Happy Halloween!!!!

Sorry for the lack of posts no posts in the past year….I would like to say it is because I am too busy, but that is not exactly true! I am working, taking care of kids, going to school for my MSN and fitting in time for exercise. So, I really have been busy. I just wish I could find a way to balance all of this and still blog regularly. I also have not run any races since this summer. Even then I only ran 1 or 2…and I won one!

Today at our house we are getting ready for Halloween by making Henrys costume…yep, nothing like waiting until the day of to make the costume! He is going to be a UPS truck and Olivia is going to the the UPS man. She LOVES the UPS man because he brings us shoes…or at least that is what she tells everyone! Clearly, I do a lot of online shoe shopping!

Running as of late has been going pretty good. I had surgery on my bum in September and had to limit running a bit but now I am back to about where I was before. I am still a touch slower, but on Sunday I pushed O in the stroller for an 8.05 mile run in 60 minutes! I was very, very happy with that because it was hilly and windy. I still average about 2 hours a day of exercise. I am trying to incorporate more HIIT into my exercise regimen, but I will say it is a challenge to do that AND run good, strong, long runs.

Here is one of my favorite workouts that makes your legs kill, and they will be sore for a day or two…or three after you complete it.

36 Rounds 10 seconds off and 30 seconds on

Low Jumping Jacks

Right Single Leg Dead Lift (I used a 10# DB in each hand)

Left Single Leg Dead Lift (same as previous)

Jump Lunge (I use no weight for these)

So you do each exercise 9 times…yep! Fun Times!

As an Ab exercise I like these three exercises

Reptile Push Ups

Knee Raises

V-Ups

Often I will do these after a workout like the one above and set my interval timer to 10/50 (10 seconds off 50 secs on) and do each exercise 2 or 3 times….

Hope you all have a great Halloween with your kiddos!

And, I am really going to try to start posting more regularly, so please comment and/or follow so I know who might be reading my blog, because I love to read your blogs!!!

Summer it here!!!

 

So, Summer is finally here in Minnesota.  It does feel lovely! We do not have AC in our house, so it has been a bit warm inside, but that makes us all want to be outside a bit more! Since my last post, I have been doing great with my exercising! This past week was the hardest, because we were camping with the kids and it is challenging to get alone time. The place we camped at Kamp Dels had a gym there-which is SO rare for a campground-that I thought I loved that idea, but to the amazement of my hubby I did not go once while we were there! The weather was perfect everyday and the bike trail was only a mile away. One day I took the kids for a 30 minute run/30 minute walk and an 80 minute bike ride in the afternoon (since they would not nap! Thankfully they did in the bike trailer) and we swam in the pool for about an hour and a half! So that was enough exercise for one day for this momma! The next day I took them both for a 75 minute run and 20 minute walk in the morning since O woke up early she napped for much of the ride! Additionally, I bike alone that afternoon for an hour and fifteen minutes! The bike trail was great and I felt like I was going quite fast. I do not have an odometer thing on my bike, but based on our mileage I would think that it was about 20 miles round trip. So that was good for me! We also went swimming again for an hour to an hour and a half and I did some lunges, squats and a few other random exercises in the pool while playing with the kids! The following day, yesterday, I ran 30/walked 30 with the kids, then walked with them yesterday afternoon for an hour when we got home (again, because they did not want to take naps when we got home! But, again, thankfully they both fell asleep almost immediately in the stroller!) Last night my MIL and I biked on a new bike path in Zumbrota, which was about 12 miles. It was a lovely evening for a bike ride, except that I thought I was constantly eating bugs! But, it could have been because I do not stop talking. I am SO used to exercising all by myself and not talking to anyone that I love it when I have someone to talk to! Today, I ran for 45 minutes with O this morning, then finished my hour at the gym…it was getting too hot this AM and we needed to run a few errands before naptime! I also did the E for an hour…but, I am starting to enjoy being outside much more than at the gym. I cannot remember the last time I ran at the gym. It does seem so much more boring to me since I have been running outdoors all summer! But, come the first 35 degree day and I will be all over the treadmill again! I also did two bodyrock workouts today…they are SO awesome! I can see a difference. I wish I would eat better so that I could really see the changes, but I can just feel my abs much more now than ever before and I am starting to see a tighter, more defined midsection! The one from yesterday was Cardio Legs and Core-it was good and I was dripping sweat everywhere at the end of that 24 minutes! I also did the summer abs workout, which was from the previous day. I did one last week that TOTALLY wiped me out! I will have to search back to see which one it was, but by the end my body was so exhausted…but felt so amazing!

I have decided that I will for sure do the Whistlestop marathon in Ashland, WI again this year. I was not certain that I would run it again, but why not? I do not ever use a training plan of any sort…I just kind of keep doing the same thing that I always do with a few longer runs programmed in when I can. I think I might try to schedule a few more longer runs than last year. I dread the thought of running on a saturday morning or thursday morning for 17 miles…I would much prefer to spend one hour running, one hour biking and 30 minutes on the elliptical. But…once I am out the door and on my run I am fine! And I always love it, and love the feeling when I come home. My problem lately has been needing to go to the bathroom. I get so many stomachaches. In August I finally will be able to see a dietician about it and see why? Hopefully when I get some answers that will help my problems!

Well, I need to vacuum quick before I head to bed to read the rest of my latest romance novel!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

~Katie

PR x2!

What an AMAZING weekend! WOW!

This past Saturday, I ran our Zumbrota 5k in the morning. It was a hot, humid morning. Not what I would consider great running conditions (at least not for me). I had diarrhea terribly and went 4-5 times before the run and a couple after the run. Also, it was at 8am. Not the time of day I prefer to run. I like to eat breakfast, wake myself up, get all nice and loose prior to running! And, I just prefer the afternoon better! but....The gun went off and so did I! At first I thought I was running really slow. My legs just did not feel that loose. But, I did notice that the few people that were in front on me were now behind me and that there were only four or five people in front of me...so I figured I had to be going fairly fast. I do not have a Garmin, so it is hard to know by looking at my time if I am running fast or not...so I had to wait until we got to the 1 mile marker to find that out! but, in the mean time, i ran by our house and saw H and Scott waving away to me...so that cheered me right up! Then I made it my goal to pass this little kid in front of me...he was darn fast...for how small he was! At around ~.75 miles I did pass him! Then there were only three people in front of me! Two of them were females...so my goal at this point it to at least try to catch up to them...even though neither looked like they had kids or were over the age of about 20! so....at mile 1-my time was about 6:17 I think...then mile 1.5 there was a wter stop...thank goodness, i was SO dehydrated from all my other issues...i was so happy for a drink! then mile 2 was about 12:45 so i was happy with that pace, but the girls were still ahead...so i really tried during mile three to catch up, but was unsuccessful! they ended up beating me...but my finish time was 20:30 and the girls in front of me came in around exactly 20:00-20:10, so I was proud of my time, my goal was under 21:00! So, I beat that, and I do think that a sub-20 is doable! Then i went home and took the kids for a walk for an hour and in the afternoon went to the gym and did the elliptical for 50 minutes and a little ab work. Should NOT have done any of that. That night my legs were SO tired and SORE! They are not used to running that fast. And on Sunday I had my triathlon...

So, I felt better that morning, but still had an upset stomach, so instead of my regular two slices of toast with an inch of pb and honey it was just a few honey nut chex. I was hungry during a lot of this race, but thankfully it was short! Swimming...I dread swimming...or not necessarily dread, but I dread swimming in a lake with 50 other people all at the same time kicking and paddling all around me. I asked myself last year, and this year about 100 times before I started why on earth did I think this was a good idea....who knows??? I was so happy though because my little monkeys were there watching and cheering with my parents and my brother, his wife and their two kids too! So it was a lot of fun knowing I actually had some people there cheering for me! The swim for me began around 8:45. WOW I cannot stand swimming...I got kicked by so many people so much. it was terrible. I had to stop and doggie paddle for a few seconds one time because the same lady kicked me like ten times in a thirty second period. I prayed every fifteen seconds (HONESTLY)... out loud...because I wondered what ever possessed me to sign up for this torture! But, finally I could see the end coming! AMEN! The answer to my prayer! It was only a quarter of a mile, but for someone who had not swam since last years triathlon...I was happy to be done! I think on my way out of the water I half-yelled "thank the lord I survived"!!!! But, my time ended up being 8:37 (last year 8:50)! So I was ecstatic about that! I guess my 'swim-game' improved in the off season with all that rest! Then I ran to my bike, put my shirt on...and my number came off, so i had to reattach it to my shirt with those stupid pins...I was frustrated. So, my T1 time was almost 4 minutes, YUCK! Oh well, made it out and hopped on my bike for ten miles. The biking portion was much better than all of last years hills. Still a few hills, but just overall much better course. My time was 34:15 (or close to that). My speed was about 17.5mph. Impressive, considering I do not have a fancy bike. I have a step up from a mt. bike, but not a tri/speed bike. So, I was VERY happy with that time. I knew my run would be slow, because of the 5k the day before as my legs were still exhausted from that when i woke up sunday morning. but, I did run hard...probably not as hard as I could have, but it was what it was...22:46 (or 7:20 pace) not at all what I would have liked, but had I not done my 5k on saturday it would have been around 21-22 minutes, so not too terrible! overall time: 1:10:22 (last years time 1:10:58). So, I did improve! Despite the pin issue and a minute and a half slower 5k. Overall, I was VERY HAPPY!

I placed 67th/235 overall.
5th in my age group (out of 23).
17th/108 for woman.
My swim in my age group was 7/23
Bike 6/23
Run 2/23

Not a bad weekend.

After the tri yesterday i had to write a paper for school and then relax the rest of the day!

Today I was going to go to the gym, but decided just to do live exercise and rest another day before doing much of anything!

I think my body needed a good day off!

I was impressed with everyone else's stories from the past weekends races!

Great Job everyone!

Maybe someday i will be like www.runningsane.blogspot.com and run that fast at a marathon!

~katie

Running Rambles…

Well, my life has been a bit bizarre lately.  I worked last weekend and came home to the news that Scott’s Grandpa had passed away on Monday morning, so no camping, and instead a funeral and wake.  Not the happy, fun week we were hoping for.  So my exercising has gotten a bit off…but that is okay! Today I finally got in a GREAT workout.  It included a 2 hour and two minute run and 50 minutes on the elliptical.  Then, I am going to do a quick ab workout before heading to bed shortly.  Other workouts this week just included the regular running, walking, elliptical, biking.  I did get in one great bike ride this week of about an hour and ten minutes.  I was happy with that.  Next weekend I will be running a 5k on Saturday for the Zumbrota covered bridge fest, and am hoping for sub-21 minutes, and then on Sunday completing a sprint triathlon for RochesterFest, it will be the second year that I have done it.  I am just hoping this week it warms up a bit, because today it was cool…perfect for a two hour run (50 degrees) but cool to be jumping in a fresh water lake! I am still debating running a fall marathon…I just do not know, today when I was running I thought, “why not?!?!?” I would like to get a sub 3:30 and I totally know that I can do it, it is just a matter of pushing myself and running enough long runs prior to the race.  I am just not a huge fan of long training runs, I much prefer to do my regular exercise schedule.  I have not ever had an injury that has really set me back significantly, and I think it is because I know that I need diversity (from only running).  I typically run 7.5-9 miles every other day, in addition to walking, biking, elliptical, and other exercises for a total of 2 hours of exercise each day.  When I do try to run more than that I just do not feel like I am giving 100% on each run.  I used to.  Even after H was born I ran everyday, but after O I decided I just had to focus on staying healthy and active and not on running everyday so that I need a knee replacement at the age of forty.  I read other peoples posts about their detailed plans, and I cannot believe the amount of miles they run all of the time.  That is just not me.  I love running, but making myself run super fast for long periods of time is just not THAT fun! Maybe in the future when the kids are in school?!?! Well, I better get going to bed because I work tomorrow from 11am-11pm and I want to get up at 5am to get my workout in so I can clean house and play with the kids before work for a while! (hence the reason I switched into this shift instead of the 7a-7p shift) But, I cannot stand waking at 5am anymore! I cannot believe that I used to enjoy getting up that early!

Good Luck to everyone that is racing this weekend, and thanks for stopping by and reading my blog!

~Katie

Peek of Miss J!

		Peek of Miss J! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Body Rock and other new moves…

Sorry I have not posted again in a while, but things just get busy with two kids and I really do not have any NEW news to share! I just keep doing pretty much the same things over and over again! I am trying to increase my weight lifting time and/or plyometrics and ab exercises.  I know I do a lot of cardio, and that is really good and all, but I also know that I need to do a bit more for my abs if I want to look like I did not have two kids! I would really love to have nice, flat abs, but as anyone who has had kids knows, it is nearly impossible to get rid of the extra skin that is there after all that growing! Anyways….that is what I am aiming for! So lately I have been doing exercises from bodyrock, which…whew! Yesterday at the gym I did two sets of exercises from there and surprisingly today I am not that sore, but I am supposed to run today and since I was lazy and did not get up early this AM I have to run with two kids today, and I am just not quite feeling like it! I think part of that is because I am a bit exhausted from the workout yesterday! This upcoming week is my “bad” week at work, but it still is not too bad…I work M/T/F/Sun nights, so really not terrible! But I am going to aim for 40 miles this week of running since I am not planning on running any big races too soon, and I will also do my regular elliptical workout, plyometrics 3 or 4 times this week and try to do a bit more biking! I really love biking, but it is hard to find the time between rainy, cold/chilly, and windy days! So we will see how this week goes.

Med City marathon, half and relay is happening in rochester today, I would have liked to ran a part of that race.  but I just hate the time commitment for half of my day and the amount of money it costs to get into all these events.  The only things that I am really planning as of right now are a 5 or 10k for our zumbrota covered bridge fest on june 18 and then on the 19th doing the sprint triathlon in rochester. Then, not anything until august when I do ragnar.  I am still debating a fall marathon??! I would like to do one, but I am not sure when/where.  I will keep looking.  Some that I am thinking of: Twin Cities, Whistlestop, Chicago or ????

Well I need to change my clothes and look at the weather to see if going for a run is going to happen or if we will get soaked!  I really do not want to run up and down our street during naptime, that is way too boring!

Oh yeah, and last night we went to the Twins game! Great game! The kids were okay, scott got a bit annoyed with them, but they were okay and ended up winning! Great game to go to.  The pitcher was brought up from triple A and he threw a no-hitter until the 7th inning I believe it was! He was fantastic!

 

Lastly, My hubby is also now exercising! I LOVE IT! And I cannot wait for him to start seeing results!

Have a Happy Memorial Day! ~katie

Tired and lazy…

Good Afternoon,

Well I am just now “waking” up after working 12 hour night shifts all weekend.  Last week was a great week for me from an exercise standpoint, but over the weekend when I work from 7p-7a and sleep from 815-3 or 4pm it is so challenging to get motivated to wake up and immediately exercise, knowing that I am choosing exercise over playing with the kids or seeing my hubby.  So, friday was a good workout day- I honestly am not sure what I did but I know it was a good workout and that I lifted weights-a lot- as my butt is still sore! which is a good thing-in my book! Saturday I did not exercise at all as I slept until almost 5pm and had just enough time to get up, shower, eat and head back to work.  But, sleep is so important for me physically and mentally! Sunday I slept terribly, and when I finally got out of bed at 230 I knew the babysitter could only stay until 3pm, so I tossed on my running clothes and got in a half hour run.  Then I came home and did a little bit of plyometrics, but the kids both woke up within about 15 minutes of that so instead I just did a little ab work and then took the kids for a 45 minute walk.  Even that seemed draining to me.  I could tell I had slept poorly! then it was back to work for another night and home this am, just in time so my hubby could go to work and I could stay home with the kids They were good little monkeys for the most part this AM.  Henry watched two cartoons and then turned the TV off and the two of them just did puzzles, a couple games and some coloring.  They also dumped out a quarter of the box of cinnamon chex all over the living room carpet…again, oh well…the vacuum took care of that! I finally got motivated to wake up for good around 1200.  Made some lunch and cleaned up the house! whew! I feel much better now, oh and I lit a candle and opened windows! so now I am hoping to do tae bo and maybe my abs and butt video and then later take the kids for a walk again, hopefully a bit faster than yesterday and for a full hour so I can get my two hours of exercise in today at least! It is planting time here, so scott plans to come home from work and head right out to the field so no run for me today, which does bum me out.  I love a nice peaceful run. 

I sold our double jogging stroller last summer I believe, it was a unique design that I had ordered, because the kids were so close that it had one seat in front and one in back-not side by side- and I loved it, but H was just getting too big for it, but now I am wondering if that was the right decision.  The only double stroller I have is a sit and stand, and it is a bus to push, I just cannot stand it.  So, last night I looked all over the internet for cheap or used double joggers and really did not have luck finding one on craigslist or anything, everyone wants 100-300 for a used one…NO thanks! So, our single jogger is a baby trend expedition, so I ordered a double one from walmart, surprisingly it was only 149 and the reviews were great.  I LOVE my single jogger.  The only thing I do not like Is that it does not have a swivel wheel in front, but for running I absolutely do not want a swivel wheel.  But, I cannot wait to get it! Then I can at least walk at my normal fast pace on a walk and/or jog with the kids!

well, I better get moving if I hope to get a workout in while the kids are napping!

Hope you are enjoying your Monday ~ Katie