My fastest mile repeats

Well it's been a crazy week.  Our little guy is battling croup, and the other 2 guys had a touch of flu this past week.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that this week will be a healthier one!  We spend MLK day at doctor's office and getting chest X-rays. 

 This guy was a trooper with all the doctor's visits he had today!

  Cole was a great helper, but he loved just being home today!  When we were home he was dressed as every character possible.  He has the best imagination. 

 

We started our Saturday day off with some runs and lots of errands.  On Sunday, it was freezing so we kept our workouts indoors.  I have been doing some of my workouts at the local high school where my husband coaches.  It's a big playground for the boys, and I get in a great workout.  Win-win!  

 

 

After our workouts on Sunday we celebrated my nephew's 6th birthday at Medieval Times. 

 



Cole was beyond excited.  The experience was a great one!  We all had so much fun. 

My workouts from this past week...

Tuesday: 5 miles at 8:00 pace on the TM and 20  minutes of tabata

Wednesday: 6 miles @ 7:35 and 15 minutes of strength (squats, lunges, push-ups, bridges, and planks)

Thursday: MILE REPEATS!  5 miles- 1 mile warm up at 7:40, mile 1- 6:12, mile 2- 6:12, mile 3- 6:08, and 1 mile cool down at 7:40 (my goal was to hit 6:15 for each repeat)

Friday: OFF- work bowling party

Saturday: 70 minute run, 9.62 miles, and 20 minute of strength

Sunday: 5 miles @ 7:50 on the TM

Monday(today): 6 miles @ 7:50 on the TM and 30 minutes of strength ( 4 rounds of: 10 single leg step-ups/ on each leg, wall sit with bicep curl for 1 minute, 20 KB swings, and 12 burpees) I followed it up with some core work and bridges


It's a 4 day work week!!! I hope that you have a great week.  I am hoping for some warm weather so I can get out and run.  I have some half marathon goals that I will be sharing later. 

What are your running goals?

A whole lot of fun, and a little bit of running

We've been BUSY, and have had 2 sick kids this weekend!  I'm tired, and it's only Monday! 

Workout recaps:
Thursday: off; 25 min of at home strength

Friday: 5 miles on the treadmill.  I started out with 15 minutes at 7.8 pace, for the next 15 minutes I increase my speed every minute (8.0-9.5), and then I recovered at 7.8 until I hit 5 miles.

Saturday: we were out of town and I hadn't planned to run, but managed to get 45 minutes on the treadmill with my sister-in-law and a bit of core work.

Sunday: OFF!  I think walking all over the water park carrying kids counts as a workout.

Monday: 6 miles with 8 1-minute pick ups.  Average pace 7:15 and 25 minutes of at home strength

This weekend was a fun one!  We started off with a coaching clinic for my husband.  He earned his 7th Coach of the Year award!  He's pretty awesome. 


We then met up with the rest of our family in Wisconsin Dells.  It was a crazy busy, but crazy fun trip! 

wrinkled shirts and bedhead to start the day

we lost a child for a few minutes

Planks before swimming  

This guy was having a blast.

We spend so much time playing in the water.  Everyone was pretty exhausted by the time we left on Sunday!  Too much fun!

 

My goal for this week is to focus on my nutrition. My food choices have been very poor (pizza, burgers, cookies, anything bad for me.)

What is your biggest food weakness? 

I have a huge sweet tooth--- so ice cream, fro yo, cookies.  They kill me! 

Hope you had a great Monday:)

Focus on Strength

TGIAF- Thank God it's Almost Friday

Flowers from the hubby just because!  He's a good one. 

Workout recap:
Tuesday and Wednesdays workouts: 5 easy miles @ 7:40-7:50 pace.

Today (Thursday): off-  I felt very tired Wednesday night that I decided to call Thursday a rest day.    I was itching to still do something so I did the following:

My workout buddy

30 seconds of each move x3
1. jumping jacks
2. wall sits with bicep curls
3. push ups
4. v-sits
5. chair step-ups
6. plank
7. over head press
8. lunges with front raise
9. push ups with rotation
10. side planks

I have been keeping my runs pretty easy this week because my body is still recovering from the flu and I had an 11 day running stretch that has my body feeling tired.  Also with no races on the calendar I can kind of do what I want!


These 2 make strength training much more fun. 

 

My first true love is running.  If I could only run I would, but I know the importance of core and strength training for injury prevention and performance.  I have had issues with piriformis syndrome since having both my boys.  The only way I can stay running is if I include bridges, lunges, squats, and planks into my weekly routine.  Once I started to include strength training into my routine I felt so much better during my runs.  I keep most of my strength workouts to simple workouts that can be done at home and with body weight, or 10 pound dumbbells. 

 

My typical post run series is the following:

1. stretching for 5-10 minutes (on a good day, I am bad about skipping stretching)
2. squats 15-25
3. plank (regular and side lunges)
4. lunges 20-25
5. bridges 15

I try to repeat it at least 2 times

I'm spending some time signing up for some races!

In 2015 I was recovery from my pregnancy and I was very inconsistent in my strength training.  I am making it a goal to keep strength my focus in 2016!  We will see how it goes.

What is your focus for 2016?

When the motivation just isn't there

Well winter has finally hit the Midwest.  It's hard to believe that on Christmas day I was running in shorts, and today I couldn't get enough layers to stay warm.

Today was our last day of winter break and I really had nothing planned. Poor boys, I am so not fun.  Actually, I have been trying to get myself feeling 100% again.  After being hit with the flu and sinus infection on New Year's Day I've been in catch up mode.  I wasn't sure whether I would get a workout in or not.  We spent the first few hours of the day jumping while daddy had practice!

The boys have been loving their bounce house that they got for Christmas.  Honestly,  a bounce house in the living room is the best thing for getting their energy out! I really wasn't feeling a workout but Chris texted me to see if I wanted to come to the high school and lift.  So out the door we went. 

 

I find when I am not motivated to workout I try to find little signs that motivate me to move.  Chris is not big on lifting and the fact that he texted me to come out was a huge sign for me to get out the door!  The boys had fun getting out the house, and we had fun building some muscle! 

The boys enjoyed exploring the gym while I did the following workout x3:

25 walking lunges

25 push ups

20 V-ups

30 jumping lunges

60 second jumping jacks

15 lunge back and front shoulder raise (per each leg)

30 squats with side shoulder raise

60 second wall sit with 20 bicep curls

20 tricep dips

60 second plank

 

 

All that working out made these kids hungry... blueberries for them and avocado toast with an egg for me.

We had a busy afternoon, but I managed to squeeze in a FREEZING cold 5 mile run.  I kept it easy today and just went by feel.  5 miles at 7:45 pace.  Now it's time to switch gears a get some lesson plans done! 

I honestly didn't feel like running today, but I kept telling myself "just 30 minutes", so out the door I headed for a 30 minute run.  30 minutes is my magic number.  Once I hit 30 minutes I felt re-energized and felt like I could keep on going.  I knew I wanted to keep it an easy run so I made sure to stop at 5 miles. 

So when I am not motivated I try to...
1. Set a small goal "30 minutes or just 1 set of each move"  I often find that once I get moving I want to keep moving.
2. I browse the running community on IG.  Their runs always motivate me to get out the door! 
I hope everyone had a great weekend! 
3. I like competition.  I always like to keep up with my hubby. If he ran that day, I feel like I need to run too!  Since he ran and lifted, it motivated me to get out the door!

Did you run today?  How did it go?

 

2016- New Year, New Goals

Well, I have decided to giving blogging another go.  I stopped blogging when I was expecting my second son because I was on auto-pilot and just trying to survive another hard pregnancy.  My life was very boring and running was pretty much non-existent. 

Well, that little guy is 15 months old now, and I have been running consistently for about a year again.  I am feeling stronger and better than I have in a long time.  One big reason for all my running success is because after 10 years together I have finally decided to take my husband's running advice.  He has helped me PR in the 10K (42:59) and 5K (20:09) with a few minor changes to my regular training plan. 

So my goal is to continue to blog about my runs and other workouts to keep myself accountable.  I have a huge passion for running, health and goal setting.  I may not know much but my hubby is a super stud cross country coach and track coach at Yorkville High School.  In his 11 years of coaching he has brought home 7 state championship trophies; a total of 11 state trophies including his 2nd and 3rd place finishes.  He has earned the NCAA Illinois State Coach of the Year for 2A girls XC more times than I count (6 years? 7?). 

Today's run was an easy one because I started the year off with a terrible flu bug.
 * I ran 6.2 miles @ 7:43 pace
 followed by: stretching and...
* 3 x 1 min wall sit with bicep curl
* 3 x reverse lunge with front raise (12 on each leg = 1 set)
* 3 x 1 min side plank with shoulder raise (1 minute on each side = 1 set)
*  I finished off with 1 min of each: squats, walking lunges, push ups, bridges, and plank.  I don't have any races on the schedule until the spring, but I am hoping to keep my body healthy and strong this winter.  Strength often times gets pushed aside, but I am focusing on making it more consistent!

I hope that everyone's 2016 is off to a great start! 

My 2016 goals:
1. strength train 3 times a week
2. eat more veggies!!
3. keep running 5-6 days a week/ 1 day cross training
4. blog regularly!