Sunday Long & HOT Run

Hello from this hot and sweaty girl! 
 

Today was my scheduled long run for marathon training for the inaugural St. Louis Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon!  I am excited for my third marathon, and READY for some cooler temperatures that I’m hoping fall will bring. 

This morning was another hot and humid run:

I was very proactive, though, in my pace and kept it slow and steady from the get-go.  I averaged a 9:43 pace throughout, and doing so made it much easier to do the 8 miles.  My leg didn’t bother me at all, going the slower pace.  Yay!

But I tell ya what, I was never more ready for a tall glass of ice water than I was when I got back home!  Oh so good!  You know what else sounds really good right now?  Watermelon…mmmmm.  I may need to run to the store and get one.

 

I am done icing now so I’m going to get off here for now.  I’ll be back later as soon as I get some pics from my 15-year high school class reunion, which was last night.  It was a good time!

Later, gators!

xoxo

By The Numbers

Welcome to a sunshine-y Saturday morning!

We came home from a full day of basketball yesterday [4 games for these boys…whoa], to a full evening of baseball, the last regular season game of the summer; our tournament starts today.

The boys pulled off a come from behind WIN to get the victory with a score of 10-9!!!!  We won with a walk off home run!  It was an awesome evening for our boys who finished the regular season with a record of 7-1.  The end of the season tournament starts today, so we’ll see how far we can take this thing!

I had a HOT HOT HUMID run outside this morning, 79*.  Oy, it was sticky.  My fingers are slightly sticking to the keyboard as I type this.  Gross I know.  But I figure I’m not rushing out to take a shower just yet, because I’ll be sitting at the baseball game in an hour and a half so it kinda defeats the purpose.  I’ll just wait until I get back home…if I can stand it.

Today’s run:

A little slower than my 5-miler earlier in the week, but it was almost 20* warmer, too.  So not too bad.  My quad muscle feels ok when I run…not great, but ok.  I’m hoping that as I am taking days off in between, not doing as much as usual, that it will gradually get better.  I can definitely see progress in that direction so I’m crossing my fingers.

Lately I have been doing some checking into getting my Personal Trainer’s Certification.  I would really like to have it, then go further and be certified as a Cancer Exercise Specialist.  My only hang-up is, THEN WHAT??  We live in a VERY rural area and it’s not like I can go to a gym and get a job (because there isn’t one), so I am just kind of lost.  This is something I would love to do; to work with cancer patients and survivors to empower them to change their lives and their bodies…to get moving and feel better despite the cards we’ve been dealt. 

So…we shall see…like I said, I’m kind of lost about it.

Ok, I’m off to think about something easier…like my boys’ baseball games.   THEN my 15-year high school class reunion is tonight!  That just seems impossible that I’ve been out of school that long.  Crazy.

Stay cool, friends!

xoxo

Get Your Sweat On

It’s all rush rush, hurry hurry around here this morning. 

Which left me like Sweaty McSweaterson:

 

A little CRUNCH Burn & Firm Pilates does a body good!   Today was a marked as a rest day on my marathon training calendar [marathon training officially began THIS week!]:

But y’all know how well that works for me.  I was smart and didn’t run, even though the temps were just like yesterday morning, but I just HAD to get my sweat on somehow.  Mission accomplished!

Now it’s back to another day of high school basketball.  Let’s bring it, boys!   

What are you doing to work up a sweat today?  You owe it to yourself.  Just put on some Pandora and crank it up, you’ll feel AWESOME when your done!

Love y’all!

xoxo

Green Means GO!

GOOOOO-DDD MORNINGG, FRIENDS!

Oh it’s a happy, and BEAUTIFUL, morning in the neighborhood!  The sun is shining and the day looks good!  I started my day early, waking up around 545am.  For some reason I bounded out of bed with plenty of energy despite being at the baseball field til 945pm and not getting into bed til 11pm or so.  When I looked at the temp around 6, I was so excited that it showed 62*!!!  One quick peek out the door and I confirmed that it was cool(er) and the perfect morning to RUNNNNN!!! 

I headed out at 7am and it did not disappoint!  It felt GREAT.  My times reflected it, too:
  

5 wonderful miles in 44:08!  And these are the fastest times I’ve recorded in quite some time.  I thought my slower times were a result of my injury and taking time off – and some of it IS probably due to that – but I think much of it is also due to the crazy high heat and humidity we’ve had for the past month or so.  This morning was a welcome change.  I told my mom that I wish EVERY morning was like this morning.  But if we can’t have it that way, then I’ll just soak up mornings like this one and enjoy it.  Thank You, Jesus, for the relief. 

When I got back home it was time to get things in order for the day.  First up, a green monster:
 

Chock full of goodness:

• spinach,
• kale,
• 1/2 banana,
• 1 scoop chocolate Amazing Grass superfood,
• 1 scoop Sunwarrior chocolate protein powder,
• 1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk,
• 1 1/2 cups water,
• ice.

ANDDDD whirl in the Vitamix.  Delish!  Did you notice the chocolate pattern?!  Oh yeah!  It makes it taste like a treat!

Alrighty folks, I’m off for a day of chauffeuring high school basketball boys.  Pray for me

xoxo

Outages

I know that more than one post a week day is a may-jah shocker to you (as it probably well should be) but actually the What I’ve Been Up To post was supposed to publish YESTERDAY, but mother nature had other ideas…  I sent this text to my sisters after not being able to go through with my morning ritual of reading blogs, checking the news, and social media: 
 

A bolt of lightning hit in our driveway yesterday during a rainstorm and managed to knock the roots out of a tree, put hole and a crack in our concrete patio, fry the modem part of our satellite box, AND jack up our landline phone and INTERNET.  I am embarrassed to say that I was really missing my online connection.  I couldn’t even get enough signal to play Words or check Facebook on my phone!  I know, I know…  

But we are all better now, and here I am…checking Facebook and reading backlogged blogs like a madwoman!  Closets to clean?  What closets to clean??  Priorities, people.

Yesterday afternoon I went to my mom and dad’s and hit up a 5-miler on their treadmill.
 

I kept a slow, easy pace and had a little soreness in my quad throughout the second half of the run.  I probably got a little excited after my good 5-miler on Monday and shouldn’t have run yesterday, but I couldn’t help it.  I typed *NSYNC into the Pandora app on my phone and listened to all kinds of old-school music…songs can certainly take you back!  Thanks to my sister, Jessica, for giving me the heads up on this app!  I love it!
 

Today, though, I am listening to my BODY and did my Crunch DVD…

I was seriously drenched in sweat when I was finished!  I really like this workout.  My sister, Layne, swears by her Jillian DVDs so I need to give them a try, too.  I heart Jillian.

I just had the best, HUGE salad beast for lunch and am now off to be productive.  Baseball tonight!  We are crossing our fingers for a win for Tyler’s wood bat league team, AND for our Cardinals.  We had bad news this week in Cardinal Nation:
 

Yes, Tony, us too.  Praying for Albert to come back quick and even stronger than before.  In the meantime, let’s not have any more ugly losses like last night, K?

Cheer for your favorite team today!

xoxo

Our potential is God's gift to us. Living up to our potential is our gift to Him.
Anyone else feel like giving Him that gift today?

What I’ve Been Up To

SOOOOO…….

Long time, no post!   Sorry!

After a week of Vacation Bible School, baseball, and playing with family, I am back with finally a little time to blog.  Limited of course, but at least I am here. 

My sister, Layne, and her two boys have been here going on three weeks (!!!), and we are all getting together as much as possible and spreading the love!  It is so great when she is here, because even those of us who live fairly close (ahem, me, Matt, Jessa) make more time to get together. 

Needless to say, I have taken LOTS of pictures lately so I’ll share some with you today. 

Oh, and another bright spot lately ------> I ran 5 miles yesterday with little to no discomfort!!  I took it very easy and didn’t push, and it felt so great…even though it was already 80* at 8am!  A hot and sweaty morning at the river is a great way to start the day, for sure! 

Katie, Caleb, and Ethan had a delicious local tradition one night after Bible School.  Mmmmm, ice cream!

And VBS was a big success, with 80 kids in attendance and many teachers and helpers!  It was a fun, Beach Blast-y kind of week!!

 

We’ve also had MUCHO time spent enjoying our beautiful river AND each other!

Now it is back to the week and back to a normal-ish schedule.  I’m sure we will fit in some fun and water-time at some point this week amidst all the baseball, basketball, and office work that is going on!  And Saturday is my 15-year class reunion…OH GEEZ!  Have I really been out of school that LONG?!  It honestly seems like only yesterday that I graduated.  Crazy how fast time flies.

Spend time with those you love, splash in some water, and check your boobies, ladies!

xoxo

More Hope

One cool thing about writing a blog is that once you have been blogging for a little while, you are able to go back and reminisce and compare from years past.  Like…

This past weekend’s Komen Race For The Cure in St. Louis.  Let’s check out the hair, shall we?

2009: 

2010: 

2011:  Finally, a PONYTAIL!!!

Yay, right?!  Every time I start to feel like my hair has stunted growth, I need to look at these pictures and see that it really IS growing.  Now if I could just get my eyelashes to do the same.

I also want to take just a second and show you some amazing pictures from Saturday’s Race For The Cure.  The sea of people was nothing short of breathtaking.

And continuing on with our “HOPE” theme, I have found a new workout partner!  I haven’t run with Hope yet, mainly because I can’t run (more on that later), but she is fabulous walking partner!
 

And you can see my pink pepper spray here in the picture, but I may not need that as she gets bigger!  Heehee, just her presence may deter anybody -or anyTHING- I may encounter.  Yesterday we walked for 5 miles, and did it in 1:14:34…Hope didn’t miss a step.  She wasn’t distracted by bugs, birds, squirrels, the woods, nothing.  I did not expect such a young puppy to be so calm!  I am LOVING this girl more and more! 

Of course, we worked up quite a sweat in the heat and humidity, and Hope headed straight for the river for a drink and to cool off,

Yes, this looks like one tired puppy!

Today I went for another 5 mile walk, but didn’t take Hope, and did it in 1:06:16.  My shin splints are healed and not hurting at all, but now I have what I think is a quad strain.  So I am going to try and get all healed up before marathon training officially starts in a couple of weeks.  Boo injuries.

We are doing Vacation Bible School this week, so there is no downtime…is there ever?!  I better get goin’ on it!  Later guys!

Our VBS motto:  GOD IS FAITHFUL.  I CAN DIG IT!

xoxo