Tuesday Night Run

Tonight I went out for my "easy" run. 45-50 minutes was the plan. We ended up going kind of late for a few reasons.

Trevor had asked me to throw the ball for him to hit. (So not something I enjoy but I felt bad telling him no lol) We did that for awhile and then when we got home I was cleaning up the kitchen a bit before making dinner. Scott and I made dinner together and then of course we had to let the food settle before running.

Scott had some interval work to do on his 5k-10k program. We started off together and then he'd run back to me after his faster run segments. I was running at a snail's pace. I forgot to stretch before we took off and my legs took forever to warm up.

I'm not sure if Scott totally finished his intervals or if he just walked the end but he got a side cramp and walked quite a ways back to the house. I would run ahead and then back to him so we weren't too far apart. I felt bad for him that he was having a hard time. Those intervals are a bitch! I remember I quit doing them at the end of that training program because I hated them so much.

The last 15 minutes or so though I finally felt all lose and hit that point where I knew I could just run forever. Well maybe not forever but if you are a runner you know what I mean! I was going to stop at 45 minutes but ended up running past the house and around the street behind ours and did the whole 50 minutes. I didn't even make it 4 miles but I ran the whole way even though I really wanted to walk. Funny how just having him running in the area will keep me running!

Today at work I had someone ask me if I still walked on my lunch. I told her sometimes but I hadn't done it in awhile. She told me she had a nightmare last night about her stomach taking over or something so she wanted to walk with me if I went out. I didn't walk on my lunch though since I knew I had to run tonight.

A little while later another co-worker told me that she had just signed up for her first 5k and wanted to know if I had any pointers. I told her to do the couch to 5k, run slow, 3 days a week with break days in between and to listen to music. I saw tonight on Facebook that she did her first one. I always get excited for people who decide to take up running!

Every run isn't always a great run. Some really suck! But overall the feeling I get from running is pretty fantastic.

Dad's 65th Football Birthday Party

Saturday night we went over to my brother Joe's house to celebrate my (step) Dad's birthday. 

He is 65 this year. 

My sister in law did a great job (as usual) with the decorations! My Dad loves sports. I totally remember when I was a kid he'd be watching TV  have the radio on and be reading the sports section of the paper all at the same time. 

The kids did some swimming but I mostly just sat at the table and ate crap and drank some booze and hung out. I was bad and didn't care what I ate. I put most of it in Lose It later and I was only about 1000 calories over. Only. HA! 

Yes my Dad is wearing a Married With Children shirt. Too funny.  My brother put a trick candle on his cupcake and it kept re-lighting. 

I love my mom's face here, so fun!

We played a few games of Catch Phrase before we finally begged off to go home. I knew I had to get up nice and early for my 10 mile run in the morning. I crashed out in the car on the way home and then laid in bed thinking about my run in the morning for what seemed like forever. I think I finally fell asleep about midnight.

Car Show Fun!

Saturday we had our annual car show out where I live. I love going down there every year. This year my Dad finally brought his truck over for it! I told Scott that I wanted to put the paddle boat in the water so the kids and maybe our friends or who ever could play on it during the car show.  So the two of us put it in the water down at my friend's dock and then paddled over to the are behind the club house where the car show was at.

It was kind of fun coming in from the water. 

We tied up the paddle boat right by my Dad's truck and pretty much hung out with him for most of the day.

The kids weren't ready to go when we left but they met us down there. Jess was home for the weekend and she rode bikes with Trevor and Melissa walked down. 

I love this picture of the girls. I have such beautiful kids if I do say so myself!

Trevor spent a lot of his time playing on the paddle boat. He started by himself but eventually had a group of kids on it.

Funny story about this little girl. She was UBER bossy and demanded that she get to sit in the front and pedal. Which they didn't let her do at first but then they let her. I have no idea who she was I think she was just a visitor to the club for the car show.  

Some people that we were sitting with that my dad knew were placing bets on how long it would take for her to end up fully submerged in the water.

So the kids wanted to paddle down to Rainbow Island but they had to be "watched" by me for one of the kids so I walked along the bank while they went down there. 

They get over to the island and then on the way back all of a sudden I see the little girl swimming in the water. She's holding one shoe. She gets kind of close to where I'm at and I'm like hey what happened? She said she lost her shoe in the lake. Then she keeps swimming back towards where they started. I'm like hey you should ask your mom if it's ok if you can swim in the lake! She just pretty much ignored me so I was like eh not my kid. I thought it was pretty funny that she was so bossy at the beginning and ended up swimming back minus her shoes (she threw the other one up on the bank and left it). 

I did walk around a bit and took a few pictures. My friend Lupe was there but she was busy most of the time helping out with the car show and selling the tamales her mom had made for a booth. (I ate 3 they were delicious!)

A few fun cars

This wood trailer was pretty cool. I wish they would have had the door open to see the sleeping part.

Scott and I went in the bar and had a drink. My Dad doesn't drink anymore so I didn't want to drink too much. Plus we had another party to go to after the car show.

We left around 3 to go to the other party and I think my Dad left right after. We took the boat in and then grabbed a few things and were just headed down the main road when my Dad called and said he had won a trophy and asked if I could get it for him. So we turned around and went back and got his HUGE trophy for best classic truck. What fun! 

 I thought it was extra fun that he won something.

On the way to my brother's house for the next party I sat in the back and Trevor was snoring before we got too far. 

Paddle boat = wearing out a 10 year old

WIN WIN

2012 Car Show 

2010 Car Show

Let's Celebrate!!

Oh my gosh you guys!! I had the best thing happen today!! I took my son to the dentist and he didn't have ANY CAVITIES!!

I KNOW it's like a miracle from heaven. He still got a lecture on brushing and flossing better but I walked out only having to pay $27. SCORE!

To celebrate we went out to ice cream (his idea). While we were waiting in the long line I tried to talk him into getting a couple kids scoops in a cup but obviously I didn't win.

While we were in line I was also talking myself out of getting a 2 scoop sundae. Or 2 scoops.  I got a kid's scoop of the pralines and cream.

I KNOW totally cheated on my peanut butter and chocolate.

It wasn't really worth all those calories though. It should have been been a lot more ice cream for that much don't you think?

After we got home I tried once again to read my book club book. I went outside and the neighbor's son was walking by. He lives down the street but comes over to see his dad every day (dad is in his 80's). I had a small bowl in my hand and he made a comment about that being my food for the day. I was like ? what? Then he asked me how I lost so much weight. Kind of funny since I've waved to this guy for like 20 years when he drives by but I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've had a conversation with him. 

I read my book for awhile outside and then I came in and laid on the couch to read. My little buddy joined me.

We ended up taking a nice nap there. I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish this book by 2:00 Sunday at this rate. I get about 5 pages done and then it's lights out haha. I think I'm just so exhausted from all this running and stuff the minute I hold still I crash out.

I had to drag myself off the couch to go out for my 4 miler tonight. Scott had a 45 minute run to do (he's doing the 5k-10K). I was like well I bet we can do it in just about the same amount of time! Most of the run was pretty miserable for me. We had ribs for dinner and they were not happy jostling around in there. Plus I was so stiff when we started out it took me forever to warm up. 

We had to push it a bit at the end but we did it!

I'm so glad I'm done with running until Sunday. I so need a break. Three days in a row is ROUGH. 

Grocery Shopping Sucks

It's almost 11 and I'm shamelessly stuffing my face with popcorn while I unwind from grocery shopping.

Is it just me or is grocery shopping like torture? I didn't even take the kids with me (hardly ever do anymore) and it's still such a grueling task.

I start through the door where all the sale stuff is. Oh look cake loaf is on sale. That shit is GOOD can't buy that. Chips nope, Cheez It's nope, nope nope nope.

ok produce. Blech sick of those oranges. Sick of pears sick  of salad sick of broccoli. Oh grapes. Haven't ate those in awhile. Need more bananas for my protein drinks.

Bulk section guess I should get some more pistachios kind of sick of those. Trail mix but not too much remember how you over eat that.

What should we get for meat for the week (so unorganized lately, no list let alone a menu) we'll get some of that and that and that. 7 packs of meat we'll figure something out to do with at least we'll have food.

Oh the fun part! Protein bar aisle. I'll take one of each Clif bar!!

7 cans of soup for lunch, already have the tuna.

Scott wants popcorn, can't forget the popcorn!! Oh look caramel popcorn. Oh this little bag is 7 servings? Better not get that I'll eat the whole bag.

$200 worth of unexciting groceries. I'm so not excited to buy it, cook it or eat it. I think I need to start hanging out at Skinnytaste again.

Maybe I can get someone to make me up a menu, shopping list, go shopping for me and cook it all?

Random Tuesday Ramblings

A little bit of random in pictures today. I was up early this morning and actually got to work early. Amazing! I have no idea who that early person was.

My roses are all blooming. This rose bush was one of those 3" miniature roses that people give you as a gift. I can't believe how big it is.  I usually kill those things off in a week. I've had this one for a few years now.

Right now they all look orange but sometimes they will be pink. Weird!

I was sooo tired after work (and starving)! I had stopped to get gas and ran in and got a clif bar and a banana for the ride home. I was about half way down the block when I realized I never put my gas cap on. I felt pretty stupid haha. Good thing it's on a tether and didn't fall off. 

When I got home I laid on the couch and read aka took a nap. I'm trying to read this book for book club. It's interesting but it's taking me forever to read it. Mostly because I keep falling asleep or getting distracted.

I can't believe how big Trevor is getting. I was laying on the couch looking at him and he's such a big boy now. 

His feet may be a tiny bit bigger than mine too. He's TEN (just barely) and I have pretty big feet, 9 1/2 or so.

Rusty brought me his toy while I was playing with Trevor. Jealous dog. Look at me!! Look at me!!

Scott took the week off so I have a house wife for the week. He went to the store and made dinner tonight. BBQ umm so good.  I probably shouldn't have ate so much though since I had to get a run in. I was waiting until it was almost dark to go because it was 84 today. I like to go by that standard of dressing like it's 10 degrees warmer which to me 94 is way too hot to run in.  As soon as the sun starts to go down it cools off still though (for now). 

I was almost done with my run when I got a nice side cramp. I only stopped for a sec than finished off the run and then it was almost gone. Those things hurt!! 

Pretty slow average but I wasn't trying to be fast just consistent. 

Plus it took my knees awhile to warm up. When I got home I put my exercise into Lose It and I was awarded with this badge.

 Which kind of blows my mind! 3 times a week for a whole year I've exercised. That is a long time! I was trying to remember what kind of exercise I was doing a year ago. I think mostly walking and maybe riding my bike a bit. I remember when I first started riding my bike I'd have to stop and take a drink of water before I got around one lake. Like maybe 2 miles with several stops for water. Amazing how far I've come in a year! I would also walk during my lunch at work a lot, mostly to get away from all the food in the break room and to keep my focus. 

Here's a few inspiring things I've seen today.

(and none of those have to be fancy)

When I first started wanting to do a half marathon I really thought it was going to be too hard. 

I feel like if I keep pushing myself I will keep myself motivated to keep trying harder.

I've had a lot of people tell me that I inspire them. It feels kind of weird when people tell me that. I get inspiration from so many people. I love all of my support system. From a few friends, to my fit camp, to people on instagram and Facebook to all the great blogs out there.

They all keep me motivated! 

Weekend In Monterey

Saturday after my long run we finally took off for Monterey and the Sea Otter Classic! 

Scott had bought this bike rack for the car. It holds 3 bikes. He's got his mountain bike and our two road bikes on there. Looks scary to me but they stayed put for the whole ride!

We drove over to Monterey and then to our hotel. I keep trying different areas and hotels every time we go to the Monterey area. I keep hoping some day we'll find a great one.

This time we stayed in Marina, which was closer to Laguna Seca where the bike event was going on. I picked the Howard Johnson Marina at Monterey Bay. 

The first thing I noticed when we drove up? Um it's a gas station too. Weirdest thing ever. BUT totally not a problem because it's kind of sectioned off. I went into the lobby and the owner woman was the nicest lady ever. Seriously have never met such a nice person at a hotel/motel. They have been remodeling and she was all excited and chatty about everything.

The room itself was pretty big for a motel and super quiet even though we were on the bottom floor next to the stairs. I think I only heard people talking a couple times and other than that it was so quiet. Nice! The bedspread was kind of old but she said they were ordering new ones (I know, not nice for us but it will be nice for the next person). I'd definitely stay here again, although I'm still in search of a little bit nicer place.  

Jess came to meet us right after we got there and then we went to pick up Scott's race packet. I'm so so glad we did that. The drive in and parking there were crazy. There were SO. MANY.PEOPLE. And the walk to where he needed to pick it up was crazy long.  

After we got that done we went and had dinner. We decided to go to Caruso's again (my suggestion) for some good carb loading Italian food. Not that I needed to carb load but I was hungry!

For starters we got some clam chowder. Jess and I shared a bowl instead of buying two since it was only $1 more for the bowl. 

Aren't we cute? 

Scott got a "cup". They have really good bread too. So yummy.

We all got the chicken parm. Jess and I shared one order. 

This is HALF an order.

Yum yum so good. I'm glad we shared it was just the right amount.  We ended up calling it a night pretty early since we had and were going to have such a busy day. 

Sunday Scott was up bright and early SURPRISE and all nervous for his race.  Jess came over again and we went and hit the free breakfast in the hotel lobby. ALL carbs. No protein. I decided to just suck it up and eat a bagel and a banana. I can't tell you the last time I had had a bagel before that.

Then we jumped in the car and went to the race track. The line to get in was CRAZY. So many people. I was starting to worry we wouldn't have enough time for Scott to get to where he needed to be. After we finally got parked I told him to go ahead and we'd catch up to him.

He got there with enough time to line up and about ten minutes to spare. We got there just in time!

We saw him until he got to the starting line.

and then sat and waited until we saw him come in! It was a long hard ride and I'm so proud of him for finishing. I probably would have been in the fetal position singing lullabys to myself. 

I got a wee bit burnt while we were sitting there.

DUH maybe we should have brought sun screen. 

After the race Scott was super tired and we ended up standing next to this tent. We didn't realize what it was at first but they were giving out free chiro adjustments. I was like dude, go for it! Apparently his neck and back were pretty messed up. They told him he should follow up with a local chiro for more work. I on the other hand got cracked a few times and was good.

After that we just walked through a vendor area and then made the long trek back to the car. And ROUND TABLE.  I had a HUGE plate of salad and some pizza. I hardly ate anything all day other than that bagel for breakfast so I was starving. 

When we were done we went to the beach to relax. This time we went to the Sand City beach.  We all laid on a blanket and just relaxed. 

Well Jess went down to the water for a bit.

It was so nice to just lay there and relax and hear the waves breaking on the shore. We were going to wait for sunset but we left about an hour before. We went back to the hotel and watched American Pie. Well most of it until I crashed out. I think we have that movie and I've still never watched the whole thing. Funny but gross. 

Sunday morning we got up and hit the free breakfast again. Yep, more bagels! Then we loaded up our stuff in the car and checked out. But we didn't leave. We went on a bike ride.

A REALLY BIG bike ride. We stared out going on the bike trail we went on before and then wound our way over to the 17 mile drive. And we rode most of it and then back to the hotel. Which was pretty much a tour of the whole Monterey area. 

The ride we did last time was just down to Cannery Row and back and we were so beat. (how hot is my husband here whooweee)

We've been riding  A LOT more since last November, plus now we both have road bikes which make a HUGE difference in the ride.

We made it over to 17 mile drive no problem!

We rode around a bit and then I was hungry. Like STARVING. We stopped at the Pebble Beach Market (disregard that picture in the link that's not from there, it's like a deli/wine store) and I ran inside and said GIVE ME FOOD! Actually I told Scott they have sandwiches and I'm getting one! I didn't care that they were $10 each. We each got a sandwich and shared some coleslaw. I would have took a picture but um yeah I inhaled it. After that we rode until we got to the gate and then realized DUH it's not the same gate! 

We looked at a map and I kind of zoned out while Scott figured out how to get the hell out of there without us riding straight up in a mountain to God. I was flipping TIRED! He got it figured out I thought and then we started riding and it didn't seem anything like I thought we were going to do. We were still going up a mountain. Then just when I was about to sit on the side of the road and cry it started going downhill. FAST!! 

I like downhill. 

Downhill is awesome. 

And then there it was, the gate we came in at. We got out and traced our way back (stopping for a Starbucks break along the way) and then eventually made it back to the hotel. 

My phone died before we got back so I had to adjust my map and it didn't change the calories so it's a bit off.

48 miles.

Look he's all happy and I'm like LET ME IN THE CAR and no one gets hurt.

Kidding. 

Kind of. 

And then we drove home.

Oh and you know how I said we forgot sunscreen?

I'll be paying for that for a few days.