Early Riser

While its still February and most people probably aren't even thinking about summer yet, I on the other hand am, since I have several summer races planned this year as my 'get back into shape' program after having baby #2 last summer. As such, I have a 1/2 marathon, my first actual tri (hopefully), a couple 5K's for fun and a du all planned for the spring/summer time frame. So I've had to get my derriere in gear NOW.

 My challenge is getting back into decent running shape while its still cold before 'real' training begins. I've run now and then since Sawyer was born, but nothing consistent like I used to since I can never seem to find the time or energy once the boys are both in bed....well sometimes I do, but I'd also like to use that time to spend with the hubs or get ready for the next day, etc.

So, I decided in order to get my exercise on during the week, I needed to get up at (gasp), 4:30 a.m.! Ugh! I already get up at 5:30 a.m. to get ready for work and get the boys up and ready for daycare to be out the door by 7 a.m. I really thought I would NEVER get up an extra hour earlier than that! That's crazy! BUT, I did it 2 times 2 weeks ago, a couple times last week and so far once this week(but also plan on Friday). Then at least I can get in 2 runs during the week in the am and 1 some other time during the weekend at a minimum.

My plan is to stick to this and once I'm at a month consistently, I'll reevaluate and fit in another run and or other cross training. Its a start anyway. I also gave myself an out. If the baby gets up in the night and I have a 4:30 workout planned, I get to skip it and do it that night or try again the next morning. I can't be too tired to go to work and function, nor is that safe. So, trying to program some structure while being flexible into my schedule to reach my fitness goals this year. Let see how it goes.

I'm excited to get back to it! Also, of note I am competing with some friends and family in a weight loss challenge...which I'm definitely not winning, but I have lost 1 lb. a week average for the last 6 weeks, so it could be worse. I am just 1 lb, away from pre-baby weight! woot! Next up, toning this mess up! :)

Cheers!
Jess

Ode to a Treadmill

After just having completed yet another treadmill workout while its freezing outside, I'm once again reminded of my love hate relationship with my treadmill. On the one hand, yes I know I'm VERY fortunate to even have this piece of equipment IN MY HOUSE no less, so I CAN run when I'm too wimpy to brave the cold, or its just too dark. On the other hand, I can hardly stand being on it...its SO BOOOORING!

I've tried music, I've tried movies,but generally the treadmill is too loud to hear anything from the tv in the basement unless I turn it up to hearing loss levels, but yet I still find it mentally difficult not only to actually do a treadmill workout, but to PUSH myself on it. I always seem to fall into...well as long as I get the mileage in, that's ok right? No speed intervals, no hills, just flat, monotonous running...

So, I guess I need to make a plan to get more out of my workouts. I do want to actually improve my running speed, so I need to start on that. Now to just find a training plan to do that.....its seems like everything I find is "couch to 5k", "how to run your 1st 5k", not "how do I kill a 5K"? I guess that's my own challenge I need to work through. I almost wish I had run in my younger days so I would have some coaching info to draw from, but alas, its just me and the Internet I fear. Maybe the local running store geeks can help come to think of it.....

Happy running!

Competition

Competition is healthy right? Well, in my case, I need some to get my butt back in gear this year.
After September's Warrior Dash, I have not done 1 single solitary race and only a handful of actual workout runs.

Why? Well, turns out going back to work full time with 2 kids to get out the door to daycare in the morning is more than a lot of work. To make it more complicated, add in trying to get dinner on the table, both kids happy, and the house somewhat in order each night makes it exceedingly difficult to find any time for me to actually exercise.

BUT, there is hope. I do feel like now that the holidays are over, that I am getting into a good routine...with that and Sawyer now about done nursing, I can actually separate from him once in a while which adds up to.....me getting in some solid treadmill time! Well, that plus an awesome husband who will put our 3 yr. old down after I get the baby to bed so I can do so about 3 times a week.

In addition, the hubs came up with a little friendly FB friend competition to get us all back to ideal training weight sooner rather than later. We've all pitched in about 50 bucks and between now and May, whoever loses the most %-wise takes the pot. Woot! And yes, I am looking forward to winning and getting an awesome new post-baby running wardrobe this spring. :) That is until I saw my sis rocking her weight loss this week. Nothing like a little competition to kick it into high gear for me! cannot wait to get the last few baby lbs. off along with some extra so I have no extra on me going into the running season.

I would LOVE to actually RACE a race this year rather than just complete a race. I've been middle of the pack generally speaking, so I'm excited to earn my new physique and put the hurt on the racing competition. Hmmm....that sounded a little mean and braggy...well, we'll see what actually happens. But I would love
to take home some AG medals this year. No time like to present to set my goals right?

Now, to just find some training plans to get back in shape and FAST at the same time.

Here's to a new year and a new, hopefully faster ME!

Warrior Dash

So life has been pretty crazy this year. With adding little Sawyer to our family life has certainly become busier but also more fulfilling. There is nothing quite like seeing your 2 boys together. I think E is finally taking a liking to the little guy. :)

However with all of this business, running has taken a backseat again. During maternity leave I did get back out running by about 4 weeks pp. Yay me! I was up to 3-4 times a week at about 3 miles. Not too bad at all considering. Then I decided I needed a race in my life to liven things up. So, when my sis said she was doing Warrior Dash, I thought what the heck?  A fun goofy race to start me back! Mind you this was the last weekend before my return to work, so it was perfect! Um, yeah I completely underestimated this race.

I thought, oh a 5k with some fun obstacles thrown in, should be fun/relatively easy. Yeah, so the run was easy..the obstacles...not so much. But, lets rewind a little. I was supposed to do this race originally with my sis and a friend of hers....but she ended up with strep so that didn't happen. But, luckily a dear friend of mine, her husband and another friend of hers were doing it as well. So, I glommed onto their group instead. :)

And my husband being the supportive guy he is wanted to watch and bring the kids....awesome! I was stoked! Having never done one of these types of races before I really didn't know what to expect....but it is definitely not kid friendly! This place was nothing but dust and dirt and NO shade on a VERY sunny day. In addition there was REALLY LOUD music(which is awesome for racing, but not for little ones' ears), and people drinking everywhere.....yup, drunks at a race...go figure. So, needless to say one we arrived and found our friends, the hubs took the kiddos to a friend's house where we met up after. Good plan!

So, that just left me with a race to do! Our group of 4 got to the corral and got ready to go about 30 min ahead of time I'd guess.There were waves about every 30 minutes and everyone was assigned to a specific wave, but if you missed yours it didn't seem to be a big deal to get into another one. They certainly didn't check.

After few minutes the race horn blew and fireballs flew into the air to mark the start of our wave. The first 1 mile or so was uneventful. Mostly dirt or pavement and pretty flat. Then we got to the first obstacle where there was..wait for it...a LINE! yup, literally stopped and had to wait your turn to do it. ummm...hello...isn't this a race I thought? But, I am glad to have had a little time to size this thing up. It was a large wooden structure you climb up, have to maneuver over and then on the other side just let go and drop. I'd say this was maybe 15-20 feet tall. Eeek! We all made it over and then were off again. About another 1/10th of a mile and the next obstacle was upon us. A cool one where you had to pull yourself over wooden fences about 4-5 feet tall and then crawl under barbed wire alternately about 4-5 times. FUN! We stopped for a quick photo op on the course and then continued. WE barely got to a job again and the next obstacle was in our way. This was a horizontal cargo net about 4-5 feet in the air your had to bear-walk over(hands and feet). A little trickier than you'd think but not too bad. Also, it turns out I can run faster than I can do obstacles....I was the last one in our group done on almost every one except a couple. eesh. need to work on that.

Anyway, we ran maybe a quarter mile more and we made it to the first water obstacle. This one sucked! The water was over your head in most places and you had to haul your self out of the water onto these floating plastic containers strung together in a  line......there were about 4 rows of these with space in between.Did I mention I have NO upper body strength. Thank goodness for team members. WE helped each other over these stupid things and others behind us as well. We all made it but geez. I think this was the toughest one of all!

That was kind of how it went though...a little running(read: less than 1/4 mile) then an obstacle and repeat. Besides the water ones(there were two), the hardest thing for me was a giant wall you had to scale with a knotted rope to hang onto and little more that foot holds on the way up. Oh yeah and it was about 30 ft. high I think. I never knew I was really afraid of heights until this obstacle. I made it, but yeah, pretty sure I don't like heights. Also, real barbed wire was used a lot through this whole course like a fun decorating(but could hurt you). It all ended with a leap over fire and a crawl through mud. Blech! But we all made it, the whole team!

At the end we got a free beer (though not really free since its an expensive race fee). And of course a medal. All in all it was a good time, but don't expect to make good time and just have fun is how I chalked it up. I also decided I think I'm more of a road race kind of girl. Not sure if I'll really do another one, but I'm glad to have done something fun with friends and try something new! :)

And oh yeah, almost forgot....this race was back in mid-September...talk about not keeping up on the 'ole blog! lol! Better late than never right?

Cheers!

CSA

The title of this blog is actually an acronym for Community Supported Agriculture.

After a girls weekend with a couple long time friends, I found that they are each participating in a CSA this upcoming summer. I think its something people have thought about but don't usually do, though I think its gaining in popularity. I have just heard about it from a few people in the past from work but not much else outside of it.

But basically how it works is that local farmers let the community buy shares for a a fixed price for either a period of time(18-20 weeks is common), or for the whole year if they are able to offer year round produce. This is paid usually in a lump sum at the beginning of the year when farmers most need help buying supplies for the growing season. Then when the farm produces, each member gets their 'share' of what is grown.

Cool idea huh?

So, you basically support local agriculture, get fresh produce every week, you know where it comes from and how it is grown, and you reduce your carbon footprint. Plus the produce is so much better than the stuff shipped from who knows where, where its in season. Yes it takes some getting used to, in preparing just the produce that is in season at that time instead of us being accustomed to having whatever produce we want at any given time of year, but I personally think its worth at least an experiment.

So, I started looking into local CSA's. Things that are important to me are cost,convenience,variety and whether or not its organic. I haven't bought a lot of organic produce in the past, but I like the idea and if I can get it local for not a huge increase in cost its worth it to me.

I did find a website called localharvest.org where I was able to hunt down some local CSA's.

The first was called Stone Coop Farm, was organic and the pickup location is directly on my drive home. The downfall I saw was that it was a little pricey compared to some others and the offerings seemed
a little limited compared to others. On the upside it would be super convenient to stop on my way home each week to pick it up. They offered produce for 18 weeks.

The next one was a larger operation located in Howell called JT Todosciuk Farms and Greenhouse LLC. They used traditional farming methods(aka non-organic), but was priced a little more reasonably with quite a wide variety. They offer produce for about 20 weeks which included melons...yum, and had a pickup in Howell, which is a little bit of a drive, but not too bad.

The last one I'm really interested in. Its a small operation(family started and owned) that began just in 2009 in Pinckney called Portage River Farm. This is only their 3rd season doing CSA I think. However, they offer full, half and individual shares(based on size of your family),so there are a couple pricing options which would be great for us! They also raise chickens organically for eggs(bonus!), and have bee hives for honey and maple trees for syrup that they make as well on a limited basis. They also provide year-round produce(with the exception of 2 weeks), and each share receives eggs, honey and syrup as a bonus as well. They also have plans to expand into fruit(they planted 30 some odd fruit trees last year and are installing berry patches this year).

Portage River Farm also practices sustainable and organic growing practices(though they are not officially organic yet as they are in the process of certification). Good enough for me though. And they also have a pick up point in Ann Arbor(where I work), and also have several other families from Brighton where we could potentially take turns driving out to get the produce for everyone else.

In addition they are all about the community aspect of it all and have bonfires, taffy pulls, sugaring parties, picnics etc to get members to check out the farm, kids can see the animals and you can feel a real community connection with where your food comes from. Cool huh?
Maybe I'm a bit idealistic in all of this, but it seems like the next best thing to having a garden of my own (which I doubt will happen with all the shade we have in our yard and a new baby on the way), and hopefully it'll get us into a more local mind set to reduce our carbon footprint.

Also, who doesn't like farm-fresh veggies? I know I do! Its always a treat getting fresh produce from my mom and step-dad's garden each year. Too bad they just didn't live closer. :)
Anyhow, that's it for now, but I hope to update on this after we secure a membership with a farm.
Cheers!

Preggo on the Run!

So, I probably already put most of this on FB...but whatever, I'm proud, so I'm blogging about it. :) Anyhow, most know that I've been keeping up with running except for a brief hiatus in the 1st trimester when nausea and fatigue got the best of me. I've been doing short 3 milers about 3-4 times a week on average...on the treadmill......since its been either too dark when I have time or too cold(ie treacherously slick outside for this preggy). I had planned to keep running until the very end of this pregnancy as long as the doc gave the go ahead and I remained healthy. Lots of women do it, plus its my therapy....I NEED to run! However, I think yesterday may have ended my preggo running career.

I've been gradually becoming more and more sore after my running sessions....not to mention its sooo annoying feeling like I have to tinkle every 5 min. whilst running. But after last Sunday's run and now yesterday's, my body is definitely telling me its time to take a break. Plus, at my last dr. appt. she told me it wouldn't be a bad idea if  I stopped soon...just because its so hard on the body with all of the pregnancy hormones making your body way more susceptible to injury. She also wanted to make sure I wasn't 'racing' this race and took plenty of water etc. I assured her I was doing it for fun and I would drink tons per usual.

So....yesterday I did a 5k St. Patty's day run with my awesome hubby! I did better than I expected for being so far along, but am I feeling it today! After yesterday's race, I was a little sore...then very sore by bedtime. This morning, getting out of bed was a little tough. My back hurts, my hips hurt, my belly ligaments hurt...and its hard to walk after sitting for long. So....yeah. I think I need a break.

But alas, yesterday's race was awesome! Its been a while since I've done any races...last summer maybe? I can't remember my last one....and I've missed it! The music that pumps you up at the starting line, people cheering you on, and then of course seeing if you measured up at the finish. This race was much different than any I've ever done for the sheer reason that I had NO goal in mind in terms of finish time. I just wanted to say "yeah, I ran a race when I was pregnant"...silly right?

Well, Chris and I started together...bless his heart he wanted to give me moral support. :) Plus, I think he secretly wanted to make sure I wasn't pushing it....which is sweet I think. But, after a mile or so, I could tell he was holding back so I told him to go ahead and run his pace. After some reassurance I wouldn't get all preggy hormonal on him at the finish if he did so, he took off. So, I finished the last 2.1 by myself....and smiled the whole way! I not only didn't need to walk at all(it was a pretty flat race), but it was fun as everyone was dressed for the occasion in green galore, and I got to pass a fair amount of people! woot! I so wish I would've had the foresight to have gotten a shirt that said something on the back like "you just got passed by a pregnant woman".....I told Chris as much and he said it was funny, but mean....so probably better off I didn't.

Oh well, I did have my 'I run to be fierce' shirt on that said 'MommaPea' on the back, courtesy of my gf Kel! she rocks! It made me feel tough. :p So, I did finish with my slowest 5K time ever(32:42), but I did still manage to beat out 60% of my ag competition. I got 53 out of 131 women in my ag, I'll take it for almost 26 weeks pregnant! :) And I then of course proceeded directly to the bagels and bananas. Hey...this preggy wanted some food! lol!

That's about it. Ethan loved going to the race too. Grandma met us there so he got to hang with her instead of racing in the BOB with us as originally planned. Though in the ride home he said 'I didn't get to win the race'....so maybe he would've enjoyed it more than we thought? I felt bad we deprived him. It also makes me hopeful he'll want to run races someday soon too! Cannot wait for him to do a kids 1/2 mile race or something soon. :) Time will tell I guess.

Well, that's about it for my race report. Probably the last until the fall or so. Until then, guess I'll be walking.... A LOT!

Oh, and a link to a 'finish' photo. :p

http://photos.runmichigan.com/2012/March/5K-and-10K-Finish-Gallery-3/22018795_zW4WQg/2/1756869260_SZsPN7w/Medium


Cheers!

25 1/2 Weeks!

Well, I have less than 15 weeks of the life-changing (again!), journey they call pregnancy. And, I have to say its going pretty well. I have been running,walking, feeling great with only some fatigue....of course this is all with the exception of weeks 7-16  where you couldn't get me to move if my life depended on it for feeling so nasueasus, exhausted etc. However, I think running is going to take a brief hiatus for a while. I have a 5k this weeknd(which I'll report on after), that I'm doing with Chris and Ethan. But, that will be it I think. My back, hips, tummy etc are just telling me its time. Oh yeah, and the part where I have tinkle about every mile from the jolting is pretty annoying. I came to the realization when I was hobbling around Monday after a glorious run in the park on Sunday afternoon. I felt about 80 yrs. old....

So, back to walking, walking and more walking. And oh yeah, so happy that darn 1 hr. glucose test is done. hope I pass!

In other news, we had a tornado hit about 20 miles from our house last night. We were fine, but it touched down where a friend from work lives. Thankfully they are o.k. However, their house seems to have suffered considerable damage. Its so strange to see this sort of weather in MI....and near wehre we live! Crazy! Wasn't it just winter like a minute ago?Well, that's all for now. I'll try to update once I make it through my first(and last probaby) pregger 5k!