On The Run Mama

Bolt to The Bride for Boston is complete! 5K and a little to spare for the month.

Baby P and I went for a walk after dropping off the kiddos at school. Look! Look! It was my longest AND fastest walk since giving birth. Woot!! It would have been a bit faster, but an older woman stopped me to ask about Baby P and give unsolicited advice (What’s with that?? My having a baby seems to mean that I want strangers’ advice.) I’m really happy to be on the mend and getting closer to running.

Ps. It is CHILLY this morning! It has been in the 90s this week, but this morning it is in the 50s with 12 mph wind. Part of the way I felt so slow as I was pushing the stroller into the wind.

It’s been a rainy spring day. Right now the sun is setting, but there is a dark cloud overhead showering us and creating glimmering light.

I’m thankful the rain let up enough for us to go for a walk around the block. I’m really starting to love this tradition. The whole family goes out when I get home from work; which is a nice way for us all to unwind, get fresh air and spend time together. I’m looking forward to adding Baby P to this tradition too.

In other news, my coworker started a medically supervised weight loss program today. She’s looking to lose about 80 pounds. I’m super proud of her for starting this journey. It’ll be a tough one, but I’m excited for her to do it.

Another walk around the block tonight for a total of 1.8 miles for the week. I didn’t make my weekly goal of 2.5 miles since I didn’t walk last Saturday or Sunday.

I happened to see my monthly total though; which made me happy. Already for March I’ve walked 4.75 miles and in February I only did 3.15. I’ve already beat my total for February!! I’m doing much better than last month. 15 days down, 16 more to go.

Tomorrow I have to teach an all day class for work. I’m nervous after how exhausted I was last weekend. I’m hoping tomorrow won’t have the same affect on me, and I can go for a long(er) walk on Sunday.

The walk that almost wasn’t.

I really did not walk tonight. In fact I told Hubby that I was NOT going for a walk. I was (am) miserable today. So tired. My feet are so swollen and I couldn’t even fit them into sneakers. I’m having one of those days where I feel huge and my belly seems to be growing by the hour. I had absolutely no intention of walking.

The kiddos wanted to go for a walk though. And the day is absolutely gorgeous (sunny and in the 70s). Plus it was still sunny when I got home. (Thank you daylight savings!)

I got some flip flops on and we went. It was likely my most pathetic looking walk ever. BUT it is done.

Birthday walk in the books!

One mile done with an 18 min pace. The weather was gorgeous and the sun felt so good. I wanted to keep going, but I decided against it. I still have to work on pacing myself during the day, and I still have the whole day ahead of me.

Back when I started running through Couch to 5K I did my first mile in 18 minutes. It felt so hard and never ending. Today’s mile was done in the exact same time. I may be back to my starting speed, but the effort was a lot less and the mile was much more enjoyable.

I’m going to set a goal for March.  I may be over judging what my body is going to be able to do in the next month, but I’m going to try.  If I’m physically unable to do it then that will be another story.  

In January I walked 8 miles (not much to brag about).  In February I walked 3.4 miles (gah!!)  

I want to do better for March.  I’m going to shoot for 11 miles as my minimum.  My ideal is to walk .5 miles each day and at least 1 mile at least one day on the weekends.  Life happens though and I need to listen to my body, so if I can walk .5 miles three days a week and 1 mile on the weekends (5 weekends in March), then I’ll make my goal of 11 miles for the month.  Realistic I think.  Nothing crazy.  Like I said in the last post, I’ve got to learn to balance and not overdo it.  I’m not where I was physically 7 months ago and I have to take that into consideration (which I haven’t been good at doing).

Ps. 1 mile down… 10 to go.

First activity of March is in the books!

I didn’t want to when I woke up this morning, but I’m glad I did. The weather has been so nice and I couldn’t pass it up. The kiddos rode their scooters while Hubby and I walked and talked. Hubby has started working mornings and leaves before I get up, then I’m exhausted when I get home in the evenings. It was good to be able to talk without either one of us being tired.

No matter how tired, how much I don’t feel like it, or how much I really just don’t wanna… Exercise is always a good answer and I never regret it.

This week my goal is to work on balancing my days better. 7 months pregnant and I still haven’t figured out how to not overdo it. I keep thinking I can do more in a day and my body rebels. I need to focus on pacing myself, and accepting that I can’t do as much as I could do pre-prego.

So of course C couldn’t let me be pregnant alone!!! Woohoo! She’s going to be having a little girl in June!

Neither of us are doing any running right now, but we still get together to walk. It has been a couple of weeks since we walked together due to the holidays and Hubby being gone. This morning we finally met up for a walk though.

Did you know that the mall opens early before the stores do??? At least ours does. We walked laps around the mall in the controlled temps while it was 30 outside. Awesome!! I’ve grown used to running outside in this weather, but that’s too cold for walking.

Since we were indoors my gps didn’t work, but we walked for about 65 minutes. I’ve been doing a pace between 17:30-19 minutes for my walks, so even if we were going the slowest we did at least a 5K. The time flew by while we chatted it up. It was great to have friend time with C and get some exercise. I really really needed that!

5K!  5K!  5K!  5K!  5K!  5K! 

Ah!  I’m so excited!  We had nothing planned today, the sunshine was out and I really wanted to do a long walk.  I went out intending to get distance in and not think about time, but I’m satisfied with the time too.  I needed to prove to myself that I still could do a 5K.  I did it!  I still can do it!  I feel great!  It feels amazing to have pushed my body again (within reason of course).  I was really stiff and my hips were tight, but I did it!

Ps.  I wore my half marathon shirt from last March today.  I had ordered it in my typical size, but it was so much bigger and looked like a tent on me.  I was miffed at the time knowing I’d never wear it.  Ha!!  It is fits nicely around my big belly now!  It is one of two or three of my original exercise shirts that fit around my belly.  I’m thankful for it now as I’m trying to not by any more clothes than I have to.

C and I walked together this morning! It has been way too long since she and I were out on the road together. It was nice to catch up and the time flew by.

After I got home I did a round of upper body exercises with the tension band too. It really feels good to be active, and to not be completely wiped out for the rest of the day afterwards.