Bake Sale

First off let's start with my workout.  15 miles @8:45 pace.  I was supposed to do a 9:08 pace, that is for the 3:40 marathon training plan but for the 3:30 training plan it says 8:45 so I decided to push myself just a little harder today :)  Warmed up 2 miles that averaged a 8:15 pace.  I will be honest. I was tired.  BUT you will all be happy to know that I went out prepared!  Water bottle, check! shot bloks in my spi belt, check! Sunglasses, check!  It was a success!

Moving on...  Today was are having a Bake Sale on our stoop!  The girls from my church are trying to raise money to go to girls camp.  I made fudge nut bars, yum. So if your in the hood come on by! We will be outside from 11-1.

My Spring 12 collection it moving right along.  I finished this shirt yesterday and I totally love it!

I have also moved on for my love of mixed greens and now just like my spinach straight up.  And I am totally loving blueberries right now.  Who's with me?

This is a picture of the other day but I am really hoping to eat some more 16 Handles later today :)

Anyone have any fun plans for this weekend?  Jen good luck today at your tri!! I know you will do totally great and I can't wait to hear about it!!

Anyone else have a long run today?  Was it hot?  It was too hot here that is for sure.

XX
Sarah

What to do...

This summer is really flying by.  We have been doing a lot of this....

But I know that right around the corner this is coming...

I am just trying to decide what to do until it gets here.  I know that I want to fit in a couple more races but I am just having a hard time getting myself to sign up for them.  I think it is because I was just so bummed with the way the marathon went that I am a little afraid to sign up for another long race.  I am pretty sure that I over trained for my first marathon.  And that was the main cause of my knee.  I followed the same plan as my sisters who had both already ran a few marathons.  I am going to try to get a long run in tomorrow.  Long run meaning  7 or 8 miles.  Running with a good friend so hopefully it won't feel that long.  But yet that will have been the longest I have ran since the  race.  Anyone else ever find it hard to sign up for stuff even though you know that it would be fun and you really should??   Hopefully after tomorrow I will be signing up for the Bear Water Run which offers a 10 mile and a 20 mile race.  I will be doing the 10 mile.  Then will also sign up for the Mankato Half Marathon.  Wish me luck...

-Heather

No Tie Shoelaces

Who knew lacing up the "no tie" shoe laces would be such a pain in the rear. I opened the box, took out the laces and no instructions came out. I then proceeded to attempt to just figure it out myself thinking... "well if there are is no paper with instructions on how to lace them it must be relatively easy." 20 whole minutes after lacing, re-lacing and swearing at the dam shoelaces I take the box and start ripping it open.  Only of course to find instructions printed on the inside of the box...  

One of my attempts and lacing up my shoe.....unsuccessful.

20 minutes later. Success..finally

This week has been busy with getting ready for my tri, cleaning my house, grocery shopping, hanging by the pool and getting Peter ready for school. He starts in only a few short weeks! 

Also, I must be needing sleep because my body slept in Monday and Tuesday and although I did get in some good workouts those days they weren't quite as I had planned.  Wednesday morning I set 10 alarms to ensure that my rear would get out of bed on time. So it worked, and not only woke me up but the rest of my family as well ;) Sorry guys, at least you got to get back to bed! I practiced transitions and I think they felt OK. I am going to keep practicing.  Am I nervous for my try yet.....? I dunno. 

Last night for dinner I literally just took all of the ingredients in my fridge or what was left of them and piled them into a salad.  So below is lettuce mix, grilled beans, hot dog, carrots, cherries, salsa, onion, and cucumber.  It was good.  

I am just about to head out for my run. I am gonna go probably 8-12 miles....probably closer to 10. I want to be feeling fresh for my race Saturday.  Wish me luck, I'll post a recap =) 

Happy Running -Jen

 Anyone else racing this weekend?


What is your favorite pre-race meal?
 - I am trying a new one. Typically I eat Frosted Mini wheats but my new thing is steel cut oatmeal with brown sugar and craisins.

Lame I know...

Well I had a blast in MN and now it is back to work.  I have been so busy that I just feel so exhausted!  In fact I was supposed to get up and do my track workout yesterday and I slept in.  Crap, that would mean I have missed 2 of my Run Less workouts.  Last week I skipped my 13 miler because I was running the Warrior Dash.  I had so much fun that I didn't even care.

So today, to get me back on track I will be doing my 7 mile tempo

1 mile warm up
5 miles @ 8:23 pace
1 mile cool down

Thursday - P90X Legs
Friday- Tracy Anderson
Saturday - 15 miles @ 9:08

So I have been lame with my photo taking and this is what I got...

3 reasons why I LOVE going to MN..

#1 Family Time

#2 Lounging by the pool

#3 Shopping at MOA!!  

I almost bought these shoes but held off.  I am kinda wishing I just would have bought them. 

Oh well...

Do you guys love going home to visit?

What are your favorite things to do?

How is everyone's training going?

XX
Sarah

Exercise is Contagious

Do your kids beg you to go for a run when you get home from one or is it just my kids?  I really think that exercise can be contagious.  Every time I get home my kids run up to me and beg to go for a run.  We even had to go to Target and get them "running clothes".  I really love that I am setting such a good example for them.  And I really do think that no matter who you love or are around wither it be at home, school, work.. where ever you are, telling people how much you love to move and groove is really a great example.  And you never know.. you could change someones life. 

These four went out for a run when Sarah and I got back from ours on the day she left. ( Sorry Scott... I know your eyes are closed in both pictures but they were the only ones I took... and it was very bright out)

Any of your kids running?  Are there even races for kids?  I should really look into that.

-Heather

6 Days until my First Sprint Triathlon

To start this post I must say how totally bummed I was to miss the Warrior Dash. BOO. From now on I will make it to that race. They were having way too much fun without me.....

Now onto whats next. T-minus 6 days until my first Sprint Tri. I am not nervous at all which is very unlike me. If on race day I all of a sudden have to take 5 trips to the bathroom to makeup for all of this lost time of not being nervous I will not be surprised. 

I am still debating on what kind of clothing to wear. I don't have a tri suit and I'd rather not buy one. (yet ;)) I am trying to decide if I should wear tri shorts after my swim or just throw on running shorts? I am on the fence. I don't really think my rear end will hurt from only going 12 miles on the bike but at the same time I have become quite accustomed to bike shorts and have kind of fallen in love with the extra padding.

Workouts this week:

Monday: My 5 mile tempo with 2.5@ 7:30 pace. Wish me luck. I am really hoping it doesn't feel as hard as it did last time. 

Tuesday: Another hilly bike ride.  I am loving the hills on the bike.  Challenging and refreshing. I will fit in a Strength training session as well.

This is me on my bike =) Going for rides out here is so pretty. I love the mountains.

This is one of my bestest buds Amber who joined me that day.  She is totally awesome and extra speedy. I always use how far away in the distance she is from me to gage how well I am doing(with both running and biking). If she is too far away, I am really slacking off. If I can hear her breathing I must be smokin' because she only knows one speed and it is full throttle. I love it, she makes me wanna do better.

After one workout last week I was able to come home and get another workout by blowing up this crazy huge ball so Peter would have something to do all afternoon.  

I am surprised I didn't pass out. It was huge and took forever!!

He did end up having hours of fun so it was worth it =)

Wednesday: 1600m+ swim followed by transition practice. I went to a meeting about the Tri last week and they talked a lot about transitions. Who knew there was so much thought into how you switch from one sport to the next.  But here is a quick run down on what you would want on the way to your tri.. 

1. Towel
2. Sunblock
3. Goggles
4. Swim Suit
5. Socks
6. Running Shoes (with the shoe strings in that you don't need to tie)
7. Sunglasses
8. Biking shoes
9. Biking Shorts OR running shorts...... I am on the fence?
10. Helmet
11. Refueling Food
12. Bike
13. Running Tank (something to throw on over your swimsuit if you choose)
14. Race Number Belt

Is this list long enough? I dunno, I always overpack anywhoo so I will definitely be taking a picture of my bag on the way to this Sprint Tri... I am sure I will look like I am going out for an overnighter.

Thursday: Easy 12 miler and some easy strength stuff.

Friday: OFF or maybe a short easy swim?

Saturday: Sprint Tri here I come.  I wonder how I'll do......send me good vibes that day because we all know I need them.

Last night I made a delicious steak salad for dinner and because I had spent the better part of the previous day cleaning the kitchen I decided to dirty my kitchen up as little as possible. So I had my husband take out his portion and then just finished off the rest right outta the container I bought the greens in =) Delicious. This salad has a variety of lettuce, carrots, cucumber, steak, craisins, onion, parma cheese, goat cheese and steak.

Heres to a good week! and hopefully a race on Saturday that goes better then my last one... -Jen

Who else overpacks when getting ready for race day?

Does anyone ever wear Tri Shorts?
I guess they are shorts you can put on with cushion but not quite as much cushion as normal bike shorts so running in them feels ok?

Who else doesn't like to dirty dishes if they don't have to?
For a long time I'd go to great lengths to not dirty hardly anything in my kitchen... the less mess the better. But these days I go in spurts.

Who owns a pair of those shoe strings you don't tie? Is there a specific brand you like?

Warrior Dash Conquered!

We survived and conquered the Warrior Dash!  It turned out to be a sunny morning with the rain holding off until about 11 AM.  We had to drive in, park and then take a bus to the starting line.

Warriors
James (my brother)
Melanie (James's wife)
Sabrina(their oldest child)
Heather
Bryan(Heather's husband)
and
Sarah (ME)

After the first quarter mile the course went straight up hill.  The air was super thick and humid and it was a killer.  We had to climb over cars, jump over smaller walls and then duck under barbed wire.  Climb more walls.  Crawl through a black tent, climb over ropes, more hills!  Lots of hills actually.  Slide down a hill, jump over fire (twice) then swim through mud under more barbed wire to get to the finish line.

We had a BLAST!!  This will definitely be a race that we will be doing every year.  Distance: 3miles Time: Unknown and who cares :)

Melanie and Sabrina

Heather and Bryan

James and Me

Before the race, don't we look so nice and clean!

More fun pix.

After the race!  MUDDY

Sabrina and Mel

Warriors!!!

Unfortunately Bryan was too speedy and was completely washed off before we met up with him so we didn't get his picture.

Cons:  They need way more spray water at the end to wash off.  There was only 1 large water sprayer but there were too many people who needed it so we were all jammed together trying to get clean.

Pros: Everything Else!!

If you haven't signed up for your Warrior Dash yet I highly recommend it!!

Happy Weekend!

XX
Sarah

Today at the Gym

Pulled Sarah and Scott out of bed at 5am to attend a 5:30 class.

Love a good plank.  Or as Dena would call them.. an active rest.  It was a great workout. 

Then we ran back to my apartment.  It is almost exactly a 5K back to my place from the gym.  So once we got going and feeling great we ran it in what I think it a pretty good time.

Here is the watch for the end time. We had an overall pace of 8:19.

Then finished it up with a nice protein shake.  Sarah brought some muscle nog along so I could try it.  So so good.  I will be ordered some for sure.

Now just hanging today and hoping that it doesn't rain tomorrow for Warrior Dash.

Anyone else doing the Warrior Dash tomorrow?

Heather

Short Fast Tempos = HELLISH

So I can't say my week has panned out like I thought.

To start, Monday morning I was supposed to go out and run 5 miles with 3.5 @ 7:30 pace.....well that didn't happen. My phone died in the middle of the night (alarm clock) and then I woke up late and said ahhh what the hell.  So I decided to switch gears and think maybe I could get a swim or go for a short bike ride later. But nope, I did absolutely nothing but hang at the pool with my little dude Peter.  It was SOO nice.

Pool, here we come.

Tuesday, I did wake my lazy self up and forced myself to get out the door with my running shoes on. It wasn't easy in the least but somehow I managed to do it.  I decided, "Ok, I missed my short fast tempo yesterday so I'll just skip running club today do that workout instead." So I started with a warmup mile which felt great and then proceeded to attempt 3.5 miles @ 7:30.  Well after 2 miles I stopped, felt like I was gonna die, lied down on the concrete sidewalk and looked up in the sky and wondered what in the world I was doing to myself =) Then I dragged my butt off the concrete (I had the outline of a sweat body on the concrete... did I mention it is HOT outside), turned up my music louder (I will be deaf later in life I'm sure) and finished 2 miles easy.

This is a picture of me in the ocean somewhere in the Caribbean shortly after I got married.  If I am gonna endure super hot weather I'd much rather be here.

Although I didn't go as far as I'd hoped I am glad I kind of figured out where I am physically.  So next week I am going to try and go 2.5 miles @ 7:30 and add 1/2 mile each week. Anyone with me?

After running I did attend barbell class like planned and I also found time to swim 1600m. So I figured, Tuesday made up for Monday.

Here is my delicious tuna sandwich I made for lunch.  I have made this recipe a few times now and I am never disappointed.  Thanks again Giada.  

Wednesday I did do what I originally had planned, and that was a mini run through of the Sprint Tri I am gonna participate in next weekend. I met up with some friends, we biked, ran and then swam. It all felt relatively good, we timed our swim so we could turn in our swim time for 100m. They want you to turn in how long it takes you to swim 100m at a normal pace so they put you in the correct lane when swimming during the race. I am coming in slightly under 2 minutes.

Today I am heading out the door shortly to run 10 miles. The bike ride I originally had planned isn't gonna happen until tomorrow morning. I don't really care because it was either go during the scorching HOT sun of the afternoon or wake up early Friday and ride then. I will go to Total Conditioning class Friday as well and possibly hop in the pool but my main activity that day will be the ride.  I want to head into boulder and kick my butt going up some hills. For some reason tackling hills on a bike is so much more fun then tackling while running....

This is a deathly steep hill in Stillwater that we ran up while I was just visiting.  So steep, they close it in the winter and they named it chili chute or something like that....?. Not fun, but a great workout. I don't think this pic does it justice but either way, steep enough that it needs to be mentioned.

It has been so crazy hot here that the motivation to go workout in the middle of it has been slim. But regardless some physical activity has been happening. It is interesting training for a Tri because now aside from running you are trying to think about the swim and the biking and it just makes for a busy workout schedule... kind of nuts.  I can only imagine how much training is involved with an Ironman.

I am missing my family all having fun up in Minnesota this week!  This is Heather and the Stillwater bridge with a picture of our hometown in the background.  Miss you guys! =)

Would you rather be in scorching hot weather in the Caribbean or your hometown?
me, Caribbean. I also wouldn't say no to Hawaii.....

Anyone out there made anything delicious lately?
That Tuna is always good, but I have also had some delicious salads.

Who's gonna eat some Fro Yo today?!?
ME, I decided today for my afternoon treat I am hitting up Red Mango for some strawberry Fro Yo topped with Mochi, M&M's, and Oreo Cookie =)


Happy Running all, and may we all make it through the scorching hot hot hot days of summer!  -Jen

And the Training Begins...

On Monday I started my NYC marathon training.  If you remember I have decided to follow the Run Less Run Faster  training plan for a 3:40 marathon.  I was originally going to shoot for the 3:30 but right now it is a little fast.  I may work up to it.

Monday's Workout
3x1600m with 200 RI @ 7:02 pace (really I was supposed to do 1 min RI but that was just not enough time for me to fully recover.  So I would walk the 200m before I started up again.

10 min warm up
1st mile @ 6:58
2nd  mile @7:00
3rd mile @ 7:15 (I could have kept my goal pace for this but thought I lost my keys and slowed down to check. At which point I could not pick it back up.  I was just tired)
10 min cool down

Overall I felt better and stronger since the last time I did these.  Which is a good sign!

Tuesday I headed back to MN to spend the week with my family as well as run the Warrior Dash.

Yesterday had lunch with Scott, my Brother and Sister.  We had salads with crispy procuitto on it.  SO good!

I swam and played with the kids but that was about the extent of it.

This mornings workout.  Bryan the speedster came and ran with me.  It was already in the mid 80s and the humidity has been the worst I have ever felt.  Today it is supposed to be up to 110-112 with the heat index.  Needless to say I was sweatin bullets.

Anyways the workout was supposed to be 2 mile warm up, 2 miles at 7:35 pace and 2 miles cool down. Because I ran with Bryan I changed it up a little because he is so fast.  While he was just strolling a long I was breathing very very hard lol!

Mile 1- 7:59
Mile 2- 7:17
Mile 3- 7:31
Mile 4-10:13 ( I had to stop and take a little breather before we started back up)
Mile 5- 8:46
Mile 6-8:18

As you can see the beginning of the run was much faster.  I was tired when I got home and so sweaty that my whole face was burning from salt.  So I did what anyone would do and decided to jump in the pool!  Ahhh so refreshing.

Tomorrow I will be going to Heather's Gym and then Friday is 13 miles @8:53 pace. Saturday will be the Warrior Dash!!  Woohoo!

Anyone else have any big races or fun races coming up?

I almost found some running flats!  Will post what I find soon.  Anyone into barefoot running without the toe flats?

How about the mudder buddy?  I think that is what it is called?

XX
Sarah

Myrtle Beach Recap

I know that Sarah posted a couple pictures from our trip already but I thought it wouldn't hurt to post a couple more. Our trip was filled with tons of swimming..

Going to the beach only at night.  It was so hot there and combined with the two shark sighting that happened while there which made the lifeguards clear the ocean both times we felt it was best to only visit the beach when it was cooler and were not going to be swimming in the water.

Lots of dancing.  This is Elsa group that took fourth in the overall finals.  They totally rocked it.

Below is the costume Grace wore for the dance that took 2nd overall in finals.  Wish I had a picture of the entire group but I don't so this picture will have to do.

It was a great trip.  We worked out all but one day while we were there.  Ate tons of salads and had tons of fun hanging together.  But now back to the grind

My brother and his family are here and Sarah gets here today!!  Love summer for many reasons but one big one is that everyone comes to visit.

My brother also loves to work out so we just got done will a killer stair/run workout and snapped this picture.  It was a great one and I swear it was like 100 out with about 70% humidity.   Anyone else feeling the major heatwave that is going on right now???  It is killer.   My workouts this week will be all Kinetic Edge classes.  I am taking all my family there for classes this week as well.  For all those of you that have asked about the gym.. yes it is only in one location as of now.  It focuses on mainly Kettlebells but he likes to throw in some plyometrics to I think break it up a little.  It is intense and unlike any gym I have ever been to and I totally love it.  If anyone of you are ever in the area email me and I will hook you up with a class to try it.  You will be hooked. 

We are all doing the Warrior Dash this weekend.  Anyone else done it yet??  It should be super fun.  If you have done it let us know!! How was it?  Any tips we should know?

-Heather