Week 3 or 4 or what of Chicago Marathon training?

This is going to be an interesting week with Andrew starting his first camp and me dropping him off later and working later.  Okay, my final surge calendar keeps changing.  I guess this is officially week 3 now.  Who knows :) I just do what i am told by my coach. Maybe I should just start counting down to Chicago instead of counting my work out weeks.

Monday:  Rest day and first day of camp!  I was super nervous to drop him off, mainly because he has been in this cry about everything stage for a while, and i was super worried that would happen at camp.  Well, my worst fears came true, but the teachers handled him with grace and speed and helped him work through his issues.  I am SO very glad two of my running partners are there taking care of him this week!  I had to work late since i dropped him off late, which made for an uber long day, which turned into a stressful night since Andrew was beyond tired and would NOT go to sleep.  Hopefully the rest of the week will go better and I can get him into bed MUCH earlier.

Tuesday:  600 meter repeats x 6 with 400 meter recoveries (mile warm up and mile cool down).  Headed out a little later after a text from Melly that said she couldn't make it.  I wasn't really looking forward to running speed work by myself, but it was cool enough for stella ella to join me and that was a nice incentive to run fast.  Normally I walk recoveries, but today I tried to walk half of the recovery and jog half of the recovery just to speed things up.  I am pretty happy with my splits, even minus my speed demon partner who usually motivates me to chase her.

I know, super cheesy but I hope these brighten his day:)

Later, I got glowing reports from camp that Andrew was doing much better.  WHEW.  That made me feel so much better about the decision to send him to camp.  God bless those teachers and counselors!  Fast forward even further and I had a PTA meeting (at the bar, how cool is that) and got home rather late.  Andrew was complaining of a sick stomach, but tony said he had already gone # 2, so shouldn't be hurting.  I also found out that Andrew had gorged himself on mini m&ms secretly.  Sigh.  We had a long night ahead.  I felt so helpless because I knew his tummy hurt and nothing we did helped.  Neither pepto nor tums nor massage helped him feel better.  When he finally started puking, I was hoping that he might actually get some relief and sleep.  Two puke sessions and sheet changings later, we finally all got to get some quality sleep.  I decided to keep andrew home just in case this was a little tummy bug, but feeling it probably wasn't.

Wednesday:  Cross training and strength.  Slept in, had a phone in meeting with the lab, and got my strength done.  Got my bike ride in post grocery store shopping and saw tons of snakes.  Is it mating season?  Not sure why so many where out at that time!  Andrew was fine all day and ate and acted normally.

We had slipped in the hair place to make an appointment to get the crazy curls under control.  We had them take the sides down pretty short but leave the curls on the top.  I love it!!!

Every time he gets his hair cut, he looks more and more grown up, but those curls just keep coming back.  Katie, his hair dresser extraordinaire, thinks they will always be there.  She even taught me how to style and tame them.  Let's see how successful I will be!!!

Thursday:  5 miles easy with strides.  Melly joined me for this fun, even though she was headed out to Tuttle Creek for Country Stampede.  Her and her hubby work camp ground security, so she has a long weekend ahead of her.  For those who don't know, Country Stampede is one of the biggest country music festivals around.  They bring in headliners, old timers, and tons of drunk country music fans.  Most of us avoid manhattan, especially that side of town this weekend, as the drunkies like to leave the festival site and hit up wally world and the fast food joints.  It's kind of fun if you like to people watch.  This weekend is normally either the hottest weekend of the year OR we have hellacious storms all weekend.    

Friday:  Cross training.  I knew a skip day was bound to happen and today it did.  I slept in with intentions of biking post Andrew's presentation at Camp Invention.  Post presentation, we decided to head to town because I forgot I was out of fuel and didn't want to experiment.  There is a really good hometown brewpub on that side of town so we thought, why the heck not.  Two beers and some good food later, we headed home and all promptly fell asleep (including Andrew who had no beer but was worn out from camp).  Oh well, haven't skipped in a long long time and this was worth it.

Saturday:  Long run 12 miles.  Yeesh.  Why did I drink two beers the night before?  I tried hydrating as much as possible pre sleeping, but the sleeping won out over the hydrating.  The good news?  Lows in the 50s the friday night, so no getting up at the butt crack of dawn to beat the heat.

We headed out around 7 am and were met with glorious low temperatures.  Both reds got to go, and while we did go through their water stores quickly due to no puddles or irrigation systems being on, our trusty road side service of my hubby and son met us out on the road with re stock.  I really need to get up and plant bottles out on our route.  

Post running, we headed to town to snag a b day present for one of andrew's wrestling buddies and have a quick playdate with Lindsey and her kiddo at Chick Fil A.  After letting the boys play their hearts out, we headed to the b-day party for non stop bowling and partying.  Post the b-day party and some decompression time for me, we headed over to another play date to andrew's best friend's house.  Whew.  What a long day!!!!

Sunday:  5 miles, MYRTL and strength.  Well, I was suppose to do strength post long run, but it just didn't happen. I had to come in, hit the shower, and hit the ground running to get the day going and there just wasn't any time.  I decided to move the work out to Sunday.  I also decided to sleep in thanks to the wonderful, but oddly cool Kansas mornings this weekend.    

Post running I took my mat outside and did MYRTL and strength.  It felt good to get it done and get extra calories for the day :).  Post running and working out, we headed to town to waste time, and eat some good food.

We have heard great things about a restaurant in aggieville called Wahoo that had some amazing brunch items.  I chowed down on half of this breakfast pizza, and it did not disappoint.  We also walked around aggieville and had a doughnut at Varsity doughnuts for desert.  

We played a game called Picturika that was super fun and watched others play ping pong.  We also finally ventured into the new Academy Sports.  While I will still do my shoe shopping and most apparel shopping with MRC (our local running store), they did have some cute stuff in their brand name.    

Someone was worn out from the adventures of the day.

Total mileage for the week: 27 miles

Another great week of summer running!  Runs are still pretty low in number of miles, as we slowly build to closer till Chicago.  I missed one cross training work out this week, but it won't be the end of the world.  Have a great week next week!  Hoping for more cool  un-Kansas like weather!!!!

16 Getting to Know me Things

Okay, I am a sucker for lists and quizzes and question and answers.  When I saw this post on Happy Fit Mama's page, I had to do it!

1.  What Brings you the greatest joy?

Seeing my kiddo smile and be happy because of something I did for him (my love language is service:).  Seeing Stella get back to doing the things she loves disease free.  Seeing my hubby at the finish line of a hard race and getting that post race hug.  A beautiful sunrise or sunset on a run or ride.

2.  What is on your night stand?

Usually whatever book I am trying to read, a bottle of water, some chapstick, andrew's toys and andrew's books.

3.  Do you have a secret talent?

I can still play my trumpet and love to play. If I had more time in my life, I would totally join the community band.

4.  What is your greatest indulgence?  

Going to bed early.  Having a great craft beer post work.  An occasion deep tissue massage at Body First.

5.  What should everyone try at least once in their life?

To run a race, even if it is just a mile.  The feeling you get after finishing a goal race is amazing.

6.  What makes you laugh?

Pretty much anything that comes out of my 5 year olds mouth.  He has been saying the word shit lately, and while it is a horrible word for anyone to say, having him tell adults to not say shit when they slip up and say it in his presence is pretty funny.  

7.  What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

I have a brother who was adopted (sort of long story) by my family when I was 13.  He won the national championship with the UT Vols and went on to be drafted in the first round of the NFL draft and played for the Denver Broncos for 8 years.  I love him like a blood brother.

8.  What is on your bucket list?

Run big Sur and the New York marathon.  Do a 50 and a 100 miler some day.  Own a horse again and do dressage.  Disneyland and Epcot with Andrew.

9.  What is on your feet right now?

Well, Stella's head and my flip flops.

10.  How did you make your first dollar?

Babysitting my two cousin's on Friday and Saturday nights while their parents  tended bar.

11.  What superstition do you believe in?

Knock on wood!!!  If you spill salt throw a pinch of it over your shoulder.  Don't let black cats cross my path and DO NOT walk under ladders!!!

12.  What items in your closet do you wear the most?

My gypsy runner gear (although that is normally laid out in the bedroom downstairs since I run so damn early in the morning).  My lularoe julia and classic Ts.

13.  What is the best gift you have ever received?

My son. I honestly thought God didn't think we were parent material, so having him was a HUGE blessing.  I thank God every day for him, even when I want to go insane from the whining/crying stage we are in right now.

14.  What is on your liquor shelf?

Probably some Jack Daniels and some Crown.  Maybe Patron, Titos, and some Captain too.  I am a craft beer kind of girl though.  Look in the bottom drawer of my fridge:) . There you will see the goodies!

15.  What is on your kitchen counter?

Too much stuff!  My hubby is the cook and when he is in the kitchen, the place looks like a tornado went through, so we will just leave it at that!

16.  What would you NEVER leave home without???

My phone.  I live and die by that stupid thing. I wish it wasn't so, but my life is on it.  Plus, my habit of buying older used cars puts me in a place where I might always need a phone for triple A.  Sigh.

Week 4 of Chicago Marathon Training

Honestly, I am still exhausted from last week and a weekend's worth of celebrating little Andrew's 5th birthday.    Here is how the week went down.

Someone partied too hard!

Monday:  Rest day and Andrew's actual birthday!  We gave him a choice, he could eat anywhere he wanted to for his actual birthday.  We tried to get him to go to a place where they would sing and he would get a free desert but nope, the chose Mcdonalds.  Oh well:) .

Pretty clouds over Hyvee

Tuesday:  400 meter repeats x 8.  I don't like speed work all that much, but I do like shorter repeats because of walk back recoveries.  Coach always gives me the choice of a slow jog or a walk on recovery, and I always choose a walk!  I really like nailing my paces and then walking back to the start.  Coach gave me a range of 9-9:10, and other than having to get Melly to go first so I could chase her, we had no problems hitting our paces despite the wind.

Wednesday:  Cross training and strength.  I just couldn't make it out of bed, so I chose to battle the heat and get a ride done post work.  I cued up my favorite new podcast My Favorite Murder and headed out for an hour ride.  Post ride, I had a quick snack and hit the upstairs for my strength training.  Coach is using the book, Quick Strength Training for Runners for my exercises now, which was nice to have the pages bookmarked for the exercises I needed to do.  I was able to do all exercises 3 rounds in 25 minutes.  Again, so motivated to hit my calorie goal which makes me motivated to work out.  Sad right?

Thursday:  5 miles easy with 5 x 30 second strides.  I woke up with a wonky tummy and had to make a pit stop mid run, so strides just didn't happen.  No matter, got the run it and that is what counts.

Friday:  Strength and Cross Training.  Again, I didn't get up early to ride, instead riding post work.  It was feels like 105, but on the bike with the wind, again it was nice out.   I didn't get many miles in said hour due to the wind, but I got an hour done.  I was still pretty sore from the work out Wednesday, so I moved strength to the weekend.

Saturday:  12 miles.   I didn't get much sleep the night before. I tried to get to bed early, but andrew kept waking me up.  Then around 1 am, a huge storm hit and woke all of us up.  I got up around 4:30 feeling very, very sleepy.  Did I mention it was also 95% humidity and 69 degrees?  There was a light wind from the south, and I knew there would be lots of puddles thanks to the storm the night before, so I decided to take stella and make sure Tony had his phone just in case.

Got out the door around 5:50 am, round about the time the sun was rising, and got 12 muggy and hot miles in.  Stella stayed cool by jumping in and out of puddles and drinking all of her water that I carry for her.

I will be honest with you.  I totally blew out my diet for the day post run.  I have been doing SO well, and I just kind of fell apart.  I had a couple of doughnuts post run, which should be good enough for sweets for the day, but I just kept going with it.  Mcdonald's had their rolo mcflurry's on the menu (510 calories) and while it didn't taste as good as I remember it tasting, I ate the whole snack size cup.  Sigh.  Oh well, a cheat day every now and then is going to happen right?

Sunday:  Recovery run, Strength training, and MRYTL.  I had been so sore from strength on Tuesday that I had pushed it back as far as I could. I had intended on doing it Saturday, but the day got away from me.  I decided to sleep in a little, run, and then get er done.  We had plans to go see Cars 3 later, so I needed those extra calories :) . It was much cooler than the day before, but still 95% humidity. Oddly enough, the wind came from the north today which really helped cool things down. Deuce got to spend some mommy time and we walked a tenth of a mile every mile to stay slow and easy for both of us.   

When we got to the movie theater, we found out the dine in version was at 1 pm, and we didn't want to wait that long to eat.  Plus, we were there and he wouldn't have understood leaving and coming back.  We popped over to applebees (right next to the movie theater) for a quick lunch of appetizers (the only food that had lower calories and a small serving size) and popped back for the noon showing.  I even had enough calories to have one serving of my favorite bad snack, chocolate covered raisins.  Post movie, we headed over to the Discovery Center to see the latest exhibit and enjoy the air conditioning.  I feel like it was a great father's day for Tony, even if we spent it doing stuff andrew wanted to do:)

Total miles for the week: 27

Great week, both strength trainings done, MYRTL done, hip feeling better just tight and speed work DONE.  I am starting to see 135 on the scale occasionally (down from 142) and that makes me happy!  Great Father's Day and great weekend!  Have a great week!  Say a little prayer for me as I send my kiddo off for his very first day camp!

Day with Thomas 2017

Okay super bittersweet post here.  Check out my previous posts about Day at the Thomas here (2016) and here (2015).  This will probably be our last Day with Thomas as Andrew seems to be outgrowing his Thomas toys and videos.  I honestly didn't even know if he would want to leave his birthday presents and go.  I was prepared to give our tickets away if need be, but he woke up and was super excited to go!

Our first ticket was for the 10 am Thomas train ride, so we headed out around 8 am to have time to catch the bus and get to the rail yard.  As always, the free parking was great, and the buses were plenty.  

We quickly said HI to Toby and got in line for the Thomas train ride.  We were too late to get onto the open air cars, but we rode in the regular cars with no issues at all.  It certainly was hot out, BUT there was a breeze that kept things manageable.  Let's just say when we headed back to the depot, and the engineer asked us to start yelling for Thomas to pull, I may have shed a few tears. I know, I am a super sap.

We did post- Thomas ride pictures and they got some super cute pics with the professional photographer.  We always buy a set of pictures, because they are so nice to allow us to take a million of our own.  

As always, we try and get our four stamps, so Andrew gets his free Thomas prize at the end.  We started out by getting a stamp at the gift shop, because I am an idiot and forgot a backpack or bag to put all the goodies in.  Our second stamp was at the Sir Topham Hat picture center.  Previously, Andrew had been pretty scared of Sir TH, but this year, he gave him a high five and a hug at the end!

As per previous years, there was tons to do including a petting zoo, the tattoo/play tent, video tent, and the magician/singer tent.  We visited the food trucks and supported the local concession stands there and played in the bouncy house.  It was so hot, even with the breeze, so we didn't linger any longer than we had to post riding Percy.  Again this year, Percy's cars were air conditioned and this year they even punched our tickets on Percy, just like on a real train.  

Leaving was hard because like I said earlier, I am afraid that this will be our last year.  It was fun looking at all three years of pictures and seeing how much Andrew has grown up.  

Thanks for all of the memories Thomas! Thanks to Midland Rail way and ALL of the volunteers that make Day at the Thomas possible!  Maybe we will see y'all next year!

Andrew's 5th Birthday party

Most of this blog will be pictures:)

This year Andrew wanted a party so we decided based on recommendation from other parents, to rent the local gymnastics gym and stay indoors and cool.

The gym was rentable for 2 hours and you could have 16 kiddos with supervision provided.  They could do pretty much anything in the gym and the upstairs could be used as a party room.  Andrew had decided to go with an angry bird's theme so we got all of our decorations off of amazon and from the dollar general store.

The cake came from Hyvee and I am so glad we got the bigger cake because it pretty much got all eaten!

We never actually played the game but it was a cute option :)

We let the kids play for about 30 minutes after arriving and then rounded them up for cake, juice, and presents.  We had kiddos from his class come and most all of them showed up.  I was super worried since it was summer and many of them had plans, but they mostly showed up and had a great time!

They all worked together to un wrap the presents and they all know him well because he got legos, pj mask, Thomas, and pokemon stuff :).

After unwrapping, we headed back to the gym.  Let's just say these kiddos left super hot and sweaty and tired!

I didn't get as many pics once the kiddos were playing, one because they wouldn't sit still and they looked like blurs in photos, and two because I was having so much fun talking to the other kiddo's parents.  We let them play till 5 minutes before the party time was over, and then took some very tearful kiddos out to cars with goody bags.  No one wanted to stop playing and I hated for it to be over so soon, but those were super tired kiddos.  I hope he will never forget his 5th birthday, not because of presents, but because of the awesome friends he has and what a good time they all had!  I love renting a facility that provides supervision so that we can hang out and get to know each other better!  Till next year!