Monthly Archives: April 2011

Moms on the Run!

Well tonight was my first meeting with Moms on the Run, and boy was it COLD out there! We all survived though with hats, mittens,multiple layers and first day energy! We did 1:3 x 7 which means one minute running,and 3 minutes walking seven times.  All the ladies did GREAT!

After MOTR I went home for some homemade chicken lasagna which was super yummy and then I headed back to the gym for a little GT (Gym Tanning). I faked baked for 15 minutes, which was a tad too long, because I am now a certified lobster, but I’m hopeful it’l turn into nice tan soon! Then I hit up the treadmill for a fast 2 mile run. I went up to 7.5 mph again which felt great! But ran most of the time at 6.5 or so.

Well I’m off to DVR the Royal Wedding so I don’t forget! (Yup… I’m going to hop on that bandwagon!)

Cheers,
LA

7.5 ~ staying alive!

So I went to the gym tonight to run on the treadmill since the weather was iffy, and discovered that I could push myself even further than I have been out on the road!The treadmill doesn’t lie. (Well unless its some weird tech error, but really… doesn’t lie)….

When I very first started going back to the gym this year I was running/walking a half mile at only 5mph. When I got to 5.5 I thought I was going to die… but something slowly changed. I focused less on increasing my mileage too high, too fast, and focused more on consistency and speed work. The results over the past months of really kicking it into high gear has paid off! Here’s what went down tonight.

2 mile speed workout on the treadmill.
mph (Miles per hour obviously everyone knows that one)
mpm (minutes per mile)

Mile 1
Warmed up at 6mph (10 minute miles) for 5 minutes,and then kicked it up to 6.5 mph (9:14 mpm) for the rest of the mile,until nearly the end of mile 1 when I kicked it up to 6.8 (8:49) Woot!

Mile 1 to mile 1.5
Kicked it up to 7.0 mph (8:34mpm) and held it. I just focused on something and held on! It actually felt good and not impossible to maintain.

Mile 1.5 to 2 miles
Kicked it into high gear and went to 7.2 mph,and with two minutes to go I went up to 7.5 mph (8:00mpm) I was ecstatic!

Never in a million years did I think I could run that fast again!  I knew it was possible, but I had a hundred excuses why I LINDSEY couldn’t do it anymore! Back in February when I was running 5mph, and “crazily” up to 5.5 mph I only dreamed I could run 6mph – a 10 minute mile this year…but I proved myself wrong,and  ran 8-9 minute miles!

Sorry to go on and on about this, but its something I’m so proud of myself for. I love pushing myself, and seeing what I’m really made of! I can’t wait to see what this season will bring and how I will grow as a runner!

800’s ’till I puke….

There is a great quote about doing interval training, called “800’s ’till you puke”… The premise being you run 800 meters [Half Mile] as fast as you can (so fast you want to puke). 800’s is a great way to gauge your fitness as well as test out pace. Meaning… the amount of time it takes you to run an 800 is the pace approximately that you’ll run a marathon! E.g. you run a 4:20 minute 800m you’ll run a 4:20 hour marathon.

Well I didn’t puke, but I did get an awful side ache. I’m not sure if I didn’t wait long enough after eating dinner, if I was still tired from my “3 miler” on Sunday, or just not warmed up enough with the cooler temps… I planned to do 800×6 for three miles, but I only made it 800×4 for 2 miles, and the side ache was so strong I wanted to cry. Also during the day I got a “butt pain” which flared up during my run.

Here is how my workout panned out… not super crazy awful… but not highly desirable either. I know there is room for improvement, but it wasn’t a bad gig just going out there and getting after it.

800 #1     4:16:05 (Went out fast and hard, and tried to maintain. Did high knees during run)

800 #2     4:24:06 (Went out fast again,but half way through I was feeling like rubber legs, and my butt/leg pain (saitic nerve type) flared up)

800 #3     4:30:06 (Tried reverse approach in going out slower,and speeding up…near the end I just   wanted to quit anyways. The last 50 meters or so I developed an awful side stitch)

800 #4     4:42:09 (Went out fast and hard. Figured it worked on the first leg. About 25 meters in my leg/butt was hurting! Sucked it up. Side stich became practically unbearable by 200m. Sucked it up. Theory being faster I run,faster I can quit)

As you can see, I just got progressively slower and slower. Maybe I didn’t rest enough in between… Not too sure. I plan to do this workout every Tuesday however, so I can see how I improve!

Weekend Re-Cap

Saturday we were going to go to the MN Zoo,but we woke up to 30 degrees, and a dusting of snow on the ground. We also slept in and snuggled for quite a while, so we didn’t get off to an early start.

After breakfast, and watching Ponyo again (Kirra watches it about twice a day or so)… I decided to take Kirra to the Children’s Museum for a little fun! We had a blast, and it really wasn’t too busy!

Once we left the Children’s museum, Kirra and I went to church, and then headed home for supper, which was  a homemade pizza! We all had fun making it and it tasted DELICIOUS! Finished off with an ice cream cone, and watched Ponyo again! (Yes.. we did!)
Today [Sunday] we woke up early and went to the MN Zoo. It was really fantastic!  Since we’ve only been to Como since Kirra was born, this was a real treat! We got to see all of the animals, and even got to see a cow being milked. Kirra’s favorite animals were the MN Otters, the goats, and the dolphin.
Jason’s were the wolf,and the Bald Eagle. I think my favorites were the MN Grey Wolf, goats,because you got to go right in there and pet them, and the Tigers, which came so close to the glass I stared in his/her eyes for a second or two. I always knew that Tigers were big… but when you can see it from ground to 14 foot glass, and you’re sitting there hands to the glass, tiger nose to the glass you relize how small you really are! Magnificent!

We came home and watched Ponyo again,and took a nap on the couch. I went on a 3.33 mile run after dinner,and smashed all of my old records since 2004! (AWESOME!)

Time to quiet this soul. We all have a busy morning, and we all had a busy day!

Some of my favorite and not so favorite things!

Kirra and I were having our little mom and daughter chats in the car tonight,and she was informing me of all the things she doesn’t like:

Semi-Trucks, because they’re so big and huge and loud

Vacuum cleaners, because they’re so loud

Car Washes, because they’re so loud and scary!

Tangly trees,because she will get all tangled up!

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Favorite Movie: Ponyo. We probably watch this 2x per day. I’m watching it for the first time now. Poor Jason.

Favorite Food: Spaghetti

Favorite Activity: Babies, or playing outside. Kirra also has learned to play some computer games.

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Kirra goes back to daycare on Monday. We’re really excited. We got back in with Tally and Kirra will continue preschool where she left off. I’m glad to have her get back to some structured learning, since I don’t have the patience, nor does Kirra have the attention span to listen to me for any period of time.

I scored MN Zoo tickets at storytime this past week so depending on the weather we’ll either go tomorrow or Sunday. I’m excited because its baby farm animals week! Very exciting. Besides that,it should be a pretty relaxing weekend!

Heebie Jeebies!

I’ve gotten a bad case of the heebie jeebies today!

This morning I woke up as usual to get ready for work, except that with every twist and turn, I felt a strong pinching pain in my belly! I lifted my shirt and saw nothing out of the ordinary… so I kept getting ready. PINCH… I felt more pinching with more movement. Something DEFINITELY was up. Lifted my shirt again, but still nothing… hmm… Finally right before I’m done getting ready in the bathroom I lifted my shirt again, because I knew something was up, and looked deep inside my belly button (I have a deep BB)… and low and behold a DEER TICK is buried half way into my abdomen through my belly button! AHHH!!!!
I call to Jason, “Jason… I need you in the bathroom…. NOW” Groggily he got out of bed to see what was the matter. He tried to pluck it out with his fingers, but my belly button is too small, so tweezers were required. It was hurting a lot now. He pulled and got the body! Success! Not really, since he left the head buried in my skin!
I decided a doctor needed to get involved. Jason examined the tick and threw it in a zip lock bag for identification for the MD’s, but he was confident it was a deer tick. I thought GREAT, that’s all I need is Lymes Disease!
I went to three different clinics trying to get an emergency appointment, since I wasn’t about to pay a $95 co-pay at the ER, nor wait for 3.5 hours at urgent care for a simple routine deer tick head removal! Finally I went to my “regular doctor” which why I didn’t just go to that clinic in the first place is beyond me, but you do funny things while panicking. I almost passed out twice since the discovery of my new “friend”.
I got in with Dr. Kathy who is my new best friend, who had to use multiple different kinds of tweezers to get this blood sucking head out of my belly button! She prescribed me a single mass dose of antibiotics, and I was on my way.
Except that now, for the remainder of the day I am itching like an allergic person because I am so grossed out! I’m also acting slightly [mostly] psycho checking every itch to make sure its not a tick! Its brining back very unfond memories of Memorial Day weekend in 2008! Apparently I had nearly 40 ticks on me at once, instead of the 70 that i’ve embelished it to now… still 40 ticks is pretty wild…but none have ever been stuck in like this one! Ugh… Wait, I need to itch a second…..
Finally… Kirra loves babies, but usually her babies “run around naked”,but today we used Kirra’s old newborn clothes to put on her babies which fit like a gem,except that one of her babies that looks kind of life like,really looks life like now wearing Kirra’s old clothes! Eeek!
On a happier note Kirra and I enjoyed a little story time yesterday and was able to get some cute photos and a video of her!
Kirra loves to sit in front!

Pointing out a cute picture to me

Learning about frogs

Passing out the paper frogs for the kids

Song time!

Dance time!
So sorry this is crooked….

Tea Time

Oh what a fabulous time of year! The grass is greening up. Winter coats are a thing of the past, and the snow brush/scraper has been retired to the garage!

Kirra nearly refuses to come inside now. She’s definitely my outside gal, and I am IN LOVE with it! Kirra and I have been having loads of tea parties in her “tree house” on the rainbow swing set, and imagining all kinds of things. Its bringing me back to my youth, and the favorite things I would play. I could honestly play tea party for hours… probably because its my kind of tea party. We sit in the tree house and share invisible scrumptious treats of tea, grapes, waffles, and anything else that comes to mind, and when we’ve decided we’ve ran out of food I slide down the slide, with Kirra like a Koala bear on my back, and off to the glider we go…. we glide in the “car” to the grocery store, and sing Moon Shadow. Kirra’s all time favorite song. Then we run to the front yard where my garden is,and “shop”… run back to the glider, sing Moonshadow again, and climb back up into the tree house for some more yummy food! I couldn’t even imagine having this much fun playing tea party, but I honestly do! Its our favorite game, and she will play this for hours on end.
We go running together too (aka me pushing her in the jogger) and thanks to Jason for fixing our newest burley we’re down to 1 (from 3)… I can put the new burley on my bike and go on long bike rides with her. Its all about being fit this year, and I’m happy that Kirra happily obliges to help me reach my goals!
Tonight I had small group directly followed by “mom’s night out” with my core group of gal pals with kids that are Kirra’s age. I don’t know what I’d do without these girls! There is even a fun rumor of going to one of the gals cabins this summer/late spring for a girls weekend trip! I’ve already got approval from Jason so I’m quite excited!
After I got home from MNO I went downstairs for a serious talk with Shaun T. I have been cheating on him for the past week or so and have been running and biking exclusively. But tonight we re-kindled and I did a 30 minute pure ab workout with him. My abs are BURNING right now, but the burn feels so good. It screams BIKINI in the future! I’m sure I’ll be groaning in pain tomorrow, but the hurt feels so good!
My diet is mostly going ok. I’ve really tried to take a vacation a few times and said eff it… but I come back and remain pretty good for the most part. I’m mostly drinking tea and water through out the day which has zero calories, and gives me my “hot liquid” fix.
Tomorrow I’ll be running after a few day siesta from it. [nursing a calf strain]. I’m excited to pound the pavement for 2 miles although I can’t wait until I get to at least 4-5 miles which sounds more acceptable to my running buddies, but so far I’m again injury free, and still really loving running. (which is really good since I just spent a boat load of money to run with Moms on the Run – running club). The miles will come. I will remain patient, and actually I’m proud of myself for doing rather than dreaming. Dreaming is good but you never go anywhere without action…
Happy Monday everyone! I hope your’s was great too!

Another Tuesday Tune!

Well I’ll need to start posting more often or all you’re going to see is my “Tuesday Tunes” posts!

Jason unfortunately got injured doing the Insanity workouts with his ankles, so he’s biking now, and I’m running. We’ll still do the Ab workout, and the “cardio recovery” which basically is the workout sans jumping around! Think loads of pushups, squats, holds, and lunges!
I’ve actually really began running a lot over the past two weeks and am up to over 1.5 miles now! I decided to time myself with a stopwatch tonight, and was very pleased to find out tonight that I ran 1.67 miles at a 9:32 pace! That’s about as fast as I’ve ran since the Medtronic TC 1 Mile in 2009, and before that…. hmmm??? I’d say…. since at least 2004-2005! I’m very excited, and hope I can continue to maintain that pace, and increase it as well! (meaning running in less time). The freaking best part is that I got that pace while pushing Kirra in the jogging stroller which with her in it probably weighs over 45 pounds! So…yes I’m tooting my horn a little bit.
Our eating plan is going great! I discovered today I really don’t like coffee anymore unless it has Bailey’s in it so I’ll stick to water and tea. I’ve also discovered I like black tea the best! I love experimenting with new meals and creations I mix up for lunch, although I haven’t made anything yet that has really blown my mind. Hopefully soon though.
Kirra has been a total blast lately! Every day I’m so amazed at how much more of a little person she is becoming. I wouldn’t trade my life for anything although she longs to spend more time with me, as do I, but we’ve been creating our little rituals together so the time we do spend is precious. I heard this song on my way into work today, and it really sums up life in a nutshell. One traffic light, one changed split second descision and your life can be something you never intended it to be, although amazing,and wonderful it is… (for the better). I think of all the things in my own life…split second descisions i’ve made that have altered my future, and I am ever so thankful to God that it worked out this way!
I was supposed to go into the Army… but the Navy recruiter nabbed me coming out of the Army office… so I met Jason in the Navy recruiters office! We hit it off… so he changed the date he was going into the Navy to match mine! So off to Bootcamp we went! I was supposed to be in the air field, but didn’t pass my flight physical, so I had to change jobs… which then altered my course, and eventually I landed orders in Jason’s battalion. Honestly… the chances are about 1 in 1,000! Jason and I decided it was fate! We’ve had many other situations like these, and eventually we both moved back to Minnesota to get married and eventually have Kirra! I’m so thankful for the life i’ve been blessed with!
Without further adeu, and thanks to my friend Betsy for helping me find it!!!