Trying to get it together

So I only have one out of two of my kids in school and a sport. There are "only" four humans that live in our house (one dog, too). However, I have an overwhelming amount of paper and dates that need to be kept track of and know that it will just get worse the older the kids get. Until recently, Jeff and I were able to track everything electronically using our iCal and BusyCal. It's worked great as when one of us updates, it updates the other person so we know what is going on at all times.

Last week I seemed to lose control of my organization. Zachary brought home a paper from school that talked about a "color of the day". Fun! Then there are the "specials" that he has at school (P.E., music, library, etc). And suddenly there was too much info to put on my ical. My poor little bulletin board wasn't helping me at all.

My mess! (Before)

So, I went to my friends on facebook and twitter and asked what works for them. Unfortunately, most of them said the same thing....if you find a good solution, please let me know! I got some great tips from my sister-in-law and have made a few changes based on her recommendations. Originally, I thought about getting a dry-erase calendar, but she mentioned that if a kid swipes a finger across it, you'll never know that you were supposed to do something! Excellent point!

I cleaned out my hanging files and assigned one to Jeff. It will hold his mail (I've NEVER known what to do with it!) and anything that I want him to see from the kids before putting it away. Then I have the top "bin" assigned to the kids with a folder for each of them. I plan to put papers in here that need attention, plus the extra papers with information from school that doesn't need to be displayed on the bulletin board. Our color coded school schedule will remain there so I can be sure that I am sending Zachary to school on the correct Fridays. (We have an all day twice a week and every other Friday schedule. Gets confusing!) Finally, I got a large academic year calendar from Meijer ($4.99) so I can have enough space to write everything on it. Now, I just have to explain the system to my household and we have to keep up with it. I'm determined to gain control of my kitchen island again!  Now, if I can calm the disaster that is the office....baby steps....

After. Still a work in progress, but better.

For $4.99 and about 30 minutes worth of time, I have a calmer, more organized kitchen. Hopefully it helps and can make our mornings run a little bit smoother.

What is your best tip for organizing all the paperwork that comes into the house? Are you finding that you are constantly changing it or have you found a system that just seems to work? Ok, and I need help with my HUGE stack of un-read magazines. What do you do with yours while they are waiting to be read?!

Tough to admit....

This is VERY hard to admit. A part of me feels like I am giving up. If I have learned anything about myself in the past three years of running and weight-loss/healthy lifestyle journey, it is that I do NOT give up. I keep going.  Another part of me feels like I am letting people down. In fact, that's what has taken me so long to make this decision final. I didn't make this decision lightly. I have changed my registration from the Marathon to the Half Marathon for the Nationwide Columbus Marathon coming up in just less than two months.

Jeff told me not to think of it as giving up. Think of it as re-prioritizing. I have said for the past couple months that this would be my last marathon; I even used the phrase "I'm retiring from marathoning". Ever? Maybe. For a while? YES, absolutely. I feel badly as I know Jamie really wanted to run the full marathon, but has had some injuries and she NEEDS to run the half. I have no injuries that are keeping me from running the marathon. Since I started training for USAF Marathon last June (2011), I have said that you HAVE to have a really good reason for running a full marathon; it's a freaking long way. A ton of miles in training and race day is LONG. After the disaster that was the Cleveland Marathon (read about that here), I thought I had that reason....I wanted to improve my time, I wanted a 4:30 or better. However, before starting my actual training for Columbus in July, I was lacking the motivation. I was running for the joy of running and I loved it again. I didn't want to start training. But, I had committed. I thought it would be like the usual and that I would soon get with the program. However, looking at my training schedule of the weeks gone by, and the missed runs; it hasn't happened. Last week, I skipped my mid-long run. I had NO desire to get up and run 8 miles on a week-day morning. I was dreading future 8 mile and 10 mile mid-long runs. Essentially, I have been training for big races for the past 2 years without more than a month or so break between a race and a new training plan. Many runners can do this. Many runners can do more. At this point in my life, not me. I am burned out. Not from running. I still LOVE running! I'm burned out from training. I thought I should push through and run a third marathon. After all, I was in the best shape of my life. Shouldn't I capitalize on that?

Running as a Children's Champion was the part that was keeping me from making this decision sooner. I feel like I'm letting anyone that has sponsored me down. There are plenty of Children's Champions that will run the Half instead of the full marathon. But, I asked for sponsors for the full marathon and I apologize to those of you that have donated money and claimed a specific mile. I will assign you new miles and your money is still going to the same FANTASTIC cause. I will just be running the half and cheering on the full marathoners after I finish my portion of the race. (I'm sure my family will secretly be cheering that I'll only be running TWO hours instead of MORE than FOUR hours).

The biggest deciding factor for me is my family. I need to be happy with myself and my life or everyone is miserable. If you know me or if you've been following my blog or following me on twitter for any length of time, you know that for me, family always comes first. I haven't been happy lately. I've been exhausted and partially resentful of my training, which made for an unhappy mom. Since I mostly made up my mind the other day, started getting more sleep and talked everything over with my fantastic hubby the other day, I've been a better mom and a better wife.  I tried to do it all, to be Supermom, SuperRunner, SuperWife. Yeah, that just wasn't working for me right now.... Now, I did give myself through my long run yesterday to make my final decision. When a 14 mile run hurt more than it should because I haven't been keeping my mileage up and haven't been doing as much strength and cross-training to support the long runs, I KNEW.

Ragnar Relay in Tennessee is the other big deciding factor. I'm sure I could push myself through a marathon finish. But, chances are, I would end up injured. Our Ragnar Relay is THREE weeks after the Columbus Marathon. I am excited to go try a 200 mile overnight relay and if I pushed through a marathon that I wasn't fully prepared for, I'm sure I would end up injured. No way am I missing out on this crazy adventure with some of my really good friends (not to mention the $$ we've already paid for the weekend!)

Of course I talked to Jeff about my decision and being the wonderful husband that he is, he tells me to do what I need to do, that he and the boys will support me no matter what. And, I had to talk to Jamie (duh! my best running friend, how could I not run this past her?!), too. After we talked a while, I sent her an email, too and this is what I get from her "There is absolutely no reason for you to feel bad for not wanting to run 26.2.  That is a ridiculous number of miles to do just because you can." Yeah, that helped! :) Thanks, Jeff & Jamie! 

While training for Cleveland Marathon in early spring, I told Jamie I wanted to concentrate on shorter distances. I didn't have the desire to run another marathon, to go through the long training miles. She does. She continuously tells me that she enjoys the long training runs. I prefer 10 miles. 13.1 is ok too. I'll even go up to 15 or 16. Other than that. No, no real desire. (So why in the world did I sign up for another marathon?! sheesh!) The Half Marathon distance is my FAVORITE race distance and I am excited to be running the Columbus Half Marathon. That tells me something right there!

I know I made the right decision for my family. It may not be the most popular decision amongst the running community, but I am a mom first, runner second; and I am HAPPY with my decision.

Have you ever changed a race registration to a shorter distance  for any reason other than injury?

Gotta start somewhere

Over the past couple years I have had many people ask me how I got started running and how I lost weight. Did I lose weight just because I was running? I wish....

There are a lot of similarities in weight-loss and running so I thought I'd combine some of my getting started tips for you.

This was floating around Pinterest several months ago,
 but I am unable to locate the original pinner to give them credit.
This is true whether you are a newbie or if you are a marathoner!

• Both require a change in lifestyle
• Both require a HUGE commitment
• Both are extremely challenging
• In both, you often suffer setbacks that make you wonder if you can keep going
• Neither one is easy

How to get started....

• Make a public announcement. This works with running and with losing weight. By telling people of a goal race or goal amount of weight, you will have accountability. I believe this is a big motivating factor. Having people check in on your goals will typically keep you working harder.
• There's an app for that....For running I have heard a lot of success stories (including my own husband) with the Couch to 5K training program. It's a great place for the new runner to start. For weight loss LoseIt or MyFitnessPal are both great calorie tracking apps for monitoring your daily food intake. So easy when you have it with you everywhere!
• Make your "someday" today! Put on your shoes and take that first step!
• Build your support system. Join a local running club, join DailyMile, find friends both online and in real life that run or are also trying to lose weight. 

Beginning running is frustrating. It's hard. IT HURTS. Just stick with it, at least until you have run one race or about six months. THEN, make a decision if you will keep with it or if running is not your thing. Beginning weightloss is frustrating, too. Some weeks, you'll see a drastic change, some weeks you may have setbacks. Either way, don't give up! I promise, when you're folding clothes and suddenly you realize that SMALL pair of jeans are YOURS, it's all worth it. (true story! Last fall I had to remind myself that a pair of jeans were really mine and that they fit as I still saw myself as my former fat girl (FFG) self). Take pictures along your journey, keep a scrapbook, take measurements. Be sure you have something to look  back on! My OMG picture is on my laptop desktop so I have an almost constant reminder of how far I've come.

Source

When I got started running, I was 4 weeks post C-Section with baby #2. (yes, I had my doctor's permission!) I wasn't a complete newbie, I had finished a 5k the previous year, but I stopped running as soon as I found out I was pregnant (i.e. starting from scratch again). I didn't follow the C25K plan exactly, but I ran as long as I could, then walked until I felt like I could run again. About seven weeks later, I completed my second 5K!

Get your support system! Get started!

Are you a new runner? Are you struggling to lose weight? Let me know if you need support. I couldn't have gotten this far in my journey without my support system! I'd love more "friends" on myfitnesspal, let me know if you're on there!

What color do you sweat?

I bet you're thinking this is going to be one of those posts where I talk about what you eat and what happens to your body via sweat. Nah! I've read several of those articles and find them very interesting. But that's way too heavy for me on a Monday morning!

Instead I wanted to talk about this awesome opportunity I have been given. About a month ago, I received an email that I was chosen as an Ambassador for the Sweat Pink campaign through Fit Approach. The mission statement pretty much says it all: (and seriously blogger? that's the closest font color to pink that they have :( bummer)

Mission:

We believe that kicking ass is best done in in pretty shoes. We've learned that real women sweat, and sweat hard. We know that assertiveness, strength, and ambition are the ultimate feminine qualities. We concede that sometimes it takes hours to get ready, but we're also no strangers to just rolling out of bed and going. We're convinced that we run faster in pink shoelaces. We believe in pushing ourselves, and we believe in giving ourselves a break, too. We're all about the rush of endorphins and the thrill of the challenge. We're all for looking great and feeling even better. We're committed to finding our best fit and making it stick.

How do we get there?

We climb.
We journey.
We balance.
We reward.

Thank you Alyse and Jamie (founders of Fit Approach) for admitting that women DO sweat! I know I've always heard that women "glisten". Sorry, but when I'm running 10 or more miles, I sweat, and sweat a LOT. I work hard, I sweat hard. Fact of running. If I'm not sweating, I must not be working hard enough! I also agree that it takes a lot of balancing to get it done. Some weeks I'm better at balancing than others, for sure. I'm still a work in progress!

Being a SPA (sweat pink ambassador) means that I will help and encourage others in their fitness and healthy lifestyle goals. Also, there is a whole community of like minded ladies to help, encourage and inspire me when I need it. 

Last week, I received these in the mail. The tank top is awesome. In fact, I'm wearing it now. With a hoodie. Fall has come early to Ohio. <sigh> And several pairs of pink shoelaces. I'm trying to figure out which of my three pairs of shoes will be lucky enough to have pink laces...I'm thinking my newest pair. One pair is reserved for Jamie, she is the biggest pink wearer I know! Now, if Kate (I know I've talked about Jamie and Kate a lot, they are my best running friends so they automatically get pink laces if they want them) wants a pair, that will leave me with two more to give away. If there is enough interest from you all on having your own sweat pink shoelaces, I will figure out how to host my first giveaway. 

Leave a comment if you would like your own pink shoelaces!

An unexpected day for a PR!

My Columbus Marathon training plan (from the wonderful Bart Yasso), called for a 5K race during today's run. Well, my race budget is pretty non-existent right now (Ragnar Relay is coming quickly!) and I didn't have any friends running a race (which would make it more fun). So, I did what any self-respecting runner does, I went to my running friends and asked for suggestions. My Best Running Friend (BRF), Jamie, suggested going to Glacier Ridge and she would ride her bike to mark the finish line for us. Awesome! Problem solved. Kind of. The next problem; who was I going to race to make sure that I didn't just phone it in? Unfortunately, Jamie is still coming back from injury, so I knew I wouldn't be racing her. Luckily, other running friends voiced some interest so we had a "race" planned.

My training plan called for 6 miles Friday (the day before the race) and Thursday as a rest day. Well, my body was NOT having anything to do with running on Wednesday as I had already run 27 miles in the previous three days. So, running 6 miles Thursday, 6 miles Friday, I really had low expectations for my 5K today. Also, I haven't done any speedwork since before the Cleveland Marathon (almost THREE months ago!) It was too hot. I was recovering. There is really no excuse. If I want to get faster, I need to put in the work; simple as that.

Every finish line should have
a smile! 

The weather cooperated with lower than normal temperatures, THANK YOU!, and I was feeling good this morning. Greg was coming to race me, so I was looking forward to running as hard as I could chasing him (he's FAST!). Unfortunately, his "dog" turned off his alarm (does he even have a dog?) and he didn't make it until we were done with the race. After our warm-up miles and Jamie marking the start and finish for us, we got started.


My goal was to beat my 5K PR (personal record) of 26:54, which I had set in October 2010. I've been enjoying the long distance runs so much that I've sort of stopped with the shorter distances races. That's about to change, at least a little. Maybe. But please, don't hold me to it!

During the "race", there were a few times that I almost slowed down, because really, it wasn't a real race. But then I thought of everyone I would have to tell that I gave up and my pride kept me going. Several times I was reminded of why I prefer long distance running to short races....they HURT! And the head games, wow! I forgot that my brain tries to get me to stop even in shorter distances. But, I kept watching my average pace on my Garmin and managed to keep it below my goal pace and told my brain to shut up! (Side note...I need to learn how to use the virtual partner feature on my Garmin. Any tips?)

Mile 1 was faster that it should have been (see, it really was a race!), mile 2 was pretty good and mile 3 got me almost to the finish. By about the 2 mile beep, I was DETERMINED to keep my pace up and get my PR.

If a tree falls in a forrest and no one is around to hear it..... that thought kept going around and around my mind as I was running as fast as I could. Why? you ask... well, if it's not a real race, "officially timed, officially measured", does it really count for a PR. When I crossed the finish...and went a little farther until my watch said 3.1, I decided that it did. I worked just as hard during my race today as I do during a "real" race. So I posed the question on my DailyMile report today and received a resounding YES! I ran it, I beat my previous time, therefor it's a personal record of that distance is the conclusion we've come to.

Oh, yeah, that's a PR! 

So, my race that wasn't really a race, resulted in a PR!

3.1 miles
Time: 26:06
Avg Pace: 8:25/mile

What are your thoughts on counting PRs or PBs from training instead of a "real race"? What do you do?

Bucket List of Races

Source

A Bucket List of races...I'm pretty sure every runner (and Triathlete) has one of these. In the beginning, it was small races, 5Ks, and close to home Half Marathons.  Then it starts evolving as we run more and more into Half Marathons that are further away, Marathons and eventually the Ultra Marathon. For a short amount of time, I had a few Ultras on my bucket list, but they have been erased....for now.  I have a running bucket list and a "Life" Bucket List. Seems like I am constantly adding to my list and making changes based on race reports. Luckily, I have the rest of my life to get to these as I anticipate being a lifelong runner.

Without further ado....

• Disney Princess Half Marathon (it's the happiest place on Earth, who wouldn't want to run this?! Plus, I'd get to wear a tiara!)
• San Francisco Marathon (or Half)
• ING New York City Marathon
• Chicago Marathon
• Rock 'N Roll Las Vegas (just for the experience of running the strip at night!)
• Honolulu Marathon

And last but certainly not least.....

• BOSTON Marathon (Yes, I would LOVE to qualify for Boston, but might have to wait until I am much older as I don't anticipate getting fast enough to qualify anytime in the near future!)

Most of these marathons are in cities/locations that I want to visit. I have been to San Francisco and Chicago, but the visits were too short and this would be the perfect way to tour the cities! The rest just sound like fun. I don't know if I will ever get to some of these races, but having a dream list is fun!

Do you have a bucket list of races? Have you run any of my bucket list races? What would you add?

The Weekly Chase, Goals and lists

The Weekly Chase

We had a super fun and busy week last week. That has continued into this week which is why my Weekly Chase update is a day late. Better late than never, though, right?

Saturday was my "baby's" third birthday! We had so much fun celebrating. He doesn't seem to grasp the concept of birthday's though. Every morning since Saturday he gets up and says "Mommy, am I still three?" So cute! I love this stage. (Well, I love every stage of my kids' development.) I just can't believe that I now have a five and a three year old. I don't feel like time has passed so how can they be growing up so quickly?

My only goal I set for last week  was to log all of my calories. I might have missed a few things, but I give myself an A for effort. When I didn't want to log a few things over the weekend as I was having too much fun celebrating (i.e. eating really yummy foods), I knew I would have to report a fail, and I didn't want to do that. :)

With that said.....

Goals:

1. Continue to log EVERYTHING, even if I go over or don't want to think about high calorie foods...Need to keep myself honest!

2. Finish school supply shopping. No matter how much I plan and make lists, I seem to always be a last minute person and I don't want to do that. We need all of our supplies by 8/16 to take to our Kindergarten Ice Cream Social at the school, so I want to have everything done by THIS Friday. I can do it!

3. Do at least one fun thing with the kids that we haven't done yet this year. I actually have two in mind for the week, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Are you a last minute shopper or do you have your school supplies purchased already? How was your week? Any big goals for this week? 

Join us in The Weekly Chase!