Namaste, Everyone

Do you practice yoga?

I have to admit that until a few weeks ago my yoga experience was limited to the 15 or so poses that you can find on Wii Fit. I didn't really find any benefit to it and thought it was mostly about flexibility and stretching.

My neighbor invited me to go to a yoga class on post a few weeks ago and I went with her. We focused on balance for the 60 minute class and afterwards I was so sore! My legs felt like jello and it was then that I knew that there was more to yoga than what the Wii had shown me. Part of it is very relaxing and there is a flexibility aspect to it as well. I find that it has really helped me with the rage/anger I was experiencing a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if its the exercise, relaxation or simply getting out of the house and focusing only on me for an hour, but regardless, it has helped!

I've since been back a few more times and I actually find myself looking forward to the hour of relaxation, stretching and work-out that I get each time I go! The best part is that because the class is held at the gym on post, it is free!

I highly recommend yoga, but also looking into other exercise classes that the gyms on post offer. They're all free and they only keep them if there is enough interest, so go! Check out a class or two! Also, if your kids are registered through CYSS you can put them in the childcare at the gym, too!

2012 Goals: January Update

I thought I'd do a little update on how I'm doing with my 2012 goals now that the first month of the year is complete (umm, how did it go so fast?).

My goals are in bold italics and my updates are in regular italics.

***

1. Save money, reduce debt. Well, we were doing really well with the saving money part of this one until D's car got towed and we had to use the money we had in our savings account to get it off the tow truck. No, I didn't blog about it, mostly because I was really mad about it, but now you know. I am making a point to "pay myself back" so that we're still putting a little bit into savings for January. As far as reducing debt, we are using the snowball method and we plan on putting our tax refund toward credit card debt.

2. Lose weight. I have to admit that I haven't really been concentrating on this one as much as I should. There were a few days that I took AJ outside in the stroller and ran/walked a little. I've also been going to yoga, but so far the scale has really been yo-yo-ing based on what and how much I eat on any given day.

3. Eat healthier. I've been just okay on this one. I've made an effort to make healthier meals a few times a week, but the portion control isn't quite there yet. I think that mostly everything we eat is fairly healthy in moderation, but when I start out my diner with a plate full of rice, its probably not going to qualify as healthy, even if it is brown rice. I've been trying to eat healthy lunches and breakfasts, which in turn helps me to save money because I'm not eating out or grabbing something on the go. I made home made granola and I've been eating light soups (Campbell's and Progresso) for lunch. I'm also trying to make an effort to make salads to go with dinner because then we'll hopefully fill up on veggies before digging into the main dish.

4. Be more patient. I think I am doing better with this one for the second half of the month than I did for the first part. Its interesting that while I feel I'm being more patient with AJ, I've also found that there is a clear line that determines behavior that is unacceptable. If she commits one of these acts, there is no need for patience on my part, she goes straight to punishment. On the other hand, if its something little, I try to stay calm and repeat myself. I'm also trying to get down to her level and have her look me in the eye before I lose it over something little.

5. Exercise more. I've been going to yoga, I've walked/run a few times but overall, I would say that I pretty much failed at this one for the month of January.

6. Maintain a positive attitude. When it pertains to certain aspects of my life, I have been doing a good job at remaining positive. Other areas of my life still manage to induce a mini-panic attack and I get snippy about it. I've been trying to be positive and upbeat as a whole though, so I'd say I did okay on this one. I am hoping that by the time we find out if we're moving or not (maybe in another 3 weeks, maybe longer) I'll be able to take it in stride and remain positive about listing our house (and it selling, fast, for our asking price!). ;)

***

Looking at my goals and evaluating how I did for January has made me realize that a lot of the things I wanted to change for 2012 were loosely based on how well I am able to manage my own stress level and the amount I worry about things. These are two things as a whole that I would like to change about myself and I think that by setting smaller, quantifiable goals, I'll be able to help myself find and maintain techniques that work for me.

I also like the idea of checking in at the end of each month to keep track of how I'm doing with each goal. It helps me to remember what I'm striving for and reminds me to continue the good work (or to pick up the slack where I feel I've been lacking).

What about you? How are your 2012 goals coming along?

Changing My Life

Back in high school I was always in great shape. I ran Cross Country and Track & Field, which really helped me to stay active (obviously). Once I went off to college though, fitness and exercise took a backseat. I'd be lying if I said that schoolwork took priority, but my focus was definitely not on exercise.

Exercise and health continued to take a backseat when I entered the working world. Not only was working full time stressful, but I was involved in a long distance relationship, so oftentimes I would make excuses that I had to get home to talk to D or other things like that.

In 2006 a few of my family members signed up for a half marathon and I decided that I wanted to run it. I went to the gym every day after work and ran for an hour on the treadmill. I didn't use a training plan, I didn't have any idea what I was doing. I ran my first half marathon, The Rock 'n' Roll Phoenix Half in January 2007 finishing with a time of 2:12.

I stopped running. I didn't workout at all again for a long, long time. Life got crazy.

In April of 2007 I changed jobs, then in May D and I got engaged. I spent a lot of time traveling to see him and in December we went to the courthouse and got married. Our big church wedding was planned for May 2008, and instead of exercising to lose weight for the wedding I just cut back on my eating habits. I was never unhealthy, but I managed to lose about 20 pounds.

I moved to Ft. Benning in April of 2008 and a month later we got married. One month after our wedding D deployed for 10 months. Instead of using my free time to get in shape and be healthy, I found myself eating unhealthy foods and drinking alcohol. Nothing to the point of weight gain, I actually lost a little weight.

Once D got home from Iraq, we came down on order and moved across the country. We found out we were pregnant with AJ the day after moving into our new house. Since I was already in the habit of not exercising, it wasn't a stretch for me to continue my sedentary lifestyle while pregnant. I didn't gain an insane amount of weight, but I wasn't as healthy as I know I could have been.

Somewhere during those two years I realized that my body was different. I didn't have the same activity level as I did in high school, and I enjoy cooking and eating too much to not be active. I wasn't happy with the way I looked and I knew something needed to change. But what? Its very daunting to go from zero to sixty without help. Working out seems so challenging when you're out of shape.

It was while I was pregnant that I knew I wanted to change my lifestyle. I wasn't about to start a new workout regime while pregnant, but as soon as I was cleared by my doctor to start exercising after AJ was born, I got started. I signed up for my second half marathon. I started by walking with AJ in her jogging stroller and eventually I was running 20-23 miles per week. In November 2010, 8 months after giving birth to my daughter, I ran my second half marathon, The Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Half, finishing with a time of 2:05.

It hasn't been perfect, heck, there have probably been more days that I sit around than days that I exercise, but its a work in progress. I'm currently at the beginning of a long training program for my first full marathon. Am I scared? Hell yeah! Am I excited? Yep! Am I always motivated to run? No way.

I guess my point is, just because it seems intimidating doesn't mean you can't do it. You should try it! The worst thing that will happen is you decide its not for you. (I can tell you, I'm not a Zumba, Jazzercise, etc. type of person. That type of exercise wouldn't work for me. That is okay.) There are lots of tools out there to help novice athletes. I used the Couch 2 5K program to get in shape for my marathon training program.

My main goal in all of this is not to become a great runner (although I would love to improve my pace). I really don't even care about having a great body (although that would be awesome, too). I really want to set a good example for AJ. I want her to realize that even though its hard work, and sometimes I'm not in the mood, I exercise. I want her to realize that just because its been a few weeks or months since I last worked out, I can always start over. There is nothing wrong with taking some time off. That is the beauty of physical fitness, you get out of it what you put into it. You can decide to be a better you, any time you want.

Every Day is a Good Day When You Run

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."
--Oprah Winfrey

I know I've been really bad about blogging lately, and for that I apologize. I haven't really been doing all that much. I'm kind of in a funk (outside the blog world) and have not really been feeling like writing about the few things we have done over the past week.

I have been running, and I'm feeling pretty good, albeit unmotivated lately. My long run on Saturday wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but I am still not really looking forward to my future Saturday morning runs. I think I'm struggling with motivation because I know that I'm not registered for the race yet and that is what makes it "real" in my opinion.

Even though I'm struggling with motivation, I've still been getting all my runs in. I guess the potential for guilt is a greater motivator than I realized. In the morning I wake up and the last thing I want to do is go run, but as I start my day, I get dressed in my running clothes and I tell myself that I will be disappointed in myself all day if I don't get the run in. I'm not the type (and the weather isn't cooperating) to run in the afternoon or at night, so I have to get it done first thing. I also feel like I have to go run because we don't really have all that much going on lately, so what else do I have to do but run? I guess guilt isn't all bad. ;)

I'm pretty happy with myself so far. I've have 5 scheduled runs and I've run the full distance for all 5 of them. Not bad. My times have been hovering right around 10 minute mile pace, which I'm pretty happy with at this point. I've been mostly running with the jogging stroller, so I can't really expect race pace or anything, plus I know I always run faster in organized events.

Sundays are supposed to be a cross training day according to my training plan and so this past weekend I skipped it. I just wasn't feeling it, plus I'm not much of a cross-trainer. I really want to make sure I stick as close to my plan as possible, so I'm trying to come up with some things to do on Sundays. I bought a couple apps for my phone to help with my cross-training and I'm planning to try them out. One is a push-up app and the other is an abdominal workout app. I'll report back here after I decide if I like them or not, in case you're interested in trying them out! I don't have super high expectations, but I really just wanted something to maybe help me tone up a little bit.

In other news, my Dad had some business close by, so he came down and stayed with us Monday night and left Tuesday morning. We had fun going out to Red Robin for dinner and playing with AJ. D's Dad and cousin are coming to town on Thursday for the weekend, so we'll have more fun and pictures to come. Hopefully some family time can pull me out of my funk!

AJ and I also have playgroup on Thursday morning, so Thursday will likely be a busy day for us. In the afternoon we have to drive the hour north to pick FIL and cousin up from the airport, so its looking like minimal nap for AJ. Hopefully she holds up and isn't too fussy for me!

So there you have it. That's the recap of what I've been up to. Not super exciting, but life isn't always fun and games, is it?

Do you ever run into writer's block? What do you do when you get into a funk?

Marathon Training: Day 2

I ran my first of many training runs yesterday morning and unfortunately for me, it was only like the hottest freaking day ever. I literally felt like I was running on the surface of the sun under water. That is how hot and sweaty I was, plus my legs felt like blocks of lead.

I got a little spoiled when I was back in Hometown, USA doing some running. It was nice and cool, plus the roads there are very flat. Here, not so much. Its basically the opposite of that, with lots of hills and extreme temperatures. Added to that is the stroller and the fact that I haven't run in about 2 weeks, and today was not exactly the way I was hoping to start my training for this marathon.

I did run just over 3 miles in about 33 minutes. I don't consider that to be too bad, considering the circumstances. Its definitely not the pace that I'm hoping to maintain for most of my runs, but I'm sure that with time I'll pick up the pace. I also made sure to stretch well both before and after my run today and so far I'm feeling pretty good, muscle-wise.

I have another 3 mile run this morning and I'm hoping to get out a little earlier than I did yesterday. Yesterday morning we didn't get out until after 9 am, and I think that had a big effect on the run. If we had gone earlier the temperatures wouldn't have been quite as bad. I'm also hoping that as the summer winds down, and my mileage increases, the temperature will decrease, making my runs a little easier.

So there you have it folks, my first real day of running is completed and I lived to tell you all about it (and run again)!

Marathon Training: Day 1, Week 1

Today is the first day of my marathon training. I have to say, its starting out on a good note. Today is a rest day. It just worked out that way, I swear.

Mondays and Fridays are my rest days, so technically, tomorrow starts my real training. I am going to do some stretching today to make sure I'm starting myself off on the right foot tomorrow.

One of the goals I have for this training program is to really make sure I'm stretching well everyday. During my training for the half I ran in November, I got really hung up about a month before the race because I wasn't stretching properly. My hamstrings were so tight that I could barely walk. I don't want to run into the same problem this time around, especially knowing that my mileage will be so much higher, seeing as this is a full marathon.

My other goal is to actually run all my long runs. That is not to say that I will never stop and walk during them, but I mean, I need to actually get out and do them. During my training for the half I found myself making excuses and not running on days I was supposed to. I still did well in the race, but I also had experience with the distance, so I kind of knew what to expect from it. A marathon? I do not have experience with, nor do I know what to expect. Therefore, I want to be as prepared as possible and I think mentally, I'm ready for the training. I'm hoping that the next 18 weeks of training prepares me mentally for the race.

So there you have it folks, my goals and plans for the next 18 weeks. RUN.

I hope you'll follow along with me and offer support along the way. I know there are going to be times that I need encouragement and I ask that you all cheer me on during this process!

*I'm admittedly not cool, so if you all could let me know of any cool new workout/upbeat music I can add to my iTunes to run to, that would be awesome!

**Also, don't worry, I'm not going to post about running every single day for the next 18 weeks, in case you were nervous.

Couple Things....

First up: WTF is up with Twitter? Is anyone else having trouble loading the homepage? For some reason every time I try to go there, it just gives me the little circle of death. You know, the progress circle that spins until the page loads? GRRR so annoying! Luckily I can access it on my phone, but its just not the same.

Secondly, who the hell am I and what did I do with my old, lazy self? Seriously, I woke up this morning and instead of sitting on my @$$ and reading blogs, checking FB, Twitter (on my phone, obvs) and drinking several cups of coffee, I vacuumed the entire downstairs, unloaded the dishwasher, watered some plants, and did some crunches. Then after AJ woke up and had breakfast I started a load of laundry and we embarked on {my} day 1 of the Couch 2 5k program (I'm starting on Week 4, day 2 because I'm somewhat in shape and only have 5 weeks until I start officially training for a FULL marathon).

In case you skimmed that last part, yes, I am planning on running a FULL marathon in November. That would be 26.2 miles. Yep, I'm crazy, but if you've been around here for more than one day, you'd already know that!

Here's the reasoning though. D wants to run a marathon. We have found one that isn't too far from where we live and the race also offers a half marathon on the same day. D has been trying to convince me to run it with him and I was thinking about doing another half. Then this weekend we were chatting with my parents and I decided that since I've already run 2 half marathons in the past, I'm either going to run the full or not do it at all (makes perfect sense, right? Ha!).

So there you have it folks, I'm officially bat$h!t crazy. Welcome to the dark side!

We're picking up our farm box again today and it might just be the highlight of my week! At our pick-up site there are a ton of little old ladies that hand out the boxes and I love making their days just by letting them pinch and squeeze AJ!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Oh, Hi There....

My name is Beth and this is my blog. Remember me?

I ran a half marathon this weekend. 13.1 miles. I didn't finish in under 2 hours, but I also didn't really think I would. I did finish in a personal best of 2:05:53. My previous best (and only) half marathon time was 2:12:andsomeseconds. I'm pretty happy that I was able to shave 7 minutes off my time, especially since the last time I ran 13.1 miles was before I had created human life.

Now that I've finished this race, I'm parked somewhere squarely between being super pumped for my next race in February and really, really, dreading it. I am dreading all the training runs that lie between me and my next race, but I'm also very excited about running the race.

Before this weekend I hadn't raced in almost 4 years. The last half marathon I did was in January 2007. I forgot about how much fun it is to run in a race and know that you're going to beat people. I forgot how motivated I get when people pass me (competitive, much?). I forgot how much fun it is to tour a city while you're running through it.

I'm also uber excited about February because I know tons and tons of people who are going to be converging on Disney World to run the race. It should be a big, amazing, awesome time!

So, with that being said, the countdown is now on...I have three weeks off before I start my 12 week training session for the Princess half!

Sorry, no pictures today, but I'll try and get on and upload pictures from this weekend and get those posted ASAP, because, um, San Antonio is a super cute and fun city.

There's also a lot of other stuff going on in my life right now that I'm going to be updating about very soon, so stay tuned! Oh, and I promise that I'm going to start reading all of your blogs again (and then subsequently commenting as well). I. Promise.

Overcoming Injury

So I'm pretty sure that D would disagree with me and explain how my intense, stabbing back pain is not actually an injury, but a result of poor maintenance. You see, my hamstrings are so tight and under-stretched that they've pulled my hips all out of whack. Now I'm experiencing some of the worst back pain imaginable. Its difficult for me to stand up straight and it doesn't seem to be getting any better, despite the almost constant stretching I've been doing.

It is really getting me down, mostly because its making everything more difficult (read: taking care of AJ), but also because I had really planned on buckling down and hammering away at the half marathon training (since I'm registered to run 13.1 miles 3 weeks from today and I'm totally unprepared). I'm getting really, super nervous about this race now and I was hoping to feel confident going in.

At least I know that if all hell breaks loose and this race goes horribly wrong, I have another half that I'm signed up for at the end of February. Even if I have to walk more of this race than I planned on (and I planned on not walking any of it) I will have a shot at a do-over 15 weeks later. We'll just have to see how this pans out.

With that being said, I haven't run since "injury" day, which was Thursday. My back was a little sore so I decided to go for a run and see if it would loosen me up. I was planning on running 5 miles and had to cut it down to only 3 miles. I barely made it home and was actually running through scenarios in my head that included calling 911 when I collapsed on the street. I was honestly thinking about how I needed to make sure to hold on to the stroller so AJ wouldn't roll down the hill and get hit by a car.

I'm now thinking that I will probably go out and run tomorrow to see how I feel running in hopes that it will either make me feel better or make me realize that I can (or can't) run with the pain. I'll update you all on how it goes!

Anyway, that it what is happening in my life right now. If you have any advice or words of encouragement, feel free to bestow it upon me! I can use all the help I can get! Oh, and good luck/job to all my bloggy friends (and IRL friends) who ran the Army 10-Miler this morning! You rock!

Running Rut

I have a question for all of you runners out there.

What do you do to get yourself out of a rut? What motivates you to run when you can't find motivation?

I'm signed up to run a half marathon in just over a month and I'm really struggling lately with finding the motivation to do my training. You'd think that the fear of having to run 13.1 miles would be enough motivation, but sadly, its not.

I think part of the problem is that I was hoping the running would help me to shed some (all) of the baby weight and at this point, its not happening. So now I'm plodding along (unmotivated) and not losing weight. Ugh. I seriously thought that as I got back into shape and started losing weight that the running would become more fun. What is the problem here?

Please help me!

I'm So Tired

I've been busy lately. I've been really tired. Like, can barely move at the end of the day tired. I think that its partly due to the fact that I decided that I wanted to actually start pushing myself in my workouts. I came to the realization that I wasn't going to get any better if I didn't start trying harder (more on this in a minute).

I'm not going to lie, I went four days last week without running. Thursday was my rest day, and then Friday I wasn't feeling great. My parents were in town Saturday and Sunday, so running got put on the back burner. I think that I might have to start going to be earlier. I prefer to run a little later in the day, which normally isn't a problem because AJ and I go after her morning nap. I run into a problem when we have weekend plans. AJ still wakes up in the middle of the night, which makes it really hard for me to get up in the morning and get my run in, even when I know I have plans during the day.

Okay, back to the increased effort I'm putting into my workouts, I'm really happy with the progress that I've made with my running. Up until last week I was running all my training runs at about 10:30 pace and this week I've been consistently running under 10:00 pace. I think I realized that I was able to run faster than I was. I was slacking and I want to hold myself accountable.

I also decided that I'm going to get serious about following my training program. For example, yesterday I was supposed to run 4 miles and do strength training. I've been blowing off the strength training and I think that I was just expecting the running to strengthen me enough. Well, I can safely say that I can feel the difference. I feel stronger. I feel like its helping me run faster and feel better during my runs.

So far, this week has been going well, but like I said, I'm so tired! Please forgive me if I haven't been great about keeping up with my blog. As soon as I find some extra energy/exciting things to blog about, I'll jump back into it!

Half Marathon Training Update

We're currently in the midst (of tail-end I guess) of week 3 (of 12) of my half marathon training. I think I've been doing pretty well so far. I only missed 2 runs in the past 2 weeks (which is pretty good), but at the same time, I'm really starting to get worried about running 13.1 miles without stopping in 9 weeks. Eek!

Here is what the past 2 weeks of training looked like (according to the schedule) and what I actually did (in italics).

Monday 8/30: 3 mile run (3.01 miles)

Tuesday 8/31: 2 mile run (2.05 miles)

Wednesday 9/1: 3 mile run (3.07 miles)

Thursday 9/2: Rest (Rested.)

Friday 9/3: 30 minutes cross train (3.06 miles)

Saturday 9/4: 4 mile run (4.18 miles)

Sunday 9/5: Stretch and Strengthen (Nothing)

Week Total: 15.37 miles

Monday 9/6: Rest (Rested. If you count traveling all day with a 6 month old to be resting.)

Tuesday 9/7: 3.5 mile run (3.55 miles)

Wednesday 9/8: 3.5 mile run (3.55 miles)

Thursday 9/9: 2 mile run (Nothing, it rained all.day.long.)

Friday 9/10: 4o minutes cross train (3.75 miles)

Saturday 9/11: 5 mile run (5.15 miles)

Sunday 9/12: Stretch and Strengthen (2 miler from Thursday)

Week Total: 18 miles

Making progress folks.

The New Workout Update

I've decided to move my workout updates to Sundays because I think its just a little bit easier to talk about the entire week as a whole instead of breaking it up to report on Wednesdays.

Of course, by moving the updates to Sundays the name doesn't quite have the same "ring" to it as the alliteration of "Wednesday Workout Update."

Such is life.

On to the update.

This week was week #1 of my half marathon training plan. I'm using Hal Higdon's Novice Half Marathon Training Plan, in case you were wondering.

Here's the schedule for this week with what I actually did in italics:

Monday 8/23: Stretch and Strengthen. (Nothing.)
Tuesday 8/24: 3 mile run. (Nothing. AJ and I were driving)
Wednesday 8/25: 2 mile run or cross train. (2.1 miles)
Thursday 8/26: 3 mile run + strength. (3 miles)
Friday 8/27: Rest
Saturday 8/28: 30 minute cross train. (3.7 miles)
Sunday 8/29: 4 mile run. (I'm planning to run tonight)

Honestly, I was hoping to start out my training a little more consistently than I did, but I'm happy with the mileage I got in. I know that getting out and running on the weekend is always my downfall for exercise, so I'm not surprised that I haven't gotten around to running yet today.

I know that the next 12 weeks are going to go by quickly and so I'm going to really make a concentrated effort to not let myself slack over the next few weeks. The snowball effect will kill me. If I start slacking now then I know I'm going to be miserable when the time comes to run 13.1 miles on November 14.

Is anyone else training for a big race? Anyone planning on running the half (or full, kudos to you!) marathon in San Antonio in November? Wanna be training buddies?

Wednesday Workout Update!

OMG. I'm the biggest slacker. Ever.

My friend came into town on Thursday, so I didn't run Friday, Saturday or Sunday of this week. Of course, that really doesn't give me any valid excuse for not running Wednesday or Thursday, but I didn't.

I had to physically threaten myself to run on Monday. Then I skipped Tuesday! I will admit though, I had a terrible migraine Monday night that sent me to bed with AJ at 7:30. I decided to spend Tuesday hydrating so I wouldn't run into the same issue again.

Today marks the start of a new week and I resolve to run at least every other day. Even if I don't want to. (I know I won't want to.) We have a 5k race at the end of August that I want to be able to finish with a decent time.

What are some tricks that you use to keep yourself motivated?

Wednesday Workout Update!

Not a bad week, all in all. I was true to my word and after I posted last week I got out there and really ran! I got some decent mileage in the second half of the week and then the weekend came along. I have trouble getting motivated on the weekends normally, so no big surprise there.

Unfortunately, that lack of motivation carried over to Monday as well. I just couldn't bring myself to get out and run Monday morning. This seems to be a recurring problem for me, looking back on things. Its definitely something for me to work on, I suppose.

This is what my week looked like:

Wednesday 7/28: 2.53 miles with the jogger
Friday 7/30: 4.04 miles with the jogger
Tuesday 8/3: 2.31 miles with the jogger

Total: 8.88 miles

I think my goal for this week is not so much the mileage, but making a point to consistently get out and run every day (even if its just 1.5 miles or so). I'll let you all know how it goes!

I'm also thinking about taking some of your suggestions to heart and incorporating some cross training into the mix. I've heard some good things about the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I'm thinking about ordering it. Any thoughts?

Wednesday Workout Update!

The motivation just isn't there. My runs don't seem to be getting any easier and that makes it really hard to get myself up and out there running more than a few times a week. Add that to the fact that this baby refuses to sleep more than a few hours at a time lately and well, you've got a tired mama!

I always feel accomplished after I finish my run, but I may have hit a low this week. Saturday I was out early with AJ in the jogger and someone passed me. Yep. He was running with a jogging stroller as well so its not like I could even tell myself that it was okay. Granted, it happened at about 2.5 miles into my 3 mile run (about the point that I really wonder if I'm going to finish or die), but it still made me feel like crap!

I do have to add here that my run yesterday went really well. I felt good, I ran a good pace (even with the jogger) and it may have rejuvenated me for the rest of the week. I really needed a good run, so thank goodness I dragged myself out yesterday!

With that being said, here's how my week looked:

7/22 Thursday: 3.03 miles with jogger
7/23 Friday: Walked 1.12 miles with stroller
7/24 Saturday: 3.03 miles with jogger
7/27 Tuesday: 2.54 miles with jogger

Total: 9.68 miles

I'm really going to try and get out there running more often this week. I think it will hurt at first, but eventually make a difference in how my runs feel. Wish me luck!

Day 1 Completed

I meant to get on last night and let you all know that I started my exercise regime yesterday. I went to the gym here on post and plodded ran on the treadmill. I ran about 2.5 miles. It wasn't pretty. I walked some (I didn't count the walking in my mileage, in case you were wondering). I just had to keep reminding myself that if I keep it up, it will get easier. I also weighed myself, which I think was probably the scariest and ugliest part of the trip. Ugh.

Today is day 2, so by default, it shouldn't be quite as bad as day 1, right?!

On a side note. The movers still aren't here. We were assured that they would be here today and that they would call us in the morning to let us know when to expect them. Well, the clock is ticking and the morning is slowly slipping away. Its 1028. I'm guessing that we would be wise to not expect them today. GRR. I was really hoping to have furniture and not have to sleep on an air mattress for another night. We have officially been "camping" in our own house for 7 nights. I just don't understand what could be taking them so long to get here. You had better believe that when the survey comes and its time for us to rate these people they should run and hide. I'm not going to sugar coat it.

The same exact thing happened to us this move with the packers. The company said that based on our inventory, our house would take 2 days to pack. We told them that we didn't have 2 days, so they said that the packers would be allowed to take overtime that day to get it all finished. Well, the packers took advantage of that and literally took 4 hours to pack one room in our house. It wasn't even the kitchen. Needless to say, when the manager stopped by that afternoon to check on progress, he wasn't happy and yanked their overtime. The company sent out a crew of packers along with the loaders to finish the job the next day. Seriously though, I think the packers thought that they would milk the whole overtime thing and slack off. So annoying.

Now the movers know that they have until the 17th as the last possible day to deliver our HHG without penalty. I'm thinking that they're just taking advantage of this as well. Sure, if something happened along the way that held them up or whatever, I understand. That is why they add the cushion in the delivery guarantee. However, we have called them numerous times, both the driver and the dispatchers and never got in touch with them nor did they ever call back. That is completely unacceptable, and unprofessional and you had better bet the Army will hear about it from me.

Ok. Rant over. Have a happy Tuesday everyone!

I'm Motivated!

I'm super motivated as of late to start working out and more specifically, start running again! I have been a total blob since AJ was born and honestly, I think I deserved it. Now though, its time to get serious! I'm ready to lose the baby weight and get my skinny belly back. Not to mention the plans I have to run a half marathon in November. Eek. Saying that reminds me how much work I have to do. I can't just start training for that. I have to get in shape first, then start the training.

I've done it before. I went from out of shape to half marathoner in a few months back in 2007, but that was a little different. I wasn't fresh from a C-Section and I was also 3 years younger! Pregnancy aged me a bit, I'm afraid. But honestly, I'm having visions of myself in cute workout clothes, buff (but not in a yucky way) and feeling good about myself again. I'm envisioning a fitness guru. Okay. Maybe that isn't going to happen, but I would like to establish a healthier lifestyle for D and myself. I mean, how are we going to teach AJ and future children the importance of staying fit and healthy when we are sedentary?

Obviously, we didn't do a great job teaching our first "child" good habits since Abby is about the laziest dog I've ever seen. I swear, she would sleep 24 hours a day if I didn't make her go outside to potty. I blame myself, but more importantly, I vow to break the cycle. AJ will have good role models for parents.

Helping my cause is not only the impeding half marathon in the early winter (I guess its technically late fall), but a conversation I had with a friend over a lunch of gyros and fries (don't judge, my lifestyle change hadn't started yet) last week. She is running the Disney Princess half marathon in Disney World in February. AJ and I are planning on being in Florida for the month of February. Do you see where I'm going with this? I'm going to sign up for it!

I can see myself becoming a runner (again)! I'm so excited for both of these races that I really think I'm going to stick with it. I really tend to be a lot better about working out and making time for it when I have already committed to something, like signing up for a race.

My next move is to register for both of these races. Then I'll be forced to do it. I'll be locked in. This is it.

I can't wait to be healthy again and take my family with me!