Half Marathon...

Ten weeks in training... Juggling schedules with long runs... Ryan would run his long run first, then I'd run when he came back (almost every time I told him I was so jealous he was already done!!)... Learning how to eat enough calories, carbs and most importantly protein to account for the runs was a little hard for Ryan.  Almost every day I'd say to him, "You didn't make up your calories yet"... He dropped about 25 pounds in the past year from running.  This brought on many comments from family and friends.  Some positive, most concerned, and some negative.
A lot of people don't understand what your body goes through when you take on training like this - they don't understand the mental battle that occurs either.  Each run I go on, whether 3 miles or 12 is a huge mental undertaking.
I literally fight my body the entire time.
"You could walk you know.... This is tough.... You could just do 2 instead of 3 miles today.... This sucks, you feel like crap... You have your period, you could totally go back to bed..." The excuses and self destructive thoughts continue for most of the run....
Which is why I pray for the majority of my runs... it's a much more productive use of my time and it keeps me from fighting body/mind to keep going.  Plus I feel connected to God and to the people I'm praying for and about when I use my runs this way.
I think a lot about the people and blessings in my life.  I think and thank God for the ability to run and the fact that I am showing my girls that being healthy is a priority for their parents.  We eat healthy for the most part too - sure we indulge every once in a while, but they see us having at least two servings of vegetables at lunch and dinner and limiting our sugar intake.  If this is routine and normal for them, then when the decisions are theirs, I pray they make the right ones and it's not a struggle for them.

Back to the training.   During two of the other half's I did, I used Gatorade's GU.

 It's basically full of electrolytes and replenishes a lot of what your body loses during a long run.  I don't know if it actually worked or if it was mental but I felt better about 15-20 minutes after I ate one... so I decided to use them during this training.  I started on my 12 mile run.  I think it helped, my energy was boosted at about 7 miles when I needed it most.  This was the first time that my hips ever hurt like they did while training.  I'm not sure if that was because it had only been a year or so ago that I birthed a baby, or just my aging body, or what... but it was something I had to deal with and suffer through.
Ryan didn't use any - he can't stand the taste and just wanted to run on his own energy.  I did encourage him to have a protein shake after every run.  I think that helped with his intake and balance his weight loss a little.  I think it helped his muscles (at least that is the purpose).  Taking a protein shake after a rough work out like that allows your muscles to repair themselves and actually build back up... because when you strain the muscles, if you don't allow them nutrients to help them repair, then you wont build up their tolerance, so to speak.   I've tried a few different types of protein shakes and really like BSN Protein.  I've tried the Chocolate Fudge and Chocolate Peanut Butter.  Both are great!!  The only thing that was tough was that when I was pregnant it said "not recommended if pregnant or nursing" so I went without protein for the whole time (I just stopped nursing at 15 months).

We run typically in the mornings - right after we get up.  We eat breakfast when we come back - so we're used to eating on an empty stomach.  However, knowing how long it would be before we could eat something after the half - I told Ryan to start thinking about eating something prior to one of his long runs.
He found that an english muffin with peanut butter was just enough to not upset his stomach and not leave him famished (well sort of) by the end.
I have a ritual of eating a banana and drinking a protein shake.  Luckily, Isabella was done with nursing about three weeks prior to the race, so I was clear to do this.

The night before the race, we carbed up with Olive Garden!  My wonderful mother-in-law stayed over to be with the girls in the morning.  It would have been too much to try to bring the girls to watch us finish (Isabella is at that independent stage where she hates the stroller and wont stand too still for very long!)  So she stayed home with them while we left and ran.

We got up at 5:30am and were out the door at 6am.  My mom called at about 5:45am to wish us well.  They were up because they were leaving for a cruise that morning (lucky!!)
The drive into Newport was a little rough.  Nerves got the best of me and I had to go to the bathroom and was a little nauseous!  It was more excitement I think than nerves, but all the same!  I muscled down the protein and half of the banana.  Ryan ate his breakfast and to avoid cramps I had him finish the banana.  We got there in plenty of time - I ran to the porta-potty (yuck)!  We met up with my friend from work who was running with us (we had paced a run earlier in the week and were excited to find we could run together - we had the same goal - to finish in under 2 hours!).
We headed to the start.  The race started 20 minutes after it was supposed to so we were super amped to get going!!

There were about 4,000 people (which was incredible to see) running it.  The first two or so miles were sooooo slow!! At one point I think we were running at an 11 minute/mile pace.   It was frustrating because I knew that in order to complete this in under 2 hours we needed a pace that was less than 8:50/mile.  By 5 miles or 6 miles we were getting close to our desired pace.  We needed to run at less than 8:30 to make up for the first two miles and we were doing that!
It was so fun running with friends!  People were holding signs for their loved ones, ringing cow bells and cheering friends on.  Every time we ran by them Ryan and Ed would yell out "We need more cow bell!!"   We were joking around, laughing and having fun and I felt great!  Ed stops at every water station - Ryan and I carry a small bottle of water (me gatorade) so I didn't need to stop.  Ed would stop and then catch up to us at each station.  At mile 7 they had GU that they were handing out (i had stashed one in my pocket in case they didn't give them out)... So I grabbed one and told Ryan to grab one too.  He tried, but the people handing them out didn't have the best hand eye coordination so he missed it!  I handed him mine and grabbed my extra.  I think he took about half of it but either way, I think it helped both of us.  At that point, we were starting to really feel the run...  Ed caught up and he was taking a salt packet (he had cramped in previous long runs and read that mixing a salt packet with water could help prevent cramps!)  We were laughing at his reaction to how nasty it actually tasted!!
At this point we started smacking the mile markers - they were big A Frames and I have no idea why we did it but it was nice to just WHACK it as if to shout "YEAH, I KICKED MILE 8's ASS!"
I felt like at mile 8 I really hit my stride!  I knew I was good to go for the next 5 miles.   My knees and hips were sore again, but I pushed those thoughts away and tried to ignore the pain.

At mile 9 Ed stopped at the water station, but after about a half mile, he hadn't caught up... I looked back at Ryan (who had stopped too, so was a little behind me catching up) and said, "I don't see Ed, is he back there?"  Ryan could usually look over other people and find him but he couldn't.
Prior to the race, we had decided that if one of us could go ahead, to just go and not wait on the others.
So, although I wanted to wait for him, I knew I should just keep going ahead.

At mile 10 I knew Ryan was tired.  (afterwards he said he realized he's not really a distance runner by nature, because it's rough to keep going past about 8 or 9 miles).  I think it was about mile 10 that I was realizing I AM a distance runner.  I kept saying, "this isn't bad - just a typical 3 mile run left, we can do this"...
From mile 11-13, Ryan was a few people behind me and as I looked back at one point, he gave me the "go ahead" arm - but ummm, no, we finish these things together now... So I balanced my pace a bit more to allow him to catch up.  When we hit the 12.5 mark, there were people stacked up along both sides of the course just screaming and cheering us on... cowbells galore!! I said, "Ryan, this is it, this is the home stretch, we're here, we did it!!!"  And I could tell this was the boost he needed.  "My hips are screaming" he said, but I told him to scream back, louder!!!
The course finishes right along the water with the beach on one side and the parking lot on the other.
There was a DJ and tons of music and cheers.  We knew our bffs and my godparents would be at the finish so we were scanning the crowds for them.  At the point when we could actually see the finish, Ryan grabbed my hand and we ran for about .3 miles holding hands.  I saw our cheerleaders and yelled "There they are!!"  The flow of emotion that hit when I saw them screaming for us and taking our picture was overwhelming.  The tears started and I just kept screaming!!

I heard the DJ yell "Coming in, hand in hand, 3935 and 3934, look at that!!!" and the other DJ must have quickly looked up our numbers and yelled "Amanda and Ryan finishing now!"  How awesome is that!!!
Even typing this, I'm crying!!

I can't tell you how proud of Ryan I was at that moment.  He was so happy, and wore that medal with such pride!! You could just see how excited he was that he accomplished that!!

Oh, and I forgot to mention - we finished in 1:53:49 (it actually posted that I was in at 1:53:50 - but that's bs because we crossed that the exact same time!!)  So we did it!! We finished in under 2 hours!! Our pace was 8:41.

We waited for Ed, and after the clock struck 2 hours, I just felt terrible knowing something had happened.  In the past two halfs he ran, his legs cramped up at mile 11.  Well, at 2:03, we saw him limping across the finish.  The same thing happened at mile 11 this time.  He was devastated, but he did PR so that was something to be thrilled about!!

After the race, they had free beer to finishers, so obviously we got our free beer!! We spent the afternoon with our cheerleaders pigging out!!

What a race!!
We can't wait to do it again next year... will we do the half or will we go for the full????

The running bug...

It feels like so many people are running lately.  Maybe I just didn't realize it before, but I feel like a ton of my friends have picked up the hobby/sport.  Even my hubby!  For so long he was just my cheerleader/support person.  He'd come to my races, be really proud and make a comment like, "that must be such a good feeling" or "I don't know how you do that, I'm exhausted just waiting for you to finish".  And then something switched.

I think most people remember when I revealed that I was pregnant with Isabella - it was at the finish line of the Newport Half Marathon.  I put a note on the back of my bib that said "SURPRISE... BABY'S FIRST RACE!!!" and flipped my bib just after I crossed the finish line so that when I walked up to my family and friends, they would see it.  I was 8 weeks pregnant at that point.
I ran until I was 7.5 months pregnant with her and then the pain in my hips and lower abdomen was just too much to take, so I walked and then even walking was tough by 9 months, so I waddled when I could and sat when I couldn't!
By the time I had Isabella, I was itching to go out for a run.  At two weeks postpartum, I went for a 1 mile slow jog (at about 12 minutes/mile) and when I got home, I literally had to convince myself not to pass out.  It was just too soon!
So I waited another three days and went again.  That time it was a little better, no blacking out when I got back but I was still winded.
So I slowly got back into it.
As I did, Ryan said, "I think I'll go for a run when you get back" one day.  He started out at about 12 min/mile as well and felt really good.  He kept that up for a few days a week but then experienced a little knee pain (anyone who knows him knows that his knees are a huge mess!)
I told him that if he was serious about this running business, which he seemed like he was, that we needed to invest in a new pair of running sneakers and actually have him "fit" for sneakers.
We did, and $200+ later (if he was getting new sneaks, so was I!)
There's nothing like running in a brand new pair of sneakers that are made for your running style!
That was August of 2012 and it's over a full year later, and Ryan still runs about four times a week.
As most rookies do, he's had some speed bumps (see what I did there?) but we've worked through them.  At the beginning, he told me he wanted me to be his coach (he was partially kidding, but I took it seriously) and told him that if I was going to coach him, he needed to take me seriously (I've read a lot about this stuff, experienced five years of running/training/racing and recovering).
His goal was to run a 5K.  That happened in October of 2012 and he did great - his pace was about 9 minutes and 40 seconds per mile.  Which is great for a beginning runner (hell, it's great for most intermediate runners!)  We ran with two friends that are runners as well - it was pouring rain and pretty cold, but fun all the same! That's when the bug bit!

He kept saying, "We need to find another race to run"... so we did.
My BF is living in AZ with her husband who is an Army Ranger.  He suffers from TBI and another friend takes part in a benefit for TBI that holds a 5K.  What a perfect race!  We can't help my BF, but we can do our part to support those with TBI.  So that was Ryan's second 5K in October 2012.

After that, we ran a few 5Ks but then winter hit and no one holds 5Ks around here in the winter.
We ran through the winter (mostly on the treadmill, which I love and hate at the same time).  I love it because having it means that I can still run when it's snowing and crappy out, but I just hate staying in one spot and I run slower on that thing!  When I could, I would bundle up and run outside - but when I couldn't, I'd use the boring treadmill!  (If my parents are reading this - I am grateful that you gave it to us, don't read this the wrong way!! Just - if given the choice, I'd much rather be outside!)

Once the weather was getting nicer, I remembered a 10k that I ran a few years ago in Cohasset Mass that was beautiful.  It was all along the water with huge beautiful houses.  I knew it was in April and thought that it would be a perfect first 10K for Ryan to run.  We registered, and started to train.  I wanted Ryan to run 6 miles at some point prior to the race.  Just a few weeks before the race he ended a run feeling a ton of pain in his foot.  I had him go to the doctor and it ended up being tendinitis in his ankle but the doctor wanted him to run through it (I like this doctor!)  He did and the pain subsided!
We ran that 10K and our goal (well, my goal really, Ryan just wanted to finish the thing! was to finish in under an hour.   We finished in 54:21!  (that is an 8:45 mile pace).  We both felt great throughout it!
We ran the whole thing together and at the end Ryan grabbed my hand so we finished holding hands.  It was the first race we'd run together and we felt on top of the world for finishing with that pace!!

It was VERY cold for April - especially by the water!!

In July, there was a 10K at Gillette Stadium that we couldn't pass up.  You finish the race on the 50 yard line!  We signed up and arranged for our bffs to watch the kids. It was so hot that day, about 98 degrees out.  I was a bit nervous about dehydration, but we did our best to hydrate.  At the start line, they made a loud announcement that no one should be going for a PR (Personal Record) that day, and the goal was to just have fun and finish -  it was too hot to push yourself, so hydrate and walk if you need to.  We decided at that moment that we were not aiming to break an hour, instead we'd just run to have fun.  It was fun... but it was HOT!!
We ran through neighborhoods in Foxborough and people were holding their garden hoses out spraying us down... it felt lovely!!! Then we had to run up all of the ramps in the stadium and then down them onto the field!! How fun!! Again, we ran the whole thing together and again, Ryan grabbed my hand at the finish and we crossed holding hands!

We then decided that we wanted to do a half marathon - and I knew that for Ryan's first half I wanted him to run the Newport one.  It was just gorgeous and I think for anyone's first - it's pretty great!  There are a few hills, but nothing too strenuous and the views are just gorgeous!  So we started training in August.  We have a great 10 week plan that I've used for all four of my half's that I've run and I think it prepares me very well.
Along our training route, we did a few 5Ks here and there.  I actually won first place for women overall (not just my age range either - like all women that ran!!) in one a week before the half - that was an amazing feeling!!  And Ryan came in 3rd for men in his age range!  We knew we had a decent shot at winning something, because last year I came in 3rd in my age range and we knew that our pace had improved since then, but I didn't think it would be first overall - so that was a great pick-me-up!

This post was a lot longer than I thought so I'll leave this as TO BE CONTINUED....

Next post - look for thoughts from the Half Marathon!

too busy to blog... but here's one!

I feel like whenever I do update I have to apologize for taking so long to update.
So, here's my apology. 
It's bad when your mom tells you that you haven't updated your blog in a while - but she did, so even if she's the only one who reads this - I'm pleasing one person!

A LOT has happened since I last updated.

Isabella turned 1, I think that's the biggest thing at this point.  Her birthday was so fun - we just did a back yard party but had a lot of family and friends celebrate with us.  She ate her cake and loved it!

At one year, she is 19 lbs. and so fun!  She's got 6 teeth, with two coming in.  She's talking with the following words (kitty, Mommy, Dadda, Please, Thank you, Meow) but she has her own little language that she uses and talks all the time!! She constantly laughs, loves her sister and loves being outside.

Other big happenings include that my mom is now going to be watching her one day a week and Joan watching her the other days.  We did this during the summer when Ryan had grad classes and although it took her a little while to warm up - it worked out great!  Isabella takes a while to warm up to people and she doesn't see my parents very often, so this is going to be so great for her!  I just want her to be comfortable with my parents - and it kills me when she cries at them - so this will be great!

Maddie graduated preschool in June and starts Kindergarten this week!  I think I'm in denial!  We did some school shopping and I just couldn't believe I was at this point!  She's pretty excited.  She has a male teacher, which made Ryan so happy!  I'm nervous about the bus, not the school. 
She's almost fully reading - she can read all of Isabella's books to her - she can sound out almost all the words in her chapter books and loves to learn.  I just love it!
She has a very wiggly tooth - and is excited (yet nervous) to lose it!  She "just knows she will start kindergarten without her tooth!"

 

How cute is that!?!

And, our parents took us to New Hampshire for a week.  It was so relaxing and so much fun!! We went to Santa's Village and had such a blast.  I'll update in pictures:

 

 

 

 

And... a few more pictures:  Becky and I went to the Luke Bryan concert in June and had so much fun.  We went with one of my bff's Meredith who has all the concert inside scoops, so that was awesome, that girl knows how to party at a concert!

We also went to our friend Nicole's wedding and I love this picture of me and Becky, so I'll include it:

Milestones...

I don't post much about my girls' growth and development, but I am afraid if I don't, I'll easily forget it.
I just had to pull out Madison's baby book to find out when her first tooth came in because I honestly had no recollection!  (It was at 8 months, btw).

So, I figured I'd update you all on where they are at and what they're into lately.

Madison just turned 5.  I can not believe I have a 5 year old.  She just lights up my days and she is so smart. She picks up on everything and has an amazing memory.  I literally do not have to have a shopping list when we go grocery shopping, because as long as I recite what we need before we go, she will remember it!

She is in a scared/anxious phase though.  Everything makes her nervous.  We nicknamed her "Nelly" and she thinks it is hysterical!! I called her Nervous Nelly once and Nosey Nelly another time and so the tern Nelly stuck and she loves it!! She wants to know everything you're talking about - she's super nosey - but its just because she is curious... so curious about everything.  And she learns so much by being so curious, so its actually really good!
The nervous part... oh my... she's nervous that I'm going to hit a car (that is yards away) when backing out of a parking spot, nervous that Isabella will fall over (she always does and it's no big deal)!  Nervous if Ryan leaves the room (when I'm not home) she'll call out "Daddy... DADDY!!!" thinking he left her alone (ummm... he would never do that!! I've been tempted before, but never him!!! -i kid!)   I used to be the exact same way, which is so weird to me that it's not something I've

But aside from that, she's super into reading right now.  And she's getting it!! For a while, she would say "How do you spell dog" and I would say, "Sound it out, what letter makes the 'duh' sound?"... and she would  respond with something like "S"... so I knew she wasn't understanding it yet.
But lately, she'll ask if she can read the first page of her nightly stories - and she gets the sounds and most of the words correct!!  It's amazing to see her learning practically right before my eyes!!


She so sweet too.  She constantly tells me I'm pretty and she loves being with me, she loves hugging me and brushing my hair or laying on the couch with me.  I tell her all the time, "Promise you'll always like me... because when you're a teenager, I might have to tell you that you can't do a lot of things you want to and you may not like my answers, but promise me that you'll know I am only doing whats best for you"... she laughs and promises!! It's really cute!
She is an incredible big sister... Sometimes I'll have Izzy sitting in her saucer while I'm doing something in the other room and immediately Maddie comes and sits with Izzy, and if she has to go to the bathroom or leave the room, she'll say, "Mom can you watch Izzy, I just have to run and..." she doesn't like leaving her by herself for even a minute!

Then there's my 7 month old that is seriously growing before my eyes!! The reason I had to look up when Maddie got her first tooth, is because Izzy's is just starting to poke through.  I couldn't remember nursing when Maddie had teeth, but I did apparently (only for a month or so)...
Izzy has been sitting up on her own for a little over a month.  She took her first ride in a shopping cart the other day (she could  have done so earlier, but we didn't have one of those covers for it so I just kept her in the front carrier... My mom is incredible though, and whipped one up for us one weekend, so now we are avoiding germs while still riding in style!)

She waves when we wave to her, she claps on command, she laughs at so much!  She eats cereal and squash and sweet potatoes.  We're trying other foods but this muchkin has the best pukey face and gag going on for new foods!!
She is still solely on breastmilk though - I pump as much as I can at work (because we mix the cereal with breastmilk too.)  It's been challenging to find the time in the day to pump, but I just keep telling myself, one day at a time.  Don't look ahead and think "Oh man, 5 more months" look ahead and say, "I can do this again tomorrow"... that has gotten me through 7.5 months, so I guess its a good mentality!!
She is still not sleeping through the night completely.  I get one night here and there, but for the most part, she wakes up at least once (around 3:00am) and then for the day around 6:30am.
I can't complain though - she sleeps from about 7:30pm - 3am-ish and then goes back down after that middle of the night feeding.
I go to bed around 10 or 11pm once the house is picked up a bit so I am averaging 4-5 hours a night (it's tough to get back to sleep once you're up from 3-4am feeding... Many times I just stay up and go for my run.

Overall, I could not ask for better daughters.  I am so blessed and I love waking up to their smiling faces (they both inherited their father's morning-person personality) - Thank God!!

Resolutions...

I don't really make resolutions.  I don't ever stick to them, so they're really just like suggestions and they don't happen at the beginning of every year, they kind of happen when I think about them.

I thought this was funny, this is why I don't do resolutions!!
Image: http://lolzombie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/updated-new-years-resolutions.jpg

Like, a few months back, I realized that when Maddie was a baby, I just couldn't wait for her to grow.  I loved watching her development that I was so focused on the next thing she was doing that I didn't mind how quickly the baby stages went.

Maddie about 5 days old!

Now that Maddie (will be) 5 (tomorrow!!) I find myself sad that she's growing so fast and especially sad that Isabella is too.  I don't love all things baby - I never have.  But I do love how Isabella snuggles up to me and I am the one person who can soothe her when all others can not.
I love that Madison thinks I am pretty much the coolest thing there is.  I said to her the other day, "Promise you'll always love my hugs and smothering kisses"  of course she said "I will, I love snuggling and hugging you!"  But I couldn't help but think - one day she'll be like 15 and think that I'm not cool anymore.  That made me so sad.

I don't think I ever went through an "I hate my parents stage" but I certainly remember thinking, "They don't get it - they don't know what's 'in' and what's 'cool' or not"... I had enough stacked up against me with my peers, I just wanted to wear the trendy clothes and do the cool things...
I hope I can find the right balance of that for my girls.  There's conforming and fitting in, and there's individuality and expression.  I'd like them to know the difference and feel comfortable with themselves despite what their peers are doing.  I hope I can instill that in them and still be "cool" while doing so.  I think I had decent examples so I hope I can pull it off!!

Anyways, back to my resolutions suggestions for myself.  I'm always trying to be a better wife and mom.  I'm not boasting or exaggerating when I tell you that Ryan is an amazing husband.  I'd tell you he's perfect but you wouldn't believe me so I wont use that term.  He is not only an amazing husband, he's an incredible father too.  I know Madison is enamored with him and once Izzy knows more, she will be too!  He has great instincts, is such a hands on dad and doesn't care if other guys think he's cheezy or whatnot.  I strive to be a compatible mom for my girls... They've already got an amazing dad, I am trying to make sure they have "amazing parents"  (and I used amazing a lot in this paragraph!)

While thanking God for him in my life, I often pray that I can be the wife that Ryan deserves in return.  It's not a natural thing for me.  I don't always remember to kiss him when I walk through the door - I often talk about my day before I remember to ask him about his, I don't think to do nice things for him randomly... so I work hard at it.  I'm trying to make it more natural.

Another suggestion for myself is to not obsess over my weight or my eating as much.  Madison notices these things now and I do NOT want to pass on my weight issues to her.  Right now, she loves her body, loves her hair and the way she looks and she knows she is smart and beautiful.  I want to keep it that way.  I want her to value her brains AND her looks (lets be honest, I'd love to say that her brains are all that matters, but society will show her otherwise, so as long as I teach her the correct order, I think I'm doing ok!)
I am pretty happy with my body right now.  My stomach needs toning but to be fair, I had a child 7 months ago and haven't really worked at losing the weight.  I'll get there.  And I need to have patience with the process.

So that's my goal for this year.  Sure I have other things I'd like to do: read more, spend more time with extended family and friends, blog way more often, pay off my credit card debt, remodel the bathroom and replace the kitchen floor... but those may or may not happen - I don't want to feel like crap for not fulfilling some resolution.

I also have made it my life goal to appreciate my blessings.  And I really think I do that well.  I know how blessed I am and I am so thankful to God for that!