Okay...

Alright, you can go look over at the new blog now... it's still not beautiful or in anyway updated by I'm trying when I have a free moment. 

texasrunnergirl.com

My summer is officially over (yes I know it's technically not here...).  I finished up my two classes in May and I'm now starting the summer hell.  I just got my book for my first class and realized I have to read four chapters, do four chapters worth of homework, four quizzes and one test by FRIDAY at 9PM.  Uh...hello!  So needless to say, I've spent the days reading and doing lovely accounting work... Woot. 

I did have a group run on Saturday.  I opted to start at 6 am since we had a tee ball game at 9.  It's a little bit of a drive over to where we run so I typically give myself an hour to get up and get going...so I was up at 5.  (sadly its my normal time to wake up)

Look at me learning how to use the timer....

We did 7 miles and while my pace isn't all I wanted it to be, it was so nice because I ran with a new friend and we chatted the whole time.  I really didn't mind as long as we ran the whole 7 miles, which we did.  She was so excited because it's a new distance for her... can't help but be excited too.

The rest of the weekend we did normal weekend stuff.  Tee ball at 9, lunch with inlaws, then errands, cleaning, pool time, the usual stuff...  In a surprising move, I actually made dinner tonight... I suppose I can do one meal, Greek grilled chicken kabobs and rice.  The kids don't eat it of course but the hubs and I love it.

I'll leave you with this picture of my tech family.  Dad has his iPad out and each kiddo has an iPhone they are playing on...


Who's up for a game of Words with Friends?

Go look at the new site... don't look at the about page.  Haven't gotten that far yet!

Moving....

Yes, my three followers... I'm going to move over to Wordpress.  I'm going to change my name too... I'm finicky like that.  I asked my husband to help me with a new blog name here's what he came up with....

Torpedo Tara honing in on her first marathon. 

Ummm?  Yeah, not feeling it.  He thought it was the greatest thing ever... of course he was in the military.  I kept saying Tornado Tara and he kept correcting me Torpedo Tara. 

Anyways, I'm leaning more towards something like texasrunnergirl or texasgirlrunning.  You know, express my love for everything texas and running.  And of course, I'm a girl.

Tired Tuesday

Tuesdays suck for me.  I usually don't get to bed early enough on Sunday night so I wake up Monday tired but generally ready to get moving.  Then Monday night I still go to bed too late (either because of school or running) and Tuesday is when it always hits me.  My alarm is set to go off at 4:51 but I reset it to 5:30 this morning...

The interesting part of this is that I wasn't the only tired one this morning.....  What you can't see is that the TV is on to Disney and the lights are all on...



Careful Sally, don't fall off the couch

 Then when I tried to wake them up after the show was over to get dressed... This happened:

Ah, Sally got rescued

The both just rolled over and ignored me.  (You can even see a sleepy dog way way way in the background there...or maybe they are just waiting for me to feed them...)

I know you can't really see Sally all that well in these pictures so here is a better version.  Sally is my perfect third child... she goes everywhere with us, she's quiet, she doesn't eat much, she sleeps well...

Sally on the right (don't laugh at our sad TV)

Now you all better be hydrating and keeping cool during this summer!!!  If not, I'll send Add out to get you.. 

Do as I say, not as I do!!

Tonight is our second track workout.  Hope we all don't melt away in the heat. 

I know I need to update my training page, but I'm a lazy butt...  Maybe I can do that tonight, if I can fight off the hubs for computer time.

Go Go night runner....

I'm a night runner.  I don't do mornings.  I have to roll myself out of bed at 5 AM as it is to complete my minimal amount of stuff before me and the kiddos have to roll out of the door at 6:30.  I will never be one to run in the early morning hours... at least not on weekdays.  Last night, I got out of the house at 9:20 for a 35 min tempo run.  Just cause I'm curious, I checked the temp as I was walking to my "start" point (and waiting for the garmin to snag a satellite).  It was a lovely cool 94 degrees...  AT 9:20 PM... in the dark! 

I managed to knock out the tempo run surprisingly.  I did 10 minutes warmup at around 11:30 pace and then 15 minutes at around a 10:30 - 10:15 pace and the final 10 minutes at 11:30.  My overall pace for the whole schebang was 10:50.  Not too bad for this old slowpoke. 

Since I've been tracking my calorie intake, I purposely made sure to watch what I was eating all day cause I desperately needed ice cream.  In case you were wondering, this is what I "spent" my extra 400 calories on....

One cup... you know I measured.  Ignore the birthday cake in the background, so many temptations.

Having a math degree and being employed in an accounting position, you know I have to be accurate.  Nothing about this calorie counting thing has been estimated or guessed...  I'm all about precision baby. 

And the ice cream was heaven... thinking about doing some exercise tonight so I can indulge again... I don't know if I'm that motivated.

I've always been motived by food... when I was pregnant I made deals with myself.  One time around the neighborhood, one popsicle, two times, two popsicles... kinda explains my weight issues during pregnancy huh?

What motivates you?  Food?  Clothes? Music?  Come on, tell me!

App Obsession

I'll be the first to admit that I have a tendency to get overly excited over a new iPhone app and ooh and awe over it for all of 3 days and consider it the best thing ever and then completely forget it.  I thought I would revamp my whole life when I found an app that would help me track my "to-do" list.   I think I used it for maybe a week, mainly to check off when I drank all my water... It's still on my phone telling me I have things to do but I ignore it.

I was reading someone's blog (and I sincerely apologize if it was yours but I cannot for the life of me remember where/when/who... this another one of my "issues": mommy brain) and she was discussing this app called "Lose It". 

Just a little discussion before I discuss what this app does: 

I'm a healthy girl.  I'm not obsessed with losing weight and to be honest I like eating a little too much to really care..... BUT.....  if you had to ask, I would love to be able to lose the final 10 pounds I gained while producing these...

 

So being the type that loves to download free apps, I searched for this Lose It app and immediately installed.  Here's what it looks like.

  



It's an amazingly simple concept.  You enter in what you eat, you enter in your exercise, you enter in your goals and it either tells you "Sure, you can eat some more" or like it did to me last night "No more eating for you fattie" (no - I'm just being silly... I'm in no way fat.)

And I know that 115 might be too lofty of a goal but for now, I'm gonna try.  Amazingly I weighed 105 when I met my husband... no way in hell that is ever going to happen but I'd love to get halfway there.

Anyone else feel like something new is going to be the thing that gets you back on track?  Is there any app you are currently loving and like to share?? 

Tuesday torture and some proud mommy stuff

So the running group is now starting up Tuesday night speed workouts.  Last night was our first session.  The idea was to let us get some "base" mileage before doing the torture.   Let's set the stage here.  We meet at a local high school at 6:30.  It's Houston so it's very very very hot.  My car said 95 when I was driving down the road.  After some talking we got to work...  The start of our workout this week consisted of:

10 minute run warmup
group stretches, high knees, butt kickers (whatever those are called)

At this point were were told we were going to do hill work.  I don't know of many actual hills in Houston so instead of running up and down actual hills, we ran up and down bleachers.  We did this for about 20 minutes or so... I'm not going to lie, it was rough.

Then we proceeded to cool down;

10 minute run cooldown
more group stretches
then just to screw with us - 10 push ups and 20 sit ups

I was covered in sweat by the end but felt relatively invigorated.  Not feeling much pain today surprisingly.

I also wanted to post my proud mommy moment.  Little guy graduated from Pre-Kinder last week and here is a picture of him in his handmade hat... 


I'm so glad we don't have to wear uniforms anymore!!!

Yes, over to the left of little man is a "drawing" and the words Potty Success...  Little girl needs encouragement :)  (her prizes are shoes... she's such a girl at such an early age.)

June Book Club

If you love love love reading like I do, check out crazyrunninglegs site about her June Book Club selection.

Click right here to go to her post about it.

I just downloaded the book onto the Kindle and I'm excited about devouring it over the long weekend.

From Amazon.com

"Amazon Best Books of the Month, May 2011: In the Garden of Beasts is a vivid portrait of Berlin during the first years of Hitler’s reign, brought to life through the stories of two people: William E. Dodd, who in 1933 became America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s regime, and his scandalously carefree daughter, Martha. Ambassador Dodd, an unassuming and scholarly man, is an odd fit among the extravagance of the Nazi elite. His frugality annoys his fellow Americans in the State Department and Dodd’s growing misgivings about Hitler’s ambitions fall on deaf ears among his peers, who are content to “give Hitler everything he wants.” Martha, on the other hand, is mesmerized by the glamorous parties and the high-minded conversation of Berlin’s salon society—and flings herself headlong into numerous affairs with the city’s elite, most notably the head of the Gestapo and a Soviet spy. Both become players in the exhilarating (and terrifying) story of Hitler’s obsession for absolute power, which culminates in the events of one murderous night, later known as “the Night of Long Knives.” The rise of Nazi Germany is a well-chronicled time in history, which makes In the Garden of Beasts all the more remarkable. Erik Larson has crafted a gripping, deeply-intimate narrative with a climax that reads like the best political thriller, where we are stunned with each turn of the page, even though we already know the outcome. --Shane Hansanuwat "

Anyone else an avid reader?  Any recommendations?  Right now I'm on a YA kick, just finished the Hunger Games trilogy and waiting on the final Maze Runner book.