Marathon Mom

Last week I saw Laura post this on her blog and since O and I were talking about running and why I like it I thought it would be fun to see her answers… 1. What does mom eat before a run? O: “That stuff you drink in the shaker”  (UCAN) Typically my protein oatmeal and coffee for a long run and UCAN or nothing if shorter morning run). 2. How far does mom run everyday? O: “30 miles!!" (with a grin) Haha, No!! More like 6-8 miles 2-3x week and 14-20 miles 1x week 3. What was mom’s favorite race? O: “Color Run, because you ran with me!” Boston was probably the most fun I’ve had, but Color Run with O was fun too. 4. Why do you think your mom runs? O: “To be healthy.” Yes!! Love that she realizes this is a huge part of it. 5. What injuries has mom had from running? O: “Cramps in your foot.” Yep, she’s remembering my panic after Saturday’s 21 miler where she had to take my shoe off when my foot cramped with 1/3 mile to go, ugh! 6. Do you lik...

We are beginning week 3 of gluten free for O.  Dealing with this through school was a mess but I’m hoping it is solved at this point for the remainder of the year. Ugh! The options are minimal at school for her and lack in healthiness, seriously why do we feed school kids so poorly? One week done at the new job with the new hours and we are adjusting to the variation is schedule. This also means figuring out how to best meal prep and plan for the day’s schedule. I work regular days, ½ days and a late day so it is all over the place. This makes some days easier than others for  cooking same day meals. So here is our attempt to plan for the week and still with it! Menu Sunday: Grill: Beet salad with tempeh and roasted cauliflower Monday:  Tempeh Fajitas Tuesday:  Late day so leftovers Wednesday:  Veggie Tofu Lettuce Wraps Thursday:  Vegan Mac n Cheese Friday:  Dinner out Saturday:  Veggie Burgers and Roasted Sweet Potatoes Wh...

Over the past year I have focused on improving training with less running, more strength and more cross training and improving nutrition. I am seeing huge gains from these two but the one area that still fights me is sleep! I've always been one for poor sleep and needing my sleep. This was overly apparent when I had to work nights and would walk around like a zombie on no sleep for the 2-3 day stretch of night shifts. I knew my sleep wasn't great but then I got my Fitbit in August and it only proved my point... Look at all that restless blue and wake up pink! Last week I had my yearly appointment with my endocrinologist and we discussed my sleep and how It wasn't great but no worse than usual. I also told him how some afternoons I'd barely function due to fatigue. I know my poor sleep is affecting all aspects of my life but how do we fix it? We discussed decreasing my thyroid meds but that would have negative impacts on other things so decided not to. M...

My spring break is coming to an end tomorrow with a to do list that is still half full! My main goal with returning to work with hours that will get me home a little later is to meal plan and prep. I have decided that Sunday will be time to prep at least one extra meal and Wednesday when I work afternoon only I will make something either in slow cooker or ready to be thrown in oven that night. I like this to do list better! We are now on day 8 of gluten free for O so this adds to the importance of planning. She is similar to me with inconclusive blood tests (not low enough to be negative but not high enough to be positive). So we are doing a 3 month trial and rechecking some of her other tests for her liver and thyroid which are off and can be due to celiac. Menu Sunday:   BeanChili and Cornbread Monday:   Veggie Pizza Tuesday:  Leftovers Wednesday:  Dinner Out Thursday:   Tofu Sweet Potato Lettuce Wraps Friday:  Wraps and Sweet Potatoes...

This past week I’ve had time to think, look at how things are going, figure out some answers, have fun and stress out all at the same time! A lot has been going on lately, some I have hinted at. Things around here have meant crazy busy days for me and less blogging. So here is my updates… 1. I became an official Dance Mom this past weekend! O had her first competition and they did great, placing 1 st and 2 nd in their category and earning two platinum medals and excellence for their tap. In a way this hurts her because now she thinks she can practice less, ugh! How to get a 6 year old to understand the balance between practicing enough and not too much, being good but not focusing on perfection. 2. Spring Fever and looking ahead to better running weather has struck! I will be broke by April if I keep up my current ways!! This week I have bought 2 pairs or running shoes (stocking up before they are gone, thanks to Adidas discontinuing mine), ProCompression socks and am no...

After a rough patch of over two years of hamstring injury NOLA was to be my first real comeback race. I had high hopes even through being sick with what I'm sure was the flu making me miss my last couple big weeks of training. Come race weekend despite travel I still had these hopes. Saturday we walked a lot and hit the expo (in the end walked over 7 miles on Saturday, yikes!) Grabbed lunch at this hole in the wall place that served me a mixing bowl size salad that was amazing! We hit the grocery store for my required sweet potato before our team meeting. The team I coached was running the half while I ran the marathon to support CCFA! After eating my sweet potato for snack we headed to the team dinner, GF pasta and salad. But why? I never eat this prerace, again not following my own advice! My Team! Sunday morning came with a later than usual wake up thanks to staying 2 blocks from the start. I ate, rolled and dealt with GI issues (thanks to eating out and I'm sure gett...

While I may have run many marathons I have yet to actually train for anything longer. A few years back I was registered for a 50K but was injured and unable to run trails until just a week prior so I wasn't able to train or run the race. 2 weeks ago I finished RnR NOLA (recap is coming this week!) and using that as part of 50K training. With just under 5 weeks to go I am focusing on the 50K (with some speedwork too since I have a half in 2 months) while still being smart and listening to my body. I also have this week off work, yay!, so getting in lots of focused workouts hoping to stick with a good plan once back to work. The past few weeks have meant getting back out with friends and pushing each other to run faster and further while working through stresses of life and motherhood. Source: ilovetorun Monday:  7.5 mile run 58.10: 1 mile w/u 5 mile at 7:20 1.5 mile c/d and Arms/Shoulders Tuesday:  Chest/Back and kickboxing Wednesday:  7-8 mile ru...

Sorry for the short disapearance but traveling and being quickly thrown back into the crazy reality of work and life took over last week.In typical me fashion I let the post-marathon food indulging go on pas race day and have been slowly getting back to normal eating. I swear the post-marathon hunger has hung around forever! Anyone else have this issue?  This week ahead will be back to healthier choices. The other day I listened to the webinar with Meb and UCAN and am once again so impressed with him and inspired to make some healthier changes. This week ahead will be great timing as I am off work. I have left my job with crazy hours, long days, frequent pages late, weekends, etc and will be starting a new job in a week with set hours, minimal evening and weekend commitment and more time to be with family and to focus on better marathon training. Being home is allowing me to make more meals and after the past weeks of eating out too much we can get back into the normal dinner r...