Momming & Marathoning

It’s been one of the most frequent questions I get asked when someone finds out I run marathons: “but how do you find the time with twins at home?!”

It’s absolutely not easy and there are many days where I feel guilty for leaving to go for a run. Having childcare a few times a week and a flexible 30 hours a week work schedule absolutely help. I think also knowing that I feel so much better when I run is key, as well as having an amazing supportive partner.

I feel like myself when I’ve had time in the morning to sweat and have some movement. Normally getting up early is my biggest tip. I also am in bed most nights by 9pm and my alarm goes off somewhere between 5-5:30am. I like to be heading out the door or starting my workout by 6-6:30am and home to be with the girls by 7:30am.

I do my longer runs on the days where I don’t work and do have childcare. That is the NUMBER ONE thing that I think helps me train for longer distances with little kids. If I didn’t have that availability, I really am not sure I would be able to get it done. I do a little bit of housework on those days and then the rest of the day is long run, sometimes strength work, recovery fuel, cold water baths into Epsom salt baths, and normally a nap. It’s not something that is necessarily sustainable year-round so I realize in my off-seasons.

I try to be home when the girls get up in the mornings, I might workout earlier to be home in time for them to roll out of bed, or I might do more stroller runs. It’s not a perfect schedule and I’m certainly not the ‘best mom’ when I’m in peak weeks training for my next goal race, but chasing goals outside of being a m and nurse is really important to me.

What helps get you out the door as a parent? How many marathons do you run a year?

How To Make Those 'Resolutions' Stick

New Years Resolutions. A lot of us make them. A lot of us hate them. Some of us (like me) thrive on not resolutions, but goals/intentions/milemarkers. I want to improve myself and check some things off my bucketlist. I know that I certainly won’t hit all of my goals this year (ha that would be great now wouldn’t it?!?), but I know that I’m dreaming big and at least setting out to get my goals.

One of the biggest things that I’ve found that helps me make (and STICK TO!) my New Year goals is by setting them intentionally.

I think about my goals A LOT. I dream about what I want, I change my mind a million times, and then ultimately when something sounds really good I say ‘yeah! I’m doing IT’. I think by taking the time to really nail down the goals that I want it helps solidify my desire for the goals. Having desirable goals is HUGE. You definitely need to be passionate about what you want before putting in all that hard work. I remember I dreamed of running a marathon for years, trained for one, got injured, took a few years off, then resigned-up with the full desire to actually DO IT before completing my goal! You have to want to do it and really understand what it will take to get you there BEFORE actually doing it or putting in any of the work.

Once I write down my goals someplace where I will see them all the time, I take into account the work that it will take to get me to my goals. For example, when I set out to raise $10,000 for Multiple Sclerosis- I wrote down everything that I could possibly think of that I could do to help me fundraise that amount of money. I wrote down businesses, people that I knew, places where I could fundraise, events that I could hold, etc. That big giant list was my way of knowing what it would take to help get me to my dream!

I was also realistic in my goal-chasing process. Know that you will hit bumps in your road. You will most-likely hit roadblocks. Be kind to yourself during this process.

Envision yourself pushing past those roadblocks and be kind to yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day and your goal will not be completed without a few setbacks. I think they say that it take three weeks to set a new schedule/routine. So know that you have time to possibly fall down and getting back up and carrying on is what you’ll need to do!

Don’t let the roadblocks and detours deter you from your goal.

I never let injury stand in my way of someday running a marathon (and now I’ve ran 8 of them) and neither should you! Be relentless in your pursuit of your goals. Be flexible, laugh when something silly deters you off course for a bit, and then pick it right back up again.

Knowing from the get-go that it will be challenging will help you conquer your resolutions. If everything you were pursuing was easy, then we would all lead very mundane lives!

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-How do you stick to resolutions or new goals?

-What intentions have you set for yourself lately?

-What roadblocks or detours do you envision yourself hitting?

Race-cation hangover

Good morning friends! Do you ever feel completely exhausted after coming back from a race that you traveled to? I honestly feel like I've been 'hungover' of sorts after getting back from Albuquerque late on Sunday. I slept in on both Monday & Tuesday and struggled to get back to my morning work-out routine today! Since Alex headed off to Salt Lake for work this week (he left an hour after we arrived home on Sunday night- yikes!), I've been on Stella-duty 24/7. Watching a dog full-time with no help is pretty challenging! Yesterday I planned to take her on my speedwork run outside at the track, but mother nature had other plans and it started pouring rain and didn't let up until late last night. I ended up switching my Tuesday & Wednesday workouts and did an easy 4 miles on the treadmill last night. This morning, I did 30 minutes of strength training and then began my speed work sesh.

The plan was to do half this workout this morning (since I was crunched for time before work) and finish the other half this afternoon- all outside on the track, but it started raining a mile into our run! I dropped Stella off and did the rest of the AM portion on the treadmill.

I did: 

AM:

- 1 mile w/u

-800 in 3:55; 400 recover

-1 mile @ 7:53; 800 recover

PM to be done (hopefully outside): 

- 1 mile w/u

-800 in 3:55; 400 recover

-1 mile @ 7:53; 800 recover

-400 in 1:56; 200 recover

-1200 in 5:52; 400 recover

-1-2 miles easy cool down

10-11 miles total

I fueled up after my run with this amazing deconstructed smoothie bowl. 

I added in some whole-milk plain yogurt, chia seeds, 1 banana, purely elizabeth maple walnut granola, my sweet cinnamon tahini butter, and added a dash of cinnamon. It was delicious and perfect refuel!

I'm trying to add in a few extra snacks today to refuel for my workout later today (and stay off my feet to recover) as well as get prepped for my 24 hours of no-eating (I have to have a procedure on Friday morning as a follow-up to my anemia and have to fast 24 hours prior to it)-definitely going to have a very big breakfast early tomorrow morning after my run! Not sure how I'm going to survive with no food for so long....help.

I snacked on some Trader Joes Sesame Honey Almonds (YUM) and a kiwi this morning and am already dreaming of digging into my Veggie & Turkey Mix-Up for lunch today and top it with some salsa! You can find the recipe here. 

Happy Wednesday!

Do you ever split-up your workouts or runs?

Ever had to fast for 24 hours? How'd it go? Any tips?

Speedwork on the track, road, treadmill, or a mix?

April mileage and family run day!

And just like that our weekend comes to a close and it's Sunday night- I really wish we included Fridays as part of the weekend... it would make a huge difference! Started off the day with Alex making us banana protein pancakes and bacon- YUM. They were so delicious and then we went about some Sunday morning chores (re-potting some plants, hanging photos in our new place, meal-prep, laundry, etc.). It was finally SUNNY out again so we ventured outside with Stella and went for a short run together down by the lake. 

It was around 41 degrees out, but felt amazing since this was the first run this week that I did outside. It's looking like it may snow again the first part of the week, but I am determined to only run on the treadmill ONCE this whole week- beat that mother nature! I prepped dinner for the night (sweet potato salmon cakes from Run Fast Eat Slow cookbook) and finished prepping my breakfast & lunches for the week (egg muffins, sausage, & sweet potatos for breakfast / coconut peanut butter noodle salads for lunch). Our afternoon consisted of a nap, some reading, and then I headed off to my last Sunday afternoon teaching ice skating until the Fall (YAY- I get full Sundays off for a while). 

Frying up some sweet potato salmon cakes in coconut oil!

Now time for some relaxing before a quick 4-day week of work. I am SO excited for the Run for the Zoo 1/2 in Albuquerque next Sunday and thinking that this could be a PR for me, but depends on how I'm feeling and the weather- having fun is the most important! :) 

April Mileage- 130.15 miles! 

I am SO PUMPED about this mileage for the month of April. I never felt like I was pushing myself or have felt burned out at any point during this training cycle thus far (which I normally always feel at some point). This also includes the first week of April where I was only doing 3 or 4 milers coming back from being in the hospital the last week of March for my kidney infection and anemia (hoping to do a post on this real soon!). I am feeling strong and ready to see what the month of May has in store for me!

Do you keep track of your mileage each month?

Prefer to do your easy runs with others or by yourself?

How's the weather in your corner of the world?!

Snow in April & first post!

Well hello there! Welcome to my blog- I am so excited to start this journey with you. I hope to entertain you, bring a little joyfulness into your life, and share my corner of the world with you! It is April 27th and it has been snowing ALL week here. Can you believe it? We are expected to get up to 20" of snow by Saturday night- so much for the flowers blooming & green grass... oh mother nature how much you love to torment us runners!

Spring & Winter collided in Colorado this week. Goodbye green grass for a bit longer!

I did my fourth run on the treadmill this week seeing how it's been freezing rain/ sleeting/ snowing early in the mornings when I normally do my runs. Switched up my long run on Saturday and did that today since the weather is supposed to be pretty terrible and I also want my legs to have enough time to rest between now and my half in Albuquerque next weekend (eeek!). 

BEAUTIFUL drive into work the other morning...alright snow, you win this time!

My next week and a half will consist mainly of easier runs (with some speedwork) building up to my half. I also have a 20-miler scheduled for that day (running the Run Revel Rockies Marathon in June! 45 days away!), so I'll see how I feel and add in some warm-up miles and take it from there. I've already done one of three 20-milers on my training schedule, so feeling pretty confident in my training to take me into my final stretches of this marathon training cycle.

Enough about me! How are YOU? Any exciting plans to look forward to this Spring? Any races you are working towards? How's the weather in your corner of the world?