First Half Marathon Recap!

Hello! I did it! I ran a half marathon! I am still on cloud 9 even days later. It was amazing. I am not sure I will be able to find the words to describe it, But I'll try.

First off, when I said that I was going to start going to be early and waking up early to get used to it and to get more sleep.....yeah that didn't happen. In fact, the week before my race I had a cold, and I feel like that week I got the worst sleep of my life. Part of that may have been because of nerves. I'm not sure. I don't feel like that really hurt me during my run, but I was exhausted for 2 days afterwards.

Race weekend came and my mom and sister drove up from Florida to see me run. I was so happy to have them. Well my mom ended up staying home with my daughter Kylie, and she didn't really mind because of the weather. I am glad she still came to visit. Saturday we went to the race expo which was pretty neat. I bought some socks and my mom bought me a shirt. My sister signed up to be a volunteer so she wouldn't just be standing around for over 2 hours while I ran. I made spaghetti and salad for dinner that night before the race. Spent forever trying to figure out what to bring and what to wear. The weather forecast called for cold and a chance of rain.

Race morning - alarm goes off at 5am. I woke up feeling so sleepy yet excited at the same time. I woke up my sister. I made a yummy shake which is very filling, nutritious, and energizing. I will have to share my recipe sometime. We headed for the famous Biltmore Estate. Even though I live here I haven't visited it because of the high prices, so this was my chance to see the house built by the Vanderbilts and the estate surrounding it. It was pitch dark as we drove onto the grounds so I didn't get to see any of the scenery at that point. We parked and walked to the finish line area and just walked around for a few minutes in the dark. I couldn't tell where the start line was. We had someone take our picture then my sister left to head to her volunteer location.

My amazing sister!

I pulled a Larabar out of my bag but decided I wasn't even hungry. Started to debate in my head what to wear. It was 43 degrees and smelled like rain was coming. I was wearing running leggings which are warm, then a tank top under a warm long sleeve. I had on a hoodie too but I knew that would get too warm. So that came off. Debated gloves. Decided against them since my hands always warm up as I run. Dropped my bag at the tent to pick up after I finished, and found a heater to stand next to. There was a group of people who were fairly energetic other than not wanting to leave to the starting line. I didn't want to either. Around 7:15am we started feeling a few rain drops. Not many though. It started getting light out finally and I could see the huge crowd at the start line. I stretched some while staying by my heater. Finally the group said they would go to the line so I figured I should also. Found a spot in the middle of the pack and stretched a little more. I didn't do any kind of jogging to warm up, I usually do that in the first mile of my long runs. I didn't want to waste energy. Took this pretty cool picture of the start:

Just getting light out! Ready to go!!

I sent this picture to my sister who was just before mile 2. She was ready to see me run by. A couple minutes went by and we were off! like a stampeding herd of turtles....haha! We walked leisurely to the start and then could start jogging slowly until everyone started to thin out. As I crossed that start line and started running, I couldn't stop smiling and was filled with emotion. This was it. All my hard work, and I had just crossed the starting line. Only 13 miles left of this journey after hundreds of miles practiced. I had to keep slowing myself down. I have always had a bad habit of starting out runs too fast, so I knew with this race I would have to keep myself in check so I wouldn't burn out. My running app on my phone decided to not work right and told me my mile time before I got to the mark. I guess the signal out there in the woods isn't the best. It ended up telling me I ran a half mile further than I did. But I used the app so when I passed each mile mark I could check my time. My first mile was right on track for 10 minute miles. If I didn't mention it before in this post - my goal time for this race was about 2 hours and 10 minutes, or 10 minute miles. The further we ran, the more the rain fell. Right before mile 2 I saw my sister and gave her a high five. Just after mile 3 started a long uphill. We basically went up for almost 3 miles. I am sure glad I did lots of hills in my training. It still got tiring. At mile 4 I texted my sister with my time, I figured I could update her along the way. By this time the rain was light and steady. I kept hoping my phone would keep working and providing me with time and music through the race. I hit the 10k (6.2 miles) timing mat at 1:03:45. After all that uphill I was happy to still be pretty much on pace. Right after that we approached the amazing Biltmore Estate. It was breathtaking. I took pictures as I approached it but they all came out blurry. We ran right up to it and across the front, then headed away from it. I used this opportunity to take a running selfie with the house behind me.

Pretty cool huh?

 Right after this was mile 7, and I was just ahead of my pace. I sent this picture to my sister and an update of my time, 1:09:29. I only know this because I still have the texts haha. I couldn't remember any of my splits. We ran through the gardens, which I would assume are gorgeous in the summer, but on Sunday everything was brown. I still took a picture but it didn't turn out. I also took a picture of a lake right after that but it didn't come out either. Flaws of not stopping to take pics. Mile 9 was the last time I sent my sister an update, my time was 1:28:39. So doing just under 10 minute miles now. I was so happy. The adrenaline was unreal. Mile 10 came and the marathoners crossed the river to head out. I only had 3 miles to go, they still had 16. Crazy. At this point you could actually see the finish line across a field. Thanks for teasing us! But I kept running and talked with a lady who turned out to be from the same area of Florida as me. Crazy. At this point my legs were pretty tired but I refused to slow down now, not so close to the finish. Just before mile 12 a group of 3 girls passed me and were in a line, so I hopped in line right behind the last one. They weren't going too much faster than me so it was great to push me a little bit. I could hear the lady behind me who I had been talking with. I stuck with that line for a little over a half a mile then I decided to pass them. I knew how close I was to that finish. I searched for a motivating song on my phone, and it seemed like all the good ones had already played. I wasn't getting anything I wanted. Finally Katy Perry - Roar came on and I felt like that one was good enough and started really trying to push myself for that last quarter mile of the race. And before I knew it, I was crossing that finish line. I couldn't believe it. I had done it! I am now a half marathoner! And just like that the cold hit me and I was handed a finisher medal and a blanket. Oh that blanket was so perfect!! My hands were so cold I couldn't move them. I should have worn my gloves. I was soaking wet, freezing, hurting, and tired, but I had finished the race. I couldn't believe it. I found my sister and she took this picture of me - blanket and all.

I'm a half marathoner now!!

She helped me find the gloves I hadn't thought I would need, got the blanket around me, and asked if I wanted food. I looked at the food line and said no I just want the car. I wanted warmth. I am glad she was there because I seriously do not think I would have been able to drive home. We stopped at Starbucks for hot chocolate - what a yummy treat to get after that cold long race! And then headed home to tell my husband and my mom all about it. I still can't believe its over. Despite the rain and cold, it was such an amazing experience. I loved the course and would do it again. It took a few days for my legs to feel normal again, and I finally ran today. My legs feel a little more tired than they normally would after a short run so I know they are not 100% better yet. But I was missing running already! I am already starting to look for another half marathon. I am so hooked. It was great.

I know this was super long so thank you for sticking out my rambling. I just have to get it written down! I am sure there are already details I am missing because my memory is not the best! It was great, I am happy and proud of myself. I am not usually one to brag - but something like this deserves just a little bragging rights!

February Recap!

Hello! Sorry I've been MIA for two weeks. Life happens. So I thought I would just try to give a quick recap of February's training. I am only 2 weeks away from my race. I am getting so excited!! I am glad I just re-read my last post because I said that the last two weeks before my race I would go to bed earlier to give my body plenty of rest. So that needs to start tonight! Once I finish this anyway...haha!

My last post did go through part of February. So I will pick up where I left off. Last week was an off week for me. I felt over tired and sore. So I took it easier than I had been. It was my week with the most mileage so I didn't mind making sure I could get through them. I ran 27 miles that week. Two 4 mile runs, a 6 mile run, and Saturday I had a 13 mile run. Race distance. It started off great, the first 7 miles I kept at my 10 minute mile goal pace, but then I hit a long uphill that gets me all the time. It totally drained my energy and I just kept getting slower. The last 2 miles were pure torture. I wanted to stop but I wouldn't let myself. I ended up at a 10:25 pace overall which I am still pretty happy with. If I can beat that in my race I will be satisfied.

This week was a much better week for running, for the most part. Monday I did a 30 minute HIIT run on the treadmill. It went really well. That day I also started this 30 day squat challenge where you do squats almost every day and increase the number every time. Monday was 50. Today I'm up to 80. Monday it didn't really hurt. Now it does! More on that in a minute. Wednesday I ran 5 miles and at a 9:06 pace - my best 5 mile before that was a 9:32. I was thrilled! It was an awesome run. Then Thursday I had the same situation with a 4 mile run. My pace was 8:56! All of my hard work is definitely paying off. I quickly went through some of my past workouts to see my improvement. 5 mile improvement over 4 weeks: I went from a 10:08 pace to the 9:06 pace. Just over a minute!

Just a random thing I would like to point out that I am 100% sure is also helping -- yoga!! I have been doing it once a week. This week I did it 3 times because it just feels so good and it stretches and relaxes you. Here is my daughter and I doing some yoga on Thursday.

Isn't she precious??? Oh and the dog. Haha!

She loves seeing Mommy do yoga and loves to join in. She throws herself into downward dog all the time at random places. I love that she is enjoying what I do and that we can do it together. I hope that I can continue to influence her to be healthy as she grows up.

Back to my runs, Saturday was a 9 mile run on my schedule. Last week was 13, this week 9. Starting my taper. I wanted to do 10 miles (don't ask me why I'm crazy). I was a dummy though and didn't eat lunch before my run which I started around 1:30. I only had half a Larabar. Why? I have no idea. I wasn't feeling hungry. But I should have made myself eat more. The run started out great: the first 6 miles were a 9:33 pace which is what I did for my last 6 mile run - and I still had 4 miles to go! Mile 7 was a little slow then the whole not eating thing totally hit me. Miles 8 and 9 were horrendous and I got back to my apartment complex at 9.22 miles and stopped. My pace was still a 9:54 average overall! I was super happy with that. If only I had eaten lunch then I could have made it 10 miles and it would have all been great. But - sometimes we make mistakes. I won't make it again. At least I made it the 9 miles that was on my training schedule, so I can't complain.

Overall I am super stoked about this week's runs. They were all fantastic for the most part, and they were faster than what I had been doing. So obviously the running and yoga and P90X videos are working. I am still doing a couple of those a week. A plyometrics or a core one, then an arm one. Also doing the ab workout 3 times a week. It is still killer lol. I have slowly been losing weight since I started this whole journey and soon I will post about that.

This coming week my mileage drops even more than this past week. My peak week was the 27 miles. This week that just ended I ran about 21.5, then this week starting tomorrow I will be running about 18. My run on Saturday is 8 miles and it is my last long run before the race. I will try to really kill the time on it!!

4 weeks out...!!!

Today marks 4 weeks until my half marathon. My. First. Half. Marathon. I feel like I am already getting nervous along with the super excitement that I've had since I signed up in November. I have been officially training since December 1st. And I was running with the intent to sign up for a race since before that. And now I am only 28 small days away from achieving a goal I've had for several years. I don't know why it took me so long to get motivated to do it, but I'm glad I did. Making a training schedule that I taped to the mirror on my dresser has helped me stay focused on my goal and on each run and cross training workout. I am the type to procrastinate and sometimes make excuses for not working out. But seeing that training schedule and crossing off each day has helped. Making myself mark through workouts I didn't do has helped me also to not want to skip them. I hate physically showing that I skipped a workout. It has helped so much. I will have to post a picture of the schedule with all the mark and changes. Its a mess.

Yesterday I had a 12 mile run. The furthest I had run before all of this training was 10 miles, and that was 5 years ago. The week before I had an 11 mile run which went ok. Not bad but not the pace I wanted either. the 12 miles yesterday though was wonderful. I had a 10:02 pace. My goal for the half marathon is a 10 minute pace. I was thrilled to only be 1.1 miles from the half marathon distance and accomplished my goal time. Well two seconds off, but honestly if I'm two seconds off in my race I won't care then either. At my race the half marathon and the full will run together for the first 10 miles. So my goal is to find the pacer for the full that has the 4 hour 20 minute time and stick with them. That is 10 minute miles and a 2 hour 10 minute half marathon time. The last couple of weeks I have been focusing alot on my shorter runs to make them faster. I also just found out that there are two tall hills in the first 7 miles, so I have been making sure I add more hills into my runs and I push myself up them instead of just shuffling slowly like I had been doing. I have seen improvement already at the shorter distances, and judging by my 12 mile run, it is starting to pay off for longer runs also.

This coming Saturday I am doing a 13 mile run. I will probably add the .1 and try to see how fast I can do it. However fast I do that training run, I will definitely want to beat that time in the race. I am excited and nervous for it. After that run though I start my taper! I have never done a taper before so I am hoping it goes well. When first making my training schedule I asked "why do I even need to taper?" But it is very necessary to not run the long miles before you do a long race. Your legs need to recover from the long runs. But, decreasing mileage does not mean to slack off on the intensity. If your taper is 3 weeks long and you start just doing easy runs, you are going to start losing muscle and endurance. The last week before my race I will run a little easier, with the last run before my race being very easy to just keep loose. I would have to say above all, listen to your body! If you feel you are taking it too easy, then make sure you are still doing intense workouts. Don't up the mileage again by much though. Or if you feel overtired, make sure you take it a bit easier and get plenty of rest. I think rest is the hardest thing for me. My two year old keeps me busy all day, and when she goes to sleep I tend to stay up late getting things done or just having some me time. My goal is for the two weeks leading up to the race to get to bed early every single night. And the week before the race I will be setting an alarm to wake up early. My race is at 7:30 which is when I usually wake up. I don't want to be super tired on race day because I am not used to a 5am wake up call.

Anyways, this post was kind of random but I tried to give some tips about prepping for race day, coming from someone who has never done a long race before. Just what I've read and what I think will be good. If you have any additional tips for me please share!! And keep running! :)

Running Form (and pasta!)

I haven't felt like I had anything helpful or inspiring to post recently. After today's run though I would like to talk about running form. If you ran on a team you probably had some coaching on this. I've never been in a running club (hopefully one day I will) but I would hope they help their runners with things like this.

Today I did a 4 mile run on the treadmill. Its a great time to check your form for a few reasons:

1) Come on. Its a treadmill. You're bored and staring at the same thing (for me a wall). There's a TV but even when its on somehow I never look at it much.
2) You don't have to worry about where you are going.
3) You don't have to watch out for cars (I'm always running along the road and have to be on the lookout).
4) You can do precise adjustments of your pace to see how your form changes as you go faster (can be done outside too obviously).

My run was somewhat of a tempo run, which is basically where you start easy, then run hard (a little slower than race pace) then slow at the end. I ran my first mile easy in 10:20, my second mile medium 9:11, then my third mile fast at an 8:23 pace. My fourth mile was easy again in 10:23. Monday I did a 4 mile run with negative splits (each mile faster than the previous mile) so this was a little easier but still a good workout.

I really try to concentrate on my form when I'm on the treadmill. Starting with your hands, make sure you do not clench your fists tight. This just uses energy that your legs need. When I was in high school, our track coach would have us practice sometimes while carrying potato chips. We couldn't let them break. I swear even now when I run my hand looks as if I'm holding imaginary chips. It is a great way to learn to relax your hands some. Just don't have them all flopping around either!

Next is your arms. Do not swing across in front of your body. It doesn't help with the forward motion you are doing, so again its wasted energy. I catch myself doing this every once in a while and need to correct it. Something I am not very good at is actually using my arms. Don't just let them swing with the momentum from your movement. If you physically pump your arms back and forth, it helps your legs to move. When I actually remember to do it, I feel like it almost give my legs a little relief. I really need to work on doing it more, it will help especially during my long runs.

My back is another area I'm not perfect with my form. I don't slouch like you would when in a chair, but rather my hips seem to go forward, arching my back. I have to correct this all the time so my back is straight. It changes how my running feels alot.

Today's run was a great time for checking form. I ran slow and could check it, then with the next two progressively faster miles I could see if I was still keeping my form at that pace. The last easy mile when I was super tired is when my form started getting a little sketchy. I'm glad it was my focus today and I realized I probably get worse form all the time when I'm tired. Good to know for my future runs.

I hope this was helpful to some of you in improving your running form. With good form you will waste less energy and can focus it where it needs to be and help your speed! Who doesn't want that?

As a bonus, here is the pasta I made tonight. Runners love pasta!

I usually do this with spaghetti, but this is whole grain rotini with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic salt, parsley, and bread crumbs on it. Sorry I don't have measurements. But lightly coat with olive oil, add lemon juice to taste (I actually like tasting it a little so I add what I would guess is about a tsp), then a light sprinkling of garlic salt and parsley, then lightly coated in bread crumbs. I always put some on, stir it, and if it doesn't seem like enough add a little more. It is healthy and delicious!! My two year old Kylie ate all of hers and a little more. I made enough so that I will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Super yummy!

Healthy Pancakes!

The other day I promised a healthy pancake recipe. I am finally getting around to posting it for you! This is not my recipe but I made a couple changes based on what I had in my kitchen. My sister made these when I was visiting Florida a few weeks ago and I had to get the recipe from her. These are vegetarian and gluten free for those who are concerned with those things. I love them because the are healthy, taste good, and give me energy.

You will need:
3 bananas
2 eggs
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp coconut oil or butter (use real butter not margarine to keep them healthy)

1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
1/2 nutmeg, ground (I didn't have this and mine tasted fine)
1 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp salt
handful of chocolate chips or other mix in (optional)

It is best to mix the dry ingredients separate from the wet ones, then combine them. I used syrup because I didn't have honey. I do have coconut oil which is better than butter. But use what you have if you don't want to go buy it. The bananas are better if they are super ripe with brown spots. I had a couple in the freezer that I had to put in there to keep from going bad. I usually use them for my morning shakes but they work fine for the pancakes too if you thaw them out. I put a little extra cinnamon in mine but I love cinnamon. I normally don't care for chocolate chips in my pancakes but I like them in these so I used them. You don't have to, or you could add blueberries or other fruit. I may try blueberries next time!

Mash the bananas then mix with the other wet ingredients. For the oat flour I just used plain oats I had and ground them up. Just don't use instant oatmeal with all the additives. Get all the ingredients mixed well, adding the chocolate chips or other add in last, and then heat your pan to a medium heat. If the pan is too hot, they will burn easy. See?

This was my first attempt. After this, I switched to my griddle to make more at once and kept the heat lower. Also, these seem to be difficult to flip so keep them small. My batch made about 9 pancakes. You can double it, my sister did when she made them and it turned out fine. I put my leftovers in the freezer. I was worried about the banana in them. When eating them, they taste amazing with strawberry jam on them. But mine and my daughter's favorite thing to put on them is peanut butter and a little bit of syrup.

These are so delicious. I don't know if I will ever buy a pre-made pancake mix again. (I'm sure I will, because I'm lazy like that.) Enjoy!!

Distance running is awesome! (And not pushing yourself too hard pays off)

I have always loved "distance running." Which for me in college was my 5k races and training runs usually up to 8 miles. I think I had run 9 and 10 miles a couple times. Training for a half marathon is true distance running (not compared to ultra marathons! But still. Its far. And awesome.)

This week started out warm compared to the weather we've had recently! I donned shorts and a tank top for Monday's short 3 mile run. Tuesday it snowed. Seriously? Luckily I don't run on Tuesdays so I did my cross training (P90X Plyometrics) inside. Wednesday was a 5 mile run and I ran in the coldest temperatures I have ever run in. The "feels like" temp was 11 degrees! Once I got warmed up it was alright, and something about running in the snow was pretty awesome. I figured I should practice running through it when I can since there could be snow on the ground at my half marathon. Thursday was P90X Yoga (love it sooooo much!!) and I was scheduled for another 3 miles doing a HIIT workout (High Intensity Interval Training), but my husband told me his work schedule changed to where I couldn't do my long run today (Saturday). So I changed it to Friday and didn't run on Thursday. And here's why I skipped it.

Last week I ran 3 miles Monday, did a workout that involved my legs on Tuesday, ran 5 miles Wednesday, 3 Thursday, and then realized that like this week, I would need to do my long run on Friday. It was 8 miles. My legs were already kinda sore from the week, and the 8 miles was very rough. My average pace was 11:03. For my half marathon my goal is 10 minute miles, though I'm hoping with the weeks I have left I can drop my goal time. So I learned a very valuable lesson last week: to not overdo it on the runs. My legs hurt all week and I took super hot baths to help relax the muscles. By Sunday night they were better and have felt fine this week. So this leads me to my Friday run and how not pushing too hard and not running on Thursday helped me.

Friday was my long run. This week my schedule said 10 miles. last week's long run was 8 miles, and it hurt and I was slow. Who's idea was it to jump 2 miles in a week? Oh that's right - mine. I made my own training schedule. I was hoping I could do it but willing to stop at 9 miles if I needed to. I was also excited as this run would bring me up to only being 3 miles away from my race distance, only 3 miles from a HALF MARATHON distance. Seems crazy. My legs have felt no soreness at all this week because I trained smart and took care of them, unlike last week. I completed my 10 miles AND ---- AND!!! I did it with a 10:02 average pace. I am so thrilled that I was much faster than last week even with adding 2 miles, all because I took care of my legs. It was pretty chilly out but after about a mile I warmed up. Just after mile 6 I got really cold again and realized I must be getting low on energy. I carry a FuelBelt and Gu Chomps so I got them out and ate a couple. It was my first time eating while running. I didn't stop or walk, because I know during my race I won't want to. My chomps were in a ziploc bag because I had opened the pack to try them. Opening that ziploc bag with gloves on took forever. I either need to figure out something else or just deal with the trouble. I don't know yet.

I am so happy with my pace! Today is 50 days until my half marathon so if I just keep it up with my training I should be able to do my 10 minute mile goal or better on race day. Looking at my splits here on the picture - my second mile was really slow. No matter how far I am running, 3 miles or 10 apparently, my second mile is always the slowest. Always has been. It was around 11 minutes. So I picked it up a little after that. Then the other slow splits is from when I was opening/eating my Gu chomps between mile 6 and 7. I didn't walk but I did slow down. So I will need to account for that in the future. I finished my week today by doing P90X chest/shoulders/triceps and ab ripperx.

Overall it was a great week for my workouts and I am over the moon about my long run. I have learned my lesson to not think I am invincible and I can't push myself too hard. Obviously I need to push myself, but last week I exceeded my limits. Definitely something to avoid in the future. P.S. look forward to a healthy pancake recipe coming soon!

Four Simple Rules...

I found this on Pinterest and absolutely love it. It is so basic, not specific to any type of workout, and gives you a mindset of positivity; you can accomplish your goals. The 4th rule is probably the most important of all.

The first rule to never miss a Monday is great because for most people, Monday is the start of the work week. It is the slowest day of the week and there is no motivation. It would be really easy to make excuses and skip your run (or other workout). For me personally, on Sundays I go to church and it is a "day of rest" so it is very easy for that to be my rest day. On Monday, I make sure I get back to my workout routine. which leads to the second rule of never going 3 days without exercise. If I am feeling really worn down or if we travel to visit family I will sometimes take two days off. I have always tried not to take off much more than that. Three days seems like a good number to stick with. And if you do need to take days off, or if you aren't doing an intense workout program, then the rule of working out at least 3 days a week is good to stick by. Before I started my half marathon training, I worked out 3 or 4 days a week and it was fine. Not too intense but still accomplishing my goal of working out and getting fit.
The fourth rule: NEVER GIVE UP. It is so easy to give up. You might miss several days of working out because life gets crazy. It happens. It is hard to start again. Or if you get injured it is very disappointing to be losing progress you've made and you might get discouraged. I have given up on workout programs since having Kylie. But now that I am running and cross training and preparing for a goal, I know I won't give up. So please, if you take nothing else from this post, please never give up. Don't give up on yourself and your goals. You can do what you put your mind to if you just stick with it.
I hope someone found a little inspiration from this post. I know the rules spoke to me and I hope that I always stick to them.

Intro!

Well, hello! I am new to this whole blogging world. I have been wanting to start one for a little while now and finally sat down to do it! Now if only I keep up with it...

Anyways...my name is Kimmy and I'm almost 27 years old. I grew up in Florida and loved it, until I saw what else the world had to offer. I have a wonderful husband named Chris who is prior Army (hooah!) and we met about 6 years ago working at McDonald's together. we just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. When we got married he had just been stationed in Colorado so off to the cold we went. I don't like the cold, but I LOVE seeing seasons, and I absolutely love the mountains. He was injured in combat and was discharged last year. We moved to North Carolina to be closer to our Florida family but stay in the mountains/seasons area of the US.

We have a daughter named Kylie who just turned 2. She is the light of our lives. She has the most hair of any girl her age you will ever see. Its all anyone who meets her talks about. People have asked if its a wig. People have thought she was a doll when she was a baby until she moved. Its just all the hair. I spend more time on my child's hair than my own. Kylie loves the Cars movies and My Little Pony. And every other animal on the face of the earth. We have a 90 pound chocolate lab named Zeus, and Kylie thinks she is bigger than him. They have alot of fun together.

So, since I was in 7th grade I have been a runner. Well at that point I did the 800 meter race in track. I loved racing though. A friend convinced me when we went into high school to go to a cross country practice with her. That first 3 mile practice I thought I was going to die. And then I just fell in love with it and never looked back. I ran in high school and community college. In college I had the opportunity to run in the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) national meet both years I ran with my team. Best running experiences of my life thus far. I love competing. And yet I haven't done it in over 5 years since I got married. I think I've done maybe two 5k's since then. I stopped running completely after moving to Colorado because of the altitude. See, my lungs kind of hate me and I have asthma and grew up getting bronchitis several times a year. But I was determined to run anyways. But in Colorado I just could not run, not for a few years. I would do a short run here and there. Finally after Kylie was born I took up running again, but it was still very sporadic and I didn't keep up with it like I should have.

This past year I had to have half of my thyroid removed. I had a lump on it, and biopsies could not determine if it was benign or if it had cancer. It had grown, so I opted to get it removed. Thankfully after it was removed they determined it had not been cancer. But now I am down half a thyroid, which is what helps your metabolism and all sorts of other fun things. Well I opted not to go on the medication to regulate your metabolism. I wanted to try and keep my weight down on my own without being on a pill the rest of my life. Within a few months of my surgery I gained around 15 pounds. Around August or September, I realized that not working out and not eating right were not going to help me keep my weight under control. I wasn't overweight to begin with, only around 10 pounds above where I was before getting pregnant with Kylie, and before her I was very fit. But being more than 20 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight just wasn't good for me. I felt sluggish and lazy and just wanted to eat. Which is a side effect of not having half a thyroid and not going on the medication. I decided I should start running again. So I started going to the little gym in our apartment complex and hopping on the treadmill a few times a week. I was very diligent in going and in eating better. Not perfect! No one is perfect. I am far from it. I love food. I will not starve myself to be skinny. I will not give up foods I love to be skinny. If I can still eat what I like sometimes and be fit, that is good enough. Sometime in October I had fallen back in love with running again. I had long ago had a goal of running a half marathon (not a full....I still don't know if I'm crazy enough for that!). So I thought, "what better time than NOW to set that goal again?" So I did. I started looking at races and training schedules. In mid-November I picked a race for March. Then I hurt my ankle. I was glad I didn't pick the one in January I had been looking at!

The Half Marathon Training Schedule I created!

After Thanksgiving I started running again slowly and created my own training schedule that was based off of one I found online. My father-in-law let me borrow P90X and so I am using some of the videos for my cross training. I am so excited for this goal, something that I am doing for me and me only! For anyone who is a mother, you know that everything you do is for your child. And if you are a stay at home mom like I am, you can go a little batty watching cartoons and singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" all day long. So having something to do that is only for me, and having this goal that is my goal to achieve on my own, it is amazing! Every person should have something they do just for themselves. Reading, sewing, etc. Exercise is great because it is for yourself mentally and physically. And for me emotionally sometimes too! Today is 8 weeks from my very first half marathon and I am so excited to be counting down! I plan to keep posting my updates on my training, but I am sure this blog will also involve lots of things about Kylie and food, the two other things I love the most. Every day that I run I post about it on Instagram, which you can find here. I will probably post a summary on the blog weekly. Or more if I get bored. Oh and if you can't already tell I tend to babble when I get on a computer, so I hope you like to read my ramblings!!!

Goodnight for now!