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.

Weekend Update....

Yes, I realize it's Wednesday and I admited earlier that I'm a slacker... so here we go.

I took Friday off from work so I could travel down to Corpus.  It's such a wonderful fun drive going from Houston to Corpus.  Let's look at all the sights....

Wow, exciting stuff

This is like an hour later... 

Even the GPS is bored.

Then this happened.....

You gotta be kidding me....

Sigh.  Although my incident isn't nearly as traumatic now that hubby has dropped his iPhone in the pool... 

Made it to Corpus Friday afternoon and of course, realized I forgot to pack something (I realized it 15 minutes into the trip... but that's way too far to turn around.... duh) so I stopped at Target.  I forgot that it's completely normal to be attacked by seagulls when walking into stores....  I had no idea that Target could be so ghetto.  It almost scared me in there... They claim to be remodeling but whatever.  Since I was kidless I did have to hit up the clearance racks and managed to grab a cute purple zip up hoodie jacket for $5.  Score! 

Met with the group, got our gear (shirts, numbers, etc.)  went back to Dad's house and chilled.  A good blogger would've gotten some more pictures but obviously that isn't me.

Our shirts were very cute... I'll have to con the hubby into take a picture of me in it sometime. 

The morning of the race was relatively organized thanks to the convenience of cell phones...  We all met up in the parking lot of HEB.  I was running leg 4 of the race through the military base so I got to walk to my hand off point.  The rest of the group had to get on busses to get to their points. 

The actual race itself was well organized.  There were over 2,500 teams and an estimated 16,000 runners.  There are six legs to the race, each leg was approximately 4 miles (mine was 4.69) and the total race was 26.2 miles.  The idea behind the race was to honor the military since it's always run on Armed Forces Day.  Armed Forces Day is on the 3rd Saturday of May... May in Corpus is hot... Wouldn't you think this would make race organizers reconsider the timing?  I suppose since this was the 36th running of the race they were set on the date... whatever.

By the time my leg was set to run it was 9:45, the temp was up to about 84 and the humidity level was 100%.  100%? how is that possible?  It wasn't raining.  It was ridiculously hot.  I wanted to stop after 10 minutes into the run.  I managed to finish with only walking through the water stations.  (Which they had at each mile marker... so awesome)  I'm a military brat and former spouse (only cause he's not in the service anymore, not that I have some mystery ex-husband) so it was nice to be able to run around the base where I spent a good amount of time as a child.  I even sent hubby a picture of the craphole apartment he was living in when we first met.

uhhh... so glad we moved up in the world



So I finished my leg, handed off and then had to walk 2 MORE MILES to get to a spot where they were even letting cars get close. 

Ha ha sorry bastards, you still have to run and I'm done...  Oh wait, I have to walk 2 miles?

I took this picture because there was a helicopter landing but I don't think you can even see it... 

Found my group and then we proceed to go pick up #5...  note to #5, take your phone with you next time, it's impossible to find you without it (I really don't know how groups did this before cell phones).  We managed to find everyone and then we headed out.  I got dropped off at Dad's house and then....

I GOT THE HELL OUT OF TOWN!!! (plus i missed the kids)

I'm a slacker...

I actually want to post a recap of my weekend and the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay I did but I'm being a slacker and not moving very quickly at getting my pictures off my phone.  I pulled my camera out of my bag on the trip to Corpus and I got the "battery is exhausted" message...  Ugh.  I hope to have something up tonight or tomorrow talking about my wonderful adventure (that is complete sarcasm there folks...it sucked.)

What was I thinking?!?

Back early in the spring I decided to run this:
THE 36TH ANNUAL BEACH TO BAY RELAY

The race is held in Corpus Christi, Texas which is where I grew up and went to school at and ultimately where I met my husband.  It is also the hell hole Reese's so accurately describes.  I lived in the city from age 8 til almost 20 and I can honestly say I would never want to live there again.  Amazingly during the whole time of living there I never once witnessed this race, the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay.  So when my best friend's brother asked me if I'd like to be a part of his group I was like, sure... Seriously, I'm just a medal whore and I wanted another one... I figured this might be easy.  I forgot to think about what Corpus Christi is like during May. 

That's a LOW of 77 on Saturday.  A LOW of 77 that will probably happen around 4 am.  My leg of the race is probably going to be around 9:30 or 10 ish...  By then the sun will be up and blazing on me and making me wish for a swift death. 

So wish me luck, hope I don't die and I'll let you know how it goes.

Workout update

This was my running schedule this week:

Monday - 20 minutes easy
Tuesday - 25 minutes easy
Wednesday - OFF - did Monday's and Tuesday's run 4.09 miles
Thursday - 20 minutes easy
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 3 miles (group run) - 32:48
Sunday - OFF

Not too terribly bad considering the cold during the early part of the week.  Then on Thursday it actually rained in Houston and it confused me so badly I wasn't sure how to deal with it.  (Houston hasn't gotten any rain in way too long... and you know you're a homeowner when you worry about this kind of thing.)

Oh no they didn't.....

Aren't our little girls tormented enough to be perfect.  Sketchers has come out with Shape Ups for girls now. 

Add really likes Sketcher shoes (she is 3) but I think this is getting a little ridiculous... What do you think?

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/do-little-girls-really-need-shape-up-toning-sneakers-2482670/

I was running....

So last week I joined a group that is focusing on preparing for the San Antonio marathon (which I've been signed up for a long time ago).  The group gets together and does the long runs on Saturday and speedwork on Tuesday.  On Sunday we get our schedule for the running we are supposed to do while we are on our own.  (Speedwork won't start until later this month.)  Here's my schedule for this week:

Monday - 20 minutes easy
Tuesday - 25 minutes easy
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - 20 minutes easy
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 3 miles (group run)
Sunday - OFF

Since I was sick on Monday and Tuesday, I think I'm going to double up those workouts and knock them out tonight.... and try out the Garmin.  I'm going to be a dork and wear the phone too and see which one (the Garmin or Nike+) is closer to actual mileage.  I think I'm going to have a hard time in the beginning phases of this training as the "on your own" runs are in minutes and not miles.  I've always tracked miles and planned miles.  I'm going to trust their knowledge and try to keep to their schedule as much as possible.  I've looked out to the future and am already nervous about the 21 mile run... sounds impossible.

On a different note.  Anyone read this today?

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112715/shutting-kids-out-family-fortune-wsj?mod=family-kids_parents

It's about a guy who died back in 1919 and didn't want any of his fortune to be distributed until his grandkids were dead.  The money is just now being divved up.  How royally pissed would you be with your parents if they somehow pissed off your grandpa so much that he wouldn't even give his money to the spawn of his own kids? 

Is this noticeable?

Think I can get away with wearing this all the time?  It's not that noticeable right? 

Quit reading that stuff in the background, that's proprietary information. Ha!

So the cold totally took over and I'm taking one more day off from running.. I feel like such a slacker.  Maybe I should work on my take home final that is due tomorrow... that'd be so unlike me doing something ahead of time.  OR I could go watch Glee...  Decisions decisions.

Any other Gleeks out there?  I'm also addicted to the Good Wife.

Sick! Sick! Sick! and a Garmin

I hate being sick.  I'm gonna blame it on those kids at preK... must've been all those kid germs flying around the room and they finally got to me.  I can handle my own kids germs but the large crowd of kids kicked my immune systems butt!  Yesterday I went to work with no makeup, hair looking like a nest, and glasses... (no pictures, I don't exist when I'm sick.)  I went through so many tissues...  this is what my desk looked like.

Okay, not really, but I went through a lot of tissues.  The only saving grace of having a cold is the sneezing.  Maybe I'm a weirdo (and I probably am) but I love to sneeze.  I'm one of those people that does the one and a half sneeze, where it's like I get halfway through the sneeze and it just fizzles out. 

Last night I had to endure this head cold while taking my Advanced Accounting final.  I'm so glad that class is finally over, what torture.  I know the people I sit next to actually cringed when they saw me walking in with my red nose and a box of tissues.  Whatever people...

I broke down yesterday and bought myself a Garmin Forerunner 205.  It's out for delivery right now, I'm making sure to clear some time on my calendar today to play with it (at work).  You better believe this cold isn't getting in my way of going out tonight and testing it out. 

So, do you have a Garmin?  Do you love it?  I was using the Nike+ app on my iPhone but I'm annoyed with it.  How about sneezing?  Anyone love sneezing like me???

Marathon training with USA Fit

Today was my first day to start marathon training.  I've signed up to train with USA Fit Cypress out here in the boonies of Houston.  I was previously a self trained idiot and decided that for the full marathon I was going to NEED someone to hold me accountable and basically tell me what to do.  I signed up for their annual membership so I'm going to be hurting all year long.  (the good hurt, I keep telling myself)

That's me in the middle in the purple.

Listening intently to the introductions

It was a good morning.  I met a bunch of great running people and am excited about starting training for the full marathon in November. 

We've been warned that our group organizer will hound us down if we don't have a hydration belt or some sort of way to keep hydrated.  Any recommendations?  I've always just thrown Gatorade or water in the grass around my loop and grabbed it as necessary when I ran past.

Muffins with Mom

Yesterday little man's class hosted a party for all their mom's.  It was super sweet.  The kids helped bake muffins and made us cards and painted on tiles. 


Is it me or does he seem slightly embarassed?





Look mom, I made you a card. It's got good guys and bad guys...



Had to get one more shot on the way out.

What is everyone doing to celebrate Mother's Day?  We are going to grill out and have a pool party.

Invention?

If anyone can make this happen, I'd totally buy it from you!  The other night I was deliriously tired (get used to hearing that cause it happens 6 out of 7 nights..).  I suffer from the coldest feet in existance. (seriously, I dare you to challenge me to a cold off...)  So every night, no matter what I have to put socks on before going to bed.  However, most of the time if I wake up in the middle of the night I am hot and have to rip them off.  So I told my hubby, "wouldn't it be great if they made socks that you put on and during the night they just kinda crawled off your feet?"  And I continued, "or maybe you could make some that started to dissolve slowly after they came in contact with air?".  At this point he rolled his eyes and turned off the light and let me go to sleep.