weekend wrap-up {#anywhere5k}

We had a fabulous {super} productive weekend! Lots of sunshine, too!

Friday, I got busaayyy during naptime, hopped on the treadmill! I mentions before how my IT band had been irritating me. So, I've spent the last week stretching and resting the legs. I had to test it and eased into my run, felt better while I was actually running, between speeds 6.6-7.3. Seems like longer faster strides help stretch it. While it felt great, my body wasn't cooperating, must be all the crap foods I ate. Yep, still trying to change my habits but not kicking myself into full gear. Blah, Blah. Intervals are always challenging to me but that's where my awesome playlist comes in "play"!! Whoo! I felt like a badass, and jumped off treadmill doing 50 deep squats. OUCH! what was I thinking!?!

3 miles done!

Saturday. Welcome, Spring Cleaning!
This 'spring cleaning' has been going on for a few weeks now! It hadn't reached the upstairs though. Well, it finally happened! And, it was crazy! I mean there's 3 bedrooms and a huge closet, errr,..my craft corner! There's still process to made in there. My quads were SO sore but the constant moving and going up/downstairs helped relive it a little!! Cleaning came to an end when I began babysitting 2 extra kiddos for a sleepover too. Well, I did hang clothes before I went to bed. Anyone else hang their race day tee and running tops!? My hangers about double because I certainly do! What!? I wear them way more than my normal tops! Race tees; are earned and I wear them proudly!

Sunday. {2nd annual #anywhere5k}
Another virtual challenge hosted by these folks. Another fabulous 5k run during naptime! And, it was pretty awesome. While I was getting my oldest took notice, next thing I see is that she is also dressed up in her running gear! She said, "while you run in the treadmill, I'll run on next to you on the ground. I want to workout and be string like you,...". I was smiling pretty dang big {super proud}, she's awesome! {lead by example}

I was email chatting with my husband, so he was kind of there with me. I'd reply during the walking intervals. It was slower than normal, however I wasn't aiming for a PR on the treadmill. Before I jumped on I foam rolled and there after, it feels good! My legs felt amazing!!

I showered, got dressed and ready and we then heard out for a park play date, followed by fro-yo, dinner and target. Once, we got home, bedtime routine started. I changed into running gear, I wanted MORE!! However, my leg didn't agree! And, I only got 2 MILES in! Better than nothing, I ran with my heart and pushed my legs!

It's Monday and I'm getting my foam rolling on, a little yoga. Then LIFTING AND a RUN!!

y'all get out there in whatever it is; make it happen! happy sweating!

st. paddy's half marathon {13in2013}

Can y'all believe this is #7 in the 13in2013 challenge!?
2nd half in real life; back 2 back halfs weekend!
And, it totally kicked my booty, literally.
My glutes are on FIYAHHH!

Let's get a race recap going,....

Friday, was my stretch [foam roll] this shiz out of my legs [IT band] day and we headed outdoors for some fun too; ice cream, pottery painting and park play. Hello, sunshine!

Saturday: {st. paddy's day run tacoma}
oh, another EARLY morning wakeup, 5AM wasn't so bad. (After having my iPhone screen broken, once again and waiting on a sleepless 6yr old to fall asleep, I fell asleep around midnight!) I got some more stretching in before waking the girls & getting them ready and loaded in. I sipped on coffee, and on Ezekiel toast w/pb, picked up another MRTT member to carpool with, dropped of girls at my friends place. And, off we went, 45 min drive wasn't bad at all! Sure, I was a little exhausted from the morning craziness but that's why they call me "super{runner}mama". I just keep going; make it happen. We got lucky rolling into the event location and finding a spot barely a block away, with nearly 30 minutes to spare!! We geared up; pinned bib, accessories on, stretched, bathroom break inside a warm pub!! Woohoo!! Made it to the start line and we were ready! It was gloomy and there was a 30% chance of rain. Fellow MRTT member told me she was sick all week and wanted to just walk it but as a marathoner, I knew she wouldn't.

Miles 1-5: I started off pretty steady, legs felt great, no IT pain whatsoever. I was happy but I was also feeling congested, my nose was a wee bit runny. We had been fighting sore throats this week. Ugh! So, breathing wasn't as easy, and I pushed through it. Mile 3, light rain started coming down and lingered around. Around mile 4, I had to really use the restroom, badly. And, it takes forever to get through a line. Luckily, there was a park with a few and I also stripped off layer and repined bib. Now, I was sporting the MRTT green {festive} tee,...'moms shamrock this town'. There went approx 15minutes and I never caught back up with the 2:30 pace leader. Whomp! Whomp!

Miles 6-9: once, I got back on the road, I realized I was amongst the 10k'rs, and they were hustlin', I picked up speed and was distinguished by my green bib as a half marathoner, when they did the 1/2 turn, I continued forward. Back to my world,..water station, fueled up and went on. Oh, hey,.....hills and the view along the water, uhhhhh-mazing!!! I love a good view and Washington offers it all. It makes me incredibly happy to be a girl from Texas, and exploring new places, all made possible via husband and his career in the NAVY!! I'm apart of an Elite group of women, the ones that EMBRACE their surroundings and enjoy the little things. I've been to Hawaii {paradise}, San Diego {city life}, Ridgecrest {desert town},.Washington continuously takes my breath away! Okay, back to running...

Miles 10-11: through the surrounding neighborhood, errrr, I mean hills and hills! My legs felt soooo heavy! At this point, I was trying to keep a steady jog uphill but found myself walking, and walking. I wanted to stop and stretch but kept pushing myself instead. I really wondered where in the world is the turn around,...aghh, downhill! I snapped a photo before I headed down slowly. My knees were feeling the hills, they were pretty beat at this point. Yep, no fun!

Mile 12: forever long, forever. And, I completely forgot the up hills that we went down on from the start line. I took walking intervals and again wanted to stop to stretch but it was MILE 12, no way!! There were others walking along the uphills too, I could feel the rush coming over the last hill, and I wanted to sprint so badly. I think my face had more of a "finish strong" look than my legs did. I.just.kept.going. Whoaaaa

Finished {heavily} Strong: 13.1 miles in 2:49:22!!!!

Grabbed a medal and stretch over in a squat while they cut off the time chip off my shoe. I stayed stretched over while the guy, congratulated me and repeatedly said, "way to go, you did it.", while giving me a smile and pat on the back. I sure did, I was proud, this mama, this girl, this runner completed back 2 back half-marathons!! It wasn't about setting PR's, the medals, the swag, becoming a half fanatic, {okay, a little} it was the rush, the effort, the push for myself, my inner soul needed this. I was overwhelmed, this passion was burning throughout me, I set out a goal and I crushed it!! {insert smile and tears} I found my friend at the finish line shortly after, and we chatted about the race experience, she did good too, around 2:35, not bad for being under the weather. We loaded back up for the drive and I made a pit stop for some fast food from 'sonic', it's one of those places I love! I snuck in quick shower before picking up my girlies. Even though my body felt a little beat up, I took my girls to the park to enjoy the sunshine, and afterwards got busy with an [early] dinner; fish tacos. And a corinarita for my post-race celebratory drink. Yummaayyy!!

Stand out songs: maclamore's 'can't hold us', cali swag districts 'teach me
How to dogie' and Flo rida's 'in the Ayer'.
Add them to your playlist; go!

What's next?
the jelly bean virtual race hosted by run with jess.
Squatting. Boxing. Spinning.
Kettlebelling. Bosu-ng. Yoga-ng ... .... ...
Running; squeezing in long runs.
April: backwards 1 miler & 10k
Next Half Marathon(s): May 5 & May 23!

Hope y'all had an active weekend!

lake sammamish half {13in2013}

first [in real life] half marathon for 2013.
half marathon #6 for the 13 in 2013 challenge.
first road trip with a few fabulous MRTT runners.
{weekend wrap-up}


{Friday} a ferry ride to Seattle, started this awesome weekend. It was a glorious day, the sun was shining by the time we got to the packet pick-up location. I was also picking up 2 other packets, for the other mother runners, that were going. We made a detour to ikea before the drive back home, finally picking up a few items for an upcoming project. We got a surprise, my brother arrived a day early!! He was flying in from the carrier, off from deployment, he detached and has orders to SoCal. My girls were SO excited to welcome their uncle back to the USA!! They were all over him, a bit overwhelming for him, I'm sure!

{Saturday} Lake Sammamish Half Marathon
Race day; up EARLY, 4:30! After the morning chaos, and loading of 3 cranky girls, we headed to my friends house, she babysat the girls during my FIRST half marathon, last July. And, is awesome watching my girls. I met up at my friends house, where we'd get together and carpool to the ferry. This was a location, I hadn't been to, so I was happy that we made plans to go together. Ferry loaded at 6:25, after some driving, we arrived at the race location, about 8:00. Got geared up, bathroom break, tried to warm-up, it was COLD!! And, once we crossed the start line, we each went into our own 'running' world.

Mile 1-6: the course was flat, surprisingly, Washington is known for its 'hillish' routes. I was completely stretched at mile 4. I got to mile 5, and realized I needed a bathroom break, my body wanted to instantly stop but I pushed through it. Once, I finally spotted a porta-potty and the long line, I kept going. I'm not going to lie, I hit several spots where I was speeding and zig zagging my way ahead of folks and I felt like a total badass because I wasn't burnt out. I paced though. No knee pain. I was over the moon!! A lot to through your mind when you're running for over an hour...with more miles and time ahead.

Miles 6-8: I took a few walking breaks, around miles 6-8. My feet went numb, and I had to stretch a little. I even took off a layer, because the fog finally burned off and the sun was shining. The trail was mostly gravel, some paved areas. We ran alongside some houses that had lake fronts. It was absolutely beautiful. I day-dreamed, yessss while running, about never moving from this amazing state and owning a house like those.

Miles 9-11: are we there yet? Seriously!? Mile 10 had us running alongside the roadways, I actually ran the entire time, passing several folks that decided to walk. I suppose, this is the kind of running I can concentrate with the most. Just the music and the pavement ahead, I was in a zone. Mile 11 had us back on a trail, heading into the Lake Sammamish State Park. Once again, burst of energy and passing folks. I was eater for the finish line!! Woohoo!! I had Drakes 'started from the bottom' song on replay to push me! It gets annoying but it definitely had me pushing!

Mile 12: longest.mile.ever. {Young the Giant- body on replay for the finish} it was a busy park day, finishers along the trail cheering us on, Families spending time at the park, errr...or waiting for their finisher, the shuttle buses leaving back to start location. Yep, luckily, we didn't have to loop back! The zig zagging felt like the longest time, but I knew the finish line was somewhere over that tree area. The fact that I couldn't see it, was probably a good thing. The last stretch was right along the lake, I was overwhelmed with emotions; fabulous weather, amazing view, garmin watch time was setting a PR,......"my body tell me no but I won't quit, Cuz i want more, I want more..." The finish line never looked sweeter, my music was blasting and I was smiling and holding back tears of awesomeness!! It totally kicked my ass, I kicked ass and was on an amazing runners high!!

Finished Strong: 13.1 miles in 2:30:56!!!

I caught up with the 2 other mother runners and we chatted about our run, each of us setting PR's!! Pretty exciting, considering this was a flat course, which I learned was a BIG DEAL! We snapped photos, refueled and each purchased a shirt from Run Pretty Far, fabulous items. I knew I was going to jump into my shirt, to pair with my celebratory drink, sangria!! We made our way to the shuttle, car drive to ferry, ferry ride back to meeting location. It was 3pm, I rushed home to steal a shower before picking up my girls. Then, back home to cook up a spaghetti dinner; yummmayyy!! After, putting the girls to bed and cleaning the dinner mess, I finally sat down, more sangria, movie night with my brother.

{Sunday} active recovery. Ouch.
I rolled, literally, out of bed around 8am.
After a little bit of lounging, watching Wreck it Ralph.
I decided to get busy in the garage, the fact that my either was leaving Monday morning too. I wanted to relocate the treadmill into the garage. And, complete the garage gym. Err, I mean, clean the garage. Even, getting the car loaded with a hefty goodwill donation. I spent a few hours and it sure did help relieve the soreness, a little sangria helped too. It looks amazing now!! And, I've still got some clearing/trashing of toys and junk. It should be cleared out by the time husband returns. We finally have a homecoming date, finally!! I'm SO happy he will be home to celebrate half-marathon #3, we've already got a BBQ and margaritas planned post-race, his mom will be in town too. Such exciting news to a running-super active-filled weekend!!

{5 by the 5th} #3/6

Happy March y'all!
A new month means, another 5 by the 5th virtual race.
And, I went with a spontaneous 5k.

{Monday} I woke up to a pee on laundry room floor, crazy dog!! Uhmm, this wasn't exactly my idea of a great morning start. Ehhh, I got busy cleaning, and I mean cleaning! I didn't stop until I noticed sunshine and then got in contact with a friend, who said she'd be running. I loaded my girls in the double jogger and met up with her and another gal for a park playdate, which turned into my warm-up. The sun was shining, kids were playing/exploring and we were chatting.

We parted ways, and I decided to RUN {runch = lunch run} And, headed the opposite way, tackling an uphill route. We spotted a mama and baby deer along the way, snapped a photo. Whewww, pushing/running with the double jogger is a major challenge and I kept at it! We got a 5k done! Whoop! Whoop!

Finished Strong; 3.13 in 43:07!

{Tuesday} I planned a run with a new running mama, I got there a little early and after some stretching, started to run. We got a mile in before she showed up with her little one. We walked mostly, and stopped to let the kids play.

Finished strong; 3.34 miles in 1:04.

{Wednesday} active rest day! I got some yoga in with a little foam rolling. And craft store shopping, fabulous project underway!!

{Thursday} today, I decided to shake my legs up. Baby girl and I headed out to the trail, she was cranky!! We took on some hills, speed intervals, and fabulous gloomy weather! I walked along the wood trails, as they were slippery! I kept thinking, how much I'd miss my little monsters during Saturdays trip up north for the Lake Sammamish half marathon. At the same time, I was excited because they'd want to hear all about it!! Plus, my brother is coming into town the same day, so we get to celebrate that too! He recently, became a first time daddy to a precious baby girl. He's been on deployment, same as my husband. And, will be finally settling into shore duty, new family, new state, new duty station, new baby, new beginnings. I'm so proud and excited for him!! Our family is always growing, I'm the oldest of 10 siblings!!
I currently have 3 nephews and 5 nieces and then there's my 3 girls! Wow!

Back to the running; this was the last run before the half marathon this weekend! I might spin them out tomorrow.

Finished strong; 2.16 miles in 31:10!

Barking Mad for Breast Cancer {13in2013}

{virtual} Half Marathon #5 is in the books y'all!

It didn't quite go as I had planned, I wanted to run it at one time. ahh well. There's always next time, like April's Virtual.

I dedicated this weeks running miles to a good cause that's dear to my heart. Barking Mad about Running hosted this virtual race.

Monday; jumped on the treadmill, it was by far challenging, and the longest I've ran on it since it joined the family. I pushed and pushed and pushed myself. Especially, since I had ran 6 miles the day before. I ran for an entire hour, and had a lot of things on my mind. I've made a lot of changes recently and have been defeated in a few things. It was the perfect opportunity for a major switch up, in all things fitness. I'm excited.
Finished Strong; 4.45 miles in 60 minutes

Wednesday; after a wonderful rest day, morning meetup at Joann's to pick out fabric for an upcoming {wreath project} craft play date! I set out Wednesday for a LONG [outdoor] RUN! I dropped off my girls at a friends house, about 20 minutes late and tried to make the best of the clock! I ran the usual routes but in the opposite way. HILLS, still got me but i was tackling them!! There was sunshine, just perfect!! I covered it all, pavement, trails, mud,....evergreen trees all around. I love Washington state!

Finished Strong; 7.06 miles in 1:28:05

Thursday; today was definitely a fabulous fitness-filled day! Started off with stroller strides, wheww!! Then, I got busy during naptime, jumping on the treadmill. I was a little sore from SS and yesterday's 7 miler, so I went comfortable. I have myself a few speed intervals, Britney's spears and will.i.am cheered me on.

Finished Strong; 2.01 miles in 27:03

I earned myself a fabulous medal to hang with the 2013 bling.

{Half Fanatics}
I'm eager and excited to run my first 2013 [Half-Marathon] road race next weekend (3/9) and then another the following (3/16) that's right, becoming an official half fanatics member!! MAJOR RUNNERS HIGH! The bling is SUPER FABULOUS but I'm more excited about the course, the views will be AMAZING/UNFORGETTABLE!!

weekend wrap-up

what a fabulous weekend!

an impromptu zoo trip, first pho experience, treadmill 5k, and track 5k. Whoop! Whoop!

There was some awesome sunshine on Saturday, and after lounging the morning away. I packed a backpack and loaded the kids for a drive to the Seattle area, I wanted to surprise them with a fun afternoon, unsure of what exactly where I was going. We ended up at the zoo and spent 2 hours exploring, soaking up the sunshine and saying "hi" to animals.

{The Sweet Cupcake Race 10k}
Sunday rolled in early, I was up and serious about finishing the last few miles. I logged in 4 on Tuesday {2 with baby girl outdoors and 2 on the treadmill}. I received my medal last week and proudly hung it with today's treadmill run. It was a little rough, I'll admit it. My treadmill is set up next to the window and the heater was still on; aghhh!! It took a bit for the heater to shut off, so it felt like I was running in a sauna. I pushed through several hard moments. I slowed down, I sped up, ran hard. My knee didn't bother me much. Whewww.

Finished strong; 3.11 miles in 36:44!

{#anywhere5k team challenge}
Another #anywhere5k run complete! I started participating in these run events back in September and I'm happy to see other friends joining in. This months theme was "team challenge". Another mama and I teamed up, we me up at the track, each of us have 3 kiddos, 6 and under. We had or youngest babies in their single joggers and the older ones joined us with some walking/running on the track, wondering off to explore nearby.
We did running intervals, and chatted, there was some light rainfall, wind and it was COLD! We made stops along our rounds, it was nearing lunch and naptime, so my younger 2 were a tad bit cranky. Why didn't I bring my double jogger instead and forgot the snacks in the car. Aghh!! Nonetheless, I managed the tantrums, crying, whining, and got it done!

Finished strong; 3.11 miles in 1:13:19

What's next?
Logging in miles for the latest virtual half marathon, #5 for 13in2013!! Starting week 5 of les mills combat, stroller strides, and saying bye to February!! Woohoo!!!!!

weekend wrap-up

It was a crazzyyyy awesome weekend!!

How crazy awesome!?
This girl got herself a 5k PR and 25k under her runners belt!!
And, a sweet something from her man too!!

Sweetheart 5k; 32:08
I'm not going to lie, I was nervous! It's been a while since I ran a base race, last years, st. patty's run. Nonetheless, I was excited to slip into my running gear and lace up the running shoes. I noticed they had a new route mapped out, agh!! Race started, Running happened ALL THE WAY THROUGH!! That's right, I didn't stop once, no recovery, I eased off a few times, I continued to run uphill. Oh, yeahhhh, another addition to the route, MORE hills. I suppose, they were on my side, I took full advantage.

FINISHED STRONG; setting a new PR!!

After a little bit of recovery time, it was time to get dolled up!
From running shoes to fabulous heels. It was a sweet evening at ship wives valentines dinner. We got a amazing surprise, I LOVED the video shout out and love note from my man. Can we get the rest of this deployment done and over with!? C'mon!

Fishline 25k; 4:46:18
Actually, 16.62 miles!
This was a spontaneous decision, like, I signed up a few days before when another MRTT member mentioned it. I was instantly sold since it was literally down the street AND who doesn't want to get a 25k on the trails!?! Uhhhhmmmmm, what did we get ourselves into!? Trails!! Forest, Woods TRAILS!! I followed along on her 3:1 method, we ran longer in some instances. We hiked a lot of it, we had lots of random conversation, we pushed ourselves to keep going, we go lost twice. And, we laughed a iut it. It felt good, it felt awesome, it hurt. It was brutal, it was nothing like expected and then again, I totally loved it!! Those steep trails really got me, my poor knees. My aching calves too. Reaching the finish line never felt better, we were greeted with other finishers telling us how intense and crazy completing this trail run was. So glad, it just wasn't me thinking of it!! Uhmm, call me crazy but I'm totally looking forward to the rest of this race series. Trail running [in Washington] is an truly an AMAZING experience!!

tackle the miles {13in2013}

Half-Marathon #4 is in the books and it was rough!!

I broke this virtual race into 4 challenging runs, wheww!! When you're husband is on deployment, that's how things go. I {sometimes} feel kind of guilty putting my kids up with friends for virtual races. It's happened but not often. Anyways, I went from treadmill to outdoors and back to treadmill. Booyah!!

Friday's run, was challenging, my shins were a little annoyed. Maybe from the spin classes. I logged in 2 miles in 26:02 with some hills mixed in.

Saturday was rough, I had crabby kids in tow at the playroom and with the shins still bothered I gave myself some inclined walking intervals. I logged in 3.22 miles in 45:32. Ehhh.

Tuesdays, impromptu run in the rain was fabulous!! I doubled these miles with the 5 by the 5th virtual race. That rush from coming home soaked is awesome, I love it!! A friend joined in and we logged in 3.20 in 1:07:02

Today's last 5 miles. Whewww, I was a sweaty mess during the first mile. Yuck!! It didn't hurt but I was just soo over the treadmill. Ever feel like that? I wanted to get it over with, mixed in hills and speed. I logged in 5 miles in 1:05:00.

What's next?
Resting these legs from running for the next 2 days. I have a weekend of racing; my first outdoor races!!!

Sweetheart 5k and Fishline 25k trail run.Holy cow, a 25k!! I'm excited for some "me" time!!

Winter Half Marathon Finisher!

Whoop! Whoop!!

I got busy this morning and busted out Les Mills Combat Kickstart; 30 minutes of Sweat!! Had me pumped for my run!

Mama completed the Virtual Half-Marathon; 5 Runs; 13.37 Miles!!!

I'm actually still waiting on the medal but what's more important, is that I went running!!

I had to fight a headache and some minor foot pain on the treadmill today. I eased off with walking intervals and hit a max of 8.0 speed for a bit. It was exhilarating!! Major sweatfest!! I got it done!!

It's naptime here for baby girls and I just unloaded the rest of their gifts from the car into garage. Toy Wrapping Party tonight!! Santa is making an EARLY stop this weekend! Since, we are flying out to TX next weekend. Yayyyy!!!