Fit with Ruthie

just when you think it will always be 80 degrees at 630am.. a cool front comes through :) it was in the low 60s this morning when I left the house  :) I was actually thinking .. uh no.. its cold :) but on my when I started running IT WAS AWESOME! I did a fast paced 4 miles. Its always interesting to see who is out and about at 545am.... today I saw a couple of college girls, some moms, two older guys, two younger guys (who were def distance runners... they had the typical running shorts and no shirt and not a stick a fat on em.. and oh my they ran a fast pace), a group from a "fit camp" who were stretching, another Big group of about 20 college kids who i had to get of the way of.. they were like a herd. I enjoyed the stars and clouds, the quietness of the town, the darkness, and most of all... the cool cool air :) I only did 4 cause I am pretty sure I will be doing another 2 with the kids at track this morning .. but we will wait and see what coach has in store :) ...

I have been doing a bit of thinking the last few days... well.. really since my 18 mile run. Wondering.. why in the world is this whole marathon thing such a big deal. What is it that makes this so important, why does it hold so much emotion, and does it make sense for me to still wonder why I chose to do this? What makes me so different from others?  When  people learn i "ran" 18 miles and they say the usual things like "oh I could never do that" or. "uh.. you could have taken a CAR"... .. Why is it that I chose to "tackle" a marathon distance.?? I mean.. I dont HAVE to do this. I could just get cardio in and lift weights and be healthy ....  I know I keep saying this but ... "am I soooo different from anyone else?????" I dont think so. I guess thats why this is all so overwelming at times to me.. cause I never was a "runner"... I forced myself to run for the simple fact that I didnt want to be more over weight than i al...

that this longer distance running stuff takes FUEL! Its always worked before.. wake up, drink a little glass of OJ and hit the road.. .get the 2 miles done and come home... NOT ANY MORE! I was spose to do 8 miles today but i had ZERO energy! Legs felt great, breathing great, feet great... but no gas in the tank! So i quit at 4 miles... my total is 5 miles if I count walking up there and home.. i ran all but a few minutes of the 4 and at the end this little college girl ran past me like a princess .. running on her tippy toes like she was 5 years old.. and I decided my last 1/2 a mile was going to be right be hind her .. so i sped up and booked it to the end. urgh.. to be young again .... so.. thats my story... i will of course try for 8 tomorrow or monday.. but feel the need to just get those week day runs in so i can do the 20 that is heading my way a week from today (AHHH!) now.. to go help my sister move :) hope yall have a blessed day! Ruthie (now where i did i put my oat...

I am just a "tad" sore today (HA!) .. more like OUCHEEEEWAHWAH i am sore! :) I slept GREAT last night, went to track and ran a bit with the kids... my son was sore too.. so we worked through our soreness together :) ... after a good mile or so and a bit of stretching... i was much better... I tried to rest as much as i could today.... and tonight my DH gave me a GREAT leg rub down.. OUCH it hurt cause I am THAT sore.. but its seemed to have helped a LOT! .... My mistake---- I failed to drink a protein shake right after I finished  yesterday.... so it IS all my fault. so i shouldnt complain :) ok... so my plan tomorrow is take a bit of a run if my legs feel up to it... if not i will rest and give it a whirl on Friday. I will prob push my "resting" long run back a bit.. like to Sunday night so I will have a full week to recover for that 20 miler. (YIKES) I am off to read my Marathon Man book............ want to have a quote-a-thon? "I...

I am telling you I was sooooo nervous about having to make it 18 miles today. I just finished about an hour ago! woowhoo! ok.. heres the story (for those of you interested) I tried hard to focus on carbs yesterday because I think a LOT of my problem on the last try was I had NO fuel. So I ate one and half slices of pizza for lunch, on for supper, and right before I went to bed at about 930ish.. i ate a bowl of oatmeal with slivered almonds and blueberries and drank lots of water. I woke up on my own at 4am (why do we do this when we know we are waking up 30 mins later?) so I rolled over and went back to sleep.. or tried to... then my watch went off at 430... I was tired . but I made myself get up. normal routine, let the dog out, go potty, get dressed, check facebook :), post on the blog, lace up the shoes, brush the teeth, get water bottles out of fridge, add gatoraid powder to one of them, grab cliff bar, get all the stuff in a walmart bag, .. go potty one more time :) get the key, ...

825pm Tuesday: nervous about the 18. trying to get my brain ready for the fight.... getting up at 415... wondering why i chose this ..... I dont have to do this.. but I am not quitting. sometimes we dont understand why... we just have to try . more in the morning before I leave. 4:40 AM: ok.. i am up. believe it or not. hoping to do 10 min miles today so i will be done by 8am I actually think i feel pretty good.. once i wake up. one think that got me out of bed this morning is thinking "If I can get up in the middle of the night to take care of my kids when they are sick, then i can do this. Its all about perspective." I think being a Mom gives us women a unique oportunity to use those experiences to help make us stronger in other areas in life. ok.. enough talkin... I best get with it. oh. and while you wait for me... check out this guys blog !

wow. I am STILL tired. We drove to FtWorth to see Sara Evans in concert Saturday night and drove back home. We didnt get home until 3am. I wasnt in bed until 330. Then we got up and went to church yesterday morning ... had about a 2hour nap yesterday afternoon .. went to be early last night but i am STILL so tired. I think I might be too old for this kinda fun. (ha) Ok.. as far as training. I havent run since thursday. I was trying to decide if I should just skip my 18 miler and just do the 20 miler .......I posted THIS on Marathon Mommies and got some GREAT replies :) so.. I have decided tomorrow morning I will give it another shot. I will get up and try to be out the door before 5am (crazy huh?) ... Today I will do nothing but laundry, school the kids, get things ready for tomorrow morning and sleep to try and rest up for it ...... I know i can do it.. it seems for me.. the hardest part is to find the HOURS and HOURS i need to finish, not feel pressured to push myself to hard too f...

Tonight's lesson was on "Knowing when to give in". Learning lots on this marathon training journey. You know how sometimes... something just has to give. Tonight it was my 18 mile run. I started off feeling pretty good. I was tired from a full day but I felt good. I tried to eat healthy and often all day and drink my water. As I was getting ready to go I looked at the temp and it was 101 out. YIKES. by the time I was out the door at 7pm it was only 99. I never found my zone. I never felt good. The whole time I hand NO energy. I felt off. Then, my right foot started "hurting" not bad hurting.. just tired hurting. This is my second run in my new shoes so I just kept walking and running walking and running stopped to stretch.. hoping it was just a little glitch that needed to be worked out. 6 miles into it I was still struggling. I kept thinking.. NO way am i going to make it 12 more miles with this foot. ... I talked myself back into trying harder but at 7 and a ...

I LOVE EM! had a great run in them.. felt like i was running on air! woowhoo! .. 4.25 mile run one stop to stretch at the half way point :) felt great! I need to get up and out the door about 30 min earlier so i can get 5 or 6 miles in instead of 4... but today i will be very excited about 4.. esp with NO walking! UPDATE: OK.. UH OH>>>> so i cant run my 18 saturday morning (have an event to be at)... cant run friday morning (track) and DH at work... so its going to be either tomorrow night or Friday night. I am thinking tomorrow night and get it over with.. UPDATE (again) decided to run tomorrow night. ......we have a chance of storms...... might have to settle for the treadmill. ick. hum..

the shoes came by ups late this afternoon.. about supper time.. so i decided to wait until tomorrow morning to get up and run. Its funny.. I can't decide if I love running or what. Its been a weird few days. I just feel a bit off... the fall school year is starting up.. DH has been working a lot, the kids and I started schooling yesterday and I am hoping to get 4 days of school work in this week. I think more than anything right now my running can be discribed as another job. Sometimes I feel like that.... having to squeeze it in .. here or there... missing it alltogether or not making the distance i wanted. Don't get me wrong.. once I am out and running.. I feel the joy (most the time) ..... its just becoming so different than it use to be. I knew training for a marathon would be teaching me a thing or two.. and I have learned quit a bit so far.. .. wondering what it is?: Never take your body for granted. Injury or pain can stop you in your tracks at any moment. Enjoy each and...

I am still waiting for my new shoes to get here.. it seems like its taking forever. hoping they show up today :) if they do I will go for a run tonight. I helped with track practice this morning so no "concentrated" run for me ....which is fine as I really need to wait until the new shoes get here to do any major running ......I sure hope this little break wont be a bad thing for my 18 miler coming up. The 18 mile run is scheduled for Saturday but I will run it Friday (not sure when) because Saturday morning we have our homeschool groups "back to school" event and then Saturday night we DH and I are going to a concert and staying the night in the big city. (yes.. its like a date.. but longer tehehe)... I dont know about you all but things seems to be just getting busier and busier. Lots to do... behind on laundry, feeling the need to clean out the garage (again) and that doesnt count schooling the kids (which we started yesterday) .... I find myself thinking "W...

My new shoes still havent gotten here and my left foot has been giving me some "issues" so i decided to just take it easy on running this morning. I ran a mile with the kids at track and will have a hard weight lifting session in just a few minutes. :) I am not sure whats going on with my foot. Could it be from the hole I stepped in on Saturday? I have had soreness on the bottom and a tingling sensation ... just like the feeling you get when you are wearing socks and the split second before you slip and fall down. (its hard to explain) .. I am hoping and praying this isnt something that will keep me from my 26 on the 26th. So resting until my shoes get here is my plan :) (on a side note... this weekend i realized that my sons foot is as big as mine! yikes .. (hes 10) I will do an over all workout.. going light on the legs and hard on the upper body... will let you know how it goes. I also start school today with the kids, and have lots of other things going on plus housework....

was to do 8 miles today.. could only manage 6.5 ..... lots of factors kept me from finishing. want to hear them? stayed up too late watching "the Unit" didn't eat a protein shake before bed had to wait until late in the morning . .. didnt leave until 730 (because my hubby had to be at work for a bit this morning and I had to wait until he got home) first 1/2 mile into it i stepped in a stupid hole and rolled my ankle a bit (shoot!)... the hole had water in it so I had the whole rest of my run in a wet sock.. (which i HATE) The water on my one foot made me mad.... so i ran MOST of the rest of the run just mad. mad at the guy in the truck who didnt stop for me and another girl at one of the intersections.. (cant you see mister that we are dieing here! if i stop i have to talk myself back into running? urgh) my legs felt like lead... i know its cause I didn't eat before I went running and i should have. i am now super tired.. but i am happy with myself. I got out and go...

Decided to run again today.. tomorrow i will not run but do weights and rest the legs for Saturdays 8 miles :) We ran at the park today for track practice! Its the beginning of cross country season and the kids LOVE CC! I ran a slow mile with my middle son and then a fast mile as I tried to stay up with the older highschool boys on the team. It was great fun. I have done something the last two runs I have NEVER done before.. EVER! I ran 2 miles with my hair down! yep.. no pony tail and this is even better I ran yesterday and today with NO IPOD! Ok gals.. this is weird.. and I cant figure out what i am turning into.. but to wake up with no alarm at 515am AND to enjoy running without music!??? yikes. strange things a happenin here! Eats have been ok. I ask THIS on the marathon mommies site and feel encouraged. I think for a while I wasnt eating enough calories and then over compensating by eating too many for a few days... so... I am doing two things differently. One, I am sticking to ...

At track practice at 6am. I ran with my oldest daughter and the rest of the kids around campus plus 2 laps around the track for a grand total of 2.5 miles. Came home to pick up the boys and then ran with the second practice at 7 around campus again :) for a grand total of 4.5 miles today. My feet have still been feeling tired... but not when I run they feel GREAT when I run... so.. to be on the save side i will ice them in a few minutes just to make sure :) ... my new shoes should be here hopefully by friday :) Highlights of the morning: getting to run with my daughter getting to run through the sprinklers with coach, my daughter and 4 other of the track girls getting to encourage some of the girls who were struggling to make it the 2 miles during the 2nd practice. getting to yell as the kids ran sprints at track :) wooowhoo.. so fun to watchem run FAST! (esp the little 3 and 5 and 6 year olds!) getting all hot and sweating and not caring if i stink ;) (yes.. tom boy at heart here :) n...

My feet are STILL tired feeling.. its hard to describe... but its definately time for new shoes. will order them today :) same pair.. just new. yesterday was just off. i was tired and felt sluggish all day. my eats weren't good. For some reason the turkey tacos i made last night (which we always have) gave me heart burn. so I went to sleep not feeling good at all... and slept restlessly until about 1am. This morning woke up and my tummy was fine... but i am tired. I decided on the way to track NOT to run cause my feet were tired. But the kids (about 40 of them in the program) ran around the campus... so I tagged along with a group of boys (ages 7 to 10)... it was great fun and my feet felt better after the 2 miles :) .. course after I am home they feel tired again.... i will ice them later and see if i can get them to cooperate with me :) eats? today.. so far: breakfast (8:45ish): 2 peices of toast, 2 eggs, half cup o grapes, tea with 3 tsp sugar in it (i know i know... but thats a...

Can't believe it but I CAN walk today :) LOL.. Yesterday evening I had a "catch" in my front hip area... but this morning it was totally fine my feet still feel a bit tired but know I made a great choice to not wear my 5 inch heals to church this morning :) ... the front of my thighs are sore.. like they are when you run sprints .. its a good sore. :) Eats: Yesterday I ate bad :) ... calling it a free day. (really wanna know?) .. ugh.. too long to type :) Today... well... not so good again.. We had Dr Pepper in the house so i drank some. Girls.. I am telling you.. Its like a drug to me! makes me feel GREAT! ... ugh... stupid HFCS! I didnt go grocery shopping and I didnt do a meal plan... I did this instead: which is really cool.. but I should have done my eats plan instead. so... tomorrow I WILL plan and shop... DETERMINED to eat great this week! Wonder what I decided as far as a "real" race or running my marathon by myself? Well.. I have given it a lot of thoug...

I did it! more after my ice bath! OK... here it goes woke up at 515 to my alarm.. DIDNT want to get out of bed... but 10 mins later.. i did. mile one I walked most of, mile 2, 3, 4 i ran, mile 5 walked some ran some.. same for the rest until mile 10.. saw my sister! she was out walking... so i got to walk and visit.. SO FUN to see her! .. mile 11.. sucked! always will i guess.... 12 was good. 13 walked and ran... 14 started to cry cause the song "Miracle of the Moment" song came on.. 15 and 16 HARD ... legs felt like lead.. walked a LOT Of 15 but mile 16 i was determined to run most.. and i did. got home... DH had my tub ready... got in and then had my DD bring ice... My sister was over visiting so she grabbed the ice and started throwing it at me! it was so fun! nothing like laughin with your sister! ... Things I loved about it: all the different people out...the ones with dogs, the ones with friends, the ones with their elderly moms, the guy who was a distance runner who I ...

tonight is the night before the longest run of my life so far. 16 miles. yikes .. I have mulled over in my head when I should run... I figured I would go first thing in the morning.. but the thought of it being so hot when i am done is not very exciting. The other idea is to run tomorrow night... and it would be getting cooler the longer I go.. ... but I have to go with the first thing in the morning option.... I am afraid if I wait... other things will get in the way... like painting, or cleaning the camper, or watching to much star trek :) hahah.. :) so.. I plan ... a 515am wake up... hope to out the door by 6 at the latest. eats today? a teaspoon of gatoraid powder in water before track eggs and toast, catchup, water fat free refried beans, 6 tor. chips, hot sauce, tea with 2 tsp of sugar (yes sugar.. i slipped) whole wheat crackers, low fat cheese stick, water, lean ham apple and peanut butter water roast, mashed tatos, green bean casserol, 2 rolls (it was a family get together :...

had a GREAT practice this morning at track... all the kids worked really hard and ran really FAST :) I have had a great time as substitute coach :) I planned on running after practice like I did earlier this week... but I stepped in a huge puddle at the end of practice today... stepping off the track and right into a soggy feet soaking mess.....so.. my shoes and socks and feet were soaked! my shoes are now outside drying out and this leaves me to go for an evening run .. which is fine. I am looking forward to running but am a tad concerned that my left foot has the slight feeling of soreness undernieth ... My last run I spent more time on the concrete sidewalk than normal cause it was wet and soggy on the grass.... but i guess i learned my less on... run on the grass when you can no matter if its a bit soggy! I have a goal today of limiting my sugar ... no gatorade this morning (had an apple instead) and no sugar in my tea (stevia instead).. :) so far so good. my eats today so far (wi...

here we go again :) ---------------------- remember a post i did a LONG time ago... about doing something that was harder than running a marathon? it was about getting off sugar. For a while I have been wondering if it is ok to want to be thinner. You know.. people say "you look great".. "i think we all have an "ideal body weight" and you are probably at it" Here's what I know. I feel better about myself, I have more energy, I feel better when I run, and I am a more positive person when I am between 135-125lbs I dont think it is wrong... now.. if I wanted to be 100lbs or something crazy like that.. THEN we would have a problem. If I wanted to be "skinny" and not "fit"... THEN that would a problem. But as I sit here .. I can feel my "baby belly" as I call it (my belly I was blessed with after three children)... rolling over my waistband.. AND I HATE IT! I hate not being able to feel comfy in my clothes and in my own skin.....

The latest article I wrote is up on HHWclub... "Many people start fitness plans and set goals but its rare to see them accomplished. We have all heard and made “excuses” for sitting on the couch instead of getting a workout in. As much as we would all hope and dream that those women who are in incredible shape were just blessed with...." click Here to read the rest. I mention in the article that I am inspired by the stories of determination that disabled athletes show.. and stories of other people who have had adversity in this life. (Sorry the one of Pam Brown is a bit "choppy" but you will get the message :) Here's a few videos that are my favorites: YOU CAN!

woke up at 530 ready to go this morning... then i realized the most important piece of sports "support" equipment was still wet in the washer! ... SHOOT! so i worked on the computer and relaxed before waking the kids at 630.. track at 7.. practice went great... the kidos ran so good! so fun to see them run FAST! ;) after practice I came home for about 15 mins and headed out for a few laps around campus.. I did 4 and a quarter miles... it was oooooo so hot. but I loved it for the most part! ... 40 min run and home to stretch...... was so glad I got it done! sweat was running down into my eyes and I thought I really really need to get a running hat .... I have a terricloth sweat heandband but i cant bring myself to wear it :LOL:) now time to paint the hallway! ...someday i will be finished with all this remodeling and be able to just sit around all day LOL >. :) wanna see what I did yesterday? our fireplace insert before: and after! ...

I had a ball tonight... I did upper body and abwork on my big blue exercise ball :) chest fly shoulder press bi curls also did: bench press with the bench at the smith machine lat pulldowns at the smith tons and tons of crunches on the ball and the bench.. the leg lifts on the bench.. and I decided my new goal is to do 25 of these: no.. thats not me! :).. click on the pic to take you to her page:) tonight I did TEN! and i was happy with that! backing up a bit... this morning I "led" track practice with the kidos... they had long runs so they ran as many laps as they could.. afterward we did some aerobics, ab work, pushups and stretching ... its was an ok workout but I felt like I needed more tonight so I hit my gym :) Isnt it interesting what we think about when we workout or run? tonights topic in my brain was all about my impatience with myself at not making much progress... I found myself wondering why I am so concerned with my waist size....... focusing on my slow progres...

left about 625am... beautiful pink clouds as the sun was rising ..no wind... but humid.... which led to a LOT of sweating... miles 1 and 2 were ok... 3 and 4 i followed a guy in a orange shirt and ran the whole time... 5 and 6 were ok but got to see a really pretty black dog that looked like a great dane puppy...(he would have match my outfit perfectly..as i was in all black today too) and 7 and 8 were "hurry up get this done" so i can get home and get ready for worship. i remembered why i like running.. its for how i makes me feel sometimes during ...but most of the time afterwards... Thats what i need to remember when I am making excusing and trying to get myself out the door... its all about how I feel when I am done! woowhoo!-- " Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set be...

painted all day yesterday.... I am so sore too :) I forgot to report I did pushups yesterday after I walked a few laps at the track..... then I painted and painted.. over 8 hours.... all but one hour of that was painting my ceiling-upper walls... so having my arms in the "up" position most the day has let to being really sore in my shoulders, bis and tris .....my rib cage is sore too but i am sure thats from the pushups :) funny how when you do something different your body isnt use to it :) so... we are having a little bday party this afternoon and I need to finish up painting and get the furniture put back in etc before party time ........ I am postponing my 8 mile run until tonight :) .. i remember I like running at night... so it will be fun! more after i am done........ OH.. and I love the songs Josha posted over at her blog and will be running to some new tunes thanks to her :) .... UPDATE no run tonight.... took a free day as far as meals... had no energy tonight...