Fit with Ruthie

I have done this long enough to realize that I won't ALWAYS want to go for a run or lift weights or feel great about my accomplishments. The journey to being healthy and fit is one that is filled with a major tug-o-war between the positive and negative self talk. I think there is a key difference between someone who has been "on" the bandwagon a long time and has reached her goals and one who is "on and off" the bandwagon and struggles constently. I am learning the main difference is the ability to "get it done" no matter which part of your self talk is having a conversation with you today :) Yesterday my negative self talk came back to visit. "all this work and your jeans are still tight" ... "you ran 14 miles! 14MILES and still can wear most of your clothes!".... "so who cares if you have strong legs, and a firm tush... YOUR CLOTHES DONT FIT!" then the other half of my brain kicks in "you have come so far" ...

I thought I would share some of my play list today... below you will see a list of songs that are on my ipod and that I ran to earlier this morning... I decided to see if I could find video of some of the songs that really get me to kick into the next gear when I am running... some of the videos are (of course) not as high quality as version on my ipod.. but you get the idea :) Prince Lets Go Crazy / Purple Rain tour 1985 by Recoda321 Suds in the Bucket-Sara Evans Mama Told Me (not to come)- 3 dog night The Motions- matthew west Someday- flipsyde Can't Slow Down- Randy Roger Band Only the Young- Journey Ojos Asi- Shakira Anthem- Superchick It Happens- Sugarland Lifesong- Casting Crowns Savior- Skillet On the Run- Pink Floyd Don't Cha (Ralphi's Hot Freak 12" Vox Mix)- Pussycat Dolls 9min55 secs Supermassive Black Hole- Muse No Creo- Shakira It's On- Superchick Time Has Come- Mercy Me Sweet Emotion- Aerosmith Let's Go Crazy- Prince Ooh La La- Goldfrapp Synchronic...

I wrote an article for hhwclub about "home gym on a budget" and wanted to share with you a few things we got great deals on. The first picture above shows our smith machine. We got this at a garage sale and about 10 plate weights (olympic weights) for 75 bucks! What a steal! The leg extension machine (blue) is something my hubby bought way back when we were a two income family, it was around 350.oo bucks. I am sure if you shop around at garage sales or new papers you can find a deal on one of these too. The exercise balls are about 15.00 at walmart or academy. My dumbbells (the weights I have in my hand) were bought at garage sales or on sale at academy. The black weight bench was something we needed despretely as our old one was worn out... this one we found at a garage sale where a group of college guys were selling out because they were graduating from college :) That bench was about 15 or 20 bucks. --------- Today i did chest (bench press and flies on the ball), shoulders...

ok.. the PLAN is to run tomorrow morning... its now midnight... wonder how early i can get up and get it done? ... vacation is fun.. but not so good for the diet and workout plan :) we are still not at home....although fiesta texas was fun and i was active today.. its not the same as a good run. my plan is to run for 25 mins then turn around and run back to the house giving me a 50 min run. UPdate: 730am I am up.. hoping to head out in about 10 mins. late nights make it hard to get up but i am looking forward to feeling normal ... and though its weird... running does that for me :) 904am ok.. got it done. 45 min run .. LOTS of hills.. thought of Josha a lot ........ I feel so much better! now to pack it up and head home

Well.. I have been very surprised to find that the soreness I thought I would have to endure on the little weekend trip to Houston.. has never shown up. Yes.. i was a little sore.. but I have been so surprised that I wasnt even as sore as I am when I do those wonderful walking lunges! .. When i finished the run i thought I wouldnt be able to walk the next day... but I guess that cold bath and protein shake I had before going to bed did the trick :) I am also enjoying what all this running is doing to my legs! muscles and lines of muscles I have never had... esp in my thighs! woowhoo! plan on running in the morning..50 mins :) will report in after I am done... didnt run today cause we were at the pool right after worship this morning! :) so fun! thanks for all your encouragement .. you all know I would have never ever tried to tackle this marathon thing if it werent for all of my blog gals cheering me on and encouraging me! yall are the best!

what you can do today. so... instead of running my 14 miles tomorrow... i am choosing to run it tonight. DH surprised me with a quick trip.. we are leaving tomorrow morning.... thats when I was spose to run..... but..... if its gonna get done and I am going to not throw my running plan all out of wack.. then it has to be done tonight... more after i finish... (prob around 10 or 1030) ok.. got off a bit before 8pm.. as always first two were hard, 5 and 6 were great.. 11 sucked.. and 13 and half made me cry :) my legs are shot.. i am exhausted but enjoyed running at night. I loved how it got cooler as I went longer... I loved how there were so many people out with there families and puppies I loved how someones 7 or 8 year old boy came running along side me for about a quarter of a mile and when he pulled up to walk I shouted "good job".. he smiled. I loved how I was reminded why I am doing this.. because I can.. so many people out with walkers, or canes, or so much weight I a...

Its mornings like this that I ask myself "WHY?". Last night my DH and I went out on a date. Texas Roadhouse was great! .. my tummy this morning.. not so much :) and i didnt eat that bad! But... I guess once my body gets use to eating healthy.. it wants to stay that way :) My eating these days is soo much better than it use to be.. I just keep trying to focus on the fact of how much progress I have made, getting rid of all those bad habits is nice... I guess how bad I feel this morning is just a reminder of what I use to feel like all the time! yikes Today is rest day for me. Which is good, i think i need it before tomorrow. I am a bit anxious about 14 miles.. more nervous than i was with the half. I am not sure why but I think it will make the fact that I am trying to complete a full marathon even more concrete. I am wishing my weight would drop off a bit more ... even just another 5lbs would be nice as it would make it easier on my feet as I go so many miles. ... but.. i ...

Its raining again but that didn't stop us this morning :) The kids don't have track practice today or tomorrow but coach wanted them to run anyway. He is traveling with 17 of our track kids to the Texas Games in San Antonio. I woke up and checked the weather at 615am and went back to bed. At 630am i thought to myself... well.. running in the rain wouldn't be bad. We left at 7, the kids rain a mile and half or 2 miles (which ever they were assigned by coach) and I walked the track. I have been having a bit of shin tightness since running yesterday morning so i decided to take it easy today. I did 3 laps fast walking, then 5 sets of 10 - walking lunges and stretched a lot. After we got home I did triceps, back and a few leg extensions just to make sure I got a good burn in my legs (ha). I am trying hard to change my sleep schedule... which isnt easy for a night owl like me. but i know those longer runs are coming up and i will want to be up and out by 530 so it wont be so hot...

50 min run... ran 2 miles then walked 2 laps with a friend and visited.. then ran 20 mins after that.. i am tired but it was great. My arms are tired from yesterdays workout too! :) I am a bit nervous about the 14 miler coming up on Saturday but know I can make it if I walk and run it but i guess for now I just wont think about it... if i look at that schedule over to the right I just think "what? am i crazy?".... so I just wont think about it.... after all.. 14 miles is only 7 times around the campus :) right? my main goal this time around is to make it through the training with out injury. .. doesnt matter how fast ... just dont get hurt. :) so i can get to the starting line! off to try and get somethings done today... getting to go visit with a friend at lunch time .... but i am started to feel summer slipping away :( Fall and all its business will be here before I know it.

8:56pm ok.. so i was kinda fussin about missing my run yesterday and how i couldnt wait until tomorrow and go run in the morning and how i hoped it didnt thunderstorm tomorrow (50% change) cause I can run in the rain but not in the lightening... and well... my sweet hubby said... "well.. go now :)... go now honey.. it will make you feel better and then you will come home and be like 'i am so glad i went runnin'! ... so hurry up.. go before it gets dark."... so i did 2.25 miles ran the first mile second mile i sprinted and then walked I STINK, I AM COMPLETELY COVERED IN SWEAT, I AM RED FACED... BUT... I FEEL GREAT! now.. i am still looking forward to tomorrow morning and i still hope it doesnt thunderstorm... but ... now i can feel great and still think that way :) First of all I just finished my upper body workout.. and i am sitting here with my yummy banana, strawberry and protein shake :) I did chest, shoulders and biceps ...it felt great but i had to lift without m...

some of you know I have had issues with low blood pressure. Some might think this is because I run.. well.. it isn't. I have always had low blood pressure, no matter what my size... even when i was pregnant with my babies it was low. Low blood pressure usually isnt a problem.. I mean USUALLY its a great thing... but some people eventually start having real problems. I began experiencing things like: cold hands and feet getting cold and not able to get warm exhaustion, low or no energy, feeling like i could take a nap at the drop of a hat waking up in the middle of the night, hungry feeling dizzy foggy thinking I went to the Dr a few weeks ago because I took my blood pressure over the course of 4 days and it constantly read 70s over 40s.. and THATS not good. Dr ran many tests, but everything came back fine. Meanwhile.. I still had all the problems listed above. When the dr office didnt seem to want to investigate it any longer and just said "everything is fine"....... so ...

last night: 1230am stayed up too late tomorrow already spose to run at 6am yikes 638am I am sad. I woke up early at 530am. got ready and walked out the door looking forward to a great morning and a great run. I had my ipod on.. listening to "suds in the bucket" by sara evan when I realized a light flashed.... I took my ipod off and listened and a few seconds later .. it thundered. bummer. hate it when you want to go but you cant.. oh well.. back to bed. 11:42 ok.. the rain past... the kids were rained out of track so we all waited until 9ish and went for a run around campus... then the kids ran a few sprints at the track. I ended up practicing what I preach I guess :) click here to read the latest article on HHWClub! "Family and Fitting Fitness In" .... I hung back with Jo so most of my running turned into walking.. but that was ok.. he did great! and has improved soooo much! his running pace is just a walking pace for me :) so I did 2 and a half miles. Not exac...

me: "oh i am so sore I will just run on Sunday" me: "but the schedule is to run today... and if you run you will feel less sore" me: "ugh... i forgot to wash my favorite running skirt... I will run tomorrow cause then i can run in my favorite skirt and not the one that bugs me when I run" me: "just put something on and go run" me: "oh.. it's 715 already and i am not even out of bed.. it will be too hot ... I will run tomorrow" me: "remember.. a cold front came through last night and it could be nice out this morning this late" me: "well I am spose to run 6 miles today .. and it will take me a while" me: "its only 6 miles" me: 'WHAT? did i just use ONLY and SIX MILES in a sentence!" "guess i am turning into a runner or something... guess i better go run" So I got my unfavorite running skirt on and walked outside. It was beautiful. cool. with a nice gentle breeze. I walk up to campus a...

One of the first songs on my ipod is "Momma Told Me" by 3 dog night... I use to listen to it a few years ago when I was first starting out... when walking 20mins was something that felt horrible and i thought I could never finish. I love this song...Not because I like to party :) Ha.... but because when I listen to it.. In my mind.. it's audio proof.. that I am crazy! That I shouldn't be doing this running thing.. and that I should listen to everyone else and Momma and "stop that!" ... but it also makes me smile.. cause... as I run... I realize.. I am experiencing something that is life changing and important.... and just because some people think it isn't fun... doesn't mean its not fun for me. It also reminds me "the craziest thing you've ever done".. that running can and will be hard... will not make sense everyday ... but just being up and out and able... is what its about. A celebration in the fact that I am different, a bit crazy...

great workout this morning. took Jo to track at 7 and while he ran 200s over and over ... I ran a mile walking lunges (52) frog jumps onto a step (15) ab work (leg lifts, hip ups, more leg lifts, crunches) pushups (15) I thought that was enough... and decided I would go cool down with Jo and the track kids. Coach does a cool down of walking jogging stretching and abwork... all while staying in a big circle. .. well.. what I didnt know is that Coach decided to play duck duck goose at the end of the cool down.... I got picked TWICE! ... talk about a game that most people think a 40 year old mom shouldn't play (Ha!)... i was exhausted after ... laying out flat on the track sucking wind like never before :) ... IT FELT GREEAAAAAT! How fun was that! What a great way to end a great workout! Good news today too :) ... I ran in an outfit I havent worn since last summer! Infact the running skirt I had loaned to my daughter to wear until I could get back into it! (of course she had to saftey...

those are the words I kept repeating to myself as I struggled to finish running the last lap of my 4 miler this morning. It was hot, it was dry... and... it was hot :) I set my alarm for 520 fulling expecting to wake up full of energy and ready to get out the door.. but i drifted back to sleep and woke up again at 615..... then.. it was too late to go by myself cause the kids have to be up and getting ready at 645 for track practice. so. I didn't start running until 707... Excited to report that I ran the first 2 miles without stopping! After 2 miles I walked 10 steps! and then kept running. I did 2 more miles without walking :) and wow I was sooooo happy! while I am at it.. I will add a few to the list in the title to help me on my next run: "I am strong, I am fast, I am free, I am tall!, I am nothing but muscle, I am graceful, Nothing hurts, OH.. and I just left that extra 20lbs back there by the park bench!"

I JUST realized that I will be running the 26.2 miles on the 26th! how cool is that!

After reading, praying, thinking, and wondering I have finally decided to run a marathon for my birthday. :) I got the Marathoning for Mortals book from the library yesterday and it just so happens that the schedule is PERFECT timing with my birthday. If I start the mileage at the week just after the long run being 12 miles then it goes well with the weeks I have left until my 41st birthday. The 11 weeks fits just right and it feels right. As I went back and fourth as what to do I had lots of excuses not to train for the full.... not enough time on saturdays for my long runs not enough time schedule wise to get a good base in it was crazy to think to try it again what if i get hurt again 26.2 is just way to much but as i thought of each reason NOT to do this I found myself finding my own answers. My long runs on Saturdays would begin very early and wouldnt interfer with anyones day but my own for the most part. The schedule answered my "is there enough time to build up miles"...

ok.. today is my first day to keep track of exactly what I have eaten. I have NEVER done this and it is pretty annoying but I am making myself do this for atleast a week to see if I can figure out where my problem is as far as not loosing weight like I did last year. todays totals are 1120 calories I looked up the amount of calories I need in order to maintain my weight and that number was 2352. ... which is a lot and that number is if I list myself in the "active" section and not "very active" I will continue to track for the next week ........ I am pretty happy with the fact that today I had only 3 glasses of tea all with reduced sugar and my first glass was not until after noon. The only issue I had was a headache and no energy around 2pm.. which required an hour nap and then I was all better. I know i will be having withdrawals from sugar and caffeine.....been here done this before :) other good news today is I have had a great water day! increased that water in...

This morning was hard. Hard to get back into the routine of getting up and going for a run. I ran when on vacation but not first thing in the morning. So this morning was tough. It was also tough cause it was so hot and dry... even at 7am. I had planned on being on the road by 545 but DH had to work early this morning so i had to change it where i ran with the kids at track. the first mile was the hardest. I couldn't find my rhythm my comfy pace was no where to be found. The second mile was better as a fellow track mom ran past me and motivated me to kick my pace up a bit. The third mile was with the children, i hung back with the little ones and that was sweet. The last mile was fast and I was happy to finally find my pace. I kept telling myself to run for the joy of it. I even started my watch at the beginning of the run and then stopped it by the second mile cause I wanted to not be concerned with how fast but how i felt! :) Now that I am home and cooling down i feel so good :...

I am looking forward to a run tomorrow with just me and my ipod :) I still have the music loaded on it from my half so that will be fun to listen to again .... I have been trying to decide what to do next. I have the thought of a full marathon.. but frankly dont really want to put in the hours for the long runs that it would require.... not yet anyway. I want something that will take me into the fall, the beginning of teaching co-op again and all that goes with homeschooling without the added time given to 4 and 5 hour runs :) I want to do something for my birthday. I will be 41 in september . Last year I was training for the full marathon but this year I am thinking of something more like a biathlon ... biking and running combo. ... I love biking but have gotten out of the habit of riding.... but I think it would be cool to bike and run 41 miles on my birthday...... its just a thought and i am not sure if its even possible... but wondering if I could run a half and then bike the re...

do you ever get tired of "feeling frumpy" I am tired of feeling that way tired of my clothes not fitting, being too tight and refusing to not buy more tired of feeling like I am making progress in EVERY other area of fitness except weight loss I dont want to be 147lbs and thats makes me tired too. tired of just feeling like its such hard work sometimes. not the workouts.. i LOVE those... but it seems the eats are my downfall.. it use to be that I could not eat cake and ice cream and all and the weight would just drop off after about 8 weeks or so of being consistant......... but ... . not anymore am tired of THAT too. I know frumpy and feeling frustrated is a phase.. and a nice long run will make me feel better........ but wondered... If you ever feel tired too....

this is a shot of one of the hills i ran up and down with Josha on that six miler.....i am amazed she runs these roads all the time ! ...... a photo my son took of my in Ouray Co when we stopped in a little shop for breakfast!!! I wont be eathing like this again for a long time! now for the POST :) oh I LOVED being in colorado! it was great! but I am soooo happy to be home. Isnt that funny, no matter where home is.. its always an amazing feeling to be there after being away! :) I have been mulling over thoughts and plans for what to do next. I am thinking of either a full marathon (on my own.. as I refuse to pay $ again and loose it cause i get injured like last year) OR do a bike-run thing......... either of which i would like to do ON my birthday in September. I am not sure if that is enough time to train.. so i will have to get back to you all on the details after I research training etc :) I am definately going to be getting off sugar (yes, again) and gaining control of my sleepi...

yesterday we went to the local gym and lifted weights. it was great fun! I did the 3 Bs.. back butt and bicep.... my legs are sore today so it was a great workout! this morning Josha and I headed up a little road the leads to the local Mine... which our family toured yesterday. I made it all the way up! so it was 6 miles for todays run (and walk).. :) I forgot my camera on the run this morning .. but here are a few photos from when we toured the mine. The Mine is 900ft higher than the town.... so it was a fun challenge to make it up those steep hills ... but oh so fun running down them! heres a picture of the river we ran by this morning and Friday... our kids are playing in it :) ... this was taken yesterday afternoon.. as I laid out by the river :) below is what my view looked like yesterday :) This is the mine we ran up to this morning...... our family toured it yesterday .......so cool inside! This is the view from the window of their community gym and below pics of us working ou...

Ok.. I FINALLY figured out how to load this video :) This is from our run this morning.. although its pretty in the video it doesnt do it justice. Its absolutely beautiful here! and Josha gets to run here allll the time! wow! cant wait to go again! ... but tomorrow we go to the local gym and lift weights! wooowhooo!

had a great fun run this morning with Josha and Mindy :) .. here we are before we left :) this is just a fast post before I go play up the river... be sure and check Joshas blog too! I do have video but will have to find time to sit and let it post after while :) this is the view on the way out of town awesome trail running the river back on the trail

We are on vacation in the mountains of Colorado :) having a great time :) Got up this morning and did upper body .I was so happy to be able to actually do some pushups! I did 12. 10 .8. 6 but no burnouts. The most pushups i have done in over a year! shoulders and triceps were done too with weights! I am looking forward to working with Josha and be able to go run a bit on her favorite trails! now... back to relaxing.. the kids are going to float homemade mini boats down a little creek. :)