Rewind, Rehash, Reflect, Renew

I was doing the dishes earlier, amid the noise of two televisions, one turned to Lilo and Stitch, the other to the local news, with one sick kid, a barking dog, all of us still in pj's, and thought how I haven't had a time to reflect on the past year, much less set goals for the new one rapidly approaching.

Then out of nowhere, I heard Joni Mitchell's River, which is the type of song that perfectly fit my mood. I located it's source, an ipod sitting under a book on the kitchen table that someone forgot to turn off, listened for a bit, took down the calendar, then sat down to think about 2013.

I feel like we've come a long way since last January, Mike and I were both unemployed, but happily, we are ending the year in jobs that we both enjoy, and hope to stay in for a long time.

I got out of the habit of writing down how many miles I run on my daily calendar, it seemed like since I had different races going on throughout the year, I didn't need to keep doing it. But now I'm curious as to what the final total was, so I'm going to start keeping track again.

There was the Shamrock Run:

Then I fell down some stairs and wrecked my ankle.

During the summer, I made some great new friends and we ran in the early morning, training for The Boilermaker.

Then came the Empire Half:

I tried Cross-Fit, and my arms blew up.

My fitness goal for 2014 is to get planking again, and I want to add more half's to my schedule. I really like that distance, the training is manageable, and it's long enough to feel accomplished at the end.


We spent lots of time in the Adirondacks, a place we truly feel like we can escape to.

Although there is a bench on the lake where you can get WiFi, just for a minute or two.

We were reminded again of how life can change in an instant, and how fortunate we are in so many ways.

Although I got tired of picking rubber bands up from every corner of the house.

I loved watching the kids challenge themselves in different ways this year.

Luke flipping off the high board:

Frank thinks he's the third child.

Every night at 7:00 he brings his bone into the kitchen, and drops it at my feet, which means he wants me to put peanut butter in it.  Every. Night.

Speaking of the kitchen, I once again cooked Thanksgiving dinner, and Mike mastered the art of deep fried turkey.

In 2014 I want to finally master marinara sauce.
                                                                           ~

I really can't ask for a better ending to 2013.

I haven't made any major resolutions, aside from dropping some more un-wanted pounds before our next trip to Disney.

I'm going to keep moving forward, staying positive, hopeful, and grateful.

Wishing you a happy, healthy 2014.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Putting Out The Reindeer Food

I hope your season was Merry, 

and that the New Year brings you joy!

Cinco por Sunday

1. I'm a fan of cooking double batches of certain foods, like soups and stews, then freezing the leftovers. It makes a crazy weeknight that much easier when you can pull something of the freezer in the morning, put it on the stove at the end of the day, and you're all set. We even do it with certain meats, like grilled sausage, that you can add to pasta. Although it's probably a good idea to label the freezer bag, so you know exactly what you are defrosting.

Case in point, the other night Mike and I decided to have angel hair with marinara, mixed with a bit of a sausage patty which was already cooked, and frozen.  I was on the phone when he was putting the meal together, and when I looked at my plate, I thought the sausage looked a little, soft.  As we started eating, it reminded me of a salmon and pasta dish that I had once when we were in Amsterdam.  It was good, just, weird.  Until I realized......we had mixed a salmon burger into the sauce.

Not sausage.


2.The Christmas season is in full swing, and I have fully embraced the festive spirit.  Although it seems like as soon as I cross one thing off my To Do List, another thing gets added.  While I was shopping yesterday, I found a shirt to wear to an upcoming "Ugly Christmas Sweater" party:

Yeah, it's pretty sweet.


3. Look! I have new running shoes!

I'm so excited that Brooks decided to mix it up and add pink to the new Adrenaline, my last few pairs have been blue.

I have others in my closet, some Asics, Nike, and Mizuno, but the Adrenaline have been my favorite.  Mike has been hounding me to toss some of them, but I like to keep them around, and literally see the miles, sweat, dirt and even some tears that those shoes have witnessed.


4. Tonight Eliza had a pajama party fundraiser for her Girl Scout Troop, it was held in the same place where she and Luke went to preschool.

I was feeling a bit sentimental walking out of the building with her, like we did so many mornings three short years ago. I asked E if she remembered those days, but she was more interested in finishing her leftover popcorn.



5. I apologize for not posting the winner of the Spartan Race giveaway sooner, but Congrats to Teresa, shoot me an email and I'll get you set up!

I'm using the Wii Fit U and Fit Meter, and you can too!

My kids, as well as Mike and I, are no strangers to video games.  

Luke has had his fill of Minecraft, but is still a fan of Mario, Eliza plays various games on the computer, Mike plays an online chess game with friends, and I have a slight addiction to Candy Crush.  I limit screen time for the kids, while Mike and I might play when we have a few minutes to kill, like on a long line at the grocery store, or in a waiting room. 

A few years ago we invested in a Nintendo Wii for Christmas, along with Wii Fit, and it was a fun way for me to stay accountable while working on my New Years Resolutions.  We've been happy with what we've had, but a couple of weeks ago we were given the opportunity to try out the new Wii U, Wii Fit U, as well as the new Fit Meter!

Wii U is a High Definition Game System, the GamePad controller is a new way to play, by creating a second window into the video game world, the controller has a LCD touch screen, along with the traditional button controls and two analog sticks.

The GamePad includes motion control, a front-facing camera, microphone, stereo speakers, rumble features, a sensor bar, a stylus, and is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.  The GamePad allows you to connect to the Internet, where you can download games from the Nintendo e-shop, which is where we downloaded Wii Fit U.  

I will share more about Wii U, but for this post I will focus a bit on the Wii Fit U, and the Fit Meter. 

The first thing we needed to do for Wii Fit U, was to create a Mii Profile, step on the balance board, answer a few question, let it do a body analysis, then look at our results.  Mike and I knew we each needed to drop a few pounds, so it was no surprise when that was confirmed by the Wii. The Fit Meter is a pedometer, which records the number of steps you take, the calories you burn, altitude and temperature.  We then linked each of our Fit Meters to our Mii Profiles, and were ready to go.

The next day we clipped the Meters to our waistbands, and went on with our days.  I had a full day of Christmas Shopping ahead of me, (I know, I know, but I have to go when I can) I wanted to hit my goal of 10,000 steps, and throughout the day, I would check on my progress.  At the end of the day, I simply held the Fit Meter in front of the Wii U GamePad, and my information was automatically linked to my Mii profile.

You can see I went over my goal!

Mike's job has him at his desk most of the day, but this is a sample of one of his workdays:

I especially like how user friendly the Fit Meter is, with just three buttons it's easy to scroll through each screen. Plus when you sync the info to the game, it's fun to compare what Mike and I both accomplished in our walking day.  There is a section on the game that allows you to choose a walk or climb from a part of the world, and "walk" it through the Fit Meter.

 

Do you currently have a Wii U and a Wii Balance Board? If you download the game from Nintendo eShop on your Wii U between now and Jan. 31, 2014, enjoy the game for a full month, then go and purchase a Fit Meter ($19.99 MSRP*), then sync the Fit Meter with your free version of Wii Fit U at any time, you can keep using Wii Fit U forever, at no additional charge. Click here to learn more!

I will share more of our whole family's experience with Wii Fit U in another post this week, so stay tuned!

*Note, I was sent a Wii U, Wii Fit U, and Fit Meters for the purpose of this review. My opinions, as well as those of my family, are our own.

Watch the World Championship Spartan Race, and Enter To Win A Free Race Entry!

Do you ever think that this could be you?

Spartan Race has been voted the #1 obstacle race by Outside Magazine and they've been the global leader in obstacle racing since 2005. This race gives you a chance to go back to your ancient roots where running through woods, getting dirty, and facing adversity was part of everyday life.

To see the Spartan Race in action, make sure to tune in to the NBC Sports Network on Saturday December 7th, for the 90 minute Spartan Beast World Championship:   

A few months ago I worked with the folks at Spartan Race on a giveaway, and for those of you who entered but didn't win, here is another chance to win a free entry to any open heat in any 2013 - 2014 Spartan Race in the continental U.S.!  To enter, simply leave me a comment, telling me how you plan to challenge yourself in the New Year......yes 2014 is closer than we think! 

If you can't wait to see if you've won, you may click on this URL which will generate a code for 15% off your registration in a Spartan Race: http://bit.ly/spartanwarrio

I will choose a winner on Friday, November 29th.  

Good Luck!

Cross Fit Made Me A Pin Cushion

I'll admit that I'm not good at cross training.  Given the choice between running 6 miles or a Jillian Michaels dvd, I'll take the run.  I'm actually not that bad in the summer, I swim as often as I can and ride my bike. But I'm well aware that to avoid injury and be stronger overall, I need to do something other than just cardio.

First up in this quest, was to try Cross Fit. I've been curious about this killer workout for a while now, it certainly seemed fun, especially after seeing photos of my friends on facebook, tossing medicine balls against walls and pounding monster truck tires with a sledgehammer.

After the Empire Half, I figured it would be a good time to start something new, and my sis in law Jeannine said she would go to the Foundations classes with me.  Off we went on a Monday night, feeling a little nervous but excited.

If you aren't familiar, in order to participate in Cross Fit workouts, you must complete six Foundation classes in a two week period.  Each class is about an hour, where you learn the "foundations" how to have proper form for each exercise.

We started out slow, with a warm up that had us kicking our legs, doing a series of squats, and crawling up and down the mat. This lead into how to properly hold and lift barbells and more squats.  Then came the WOD, or Workout Of The Day.

Our WOD started off on the rowing machine for 200 meters, then to the mat to do 15 squats,15 push ups (I do girl push ups, they wanted you to do the real deal) jump on a wooden box 15 times, then back to squats. You did this three times, the first time for 15 reps, then 12 reps, then 9 reps, finishing on the rowing machine for 200 meters.

Oh yeah, and they time you.

I was most fearful of the box, this was higher than any platform I've ever encountered in a step aerobics class back in college, you need to swing your arms for momentum, launch yourself up, land on both feet, stand up, then jump back down.  At first I thought I would just bash my shins on the edge of the box, but I took it slowly, and did a good job of not falling off the thing.

The push ups were another story entirely, the coach said that we could do a modified version, after touching our chest to the mat, we could curl up in a yoga type movement to get ourselves back up.  By the last set of reps, I felt like a fish that had just been caught and slammed onto a dock, I was literally slapping my body down on the mat.  I had really red knees to prove it.

I finished this in 9:22, I came in at the middle of the pack which wasn't too bad.  I was a stinky sweaty mess, when I got home Mike wouldn't come near me, he said I smelled worse than a 10 mile run.

The next day I was really sore, like post-marathon sore, where you can't sit on the toilet without wincing, and I had to walk down the stairs sideways, but I was looking forward to the next class.

Dun Dun Duuuuuun!

The next WOD was a doozy.  It involved lifting a 35 lb barbell, doing a squat, then putting the barbell back on the floor, repeat 10 times.  Then we ran to a bar for pull-ups, something else I couldn't do.  The coach gave me two thick stretchy bands to loop over the bar, I set my foot into them, sunk down, then the band gave me the momentum to haul myself back up and above the bar.  Aside from the fact that I almost launched myself into the drop ceiling, it was fun.  We did this 10 times, ran back to the barbell for 10, and back to the bar for 10.  At the end of this workout I had done 50 reps of each exercise. In 10:40.

The next day was Halloween.  I woke up with an ache in my upper middle back, and felt swollen.  As in my hands looked like pin cushions, my arms were sausages, and you couldn't see my collar bones in my chest.

I could have been Popeye for Halloween.

I asked a couple of friends who do Cross Fit if this had ever happened to them, and it had, which made me feel a little better.  Of course I googled my symptoms, and got nervous when I read about Rhabdo.  I called my Aunt C who is a Nurse Practitioner, she thought it was a build up of lactic acid, told me to drink water and take ibuprofen.

The next day it was worse. My arm was a solid, hard tube, you couldn't even see my elbows.  It didn't hurt, it was just extremely puffy.  I was grocery shopping, and remembered that when my kids were babies and I was nursing them, that cabbage leaves help relieve engorgement.  So I bought a head of cabbage, and wrapped it around my arms.  I kept it on for a couple of hours, when I removed it I could see see a difference, but then it swelled back up.

 

Saturday I saw Aunt C, and she said to wear my compression sleeves or tops. I did that for a few days, and slowly started to see improvement. I went for a four mile run to see if that would help flush things out, but it didn't.  It wasn't until a full seven days later that the swelling went down.  That day I went to my chiropractor for an adjustment, he explained that the swelling happened because for some reason my lymphatic system didn't drain properly.  He also said it was very odd that it happened.  He agreed with Aunt C, that it was probably a good idea that I not try Cross Fit again.

I called the Cross Fit Coach, but I must not be calling at the right time because I get voice mail. Jeannine has been doing the workouts, the other night one of the guys in our group showed her his puffy arms!  J told the coaches about my puffy arms, and they said they've never heard of that happening.

Hmmmmmmmm.

I think I'm going to stick to traditional ways of cross training.

Time to dust off the Yoga For Runners DVD.

Empire Half Marathon Recap: a.k.a The Time I ran 13.1 miles in a sweatshirt

Isn't there some kind of Murphy's Law where you get wicked sick right before a race?

Yeah, I thought so.

Yesterday was the first time I ran the Empire Half Marathon, a flat out and back course that goes along Onondaga Lake in Syracuse.  I'm familiar with the loop, it's a popular place to run, has a couple of playgrounds, and a dog park.  Because of this, I felt pretty confident about the course, because I knew there wouldn't be any surprises. This round of training was pretty low key, no big issues, didn't miss any long runs, and for once I made it through a fall season without injury (see: pulled hamstring fall of 2010,  Pes anserinus bursitis fall of 2011)

Last week Eliza brought home the first lovely cold of the season, complete with a stuffy nose and head, and a nasty cough, that brought up all sorts of great things from her lungs.  Mike was the next to be hit with it, and then me.  It's been a week and I'm still hacking away, but I actually had a pretty good race!

Sunday morning I was up by six, after spending the night in the guest room. Mike was coughing and snoring, so I bailed on our bed, and fell asleep around one.  There had been a chance of rain, but the morning was dry, chilly, around 43 degrees, and windy.  I made breakfast, which consisted of a slice of peanut butter toast with banana, coffee, some nuun and water.  Frank had a moment of excitement when he saw me put on my running shoes, but I told him he could enjoy the couch for a couple more hours.

I picked up my sis-in-law/running friend/close friend Jeannine, and we were off.  The Start/Finish was at the baseball stadium, parking was fairly simple, and from what we could see, everyone was pretty bundled up. I was wearing sweats over my shorts and tee, the forecast was for sun and temps in the low 50's, so I figured that was a good choice.  However by the time we waited a short time on the port 'o potty line, we decided to book back to the car for more clothes.  I should have brought a long sleeved shirt, but I had to make due with my North Face fleece.  I was much happier wearing it, and figured if I got too hot I would just take it off and tie it around my waist.

Then J and I met up with our friends, and we had a minute to take a group photo:

Then we were on our way!

I settled into about a 10:00/10:30 pace, aside from not being able to suck in a full breath, I felt pretty good. My friends went off into their own paces and about a mile in I decided to put on my iPod.  I coughed some, and thought of my time goal of 2:05.  I decided to just enjoy my run and see what happened with my time.  It was a beautiful morning, the sky was clear, and the sun was doing a little dance on the lake.  As I turned into the park, I noticed that the lights for the annual Christmas display had already started to be put up, we've had such a warm fall that it's hard to believe the Holiday Season is approaching.

The wind was in full force here, during one big gust I couldn't hear the band that was playing on the side, much less my music.  There were some people here and there cheering us on, I passed a Dad and his young children, I ran over and slapped their little hands as they held them out.  Then I noticed a runner on my left, he was wearing a NYC Marathon shirt from the year I ran it, so I kept looking over at him and tried to get his attention to give him the old "yeah me too!" thumbs up/smile. He was really focused so I went on my merry way.

About six miles in, I decided to have a strawberry Huma gel, these are made with chia seeds and they don't bother my stomach at all.  I grabbed some water which was the first I'd had the whole race, the cold weather will do that to you.  A woman in front of me was rummaging around in her fanny pack, when she dropped a really nice pair of sunglasses.  I knew I'd be pissed if I had dropped mine, so I ran back, grabbed them, then ran up to give them to her.

We reached the turn around, and I was still feeling good, I was happy to have my music, I was getting a bit bored of the course.  Then around mile nine my buddy Julie showed up next to me!  We were both happy for the company.  I had another coughing fit, and Julie asked me if I had bronchitis!  As we came up to maybe mile 10.5 I saw Mike and the kids.  I ran over and gave them kisses and high fives, Eliza was hiding the lower half of her face, until she revealed that she was wearing deep red lipstick! She knows the rules of no makeup for seven year olds, but she pulled one over on her Dad, since he didn't have any wipes or napkins in his car.

She gave me a rather large smile.

We were closing in towards the end of the race, when Julie started to have pain in her leg.  We slowed down a bit, got going again, then slowed down again through the last water stop.  Julie is the type of runner who always goes back for someone who is having issues during a run, so I didn't want to ditch her.  We had a mile to go so she said to go ahead. At this point I really just wanted to get to the finish, she could walk okay, so I went.

I crossed the finish in 2:15:28, which was fine, because I felt like I finished relatively strong.  I met up with my friends, including Julie, and guzzled a chocolate milk. Jeannine was psyched because she thought she broke 2 hours, which she did!

Then we went to breakfast, I had a burrito with eggs, tomato and cheese, but only ate half, I guess it was a little too soon for food.  Once I got home it was Sunday afternoon business as usual, which meant a visit to the pumpkin patch, then football. (So psyched the JETS beat the Patriots!)  I couldn't seem to get warm, but as a special post race treat, Mike made lobster pot pie for dinner.

YUM.

Here is the photographic evidence of my race participation, I was disappointed in the shirt, it's a long sleeve tech which is great, but it ran on the small side.  Mine is a medium, and it's more like a small.

All in all I'm happy with the race, I had my sights on the Syracuse Half Marathon in March, but I checked the date, and it's the same day as my sister's wedding.  So I'll find something else.

My play list for this race was particularly motivating, if you're looking for ideas, here it is:

Please Don't Leave Me - Pink
Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder
Neutron Star Collision - Muse
Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri
Rebellion - Arcade Fire
Stubborn Love - The Lumineers
Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus
Breathe Me - Sia
You Raise Me Up - Josh Groban
Short Skirt.Long Jacket - Cake
Set Fire To The Rain - Adele
Save Me - Aimee Mann
See You Again - Miley Cyrus
The Only Living Boy in NY - Simon & Garfunkel
Knockout - Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj
I Will Wait - Mumford & Sons
Heartbreaker - Mariah Cary & Jay Z
Roar - Katy Perry
Always - Blink 182
My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson

Yeah, Miley Cyrus is on there twice.  So sue me.


Happy Running!