Monday morning run

Today I put on my shoes ready my She Reads Truth Bible in one year reading and got out the door. I stood in front of my garage waiting for my GPS watch to connect and I breathed in a big inhale of humidity. I was wondering where in the world Saturdays weather (79 with little humidity) went. I am not that big of a fan no....let me be honest here I hate winter like, A LOT, but the runner in me is craving air that isn't so thick and temperatures that are cooler. I started my run and it was much like a typical Monday morning for anyone else. I had to tie my shoes twice before getting them just right for me feet to feel balanced and good and I was sweating literally 2 minutes into my run. Despite these little annoyances I was SO happy to be out there running. I decided early on that I was going to ignore my watch and wait for it to beep to tell me my miles as they passed by because I was extending my current 4 mile route another mile. 2 miles in my curiosity got the best of me and I looked. My pace was excellent. I was not in easy run pace but I just wanted to let myself go and run, I just wanted to be free to think about what I wanted and my legs to just GO! I knew my lungs would carry me, those babies are trained! 

I was listening to my music versus podcasts so I could get lost in the beat and in my mind and it was simply perfect. Tenth Avenue North came on and I was praising Jesus.....hand up and everything I might add all while singing some of the chorus. It was simply beautiful because as I made my way around the school parking lot this sun was rising and a new day was coming. The sky was filled with orange and magenta with a pale blue in the background. I thanked Jesus for the beautiful morning and felt kind of bad for complaining about the humidity. I then thought about how awesome God is and how lucky I am to be running the race that I am running in honor of Ellie Mae. I thought about how truly awesome it is to be able to give to someone else. I looked down at my watch and realized that I was still holding my pace and something came over me.....just the thought that I do this well and a feeling like I am doing the right thing in running and being able to right about it and also use it as a way to give to others. 

I think that listening to music is in a way more my deal because I get so in tune with myself and with God. I feel better running and praying versus sitting and reading. Don't get me wrong I enjoy reading the word and getting all into it but I enjoy running and being in the moment it feels like with God better than reading it's like He's there with me sending chills down my back letting me know that I am good and He is with me. 

Marathon Training Week 4

WOW I can't believe I am a month into marathon training! That's pretty exciting but, the road ahead is a long one theoretically and seriously!

I feel like I am still trying to catch my groove with cross training, running, and nutrition. Its such a tricky balance overall I need to eat more so I am giving myself a chance to get used to eating again since I have ramped up the calorie burn. I have been getting pretty bored with food lately so I will be making some changes to our grocery list soon! I have to be more blog minded so I can share things other than recaps!

Cross training is changing once again! I am going to do Les Mills Pump. It is the program that I wanted to use to begin with but I thought my husband was using our barbell but alas he is not SO I am super excited to start because Les Mills is really only meant to be used 3 times a week so it's a win and it keeps me from working out 5 times a week for an extra 30 minutes. My plan is to do Les Mills Tuesday and Thursday and calm yoga on Sunday to stretch from my runs.

SO how did my training go this week?

It went pretty well! My husband took off with the kids to see his family so I had the house to myself and it enabled me to make a schedule that I wanted for running SO it was nice not to worry about family time and running. The only problem with that was that I was wanting to run more because I had all the time in the world and I wanted to keep busy but I didn't. I stayed right on schedule.

My husband was able to see Ellie Mae while he was visiting with family. She wasn't doing to well and was getting treatment while they were there but she was able to ride tricycles and play with the kids so I am sure that lifted her spirits!

Ellie and her Dad riding bikes together

Yesterday I did my long run right before I picked up my husband and kids from the airport. I was so excited about picking them up that it was hard to maintain the 10:05 minute pace that I was supposed to run. I settled in at 9:55 because it was kind of hurting to run that slow after awhile. I ran 10:20 for a few miles and that felt ok but I felt like I was forcing it so either I have to discipline myself more or I have to speed it up just a tad but we'll see as the weeks go on. This was my first time actually trying to slow down my pace, when I did my 6 and 7 mile run I was running at 9:07. I think I might have to do a mile test or something to really gauge where I am at......speaking of I need to get my hands on a track LOL.

This week was pretty good and I can say that another week is down and thank God I am injury free. It was nice to have a break from my family obligations and just be me for a little while but I am glad that they are home.

In the week that they have been gone I realized that I love giving to my family and loving them. I missed the little things like bringing my daughter to bed with me to hang out in the mornings and to actually cook for more than just me. I have to say that a few weeks before they left I was thinking that I was selfish for wanting to read a book and just relax and the tables turned and I actually missed doing things for them. My life is full and I am grateful for the craziness that is my life.

I am so happy she is home! Can you tell?

Morning cuddles with Momma!

She always eats my strawberries so I gave her some of her own.

My current playlist

I really love looking at other runners playlists for a few reasons and I am sure they are all obvious

1. I am nosy and want to know what kind of music you are into.
2. I need ideas because I play out all of my music like a kid learning a new thing.


I am pretty excited to share mine. I go through many moods while I am running so most times I won't listen to my playlist straight through and I will just skip songs because I am just not feeling them that day. I don't know what mood I am going to be in but hip hop always makes my day and Dave Guetta "Mama" is the song that currently gets me in step. If I am upset than "Photographs" and "Cold Case Love" by Rihanna are drumming in my ear......see it all depends because I am a woman with a million emotions and I no idea which mood is going to come out to play. With that said before I share my playlist and my podcast library I do know that many people go through many emotions while they are running so I am preparing for ALL of them because I know I am going to cry, want to quit, and want to dance all in the same few hours and maybe in the same few miles!

I kind of listen to everything so it keeps me happy especially since my playlist is eclectic. It's just a snapshot of what it is that I listen to but hopefully you can gain some ideas. I truly am listening to podcasts right now and trying to soak up all of the marathon knowledge that I can and it has been helping me with my mindset to not over do it because I am a kind of a more is better person. Today I was a bit down for the count with a sinus gunk thing. I don't know where it came from but I didn't do my cross training. I am finally starting to feel better, we will see how that goes in the morning. I hope I can get my 8 miles in so I can get it over with and rest and be done with week 4 of training. 2 more weeks and I get into and stay in the double digit long runs! AH!

Until next time!

Marathon Training Week 3:

I can't believe that I am going onto Week 4 of training. Unreal that I have been running and loving it for a month and by that I mean training.

I have been mixing it up a bunch so I think it is keeping everything fresh and not boring. I am still not high up in the mileage, I am going to do 8 this week but it's not until next week that I go to 9 and then from there it gets a bit crazy with double digit training runs and they don't go back to the single digits until after race day when I reverse taper.

I have been waking up early (around 5) and getting my runs in because the humidity here in New England it a bit ridiculous! I did my long run on Friday because I had to take my family to the airport on Saturday and I thought it was going to rain all day but it did that today......Anyway I had gotten it done and ran my 3 miles on Saturday evening.

My husband is actually going to visit Ellie at St Jude tomorrow with my kids. She is there for a whole month receiving treatment. I am excited for her because she will get to meet Molly and hang out with Cristian for a bit so I hope that lifts her spirits! I am really excited to hear about how she is doing! Hopefully it is as good of news as you can get.

This week I did 4 runs and 4 days of cross training. I ran 4 miles on Monday and Wednesday and 7 miles on Friday and 3 on Saturday. Monday- Wednesday I did 21 Day Fix workouts  Thursday I rested Friday I only ran and yesterday I did some yoga and my 3 mile run.

It's almost hard to believe that I am going to run a marathon because "training" only feels like a workout for now but I am going to ramp up my training in the next few weeks.

I suppose that it was pretty uneventful I am just getting it done week by week. I still feel super motivated because I feel that I am giving to another by raising money and running for the cause. I get why people do it now. While I don't have to fundraise for St. Jude I am doing it because I feel called and compelled to since this seriously hits close to home.

Until next week!

Will you help me?

I want to do more than run — I want to help run St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. 

This is Ellie Mae.

 

 My niece Ellie Mae has been diagnosed with Lymphoblastic Lymphoma last December. She is currently in remission but still receiving treatments at St. Jude and will be for the next two years. Ellie and her family has been fortunate enough not have to pay bills for treatment and running this marathon would be my way of paying it forward and saying THANK YOU to St. Jude for helping my family out in their time of need! The road that Ellie Mae is on is long and this marathon is symbolic of what she is going through and how we all know and pray will end in pure JOY!



It costs $2 million a day to operate St. Jude. Did you know that 70% of the funds come from the public? That means your donation, no matter what the size, will help!


Thanks to donors like you, no family ever receives a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.


Thank you for helping me run St. Jude!

You can make a donation here! 

How I get ready for a workout!

I was graciously inspired by the Team at ETB FIT to write a post on how I get ready and fuel for a workout! They are a legit company that provides fitness supplements for atheletes! When I was asked to write the post I was super excited because the topic of getting ready for a workout is right up my alley!

I am asked often how I get ready to workout especially when I don't really want to and how I stay so motivated to continue to workout. My answer may sound a little vain but after living for 10 years in a body I didn't like and being so comfortable in my skin now, I would not have it any other way. I am pretty accustomed to working out now, that it is simply, just a part of my day now.

To get started with my workout days on the weekend, I usually have a grain free and dairy free protein shake and if I am working out in the morning I wait an hour and then I do whatever workout I have planned for the day. During the week I have my protein shake and eat my breakfast around 9:30 at my desk and wait until my lunch break at 11:30 to workout. Now that I am training for a marathon I am running at 5 in the morning and doing some cross training 4 times a week. I am doing the 21 Day Fix Extreme and yoga on the weekends.

My typical breakfast

During my workouts if I am running I am a big fan of podcasts unless I am over listening to people talk, then I'll listen to dance and techno music on my iPod I usually find that keeping to a beat keeps me in cadence and I zone out on the music and focus on my form and steps which assists me in not being so tired. Music and podcasts keep my mind focused on other things rather than simply running. I know there will be times where I am on a long run especially at the beginning of my run where my mind likes to go to negative places and asks me why I am running so far ha ha ha.

 I am a firm believer in cross training. I don't think anyone should one trick pony anything. It keeps everything fresh and new which is why I incorporated strength training and yoga to my daily routine. I have been doing that for about a month now and I am still eager to get out and run just as much as I am to strength train and I am finding that I am recovering if at all from my longs runs by the next day, so there is something seriously to be said about that.

After my workouts I usually wait about half an hour and then go on about eating for my day. I don't take any recovery supplements at the moment. If it is during the week I will just grab my lunch and eat that after my workout and if it is during the weekend I tend to have a small snack or eat my next meal depending on how hungry I am.

St. Jude Marathon Week 2

 Week 2 is complete. I finished it today as a matter of fact with a 7 mile run. I was reading on Facebook yesterday how Ellie Mae is back at St. Jude for treatment. She will have to keep going back for treatment for a few years even though she is in remission. The more that I am following in her journey the more I realize that cancer sucks even more than I initially thought.

For those of you that don't know because I don't think that I have shared; last December my niece Ellie Mae was diagnosed with Lymphoma. There are two types of Lymphoma and they found that she has both of them which shouldn't have happened. Most, well up until her I believe she is one of the only or few that has gotten both types. She has been in and out of hospitals since she got a diagnosis.

I got into running the St. Jude marathon because I was actually training for a half marathon at Disney World and I downloaded a bunch of podcasts and heard a lady talking about her experience at the marathon and I looked it up and saw that the race was this December and I thought that I wasn't going to be ready for the race. I left it alone and wrote it down on my race bucket list that I made.

When my oldest son went back home with his father I started looking at races and I wanted to do the Puerto Rice marathon but we thought that it wasn't a smart financial decision so I went and looked up St. Jude and we can just say that the stars aligned LOL. I signed up for the race that day and that was that.

So now that you have the back story as to why I am running and who Ellie is, I will tell you about Week 2.

This week I dropped the PiYo and I started doing the 21 Day Fix Extreme workouts. I don't want to lose the strength that I do have so I opted to try this instead and every Sunday do some yoga so tomorrow I will see how that fairs for me. I am doing Upper Fix, Lower Fix, Cardio, and Plyo. Friday I rest before my long run so I am running 4 days and doing strength for 4 days and yoga for 1 day. We will see how it goes so far so good.

My biggest problem is toning it down and keeping myself from running so my runs were all over the place. One run was at a 10 min pace and 1 was at 8:59, another I was at 9:07 and another at 9:12. I don't really know what I want my pace to be! I guess this is a reason well, one of the many that training is so long so I can figure it out. I do not have any speed drills or anything on my training plan they are all easy runs and my long run. I think that I am going to make my marathon pace somewhere between 9:00-9:30 and then keep my long runs and easy runs at a 10:00 pace?? We will see what I come up with.

I am still really motivated and still feel all the excitement of running a marathon because it is so far away still but I have had a few moments where I freaked the hell out asking myself how in the WORLD am I going to get 26.2 miles done! HA HA HA HA! I keep to my motto that God will be there with me and Ellie Mae will be there in my thoughts and while she is battling this disgusting cancer I will be running for her. While she is in bed and should be playing and running with her brothers and friends I will be running with her in mind and take her with me :)

Marathon training Week 1 rundown

I am so excited to be blogging again. I am keeping a personal journal of my training experience as suggested by the Non-runners Guide To Marathon Training. I am really enjoying that process so I decided to just blog it as well so I can share with everyone because it is true you have different emotions every day and people only tend to see the outcome of the labor and not the process and I am all about that process. It's what gets you there to that point you know? All the bad days and the monumental breakthrough days, they all get you to that one singular point where you reach your goal. It's all encompassing. 

So anyway, back to the point. I am using a training plan from Myheartracesblog.com and it is going pretty well. She has a 16 week plan so I am doing week 1 and 2 and then doing it again since I started with 18 weeks until the marathon. Yesterday was my long run day I had 6 miles.

It was cloudy when I woke up and I was trying to hurry and get going before it started to rain but it had started right before I got to where I was going to start my run and I almost turned around to wait it out but I stopped myself from going home because when I did the Wine and Dine it rained the whole way so I know that I needed to train in all conditions because I don't know what I will be getting myself into come race day so out I went. I turned my Garmin inward and my phone in my clothes and went at it. I decided to run a bit faster but comfortable rather than try to hold myself back. I had the energy and I just went for it. I ended up running a 9:10 average pace which I thought was good so I am going to try and aim for that pace for my marathon. We will see what happens from here until then and if I can maintain that pace but for right now that is my goal. 

Overall the week went well I ran 4 times last week and I felt like I could have run more which is hinting that I am not over training by any means but that I am right on course. I have been doing PiYo and that was pretty good I really enjoyed the stretch but I think I am going to add some weight training twice a week. A big mistake that I noticed when I trained for my half marathons and what I have been researching is that I dropped everything and almost had to build muscle again because I wasn't cross training SO with that said 2-3 times a week I am going to strength train and once a week rock a yoga workout so that I am working on everything; strength, flexibility, and my runs. Maybe this will keep me at the pace that I need to be for that marathon and of course if I get too tired than I will be backing off some and incorporating more yoga to my life.

I plan on posting my favorite podcasts, books, and running gear that I am into! Until next time!


XO Jeannettte

A marathon and a story about a girl

I have been hit by the running bug again and I have now scheduled myself for a marathon in December. I will be running the St. Jude Marathon in Tenn. I am really excited about running this race and I am honestly pretty scared at the same time!

My son went back home, his summer vacation with me is over and I decided that instead of crying that I would do something bold and sign up for a marathon. I had my heart set on Puerto Rico but my husband got the best of me so St. Jude it is. Now that I am registered and all that I am very happy with my first marathon ever choice.

This race is important to me because my niece had the unfortunate news of having cancer. She was admitted last December and she is now thanks to the team at St. Jude in remission. I am so happy that she is in remission but she still has a long road ahead of her. I had heard about this marathon on a podcast and researched it and when I first did I was just scared that I wouldn't be able to do it so I clicked off the registration page. You could say that my son gave me the courage to run this race.

St. Jude is an amazing organization! My family has not had to pay for the hosiptal visit and have incurred no cost to them as far as her stay goes. Donations from those generous people like you and I pay the bill so that the kids can get their treatment. I think that in itself is an amazing gift to those children and families that may not be able to pay for treatment. The longer that my niece is under their care and the more I learn about St. Jude over time the happier I am that God placed this race on my heart to run.

I am running this one for Ellie Mae. I am running because if she can go through all this treatment with a smile on her face then I can run this and suffer through with her. Even if just for a moment being that it is not even the same. Every time I run I take a minute to think of her and it gives me the motivation to keep running in addition to Hebrews 12:1

This will be the race that will let me know that I want to pursue running marathons more often and it will give me that sense of accomplishment towards a goal. I know that this is going to be mentally, emotionally and physically demanding. I am thankful to my husband who is going to be helping with the kids on my long run days and for his backing on this whole adventure. He gets the pay off of getting a mini vacation so it's a win win right?