What was I thinking!

The last race I did before I got knocked up was Tufts 10K for women in Boston. I actually found out I was pregos a couple days after that race.

 It is a great race and event. I swore I would do the race every year. So maybe a month before Logan was born I signed up for this years race. I figured it would help motivate me to get back into running after giving birth. I knew I probably wouldn't be up to running the full 6.2 miles but I would try and run as much as I could. Fortunately I didn't need the motivation of the race to get my running shoes back on. I practically wanted to run out of the hospital. What I wasn't expecting though was this third pregnancy and labor was really going to do a number on my hips/back. So running has been a struggle. I started to slowly add in some running/walking exercising to my life, and it didn't end so well. I am now back to limiting my exercising. It's very frustrating to say the least. 
 So now I am two and a half weeks out from the 10K and I have barley walked the distance since last years race. So I will not be running any of it, But I will still be doing the race. Since being the best Ironman spectator ever I do know I am capable of walking the distance. It just might be a bit slower then I am used to. And not running it make me feel a bit embarrassed and sad, but it also gives me the motivation to make sure that next year I WILL be running it, and hopefully will get a PR! :)

Challenges

So the biggest challenge I have faced when trying to get back on track with my running is my back. Three pregnancies and births really have done a number on my lower back and hips. Off and on for the last 6 years I have had sciatic pain. It's this awful nerve pinching that shoots sharp pain down your leg. Making it very hard to move around. It was never really that bad, I would just move the wrong way and it would act up. Then I would rest and it would be better the next day. When I started running it never bothered me unless I was running longer runs like 4-6 miles. Even then I would have to sit and rest for the day and it would be better the next day. But pregnancy and baby number three decided to make things worse. Since peeing on the stick my sciatic had been acting up in a bad way. I assumed giving birth was the cure. Ha! Silly me. I hobbled my way out of the hospital in worse shape then going in almost. So I went to the chiropractor and got adjusted. Which helped. Until I decided to strap on my sneakers and go out for my first post-baby run. Yeah, I couldn't move. Making parenting very difficult. So anyway, I am now working with my chiropractor trying to get myself in good condition to train for and run a 13.1. I am just now able to run a little at a time, although it still acts up a bit. But it gets better every day and although things aren't moving as fast as I would like, it IS getting better. And with a lot of time and patients I WILL reach my 13.1 goal.
 My other challenge is to eat the right foods and lose some weight which will greatly help my back issues. I am still stuck in my very bad pregnancy eating habits. Which were extremely bad! So starting today I am only putting healthy whole foods in me and cutting down on my gigantic serving sizes. "What? You mean a whole pizza isn't a proper serving size??"
 I am making life changes today! I know it won't go smoothly and I won't always be perfect (I know! Hard to believe.) But I will sure as hell try my hardest and I will run those 13.1 miles!!

Mission to MILF

Alright, Mission to MILF is in full swing!!! After 9 months of pregnancy with baby #3, and a couple months of moving and renovating I am giving myself no more excuses. It is time to get myself back in shape and lose about half my body weight.

 I have a bucket list full of some athletic challenges. First thing on the list to tackle is a 13.1 in September 2013. Also going from a somewhat healthy eater to crappy eater of the year, leaves me wanting to rediscover the healthy foods I used to enjoy so much.

 So getting back into blogging will hopefully help me vent, experiment, explore, and share my journey to be one super hot Mom!!

Holy Cow! I Did It!!!

So I have been looking back at past posts of my Couch to 5K journey, trying to think of something to say about how I feel now that I have completed my goal of running a 5K.  It is amazing to see how my views on running have changed over the last 16 weeks. When I started this "Project" all I really wanted to do was run a full 5K just to be able to say I did it. I had no plans of becoming a runner, I wasn't even sure I would make it through to do the first one. Now I have training schedules and plans of Half marathons in my not so near future.

 Doing that first 5K was a mix of emotions for me. Being sick the whole week prior to the race affected my performance and I ran the race way slower then I was expecting. Thus making me feel disappointed. But crossing that finish line, running every step of that race, doing the 5K I set out to was an amazing feeling. I set a goal, worked hard and achieved it. I am not good at following through and sticking with things. But this time I did and it was so worth it.

 Running is kinda a solo sport. Your the only one making your legs move, talking yourself into not stopping, making yourself to push harder. But to say I did this on my own would be a mistake. I had a whole army helping me reach this goal. My husband dealing with non-stop running talk, making sure we budget money for running clothes and races, and for letting me get away for workouts on the weekends. My Mother and father for watching the kids for me during the week when I needed to get away for a work out. My Brother Andy for being a bad ass Iron man and inspiring me to start this journey in the first place. Last but not least my Brother Eric also known as my coach. He made my schedule and forced me to check in with him on how every work out went. He was my go to guy with all my running questions. I am sure all my concerns were annoyingly trivial and "Newbie" to him, but he still helped me however he could. He ran a couple workouts with me at my extremely slow pace, and went out of his way to make sure he was at my first race and ran every step with me even though I was disappointingly slow. I am so Thankful for him and all he has done to help me reach this goal. I am an extremely lucky sister.

 So What now? you say. Well I have a bunch of 5K's planned for the spring and summer. But my next big goal is a 10K race in October. So my running shoes are still on, and I don't think they will coming off anytime soon!!

5 Sleeps!

That is right! As The Princess would say, 5 Sleeps until my first 5K. I have no words really. I can not believe that I even made it this far. 

15 weeks

111 miles

This is crazy!!! I have two more workouts then the big race. I am excited, nervous, scared and happy all at the same time. I am totally blown away that I am going to do this. Run a 5K. Up til this adventure I never ran more then 1 mile and not by choice. Now I find I can run 3 miles, and feel amazing after.

Well with me luck and think of me Friday because me and my pink sparkle skirt will be running that 3.1 miles!

The Kids

So here is a quick update on my babies. We have been kind of in hiding the last few weeks. The whole family was sick and then recovering from all being sick. Stomach bugs are the worst. When it was all over I disinfected the house from top to bottom.

But now we are all better and the kids are as cute as ever. I think we just had a couple of growth spurts, since my kids see very tall and skinny all of a sudden. Mason is getting to be such a big boy. He is starting understand things more and getting his points across as well. He has started saying a few words here and there. Mostly just a few sounds that only a few people can understand as words. 

I have been having a hard time watching Kylie grow all of a sudden. It makes me really sad to see my little girl get so big. She is so independent and can do most things all on her own. She rarely needs me and although it is nice to not have to help her with everything. It is sad to not have her need me for most things :(

All in all we are doing well. We have a couple busy months ahead of us, so hopfully I can keep you posted on some Hall Family outing! :)

The Free Beer At The End Was The Best Reward!!

On Sunday March 27th 2011 I ran my first race ever. The Manchester Shamrock Shuffle. It was a 2 mile race I did with some friends for fun. I wanted to get a race under my belt, So I knew what to expect at my 5K in April. My goal was to just run the whole thing. I was sure I could since I run 2+ miles in training, but I wanted to see what I could do in a racing environment. Well I ended up cutting over a minute off my normal mile pace. I am totally surprised with this! Don't get me wrong, it was tough work and I struggled keeping up that pace. But it was way better then I expected.

 My Brother/Coach did the race with me and ran the whole thing by my side even though I am sure I run at his walking pace. This was very helpful and I am so grateful for his coaching! Not only did he help me know what to do to prep for a race but also he helped walk me through the whole thing. I also feel he contributed to my faster pace and now he will be forced to run every race with me :)

 All in all the race was challenging and fun! And the free beer at the end was the best reward!!