Team Pretty Muddy

Saturday (or Sunday at this point) Randoms //

March 9, 2014 by Rachel Leave a Comment

My days with #ToddlerAri (formerly #BabyAri) have been jam-packed with awesome. One of our favorite things to do is to hit up whatever fun, free, local event is happening! This week we visited the Akron Art Museum (again) for their Free Thursday event

I cannot wait for farmers’ market season to start! I miss getting fresh fruits + veggies, locally sourced, in a fun outdoor environment!

There are TWO posts you should see right this very second:
1. The Cleveland Home + Remodeling Expo ticket giveaway.
2. My post on the Pretty Muddy blog about running dirty + eating clean!

This post from West Coast Mama blog about struggling to stay positive in the day-to-day mundane of life is such a great reminder for all of us. I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal since the beginning of the year. Each day I write something, regardless of how simple and unthrilling it is, down in my ‘gratitude’ notebook. But sometimes it’s just hard. #BeGrateful, y’all.

get fit! // fitness update

November 15, 2013 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Today I’m also blogging over at Pretty Muddy! Go check it out!

Weight Watchers //

Last week I lost a pound, this week? Well this week I gained it back. Eh, oh well. I’ve still be slacking on my points tracking, and I know that’s the issue.

Regardless, I saw a weight loss! And hooray for that! And I realize that if I would just get back on track with my Points Plus Tracker, I’d lose even more, even faster.

Workouts //

I love running! LOVE it! And I’ve logged a lot of miles over the past 10 days. Well, a lot for me. And I’ve loved every minute of it. I feel great during the runs, but extremely sore afterward. I haven’t been able to make it to a yoga class in a few weeks, which I know will ultimately help keep me limber and less-sore post-run. But easier said than done these days!

It’s super discouraging to have the sun go down right as I’m finishing up with work. And I pretty much refuse to run in the dark. I have bad vision and I can foresee myself tripping & falling. So I run during the day. Which, during the week, is limited to running during my lunch break. My coworkers may not be thrilled to spend a couple of hours near me post-workout, but I clean up well! 😉

The Real World //

No, not the MTV show. I mean, living in the real world. With fast-paced lives and the need for convenience. Ya know what I wish was convenient? Juicing. I love when we make fresh juice at home (thanks to our wonderful Omega Juicer!). But the prep work is a pain! Which is why I have the best of intentions, but procrastinate. We haven’t juiced any of the fruits and veggies we have in a couple weeks. It feels like a waste.

Our saving grace lately has been two things: 1. I have a husband who gets home earlier than I do; and he likes to cook healthy meals. 2. We made a trip to Trader Joes last weekend and stocked up on healthy, organic, No-GMO freezer meals! Our big freezer died a couple of months ago. At the time, we had a freezer full of goodies (and milk — ugh!) that all spoiled. Truth be told, it should’ve been cleaned out long ago, but since we were forced into it, our freezer has been nearly empty since. It’s nice to see it full of delicious and healthy food!

Looking Ahead //

This weekend I’m hoping to get a long run in AND a yoga class. This feels like a huge goal. But one that I can tackle. My parents will be in town so I’m hoping that allows me to sneak away for an hour to run on Saturday. 🙂 I don’t have a race to run for at least a couple of weeks, but it’s a race I’m nervous about! I know I can do it. It’s not that part that I’m nervous about. It’s just the normal pre-race jitters — already!

Almost forgot //

Stay on the lookout for a giveaway or two here in the very near future! 🙂

Happy Friday, y’all! Have an awesome weekend!

oh we definitely got Pretty Muddy! //

September 15, 2013 by Rachel 1 Comment

It seemed like ages ago that I signed up to be part of the Pretty Muddy Ohio blogger team. But time ended up flying and before I knew it, race day was upon us!

I had planned to be flying solo this weekend — Ari & Chad were going to stay home together; but he ended up being on call for work and if he had gotten called out (which it turns out he did late, late, late Friday evening) he wouldn’t have had anyone to hang back with Babycakes. So Ari came with Mama to Saturdays event!

Our running team consisted of me, my mom, my sister — Shauna, and my friend from my college days — Julie! I haven’t seen Julie in FIVE YEARS! She & I worked together when I lived in Syracuse back from 2005-2007. She moved to Ohio a couple of years ago, and it was fantastic to see her and meet her adorable family.

Thank goodness we were accompanied by my soon-to-be BIL, so he could hang back with Ari and spectate the event.

We arrived at Mad River Mountain Ski Resort around 8:30 am. It. was. COLD out! Considering earlier in the week we were reaching the 90s, waking up to 45 degrees was a bit of a shock to the system. But we managed. And we dressed accordingly.

I was super nervous about how cold we were going to be once we got covered in mud; but I quickly forgot about that once I saw the horrendous looking ski slopes we would be running straight up! Ha!

In all seriousness, knowing that this was a “fun run” I wasn’t down to break a leg. Which was entirely possible given the crazy rocks and holes that we had to navigate through between the obstacles. And those obstacles?? They were ROUGH! Like, crawling-on-my-knees through the mud? That tore UP my legs. Bruises, scrapes, cuts… Oy! And.the. CLIMBING. All the climbing!

I ended up walking a lot of it. Not because I can’t run a 5k; but because it was flat out too dangerous to run. You couldn’t see what you were about to step on; you couldn’t see that you were about to break your ankle by twisting it in a giant hole; and you couldn’t see that the water & mud was about to send you falling down the mountain unless you tread lightly.

That being said, we survived. And it didn’t take us nearly as long as I anticipated it taking us. Like 45 minutes, tops.

And we warmed up in the sun. Which was nice.

Overall? It was fun. But it was rough. And I might have picked a better location. I understand the need for some hills, logistically speaking; but the terrain was way too rough. Especially for a run aimed at people who aren’t seasoned trail runners.

Today I’m really really sore. And I didn’t even over-exert myself. But my body aches from nearly spraining my ankle every few feet. And my knees are not thanking me for the strain I’ve put on them.

It was fun, but needless to say, I’ll be waiting a while before my next obstacle run.

Happy (my) Friday!

September 12, 2013 by Rachel 1 Comment

I’ve been crazy busy for the past couple of weeks. Between getting lots of extra OT hours at work, fitting in workouts, and spending loads of time with my two favorite guys, I’ve been completely neglecting my to-do list. I know that I will never have a completed list

And that’s OK.

Regardless of how much I have unchecked on my ‘to-do’ list, I’m beyond excited that today is my Friday. Cause even though this weekend is slated to be a busy one, I’m pumped about it.

Tomorrow I’m going to go to a yoga class before Ari + I drive to Columbus — just Mama + Babycakes! 🙂 I figure we’ll spend the day walking around downtown, hitting up some favorite spots [like Pistacia Vera + Jeni’s Ice Cream] on the way, before grabbing lunch with Mimi. Yep — my mom will be meeting us there! And once my sister and her fiance get out of work, we’ll meet up with them.

And Saturday the three of us are going to run the Pretty Muddy Columbus Women’s 5k! I’m so excited! It will be my first ‘obstacle’ run. So I guess I’m a little nervous, too. I hope to meet up with Heather from Mile 26 & More while we’re both at the race. We, very briefly, crossed paths at Charles Scott Salon for the Elle Magazine and Wella Cosmetics event. But we didn’t officially meet. So it MUST happen this weekend. 🙂

After the race, I’m going to ‘race’ back home to Akron to relax. You know, after only a short 3 hour drive. I’ll need to relax a bit because Sunday I’m going to run the Hereos Run 5-miler race in Westpark. That will be my last race pre-Akron Marathon Relay. My leg of the relay is 4.8 miles, so this will be a good ‘test’ before the big day. 🙂

#HappyFriday!

get fit! // fitness update

September 10, 2013 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Weight Watchers //

Holiday weekends are rough. So are random outings (wine & canvas, Indians game, etc). In the middle of the fun & craziness of the last couple of weeks, I forgot to weigh myself last Tuesday. So I — very hesitantly — weighed myself this morning.

I was scared. But I lost a half a pound! And I’ll take it! I’m still reminding myself that this will be a slow process. Especially if I want to do this the healthy and sustainable way.

Workouts //

In an effort to not get burned out by the same ol’, same ol’! So I committed to Tuesday morning spinning classes at the YMCA. After my first (not my first ever — just my first there) spin class, I felt comfortable with my surroundings, but still challenged with the fitness level. Hooray!!

As an early riser, I’ve gotten used to working out with mostly people who are at least 30 years older than me. So to find that I was in a spin class with 5 other people — all age 60+ — made my heart burst with happiness! 🙂

And after the spin class they even convinced me to sign up for a Monday morning weight lifting/toning class!

Unfortunately, I’m still learning the ropes with my new phone. Aaaaand I’ve slept through my alarm (or it hasn’t gone off — I can’t figure it out!) both yesterday and today. Oy!

Food //

Food. Ohhhh food! I’m such a foodie. I freaking LOVE food. Well, I love good food. Like vegan & gluten free cupcakes. Which, turns out, are still cupcakes. And Hodges crab filled hush puppies. And sushi burritos. And chicken souvlaki salads.

Looking forward //

I may have missed my weekly kickoff workout of spinning this morning, but I’m ready for the rest of this week.

Wednesday I’m going to get in a long run; Thursday I’m going to fit in a short run; and Friday morning I’m going to get a power vinyasa yoga class in. Saturday is the Pretty Muddy Columbus Women’s 5k — PS — there is still time to register! And then Sunday I’m running a 5-miler in Westpark! For those who are unfamiliar with Ohio, that’s a LOT of travelling for one weekend! 🙂 But I can handle it.

I know that when I do this much travelling, my diet may not be as it should be; so for the beginning part of the week, I’m going to really watch what I eat. That way I can be a little bit more lax during my crazy fun weekend. 🙂

weekly mantra //

September 9, 2013 by Rachel 2 Comments

Well, we had an incredibly relaxing weekend! I pretty much kept this past weekend marked as “busy” in my planner even though we had nothing to do. We’ve had SO much going on lately that we totally needed some time to relax as a family — even if that meant blowing off things that would’ve been fun.

Friday night we chilled at home. Saturday this mama went to the gym followed by a dentist appointment [yuck!] and grocery shopping. I followed all this fun up with a run [I was a bit ‘fitness inspired’ this weekend].

After everyone had napped (me included!) we headed to the apple orchard. We didn’t apple-pick, but we did apple-taste! And shopped for some honeycrisps. They were delicious! Then we walked around downtown Kent before heading home to settle in for another round of naps!

Saturday night was just as chill as Friday night. Everyone went to bed early and woke slept in until 8 Sunday morning! Ari & I headed to Yoga Bliss for a morning of Vinyasa — well, technically I did yoga and Ari went into the babysitting room. The rest of Sunday was spent sipping Starbucks, drinking fresh kale juice and watching TV.

This weekend was everything I needed to head into this week! I’m ready for my TWO fitness classes early in the week, a (very likely) crazy end to this week, and a half-day on Friday. I’m taking off early Friday afternoon to head to Columbus for the Pretty Muddy women’s 5k/mud run on Saturday. I plan on spending a quick but awesome 24-hours with my sister & my mom while I’m in Columbus! 🙂

And I’ll be back home in time to run a 5-mile race on Sunday! Busy, busy!

And my mantra for the week is this:

Cause it’s time to let the love in and the light shine through! xo!