mother runner

Accountability // Health + Fitness Update # 1

June 9, 2017 by Rachel 15 Comments

It’s been one week since my fitness update. And I feel amazing! Don’t get me wrong — things have not been perfect. Nope. In fact, I’ve barely been home to make dinner; I’ve been slacking on things around the house; and I’ve generally been a crazy person.

But I feel amazing.

In fact, I had gained three pounds over the Memorial Day holiday. Yep. That’s what happens when you go to a wedding and have family parties literally all weekend! But I did my Weight Watchers weigh-in Tuesday and I lost 6. SIX! This is: a.) the most I’ve ever lost in a week. Ever. and b.) it wasn’t easy. Not at all.

I know I’ve mentioned previously how much I love that WW allots points weekly to focus on the ‘bigger picture,’ and this week was a testament. I mean, I had days where I went way over with my points (and used my allotted weekly ‘wiggle room’); but I also had days where I was right on track. One thing was consistent — I consistently moved — Every damn day.

In fact, my fitness goal of 108 points was surpassed tremendously — I earned 116 fitness points! Those fitness points can essentially be ‘used’ towards food; but, I didn’t use all of them, thankfully.

The key to my success was this: I tracked everything. When you hold yourself accountable and actually track — whether it be through an app or writing it down — what you eat? It changes the whole freaking game, ya’ll. I mean, I looooove food. Love it. And I have an affinity for craft beer. But tracking it all still held me accountable. I was able to see how much or how little I was eating and where my ‘points’ went!

And that automatically makes a gal make better decisions. But I still lived my life like a normal person.

AND I STILL LOST SIX POUNDS. Crazy. pants. ya’ll.

So let’s real-talk this out — Here’s what my fitness routine looked like last week (PS. My weigh-in days are Tuesdays):

Tuesday = an easy walk with the kids but not much else.

Wednesday = 30 minutes of running.

Thursday = Treadmill workout; quick-walking pace + steady incline.

Friday = an easy walk with the kids in the double stroller.

Saturday = 45-minute, butt-kicking, cycling class.

Sunday = 30 minute run, outside, by myself, in the rain! ♥

Monday = 45-minute, butt-kicking, cycling class (again).

Also, I regularly met my own personal goal of 10k steps per day. I just made sure my booty got up and moving!

So, in short, I moved + I sweated a lot. But I also ate mostly healthy and still indulged on occasion. But from hereon out I’m not going to refer to it as ‘indulging;’ I’m going to call it living. Because that’s what it is. It’s living.

Other developments:

You’re looking at the newest head-coach of the Riverfront YMCA Girls on the Run, 5th-8th grade girls! We are launching this Summer/Fall and I’m SO excited to be a part of this!

Also, I’ve been doing lots of interval training, but during my rainy-day run I actually ran 22.5 minutes straight before stopping. This is huge! I thought, for sure, I could keep going. But then I came upon a HUGE hill and almost died and the end. But 22.5 minutes! And then I walked for about 2 minutes (killer hill) and then ran another 8 minutes. Not bad. Not bad at all!

So yeah. This past week was a good one. A very good one, health-wise. If you’ve been following since the beginning of this blog (which I’m guessing 99% of you haven’t — because that was a long, loooong, time ago), I finally feel like I’m getting back to my ‘roots’ again. It feels… amazing.

Mostly, I am happy. I am happy that I’m finally beginning to get back to myself again. I can’t wait to keep you updated on my journey!

weekend wrap up //

April 14, 2015 by Rachel 2 Comments

Friday //

After a long day at work and a long day at the sitter for Moosh, we wound up at our favorite local indoor play place, Café O’Play, to try and burn off whatever energy he had left.

He had fun, but that quickly turned into a meltdown. So we headed home thinking the dude was just exhausted. And he was. So we put him to bed and Chad and I settled into bed to watch Going Clear on HBO. If you haven’t seen this documentary, go right now and watch it. Totally messed up!

Well Moosh never fell asleep. Like, he really wouldn’t. Three-plus hours of him talking in his crib. Finally at 11 PM, still wide awake and screaming “MOMMY!” from his crib, I ended up bringing that booger into bed with us. He finally fell asleep; we didn’t. That always makes for a fun night.

Saturday //

We slept in for as long as we could. But we had places to be! A couple of months ago I registered us for a visit and tour at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Moosh was ornery, considering he was running on a few hours of sleep. But he was a champ. He sat through a 35-minute “safety” discussion (which was mostly a discussion and powerpoint presentation on the history of aviation).

When we visited the Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory — also known as the “Dome of Silence;” where they test noise-reduction methods for aviation. Chad was intrigued, Moosh was bored. Luckily the giant dome was sound resistant so everytime he yelled “MY CHOCOLATE MILK!,” which is his go-to crazy-pants, I’m-so-tired, phrase, very few people were interrupted from the tour.

It was definitely a really cool facility. But nearing the two-hour mark really put Moosh at his limit. We planned on grabbing a real sit-down lunch afterward, but we decided to just hit up Earth Fare. We needed to grocery shop anyway so we grabbed lunch first to calm the beast (aka – Moosh), and then did all of our shopping!

I seriously LOVE family grocery shopping. I love that time we spend time together planning meals and planning for our week. By the time we came home, we were well past a time to actually get Moosh to nap; so we all just relaxed for most of the afternoon. But I had a massage scheduled for 8PM. At first I thought “WHY in the WORLD did I schedule this for a time that is way beyond PJs-o’clock?!” but it really was exactly what I needed.

Sunday //

We slept in, thanks in large part for forgetting to bring the baby monitor to our room! Ha! Woopsie! It was a beautiful morning so we headed out to the Towpath Trail to get in a run/family walk! I ran for a few miles and caught back up with Chad and Moosh in the stroller. And I’d like to say that I made the most of the beautiful day, but in truth I cleaned the whole house and napped in bed for about 2 hours while Chad watched baseball. Perfection!

While Chad and Ari went back outside to play, I finished up the dinner that Chad started — taco salad bowls with Chad’s homemade cilantro slaw and avocado! Delicious!

You would think after a long weekend, short on sleep, Ari would be ready for bed at an early hour. But nope! He wanted to take a late-night trip with me to Target for a few odds and ends. Anyone out there deal with a 2-to-3 year sleep regression?? I’ve read a little about it, but I cannot figure out if that’s what this is!

It really was another fabulous weekend. And I couldn’t be happier. <3

running // the cheap sport.

April 8, 2015 by Rachel 1 Comment

I used to think that running was the sport that required little monetary investment. All you need is a pair of shoes and an open road. Right?

Wrong. Oh so wrong.

Sure, you need shoes. But the more you run, the more often you need to replace your shoes. And only the right shoes will prevent injury. And shoes range in price from $50 – $250. On average, let’s say a good pair of running shoes costs $110 and need replaced anywhere from 3-6 months. Yes, you CAN run with cheap shoes; but I don’t recommend it. Cheap shoes are cheap for a reason.

If you want to run outside — which is the most fun, am I right?? — you’ll likely want to carry your phone with you for music. So you invest in an armband, such as the NeoSleeve for the iPhone, for your smartphone. This particular sleeve, which is my personal favorite (and costs less than $15 on Amazon) because it’s fairly inexpensive, water resistant, and has a space for your car key. Others can cost upwards of $20.

And then you begin to run longer distances. Long distances require keeping yourself hydrated and also energy gels for fuel. So you decide to get a hydration belt. Which costs anywhere from $10 to $30. I paid approximately $24 for mine. And energy gels are an ongoing expense. You have to figure out which of the gels are best on your personal digestive system, but they range in price from $.85 to $2.00 each (this is the price if you purchase in bulk on Amazon; but if you purchase them individually, they are much more expensive).

Now that you’re running longer distances, you start to get aches and pains that come with the kind of wear and tear running puts on your body. Enter compression sleeves, KT Tape, and foam rollers.

Compression socks run about $30 – $50; KT Tape is about $15 per pack; and foam rollers run anywhere from $10 to $70.

And then you sign up for a race. Let’s say a 5k or a half marathon. A 5k will probably run you between $25 – $35. A half marathon is anywhere from $50 to $150. That’s JUST your race entry (which may come with some ‘swag’ such as a t-shirt and post-race food).

If you are running in a cold climate, a gym membership or a treadmill may be necessary for your training. A cheap gym membership would run someone about $20 (hey, Planet Fitness!) a month. So about $240 per year. And a treadmill is a one-time investment of anywhere from like $800 – $1700. It’s insane how much a treadmill or a gym membership can cost. This past winter was cold — like -20 degrees cold. But we cancelled our gym membership and I started running on a treadmill, which is saving us monthly.

Some runners (OK — MOST runners) choose to run with a GPS watch, whether it be a Garmin or Nike watch. I had a basic Garmin and I hated it; but now I have a much more user-friendly Garmin that I LOVE to use! The battery lasts for my long runs and it controls my pace better than any iPhone running app could possibly do. These run $100 to $500. Mine is middle-of-the-road and runs about $170; but I have to admit I wish it had Bluetooth so it would update to the internet/my iPhone app automatically. (I know — first world problems, right??)

Last but not least you’ll need running clothes. I used to be a Target running gear connoisseur; but that changed when I realized I was getting what I paid for — the clothes I was running in were not withstanding the wear and tear of my running regimen. I don’t feel like I was putting any extraordinary wear on my clothes, but somehow they were pulling and riding and wearing out in a major way. Also? Target charges like thirty-five bucks for running pants! Do you know you could spend just about $50 on a good pair that actually lasts?? I’m not saying that you need to shop at Lululemon; but go to a running store, but go to a running store and try on some gear made my athletic designers. Believe it or not, this makes a difference. I personally stalk down good deals with local running stores to find discounts on “expensive” running clothes.

I wanted to add up all of these costs, but my wallet told me that it would just depress me; so YOU do the math. It’s EXPEN$IVE to run — am I right!?

Basically, running is NOT cheap. In theory it should be just a “lace up and get out there!” kind of thing; but it isn’t. Not if you’re serious about it and doing it right. You don’t have to be a marathoner or even a half-marathoner to take running seriously; but I can tell you that once you put your mind to it and start running seriously, you’ll find a way to make these things a priority. And it’s totally worth it. <3

marathon training // an update

January 21, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

During the holidays I was anticipating the impending doom of a training schedule. But I was ready for it… until I got the flu. It took a total of two weeks to fully recover. My doctor delayed the start of training for a week to make sure I was 100% in good health.

As difficult as it was, I listened to my doctors orders (ugh) and got myself back to 100%. It was totally worth it because when I jumped into training, I really, really, jumped in. All in.

I’m following the Hal Higdons training plan. Yes, novice, even though it seems a teeny bit too easy (thus far). But I’m working out as much as possible.

The plan is as follows:

3-semi-easy runs during the week. Thus far, it’s been 3, 4, 5 miles on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays.
Mondays + Saturdays are my “rest days,” to which I’ve been having to convince myself to rest. Seriously. Once I commit to training, I really commit.
Long run Sunday. I have a love-hate relationship with long run Sunday. It’s both fantastic and awful at the same time. It’s a commitment on my calendar that is non-negotiable. I hate it at the beginning and I love it at the end.
Cross-training. Yoga and weight-lifting. Yay and nay. It hurts SO good. I’ve committed to a 6:30 AM hot power yoga class every Friday with one of my fave yoga teachers. Yeah, Friday is my day off; yep, I could be sleeping in; but I’m committed to this. I’m committed to getting stronger through this type of training.

The truth:

It sucks. And it’s awesome. It sucks because it’s incredibly time-consuming and that means I have to keep a very tight schedule and schedule every single workout; it’s awesome because I NEED to keep myself accountable; but it’s also hard being a working mom. ‘Cause things come up. Sometimes your kid goes batshit crazy on a day when you’re supposed to take him to the gym daycare. And things just don’t work out. But you have to make it work when you’re training for a marathon.
I’m adjusting the training schedule as the unanticipated conflicts come up. Saturday is supposed to be my long run day, but I work 8 hours on Saturdays… so long run day is Sunday instead. Minor adjustments,but still making sure to fit it all in — even the rest days!
There is a bit of guilt associated with rest days. I mean, I understand the need for rest days; but I’m always so torn inside. I *should* be working out, right?? Usually by my rest day I’m feeling awesome; I don’t feel like I need to rest. But then I remember that rest days are scheduled for a reason. So I rest. But the struggle is real, y’all.

Tips, tricks + inspiration are appreciated, friends! 🙂 XO