Need to Get Back into the Blogging World!!

OK, so it has been a long while since I have posted anything!!  I posted my race schedule and then never did any race reports.  I'm hoping to get myself together and do at least a small report on each race.  I have had several great races and I still want to share with everybody. So, I hope to be back sooner than later!!

How Do I Get Talked into this Stuff??

 

How do I get talked into more races?? OK, last Saturday Coy and I are on a 17.5 mile run. She mentions running another FULL MARATHON!! What?? Are you kidding me? This will be our schedule of races:

Sunday, October 16  Louisville Water Tower Full Marathon



Sunday, October 23 Midway Half Marathon



Sunday, November 6 ING NYC Marathon



Sunday, November 20 Tough Mudder 

     WOW!!  Of course I’m always up for a challenge and I said Heck Yeah!!  The Water Tower Marathon we plan to take easy, just to get this miles in.  Same with the Midway half.  Now, on the NYC Marathon I’m planning on getting a PR by myself (that’s the real challenge for me!).  The Tough Mudder on the other hand is just to make it through.  It will be one tough mudder!!  I am really looking forward to this fall race season. 

     Last night Maddie and Jacob had their first real Cross Country meet.  They went to Frankfort with another family because I had to work and coach soccer practice.  Tuesday when they were at CC practice Maddie ran the course in 11:44 and Jacob ran it in 12:40.  I had my fingers crossed that they would both beat their time.  Maddie sent me a text telling me she ran it in 10:09 and Jacob ran it in 9:13!!!!  Maddie is 9 years old and Jacob is 8.  I wish I could have ran this fast when I was their age.   Maddie said she told herself to keep running for her Momma!!  I loved hearing that from her.  That meant a lot.  Maddie tends to stop a lot during her 1 mile run but she learned how to pace herself and keep running the whole time.  I think that is one of the hardest things to do for a beginner.  I am so proud!! 

4 Days Off!!

     I can't believe I have taken 4 days off especially after having such an awesome running week last week.  I have been so busy this week.  We have had soccer practices, open house at school, dance practice, an extra day at work, overtime, and tons of homework with the kids.   Carlie has a Land Form Project due Monday, that's what we will be working on tonight.  Plus I haven't felt so good since last night.  I think some kind of stomach bug.  So, I forced myself out the door to go for a run.  I has hoping to make 3 miles but aim for 6.  I made it 4 miles!!  I'm happy with that!!  If I get a chance to run this evening I'm going to try for 2 more miles.  Better go work on this project.  I will post a picture later once we get it done.

Tri for Sight

This is how my morning started out!!  Beautiful!!  It was a little warmer than last year so I was a little fearful that it would get very hot today.  I am not a big fan of running in the heat let alone swim and bike in it.  This is my first race report ever so I'm sorry if it is LONG!!  I am very excited about writing this report.  Here I go:

     

This is my husband Jim and I before the race.  I have done this race before (last year) and this is Jim first time doing it.  So I had the pressure of beating my last year's time and he just had to finish.  I freak out when it comes to competing against myself.  I don't know why but I do.  It was the crack of dawn and I was feeling great. 

This is my running BFF Coy!!  She is amazing!!  I'm sure she will have her race report up soon.  Just a little hint, she did FANTASTIC!!!!  She is one strong and determined woman and I love that about her!!  She is my hero when comes to all of this stuff!!

This is the Good Luck kiss right before I jumped in the pool.  I was number 309 and Jim was number 316.  He was not far behind me.  I was waiting any minute for him to pass me up like he does on training days. 

The swim was a 1/2 mile long or 8 laps.  Lap one, I'm calm, relaxed, and feeling good.  Do you notice the guy in lane 2?  He has a snorkel!!  Is that legal??  I don't know, but I'm jealous he thought of it before I did!!  I passed someone on my first lap and and got excited and started to lose my breath.  I had to tell myself to calm down it's only lap 1.  Last year a few people passed me up but this year only 2 people passed me and then I passed them.  I was so excited that I felt so good and comfortable during my swim.  This is the event I was most nervous about today. 

Here is my transition out of the pool.  We had to run barefoot upstairs and about .2 of a mile to our bikes.  I said ouch several times!!  I love that they try to give you water right you get out of the pool.  What??  Are u kidding me?  I just had plenty of water in the pool. Lol!!  But I'm glad we had volunteers that were very good at their jobs. 

The bike ride was 18.9 miles.  Ok!!  I have to admit Jim caught up to me at mile 18!!  Dang it!!  Honestly, I thought he would have passed me a lot sooner.    He pulled into transition right before me.  So my Dad got some good shoots of us together!! 

Jim waited for me while I changed my shoes and grabbed my visor and fuel belt.  I felt like I was taking forever on the transition!!  But in reality it wasn't bad at all.  I was nervous about having to change shoes twice during the race.  I have never had to do that before so I thought it would really slow me down.  Luckily when I put my bike shoes on they were easy and fast.  Thank goodness!!  And my tennis shoes weren't bad either. 

Here we go off to run 4 miles with lots of hills.   On our way out we got to see Coy finish her last 1/4 mile.  She is so inspiring and we were so proud of her!!  Last year this was my best event.  I really didn't think I could beat my time from last year because I was surprised how well I did it.  I ran it last year in 39:54, I normally run 4 miles in 40-44 minutes on practice days.  So today I was not expecting to beat my time from last year.  When we took off for our run I messed up my Garmin some how??  So I didn't even know our pace or distance.  Jim and I stayed together the whole run, I felt good for the most part.  Towards the end I was burning out but we kept on trucking.  It felt wonderful turning into the stadium parking lot  because that is where the FINISH line is!!! 

FINISH LINE HERE WE COME!!!! 

 Woohoo!!! I love this race!!  I smiled all the way through it!! 

Here we are right after the race!!  I am still smiling and loving triathlons!!  I am so proud of Jim because I know what a tough race this is!!  Good job Babe!!  Also, A big Thank You to my pops!!  He was our photographer for the day and for my Mom for watching the kids!! And to all you guys for taking the time to read my blog!!

Here are my results from last year and today:

Last Year: SWIM 23:09, T1 6:43, BIKE 1:17:57 (14.2 MPH), T2 2:12, RUN 39:54 (9:59 PACE)

TOTAL 2:29:53

This Year: SWIM 22:39, T1 4:48, BIKE 1:13:48 (15.0 MPH), T2 1:32, RUN 39:07 (9:47 PACE)

TOTAL 2:21:51

Jim's Times: SWIM 27:17, T1 4:01, BIKE 1:08:43 (16.2 MPH), T2 1:39, RUN 39:08 (9:47 PACE)

TOTAL 2:20:45

Can you believe it??  I beat my time by 8 minutes!!!!  I also beat my run time from last year!! Woohoo!!

Do you struggle with competing with yourself?

Does your spouse compete with you?





My Baby Boy is Growing Up!!

      Today is a special day, it's my baby boy's 8th birthday!! When I left for work I left him 2 Angry Bird stuffed animals and a card.  Once he woke up he found his toys and then got the royal treatment from his Dad and 2 sisters, he got breakfast in bed!!!  He was very excited.  When he went to school he saw his Yard Card that said, "Happy Birthday Jacob".  I can only imagine how big his smile was.  Later Jim took cupcakes for his class and had lunch with him.  He has been really spoiled today!! 

    Last night was packet pickup for our big Triathlon!!!  This is my second time doing the Tri for Sight and my husbands first.  We are very excited and nervous!!  I am nervous because I just want to drop time, even if its only transition time!!  I have really taken it easy with the workouts this week, I usually don't believe in tapering or anything like that but I did!  I ran 4 miles one day, biked a very easy 20 miles, and 1 hour of strength training.  I am running about 3 miles with a friend in the morning and then sitting by the pool the rest of the day.  Maybe even get my nails done!!  :)  I am super pumped about the race on Sunday especially now that I have blogged about it.  I am also excited that my Dad is coming to the race to take pics of me and Jim.  Jim was my photographer last year so I had to recruit a new one this year since Jim is racing.  Who knew this would be a family sport? 


Do you have a special routine when it's your kid's birthday?  Ours is breakfast in bed and they love it!!  I love it when they try and do it for us.  It's very special!!

Does your family come and support you at your races? My parents would be at every race except they are usually watching the kids for us or they are at the race with our kids.  They are great cheerleaders!!!  Thanks Mom and Dad for all the help and support!!

First Weigh In!!!

   Okay!!  Yesterday was my first weigh in at Weight Watchers.  I had a plan when I went to the meeting that I was going to take off all the little things I could before I got on the scale.  So I went to the scale, I was nervous and just jumped on. I don't know why I was nervous I'm not usually.  Maybe it was the pressure of having to put it on my blog that made me nervous.  I got on the scale and I lost 6 lbs!!!!   Woohoo!!!!!  I knew I had put in all the hard work and stayed on target with my food points.  I went to the meeting after I weighed in, then I realized I still had my sunglasses on my head, watch, 3 rings, and YES my gum was still in my mouth.  What was I thinking???  I know that gum weighed a lot!!   I started to stress that maybe I needed to weigh myself again because I might have lost another pound if I would have taken off all my jewelry and stuff.  For some reason this really bothered me but I went home without asking to weigh in again. 

     I got home and had to weigh my "extra stuff".  I pulled out my scale.....drum roll..........it was a whole 2.5 ounces.  That's it???  Seriously???  I just knew my gum weighed that alone.  Wow!!!  I am so glad it only weighed that much.  Why do I sweat the small stuff? I should be happy with losing the 6 lbs. I lost.  Don't get me wrong, I am very happy that I lost that much in my first week. I just figured maybe I would have lost another pound if I had taken the small stuff off.  Can you imagine when it's winter time and I have to wear jeans on the scale, I will really be panicked!! Lol!!

     After my first weigh in I am 14 pounds away from my first goal, 2 weeks away from my next Tri, and 11 weeks away from  NYC Marathon.  I want to keep the momentum going!!  I got a lot of running miles in this week, my highest week so far.  I ran over 31 miles this week and biked 20 miles. I'm hoping to get in the pool at least 2-3 times this week and get in 2 -3 bike rides and of course several runs. Well enough rambling I need to get on my bike!!

20 Mile Bike Ride

      Yep!! That's me in the back! Jim and I went on a 20 mile bike ride. We were more like joy riding. I wanted him to take some pics of us riding for my blog. I'm not brave enough to ride my bike and take pics yet. I'm barely good enough to get a drink of water while I'm on it. Especially since I just got my new clip on shoes.  

    

       
     We are about 8 miles into the ride here. It was hot, of course the hottest day of the week!! But you have to do what you have to do to get your workouts in. We were hoping to leave an hour earlier but it just didn't happen.  We barely made it home before the kids did from school.  Tomorrow is a work day so I don't know if I will get a workout in or not but I will atleast try.  If we could only have a few more hours in the day, 24 is just not enough sometimes!!

    Woohoo!!  Look what my two little ones just signed up for!!!!  The Cross Country Team for Elementary School!!  A mama couldn't be happier!!  I'm telling you, I'm going to make them runners for sure!!  I wish I would have had the oppurtunities my kids have these days!!  They are so lucky!!  I'm sure it's a whole lot easier to start running at their age verses 26 when I started after having 3 kids 7 years ago.  I can't believe I have been running for that long.  Just seems like yesterday when I started running my first mile. 


Do you ever run out of time to do your workout? Do you just say forget it and I will work out twice as long tomorrow or do you always make it a priority and never miss?

If I miss, I tend to beat myself up!!  I drive myself crazy but I try to make it up the next day.

Day 2

    Well, the weight watchers is going good.  The only thing I'm struggling with is I had 21 activity points because of my 8 mile run and my workout for the day.  I don't know if I should eat more and use those points or not.  I guess I will just have to take it day by day to figure it out.  I only used 2 of those points yesterday but I think I will have to use more today. 

    Today I got in a 4 mile run and an hour workout that had a 2 mile run in it.  I loved the hour workout!!  It was tough but I would do it all over again.  I'm super tired now!  Trying to rest up before the kids get home from school because that is when my day really begins!!  Lot's of homework and snacks for the kids.  Thank goodness no after school activities tonight, that starts next week.

     Speaking about the kids, on August 6 they did their second 5K ever!!  Jim and I are so proud! 

The boys ran together and completed it in 36:11.  Jacob ran 2.3 miles without stopping!!  He walked a .3 and then ran the rest of the way!!  He was very excited!!  The girls and I finished it in 41:53.  They ran their first mile and ran walked the second and third mile.  I was very pleased with how hard they tried!!  I'm also happy to say that Maddie (my middle child) and Jacob (my youngest) is joining the Cross Country Team for their elementary school.  That is very exciting for my husband and I to hear because we want them to love running as much as we do!! Carlie (my oldest) made the middle school dance team.  I'm so proud of her because I did dance team when I was in middle school too.  I love keeping the kids active in sports!!

DAY ONE!!!

      I did it!!  I went to Weight Watchers and signed up last night.  I have officially 12 weeks left to lose weight before my NYC Marathon!!  I love to run and workout but I struggle with my foods!  I think I am truly addicted to chocolate!!  I figured for the first 12 weeks of my blog I'm going to track my weight loss and marathon training.  I think it going to be more difficult to work on my eating then to train for the race.  I also have 3 weeks until my triathlon.  I ran this tri last year so I have a lot of pressure to finish it faster then last year.  I struggle with competing against myself, for some reason I completely shut down at races when it comes to beating my own time.  Why??? I have no idea!! But I am mentally and physically going to do it this year!! 
      I am very excited about making Weight Watchers a priority this time unlike all the other times I have joined it.  My goals are to lose 20 pounds in the next 12 weeks, make good food choices for not only myself but for my whole family,  plan ahead for my meals, and I also just want to keep a positive outlook over this process because I know it is going to be tough. 
     I'm off to a good start with my diet and training to day!!  I had a wonderful 8 mile run this morning.  The weather was perfect.  And I also did it by myself!!  It's been a while since I have felt that good on a run!!  I was running faster at the end of the run then I was at the beginning, that's how good I was feeling!!  I hope they keep going that way!!


Do you struggle with eating?

Finally I get to write my first post!!

     It's the first day of school for my kids and I finally get a chance to sit down and write my first post!!  Let me tell you a little about myself, my name is Courtney and I have been married to my husband Jim for 12 years now, man they have flown by.  I have 3 wonderful children, one starting middle school today and the other 2 still in elementary.  They are growing up so fast!  

     I started running in 2004 to lose weight and I fell in love with it!! Soon after I started, my husband joined in!  We have ran almost all our big races together (even tho he is much faster!).  He is my biggest cheerleader out there and I don't know what I would do without him!  Over the years we have ran 9 half marathons and 1 full together, I also did a full by myself with some girlfriends.  We are now exploring triathlons, I did my first one last September and we did one together this past June.  We are training for another one this September.  My plan for this year was for us to do a Half Ironman in Augusta but things changed when I randomly got picked for the ING NYC Marathon!!!  That changed everything!  So, I am preparing for a full this November.  I am struggling because I have always had someone to run with me to mentally get thru it and this one I will have to do on my own.  I know I can do it!! It's just pushing thru it alone will be hard!

Question:

How did you get started with your blog?

Do you prefer to run your races by yourself or with someone?

First Blog EVER!

First BLOG EVER!