All the better / faster / stronger

My week has been filled with this:And this:
This week I got sick of the extra 5lbs that have crept up since the winter, and that I never seemed to get rid of. Of course I tried, but something always got in the way: special dinners, birthdays, end of the year celebrations at school, 4th of July (Yummy...); it all boil down to lack of self control and loving food! Usually I'm pretty good at maintenance with running, and I do generally lead a healthier lifestyle than most Americans for sure; however, I'm cursed with some pretty poor genes. All the ladies in my family are very health conscious and work extra hard to be fit. So, this week, I downloaded myfitnesspal and did work yo, did work.

My caloric goal to lose 2lbs a week is between 1200-1400 depending on exercise. Now don't go thinking I'm starving myself, I eat a LOT of food throughout the day. Next Friday I'll post about a day in the life of calorie counting. Of course when I do my long run on Saturday my intake will be much higher. I'm feeling out what my body needs and working with it. I drank TONS of water. When I got sick of that, iced green tea or black tea (fresh brewed and UNSWEETENED), or Pellegrino with lemon or lime. If I had a craving for sweets, I took a Luna s'mores bar and cut it into 1/4's so I had a mini cookie type dessert if I needed it for 45 calories.

Weigh in: Down 3lbs this week, down 1lb last week. Two week total: down 4lbs!

My goal was down 5lbs, so I'm 1lb away from my maintenance goal. My dream goal is down 5lbs more, but that will be less of an ambition and more of an "if it happens it happens." I've come to realize I'm very muscular, and I must have big bones, because being 5'2" and weighing what I do is bordering on overweight. Confusing but true. I just want to be a little lighter on my feet as I train for the marathon. Fueling with HEALTHY foods.

Steel cut oats and blueberries are my FAV! O.M.G. they rock my world. Here's a recipe to keep you until next Friday:

Steel Cut Oats (1/4 cup dry = 1 cup cooked. I eat 1 1/2 cups) 220 calories

1 cup of blueberries 84 calories

1 teaspoon of honey or brown sugar: 15 calories

Calories for breakfast: 315 calories.

Keeps me full for at least four hours!!!

Shout out to my daddy-o, he has lost 23lbs in the last few months! SO proud of him!

What have you done today, to make you feel proud?

106 days until the ING NYC MARATHON!!!

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose

I saw this while sitting at a traffic light (Which happens a lot while driving in NYC), and I thought, "I like this." But since there's no like button in real life, I decided to add it to a blog!

This past week I had a wicked stomach bug and did zero running. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. I almost went into a runner's depression. However, I saw the face of my sponsored child, prayed a lot, and just like that: Monday morning I hit the ground running, literally. It's like a switch turned on and my stomach bug disappeared! Thank God. I was ready to go to the doctor and get a dreaded antibiotic. I think I did ok coming off of no cardio for a week:

Monday: 3 mile run

Tuesday: 4 mile run

Wednesday: AM strength/weights for 25 minutes and 20 minute swim, PM yoga

Don't you love sports movies? I heart them a million times over. Remember the Titans is my favorite. Just like the picture, random lines from good sports movies often come to me while running or when I'm down. Here are a few of my favorites, but I'm considering the above picture as one of my marathon mantras (OBVIOUSLY the Friday Night Lights quote in the title is already in!)

• Remember the Titans- "What are you? " / "Mobile, agile, hostile!" ... "Will you ever quit?" / "We want some mo', we want some mo'!"
• Miracle: "You're missing some of the best players." / "I'm not looking for the best players, Craig. I'm looking for the right ones."
• Miracle: "This is your time. Now go out there and take it!"

I could write down a MILLION quotes from the show Friday Night Lights. So sad to see it go.

Stay positive, put your best foot forward, and trod on faithfully during these hot humid runs!!!

TRUE HUSTLE / REAL HEART

108 DAYS UNTIL THE ING NYC MARATHON!!!

Trying new things

It has begun...marathon training that is!!! It's easy at the start, enthusiasm spilling over into joyous short runs. But then I look down the training schedule and, whoops, August is going to be hot run haven....September?! Jeez. At least my birthday in October isn't hampered too badly...oh but wait, 18 and 20 miles in October. Here goes nothing!!!

I did my first swim this morning, it was glorious! Did a quick 30 minute weights/core/strength session at the gym and headed over to the pool. It is SO beautiful, crisp and clean in the morning!!!

So I tried yoga today!!! It's a big cross training day for me ;-) It was cool. This is the yoga room, very simple and elegant. This used to be a restaurant, Brian and I ate a bad tasting pizza here and never went back...thus it inevitably became something else. It went really well, I was surprised. Chicrunner got me thinking of trying it, but I was nervous since my flexibility is really the worst it's ever been. Even though it was warm (About 86 degrees) it was good, I didn't push so hard that I would be in a lot of pain, only a little. I definitely got a workout from it and feel sore. I am going to try to go one to two times a week this summer; it's in the middle of the day and a donation class, so why not!

How is your summer training going? (I ask these questions and people rarely answer, but hey, it's worth a try!!!)

Speaking of tri's, congrats to my BIL and sister for completely a sprint try last week! They are a really athletic couple and push me to be less lazy :-D Interested in tri's? Check out Heather's blog. She's living it up outdoorsy style in Colorado, and completed her first Ironman Triathlon last year!!! Miss you H. Keep up the good work!

122 Days until the ING NYC Marathon!!!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall...

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall...

All the cracks and crooked cement,

contributed to Kristin's tragic descent.

Yup.

The cement owned me at 6am.

I was setting out on a fantastically cool morning for a 5 mile run, and my toe nicked some uneven sidewalk. Now, of course, my right arm was ready to catch my fall, but since I seemed to CATAPULT to the left, I skidded onto the graytop and scraped up my left arm pretty badly (mid forearm to just above my elbow). Yea, think about that for a minute....

I don't know how it happened either.

But you can be DARN STRAIGHT that I will be more aware on my drowsy first mile from now on. Thankfully my body is not too sore, but I have a horrible burning sensation on my arm at all times.

And no, no one was around. Oddly so. It was almost eery.

Brian told me I'm a real runner now. Thanks honey. (He also dragged himself from his slumber to assist in the clean up of tears, errr uhhh, I mean my injury.)

In CT for the weekend, so I'm hoping to make up some country miles and cross train (pool and bike). Also, I start SUMMER SCHOOL next week! I hope I can make it exciting for the kids. I'm crafting this weekend with my nieces, maybe I'll post if we, aka my niece, allows me to share her genius.

Official training starts July 4!!! I can't wait!!! I will run, walk, crawl, or even fall across that finish line.

128 days until the ING NYC Marathon!!!

Strength. Core. Ugh.

MY. CORE. IS. WEEEEEEEAK.

I did 10 minutes on the elliptical at a 10-12 resistance, and then did the following exercises in circuit form. Quick rotations. Lots of running in place/aerobic knee hikes in between.

Here are some of the things I did today:

Double leg circles; you start with legs straight up and make a HUGE circle with your toes pointed. The lower you go, the more ouch you get.

Arm dips. Yup. Take that triceps.

Did this with a 10lb circle weight. Planet Fitness doesn't have Kettlebells. Boo you PF. Yea for $10/month.

I channeled my inner Jillian Michaels. 25lb weight circle rotations over my head. Thanks to the only guy making it in this circuit.

12.5lb tricep dips. These hurt.

Weighted lunges. 12.5lbs.

Wall sits 25 seconds each with 12.5lbs weights above my head. This would have been a better weight position I'm sure!

Jumping squats! A new form of torture surely to induce vomiting at the gym!

I call these ab explosions; it's pilates. You gather up like this, then drop your appendages while contracting. Ab explosion, literally.

On to the next one / on to the next one / on to the next one...

Love these things!!! Just tried them on my long run Saturday and they were far less gooey and messy than Gu. I really liked them, and the taste was fabulous. Only downfall is that you take these every 20 minutes, versus Gu, which is once every 45 minutes-60 minutes. Now, on to the long run / on to the long run / on to the long run (Jay-Z style...)

This picture is in my favorite park where I do most of my 4+ mile runs. OBVIOUSLY Lambeau was not on my long run with me Saturday morning, but this picture was too good to give up. Saturday morning I awoke at 6:30am to get my 5 mile run in before my last day of Saturday school...and then driving out to the Hamptons. Seriously, the park could not have been more beautiful. Manhattan was surrounded by the most amazing fog and sunlight, I can't wait to do more morning runs there once school lets out and I can go there daily!!! On to the Hamptons / on to the Hamptons / on to the Hamptons...

Brilliantly beautiful. That's the only way to describe it. Perfect weather; not too hot, not too cold, fabulous friends, and a great card game called Trump It. We had such a nice time, which included obtaining two autographed bottles of Ramona's wine from Real Housewives of NYC! Yup, I'm a Housewife watcher, and (somewhat) proud of it.

Where have you been?!...

...is what I thought to my blog self. Ooops. Last post was two weeks ago. Double oopsies.

Training update: I have been CONSISTENT!!! It's a miracle! Yippee! I'm telling you, putting those checks on that training plan has been a huge motivator. It's smack dab in the middle of my fridge, staring me down daily. Even though the mileage is still a little low, it feels good that I'm completing what I need to do. Marathon training in t-minus two and a half weeks!!!

Child sponsorship update: 7 children have been sponsored through my marathon fundraising efforts! GO YOU PEOPLE SPONSORING KIDS, GO! I appreciate every single one of you. 19 more to go. If you are interested in transforming a child's life, and literally changing the course of their well being, contact me.

Fun things I've been doing update: I've done a lot in the past two weeks; saw Super 8 (Loved it), went to a fundraiser for tornado victims, went to an exhibition soccer game at Citi Field, hung out with the MAWGs, went to a baseball game, visited a museum, saw Shakespeare in the Park (INCREDIBLE), and much much more! Seriously, we are trying to enjoy NYC to the fullest. This is going to be an incredible summer...last day of school is 13 days away...or as we teachers have been counting down, "9 more wake-ups!"

143 days until the ING NYC MARATHON!!!