It's been awhile! (for a post and winter in Ohio!)

So sorry that I haven't had the motivation to post.  I really should have, but I guess I haven't had any news that I thought was post worthy.  Not that I do now, but I suppose I should at least try to post something just for the sake of letting you know I'm still alive!

I forgot to post about our failed attempt at catching the Saint Patty's Day Leprechaun.  Apparently this is something they do at school and my daughter set all sorts of "traps" and would have been heartbroken if nothing happened as if the Leprechaun had never stopped at our house.  Alas... I had to Pintrest ideas for the event.  Here is the result.... Lucky the Leprechaun peed green into our toilet and left some gold dust there for the kids:

This week I was on spring break.... in Ohio (a staycation- how exciting!)  It snowed.  End of story!  I love Ohio, but when winter hangs around through spring break, I'm not so excited about my location.  I usually like to do yard work while on break from my job and school.  Too bad this year our spring break had an average of 35 degrees and it snowed 3 inches on Sunday.  I should have taken a picture, but I was so depressed that I forgot.  We had gone to my uncle's house for Easter (on Palm Sunday!!) and drove home into the snow. Lovely.  The only good part of the day was when middle little fell asleep on her Grandma in the middle of all of the commotion...  grandma loved it and middle little wasn't grouchy for the second half of the day!

I did manage to run 10 miles on Monday on my treadmill for my long run.  Less than a month now until my next Half Marathon.  Yay!  I think I'm training decently for this one so I hope to PR....even though most of you run twice as fast, it's still a PR to me!  I've also swam and biked several times.

I am down about 26 pounds total.  I'm frustrated this week because I am counting all of my calories and exercising and I have lost little.  I have to keep reminding myself of my overall weight loss and loss week to week.  BLAH!!  I want it to fall off.  :)  It's so frustrating to not lose very much when you KNOW you are doing the right thing.

Yesterday it was ALMOST warm enough to run outside and I felt like goldilocks and the three bears.  I'm blonde and I had three running partners to choose from:

This one was too small and annoying that we made it to the end of the driveway before I turned back to get a different dog.  I was really hoping to work with Gizmo on running a short distance with me, but it just wasn't working.

This one was too Fat-

She made it about 1/4 of a mile before she began to limp and either she got slower or I got faster because I was dragging her for all of the run and she barely had me at a slow walk!  Mind you, she has had over $3,000 worth of knee surgery... which I said I'd never pay for, but I felt bad and I just couldn't put a dog down for bum legs.  She blew one knee out because she tried to run and then blew the other one out trying to walk on 3 legs while trying to heal after the first surgery.

And my third dog was a decent success.... he can keep up and was only a little annoying when he tried to pee on every mailbox post (something I despise about my neighbors dogs and won't let him do)

Oh, I guess I could have tried to run with the cat, but somehow I just didn't think it would work...

See, annoying dog is trying to get into the cat picture too!

Oh- and I say it was ALMOST warm enough to run outside because after the total of 1.5 miles with the  annoying, fat, and almost decent dogs, I decided I was still too cold and went in to finish the last 3 miles  on the treadmill.  Did I mention that I HATE the cold???  It was 43 degrees and it was still too cold for me.  Thankfully the snow has melted and today it's up to a total of 47 degrees.  HEY!  A few more degrees and we might hit beach weather.

So again, I'm sorry I'm not very exciting and not much has happened.  Maybe some day it will warm up enough for me to run outside and then I can take better pictures and have more to post about.

Lots of Randomness!

This post will be filled with lots of randomness.... Consider yourself warned!

First, and most exciting: I got new shoes!!  I have been needing new shoes (in my own opinion) for awhile now.  My old shoes just "feel" warn down.  When I reported this fact to my husband, he didn't think I was serious.  I was.  I don't go by milage, I go by feel and they feel old to me.  There is little support in the arch and I'm a "stability" needing kind of girl.  I then remembered that I had a $50 gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods that I won as a result of our school fitness contest.  This made the convincing of the hubby much easier!  Sale: $104.99 minus $50.00 gift card = almost happy hubby and 1 happy running Michele.

Aren't they beautiful??  Mizuno Wave Inspire 9s

Another random fact for the week.... we are dog sitting.  My mom and dad are vacationing in Jamaica for the week and we have their dog.  That makes for 4 dogs in our house.  Good thing their dog is calm and quiet (read: opposite of all 3 of our dogs!)  My son loves their dog because she will let him come near her.  In fact, when I can't find him, I look here:

Hanging with Grandma's dog is apparently almost as much fun as hanging with her!

Another note on my son...  He CAN open the cat food and he likes to eat it.  BAD MOMMY moment #1 for the evening.  I'm pretty sure he got a few mouthfuls down before I caught him.  Oops!!

I'm feeling *mostly* better.  I still have a hacking cough that I can't seem to get rid of, but I won't let it stop me.  I swam for 60 minutes Sunday and biked for 60 minutes Saturday. Tonight I plan to run.  I'm hoping for 7 or 8 miles (nice and easy) but we will see.  Hubby is giving blood at our school blood drive tonight, so I have to wait for him to come home. 

So how's that for a lot of random things?  Happy Monday!

Scratch That

Last week I wrote all about how I have been doing so well and having a good year.  Well...scratch that!  Sunday I woke up feeling yucky and knew that I had caught whatever my son (1 year old) had.  Sunday night my husband took him to urgent care because all he was doing was screaming.  He tested positive for Influenza B.  Awesome.  He cried all night and I felt miserable taking care of him all night. Monday morning I woke up in a haze but could function so I went to work and took little to the sitter (though I know I shouldn't have!)  I had an all day training Monday and Tuesday so I all I had to do was sit there.  Monday I went home and went to bed at 9pm. Tuesday I was even more miserable and couldn't stand up without passing out.  Tuesday evening I went to urgent care and tested positive for influenza B.  The doctor wanted to write me a note for work.... I laughed.  I can't take off work... you don't understand.  He just raised an eyebrow.  I had 15 teachers who had taken the day off and gotten subs to work on curriculum with me- I HAD to go to work Wednesday.  I went in...barely conscious enough to drive.  My whole body hurt and I couldn't really breathe.  I warned them to let me stay a few feet away and any time I coughed I either washed my hands or sanitized.  I'm sure they thought I was dying.  I felt like I was.  Thursday I was just a bit better, but still tired and hurting.  Friday I woke up feeling worse, but improved a bit through the day.  Today, I'm congested and coughing, but ok.

Influenza B is more of a respiratory flu this year and it SUCKS!  I felt horrible and my lungs felt like they were on fire.  My body just didn't want work.

So, after all that great exercise news last Saturday, I haven't exercised since Sunday morning (my swim) and I didn't follow my calories at all Monday-Friday.  Last night I jogged a mile just to see how I felt.  I managed...coughing all the way. Today I'm back on my calorie count.  Luckly, I didn't over eat because my throat was raw.  I didn't gain or lose.

BACK AT IT!  I'm certainly sad that I didn't couldn't follow through with my resolution while I was sick, but considering I couldn't stand up without passing out, I'm hoping you all will understand!  I HATE BEING SICK.  I feel like I have to start all over.  I know that's not true, but it takes a lot out of you mentally.

Sorry, there will be no pictures other than this:

PJ time!  Everyone feeling better and the SUN is shining this morning!  We WILL make it a great day!

Two months down!

I have officially made it through 2 months of my resolution!  My resolution is to be active every single day.  I realize now that it would be nice to have worked in some rest days every now and then, but I'm sticking to it.  I have just made the days I need rest more like "play" days where I just don't use the extreme intensity that I normally would.  For instance, the days we went to the waterpark, I didn't really exercise, but I know I burned extra calories going up the steps of the slide and by swimming in the
river, etc.

Here are my kiddlings having some waterpark fun...

Middle Little with her "attitude with a smile" face

Little one playing in the water

And Big Little finally being brave enough to go down the kid tube slides this year!

Anyway, here is my month list of activities:

This week has been somewhat crazy.  Tuesday we had another ice/snow storm come in.  I managed to swim that night anyway.  I was surprised the pool stayed open.  The pictures below show the freezing rain that came down...but it was flopping back and forth at 31, 32, 33, and 34 degrees so that evening it really all turned to ice and was a mess on my driveway and then snowed on top of it before the next morning.  YUCK!

Gotta love Ohio weather!!  I'm ready for running seasons (spring, summer, fall!)

Wednesday I got in a 7 mile run and then Thursday the dance teacher cancelled classes so I ended up going to swim again, but this time my oldest wanted to come with me.  I knew she wouldn't let me swim as much as I wanted, but I also knew that she REALLY wanted to spend time with me.  I decided it was a good trade off and well worth only getting in 1000 yards before just kicking back and forth with her for 45 minutes.

Friday, I was a good wife and set up a man-date for my husband and his friends.  I know he doesn't get to go out much with his friends anymore and I also ask a lot of him and take a lot of time for myself to exercise and work.  I decided he needed to have time for himself.  Several of his friends came up from C-bus and down from MI to meet him.  They had a great time.  (The pink purse is of a friend who met up with them- a girl who acts more like the guys than the guys do- and I mean that in a "she would kick someone's A$$ if she had to" kind of way!  She is an awesome friend and cares so much for all of these guys.)

I got the kiddies to bed and headed down to my bike trainer from 10-11pm.  At least I managed to get something in!  I actually had to go to 11:02pm because I wanted to finish the last mile to make 15.

Tonight I got in a 6 mile run and tomorrow I plan to swim in the morning before church.  I am feeling great and I love that I can run, swim, and bike for an extended period of time without feeling like I am dying!

I'll be updating the pictures for the month soon.  I look so much slimmer and I'm so proud of the work I've done.  I can't say I'm eating well.... but I count all of the calories.  Some days I eat 1200 calories of JUNK.  I have to work on that yet.  One thing at a time I guess.

Have a great weekend!