Weekend in Review

I had a great Memorial Day weekend close to home.  Hubby opened the pool a few days earlier which was great since it was so hot and humid in NY this past weekend.  I stayed close to home (read: in the pool) most of the time.

Ready for the first swim of the summer

Chillaxin'

On Saturday morning I did a 4 mile run with some of my new teammates.  In April when I did the High Rock Challenge, I met up with a team that trains together for obstacle course races.  It is a great group and I am now an official Shaolin Killah Bee!

Team photo from the local newspaper

That said, I ran the local Memorial Day run with my team.  It was hot and sunny and I was in a tutu with the other "Lady Beez."

Some of the Lady Beez

In case you ever wondered, yes, the tutu makes you faster!  Although the official race results clock me about 20 seconds longer, Garmin says I did it in 35:09 and THAT is a personal record for me.  (I'd love to show you but I cannot figure out how to import information here from Garmin Connect.  (Anyone?  Help?)  It was not easy, but at least I got one PR in for the month of May.  If this weekend is any indication of the summer to come, there will likely not be any more PRs until the Fall.

Pre-Race

I am very sexy after 4 sweaty hot miles.

Also, my boy got to run the kids race!!!  Thanks to my friend Jen who watched the kids while I ran.  (Thanks Jen!)

Look at his form.  I see a track star!

Little sister was so proud of Brother!

And my final update, my sister-in-law gave birth to my newest niece last night.  Welcome to the world Cheyanne Grace!

**What's new in your world?  I'd love to hear about it!**

Happy Memorial Day

I had a great weekend with friends and family that I will tell you all about tomorrow.  Today is memorial day and today's blog is just a message to any past, present and future military person and their families who may come across my little blog.

Not sure if I ever mentioned it, but my husband is a veteran.  He served a year in the Iraqi war after he spent several months in the recovery operation at the World Trade Center.  He deployed on Thanksgiving 2002 and thank God, after a year of worry, stress, prayers and sacrifice, he returned home to me.  Tragically so many of these stories do not end well.

My man in uniform

Every day, men and women gave their lives fighting for our freedom.  Today is for them.  Those we have lost and the families they left behind.  To them, I say thank you and may you rest in peace.  To their families, I say thank you for your ultimate sacrifice.  I can never imagine the heartbreak that you must feel.  They should know that my family appreciates them.

And to my current and future military, THANK YOU!  My brother is currently in basic training and words cannot describe how proud I am of him and to all of you.

My "little" brother

 Cheers and God speed.

My husband's tattoo says it all.

No Sleep Til...

Saturday morning was the Brooklyn Half Marathon.  It started at 7 which was a bit difficult logistically because who wants to watch my kids starting at 5:45 am.  Oh wait, my sister does.  Well, she agreed to do it for me because she rocks!  (Thanks Lisa!)

Nurys and I pre-race @ Brooklyn Museum

My friend Nurys and I were running this one together and the original goal was to beat last year's time from this race, which was a PR (personal record).  The best part of that was that neither one of us was exactly sure what it was.  Bad Runners!  We knew it is was 2 hours and a few minutes.  At some point, whether spoken or not, the goal became to break the 2 hour mark.  I think that I am going to blame this one on the all the speedy bloggers I read about every day.  I won't name names (but you know who you are), but I spend days on end reading about 8:30 miles, etc.  That said, we went out fast.  I have yet to download the Garmin but it was definitely too fast for us.  We were only 2-3 miles in and I knew it was going to be tough to keep up the speed.  I also knew that we wanted to PR.  So I was giving it everything I had.  It felt so much different than most of my past races.  I am usually social and talkative.  I try to keep a good speed but also enjoy myself.  As we left Prospect Park near the halfway mark, I knew it was going to be a challenge to keep the pace for the second half.

We finally made our way to Ocean Parkway which is straight flat course... in the sun.  I think it was between mile 8-9 that Nurys told me that her leg was numb.  I joked that at least she didn't feel any pain.  The joke was on us about a mile later when she did start to feel the pain.  There was a point when I said that we would need  to reevaluate our goal if she needed to slow down.  Well, that's what I meant to say.  I am pretty sure that what I did say was closer to - you are ruining our PR if we slow down now.  Well, it was an awkward next few miles of silence and tension as our pace slowed by as much as a minute.  She would take walk breaks and I would slow to a really slow jog to wait for her.  As some points, I tried to walk to wait for her but my legs do not do well when they stop and go too much.

Well, we finished the race in 2:11:48, which is obviously not sub-2 hours and not faster than last year's 2:08:08 (which I looked up this morning.)  Post-race we each apologized and headed to brunch (aka breakfast  + liquor).  Over egg white omlettes, mimosas and screwdrivers, we discussed the lessons we learned from this race.  Here's the list plus a few I thought about throughout the rest of the weekend.

Post-Race in Coney Island

Brooklyn Half Marathon Takeaways 2012

1. Skip leg weights and kickboxing in the days before a desired PR.
2. Know your PR.  I mean, c'mon it's an accomplishment. You should know it like your kids' names.
3. Know the course in advance.
4. Set a clear goal. Once you set a goal, know the pace you need to achieve it.
5. Have a Plan B.
6. Don't say what you think to your friend when you are running on empty.  You might hurt someone's feelings.
7. Running with someone when you are clearly pissed at each other sucks (See #6.)
8. Slow down if you are going all out at mile 3 and still have 10 miles to go.  (This one is for me. Some of you are cool enough to do this for 13 miles.)
9. Mimosas are best after 13 miles.

The rest of the weekend was productive and restful.  Park with the kids, visit with family, laundry and 4 bags of old clothes out of the house.  This week hubby is opening the pool.  Bring on Summer 2012!

Do you know your PRs?  Do you know your kids names?  What have you learned from mistakes prepping for and running a race?

To Sleep or Not To Sleep

I try to make the most of my mornings. The 5-6 a.m. hour is mine to spend as I see fit. Some might see this time as part of your sleeping time, but as a full-time working mom of two, this is MY time.  Usually, before bed, I decide what I'll do and put my things out. If it's yoga, I set up the mat and my sports bra, if hubby is home and I can run it's my sneakers and my Garmin or sometimes I'll hit the gym at my job before work.  Whichever the activity, before I hit the pillow I have everything ready to go.

Prep on a yoga morning

Prep on a run morning - I <3 Garmin (#justsayin)

Am I tired at 5 a.m.?  Of course, I'm human, but feeling accomplished at 6 AM makes it completely worth it and let's face it, how many people can say that?

Before yesterday's run

After run, feeling accomplished.
 (Full Disclosure: It's not all sweat, it was drizzling out.)

Anyway, sometimes I'm exhausted and I just can't get up, because I was either studying the night before or indulging in bad reality television.  When that happens, I eventually wake up with some guilt about wasting the hour, but not today... because sometimes the body need rest.  I have been kicking it hard with the first week of LiveFit.  Throw in some yoga and running and I'm happy.  I have the Brooklyn Half Marathon in two days so let the preparation begin.  My girl Nurys picked up my bib and shirt (yeah, technical - although unisex, really?!) and I have secured a babysitter (thanks sister!)

Lovin the Brooklyn bag!

After work I am taking kickboxing through a Groupon for JMK Fitness.  I took it last week and it was a great workout.  Plus it's three blocks from my job, has a 4:30 class and is 2 blocks from my bus stop.  It doesn't get more convenient than that!  So, if you see the sweaty chick on the bus at 5:35, that's me. Please say hi!


What are you doing today to make it a great day?  Do you work out in the morning?  If so, what time?  


Off Topic:  I want to make oatmeal, protein pancakes this weekend?  Anyone have a tried and true recipe?  Were they yummy?

Live and Fit

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day with their mothers, kids or just the people that they love. As for me,  I did not see my mother yesterday as she was out of town.  I did however make sure that she got a pocket full of sunshine nice bouquet of flowers.

Mom and I a few years ago.  I was pregnant with the little one in this picture.

I slept late (almost until 7 a.m.) and then the kids and I went for a fancy breakfast together.  After bagels (for them) and coffee (for me) at Dunkin Donuts, we headed to Trader Joe's for some shopping.  The kids made sure to remind me that I am a mother by making me scold them constantly.

My monsters - They are not a cute as they seem :)

It was so much fun.  Then we headed over the Verrazano to see my grandma.  She is 97 years old and is still going strong.

Grandma and my boy

After a few hours over there, we headed back to the Island of Staten where I spent the majority of the day with one of my best friend's family.  We took the kids to the park since it was a gorgeous day and it turns out that only the adults wanted to play.  My friend and I kicked around a soccer ball and then I managed to pull off 1/2 unassisted pull up.  Go me!

At the park... You kids sit here.  Your moms are going to play now.

Hubby got home from work in the evening and met us there for dinner and dessert.

Enjoying Mothers Day

My friend's sister made a burger cake... It was like my last supper!

Then we went home for baths and bedtime.  After the kids were in dreamland, I started boiling a million eggs for this week's new challenge...

As of today I have started Jamie Eason's LiveFit program.  It is a 12 week program that I stumbled upon at Rhonda's blog.  After reading through the diet and work out plan, I decided I would give it a shot.  My trip to Trader Joe's was to get some of the food staples that I will need.  Eason provides a meal plan for 5-6 meals a day and a list of approved foods.  None of the processed food crap that I had in my house from my birthday was going to cut it.  Luckily I had polished off the Costco-sized bag of Pirates Booty last week (Bad Jen!)

Anyway, so far so good.  I am on my fourth "meal" as I type and I completed the first workout at lunch.  It might be a logistical issue on days that I cannot get to the gym, but she has 2 "emergency at-home work outs" on the site.  I do need to figure out which supplements I plan to take and twitch the meal schedule, but I figured I will do that as I go.  Per the plan, you are supposed to eat within an hour of waking up.  I wake up around 5 a.m. most days, but my body will not accept food for at least 1-2 hours, which puts me in the middle of my commute. So, we'll see.

One live and fit day at a time!

Did you ever try a similar plan? Did you find it difficult to adapt it to your lifestyle? What was the outcome?

Happy Mothers Day

I just wanted to wish all the moms out there a happy mothers day.  I started my day by thanking my children for making me a mother.  I am ending it at the end of my energy and patience level.  Yet, I am still grateful.  Motherhood is not easy and it is not for everyone, but it is for me.   Being a mother is not all that I am, but it is the most important part of my life.

My heart belongs to these two monsters.

What's New

Hello all.  I have been wanting to blog for days and but have not been able to make the time to do it.  So, because I have been such a slacker, there are some key events that you don't know about,   I'll go in chronological order to catch you up on my exciting life (Ha!)  You might want to take notes.

1. New Additions to the Family:  Patty, Mimi, Deuces, C. Sanders, Dominique, QTip, Nugget and three other feathers friends (whose names escape me) are new to our family.  A few months ago, hubby decided that he wanted to raise some chickens so, he restored a coop and we went to a farm to get a few chickens.  I was skeptical to say the least, but wanted to be supportive and now, "The Ladies" have pretty much become part of the family.  My son lets them out in the morning and hubby or I check on them in the evening.  In a few more months, they will be egg-producing family members, which will be great for my protein intake (not to mention my wallet), so maybe, just maybe, this was a good idea!

QTip

Nugget

When they were MUCH smaller

2. High Rock Challenge:  Two weeks ago, I checked "Obstacle Course Race" off of my list of new things to try.  It happened by accident, so I figured it was meant to be.  I got a text from a friend asking if I wanted to step in and take the place of someone's partner couldn't do the challenge and since I had been going to all the training sessions with Next Level Performance in the park and my running schedule was on point, I said yes! I finished the race in just under 3 hours and plan to smash that time next year. Not only did I have a great time! I  also met a great team of like-minded people and now I am an official Shaolin Killa Bee. Until then, I have the Rugged Maniac in Brooklyn coming up in June.

High Rock Challenge 2012

Some of my teammates - post-race beers 

3. Lucky Me:  Over the last few weeks, I have been so lucky with blog giveaways.  First I won the Nuun from Kelly at RunFastMommy.  Then I won a PetitBox from BexLife, which  I cannot wait to share with my sister.  If that wasn't enough good luck, I also won Mini Peeps snack bags from Laura at NoEasyWayOutFitness.com.  Thank you to all of you for having these great giveaways.  Hopefully at some point, I can do the same for my readers.  (Hello Sponsors?!)

4. 37: This past Sunday was my birthday.  I spent most of the weekend partying and then relaxing, although I started Saturday morning with a 12 mile run (in my amazing brand new Kayanos).  My friend, Nurys and I put in our longest training run together with the race taking place in two weeks.  It was a great way to start off a celebration.  After a shower and some laundry (what's new?), many of my great friends and family came by to celebrate.  Some brought yummy snacks like homemade hummus and pita chips, guacamole, and yummy cheese(s) and veggies.  My friend Pam, who is an amazing cook and baker, made me a delicious cake, margarita cupcakes (read: tequila) and chocolate oreo creamcheese balls that were to die for.  Hubby also made some amazing chicken and steak fajitas, in honor of Cinco De Mayo (which is Spanish for Jen's Birthday Eve). There was also much alcohol, so let's just say I never got to watch the Mayweather/Cotto fight later that evening.

Yes, I put these things in my calendar

My beautiful new Kayanos.  Who doesn't love that new sneaker smell?

Some of the deliciousness of my birthday celebration!

Chocolate Balls of Heaven

Tequila anyone?

My yummy cake!

And there were drinks and then...

... a Birthday Morning Hangover

5. Proud Sister: On Sunday afternoon, my family had a little send off for my little brother that included leftover apps (see #4) and yummy cheesesteak sandwiches.  He is 21 years old and headed to US Marine
Corp bootcamp on Monday morning.  I am extremely proud of him and look forward to attending his graduation in 12 weeks.

My awesome brother and sisters :)

5. Next Goal:  Thanks to a blog post I fell upon by Rhonda at KidsRunWild, I will be starting the Jamie Eaton LiveFit program on Monday.  It is a plan for building muscle and losing body fat.  It includes very specific workouts and a clean eating diet.  It is definitely going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it.  I will definitely have more details for you on this next week as I get started.

With that, consider yourself caught up.  I will try my best to stay current going forward.  I am going to be more organized at 37, at least I'm going to try.

Feel free to add belated birthday wishes here... :)

Going to the Next Level

Last night I went to Next Level Performance in Staten Island.  It is the gym that did the Saturday training sessions for the High Rock challenge.  They graciously offered those of us who worked out in the park a two-week trial of the gym.  While I knew it wouldn't be a typical gym experience, I wasn't really sure what to expect.  The 8 p.m. class was the H.I.I.T. Xtreme.  High Intensity Interval Training is hard enough, now let's make it extreme.  Scary!  

I met two girls (sisters) from the Saturday training there which made it less awkward for a first timer.  The trainers were friendly and welcoming and remembered us from the park.  The gym is an open warehouse with a rubber matted floor, lots of equipment (TRX, kettlebells, link chains) without all the typical gym machines (treadmills, ellipticals, etc.)  You can tell right away they are a no nonsense gym.  This is not the place that you join and and expect to breeze through work outs or just go through the motions.  Within a few minutes, we got down to business.

We started with a warm up that some might call a workout.  Then we were introduced to the R.O.D. (routine of the day).

H.I.I.T.  X-treme:

Everyone must complete 10 rounds (every minute on the minute) of each exercise

• 20 KB Swings (24kg/16kg)
• 15 Squat Jumps
• 10 Push-ups (NLP Style)
• 5 Burpees

Total reps= 500

The trainers, Juan and Chris first showed us newbies proper form for the kettlebell swings.  I kept thinking a squat was in order when in fact it's all about the hips.  Then the clock started and round by round, the sweat started pouring.  The trainers were also doing the workout with us while still making sure everyone had proper form.  Forty minutes later I was so glad that I went... and that it was over.

I was a great work out and I left feeling accomplished.  I hope to try out another class within the next week and then start collecting donations so I can get a membership. :)  It's a perfect birthday gift, anyone?

If you are ever in or around Staten Island, check this gym out!  If not, buy me a membership and you can live vicariously through my workouts. :)

May Day

Happy May Day!  May Day is the celebration of Spring and also the original "Labor Day" when people celebrate the establishment of the eight-hour work day.  Let that put your "long" work day in perspective and then, on your lunch hour, find a pole and dance around it with ribbons.   Or you can just celebrate the most important part of this holiday and send birthday wishes to my sister (in the comments section.)

Happy Birthday Lisa!

My sister and my gorgeous nephew! 

Being that it is a new month and my favorite month of the year, I thought it was important to set some goals.  It's going to be a busy month with lots of commitments and activities so I need attainable , yet challenging goals.

1. PR in Brooklyn half marathon on 5/19. (12 mile training run scheduled for Saturday)
2. Do more trail running.  (I had this revelation last weekend.  I will explain in a future post.)
3. Organize clothes dressers and closets.  (If I haven't worn it in two years, it's got to go!)
4. Study Personal Trainer material at least 8 hours a week.

This month will be all about compromise and scheduling.  I have already been trying to spend more time studying.  This has led to pretty much giving up television.  I study most nights after hubby goes to bed..  The only time I watch TV at this point is while folding laundry or on a treadmill and since I expect the weather to allow more outside runs, that TV time is out too.  Luckily, the Biggest Loser finale is tonight so, that's one less show I will need to catch up on.  Thanks to the technology of DVR, Revenge, Blue Bloods and Mob Wives will all be there when I have time.  For now, it's all about hitting the books to get certified to do personal training.

In addition to my great sister being born in May, so was I.  My birthday is on Sunday and I have a full weekend planned with long runs, half marathon outfit shopping, parties and brunches.  My little brother is also having an important day on Sunday.  He is reporting for US Marine Corp Boot Camp and I definitely plan to see him on Sunday before he leaves.  

My brother and me circa 1992

Still a few years old, but a classic pic of me and my brother and sisters.

Originally, I was also adding training for Spartan Sprint to my May goals since the race is scheduled for June 2 but, this is one of those times when life and family definitely overrules since it's my nine year anniversary plus my little sister's high school graduation.  So, I'll bank that for next year. ;)

With that, back to work and my to-do list...

What is your busiest month of the year?  How do you get everything done when life gets busy?  When is your birthday?  How will you celebrate?  and don't forget... say Happy birthday to my sister (please)!