Mother Nature is a B

To be honest, I havnt taken many pictures the last couple of days.  Im a slacker, I know.  So today, Im going to talk write about working out with hormones.

To sum it up, it sucks balls.  The last couple of months I have been 'training' for my first half marathon.  I use training loosely because, lets face it, life happens.  I started off really well and didnt miss a run.  Then I got sick and was laid up in bed for a week.  When I could breath again, I started running again.  Then my monthly visitor comes and BOOM Im done.  Between the cramps, soreness, bulging boobs, belatedness, headaches and just plain uncomfortable I dont do much running right before I start.  Its like running with cantaloupes attached to your chest that are rock hard and knives going in your ovaries while trying to keep up a pace.  It does not work, at least for me.  So the past 2 months its been this, run, sick, cramps, run, sick-ish, cramps, run.  Its been a pain in the ass to say the least. 

About 2 weeks ago, I told myself,  no more missing runs.  Stop slacking , you can do this.  Then life happened again.  The kids got sick, work got hectic, I got wore out.  So I skipped some runs and rested.  I know I shouldnt have but I did. Taking care of my kids was more important and getting some sleep was much needed. I still ran 9 miles on Saturdays, except once when I only ran 5, so I know I hanvt lost EVERYTHING Ive worked for the last 3 months, but its still disappointing in my mind.  Its as though I gave up on myself but I didnt, make any sense?

This brings me to this week.  Of course Mother Nature wants to rear her ugly head the week before my half.  So my patterns starts:  I got the poops (TMI sorry but its reality), complete soreness, migraines, rock hard boobs that make it impossible for ANY sports bra to fit, and cramps.  Its Thursday and I am scheduled to run 13.1 miles on Sunday.  Im flipping nervous that nature will take over and shut my body down, it wouldnt be the first time that this has happened.  So what can I do?

I ran an easy 4.5 miles on Tuesday and did Yoga last night.  I think it helped.  The cramps have buried themselves, for now and Im not aching.  For this reason, Im hooked to Yoga, its better than any pill you can take.  I am going to run a short run tonight and tomorrow and rest on Saturday. 

I can only hope that my fears, nervousness and Mother Nature will disappear before Sunday.  If not, Im sure there will be tears along the way.

Wait, who am I kidding?  There be tears, of joy, WHEN I finish it and thats all I can really hope for.

Poo, Spools, and Fireworks

This weekend went by so fast.  Friday night, we went out with friends from out of town.  Of course, we ate Mexican food.  It was sooooooooooooo good.  Do you now what these are?

Chips and salsa.  I have a problem with this food.  No matter how full I am, if there are chips in front of me, I eat them.  I lick the bowl clean and drink the salsa.  I have a problem. Friday was different.  I said NO to chips thanks to my 101 in 1001 things.  Not one chip entered my mouth, Not one morsel of salt (from the chips) touched my lips.  #53, in the bag.

After dinner, we headed home so we could get ready for our weekend trip to Tyler to visit the Grandparents.  Love it out there, fresh food, fresh air, limited cell phone coverage, its just what is needed.

We got off to a late start.  They needed a bath.  I got them naked and went to change Elyse.  Cole was in the tub, with a floater.  Yup, he pooped right in the tub.  So after bleaching the tub and all the toys and a brief stop to get some jeans for the kids, we were on our way.  When we got there, the kids were shy at first, like always and then warmed up and wouldnt sit still.  Who knew empty spools of thread could entertain kids so well?

We gave them apple pie.  Talk about a SUGAR RUSH so we then decided to take a walk.

They loved being free and able to explore everything.  He liked to run up and down and side to side as she picked up sticks. 

We walked past this sign and they thought it was hilarious to make noise by banging on it and play peek-a-boo with each other. 

We were entertained, they relaxed.

As it got dark, the fireworks started.  It was a kids birthday aroudn the corner so we got to enjoy the show as well.

Cole didnt take his eyes off of the sky.

Elyse kept saying "Momma, I see it, I see it"

They were exhausted and we headed home.

Sunday was just as uneventful.  I went to work, for a minute.  It was quick and painless.  I did Yoga again.  It was so much better than the last time.  There was a whole bunch of people at different levels.  I was sweating and Im a little sore today, so I guess I was doing it right.  Im definlty going to be doing this weekly.  Also, Im back in gear for my training.  With being sick, running was NOT my prioity.  Im back and I am scheduled to do 9 miles this weekend.  We will see how taking off for a week will affect me, hopefully not too much.

How was your weekend?  Eventful?  Two days of nothing? 
One of these days, I will do that but I doubt it will be anytime soon.

Yoga, Round 1

I finally took my first yoga class last night.  After hearing all about the benefits, I had to do it. 

The class started out as I expected, slowly  breathing in and out. 

In and out.

In and out.

Im a yoga virgin so I am clueless to what each pose is called and what Im supposed to be doing.  No biggie, the instructor should tell me what and when to move what.

This is where I got lost.  She moved so fast from one pose to the next and I couldn’t figure out what to do.  THEN she kept talking about how cold she was.  Yoga, to me, should be breathing  and stretching with very little talking, only guiding It wasn’t horrible, just wasn’t the best.

In addition to the instructor moving SOOO FAST, there were3 other people in the class with me.  The three of them were friends and kept talking.  They informed me that this instructor is not a good one and that I HAVE to come back next week. If they would have just stopped talking for 5 minutes, it might not have been so bad, not that it was bad, just not what I expected

So I will go again on Sunday (my long runs are set on Saturdays) and hopefully get another instructor.  I can see the benefits of the stretching and breathing and pushing my body in a different way.  Im hoping yoga will help with my runs. 

On another note, #36 of my 100 is now complete.

Im on my way.