Sunday, July 31, 2011

2 months, 2 weeks, 1 day....DISNEYLAND!!!

October is a huge month for my family. It's Cory's birthday, our anniversary, and Parker's birthday. This year we are celebrating by going to.... Disneyland!! To say I'm excited is an understatement. The family is pretty dang pumped about it too.




So being the list-maker, planner crazy person that I am, I've been researching what I HAVE to do in California and the theme parks. Our plan is to go to Disneyland, California Adventure, Universal Studios, Sea World, and at some point hit the beach...that's alotta stuff. Here's what's on my own wish list:

- Finding Nemo Submarine This is new attraction since last time I went to Disney back in '01. The kids are huge Nemo fans, so this should be fun!




-Soarin' Over California I loved this ride when we went 10 years ago. Not sure if the kids will be scared on this or not. It really feels like you're flying!




-Meeting the Princesses and Tinkerbell. Callie is currently obsessed with all things princessy or pixie. Hopefully she doesn't clam up too much and I'm able to get a good picture.




-Disney Jr. Live. I'm thinking this will be a nice break in our day and give us all a chance to sit down!




-Fireworks! Hello?! What Disney trip would be complete without seeing the fireworks?




-Turtle Talk with Crush. Too cute!




- FOOD! So excited to eat at Ariel's Grotto so the kids can meet the princesses. Also I am thinking Cory will like some New Orleans food, and I want to go HERE for their signature french toast with banana carmel sauce. mmmm.




- We are also excited because it's going to be Halloween time when we are there. The park goes all out and decorates for the spooky time of year. We love ghosties!




- Shopping is a must and we will be hitting the Bibbidi, Bobbidi Boutique, The Outlet Mall, and shopping in Huntington Beach.




- Speaking of Huntington Beach, I'm excited just to stick my toes in the sand and listen to the waves.


There are SO many other things I'm looking forward to. Giant pickles, Autopia, seeing the kids swim in the ocean, Sea World...I just hope we have enough time to do everything!! Did I mention I plan on running at least twice when I'm down there? I think my legs might fall off!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Biking FAIL!

After talking with a couple family members about biking, I decided to give it another go. Main reasons I was scared to go back on the bike: It hurts my butt, I'm scared of hills, and I have no idea about gears. I told myself to get over it and suck it up.


Cory was a gem and fixed my bike up all purdy. He borrowed his brothers super fancy bike, called mom, and we were off!


We got nearly 2.5 miles into it and "pop"! There went my front tire.



Lance Armstrong Cory was pretty far ahead of me Mom went to catch up to him so he could go back to the truck. I sat there for what seemed like forever staring down the road.

And finally- my knight and shining husband guy!



Guess what? Oh his way back, BOTH his tires blew!! Eventually my mom passed him, so he hopped on her bike. About an hour and a half later we made it home.

I think my bike hates me.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

New Training Plan

So I didn't exactly stick to my last training plan, but it did the job..Got me through my first 5K without killing myself. Hal Higdon still rocks the house in my book, but this time around, I'm going with a 10K training plan by Jeff Galloway. That's right, I am not going to tear my hair out if I have to walk at times while training. I think that's okay.

I'm heading into my second week of this 8 week program and so far, so good. Because I'm not planning on doing a 10K until next year, I am giving myself lots of time to increase my mileage with no stress if a workout doesn't go as planned. Here is what my next few weeks look like:

Week 2
Sun: XT (cross train)
Mon: REST
Tues: XT
Wed: Run 30 mins
Thurs: Run 30 mins
Fri: XT
Sat: Run 3 miles

Week 3
Sun: XT
Mon: REST
Tues: XT
Wed: Run 35 mins
Thurs: Run 35 mins
Fri: XT
Sat: Run 4 miles

Week 4
Sun: XT
Mon: REST
Tues: XT
Wed: Run 40 mins
Thurs: Run 40 mins
Fri: XT
Sat: Run 4 miles

At the end of the training plan, I want to be up to 6 miles on my "long run days" (Saturday). Right now during training, I am doing a run 5 mins/walk 1 min ratio. This has really worked well for me so far. I was able to run my last race with no walking breaks, so I am happy with that.

Guess what? I have a new training partner too...

Not Parker..Cory! Yay! I'm so happy to have the hubs join me!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Kids Meet Dinosaurs!!

A couple weeks ago Mom and I threw the kids in the car for a short road trip to Granger. They have a "Dinosaur Park" there, along with big old dino's all over town.

Now no offense if you are from Granger and read this blog- but holy cow your town is stinky!! We think it was a smell coming from a nearby stagnant lake but who knows. We couldn't even enjoy one half of the park due to the odor. We went to one side of the park that had lots of dinos and toys and enjoyed a picnic.


Dino Fun!!! Kids had a good time and that's what counts. I was more afraid of getting shot, but that's just me.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Shoreline Run Recap

Mom and I signed up for another adventure in running..a 2 mile race called the "Shoreline Run". This run was bittersweet for me, but I will get to that.

First off, let's get to the goods. My race pack included a shirt, samples of lotion, samples of some energy gels, and stickers for various products.


After waking up around 6:15, I had enough time to get dressed, eat some watermelon, and let the coffee kick in.


Mama Dee came and picked me up..doesn't she look purdy for 6:30 in the morning?!


When we got to the race, we were kinda confused along with a lot of other runners..the start of the race and the registration were very far apart and no one seemed to know where the start line was going to be. This resulted in a lot of people wandering aimlessly in the park.

Eventually, everything seemed to somewhat come together and everyone started to gather. There were a lot of "hardcore runners" in their cute running clothes and we were getting intimidated. There were a little under 200 participants, as well as a 10K going on. We made it our goal just not to embarrass ourselves!!


The race started and we got caught up in the crowd. We were running at a fast pace for us, but eventually the runners thined out and we each got into our own grooves. Mom told me to go ahead and run at my pace, so I took off. About 1/2 mile into the race there was a hill. I was able to pass about 5 other runners, which felt great!! I haven't done much hill training.

So here's the bad part: I missed the turn-around point of the race. I kept running and running, waiting to see the marker. The organizer of the group said the turn-around point was "clearly marked", but I never saw anything!! I looked at my garmin and was up to 1.7 miles! I decided to turn around and call this a wash. As I ran back, I saw all 10K runners. I figured out I had totally screwed up. I started running harder, figuring I could at least catch up with mom and we could finish together. Nope! She was long gone!

My Garmin chirped at the 2 mile mark: 21:02 for 2 miles (about 10:30 pace). Yay! I new PR for me, but no finish line in sight. Oh well. I began to find the whole thing hilarious at this point. Only I would get lost during a road race. Cory would be so making fun of me.

FINALLY I saw the finish. 2.97 miles in 31:48 (about a 10:40 pace). Turns out, I was not the only one who missed the turn-around point. More and more people crossing the finish line were complaining about missing it. At least I felt less like an idiot. Mom was lucky enough to see the marker and turned around at the correct point. She crossed the finish line before me at around 26 minutes. Good job Mom!!

We stuck around until the awards ceremony to see if Mom placed and she had won a raffle for a Road I.D. gift certificate while the race was going on. She was having a good day!! Turns out Mom got 1st place for her age group!! I'm so proud of her!!



Here's the kicker..I got 3rd for mine. Makes me mad because I'm wondering if I could have gotten 1st or 2nd if I would ran the race correctly. The official times are not posted on the website yet, but I will let you all know when I find out where I SHOULD have placed. Oh well. It's a funny race story, and I will know for next year where to turn around.

Afterwards, we hit McD's and pigged out!


Next race isn't until September..a 5K. There is no races in August in my community. Bummer. It's okay though, the heat is killer in this area during August.

Do you have any funny racing stories? Come on, share and make me feel better!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Importance of Cross Training

I recently finished my first ever running training plan. I didn't follow it exactly, but I learned a lot. For example, I suck at motivating myself to run after work. By time I cook, get kids in the tub, clean up a little, the day is gone and I am pooped (or insert other useful excuse here).

So this time around I am more realistic and smart about my new 10K plan. That's right, I threw it out there..I am training for a 10K!!

Turns out on my last training plan I was missing a major key. I have been doing things totally wrong!!


I did not include cross training in my weekly schedule!

Actually after reading other running blogs and articles, I feel kinda dumb that it never occured to me to do other forms of exercise besides running. It might not seems to make sense at first, but cross training actually will make you a better runner! Here's why:

REDUCES INJURY!! Doing other sports will lessen the strain on the muscles you use while running. Running is high intensity, high impact. Pounding on your joints day after day will eventually take it's toll. Especially for a newbie.

AVOID BURNOUT!! Let's face it, running gets boring at times. We have all been there..in a running rut. Taking a day off to do another form of exercise will make you maybe miss running a little bit, recover mentally, and help you give it your all on the next run. Monotony sucks.

MUSCLE BALANCE!! No one wants to end up with buff hamstrings and calves, but puffy untoned arms and abs. It's important to lift weights to target specific areas and tone, bicycle for cardio/quad workout, swim for cardio/arms/quads/back, yoga for stretching, ect.


To get started with all this cross training stuff, I went for a bike ride with the mamasita tonight. What a nice change and great cardio workout. I really enjoyed it. Variety is the spice of life, right?! Nod your head and say "Right, Katie!"

We did 4.6 miles in 29 minutes. I have no clue if that is good or not. I will have to do some more research on biking. Great, I am a newbie all over again!!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Feels Like the First Time....

You know how I have been a super slacker when it comes to blogging lately? Well guess what? I don't discriminate, I have been slacking in pretty much every area of my life lately. Hey, at least I've got consistancy on my side, right?

So I finally went for a run this evening with this pretty lady..

That's my mama. Isn't she so cute?

We have both been majorly slacking in the exercise department. Ooops.

We decided to head down to the river for a run. We were so proud of ourselves for even getting our bootays out of the car, we had to take a picture to document the occasion.


I didn't really have too much of a plan since I am just trying to get back into the swang of thangs. I thought it would be a good idea to run 1/2 a mile, then walk for 1-2 minutes, then run, then walk, ect. for an undetermined amount of time or distance. I ended up running 2.01 miles in 23:48 with 3 walk breaks. I felt so out of shape though!!

My mom and I signed up for the Shoreline 2 mile Run next weekend so hopefully I don't totally humilate myself.I will continue my goal of to not come in last!! See, if you set your expectations low, you will never be disappointed!

Sidenote: Go check out Run With Jess' blog and check out her sahweet giveaway for some running gear

Camping and Baseball in Seattle

This last weekend Cory, the kids, and I all went camping to Dash Point State Park with Cory's family. Trek had a baseball tournament so it was the perfect time to get away, camp and check out some baseball. By the way, google Trek Stemp..he's an amazing baseball player from this area and we are super duper proud of him.

We kinda started off the trip on a bad foot. Parker was diagnosed with an ear infection/possible sinus infection the afternoon before we were to leave. Poor guy. This was my first experience with an ear infection with one of my kids. It sucked.

So off we went with a very crabby kid out into the woods. The actual roadtrip went very well. The kids slept most of the time.


We hit the beach where Parker held his first crab. Wasn't scared at all. Callie wanted no part of it.
While walking to the beach we found this really cool tree that had fallen and was totally hallowed out. It looked like a giant tree slide! Cory took each of the kids down it.
The next day we went to a baseball game, where the kids just wanted to run around and play. After the game we hit the beach one more time before going out to dinner with the fam and heading over to Greg and Jean's house.


We were tired at the end of the day and Parker was actually mostly in a good mood. That made things much easier! Both kids slept through the night for some much needed sleep. The next day we packed up camp and headed to another baseball game before heading back to the good old Tri-Cities.

Some older kids at the game caught a little garden snake, killed it, and left it by the bleachers. Parker thought it was the coolest thing ever. Callie let out a little scream everytime Parker touched it, but eventually she poked it and ran. The kids thought the snake was "sick" and needed to wwarm up in the sand. This would surely make him feel better. They buried it and it was time to go.

We got home late on Sunday and getting my booty up for work on Monday was tough! I didn't exercise at all while out of town and ate like crap. I'm oretty disappointed in myself. Parker has completed his ear drops and all is well in our world again.