts – she picked out her outfit today

Sunday (7.30.23) Plan: 3 stroller miles
Actual: WE SLEPT IN TILL 8:15AM! WE WENT TO BED AT LIKE 9PM! IT WAS AMAZING! However, my lower back was on absolute fire when I woke up. So, a run was completely out of the question. We did go on some walks around the block, played frisbee with River and I picked some weeds while Hendrix washed off the kayaks. Jesse managed to catch one red snapper when he went fishing so of course the kids got to model with it. 🤣

Jesse blackened the snapper, made pineapple compote (?) and we topped with mango salsa and green onions – OMG so good!

In the evening it started thundering and raining and I go out to check on River and he is playing in the rain! Trying to eat it – lol! So much for a clean and good smelling dog – ha! The kids pretended to ride horse and tumbled around.

Mileage – low this week but we will continue to build!

Week 29 (of 2023!)

Hiya folks! Gotta admit this past weekend (with all the parks and outside play that I love) WIPED ME OUT!! I woke up Monday morning absolutely exhausted and sore haha. Possibly from carrying Hazel A LOT, and probably also from the slip in slide lol. It is so much fun, I immediately feel like I’m 10 years old again, and I clearly AM NOT 🤣 as my body is sore as heck now. But we do have these little blow up “raft” things to slide on so you aren’t landing directly on your belly. I use that or slide on my knees haha – ouch also!

This week is my birthday! Yes… Birthday week. And I plan to have fun, be grateful and thankful and present! Last week we got Hendrix a snorkeling kit because we are hoping weather is good and we can take a short trip to Navarre and snorkel and see some of the reefs! Jesse and I already have snorkel gear we got thrifting years ago, so we just need to clean them – as they’ve been in storage for a couple years lol and then we are good to go! Wish we had a sitter so someone could watch hazel but we will be just going separately with Hendrix out to the reefs. I hope hope hope the weather is good! Navarre is about 1.5 hours away, so not that far and the water is GORGEOUSSSSS

Monday 7.17.23 – nada – way too sore for anything

Tuesday 7.18.23 – I made it to the gym despite not wanting to go AT ALL. I was nauseous and feverish as I tried to run. 1.2 miles in total and then did some leg and core work.

Wednesday 7.19.23 Pretty sure I forgot to mention Hazel got attacked by ants on Sunday while running through the yard. Welcome to Alabama! Where everything bites! She normally doesn’t even flinch when she gets a bit, but this time… She got about 30 bites on her legs all at once… Ouch! She ran over to me and I had to swat off the ants and consequently also got bit.. small price to pay for saving her, she got it so bad. And the ants leave gnarly big bumps with pus pockets that pop up days after and they ITCH and it is just terrible, they take forever to heal up! Poor thing. If you continue to pop the pus pockets it will leave you scarred so you have to just try to keep your hands off of them – which is hard! We’ve been putting antibacterial ointment on them and cleaning them multiple times a day and of course having to repeat to her to stop itching them!

At work today, I ALMOST sprained my ankle. I was wearing heels and I took one wrong step and my ankle buckled. Then while I was running my foot started hurting some. A weird pain on the bottom of my foot, like a strain. So a run/walk very easy workout today of 3.4 miles followed by mobility and stretching

Thursday 7.20.23 – walk around the block with pupperoni and Haze while swatting away mosquitos!

Friday 7.21.23 – While I really wanted to go to the gym, I decided I would book myself a spa day! I never get to treat myself and often times I choose physical activity over self care. This time though, I needed to treat myself. I got a hydration facial which ran a little over an hour – it was amaaaazing – she put so many serums on my face and massaged my shoulders (which always hold the most tension) and was just so caring. I actually cried during the appointment because it was just so nice. lol! And I got a haircut! I was originally going to leave the length, but I decided to chop it off. In the evening I took the kids to the park for a bit while Jesse fished and we got Chinese Food!

Saturday 7.22.23 – happy birthday to me! Hazel and I woke up before the boys and we snuck out for a run. It was HOT!! 86° with a real feel of 96°!!! And it was only like 7am! Absolutely insane. I packed my hydration vest so I had cold water on my back and I had an ice pack that Hazel held on to and put on her head as I instructed so she could stay cool. The mosquitoes have been ABSOLUTELY INSANE these last couple weeks here. Two managed to get in under her mosquito net and I saw them and killed them quickly. She still got bit a few times though 😕

I surprisingly felt so good during this run, I could have gone for a bit longer but didn’t want to push it too hard with Hazel. She ended up holding on to my hydration vest and drinking a bunch of water from it towards the end.. and then of course she refused to go inside to the air conditioning afterwards so we definitely could have pushed another couple miles. But since we had plans for the day I didn’t want to exhaust myself too early on!

When we got home Hendrix was up and we talked and hung out outside and then Jesse woke up and we all had breakfast and the adults had coffee. I showered and Hazel and I took a short morning nap and then an afternoon nap! Lol it was raining pretty good most of the day so we hung out inside most of the day.

By about 7:30pm we decided to head out to bowling fun! The wait was about an hour long. Hendrix spent that time playing games in the arcade and Hazel danced to the music and ran around like a kook! Haha every time I tried to get her dance moves on video she stopped. But she was a hoot. Since it was nearing 9pm we decided to pull out the stroller from the car and we put her in it to rock her to sleep. So she didn’t get to bowl – even though they had a ramp thing and we could have set her up to try it out. We decided it was just Hendrix, me and Jesse and we did a lane without bumpers! The first game was ROUGH and Hendrix was sad he kept getting gutter balls. But then everything clicked and second game he was getting strikes!

Sunday 7.23.23 – we got home around 10:30pm the night before and Jesse & I stayed up late talking and hanging out till midnight! So this morning was a little rough to wake up, but Hazel slept in till about 7:45am. Then we had some breakfast and headed back out for a run. I knew I was tired and we were just going to do 2 miles… Although again, this humidity didn’t make me feel like dying and I thought I could keep going if it were just me! Although, I was absolutely DRENCHED and had some huge mosquito bites on my legs. When I walked into the donut shop I was so gross and just absolutely dripping in sweat and probably so stinky haha.

No picture – but we found me a mountain bike! Woo hoo!

Total mileage: ~10 miles with 5 of those outside in the humidity – LOVED IT!!! this week I wasn’t feeling the greatest but glad I turned it around over the weekend. And so excited with the effort feel of the runs in this insane weather!

My parents also booked their annual trip out here and will be coming for Thanksgiving! Which means they will be here for my race! Woo hoo!

Week 28 (of 2023)

Goal: eat more protein. Feel better about myself. Work on myself. I keep reminding myself that I will only ever have this one body, I don’t get another, unless we get into the whole reincarnation thing, but…. We have one body and need to choose to treat it well. I haven’t felt my best, and really want to lose the little bit of pregnancy weight I still have on. Not that it’s bad, but I know in my heart I haven’t tried hard to lose it. So maybe a little more control and determination will help me get to where I want to be.

At the beginning of the week, I was reading/ listening to:

it was good! but I wasn’t obsessed like I have been with others

Monday -(7.10.22) 3-4 miles stroller run

Actual: The world had other plans for me, although most of the day was nice and a little rainy, as I drove home and looked over the bay towards home this is what I was greeted with.

And then, a miracle happened… Or so I thought.. hazel fell asleep on our ride to pick up Hendrix from tutoring leaving me time to run on the treadmill. But of course… As soon as I got my clothes on and was just about to lace up, her eyes fluttered open. My plan was foiled. I couldn’t go out anymore.

Tuesday – (7.12.23) 3 miles + strength I actually found myself extremely emotional today and I couldn’t go into the gym crying ha! Luckily I did get in 2 miles on the treadmill in the humidity – so basically it was like running outside but inside … With no AC

I miss my family. My birthday is coming up, and I ALWAYS without a doubt get emotional during this time for some reason…. It’s the cancer in me I guess ♋🦀 but yeah, today was especially hard and I needed to give myself a break. But I’m glad even though I didn’t feel super up to it at night, I got 2.25 (with cool down) in and I sweated some junk out!

Wednesday (7.12.23) – speed + mobility I 1000000% didn’t want to go to the gym. I thought about the trails, until the most giantist blob of thunderstorms came over us and I thought better of it. 4 miles total with some core work in there and the sauna. I find the sauna funny because it is a dry heat which in California it mimics the heat there. But here… It is the complete opposite, so if I’m not already sweating from working out sitting in the dry sauna I hardly sweat at all. It feels like a waste. Does that mean I’m acclimated to that?? Lol, probably…. But just walk outside here in Alabama and you’re in a steam room.

sometimes ALDOT likes to put funny messages on the traffic boards – this tunnel is only 12 feet high, and SO many out of towners try to fit their trailers through there and then it jams traffic for HOURS

I started listening to :

Thursday – (7.13.23) walk around neighborhood? Strength
We did walk around the neighborhood with the pupperoni! And I did do strength in the morning – woo woo! Win Win!

Friday (7.14.23)- 4- 5 miles

I decided to do 10 min run, 2 min walk repeat til I made it to 5 miles. And while listening to this very saucy 🥵🔥 book (haha!) It made the run easy to get through! 5.2 miles in 60 minutes + 10 min cool down for a total of 5.7 miles

With no bosses at the office it was easy to take a long lunch and funnily enough I feel like I made it to the gym in record time, dressed and got my run done in less time than normal. Or maybe I’m just less stressed to get back. I took about the same amount of time for lunch like normal but with less stress, I always have to remind myself that we are all entitled to a lunch. And my gym length lunch breaks don’t interfere with my work. I get my hours in still and do a darn good job. But the fear and stress of a “longer than normal” lunch always gets to me. I had a real good stretch at the end.

I ended up having Chipotle for lunch and yum it was delicious! It kept me full so I didn’t have any dinner since I ate THE WHOLE THING. Lol

In the evening we went and did our grocery shopping, which of course was expensive but we planned it out well so we’ve got lots of dinner making options.

Earlier this week I decided we were going to start carving out time before bed to read Hendrix’s book. Sometimes it’s just so easy to just want to lay and flop on the couch and not get up once dinner is done. But I need to set an example for reading. I should have done this earlier – we used to read books every night up till he was like 6 and then we stopped. So, we are reading this chapter book called Dragon Mountain!

My ultimate goal was to get Hazel to bed and then we could cuddle up and read a few chapters. She was experiencing major fomo plus she had a late afternoon nap and so she tried joining us for the read. She doesn’t get to go into Hendrix’s room often so when she does she tries to touch and get everything!! All his toys she isn’t allowed to play with (because they are a choking hazard or delicate) so she was wild in there. We only got half a chapter done because I had to keep telling them to lay down and be quiet. 😂

I am also whittling away at the back to school list! That’s right, we are less than a month till school starts 😭 back to the grind. I am nervous for him starting 3rd grade and to see what the work load is.

Saturday (7.15.23) – I strapped Hazel into the ergo (baby carrier) and we rode around the block on Hendrix’s bike! With the bike being so small (20″) it hurt my legs lol. But it was fun and I can’t wait to get a bike for myself so we can go on longer rides!!

Afterwards we learned about sharks and cooled off in the AC. finally got Haze down for a nap and then we packed up for the park to splash around! Goals for the weekend was to tire the heck out of these kids lol And enjoy the sunshine- someone was having a birthday party at the park so the kids kind of just joined in on the fun lol. Bubbles and squirting water!

this guy was the dad of the birthday girl and he took it upon himself to help Hazel with all the squirters and she just stood there and let him fill\l them up and squirt them all over lol it was so sweet!

Then smoothies – but of course! The best refresher when it’s 90° outside and so so humid! Then quesadillas for dinner! Jesse went out night fishing with a friend and we packed up and went back out to a different park to play to our hearts content – my favorite!! Goal refresher was to tire the kids out haha

At home I even managed to get Hazel in the tub and cleaned up and a little bit of the book read! The kids stayed up late only because I knew Jesse was going to want to sleep in on Sunday from a late night of fishing and if I get the kids to sleep in later it’s so much easier haha

Sunday -(7.15.23) Hazel and I woke up at 8am and had a little breakfast and then spent a couple hours in the play room sorting toy shapes and dancing while on my shoulders. She’s getting pretty good at it too!

Hendrix woke up closer to 9:30-10 and by that time I almost ruled out going on the run and bike ride he requested. But the humidity dipped and so it was just sunny and hot but with a breeze. So we packed up and decided to ride and run to the park about a mile away. It really wasn’t too bad either! They played for about 40 minutes – and then it got too hot lol – and we hightailed it back home and had popsicles to cool off. 2 miles running in 93° heat!!

And then we had friends over to play on the slip in slide and it was so much fun! I didn’t have my phone on me at all though lol But it was fun, I miraculously got Hazel to nap on her own (finally!!) around 2pm.

Some neighbors gave us locally grown sweet corn and I really wanted to grill it up, so while Haze was sleeping Hendrix and I slipped out and got frozen yogurt and the ingredients to make elote!

this was the fish that Jesse caught on Saturday night – white trout — GIANT!!

end of the night, Haze showed me how tired she was by laying on the table to rest lol

Total mileage – only 13.7?? It felt like way more and after this weekend I am exhausted in the best way possible!

Week 26-27 (of 2023)

Finishing up listening to:

This week is basically all severe heat advisory apparently. Up to 115° feel! It’s been very HOT. The nights so far feel like the most muggiest and mornings feel easier to deal with. However, still haven’t been able to run outside but I am hatching a plan.. if possible I am going to try to run in the mornings before work, 6ish – 7:30 or so and then come back and shower and get ready for work. If I make it in by 9am it would be PERFECT! This is the last week of summer camp so it could work perfectly.

Monday – (6.26.23)Plan: “Rest”
Actual: We gave the dog a bath and played in the hose ourselves! Got bit by MORE mosquitos and then itched our way through the night.

Tuesday – (6.27.23) Plan: 4 miles
Actual: 4 miles at 10:37 min/min average pace. 20 minutes spent listening to music and the remaining time finishing up a cute romcom movie! I then did a cool down walk for the next ~15 minutes and my total mileage was 4.75 miles.

Wednesday (6.28.23) Plan: 4 miles + strength
Actual: my hips felt SOOOOO tight, I felt like I was limping/walking funny so I opted out of running to focus on stretching and hip mobility. Wow it felt so great! I listened to my book and just zoned out and stretched and worked on opening my hips. I did walk a little on the treadmill and felt some aches on the top of my foot and hopped off to continue stretching. Wow, I feel sooooo much better after stretching.

Thursday (6.29.23) Plan: REST
Actual: helped mowed the lawn! Grocery shopped a little (seriously it’s so expensive! Just a small haul is SO MUCH MONEY)

Friday (6.30.23) Plan: 5 miles
Actual: had to work through lunch! THROUGH LUNCHHHHH and when I got home it was more prep for cousins and making lists of what we needed to do and get from store.

Saturday (7.1.23)
cousins arrived! And chaos and mayhem occurred. Very little sleep and lots and lots of laughs

Sunday (7.2.23)
Actual: all day it was running around the yard, need gun wars and making lots of food for everyone. I think I managed 15k steps! It was a surprise ha! Then we had an evening beach session with all the kids! It was really fun but a really late night

The book I started listening to on Friday –

Monday (7.3.23)- Worked a half day and then came home to play on slip in slide and the dads took the older kids to the Fairhope pier to fish while the littles and moms stayed home and watched movies and ran around. Hendrix caught a blue crab! Not a lot of meat, but it was good!

Tuesday (7.4.23) – Happy 4th of July! I took the pup and Haze on a 1.5 mi walk. River wasn’t doing the greatest in the increased humidity so we didn’t go far. We played on the slip in slide during the rain – which was SO FUN! Wish I had a waterproof camera to capture the fun! We grilled and ate and did fireworks.

Wednesday (7.5.23) – 3.4 miles on the treadmill while listening to the Fourth Wing – it is captivating!

Thursday (7.6.23) – Plan: 4 miles + strength
Actual: 3.5 miles with some tempo speed in there plus strength!!

Friday (7.7.23) – Plan: 5 miles
Actual: when you find out your daughter has lice and so now everyone has to be treated.

The afternoon we played on the slip in slide

Saturday morning – took River on the 2 mile walk, it started out great and ended very sweaty

Saturday evening we went to Gulf Shores and Haze and I snuck in a 2.5 mi run along the trails, but it was 90° and not very much wind so I didn’t want to push it too long and have her or I get overheated.

While we were out running and then collecting rocks I the shoreline, the boys went out

Sunday – rain and thunder almost all day. It felt like a real lazy day!

Despite not getting a whole lot of running,.I stayed consistent-ish and I hope to come back next week with a new level of determination!