Road kill

I need to write down my workouts this week so I don't forget what I did:
Wednesday I ran with Ashley. We went 6.32 miles in 51:57. Ashley is good a pushing me up the hills. I usually kind of slow a bit then increase my speed on the down hill. It always seemed to me that she just stayed the same pace regardless of going up or down hill. Well, now I have proof for that theory:
Here is a chart of our run on Wed.

Here is a chart of my run on Friday ( I went 8.1 miles in 1:09). Notice how much more variance there is in my speed. The route I ran had more rolling hills, which contributed to my speed changes , I'm sure.I also biked a good bit this week. Thursday I rode on the stationary bike for 45 minutes, but went pretty hard. I also did full-body weights. That afternoon I went to CC practice with the boys and ran about ten 150's with Eli, while pushing Asher and Brandt in the stroller (Brandt got the day off due to sore legs from his 5-yr. immunizations). I slept good that night.

Saturday morning I biked 32 miles. It took me almost 2 hrs. My average pace was 16.1 mph, but that was skewed down a bit by stoplights, intersections, etc. I looked down at my watch and was keeping around19 mph on the flats, but got down to 10 and 12mph on some of the hills. It felt pretty good to go that far. And my legs were SO much less spent than after a run lasting that length of time.
I amused myself by taking account of all the different roadkill Alabama has to offer. On that one ride I saw on the side of the road: a racoon, a deer, a frog, a snake, several squirrels, 2 armadillos, a possum (we don't call them "opossums" 'round here), and a live rabbit. yum.

Cross country's in the air

When the weather starts cooling just slightly at this time of year, and the smells of autumn start to emerge (which a dear friend, Daniel, pointed out to me years ago is, in fact, the smell of rot), I feel like it's time to line up in a field and run a 5k.

Eli wasn't able to do flag football this year thanks to me missing the deadline to sign up for it. While I should have been more proactive about getting him registered for it, in my defense, this is the first year they haven't sent a flier home about it the during the first week of school. I was looking for the flier to come home, and when it didn't, I called Parks and Rec. They then informed me it was too late--registration closed 2 weeks ago. DANG!

But...all is well. Eli and Brandt have joined a youth cross country team. They went to their first practice on Saturday and LOVED it. It was an interval workout. Eli ran 13 100's and Brandt ran 9 100's , both jogging a 100 between each one. This team has kids from 5-18 on it. There were 35 or so there on Saturday, and several were missing-- so its a pretty big group. My heart just pitter-patters with joy at seeing all these kids working out hard, having fun, and hopefully starting a lifelong habit of exercise.
I ran a couple of the intervals with the kids. I would like to have done the whole workout, but I was needed to time the intervals. There's nothing like Cross Country!

For my workout on Friday, I ran a total of 7.1 miles, but it was broken into two segments. I woke up late and so I just ran 3.3 miles before I had to be back to see Eric and the boys off to work and school. Then I loaded up Asher and the stroller and ran pushing the stroller around the "mall" for another 3.8 miles. I accidentally cleared my second leg on my watch, but I think I kept about a 8:40 pace.
Saturday I had planned to bike outside, but I woke up to rain (which hasn't really stopped thanks to Faye (tropical storm/depression). So I biked downstairs. I went 34 miles in 1:45.
Monday I ran outside for 59 minutes. I didn't wear my Garmin, so I would be sure to take it easy. I wish I had worn it now, though. I also did leg weights.
Today I biked downstairs for 43 minutes with Jack Bauer, Ricky Shroeder, and Chloe O'Brien.
I also did push-ups and planks.

loved this...

Michael Phelps Returns To His Tank At Sea World

Asher The.....Dasher, Thrasher, Masher, Gasher, Basher, Hasher, Lasher, Smasher

Yes, our youngest son will have many choices when picking his "ring name" for WWF. And as you can see, he has already started conditioning for his future career!

Just look at those bulging muscles.

His (rather frightening) KISS impersonation.

Watch out, he grabbed his mallet!

My conditioning this week: Monday I biked downstairs for 50 minutes and did full-body weights (including, ugh, squats), Tuesday I ran, mostly on the trails, for 50 minutes, at an easy pace. Wednesday I ran with Ashley for close to 6 miles. I was SO happy that my foot didn't hurt on my runs! Today I biked downstairs for 48 minutes and did weights.

First day of school!!

Well, the Brandt-man started kindergarten, and Eli started second-grade this week! They were both up and at-'em--completely dressed and wearing their back-packs-- at 6:30am on Thursday. They both really like their teachers and classmates. And so far, so good for both of them with behavior....

Because of my foot hurting over the weekend,I decided to take it easy this week with the running. I biked a very hilly course on Monday, going a total of 16.1 miles in 1:03. Tuesday I biked inside for 50 minutes and did upper and lower body weights. I haven't been doing leg weights for a while, so doing squats and leg extensions made for heavy legs the rest of the week (I did whole-body weights on Thursday, too). Wednesday I tried running. I ran 6.1 miles in 54 minutes. I started really slow b/c of my heavy legs. The middle I was able to pick up the pace, but then at the end my foot started hurting again. So I haven't run at all the rest of this week. I have biked, though. Thursday I biked 45 minutes downstairs. Friday I biked just over an hour (20 miles) downstairs. And today I biked outside. I went down Happy Hollow to Mary Munger and took Hwy 11 up to Springville, then came back through downtown T'ville. It was a total of 29 miles and it took me 1:47. When I got back, Eli and Brandt wanted to go for a run, so I put Asher in the stroller and the 4 of us went for a 1-mile run. We came home to hot blueberry pancakes made by Chef Eric. YUMMY!

sick and tired

This began as a fun, promising week. We spent a couple of days and an afternoon at a friend's pool, I got some screamin' deals on school clothes for the boys from Old Navy, and the forecast was calling for cooler morning temps by the weekend. Then I got sick. It began as a splitting headache, then achiness and fever decided to crash the party. I'm pretty much over it now, but I still feel extra tired.
Despite just being sick, I couldn't resist the pull of 65 degree weather this morning and I went for a run. I ran 10 miles. This was the first time I added the trails in and seemed to keep my GPS signal. Its amazing how much the trails slow you down. I think I averaged about 9:30 on the trails, and 8:15 on the roads. I really picked it up for the last mile and half--I looked down and was running a sub-7 minute pace for a bit. But I'm feeling my workout and recent sickness tonight. I think I pulled a little muscle or strained a tendon in my foot on the trampoline after my run, so I've been icing it on and off. I hate injuries.
I skipped Thursday and Friday due to my sickliness, but ran 7 miles on Tuesday in 59:18. I went through the sports complex and around the historic area and back. Wednesday I biked for 50 minutes downstairs and read more Breaking Dawn, which I finished that day and LOVED it. What a beautiful story of love, sacrifice, freedom, and choices!
Here's what Eric came home to on Monday afternoon. We had been at the pool all day and all crashed in different rooms of the house. I was on the brown couch in the tv room; Eli was on a couch in the living room, Asher was up in his bed, and Brandt... in the kitchen, of course.

swimming, jumping, and celebrating

I'm tearing myself away from Breaking Dawn right now to write a quick post. We had a super busy weekend. Eli's birthday on Saturday began with going to his last swim meet of the season. It was the city-wide championship and Eli's first time to compete in the 7-8 age-group. He did great. He even got to participate in a 9-10 year old relay and swam a 50m lap with amazing consistency and skill! His team won the meet. Here is a pic of the Birmingham City Champions.

While I was at the swim meet with Eli, Eric went home (he saw one race), and worked with my family, a neighbor and a friend on clearing the tree from the backyard. We SO appreciated all the help! The job isn't completely done, but it is much further along. Most of the branches are now up at the road to be picked up by the city. It was hot, dirty, hard work. I think Eric got a touch of heat-exhaustion. He was sick for a while afterward.

We also finished putting together the trampoline for the boys on Saturday after I returned from the swim meet. It is huge!! I didn't realize what a difference there is between a 13' and a 15' mat. We have all been enjoying it!Because the boys got such a big gift, we just had family parties for them. It was a nice change from the usual stress of a friend party. All I had to do was make their chosen cakes. Eli had a Pokemon cake (lemon pound cake, no icing) and Brandt had a Kung Fu Panda cake (white cake mix with the rainbow speckles throughout, white icing with sprinkles). I decorated them with little toy figurines, which were the only "toys" they received from us.

They both had their "meet the teacher" time at school yesterday. I am very pleased with both of their teachers at first meeting. Both seemed organized, confident, and very competent. Both boys seemed immediately comfortable with their teachers. School starts a week from Thursday.

I skipped working out on Saturday, since I knew I'd be tired from the book release party. Thursday I did weights and biked 50 minutes downstairs. Friday I ran 1 hour 13 minutes and ran 8.46 miles. I started slow, picked it up in the middle, and ended a bit slower. It was SUPER hot and muggy. I actually weighed my clothes when I got back. They weighed 4 lbs.
This morning I biked (while reading Breaking Dawn) for 1 hour 4 minutes. I went about 20 miles.