Half Training Week 5

I feel like this is "Ferris Beuller's Day Off"..... Week 5?.... Week 5?.... Week 5?

I started week 5 almost a month ago, and sustained what I thought was a serious injury and was forced to take a break.  I was about half way through the week, heading into my long run.  I was supposed to run 7 miles, and when I finished up with mile 5, I suddenly had excruciating pain in my left foot.  There are pains that you can work through.... and there are pains that you can't and this was one that I just had to limp home and stop.  It was incredibly frustrating!  A couple days later, I tried to work out again and it wasn't happening.  Thinking that I was dealing with more plantar fascists, I decided I needed to take a 2 week break to rest it.

After 2 weeks, we had a freak snow/ice storm and were without power for 5 days.  And also displaced from our home during those days.  (((sigh)))  I did manage to do a quick 2 mile run one of those days in my in-laws neighborhood, but there was still some slight pain, and I can't deny that after 2 1/2 weeks off, it was TOUGH!

Then the next week got away from me.  If I'm really honest, when you take a substantial break, it is just SO SO hard to get back at it.  Your routine is off, and you just dread that first day back.  It's a mental thing I know, but it's hard to get back on track.

But here I am!  I'm back in the saddle, and I'm getting closer and closer to that half marathon date and I have got to get my butt in gear!  I did visit a local shoe store this week and have them measure my feet and watch my stride in an effort to find the solution to my foot pain.  You see, I had a bit of an epiphany.  Last Summer when I was doing P90x and also doing quite a bit of running, I didn't have any foot troubles.  It wasn't until this past Fall that issues started to arise-- for the most part I blamed it on over training.  I was running more, and doing some serious plyo type exercises with Turbo Fire. BUT, back to the epiphany, I also bought some new shoes in August.  The shoes I bought were a much cheaper version of Nike's than my previous ones, and they were very different in style.  After visiting the shoe store, I walked away with my mind totally blown!  Not only was I wearing shoes that didn't offer enough support for some over pronation issues that I have, but they were even the wrong size!!!  I had no idea!  So here's the Saucony's I got-- I'm hoping these will mean an end to foot pain.  They're my very first pair of Saucony, but they seem to fit well, and they have the proper support that my foot shape/size and my stride needs.  Can't wait to try them out, break them in, and verify this theory about my foot pain.

So here's the breakdown of this past week (really a little over a week):

Friday March 21:  Turbo Fire, Fire 40 Class and Stretch 10

Saturday March 22:  2 mile run with the boys in the jogger stroller

Sunday March 23: Ran 3.25 miles

Monday March 24: P90x Plyometrics

Tuesday March 25: Rest

Wednesday March 26: Ran 4 3/4 miles, Turbo Fire Abs 10 and Stretch 10

Thursday March 27: Rest.... Mandatory rest.... Looks like my theory about the pain being solely from the shoes, might be a tad off.  I have a few things to try in hopes of coping and healing and I'm gonna see where it takes me.  Very, very discouraging though! 

Friday March 28: more rest....

Saturday March 29: more rest.... 

Sunday March 30: and more rest.... :(

So Long Microwave

So our microwave died last week-- I guess it had been on it's last leg for a while, but we never knew it. Our house is old, so I always assumed our issues with the microwave were more of an electrical problem as opposed to something being wrong with the actual microwave.  Weird things like every time we've ever popped popcorn, it would suddenly black out after and not come back on for a few minutes.  The first time it happened, we thought it was a fuse or something we needed to flip the breaker for, but we quickly learned that it had nothing to do with the breaker and that it just took time.  Usually about 5 minutes or so and it would blink back on, and it only happened when we used the popcorn setting. Anyway, one day last week I was reheating my food for lunch and after 2 minutes of heating it went out…. And didn't come back on.  

The original plan was to simply replace it, but after some searching, I discovered that the over the stove microwaves aren't cheap…. And that got me thinking, is the microwave really even necessary?  

After some thinking, and some conversation with people I know who don't even own microwaves, I knew we could go without, and that we could save some money in the long run.  The only dilemma we found was that once we removed the microwave, we realized that our "back splash" put in by the previous homeowners, didn't go beyond the height of what the microwave was.  Luckily though, thanks to some re-organization I did in the attic after putting away our Christmas decorations in January, I remembered that there was a large piece of countertop in the attic and that we could just remove the old piece and put up a new piece that was a larger size.  It was definitely easier said than done, especially since we don't exactly own the proper tools or supplies to cut countertop, but we got the job done and got the new piece up. 

Once the new piece of backsplash was up, we had to install our new oven hood.  (PS the duck tape was only there while our contact cement dried into place.  It came down once all was dry and sturdy.)  Daniel tried to sell me on the stainless steel model, but for now I think black is the safest option.  For one, the black was cheaper, but also, all of our appliances are black, so though the stainless would match the cooktop of our oven, until other items in the kitchen are stainless, I just felt like it would stick out funny.  

I don't think I realized how HUGE the microwave was until it was removed.  The stove definitely feels  less claustrophobic.  A lot more cooking space!

And then since I know you all are thinking, "what do you do without without a microwave,"  "how do you reheat your food?", or "how do you melt butter or pop popcorn?"…. Well to answer that, we got a toaster oven.  The toaster oven can pretty much do about anything you would use your microwave for. And what it can't do, our stove can do.  We can totally survive without a microwave!

…. And it's a really pretty red toaster oven at that!

I think this is the 1st "real" home improvement project (if you can even call it that) we've done since we bought our house a year and a half ago.  I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing?  I mean, our house was pretty much move in ready.  Would we like to change some paint colors?  Sure!  In a perfect world, would we have some pretty mosaic glass tile as the back splash or all stainless steel appliances and granite countertops?  Absolutely!  But for now, what we've got is working for us, and our focus is more on each other and our kids.  There's always home improvements that can be done, and there will always be little items on our wish list that we'll get to eventually.

And for anyone curious on if we saved money by not replacing the microwave-- absolutely!  The microwave/hood fan combos that I was looking at were in the range of $200-$250.  We bought the hood fan and the toaster oven, along with the supplies necessary to install and fix the backsplash all for $100.  Boom!

Hayden's "Po Po" party

Our sweet little Hayden turned 2 this past Wednesday!!! I know it's probably over said, but it really does seem like yesterday that we were rushing to make it to the hospital for him to be born.  The days are long, but the years are SO short! Can I get an amen?  Well I should preface this post by saying, I completely bombed at taking photos for the party! I feel terrible about that-- I need to be more intentional about pulling out the camera, but it's just difficult to be in the moment, or be facilitating the moments, and then also be the camera person.  I'll just say, I was enjoying myself!

So let's start with his invite-- we purchased the invite from Etsy, and had them printed through Shutterfly.  We requested the words be changed a bit, (along with some coloring) because we personally didn't care for the original words, but the seller was very accommodating and quick with our changes and we were/are very pleased with how they turned out. 

** Our address covered for privacy reasons of course.

Then of course he needed a police birthday shirt from our favorite shirt maker on Etsy, Ooe & Auti.  Daniel and I debate about the birthday shirts.  They started with Leeland when he was turning 1, and we haven't stopped since, but I guess eventually they'll outgrow having shirts with their names and ages on them.... And I will be sad. Haha! (Her shop is on vacation mode for now, but she will open again in march.) 

Can't sing enough praises about Ooe & Auti! We've been very pleased every year!

Now where I failed, is that I didn't get any photos of the food.... And we had some serious grub... I mean brunch.  I even had laid out a black table cloth with a strip of blue table cloth in the middle to make a "thin blue line" on the food table.  The menu looked a little something like this:

- Fresh strawberries and blueberries

- Turkey Sausage and Cheese Quiche

- The Pioneer Woman's "Cowboy Quiche"

- Ham and Cheese Hawaiin Rolls

- Banana and Walnut Baked Oatmeal

- and donuts! ....

You can't have a "po po party" without donuts, right?  Daniel was slightly offended by this, but at the end of the day, he loves donuts and can't deny it.  Since we were doing brunch, we opted to do donuts instead of cake.  I know! I know! You're probably in shock that the cake lady didn't make a cake, but it just made since this way.  We picked up donuts from our favorite donut shop, "Donut World", and stacked them into a pyramid on a serving platter and put a #2 candle on top. Hayden LOVES donuts, so it was pretty perfect!

Lastly we put out some blue and silver balloons, and I whipped up this thin blue line burlap wreath yesterday afternoon to hang on the wall.  (And I love it so much, that it's going to permanently be on the wall for a little while.)

And the kid really racked up on gifts.  He was in heaven! Two is the perfect age to understand birthdays and presents.  (... And Leeland was in heaven too, because ultimately he gets to play with all the cool stuff too.) 

And because it's birthday tradition, another one of those things that started when Leeland turned 1, I also made candies/chocolates to send home with guests as party favors.  Chocolate police badges for the "po po party."

Happy Birthday Hayden!!! We love you more than words can express! 

Chicks!!!!

We get asked all the time about if and when we will expand our family.  Usually people mean expanding in the form of baby humans.... But, we decided we'd expand in feather form! Ha! We brought home 6 new baby chicks last night.  I have wanted chickens FOREVER! That was one of the first things I asked Daniel for when we bought our house. (It only took a year of convincing.) Last month when my birthday rolled around, Daniel surprised me and said that I was getting a chicken coop for my birthday, which of course meant baby chicks in the spring.  Well... The weather hasn't been very cooperative for our coop building, but when the feed store had the breed I was looking for this week, I just had to bring them home.  So I guess we have about 6-10 weeks to finish the coop, so our girls have a place to live. 

Here's our little babies! They were sold to us as sexed females, which from what I've read online is usually 90% accurate.  I pray they're all females, because at this point I'm just not interested in taking on a rooster.  And I don't know anyone who needs one.... And I don't think I could kill it and eat it myself.  I'm already growing quite attached to these little ladies.  We had some outdoor time this afternoon and the little girls were just hopping into my lap.  Sweet little girls! 

We ended up getting 6 total, and 3 different breeds-- 2 Buff Orpingon, 2 Barred Rocks, and 2 Silver Wyandotte.  The barred rocks are the ones I was dying to get-- I just think they're SO beautiful! 

Hope our Instagram and Facebook followers are ready for the flood of baby chick photos in the coming weeks.  I just can't take my eyes off of them.  Snapping lots of photos because they're adorable, but on top of that, I just feel like a paranoid first time mother.  I've researched for this for over a year, but I just can't stop checking on them, and reading about them. 

Half Training Week 4

To say that the winter weather has been frustrating is understatement of the year.  It wouldn't be so bad if it was simply just cold.  But in typical North Carolina fashion, we have days of 50's and 60's and days of 20's and 30's with snow all in the same week.  All those little 50 and 60 degree weather days are little teasers, and are driving me nuts! I love those days and crave those days along with weekly long runs.  Alas this week brought 6-10 inches of snow.... So naturally, it was to be a whole lot of snowed in indoor work outs.

Here's the breakdown:

Monday February 10- Rest

Tuesday February 11- Turbo Fire Low HIIT 20 and Burn Circuit (Burn Circuit is actually a 30 minute sampler of Chalene Extreme, and is a total body weight lifting workout.)

Wednesday February 12- P90x Legs & Back

Thursday February 13- Rest

Friday February 14- Missed

Saturday February 15- Turbo Fire HIIT 15 class and Stretch 10

Sunday February 16- Ran 6 miles (Yay for some sunshine and dry/snow scraped roads!)

This week was quite emotional for me.  The weather has been up and down a lot, and it makes it so hard to get motivated to work out weeks like this.  I have really really been enjoying this running journey, and I can't run when that much snow is on the ground.  I just can't. I don't think I realized how much I love those runs though until this week when those opportunities were taken away from me.  The long runs especially have become not only a way for me to get my "me time," but I also, spend that time worshipping God.  I get a whole lot of thinking, and praying, and praising and sometimes even dancing in during those runs.  

On top of the disappointment that I didn't think I'd be able to run at all this week, I also had my first missed work out this week. One of the biggest struggles I've had on this fitness journey is giving myself grace when those misses arise.  (If I'm really honest, I struggle to give myself grace in more areas than just working out.) I really tend to beat myself up when those misses come!  Without even knowing how much I was beating myself up at the end of this week, my beach body coach Ashley posted this in our challenge group this week, and it really struck a cord with me.... "...No matter what you choose to do today, remember that it IS just one day. You can get back on track tomorrow if needed. The problems start when we keep saying it's just one more day and never jumping back on.  If you realize that one day out of the week or a couple days out of the month don't 'doom' you, then I think you've started thinking of being healthy as a LIFESTYLE instead of a diet! No matter what, you haven't failed unless you never jump back in!" Amen!? 

So who knew you could learn so much about yourself on a fitness journey?  All glory to God, he is really breaking me and shaping me!