Category Archives: running

Can I just say how much I love running with these two? When you’re going and you just feel like you can’t go anymore, Elsie starts yelling (quite loudly) “LET’S GO DADDY! LET’S GO MOMMY! GO GO GO! FASTER!” And Drew. That smile. He’s just a ham.

Seriously. It’s the greatest thing ever. It really helps to have your own personal coach while running Nevermind that stroller is as heavy as get out to try and push while running…

These are my new running shoes. I love them. I’m hoping they will convince me that I can run.

I’m going to be completely honest. We’re talking about confession time. I feel like I should say something like “Forgive me, Father, it’s been XX since I’ve ran.” (those two XX would represent three weeks… yes. It’s been that long).

It’s sad really. Three weeks ago when I ran the pain in my calves/shins was so bad. With every stomp of my foot. Yes, stomp. After listening to me complain for the umpteenth time, Andy finally watched me run. And we came to the conclusion that I run to hard. I mean. You can literally hear me coming.I have no stealth mode. None at all. Sad thing is, if I try to go into “stealth” mode (as we so loving call it…and when I say “we” I mean me) I end up looking like a drunk gazelle (nope, I really have no idea what a drunk gazelle looks like. I can only imagine it looks like me when I’m trying to run in stealth mode).

I’ve heard about this great thing called fore running, but seriously when I try to fore run or run on my toes or “stealth” mode run, I just can’t do it. I end up wasting a crazy amount of energy going three feet. I need help. I need tips. Throw all your crazy running “correctly” tips at me.

Another thing we realized is my running shoes are six years old. SIX! Yes, I got them the year we got married, and no, I haven’t really ran on them (seriously) until this year. They’ve been through almost nine moves, and even if I wasn’t wearing them all the time I’d say that’s enough moves to ware them down. Hence those amazingly bright shoes at the top of this post. Completely comfortable and at $50 cheaper then what I was going for, they made my wallet happy too.

And on a side note — IT’S TO HOT TO RUN. Seriously. Arkansas. Heat. Humidity. It’s insane. Last week we actually reached the 113 mark. I need to go to the gym to run in the wonderfully nice AC (wimp), but really who has time for that/actually enjoys that after running outside for 5ish months (sad note: I’ve been “running” for 5ish months and I still can’t run a mile — I’m a total wimp).

So here it is. My update on running. Gone are the days of running on the treadmill at the gym. Gone are the days of running the track at the gym. Sheesh gone are the days of even going to the gym (after three times of Drew getting sick two days after coming home from the gym I said forget it). Now we run as a family.

Yes. As a family.

My aunt generously gave us her double jogger stroller. Every morning (ok generally it’s three times a week) Andy and I toss the kids in the stroller and jog the neighborhood. Our goal is 30 minute each day. Don’t ask how far we run, neither of us have any idea we just run (and walk). We aren’t running the full thirty minutes yet, I’d say it’s more half and half.

Jogging outside is so much more enjoyable! A few things I have found out about my running – (1) I like to run in the shade. Much of our jog is very shadeless. Saturday when I ran by myself (as we need to repair a flat on the double jogger) I found I stuck to the streets that had shade. (2) I need music to run. No matter if I’m jogging by myself or with Andy I have to have music blaring in my head. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that it keeps my mind off the run or keeps me paced all I know is I run better with music. (3) I can’t breathe. For the life of me I can’t figure out how to breathe right when running. Even though Andy tells me to breathe like I’m having a baby — I wasn’t very good breathing then either…. (4) Ashlee Simpson, Arvil Lavinge, and earlier Katy Perry all suck to run to.(5)My calves are weird. Since running on the road I’ve gotten the weirdest shin splints — if you can call them that. The pain is more in my calf and wraps itself around my leg ending in me either jogging weird or stopping altogether. (6) I need new running shoes. My current shoes are about six year old. They feel heavy. I’ve starting running without sock (gross I know) just because it feels better. I like these (but I don’t really run trails) so I should get something like these (7) I can do this.

While running, I generally just listen to a random Pandora station (such as P!nk or Britney Spears — normally it gives me good upbeat music to run to). Then I realized that Pandora has a “workout” genre! Seriously the best ever! While listening to my random running Pandora stations, I starting stashing away songs that help me get through the “running” part of my run (yes, that means that when I run, sometimes I’m walking). I thought I’d share. (For best results and not to listen to two playlists at once, you’ll need to scroll to the bottom of the blog and turn off the normal blog music). Warning: Just like me, this running playlist is totally and completely random.

(Note: Party Rock Anthem is totally for my brother Adam… only reason it’s on there…)

Running is difficult. Let me re-phrase that – finding the time to run is hard. With two kids, I can’t run with both of them (Elsie I could have taken to the gym day care – D is to young and I don’t have a double jogger stroller) and I can rarely leave them both at home, have time to run, before making it back for D’s feeding.

I am not a morning person. I can not get up and go run at 6 – besides lately that’s the time that D has been waking up for the day and E normally gets up and has to be put back to bed. I know studies show that early morning workouts are the best, however, in my case that is not true. I don’t work out well in the morning. I’m very sluggish (probably has something to do with going to bed around 1 and getting up multiple times to feed and then up for the day at 6-7:30). With Andy working Thursdays-Sundays and not getting up until 10-11 that leaves little time for me to run before he has to go to work.

Also, I am not a patient person. I know — two kids, I want five and I’m not patient. Call it God’s sense of humor. More accurately I’m not patient with myself. IE I started running two weeks ago. Since then I’ve gotten five runs in. I can maybe run a full half mile. Maybe. To me I should already be running two without stopping. Yeah… like I said I’m not very patient with myself. (I also should be about 115 pounds right now, but that’s a whole other story). When I start something I want and expect to be good/be able to do it right then and there. I know that’s not how it works, but it’s how I’ve been my entire life. If I’m going to do something I just want to do it. I don’t want to work at it… is that laziness? Who knows. It’s probably just God’s way of teaching me something.

Most people would throw in the towel, and I’m not going to lie I was very very close. And then my brother shows up with an amazing binder that he spent hours on just for me to record my progress. Everything from duration, days, weight, inspirational quotes and healthy snacks. And everything is neatly labeled (just how I like it). So — tomorrow is a new day. A new day that I’m going to get a run in during nap time.

The 5K is coming in two weeks. I’m no where even close to being ready. Maybe I won’t be able to do this one … or the one in November. I really need to be realistic. I should probably shoot for one in January — which would give me a little over two to three months. Maybe that’s more of a realistic goal for me. Because let’s be honest. If I can’t run most of the 5K, I’ll just feel like I’m wasting my time. I also need to find a good verse to meditate on while I’m running. Or a couple. Throw your best ones at me! I’m up for some scripture memorization.

How do you combat frustrations?