Playing catch up

I’ve seriously fallen behind in life since Willie has been sick. Last week I split my time between the hospital, work and home.  I was totally out of my routine.  I didn’t get to work out that much and I was seriously tired.  No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to get some sleep.  I know a lot of it was stress induced, but I was really really tired.  Good thing Willie’s hospital visit occurred the week after the marathon because I probably needed to rest days.

The one thing I learned is the hospital doesn’t really serve healthy food!  They were slinging fried food and other lots of other heavy things.  Yes, they had things like salads and yogurt and sometimes some fresh fruit, but for the most part it wasn’t anything I was use to eating.  Yep, I toted around my own food when I could.  It was probably the best thing. I think we should address the unhealthy food being served at hospitals though. I haven’t felt like myself because I haven’t been able to eat what I really wanted.  I longed for some home cooked meals.

Thankfully Willie is home now and he’s doing much better.  He should only be out of commission for two weeks.  He’s up and moving around now!  Thank you to everyone who contacted me about his health.  I really appreciate it.  Now I’m just hoping to get back to normal and hopefully Willie can get back to normal too!

I was able to run on Thursday morning because I couldn’t sleep.  I don’t know why, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me. So I woke up at 4:30 am and hit the road.  It was my first run since the marathon and it went surprisingly well!  It wasn’t a fast run but it was comfortable.  I had no complaints.

On Saturday, I was able to go hit the gym and I went to cycle.  It was good to be back in the saddle.  I’ve missed it!  It was packed in the class, but I really needed to butt kicking.  I’ve said it over and over that I’ve been tired.  I really think I’ve been tired because I haven’t been exercising the way I am use to.  I didn’t struggle with the workout but I needed someone to push me through the workout.  I chose to spin instead of embarking on a long run because I knew I wouldn’t finish it.  Later that evening, I went on a run.

Slow and steady #run today. Still trying to decide if I'll run long tomorrow. #rnrnola #marathon next week! #teamrefuel #marathontraining #sweatpink #iambft #brooksrunning #runhappy
This run went fantastic even though I wasn’t thrilled about it. But once I got in the groove things got better. I ended the run because it was starting to get dark and I didn’t want to have to pull out all the lights and so but I could have kept going. This run was fast (for me) but it really helped!

Being away made it really hard to get back into the swing of things. Working out is a stress reliever for me and this was a time when I needed it most but I just couldn’t work it in as much as I would like. I spent hours and hours just waiting on the doctors to come in and tell us somethings. I wish I could have just sneaked out for a 45 min workout sometimes, but I didn’t want to leave Willie alone. I’m telling you this because I do know what a struggle it is to squeeze a workout in but last week was the hardest time I’ve had since we started this journey.

My biggest advice to people who struggle with getting a workout in due to time is: plan it out! I did a horrible job at time management over the past week and in hindsight I see I wasted some time. If you plan to go workout 3 times a week at a certain time, you always know that’s your time to go. And if something comes up where you can workout, try to fit it in the schedule where you can. Sometimes that does mean waking up earlier or working out later than expected BUT if it’s important to you then you’ll make it happen. And I promise you’ll feel better when you’re done!

The blog has also suffered due to my time away, but I promise to get things rolling again.  The blog was the last thing on my mind during this time and I kind of let it go.  I do apologize for that too.  I just didn’t have any posts in the “bank” because I wasn’t prepared.

Lastly, I want to express my apology to the JOURNEY group! We were scheduled to give a talk about our weight loss and journey but Willie feel ill and we were unable to go. This was a tough decision to make considering it had been on the schedule for so long. My deepest apologizes for having to cancel this talk but we do hope to reschedule. I just wanted y’all to know it was just important to us and it was to you guys.

What do you do when time gets in the way of your workout? Do you squeeze it in or just forget it?  How many rest days do you take a week?

The Willie Update

The Willie Update

If you haven’t been keeping up with me on social media, you have no idea that Willie has been in the hospital.  He’s been dealing with stomach problems for a while now but lately it’s just gotten worse.  The past 9 days have kind of become unbearable for him so when we got back to town he went to the doctor…who then sent him to the emergency room. He had a a few  gall stones blocking his bile duct and one was rather large.  They sucked those suckers out yesterday.  Today he had his gall bladder removed and he’s feeling…

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Race Recap: The Louisiana Marathon

Race Recap: The Louisiana Marathon

I love this race because it’s a pretty course, the people are friendly and it’s just an all around good time.  I am so happy to share this race recap with you because this was a very positive experience for me. The morning started off well. I had gotten a good night’s sleep and I woke up in a very positive attitude. After battling some bad mental running issues since Memphis, waking up and feeling this good and excited meant I was already a winner! We arrived at the race and did all the necessary things but we lined up…

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Race Recap: The Advocate 5K at The Louisiana …

Race Recap: The Advocate 5K at The Louisiana Marathon

Hello all!  I’m proud to be typing this blog post as a MARATHONER!  The weather for the weekend was great and complete opposite to Memphis, so I was truly blessed!  Last year was my first year to run this race and I knew I would be coming back.  The race hasn’t gotten too big and everything goes off without any problems.  The race is well organized and the people are fun! I loaded up the cooler with some good food and snacks and we were off. I was trying to keep the eats on track for a little bit of…

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A/B/C Goals for The Louisiana Marathon …

A/B/C Goals for The Louisiana Marathon Race Weekend

It’s the moment I’ve been waiting for: it’s race weekend.  All of my buddies are off running The Houston Marathon though which is a bummer.  There are two lovely ladies I would have liked to celebrate our first marathon finishes with, but we’ll have to wait until Monday for the good times! This race was my first race of 2013 so I’m super excited it’s going to be my first race of 2014.  Last year I did the 5K on Saturday and ran the half marathon on Sunday.  I remember thinking that was the most miles I had ever run…

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Recipe: A quick roasted corn succotash

Recipe: A quick roasted corn succotash

I’ve been trying to come up with great veggie side dishes because that’s mostly what I eat.  People seemed so focused on the meat main event, but I’m not a huge meat eater.  I do prefer my meat on the side because I classify myself as a flexitarian. I would probably not eat meat if I wasn’t so adamant about running but I feel like I need it to keep my body strong and injury free. Anyway, I got an idea for the corn succotash after being on The Rachael Ray Show so I made a couple of modifications.  It’s…

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Looking forward to China

Looking forward to China

Remember when we were on The Rachael Ray Show and she gave us a trip to China? You  may have forgotten but we haven’t.  It’s an exciting thing for us that we’re totally not prepared for.  We should have been on this months ago and now I feel like we’re in a big cram session. There are only two things we have done to prepare for the trip: buy Rosetta Stone and get things squared away for The Great Wall of China Marathon (and I’m even behind on that stuff). With The Louisiana Marathon weekend closely approaching, it’s time for…

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Q&A: How do I get started in …

Q&A: How do I get started in running?

The biggest question of the new year has been about getting into to running.  I’m in no way an expert but I’ll give you some friendly advice on the subject to help you get started. 1. The most important thing I recommend is getting fit for the right pair of shoes.  Go down to a local running store (not a Footlocker, Champs or Shoe Department) to talk to someone who is KNOWLEDGEABLE about running shoes.  Running shoes aren’t cheap so you want to make sure you have the pair that will work for you.  I made this mistake when I…

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Random tips on Tuesday: forming habits, baking and …

Random tips on Tuesday: forming habits, baking and meal prepping

Hello from taper land!  I will admit I’m getting a little antsy because I’ve cut back on my workouts this week so I could stay fresh for the marathon on Sunday.  So instead of working out twice a day I’m only working out once a day which leaves some time in my life.  I’ve been trying to find ways to fill the time so I don’t crazy. Yesterday I made some protein bread. It turned out ok, nothing special. I usually substitute applesauce for oil but I didn’t have an applesauce. I used pumpkin puree because it’s the basically the…

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Lost and broken

Lost and broken

I hate to do this to you but I’m going to have a “let’s get real” moment with you.  It’s just something I need to get off my chest because I really think it’s been weighing me down.  So here it is: When the St. Jude Marathon was canceled it broke me! I know I ran the miles, but in my mind it wasn’t good enough! I started training for that marathon in June and I did almost every single run on my training plan except for 5 runs and those were always short runs I bailed on.  I invested…

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Recipe: Quick pasta sauce

Recipe: Quick pasta sauce

Last weekend (and probably again this weekend) I suggested that Willie take his go at making fresh pasta!  We had a deal, if he made the pasta I would make the sauce and meatballs.  I’ve always wanted to make my own sauce but I thought it would take a long time.  Maybe I’ve just hung around too many italians and just envisioned standing over a pot all day and nurturing it. No doubt, one day I would like to do that but in my life I don’t have time for all that! Here is what you need: 2 (15 ounce)…

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