Carving Out Some Me Time

Exercise: I've been exercising in pieces today. 10 minutes elliptical before Little Man woke up, 1 mile run, 1 mile walk, 45 mins elliptical at nap time

We're getting to this point where Little Man has stopped tolerating the jogging stroller and my heart cries. He throws a crying fit at the start of every run but settles down fairly quickly with an assurance that there will be a park stop. Unfortunately we don't have time to play at the park every run, like today. And I really didn't want to deal with a stroller tantrum 1/2 way so I ran my mile (my new rule for scheduled running days is that I just have to get in 1 mile) then let the boy out to walk and we walked another mile. 

For peace of mind I just needed some extra cardio although I'm sure the run, walk, elliptical was probably enough. Also, I normally use nap time for exercise but I'm trying to get out of that habit because nap time is getting shorter and shorter (WAHHHHH :() And I know that it we'll be gone in the near future. So now I'm trying to get up before the sun and son and get my workout in. I didn't get up until 6 today so didn't get my elliptical sesh finished early but oh well.

Now I'm using nap time for me time. Exercise used to be my only me time but I lost a lot of myself and stopped doing things I love like reading and being crafty. So far this week I've made a huge dent in a 1000 page book I'm reading and started creating a tiny play kitchen for Little Man.

I've been planning to create this play kitchen for awhile so I'm glad to have carved out some time for it. I am creating it from a tiny nightstand (it's a compact kitchen) and I have all the components for it including wood cut for shelves and doors.

I've patched some holes and dents, primed, painted and it's coming along.

And it's much more difficult than I anticipated which is always the case for me. In my head it was so easy but then I remembered I'm not Young House Love and I don't build stuff on a daily basis. I just need to add the knobs, pulls and hinges. I may wait for Music Man to do those because I'm lazy but I plan to add a shelf tomorrow and at least Little Man can play with it.

So that's why I didn't blog yesterday. But I plan to keep on keepin' on, and maybe even get a run in!

Flying Solo

Exercise: 4.25 miles running 9:27 avg pace and 40 minutes teaching mommy fitness although I probably only taught for 30 minutes because of Little Dude meltdowns.

I'm flying solo this week because Music Man is working in Atlanta for the week. He was gone this same time last year and I have to say it is a monumental difference having a 20 month old as opposed to a 8 month old. And Music man is only gone for 1 week as opposed to 7 weeks, also making a huge difference. But now that Little Man sleeps fairly well, naps fairly well and can communicate his needs I feel like things are so much easier.

(I just love this family photo and it needed to be posted, dog butts and all)

I also have baby fever again. It's pretty common for siblings to be 2 1/2 years apart because something magical happens around 20 months. The sleep I mentioned above is huge but also when you aren't trying a million different things to make someone else happy you have more time to focus on yourself. And all those things make me think "Hmmm, I could totally do this again." As though those last 20 months were sooooooo easy. Ha! maybe I'm not exactly there yet but the idea of giving Little Man a sibling isn't so daunting.

(Is he not the cutest thing you've ever seen?)

Ok, time to relax, watch Biggest Loser and read more Murakami.

Work in Progress

Exercise: 1 mile run and 480 workout

So I love the idea of resolutions but I often get fired up and set myself up for failure. So this year I'm making some simple resolutions that are mostly works in progress so should be fairly simple to keep.

1. Accessorize more and work on finding a style. I was overweight for so long my style became whatever was easy to grab in Target and Old Navy plus size sections. Now that I can shop anywhere I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time looking for pieces I really like and can where for a long time

2. Maintain weight loss. I would like to lose a bit more weight but I'm pretty happy where I am and what's important is maintaining my weight and hopefully increasing my strength and fitness

3. Run more consistently, including hill, speed and trail training. As much as I would love to be able to do all of those runs in a week it may not be realistic so my goal is to get to at least 1 of them each week. And I'd like to try running every day. Even if it's only for a mile.

4. The whole reason this blog exists was to document my first ultra marathon. It never happened but I'm still striving to reach that goal. I'd like to attempt to run the Bulldog 50k this year and I'd love to get some solid training in for that


5. Read at least 12 books- I began 1Q84 last month and am still working on it. It's awesome so far

6. Remember to take my vitamins\ floss. Yeah, I'm lazy

7. Take more pics of the fam

8. Blog everyday- It's a toughie but doable!

Beginning

Exercise: 6 miles 10:30 avg pace

The end of the year has been a doozy with sickness in the family. It's been one cold and flu after another passed between each family member. Then combine that with the holidays and something just had to give. And unfortunately that was the blog. But I'm feeling better and hopefully will get back to running, blogging and all my normal activities again.

I had a wonderful, leisurely run this morning before anyone woke up. It was an excellent way to start the new year. It was followed by a hearty breakfast of frittata and toast and a 30 minute family walk. I even had the pleasure of laying in bed during nap time and reading. Such an awesome start to the year. And the bonus is time to write a quick blog post!

I hope the new year finds you all happy and healthy and here is one of my favorite moments from the past few months