Trail run in the DARK

We move next week!  Crazy.  Been packing up and selling things.  I am excited to live with less stuff and clutter, for as long as that lasts anyway!

Allie went to a birthday party this week, and it was a Frozen party, so they made snow out of cornstarch and shaving cream.  That's one brave parent!  Well, she brought some home, and Claire ended up playing with it for over two hours!  Easy entertainment right there!  Luckily it's a cinch to clean up!

So I decided to hire a fitness consultant for the next 12 weeks to help me lose a few lb and tone up.  I signed up on Saturday and have already lost 2 lb!  He just holds me accountable to my plan of eating less and moving more.  I love it.  I am learning how to control portions, and I can't believe what a difference that makes!  Feeling good!  We start FaceTime workouts next week.

Last night I took Missy and Megan on their first trail run up Pipeline Trail in Millcreek Canyon.  Janet came with us, which of course made me happy!  I was SO excited to show Missy and Megan one of my favorite trails!  BUT....I'm kind of stupid and we started too late in the evening and had to walk back in the DARK!  Luckily we had our phones to help us see!  But before it got dark, we had amazing views and the fall colors were so gorgeous!  And of course, great company!

Proof of how DARK it was!  I was holding my phone over us while Janet took the picture.  I felt so bad!  I'll have to take them on another trail run where we plan a little better!  

Life Update (LONG post!)

Okay.  I have been slacking on my blog, and I don't like that!  This is my family journal, and I need to do better.  I'm going to try and sit down every evening and write down our day.  That's the goal.

So here's a quick recap of what I haven't blogged lately.

1.  The kids are doing great in school!  Cam had a field trip to Silver Lake yesterday and said it was a blast.  He's learning multiplication and division, and it feels like yesterday he was in Kindergarten learning addition!  Roo is loving Kindergarten.  I love her little homework worksheets.  She LOVES riding the bus, and I'm sad that the chances of the kids riding a bus wherever we move to are pretty slim.  Bear and I always have fun at home together.  She misses the older kids, but I'm loving have that time with her.

2. Still no job.  Trust me, you'll know when we get one.  He's had a few interviews though, and the IHC job is still in the running.  Our official move-out date is September 27, so the plan is to move to Salem if nothing else happens by then.  Sigh.

3. I have started a new workout program and clean eating, so be ready for that update each day.  I LOVE it!  The goal is to workout an hour a day, NOT counting running.  I alternate arm/ab day with leg day, and I feel so amazing already!

4. Nate did his 2nd Triathlon on Labor Day and rocked it!  SO SO proud of him!  He wants to do a half ironman next.  Woot!  Such a stud.  And hot, might I add...

5. Yesterday, I met up with my friend, Cindy, at City Creek for lunch.  She is part of our running group, but we had never met, since she lives in Southern California.  She came to Utah to run Big Cottonwood this weekend.  It was such a treat to meet her.  We walked over to Temple Square, since she'd never seen that before.  I hope she had a nice time and felt something special there.

6. My awesome running friend, Ty, invited our family and Joshua over for dinner last Sunday.  It was SO MUCH FUN.  We seriously laughed for like 3 hours straight.  I don't think I've seen Nate laugh so much!  Also, I got to snuggle baby Ginny.

7.. Nate is HOT.  That's all.

November Challenges and Goals

A few fun challenges for myself this month!

1. Nate and I are doing this Plank Challenge for the month of November.  It's going to hurt!  But hopefully be effective.  The thought of holding a plank for 5 whole minutes doesn't seem doable right now, but that's not going to stop me.  I never thought ANY of the running I'm doing right now was possible.  I love that I have learned this life lesson. I hope you have, too!

2. I have made a goal that is a little over the top, so I'm only going to try it for ONE week.  Then I'll see how I feel next week and go from there.  My goal is to eat 8-9 servings of veggies every day.  My reasons for doing this are simply to be healthier.  I want to see if I feel a difference after a week.  I'm NOT cutting out junk or desserts, but I will be automatically cutting out a lot of sugar and processed foods just by eating sauteed or steamed veggies for breakfast.  I'm going to keep a food log all week, so maybe I'll post that in a week and let you know how it went!

I'm making this on Tuesday morning, and I cannot wait!  Isn't it gorgeous?  Roasted beets, carrots & potatoes with eggs.  YUM!

3. No soda.  This is more for Nate than for me, but he's been "clean" for 2 weeks now.  I enjoy the occasional Dr. Pepper or Cherry Coke, but Nate was drinking Coke alllll the time at his work.  I'm proud of him for wanting to do better.  But I will be drinking a DP on December 1.  :)

A Plan for March

I've made a fitness plan for March.  It's pretty similar to what I've already been doing since January, but I'm upping the intensity quite a bit.  I'll see how I'm feeling at the end of the month and make any adjustments or changes to my April plan.  I'll definitely do a post at the end of March with how it went!  It won't go perfectly because I'm going out of town for a week (yay for trips, BOO for flying!), but I'll do my best to keep it up while I'm away.  Foam rolling is probably the only thing I won't be able to do.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Long Run (6-10mi)

Legs/Bum

3-5 Miler

Legs/Bum

Intervals

3-5 Miler

Rest!

Abs

Arms

Abs

Arms

Abs

Arms

Legs/Bum

Daily:
Foam Roll & Stretch (evenings)
Free Arms (Tracy Anderson workout)
5 Sun Salutations (mornings)
2 Planks

I just cannot get over how great I feel.  We get ONE life and ONE body.  I refuse to waste either.

If you want to know what specific arm/ab/leg workouts I'm doing, let me know!

Update

So...foam rolling.  It's been 5 or 6 days now, and I am finally starting to see results!  The pain has gone down significantly, which means the knots are loosening way up.  The worst of it is OVER.  I am thrilled!  Now all I have to do is take 5 minutes to roll every night, and those big knots should stay away for good!  Sweet.


Claire got Dora jammies at Kid to Kid for $2.  She loves them.  She'll point to her big ole belly and run around the house yelling "Dora!!".  She is also obsessed with wearing Cam's slippers.  If you try to take them away from her, she'll scream like she's being horribly tortured.

Cameron is teaching himself to go cross-eyed.  Do you remember doing this is a kid?  Looking at your finger until it reached your nose?  Hilarious.

Man, this kid is such a blast.  It's a constant roller coaster with him, and the past few days he's been on a major UP.  Just doing awesome.  Obeying, helping his sisters, overall having a great attitude.  It is so wonderful, and I'll take it as often as I can get it!  It won't last long, but I like to use these happy times to try and teach and show him how much happier he is when he makes good choices.  The UP times obviously are going to lengthen in time and occurrence as he gets older, and I love seeing that light at the end of the tunnel with him.  You all know what a long 6 years it's been!!  Maybe he's giving us a break so we can gear up for Miss Claire to take over!  ;)  I worry sometimes that I put too much pressure on my kids.  I do have high expectations of them.  I do tend to put teaching them respect, hard work, and the Gospel WAY ahead of being their friend.  It's hard to find that balance.  My parents were the same way.  I knew I was loved, but I also knew my parents wanted me to succeed and grow up with strong values MORE than they wanted anything else.  I appreciate that now.  But like I said...balance.  So I'm trying to relax more and enjoy him just as much as I focus on raising him.  Does that make sense?  I read this quote, and it summed it up perfectly.  "Don't let yourself become so concerned with raising a good kid that you forget you already have one."  -Glennon Melton

The other night, Nate said he wants 5 or 6 kids.  I'm pretty sure he was serious.  I'm drawing the line at 4 though, and I'd really like to draw it at 3!! I told him that any kids we have from here on out are HIS.  ;)

I like that he wants a big family though.  Because it means he loves being a father.  It means he's always going to have my back as we raise our family.  He's involved.  It's awesome.  It's sexy!  I love that man.  He is so dang good to me, I can't even stand it.

This is how we Roll

I have a new relationship.  It's the most wonderful, yet most horrible thing ever:

FOAM ROLLING.

Staci introduced me to it the other night.  Basically it's a form of self-deep-tissue massage.  It works the kinks out in your muscles.  It's really good for runners, because the quads, glutes, calves and other muscles tend to get really tight with running and things like squats and stairs.  Foam rolling gets those kinks out and prevents injuries.  If your IT band or quads get too tight, they can pull your gait and your bones out and cause hip and knee pain.

So Foam Rolling.  You relax your muscle onto the foam and then slowly roll your body up.  It feels great when you're done, and I love it's benefits.  But WOW, it is the most painful thing ever.  Blinding pain.  Sometimes I feel nauseous!!  It digs into your muscles so deep.  But I'm committed to doing it daily from now on.

Foam rolling is an easy and inexpensive way to perform self myofascial release.  Although everyone can use a foam roll I highly recommend that all runners, bikers, and weight lifters have one of their own.  To start foam rolling can be quite painful, but you will notice after a week or two how much easier it will become and then eventually you can just maintain good muscle tone once you get the trigger points worked out.  

Learn more HERE.

So here is Miss Roo, demonstrating the calf roll for you.  :)  Start at your ankle and slowly roll it up to your knee.

And here is a random lady rolling her IT band area, which is basically along the outside of your thigh, from your knee to your bum.

Nate has been having some knee pain while running, so he is going to start doing this, too.  The knots in my calves and thighs make me want to CRY, so I can't wait until the worst of this is over!!  Staci told me that the more it hurts, the more it means you NEED it.  So I'm glad I'm helping my muscles out.  It's all worth it so I can RUN!!!