Three Thing Thursday

1. I've been using MyFitnessPal to get back on track with my eating. I know I need to work on adding some more fitness stuff too, especially strength training. However, the week of eating better reduced the pain from my gallblader. 2. I have a 5k in Kansas City, MO in just over a week. I don't think I am going to be able to finish as fast as I wanted too, but I'm going to try. 3. I need to get my half marathon training plan lined out, but that may depend on what the doctor says about my gallbladder scan results. We'll see.

Testing and such

We had a great day at Six Flags yesterday. We had prepared the kids and ourselves for the worst, knowing it was going to be extremely hot. We fully expected to go for a couple of hours, have our picnic lunch, go back in for another hour or two and leave. However, despite the 105* weather, we rode and played until almost 2:30 before stopping for lunch, and then played some more until 6:30! The kids really enjoyed the rides and managed to stay cool with the park's misters and spray fans.

And then this morning, I had a gallbladder scan. Oh, my, word. I did not know what to expect from this test at all. Basically, I was flat on my back and still for two hours while a camera captured pictures of my abdomen, tracking a radioactive tracer as it progressed through my liver and gallbladder. Other than feeling the IV port, the test itself was painless. Even the enzyme that tricks your body into thinking it just ate didn't do much (except make me feel even hungrier after not getting to eat this morning), even though many people experience pain during that part. Of course, that made me think, "Great, gallbladder. You pick today to behave?!" However, the tech was able to tell me that my gallbladder function was abnormal. I'll find out Friday what my doctor wants to do.

A week in review

What I've Been Up To
This past week, I decided to get my health back on track. I started using My Fitness Pal on Monday to track my calories and exercise. I spent the first part of the summer eating every time I got frustrated with the kids or overwhelmed with my never-ending to-do list (which means I was snacking just about all the time). And unfortunately, I wasn't choosing healthy foods...not at all. So I gained those pesky few pounds back.

This week decided to throw me a few curveballs. First, my gallbladder decided it wanted to try and kill me. Well, I'm assuming it's my gallbladder. I have scan Wednesday to find out (and wouldn't you know it? It's not hurting a bit this week!). I was in considerable pain last weekend, to the point of wondering if I should go to the ER. The pain continued off and on all week, up until this Saturday. And then it stopped. Hallelujah!

Of course, eating better all week may have helped that a bit. I'm just hoping it doesn't backfire on me and render this upcoming test pointless. I was out of town for most of the week, in San Antonio for a conference. I wish I could say I'd been there for fun. My friend and I had grand plans of running one night and even using the city's B-Cycle program to bike one night...until we realized we weren't in a neighborhood where those kinds of things would be wise choices. We did venture to the hotel's fitness closet room. It was awful! An elliptical and a treadmill side by side facing the far wall (a full mirror). There were free weights...a pair of 10, 15, and 20 pounds weights. And that was it. It was hot and tiny and a little scary because the screen on the treadmill blocked your view of the door right behind the treadmill. That was the end of our workouts for the rest of our stay. Luckily though, our hotel had breakfast and I was able to make good choices then.

My kids were with my parents all week, so I was able to get out for a run on Friday after getting home Thursday night. It was hot and humid, but it was a run. And then I ran yesterday with my sister, finally making it to five miles after trying to do that for the past couple of weeks. And I ran again today because I knew I wouldn't be able to run tomorrow or Wednesday. The scale didn't disappoint this morning, showing a three-pound loss. Again, I know most of that is my fluff weight, those few pounds that go up and down all the time. But, I have been eating so much better!

Last Week's Mileage
Weekly: 11.7 miles
YTD: 317ish

This Week's Challenge
I'm going to take my cue from the Run With Jess weight-loss challenge and use her weekly challenge for mine (at least this week). This week's challenge is to drink enough water. Temps have shot up for us this week, and we're headed to an amusement park tomorrow...making this challenge even more important.

Do whatever it takes to drink enough for you. Mark a bottle with times so you know if you're on track to drink enough, schedule time to drink a bottle, carry it with you, flavor it...whatever works for you.

Challenge 52

In light of starting new things this week, this week's challenge is just that...challenge yourself. This can be in any area you want...running, fitness, weight loss, your home, your career...you name it, it's your challenge.

I'm challenging myself to lose 13.1 pounds in 13 weeks all while training for my third half marathon.

The bigger challenge here is to plan out exactly how you're going to meet this goal. For me, this means coming up with a way to eat better and keep track of it and to plan my workouts. I've started this off by signing up for My Fitness Pal to keep track of calorie intake and burn. The next step this afternoon will be to work up a calendar for my workouts. I've been doing this a week at a time...ok, let's face it, maybe the night before. So...a plan it will be. I have a training plan for my half, but I know I will need to add in some strength and cross-training in order to burn enough calories.

Accountability

I don't usually need much for accountability other than my trusty training plan. It helps that I have family and friends that run to talk to about my running, but it's not necessary. But here lately, it's a huge help to know my sister is waiting for me for a run or a workout.

And here are a couple more ways to stay accountable...

Tomorrow starts the Welcome to Summer Virtual Run 5k/10k hosted by Toni at Running Loving Living. I am looking forward to a virtual run to stay in the swing of things this week, especially since I'll be out of town for a big chunk of the week. My plan is to do the 5K at the hotel midweek and the 10K for my long run this weekend.

I also signed up for the Run With Jess Marathon Weight Loss Challenge. I haven't done a good job of staying on track with my eating since being home for summer, and the pounds have snuck up on me. I'm hoping the challenge of losing weight before Sept. 17 (yikes...school will already be back in session and I have two races around that time, not to mention a half the month after that). The idea behind this challenge is she and a friend are going to try and lose 26.2 before the friend's first marathon. I'm going to try and do the Half Marathon...losing 13.1 pounds in the next 13 months. It's going to take a complete overhaul of my food intake and a major jump back on the wagon, but I am all for it!

Weekly update

This week: 13.1 miles
YTD: 305 miles

I miss blogging. I miss eating well. I know I'm the only one that can change things. The adjustment to being home all summer with two kids is always a little rough. I always struggle with feeling like I can't get it all together, and summer just magnifies that because, in addition to all that I normally balance, I add in entertaining the kids and trying to do some projects around the house.

The kids will be gone next week, but unfortunately, so will I for most of it. I won't be able to get much done in the time I am home, but I'm going to try.

But...I have a plan for the rest of the summer. Well, not a really developed one, but I'm working on it. I have found several ideas on Pinterest that I'm going to give a whirl. The first is busy bags, activities the kids can do independently to practice skills like letter matching or hand-eye coordination.

The second idea uses the busy bags and is a station rotation. This blogger called it "How to Get 2 Hours of Sanity a Day." Love that! I plan on doing this at least once a week, probably on a day where we go somewhere in the morning. My rotation ideas are busy bags, Wii, computer (Reading Eggs or other educational games), library books and journals, TV (they will love that they don't have to watch the same thing), iPad, craft project, and maybe even some time with me one-on-one, like in the kitchen cooking or something. We won't do all of these each time, and they will only get a couple of the "screen time" stations each time we do this. We have really been working on limiting that this summer.

Sarah Beth did go to the Boys and Girls Club for the first time this summer yesterday. I think she likes it because she gets her own "me" time in a way. Now if I could just figure a way to entertain Ryan during that time. It's not that I want to be away from my kid all summer...I just don't know how to get it all done at the same time. I know that part of the solution is me setting some priorities...what really has to get done today? This week? This summer? I think I had pretty high expectations of what I could get done in the summer, like always.

I will say, we have done a lot of fun things already...library story time, a magic show, summer movies, crafts, cooking, sprinklers, trampoline fun...yeah, I like the list of what we HAVE done...makes me feel accomplished in some way.

I almost forgot one of the best things we did this week...the kids and I waked/ran to a local bakery for breakfast. It was a lot of fun! I wish I had thought to take pictures!

A Saturday Update...the first in a long time

I finally have a weekly update worth writing. I got back on track with regular running last week and battled an injury weird pain and swelling in my knee after that. I have no idea what I did to it or how it really got any better. I'm leaning toward thinking that getting back to running on the road and not the treadmill might have contributed to the problem. But it all seems to be ok this week. I've had a little soreness or stiffness and some tight hips. I can deal with those things. I ran Monday on the hotel treadmill, Wednesday on the treadmill due to storms and finally got to hit the road on Friday. My sister and I had a garage sale today, which meant no running this morning. The money we made made up for it though :) I am planning on running "long" tomorrow. I can't quite pick up on my training plan where I should be, but I'm adapting it to what I can do for now. I have a 5k in one month. My goal there is to finish in under 30 minutes. I think I can get there...but it's going to take some work. After that race, I will start my half marathon training for the 13.1 Dallas in October. I'm doing that one as part of Team World Vision with a team from my church. I'm excited that I'll be training with (although maybe not in person) a lot of my family and friends. Of course, I still have some fundraising to do! Mileage Weekly: 9.85 miles YTD: 292 miles (going wi Daily Mile here)

Three Thing Thursday

1. Today started (well, after we actually got up and going) with this...

Yep, both of my kids are now in glasses. Ryan has been in them since he was 3. Sarah Beth just got them due to an astigmatism. She is doing really well with them and is pretty proud of the ones she picked out herself.

2. I am loving having some time to cook and play in the kitchen. And while I have made a few things with the kids, I really do enjoy time to myself in the kitchen. Tonight, I grilled (on the George Foreman) pork chops, attempted to make PW's smashed potatoes and roasted some fresh corn. The potatoes ended up being the best part even though they didn't work according to the recipe. I boiled some red potatoes from the Farmer's Market. When they were fork-tender, I attempted to smash them in a roasting pan using the bottom of a glass and then a potato masher. That didn't go well, so I gave up and diced them up. After brushing on some oil and salting them, I roasted them at 450 for about 30 minutes, topping them with a little more salt, some garlic powder and just a smidge of sugar. Yum!

3. It's 10:45 at night and I have yet to do today's workout for the Another Mother Runner Challenge...but that doesn't mean I won't. I'll squeeze in a mini ab workout before I go to bed. It's not much, but it's more than I was doing :)

Challenge 52

So it's been a while, and my consistency is nonexistent lacks something to be desired. But, while I was waiting in my hotel room this morning, I watched a little of Joyce Myer's TV program. This morning she was talking about finding joy in the every day. So, that's my challenge for myself this week...to find joy in the every day, because "...the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Neh. 8:11). I'm reminding myself to choose joy each moment.

Trying to get back in the swing of things

I started back to consistent running last week. I ran Monday, had to walk Wednesday because of a weird back-of-the-knee pain that bugged me all week, and then ran Friday (because who could resist 56 degrees?!). I planned to run long on Sunday, but I woke up to that dumb knee pain and decided sleep was best.

That brings me to today. I'm in Dallas for work, and I figured I'd stick to my plan and run or at least walk on the fitness center treadmill. I woke up, and I had no knee pain! How do you go from icing and having pain all week to no pain at all? I was able to run (slowly) 2.5 miles. And I don't think my knee is going to have any issues today. I just don't get it. I was really thinking I'd be visiting the doc tomorrow, but now I'm not sure.

So...it looks like I'm on track to start half marathon training at the end of the month after all :)

MIA

Ok, I know I've dropped off the radar these past few weeks. The last month of school was all about survival. After that 15k, I had multiple people tell me I needed to give myself a break. I did, but I'm not sure how well that worked for me. I think not running added to my stress even more...or at least took away my coping abilities.

I did learn a few things on my break...
1. Have a plan. During a break, it's probably a good idea to come up with a plan...how long is the break going to last? What will you actually be taking a break from? The early mornings? Running in general? It would have helped to think this one through.
2. Stay active. So I needed a break from running...that didn't mean I couldn't walk or do yoga or something.
3. Take care of yourself. I really should have spent some time foam rolling and stretching and just being nice to my body in general.

I started back to running this week. I love that it is summer and I get to run outside again. I had a good run on Monday, but then I was very sore and ended up with a weird pain behind my knee on Tuesday and Wednesday. It felt better yesterday, so I ran this morning...I just couldn't pass up running in 56* temps when I know that won't last long.

I'm going to do the Another Mother Runner Challenge to keep me moving this month, which means I'm going to spend some time today planning out my workouts. I've got a 5K in early July and want to break 30 minutes on it, so that will be my focus. After that, I'll start half marathon training for the 13.1 Dallas in October.

I'm also working on getting into a routine with the kids. It isn't happening easily. I'm still waiting on SB to get out of bed this morning (and yes, I've tried to wake her several times). Since it is cooler outside, we're planning on going to the park this morning and getting groceries later. I'll be gone Sunday/Monday, and I'll have a workshop later in the week. I'm hoping that after that we can get into a routine, but I know it really won't happen. The week after that the kids and I are both gone (to different places). There's always July, right?

I am enjoying getting to cook a little. We've already made a few new things...no ice cream maker needed ice cream, mini Dutch babies, stuffed mushrooms. I've got lots planned for the summer, but I'm trying to remember that I don't have to get it all done. That's really hard for this Type A person to do, by the way. But I'm trying...