Running Liv's Life

I set a mileage record on the treadmill!  Seven miles.  The most I had done prior to this was only 5.  I'm not a fan of the tread.  I got to the gym about 3 minutes after it opened, and it was already filled with all  old people who also had control of all the tvs.  A different news station was playing on every t.v.  Come on peeps!  How does watching news make your workout more enjoyable and go by quickly?  I was stuck daydreaming.  Which worked pretty well because I felt great!  I'm not sure what happened.  Just when I was about to finish the machine said, "belt stopping".  I had to wait and restart the whole thing just to run .07 miles.  Oh well, this accomplishment still made my week! Oh dear.  Lowlight.  I don't know what I was thinking, but I went grocery shopping with BOTH children.  Just when I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, Lyla decides she has to go to the bathroom.  NOOOO...

I will get eight straight hours of sleep?  My daughter is 2 1/2 years old.  She didn't sleep through the night until she was almost 2!!!  By the time she was sleeping all night I was far enough along in my pregnancy that I wasn't getting much sleep at night due to being super uncomfortable.  Orlando is now almost 8 months, and he is still up twice a night.  Throw in the couple months I wasn't sleeping while pregnant with Lyla and we are at 3 years of going without a peaceful nights sleep!  Matt and I had grandma and grandpa keep Lyla overnight a couple of times so in three years I have had maybe 2-3 nights of good sleep.  Ahh, the joys motherhood brings! Don't kids have it so easy?

I just want to give a big shout out to Mr. West and his killer jam "Stronger".  A couple of days ago I did a 6  mile run.  At 4.5 miles I was hurting, but I was determined to keep my pace up.  By pure luck, Kanye starts to play at mile 5.25.  This total gangsta rap star was helping me finish my run strong.  If only the people of big town El to the P could hear what was blasting on my iPod.  I mean, come on.  A small town, thirty something, christian mom, running to Kanye!!  I think it's my inner latina blood flowing through :)    Gangsta or sweet? I was able to complete the run at an 8:15 pace.  Tha, tha, tha, that don't kill you, will only make you stronger!

I got super excited about the blast of heat that has spread its way across central Illinois.  I normally don't run on Sundays, but it was 45 AND sunny.  I couldn't pass this up.  I thought it would be good for Lyla to get out of the house as well, so I made sure the wheels on the jogging stroller were full of air and took her along with me. Thank goodness I grabbed this blanket for her last minute.  It turns out that it was 45, sunny, AND  windy!!!!  I guess I should have checked the wind chill before I decided to take Lyla along.  She was a trooper.  I asked her several times if she wanted to go home, and she didn't.  I only made it 2.4 miles instead of 3.  I just felt so bad for my poor little baby.  I also felt pretty bad for my poor little ears.  My ears and face were freezing!  I'm thinking I will wait for high 50s or low 60s to bring her out with me again.  I guess it wasn't much of a heat wave after all.

 I'm addicted to the iPad!!  This thing rocks.  I waste a lot of time on it, but I also use it for practical things as well.  One of my favorite apps is called Running Log.  When I get done with a run I totally geek out and get all excited about logging in all the info.  I do have a Garmin Forerunner, which I highly recommend to any runner, but this does so much more.  It is so cool to see how I am slowly getting my speed back after having Orlando in July.  At the end of each month it gives me stats for how many miles I ran, how many hours, and what my average pace was for the month.  Since I started running again in August my average pace has dropped 45 seconds.  Not bad considering 3 of those months have been cold and cruddy.    You want to know another great feature of the iPad?  It can be used as a babysitter! Lyla is a pro at navigating this thing.  She loves to play with it, and it entertains her for hours!!! ...

Thanks to this weather and bitter cold, my husband and I have stayed home since Christmas, and our Fridays are very low key.  So the first weekend in January I started my Friday Night Baking!!  I have been trying all sorts of new recipes and thought I'd share one of my new favorites with you all.  This cake is soooo moist.  Matt and I can't stop poking at it and usually have it finished within 24 hours.  Thankfully my long runs are on Saturdays so I usually don't feel too guilty shoving my face with it. Here is my lovely assistant. My daughter just loves to help me bake.  It's cute in theory, but a pain in reality.  She looks so cute and helpful here, but I was about ready to throw her out of the kitchen!  She's lucky mommy has patience!!  Well, in this case I did anyway.  This time we made the cake into cupcakes to try something different.  (Better as cake in my opinion.) Crumb Cake 2 C flour     1 1/2 C sugar ...

I'm always setting goals for myself.  Running goals, nutritional goals, cleaning goals, etc. (That last one is always a challenge.)  I set goals so I have something to work towards; an everyday challenge to conquer.  A couple of weeks ago I thought about what type of new goals I wanted to make.  I started by thinking of a running goal.  I needed something that would be challenging, yet achievable.  I decided I would challenge myself by trying to run at least 20 miles a week. Next, I wanted to set some nutritional goals.  Anyone close to me knows that I eat like crap.  Total crap!  In fact, I honestly can not remember the last time I had a piece of fruit.  I have just a few more pounds of baby weight to lose and I know eating better would definitely get it off.  So I set a goal to make wiser food choices and cut back on my snacking.  But late in the week I discovered a couple things about my goals. The first is, don't make ru...

I know running isn't about looks, but I can't help but look at other women's clothes at the start line of a race.  All the women look so cute in their name brand athletic apparel and their cute perfect little ponytails. Then, I look down at myself.  A too big t-shirt, usually sporting some high school football team, shorts that most likely don't match, and a pony tail that was thrown up in about 2 seconds.  I look disgusting and feel gross for a minute, but then I cheer myself up by thinking about how I will probably beat half of them :) But this is a new year.  No more frumpy runner.  I want to look cute too, darn it!  Since I'm a stay at home mom, and my husband is a teacher I won't be able to go too crazy.  I'll shop at T.J. Maxx and check out Ebay.  I'm going to make it happen. Yes. I actually wore that outfit for a run.  Even Sarah Palin has WAY better style than me. Watch out, Sarah!  This momma is going to change her ways!