A Keno date night

Last night, the kids stayed the night at my parents' house, and Jerry had the night off work, so we got to have a date night! Usually, our "date nights" consist of us staying at home and watching a movie or something, but we actually went out yesterday, and it was a lot of fun.

First, we went to Panera for dinner. I've heard from a lot of people that Panera's Fuji Apple Chicken Salad is really good, and I was in the rare mood for a salad yesterday, so that's what I ordered. I was so disappointed when I tasted it, though! I really didn't like it--the dressing was really sweet, and the color and texture grossed me out.

I'm sure there was nothing wrong with the salad--I just didn't like it. I wasn't going to say anything, because it wasn't their fault that I didn't like it, but Jerry politely told them that I didn't care for it, and they were SO nice about it. They offered to make me something different, so I had the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad instead, which I've had several times and really like (and it had three less PointsPlus than the Apple salad).

After dinner, we headed home, and then walked to a local bar for drinks and Keno. There are only two places (other than homes) within walking distance from my house--a little corner store and a bar. I had never been in the bar until last year, but I really liked it. Apparently, it used to be really run down inside, but there is a new owner and they did a lot of work on it. They have live music on Friday nights. I went there with Jeanie and her friend Jen the night before Jeanie's marathon, and I told Jerry about it, so he wanted to go check it out.

I'm not normally a gambler (the only time I've ever played Keno has been with my sister), but Jerry and I each decided to play $20 in Keno. I filled out my number selection (11, 25, 33, and 69) and then Jerry filled out his. When I saw his numbers, he'd chosen 11, 25, and 33 also! I told him he can't pick the same numbers as me, because that wouldn't be any fun, so he needed to hurry up and fill out a new form with different numbers.

The server was waiting to take them, so I gave her our money, and hoped she'd give us our printed ticket before the next drawing. There were only about 20 seconds until the next draw, so I figured we'd miss that one, but she came back with our tickets and we were included in that current drawing. Jerry never plays Keno either, so I was trying to explain to him how much he'd win for each of his numbers drawn.

He said, "Well, they already drew three of my numbers". I told him that's awesome, he already won $5--and I asked what number he was waiting on. As soon as he told me "38", the 38 was pulled--so he matched all 4 of his numbers on the very first drawing, and won $72! That was pretty fun. My numbers were terrible, and I only won $2 out of all 20 drawings. Jerry won $86, which paid for our dinner at Panera, our drinks, and Keno tickets! It turned out to be a free date night :)

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This morning, I had a long run on the schedule. I've been following the Hansons' "beginner" plan, but it's very similar to the advanced plan (slightly less miles for the beginner). For some completely crazy reason, I decided that I'd do the long run for the advanced plan today--14 miles (as opposed to 12).

I drove to the Metropark and parked at the Marina, which is at the very end of the park. My plan was to just run an out-and-back from there. I wore my Camelbak Marathoner vest, so I wouldn't have to worry about water. I knew I'd need water today, though, because it was warm outside and the sun was full force.

My target pace for a long run is 9:53/mile. Last week, I went way too fast, because I was in a hurry to finish, so today I wanted to stay close to 9:53. Today's run was SO tough. All the confidence that I gained after last week's long run vanished after today's.

My body just didn't want to move today. I was running close to a 10:00/mi pace, but it felt so much harder. I didn't have anything to distract me from the fact that I was running, either. Last week, it went by so fast because there were cyclists throughout the whole path. Today, it was just me and my lonesome.

On the way out, I was facing away from the sun; and then when I turned around at mile seven, I was running into it. Something about the sun just drains all my energy, and I had a really tough time for the last half of the run. When I was at mile 10, some kid (probably 16 years old) came up behind me and just sprinted past me... while talking on a cell phone. Whatever shred of confidence I had left was just gone at that moment. I wanted to yell to him, "I'm on mile 10 of 14, how about you?!" Hahaha

I was SO glad that I'd decided to bring the Camelbak with me. For the last several miles, I was so thirsty that I was sucking down water every half-mile or so, and eventually every quarter-mile. My half-marathon split was 2:08, and from there, I thought, "I could just stop my watch here and then walk the rest of the way..." but I pushed myself to keep going. Finally, I saw my car, and was SO relieved. I sat down on a picnic table to catch my breath and relax for a minute before driving home.

Judging by my selfie, you'd think that I just had a great run! I should have by lying on the grass with my tongue lolling out of my mouth ;)

I had to go into Wal-Mart this afternoon for just a minute, and while I was there, the woman who had been in front of me in line recognized me from my blog! (Hi, Jessica!) I'm used to one or two people knowing me at a race, but very rarely when I'm out and about.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxing, which is just what I wanted :) My kids gave me a couple of handmade gifts from school, which I love. I told Jerry I didn't want a gift for Mother's Day, because I just got the Fitbit. But he got me something that I'm really excited about, even though a lot of women might be offended by it--the Aria scale that goes along with the Fitbit! It's a "smart scale" that automatically uploads my weight to my Fitbit account. I'll write more about that another time--this post is long enough.

I hope all you moms had a fantastic Mother's Day!

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First Marathon: A guest post by my sister!

I've written my version of Jeanie's first marathon, but it went SO well that I asked Jeanie to write a guest post about her experience. She only started running in late 2012, in order to support my first Virtual 5K in January 2013. Rather than quit after that, she kept increasing her distance to 10K, and half-marathon. I wrote a half-marathon training plan for her, and I was so excited that I got to go out to Rockford to surprise her and run her first half with her.

Jeanie completely trusted me with her training, which made things so much easier on ME--but I was still nervous about something going wrong, and it being my fault. As you read from my race report, her first marathon went flawlessly! She honestly made the whole thing look easy. 

Jeanie has truly transformed herself over the past year and a half through her running. She was never very overweight like I was, but she wanted to lose some weight and get in shape. Her running helped her drop the last pesky pounds, and she got hooked on it! She looks amazing!

Here, she's written about the race from her own point of view, and then she's listed all of her tips that she found helpful in creating an awesome first marathon. Enjoy!

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First off, I want to acknowledge that I would not have been as successful at this marathon if it weren't for my sister, Katie, or my husband, Shawn. I will get into the reason for saying that later on. There are a lot of different ways I could write this guest post, but I am going to try and keep it organized into two sections: the first being my marathon experience, and the second part being the advice I was given (and used) to complete my first marathon successfully. 

RACE DAY

I would highly recommend picking a race that has a relay option and asking some friends to run the relay with you while you run the marathon. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!  

My relay team was:
1. My best friend from Michigan, Audrey- ran 5.1
2. My best friend from Illinois, Jen - ran 6.1
3. My friend, Debbie- ran 4.4
4. My brother, Nathan- ran 5.3
5. My sister, Katie- ran 5.3

Left to right: Jen, Debbie, Audrey, me, Katie, and Nathan

They each agreed to run with me--not try to get me to run faster, but to keep me motivated.  I somewhat selected their race order because I knew I would need certain support during different times. For example, Audrey is very candid and has a way of making me laugh, even in a very tense situation. So waiting for the race to start, I needed her there. I knew Nathan was dressing up in a tutu, so I wanted him to run with me when I would be getting fatigued, near mile 17. And only Katie had completed a full marathon out of my relay team, so she was an obvious choice for runner number 5. 

When I arrived at the race, the lines for the bathroom were really long! Audrey and I got in line, but it became obvious fairly quickly that we would not have time to go before race time. This stressed me out a little bit, but I knew I couldn't spend time dwelling on it, so we just got in the corral.

We were able to locate the 4:40 pacer quickly--he was really tall! He said he usually paces at a faster finish time, so he planned to pace himself off of the 2:20 half-marathon pacer initially. The first few miles were pretty congested because the marathoners and half-marathoners were running the first nine miles together. Audrey and I stuck with the pacer, although I did have to stop and tie my shoes at mile four. Those first five miles flew by and soon we were approaching the exchange point. For some reason, this made me a little nervous... but excited. It was fun to have the loudest group cheering for me and holding up awesome signs! Audrey passed the race bib to Jen and we ran on.

Audrey and Nathan

Those next six miles also flew by. Before I knew it, we were at the second exchange point. I ran up to rest of the relay team to let them know I hadn't even started running yet! (Katie's friend mentioned at last year's race that marathoners "haven't even started running yet" at mile 10. At the time, I could not comprehend what she was saying; but I get it now. Your pace those first 10 miles should feel easy! Like you haven't even started the race yet.) My pace felt steady those first 11 miles. I stuck with the 4:40 pacer to prevent going out too fast and that worked great.

Jen passed the bib to Debbie, and we slowed the pace a little. Debbie runs closer to an 11:30 pace.  Debbie had spoken to me a few weeks before the race stating she didn't want to mess up my strategy by running slower and that she would back out of the race if I wanted her to. I assured her I wanted her there--I told her I only get ONE CHANCE to run my first marathon and I wanted a good experience more than anything else. Finish time was not important. (And Debbie even ended up running her fastest pace of 10:58 during her leg).

During that leg, I decided to use one of the port a potty's. I really didn't NEED to go, but mentally I kept thinking about how I didn't go at the start of the race, etc.  So, the first port a potty I tried had the green symbol on the door, indicating it was free. When I opened it, I found a lady sitting on the toilet.  I quickly apologized and kept running. The next port a potty was available, but as I reached for the handle, a lady walked over with an orange in her hand and said she was "in line". Okay, so we kept going.  Finally, the next one was actually available and I was able to make a quick pit stop. Debbie's leg was over and she passed the bib to Nathan, who was attracting a lot of attention in his tutu and headband.  

Finishing Debbie's leg

Nathan immediately told me we were two minutes behind the 4:40 pacer.  I let him know I was good running at the current pace and I didn't want to try and catch the pacer. At this point it became VERY WINDY (over 20 mph winds). And that particular leg was not very pretty. It was along the side of a road almost the entire time. Nathan offered to run in front of me to block the wind, but I told him no, and we just ran side by side.

There were several drivers who rolled down their window and yelled out to Nathan about his outfit.  That was fun. I was starting to get fatigued when I saw we would be changing directions. I was so relieved that I would not be running directly into the wind. However, when I turned the corner, I swear the wind direction changed and we were again running directly into it. I didn't worry about pace, but just focused on getting to the next water station (which I knew the locations because it was taped to my wrist cuff--more on this below), and ultimately, to the last exchange point.

Nathan about to hand off to Katie

I was very relieved when Katie starting running with me. I knew I only had 5 miles left and was going to finish. I felt pretty good overall, considering I was 21 miles into this race. My feet were getting tired, which surprised me. I never remember that happening during training. I kept thinking how good a foot massage would feel.

I told Katie my feet were tired and she said "Well, if you walk, that isn't going to change how your feet feel." So we kept at our pace. Katie was a great support, occasionally asking how I was doing but not pushing me past the pace that was comfortable for me. About a mile from the stadium, she said you could hear the announcer announcing the runners crossing the finish line. I took off my headphones, wrapped them around my wrist and listened to see how close we were.  

I remember asking Katie a few times, "How much farther?" My watch was about 0.3 off from the current location (due to weaving in/out of people, etc), but Katie's watch was accurate. I think I started to cry when we got into the stadium, but kept it together until after we crossed the finish line, holding hands and raising our other arm up in the air.  We had practiced this at mile 21--LOL, but true!  

It was amazing to cross the finish line, to see Shawn with flowers in his hands, and my family and friends on the sidelines. I can't even describe what the experience was like. I can't imagine anyone having a better first marathon than the one I had. It had nothing to do with my actual race time, but everything to do with the experience of 18 weeks of training coming to an end, surrounded by all the people I love.  AMAZING!!

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Here is some advice that, based on my experience, worked really well:

1. If you can afford to do so, make an appointment and get a runners' assessment done by an atheletic trainer or physical therapist. This was $99 in the area I live, and the trainer was able to make some corrections to my running form that I think had been contributing to a hamstring problem. Once I incorporated those corrections, my hamstring felt much better. If you can't afford the assessment then read about correct running form online or in a running magazine.

2. Read a marathon training book. I read Hal Higdon's marathon book (just a few pages at a time over several months) and learned a lot about how I should prepare myself both physically AND mentally for the race.

3.  Find someone who wants to talk about running with you. I found that it consumed a lot of my thoughts and time, and I wanted to talk about my splits, how I felt after runs, what I could do differently, etc. This is where Shawn and Katie were a huge part of my training. 

4. Tell your family and friends how much this means to you. If they are non runners, they will not have an appreciation for the effort you're going to be putting in. Ask them to call you once a week and ask you about your training. If you want them at the race, ask them! They won't be able to read your mind, so just ask.

5.  If it is not posted online, email the race director and ask at EXACTLY which mile markers will there be water, Gatorade, Gu, bathrooms, etc. Ask what flavor of Gatorade is being served. Then, when you practice your long runs, you can practice exactly what you will eat/drink on race day at exactly which mile marker. I did almost all of my long runs at the gym (yes, on the treadmill.. 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 mile long runs on the treadmill).  I taped an index card to the treadmill which listed listed the mile markers of water stations and what my plan was for that station. Then at each "water stop", I would hop off the treadmill and "walk through" each station and eat or drink whatever was scheduled.  This really helped me simulate the race course.

6.  Buy a wrist cuff (ie. wrist sweat band) and secure an index card to it with what you plan to eat and drink and at which mile marker. You can use this during your training if running outside, and on race day. My husband kept calling me Peyton Manning, but hey, it worked. This also helped me out a lot mentally during the race, because I could just glance down at my wrist and know how far it was to the next water station.

My wrist cuff, listing where each water station is located and
exactly what I will eat/drink at each station

7. Open up your shot blocks and place them in a small baggy to carry on race day (I used a SPI belt). That way they were easily accessible during the race.

8. If you need an extra energy source before you planned on taking it, then just take it early. I noticed I needed to this 2-3 times from mile 19-26.   

9. Drink water or Gatorade at every stop, even the very first water station. You won't feel like you need it, but walk through each station and drink something. You will never replace all the calories/hydration you will be using during the race, so stack the odds in your favor early.

10. Don't try and run and eat Gu or drink at the same time. More of it will end up on your shirt, hands, and face than in your mouth.

11. Don't set a time goal! Hal Higdon emphasizes this a lot for first time marathon runners. If you set a goal of 4:40 and came in at 4:42, you will feel disappointed! And you should feel elated that you just finished something that less than 1% of the population will even attempt.

12. On the other side of the coin, have a race day strategy. Maybe stick with a pacer so you don't start off too fast. Remember, you "haven't even started running yet" at mile 10. Your pace those first 10 miles should feel easy, like you haven't even started the race yet. Keep that in mind when planning your race day strategy,

13. Get to the race early enough to use the bathroom. The lines are very long!

14. Run a short distance before the race to see if you tied your shoes too lose or too tight. I didn't do this, and I immediately felt my shoes were too loose and had to stop and retie both of them. 

15.  If you can afford to do so, treat yourself to a massage every now and then during training.  Even the 15-30 minute massages offered at the mall are really helpful. If that is not in your budget, invest in a foam roller and use it after your runs. I found both the massages and the roller helpful with sore muscles.

16.  Read this Runners World article on how to PROPERLY carb load before the race.  I read and re-read that article several times in the weeks leading up the race so I knew how to properly fuel before the marathon. 

17. Celebrate when it's all over!

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Basketball game

Yesterday, it ended up getting up to about 90 degrees--that's 120 degrees hotter than it was on Eli's birthday in January! ;)  We went to the basketball game last night, and it ended up being a lot of fun! I didn't really know any details about the game other than what my brother, Nathan, told me. He called just a couple of hours before the game to tell me that I should take the kids.

The Fraternal Order of Police was playing a charity game against six players from the Detroit Lions football team. My kids like sports, so I knew they'd have fun. Nathan's friend was the one who organized the whole thing, and he asked Nathan to play on the FOP team.

We got there about a half hour before it started, so I could talk to Nathan before the game. There weren't a ton of people there, which was good--it felt hot in the gym. I didn't know this until I got there, but the main purpose of the event is to support special needs children. I saw a lot of people with special needs there to watch the game, and it made me wish that Mark was around, because he would have loved to go!

I can't tell you who the Lions players were, because even if the greatest football or basketball player of all-time came up to me and introduced himself, I still wouldn't know who he was (I hate sports!). But anyway, they introduced all the players, and then started the game. It was a very non-serious game, which actually made it very fun to watch! Any time the ball went out of bounds, it was always called against the Lions; the Lions randomly grabbed kids from the bleachers and brought them down to play for a minute; they really interacted with the kids a lot, which I liked.

All of the Lions' players were current players of the team, except for one man named Cory Schlesinger (I looked him up because I really liked him), who retired in 2009 (I think). He was my favorite part of the whole game--he was amazing in his interaction with kids. I wish I could hire him for a kids' birthday party or something ;)

Anyway, I tried to get some pictures of Nathan playing, but they all wound up looking like this:

My brother is the yellow blur in the middle of the other blurs, between the two blue blurs who are about twice as tall as he is ;) My iPhone doesn't do so well with action shots, as you can see.

Noah was really excited to get autographs from the Lions' players, who were really great about signing, and taking photos. He got five of their autographs during intermission, and was really hoping to get the last one before we left. Noah is VERY shy (I wonder where he gets that? ha) and he was really nervous to go up on his own and ask for an autograph. I told him he just needs to be bold and go ask, because the players were really nice. I was so proud of him when he did it!

I'm glad we ended up going to the game. The kids really enjoyed it, and I (surprisingly) did, too. I think it's awesome that the players were so great with the kids.

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This morning, it was already 70 degrees when I woke up. Lately, I've been preferring to run in the late morning, after I get the kids on the bus, eat breakfast, have a couple of cups of tea, respond to emails, etc. I'm probably going to have to start going first thing in the morning if it's going to be this warm outside, though.

I had a five-mile easy run on the schedule, and I headed out a little before 10:00. I did a run around the neighborhoods, and felt a little tired, but good.

I checked my Fitbit to see the accuracy of the distance. It was spot on today, showing that I ran five miles. Yesterday, it was off by about 0.6 miles (it showed that I ran 5.4 miles instead of 6). I think that was because I ran faster yesterday, and my stride was longer than today's easy run. Yesterday, my stride length was 1.07 meters, and today it was 0.97. I set my stride length on my Fitbit to be 1.0 meters for running (that's about average for me), so I think it's pretty accurate for the calibration I set it at. I like that you can input your stride length for walking and for running. I think that's why the Wii U Fit Meter was so inaccurate in distance; it counted all of my running as walking.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening reading my book tonight. I love it when I find a book that I get really into, and it's hard to put down. A lot of my reader suggested I try reading Harlan Coben, and I'm glad I did! I'm currently reading Hold Tight, and it has me hooked :)

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New favorite snack

It was such a gorgeous day today! I woke up at 6:00, and decided to get my run in at 6:30 instead of waiting for the kids to go to school. Jerry got the kids up and ready while I was running, so it worked out well.

I had a six-mile run at half-marathon pace on the schedule. I've been super flexible with paces lately, so I was hoping to aim for splits under 9:00/mile. It was surprisingly pretty warm already at 6:30--50 degrees and no wind--pretty perfect for running in a t-shirt. I headed out on an out-and-back route.

The first couple of miles felt kind of tough, but lately, I've been feeling pretty good once I hit the three mile mark of my runs. I'm not sure why it's at that point that I start to feel good, but it at least gives me something to look forward to when I'm struggling through the first few miles ;)

I skipped my warm-up today, because I wanted to get home in time to take the kids to the bus stop. Last week, my run was five miles at race pace, so it bumped up to six this week--but my splits still improved, which was exciting. After seeing my weight climb higher, and my pace get slower for a while, it's nice to see those numbers turning around.

Last week, my splits were: 8:58, 8:51, 8:54, 8:47, 8:45. Jerry came outside when I got home, and he asked me if I ran through a swarm of bugs. I said "Yeah, how did you know?" and he pointed out that there were a whole bunch of little gnats stuck to the sweat on my head and neck. Awesome.

I sat on the front porch for a few minutes to catch my breath, and then walked with the boys to the bus stop. After I got them on the bus, I ate breakfast and responded to some emails. I had another tea date with my friend Andrea at her house, so I headed over there. Because it was so nice outside, we sat on the front porch and talked for a couple of hours.

My mom introduced me to a new snack yesterday, and I absolutely love it! It really surprised me, because my mom is definitely not one to buy unusual ingredients. So when she showed me that she bought fig preserves, I was dumbfounded. One of her friends had told her to try crackers with brie (another ingredient I'd never imagine her eating!) and fig preserves, and she loved it. Lately, instead of buying brie, she just uses a wedge of light Laughing Cow Original cheese.

She said it was important to use these specific crackers (Crunchmaster brand), because they're really crunchy and good:

I think she got the crackers at Sam's Club. She gave me the ingredients to try it, and I was amazed at how good it was! I used 7 crackers, a wedge of Laughing Cow, and a tiny amount of the fig preserves on each cracker.

Those crackers really are amazing, and I love the fig preserves. This is definitely my new favorite snack!

Anyway, I have to keep this post pretty short, because I'm going to a basketball game tonight with the kids. My little brother is playing basketball on a team (I think most of them are policemen) against the Detroit Lions at a local high school. Yes, the Lions are a football team, but this is for a charity, and my brother said the kids would like it. I've never been to a basketball game in my life, so this should be interesting!

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Replay your day

Today was my weekly Weight Watchers meeting. Since my mom joined a few weeks ago, she said she'd come pick me up and drive to the meeting. I weighed in at home, and lost another pound this week. I feel like I should have lost 20, considering I gave up sweets! ;)  But I definitely overdid it on the almonds and a couple of other things this week, so I'm happy with it. 

Today's meeting topic was "Replay Your Day". I didn't really understand what that meant, based on the topic title, but once Glenda, my leader, started talking about it, I realized that this is a very helpful topic! She said to think about a day that went really poorly--bad eating, no exercise, just feeling bad by the time we went to bed. She asked what it was that made us feel bad.

On the flip side, she then asked us to think about a perfect day that we'd had. What did we eat? Did we exercise? Did we go to bed feeling really good and happy about ourselves? 

A bad day for me would be a day where I binge (regardless of whether I've exercised that day). A binge leaves me feeling mad at myself, doubtful of being successful, and just a very down mood. Physically, a binge makes me feel full, sluggish, lazy, and tired. 

A good day for me has been a day where I run, stay active throughout the day, eat healthy foods that I enjoy, and allow for a treat of some sort at night. A day like that makes me feel really happy and successful; and physically, a good day makes me feel energetic and light. 

In thinking about bad days and good days, "replaying our day" would be going over exactly what we did that day to make us feel good or bad. Obviously, we should try to repeat what makes us feel good. On a binge day, I can try to identify what happened before the binge that led up to it, so that I can try not to repeat it. And on a good day, I can try to repeat those same actions to have another good day. 

I got this comment on my blog post about my no-sweets challenge, and I loved it. When people ask me WHY I'm doing this challenge, it's really difficult to put into words. But Nicki, in a short comment, explained it perfectly:

"I'm looking forward to having treats feel like a treat again and not a food group!" That. That's exactly it! I had gotten past the point of eating sweets in moderation, and now I really just want to get back to where a treat feels like a treat again. 

I wish I could say that it's getting easier each day without sweets, but it really isn't. I miss my sweets! Today, after Weight Watchers, my mom and I went to Sam's Club. I bought a bunch of fruit to have when I'm feeling snacky, so hopefully it will curb the sweet cravings. This afternoon, while I was preparing my lunch, I snacked on watermelon, and that helped a lot. I used to eat a ton of grapes, but I think watermelon is going to be the new grapes for me this time around ;)

Right now, it's about 8:00, and in "replaying my day", I'm very happy with how everything went. I didn't run today (it's a rest day), but I did make it a point to get in 10,000 steps on my Fitbit. I ate very healthy all day, including fruits and veggies, and plan to have popcorn for a snack tonight. Now to repeat that tomorrow...

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Oh, this is kind of random, but I was so appalled about it that I wanted to share here. Yesterday, Eli got in trouble at school, and had to sit out the entire recess. His crime? He was playing tag with some of his friends on the playground. It's a recess rule that the kids aren't allowed to run on the playground, because "someone could get hurt". So when Eli was seen playing tag, they made him sit out for the whole recess.

Is that not completely crazy?! Kids are supposed to run around and let out some pent up energy during recess. My memories of recess are of my friends and I chasing boys the entire time. And playing Red Rover. And tag. My kids only have gym every third school day, so they really aren't getting much activity during the seven hours they're at school; and now they can't even run during recess. I just can't believe that "no running" is a playground rule.

Speaking of my kids, I noticed this lying in my yard yesterday:

I gave Eli a bracelet from the Rock CF half-marathon that I did recently, and he apparently turned it into a slingshot. I thought that was pretty creative of him! He is definitely all boy. A couple of weeks ago, he came home from school with this:

He made a bow and arrow out of two pencils and one of those rubber band bracelets. I would totally understand if he got in trouble for shooting someone with a pencil at school, but for playing tag? Really?

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Fitbit and a bike ride

As someone who loves gadgets and numbers, I'd been thinking about getting a Fitbit for a couple of years. A Fitbit is an activity tracker, like the Weight Watchers Active Link that I wore for a while. It keeps track of steps, calories burned, and some other stuff, depending on what model you get. I liked the WW Active Link, but I didn't like that it automatically gave me activity points (there was no override). I also didn't like the fact that there was a $5 fee per month to use it.

I'd looked into Fitbits for a long time, but just never really felt the need to have one. I used the Active Link, and, more recently, the Wii U Fit Meter. The Fit Meter is a fun little gadget, but the distance and calories burned aren't at all accurate (the step count was the only thing that I found accurate with it). 

When Garmin came out with a Vivofit activity tracker, I was really intrigued. I love my Garmin running watch, and the Vivofit has a lot of cool features. However, I am very unhappy with Garmin's customer service. Every single time I've tried getting in touch with them in regards to a question about my watch, it has gone unanswered. I would have liked to stay true to the brand, but after researching some more on the Fitbit, I decided to go ahead and get one!

There are three different models: the Zip, the Flex, and the One. After checking out the features on all of them, I surprisingly decided to go with the simplest of the three--the Zip. The Flex and the One track sleeping patterns, which doesn't interest me, and they track stairs climbed (I don't have stairs, and can't see myself going out of my way to find stairs to climb for that purpose). So, the Zip it was. And I was even able to get it in one of my favorite colors:

I like being able to track my steps. It pushes me to move more during the day when I'm not running. I was tracking steps with the Fit Meter, and it really did make me move more on a day-to-day basis, especially on my rest days. The Zip also tracks distance, calories, and "very active" minutes (intentional exercise). It gives me a goal to reach toward each day, which I like.

I've only had it for a couple of days, so I won't comment too much on it just yet, but so far, I really like it. I find the step count, distance, and calorie count to be pretty accurate. Jerry got one, too, so we can continue to compete with each other in our steps each day. I'll write a little more about it once I've used it for a while.

This morning, my mom sent me a text to ask if I might want to go for a bike ride at the Metropark. It was really nice outside, and I decided to forgo my interval run for a leisurely bike ride with my mom. It ended up being a great decision! 

We drove to the Metropark with our bikes, and we rode on the path that I usually run (the one I just did for my long run Sunday). My bike hasn't even seen the light of day for a couple of years, because I just don't like to ride, but I'm glad I took it out today. My legs were definitely feeling the workout, because I was using muscles that I haven't used in a while. 

We were riding at a leisurely pace, and at first, I felt like I could go on forever. But we rode out about 6-7 miles, and by then, my butt bones were killing me from the seat! We turned around and headed back the same way we came. We had a headwind on the way back, which made it a little more difficult, but we managed.

I'd never had to change gears on my bike before, so I was really clueless what the different gears were for. But I remember someone (probably a reader!) telling me that you shift gears to go uphill, and I tried that while riding up the overpass. It was awesome! I couldn't believe how much easier it felt. My poor mom had to ride up on her cruiser bike ;)

Yeah, it was a little windy, too

I should've taken more pictures, but this was the only one that I took--at the top of the overpass. 

When we got back to the car, we'd gone 14.6 miles. I don't know that I've ever gone that far on a bike before! We were riding for about two hours. My butt bones were really hurting by that point, and I have a feeling I'm going to be a little sore tomorrow ;)

Still going strong with my no-sweets challenge for May. Yesterday was REALLY difficult. We went to the kids' school for an open house/bake sale/raffle type thing, and as soon as we walked in to the cafeteria, I smelled a (very familiar) scent--Monica's doughnuts! They had a ton of them for the bake sale, along with all kinds of homemade baked goods. The kids each picked out a cookie, and I was thisclose to quitting my challenge, but I stayed strong. That was a big test of willpower!

Tonight, Jerry has two softball games--the first games of his season--and the kids and I are going to go watch him play. I can't believe it's softball season already! This year is flying by.

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Motivational Monday #61

Happy Motivational Monday! I hope everyone has had a great couple of weeks. I missed Motivational Monday last week, because I was super busy with my family (oh, and helping my sister through her first marathon!)

As you know, I gave up sweets/desserts for the month of May, and it's been really hard. I have cravings every day, and it's not getting any easier, but I'm managing. I want to prove to myself that I can do it! That's why I like doing little challenges like this sometimes--I would never want to give up desserts forever, but it really does strengthen my willpower when I can complete a challenge like this.  It's only 31 days, so I know I can do it.

What have you done this week to make you feel proud? Here are some submissions for Motivational Monday--and they are definitely motivating!

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Maggie (on the left) started running in 2010, and has since gotten several of her friends to join her! In 2012, Lauren (on right) did the Couch to 5K program, and the two of them did the Color Run together in Philadelphia. Last Sunday, they both ran the Nike Women's Half Marathon in Washington DC! Maggie works with Girls on the Run, a program that helps build confidence in elementary and middle school aged girls while they train to run a 5K. She said a lot of the GOTR groups are looking for women that can be "running buddies" to the girls during their first 5K. You can get more info at gotr.org.

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Carol has been running for five years now, and in the fall, she was featured on Motivational Monday because she ran a 5K without any walk breaks. Today, Carol is very proud to say that she PR'ed her half-marathon time by five minutes! It was a very hilly course, and she'd just recovered from a sinus infection, but she managed to finish in 2:46 (previous PR was 2:51). She included this picture of her at a race--do you recognize who she's standing with? That's Meb Keflezighi, the winner of the 2014 Boston Marathon! Meb was also at the half-marathon she just PR'ed.

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For the past couple of years, Katie (far right) and her mom, Claire (far left), have gotten together for Claire's birthday to do something active. The past two years, they walked half-marathons together in Nashville and Louisville. They live hours apart, so they have to train separately, but they enjoy the challenge of doing the events together. For Claire's birthday this year, she traveled to visit Katie in Columbia, SC, to do a 5-Mile race with a couple of Katie's friends. They had a gorgeous day and a great race!

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After Tori's sister (left) told Tori (right) that she hates running, Tori did what any good sister would do: she entered them both into the lottery for the Nike Women's Half-Marathon in Washington DC. Tori was thrilled when they were selected, and the pair trained together. Last weekend, they crossed that finish line holding hands!

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Kathryn just had an incredible month of races in April! She ran the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler on April 6th; on April 13th, she ran the George Washington Parkway Classic 10-Miler, and PR'ed the previous week's race by over 2 minutes; and then on April 26th, she ran her first half-marathon! She ran the Ocean City Island to Island half-marathon in 2:23. She started running in the spring of last year, which has helped her keep off 40 pounds!

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Tomorrow, Nancy will be 50 years young, and she wanted to get in shape for her special birthday. She started taking Zumba classes, counting calories, and even signed up for a 10K walk in Portland. And yesterday, she completed it! It was her first race event, and she walked the 10K in 1:53. Her son walked with her, and really helped her through the last mile.

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After losing 90 pounds and keeping it off for FOUR years, Melinda is proud that she just completed her first 10K--placing first in her age group, too! She finished in 57:01, and the little guy who is hugging her completed the 5K in just 28 minutes. He then offered her water and a butt massage ;)

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Christina just ran a race called the Bolder Prix, which is a qualifying run for the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day. The Boulder Boulder has about 50,000 race participants, and the start is organized in waves. The "F" wave is the slowest qualifying wave, and then the waves slower than that are "non-qualifying". Christina ran the Boulder Prix several years ago, and when she finished, she was handed a card that read: "You finished! Sign up for any non-qualifying wave". Basically, she didn't qualify. So on Saturday, she ran the Bolder Prix again, and was handed her card at the finish line: "Congratulations! You qualified for the F wave!" She said that seeing that card was better than any medal that's been put around her neck :)

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Don't forget to check out more stories on the Motivational Monday Facebook post! There are lots more race photos there, too :)

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Cyclists

The kids stayed the night at my parents' house last night, so I planned to run as soon as I got up this morning. I wanted to get my run done before 10:00, because I was hoping to stalk Thomas during his second marathon (using live tracking). His marathon started at 7:00 (Pacific time), which was 10:00 for me(Eastern time).

I couldn't stand the thought of running the same old routes that I always do around here, so I decided I was going to drive somewhere for a change of scenery. I ended up parking at the high school by the Metropark. Usually, when I park there, I end up running into the Metropark; but today, I chose the opposite direction, just for something different. It didn't seem very windy outside, so I just hoped it stayed that way. I was comfortable in capris and a t-shirt. I ended up getting a late start, but thought I could still be done close to 10:00.

Within seconds of the moment I started running on the bike path, I saw a huge group of cyclists coming toward me. I never see that many people on the path, even spread out through the whole route, let alone in a pack. We exchanged "Good morning"'s as we passed each other, and I kept running. And the bikes kept coming.

I noticed that they had numbers pinned to their backs, so I assumed it was some sort of race or cycling club or something. (I later did a google search, and discovered it was the Metro Grand Spring Tour put on by the Downriver Cycling Club.) Seeing the cyclists made the time go by so fast--there were probably about 120 of them total?

It also made my pace a little too fast! I'm supposed to do my long runs at a 9:53/mile pace, and I was definitely going faster than that. In the second mile, I had to run on an overpass, which, to me, felt like a mountain. I'm not used to hills! I did an out-and-back route, so I had to do the overpass twice.

I like this route, because there is a little bit of everything to see. I went over the overpass, and then through the woods, and then along a pretty busy road. Once I saw the first couple of splits were 9:16 and 9:15, I decided to try and keep my pace under 9:30. But each mile, I ended up doing a bit faster than that. I started to do the math in my head, to see if I could finish my run before Thomas started his marathon at 10:00 (EST). It would be close, but it would be a fun challenge to try.

I was almost expecting to crash, especially when I saw splits of 9:05 and 9:06. But I kept on running, and seeing the cyclists pass was making the mileage fly by. A couple of the cyclists were looking at a map, at an intersection, and they were really confused about which way to go. So I helped them figure it out, and then I was only a mile from my car.

Because I was greeting the cyclists who were passing me, I wasn't paying much attention to my pace, and I finished mile 9 in 8:58. Then I realized that I had about 9 minutes until Thomas's marathon started, so I decided to go for another sub-9:00 mile. I got to my car just in time, at 9:59 ;)

I finished with a 9:08 pace, which (if I were running a half-marathon) would have been a sub-2:00 finish time. I feel really good about that! I feel more confident that I could probably pull off a sub-2:00 if I wanted (NOT for the Heartbreak Hill Half, though--I'll be lucky if I hit 2:15 for that one!).

I was super thirsty, and a diet root beer sounded SO good (there is an A&W near where I parked). There were too many cyclists along the road for me to turn into the A&W (safely, anyway), so I just drove home, skipping the root beer. My legs felt a little bit sore, so I am definitely going to take it very easy on tomorrow's run.

When I got home, I took a quick shower and then checked the marathon website to see how Thomas was doing. He hadn't hit the first checkpoint, which was 8 miles in, so I thought, "Oh no! What happened?" It wasn't until THEN that I noticed the race didn't start until 8:30 (Pacific), NOT 7:00, like I'd thought. Oh, well, at least it lit a fire under me to run faster today ;)

This afternoon, I went to a fundraiser for my friend Sarah's children. She's the one who died from melanoma in March. There was a craft show/bake sale/raffle today, and the proceeds would go to her kids. I went with Noah and Eli, and we bought a bunch of raffle tickets. The kids loved choosing where to place their tickets--hopefully, they win something! The fundraiser seemed to have a great turnout, so I'm happy that Sarah's kids will benefit from it.

The past couple of days have seemed SO long. It's been really, really hard to not have any sweets. Normally, on my long run day each week, I get some sort of treat--a big cookie, or some ice cream, or something like that. Today, I felt disappointed that I couldn't get anything. I had been planning to get a hot pretzel from the mall, but once I finished my run, a pretzel just didn't sound good; I wanted ice cream! May is going to go by so, so slowly ;)

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Dip-netting

What the heck is with all this wind we've been getting?! It's finally warm enough to NOT have snow, but it's still not even enjoyable to be outside because it's been so windy. I just feel like after the winter we've had, we deserve to have some nice weather.

This morning, I watched a movie with the kids, and then was trying to think of something active we could do. I decided to take them to the Metropark with their bikes, so that they could ride bikes while I got in my five-mile run. I can't fit their bikes in the Jeep, and we don't have a hitch to be able to carry them on the back, so I hoped that my dad would let me use his truck.

The boys rode their bikes to my parents' house while I followed in the car. My dad said I could take the truck if I wanted, but he had been planning to take the kids to the Metropark at around noon to dip net. (Dip-netting is where you drop a big net off of a bridge into the water, and pull it up once in a while to catch fish. I used to do it all the time when I was a kid, and my kids love it now, too.) I like dip-netting because it's more humane than fishing with a hook. The fish don't get hurt, and it's fun to pull up the net to see if you got anything.

The wind was really bad, and I wasn't even sure if the kids would enjoy riding their bikes in the wind like that, so I decided to just go for a run and then go dip-netting afterward with the kids. The kids stayed with my dad while I ran around the neighborhoods to get in five miles at an easy pace.

Five miles is my shortest run of the week, but it felt SO long. I just felt really fatigued, and my legs didn't want to move. Running into the wind wasn't exactly fun, either. I even had to run right past my house (I started the run from my parents' house), and it was tempting to call it quits there. But I finished.

I just really hope that tomorrow's long run feels better than today's run. It's supposed to be windy tomorrow, too, so I may wind up on the treadmill.

After I went home, took a shower, and ate lunch, I headed back over to my parents' house. I decided to drive to the Metropark separately, because I don't like to stay nearly as long as my dad and the kids do. I met them at the park, and instantly wished I'd brought my winter coat and gloves. And a hat. Thankfully, I'd grabbed Jerry's jacket as I was leaving the house, but I wished it was warmer. It was overcast, and the wind had picked up even more, and occasionally, I felt a few raindrops.

They caught a few fish, but didn't keep any of them. My dad brings two nets--one big one for catching fish, and a mini one for catching minnows (to use as bait on a couple of poles). My dad has been dip-netting for his entire life, and he's never caught anything but minnows and tadpoles in the mini net; but today, he managed to catch a huge carp.

Aside from that one, he caught two more in the big net. I thought he said those were carp too, but they look different, so I might be wrong. I'm not a fisherman!

I completed Day 3 of no desserts/sweets. Today was much harder for me than the first two days. I was starving at about 1:30 this afternoon, even after eating lunch, and I kept thinking about ice cream. The day felt like it went by so slowly, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to stick to my challenge today. But I did it--no sweets.

However, I ended up eating way too many almonds! I was feeling really snacky, and kept going back to the pantry and taking a handful. Tomorrow, I'll have to make sure they're locked in my Kitchen Safe, but I feel really full right now from eating too many of them. On a positive note, almonds are healthier than ice cream, and I surely would have been eating ice cream if it wasn't for this challenge ;)

Three days down, and 28 more to go!

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Busy morning

I was really looking forward to using today to catch up on everything I'm behind on--namely, e-mail, laundry, and writing a new training plan for my sister. I didn't have any plans today (other than a six-mile run), so I was ready to get stuff done. And then today ended up being super busy, and I didn't even get a chance to sit down until now (almost 7:00 pm).

We've been having some issues with Eli, and after poking around online, I decided I wanted to take him to the doctor today. He has a pretty bad snoring problem, and I was thinking that the snoring meant he didn't get any quality sleep, and therefore, was very irritable.

Before taking him to the doctor, I had to take care of an issue with our health insurance. I wanted to get this done today, because I didn't want to be thinking about it all weekend. I took the kids to the bus stop, and then right after that I went to the office where I could speak with someone about the insurance. Right after that, I sat in my car in the parking lot and called the pediatrician to see if I could get Eli in today.

They said they could see him in an hour. His school was about a half-hour away, so I immediately went to the school to pick him up. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, and I was starving, so I stopped at a gas station and got a granola bar. Then I picked up Eli, and drove another half-hour back to the doctor's office. Eli was due for a regular check-up anyway, so they did all of that poking and prodding along with checking him out for his snoring issue.

The doctor said that his left nostril is completely blocked, so he can't get any air through there, and that was likely the cause of his snoring. His tonsils weren't too large, so she didn't mention removing them or anything. She gave him a script for a nasal spray to try for a couple of weeks, and if that doesn't help him breathe better, she'll refer him to an otolaryngologist (wow, I spelled that right on the first try!).

He had to get blood drawn, so I took him to the lab, which is next door to the pediatrician, and then I took him back to school. I realize this is a very long and drawn out story, and there really isn't a point to it--I just ended up having a very busy morning ;)

I ate lunch, and then did my run in the afternoon. I just did a six-mile out-and-back route. During the last mile, I decided to throw in some strides, just for the heck of it. Strides are very short (about 50-100 meters) bursts of speed. My legs felt springy, and it felt good to run hard just for a moment at a time. I looked at my Garmin and actually saw a 5:22 pace for one of them! Granted, it was for all of 10 seconds. And then it took me a good 3-4 minutes to recover from it, haha.

I took a little detour on the way home, because there was some traffic and it was hard to cross the street where I normally do, so I just kept going straight. I ended up doing almost an extra half-mile.

My splits were super consistent until I did the strides. I didn't even realize it at the time, because I was trying not to look at my watch.

This afternoon, I was putting away some clothes when I realized that a lot of the clothes in the kids' closets are too small now, and that led to me sorting and organizing their dressers and closets. I wound up with a few garbage bags of clothes to donate. It always feels so nice to get rid of stuff.

I never did end up getting to my email, but hopefully I'll catch up this weekend. Day two of no dessert went well. I was tempted to get an ice cream cone from McDonald's while I was out (I love them, and they're only 5 PointsPlus); then after dinner, I (once again) wanted something sweet. I've realized that after dinner is when my sweet tooth starts nudging me to have dessert. I decided to clean out the litter box--which never fails to make me lose my appetite! Phoebe was grateful...

I just love it when the cats roll onto their backs and practically beg me to pet their bellies :)

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