Meal prepping

As if yesterday wasn't busy enough, when I got done typing my blog post, it got a little hectic again. Noah went with my mom to take my sister to the airport, and Eli stayed home with me. Eli and I were just hanging out, doing "beading" (more about that later). At around 6:30, my sister called from her cell phone to say that they passed a baseball field on their way to the airport, and Noah told her that he was pretty sure that was his team playing.

Their games are on Mondays and Wednesdays, so it wasn't a scheduled game. I had heard nothing at all about a make-up game for the rained out game they had early in the season. Just to be sure, I called the coach's cell phone, but there was no answer. I checked the messages on the voicemail, to make sure I didn't miss anything, and I hadn't. Noah had sounded pretty sure it was his team, so I told Eli to get his cleats on and we rushed out the door to the field (which was a different field than they usually play).

Sure enough, there was his team--along with a couple of other teams from his league. I was so mad! We'd never missed a game, the coach has my home and cell phone numbers, and there was no reason that we shouldn't have been informed about a game. Eli and I ran over to where the coach was, and I threw my hands up like, "What the heck?" His coach said that he tried calling me when we didn't show up. I said we would have shown up if we had known there was a game!

Anyway, Eli really wanted to play, so the coach added him to the batting line-up as the sixth batter. They only made it to the fourth batter before the game ended (it had started at 5:30), so Eli didn't get to play at all. It would have been Eli's last game of the season because he went to church camp today (and today is the last game on the schedule).

Eli was really upset that he missed out, and I was furious that we were never told about the game. Eli and I started walking back toward the car. I saw another team warming up, and had an idea. I stopped and said to the coach, "You don't happen to need any extra players, do you?" and I explained what happened to Eli. He was SO nice about it, and said that they only had 8 (they have to have 9 to play), so he'd love to have Eli on the team. He went to his car and got Eli a team shirt and hat, and asked him what position he plays. Eli told him he pitches, and the coach sounded happy about that.

I was SO nervous when the game started. I'm normally a nervous wreck watching the kids play at a normal game, so watching him play for someone else's team made me crazy. I was just hoping he'd show them just how good he is, and that he'd have a great game (and be a good sport--sometimes, he lets his temper get the better of him when something doesn't go his way).

It turned out to be the best game of the season for Eli! The coach let him pitch three innings, and he struck out seven people (and caught a pop-up). He even got on base three out of three times. He truly couldn't have had a better game! I was so thankful to the coach for letting Eli play, and I went to thank him again after the game. He said that he'd love to coach Eli next year, and told me about his coaching style. Eli was thrilled, and said he definitely wants to be on his team next summer.

So when all was said and done, missing the game turned out to be a good thing.

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I cannot get over how fantastic the weather has been the last two days here in southeast Michigan. Last night at the game, I had to wrap up in a blanket! And today, I'm wearing jeans and a long-sleeved top (and I'll probably need a jacket for the game tonight). It feels like fall outside, and I love love love it! I didn't run today, but I did go for a walk enjoy the weather.

Until yesterday, I hadn't been counting my Weight Watchers PointsPlus since July 4th. It just seems like we've had so much going on, and I didn't make it a priority like I should have. But last week, I wrote on my calendar that I was going to go back to counting PP on Tuesday (yesterday). And I planned well for it. I wrote out a menu for the whole week, and then I went grocery shopping to make sure I had all the ingredients for everything.

Yesterday, I prepped a bunch of food for the week. I made Renee's Oatmeal Breakfast Bars to have for breakfast for a few days:

I haven't had those in a long time, and I forgot how good they are! I cut the 13x9 pan into 12 pieces, and they ended up being 6 PP each. Add some fruit, and it's a filling breakfast. I also put dinner in the crock pot (Split Pea Soup), so I wouldn't end up scrambling to make dinner at the last minute. And I made Roasted Tomato & Garlic Soup with Barley (enough for lunch for a couple of days). Having all of my meals planned and ready to eat helped out a lot! I had no excuse not to stick to my plan.

I did really well all day yesterday and today, and it feels really good to count PP again. I can really feel it when my eating is crappy--I feel sluggish and lazy, and my running feels so hard. I'm hoping with a few more days of eating well, I'll feel a lot better.

I haven't been to Weight Watchers in a couple of months, and I feel like I'm ready to go back. I was tired of feeling the pressure when I weighed in every week, and I wanted a break from that; but I'm afraid if I give it too much time, I'll gain more weight, so I am ready to go back next week. My mindset feels like it's where it needs to be now.

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My morning was spent intricately placing little beads on a piece of plastic, trying to follow a pattern to make a seahorse. I remember doing these things when I was a kid... are they popular now? My kids have been working on these things constantly, just like they did with the rubber band bracelets.

The kids were very impressed with my seahorse. ;) I usually love crafts, but I just find this one so boring!

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Noah's birthday celebration

Today felt like the longest day ever, which was probably because I got up so early, and did quite a bit before 10 a.m. Last night, we celebrated Noah's birthday with our family. The kids had a baseball game, so we all went to cheer them on ("we" being myself, Jerry, my parents, Jerry's parents, my sister and brother-in-law, and my younger brother. The kids had a pretty big cheering section ;)

After the game, Jerry and I picked up pizza and everyone went back to my parents' house to eat. My friend Audrey met us there with her nine-year old son, too. It was a nice evening! We ate pizza, and then Noah showed off his birthday cake, which he made himself. He's been watching Cake Boss, and says he wants to be a pastry chef ;)  This cake is a "creeper" (if you have kids who are into Minecraft, then you know what that is!).

It was a red velvet cake, so that when you cut into it, it would look like the creeper is bleeding. Very clever for a 10-year old! He was very proud of himself.

We hung around there for a little while, and Jeanie, Nathan, and I made plans to run together in the morning. Nathan had to leave for work at 7:30, so we had to get up super early in order to run 5 miles. Jerry and I went home, and there were frogs ALL OVER the street and in our yard. As hillbilly as it sounds is, Jerry and I sat on the porch with a beer and watched the frogs hopping all over the place. It was actually pretty entertaining.

I couldn't sleep for anything last night! I was so worried about getting up early, because Jeanie and Nathan were going to pick me up at 5:15. My alarm was set for 5:00, but I still kept thinking about the run, and I was tossing and turning all night long. I was SO tempted to back out on them, because I just wanted to get some sleep, but I knew I'd regret it if I did. At around 5:10, I got out of bed and threw on my clothes just as Jeanie and Nathan pulled into the driveway.

We drove to the state park, and it was still dark out when we started running at 5:30. You can make out Nathan's shirt in this photo, but that's about it.

It was SO nice outside today, though. We had a cold front come through, and we're supposed to have unusually cold days this week (and by "unusually cold", it just means in the 70's--about 20 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year). The humidity was low, and the temp was perfect--it was such a great morning for a run!

We ran at Jeanie's pace. She had forgotten her shoes at home in Illinois, so I gave her a pair to use, and they didn't work out too well. She had a hard time with them, but she was determined to get in the five miles. It was fun running with the two of them, and the miles went by pretty quickly.

After the run, I went home for a little bit, and then Jeanie and I took the kids to the rec center to go swimming. I was so tired that I really wanted to go back home and sleep, but I'm glad I went. Then Jeanie took Noah out, and Jerry and I got some quality time with just Eli. We went to the park where Jessica and I walked through the woods because I wanted to show the path to Eli.

My brothers and sister bought each of the kids a nice underwater camera to take to Punta Cana, so Eli brought his camera along to practice using it during our walk. It was so cute to see what he wanted to stop and take pictures of: the clouds; purple "flowers" (weeds); snakes; toads.

He even took a picture of this tree stump, because he said it looks like butt cheeks (haha!):

Overall, it was a super busy day, and I really hope I sleep well tonight. Eli goes to church camp tomorrow!

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Motivational Monday #69

Happy Motivational Monday! Hopefully, everyone has had a great week. The thing I am most proud of this week is that I'm still going strong on my no-ice-cream-July challenge. It's been 14 days, and I still haven't had ice cream! I craved it like crazy for a few days at the beginning of the month, but now I honestly don't really think about it much. That really surprises me, because ice cream is my very favorite treat food. This week is going to be tough, because Eli is going to church camp for a few days, so I'm going to have to entertain Noah in ways that don't involve food.

The Five Days of Giveaways ended this morning, so I used Random.org to pull the winners. There were over 700 entries on each item, which blows my mind! If you won something, I already sent you an email to get your shipping address. Here is a list of the winners:

New Balance FreshFoam 980 trail runners- Alma
Two pairs of Balega socks- Valerie
RooSport pocket- Kathy
Fitletic hydration belt with Clif fuel- Karen
Camo Running Skirt- Maegan
$100 gift card to RunningSkirts.com- Britney

Congrats ladies! Hope you enjoy the goods. I think it's funny that whenever I email someone to let them know that they won a giveaway, they almost always respond, "I never win anything!"  It doesn't hurt to throw your name in there. ;)

Now, on to Motivational Monday... what have you all done this week to make you feel proud?

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Jodi just completed her first duathlon on Sunday! She started running in 2012, to take part in a local fundraiser 5K. Over the last two years, she's shed 60 pounds! The duathlon she completed was a 5K run, followed by a 20K bike ride, and finished with another 5K run. She's already thinking about how she can speed up her times for next year's race.

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Christy was a little hesitant to share this, because she said it's not an "amazing story" like most of the other Motivational Monday submissions. But that's why I love it--MM is about celebrating what YOU are proud of, regardless of what everyone else is doing. Christy is proud that, over the week of the fourth of July, she ran 8 miles Sunday, 3 miles Wednesday, a 5K on Thursday (which she PR'ed), and 4 miles on Friday!

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Celeste has had an amazing few years--and she just recently completed her 100th race! She and her husband, Al, started running in 2009, and racing in 2010. They had started running to help lose weight and keep it off. Together, they've lost 100 pounds (Celeste lost 60, and Al lost 40) using Weight Watchers and running. The two of them have now checked off their 100th race! (Celeste's blog)

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Don't forget to check out more stories on the Motivational Monday Facebook post! If you are feeling proud of an accomplishment, and have a photo you'd like to share for Motivational Monday, just email it to me, along with a brief description, at Katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com, with the subject "Motivational Monday".

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Portofino Run for Art 5K

I was SO tired all day yesterday. On Thursday, my friend Sarah from Arizona (and her husband) came over, and we played Cards Against Humanity until after midnight. I went to bed at around 1:00, and I had plans to meet Jessica for an eight-mile run 6:45. It was REALLY hard to get out of bed Friday morning, but I did it--I went to Jessica's, and we ran eight miles (doing the 9:1 run/walk ratio). It felt really hard--probably because I was so tired and I'd had my share of wine the night before.

Last night, I ended up falling asleep while watching a movie at around 8:30. Thankfully, I slept really well, because I had another early run today--the Portofino Run for Art 5K with Audrey! I had already told her that I attempted to run her planned pace of 8:50 on Thursday, and failed, so I wasn't going to be able to keep up. In my mind, I made a goal of just following Audrey, and keeping up with her as long as I could.

I got to Audrey's at around 6:30, and we waited there for her cousin, Karen. Today is Audrey's 40th birthday, so while we were waiting, I made a little sign for the back of her shirt that said, "Today I run for my 40th-birthday cake". When Karen got there, we headed over to the race. I was so surprised that there weren't many people there. It was 7:15 (the race started at 8:00), but there were probably less than 30 people milling around.

The race start and finish took place at Portofino, an Italian restaurant. They had the restaurant open to the runners to use the bathroom before the race (awesome!), and there was a free pancake breakfast in the banquet room there after the race.

While we were waiting, Audrey's two running buddies showed up to surprise her for her birthday! When Audrey asked them to do the race with her for her birthday, they told her they couldn't; but they had been planning to surprise her all along. Audrey had no idea, and was thrilled to see them. We headed over to the starting line.

There were a lot more people there by that point, but it was still a pretty small race. The race started, and I was trying to get past people. There were walker and people with strollers who had lined up near the front, so it took some weaving to get around them. I saw Audrey way over to my left and just slightly ahead of me, so I made it a mission to just stay as close to her as I could.

I was right behind her, and from right behind me, I could hear a woman say, "Oh, look, it's her 40th birthday" (she had obviously noticed Audrey's shirt). Then the guy she was running with said, "Oh, who cares?" I was shocked to hear that--what a jerk. I turned around and said, "Wow, that's really rude!" then I ran up next to Audrey, tapped her arm, and asked how she was feeling. I just wanted that guy to know that I heard what he said, and that I was with Audrey. I hoped he felt like an ass. Whenever I see people with things like that on their shirts, I get excited for them, and usually encourage them in some way.

There was a short segment of the route that went along the Detroit River, and it was really pretty!

You can see Audrey on the left, and the guy in the yellow shirt was the "who cares" guy. Audrey didn't know I was behind her all this time, though. I was tempted to tell Audrey what the guy said, so she could try and pass him, but I didn't want to mess with her pace. My first mile was done in 8:38. Audrey seemed to be going strong, so I kept pushing to keep up.

The second half of the race goes through a golf course. When we were approaching mile two, just before the golf course, Audrey started to slow down a little. I was tempted to slow down, too, but I knew she wanted to PR, so I had a different idea. I decided to pass her, tell her that she's on course for a PR, and hope that she would kind of latch on to my pace and "chase" me, or even pass me.

I didn't look back for a while, because I assumed she'd be right behind me. The sun was KILLER. It was beating down, without a cloud in the sky. I finally glanced back, at about mile 2.25, and I didn't even see Audrey then. I probably could have pressed on at that pace, but there was no point--I was there for Audrey, so of course I didn't want to pass her and then finish ahead of her!

I kept jogging slowly, so that Audrey could catch up (and I could catch my breath--it was so nice to slow down!!). When Audrey caught up, I picked up the pace a little, and ran at her pace for the rest of the race. I told her that it was just a really sucky day for a PR, because mid-July is so hot! Audrey said she was running her very best, and she was happy with that.

I waved her ahead of me at the last minute, so she could finish first, and then we both chugged some water and stood in the shade to catch our breath. Her running buddies finished about a minute behind us, and Karen finished shortly after that. My "official" results:

We headed inside for the pancake breakfast. I was so hot and after running hard those first two miles, pancakes didn't sound at all good to me. I just had some orange slices and a banana (and a big cup of water).

They did the awards ceremony while we sat, and in between the awards, they drew names for door prizes (lots of gift cards, mostly). I didn't win anything, but I thought it was a really cool idea!

Despite the heat, I thought it was a nice little race. I was definitely reminded of why I don't like to race in the summer months, but I felt really good when I was done. I used to despise the 5K distance, but the more I do it, the more I like it!

Anyone else running a race this weekend? Tomorrow is Noah's birthday--he'll be 10!

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Five Days of Giveaways--last chance!

I think I forgot to mention that I'm running a 5K this Saturday with my friend, Audrey. Audrey is the friend that I ran with for her first half-marathon this spring, and she turns 40 on Saturday. She thought it would be fun to run a race on her birthday, so she chose the Portofino Run for Art.

She said she'd like to set a new PR at this race, which would be 27:35. Until this summer, I would have thought that would be no problem at all for me to pace her to! But this weekend, I'll be finishing behind her, I'm sure of it. That's about an 8:50/mile pace, and I've been running in the mid- to high-9:00's, and even in the 10:00's lately. I think it's a combination of the extra weight, some bad eating habits that I've been working on, and, of course, the heat/humidity.

Today, I drove the kids to their Camp 9-1-1, and then came home to run. On the way home, I was thinking that maybe I could do an 8:50 pace for the race. I decided to try a practice run today, and see how I felt. If it was close, I'd go for it; but if not, then I'd just plan to run for fun, at a slow pace, on Saturday.

It didn't seem too hot on my way home (easy to say when I was in the air conditioned car). It was only 63 degrees, with the humidity at 83%--not horrible, but not ideal, either. Regardless, I was going to try to aim for 8:50-ish per mile.

Surprisingly, I was a little sore today from my walk with Jessica yesterday! I wasn't expecting that at all. But anyway, I headed out for my run, and as I ran down my street, I was just trying to focus on not going too fast--I concentrated on my arm swing, my posture, etc. Halfway down the street, I glanced at my watch, expecting to see 9:15 or something, and I saw 7:35/mi. Damn! I started too fast, which almost ALWAYS means I'll crash and burn later, even if I don't run very far at that pace. My best races (and training runs) have been with negative splits--starting slower and building up speed gradually.

A quarter mile in, I wanted to quit. I had gone out too fast, and couldn't breathe very well. I really wanted to just stop my Garmin and walk home. But then I told myself to try and get in ONE sub-9:00 mile. I made a deal with myself that if I got in a sub-9:00 for the first mile, then I could just jog the next two miles. That helped me to keep pushing the pace. I was trying to stay as close to 8:50 as I could, but I was still running a little too fast.

When I hit mile one, I saw that I'd finished it in 8:41, so I immediately slowed my pace to a jog. I wish I could pace Audrey on her birthday race, but I just don't want to stress about it, so I'm going to run it for fun. I was glad that I still managed one sub-9:00 mile, though ;)  The sun was beating down, and it felt so much hotter than it actually was. The sun makes a huge difference in how I feel when I run. I do much better on an overcast day.

I spent the entire second mile catching my breath from the first mile. I picked up the pace a little in the last mile, but only because I was dying from the heat and wanted to get home.

My friend Sarah is in town from Arizona, so she and her husband, Ne, are coming over tonight. I'm making pulled pork sandwiches for dinner, and we'll probably play Euchre or Cards Against Humanity. First, though, Jerry and I have to go pick up the kids and see their "graduation" ceremony from Camp 9-1-1 ;)

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So today is the final day of my Five Days of Giveaways. A quick recap of what I'm giving away:

New Balance FreshFoam 920 Trail Runner shoes
Two pairs of Balega socks
RooSport pocket
Fitletic Hydration Belt and Clif Bar fuel products

Finally... I have a giveaway from Running Skirts. When I was at the Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival, there were a couple of reps from Running Skirts there for a demo. I wrote about how they had us do a fashion show (and I literally wanted the floor to swallow me up--that was SO FAR OUT of my comfort zone, I can't even describe it!).

They had tables of their products (not just skirts--they have lots of tops, arm sleeves, sports bras, headbands, etc.) and we tried on a bunch of stuff and put on a "fashion show" in front of a video camera. We were told that the winning team would receive $100 gift cards for us bloggers, as well as an extra to give away on the blog. To show how much I love and appreciate all of you, I strutted my stuff on the runway the best I could, despite wanting to just die on the spot, and scored a gift card for y'all! ;)

In addition, we were allowed to take home the clothes that were worn. I picked this cute camo skirt (it has sewn in shorts underneath).

I didn't realize it was a little too big until after I'd gotten home. It's labeled a Running Skirt size 3, but that translates to a women's size 8 normally (so if you wear a jeans size of 8, it will likely fit; and I think it's a little on the loose side, so maybe 8-10 would work).

I'd like to give away the skirt as well as the $100 gift card, and because the size of the skirt may be prohibitive to a lot of people, I'll do the two as separate drawings. There will be one drawing for the skirt, and one drawing for the gift card. The skirt is only open to the U.S. (sorry!), but the gift card will be open to anyone (it will be emailed to the winner).

To enter the drawing for the camo skirt shown above, just fill out your name and email address in the form below. I will pick a random winner on Monday, July 14th at 9:00 AM EST.


To enter the drawing for the $100 gift card to Running Skirts, same thing--just fill out the form below with your name and email address, and I'll pick a random winner on Monday, July 14th at 9:00 AM EST. (And yes, you can enter both giveaways)


Running Skirts also gave me a discount code that is good for 15% off! Just use the discount code "RUNWAYSKIRTS" for the discount when checking out.

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Well, I hope you've enjoyed the Five Days of Giveaways! I will pull the winners on Monday, and announce them on Monday's post. This has been so much fun for me... I don't like to post a lot of reviews, but it's nice to be able to give some cool stuff away! A HUGE thank you to Runner's World and all of the sponsors who gave away some fun products to try out. And thank you all for reading! If it weren't for you, I never would have been invited to participate in the RW Half & Festival, which ended up being one of the best running experiences I've ever had. Good luck to all who entered the giveaways! :)

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Trail walk with Jessica

I decided not to run today, because I had plans to go for a walk with Jessica this afternoon, and I felt ready for a run break. My kids are doing "Camp 9-1-1" for two days, which is a day camp that I would have loved when I was a kid! They tour an ambulance, learn CPR, visit a local emergency room, learn about safety, and learn about careers in the medical field. Such a great idea, and totally free!

Eli's surgery on the 22nd will prevent him from going to the camp that is closest to us, so I had to sign them up for the camp that is a pretty far drive. It started at 9:00 this morning, so we had to get up and get ready first thing this morning. Eli slept in my bed last night, because he a nightmare--which meant I didn't sleep a wink all night. That kid sleeps like the hands on a clock, turning in circles. Sometimes his hand was over my face, and other times his feet were kicking me in the head.

Anyway, I drove the kids to camp and dropped them off, and then headed home to get the laundry done. On the days of their baseball games, I always forget to make sure their baseball shirts are clean (and they never are), so I end up trying to wash them 30 minutes before we have to leave. Then they have to wear slightly damp shirts to the game. Please tell me I'm not the only mom that does that...?!

After lunch, I went to meet Jessica at a park. I used to run this park during my long runs a couple of years ago, but I got tired of the drive out there, so I hadn't been there in a while. There is a gravel path around a bunch of soccer fields, and some paths that go back in the woods. I've never ventured into the woods there, because I'm afraid of getting lost (and it looks a little sketchy to go there alone), but it was perfect to go on a walk with Jessica.

We came across a ton of tiny little toads on the path, a couple of snakes, and all sorts of bugs. I'm not really afraid of any of those things except for spiders. I'm deathly afraid of spiders! The trail wound a couple of miles through the woods, and it was a fun walk. We added a couple more miles to and from the car, so we walked 4.5 miles altogether. I got in over 12,000 steps, which was nice for a day that I didn't run!

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So, I haven't mentioned this because I'm always afraid of jinxing a streak, but when I set my July challenge, I had a second challenge in the back of my mind. The first, that I wrote about on my blog, was to only have two alcoholic drinks per week. Um, I failed at that one pretty quickly. We had people over the the fourth, and after two drinks, my intentions were just gone.

However, the other challenge in my mind was even harder for me--no ice cream or Monica's for all of July. I ate way too much ice cream in May and June, so I wanted to break that habit. Even if it was a McDonald's cone for 170 calories, I just wanted to stop having it all the time. Monica's is a local bakery that always calls out to me when I go past. I usually do well at avoiding it, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to give up that as well for the month, especially so I wouldn't go there to avoid the ice cream--haha!

So, today is the 9th--meaning I haven't had ice cream (or Monica's) in 9 days. That's pretty good! The best part is that after about three days, I stopped craving the ice cream. Between this challenge, and the fact that I'm trying to get back into my old (good) habits, I feel like I am going to start seeing some progress on the scale soon. I hope so, anyway! ;)

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Today is Day 4 of the Five Days of Giveaways. Sunday was the New Balance trail running shoes; Monday was Balega socks; Tuesday was the RooSport pocket; and today, I'm giving away some fuel/hydration items! In our welcome bags for the Runner's World Half & Festival was a hydration belt by Fitletic. I know a lot of people like belts, but I prefer my CamelBak, so I'm happy to give this to someone else who will use it! Clif Bar also hooked me up with some of my favorite running fuel, but I will never use all of it, so I'm including a variety of that as well.

The belt is a S/M size, which says it fits from 24-36". There are two water bottles and a pouch to hold some of your fuel, your phone, etc.

To enter the giveaway, just fill out the form below with your name and email address (U.S. only, please). I'll select a winner by random draw on Monday, July 14th at 9:00 AM EST.

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Frogger

I went swimming with the kids yesterday. This is kind of surprising, because I never swim. I hate swimming! But I wanted to get in a run, and with the kids being home from school, I have to get creative with fitting in my runs when and where I can. I decided to take them to the rec center to play basketball while I ran on the indoor track. Then, afterward, I said I'd go swimming with them.

I mostly hate swimming because you have to change clothes, and bring a ton of extra stuff (towel, fresh clothes, etc). But I packed all of our stuff up into a couple of bags, and we headed to the rec center. I decided to run three miles on the track. There wasn't a single soul on the track other than myself, so I took a selfie. It was obviously so blurry because I was running so fast. (not really)

I wore my foot pod, and my Garmin showed that I was running something like a 10:30/mi pace. That just did NOT seem right to me! According to the "rules" of the track, 12 times around the inner lane is 1 mile. According to my Garmin, it's about 12.5 times around. I'm not sure which to believe. Just for the heck of it, I used the stopwatch on my phone to see what my pace would be if I was doing 12 laps per mile. It would have been an 8:30/mi pace. According to my Garmin for that segment, it was 9:45/mi. Does it really matter? No. But I like to think I was running 8:30 ;)

Anyway, when I was done with the three miles, the kids and I changed into bathing suits and went swimming for a little while. When I swim, I don't really swim swim. I just tread water, and doggie-paddle around. Even though I don't like being in the water, it felt awesome after running on the track! Until I got out, and had to deal with being wet and soaked with chlorine. 

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There is something very odd going on near my house this year! Last year, the state land across the street from us was (deliberately) flooded from Lake Erie, and turned into a marshland. Since then, there have been all sorts of new critters around, and it's kind of fun. We've had ducks, and tons of turtles. The turtles have been laying their eggs all over the place. And like I mentioned recently, there are now frogs.

Over the past 11 years that Jerry and I have lived here, I've seen a few frogs each summer, usually when doing yard work or something. But over the past week, our entire street has been littered with dead baby frogs. They hop across the street from the marsh, and get run over by cars. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of frogs smashed on the street. 

Today, when I went out for a run, I was shocked at how many frogs there were! My run was really, really tough. I felt like I was running SO fast, but my watched showed mid-9:00 range. This humidity messes with me every summer, and every summer, I stop and wonder what the heck is wrong with me. I need to learn that I have a summer pace and a winter pace, and the summer pace is much slower. 

Anyway, a mile in, it started to rain. It felt AMAZING, and I was so glad to have the rain cool me off a little. When I got to my street, it pretty much came alive. There were hopping frogs everywhere! I felt like I was playing hopscotch to avoid stepping on them. It was so awesome--which I know, many people would be grossed out, but I love frogs. Once I got home, I turned around to go back and take some pictures. Here is a short video clip on Instagram--the frogs are tiny, so those things that look like grasshoppers? Yeah, they're frogs.

I took the kids outside to play in the rain and try to catch some of the frogs. They couldn't believe how many there were.

I've sure been selling Michigan by writing about the fish flies and now these frogs, huh? ;) 

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If you missed my last couple of posts, I'm doing Five Days of Giveaways this week--giving away a different (running-related) item each day. On Sunday, I posted New Balance trail running shoes; yesterday, I posted some Balega socks; and today, I will be giving away a RooSport pocket. I'll be honest--when I saw this in our welcome bags from Runner's World at the Heartbreak Hill Half, I had no idea what it was! But then I saw the demo at the expo, and I thought it was pretty smart. 

I'm completely obsessed with my FlipBelt, however, so I wanted to give the RooSport pocket to someone who would get some use out of it. Here is what it looks like:

If you go to their website, you can see how it's used; but basically, it's a pocket with a really strong magnet that holds it onto your pants. You set the pocket just inside of your pants, and then the part with the orange tab goes on the outside, and using the strong magnet (trust me, it's REALLY strong), holds the pocket in place. It can fit a few small items in there--Gu, keys, driver's license, etc. It's a clever way to turn any pants into pants with a pocket!

To enter to win the RooSport pocket, just fill out your name and email address below. I'll randomly select a winner on Monday, July 14th, at 9:00 AM EST. Available to U.S. friends only--sorry, international peeps!

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Motivational Monday #68

Happy Motivational Monday! This morning, I got an email from Heather at Half Size Me letting me know that my interview is available for listening now. I love the Half Size Me podcast, and I'm honored that Heather invited me back on the show. I was interviewed the first time in fall of 2011, and a lot has happened since then.

On the podcast, I discuss the effect of Mark's illness/death on my weight maintenance, how maintenance has been going in general, and things I've learned throughout, as well as the From Fat to Finish Line documentary in the works. I felt super comfortable during this interview, so I hope you enjoy listening :)  Here is the link--I'm Half Size Me episode 126.

In the interview, I mention the trailer of the documentary, and how I can't even watch it without crying. I've posted it here once before, but it's very fitting for Motivational Monday, so I'll share it here again:



Even I get inspired watching that, and I'm in it! Hahaha

Anyway, what have you all done this week to make you feel proud?

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Amy just ran her first 10K on the fourth of July! She was very nervous leading up to the race--she'd lost 30 pounds, but still has about 130 pounds to lose, and wasn't as consistent as she would have liked to have been in her training. But, at the world's largest 10K (the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta), she found the crowds energizing enough to make her go for it. Her goal was to finish under two hours, and she finished in 1:47:01!

She mentioned something special about the last part of the race that she wanted to share: "We had walked to a Jason's Deli along the race course for lunch after the race.  As we were finishing up, we noticed people eating outside start to stand, cheer, and shout. The entire parade route was giving the final race participant a roaring standing ovation.  We rushed outside to cheer her on and several of us (myself included) were in tears. She had a police escort on motorcycles and looked truly done-- but she finished!"

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Jenna is thrilled to announce that she is finally within a healthy weight range! She started at 211 pounds, and just recently weighed in a 145. Her journey was long and very tough, however--she actually spent 6 months at 150 pounds, just 5 pounds away from a healthy weight for her height! She said that the plateau was actually where she learned the most about herself, nutrition, and living an active lifestyle. She wouldn't accept a "failure" when she was so close to the end, so she pushed on out of sheer determination, and got past her plateau. She still plans to lose a little more to get to her personal goal, but she is very proud to be in her healthy weight range now! (Jenna's blog)

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Remember when I met Yvette at by chance at a grocery store? Well, she'd mentioned that she was going to be in Woman's World soon, and her issue is out right now! It's the July 14th issue, for sale July 3rd-9th.

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As always, you can check out more stories on the Motivational Monday Facebook post.

Like I mentioned yesterday, I'm doing 5 Days of Giveaways right now, to share some of the love (i.e. cool running stuff!) that I received at the Runner's World Half & Festival last month. Yesterday, I posted the New Balance shoes. Today, we'll stick with the "feet" theme, and I'll give away some awesome socks!

With the Hat Trick registration, runners were given a pair of Balega socks (along with a hat and race shirts). I fell in love with the socks, and wrote Balega to say thank you. They sent me a couple more pairs, along with two pairs to give away to one of you! These socks are so comfy that I've been wearing them just as fast as I can wash them. I've never been a brand snob when it comes to socks, but these ones may have changed my mind ;) So anyway, I have two pairs to give away, in a size medium (women's shoe size 8.5-10.5).

To enter the giveaway for both pairs of socks, just fill out the form below with your name and email address (so I can contact you if you win). I'll randomly select a winner on July 14th at 9:00 AM EST. I'm so sorry, but because the shipping costs more than my car the socks themselves, I have to restrict this to U.S. residents only. Good luck!

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Early morning run, and five days of giveaways

Last night, the kids stayed the night at my parents' house, and Jerry had to work all night, so I had a pretty quiet night to myself. I went to a couple of stores looking for the Wii EA Sports Active "More Workouts" game, but it's an old game, and I couldn't find it anywhere. I want to do another strength training challenge, and I loved doing the EA Sports Active 30-Day Challenge a couple of years ago.

I have a couple of other games--The Biggest Loser and Nike + Kinect game, but I don't like those ones. Even though the EA Sports Active game is old school, I really like it! I just wanted to get the "More Workouts" version to add some variety. I'm going to order it on Amazon.

When I got home, I ended up putting my pajamas on super early. I made some tea and sat outside on the front porch, just enjoying the weather.

I had gotten in a shipment of David's Tea--I ordered three new flavors: Cotton Candy (rooibos), Root Beer Float (black), and Caramel Corn (herbal). I made the Caramel Corn last night, and it was decent, but I don't think I'd order it again. This morning, I tried the other two. I hated the Root Beer Float, and the Cotton Candy was pretty good.

Jerry got off work early this morning, so we made plans to meet up at a park for a run. It was the park with the infamous hill that I wrote about before, where I chose to crash in the grass on my rollerblades instead of flying into the river ;)

It was humid this morning, but not too hot, so it wasn't bad. I love the park that we went to!

I wish the path around the park was long enough to run, but it's only about 3/4 of a mile around, so we started there and then ran the connecting path toward the Metropark. I told Jerry that it was either two or three miles to reach the Metropark, I wasn't sure which; so we decided to just run the length of it and turn around at the Metropark.

During the first mile, I felt so stiff! I'm not sure why my body has felt so stiff lately when I run, but I still felt like we were running around a 10:00/mi pace, maybe a little faster. When I heard my Garmin beep at one mile, it said 11:00/mi. I was shocked--even on my easiest runs, my pace is faster than that. We obviously weren't trying to run fast, but I was surprised that it felt kind of difficult at that pace.

Anyway, we reached the Metropark at mile 2.1, so we turned around, deciding on a 4-miler. My legs really started to loosen up at mile three. Mile three seems to be the magic number for me! I tend to feel really stiff and clumsy for the first couple of miles, and then I loosen up. When we hit mile four, we stopped the Garmin and just walked the short distance to the car, enjoying the scenery. The park is kind of far from home, otherwise I'd run it more often!

I really like that Jerry has been running with me sometimes. I feel like I'm getting spoiled, running with Jerry, Nathan, Jessica, Stephanie, and anyone else I can recruit. I enjoy running so much more when I run with a partner; I'm always bummed when I run alone now ;)

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I have a pretty awesome giveaway today! When I went to the Runner's World Half & Festival last month, I was given some sample products to try out. Some of the things I really like, and I decided to put together five days of giveaways (giving away a different item each day for five days).

First up? Shoes! There was a New Balance rep at the Festival to show us a new shoe line, the FreshFoam 980 Trail Runners.

They sent us bloggers a pair in the mail to try out for ourselves, which was so generous! Admittedly, I've never run on a trail before, but I am excited to try it, and testing out the shoes makes it even more fun. The first pair of the Trail Runners I received, even though they were my size on the label, fit much too small. New Balance sent me a size larger, and told me to give the others away on my blog!

The shoes are the ones pictured above--women's size 9.5. Now, in my normal street shoes, I wear an 8.5. My Brooks Adrenaline running shoes are a 9.5 wide. These shoes are a 9.5, but my toe was hitting the front of the shoe, and the toe box was too small for me, so I ended up with a 10.5. So, if you want to enter the giveaway, it's just something to keep in mind when deciding whether it's the right size for you.

To enter to win the shoes, just fill out your name and email address below. I'll select a winner by random drawing on 7/14/14 at 9:00 AM EST.



I have some other great stuff to give away, so check back over the next four days for that :)

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Getting back into old habits

Yesterday's get-together ended up being so much fun! I think we need to have people over more often, if only to get motivated to clean our house ;)  Jerry did most of the outside work, and I cleaned the inside, and it was good to go.

For being a last-minute plan, everything came together well, and I think everyone had a good time. It was SO nice outside. Not at all humid, and the temp was in the 70's. We sat outside, under the tree, and I kept looking up at the sky because it was so pretty.

We had dinner (beer brats and chicken sausages, cheesy potatoes, coleslaw, and a couple of salads). Then we built a fire in the backyard and sat around chatting while the kids went through about 10 boxes of sparklers ;)

I didn't get to bed until nearly 1:00, which is MUCH later than I'm used to staying up. But it was a very fun evening!

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Contrary to what the title of this post may make you think, I'm not talking about getting back into my old BAD habits; but rather, getting back into my old habits that I formed when I was losing weight. I've realized over the past few years of maintenance, that I've slowly started to drop some of the good habits I picked up when I was in weight loss mode.

A few examples: I've started using white rice again instead of brown; I've been eating white English muffins instead of the low calorie whole grain ones; I've been eating premium ice cream instead of light ice cream or frozen yogurt; I've been going out to eat a lot, and I harder ever ate out when I was losing weight. Stuff like that! It seems so small in the moment, but when added up, it's probably making it much harder for me to lose this 15 pounds I've put back on.

When I was losing weight, my tastes changed a lot. In the beginning, I would put two whole tablespoons of brown sugar in my oatmeal, because that was the only way to make it palatable to me! As I lost weight, I cut back on the sugar, and after a year or so, I was able to sweeten my oatmeal with just a banana or a teaspoon of maple syrup.

Oatmeal with one teaspoon of sugar... I used to use six times
that much sugar when I first started losing weight.

I remember a specific time (two months after I started losing weight) that I made warm cinnamon apples in the crock pot, and I followed the recipe as written, which included 2/3 cup brown sugar. The apples were delicious! I thought they were perfect. Then, a year later, I made them again--and I couldn't even eat them, because I thought they were way too sweet. I cut the sugar in half the next time, and it was much better, but still on the sweet side.

I used to work at Lonestar, a steakhouse, in college--and one of the side dishes they serve is a baked sweet potato with butter and cinnamon sugar. I used to order them and pile on the cinnamon sugar, completely coating the entire thing. I avoided eating sweet potatoes much when I was losing weight, because I knew I couldn't afford to use heaps of sugar on it, and they just didn't taste good plain. One day, I decided to try one with just a small amount of sugar. Before I added the sugar, though, I gave it a taste (completely plain)--and I loved it! I couldn't believe how sweet it was without the added sugar.

Anyway, the whole point of this is that my tastebuds changed while I was losing weight, and I formed new habits because of that. Plain sweet potatoes, cutting back sugar in recipes, using whole grains where possible (except pasta--I never did get to the point where I enjoyed whole wheat pasta, but I did like the Smart Taste pasta, which is white with added fiber). Healthier habits.

Over the past couple of years, however, I gradually started losing those habits. I was at goal, so I could afford to do that here and there (or so I thought). But what I didn't foresee was that I would develop a TASTE FOR the unhealthier version. Sweet potatoes don't taste as sweet anymore, light ice cream isn't nearly as rich, vegetables taste bitter, etc. My taste buds have changed once again--for the worse.

So I'd really like to focus on getting back into those old habits: whole grain bread, brown rice, light ice cream, plain vegetables and fruits, naturally sweetened foods, smaller portions, dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate, etc. I know that it will take time--it didn't happen overnight before, and it won't happen overnight this time--but I'm willing to be patient.

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