Fit with Ruthie

urgh.. what a crazy week. Praise the Lord my husband is doing great. We are both a bit tired .. he from the illness and myself from lack of sleep.. I am hoping after tonight my schedule will be back to normal and I will feel like myself again . I am tired of being tired. :) its amazing how exhausting taking care of a sick family can make you in a weeks time. And so here i am again.. I made plans and BOOM.. they got shot down (again).. whats a gal to do? I call it a Do over. . so I will start day 1 again and see if THIS TIME i can get 10 days in a row in .. it all starts tomorrow. Its so interesting to me how I made it a year and half ago or so 100 days straight without missing a workout.. and over the last 3 months.. i cant get a break. urgh.. some times life just happens and you have to hold on to the wagon until the horse stops running so you can climb back on. whoa besty.. whoa

just home from the ER with my husband I am feeling better.. although not 100%. he is feeling better than he was. he ended up getting the virus and gets dehydated FAST when he gets stomach stuff.. so we spent the morning and afternoon in the ER. we are now home and he is resting.. doubt working out will be a priority at all today.. but no worries. i am back. but gotta put first things first :) more later. I am off to try and squeeze in a nap.

i got a version of what my kids had... urgh! so not today. hopefully tomorrow.. my head will not feel like it will explode and will spend more time out of bed instead of in bed. OH AND THOSE SQUATS MADE ME UNBELIEVABLY SORE! HAVENT BEEN THIS SORE IN YEARS! URGH. patience grasshoppa patience

I KNEW i should have done this workout at 900 this morning.. but I didnt . so tonight when I got home at 930 I jumped on there.. I did a mile.. then bi curls, shoulders and triceps... ouch.. If my legs are any indication then I will have arms that can hardly wave goodbye with:)

just finished my mile on the mill and legs lifts I did 2 sets of 10 squats, curls and extensions its been sooooo very long that that was totally enough and i am already feeling it :( wow. had a horrible rough night.. but took 2 naps today and I was determined NOT TO MISS 2 down 8 to go :) while running I saw in this vivid imagination of mine.. strong eyes of determination. I drew it after.. this is what came out Silent Determination (please see my art blog for a progress shot of this.. also.. any images i created art under copyright) get up get out and get going progress is only a few minutes away from where you sit right now

my 9 and 12 year old have it now got an HOUR of sleep last night. just up from a 3 hour nap but woke up to the 12 year old getting sick again :( urhg.. hope this is it for the winter! bummer i am planning on doing my workout after i eat and sleep a bit more. ugh. hope your kids dont get it.

BOOOOOM! do you like where you are? do you like what has happened? do you want to be who you use to be or who you worked so hard for? Are you going to back down, quit, stop, and give up. NOOOOOOO I wont sugar coat things.. its been tough around here for the last few months. Its been stressful, frustrating, and down right depressing. What I had worked so hard for.. what I had planned my life to be like right now... what I had envisioned... BOOM.. down by the wayside... Lost in a ocean of injury and sickness.. .. I had it all figured out. THIS Thanksgiving I would have just completed my FULL marathon.. I would be in such great shape, and feeling like I could do anything.. cause ladies.. if I could run a marathon.. there is nothing I couldnt do. But instead.. I am having to RESTART..... starting over is never easy. but here i am. I feel like I have gained 20lbs. I know I havent but feeling weak and flabby does that to a girl :) I am def NOT what I use to be when i was out running 10-12 mi...

ok.. you would think after 2 years of working out that "getting back at it" wouldnt be all so difficult. But after almost 6 weeks off with no real pattern and consistancey i am struggling to find my way again. I am frustrated with myself and my body. I have lost muscle and have gained some pounds were i worked so hard to get rid off (URGH). and I giggle in places I havent giggled in for 2 years now! here are some things I realized yesterday. I have to have a plan I have to set some goals I have to be working toward something I have to get up and get it done first thing in the morning .. i cant wait until later so .. check back later for my plan .. I now it wont take long to get my fit body back.. but i have to be determined to eat right and exercise or its not going to happen. when i was running 10 or 14 miles a little cookie here or there didnt matter.. but now... ouch. ready to be in the grove again and wondering how long it will take to get there.. r

its been getting colder so this weekend we moved the treadmill inside! I will be running later this afternoon :) Yesterday was to be the day i ran my marathon. I am so glad i decided not to go. With my Dad having a stroke last week.. it would have been even more stressful to have been traveling to the race. I was so happy yesterday morning to be sitting in church instead of at the starting line where it was prob 34 degrees and really really crowded. (two things i really dont like.. cold and large crowds :) This past weekend we celebrated not going by driving up the road a bit to a small town that has a GREAT art gallery and shops:) I had such a relaxing day on saturday and really celebrated with my sister and friends :) It seems I have been having art flowing like crazy these last few weeks. I have always been an artist but have never taken it seriously. The combination of being on my back for a month and going to the DMA has rekindled my love and passion for art. I made a promise to m...

oh.. it was a killer 1.5 mile run followed by another 1/2 mile of walking and sprints.. yes sprints.. it just about killed me.. but felt soooooo grand! tomorrow is weights ! really feeling back .. finally.

I havent been me for a while. well.. actually I have.. but its been the OLD me. The old depressed, lathargic, lazy, tired, too busy, always something wrong with me .. me. Its been so hard getting myself back on track.. but i have tried hard to be patient and not expect too much right at first. I have been easing back into running the last few weeks.. mostly walking with some running at track (when my kids run)... I had yet to run longer than a mile straight without walking.. but tonight... ladies.. tonight.. I did over a mile... actually i ran 2 miles.. with only 3 very very short walking or stretching breaks. it felt GREAT! Running is my stress reliever, my thing that centers my thoughts... its also... and MORE IMPORTANTLY.. the thing i do instead of taking blood pressure medicine.. You see... i have low blood pressure.. and for most that is great... and i guess it IS.. BUT low blood pressure makes you feel like crud. Yesterday and today i have had moments of dizziness.. and I know i...

thanks to Jojo who sent this along to me.. wow. whats YOUR excuse? I have none...... now.

Dad is better but still in the hospital... a bit of a recovery process ahead of him.. my workout today was a mile and half walk jog this morning. garage is good to go for tomorrow :) cant wait to lift weights. I will be posting art in a few mins.. check out barbie if you havent seen her.. shes on the art blog.. just click the link on the side bar :)

Its a BEAUTIFUL Saturday afternoon here and I am posting to let you know that I am making progress... I have yet to get back into a my fitness routine but am determined to start Monday... part of that process involves cleaning out the garage( again_) and moving our treadmill inside so i can run in semiwarm environment :) hehe. (you see if its not in the high 80s ,..well its COLD to me :) .. anyway Garage is almost done :) and i am looking forward to getting back into the grove :) dont know how many of you are interesting but... I have been on the creative overload mode around here... I have thoughts and a up coming post on t his and how it all relates to my desire to be healthy... but that will have to wait until next week. :) until then help me name my snobbish lady i drew last night :) click here as a side note.. I entered an art competition... i still cant believe i did it... !!! I am just so excited my art is going to be hanging in a gallery! how cool is that?

ok.. first of all I am seriously considering NOT going to the race. NOW before you all go crazy on me.. let me explain :) here are my reasons for not wanting to go: I am not ready. I could finish 13.1 miles for sure .. i have the mental determination to do so.. but I am a bit worried how it would leave my body. I am JUST now getting to where I have NO pains in my back and I am worried if i push it then i wont be able to run all winter. (which is something that sounds so depressing!) I dont want to spend MORE money going to an event that I know I cannot do my best in. This is NOT the vision I had for my first big race... showing up, walking, worried I would be one of those people they cart off the course. .. not the vision at all. I am just not ready. Please dont see this as if I am giving up on running, fitness, or striving to stay fit. Not at all! Infact.. I see this decision as a way to perserve my fitness lifestyle. I dont want to give my body for one race and be sidelined for weeks...

so this morning was track for the kids I had planned on walk-jogging 4 miles while they practiced but today coach sent them on a 2mile run around campus. its pretty safe but we were a bit concerned about the younger kids not checking really well for traffic at the little intersections.. and i dont trust those college drivers too much either.. so i spent the run going realllllly fast to catch up with the kids to allow them to cross and then running really fast again to get back in front of the first person....... so a 2mile run of sprinting and resting sprinting and resting havent run that hard in ages! it felt great!

CLICK HERE for my commitment to the art side of me :) and what i am doing about it (daily) just wanted to let you all know i just finished 4 miles...walked 3ish ran 1ish.. felt good. Do you know the story of Grandma Moses? This past Friday I had an opportunity to stand in front of a Grandma Moses Original painting! I was inches away from it... and it was an emotional experience. WHY? was the painting as technically complete like a Renoir or a Peale? no. But the painting inspired me like none other I saw that day. (you can read more about our tri p HERE ) What place does art have on my fitness blog? Well.... this painting stirred emotions of guilt and desire all at the same time. It is hard to explain... but in order to understand you must know a bit about Grandma. You see, she didnt become a painter until she was in her 70s. She died at the age of 101!. ... In that amount of time she completed 1500 paintings! This experience awoke something inside of me.. it erased all the excuses...