Running!! Finally!!

Well, our little princess arrived on 10/31/2014. Marathon training the year before was great perspective for labor and delivery, I love marathon training and I love the take home prize of labor and delivery. 

My favorite baby item has to be our stroller. This was the first item I researched and selected, yet the last item to arrive just before Kelley arrived. We selected the BOB Revolution jogging stroller for more reasons than just my love, yes you read that right, for running. Hubby mountain bike races and a lot of these races are in areas where there is not a bit of pavement. Needless to say, this stroller delivers a great ride for little miss and is sooo easy to maneuver. 

Of course when we got home and I felt like walking, about a week later, our Florida glorious fall weather was just gross. It rained so much!  I finally got to test out this great stroller walking and I was so looking forward to just running!  

As soon as I was cleared to start running I did. Our family had a Garmin Christmas.

 

Once Garmin got their app fixed for the 220 on iPhone, I adore this watch. So far, battery life is fantastic, uploading to my phone is very convenient for post run coffee breaks with my running buddy. 

Yes, my running buddy is back too!  I lost her after she injured her ankle and then found out she was pregnant as soon as she got cleared to run again. Her daughter turns 1 in a few days and we are back at it. Our 1st post pregnancy 5k is this weekend. No time goals, well sort of, just going to enjoy the race atmosphere. 

My first post pregnancy half marathon will be the Diva Dash December 8th. Followed by the Princess Half (debating the glass slipper challenge) in 2015. 

Adding a baby into the family mix absolutely changes my training flexibility. The BOB will come in handy for some of my longer runs as hubby may be delivering her to me on my route as he heads out on training rides. 

I'm totally loving running again and rejoining my running group. It's amazing how motivating a group of fellow runners of various skill levels can be. 

Now, if we could just get the rains to hold off for tomorrow mornings run. 

Running??? More like walking at this point

I can't believe my last post was in January.  So much has happened since then, I realized the other day, nothing has been posted!

At the beginning of March we found out we are expecting our first baby!!  I started helping a new runner that same week, although my run prior to finding out I was pregnant was so much improved I was getting ready to gear up for some serious speed workouts to get my average pace down, so glad I found out I was pregnant before starting that!

I'm due November 2nd with our little girl.  Everyone is excited, my planner brain is trying to develop a training schedule post delivery, but I also have no idea what life is going to look like with a newborn!  So, I'm being flexible.  The only goal I have is to run in the St Patrick's Day 5k locally.  Other than that, I refuse to put any timeline or goals out there that I will over work myself to try and accomplish.

I was able to continue running until the end of July, then doctors orders (and just listening to my body) I had to stop.  I'm walking 5-6 days a week and working really hard at continuing to move.

Our 13 year old has committed to running the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon 2015, so I do have that long term goal out there. (I just can't help it.)

I also found it rather ironic that one year after running my first Full Marathon, I am in an endurance race of an entirely different sort.  Praying for a safe and healthy delivery for all.  We shall see :).

That Lightbulb moment

Closing out 2012 was an interesting adventure.  I knew I was going non-stop, I had just finished running my first full marathon, I dreamed of doing another one in January, but those plans fell apart.  Oh, most pressing, I felt like I was losing control over what I ate and how much weight I was gaining.  This was not a pretty moment in my mind.

You run, you run, you run, therefore, you eat, you eat, you eat.  But what does that balance look like?  As someone who has struggled with maintaining a healthy weight for so long, after losing 30 lbs I was determined not to gain that back.  I was running, wait...I'm a runner now (insert head slap), I'm getting more exercise consistently than ever before in my life.....and yet at the beginning of a new year I came to the realization that I gained 20 of the 30 lbs back.  I won't lie, it's come back differently, but it came back and I allowed that to happen  (ugh).

Frustrated, angry with myself, and totally dumbfounded I thought, but I burn a lot of calories, I should not have to stick to some stupid unrealistic style of eating every single day of my life.  After an amazing year of new endeavors, more athletic involvement than ever before in my life, and I gained 20 lbs back (probably over 18 months, not just 12, but still.)  I jokingly told my dad about a great gift idea we should all get and try and burn more calories than my brother (young, spry, super active General Contractor) each day.  Make it into a game.

Well, my hubby (the super skinny, supportive, athletic, loving one) was listening.  We had agreed on only exchanging ornaments for Christmas, as our kiddo has now reached teen years and we know what that does to a Christmas budget.  Christmas morning there was an extra gift under the tree, for me...at first I was not so happy, as I hate being out done!  But when I opened it and found my new favorite gadget (yes, I have to say I rank it higher than my Garmin) the anger dissipated and led to an all new level of enlightenment.

Meet the Fitbit One


This little gadget is SOOOOOO much more than a pedometer (everyone's initial reaction.)  It tracks so many important aspects to my overall health and has brought me to a new level of awareness.

I work in an office, with a desk and computer, meet with people, etc otherwise, I sit A LOT.  There is this lovely barometer of sedentary motion (my name for it) that looks like this:







This was a day I ran 4 miles and had a busy schedule.  Typically an exhausting day, but look how long I was sedentary---13 hours and 15 minutes!  I only burned 2,087 calories that day.  The joy of this device and the supporting software/app is that you can track what you eat and your workouts.  It takes a lot of movement to burn just 2,000 calories in a day.  Thinking back on what I was putting in my mouth, living in la la land thinking that "oh well, I ran, it doesn't matter".  WRONG!!!!!

All this to say, I love my new accountability partner!  It syncs to my phone and website, I can look at it throughout the day and decide if I want to sit on the couch or walk the dogs or ride my bike or just clean my house to get more movement in.

What running goals for 2013....that's a hard one!  I have one big race that I want to do, Tower of Terror 10 miles at Disney.  I haven't found my fall half or full marathon yet.  I'm going to run the 2014 Disney Full Marathon and we are working on putting together a Ragnar Key West team for 2014.  The one absolute goal for my running is to hit 1,000 miles.  I hit 704 miles in 2012, so it's not that far off to hit 1,000 miles!

I've decided 2013 will be the year I stop dieting.  I'm focusing on fueling my body with what it actually needs to be efficient and healthy and not focusing on a particular weight.  How about you?  What are your goals?