Baby It's Cold Out

Hello peeps. How was your weekend? Well to say that we have been trying to stay warm up here in the north is an understatement. I don't remember it ever being this cold ever or maybe I just never cared because I stayed indoors. NO, I honestly don't remember it ever being this cold for such a long period of time.

                                                           
I have been in the doom and gloom because I haven't been able to let off some steam running. Grrrr. I non-runny momma is an unhappy momma. I still have been doing my strength and actually did some extra cardio interval work to make up a little for the lack of running.

Last week recap-Monday got up early and did Burn 1 - No picture, but I promised I did it!

Tuesday-cardo/abs

Wednesday night-no run =double strength with the mini's

Because I needed some spark in my life.

Thursday I rested!!

Friday I got up and did Cardio and Yoga...

Saturday came and I was ready to call it quits and head to the Y and put some miles in on the dreadmill. Everybody's favorite thing to do.....said no one. But I must have hit snooze in my comatose state and alas there was no dreadmill action.

Sunday we headed to church and the temperature wasn't too bad. So I headed out for a little jog.

Ok well let's just man that was cold and it sucked big balls. A-nobody shoveled so I was high stepping most of the time or slipping on my butt because the snow was iced over, and then I was stopped by a train for 10 min. Yo!  Moral of the story you will never regret your run no matter how much time it takes or how hard it is. You'll be happy you did it, and this is what I looked like when I got back home.

Oh lord I was chilled to the bone. Warm shower and hot tea helped.

So hello Monday!!! Back to it today. It's looking like no run again tonight be guess what the high right now is -7 and it feels like -32...wohooo that is cold. 

Here's my plan for the week:

Monday - Burn circuit 1 -Done

errrr...I would rather be in bed.

Tuesday - Cardio/abs

Wednesday - Burn 2&3/Run

Thursday - Rest

Friday - Cardio/yoga

Saturday - Run

What's up with your week? Are you staying warm in the polar vortex or the north pole weather as I'm calling it?

Make today great!

Ice Ice Baby

Really what else do you think when someone says that.

This isn't a post about Vanilla Ice or how things get better with age, except in this case because really he looks like a tool. Sorry you devoted Ice fans, I'm not a fan. Any way this is about slipping while running on ice. True story it sucks.



What is funny is I thought I could go out running when it was a skating rink outside. I made it around the corner only after falling on my butt 4 times. I called it a day and slid back home. That was my week two weeks ago. All ready to start running again and with new shoes, and nothing.

Last Monday I made a point of joining the 5 am club. I busted out my strength exercises with a little Chalene Extreme. Burn 1.  Bam!!! Then I went for a run with the lovely Hide-a-Key after work. 4.5 miles wasn't to shabby.

Bonus that it wasn't totally freezing, even bigger bonus new headlamp.

Wednesday brought another am workout with Chalene and another run. Except it was way colder, but I'm badass like that. I doubled up the layers and I was off and running.

Feels liks -3...What!?!?

Yes, holy balls it was super cold out. I must admit I got an extra strength workout from the snow. Damn you snow, I hate you.

So that brings me to this past weekend. Guess what super cold again. Negative temps before windchill. Yeah that wasn't happening so I went shopping instead. I know total snooze fest.

So I think we're back up to speed. Here's the workout forecast although I'm pretty sure that the stupid cold is going to get in my way. Guess what that polar vortex or polarbear vortex as my kids call it, is making it's way back up to me again. Grrrr....

Monday -       CE Burn 1 (chalene extremem), Run 4-5 miles

Tuesday -      CE Burn 2

Wednesday -  Burn Intervals/Abs, Run 4-5 miles

Thursday -      Burn 3

Friday -          Burn It Off & Recharge

Sat -              Run 7 miles

It's a big feat but I need to get my head back in the game. My first half of the year is in 10-1/2 weeks. Oh I'm not counting hee hee, and I want to be in better shape. Plus I have lots of stuff coming up that I'll have to have my picture taken and really who wants to look back and think oh hello triple chin. Not me. 

So that's my fitness for the week. Check out my girl Carolyn over at Fitnasty for Life.

She has a link up to set up your weekly goals. Who doesn't need another way to be accountable.

What are you doing this week? Ever run on ice?



Thank You Antibotics!!

Horrah for feeling so much better and not sounding like a 90 yr old lady with a smokers hack.

It's really the little things in life that make me happy. Like this.



What...What was I saying..Oh yeah. Things that make me happy. Sorry let me wipe the drool from my face. Oh my god...ha!

I ordered some new workout gear. I'm going to give the whole running tights a try. I'm not a fan of my booty being on display for the world but maybe just maybe I need to start getting comfortable with it. I usually wear longer shirts to hide the moelly (mom-belly) anyway.

I'm excited to try them out and who doesn't like new workout clothes.

I'm also getting new running shoes. After the marathon I had issues with ankle swelling and foot pain. A nice trip to the foot dr and she said I should get orthotics...So trip to the PT and I have new orthotics, but now I need new shoes because my current shoes are for slight pronation, so I need neutral ones now. Life as a runner has you going through shoes like crazy.

I'm hopeful that being proactive with this will keep me running for a long time pain free.

Onto more things that make me happy.....besides the obvious children, family, friends...

*Girls trips. In November I met some amazing women and had a blast. I really bonded with some and I'm so excited to meet up with them again.

*Texas!!! Watch out this girl is coming in April and I'm so beyond excited to meet-up with my gal pal Fe! She has been such a huge supporter in my life that I can't wait to support her for her first half!!

*Positivity~ Well I know this is relative I think this is a big part of my happiness. I try very hard to focus on the positive even when things look bad.

So that's all I got for this wonderful Thursday.

What makes you Happy?

Hello 2014

Sorry this is a day late. I am one sick girl. I went to the dr and I guess I'm battling the flu and pneumonia. Wohoo.. Not really. What's a mom of three to do. eek...so I'm bed riddin and won't be starting my goals till I get better but here's the list of what's up for the year.

Hello New Year's Day!
Where in the heck did 2013 go? Seriously I feel like the year flew by.
So here are my goals from last year
2013 Goals
  1.  No fast food (McDonalds, Taco Bell, Hardees, etc) except for subs.
I actually am not a fan of fast food. The idea sounds great no cooking yummy fried french fries, but..I always feel like crap and it's not satisfying to I'm going to give it a try..
Well I did really well with this one until July after our trip. I had a run in with a bad salad and it was over.
 2.  Have a better time for my half marathon. My last half marathon I weighed 28lbs less than I do now, but my heart wasn't into it. I dreaded running every single time that I did it. The difference this time even though I weigh more I'm training more and I'm loving every minute of it!
Well we know what happened with that one. Forget your inhaler and everything goes down the tubes. Oh well what are you going to do. You can check that story out here But I did run a marathon so I think that's a big accomplish check mark
 3. Stay on top of the cleaning.
Our house is busy like crazy busy and if I ever lost my smart phone I would be SOL because it has all our schedules on it. I do have a backup on the family calender but it's my bible when it comes to scheduleing. Anyways I need to schedule my cleaning to make sure it gets done and this year it will happen. Should be the simplest one to do.
Well I rocked this one. Winning!

 4. Reach my goal weight. Now this one I'm sure is going to be a difficult thing because...I have to lose 73 lbs but I'm down almost 40 so I've come along way. I will be happy if I'm down an additional 50 by this time next year, but I think with running and eating right I can accomplish my goal
Well hot dog I didn't reach my goal weight but I did lose an additional 20lbs. So total lost is 60lbs. Not to shabby if you ask me.

My goals for 2014 are a little different than 2013
1. Strength train. I started and quit Chalene Extreme many times since October but once I'm better it's on. I love Chalene extreme because it's lift heavy but with structure. Bring it!
2. Run 1000 miles over the course of the year.
3. Run more races. I already have my eye on the Chicago Marathon, 2 halfs, a 15k, 2 10k's
4. No more fast food. Let's try this again.
5. Give more. In all aspects of my life. I have been doing really well focusing on the positive in my life but I need to find time to give more back. Everyone can always use a helping hand.

That's all I got. I'm off to get some more rest.

Good-Bye 2013

2013 has been an amazing year. I've accomplished big goals that I didn't even know I was capable of.
I've met some amazing people. I've realized that I'm worth more and not to settle for less.

I ran a 5k, two 10k's, a 15k, a half and a full marathon!!!

15 K

Half Marathon

10K

First time I ran 17 miles!

Full Marathon 26.2 Miles. I'm a 1% now.

 

PR'd my 5 k

My dream of being part of MTT. 10K

I've stepped out of my comfort zone a lot this year. I never imagined I could run a marathon and not be in the best physical shape. I proved my misconceptions wrong. I never would have went to a big city solo before to meet up with people I never knew, but I did and I'm so glad I stepped out my comfort zone!

Chi-town hotties

 

Don't judge you know you're jealous of my Pedro look...

Left -2012 Right 2013

 

 

I transformed. I proved myself and any haters or doubters wrong. You don't have to be a size 2 to rock the crap out of a marathon. You need to have drive and determination. You don't have to hate your size. You can dislike it but only you have the ability to change it. Nobody's going to do it for you. I'm not perfect, and I'm still on my journey. I hope everyday that I can inspire someone else, that is doubting that they can do it. I hope that I can spread positivity and ignore the negative. There is enough hate and self doubt in this world and I have the power to raise people up vs dragging them down.

 

 



2013 was just dress rehersal....make 2014 your best year ever!!!

Link-up - Festive Favorites

Just another link-up. Sorry their not combined but well I'm rushing and didn't want to miss the fun!

Favorite Christmas song.  Christmas Canon and Christmas Eve in Sarajevo- Trans Siberian Orchestra and O holy Night ~ Jessica Simpson (she drives me crazy when she sings, but I do love her voice) Sorry I can't just pick one.

Christmas song you can't stand. ~ 12 days of Christmas...lord that is a long-A song

Favorite holiday movie ~ Elf, The Grinch (Jim Carey), Christmas Vacation

Real or artificial tree ~Um fake. I have a black thumb, if I got a real one it would be a Charlie Brown tree the second day.

White or colored lights ~ White

All matching ornaments or more random personal ornaments~ Always random personal one, maybe when I'm 60 I'll have one that is perfect but I like my imperfect mis-match tree:)

Favorite ornament ~ Ahhh..I have to many that I love, maybe my rocking horse I received when I was born

Angel or star tree-topper~Star

Does Santa wrap presents or leave them unwrapped~Santa has his own special wrapping paper naturally.

Favorite childhood memory~ Making Christmas cookies and hanging out with family.

Coffee, hot chocolate, or eggnog~ Hot chocolate all the way.

Christmas morning at home or do you travel~At home with the in-laws and my dad and his girlfriend. They watch the kids open their presents and then we eat breakfast.

Traditional holiday meal or something unconventional~ it's at my in-laws at night so very unconventional. My MIL likes to make gourmetish things

Personalized photo Christmas cards, store bought cards, e-cards, or "ain't nobody got time for that~  LOL, I usually make all our cards by hand. This year well time is slipping away so we'll see what I end up with.

Linking Up With the Queen and Prince...

1. The Best Christmas....I don't have a best Christmas because I love Christmas in general. The lights, the season of giving and I love to give. Each and every Christmas has been great in it's on way:) (Sorry nothing magical, no proposals, or babies being born at midnight, nothing life shattering.)

 

 

2. The worst Christmas I had...it wasn't the worst but it was not fun. The Christmas that our family car got stuck in the driveway in a huge pile of snow and we had to push it out. So imagine here we are all dressed in our holiday best running late to get to my Grandma's that is an hour away, and we're pushing this heavy boat of a car to get it through this pile of snow. After 1o min which really felt like 4 hours we get the car free only for me to face plant it in the snow and now I'm completely covered in snow, and no time to change. So we drive an hour with me soaking wet. Yeah not great memories there. 

 

 

3. That one gift that made me scratch my head and say, "Hmmmm" was...probably this ginormous stuffed dog that I got when I was 15 from my uncle. Yeah that's a cool thing to tell the kids at school so what did you get for Christmas...oh a giant stuffed dog.

 

 

4. One year I.... I woke up and went to sneak out to start breakfast. It was the perfect morning. A light dusting of snow outside, still dark enough that the Christmas tree lights let off a small glow, just a nice peaceful morning. I was so excited to warm up some cocoa and just sit by the tree and be thankful. I had warmed up the cocoa and was just heading to the living room and then I hear BOO. Well I just screamed at the top of my lungs, cocoa went flying and needless to say the whole house woke up. Here my little guy thought it would be funny to scare mommy. Geesh....

 

5. I think the worst gift to give is....I have no idea because I always give the best gifts. LOL

 

6. At Christmastime I typically....Run around like a mad person trying to everything done.

 

7. Typically, family Christmas....starts Christmas eve at my mom's. We all get together in our pj's exchange gifts, eat way to much and play games. Christmas morning, my in-laws and my dad and his girlfriend come over to watch the kids open their gifts from santa and have breakfast. They leave and then at night we have Christmas at my in-laws. We typically eat to much and play games as well as the wonderful White Santa exchange. The Saturday after Christmas is spent at my dad's. We again stuff ourselves exchange presents and watch a movie that we all fall asleep to with the exception of my dad's girlfriend and the kids.

 

 

8. If I could change one thing about the Holiday season....I would make it only about being with the ones you love.  Even though I love to give gifts, it has gotten out of control.  I would much rather forgo the gifts and watch the waves crash in on some beach.  Or...have breakfast with Mickey, at Disney World!

 

 

9. It is so hard to buy for....my in-laws, my dad...in truth you get older and you just buy what you want. I hate to give gift cards because really let's just exchange money. Ughhh, but what do you get for the people that have everything they want?

 

10. My favorite Christmas tradition is...making cookies with the kids, taking them on our HM polor express, spending time with all the family that we only see at Christmas time. 

 

 

11. Santa, baby, bring me a ....younger body that can handle all this running. To say that I should age gracefully is a joke. I'm going to be 27 forever (I'm 34) My hips hurt, my knees hurt, and these big babies I had did a number to my torso from my chest to my stomach. So I want a mommy make-over. That's not too much to ask is it?!

 

 

That's all I got peeps. Link-up it's fun!