Marathon Training Week #6

Hi Friends ♥

What an Amazing Week for me. Busy as ever and I'll get right down to it!!

Family: I spent the week spoiling my children with lots more summer fun. I'm not so sure I spent a whole lot of time home this summer, we have been EVERYWHERE but home :)
More Swimming, More Play dates, More time playing everywhere, a few picnics and barbeque's a couple trips to get ice-cream, yeah- just a fabulous summer for me and my kids. Start Contrast to last summer where I just went through the emotions completely broken and trying to stay collected for my kids though I suffered so much- so it's nice to be in a new place, although not completely healed I'm almost there :)

Story Time

Still trying to read my book- not much time to read when I'm so busy with the kids but I'm loving even just one chapter at a time, lol

Pretty ♥

 a Little Pretty for my Friends Surprise 30th Birthday Party- Runnerboy and I had a great time with friends ♥

Twins Birthday Party this Weekend- Lots of Family fun & friends :) I love You Austyn & Allyssa it was such a beautiful day and we are so blessed!

 A friend asked if I was going to drop him- yeah he weighs  like 28lbs and besides I take 45lb plates and do over head raises 2 sets of 20 ;-p

 I baked the cupcakes for the party! Cute Pink Tangled ones and Cute spider man ones for Austyn!

Food:

So I was on a 3 week adventure where I went really low on carbs. Typically I'm a low carb yet high quality carb eater, but this time I cut carbs down really low (less than 60grams of carbs a day) I was eating more healthy fats and protein but I noticed my bowels changed and my energy levels were just not working for me on my running. I was experiencing heart palpitations and complete and utter fatigue on my running on anything past 4 miles. I was really still so worried for my health but truth be told I was so low I was ketonic. This is when my body finds fat to fuel as fuel instead of sugar. Truth be told I'm not sure it worked for weight loss and my body quickly reacted to any sugar I put in it. Instead of my body becoming more sensitive to insulin instead my body panicked and stored a lot of water/glycogen and suffered with huge fluctuations in my weight from 165lbs- 172 and all around for a few weeks- so frustrating so I had to let go of the extremely low carb notion. I was honestly toying with attempts to go Paleo. I read more about it and I wanted to adventure my eating toward that but I found quickly I CAN'T DO IT!  ...........can others?....I don't know- all I know for me it doesn't work. My bowels were not normal, my fiber was not high enough despite eating greens - I was seriously lacking fiber from some occasional whole grains. My energy so zapped during my running I was trying to be optimistic that my body would transition over to fat fueling but NOPE!

So where I am today? I love that I experimented. We can't go through life without risk, without trying new things to find out if there is a higher quality of life for me out there even with my food choices.Extremely low Carb eating does not work for me so I know Paleo would not work for me either. I researched paleo endurance runners and they have to eat 3000-4000 calories a day and I just cant' eat that much. I can't stomach that sort of volume, I can't obsess and think about food all day long, I can't eat every two hours and I simply can't afford to eat that many calories a day. My family already spends 1,000 a month in groceries and that's eating 2000 calorie intakes. I had many fears and questions as I took the adventure - was I eating too much saturated fat? what if all the meat I eat I was still not eating organic was I exposing myself to more toxins? Would my body be able to handle finding fuel from fat/proteins vs carbohydrates?  I got my answers and I urge to follow what's comfortable for you!

What I believe about any "Diet" is that the human body is AMAZING- it will and can adapt to however you treat it. Our body's want to survive so it makes do with however you feed it. So perhaps for some it can survive and thrive on Paleo and then for others they can survive and thrive on Vegan diets. Which ever you choose make it YOUR choice, not a convincing from others scaring you into thinking it's best to eat one way or another. I'm still learning what works for me.

My next adventure is to go more plant based, I'm now taking time to learn about Vegan lifestyles, I have researched, read a lot and I'm learning there are two distinct reasons why Vegans Love their diet, A) they believe that if you eat meat/dairy/fish etc you are in fact a Murderer. B) they do it because they heartfully believe they will be healthier and live a longer life.  If I adventure into this lifestyle it would be because it might help me live longer, lol - honestly! 
What I fear about that lifestyle- getting in enough protein - hemp/pea/soy proteins are options and they can all come in shake form. But I love eggs and I really enjoy my meat, lol- I KNOW I could live without both for a healthier life but I then fear the cost to eat this way. I am toying with the idea of going vegan for an entire week- if I did I would have to create a meal menu for all 5 of us. I'd have to plan ahead- buy it all and know exactly what we would eat. There would be no more going out. Whitney said to me today as I fed her black beans for Meatless Monday "What are you doing to me- trying to make me a vegetarian, I'm only 6 years old for crying out loud, you are taking away my childhood" .........lmao.......what? ......she's SIX - Where did she learn this crap from? I said "who said that to you" and she said "I just made it up" does she really think I'm taking away foods that she enjoys and loves like her healthier than chicken nuggets ? probably- I'd want chicken nuggets in the shapes of dinosaurs instead of black beans too! lol - These are things I think about cause this is NOT just about me- my family eats the same and it will stay that way!

Some of my Foods this week!

Instead of getting fast food for a playdate I went to the grocery store and filled up at the salad bar :)

CCRG BBQ- Grilled asparagus drizzle a little bit of lemon juice over and BAM- Yummy! Grilled chicken

Typical Family BBQ- salad/veggies/fruit/meat

seeing this again- makes me hungry! I stole a bit more chicken and had some watermelon too!

Nuts- I love em' BOOM- haha!

More CCRG snack :)

Quinoa, fresh avocado and fresh diced tomato with a pinch of basil- I LOVE, LOVE< LOVE this Dish !!

Appetizer- way stuffed but so good- Jalepeno Peppers! LowFat Mozz cheese- YUMMY

 Fitness:

• Monday- 45min weight lifting- 2 mile run - warm up 4x400's
• Tuesday- Stroller Run #3 - 4 mile run - solid pace- felt good- did stop for heart palpitation
• Wednesday-5 mile run- 4 outside and then 4x400's at 5k race pace - Weight lifting session
• Thursday-yard work-5 mile run- more yard work- EXHAUSTED!
• Friday- 50 minute crosstrain- stairs/elliptical
• Saturday-2.5 mile run and weight lifting, 2 mile walk
• Sunday-Twins Party- Rest Day- Recover from the 6 days of Moving!
• Monday- 10 mile PR in the morning 8:15 pace and then 3 recovery miles at night

10 miles in 1:22:30 - 8:15 pace! Splits as follows
1@ 8:45 pace
2-5 @ 8:15 pace
6 @ 8:00 pace
7-9 @ 8:15
10 @ 8:00

I didn't get my long run in on Sunday- I was too tired, too much excitement with the twins, had family here late and well I knew I could do it the next day - so I did :) Best Run I've done in a long time! I am up 5lbs in bloat from yesterdays pizza/cupcake and well I felt like a bloated piggie but I still managed to run a PR for this distance- all be it by just 45 seconds- I'll take it because I just simply felt so GOOD! for run in so long where the only concern was my legs  - not my lungs/heart/energy!


Songs that Moved me this week

Am I too fat to run?

Am I too fat to run?

If you are here it's because you are searching for an answer!

I'm excited because if you are curious for an answer it means you want to learn to run, continue to run, eliminate fears about running as a overweight/obese person and I'm excited to help you overcome the fear and doubt ♥

Let me tell you right now "YES YOU CAN RUN and NO you are NOT too Fat!!"


So who is your naysayer?

• Yourself: The voice inside your head that fixates on how uncomfortable it is to run. Questioning and creating doubt/fear if the ache or discomfort equates to the decision that it's not good to feel that way.

• A primary doctor: listen closely to your doctor. if you have a medical condition that will worsen because you run then you should listen to your doctor. Follow your doctors instruction: I caution you to fully understand why the doctor feels you should not run. Is it because he does not like the wear/tear on your legs/hips/knees/feet etc. Or is it more justifiable as in you have a heart condition and you could die. Perhaps you suffer from a metabolic disorder or have a seizure disorder that is triggered with physical stress and again puts you in danger.

• Physical therapist: You have been diagnosed with a medical problem and they are insisting on you resting.

• Friends & Family....STRANGERS?-  People that don't understand the need or desire to run. They don't understand or respect the sport and they are not clear about the truth and realities with running.

How do you handle your naysayers:

• Yourself: The voice inside your head is normal. You are overweight/obese and you feel more than the average runner. Understand that you a superior to the thin person learning to run. You are extra-ordinary and because of that I want to comfort you in the notion that it's normal and ok to feel a little extra stress on your body from running. There are concrete differences between running with ache/discomfort vs pain. The burn of your lungs, the burn of your legs all very normal. The extra stiffness in your joints and the burden on your back or belly from the extra weight is extra-ordinary but common amongst the overweight runners. This is normal. You will need extra recovery time. You will need extra support from those that have been there and done that. You will need guidance from me as your coach to help you determine if what you are feeling is normal or abnormal. As your coach I will help you determine if you should take extra day off between running or if you should push forward with your training. I will teach you that moving out of your comfort zone is vital for success in your weight loss and running journey! Very normal *you can breathe now!!*

• Your Primary Doctor- Be thorough with your doctor. You can have an amazing and intelligent doctor and they can give you the best medical sound advice they deem appropriate for you! Listen to their advice and understand clearly why they feel that way about running for you. Decide if that decision is based upon their feelings toward running in general or if that feel that way about running just for you! I am going to tell you right now there are doctors out there against running. You can choose to listen to them or find that loves running and supports your desire to learn to run! (I will say my Doctor is a life-long runners and he gets my passion, supports me and talks to me all the time about running, if he told me stop running because I had a serious medical condition that would cause me to die then I would stop and listen!)

• Physical Therapist: I feel a physical therapist should never tell you what to do in regards to your running. They are NOT your doctor. They are NOT anything other than a person that should be guiding you back toward better health with physical rehabilitation. Trust me when I say they see only HURT patients from sports! If you see injured runners all day long you may advice against running as well!  I feel confidently that their job is to rehabilitate you and then teach you how to have proper form mechanics if they are qualified and further more teach you how to run while reducing your risk for injury. Stretching methods and ways to improve your muscle strength so that you can reduce the wear/tear against ligaments and tears.

I have running friends by the dozens that have experienced a medical professional telling them they have to stop running, must stop running and never run again forever! Guess what they do? They get a second opinion, they find a doctor that advocates for them to run, they give them support and health advice to keep them running with strength and safety etc. I have friends that doctors that refuse to repair an injury so they can get back to running, yet they go to a second doctor and their surgery is performed the following week.

The question comes down to YOU!! You are going to Decide to "Run" your Life or let someone do it for you!


What is Normal Feelings for an obese/overweight runner

• lungs burning
• belly/but/boobie bouncing that feels intrusive
• out of breath
• racing heart beat
• fatigue
• burning in your throat
• coughing
• aches in joints, knees, shins, feet that may require more recovery time and pro-active steps to ensure longetivity

Please Trust me as your body becomes accustomed to Running the quads will strengthen, your ligmanets and tendons will be accustomed to a new fitness routine and  you will be losing weight, it all becomes easier and easier!

Cautions & Red Flags for Aches or Pains

Marathon Training Week #5

Hi Peeps!

Time for my weekly check in and this one will be pic heavy!

Family:
Celebrated with my twins 4year photo shoot this past week. Next Week they turn 4 and I'm so excited to keep watching them grow. They age and my life gets a little bit easier. They tend to understand more rules, become wildly independent and continue to learn to know better ;-)
We continue to do all the wonderful Summer Fun Stuff- Swimming, play dates, playgrounds, dining out, etc. This week we focus a bit more on home play in our backyard, more eating at home and doing some school work, this week we did none! Whitney already knows she will be writing a report, reading a whole book and we bought flash cards to keep working on her Math! Ally has had a Much better Week.....OMG! Thank You God! Thanks for all those that sent me loving support in the manner xx

Here are pics of my twins and family fun times :)

Playdates into the sunset

First Time on roller skates!

He was so slick on skates, first time and so confident I saw him going backwards, lol-

Easier to sit? get up silly girl!

I spent alot of my childhood here, I threw on skates and went for a circle and being thin maybe made the difference but being on skates for the first time in probably 20 years was like riding a bike, you never forget! I spent alot of time roller skating as a child/teenager so it was a fun experience to bring my kids here ♥

RunnerBoy and I ♥

What a whack, I love him- I actually love this picture cause it shows his personality!

Pretty Princess     ♥

4 year Birthday Photo Shoot :)

Block Party at my sisters house for a bit :)

Twins Did their first race and here are a few pics and if you look under my facebook I have an open photo album to the others :) Twins ran 1/4 mile walked/run a half mile and then the last 1/4 mile they finished running. One mile race done in 14:24 and Whitney ran hers in 10:14 I believe! She got 3rd place age group! Boom! They collected medals and now Trophy's!

My Foods:

My eating has been clean and Great :) I ate out a few times this week, more than I should have but I vowed to eat at home all week this week!! I made fabulous choices but hidden sodium happens and so does the choice of products when I eat out that might have hidden stuff in it that I don't eat like High Fructose corn syrup etc. So Healthy choices but likely NOT Clean per say!
My choices this week were simple and plain and here is just a couple pics from this weeks food I took for you all :)

Tip: I gut my bread rolls! I also will eat extra protein on the side!

Finished product!

Typical Lunch all week- salad & fresh fruit :)



Fitness:

Monday- crosstrain / weight lifting

Tuesday-  6.2 miles (double run day- 3 mile speed session in the morning, stroller run in the evening)

Wednesday- Rest to be fresh for 5k race

Thursday- 1 mile warm up- 5k race

Friday- 12 mile long run- squeezing it on on runnerboys day off , my abs killed my on the 5k yesterday and the legs burned out at mile 12, did a one mile walk home after the 12. Did this obviously in an easy pace-

Saturday- Rest- Quads need rest- they hurt! Am I Marathoner? My legs really need to remember, lol

Sunday- 5 mile tempo- left quad very sore, stretched mid way through and I felt better overall but quads still spent but still had excellent tempo for a street one!

I won first place in my Age Group on my 5k
I was 58th out of 508 runners
18th Female of 283 Females

Here is my Race Blog Entry

http://www.caloriecountingrunnergirl.com/2012/07/twilight-5k-race-results.html

Keep Visiting my CCRG Page  on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/CalorieCountingRunnerGirls?ref=hl

 at Random I'm giving away products such as these :

In order to get a chance to win this fuel bottle, I'm requesting that you show me your smaller dinner plate! I want my CCRG's to focus on eating from smaller dining plates than you currently use right now. Not only can it help teach you portion control by forcing you to eat only the amount of food that will fill a smaller dinner plate but you can help try to trick your mind into thinking it's full!

Runners Chia

Boom Energy Gel

CCRG Car Window Decals! I have 5k, 13.1 & 26.2's to give away!

Running to lose weight

Many people want to learn to run so that they can quickly lose weight. It is one of the best cardiovascular activities you can do to strengthen your cardiovascular, respiratory and circulatory  systems.  There are all these amazing health benefits that comes from exercise in general but Running is sort of special sport. There are no teams, there are no real costs involved with giving it a real try. You absolutely never have to ever get competitive (although I'm sure you will find you will love competing against yourself!) There are not a whole lot of risks in comparison to other contact sports. You can learn and love to run no matter your age, height, size, shape etc. It's an all around for everybody sport! Running is part of most sports and can be sustained after schooling/college for most people!

How Much Weight can you lose from running? That number depends on two very important factors, A) How often/much you run B) Your Eating habits

Do not be fooled with thinking that just running alone will make you lose weight. You must change the way you eat in some way! You must not fall into the traps of overcompensating for calories burned. Your body will say "feed me" but you must learn to resist the temptation to not eat more than you burn throughout your day. This is something I specialize in so give one of my programs a try.

If I can tell you that you can learn to run and lose weight by simply cutting back your food to a calorie intake set up just for you and then you run just 3x weekly with a cross training day then I'm sure you'd take me up on that!

You will never need to run half marathons or even full marathons to shed a lot of weight. I will never lead you to believe that going that sort of distance is the only way to major weight loss. You can most certainly almost always run 3miles 3-5x weekly and lose an extreme amount of weight.  I have very specific but easy ways to teach you how to fuel to be Fit and to lose!

Generally you can quantitatively guess that you could be burning about 100-140 calories per mile depending on many factors. You will burn more the heavier you are and the longer you run, you will burn a less per mile if you are quicker and lighter. Why? People that are already fit and of healthy bmi learning to run just don't have the same burn as someone who is overweight/obese and learning to run- they take more energy to get the job done. Fit people's metabolisms are very efficient and very smart!

So if you run 3x weekly and a brand new over weight runner you could lose about 450 calories on a 3 mile run (even if you walk some!)

Now Times that by 3 days of this each week = 1350 Calories.

Now Lets take that calorie deficit and let's take away 500 calories away from each day with your eating and now you 3500 Calorie Deficit!

3500+1350= right around 1.5 lbs per week weight loss.

So maybe you were eating 2200 calories a day and now you have to eat 1700 and run 3x weekly but in time you will start a new lifestyle of moderation and running that can sustain you for weight loss and healthier living! 

Think You are Ready to Lose Weight from Running?

*Now Let me Put a Cherry on top of this for you*

Becoming a Runner I promise you will become way more than just "losing weight" while you it. Think about how most runners seem "obsessed" or "addicted" and ponder to yourself with gleeful curiosity as to why you think that might be? Trust me we all don't feel good when we started and there surely days when it still doesn't come very easy but.......
It's about what running does for your Soul. What it does for your mental well being. Taking Gratitude for being apart of beautiful community of people. Embracing how great it feels to have the blood flowing through your body so intensely. It's purifying, washes away the physical and mental toxins from your life. It's euphoric what is found out there on the road with yourself. A gift I want you to experience!

Twilight 5k Race Results

I ran the Twilight 5k Race today out in Canandaiqua. It's just about an hour away from my home-town. What I love about Living in Central New York is the Fingerlakes. It's Wine region although I don't drink the stuff it's still very portrait pretty and tranquil to me. The lakefronts are plentiful through the Fingerlakes. Canandaigua nestles the Northern End of Canandaiqua Lake and it's so pretty. The race started off at the Inn on the Lake and traveled down along the shore line, onto a stone path for about a mile and then back down the shore and up city pier. Very Pretty!

Conditions:
About 70'
Overcast with Sprinkling Rain
Couldnt ask for better, but I wished I had my visor the rain pelting on my face was not so refreshing but a tad bit of a nuisance but I'm a whiner like that :)

Clothing: Nike Girl Today :) Sorry Under Armour ;-)
Nike: Sweatband, tank, running skirt, shoes
UnderArmour- compression
Moving Comfort- Bra
Relentless bracelet
Garmin 305

Who Was I With and Why Was I running this Race?

First off I was invited by friends! I love these Peeps, they are my CCRG Runnergirls and being with them excited me and watching them run/race and to celebrate with them is very special to me!

Secondly this is for the American Red Cross and so It was a little pricey for a 5k but it's to a GREAT Cause. My Ally needed blood transfusions while in NICU for 9 weeks and so I appreciate and value those that give blood for the American Red Cross for All they do for that and our World ♥

Here I am with my Runner Family!

Nitty Gritty:

7pm Race- pre-fuel  was dinner at 3:30, granola at 6pm with hydration- boom coffee!
Still not enough, I forgot my banana in the car. Who cares, not sure it would of made a difference - fueling properly that is? maybe? likely not.......

Warm-up - one mile throwing in a speed burst or two to open up into the 7min pace, off to the start line!

Mile 1: BOOM! I'm Off- I feel UH-MAZING :) :) :)  7:08  Split- Oh Shit, Connie you went out too fast, must slow it down- by this time we are on the foot path through the trail........slowing down was easy for me, always easy, lol.  I wanted to go out hard and fast and see if I could hold it, by far this is my fastest first mile in a 5k race ever.......I always start off fast and by fast today I'm talking the first 1/4 mile I looked down I was still in the 6:15 pace ////////// ZOIKS //////////  Pulled it back and fell into the 7:20 pace that I wanted but as you'll see in Mile 2 I started to fumble.

Mile 2: I'm feeling the pain of setting out too fast at about 1.4-1.6 and I'm starting to breath really wrong as I try to slow down and then I slow down TOO MUCH- then I start to crumble physically. Spent, Tired, Not breathing right, setting into a stitch and feeling TIRED and then I'm like DAM THIS SUCKS! I'm slowing WAY DOWN................SPLIT Time: 15:02

Mile 3: I'm FRIGGIN' DYING- What the hell happened? I want to walk, I want to walk SO BAD, I'm saying "don't frigging do it Connie" slow down, control your breathing, just keep shuffling and I was bonking on a 5k in which I've never done before. Don't walk, Don't walk, Don't walk, I can't breathe, my side stitch sets in, my body DRAINED, Energy? I need E N E R G Y ! No Wait I need to walk, I need Oxygen, I want the finish line, shoot, I have to run down this pier and back before the finish line....NO! Then I see Runnerboy and family- I blow them kisses and Runnerboy throws his hands into the air with a "WTF" and I'm like :( I suck ..............I am so sad he did that to me. Was In front of the pack? No- but I was not that far behind, lol- asshole! ASSHOLE! There I feel better :) Nah, I lectured him - I told him I want a "Go Honey, Push, dig you got this" lol-  I told him next time meet me at the finish line, I felt terrible for feeling terrible cause his disappointment crushed me :(  Despite his temporary douche bag moment, Runnerboy just wants his RunnerGirl to Win the Race, lol. He doesnt run like me, he never physically frumps in a run and so it's hard for him to understand. It's odd to me cause I rarely mentally give in, it's always a physical fight to give everything I have. He never crashes like I do, so I wonder what I do so differently? Anyways he is a super husband and he tended to our 3 lil children for hours all for me, he loves me wants me to do my best, just sorta comes out wrong ;p

Splits:
7:08
7:54
8:35

Total 5k Time- 24:25

So where is my head? I'm SICK that my splits are so dam bad. But what I have to keep trumping my negative side is the notion that I'm NOT 5K TRAINING RIGHT NOW.....I'm in Marathon Training. Besides a small 4x400 speed drill the other day I have NOT done a 5k Speed Work-out in two months! Two Months!  I spent time working my Half Marathon Pace and now working on Getting my Distance back as I'm now in Week 5 of Training for another Marathon. So Chill out is what I tell myself!

It hurt like Hell. I finished and my throat was killing ,my jaw line in so much pain from clenching from trying to hold onto some sort of a finish. Wildly disappointed in my fatigue .......but I have to move on!

 Here is Great News! I Won First Place in my Age Group 30-34 :) Yep!!!! Worst 5k Time in a Year and still managed To win a First Place Medal for my Boom Shelf :) ♥♥

Stats:
1st in Age Group 30-34
58th out of 508 Runners
(Excuse me Runnerboy- see those stats ↑↑↑) Not too shabby, next time you throw your hands up in the air at me, you'll walk an hour home :)

Here I am making a Wish! No, lol- bad photo but my only one getting my picture taken after getting my first place medal :)

My Peeps Always love my Winning ♥

" It's Only My Body" Austyn's Words kept me Running! I love him!

No matter my pace, or how I fumbled, I ran with all my heart today and that what matters to me ♥

Wide Awake - Now it's clear to me KP

I suppose I ought to be in bed but very typical stage for me a week after my period to hit my Insomnia stage, the point where it becomes 3am and I lay here in bed with my demons.

Pre-Race Jitters, might as well talk about that. I'm not so sure if I like Racing. Sure it's fun to win if I'm up for the challenge to beat myself.  In it to be others is not at all that fun, actually the pressure to perform better than my last time sorta chews me up and spits me out. But at the same time I get these same pre-race jitters no matter my distance or race. If I'm going to be Wearing a Bib I get nervous, lol- training is much more fun to me! *skiddishly* chuckling* :/

Yeah, so there you you have it! all I think about is fueling for a 7pm race, thinking about the assurance that I warm up with a mile ideally and throw in some speed bursts and stretch before the start to just give me a shot and doing decent for an evening 5k.

Fun Run Connie, Fun Run......Yeah Right I want to Vomit thinking aboug how hard it's going to be to run that fast, lmao. As If I'm kenyan and doing some 4min pace or something! Jeesh - my friends run my 5k pace in a dam marathon, I ought to calm down! Gah!

Ideally sub 23.....would Love  22:59 OR LESS......7:23 PACE...c'mon sounds easy enough :)


Just want to sleep and all that haunts my thoughts as I lay here in desperation is this dam song.

Marathon Training Week #4

Hi Friends! I can get used to this weekly update stuff, can you? I like putting it all together and I hope that I don't bore people like last year with my daily antics and thoughts :)

Instead let me talk about my Food & Fitness & Family and then Move along with some much needed Sleep!

Family: I had a really great week with my kids. Although much like last weeks tangent about needing some alone time, I feel happy to report no such feelings this week. We did have an Ally meltdown after a really great family day and that was tough and then she threw a 2 hr fit the day after that included her biting herself in the arm and me playing the 2hr power struggle to keep her in time-out for her HORRIFIC meltdowns that almost daily toxify our happy existence here at home. We are working on getting connected with a family counselor so we can learn to cope with her better. It's really very tough on me, very hard on our family and her brother/sister are often punished in some way from their sister crazy meltdowns. She screams, spits, kicks, pinches, throws stuff, steals stuff from her siblings and bites in the midst of acting like a lil devil. Which is so not always typical, basically happens when she doesn't get exactly what she wants, when she wants it. Her whining and crying are constant, even for 4yrs old it's been happening since she was a baby! She is cute though- lol


We took the kids to the Amusement Park, Swimming at the Lake, Swimming at the Pool, Playdates and kept them busy!

Amusement Park Fun! We hit the Water Slides and then the Rides. My Kids First Trip to an Amusement Park!!! What's nice is to have them at the age where our family can start enjoying activities like this! Costly but Priceless!

Playdates

Sunset Swimming after the BBQ at the lake!

More Pool time Fun!



Food: Food has been great all week. I have cut back on indulgences and I'm looking to lean out. I have not got back to my routine with lifting weights as often as I would like (3x weekly) and with my attempts to get my distance back I'm hoping to toss a couple of pounds that snuck on me. Not Much weight gain but more or less I kept eating like I was running long distance and lifting 3x weekly and simply put with my mileage in half and my weight lifting routine at just once weekly my metabolism changed. So I was maintaining around 2200 calories for my fitness "then" and with the change this number made me gain a couple lbs over the course of 12 weeks. It's why I weigh myself every week or two to see if anything changes or creeps  up on me. I'm just going to focus on clean eating and high protein, complex carbs and reducing my indulgences. I won't lie my appetite is mega suppressed - I got my period this week to play with hormones and appetite. I always lose my appetite after I get my period. Anyone else like this? Only rarely do I get munchy but mostly just no desire to eat when it gets here. It has impacted my recovery this week and my energy levels on my fitness routines. I keep trying to force myself to eat. the great part about being disconnected with food is my lack of desire to eat - however my body needs fuel .....so I force it and it's still not enough. If you have been following me for a long time you also know I get RAVENOUS cravings for carbs when my Pcos is going crazy on me. So I try to just go with the flow, force myself to eat now and maybe in a  few weeks I'm trying my damnest to control the cravings, ggrr! Welcome to MY life!

Here are some Meal Ideas for you- Remember I'm simple, clean and easy!

Grilled chicken, mixed steam veggies, 1/4 cup pasta

Grilled Chicken Salad

Turkey Avocado Sandwich and Yummy Salad- at this at Panera Bread- wished I asked ahead of time for whole wheat! I didn't think about it and slice of white wont kill me time to time, lol

A fave! Steak & onion/pepper/bbq sauce Home-Made Pizza!

Grilled chicken breast with a side of Sweet potato where I topped with walnuts and drizzle of pure maple syrup

Chicken Sausage, 1/4 cup cous cous, spinach and my fave- squash ♥



Fitness:

Monday-Mega one hour crosstrain/run with runnerboy along with weight routine

Tuesday-BootCamp Class - loads of lunges, hill sprints- after 2.5 mile run with my family

Wednesday-SORE MUST REST- THOSE DAM LUNGES KILLED MY QUADS

Thursday-OMG- SO SORE STILL...REST...UGH!

Friday- 4 miles

Saturday-3 miles- 95'degrees mid evening run- wretched humidity-

Sunday- Failed ten miler- split it into two separate runs. I got 5 miles in and couldn't run a step more- first time this has ever happened to me. I had to walk a mile home. Then I went to the lake and bbq with family- had to rehydrate I lost over 3lbs of water on that small 45min 5 miler. Just as soon as I got home at 10pm I got into my Ninja Night Gear and in the dark quiet of the Sunday Evening Night here in the city I cranked out 5 more miles. Almost as tough - must be my body - this felt a little easier but I also kept the pace ridiculously comfy- 9:30's just to get it done!  10 mile run, one mile walk- done! Here I am defeated .......



Half the sweat dried off on the mile walk home..... I know for a fact my hydration was normal and I further know that my fueling was minimal today- I blame my fueling for this run.

 We are Training for a Half Marathon with the Kids- We will do it in September. Here we are on the first of many weekly runs to get in our stroller training. I think my kids are going to be just fine in the stroller for 2hrs my only run prayer for race day for all 5 of us- NO RAIN!

Real Quickly I want to mention that I'm running a 5k this week and going for a 14 miler. 5k Race with Friends on Thursday. Not sure what to expect- it's a 7pm race. I want to push hard and whatever my time is- then so be it. PR's are Great but not always practical because of race times, etc. Then on Friday I get in my Long Run for 14 and hope to be out the door early to beat the heat!

Lastly I started Reading Dean's Book (UltraMarathonMan) http://www.ultramarathonman.com/web/books/ultra.shtml 

and it's amazing already- just 4 chapters in!

 I don't want to put it down but I don't get freedom to read and stuff but I'm trying!

PICK UP YOUR COPY HERE

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585422789/ultramarathon-20