Jersey-isms Pt. 5

One of the enjoyable perks here in Jersey, is being so close to the Boardwalk.  It's historical, scenic and very convenient to run on without having to worry about drudging through the sand.  I love running by the beach, without having to run ON the beach.  We finally got some sun last week after what seemed like weeks of snow and rain!  Charlotte and I had a lovely stroll, and then when we were done we decided to enjoy a sweet park.  That lasted about 5 minutes before Charlotte, who is newly potty trained, peed all over the playground.  Well, at least some of it, most of the pee ended up in her very absorbent Ugg boots.  It was my own fault, I should have had her go to the bathroom first.  But that ended up cutting our play date a little short.  I still got my run in, and soaked up the sun!  Sometimes I think, living in New Jersey really isn't all that bad! ;)

Post Run Blues

I've been in a real funk lately and I realized that now my Half Marathon is over I'm feeling like something a drift at sea.  Like, okay that's over...now what?  I know I should just sign up for more races to keep me going, but I'm feeling like I need some downtime and also I'm discovering what it means to be a 'seasonal runner'.  I've heard the expression, but I've never lived anywhere with REAL seasons.  Here in Jersey though it's been cold and even snowing! I can't take my girls out in the stroller in this weather and I'm afraid to go alone because of the ice on the roads.  I could slip and bust my head open! I've been inside the majority of us being home from our trip to Florida, and I think I'm getting a little case of cabin fever.  But for some reason or another I feel like my soul is starting to stir and I'm ready to stretch! I had a powerful urge to get on my blog and start writing!  I've been wanting to write about our trip ever since we got back, but I just couldn't muster up the energy to do it.  Just thinking about all the pictures I have to go through made me want to take a nap!  But I'm ready now, so get ready for a plethora of pictures!

We started our vacation at Universal Studios.  I was really nervous about wearing my legs out with all the walking around, but we planned the day before the race as a rest day.  It was super fun, but next time I'm going to insist that we plan the theme parks for AFTER the race.  I was so stressed the whole time, and during the run I did get tired sooner than usual, but I managed to dig deep and sprint the last mile to the finish, so I guess I wasn't too bad off.

Spongebob was a MUST on our list of things to do.  Charlotte absolutely loves Spongebob!  Her first words were Mama, Dada and Spongebob..I kid you not!

 This was Theo's MUST see, Ha! He loves the Simpson!  In fact his first words were Mama, Dada and DOH! Just kidding, but pretty darn close!  I teased him that when this show came out he could relate to Bart, getting into trouble just being a rebellious boy, but now that he is grown and a father he's more sympathetic to Homer!  Hahaha!  How life changes!

 Now that's a big fish...

 We also got to meet the Grinch...

 and the Cat in the Hat.  We had just gone on a fish ride reminiscent of the Dumbo ride at Disney World, but this ride the fish spit water at you, so that's why I look like a drowned cat!

 This was my MUST see!  I couldn't wait to get to Harry Potter World, and it didn't disappoint.  Unfortunately it didn't disappoint the thousands of other people trying to pack themselves in there!

 It was a frigid 81 degrees, hence the snow capped stores....*cough* sarcasm *cough*.  It was flipping hot! I wish the snow was for real.

 BUTTERBEER!!!

 I finally got my Butterbeer!  We got it icy, and boy was it gooooooood!  It almost reminded me of Cream Soda with some kind of vanilla-y foam on top.  Dang it, my mouth just started watering...guess it's time to go back for some more Butterbeer! ;)

 Hogwarts, what an impressive castle and the ride was amazing!  We didn't get to do the ride the first day because the line was already over an hour wait.  The next day when we arrived we went straight to Harry Potter World and got in line with only a 20 minute wait. By the time we came out it was already over an hour wait again.  It was too bad because I wanted to do it again, but it will have to wait until the next visit.

 We got to met Super heroes! Captain America was awesome, he was HUGE! But super friendly!

 We posed with Spiderman, they had a superficial backdrop which is why we are in the green.  The kids couldn't seem to get which camera to look at for some reason, this is the best pose out of 3.

 Finally to the race!  This is my corral coming up to the starting line, the blinding lights is the actual start.  There were tens of thousands of people there, it was crazy! But of course Disney made it great!

Here I am posing in front of the castle about to go through.  My time wasn't the best I'd done, like I said before we did a lot of walking so I was very conservative with my running.  But I know I could have done better because seriously, the last mile I just took off!  I felt so good at the end, like I could have kept going.  I've never felt that way after a Half.  Now I'm looking into doing more and even branching out from just doing Disney, but I have really let myself go this past month and this weather is not helping out one bit.  Come on warm weather!!!

Day 4 and Running

I have to post this earlier than I usually do, because tonight I'm going to see the last Twilight Movie!  I can't wait to see it, but as always I'm apprehensive as to how good it is.  Let's hope it's a good one!

Today I'm not feeling so hot, I got a flu shot on Tuesday and I woke up this morning with my arm throbbing and I have been achy all day.  I'm not expecting to get full blown flu, but today hasn't been very fun.  That didn't stop me from getting my run in this morning.  Actually I didn't start feeling like crap until this afternoon.

This morning, other than my arm I was feeling okay, so I got out there with my double jogger and did 5.5 miles.  It's funny how so many people think it is crazy to run even if I tell them I ran a couple of miles.  They all say the same thing, "Oh, I could never do that!".  But what's funny is that I used to be like that.  If you knew me in High School you would know that I was just a Chorus nerd who used to tell people it was against my religion to run.  I absolutely hated the idea of running, not that I had given it a try, I had already made up my mind that I hated.  Although internally I used to dream that I was this amazing athlete who was too afraid of failure to give any kind of sports a try. 

That all changed when I married Theo, who was way into fitness.  He still struggles with weight management like I do, but the difference is that he wasn't afraid to get out there and pound the pavement, or go to a gym to pump some iron.  I would tag along with him and he showed me the ropes.  My love for weight training began to develop, but I still had a hard time getting out there and running.  Until my Dad introduced us to a program called Body For Life.  The food was decent, (and you were allowed a free day to pig out) and the weights was easy enough, but it wasn't until I did this cardio program did I really begin my passion for running.  Here's the concept, you don't have to do a ton of cardio to burn calories, if you practice interval training you burn the same amount of calories, if not more, in less amount of time.  My cardio days were only 20 minutes, that's it.  And I started off slow, and I mean s...l....o....w.  Here is the breakdown:

Minute                  Speed
1                            3.0
2                            3.0
3                            3.5
4                            4.0
5                            4.5
6                            5.0
7                            3.5
8                            4.0
9                            4.5
10                          5.0
11                          3.5
12                          4.0
13                          4.5
14                          5.0
15                          3.5
16                          4.0
17                          4.5
18                          5.0
19                          5.5
20                          2.5

Obviously I did this on a treadmill so I could keep track of the exact speed.  I couldn't believe how quickly I advanced in speed.  Soon my speed wasn't even making me winded.  Now my top speed is 6.5 with a constant incline of a 2 on my treadmill, and it makes a world of difference in my running.  I can tell it has really been helpful in my training as I am trying to get faster and go longer.  So my advice to anyone wanting to run, or those who think they can't do it, just start small and build on that, and before you know it you'll be running for miles and miles!

Here is my report for Day 4 of the Accountability Project:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water with lemon and honey
Breakfast:
Apple
Activia
Post-Workout:
1 cup Coconut Milk
1 scoop Chocolate Whey Protein
Lunch:
1/2 grapefruit
Salad
2 boiled eggs
Chicken
Low Fat Dressing
Snack:
Diet Soda
1/4 piece of Turkey Bacon (doesn't that sound silly!  I was at Costco and it was from those food peddlers.  I passed up a Cream Puff!)
Dried Coconut pieces
Dinner:
Salmon
Stir fry veggies

Workout Routine:
5.5 mile run

I think that is going to be it, I don't plan on eating anything else, but I guess if I do I'll add it on to tomorrow's report. 

Theo's Father's Day

For Father's Day Theo picked out this little toy!  It really was a great buy for him.  He runs a lot and is training for a couple of full marathons and another half coming up this year.  For his training it's good to have one of these babies to keep track.  He has been envious of mine that I've had for a few years, this is my fun toy:   

The bad thing about mine is that it is kind of bulky and mine doesn't tell time.  It's strictly for distance, but Theo's Nike+ is great for every day wear.  I guess now it's my turn to be jealous!  I really like my Garmin, but this just might be on my birthday wish list!

Pretending to be Kenyan

And I really DO feel like the woman at the top! Unfortunately the little girl might just be a little more accurate.

As I was running today I thought about the Kenyans. I actually think about the Kenyans frequently when I run. I think about how incredibly FAST they are! Seriously, they can do a mile in under 5 minutes, and that's not an exaggeration. How cool would that be to run that fast? I like when I'm running into the breeze, with my hair being blown behind me I pretend that I'm a Kenyan runner running a lot faster than I really am. But the more I think about it, (and the realization sets in that I'm only doing about a 10.30 minute mile) that I am grateful for what I CAN do. I may not be as fast as a Kenyan, but for me, I'm doing alright!

I know I talk a lot about my weight loss frustrations, but I really have been trying to do a mental overhaul on my self image. I may not be where I want to be weight wise, but I'm training for my second Half Marathon, and then my third in January at Disney World. It's amazing what my body can do, and then I push it even more. I try not to be too hard on myself and the way that I look, because it could all be taken away.

Hopefully one day I'll be down to a weight that is more compatible to my height, but until then, I can dream....

*sigh*

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