The end, or the beginning, is getting closer...

Summer. Yesterday marked the end of week 4 since school got out. We have about 5 weeks left. It seemed like it would be a very long summer, but now, well, not so much!!

Parker celebrated his birthday in royal style! He got to choose what we did, what we ate, where we ate - he felt like a king!

He wanted to see CARS. So, we went to the 10am showing at a theater we don't typically visit... there were 6 people, including the 3 of us (Christopher doesnt count) in the theater. The kids got to move around and have fun and dance when the music was good - they loved it!

We then met friends at Chuck E Cheese for lunch/cake/playtime. It was my friend Kathleen from my old MOPS group and her kids - her youngest and Parker share a birthday so we have celebrated with them together for 4 years now.

Needless to say, I did not make it to the gym! Not Thursday...

Friday, however... The kids went to Movie Maddness, meaning they are totally entertained for about 2 hours so I can work out, do the steam room and take a shower, all of which I did. The workout included 45 minutes on the Elliptical and about 15 minutes of weights. I tried to run - did about 3/4 of a mile on the treadmill, but the legs would have none of it, so I abandoned my aspirations and gave my legs a break.

Today I went expecting to do 2 miles all total. Well, the leg-gods were on my side today because I felt good and actually ran 2 miles in one stretch, with a 1/2 mile warm up and a 1/2 mile cool down.

Lets see if I can move tomorrow!

Happy Birthday, Parker!!!

Then: 18 months old and a big brother for the first time...


Now: 6.5 yrs old and a big brother again...

I say it all the time, but I have a very hard time believing its been 7 years since your birth. You amaze me daily with all that you can do, with the person you are becoming and with all the things you have learned. You are a wonderful big brother, and a fantastic friend. I am enormously proud of you, I thoroughly enjoy you, and I cannot thank you enough for being my son!!

I love you big guy

xoxo, Mom!!

Getting old aint' for sissies!

Well, if the fact that we look strickingly similar is not enough to convince folks that I AM my mother's daughter, I have started experiencing one of the family traits right on schedule! I am getting a friendly case of arthritis in my right index finger. Exactly where my mother got it first. Exactly where my grandmother got it first. yipee...

I was more sore than I'd expected to be after yesterday's jaunt at the gym, so I decided to shake my routine up and go back to the elliptical. No jarring motions, no impact - my knees are thanking me, but my shins still ache. (BTW - 30 minutes, 2.5 miles, for the three of you who might be interested in such mundane facts!)

I've started creaking and cracking more. Maybe is the dry air. Maybe its that I am pushing 40 with amazing speed. Yowza - need to keep reminding myself that even though I feel like I am still about 19, in actuality this old bod has quite a few more miles on it and needs to be treated with more gentle gloves...

Like, more visits to the steam room... Yeah - that's the ticket!

Uneventful update

Went running again today. Had to warm up on the "bad" treadmills and then actually do my "run" on the good ones. Tally? 3.5 miles, about 48 minutes. Did 3.0 in 40min, 15sec. Still no one will want to attach a chariot to me and let me take them out for a spin, but hey - I'm out there doing it!

The problem? It seems now, over 2 weeks into my "I'm going to get into shape no matter what" routine, my dear old friends, Shin Splints, are showing up. I have no idea why. I am wearing rather new shoes, no pavement running, no sprinting, working my endurance up slowly and letting my head rather than my ego dictate my day... and yet here I sit, legs lathered in medicinal balm, aching in a very familiar way.

Probably should have someone who knows that they are doing give me some advice.

Oh- and can anyone tell my why, after 3 weeks of working out more often and longer than I have in 9 months, is my body rebelling by GAINING weight? Seems monumentally unfair... its like my body is conspiring against me to quit this working-out thing.

Ha... At least for now, I can silence that beast!!

Workout update

Went to the gym this morning after a not-so-friendly number on the scale. This was after a touch of a tummy-thing yesterday that I was sure would tip the scale into the friendly direction, but I was wrong..

Anyway - used one of the NordicTrack treadmills per the advice of my friend and running buddy, Karen. Much better run! Today I walked .25 miles, jogged 1.5, walked .5, jogged another .75 to make it 3 miles in under 40 minutes which like I said, will not set the world on fire, but hey - its getting better every time I go out there!

All told - 3.3 miles, 45 minutes, 500 calories burned.