Ka-chow! Thunder thighs & muffin tops oh my!

4.22 miles - ~37 mins - 8:46 pace

I went for speed today.  It's all relative, but a sub 9 minute pace is fast for me, especially when I'm going more than 3 miles.  This is my fastest to date since having the Bee.  I'm trying not to be overly anxious about increasing my pace - I'll get there if I keep working at it!  I didn't have the Garmin today since it wasn't charged, so I checked the time on my way out the door and ran right in to check it when I got back.  Then I mapped my route and found out I did more than I even thought.  Love when that happens!

Anyway, I realized today that I need some new running clothes.  I'll get back into these cute little skirts soon enough if I keep training, but right now, I'm just too pear-licious for my skinny girl running gear that I was wearing before the bee.  Baby belly and muffin top were in full effect in today's outfit - my shirt kept creeping up no matter how many times I yanked it down, so eventually I just gave up and let it all hang out!  I even got a honk so I must have been looking super bootylicious :)  I wouldn't trade my 2 baby loves for anything, they are completely worth every roll and jiggle - I just need to update my running wardrobe to fit my lovely lady lumps.  Any companies out there reading (hahahaha) want to sponsor me???  :-)

On another note, I used my new compression leg sleeves today and they actually helped my shins during the run.  I can definitely see the merit in these, although I don't know if I'll end up using them during runs or after for recovery, gotta experiment with this a little bit.  Of course I got the pink ones...

I won't even tell you how many pictures I had to take before getting a non-creepy-looking self portrait.  And geez, can you tell we have kids by all the toys in the background? :)

Definitely need to work on the refueling, too - I try to keep coconut water on hand to drink after my runs (I am liking the mango flavored ones especially - from Zico at Trader Joe's) but have yet to eat anything for lunch even though I got back almost 2 hours ago...maybe protein shakes are a good idea.  I want to try out this stuff. Anyone have any other recommendations??

Wordless Wednesday

Cracks. Me. Up.

HA!

Ah, that's better! My loves.

Getting back on track...with a rest day!

May 9 - 5.96 miles / 58 mins

Had a good run yesterday - will be posting my runs as they happen from now on.  I'm getting back on track after playing with another blog and deciding to keep this one instead :-)  Hope you enjoy the new layout I've been working on!  Also, check out the subscription option if you really want to keep up-to-the-minute with me - you can get emails whenever I post something new...

Today is a rest day.  Been working on the computer all day and about to take a muscle break, but wanted to post before I did that.  More fun to come tomorrow...

Running in Tights

May 6 - 5.11 miles – 49:29
Note this workout is from last week, I'm importing from another site to play catch up!
 
Running in running tights – something I’d never done till recently.  I just don’t think I have the legs for it.  However, I got some at Target a couple of weeks ago to try out and man if they aren’t really comfy to run in!!  I ran in them today for the 2nd time and love that they stay put without riding up and don’t chafe at all.  So what if they highlight my womanly pear shape?? ha!

Anyway, today was a good run…got to run with the gps today, and the dogs did really well.  I did my old loop through the cemetery (is that a little morbid? it’s quiet and doesn’t have traffic) but some old grump stopped me to tell me that “if i stopped to read the sign, i’d see that dogs weren’t allowed”  that made ME grouchy so i ran a little faster for a little while after that.  still working on getting my pace a little faster…some days I can run a 9 or 9:15 pace, but mostly I’m in the 9:30-9:45 range still.  The good news is, I am feeling really strong so 4 or 5 miles is getting to feel really pretty baseline for me.  Not bad for a former ballerina, eh?

Got a picture of the loyal dogs and me looking pretty rough post-run today.  It’s hard to get 2 dogs to sit still for a picture when they want the bologna sandwich on the counter.  Yes, my face really does get that red, no matter what.  It’s a lovely tomato glow dontcha think?

"Run Errands Mommy"

Wade says this when I go out for a run and it's the cutest!  Usually he will amend it and say Mommy go running which is just as cute!  I am getting back into my regular training now (yay!) and have some goals ahead of me (other than tiring our our dogs - tired Weims are good Weims).  First up is a 5K locally here next month.  Then we are thinking of heading out to Boulder Labor Day weekend to run (hubs is planning to run the full marathon, me the half) - depends on hubby's knee, though - he's heading to the doctor tomorrow to check out what's going on with it.  I figure we'll know soon enough that I can sign up for the Rock & Roll half here if we end up not traveling for the race!  And then, you ready for this?  I'm planning to sign up for the Richmond Marathon this November.  That's right - I am going to do it!  I'm ready to take the leap into marathons (gulp).  I'm getting pretty pumped about it honestly!  I know it will mean a LOT of training, but hey we've done this before since hubs has run 3 marathons in the past year and a half :-)

I'm going to blog about my runs, too, hope ya'll don't mind!  Today I went out for a run and wasn't sure how long I'd go.  3-4 I was thinking.  But then I felt so good that I thought I'd run down some of the side streets on my route for a change of scenery, so I looked it up when I got home and I did 4.5.  (3 years ago if you'd told me I would so casually tack on a half mile, I'd have thought you were dreaming!)  It was a good day for it with cooler temps and I was able to pull off a faster pace than usual . Mind you, I am at best a jogger, but it is my hope that once I start running more and training regularly, I can increase my pace little by little!

Feel free to leave some inspiration for me in comments.  I'll update my training progress...should be starting in June for my half marathon training in earnest!  (yay)

Baby Food

Drew started baby food a couple of months ago now...we had a little interlude when he had croup where he didn't do anything but nurse, but we've been through rice and oatmeal so far (he likes oatmeal much more than rice!) and I have been trying different organic, store-bought foods.  I made most all of Wade's baby purees, but I wanted to try out some combinations with Drew, so I started with some organics from the store.

Well, today I made my first purees for the little bee.  I made sweet peas (plain), blueberry mango, and roasted pear/banana and froze them in cubes.  I had some extra pear/banana that didn't fit in our freezer trays, so I gave him some tonight for dinner.  HE. LOVED. IT.  Seriously, this was good stuff.  Easy-peasy recipe, too, from a new favorite site, Weelicious.  Even though he was a little overly tired, he couldn't stop looking for more.  I tried it while I was making it and it really is delicious (and made the house smell yummy while I was roasting the fruit, too...bonus!).  I'm thinking it might have to be a go-to topping for yogurt and oatmeal for the rest of us actually since I'm sure Wade and Craig will like it, too :)

I can't believe I forgot how easy it is to make baby food - I'm back on the horse again!  But for when we do eat on the run, I'm a huge fan of the little pouches (Plum Baby, Ella's Kitchen, Happy Baby, etc), especially since now boon makes spoons to screw onto the pouches for super easy on-the-go feeding.  Their foods are yummy and don't have any un-pronouncable words in them - just the fruit or veggie. 

All for now.  Bath time :) (Wade, not me)

Wade loves ducklings

We had pictures with ducklings a couple weeks ago - SO CUTE!!  Drew was curious about them, but Wade absolutely LOVED them.  It took a few minutes for him to warm up and want to hold them, but then, watch out, he was chasing them all over the place.  Check out the pictures at the online gallery.  password is duck15.

http://rsutherland.zenfolio.com/ducklingscollins/h469f36c#h469f36c