Snow Day

Yesterday I did an Insanity work out that a coworker suggested and it was well.... INSANE! It kicked my butt and my butt is sore to prove it : ( I love a good work out but I wish I had saved it for another day. It is a workout that needs to back up to a day of rest. Usually if I have a snow day I take advantage and get a long run on the treadmill while Parker naps. Well 3 slow miles and I was D-O-N-E! Did I mention my butt is sore?? So my day in terms of working out was minimal but my day with Parker was great! If you want to see what we did all day you can check out my other blog where I write about what is #1 in my life: Parker Scott.

Wish List

Since my current Garmin hit the pavement I need a new one. Granted you could run without a Garmin but there are some days that I really enjoy having my Garmin and it helps a lot with pace work. SO this item knocked a few other "wants" off the list.

I want to try out the Saucony Kinvara. I have tried them on 3 times and ran in them once at a race expo and really like them! They are a lightweight shoe similar to the Nike Free. I do best in shoes with little support. Stability shoes always leave me hurting and I have always worn Sauconys. Pre-running I wore them when I worked out at the gym and I always wore their cushion shoes when I was working standing on my feet. I have been in my current shoes since August so they have 400+ miles on them! I have always worn white shoes so I thought I would change it up with black.

These pants are from Athleta and are $$$. BUT they come in petite! Under Armour and Nike pants are 4 inches too long for me and I get sick of running on my pants and being soaked to my knees because my pants get wet the whole time I run. I looked all summer on clearance racks but my size is never left and I can never find a petite. These are cold gear pants and I am in need of thicker pants. My plan is to wear my regular tights under these and be good to go.

Other items I want:

New hat

A second cold gear shirt

Allied Medal Hanger

So Santa if you are listening ; ) I have been really good and I promise I will run all the time if you bring me everything on my list!

9 miles

This morning I ran 9 miles on the treadmill; it took me like 2 hours because I had to stop and change a diaper and check on Parker a couple of times. That is the farthest I have ever ran on a treadmill! I had a lot today and driving into town, bundling up and waiting on daylight was not an option. So I drug out of bed at 6:30 am and hit the treadmill. That is another first! I am NOT good at getting out of bed early to run but it feels so good to have 10 miles done before 8 am. Too bad I am going to eat every calorie I burned at my high school girls get together this afternoon.

Hope you and your family & friends are enjoying the holidays! My son is brining back the Christmas Spirit to this Scrooge.

Running from the Holidays : )

So the next two weeks are going to be filled with food, food, food. I never make it thru the holidays without gaining weight! Because I love sweets! Starting tomorrow work will be a buffet of sweets, appetizers, donuts and random other holiday goodies. Then I am having friends over Saturday, couple of nights out and then the real holiday meal start! That is a A LOT of calories. I am trying my best to fend them off. You would think I would not make $100 worth of candy in my own kitchen, huh? Nah... I love making peanut butter balls, oreo truffles, fudge, brownies and cookies. The best part about making is them is that I get to eat one or two and then give the rest away.

Speaking of running I watched the Biggest Loser marathon while I was running tonight and cried like a baby. I have watched numerous episodes before but since I have now ran a marathon myself I felt much more connected to the contestants. When Ada said she wanted to sit down at mile 23/24 I was sobbing. That was the same time I had to fight thru one of my biggest moments. Then when the ran across the finish with their family I was sobbing again. Good thing I was in the privacy of my own basement and not in a gym somewhere.

I e-mailed my husband my running wish list and he was a little sticker shocked by the prices. I want new good running pants and I have to hate a petite so they are like $90 bucks. I want new running shoes and unfortunately my Garmin and the black top had an unfortunate meeting so I guess I need a new one : (

103 miles to go! I will make it! Even if I have to sit on the trainer for 3 hours : )

If any short girls out there know of pants that run shorter or who makes petite let me know. I am 5 foot 2 (barely) so I need really short pants. Thanks!

Proud of Myself!

So Thanksgiving week was going to be a difficult week to get in any working out. Starting on Sunday I was going to be out of town at a conference and then Thanksgiving is always a whirl wind of events; add in going to see Granddaddy at the hospital and things get even more complicated. So I decided to take it one day at a time. I knew the Galt House had a great work out facility so I packed clothes and hoped my teaching buddy was willing to go work out or be okay to fly solo while I went and worked out. On the way up I learned she had packed clothes too! First night there we found out the facilities closed at 7:00 so we did 20 minutes on the treadmill and then walked stairs. Thats right we were the two crazy teachers climbing 25 flights of stairs at the Galt House. We did that for 20 minutes to get in the rest of our cardio. Second day we were lucky that the gym was open until later so we were able to get in 40 minutes the gym.

Once I was back home it was time for the festivities to being. I woke up early on Thanksgiving to knock out 5 miles on the treadmill and even after being sleep deprived from my 4am Black Friday shopping I hit the treadmill instead of napping : ) Super proud of my motivation to get it done! Now is time to have 3 normal weeks before Christmas festivities really pick up. Sweet potato casserole and cheesecake stay away! I need to get in 4.7 miles a day to knock out my 2010 miles for the year. Which is very possible with the bike trainer and the 10 mile runs on Saturdays.

Thanks for all the prayers for Granddaddy. He is doing much better. Eating on his own and overall feeling well. He will have to go to a nursing home since my grandmother will not be able to care for him but we are just thankful for the extra time we will have with him. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with their family.

Help Parker Win!

Parker is in a contest : ) If you do the facebook thing go to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44153&id=139325159412554

and vote for Parker! You will also need to like the photography page so that you can hit "like". Thanks! We win free photographs and cake!

Trying to find time...

Busy : ( I have busy for a not so great reason! My Granddaddy has been in the hospital and is not doing well. While there is no place else I would rather be than sitting with him in the hospital I do miss running. I got in 10 miles Saturday morning because I was so stressed and sad but know I will not be able to run this week. I am going to try to run at night on the treadmill for a little bit. Anyone than runs knows you get antsy when you can not run and when I am under stress I am awful to be around if I have not been able to run. Friday night I was very emotional about loosing Granddaddy and I cried all night. So Saturday before I went to the hospital I ran my 10 miles and cried most of them but it helped so much! I just feel like I can deal with things better when I have an outlet for my stress. I am sure people were thinking "if it hurst so bad why is she running?" But I am not a crier and I needed somewhere to leave my tears : )

BUT spending time with my Granddaddy and watching Parker get kisses from his namesake is priceless and I will not run for weeks just to have more time with him.

Ramblings and Venting

Current workout plan:

5-6 days a week 1 hour of cardio; 3 bike and 3 run or 2 bike and 3 run depending on the week. One of those runs will be my Saturday run which I am planning on getting in 10 miles every Saturday (obviously that will take longer than an hour). Now that the sun comes up before 8:00 I am hoping to start my Saturday off with a nice 10 mile run. Something about 10 miles makes me feel great. I also am no longer running with my Garmin which feels great! I work on speed on the treadmill but for long runs I just run courses I know the distance of and leave the garmin at home; just me, my thoughts and my music!

Random thoughts:

I need a race to train for! Thinking a marathon in Knoxville in April or just wait until the half but that doesn't seem motivating enough : ( Frustrated that there aren't more races in the winter. Plenty of 5Ks but I am done wasting money on them and it takes too much time out of my day to get in just 3 miles. I would rather spend the time it takes to drive there, wait, run, wait, drive home.... well running!

Here comes the venting! ..... I am sick of the skinny comments! I have my weight back down to where I want it. I have not lost ONE pound since APRIL! I have just continued to tone up. It is RUDE to say the following to skinny people "I am surprised you even eat!", "What do you eat?", "Why would you work out that much?". I do not go up to people who are overweight and say "How much do you weigh?", "How much do you eat?", or "Why don't you work out?". I eat 3 meals everyday. I consume the needed calories for someone of my size and I am well within the healthy range for a 5 foot 2 petite woman. I have met with my doctor multiple times about my working out and he knows what I eat and how much. Basically I don't eat junk (minus by daily regimen of cupcakes) and I work out 5 to 6 days a week. Venting done!

Little fact about me: I am a scrooge : ) The holidays are not that big of a deal to me. I like going to see family and eating (see I eat...oops I said I was done venting) but I think you can be with family anytime of the year. Going to see your family once a year because you HAVE to because it is the holidays is not what the holidays are about. Also, I am not a present person. I could honestly go the entire Christmas season without receiving one gift. As far as giving goes I would rather buy someone a gift when I see something I know they would like, even if it is on March 12th and not the week before December 25th. Point of this rant? Most people are all a twitter about the holidays; I on the other hand find myself getting increasing annoyed : (

After reading a couple of blogs about the New York Marathon I have decided it is a must! I even want to enter the lottery right now! I think I am going to hold off for a couple years since I am planning on going big for my 30th. I am thinking Arizona instead of Disney.

Thinking about new shoes?!?! Going to change it up. That will be a post of its own!

Sorry for the grumpy post : ( I will be more cheerful next time I promise!

Tagged! It is about food!

As soon as I saw Big Daddy Diesel had been tagged I knew it was my turn : ) But I like to talk about food!

If you could eat anything without any health repercussions or guilt, what would your meal be?

Dessert! Dessert! Dessert! A lot of you are saying but Twila you eat dessert everyday! But I spend the whole time on the treadmill or bike saying "I ate a cupcake, I ate a cupcake!" I could honestly eat sweets until I threw up! I love junk! I could go days without eating meat, veggies or fruit and simply eat processed junk food : ) That is just sad to admit. I seriously have the worst eating habits knows to man.

If you could meet anyone living or dead who would it be and why?
I would love to meet my mom's dad. He passed away a few years before I was born and I hear a lot about him from my mom and her sisters. He just seems like a real neat guy. I have always been a little sad about that fact I did not know one of my grandparents.

On a lighter note I really want to meet Steven Tyler! He will always be my #1 celebrity crush. I am going to watch American Idol (a show I HATE) just to see him weekly.

Why did you start blogging and what did you expect when you started?

My original blog is about my son Parker. I started that blog in June 2008 when I first got pregnant but I miscarried. I kept my blog going during my infertility issues and kept the blog to serve as a pregnancy journal. Then I had a few family and friends following my blog to keep up with Parker. In January; by that time Parker was 1 and a half, I made a news year resolution to get in 2010 miles of exercise in the year 2010 so I started a running blog. The blog community had gotten me through a miscarriage, pregnancy, newborn days, and toddler days so I figured it would get me through becoming a runner! I have grown so much as a runner because of my blog friends; granted I feel like a stalker at times : )

What is the one book you could read over and over again?
I have read "Flowers in the Attic" by V.C. Andrews at least 10 times since I read it for the first time in 5th grade; I think I was too young to read it then. Other than that I do not read books more than one time. I love to read and when I have the summers off (I teach) I ready no less than 20 books during the summer. When I was at the beach this summer I read a book everyday. Favorite authors and series include: James Patterson, Nicholas Spark, Patricia Cornwell, Mary Higgins Clark, Twilight series, Sookie Stackhouse series, Mitch Album and the Harry Potter series. I have also started reading "running" books such as Run Like a Mother.

If you could travel anywhere, where would it be?
My bucket list of places to travel to is LONG! I want to see all 50 states and travel Europe before I die. BUT if you made me pick one place it would be Hawaii. I have in my head that Hawaii is going to be some magical island where I will be laying in the sun getting a golden tan, drinking fruity drinks, eating fresh fruit and swimming with sea turtles. Don't ruin my fantasy!

If you could have a TV show on the Food Network, what would it be?

I don't cook at all : ( and I don't think I can name one show on Food Network. Don't get me wrong I can cook basic foods but I rarely cook. Most nights it is just me and Parker at home since Scott works out of town so we spend a lot of nights eating frozen meals. Mom of the year I know! I am working on it I promise.


What was the best meal you ever had?
I know I have walked away from a lot of places saying "That is the best meal I have ever had" but for some reason right now I am at a loss! Hands down good Mexican is always a BEST meal. I am lucky to have a great Mexican restaurant where we live. The one meal that sticks out in my head at this moment is an anniversary dinner at The Melting Pot. Not sure if the food was the great or just the night itself; or the ending the meal elbow deep in a bowl of melted chocolate.

Who has been the greatest influence on your love for food and learning to cook?
Learning to cook?? Well lets say I got my lack of cooking honest. My mom is a great cook and is capable of cooking anything in the world but we just don't like to do it. My love for food probably comes from my husband. When we met I was PICKY. If you think what I eat now is bad you would not believe how horrible I ate 10 years ago. Scott has done a great job of introducing me to new foods and encouraging me to try different foods.

I am going to torture... umm tag the following people:

Racing with Babies

Am I Crazy of Just Crazy (one of my real life friends; Crystal)

Running Librarian

Book Worm Runs

Hope you had fun getting to know me better!

Iron Horse Half Marathon

I signed up or this half marathon early because I wanted to support the local races and this was its first year. I didn't even think about the fact I would be running it 2 weeks after my marathon. I was really unsure if I wanted to run this race but I am a race addict so I did. I felt very unprepared for many reasons:

1. For the past 2 months I have been perfecting running a 10 minute mile for the 26.2

2. I barely ran the week after my marathon and it was awkward and slow

3. This weekend was crazy busy!

I was so blah about the whole race I did not do anything to prepare. I had a girl I know go get my packet and didn't even go pick it up from her house. The night before I ate a huge Mexican meal and threw out some random running clothes. I rode up with a Lisa (my chiropractor's wife) and we decided we would try to run together. I was hoping to maintain a 9:00 minute mile and she is more like a 8:00 minute mile runner. It was a small crowd of under a 1,000 so it was not too hard to get out of the pack. We did our first mile in 8:15.... uh oh am I going out to fast? I decided what the heck lets see what you got! I can run 8:00 minute miles at shorter distances (3-6 miles) but have never been able to maintain anything better than a 9 something on the longer distances. Well Lisa and I just chatted it up and were at mile 6 in a flash. Every mile was 8:33, 8:45, 8:38! What the heck? On top of that it was a hilly course! It was never flat for more than a few minutes. But we just kept on trucking. At mile 11 we went up one last big hill and Lisa pulled ahead of me. Going down the hill I knew she was going to fly so I let her go. But I told myself not to pull back too much. When I looked at my watch going into the last 3 tenths I was running 7:45! Sweet! The clock was 1:53:00 even when I finished but I still waiting on my official chip time. Should be a minute or two faster. My last half back in March was a 2:32!

*Official time 1:52:11; 9th in age group, 8:34 pace!

Overall it was a great run! Chilly start (low 40s) but turned out to be a great morning. Plenty of water, great volunteers, nice country course with a lot of scenery. You would have to train for hills to be ready for it but I think I will run it again next year.