Friday, September 28, 2012

Birthdays, Birthdays Everywhere!

Wow this week has been SO crazy!  Monday was Cam's 5th birthday and Tuesday was Chase's 8th birthday and my hubby got stuck working late so between football practice, celebrating and baking 50+ cupcakes from scratch I lost track of time! 

Tuesday's workout was a Tempo run of 7 miles in 49:23, average pace 7:03.  I felt great and right in the zone on this run.  We had a fun filled day of hanging out with my mom and brother and celebrating Chase's big day:
8!!!!!
Since the older the kids get the more opinionated they become on their birthday present so I decided to let Chase pick out his gift....He chose these:
Sweet New Kicks

Love the orange soles!


My Skater!
I thought that was a pretty awesome gift until my brother gave Chase his gift:
New IPod Touch



Yup!  Best Uncle Ever!!

Wednesday I was having a pretty off/bad day!  I had a ton going on and was reaching my breaking point ... so I went out for a run.  I got to 6.5 miles in 48 mins and called it my "Stress Relief" run!  It helped but I needed a great girlfriend to get me back to reality.  It is amazing what exercise and a great chat will do for you!!  I had to work Wednesday night into Thursday and all these little babies wanted to be born so work went by pretty fast.

Thursday I did 11 miles in 1:26 @ 1% incline.  I did this run on the TM because it decided to get humid again here in Delaware.  Geez!  I felt great and it was going smoothly until the last 2 miles when my left hip flexor got a little tight.  It is shocking how quickly the body wants to compensate and adapt to the source of discomfort.  I followed my run up with my PT exercises and worked my hamstrings and back. 

At 8:55 pm I got a text from my girlfriend Alicia  ( who is 37 wks pregnant ) MY WATER JUST BROKE!!  Of course, this happens when I am not working and my hubby was working late!!  Little Mr. Mason decided to make his arrival on Sept. 28 @ 01:33 am...He is the cutest little man:

We were talking about running!
I am so happy for Rob, Alicia, Big Brother Aiden and Baby Mason...Being a mommy of 2 boys is so much fun and high energy.  Welcome to the gang little buddy!

So today after having a great PT session and getting put back in proper alignment I feel like a new person!   I have a few areas to improve in mobility but all in all is good.  I decided to take today off from running so I did the Expresso bike for 20 miles in 1:15 and it was full of hills. 

We have a weekend full of football, soccer, parties and a 20 miler!

What are your weekend plans?

Happy Running! 

Monday, September 24, 2012

Baby Shower,Delaware Mud Run 2012, and Birthday!

What a fun past 3 days we have had here in Delaware....Saturday it was my dear friend Michelle's baby shower and I had such a great time catching up with all these amazing girls!
We have a tradition of this picture!

AMAZING cake!!
 


 I am so excited to meet and welcome 2 new babies into our close circle of friends..Alicia is due Oct. 13 and Michelle is due Oct. 30.  I love being a Labor and Delivery Nurse!

Sunday we had the Delaware Mud Run to compete in and we were "in it to win it"! Since this run is a 5K I had decided I would run a quick "clean" 5 miles/34 mins before the race.  Haha..I tend to be a little on the competitive side and usually end up frustrated but this event is for such an amazing cause and meant to be fun.  This year the course was AWESOME and filled with 18 obstacles! Our team was named "50 Shades of Dirty" and we got lots of compliments on our shirts:


Many teams come in full costume and they even host a "Best Costume" contest.  This year there were 10 waves/heats of teams with 400 people per wave!!  So there were many fun team names and costumes. This was one of my favorites and I totally thought of EMZ:
 
Also this one:
  
So funny!  We arrived to the race at 8 am for our 10 am start and people watched and used the CLEAN portapots.  Our Fabulous friend Debbie was our "nutritional support" and many other tailgaters were jealous of our spread!  We had fresh fruit, homemade granola, greek yogurt, banana and pumpkin bread! 
For post race she made grilled veggie sandwiches, quinoa salad, tomato and avocado salad, sweet potatoes and Gorgonzola burger sliders!! Oh yeah and crab stuffed deviled eggs!
 
Back to the run!  We started at 10 am and the course was pretty challenging but not dangerous.  There were a lot of rope/muddy hill climbs, mud pits, tunnels to crawl through, balance beams, leaping over fire, and suspension ropes to walk.  My favorite was the ICE pit!!  I am not talking little cubes of ice I am talking chest deep thick ice to trudge through!  Once I hit the ice pit people were shouting "you are the first female"...So at this point I decided I had to turn it up and really start to run! 
Oh so clean!
Mucky ICE!
1st Female!
 This was the big swimming pool size mud pit with fake barbed wire to crawl under close to the finish line!  When I got to the finish the clock said 28:12 and you have to cross the finish line as your 4 person team so my girls were close behind and we were the 1st all female group in the 1st wave to finish!  So proud of my team and I had such a great time with all of them!  Our other group of fantastic Y girls went off in the 11:30 heat ( i think ), so we got to see them come across the finish!  Hilarious:
Sandra, Lori, Michelle, and Donna!
 
My hubby also did the run and this is a huge accomplish in my eyes and makes me so happy!!
Pre-Muddy couple!
I highly recommend doing this race if you are in the area.  This is such a great event and 100% of the proceeds go to Leukemia Research.  They also host a MudRun Jr. in June and my oldest son has done it the past 2 years and LOVES it!  Please support this great event!
 
And the BEST part of the past 3 days is today is my baby's 5th birthday!!
He did his own hair!

New Bike for the bday boy!
I am rocking my Oiselle Runbow shirt above!!  He wanted an bike for his present so we decided to let him pick it out!  Love this little guy so much and he was so excited for his new bike! 
 
And tomorrow we have another AMAZING day...My oldest son's 8th birthday!!! Yup back to back birthdays is how we roll.
 
Anyone doing a mud run/spartan run/ warrior dash/ tough mudder?
 
Happy Running!
 
 

Friday, September 21, 2012

18 miles of Trail Running...

Today I did my long slow distance run since I will be getting down and dirty at the Delaware Mudrun on Sunday.  Angel joined me on this Running Adventure today...We drove over to Lums Pond State Park around 7:30 am and it was chilly!! There are some amazing trails over here and we wanted to get off the roads and give our hips/legs a break from all the pavement.  Well, trail running is definitely a whole different animal!!  I am in love with it and my legs are thanking me.   We ran through the woods, over tree trunks, leaped over puddles, dodged massive spiderwebs and even pretended to be children of the corn.  I decided to wear my Salomon trail shoes and am so glad I did.  They have a firmer sole and amazing arch support as well as super bright colors:

Sign of a great trail run!
 After we completed the first loop with a little short cut (our shoes were soaking wet and you could even hear the squishing sound every time our feet struck the ground) we went back to the car to change shoes.  Luckily I had like 4 pair of extra socks in the car and extra running clothes  so we changed and were back on our way.  Unfortunately, Angel was working on a blister since mile 2!  We mixed it up a little and ran on some roads and through my neighborhood ( which to me is soooooo boring ) then looped back onto the trails for the final 4 miles!  Like I said before this was a running adventure today.   To me this was MUCH tougher then regular road running and I loved every second of it.  Total time was 18 miles in 2:24 and I am very proud of both Angel and I for not having one single fall!
Wood Carving

This is quite the view!

Angel working the incline
I was very glad to see my car at the end and to refuel with my Premier Protein Chocolate shake and Angel had the vanilla.
yes this was heaven to see! Xo
If you trail run what kind of shoes do you wear??

Doing the Delaware Mudrun this Sunday??

Happy Running!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Bra Fitting, Running and Kombucha!

Yesterday I had a progression run on tap and it felt pretty darn good.  I started off very tense and still felt sore from all that kettle bell work on Monday but once I got past the first 2 miles I was settled in and focused on my pace.  I ended up with 10 miles in 72 minutes and followed up with my good ol' foam roller and PT moves. 

I had a gift card and coupons for Victoria's Secret and I was in major need of new NON sports bras so we took a trip to the mall!  My boys were less than thrilled with having to go into the "boobie store".  The sales people are awesome and hooked me up with the right size bra.  It is amazing how much better and more confident you feel with proper support!!  So after I completely embarrassed my boys I had to give into there request for sushi followed by Auntie Anne's. 
Think the chairs are small enough?
Today's workout was a leisurely trail bike ride around Lum's Pond with my uncle followed by swimming 1950 yards in 45 minutes.  It has been years since I rode a road bike and let alone on a trail!!  I am in love with it and cannot wait to do it again.

One thing I am loving lately is Kombucha:

Kombucha is made from sweetened tea that has been fermented by a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (a SCOBY, a.k.a. “mother” because of its ability to reproduce, or “mushroom” because of its appearance).  There are many amazing health benefits to this drink and I am just learning more and more about it!  One of kombucha’s greatest health benefits is its ability to detox the body because it is rich in many of the enzymes and bacterial acids your body produces and uses to detox your system, therefore reducing your pancreatic load and easing the burden on your liver.  Kombucha is also high in glucaric acid which is said to help prevent cancer.  It also contains glucosamine and is a natural probiotic and with help improve digestive health.   These are just a few of the benefits I have come across while reading about it.  Angel gave me a great website to checkout called www.culturesforhealth.com that has videos and instructions on all these things!  I can tell you that when I fuel my body properly I feel like a better person and have more energy.  It is amazing how the body responds when you treat it well.

I have to go to bed early since I am doing a 18 mile trail run in the morning so Good Night!

Happy Running!

Monday, September 17, 2012

So Inspiring!

http://youtu.be/OrTtDxd-4iY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OrTtDxd-4iY

You have to checkout the above YouTube video!  I saw this yesterday while watching football with my hubby.  I was so amazed and motivated by this video and this message.  I hope you feel the same way. 

Today's workout was a short recovery run and some lifting.  I did 5.25 miles in 40 minutes then I did some kettlebell work.  This is what it looked like:

50 kettlebell swings  40 lb KB
20 (each arm)  biceps curl 20 lb KB
50 Russian twists
20 single arm OH squat 20 lb KB
50 toe touches
20 burpees
50 (each side) side plank with hip drop
20 single arm bench press 25 lb KB
50 stability ball roll outs
20 single arm row 25 lb KB
50 straight arm sit ups 20 lb KB
20 single arm triceps press 15 lb KB

I like a lot of variety in my lifting because I get bored easily with it...but I am really trying to be good about it because I love the results and I want to stay INJURY FREE!!!

Let me know what you think of the video.

Happy Running!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Football + Soccer + Long Run = Happy Me

Yesterday we started the day with Chase's football game @ 9 followed by Cam's soccer game @ 12.  I think I am more of a football mom than soccer mom... I have said it before but I LOVE to see my boys play their sports and watch the drive and determination they have.  Chase's team is doing amazing and they are undefeated!  He really plays his heart out and football seems to be his passion:
 
I got it from my momma!!
 After his game we hustled through the trails and switched to soccer mode:
All that!
I am definitely my boys biggest cheerleader!

Next weekend we are doing the Delaware Mudrun so I am the tshirt maker for the team and figured I should probably start making the shirts.  What a pain in the a&$!!  Midway through the process my iron broke...Seriously!  And I ran out of glitter letters and my hubby had to hand make the letters.  But all in all they turned out pretty good for shirts we will be throwing in the trash when finished:
Front
 
Back
Today's run was awesome, the weather was perfect and I was in good company.

15 miles in 1:55 and feeling good!
A lot of our friends are running the Philadelphia Rock & Roll half today and what a perfect day to run...I kind of wish I would have signed up to do this race but I needed a weekend to just stay home a get stuff done.  Great job to Dathan Ritzenhein who finished 3rd in the race in 1:00:56 with average pace of 4:39...AMAZING!!

Congrats Lori, Michelle, Sandra, and Donna!!!
Lori and Michelle
 
Donna
Did anyone else run Philly R&R?

Soccer or Football?

Happy Running!

Friday, September 14, 2012

Swooh!!!

Yesterday was an active rest day filled with tons of fun.   I am the gym teachers helper for my little guys preschool class!  This is quite comical...yesterday was their first official gym class and Mrs. Smith did a great job with orienting them to the gym.  I quickly realized I am too nice to be stern with these cute little people!  I had tears in my eyes because it so precious to watch them try to gallop, skip and run in a straight line.  After gym class I met my adorable friend Michelle for lunch...She is about 34 weeks pregnant with her first baby and is doing a fantastic job with the pregnancy.   She is such an amazing friend/person and always has a positive outlook...Love her! 

I had to work last night also and got off at 7:30 am...today is my day to register for the Boston Marathon 2013.  Luckily my hubby said he would make sure he signed me up right @ 10 am but I still set my alarm for 9:55 to make sure he was on it...Type A?? I think so!  When I saw this I finally could relax:



Today was a tempo run day for me but before I started I definitely needed this:
Must have caffeine
I started my run with the first mile @ 8:06 then I settled in and held my paces in the low to mid 7's....I did a total of 10.25 miles in 74 minutes flat!  This run was exactly what I needed today,  especially after my lazy rest day and working all night. 

The boys wanted to have a Friday Pizza Night so we tried out a place on main street called Peace of Pizza.


Veggie Pizza
We had a great view of all the college kids hanging out on Friday night and the boys asking lots of questions about college life!! I am so NOT ready for that part of their lives ANY time soon ( thank goodness they are only 7 & 4).  The pizza was so full of veggies and freshly made.  They had a ton of different types of pizza but my boys went with the plain cheese. 

I wanted to wish all my runner friends BEST of LUCK this weekend running in the Philadelphia Rock n Roll half marathon!!!  They are all going to rock that city!

Anyone else running Philly?

Who else is going to Boston 2013??

Happy Running!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Oiselle Team Ambassador!




So I am so excited to tell everyone that a few months ago I applied to be an running team ambassador for an amazing company called Oiselle....I absolutely love their clothing and more importantly their message! I was chosen out of 75 applicants to be a member of their team!! Yes I cried tears of joy and I am so ecstatic to be able to be a part of such an amazing group of women! I look forward to what the future holds and I hope to introduce many people to this awesome company and their fabulous products. Please check them out here.

Do you have any Oiselle products?  What do you think!?

Happy Running!

Swimming, Tshirts, and More...

Today was a cross training day so I swam 3060 yards in 1 hour 25 minutes at the YMCA pool.  I really enjoy my swimming days but man today the pool was HOT!  I did 54 laps before Angel came and joined me then we did a ladder  workout of 200 meters/30 seconds rest, 300 meters/30 seconds rest,  400 meters/30 seconds rest, then repeat.  This was fun!  After swimming I was on a mission to find stuff to make our t-shirts for our team for the up coming Delaware Mudrun.  This is what I ended up with so far:
 
I will post the finished product once I am done with arts and crafts.  While at the store I picked up some things for dinner since I am still craving the buffalo spice flavor of yesterday's Wholefoods trip, I decided to try out buffalo chicken recipe in the crock pot.  Literally all you do is put in the chicken, the buffalo sauce and a packet of ranch dressing mix and let it cook.  It was quite tasty and went nicely with our Dogfish Head  Punkin Ale!
And for dessert we made rice crispy treats but instead of butter I used coconut oil and they are kid tasted and approved!
yes I bought the cheap version



Do you use coconut oil?

Happy Running!