Fit with Ruthie

Two mile run this morning in 58 degree weather! First real "run" since my half on Friday and Vacation. It was hard getting up and out but once out I didnt want to come back LOL. Co-op was today so I got to enjoy Picasso and lots of fun with those great kidos. I plan on a 4 mile run tomorrow morning followed by weight lifting :) So.. you wondering what the Exciting News is?? well.. I officially have my study materials for my personal trainer certification. I will start this weekend getting going on studying and hope to test on it in a few weeks! I am sooo excited! but have been soooo busy that I havent even had time to sit and write about it all !!! Once I get my certification I would LOVE to build a website with interactive support and encouragement  as well as do training locally! I cannot wait to see what God has planned! I have some great stories, and things I want to blog about but good grief.. time is flying and I MUST get ready to coach those kids in 30 mins!...

I am soooo happy fall is here! We are blessed with cooler temps and no wind! PERFECT weather! My half is done :) So, What's next? Well... first of all i am considering a full on Thanksgiving day :) I will look over my schedule during the next few days and see if it will all work out.  Secondly I am going to start getting a bit more serious into the weight lifting again :) woowhoo! Including having the goal of completing the pushup challenge and 100 push ups by thanksgiving :) and Last but not least..... I am going to keep trying to eat dairy free, sugar free, and peanutbutter free so I will have a happy tum tum :) We have a wonderful vacation this past weekend and enjoyed an outdoor concert with Addison Road and 10th Ave North (i have photos later) ... and then Saturday morning we ran around Baylor Unv campus as a family... it was such great memories! The WHOLE family out for a jog on VACATION! I better get going... gotta get schooling finished with the kids and we ar...

I dont have a lot of time My sweet hubby is surprising us with a mystery outing.. we have no idea where we will end up today :) i still have packing to do so i have to make this quick ate oatmeal before bed, but didnt get good and asleep until 11pm. was up at 4:20am! left the house at 4:55am.  The run was AhhhhMAZING! I had to walk to stash my stuff (gatoraid, snacks, and water)... so that added time to my .. time LOL... I tried to jog with that back o stuff but it just wasnt happening. so.... 13.1 miles in 2hour 13 mins :) I am happy with that! the run was a blast and I LOVED IT! College campus was alive and awake early this morning... a boot camp was out, social clubs doing silly things and all the dorms had fire drills and the basketball team jogging around campus! I was kept entertained for sure! I have no idea if mile 11 was hard... it always has been in the past but today i didnt even think about it. got a runners high at mile 13! woowhoo! more later! gotta go....

Ok.. I am here to tell you.. tomorrow is my birthday :) 42 to be exact Tomorrow morning I WILL complete 13.1 miles no matter how long it takes, not matter how early i have to get up! Hubby home with the kids, my sore throat is gone... and I am going for it! Because MY BIRTHDAY ISNT ABOUT CAKE, OR PRESENTS, OR AGE.... its about CELEBRATING not being THIS OLD wornout person anymore! ITs about CELEBRATING THE NEW ME!  EVERY YEAR UNTIL I DIE... ITS NO LESS THAN 13.1 FOR ME ON MY BIRTHDAY. thats just how its going to be. thats me in the middle. Coach. Coach Ruthie. ......NEVER AGAIN will I be  the old me! tonight is about rest, fuel and getting ready. Will post as soon as I am done. :)

the struggle to find balance has left me in a hole. i feel unmotivated, drained and sick. Yes sick Is my sore throat and lack of energy due to a virus? a change in the seasons (allergies) OR OR could it be that my problems all began when i started with the a LITTLE table sugar each day. Over the past 2 weeks and in an effort to figure out my hypoglycemic/blood sugar balance... I have dabbled a bit in sugar. The thought was maybe.. just maybe my low energy levels and sharp ups and downs were because i wasnt taking in enough balance of sugar(s) and carbs and protiens......... and here i am.... about 9 days into this experiement with a sore throat, negative thoughts, and no energy. I wonder.... did the sugar lower my immunity so much that I became sick? could it be that my immunity has been comprimised by my struggle to find balance. I MUST come to the constant, every vigilant realization that the pure white power stuff is like poison to me. so today I took a step back.....looking at my c...

I didnt know if I could make 13.1 this morning or not.. but thought I would try. Good news is.....I tried. Bad news is.....I only made 6 miles. WAIT! STOP THAT THOUGHT! how can SIX miles be "bad news?" . :) here's how my run went down: woke up twice in the middle of the night, sore throat. alarm went off at 4:15am.........ugh. tired. OH but my throat is bettttter! dressed and headed to campus. it was dark, overcase and cool. Perfect for running... except it was HUMID. (ick) I ran 4 miles and then stopped to get some gatoraid and a bit of energy bar and headed back out. BUT ....had to make a pit stop. URGH> my tummy was no co-operating. After the potty stop i headed back out. I felt pretty good on mile 5.....but mile six started to loose energy. I kept feeling hot and cold and hot and cold. although my throat was not hurting my ears were bothering me. so. I decided to quit. Today 6 miles had to be good enough :) As I was finishing up lap 2 around campus.. a mens social ...

I had a great 5 miler yesterday morning before 7am! Its been long time since I ran in the early morning darkness... and I loved it! I did experiment a bit with eats when i was running... every 2 miles I took a small bite of energy bar and a swig of gatoraide. This seemed to really help my energy level when I was running! I felt great at the end.... well, tired.. but great. I finished in an hour but stopped and stretched for a good while and stopped twice for snacks.... I just decided I would run for an hour and see how far I got keeping it a quick pace but also making sure I took the time to stretch really well. My hip was a bit ache last night .. but today is fine. I have decided to skip 12 miles in my training. And plan on doing 13.1 on Tuesday the 21st, a few days before my birthday. My hubby has something planned so I am not to have any planned activities on my birthday . In other news.... I bought some new running shorts today :) the photo doesnt show very well but htey are flore...

I havent met a runner yet who doesnt have those days or weeks where they just dont want too. Today was my day. I have planned a 12 miler... but two late nights in a row left me with nothing to do but sleep in this morning. And left me with a I DONT WANT TOO attitude. I dressed for a run anyway. I just didnt feel like it today. I left the house deciding that a run would make me feel better and if anything I could atleast do a easy 4 miles and be happy with that........but I still didnt want to. Once i got going I felt better. I started going faster and quickly changed my mind from an easy 4 to a fast and hard 2. I ran the first mile and the second mile I ran (sprints) and alternated doing pushups as "rest". Back at home I am drenched with sweat (its sooo humid these days here!) and feeling much better. I am happy I went even if it was only for 15 mins. Our plans sometimes get shoved to the side but that doesnt mean we cant be happy with what we CAN do today :) I am off now to...

running is soo mental.. that is why i love it. didnt want to run today wanted to be a bum but I was a bum yesterday and didnt run so... I did a quick 4 miler... more like a 2 miler repeat. since I stopped and stretched for 10 mins in between laps. :) It was humid but in the 70s .. when i was done i was drenched with sweat.. so much so i could feel the salt on my skin and it was all pooring down into my eyes! very cleansing! First lap was fast. I was bookin it... i felt great! dreaming I could run that fast forever. Second lap.. i was fast... but not cause I felt fast.. but because I was pushing myself. You see.. my second lap I ran a bit and then started walking for about 10 steps and stretched my shoulders. As I was doing that 2 college guys, one i kinda know thru my hubby, jogged past. I was like... HEY. Mr College boys. Not so fast. So.. I just picked it and and ran my fast past i had run on the first lap. I pasted those boys and kept going.. thinking for a whole 2 miles they were r...

(just had to post a photo of one of our little ones running at the cc meet last year! Soooo exciting!) Had a much better day today as far as foods/energy goes :) today was my first day back teaching at our homeschool coop and I was happy i seemed to eat the correct foods through out the day this time and at the end of my day still felt GREAT! only one low spot today but it quickly corrected when I grabbed my snack. ... .. I love it when I get it right and feel good all day :) Tomorrow I will be going for a nice run in the morning followed by abwork and then a fun trip to our local zoo with the kids! :) This weekend our youth program kids are running in our first cross country meet of the season. Tonight we had our 2nd practice for this week... because of the rain brought to our area by the hurricane. We ran the course with the kids .. and oh what fun! 49 kids at practice tonight!!!!!....and 55 running against area schools on Saturday!!!! Many of our kids are below 7th grade! but wil...

I am learning I cannot say NO to sugar completely. So... to understand what it means to me.. its like this: Let's pretend: You are an alcoholic. Addicted to alcohol... you stop alcohol but realize for your health that you must drink a small amount of alchohol daily to be healthy. The same could be said for smoking.. you are smoker.. you quit smoking but your health requires you take 2 puffs a day.... and only 2 in order to be healthy. How much fun would THAT be? I am a sugarholic. The issues I have with sugar and what it has done to me and my life is a long list. I am now in what I could call sugar remission. I am no longer craving sugary things like I use too... sugar no longer holds power over my life, except for one thing. If I dont eat sugar I feel like crap. If i eat too much sugar... guess what.... I feel like crap. Its like my body is in constent teeter-tater-ness. Slap on the emotional connects I use to have with sugars and the thoughts in the back of my mind of what if??? ...

whats more fun than a run in the drizzly rain? a run with all three of your kids while we play slug bug :) amzing the number of slug bugs on college campus's :) had a great 2.5 mile run with the kids.. I ran with my son Jo who set a nice easy pace which was wonderful for a bit of recovery after yesterdays 10 miler :) before i ran I did abwork, lat pull down (back), biceps, and obliques in our gym/garage with my hubby. i am off to get the day going... busy. schooling, library, closet organization, and cooking. (never a dull moment) You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted. -Ruth E. Renkl I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. -Michael Jordan It's not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not. -Anonymous

slept in til a bit after 7 this morning.... we have a hurricane that is coming to Texas and bring us some cloud cover and rain :) nice for west texas! ... it was a gentle breeze, in the low 70s and clouds rolling in.. I was hoping to be done before it rained... I did 8 around the trail and then headed home for some fuel (i didnt take anything with me)... grabbed a few swigs of gatoraide and got on the treadmill for the last 2. so. 10 is done! I loved it except for the fact I was in a hurry... so not as relaxing as i would have hoped. now to do some more stretching and EAT! :) ha

Just finished a weight workout. Did the following: Chest flies: 12 reps: 15lbs 10 reps: 15lbs 8 reps: 20lbs 6 reps:25lbs tri extension: 12reps 10lbs 10reps 15lbs 8reps 20lbs 6 reps 20lbs bicep curl: 12 reps: 15 10reps: 20lbs 8reps: 20lbs 6 reps 25lbs shoulder press: 12reps 8lbs 10, 8, 6 10lbs (will never go over 10lbs on shoulder press because of injury) I am sooo happy with 25lbs :).. I haven't lifted in a long time .. "just" pushups.... goes to show me.. pushups build strength more than most people give them credit for I think .. i am forever a fan of the mens pushup! On the hair front.. I am still growing it out.. but decided I wanted to do something different. so I layered. I liked it at first but after a few days I am not so sure. Oh well.. cant get it back.. well.. maybe by christmas LOL.. the first layer is in my eyes all the time.. unless I fix it. But oh well... Its good for a change but now I will right a note to myself "when your bangs are past yo...

In times of transition.. times of change... running is a constant. It hasnt always been that way for me. In the past, running has been the thing that got left by the way side and thrown to the wolves. The first thing that went when things had to go. Not anymore. Now, when life gets busy.. I crave running. Where ever I am doing whatever I am doing and havent gotten my run in.. I think about running and dream about getting on the trail. Now its the first thing I want to do instead of the last. What's different now? Running isn't running anymore. Running isn't to loose weight, or be fit, or fit in size 6 anymore. Running is a way of life now. Its who I am. How did this happen to me? It all started with a dream of running a half marathon. It all started with a desire to jog 2 miles without stopping, it all started because I was tired of feeling bad all the time. I love myself when I run. I am possitive, upbeat, relaxed, mellow, focused, confident. I dont have money to spend sho...