Race Day Prep

TOMORROW, TOMORROW, I'm gonna, try so hard, to noooottt hurt my-self! (you have to sing it to get it!)

Things not to do, run a race that you haven't trained for. OOPS! Well tomorrow is that day. I am going into a 4 miler race, COLD! I just haven't done it. I have helped out at the training and most of the summer I had Collin with me and when I was able to run other things happened that didn't allow me to do the full mileage. I have done max of 3 miles total in one run/walk this summer so to say that I am ill prepared for tomorrow, yeah!

But the great thing is, I am already in pretty decent shape. Yes, I might be bigger than all the other girls, and yes I did just have a baby, BUT training while pregnant was a major AWESOME thing I did, because my body remembers and craves to run. So I think I will be ok tomorrow. I knew I would be walking more than running in this race months ago and I was totally ok with it. Next year, I plan on blowing away my time from my first race (unless at that point I am pregnant again) But still I am not giving up. I love running and I still plan on doing it as often as I can! I have a plan coming up for Saturday long runs in September and I love running in Sept and Oct. The weather is so beautiful!

Couple of things to think about for today as it is the day before the race:

~Keep on hydrating! I talked about it yesterday but still cut out the other drinks and just do water. (not that I drink pop or other drinks all that much, well, except for milk. So no milk for me.)

~Disney has this huge Pasta in the Park event the night before their races, but that is just not the best thing to do before a race. Yes, it is widely known to carb load before a race, but it is only 4 miles. It is not a marathon. So if you do eat pasta tonight before the race don't over indulge. (Olive Garden's pasta dishes are enough pasta for 3 people. Know your portions.) You can probably go just a smidge over a cup of pasta but don't, don't, don't over do it! I personally am looking forward to my butternut squash soup tonight! YUM! (Thank you Whole Foods Market for awesome butternut squash soup)

~Lay all of your race clothing out tonight so you know where to find everything. It is an early call tomorrow and you will be excited. Don't want to risk leaving anything at home. So have your outfit, bib and a bag filled with what you will need for tomorrow.

~Also put out your kids clothing and hubs too, so that there is nothing to think about in the morning so you can try to sleep in as long as possible and not run around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to find everything tomorrow morning when you should be leaving!

~Plan on leaving early and arriving way before the cut off for the street to be closed. There will be traffic if you arrive too late. If they ask you to be there between 6-7 am be there by 6:30 so that they aren't in a huge rush to get everyone off the roads for the race to start.

~I already mentioned this but pack a bag of things you will need after the race. I pack an extra pair of socks and flip flops. Depending on how my feet feel post race I get to choose. The grass tomorrow will be damp so I will prob change my socks before I race so I don't have soggy feet when running (like last year) And the flip flops will be for after the race. Pack a towel and a change of shirt too if you want. (Me I'm brining a change of bra because nursing in a sports bra not made for nursing, almost impossible!) Sorry if TMI! For the 4 miler race, bring some chairs to sit in. So that you don't have to sit in the grass, unless you want to sit in the beautiful grass you can but we learned from last year, bring some chairs!

~Make sure you eat something tomorrow morning before you run and drink a glass of water before you leave the house. You need fuel for your body. You need water. A Banana is great. don't drink 24 ounces of Shakeology, unless you are used to doing that before a run of course, but just eat something small. Don't make your body work too hard by having to do 4 miles and digest a large breakfast. Snacks and fruit will be provided at the end of the race, and you can always bring your own snacks to munch on after the race too.

So there are my tips! Hope everyone has a safe race tomorrow. Rest today for tomorrow we will play! See you there!

HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE!

2 days and counting down to my first postpartum race on SATURDAY! Today begins the 2 day of binge drinking! WATER THAT IS you silly people! I am not going to be over drinking water I am going to make sure that I am drinking the required amount of water for my body.

General rule of thumb to drinking the required amount of water is divide your weight in half and make that number into ounces and that is the minimum amount required. Plus if you workout and drink 8oz while working out, add an extra 8 ounces to replace the 8oz you sweat out. And since I am nursing, I have to drink even more water in general so I am drinking at least 150-200 ounces a day. It's a lot but I love my water and my body is used to it!

The biggest thing to not do before a race is to drink gallons of water leading up to a race. Because it can deplete our electrolyte levels prior to running, plus I don't want to feel squashy when running. The best thing we can do is just make sure that we cut out the other types of drinks, i.e. pop, sugar drinks, alcohol, and such. And replace those drinks with just water. It will keep us more hydrated and we will feel better the morning of the run.

So for the next 2 days, drink plenty of water, but not too much and cut out the other drinks.

Can't Believe August Weather

I just can't get over how mild the weather has been in central VA this summer. (I am knocking on wood right now as I write this!) It has been such a mild summer that I am getting nervous as to what this winter will have for us. But still it has been amazing. The past 2 mornings have felt almost cold and perfect running conditions. The Saturday runs for the training program have all been amazingly tolerable, except for maybe 1. I just can't believe how amazing this "summer" has been.

I am looking forward to the fall, because it is my favorite season! I love running in the crisp morning air and see the fog hanging heavy on the grass in the mornings. I already told Matt that Saturday mornings are mine to go running so I am totally looking forward to that!

What season is your favorite to run in?

August Week 3 Recap

I just can't get over how fast time is flying. With Mason it seemed like everyday and every week crawled by and now it is zooming by, so much so that I can't even get this out by MONDAY! Sorry!

I am doing so well with my workouts and PiYo. Yes I still miss a couple of days but hey life happens but I haven't fallen off the wagon yet! I am trying to add in exercise activities with Mason too, because his 3 year old body needs it just as much as my body does. And it almost always ensures a nap for him later in the day. Bonus points for mommy there! I took my monthly transformation pictures this past week! YEA! I might not have lost weight on the scale but I am losing inches. This week my goal is to eat better and follow my nutrition plan more closely!

This past week I also started Mason with some schooling activities. Since he isn't potty trained yet he can't go to the pre-school we really want him to go to. No diaper policy. So this year I am taking his pre-pre-schooling in my own hands. I went to Barnes and Noble and found a great book to start with and so far he is doing really well. He has the attention span of a 3 year old (about 30 min) but so far so good. I just need to keep a consistent schedule.

Collin is also growing by leaps and bounds. Gone are the growth spurt days and back to sleeping through the night, thank goodness! I am so glad to have a baby that is sleeping 8+ hours straight through the night, then he feeds at 5am and passes back out for a few more hours. I don't know how I did it or what I did. It just happened. (don't hate)!

Workout Recap:
Sunday: rest
Monday: PiYo sculpt
Tuesday: PiYo Sweat
Wednesday: PiYo Core
Thursday: PiYo Drench
Friday: rest
Saturday: walked around a mall for about 4 hours. We had our last training run this morning but we all slept in and I had to feed Collin while everyone was racing then I cheered them on to the finish. This coming Saturday is our big 4 mile race!

PiYo Test Group...Last Call

Ok everyone! Today is the last day to sign up for the PiYo Private Test Group to be able to get it in the mail next week! I know some of you have been wondering about it and if it actually works and I can say that IT DOES! I have been doing PiYo for 40 days now and I have lost 8.25 inches. AND my diet has not been that stellar so the inches lost are from the workouts! My butt is lifted and my belly and hips have lost the most inches.

My diet hasn't been too bad, I have one bad day a week generally but we have been eating out more or having people over and I like to "cook, cook" when someone comes over . I think a huge part of me being able to still lose weight with a wonky diet is because of Shakeology! It is seriously amazing! I don't have cravings like I used to and I am not tempted to go out during lunch and get fast food. Which means that Mason is eating healthier too because he is not eating all my fries either! So the best way to get results is to pair PiYo and Shakeology! It seriously works and I can't wait to see the changes I will have in another month or 2 from now! I am worth it, so I make it happen. And so are you! If you want to get results pair Beachbody or whatever workout program you are doing with Shakeology. Even if you can't workout everyday or what not. I would still say drink Shakeology because it is a great, way better than slim fast or other meal replacements, out there!

So here are my results. They are subtle but they are there! 8.25 inches people! And to note my black shorts I am wearing appear longer because they aren't being stretched as much as they were in Day 1 so they are hanging on me a little bit!

So if you are interested, yes I am taking to you... Fill out this form and I will get back to you! And if you are thinking about being in a future test group fill this out too so we can keep in touch and you can be the first to know about future groups! Or if you have questions fill this out, SERIOUSLY just fill it out!