The Trial of Miles and Miles of Trials

Today was a good run.

2012-02-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

I love how runs can ebb and flow. Crappy one now good one in 3 weeks. Here is what I have been upto for the last few weeks:

Today I ran a good 20 miler, well except for the whole peeing blood, yea it was a great run. 20 @8:44.
Friday - 10 miles of hills
Tuesday - 10 miles
Sunday 2/5- 7 miles
2/4 - 12 miles (I just didn't want to run 16 so there!)

16
10
17
6
18
19
10
20
11
21
4
22

23
5
24
6
25
3
26
1
27
20
28
6
29

6
30
31
4
01
11
02
4
03
12
04
7
05

06
10
07
08
09
10
10
20
11

And here is a week by week look:

28
34
26
35
26
36
19
37
33
38
20
39
28
40
19
41
28
42
6
43
15
44
15
45
18
46
22
47
25
48
39
49
6
50
21
51
16
52
3
53
5
1
35
2
21
3
40
4
41
5
44
6
40
Feb 06 — Feb 1202/07: Ran 4 mi02/07: Ran 6.01 mi02/10: Ran 10 mi02/11: Ran 20 mi

7

Step away from the vodka...

2012-01-31T12:35:00.000-08:00

I need to make a shirt that says...

Quick Mom needs her Vodka and Kettle Chips to calm her down!

(BTW, I love vodka! especially absolut)

Today was one of those days where I was trying to get work done and well, the kids are fighting. Most likely because they just want my attention. I thought working from home meant you get to play with your kids more? Boy was I wrong.

Well Saturday I did get my 20 miler. My husband gave me a great piece of advice, "In a month, you won't remember how horrible this run was but you will reap the benefits of it in a month. Just get it done." I held onto that as mile 18 turned to a 9: 22 pace and mile 19 was a sad 9:45. Having said that it was 20 miles at 8:55 pace, not fast but not bad since I have not been longing long runs lately.

Sunday I jogged out a 6.44 miler with 3 of them with a friend chatting. Yesterday I enjoyed a 3 miler with two friends and my two boys in the stroller and then a short 3 miler of negative splits with another friend.

I notice that I run with my friends, a lot. I like to run with them, it's a great way to catch up on how they are doing and long my miles at the same time. That being said, I also enjoy solo runs once in a while. What about you do you like to run solo or run with friends?

On the work front, check out the cute new hair-do's I've come up with.

A squirrel with a gun and miles, what could go wrong?

2012-01-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

Look at how cute he is. That's what he wants you to think. Do not go pet him. If you see Grover on your run, take a detour. He's vicious!

My new dress from Goodwill $3.49 and I paired it with a polka dot top that a friend gave me for free. Paired with a green polka dot ribbon and one of my many hair bows.

I know the slippers make this outfit. Once again ignore the messy room of my girls. Top was $2.49 at Goodwill and same polka dot ribbon and this time a black hair bow.

A letter my daughter wrote to Marvel. She wants to work for Marvel, like right now. She's seven so said she would wait until she was a little older, if she had to.

Yes we like books in our house. This is one of the two bookshelves in the boys room.

Running, yet still running. Working, running, cleaning, working, running, dang it still cleaning. Managed 40 miles last week and should get 40 this week. Still slow and my ankle still hurts but I don't want to spend the $75 to have it looked at.

Being a mom inventor and self employed.

2012-01-18T09:57:00.000-08:00

So I invented a product called Hair Thingz. Most of my free time is working on that.

Back to the training part. I did get a 10 mile run in last night. It was cold, I had chest pains (from a cough I have had for the last week), a sinus infection, and a desire to stop after 7 miles. I pushed through and finished it. It may not have been pretty but it was done.

1-8:30

2-8:42

3-8:43

4-8:40

5-8:45

6-8:59

7-9:14

8-8:49

9-9:17

10-9:10

Art, art, I cry for more art!

2012-01-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

Today was a late start day at school. I took advantage of this free time to paint. Here are the girls painting.

Here is something I painted really quickly. It took maybe 20 minutes, if that. The finished piece has a sad purple owl the girls wanted on it. It was fun to paint again, makes me want to pick up the brush again.

Here is a Denim and Frills skirt I picked up for $2.99 and greyish top at D&F for $2.59. Teal tank from Target. Like my little Avery modeling?

Close up of the cute boots I found at Goodwill yesterday for $6.99.

A necklace one of my daughters bought me for Christmas.

I managed to get a 6 miler on Saturday. Then ran 7.75 miles yesterday because it was sunny.

Peacock!

2012-01-05T15:55:00.000-08:00

Check out this cool necklace I managed to get as a free gift when I purchased my red dress at Charlotte Russe store.

It was the perfect match to a dress I found at Goodwill last week for $3.49. I paired it with a tank and black leggings. Cuteness!

I managed my run last night. Eight miles at 8:54 pace. I was supposed to run 8 at 9:10 pace so that was close enough. Ran with my good friend Ed, he pops into town about once a month and we run and catch up on what the kids have been up to. It's an on going joke in our house that Ed is one of my many running boyfriends. It's great to have such a solid marriage you can joke about such things. I think one of the reasons that is the case is because I take such good care of my husband and he in returns takes such good care of me. So do you take care of your spouse?

Another cute outfit...

2012-01-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Goodwill black silk shirt $3.99, Goodwill polka dot dress $2.99. Going for 8 miles tonight on a run. Making grilled chicken and tortellini con pesto with broccoli for the family for dinner. That's is.

I set my bike back up on a trainer. I have only used it once this week. Must remedy that on Friday.

Getting it up...

2012-01-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

my miles that it. I'm ramping my miles back up and am getting my grove back on. Tuesday's will be my only night to run once Aric is better so it will be my track/speed work. Tonight I would not say it was speed work as I have lost the very little speed I gained. I concentrated on negative splits.

1 mile warm up -9:42
2-8:03
1/4 mile jog 2:26
3-7:52
1/4 mile jog 2:36
4-7:48
1/4 mile jog 2:39
5-7:46
1/4 mile jog 2:05
cool down 6-8:16 this last mile was really easy because a few new friends were at the track and we chatted so the last mile felt like a breeze. Funny how running with someone can make a run so much easier.

My dinner tonight. Carrots, Broccoli, red cabbage, peach, blueberry, and banana.

Served in one of my favorite glasses.

It's a new year.

2012-01-02T13:57:00.000-08:00

The ankle has been bugging me on my runs making me take December easy and not logging many miles. Total of 79 miles for the month. Here is what my 2011 looked like for miles.

73
Jan '11
63
Feb '11
137
Mar '11
131
Apr '11
111
May '11
110
Jun '11
168
Jul '11
108
Aug '11
108
Sep '11
84
Oct '11
92
Nov '11
79
Dec '11
11
Jan '12

Now onto the fashion and family life part.

My mother and I purchased tickets to the Nutcracker put on by the Oregon Ballet Company. I love this perticular ballet and enjoy taking my girls to watch. The choreography was wonderful, costumes were stunning, but one part of the 'dance of the snowflakes' was a let down as each ballerina had on different colored panties, it was tacky. It would have been cute if they all had red and green maybe but to have zebra print was tacky. Other than that it was lovely. I will be taking my mother to another production later in the year. We love it. Here is the dress that Lexi helped me shop for. $15 and I had the earrings and necklace that I purchased earlier in the year for $4.59 and $2.59 respectively. Cute I think, I did not wear those socks with it. :) Ingnore the very messy girls room as I pick my battles with them. They do clean it two times a day and mess it up within three seconds.

Saturday I went on a short 3 mile run with my friend Christina and Marty. After the short and slow run (8:20 pace) we stopped at Starbucks and BS'd for a good half hour talking about everything from Archer (funny freaking weird show) to what new job Christina is searching for. We had fun.

After the run, I came home to grab the kids and we headed to Powell's Bookstore (my favorite book store that is an ENTIRE city block and 3 stories high). My sister went with us and the kids picked out their Christmas book from Auntie Peggy Ann (thank you). We quickly looked through the running section and found my friends book. Run with me, in which I will be doing a book review this month on Run Oregon about it.

We stayed out of the house for awhile so Aric could record vocals. So off to Goodwill and I found this shirt/dress for $3.49.

Yesterday, Sunday January 1st, I ran in the morning with my friend Christina and her husband Brian for a quick 4.54 miles, from their house to the track 1.27 miles (10:41 minutes) then two miles on the track (7:18 and 7:48, wow I've slowed down with this extra weight) then ran back to their house 1.27 miles (10:14) Total pace was average of 7:56 and felt too hard for those miles on the track but it was a great start to my training for this year. After that run I came home and walked with the kids to the park and we played for about an hour (including the walk there and back)

They didn't want to go, so they were blocking me from leaving, silly kids.

Then home and more fun and lunch. This is a typical lunch for me. I am eating more veggies and trying to eat less meat. Mostly for weight loss and control. Because the less I have to lug around on a run the faster my pace is. I think that is the healthy reason to lose weight. I was doing great down from 155lbs to 138lbs. However, with all the Christmas pudding and prime rib I was back up to 146lbs. Back on the watch what I eat (other than watching it go in my mouth).

For the new year I will be lugging Zander in the stroller more for runs on Wednesday and Thursday's for a few miles, where I hope he will fall asleep snug and warm. If he is not asleep it makes for fun conversations and a few stops to look at any life we see out on the run. I have to remind myself that it's more important to stop and smell the roses with him and not always be on the go. Not easy for my personality.

Here is part of our trail we will be on during the week. I have Vancouver BC Marathon to get ready for. I picked an aggressive program and hope to break 3:30. That's only an 8:00 minute pace. Should be doable. Laugh and run on, my friends.

The mall is like being in a half marathon.

2011-12-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to get their picture taken with Santa. Then one of my girls and I went to go find a dress for the nutcracker ballet we are attending tomorrow. While my hubby and three other children went to the pet store to get crickets for our frogs.

While we waited to see Santa we played the A,B,C game. We go around in a circle and have to name an animal (or whatever the category we are doing) that starts with that letter. It's more fun to play it when my husband joins he finds the most unique animal for his letter. For Q he said Quetzal Bird and for E he picked Echidna. I love being married to a walking dictionary.

I did manage a quick 3 miles yesterday in the sunshine, sure it was cold but so pretty. Today I am hoping for a run. We shall see.

At least I look cute if I can't run.

2011-12-12T18:46:00.000-08:00

In this outfit I went crazy and paid $6.99 for the shirt at Goodwill because I had the teal tank to put under it. Pink ribbon is from another shirt, leggings from FM $8.99, Black socks from FM $2.99, and black boots Target $15.99 (spendy for me) Hair in french twist with cute hair pin. (photo taken by one of my seven year olds.)

With my free grey sweater from a friend. (Thanks Christina)

My five year old was the photographer on this one.

My other seven year old took this one.

My three year old took this one.

No run today. My ankle is still swollen and hurts. Insert big old sad face here. Instead I spent the day at the school helping with the holiday's around the world in both of my girls class. Then I took the boys to grocery shop, had lunch with hubby and boys (this involved a few grapes and a few jo jo's because I was not hungry today). Back to the school to do more work for the 2nd grade cluster. Home to clean and cook a yummy chicken teriyaki dinner with lots of broccoli and grilled chicken. Now it's off to read books to the boys.

A twisted ankle is gonna make me fat!

2011-12-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

I did manage to get out for a run on Saturday, however, my ankle hurt the whole 5 miles. Oh well, at least I was able to chat with a few friends so the run was a success.

Boots, skirt, and top all from Goodwill, thank Target and leggings FM. Love this outfit.

My friend's set up at Crafty Wonderland. Love her stuff! Check her out here at Studio Acorn.

Today we went shopping for a new dress for the girls. My mom and I are taking them to the Oregon Nutcracker Ballet. This is one of my favorite skirts because it twirls. Top and skirt from Denim and Frills and new top from goodwill $2.99. Cute good tooth and dad tooth earrings and squirrel from a cute place at Crafty Wonderland.

Now to go ice my ankle because no running for me today. :(

2011-12-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

Shoes Goodwill $4.99, Skirt $3.49 Denim and Frills (it's a kids gap), Jacket free from my awesome friend Christina, Socks $2.99 Fred Meyer, Silver tights (Skirt Sports free from sample line), white long sleeve shirt $8.99 Kohl's, HairThingz in white and sparkle red.

Whenever I wear this outfit I get stopped all the time with complements and smiles.

Goodwill Sweater $6.99, tank under sweater $6.99 Target, Jeans $1 at denim and Frills (They are see thru soul jeans), Hat is from my favorite hat place Old Man's Pants,$34. I bought as a must have last year, fell in love with it not something I usually pay that much for but so happy I did. Great for bad hair days!

Goodwill dress $4.99, Brown leggings $8.00 Fred Meyer, Socks $2.99 Fred Meyer, Boots were from Target about 3 years ago (my favorite shoes ever), Lace brown turtle neck my mom gave me because she was bored with it so Free!

Don't mind the mess in the background it's my little girls' room. They have the only full length mirror in the house.

On the running front I managed a mile yesterday but my ankle hurt so I figure give it one more day. Tomorrow I hope to run a long run.

I'm still alive and running.

2011-12-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

I know it has been awhile since I have posted. I figure I am the only one reading this anyway so I don't feel bad about the delay. I have been busy running and sorta racing, raising my four crazy kids, finding time to spend with my husband, and help out at the school.

I did get to run this last weekend and get my miles back up to were I want them. I have signed up for two marathons next year and most likely will be doing a third if not 6th. I have two neat ladies from school that are going to run the Vancouver BC half marathon and I am going to run the full. This race isn't until May so it gives me ample time to get my miles up to 28 miles by April. Why 28 you ask me? Well when you train for a 5K you don't run 2 miles and hope to get the last mile just fine? Same for a half you run at least a 15 miler if you really want to PR. So why do people only run 20 or 22 miles before a marathon and expect to smash their PR? I don't get it. I believe that's why people hit a 'wall' at mile 20 or 22 because they are in uncharted territory with the final miles. I have my training mapped out for the next few months. Speed work on the track, hilly runs, easy runs, and longer runs. Lots of longer runs, some at race pace and some at slower depending on how my body feels.

My ankle after running back on it forabout 6 or more miles.

My ankle this morning. Still hurts but more upset that I can't run tonight than anything else.

So my new hobby is Goodwill and consignment shopping. I bought the above top at Goodwill for $2.99 and the jeans at my favorite consignment shop Denim and Frills for $1. Nope not a typo, got those See Thru Soul jeans for a dollar. Sweet huh?

This is a picture of me with a cool jacket a friend gave me. Free baby, free!

I thought it might be fun to post my outfits as I get comments while I'm out all the time. Today was a mellow outfit. You'll see. Just wait.

One on One time with my boys

2011-07-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

I was heading out for a run tonight (OK delaying it) and as a last minute thought I told my four year old to lace up his shoes. He jumped up and down ran to get his 'running shorts' on and put on his shoes. He did not want a shirt because daddy doesn't run with a shirt. So out the door we went and I had so much fun. We did .85 miles and he was chatting the whole time. I took lots of photos because well we had to stop for 'walk' breaks for him.

Then of coarse Zander, who is three, wanted to run. So he put on his running pants and ran naked like dad. He did 1/5 of a mile and said he was cold, lol.

With the boys 'runs' done it was time for me to get my run in. I just decided on 6 miles. I have lost so much speed that my legs do not know how to turn over any more. Tonight's run just makes me want to work harder again. It was a good run. Here are my sad splits (I let myself cool down for the last two miles)
1-8:48
2-8:38
3-7:56
4-8:04 (a jerk cut me off and I had to stop .03 from finishing this mile on a hill. I did not stop my watch but I'm calling this a 7:57, ok not really but I was on pace for it until the guy pulled in front of me.)
5-8:49 (started my cool down)
6-9:15

Vancouver USA Marathon

2011-07-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

Here I sit at my table drinking coffee and relishing being a marathon finisher. I do have a small confession to make, this is my second marathon in 16 days. I ran the Newport Marathon on June 4, under a friends bib (because she was injuried and couldn't run it. I couldn't let a free race entry go to waste). Courtesy Angela KeithShelly, Teresa, Angela, Sonya, Holly, Kris, Trisha ... the running sisters!

Since I had never run a marathon I was nervous, and wanted to make sure I could enjoy the inuagaural Vancouver USA Marathon on June 19th. I hoped that by running a pre-marathon marathon, I could ease my nerves. You know what? My plan worked. Sure I felt like an adulterer, cheating on my reliable hometown with that flashy Newport, but it meant nothing to me. I had so much stinking fun on June 19th!

My goal was to have a great time running with my friends, and Vancouver USA did not disappoint. Vancouver, you are my true love. I will run you every year from here on out. I can't wait to watch our relationship blossom each year. I can't wait to smash my time next year, too. So let's get to the down and dirty of the race, shall we?

Angela KeithThe 4:40 pacers for the 2011 Vancouver USA Marathon.

I had to wake up at 4:30am to make sure my hubby made it to the pacer area by 5:45am. After dropping him off I was off to Starbucks to meet up with my friends. Friends is not really the right word ... my running sisters, and our token running husband. We have a rule for any male who runs with us: he is the token husband and must be to blame for any mishaps along the run. Marty was kind enought to take on this role. Since he's a husband in real life, it was easy for him. He had a lot of abuse to take from us, since the day before he had run the Epic Oregon Relay as part of a team of ultra runners. So after 24 hours and 32 miles he was worn down and ready to run a li'l marathon with us.

We all lined up behind the 4:20 pace group, determined to just enjoy the race. Pace groups were courtesy of FitRight Northwest, who did a great job rounding up pace-leaders. After teasing the pace leaders (who are all kind enough to volunteer for this abuse) my running sisters Teresa, Kris, Laura, Sonya, Shelly, and I (and of course Marty) took off.

Courtesy Angela KeithAngela Keith and her running "sisters" (having a ball) in the first half of the 2011 Vancouver USA Marathon.

We had a great time chatting and taking turns jumping over cones. We giggled and laughed at every chance. It was the most fun I've had during a "race." I do believe between the seven of us we knew everyone on that course. Loved seeing Laura's dad and smiling for pictures at every chance, yelling "Hi, Dad" and having fun handing off to him anything we didn't want to carry anymore. When we didn't have Laura's dad we had Sonya's family or Kris' cheering section. I say "cheering section" but really it was a small town. They had the best energy and cheering I have ever witnessed. If you saw a wall of chalk cheering on Kris and her friends, you know what I mean. I loved that bright group of tie dye gals.

At about the 13-mile-mark my group was starting to slow a bit and I felt great so I pressed on. Marty, the ever dutiful "running husband", stuck with me. We chatted and I jumped a few more cones. At about mile 20 we hit the 'hill' on 5th. I have run this route so many times that I was ready to take the hill down! You might have heard me yell at the hill a few "Yeah! Take that you hill!" or "You're not so tough, Mr. hill!"

Then it was down the quad-killer (a small steep downhill before the railroad tracks) and we were home free. Marty stuck with me for a few more miles. We slowed a bit because he was getting light-headed (uh, you just ran 32 miles yesterday I guess you can be a little light-headed). After I saw the land bridge it was go time!

Courtesy Angela KeithThe running sisters kissing their 2011 Vancouver USA Marathon finishers medals ... the first in a collection that will grow every spring!

I love that land bridge and the views it provides. I charged on over it and this wonderful barefoot runner, Leif (Rustvold), that I had been playing tag with said to me, "Do you smell that? It's the barn." I knew that feeling and pressed on through the beautiful Fort Vancouver area up our last hill and onto Evergreen. This horse was ready for the barn, baby.

I heard the crowd and was so excited to see so many people cheering for the finishers. I love this city and am so happy that we get a marathon. I can't wait to run this with my kids some day. I do hope you will all support it next year because as with everything, it will only get better with age!

Laugh and run on, my friends!

summer run

2011-07-04T07:35:00.001-07:00

Man oh man, did you miss out on a stellar race! There were Cavemen (and cavewomen), a super

Angela KeithThe prehistoric family with some pretty modern lookin' shoes ...

Man oh man, did you miss out on a stellar race! There were Cavemen

family, a pirate, and a ballerina running in the Summer Solstice 3 and 6 miler last night. The costume contest started after 5 pm, before the actual race, with loud cheers from the crowd to determine the winners.

After the contest, Sherri, owner of Northwest Personal Training, gave the lowdown on the course. She thanked her volunteers, and got the crowd pumped before the race. With 15 minutes before 'go' time Sherri led everyone in fun warm-ups, and then we lined up according to pace and were off.

It was the usual quick start and I did my best to not get sucked up in the pace since I had only done one run since the Vancouver Marathon, and I was (am) not fully recovered from two marathons in 16 days. I tried to settle into a relaxed pace to wait for the hills to try to pick people off. That strategy works well for me because I'm pretty strong on the hills, and it seemed to work this time, too. I was able to move up a few places as people faded.

With three blocks to go I finally edged ahead of a girl I was chasing for over a mile. Around the block up the last push and dog-gone that girl pressed and we tied at the finish. That was fun. Humbling because she was 12, but fun because I can say, someday when she's world famous, that I tied with her.

Angela KeithSuperheroes ready to show off super speed ...

The only downer to the whole event? There were just not enough participants to enjoy such a fantastic race/party! The band was hot, the food was spectaular, and the volunteers were the best. In fact, I couldn't resist joining in the cheering after my race. I stood at an interection near the finish for an hour, and cheered everyone that passed. So mark your calendars for next year ... go ahead, I'll wait. Finished? Good. Now you will have to be there next year.

Laugh and run on, my friends!

2011 Vancouver Summer Solstice 6 mile full results
(Click on the race name to see full results)

Men's

1. David Sanders 40:30
2. Michael Burns 44:57
3. Brian West 46:48

Women's
1. Remy Maguire 43:11
2. Anne Anderson 44:49
3. Orpha White 46:48

2011 Vancouver Summer Solstice 3 mile full results
(Click on the race name to see full results)

Angela KeithAnd a very cute pirate!

On my where did Febuary and March go?

2011-03-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

I know where they went... to training. Here is what I have been doing for the last month.

Yesterday : What? run for Vancouver USA M... 3.7 mi 08:22 pace

Fun run with 100 other people training for the Vancouver Marathon. Ran first mile with a friend at 9:36 next mile 7:59 (Damn big hill) next mile 7:53 (overpass hill) last .70 at 8:15 pace. Felt OK, weird things was when I was done I wasn't breathing hard. I did have to work a little for mile 2 and 3 but it felt good. Now to get more tempo runs in so I can get some speed back.

Tuesday March 22: Vancouver pacing 2.36 mi 07:52 pace and 30 mins swim in am (1200 yards)

2 lap warm up (7:53 pace felt easy and relaxed) Then I had to pace my people 300's --1:28-1:25-1:24-1:21-1:24-1:25-1:13 I told them if they ran it faster than 1:20 they didn't have to do 2 more 300's. :) They pushed, so proud. Then I did a cool down with one of the gals at 9:18 pace

Sunday March 20: great Recovery Easy Pace leading 12 mi 10:20 pace

Just Pacing in Vancouver today. I felt like I could have run 10 more miles my legs felt light and I really wanted to push the pace but my gals needed me to keep them going. I love this back to back long runs.

Saturday March 19: Portland Pacing 14 mi 02:10 09:16 pace

Perfect day for a run on Leif today. I pushed my gal who had 14 on her training plan. Everyone else in my group only had 9 miles so I made her push the last 5 miles with me. She did great! It felt really easy today. Can you please tell me why Leif is uphill both ways?? :)

Friday March 18 : 30 min swim

Thursday March 17: 30 min swim and 15-15-15 pull ups with 40lb assit

Wednesday March 16: Evening track was 1 mile (we just cheered on the group and did 1/2 mile warm up and cool down) However, during day I did..

day track for gflf 2.08 mi 00:16 07:37 pace

2 lap warm up

10 push ups

Run 100

20 jumping jacks

Run 100

30 Mt. Climbers

Run 100

40 squats

Run 100 Repeat and 2 lap cool down (I did 4 lap cool down) Cool down was 8:08 mile. Pretty easy and felt good. So happy to see my times come back down. I'm not a sprinter nor do I play one on tv. I can not sprint.

Before my day track I did this workout:

3 rounds of 1 min each

push ups

3way knees

plank

inchworm 8 ct.

crunches

then one round of

35knee raisers with 10lb ball between knees

35 dips

35 straight arm tri lifts

35 overhead arm press

Tuesday March 22: Fartleckish run 5.13 mi 00:39 07:34 pace

No track tonight but a few people still showed up. So I made them do a modified Fartleck. I made them warm up for 1/2 mile (10:30 was as fast as we went) Then we were on for 15 seconds I would give them 1 min rest of easy jog in which my group would jog back to the slower group. Then we would be on for 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 min. then a 15-30-45-1min again. We had to take a few longer breaks because of traffic so we could time the 'on' part to a non-stop light area. I was very happy with my 'on' pace. Everytime except the last 1min 'on' was sub 6min pace. My last 1 min 'on' pace was 6:20. I had to slow the inbetween jogs to catch up and keep my guys going. Must be the reason I hit such a good pace, I had a long recovery. All in all, I'm happy.

Sunday March 13:10 mile run

Sat March 12: 10 mile run

Wednesday March 9: 5 miles and morning weights

Tuesday March 8: 4.13 miles

Sunday March 6: 10 mile run

Saturday March5: 10 mile run

and so on and so forth....with a little swimming here and there and a sick kid or two or four. Trip to the hospital and such. You know the everyday stuff.

This weekend 16 miles on Sat and 14 miles on Sunday.

What? Recap

2011-03-24T15:58:00.000-07:00

Last night was the What? run for Vancouver USA Marathon. If you were not one of the 100 people there last night, I'm sorry. You missed out of free race entries like:Rum Run, Earth Day Run, Ft. Vancouver Race, 1/2 marathon at the Vancouver Marathon and, of coarse, the Full Marathon. You also missed gift cards to Foot Traffic and Fit Right NW. Oh and I finally got my I'm training for Vancouver USA Marathon tech shirt. Sweet!

We only have two more What? runs left.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - Tommy O's

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - The Rock Wood Fired Pizza

Don't miss out on some great giveaways and make some new friends. I'm glad I was able to go last night. I saw two friends I haven't seen in months and made a new friend. Laugh and run on, my friends!

Out, out, damn flu, out, out!

2011-02-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

My great training has been sidelined by Mr. Flu. He really is a jerk and never asked to come over to visit. I guess he was mad that we didn't invite him and decided to hit both my husband and I at the same time. Leaving us defenseless against our children and their devious plans.

I purchase three new cute bathing suits to wear for my swims and have yet to get to try them out this week. I did manage three runs and one workout in the House of Pain this past week which may have something to do with me being laid out on my back for the last three days. Oh well, you can't take the stubbornness out of the mule but you can make the mule sick and stay in bed.

All I see and think about is all the fitness I am losing while sick. How hard it is going to be to drop those 15lbs I want to lose to improve my times. How I am once again turning to food to cope rather than working out as my stress reliever. So I ask you, how do you cope with being sick? Especially when you workout twice a day, 6 days a week?

I'm in full training mode. How about you?

2011-01-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

I am in full training mode for the Vancouver Marathon. I'm also getting started on my training for an Ironman, crazy I know. I'm not sure I'm in my right mind to think that I can train for a Marathon let alone an Ironman with four small kids. Really do I have time to train? Here is what my last week looked like:

Monday-Rest day, also called clean the house because you let a lot slide during the week. Laundry is an all day event and I do at least one load a day during the rest of the week. Two parents who run and one who is obsessed with working out = a lot of laundry.

Tuesday- Get up at 5:00am drive to pool. Swim at 5:30 with my friend Brian (he's the one to blame for the Ironman idea) Get out of pool at 6:00am rush home to shower before hubby leaves for work at 6:18am. Tuesday Night pace lead Vancouver group in cold wet dark while the family is home eating a hot dinner I made for them. Typically I get 2-4 miles pacing. I do try to throw a few in for me at the end if I can.

My friend Brian who is to blame and thank for the Ironman support.

Wednesday-Pool again 5:30-6:00am. At night pace lead for Portland group with hubby (my mom is kind enough to come ~~watch~~ play with kids while we do this together) This means he arrives home at 4:50 we jump into his car and I drive while he eats dinner. Meet our coach and good friend to car pool to Duniway track. Get at least a mile warm up (if we don't hit traffic) and then pace lead and get another 2-4 miles of running in.

Thursday-Yep, pool again 5:30-6:00am. Thursday evening when all kids are in bed I jump on bike trainer for 30 mins (right now only 30 in Feb I will bump it up to one hour) while hubby does his school assignments.

Friday- Pool from 5:30-6:30am (hubby has Friday's off) Work in school for an hour. Rush home so hubby can run while I get boys ready to go to Ayden's speech class (it's working so well ) Then go get girls from school and if I'm luck a run or bike ride on trainer.

Saturday-Up at 5:30am (sometimes I get to sleep this late) Take kids to my mom's so hubby and I can pace lead in Portland. Right now I get 6 miles in.

Sunday-The relaxed slow day. I don't have to leave the house until 7:30am to pace lead in Vancouver. Another 4-6 miles right now. When weather is a little nicer I will bike to pace lead and back, hence killing two birds with one stone. Today I didn't get to pace lead because my mom has been very sick. So I pace lead yesterday and Aric did today. I did a solo run of 7 miles and feel really out of shape. It sucked. Didn't help that it was all hills, so at least I know I put some good hard miles in the bank. Aric was kind enough to make dinner so I could ride my trainer for 30mins tonight. What a good man!

My IT Band seems to be holding up just fine. I still take the butter knife to it and stretch it like crazy. I don't want to go back to no running. I want to add so much more to my training but I know I tend to do 'too' much. I would love to do CrossFit 4 times a week or even get back to House of Pain again. However, HofP is in evenings I can't take another night away from Aric. He is going to school full time while working full time. He only has limited time to do homework. So in 1 1/2 years I can be greedy again on evening workouts. Until then I make do with what I have and I'm happy with what I do have. Laugh and run on, my friends!

Running is more fun with friends!

2010-12-26T19:47:00.000-08:00

Sometimes running is just more fun with friends!

It might just be a chick thing but I really like running with friends more than solo training runs. I have different friends to run with based on what my training plan calls for.
Hill repeats=Ed.
Long runs at a steady quick pace=Laura
Recovery fun runs=Diana and Jami
Hard tempo runs=Stephanie
Push myself on a track workout=Dave
Fartleck run=Christina (also my coach, she can somehow make me run a 7 minute mile. I don't run 7 minute miles.)
A soothing pep talk run and quality time run=Aric (my hubby)

Training for and staying on track for the Vancouver Marathon=RunOregon peeps and my Get Fit Live Fit peeps (also co-sponsors for the Vancouver Marathon and have excellent training programs: I'm biased because I started running with them 2 1/2 years ago when I first started running) I have even talked a few of the Get Fit Live Fit Pacers into running the Vancouver Marathon with me. We call this blackmail. ;)

So if you don't have your own Dave, Stephanie, Laura, or Jami. Come down to the next What? free run or sign up with Get Fit Live Fit or Foot Traffic University to get your own personal support group.

More stats and info about the What? runs and Vancouver Marathon:

The next free What? run in on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at The Rock Wood Fired Pizza in Vancouver.

The run starts at 6pm, however, get there early because the first 10 people get a free "I'm Training for the Vancouver Marathon shirt. I never seem to get there before you guys (may have something to do with four kids under 6 years old or something?) to get my shirt.

If you haven't been to one of these free fun runs you are missing out. They always have lots of free give aways. Cool prizes like race entries.

Oh and I just found out that Bart Yasso will be attending the Vancouver Marathon Expo and will be announcing the race. This is no small marathon production. They will have Alberto Salazar, Lynn Jennings, and Bart Yasso speaking the day before the marathon. Laugh and run on, my friends!

This is what I want for Christmas...

2010-12-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

1. A fully healed IT Band so I can run farther than 4 miles.

2. To have a family run once a week with all kids.
3. A bag from BellaLise. This kind especially:

4. An aporn from BellaLise.

So go to http://bellalise.weebly.com/index.html and get me one. I guess you could get one for you, too.

Running is fun!

2010-12-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

That's right I said running is fun. Oh and it makes me happy, too. I've been back running for two weeks now. My husband say's I'm so much nicer and the kids are happy to be running, too. Today while the hubby ran his 5 miles, I took the kids on a walk/run. Alexis, Avery, and Alexander ran 1 mile. Ayden ran at least 1.25 miles if not more. He would run ahead and then run back, run ahead and then run back. When we turned around at the 1/2 mile mark he said he was not done. He declared he wanted more miles. The other kids clamored that they wanted at least 3 miles. I smiled and had to break their little hearts with a, sorry we only have time for 1 mile. Whoever thought I would have to argue with my kids that they can only run a mile today? When we arrived back at the car, Ayden demanded that he needed more miles. I relented with you can do hill repeats on that .10 hill while we wait for dad. That kids never stopped. Then when dad came back he ran another one just to show dad how fast he was. Cute.

(If you look in the distance you will see my oldest three way ahead of the baby)

I'm spoiled. My mom plays with the kids while I run or get my workouts in. My husband and I have arranged our whole schedule so I can pace lead in Portland on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. Vancouver on Tuesday nights and Sunday mornings. How spoiled am I? So when asked what I want for Christmas all I can say is... to run with my family. That's all I need and want. I'm very blessed. My kids beg me to have one more minute reading. Or they beg me to go workout with me. Or they beg hubby and I to run with us. Yep I have a rough life. NOT!

Crappy month!

2010-11-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

This month has been hard. My Uncle Bill passed away. That has been hard to come to terms with. On top of that Saturday at 1am our dear friend Ken passed away. Aric just had band practice with him on Friday night. Training has been few this month. Because of my IT band, the girls school (I help out Monday's and Friday's on top of Teaching Art Adventure for two classes), kids getting sick, me getting sick, my uncle passing, and now our friend. I am more motivated to workout, to stay healthy for my husband and kids. Now to get healthy so I can workout. ")

This is what my husband wrote about our friend passing away. I think it's well put. He had a hard time writing it and was crying while writing. My hubby has a big heart.

Ken Giere was a fantastic musician. I met him in February of this year, when I replied to a Craigslist posting for a bass player. I was looking for a new band, and they were looking for a new bass player. I called the number listed in the ad, and the voice at the other end was friendly, honest, and knowledgeable. Ken and I spoke for the better part of an hour that first day, and I was really excited about the prospect of auditioning his band.

It was several weeks before an audition time was available, and I drove to the location with the map he sent me. It was thorough and accurate, by the way, which was a good thing because the house was well out of town in the hills. I grabbed my gear and headed into the practice room to find a big, affable fellow parked behind the keyboard. That’s probably how I’ll always remember him. He always sat in the same spot, the same way, every rehearsal. Like a tired St. Bernard on his favorite warm rug, he looked very comfortable there. That’s where he wanted to be. He belonged there.

When we began playing, I was hooked by his style and his taste. He and I spent the better part of that evening, and so many evenings since, testing each other’s musical chops. He would play the intro to a song, looking slyly at me with his eyebrow raised. Without a hitch, I’d sing the first line of “I’ve seen that Movie, Too.” A smile would spread across his face and we’d jam through most of the song, exuberant that someone else shared our obscure musical predilections.

It wasn’t just music. There was a real kinship in the band, and with our families and friends. He was loved for who he was, his personality, his wise-cracks, his kindness. And his cooking! That man could whip up a mean Mexican food feast. I’ve never been in a band that had such a family feel, and so much of that was his presence.

And so it was for the rest of our time together in Hot Audio. Every rehearsal, he’d say “what about…” and the next several minutes would be a trip through musical nostalgia where we’d get to impress each other. It made him happy. It made me happy. In fact, just this past Friday night, that’s how things went. It was a happy evening, and I waved goodbye to Ken Giere for the last time.

Sometime that night, around 1:00AM I’m told, Ken suffered a massive heart attack in his sleep and died. That great smile, that whip-smart sense of humor, all that kindness and talent; all of it ended there that night. At least, in the corporeal sense it ended. The memory of those things is so fresh in so many of his friends and his family, in me, that I can’t really say it will ever truly end. Nor will the loss that we feel ever truly end.

Goodbye, Ken. Making music without you will be bitter in your absence, but sweet in your memory.

Aric's Grandma who left us to be in heaven this year.

My Uncle Bill.

Sleeping is hard to do... but not eating

2010-10-08T23:26:00.000-07:00

Aric is gone this weekend in Tulsa, teaching. Which means I don't cook (read we eat like crap) and I don't sleep (less than usual)
Tonight to keep myself awake I went on a reading rampage. What made me say, 'what the ??' is when people write about how to eat healthy for inexpensive. Really? Can you feed six very active people for less than $1000 a month? Not with the crazy recipes I see them display for 'cheap' healthy foods. Salmon and asparagus. For six would cost me a weeks worth of dinners. I on the other hand make things like:

Black eye peas and rice with turkey bacon. Green peas for veggies.
Bag of black eye peas $1.19
Rice $1.54 (for whole bag we use about .42 worth)
Turkey bacon $1.89
Onion $.35
Peas $.50

A dinner and two lunches worth for $4.35

Now that's a low fat, high fiber, healthy inexpensive meal!

(I love to eat salads and throw whatever is in the fridge into it)

Homemade cheesy broccoli soup

Extra Sharp cheddar $2.99
Ramono cheese $.50
Onion $.45
Veggie stock $1.25
Broccoli $2.69
Butter $.35
Flour $.02

Price $8.25. Whole broccoli used. Healthy inexpensive meal! Again one dinner and two lunches. It makes a large amount, but the kids eat so much of it I have to make such a big batch.

I have so many recipes that I like to make to keep the prices down. They might not be fancy but they taste good and are good for you. I feed my whole family for about $800 a month. We do not eat out but maybe a lunch a month. It's usually a treat like taco bell, junkie and a cheap treat. Every once in a blue moon we eat at Izzy's, because the kids like it for some reason.

So what do you cook? What's your favorite meal?

Last night's fun

2010-10-08T14:13:00.001-07:00

21 -60lb lat pulls
21-push ups
21-8lbs flies
21-15lb upright rows each arm
21-Thurster squats with 15lbs each hand
15 -70lb lat pulls
15-push ups
15-8lbs flies
15-20lb upright rows each arm
15-Thurster squats with 20lbs each hand\
9 -80lb lat pulls
9-push ups
9-8lbs flies
9-25lb upright rows each arm
9-Thurster squats with 25lbs each hand
9 -80lb lat pulls
9-push ups
9-8lbs flies
9-25lb upright rows each arm
9-Thurster squats with 25lbs each hand\
15 -70lb lat pulls
15-push ups
15-8lbs flies
15-20lb upright rows each arm
15-Thurster squats with 20lbs each hand\
21 -60lb lat pulls
21-push ups
21-8lbs flies
21-15lb upright rows each arm
21-Thurster squats with 15lbs each hand

Then we did plank for 1 min followed by 1 min of sit-ups (25 for me)
then plank 1 min and 1 min sit-ups (20 for me)
then plank 1 min and 1 min sit-ups (20 for me)
then plank 1 min and 1 min sit-ups (19 for me)
then plank 1 min and 1 min sit-ups (20 for me)

I'm a junkie...

2010-10-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

a workout junkie, that is. I was an idiot and ramped my miles up too quickly and now am paying the pied pipper. My IT band hurts. OK, not hurts as in oh ouch I stubbed my toe. No it brings me to my knees. My wonderful husband has been rolling, rubbing, and just beating the crap out of my IT for me, yet to no avail. It still hurts. Today I was able to do a whole mile and a half of running before it screamed at me to stop. So what to do? I'm feeling my fitness slip away. I can kiss my PR that I was going to run at the girlfriends half marathon on October 17th good-bye. I won't be able to run 8:15's for the half. Now I'm not sure I'll even be able to run it at all.

I guess when you can't do what you love, you find alternatives to get your fix. I will be cross-training doing swimming, spinning, and cross-fit. It's easy to get a run in when you have kids, it's hard to get the time to cross-train when you have kids. I will just have to be creative I guess. Maybe call in a few favors and begging of my mom and sister in law. What do you do when you can't run?

2010-09-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

What? Already another fun run with the Vancouver Marathon peeps?

When: Tuesday September 21 at 6pm

Where: Vancouver Hilton

Why: Seriously that's just a silly question. Because it's fun. Free prizes. Free race entries. Free fun!

I personally am going to be one of the first 10 people to show up so I can get the "I'm training for the Vancouver Marathon" shirt. For FREE! Yeah, baby. Mama likes free. It's within my budget. See you guys there tonight. Laugh and run on, my friends!

Warrior Dash...great now I have a rash.

2010-09-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I journeyed with four friends (one of whom was our own personal photographer) to North Plains for the Warrior Dash. My day started off like any other. Get up before kids, make coupious amounts of food for the kids, feed kids, clean kids, and then dress the kids. A process I have down to a 30 min science. A non-stop 30 minutes of go, go, go. Because if you don't hussle there is going to be blood and it's usually mine. :)
After the battle at home was won, I kissed the hubby and reminded him why he loves me as I dashed out the door to meet my friends. The five of us carpooled to the race. Which was wise because it was a good 1/2 mile warm up to get to the registation table.

(photo courtsey of Quisa Morrow)

This is Dave and I checking in.

Once we all checked in, it may or may not have been a race between my good friend Dave and I as to who could get the chip onto their shoe the fastest. A little caveat about my friend Dave and I is that we rib each other in every workout or run we do. We encourage each other but also push each other. Some days he stomps me (always in workouts) and some day's I stomp him (Warning! Caveat coming. Sometimes on our runs because if I hear him behind me I can bust out a pretty quick pace just so I can rib him about it until he beats me) So to say that we are a little competitive with each other would be the understatment of the year.

So here we are all bibbed (is that even a word?) up and ready to race.

I think one of my favorite parts of this race was the people. I love to people watch and let me tell you Warrior Dash is like people watching on steroids. I mean check out some of the people we saw in our little time frame.

Who doesn't love the TMNT?

Or these guys in suits. Sweet!

So after some great people watching we watched our friends take off in the 10:30 wave. Then my friend Dave and I talked and jumped into our chute and chatted away until it was 11:00 and we were released. It was everything I read about in Joe's post about the down hill start. My friend and I must have passed at least 30 people on that trail going down. Then it was all up hill from there baby. I mean UP HILL. I may have cursed my coach while going up the hills because just the day before we did stair repeats. Three miles of Stair repeats. Oh, my quads my poor quads. But you know it was great to see all the costumes as I passed them. You know the saying, "It's all fun and games until someone gets dunked in the log rolls." What? Never heard that saying? Well it should be a rule. They said the log roll water was only waist deep, yeah maybe if you are 6' 5". Dude, this 5' 6" chick did not have waist deep water. The nice part was that people behind you helped roll the log over, to get you on the other side. I like to think it was all about the men behind me being gentlemen and helping a lady. No. It was not. As soon as I finished all the logs and was trying to ~~climb~~ claw my way to up the muddy bank I was ~~knocked~~ pushed over no less than four times. Yeah, thanks guys. Then again I might have been giggling like a little school girl once I was passing those same guys on the trail a minute later. What? You would have done the same thing.

At this point I could do a blow by blow of the course and how hilly the thing was but you already recieved that information from Joe's post. However, I want you to realize how much fun it is to run with friends. I was on the last hill about to do the last two obstacles when I slowed to a walk to look for my friend Dave. He was behind me at the halfway mark, yelling at me to hurry up and pass that guy in front of me. So I thought he was still close behind. At this point I knew I had the fire logs and mud pit left, and I wanted to finish it with my friend. So I walked. I walked really slow, heck I even walked backwards up the hill thinking he must just be a few seconds behind me. I waiting for what seemed like 7 mins (it was probly more like 4 minutes) waiting for my friend. He still wasn't there by the time I was at the top of the hill so I decided I would just have to finish without him. (Although, I did tell him I had enough time to take a nap and eat lunch while I waited for him. So you guys are going to have to back my story up if he ever asks. ) I did the most beautiful jump over the fire logs you ever did see and then it was onto the mud pit.

These are my friends going through the mud pit. You have to crawl in the mud under barbed wire before you run to the finish line. A little known fact about me is that I hate... HATE... to get dirty. Muddy is several steps beyond dirty. So for me to do a crawl through the mud and not have it be to rescue my kids from the pits of hell is saying something.

Can you see me hating this part? Well I didn't. I was already muddy and wet so the competitive side kicked in. I kinda had fun through this part. Yes, I giggled like an idiot while running through the finish line.

My friend was 1.5 minutes behind me. But when he came through we smiled and said, "Next year...." That's right we are already planning on running it again next year if they come back through the NW. Only next time my hubby is coming, too. I can't wait to share it with him next year and with more friends. It was so much fun.

After the race you can hike another 1/2 mile to the wash off area. My friends and I dubbed this the Roman bath. It's a pond that was clear yesterday but after thousands of people 'clean' off in it. Well it was not clear as you can see.

Once we were clean and changed we took our muddy shoes to the donatation area. Warrior Dash cleans them and recycles them.

This is us happy to be clean and not taking our smelly shoes home with us. Our friend Quisa told us all to flex our Warrior muscles for the camera. After that is was beer time. We wandered down to the beer garden to listen to the band, which was great because they played Fat Bottom Girls by Queen. Not many bands can pull that one off. Being married to a muscian who does a spot on Freddy Mercury vocal impression I have an ear for such things.

While in the beer and food area we found our beloved 'suit guys' again.

While they were waiting for the next band to set up, the mc had the people doing crazy dancing. A train line, people on each others shoulders, hokey pokey, and running man were just a few of the dances he had them do. It was AWESOME!

I must say, this is the one race you must do for fun. It's not for time. It's for a good time. Next year I recommend grabbing a few friends and heading down to the Warrior Dash. You just might be lucky enough to get some cool battle scars like my friend Dave. Laugh and run on, my friends!

Friday's musings.

2010-09-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

I have been busy these last few weeks (who hasn't) with getting school stuff together, finishing the add-on to the house (namely the master bedroom and another bathroom), and just finding places to stick all our crap after the move.

I am happy to report we have found our living room floor. It was piled with boxes of 'what do we have this' kind of crap. I'd would call it stuff but it's plain and simple crap. Nothing more than a misc sock, kites, and hair things.

This last week I was able to get back into working out. Here is what I did:

Yesterday (Thursday 9/9)
12 miles of hills. At a 9:02 pace. I was tired and hungry. But it was a run.

(I would call this a speed bump. This is what the small hills looked like)

Wednesday 9/8
I did a 3/4 mile swim in the morning with my friend Stephanie. I was supposed to have track practice but I have been wanting to try a crossfit class, so I did that instead.
1 hour of crossfit. So much fun. I think I will add this to my weekly workouts.

Tuesday 9/7
4 rounds of each

inchworm down and back in raquetball court

21 turkish get ups with 10lbs each side

21 box jumps on 20 inch box

21 push ups with 10lbs each side

21 hanging knee lifts to elbow

It was supposed to be only 3 rounds but my buddy Dave was there so a challenge what thrown out about doing one more when we were done. Who am I to say no? :)

Monday 9/6
I did a recovery run. 4 miles at 8:22 pace.
Mile 1-
Mile 2-
Mile 3-
Mile 4

Sunday 9/5
My big 15 miler
1-8:28

2-8:15

3-8:34

4-8:28

5-8:25

6-8:11

7-8:30

8-8:39

9-8:27

10-8:41

11-8:59

12-8:56

13-9:20

14-9:18

15-9:55

Yep, hated mile 13-15. It's uphill and I was done.

I took Friday and Saturday as a rest day. Well Saturday I made two birthday cakes for my girls birthday and Friday we spent all day at Enchanted Forest. So not a real 'rest' day but a day of not workouts.

Thursday night was first thursday 9/ 2
3 miles. I didn't really feel like running. Did a 3/4 mile swim in the morning.
4x25 free

4x25 kick only

4x25 free

4x25 arms only

4x25 free

4x25 kick only

4x25 free

4x25 arms only

10x25 sprint (did the first one at 19 seconds. the rest at 23 seconds. )

Tuesday 9/1
5 rounds of each

1 min dips on ball

1 min push-ups with 5lbs each arm (switch after 30 seconds)

1 min tri push ups

1 min hanging knee lifts

1 min 8 count's

Monday 8/31
10 mile run at 8:05 pace. I have no idea how that happened. I felt great and my friend and I chatted the whole way. I took Hammer gel at 1/2 hour mark and 1 hour mark.

Warrior Dash here I come.

2010-09-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

You friends are great for a run or for suggesting you try a race with them. My friend Dave signed up for the warrior dash that has coined the phrase "Craziest freakin' day of your life". It looks like fun but to call it the craziest freakin' day of your life might be over the top. I've done some fun and crazy things in my short 33 years. Competing in a triathlon with only 5 bike rides under your belt. Pretty crazy. Giving birth to four kids, crazy and fun. Raising four said crazy kids... an adventure that changes everyday. So bring on the Warrior Dash. I can handle you.

Why do I run?

2010-08-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

There is a contest at Run Like a Mother that begs the question:

When I run, I feel…. (They had four ellipsis' when you only use three grammatically speaking)

I said that it makes me feel like me. Running is the one time it’s all about me, Angela. Not mom, not wife, not blogger, not friend. Running is where I get to be me, just Angela. It's refreshing when I run, bike, swim, or workout, I get to demand only what I can give. I'm the only one asking me what can I give of myself. This might sound a little strange or coincided. Let me attempt to explain.

My life revolves around taking care of my husband and children, which I love! Please don't ever think I'm one of those mom's or wives who runs away from their family. I really enjoy playing with my kids all day. I have, however, made a small shift this last year to focus on me, too. By this I mean to focus on my athletic abilities. To push myself and see what I can do. The problem has become that I am meeting a lot of resistance to achieve this. I like to think of myself as a giving person and I really do love doing for others. So when I changed to do something for me, it's not surprising that a rebel force has joined together to squish that goal. I can see the land mines placed before me each day to derail my training plan. So far the land mines and hand grenades have out witted me.

I started a training program on June 14th. Do you know how many day's I've been able to stick to that training program? 10 days. None of them the running days. All were cross training days. It's stressing me out. The training program is easy. Very doable. That is unless you have four children to take care and a husband who is working full time and going to school full time. Oh, and he plays in a band. Now don't get me wrong I don't want my husband to stop doing any of those things. He needs to do those things. Don't forget moving into a small house that we own and have to fix up because the renters didn't do the house any justice. The last two months have been the most stressful months since I was a kid and I am unable to workout to relax. I think I'm more upset that I was letting other people place their problems and expectations on me and my family. Free help is never free and it's never worth the strings attached. I know that but I think someone else had to learn that and still has not learned that lesson. So they are stressed and waging a battle with me. Here's the thing. I'm not playing in that sandbox anymore. I'm done fighting the wrong battle. It's not worth it. So here's where I am going from here on.

I'm getting back on my training program. Getting back my upbeat outlook on life. Life is far too short to stress about the little things. Who cares that I'm living in limbo in a really small, smelly house? The upside? A ginormous back and front yard that is a clean palate to design as I wish! The children have a very safe and fun place to play outside! My husband is busy and needs the evening to do homework. I am changing to working out in early morning again. I enjoy the cooler and quieter hours of the am anyway. The girls will be in school next month and that means I can run during the mornings with my friend Laura. I'll find a double stroller and run with my boys. This will give me more outside quality time with them. I'm going to get a sub 4 hour marathon next June. Hopefully better, but that won't happen if I fight the wrong battles. Besides I think I'm someone worth fighting for not against.

So I run to remember me. Not to run away from things but to come back me. Fun, optimistic, sarcastic, sexy, hard working, me. Angela! Laugh and run on, my friends!

I'm a triathlete

2010-07-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

To get a full picture of my first triathlon we must first rewind to June 22, 2010. I decide I'm going to do a triathlon. I've been swimming 12 whole times in the last, 15 years and it was all done within the last two months. I figured, hey I can finally swim non-stop for 5 whole mins. Why not do a triathlon? Which one to pick was easy for a two fold reason:

1. A few of my friends were doing the girlfriends and dudes triathlon.

2. I love any event Sherri owner of NW personal Training puts on. Since they were putting on the triathlon I was sold.

At this point I tell my friends I'm going to do it. Another one of my friends lends me his really nice Lemond road bike, complete with clip in pedals. My first question about the bike was how much does it cost? You know for when I crash I know how much of my savings is going to disappear. I'm practical that way. He told me how much and I said, "Holy moly, Can I borrow your less expensive mt. bike instead?" To which he laughed and said no, you have to use this one. OK, but will we still be friends after it comes back all dinged up? I wonder in my head. So a week or two pass and I pick up his bike from his house and meet my friend who has been teaching me how to swim for a ride. A few points about biking must be observed here:

1. It's best to have the owner of the bike teach you how to use his clip in pedals.

2. Learning how to unclip is (I think) the most important thing you must first learn how to do. Especially if you are a person with control issues (not that I know anything about being a control freak or anything. I've read about it. Yep, just did some research about it. What?)

3. Shifting makes hills a breeze. Also something you must have an experienced rider teach you.

4. "Those" sensitive areas will hate you after your first and second ride, no matter how thick or good your bike shorts are.

5. Get a bike that fits you, otherwise you will have cramps in hips and arms from some freakishly long legs that you inherited.

6. You are going to forget to upclip and fall. Just smile and laugh. I fell twice. Both while stopped. Both in front of lots of people. I laughed both times. Luckily only my pride was hurt.

7. If you borrow a friends really cool spendy bike, you will be ruined and want one as good (or better).

8. If you really want to do a fast time on the bike leg, you must practice riding more than 5 times. Sal-ave

My thoughts on the running part was, easy. I know how to run. This will just be the icing on the cake. No need to get any runs in. No need to practice the transition from bike to running. Really how hard can that be? (sure my mom's voice rang in my own head about you might want to practice this before the race but I shushed it with a quip about when will I find any extra time to do that?)

So the day before the race goes a little something like this: Get to bed at 12:30 am. Wake up at 2:30 because Ayden peed his bed. Wake up at 3:12am because Zander wants a sip of water and get into the room in time to hear Ayden say "Zander it's OK, mom's coming. Are you OK honey? Hush, sweetie mom's on her way" (cute huh?) Wake up again at 5:12 am because Zander is awake. Get some packing and work done on our house we are moving into (did I forget to mention I'm remodeling a house and moving into it this month? Oh not just a small remodel, a let's add a bathroom and another bedroom remodel. We can do it ourselves and save lots of money.yeah, that's smart.) Feed all kids, kiss husband and make a quick dash to Frenchman's bar to do a practice swim with about 50 other people and NWPT. Come back. Run errands all day and work on house some more. Take kids to my mom's house to stay the night (because I fool myself that I'm going to get to bed early tonight) Go back to house work, realize it's getting late and head home to an empty house. My husband has a gig in Klicktat and won't be home until 2am. It far too quiet for me to sleep. Finally at 11:30 sleep takes over and I'm up at 4:30 because I don't know what to do with that much sleep.

Day of the race. Once up, I get on the computer and waste far too much time reading and then my friend shows up and we load her car up. Then we pick up our other friend and were off to our first triathlon. Once we arrived at Frenchman's bar we sprayed each other down with mosquito spray and sunscreen. Off to get marked (something I tell my kids never to do and knew I'd get an earful from them when I got home). From there we set up our transition area (to which I just looked at everyone else's set up and just copied) Here is where having friends with you makes it fun. We giggled, took pictures and just kept each other busy. I played the part of mom and help with my friends shorts (the string decided to disappear), made sure everyone peed, and had sunscreen on.

It was time and Sherri, did some announcements that sounded more like a comedy bit than boring announcements. She is one funny gal. We did our 1/2 mile walk (a warm up Sherri said) to the swim start. The charity wave went first and then it was my turn to get in the water. Once in I turned to all the gals around me and said, "This is just a blanket apology right now. I'm going to bump into you during the swim and I'm sorry." We all chatted and laughed. Then we were off. Here are a few things I learned on the swim:

1. You are going to get swam over. Don't panic. Stop and let them go.

2. Get over it and put your head in the water. Don't think about the fish pee and poop (or worse) in the water. If you don't it's going to take a long time to finish your swim.

3. When you finally do get your head in the water look up often. You are more than likely going the wrong way.

4. Waves suck. And if you are facing the wrong way on a wave you will suck in water.

5. If you are going to use a wetsuit, use one that fits. I borrowed one from a friend and it was a bit big.

I was so happy when the I saw the chute at the end of the swim. Off like a flash I was on my way to my first transistion area. I decided to heck with being shy about my stretch marks it was hot. I'm biking in just my skirt and sports bra. I down a gu (because I ate at 4:45am I was hungry) drank some water and was out to bike. At this point I felt great. I pedaled my little heart out, but slowed to a crawl on the 180 turns and upcliped my left leg just because I was scared to fall and lose time (Yes, I'm a bit competitive) So I'm cruising along and passing a lot of people I was passed by one gal who was Tracy with Max Muscle in Vancouver. She rode beside me and shouted some encouragement and then was gone. That did help me pick up my pace. On to the next transition.

Now this one was hard. I wasn't tired from the bike, my legs just didn't work. My hubby had made it down to encourage me and ended up running the last leg with me. He must of seen the 'What the ???' look on my face when I dismounted the bike and knew I need some distraction. This was my favorite and worst part of the tri. My favorite because my husband and I were able to spend some time together sans kids. Favorite because my husband supported me and distracted me. Worse because I ran a really slow 5k (for me) and it hurt. Favorite because you get to do an out and back so I was able to cheer on people and my friends on the way back. That was cool.

I sprinted when I saw that finish chute. And when I crossed that line, I was freaking proud and couldn't wait to do it next year. When you cross that line they hand you an ice cold bottle of water and your necklace that is better than a medal (In my never humble opinion). The volunteers were so nice, the course was pretty, the participants were encouraging, and the staff of NWPT were so positive. If you ever want to do a Triathlon for the first time, I recommend doing this one. Join me next year as I try again only with more training. My little girls said I had to win first place next year. I guess 2nd in my age group and 12th women overall is just not good enough. And that's ok. I'm ready to come back next year and do it again. How about you?

Laugh and run/bike/swim on, my friends!

Go here to get full results.

I want to be like Mike...

2010-07-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

OK, not Michael Jordan (who for the record was the best basketball player ever) not really.

I want to be cool like my friends, Kim and Christina. Let me provide some background.

I was swimming with one of my friends this morning and he complemented me on how relaxed and fast I am swimming. I laughed and said, "Thanks, but I'm not fast. Kim and Christina are fast. They amaze me. One day I'm going to beat them in the pool and in a race. Sure it won't be anytime soon, but someday I will." Cocky huh? Well I don't mean it that way. I got to thinking. It sounds like all I care about is being faster than so and so. No that's not it. To me it is like this:

I admire and am inspired at how hard Kim and Christina work at becoming faster or better a whatever it might be. I equate their speed and success as some of the top people running and swimming. So to me it means that if I can hang with them or beat them, then I have achieved real fitness. Silly I know. To me it kind puts a stamp that I'm competent and a serious athlete. That and I always believe in setting goals that are ones you must work to obtain. I think I can obtain that level of fitness and am having a blast working towards that goal.

So when I say "I'm gonna beat them someday." It means I have to work really freaking hard to catch and pass them. Which is a big motivator for me. Because I hold them in high praises and if I'm at their level then I know I have worked hard. And to me working hard and obtaining a goal is one of the best things in the world.

So what athlete do you hold in high regard?

Flat Half and a PR

2010-07-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

I had a near perfect 4th of July. Ran the Foot Traffic Flat Half in the morning with friends. Obtained a PR. My husband cleaned the house while I ran. Family Reunion (with the expection of my dad being there it was fun) Then as a family we went to a block party where my husband's band was playing. Danced for 2 hours (or more I don't know) with the kids. Finished it all off with fireworks in the warmth of our car. A good day indeed.

The half marathon was the most relaxed I have ever ran 13.1 miles. I thought we were farther towards the start so the first mile we couldn't go any faster because of the sheer mass of people. Thanks to Laura for pushing and pacing me. She rocks. Thanks to Christina for the help in the warm up and tips. Thanks to Diana for being such a great cheerleader. Thanks to Jami for hanging out with us, being funny as all heck, and driving me home. So here are my splits.

Mile 1-8:43
Mile 2-8:07 (opps: Laura slow down ;p)
Mile 3-8:24
Mile 4-8:22
Mile 5-8:18
Mile 6-8:21
Mile 7-8:18

Mile 8-8:19
Mile 9-8:28
Mile 10-8:17
Mile 11-8:21
Mile 12-8:26

Mile 13-8:11
Last .1- (7:53 pace)

Boobs again?

2010-06-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

Here is my all time favorite Bra. The Handful. I have five of them.

So here is your chance to save a little, too. They are fantastic for gel's and little tan lines. More on that later.

Today...well, today we all made it through the day.

2010-06-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

Today has been for some reason a hard day. Maybe because it was a rest day. Maybe because everything hit me today. Here's a short list of some of the things running in my head. I think it has to do with me having a 'rest' day that my mind decides to use that extra energy.

1. We are moving. Again. I'm so sick of moving. Really done with it. My husband likes to blame me as the reason we move so much. Not sure that's really it. We own two houses and rent the house we are in now. Crazy huh? Here's why. The big house we own (3400 sqft on 1.34 acres) has a mortgage of $2450 a month. It was fine, when we had his full income and my mother lived with us. Well, in an effort to have a relationship with my mother (we my mom and I) decided that this just was not going to work. So this one was my fault. Sure. So we tried to scrape by in that house until it sold. Housing market crashed and let's say the $100,000 we put as a down payment on the house is no more. We would be lucky to break even. I mean lucky. So I being the creative mover and shaker that I am found renters. They lasted 6 months then I found another set of renters. They lasted about 6 months. I couldn't find renters so we moved back into the house. A few months after being back in the house I found renters again and we moved into a rental house. Where we are now. So why are be moving again? Back into that house? Nope. Into our other rental. This rental we co-own with my MIL and step-FIL. We've had renters in there, but they are a month behind (for like the last year). We made enough to pay the mortgage and a little extra so we didn't care. Well, now they are moving out, which is good. However, the house is in need of a new roof and sliding and yard work and... and... and. So we thought we would move into the house to do the repairs. Because honestly there is now way I have time to do any repairs unless we live there. On top of that it's only an $800 a month mortgage. So we will save over $ 700 a month just on rent/mortgage if we move in. This all sounds like a win-win right? Well, the down side is the house is only 1100 sq ft. I know I'm spoiled. But six people in a house that small? Did I mention the one bathroom issue? My kids always decide they have to go poop at the same time. I may have gone outside to pee before. I'm just saying.

2. I'm so busy trying to fit in workouts so I don't explode. But my mom is working and I don't want to overwhelm my SIL.

3. We are broke. Hubby going to school full time and working. Me trying to feed and cloth six people. One of which is me and I eat a freaking lot of food. I eat about 2000-3500 cal a day. That adds up. Especially when it's all good for you food.

4. The kids were either trying to kill me or drive me insane today. I'm not sure which.

5. I'm trying to figure out the whole move thing and have it not affect my husband's schedule or make it stress the kids out.

6. I miss hanging out with my mom. She's working a full time job and I don't get to call her up and say 'hey, let's go to the zoo'.

7. My father (or not my father if you ask him) said a bunch of horrible and mean things to me. I know he's crazy and I shouldn't let it get to me. But you know what I'm pissed. I'm trying to take the high road, but part of me really wants to get back at him for the crap he's done for the last umm....32 years. Let's just say when I got married he showed up drunk to my wedding. When my husband and I went to go buy a house I found out he had been using my social security number to rack up debt and collections to the tune of $3,000. He stole one of my cars from me. It just goes on and on. I am at the point where I really want justice to be done.

8. Avery is having a hard time hearing again. We go to the doctor on Wednesday. She loses part of her hearing whenever she gets sick. Usually it returns quickly, but it's been two weeks and she is still having a hard time. Poort thing.

Off to bed, before I really start sharing too much. I'm going to go kiss each kid like I do every night and thank God for them and my husband.

OH, I did find this one blog that made me smile. http://enduranceisntonlyphysical.blogspot.com/
Check it out.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

For Breakfast the kids and I made Whole Wheat French Toast and pork bacon for Aric. Happy Father's Day to the most amazing father. Thank you for taking such good care of our kids. I love you!

My training for the marathon will include...

2010-06-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

I have one whole year to get in shape for my very first marathon. I will be using the First program, for a few reasons:

1. Whenever I run more than 35 miles a week I get injured.

2. I need to cross train to keep from being injured.

3. A friend who has completed 17 marathons, who also can't run over 35 miles/week without injury, recommended I try this program.

4. I think I would get really bored with just running to get in shape. I know that sounds strange, but it's not if you know me. I'm finicky. I like to keep things interesting because I bore easily. (Hush, husband! I know, I know.)

5. I want to be agressive in my training because it fits my personality.

6. I enjoy cross training.

So I am going to try to swim twice a week, run three (quality) times a week, bike once a week, and lift weights twice a week. To keep things interesting I will throw a few races in to keep me on track, but use them as training runs.

July 4th I will be running the Foot Traffic Half with friends Christina, Lynn (She's doing the full... you Rock!), Morgan, and Laura.

July 25 I will run my first triathlon. The girlfriends and Dude's tri with my firends Jami, Amy, Andrew, and Larissa.

August 7th is SkirtChaser in Vancouver. I'm helping Fit Right and SkirtSports with this race and need lots of volunteers. Post a note if you can help.

August 27-28 is Hood to Coast. Running with hubby and a whole host of friends. This will be hubby's first time running it and my second time.

October 17 is Girlfriends Half Marathon. One of my favorite's because it was my first race half.

Nov I always do the Clark County Turkey Trot.

This is what I have for now. I know it will grow, but that only depends on my pocket book. Races are expensive. So what do you have in store for this year?

A nice friendly workout....

2010-06-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

turkish get ups 2 each side start with 5lbs and go until failure. I made it to 30lbs

lat pulls start 30 x10 (I about smacked myself in face it was so light..kinda funny) then up to 60lbs x5 and go up 10lbs each turn until failure. I made it to 120lbs

Then 10 rounds of :

5-tri-ceps push-ups

I did all on my toes.

And so did Diana.

1 min wall sits.

myself and Diana (in white shirt) happy we were on #10 of wall sits. Erin and Laura also happy.

And as a reward 15 mins of hamstring stretching

I'm running the Vancouver USA Marathon

2010-06-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

I present to you the Vancouver Marathon:

Here's what Energy Events has to say about the Vancouver Marathon:

Go Here to Read what they have to say.

That all sounds like fun. So much so, that I'm going to do it. I'm going to jump on the marathon bandwagon. That's right I'm going to run the Vancouver Marathon. The inaugural Vancouver Marathon. When I say this I picture myself as an 82-year-old grandma running it for the 50th time and saying, "I remember running this the first year. Why, I ... (enter daydream about me BQ on my first marathon)." Sounds way cooler when you think about telling your grandkids you ran THE inaugural Vancouver Marathon, huh.

Since I have a whole year to train for it, I'll be posting about my training journey. I hope you laugh right along with me. Let's see how my marriage and kids hold up to all the long training runs. Let's see if my running partners can stand those long training runs with me. (Heck I can barely stand myself on a run, how will they?) Please come and give me pointers, laugh with and at me, run with me, read my crazy training schedule and workouts. Watch me become a circus act and juggle all the bizare things I get myself into.

While you are out logging your miles keep a sharp eye out for runners with the shirts that say: "I am training for the Vancouver USA Marathon!"

Get in on the $69 early bird special - it kicks up to $85 on the 20th of June!

Go here to register. Or to save on-line fees, fill it out and print it here to mail in.

Laugh and run on, my friends!

Why?

2010-06-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

Why do people feel the need to say the following?

1. We've been married for 5 years but we've been together for 10 years.
(Being married and living together are two different things. Why not just be proud that you have been married for 5 years? Because you should be, I'm proud of anyone who is married for 1, 2, 11, 16 years. Good on you!)

2. I have two kids, they live with their mom and I have them everyother weekend.
(No you are a babysitter, not a parent. A parent is there everyday. You babysit every other weekend. Sorry this one is fueled by my brother saying he's a dad. Yet never makes an effort to BE a dad or have his kids.)

3. I could never run more than 2 miles. It's too hard.
(No, you could. Everyone 'could' run 2,5,10, or 20 miles if they trained for it. Don't underestimate your self.)

Another bra review brought to you by Angela's Boobs

2010-06-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

Up for review this week is the Uplift Max bra by Kalyx. Boy did they hit the nail on the head with the name for this bra! Talk about an uplifting experience. If you are looking for the "seat belt" bra that will hold the boobs in during a crash test, this is your bra.

I have taken this bra on numerous 10 plus mile runs and was very pleased with the security it afforded. This thing is so secure, I think I even heard an alarm set when I fastened the back strap. Initially, I thought I would hate this bra because it's tight. I envisioned calling my husband into the bedroom (now, now, keep it clean here!) to cut it off of me while I'm in a hypoxic state, cussing like a sailor trying to get it off my sweat soaked body. Happily, this was not the case.

Another nice touch to the bra was the ventilation mesh and reflective stripes.

Crazy little thing called love (by Kalyx Centered bra)

This thing called love I just can't handle it

These boobs stay put and stay with a round look to it

I ain't ready

Crazy little thing called love

This (bra) called love

(Called love)

It holds (the boobs)

In a cradle all night

No swings (Woo Woo)

No jives (Woo Woo)

No shaking all over like a jelly fish,

I kinda like it

Crazy little thing called love

This bra is one cool cat. Kalyx refers to this bra as the "take a nap bra" (I vaguely remember what naps are, but haven't experienced one since about 2004). This is hands down a comfortable bra that I continue to use for my "House of Pain" workouts (House of Pain is what I call the workouts with my coach, which are a mix of weights/polymetrics/P90X/ Tortore/Pilates/Yoga/ Evil laughter coming from my coach/Crossfit)

On top of having spectacular bras, Kalyx is into making their bras eco-friendly. Using numerous recycled fibers and fabrics, they have still managed not to compromise on functionality. How much more do you love them now? Like I said, ladies, go to their site snag one of their awesome bras... and tell them Angela sent you. No really tell them I sent you. Laugh and run on, my friends!

Skirt Chaser

2010-06-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

Boys get ready to chase some skirt. Gals, get ready to smoke the boys and snag $500.

The SkirtChaser registration is now open for the Portland/Vancouver SkirtChaser 5K.

When: August 7, 2010

Winner Snags $500!

Regardless of gender, the first person across the line takes home the grand prize of $500 smackeroos!

Catch Me Wave

Women will kickoff the event, with all of them wearing a SkirtSports Skirt. Race Skirt included with entry.

SkirtChaser Wave

Catch us if you can! The men will eagerly watch as the women take off with a three-minute head start.

Block Party

The post-race Block Party includes happy-hour style food and drinks, dating games and a fashion show- all the way down to the skivvies!

Charity Partner

Part of the proceeds from the event will benefit The Arc of Clark County.

Location

Esther Short Park

301 W. 8th St.

Vancouver, WA 98660

Map It

Now click here to go the registration page. Or here for more information. So what are you waiting for, you get a skirt, beer, fun, and you get to help a charity. It's a win-win. Laugh and run on, my friends!

I know, I know...

2010-06-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

What's the deal? I haven't been posting squat or anything about squats. I could give you excuse after excuse but I do believe you are smart enough to not believe one of them. I've been lazy on the blog front. So here is the quick 411:

My mother had the nerve to get a job. WTF? There goes my instant babysitter. The spoiled part of me was annoyed but the awesome daughter that I am was thrilled that she found a job. That means I have to work harder to fit workouts in. My sister in law has been able to come over and watch the boys while the girls are in school and I have been able to fit in a few workouts.

House of Pain on Tuesday now include the boys. For the most part they stay out of the way but they still manage to jump on me in the middle of a push-up. For some reason Christina (my coach) just laughs and says it's just a little extra weight for the push-ups and to not stop. It was fun during the last quick workout at H of P, my little Ayden (3 years old) asked me in the middle of my third set (of which I did 14) "Mom. Mom. Mom! Aren't you tired yet?" Christina replied for me, "Nope, your mom is pretty tough." Kinda sweet, huh? All in all I do enjoy my boys coming to the workouts, they get to see mom lifting some good size weights and staying in really good shape. Having said that, I do enjoy H of P on Friday's with no kids and just my girlfriends to chat with.

Since my mom is working, it leaves Wednesday (track at night), Friday (date run with hubby), and Saturday long run day open. I wish a pool was open sooner in the am than 5:30 because I have to be home by 6:15 showered and ready to go so my hubby can get to work. (I am noticing a theme of work getting in my way here)

So here I sit, lamenting over not getting to workout as much as I want. My ideal week you ask? (oh who am I kidding I don't care if you asked I'm telling you anyway)

Monday: Swim for 2 hours short 6 mile run
Tuesday: H of P and a nice 20-30 mile bike ride would be awesome
Wednesday: Swim 2 hours and track in evening with group
Thursday: I consider my rest day. I have a martial arts class that is 2 hours long 1/2 hour of which I lead 'a workout'
Friday: H of P and 6 Hard miles with hubby
Saturday: Long run day 15-20 miles would be good
Sunday: Swim 2 hours and a 20 mile bike ride with friends.

See wouldn't that be a fun workout schedule? Ah, to dream.

What would your ideal workout week look like?

Let's talk about breast's baby....

2010-04-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

(singing to the tune of 'Lets talk about Sex, Baby by Salt 'N' Peppa)

Let's talk about breasts baby

Let's talk about you and me

Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things that maybe

Let's talk about breasts

Let's talk about breasts for now to the people at home or in the crowd

They keep coming up anyhow

They bounce, flounce, and try to escape

Cuz that bra ain't gonna stop them

Now we talk about breast on the blogs and tube

Many will know anything goes

Let's tell how to keep them trapped

and how they should be

How they should be two boobs not one

Those who think it's dirty have a choice

OK, that's enough of that. Trust me I should not sing! Unless you are drunk then I sound like Pink!

A good bra is important... more important than a good pair of running shoes. Today I must implore my comrades in breasts. Large breasts. Listen, I like a friendly wave while running as much as the next gal, but really I prefer you use your hands to wave hello. Oh, don't look at me like that. You know when you see a woman running and you want to run with her to the closest running store to shell out the dough for a good sports bra. She looks like she is holding a pack of squirrels in her bra, fighting to get out. But here's the thing... running stores... we love you. You provide great shoes, cute running clothes, and gels galore. You suck in the bra department. Now I say that as a friend. It's great if you have a smaller chest. The handful bra is the best freaking bra for A/B cups. The best! But why when you get into C/D/DD you end up with iron maiden bras from some medieval time? Really. Why can't we have cute bras, too? Heck yeah, I want it all. Support, comfort, and cuteness! Is that so wrong? NOPE!

So I found this fantastic company that makes sports bras for the well-endowed runner. I present Kalyx bras.

This picture was taken by my 5 year old, Alexis.

I'd say ignore the stretch marks, but I don't really care. I had four kids and am proud of those stretch marks. (Sticking tongue out!)

The back of the Kickstart Bra

But back to the boobs.

I measure a 34C or 34D in some bras for 36C or 36D in other bras. Drives me nuts, why can't they all measure the same? Same thing with pants. Whoa... rant coming on... must focus on breasts... OK

This Company Kaylx, makes amazingly cute bras. They were kind enough to send me a bra to test and well, I had to order another. I am so happy I did. Today I am going to provide a review on the kickstart bra.

Here's what they say about the Kickstart bra:

Athletic Training Bra - the "Kickstart" sports bra

Get Sweaty, Betty in this cute comfort bra...also great for Pilates, yoga, rollerblading and fun in the sun!

Wonderful teen bra, great for California girls, too!

Now here's what I think:

I FREAKIN' LOVE THIS BRA!

This maybe labeled for lighter activities, but I disagree with that limitation. I used this bra for a workout in the House of Pain, yoga, Pilates, and for a 4 mile HARD run. I did 1/4 mile pick ups at 6 min pace and my boobs stayed put! It was a warmer day and I loved how freaking cute the back of the bra is. I work hard on my back and want to show it off. Now granted I wasn't thinking about the bra during my run at all. To me that means a fantastic bra. If you don't notice it and you can still breathe....hey folks, we have a winner.

So the next important question is, did I have to fight my way out of the dang thing? Oh, you know what I'm talking about. It's the half pee pee dance half drunken monkey act we do to get out of a sweaty sports bra. Listen guys... jock strap is a walk in the park to take off. Trying to take off a sweaty sports bra makes a mammogram feel like a cup of tea. (OK, nothing makes a mammogram feel easy, even 6 shots of gin. I'm just saying) I was able to take it off with ease. I highly recommend this bra for lifting, yoga, Pilates, and running. I might not recommend it for you lucky gals blessed with Full D's or DD's, but they have bras for you. (More on that in the next review)

The other bonus to this bra is...no uni-boob. This is nice to have that...um... cleavage alley open to ventilate. For some reason sports' bra manufactures think smashing the boobs together makes for a 'secure' package by making them immovable. Yeah, guys it doesn't work that way. Sometimes segregation can be a good thing. Let's also admit that the Kalyx is a flattering bra. I don't feel like my gals are waving to everyone I pass.

So if you gals are looking for a cute, comfortable bra, check out Kaylx. I am going to be ordering this Kickstart bra in the two other colors because I LOVE IT. Now go to their web site and tell them Angela sent you! Laugh and run on, my friends!

Eye candy!!

2010-04-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favorite running gear must have's:

Gymgirl ultra from http://www.skirtsports.com/

Kendall Kollection. LOVE this skirt

Wondergirl Tank Black.

Asics Arm Warmers

Today a great run. Met a friend for a quick four mile run. Not my fastest, but I can see my times getting down. I am hoping my 5K will be 7:30 pace by my May race. We will see. Pace leading is over for a few weeks, so I get to work on my pace for two extra runs.

This last two weeks here is what I have done:

Today:

4 mile run. 1-8:00 2-7:44 3-8:49 4-8:53

Saturday:

2.75 miles Pacing one of my gals. 9 min pace

Friday:

10.5 mi / 01:36 09:08 pace Did first 6 miles at 8:28 pace, then met a friend for the rest. Felt ok until mile 8 then ouch...cramps...cramps..oh heck where is the bathroom cramps. At least the miles are in the bank.

Wednesday:

Swam in the am for an hour.

I took one of my son's to track with me. Ran about a mile or more with him, but only ran 1-400 (1:27) which is what was on tap for track. Oh well, at least time spent with my cute Ayden.

Tuesday:

House of Pain – 01:00 hour~

120 calf raises, 300 situps in sets of 50, hamstring curls 20 each leg, 3x 1 min wall squats holding 10lb weight with legs (think squeeze the 'no no' muscles), Ladder lunges. 30 second to do 1 lunge each leg. Then 30 second to do 2 each leg. Your rest is how much time you have left. After 10 lunges each leg you get 1 min to complete. I got upto 20.

Monday:

6 mi / 00:52 ~ 08:39 pace Slow, calf sore. One really big hill slowed me way down. Good run with a friend, so it went really quickly as we chatted like old bitties the whole way

Saturday:

April 3

Pace lead run – 11 mi

Sometimes it hurts to run slower. My gal had a rough time holding the pace, we had to slow way down. I did have her at 9:13 pace for the 8 miles, then she tanked with those dread 'I'm gonna poop myself' cramps. So we cut the miles short. Oh well, I'll just have to go back to running extra miles before pace leading.

Friday:

April 2

House of Pain – 01:00 Arms, press, lat press, bench incline and on flat bench. Ouch my pecks hurt. Then 1/2 hour of massage/stretching from my coach. I cried like a little baby. But my calf and hammy doesn't hurt as bad.

Thursday:
April 1

First Thursday Run – 6.5 mi / 00:50 07:41 pace First Thursday run. It's fun to run with friends and hubby. I always push myself harder. Kicked ASS! But had stop breaks at lights and crossings so could catch my breath.

Wednesday:

March 31

track – 3.5 mi 12x200 with 200 rec jog

Tuesday:

March 30

great4 x .25 mile hill repeats. – 3.1 mi 4 x .25 mile hill repeats with 1 short hill repeat (1:36-1:31-1:36-1:42~~:40)
House of Pain for 1 hour

Monday:

March 29

Swim – 01:10 freestyle for 1 hour 10 mins. Must learn to pace in pool. first 1/2 hour was fast, slowed way down rest of swim. Great workout.

Saturday:
March 27

Pace leading run. – 11 mi / 01:42 09:16 paceTrying to get my gal to run 9:20 pace, she did really well. Proud of her

Friday:

March 26

12 mile Bike ride to mark course for Saturday's run

4 mile run with hubby

Thursday:

March 25

House of Pain – 01:00 45 hamstring ups on step each side-45 double hamstring ups-45 lunge lifts each leg-45hamstring with ball- calf raises foot straight, foot in, foot out and then single leg straight, in and out. Total of 270 calf raises (my arch cramped) 2-1 min chair po... read more

45 hamstring ups on step each side-45 double hamstring ups-45 lunge lifts each leg-45hamstring with ball- calf raises foot straight, foot in, foot out and then single leg straight, in and out. Total of 270 calf raises (my arch cramped) 2-1 min chair pose knees in perfect par to gound (ouch quads pissed here) 50 twist lunges each leg with 20lbs-50 8count bodybuilders-50 push ups Now that's how we do it in the House Of Pain. Now you know why I call it that.

Wednesday:

March 24

Swim in am for an hour

Track Did 30x`00's and 2x800's 4 miles ish? more?

Tuesday:

March 23

Hill repeats – 3 mi 1.25 mile warm up. 2 long hill repeats and 2 short hill repeats.

1:36-1:34 -:39-:44-:39-:37 1.25 mile cool down. I would love to be done with this broncitis. Any day now.
Then House of Pain – 01:00hour 21 curl ups-15# ~300 sit ups~50 ab swing legs w/ partner throwing them~recline curls w/ 25# 45 of them~10-8-6 pull ups with partner help~10#'s row ups, v ups, and snatch 45 of them~30 side leg lifts with partner help in side plank

Monday:
March 22-freaking broncitis.

There that should give you an idea of my workouts.

2010-03-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

Run Like a Mother

This is one of the funniest and most inspiring book I have read in a long time. Run Like a Mother is a must have for any mom who runs. Tonight you get a treat because RLAM (Sarah Bowen Shea to be exact) will be at Powell's Book store (the one of burnside) reading from their oh so funny and inspiring book tonight at 7:30pm. So grab the kids or get a sitter and come on down. You will not regret it. I'll be there with two of my kids, don't worry I'll bring enough goldfish for your kids, too. See you tonight. Laugh and run on, my friends!

Here's a little snipet of how funny these gal's are, and about the reading. (taken straight from their website because the kids were fighting and I didn't have any time to write something myself)

RLAM: The Tour!

Ultra-stud Dean Karnazes may be able to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days, but can he do this?

1. Give birth.

2. Continue running, shoving in workouts whenever there’s a sliver of time: during a soccer practice; in between breastfeeding sessions; hours before the sun rises; after jamming on a work deadline; before volunteering for the school auction.

(Our bet: We probably would’ve already lost him by now.)

3. Write a book.

4. Decorate a minivan.

5. Organize a house schedule—fill the fridge; organize the sitters; arrange for playdates; make sure laundry is done (extra points for it being folded); make lists of what goes in whose lunch; re-arrange the carpool— so that he can extricate himself for a night or two to go on tour.

6. Shave legs and pits, pluck eyebrows, don’t forget the under-eye concealer, put together a few outfits that aren’t stretched out, stained, or bought in a previous century, and hit the road.

Suddenly, 1,310 nearly consecutive miles sounds kinda easy, right?

Okay, maybe not.

Still the RLAM Reading and Running Tour (R&R for short)–20 or so readings and about 20 5ks in (you guessed it) 20ish cities, spread out over four months–is a feat of endurance.

More importantly, it’ll be a much, much better time. Spend a night listening to and laughing at essays you can totally identify with–think of it as your bedtime stories --then join us the next morning for a 3.1-mile fun run. Emphasis on fun: no pre-registration, no race clock, no finish line, no pressure. The best part? At the end, there will be prizes! The good kind! (Read: not an over-logo’ed, humungous T-shirt that goes directly into your rag-bag.)