I usually have time off between races, but not this year.  That’s a good thing though.  The Fifth Third Riverbank 25k is 16 days away!!    Have you signed up yet??  I did.  I know.  Who am I lately?  I usually wait until the day before…….weird.

I only ran twice last week.  A wet 4 miler last Monday and 15.5 miles on Saturday.  Plus Mary and I wanted a long cool down so we decided to get lost during our run and we walked 2.5 miles after the run.  Oops.

This used to be a normal thing for us– getting lost. So I guess we were due?!?!    We took a nice, super hilly route to get us ready for the race.  Time to taper!!

The rest of this week has gone really well.  I ran 4 easy miles on Monday for charity.  Gazelle Sports of Grand Rapids along with running stores across the nation participated in  -Runners for Boston.  Our store raised over $6,000!!  The weather was beautiful and we had a great turnout with over 300 people.  What an awesome community!!!  I love it.    

Tuesday I took my speed work indoors on the treadmill because it was rainy and cold.  Duh, its Michigan.  I did a quick 1 mile warm up and then busted out a few mile repeats ( 7:20, 7:20 and 7:00)  I took about 2 minutes rest between miles.  I then did 2 half mile repeats ( 6:50 and 6:48).  These were barf worthy, but thankfully, my breakfast stayed down.  After that I foam rolled and then it was time to teach Total Body Sculpt at noon.   Fun stuff!

Wednesday morning at 6 am was Cardio Sculpt.  We did lots of Tabtata style circuits. ( 20 seconds of work 10 seconds rest/repeat!).  Now it’s time to continue with the Tabata theme for spin class at 10 am this morning.  I hope I can keep up.

The kids start soccer this week.  I hope their first practice is not rained out, because they have their first game on Saturday.  That will be fun.    ;-)     After the snow flurry today and possibly tomorrow I am so over the weather!!!  Things are looking up though-temperatures are on the up swing and I am feeling good about it this time….please!!!!

Ok, I better go and rest up before Spin class…I hope everyone is having a great week.  

Ready to race!

Amara and I were very excited to take part in this inaugural race celebrating the 40th anniversary of Title IX.  The morning started off cold and dreary.  Big shocker huh?!?!  Not really.  I was very grateful that is was not raining   Sure, I had pellets of hail all up in my face during the race, but it was NOT rain.  :-)

We made it to the gym about an hour before the race started.  The half started at 8 am and Amara’s 5k was at 8:15 am.  We both barely slept the night before.  I feel like I was up all night long.  I was definitely up  by 4 am and I know Amara was too. She probably made 3-4 bathroom trips within 2 hours. Her goal attainable goal was to run a 34 minute 5k- this would be a new PR for her.  Her “secret” goal ( which she told me) was to run a 32 minute 5k.  I told her to go for it if she was feelin’ it, and if she wasn’t – no big deal.  I just wanted her to have fun and go with the flow for the day.  She has switched her pre race meal from cereal to peanut butter toast and half an apple.  I might have suggested this.  The only thing is, it takes her 30 minutes to eat on race day.  Ain’t nobody got time for that!       ;-)

We rounded up Mary and the rest of the crew and took off for Rosa Parks Circle.  You could just feel the energy everywhere!!  I didn’t expect anything less though.  Matt and Miles braved the estrogen filled day to take pictures of us gals and also cheer us on at the finish line.

My little cutie is not so little anymore. Excuse while I go cry….

I said my good byes to Amara and my other friends running the 5k.  Mary and I decided to line up with the 8:30 pace group ( I can be kind of bossy).

And we’re off!!

Miles 1-3 ( 8:27, 8:19, 8:29)  We found a nice comfortable pace for the first few miles.  We had our music in our ears which we never do when we train together.  We are too busy yakking it up to bother with music.  Today, we were all business.

Miles 4-6 (8:17, 8:19, 8:11)  I think the hail storm started during these miles.  I kind of blocked it out of my memory.  I remember looking at Mary and saying something like, ” this figures” or “what the hell?” or ” at least it’s not pouring rain”  I forget which one I said.  I might have said all 3.  I really started feeling  as if I could start going a little faster here, but I am ALWAYS second guessing myself and my superpowers abilities etc.  Because of the whole breathing issues I tend to do that.  Dumb.

Miles 7-9 (8:01, 8:04, 7:40)  This is when it got really exciting!!  We turned around here to head back to the finish.  It was so much fun seeing the other women.  I am pretty sure I had a smile on my face for the rest of the race.      It was an amazing site to see.  I was yelling encouragement to as many people as I could.  I looked down and saw my last mile split – 7:40??!  Uh oh!  It didn’t even feel that hard.  Uh oh.  I am kind of stubborn too, so now I HAD to keep my sub 8:00 status.

Miles 10-12 (7:52, 7:47, 7:54) So I held on to my status. Haha.  I was still feeling pretty good, but around mile 11 or so I felt a twinge in my left hamstring all the up to my booty.  Who knows what it was, but my music also gave out on mile 12.  Dang!! I could not mess with my iPod because my hands were frozen stiff.  Oh well, I only had 1.1 miles left.  

Mile 13 (7:47) I was so glad for my music malfunction!  I was able to take it all in.  All of the noise and cheers.  I saw a lot of my favorite people volunteering for the race during the last mile as well.  It’s a great way to finish a race- I had a little extra pep in my step.

Official Finish Time : 1:46:25  PR for this chick.  I am super excited about this.  :-)

It was a day of PR’s.  Mary got a PR too and so did Amara!!!  Amara ended up running the race “alone” She was never really alone though, right?!?!  She totally crushed her 34 and 32 minute goal!!  31:04!!  What?!?!  I know.  She is amazing!!!   So very proud of her!!  I guess Matt and I have been holding her back when we “pace” her during 5k’s…ooops.

Our standard finish line picture!

It was a great race.  Very well run and the crowd support was awesome.  Not to mention the shirts and the finisher’s charm!

I had my engraved on the back with my time and 2013.

I can’t wait until next year!

I’m still alive….just coming off my Spring Break high.  ;-)    I had very little time over break to blog.  Dang kids keep taking up my time!  We didn’t go anywhere that exciting, but man I forget how tiring it is to be with those crazy kids all.day.long.  Thank goodness for school!  A few pictures of what I have been up to.  Supporting Michigan college b-ball.  Cousins on the couch.  A picture of the glorious sun after a GREAT run around Reed’s Lake.  Cupcakes ( need I say more??) and an 80′s run with the Urban Herd.  I was rocking some sweet shoulder pads.  Hot.

The last 2 weeks….

My workouts for the past 2 weeks have been great. I have been tapering for for the big race tomorrow!  The Gazelle Girl Half Marathon!!!  Woohoo!  It’s finally here.  The weather is going to be awesome ( sarcasm). But, what are you gonna do??  You suck it up and run.  I have been training in horrible weather all year long, so no need to bitch about it.    My 8 year old declared she is going for her PR tomorrow.  I had to downplay my excitement, but I hope she does it.  Mainly because she will be upset if she doesn’t and who likes to see a sad kid??  Not me.  * she placed 5th at her last 5k for 9 and under.  She was awarded a pint sized mug. *    :-)

My plan is to post a race recap by Sunday and then get back to regularly scheduled posts.      

Tuesday- Spin instruction at 5:15 am.  Early day for me.  Don’t you feel bad?!?!?   This is the hour class and they always come to work HARD!  It was a high intensity interval class, but I was sure to hold back a bit since I participated in the race day yesterday.  No need for all of that two days in a row.   After class I did a full body circuit ( from lasts months Women’s Health magazine.  I like to get some ideas and inspiration for my classes…found some!) and then headed home.  I wanted to run outside today, but it’s cold and snowy and windy.  Is that enough excuses??  I would have to run alone too.      Maybe tomorrow……..

Wednesday- Spin class instruction at 10 am.  We did an interval ride full of equal parts speed and hill climbs.  No  running. I brought my shoes and everything!  Lame.  Miles and I waiting for Amara to be dismissed from Girls on the Run.

Thursday- Spin class participant at 5:15 am.  It was a tough 1 hour long class interval style.   Fun times.  I ran!  2 whole miles!!    It was easy, I like that.

Friday- Spin class instruction at 5:30 am. (duh- that’s the theme this week!)  I actually planned the class before 10 pm.  I was a bit worried that class would not be any good since I usually have my best profiles at the last minute!!  ;-)  Thank goodness it went over well.  I had one member who was very into this class today- she was hootin’ and hollerin’ every 5 minutes.  I get a kick out of that, especially at 5:30 am !  After spin I thought about lifting, but I forget why I declined.  I hopped on the treadmill ( oh right, now I remember why I skipped lifting.  I have slacked on running this week so I ran.)  I ran 2 miles again.  Ha.  Something is better than nothing?!?!?  Runners are strange.      :-)   My kids don’t get out of school until 3:15 pm, but I try to get there by 2:45 when I can.  Why would I do that??  So I can read.  Or nap.  Or have a bit of quiet in my life. Maybe all 3 of these!  I have a lot of books and magazines that I need want to read and since I have self presribed ADD at times, this is the best way for me to have to stay put and get some reading done.  My passanger seat is stacked with magazines and articles.  This is just a glimpse:

Saturday-  12 miles of fun with Mary.  It’s our last long one until April 13th– The Gazelle Girl Half Marathon.  The run went well for us!  It wasn’t horribly freezing cold out today.  It was just horribly cold- big difference.  My hands could still bend and flex by the end of the run.  Spring is in the air!  My biggest wish is that in 3 weeks, the weather is not horribly ANYTHING.  It was in the high 20′s when we ran today, so wishing for 10 degrees warmer or even 15 in 3 weeks does not seem too much to ask for- does it???  Nope.    For the most part we had negative splits which is usually my goal.     When we are done running and I know that we could have pushed more makes me feel great.  No need to race every weekend during a training run.  No need for that nonsense.  Especially when you are super cool like us and take an hour spin class after running 12 miles.  I normally don’t succumb to peer pressure ( I pride myself on saying no to drugs and yes to life!!! ), but today was different. I gave in.  It was hard.  I was in long pants.   Luckily I had a spare short sleeved shirt, but no spin shoes.  I can’t believe I still went.  Needless to say, it was a lot of fun.  It was also the end to my Spin Streak of the week.  I either taught or took a spin class Monday- Saturday this week.  Somehow I am not even sick of it.  Weird.  

Did you figure out what the 315 minutes means???

What are your favorite magazines to read?

Thursday-  1 hour spin.  5k on the treadmill.  Class was fun.  I might try to make it a habit to make this 1 hour spin class.  I forget how different it is to be a participant.  I like it!  Class was a tough one.  I like that!            After class I jumped on the treadmill for a quick run.  I had a lot of energy for such an early start.

Friday- Total Body Sculpt instruction at 5:45 am.  This class is a full body weights class that is scheduled for 60 minutes.  It’s been a while since I taught it, and I planned a 45 minute class.  I planned the timing perfectly- for a 45 minute class.  Ooops!  I don’t think anybody noticed my mistake.  I usually tell on myself, but not today.  I had the class go through the ab portion again and I added on some extra shoulder work, planks and hip/core exercises   Whew.  It all worked out well. I taught Spin instruction at 12 noon.  I did  an interval class for this rowdy bunch.    

Saturday-  I wanted to run, but could did not do it on the treadmill.  I did intervals on the elliptical for 25 minutes.  5 minute warm up with 11 intervals of 60 seconds on and 60 seconds off.   I thought about running a few miles after that, but then went to the Human Performance Lab for a quick circuit.

It took me about  12 minutes or so to complete the quick circuit.  Short, sweet and effective.  I was pumped because I was able to do 4 pull ups per set.

Irish Jig 5k at 9:35 am  Pretty consistent Miles for Amara.  I let her pace us.  She was only 1 minute off of her PR!!  Sometimes I wonder if I should push her a bit more, but I want her to continue to like running….so I back off and only speak when I feel it necessary.  There were a few inclines on the course and Amara attacked each and one of them with such force!  She not complain a lot either.  I mean, she’s only 8, so I was expecting to hear more complaints. It was a cold day (especially compared to last years race- it was 78* when the race started.)   Amara got a cramp and her hands were cold ( hope she’s not taking after me).  Her next race is scheduled to be the Gazelle Girl 5k on April 13th.  There is still room - sign up!  She says she is wanting to PR at the 5/3 Riverbank 5k this year.      :-)     So very proud of her.  She is one of those sneaky competitive people.  I’ll take it, and I think I will keep her.          

Sunday- OFF

If you noticed, I did not post up my bed times for the last 4 days.  I forgot what time I finally made it to bed, but  I think I only made my goal one time in 4 days.  Fail.  I did foam roll twice though.  Yoga was a big fat 0.  Awesome.  Not so much.  I still have time for 3 yoga sessions to do before month’s end.  I wonder if I will do it……..stay tuned.      

He’s a bit of a mystery.  A funny one though.  He just does his own thing.  I think we’ll keep him.   Bedtime: 10:51 ( sooo close)

Monday- Spin instruction 10 am.  Endurance class.  The class was to keep their HR  65%-75% of their max.  Endurance rides are mentally challenging and can be boring.  Not my classes, but some are.    ;-)    They are to be not too easy, but also, not too hard.  It’s a fine line.  This is where a HR monitor and knowing and knowing your personal and specific HR zones is necessary.  Lifting: Upper body endurance.  Keeping with my theme of the day.  Higher reps, lighter weights. My rep range was 15-20.  I used 8 and 10 lbs. weights.  I did 2 sets of 7 exercises with 30 seconds of rest between the sets.  Your muscles really start to “burn” due to lactic acid build up.  It’s great fun. Later on I headed out to the Urban Herd Pub Run  for 3.2 miles.  It was cold and rainy, but a lot of fun.  We had a great turnout.  Runners are not  afraid of a little bit of rain!  Especially if there is beer involved.  Duh.  And free stuff.  We love free stuff.  I planned on running a bit slower ( not that I was breaking any records here), but I got caught up with mingling with people and forgot about pace.  Amara started Girls on the Run.  She will train for a 5k that takes place on her 9th birthday.  9!?!?  Good Lord, when did that happen??  They grow up so fast!!!!!!  * side note:  I still have than tank top. It might be 6 years old.  #sadbuttrue

She will have practice twice a week, gym twice a week and swimming lessons once a week.  This is good.  My hope is that she will start sleeping better due to exhaustion!  This girl is a night owl ( I wonder where she gets that from??).    Bedtime: 12:30 am??  I know, but I had to watch the finale of The Bachelor.  He chose the right one!      

Tuesday-7 mile run.  The warm temperatures are gone again.  Somehow, I still overdress   It’s a mystery.  I don’t think I will ever get it right!  I took a route that I don’t take enough.  It’s through neighborhoods for the most part.  There are a few inclines along the way that I didn’t care for, but what are ya gonna do?

sweaty 7 miler

I planned on 6, so this was nice to do a little more than necessary planned.   Yoga: 20 minutes.  Lower Body and Core work: 30 minutes. Foam roll:  10 minutes.   Bedtime: 10:20 pm.

Wednesday- Spin at 10 am.  Today’s class was to build strength with hill intervals.  2 people told me they liked it.  Ha!  We had power climbs and switchbacks and some fast downhills to add in some speed work.  Whew.  Job well done!  I am subbing this Friday at noon as well.  I might try to jump in a spin class Thursday morning and then get in a little run too.  We’ll see though.  Today is the last day of the herbal cleanse.  While 10 days is not that long in the big scheme of things, I am so glad it’s over.  Bring on the pizza and beer!  Just kidding.  Mostly.     We had the kids conferences today.  All is well in class.  So proud of them both!  I feel bad that I am shocked that Miles is doing as well as he is.  I know the kid is bright, but I guess it’s nice to hear it from an expert.  His teacher is great and seems to be a great fit for him.  Amara is excelling as well.  Her nose is always in a book and she is always wanting to know EVERYTHING.    Foam roll: 10 mins. Bedtime: 10:15 pm

Question:  Who is sick of winter?   This chick.

Yikes!   Haha!  Her hair is awesome.  She would wear it all crazy and untamed like this everyday if I let her.  I am mean though and I won’t let her.       Today was also, not that day.  Last night she made a headband out of a waist band, and old shirt, a button and a barrette   I had to make sure the headband could be seen, so a ponytail it is.

It took her about 20 minutes.  I was impressed.  I am not that crafty.  Like, not at all. I try, and the kids love it when I create something that looks like a 3-year-old made it.   Bedtime:  10:15 pm

Friday-  Spin at 5:30 am.  I repeated the same big hill class from Thursday.  I kept the same music, but changed the hill intervals up a bit.  I needed some variety.  I had about 18 people show up at this early hour.  Bunch of crazy people.    It was a tough class, but it took me a while to get my heart rate up to where I wanted it.  After class I wanted to do some reading so I jumped on the elliptical for 20 minutes of light intervals.

I thought about going back to take Mary’s Boot camp class at 10 am, but my kids keep cramping my style!!     They have a half day and I would either have to cut out early from the class or be late picking up the kids from school.  I don’t like either option so I will just sit on the couch instead.  Bedtime:  10:15 pm

Saturday-  It was a great day for a 12 mile run! I will consider my first 2 miles my warmup.  I usually only have 1 mile in there, but due to poor running etiquette ( someone else, NOT mine-duh), my 2nd mile was not where I wanted it. It was still a pretty solid run.  Even though Mary didn’t run with me ( I won’t give her grief, since it was her birthday…. ) we both had negative splits.  Coincidence??  I think not.  We both think we are from the Twilight Zone……inside joke.  ;-)  I still kept a n 8:52 pace. Around mile 9 or so I was running behind some woman.  She was probably the reason my mile splits were quicker.  Must. Pass. Blonde. Ponytail.  I passed her and saw her SEVERAL ( at least 5) minutes later at the water station.  She had nothing to say to me.  Not even a smile or a simple, ” You are awesome”.  Whatever lady.  ;-)   My last mile was 7:55.  I was racing an imaginary person and I am pretty sure I beat her.

12 miles done. I was a bit overdressed– spring has sprung!

The Gazelle Girl Half Marathon  is roughly 6 weeks away.  Kinda excited over here.  I don’t have a goal so far, but since my best effort for 13.1 is 1:51:48, I guess I should do better than that.  Here’s the thing.  My whole Vocal Cord Dysfunction  seems to have vanished.  I have not had any episodes in months.  Like, maybe 6 months?!?!  I can’t be sure, but I think it’s been at least that long. My last 3 years of running have been not so great.  Close to being horrible actually. I don’t even think about it anymore.  I have also gotten so cocky that I have not used my inhaler in at least 4 months.  I know.  Cray.  I talked to a very smart nurse about the VCD.  She had never even heard of it.  Ha!  But we did talk about my low iron and how there might be a correlation.  My iron is no longer low and has not been for at least 6 months.  You see where  I am going with this…..Who knows if there really is a connection, but all I know is I can run without being afraid that I can’t breathe without a moments notice.  The real test ( I think), will be the spring/summer when my allergies are in full effect and there is some humidity in the air.  If my VCD makes an appearance I will be ticked off for sure, but  I won’t forget how great my runs were in the fall and winter.  :-)  Just trying to be positive over here.    Bedtime:  Confused by time change,   and I was out for Mary’s birthday!  Foam Roll: 15 minutes.  

Scooter foam rolling after working out with Matt.

Miles has been hard at work making a Leprechaun Trap for school.  His trap includes lots of empty small boxes, paper towel cardboard, empty vitamin bottles and tape.  Lots of tape.  5 year olds love them some tape.  I can’t wait to see the finished product.  He took a break to smile for the camera.

Cute, ain’t he?!?

Don’t forget about the Brooks Urban Herd Pub Run just follow the link and I hope to see you on Monday!  :-)

Goals for the week:  Yoga 4x this Month (0), Bedtime 10:45 3x/week (YES) and Foam Roll 10 mins 4x week(YES)

Today (Sunday) is day 7 of the herbal cleanse.   I might have been 80% compliant yesterday.   That is my confession of the day.

I hope you had a great week.  Question:  Do you change your goals weekly?  How about your sheets?    ;-)