One week countdown

Hopefully by this time next week I will be celebrating finishing my second full marathon with a PR. I think the week before the marathon is the toughest. You have done all your training now you just have to wait.......... torture! I have a few small runs this week but nothing big so I also will have a lot of free time :)
I am very thankful I have been able to do the training for this marathon. Sometimes you have to find something that is just for you! It may sound selfish but sometimes I need alone time. Maybe it is on a treadmill or running in the snow, 20mph winds, pushing a baby, listening to loud music on my Ipod, listening to a Beth Moore study or Jillian Michaels podcast but for whatever time my feet are moving it is my time. I can think, sing, pray whatever I need to do at that time. I like to dedicate certain miles or runs to people close to me. When the hill is tough or legs are tired I think of this person and pray for them, asking God to get bless their life and help me to finish this hill :) It's amazing how much it helps me. I also think of people in wheelchairs, hospital beds, etc that would do anything to be able to run. It pushes me to keep putting one foot in front of the other and counting my blessing.
Living in Ohio with no family or close friends to help with John Thomas and my husband constantly traveling with work I am proud I was able to train for a marathon. I probably ran more miles on a treadmill than you should in marathon training and did not do enough hill training because I had to stay as close to the house as possible but either way I did complete one 19 mile and two 20 mile runs. A total of 514miles as of today!! Plus teaching 5 group fitness classes a week :) My weight is pretty much the same as when I started but my body fat is 14.7 % which makes me very happy!
I am excited that Tommy will be able to watch this marathon and I will have my biggest fan, JT, there! Praying for a uneventful, restful week and great weather next Sunday!

People I will pray for and give thanks for during my run
0-6.5 - Gavin, my nephew and my new niece or nephew that is due May 15
6.5-13 - a dear friend battling breast cancer
13-19 - Tommy, my stepson, and John Thomas
19-26.2 - Tommy, my husband

PJ's

Yesterday I was going through all of JTs newborn clothes to mail to my sister.

 (Leigh Anne is 37 weeks pregnant and we do not know if she is having a boy or a girl. I can not wait for the baby to be here! As soon as she goes in to labor I am going to buy the first ticket I can to Alabama! I am so excited to hold a little newborn and to be able to help with the baby and Gavin.)

John Thomas newborn

 A big baby yawn. So cute! Look how loose the PJs are on him.

John Thomas 15months old

My big baby! I can not believe how big he is!!!

 FYI - the reason they are laying on his back because I could not get him to stay still long enough any other way to get a picture :)

I am off for my last long run (only 8 miles) before the marathon today. Yay! Unfortunalty it has to be on the treadmill since it is raining and cold and Tommy is out of town. Then we are meeting some friends at the circus! JTs first circus!

Injury and new finds

So I have my first injury during marathon training - a shin splint. I have not ran since Wednesday and now it is Sunday and I am going crazy! I should have ran 10 yesterday and 20 today. Instead I am spending an hour and a half on the elliptical (each day) and massaging and RICE. (rest, ice, compression and elevation) Next week was suppose to be a slow week so hopefully I will be better next week and can just flip flop my weeks. I am praying for this to heal, quickly! :) I know rest is what my body needs but it is so hard to listen sometimes. I were these amazing compression sleeves around the house ALL the time. My husband loves how good I look in them ;) If you are doing any kind of long distance training these have helped my recovery so much!

New Finds

I tried a new recipe 

Banana Protein Muffins

The recipes calls for vanilla protein powder but I did not have any so mine are chocolate - chocolate is always better anyway, right? I tried one right when they came out the oven - just ok. Next morning - much better! I have learned protein powder cooked is not good hot out of the oven like other food. 

Dashing Dish is a great website! She has lots of great recipes, workouts and devotionals! Read her

 my story, I found it very motivational!

I have just started listening to podcast. I don't know why I never have before! They keep my interest the whole time I am working out, on long runs (or the elliptical) I can get tired of music so these have been great for me. There are so many free ones on ITunes. Find something you are interested and they probably have a podcast about it! I have been listening to Jillian Michaels.

It is warming up here in Ohio! YAY!

 So we got to go shopping for John Thomas new clothes!!

Modeling a couple of new outfits

How cute are those little Nikes?!

My Handsome Boy! 

I'm in love :)

Training

 I had a cut back week so my long run was a half marathon. It was cold and there were snow flurries but I had a good run! It was by myself. My pace was 8:54. If I can keep that for a full I would break 4 hours. Keep training and praying :)

Longest run so far. 19 miles at 8:45 pace!

It was a nice day and I ran with the Up and Running Group again. I felt good the entire run. I really believe fueling during you run is the key! I love GU. I follwed up the 19 mile run with 9 the next day. It was tough! Pace was much slower - 9:08. This weekend I have 10 mile and 20 mile run. 

Wish me luck!

I haven't lost any weight like I was hoping but my clothes still fit good so lets hope it's muscle :) My last (and only) marathon I gained 5 lbs during training so I'm really trying not to let that happen again. It's easy to think you can eat whatever since you just ran for almost Three Hours!!!

John Thomas

John Thomas and I are finding a new Saturday routine.

 I go out for a long run with the Up and Running Group. 

 17 miles - 9minute pace. YAY!

Then after I relax, John Thomas naps we go to Barnes and Nobles.

 What a great find for me!!

First there is a Starbucks in Barnes and Nobles so I get coffee (Skinny Salted Carmel Mocha Latte- Amazing!) grab a couple books and head to the kids area. John Thomas loves playing with the trains and I enjoy my coffee and flip through books. It's like a little babysitter!

This amazes me - John Thomas automatically picks up train, car, etc and starts saying vroom, vroom. How does he know to do this?? I guess boys are born knowing how to do this. It is so cute.

Another good mom find for me-

At the grocery store.

 Kroger has little cars attached to the carts. John Thomas plays while I shop - when he gets bored I get some of the samples they are always passing out. My child can eat his body weight in hummus. 

John Thomas has not started walking yet and does not really seemed concerned to start. I will try to walk with him and he will for a little bit, decides that is enough sits and crawls away as fast as possible :)

What he does enjoy is climbing 

At play care at the gym. He also likes climbing to the top of the table as well.

If I leave him in the living room and walk into another room this is usually what I come back to find

Climbing on the fireplace.

And of course if we are in the kitchen this is where you usually will find him

All the tuberware has been thrown across my kitchen 

so he can fit his body in here to get the rest out for me.

Have a good week!

Long Run

Since moving to Dayton 98% of my runs have been on my own. Which for the most part I don't mind at all. However when you start running 10 plus miles it is nice to have someone to help take your mind off the fact you are still running! Also moving to a new city I do not know where to go so it's nice to learn some new running places.
The local running store here, Up and Running, has running groups that meet 3 days a week. One is Saturday mornings. Tommy is usually always working on Saturday mornings so I don't have any help with JT. I mentioned this running group to a friend of mine and she volunteered to come watch JT so I could run! She even came to my house so JT could nap in his crib, which he decided not to nap anyway. It was so nice of her!!! Not having family around and any "old" friends you really don't get much help so having a "new" friend offer to help meant SO much to me! It's the first time anyone has done that for me.
Anyway back to running - I went to Up and Running got connected with a group of runners and ran 16.40 miles!! 9:17 pace. I was really proud of myself!

Tomorrow I have a 17 mile run. I am praying it goes as well as last weeks! My legs have been tired all week but today is a recovery day so hopefully they will feel rested in the morning.

John Thomas and I celebrated my run by going to Barnes and Nobles where Mommy could get Starbucks and he could play trains :)

So much fun!

Weekend Run and Advocare

This past weekend I ran 24 miles!
10 on Saturday and 14 on Sunday. Tommy was out of town Saturday and it was cold and raining. Since I did not want child services called on me I ran on the treadmill instead of putting JT in the jogging stroller.  Last 10 mile run on the treadmill was a disaster! so I asked my sister and a friend to pray for me a good run and it worked! Ran 10 miles easy :) Incline 1% Time 1:31
Tommy was home Sunday so I ran outside. It was a nice day and I had a good run.  Pace was around 9:20 miles. I'm really wanting to get my pace at 9 minute miles so I can break a 4 hour marathon. I did not use GU or have water on my run. Next long run I will and I believe it will keep me from hitting a wall around 10 miles. Hopefully improving my time. This week is a recovery week so my longest run is 10 miles. I'm excited!
I do use AdvoCare products before and after my runs and I love them! They help me with energy and recovery. For those of you who asked here is my link   advocare. I have had great success with them and so have many of my friends, family and clients.

I AM REGISTERED!

Flying Pig Marathon!

Day One

My new blog..... one of my New Years resolutions :)
I have decided to write a blog share pictures and stories of my sweet boy, John Thomas, brag on my husband, Tommy, and share my journey through training for a marathon along with helpful workout tips and recipes.

So I have decided to run the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon! I have mixed feelings about this marathon. All the reviews talk about how hilly the course is (Big Con) but my husband will be able to watch me run (Pro) My one and only previous marathon was a hilly course. The shirts said "what hills" so I was hoping to find a flatter course but oh well. Just train harder :) Week one long run will be 10miles on Saturday
Today is the first training day. Over the next 18 weeks I am hoping to eat mostly whole foods to help with fuel and recovery and drop around 5lbs to help increase my speed.
Biggest Challenge? Training for a marathon with a almost one year old baby. Living away from family and having a husband who works on average 7days a week and very long hours some runs maybe challenging. Not looking forward to clocking 10+ on a treadmill!
On another note I am very excited to be planning my little mans first birthday party! One year old! How has it already been a year?! John Thomas is definitely the highlight of my little life. How can one person change you so much?? We are having a puppy dog party. His favorite thing in the whole world is our sweet dog Kennedy. His favorite activity is crawling to her to pull her hair out......poor Kennedy and his favorite toy is her food and water bowl. So what better theme? I do wish our families could be here to celebrate but I will make sure to document well for everyone :)
My husbands basketball team won a huge game this weekend. We are 2-0 in conference play. Hopefully we will continue with our winning streak! Go Flyers!