Running Liv's Life

Workout:  None I realized I never wrote the post about our drive home from IL over Christmas break....Oh my gosh!!  Can you say disaster?  I guess it wasn't really the drive that was bad but our night at the hotel.  We stopped for the night somewhere is GA, and we arrived at our hotel around 6 pm.  We grabbed some food and spent the night watching t.v.  Around 9 we decided to turn the lights out.  As soon as we put Orlando down he screamed and screamed.  We got him up and cuddled with him for a few minutes, and then we put him back in the pack-n-play.  This process happened three times.  The fourth time we let him scream.  And scream he did for about 20 minutes.  After a LOT of screaming, cuddling, watching Blue's Clues, and bottles, he finally fell asleep at 11.  But sleep didn't last long.  At 3:30 Orlando wakes up crying, by 3:35 Lyla is up perky as can be.  And by 4 we are on the road driving the rest of th...

Workout:  2 mile run + strength training in the a.m./2 mile run in the p.m. Back in February we took another trip to Disney World.  This time we brought along Orlando which wasn't too much fun at all!!  You know when baby's not happy, mommy and daddy tend to fight, well bicker, A LOT easier than normal which just led to a stressful few days.  BUT, Lyla had an absolute great time and was a really good girl.  We went mostly for her anyway!! Okay, these pictures here are just so stinking precious.  As soon as we walked into Magic Kingdom Daisy and Pluto were out greeting the kids.  Each line was about 30 minutes long and Lyla didn't whine once!! We visited Buzz over in Tomorrowland, Donald was in Frontier Land, and then we stopped by the Polynesian Resort just to be nosey and see what they had to offer :)  Lyla had more fun meeting the characters than going on the rides.  It was all too cute! Day 2 we headed to Hollywood Studios.  The ...

Workout:  Speedwork in the 85 degree cloudless insane heat!!!:  .5 mile warm-up, 5 x .25, .5 mile cool down.  Totally love running to International Love !! A few weeks ago I ran a 5K here in Ft. Myers.  I had run a race on this same course a few months ago, and I loved it!  I was super excited about running and was hoping to run around 7:35-7:40 pace, but that didn't happen.  Close, but close isn't satisfactory to me.  The first mile my garmin was going crazy, and it totally threw me off.  One second it would say 7:02 pace, then 8:10, then 7:20, etc.  I couldn't figure out where to settle in and so my first mile was too fast; 7:24.  I felt okay, but was a little worried about that speed catching up with me.  And it did.  Quickly.  Mile 2 was painful.  I just felt like absolute crap and ran a 7:45.    I thought I felt pretty decent for mile 3, and every time I checked my garmin I was at a 7:45ish pace, but ...

Workout:  Cross Fit (running and toning combined) I meant to write this post right after Valentine's Day and it totally slipped my mind.  Oops.  Better late than never!!  It is my tradition to bake for Matt on Valentine's Day.  I took a little risk this year and tried out a new recipe -  Brown Sugar Blondies .  They were AMAZING!!  In fact, I owe him another plate because I kinda ate most of them.  And by most, I mean all but two.  YIKES! After our baking was complete Lyla made daddy some coupons.  She was so proud of her hard work that day....it was precious!!  I think Valentine's Day is a lot more fun with kids!

Workout: None, but I did run 40 minutes yesterday which is my longest run since September!!! On this gorgeous February day the girls of the house decided to take a trip to the Tijuana of southwest Florida - Immokalee.  It is a small city out in the middle of nowhere that is made up of mostly migrant workers.  They have the most AMAZING farmer's market every Saturday.  And now if anyone visits I will be sure to take them there.  It's a pretty fun experience, and the fresh fruit and veggies are to die for!! Okay, sorry about the glare on the first picture.  But check this out - those gigantoid green peppers were only 20 cents a piece!  The strawberries, which were just picked this morning, were only $13 for that entire box.  The perfectly red and gorgeous looking tomatoes - 6 bucks for the entire box.  And Lyla is saying, "One dollar baby!!", about the price of that onion.  We also bought pineapple, butternut squash, garlic, and oranges. ...

Workout: 3.5 mile run In my most recent Shape magazine the main article was "How to Look Good Naked".  I didn't even bother to read it.  I know what all those super skinny Hollywood stars do to stay rail thin.  It probably looks a little something like this: -Hire a personal trainer to kick your butt. -Workout 60 minutes 6 days a week. -No carbs....EVER. -When you want a snack grab no more than 5 almonds. -If you crave something sweet eat an apple. -Only drink water. -Make sure you consume no more than 1200 calories a day. UGH!!  Seriously, who wants to live their life like that.  It almost seems like torture to me. Let me tell you why this lifestyle is NOT an option for me. -I don't have money for a personal trainer. -Unless I wake up at 4:30 a.m. 60 minutes a day is not an option. -I. LOVE. BREAD!!!! -A snack is cookies and milk, or chips, or Red Vines, or..... -An apple will NEVER cure a sweet craving for me. -I. LOVE. POP!!! -Well, consi...

Workout: Easy 2 miles - Race day tomorrow! In October of '99 I ran my first and only marathon to date.  I ran the Chicago marathon two days after my 20th birthday, and it was AWFUL!!!  I hated pretty much every step from mile 13 on.  When I crossed the finish line I swore I would never do that again.  My marathon experience is the third most painful experience of my life!!  (It was the MOST painful experience for 8 years!!)  The MOST painful experience of my life is the birth of my daughter.  My labor with her was so awful I wanted to die.  I mean, no joke, the words "I want to die. Just kill me!!!" were yelled at my husband during my 4 hour pushing excursion. The second most painful experience of my life was the birth of my son.  Pretty much just as awful.  I still wanted to die, but I don't think I yelled at Matt, and thankfully the pain was a few less hours. The day I came home with Lyla. My little forceps baby, Orlando. ...