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Showing posts from 2016

Get Lucky

You may have noticed I'm married when I run lately. At least that is how Grace puts it. And she diligently checks to see if I am "married" each time I get ready to go run. I've never worn my wedding ring when I run because it is annoying and top heavy and gets sweaty underneath. And when I wear gloves to keep my hands warm, I am so paranoid about my ring coming off and getting lost when I remove my gloves.  So I'm very happy to have found Lucky Rings ! Here's a little proof: Yes, I even wore one during my last marathon! Lucky Rings sent me their  7-pack of women's silicone wedding rings , and I LOVE them! They are lightweight and fit perfectly, and I don't even notice I have a ring on when I'm working out or running. They also sent Scott some rings, which is great because he rarely wears his wedding ring to work because of the nature of his job, so he can now wear his Lucky Rings and be married too! You can receive 20%

I cut my finger. (My week in a nutshell.)

It's been a rough week at our house. Our mornings have not been pretty. Yesterday, I thought it was as bad as it was going to get when I managed to cut myself on the glass jar of queso dip that was knocked on to the pantry floor and took most of my time before school to clean up. Yet this morning decided to prove me wrong. There were even tears this morning, for which I blame school picture day (and myself a little). I think the fact that I've had a miserable cold all week and haven't felt great has added to our unhappy mornings. But I'm holding out hope that we can end the week on a high note. And maybe I can get in my first run of the week. When my cold moved into my chest, I knew I needed to take a few days off. Which was especially disappointing because I was actually excited to get up and run the next morning when I went to bed Sunday night. So there hasn't been running, but there has been yummy food. And I'm not (just) talking about the pumpk

My new gig and a marathon

So about that other gig I started. I am now teaching elementary school PE part time. It is not at my girls' school, so adding that to my plate three days a week has been interesting. But we're adjusting, and things are starting to fall into a routine. I do feel busier, but it is manageable. I'm even getting my workouts and runs in, although some days it definitely takes more planning than it used to. Speaking of runs. I had a little 26.2 adventure this past Saturday, running the Big Cottonwood Marathon. I felt pretty good mentally, but a week before the race my plantar fasciitis on my left foot really flared up and I could hardly put pressure on my foot. After a few days of icing, stretching and resting, I decided to try an oral steroid to see if that would get it to the point where I felt comfortable attempting a marathon; by Friday it felt quite a bit better. Little did I know that while it was helping my foot, it would completely destroy my stomach during the race.

The Return of Things I Love Thursday

It's been a while (yes a looooong while) since my last Things I Love post, so it is clearly time. Summer brought several new things into my life that I am loving. First are my new stability ball  (pink of course) and jump rope from DynaPro Direct . I had an old gray stability ball that was ready for an upgrade. I love doing my core work on a ball and have a goal to eventually master this move on my awesome new pink ball: Then there's the jump rope . I've tried to add jump rope intervals to my workouts in the past, but it has always been a short-lived effort because I never had a decent jump rope. I love the one from DynaPro because it is adjustable and the handles rotate well and are lightweight. The fact that it is also pink is just a bonus.  I was totally bummed when I had to take four weeks off, basically the whole month of July, from doing anything high impact. But now that I'm back in commission, the jump rope is back in use. I usually do my jump

And just like that...

And just like that, summer is over. I can't for the life of me remember how we filled our summer days now that my girls have been in school for a week and I have begun working again. One of my favorite things we did over the summer was hike. My girls were able to go a little farther each time we went, and even though we hiked the same trail each time, the surroundings were so incredibly beautiful and changed so much, even from one week to another, that it was like hiking a different trail each time. At the start of the summer, Mazama sent me a Sidestream  pack to try, and it ended up being perfect for our hikes. It kept my hands free and was easy for my girls to grab a sip from, often without either of us stopping. It has an awesome retractable straw, so it easily extends and then slides back in without any effort or thought. This is good for me because my brain can't focus on too many things at once. I also received a 70 ounce Windigo reservoir, which Gr

Happy National Running Day (better late than never)

I haven't posted in a while. I only post every few days on Instagram. I even went a whole week between posts recently (gasp). I didn't run yesterday. And it was even National Running Day (double gasp). Why? Because when I look back on this time in my life, I won't wish I had blogged more or spent more time on social media or had run more...no matter how much time I spend doing those things. What I could look back and wish is that I had spent more time with my girls. Spent time focused on my girls. I already feel like time is going way too fast, so I'm trying to make the most of every moment so I won't look back with any regrets. So if I'm a little less present on here during the coming summer months, it's because I'm being a lot more present where it matters most. Hope your summer is going amazing. Ours has been a whirlwind of fun already! And Happy National Running Day (a day late)!

I'm expecting my superpowers and new cape any day now!

I was reminded of two important things recently. The first is running related. The second is a life lesson. Reminder #1 - Be careful what you eat before a long run. I've heard it is important to start fueling with a long run or race in mind several days ahead of time and that what you eat two nights before may actually affect your run more than what you eat the night before. I have also heard that runners who struggle with stomach/GI issues should cut back on dairy in the days leading up to a race or long run. I found these things to be very true on my long run last week. Two nights before, I ate a lot of ice cream. Like a ridiculous amount of ice cream. I regularly battle stomach issues after I run, especially after my long runs, but I have found things that minimize my tummy troubles, such as figuring out when and what to eat the morning of my run and that I need to get something in my stomach pretty soon after I finish. I followed my regular long run morning routine a

Important realizations.

I had three important realizations recently. First: True friends are the ones you have two completely unrelated conversations with at the same time. Next time I'll have to try to add a third On Voxer. Second: I clearly have a love of chocolate and peanut butter when Pinterest begins suggesting chocolate peanut pins and nothing else.  Third: Injury prevention is my latest jam. I was super excited to try out the new SLS3  Plantar Fasciitis Compression Foot Sleeves because I wake up almost every morning with tight, sore plantar fascia on both feet. These have definitely helped. I also keep a hard rubber ball next to my bed for days when they are especially bad. I have also been adding more epsom salt baths to my routine, don't skip stretching after my strength workouts, and take the hubs up on his almost nightly offers to massage my legs. And here are some other realizations that are more relevant to the general population: Waf

Race with me!!! It will be INCREDIBLE!

Today is the last day to register for The Incredible Virtual Run ! Join me in the fun and save 10% off with the coupon code: SAVE10 And all participants receive this incredible  medal (I'm so clever)! Find out more and register HERE . Find Level Up on: Twitter @levelupruns  Instagram @Levelupvirtualruns  Facebook -  facebook.com/LevelUpRuns  

You is broke. You is tired. You is a parent (recovering from spring break).

Last week was spring break, so that means this week is recover-from-spring-break week. Mostly, it just means this week will go as slowly as last week went quickly. In other words, how is it only Tuesday? One good thing about it being Tuesday is that you still have time to enter to win a race entry to the Spartan Race of your choice in the United States! Head on over to THIS POST to enter! And to help you get through the week, here are some funny things because Friday is just too far away...

Life in pictures. Friday funnies. And a GIVEAWAY.

It's funny how our phones become a photo journal of our lives. As I looked for the funny pictures I had saved for today's post, I found several others that documented the past week... We took the girls to Zootopia on Friday night. No one warned us that it would scare them so much they would both want to sleep in Scott's and my room that night. And need to have the hall light on every night since.   We did all things Easter. The Easter bunny came. We hunted for eggs. We colored eggs. We ate eggs of every kind: boiled, Robin, Reeses, jelly, Snickers and more. Including these. Which are interesting. They are two of my favorite candies in one. They are good (except the yellow ones, which are so sour I can barely eat them), but nothing compares to the original Brach's jelly beans and good old fashioned Smarties.  There was a brand new baby horse when Ellie went to riding lessons on Monday. She was born on Easter. So they are calling her