3 Thing Thursday - Racing Wild Edition

Ah, back to my favorite day to post!  Sorry I have been so quite lately, or your welcome, either way I will be back into a better routine soon. Next weekend is my first BIG craft fair, and I have been using all of my free time to prepare for it. It scares and excites me at the same time. Lots of awesome people will be there, and I don't want to look like a chump next to them! But if you are in the area, come check out the Country Chicks Spring Thyme show May 4-5 in Littlerock, WA! Ok, onto my 3 things.

1. I will be doing my first relay this summer, and I am SOOOOOO excited! No, it's not Hood to Coast, but it might be the next best thing, Spokane to Sandpoint! I was born in Spokane, and LOVE it there, so I am pumped to be running through my true hometown. Add to that, being in a van for two days with smelly friends, what could be better? Luckily I have till mid-August (17-18th) to get my butt into relay shape. Although this is WAY more about having fun than time, I don't want anyone (including me) to die while trying to complete their legs. Stacie and her husband will be joining Jesse and I, which I think is awesome, and our team is already up to 9 of the 12 people. So, 3 spots still left, just sayin!



2. Jesse and I have also recently secured our spots in a few other races; ChelanMan and  Run For Your Lives. Two more firsts for me. My first time doing ChelanMan, it will be Jesse's 5th?, and my first adventure race. I will be doing the Try a Tri distance, since it has less swimming for my shoulder. Really nervous but, again, excited! And who doesn't want to run through obstacles while being chased by zombies? Plus, it is being held in my little hometown of Onalaska! Awesome!



3. So here is a recap of our summer schedule...

June 23rd- Rock n Roll Seattle Half
July 15th- Cheese Days Toledo 5k
July 22nd- Chelan Man Sprint Tri
Aug 4th- Run For Your Lives
Aug 11th- Logger's Jubilee 10k
Aug 17th-18th- Spokane to Sandpoint Relay

I am still looking for a 5-10k to do before Rock n Roll, so if you have any suggestions...

How is your summer schedule shaping up?

New Directions

Sorry Gleeks, this has nothing to do with 30 yr old singing high schoolers (which i love btw), but everything to do with my focus for the RnR half. Let's face it, I can't get ready in time to run any kind of a real race and this will probably be the only half I'll run, so that means it is time to let go of sub 2:30 dreams and make this a full blown FUN race. Just me and the hubs for 13.1 miles, enjoying the scenery, cheering on others, running when we feel like it!

I am no full, or even half, marathoner. This a wham-bam, thank you mam kinda girl (that IS what she said), which translates to 5 & 10ks and sprint triathlons! And I am ok with that. I hope you are too. I may be short a few badges of running honor, like lost toenails, peeing my pants, and 20 milers, but I AM still an athlete! Ok, that will be all for today.

PS I got zumba for the wii, and I'm very excited to try it out! I have really missed the Zumba classes I was taking and need that fun weight loss help!

I've got the runs!

I am happy to say my first crafting event is over and life is sort of returning to normal. Of course, I only have a month till my big craft show, so I'm sure things will crazy up in no time, but for the moment I can breathe. Which means I need to find other ways to take my breath away, so hello running!
Last night when I got on the mill, I was afraid that my week off would have taken its toll. Feeling blah and still a lil rundown, I took some shot bloks (pathetic for a 30 min run, I know!) and queued up some Biggest Loser for extra motivation and got to work.

My plan for this week was to do 4 run/ 2 walk. I didn't know if I could hack it, but I think my shirt helped!

I am happy to say that with all my powers combined I was able to do it, even finishing with a 6 min stretch of running! 30 min run and 5 min warmup got me a little over 2 miles. Still have a ways to go on the speed thing, but that will come. My only fail of the night was wearing shorts for the run, which resulted in my first chub rub of the upper thigh area and first mid run wardrobe change! This lovely chafing has made me sad, but it is also motivating! I will wear shorts again!

Spaz!

That's me at the pool! A complete spaz! Somehow, when you are swimming along, not caring about form, you think you are doing just fine. Then, you try to do it right, and suddenly everyone in the pool is afraid you are going to drown.

Ok, back story. Due to track meets, we haven't been able to get back to pool since that first time, so this session was still working on the basics. I still don't how to breathe under water/ out of water. When I was breathing out, the bubbles went up my nose and it felt all funny! Jesse then had me work on kicking and breathing, and then putting it all together. I looked like a drowning cat, so of course a super awesome swimmer chick had to come along and ask to share the lane. First, she suggested we circle. I laughed, and assured her she would want to split the lane, lapping me that many times would get tiring! By the end, it was better, almost a real stroke, but I have got work to do!

My after swim run went well. Popped the blister on the bottom of my foot. I know, I need running shoes for the water!

Then I attempted some deep water running. Question; when you run in the deep end, do wear one of those floating belts? I just tried to move enough to keep my head out of water, but I think it is not the best for my form!

In unrelated news, I am super excited for tonight. It is Hunger Games time! I heard it won't disappoint! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Three Things Thursday!

Ah, my favorite day to post. Suddenly, my creativity can take a break and there is nothing more to do but fill in the blanks!
1. Usually, Thursday is a slightly stressful morning because Brady has gymnastics. It is supposed to be the Tumble Tots class with parent participation, but there are still lots of skill drills and turn taking. Originally,  I thought it would be good for Brady to learn to take turns and listen to directions, but apparently a mostly non-verbal autistic child has other ideas. Just getting him through the stretching is difficult. He doesn't notice the other kids, or care about them, so getting him to follow the leader is a real challenge. Still, we would make it past the first part and then he had such a ball jumping in the foam pits, it made it all worth it.

Today, was a pure disaster. Peyton had no school, so he was going to join us, which is usually fine, but today there were a ton of new kids, so no room for Peyton. Daycare was full, which meant both he and Riley HAD to stay with me. Three kids in gymnastics! Couldn't be done. Of course, both boys were really disappointed and a slew of crying and kicking ensued while I tried to extricate them both, plus Riley, from the room and to the car. I felt horrible! I know autistic kids have a had time dealing with change in the schedule, especially when it is something they look forward to all week. Never have I felt so much like crying and screaming in public before. Luckily, my sister helped me get them to the car, we all calmed down, and I let Peyton pick something else fun to do (which meant we headed to Olympia to go to the big McDonald's!) Glad the morning is over!

2. I had two great workouts yesterday! In the morning it was the 30 min circuit at the gym. I was a little pressed for time, but made it through them all and even started going deeper into the squats and other similar motions, really trying to push my knees. The pain was there, but I survived, and hopefully soon my knees will be stronger.

3. My second workout was a run. Yep, still running! I did another 3 min/ 2 min split and made it the whole run (30 min.) Seems a bit sad, but slow and steady wins some races right?  I can't decide whether to go 4 min run/ 2 min walk next or 3 min run/ 1 min walk. Opinions?

Alright, have a great Thursday!

Screw it!

Even though my blogging has been sporadic at best, I have been getting to the gym and on the mill slightly more than sporadically. I've been a good girl, took it slow, did lots of ellipticaling, and still my knees hurt daily! So I'm done, screw it, it's time to just kick it up a notch. That half mary is not going to run itself, and neither will I if my legs don't start moving faster soon! I am going to chalk it up to bad joints like my shoulders and just hope they don't completely give out. Solid plan I think!
So, my inaugural run was Monday night, and I still started slow ( I am super out of shape) and did 3 min running/ 2 min walking for 30 min. It was a little tough, a good Whitney helped me out, but despite a little pain I felt great! Now I am like a really fast snail! Tonight I'll go again and let biggest loser be my distraction. The girls are getting close to my weight, which is my cue to put down the cookie and get losing!

Thanks for all the support during my lazy blogging. Hope you are all doing fan- freakin- tastic!

Here is a pic of Riles to keep you all happy!

I Can't Breath!

Saturday, I finally did something that was a long time coming for a girl who wants to do triathlons. I got in the pool! This was something I only did once before my one and only tri. It struck me that if I want to do better than a certain someone at Chelan Man, I better improve my stroke.

Since Jesse is a Master swimmer now (ok since he swims with the masters) he helped me out in the pool. Task number one was to get me to put my head under water. I tend to feel claustrophobic if I can't easily get air or see a way out. The impaired vision and lack of breathable moments makes swimming a deadly combo for me. Anyone else have this problem? I practiced breathing out under water just like the little kids next to us, and I was finally given the go ahead to swim!

Task two was figuring out what stroke to do. My bad wing makes it hard to do freestyle, and even when he had me play around with a modified stroke, it still hurt too much. So, on to plan B, breaststroke. Now I have to work on perfecting this stroke, but it is easier for me to breath this way, which will hopefully encourage me to get in the pool more. I know with this stroke, I will never be the fastest swimmer, but since my life will mostly consist of sprints, I should only lose a few minutes at most. And if I can get really good at it, maybe less.

Now our Saturday plan is to hit the pool, help me, then while Jesse swims with the Masters, I do some water running. I did the running Saturday, too, and it felt great to go faster than a walk, but my feet were getting beat up by the bottom of the pool. Has anyone done a lot of pool running? Did you wear those water shoes? I may need to invest.

Have a Great Day!