Wednesday, July 29, 2015

I Promise...

Hey all!  I know that I have not only been scarce around these parts but haven't been exactly writing the most interesting posts either!!  Call it writer's block meets summertime but I have been spending a lot more time with these two...

and just watching them grow and learn.  Not all rainbows and unicorns, but exactly what I need out of summer!  I promise though that I will get back into my usual groove!!  Next week brings a week of working...and thinking...and writing!  There's a lot circling around this fancy head of mine!!  Thanks for hanging in with me!!!

Monday, July 27, 2015

Monday Motivation


Each day I make the choice to move...the choice to feed my body with things that make it work the best it can...or the choice to rest.  It is the process that feeds my body and my mind.  It is the process of training...and moving...and fueling...that produces the results.  I love the process...it makes it my way of life instead of a laborious process.  The process is my life....the results are just the bonus!  You don't have to be a runner.  Find what you can fall in love with so that moving your body is something you love!  Focus on finding joy and the results will come!
What do you do that you love?

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

A Week of Running

This past week the ladies and I went down to visit my family in RI.  It is a yearly tradition to head down for a week of sleepovers and cousin time along with VBS at our church.  The girls always look forward to this week since it is much harder to get down there during the school year!

We usually have about a million ideas of things we want to do while we are down there complete with hours of trampoline jumping and raspberry picking.  This week also included a fun dodgeball tournament for us adults!!

One of the things I love during this week is being able to run some of my favorite routes and see some amazing sights!  I started the week with my long run of 10.5 miles along the Ocean Drive and past some former presidential summer homes like the Kennedys and the Eisenhowers.


Another run went along Bellevue Ave and then turned onto one of my favorite places to run, the Cliff Walk.  This is about a 4 mile path that climbs along the ocean and the backyards of the ridiculously wealthy!  I love the sights here...helps me to really think...just me and the ocean.


Wednesday I hit up the track for some very HOT and humbling 800s!  I brought all the ladies with me!!  I have to say only one...OP...stuck with it and made it 2 miles.  The others were more than happy to watch from the stadium seats!  Lol!


I ended the week with hill repeats which aren't usually fun but a change of scenery always shakes things up and makes them more interesting!

I won't say all these miles were perfect and my pace was on point the entire time, but I covered the distances I needed to and more than that I enjoyed them!  There a few more routes I still wanted to run...guess we need to go back!


Monday, July 20, 2015

Monday Motivation

With 10 weeks until ZOOMA Cape Cod, it is time to keep my eye on the prize!!!  I will admit that the last few weeks I have been slacking a little...not so much the amount of mileage I have been putting in but the intensity of the miles.  A walk here....dropped pace there...cookie here...mixed drink there and here I am far heavier than I need to be if I'm going to break 1:50 in September.  Starting today...without looking back....it's step by step...good choice after good choice...keeping my eye on the prize!  It is going to take sacrifice...it is going to take balance...it is going to take determination...but I, we all, have it in us to do great things!!
How do you stay focused during the summer months?

Thursday, July 9, 2015

TTT

Here they are...my three randoms for the week...enjoy!

Stop the Train!!!  Is it me or is this Summer FLYING by?  We have only been out of school for a few weeks but good gravy it is Thursday again and I feel like I'm sitting here pumping the brakes!!  I love Summer for all things warm and beachy but it is more than that for me.  It means time...unscheduled time if I want...to just be with my girls.  I may not have the ability to not work but I certainly hit the jackpot by being able to work and have the gift of Summer with them where we can spend days at the beach...swim...explore...play...and do whatever for 2 months each year.  Could someone just let me know how to slow that time down please?

Cousins Week...This coming week we are headed to my home state Little Rhody and spending the week with my family....a week of cousins and grandparents and beaches and memories and bucket lists and raspberry picking and fun!  That being said I am going to take the week off from writing here while I soak in the memories and salt air (yes the air is different in Newport!).  I will of course be posting all the fun on Instagram...so follow along!

Deep Thoughts...Last month my sister, a friend, and I trekked into Boston to see the author and speaker Glennon Doyle Melton, author of Carry On, Warrior and blog Momastery.

Truth be told I had read a few things that Glennon had written but I knew very little of what to expect.  Sometimes that is the best way to be because I was unaware of how open I was to what she was sharing that night.  That sweaty night at the Old South Church has left me thinking...and challenging...and thinking some more about the life I am putting out there for all to see...challenging deep, deep norms I have put all around me to help navigate life...challenging the example I want to give my girls.  I do need to think more...let the points marinate a bit (hopefully looking out over my childhood backyard!) before I share but they were exactly what I needed to hear....now it's just to get the courage to live it!

How's your week?  Flying by or crawling along?

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Chickie's Harwich 5k Race Report

I am well past due with this race report but I somehow am finding myself pumping the brakes lately as the summer is flying by at rapid speeds!  I can't even believe that it is the 7th already!!!

Way back Chickie decided that she wanted to run a 5k.  I went back and forth because I didn't want to push her too far but since this was her idea I went with it.  We trained for it doing a run/walk method and that was the plan for the race itself.  Of course we got our matching Tough Chik shirts...I mean really you know we had to match!
I'm getting ahead of myself...This race was the Saturday after school ended so there was a lot of buzz at school about it since there were a lot of students (older) who were going to be running it as well as many teachers including many of Chickie's teachers!  We headed down to grab our number the day before so that there would be nothing stressful about race day!
Race day came and she was ready!  We headed down with more than enough time but my hubs and I noticed an almost sour disposition with Chickie which we both attributed to nerves.
Before the race we caught up with many friends and before we knew it it was time to line up.  Now if you've never run a race before, one thing that is common is most people line up and then they need to make space for the runners who try to jump in last minute.  This causes the mass of people to have to move back several times...fine for an adult but unnerving for a 6 year-old who doesn't really understand what's going on.  The hubs pulled Chickie aside until the crowd of over 1000 had settled but she was certainly out of sorts and panicked.
I won't sugar coat this and say we laughed and frolicked along the route.  It was hard...it took digging deep...it took patience....it took a lot of hugs and kisses and encouraging words.  I learned a lot about my daughter and above it all I learned that she can finish what she starts!!  Those 6 year-old legs were working for around 45 minutes which is a long time!!  She fought through it and was so super excited when she turned the corner to find her family and friends and teachers standing along the finishers shoot waiting for her!!! (Thank you all for sticking around!)
She swore she would never run again but I think we have another one in there yet!  I'm so proud of her and the work she did...she even inspired a friend to run next year!!

Monday, July 6, 2015

Monday Motivation

I've seen this quote a few times before and it always makes me giggle!  I've often been in the middle of a race and made a comment similar to..."And I paid to do this!"  But when I don't do it...when I don't get up ass early...when I don't get my sweat on and push my body to the limit...I am certainly NOT the best version of myself!  Taking care of yourself...finding what it is that gives back to you is not selfish...it's NEEDED!  My children are home for the summer and we are rocking the beach circuit but I'm still getting up at 4am to get out and get in my workout so that I can be me....kind of like those Snickers commercials...You're not you when you don't get your sweat on!!

What do you do for you?