Hello Monday, I've missed you

I know I'm in the minority, but I truly adore Mondays. I was able to finish Eat and Run over the weekend, and I'm glad I was able to have this inspiration under my belt before this Saturday's Marathon. Scott Jurek is the master of pushing through all kinds of things and has mastered his "running head game". Learning about his fine-tuned clean eating was inspiring but did mess with my head a little. Being OCD and a perfectionist, I get a little discouraged when I see the power and wisdom of eating super clean and healthy, when I still feel the need to shove cookies in my mouth on a regular basis. (Insert my mantra here... "By small and simple things.")

 

I quite like my routine of waking up at a crazy early hour and getting my workouts in before my family is awake. I did, however, try something new this week, and I guess it wasn't too terrible. :)

I took the kids to the track at 4pm to get a run in. Mason wasn't thrilled at first and tried to run after me the first few times I ran around. He soon figured out that I wasn't actually running away from him, never to return. Working out with the kids around is still great for the endorphins, but it does not give me that mental break and emotional rejuvenation that I get from leaving them at home. :)

 We stopped by the splash pad after the track to cool off.

And then while the boys were showering, I did a quick lower body weights workout in the bathroom. Now that is multitasking at it's finest.

15 regular squats

15 sissy squats

15 sumo squats

15 front lunges

15 back lunges

15 dead lifts

Repeat 3 times (or when your kids start to get wrinkly).

Happy Monday everybody! Let's make this week a gooden'!

Do you workout with your kids present?

Do you like or dread Mondays?

What's for dinner tonight? (I'm in a dinner rut!)

My Inner Ninja Warrior

Last night we stayed up and watched American Ninja Warrior (The Dallas qualifying show). The show is a bit over dramatic, but I still get really into it. I have so much respect for the amount of training put in by these competitors. My favorite of the night, was a women named Kacy Catanzaro. She was the first female to complete the course. My palms were sweating so much as we watched her.

This is her on her way up the final obstacle. The wall was more than 3 times her height.

You can see her full attempt HERE.

(Pic Source- NBC site)

I was so inspired that that when I got to the gym this morning, I worked out like a Ninja Warrior. :) I may have overdone it because my chest is already super sore. I also ate like a Ninja Warrior today and ate really clean. My afternoon snack was roasted broccoli and asparagus. Tastes yummy... smells like death.

Cory had his first ever organized sports game tonight. He's on a city kickball team, and I wish you all could have seen him. Watching a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds play kickball is down right hilarious. One time he kicked the ball and it rolled like 1 foot, so he kicked it again and then ran to the pitchers mound, 3rd base and then home plate. He was so proud of himself, and we were all cracking up.

 He's really enjoying learning new things and I can't believe how much he's grown up over the past few months.

Anyone seen the American Ninja Warriors show? What do you think of it?

Do you like feeling sore after a workout?
I do, because It makes me think I actually accomplished something.

Kickball? Yay or nay?

Some days I want to scratch my face off.

My allergies have been driving me bonkers the past few days. I didn't need the local news to confirm it
(My itchy eyes, face and runny nose are proof enough), but grass allergens are high right now.

 

Maybe I can get one of these cool gadgets. I'm sure it will be super fun to run a marathon in one of these.

 Tell em' Sweet Brown!

I tend to get a bit reclusive some times, especially when my plate is full and life gets busy. It's like I just need extra decompression time, so I withdraw from people and avoid all unnecessary outings. I've been in one of those moods lately. I truly appreciate the thoughtful people in my life. I don't know how she knew, but a friend dropped off this beautiful Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Caramel apple, dipped in Oreo cookie crumbles.  Nothing better than getting a delicious treat delivered to your door, when you're in a "I just want to stay home and sort my socks all day kind of a mood."

  If you're not putting fish on your salads, you must do that today. Seriously delicious. This sugar addict and chocolate lover is really trying to eat as clean as possible these next two months. I know I'm asking a lot of my body, so it's the least I can do for it. :)

 

And another heavenly bowl of oatmeal with chia, flax, bananas, raspberries and plain Greek yogurt.

Today's Workout:
3x12

Cable crossovers

Pull downs

Wall-ups

Kettlebell chops

Dumbbell push-up rows

Tricep bench dips

Bicep curls

Alternating front and lateral raises

Pullovers on ball

Ball crunches

Plank up downs

Tick Tocks

Sit ups with plate

1 min Plank

No run today, but mentally I really wanted to!! 

Do you get seasonal allergies? If so, what remedies/meds do you use?

Candied apple or caramel apple?

Do you like seafood? 

I love it, but my husband hates it. We are a house divided. 

School is out for summer!!

It's June!! You can just feel the fun and excitement radiating off of all the kids. We started things off right with a trip to one of the local splash pads. I'm pretty sure we will be doing this daily all summer long. 

 

Remember those May goals I talked about?

Well, I revisited those goals and made some new ones for June.

Spiritual- Read 15 more of the LDS General Conference talks from the April session
Physical- Finish the Utah Valley Marathon and an Ultra Ragnar (Wasatch Back)
Home and family-2 date nights, 4 family home evenings, implement kids' summer schedule/chores
Financial- Do 4 "check-ins" with the ol' budget

My morning started with a beautiful sunrise run around Springville and Mapleton.  I just had the "happys" this morning. So many wonderful things to be thankful for, and this may just be the best summer ever!

 

 So close to all of these races, so I took it nice and slow and have been rocking the compression socks at night and on my runs. Run, stretch, foam roll, repeat. I'm determined to get to race day uninjured.

 

What are you looking forward to about this summer?

Mountains or beach? 

Are you a morning person, night owl, or neither ;) ?

Foodology

I've been reading Scott Jurek's book, Eat and Run. It's got me revisiting my food ideology. I believe that food can be a powerful medicine for our body as well as a powerful poison. I'm also a hypocrite, because I  believe that if I completely deprive myself of chocolate chip cookies and Life cereal, I will end up on a huge food binge. I'm still working towards a clean eating diet, but I know that I have to apply moderation in my approach. Jurek talks in his book about how his plant based diet is what really helped him perform better as an ultra-marathon runner.
I have proven again and again to myself  that what I put in my mouth in the morning has a huge influence on my emotional state and energy levels throughout the day.

 Oatmeal, chia seeds, flax and plain Greek yogurt is my go to breakfast. I'll add fruit to sweeten it.

I think the biggest shift in my relationship with food and body image, came when I started basing food choices off of this kind of thinking:
 "How will this effect my energy this afternoon?" OR "I'm not going to eat all of this, because I know it will make me moody later." OR "I worked out really hard this week; what does my body need to help recover?"

Instead of fearing food, or fearing being "fat", I try to view food as fuel and as medicine for my body.
Well, there's some of my foodology for you. Hope it wasn't too heavy for a Sunday. :)

 Our local grocery store had "Berry Days" over the weekend. I stocked up on my favorite fruit- raspberries!

 Saturday's run was very slow, but it gave me time to take in the beautiful scenery of Springville's Westside.

 Blurry, early morning selfie.

Do you view food as "the enemy"?

What's your favorite fruit?

What book are you reading right now?

Dump is a weird word. Say it. See?

Photo dump from Memorial weekend!

We went on a 24 hour trip down to Glenwood, UT to see cousins. Can you spy Cory's super happy face?

 

Mason the morning after a very rough night in a camp trailer.

 

More cousin time

I love that these guys are such great buddies.

We have established THE best way to eat raspberries. You must try this now.

Another family outing to Yogurtland. I had their homemade strawberry, and I've been craving it ever since.

I read Galloway's Marathon FAQ book. It was a really quick read (It's printed in a ridiculously huge font.) It was interesting and my main take away is that I need to be smarter about making most of my runs "easy" and do my long runs at a very slow pace. He's really into the walk/run method, but for some reason that doesn't appeal to me??? I'm a few chapters into Eat and Run and I'm loving it so far!

What's your favorite running related book?

What is your favorite book series?

What is your favorite yogurt/ice-cream flavor?

Hanging with the Big Cheese

I can’t believe the little baby that made me a mama is 5 years old. For some reason I’ve been emotional about this milestone. I’ve learned so much in the past 5 years about patience, humility, love and selflessness.  In many ways I’m a completely different person. I’m thankful for all parenthood has taught me, but I can’t help but look back with regret over my many short comings. I can’t get these past 5 years back. I know I tried hard, but it’s easy for me to wonder if I could have, should have, tried harder.

I know I need to put the negative thoughts to rest and focus on the future, and how I can continue to grow as a person and parent, but sometimes it is hard for me to not beat myself up. Just look at this cute little guy!

 

  His birthday just happened to fall on the last day of school. His class went on a field trip to a local pizza place and then had a police officer come and visit them. Basically 5 year old heaven.

 Dinner at the Brick Oven. They gave him a man sized portion of pasta and he was happy about it!

 Lollipop sundaes all the way around! Who knew that a sucker makes the perfect utensil for eating a sundae?!

  

He requested a visit to Chuck E Cheese's, so we ended a darn near perfect day with the Big Cheese himself.

 

Today's Workout:

Lower body weights - 3x15

Leg press machine- normal squats, sissy, sumo and calf raises

One leg hops using the suspension straps

Frog jumps using the suspension straps (these were so hard!)

Hamstring leg curls with ball

Leg lifts- outer and inner thighs

Bicycle crunches

V-ups

3 mile run

It was a beautiful morning to be out running around.

What was your most memorable birthday as a kid?

Homemade cupcakes or store bought?

Name one thing you did today that made you feel happy?