Sunday, November 29, 2009

One gut buster down, one to go - 11/29

I kind of don't like the holidays. I mean don't get me wrong. I love being around my family and the togetherness of the holidays, but I don't like the food. I am one of those people with absolutely no willpower. I am strong enough to not bring junk in my house, but if I am around it I mindlessly stuff myself. Anyway, I am glad Turkey day is over, now just to make it through Xmas. We only go to my Family's place on T-giving, whereas at Xmas we hit up 3 family houses and then 2 other extended family parties. I hope to be down to my goal weight of 125 by Xmas so that if I gain a few, it won't put me back up into the 130s. I stand firm at 128 right now and I barely worked out this past week. I got in 1 good run while I was home with my BIL, we ran a cross country course. I very rarely run on grass, nice to mix it up sometimes. T-giving was great, my sister made a weight watchers pumpkin pie that was yummy and I didn't overdo it too bad on my moms olive cream cheese dip and candied sweet potatoes! Today I am back on the wagon, but unfortunately I am sick AGAIN.

I am so sick of being sick, do any of you take any good immune system boosters? I take a pre natal vitamin and an Emergen C packet (most days, when I remember). But this is like the 6th time I have been sick in 2-3 months, its getting in the way of my training for this Jan half mary! I was supposed to go do the course yesterday but woke up with the worst sore throat and a nose full of cement, so back to bed I went. Ugh. I must say I have been running really strong though. I did a 5K the other day and did it in 26:03, which is my second fastest time ever. I am doing another 5K this weekend and I really hope to get in the low 25s. I was supposed to do a half marathon last weekend, but changed to do this 5K for charity (girls on the run) but then there was a snafu and I didn't get a partner so I just raced the race. I wish I had done the half, just to see where I am now speed wise. I am about 10 lbs less than I was for the Akron half. There is a 30K in PA in the spring that I might have to go do...I am contemplating doing either the Pittsburgh or Cincinnati marathon on May 2. I won't sign up for either until much closer b/c admittedly if I end up back at work, I may not get enough miles in to worry about a full. But if I am still at home most of the training time, I might be able to pull off one more 26.2 before going back to work. Seeing where my body is now at 128, I really think I can get closer to 120 and I think that will help my race times dramatically. I hope so! Looking forward to getting my runs up to 5 days a week. Starting this week I will make sure I run 4 days a week and then in Jan, add that 5th day. That's my plan for now.

These pics are from Salty's son's 1st b-day party. How cute are those babies! Yummy. Also my neighbor took a bunch of wonderful shots of Harper to try and help me get a xmas card shot. Below is the one I chose to send out! It was the first time her ever shot an infant and he did awesome! Last but not least, big shout out and good luck to IRONTRISH who is doing Cozumel today, can't wait to see her finish.
Saturday, November 21, 2009

Letter to Harper: Month 7


On the move. Baby I cannot make you sit still anymore. You have places to go and people to see. In the last month you have perfected rolling across the floor and now get that rolling gets you places, it's not just something to do back and forth to get stuck against the crib slats. You really want to sit up on your own and are starting to grab on to me to pull yourself up, but can't quite do it yet. Just a few days ago you started getting up on your knees and rocking your cute little tooshy back and forth. Crawling is not far away and I must admit I dread it. Why? B/c you are obsesses with the dogs and I know that as soon as you can crawl you will be crawling after them. Which would be fine if you would pet nice, but instead you pull and pinch. Mostly Fonzie, who I of course trust the least. Although he really seems to love you. You can say the dadadad sound now and do it over and over again, as well as blowing air out of your mouth in little quite pah, pah sound that you seem to find amusing. Right now your favorite toys are anything hard, as your bottom teeth seem to be driving you crazy for months now, but they just won't pop out. You weigh 20 lbs and are 27 inches tall. I had to raise your excersaucer the other day to the next level so your feet don't drag on the ground. You love to pull socks and shoes off of your feet, so mommy had to splurge and buy you cute little pink pumas that velcro. Sleeping is still about the same. Most nights you mornings you wake up around 5, but will go back down until 7ish. Some days though you sleep all the way until 7 and I thank you for that! We are trying new foods everyday and getting the sippy cup drinking down. What a fun month this has been.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wednesday 11/17


This has been the sickliest fall ever. I have a sore throat and an awful rattly cough and Harper has the cough, so surely her throat is bothering her too. It hit me Sunday night, so I skipped the gym Monday, ran yesterday and guess we are skipping the gym again today b/c she keeps coughing. You aren't supposed to bring your kid if they have a cough. I can understand that of course. Sick of being sick. My eating has been atrocious lately, I seriously had fish sticks and onion rings in the same day the other day...made at home! So today I am going to start writing down what I am eating until I get down to 125 (130 today). I need to seriously up the veggies and lower the carbs. Not going to worry about Thanksgiving though. Started the day off with a berry protein shake. Also on my mind is my running. I have had some good long runs lately, but have really been slacking during the week. I think by Jan I want to be running 5 days a week. I know before I have always said 3 days is enough for me. But I think 5 will really help me get faster. Since I am only worried about half marathons those runs don't have to be especially long, 4-6 miles for3 of the run, 6-8 for another 1 and then 10-13 for my long. So from now until Jan I need to work on getting that 4th weekly run in that I sometimes get in. Wish me luck.
Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sunday 11/15


What a nice weekend. I am convinced it is the nice weekend we will see around Cleveland until May. So, I made sure to get out there and enjoy it. On Saturday I drove down to the Buckeye Trail to meet up with Sara and Harley to run part of the half marathon course we'll be doing in Jan. It's part of the Run for Regis 50K, but we are obviously doing a shorter option. It was an absolutely glorious day out, sunny and warm. I took Fonzie and he made it through 9 ridiculously hilly miles. I planned to do 13, but the 9 took too long and I ran out of time b/c I wanted to be home by noon. We had to stop a lot b/c we didn't know the course and there were a lot of places to take a wrong turn. I am confident that next time we run it we will be much better off. But oh the hills. All the minor muscles in my lower legs are aching so bad. I also wore my new trail shoes that I just won and that didn't help matters. I am walking like I ran a marathon. I should have taken an ice bath. I am really digging running with Fonzie. I am trying to be careful, I don't want to take him further than I should. But I figure if he is still pulling than he has energy to spare. By the end of this run it had gotten pretty warm and I could tell he was done. I really need to find a better harness for him and a leash that is reflective. I have good running gear, its only fair that he does too. Last week he ran 13 miles with me. I am going to shoot for 1-2 more miles until he gets up to 18-20 miles a week, that will be great motivation for me. Any of you run with your dogs? How far do you take them? The rest of the day I was pretty lazy, but we did walk to the playground and push Harper in the swings. I am so glad she is biggest enough for the swings now. I didn't realize it, but I met Salty and her son for a run on Thursday and we put them in the swings afterwards. What a big girl I have!

This morning I drove out to Rocky River and met TriSaraTops for a run/walk. I pushed Harper in the stroller. We covered 4 miles and then went to First Watch for some yummy breakfast. Then this afternoon I popped over to the neighbors for a dog playdate. Now the hubby and I are chilling with Harper watching a Ben Harper concert on HDtv.

Speaking of Harper, as I said above I pushed her in the jogging stroller twice this week. I am bummed I didn't do it sooner. Truthfully I never really had the need b/c G watches her when I run, but it was much easier than I thought it would be and really didn't impede my speed at all. So I am going to try and get as many runs in with her as I can before it gets nasty out.
Thursday, November 12, 2009

We have a winnneeerrr


I never win anything! I can't think of once in my life that I have won a contest, aside from when I was in middle school and I won 2 tickets to an Ozzy Osbourne concert (no more tears tour), my sister couldn't take me so my mom did. But that's another story. Anyway, last night I went to a ladies night at a local running store (Vertical Runner) and I won a free pair of Brooks Cascadia trail shoes. Woohooo. These shoes are $100. I was so happy I did a little dance. And I got my body fat tested last night and it was really low. So low that I don't even believe the lady. But seeing the number sure made me feel good. I am hanging around 128-129, I managed to keep a little of the stomach bug weight off. Hoorah.

Speaking of running shoes. Aside from my weekend run I haven't been very good at getting the miles in. I am going to try to up the weekly mileage next week, I have a half in 2 months. A hard hilly trail half. I don't want to die in the snow out there. I'm also signing up for the Lexington KY half mary (near my hometown) in March and the Cleveland half in May. That should keep me motivated through the winter. I hope.
Saturday, November 7, 2009

Sunny Saturday

What a gorgeous day we are having in Cleveland. I fully believe it will be our last nice weekend until ohhhh June. So, I made sure to take advantage of it. I started the day with a 7 mile trail run at North Chagrin Reservation. Met a few friends and took Fonzie. I was afraid it would be too much for him b/c he's never ran hills and only ran 5 miles, but he handled it like a champ and could have gone further. He had so much fun. Too bad he tried to bite my guy friend, sigh, this dog is a nipper, really have to figure out how to break that. He was fine with everyone as long as they didn't mess with him, but the lone guy (hes not big on strange men) went to pet him and he tried to nip his leg, but I gave him a leash jerk first, shoo. He doesn't aggressively go after people, but gets a little scared and slowly nips. It stinks. Anyway, the run was great. The leaves were gorgeous and it was like 55 degrees and sunny. The run felt good and I was worried b/c I am just getting over being sick. But I was able to run fast without a lot of effort and bounded up the hills. Woohoo.

When I got home G and I headed to Chagrin Falls with Harper and did some window shopping and strolling. We also shared some Carmel corn and a milkshake. So much for those lbs lost while I was sick! Hope everyone is having a nice weekend.
Thursday, November 5, 2009

Back among the living

Finally I am feeling better. Still a little weak from not eating much for a week, but unfortunately my appetite is back in full force. I still think I will manage to keep a few lbs off from this. Trying to see the silver lining from such a rotten week. Yesterday I went to the gym and did my weight lifting class, but Harper got fussy so I didn't get to do the full class, missed tris and a set of abs. I seriously love my urban iron class. It's an hour and you lift with a bar and various weighted plates. When I lift on my own, I never push myself as hard and worry that I missed some muscle group, this class ensures I get a good total body worout. You do 1 song for each muscle group and the instructor changes the tempo throughout the song, so you may lift for 3, lower for 1, then even it out 2/2, etc. It goes like this:

Back -deadllifts, rows, clean & presses
Chest- chest presses down laying on step
Set of abs - bicycle and crunches
Legs - squats and plie squats
Biceps - just normal curls, but lots of them
Shoulder- delt presses, side and front raises, shoulder presses
Triceps- skull crushes down on step, tri presses
legs - lunges and squats
Set of abs - pilates 100s and bicycles

Every 6 weeks they change the music and format slightly. I luv this class and credit it for being more in shape now than I was before baby, even though I still have a bit of belly flab that I only notice if I lean in unflattering ways :)

Anyway, today I am going to try to run. Probably just like 4 miles, see how it feels. I haven't ran in at least a week. Later today we have new moms group, which I love, it really breaks up the day.

As much as I love being home, I am starting to get more serious about thinking about work. One day I am convinced I need to just go back now before it gets any harder, then the next day I convince myself to wait until spring. I am just sick of worrying about money, we've had some large bills (cat vet bills, need new tires) lately and I hate to see the savings account go down, down. I wish I could find a job that was 2-3 days a week, that would be so ideal. I have been applying even for full time ones that seem really good. It's going to be hard to find a job, but I'm glad i have room, at least for now, to be picky. #1 goal if I go full time is a job that will let me work outside the normal 8-5 or 5:30. That is tough b/c my job expertise is in account management and when you work with clients, it can be hard to be allowed a flex time schedule. Maybe I can find an internal project management position, that would be great.
Monday, November 2, 2009

I'm sick of this already!


Enough is enough. I am so sick of being sick. This weekend I felt okay, still a little weak and sick to my stomach, but last night was full blown attack again. I spent the entire night on the toilet or on the couch writhing in belly pain. I feel like I have a beetle with little horns making his way slowly through my intestinal track. Sorry for the TMI. Other than the belly issues the other symptoms are all gone, no body aches, headache or fever. Still don't know if I even have the flu. All I know is I feel like a poop sandwich. Sigh. I haven't worked out since last Tuesday and that is not helping with the crank factor. How much longer could this possibly last? Now I have a day of being a mom in front of me, on about 3 hours of sleep. On the good side, at least that kid is CUTE, too bad I can't kiss her.

About Me

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Mnowac
distance runner attempting to run a marathon in every state, vegetarian foodie, mediocre triathlete, sucky swimmer, mommy to Harper, tea lover, coffee drinker, animal saver, hubby snuggler, race addict, full time working 31 year old living in cleveland
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Marathons so far

  • Sept 2012 - Corning, NY - TBD
  • April 2012 - Louisville, KY - TBD
  • Sept 2011 - Erie PA - 4:25
  • June 2011 - South Bend IN - 5 hrs+ (it was 98 degrees!)
  • Dec 2010 - Rehoboth Beach DE - 4:26:06
  • Nov 2010 - Huntington WV - 4:11:44
  • Oct 2009 - Towpath - Cleveland area OH - 4:30:35
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