Back in the Saddle Again

I am VERY excited to say that I took spin class this morning, and other than the lungs exploding and the 2 times I nearly puked from exertion, I felt GREAT!! My back/hamstings were FINE!! One time during a standing-back in the seat thing I felt the tiniest twinge, but otherwise, it was awesome. I've really missed spin.


This is my awesome spin instructor (hi Jodie!!) , in case you think maybe I was just taking it easy- do you think she lets anyone take it easy?




I also am getting back on the good eating saddle. My break from working out unfortunately coincided with a break in eating well. I need to drop this extra weight in order to stop the injury cycle. I know it's the extra weight I carry (and being in my 5th decade) that does it.

I had a little epiphany yesterday about my eating. I've been doing the frequent small meal thing, however it just lead to eating all the time! I was reading my Runner's World magazine in carpool lane and in an article about losing weight it said "STOP GRAZING". Eat 3 meals a day. Now I KNOW the frequent small meals works for some, but for me, it was like I never knew when to stop. So today I am going to just do 3 meals, nothing between except water and tea. I stocked up at Publix on healthy stuff and just finished lunch and am STUFFED, but it was healthy and likely under 400 calories.



A flatout wrap with roasted turkey, baby organic spinach and broccoli slaw inside. Carrots, sugar snaps and grape tomatoes on the side. YUM! The inside looks like this- I tossed the spinach and slaw in a splash of lite greek dressing.



I think with the structure of 3 meals I will be able to control calories and portions much better.

It's a very gray rainy day today- Matthew's baseball practice has already been canceled. Will be strange not being out all evening! Have to take Thomas in for some bloodwork (from his yearly physical yesterday- thyroid and CBC) after school. Should be loads of fun, every year he gets stronger and more people need to hold him down, poor kid!



Hope everyone is having a great day! Hope the rain stops by morning, I have a 5am run planned since I have a busy day.

TWO MORE DAYS!!! Goooooooooooooo Phils!!

mini update

Just a quick update, I feel like although I am crazy busy, there is nothing bloggable going on in my life.

Except my invention of the word bloggable.

Still doing couch to 5k, on week 2, up to a whole NINETY seconds of running at a time. My piriformis is holding solid though, so not pushing it. Oddly, my hamstrings have been tight- maybe because of the walking? Anyhow, have been going out at 5am to get the runs in in time to get Matthew to the bus stop by 6:05. Is nice, actually being done that early, once I am able to pry my body from the bed. Nice also to be running again, albeit in 90s intervals.





Matthew is playing crazy amounts of baseball, but it's all good, we all love it. The littles get dragged along, but most of the fields have playgrounds, and all have a ton of OTHER little siblings there to play with. And hot dogs, they love the hot dogs... I try not to let them have all those preservatives and stuff otherwise, but they can't resist the lure of the baseball diamond 'dog.  Me, I say yuck.

Thomas is going to be going to his very first overnight trip without us this weekend- to camp! It's for kids with special needs who otherwise would not be able to go to camp- lots have significant chronic medical issues like cerebral palsy and the like. He is beyond excited, and I am excited for him, yet a little nervous. They have a good amount of staff/volunteers and I have the cell phone of the director in my speed dial, so I'll be okay. He just tends to wander at night... It's called Lindsey's Place I'll blog more about it after he goes. It's less than an hour from our house.




The lottery drawing for pre-K at Marshpoint (where Thomas goes now) for Leah Kate is on Thursday morning. They have 20 slots and hundreds of applicants, but I am trying to stay my usual optimistic self. Prayers are accepted for sure!






Lots of stuff going on around the house- little projects like drywalling and painting and some new stuff and some old stuff going out, etc. Feels very unsettled right now, I'll be glad when it's all done (is it EVER??)

HAPPY TUESDAY Y'ALL!! Off to Thomas' 8 year checkup :)

Oh- we had huge HAIL on Sunday! I grabed the camera a little too late for when it was really coming down, but it was still super cool. The kids thought it was great, Leah Kate has a baggie full still in our freezer, ha ha! Here's a short clip:

Amazing blog

Kelle Hampton's blog is just amazing. She can put into words feelings I have, and even feelings I didn't realize I had. She has a daughter with Down syndrome, but her blog is much much more global than that. Please take a look.

A particular post from a few days ago really struck a chord, especially this part:

Mostly, the parent of a child with Down syndrome—or autism or Turner’s syndrome or Prader Willi syndrome or, for that matter, no syndrome at all—wants the world to accept their child. To love them, praise them, high five them on the soccer field, compliment their awesome sneakers, invite them to birthday parties, ask them questions and really listen when they reply, pick them for playdates, help them when they’re struggling, teach them when they need it and recognize all the good they have to give the world.

I love that for the most part, the world HAS accepted my son, and for that I thank God daily. Watching him play tag on the playground with new friends yesterday at a baseball game made my heart sing. Seeing him spontaneously run out into the parade last week to hug a soldier brought tears to my eyes.



I want only the best for all of my children. Kelle's blog is raising awareness and helping make this world a better place, I really believe that and I thank her for putting into words and photographs the beauty that surpasses the hardship, the love that surpasses the hate.

Rewind and go forward

I ran this morning! 

First time I've run since pulling my piriformis. I felt pretty good, was humid so I got a great sweat even at 5:40 am and even though I only did a little over 2 miles. Progress.


Progress, yet I am way back where I was last August when I began this whole running thing...


...today I started Couch to 5k for the second time

You see, I LOVED running when I was doing that program. I saw real progress with little injury. It was fun. I am sort of out of running shape from my break, so I swallowed my pride and said what the heck, let's get this started! 

It's 9 weeks, so that should be great, then I can really start to work on my 1/2 mary training for November's race. I may tweak the program a bit, but for now, at least I am able to RUN!



I feel good about this. So it's me and Robert Ullrey and his podcasts once again!


Week one is 1 min runs/90 sec. walk x8. I did 2.15 miles in that time. My runs were in the 8:20 pace, so I was thrilled with that, though I know I will slow way down as the runs get longer. Stretched a LOT, foam rolled and I am feeling good. YAY!


In other news, had a great long weekend (St. Pat's is HUGE down here- the schools were closed Thurs./Fri). Matthew did GREAT in his 1st parade and the littles really enjoyed it too. My brother was down from Boston which was awesome as well. I will blog more about the parade later :)





HAPPY MONDAY Y'ALL!

Weekend Update

Spent the morning Saturday at Thomas' horseback riding therapy and then the afternoon and evening at various baseball camp/games for Matthew. Was a GORGEOUS day, and every ballpark had a playground for the little ones, so all in all a great day... until Matthew started complaining of a headache and chills (in the final inning- I think he was sucking it up for a while though) By the time we got home he had a 101.3 fever poor kid.

Sunday we lay low with Matthew being sick and Mark on call. Took the littles for a bike ride/walk around the neighborhood in the morning, and then when Mark got home after lunch I took them for another bike ride- this time around the Y.

We did about 2.5 miles in all. I tried running a bit, very disappointed to say it hurt...  I DID spend a couple hours in the garden yesterday weeding/clearing out, so I am hoping it was just overuse. I am going to try a little again today, but plan mainly walking.  Leah Kate has gymnastics at 11.

Here I am looking MUCH less thrilled with the way things went at our bike ride/walk yesterday afternoon than my daughter is:


Last night I rallied Matthew from his stupor of naps and tv to make a little video in honor of their Pop Pop (my FIL). His birthday is today and he lives 800 miles away. Leah Kate and Thomas really performed, poor Matthew definitely was not at the top of his game (he said it hurt his throat to get the high notes), but did pretty well all things considered. HAPPY BIRTHDAY POP POP!!



I did let Matthew go to school today, he feels better though not 100%. He didn't want to miss baseball practice :)   It sure was dark out there at the bus stop this morning, darned DST!!

HAPPY MONDAY Y'ALL!!

Longest 10 minutes of my life.

I mean even longer than the wait for the anesthesiologist during labor. Longer than being on hold with (any and all) utility company. 

Looooooooong. 


Today I took a spin class (GREAT class, totally got my sweat on, however, I am not sure how great an idea that was for my piriformis, the standing leaning over type stuff hurt a bit), and instead of my usual quick mile on the TM afterward, I did some deep water running for the first time. I figured I'd do 10 minutes = about a mile.





Set my watch timer to 10 minutes, put on the aqua jogger (my YMCA has them, yay!) and got to work. Wanted to look at my watch, but I waited a bit. Finally looked, thinking I must be getting close. I am so very serious when I tell you my timer still had 8:03 left. Yup, ONE. MINUTE. FIFTY-SEVEN. SECONDS. I couldn't believe it. 

Time had actually stood still. 

It WAS a great workout, I was working hard and eventually (3 days later...) I was done 10 minutes. In my research on water running, I've read of people doing it for 2 HOURS. HOW???? Soooooo boring!! No music. Water Aerobics instructor speaking gently at the shallow end. The lap lane is too shallow at the end to run that way, so I was making little laps across the deep end.  Anyway, definitely a good workout, but if I want to continue with it, a waterproof ipod is in my future.


I think this works my arms more than regular running- I was really pumping them, so that's a good thing.

I also got a GREAT upper body workout today trying to get my tankini onto my sweaty post-spin body.


Oh, for the record, yesterday I did 4.3 miles in 57 minutes (walking) for just over a 13min/mile pace... It's easier to just run I think, but I am trying to do this recovery thing right.  Also did bunches of stretching/foam rolling/abs/planks/situps. 

(Matthew and Thomas 3/17/07)


Have lots of baseball again this week, and my little brother is coming down from BOSTON next week!!!!!  ANNNNND, next week is St. Pat's! Matthew's school band is marching in the parade, first middle school to do so in the long and storied history of the Savannah St. Patrick's Day parade!

I can still walk!

So I got back to moving my body just a little bit yesterday, felt SO GOOD!! I took it easy, only walking (though I was dying to run). I did a little over 3.5 miles in 50 minutes (~ 14min/mile, ha ha).  They finally connected the 2 trails I've been "out and back"-ing, so I went down one and came back on the other. SO EXCITED TO BE WORKING OUT!!!!!!!





I did a TON of stretching after, plus loads of situps, some pushups and a couple 1 min. planks. More stretching. My muscles felt pretty decent all day, even after that, yay! It was bothering me as I went to bed, so I took a couple Motrin, but this morning it feels great! I mean, I know it's there, but I am able to walk normally.  I am going to walk again today, then take spin tomorrow. By Thursday I am planning on doing some walk-run intervals and I CANNOT WAIT!! 


I typically take an Iron Bodies class on Tues/Thurs., but I am a little afraid to do that quite yet- it's full body stuff, awesome class, but a strain on my back and hamstring when I am 100%, so I am going to wait until next Tuesday. I will do some upper body stuff in the weight room this week.  


Speaking of iron bodies- this is my AMAZING instructor (also teaches my spin class) and good friend Jodie, TOTALLY rocking it at the Arnold Classic this past weekend. LOVE HER!!!



Happy Tuesday Y'all!!

Notes from the DL (disabled list)

The good news in that title is that the DL reminds me that it's BASEBALL SEASON!! Best time of the year. MLB in Spring training (gooooooo Phillies! ), my own son already playing games. Matthew made his middle school team (6-8th grade) as a 6th grader, I am so thrilled and proud of him. They had a preseason tournament all last week and he got in some good playing time even.
will bring real camera to game one day, ha ha:



And the bad news is, I've been put on my own self imposed DL for the past week. It stinks and I am so so ready to be back in the lineup (can you take any more baseball metaphor??). I have been mildly complaining for weeks now of pain on my left lower back/glute/hamsting area. I am pretty sure it's piriformis syndrome. It was really bad last week- like I could barely walk and the thought of running was out of the question. Only with motrin was I able to do the minimum like walk my son to the bus stop and "chase" the younger ones around at the 5 baseball games we had (plus a couple practices for Matthew's club team). However, I think the rest definitely helped, I haven't taken anything in a couple days, and today I am going to attempt a little fast paced walking. If this goes well today, I may actually RUN tomorrow. 

Being out of commission makes me realize how much I take my body's ability to function properly for granted. I now look at people running by so longingly. I want to shout out to them, "Do you realize how LUCKY you are to be out there? I know you are dreaming of finishing, but enjoy your run, ENJOY IT!!!!"

I am considering trying out deep water pool running also. I know a lot of good runners (SUAR being notable) who have trained through injury doing this. I am just afraid of looking like an idiot trying to figure it out, ha ha! 

I really hate to lose the base I worked really hard to get to. I am going to be starting my 1/2 marathon training in a couple months, I NEED to be able to do the low mileage stuff without thinking about it. HELP ME!! Any and all advice welcome!


Oh, and HAPPY MONDAY!!

Chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with buttercream frosting

I got a few e-mails requesting this recipe, so figured I'd just put it up here :)  These are the BEST CUPCAKES EVER!

Yummy chocolate cupcakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 cups of buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla
(optional- a bag of Ghirardelli MILK chocolate chips)

directions.
preheat oven to 350 degrees .

in mixer, on low speed, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

add oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.

increase speed and beat for 2 minutes, until well combined (will be a little thinner than a box cake)

spoon into  paper-lined muffin cups, filling halfway (makes around 24-30).

(optional: add 3-4 choc. chips and top with a bit more batter to cover- the Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips are a little big so tend to sink to the bottom, still taste delicious- I've toyed with cutting them in a few pieces, but have not yet- try it an report back :)

bake for about 25 minutes or until tops are firm and tester comes out clean.  transfer to rack and cool completely.

vanilla buttercream frosting
1 cup/ 2 sticks (250 mL) butter, softened
3 oz (90g) cream cheese, softened
4 1/2 cups (1.125L) 10x (powdered) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons (7 mL) vanilla extract

directions :
in a bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth.
reduce speed to low, and add icing sugar, one cup at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. stir in vanilla. If you want color, add paste food coloring now.

If desired,  add remaining choc. Chips to small sandwich bag and melt 30 sec at a time in microwave. Cut very small corner off bag and pipe decorative wrting/shapes on top of iced cupcakes

You must share!!

Forget Munchie Monday, it's just MORE CAKE! (and birthday re-cap)

Okay, I've actually hit my reset button, I am done eating cake and treats and crap. I am back to eating fairly decently and hopefully will start getting back to a healthy weight soon... I am injured  (think it's piriformis syndrome though I of course have not seen anyone professional, it's Dr. Google for this ex-RN) and unable to run which stinks so bad, I am so frustrated I could cry, but that will be another post, this one is a last hurrah for BIRTHDAYS and CAKE!



Thursday was Thomas' 8th birthday, a mere 6 days after Mark's 42nd birthday. More cake. And pizza. Started out the day with pancakes for the birthday boy, then he was allowed to open one present (still obsessed with Toy Story)



Then off to school, where in the afternoon I brought in YUMMY chocolate-buttermilk cupcakes frosted with buttercream/cream cheese icing, decorated with Ghirardelli chocolate. mmmmmm. (I am willing to share my recipe if anyone wants it. I've been told more than once that is is the "best cupcake they ever ate")

Singing happy birthday- that's the student teacher in his class

With Mrs. Shuman, his teacher (both with mouths full of cupcake :) )

With his friend Lindsey:

Later, after school and baseball for Matthew and basketball for Leah Kate, we headed to Basils for Thomas' favorite things- pizza and eating out!

Then finally we headed home for birthday cake and presents :)

Doing the excited birthday dance :)

Okay, birthday season is over at our house... hopefully I'll be on the mend soon and will post some more running stuff!