Weekend Madness

3 days left.

I can hardly believe that Christmas is here.  As of last Friday I was officially finished wrapping.  It feels good to be done the weekend before.  But man did this weekend feel insanely busy!

     Wrapping Central.

After I finished with my wrapping it was 5:30pm and I seriously started debating about whether I wanted to get my run in.  And if I did where was I going to do it.  I had packed my gym bag with the best of intentions.  After quite a bit of debate I ended up heading over to the gym to get it done.  I knew I wanted a yummy carby dinner to prep me for 15 miles the next morning.  And I didn't want to try and fit this in on Sunday.  I generally hate running on the gym treadmills because they always feel harder. But Friday night wasn't too miserable.  But LORDY was it hot!

                                      Fancy new gym treadmills.  Plus my Kindle. 

Early Saturday morning we headed out for our long run.  It was 40 degrees and overcast.  Felt lovely.  Since I had to drop my daughter off for an activity we got a somewhat late start. I had checked the weather app multiple times and it always said no rain. I didn't take my rain coat and talked my husband out of his.  Couple miles away from the car it did start raining a bit.  Damn weather man!

     Jordan River Parkway.  A bit of trail we picked for probably only a quarter mile. 

After that we headed over to pick up cash for our babysitter and grab some gas at Costco.  Hello $2.10 per gallon .. YES PLEASE!  However, because it's so cheap at Costco right now that also means everyone and their brother is there.  We were literally there for 30 minutes!  And then the next morning it had dropped to $2.05 when I was there getting groceries.  Darn it!

When we finally made it home all I had time for was to make my list to pick up ingredients for my cookies/bars I was taking to my exchange the next day.  Originally I had planned to bake them that afternoon.  But there was not time.  Before I knew it I was off to meet my bestie for a pre-Christmas gift exchange/movie date.  We saw, "Wild" .. eh ..  I liked it until the end.  I thought the end was lame.  So rush to Target to get my supplies .. rush home .. shove some dinner down my throat and at 9pm I BEGAN baking.  I had 9 dozen cookies/bars that needed baking.

     This was before it got messy!

 

                                      You don't bake in your PJ's?  I had lots of helpers too. 

                                                      One of 3 kinds.  S'Mores Cookie Bars. 

I finished at midnight.  15 miles in the morning with a midnight bedtime and I was one tired Mama.  While my last cookies cooled I rushed into the shower and dried my hair, rolled it up in socks so that my hair would be "done ready" in the morning.  Which was the BEST decision I made all weekend!

Sunday was equally busy.  I got up, unrolled the hair, threw some make up on and out the door I went with all four kids in tow.  Costco and Target here we come.  Another post for another day but I spend SO much time stressing about getting my oldest son to read that I almost missed that my middle son (yes SON, boy likes his long hair) is starting to get the reading bug!  He read to himself the entire way through Costco.  LOVE him.

After that was a mad rush home, unload groceries, put them away and back out the door to go to my cookie exchange.  Which was fun like always.  I think it's such a neat idea and if I didn't already go to one I would host one myself.

     Oliver turns four.

We wrapped up the weekend at my parents celebrating December birthdays. I love love when my whole family gets together.  It's always so much fun.  We had 3 birthdays to celebrate, one of which was my youngest son Oliver.  I can't believe my BABY is FOUR!!  It was a great warm up to the Christmas festivities that await us this week.

And THAT my friends is the play by play of my weekend.  It was a busy one, but I'm really happy to say that despite the busy I got all my runs in.

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Tell me at least ONE thing about your weekend?

Are you ready for Christmas?

Fitbit Charge vs. UP24

I'll warn you right now.  This is a LONG post.  I've been wearing both of these suckers for almost a month now at the same time.  But I wrote this because I would have liked to have read this kind of information prior to committing to one of these gadgets that seem to be growing in popularity.  I paid full price out of my OWN pocket for both.  Nothing free here.

Back in August I picked up a Jawbone UP24 band.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it.  I felt like it was extremely eye opening.  To sum things up it confirmed what would be a given, on days I ran I hit my 10,000 step goal with no effort at all.  I should back up a step, I have a desk job.  So for 9 hours I pretty much sit behind my computer at my desk.  When I got my UP24 band the market seemed to be getting saturated with the Fitbit family.  I had even bought a Fitbit one many months before and returned it.  I had wanted to use it with the LoseIt app only to find out that once I had bought the Fitbit I could only use it with that app if I paid for the premium version of the app.  I wasn't interested in doing that.

So back to summer.  I went with the UP24 because I knew a couple people that had that one and liked it.  The first one I received actually was an out of box failure and I had to take it in and exchange it.  I guess it's internal battery had depleted past the point of recovery.  But since then I've had no issues.  The band itself works exactly as it's supposed to.

I'm kind of a numbers geek.  I like having goals and hitting them.  So while I knew I would kill it on days that I ran I was more concerned with how I did on non-running days.

My favorite features of the UP24:

UP App  -  I love love the app.  It's WAY better than the Fitbit in my opinion.  However, it can be glitchy.  My band will disconnect from it and I have to kill all my apps and sometimes even reboot my phone to get it connected again.  I have an android phone for personal and an iPhone for work. I recently had to move the UP app to my iPhone because when I got the Fitbit I started having all kinds of app issues.  Apparently Fitbit asserted itself over the UP band.  Since moving, I've had very few issues at all.

At a glance I can see my sleep and steps % to goal.

Smart Coach  -  I LOVE this feature.  It actually gives you tips that are specific to you and your activity.  For instance mine tells me every weekend how consistent I do with bedtime during the week and to keep that consistency that I should be in bed by 11:44pm in order to not mess up my sleep patterns.

Step Tracking  -  I like this better on the UP app.  You can see the range for the day, versus just a number.  Plus there are times attached to this information.

If you hover over this in the app it tells you the specific time.

Food & Drink Logging  -  I like this a little better on the UP24.  But it's not a feature that I tend to use a lot.  With my Weight Watcher points tracking app, I just don't log food a second place.  I also don't like to see my exercise add more calories into my daily allowance.  I have used My Fitness Pal with the UP24 and they weren't fine together.  You can take pictures of your meals (that might actually be fun), barcode scan things, track your water intake.  And it gives you a food score based on what you log.  I like the simplicity of this.

Sleep Tracking  -  In short I prefer this feature on the UP24.  The only bad thing is you have to manually tell it that you're going to bed.  But the info you get is far more superior to Fitbit.  And accurate, for instance last night I got up TWICE to pee.  UP24 captured this, Fitbit did not.

UP24 vs. Fitbit Charge

Smart Alarm  -  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this feature on both.  You set the alarm on the app.  The only reason I give UP24 one up on this one is that it has a cool wake window feature.  Where you can choose for it to wake you up as early as 30 minutes before you need to get up.  It identifies when is the "best" time to wake you up.

Idle Alert  -  I LOVE this feature.  Fitbit Charge doesn't have it.  But you can set it to buzz you on your wrist if you're inactive for a designated period of time during a period of time.  For instance I set mine for 30 minutes of inactivity between 8:30am and 5:00pm on weekdays.  This is when I'm in my office. It will buzz and I'll find some way to get up from my desk.

RAZZING your friends  -  Way better on the UP24 app.  You can write comments on their steps, their sleep, what they eat (if they log food), their badges they earn.  You name it.

Features I don't really use:

Goal Setting - This allows you to personalize what your steps, hours of sleep and weight goals are.

Other stuff:

Battery says that it's good for up to 14 days. I disagree.  I'm lucky to get 7 days.  But it charges within 30 minutes back up to full charge.

For Water Resistance it says it's splash proof.  I however had just barely gotten it when I took a trip to Lake Powell at the end of the summer.  I jumped in the pool multiple times with it on, completely submerged and then threw it out to the side.  As well as the lake.  It survived all these things.  Although I wouldn't recommend swimming in it on purpose. I also take it off to shower.  However, one thing worth noting, is that this is REALLY easy to get on and off my wrist (unlike the Fitbit Charge)

UP24 Price:  $129.99  
**  Currently you can score one of these at Costco for $99.99

So if I loved my UP24 so much then why did I go out and buy a Fitbit Charge?  Mainly because I know a lot of other people that have the Fitbit.  I had grown to love the interaction with "friends" on UP24. I only had one friend however, one of my sister in laws.  But that's because I just don't know anyone else that has this one.  I loved seeing how many steps she had each day and working to keep up.  She has consistently given me a run for my money and she's NOT a runner.  I added one more friend over the weekend.  But I don't really know her all that well.  But it's nice to have another person on there now.  So for my anniversary my husband bought me the Fitbit Charge.

My favorite features of the Fitbit Charge:

Fitbit Dashboard

Caller ID  -  The UP24 doesn't have this.  It's kind of a cool feature.  The biggest help I've found is that it's not necessarily seeing who's calling.  But it's nice when I have my phone on silent or vibrate and don't realize it's ringing.  I wouldn't buy it for this feature alone.

Watch  -  It displays the time when you press the button.  I thought this would be cool.  But you have to press the button to get the time to display, the rest of the time it's just dark.  I think it would be better if the display stayed on.

Visual Display  -  I like that you can see how many steps you're at without opening up the app on your phone.

10,000 Step Goal reached  -  I REALLY like that the device vibrates on my wrist when I hit the 10k step mark.  UP24 doesn't do this.  More than once I've popped down on my treadmill right before bed in slippers and PJ's just to walk and hit my goal for the day.  With the UP24 I have to keep refreshing the app to see if I've hit the mark. 

Battery Life  -  While it says it's good for 7-10 days which is estimated to be less than the UP24.  I think it's a more accurate statement with the Fitibit Charge.  I wonder if I turned off the Idle alert on my UP24 whether this would help extend the battery life.

Features I don't really use:

Floors Climbed - I just don't really care.

Fitbit Charge Price:  $129.95  (5 cents cheaper?)

I may attempt to return my Fitbit Charge.

Stuff that's basically the same on both:

Activity Tracking / Steps & Distance Tracking / Calories Burned -  These are basically the same on both devices.  I find that UP24 is giving me slightly more steps than the Fitbit.  But they're both pretty close to each other.  

Wireless Syncing  -  They both sync to your phone app through Bluetooth.  Although my friend has pointed out that the Fitbit forces her Bluetooth to turn on, whereby draining her phone battery.  It's not an option to stop it from doing that.  I don't notice this I guess since I don't turn the Bluetooth off, but I do know that the Fitbit totally messed up my UP24 from syncing properly which was why I had to move it to my iPhone.

Leaderboard  -  You can get a snapshot of the leaderboard of how you compare with your friends on both.  UP24 however you can see much more specifically what your virtual "friends" are up to.  Whereas on the Fitbit all you can see if the 7 day average.  Well when I want to text my bestie and tell her to get her ASS moving because she's been sitting on it all day, you can't do that with Fitbit.  

So which would I recommend??

You probably already know that the UP24 would be my preferred device.  For me I like the friendly competition.  I also like to be able to encourage my friends and tell them how great they did on a given day.  It's kind of like the Facebook of activity trackers.  And the UP24 gives you much more detailed information not just on your friends but on yourself too.  However, it's a much more smart phone based device.  Whereas I think the Fitbit is more computer based.  I don't want to have to log on to a computer to razz my friends. I want to do it from the grocery store check out line.  If I were to go spend my hard earned cash I'd spend it on the UP24.  Not to mention they've got a new UP3 coming out "soon" (WHENNNN????).  I will probably get one of those when they're finally released.  This incorporates heart rate based information.  I wear my heart rate monitor when I run 100% of the time, so it's not surprising that I would want to include some daily tracking there as well.

Even as a runner currently 5 weeks into my training my UP24 band keeps me focused on moving on my non-running days. I take walks when I didn't feel like I needed to before.  I am more active on my non-running days.  It has brought an awareness to me that I didn't have before. I have also become much more focused on my sleep. Knowing exactly how much sleep I'm getting each night forces me to make sleep more of a priority.  And that's good for my training.

And on that note .. my Idle alert just buzzed at me so I better get my butt out of my chair and MOVE.

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Do you have an activity tracker?  Let's be FRIENDS if you do!

Why would or wouldn't you want one?

New age group debut.

Thanksgiving happened to be my 40th birthday this year.  I had no problem when I turned 30.  But 40 was a bit more intimidating.  I can't even pinpoint why, but it was.  I wasn't looking forward to it.  I guess the good news is that the first thing out of peoples mouth is surprise.  I struggle with comparing myself to some of my favorite bloggers .. which is really silly because I'm a good 10+ years OLDER than pretty much all of them.

It's become a bit of a tradition to participate in the Thankful 13 event here in Utah.  It's one of the few events that run this late in the year and the only half marathon distance that falls into the Turkey Trot category.  Plus there are no buses involved which means no super early wake up call.  The night before arrived and I regretfully set my alarm for what I thought was the latest possible time but still enough to arrive with time to spare.  Alas, I forgot how LONG my husband takes in the mornings.  Unlike me he doesn't get all his gear together the night before.  So while he's pooping and yelling at everyone because he can't find his stuff (not at the same time), I'm getting quickly irritated because he's going to make us late.  We needed to drop the kids at my parents still and I was STRESSED!

     Sunrise over the Wasatch Mountains.

 We were blessed with a beautiful sunrise as we drove up to my parents.  Quickly dumped the kids and were back in the car racing down to Thanksgiving Point.  To be honest I've had issues every year with this race series.  Historically they run out of medals as well as the correct size shirt that you ordered with your registration.  This year however this wasn't a problem.  We literally arrived with five minutes to spare.  Threw our gear on and walked down to the starting line.  I don't think there were as many people as last year.  Within minutes we were off.  This was to be a training run for us.  I wanted to have a pace right around 10:30.  My husband likes to go out fast and it was cold so I was anxious to warm up.

It wasn't long before I heard what sounded like a stampede of horses coming up behind me.  As I turned my head I saw that it was actually a group from a National Guard running in their combat boots, carting along flags with them.

So. Cool.

My husband can be pretty funny sometimes.  At one point we were approaching a team of military folks.  My husband goes on to thank them for their service and pass comment on my lack of American citizenship. I reminded him that although I'm not an American I am British and by definition one of America's closest allies.

     Another look at those Wasatch Mountains. 

We were not spoiled for views along the course.  The course itself was about the same as last year.  As we passed through the 5 mile mark we picked up a couple GU's.  I always bring my own, just because I'm used to races running out.  I think I'll always be finishing in the back half of the pack and that always means provisions can be questionable.  But when they're available I pick up a couple since that's what I feel like I pay for as part of my registration.  When we came back through the same aid station on the return trip they were out. So I was glad we got some when we could because we would have been hurting on that back half otherwise.  I felt strong until the last mile.  It's solid uphill and a killer.  At that point I was tired and Jeramie was starting to race ahead a bit.  I just didn't have the gas in me to race uphill at the end.

We finished with a solid time however.

Finish Time:  2:16:56

Age Group:  34/70

Average Pace:  10:29 (SPOT ON)

As we approached the finishers chute we saw our oldest son with my Dad and he jumped in and ran the rest of the way with me.  

My outfit was pretty perfect for the weather conditions.  It was in the 40's. My legs had been a little chilly early on but I was comfortable most of the time.

                                      #fortyisfabulous 

Jackson came down with my Dad and they ran/walked the 5k.  Jackson surprised my dad by running a good 2/3 of the course.  So I'm excited to sign up for another and RUN the whole thing together.  I totally think he could do it!  Maybe even pick up an age group medal!  Sailor (my mum's dog) raced with them as well.  So proud of this guy!  He's already excited to do it again.

     Love this family of mine.

We went on to spend the day with my family.  Stuff our faces full of turkey and then Mum and I hit up Target and Walmart for a little pre-Black Friday shopping.

I absolutely LOVE getting up and knocking out some decent mileage before the Thanksgiving Day activities begin.  Overall I would totally recommend this race to any locals.  It's not a "big" race with "big race" frills.  I think the post race goodies are lacking.  However, I also think Pumpkin Pie is disgusting and therefore do not see that as a fun post race treat.  My husband would tell you otherwise!

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Would you race on Thanksgiving morning?

Do you like Pumpkin Pie?

Do you pick up "your share" of race fuel?

Accountability Monday

I wish I could come up with a clever catch phrase for this post, I'm at a loss however.  It's Monday and I want to start recapping my previous weeks workouts on Monday's.  So here goes.  This week really kind of sucked in all sorts of ways.

Workouts

Monday
Plan:  3m Easy run + Yoga
Actual:  3miles, 10:40 avg pace
Treadmill, 1%

I had the day off work.  It was supposed to be a nice way to get a jump start on the week. However, in the early AM hours I was dealing with a barfing 6 year old.  As such I didn't sleep well at all.  I was up again at 6:15am to get Baylee off to school, back to bed.  Up again at 7:25am to get the boys off to school, back to bed.  I then slept away my morning.  When I woke up I had a text message from my mum that she'd decided to tell her bully boss to shove it and was now out of work.  This turned into lunch with my mum which got me back home barely in time to meet the kids home from school.  Come 7:50pm and I still hadn't run, I was hungry for dinner and dinner was ready.  Instead I changed and headed down to the treadmill and knocked out those miles. Knowing that I couldn't start out the week behind.  No regrets there.

Yeah .. no Yoga.

Tuesday
Plan:  Barbell Strength Class
Actual:  Barbell Strength Class

This was another near miss. I got a call at 2pm that my daughter had taken a spill at school, refused to get up.  Refused to get on the bus.  I was needed.  In a panic I called the doctors office to get an appointment ($20 office visit > than $40 instacare visit).  Rushed to her school.  Ankle looked ridiculous swollen...

After 2 hours at the doctors they determined it was a bad sprain.  It was 5pm, class started at 6pm so I RUSHED home, threw Baylee in the front door changed my clothes and walked into Barbell class literally with about 1 minute to spare.  So glad I still powered through and went to class.

Wednesday
Plan:  6m Pace run
Actual:  1 mile warm up at 5.4mph + 5 miles at Marathon pace 6.0mph, 10:01 avg pace
Treadmill, 1%

Today started with Wyland staying home from school because he had a stomach ache.  I always dread pace runs.  But this run went well.  It was easier than I expected and came to an end relatively quickly.  While my plan calls for all miles at marathon pace I always start with one mile of warm up, so I guess technically I'm cutting them all short by one mile.  As we went into the evening kid #2 started barfing.  Awesome!

Thursday
Plan:  Barbell Strength Class
Actual:  Barbell Strength Class

Class was AWESOME!  I love the music of the Thursday instructor way better than the Tuesday instructor.

Friday
Plan:  3m Easy
Actual:  3 miles, 10:33 avg pace
Treadmill, 1%

My legs felt GREAT!  I enjoyed some Vampire Diaries on the treadmill.

Saturday
Plan:  11m long run
Actual:  11 miles, 10:29 avg pace
OUTSIDE!  24 mph wind, some rain for the second half

Had a babysitter and my husband and I headed out.  I do love long runs.  It was supposed to rain and snow.  We were hoping the weather would hold out for us.  I started with a tank top, long sleeve, with my rain jacket on top.  A mile in we were stripping out of our rain jackets and stayed like that until after our turn around.

Love long run dates!

It was the perfect long run!  I ran the last mile at marathon pace. I always like to pick up that last mile to see how the legs feel at that point. It was comfortably hard.  My HR on the way out was labored, mainly I think due to the wind, we were running into it.  But then after we turned around and picked up the tailwind I felt pretty good.

Sunday

Plan:  Rest

Actual:  Rest, and grocery shopping (no couch time)

It was a solid week of training and everything felt good.  I'm ready for my little 3 miler today before I head home.

Eats

Weight Watcher Weigh In:  1.6 lb loss.  

Not really earned but I'll take it.  I didn't track at all all week.  

What I did well:

While I wasn't tracking, I did still keep things in check.  My portion control was pretty spot on.  I ate mostly pretty healthy dinners and even though we ran long Saturday morning and went out to breakfast I had my traditional egg white, mushroom and avocado omelette.  Then had movie popcorn for lunch (I know, I know, not great) but thin crust pizza for dinner.  I didn't have many sweets, just some chocolate cake last night.

What didn't go so well:

I didn't track my points.  I know that I need to.

What I'm going to focus on this week:

It's Thanksgiving and my birthday AND my wedding anniversary.  All on the same day.  So I'm going to continue to focus on portion control.  I know there will be tons of veggie options for Thanksgiving dinner so I'm not really worried about that. I'm more worried about the birthday/anniversary meals out!

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How strictly do you stick to your training plans?  Especially when it comes to warm up/cool down?

Do you have a game plan to stay on track this week with the holiday?

POP QUIZ .. it's like high school all over

Do you all remember those survey's from high school?  Perhaps I'm dating myself here .. I will be turning the big 4 - 0 next week.  *vomit in mouth* .. seriously turning 30 was so much easier.

I digress.

The awesomely talented Kimberly at Healthy Strides tagged me in a post and I am most happy to oblige!  I'm generally NOT a cool kid but this week I felt a tiny bit cool.  Thanks Kimberly!

Four names that people call me, other than my real name

Carebear

Keredwin

Babe

Honey

Four jobs I have had

Project Manager

Bartender  (I make a mean margarita!)

Collections Rep

Accounting Dept. Manager at a Termite and Pest Control company!

Four movies I've watched more than once

"Love Actually"

"Easy A"  .. I just love Emma Stone.  And all the 80's movies references .. melt my heart.

"Grease"  .. Who didn't know the words to all the songs and sing along like they were Sandy??

"Pretty Woman"  .. I mean c'mon who doesn't remember, "Big mistake .. HUGE .."

Four books I'd recommend

"Kite Runner"

"Memoirs of a Geisha" .. just awesome.

"Lean In"  .. I'm actually not even 100% finished but I'm LOVING the messages in this book.

Guilty Pleasure:  Black Dagger Brotherhood Series .. sexy vampires?  Yes please.  DON'T JUDGE

Four places I have lived

England .. born there.  Bet you didn't know that!

Los Angeles, CA  .. grew up there and it still holds a big chunk of my heart.

Sandy, UT

West Jordan, UT  .. but I don't drink the kool aid as one would say here.

 

Four places I have been

Paris, France

Aruba

Hawaii

New York

Four things I don't eat

Olives

Pickles

Fish .. cooked .. raw .. it's all just disgusting

artichokes .. unless chopped really tiny and mixed with spinach and LOTS of cream cheese .. because doesn't cream cheese make everything better??

Four of my favorite foods

Cafe Rio / Costa Vida Sweet Pork Salad .. come visit me and I'll take you there.  Your world will be rocked.

Sweet Potato fries

Cafe Zupas, Wisconsin Cauliflower soup .. so good.

Haagen Dazs, Peanut Butter and Chocolate ice cream .. Cold Stones Peanut Butter Perfection is a close second!

Four TV shows that I watch

Nashville .. I don't love country music but I LOVE this show

Chicago Fire  .. I don't know why but I've always loved fireman shows or emergency shows

Parenthood .. this should be at the top of my list.  I'm SICK that it's been cancelled, it's brilliant!

Vampire Diaries .. back to that guilty pleasure category .. the men are just gorgeous to look at.

Four things I am looking forward to this year (I'm thinking 2015)

No more child support to my husbands oldest son .. RAISE!!

Phoenix Marathon .. I need some redemption

We will be debt free come summer (except for our house)

Planning some sort of family vacation .. we're due.

Four things I'm always saying

"It is what it is."  I'm a big believer in accepting and moving on.

"Be quiet!!!"  .. usually yelled at one of my 3 boys.  They are just so loud!

"Please .. please .. just DO YOUR HOMEWORK."

"I am so worn out."

Four People I tag

Katie

Jess

Kim  .. it's been awhile

hello fancy pants  .. not sure if you read but just in case

and any other possible reader that might be out there .. join the fun!

**********

Thanks Kimberly for making me feel cool this week!

Do you have kids?

Do you fight with them over homework EVERY night?

     -  Please someone share a trick with me!  Homework is going to be the death of me.

Tips for squeezing it in.

**TWSS**

Are you too busy to work out?

How many times do you hear people say, I just don't have the time?

We all get the same number of hours in a day.  Every single one of us.  As with all things in life it comes down to what you choose to make a priority and what you choose to put on the back burner.  I'm not one of those runners who will go on and on about how much I love love love running.  Nope.  Because I don't know that I really do love running.  I started after I had my 4th and LAST baby.  I wasn't a track runner in high school.  Like so many other bloggers out there.

Nope.

I started really running in my thirties!

I would say the reason I still run, now almost 4 years later is because it's a habit.  I do value having this healthy habit in my life.  Setting an example to my children that it's important to take care of your body.  That as a wife/mother/ and full time employed outside the home woman I still value the importance of taking care of myself.

I have F O U R children.

 One of those four children is disabled and a total handful.  Some days it takes all my patience.  There is nothing special about special needs.  Sorry, I'm saying it.  And I know many will condemn.  I cannot count the number of times I've been told that III am special.  Because III was chosen.

Alas, I still choose to make time for exercise.  So here are my tips on how to make it work:

1.  Plan.  Plan. And plan again.  Plan your meals.  I plan dinners for the entire week the week before. Not only does it make having the right ingredients on hand a snap.  But it takes the decision out of dinner.  So many benefits come with this one.  We eat healthier.  I plan around busy nights.  Some nights I PLAN to have a Lean Cuisine for dinner.  Throw some veggies in the steamer and dinner is ready with no prep work in 30 minutes.

2.  Plan.  Plan.  And Plan again.  Plan your workouts.  Write them down.  Know when you'll do them.  And then the night before you're planning by packing your bag.  By planning that on Tuesday and Thursday I want to go to Barbell class then I know to plan my meal around getting home at 7:15pm.  I know to pack running clothes for work AND capri's for Barbell class.  Because who (other than my husband) wants to see me bend over doing deadlifts in my running shorts?

3.  Get creative.  I run usually 3 days per week during my lunch hour.  Yes, this means that I have to eat at my desk which they say is so terrible for you. But the terrible part about eating at your desk is that you're distracted and eat more. But if you've PLANNED (see #1) your lunch then you're already portioned out and don't have to worry about overeating.  It's not always fun to run at lunch.  But it's how I get creative at squeezing it in.  I don't shower after, I use baby wipes.  Some people might think it's gross.  Whatever.  Nobody has ever told me I stink.  Biggest downside to this is my hair.  Up do.  All the time.

And don't be afraid to squeeze a walk in or a jog while getting outside with your kids.  I don't intentionally go out to run with my kids.  No jogger here.  BUT, I have been out with them before and wished I had my running shoes so that I could job next to them.  It's been a missed opportunity in the past, and I try to make sure it's not repeated.  I walk laps while my son is at soccer practice.  Baylee (my daughter) will walk some laps too.  And I don't feel obligated to walk them together with her.  She gets her work out in and I get mine.  Plus I'll drag my dog along too.

4.  Find a buddy.  I don't run with a buddy much anymore.  But I used to have a weekend running buddy and it kept me MUCH more accountable. I miss running with her and our Sunday morning chats.  This is my biggest challenge currently.  I'm pretty introverted, so I'm not big on running groups.  But for lots of people this works out well.  And I happen to know that my Lifetime Fitness where I live welcomes non-members to run club.  So maybe that's an option where you are.

5.  Always be signed up for a race.  This one may not be popular with everyone.  But it comes back to the whole accountability factor.  If I'm signed up for a race .. I mean committed .. I've paid my money!  Because I don't get free race entries.  Then I'm more likely to not "waste my money" and not train.

6.  Get. Over. The. Mommy. Guilt.  Seriously.  Get over it.  You and your kids are better off if you get your run in.  Again, this comes from someone that is not a self proclaimed obsessed runner.  But I do admit that if I need to get a run in and I'm having a hard time squeezing it in and I don't want to not check off that box on my training plan.  I start to get grumpy.

I like to check boxes off.  What can I say?

7.  Bike Commute to work.  So this isn't running specific.  But I got an UP band and for awhile I was obsessed with getting my 10,000 steps in.  40 minute commute to work a couple times a week really helped!  And I LOVED commuting to work on my bike. I loved knowing I was reducing my carbon footprint as well.

Best money ever spent.

8.  It is NOT the Dreadmill.  I love my treadmill.  Sometimes (often times these days) the only weeknight TV I get is while running on the treadmill.  I love plugging my headphones in my ears and just running while indulging in a little Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime Video.  Love.  Vampire Diaries anyone?  We have a treadmill at work and it's so convenient.  Plus in the summer when it's 100+ degrees outside, I don't have to go out and melt.  Great excuse to hop on the mill.

9.  Make it a date.  As I mentioned I dearly miss running with my best girl friend. But since then my husband and I have spent many a Saturday morning or day off starting with a long run.  We still want to get out and explore some local trails before it's too late.

10.  Multitask.  I will be getting a spin bike for my birthday in a couple weeks.  Jeramie already knows that the bike is going in our living room.  Is he thrilled?  Nope.  But I know it will get used if it's upstairs, rather than in my basement.  I can't wait!  Spin while bonding with my husband on the couch over some Walking Dead?  Yes please.

That's it.  That's actually a pretty good list there.  All of which I can personally attest to.  I never said that finding time was easy.  And it isn't always convenient.  But if you choose to make it a priority then the time is there to be found.

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What ways have you gotten creative to find time for exercise?

Netflix / Hulu / Amazon Prime Video .. what's your poison?

What shows are you loving right now?
          -  I'm gorging on Vampire Diaries and Sons of Anarchy.

Five Things Friday

Happy Friday people!  I am so ready for the weekend.  I feel like I haven't seen my kiddos all week.  I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with them.  Can you even believe that school goes back NEXT MONTH??  That just makes my heart break a little.

1.  I went to see this movie last night.  I had read the book. I knew it was sad.  But good LORDY watching it play out over the big screen was gut wrenching!  I'm not always a huge fan of watching movies made of books that I've already read, I often find myself bored.  This movie was adapted well though.  Even if the actors were brother and sister (Divergent) now becoming lovers .. weird? .. maybe a bit!  Good stuff though .. just make sure you take a big big box of tissues.

2.  I have tried desperately to get back on track with my eating.  So I've been eating turkey sandwiches and veggies all week.  (well for lunch anyway)  I was doing really well until #1 (movie last night), when I ended up devouring a philly cheesesteak sandwich at the theater.  It was SO good.  And now today I haven't been able to get a FreeBirds pork quesadilla out of my head.  I swear once you bring back in the really good tasting food then turkey sandwiches and veggies just don't sound that good anymore!

3.  It's been over 100 degrees here some days this week and this happened to my furnace.  That's ICE!  It stopped working and my house was 85+ degrees.  It sucked.  However, it only cost $134 to fix and the house is cold again.  I'm calling that a WIN since it could have been worse!

4.  Oh and this guy.  My baby.  He gets a bloody nose and I actually think he was proud of it.  Love him.

5.  This ranks in the top of my favorite race pictures.  I feel like I look heavy, especially across the shoulders and arms.  But setting that aside I love it.  I'd just finished my first Ragnar leg last month.  I was tired but I'd worked hard and looking at the picture that's what my face says.  I just love it.

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What are you all doing this weekend?  Leave me a little comment love!

          -  I'll be spending some time in the sun at the lake.  Hopefully I don't drink too many margaritas!

Salt Lake Half Marathon, Recap.

I debate about whether just to shut this silly little blog down but I just can't bring myself to do it.  I like having my race recaps and training to look back on.  I have run the Salt Lake Half Marathon every year since I started running 3+ years ago.  I like that it's a course through my home town.  This race in particular starts at my Alma Mater which always feels kind of cool.  Since we were in the middle of marathon training we had a 20 miler on tap for the day.  It was really attractive to just run the extra 7 after we finished the race but we did that once last year and it kind of sucked.  The cool thing about this race is that there is no busing.  You can take TRAX to the start from multiple locations for free.  So we decided to park at the finish and then run our way UP to the start line. Once we got to the start the plan was to run out and back for another 4 miles. Then run the race.

That was the plan ...

Well we got there in plenty of time.  We parked right next to the start line for free!  Which isn't always possible in down town Salt Lake.  But the run to the starting line was seriously straight up hill the whole way.  That probably wasn't the best idea right before a half marathon.  It was kind of fun though because they also have a bike tour and so we saw tons of cyclists heading to their starting line to start before the runners.  Once we got up there it was obvious that the out and back for four miles wasn't going to work.  There were no sidewalks up there.  There was however a totally empty beautiful track!!!  So that's what we did.  Ended up needing another 4.5 miles before the race to get us to 20.  We were the only ones on there for quite some time.  It was so relaxing not having to worry about rushing to get ready for the race.  We had plenty of time.  After a while there were a lot of people that joined us on the track .. we kind of felt like little trend setters out there.

We watched the sun rise over the mountains beside us.

My selfie.  I just thought this was cool.

We finished our first 7 feeling good.

Ready to run another 13.1

The course was different than last year.  Pretty much every year I've run this (3 in a row now) they've changed the course a LOT.  This year there was quite a bit of uphill sections. But since we weren't running it for time it really wasn't a big deal.  I liked that they tried to take us on a bit of a tour of Salt Lake.  That made it fun.  We ran with Jeramie's friend, it was his first half in quite awhile.  With about 4 miles left, which is when things get hard for me is when I split off from the boys and forged ahead some on my own.  I was feeling really good!  Which surprised me.  It was starting to get warm at this point. When I had about 2 miles left my IT band started to hurt quite a bit.  I had started running in some Altra's and around the same time started to have some IT band issues that I haven't had since I started running three years ago.  I'm super bummed about that and also SUPER worried about how this will play out at my marathon in a month.

2:18:01

I walked a bit during those last 2 miles and tried to suck it up some.  It was a bit of a fight but I finished feeling good about my time and really proud that I pulled through on a total of 20.

Salt Lake Half is the ONLY one in Utah I believe to have finish line beer.

I'm not a big Miller Lite fan .. but that beer tasted wonderful.

Love running races with the hubs.

My only dislike of this race is that the t-shirts are some of the lamest.

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Do you like running hometown races?

Do you indulge in the finish line beers?  If not, do you at least give your beer ticket to someone else?